Page:A biographical dictionary of eminent Scotsmen, vol 3.djvu/268

290 celestial globe belonging to a neighbouring gentleman. The poles of the painted globes stood toward the poles of the heavens; on each the twenty-four hours were placed around the equinoctial, so as to show the time of the day when the sun shone out, by the boundary where the half of the globe at any time enlightened by the sun, was parted from the other half in the shade; the enlightened parts of the terrestrial globe answering to the like enlightened parts of the earth at all times. So that whenever the sun shone on the globe, one might see to what places the sun was then rising, to what places it was setting, and all the places where it was then day or night, throughout the earth.

During the time I was at Sir James's hospitable house, his sister, the honourable lady Dipple came there on a visit, and Sir James introduced me to her. She asked me whether I could draw patterns for needle-work on aprons and gowns. On showing me some, I undertook the work, and drew several for her; some of which were copied from her patterns, and the rest I did according to my own fancy. On this, I was sent for by other ladies in the country, and began to think myself growing very rich by the money I got for such drawings, out of which I had the pleasure of occasionally supplying the wants of my poor father.

Yet all this while I could not leave off star-gazing in the nights, and taking the places of the planets among the stars by my above-mentioned thread. By this, I could observe how the planets changed their places among the stars, and delineated their paths on the celestial map, which I had copied from the above-mentioned celestial globe.

By observing what constellations the ecliptic passed through in that map, and comparing these with the starry heaven, I was so impressed as sometimes to imagine that I saw the ecliptic in the heaven, among the stars like a broad circular road for the sun's apparent course; and fancied the paths of the planets to resemble the narrow ruts made by cart-wheels, sometimes on one side of a plain road, and sometimes on the other, crossing the road at small angles, but never going far from either side of it.

Sir James's house was full of pictures and prints, several of which I copied with pen and ink; this made him think I might become a painter.

Lady Dipple had been but a few weeks there when William Baird, Esq. of Auchmedden came on a visit; he was the husband of one of that lady's daughters, and I found him to be very ingenious and communicative; he invited me to go to his house, and stay some time with him, telling me that I should have free access to his library, which was a very large one, and that he would furnish me with all sorts of implements for drawing. I went thither, and stayed about eight months; but was much disappointed in finding no books of astronomy in his library, except what was in the two volumes of Harris's Lexicon Technicum, although there were many books on geography and other sciences. Several of these indeed were in Latin, and more in French, which being languages that I did not understand, I had recourse to him for what I wanted to know of these subjects, which he cheerfully read to me; and it was as easy for him at sight to read English from a Greek, Latin, or French book, as from an English one. He furnished me with pencils and Indian ink, showing me how to draw with them; and although he had but an indifferent hand at that work, yet he was a very acute judge, and consequently a very fit person for showing me how to correct my own work. He was the first who ever sat to me for a picture; and I found it was much easier to draw from the life than from any picture whatever, as nature was more striking than any imitation of it.

Lady Dipple came to his house in about half a year after I went thither; and as they thought I had a genius for painting, they consulted together about