Paterson attended him until he went to the grammar-school, where his
character first began to be developed; and his schoolfellows, many of
whom are alive, still recollect him as a lively, warm-hearted, and
high-spirited boy, passionate and resentful, but withal affectionate
and companionable; this, however, is an opinion given of him after he
had become celebrated; for a very different impression has
unquestionably remained among some who carry their recollections back
to his childhood. By them he has been described as a malignant imp:
was often spoken of for his pranks by the worthy housewives of the
neighbourhood, as "Mrs Byron's crockit deevil," and generally
disliked for the deep vindictive anger he retained against those with
whom he happened to quarrel.

By the death of William, the fifth lord, he succeeded to the estates
and titles in the year 1798; and in the autumn of that year, Mrs
Byron, with her son and a faithful servant of the name of Mary Gray,
left Aberdeen for Newstead. Previously to their departure, Mrs Byron
sold the furniture of her humble lodging, with the exception of her
little plate and scanty linen, which she took with her, and the whole
amount of the sale did not yield SEVENTY-FIVE POUNDS.



CHAPTER II



Moral Effects of local Scenery; a Peculiarity in Taste--Early Love--
Impressions and Traditions