"
* * *
Irving chose his residence in the valley, not amid
the mountains; by the fields and meadows of the broad
Tappan Zee, rather than the Highlands; in a congenial
region suited to his temperament.
_Dr. Bethune._
* * *
About fifty years ago a cutting of Walter Scott's favorite ivy at
Melrose Abbey was transported across the Atlantic, and trained over
the porch of "Sunnyside," by the hand of Mrs. Renwick, daughter of
Rev. Andrew Jeffrey of Lochmaben, known in girlhood as the "Bonnie
Jessie" of Annandale, or the "Blue-eyed Lassie" of Robert Burns:--a
graceful tribute, from the shrine of Waverley to the nest of
Knickerbocker:
A token of friendship immortal
With Washington Irving returns:--
Scott's ivy entwined o'er his portal
By the Blue-eyed Lassie of Burns.
Scott's cordial greeting at Abbotsford, and his persistence in getting
Murray to reconsider the publication of the "Sketch Book," which he
had previously declined, were never forgotten by Irving. It was during
a critical period of his literary career, and the kindness of the
Great Magician, in directing early attention to his genius, is still
cherished by every reader of the "Sketch Book" from Manhattan to
San Francisco.
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