UiniDH AN LEA5HAK 50
I/O
JHTIMER STREET. W.
Presented to the
LIBRARY of the
UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO
by
JOSEPH BUIST
. '//f
i
LETTERS
FROM A
GENTLEMAN IN THE NORTH OF SCOTLAND
TO
HIS FRIEND IN LONDON;
CONTAINING THE DESCRIPTION OF A CAPITAL TOWN IN THAT NORTHERN
COUNTRY, WITH AN ACCOUNT OF SOME UNCOMMON
CUSTOMS OF THE INHABITANTS;
LIKEWISE
AN ACCOUNT OF THE HIGHLANDS,
WITH
^fie Customs anfc JWanntrs of tfje f%'gDlante.
TO WHICH IS ADDED,
A LETTER, RELATING TO THE MILITARY WAYS AMONG THE MOUNTAINS, BEGUN IN THE YEAR 1726.
THE FIFTH EDITION,
AND
A LARGE APPENDIX,
CONTAINING VARIOUS IMPORTANT HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS, HITHERTO UNPUBLISHED; WITH AN
INTRODUCTJ0& ANf»N#TES,
BY THE EDITOR,
R. JAMIESON, F.A.S. LOND..& EDIN.
Corresponding Member of the Scandinavian Literary Society of Copenhagen, <Jc.
AND'
THE HISTORY OF DONALD THE HAMMERER,
From an Authentic Account of the Family of Invernahyle ; a MS. communicated by
SIR WALTER SCOTT, BART.
IN TWO VOLUMES.
VOL. I. LONDON:
PRINTED FOR OGLE, DUNCAN, AND CO. 37, PATERNOSTER ROW, AND
295, HOLBORN; OLIVER AND BOYD, EDINBURGH; M. OGLE,
GLASGOW; AND M. KEENE, DUBLIN.
1822.
OF
THE FIRST VOLUME.
INTRODUCTION to the Fifth Edition Page xv..
LETTER I.
INTRODUCTION. — Familiarity the basis of this corre^ spondence. — To be shown to one friend only. — Rea- sons for this stipulation. — Genius of a people known only by their native manners. — Folly of being of- fended at descriptions of one's country. — Highland- ers little known to the Low Country, Still less to the English. — Scantiness of written information re- specting the Highlands. — Lowlands have been mis- represented.— Notice of a work called ' A Journey through Scotland'— Old seats in Scotland— Plan of this correspondence — The descriptions mostly from personal knowledge-^-Danger of letters being
intercepted — Egotism excused 1 — 10
VOL. I. b
I
VI CONTENTS. .
LETTER II.
Manner in which the introductory part of these Let- ters originated — Passage of the Tweed at Kelso— The inn and its accommodations — Innkeeper a gen- tleman— Potted pigeons — Disgusted, and quit the inn — First impressions -A specimen of cookery — Miser- able bedding — Excellent linen— -Edinburgh— Height of houses there— Tavern — Description of the cook — City drum — A guide for protection in passing the streets- — Public nuisance — Number of families in a house— Site for a new city — Rejected, and why — Tedious mode of directing strangers — The cawdys and their constable — Leave Edinburgh — Glasgow, its uniformity and neatness — Church at Linlithgow — Formerly a cathedral — Its neglected state — A curious remark — Leave Glasgow— Road — Contradictory in- formation—Romantic appearance of the moun- tains—Poverty of the towns— Singular custom of quitting houses when old— Disagreeable smell of fishing-towns— Cattle smaller towards the North of Scotland 11—32
LETTER III.
Melancholy situation of a town without manufacture and foreign trade— Ought to be particularly attend- ed to by governments — Poverty, simply considered, not a subject for ridicule — Insipid jests — Inverness — Its situation — A royal borough — Its government — Capital of the Highlands — Inhabitants speak Eng- lish— Castle — Formerly a regal palace — Discovery of a corpse — Conjecture of a native respecting it — Mary Queen of Scots — Castle in danger — Bridge and
CONTENTS. Yil
toll — Country people wade the river rather than pay — Salmon — Seals — Their singular appearance — Occasion the fiction of a mermaid — Appearance of, on dissection — Mode of taking — Keen sight of — Silly notions respecting — Women washing linen at the river— Partiality for this mode — Tolbooth, or county gaol — Frequency of escapes — A guess at their cause — Arbitrary conduct of Chiefs — Their policy — A particular instance — Endeavour to keep clans poor — Mean Artifice— Military habits — Town-hall— Mar- ket-cross— Coffee-house — Churches — Anecdote — Church-yard and monuments — -Style of building- — Denomination of houses — Not lofty, and why — Roughness of building — Rats frequent — Their pro- digious numbers — Ignorant supposition respecting — Singular conveyance — Weasels — Houses internally described — 111 contrived — Windows 33 — 61
LETTER IV.
Inferior houses — Pavement — Want of cleanliness — A singular practice — Remarkable inscriptions — Shops — Ridiculous affectation — Merchants — Their vanity — Pride of birth in the lower class — Singular conde- scension — Pride of birth exemplified in a piper — Ridiculous effect of this vanity on strangers — Evil of such conceits — Lower class — Their wretched po- verty— Laborious occupation of women — Brogues — Carts — Drivers — Harness — Horses unshod — Ill-con- trived wheels — Public curiosity at a chariot—Scar- city of pasture — W retched state of horses in winter — Grass — Great scarcity of hay — Fairs at Inverness —
Poverty 62—81
62
•
Vlll CONTENTS.
LETTER V.
Fairs continued — Dress —A curious precaution — Plaid the undress of ladies — Mode of wearing distinguish whig and tory — Handsome women— Maid-servants —Their poverty — Their labour and small wages — Strange habits — Seldom wear shoes — Reflection on their condition — Children of the poor — Their wretch- ed appearance— Their dress — Frequency of a loath- some distemper — Merchants and magistrates — 'Their marrow-mindedness — Suspicion — Mean artifices of shopkeepers — A candid proposal, and its effects — Will not lend without a pledge — Distinction between a measure for buying and selling — Jealousy- — Sol- diers the best tradesmen — Education 82 — 101
LETTER VI.
Visit to a laird's lady — Conversation — Opinion of Eng- lish ladies —Comparison between the English and Scotch — Illustration — Insincerity — Indolence of working tradesmen — Want of enoouragement-^-Best workmen emigrate — Fishermen — their indolence — Women bring them and their fish to land — Remark- able pride — Lower class object to particular trades — Backward in giving information — Their lodgings — Ludicrous appearance — Bedding — Opinion respect- ing the English in eating — Considered and refuted — Provisions, prices of — Anecdote — Indebted to the English originally for vegetables — Highlanders refuse to eat pork — Influence of chiefs — Animal food — English inn — Hares and birds numerous — Partridges — River fish — Inhabitants refuse to eat eels and pike — Do not engage in field exercises — Salmon, from its
CONTENTS. IX
plenty, considered a common food — Anecdote — Pa- rental distress ,,,.......102—126
LETTER VII,
Complaint against the English — Cheapness of provi" sjons — Curious law respecting the green plover — Highland baronet — Hospitality — Meanness — High- land cookery — Anecdote — Comparison with the Eng- lish— French claret — Brandy — The laird of Culloden •. — His hospitality — Humorous contrivance — Hounds, and hace-hunting — Foxes— Beggars, numerous and importunate — Police — :A Frenchman's comment — Highland thriftiness — A diverting instance of— Com mon sayings — Kitchens filthy — An instance of, and remarks on — Butter, — Filthy state of public inns — Landlords — Their want of ceremony — Pride of family— A ridiculous instance of.. 137 — 149
LETTER VIII.
Correspondence interrupted — Reason of — Visit to a Highland chief — Account of the expursion — Occur- rences on the way — Arrival at the castle— Reception — Entertainment— Musicians — Style of dinner — Os- tentation—Number of Highlanders in attendance — Chief engrosses the conversation — Departure — Re- turn— Remarks — Wretched stables — Trial of patience — Highland ale — The pint stoop — A dialogue — Eng- lish spoken at Inverness— Irish in the Lowlands—- Herring fishery— Instance of a plentiful season — Fraud on salt duty — Appointment of a new officer — Is bribed — Intimidated by a smuggler — Curious con- sequences— Importations — Attempt to prohibit brandy — Scarcity of port — Soldiers — Wretched quarters — A
X CONTENTS.
complaint — Honour among merchants — Ministers and their stipends — Style of discourses — Strongly object to personal decoration — Force of flattery
150—170
LETTER IX.
Ministers appear to disregard morality in their ser- mons— Their prayers — Extempore preaching — Dan- ger of — Mistakes in — An instance of — Approval of a minister at Edinburgh — Extracts from a sermon — Lilly the astrologer — Improvement of young ministers — Ministers circumscribed in their intercourse — Their strict observance of the sabbath — Are much revered by the people — Their strictness — Instance of — In synod assume great authority — Neglect of the kirk — Its consequences — Meeting of synod — Whim- sical saying — Watchful of the female character — Singular marriage by declaration — Power of the kirk to compel— Routine for enforcing — Penance — Injudicious application of — Fatal occurrence — Power of the presbytery — Instance of — Doing penance — Style of ministerial rebuke — Power of ministers with the bulk of the people — Instance of — Kirk treasurer — His spies — Frequent service on Sunday — Kirk bell— Music bells 171—197
LETTER X.
•A •••progress among the mountains — Guide and his dis- course— Mountain scenery — Extravagant gratitude of a Highlander — Reflection on the condition of Highlanders — Curious letter from a young High- lander in America— Remarks on 198—210.
'
CONTENTS. XI
LETTER XI.
Episcopalians — Remarkable instance of disloyalty — Nonjuring ministers — Political cast of their instruc- tions— Weddings — Penny, or servant's wedding — — Do not use the ring — Custom of plunging infants into water — Christening — Admonition to parents Funerals — Mode of invitation to— Of procession — Bagpipe — Funerals among the higher class — Enter- tainment at — Excessive drinking — Minister has no demand for christening, marrying, or burial — Incon- venience of burial fees in England — Oliver Crom- well's fort — His army — His colours 21 1 — 224
LETTER XII.
The name of Cromwell disliked by the Highlanders — His successes — Inverness quay — A remarkable hill,
%
said to be inhabited by fairies and frequented by witches — Notion of judges respecting witches — Trial at Hertford — Trial of two Highland women, a mo- ther and daughter, accused of witchcraft — Their condemnation and reputed confession — Gross ab- surdity of such imputations — Said to have been used as an engine of political power — Danger of ex- posing this notion — Island on the river Ness — Plan- tation— Moor-stones — Soldiers raise immense blocks of stone — Anecdote — The laird of Fairfield — Fre- quency of mortgage — Daughter's portion — Usury- prohibited ,..,.235—240
LETTER XIII.
Castle of Culloden — Female courage — Parks — Dis- appoint an English officer — Arable land — Plowing
Xll CONTENTS.
—Poverty of labourers — Corn cut while green — Wages of labourers — Kinds of grain— Scanty pro- duce— Trades — Improved by communication with the soldiers — Partiality of the Scotch for their coun- trymen— Distress during scarcity — Anecdote — De- scription of Fort-William and Maryburgh — Houses built of wood — These Letters designed to contain nothing that may be found elsewhere — Answer to an inquiry — Account of Inverness and country around concluded — White hares and small birds on the $nowy mountains ,..., 241 — 267
LETTER XIV.
Account of a Highlander executed for murder — Causes of its perpetration — His desperate resistance and concealment — Is visited by ministers — His singular conduct — His execution and desperate conduct — Incendiaries in Glengary — Origin of the occurrence — Failure of the attack — Visit to a laird — The com- pany— Witchcraft— Minister's opinion — A contro- versy— Ludicrous story of a witch and a Highland laird — Certified by four ministers — Author's incre- dulity— His remarks — Reply — Arguments — Witch of Endor— Copernicus and Psalms of David — Egotism excused — Moliere's physician — Bigotry of the clergy
to received notions 258 — #77
. LETTER XV.
Retrospect— ^Difference between inhabitants of the Highlands and Lowlands — Extent of the Highlands — Natural Division — Language cannot describe scenery of — Appearance of the hills — Summits covered with snow — Proof of the deluge — Hills
CONTENTS.
covered With heath — Trees, difficulty of removing — Bridge of snow — Deep hollows — Gray mare's tail — Tremendous waterfalls Similarity of Highland scenery — Terrific view of hills from East to West — Ben-Nevis—Travellers seldom reach the top— Dif- ficulties of travelling — Contrast — Minerals — Use of mountains— The strath — The glen — Journal of two days' progress among the hills — Monts — Their im- mense number — Preparations for the journey— Ser- vant and guide — Danger of being lost — The ferry — Ancient boat— Horses swim well 278 — 298
LETTER XVI.
Steep and stony hills — A bourn — Wood of fir — Bog — Danger from roots of trees — Grass rare — Discover a Highlander — A pleasure of the mind — Crossing a ford — Dangerous pass — Crossing a bog — Precaution — Horse sinks — Escapes with difficulty- — Highland horses accustomed to bogs — New difficulties — Stony moors — Comforts of discovering a habitation — Dangerous ford — Best mode of passing — A whimsi- cal expedient — Highlanders wade the rivers — Dan- gers to which they are exposed — Frequent loss of life — Inn — Dangerous stabling — Oats — D welling- house— A Highland toast .299—310
LETTER XVII.
Superior accommodation— Landlord's intrusion — Trou- blesome interpreter — Inquisitive and curious conduct Smoke — Peat fire — Supper — Bed — Military exploits — Breakfast — New guide — A carne — Dangerous pass of the mountains — Effect of terror — Examples of — Highland horses — Eagles — Meet a Highland chief-
CONTENTS.
tain — His behaviour — Arrival at an inn — A culinary insult — Hard eggs — Ignorant landlord — Highland huts — Dislike of trees — Fruit-trees — A tempest — Losing the way — Guide's distress — Dread of the English — Pleasing discovery — Danger from drifts of snow- . ..,..,.311—326
LETTER XVIII.
Whirlwinds — Inn — Burlesque — Curious visitor — Peat smoke — Great fall of rain — Danger of being shut iu by — A Highlander lost in the mountains — County of Athol — Part of ancient Caledonia — A tract well cultivated — Highlanders originally from Ireland — * Spenser's View of Ireland ' — National pride — Sta- ture of the Highlanders — Deformity — Some general assertions ridiculous — Gasconade — Remedy against fever — Esculapian honour — Additional remarks — Frequent rain — Shallow and stony soil — Clouds — Pursuit of a rainbow — Teneriffe — Source of rivers — Lakes — Loch Ness — Its great depth — Cataracts — Lakes on hills — Strath-Glass — A lake always frozen — Waterfall — Danger and difficulty of crossing rivers — Usky merchants — Agreeable company — Bogs — Hills— Dangers of — Scarcity of trees — Anecdote — Value of land ...327—344
INTRODUCTION
X
TO THE
FIFTH EDITION.
THE author of the following letters (the ge- nuineness of which has never been questioned in the country where the accuracy of his delinea- tions may best be appreciated) is commonly understood to have been CAPTALN BURT, an officer of engineers, who, about 1730, was sent into Scotland as a contractor, &c. The cha- racter of the work is long since decided by the general approbation of those who are most masters of the subject; and so large a body of collateral evidence respecting the then state of the Highland's has been brought forward in the Appendix and Notes, that it will be here only necessary to add such notices and remarks as
XVi INTRODUCTION.
may tend to illustrate the subject in general, as well as to prepare the reader for what is to follow.
And first, it may be expected that somewhat should be said of the antiquity of the High- landers, and the unmixed purity of their Celtic blood and language, of which they are more proud than of other more valuable distinctions to which they have a less questionable claim.
Whence the first inhabitants of our moun- tains came, or who they were, it would now be idle to inquire. They have no written annals of their own ; and the few scattered notices respecting them that remain, are to be gathered from strangers, who cannot be sup- posed to have had any accurate knowledge of their traditions concerning themselves. That a large portion of their population once was Celtic, cannot be doubted ; but of this distinc- tion, there seems to be less understood than the learned have commonly supposed. The traditions, superstitions, and earliest impres- sions of all the nations of the west, of whom, in a less cultivated state, we have any knowledge,
INTRODUCTIONS XVII
seem to point to the east, " the great cradle of mankind," as the land of their fathers; and we consider the Golhs and Celts as deriving their origin as well as their language from the same source ; the Celts having been the earlier, and the Goths the later wanderers westward. Al- though their complexion, language, religion, and habits, formed urider different skies, and in different circumstances, exhibited in the end different appearances ; yet, the farther back that we are able to trace them, the stronger the marks of identity are found to be ; and presumptive evidence must, be admitted, where positive proof is not to be expected. Of this kind of evidence, a very curious ex- ample is to be found in the end of the seventh book of Temora, where the following striking apostrophe occurs : —
" Ullin, a Charuill, a Raoinne^ Guthan aimsir a dh' aom o shean, Cluinneam sibh an dorcliadas Shefma. Agus mosglaibhse anam nan dan. Ni 'n cluinneara sibh, shil nam fonn : Cia an talla do neoil bheil ur suain ?
Xvill INTRODUCTION.
Na thribhuail sibh clarsach nach troro, An truscan ceo maidne is gruaim, Far an eirich ga fuimear a* girian O stuaidh nan ceann glas?
Literally thus in English :
0 Ullin, Carruil, and Rouno,
Voices of the time that has given way of old, Let me hear you in the darkness of Selina, And awaken the spirit of songs. —
1 hear you not. children of melody ;
[In] what hall of clouds is your [rest] slumber ?
Strike ye the harp that is not heavy,
In the gloomy robes of the mist of the morning,
Where the sun rises very sonorous
From the grey-headed waves?
Now, we know that all nations, having no light but that of nature to guide them, espe- cially when in difficult circumstances, look with fond aspirations towards the land of their fathers, to which they believe and hope that their souls after death will return. This was the belief of the Goths in their state of pro- bation in Scandinavia, and the hall of Odin was in Asgard ; and here we find the Caledonian bard, in the true spirit of the ancient and original
INTRODUCTION.
belief of his countrymen, supposing the hall of the rest of his departed friends to be in the east, where the sun rises.*
But whoever the first settlers were, their state was so precarious, that the same dis- tricts were continually changing their masters, sometimes in possession of one tribe, some- times of another, sometimes of Goths, some- times of Celts, and finally, of a mixed race composed of both. In the earliest periods of which history or tradition have preserved any memorials, the characters and, habits of life of the inhabitants of the Scotish Highlands and Isles, and of the Northern Men, with whom they had constant intercourse, so nearly re- sembled each other, that what is said of one, may be with equal justice applied to the other; and even their languages bear the nearer re- semblance to each other, the further back that
* This is only one of many passages in the poems ascribed to Ossian, which cannot reasonably be suspected, because they refer to things which the compilers had no means of knowing ; the beauty of the poetry has preserved it ; but it is in direct opposition to all their own idle theories, and therefore all the commentators have passed it over in silence.
XX INTRODUCTION*
they are traced. Almost all the great Highland clans know not only whence they came to their present settlements, whether from Ireland, Norway, or the Scotish Lowlands, but many of them know the precise time of their emigra- tion. Of those who came from Ireland, the Celtic origin may well be doubted. We know that the Goths had established themselves in that island as early as the third century, and that Cork, Dublin, Waterford, Limerick, &c. were built by them.* As the descendants of these colonists were mariners and pirates, like their fathers, they kept to the sea-coast, and were therefore more likely than up-landers to remove, in the case of distress, discontent, or
* In the Irish legend of Gadelus and Scota^ their language is brought from Scythiat to which, in the lax sense in which that appellation was commonly used, we see no great objection ; and Gadelus is called the son of NIULL, a name which has from time immemorial been peculiar to the Goths of the North and their descendants; so long ago was all distinction between Gothic and Celtic lost among the Irish ! — The Irish dictionary of O'Reilly Cso creditable to the zeal and industry of the com- piler) is a curious proof of this confusion of identity, as it con- tains, at least, ten Norse and Anglo-Saxon words, for one that is decidedly Celtic,
INTRODUCTION. XXI
want of room at home, to the Scotish High- lands and Isles. That many of these isles were inhabited by Goths from Scandinavia, at a very early period, is evident from the tra- ditions, poetry, and tales, of the Highlanders. Indeed, with respect to some of them, no traces remain of their having ever had any other permanent inhabitants.* With the his- tory of the more recent arrival of the Northern Men in Orkney, Shetland, Caithnes, Suther- land, &c. we are better acquainted from the Icelandic historians; and of the Hebridians and Highlanders, properly so called, the great clans of M'Leod, M'Lean, M'Neill, Sutherland, M'lver, Graham (Gram), Bruce (Bris), £c. are confessedly from the same quarter ; if the M'Donalds and M'Kenzies (to the latter of whom we attach the M'Raas) came imme-
* The oldest appellation by which the Hebrides are known to have been designated was Innse nan Gall^ " The isles of the strangers." The ancient kingdom of Galvcay in Ireland had its denomination from the same circumstance ; and the wild Scot of Galloway in Scotland can hardly be presumed to have been a Celt.
VOL. T. C
XXU JNTRODUCJION.
diately from Ireland, their designations never- theless show that they were not originally Celtic ; the Frazers (de Frcsale), and the Chisholms (whose real name is Cecil) went from the Lowlands, as did the Gordons, and the Stewarts of Appin and Athol ; the Ken- nedies (one of the last reclaimed of all the clans) were from Carrick and its neighbour- hood ; the Campbells (de campo bdlo) are al- lowed to be Normans ; the Murrays, as well as the M'Intoshes, M'Phersons, and other branches of the Clan Chattan* are generally understood to have come from the interior of Germany; and, in short, with the exception of the Mac Gregors, their descendants the Mac Nabs,
* The name of Cameron CLat. Camemrius) seems to have been at first a title of office, such as could not have originated hi the Highlands. It answers to the Scotish and English Chalmers, Chaumers, Chambers, Chamberlain, &c. M'Kay is spelt at least a dozen different ways; but, as it is uniformly pronounced by the Highlanders, it seems to mean the son of Guy. — But the three oldest worthies in the genealogical tree of the Reay family stand thus : Morgan Mac Magnus Vic Alaster {Alexander) ; a delectable jumble of British, Gothic, and Greek names, for the foundation of an hypothesis !
INTRODUCTION, XXlU
the [Irish?] Mac Arthurs, and a few others of inferior note, there seem to be none of the ancient Celtic race remaining.
How the men were thus changed, while the language continued, is easily accounted for. The frequent appeals made to the king by chiefs at war among themselves, sometimes drew upon them the chastisement of the Scotish government, which was fond enough of seizing such opportunities of extending its own influ- ence. Expeditions were fitted out, encourage- ment was given to the neighbours of the devoted party to join their array, and wherever the army went, submission and order were pro- duced for the time ; but the state of the coun- try remained the same as before. The posses- sions of the parties against whom the vengeance of the invaders was directed, were given, partly to new settlers from the Lowlands, and partly to their more powerful or more politic neighbours, as a bribe to ensure their favour to the new arrangements. These colonists, being mostly young male adventurers, consulted their own interest and security by marrying women
c 2
XXIV INTRODUCTION.
of the country, and the children of such mar- riages, being left in childhood entirely to the care of their mothers, grew up perfect High- landers in language, habits, and ideas, and were nowise to be distinguished from their neigh- bours, except that, perhaps, they were less civilized, being strangers to the cultivation pe- culiar to the country of their fathers, without having acquired in its full virtue that of the country in which they were born.
The Scandinavians, who over-ran a great part of the isles and adjacent districts of the main- land, brought few women from their own coun- try, and their descendants were naturalized in the same manner ; and the best dialect of the Gaelic is now spoken by those clans whose Gothic extraction has never been disputed. Their tales, poetry, and traditions, continued with the lan- guage in which they had always been delivered down from one generation to another.*
* " How ehall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land ?" is an exclamation, the pathos of which can never be fully ap- preciated by him, who has never quitted the land of his fathers. The bodies and understandings of men are more easily trans-
INTRODUCTION. XXV
From the accounts to be found in various parts of this work, particularly in the Gartmore MS. it will be seen that, from the manner in which the lands, the superiority of which be- longed to the chief of a clan, were portioned out by division and subdivision, according to proximity of blood* to the cadets of great fami- lies, the aboriginal inhabitants of the country must in the end have been actually shouldered out of existence, because no means were left for their support, and consequently they could not marry and be productive. These men, attached by habit, language, and prejudice, tq
ferred from one region to another, than their spirit, particularly that spirit which is the sourcj, soul, and essence of poetry; and we know of no colonists, properly so called, that have produced any good original poetry. The Greek colonies ceased to be poetical as soon as their identity with the parent states ceased ; the Goths, Lombards, Burgundians, Franks, Npxmans, Anglo-? Saxons, and Danes, had plenty of mythic, heroic, and romantic poetry in their own country, which continued to be the delight of the generations that emigrated, while their original impressions remained ; but they produced nothing of the kind in their new settlements. It was the same with the Scandinavians, who settled in the Highlands and Issles ; and we are of opinion, that, of all the fine national poetry of the old school, preserved till a late period among our mountaineers, none was composed after
XXVI INTRODUCTION.
their native country, upon which they had little claim but for benevolence, became sorners and sturdy beggars, and were tolerated and sup- ported, as the Lazzaroni were in Naples, and as Abraham-men, and sturdy beggars of all sorts, were in England, after the suppression of the monasteries, and before there was any regular parochial provision for the poor. From this system it arose, that each Highland clan at last actually became what they boasted themselves to be — one family, descended from the same founder, and all related to their chief, and to each other. If the chiefs of so many such cla)is were Goths, how is it possible that the pure Celtic
the arrival of these strangers among them. The Goths lost their own poetry, with their language ; and although locality, with the prejudices and enthusiasm thence arising, added to the astonishing retentiveness of memory, produced by constant habit and exercise (which disappears upon the introduction of letters), preserved among their descendants the Gaelic strains which they found in the country, with the language in which they were clothed ; the spirit, feeling, and irresistable impulse which first inspired them, died away, and nothing new of the same kind was afterwards attempted with any success. If these observations are allowed to be just, they will serve to throw considerable light upon a subject which has hitherto given" rise to much unreasonable and ill-judged cavilling.
INTRODUCTION. XXV11
blood should have continued its current, unpolluted, among them, till the present day? The Celtic form of their language has been sufficiently accounted for; and its identity with the Irish proves nothing more than what we know to have been the case, that both dialects, having passed through nearly the same alembic, have come out of nearly the same form, with much more purity than could well have been ex- pected, and much less than their admirers have generally claimed for them.
For the illustration of the characters and manners of our mountaineers, such as they were in the days of our author, it will not be neces- sary to go further back in time than the period when their condition began to differ from that of their neighbours, and submission and tribute were required of them by the kings of Scot- land, to whom they owed no homage, and whose general enmity was less to be feared than their partial protection. Their liberty, their arms, and the barren fastnesses of their country, were almost all that they could call their own ; a warlike race of men, under such
XXV111 INTRODUCTION.
circumstances, are not likely to give up their all with good will; and those who had not enough for themselves, must have been little disposed to contribute any thing for the support of a power which it was certainly not their in- terest to strengthen.
Emigrants from Ireland, or from Scandina- via (most of whom had withdrawn from the usurpations of a sovereignty in their own coun- try, to which their proud spirits could not submit),* whether they obtained their settle- ments by conquest or by compact, as they had been accustomed to consider their swords as the sole arbiters of their rights, were not likely to put their acquisitions at the mercy of a king to whom they owed no allegiance, so long as they had the means of asserting their inde- pendence. Of the state of our own moun- taineers when these strangers first arrived among them, we know very little ; but the Irish, with whom they had constant intercourse,
* See Snorro's Keimskringla, Orkneyingafaga, the History of the Kings of Man and the Isles, Torfceus, 6fc.
INTRODUCTION. XXIX
and who inhabited a much finer country,* must have been in a very rude state indeed, when they suffered themselves to be conquered by a handful of Englishmen. But whatever the pre- vious state oi the country was, such an acces- sion of ambitious and adventurous pirates and freebooters to their population, was not likely to contribute to the tranquillity of the neigh- bourhood ; and after the establishment of the English in Ireland, the constant intercourse between the Highlanders and Irish afforded the English an opportunity of making alliances with the Highland chiefs, whom they engaged to make diversions in their favour by attacking the Scots, as the French stirred up the Scots against the English.
The attempts made from time to time to civilize the country, by partial colonization from the Lowlands, had very little effect, as
* It is probable that the poverty of the Scoto-Gael of that day waa in their favour, and that they were in many respects superior to the Irish, because they were altogether free from the debase- ment of character produced by the clergy of that age, in every country where they acquired such influence as they then had in Ireland, " the Island of Saints."
XXX INTRODUCTION.
the colonists uniformly adopted the spirit and habits of the natives, it being more agreeable and easy to lay aside the restraints imposed by an artificial state of society, than to adopt them; but some better results attended the policy of obliging the refractory chiefs to attend the court, or surrender themselves to some man of rank, under whose surveillance they were to re- main till pardoned ; after which they were to present themselves annually, either in Edin- burgh or elsewhere, to renew their assurances of " good behaviour." This produced at least a more intimate acquaintance, and consequent connection, between the gentry of the High- lands and Lowlands, and made the former am- bitious of acquiring those accomplishments, which might justify their pretensions to a dis- tinction and consideration, which they had no other means of supporting, beyond the range of their own mountains. Limited as the diffusion of book-learning certainly was among them, one thing is nevertheless unquestionable, that his- tory, poetry, and music, were the favourite recre- ations of tlieir leisure, among the lowest vulgar ;
INTRODUCTION. XXXI
and their clergy and physicians, who were all gentlemen, read and wrote, both in their mother tongue, and in Latin. From the Privy Council record, at the beginning of the seventeenth cen- tury, it appears that the gentlemen of note, al- though they understood English, commonly signed their names in a bold distinct Irish Character (as it is called), which shows that they were accustomed to writing in their own language, and probably were, partly at least, educated in Ireland, to which country all who adopted either poetry or music as a profession, were uniformly sent to finish their education, till within the memory of persons still living.
The disturbances in the reign of Charles the First, opened a new sera in the history of the Highlanders ; but it is much to be regretted, that, for a long period after, having no his- torians of their own, their friends durst not speak the truth of them, and their characters have therefore been entirely at the mercy of their bitterest enemies, who knew them only to hate them, in proportion as they feared them. Of all their virtues, courage was the only re-
XXXll INTRODUCTION.
spectable quality conceded to them, and this out of compliment to the best disciplined troops of the day, whom, with less than equal numbers, they had so often routed; but even their cou- rage was disparaged, being represented as mere ferocity, arising from ignorance, and a blind and slavish submission to their chiefs. To speak of them otherwise, beyond the precincts of their own glens, was so unsafe, that in 1744 and 5, all the measures adopted and recommended by President Forbes, were neat being frus- trated, and he himself persecuted as a Jacobite, because he spoke and wrote of them like a gentleman and a man of discernment, being al- most the only man of his party that had the liberal spirit and good sense to do so.*
* It is no small recommendation of the " Report of Marsha! Wade," that appears from internal evidence, as well as from other circumstances,. to have been drawn up in concert with Pre- sident Forbes (one of the first men of his time), if not by him. Indeed a sketch of such a report has lately been discovered among the Culloden papers, a copy of which Colonel Stuart of Garth, with his usual politeness and liberality, very kindly offered to communicate to the present writer ; and it has not been made use of, only because it does not differ materially from the revised cop}' presented to Government.
INTRODUCTIONS XXXill
In one great and radical mistake, all our his- torians agree. They represent the attachment of the clans to the house of Stewart, as cherish- ing the ferocious habit s? and retarding the 'civili- zation of the Highlanders ; whereas the very re- verse of this was the case. The real friends of the house of Stewart, in England, and more par- ticularly in Scotland* were distinguished by a refined education, high breeding, elevated sen- timents, a chivalrous love of fame, a noble and disinterested devotion to a cause which they believed ta be good, and a social, warm-hearted, conviviality and frankness of character, totally different from the sour, intolerant, and acri- monious spirit of Presbyterian bigotry in the north,* and the heartless and selfish saving knowledge of the south —
'•*' When the very dogs at the English court " Did bark and howl in German."t
* This is said of a century ago ; to which we are happy to add, that among the Presbyterians of the establishment in Scot- land, acrimonious bigotry is now about, as rare as enlightened liberality then was.
fit is much to be regretted, that Capt. Burt was, by his situa- tion in Scotland, precluded from all intercourse with those who were suspected of attachment to the house of Stewart, and obliged
XXXIV INTRODUCTION.
From the state of their country, the political bias of the Highlanders, and the eclat which they had acquired under Montrose and Dundee, the eyes of all Europe were turned towards them as the only hope of the house of Stewart. Their chiefs were courted by, and had fre- quent personal intercourse with the friends of that family who were of most note, both in Scotland, England, and Ireland, and on the continent. Studying to accomplish themselves for the part they had to act, and always re- ceived with the greatest distinction in the best
to depend for his information and experience, entirely upon the opposite party. If he had dared to associate with the Cavaliers, his opinion of the manners and spirit of the Scots, even in those times of common suffering, restless impatience, and general ani- mosity (political #nd religious, as well as national), would have been very different. Of the kind of information to be derived from whigs of that day, an excellent specimen will be found in Graham of Gartmore's MS. quoted in the Appendix ; where, al- though the sentiments often favour of party spirit and personal dislike, the particular statements are very curious and variable, and being drawn up with considerable ability, make that article an important historical document. It will be remarked, that in the Letters upon the Highlands, where our author depends chiefly upon his own observation, which was shrewd and discriminating, and upon his understanding, which was enlightened and liberal, there is little to be objected to.
INTRODUCTION. XXXV
society, they became statesmen, warriors, and fine gentlemen. Their sons, after passing through the usual routine in the schools and universities of Scotland, were sent to France to finish their education. As the policy of the whig governments was to crush and destroy, not to conciliate, and they found neither coun- tenance nor employment at home, they entered into the French or Spanish service, and in those countries were, from political views* treated with a distinction suitable, not to their pecuniary circumstances, but to their import- ance in their own country. Great numbers of the more promising of the youth of their clans joined them ; and, in order that the luxurious indulgencies of a more favoured climate might not render them unfit or unwilling to settle in their own country, at the end of two or three years they returned for a time to their rela- tions, with all their accomplishments in know- ledge and manners, and, with their relish for early habits still unimpaired, resumed the quilted plaid and bonnet, and were replaced in their regiments abroad by another set of young
XXXVI INTRODUCTION.
adventurers of the same description. Thus among the gentry, the urbanity and knowledge of the most polished countries in Europe were added to a certain moral and mental civiliza- tion, good in its kind, and peculiar to them- selves. At home, they conversed with the lower classes, in the most kindly and cordial manner, on all occasions, and gratified their laudable and active curiosity, in communicating all they knew. This advantage of conversing freely with their superiors, the peasantry of no other country in Europe enjoyed, and the consequence was, that in 1745 the Scotish Highlanders, of all descriptions, had more of that polish of mind and sentiment, which con- stitutes real civilization, than in general the inhabitants of any other country we know of, not even excepting Iceland. This a stranger, who, not understanding their language, could see only the outside of things, could never be sensible of. Book-learning, it is true, was con- fined to the gentry, because in a country so thinly peopled, schools would have been useless ; they were too poor to have private instructors ;
INTRODUCTION. XXXV11
and they had good reasons for looking with no favourable eye upon any thing that was Saxon. But most of the gentlemen spoke Gaelic, English, Latin,* and French, and many of them Spanish, having access to all the in- formation of which these languages were the vehicles. The lower classes were, each ac- cording to his gift of natural intellect, well acquainted with the topography of their own country, and with its history, particular as well as general, for at least three cen- turies back; they repeated and listened to, with all the enthusiastic delight of a thorough feeling and perfect intelligence, many thousand lines oi poetry of the very highest kind j" (for such they really had among them in abundance, notwithstanding the doubts which the disho-
* Such of the foreign officers stationed in the Highlands, in 1746, as could not speak French, found themselves at no loss among the gentlemen of the country, who conversed with them in Latin; an accomplishment which, we fear, very few of their grandsons can boast of.
f My very learned and excellent friend Mr. Evven M'Lauch- lan, now engaged in preparing a Dictionary of the Gaelic Lan- guage, a few years ago translated the first four books' of HomerV
VOL. I. d
XXXVili INTRODUCTION.
nesty of Mac Pherson and his associates has raised on that subject) ; and their music (which, as it speaks the language of nature, not of nations, is more intelligible to a stranger) is allowed, when performed con amore, to be the production of a people among whom the better sympathies of our nature must have been cul- tivated to a great extent. These facts indicate a rery high degree of intellectual refinement, entirely independent of the fashion of their lower garments,* from the sight of which, and
Iliad into Gaelic verse. This translation he read, in the neigh- bourhood of Fort-William, to groups of men and women of the very lowest class, shepherds and mechanics, who had never learnt the power of letters. They listened to him with such enthusiasm as showed that the beauties of the composition had their full effect, and made such remarks as would have put to shame the comments of better instructed critics. We should like to see an Englishman make a similar experiment upon a party of clowns, or even of comfortable citizens, of his own country. — Book-learning is sometimes over-rated. A High- lander now learns from books — to despise the lore of his fathers, whose minds were much more cultivated than his own; and this is almost all that he does learn.
* Delicacy, like civilization, is a relative, and not an abso- lute term. A gentleman who, in the days of Henry the Seventh of England, had appeared in tight breeches or panta- loons, without a brayette, would have been punished for an in"
INTRODUCTION.
the sound of a language which they did not understand, their neighbours were fully satisfied of their barbarity, and inquired no further.
In justification of this account of their cha- racter in 1745, in addition to the information procured in the country, as well as in the Low- lands and in England, we can with confidence appeal to the letters of their chiefs, and to the public documents and periodical publications of the time, although these last were written by their bitterest enemies, with a view to in- fluence the public against them. From all the information we have been able to collect, it appears that in their whole progress to and from Derby, their conduct, all circumstances considered, was not only orderly and proper, but, in innumerable instances, in the highest degree humane and magnanimous.* In England,
decent exposure of Ats person. A Russian boor wears his shirt over his pantaloons, and considers our fashion as impu- dently indelicate.— Who is right?
* Inconvenience from the presence of so many strange guests was unavoidable. They wanted horses and arms, which they received from their friends, and took from their unfriends, but with the assurance of indemnification as soon as King Jaoree
Xl INTRODUCTION.
the courtly elegance, in manners and conver- sation, of the Highland gentlemen, their dig- nified deportment, the discipline they preserved among their men, but, above all, the kind- hearted, sensible, and considerate good-nature and indulgence which they everywhere mani- fested towards women and children (a strong
was established on the throne. The common men, also, when not under the eye of their officers, sometimes took shoes which they did not always pay for ; but he that looked at their feet, and felt their purses, would have been more disposed to pity the necessity than complain of the outrage. If outrages did take place, it was not from the clansmen, who were too jealous of the honour of their name, to do any thing that was discounte- nanced by their superiors. But in all cases of civil war, there are found in every country great numbers of loose and disorderly persons, who are always ready to take shelter under the standard of insurrection, from the vengeance of the laws which their crimes have provoked. Many such, chiefly from the Lowlands, accompanied the army of Charles, under circumstances that rendered the keeping up good discipline, with respect to them, absolutely impossible. There were still greater numbers of these outlaws and broken-men out in 1715, who, after the failure of the earl of Mar, found sympathy and shelter among the Jacobite clans ; and it was of such vagabonds that the rabble was composed who, in 1719, joined the 300 Spaniards, and were concerned in the skirmish at Glenshiel, of which the government made a handle for exercising all manner of tyranny and oppression upon these who had no concern in it.
INTRODUCTION. x
feature in the Highland character, and the best proof true civilization), which was so different from what the English had been led to expect, made so favourable an impression, and formed such a contrast to the insolent brutality of the king's troops, officers and men, who marched down after them, that in many instances, which we know from the parties concerned, the women (for the men durst not speak out) could not help telling the latter, " when the rebels, as they are called, were here, they behaved very differently — they behaved like gentlemen — quite like gentlemen — God help them !" Such reproaches, so justly provoked, and so often repeated, produced only aggravation of insult and abuse, and (such was the spirit of the time) ladies of the greatest respectability were, by officers of rank, damned for Jacobite b*****s, and told that they were all rebels together, if they durst avow it, and deserved to have their houses burnt over their heads !*
* One young widow lady in Cheshire, from whose daughter we had the anecdote, told a party of officers on such an occasion, " If I am not a Jacobite, it certainly is not your fault ; — ye
2tU INTRODUCTION.
With the exception of Mrs. Grant's admirable Essays, and those of the Rev. Dr. Graham of Aberfoyl, almost all the accounts of the High- landers have been written either by enemies, with all the virulence of party spirit, or by strangers, from partial information ; and, con- sequently, hardly any thing has been said of them but to their disadvantage. Hence the vague and idle declamations about deadly feuds between clan and clan, bloody conflicts, desperate encounters, depredations, robberies, murders, as" sassinations, " and all manner of licentiousness" In answer to all which, we shall only observe, that every clan was a little community by itself, under circumstances by no means favourable to quiet life among a poor, free, bold, and hardy race of men; and ask the dispassionate reader, what all the great and polished nations of the earth were doing, while the mountaineers of Scotland
have done all ye could to make me one !" An observation, the truth of which would have been sensibly felt by the king's troops, had the. Highland army been in a condition once more to enter England, and avail themselves of the favour which their own good conduct and the insolence of their enemies had pro- cured them in that country.
INTRODUCTION.
were thus murdering one another? Amid the proud triumphs of that civilization under which we are now supposed to live, it is mortifying to reflect, that in the course of twenty years, during the last war, there was twice as much Highland blood spilt [upwards of 13,000 have been enlisted into one single regiment !] as was shed by Highlanders on their own account, in any way whatsoever, during the three centuries that preceded the abolition of the feudal system among them in 1748 !*
* This is a melancholy truth, not a political reflection. We are sensible that the war in which they were engaged could not have been avoided, without giving up all that ought to be dear to a brave and free people ; and that the unshaken firmness with which it was prosecuted, under the most discouraging circum- stances, has been the means of saving Europe from the last state of political and moral degradation, in which the voice of nature, truth, and honour, would have been utterly stifled, and no ex- ample of freedom left for the regeneration of mankind. At the breaking out of the French revolution, France was called the most civilized country in the world, and this insulting jargon still continues in the mouths of a party ; but surely Rob Roy and the Clangregor, at a time when their neighbours hunted them down with blood-hounds, were humane and gallant fellows, when compared with Buonaparte, Massena, Suchet, Davou«t, and Vandamme !
xliv INTRODUCTION*
That they lifted cuttle is true, — and this was so common, that the poor beasts, like their fellow- denizens of the wilderness, the deer and roe, seldom knew to what glen they belonged ; — but these things were managed in a way peculiar to themselves, and so seldom occasioned blood- shed, that with all their herships, riefs, hot-trods, and rescues, we may venture to affirm, that, ten Yorkshiremen lost their lives for horse-stealing, for one Highlander that died in a case of cattle- lifting.
Private robbery, murder, and petty theft were hardly known among them. It has been said that " there was nothing to steal;" but there was comparative wealth and poverty in their country, as well as elsewhere ; and the poorer the people were, the stronger was the tempta- tion, and the stronger must the principle have been that enabled them to resist it. And here, for the sake of illustration, it may not be out of place to say somewhat of the heavy accusations brought against the Clangregor, particularly in Graham of Gartmore's MS. quoted in the Appendix. As there is no end to the clamours
INTRODUCTION, xU~
which have been echoed from one generation to another, against this disorderly tribe, we shall state a few simple facts, to show the nature of their irregularities. They had long been de- prived of their lands, their name, their political existence, and the protection of the laws, and left to provide for, and protect themselves as best they might. Their lands had been appro- priated by their more powerful and politic neighbours, particularly the predecessors of the duke of Montrose. This, and that nobleman's new-fangled whig politics,* had exposed him particularly to their indignation, which he shared with Graham of Gartmore, and other gentlemen of the clan, who, having adopted the same principles, were regarded as recreant Grahams. When they lifted the duke's cattle, took his rents from his steward, or emptied his girnel of the farm-meal after it had been paid in, they considered themselves as only taking what ought to have been their own. The manner in which this was commonly done, shows how
* See the character of the first whig marquis of Montrose, in Lockhart of Carnwath's Memoirs of Scotland, published in 1714.
Xlvi INTRODUCTION.
unjustly they were accused of general cruelty and oppression to their neighbours. On one oc- casion, Rob Roy, with only one attendant, went to the house in which the duke's tenants had been convened to pay their rents; took the money from the steward in their presence ; gave them certificates that all had been duly paid before he seized it, which exonerated them from all further claim ; treated them liberally with whiskey ; made them swear upon his dirk, that not one of them would stir out of the house, till three hours after he was gone ; took a good- humoured leave of them; and deliberately re- turned to the Braes. Those who know the spirit of the Grahams of that day, will be sa- tisfied that this could never have taken place had the tenants not been very well pleased to see their money come into Rob's hands. When called out by the duke to hunt down Rob and his followers, they always contrived to give him timely warning, or to mislead the scent, so that the expedition came to nothing. When the duke once armed them for defence, they sent notice to Rob's nephew, Glengyle, to come
INTRODUCTION.
round with such a force as would be a decent excuse for their submission, and collect the arms, which they considered as a disagree- able and dangerous deposit; and when the M'Gregors took the field in 1715, the cava- lier spirit of the Grahams rose, and many of the duke's dependants, scorning their superior and his politics, followed their standard. This showed that they did not consider the Braes of Balquhidder as a bad neighbourhood.
In all the thinly-peopled districts by which the M'Gregors were surrounded, the whole property of the tenants was constantly at the mercy of thieves, if there had been such in the country. The doors of their houses were closed by a latch, or wooden bolt ; and a man with a clasp-knife might in a few minutes have cut open the door, or even the wicker walls of the house. Detached from the dwelling-house, from fear of fire, was a small wicker barn, or store-house, still less carefully secured, in which they kept their whole stock of hams, butter, cheese (for they then had such things), corn, meal, blankets, webs, yarn, wool, &c.
INTRODUCTION.
These houses and barns were often left unpro- tected for days together, when the people were abroad cutting and winning turf, making hay or reaping for their superior, or tending their cattle in distant pastures. This was the case all over the Highlands ; yet nothing was ever stolen or disturbed! — Of what civilized country, in the best of times, can as much be said ?
A spirit of revenge has too often been attrir buted to them, as a distinguishing feature of character; and the ancient prejudice on this subject remains, long after the habits in which it originated have disappeared,* In a certain
* Campbell of Glenlyon lived to a good old age, and died a natural death, in the midst of the relations and friends of the M'Donalds of Glenco, in whose massacre he had acted such an infamous part. In 1745, when the Highland army was en- camped in the neighbourhood of the house of the earl of Stair, whose father had been the chief author and order er of that mas- sacre, and who himself commanded a regiment in the king's ser- vice, Prince Charles, apprehensive of some outrage from the Glenco-men, sent a guard to protect the earl's house ; on which the M'DoRalds immediately quitted the camp; and although at that time utter ruin must have been the certain consequence of a separation from the army, they were with great difficulty pre- vailed upon to return, so strong was their virtuous indignation at being thought capable of a cowardly revenge, and visiting the iniquities of the father upon the children .'
INTRODUCTION".
state of society, in all countries, revenge has been not only accounted manly and honourable, but has been bequeathed as a sacred trust, from father to son, through ages, to be wreaked as an indispensible duty of piety. This was particularly the case among the Scandinavians, from whom many of the Highlanders are de- scended ; and as they remained longer than their neighbours in a state in which they had no laws to appeal to, there can be no doubt that many things were done in the way of retaliation, which would now be considered as lawless and violent ; but, as the sum of in- fliction from wilful resentment among them bore no proportion to the sum of infliction from outraged laws in other countries, the balance in favour of humanity and forbearance, even in the most turbulent times we are acquainted with, will be found to be considerably in their favour. A man killed at his own fire-side by him whom he had injured, was talked of for ages, while five hundred such persons hanged at Tyburn were forgotten as soon as cut down !*
* If a robbery, murder, or assassination did take place, they showed their horror of the deed by raising a cairn of memorial
1 INTRODUCTION.
Men of strong and lively feelings are gene- rally earnest in their likings and dislikings; but notwithstanding the constant provocations they have been receiving, during the last thirty years, from their landlords, land-stewards, (ge- nerally English or Lowland attornies!} Lowland tacksmen, farm-appraisers, and farm-jobbers, who live among them, or occasionally visit them, like the pestilence, with oppression, insult, and misery in their train,
" Destruction before than), and- sorrow behind ;"
in the midst of these grievous and daily wrongs, wilful fire-raising, houghing of cattle, and as-
on the spot, to point a salutary moral to all succeeding generations. The deep and lasting impression made by such occurrences showed how rare they were ; but when the delinquencies of many cen- turies were (for want of other news) related to a stranger, in the course of a single evening, with as much minuteness of detail as if they had occurred but yesterday, neither his own feelings, nor his report to others, were likely to be favourable to a people among whom he had heard of so many enormities. But who would look for the character of the English nation in the New- gate Calendar ? Captain Burt saw a murderer hanged at Inver- ness : the hangman was eighty years old, and had not yet learned his trade, from want of practice! In the populous county of Murray, in which the present writer was born, there have been only two executions in his time, being a space of forty-six yeai>.
INTRODUCTION. 11
sassination, so common among their neighbours, are unheard of among them !
On the subject of drunkenness, of which they have been so often accused, we refer the reader with confidence to Mrs. Grant's Essays, which are written in the true spirit of candour and of truth, and from an intimate and thorough knowledge of her subject. Donald is a lively, warm- hearted, companionable fellow; likes whiskey when he wants it, as others learn to do who visit his country ; and is no enemy to a hearty jollification upon occasion ; but we never knew in the Highlands an habitual drunkard, who had learnt that vice in his own country, if we except such, about Fort- William and Fort-Augustus, as had been corrupted by the foreign soldiers re- sident among them.- This was the case about
thirty years ago, but a melancholy change has since taken place. At that time, the privilege of distilling at Farrintosh had not been with- drawn from the Culloden family, and good whiskey was so cheap (about tenpence an Eng- lish quart), that there was no temptation to illicit distillation. At present, the poor di,s-
Ill INTRODUCTION.
tressed and degraded peasants (who would still do well if they could, and cling to their native glens, the land of their fathers, to the last) are compelled, by hard necessity, to have recourse to smuggling, in order to raise money to gratify the insane avarice of their misguided and de- generate landlords, who, with a view to imme- diate gain, connive at their proceedings, with- out considering that their own ruin must be the consequence of the demoralization of their tenants. Illicit stills are to be found every- where ; encouraging drunkenness, is encourag- ing trade ; and the result is such as might be expected. But that the Highlander, when he has fair means of showing himself, is still averse to such profligacy, is proved by the conduct of the Highland regiments,* which, amid the con- tagion of bad examples, and all the licences peculiar to camps and a military life, have
* Of these regiments, from their first establishment, it is to be hoped that a very complete account will soon appear, which will throw much light on the past, as well as present state and cha- racter of the Highlanders ; as Colonel Stewart of Garth has for several years been collecting materials for that purpose. The present writer is much indebted to that gentleman's comnmnica*
INTRODUCTION. lili
always been distinguished above all others wherever they have been stationed, for their sobriety, honesty, and kindly good nature and good humour.
It is almost peculiar to this people, that the greatest beauties in their character have com- monly been considered as blemishes. Among these, the most prominent are family pride> the love of kindred, even to the exclusion of justice, and attachment to a country which seems to have so few charms to the inhabitants of more favoured regions. A family consisting of four or five thousand souls, all known to, connected with, and depending upon, each Other, is certainly something that a man may be justified in con- sidering as of some importance ; and if a High- lander could neither be induced by threats nor promises to appear in a criminal court against a kinsman, or give him up to the
tive frankness, liberality, and politeness ; anct with confidence ap- peals to his extensive collection of unquestionable facts, for the confirmation of such theories and statements, however novel they may sometimes appear, as are found in the Introduction and Notes to this work.
VOL. i. e
llV INTRODUCTION.
vengeance of the law,* as is so common else- where, we may admire and pity, but can hardly in our hearts blame him. — Who that has done such things ever did any good afterwards ?t
The Highlander loves his country, because he loves heartily well every thing that has ever been interesting to him, and this his own coun- try was before he knew any other. Wherever he goes, he finds the external face of nature, or the institutions, language, and manners of the people, so different from what was dear to him in his youth, that he is everywhere else a stranger, and naturally sighs for home, with all its disadvantages, which, however formidable they may appear to others, are with him con- nected with such habits and recollections, that he would not remove them, if a wish could do
'
* The Lowland laws were always held in abhorrence by the Highlanders, whom their vengeance often reached, but their pro- tection never.
t Let those applaud the stoical sternness of Roman justice and Roman virtue, who admire it ; to us, it has, in general, appeared a cold-blooded parade of theatrical ostentation, with which nature and truth had no connection.
INTRODUCTION. lv
Some of the usages mentioned in the follow- ing work, may give rise to misapprehension. To strangers, the children of the gentry ap- peared to be totally neglected, till they were of an age to go to school; and this, in some measure, continued even to our own times ; but it ivas the wisdom and affection of their parents that put them in such situations. Aware of the sacredness of their trust, those with whom they were placed never lost sight of their future destiny ; and as they were better acquainted with the condition of their superiors than per- sons of the same rank in life had means of being1 in other countries, no habits of meanness or vulgarity were contracted from Such an education. Delicacy, with respect to food, clothing, and accommodation, would have been the greatest curse that could be entailed upon them : from early association, they learnt to feel an interest in all that concerned those among whom they had spent those years to which all look back with fond regret ; and this intimate practical acquaintance with the condition, habits, and feelings of their dependants, produced aftef-
wards a bond of union and endearment in the highest degree beneficial to all parties ; at the same time that they could, with less inconve- nience, encounter such difficulties and priva- tions as the future vicissitudes of life might expose them to.
The ostentatiouaness of the public, and beggar, tiness of the private economy of their chiefs, has been ridiculed. — If they stinted themselves, in order to entertain their guests the better, they surely deserved a more grateful return. They lived in a poor country, where good fare could not be found for every day; and after half a dozen servants had waited at table, while the chief and his family were making a private meal of hasty-pudding and milk, crowdy (gradden- meal and whipt cream), curds and cream, bread and cheese, fish, or what they might chance to have, those servants retired to the kitchen, cheerful and contented to their homely dinner, without any of those heart-burnings produced by the sight of luxuries in which they could have no share. Their fare might be hard, but
their superiors were contented with it, and so
*
INTRODUCTION.
were they. Such self-denial fa the chiefs reconciled their dependants to disadvantages which they had no means of surmounting, and was equally humane and considerate.
Their submission to their chiefs has been called slavish ; and too many of the chiefs of the pre- sent day are willing enough to have this be- lieved, because they wish to impute their own want of influence to any cause rather than the true one ; but the lowest clansman felt his own individual importance as well as his chief, whom he considered as such only " ad vitam aut ad culpam ;" and although there was cer- tainly a strong feeling in favour of the lineal descendant of the stem-father of their race, which prevented them from being rash, harsh, or unjust to him, there was also a strong feeling of honour and independence, which prevented them from being unjust to themselves.* When a chief proved unworthy of his rank, he was
* We believe the Highlands of Scotland to be the only country in Europe where the very name of slavery was unknown, and where the lowest retainer of a feudal baron enjoyed, in his place, the importance of a member of the community to which he be-
Iviii INTRODUCTION.
degraded from it, and (to avoid jealousy strife) the next in order was constituted in his room — but never a low-born man or a stranger ; as it was a salutary rule among them, as in other military establishments, not to put one officer over the head of another. But it was not with a Highland chief as with other rulers ; " when he fell, he fell like Lucifer, never to rise again ;" his degradation was complete, because he owed it to a common feeling of re- probation, not to the caprice, malice, or ambi- tion of a faction ; for every one was thoroughly acquainted with the merits of the cause, and while there was any thing to be said in his favour, his people had too much respect for themselves to show public disrespect to him. The same dignified feeling prevented their re- sentment from being bloody ; he was still their kinsman, however unworthy ; and having none
longed. The Gaelic language has no word synonimous to slave, for traill is Norse (trael, in English, thrall) ; and the thralls whom the Norwegians brought with them soon had their chains decomposed by the free air of our mountains.
INTRODUCTIOTsr. Hx
among them to take his part, was no longer dangerous.*
Their affectation of gentry (if such a term may be allowed) has been treated with endless ri- dicule, because it did not (much to the credit of their liberality) include the idea of wealth ; but we believe few gentlemen in the Highlands, however poor, would have been flattered by being classed, as to civilization, with the gentle- man, our author's friend, who attempted to ride into the rainbow.
The humane, indulgent, and delicate atten- tion of people of fortune in the Highlands to their poor relations was one of the finest fea- tures in their character, and might furnish' ft'- very edifying example to the inhabitants of more favoured regions ; and, to an honourable mind, there are surely considerations of higher importance than fine clothes and good eating. It has been imputed to their pride and stupidity,
* In one instance, it is true, a deposed chief was killed in battle by his clan, but it was in an attempt to force himself upon them by the assistance of a neighbouring tribe to which he was allied by marriage.
lx INTRODUCTION.
that they did not flee from the poverty of their own country, and try their fortunes, as labour- ers and mechanics, among strangers, where they might, in time, have obtained better food and accommodation ; but to give up their rank in society, with all the endearing offices and sympathies of friendship and affection to which they had been accustomed at home, and which were so soothing and so flattering to their feelings, and to go where they were sure to be degraded beneath the lowest of the low, and continually exposed to contempt, ridicule, and insult, for their ignorance of the arts and habitudes of those among whom they lived ; — in short, to sell their birth-right for a mess of pottage, - — would have argued a beggarliness of soul and spirit, which, happily, their worst enemies do not accuse them of.
The foregoing remarks, which seemed ne- cessary for illustrating the characters of a very singular and interesting people, have already extended this preface to a much greater length than was at first intended, which will be the Jess regretted, if the honest wish by which
INTRODUCTION. Ixi
these details were prompted has been in any degree fulfilled. Of undue partiality, it is hoped the writer will not be rashly accused, for he is not a Highlander ; and, having gone to the mountains, at the age of fifteen, from the Laigh of Murray (" whence every man had a right to drive a prey ;" and where, of course, the character of their neighbours was not very popular), he carried among them prejudices which nothing but the conviction arising from observation and experience could have re- moved. Of what he then heard, saw, and felt, he has since had sufficient leisure to form a coal and dispassionate estimate, during a residence of many years in various parts of England, Wales, the north of Europe, and the Lowlands of Scotland. As he had no Celtic enthusiasm to struggle with, and his deductions have all been made from facts, it is hoped they may be received by strangers with suitable confidence. To what good purpose he has availed himself ,of the advantages he enjoyed, in fitting himself for his present task, every reader will judge for
Ixii INTRODUCTION.
himself; but when he makes it known that it was first recommended to him by Mr. Scott (to whom both he and this publication, as well as the world in general, are so much indebted), his vanity will readily be pardoned, as, even if it should be found that that gentleman's kind- ness for the man has over-stepped his discretion as to the writer, the general conclusion will not be dishonourable to either party.
As a close affinity in manners, habits, and character, between the ancient as well as pre- sent mountaineers of Norway and Scotland has frequently been alluded to, these prolusions may be closed, not unaptly, with a fragment of High- land biography, which may be regarded as a great curiosity, particularly by such as are ac- quainted with the Icelandic and Norse Sagas, which it so strongly resembles. Of Hammer Donald, we shall only observe, that although the circumstances of his early life made him (like Viga Glum, and other celebrated kemps and homicides of the North) a very unmanageable and dangerous neighbour, there were then va-
INTRODUCTION.
rieties of character in the Highlands as well as elsewhere. Donald's clan had been but lately introduced into the country ; his father, although a brave man, was denominated "the Peaceful;" and his son narrowly escaped being murdered in the very act of teaching his servants how to cultivate the ground.
THE
HISTORY
DONALD THE HAMMERER.
From an authentic Account of the Family of Invernahyle. [MS, communi- cated by WALTER SCOTT, Esq.]
ALEXANDER, the first Invernahyle, commonly called Saoileach, or " the Peaceful," was son of Allan Stewart, third laird of Appin. He mar- ried Margaret M'Donald, daughter of Donald M'Dqnald of Moidart, commonly called Donald fin Lochan, or Donald of the Lakes ; but a deadly feud arose between Invernahyle and the family of Dunstaffnage, which, in the first instance, caused the overthrow of both.
Alexander walked out early in a summer morning from Island Stalker, and stepped over to Isle-nan-gall, where he laid himself down on the grass, with his Lochaber axe beside him, a weapon, at that period, more used in the High- lands than the broad-sword. Whilst he there
INTRODUCTION. lXV
reposed, apprehensive of no danger, the cele- brated Cailen Uaine, or Green Colin, arrived at the island in his barge, with a number of men, whom he had brought from DunstafFnage to assist him in destroying his brother's enemy. Upon being observed by Alexander, he ad- vanced in the most friendly manner, and was about to salute him, when, seeing the axe lying on the ground, he grasped it, and said, " This is a good axe, Alexander, if there were peace enough in it." To which Alexander quickly re- plied, "Do you think there is not that in it ?" and laid hold of the axe likewise, being fully sensible of the spirit of Colin's remark. During the struggle, Colin's men surrounded Alexan- der, and basely murdered him. They then proceeded to Island Stalker, and after killing every one of Alexander's friends that they could find, took possession of Invernahyle and all his other property.
Not one person escaped the fury of Green Colin and his men, except the nurse, who hap- pened to be out walking in the fields with Alex- ander's only child in her arms, who had been
INTRODUCTION.
named Donald, from his mother's father. The nurse was the blacksmith's wife of Moidart, and being an old acquaintance of Alexander's Wife, was brought by her into Appin. Upon hearing what had happened to the family in which she was engaged, and that diligent search was made for her by Green Colin and his gang, in order to put the child to death, she fled home to her own country ; and, upon discovering to her husband what had happened to the family of Invernahyle, they agreed to bring up the child as one of their own. [It is said, the icoman> being pursued in her flight, and knowing the in- fant's life VMS aimed at, hid it in a cave, having frst tied a piece of lard round it's neck. The nurse was made prisoner, and detained for several days. On her release, she went to the cave, expecting only to find the reliques of her charge ; but the infant was alive and -well, the lard being reduced to the size of a hazel-nut. — W. S.J
When young Donald had acquired some strength, he was called to assist his supposed father in carrying on his trade ; and so uncom- mon was his strength, that when only eighteen-
INTRODUCTION.
years of age, he could wield a large fore-ham- mer in each hand, for the length of the longest day, without the least seeming difficulty or fatigue.
At last the blacksmith and his wife resolved to discover to Donald the secret they had so Jong kept, not only from him, but from the world. After relating the mournful tale of his parents' death, the smith brought a sword of his own making, and put it into Donald's hand, saying, " 1 trust the blood that runs in your veins, and the spirit of your fathers, will guide your actions ; and that this sword will be the means of clearing the difficulties that lie in the way of your recovering your paternal estate." Donald heard with surprise the story of his birth and early misfortune ; but vowed never to put the sword into a scabbard until he had swept the murderers of his parents from the earth.* His mother's father, who still lived in Moidart, upon being satisfied that Donald was his grand- son, and seeing his determination of recovering
* The blacksmith also presented Donald with his sons, to aid him in recovering his natural rights. W. S.
1NTRODOCT1ON.
his father's property, gave him a few men, with whom he proceeded to Appin.
Upon arriving at Island Stalker, Donald de- clared himself the son of the late Invernahyle, and sent Green Colin a challenge to fight him singly ; but, instead of complying with the chal- lenge, Colin gathered all his retainers, and ad- vanced with them in the order of battle ; but Donald and his men commenced the attack, and, after a desperate engagement, succeeded in killing not only Green Colin, but nearly the whole of his men, by which Invernahyle became his property without any further trouble.
Donald's history being now made public, he got the appellation of Donul nan Ord, or " Do- nald the Hammerer," by which he was ever after known. Resolving to revenge the wrongs his father had suffered from the family of Dunstaff- nage, Donald mustered all his fighting-men, and attacked the Campbells wherever he could find any of that name. Argyle came at last to be interested in the distress that Donald was bringing on his clan, and employed several par- ties to cut him off, but in vain. Donald, seeing
INTRODUCTION.
Argyle's intention, instead of being intimidated, penetrated, with his trusty band, into the heart of Argyle's country, spoiled his tenants, and carried away a considerable booty from the side of Lochow, which at that time gave a title to the chief of the clan. There is handed down a little roundlet which narrates this transaction :
Donul nan Ord, dallta Ghobhain,
' v ••> • Ailleagan nan Luireach leathaf,
Thog a Creach 'o thaobh Loch A ; t. e. " Donald the Hammerer, the smith's foster-son, the ornament of the leathern apron, lifted a prey from the side of Lochow."
Argyle, much enraged at this transaction, be- gan to think seriously of revenge, by raising his whole clan, and following to destroy him ; but wisely seeing that this could not be done without much noise in the country, and aware that Donald might be supported by the Camerons, and other powerful clans with whom Argyle was at war, set on foot a negociation with the laird of Appin, to try and get Donald to make restitution, and to be peaceful. The result was, that Appin and his other friends insisted with Donald, that unless he came to terms with Argyle,
VOL. i. /
1XX INTRODUCTION.
they would leave him to his own fate. Donald, unwilling to split with his friends, and thinking that he had just done enough to revenge the death of his parents, actually went to Inverary, with a single attendant, to hold a conference with Argyle at his own place. Argyle had too much honour to take advantage of this bold step of Donald ; but conceived, from his rusticity, that he might soon get him into a scrape that might prove fatal to him. Upon arriving at Inverary, Donald met Argyle in the fields, and is said to have accosted him thus : —
A mic Cailen ghriomaich ghlais. Is beg an had id a thaead dhiom ; "S nan a philleach mi air mi ais, Ma's a ma th'again dhiot,* i. e,
" Son of sallow, sulky Colin,
Small's the grace will go from me ; And if I get but back again,
'Tis all the boon I want from thee."
In the course of some indifferent conver- sation, Donald frequently indulged in a loud
* This is given in the orthography in which we found it, as are all the other scraps of Gaelic.
INTRODUCTION.
liorse-laugh (a habit which some of his de- scendants are noted for as far down as the eighth generation); to rally Donald a little on this, Argyle desired him to look at a rock on a hill above Ardkinglas, then in their view, which resembles a man's face reclined back- wards, with the mouth widely expanded, and asked him if he knew the name of that rock? Donald answered in the negative. Argyle then told him, it was Gaire Grannda (ugly laugh.) Donald perceiving the allusion, and, with his other qualifications, being a good poet, replied off hand —
Gaire Grannda s' ainm do'n chreig ; "S fanaudh i mirr sin do ghna; Gheibhead tu lethid agad fein, Na n sealladh tu 'n euden do mhna ; i. e.
" Ugly Laugh is the name of the rock ;
An ugly mocker 'twill ever be ; But if you will look on your own wife's face,
As ugly a sight you at home may see."
When at length they came to talk of business, the terms upon which Argyle offered peace were, that Donald should raise a hership (plun-
INTRODUCTION.
dering) in Moid art, and another in Athol, thinking probably that Donald would be cut off in some of these attempts, or, if successful against such powerful people, his own disgrace would be less in what was done to his own lands. Donald readily agreed to the terms, and set out instantly for Moidart to inform his uncle of the engagement he had come under, and asked his advice. His uncle told him, the people of certain farms had offended him much ; and if Donald would attack them, he, to save the appearance of being in the plot, would assist them in striving to recover the spoil, but would not be in such haste that Donald would run any risk of being overtaken. Donald soon ga- thered his men, and set fire to nearly all the farm-houses in Moidart, and got clear off with the spoil. This affair made great noise in the country. He went next to Athol, and carried desolation through that country with equal suc- cess ; which intimidated Argyle so much, that he made peace with Donald on the terms pro- posed by the latter.
Not content with plundering the Highlands
INTRODUCTION.
from one end to the other, Donald often de- scended into the Low-country. One time, as returning from Stirlingshire, on passing through Monteith, his party called at a house where a wedding dinner was preparing for a party, at which the earl of Monteith was to be present : but, not caring for this, they stepped in and ate up the whole that was intended for the wedding party. Upon the earl's arriving with the mar- riage people, he was so enraged at the affront put upon his clan, that he instantly pursued Donald, and soon came up with him. One of the earl's men called out ironically,
Stewartich chui nan t A pan, A cheiradhich glass air a chal.
One of Donald's men, with great coolness, drawing an arrow out of his quiver, replied,
Ma tha 'n tApan againn mar dhucha, 'S du dhuinn gun tarruin sin farsid ; i. e. " If Appinis our country, we would draw thee [thy neck], wert thou there ;"
and with this took his aim at the Monteith man, and shot him through the heart. A bloody en- gagement then ensued, in which the earl and
XXIV INTRODUCTION.
nearly the whole of his followers were killed, and Donald the Hammerer escape4 with only a single attendant, through the night coming on.*
Donald married a daughter of John Stewart Ban Rannoch, alias, Jan Mac Roibeart, by whom he had four sons, first, Jan More, who died at Taymouth when young ; second, Dun- can, who succeeded him ; third, Allan, of whom the present Ballechelish; fourth, James nan Gleann, who had the lands of Lettershuna. Donald the Hammerer had only one daughter, who was married to Archibald Campbell, called Gillisbuegdie, of whom the present Achalladair.
During Donald's life-time, the feud that sub- sisted between him and the family of Dunstaff- nage did not entirely subside ; but it was pru- dently concluded, in order to put a final end to to it, that Duncan should pay his addresses to
* This skirmish took place betwixt Loch Katrine and the Loch of Monteith. (See Dr. Graham, on the scenery of these districts.) As the quarrel began on account of the poultry de- voured by the Highlanders, which they plundered from the earl's offices, situated on the side of the port of Monteith, to accommo- date his castle in the adjacent island, the name of Gramoch an gerig, or Grames of the hens, was fixed on the family of the Grames of Mouteith. W. S.
INTRODUCTIONT. 1XXV
Helena, a daughter of Dunstaffnage, which he did with success. This was carried on unknown to Donald ; and when the marriage took place, he was in very bad blood with his son; and Duncan, not having any thing to support him- self and his young wife, went to live with the smith's wife of Moidart, who had nursed his father, upon the farm of Inverfalla, which her husband had received from Domd nan Onl as a grateful recompence for his former kindness ; but, the smith being dead, the old woman now lived by herself.
Being more inclined to live by cultivating the arts of peace than by plundering his neigh- bours, Duncan spent much of his time in im- proving the farm of Inverfalla, which his father considering as far below the dignity of a High- land gentleman, could not brook to see.
Once, as Donald was walking upon the green of Invernahyle, he looked across the river, and saw several men working upon the farm of Inverfalla. In the meantime Duncan came out, and took a spade from one of the men, seem- ingly to let him see how he should perform the
IXXVi INTRODUCTION*.
work in which he was employed. This was too much for the old gentleman to bear. He launched the currach (a wicker boat covered with hides) with his own hand, and rowed it across to Inverfalla. As he approached, Dun- can, being struck with the fury of his counte- nance, fled from the impending storm into the house ; but the old man followed him with a naked sword in his hand. Upon entering a room that was somewhat dark, Donald, think- ing his degenerate son had concealed himself under the bed-clothes, made a deadly stab at his supposed son ; but, instead of killing him, the sword went through the heart of his old nurse, who was then near eighty years of age. After this unfortunate accident Donald be- came very religious ; he resigned all his lands to his sons, and went to live at Columkill, where he at last died at the age of eighty-seven.
'
LETTERS,
LETTER I*
Inverness.
Ix the course of evidence, or other examin- ation, one slight accidental hint maybe the cause of a long and intricate inquiry ; and thus the bare mention I lately made of a few notes I had taken, relating to these parts and to the Highlands, will
* The English are certainly the first people in the world, and their good qualities are too well known to require any eulo- giura here; but if it were asked, by what one general charac- teristic, more than another, they are to be distinguished, per- haps the answer ought to be, that they do not like to lie put out of their way. This peculiarity, in their own country, produces a good deal of habitual grumbling, in which there is no great harm, as it gives rise to an attention to convenience, propriety, and comfort, which is nowhere else to be met with. But an Eng- lishman, to be seen to advantage, must be seen at home ; when IIP goes abroad, he assumes a compliance with liis habits a<* an VOL. T. B
- LETTER I.
be the occasion of some employment for me: but I am far from making a merit of any trouble I can take to gratify your curiosity ; and more especially in this; for to tell you the truth, I have at present little else to do; my only fear is, my endeavour will not answer your ex- pectation.
Our friendship is as old as our acquaintance, which you know is of no inconsiderable stand- ing, and complimental speeches between us were, by consent, banished from the beginning, as being unsuitable to that sincerity which a strict friendship requires. But I may say, with great truth, there is but one other in the world could prevail with me to communicate, in writing, such circumstances as I perfectly fore- see will make up great part of this correspond- ence ; and therefore I must stipulate, even
exclusive privilege, expecting the whole population of every country he visits, to put themselves out of their way, lest he should be put out of his. This makes the manners of the Eng- lish much less acceptable in other countries than those of the Irish and Scots, who are less fastidious, and have more social and good humoured pliancy of character. The Englishman pur- sues his own beaten path firmly and with dignity ; but if turned out of it, he is miserable and helpless. The Irishman and Scots- man, accustomed to less indulgence at home, take the path that is most convenient if it is not so good as might be wished, the Irishman comforts himself that it is no worse, and the Scotsman sets about devising how he may mend it.
LETTER I. 3
with you, that none of my future letters, on this subject, may be shown to any other than our
common friend , in whom you know we
can confide.
I have several reasons for this precaution, which I make no doubt you will approve.
First, The contrary might create inconveni- ences to me in my present situation.
It might furnish matter for disobliging com- parisons, to which some of our countrymen are but too much addicted.
This again might give offence, especially to such who are so national as not to consider, that a man's native country is not of his own making, or his being born in it the effect of his choice.
And lastly, It would do me no great honour to be known to have made a collection of inci- dents, mostly low, and sometimes disagreeable. Yet even in this I have a common observation on my side, which is, That the genuine character of any particular person may be best discovered, when he appears in his domestic capacity ; when he is free from all restraint by fear of foreign observation and censure; and, by a pa- rity of reason, the genius of a whole people may be better known by their actions and in- clinations in their native country, than it can be from remarks made upon any numbers of B 2
4 LETTER I.
*>
them, when they are dispersed in other parts of the world.
In public, all mankind act more or less in disguise.
If I were to confine myself to the customs of the country and the manners of the people, I think it would need but little apology to the most national; for the several members of every community think themselves sufficiently fur- nished with arguments, whereby to justify their general conduct ; but in speaking of the country, 1 have met with some, who, in hearing the most modest description of any part of it, have been suddenly acted upon by an unruly passion, complicated of jealousy, pity, and anger : this, I have often compared in my mind to the yearn- ings of a fond mother for a misshapen child, when she thinks any one too prying into its de- formity.
If I shall take notice of any thing amiss, either here or in the Mountains, which they know to be wrong, and it is in their power to amend, I shall apply, in my own justification, what is said by Spenser upon a like occasion :
" The best (said he) that I can you advise,
Is to avoid the occasion of the ill : For, when the cause whence evil doth arise
Removed is, the effect surceaseth still."
The Highlands are but little known even to
LETTER I. 5
the inhabitants of the low country of Scotland, for they have ever dreaded the difficulties and dangers of travelling among the mountains; and when some extraordinary occasion has obliged any one of them to such a progress, he has, generally speaking, made his testament before he set out, as though he were entering upon a long and dangerous sea voyage, wherein it was very doubtful if he should ever return.
But to the people of England, excepting some few, and those chiefly the soldiery, the High- lands are hardly known at all : for there has been less, that I know of, written upon the subject, than of either of the Indies ; and even that little which has been said, conveys no idea of what a traveller almost continually sees and meets with in passing among the mountains ; nor does it communicate any notion of the temper of the natives, while they remain in their own country.
The verbal misrepresentations that have been made of the Lowlands are very extraordinary ; and though good part of it be superior in the quality of the soil to the north of England, and in some parts equal to the best of the south, yet there are some among our countrymen who are so prejudiced, that they will not allow (or not own) there is any thing good on this side the Tweed. On the other hand, some flattering
6 LETTER I.
accounts that have been published, what with commendation, and what with concealment, might induce a stranger to both parts of the island, to conclude, that Scotland in general is the better country of the two ; and I wish it were so (as we are become one people) for the benefit of the whole.
About a week ago, I borrowed a book called ' A Journey through Scotland,' published in the year 1723; and having dipped into it in many places, I think it might with more propriety be called, ' A Journey to the Heralds Office, and the Seats of the Nobility and Gentry of North- Britain.'
He calls almost all their houses palaces. He makes no less than five in one street, part of the suburbs of Edinburgh,* besides the real palace of Holyrood-House ; but if you were to see them with that pompous title, you would be surprised, though you would think some of them good houses when mentioned with modesty.
But I think every one of the five would greatly suffer by the comparison, if they stood
* Peop'c commonly denominate the house of a duke, as they do an episcopal residence, a palace ,• and before the Union, many of the principal nobility of Scotland had houses in (he Canongait of Edinburgh, to which a common tradesman would now be ashamed to invite his friends.
LETTER I. 7
near Marlborough-House in St. James's Park ; and yet nobody ever thought of erecting that building into a palace.
It would be contrary to my inclination, and even ridiculous to deny, that there is a great number of noble and spacious old seats in Scotland, besides those that were kings' palaces, of both which some are built in a better taste than most of the old seats in England that I have seen : these I am told were built after the models of Sir William Bruce, who was their Inigo Jones; but many of them are now in a ruinous condition. And it must be confessed there are some very stately modern buildings : but our itinerant author gives such magnificent descriptions of some of his palaces, as carry with them nothing but disappointment to the eye of the travelling spectator.
He labours the plantations about the country- seats so much, that he shows thereby what a rarity trees are in Scotland ; and indeed it has been often remarked, that here are but few birds except such as build their nests upon the ground, so scarce are hedges and trees.*
* The Scots have all the birds of song that are found in Eng- land, except the nightingale ; like the Germans, they are par- ticularly fond of them as pets, and never kill them for the table. Some have supposed that, before the disforesting of the north of England and the lowlands of Scotland, and when the climate
8 LETTER J.
The post-house at Haddiiigton, a wretched inn, by comparison, he says, is inferior to none on the London road.
In this town he says there are coffee-houses and taverns as in England; — Who would not thence infer, there are spacious rooms, many waiters, plentiful larders, &c. ? And as to the only coffee-room we have, I shall say something of it in its proper place.
But the writer is held greatly in esteem by the people here, for calling this the ' pretty town of Inverness/ How often have I heard those words quoted with pleasure !
Here I am about to premise something in relation to the sheets which are to follow : And first, I intend to send you one of these letters every fortnight, and oftener if I find it conve- nient, till I have, as I may say, writ myself
was certainly better than it has been for some time back, they had the nightingale also. The meaning of the name of this bird jn the French, Italian, &c. is beautifully poetical. It is Celtic, and is still preserved in the Scots-Gaelic and Irish, Ros- AN-CEOL, the rose-music; the melody finely substituted for the melodist; the former being often heard, whilst the 'atter is seldom seen. The oriental fable of the Nightingale and the Rose is well known, and needs no other explication than simply observ- ing, that the queen of sylvan melodists, and the queen of flowers, come and go together ; and that nightingales sing only while roses blow.
LETTER I. 9
quite out. In doing this, I shall not confine myself to order or method, but take my para- graphs just as they come to hand, except where one fact or observation naturally arises from another. Nor shall I be solicitous about the elegancy of style, but content myself with an endeavour only to be understood ; for both or either of those niceties would deprive me of some other amusements, and that, I am sure, you do not expect, nor would you suffer it if you could help it.
There will be little said that can be appli- cable to Scotland in general ; but if any thing of that nature should occur, I shall note it to be so.
All parts of the Highlands are not exactly alike, either in the height of the country or the customs and manners of the natives, of whom some are more civilised than others.
Nothing will be set down but what I have personally known, or received from such whose information I had no reason to suspect; ancf all without prejudice or partiality. And lastly, I shall be very sparing of the names of particular persons (especially when no honour can be dispensed by the mention of them), not only as they are unknown to you, but, to tell you the truth, in prudence to myself ; for, as our letters are carried to Edinburgh the Hill-way, by a
10 LETTISH 1.
foot post, there is one who makes no scruple to intrude, by means of his emissaries, into the affairs and sentiments of others, especially if he fancies there is any thing relating to himself; so jealous and inquisitive is guilt. And there- fore I shall neglect no opportunity of sending them to Edinburgh by private hands. But if you should be curious at any time to know the name of some particular person ; in that case, a hint, and the date of my letter, will enable me to give you that satisfaction.
But I must add, that the frequent egotisms which I foresee I shall be obliged to use in passages merely relating to myself, incline me to wish that our language would sometimes (like the French) admit of the third person, only to vary the eternal (I).
This is all I have to say by way of preface : what apologies I may have occasion to make in my progress, I do not know; but I promise, that as they are dry, so shall they be as few as possible.
LETTER II.
ABOUT a twelvemonth after I first came to this town, and had been twice to Edinburgh by the way of the Hills, I received a letter from an old acquaintance, desiring me to give him an account of my first journey hither, the same to commence from the borders of Scotland.
I could not, you may imagine, conceive the meaning of a request so extraordinary ; but however I complied implicitly. Some time afterwards, by a letter of thanks, I was given to understand, it was an expedient, agreed upon between him and another, whereby to decide a dispute.
Now all this preface is only to introduce my request to you, that you will absolve me from the promise I made you last week, and in lieu of what you might demand, accept of a copy of that letter.
I should not have waved my promised design, but for an affair which something related to myself, and required my attention, and there- fore I could not find time to tack together so
12 LETTER II.
many memorandums, as such letters, as 1 in- tend to send you, require ; for if they are not pretty long, I shall be self-condemned, since you know I used to say, by way of complaint
against , That letters from one friend to
another should be of a length proportioned to the distance between them.
After some compliments, my letter was as follows : .;
" According to your desire, I shall begin my account with the entertainment I met with after passing the Tweed at Kelso, but shall not trouble you with the exaction and intolerable insolence of the ferrymen, because I think you can match their impudence at our own horse- ferry : I shall only say, that I could obtain no redress, although I complained of them to the principal magistrate of the town.
" Having done with them, my horses were led to the stable, and myself conducted up one pair of stairs, where I was soon attended by a handsome genteel man, well dressed, who gave me a kindly welcome to the house.
" This induced me to ask him what I could have to eat : to which he civilly answered, The good wife will be careful nothing shall be want- ing ; but that he never concerned himself about any thing relating to the public (as he called it) : that is, he would have me know he was a gentle-
LETTER II. 13
man, and did not employ himself in any thing so low as -attendance, hut left it to his wife.* Thus he took his leave of me ; and soon after came up my landlady, whose dress and appear- ance seemed to me to be so unfit for the wife of that gentleman, that I could hardly believe she was any other than a servant ; but she soon took care, in her turn, by some airs she gave herself, to let me know she was mistress of the house.
" I asked what was to be had, and she told me potted pigeons; and nothing, I thought, could be more agreeable, as requiring no wait-
* There are several people still living who remember " mine host'' of Kelso, and his manner, just such as they are described here ; but there were many such in the country at that time, who urged no pretensions to gentility. It was in Scotland, as on the bye-roads in England a few years back, where there were few travellers, and little profit for inn-keepers; the husband was obliged to follow some other avocation for the support of his fa- mily, and leave the concerns of the house entirely to his wife, who was too sensible of the importance of her charge to share it with any body. It was from her alone, that the inn took its de- nomination ; and she was emphatically called the brewster~wife, because the character of her charge depended chiefly upon her skill in brewing, and the quality of her ale. — Sometimes the husband's politeness, and sometimes, no doubt, l\is forwardness, led him to do the honours in his own house ; but there was no affectation in his saying that he never meddled with the manage- ment of it ; for a brewster-wife who would have suflcrcd such interference would have been very unfit for her place.
14 LETTER II.
ing, after a fatiguing day's journey in which I had eaten nothing.
"The cloth was laid, but I was too unwilling to grease my fingers to touch it ; and presently after, the pot of pigeons was set on the table.
" When I came to examine my cates, there were two or three of the pigeons lay mangled in the pot, and behind were the furrows, in the butter, of those fingers that had raked them out of it, and the butter itself needed no close application to discover its quality.
" My disgust at this sight was so great, and being a brand-new traveller in this country, I ate a crust of bread, and drank about a pint of good claret ; and although the night was ap- proaching, I called for my horses, and marched off, thinking to meet with something better : but I was benighted on a rough moor, and met with yet worse entertainment at a little house which was my next quarters.
" At my first entrance I perceived some things like shadows moving about before the fire, which was made with peats ; and going nearer to them, I could just discern, and that was all, two small children in motion, stark naked, and a very old man sitting by the fire-side.
" I soon went out, under pretence of care for my horses, but in reality to relieve my lungs and eyes of the smoke. At my return I could
LETTER IT. 15
perceive the old man's fingers to be in a very bad condition, and immediately I was seized with an apprehension that I should be put into his bed.
" Here I was told I might have a breast of mutton done upon the brander (or gridiron) : but when it was brought me, it appeared to have been smoked and dried in the chimney corner ; and it looked like the glue that hangs up in an ironmonger's shop : this, you may be- lieve, was very disgusting to the eye : and for the smell, it had no other, that 1 could percieve, than that of the butter wherewith it was greased in the dressing ; but, for my relief, there were some new-laid eggs, which were my regale. And now methinks I hear one of this country
say, a true Englishman ! he is already
talking of eating.
" When I had been conducted to my lodging- room, I found the curtains of my bed* were
* Out of one of the beds on which \ve were to repose, started up at our entrance a man, black as a Cyclops from the forge. Other circumstances of no elegant recital concurred to disgust us. We had been frightened by a lady at Edinburgh, with dis- couraging representations of Highland lodging : sleep, however, was necessary. Our Highlanders had at last found some hay, with which the inn could not supply them. I directed them to bring a bundle into the room, and slept upon it in my riding-coat.
Johnson s Journey. Works, vol. viii. 262.
1G LETTER II.
very foul by being handled by the dirty wenches ; and the old man's fingers being pre- sent with me, I sat down by the fire, and asked myself, for which of my sins I was sent into this . country ; but I have been something reconciled to it since then, for we have here our pleasures and diversions, though not in such plenty and variety, as you have in London.
" But to proceed : Being tired and sleepy, at last I came to a resolution to see how my bed looked within side, and to my joy I found exceeding good linen, white, well aired and hardened, and I think as good as in our best inns in England, so I slept very comfortably.
" And here I must take notice of what I have since found almost every where, but chiefly in the Low-country, that is, good linen ; for the spinning descends from mother to daughter by succession, till the stock becomes consider- able; insomuch that even the ordinary people are generally much better furnished in that par- ticular, than those of the same rank in Eng- land— I am speaking chiefly of sheeting and table-linen.
" There happened nothing extraordinary be- tween this place and Edinburgh, where I made no long stay.
" When I first came into the high-street of that city, I though I had not seen any thing of
LETTER II. 17
the kind more magnificent : the extreme height of the houses,* which are, for the most part, built with stone, and well sashed ; the breadth and length of the street, and (it being dry weather) a cleanness made by the high winds, I was ex- tremely pleased to find every thing look so un- like the descriptions of that town which had been given me by some of my countrymen.
" Being a stranger, I was invited to sup at a tavern. The cook was too filthy an object to be described; only another English gentleman whispered me and said, he believed, if the fel- low was to be thrown against the wall, he would stick to it.
" Twisting round and round his hand a greasy towel, he stood waiting to know what we would have for supper, and mentioned several things himself; among the rest, a duke, afoot, or a meer-fool. This was nearly according to his pronunciation; but he meant a duck, a fowl, or a moor-fowl, or grouse.|
* The view of the houses at a distance strikes the traveller with wonder ; their own loftiness improved by their almost aerial situation, gives them a look of magnificence not to be found in any other part of Great Britain. — Pennant's Scotland, vol. i. 63.
f Had it been for dinner, he would probably have recom- mended also a bubly-jock (Turkey cock), a pully (pullet), a bawd (hare), and rabbits, under names which might have led a gay young militaire still farther astray ; with a tappit-hen (quart pot of ale), to wash all down.
VOL. I. C
18 LETTER II.
" We supped very plentifully, and drank good French claret, and were very merry till the clock struck ten, the hour when every-body is at liberty, by beat of the city drum, to throw their filth out at the windows. Then the com- pany began to light pieces of paper, and throw them upon the table to smoke the room, and, as I thought, to mix one bad smell with another.
" Being in my retreat to pass through a long narrow wynde or alley, to go to my new lodgings, a guide was assigned me, who went before me to prevent my disgrace, crying out all the way, with a loud voice, " Hud your haunde." The throwing up of a sash, or otherwise opening a window, made me tremble, while behind and before me, at some little distance, fell the ter- rible shower.
" Well, I escaped all the danger, and arrived, not only safe and sound, but sweet and clean, at my new quarters ; but when I was in bed I was forced to hide my head between the sheets ; for the smell of the filth, thrown out by the neighbours on the back side of the house, came pouring into the room to such a degree, I was almost poisoned with the stench."
I shall here add to my letter, as I am making a copy of it, a few observations.
When I was last in Edinburgh I set myself
LETTER II.
to consider of this great annoyance, and, in conclusion, found it remediless.
" The city, it seems, was built upon that rock for protection, by the castle, in dangerous times ; but the space was too narrow to con- tain a sufficient number of inhabitants, other- wise than by very high buildings, crowded close together, insomuch that there are hardly any back yards.
" Eight, ten, and even twelve stories have each a particular family, and perhaps a sepa- rate proprietor ; and therefore any thing so ex- pensive as a conveyance down from the up- permost floor could never be agreed on; or could there be made, within the building, any receiver suitable to such numbers of people.
" There is indeed between the city and the sea a large flat space of land, with a rivulet running through it, which would be very com- modious for a city: but great part of it has been made the property of the corporation ; and the magistrates for the time being will not suffer any houses to be built on it ; for if they did, the old city would soon be deserted, which would bring a very great loss upon some, and total ruin upon others, of the proprietors in those buildings."
I have said thus much upon this uncleanly subject, only, as you may have heard some ma-
c 2
20 LETTER II.
liciously, or at best inconsiderately, say, that this evil proceeds from (what one would think nobody could believe) a love of nastiness, and not necessity. I shall only add, as it falls in my way, that the main street is cleaned by scavengers every morning early, except Sun- day, which therefore is the most uncleanly day.*
But to return. Having occasion the next morning after my arrival to inquire for a person \rith whom I had some concerns, I was amazed at the length and gibberish of a direction given me where to find him.
I was told that I must go down the street, and on the north side, over-against such a place, turn down such a wynde; and, on the west side of the wynde, inquire for such a launde (or building), where the gentleman stayd, at the thrid stair, that is, three stories high.
This direction in a language I hardly under- stood, and by points of the compass which I then knew nothing of, as they related to the town, put me to a good deal of difficulty.
At length I found out the subject of my in- quiry, who was greatly diverted when I told him (with as much humour as I was master of) what had been my perplexity. Yet in my nar-
* No immundities are now deposited in the kennels on Sa- turday night. — See Note at the end of this Letter.
LETTER IT. 21
ration I concealed the nauseous inconvenience of going down the steep narrow wynde, and as- cending to his lodging.
I then had no knowledge of the cawdys, a very useful blackguard, who attend the coffee-houses and public places to go of errands ; and though they are wretches, that in rags lie upon the stairs, and in the streets at night, yet are they often considerably trusted, and, as I have been told, have seldom or never proved unfaithful.
These boys know every body in the town who is of any kind of note, so that one of them would have been a ready guide to the place I wanted to find ; and I afterwards wondered that one of them was not recommended to me by my new landlady.
This corps has a kind of captain or magistrate presiding over them, whom they call the con- stable of the cawdys, and in case of neglect or other misdemeanor he punishes the delinquents, mostly by fines of ale and brandy, but some- times corporally.
They have for the most part an uncommon acuteness, are very ready at proper answers, and execute suddenly and well whatever em- ployment is assigned them.
Whether it be true or not I cannot say, but I have been told by several, that one of the judges formerly abandoned two of his sons for
22 LETTER Jl.
a time to this way of life, as believing it would create in them a sharpness which might be of use to them in the future course of their lives.
This is all that I knew of Edinburgh at that time, by reason of the shortness of my stay. The day following, my affairs called me to begin my journey to Glasgow.
Glasgow is, to outward appearance, the pret- tiest and most uniform town that 1 ever saw; and I believe there is nothing like it in Britain.
It has a spacious carrifour, where stands the cross ; and going round it, you have, by turns, the view of four streets, that in regular angles proceed from thence. The houses of these streets are faced with Ashler stone, they are well sashed, all of one model, and piazzas run through them on either side, which give a good air to the buildings.
There are some other handsome streets, but the extreme parts of the town are mean and disagreeable to the eye.
There was nothing remarkable in my way to Glasgow, that I took notice of, being in haste, but the church at Linlithgow, a noble old Go- thic building, formerly a cathedral, now much in ruins, chiefly from the usual rage that at- tends reformation.*
* In England, the Reformation emanated from thfe court, and the higher orders of society, as well ecclesiastics as others.
LETTER II. 23
It is really provoking to see how the popu- lace have broke and defaced the statues and other ornaments, under the notion of their be- ing relics of Popery.
As this town was our baiting-place, a gentle- man (the son of a celebrated Scots bishop) who
and was conducted with comparative dignity, moderation, and decency. In Scotland, it was the work of the rabble, headed by a few able, daring, and ambitious ghostly demagogues, either destitute of good taste, or obliged to pretend to be so, in order to preserve their popularity with the vulgar, who were their tools. Their principle was, to overturn every thing religious that was established, and to produce an establishment as opposite as possible in every thing to that which they had overturned. Using the Lord's Prayer, or Doxology, in public worship, was denounced as an infallible mark of the beast ; and had the reading of the Scriptures been more encouraged by the Roman Catholics, that also would have been discarded. — Amid the general wreck of ecclesiastical structures, during the fury of " rooting out rooks, by pulling down their nests," the cathedral of Glasgow had a very narrow escape, and was preserved by the good sense and address of one of the magistrates. It had been decreed that that venerable old building, polluted by the abominations of Popery, should be razed to the ground ; to which this magistrate gave his hearty consent, as in duty bound ; but observed at the same time, that building churches was a very expensive matter, and money very scarce ; the house had never sinned, if the archbishop and his clergy had ; the people had Jffcwhere else to meet for the worship of God ; and, in his humble opinion, it would be more prudent not to pull down the old church, till they had raised money to build a new one. — This judicious appeal to their pockets saved the edifice.
24 LETTER II.
was with me, proposed, that while dinner was getting ready we should go and view the inside of the structure ; and as we took notice that great part of the floor was broken up, and that the pews were immoderately dusty, the pre- centor, or clerk, who attended us, took occa- sion to say, he did not apprehend that clean- liness was essential to devotion ; upon which, my friend turned hastily upon him, and said very angrily,
" What! This church was never intended for your slovenly worship." This epithet, pro- nounced with so much ardour, immediately after his censure of the Presbyterian zeal, was to me some matter of speculation.
My stay at Glasgow was very short, as it had been at Edinburgh, to which last, in five days, I returned, in order to proceed to this town.
Upon consulting some gentlemen, which of the two ways was most eligible for me to take, i. e. whether through the Highlands, or by the sea-coast, I found they were divided; one giving a dreadful account of the roughness and danger of the mountains, another commending the shortness of the cut over the hills. One told me it was a hundred and fifty miles by the coast, another that it was but ninety miles the other way: but I decided the matter myself
LETTER II. 25
upon the strength of the old proverb — " That the farthest way about is the' nearest way home." Not but that I sometimes met with roads which, at that time, I thought pretty rough ; but after passing through the Highlands, they were all smoothed, in my imagination, into bowling-greens.
As the country near the coast has, here and there, little rising hills which overlook the sea, and discover towns at a considerable distance, I was well enough diverted with various pro- spects in my journey, and wanted nothing but trees, enclosures, and smoother roads, to make it very agreeable.
The Lowlands, between the sea and the high country, to the left, are generally narrow ; and the rugged, romantic appearance of the moun- tains was to me, at that time, no bad prospect; but since that, I have been taught to think otherwise, by the sufferings I have met with among them.
I had little reason to complain of my enter- tainment at the several houses where I set up, because I never wanted what was proper for the support of life, either for myself or my horses : I mention them, because, in a journey, they are as it were a part of one's self. The worst of all was the cookery.
One thing I observed of almost all the towns
26 LETTER II.
that I saw at a distance, which was, that they seemed to be very large, and made a handsome appearance ; but when I passed through them, there appeared a meanness which discovered the condition of the inhabitants: and all the out-skirts, which served to increase the extent of them at a distance, were nothing but the ruins of little houses, and those in pretty great numbers.
Of this I asked the reason, and was told, that when one of those houses was grown old and decayed, they often did not repair it, but, taking out the timber, they let the walls stand as a fit enclosure for a cale-yard (i. e. a little garden for coleworts), and that they built anew upon another spot.* By this you may conclude that stone and ground-rents in those towns are not very valuable. But the little fishing-towns were generally disagreeable to pass, from the strong smell of the haddocks and whitings that were hung up to dry on lines along the sides of
* There was another reason. The cottagers very commonly built their own cottages, reserving to themselves the right of carrying off the timber when they quitted, in case the next tenant did not choose to pay them for it. The/ozcrf (Gael./oiV/, a sod) of an old house was accounted excellent manure, after being thoroughly smoked and half-burnt ; and it was usual with the Highlanders to pull down their sod huts every four or five years for this purpose, and build others of similar materials, to be in a state of preparation.
LETTER II. 27
the houses from one end of the village to the other: and such numbers of half-naked chil- dren, but fresh-coloured, strong, and healthy, I think are not to be met with in the inland towns. Some will have their numbers and strength to be the effects of shell-fish.
I have one thing more to observe to you, which is, that still as I went northward, the cattle and the carts grew less and less. The sheep likewise diminished in their size by de- grees as I advanced; and their wool grew coarser, till at length, upon a transient view, they seemed to be clothed with hair. This I think proceeds less from the quality of the soil than the excessive cold of the hills in the win- ter season, because the mutton is exceedingly good.*
* The small breed of sheep peculiar to the North of Scotland, and which is supposed to have come originally from Norway, being still found in Iceland, and in the islands of Orkney and Shetland, was very hardy, easily fed, their mutton exquisite, and the fleeces soft, as every one knows who has worn Shetland hose. If the Merino sheep lately introduced, should not, after com- petent trial, be found to answer so well as was expected, it might be worth while to make some experiments of a cross with the Shetland breed. The Shetlanders still tear off the wool in- stead of shearing it. As this is done after the roots of the wool have been forced out of the skin by the young fleece, the process is not so cruel as it appears to be ; but it is bad economy, because much of what first becomes loose, is cast in the natural way. and lost.
28 LETTER II.
Thus I have acquainted you how I came hither, and I hope it will not now be very long before I have a greater pleasure in telling you, by word of mouth, in what manner I got home ; yet must I soon return.*
* The account in the foregoing letter of the untidyness of Edinburgh is uncommonly moderate, and the observations on it much more charitable than it deserved. A remnant of this na- tional reproach is still left, from nine at night till seven in the morning, enough to provoke an Englishman of the present day to say nearly as much as our author has said. How the case stood a century earlier may be collected from the following curious order of the Privy Council of Scotland to the Magistrates, dated March 4, A. D. 1619:—
" Act Anent the Burgh of Edinburgh.
" FORSAMEKLE as the burgh of Edinburgh, quhilk is the chief and principall burgh of this kingdome, quhair the soverane and heich courtes of Parliament, his Majesties Preuie the Counsall and Colledge of Justice, and the Courtis of Justiciarie and Ad- miralitie ar ordinarlie haldin and keipt, and quhairunto the best pairt of the subiectis of this kingdome, of all dcgreis, rankis, and qualities, hes a commoun and frequent resorte and repare, — is now become so iilthie and vncleine, and the streittis, venallis, wyndis, and cloissis thairoff so overlayd and coverit with middingis, and with the filth and excrement of man and beist, as the noblemen, counsellouris, servitouris, and uthers his Majesties subiectis quha ar ludgeit within the said burgh, can not have ane cleine and frie passage and entrie to thair ludgeingis; quhairthrow thair ludge- ingis ar becum so lothsume vnto thame, as they ar resolved rather to mak choice of ludgeingis in the Cannongate and Leyth, or some utheris pairtis about the tovvne, nor to abyde the sycht of this schamefull vncleanes and filthiness ; quhilk is so universal! and
LETTER II. 29
in such abundance throuch all the pairtis of this burgh, as in the heitt of somer it corruptis the air, and gives greit occasioun of seikness : and forder, this schamefull and beistlie filthines is most detestable and odious in the sicht of strangeris, quho beholding the same, ar constrayned with roassoun to gif oute mony disgrace- full speiches aganis this burgh, calling it a most filthie pudle of filth and vncleannes, the lyk quhairof is not to be seine in no pairt of the world ; quhilk being a greate discredite to the haill king- dome, that the principall and heid burgh thairof sould be so void of pollice, civilitie, ordour, and gude governement, as the hie streittis of the same cannot be keipit cleine ; and the Lordis of Secreit Counsall, vnderstanding perfytelie that the said burgh, and all the streittis and vennallis thairof, may very easilie, and with litill ado, be keipit and haldin cleine, gif the people thameselffis wer weill and civillie disposit, and gif the Magistratis tuk caire to caus thame, and everie ane of thame, keip the streittis fora- nentis thair awin boundis clein, as is done in vther civiH, hand- some, and weill governcit cities: THAIRFOIR, the Lordis of Secreit Counsall commandis and ordanis, be thir presents, the Provest and Baillies of Edinburgh to tak and set downe sum setled and solide odoure and course how the said burgh and the cloissis, wvndis, and streittis thairof may be haldin and kepit cleine, the middingis, and all other filthe and vncleannes removed, and tane away, by appointing every neichbour of the toune to keip the streittis foranent his awin dwelling cJeane ; and that no nichtbour lay thair middingis, souppingis of thair housis, nor na uther filthe, vpoun his nichtbouris boundis and hie streittis, vnder some res- sonable paines, to be imposit and exactit of the contravenaris ; and that the saidis Provest and Baillies appoynt a constabill for every closse to sie thair ordinance putt in executioun, and the con- travenaris punist, be exacting of the saidis paines from thame; certifeing the saidis Provest and Baillies gif they be remiss, or negligent heirin, the saidis Lordis will tak thame to thame, and,
30 LETTER II.
accordinglie, will tak such ordoar herein as they sail think expe- dient."— (Reg. Sec. Cone. Mar. 4, 1619.)
Such was the state of our capital at home. What figure many of the Scots then made in England, and how they were re- ceived by their most gracious sovereign, now the mighty ruler of three kingdoms, who wanted money to feed and clothe his servants, will appear from the following extracts from the same record: —
" Apud Edinburgh Decimo Maij 1611. " Proclamatioun anent the repairing of personis to Courte.
" FORSAMEKLE as the frequent and dailie resoirt of grite nom- beris of Idill personis men and wemen of base soirt and con- ditioun, and without ony certane trade, calling, or dependance, going from hense to Courte, be sey and land, is not onlie verv vnplesant and offensiue to the kingis Maiestie, in so far as he is daylie importuned with thair suitis and begging, and his royal 1 Courte almost filled with thame, thay being, in the opinioune and consait of all behaldaris, bot ydill rascallis, and poore miserable bodyis; bot with that this cuntrcy is havelie disgraceit, and mony sclanderous imputations gevin oute aganis the same, as iff thaiv wer no personis of goode ranke comlynes nor credite within the same; And the kingis Maiestie and lordis of secreit counsaill, [considering] how far suche imputationis may tuitche this cuntrey, and what impressioun it will mak in the hairlis of the commoun multitude of the nightbour cuntrey, whenas thay see his Maiestie importuned and fascheit, and his royal! courte filled with suche nomberis of Idill suitaris and vncomelie people; and the said is lordis, thairfoir, being carefull to prevent all forder occasioun of reproitche or sclander of the cuntrey, by staying, so far as possible may be, all forder resoirt of thir ydill people to Courte ; Thair- foir Ordanis Lettres to be direct Charging officiaris of annes to pas to the mercatt croces of the heid burrowis and sey poirtis of
LETTER II. 31
this kingdome, and thair be oppin proclamatioun, To Command charge and inhibite the maisteris, awnaris, skipparis, and inari- naris of whatsomeuir schippis and veschellis, That nane of thame presume nor tak vpoun hand, To transporte or cary in thair schip- pis ony passingeris from hense to England, quhill first thay gif vp to the saidis lordis the names of the passingearis and Jatt the Lordis vndirstand and know what Lauchi'ull errand thay haif, and procure licence for thair transporting, vndir the pane of confis- catioun of the schippis and veschellis, and of all the mouable goodis pertening to the saidis skipparis, maisteris. and marinaris, to his Maiesties vse."
" Apud Edinburgh 1615. xxij. Nouembris. " Act anent the repairing of personis to Courte.
" FORS.AMEKLE as it is vnderstand to the Lordis of secreitcoun* saill, that there is grite nomberis of Idill and impertinent suite- aris, who daylie repairis from this kingdome towardis his Maties Courte and presence, and, in the mides of his maties most impor- tant affairis, vexis and molestis his Maiestie with thair petitionis and suitis, outher for debteis alreddy payit, or vniustlie acclamed vpoun fals pretendit groundis and pretensis; And whereas there is no sort of importunitye more vngratious to his Maiestie, nor mpre derogatorye to the honour and credite of this his Maiesteis antient kingdome, nor that whilk proceidis frome the base vn- comely and frequent resoirt of suche vagrantis and impertinent sutearis to his Malies Courte and presence; And seeing his Ma- iestie is gratiously dispoisit to gif ordour and directioun for satis- factioun of all such debtis whairin his Maiestie is Justlie addebteit to ony of his subiectis, The same debtis being first hard, examined, and considderit, be the Lordis commissionaris of his Maiesteis rentis, and the sutearis thairof being recommendit frome the saidis lordis to his Maiestie, with thair declaratioun and testificatioun that the debt craved is a Just and trew debt : Thairfore, the Lordis of secreit counsaill ordanis Lettres to be direct to officiaris
32 LETTER II.
of armes, chargeing thame to pas to the mercatt croce of burgh and otheris placeis neidfully And thair to Command, charge, and inhibite, all and sindrie hismaiesteisliegisandsubiectis whatsomeuer, who acclames ony debteis to be avvand be his maiestie to thame, That nane of thame pressume nor tak vpoun hand, To resoirte and repair to his Maues Courte and presence, nor importune hismaiestie with thair petitiounsandsuitis, for ony debtis aeclamed be thame, quhill first thay acquent the saidis lordis commissionaris of his maues rentisj with thair petitiouns and suitis for ony debtis aeclamed be thame, and with the nature and caus of the debt, and obtene thair recommendatioun and licence to repair to his maiestie for that effect, vnder the pane of forfeyting and lossing of tbair right to that whilk thay acclame, and forder, vnder the pane of pvnishment of thame in thair personis and good's, at the arbitrament of his Maties CounselL"
LETTER III.
I AM now about to enter upon the performance of my promise, and shall begin with a descrip- tion of this town, which, however obscure it may be thought with you, yet is of no inconsi- derable account in these remote regions. And it is often said to be the most like to an English town of any at this end of the island.
But I have a further view than barely to make you acquainted with these parts without your having the inconveniences, fatigue, and hazards of a northern journey of five hundred miles; and that design is, to show you, by example, the melancholy consequence of the want of manu- factories and foreign trade, and most especially with respect to the common people, whom it affects even to the want of necessaries ; not to mention the morals of the next degree. It is here, indeed, their happiness, that they do not so sensibly feel the want of these advantages, as they would do if they had known the loss of them.
And notwithstanding the natural fertility of
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34 LETTER III.
the South, I am, by observation, taught to con- clude, that without those important profits, which enable the higher orders of men to spare a part of their income to employ others in or- namental and other works not absolutely neces- sary ; I say, in that case, the ordinary people with you would be, perhaps, not quite, but nearly as wretched as these, whose circum- stances almost continually excite in me the painful passion of pity, as the objects of it are seldom out of my sight.
I shall not make any remarks how much it is incumbent on the rulers of kingdoms and states (who are to the people what a father is to his helpless family) to watch over this source of human convenience and happiness, because this has been your favourite topic, and indeed the contrary would be in me (as the common phrase is) " like carrying coals to Newcastle."
If wit were my talent, or even a genteel ri- dicule, which is but a faint resemblance of wit (if it may be said to be any thing like it) — I say, if both or either of these were my gift, you would not expect to be entertained that way upon this account ; for you perfectly know that poverty, simply as such, and unattended by sloth, pride, and (let me say) other unsuitable vices, was never thought by the judicious to be a proper subject for wit or raillery. But I
LETTER III. 35
cannot forbear to observe, en passant, that those pretenders to wit that deal in odious hyperboles create distaste to ingenuous minds.
I shall give you only two examples of such insipid jests. The first was, in describing the country cabins in the north of Ireland, by saying, one might put one's arm down the chimney and unlatch the door. This regarded all of that country ; but the other was personal to one who, perhaps, had carried his economy a little too far.
Sir,_says the joker to me, who was a stranger to the other, this gentleman is a very generous man — I made him a visit the other day, and the bars of his grate were the wires of a bird- cage, and he threw on his coals with an ockamy spoon.
It is true, the laughing part of the company were diverted with the sarcasm ; but it was so much at the expense of the old gentleman, that I thought he would run mad with resentment.
It would be needless to describe the situa- tion of this town, as it relates to the island in general, because a map of Britain will, at one view, afford you a better idea of it than any words I can put together for that purpose ; I shall therefore content myself with saying only, That the Murray Frith is navigable within less than half a mile of the town, and that the rest
D 2
30 LLTTER III.
of the navigation to it is supplied by the river Ness.
Inverness* is one of the royal boroughs of Scotland, and, jointly with Nairne, Forres, and Channery, sends a member to parliament.
The town has a military governor, and the corporation a provost and four baillies, a kind of magistrates little differing from our mayors and aldermen : besides whom, there is a dean of guild who presides in matters of trade ; and other borough officers, as in the rest of the cor- porate towns of this country.
* Mr. Pennant, who commenced his tour about fifty years later than our author, says, " This town is large and well built, very populous, and contains about eleven thousand inhabitants. This being the last of any note in North Britain, is the winter resi- dence of many of the neighbouring gentry, and the present em- porium, as it was the ancient, of the north of Scotland.
" The opulence of this town has often made it the object of plunder to the lords of the isles and their dependants. It suf- , fered in particular in 1222 from one Gillispie, and in 1429 from (Alexander lord of the isles ; and even so late did the ancient man- ners prevail, that a head of a western clan in the latter end of the last century, threatened the place with fire and sword, if they did not pay. a large contribution, and present him with a scarlet laced suit ; all which was complied with."1
Pennant's Scotland, vol. i. 1 78, 1 79,
In 1689, the Viscount Dundee found the Macdonalds of Keppocli besieging Inverness on their own private account. On his obli- gation for its ransom, they engaged in his service; but returned to secure their plunder in Lockaber.
LETTER HI. 37
It is not only the head borough or county- town of the shire of Inverness, which is of large extent, but generally esteemed to be the capital of the Highlands : but the natives do not call themselves Highlanders, not so much on account of their low situation, as because they speak English.
This rule whereby to denominate themselves, they borrow from the Kirk, which, in all its acts and ordinances distinguishes the Lowlands from the Highlands by the language generally spoken by the inhabitants, whether the parish or district lies in the high or low country.
Yet although they speak English, there are scarce any who do not understand the Irish tongue ; and it is necessary they should do so, to carry on their dealings with the neighbouring country people ; for within less than amile of the town, there are few who speak any English at all.
What I am saying must be understood only of the ordinary people ; for the gentry, for the r most part, speak our language in the remotest parts of Scotland.
The town principally consists of four streets, of which three center at the cross, and the other is something irregular.
The castle* stands upon a little steep hill.
* This castle used to be the residence of the court whenever the Scottish princes were called to quell the insurrections of the
38 LETTER III.
closely adjoining to the town, on the south side, built with unhewn stone : it was lately in
turbulent clans. — According to Boethius, Duncan was murdered hereby Macbeth; but according to Fordun, near Elgin. Old people still remember magnificent apartments embellished wilh stucco busts and paintings. James the First ordered this castle to be repaired in 1426, and directed that every lord beyond the Gram- pian Mountains, in whose lands ancient castles stood, should repair and dwell in them, or at least one of his friends, in order to govern the country and expend the produce in the territory ; and finding that the Highland chiefs were strangers to his laws and govern- ment, he resolved to inculcate into their obduracy some principles of good order by a salutary severity. The lords of the isles, in particular, by their constant confederacy with England and re- peated inroads, well deserved a signal chastisement. In pur- suance of these motives the king assembled here a parliament in the spring, which the Highland chieftains were specially sum- moned to attend, and suddenly arrested Alexander, lord of the isles, and his mother the countess of Ross, with others. Two of the chiefs, leaders of a thousand each, were instantly tried, con- demned, and beheaded ; and one who had murdered the late lord of the isles was also executed in impartial justice. The others were scattered as prisoners among the castles of different lords through the kingdom; and after a time some were condemned to death, and some were restored to liberty. The lord of the isles and his mother were retained in captivity, till apparently after a year or more the former was delivered, while the latter seems in vain to have been retained as an hostage for his fidelity. — The lord of the isles, on being liberated, received many admonitions and injunctions of fidelity ; but, regardless of these, he soon in- dulged his revenge, by gathering his lawless bands and burn- ing the town of Inverness. — James, justly em-aged, collected an army, and overtook the invader in a marshy ground near Locha-
LETTER III. 39
ruins, but is now completely repaired, to serve as a part of the citadel of Fort George, whereof the first foundation stone was laid in summer ] 726, and is to consist of barracks for six com- panies. This castle, whereof the duke of Gordon is hereditary keeper, was formerly a royal palace, where Mary, the mother of our king James the First, resided, at such times when she thought it her interest to oblige the Highlanders with her presence and expense, or that her safety required it.
You will think it was a very scanty palace, when I have told you, that before it was re- paired, it consisted of only six lodging- rooms, the offices below, and the gallery above; which last being taken down, and the rooms divided
ber, where the free-booting lord was totally defeated. — His force consisted of about ten thousand men, of whom two clans, Chatan and Cameron, on the sight of the royal standard, acceded to the king. The lord of the isles, reduced to despair, sent an embassy to entreat peace, which being refused, he resolved to put himself entirely in the king's mercy. For which purpose he came pri- vately to Edinburgh, and on a solemn day, only attired in his shirt and drawers, he, before the high altar of Holy Rood church, upon his knees, presented his drawn sword to the king in the pre- sence of the queen and many nobles. His life was granted in consequence of his humble submission, but he was committed to the castle of Tantallon, under the care of his nephew the earl of Angus ; and his mother, the countess of Ross, to the island of Inch Colm, in the Frith of Forth. — Pennant's Scotland, vol. i. 179.— Pinkertons Scotland, vol. i. 119, 123.
40 LETTER 111.
each into two, there are now twelve apartments for officers' lodgings.
While this building was in repairing, three soldiers, who were employed in digging up a piece of ground very near the door, discovered a dead body, which was supposed to be the corps of a man ; I say supposed, because a part of it was defaced before they were aware.
This was believed to have lain there a great number of years, because when it was touched it fell to dust. At this unexpected sight, the soldiers most valiantly ran away, and the acci- dent, you will believe, soon brought a good number of spectators to the place.
As I was talking with one of the townsmen, and took notice how strange it was that a body should be buried so near the door of the house; " Troth," says he, " I dinno doubt but this was ane of Mary's lovers."
I verily believe this man had been after- wards rebuked for this unguarded expression to me, an Englishman ; because, when I hap- pened to meet him in the street the day fol- lowing, he officiously endeavoured to give his words another turn, which made the impres- sion 1 had received, much stronger than it had been before.
But this I have observed of many (myself not excepted), who, by endeavouring to excuse
LETTER 111. 41
a blunder, like a spirited horse in one of our bogs, the more he struggles to get out, the deeper he plunges himself in the mire.
Upon the whole, this hint at the policy of her amours, from a native of this town, in- duced me to believe there is some received tradition among the people concerning her, not much to the advantage of her memory.* I had often heard something to this purpose in London, but could not easily believe it; and rather thought it might have arisen originally from complaisance to one, who, if we may be- lieve some Scots Memoirs, was as jealous of the praises of her fine person, as apprehensive of a much more dangerous competition..
Before I have done with the castle, I must acquaint you with an odd accident that had like to have happened to it, not many days after the abovementioned discovery. And first I must tell you, that one end of the building extends to the edge of a very steep descent to the river, and that slope is composed of a very loose gravel.
The workmen had ignorantly dug away some little part of the foot of the declivity, to make a passage something wider between
* A rash and vulgar calumny of this sort, from a disciple of the .school of John Knox. was natural enough, but certainly did not deserve so much notice.
42 LETTER III.
that and the water. This was done in the even- ing, and pretty early in the night we were alarmed with a dreadful noise of running about, and calling upon a great number of names, in- somuch that I concluded the town was on fire. This brought me suddenly to my window, and there I was informed that the gravel was running, and followed by continual successions; and that the castle would be down before morning.
However, it was prevented ; for the town masons and soldiers soon run up a dry wall against the foot of the hill (for stones are every- where at hand in this country), which furnished them with the hasty means to prevent its fall.
The bridge is about eighty yards over, and a piece of good workmanship, consisting of seven arches, built with stone, and maintained by a toll of a bodlc, or the sixth part of a penny, for each foot-passenger with goods; a penny for a loaded horse, &c.
And here I cannot forbear to give you an in- stance of the extreme indigence of some of the country people, by assuring you, I have seen women with heavy loads, at a distance from the bridge (the water being low), wade over the large stones, which are made slippery by the sulphur, almost up to the middle, at the hazard of their lives, being desirous to save, or unable to pay, one single bodle.
LETTER III. 43
From the bridge we have often the diversion to see the seals pursue the salmon as they come up the river : they are sometimes within fifty yards of us ; and one of them came so near the shore, that a salmon leaped out of the water for its safety, and the seal, being shot at, dived ; but before any body could come near, the fish had thrown itself back again into the river.
As this amphibious creature, though familiar to us, may be to you a kind of curiosity, perhaps you may expect some description of it.
The head at some distance resembles that of a dog, with his ears cut close ; but when near, you see it has a long thick snout, a wide mouth, and the eyes sunk within the head ; and alto- gether it has a most horrid look, insomuch that
o
if any one were to paint a Gorgon's head, I think he could not find a more frightful model.
As they swim, the head, which is high above water, is continually moving from side to side to discover danger.
The body is horizontally flattish, and covered with a hairy skin, often finely varied with spots, as you may see by trunks that are made to keep out wet. The female has breasts like a woman, that sometimes appear above water, which makes some to think it occasioned the fiction of
44 LETTER III.
a mermaid;* and, if so, the mermaid of the ancients must have been wondrous handsome ! The breast of the male is likewise so resembling to that of a man, that an officer, seeing one of them in cutting up, went away, telling me, it was so like that part of a human body, he could not stand it, for that was his expression.
Beneath the skin is a deep spongy fat, some- thing like that of the skinny part of a leg of mutton ; from this they chiefly draw the oil.
The fins or feet are very near the body, webbed like a duck, about twelve inches wide, but in shape very much like the hand of a man : when they feed as they swim, they stoop the head down to the fore foot, as I once saw when one of them had a piece of salmon (I may say) in its hand, as I was crossing Cromarty Bay.
When they dive, they swim under water, I think I may say, a quarter of a mile together; and they dart after their prey with a surprising velocity, considering their bulk and the element they divide.
* There is a flattish fish of a very different kind, the upper part of which bears a distant, but hideous, resemblance to the human form. It is very rarely met with, but, if I remember right, there was one exhibited as a show in London, about five or six and twenty years ago. Those who are acquainted with the nature and appearance of the seal, will smile at the above description.
LETTER III. 45
The fishermen take them by intercepting them in their return to the water, when they have been sleeping or basking in the sun upon the shore, and there they knock them down with their clubs. They tell me, that every grown seal is worth to them about forty shillings sterling, which arises from the skin and the oil.
When you happen to be within musket-shot of them, they are so quick with the eye, that, at the flash in the pan, they plunge so suddenly, they are under water before the ball can reach them.
I have seen ten or fifteen of them, young and old, in an arm of the sea among the mountains, which, upon the discovery of our boat, flounced into the water all at once, from a little rocky island, near the turn of a point, and raised a surprising surge round about them.
But as to their being dangerous to the fisher- men, in throwing stones behind them when they are pursued, it does well enough for the volume of a travelling author, who, if he did not create wonders, or steal them from others, might have little to say ; but in their scrambling flight over a beach of loose stones, it is im- possible but some of them must be removed and thrown behind them ; and this, no doubt, has given a hint for the romance. These writers, for the better sale of their books, depend on
46 LETTER llf.
the reader's love of admiration, the great as- sistant to credulity.
But, in particular, that those animals, with their short fins or feet, can wound at a distance, must certainly be concluded from this false principle, viz. That a stone may be sent from a sling of four inches long, with equal force, to another of as many feet.*
* It is affirmed by the Highlanders, that the seal is fond of music, and that the bag-pipe is often employed to allure him within reach of shot; and it is not certain that this is a vulgar error. — One fine day in August, when the sea was perfectly calm, being upon Loch Linne in a boat in which was a piper, and a seal appearing at a distance, going in a different direction, a Highland gentleman assured the present writer, that he could immediately recall him, and bring him up in the wake of the boat. — The boat advanced slowly; the piper played; and the seal almost immediately changed his course, and followed us for nearly two miles. The gentleman then ordered the rowers to push on with all their might for a little space, then rest upon their oars. The seal swam lustily, and seemed so taken up with the music, as not to perceive that the boat had stopt, and soon came so near, that he was fired at, at about half-shot distance. He dived, and, so far as we could see, did not come to the sur- face again ; from which it was concluded that he was mortally wounded, as, in such a case, he is said to dive to the bottom, and roll himself up in the sea-weed till he died, that the hunter may not get his skin and blubber!
The sagacity of the seal, its suckling its young at the breast, and its gruntings and winnings while basking on the rocks before bad weather, obtain credit to it among the vulgar for many wonderful qualities which it does not possess. — Most supersli-
LETTER III. 47
Before I leave the bridge, I shall take notice of one thing more, which is commonly to be seen by the sides of the river (and not only here, but in all the parts of Scotland where I have been), that is, women with their coats tucked up, stamping, in tubs, upon linen by way of washing ; and this not only in summer, but in the hardest frosty weather, when their legs and feet are almost literally as red as blood with the cold ; and often two of these wenches stamp in one tub, supporting them- selves by their arms thrown over each other's shoulders.
But what seems to me yet stranger is, as I have been assured by an English gentlewoman,
tions may be traced to natural causes. A very sensible and worthy countryman told the present writer, that, when a stripling, in sauntering about the shore with a fowling-piece, he one day got very near to a seal that was suckling her young upon a rock. Perceiving him, she threw the one that was at the teat into the sea ; but the other being farther off, she scrambled towards it, and took it up in her mouth, rearing herself on her fins. Being clumsy and awkward in turning, she held it up in that position so long, that the idea of a mother pleading mercy for her child suggested itself so strongly to him, that he fled with horror from the sp t, and could never after bear to see any one attempt to hurt a seal. He was not himself credulous; but he confessed that, when he had told the story to gaping rustics with fowling- pieces, he always descanted on the maternal affection of the seal, of which there was no doubt, and left her rationality to be under- stood.
48 LETTER III.
that they have insisted with her to have the liberty of washing at the river ; and, as people pass by, they divert themselves by talking very freely to them, like our codders, and other women, employed in the fields and gardens about London.
What I have said above, relating to their washing at the river in a hard frost, may require an explanation, viz. the river Ness, like the lake from whence it comes, never freezes, from the great quantity of sulphur with which it is im- pregnated ; but, on the contrary, will dissolve the icicles, contracted from other waters, at the horses' heels, in a very short space of time.
From the Tolbooth, or county gaol, the greatest part of the murderers and other noto- rious villains, that have been committed since 1 have been here, have made their escape ; and I think this has manifestly proceeded from the furtherance or connivance of the keepers, or ra- ther their keepers.
When this evil has been complained of, the excuse was, the prison is a weak old building, and the town is not in condition to keep it in repair: but, for my own part, I cannot help concluding, from many circumstances, that the greatest part of these escapes have been the consequence, either of clan-interest or clannish terror. As for example, if one of the magis-
LETTER III. 49
trates were a Cameron (for the purpose), the criminal (Cameron) must not suffer, if the clan be desirous he should be saved. In short, they have several other ties or attachments one to another, which occasion (like money in the south) this partiality.
When any ship in these parts is bound for the West Indies, to be sure a neighbouring chief,* of whom none dares openly to com- plain, has several thieves to send prisoners to town.
It has been whispered, their crimes were only asking their dues, and such-like offences ; and I have been well assured, they have been threatened with hanging, or at least perpetual imprisonment, to intimidate and force them to sign a contract for their banishment, which they seldom refused to do, as knowing there would be no want of witnesses against them, however innocent they were; and then they
* The Scotish barons or lairds, however small their freeholds, had a title to sit in parliament. In civil matters they could de- cide questions of debt, and many of possession, within their ba- ronies, regulate work and wages, and enforce the payment of their rents : all criminal cases fell under the cognizance of the laird, except treason and the four pleas of the crown : he had the power of pit and gallows, or drowning female and hanging male culprits convicted of theft or robbery; and his jurisdiction com- prised many penal statutes. — Pinkerton, vol. i. p. 366.
VOL. I. E
50 LETTER III.
were put on board the ship, the master paying so much a-head for them.*
Thus two purposes were served at once, viz. the getting rid of troublesome fellows, and making money of them at the same time : but these poor wretches never escaped out of prison.
All this I am apt to believe, because I met with an example, at his own house, which leaves me no room to doubt it. '
As this chief was walking alone, in his garden, with his dirk and pistol by his side, and a gun in his hand (as if he feared to be assassinated), and, as I was reading in his parlour, there came to me by stealth (as I soon perceived), a young fellow, who accosted me with such an accent as made me conclude he was a native of Mid- dlesex; and every now and then he turned about, as if he feared to be observed by any of the family.
He told me, that when his master was in London, he had made him promises of great advantage, if he would serve him as his gen- tleman ; but, though he had been there two years, he could not obtain either his wages or discharge.
* It seems the Scots understood crimping for the plantations as well as their neighbours; but they gave at least an appearance of justice to it.
LETTER III. 51
And, says he, when I ask for either of them, he tells me I know I have robbed him, and no- thing is more easy for him than to find, among these Highlanders, abundant evidence against me (innocent as I am); and then my fate must be a perpetual gaol or transportation: and there is no means for me to make my escape, being here in the midst of his clan, and never suffered to go far from home.
You will believe I was much affected with the melancholy circumstance of the poor young man ; but told him, that my speaking for him would discover his complaint to me, which might enrage his master ; and, in that case, I did not know what might be the consequence to him.
Then, with a sorrowful look, he left me, and (as it happened) in very good time.
This chief does not think the present abject disposition of his clan towards him to be suf- ficient, but entertains that tyrannical and de- testable maxim, — that to render them poor, will double the tie of their obedience ; and accord- ingly he mak es use of all oppressive means to that end.
To prevent any diminution of the number of those who do not offend him, he dissuades from, their purpose all such as show an inclination to traffic, or to put their children out to trades,
E 2
52 LETTER I IT.
as knowing they would, by such an alienation, shake off at least good part of their slavish at- tachment to him and his family. This he does, when downright authority fails, by telling them how their ancestors chose to live spar- ingly, and be accounted a martial people, rather than submit themselves to low and mercenary employments like the Lowlanders, whom their forefathers always despised for the want of that warlike temper which they (his vassals) still retained, &c.
I shall say no more of this chief at present, because I may have occasion to speak of him again when 1 come to that part which is pro- perly called Highlands ; but I cannot so easily dismiss his maxim, without some little animad- version upon it.
It may, for aught I know, be suitable to clannish power ; but, in general, it seems quite contrary to reason, justice, and nature, that any one person, from the mere accident of his birth, should have the prerogative to oppress a whole community, for the gratification of his own selfish views and inclinations : and I cannot but think, the concerted poverty of a people is, of all oppressions, the strongest instigation to se- dition, rebellion, and plunder.
The town-hall is a plain building of rubble ; and there is one room in it, where the magis-
LETTER III. 53
rates meet upon the town business, which would be tolerably handsome, but the walls are rough, not white-washed, or so much as plas- tered ; and no furniture in it but a table, some bad chairs, and altogether immoderately dirty.
The market-cross is the exchange of the merchants, and other men of business.
There they stand in the middle of the dirty street, and are frequently interrupted in their negociations by horses and carts, which often separate them one from another in the midst of their bargains or other affairs. But this is nothing extraordinary in Scotland ; for it is the same in other towns, and even at the cross* of Edinburgh.
* Dunedin's Cross, a pillar'd stone, Rose on a turret octagon ; But now is razed that monument,
Wheoce royal edict rang, And voice of Scotland's law was sent,
In glorious trumpet clang. O ! be his tomb as lead to lead, Upon its dull destroyer's head ! A minstrel's malison is said. Marmion.
There is now no cross in the market-place of Edinburgh, except when, to the great distress and annoyance of the neighbourhood, a gallows is erected there, which we are assured will never oc- cur again; but, although a handsome exchange has been built lor the merchants, they still continue to crowd and incommode the streets. A few months ago, the magistrates attempted to enforce
54 LETTER Ml.
Over-against the cross is the coffee-house. A gentleman, who loves company and play, keeps it ior his diversion ; for so I am told by the people of the town; but he has con- descended to complain to me of the little he gets by his countrymen.
As to a description of the coffee-room, the furniture, and utensils, I must be excused in that particular, for it would not be a very de- cent one ; but I shall venture to tell you in general, that the room appears as if it had never been cleaned since the building of the house ; and, in frost and snow, you might cover the peat-fire with your hands.
Near the extreme part of the town, toward the north, there are two churches, one for the English and the other for the Irish tongue, both out of repair, and much as clean as the other churches I have seen.
This puts me in mind of a story I was told by an English lady, wife of a certain lieutenant- colonel, who dwelt near a church in the low'- country on your side Edinburgh. At first
order, and oblige them to repair to the exchange. This alarmed {he friends of liberty, who, with a spirit every way worthy of our Athens of the North, persist in asserting their privilege of transacting business, in all seasons and all weathers, in the street ! What they would do, if the exchange were islmt against them, it is easy to divine.
LETTER IH. 55
coming to the place, she received a visit from the minister's wife, who, after some time spent in ordinary discourse, invited her to come to kirk the Sunday following. To this the lady agreed, and kept her word, which produced a second visit ; and .the minister's wife then asking her how she liked their way of worship, she answered — Very well ; but she had found two great inconveniences there, viz. that she had dirtied her clothes, and had been pestered with a great number of fleas. " Now," says the lady, " if your husband will give me leave to line the pew, and will let my servant clean it against every Sunday, I shall go constantly to church."
" Line the pew !" says the minister's wife : " troth, madam, I cannot promise for that, for my husband will think it rank papery."
A little beyond the churches is the church- yard; where, as is usual in Scotland, the monu- ments are placed against the wall that encloses it, because, to admit them into the church, would be an intolerable ornament.* The in- scriptions, I think, are much upon a par with those of our country church-yards, but the mo- numents are some of them very handsome and costly. I cannot say much as to the taste, but
* To counterbalance this, they have the good sense not to suf- fer dead bodies to be buried in their churches.
56 LETTER III.
they have a good deal of ornament about them.
Even the best sort of street houses, in all the great towns of the Low country, are, for the most part, contrived after one manner, with a stair case without-side,* either round or square, which leads to each floor, as I mentioned in my last letter.
By the way, they call a floor a house ; the whole building is called a land ; an alley, as I said before, is a.wynde; a little court, or a turn- again alley, is a doss; a round stair-case, a turnpike; and a square one goes by the name of a skale stair. In this town the houses are so differently modelled, they cannot be brought under any general description; but commonly the back part, or one end,| is turned toward the street, and you pass by it through a short alley into a little court-yard, to ascend by stairs above the first story. This lowest stage of the building has a door toward the street, and serves for a shop or a warehouse, but has no communication with the rest.
The houses are for the most part low, be- cause of the violent flurries of wind which often
* At present, when these are once pulled down, they are never suffered to be rebuilt.
t This Flemish style of building was common in all the towns on the Murray Frith, as well as in some parts of South Wales.
LETTER III. 57
pour upon the town from the openings of the adjacent mountains, and are built with rubble- stone, as are all the houses in every other town of Scotland that I have seen, except Edinburgh, Glasgow, Perth, Stirling, and Aberdeen ; where some of them are faced with Ashler stone ; but the four streets of Glasgow, as I have said before, are so from one end to the other.
The rubble walls of these houses are com- posed of stones of different shapes and sizes ; and many of them, being pebbles, are almost round, which, in laying them, leave large gaps, and on the outside they till up those interstices by driving in flat stones of a small size ; and, in the end, face the work all over with mortar thrown against it with a trowel, which they call ha r ling.
This rough-casting is apt to be damaged by the weather, and must be sometimes renewed, otherwise some of the stones will drop out.
It is true, this is not much unlike the way of building in some remote parts of England ; only there, the stones are squarer, and more nearly proportioned one to another : but 1 have been thus particular, because I have often heard it said by some of the Scots in London, before I knew any thing of Scotland, that the houses were all built with stone, as despising our
,58 LETTER III.
bricks, and concealing the manner and appear- ance of their buildings.
This gave me a false idea of magnificence, both as to beauty and expence, by comparing them in my thoughts with our stone buildings in the south, which are costly, scarce, and agreeable to the eye.
The chasms in the inside and middle of these walls, and the disproportionate quantity of mortar, by comparison, with the stone, render them receptacles for prodigious numbers of rats, which scratch their way from the inside of the house half through the wall, where they burrow and breed securely, and by that means abound every where in the small Scots towns, especially near the sea. But among the inner parts of the mountains I never saw or heard of any such thing, except, upon recollection, in a part called Coulnakyle, in Strathspey, to which place I have been told they were brought, in the year 1723, from a ship, among some London goods.
They were then thought by the inhabitants to be a sure presage of good luck ; and so in- deed they were, for much money followed : but when those works are at an end, I believe fa- mine, or another transportation, must be the fate of the vermin.
I have been credibly informed, that when
LETTER III. 59
the rats have been increased to a great degree in some small villages, and could hardly subsist, they have crept into the little horses' manes and tails (which are always tangled and matted, being never combed), in order to be transported to other places, as it were, to plant new colonies, or to find fresh quarters, less burdened with numbers. And I was lately told by a country- man that lives about two miles off, who brought me a bundle of straw, that having slept in a stable here, he carried home one of them in his plaid. But such numbers of them are seen by the morning twilight in the streets, for water, after dry weather succeeded by a shower of rain, as is incredible : and (what at first seemed strange to me) among them several weasels. You will certainly say I was distressed for want of matter, when I dwelt so long upon rats ; but they are an intolerable nuisance.
The houses of this town' were neither sashed nor slated before the union, as I have been in- formed by several old people; and to this day the ceilings are rarely plastered : nothing but the single boards serve for floor and ceiling, and the partitions being often composed of upright boards only, they are sometimes shrunk, and any body may not only hear, but see, what passes in the room adjoining.*
* The hardihood ot'thc Highlanders, in regard to some of their
60 LETTER III.
When first I came to this country, I observed in the floor of several houses«a good number of circles of about an inch diameter, and likewise some round holes of the same size, the mean- ing of which I did not then understand ; but, not long after, I discovered the cause of those inconvenient apertures.
These, in great measure, lay the family be- low open to those that are above, who, on their part, are incommoded with the voices of the others.
The boards, when taken from the saw-mill, are bored at a good distance from one end of them, for the conveniency of their way of car- riage.
domestic acccommodations, is thus described by Mrs. Murray : — " I found Mr. M'Rae's skilin a miserable hut, on a moor, bare of every thing but stones. I was obliged to stoop when I en- tered, and in the inside of it I could scarcely stand upright : its walls are of loose stones, its roof heath, which slopes to the stones within four feet of the ground. The floor is full of holes, and when I was there very wet. It consists of three partitions, — the entrance, a bed-place, a common room, and a closet behind the entrance. Planks, ill put together, form these divisions; and the bed-place having no door to it, Mrs. M'Rae hooked up a blan- ket to screen me from public view ; but from the eyes of the clo- setted family I could not be screened, as the planks stood at a con- siderable distance from each other. The window is about a foot square, having the ends of the heath in the roof hanging over it, which almost precludes both light arid air. — Murray s Guide, vol. ii. p. 432.
LETTER 111. 61
They put a cord (or a woodie * as they call it) through the holes of several of them, to keep them flat to the horses' side, and the corners of the other end drag upon the ground ; but before these boards are laid in the floor the holes are filled up with plugs, which they cut away, even with the surface on each side ; and when these stop-gaps shrink, they drop out, and are seldom supplied.
Those houses that are not sashed, have two shutters that turn upon hinges for the lower half of the window, and only the upper part is glazed ; so that there is no seeing any thing in the street, in bad weather, without great in- convenience.
Asking the reason of this, I was told that these people still continue those shutters as an old custom which was at first occasioned by danger; for that formerly, in their clan-quarrels, several had been shot from the opposite side of the way, when they were in their chambers, and by these shutters they were concealed and in safety; but I believe the true reason is, the saving the expence of glass, for it is the same in the out-parts of all the towns and cities in the Low country.
* A woodie, or withie, is a rope made of twisted wands, such, as were probably once used for hanging people ; for the woodie means the gallows.
LETTER IV.
WITHOUT any long preface, I shall make this letter a continuation of the descriptions I have entered into; but, at the same tinle, am not without fear that my former was rather dry and tedious to you, than informing and diverting ; and this I apprehend the more, because good part of it was not agreeable to myself.
What I have hitherto said, with respect to the buildings of this town, relates only to the prin- cipal part of the streets ; the middling sort of houses, as in other towns, are very low, and have generally a close wooden-stair case before the front. By one end of this you ascend, and in it above are small round or oval holes, just big enough for the head to go through ; and in summer, or when any thing extraordinary hap- pens in the street to excite the curiosity of the inhabitants, they look like so many people with their heads in the pillory.
But the extreme parts of the town are made up of most miserably low, dirty hovels, faced and covered with turf, with a bottomless tub, or basket, in the roof for a chimney.
LETTER IV. C3
The pavement here is very good ; but, as in other small towns where the streets are narrow, it is so much rounded, that when it is dry, it is dangerous to ride, insomuch that horses which are shod are often falling ; and when it is dirty, and beginning to dry, it is slippery to the feet, for in Scotland you walk generally in the middle of the streets.
I asked the magistrates one day, when the dirt was almost above one's shoes, why they suffered the town to be so excessively dirty, and did not employ people to cleanse the street ? The answer was, " It will not be long before we have a shower."
But as to the slipperiness, we have many principal towns in England paved with small pebbles, that, going down hill, or along a slope, are not less dangerous tcrride over, especially in dry weather.
Some of the houses are marked on the out- side with the first letters of the owner's name, and that of his wife if he be a married man. This is, for the most part, over the uppermost window; as, for example, CM. MM. Charles Maclean, Margaret Mackenzie ; for the woman writes her maiden name after marriage ; and supposing her to be a widow that has had several husbands, if she does not choose to con- tiuue the use of her maiden name, she may
64 LETTER IV.
take the name of either of her deceased hus- bands, as she thinks fit. This you may be sure has been the cause of many a joke among our countrymen, in supposing something extraordi- nary in that man above the rest, whose name, after all, she chose to bear.
Within-doors, upon the chimney-piece of one of the rooms, in some houses, there are likewise initial letters of the proprietor's name, with a scrap of their poetry, of which I shall give you only two instances One of them is as follows :
"16 WMB As with the fire, EMP 94
So with thy God do stand;
Keep not far off, Nor come thou too near hand."
The other is :
" 16 Christ is my life and rent, 78
His promise is my evident. LS HF"
The word evident alludes to the owner's title to the house, the same signifying, in Scotland, a title-deed.
I had forgot to mention an inscription upon the outside of one of those houses, viz.
" Our building is not here, but we Hope for ane better in Christ."
1 was saying in my last letter, that here the
LETTER IV. 65
ground-floors are called warehouses ; they are so, but they would seem very odd to you under that denomination.
There is, indeed, a shop up a pair of stairs, which is kept by three or four merchants in partnership, and that is pretty well stored with various sorts of small goods and wares, mostly from London. This shop is called, by way of eminence, the warehouse : here (for the purpose) a hat, which with you would cost thirteen or fourteen shillings, goes by the established name of a guinea hat, and other things are much in the same proportion.*
I remember to have read, in one of the Tat- lers or Spectators, a piece of ridicule upon the French vanity, where it is said, that a barber writes upon his sign, Magazin de Peruques ; and a cobler upon an old boot, La Botte Royale, &c.; but I am sorry to say, that, of late, something of this kind has crept into our proud metropolis ; for here and there you may now see an ordinary shop dubbed with the important title of a warehouse : — this I think is no good presage.
But to return to the general run of ware- houses in this town. It is true some of them
* Bonnets were the manufacture and common wear of the country, and none but gentlemen, clergymen, etc. wore hat?, and of these very few were wanted. VOL. J. F
66 LETTER IV.
contain hogsheads of French wines, pieces of brandy, and other goods that will not be spoiled by dampness ; but the cargo of others, that I have happened to see open, have consisted chiefly of empty casks and bottles, hoops, chalk (which last is not to be found in this country), arid other merchandise of like value. On this side the Tweed many things are aggrandized, in imitation of their ancient allies (as they call them), the French.
A pedling shopkeeper, that sells a penny- worth of thread, is a merchant; the person who is sent for that thread has received a commission; and, bringing it to the sender, is making report. A bill to let you know there is a single room to be let, is called a placard ; the doors are ports ; an enclosed field of two acres is spark ; and the wife of a laird of fifteen pounds a year is a. lady ; and treated with — your ladyship*
* These are mere matters of dialect, not of vanity, for which the Scots deserve as little ridicule as the English do, when they talk of a bailiff, a constable, a duke (in the cradle), or any other misnamed thing that can be imagined ; or of getting upon the back of a cart-horse, and carrying- him to grass; — or as a Ger- man bridegroom does when he sends his English friend a card. couched in the usual terms of courtesy, to beg he will honour him with his company on Friday next, to witness his copulation (bethrothing) with the Fraulein B., and on the Thursday after, to celebrate his wedding. The term laird is only the northern form of lord, and means, as in English, a master; more parti-
LETTER IV. 67
I am not unaware it may be objected, with respect to the word merchant, that in France it signifies no more than a shopkeeper, or other small dealer, and that the exporter and im- porter are called un negotiant ; and it may be said by these people, they use the word in the same sense ; but, if that were granted, would it not be more proper, in correspondence, to make use of words suited to the acceptation of the country corresponded to ?
A friend of mine told me, when I was last in London, that he had received, some time before, a bill of exchange from this country, directed to
, merchant, in London. You know it
is deemed a kind of affront among real mer- chants, to be too particularly pointed out in a direction, as supposing them not well known, no not even at the Royal Exchange and Post- office — But, as I was saying, this Scots mer- chant was sought after for several days upon 'Change, and the Scots Walk in particular, but nobody knew any thing of him ; till at length,
cularly, the master of a manor. Lady is, by use at least, the feminine of lord ; but when, in our author's time, contrary to the usage of the south, the wife of the proprietor of a paltry tenement was called Lady Caldhame, Lady Hungry Nook, Lady Mid- dendubs, or whatever her husband's place might be, it was a matter of convenience entirely, as there were no other decent means of distinguishing her and her husband from others of the same clan and name by whom they were surrounded,
F 2
68 LETTER IV.
by mere accident, he was found to lodge up two pair of stairs, at a little house over against London Wall.
Would it not have been more reasonable to have given upon the bill a full direction to his place of abode (and called him esquire, if his correspondent pleased), than to send people in this manner upon a wild-goose chase ?
I will not suppose one part of the design in it to be the gaining of time before the merchant could be found out ; but there are evidently two other reasons for such blind directions, viz. — they serve to give weight to their bills at home, and, as they think, an air of im- portance to their correspondence and country- men in London; but, in reality, all this serves but to render the drawer and accepter ridicu- lous in the end.
I am told once a week that the gentlewoman that washes my linen is below, and frequently hear something or other of a gentleman that keeps a change not far from hence.*' They call
* This was not the language or use of Scotland ; but the Eng- lish in that country applied such terms in derision, or. as sca- vengers in a gin-shop call each other gentlemen, and the lower class of Scots, supposing it to be considered as polite by the English, imitated their phraseology in speaking to them. Some- tiling of the kind is still found in Inverness, Fort Augustus, and Fort William, but they learut it from the garrisons placed among them.
LETTER IV. <59
an alehouse a change, and think a man of a good family suffers no diminution of his gen- tility to keep it, though his house and sale are too inconsiderable to be mentioned without the appearance of burlesque.
I was once surprised to see a neighbouring lord dismount from his horse, take an alehouse- keeper in his arms, kiss him, and make him as many compliments as if he had been a brother peer. I could not help asking his lordship the meaning of that great familiarity ; and he told me that my landlord was of as good a family as any in Scotland, but that the laird his father had a great many children, and but little to give them. By the way, in the Lowlands, where there are some few signs at public-houses, I have seen written upon several — Mr. Alex- ander, or Mr. James such-a-one: this is a token that the man of the house is a gentleman*
* The inhabitants of mountains form distinct races, and are careful to preserve their genealogies. Men in a small district necessarily mingle blood by intermarriages, and combine at last into one family, with a common interest in the honour and dis- grace of every individual. Then begins that union of affections, and co-operation of endeavours, that constitute a clan. They who consider themselves as ennobled by their family, will think highly of their progenitors; and they who, through successive ge- nerations, live always together in the same place, will preserve local stories and hereditary prejudices. Thus every Highlander can talk of his ancestors, and recount the outrages which they
70 LETTER IV.
either by birth, or that he has taken his master- of-arts degree at the university.
I shall give you but one more instance of this kind of gentility.
At a town called Nairne, not far from hence, an officer who hoped to get a recruit or two (though contrary to an order to enlist no Scotsman while the regiment was in Scotland, because otherwise, in the course of several years, it might, by mortality,' become almost a Scots regiment instead of English), — I say, this officer sent for a piper to play about the town before the serjeant, as more agreeable to the people than a drum.
After some time, our landlord came to us, and, for an introduction, told us the piper was a very good gentleman, thinking, I suppose, that otherwise we should not show him due respect according to his rank. He then went out, and, returning with him, he introduced our musician to us, who entered the room, like a Spaniard, with a grave air and stately step: at first he seemed to expect we should treat him according to the custom of the country, by asking him to sit and take a glass with us ; but we were not well enough bred for that, and let him stand, with a disappointed countenance, to
suffered from the wicked inhabitants of the next valley. — John- son's Journey. Works, vol.viii. 260.
LETTER IV. 71
hear what was to be his employment. This we partly did, as knowing we had in reserve a better way of making our court.
In the evening, when he returned with the serjeant, our landlord made him a kind of speech before us, telling him (for he came two miles) that we had sent to him rather than any other, having heard how excellent he was in his way, and at the same time stole into his hand the two shillings that were ordered him with as much caution as if he had been bribing at an election, or feeing an attorney-general before company.
Twas now quite another countenance ; and, being pleased with his reward (which was great in this country, being no less than one pound four shillings), he expressed his grati- tude by playing a voluntary* on his pipe for more than half an hour, as he strided backward and forward, out-side the house, under our window.
* An Englishman taking Sipiobrach for a voluntary is pleasant enough. — Those who are not acquainted with that singular and characteristic species of composition, have now a fair opportunity of appreciating its merits, as two of the most celebrated piobrachs, with admirable songs by Mr. Scott, have been subjected, for the first time, to regular musical notation, by Mr. Campbell, and published in his valuable collection of Border and Highland Me- lodies, intitled " Albyn's Anthology."
72 LETTER IV.
Here is gentility in disguise ; — and I am sorry to say that this kind of vanity in people of no fortune makes them ridiculous to stran- gers, and I wish they could divest themselves of it, and apply to something more substantial than the airy notion of ancient family, which, by extending our thoughts, we shall find may be claimed by all mankind.
But it may be said that this pretension pro- cures them some respect from those who are every way their equals, if not superior to them, except in this particular. This 1 grant, and there lies the mischief; for by that flattering conceit, and the respect shown them, they are brought to be ashamed of honest employments, which perhaps they want as much or more than the others, and which might be advanta- geous to them, their families, and country.
Thus you see a gentleman may be a merce- nary piper, or keep a little alehouse where he brews his drink in a kettle ; but to be of any working trade, however profitable, would be a disgrace to him, his present relations, and all his ancestry. If this be not a proper subject of ridicule, I think there never was any such
But to return to town after my ramble : here is a melancholy appearance of objects in the streets; — in one part the poor women, maid-
LETTER IV. 73
servants, and children, in the coldest weather, in the dirt or in snow, either walking or stand- ing to talk with one another, without stockings or shoes. In another place, you see a man dragging along a half-starved horse little bigger than an ass, in a cart about the size of a wheel- barrow. One part of his plaid is wrapt round his body, and the rest is thrown over his left shoulder ; and every now and then he turns himself about, either to adjust his mantle, when blown off by the wind or fallen by his stoop- ing, or to thump the poor little horse with a great stick. The load in his cart, if compact, might be carried under his arm ; but he must not bear any burden himself, though his wife has, perhaps, at the same time, a greater load on her loins than he has in his cart : — I say on her loins, for the women carry fish, and other heavy burdens, in the same manner as the Scots pedlars carry their packs in England. The poor men are seldom barefoot in the town, but wear brogues* a sort of pumps
* In a curious document presented to Henry the Eighth, by one John Eldar, a clergyman, there is the following singular pas- sage : u And again in winter, when the frost is most vehement (as J have said), which we cannot suffer bare-footed, so well as snow which can never hurt us; when it comes to our girdles we go a-hunting, and after that we have slain red-deer, we flay oft' ihe skin by-and-by ; and setting of our bare foot on the inside thereof, for want of cunning shoemaker* by your Grace's pardon,
74 LETTER IV.
without heels, which keep them little more from the wet and dirt than if they had none, but they serve to defend their feet from the gravel and stones.
They have three several sorts of carts, of which that species wherein they carry their peats (being a light kind of loading) is the largest ; but as they too are very small, their numbers are sometimes so great, that they fill up one of the streets (which is the market for that fuel) in such manner, it is impossible to pass by them on horseback, and difficult on foot.
It is really provoking to see the idleness and inhumanity of some of the leaders of this sort of carts ; for, as they are something higher than the horse's tail, in the motion they keep rubbing against it till the hair is worn off, and the dock quite raw, without any care being taken to prevent it, or to ease the hurt when discovered.
Some of these carts are led by women, who
we play the coblers, compassing and measuring so much thereof as shall reach up to our ankles, pricking the upper part thereof with holes, that the water may repass where it enters, and stretching it up with a strong thong of the same above our said ankles. So, and please your noble Grace, we make our shoes. Therefore we using such manner of shoes, the rough hairy side outward, in your Grace's dominion of England we be called rough-footed Scots." — Pinkertoris Scotland, vol. ii. 396.
In the Lowlands of Scotland, the rough-footed Highlanders were called red-shanks, from the colour of the red-deer hair.
LETTER IV. 75
are generally bare-foot, with a blanket for the covering of their bodies, and in cold or wet wea- ther they bring it quite over them. At other times they wear a piece of linen upon their heads, made up like a napkin-cap in an inn, only not tied at top, but hanging down behind.
Instead of ropes for halters and harness, they generally make use of sticks of birch twisted and knotted together ; these are called woodies ; but some few have ropes made of the manes and tails of their horses, which are shorn in the spring for that purpose.
The horse-collar and crupper are made of straw-bands; and, to save the horse's back, they put under the cart-saddle a parcel of old rags.
Their horses are never dressed or shod, and appear, as we say, as ragged as colts. In short, if you were to see the whole equipage, you would not think it possible for any droll-painter to invent so perfect a picture of misery.*
If the horse carries any burden upon his back, a stick of a yard long goes across, under his tail, for a crupper ; but this I have seen in prints of the loaded mules in Italy.
* In a country without agriculture, and without roads, harness is so seldom wanted, that they did not think of encumbering them- selves with any permanent apparatus of that kind. They pre- pared it on the spur of the occasion ; and when the work was done, threw it on the fire ; as they built a dwelling-house, with the view of throwing it on the dung-hill in four or five years.
76 LETTER IV.
When the carter has had occasion to turn about one sort of these carts in a narrow place, I have seen him take up the cart, wheels and all, and walk round with it, while the poor little horse has been struggling to keep himself from being thrown.
The wheels, when new, are about a foot and half high, but are soon worn very small : they are made of three pieces of plank, pinned toge- ther at the edges like the head of a butter-firkin, and the axletree goes round with the wheel; which, having some part of the circumference with the grain and other parts not, it wears unequally, and in a little time is rather angular than round, which causes a disagreeable noise as it moves upon the stones.
I have mentioned these carts, horses, and drivers, or rather draggers of them, not as im- mediately relating to the town, but as they in- crease, in great measure, the wretched appear- ance in the streets; for these carters, for the most part, live in huts dispersed in the adjacent country. There is little need of carts for the
w
business of the town ; and when a hogshead of wine has been to be carried to any part not very far distant, it has been placed upon a kind of frame among four horses, two on a side, follow- ing each other ; for not far off, except along the sea-coast and some new road, the ways are so rough and rocky that no wheel ever turned
LETTER IV. 77
upon them since the formation of this globe ; and, therefore, if the townsmen were furnished with sufficient wheel-carriages for goods of great weight, they would be seldom useful.
The description of these puny vehicles brings to my memory how I was entertained with the surprise and amusement of the common people in this town, when, in the year 1725, a chariot with six monstrous great horses arrived here, by way of the sea-coast. An elephant, publicly exposed in one of the streets of London, could not have excited greater admiration. One asked what the chariot was : another, who had seen the gentleman alight, told the first, with a sneer at his ignorance, it was a great cart to carry people in, and such like. But since the making of some of the roads, I have passed through them with a friend, and was greatly delighted to see the Highlanders run from their huts close to the chariot, and, looking up, bow with their bonnets to the coachman,* little re- garding us that were within.
It is not unlikely they looked upon him as a kind of prime-minister, that guided so important a machine ; and perhaps they might think that we were his masters, but had delivered the reins
* The Highlanders are too social, good-humoured, and well- bred, to pass any stranger without a cordial greeting, and the same observation applies to the country people in the Lowlands.
78 LETTER IV.
into his hands, and, at that time, had little or no will of our own, but suffered ourselves to be conducted by him as he thought fit; and there- fore their addresses were directed to the minis- ter, at least in the first place ; for motion would not allow us to see a second bow, if they were inclined to make it.
It is a common thing for the poorest sort here- abouts to lead their horses out in summer, when they have done their work, and attend them while they graze by the sides of the roads and edges of the corn-fields, where there is any little grass to be had without a trespass ; and gene- rally they hold them all the while by the halter, for they are certainly punished if it be known they encroached ever so little upon a field, of which none are enclosed. In like manner, you may see a man tending a single cow for the greatest part of the day. * In winter the horse is allowed
* The affectionate attention shewn by the family of a cottage to
" dawtil twall pint hawkie,
" That yont the hailan snugly chows her cood,"
is very natural. She is their great benefactress, furnishes their only luxury, and, living under (he same roof, may almost be said to be their companion at bed and board. With the cows and few sheep belonging to a cottager, or small fanner, in the north of Scot- land, Sunday, during the fine season, is always a festival. The family rise early in the morning, and take them, as here described, from one spot of sweet tender grass to another, till church-time.
LETTER IV. 79
no more provender than will barely keep him alive, and sometimes not even that ; for I have known almost two hundred of them, near the town, to die of mere want, within a small com- pass of time. You will find in another letter how I came to know their numbers.
Certainly nothing can be more disagreeable than to see them pass the streets before this mortality, hanging down their heads, reeling with weakness; and having spots of their skins, of a foot diameter, appearing without hair, the effect of their exceeding poverty : but the mares, in particular, are yet a more unseemly sight.
When the grass in the season is pretty \vell grown, the country people cut it, and bring it green to the town for sale, to feed the horses that are kept in it; as others likewise do to Edinburgh, where there is a spacious street, known by the name of the Grass-market ; and this is customary in all the parts of the Low country where I have been, at the time of the year for that kind of marketing.
During (he day, they are committed to the care of some half-grown girl, if there be such in the family, who maybe seen, with a New Testament, Catechism, or other religious book in her hand, in some small place where the grass is belter, but where time cannot be spared on a week-day to tend them. — When she goes home in the evening, she most give an account of what she has read during the dav.
80 LETTER IV.
Hay is here a rare commodity indeed ; some- limes there is none at all; and I have had it brought me forty miles by sea, at the rate of half-a- crown or three shillings a truss. I have given twenty-pence for a bundle of straw, not more than one of our trusses, and oats have cost me at the rate of four shillings a bushel, otherwise I must have seen, as we say, my horses' skins stripped over their ears. But this is not always the case ; for sometimes, after the harvest, oats and straw have been pretty rea- sonable.
A certain officer, soon after his arrival at this town, observing in what a miserable state the horses were, and finding his own would cost him more in keeping than was well consistent with his pay, shot them. And being asked why he did not rather choose to sell them, though but for a small matter, his answer was, they were old servants and his compassion for them would not suffer him to let them fall into the hands of such keepers. And indeed the town horses are but sparingly fed, as you may believe, especially when their provender is at such an extravagant price.
Here are four or five fairs in the year, when the Highlanders bring their commodities to market : but, good God ! you could not con- ceive there was such misery in this island.
LETTER IV. 81
One has under his arm a small roll of linen, another a piece of coarse plaiding : these are considerable dealers. But the merchandise of the greatest part of them is of a most contemp- tible value, such as these, viz. — two or three cheeses, of about three or four pounds weight a- piece ; a kid sold for sixpence or eight-pence at the most ; a small quantity of butter, in some- thing that looks like a bladder, and is some- times set down upon the dirt in the street ; three or four goat-skins ; a piece of wood for an axletree to one of the little carts, &c. With the produce of what each of