A private poet: Literary Pastimes of Early Life

This book is a stunning olive-green colour with an organic line design, highlighted with accents of gold. Entwined on the back cover are the initials for WGB (author), with the front cover featuring Morris’ signature: two dots, followed by a pause and a final single dot. The stylised rendition of Morris’ initials in Morse code is also paired with his elongated TM monogram, found in the lower right-hand corner.

Inside the book, the team also found a lovely author’s note, which says, ‘With the author’s compliments. 1 Belhaven Terrace, Glasgow.’ This was the Blackie family home at the time of the book’s creation in 1899, where they had lived since 1867.

Here is a favourite poem of the Hill House team, ‘Song of the stars’, as it appears in the book (or read on for a typed version).

Song of the stars (1842)

Let sages tell of orbs so fair,

Of sun, and moons, and stars;

And praise the planets ev’ry one–

Earth, Venus, Vesta, Mars;–

I’ll sing of orbs more beauteous far

Than e’er by sage were seen,

Though search’d be all the whirling worlds

That deck the vault serene;–

I’ll sing the stars on earth that dwell,

And beam with living love;

Fair woman’s eyes, whose lustre pales

All stars of heav’n above.

The stars of earth are beauteous gems,

Of many a varied hue;

But dearest of them all to me

Are eyes of bonnie blue.

Blue are the mountains of our land,

And blue her lakes so clear,

Her glens are blue, but bluer far

The eyes of Sally dear.

Of stellar orbs let sages watch

The flight through boundless skies;

I’d rather watch the livelong night,

The beams of Sally’s eyes.

Then sing! then sing! my Sally’s eyes!

Which beam with living love,

Whose lustre pales all starry gems

That spangle heav’n above.

Literary Pastimes of Early Life is one of many interesting memories left by the Blackie family. The Hill House was their home for nearly 50 years, and with that comes many fascinating stories waiting to be discovered in our collection.