| Description | There is a paper folder, written by James Watt jr., with the following list of titles of poems: On the Lakes of Cumberland; On a Hero; Chorus at the Tomb of Agamemnon; On Odin; Hymn of Victory from Masson’s Helvetians; On a ravished dying maid; The dismissed Lover’s appeal; Extemporary Prophecy of the death of Cuchullin; Choral piece from the Medea of Euripides; Odes on Life; To R. Lawrence on his marriage; On the Rhine; On Buonaparte; Rosetta, or the Parson’s daughter, translated from Burger [for another version of this, see Finding No. MS 3219/7/15].
The first 24 pages were folded together, and James Watt jr. had written on the front of these: 'Poems by Mr Gregory Watt communicated by his schoolfellow & attached friend, W[illia]m Withering.' These pages had obviously been held together by a metal fastener at some time. There are, in addition, 17 loose sheets of poems, some of which are drafts of the poems above and some of which are copies made by James Watt jr.
There is one poem by Thomas Campbell to Gregory Watt. There are six pages of notes on geological subjects, including a printed page from Cornucopia, about Naples, in Italian, with a pen and ink drawing.
There are two printed maps of Scotland, 'Engraved for Stewart and Meikle and Murdoch, Glasgow', nd. Both have the different geological areas marked in different colours, though only one has been given a key. One or both of these may have been done by William Creighton. [There is correspondence between Creighton and Gregory which discusses the problem with maps, the geology etc. at Finding No. MS 3219/7/56].
These papers were contained in a leather folder. There is a paper label with the leather folder, on which has been written in red ink: ' Paper case containing 2 Maps of Scotland & scraps of poems; verses &c. written by Gregory Watt.' This is also the description given in the 1870 Inventory for Tin Box 6 [Finding No. MS 3219/8/13]. The papers were not numbered, although some had been paginated. |