Note 129 — Chapter III

In 1808 he wrote to a friend: "We have Miss Baillie here at present, who is certainly the best dramatic writer whom Britain has produced since the days of Shakspeare and Massinger." (Fam. Let., Vol. I. p. 99.) But Wilson also put Joanna Baillie next to Shakspere, and quite seriously. The article in the Dictionary of National Biography, on Joanna Baillie says that when the first volume of Plays on the Passions was published anonymously in 1798, Walter Scott was at first suspected of being the author. But as Scott had done nothing to give him a literary reputation in 1798, the assertion is incredible. It seems to be based on the following very inexact statement in Chambers's Biographical Dictionary of Eminent Scotsmen. (Vol. V, Art. Joanna Baillie.) "Rich though the period was in poetry, this work made a great impression, and a new edition of it was soon required. The writer was sought for among the most gifted personages of the day, and the illustrious Scott, with others then equally appreciated, was suspected as the author."