Bailie Nicol Jarvie

Lockhart, in his *Life of Scott*, speaking of the first representation of *Rob Roy* on the Edinburgh boards, observes— "The great and unrivalled attraction was the personification of Bailie Jarvie by Charles Mackay, who, being himself a native of Glasgow, entered into the minutest peculiarities of the character with high *gusto*, and gave the west country dialect in its most racy perfection." But in the sweetest cup of praise, there is generally one small drop of bitterness. The drop, in honest Mackay's case, is that by calling him a "native of Glasgow," and, therefore, "to the manner born," h…