Hugh MacPherson, Sometime Clerk to the Perth Carriers

Category

Library Item

Item no

13349

Title

Hugh MacPherson, sometime clerk to the Perth Carriers

Description

A portrait of a very small man who lived in Edinburgh. He is wearing a suit with a waistcoat and necktie. He wears a tall hat and carries a walking stick.

Artist / maker

Kay, John

Date

1810

Size

12 x 7.4 cm

Type

Etching

Location

Edinburgh and Scottish Collection

The accompanying text in the volume begins as follows:
"Hugh MacPherson, or 'Wee Hughie', as he was commonly termed, was born in the district of Badenoch about the year 1770. His father, who lived to a great age, was shepherd on an extensive farm in that quarter; and both his parents were persons of ordinary stature.[...]
Hughie was, in his own estimation, a perfect dandy. Every new suit, to make sure of being fashionably fitted, cost him a visit to Edinburgh. At length, that he might take charge of his employers' establishment there, he had the peculiar satisfaction of being removed permanently to the capital.
Hugh was a well-known character, the oddness of his figure, and his excessive self-conceit, making him the subject of much diversion. While in Perth, some one having drawn a caricature of him, he at once sought reparation by challenging the offender to a duel; but this display of spirit only served to make matters worse, for, in another picture, the little mountaineer was grotesquely exhibited brandishing a pair of pistols not much shorter than himself."

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Related subjects

Clothing and dress > Accessories > Hats

Clothing and dress > Accessories > Walking sticks

Clothing and dress > Garments > Waistcoats

People > Adults > Men

Places > Scotland > Edinburgh

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