BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 169
distinguished by high moral courage, that of the prisoners implicated in these
transactions, it cannot be denied, was marked by equal firmness. During the trial
of Skirving, this person conceiving Braxfield was endeavouring by his gestures
to intimidate him, boldly addressed him thus :-“ It is altogether unavailing for
your lordship to menace me; for I have long learned to fear not the face af
man.”
As an instance of his great nerve, it may be mentioned that Lord Braxfield,
after the trials were over, which was generally about midnight, always walked
home to his house in George Square alone and unprotected. He was in the
habit, too, of speaking his mind on the conduct of the Radicals of those days in
the most open and fearless manner, when almost every other person wm afraid
to open their lips, and used frequently to say, in his own blunt manner, ‘‘ They
would a’ be muckle the better 0’ being hanged f ”
When his lordship paid his addresses to his second wife, the courtship was
carried on in the following characteristic manner. Instead of going about the
bush, his lordship, without any preliminary overtures, deliberately called upon
the lady, “and popped the question ” in words to this effect :-“Lissy, I am
looking out for a wife, and I thought you just the person that would suit me.
Let me have your answer, aff or on, the morn, and nae mair about it !” The
lady, who understood his humour, returned a favourable answer next day, and
the marriage was solemnised without loss of time.
Lord Braxfield was a person of robust frame-of a warm or rather hasty
temper-and, to “ ears polite,” might not have been considered very courteous
in his manner. “ Notwithstanding, he possessed a benevolence of heart,” says a
contemporary, ‘‘ which made him highly susceptible of friendship, and the
company was always lively and happy of which he was a member.”
His lordship was among the last of our judges who rigidly adhered to the
broad Scotch dialect, ‘‘ Hae ye ony counsel, man P” said he to Maurice Margarot,
when placed at the bar. “ No.”-“ Do you want to hae ony appointit P” continued
the judge. ‘‘ No,” replied Margarot, “ I only want an interpreter to make
me understand what your lordship says !”
Of Lord Braxfield and his contempofaries there are innumerable anecdotes.
When that well-known bacchanalian, Lord Newton, was an advocate, he happened
one morning to be pleading before Braxfield, after a night of hard drinking.
It so occurred that the opposing counsel, although a more refined devotee
of the jolly god, was in no better condition. Lord Braxfield observing how
matters stood on both &des of the question, addressed the counsel in his usual
unceremonious manner-“ Gentlemen,” said he, “ ye may just pack up your
papers and gang hame ; the tane 0’ ye’s rifting punch, and the ither’s belching
claret-and there’ll be nae gude got out 0’ ye the day !”
Being one day at an entertainment given by Lord Douglas to a few of his
neighbours in the old Castle of Douglas, port was the only description of wine
produced after dinner. The Lord Justice-clerk, with his usual frankness, demanded
of his host if “ there was nae claret in the Castle !’-“ I believe there
.
z
170 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
is," said Lord Douglas, " but my butler teIls me it is not good."-" Let's pree't,"
said Braxfield, in his favourite dialect. A bottle of the claret having been
instantly produced and circulated, all present were unanimous in pronouncing
it excellent. '' I propose," said the facetious old judge, addressing himself to
Dr. M'Cubbin, the parish clergyman, who was present, "as a fama clanosa
has gone forth against this wine, that you absolve it."--" I know," replied the
Doctor, at once perceiving the allusion to Church-court phraseology, " that
you are a very good judge in cases of civil and criminal law ; but I see you do
not understand the laws of the Church. We Eever absolve till after three several
appearances!" Nobody could relish better than Lord Braxfield the wit or the
condition of absolution.
After a laborious and very useful life, Lord Braxfield died on the 30th of May
1799, in the 78th year of his age. He was twice married. By his first wife,
Miss Mary Agnew, niece of the late Sir Andrew Agnew, he had two sons and
two daughters. By his second wife, Miss Elizabeth Ord, daughter of the late
Lord Chief-Baron Ord, he had no children.
His eldest son, Robert Dundas M'Queen, inherited the estate of Braxfield,
and married Lady Lilias Montgomery, daughter of the late Earl of Eglinton.
The second entered the army, and was latterly a Captain in the 18th Regiment of
Foot. The eldest daughter, Mary, was married to William Honyman, Esq.
of Graemsay, afterwarda elevated to the bench by the title of Lord Annandale,
and created a Baronet in 1804. The second, Catherine, was married to John
Macdonald, Esq. of Clanronald.
No. LXXII.
GEORGE PRATT (THE TOWN-CRIER).
THIS person was Town-Crier of Edinburgh about the pear 1784, and made
himself remarkable for the manner of his address in discharging the duties of
his office. This singularity consisted in an extremely pompous delivery, which
proceeded from the very high opinion he entertained of the importance and
dignity of his situation as a public officer.
Deeply imbued with this sentiment, George gave forth his intimations to the
inhabitants-it might be to announce the arrival of a fresh supply of skate-with
an air and manner at once extremely imposing and edifying. It is painful to add,
however, that he utterly failed in impressing the boys of the town with the same
respect for his person and his office that he entertained himself. So far from
this, the irreverent young rogues took every opportunity of annoying him. They
laughed at his dignity, and persecuted him with the cry of " Quack, quack !"-a
monosyllable which was particularly offensive to his ears. This cry @as sometimes
varied into " Swallow's nest, " a phrase which he also abominated, as it made an
allusion to a personal deformity. Thia was a large excrescence, or wen, that
grew beneath his chin.
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