Sir Walter Scott’s body clothes. Coat, waistcoat, hat and walking stick.
THE coat is of dark green broad-cloth, with white metal buttons. It has a deep, straight, turned-down collar, and is a “cut away coat.” The cuffs are made tight to button. The waistcoat is of narrow cream and black stripe in silk, with yellow metal buttons. The tall hat is a beaver, with flat brim, and of a pale fawn colour. Walking-stick, with brown leather sheath on the point, evidently to prevent slipping on the smooth floor.
These clothes may very probably be the same as those worn by Sir Walter when he sat for his last portrait, a few months before his death. This little sketch (for the young artist, Mr. Edmonstone, did not live to paint the projected picture) represents Sir Walter seated in an arm-chair. He holds his stick in his left hand; his daughter Anne, and a young friend, Miss M’Kenzie, are also included in the drawing. The date “Rome, April 23rd, 1832,” is written above, and the artist has also jotted down the colour of the clothes worn by Sir Walter thus: “Bottle-green coat, light waistcoat, etc.”
Source: Abbotsford; the personal relics and antiquarian treasures of Sir Walter Scott. Illustrated by William Gibb. By Maxwell-Scott, Mary Monica. London A. and C. Black 1893.
