Here is some further material from Robert Stodart Wyld's Memoirs regarding Robert Brown.
"My Uncle Brown was essentially a one-sided man, full of passions and prejudices, and when in ill humour, very unmeasured of his language - sarcastic also in the extreme. This made him exceedingly unpopular with many merchants in Leith with whom he had business transactions, and the recoil fell naturally on our father [James Wyld of Gilston], who had brought this bear to Leith. All this gave much pain and vexation to our father, who was an exceedingly sensitive man.
"These were some of Mr. Brown's bad traits; on the other side, he had some very good ones. He was kind and hospitable to those he liked. He frequently invited us boys, along with his other more important guests, to dinner on Saturdays; and he never failed to treat us to apple pie, after which we were sometimes sent out of the way to play in the garden.
"Seeing that some of us were careless in our penmanship, he persuaded our father to send us - one at a time - to his office in Leith to be taught to write. We were sent accordingly, and he started us on excellent lines; he persuaded us, before we put pen to paper, that good penmanship was the highest possible accomplishment, and the most beautiful and important of all arts, and that it was, moreover, essential for all prosperity in life. The result of this argument was striking; before a week was passed he had completely, at least for the time, transformed the handwriting of all his pupils.
"Mr Brown had many very rational tastes and some hobbyhorses; he loved to observe agricultural operations. On a Saturday afternoon he might generally be seen sauntering along the Queensferry Road, leaning over hedges and dykes, criticising the different crops on that well cultivated district. His cogitations on such occasions furnished him with endless matter for conversation. Another hobby was England, its beauty and richness. At the time his appeal to the House of Lords was pending, he made frequent journeys to London to look after his attorney. There were no railways then, and the journey had to him all the charm and novelty which is now felt in exploring the course of the Nile; or travelling through Palestine. He journeyed along in a very leisurely manner; he admired the breadth and extent of the cultivated land, the brightness of the Yorkshire pastures, the beauty of the villages, the clean white-washed cottages, the excellence of the home-brewed beer which he got at the country inns, but especially he admired the smart cleverness of the English women who served him, and the clear polite tone in which they spoke - so much superior to our homely Scotch manners. All that he saw and heard was treasured up, and afforded him matter for conversation for weeks thereafter."
I don't have time to type out all the material about Robert Brown. However if you visit the Robert Stodart Wyld Memoirs page, and view images 7b to 10, you will be able to find out more about Robert Brown. I also have his Last Will and Testament which I am currently transcribing.
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