Page:Dictionary of National Biography. Sup. Vol II (1901).djvu/386

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Grub
374
Hake

the more recent researches on the Celtic period of Scottish history, the book is by no means out of date; but it is unfortunate that no second edition of it was called for until Grub was too old to undertake the labour of preparing one. He had made notes for this which it is understood were lent to the Rev. W. Stephen, D.D., Dumbarton, for his 'History' (2 vols. 1894-6).

Grub contributed to 'Chambers's Encyclopædia' the articles 'Scotland' and 'Church of Scotland;' that on 'Scottish Literature' in the earlier editions was also his, but failing health prevented him from undertaking its revision for the new edition. To the Aberdeen Philosophical Society he contributed the 'Life of Bishop Elphinstone;' 'The Life of Bishop Burnet, and his Character as a Historian and Biographer;' 'Dr. James Beattie and his Friends;' 'The Antiquities of Dunkeld;' 'Froude's History and Mary, Queen of Scots;' 'Elgin Cathedral;' 'Review of the Evidence as to the Complicity of Queen Mary in the Murder of Darnley;' and, in concert with his lifelong friend and companion, Mr. Norval Clyne, 'The Ecclesiastical and Baronial Antiquities of the Cathedral of Brechin and Castle of Edzell.' An unpublished paper on Henry Scougal [q. v.] supplied materials for the 'Life' of that author prefixed to the latest edition of Scougal's devotional treatise, 'The Life of God in the Soul of Man' (Aberdeen, 1892).

Grub died at Aberdeen on 23 Sept. 1893, and was buried in the cathedral churchyard at Old Aberdeen, not far from the grave of the non-juror George Garden [q. v.] Grub's legal practice was never extensive, and till the last ten years of his life his emoluments from his offices were inconsiderable; but they sufficed for his modest wants. With all his preoccupation in religion and study, he was of a very social disposition, while his wit and abundant lore made him a delightful companion. Of middle height, he was rendered lame in early life by the ossification of the right knee; he had a fine head with keen blue eyes and early-silvered locks. Of two portraits of him by Sir George Reid, one hangs in the Advocates' Hall, Aberdeen, another at Marischal College; the latter is the happier likeness. His wife, Ann Lyall, died many years before him, leaving him two sons, the Rev. George Grub, now rector of the Episcopal Church, Ayr, and the Rev. Charles Grub, rector of St. Mary's, Montrose.

[Personal knowledge; communications from the Rev. George Grub; Life (in Three Churchmen, Edinburgh, 1893), by the Rev. William Walker, LL.D., Monymusk; Aurora Boreales, Aberdeen, 1898; Records of Old Aberdeen, New Spalding Club, &c.]

J. C.

H


HAKE, THOMAS GORDON (1809–1895), physician and poet, was born at Leeds on 10 March 1809, and was descended from an old Devonshire family who had 'lived on the soil for many years without being distinguished in any branch of science, literature, or art.' His father, whose usual residence was Sidmouth, possessed considerable musical acquirements. His mother, fourteen years older than the father, was of the Huntly branch of the Gordon family, being eldest daughter of Captain William Augustus Gordon, and aunt of General Charles Gordon. The father died when Hake was three years old; his widow, left with a moderate competence, continued to live in Devonshire, and obtained for her son an admission to Christ's Hospital, where, first at the preparatory school at Hertford and afterwards in London, he received most of his education. Having determined upon a medical career, he studied at Lewes under Thomas Hodson, 'the highest authority in his profession within the bounds of Sussex,' afterwards at St. George's Hospital, and at the universities of Edinburgh and Glasgow, at which latter he graduated. After travelling for some time in Italy he settled at Brighton, where he was for five years physician to the dispensary, then proceeded to Paris for a year's study, and on his return in 1839 published 'Piromides,' a tragedy on the mysteries of Isis, and the 'nebulous but impressive romance,' as Mr. W. M. Rossetti calls it, 'Vates, or the Philosophy of Madness,' first issued in four incomplete numbers, with illustrations by Charles Landseer (1840, 4to), and afterwards republished in 'Ainsworth's Magazine' as 'Valdarno, or the Ordeal of Art-Worship.' 'Towards 1844 it seethed in my brother's head,' says Mr. Rossetti, and it ultimately led to a friendship between Dante Rossetti and the author eventful for both. Hake next settled at Bury St. Edmunds, where he became intimate with George Borrow and J. W. Donaldson, of both of whom he has given interesting particulars in his autobiography. Between 1839 and