Records of the clan and name of Fergusson, Ferguson and Fergus

178 CLAN FEEGUSSON
Border Games ' ; ' predominating ' at the festa at Will Clerk's,
' dancing what he calls his merryandrada in great style ' ;
spending the evening with Scott, and being ' in all his glory,'
so that ' the nicht drave on wi' sangs and clatter ' ; ' in high
fooling, so that we had an amazing deal of laughing ' ; taking
a long walk with Sir Walter when the latter was ' haunted
with gloomy thoughts ' — ' it was a charity ' (writes Scott), ' and
his gaiety rubbed one up a little ' ; — dining with Scott and
laughing and talking his sense of gloom and oppression away.
Never surely were two dearer friends, nor two men better
suited to enjoy one another's brilliancy and wit and humour
and intellectual powers.
Adam long outlived his friend, who, as all the world knows,
died on the 21st September 1832. 1
Adam himself was called away on Christmas day 1854,
aged 84, and was followed three years later by his wife.
Husband and wife lie in a vault in the churchyard of the
Old Grey friars, Edinburgh, with the following inscription
over them : —
IN MEMORY OF
Captain Sir ADAM FERGUSON, Knight
depute keeper of the regalia of scotland
eldest son of
Dr. Adam Ferguson
professor of moral philosophy
in the university of edinburgh
born 2 1st december 1770
died 25th december 1854
AND OF
Dame MARGAEET FERGUSON
HIS WIFE
daughter of
John Stuart of Stenton
born 15th may 1770
died 4th december 1857.
I will conclude this notice of Sir Adam with the following
invitation in verse from Sir Walter to the Merry Knight,
most kindly supplied to me by Mr. George Bayley of 7
i For some most interesting letters of the two friends to each other, and for
various allusions to Sir Adam, see Familiar Letters of Sir Walter Scott, 1894.