on their march, and going into a hackney coach......... 317 Verses to the author of the Essay on Nothing............... 318 On Mr Henderson in the character of Hamlet............... 329 On the manner of singing the Scots songs at the theatre 332 AN ACCOUNT OF THE LIFE OF THE LATE MR WILLIAM CREECH. WILLIAM CREECH, late Bookseller in Edinburgh, was born at Newbattle, in the neighbourhood of that city, on the 21st of April 1745. His ancestors were respectable farmers in the county of Fife, but not in opulent circumstances. He was the son of the Rev. William Creech, minister of the parish of Newbattle, and Mrs Mary Buley, an English lady, nearly related to the family of Quarme in Devonshire, several of whom have held the office of Usher of the Black Rod in the House of Lords. The Rev. Mr Creech, who was a pious and most respectable clergyman, died at the early age of forty, a few months after the birth of his son William, leaving besides him, his widow, and two very young daughters, Margaret and Mary, both of whom died in the month of September 1749. b After the death of her husband, Mrs Creech retired with her young charge to the village of Dalkeith, where she continued to be patronised by the noble family of Lothian, who had bestowed the living of Newbattle on her husband; and at the death of her two daughters, she resided for sometime in Perthshire, and her son, we believe, was for a short period at one of the schools in the town of Perth. They soon, however, returned to Dalkeith, where Mr Creech received an excellent education at the school of Mr Barclay, who was one of the ablest and most successful teachers of his day, and who had the happiness of directing the early studies of the late Lord Chancellor Loughborough, the late Lord Viscount Melville, and other eminent characters who have since shone in public life *. At this school Mr Creech was also particularly fortunate, in having the benefit of the private tuition of the With several of these, the early companions of his youth, Mr Creech always maintained the strongest friendship; and he frequently mention. ed, with peculiar satisfaction, the pleasure he felt in meeting, not many years ago, so many of his school companions, who assembled at social parties, under the name of "Barclay's Scholars," to talk over their youthful exploits. Upon one of these occasions, which took place about a twelvemonth before his death, the late Lord Melville was present, and was extremely cheerful and animated. It is very remarkable, that although, at the date of the first of these meetings, upwards of forty years had elapsed since the death of Mr Barclay, more than twenty gentlemen survived to pay this tribute of grateful affection to his memory. And it may be added, that all of them were men moving in a respectable rank of life, and some of them of great opulence and consequence. These meetings are still continued, though the hand of death has struck others of the members as well as the regretted subject of this sketch, late Dr Robertson, minister of Kilmarnock, at that time private tutor to the sons of the Earl of Glencairn, who were boarded in Mrs Creech's house. Mr Creech often expressed with gratitude the advantage which he derived from the knowledge and kindness of this gentleman, who paid the same attention to him as to his own pupils. These young noblemen contracted a great friendship for Mr Creech, and hence arose an intimacy between him and the Glencairn family, which continued while any of its branches existed. After completing his grammatical education at Dalkeith, Mr Creech removed with his mother to Edinburgh, where they met with the greatest kindness and attention from many respectable friends, and particularly from the family of the late Mr Kincaid, then his Majesty's printer for Scotland *. Mrs Kincaid, who was granddaughter to Robert fourth Earl of Lothian, and the daughter of Lord Charles Kerr, continued that friendship which her noble relations had so long manifested to the widow and son of their favourite clergyman. She was a lady of exemplary piety and strict religious principles, and took a particular interest in inculcating these on the mind of young Creech. The impression was strong, and * Alexander Kincaid, Esq. was an eminent bookseller and publisher, and a gentleman of highly cultivated talents and manners. He took for many years a leading concern in the management of the affairs of this city, and died at the age of sixty-six, while he held the office of Lord Provost, January 21, 1777. He was interred with all the public civic honours due to his rank; a particular account of which is given in the Appendix to Arnot's History of Edinburgh. |