| Administrative History | James Hay Beattie [1768-1790]. Eldest son of Beattie. Named, with permission, after Beattie's patron James Hay, Earl of Erroll. His childhood is lovingly recorded in many letters, which show that Beattie was always a deeply involved parent, and in the memoir Beattie wrote shortly after James Hay's death. His childhood and adolescence were marred by his mother's mental illness, and her total disasppearance from his life when he was aged about eleven. He attended Aberdeen Grammar School, and then Marischal College from 1781 to 1786. He considered entering the church, but Beattie secured his appointment on 28 Spetember 1787 as his own assistant and successor. James Hay sometimes taught the Arts class, but was already ill with tubercolosis, of which he died on 19 November 1790. His father assembled a substantial volume of his prose and verse, printed in an edition of 200 copies for circulation among his friends in 1794, and subsequently published with Beattie's own poems in 1799 |
| Description | Letter from James Hay Beattie, London, to James Dun, explaining to him that he has no writing space to provide him with a fuller journal account of the Beatties' activities in London. Letter gives Dun an abridged journal account of their activities, such as dining, between Thursday 17 May to Thursday 31 May. James Hay writes about his intended trip to the country and mentions his expected return to Aberdeen.
It is possible that the letter is carelessly written due to James Hay hurting his arm in the accident mentioned in MS 30/26/20. |