Map of a Nation (58 page)

1
On 29 June 1704
The
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
’s entry for David Watson suggests that he was born around 1713, to a man named ‘Thomas Watson’ (see Baigent, ‘Watson, David’). But a document in the papers of the Dundas Family of Arniston, Viscounts Melville, NRAS 3246, gives a date of 29 June 1704, and also confirms that Watson’s father was called Robert (see NRAS 3246, Bundle 205: Miscellaneous Papers, 1615–1807). The
DNB
entry for Robert Dundas also confirms that he married ‘in 1712, Elizabeth, eldest daughter of Robert Watson of Muirhouse’ (see Scott, Richard). Another
document
in the Dundas Papers (‘Bond of Relief, Colonel Robert Watson to the Lord President 1777’, in Bundle 75: Papers mainly relating to the executry of Major-General David Watson of Muirhouse), written by Watson’s nephew Robert Watson, the son of Watson’s brother Robert Watson, describes how ‘the Lands & Barrony of Muirhouse formerly belonging to Mr James Hunter Advocate and Alexander Hunter his Son were purchased … by Robert Watson Merchant in Edinburgh my Grandfather conform to a decree of Sale in his favour dated the Twenty Eight day of February One thousand Seven hundred years.’ Another piece of evidence in support of Watson’s birth in 1704 is that his portrait was painted by Andrea Soldi in 1761, and it seems more likely to be an image of a 57-year-old man, than a 48-year-old. (However, he had been ill for a long while, and it is possible that his aged appearance was due to his poor health.)

2
David was the baby of a large family
See Dundas Papers, NRAS 3246, Bundle 205.

3
But at the age of eight
See NAS, RH9/17/305; Dundas Papers, NRAS 3246, Bundle 205; NAS, GD150/3152 and GD150/3141; and NAS, CS228/W/1/39.

4
And in that same year
Private Collection, Uncatalogued MSS,
Arniston Journals and Letters
, II, p. 17, and Elizabeth Dundas to Robert Dundas (3rd Lord President), NRAS 3246, Volume 32: Letter Book 1723–43, f. 64 20 November 1733.

5
Dundas despotism
Fry, p. ix. See also Cockburn, pp. 48–9.

6
to describe, in full detail
Omond, p. 58.

7
Solicitor General of Scotland
Scott, Richard.

8
one of the ablest lawyers
Burton, pp. 249–50, cited in Fry, p. 7.

9
ill-looking
Burton, pp. 249–50, cited in Fry, p. 7.

10
heat and impetuosity
Ramsay, p. 67, cited in Fry, p. 7.

11
abundance of tact
Omond, p. 60.

12
a bill for wine
Dundas Papers, NRAS 3246, Bundle 106: Receipts and Accounts 1686–1750. See accounts for June 1730 to March 1731.

13
honouring Bacchus for so many hours
Scott, Walter, 1842, p. 572 (note).

14
a torrent of good sense
Carlyle, pp. 249–50.

15
something of surrogate parents
Robert Watson (David Watson’s brother) to Robert Dundas (2nd Lord President), NRAS 3246, Volume 31: Letter Book 1655–1722, ff. 93, 101 [January 1721] and 16 March 1721.

16
It was an exciting time
See Herman.

17
In 1707, an Act of Union
For modern explorations of the events and effects of the 1707 Anglo-Scottish Union, see Colley, 2003, pp. 10–54; Davidson; Hayton; Levack; and MacInnes.

18
the right to choose our own governors
Price, p. 49.

19
vibrant public sphere
Habermas. For discussions of the social context of Enlightenment map-making, see Edney, 1994b; and Withers, 2002.

20
Sapere aude!
Kant, 1991, p. 54.

21
Enlightenment thinkers invested maps
See Edney, 1997, pp. 39–120; Frängsmyr, Heilbron and Rider; Livingstone and Withers; Mayhew, pp. 168–92, 207–28, 246–57; Withers, 2001, pp. 112–57; and Withers, 2002, pp. 46–66.

22
a kind of world map
Diderot and d’Alembert, I p. xv.

23
esprit géométrique
Fontenelle, p. 151.

24
Exactitude in Science
Borges, p. 181.

25
the quantifying spirit
Frängsmyr, Heilbron and Rider.

26
dramatic advances in instruments and methods
See Taylor, E.G.R., 1937 and 1966; Howse, 1989; and McConnell (among many others).

27
’Tis truely strange
Mark [pp. 1–2], cited in Withers, 2002, p. 50.

28
known to read a book
Omond, p. 111.

29
Arniston’s library was impressively stocked
NRAS 3246, Bundle 106: Receipts and Accounts 1686–1750; Bundle 108: Accounts, Discharges, and Receipts, 18th Century; Bundle 117: Miscellaneous Papers 17th and 18th Centuries; Bundle 120: Miscellaneous Papers 17th and 18th Centuries.

30
an inspiring collection of surveying instruments
NRAS 3246, Bundle 117 contains a catalogue for James Cargill, who sells ‘Gunters Scales & Chains for
measuring
ground[,] Mathematical Instruments in Cases with Brass Ivory and Boxwood Scales[,] Woodscales Quadrants Sectors & small dividers[,] Boxwood Rules for measuring &c.’ Bundle 120 contains an ‘Instruments Makers Bill for Theodilite, Tap box, & Cleaning a Case of Instruments’. Volume 34: Letter Book 1745, ff. 34, 35, contain advice to Robert Dundas (2nd Lord President) regarding ‘the best Globe maker’, presumably in Edinburgh. And Volume 49: Personal and Household Account Book, 1733–44, f. 19, contains a receipt for ‘mending the Globe’. Around 1785, David Allan painted an image of the children of Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville, clustered around a globe. (Henry was the son of Ann Gordon and Robert Dundas [2nd Lord President].) I am grateful to Charles W.J. Withers (via Stephen Daniels) for this information.

31
a series of cartographic depictions
Many of these surveys have been omitted from the most recent NRAS catalogue of the Dundas Papers (NRAS 3246), but can still be found on an older catalogue (NRAS 0077). They include around fifteen estate maps of Arniston conducted over the course of the long eighteenth century.

32
William Adam
William Adam, ‘Elevations and ground plans of Arniston House and grounds’, NRAS 0077, Plans. (This is a version of the NRAS
catalogue
of the Dundas Papers that precedes the current one, NRAS 3246.)

33
Colin Maclaurin
NRAS 3246, Volume 51: Robert Dundas’s Personal Accounts, 1738–55.

34
A child prodigy
Sageng.

35
begins with demonstrating the grounds Scots Magazine
, August 1741, cited in Gibson, pp. 71–93.

36
Alexander Bryce, Murdoch Mackenzie, Robert Adam and James Short
Withers, 2002, p. 49; Carr; Fleming, pp. 79–80; Clarke.

37
long banishment at Gib[raltar]
David Watson to Robert Dundas (3rd Lord President), NRAS 3246, Volume 32: Letter Book 1723–43, f. 86, 24 December 1734.

38
a martial Scuffle
David Watson to Robert Dundas (3rd Lord President), NRAS 3246, Volume 32: Letter Book 1723–43, f. 86, 24 December 1734.

39
In November 1733
Elizabeth Dundas (née Watson) to Robert Dundas (2nd Lord President), NRAS 3246, Volume 32: Letter Book 1723–43, f. 64, 20 November 1733.

40
confind to her Chamber
Robert Dundas (2nd Lord President) to Robert Dundas (3rd Lord President), NRAS 3246, Volume 32: Letter Book 1723–43, f. 65, 13 December 1733.

41
When her two small daughters
Robert Dundas (2nd Lord President) to Robert Dundas (3rd Lord President), NRAS 3246, Volume 32: Letter Book 1723–43, f. 69, 5 January 1734.

42
By 6 February 1734
Robert Dundas (2nd Lord President) to Robert Dundas (3rd Lord President), NRAS 3246, Volume 32: Letter Book 1723–43, f. 70, 12 February 1734.

43
the best of mothers and an incomparable wife
Robert Dundas (2nd Lord President) to Robert Dundas (3rd Lord President), NRAS 3246, Volume 32: Letter Book 1723–43, f. 70, 12 February 1734.

44
Sir William Gordon
For a history of the Gordons of Invergordon, especially the branch who resided at Hallcraig and Milton, see Bulloch; Gordon, C.A. William; Gordon. Sir William was married to Isobel Hamilton, whose family owned Hallcraig, and the couple’s children became entangled in a complex debate regarding its inheritance. After much wrangling, their second surviving son, Charles Hamilton Gordon, became proprietor after Sir William’s death. For information about the Hamiltons of Hallcraig, see Hamilton, George. Further details about Sir William’s business dealings, and those of his son Charles Hamilton Gordon (who was a prominent freemason), can be found in Slade, 1981, pp. 458–9; Slade, 1982, p. 499. Ann Gordon’s sister Isobel was married to George Mackenzie, Lord Cromarty, who became embroiled on the Jacobite side during the 1745 rebellion, to the horror of her family.

45
have the happness
Elizabeth Dundas (née Watson) to Ann Gordon, NAS, GD235/9/2: Dundas Letters 1735–43, f. 77, 20 October 1733.

46
His carriage overturned
Robert Dundas (2nd Lord President) to [Ann Gordon], NAS, GD235/9/2: Dundas Letters 1735–43, f. 78, 21 October 1733.

47
truble in his bake
Elizabeth Dundas (née Watson) to Robert Dundas (3rd Lord President), NRAS 3246, Volume 32: Letter Book 1723–43, f. 64, 20 November 1733.

48
I won’t omitt ane opportunity
Robert Dundas (2nd Lord President) to [Ann Gordon], NAS, GD235/9/2: Dundas Letters 1735–43, f. 78, 21 October 1733.

49
the Loss You have … Made
Ann Gordon to Robert Dundas (2nd Lord President), NRAS 3246, Volume 32: Letter Book 1723–43, f. 75, 26 March [1734].

50
Ann and Robert’s wedding
They were married on 3 June 1734. Private Collection, Uncatalogued MSS,
Arniston Journals and Letters
, II, p. 17.

51
I did not incline
Robert Dundas (2nd Lord President) to Robert Dundas (3rd Lord President), NRAS 3246, Volume 32: Letter Book 1723–43, f. 83, 6 September 1734.

52
upon the Establishment of an Engineer
John Hay, 4th Marquess of Tweeddale, to Robert Dundas (2nd Lord President), NRAS 3246, Volume 32: Letter Book 1723–43, f. 155, 25 November 1742.

53
immediately come here
John Hay, 4th Marquess of Tweeddale, to Robert Dundas (2nd Lord President), NRAS 3246, Volume 32: Letter Book 1723–43, f. 155, 25 November 1742.

54
would be a good beginning
John Hay, 4th Marquess of Tweeddale, to Robert Dundas (2nd Lord President), NRAS 3246, Volume 32: Letter Book 1723–43, f. 160, 2 December 1742.

55
A department known as the ‘Office of Ordnance’
For accounts of the history of the Board of Ordnance and the Corps of Engineers, and their involvement in map-making, see (among others) Bailey; N.P., 1985; Boyd; Connolly, T.W.J.; Marshall, 1976; Marshall, 1980; Millburn; Napier; and Porter, Whitworth.

56
that which is ordered or ordained
For a full exploration of the meanings of ‘ordnance,
n
.’ and ‘ordinance,
n
.’, see
The Oxford English Dictionary
, 2nd edn, 1989,
OED Online
, Oxford University Press, 4 April 2000, Draft revision December 2009 and Draft revision March 2010 . See also Hewitt, 2007, pp. 3–5.