Antiquaries in the Age of Romanticism: 1789-1851 - Queen Mary ...
Antiquaries in the Age of Romanticism: 1789-1851 - Queen Mary ...
Antiquaries in the Age of Romanticism: 1789-1851 - Queen Mary ...
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<strong>the</strong>m entirely conv<strong>in</strong>c<strong>in</strong>g and his account makes no attempt to separate <strong>the</strong>m from <strong>the</strong>ir<br />
context. 45<br />
I have d<strong>in</strong>ed with <strong>the</strong> two pr<strong>in</strong>ces who are <strong>the</strong> descendants <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Stewarts. <strong>the</strong> Eldest is one <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> most glorious<br />
men I ever knew. he is perfect <strong>in</strong> his ideas on Christian architecture…<strong>the</strong>y Live on a most romantic Island<br />
surrounded by waterfalls & rocks –<strong>in</strong> a vast glen between <strong>the</strong> mounta<strong>in</strong>s. I was quite delighed.[sic] I could fight for<br />
him. he has fitted up a gothic room -& really well done. <strong>the</strong>re is a prophecy <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> highlands that <strong>the</strong> stewarts are yet<br />
to be restored. 46<br />
Even <strong>the</strong> more sceptical Elizabeth Grant found <strong>the</strong>se ‘strange bro<strong>the</strong>rs [who]…one day<br />
announced that <strong>the</strong>y were Stuarts…astonish<strong>in</strong>g’. 47 In <strong>the</strong> version <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> story she had heard <strong>the</strong><br />
bro<strong>the</strong>rs’ mo<strong>the</strong>r was Scottish and ‘her people had been <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> service <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> unfortunate Stuarts<br />
<strong>in</strong> Italy and who can tell if she had not some right to call herself connected with <strong>the</strong>m?’ 48 Be<strong>in</strong>g<br />
less persuaded than Pug<strong>in</strong> she remembered <strong>the</strong>ir context <strong>in</strong> a more humdrum way. The house she<br />
saw as a ‘villa’, <strong>the</strong>ir garden as ‘pretty’ and <strong>the</strong> waterfall as ‘small’. 49 She was struck, however,<br />
by <strong>the</strong> fact that Charles’s wife ‘played <strong>the</strong> harp like Flora McIvor’ and that ‘crowds went to visit<br />
<strong>the</strong>m’. 50 In <strong>the</strong>ir own persons <strong>the</strong> bro<strong>the</strong>rs achieved a remarkable resemblance to <strong>the</strong>ir pretended<br />
ancestors. ‘They always wore <strong>the</strong> Highland dress, kilt and belted plaid, and looked melancholy<br />
and spoke at times mysteriously.’ 51 Unafraid <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> new medium <strong>of</strong> photography, much admired<br />
for its veracity, Charles sat for his portrait to <strong>the</strong> Ed<strong>in</strong>burgh photographers Hill and Adamson <strong>in</strong><br />
about 1843 [fig: 40] and <strong>the</strong> result bears out <strong>the</strong> truthfulness at least <strong>of</strong> Grant’s description and<br />
<strong>the</strong> fact that if <strong>the</strong> camera does not lie it may certa<strong>in</strong>ly be too easily impressed.<br />
45 Trevor-Roper, ‘The Tartan’, p. 232.<br />
46 Pug<strong>in</strong> to <strong>the</strong> Earl <strong>of</strong> Shrewsbury, 6 August 1842, Letters, 1, p.373.<br />
47 Grant, Memoirs <strong>of</strong> a Highland Lady, p.388.<br />
48 Grant, Memoirs <strong>of</strong> a Highland Lady, p.388.<br />
49 Grant, Memoirs <strong>of</strong> a Highland Lady, p. 388.<br />
50 Grant, Memoirs <strong>of</strong> a Highland Lady, p. 388.<br />
51 Grant, Memoirs <strong>of</strong> a Highland Lady, p. 388.<br />
180