Tag Archives: Edmond Malone Shakespearian scholar

meeting of the minds….

“Who can like the Highlands?” asked Dr. Johnson after James Boswell had dragged him from Edinburgh to Inverness to Skye and back to the Lowlands. Boswell could,and soon set about immortalizing the tour… At Auchinleck, Dr. Johnson, a vehement Tory, … Continue reading

Posted in Feature Article, Ideas/Opinion, Literature/poetry/spoken word | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

going home: blades of grass

James Boswell induced Samuel Johnson in 1773, who pretended that he detested Scotsmen and despised their barren country, to venture across the Scottish border and, not only spend some days in Edinburgh, but penetrate the barbaric Highlands and undertake a … Continue reading

Posted in Feature Article, Ideas/Opinion, Literature/poetry/spoken word | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

boswell: poonch and the holy resolutions

James Boswell’s major coup was the one that he achieved during August 1773 when he induced Samuel Johnson, who pretended that he detested Scotsmen and despised their barren country, to venture across the Scottish border and, not only to spend … Continue reading

Posted in Feature Article, Ideas/Opinion, Literature/poetry/spoken word | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

boswell and johnson: mull-ing the coll of the wild

” that we might there contemplate a system of life almost totally different from what we have been accustomed to see,” and “find simplicity and wildness…” But it needed a great deal of quiet diplomacy to overcome Johnson’s natural sloth. … Continue reading

Posted in Feature Article, Ideas/Opinion | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

boswell and johnson: road show

“Who can like the Highlands?” asked Dr. Samuel Johnson in 1773. James Boswell. The James Boswell had persuaded Johnson to embark on this tour and proceeded to drag him from Edinburgh to Inverness to Sky and back to the Lowlands. … Continue reading

Posted in Feature Article, Ideas/Opinion | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

at the top of dun caan

At the top of Dun Caan, a mountain on the Isle of Raasay, James Boswell and two Highlanders danced a reel after washing down their picnic with brandy and punch. In the satirical version below, the fat and sottish Boswell … Continue reading

Posted in Feature Article, Ideas/Opinion, Literature/poetry/spoken word | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

well of the dead

By the Well of the Dead at Culloden Moor, where the British destroyed a Highland army in 1746, a head stone marks a clan chief’s grave. James Boswell “several times burst into tears” when a Culloden veteran recounted to them … Continue reading

Posted in Feature Article, Ideas/Opinion, Literature/poetry/spoken word | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

scottify yourself

Thomas Rowlandson’s engraving, below, records the scene at the Firth of Forth where James Boswell forced a piece of dried fish an Johnson as a means, he said, of “scottifying his palate…With difficulty I prevailed with him to let a … Continue reading

Posted in Feature Article, Ideas/Opinion, Literature/poetry/spoken word | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

local hospitality: johnson & boswell on their rounds

The late summer of 1773 and James Boswell had succeeded in dragging Dr. Samuel Johnson, the Dr. Johnson, from Edinburgh to Inverness to Skye and back to the Lowlands. Boswell could, and soon set about immortalizing the tour… …Johnson and … Continue reading

Posted in Feature Article, Ideas/Opinion, Literature/poetry/spoken word | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

boswell and johnson: highlands hopping

“Who can like the Highlands?” asked Dr. Samuel Johnson after James Boswell had dragged him from Edinburgh to Inverness to Skye and back to the Lowlands. Boswell could, and soon set about immortalizing the tour… …he had been “quite hurt,” … Continue reading

Posted in Feature Article, Ideas/Opinion, Literature/poetry/spoken word | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment