BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 219
was executed upon Patrick Ogilvie,’ in the Gmsmarket of Edinburgh; but
Catherine Nairne, whose sentence had been delayed in consequence of pregnancy,
made her escape from the tolbooth soon after her accouchement. She
effected this by assuming the garb and demeanour of the midwife, Mrs. Shiells,
who had for several days previously attended on her patient with her head
muffled up, under pretence of a violent attack of toothache.
There is every reason to believe that the stratagem was matured under the
connivance of her uncle Sir William, then Mr. Nairne; and at least some of
the prison guards were not ignorant of what was to take place. There have
been various conjectures as to the precise time Catherine Nairne quitted the
city-some asserting that she remained concealed in Edinburgh for some days
prior to her fight to the Continent. It, appears almost certain, however, that
she left the city the same night (Saturday the 15th March 1766) on which she
escaped from the jail;-a carriage was in waiting at the foot of the Horse
Wynd; in which was Mr. Nairne’s clerk-the late Mr. James Bremner, afterwards
Solicitor of Stamps-who accompanied Mrs. Ogdvie as far as Dover, on
her way to France.
Notwithstanding her very criticalIsituation, Mr. Bremner was in momentary
dread all the way of a discovery, in consequence of her extreme frivolity of
behaviour, as she was continually putting her head out of the window and
laughing immoderately. She was, as previously noticed, very young, and had
only been married in January 1765 j and the crime for which she was tried was
completed, by the death of’ her husband, in the month of June following. She
was described, in the proclamation issued for her apprehension by the magistrates
of Edinburgh, as attired in ‘‘ an officer’s habit, with a hat slouched in the
cocks, and a cockade in it j ” and “ about twenty-two years of age, middle-sized
and strong made; has a high nose, black eyebrows, and a pale complexion.”
Two rewards were offered for her apprehension,-one by Government, and another
by the city of Edinburgh, of one hundred pounds each. It is said she
was afterwards very fortunate, having been married to a Dutch gentleman, by
whom she had a numerous family. Rumour also represents her as having ultimately
retired to a convent and taken the veil ; and adds, that she survived the
French Revolution, and died in England in the present century.
* He was 8 great player on the violin ; and the interval between his condemnation and execution
wa almost exclusively devoted to his performance on that instrument. Great influence waa used to
save him ; but the feeling waa 80 strong against him, that the efforts of his friends were wholly
ineffectual.
It is now
enclosed, and used &B a furniture waiwroom.
9 The principal entrance, at that period, to Minto House, waa from the Horse Wynd.
2 20 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
No. XCII.
MR. RALPH RYLANCE.
ME. RYLANCEw as by profession a Iiterary man-a veritable “scribbler of
all work,” in prose or in verse-
“From grave to gay, from lively to severe.”
Whether in the penny-a-line department of a newspaper-the compilation of a
preface or index-the getting up of a pamphlet for the nonce-a review-or
the redaction of goodly quarto volumes of voyages and travels originally written
by others ’-the licking into harmony and grace the confusion of language and
ideas in manuscripts on any given subject-Ralph was a ready and “ universal
penman.” And perhaps no man of this age has written so much and so well,
with so slender a memorial for posthumous fame ; for his rich fund of intellect
may be said to have been expended in sixpenny-worths, upon the temporalities
of the passing hour, while others wore the laurels which he planted and
nourished.
Mr. Rylance owes his chance for immortality in this collection to the following
circumstances :-Under the auspices of one of his patrons and employers,
(Mr., afterwards Lord Brougham), he engaged in the compilation of the
general index to the first twenty volumes of the Edidurgh Review. This led
to his first and only visit to Scotland, during the summer of 18 13. Under the
charge of his publishers, Messrs. Constable and Co., he remained some months in
Edinburgh, superintending the progress of that index through the press. !t’he
varied extent of his literary acquirements-the modest, good-natured simplicity
of his character, mixed with a deal of eccentricity-his unaffected and gentle
demeanour-his convivial powers, and his love of fun, were qualities certain of
attracting the attention and securing the hospitality of Mr. Constable, whose
keen appreciation of literary merit always kept pace with his well-known
character of a humorist; and hence Mr. Rylance became a frequent guest at
the table of that eminent publisher.
Mr. Constable was occasionally in the habit of getting a sketch taken of the
persons of such characters as afforded him amusement, from any peculiar gait
or trait of humour ; and, in the indulgence of this whim, he, as in the case of
others to follow in this collection, employed Mr. Kay to watch the person of
Bylance, and steal a few side glances of his form and features ; and thus was
produced the portraiture annexed, which we can vouch for as a very correct
likeness of honest Ralph.
e.g. “Mawe’s Travels in Brazil,” 4to.-Lond. 1812. Written by Mr. Rylance.
