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MEMOIR OF THOMAS DRUMMOND.

CHAPTER I.

BIRTH, PARENTAGE, AND EARLY CIRCUMSTANCES. THOMAS DRUMMOND was born in Castle Street, Edinburgh, on 10th October 1797. His father, James Drummond, was a member of the Society of Writers to the Signet, and had a house in Edinburgh; but, like many members of that honourable body, instead of practising in his profession, he lived chiefly on his estates in the country. These were in Perthshire, where he is still remembered as "The last Laird of Comrie."

"The last Laird of Comrie" was the representative at once of the families of Invermay, Drummondernoch, and Comrie. The common ancestor of these families was Thomas, the fourth son of Sir Malcolm Drummond of Cargill and Stobhall, "Lord of that Ilk," who, in 1445, succeeded as chief of the house of Drummond to the vast estates which then belonged to it in the counties of Perth, Dumbarton, and Stirling. This Sir Malcolm Drummond traced his ancestry through a series of noble names back to the time of Malcolm Canmore, and to Maurice, the first of the name of Drummond. Maurice again was a Hungarian, of the royal house of Hungary, and an attendant on Edgar Atheling, when,

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in his flight from England, stress of weather obliged him to take refuge in the Firth of Forth. King Malcolm, who was then living at Dunfermline, kindly received the royal fugitives; to Maurice he showed especial favour, and ultimately induced him to settle in Scotland, bestowing on him various honours and offices and a gift of lands. This is the shape, at least, which the early history of the Drummond family assumed in the beginning of the sixteenth century. Whether it be true or not, certain it is that the family, from Sir Malcolm of Stobhall downwards, has been sufficiently distinguished to entitle its members to dispense with fictitious claims to consideration. The eldest son of Sir Malcolm was raised to the peerage as Lord Drummond in 1487; the fourth Lord Drummond was in 1605 created Earl of Perth; and the fourth Earl of Perth filled the offices of Lord Justice-General and Lord High Chancellor of Scotland. This is not the place, however, to write the history of the house of Drummond.

Of the Drummondernoch branch of the family, there is an account (which may appropriately be quoted here) by David Malcolm, A.M., in a " Genealogical Memoir" of the house of Drummond, published in 1804.* After pointing out its founder, Thomas, fourth son of Sir Malcolm Drummond of Stobhall, the author says"From him was lineally descended James, the seventh of Drummondernoch, a gentleman of great respectability, who flourished before the Revolution. He was succeeded by a son of the same name, whose grandson

"The

*The earlier portions of this Memoir are founded on Strathallan Manuscript," a collection of information as to the house of Drummond, made in 1681 by the first Viscount Strathallan. The manuscript itself was printed for private circulation in 1831.

Patrick, the last of Drummondernoch, succeeded as next heir-male to the Laird of Comrie. This succession was eventually a loss, as it involved Patrick Drummond in debt, and obliged him to sell his ancient patrimony of Drummondernoch and Pittenteean. Patrick Drummond of Comrie, by Miss Buchanan of Lenie, left two sons and one daughter-James, his successor; John, a major in the East India Service; and Beatrice, who married James Drummond, Esq. of Strageath. James Drummond [the last of Comrie'], on succeeding to the estate, became the representative of the families of Invermay, Drummondernoch, and Comrie. He was a gentleman of great ingenuity, highly improved the estate, and new-modelled entirely the village of Comrie. After his death, which happened 1st February 1800, the estate was sold to the son of Viscount Melville. James Drummond was enrolled a Writer to His Majesty's Signet in 1788, and married in 1792 Elizabeth, daughter of James Somers, writer [in Edinburgh], a lady of great merit and ability, by whom he left issue three sons and one daughter-1. James Patrick; 2. Elizabeth; 3. Thomas [the subject of this Memoir]; and 4. John." The only correction to be made on this account is, that the grandfather of Thomas Drummond was twice married, and that his father was a son by the first wife, and not by Miss Buchanan,

Mr Somers was a Whig, and Mr James Drummond a Tory. At that time this was "a difference with a consequence;" in their case, however, it did not prevent the establishment between them of a close friendship, and ultimately of a close affinity.

Elizabeth Somers, who became Mrs Drummond, possessed great personal attractions, besides being, as

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