| 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, Peterhead, to Montagu Beattie, saying that he received Montagu's letter; talking about Montagu's study of Latin grammar at school and his handwriting. Letter mentions the return of the Greenland ships in July and consequently of Mr Wilson. James Hay writes that their father's hand is better, but he still suffers from rheumatism, and his stomach is not completely well. Letter says James Beattie intends to leave Peterhead in the middle of next week and will go to Pananich. James Hay asks for a more detailed account of what Montagu has learned at school in his next letter. |