The Black Dwarf (personage)
Encyclopedia
David Ritchie known also as David of Manor Water, Bow'd Davie, Crooked David, and most notably the Black Dwarf, was a dwarf
, the son of a quarryman at the slate
quarries
of Stobo. He was the inspiration for Sir Walter Scott's novel, The Black Dwarf
. Scott visited him in 1797.
He was brought up as a brushmaker in Edinburgh, but was disliked because of his appearance. He eventually settled in a stone cottage on the banks of Manor Water
near the town of Peebles
, Scotland
. The door of the cottage was about 3 feet and 6 inches high, and the ceiling was just high enough for him to stand inside. The superstitious locals feared he could cast the Evil Eye
on them, blamed him for any problems with their livestock, and generally avoided him.
He never wore shoes, which wouldn't fit on his misshapen feet. Instead, he wrapped his legs and feet in cloth. He walked with the help of a staff considerably taller than himself.
Sources described him as being irritable and having a shrill, dissonant laugh, but he is also described as an intellectual who enjoyed reading Milton's Paradise Lost
and ballads by William Shenstone
.
Dwarfism
Dwarfism is short stature resulting from a medical condition. It is sometimes defined as an adult height of less than 4 feet 10 inches , although this definition is problematic because short stature in itself is not a disorder....
, the son of a quarryman at the slate
Slate
Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. The result is a foliated rock in which the foliation may not correspond to the original sedimentary layering...
quarries
Quarries
Quarries - The "Royal Quarries" — not found in Scripture — is the namegiven to the vast caverns stretching far underneath the northern hill, Bezetha, on which Jerusalem is built. Out of these mammoth caverns stones, a hard limestone, have been quarried in ancient times for the buildings in the...
of Stobo. He was the inspiration for Sir Walter Scott's novel, The Black Dwarf
The Black Dwarf (novel)
Walter Scott's novel The Black Dwarf was part of his Tales of My Landlord, 1st series, published along with Old Mortality on 2 December 1816 by William Blackwood, Edinburgh, and John Murray, London...
. Scott visited him in 1797.
He was brought up as a brushmaker in Edinburgh, but was disliked because of his appearance. He eventually settled in a stone cottage on the banks of Manor Water
Manor Water
The Manor Water is a river in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland. It rises in the Ettrick Forest and flows into the River Tweed one mile south of Peebles.-See also:*List of places in the Scottish Borders*List of places in Scotland...
near the town of Peebles
Peebles
Peebles is a burgh in the committee area of Tweeddale, in the Scottish Borders, lying on the River Tweed. According to the 2001 Census, the population was 8,159.-History:...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. The door of the cottage was about 3 feet and 6 inches high, and the ceiling was just high enough for him to stand inside. The superstitious locals feared he could cast the Evil Eye
Evil eye
The evil eye is a look that is believed by many cultures to be able to cause injury or bad luck for the person at whom it is directed for reasons of envy or dislike...
on them, blamed him for any problems with their livestock, and generally avoided him.
He never wore shoes, which wouldn't fit on his misshapen feet. Instead, he wrapped his legs and feet in cloth. He walked with the help of a staff considerably taller than himself.
Sources described him as being irritable and having a shrill, dissonant laugh, but he is also described as an intellectual who enjoyed reading Milton's Paradise Lost
Paradise Lost
Paradise Lost is an epic poem in blank verse by the 17th-century English poet John Milton. It was originally published in 1667 in ten books, with a total of over ten thousand individual lines of verse...
and ballads by William Shenstone
William Shenstone
William Shenstone was an English poet and one of the earliest practitioners of landscape gardening through the development of his estate, The Leasowes.-Life:...
.