Part 14

See the biographical introduction prefixed to his _Poetical Works_, by Dr Robert Anderson, in his _Poets of Great Britain_, vol. viii. (1794.)

BLAIR ATHOLL (Gaelic _blair_, "a plain"), a village and parish of Perthshire, Scotland, 35-1/4 m. N.W. of Perth by the Highland railway. Pop. (1901) 367; of parish, 1722. It is situated at the confluence of the Tilt and the Garry. The oldest part of Blair Castle, a seat of the duke of Atholl, dates from 1269; as restored and enlarged in 1869-1872 from the plans of David Bryce, R.S.A., it is a magnificent example of the Scottish baronial style. It was occupied by the marquess of Montrose prior to the battle of Tippermuir in 1644, stormed by the Cromwellians in 1653, and garrisoned on behalf of James II. in 1689. The Young Pretender stayed in it in 1743, and the duke of Cumberland in 1746. The body of Viscount Dundee, conveyed hither from the battlefield of Killiecrankie, was buried in the church of Old Blair, in which a monument was erected to his memory in 1889 by the 7th duke of Atholl. The grounds surrounding the castle are among the most beautiful in the Highlands. A golf course has been laid down south-east of the village, between the railway and the Garry, and every September a great display of Highland games is held. Ben-y-gloe (3671 ft. high), the scene of the hunt given in 1529 by the earl of Atholl in honour of James V. and the queen dowager, may be climbed by way of Fender Burn, a left-hand tributary of the Tilt. The falls of Fender, near the old bridge of Tilt, are eclipsed by the falls of Bruar, 4 m. west of Blair Atholl, formed by the Bruar, which, rising in Ben Dearg (3304 ft.), flows into the Garry after an impetuous course of 10 m.

BLAIRGOWRIE, a police burgh of Perthshire, Scotland, situated on the Ericht. Pop. (1901) 3378. It is the terminus of a branch line of the Caledonian railway from Coupar Angus, from which it is 4-3/4 m. distant, and is 16 m. N. by E. of Perth by road. The town is entirely modern, and owes its progress to the water-power supplied by the Ericht for linen and jute factories. There are also sawmills, breweries and a large factory for bee appliances. Strawberries, raspberries and other fruits are largely grown in the neighbourhood. A park was presented to the town in 1892. On the left bank of the Ericht, opposite Blairgowrie, with which it is connected by a four-arched bridge, stands the town and police burgh of Rattray (pop. 2019), where there are flax and jute mills. Donald Cargill the Covenanter, who was executed at Edinburgh, was a native of the parish. Four miles west of Blairgowrie, on the coach road to Dunkeld, lies Loch Clunie, of some interest historically. On a crannog in the lake are the ruins of a small castle which belonged to James ("the Admirable") Crichton, and the large mound near the loch was the site of the castle in which Edward I. lodged on one of his Scottish expeditions.

BLAKE, EDWARD (1833- ), Irish-Canadian statesman, eldest son of William Hume Blake of Cashel Grove, Co. Galway, who settled in Canada in 1832, and there became a distinguished lawyer and chancellor of Ontario, was born on the 13th of October 1833 at Adelaide in Middlesex county, Ontario. Educated at Upper Canada College and the university of Toronto, Blake was called to the bar in 1856 and quickly obtained a good practice, becoming Q.C. in 1864. In 1867 he was elected member for West Durham in the Dominion parliament, and for South Bruce in the provincial legislature, in which he became leader of the Liberal opposition two years later. On the defeat of John Sandfield Macdonald's government in 1871 Blake became prime minister of Ontario, but resigned this office the same year in consequence of the abolition of dual representation. He declined the leadership of the Liberal party in the Dominion parliament, but, having taken an active part in bringing about the overthrow of Sir John Macdonald's ministry in 1873, joined the Liberal cabinet of Alexander Mackenzie, though without portfolio or salary. Impaired health soon compelled him to resign, and to take the voyage to Europe; on his return in 1875 he rejoined the cabinet as minister of justice, in which office it fell to him to take the chief part in framing the constitution of the supreme court of Canada. Continued ill-health compelled him in 1877 again to seek rest in Europe, having first exchanged the portfolio of justice for the less exacting office of president of the council. During his absence the Liberal government was driven from power by the elections of 1878; and Blake himself, having failed to secure re-election, was for a short time without a seat in parliament. From 1880 to 1887 he was leader of the opposition, being succeeded on his resignation of the position in the latter year by Mr (afterwards Sir) Wilfrid Laurier. In 1892 he became a member of the British House of Commons as an Irish Nationalist, being elected for South Longford. But he did not fulfil the expectations which had been formed on the strength of his colonial reputation; he took no very prominent part in debate, and gave little evidence of his undoubted oratorical gifts. In 1907 he retired from public life. In 1858 he had married Margaret, daughter of Benjamin Cronyn, first bishop of Huron.

See John Charles Dent, _The Last Forty Years: Canada Since the Union of 1841_ (2 vols., Toronto, 1881); J.S. Willison, _Sir Wilfrid Laurier and the Liberal Party_ (2 vols., London, 1904).

BLAKE, ROBERT (1509-1657), English parliamentarian and admiral, was born at Bridgwater in Somersetshire. The day of his birth is not known, but he was baptized on the 27th of September 1599. Blake was the eldest son of a well-to-do merchant, and received his early education at the grammar school of Bridgwater. In 1615 he was sent to Oxford, entering at first St Alban's Hall, but removing afterwards to Wadham College, then recently founded. He remained at the university till 1625, but failed to obtain any college preferment. Nothing is known of his life with certainty for the next fifteen years. An anonymous Dutch writer, in the _Hollandische Mercurius_ (1652), represents him as saying that he had lived in Schiedam "for five or six years" in his youth. He doubtless engaged in trade, and apparently with success. When, after eleven years of kingship without parliaments, a parliament was summoned to meet in April 1640, Blake was elected to represent his native borough. This parliament, named "the Short," was dissolved in three weeks, and the career of Blake as a politician was suspended. Two years later the inevitable conflict began. Blake declared for the Parliament, and served under Sir John Horner. In 1643 he was entrusted with the command of one of the forts of Bristol. This he stoutly held during the siege of the town by Prince Rupert, and earned the approval of parliament by refusing to surrender his post till duly informed of the capitulation. In 1644 he gained high distinction by the resolute defence of Lyme in Dorsetshire. The siege was raised on the 23rd of May, and on the 8th of July Blake took Taunton by surprise, and notwithstanding its imperfect defences and inadequate supplies, held the town for the Parliament against two sieges by the Royalists until July 1645, when it was relieved by Fairfax. In 1645 he re-entered parliament as member for Taunton, when the Royalist Colonel Windham was expelled.

He adhered to the Parliamentary party after the king's death, and within a month (February 1649) was appointed, with Colonels Dean and Popham, to the command of the fleet, under the title of General of the Sea. In April he was sent in pursuit of Prince Rupert, who with the Royalist fleet had entered the harbour of Kinsale in Ireland. There he blockaded the prince for six months; and when the latter, in want of provisions, and hopeless of relief, succeeded in making his escape with the fleet and in reaching the Tagus, Blake followed him thither, and again blockaded him for some months. The king of Portugal refusing permission for Blake to attack his enemy, the latter made reprisals by falling on the Portuguese fleet, richly laden, returning from Brazil. He captured seventeen ships and burnt three, bringing his prizes home without molestation. After revictualling his fleet, he sailed again, captured a French man-of-war, and then pursued Prince Rupert, who had been asked to go away by the Portuguese and had entered the Mediterranean. In November 1650 Blake destroyed the bulk of the Royalist squadron near Cartagena. The thanks of parliament were voted to Blake, and he received a grant of L1000. He was continued in his office of admiral and general of the sea; and in May following he took, in conjunction with Ayscue, the Scilly Islands. For this service the thanks of parliament were again awarded him, and he was soon after made a member of the council of state.

In 1652 war broke out with the Dutch, who had made great preparations for the conflict. In March the command of the fleet was given to Blake for nine months; and in the middle of May the Dutch fleet of forty-five ships, led by their great admiral Tromp, appeared in the Downs. Blake, who had only twenty ships, sailed to meet them, and the battle took place off Dover on the 19th of May. The Dutch were defeated in an engagement of four or five hours, lost two ships, and withdrew under cover of darkness. Attempts at accommodation were made by the states, but they failed. Early in July war was formally declared, and in the same month Blake captured a large part of the Dutch fishery-fleet and the twelve men-of-war that formed their convoy. On the 28th of September Blake and Penn again encountered the Dutch fleet, now commanded by De Ruyter and De Witt, off the Kentish Knock, defeated it, and chased it for two days. The Dutch took refuge in Goree. A third battle was fought near the end of November. By this time the ships under Blake's command had been reduced in number to forty, and nearly the half of these were useless for want of seamen. Tromp, who had been reinstated in command, appeared in the Downs, with a fleet of eighty ships besides ten fireships. Blake, nevertheless, risked a battle off Dungeness, but was defeated, and withdrew into the Thames. The English fleet having been refitted, put to sea again in February 1653; and on the 18th Blake, at the head of eighty ships, encountered Tromp in the Channel. The Dutch force, according to Clarendon, numbered 100 ships of war, but according to the official reports of the Dutch, only seventy. The battle was severe, and continued through three days, the Dutch, however, retreating, and taking refuge in the shallow waters off the French coast. In this action Blake was severely wounded. The three English admirals put to sea again in May; and on the 3rd and 4th of June another battle was fought near the North Foreland. On the first day Dean and Monk were repulsed by Tromp; but on the second day the scales were turned by the arrival of Blake, and the Dutch retreated to the Texel.

Ill-health now compelled Blake to retire from the service for a time, and he did not appear again on the seas for about eighteen months; meanwhile he sat as a member of the Little Parliament (Barebones's). In November 1654 he was selected by Cromwell to conduct a fleet to the Mediterranean to exact compensation from the duke of Tuscany, the knights of Malta, and the piratical states of North Africa, for wrongs done to English merchants. This mission he executed with his accustomed spirit and with complete success. Tunis alone dared to resist his demands, and Tunis paid the penalty of the destruction of its two fortresses by English guns. In the winter of 1655-1656, war being declared against Spain, Blake was sent to cruise off Cadiz and the neighbouring coasts, to intercept the Spanish shipping. One of his captains captured a part of the Plate fleet in September 1656. In April 1657 Blake, then in very ill health, suffering from dropsy and scurvy, and anxious to have assistance in his arduous duties, heard that the Plate fleet lay at anchor in the bay of Santa Cruz, in the island of Teneriffe. The position was a very strong one, defended by a castle and several forts with guns. Under the shelter of these lay a fleet of sixteen ships drawn up in crescent order. Captain Stayner was ordered to enter the bay and fall on the fleet. This he did. Blake followed him. Broadsides were poured into the castle and the forts at the same time; and soon nothing was left but ruined walls and charred fragments of burnt ships. The wind was blowing hard into the bay; but suddenly, and fortunately for the heroic Blake, it shifted, and carried him safely out to sea. "The whole action," says Clarendon, "was so incredible that all men who knew the place wondered that any sober man, with what courage soever endowed, would ever have undertaken it; and they could hardly persuade themselves to believe what they had done; while the Spaniards comforted themselves with the belief that they were devils and not men who had destroyed them in such a manner." The English lost one ship and 200 men killed and wounded. The thanks of parliament were voted to officers and men; and a very costly jewel (diamond ring) was presented to Blake, "as a testimony," says Cromwell in his letter of 10th June, "of our own and the parliament's good acceptance of your carriage in this action." "This was the last action of the brave Blake."

After again cruising for a time off Cadiz, his health failing more and more, he was compelled to make homewards before the summer was over. He died at sea, but within sight of Plymouth, on the 17th of August 1657. His body was brought to London and embalmed, and after lying in state at Greenwich House was interred with great pomp and solemnity in Westminster Abbey. In 1661 Charles II. ordered the exhumation of Blake's body, with those of the mother and daughter of Cromwell and several others. They were cast out of the abbey, and were reburied in the churchyard of St Margaret's. "But that regard," says Johnson, "which was denied his body has been paid to his better remains, his name and his memory. Nor has any writer dared to deny him the praise of intrepidity, honesty, contempt of wealth, and love of his country." Clarendon bears the following testimony to his excellence as a commander:--"He was the first man that declined the old track, and made it apparent that the science might be attained in less time than was imagined. He was the first man that brought ships to contemn castles on the shore, which had ever been thought very formidable, but were discovered by him to make a noise only, and to fright those who could be rarely hurt by them."

A life of Blake is included in the work entitled _Lives, English and Foreign_. Dr Johnson wrote a short life of him, and in 1852 appeared Hepworth Dixon's fuller narrative, _Robert Blake, Admiral and General at Sea_. Much new matter for the biography of Blake will be found in the _Letters and Papers Relating to the First Dutch War_, edited by S.R. Gardiner for the Navy Records Society (1898-1899.)

BLAKE, WILLIAM (1757-1827), English poet and painter, was born in London, on the 28th of November 1757. His father, James Blake, kept a hosier's shop in Broad Street, Golden Square; and from the scanty education which the young artist received, it may be judged that the circumstances of the family were not very prosperous. For the facts of William Blake's early life the world is indebted to a little book, called _A Father's Memoirs on a Child_, written by Dr Malkin in 1806. Here we learn that young Blake quickly developed a taste for design, which his father appears to have had sufficient intelligence to recognize and assist by every means in his power. At the age of ten the boy was sent to a drawing school kept by Henry Pars in the Strand, and at the same time he was already cultivating his own taste by constant attendance at the different art sale rooms, where he was known as the "little connoisseur." Here he began to collect prints after Michelangelo, and Raphael, Durer and Heemskerk, while at the school in the Strand he had the opportunity of drawing from the antique. After four years of this preliminary instruction Blake entered upon another branch of art study. In 1777 he was apprenticed to James Basire, an engraver of repute, and with him he remained seven years. His apprenticeship had an important bearing on Blake's artistic education, and marks the department of art in which he was made technically proficient. In 1778, at the end of his apprenticeship, he proceeded to the school of the Royal Academy, where he continued his early study from the antique, and had for the first time an opportunity of drawing from the living model.

This is in brief all that is known of Blake's artistic education. That he ever, at the academy or elsewhere, systematically studied painting we do not know; but that he had already begun the practice of water colour for himself is ascertained. So far, however, the course of his training in art schools, and under Basire, was calculated to render him proficient only as a draughtsman and an engraver. He had learned how to draw, and he had mastered besides the practical difficulties of engraving, and with these qualifications he entered upon his career. In 1780 he exhibited a picture in the Royal Academy Exhibition, conjectured to have been executed in water colours, and he continued to contribute to the annual exhibitions up to the year 1808. In 1782 he married Catherine Boucher, the daughter of a market-gardener at Battersea, with whom he lived always on affectionate terms, and the young couple after their marriage established themselves in Green Street, Leicester Fields. Blake had already become acquainted with some of the rising artists of his time, amongst them Stothard, Flaxman and Fuseli, and he now began to see something of literary society. At the house of the Rev. Henry Mathew, in Rathbone Place, he used to recite and sometimes to sing poems of his own composition, and it was through the influence of this gentleman, combined with that of Flaxman, that Blake's first volume of poetry was printed and published in 1783. From this time forward the artist came before the world in a double capacity. By education as well as native talent, he was pledged to the life of a painter, and these _Poetical Sketches_, though they are often no more than the utterances of a boy, are no less decisive in marking Blake as a future poet.

For a while the two gifts are exhibited in association. To the close of his life Blake continued to print and publish, after a manner of his own, the inventions of his verse illustrated by original designs, but there is a certain period in his career when the union of the two gifts is peculiarly close, and when their service to one another is unquestionable. In 1784 Blake, moving from Green Street, set up in company with a fellow-pupil, Parker, as print-seller and engraver next to his father's house in Broad Street, Golden Square, but in 1787 this partnership was severed, and he established an independent business in Poland Street. It was from this house, and in 1787, that the _Songs of Innocence_ were published, a work that must always be remarkable for beauty both of verse and of design, as well as for the singular method by which the two were combined and expressed by the artist. Blake became in fact his own printer and publisher. He engraved upon copper, by a process devised by himself, both the text of his poems and the surrounding decorative design, and to the pages printed from the copper plates an appropriate colouring was afterwards added by hand. The poetic genius already discernible in the first volume of _Poetical Sketches_ is here more decisively expressed, and some of the songs in this volume deserve to take rank with the best things of their kind in our literature. In an age of enfeebled poetic style, when Wordsworth, with more weighty apparatus, had as yet scarcely begun his reform of English versification, Blake, unaided by any contemporary influence, produced a work of fresh and living beauty; and if the _Songs of Innocence_ established Blake's claim to the title of poet, the setting in which they were given to the world proved that he was also something more. For the full development of his artistic powers we have to wait till a later date, but here at least he exhibits a just and original understanding of the sources of decorative beauty. Each page of these poems is a study of design, full of invention, and often wrought with the utmost delicacy of workmanship. The artist retained to the end this feeling for decorative effect; but as time went on, he considerably enlarged the imaginative scope of his work, and decoration then became the condition rather than the aim of his labour.