David Stewart of Garth, Scott’s “Highlander of the Old Stamp”
Thursday 6th September 2018
Summary of the Talk:
Dr. Stuart Allan, Keeper of Scottish History & Archaeology at the National Museum of Scotland, presented a richly detailed lecture on Major-General David Stewart of Garth—a soldier, antiquarian, and writer who played a significant role in shaping romanticised ideas of Highland culture in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Stewart, known for his book Sketches of the Highlanders, was a close friend of Sir Walter Scott and collaborated with him on the 1822 royal visit of George IV to Edinburgh. He was also a prominent member of the Highland Society of London and an active promoter of tartan, clan history, and the Highland image.
Dr. Allan emphasised Stewart’s dual identity: both a real Highlander and a conscious shaper of the Highland myth. Far from being an impostor, Stewart was deeply rooted in Gaelic traditions and military service, yet also helped codify and romanticise Highland customs for a wider audience, navigating the tensions between authenticity and reinvention.
The lecture concluded with reflections on Stewart's role in preserving both Jacobite and Hanoverian military colours from the Battle of Culloden, a symbolic act of reconciliation.
Interesting Points:
- Stewart’s Poem for Scott (1828):
Stewart wrote a playful poem incorporating Walter Scott’s name at the request of autograph seekers—evidence of their long-standing friendship and mutual respect. - Sketches of the Highlanders (1822):
Originally meant to be a history of the Black Watch, it evolved into a broad ethnographic work documenting Highland regiments, clan culture, and social change. Some material was toned down for political reasons. - Promotion of Highland Dress and Identity:
Stewart actively gathered tartan samples from clan chiefs and helped popularise the idea of clan-specific tartans—an innovation later commercialised by tartan manufacturers. - The 1822 Royal Visit:
Stewart drilled the members of the newly formed Celtic Society for their ceremonial role in Scott’s pageantry. Unlike others, he needed no costume—he was already the real thing. - Criticism and Debate:
Figures like Alasdair MacDonell of Glengarry criticised "affinity Highlanders" for romanticising Highland culture without authentic lineage. Stewart, however, remained rooted in the real traditions. - Culloden Flags:
Stewart was instrumental in preserving the opposing regimental colours from Culloden and requested they be displayed together as a gesture of peace and reconciliation. - Colonial Service and Views on Slavery:
Appointed governor of St Lucia, Stewart sought reforms to improve the conditions of enslaved people, calling the trade "atrocious and inhuman"—a progressive stance for his time. - Military Gallantry:
Stewart was wounded at the Battle of Alexandria and led a crucial advance at Maida, where legend claims he shot a fellow officer to restore order—a testament to his command resolve. - Legacy:
Stewart embodied the fusion of romantic imagination and lived tradition. While his work helped shape the global image of Scotland, he remained a genuine product of the culture he helped promote.
Introduction by Prof. Peter Garside:
It’s a great pleasure to introduce Dr Stuart Allan as this evening’s speaker. Stuart is Keeper of Scottish History & Archaeology at National Museums Scotland, head of a department of over 25 specialist curators whose expertise covers the material culture of Scotland from around 13,000 BC to the present day. Stuart has delivered several successful exhibitions at the National Museum of Scotland including Common Cause: Commonwealth Scots and the Great War 2014, and Admiral Cochrane: the Real Master & Commander; and at the National War Museum in Edinburgh Castle, where he began his museum career. He is the author of a number of research publications, including Commando Country, a study of the Second World War special training centres in the Scottish Highlands. In 2017 he was joint recipient of a major research grant from the Arts and Humanities Research Council for the project Baggage & Belonging: military collecting and the British Empire 1750-1900 which is a UK-wide interdisciplinary study of the culture of collecting by soldiers in the context of colonial warfare. His collaborative research has also received funding support from the Royal Society of Edinburgh and the British Academy.
Stuart has been with National Museums Scotland since 2000, previously as Principal Curator of Modern & Contemporary History, and before then as Senior Curator of Military History. His earlier career included positions at Aberdeen Art Gallery and Museums, the Gordon Highlanders Museum, Aberdeen, and the National Records of Scotland. He is a member of the Joint Advisory Committee of the Faculty of Advocates Abbotsford Collection Trust and the Abbotsford Trust; and an honorary adviser, military collections, for the National Trust for Scotland.
Stuart’s title features David Stewart of Garth as Scott’s ‘Highlander of the Old Stamp’, which I believe is a quotation from a letter of Scott’s to J. G. Lockhart of 14 July 1828. The name rings a particularly sharp bell for me personally, since later that year Stewart, on the point of taking up a Governorship in the West Indies, wrote to Scott requesting that, as several ladies among his friends were anxious to have Scott’s autograph, he (Scott) would therefore ‘favour me with a few lines, and scribble your signature as often as the paper will hold’. The resulting verses, which survive in a letter of Scott’s now held by a library in Switzerland, and which repeat Scott’s full name in alternating lines, was sensibly not cut up to satisfy autograph hunters, and the following text will appear in the forthcoming collection of Scott’s Shorter Poems I’m currently editing with Gillian Hughes .
Brave Stuart, name without a blot
Yours to command is Walter Scott.
What ere in Waverley is wrote
I bear the blame, quoth Walter Scott.
A grey auld man sore failed I wot
There’s life in’t yet, said Walter Scott.
Trees did he plant and lands he bought
A Darnick Laird was Walter Scott.
He loved a man that bravely fought
And Garth was friend to Walter Scott .
With Highland Chiefs he had a vote
For well the plaids loved Walter Scott.
The greyhounds good were fleet as thought
Till age lamed them and Walter Scott.
Call this vile stuff—I reck it not
So there’s an end of Walter Scott.
Dr Allan’s own approach will reflect his long-standing interest in the relationship between military service, and the adoption of Highland traditions as symbolic of Scotland in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He is currently leading a team working on a forthcoming major exhibition embracing this theme, which he will be introducing to you through his talk this evening.
