Though I never renewed my acquaintance with
him, I often saw him, for he filled some inferior office in one of the
courts of law at Edinburgh. Poor fellow! I believe he is dead; he took
early to drinking."[4]
Scott's school reputation was one of irregular ability; he "glanced like
a meteor from one end of the class to the other," and received more praise
for his interpretation of the spirit of his authors than for his knowledge
of their language. Out of school his fame stood higher. He extemporized
innumerable stories to which his school-fellows delighted to listen; and,
in spite of his lameness, he was always in the thick of the "bickers," or
street fights with the boys of the town, and renowned for his boldness in
climbing the "kittle nine stanes" which are "projected high in air from
the precipitous black granite of the Castle-rock." At home he was much
bullied by his elder brother Robert, a lively lad, not without some powers
of verse-making, who went into the navy, then in an unlucky moment passed
into the merchant service of the East India Company, and so lost the
chance of distinguishing himself in the great naval campaigns of Nelson.
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