(c.1714 - 70), e. s. of 5th E. of Findlater [S] and 2nd E. of Seafield [S], of Cullen House, Banff; sty. Ld. Deskford 1730 - 64 when suc. fa. as 6th E. and 3rd E.; m. 1749 Ldy. Mary Murray, dau. of 1st D. of Atholl [S]; d. by own hand.
1739 - 40 [Ratisbon, 3 Oct. 1739] Turin (by 8 Dec. 1739), Florence (by 15 Jan. - 19 Feb. 1740), Rome (by 20 Apr. - 5 Jun.), Naples (Jun.), Florence (15 - 19 Jul.), Bologna, Venice (by 10 Aug.) [Vienna, Rotterdam, 2 Feb. 1741]
'Mighty grave' and with a 'solemn Scotchery' that was 'not a little formidable',1 Lord Deskford came to Italy in 1739. He came via Geneva and wrote to his sister on 8 December 1739 describing the rebuilding of Turin. It would certainly become 'one of the most beautiful towns in Europe', he wrote, 'but its beauty I think will be dear bought, putting very great hardships on the inhabitants ... if any body has a house in the way when a street is to be made straight, down it must go, and in place of the value of it the proprietor has the liberty of building again in the same place according to a plan which the Government gives him.'2 He had arrived in Florence by 15 January 1740,3 and writing to James St Clair on 14 February 1740, he explained that although he was trying 'to reap all the Advantages & Pleasures which my Situation as a Traveller put in my Way, yet to say the Truth they seem to me but small'; above all he was obsessed with the idea of becoming a Member of Parliament, and this 'Desire of being of some Use in my Country' led him to 'an assiduous application to Business' as 'the only Means to attain to, or make me ever fit for this that would be my greatest Pleasure, and every new thing I learned in that way, every Piece of Experience that I acquired would be to me a Satisfaction, because a Step towards my end'.4 Lady Pomfret noted his departure on 19 February.3 Horace Walpole had met him in Rome by 20 April5 and Deskford visited Cardinal Albani with him. He sat to Agostino Masucci in Rome (priv. coll.).6 As he waited for the election of the new Pope he caught a fever, telling St Clair on 4 June 1740 that he was going to Naples 'the next day' for a week and would then return directly to Bologna and Venice; further post should be directed to Paris.3 He was in Florence in mid-July and in Venice by 10 August.7 Deskford patronised both Colin Morison and James Clark, allowing them to study in Rome.8
1. Wal.Corr., 37:58. 2. W. Fraser, Chiefs of Grant, 2:141. 3. Pomfret jnl.MSS. 4. Dalrymple of Newhailes MSS. 5. Wal. Corr., 17:7, 9. 6. A.M. Clark, Apollo, 78[1963]:354. 7. Seafield MSS, GD 248/48/1 (Deskford, 10 Aug. 1740). 8. Skinner, Scots in Italy, 25.