Audubon the Naturalist: A History of His Life and Time. Vol. 2 (of 2)

by Francis Hobart Herrick

William MacGillivray to Audubon

Edinburgh 15th December 1834.

Dear Sir,

Agreeably to your request I hereby bind and oblige myself to revise and correct the third and fourth volumes of your work entitled "Ornithological Biography" at the same rate as the two first volumes, namely at Two Pounds Two Shillings per sheet; as well as to revise, for a sum to be subsequently determined, any other work which you may intend to publish.

I have the honour to be Dear Sir,

your most obedt. Servant
W. Macgillivray.

To John J. Audubon Esq.

When William MacGillivray first met Audubon, in the autumn of 1830, he was an enthusiastic naturalist of four and thirty, young, but, as we have seen, a thorough anatomist, who stood firmly on his own feet and was destined to advance his favorite study in a notable degree. Audubon at this time was forty-five, but in anatomy the older man gladly sat at the feet of the younger and acknowledged him master; while this young anatomist was dissecting, Audubon in the rôle of student was seated by his side, and we may be sure that little escaped his penetrating eye and keen intelligence. To MacGillivray, on the other hand, Audubon was master of his art, and to him he looked for criticism of his own artistic efforts; after him he named a son, and to him dedicated a child of his brain.[125] In short, MacGillivray looked upon Audubon as his best friend in the world, and the latter fully appreciated his indebtedness to this able assistant. MacGillivray continued to aid Audubon with his letterpress, revising and probably contributing most of the technical details; in the fourth and concluding volumes, published in 1838 and 1839, the large store of anatomical matter and many excellent drawings were duly acknowledged as coming from his hand. His own writings were varied and numerous, but were generally characterized by a high degree of excellence. His History of British Birds, in five volumes (1837-1852), was too extended and too technical ever to become popular, but in that work, for the first time in the history of science, classification was placed on a strictly anatomical basis. MacGillivray even followed Audubon to some extent by introducing into this work "delineations of British scenery and character," but under another head. The sixth of his "Lessons in Practical Ornithology" recounts in dialogue form the experiences of two friends in tramping the Pentland Hills together; says "Physiophilus" [himself], "You must have many fine songsters in America"; to which "Ornithologus" [Audubon] replies:

That we have indeed. The Mocking Bird, of course, stands first in my opinion, and is unrivalled. Then, perhaps on account of my own sensitive nature, I would place next the Wood Thrush, although the Cat Bird is far its superior in many points, as is also the Turdus rufus. Think of our Rose-breasted Pine and Blue Grosbeaks, how mellow and sweet their continuous songs are, whether by day or during calm nights. Watch the varied ditties of the Orchard Oriole, and the loud and more musical notes of its brother, the Golden Hangnest. You have never heard the Tawny Thrush or the Hermit Thrush, otherwise, believe me, you would have enjoyed much delicious pleasure....

William MacGillivray was a man of the finest character and an honor to the best traditions of British scholarship; in his enthusiasm and indefatigable energy he was fully a match to Audubon. For nearly twelve years (1841-1852) he was an honored lecturer and professor in Marischal College and University, Aberdeen, where he died, probably as a result of overwork in the field, in 1852, thus outliving his older friend but one year. His last completed work, Natural History of Deeside and Braemar, was published under the patronage of Queen Victoria and by her command privately printed, under the editorship of E. Lancaster, in 1855. MacGillivray's surviving son, whose career as a field naturalist was also cut short by too strenuous work, accompanied Huxley, then an assistant surgeon in the Royal Navy, on the memorable voyage of the Rattlesnake under Captain Owen Stanley in 1842. MacGillivray was honored when alive, and though dead has not been forgotten; in 1890 a beautiful tablet was dedicated to him in Aberdeen, and at the same time a worthy monument was raised to his memory at Edinburgh.[126]