Grand Masters of Scotland - Onondaga and Oswego Masonic ...

Dalhousie was in wretched health and on the eve of retirement when the belated orders reached him; but he at once laid down
instructions for Outram in every detail, moved up troops, and elaborated a scheme of government with particular orders as to
conciliating local opinion. The king refused to sign the treaty put before him, and a proclamation annexing the province was
therefore issued on the 13th of February 1856.
Only one important matter now remained to him before quitting office. The insurrection of the half-civilized Kolarian Santals of
Bengal against the extortions of landlords and moneylenders had been severely repressed, but the causes of the insurrection had
still to be reviewed and a remedy provided. By removing the tract of country from the ordinary regulations, enforcing the residence of
British officers there, and employing the Santal headmen in a local police, he ensured a system of administration which afterwards
proved eminently successful.
At length, after seven years of strenuous labor, Dalhousie, on the 6th of March 1856, set sail for England on board the Company's
"Firoze", an object of general sympathy and not less general respect. At Alexandria he was carried by H.M.S. "Caradoc" to Malta,
and from there by the "Tribune" to Spithead, which he reached on the 1lth of May. His return had been eagerly looked for by
statesmen who hoped that he would resume his public career, by the Company which voted him an annual pension of £5000, by
public bodies which showered upon him every mark of respect, and by the queen who earnestly prayed for the "blessing of restored
health and strength." That blessing was not to be his. He lingered on, seeking sunshine in Malta and medical treatment at Malvern,
Edinburgh and other places in vain obedience to his doctors. The outbreak
of the mutiny led to bitter attacks at home upon his policy, and to strange
misrepresentation of his public acts, while on the other hand John Lawrence
invoked his counsel and influence, and those who really knew his work in
India cried out, "Oh, for a dictator", and his return "for one hour." To all these
cries he turned a deaf ear, refusing to embarrass those who were
responsible by any expressions of opinion, declining to undertake his own
defense or to assist in his vindication through the public press, and by his
last directions sealing up his private journal and papers of personal interest
against publication until fifty years after his death. On the 9th of August 1859
his youngest daughter, Edith, was married at Dalhousie Castle to Sir James
Fergusson, Bart. In the same castle Dalhousie died on the 19th of
December 1860; he was buried in the old churchyard of Cockpen.
Dalhousie's family consisted of two daughters, and the marquessate
became extinct at his death.
Father: George Ramsay, 9th Earl of Dalhousie (b. 1770, d. 1838); Mother:
Christina Broun of Coalstoun
Wife: Lady Susan Hay (m. 1836, d. 1853, two daughters)
Governor-General of India 1848–56
64. Sir James Forrest of Comiston, Bart., Lord Provost of Edinburgh
1838-40
16 Oct 1780 – 5 Apr 1860
http://www.nls.uk/broadsides/broadside.cfm/id/16514
< Broadside ballad entitled 'Jemmie Forrest'
Commentary
This ballad begins: 'Hey, Jemmie Forrest, are ye waukin' yet? / Or are your
Bailies snoring yet? / If ye were waukin' I would wait, / Ye'd hae a merry,
merry morning.' It was to be sung to the tune of 'Johnny Cope' and includes
a woodcut illustration of a carriage pulled by a team of horses.
The 'Jemmie Forrest' of the title refers to the Lord Provost of Edinburgh,
James Forrest. The song revolves around a rather unfortunate incident that
took place upon the arrival of Queen Victoria in Edinburgh, during her 1842
tour of Scotland. Although the Lord Provost and the Bailies of Edinburgh
were meant to form a welcoming party to greet the sovereign, when Victoria
arrived in the capital there was no one there to meet her. This was highly
embarrassing for those involved and provided fuel for a great many
humorous broadsides.
Broadsides are single sheets of paper, printed on one side, to be read
unfolded. They carried public information such as proclamations as well as
ballads and news of the day. Cheaply available, they were sold on the
streets by peddlers and chapmen. Broadsides offer a valuable insight into
many aspects of the society they were published in, and the National Library
of Scotland holds over 250,000 of them.
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~macfie/dreghorn.htm
. . . the mansion-house of Comiston most probably deriving its name from
the " Comistone " above referred to. It was built by Sir James Forrest in 1815. The Forrests of Comiston, however, date further back
than this, mention being made of a Captain Forrest in the Kirk Session Records in 1719. Sir James Forrest was Lord Provost of
Edinburgh in 1840.
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