Balcarres Wardlaw Ramsay

As a younger son, Balcarres (1822-1885) was given a good education and secured a commission in the army, where his amiable nature and intelligence were appreciated. He wrote a two-volume memoir, while living in the Palazzo Odelscalchi, which proved an instant best seller. Volume 1 talks about his childhood and is a valuable source of family details, and about his Grand Tour, which is marginally less tedious than such records usually are. Volume 2 is of great interest to historians as it includes his experiences in the Crimean War. In it we also meet Missiri, the Egyptian who his brother William and cousin Alexander had employed as their dragoman in Cairo. More about Missiri on his Page. A portrait of Balcarres was painted by Geddes in 1841, and he opens his memoir with a humorous reference to its reception in the 1842 Royal Academy exhibition (310, A Portrait of Balcarras Ramsay Esq. Royal Scots Greys, A. Geddes). A cartoon was published in Punch magazine, and I hope to locate it one day!

Rough recollections of military service and society, by Balcarres Dalrymple Wardlaw Ramsay.

Publication details: Edinburgh: William Blackwood, 1882.
Description: 2 volumes (ix, 294; 298 pages ; 20cm)