| 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, Edinburgh, to James Dun, Aberdeen, talking about the Beatties' dining & supping with Sir William Forbes and dining with Mrs Inglis. Letter mentions James Hay's visit to the English Chapel with Willie Arbuthnot and their dining at Marcheston. Letter also mentions James Beattie's dining with Mr Gordon, and the Beatties' dining with Dr Gregory [presumably James Gregory (1753 – 1821), physician, son of John Gregory (1724 – 1773)], supper with Mr Tytler and supper with Baron Gordon. James Hay writes about his father's intended trip to England and tells James Dun that he will write to him on the journey from York. |