ESSAY 
 
 ON THE 
 
 Trade, Commerce, and Manufactures 
 
 O-F 
 
 SCOTLAND. 
 
 B T 
 
 DAVID LOCH of Over Carnbic, 
 
 Merchant in Edinburgh. 
 
 EDINBURGH: 
 
 Printed for the Author, and fold by all the Booksellers 
 in Town and Country. 
 
 M, D C C, L X X V, 
 
 IPrice Thr:^ Shillings.-^
 
 r 
 
 I
 
 To His Grace 
 
 HENRY Duke of Buccleugh, 
 
 Earl of Dalkeith, 
 
 Earl of Don CASTER, <^'c, ^r. 
 
 My Lord Duke, 
 T^HE Countenance and Protecflion (hewn 
 by your Grace, to the improvements 
 of the Manufad:ures and Commerce of your 
 Country, have juftly endeared you to the 
 affections of all tliegood people in Scotland ; 
 and pointed you out as the Patron of the 
 fpUovving work, v^hich was undertaken en- 
 tirely with the view of promoting thefe de- 
 firable objecls. 
 
 The condefcenfion and affability with 
 which you permitted your name to be made 
 ufc of upon this occaflon, 1 look upon as 
 the highefl honour I could pofiibly receive, 
 and affords the moft flattering hopes, that, 
 while fuch diftinguiflied Perfonages as your 
 Grace, are not aQiamed to (land forth the 
 avowed Friends of the Fabric of Scotland, 
 its Manufac^lures and Commerce can fcarce 
 fail of fbon arriving at a pitch of perfed:ioa 
 and luftre hitherto unknown. 
 
 I have upon many occafions acknow- 
 ledged my want of abilities as a writer. 
 
 Thi$
 
 [ ] 
 
 This fniall tra<fV will convince your Grace 
 how much occafion I had to do fo ; but, I 
 am afraid, will afford a bad apology for 
 prefuming fo far upon your known Good- 
 nels of Heart, as to folicit you to be its Pa- 
 tron. 
 
 My motives for it, however, I have al- 
 ready hinted at, and (liall conclude this 
 addrefs, by afTuring your Grace, that I ne- 
 ver {o much regretted the want of thofe a- 
 bilities, as I do at this prefent moment, in 
 not being able to exprefs, with how much 
 fincere refjped: and efteem, I am, 
 
 My Lord Duke, 
 Your much obliged, 
 mod obedient, 
 
 ^nd very humble fervant, 
 
 Edinburgh, 20. ") 
 Dec. 1775. > 
 
 DAVID LOCH.
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 THE author of the folio whig fhects has 
 fo often freely offered his fentiments 
 to the public, that fome of his readers luay 
 think the prefent work entirely lupeniu- 
 ous. A defire, however, to gratify the 
 wifties of feveral of his beft friend^, and 
 whom he is proud to fay, are likewife tlie 
 beft friends to then* country, prevailed u- 
 pon him to digeft mto one pamphlet, ni 
 the belt manner he was capable, what he 
 had upon different occafions, and at re- 
 mote periods, publiflied in the news papers, 
 with fuch remarks as may have fince oc- 
 cured to him. 
 
 An undertaking of this nature, the au- 
 thor will readily acknowledge, is extreme- 
 ly out of the line of life in which he was 
 educated. He, confequently, muft la- 
 bour under many difadvantages in the pro- 
 fecution of it, which others, more accu- 
 ftomed to literary labour, would not be lia- 
 ble to. Theie he did not fail to mention 
 to thofe gentlemen who have honoured him 
 with their friendihip ; but, as they were 
 pleafed to fay, that his experience in trade 
 would do more than compenfate for any 
 
 A deficiencies
 
 ( ii ) 
 
 deFicicncies in point of language, he has 
 aciveiitured upon the tafk; hopuig that his 
 other readers will be equally indulgent in 
 this refpe6l, with thofe of his hiends upon 
 w'hofe folicitations it was undertaken. 
 
 Having pren/iicd this much, the author 
 will now proceed to lay down the plan on 
 •\vhich he means to profecute the work. 
 
 Firft. As it is the greateft objeft for the 
 in': reafe of our woollen manufacture, which 
 the author has, trom his earlieft lite, thought 
 the llaple of this country he will endeavour 
 to enforce the propriety of encrealing the 
 number of (beep; and the necelfity of get- 
 ting a proper bieed of that ufeful animal 
 introduced into the country, he will next 
 endeavour to point out the many advan- 
 tages fuch a conduct would be of, not only 
 in reducing the price of provillons; but 
 like^vile as being the mon: beneficial man- 
 ner in which the farm«'r could poflibly em- 
 ploy his gx'ound, '1 he author, having Ipent 
 the mod part ot his t'me in mercantile af- 
 fairs, cannot be preiiimed ib luUy qualilied 
 to treat this part of his fubjecSt fo much to 
 his ovv'n fitibfaction, or thole of his readers, 
 as others that have in a more partic\ilar man- 
 ner engaged his attention. 1 his deicct, 
 however, he has been at pains to remedy, 
 by very frequcruly converlmg vviih many 
 judicious and knowing farmers, on the lub- 
 jcd: of breeding (heep. He has likewife had 
 
 recourle
 
 ( iii ) 
 
 rccourfe to fome of the beH: authors who 
 
 1 have wrote upon it; and he flatters 'limfelf, 
 
 1 '^hat the obfervauons he has thence been 
 
 enabled to make, if ferio'ifly confidered, 
 
 , will not be unworthy the actetition of thofe 
 
 l^who would wifh to improve the breed of 
 
 ^flieep in this country. 
 
 7 he next (ccftion of tliis work will be di- 
 redled to the Woollen Manufactory. On 
 this lubje(^, the author has tlie vanity to 
 think lie can fpeak with fome degree of 
 confidence. Trade, to many different parts 
 of the globe, having bf-en hi conilant em- 
 ployment, from the eaiiie^ period of his 
 life, and having carried it on to an extent, 
 not very frequently pradliled in this cou;ir 
 try he has thereby been enabled to make 
 fome oblervations, on the nature of mer- 
 chandife in general, which he thinks may 
 lay claim, atleafl, to a patient hearing. On 
 this article he hopes ro fliew, by the moft 
 irrefragable proofs that the woollen manu- 
 factory is not only the natural, but the moft 
 beneficial flaple, in which the inhabitants 
 of this country can poilibly engage, and 
 : that every public, as well as private encou- 
 n^agement, ought to be afforded thofe who 
 fet up manuta£tories, in which wool can 
 be employed. The linen manufactory, 
 which has been long thought the ftaple of 
 this country ; but to w hicli idea the author 
 could never give his affent, will fall natu- 
 A 2 rally
 
 ( iv ) 
 
 rally to be treated of under this head. As 
 this branch has long been favoured with 
 the proteftion and encouragement of the 
 public, it may be thought a bold attempt, 
 in an individual, to combat lb univcrfal and 
 fo long received an opinion. But opinions, 
 however refpeclable, niuft always give way 
 to facls. From thcle the auilior has no 
 doubt of convincing every impartial reader, 
 that flax, being an exotic in this countiy, 
 and the climate an enemy to its ever being 
 brought to perfeclion, mud, in every view, 
 be confidercd as a niofl unnatural purfuit; 
 while wool, which is the natural produdli- 
 on of the country, and which might be in- 
 creafed to any extent, not only without 
 riik, but with the highefl advantage to the 
 raifer, and the country at large, ought to 
 be (Irenuoufly prolecutcd and encouraged. 
 Ihe Filherics Ihall occupy the next fecU- 
 on of this work. Ihefe the author has long 
 confidcred as an article of the highefl: con- 
 fequence, ahd which ought to be prolecut- 
 ed witi) the moll unremitting ardour. The 
 Woollen Manutaclory he conlldcrs as the 
 firft flciple of this country : he can liave 
 ]ittle doubt, that the Fiiheries dcferve the 
 lecond place. 
 
 As fo very large fums of money are an- 
 nually lent to London tor Porter, and as 
 it is an objec^f worthy of the particular at- 
 tention of every friend to his country ; the 
 
 author
 
 ( y ) 
 
 author has adventured fome ohfervations 
 on that fubje^l. Happy fhould he be, could 
 thefe have the effeil of opening the eyes of 
 his countrymen, ih far as to di veil them of 
 the unnatural prejudices which they have 
 long indulged againllthe malt liquors brew- 
 ed in Scotland. If this were once to take 
 place, and proper encourai^ement given to 
 our own countrvmen, the author has little 
 doubt, that the public would be equally 
 well lerved, a number of additional hands 
 employed, and much money kept at home, 
 which is now lent to London, 
 
 The American difputes having unhappily 
 arrived at a height to which few expected 
 them, and confequently very much attrac- 
 ted the attention of the public, the author 
 has allotted part of this work to oifer his 
 fentiments upon that fubjecl. The fre- 
 quent intercourfe he had with that country, 
 while he was concerned in trade, he hopes, 
 will afford fome apology for attempting to 
 write upon a fubject that has fo long en- 
 gaged the heads and pens of the moft emi- 
 nent men in the nation. If he fiiall differ 
 in opinion from mofl of them, he flatters 
 himfelf it will not be attributed to a defire 
 of being fingular, but to its true motive, 
 that of delivering the real fentiments of his 
 heart, which he has done on this, as well 
 as every other fubjeft on which he has of- 
 fered his opinion. This will naturally lead 
 
 to
 
 C vi ) 
 
 to fbme obfervations on the trade carried 
 on between Great Britain and her colonies, 
 which ieems to have been little underftood 
 by the patriots on the other fide the Tweed, 
 or falfe glolles put upon it, in order to de- 
 ceive their weaker brethren. Thefe un- 
 happy difputcs and heart-burnings, he is 
 hopeful, will ibon be terminated. In that 
 view, therefore, he will endeavour in the 
 next place, to point out a plan, by which 
 that trade may be improved to the mutual 
 advantage of Great Britain and her Colo- 
 nies, and in a more efpecial manner to Scot-? 
 land. 
 
 Some general obfervations, on various 
 fubjed:s, will conclude this work. The 
 author has already confefTed his inability to 
 perform it as he could have wiflicd. But, 
 as it is folely intended for the good of his 
 fellow countrymen, he is confident that 
 conlideration, with the judicious part of 
 mankind, will atone for a number of faults. 
 As he is entirely difmterefted himfelf, far- 
 ther than the defire he has of feeing the 
 manufactures of his country flourifh, he is 
 fenfible of meeting with the contumely of 
 the interefled, again ft whom many of the 
 cnluing obfervations may ftrijce, though he 
 aflures them no perfonal or ill-natured at- 
 tack is intended. He is alfb fenfible he 
 [hall be treated with derifion by another 
 clafs pf people, who, he is forry to confels, 
 
 are
 
 ( vu ) 
 
 are fer from being contemptible, in poin£ 
 of numbers. He means thofe who cannot 
 conceive how a man, who has the misfor- 
 tune not to poflefs fo many acres, or can 
 (how Co much ready cafti as themfelves, 
 ih(>uld have the prefumption to oifer them 
 an advice ; or why, if he has that effron- 
 tery, any attention ftiould be paid to it? 
 There is dill another clafs, whofe fneers 
 he lays his account with receiving, and 
 thele are the middli:ig, and even lower fet 
 of people ; though it is the intereft of thele 
 very people which the author has mod at 
 heart- But while he continues to enjoy the 
 approbation of the real friends to his coun- 
 try, no confideration (hall deter him from 
 expofing every thing which he is confcious 
 is contrary to its true intereds, and recom- 
 mending, with the utmod exertion of his 
 poor abilities, whatever he thinks may tend 
 to its advancement. 
 
 With thefe relolutions he enters upon 
 
 the prefent undertaking, and hopes from 
 
 an impartial public a patient hearing, and 
 
 gi what indulgence his want of knowledge in 
 
 loliterary matters, and the importance of the 
 
 -^ fubje^l itielf, may be thought to merit.
 
 SECTION I. 
 
 Of the propriety of encreafmg the numhsr of Sheep in thit 
 Country y and the nee JJity rf gctti/ig a propsr Breed of 
 that Jifeftii Animul introduced into it, 
 
 I HAVE cliofcn to make the railing of Sheep the firfi: 
 ret!lioii of the prefent work, becaufe, if proper attention 
 is not paid to that article, however anxious the country 
 may become to encourage their own woollen manufacture, in 
 preference to every other, yet if the manufadlurer cannot 
 be fjppHeil with a fufficiency of good wool, it muil: be a 
 kind of forced work ; or, at leall, not carried on with that 
 brifknefs and fuccefs which it might be, were the quantity of 
 wool, the produce of our own country, to be encreafed. 
 
 To accompli/lr this is by no means either a dangerous or a 
 difficult talk. I have been told that there may be at prelent 
 three millions of Iheep in Scotland, and that their number 
 might be encreafed to ten millions, or even to a much great- 
 er number, without encroaching upon a fingle acre of corn- 
 land. 
 
 Before the Union, we not only clothed ourfelves, but fent 
 cloth and woollen goods, to a coniiderable value, abroad ;, nay, 
 I find, befide*, that large fums came into the country for un- 
 manufactured wool. From this it is evident, that the num- 
 ber of flieep in Scotland, before that period, muft have been 
 extremely fuperior to what they are at prelent. And, in 
 corroboration of that fa(5l, I beg leave to mention one inftance, 
 of which I have been credibly informed, viz. That, forty 
 years ago, there were, in Ealt and Mid-Lothians, ioflice]), 
 for one that are in thcfe counties at prefent. 
 
 That thefe are fadls, 1 imagine no one, in the leafi: con- 
 verfant with the liiflory of his own country, will controvert. 
 In hopes to be forgiven, for endeavouring to account why 
 we allowed our flieep to diminifii fo greatly after the 
 Union, I fhall offer lome conjei^iures on the fubjecTl:- It 
 is well known, that however the Enplifh may now affecTt to 
 defpife the Scots, they courted a union with the mofl unre- 
 mitting ardour for a feries of years, and that it M'as at laft 
 brought about, more by underhand dealing, than from its 
 being thought, by the bulk of this nation, of any advantage 
 to it ; nay, is it not well known_, that by fitr the grcateft 
 
 A part
 
 [ 2 ] 
 
 part c>f Scotland tliought tbemfelves fold by a few rf their 
 leading men ? \Vl)etlier, however, this union hag been of 
 advantage to both countries, is a queftion which has been 
 clten agitated, but which docs not, from the nature of this 
 little Vvorli, Item neccfl'ary lor me to determine ; perhaps, 
 were 1 to give any opinion, I would ani'vver in the affirmative. 
 This much, however, I thought ntccllary to offer, in order 
 to pave the way for my conje<fture, concerning the ncglert 
 whi(h tills country appears to have ihewn to tlie breed of 
 fhecp, (ince tlie Union. The nt)b]emen who managed this 
 momentous affair, on the part of Scotland, pc/reffed great 
 laniled jiroperty. They had received very large Turns of 
 money from the Engliih court, in order to biing about that 
 inncli dtfired event. The woollen niannfaviUire had long 
 been conhdeied as the ftaple of England. It may therefore 
 be pixfumed, at leaft, that thele noblemen, who had taftei ' 
 the fwtets of Englilh gold, might, underliand, be applied 
 to for preventing bci tland from interfering with England in 
 its favourite branch. Many other channels of trade could, 
 with gieat appearance of utility, be held out to the inhabi- 
 tants of this country ; and, among the relt, that ot the linen 
 manufat^ture, in which the Knglilh would never atten pt to ri- 
 val them. If, therefore, luch a thing was agitated, which 
 I olu'r merely as conje»itural, the mod certain way of effecSl- 
 ing it was, furely, by difcoHraging the breed of fheep in 
 Scotland ; becauTe, without the conunodity, it is impoffible 
 to carry on any manufacflure. Whether the decreafe of 
 fi-.eep is owing to this caule or not, I will not take upon me 
 TO lay ; but it is an undeniable fatit, that our breed of flieep 
 hive gradually dwindled away fince that period. That this, 
 liowever, is gre tily prejudicial to the true it.terefls of Scot- 
 land, after begging pardon for fo long a digreflion, I lliall 
 now endeavour to point out. 
 
 Scotland, being in many places mountainous, is, perhaps, 
 for that very reafon, one of the beft countries in the world 
 for raifing llieep. Thefe animals love a dry pafture, and 
 will endure much cold, provided they are kept from wet ; 
 nay, the colder the climate is in which they are brought up, 
 lb much the finer will their wool be. Inlfances of this might 
 be multiplied without number; a few Ihall lufBce. 
 
 That large trac^ of country called Thibet, which lies be- 
 twixt India and Cliina, is moftly Soco feet above the level 
 cf the iea, and confequently, notwilhltanding its fouthern 
 climate, muft be very cold. Here the fheep delight to feed, 
 and produce exceeding fine wool. 
 
 The mountains of the Andts and Peru, which lie in South 
 
 America,
 
 C 3 1 
 
 America, and belong to Spain, are flill higher, being about 
 15,000 feet above the level of the lea. The cold is fo iii- 
 tenle upon the fummits of th.efe mountains, that it is impof- 
 fible for either man or bcail to breathe upon them ; yet the 
 flieep fed upon thefe mountains produce full as fine wool as 
 the former. They naturally, and bv inHindt, climb up as 
 high as they find food and climate fit for them, and as natu- 
 rally dclcend as they ffel the winter fetting in. In thefe 
 high mountainous countries, the fame tem.j^erature may al- 
 ways be enjoyed; for, as the feafon alters, the place of abode 
 can a!fb be altered. I fuppofe Scoo feet above the level of 
 the fea is cold enough to live in, when the fun is verticle, or 
 right over head, and without (hade: That, by defcending 
 4000 feet, during the winter months, the fame climate, as 
 to heat or cold, may be enjoyed ; That, by this means, the 
 fljeep are conftantly kept in a cool region all the year round, 
 whicii is what pleafes them, and at the fame lime are plen- 
 tifully fupplied with good dry wholefome food. 
 
 Inilances nearer home might alfo be mentioned ; particu- 
 larly in Spain ; but, as I intend to borrow a good deal, con- 
 cerning the method praClifed in that country, of palturing 
 their Iheep, from authors who have wrote upon that fub- 
 je(fl, and as this will fall more naturally to be taken in, when 
 treating of the manner in which flieep fliould be managed in 
 general, I fhall wave it at prefent. As an inftance, how- 
 ever, that the coldeft chmate in our own country, produces 
 flieep with the fineft wool, I beg leave to mention, that I 
 have obferved, and often had in my pofleflion, Itockingsmade 
 from the wool of the growth of Zetland, much finer than 
 any thing of that fort of manufacture I ever faw ; nor is 
 there any country in which I had an opportunity of being, 
 which promifes better than our wefl: Highlands, for bring- 
 ing up and feeding flieep, fo as to produce good wool. Tiielc 
 numerous hills afford excellent flicep-paflure ; and, from their 
 vicinity to the great weltern ocean, the fnow does not lie 
 upon them, in the feverefl winters, above a few days at a 
 time. It is therefore with much fatisfacftion I learn, that the 
 inhabitants of that part of the country, are at prefent employ- 
 ed in procuring a proper breed, and greatly augmenting 
 their number of fheep. 
 
 It is with equal pleafure I obferve a fimilar plan of con- 
 duct fet on foot by feveral noblemen and gentlemen of this 
 part of the country ; and, I hope, the example of fo many 
 refpeClable characters, both for knowlege and birtli, will be 
 followed by every gentleman and farmer in the langdom, 
 Thefe noblemen and gentlemen deferve the highelt praife, 
 for tke trouble and cxpcnce they have been at, in procuring 
 A 2 proper
 
 C 4 1 
 proper Pvam? from Mr Chaplin of Lincolnfljlre, for improving 
 the breed of fhcepj be(l fuited for our palhire. Tliis was 
 certainly ftriking at the root, and laying a foundation for 
 every future improvement in the Woollen Manufacture. By 
 giving the(c Rams different stations, and allowing every 
 gentleman and farmer to fend their ewes to be ferved by 
 them, they evince to the world, tiiat it is the good of their 
 country they fulcly aim at, and liktwife, that they themfelves 
 are convinced, nothing can more efleclnaliy conn ibutc to it, 
 than an univcrlal and Iteady refolniion of can\ ing on the 
 fame practice over the whole kingdom. I long ago ]iropof- 
 ed fuel) a meafure. It may, therefore, be naturally fiippof- 
 ed, that 1 icel no Imall degree of hajij^inefs, in finding my 
 ientiments fupported and confirmed by noblemen and geutle- 
 inen, more diltinguifhed by a love of their country, and eve- 
 ry mental excellency, than by their high birth, though in this 
 lafl 'they are inferior to none in the three kingdoms. When 
 this wile and falutary plnn fliall once become univerlal through 
 Scotland, as 1 hope it loon w 11, I am confcicus the moft fa- 
 lutary efiedts will refult from it, as well to the breeder of the 
 fhcep in particular, as to the country at large. 
 
 To confirm this, I will beg leave to mention tbe cafe of 
 a noble Lord, who has a bieetl of flieep, partly Spanilli, and 
 partly from Dorietfhirc, and other counties m England, which 
 thrive and feed fat on his poorelt pafture, and none have 
 <1ied of the rot, or any other diflemjicr, thele four years paft. 
 His Lordlhip allows no tarring, and the wool produced from 
 thefe Iheep felK at 20 fliillings per Itone, while his neighbours 
 tarred wuol will bring no more than three fhillings and fix- 
 pence. The mutton is likewife much better than that of tar- 
 red fhccp. His Lortlfliip reckons, that each fhcep, upon an 
 average, fields 8 /i^ tallow, and weighs i6 //^ per quarter 
 of fine meat. Thefe fheep manure the land they feed on, by 
 a very fim])le operation, and at a fmall expencc. His Lord- 
 fhip has a ftrong netting made of ab( ut ;;o yards fquare. This 
 is fixed to the ground with poles, which makes a fold for 
 the flicep, where they lie during the night, and when that 
 place is properly manured by their dung, &c. the fold is ea- 
 fily removed to cover another fpot. Thus, five fcore of 
 flieej) will fuflicicntly bring into good corn land, from eight 
 to ten acres in the year, and fixty acres of this coarfe ground 
 will do much to feed thele fine woolled fheep, by laying it 
 down in this manner, viz. Twenty acres turnip, twenty 
 oats, ten fitches, and ten with rye and fmall yellow clover. 
 Thefe flieep drop their lambs, which are often twins, in 
 January, and the fame ewes frequently drop twins again in 
 JScptembcr ; for thcfc lambs his Lordiliip gets fifteen fhillings 
 
 a -head
 
 [ s ] 
 
 a-head in January, and about half that fum, fcr thofe which 
 are dropt in Sepieinber. Surely, ground cannot be better 
 employed, or with more advantage to the proprietor, than 
 in this manner. The plan is likewiie fo plain and fimple, 
 that, 1 hiirably think, it ought to be adopted by all the gentle- 
 men and fai mcrs in this country. 
 
 As the following facft corroborates what is above mention- 
 ed, and as I am ib far certain of its authenticity, as to be al- 
 lowed to make ufe of the gentleman's name, in its (upport, I 
 could not omit here taUirg notice of it. Mr Chalmers, in the 
 neighbourhood of Leith, who had occaHon to deal in feeding 
 fteeponthe ifland c^f Inclikeith, bought his flock moftly from 
 Galia Water, which he found to anfwer very well, and gene- 
 rail) Ibid his lambs for between five and eight fliillings. One 
 of tbele lambs, however, being fomehow out of order, the 
 butcher would not give more for it than one fliilling and four- 
 pence. This was lb very trifling a fum, that Mr Chalmers 
 rejected the offer, and rcfolved to give the poor animal a 
 chance for life, by allowing it to feed in the park along with 
 his cow. In this palture the iheep had only remained fif- 
 teen months, when it grew fo very fat, that he Mas under 
 the neceflity of llaughtering it, when, to his great furprile, 
 the beaft was found to contain i/^lib, of tallow, and each 
 quarter weigh 23 i'tb, of the fineft mutton that could be eat. 
 The wool was likcwife of fo good a quality, that the fliin 
 brought ieven flnlhngs and fix-pence, and the perfbn who 
 fold it informed Mr Chalmers, that bad his wife been in health 
 to have been able to make ufe of the wool lor her own fami- 
 ly, he would cheerfully have given half a guinea for it Can 
 any crop, in point of profit, come up to this .' Surely not. 
 The wool of this llieep might, befides, have made cloth to 
 the value of five pounds Iterling, and employed a good fami- 
 ly ieveral weeks in the manufacturing of it. 
 
 And here I cannot help making lome obfervations on what 
 has been advanced by a late author and fuj veyor of Twee- 
 dale. That gentleman takes upon him to fay, that the bet- 
 tering the breed of their flieep would be a iofs to the coun- 
 try. This, 1 own, is the ftrangelt docftrine I ever heard, 
 and, at the fame time, the molt repugnant to common lenfe. 
 How it can enter into the head of any man, that a breed of 
 bad cattle is more advantageous for the country, and the pro- 
 prietors, than a breed of good cattle would be, to me, at 
 Icaft, is pad conception ridiculous, and defcroys every idea 
 of improving a country. 
 
 The fame author k greatly miflaken as to what I faid 
 with regard to the fheep in Tweedale. I never recommend- 
 ed large fiiecp, nor flieep from a warm climate. 1 took u-
 
 C 6 ] 
 
 j»on me, indeed, to advife the ftore-farmers to get flieep 
 that bore better wool, than the bulk of the fneep in that 
 county do, and thefe they may have from Lainmermuir> 
 M'hich this author (ays is tnuch colderthan the hills in Twee- 
 dale, hy frigid blajis, and frojl rinds ; but certain I am., their 
 wool, in general, is much better, and they are improving it 
 every (eafon. The brucked faced flieep, fo much raifed in 
 Tweedale, bear the woril wool of any flieep in Britain, and 
 are by no means hardier than the white woolled, Ihort leg- 
 ged fheep, which ar>e now railed in the higheft and coldeft 
 grounds in Scotland. This gentleman recommends clumps 
 of firs, as a proper flielter for flieep ; than which, I will be 
 forgiven to fay, nothing can bi more abfurd. The drops 
 which fall from trees are certain deltrudtion to flieep ; nei- 
 iher do they aflPord any food, and very little fnelter, The 
 proper flielter for flieep is undoubtedly whins; they both 
 afford protedlion and food, and our forefathers, who, it will 
 be no reflc<^ion on the prefent generation to fay, were in 
 iiuny things as wife as ourlelves, were fo fenfible of this, 
 that a premium was given, by a Scots acH. of parliament, for 
 railing them. They arc not a native plant of this country, 
 but were imported from France ; and I heard a nobleman 
 from the county of Fife, with whom I have the honour to 
 be acquainted, fay, that fome of his old tenants have heard 
 their grandfathers tell, that they remembered the time when 
 there was not a whin in Fife-fliire. The propagation of 
 whins has been greatly neglecled in the flieep countries, in 
 the fouth of Scotland, where they are much wanted. I 
 would therefore humbly propofe, that a little more attention 
 might be paid to that article by the gentlemen and farmers 
 of the fouth country, A moft judicious and experienced far- 
 mer, in the (heep and black cattle way, with whom I con- 
 verfed on this fubjeiFt, recommends the propagation of whins, 
 as the heft cover and feeding for flieep in the time of a ftorm. 
 It fliould be done on a fouth expofure, with a loamy and dry 
 foil, and may be raifed to advantage from the feed, which 
 Ihould be fown in March. Thefe expofures, in different 
 places, would prevent the neceflity of houfing the flieep at 
 night, which greatly fullies and deftroys the wool. 
 
 Another great prejudice to the wool of this country, is 
 the unaccountable praclice a number of our people have got 
 into, of tarring their flieep. 1 will venture to fay, that 
 nothing can more effe(5lually tend to the deftroying of the 
 wool, than this cuftum does, at the fame that it has not the 
 fmalleft influence in preferving the flieep, which is the only 
 reafon that can pofiibly be afligned for ftill continuing it. 
 Nature, however, that creat andjuft monitor, fpeaks loud-
 
 C 7 ] 
 
 ly againfl it. Has the God of nature created any living 
 thing, without at the fame time giving it fuch covering as 
 is beit fuired ftfr its exigence in this world ; and fliall we, 
 finite creatures, pretend to amend his fyftem ? Depend U" 
 pon it, whenever we maUe the attempt, we Ihall find oiir- 
 felves egregioufly miltaken. Do we not fee the horfe, tlie 
 cow, and every heart of the Held, nay, thofe which arc 
 merely d 'medic, liich as the dog and cat, furnifhed, by that 
 unerring Being, with a warmer covering, during the winter 
 than the fummer months ; and lliall we fet ourfelves up as bet- 
 ter judges, by adding to the covering of the flieep, what 
 nature never intended (hould be added ? I am much afraid, 
 if we do, our labour will be lort, and our prefuming to rtray 
 from the path that nature has pointed out, will only ferve 
 to confirm our ignorance. Let us take a view of the moft 
 northern climates, where we, accuftomed to, and born ia 
 this country, could not exift. Are the wild beasts in thefe 
 regions fupphed with any artificial covering ? They are not 
 Do they require any ? — We have all the reafon in the world 
 to believe they do not. From whence do we receive all 
 our fine furs and beaver, but from thofe countries ; and fiiall 
 we then doubt, that the colder the climate is, there may 
 we naturally expedl the finert wool to be produced. 
 
 In fpeaking to this point, hitherto, I have deduced my 
 arguments from nature. Tome, I will readily acknowledge, 
 they are by far the moft forcible ; and many more migiit 
 have been added. I ihall now, however, endeavour to flievv, 
 that the practice of the moft knowing and wifeft in this 
 country, as well as that of the greateft breeders of fheep in 
 the world, ftrongly coincide with the opinion I have here 
 adopted. 
 
 To thefe farmers, who have been in the practice of fmear- 
 ing their fheep with tar, it is by no means my intention to 
 advile a total abolition of it at once ; as, to thofe who have 
 already undergone that operation, it muft, in a manner, 
 have become a fecond nature ; but Aire, even in thefe, the 
 quantity might be gradually diminiflied. Inftead of this de- 
 ftrutSive pradice of fmearing the Iheep with tar, whicli 
 greatly diminiflies the Ibfcnefs, cleannefs, and finenefs of the 
 wool, I would humbly recommend, upon the authority of 
 a fenfible, judicious farmer, who has had thirty years ex- 
 perience in the management of Iheep, the rubbing them o* 
 ver with the juices of broom and tobacco, boiled together 
 with ftrong urine, and mixed with ioK foap. This makes 
 the fheep itand the winter, keeps tliem clean, and free from 
 fcab, vermin, and moft other difeafes they are fubject to. 
 The flems and refufe of tobacco anfwer for this compofition ; 
 
 unif
 
 [ 8 ] 
 and, if goverment would give orders to boil, inAead of burn, 
 all the condemned tobacco, and let the ftore farmers have 
 the juice, or fell it to them for behoof of the pour, it would 
 be a great means of reducing the price of butter; whicli^ a- 
 mong other necefTarie?, has got up fo high, by lefTening the 
 confumption of it ; and foftfoap can be had as good in Leith as 
 in any place in Europe. This gentleman likewife informed 
 me, that foft foap, applied to any part that is alTcdled uitli 
 itching or fcab, removes it fooner than any article with 
 which the flieep can be rubbed ; and, furcly, it is of a much 
 fofter and kinder nature than tar, and comes cheaper than 
 butter. Indeed, from the materials of which it is made, 
 there can be no doubt, that it is the befl ingredient that can 
 be applied to flieep. It has likew j!e this furtlier advantage, 
 that the ahove gentleman declares he never knew it to tail, 
 when rubbed in time, on any hard, fcabby part of the flieep, 
 but that it always removed the caufe of the complaint. 
 
 The noble Lord, who I have already mentioned, makes 
 ufe of no tar to his flieep, nor does he fmear them with any 
 thing inftead of it, and ytt they thrive better than thofe of 
 his neighbours, who prac^iife that method, and their wool 
 fells at five times the price. Moll of the gentlemen, and 
 fcnfible farmers, who breed flieep in this country, now fol- 
 low tke fame example, and I hope the praiftice will 
 loon become univerial, as it is undoubtedly fo in Eng- 
 land, Wales, and indeed every other country who wUh to 
 have fine wool. I believe I may venture to fay, that this is 
 fo much the cale, that, if a calculation could be made of all the 
 flieep reared in the known world, it would be found, that, 
 for one flieep which is fmeared with tar, ten thoufand receive 
 no other covering than what nature has aiForded ; which, as 
 I before obferved, has taken particular care to fortify the 
 brute creation with fuch cloathing as belt fuits the dillercnt 
 climates in which they live, and even to encreafe or dimi- 
 nilh it, according as the variations of the fcafon renders it 
 more or lefs neceflf^iry. I am fcnfible the tarring of flieep 
 has long been prac^ifed in this country, and that it is no eafy 
 matter to abolifh a cullom, which has become inveterate by 
 ufe ; efpecially amonglt the lower clafs of people. To thcfe, 
 however, I would obferve, that their grandfathers as firm- 
 ly believed in witch-craft, as they were convinced that 
 flieep could not live wichout tarring, and many poor old 
 women were burnt for being witclies, for no other caufe, but 
 that they were more fcnfible than their neighbours. This 
 inhuman practice has happily long been aboliflied ; and, I 
 cannot help thinking the tarring of flieep is equally ridicu- 
 lous J for thefe poor people can give no better reafon for 
 
 continuinz
 
 C f 3 
 
 «)iitinulng it, than that their fathers and grandfathers did 
 fo before them. I would therefore recommend to them 
 two very limple expeiimenti, w Viich I think fhoulcl con\ince 
 them of their error, and in which they may eailiy latisfy 
 themfelves. Let them take a handful of fine wool, that 
 never was tarred, and another that had undergone that o- 
 peration ; let both be expoied to a heavy rain • and, let the 
 preference be given to that fpecies of wool which belt 
 throws off the rain. I am certain the experiment will ter- 
 minate in favour of the wool which never had been tarred ; 
 and therefure mult conclude, that tarring, initead of being 
 ufeful, is the delhuCtion of the very fheep we mean to pre- 
 ferve. The other experimei.t I would beg leave to recom- 
 mend is this. Let them, in very cold weather, apply to 
 their naked bodies the fkin of a fheep which had not been 
 tarred, and the fliin of another which had been tarred, and 
 I am perfuaded they will find the former much more com- 
 fortable than the latter. Can we then entertain a dojibt, 
 that it mufl: have the very lame effect upon the fheep them- 
 felves, which it is the great aim of every ienf.ble farmer 
 to keep, as much as poffible, from wet and cold, during the 
 win'er ? Nothing, furely, can anfwer that purpofe fo well 
 as the covering with which nature has fo amply provided 
 them ; nor is any thing more necefTary for their prefervati- 
 on and comfort, than keeping them from wet, and afford- 
 ing them a proper fhelter from the inclemency of the weather, 
 ■which may be eafily done, by making plantations of whins, 
 at convenient places, as already noticed, and which is even 
 preferable to houling them, as their wool would thereby be 
 kept clean, while the putting them into houfes fullies and 
 delfroys it. Our American brethren, indeed, have for fome- 
 time pafl made ule of this precious ointment, mixed with 
 fome feathers, as a prefsrvative for men ; and I have no ob- 
 jection that they fhould Hill continue the practice. Many of 
 them, 1 am certain, deferve to be fmeared with tar, and 
 fuch dirt, much better tlian our poor harmiefs flieep ; and, I 
 make no doubt, that, by this time, they will be fond of any 
 covering. I would therefore humbly propole, that govern- 
 ment fhould allow them the fame bounty for keeping their 
 tar at home, that they do for fending it here ; as we can 
 be fupplied with plenty of it for every neceffary purpofe, 
 from Norway ; that they fhould itrictly enjoin the Bo- 
 ffonians to tar all the hogs, tups, rams, and crofs grown 
 beafls in that country ; and that their vermin of clergy fhould 
 be inrtruCled to adminilter that ufeful falve to the bodies of 
 their flocks, fo foon as they are able to carry arms againft 
 God, their King, and Mother Country. 
 
 B Another
 
 [ TO ] 
 
 Another gVcat deftriicVion to our (hcep, 5s the number «f 
 nfeltfs dogs1<cpt in the country. 1 approve much of de- 
 ftroying eagles and foxes ; but I am perfuaded the encreafe 
 of do^s is of much worfe confequence to the iheep, than e- 
 vcn tliefe and all other animals pur together. Witliinthele 
 few years, the noblemen, gentlemen, and farmers, in a 
 circuit of a few miles round tdinbuigh, have had above ;?oo 
 f:ne ftieep devoured, or tore to jjicce?, by thefe vermin. 
 Some law, or tax, therefore, to iupprefs uftlefs dogs, ought 
 immediately to be applied for There is fcarce a porter, 
 chairirian, &c. but mult have their dogs ; and, as many of 
 them are not fupplied by their owners with necelFary food, 
 it is natural to fuppoic they fhould betake thenifelves to the 
 fields, where they f^U upon the harmlefs fheep, which tbcy 
 dellroy, much to the prejudice of the proprietors, as well 
 as to the lofs of the country. 
 
 But, it is now time to treat of the proper paflure for 
 fhcep and their management; and, on this fiibjecTt, as 1 mult 
 acknowledge mylelf but little verlant, I {hall lather offer 
 the opinion of others, than give any deciflive determination 
 of my own. One thing, however, leems admitted upon all 
 hands, and which I have already taken notice of, that hill- 
 paflnre is the befl: for iheep, and what they moll delight in, 
 1 have likev.'ilt- obferved, that this country abounds with 
 fuch palhire. We have fome very fine corn lands ; but 
 thefe bear a fmall proportion to our high grounds, which 
 are fit or:lyj-for the pallure of flieep and black cattle. The 
 gentlemen and farmers have improved their lands much of 
 late years ; but many have thrown away their labour, by 
 endeavouring to make corn grow in a foil where it will ne- 
 ver ripcf!, whereby they lole the ufefor which nature has 
 deligned it. Land that lies one ihouland feet above the le- 
 vel of the fea, in this country, will feKlom, if ever, bring 
 corn to perfection. There are fome particular dry fpots, 
 that may, in very warm feafons, bring the corns to fill, but 
 I'uch crops are not to be depended on ; while you are al- 
 jnofl certain of fuccel's in railing flieep and black cattle u- 
 pon thele grounds, which I will venture to fay, at the lame 
 time that no fu^h hazard is run, as with corn, will yield a 
 tnore lucrative crop to the proprietor. I will beg leave to 
 recommend, as to the management of flieep, the method 
 praCtifed by the ftore-farmers in the wellern highlands. I 
 Jjave been informed, by a gentleman who has frequently vi- 
 fited thefe countries, within thefe ten years, that there are 
 very con fiderable trads of country now occupied by fheep, 
 ivberc ncnt were formerly, and that, from fome of thefe 
 
 iheep
 
 Aeep farms. 4000 lambs have been fcnt to market in cii* 
 year. The plan of feeding and rearing /heep in thofe parts 
 anfwers ib weil, that two of thefe ftoremafters have already 
 purchal'cd the property of wint they a few years ago only 
 I'ented Ihis llicceis has induced others to follow their ex- 
 ample, and large trades of hills, which formerly contributed 
 little towards the rearing of black cattle, tlieir only Itock, 
 are now occupied by ftieep, fi oni which the proprietor derives 
 every advantage he expe(5ied. If this icheme Aicceeds in a 
 particular diitricft, it will certainly anlwer in every place, 
 poffcfied of firailar advantages, of vi hicli there are many 
 hundred fquare miles in the v\eft and n^rtli parts of ScotUnd, 
 equally capable of this tranfmutation. I midl- here alfo cb- 
 ferve, that the fheep have greatly mended the palture upon 
 thefe weliern hills, and no doubt do thereby much encreale 
 their own value, and the finenefs of their wool. I" ormerly, 
 thofe hills appeared to be nothing elfe than dry Ikplefs 
 heaths ; they are now, however, b)- the manure they re- 
 ceive from the dung of the {beep, converted into a beauti-r 
 ful verdure, obvious at feveral miles diltance, fo that they 
 can eafily be deftinguifhed from thole hills that are not un- 
 der the palture of that uf'eful animal. 
 
 Many things are neceffary to be attended to by the breed- 
 ers of Iheep ; but, as 1 do not pretend to be, mailer of the 
 fubje(5t, I will not take upon me to give dire<fiions. A few 
 extra<5ls, from authors who have wrote upon the manner, 
 in which the Spanifii fheep are treated, I flatter myfelf, will 
 not be thought impertinent in tliis place. 
 
 I fliall therefore here beg leave to lay before my readers, 
 the following extracts from a letter wrote by a gentleman 
 in Spain to Mr Peter Collinfon, F. R, S. 
 
 ** Tliere are two kinds of fheep in Spain ; the coarfe-wool- 
 led flieep, who remain all their lives in their native country, 
 and who are houfed every night in winter ; and the line- 
 wooUed fheep, who are all their lives in the open air; who 
 travel every fummer from the cool mountains of the north- 
 ern parts of Spain, to feed all the winter on the fouthern 
 waiTu plains of Andalufia, Manca, and Eltremadur^ From 
 computations made with the utmod accuracy, it has appear- 
 ed, that there are five millions of fine-wooUfcd fheep in Spain ; 
 and that the wool and flcfli of a fiock often thouland flieep 
 produced year.ly about twenty-four reals a-hcad, which we 
 will fuppofe to be near the value of twelve Engliih lix- 
 pences. Of thefe but one goes clear a head fo the owner 
 yearly ; three fixpences a head go yearly to the king ; and 
 the other eighth goer to the expences cf pallui'e, tithes, 
 tiepherds, dogs, fait, Inearing, &c. 
 
 B 2 " Thus
 
 C n 1 
 
 " Thus the annual produ(5l of the five milUons of Iheep a- 
 mouts to thirty-feven millions and a halt of lixpences, a little 
 more or lefs, of which there are about three millions and a 
 half for the owners, above fifteen millions enter into the 
 treafury, and ieven millions and a half go to the benefit of 
 the public. H(.nce it is the king"? of Spain call thefe flocks in 
 their ordinances, the precious jewel of the crown. 
 
 " Formerly this jewel was really let in the crown. A fuc- 
 ceffion of many kings were lords of all the flocks. Hence 
 the great nu.nber of ordinances, penal laws, privileges, and 
 immunities, which iiFued forth in difl^ercnt reigns for the pre- 
 fervation and fpecial government of the Hieep : Hence a foy- 
 al council wa'; foimcd, under the title of The council of the 
 grand royaJ jiock, which exifts to this day, though the king 
 has not a lingle flieep. Various exigencies of Itate, in dif- 
 ferent reigns, alienattd, by degrees, the whole grand flock 
 froul the crown, together with all its privileges, which were 
 colleiled atid publilhed in the year iT^i, under the title of 
 y^c ia-ws of the royal foe k^ a vokime in large follio, of above 
 5CO pages. 
 
 *' The wars and wants of Philip I.'s reign forced that king 
 to fell forty thoufand fheep to the marquis of Iturbleta, which 
 "was the lafl flock of the crown. 
 
 ** Ten thou! and (heep coinpofe a flock, which is divided into 
 ten tribes. One man has the conduct of all. He muft be 
 the owner of four or five hundred flieep, flrong, a(5live, vi- 
 gilant, intelligent in pafture, in the weather, and in the dif- 
 eafes of flieep. He has abfolute dominion over fifty fliepherds 
 and fiity dogs, five of each to a tribe. He chufes them, he 
 chaftiles them, or difcharges them at will. He is the pr^- 
 poftui, or chief ftiepherd of the whole flock. You may judge 
 of his importance by his falary : He has forty pound a-year 
 and a horfe, whereas the firfl fliepherd of a tribe has but 
 fortv ftiiflings a-year, the fecond thirty-four, the third twen- 
 ty-five, the fourth fifteen, and a boy ten. All their allow- 
 ance is two pound of bread a-day each. They may keep a 
 few goats and fheep in the flock; but the wool is for the ma- 
 imer ; they have only the lambs and the flefli. The chief 
 fliepherd gives them three fliillings in April, and three in 
 Oftober, by way of regale for the road ; and thefe are all 
 the fweets thefe miferable wretclies enjoy. Expoled every 
 day in the year to all weathers, and every night to lie in a 
 hut. Thus fare, and thus live, gcneraUy to old age, 25,000 
 men, who clothe kings in fcarlet, and bifhops in purple ; for ' 
 that is the number computed to keep the fine-woolled flieep 
 of Spain, with the fame number of dogs of the large maftiflf- 
 kind, who are allowed two pounds of bread a-piece per day. 
 
 i
 
 C 13 1 
 
 I often faw thefe flocks in the fummer fheep walks of the 
 nills and vales of Leo, Old Callile, Cuenca, and Arragon, 
 I faw them in their winter plains of Manca, Eftremadura, 
 and Andaluiia. I often met them in their peregrination from 
 the one to the other. 1 law and I faw again. One eye is 
 worth an hundred ears. I inquired, I obferved, and even 
 made experiments. All this was done, when I happily got 
 acquainted with a good plain old friar, who had a coniummate 
 knowledge of all the mechanical, low, minute circumftances 
 and oeconomy of a flDck, He told me that he was the fon 
 of a fliephcrd ; that he had followed, fifteen long years, the 
 tribe of flieep his father led; that, at twenty -five years of 
 age, he begged an old primmer ; that at thirty he could read; 
 that at thiriy-fix he had learned Latin enough to read maft 
 and the breviary ; that he was ordained by Don Juan Na- 
 varre, lord Bifltop of Albarrazin, who, as it is known, even 
 to a proverb, in Spain, has ordained thoufands, declaring^ 
 thefe forty years, in a loud voice, " That a prielf is the 
 ** mod precious boon which a bifliop can beflow, in the name 
 " of God, to mankind, even though he was as unlearned a& 
 "* an apoltle ;" that thus ordained, he entered into the or- 
 der of St Francis ; that he had never meddled in their affair* 
 thefe twenty-four years pall, but only faid mafs, confefTed, 
 inftruifted, and gave an eye to about 500 wedders, who 
 grazed in the neighbouring downs for the ufe of the convent ; 
 that he had read the Bible, the Lives of the Saints, and the 
 Lives of the Popes, with no other view in the world but to 
 find out all that was faid about fhepherds ; that gooo Abel 
 was the firfl fhepherd ; that all the patriarchs were fhepherds; 
 that the meek flii pherd Mofes was chofen to deliver the peo- 
 ple of God out of bondage ; that Saul, in feeking his father's 
 flocks, found a kingdom ; that David went out from his flock 
 to flay the Philiitine giant; that 14,000 fheep was the chief 
 reward Job received for his invincible patience ; that Ifidro, 
 the proteifting faint of Madrid, was not, as it is vulgarly be- 
 lieved, an hulbandman, like wicked Cain, but that he was 
 really a keeper of fheep ; that the great Pope Sextus Quin- 
 tus was verily and truly a fhepherd, and not a fwine-herd; 
 that, for his part, he had forfaken his fheep to become a 
 fhepherd of men. He had all thefe things by heart, jufl as 
 he had all the minute circumftances of the fneep he followed ; 
 and this letter would have been imperfe(5l had I not met 
 him. 
 
 ** The firfl: thing the fliepherd does, when the flock returni 
 from the fouth to their fummer downs, is to give them as 
 much fait as they will eat. Every owner allows his flock of 
 athoufand flieep^ one Uundred aroves, or twenty-live quin- 
 tals
 
 C M 3 
 
 fall of fait, which the fiock eats in about five months. They 
 eat none in their journey, nor in their winter-walk. This 
 has ever been the cultom; and it is the true reafon why the 
 kings of Spain cannot raife the price of fait to the height it, 
 is in France ; for it woukl tempt she fhepherds to ftinr the 
 fheep, which, it is believed, would weaken their conftituti- 
 ons, and degrade the wool. Tl.e fliepherd places fifty or 
 flXty flat ftones at about five iVeps diltance from each other ; 
 hjC Itrews fait upon each ftone ; he leads the flock Aoyr- 
 h through the Hones, and every fheep eats to his liking: 
 Jttut then they never eat a grain of fait when they are feed- 
 ing in lime-flone land, whether it be on the grafs of the 
 rtovvns, or on the little plants on the corn fields after harveft- 
 home. The fliepherd mult not liifTer them to (lay too long 
 without fait ; he leads them into a fpot of argilaceous clay- 
 ey foil, and in a quarter of an liour's feeding they march 
 to the (tones, and devour the lalt. If they meet a fpot of 
 the mixed foil, which often happens, they eat fait in pro- 
 portion. Alk the fhepherd why the fheep eat no fait in lime- 
 ilone foil, and but little in tlie mixed ? Bccaufe, Sir, it is 
 corn land, 1 know, and indeed who does not know, that 
 Jime abounds in fahne matter ? But then the fait, which chy- 
 mifls extrac'^t from it, may not be the genuine fait of tlie 
 lime-ftone before calcination, for the fire may form new 
 combinations. It may be fea-falt, or at leaft the muriatic 
 acid, which rifes in the vegitation of grafs, and fatisfies the 
 fheep's taff e for fait. The latter end of July the rams are 
 turned into the tribe of ewes, regulated at fix or feven rams 
 for every hundred. When the fliepherd judges they are 
 ferved, he collects the rams into a feparate tribe to feed a- 
 part; But then there is another tribe of rams that feed apart 
 too, and never ferve the ewes, but which are merely for 
 wool, and for the butchery ; for, though the wool and flefh 
 of wedders are finer and more delicate than thofe of rams, 
 yet the fleece of a ram weighs more than the fleece of a 
 wedder, who is likewife fhorter-lived than the ram ; which 
 compenfation is the reafon there are fo few tribes of wed- 
 ders in the royal flock of Spain. The fleeces of three rams 
 generally weigh twenty- five pounds: There muff be the 
 ■wool of four wedders, and that of five ewes, to weigh 
 twenty-five pounds. There is the fame difproportion in 
 their lives, which depend upon their teeth ; for, when they 
 fail, they cannot bite the grafs, and therefore are condemned 
 to the knife: The ewes teeth, from their tender conftitutions, 
 and the fatigue of breeding, begin to fail after five years of 
 age, the wedders after fix, and the robufl rams not till to- 
 Ivards eight. It is forbidden to exppfe rjim's flefh to falc ; 
 
 but
 
 I u 1 
 
 but the law is eluded, they cut the old rams* and as foon sis 
 the incition is healed, they are ibid to the butchers at a low- 
 er price than coarie woolled wedders. That is the reafon 
 fuch bad mutton is generally eaten in Madrid, and that is 
 the rtafon there are more rams and icM'er lambs ftones ibid 
 and eaten every day in the year in Madrid, than in the relt 
 of Europe. 
 
 ** At tiie latter end of September they put on the redding 
 or ocre. it is ponderous irony earth, common in Spain. 
 The fiiepherd difTolves it in water, and daubs the fheeps 
 backs with it from the neck to the rump. It is an old cu- 
 ftom. Sume fay it mixes with the greafe of the wool, and 
 fo becomes a varnilh impenetrable tu the rain and cold; o- 
 thers, that its weight keeps the wool down, lb hinders it 
 from growing long and coarfe; and others, that it a6ls as 
 an abiorbent earth, receives part of the tranfplration, which 
 would foul tlie wool, and make it afperous. 
 
 ** The latter end of September the fheep begin their 
 march towards tht low plains. Their itinery is marked out by 
 imn'emorial cultom, and by ordinances ; and is as well re- 
 gulated as the march of troops. They feed freely in all the 
 "wild^ and commons they pals through; but as they muft n'e- 
 celfaf ily pafs through many cultivated fpots, the proprietors 
 of them are obliged, by law, to leave a pafTage open for the 
 flitep, through vineyards, olive-yards, corn-fields, and pa- 
 fl-ure-land common to towns ; and thefe paflages muft be at 
 leali ninety yards wide, that they may not be too crowded 
 in a narrow lane. Thefe paflages are often fo long, that the 
 poor creatures march fix or feven leagues a-day, to get info 
 tht open wilds, where the Ihepherd walks flew to let them 
 feed at eafe and relt; but they never flop ; they have no 
 day of repofe; they marcJi at lead two leagues a-day, ever 
 following the fliepherd, always feeding or feeking with their 
 heads towards the ground, till they get to their journey's 
 end, which, from the Montana, to Eilremadura, is about 
 150 leagues, which they march in lefs than forty days. The 
 chief (hepherd's firft care is, to fee that each tribe is conduc- 
 ted to the fame diftri(^t it fed in the year before, and where 
 the flieep yeaned, which they think prevents a variation in 
 the wool ; though, indeed, this requires but little care, for it 
 is a notorious truth, that the /lieep would go to that very 
 fpot of their ow n accord. His next care was, to fix the 
 toils * where the fiieep pafs the night, left they fhould ftray, 
 
 and 
 
 •• The toils are 7nade tf Sparto, hi mcj}}es a foot wide y and 
 ■the thicknefs of a finger, fo that toils fcrve infiead of hurdles. 
 The whoiefquare toil is light. Spario is afortofrufh, mhich 
 hars twifling into ropes for coafiing ve[fels. It fwivis ; hanf 
 ftnks. It is called Bofs h^ .the Er.glifh failors.
 
 C i6 ] 
 
 »ad fall into rhejaws of wolves. Laflly, the (hepherds make 
 up their poor huts with Itakes, branches, and brambles; for 
 which end, and for firing, they are allowed, by the law, to 
 cut off one branch from every tree. 1 believe this 
 to be the reafon, that all the forelt-trees, neai the Iheep- 
 walkj in Spain, are as hollow as willow-pollards. The 
 roots of trees, and the quantity of lap, encreale yearly 
 with the branches ; if you lop off thele, all the Tap that 
 fliould go to the annual production, and to the nourifhment 
 of buds. Items, leaves, flower?, fruit, and growth of the 
 branches, remains in the trunk ; from hence Itagnation, fer- 
 mentation, and rottenneis. Next comes the time when the 
 ewes begin to drop their lambs, which is the molt toillome 
 and moit I'olicitous part of the paltoral life. The fhtpheids 
 firft cull (jut the barren from the pregnant ewes, which are 
 conducted to the befl llielter, and the others to the bleakeft 
 parts of the diltri<fl. As the lambs fall, they are led apart 
 with their darns to another comfortable fpot. A third di- 
 vilion is made of the la(l yeaned lambs, for whom was al- 
 lotted, from the beginning, the moft fertile part, the bell 
 foil, and fwcetell grals ot the down, that they may grow 
 as vigorous as the firlt yeaned ; for they nuiit all march the 
 fame day towards their fummer quarters. The Ihephcrds 
 perform four operations upon all the lambs, about the lame 
 time, in the month of March ; but firlt ihey pay the twen- 
 tieth lamb ; the other half tithe is paid in tlie winter walk. 
 They cut off their tails five inches belovv the rump for clean- 
 linefs : They mark thtm on the nofe with a hut iron : They 
 faw off part of their horns, that the rams neither hurt one 
 another nor the ewes : They render impotent the lambs 
 doomed for docil bellweathers, to walk at the head of the 
 tribe ; they make no incidon ; the fhepherd turns the teiti- 
 cles with his finger twenty times about in the fcrotum, till 
 he twills the fpcrmatick vefTels as a rope, and they wither 
 away without any danger. As foon as the month of April 
 comes about, which is the time of their departure, the fheep 
 exprefs, by various uneafy motions, a remarkable reltlefs- 
 rels, and llrong defire to go off. The fhepherds muft ex- 
 ert all their vigilance leil they Ihould el'cape ; and it hag 
 often happened, that a tribe has Itolen a march of three 
 or fonr leagues upon a fleepy fhepherd : but he is fure 
 to find them, for they return exactly the fame way they 
 came ; and there are many examples of three or foiu: 
 ftrayed fheep walking an hundred leagues to the very 
 place they fed in the year before. Thus they all go off to- 
 wards the fummer mountains in the fame order they came ; 
 •nlv, with this difference, the flocks that go to Leo and 
 
 Caftile
 
 C 17 3 
 
 C*ftile are fijorn in the road ; where we will flay a little t^ 
 iee the apparatus of this operation, whilft the other flocks 
 march to Molina Arragon. They begin to Ihear the firlt of 
 May, provided the weather be fair -, for if the wool were 
 not quite dry, the fleeces, which are clofe piled upon cne 
 another, would ferment and rot. It is for this reafon that 
 the (hearing houi'es are fo Ipacious. I faw fome which can 
 contain, in bad weather, 20,000 Iheep, and coft above 5000 1. 
 fterling : befides, the ewes are creatures of fuch tender con- 
 flitutions, that, if they were expoied immediately after 
 Clearing, to the air of a bleak night, they would all perifti. 
 " There are 125 Ihearmen employed to ftiear a liock of 
 10,000 iheep : a man fliears twelve ewes a-day, and but 
 eight rams. The reafon of this diiFerence is, not only be- 
 caule the rams have larger bodies, ftronger and more wool; 
 but the fhearman dare not tie their feet, as they do thofe of 
 the unreiifting e%ves. Experience taught', that the bold re- 
 bellious ram would flruggle even to fuifocation in captivity 
 under the Ihears : they gently lay him down, they ftroke 
 his belly, they beguile him out of his fleece. A certain 
 number of fheep are led into the great flielter-houfe, which 
 is a parallelogram of 4 or 500 feet long, and 100 wide, 
 where they remain all day ; as many as they judge can be 
 difpatched by the fliearmen next day, are driven from the 
 fiielter-hall into a long, narrow, low gut, which is called 
 the fiveating place, where they remain all night, crouded as 
 clofe together as the fliepherd can keep them, that they 
 may fweat plentifully, which, as they fay, is to foften the 
 wool for the Ihears, and oil their edge?. They are led by 
 degrees in the morning into the Ipacious (hearing hall, which 
 joins the fweating room. The faepherd carries them o(F 
 as fait as they are (heared, to be marked with tar ; and as 
 this operation is necefTarily performed upon one at a time, 
 it gives a fair opportunity to the (hepherds to cull out for 
 the butchery all the (heep of the flock v> ho have outlived 
 their teeth. The flieared (heep go to the fields' to feed a 
 little, if it be fine weather, and they return in the evening 
 to pals the night in the yard before the houfe, within the 
 flielter of the walls ; but if it be cold and cloudy, they go 
 into the houfe. They are thus brought by degrees to bear 
 the open air ; and their firll days journies from the (hear- 
 ing iioufe to the mountains are ftort : where we will leave 
 them to conclude their annual peregrination, and go ice hovvr 
 fare the flocks of Molina Arragon, which have by this time 
 got thither. But while the mule is faddling, a word of the 
 ihorn wool, 
 
 '* The iheep and fliearers difpatched, the firfl thin? done 
 
 C . M
 
 t IS ] 
 
 U, to weigh the whole pile of wool : the next is, to c'ivi.le 
 each fltrece into three I'oits ol' w«,ol; the-back and belly give 
 the upejfine ; the neck and fides gives the fine ; the brealts, 
 ihouldtrs, and thighs, tlic toarfe wool. A different price 
 is Hxed upon three clifles, though the general cultom i^, to 
 iell tlie whole pile together at a mean price. It is lold af- 
 ter it is waflicd, when it is to go out of the kingdom, or to 
 any confiderable difVance in it ; for, as it never lofes lefs 
 ilian lialf its weigiii in wafhing, and ol'tcn nn>re when the 
 Iv/eatiiig is vioh nt, half the carriage is i'aved. 
 
 ** Thirty-ont l.agues S. E. of Madrid, a:id five leagues S. 
 of the fource of the river Tagus, is the town of Molina Ar- 
 ragon, capital of a lortllhip of the crown, Tvhich is twelve 
 leagues wide, as many long, and almolt in the center of 
 Spain. The highlands of this liitle territory are covered 
 M ith pip.e trees; the lowlands feed about 150,000 flieep. 
 Here 1 learnt lome truths which prove that the ti ree fuUow- 
 ing opinions fhould be ranked among vulgar errors. 
 
 '' r. That llieepeat and love aromatic plants, and that the 
 fiefli of thole that feed on hills where fweet herbs abound, 
 has a fine tude- 
 
 " 2. That laltfprings a'e not found in the high primativc 
 mountains, but in tlit- low hills and plains only. 
 
 ** 5- The metalic vapc-urs deltroy vegetation, that no rodcs 
 nor mf)untai:is, pregnant with rich veins of ore, are covered 
 M'ith rich veo;etable foil. 
 
 " As my duty obliged me to pafs hundreds of days at the 
 Platillo mine of Molina, I 'aw tlioufands of Iheep feed around 
 it. I obferved that, when the (hepherd made a paufe, and 
 let them feed at their will, they fought only for tbe fine 
 grafs, and never touched any aromatic plant ; that when 
 the creeping !trpilliini was interu'oven with the grafs, the 
 iheep indultriouiiy noflcd it afide to biie a blade, which trouble 
 made tliem loon fcek out a pure graminous I'pot. I obfer- 
 ved too, when the fnepherd perceived a tlneatening cloud, 
 and give a iignal to the dogs to collei^t the trihe, and then 
 to go behind it, walking ap.;ce himfelf to lead the fhcep to 
 iheker, that, as they had no time t > Itoop, they M'Oiild take 
 a Ihapcf iloechas rofemary, or any other fhrub in their way ; 
 for Iheep will eat any thing when they are hungry, or v.'hen 
 ihey walk fall. I law them greedily devour henbane, hem- 
 lock, glaucium, and other naufeous weeds, upon their iffiie 
 out of the -{liearing-houfe If fheep loved aromatic plants 
 it would be one of the greatelt misfortunes that could befal 
 the farmers of Spain. The number of bee-hives is incredible. 
 
 1 am almoil alhamed to give under my hand that I knew 
 
 2 parifli priell who had 5000 hives. The bees fuck all 
 
 their
 
 C 19 3 
 
 ibeir honey and gather all their wax from the aromatic 
 liowers, which ^aiuvicl and peiiiime iM'o thirds of the iheep- 
 ■ walks. This prieft cautiouily Itizes the queens in a i'maU 
 crape fly-catch ; he clips of their \vings ; their njajcilies ^ay 
 at home. He ifFurcd me that he never loft a I'warm from 
 the day of this dilcovery to the day he iaw me, which I 
 think \vas five years. 
 
 ** The flieepherd's diie: care, is not to fuifer the flieep to 
 go out of their toils till the morning fun has exhaled the dew 
 of a white fiolt, and never let them approach a rivulet or 
 pond after a fliovs'er of hail > for if they fliould eat thedewy 
 grafs, or drink hail-water, tlie whuie tribe would become 
 melancholy, faft pine awuy, find tlie, as often liappened, 
 Hail-Vt'atcr is fo pernicious to men in this climate^, that the 
 people of Molina will not drink tlic river water after a vio- 
 lent fnower of hai! j experience taught the danger : but Jet 
 it be ever fo rnuddy, and rife ever fo higli after rain, thcv 
 drink it without fear. Perhaps this may be the unheeded 
 c^.ufe of many endemical epidemics of other cities. The 
 ilicep of Andalufia, who never travel, have coarfe, long, 
 hairy wool, I faw a flock in Eflramadura, whole wool trail- 
 ed on -the ground. The itinerant fiieep have fhort, (ilky', 
 white wool. I do b«Iievc, from a few experiments, and 
 long obfervation, that, if the fine-woolled Iheep ilaid at home 
 in the winter, their wool became coarfe in a fev/ genera- 
 tions. If the coarfe woolled flieep travelled from cli- 
 mate to cliniare, and lived in the tree air, tlicir wool would 
 become fine, I'iiort, and lilky, in a fev/ generations. 
 
 '* Tlie finenefs of tlie wool is due to the animal's pafling its 
 life in an open air of equal tcinperatnre. It is not colder in 
 Andalufia and Eftramadura in the winter, than it is in the 
 Montano'or Molina in fummer. There is little frofl in An- 
 dalufia. Sometimes it fnov/s in June m Molina. I felt a cold 
 day upon the leafl cloud in fummer. Conftant heat, or con- 
 ftant cold, with houfing, are the caufes of coarfe, black 
 and fpeckled wool. All the animals, I know, who live in 
 the open air, conflantly kecj) up to the colour of their fires. 
 There are the mofl: beautiful brindled fiieep in the world a- 
 mong the coarfe-woolled fheep of Spain. I never faw one 
 amongft the fine-wooUed flock. Thr free, but lefs abun- 
 dant perfpiration in the open air, is fwept av/ay as faft as 
 it flows, whereas it is greatly increafed by the exceflive heat 
 of numbers of fheep, houied all night in a narrow place. It 
 fouls the wool, makes it hairy, and changes its colour. The 
 jfwine of Spain, who pafs tlieir lives in the woods, are all 
 of one colour, as the M'ild boars. They have fine, filky 
 curled briftlcs. iNiever did a Spanifh hog's briille pierce a 
 C 2 fhos
 
 [ 2C 3 
 
 flioe, \Miat a quantity of dander is daily fecerned from the 
 glands of a Oabled horfe : the curry-comb and hair cbth e- 
 ver in hand : How clean is the fkin of a horfe tliat livffs rn the 
 open air !" 
 
 Ricliard Tuifs, Efq ; -who has lately publiflied trarels 
 through Poitugal and Spain, agrees M'ith the gentleman a- 
 bove quoted, and gives us the following pafTage on that Tub- 
 je(5t: ** March 1 1. The road over which we travelled this day, 
 was fomewhat hilly; we arrived at noon, at the city of Sego- 
 via, which (lands on a hill, at the foot of \\ hich runs the fniall, 
 J ivcr Erefma. Segovia is walled, and is about eighty miles 
 iiiilant from Valladolid. Between Olmedo and this city IH'C 
 faw vaft numbers of llieep, the wool of which is accounted 
 the fineft in Spain. I made enquiry about the Ihtcp walks, 
 and concerning the method of managing thefe ar.iinats, of 
 vhicli a very jufl account is given by the Abbe de L P'u t?, 
 in the fixtccnth volume of his Veyagcur Francois, priated 
 in Paris in 1772. It is as follows: 
 
 *< Numberlels flucks of Ihcep cover the plains of Segovia, 
 and produce that excellent wool, which makes I'uch an im- 
 portant branch of the conmierce of Spain. The kings were 
 antiently the proprietors ofthegreatefl part oftlicfe flocks; they 
 have been lucccllively alienated for Itate exigences. Philip I. 
 vas obliged to iell the lall fourteen thoufand (heep, which be- 
 longed to the crown, to defray the cxpences of war. They 
 are, however, flill the object of the government's particular 
 attention: In eflet^, there is a confiderable exportation of 
 wool, M'hich is ufed all over Europe, Does its fuperiority 
 depend only on the climate, or on a particular method of 
 managing the fliecp? Thofe that embrace the latter opini- 
 on lay, that theie are in Spain two Ibrts of flieep, very dif- 
 ferent in their fleece, though they appear to be of the lame 
 breed. The flieep with coarfe fleeces remain all the year 
 in the fame place, and in the winter nights they are fliut up 
 in a fold. On the contrary, the others live always in the 
 open air, and travel twice a-year. During the fummer 
 they fbay on the mountains of Leon, of old Callile, of 
 Cuenca, and of Arragon : They pafs the winter on the tem- 
 perate plains of la Mancha, Ellramadura, and Andalulla. 
 According to very exa;^ calculations, there are reckoned in 
 5;pain, more than five millions of thofe travelling flieep with 
 fine wool. It may eafily be imagined how much care; in- 
 telligence, and a^livity is requillte from thofe who have the 
 charge of conducfting thofe valt flocks. 
 
 ** Thty miill take particular heed not to let them want 
 fait, efpecially after their leturn from the fouth to their 
 iummer palhirages. That commodity keeps them in health, 
 a:.G hardens their condiiution, which contributes infinitely to 
 
 the
 
 C 21 1 
 
 the beauty of tlie wool. After having pafTed the winter ia 
 a temperate climate, they let out in the month of April for 
 the mountains. 
 
 ** The fheep themfelves fhow their defire of changing 
 their place, by many unquiet motions ; and that deiire is fo 
 ihong, that the fliepherds muft be very watchful to prevent 
 their efcaping. 
 
 ** They begin to (hear them in the month of May, either 
 on the road or after their arrival. It is necelTiry to wait for 
 fine weather; for if their wool was not dry enough, the 
 fleeces being piled on each other would ferment and fpoil. 
 Towards tlie end of July, the number of rams neceflary 
 for propagation are mixed with the Iheep. Six or leven 
 rams are fuflicient for a hundred faeep : Out of a numerous 
 flock of «am«, the Itrongtft and handfomeft are chofen for 
 that purpofe. There are in general very few Iheep in thefe 
 travelling flocks, thougli tlieir wool is finer, and their flefli bet- 
 ter than that of the rams, but the fleece of thefe is heavier, 
 they live longer, and by that means their total produ(5l is 
 more confiderable. It is elteemed very eflTential to befmear 
 thefe animals in the month of September, from the neck to 
 the root of the tail, with a ferruginous earth mixed with 
 water. It is faid that this unguent, mixing with the greafe 
 of the V. ool, becomes impenetrable to rain and to cold, and 
 that it ablbrbs part of the tranfpiration, which would other- 
 ways render the fleece rough and coarfe. At the end of 
 September the flieep begin their march towards the lower 
 plains. They travel one hundred and fifty leagues in forty 
 days, when the time comes that the fheep drop their lambs, 
 the ihepherds firfl: feparates thofe which are fteril from ihofe 
 which are fruitful : Thefe are guided to the beft places of 
 fhelter, and thofe to the coldeil parts of the diftrift. The 
 fpots which produce tlie beft and moft abundant herbs, are 
 alio alloted for the youngefl lambs ; that, by being fortified 
 with good food, they may be able to depart with the others. 
 The tail is cut off within five inches of the rump to keep 
 them the cleaner. It is an error to believe that the fheep 
 prefer aromatic plants to others, and that they are more be- 
 neficial to them. It is the tender herbs that grow between 
 thofe plants, that afford the moft wholefome nourifhment for 
 them, and that gives a good tafte to their flefli. They mud 
 never be led to feed till the fun has diffipated the morning 
 dew, and mufl not be allowed to drink immediately after a 
 hail ftorm, becaufe that water, or wet grafs, renders them 
 melancholy, and makes them languifh and die. 
 
 " It appears then to be certain that the fuperiority of the 
 wool in this country is not to be attributed to the climate 
 •nly ; and that it depends in a great meafure on the precau- 
 tions
 
 t 22 5 
 tions above mentioned; becaufe, in the fame dimate, the. 
 fceep of Andalufia, which are of the fame breed, but which 
 are net taken the like care of, have tlieir wuol much coarf- 
 er. Would it be advantageous in other countries to allot 
 large tra^^s of land for the pafturage of thefe animals ; and 
 would it be as much fo to the proprietor, as if he had made 
 thofe lands ferve for otiier purpofcs ? To tlicfe countries 
 where lands are fuccefiively cultivated, flocks of (lieep muli 
 he confidered more for th.e ufe they are of to agriculture, 
 than for their fleeces. Dung is there much more neceflary 
 than wool. The travelling fheep fui nifli no manure wheii 
 they wander in the mountains, fo that they muR be confined 
 together in lands which require cultivation." 
 
 Though I will not pretend to fay, how far a fimilar con- 
 £u6i ought to be followed by the ralfers of flieep in d^is coun- 
 trj', with what is obferved in Spain, a-- to their palhiring, 
 yet I do humbly think, that feveral very ufefnl hints may be 
 gathered, by the fenlible farmer, from a ferious perufal of 
 the above pafHigey, particularly with regard to the proper 
 time of flaughtcring the flieep, when nature has fo far depriv- 
 ed them of teeth, as to difable them from eating a fuflicient 
 quantity of food to fatten them ; the obfervance of which, I 
 am afraid, is, in general, but too little attended to. And, 
 that even a trial of prefenting fait to them, at difl'erentftages 
 cf their walks, as it would be an experiment attended with 
 very little cxj)ence, fo, if it fliould not anfwcr every expec- 
 tation conceived from it, might, at leafl, be tried without 
 i'ear of danger. If falutary confequences were obferved to 
 arife from it, then the prac^tice might be extended^ At any 
 rate, I could fincerely wifli, that fome gentlemen, or farmers 
 of public-fpirir, would make the experiment, upon a fmall 
 part of their flock, and either continue or defift from it, as 
 they faw it attended with or without fuccefs. 
 
 One thing material to be obferved, however, is, that the 
 Spahiards have lung confidered fheep, and their produce, to 
 be the mod valuable jewel in the crown. The Englifli na- 
 tion, whofe wifdom no one will difpute, have been of the 
 fame opinion for many ages. They have, and with great 
 reafon, preferred the cultivation of wool, to mines of gold 
 or filver, as it employed the heads and hands of the ingeni- 
 ous and induftrious, and thereby brought a fund of wealth 
 into their kingdom, which could not pofllbly be derived from 
 any other fource. Confcious of its being the ftaple and glory 
 of England, they have ordered, that their fupreme Judges, 
 "when convened together in the great council of the nation, 
 {hould be feated on wool-packs ; that care flieidd be taken 
 «ever to export any wool, till manufaflured into cloth j that 
 
 none
 
 C 33 1 
 
 nonie of the breed of their ftieep ihould ever be allowed t4 
 he carried to foreign parts ; that the exportation of either 
 Jlieep or wool, fliould be a capital crime, and every perion 
 difcovered to be any way concerned in it, defpifed, looked 
 upon as an enemy to his country, and branded with infamy 
 and difjyrace. Nay, fo far was their attention carried to 
 the encouragement of this mofl valuable branch ; (indeed, 
 it is of more real confequence, and yields more profit, tliaa 
 all the trade of England befides) that they would not fudef 
 their dead to be buried in linen, the liaple of poor Scotland, 
 but all in woollen, in order that the conlumption of this va- 
 luable manufacture might not ceafe with tlie living, but eveii 
 be fent to the grave with the dead. This wife nation hath 
 been equally attentive to procure every ingredient made ufe 
 of in the Woollen Manufacture at the clieapell rate. For 
 this purpofe, all drugs, dye-fluffs, and every other article 
 made ule of in that b anch, is allowed to be imported iato 
 every part of Great Britain, free of any duty whatever j 
 while our fancied, and vifionary ftaple, the Linen, is bur- 
 dened with a very high duty on every article made ufe of 
 in its manufacture, the rough flax alone excepted, and even 
 ©n it the charge is confiderable. But of this in its proper 
 place 
 
 Before I conclude this feCtion, which perhaps has already 
 fwelled to too great a length, I muft be forgiven to fay a few 
 words in anlwer to fome objections that have been Itarted, 
 as to encreafmg the number of fhcep in this country. 1 have 
 been told, that fome gentlemen think, if the number of Iheep 
 were increafed, it would lower the price of mutton, and 
 confequently leflen the value of their land. This opinion, 
 however, I will beg leave to lay, proceeds entirely upon a 
 miftake ; for the wool alone, exclufive of the mutton, will 
 be fully fufiicient to enable the tenants to pay their prefent 
 rents ; and, if the mutton were reduced to half the price it 
 now bears, the advantages tliat would thereby accrue to the 
 manufacturer, and the country in general, would be im- 
 menfe. It is well known, that the cheaper we can brin<5 
 our goods to a foreign market, the more certain we are of 
 getting them difpoled of. It is equally well known, that, 
 in a country where provilions are dear, the price of labotir 
 muft be proportionally fo. If, therefore, the one can be 
 reduced, the other naturally, and of confequence, falls like- 
 wife ; fo thrit I humbly conceive, at the fame time that the 
 landed gentlemen can fuffer nothing by the increai'e of 'lieep 
 the manufacturer, and the country in general, cannot fail 
 of receiving great benefit from it. But, fuppofing fo many 
 fheep to be t'td as to overdock our ov/n market, I can fee
 
 C 34 3 
 
 liobad confcquences which could arife from that circumftance, 
 as the overphis could be failed and fent to foreign markets, 
 Vhere it would be certain of a ready fale. The moft 
 northern fettlement in Europe, I mean Iceland, belonging 
 to the king of Denmark, follows this pra»Stice. I have 
 purchafed iait mutton at Copenhagen, which had been 
 brought from that place, the fatteft I ever faw, and 1 can 
 fay with great truth, it proved excellent provifion. Let us 
 not, therefore, be deterred from increafing the number of 
 our flieep, from the apprehenlion of its decreafing the va- 
 lue of our land, or overltocking the market. The former 
 can never happen ; and, if the latter flioiild, a new branch 
 of trade will thereby be eftablifhed, which may give em- 
 ployment to an additional number of hands, and bring mo- 
 ney into the country. It may likewife be objec'^ted to in- 
 creafing the number of our flitep, that we ihall thereby di- 
 minifh the number of acres at prefent occupied in corn-land. 
 But, to this i anfwer, iliat millions of adilitional flieep may 
 be raifed, without incroaching upon a fingle acre, capable of 
 bearing corn, or rearing black cattle ; for flieep can feed 
 to advantage, where neither the one nor the other will 
 thrive, nor can any thing fooncr bring land in, capable to 
 Icar corn, than having it previoufiy paftured upon by flieep, 
 Some Ipeculative gentlemen, as I already obftrved, have 
 attempted to raife corn upon grounds, where it is almoft 
 next to an impoffibility it could ever ripen. Had they, in- 
 ftead thereof, flocked them with fine wooled flieep, their 
 returns would have been much larger, and more certain, at 
 the fame lime that they were contributing their fhar« to the 
 general good of the kingdi^m, by encreafing the quantity of 
 wool, which I always thought, and fliall now endeavour to 
 convince my countrymen, ou^ht to be the ftaple manufac- 
 ture of this kingdom. 
 
 SECTION
 
 SECTION IL 
 
 Of the Woollen Manufactory. That It is the natural 
 Staple of Scotland, and therejore ought to be encour- 
 aged, by every true lover of his country, in all its vari- 
 ous branches. 
 
 WHATEVER material is the natural produ61ion of any 
 country, we may reafonably conclude the cultivation 
 and the manut'aiSturing of it, into fuch commodities as the in- 
 habitants cannot do without, and may export to foreiga na- 
 tions with advantage, is preferable to any other material, 
 which cannot boall of thefe advantages. 
 
 It is for this reafon that 1 have, from the firft moment I 
 was capable of forming any rational ideas of trade, been 
 firmly convinced, that my countrymen have all along been 
 purfuing a phantom in the Linen Manufacture, while they 
 have totally difregarded, or very much overlooked, that 
 real and fubftantial fource of trade, which they would have 
 found in the Woollen Manufadlure, and which it never can 
 be too late eagerly to follow after. 
 
 To combat an inveterate cuftom, I am not infenfible, is a 
 very bold, and a very hazardous undertaking. If that cu- 
 ll om, however, from the experience of ages, fliall have been 
 found a moft prejudicial one to the interelts of the communi- 
 ty, I have too high an opinion of the good fenfe of my coun- 
 trymen to imagine, that the endeavours of an individual, to 
 point out the evils attending it, and the advantages which 
 might be derived by adopting a different conduct, will meet 
 with their difapprobation. 
 
 In thefe hopes, and from a confcioufnefsof the great fnpe- 
 riority of the Woollen Manufa(5lure over the Linen, vi ere 
 equal encouragement given to both, I have adventured, up- 
 on many different occaiions, to point out the advantages of 
 the one, and the alniolt iniurmountable clogs and difficulties 
 which are the attendants of the other. I have already ob- 
 ferved, in the former Section of this ^^'ork, that this couu' 
 try is fit, with very little foreign aid, to raife up a breed cf 
 fheep. equal to thofe of our neighbouring kinp;dom, or, per- 
 haps, any other country. If we lliould ftand in need of a finer 
 fpecies of wool, than what can be produced from our own 
 
 D flic-cp,
 
 C a6 3 
 
 flieep, that can be eafily attained, and (hall be taken notice 
 of in its proper place. But, perhaps, before going further, 
 it may not be imjiroper here to point out the di fad vantages 
 attending the proleciiiioti of the Linen Manufac^ture, to lb 
 great an extent as we have hitherto done, as from thence 
 ii M'iil more evidently appear, how far the Woollen Manu- 
 f^iSiiire tnuft furpals tlie Linen, in every fubltantial and real 
 advantage. 
 
 To b^gin, then, with flax. This great and fundamental 
 ariicie, if the Ma.Mifaclurer means to have luch as is fit for 
 his puijwfe, he miift commifiion from (ome port in the Bal- 
 tic, or from Holland. Anotlier article wliichheis under the 
 neceility of bringing from abroad, is Pearl and Pot Alhes. 
 For tlic faiisfaciion of thofe, who may not be acquainted 
 with mercantile affairs, I nuiU beg leave to lay before ihem, 
 thd charges attending the importing a cargo of thele articles. 
 They are as follows : 
 
 per cent. 
 
 For a cargo of flax, (hipped at St. Peterfburgh, Riga, 
 
 or any other port in tlie B:iltic, commifTion 2 per 
 
 cent. ])ort-charges, fhipping charges and Sound dues, 
 
 2 l-halt /^r cent. 4 1-2 
 
 Infurancc, at a medium, through tlie feafon, ^ I -half 
 
 per cent, freight to Lcith I l-half^^r cent. 5 
 
 Lofs, by dry damage, at a medium, and fhort, ufelefs 
 
 flax, packed fo that it cannot be diicovered, 5 
 
 Sea-damage, tliat the under-writers are not liable to 
 
 pay ; for they don't pay under 5, 3 1-2 
 
 Flax. Shore dues at Leith, poiterage, cuftom-houfe 
 charges, i-lialf per cent. ware-Uoufe rent, and 
 wcigh-houlc dues, i-j(ihper cent, O 3-4 
 
 In aU, 18 3-8 
 
 Charges on a cargo of Pearl and Pot AJhes. 
 
 per cent, 
 
 CommifTion 2 per cent, port-charges, fliipping, and 
 
 Sound dues, 2 \-\\z\i per cent. 4 1-2 
 
 Inlurance, at a medium, 3 i-half/>cr c?«/, freight to 
 
 Leith, 2 per cent. 5 1-2 
 
 Lois by fea-damage, which the under-writers do not 
 pay, 4 
 
 Duties, 35 
 
 Forterage, cartage, fhore-dues, cooperage, cuftom- 
 houfe fees, weighhoufe, &c. 1 1-4 
 
 In all, 40 1-4 
 
 The
 
 C 37 3 
 
 The fame charges attend wed and wood a(hes ; only they 
 are not lb liable to damage at liea, nor are the duties near 
 fo high as on the pot and pearl aflies ; but it equally aireds 
 the value, as they are much cheaper in price. The flnx 
 from tioHand is not loaded with liich high charges and freight 
 as fr^ the Baltic ; but even from Holland it will be equal 
 to fix or {even per cent. This is but a fmall part of the 
 trade ; for the bulk of flax ufed in Scotland is imported from 
 the Baltic. 
 
 The charges on Flax from Holland are, 
 
 ' per cent. 
 
 Commiffion 2 per cent, fliipping (*hargcs and port- 
 charges, 1 i-)^^ per cent. 3 1-2 
 
 Infurance through thp feafon i -x-^^xh per cent, freight 
 
 to Leith 1 -AiUx per cent. I 1-2 
 
 Lofs that the under-writers do not pay, i per cent. 
 porterage, cartage, lliore-dues, \ 4th per cent. 
 cuftom-houfe fees, and petty charges, i-8th per 
 cent» • 13-8 
 
 In all, 63-8- 
 
 From tbefe fchemes, which T am certain no one will fay is un- 
 jufl in the minutefl article, it will be oblerved, that for every 
 article imjiorted for the uie of the Linen Manufacture, flax 
 only excepted, no lefb duty than 25 per cent, of its real value, 
 IS paid by the importer ; and, though it may be laid, that, 
 as no duty is paid on the flux itielf, and, conCequently a fuf- 
 ficient encouragement is Thereby atF()rded to the Linen Ma- 
 nufacturers to tarry on that branch of bufuicls, -I would be 
 glad to know if thofe whom they employ to purchafe this 
 article, furnifli them with fuch flax as they manufa'ilure 
 th.emfelves ? or, if, after all, they can make fuch a profit, 
 as to make the hands they employ live with any degree of 
 comfort ? I am pofitive they do not ; for the flax that is 
 msrie ufe of in Silefia is of a far fuperior quality to any I 
 ever faw brought to this country ; and I am fully perluaded 
 every qthev country from whence we receive that commo- 
 dity, will be equally attentive to their own interelt in not 
 exporting the bcil of the commodity which they manufacture 
 at home. But I am aware of the anfwer v.hich will be 
 made here. It may be faid, we can cultivate flax ourfelves ; 
 and the Truftees have given us every encouragement to do 
 fo. This lafl: propofition I will not deny. The Trullees 
 have indeed carried iheii encouragement to a height, which, 
 
 D 2 I hope^
 
 t 23 ] 
 
 I hope, more mature confideration will iiuliice them to put 
 a ftop to. They have made many of our farmers facriHce 
 the bcli of their ground to the raifing of flax, for the fake of 
 their premiums, M'hich otherwife might have been employed 
 in corn-lant], much to the advantage of thcmlclves, and the 
 ccmntry in general ; but from which, by this new and exotic 
 culture, they mufi: have been egregious lolcrs, had not the 
 largenefs of the premium indemnified them for the price of 
 labour and land, though it cannot be diiputtd that the lafl 
 v/as ihereby totally loll to the community. 
 
 As to our cuhivating flax ourfelves, at lead to a!iy good 
 purpofe, I w ill venture to fay, it is an attempt frauglit witJi 
 the highclt ablurdity. This, nor any other iiland, that ever I 
 knew, Ireland excepted, is proper for the growth of flax. I 
 will beg leave to give my reafons for ihjs opinion very Ihortly. 
 In ail iiiands the weather is very changeable, and the fnow in 
 Jscotland never lies a iufficitjit time to keep the froft out of the 
 ground ; neither is our heat in Ipring fuHicieut to w-arm it, lb 
 as lo make it fit for the reception of the feed ; and vegeta- 
 tion, of confequwice, cealcs. I cannot better exemplify 
 this, tlian by informing my readers, that lalt fummer, hav- 
 ing taken a journey to tiie North, in order to vilit a gentle- 
 man, whole afiiduity in promoting the manufactures of his 
 country is well known, and whofe memory will be venerated 
 by afier ages ; I law, in perhaps ihefinell country in Scotland 
 for the j^urpofe, fevcral fine fields plowed down, which had 
 been foXvn with flax, at a great labour and cxpence, but 
 Avhich, unhappily for the deluded farmer, yielded no crop 
 whatever. ti:u\ lall fpring been an intolerably cold one, 
 this miglit have been pleaded as a realon for thelailure; but 
 every one knows, that a more promifing and warm fpring 
 has not hajipened for many years palh 1 likewile paid par- 
 ticular attciition to the llax I faw growing betwixt Perth 
 an<l Aberdeen, and do fairly acknowledge I would not have 
 taken a compliment of the whole, had I been put to no other 
 expence than that of being obliged to drel's and manufadure 
 it. Indeed, the thing that is called Flax, of the growth 
 of this country, does notdeferve the name, nor wiU be con- 
 fidered as li;ch, by any perfon who has been in a country 
 vhere real flax glows. It is in the Ealtern countries of Eu- 
 rope where the bcft flax is produced : there the frofi never 
 touched the ground fince the creation, nor ever will ; for, 
 about the middle of O^itober the fnow falls, perhaps from 
 two to three feet thick, often more. Immediately after the 
 i'yoil ("( ts in, and freezes the fnow fo firm, that carriages go 
 uver it tlie whole w inter, without breakiPg the crult, Tor 
 
 wards
 
 [ 29 ] 
 wards the middle of Alarth, tlie heat of the fun difToIves the 
 Ihow, when ves;ttation commences more rapidly than any- 
 one can imagine who has not feen it. The ground is there- 
 by rendered like a hot-bed, and being fo manured by the 
 fnow, the fiax-feed, and barley fown in thel'e grounds, will 
 be ready to reap in feven or eight weeks after fowing. It 
 often happens that no rain falls all the time the flax is grow- 
 ing, neither is there any need of the ground being much 
 moiilened, as the plant covers it in fo fliort a time as to 
 fcreen the earth from the great heat and drought. Nay, it 
 fometimes happens, that not a cloud is to be feen for many 
 weeks together in thele climates ; nothing but conftant fun- 
 ihine and fine pleafunt funimer weather. Bvit it would be 
 in vain to expect this in lands lying in the middle of the o- 
 cean ; and, therefore, I would fain flatter myieif with the 
 hope, that the Board of Trultees, being once convinced; 
 that this country is no Avays adapted for the raifing of flax, 
 would delilt from oflering any more premiums for the cul- 
 ture of that exotic, as 1 am fully perfuaded it is fo far from 
 anfwering any good purpofe, that it has an effecl entirely 
 the reverie, and tends only to make the farmer, for the ho- 
 nour and regard of the premium, which, by the bye, will 
 do little more than indemnify him for his labour and expence, 
 neglec!:! his fowing I'o many acres with corn, which might 
 have aiFordcd cheap bread to our labouring poor. 
 
 As a further argument, to fliow that flax is not a plant 
 ot this country, and ought not to be cultivated, let it 
 be remembered, that you cannot fow the feed raifed by 
 your own growth of flax for this year, fo as to hope for any 
 crop that will pay your labourers for the next ; and, if you 
 continue it three years, though you change the place of the 
 country any where within Scotland, it will fcarce corr^e a- 
 above the ground. Nay, do we not daily fee proccfTes be- 
 fore the Court of Sefilon, between the Dutch merchants and 
 thofe of our own country, for the price of flax-feed furniflied. 
 by the former to the latter; and is not their defence for not 
 payment this, That having fold the cargo to diifcrent farmers 
 in the country, allowed the ufual credit given on fuch occa- 
 fions, and they having laboured and fown the ground with 
 it, no crop whatever followed, for which reafon they would 
 not pay the Scots merchant the price ftipulated ; and confe- 
 fequently, it would be extremely hard,jwere they found liable 
 to the Dutch merchant for a cargo, from the fale of which 
 they never drew a penny. I will not take upon me to fay, 
 how far this would be a good defence for the Scots merchant. 
 The circumftance, however, of the flax never appearing a^- 
 
 bove
 
 C 30 ] 
 
 's!Ove the ground, iindeubtedly afforded the farmer a gf>od 
 reafon for withliokiing payment from the Scots merchant, 
 as he not only was deprived of the crop he expelled, but 
 Ilkewife loft all his labour, and the ufe of. his ground for 
 that year. When (iich are the uncti tainties attending the 
 raifing of flax in this country, it is fiirely high time to give 
 up the pravftice ; for «he moft fkillfiil cannot promife. upon 
 ffeing the feed, but what it is in every reCptdl good and 
 wholelbme, while, at the fame time, it may be dead, and 
 ufelefs to all intents and purpofes. This was exprefsly the 
 cafe in one of the proceflbs above alluded to. A proof was 
 taken as to tlie quality of the feed, when (hipped from Hol- 
 Lind. people, knowing in thele matters, gave evidence, that 
 it had every appearance of good leed at that time. It was 
 proved to have received no damage at lea ; and leveral per- 
 ir.ns, who were deemed proper judges, gave it the highefl 
 character, after it came into the Scots merchant's pofTeffion. 
 Tlicre it received no prejudice ; and yet nnt a fingle veftige 
 fcf it V..IS to be feen, after being put into ih? ground, though 
 town by many different farmers in the county of Moray, 
 •which is known to contain as rich good ground as any in 
 Scotland. 
 
 I have been the more particular on this fubjeft, as I would 
 fincerely wifh to convince the gentlemen and farmers of tlie 
 impropriety of taking up their valuable grounds with an ar- 
 ticle fo extremely uncertain and dangerous ; and, as I am 
 certain, flax, much preferable to any which can be railed in 
 this country, in the moft favourable feafons, and from the 
 inoft luxuriant crops, may be had upon eafier terms from 
 ihole countries where flax is a natural plant. 
 
 It was never my Intention to diffuade thofe who are al- 
 ready engaged in the Linen Manufacflure, to give up that 
 branch altogether : but to get out of it flowly, and apply 
 more to the Woollen. Linens, for our own confumption, 
 ought certainly to be made at home, and even lome for our 
 neighbours the Englifli ; but thefe Ihould be of a coarfe qua- 
 lity, and from foreign flax. The Scots manufa<fturer cannot 
 make daily bread by working fine linen, and felling it in the 
 Englifli market; neither need we imagine to make linen 
 that will bring a proper profit, by exportation to any coun- 
 try abroad, or to our own plantations. 
 
 This would be a very abfurd idea, while Germany, and 
 the Eaftern countries, continue our rivals in that branch ; 
 for they are, and will probably ever be, able to underfell us, 
 both as to price and quality, 30 per cent. It is not then to 
 b€ fuppofed, that the Americans, or Weft Indians, will pur- 
 chafe
 
 C 51 ] 
 chafe from us, when they can be fupplied with German lin- 
 ens, at the Dutch and Danifa freeports in the Weft Indies, 
 upon much better terms. No reftri<5tion that can be laid oa 
 trade, by our laws, will prevent this j indeed, the tempta- 
 tion is too great to be withftood. 
 
 Experience ought to have convinced us, long before this 
 time, that tlie Linen Manufadiure, inftead of being a lucra- 
 tive, was in many inftances a loling trade, efpecially the 
 finer forts of it, which we have been in ufe of fending to the 
 London and foreign markets. I dare venvure to fay, that the 
 manufacturers of fine linen, thus exported, have, upon an a- 
 verage, been lofers by the trade, at the rate of 40. per yards 
 fo that the more hundred thoufand yards which have been 
 made and fent abroad, as the ftaple of the country, have 
 been at the lofs of an equal nnmber of fourpcuces, befides 
 the price of materials paid to foreigners. Surely fuch a 
 trade, if it was meant to give employment to our poor, was 
 the very worft which could poffibly be tliought of; for, 
 1 hile the mailers were lofers by the bufinefs, it was not t« 
 •e expe<5led they fhould be able to afford Ibch wages to their 
 •'ourneymen, as to make them live with any degree of de- 
 cency ; but, on the contrary, it is well known, theie poor 
 people's pittance has been fo truly fcanty, for a number of 
 years back, that it has required the molt parfimonious oeco- 
 nomy to preferve them from flarving altogether. 
 
 The Briti/h Linen Company made the trial of this branchy 
 and with the belt appearance of fuccefs. That Company- 
 had the greatelt fupport which ever was afforded to any un- 
 dertaking attempted in this country. Their directors M'ere 
 compofed of gentlemen the molt fenfible and knowing. Thei>r 
 fervants honeft, and fome of them very alert, witnefs Mr. 
 W. T"d ; yet all would not do. I had the honour to be ac- 
 quainted with fome of the gentlemen who were in the di- 
 rection fome years ago. I have furniflied the company with 
 Ihips for feveral feafons to bring home their flax. My poor 
 opinion has often been afeed by fome gentlemen, largely con- 
 cerned in this trade. I was always uniform and explicit, 
 that it could not fupport itfelf. — The money that has gone 
 out of this country, (and it is all cafli) in my time, to pay- 
 flax, and flax-feed, to Holland and lluffia, is Jo immenfe, 
 that it is almoft beyond credibility. I know, very nearly, 
 the fum that has been remitted, for thefe twenty ye-ars palt, 
 to Amfterdam, Rotterdam, and Hamburgh, tor thefe articles; 
 but it is fo very large, that I do not chufe to mention it, as 
 it would ftagger the belief of the molt credulous. The fum 
 paid for pot, pearl, weed and wood aflics, &c. has likevi-ila 
 
 been
 
 [ 52 ] 
 been far from being inconfiderable. This trade, I am pcr- 
 fuaded, has carried more money out of Scotland in my time, 
 than all our foreign trade put together ; for tiie French and 
 Spaniards take our goods in exchangefor their commodities ; 
 but thofe who fupply us with flax, flax-feed, &c. take no- 
 thing but ready money. It is to this caufe, therefore, th it 1 
 muit attribute the great fcarcity of caOi, and of the London 
 and Dutch exchange being fo much againft us. As tiiere 
 have been lefs of thefe articles, however, imported within 
 thefe two years pall, the exchange has liecome more mo- 
 derate, which is an evident proof of my affcrtion being well 
 founded. That I am equally fo, with regard to the advan- 
 tages that mud attend a lefs vigorous exertion in favours of 
 the Linen, and a j)roper application being made to that of 
 the Woollen manufadlure, 1 fliall endeavour to make evident 
 in its proper place. 
 
 My knowledge of what put the political fpinning wheels 
 in motion, is not of yeflerday. It was Archibald Earl of 
 Iflay, alterwards Duke of Argylc, who long held the reins 
 of the political fyltem of tliis country, that gave birth to this 
 Utopean fchemc, and he had able and good men to manage 
 for him; but they were cliained to his party. It is far from my 
 intention to fay any thing difrefj^edful to the memory of 
 that nobleman. He was undoubtedly a very great man, and 
 an ornament to this country ; but the doctrine then was, 
 Kcfp the peopi: posVy and they luill be dependent ; nor could 
 a more proper device, for that purpofe, poflibly be thought 
 of, than employing them in the Linen branch. This I have 
 frequently taken the liberty of mentioning to fome of the 
 leading men of tliofe days, with whom I had the honour of 
 being acquainted; but words or writing, at that period, were 
 of no avail. The anfwer to every thing elfcred on fo un- 
 popular a fubjeol was, We mull not difoblige the Knglifli: 
 the Woollen is their great ftaple, with which we mult by no 
 means interfere, otherwife they will be ofliended, and then 
 we fliall get neither bounties nor premiums. A patriotic, 
 dotflrine this, it may be faid ; but fuch was the cale. Some-, 
 thing more, however, was neceffary, to make the delufion. - 
 go down. The counties and burghs were fupplied with 
 plenty of Britilh Linen Company notes, which they were 
 made to believe was eqivalent to calh. Large quantities of 
 flax, flax-feed, wheels, reels, flax-mills and ivind-miUs, 
 were likewife poured in among them, in order to carry on 
 a trade, that never did, nor ever can fupport itfelf, if credit, 
 at lealt, can be given to forty years experience. Bleachfirlds 
 were ere<5led, and premiums given to thofc who could raife 
 
 the
 
 I 33 ] 
 
 the moft flax, &c. Provort fuch-an-one, with the afliflance 
 of the Dean of Guild, Convener, and Deacons of Cr;uts, 
 were appointed to have the diret^tion of the difl^ricl ncxi to 
 their refpeJlive burghs. Keails were given to thei'e gentry, 
 flax, &c. put into their hands. Bounties, prcmiuns';, and 
 what not, v.ere founded in their ears. Bitaclificlds vere 
 encouraged, though they were forbidden the ul'e of linic or 
 pigeons dung. Something inltead thereof behoved u- be 
 lubflitute, V hich would force the linen to a hidden \v htce- 
 nefs, and, at the fame time, be lels expenfive than foap or 
 any foft materials. Spirit of vitriol, or lome fuc h perr;icious 
 materials were made ule of, in order ro enable them to bleach 
 cheap. One devil was made to drive out another. It is 
 foftened with the name of Ci/ of Vitriol ; and many large 
 bottles are ufed by fome bleachers, I do not fay by all of 
 them ; but it is fure to extract the oils out of the yarn, and 
 to burn the cloth. This has had a great efFedt in ruining the 
 character of the linens made in this country ; and many an 
 honeft houfe wife, who makes for her own family ule, fe- 
 verely feels the bad tendency of this new invented method 
 of whitening cloth. Chymifts, indeed, fay, that it may be 
 ufed in fmall quantities by fltillful hands ; fo may poifon and 
 brandy to the human body ; the operation is flow but fure. 
 If cloth is bleached with foap and aflies, it will laft: double 
 the time of that which is forced white with a fpirit that will 
 corrode iron. 
 
 TheTe, and many more which might be mentioned, are 
 the difadvan;ages that attend a too extenfive concern in the 
 linen trade; or, in other words, making it the flaple of 
 this C'untry. At the fame time, I am far from thinking, as 
 I have already hinted, that the maHufa(5luring of linen fhould 
 be entirely laid alide, or that Ibme kinds of it may not be 
 carried on much tp the advantage of the manufacturer, as 
 well as to the country in general. But let us not attempt to 
 fupply London, or any foreign market, with tlie fine white 
 Linen article, as we are by no means capable of rivalling 
 other countries who deal in that branch. Eiicouragemenc 
 undoubtedly ought to be given to the thin, low priced linen, 
 manufa(5iured in the counties of Fife, Perth, Angus, &c. as 
 well as to that fpecies carried on at Paifley, &c. and t© the 
 linen yarn, manufactured in the connties of Aberdeen, Banfl*, 
 tec. which has a ready and extenfive fale at Nottingham, and 
 other manufadluring towns in England, and has brought a 
 great deal of money into the country. The Paifley branch 
 requires little flax to carry it on, and our own flax, if we 
 mult continue to raife it, will anfwer almoft all the other 
 
 E pur-
 
 C 34 ] 
 purpofes. Thcfe articles have long had an el'abli'hecl and 
 ready iale at London and otiier foreign markets; and though 
 they lliould be extended, would be equally iiiccefsful. It is 
 to tliem, therefore, that the attention of the Linen manu- 
 facturer (hnuld be entirely diredied, and not to the fine white 
 linen which nature ha^ deprived us of the means of making 
 equal to other countries, who are our avowed rivals in that 
 branch. 
 
 I have dwelt thus long upon the article of the Linen Ma- 
 nufacture, as many, for what reafon I am at a lofs to con- 
 ceive, have im igined, that I propofed it Ihould be given up 
 altogether, whicii wa' far from being my intention. So far 
 was I fioni being an enemy to the Linen Manufacture, that 
 upwards of twenty years ago, I prevailed upon one of the 
 greatelt men in the country, Mr. Ofwald of Dunnikier, to 
 apply to administration ior having the duties on all the ma- 
 terials imported for the Linen Manufacture taken oft", and 
 likewife tie duties on hemp; but ihis application proved a- 
 bortive. My great objection to it, therefore, as this could 
 not be fffetled and which Itill remains with me, was, that 
 we were pufhing it too far, while the VV'ooUen Manufactory 
 not iubjeCl to any duty whatever, was totally neglecfted, 
 ■which 1 have long thought ought to be the ftaple of this 
 country. 
 
 In the former Section, I took occafion to point out the 
 manv advantages wliii.K Scotland enjoyed over mod other 
 countries, with regard to lier great abundance offheep-pafture. 
 I fliali now endeavour to Hiew, that it is equally favoured 
 by Providence with every other article requilite for carrying 
 on the Woollen Manufactory, and that therefore this branch 
 ought to be profecuted with vigour, and in preference to 
 any other. 
 
 It would be needlefs to recapitulate all thefe here. I 
 fhall only mention the three capital ones. The Wool, whicli 
 we may increaie to any quantity we pleafe ; or, if it Hiould 
 not prove poflible to improve the breed of flieep to that de- 
 gree, as to render it fo fine as is requifite for fome purpofes, 
 we can coramiflion and receive fuch from Spain, upon as eafy 
 terms as our neighbours. Firing is very much uied in almolt 
 every article manufactured from wool. This Scotland in 
 general, a very few places excepted, is abundantly fupplied 
 with, and at an ex pence far below our neighbours the Kng- 
 lilh. The price of labour, likewife, is much lei's than what 
 it is in oar neighbouring country. 
 
 Thefe, did we pofleis no other advantages, were fufEci- 
 cnt, of themfelves, to encourage us to hppe for fuccefs in tlie 
 
 Woollen
 
 C 35 3 
 
 Woollen Manufatflory. But thefe, great as they are, do 
 not comprehend all that we enjoy even above the Englifli, 
 ■who have carried that branch higher than any country in 
 Europe. Let us then fet about it, in good earneH-, and not 
 Hften to the delufive arguments of the narrow minded, or 
 Iflf-interelted, who would infinuate, that, if we interfere 
 too far in the ftaple of England, they w ill be offended, and 
 refufe to take thofe articles from us, with which we hnve 
 long been in ufe of fupplying them. This, I am certain, 
 will not be the cafe : for, however contraiRed the notions 
 of fnch people in this country may be, the Engiifii are en- 
 dowed with a more liberal way of thinking, and have jnfter 
 ideas of trade, than to refufe to deal with any country, be- 
 caufe that country may attempt to fupply themfelves with 
 what they formerly commilfioned from P>ngland ; or even 
 to rival them in a particular branch. But this laftcan ne^ er 
 be the cafe, with regard to the Woollen manufa(5ture of this 
 country ; for, I dare venture to affirm, that, if it is pro- 
 perly attended to, let us manufacture as m.uch as we pi flibly 
 can, the Knglifli trade will not fufi'er in the fmalleft degree, 
 but may even be extended ; as a friendly jun<Slion of the 
 United Kingdoms in the Woollen branch, coulr! not fail of 
 driving the French, Dutch, and indeed every other nation, 
 entirely out of the foreign markets, which would be an ac- 
 qaifition of great importatice ; whi'e Ireland, by the faire 
 means, might enjoy, in a manner unt ivalled, tl^e Linen Ma- 
 nufai^ture, which is jiropetly her llaple. This would eu- 
 cuin ige the Irifh to fend all their wool to Britaiij^ molt part 
 of which, it is well known, is now fmngeled to France or 
 Holland, where it is manufa(5lured into ci<^th, and by wl:ich 
 means, thefe nations are alone enabled to rival England abroad 
 this important branch. The advantages wliicli n;ight thence 
 accrue to Great Britain and Ireland, \\ ould be fo numerous, 
 and cannot fail of being fo lelf-evident, that it would be 
 trelpafling on the patience of the leader here to enumerate 
 them. 
 
 Having faid fo much on the Woollen ManufacTiure in gc- 
 'neral, I fhall now proceed to point out the particular bran- 
 ches which n)ight be carried on, no lefs to the emolument nf 
 the private undertaker, than to the great benefit of the whole 
 kingdom. 
 
 The firft which I fliail mention, as being the principal ar- 
 ticle, is that of the Broad Cloth; the great material for 
 making of which, from 2 s. 6 d. to 15 s. 6 d, per yard, is the 
 produce of our own country atprefent ; and, if the laudable 
 endeavours of the noblemen an;J gentlemen, already taken 
 
 notice
 
 C 36 3 
 
 notice of, for improving our breed of (lieep, lliall be crowned 
 witli fucceis, which 1 hope they will, we may loon expert 
 to be in pofTeffion of wool proper for maniita(!:luring cloth 
 of any fineiieis. But, (hould this prove impracticable, we 
 are /till in no worfe lituation than our neighbours, as we 
 can be fup,ilied with Spanifh woo], for our lupeifine cloths, 
 on as ealy terms as any nation in Europe. Every other ma- 
 terial we may equally well be (upplied with; nor is there 
 any deficiency of lieads or hands for carrying on the work; 
 for our people in general have as good geniules, are as quick 
 in rhcir apprehenlions, and as (teady to their plans, as any 
 people upon earth. I was always told, that we behoved to 
 get p.-ople from our fi/lcr countrv, to aid us in carrying on 
 this oiuit beneficial and ufeiul manufacture ; but, upon en- 
 quiry, aud an inveftigation of faifts, I find nothing of that 
 kind is wanted, as we have people well Ikilled in every part 
 ot" thac bulinefs, from fliet ring the fheep to bringing cloth of 
 all dyes to market, from black to the finefl fcarlet, bufl", and 
 all colours that are done in England, and at a much leis ex- 
 peiice. I even find, that the buiincfs of dying, and moft 
 other branches, have been carried on in England, by our 
 own countrymen, many of whom are at the head of the pro- 
 fefCiou. In fhort, tiie whole operation of this valuable ma- 
 nufaci^ure can be carried on, not only in this metropolis and 
 neighbourhood, but in mod parts of Scotland, if the noble- 
 men and gentlemen afforded their countenance and fupporl, 
 by taking the goods when brought to market. 
 
 And here it affords me a mo(t ienlible pleafure, as it muft 
 every lover of his country, to obferve a number of noblemen 
 and gentleinen of tlie fird eftimation in the kingdom, not 
 only giving their aid, by purchafrng the manufactures of 
 Scotland, but, upon fome public occalions, wearing nothing 
 elfe. One would think the examples of fucli dilHnguiflied 
 perfonages would diffufe a general fpirit of emulation through 
 the whole kingdom, and that every individual would vie 
 \\ ith his neighbour, in taking this method of promoting the 
 happinels and profperity of his country. This would indeed 
 be public fpi'ited : It would be real Patriotifm ; very unlike 
 that deteilable fpirit, which, fallely affuming that name, has 
 gone forth and ipread wide and extenfive over our neigh- 
 bouring kingdom, as well as the colonies, throwing every 
 thing, 10 far as its baneful influence has reached, into anar« 
 chv and confulion. The patriotifm, however, which I 
 Mould fondly hone fhould take place in this country, is of a 
 very different nature. Indead of diffuling into the minds of 
 the common people a notion that government is ailing tyran- 
 nically
 
 C 57 1 
 
 ijically towards America, let us fupply them with plenty of" 
 work, which will be much better employment for them 
 than politics, with which they have no earthly concern, and 
 to which I am certain they have not fo Itrongan attachment 
 as their brethren in Kngland. The one will afford a com- 
 fortable fubfiflence for themfelves and families, while the 
 other, at the fanit- time that it cannot fail of diftradling their 
 weak undcrflandings, it want of bnfinefs Ihould give them 
 leifure to think of Inch matters, mull eventually bring them 
 to rags and beggary. 
 
 A limilar con.mendable piibHc fpirit, I am happy to inform 
 my readers, lias been alio adopted by a very rel'pedlable bo- 
 dy of our countiymtn, I mean the gentlemen and farmers 
 of Eaft Lothian. They have long obferved, with regret, 
 the decayed flate of our Woollen Manufatfture, which they 
 jiiflly coiifidered a^ the Ibple, particularly in their own coun- 
 ty, which is every way fo well adapted for carrying it on. 
 There indeed, it has been attempted for near a century 
 part ; and though little advantage has accrued to the country 
 in general, owing partlv to mil management, and partly to 
 political caufes, yet individuals have been fupported by it in 
 a very decent manner The worthy gentlemen and farmers 
 of that country, fenfible of the truth of this fa<^, are refolv* 
 ed, that all the obilacles, hitherto thrown in the way of the 
 Woollen Manufa(Slure, (liall not damp their patriotic fpirit. 
 For this purpf)fe they have entered into a copartnery, and ap- 
 pointed MeflTrs. Sawers and Hamilton, two gentlemen of 
 knowledge and abilities in their profeflion, to carry on the 
 •work. The plan of this copartnery is perhaps one of the 
 bed which could poflibly be deviled. Tliere is fcarce a 
 lingle head of a family in the whole county, who has it 
 not in his power to become a partner, as fubfcriptions, Co 
 low as five pounds, are received, and intitle the fubfcriber 
 to every privilege and benefit which the highert can enjoy. 
 . At the fame time, to prevent undue influence, and that the 
 middling and low^r ranks may not be overawed by the rich, 
 no fingle perfon is allowed to fubfcribe above lool. It is 
 alfo provided, that none of the managers fliall never interfere 
 either in the politics of the county, or the burghs, very bad 
 confequences having formetly been experienced from fuch 
 conduct; as it is well known eledtion matters are frequently 
 carried on with great warmth, and create heart-burnings, 
 which do not ibon fubfide, even among very near friends 
 and connexions. A company, therefore, whofe exiftence, 
 in a great meafure, depends upon the unanimity of the whole 
 jnembers of which it is compol'ed, fliould gnard againft every 
 
 pofliblc
 
 [ 38 ] 
 foflible cliante of being difunited. It is not their intereft', 
 for the fake of making one friend, to run tlie rifque of cre- 
 ating a number of enemies. They (hould rather cuhivate a 
 good under/landing with every one ; and there lurelv can 
 be no better method of continuing it, than to ileer clear of 
 being concerned with any particular party, efpccially in po- 
 litical matters. This refolution, I mu(t therefore, think higlily 
 commendable, and while it is llriftly obferved, which i flat- 
 ter myfclf will be the eafe, folititalions from either of the 
 contending parties will not be made^ and the company will 
 thereby enjoy the countenance and encouragement of both. 
 
 This undertaking, I am perfuaded, can hardly fail of fuc- 
 cefs. They are in a great meafure able to furniHi the great 
 article wool among themfelves. No country is better fitu. 
 ated for carrying on the manufacTture, having plenty of fine 
 v/ater, and firing, in abundance, extremely cheap. They 
 are a numerous, Cubllantial body of men, and, though they 
 fliould not meet with encouragement from oiher quarters, 
 which is fcarce to be fuppofed, will conl'ume, in cloathing 
 for themfelves, their Jamilies and labourers, a quantity al- 
 mofl fuflicient to give employment to all the idle hands in the 
 country. Befides thefe advantages, this manufadure will 
 open a new channel of bufinefs for their fons, whom they are 
 often at a iofs how to dii'nofe of; and, confidering the va- 
 riety of operations neccfTHry in fuch an undertaking, there 
 is no poor perion, from eight to fixty years of age, but may 
 be ufefully and beneficially employed in it. Tiie fum re- 
 quired for this u.idertaking is only ^oool. fterling, and fo 
 liiglily advantageous is it thought by many capital houfes in 
 England, that were fubfcriptions to be received from that 
 kingdom, the whole lum might have been procured in a few 
 weeks. Propolals of that nature, however, were not liftened 
 to, as it is from the number of fubfcribers, that fuccefs is ex- 
 pected, and thefe, too, reliding in the fame county. 
 
 The author of a late publication, entitled Eight Sets of 
 Queries, by a Peer of the Rcahi, has been plealed to give 
 me the honour of being the projector and principal promoter 
 cf this fcheme, and has likewile been fo partial to my poor 
 endeavours in the fervice of my country, as to beflow many 
 compliments upon me on that account. Tiie teftimony of (o 
 great and fenfible a writer in my favours, I mufl own has 
 afforded me much pleafure ; nor do I pretend to be l"o felf- 
 denied, as not candidly to acknowledge, that, next to the 
 iatisfaftion 1 receive in beholding the improvements of my 
 country, the good opinion of fuch as this Right Honourable 
 author of my conduft, holds the fecond place m my mind. 
 
 At
 
 [ 39 1 
 
 At tlie fame time that I would recommend the niofl ferious 
 jjerui'ai of thefe elegant and lenfible Queries to the inhabi- 
 tants of this country, I mull beg leave lo inform the author 
 of them, that, though I did propofe the fcheme above taken 
 notice of, at a very numerous meeting of the gentlemen far- 
 mers of Ealt Lothian, yet, let it be remembered to their ho- 
 nour, that they cordially, and with one voice, approved 
 and adopted it ; fo lenlible were they, that it was the mo(t 
 effecftual method of ferving themfelves and their country, 
 that little folicitatiwn was requifite on my part. They met 
 me more than half way ; and therefore it would be preiump- 
 tion in me to take the wliole credit of what they are fo julily 
 and eminently entitled to. 
 
 I will readily acknowledge, that though it is with the 
 higheft pleafure I obferve fome of the hrd nobility, and 
 many gentlemen in high offices, and of great fortune, en- 
 couraging and promoting the Woollen Manufacture of their 
 coimtry, yet it is not from thefe alone, great as their influ- 
 ence and example undoubtedly ought to be, that I look for 
 the eftablifliment of this great (laple. It is from the con- 
 fumption of the gentlemen of moderate fortunes ; from the 
 farmers, traders, mechanics, and middling fort of people, 
 that I expect to fee our manufadlures flourifli. It was for 
 this reafon that I caft my eyes upon the county of Eaft Lo- 
 thian, as being the moft proper to take the lead, in a matter 
 of fuch vafi national concern, on account of many advanta- 
 ge; it pofTefTes over molt other counties m Scotland, for 
 bringing the branch to perfection. But it was not my inten- 
 tion that the affair fhould rell there. Many other counties, 
 in a fhort time, may be put upon a very rerj>etftable fooling 
 in this refpe6l, as well as Ea(t Lothian, and I would humbly 
 propofe a fimilar conduct to be followed on their part. The 
 farmers in Eaft Lothian, indeed, I believe, in general, are 
 more wealthy and fubftantial than thofe of moft other coun- 
 ties in Scotland-, it may therefore be neceflary, perhaps, to 
 make the fcheme upon a narrower fcale, and not to attempt 
 the manufa'i^uring of cloths of fo fine a quality. Suppofe the 
 fubfcriptions in thefe counties fliould be fo low as fifty fliil- 
 lings, and the higheft not to exceed fifty pounds. This 
 might raife a fund lufficient ro let a manufactory a-going, 
 which would fupply themfelves. If they afterwards faw that 
 they could extend their trade to advantage, the capital mighn 
 then be increafed; and, lam perfuaded, there are not want- 
 ing public fpirited gentlemen in every county in Scotland, 
 who would readily aniit both with their purfes and ad- 
 vice. 
 
 The
 
 r 40 ] 
 
 The Truftees, of late, have likewife given fome degree of 
 countenance to the Woollen Manufavfture. But, I am lurry to 
 fay, it is far from being fuch as might have been expeiSted. 
 They have offered premiums, but of lo triflmg a nature, e- 
 fpecially for the Broad Cloth, that few people, I d(jubt, will 
 be tempted thereby to bec(;irit competitors. It would have 
 been much better h d they advertifed fome premiums to the 
 merchant or manufa<5lurer who Ihould exj)ort the greatefl 
 quantity of Woollen cloth, and to the nobUnian, gentleman, 
 or farmer, wholhould bring the beft rams into the country, 
 for bettering our breed of hue w( oiled r^ecp. For the ina- 
 rufadturer and farmer, m^-ney might have been offered ; and 
 to the nobleman and gentleman, medals, expreffive of what 
 they were given for A little of the public ino.iey, likewife, 
 could not be better empl(»ytd, than by lending a few flieep, 
 (hearers into fome parts of th< Ncrth of Scotland, the Ork- 
 neys, Zetland, &c. where, I am it. formed, they are in life to 
 row their ftieep, as they call it, that is, pill off the wool with 
 their hands, much to the hurt of the Iheep, as well a^ the 
 wool. Thefe (heep-lheareis fliould b« furniihed with the 
 proper implements for cutting the wool off the ftieep, in the 
 fame manner as is praci^tiied in this country ; and they ftiould 
 be dire<fled to inflrudl them as to waftiing the ftieep, clean* 
 fing the wool, and every operation neceflary, particularly 
 vith regard to the dying the diflerent colcurs, &c. I am 
 convinced, thefe premiums would be of more real fervice 
 to the country in one year, than all that has been given by 
 the public to force on the Linen Staple, as fome people are 
 pleafed to call it, fince the Union. 
 
 So far back as the 2^d of January laft, I propofed that the 
 Linen Hall, which is under the diiet^i'm of the Truftees for 
 Fiftieries, Manufa<Slures, &c. ftiould take in Woollen cloth, in 
 the fame manner as the Linen cloth had been in ufe of 
 being received ; that a-^ds of the value Ihould he paid the 
 proprietor, on delivery of the goods into the Hall, after being 
 valued by people of fkill ; that the remainder of the price 
 fhouid be paid the owner, when turned into cafti ; and that 
 no charge fliould be laid on the manufacturer, but the intcrcft 
 of the money advanced. 
 
 This would have enabled the manufacturers to have 
 brought their goods to market at little expence, and fupport- 
 ed them with money to carry on their trade. Which ever 
 of the banks had afforded this fnpply, it could not have failed 
 of turning out greatly to the advantage of the proprietors, 
 as the honeft tradefmen would not trouble them for cafl), but 
 Hke their notes and put them in the true circle, for which 
 
 banking
 
 C 41 ] 
 
 barsking was at firfl cflublifhed. The fccurky of pledges o^ 
 ^a ihiple commoditv, has al'.vays been eil^eemed the nuiii cer- 
 tain t'lmd. The practice of tiie mof!: ancient banks is the bef's: 
 proof that can be given of its utility. Witnel's the banks of 
 Aniilerdam, Venice, -and Hamburgii, who, adhering l^riftly 
 to this rnaxini, receive no otiier I'ecnrity than real value 
 pledged with ihem. 
 
 A few months after this, the Truflees accordingly ordered 
 that Woollen goods (hould be received into their tiall, on the 
 fime terms with the linen. But, I innftbe pardoned to lay, 
 that thefe are fo very diiadvant:;j;eous tothe nianufaolurers, 
 that, inftead of aftording them relief, it leems rather cal- 
 culated to put money into the pockets of the I'crvants in (he 
 hall ; for the different charges they receive does not amount 
 to lefs than 5 per cent, upon ever)' piece of iinen cioth dif- 
 pofed of in that hall ; a charge which the profits made upon 
 linen, efpecially, can by no means bear ; nay, I an: certian, 
 that many of the manufacturers of that commodity wtK;id 
 think themfelves very happy, could they clear 5 per cent, al- 
 together upon their trade. How abfurd, therefore, mnli it 
 be, in order to enrich one or two fervants of the public, to 
 diftrefs the whole manufacturers of the kingdom ? Would it 
 not be much better to give theie people a luitable falary, ont 
 of the public money, rather than thus to allow tnem to P'uy 
 upon the indulirious, and draw the profit which flio ik; laii 
 to the fliare of the manufaclurer, without which :;. is im- 
 pofTible he can fupport himlelf, his family and u^pendcins ? 
 The Linen manufactory being thus diflrefTed, which has long 
 been the favourite of the Public, it is not to be wondtred 
 at, if the Woollen fliould experience the lame, if not -t wcrie 
 fate. This has accordingly happened ; not only are the 
 fame exorbitant per cents, demanded; but, what is mofl ex- 
 traordinary indeed, and would fear, e have enrered into the 
 imagination of any one, except thofe who tliiitk of nothing 
 but their own private emolument, Englilh Woollen goods 
 are likewile received into our Scots Linen hall. A conduCl 
 like thi<;, cannot well be accounted for. That a hall, i^pcned 
 for the fale and encouragement of the manufaclures of t^cot- 
 land, Ihould be made a. vehicle for the dil'pofal of goods of 
 another country, reflects very little credit upon the uncier- 
 flandinp-s or care of thofe entruded with the public money; 
 and, if fo abi'urd a praclice is not immediatfly put a flop to, 
 the bad effetSls of it will be feverely felt : for, I am |)erluad- 
 ed, had thofe concerned in it beftowcd their utrnoit pains to 
 find out a method to crulh our Woollen manufaClure in its 
 if.'fancy, they coulj not poffibly have fallen upon an expedi- - 
 
 F ent
 
 C 42 3 
 
 cnt which would more efFedlually anfwer the jnirpofe. I am 
 wilHng, however, to believe, that thefe proceedings liave 
 been carried on without tlic lani^lion, or even knowledge 
 of the Board of Truf^ces, Too nnuh has been entrnftcd to 
 the fcrvants in the office, relying on their faiiliAilly difcharg- 
 ing the triill: repofcd in therA ; but 1 have now the happinels 
 of being informed, by fome of tl;e honourable menioers 
 tliemlelves, that they are ferioully determined to give every 
 aid in their power to the Woollen manufactory ; that the 
 dillribution of the feveral premiums v. ere left to the dilcre- 
 tion of the ailing ofliCv.rs ; but that it was by no means in- 
 tended by the B<iard, that they fliould have been clalfed in 
 .the difproporticnate manner in which they at prefent iland ; 
 as it is certainly very ridiculous, that the lame premium ihould 
 be allowed for the bell dozen of hats, which is offered for 
 the fix bel^ pieces of broad clo:h. The former might have 
 been manufactured for twelve guineas, and the candidates 
 Ihould have been confined tn luch as they could fell at that 
 fum, and have a living profit ; while the latter cannot be 
 maliufa^ilured at a fum greatly exceeding one hundred pounds 
 fterling. 
 
 Though premiums, of this kind, are undoubtedly very ne- 
 ccfla.y, to encourage thofe concerned in every manufatitory 
 in an infant ftate, yet 1 am far from thinking that thefe of 
 thcmfelves can do the hufinefs required, were the premiums 
 ever fo well adapted. It is the encouragement of the pub- 
 lic at large which muft bring every undertaking to perfecti- 
 on ; and, as each individual is a part of that public, I hope 
 they will no Icngrr enieitain an-opinion, that becaufe they 
 are Hn^^le, any eflort of theirs can be of very little llgnifican- 
 cy. Tills is by no means the cafe. Companies ol people 
 entering into alfociations to wear nothing but the manufac- 
 tures cf their own country, will no di/ubt have a more im- 
 mediate '^ffetH: on tlje confuinption of thele articles; but 
 where individual- are perhaps unconn**5ttd with locieties, 
 ar.d ihcrefore do nor choofif to join with them, they will dif- 
 cover as much (pi^-it in refolving in their own minds to follow 
 their example, as if they were conjoined in that aflbciation ; 
 provi.h:ig they are at the trouble, at the lame time, to fa- 
 tisfy theinfclves that it is really the manufatTture of their 
 own count y, which they either purcha'e, or caufe to be pur- 
 chafed for them. 
 
 The great, and, indeed, the only purpofe, that any pre- 
 minm cbu anfwer, which the Buaiu of Truitees are enabled 
 to o.'^er, is to iiifpire an emulation anjong th.e various manu- 
 f:iclurers, to excel each other, as far as pcflible; in their dif- 
 ferent
 
 C 43 ] 
 ferent branches, as to the finenefs i.r.d quality of their goods; 
 and, at the fame time, to afford them fome ' eafonabie hope, 
 that, if they are fuccefiful, the premium u ill inJcrniiify them, 
 even though the article for which it was granted fliould not 
 find a ready market. When manufatT;urers are once brought 
 to this way of thinking, and to eiieeni honour before an im- 
 mediate trifling profit upon the article under competition, 
 there is no great dati^er that ever this laudable fpirit Ihould 
 fubHde. V/e are all apt to th>nk as highly of ourleives as our 
 merit gives us any preteniions to do, and if a candidate 
 fhould be unfuccefsful for this year, he will not, for that 
 reaibn, i::ive up the conteft: the next, confcious to himfclf 
 that hf i^ polfeired of equal abilities, and enjoys every means 
 of maiinfacturirig goods of a quality no way inferior to thofe 
 of the fuccefsful candidate. The creating aid keeping alive 
 fuch a ij'irir, 1 fay, ftinuld be the principal view in granting 
 premiums, and if proper attention was paid to them, the 
 advantages which would thence arife could not fail of being 
 productive of very falutary eft'eifts ; for. wlien a peif.n has 
 attempted an improvement in any thing, it is net to be fup- 
 pofcd he will drop it till he thinks he has brought it to 
 perfection, nor will he be deterred from it, even tliougii he 
 flioukl have the misfortune to be unfuccefsful at fir'A. Cer- 
 tain I am, that no country in tlie world is better lituated for 
 carrying on the Woollen Manufacture to advantage, nor are 
 we deficient in any one article rcquiHtc for that pu'-pote, 
 but, on the contrary, enjoy many in a jnufh fnperior deg( ec 
 to our neighbours. Let us then ''ou'e fr-on: our prefer.t le- 
 thargy, and giv^e encouragement to oul Broad Clotii Manu- 
 facturers, ma-iy of whom have already brougliE it to that 
 flate of perfection which no Scotfman need be afiiamed to 
 wear; and, if they find a ready lale for it, which entirely 
 depends upon ourfelves, there is no doubt, that, as they are 
 pofTefTed of the means, fo neither are they deficient in abili- 
 ties to mainifaCtpre as fine cloth as any in Europe. 
 
 Befides the conlumpt of our own country, this article 
 would find a ready lale at foreign markets. I now fet forth 
 ■what 1 have learned from experience in my firlt trade ; I 
 wifii it had always been carried on in that manner. I re- 
 quired no money. The honed Woollen merchant trufted 
 me fome pieces of Scots Woollen cloth, from 4 s. to 10 s. per 
 yard, and fome dozen pairs of Stockings from 20 d. to 4s. 
 per pair. Thefe goods I bartered at Hamburgh for goods 
 that found ready fale and good profit here, the flockings par- 
 ticularly ; for thofe that colt me 20 d. per pair, I got one 
 yard of linen, valued there at 30 Itivers. This J fold in E- 
 
 dinburgh
 
 [ 44 ] 
 trinburgh at 5 s, per yard, and a great pcr.nywonl. it was. 
 All m^ hofe wer.t off in tiiat j.-roportion for I'cveral voyages, 
 til! I g;'.ve np going to fea, and conld not get a proper ptr- 
 foij lo attend it. I w ifh I liad never dealt in auv other 
 branch, and continued going over to Hambiirgli mj felf ; in 
 v'hich cafe it is hard to l";iy vhat profit miglit liave been 
 marie. I have fhirts by me, that have been in common life 
 of rny wearing thele twenty-fix y^avs paft^, which coft me a 
 jMir f.f (lockings per yjird, value 22 d. at Leith ; and which 
 aoy man of b'ifinefs might wear. They are now worn as 
 tliin as a cobv/eb. 1 have Scots linen, that I bought only 
 ieven years ago, whicli cofl me 5$. 9 d. per yard, that is 
 now all to piccv-^s, thoujjh no oftcner worn tiian in the ordi- 
 naiv courfewith my old Hamburghers. 
 
 I t'-.onght it neceifiuy to mention this circumflance, in or- 
 der to (liew how very ridiculous it i<; to attempt to rival 
 oiher countries in what is their natural manufat^lure, and 
 the more cfpecially as we can be fupplied with that very ar- 
 licle from them, v\'ithout taking any money out of the coun- 
 try, but by bartering the comn;odities of our own, which 
 is our natural production, and whicli gives mucli better and 
 more lucrative emplovment to our labouring people, at the 
 fiime time that tliey can engage in it from a itate of infancy, 
 to the very laft Aage of old age. 
 
 Leading, now, the Broad Cloth Manufa<n.ory, to whicli 
 I molt fincerely wifh every degree of fuccefs, and that cn- 
 ccuragcmcnt from the public, which. I flatter myfclf ihey 
 will think a br;ii ch of fudi va(t national importance highly 
 merits, 1 Iliall oiler a few obfervations on the Stocking Ma- 
 nufactory. 
 
 This branch has long been carried on w ith a pretty tole- 
 rable de^Tee of iucceis in ditierent counties of Scotland ; but, 
 from a p.^rtialiry againlt the manu}a<ihues of our own coun- 
 try, and in favours of thofc of foreigners, which I will ven- 
 ture to fav, is a vice peculiar to the Britifli nation alone, 
 we do not even fuppl^omf Ives with that article, which, 
 weie wc to follow the example of f lie Dutch, I'rench, and 
 <)tli'"i»naiions, who wifelv prefer their own comn;oditics to 
 thofe of t very oiher country, we might not only manufac- 
 ture every pair of Stockings neccfHuy for our own con- 
 fuinption, hut export great quantities abroad. 
 
 Scotland is iinquefliniably poflefTed i-f materials, by which 
 the nianuTafturer can furni-Hi fl<;ckings from 6 d. to 10 s. 6d. 
 r.iy even to 40 s. per pair ; and I can fay, from my own 
 eKperieice, that I have purchafed flockings made here, 
 better and cueapcr by 10 per cent, than ever I could pnr- 
 
 chafe
 
 r 45 ] 
 
 chafe Eiigiifh {lockings in any iliop in Edinburgh ; yet, to 
 our fl;ame be it faid, I have known feme (hop-keepers in this 
 city remit, or pay tliofe people called Engiijh Riders, but 
 more properly The Drainers of our Specie, from 3 to 4000 1. 
 llerling annually. But, that this ihould continue to be the 
 cafe is furcly an abfurdity of the firfl magnitude, vvhile we 
 happily p'-fTcTi many advantages over our indultrious neigh- 
 bours ; the price o4' fpinning, and all forts of labour, being 
 much cheaper ; and firing, rhat mofl eflential article, we 
 have at more moderate rates than the Englifn, almoft every 
 part of thi'^ country being plentifully fupplied with excellent 
 coal or turf, at very lf>w prices. 
 
 There is r.o great difficulty in alligning a reafon why, a 
 number of years ago, we fliould coniume a quantity of Eng- 
 li:h manufactured {lockings. They were the firil who prac- 
 tifed tlie method of weaving them in looms, and confequent- 
 Jy could afford to fell them cheaper than thofe which were 
 knitted wi;h the hand. But now that we have manufac- 
 tories of the fame kind fet up in many different parts of 
 Scotland, by people well fliilled in that branch, who can fur- 
 nifli the public Vvith goods of the fame quality, and at lower 
 prices, we fliall certainly be highly inexcufcable if %ve prefer 
 the manufacture of England, or any other country, to that 
 of our own ; and, if we want knitted {lockings, 1 dare ven- 
 ture to affirm, that this country {lands unrivalled in this ar- 
 ticle, both as to their quality and finenefs. 
 
 Aftor fupplying the confumption of our own country, I 
 am likewife fenfible, that the manufafturer may have a 
 ready fale for any quantity he can poflibly work up, at fo- 
 reign markets. 
 
 In the fevcn provinces of Holland they will fell to good ac- 
 count. Campvere is a free port for ilie encouragement of 
 this valuable llaple of Scotland. They will alfo find a ready 
 market at Bremen, Hamburgh, Lubcck, and Dantzick, all 
 of which are alfo free ports, and fupply the greateft part of 
 Europe with thefe goods. 
 
 The fenfible honeil Zetlandcrs have long made great 
 quantities of coarfe {lockings for the Hamburgh market, and 
 get good returns for tliem ; and I have had {lockings from 
 the wool of that country fo fine as to be worth los. 6d. per 
 pair. No filk was finer ; and they lafted longer with me 
 than any four pairs of filk or worfled {lockings I ever v^^ore. 
 Indeed, I have been told by a gentleman from England, 
 who has been regularly bred in this branch, that the wool 
 of this country is as fit for making ftockings, both coarfe 
 
 and
 
 c 45 J 
 
 and fine, as any r.ool he ever wrorgbt in England, or got 
 from any other pl.icc. 
 
 The Storking Manufactory hcis indeed an advantas;." over 
 tlie Brond Cloth; and that is, that it can be carried on with- 
 < i.t lo (neat a ft'>ck ; the want of which, to the ingenious me- 
 (!)Hp.ic and manufacturer, is a great drawback upon the im- 
 j'-rovcments of lliis country. Happily, however, thi« diffi- 
 culty is now beginning to be removed, in a great meafure, 
 1 y the public fpirited conduct of fevcral ncblcmeii and gen- 
 tlemen of property, v.-ho, with a difnitcreilednefs worthy 
 «'f their exalted characters, have cllabliliied manulaOlores 
 cf vr.rious kind";, in diflerent parts of tlic country, not fo 
 uincl: with the view of reaping any advar.tage to themfelve?, 
 as giving bread to t'le hungry, employing tlie young as well 
 ■■'S thc' a-j-ed, and thu5 renderins; the one ufeful members of 
 lociety, whom, without being timeonfly inured to labour and 
 induftry, m:"-ht have proved ihc very bane of it ; while the 
 Oilier, by beina fupplied with inch work as they are capable 
 of pcrformi!ig, inflead of becoming burdens upon the public, 
 ?'.re enabled to maintain themfelves more comfortably and 
 decently, than tiiey pofTibly tan be in any Charity Work- 
 houfe. 
 
 Such aclions r.s thefe rcflciJl higher honour upon the per- 
 forners of them, than if they were to bellow the h ilf of 
 Their edates upon the poor. The one is doing good to his coun- 
 try, and to the individual at the fame time ; while the other 
 might be the mere cffcifts of a milkinefs of difpoltion, not 
 able to refiil: tlie fight of an object in dillrcfs, and therefore 
 1} ready enough, perhaps, to aiford him fome prefent relief. 
 This will no donbt be tluuight chai itv, and I fliould be (orry 
 to give it another name, or tliat the bowels of comp.illlon 
 of my fellow countrymen flioukl be finit againft tlie poor. But 
 lure I am, he who affords employment, and confcqncntly 
 prevents povertv, is poflefied of a more exalted notion of 
 charity, and dirtributcs it more ellec^ually, tlnn he, who 
 rcgardlefs of this, and unwilling to put hinifclf to any trou- 
 ble, affords the beggar Mho comes to his door, a fmall pit- 
 tance to prevent him from ftarving. 
 
 -'\mongfl the number of noblemen and gentlemen, who 
 might be taken notice of, as poflefTing this diiinterelted and 
 belt of all chTvitics, which I have been endeavouring to re- 
 commend, I (liall only mention two at prefent. The one is 
 his Giace the Duke of Argvle ; the other Lord Garden- 
 /ton. 
 
 The former, in conjunction \vi:h fome gentlemen of the 
 ( c>nty of Argvle, has ertabliflicd, at Invcrary, a manu- 
 
 facflure
 
 t 47 3 
 fa(n;iire of Yarn for coarfe Woollen Clod) and Blahkct?. tt 
 has been found fully to anfwer the laudable piirpuit'<! for 
 which it was intended, and is now in a nioft prolperous li- 
 tuation. In this manufaclor)^, (ixty or feventy children, be- 
 longing to the poor people in the neighbourhood, have con- 
 ilant employment at fpinning and carding. Two (^f t^iele 
 children are allotied to each wheel ; the one fpinnino-, anil 
 the <)ther carding alternately, as conllant empLymenr, 
 either at the one or the other, w auld be wearieionie, and 
 create a dillike, in fuch young minds, to the work altogether; 
 but by their changing hands, which they do frequently, they 
 begin with frefli vigour and Ipirits, and lo(^k upon their work 
 as a kind of amufement. Thefe poor children, many of 
 whom are under eight years of age, inftead of being a bur- 
 den upon their parents, or having an opportunity of learn- 
 ing thofe vices which are fo deilru^Stive to fociety, and in 
 the end bring ruin upon themfelves, and difgrace on all their 
 conne(51ions, are thus inured to a habit of honeft indufh-y, 
 and generally carry horiie about two fhillings each of clear 
 gains weekly to their parents. It would be needlefs here to 
 expatiate on the many advantages which mult unavoidably 
 refult from fo wife and fo humane an inllitution. Thefe 
 will naturally occur to every feeling heart, and, I hone, 
 will be a fufficient inducement to others, who have \i in 
 their power, to imitate an example fo truly public-ipirited, 
 and withal fo highly charitable. 
 
 The other inllance of public-fpirit, which I am now to 
 mention, is that pra(Sifed by Lord Gardenllon, His Lord- 
 fliip has lately eredled a village, fltuated in a fine country, 
 called the Hoiu of the Mearns. Here, under the patronage 
 of fo worthy a man, every branch of manufac^ture, and all 
 kinds of induftry, are carried onto a furpriling degree. In 
 order to induce manufacflurers to fettle upon this fpot, every 
 poflible encouragement is granted. He not only fupniits 
 them with ground for hou'es and gardens, at ^d. per fall, Lui: 
 alfo allows every well recommended fettler in ilie village, 
 his houfe and garden rent Iree, for the tirit fit\en years, 
 and gives premiums to encourage dillerent branches of in- 
 dustry. 
 
 The improvements made at this place, in planting and 
 hedging, are very extenfive, and thriving better than -.wiy 
 I ever faw in this, or any other country 1 have liad an oj;- 
 portunity of vifiting. 
 
 But, there is one manufacRiory newly elbblifiied at this 
 favourite village, of which I caiuiot omit taking particular 
 notice j it is the manufa«ituring of llockings ca frames or 
 
 h'Onis.
 
 [ 48 ] 
 looms. By this loom, ftcckings, of worflcd^ thread and 
 cotton, are vrought in a moft expeditions manner, and can 
 be afforded good at very moderate price?. At the lame time, 
 JVIr Harley, the pcrfon engaged to luperintend this under- 
 taking, employs a ntniihcr ot" perfons in knitting (lockings; 
 by which means cu({on)crs can be Aipplied with whatever 
 hind they chufc. Tiic induftrious people, to which tiiis ma- 
 nufa<Story give bread, are very numerous ; and the expedi- 
 tion, with which tiiey Ipln both wool and Hax, is truly a- 
 rnazing. Here they all Ipin with both hands, with great 
 cafe, and have two pirns upon each wheel. I have I'eeu 
 many girls, not above twelve years of age, fpin, in this 
 manner, two flips a-day. 
 
 The improvements made at this place have undoubtedly 
 coft the proprietor a great outlay of money; btit, befides 
 the inward latisfac'^ion vi hich he muft enjoy in his own 
 mind, by being the means of relieving the dillreffcs of fo 
 many of his fellow-creatures, there is every reafon to expect", 
 that he will, in the end, get fuitable returns. 
 
 As an inflance how far a good example influences the 
 conduct of others, I am happy here to mention, to the ho- 
 nour of the gentlemen of the Farmers Club of the Alcarns, that 
 they fome time ago, in order to encourage the above Stock- 
 ing-ManufaClory, ordered Mr Harley to make a very pretty 
 uniform of his llocking cloth, with the word P/o'j) Itamped 
 on the buttons, and in which drefs they always appear at 
 their public meetings ; npr is there any doubt, that if fimi- 
 lar manufaelures were fet up in different counties, but that 
 c«inal encouragement would be given. 
 
 To the honour of the fame worthy gentleman, I cannot 
 omit taking notice of a very recent inllance of his public ipi- 
 rit. Ke has lately engaged and fent North, a native o^ 
 England, who is acknowledged to be inferior to none of his 
 countrymen, in the profeffion of Wool-combing. This per- 
 fon is not only to fuperintend that branch at Lawrence Kirk, 
 but is alio taken bound to inltrut'^, in the fame bufinefs, fuch 
 young people as his Lordfliip fliall pitch upon. .He has alio 
 engaged a perfon eminent in the cloth printing way. This 
 jveutleman, though a native of Scotland, has long relided in 
 kngland, bv which he has learned not only to be capital in 
 the cutting of any pattern which may be wanted, but likevvife 
 underllands, with a minnteneis little known in this country, 
 every article in the printing branch. He not only can print 
 cloths at the lowed value which is worn in this country, but 
 is equally fuccefsful in producing what may fuit the firlt la- 
 dy in tiie kingdom. If they want Indian chintz, from him 
 
 thty
 
 C 49 ] 
 
 they may litive an imitation, which the beft judges will be at 
 a Ids to dit'unguifh from an original; anJ. I have To tiigh an 
 opinion of my fair country -women, that, when cbey dilijo- 
 ver tliis to be the cafe, which I am certain they will, upf^n 
 a fair and candid compariibn, they will not have the I'raalleit 
 difficulty in giving encouragement to the elForis of tneir cwa 
 countrymen, in peference to the produdlions of the eaft, or 
 any other country under the fun. 
 
 Any eulogium, upon tlie patron and promoter of thefe 
 patriotic and praife-worthy undertakings, were i capanle of 
 doing jndice to his merit, which 1 confeis I am nor, miirht 
 be thought llattery. I (hall therefore only add, tli<it M'hile I 
 fincerely wilh his laudable endeavours, to promote the inte- 
 refts of his country, may be crowned with fuccc-lj, I am 
 certain after ages will hold in the higheft deoree of reve- 
 rence and eiiimation, the remembrance of that man, w hofe 
 chief ftudy, during life, was principally direi?ted to the good 
 of liis country, and to giving employment to I'uch, who, 
 without his friendly alliltancc might have been reduced to 
 beggary and want. 
 
 T, he only other article with which I fliall trouble the rea- 
 der under this Set^ion, which has unavoidably been drawn 
 out to a greater length than I at firfl intended, Ihall be that 
 of Hat-making. 
 
 This manufactory is not of an old (landing in Scotland, 
 but perhaps has been brought to greater perfection than any- 
 other which has hitherto been attempted ; and, in the coarfcr 
 kiuds of it, a conliderable quantity of wool is made ufe of. 
 Having fome time ago been in company with fbme of the 
 mofi: eminent hat-makers in Scotland, the converiation na- 
 turally turned upon the prefervation of the wool molt adap- 
 ted for their bufinefs, when it was the unanimous opinion of 
 all prefent, that the ftore -farmers, and all raifers of lambs 
 ought to clip their wool off" in the month of June or July ; 
 that the advantage the breeders of Jheep would reap from 
 fuch a practice, could not fail of being very ccnfiderable, as 
 they would always find ready fale for that woo! ; that it 
 would alfo be attended -with this farther advantage, of 
 making the fleece grow clofe, and preventing it from (had- 
 ing. This practice, it was agreed, would alio hinder the 
 wet from penetrating into the Ikin, and ket>p the lambs 
 from throwing their fleece, which they frequently do at the 
 time above mentioned, when nature Ihould be afliJted. As 
 this bufinefs is in a very thriving fituation, I think the Itore- 
 farmers, and the raifers of Iambs, fliould take the hint. »I 
 am fully perfuaded it would bring a great deal of money 
 into their pockets, and be of eflential fcrvice to the country 
 
 G in
 
 [ 50 ] 
 in general. Froni tlils, and otlier inaterials vvliicl) are pro- 
 duced in oar own country, the hat makers here are enabled 
 to make hats from is to 12 s. 6 d. per hat. 
 
 All other materials the h?.t-niakcrs of this country can be 
 fiipplied with upon as eafy terms as thofe of any other na- 
 tion. 1 am well informed, by lome lubdanti.il, and long 
 exi)erienced makers irf" hats, that the pile of fur, on cur 
 hare and rabbit fliins, is even fuperior to that produced in 
 moll places in Britain. Indeed, our northern fituation mult 
 make it fo; and as to the making of felt, or wool hats, ei- 
 ther for homu c )nfumption or exportation, they can be 
 made in this coi'ntry, and particularly about this place and 
 Glafgow, of equal quality, and on as good terms as any 
 •where in Great Britain, or even in turupe. If finer hats 
 are required, we can have no dilficulty in ])rocuring foreign 
 materials ; I mean the fur of the beaver, from which our 
 own manufuJturers can make hats from 12 s, 6 d. to the fin- 
 eit any country can produce, Thefe materials we can likewife 
 have upon the lowe(l terms, and of the bell quality, they 
 being; often imported into this country as a branch of trade. 
 But were we even to commiffion them from London, we can 
 have them brought to the port of Leith upon as fmall ex- 
 pence as they can be carried to any manufa<fluring town in 
 England. 
 
 1 mult beg leave further to oblcrve, that as there are no 
 peruais in this part of the ifland, employed in the making of 
 hats, bur fuch as have ferved a regular apprentice/liip of 
 fcven years to the bufinefs, fo they cannot but be complete 
 workmen. The confumpt of hats, for the inhabitants of 
 Koith Britain alone, may amount to 65,000 pt)unds llerling 
 annually : and a quantity much exceeding this in value, 
 might be made for exportation, if ready fale could be lound. 
 Belides the great quantity nf materials, already taken 
 notice of, we have likewile hands to carry on this branch 
 to an amazing extent ; and, the advantage accruing to the 
 nation, from luch an acquifition of traue, would be flat- 
 tering, in the highelt degree, to every lover of his country. 
 Not only would it afford employment to cur men brought 
 up to the bufinels, but even women, boys and girls, might 
 lend their aid, in carding, cleanfuig, and picking the ma- 
 terials, as v.'ell as in lining and cocking the hats. The 
 hands, thus employed, may earn good wages; the maCers, 
 too, might afford to fupply them every Saturday niglit, with 
 as much rea-^y money as would enable them to pay the baker, 
 butcher, and brewer, weekly. Thus might thefe working 
 people live in the faine maimer as their brethren in England 
 do, and make a circulation in every bufinefs in this country, 
 
 Thi«
 
 C '51 3 
 
 This branch, indeeci, iiands in need of no other encou- 
 ragement to make it profper, but that our countrymen f)i(>i;Id 
 throw off the unnatural partiality they have imbibed in I'.i- 
 vcur of every thing which is foreign ; make a fair campai i- 
 fon between hats ^lanufa^ftured here, and thofe whieh are 
 brought from England; and candidly give the preference to 
 that which appeals heft. Were this method to be fuUovied, 
 1 have not a doubt that the Scots hat would be found greatly 
 the belt at the price. 1 have already obferved, that our 
 hares and rabbit flcins are luperior to the Engiii'li. Every 
 other article made ufe of in the mdniifaclure can be had u- 
 pon as eafy terms, many much below, parricularly fervants 
 wages and firii^g, which is greatly needed in this bulinefs ; 
 and I dare venture to atnrm, that there are not hat-makers 
 more knowing in their bniinefs, or that employ better hands. 
 Than thofe in this town and neighbour-hood, in any part of 
 Great Britain. Add to this, that they are gentlemen who 
 ileal honourably, and will ferve a perfon who is entirely 
 ignorant of chocfing a good hat, upon the fame terms with 
 one who is ever fo well (killed. The retail bufinefs, 1 am 
 certain, they wo?ild not have taken up, had our merchants 
 and iiaberdafhers done them jidrice in that refpeOl ; but wheo 
 that was not the caff, I mult applaud their Ipirit, in refuling 
 to become mere drudges to ihi I'e gentry, moft of whom, I 
 will be pardoned to fay, have a-- little knowledge of the 
 goodnefs of a hat, as the peribn who comes to pus chafe it. 
 To prevent, theieiure, th-i-ir being entirely trampled upon 
 by thcfe pretenders to knowledge in the bnrinel'^ which tliey 
 have made their only Ihidy, leveral of them have opened 
 retail {Imps tor therafelves. To inform my count' v men, 
 that they can be i'crved upon better terms by the tnar.ufac- 
 turer himlelt, than by a perfon who perhaps conanilli ns the 
 goods from a fecond or third hand, would be olfering a poor 
 complinjent to their underftandings. I latlier ciiule to rclt 
 the force of my argument, upon tiie benefit which mult ;e- 
 fult to the country, by encouraging it", manufactures, than 
 upon any trifling gain which would undoubtedly ccu'er ni 
 the purchafcrs pockets, by applying to the real manufacturer, 
 inltead of a haberdafner, who brings large quantities of 
 goods from foreign countries, with which he couid be equal- 
 ly well fupplied at home. A conduiSt fuch as this lurely de- 
 ferves the fevereft animadverfion, and I hope the public will 
 beftow it, by deferting thofe Ihops which are entirely cal- 
 culated to drain the country of the fpecie, and reiorting to 
 fuch where they are certain it will be employed in giving 
 bread to all around them. 
 
 Thi^ Se(B:ion has indeed drawn out to a length which I 
 G 2 little
 
 little expe(5led. There is, however, one article, vhith I 
 think of the higueft confequence to every branch of the 
 "Woollen Manulacture, and which I therefore cannot omit 
 taking notice of. It is with regard to the Cards employed 
 in th;jt bulinefs. It has for loire time been t!ie fubjeCt 
 of c tin plain t, that moft of thefe inlhumcnts made iiie of in 
 Scotland, have been Inch as were judged part fervice by the 
 iiighfh, much to the prejudice of ihe manufac'ture of Scot- 
 land. Every one who kni.ws any thiiig of this matter muft 
 be ienfible, that when the teeth of tlie cards are broke or 
 deftiojed, it is impoflible to malce the rowings, as they are 
 called, evenly j the thread fuffers in the fame manner ; and, 
 ■when it comes to the cloih, inllead of havmgit quite fmooth, 
 as it cuglit lo be, innumerable knots are the conlcquence. 
 
 Our wife neighbours the Knglilh forfaw the bad etl'eOls 
 with which fucii a praiTlice mufl imavoidaby be latcnded ; 
 and, for that rtafon an a^t of parliament was palt in the 
 reign of Charles II. proliibiting the importation of foreign 
 wc'ol cards, in ihe following words: *« WHFJREAS, by tlie 
 a<fts of parliamciit made in the third year «'f King tdward 
 IV and the thiny-ninth ot ^iieen Elizabeth, and lieveral 
 other flatutes beiore tiiat time made, it is enaJtcd (among 
 other things theiein contained} That no cards for wool, nor 
 iron thread, (commonly called white wire) Ihal! be imported, 
 lent, or conveyed into this v.^alm of Kngland, wherein the bell 
 iron thread, or wire tor making wool cards is made, and by 
 the iaid manufacture of making and drawing of wire, and 
 xvool cards, veiy many poor people of this kingdom, and their 
 fanrUes, have been employed and maintained, and the wool 
 tards made thereof are of great concernment to this king- 
 dom, for the good making of woollen cloth : AND 
 \V H E R K A S, contrary to the laid flatutes, not only 
 much foreign card wire, but alfo foreign wool cards, have 
 been in thcie late times imported into this kingdom, 
 and aHo within' tiie fame, many old wool cards are, by 
 ill dilpofed perfons, {U>r their piivare lucre) bought up, and 
 the oH iron wire, of the laid old wool cards, beir.g very »veak, 
 and iniiifficient for the well carding of wool, is put into new 
 leatlicr and new boards, and lo altered and fold to ignorflut 
 people, for new wool cards, to their great detriment, and the 
 indamaging of their work, carding of wool, and the cloth 
 made thereof; Bv all which very great inconveniencies have 
 been found, by experience of clothiers, in their making of 
 Li.</lifii cloih, which is lately much dtbafed and decayed, 
 and wherein this naiicn is greatly concerned, to uphold and 
 encourage ;lie well making thereof, in and bv all ways and 
 rneans, ill any ways condutible tliMeunto : Be it therefore 
 eaadtvi^ by tlie King's moft excellent Majcfty, by and with 
 
 the
 
 [ 53 ] 
 
 the advice and confent of" the lords Spiritual and Temporal and 
 tlie Comirons, aflenibled in parlian^ent ; and it is hei eby enac- 
 ted, by tlie authority aiortlaid, that no foreign wool cards, or 
 foreign card wire, or iron wire for making of wool cards^ 
 be imported iMo this kip>j^doin of England, dominion of V/ ales, 
 or any part thereof, vor uied wicliin the fame, nor any card 
 wire, taken out t.f old cards, be from henceforth put into new 
 leatlier, ap.J new card boards, nor any fuch wool cards, made 
 thereof, be put to fale, upon the paifis penalties and forfei- 
 tures hereafter following; that is to lay, every perfon or per- 
 lons, who ihall import, or bring any foreign wool cards, or 
 foreign card wire, or iron wire, for malang of wool cards, 
 into the kingdsjm of England, duinini^'ii of Wales, or any parts 
 thereof, or make any wool carc'r, of any fuch old card wire, 
 as aforcfaid, or put the fame to lale, fhall forfeit the faid 
 wool cards, and card w ire, or iron wire, for making wool 
 cards, or, the value thereof, if the lame be not feized, the 
 one half part thereof to the King's Maje(|-y, and the other 
 half part thereof to fuch perlon or perlbns, who Ihall firlt 
 lei?e, or fue for the fame, by aclicn of debt, plaint, bill, 
 information, or indiOlmcnt, in any of his Majelty's courts of 
 record at Weitminirter, or within the county, city, burgh, 
 or town corporate, where fuch offence fliall be committed, 
 •wherein no elleign, prote(5tion, wager of law, or injun(5lion, 
 /hall be allowed or admitted. 
 
 " Provided always, that this adl fhall not extend to hinder 
 ,the owncis of any wool cards to caufe them to be amended, 
 for their own ufe, or to tranfport or fell (for tranfportation 
 only) all their old worn wool cards, in parts beyond the 
 J'eas, out of his Maje(ty's dominions." 
 
 Though it might have been expected, that this act would 
 have extended fo far, as to prevent the importation of thefe 
 fecond handed cards into Scotland, and though the a^R itfelf 
 might 'very naturally bear fuch a conltrutaon, yet as no 
 man, or particular body of men, are by it diretled to put 
 the fame into execution, the conftant practice lias been, of 
 importing feveral thoufand dozens of fecond hand pairs of 
 cards into Scotland annually, to the very great detriment of 
 the Woollen Manufacfture, the raw material having been 
 thereby injured, by eftitnation, at leafl fix per cent. 
 
 So fenfible were the fy^incipal WoUen Manufacturers of this 
 country, of the great lofs the continuance of liich a ]iracT.ice 
 muft be, not only to themfelves, but to the fabric in which 
 they were employed, that feveral of them applied to the 
 Board of Truftees, by a memorial, fo far back as November 
 1775, ftatJng the facl, and craving that Honourable Board 
 would recomniend it to the Royal Burghs, and their Com- 
 
 miflionery
 
 C 54 3 
 
 miffioners, to apply to the legiflature to have the prohibitioa 
 cxteiificd to Scotland. 
 
 The above application was at this time made, becaufe 
 thel'e memori:i!ills had been informed, that a law was ex- 
 pected to pals, the then next feafon of Parhament, maV'.ng 
 fundry regulations, with iefpc(5t to the manufaftures of this 
 country, and that thele regulations were principally to be 
 pointed out, by Conimiflloners employed by the Royal Borghs 
 of Scotland. 
 
 No notice has hitherto been taken of this memorial ; for 
 wiiat realbn I have not been able to learn. Certain, how- 
 ever, it is, that fo great an evil requires a fpeedy and an 
 effechial remedy, as the very exigence of our Woollen Ma- 
 luifaciure in a great mealnre depends upon it. It would 
 likewifc employ a number ol" liands to make To great a quan- 
 ■^tity of cards, as is requiiile for the conlumption of this coun- 
 try, and at the fame time add conhderably to his Majelty's 
 revenue of excil'c, becaufe the qviantity of leather nectflary 
 for that purpofc would be at lealt 2000 lib. weight, and this 
 leather pays a duty of three half pence per pound. 
 
 I have already endeavoured to apologife for the length of 
 thi$ fedlion. I hope the importance of the fubjec^t will be 
 thought the beft I can offer. That it may be viewed in the 
 fame light by the re(t of my fellow countrymen ; and that 
 proper encouragement may be given to the (everal branches 
 I have taken notice of, is my utmolt wifh. Many other ar- 
 ticles, in the woollen way, fell properly to be mentioned un- 
 der this fe(fti')n ; but thefe, as they are of a more triffling 
 nature, for the fake of brevity, I have not infilled upon. 
 Indeed, if the principal branches are duly attended to, the 
 inferior ones will follow of courfe. 
 
 SECTION
 
 C ss 1 
 
 SECTION IIL 
 
 Of the Fisheries. This being an article of trade, in the prd" 
 fecution of which we require no foreign aid, and viay ac- 
 quire many and great advantages, fhouli therefore be 
 purfued with unremitting perfeverana and aflivliy. 
 
 T is an obfervation founded on the experience of ages, that 
 the Icfs expence and oatlay of money, which is employed 
 in any branch of trade, fo much the greater reafon has the 
 adventurer in that trade to hope for fuccefs. 
 
 This obfervation, I humbly conceive, could never be ap- 
 plied with more propriety than in the preient inlrance. 
 
 In many branches of this trade, the profecutors of it are re- 
 lieved from feveral articles of charge, which unavoidably 
 fail upon thofe employed in almoft every other occupation, 
 
 I fhall only inftance a few. The farmer, after purchafing 
 all the utenfils made ufe of in hufbandry, as well as the grain 
 which he puts into the ground, muft likewife, belides main- 
 taining his labourers, pay very largely to the proprietor of 
 that ground, for the liberty of tilling it. - The manufac- 
 turer ; the merchant ; in fliort every perlbn whatever, who 
 carries on any bufinefs, as well as thofe who do not, whether 
 they refide in town or country, have innumerable articles to 
 pay for, of which thofe who plow the watery ocean, in fearch 
 of iifli, that great fource of riches to every country, whole fi- 
 tuation affords an opportunity of catching them, are entirely 
 relieved. After they have once furniihed out their Bulles 
 or Veflels, they have little other expence to look for ; and 
 even in this, they are wifely afflfted by government in 
 various inftances. They are loaded with no fliop rents ; 
 no public burdens to the King or Royal Burghs ; nor do they 
 pay any thing for tilling that element, from which they expe-it 
 to reap their harvell. Thefe, furely, are encouragements 
 which ought not to be flighted : But. though none fuch had 
 any exiflence, I may venture to aiBrm, that tliis trade, if 
 properly managed, would turn out a lucrative one to the ad- 
 venturer, and a certain fund of wealth to the nation in ge- 
 neral. 
 
 There are different kinds of fifheries which may be car- 
 ried
 
 [ 56 ] 
 
 ricd on with great advantage. Tl;efe I flial! fpeal: to In the 
 follou'ing order : 
 
 FirJ}, The Sahnon-fifhing, carried -on in rivers, and in a 
 certain part of the fea, into which thefe rivers tminy tliem- 
 lelyes. 
 
 S':co}idlyy Tlie Whale-fifliing, carried on in Greenland. 
 
 Thirdly, The Ccd .ind Lini^-filhii.g, which may be carried 
 en in many places to advantage, and pai ticiilarly on the coails 
 oppofite to tlie Welt Hitvhlarn.1: ; as Vv'tll as in various lalt-\va- 
 tcr lochs, levcral of which run far up the country. And, 
 
 Fourthly, The Herring; or, as it is commonly called, Ths 
 White Htrrivg F:/hcry. 
 
 It will not be iieceirary to beflow many words upon the 
 firft {'>f thefe articles. All the Salmon fifhir.gs in Scotland, ori- 
 ginally, and of right, belonged to the Sovereign ; but were 
 granted, upon dilFerent occalions, to the Royal Burghs, next 
 adjacent totliefe rivers, or to the Noblemen and Gentlemen, 
 whofe eftates lay upon th.cir banks. Several burghs ilill re- 
 tain the property of them ; otiiers, not thinkmg them of 
 great confequencc, as indeed they were not fome centuries 
 ago, granted the rights they had aci]nired from the Sovereign, 
 tnher to fome leading man in the burgh, or to foine noble- 
 man or gentleman in tlie neighbourhood, I'ometimes for a 
 trifling conlideration, and at others on account of fome real 
 or imaginary lervice done the community. 
 
 Tlie importance, however, of thefe filhings, which for- 
 merly were thougiit of fo little ronfequence, now afford an 
 article of conmierce highly beneficial to this coimtry. We 
 owe our improvements in many branches to our intercourfe 
 with the Englifh ; but in nothing more than in this article. 
 Salmon-finiing';, which formerly were of little or no effima- 
 tion, by Englilli adventurers taking tacks of them, now give 
 employment and bread to many induftrious people, and bring 
 a great deal of money into the country, at the lame time 
 that they enrich the proprietors. I believe, I may venture 
 to fay, that, next to the article of our Black Cattle, Salmon 
 brings more ready cafli into the country, than any other in 
 w hicli we deal, ft has this further advantage, that every 
 fixpence which is produced by luch commerce, is earned al- 
 moll entirely at the expence of bodily labour ; nor is there 
 the fame danger in over-fifhing a river, which there is in 
 over-labouring a field of corn-ground. The one may be 
 fcourged in fucha manner as to be rendered ufelefs for years 
 to come. The other, if proper attention is paid to the pre- 
 fervation of the fpawn, which every fkilful perfon will take 
 care lliall be the cafc; is plentifully fnpplicd bv the luxuriance 
 
 of
 
 [ S1 ] 
 
 cf that occr.n, which is Briiaiti's greateft boaft, and the fource 
 of all its riches, and of all its glory. 
 
 Such being the litiiation of moil: of the Salmon fifliings in 
 Scotland, it would be needlefs in me to dwell longer upon 
 thcni. I am perfuaded they are at prefent under as proper 
 management as the nature of the thing will admit of; and I 
 hope, for the fake of this country, they will long continue to 
 be fo. 
 
 The next article I propofed to fpeak to, under this Se6lion, 
 Was that of the Cnenland Fljhery. 
 
 Thii braiicli of trade has undoubtedly brought a great deal 
 of money into the country, or which is the fame thing faved 
 much from going out of it. I was among the firfl who pro- 
 moted it in this country ; was one of the firlt named as 
 a manager of the Edinburgh Whale-filhing Company ; among 
 the firlb who fublci ibed to the ftock ; and has more of the 
 Itock in my name, at this day, than any one partner of tliat 
 Company. With a few other merchants in Edinburgh, I 
 fitted out two other fliips for the Greenland trade, viz. the 
 Prince and Princefs of Wales, and continued the trade feveral 
 years ; and after this I bought two fliips of the Edinburgh 
 Whale- fiihing Company, on my own proper account, iu 
 ■which fome gentlemen joined me, and took one half concern ; 
 but I held the other half of both Ihips, and all the materials 
 and llores, which, I believe, was rifqning more in the trade, 
 than has been done by any man in Scotland ; and I conti- 
 nued this till one of the fliips, the Edinburgh, was loft in the 
 ice ; after which I flill continued the fliip Leith for eleven 
 years more, though with very bad fuccefs. 
 
 I have been the more particular on this article, as an a 
 nonymous writer, imder the iignature o{ Scotia ^r/iicus, has 
 taken it upon liim to advance, that I was foon tired of one 
 branch of bufinefs. The above, I think, is a lufficieiit con- 
 futation of that allegation ; and, had this anonymous gentle- 
 man been at the trouble of examining the Cuftom-houfe 
 boQks in Leith, before he had adventured on his hearfay 
 ftory, he would have there l^een, thit I likewife purfued 
 another branch of trade, with (Icadinefs, for twenty years 
 gether, viz. the Hamburgh trade. 
 
 The lengih of time, in which I was engaged in the Whale- 
 fifliing bulinefs, atlbrded me many opportunities to be 
 thoroughly acquainted with the nature of it, and from thence 
 lean venture to fay, that, if it is properly managed, it may 
 turn out a ftill more lucrative branch of trade than it has 
 hitherto done. 
 
 The government continues to give a very handfcme pre- 
 mium to thofe who chafe to fit out Ibips for this flfliery ; and
 
 C 58 ] 
 
 the conditions upon which this premium is to be obtained, are 
 fo wifely framed, that the f]iip|would be unfit for the voyage, 
 were any one of tliem to be omitted ; nay, flaould the pre- 
 mium be difcontinned, which probably will be the cafe fbme 
 years hentc, thole who fit out /hips for the Greenland 
 fifliery, will find it necefiary to furnifh them with every ar- 
 ticle the government lias fpecified they fliall have to be en- 
 titled to the premium. 
 
 Some Companies in Scotland, particularly the Dunbar 
 Whale-fifliing Company, have made very handfome profits 
 by this trade. The Edinburgh Whale-filhing Company might 
 likewife have made confiderably more than they have done, 
 had they n(Jt fully infured every fhip. This pracftice took 
 away a great deal of profits, which otherwife would have 
 fallen to have been divided among the adventurers. Tliough 
 I am far from being an enemy to Infurance, but on the con- 
 trary, think it a wife and a very falutary meafure, yet where 
 the Adventurers nre fo numerous as in tlie Edinburgh Whale- 
 filliing Company, and the (liares fo fmall, I cannot help think- 
 ing, that Infurance, in that particular, was very unnecelfary ; 
 for, fuppofnig the worft that could have happened, that fome 
 of their fhips had been loft, that lofs was to fall upon fo ma- 
 ny, and in fuch fmall fums, that they would not have felt it. 
 The Dunbar Whale -fifliing Company infure none of their 
 fhips ; and it is owing, in a great meafure, to this, that they 
 have been enabled to divide fo much more profits than the 
 other. At the fame time that I am of this opinion with re- 
 gard to large Companies, I am equally clear, that where only 
 One, or even a Imall Company, are engaged in an adventure 
 of I hat nature, they flieuld never allow their fliips to go to 
 fea without being infured, becaufe the lofs, if any were to 
 happen, as it behoved to be borne by a few, would confe- 
 quently fall very heavy ujwn them ; and the ])remium for 
 Infurance, in fuch cafes, lliould be confidered by them as an 
 object of no confequcnce, when, perhaps, their whole for- 
 tunes were in the balance. 
 
 The Ling, Cod, and Tufl<-fifliing, might alfo be rendered 
 a very important branch of trade to this country. It may be 
 carried on with great fuccefs on the coafts of Orkney and 
 Zetland, as well as on thofe of the Weft flighlands, and in 
 the various falt-water lochs, with which that country a- 
 bounds. 
 
 I muft, however, take notice of one very necefTary pre- 
 caution to be obferved in this, as well as the Herring-filhing, 
 and that is, with regard to the killing and faking them in 
 proper time, after they are catched. Every one knows, that 
 the blood of ail living creatures, after they are deprived of 
 
 breath
 
 [ 59 3 
 
 Aiddeniy congeals : and, if not taken ofF, by fome means or 
 other, corrupts and renders ufeleis the whole body. In crea- 
 tures of fat or oily lubilances, fiich as the herring, this, in a 
 peculiar manner, mult be tlie cale. To prevent, therefore, 
 fo great a misfortune, 1 would recommend it to thole em- 
 ployed in our filheries, immediately when they get the fifh 
 upon deck, to cut their throats with a fmall knile. They 
 will then bleed freely, which cannot happen, if they are al- 
 lowed to die by any other means. After this the gills and 
 guts are to be taken out, and the fifh inftantly falted. This 
 iimple pn>cefs will render the filh wholefome, and quite white 
 and tranfparent. It will have this further advantage; a great 
 deal lefs lalt will be neceflary ; whereas, if they arc allowed 
 to lie a few hours dead, without being bled, as above-men- 
 tioned, more fait will be needed; the fiin will not be io good ; 
 and the herring, in particular, owing to its richnei's, by that 
 time, will be advanced in fuch a Itate of corruption, that all 
 the fait on board will not be fufficient to cure them. 
 
 The Dutch, who ar^ allowed, on all hands, to be excellent 
 fifliermen, obferye this method ; and I would beg leave, in a 
 particular manner, to recommend the prat^lice of it to my 
 countrymen, as I am convinced they would loon fee the fa- 
 lutary elFet^s of it, by getting the preference at the market, 
 to thofe, who, through indolence or inattention, negledted 
 to cure their filh after this manner. 
 
 So nice, indeed, are the Dutch in this refpedl, that thofe 
 of fuperior rank will not touch a flfii which conies dead to 
 market. This makes them famous for having the fineft of 
 fifii at their tables. Their fifliermen have well-boats on pur- 
 pofe to keep them alive, and I have feen fix IHvers, equal to 
 our fixpence halfpenny, given for a haddock alive, when fix 
 of the fame fort of fifli, which had been brought dead to mar- 
 ket, might have been purchafed for that money. 
 
 In further corroboration of the propriety of this manner of 
 curing fifn, I cannot here omit taking notice of two cargoes 
 of Ling and Cod, which were brought to Leiththis year, fhe 
 one belonged to Mr James Chalmers merchant in Leith, and 
 the other to Captain William Fergnfon, of Peterliead. Tliefe 
 cargoes were caught in the Welt Highlands, and moil part 
 of them in Loch Gairlcch. Both were cured in the manner 
 1 have been recommending; both found ready fale and were 
 indeed excellent fifh, being fo white and clean that one might 
 have feen through them by holding them betwixt one and the 
 light. The filh of the fiiit mentioned cargo, however, was 
 pleafanter to the tafte than the lalt, though both were equally 
 clean and well cured. This difference 1 can attribute (blely 
 to the former's being cured with great or foreign fait, while 
 
 H 2 the
 
 [ 6o ] 
 
 the proprietor of the other cargo made ufe of nothing but na- 
 tive or fmall fait. 
 
 The laws with regard to tlie duric on forciirn fait, to be 
 ufed ill our fisheries, are in many rcfpccls conliiicd and i''er- 
 plexed, and the officers, whole province it is to collec^^ or in- 
 I'pect the fait revenue, often itrctch ]H)ints, which are not 
 very clear, too far ; by whic h means, many who would make 
 ufe of foreign fait, which is undoubtedl3' nnich fujxrior for 
 the purpofes above mentioned, to that of our own country 
 produce, are afraid to do fo, on account cf the heavy duty. 
 The legiflatuie, who, much to the honour of thofe who are 
 at the helm of affairs, gives every encouragement to the 
 Newfoundland and all oiher branches of fiihing, I am pcr- 
 iuaded, do not tie up the hands of tliofe oiiiccrs or infpe<Slors 
 in fuch a manner, as that they might not lake the lame du- 
 ties for a certain quantity of white fi!h cured with that fait, 
 for h«me conlumption, which they do for herrings. The 
 duty paid for the fait ufcd in curing one barrel of herrings, is 
 a Ihilling. I would therefore propofe, that the like fum, and 
 no more, fhould be paid i'ov as mucli foreign lalt as would be 
 fullicicnt to cure, for home conlumption, ^00 lib. weight of 
 ling, cod, tulk, or any other fait- water filh. 
 
 Indeed, tbe Dutch are lb fully convinced of the utility of 
 having a plentiful fupply of fait, properly adapted for their 
 fifheries, that they impofe no duty whatever on foreign lalt, 
 and 1 am apt to think it would fliew the wifdom of our legi- 
 slature, were tliey to follow their example. The foreign 
 fait, thus imported into their country, free of all duties, they 
 boil up, which renders it (tronger and fairer. This they call 
 Jli/f upon Jalt. Lcfs of it cures the Hl!i, while, at the fame 
 time, it likcwifc keeps them pure and white, even to the very 
 bone. 
 
 No nation, I dare venture to fay, undcrflands trade better 
 than the Dutch ; and, for that very leafon, there is no na- 
 tion which lays fewer rellraints upon it. The tilheries they 
 confider as a capital branch, and therefore dog it witli no 
 incumbrances. I am fully convinced it might be rendered 
 equally capital to Great Britain, and can fee no gooil reafon 
 Avhv we fliould not fliew the fame regard to its interefts. 
 
 But, it is now time to fay lomething on the Herring 
 fidiery, which was tiic lalt article I propoled to treat of under 
 this ScLHinn. 
 
 This iilliing, the Dutch honours with the name o{\\\c great 
 Fifhing, The Whale-fifliing, as being only a fecondary 
 brai • !i to it, they term the claim^ or fviall fijhing. Our Wef- 
 tern Higlands are niolb excellently litnated for carrying on 
 this great trade, as well as the Ling, Cod, and Tulk filhings. 
 
 Nature
 
 r 6i ] 
 
 Nature has fupj-licd iheni with fo many fine inlets from the 
 iVa, called iochi, and inch excellent harbours in thele lochs, 
 that no perlon could figure their iafcty and conveniency, 
 witliout being c.n the ipor, and viewing them. 
 
 Yor the encouragement of this grer.t branch, government 
 has beflovved leveral premiums ; nor tan it be laid that thev 
 are diftributed with a niggard hand. 1 muftj, liowever; be 
 forgiven to obfcrve, that the legiflature, when they granted 
 thtie premiums, do not leem to have been lo well informed, 
 (I am certain they are not lojudicioufly applied) as when they 
 granted the }>!eiriiums to the \\ hale-fiihtry. In this branch, 
 no article of tackling, llores, &c. is impoied upon the adven- 
 turer, but \\ hat he necefTarily behoved to take along with him, 
 even had he not been tied down by the law, if he wiflied to. 
 be fuccefsful. In the herring-fiihing. 1 am forry to fay, this 
 is far from being the cafe. The adventurers in this brancij 
 are obliged to furnifli their veffels or buffes with many ar- 
 ticles, M liich are fo far from being necelfary, that they are 
 even incommodious, and anlwer no other purpofe than 
 putting the adventurers to an additional outlay of money. 
 •Among feveral of thele articles which might be taken notice 
 t)f,l Ihall only n^tntion one, w bich conlllts with my own know- 
 ledge, and of wiiich I have heard many complaints from dif- 
 ferent perfons, who gave up the trade on that account. The 
 article I mean, is the great quantity of nets they are ordered 
 to carry our, each veifel or bufs being obliged to have 250 
 fquare yards of nets on board, for every ton they meafure, 
 which, I am j^erfuaded, is at leaft the double of what is ne- 
 cefTary, tlie one half being gererally rotten and fpoiled, as 
 it is impoffible to ufe them, or get them properly dried, if 
 they could be made ufe of. 
 
 This, however, I only mention as an ol^eiSlion, amongft 
 many others, which might be offered, to the law as it pre- 
 fently (lands. My great objection is to the law itlclf, and I 
 'fha'l (ubmit it to the public with that deference which becomes 
 an individual, when treating of matters of public concern, 
 and, at the fame time, with that freedom which is the un- 
 doubted privilege of every Briton. 
 
 By the law, as it prefently ilands, the vefTcls employed in 
 the Herring-lilhing, entitled to the bounty, muit be of the 
 fize of 20 t(.)ns and upwards. Thei'e vefTels, before they can 
 receive a certificate, mufl: be furniflied with the flipulated 
 quantity of nets, calks, fait, and number of hands, which, 
 at a medium, makes the coft and outfit of every one of thele 
 vefTels, amount to no lefs a fum than 800 !. fterling. 
 
 It mult occur to every one, that (o large a fum as this is 
 not eafily railed in the Well Illands of Scotland, which put^ 
 
 it
 
 [ «2 ] 
 it out of the power of thofe who lie in the very heart of the 
 iiihing country, from availing themfelves of w iiai the public 
 principally meant to give them, employment, and what na- 
 ture had likewife fo Iciongly pointed onr, in affording them 
 io excellent a iituatioa fcr carrying on this branch of trade. 
 
 After giving employment to the inhabitants, and encour- 
 aging a new fpecies of merchandize in this country, the go- 
 vernment's next viev.', in granting tljefe bounties, undoubt- 
 edly was, to rear up ajhardy and ufefulbody of feaman, who, 
 in times of emergency, might be called forth to vindicate 
 ihe rights of Great Britain. 
 
 lam far from denying, that the intentions of government 
 have been fully anfwered in every one of thele views; but, 
 if they can be rendered itill more extenfive, it furely merits 
 the mature confideration of the public. With this defign, I 
 humbly beg leave to lay before them the following plan; 
 which, I am perfuadcd, were it, or any limilar one adopted, 
 might be attended with many falutary confequences, 
 
 (jovernmcnt allows a bounty of 50s, per ton, on all vef- 
 fcls fitted out, as already mentioned, for the White Herring- 
 il/licry. This bounty is paid on the arrival of the vefTels, or 
 a very fliort time thereafter, whether they are fuccefsful or 
 not, providing it appears, to the fatisfaction of the proper 
 officers, that the mailers and crews have done their duty ; 
 and there is no manner of doubt, it has been of much advan- 
 tage to the country ; a great number of vefTels, or bulTes, 
 Iiaving been fitted out in confequence thereof; who have 
 met with a degree of fuccefs Jafl year, hitherto unknown, 
 but which may reafonably be expeiSted to increafe, if fol- 
 lowed out witli perfeverance. 
 
 I lliall fuj^pole, that for feveral years pafl, at a medium, 
 150 biifTes have been fitted out annually for this trade, and 
 that about 10,000 1. (Itrling of bounty have been paid upon 
 them. I fhall alfo iuppole, that the quantity of Herrings 
 caught by theic bufTes, dividing the bounty by the number 
 of barrels properly cured and packed for the market, may a- 
 mount to 5 s. 6d. per barrel, reckoning the number of bar- 
 rels at about 6o>ooo. This is paid by tlie bounty on the 
 bufles, and if all, or any part of thefe herrings are exported, 
 the merchant receives from the public, another bounty of 2 s. 
 8d. per barre'. 
 
 Many people may think, that government could not pof- 
 fibly have devifed a more probable method of giving ftabihty 
 to the Britifti Herring-filhery, than by affording the bounties 
 and encouragements which I have faithfully narrated above; 
 and I have already acknowledged, that they have been pro- 
 diK^ive of many falutary effec^ls. But experience has con- 
 vinced
 
 [ 63 ] 
 vinced me, that thefe bounties, ftiliitary and efficacious as 
 they certainly have been, may (till be put uptm a better foot- 
 ing ; which leads me to the plan 1 humbly prelume to lay be- 
 fore the Public. 
 
 Inflead, therefore, of giving the bounty upon the ton of 
 lliipping, which is now the cafe, my propofal i^, that it 
 fliould be bellowed upon the herrings. Were the Icgiflature to 
 enaft, That for every barrel of herrings caught and proper- 
 ly cured for home confumptiou, a bounty of 3 s. and 6 d. per 
 barrel fiiould be jjaid, and 6 s. 2d. for every barrel exported, 
 without any limitations with regard to the mode of catching 
 them, I cannot entertain a doubc, that every purpofe, pro- 
 pofed by "government from the prefent bounty, would be an- 
 fwered. 
 
 It may be objedled to this plan, that the fame number of 
 feamen would not be bred, as by the prefent mode of giving 
 the bounty ; for that, as the vefTels or bulTes are obliged, be- 
 fore they receive the bounties, to produce certificates of 
 their having fifhed both feafons, that is, fummer and winter, 
 fo the boys and men employed in them, are hardy and fit 
 for any fervice ; whereas, were the bounties to be given as 
 I have propofed, a great deficiency in our able bodied fea- 
 men would be tiie confequence, as moll of the filhery would 
 then be carried in open boats, which would only be a nur- 
 fery for fifhermen inllead of feamen. 
 
 But to this, I beg leave to anfwer, in the firfl place, Tliat 
 though a great number of hands would undoubtedly be em- 
 ployed in open boats, yet it does not from thence follow, 
 that the fifliing by vefTels or bufTes would be given up. This 
 I am far from thinking would be the cafe ; on tlie contrary, 
 I imagine their numbers would rather be encreafed ; for, as 
 the adventurers would not then be fubjedl to the hardfliips 
 they at prefent labour under, on the outfit of tlieir vefTels, 
 before they can be entitled to the bounty ; fo, wlien they had 
 it in their own power, to at^ in that matter as they thought 
 proper, and were to receive a bounty equivalent to the quanti- 
 ty of herrings caught and properly cured by them, what they 
 faved on the furnilliings of tlie vefTtls would probably be be- 
 ftowed on engaging an additional number of hands ; it being 
 natural to fuppofe, that the more of thefe which were cm- 
 ployed, the greater chance would there be of catching a 
 larger quantity of fifli, which behoved then to be their only 
 objeifl. But, 
 
 id/y, Suppofe the alteration I have propofed fhould, in- 
 flead of increafmg, decreafe the number of veflels em]5loyed 
 in tliis branch, which I am far from thinking would be the 
 cafe; yet, ftill the additional number of hands which my 
 
 fchemc
 
 t 64 1 
 
 fcheme muft give bread to, would do much rrtorc than cotn- 
 penfate for any deficiency that could poflibly happen by lucli 
 an alteration. 1 have already obferved, that tlie titting oat 
 of a vefFci in fuch manner as to be entitled to the bnurity, 
 comes to lo large a fum, that it is altcgeiher out (,f the 
 power of molt people, wlio refide in thele places belt adap- 
 ted for carryiniT on the fiihing, at all to engage in it. Were 
 my plan to be adopted, however, there is iujc an idle hand 
 but what might be employed, much to their own advantage, 
 as well as to the bencJit of tiieir country. The boats and 
 tackling, necefTary for this bullnels, miglit be purchaled a: 
 an eafy rate, and the regard for the bounty would be a great 
 ftimulative for perlbns of all ranks and ages to engage in it. 
 I may likewife venture to fay, that this would prove as good 
 a nurfery for feamen as the other. Boys of almolt every age 
 may be employed in this fort of Hlhiiig ; they are expol'ed to 
 harcHliips unknown to thcfe who fail on board decked vefTel?, 
 and therefore prove the beit of feamen. For my own part, 
 I always preferred fuch ; and, though they might be a little 
 .lukward at fir(t, in fix months lime they generally proved 
 the molt nccelHiry liands on board. 
 
 Thefe are fome of the advantages, which I think could not 
 fail of following the propol'ed alteration of the bounties upon 
 herrings. Many others might be taken notice of: I Ihall, 
 however, content mylelf at prelent with only mentioning 
 one more, which is, that by their putting all our people in 
 motion, and having no idle hands in thole jilacer, to which 
 tJie herrings refort, we might loon be enabled to drive the 
 Dutch, and every other nation, out of the market. This, 
 indeed, is the great objec'l: to be ftudied in every branch of 
 trade or manufacture; for, if we allow foreigners either t<; 
 undcrlel us, or to fupph" other countries wiili better goods 
 than we can do, it is not to be expected that theie couuirits 
 fliould deal with us. If, however, all our idle hands were 
 eiTjployed, a premium given to make them indullrious, aiid 
 the duties taken otf the foreign fait, it is impollible tiiis could 
 be tiie cafe. It is well knov\ n the Dutch catcii tlie molt of 
 the fifii they export off our own coalls. Should not this 
 lead us ferioufly to reflecT^, what a reproach it is to the good 
 fenfc and underflandings of the Britilh nation, to lie idle by, 
 and fee the inhabitants of any other country, enriching thtm- 
 felves with what nature has in a peculiar manner bellowed 
 upon us, if we will only be at the trouble of leeking after 
 it? I hope this folly will foon be got the better of; and, I do 
 think, the adopting a plan limilar to the one above mention- 
 ed, is the molt prcbable method of attaining an end of fo 
 
 much
 
 [ 65 3 
 
 natural confequence : the completion of wuich ought ear™ 
 ncltly to be wifhed lor, by every real friend to his touutry. 
 
 I took the liberty of recommending to thofe of my coun- 
 trymen, who are, or may be employed in the Ling and Cod 
 fiihery, to follow the method prac'^ifed by the Dutch in the 
 prolecution of thai bufinefs. 1 am fo fully convinced of their 
 ikill in the herring branch, that I would beg leave to recom- 
 mend them as patterns worthy of imitation in it likewife. 
 Indeed, they have long had the reputation of curing their 
 herrings the beft of any other people. It is not, however, 
 a very difficiilt matter to equal them in this, which certainly 
 is a very elTential article. 
 
 The method is fimply this. They fhoot their nets in the 
 evening about fun fet, and haul them in again before fun 
 rife in the morning. So foon as they get the fifii on board 
 they cut their throats, as cefcribed under the article of Ling, 
 ire. and filts them immediatly, fo that they are in a manner 
 cured alive. This is a very eafy prccefs, but it is a procefs 
 which muft be exactly followed, if clean wholefome tifh are 
 expected. Having, however, fpoken pretty fully to it un- 
 der the preceding article, it would ^be unnecefTaiily taking 
 up the time of the reader to dwell longer upon it. 
 
 Before 1 conclude this Sedlion, I muft be forgiven to fay 
 a few words, with regard to the manner in which the great 
 Holland filheries are carried on. In that country all ranks 
 and orders of people are concerned in them. There is fcarce 
 a footman or fervant maid in Holland, or any of the other 
 provinces, who is not an adventurer, as fhares may be pur- 
 thafed from twenty guilders to twenty thouland. 
 
 I would beg leave to alk. Whether the Dutch are not 
 Worthy of imitation in this refpe(5l alfo f and, whether Com- 
 panies of this fort, elbblifhed in Scotland, would not be of in- 
 finite advantage to this country ? 
 
 We are at no lofs to find many people here, who are apt 
 enough, after the example of the Knglift], to enter into com- 
 panies, or clubs, for the purpofe of fplitting lottery tickets ; 
 and ihall we be difHculted to procure adventurers in a branch 
 
 <if trade which promifes fuitable returns ? God forbid !— 
 
 The former is the worlt and moft pernicious fort of gaming. 
 It ftrikes at tlje very root of both honefty and indultry, 
 and will infalliably dellroy both in the end, if carried on 
 with the fame imreraitting ardour for a fhort time longer 
 with which it has been indulged for fome years part. Of 
 late it has encreafed to a molt amazing height. We have 
 lottery offices in every corner of almolt every trading 
 town in Scotland. A bad fpecimen, I muft: acknowledge, 
 with regret, of the induftry and improvements of thib coun- 
 
 I ijy.
 
 [ 66 -] 
 
 try. How much more good fenfc would the inhabitants of 
 thefe towns di!cover, in bertowing what trifle they could 
 Ipare froiu their ordinary bulinei's, in ertablifliing Companies 
 in the manner of the Dutch ? They would then be purfuing a 
 real iiibftance ; and, if it lliould chance to evade their gralp, 
 which is not very probable, their lofs would not be great, 
 while they would have the inward fatisfaction of reflecting, 
 that they had been the means of giving bread to fo many 
 induftrious people, who, without fuch well-timed afl^iUance, 
 might have become an intolerable burden to thcmfelvcs, as 
 well as to the public. 1 am certain the adventurers in the 
 lottery can have no iucb confolation. if tliey arc lofers, 
 which is much more than probable will be the cafe ; to whom 
 does that lofs grant relief? Not to the indnflrious ; but to a 
 parcel of drones, who, incapable of engaging in any branch 
 of buHnefs of real utility, betake themfelves to that which 
 requires neither head nor hands to execute; and, while they 
 pretend to calculate chances, are, in reality, picking the 
 pockets of the unwary. 
 
 Let me, then, ferioufly recommend it to the people of thi« 
 country to beftow their money where there is at leaft every 
 prfibability of advancing the improvements of it. The Engli/h 
 are in many refpecTis worthy of imitation ; but let us not, for 
 that reafon, copy their vices ; a more dcteftable one, I con- 
 fefs, I do not knoiv them guilty of, than that which I have 
 been endeavouring to explode. 
 
 SECTION
 
 I 67 ] 
 
 SECTION IV. 
 
 Porter. That w: ought to give encouragement to the 
 BreiVi'rs of it, cud other via It liquors in our own coimtry^ 
 ifi prefere?tce to the London Porter Brewers, 
 
 WA N T of money is almoft: an iiniveiTal complaint in 
 this country ; and it is noways lurpriling it fiinuld be 
 io, when it is coniidercd how very fond we are of fending 
 it abroad, for what we could either eafily want, or manufdc- 
 ture at home. 1 imagine 1 am not far wrong in my calcu- 
 lation, when I eitimate the money remitted annually to 
 England, for the two articles alone of broad cloih and Lon- 
 don Porter, at the enormous fum of, 20o,cOo pounds fter- 
 ling. Of the former I have already treated pretty fully. I 
 fliall now fay a few words on the latter. 
 
 That the brewers of Porter in thi;? country have arrived at 
 the fame degree of perfei?ti(*n with thofe m London ; is what 
 I will not pretend to fay ; nor, indeed, can it ever be the 
 cafe, fo long as we give encouragement to the Englifh, and 
 with-hold it fo much from the Porter Brewers of our own 
 country. 
 
 Before th's liquor is in a proper condition for drinking, 
 it mud be kept a conlWerable time. This requires that 
 large quantiries of it fliould be brewed at once ; but, while 
 we are fo partial in favours of the London Porter, it is not 
 to be cxpej^led that our brewers will r'lik their whole flock 
 upon an article, which, from the infatuation of their coun- 
 trymen, may be rendtred a loling trade. 
 
 Several brewers, however, in this town and neighbour- 
 hood, have, of late, done a good deal in the porter branch ; 
 and though, perhaps they have not brought it to to the fame 
 perfedlion with the London Porter, owing to the caufe al- 
 ready noticed, yet, I am perluaded it is more wholefome, 
 and lefs adulterated with fmall beer, than mod of that li- 
 quor M'hich is fold in our taverns and public houles for Lon- 
 don Porter. It may not, indeed, be exaclly of the fame 
 flavour > but this furely cannot be attributed to the unfldlful- 
 
 iiefs 
 
 I 2
 
 [ 68 ] 
 
 nefs of our brewers, or a deficiency of materials necciTdry 
 lor its Tnanufaifture. 
 
 I know it has been advanced, that Porter cannot be made 
 without Tuames water; but ih.is is a ni«>it ridiculous notion. 
 Mr Ccmbrunc, who wrote a very lenfihle cfl'ay on brewing, 
 Jaughs at that vulgar prejudice. Every man of lenle, wiih 
 whom I h^ve con v cried on the fubjeoi, does the fame ; ai;d 
 I am well iuformed, that, even in London, where one butt 
 of porter i-! brewed of T hamcs watei , there are ten made 
 from the New River, and other vvattr about tliat metrcpolis; 
 nor is there better fofr water in Britain, than that with which 
 this city and neighf;urho(;d is fupplicd. 
 
 To fay that the people of tl'.is country have not genius to 
 arrive at perfec'tion in this btanch, is equally ridiculous, and 
 an infult on tiieir underftandmg";. Inllauces innumerable 
 night be given lo fhew rlie futility of thii argument. A few 
 iliail fiiflice. It is not many years fince the Soapery and 
 Glal'shoules were fct a-going at Leith, and up-hill work it 
 no doubt was fur f'Mne time; but, bv perfeverance and ap- 
 plication, thefe people became as good lolt ioap- boilers and 
 bottle-makers, as any in the kingdom. The prejudice againft 
 our foft foap was even greater then, than it is againfl 
 th.e porter at prefeiit ; in fo much that the manufacturers 
 were obliged, jfor feveral years, to fend it up to Newcaftle, 
 in order tl.at they might get it fold in Scotland, upon its re- 
 turn, for Englilh li ap. This prejudice is now entirely got 
 the better of; and the manufacturing of thefe two articles, 
 foap and bottles, lave a great deal of money to the country j 
 but 1 hope loon to lee the woollen good=, and our home- 
 brew cd porter, fave ten times mf)re than both. The geni- 
 us of f)ur countrymen likewile appears, from the falisfaction 
 they give their employers, in the works carried on in the 
 Caldtown of Edinburgh in the chimnev way, at Freltonpans, 
 Carron, and feveral other places which miiiht be mentioned. 
 
 The money which goes out of the country for the article 
 of porter nlone, i*; really fliameful, and would Icarce be cre- 
 dited, if the fd(St was not well known. Kor feveral years 
 pail, the quantity brought into Leith, and the other parts in 
 the Krith of Forth, exceeds ;o,ccO 1. Ihrling per annum; 
 and I imagine Dimdee, JVIontrofe, Aberdeen, Invernt fs, 
 and all the other ports of Scotland, cannot be eftimated at 
 lefs than 2o,OGol more. A pretty llim this, truly, to be pay- 
 ing for an article we can fo w ell do without. 1 would be 
 glad to know what became of our forefathers, who never 
 tantd, nor thought of it? Good lirong ale and two-penny 
 plcafed them ; and they were as merry and good company 
 
 over
 
 C 69 3 
 
 «ver it, as their defcendants are over their porter. It is, be- 
 fides, a moll expenJive drink; as people but of low circum- 
 flances, who inc'ulge themfclves in this piece of luxury, will 
 tofs off their two or three bottles at a few draughts; and, 
 1 am lorry to fiy. this extravagance has now arrived at a 
 pitch hitherto unknown in this country. We have number- 
 lefs tJubs in this tity, whofe meetings feem to be calculated 
 for no othtr purpoie, than that of guzzling down fo many 
 bottles of London porter as amounts to the quota they are 
 refolved to fpend, while, perhaps, their wives and children 
 at home, ftand in need of many things which are abiblutely 
 necefiary fcr the fupport and maintenance of the family. 
 
 I am far from meaning, that friendly focial meetings of 
 companions fliould be aboliflied or given up. After the toils 
 of the day, a little indulgence of that kind is very pardon- 
 able; but I would have my countrymen, even in their con- 
 vivial, as well as ferious moments, to have the interefts of 
 the place of their nativity in view; and, while they do fo, 
 in the article of di inking, as well as every other which I 
 have been endeavouring to recommend, I am perfuaded 
 they v.'iil at the fame time ftudy the interefl; of their families, 
 and of their own pockets ; for I have feen tlie bill at drink- 
 ing porter run higher, than a claret biU did fome years ago. 
 I have already acknowledged, that we have not as yet ar- 
 rived at fuch a tkg'ree of perfection in brewing it, as they 
 liave in London ; but 1 dare venture to fay, there are many 
 porter brewers in and about this city, who make fuch porter 
 as any Scotfman may be pleafed with. 1 beg leave to men- 
 tion the following, viz. Meflrs. George Millar, St Ann's 
 yards ; James Hntchkifs, Grafs-market ; Archibald Camp- 
 bell, Cowg^te; Gardner and company, Goofedub, all in and 
 about Edinburgh; and MefTrs. Cundeland Son, and Matthew 
 Comb, at Leitli. 
 
 1 likewife hinted, that the London porter confumed iri 
 our taverns and public huufes was not genuine, but adulte- 
 rated with fmall beer. To eftablilh this faiSl, let any perfon 
 go into a tavern or public houfe, in Edinburgh or Lcith, and 
 drink this Aezr fluff ; for fo 1 call it; it is not genuine por- 
 ter ; and they will find at leaft one third, if not one half of 
 the drink in the bottle, fmall beer. Whether the mixture 
 is made in London, in Leith, in Edinburgh, or perhaps part- 
 ly in all the three, is noways material to the drinkers. Sure 
 1 am, they pay high to plejfe their corrupt talles; for, what 
 with the fmallnels of the bottle, and the quantity of fmall 
 beer glutted down along Mith it, the drinker pays at the 
 rate of feven-pence for every Englifh quart or Scots chopin. 
 On the other hand, good Scots porter, without any adulte- 
 ration.
 
 C 70 3 
 
 ration, can be had at three-pence the bottle, and excellent 
 Itrong ale at the fame price ; both which are better worth 
 the money, than the adulterated trafh, which is drunk by hun- 
 dreds of dozens in a day, in and about this metropohs. It is 
 Tiothing but prejudice in fome, and fell-intereft in otiiers, 
 wliich has brought this deflruclive branch of bufinefs to fij 
 great a height. 
 
 It is truly amazing what avcrfion we have to every thing 
 snade in our own country. Better ale, I'mall beer, and 
 two-penny, I am j»er(uaded, cannot be had in any country 
 wliatever ; and why we Ihould not be fatisfied witii thefe, 
 ^nd fuch jiorter as we can make among ourfelves, is very 
 unpardonable. I am afraid we deferve, in part, what Mr 
 (j lover fome time ago faid of us, tliat we had every fenfe 
 but common fenfe ; for I do tliink, that a Scotlman, \\ ho will 
 rot wear gooil cloth, becaufc made here, and refufes to 
 drink good porter, bccaul'e brewed in or about Edinburgli, 
 in a great mealurc verifies that gentleman's Jilfertion, and 
 may jullly be faid to liavc no regard whatever for his coun- 
 try. 
 
 I however liojc, that tliis folly is wearing out in a great 
 mcalure, fo much London porter not having been imported 
 TJiis year as has been for feveral preceding ones. Indeed," 
 if wc lerioudy reflected on the confequcnccs, a flop would 
 be put to it altogether, by a refolution of the people of Scot- 
 land, to drink nothing but home-brewed malt liquors; for I 
 am certain, befides the money fuch a refolution would keep 
 in the country, tlie advantage of whicli muft be apparent to 
 every one, tliat our own brewers are capable to aiford bet- 
 ter drink, for the fdme money, than the tlngUfh can pofTibly 
 do ; and that for two rcalons ; fir/}, Bccaule they pay juft 
 double the duty for their malt w Inch we do for ours ; and, 
 j:coiuily, Becaufc they pay at leaft fire times the price for 
 their coals. Thcfe are the two principal articles confumed 
 in tl'.e brewing bufmefs ; and, w lien we pofTels fuch great 
 advantages over our neighbours in thcfe, as well as feveral 
 otliers wiiicli miglit be mentioned, it furely requires little ar- 
 gument to convince any lenfible man, that we may be fup- 
 plied with better and more wholefome drink at home, tlian 
 any we can import from England. 
 
 I miglit mention many inliances to prove the truth of this 
 alTertion, from Edinburgh, Glafgow, Dundee, Leith, and 
 other placca ; but fliall only take notice of one at prefent ; 
 and that is, Mr Hugh Bell of this city. That gentleman oc- 
 cupies a mofl: exteiMlve brewery, and, T think, I fhall not fall 
 under the cenfure of having an improper partiality for the 
 inanuf:i!riures of my own country, if I aver, that no brewer 
 
 in
 
 E 71 ] 
 
 in Great Britain can poffibly furniih better liquors, of tlie 
 ditFcreit ki.ids and prices, than he does. This gentleman dues' 
 not confine himfelf to one Ipeties. He brews fniall beer, of 
 a very excellent quality, indeed ; which, if properly taken 
 care of, will keep hroughout the year, and is very little in- 
 ferior to what v/e are furniihed with, in many public houfes, 
 under the appellation of London porter^ It is a very clean 
 wholefome drink, and private families may fupply them- 
 felves with it at a trifle more than a penny the buttle. He 
 like wife brews (bong ale and beer of various kinds. I be- 
 lieve, indeed, he has not yet attempted the porter; but, 
 what ftrengthens my argument greatly, viz. That the brew- 
 ers and every other manufacturer in this country, are ci- 
 pable to equal, if not to excel thole of any other, is tliis, 
 Mr Bell brews ale and beer, in imitation of fuch liquors 
 brewed in the mod famous towns in England, and tiom 
 whence they take their names, to as great perfecT.ion as in 
 thefe very towns; nay, I believe I lliould not exceed the 
 truth, if I faid greater, as Mr Bell's ale and beer is generally- 
 preferred to theirs at the foreign markets. 
 
 Thefe being fa^'is which cannot be controverted, I fhould 
 be glad to know, in what confilts the grand and inexplicable 
 myltery of brewing Porter with equal fuccels ? I think I 
 have accounted for it already, when I laid, it was entirely 
 owing to the brewers not getting proper encouragement, by 
 which they were difabled from carrying it on to tiiat extent 
 which is neceflary. I believe I might add as a confequence, 
 or rather as the caufe itlelf, the numerous Porter clubs in 
 this city, who will not talle any Porter brewed by their own 
 countrymen, though they can give no better reafon for fuch 
 refufal, than that it is Scots. 
 
 Thefe clubs are compofed, in a great meafure, of mer- 
 chants and mechanics. I would therefore beg leave to aC; 
 them how they would relifii it, fhould the Noblemen and 
 Gentlemen of property withdraw their bufinefs from them, 
 becauie they were Scots merchants, Scots wrights, Scots 
 flioemakers, and fo forti), of every other profefTion ? What 
 refle(5lions would they not have, and how highly would they 
 be offended, to be told, that none of them underllood their 
 trades fo well as foreigners ? — This, however, is the treat- 
 ment thefe very gentlemen give to the Woollen Manufaililur- 
 ers, and the Brewers of Scotland ; but how highly injurious, 
 as well as unjufl, they are, when applied to them, mull: ap- 
 pear evident to every one who has fo much the love of his 
 country at heart, as to make ufc of their commodities ; and, 
 I humbly apprehend, no character, however exalted, neei 
 be alhamed to do h. 
 
 I
 
 C 7* ] 
 1 cannot conclude this Section, witliout mcntioring, to the 
 honour of the gentlemen, merchants, &c. of Gldigow, Dun- 
 dee, and feveral other towns, that they give all encourage- 
 ment to their own Porter, and every otlicr article manufac- 
 tured among themfelves ; nor fhould I forgive myfelf, were 
 I to omit taking notice of the public fpirited condudl of many 
 of my fair country-women in this metropolis, who will ad- 
 mit no other Porter to their tables, but fuch as is brewed in 
 Scotland. In this they furely ihidy the intcrelts of their huf- 
 bands and families, as they lave at lealt a penny upon every 
 bottle. They at the fame time promote the inteielt of their 
 country, by encouraging its manufa<flures. I hope fo laud- 
 able and praife-worthy an example, will be followed by 
 every miftrefs of a family throiighout Scotland. Their hui- 
 bands, furely, will never ufurp their natural province of 
 managing within doors, efpecially when they do it fo much 
 to the advantage of the family, as they undoubtedly will, i:i 
 this refpe(ft, by following the above example. It may like- 
 wife have this further good efre(ft; it may diveft the huf- 
 band of the unnatural prejudice he has taken againfl Scots 
 porter. In that cafe, the fair fex will have the merit of e- 
 itablifhing a valuable manufatfture in their coimtry, which I 
 hope, for their own honour, they w ill take every opportuni- 
 ty in their power to accomplilli. 
 
 SECTION
 
 C 75 3 
 
 SECTION V, 
 
 Of the unhappy d'tfputes which have for fo me time fuhfijied ht- 
 twesn Great Britain aud her American Colo- 
 nies. 
 
 THERE has been To much written and fpoken upon 
 the {'ubjeiSt of American affairs, that I fhould fcarce 
 have troubled the reader with any thing upon them in this 
 place, had it not been to undeceive the Public, who have 
 been grofsly impofed upoa by thofe who are fond of the 
 name of Patriots in our neighbouring kingdom, with re- 
 gard to the many advantages Great Britain enjoyed from 
 her trade with America. 
 
 I think it will be no very difficult matter tofhow, that thefe 
 wonderful advantages, which our patriots would have us be- 
 lieve refulted from the American trade, has centered chiefly 
 among themfelves, and that they are obliged to Great Bri- 
 tain entirely, for trade and every other bleffing they enjoy. 
 As fadls will more effectually make this appear, than all the 
 oratory and fophillry of a Chatham, a Burke, or a Barre, I 
 beg leave to lay a few of thefe before the pnbhc. 
 
 Great Britain, to encourage them to clear the country of 
 thofe woods, which totally covered America, gave a bounty, 
 and ftill continues it, on all their fir and pine timber, fit for 
 mafts, yards, bowfprits, &c. of 20 s. iterling for each ton 
 of 40 cubick feet, cuftomary girt meafure, which is equal to 
 6 d. every folid foot. 
 
 The bounty on their hemp and flax is no lefs than 6 1, per 
 ton. 
 For every barrel of tar, made in the ordinary manner, 6 s. 
 per barrel ; each barrel to contain 3 1 gallons Englilh 
 meafure. 
 For tar made by particular dixedlions, los. per barrel. 
 For every barrel of pitch, 2 s. 6 d. per barrel. 
 For every barrel of turpentine, 3 s. 9 d. per barrel. 
 For every pound of Indigo, if but half the value of that 
 made by the French, 6 d. per pound, Englifh weight. 
 When we conllder what great premiums thefe are, and 
 how much they have contributed towards the improvement 
 
 K •£
 
 C 74 T 
 •f that \V)lcl uncultivated countrvj I niay with grent trutli 
 fay, that the money p^id by the inhabitants of this ki, gdom 
 has done the whole that is done. After all this is allowed 
 them, when thtir goods come to market, we pay the full 
 market price ; and I ain certain, the value of the bounties 
 paid will almoll purchaie go<.ds of the fame fpecies and qua- 
 lity in Kulfia, Sweden, Norway, and other parts of Kurope, 
 hidigo excepted; and the bounty of 6d per lib. is a very high 
 bounty, and a gt eat encouragement to raife it. 
 
 Notwithltanding thele bounties and encouragements, it is 
 veil kucwn that the Americans carry on an illicit trade with 
 the Weft Indies, as well as with the Dutch, French, and Spa- 
 niards. Even this does not fatisfy them, They go further in 
 cheating the mother country. They carry en a great fmug- 
 gling trade with many ports in Europe. Thofe which come 
 ■within my own knowledge, 1 fhall now mention j they are. 
 Archangel, Pcterfburgh, lliga, Hamburgh, Amllerdam, Rot- 
 terdam, Dunkirk, &c. At times they call at Ibme ports ia 
 Great Britain, and clear out part of their cargoes for our 
 own plantations ; but the part that is Hable to high duties is 
 cleared for Si Euilatia, or fome free port in the Weit Indies; 
 by which means they deprive the revenue of thefe duties, 
 While all the commodities are landed in our own fetilc- 
 ments. 
 
 One would think, after fuch evafive fchemes to rob the 
 Mother Country, the Americans would find few if any ad- 
 vocates for them in the Britifh fenate. Thefe honourable 
 gentlemen, however, v ho arc fond of the name of Patriot 
 ;ind which is very liberally bellowed upon them by the mul- 
 titude in our neighbouring kingdom, v ith a degree of ef- 
 frontery, not ealy to be accounted for, hold forth, that the 
 Americans pay large fums in duties and excife, to the reve- 
 nue, for the goods they take from us. 
 
 The bed anfwer to thefe gentlemen's falfe and fallacious 
 arguments, as I before hinted, are fa<fls. Some of thefe I 
 will lubmit to the public ; from which it will appear how 
 little the revenue is benefited by the boaftcd importation of 
 the Americans from Great Britain. In this view, I muft 
 inform thele gentlemen, as they fcem not to have known it 
 before, that the Americans pay no duty on any necelTary or 
 convenier.cy of hfe, taken from Great Britain, which we fee 
 fall very heavy upon ourlelves. — 1 fhall here enumerate fuch 
 as at prefent occur to me. 
 
 The duties are drawn back, by the exporter, on all malt 
 liquors, and fpirits made in Great Britam, as well as the 
 
 bottles
 
 r 75 3 
 
 bottles which contain them— on all glafs — on leather, however 
 
 man ufa (51 used on cordage marie from foreign hemp - 
 
 on {oap, candies, fait, paper, vellum, cards, ftarch, gold 
 and lllrer lace, and many other article?. — Almuft the whole 
 duties, paid on foreign linen, are drawn back, and bouiuies 
 given on moft of our own made linen and canvafs, equal to 
 all the duties paid on foap, pot, pearl, wood and weed afhes, 
 
 made ufe of in bleaching and whitening the fame. From 
 
 this it mull appear, tlut, as the Americans are alt<'gether 
 exempted from land tax, they can live at one half the ex- 
 pffnce it murt colt our poor labourers, and indeed all clalTes 
 of people in this country. 
 
 1 am fully peri'uadcd, that the inhabitants of the city of 
 Edinburgh, and port of Leith, pay more duty and excife 
 annually, than all America does to the reveaue ofCJreat 
 Britain. I can therefore fee no reafon that we ihould pay 
 the army and navy for their prote6tion, if they will not 
 contiibute equally. That we fhould be faddleJ with near 
 two millions annually, to pay the interelt of money borrowed 
 on their account, to keep them from being Icaiped, or drove 
 out of all their boafted free country, into the Atlantic, ap- 
 pears to me, and, I dare fay, to every impartial inliabiiant 
 in South or North Britain, extremely hard and unjuil. How 
 can we ever expet^t to lefTeu the public debts^ or get free of 
 thefe taxes on lalt, leathe.-, and malt lionors, which, in a. 
 particular mavmer, a*Te<5t the poor, if we are to pay the A- 
 nierican debts as well as our own ? Let them p.iy 25 s. an- 
 nually, e^ch individual, as we do^ raife it as they pleafe ; 
 but ht this nation ha e it to eafe numbers of iier tradefmen, 
 inanufa(5turers, porters, and labouring people of every de- 
 nomination. The Americans have good land .-it lixpence per 
 acre, for which our honell' tarmcrs pay at the rate of 20 s. 
 belides the numberlefs taxes under which this country at pre- 
 fcnl labours. The goods and manufacftures we fend to America 
 are paid us in their own produce. We feldom or never get 
 fpecie from them ; that they employ ellewhere, to carry on 
 their clandeftine trade. 
 
 From thefe faCls it would appear, that we are not fo much 
 indebted to the American trade as our patriots would have 
 us believe, and their ungratitude now, in attempting at in- 
 dependency, muft be proportionally heightened. 
 
 It has been faid, that we in this couiatry, have no merif, 
 either in the d'lfcovery or conquefl of them. It is our filter 
 kingdom England, which has the fole merit of both. Iti 
 confequence of the Union, however, we came to have aa 
 equal Ihare with them in their trade and commerce to thefe 
 
 fcttiements ;
 
 [ 76 ] 
 fettlements ; and, fince that period, we have done our part 
 to people, proteA, and fuppurt them. 
 
 A great df al has b'.en thrown out as to their charters. By 
 "what authoriiy did ihey hold thefc charters ? Did tliefe char- 
 ters defend them from the encroachments of the Frtncli and 
 Indians, wlio drove them out of all the faft holds they liad 
 in the back fettlements ; and, would have drove the whole 
 of them into the Atlantic, had it not been for the troops 
 from Great Britdin ? I had almolt laid, from the Highlands 
 cf Scotland , for thi:y molt undoubtedly conquered America, 
 more than it was done in Germany. Lord Chatham, when lie 
 wanted to pay compliments to his own abilities, as prime 
 miniltcr, could not help bringing thofe hardy and intrepid 
 race of men to his aid. " Much, fays he, negle(5ted in the 
 war before lafl, they (i. e. the Highlanders) had nigh over- 
 turned the Itate ; yet thefe very men, in the late war, I 
 bronglit to combat on your fide : They ferved with fidelity 
 as they fought with valour, and conquered for you in every 
 part of the world ; and in no part were they more fervice- 
 able than in North America.'* 
 
 How did the North Americans behave under Braddock ? 
 The time is not fo diltant but moll of us will remember, 
 what a defpicable figure they made, both in the field, and 
 in lupplving the troops, fent not only to preferve their coun- 
 try, but tliemfelves from being fcalped. Trulting to their 
 fupjiort, and to fave them from perdition, how many of our 
 brave countrymen lolt their lires ? among others, a Sir Peter 
 Halket, an ornament to his country, and to mankind. 1 had 
 the ln>nour to be known to Sir Peter ; his life was of more 
 value tlian manv Americans. Now, however, the time is 
 come, that they have forgot all thefe moll elTential fervices 
 done them ; fervices that have colt iliis nation at lealt the 
 blood of 15,000 go«d men, and 20,000,000 !• of good fter- 
 ling money ; and, when parliament taxes an article «jf luxury 
 or effeminacy, of no real ufe, I mean Tea, what a noil'e 
 do thev make I Would to God that ail our taxes were laid 
 on that dpltruclive, mean, infignificant article, and taken off 
 the necefTaries of life ! Happy would it then be for this coun- 
 try. Let thofe who drink lea, pay for it ; and on condition 
 the duties were taken oiF fait and leather, of which the poor 
 pay almoll the whole, I heartily wilh it were at 30 s. per 
 pound. 
 
 The way and manner the people in Boflon took to difap- 
 poini Governtnent of railing this duty, is indeed without pre- 
 cedent. No fooner it is brought into port, than they make 
 a formal attack upon it ; as if the tea was to come into their 
 
 houfes.
 
 [ 77 ] 
 
 houfts, and to levy the tax of itfelf. Had they allowed the 
 tea to have been laiided, and iuffercd J: to rot before they 
 would ute or pmchafe it, they would have a^ed like rational 
 men : Or, if it was rotte^n before it came to hand, as I have 
 heard fome giddy-headed people fay, v/hy buy it, or have any 
 thing to do with it I The Eail India company was net to oblige 
 or force them to purchafc their goods. But to allow a law- 
 lefs banditti to commit piracy in open fun Ihhie, and not to 
 endeavour, by every means, to oppofe them, was acquis fc- 
 ing in their crime. Had I been mafter of the fliip the fea 
 was on board, with my ten Scots boys at my back, (and L 
 am no fighting man) eaeh of us fhould have Ihor our man, 
 before thej' had taken up the hatches, if we (hould have been 
 cut to ])ieces in the t-vd, A bill of loading is a faci ed writing. 
 The {hip-ma(ter cbliges himfelf to deliver his cargo, Jeu ha- 
 zard excepted. As there was no war, they were pirates 
 who prefumed to touch his cargo ; and as fuch ihey fhciild 
 have been treated by the Ihip-mafter, and the inhabitanrs of 
 Boflon. If, therefore, the poftonians did not ufe their i.r- 
 moft endeavours to prevent them from an open violation of 
 the laws of every country, and to fecure the prrfons of the 
 pirates, they ought to pav all the coft c* the goods, and e- 
 very experce and damage inci;rred. Were the inhabitants 
 of Edinburgh and Leith tamely to look on, and allow a law- 
 lef^ mob to go on board a (hip in Leith harbour, or in the 
 road of Leith, and fuffer the cargo to be taken out and de» 
 llroyed before their faces, without doing the utmoft in their 
 power to prevent it, they would, by the law, be (ibliged to 
 pay the damages, and undergo a fevere cenfure from, theij;; 
 cou"try and all good men. 
 
 I have been twice in America, and traded confidcrably t«» 
 diircreni parts of it, but not to advantage, as I could not get 
 payments. 1 have, at prefent, feverai hundred pounds due 
 there, which I v/ould willingly give a right to for as many !iun- 
 dred pence. And I verily beheve, were the Americans to 
 balance accompts with this country, ail their boalled waith 
 and property would not djfcharge the jui't and lawful debts 
 due by them to the inhabitants of Great Britain and Irclarid. 
 So far back as the 5 ill: of Decembe*- 1 774. ^ proppfed the ful* 
 lowing plan tor reducing the Americans to obedience : Take 
 off tlie bounties given upon the importation of their goods ^ 
 let them carry none to any market but to Britain, Ireland, 
 and the Welt India iflands, our own property, apd no ether; 
 and, to pi event them from trading v/ith the French, Sj.-^- 
 ni/h, or any other fcttlements, let them go under convoy f 
 our men of war, and take failing orders; in which let rl:e 
 
 owneis
 
 C 78 ] 
 
 owners of the fliips and cargoes be mentioned, and the 15111 of 
 loading be affixed to the failing orders; the Ihips to pay all 
 attention, as under convoy in time of war, as to the lignals, 
 rendezvous, &c. 
 
 Ten frigates of 32 guns, ten fhips of ao guns, and twenty 
 floops of 14 guns each, will do the bufinefs, and employ our 
 feanien and Icldiers. Let each fhip have only z-gds of her 
 complement of failors; kt the other i-^d, to make up the 
 full complement, be loldiers, which may be ftationed thus: 
 Two Sloops, 1 4 guns, at Savannah in Georgia. 
 Two Ships, 20 guns, and two floops, 14 each, at Charles- 
 Town, South Carolina. 
 
 Two floops at Wilmington, Cape Fear, North Carolina. 
 One fhip 20 guns, one (loop, at Smcrt, Sound, Albemarle. 
 Two frigates, two floops. Cape Henry, and Cape Charles, 
 Chiiwick's Bay, Virginia. 
 
 One frigate, two iloops, Maryland. 
 Two frigates, two floops, Ptnnfylvania, Philadelphia, 
 Two frigates, two /hips, 20 guns, three floops, Long 
 Ifland and Newport. 
 
 Three frigates, five ftiips 20 guns, four floops, at Bofton 
 and in the Maffdchufetts Bay, Salem, &c. Or in fuch man- 
 ner as the Lords of the Admiralty (hall think molt for the 
 good of the iervice, and will molt furely contribute fpeedily 
 to bring thefe ungrateful Americans to their duty, and iheir 
 own good; I liad almoft laid, ihcir /ahatiofi. Remove the 
 ■whole military, except fuch as have been always employel 
 in their forts and garifons ; for the money fpent by the troops 
 feeds them, and Ipirits them up to rebellion. 
 
 To prevent the necelTuy of a convoy going to Great Bri- 
 tain, let the nialters, owners, and merchants, who Ihip the 
 goods, find fecurity in double the value of fhip and cargo, 
 that they Ihall really and truly land them in fome part of 
 Great Biitaln or Ireland, (fea-hazard excepted) and no 
 where elfc, or forfeit their bond to the puiilic ; and, to re- 
 lieve the bond, they Ihould have two certificates, under the 
 hands of the colledtor, comptroller, and furveyor of the port 
 where the cargo is difcharged, as to the true performance, 
 fo as they can tranfmit one by firlt (hips, and keep the other 
 to be brought ov'er to America by themfelves, to relieve their 
 bond, or cancel it. 
 
 Every man of property, obftru(fting or flying in the face 
 fif the laws made by Great Britain, Ihould forfeit his whole 
 cftate and effeds, as guilty of high treafon againft the Itate ; 
 and all merchants and others, forfeit their goods and chatties, 
 and their perfons be fent home to the country from which 
 ihey or their forefathers originally came ; for there is not 
 
 one 
 
 -> 
 
 >
 
 C 79 3 
 
 4»nc in ten of them who was either himfelf, or his forefit"' 
 thers, born in Great Britain: They are moftly made up of 
 Cerman emigrants, French refugees, and convidts of all 
 nations tranfported from Great Britain and Ireland, wh» 
 never could get bread in their own country : yet they, for- 
 footh, mud boaft what their forefathers did to fupport our 
 conftitution- Por fhame ! that Britain fliouid be deluded by^ 
 fuch a hotchpotch medley of foreign enthutiaftic madmen ; 
 who, whillt they throw dirt at the family that gave them 
 moll of their charters, praife Lord Chatham for ruining 
 them, and hurting the mother country. At the fame time, 
 they rail at Lord Bute for making a peace that gave them a 
 quiet pofleflion of all that vaft country, by getting the French 
 to give up every place in North America to the Crown of 
 Great Britain. I was in London at the time the peace was 
 in agitation. I had the honour of being well acquainted with 
 Sir Henry Erfldne, the Right Honourable James Ofvvald, 
 and many people in authority at that period. 1 have often 
 keen afked, what the opinion of the merchants was. I al- 
 vays told them, the acquifition of all North America, upon 
 our back fettlements, was the great objedl. I own, my 
 worthy friend Sir H. Er(kine forefaw things which did not, 
 at that time, occur to me*, he often faid, " Thefe people are 
 turbulent. It would be better to leave part of Canada to 
 the French, to keep them in a proper fubordination." i 
 have even heard fome very fenfible merchants on the Change 
 of London fay fo; but by far the greateft number were for 
 the terms which were agreed to; and a glorious ])eace it was, 
 
 Thefe inflammatory letters, from the general Congrefs to 
 the people of Great Britain, and to their friends and fellow- 
 lubjedis of Quebec, are wrote upon the mod fallacious and 
 bafe principles ; not a word of truth from beginning to end, 
 except what they quote from my late moll worthy corre- 
 fpondent, the great Baron Montefquieu. Had they a trial at 
 his court and conftitution, or the King of Pruflia's, that Pro- 
 teftant hero, they would foon be brought to themfelves, and 
 to good manners. In (hort, thefe deteltable letters are not 
 conceived in the ftyle of merchants, by whom only they 
 ought to have been wrote ; but appear to be the produ(5l!on» 
 of fome banifhed EngUfli or Irifli attorney, or limb of the 
 law, who has baniflied himfelf from this country ; or by 
 fome of the vermin of the clergy, who infeft that deluded 
 sountry and people. 
 
 I took the liberty of tranfmitting to Lord Nortli, a 
 copy of this Plan; and at the fame time ufed the freedom 
 of writing ray opinion to his Lordiliip on the fubjeft, 
 «nd of otfering my advice, as a private perfon, and a 
 
 friend
 
 ft'iend to the mother country, in what manner the Ameri* 
 tans might be brought to a leivfe of their duty, aud allrgi- 
 giarice to their parent ibite, with the leall prejudice to either 
 of the contending parties. This I did not think prudent to- 
 pubhih to the world at the time. Indeed, fuch a i\ep would 
 have entireJv deftroyed the very intention of the writer, 
 ha<i his Lord/hip adopted any part of the plaa propufed, 
 . wiiich was not the calc. The outlines of my letter was, To 
 impreis all the leanien, "belonging to the Aineiican vefTcls, 
 from the Cabin boy to the Malter, and to rate them on board 
 tlie (hips of wa' feat to block up their ports, at the higheft 
 wages any pf thein eveT received, when employed in the 
 merchaiits fervice. Tb Jand no troops at any of iTie ports 
 fo blocked up ; as the money fpent by the troops would en- 
 able tlie Americans rhc longer to continue their refiftance, 
 after a Itijp was put to their trade, and alfo might be pro- 
 ductive of much bloodOied, which has already happened, 
 and, it is much to be feared, will be greatly encreafed, be- . 
 fo) e any accommodation takes place. Tlie reafon why I 
 was Olicitoiis to have ^11 the leamen in America imprefled 
 wa^ ti)is : Though I iiave tlie highelt elteeni" for that ufeful 
 and brave fet (ii" men, yet long experience amongft them 
 has convinced me, that they would rather do milchief than 
 be idle. If I might be allowed a conjefture, I could al- 
 moft venture to fay, tliat the repulfe which the King's troops 
 met with at Lexington and Bunker's Hill, was occafioned 
 chiefly by fo many honeft induftrious -fellows being thrown 
 out rf employment. If any futi^re Ikirmifh /hall h.-ppen, 
 wliich it is morerfhan probable will be the cafe, I am much 
 . aiV,<id, that thcfe poor deltitute feamen, who miglit have 
 been employed, with advantage td themfelves and their 
 couMtiy, oh board of the (hips of war, will, as the cafe "ngw 
 flands, prove the moll intrepid enemies wliich our troops 
 M ill meet with in the field ; whereas, if thefe feamen had 
 been on board our fliips of war, they would have had much- 
 influence in making the merchants and others come mto rea- 
 loiii.ble terms. I am fcnlible, that the impreiling of the fea- 
 men may be cbjeCled to, as being againit law. iSut, in an- 
 fwer to this, it may be obl'erved, that neceffity has no law; 
 and that' it is always cultomary to imprefs feamen in the 
 time of war. 
 
 From the proceedings of the houfes of Parliament, I ob- 
 ferve, that a plan, fimilar, in tfie mofl efleiltial party, to the 
 one above recited, will now be adopted. Whether it 
 would not have been more effeclual twelve months ago, it 
 would be prefumpiion in me to decide upon. That 1 muft 
 leave to wifer hieads to determine. 
 
 The
 
 [ «i ] 
 
 The commencement of the Americans intentions to throw 
 cfl' tl'.e allegiance of Great Britain, are not of yeftei day. 
 They did not even begin with the Stainp-adt, as ir any peo- 
 ple have imagined, iJiough I will readily allow, the repeal 
 of tliat a«Si; gave them a boldnels which they had rut fcr'ner- 
 ly alTumed, iiid led them to imagine, that Great Britain was 
 unable to do any thing contrary to the inclinations of Aiuc- 
 rica. 
 
 The latter end of Sir Robert Walpole's adminjihation, 
 in the year X7.;9, gave birth to all that has happeieu lir.ce. 
 The Patriotic party of that day, headed by Sir Jehn ber- 
 liard, a very w.ortiiy man, but who uiidonbt^d^' h.itf I'beei^ 
 impofed upon, played the lame game jvhich oui preltiit r n-' 
 triots are attem])tiiii>, though,' I tiufl, wuh better lucct; ., 
 They forced' the inini/ier to break ihroug'i the &i:t of na-v i- 
 gation, and to allow the Americans to export theii enume- 
 rated goods, as they wci c pleafed to call them, viz. ail their 
 rice, wheat, bailey, Indian corn, and al! forts of coriis, 
 fifii, &c. &c. to any port in Euroye, Ibiith of Cape Finiltt ri e. 
 Before that period, trade was carried on with peace and 
 quJetnefs, and a certain profit to Gieat Brirain, as v.ell as 
 great, advantage to America. But no fuoner was thii; door 
 opened, than the Americans commenced fm>:ggl£;rs. It point- 
 ed out a way for them to throw oiT all conneclioh in trade 
 with the motlier country, wh-'fe fleets, at che fame time,. 
 Were their prote(ftion. With the Britilh, flag flying, and 
 their Mediterranean pafsin their cabins, to Icreen them from 
 all the piratical ftates, they carried on trace with more f.iie- 
 ty than any other nation in Europe. But, fay tiis graieju-l 
 people, we are not to pay any proportion of the < xpence 
 neceilary for the fupport of that fleet ; that uibta'.tar, and 
 that Port Mahon, \vhich aftord us this profeoion. Let eld 
 England, and poor Scotland, pay for our faiety ; -but let us 
 "reap the profits of their trade and commerce. 
 
 The Britiili trade in the Mediterranean, before the 1739, 
 the time when the /'///r;o//)a^lan abwve mentioned to^k place, 
 was much inore extenfive than ever it has been fuKe. The 
 \;aufe is obvious. The corn and fiih, alone, were great arri- 
 cles in point of freight, *and gave bread to our own fullors, 
 whom we can always depend upon for manning our flte's. 
 Can we trult to the Americans for this necellary piece of 
 
 duty ?. — No ! If we repofg any confidence in them, they 
 
 may perhaps point their guns againit us, as they do at pre- 
 ient from their floating batteries. 
 
 It is lurely high timf , therefore, for Great Britain to en- 
 courage her own navigation. Let the Americans b« put on 
 the fatne footing, with regard to trade, which they enjoyed 
 
 \> . in
 
 [ 92 ] 
 
 in the 17:^, Let their exports and imports be through th^ 
 channel of Great Britain, Ireland, and our Weii India fet- 
 tlements; then, and not till then, will they pay us tor what 
 they take. F*or many years paJl they have taken our goods, 
 turned them int;) money, and with that money gone to Hol- 
 land, Hamburgh, France, and other countries, where they 
 purcliaCe their manufa<itures, while they allowed ours to re- 
 main unpaid. 
 
 Were thei'e matters properly adjufied, and a fcttlemcnt 
 of the prefent ditference^. etfetfted, in a manner fuitable to 
 the honour and dignity of Great Britain, Scotland n)ight car- 
 ry on a trade witli America, advantageoi.s to botli countries. 
 
 We could furnifh them with Ofnaburghs, Checks Coarle 
 Linens, ar or under I4d. per yard, Handkercliiefs, and 
 common Calicoes, on as good terms as tl;ey could be fup- 
 plied with them from the Continent; for the rcaCons I have 
 given in a former part of this work, we cannot indeed com- 
 pare with them in the finer forts of linen. 
 
 All forts of Woollen goods we can unqueftionably furnifh 
 them c>n better terms than any other country in Europe ; with 
 Cloths from the coarfcfl Flannel to the fined Superfine : with 
 Hats, from 10 d. to "os. a-piece ; w ith Stockings, from 6d. 
 to 10 s. the pair ; and, with every other article in the Wool- 
 len branch proportiorally cheap. 
 
 Shoes, and every thing made from leather, we arc ac- 
 knowledged to be equally expert in, with the manufa<^lurers 
 of any other country, and can afford to i'ell them at as low 
 prices. 
 
 Chimney grates we ftand unrivalled in ; nor, I believe, 
 will any other nation compete with us in any wares manu- 
 faiflured from Iron. 
 
 Upon the whole : When the Americans come to their 
 fcnfes, they will find it for their intereft, as well as their 
 fafety and conveniency, to ftrenglhen the bond of friendfliip 
 with the Mother Country ; and to promote her trade and 
 manufa(!'liires. Let them confider liow much the flag, which 
 hitherto has prote(51ed them, would be defpiied and torn to 
 pieces by every petty Prince, were it not for the Britifh Lyon. 
 Even the king of Pruflia, that little maritime Monarch, could 
 fit out as many fhips of war at Embden, Stelin and Konings- 
 burgh, as would deltroy all ihe gt eat North American trade 
 in two years. 
 
 SECTION
 
 [ 83 ] 
 
 SECTION VI. 
 
 ^TlADE in general, interjperfed with fuch ohfervations f. 
 the author thinks, if duly -weighed and confidercd, may b 
 produilivc oj good offers to this country. 
 
 *" I ^ HE preceding Se<ftions of this work were taken up in 
 -■- a great meafure on itie manufactures of Scotland. Tliis lalt 
 I relerved for faying a few words on trade in general, and 
 fuch ohfervations as might occur, whether on trade or any 
 other fubjtc^t. I fliall btgin with trade. 
 
 The fcheme by which bir Matthew Decker propofed to 
 raife the fupply, in place of the prefent mcde, was furely a 
 wile jilan, and, if adopted, would i'ave fomt hundred thou- 
 fands to the nation annually, and add 50,000 men to the 
 itatc, who are now employed in colle(5ting, furveying, and 
 herding the traders and iniugglers. His (cheme puts an end 
 to all Imuggling. And as, in fart, the land-h(.lders, and 
 people of property, in the end, pay almclt all the duties of 
 cuftoms and excife, it would be better for them, on the whole, 
 and much more c«)n.venient for the merchant ; for, by the 
 prefent way of levying the cultoms, the man that deals to 
 any extent in foreign trade, mult ha/e a great command 
 of money, otherwiie he can import little, the duties being of- 
 ten double the prime colt of the goods abroad ; and thefe 
 duties muft be paid before you tan fee your gonds. This 
 throws the importer always largely in advance, and requires 
 three Hocks to carry on trade, wliete c)ne would do, were 
 the dirties taken otF; that is, L. 1000 would carry on as 
 much as L. ^000 will at prefent. 
 
 There never was, in my tiuie, a minifter who has paid 
 greater regard and attention to the commerce and trade of 
 Great Britain than the prefent Lord North : He has fhoM'n a 
 fteadinefs and firmnefs of every thing for the good of King 
 and counti y. But, at prefent, how far fuch a plan can take 
 place, is uncertain. I know moft branches of the revenue 
 are appropriated to pay the intereft of certain loans, and it 
 muft take time to get the pririoijials paid. But, with great 
 
 fubmiflion
 
 f 
 
 [ 84 3 
 
 fubmifiion to the wifdom of parliamen^, I tliink the duties- 
 fliouIJ be ctjnt3'.;fcia.bly lowered, paiiicularly onFrf-ncli gootls, 
 vhich, ar prefcnt, are next to a proliibiti!.;n. Tl;e lung en- 
 niitv *nd j'.-aioufy betwixt the Engliih and French, has kept 
 them at a great diftance froin one another in point of trade ; 
 it is !iigh time to remove it: There arc no people more h<jr.e[l 
 and eai) in their dealings in tomnierce, (the hnglilh excep- 
 ted) J I have dealt I<irgcly with them, and have always found 
 them io. I have been taken their pri<nncr at leu ; they ufcd 
 ine with the greateft hianamty and hofpitality. I had the 
 honour to cor'efp;)rjd with the great liarcn Montcfquitu. 
 As a merchant, his name adds much to the reputation of the 
 prt'itlfion. He was an honour to mankind. 1 had great 
 pleaiuic in doUii.g with him His wines were c^tcllcnt, 
 and at amoaer?ie price. If we would open trade with the 
 French, by rcvlucing tlie durie?; on their wines and brandies, 
 1 am pc! Iiiadcd they will meet us half-way, and allow our 
 manufadurcs to be imported into France, on equal terms. If 
 this (lit'uld take place, it would moll elFeclually lower the price 
 of corii, and all the nccefTaries nf Hfe, and afford us good 
 and wholtlbme fpirits; for in all our northern countries lome 
 I'pirits are ab.olutely necefl'ary ; the more moderately ufed 
 the better : But, in this cold climate, I have fcen the good 
 fftecfls cf a little at a time, botli by Tea and land. And, as 
 we mnft have Ipirits, is it not better to get them of whole- 
 Ibme quality, and pay them with our manuf.nj^ures, than to 
 diitil tw( millions of quarters of our beii grain, which is the 
 came of keeping it always lo high ? and, if good plentiful 
 crop;- happen, tiie exporting your corn is of much greater 
 confeqiience to the kingdc^m tlian making it into fpirits. I 
 can ealy lee what will be (jljedted ; the revenue of excifc 
 and culJnms will fuffcr. 1 think not ; for, if the duties 
 are low , ilicre v,'ill be no Smuggling ; the importation of 
 Mines and brandy W( uld be imnienlc. Were it one fourth 
 of V. h.<t the French wine duty is at prefent, and one third 
 of what t!ie brandy excile is, the revenue would draw double 
 of svhat it now does, and anfwer every purpofc for which 
 thele duties were laid on. If thefe meafures were to lake 
 place, they would extend our navigation greatly. The Dutch 
 and Swtdf s are at preient ihe'greaieft carriers of v ine, bran- 
 dy, cii, &c. from th.e Ibuih of France, Havre de Grace, 
 Dunkiri;, and all the ports in the channel. I myfelf had fe- 
 veral I'hips employed in the freight way, from and to the 
 ports ^tnti^Ted, and cleared money on my ihips fo employ- 
 ed. iJui [ paid, as all our fhips mult, five livres to the Hate 
 for each ton the Qiip mealured. If rhefe livres were taken 
 olF^ as tliey certainly would, if we had our tarriff of trade 
 
 {ettled
 
 r ^5 ] 
 
 A-ttled, the Brltiili fhips would get the whole of thefe freight?, 
 and :i very great objeol it is. The preference is always 
 given to our fi^.ips over the Mediterranean ; and for a fen- 
 fible reafon. We lofe fewer ftiips, in proportion to our num- 
 ber employed, than any nation in the world ; and befidcs, 
 our failcrs are more honelh In all my pra61ice, (and I have 
 freighted fome hundreds of fliips,) I never had a package broke 
 up, nor a cafk broached or pierced, or any fort of embezzel- 
 mtnt on my cargoes of goods, wh^^n on board ©ur own Bri- 
 tiHi veflels. Other nations are not fo free of this vice. Our 
 failnrs are undoubtedly ttie moll honeft hearted, open, 
 friendly fellows in Europe, and defpii'e a dirty ac^tion, ei- 
 tlier at lea or on fhore. Tliis trade would encreafe their 
 numbers, who are the Q^vcat bulwarks of our nation. 
 
 Poftlethwait iays, the coalHngand foreign tiade to London 
 alone employs 100,000 feamee in time of peace, I fuppofe 
 them to be only 75,000. The navy 25,000, feamen in 
 time of peace. All the relt of our coafting and foreign trade, iri 
 the whole of the ports of Great Britain and Ireland, 1 30,000* 
 Theic numbers are foru)idable, and the more fo, as you can 
 have a geat part of them on board your fleets, upon an e- 
 mergency. Your honrjeward coalling trade being {"o exten- 
 five, enabled this nation, now fo happily conne(51:ed, and 
 tinanimous in their operations, to equip a fleet in four months^ 
 fiiperior to what France and Spain could do in two years. 
 Do yon think that fo wile a nation as France will chufe to 
 qiurrel with you at thefe times ? they know too well the 
 difterence now, to what it was fome years ago ; lall war 
 convinced them of the truth of it. They muft confider how 
 many brave hardy failors and foldiers, come from this coun- 
 try, to fight, conquer, or die with their brethren the Englifh; 
 indead of being, as formerly, fo imprudent and impolitic as 
 to take fide with ihe French, upon all occafions, againft Eng- 
 land. This makes a mighty diflcrence in the balance of 
 ■war. And I hope « e (hail never be on other terms with the 
 EngHlli nation than we art at prefent, and v/cre all laft war. 
 In this fuuaiion, no powei" in Europe can have niinifters of 
 lb little penetration but muit fee the confequence of making 
 war with a brave and united kingdom. Small as the fpace 
 is that Great Britain and Ireland occupies in the ocean ; yet 
 ■we have three fea ports to one, more than all France and 
 Spain together. This is our great nurfery for feamen. 
 
 Laft war, you had onej|houfand men on board his Majefty's 
 fleets and privateers, witli^he King's commiflion, to cruife s- 
 gainft your enemies. At that very time you had 8000 merchant 
 fhips carrying on the trade pf^rea^Britain and Ireland, wlio 
 . ^4 J,^/) rode 
 
 ///<
 
 C 84 ] 
 rode In Czfcty, and triumphant in every quarter of the 
 globe. What mult foreigners think of this nation, that could 
 carry on (uch exteniive commerce, and take every place 
 they attempted, and destroy every fleet of the enemy they 
 met with ? Will they be ralh in making war with tliat na- 
 tion ? 
 
 1 can forefee another objeclion will be ftarted, as to the 
 rum from our plantations, and Wclt-India illands. VV^hy not 
 let tlieir rum be imported at brandy-duty, or a trifle under, 
 tiiough they deferve but litlle favour from the mother-coun- 
 try i they are difobetlieiit children. One thing, I well know, 
 that, if they can get goods at St Euflatia, Surinam, or 
 or any of the free ports in the Wefl-Indies, on equal terms, 
 or a trifle lower, they will never take ours. This country 
 tliertfore (houKI rake meafiiresfor their own prefervation, to 
 keep their provilions and ncceflaries of life at moderate prices/ 
 fo as to carry on our manufactures, and find a market for 
 them, independent of tliefe wrong-headed people. Tiiis 
 flep, among others, would bring great advantages, and 
 humble the pride and haughtinefs of the Americans, who, 
 I have no doubt, would have thro\\n themfelves into the 
 hands of any power in Kurope, if they could have found one 
 fo rafh as themfelves. But, as I have l)efore faid, the prin- 
 ces of Europe are too wife to embark in fuch Don Quixote 
 fchemes 36 they iiave formerly done, againft fo great a na- 
 tion. I again fay, that if we could fettle proper conditions 
 and articles with France, and trade with them, as we do 
 with the ungrateful Portuguefe, both natiems would profit by 
 the bargain, and could keep the balance of Europe in their 
 OUT. hands ; and, lure I am, we would increafe our wealth, 
 and health, more by this than all the continental con. 
 ricctions we have. Times are greatly changed, and that 
 rivetated antipathy the Englifh had to that nation liiould be 
 forgotten, as wc in Scotland have done with the Englifli. 
 We heartily defpife the illiberal, indecent reflei5lions throw n 
 out by the difappointed parriots, well knowing, that the Eng- 
 lifli, ninety-nine out of a hundred, look on us as their bre- 
 thren, and would rifque their lives and fortunes for us, as 
 we have done for tliem ; and we will be always ready to 
 do fo, on every occafion, when caUed for by King and 
 rarliament. We love freedom and liberty, and enjoy it 
 more than thefe flnming diflatisfied patriots, whofe great 
 aim is to get into places and power, and then we Ihould be 
 under fine management ; but we have an old faying in this 
 country, Bettsr keep well as wake luell. 
 
 1 would beg leave lilccwife to fuggell, that, were the Ic- 
 gifiature to abolifli all ofiicers fees at the water-fide, and 
 
 give
 
 [ 8? 3 
 
 give the land and coaft-waiters more falary, it would Iwi 
 ierving the revenue, and aflifting the fair trader. Theie lees. 
 Zee. paid at the 'water-fide are a great encouragement to the 
 unfair trader, and a great lots to the merchant, who is not ; 
 nay, that pradlice makes the officer iniult the man who im- 
 ports fairly, and he cannot get equal dil'patch as the other 
 U'ho pays high fees. It is to be hoped, at any rate, that all 
 fee?, within and without doors, will be taken oft' the Wool, 
 and all materials waiited for that manufacture. The fees at 
 prefent are very high on Wool, and Woollen goods going 
 coaft ways, and the officers very troublefome. It will be of 
 much confequence to trade, if fome regulations take place as 
 to thefe fees, and the officers be ordered to do their duty 
 without fee or reward, and to give ail difpatch at legal hours. 
 Upoi the whole, the revenue will never be honeltly dealt 
 with, nor the merchant well ferved, while thefe officers 
 have the difpofal of favours, and the public money, as they 
 pleafe, and to take fuch liberties as are moir fliameful ; as 
 the merchant muft pay, or put up with ihe abufe that tiiele 
 people will oblige him to fubmit to. 
 
 I have already noticed, that moft of the towns and vil- 
 lages in Scotland, are extremely well fituated for carrying 
 on Trade and Manufa«5lures, but none more fo than thofe in 
 Eaft Lothian, particularly the Woollen branch ; it being a 
 populous healthy country, having plenty of corn and woo], 
 while water and coals can be had at fmall expence. 
 
 There is one village, however, which I cannot omit men- 
 tioning here, as it did not fall properly to be treated of un- 
 der any of my former Sedlions. Tiie place I mean is Lin- 
 ton by Linton Bridge. The lituation of tiiis village is real- 
 ly beautiful, and might be made, at no great expence, a fea 
 port, capable of receiving velTels from 50 lo 80 tons. Two 
 fmall locks would enable ffiips of thele burthens to come up 
 to Linton Bridge, and lighters and fuch craft could navio-ate 
 to Haddington, the centre of the country. How great an 
 advantage this would be to the proprietors of the lands, to 
 the farmers, and all ranks of people, mud at firft fight be 
 obvious. It would leflen the pi ice of carriage of their corns, 
 manufactures, and all kinds of produce, which they have 
 occafion to carry to market, and have the fame eiFetl upon 
 the-coal, lime, or any other goods or materials, which are 
 neceflary to be brought into tiie middle of that rich country. 
 This water communication would likewife fave the roads, 
 by keeping many heavy carriages off them, and would tend 
 greatly to reduce the number of horles, which are found to 
 be very burthenfome, as well to the Gentlemen as the Far- 
 mer. Whether this ufeful work fliould be undertaken at the 
 
 expence
 
 C 88 J 
 
 expence of the pr«pj it-tors of the lands in the environs, who 
 Would, in that cafe, be entitled to all the benefits refultiiig 
 from it; or, by tlie public, who might be reiniburled by- 
 laying on a fmall tax on the ton of each veflel employed in 
 that trade, dues not belong to me to detei mine. One lliinp 
 is very certain, that vi'ere fuch a plan adopted and carried 
 into execution, it could not fail of being of great fervice 
 to that part of the country ; nor do I imagine it would re- 
 quire any extraordinary exertion of public fpirit to accoin- 
 plifh it. 
 
 The Landholders at the Mouth of the Water of Tyne, 
 might likewile add largely to their ellates, were they to 
 bank in their grounc's on the fea fliore, as our allies the 
 Dutch do. They have itill more fea to encounter with, and 
 deeper water, where they have added many thoufand acres 
 of rich ground to their country, with nothing tlfe than Jlaick 
 and rice. Thefe materials, the people of this country, have 
 jnfl at hand ; whereas the Hollanders have to bring them 
 Ironi places at many miles diltance. The branches of the 
 trees, brufli«wood, and iuch reful'e as comes from Tynning- 
 ham forcli-, would do the bufinefs, and many hundred acres 
 might be filled np in a few years with good foil lit for pa- 
 fture or tillage. When a proper fence of llaick and rice Is 
 once fixed, it is furprifing how foon it fills up at the back. 
 Every ilorm from tlie fea throws over abundance of fuch 
 materials as feeds and firms it, and foon renders it Iblid 
 ground. The falts with which thele fea weeds or ware a- 
 bound, keeps the ground in good health for many years, 
 and adds fo much real wealth to the proprietor and his coun- 
 try. An acquifition of this kind could not fail of affording 
 great pleafure to thofe who carried fuch a fcheme into exe- 
 cution, as they thereby not only would have the merit of ad- 
 ding lb many acres to their own property, which formerly 
 was of no ule to the country, but likewife might induce others, 
 equally well fituated for fuch purpofes, to lollow their ex- 
 ample. But, as fome people may not be acquainted with what 
 the Dutch ci[\ Jlaick and rice, it will be proper here to explain 
 it. The Jlaick therefore, are large pieces of trees, wliicii 
 they drive far into the earth, at fome diltance from each o- 
 iher. The rice are a kind of twigs which they weave about 
 the ftaitk, and make a fort of net of the whole. Tliis fence 
 has been found by experience a greater prcfervative from 
 the encroachments of the fea, than even bulwarks of flone. 
 The former, yielding to the preflure of the water, and re- 
 ceiving through the interfaces different kinds of fea ware 
 and rubbilh, becomes a (Irong and folid wall; while the 
 latter, not giving way to fuch impulfe, nor receiving any ad- 
 ditional
 
 1 
 
 I 89 ] 
 
 ditional flrength from the fea, is often carried away by its 
 violence. 
 
 Thefe undertakings, at the fame time that they would be 
 produttive of riches to the proprietor and the country, would 
 ^ive employment to many induflrious people. Th^.-y alfo 
 enjoy the fame advantages with the filheriei; for every foot 
 of ground thus taken in, as well as every filh catched, is a real 
 and fubflantial acquifition, purchafed at no expence whate- 
 ver, but that of labour. 
 
 As the city of Edinburgh finds it very difficult to fupport 
 their Charity Work-hbufe, I cannot here omit throwing out 
 fome hints for that pnrpofe, which I had from a gentleman 
 of large property, and who is univerfally efteemed by all 
 who have the honour of his acquaintance. He is a real 
 friend to his country, and to Edinburgh in particular,, as he 
 refides very near it. This gentleman, about twenty years 
 ago, mentioned to the Lord Provoft, a man whcfe memory 
 will long be held in the highefl: efiiraation, that he appre- 
 hended, were the people in the Poors Houfe employed in 
 picking, cleanfing, fpiuning, and manufaciuring our wool to 
 make flannels for the dead, and every other article neceflary 
 for burying, in a decent manner, all who are interred in 
 the feveral church yards of Edinburgh and Leith, fuch fur- 
 nilhings would go a great length to defray the expence of 
 that charitable infHtution, aud would be no tax on the inha- 
 bitants, as every thing could be furniflied at the comrpon 
 price; and it was not doubted but that the Good Town, and 
 all concerned, would give the ground to be broke upon the 
 belt terms, in order to encourage fo public-fpirited and cha- 
 ritable an undertaking This propofal, however agreeable 
 it might be to my worthy political friend, could not then be 
 carried into execution, from the oppofition he faw he would 
 meet with, from the deacons of crafts, undertakers, up- 
 holfterers, 8cc. &c. But times have greatly altered fince that 
 period, and 1 have now Co good an opinion of the tradefmen 
 and dealers in Edinburgh at prefent, that I am hopeful, in- 
 Itead of throwing obftruclions in the way, they will lend 
 their helping hand to bring the matter to a fair trial. Many 
 fchemes have been propoied to lupport the Charity Work- 
 houfe, but none have been adopted. A law to eltabliHi a 
 poors rate, appears juftly to be greatly againlt the inclinati- 
 ons of the inhabitants ; and the yearly voluntary collections 
 are difagreeable to fome and troublefome to others. If the 
 above fthenie fucceeds, and I can fee no good reafon why 
 it Ihould not, it might be of fervice to the whole country, 
 as every pariHi in Scotland would naturally adopt the fame 
 plan. This would be liierally fupporting the living poo-- by 
 
 jM meuns 
 
 i
 
 
 I 90 i 
 
 means of the dead ; nor ii^ed thofe employfcd in fuch tnattefs 
 at prefent be defUtute of work, as there are many other 
 branches to which thev could turn their tlinughts and hands. 
 
 Having faid fo much on improvements in general, I muft 
 row beg leave to ofter a few obfervations on the attention 
 which has b' en paid by fome individvals, to the advance- 
 ment of thi' defirnble objf cl. 
 
 The au'hor of Qufries hy a Man of Quality, very juftly ce- 
 lebrate*, tlie condui'l of feveral Englifli ladies, whw have Ipouf- 
 cd Noblemen of this country, for the public fpirit they have 
 ■.lir.;ovt>ed in giving encouragement to the manufactures of 
 il>^«^ country which gave birth to their hufbands; nor, in- 
 dee J, can they be ("ufficiently applauded for it. Many ladies 
 of our own countrv are bhfTed with the fame fpirit and be- 
 iievoLvnt difpofitions ; and I flatter mylelf, from Inch bright 
 examples, the!'" numhehs will dailv encieafe. Out of num- 
 be'-s which might be mentioned. I fhall only take notice of 
 one Lady of Qjiality, worthy of imitation, whofe place of re- 
 fidence i, ii')t a Iv.indred miles re noved fiom the Royal Pa-' 
 lace of Holyrood-houfe. This Lady has a great deal of me- 
 rit, in railing upon her Lord's eftate, an excellent breed of 
 fheen, of the fine wot. lied kind, as well as all other forts of 
 cattle, though in a very indiffVrent part of the country. 
 This Ladv has alfo variety of Woollen, T.inen, Damalks, 
 &c. manufa(f^ured under her own infpc(ftion, of excellent 
 qualities. 
 
 In •*• fame manner, from ladies of inferior quality, many 
 mi ,'..;• h^' mentioned worthy of imitation ; but in this, as in 
 t';! Inimer imlance, I fhall confine myfelf to one, as a pat- 
 t:.'- : to other ladies, who would wifli to promote the real in- 
 terefls of their country. The ladv I mean, is fpoufe of a 
 worthy citizen in an eaftern burgh in Eaft Lothian. The 
 greatcfl plcafure fl^e enjoys is that of giving employment to 
 a number of indu'^^rious ncople in her neighbourhood, in the 
 woollen and other branches of bnfnefs, and of relieving the 
 poor by adl^s of benevolence and charity : nor is her buf- 
 band lefs alTiduous in the fame commendable work. He 
 gives bread to hundreds , is an honour to his profeflion ; and 
 a blelling to that part of the country where he refides, as 
 well as to that part of the coaft where I drew my firfl breath. 
 
 To multiply inftances of the ladies and gentlemen of this 
 country, who dcfervc to be held in the highell veneration 
 for their public fpirit, would be endlefs. They are daily en* 
 crealing, ahd I hope will continue to do fo, till this country 
 is- broujjht to that ftate of improvement, in every branch of 
 manufarture, of which its fituation, in many refpeCts, renders 
 it fo highly capable. We lnje had gentlemen of truly pa- 
 triotic
 
 t 9« 3 
 triotic principles in former times. I hope the race are far 
 from being exiinguifhed. Air M'Leod of CadboU was one 
 of thofe. An honour to nff country ; and, at the fame tirae, 
 fo great an encourager of its manufacfturcs, that, from his 
 earliefl: years, he never wore that of any other country ; as 
 an inflance of which, I miift here mention an anecdote of 
 that gentleman : Having come up to Edinburgh upon fome 
 private concerns, and ftanding in need of a new liat, he en- 
 quired his man of biifinefs, whether there was any hat-makers 
 in f"dinburgh ? To this he anfwered in the affirmative, and 
 at the lame time told him, that a parcel fhould be immediate- 
 ly fent, that he might take his choice of one. This oiFer, 
 however, Mr M'Leod rejected, well knowing the many 
 tricks which are pra^lifed upon fuch occafions, of paffing off 
 for Scofs, what in reality was the manufa(5lure of England. 
 He behoved therefore to fee the hatter himfelf, and waited 
 with patience till he had made one for him according to his 
 directions. Were all our countrymen to behave in this man- 
 ner, our manufacturers would be in no danger of wanting 
 employment. Indeed, fuch a conduct is highly requifite at 
 this tjme, when fo many tricks of this nature are daily prac- 
 tifed by many of our Ihop-keepers. Thofe, therefore, who 
 wilh to encourage the manufactures of their country, in order 
 to avoid fuch impofitions, fliould purchafe from none but 
 fuch as ailvertife the commodities of it. One company in 
 Edinburgh, and they are not the leafl: confiderable in it, have 
 already done fo. There the public may be fatisfied they will 
 be fupplied with real Scots cloths, as the company are con- 
 cerned with more than one manufaiTlory in that branch. T 
 hope they will meet with that encouragement which every 
 promoter of the interefts of their country merits, 
 
 Notwithflanding this tra6l has drawn out to a much great- 
 er length than I at firft expe(5led, yet many things are omit- 
 ted, which I once intended to have taken notice of; particu. 
 larly, with regard to the mines and minerals, of which this 
 country is fo abundantly ftored, and from which fo mncli 
 riches may be expelled. I likewife intended to have taken 
 notice of the delightful appearance of the face of the country, 
 from the many itnprovements made upon it by rhe noblemen 
 and gejitlemen of property, But thefe, for the reafon al- 
 ready mentioned, I am under the neceffity of deferrir?- ti!! 
 fome other opportunity. 
 
 One improvement, I cannot ommit ta''- ,v •. 
 
 this place, as it is a new as well as a 
 not properly fupported at prefent, may 
 to this country. I mean the Dircf^o; 
 ktcly eftabliflicd by Mr Peter \V;:ii/ •••'.•
 
 C 9* 1 
 
 entercourfe orcorrcfnomlence between merchants is ihe moll 
 
 certain way of carrying on trade jyr'^<^^*"^'*y^^* I ^vil'j 'liere- 
 fore, beg leav<» ta meiuiorl, that tio icheme pivyei^led by any 
 perfon in Scotland, feenis more calculated to effectuate thi« 
 great purpoi'e, than the Directory and Penny-Poll, fet on 
 fobt by Mr Williamfon, and I Ihould be lorry, on that ac- 
 ■' ddhnt, if proper encouragement were not given to it. 
 
 \ Before I conclude, I cannot help returning nty moit grate- 
 ful acknowledgments to thefe Noblemen and Gentlemen who 
 have been pleated to tertify their ctpprobation of the Letters 
 which, froint ime to time publiflied to the world, on the ma- 
 nufactures and commerce ot this cou-itry. The card which 
 I fome few days ago received, on this fiibjecfl, from a Noble- 
 man of the firlt didinCtion, and who has expended upwards 
 of fifty thoufand pounds Iterling, upon inipr')vements, in the 
 neighbourhood «»f this city, is truly flattf ring ; and I am hap- 
 py that thefe Letters, which I meant entirely for the good of 
 my country, have not been viewed in another light b> thole 
 who are its greatelt ornaments. 
 
 I have cnly to add, that however confcious I am of the 
 little merit this ireatife polTcfles, in point of compofition, I am 
 liopefiil the intention with which it was undertaken will plead 
 its excufc. 
 
 i:1^^ ':^:lf^S 
 
 ti 
 
 /-