Volume 1 - Electric Scotland

MOFFAT HOUSE. CCCXXXV
proprietor of the Annaudale estates in 1792, that Mufl'at House properly became one
of the mausioiis of the Amiandalc family. .\s cxplaiiieJ iu the notice fullov,-ing of the
mansion of luaehill', Earl James built Raehills before succeeding to Jloflat nouse.
The old mansion continued to answer fts original puriwsc as an occasional residence for
the Earls of Ilopetouu, while iu oflicial charge of the Anuandale estates for upwards
of thirtj- years. Siucc it has ceased to serve that purpose, it has been the residence of
various members of the Aunandalc family, including the parents of the present pro-
prietor, Mr. Hope Johnstone, for several 3'ears after their marriage in 1841. The
two brothers and only sister of Mr. Hope Johnstone were all born at Jlofllit House.
A few incidents in connection with this mansion may be here recorded :
Thomas Graham of Ealgowan, afterwards the gaOant Lord Lynedoch for his bravery
at Barossa, was the son of Lady Christian Hope, daughter of the first Earl of
Hopetouu and his Countess, Lady Henrietta Johnstone. When on a visit to Moffat
House in the summer and autumn of 1759, eight years after its erection by the second
Earl of Hopetoun, !Mr. Graham was accompanied by James Macpherson as his tutor.
On that occasion Jlacpherson commenced to translate the poems of Ossian, which
subsequently brought him into prominent notice. The translations which he made
then at !Mo(Iat House were, with an Introduction by Dr. Hugh Blair, j)ubiishcd iu the
following year in a small volume, entitled "Fragments of Ancient Poetry collected in
the Higldauds of Scotland, and translated from the Gaelic or Erse Language."
Among the visitors at Jloffat Spa when James Jlacpherson was resident at LIolTat
House, were John Home, author of the tragedy of Douglas, and Dr. Carlyle, minister
of Inveresk. To them were first communicated the translations by JIacpherson, and
both were delighted with them. Dr. Carlyle was a frequent visitor at Jloflat Spa, and
was commonly knov,-u from his commanding figure as '-Jupiter Carlyle." Sir Walter
Scott records that he was the " grandest demigod " he ever saw.
John' Home, the author of Douglas, was an annual visitor at Mod'at Spa. He
wrote the well-known lines on it
" No grace did Nature here bestow ;
' But wise was Nature's aim :
She bade the healing waters flow,
And straight the Graces came."
On his first appearance he astonished the natives by thinking aloud or reciting to
himself some of his poetical effusions in his wanderings. He was also looked upon
with suspicion as a clergyman who had written a tragedy. But all the same he was
a great fiivouritc at the gatherings of Moffat society, and his early witlidrawal from