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George Whyte-Melville

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"The novelist of Society"
Whyte-Melville as caricatured by James Tissot in Vanity Fair, September 1871

George John Whyte-Melville (19 June 1821 – 5 December 1878)[1] was a Scottish novelist much concerned with field sports, and also a poet.[2] He took a break in the mid-1850s to serve as an officer of Turkish irregular cavalry in the Crimean War.

Life and work

Whyte-Melville (far left) playing in a foursomes golf match, c. 1852. J. O. Fairlie stands second from the right.

Major George John Whyte-Melville was born in 1821,[3] at Mount Melville near St Andrews, Scotland, as a son of Major John Whyte-Melville and Lady Catherine Anne Sarah Osborne and a grandson on his mother's side of the 5th Duke of Leeds. His father was a well-known sportsman and Captain of The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews. The son was Grand Master of the Freemasons of Scotland from 1834 to 1866.[4]

George was tutored privately at home by the young Robert Lee,[5] then educated at Eton, before entering the army in 1839.[3] He exchanged into the Coldstream Guards in 1846,[6]: xiii  and retired with the rank of Captain in 1849.[3] He married the Hon. Charlotte Hanbury-Bateman in 1847,[3] and they had one daughter, Florence Elizabeth, who went on to marry Clotworthy John Skeffington, 11th Viscount Massereene and 4th Viscount Ferrard. His marriage was not a happy one,[6]: xv  and this led to the "constantly recurring noted of melancholy" that runs through all of his novels, "especially in reference to women".[6]: xiv  His wife also was not happy with the marriage as she remarried bigamously.[7]

In 1849 Whyte-Melville was the subject of a summons for maintenance by Elizabeth Gibbs, described as "a smartly-dressed and interesting looking young woman", who alleged that he was the father of her son. She stated that she had known Whyte-Melville since December 1846 and that she had given birth to his child on 15 September 1847. The Magistrate read some letters stated by Gibbs to be from Whyte-Melville, in one of which the writer expressed his wish that Gibbs would fix the paternity unto some other person as he did not wish to pay for the pleasure of others.[8] The Magistrate found for the defendant as the written evidence could not be proved to be in Whyte-Melville's hand, but allowed the complainant to apply for a further summons in order to obtain proof.[8] Gibbs testified that since the child was born, she had received £10 from Whyte-Melville, and he had offered her two sums of £5, on condition that she surrender his letters to her, and sign a disclaimer on further claims.[9] The case continued on 25 September 1849. Gibbs' landlady, supported by her servant, testified that Gibbs was in the habit at the time of receiving visits from other gentlemen, particularly two, one of whom had paid for the nurse and supported Gibbs during her confinement. The magistrate said that there had definitely been perjury on one side or the other and dismissed the summons.[10]

After translating some Horace in 1850, Whyte-Melville published his first novel, Digby Grand, in 1852, which was a success. He went on to publish 21 other novels and became a popular writer about hunting. Most of his heroes and heroines – Digby Grand, Tilbury Nogo, the Honourable Crasher, Mr Sawyer, Kate Coventry, Mrs Lascelles – ride to hounds, or are would-be members of the hunt. Some characters reappear in different novels, such as the supercilious stud groom, the dark and wary steeple-chaser, or the fascinating sporting widow.

Bones and I, or The Skeleton at Home, is an anomaly in his work, as it is far from the realms of the hunting field or historical romance. It centres on an urban recluse living in a small, modern villa in a London cul de sac, looking out on "the dead wall at the back of an hospital". His most famous lyric is also unusual in its unexpected melancholy – the words to Paolo Tosti's song "Good-bye!" Several of his novels are historical, The Gladiators being the best known. Whyte-Melville also wrote Sarchedon, a historical novel set in Ancient Babylon. [11] He also published volumes of poetry, including Songs and Verses (1869) and Legend of the True Cross (1873). However, it is for his portrayal of contemporary sporting society that he is most regarded. Henry Hawley Smart is said to have taken Whyte-Melville as one of his models when he too set out to be a sporting novelist.[12]

The catch phrase for which he is best remembered comes from a song about hunting: "Drink, Puppy, Drink". This recurs also in The Flashman Papers by George MacDonald Fraser, as a frequently mentioned favourite song of the anti-hero. In 1876, Whyte-Melville penned the rarely attributed, but widely recognized opening line to the short poem The Object of a Life: "To eat, drink, and be merry, because to-morrow we die."[13]

Crimean War

When the Crimean War broke out, Whyte-Melville went out as a volunteer major into the Turkish irregular cavalry,[3] but this was the only break in his literary career.

Death

Whyte-Melville lost his life in 1878 whilst hunting, falling as he galloped over a ploughed field in the Vale of White Horse.[14][7] The Dublin Evening Mail said that it was "strange that he, so gallant and accomplished a horseman, who had dared danger with a light heart so often, should have perished, not while jumping a difficult fence, but simply while galloping across a ploughed field."[15] He, a skilled horseman, had often boasted that he had only fallen once in the twenty years from 1847 to 1867.[16]

He had moved to Tetbury, Gloucestershire, in about 1875, the better to follow the Beaufort and Vale of White Horse hunts. George Whyte-Melville was buried in the churchyard of St Mary's, Tetbury, within a few feet of his property, Barton Abbotts. When he rented the house, a friend criticised the choice because it was so near the graveyard. Whyte-Melville replied that perhaps it was, but that it was a good choice for a hunting man, as his friends would not have to carry him far.[6]: xviii 

Memorials

It has been claimed that Whyte-Melville's death inspired the well-known hunting song "John Peel" – although John Peel was a real-life huntsman in the Lake District, the author of the lyrics, John Woodcock Graves, was a close friend of Whyte-Melville. After imbibing a quantity of alcohol at Whyte-Melville's funeral, Graves penned some verses in tribute to Whyte-Melville, set to the melody of a traditional folk song entitled, "Bonnie Annie".[citation needed]

Whyte-Melville Memorial Fountain, St Andrews, Fife, Scotland

The Scottish Border poet and Australian bush balladeer Will H. Ogilvie (1869–1963) was strongly influenced by Whyte-Melville, so much so that he addressed two poems to him. These lines are from the Scattered Scarlet anthology of 1923:

How good it is, how good, to fling aside
The last new garbage-novel of the day
And turn again with pleasure and with pride
To your long line of volumes silver-grey,
And with you, gallant heart, to ride away
Through that clean world where your Sir Galahads ride!

At the instigation of his mother, Lady Catherine Melville, a memorial fountain to him was erected by public subscription in Market Street, St Andrews, Fife, in 1880.[17] The three-tier cascading fountain is about 14 foot (427 cm) high, composed of sandstone and Dalbeattie granite. It features four marble plaques dedicated to Whyte-Melville, which show his bust, the family coat of arms, the arms of the Coldstream Guards, and a memorial inscription.[18] Due to corrosion of its internal pipes, it fell into disuse – possibly in the 1930s[19] – and was treated as a flower bed for many decades. A local councillor and the St Andrews Merchants' Association led a campaign that ended in its resuming function as a fountain on Wednesday 8 July 2015.[20]

Books by Whyte-Melville

The following list is based on the "complete list of Whyte-Melville's writings" presented in the 1898 edition of "Riding Recollections".[6]: xix 

  • Digby Grand (1852)[21]
  • General Bounce (1854)[22]
  • Kate Coventry (1856)
  • The Interpreter (1858)
  • Holmby House (1860)
  • Good for Nothing (1861)
  • Market Harborough (1861)[note 1]
  • Tilbury Nogo (1861)
  • The Queen's Maries (1862)
  • The Gladiators (1863)
  • Brookes of Bridlemere (1864)
  • Cerise (1866)
  • The White Rose (1868)
  • Bones and I, or The Skeleton at Home (1868)
  • M. or N. (1869)
  • Songs and Verses (Chapman and Hall, 1869) – several editions followed
  • Contraband (1870)
  • Sarchedon: A Legend of the Great Queen (1871)
  • Satanella (1873)
  • Uncle John (1874)
  • Katerfelto (1875) – after a famous, possibly mythical, stallion on Exmoor in the early 19th century
  • Sister Louise (1875)
  • Rosine (1875)
  • Riding Recollections (1878)[note 2]
  • Roy's Wife (1878)
  • Black but Comely (1879)[note 3]

Example of illustrations for "Riding Recollections"

"Riding Recollections" was a popular work, it ran to at least seven editions in the first year of publication.[24][note 4]. It was reprinted in 1898 in an edition of 1,350 copies, for which the type was distributed[note 5] after printing.[6]}} "Riding Recollections" was also selected as the first volume of a planned twenty-five or twenty-six deluxe edition of Melville's Works issued in 1898.[26]

Illustrations by Edgar Giberne (24 June 1850 – 21 September 1889) for the 1878 edition of "Riding Recollections" (Chapman and Hall, London) by Whyte-Melville (1821-1878) By courtesy of the Biodiversity Heritage Library.[27]

  • Leaving brothers, husbands, even admirers, hopelessly in the rear
    Leaving brothers, husbands, even admirers, hopelessly in the rear
  • Teaching horses to jump timber
    Teaching horses to jump timber
  • Give the bridle a hard tug
    Give the bridle a hard tug
  • An easy place under a tree
    An easy place under a tree
  • Asking the way
    Asking the way
  • At Bay
    At Bay
  • Half a dozen shrill blasts in quick succession
    Half a dozen shrill blasts in quick succession
  • The King of the Golden Mines
    The King of the Golden Mines

The differences between the illustrations for the 1878 and the 1898 editions show how illustration had changed in the late 1800s. Illustrations by Hugh Thomson (1 June 1860 – 7 May 1920) for the 1898 edition of "Riding Recollections" (W. Thacker, London) by Whyte-Melville by courtesy of the Biodiversity Heritage Library.[6]

  • Half a dozen shrill blasts
    Half a dozen shrill blasts
  • Choking a narrow hand gate
    Choking a narrow hand gate
  • Watching his performances from the road
    Watching his performances from the road
  • Handing his horse over
    Handing his horse over
  • Accept the ridicule, and grasp the mane
    Accept the ridicule, and grasp the mane
  • Breaking the top rail with a hind hoof
    Breaking the top rail with a hind hoof
  • I've spoilt my hat, I've torn my cloak
    I've spoilt my hat, I've torn my cloak
  • This strangely equipped pair
    This strangely equipped pair
  • The old coachman piloting her children
    The old coachman piloting her children
  • While you smoke a cigar
    While you smoke a cigar
  • A mouthful of gruel
    A mouthful of gruel
  • Poised in air
    Poised in air

Notes

  1. ^ The Morning Post said that Market Harborough was "universally recognised as the best hunting novel ever written".[16]
  2. ^ While the list of publications by Whyte-Melville in the 1898 edition give 1875 as the date of publication of the book,[6]: xix  the Pall Mall Gazette advertised the book in February 1878 as a "New Work by Major Whyte Melville" that would shortly be ready.[23]
  3. ^ The "complete list" of publications given in the 1898 edition of "Riding Recollections" notes that the publication was posthumous.[6]: xix 
  4. ^ Although the publisher called these editions, imprints would be a more correct title. The book cost 12 shillings on publication,[25] and the edition size was probably of the order of 1,000 copies.
  5. ^ Distributing the type meant that the type was removed from the forms used for printing and distributed back into the typesetters bins.

References

  1. ^ All Poetry. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
  2. ^ "Whyte-Melville, George John" . Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.
  3. ^ a b c d e "MR. J. G. WHYTE MELVILLE". The Empire. Sydney: National Library of Australia. 2 September 1867. p. 2. Retrieved 18 October 2013.
  4. ^ Freemasons Hall, Edinburgh, busts of former Grand Masters.
  5. ^ "The Lee family, boatbuilders of Tweedmouth". Friends of Berwick and District Museum and Archives (berwickfriends.org.uk).
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Whyte-Melville, George John (1898). Riding Recollections. London: W. Thacker & Co. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
  7. ^ a b Hinings, Jessica (23 September 2004). "Melville, George John Whyte (1821–1878)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
  8. ^ a b "Police: Marylebone". The Times (Saturday 14 July 1849): 8. 14 July 1849. Retrieved 31 October 2020.
  9. ^ "The Police Courts: Marylebone". London Daily News (Saturday 14 July 1849): 7. 14 July 1849. Retrieved 31 October 2020 – via The British Newspaper Archive.
  10. ^ "The Metropolis: Perjury in a Case of Affiliation". Hampshire Advertiser (Saturday 28 July 1849): 6. 28 July 1849. Retrieved 31 October 2020 – via The British Newspaper Archive.
  11. ^ Nield, Jonathan (1925), A Guide to the Best Historical Novels and Tales. G. P. Putnam's sons (p. 17).
  12. ^ Thomas Seccombe, revised by James Lunt. "Smart, Henry Hawley (1833–1893)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 (ODNB). Retrieved 15 January 2013. (subscription required)
  13. ^ Whyte Melville, George John (September–December 1876). "The Object of a Life". Temple Bar. London: William Clowes and Sons. p. 514. Retrieved 26 December 2017.
  14. ^ Henry, Frank (1914). Members of the Beaufort hunt, past & present. Cirencester: Standard Printing Works. pp. 1–80.
  15. ^ "Death of Major Whyte Melville". Dublin Evening Mail (Monday 09 December 1878): 4. 9 December 1878. Retrieved 31 October 2020 – via The British Newspaper Archive.
  16. ^ a b "Sporting Intelligence". Morning Post (Monday 09 December 1878): 2. 9 December 1878. Retrieved 31 October 2020 – via The British Newspaper Archive.
  17. ^ "Whyte-Melville Memorial Fountain" Archived 13 July 2015 at the Wayback Machine. Visit St Andrews.
  18. ^ "Whyte-Melville Fountain". UK Attraction.
  19. ^ "Plans in full flow to return water to fountain". The Saint.
  20. ^ "Water flows again through fountain in heart of St Andrews" Archived 17 July 2015 at the Wayback Machine Fife Today.
  21. ^ Houghton, Walter E. (24 May 2013). Index to Victorian Periodicals 1804–1900. pp. 414–18. ISBN 1135795509. The Autobiography of Captain Digby Grand was published in Fraser's Magazine from November 1851 to December 1852.
  22. ^ Houghton, Walter E. (24 May 2013). Index to Victorian Periodicals 1804–1900. p. 422–26. ISBN 1135795509. General Bounce was published in Fraser's Magazine, January–December 1854.
  23. ^ "Chapman & Hall's Publications". Pall Mall Gazette (Thursday 07 February 1878): 16. 7 February 1878. Retrieved 30 October 2020 – via The British Newspaper Archive.
  24. ^ "Siuitable for Presents: Major Whyte-Melville's Works". The Field (magazine) (Saturday 14 December 1878): 14. 14 December 1878. Retrieved 31 October 2020 – via The British Newspaper Archive.
  25. ^ "Chapman & Hall's Publications". Pall Mall Gazette (Friday 20 December 1878): 16. 20 December 1878. Retrieved 31 October 2020 – via The British Newspaper Archive.
  26. ^ "Whyte-Melville in Buckram". Pall Mall Gazette (Wednesday 19 October 1898): 4. 19 October 1898. Retrieved 31 October 2020 – via The British Newspaper Archive.
  27. ^ Whyte-Melville, George John (1878). Riding Recollections (5th ed.). London: Chapman and Hall. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
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