Thomas Motherwell

“ It is not surprising, therefore, that Motherwell should have become a contributor and a proprietor, and still less so that, on the retirement of Mr Kennedy, in 1828, he should have succeeded him as editor of that paper. What success he may have had in his new capacity I know not, but, on the retirement of Mr James M'Queen from the management of the Glasgow Courier, in 1830, Mr Motherwell was invited by the proprietors of that journal to take his place; and all things being satisfactorily arranged he left Paisley and took up his abode in Glasgow in the beginning of that year. ”

“ Motherwell was of short stature, but was well-formed. His head was large and forehead ample, but his features were somewhat coarse; his cheek-bones were prominent, and his eyes small, sunk in his head, and surmounted by thick eye-lashes. In society he was reserved and often taciturn, but was free and communicative among his personal friends. He was not a little superstitious, and a firm believer in the reality of spectral illusions. ”

“ The descendants of Janet are now eminent merchants in Manchester, and the line of Motherwell is represented by the poet's nephew, the son of his elder brother David, Mr Charles M'Arthur Motherwell, who is a purser's clerk in the navy. The name of William Motherwell's grandmother was Amelia Monteath, the daughter of an old and respectable family settled at Dunblane, in Stirlingshire. A sister of his mother's married a Mr Ogilvie, who left a son, Major Ogilvie, now resident in Edinburgh. ”

“ The last work which we have to notice is the collected edition of Motherwell's Poems, which has just issued from the Glasgow Press, under the auspices of Mr James M'Conechy. William Motherwell must always stand very high in the list of the minor Scottish poets, and one lyric of his, "Jeanie Morrison," is as pathetic as any in the language. ”

“ Change followed change with the rapidity of lightning, and in the midst of this universal whirlwind the only man in this immense community who was expected to keep himself free from the common contagion, and to observe the most philosophical abstinence in the discussion of passing events, was the Tory editor of the Tory newspaper! Mere humanity is not equal to so great a trial as this, and Motherwell was not the man to affect to undergo it. ”

“ It is obvious that in so daring an enterprise anything short of entire success would have been fatal to the reputation of its author, and that upon a theme, at once so novel and so vast, mediocrity would not have been tolerated; and it has always appeared to me, that to have triumphed so completely over the latent prejudices of society, and to have extorted the reluctant praise of the critical world, was, in Motherwell's circumstances, the strongest proof he could give of the vigour and elasticity of his powers. ”

“ At the end of the season she returned to her parents at Alloa, with whom she resided till the time of her marriage. She is now a widow with a family of three children, all of whom are grown up, and, I believe, doing well.' [4]
It would appear from this that Motherwell was entered in the High School of Edinburgh as early as the year 1808, but his attendance at that excellent institution could not have exceeded a few months, as I find that he was placed early in 1809 at the Grammar School of Paisley, then superintended by the late Mr John Peddie. ”

“ But this was not the case with William Motherwell. Few men have enjoyed, and few men have more entirely merited, the strong and steady attachment of those with whom they associated; and if life brought to him its share of sorrow and anxiety, it likewise afforded many and solid compensations for his sufferings, of which, I have not a doubt, he was fully sensible, and for which, I have as little doubt, he was truly thankful. ”

“ Weir, then editor of the Glasgow Argus:—
'This accomplished gentleman died suddenly on Sunday morning. Mr Motherwell's antiquarian knowledge was extensive; and, as the bent of his mind towards the past tinged his poetry, so his imagination lent grace and vitality to his knowledge. A small volume of lyrical poems, published some years back by Mr Motherwell, is full of tender and unobtrusive beauty. There are few pieces more touching in the whole range of Scottish poetry than his "Jeanie Morrison." ”

“ In 1832 a publication was started in Glasgow, under the direction of Mr John Strang, the author of two interesting volumes of Travels in Germany, called The Day, to which Motherwell contributed largely. In that periodical there appeared for the first time the following poetical pieces from his pen:—The Serenade—The Solemn Song of a Righteous Hearte—Elfinland Wud—The Covenanters' Battle Chant—Caveat to the Wind—What is Glory? What is Fame?—A Solemn Conceit—The Parting—The Ettin Lang o' Sillerwood—and, Spirits of Light! ”

“ That David Motherwell died possessed of a small estate on the banks of the Carron, in the Barony of Dundaff, in Stirlingshire, which, according to what I found to be the tradition of the neighbourhood, supported, to a certain extent, by the title deeds of the property, which I saw, had been in the possession of thirteen generations of the same family, all bearing the same name of David, with the surname variously spelled, being at one time Moderville, at another Moderell, and latterly Motherwell. ”

“ I have only seen manuscript copies of some of her verses, and that years ago, but they struck me very much; and really I do not remember another female wit worthy to sit beside her, even in French literature. Motherwell is a true poet. ”

“ No ordeal could, therefore, be more embarrassing to him than a formal examination before a body of sharp-witted men whose pleasure it not infrequently is to lay snares for an inexperienced witness: but besides this I am convinced that on this particular point Motherwell was at fault as to knowledge—that he had never seriously inquired of himself what Orangeism was, or what object was to be gained by its propagation—and that, consequently, he must have failed when rigorously interrogated by an intelligent and authoritative tribunal about these matters. ”

“ But Motherwell was instinctively a Tory—all the tendencies of his mind gravitated towards the creed of that old and respectable party—and I am satisfied that his monarchical principles would have been just as high after he escaped from mere nonage had he never handled a truncheon in defence of the public peace on the streets of Paisley. His political convictions might be extreme, but they were honest. He firmly believed that his opinions were founded in truth, and that their vindication was essential to the well-being of his country ”

“ The first draught of his poem is said to have been made at fourteen years of age, and, as he has himself recorded, they never met after leaving school. [3] As the reader cannot fail to be gratified by an account of the poet's juvenile history, I transcribe the following details which have been obligingly communicated to the publisher by Mr Lennie himself:—
'William Motherwell entered my school, then kept at No. 8, Crichton Street, in the neighbourhood of George Square, on the 24th of April, 1805, and left it for the High School here on the first day of October, 1808. ”

“ An elaborate analysis of Motherwell's character as a poet would not be compatible with the objects and limits of this slight sketch; but it is fortunately rendered unnecessary by the criticism of Professor Wilson, which appeared in Blackwood's Magazine for April, 1833. 'All his perceptions are clear, for all his senses are sound; he has fine and strong sensibilities, and a powerful intellect. ”

“ The indications of this mental debility did not escape the observation of the gentlemen composing the committee; and Mr Wallace, of Kelly, at that time Member for Greenock, with a kindness which was the more honourable to him that Motherwell had frequently spoken of him in his editorial capacity with considerable severity, paid him marked attention; and, perceiving how matters really stood, lost no time in getting his bewildered countryman shipped off to Scotland.
On his return he resumed his old habits of life, and was, to all outward appearance, in perfect health. ”

“ And the same you must win back, my liege, if ever you them wear.
10
‘God bless the Church of England! may it prosper on each hand,
And also every poor man now starving in this land.
And while I pray success may crown our king upon his throne,
I’ll wish that every poor man may long enjoy his own.’ A.
41. Dutch for French, according to some reciters.
82. Oh.
B.
41, 91. Oh.
C.
11. Oh.
D.
Printed by Lyle in stanzas of eight short lines.
The copy in Motherwell’s MS. is not in Motherwell’s handwriting. It may have been written down from recollection of Lyle, or may have been arbitrarily altered. ”

“ We both, albeit we have no family afflictions to mourn over, have yet much to irritate and vex us—much, much indeed, to sour the temper and sadden the countenance—but these things must be borne with patiently. It is folly of the worst description to let thought kill us before our time. * * * I hope to hear from you soon, and to learn that you are in better spirits, and that the causes which have depressed them are happily removed. Kennedy joins me in warm and sincere prayers that this may speedily be the case.'
Motherwell was decidedly superstitious ”

“ The ancient ballad of Gil Morrice seems to have attracted much of Motherwell's attention. It was the foundation of Home's celebrated tragedy of 'Douglas,' and the scene of the melancholy adventure which it relates was 'Carronside,' the home of his ancestors. ”

“ Motherwell wrote verse from an early age. The ballad 'Jeanie Morrison' was sketched in his fourteenth year, and published in an Edinburgh periodical in 1832. In 1818 Motherwell wrote verses for the Greenock 'Visitor.' He edited, with a preface, in 1819, 'The Harp of Renfrewshire,' a collection of songs by local authors. In 1824, under the pseudonym of 'Isaac Brown, late manufacturer in the Plunkin of Paisley,' he published 'Renfrewshire Characters and Scenery,' a good-natured local sketch in Spenserian stanza. ”

“ Meanwell was a charitable good Man, he stood up for the Poor at the Parish Meetings, and was unwilling to have them oppressed by Sir Timothy, and this avaricious Farmer.--Judge, oh kind, humane and courteous Reader, what a terrible Situation the Poor must be in, when this covetous Man was perpetual Overseer, and every Thing for their Maintenance was drawn from his hard Heart and cruel Hand. But he was not only perpetual Overseer, but perpetual Church-warden; and judge, oh ye Christians, what State the Church must be in, when supported by a Man without Religion or Virtue. ”

“ The close of their wayfaring together left him solitary; his "soul all hung with black," and, for months to come, everything around was overshadowed by the thought of his bereavement. In his journal of February 28th 1854, he tells us that he had on the Sunday before seen a vision of Mainhill in old days, with mother, father, and the rest getting dressed for the meeting-house. "They are gone now, vanished all; their poor bits of thrifty clothes, ... their pious struggling efforts; their little life, it is all away. ”

“ I'll just lave the Lord alone. Nothin' makes me madder than when I promise Tommy or Mary or any of them something and then have them frettin' all the time about whether or not I'll get it done. I'd like to see the clouds though. I'll bet they're a sight, just like what Camilla sings about:
Dark is His path on the wings o' the storm.
In the kitchen below the Motherwells gathered with pale faces. The windows shook and rattled in their casings.
"Keep away from the stove, Tom," Mrs. Motherwell said, trembling. "That's where the lightnin' strikes." ”

“ Caldwell, Motherwell’s informant, ‘they were level to the meanest capacity, and had plenty o’ coarse jokes to season them. I never kent a history of Dougal’s that stuck in the sale yet.’ Better testimony as to their popularity could scarcely be desired; and that the author was awarded a share of the favour his works received cannot be doubted. It has sometimes been thought that several of his chap-books were to a certain extent autobiographical—such, for instance, as John Cheap the Chapman—but the absolute impossibility of separating fact from fiction makes them of no value in this direction. ”

“ To do this he must sail first east, then west, and then have a blast of north wind to blow him to the land. All this comes to pass; the king and court are playing ball, but immediately put a harp into Heyvalin’s hand and urge him to stay and play. Skipper though he be, he falls to playing, and finds Bearwell the first man in all the company.
“From circumstances,” which do not occur to me, Motherwell would almost be inclined to trace this piece to a Danish source, “or it may be an episode of some forgotten metrical romance.” ”

“ WALY, WALY, BUT LOVE BE BONNY.
These beautiful verses are thought to be only a part of Lord Jamie Douglas, (see the next piece,) in one copy or another of which, according to Motherwell, nearly all of them are to be found. They were first published in the Tea-Table Miscellany, (i. 231,) and are here given as they there appear, separate from an explicit story. ”

“ In good Faith, I have [197] given the Devil a foul Fall; for I have with those Lords gone so far, as that without great Shame I can ne'er go back. The first Step, Will, is the worst, and that's taken."
And so, to the House, with never another Word, Will being smote at the Heart.
But, this Forenoon, deare Will comes running in to me, with Joy all bright, and tells me he hath just heard from Cromwell that Father's Name is in sooth struck out. Thereupon, we go together to him with the News. ”