Walter Macfarlane - 19th of Arrochar, 20th Chief of Clan Macfarlane
Biography
Birth: n/a
Death: 1767
19th of Arrochar, and 20th chief of the Macfarlane clan. Son of John Macfarlane of Ardess (d. 1705) and Helen Arbuthnot (1675-1741). Half-brother (on mother's side) of John Spottiswoode. Antiquarian and genealogist. Married (1760) to Elizabeth Erskine.
Also known as
- 19th of Arrochar
- 20th chief of Clan Macfarlane
Life with James Boswell
Boswell visited him in London on November 21, 1762, discussing the feud between the Scots and the English. He also saw him on various occasions in the company of his wife and her family, who arrived in London around December 1, 1762 and stayed until March 14, 1763.
Boswell may have had some disagreements with Macfarlane - on 27/12-1762 he mentioned that he had tea with Lady Betty, and that he no longer intended to refer to the Macfarlane name. The journal doesn't tell us why. On January 18, 1763, however, Macfarlane tells James that "you are welcome on your own account. But suppose that was not the case, I owe your father as many dinners". They seem to have gotten on well for the remainder of his London stay.
In his journal entry of September 25, 1764, while staying at the court of Anhalt-Dessau, Boswell wrote, in connection with a hunt:
"A large stag was single out, and away we went after him. It was the first time that I saw this sport, and a most noble one it is. Macfarlane would say, "Then it might be a marquis, for Most Noble is his title."
To this statement, the editors of Boswell on the Grand Tour (vol 1) attached a footnote reading that
"Boswell's elderly friend Walter Macfarlane of Macfarlane, an antiquary, might be expected to be punctilious in such matters. The proper style of a marquis is "Most Honourable"."
Related links
Mentioned in
Walter Macfarlane is mentioned in:
- London Journal 1762-1763
- Boswell in Holland 1763-1764
