[1] There is a vague tradition that these Yules descend from the same
stock as the Scandinavian family of the same name, which gave Denmark
several men of note, including the great naval hero Niels Juel. The
portraits of these old Danes offer a certain resemblance of type to
those of their Scots namesakes, and Henry Yule liked to play with the
idea, much in the same way that he took humorous pleasure in his
reputed descent from Michael Scott, the Wizard! (This tradition was
more historical, however, and stood thus: Yule's great grandmother was
a Scott of Ancrum, and the Scotts of Ancrum had established their
descent from Sir Michael Scott of Balwearie, reputed to be the
Wizard.) Be their origin what it may, Yule's forefathers had been
already settled on the Border hills for many generations, when in the
time of James VI. they migrated to the lower lands of East Lothian,
where in the following reign they held the old fortalice of Fentoun
Tower of Nisbet of Dirleton. When Charles II. empowered his Lord Lyon
to issue certificates of arms (in place of the Lyon records removed
and lost at sea by the Cromwellian Government), these Yules were among
those who took out confirmation of arms, and the original document is
still in the possession of the head of the family.
Though Yules of sorts are still to be found in Scotland, the present
writer is the only member of the Fentoun Tower family now left in the
country, and of the few remaining out of it most are to be found in
the Army List.
[2] The literary taste which marked William Yule probably came to him from
his grandfather, the Rev. James Rose, Episcopal Minister of Udny, in
Aberdeenshire. James Rose, a non-jurant (i.e. one who refused to
acknowledge allegiance to the Hanoverian King), was a man of devout,
large, and tolerant mind, as shown by writings still extant. His
father, John Rose, was the younger son of the 14th Hugh of Kilravock.
He married Margaret Udny of Udny, and was induced by her to sell his
pleasant Ross-shire property and invest the proceeds in her own bleak
Buchan. When George Yule (about 1759) brought home Elizabeth Rose as
his wife, the popular feeling against the Episcopal Church was so
strong and bitter in Lothian, that all the men of the family -
themselves Presbyterians - accompanied Mrs. Yule as a bodyguard on the
occasion of her first attendance at the Episcopal place of worship.
Years after, when dissensions had arisen in the Church of Scotland,
Elizabeth Yule succoured and protected some of the dissident
Presbyterian ministers from their persecutors.
[3] General Collinson in Royal Engineers' Journal 1st Feb. 1890. The
gifted author of this excellent sketch himself passed away on 22nd
April 1902.
[4] The grave thoughtful face of William Yule was conspicuous in the
picture of a Durbar (by an Italian artist, but not Zoffany), which
long hung on the walls of the Nawab's palace at Lucknow. This picture
disappeared during the Mutiny of 1857.
[5] Colonel Udny Yule, C.B. "When he joined, his usual nomen and
cognomen puzzled the staff-sergeant at Fort-William, and after much
boggling on the cadet parade, the name was called out Whirly Wheel,
which produced no reply, till some one at a venture shouted, 'sick in
hospital.'" (Athenaeum, 24th Sept. 1881.) The ship which took Udny
Yule to India was burnt at sea. After keeping himself afloat for
several hours in the water, he was rescued by a passing ship and taken
back to the Mauritius, whence, having lost everything but his
cadetship, he made a fresh start for India, where he and William for
many years had a common purse. Colonel Udny Yule commanded a brigade
at the Siege of Cornelis (1811), which gave us Java, and afterwards
acted as Resident under Sir Stamford Raffles. Forty-five years after
the retrocession of Java, Henry Yule found the memory of his uncle
still cherished there.
[6] Article on the Oriental Section of the British Museum Library in
Athenaeum, 24th Sept. 1881. Major Yule's Oriental Library was
presented by his sons to the British Museum a few years after his
death.
[7] It may be amusing to note that he was considered an almost dangerous
person because he read the Scotsman newspaper!
[8] Athenaeum, 24th Sept. 1881. A gold chain given by the last
Dauphiness is in the writer's possession.
[9] Dr. John Yule (b. 176-d. 1827), a kindly old savant. He was one of
the earliest corresponding members of the Society of Antiquaries of
Scotland, and the author of some botanical tracts.
[10] According to Brunet, by Lucas Pennis after Antonio Tempesta.
[11] Concerning some little-known Travellers in the East. ASIATIC
QUARTERLY, vol. v. (1888).
[12] William Yule died in 1839, and rests with his parents, brothers, and
many others of his kindred, in the ruined chancel of the ancient
Norman Church of St. Andrew, at Gulane, which had been granted to the
Yule family as a place of burial by the Nisbets of Dirleton, in
remembrance of the old kindly feeling subsisting for generations
between them and their tacksmen in Fentoun Tower. Though few know its
history, a fragrant memorial of this wise and kindly scholar is still
conspicuous in Edinburgh. The magnificent wall-flower that has, for
seventy summers, been a glory of the Castle rock, was originally all
sown by the patient hand of Major Yule, the self-sowing of each
subsequent year, of course, increasing the extent of bloom. Lest the
extraordinarily severe spring of 1895 should have killed off much of
the old stock, another (but much more limited) sowing on the northern
face of the rock was in that year made by his grand-daughter, the
present writer, with the sanction and active personal help of the
lamented General (then Colonel) Andrew Wauchope of Niddrie Marischal.
In Scotland, where the memory of this noble soldier is so greatly
revered, some may like to know this little fact.
