BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 91
1808, apparently from a conscientious desire to abandon public life before his
mind should be impaired by the infirmities of age, and was succeeded by the
late President Blair. Upon the 17th September following he had the honour
of a baronetcy conferred upon him Although pretty far advanced in years, he
was still in possession of all his mental faculties ; and was afterwards chosen to
preside over two different commissions appointed to inquire into the state of the
Courts of Laws in Scotland, which he conducted with his accustomed industry
and talent.
After his retirement from the bench, Sir Ilay resided chiefly on his paternal
estate of Garscube, where he lived for many years. “ Until within a few weeks
of his death” (which occurred on the 28th of March 1823, in the eighty-ninth
year of his age) “he was constantly occupied with pursuits of variops kinds.
He took a principal share in the business of the county of Dumbarton, and was
much consulted by the magistracy of the neighbourhood, particularly in the late
perilous times [1817-191. He spent much of his time in reading, and in the
study of general literature ; amused himself with agriculture ; and received the
visits of those numerous persons in England and Scotland with whom he had
been connected in public and private life.
‘‘ In these occupations, and in the exercise of that benevolence which was a
remarkable trait of his character ; possessing, until his last short illness, perfect
good health, and a mind as acute as it had been in the vigour of his manhood ;
loved and respected by everyone, and surrounded by his numerous descendants,
whom he delighted to assemble under his patriarchal roof, he enjoyed a period
of retirement from public life, which, in point of happiness and length of duration,
seldom falls to the lot of public characters, and which was the deserved
reward of those laborious services that will be recollected as long as the law of
Scotland exists. ”
Sir Ilay Campbell was married to Susan-Mary, daughter of Archibald hfurray
of Cringletie, Esq., one of the Commissaries of Edinburgh, by whom he had six
daughters and two sons, one of whom only survived, viz.-Sir Archibald
Campbell of Succoth, Bart., who, after his retirement from t,he bench in 1824,
resided chiefly at Garscube. The eldest daughter was married to John Xlacneill
of Gigha; the second to Sir John Connell; the third to Francis Sitwell of
Barnmoor Castle ; the fourth to Crawford Tait, Esq., W.S., of Harveston;’ and
the youngest to Walter Dalziel Colquhon of Garscadden.
they ought with more eagerness to look for the credit of the whole, than that the authority, the dignity,
the honour, and the independence of the Court should continue to be maintained. If this be their opinion,
they and I are agreed. At the same time, I flatter myself, there is not a nian among them wlo will
not rest assured, that from me, and I trust from all who sit here, they shall ever meet with that countenance
and protection, as professional men, and that civility and attention as gentlemen, which, while
they continue to perform their duty, they have, in my opinion, an uuquestionable right to denland.’
“His lordship then said a few words in compliment to the new Lord Advocate and Solicitor-General.
“Robert Dundas, Esq., and Robert Blair, Esq., were then sworn in as his Majesty’s Advocate
and Solicitor for Scotland, aud took their places accordingly.”
Mr. Tait’s third son, Archibald Campbell, is the present (1977) Archbishop of Canterbury.
92 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
No. CCIII.
MR. JOHN CAMPBELL,
PRECENTOR.
MR. CAMPBELLo fficiated for upwards of twenty years as precentor in the
Canongate Church, and was well known as a teacher of English reading, writing,
and other branches of education, as well as of vocal music. He was a native of
Perthshire, and born at Tombea, about twenty miles north-west of Callander,
where his father had for many years been resident as a country wright or carpenter.
By great perseverance and economy, in the course of a laborious life,
the old man had realised about five hundred pounds. Every farthing of this
sum, considered great in those days, he had unfortunately deposited in the
hands of “ the laird ”-a man of extravagant habits, and who became bankrupt,
paying a composition of little more than two shillings in the pound.
Overwhelmed by a misfortune, unexpected as it was ruinous, the “ village
carpenter” resolved on leaving the scene of his calamity ; and, with the first
dividend from the bankrupt’s estate, amounting to a very few pounds, he
removed with his family to Edinburgh, where he did not live to receive the
second moiety of composition. He died, it may be said, of a broken heart not
long after his arrival.
The arduous task of providing for a young and destitute family thus devolved
on Mr. John Campbell,’ who was the eldest, and then about twenty years of
age. To his honour he performed the filial duty, not only ungrudgingly, but
with alacriiy. Having acquired some knowledge of the business of a carpenter
from his father, he applied for employment, we believe, to Mr. Butter, senior,
with whom-there being no other opening at the time in his establishmenGhe
engaged in the laborious avocation of a sawyer j and for some years continued
in this way to gain a livelihood for the family.
Mr. Campbell had obtained a pretty liberal education at the grammar-school
of Stirling, and had at an early period made some proficiency in music. Along
with his brother Alexander-with whom he is grouped in another Print-he
became a pupil of the celebrated Tendocci, a fashionable teacher, who remained
in Edinburgh for some time.’ The charge for each lesson was half-a-guinea ;
1 Besides himself, the family consisted of his mother, his brother Alexasder (the poet and
musician), and three sisters.
Tenducci was an unrivalled singer of old Scottish songs ; such as, “The Flowers of the Forest’,-
“Waly, waly, gin love be bonny”-“The Lass 0’ Patie’s Mill”-“The Braes 0’ Ba1lendean”-
“Water parted from the Sea”-“One day I heard Mary say ”-“ An thou wert my ain thing,” etc.
The following notice of Tenducci occurs in O’Keefe’s Kecollectaons :-About the year 1766, I saw
