110
RIDDELLS OF TIVIOTDALE, SCOTLAND.
died Nov. 29, 1867, having had issue seven children, of whom hereafter.
His wife predeceased him June 14, 1853, at the age of 53 years. The
family lived at Ramcleuchburn, Scotland.
Borthwick Riddell (1), second son of Robert¹ (1), was born in
Tiviotdale, Roxburghshire; married, and followed farming as a vocation.
He was a distinguished performer on the bagpipe, and for many years was
known as "Riddell, the piper." He was a large, dark man, and the
best player on the small pipes on the Scottish border. See a lecture in
which mention is made of his playing at the wedding of the son of the
Duke of Buccleuch; also see Wilson's "Songs of Scotland." He played on
many important occasions, and always won the applause of the company.
Mr. Riddell played at Minto House when Earl Russell married a daughter
of the Earl of Minto, - the parents of Lord Amberley, and for this
service was rewarded with one of the cheapest and best farms on the estate.
No children.
Henry-Scott Riddell (1), third son of Robert¹ (1), was born at Sorbie,
near Langholm, Sept. 23, 1798; married to Eliza, daughter of Mr.
Clark, a merchant of Biggar, and by her had issue three sons, of whom
hereafter. He spent his younger days as a shepherd with his father and
elder brothers. His advantages for education in early life were very lim-
ited; sometimes his father employed a teacher in his house, and during a
few weeks in winter sent his children to the district-school. When his
-
father removed a distance from the schools, he was sometimes boarded for
study at Davington, Roberton and Newmill; at each of which, he says,
"I only remained a short time, making, I suppose, such progress as do
other boys who love the foot-ball better than the spelling-book." He early
manifested a preference for literature, and read all the books he could
borrow in his neighborhood; and when on the mountains with his flocks,
he constantly carried a book to these lonely solitudes, and with these si-
lent companions and his dog, surrounded by the wild scenes of nature, he
passed his time most pleasantly. While thus employed he commenced
the composition of poetry and, as he has said, loved to write out the
thoughts that came into his mind. The following lines best show the hab-
its of the shepherd-lad at that time :-
:-
·
My early years were passed far on
The hills of Ettrick wild and lone;
Through summer sheen and winter cold,
Tending the flocks that o'er them strolled.
In bold, enthusiastic glee
I sung rude strains of minstrelsy;
Which mingling with, died o'er the dale,
Unheeded as the plovers' wail.
Oft where the waving rushes shed
A shelter frail about my head,
Weening, though not through thoughts of fame,
To fix on these more lasting claim,
I'd there secure in rustic scroll,
The wayward fancies of my soul.
Even where yon lofty rocks, arise,
Hoar as the clouds on wintry skies,
Wrapp'd in the plaid and dernel beneath
The colder cone of drifted wreath,
I noted them afar from ken,
Till ink would freeze within the pen;
So deep the spell that bound the heart
Unto the bard's undying art-
