BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 337
who were spoken favourably of by the Rev. George William Auriol Hay Drummond,
in his “Town Eclogue.” (Edinburgh, 1804. 8vo.)
“ Let justice veil her venerable head,
When dulness sits aloft in robes of red !
Though with delight we upright Cockburn see,
With courteous Cullen, deep-read Woodhouselee :
In the Chief Baron’s bland, ingenuous face,
Read all the worth and talent of hia race.”
In his boyish days, Lord Cullen was an excellent mimic, and often, in later
years, took pleasure in mentioning the exploits which his talent in this way
enabled him to perform. His father, Professor Cullen, used to keep his loose
money in a desk-drawer in his study, from which he was in the habit of supplying
Mrs. Cullen with whatever sums she might be in want of, usually handing
over the notes without being at the trouble of looking round. Observing this,
and when pressed by any juvenile contingency, the youthful mimic, imitating
the somewhat querulous voice of his mother, found the means of drawing upon
the old man more frequently than the latter would have been inclined to submit
to. As the demands in this way multiplied the Doctor began to grumble.
“ What ! were you not here already P” said he with some warmth to his good
lady, as she one day requested a few pounds. “No, indeed, I was not, my
dear,” was her reply. “Don’t tell me that,” rejoined the Professor, evidently
chafed at what he considered a false assertion ; while the lady, unable to account
for the late unkindness of her husband, indignantly resented the imputation of
her veracity. The misunderstanding might have been carried far enough, but
for the discovery which the awakened vigilance of the Doctor enabled him to
make on the next occasion. Casting his eyes round, he was astonished to find
the mystery cleared up in the culpability of his son.
Long after he had
assumed the toga, he continued his imitations, and was very successful in catching
the peculiarities of many of the leading members of the College of Justice.
His attainments in this way having reached the ears of the then Lord President,
he was invited by the legal dignitary to a dinner party, where, after the cloth
was removed, he exhibited a succession of imitations of the most eminent
practising barristers. His lordship was highly delighted, and hinted that he
need not limit himself to the bar ; but that he might, without offence, make
free with the bench. Cullen, in the excitement of the moment, took the hint
thus given, and quickly the whole race of “ paper lords ” passed rapidly before
the eyes of the astonished President, who applauded the actor warmly for his
astonishing powers of mimicry. “But,” said his lordship, “ why am I excepted 1
I cannot really allow this.” Cullen would not for worlds take off his h o s t
the latter insisted, and in an evil moment the guest yielded-and the Lord
President of the Court of Session was given to the life. “hose present roared
Another anecdote of his imitative talent may be given.
1 Fbbert Dundaa of Arniston, of whom a biographical sketch has already appeared.
VOL. 11. 2x
338 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
with laughter, with one solitary exception. Who the stoical individual was
who did not share the general mirth may be guessed, when we mention that
the giver of the feast, after an unsuccessful attempt to affect indifference, and
unable longer to contain his wrath, at last, with much bitterness ejaculated-
“ Very amusing, Mr. Robert-very amusing, truly : ye’re a clever lad-very
clever; but just let me tell you-that’s no the way io &se at the bar/”
He had entered, in latter
life, into marriage with a servant girl of the name of Russell, by whom, however,
he had no issue. Although a woman of rather plain appearance, and destitute
of fortune, she nevertheless, after his lordship’s death, obtained for a second
husband a gentleman of property in the West Indies, where she died in
1818.
Lord Cullen died on the 28th November 1810.
No. CCLXXXIII.
THE EDINBURGH FISH-WOMEN.
THE artist has not favoured us with the name of the ‘‘ OYSTER LASS ” whom
this figure represents. The omission is probably a matter of no great moment,
as the characteristics of individuals of her class are usually pretty much the same.
Wovdsworth‘s description of the “ Calais Fish-women ”-
“Withered, grotesque-immeasurably old,
And shrill and fierce in accent ”-
will not apply to the goodly fish-dames of Modern Athens. Stout, clean, and
blooming, if they are not the most handsome or comely of Eve’s daughters,
they are at least the most perfect pictures of robust and vigorous health ; and
not a few of them, under the pea-jacket and superabundance of petticoat with
which they load themselves, conceal a symmetry of form that might excite the
envy of a Duchess. Their cry,
‘‘ Wha’ll 0’ caller ou !” echoing through the spacious sheets of the New Town,
though not easily understood, especially by our southern visitors, has a fulness
of sound by no means unpleasant to the ear.
In some of the late numbers of “ Chambers’s Edinburgh Journal,” the character
and habits of the fish-women form the substance of one or two interesting
articles.
Neither are they “ shrill and fierce in accent.”
We quote the writer’s description of their dress :-
‘‘A cap of cotton or linen, surmounted by a stout napkin tied below the chin, composes the
investiture of the head ; the more showy structures wherewith other females are adorned being
inadmissible from the broad belt which supports the “ creel,” that is, fish-basket, crossing the
forehead. A sort of woollen pea-jacket, of vast amplitude of skirt, conceals the upper part of
the person, relieved at the throat by a liberal display of handkerchief. The under part of the
