Publisher's Synopsis
Excerpt from The Wilkie Gallery: A Selection of the Best Pictures of the Late Sir David Wilkie, R. An., Including His Spanish and Oriental Sketches, With Notices Biographical and Critical
David wilkie, the great painter, was the third son of the Rev. David Wilkie, minister Of Cults, in Fifeshire, by his third wife, Isabella Lister, daughter of Mr. James Lister, of Pitlessie mill, in the same parish, and elder of the church there.
From both parents he appears to have inherited that seriousness, sagacity, and habitual spirit of self-control, which, besides being among the most honourable of the national characteristics, were peculiarly called forth by the circumstances of the Scottish clergy. The father of Wilkie was bred in the school of privation, the descendant of a family long possessed of a humble independence; but reduced to become tenants Of their patrimonial estate of Ratho Byres, (a spot ever dear to the feelings of the painter, ) it was not without di?iculty that they could bear even the comparatively tri?ing expense of an university education in Scotland, necessary for the sacred profession to which they destined him. The slender allowance afforded from their narrow means, was increased by the tri?ing emoluments of a bursary to which he was honourably promoted, and by giving lessons to others in the studies which he himself long and zealously pursued. Years thus wore away in hopeless penury and the rigorous celibacy which it enforced, ere any prospect appeared of his attaining even the humble distinction and modest independence of a parish clergyman. And thus perhaps he might have continued to the autumn of life, but for the assistance of a kinsman, the Rev. William Wilkie, a man of some poetical celebrity in his day, and Professor of Divinity at St. Andrews, through whose kindly in?uence some rays of prosperity began to cheer the long-neglected and despondent student; but although his worth and learning were now brought to the light, yet it was by slow steps that he emerged from obscurity; for it was five years longer before he was promoted to the vacant manse of Cults.
In about two years from his induction, he married a woman, one of the most beautiful of the land, whose society, he might have fondly hoped, would have repaid him for the long years of youth passed in sordid celibacy; but this anticipated happiness ?ed like a dream.
About the Publisher
Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com
This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
