BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES, 7
JAMIE DUFF, the third figure in the Print, was long conspicuous upon the
streets of Edinburgh as a person of weak intellects, and of many grotesque
peculiarities. He was the child of a poor &dow who dwelt in the Cowgate, and
was chiefly indebted for subsistence to the charity of those who were amused
by his odd but harmless manners, This poor Freature had a passion for attending
funerals, and no solemnity of that kind could take place in the city without
being graced by his presence. He usually took his place in front of the sauZiQs
or ushers, or, if they were wanting, at the head of the ordinary company ; thus
forming a kind of practical burlesque upon the whole ceremony, the toleration
of which it is now difficult to account for. To Jamie himself, it must be
allowed, it was as serious a matter as to any of the parties more immediately
concerned. He was most scrupulous both as to costume and countenance, never
appearing without crape, cravat, and weepers, and a look of downcast woe in the
highest degree edifying. It is true the weepers were but of paper, and the
cravat, as well as the general attire, in no very fair condition. He had all the
merit, nevertheless, of good intention, which he displayed more particularly on
the occurrence of funerals of unusual dignity, by going previously to a most
respectable hatter, and getting his hat newly tinctured with the dye of sorrow,
and the crape arranged so as to hang a little lower down his back.
By keeping a sharp look-out after prospective funerals, Jamie succeeded in
securing nearly all the enjoyment which the mortality of the city was capable of
affording. It nevertheless chanced that one of some consequence escaped his
vigilance. He was standing at the well drawing water, when, lo! a funeral
procession, and a very stately one, appeared. What was to be done ? He was
wholly unprepared : he had neither crape nor weepers, and there was now no
time to assume them; and moreover, and worse than all this, he was
encumbered with a pair of “stoups/” It was a trying case; but Jamie’s
enthusiasm in the good cause overcame all difficulties. He stepped out, took
his usual place in advance of the company, stoups and all, and, with one
of these graceful appendages in each hand moved on as chief usher of the
procession. The funeral party did not proceed in the direction of any of
the usual places of interment. It left the
town ; this was odd ! It held on its way : odder still ! Mile after mile passed
away, and still there was no appearance of a consummation. On and on the
procession went, but Jamie, however surprised he might be at the unusual circumstance,
manfully kept his post, and with indefatigable perseverance continued
to lead on. In short, the procession never halted till it reached the seaside at
Queensferry, a distance of about nine miles, where the party composing it
embarked, c o f i and all, leaving the poor fool on the shore, gazing after them
with a most ludicrous stare of disappointment and amazement. Such a thing
had never occurred to him before in the whole course of his experience.
Jamie’s attendance at funerals, however, though unquestionably proceeding
from a pure and disinterested passion for such ceremonies, was also a source of
considerable emolument to him, as his spontaneous services were as regularly
It took quite a contrary direction.
