SPECIAL ARTICLE. MAJORY FLEMING

Press, Volume LXVI, Issue 19942, 31 May 1930, Page 13

SPECIAL ARTICLE. MAJORY FLEMING

(Borft 1803, died 1811.)

wnwr nm raxsnJ [By Dr. Hslbs' SiJirsox.J (II.) a, not only an eager reader ».i an eager listener as well. What piously vo"™* C Z *^ on find their way o» t,€ "Tof her journals, as, for example J! discusses, between two moral Suobb, the price of meat, or mediZTlpOn the iniquity of paying a H for a pineapple. She hears a Stord, chews upon it, turns it over little mind, and then sets it it all costs, to see how it looks. {S "Expostulations of all kinds are •i*fri*olous." One can imagine the Srf glee with which this was thrown j But pride was to have an im*j lte fall; for either she took tlus 2b effort to Isabella, to see what JthOught of it, or Isabella chanced » tbtt moment to look over her Lifer aQ(I tliere M'ows the wise w J W ill gay no hiore about exhalations." But she has given herself JJ\pasolation of using the beautiful «.»» a— Thi» tbe f"*"* 1 of , Swic wars, and there are referand there to the ireneh T*. r m Edinburgh Custle, or to {riW %iority of the English forces. P these gives rise to a rather bit of "fine writmfc • Sau jMlish have great power over tie rISh-ah ra« ysradventure, at this monoble Colnel at, this mom.'ut to th# ground without brea.h; and in puige dies; it » a melaucoly gjfjtfutUonIfetta of this kind are more common tim little authoress is notina rfttytftl effect*: iiu ferda do chir?, the lambs do leap, JStettue ii clothed with the garments o£ am. wUow, and P u fP l6 r£ 4 • txe sprouting liko from Sfemwlwn they uo newly hatched or "tSSrWcw clacked. n ... th« two country seats of BraeU*d*nd Eavelston, where Marjory Aftt tttnyT»ppy days, that inspired JUaumifOM poetical passages of this mSt Yet her second journal, written Jnly at Braeheiyl, tfhere the sumZrof 1809 was passed, is filled with jfr** Tbe child, now six, was evir**""g through a difficult time; Si Amu liter day bßs records her fits (Toßimreraable temper, good resolution and straightway broken, M it* remorse of conscience to which iriiantivo 8 little girl was necessarily I Imf tlut I have bees very more like I lltt'ii *<mng d*vil than * creature for Mta' ireat jnj )he stairs to teach aw 'xdigian and 'my multiplication. ... 1 tWucped with tty • »n d was very talk* and tM dttmmf pialonate. Tfr&j l JutT*. vary ungrateful and taA wi 'djnMitnj' Ju&ella gave me my wfofe' fertfl that she took it fedlßTtt'SP in h«r desk where 1 ti*d tattk ti it till «be. made me but I was in a Hi «d it «o carelessly and tt til It m A from me and her blood % ' ® ' \'L . . . n, weighing more jAAn* Mffily on tho little C&lvinShJtttftKOf"hfer. Isa evidently did o help, remaining al"g«ntal as a of provocation, and at which the little sintiutched. kV*™ ttte advice which is that . IHiFM-E%Un. beginning to tempt me 9m f"|M' frtm him and ho would flea HWf:' x-year-oid 1 "Remorse," MM last entry in this second vol*be worst thing to IV-iM I am afraid that I will fall tJMttr it." •Bfniw tills was a passing phase. Ijjffirtlll from time to time shaken *<■«»! i depths of her small being, D hav«| acquired after these ijtf a AifaaUro of self-con-m remaining volumes of her i" joydus as the first, i in this had summer A fier ta impotent rage, and Me successors, remorse and confession, "seem now to with something like a bus when she is set an unSk, instead of "stamping .feet" or "roaring like a Bakes a little joke of it. npels me to sit down and not this 1 page to dope but it is wily one line to write. ■Nfii'&ltifi thing has learnt how to ISMtaß&tia. aha is," and all through jgpttttihlob* times there are constant MMuma of love and gratitude to Isa. doubtless plenty of people Jjghft out to her how grateful she fflmMibei.but not all children would Hyjftjbt as Marjory to admit the •-jjjtf.af' the admonition. The recogni<[ebt came from the depths I KWWapa little heart. Warmth of •WN, ndeed, sometimes something I yffRU ior. He* love-affairs were ''jPiljUlfr. SO that Isabella evidently it necessary to Heop a hand teias. ITiere was "a handgf M name Charles Balfour Esge," she "got ofers of marage SB*''marage. did I" say? nay, PW toyed tee." There was his SBgV Jehu- Balfour, who "offered to offered to marry me ttan was espused and his present.'- 1 But perhaps best E#owa .tiie affair with ,? Mr Crakey," fSw f Account of Which deserves to «|^diafnlL my existence hats has been i enc " a "t'Bg. On Saturday i -aHS?-? 0 ■fan? 01 *hom is here advertised: Mr Keith, and Win Keith, r . . • funniest ol everyone of ' and I walked to Croky--4n lliL i" Innocence and matita-fii-ik on the kind love which tjinder-hearted mind w}i{cli is '"itb niaipetic pleasure No ** Polite to roe in the hole y *nstonoe. Mr Craky jou must I a K™ 3 ' Biwk pretty goodigtr Here passing things. Love for I , 0 ' * deeper, more lusting sort. six she wrote the ii to her mother in Kirkhow " l ™ been away .® * ve he en wearying whso she had come -fta- to kf 8 ' pother, happy as she v er OW P again, befqre ® nce more wearying k w !uT ,° OI »0 so much for •We.' of .you all ways." she and o f ten 81gh t0 thJnk of the tlnuw *^ wee ® 011 two loving creadatpfl flo Bbe end"d a ' B «Ptember Ist, 1811," . ** from » «hiW , t,le lootings ot a child ,oM Tua ln arms I ygjy <rith respect due to a mother ',°7® yoa »° I shall «WM K. flemisf.

Love, indeed, was the very mainspring of her existence. Her first poem was inspired by "my dear love Isabella, and this dear cousin was to receive several more such tributes, of which the prettiest is perhaps this: rlove in Isa's bed to lio O snch a joy and luxury !' The bottom of the bed I sleep And with great care I myself keep CHt I embrace her feet of lillys But sho has. goton all the pillies Her neck 1 never can embrace Biit X do hug her feet in place. Although Isabella is the chief inspiration of Marjory's verse, other things, too, sin? themselves to her —scenes of external Nature, of course, whether The balmy brease comes down from heaven And makes us like for to he livolng. or The lofty trees their heads do Bhake When tbe wind blows a noise they make When they are cut a crash you hear That fills your very soul with fear. Her aunt's pet monkey prompted one "ponnet," the sad fate of three young turkeys another, which are both bouiid to be favourites of all who know Mar jory's work, the one with its joke concerning the exigencies of rime, the other with its vigorous referenco to tho callousness of the bereaved turkey mother. A direful death Indeed they had That wad put any parent mad But she wa.s more than usual calm She did not &ive a single dam. There are other things well worth knowing in the two long poems, "The Life of Mary Queen of Scots." and "The Life of tho King Jameses." with which the fourth and last volume of the Journals concludes. Space, however, forbids further' quotation. This last Journal was finished at Kirkcaldy. Marjory returned to her home in July, 1811, and a short five months later she developed measles, and was evidently very ill, so quiet was she, and so patient in her sickness. She appeared to recover, but on December 10th, after three days during which she was conscious of nothing but of pain, she died of "water on the brain." Tho end of her story is beautiful and pathetic almost beyond endurance. But if it is to be told at all it must be told in full and I therefore forbear. What would have happened had she liVed? One canjiot help wondering, yot it is impossible to decide, and therefore useless to enquire- One thing is certain—life could not have been easy to her, she was so passionate, so tender, m all things so vivid. Perhaps _if she had lived these exquisite childhood memories would have been lost. As it is, the infinite grace of her innocence, her quick childish cbnrm, the brilliance of her rare little spirit are ours for ever. Her life is like tbe passage of some bright-winged bird——beautiful and swift. [Concluded from May 24th.]