WILLIAM

See also:

• WILLIAM LAIDLAW (1780-1845)

LAIDLAW (1780-1845)  , friend and amanuensis of Sir Walter Scott, was born at Blackhouse, Selkirkshire, on the 19th of November 1780, the son of a sheep farmer . After an elementary education in Peebles he returned to work upon his father's farm . James Hogg, the shepherd poet, who was employed at Blackhouse for some years, ' became Laidlaw's friend and appreciative critic . Together they assisted Scott by supplying material for his Border Minstrelsy, and Laidlaw, after two failures as a farmer in Midlothian and Peebleshire, became Scott's steward at Abbotsford . He also acted as Scott's amanuensis at different times, taking down a large part of The Bride of Lammermoor, The Legend of Montrose and Ivanhoe from the author's dictation . He died at Contin near Dingwall, Ross-shire, on the 18th of May 1845 . Of his poetry, little is known except Lucy's Flittin' in Hogg's Forest Minstrel .