ABSTRACT
Scott’s Journal, begun on 20 November 1825 as if pre-programmed to record the crash which overtook him two months later, offers more insight into his feelings at this time of his life than is available at any other. Henry Cockburn was a fixture of Scott’s life in Edinburgh and they met often, although their intimate social sets diverged, reflecting the difference in their political opinions. Scott rather enjoyed this stimulus when he met Cockburn, musing in his Journal after one particularly convivial evening at John Murray’s in December 1826. Cockburn’s respect for Scott, evident in his Memorials, was also evident in the last months of Scott’s life, when Lockhart consulted the newly-appointed Solicitor-General for Scotland over the painful problem of Scott’s inability to carry out his duties as Sheriff of Selkirkshire.
