Proofs, however, were too strong, and Hamlet was
generally condemned. "Well, well," said Scott, "it's partly my own
fault. I have given up coursing for some time past, and the poor dog
has had no chance after game to take the fire edge off of him If he was
put after a hare occasionally he never would meddle with sheep."
I understood, afterward, that Scott actually got a pony, and went out
now and then coursing with Hamlet, who, in consequence, showed no
further inclination for mutton.
* * * * *
A further stroll among the hills brought us to what Scott pronounced
the remains of a Roman camp, and as we sat upon a hillock which had
once formed a part of the ramparts, he pointed out the traces of the
lines and bulwarks, and the pratorium, and showed a knowledge of
castramatation that would not have disgraced the antiquarian Oldbuck
himself. Indeed, various circumstances that I observed about Scott
during my visit, concurred to persuade me that many of the antiquarian
humors of Monkbarns were taken from his own richly compounded
character, and that some of the scenes and personages of that admirable
novel were furnished by his immediate neighborhood.
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