I I i' , 1 ■ > "■;) .i:M;H!!!!;!!!i!!i;i!ll(!i!i!i!pp?lllil!ffl 1 k I l_ " "'• \m^iatTtitmtaM torn mnTUMimumit9MitrMii' AWEUmVERi-Z/v 4s -A^OFCALIFOfti^ v/;^ '4- C5 7 i- ..^ ^.OPCALIFOftiA ^ ^^lOSANG[lfj^ -i^ SO > so -< '^Aa3AiNn-3\\v^ ^=1 Frf c^ Sir M^ o v'SOl^^' "^AiJ^AINfl-JWV ^WEUNIVER^/^ -01^^^ -^jj^AINa 3\\V^ AWEUNIVERSy- % 3 v< ^ lAINn-3\\v ^OFCALIFO/?^ ^<9Aavagn-i^t^ ^OFCALIFOff^ -^ v^ ^. AWEUNIVER% .VWSANCElfj> 8 ^-"^^ — -^ O vr m\y^ '^ommY^' ^nwmm^ %a3AiNn]WV o -n — n O .vWSANCElfx^ "^aaAiNn-dWV ^UIBRARYQ^ ^^l■LIBRARYQr S' %JI1V3J0>' '^ = "^/^ajAINlVJHV^ .A;OFCALIFO/iU^ ^OFCAIIFO/?^ ^ ^ W, >- \WEUN'l ^10SANG[L/J> o BURT'S LETTERS FROM THE NORTH OF SCOTLAND. lo^c^-iA^T^/Ze . /".GatJmOi.-iA 6 . ^dW//' ^treet^ BURT'S LETTERS THE NORTH OF SCOTLAND. With Facsimiles of the Original Engravings. WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY R. JAMIESON, F.S.A. AND THE HISTORY OF DONALD THE HAMMERER, Front att Authentic Account of the Fattiily pf Invernahyle ; a MS. communicated by Sir WALTER SCOTT. VOLUME FIRST. EDINBURGH: WILLIAM PATERSON. MDCCCLXXVL <7 / 4-^^ V. I LETTERS FROM A Gentleman in the North of Scotland T o His Friend in London ; CONTAINING The Defcription of a Capital Town in that Northern Country ; WITH An Account of fome uncommon Cuftoms of the Inhabitants : LIKEWISE An Account of the Highlands, with the Cujioms and Manners of the Highlanders. To which Is added, A Letter relating to the Military Ways among the Mountains, began in the Year 1726. The Whole interfpers'd with Facls and Circumftances intirely Ne.w to the Generality of People in England^ and little known in the Southern Parts of Scotland. In Two Volumes. V O L. I. LONDON: Printed for S. Birt, in Ave-Maria-Lane. MDCCLIV. THE EDITOR TO THE READER. CO c U T AM apt to imagine you may be curious to to know by what Means the following Letters came to my Hands, after the Space of between twenty and thirty Years. The Gentleman in whose Possession they were, died some Time ago, and through Losses, unsuccessful Law-Suits, and other Disappointments, left his Family in none of the best of Circumstances ; and, therefore you will believe I could obtain them no otherwise than by a mineral Interest. The Person who writ them, has not set his Name to any one of them, and, it is very probable, he made Use of that Caution for Reasons given in his introductory Letter ; but this is not very material, because, if I had known the Name, in all Likelihood I might have thought myself under an Obligation to conceal it. viii THE EDITOR TO THE READER. I cannot but think the Writer has kept this Promise he made his Friend, of Writing ■without Prejudice or Partiahty ; and this I the rather believe, because, at my first Perusal of these Letters, I met with several Facts and Descriptions, pretty nearly resembling others I had heard from Officers of the Army, and Revenue, who had been in that Part of the Country ; but their Stories would have been the same, or very near it, if they had been free from the ludicrous and satirical Manner in which they were delivered. Ill-nature will excite in its unhappy Vnssals, a malignant Satisfaction to find the Truth (especially relating to Mankind) disguised in an antick Dress ; and there is nothing more easy than to furnish out the Masquerade with ridiculous outward Appearances. But neither of our Correspondents seems to have been inclined that Way ; for if the Person, to whom these Epistles were addressed, had been of that Trernpe, there is no Doubt but the Writer, who took so much Pains for his THE EDITOR TO THE READER. IX Information, would likewise have gratified him in that Particular, It must be owned, there are some few Strokes that savour a little of the Satyrical, but they are very few, yet just enough to shew, that if hiciniation had prompted, Humour would not have been wanting ; and even those few are only relating to such Vices and Vani- ties as might easily be reformed ; and, as they are now made publick, they may serve as Ad- monitions to such as apply them to themselves. What shameful Portraits have been drawn for a Highlander ! I shall only mention one, and that is, in the True-horn Englishman. His Description is much more shocking than entertaining to any one who has the least Humanity. But the owner of a chast Mind might have been well pleased to see the un- known Face divested of the odious Vizor. It may be said That Poem is a pro- fest Satyr, but I even deny it to be one ; for a true Satyrist is too delicate to Lash with a Flail. There be some who have made a Reproach X THE EDITOR TO THE READER. of unavoidable Poverty, and of Customs and Methods of acting, which, (I now find) accord- ing to the Nature of the Country, and Circum- stances of the Inhabitants, could not be changed for others to be more reasonable and commodi- ous. But, far otherwise, the Writer of these Letters. He seems to have catched at all Opportunities for Excuse, and even Com- mendation, and has not spared his own Country, or Countrymen, when the one deserved his Animadversion, or the other required an Acknowledgment ; so far has he been from invidious Comparisons, I must own he has likewise kept his Word in observing little Order or Method, for it plainly appears he took no Pains about either; But then that very Neglect has been the Cause of more sudden Variety, (to use his Correspondent's Phrase) and the little Stories that are scattered here and there, (I think not much known in England) serve now and then to break, as the Painter says, a too long-con- tinued Line of Description. THE EDITOR TO THE READER, xi I shiill say no more in Relation to his Style^ than that a Nicety is seldom much regarded in familiar Epistles from Friend to Friend, especi- ally in long Relations of Facts, or other Nar- rations ; besides, he says himself, it would have taken up too much of his Time to smooth his Periods ; and we all know that Words and Phrases will not dance into elegant order at the Sound of a Fiddle. It may possibly be said, by some of the Northern People, that the Writer has borne too hard upon a Part of the then Inhabitants of Inverness. Of that I cannot pretend to make myself a Judge, only that, as a Reader, it does not seem to me to be so by the Tenor of his other Letters, and particularly by his Appeal to the Officers of the Army who had been in those Quarters ; and surely this he would not have done (when he might have been so easily disproved) if he was conscious of Untruths, and had the least Regard to his Friend's Opinion of his Veracity. To conclude : If the Facts, Circumstances, xii THE EDITOR TO THE READER. and Descriptions, contained in the following Letters, are allowed to be just and genuine (as I really believe they are) may they not be given in Evidence^ against such as are fond of shewing the Wantonness of Invention and Drollery, upon Objects altogether improper for that Purpose ! and might not any one reasonably conclude, that such yokers believe all Mankind to be ridiculous, who have not an Affluence of Fortune, or that entertain a Garb, or Customs diiFerent from their own, and were not born in the same Parish ? And, if so, I think they themselves are the fittest Subjects of Ridicule. I am, The impartial Reader's Obedient humble Servant, THE EDITOR. CONTENTS OF VOL. I. Introduction. Pages i — Ixvi. LETTER I. Introduction — Familiarity the basis of this correspondence - — To be shown to one friend only — Reasons for this stipulation — Genius of a people known only by their native manners — Folly of being offended at descriptions of one's country — Highlanders little known to the Low Country, still less to the English — Scantiness of written information respecting the Highlands — Lowlands have been misrepresented — Notice of a work called ' A Journey through Scotland' — Old seats in Scotland- Plan of this correspondence — The descriptions mostly from personal knowledge — Danger of letters being intercepted — Egotism excused. . . i — ii LETTER II. Manner in which the introductory part of these Letters originated — Passage of the Tweed at Kelso — The inn and its accommodations — Innkeeper a gentleman — Potted pigeons — Disgusted, and quit the inn — First impressions — A specimen of cookery — Miserable bedding — Exoel- xiv CONTENTS. lent linen — Edinburgh- -Height of houses there — Tavern — Description of the cook — City drum — A guide for protection in passing the streets — Public nuisance — Number of families in a house — Site for a new city — Rejected, and why — Tedious mode of direct- ing strangers — The Cawdys and their constable — Leave Edinburgh — Glasgow, its uniformity and neatness — Church at Linlithgow — Formerly a cathedral — -Its neglected state — A curious remark — Leave Glasgow — Road — Contradictory information — Romantic appear- ance of the mountains — Poverty of the towns — Singular custom of quitting houses when old — Dis- agreeable smell of fishing-towns — Cattle smaller towards the north of Scotland. .... 12 — 30 LETTER in. Melancholy situation of a town without manufacture and foreign trade — Ought to be particularly attended to by governments — Poverty, simply considered, not a subject for ridicule — Insipid jests — Inverness — Its situation — A royal borough — Its government — Capital of the Highlands — Inhabitants speak English — Castle — Formerly a regal palace — Discovery of a corpse — Conjecture of a native inspecting it — Mary Queen of Scots — Castle in danger — Bridge and toll — Country peo|)le wade the river rather than pay — Salmon — Seals — Their singular appearance — Occasion the fiction of a mermaid — Appearance of, on dissection — Mode of tak- ing — Keen sight of — Silly notions respecting — Women washing linen at the river — Partiality for this mode — Tolbooth, or county gaol — Frequency of escapes — A CONTENTS. XV guess at their cause — Arbitrary conduct of Chiefs — Their policy — A particular instance — Endeavour to keep clans poor — Mean artifice — Military habits — Town-hall — Market-cross — Coffee-house — Churches — Anecdote — Church-yard and monuments — Style of building — Denomination of houses — Not lofty, and ■why — Roughness of building — Rats frequent — Their prodigious numbers — Ignorant supposition respecting — Singular conveyance — Weasels — Houses internally de- scribed — ni contrived — Windows. . 31 — 61 LETTER IV. Inferior houses — Pavement — Want of cleanliness — A singular practice — Remarkable inscriptions — Shops — Ridiculous affectation — Merchants — Their vanity- Pride of birth in the lower class — Singular condescen- sion — Pride of birth exemplified in a piper — Ridiculous effect of this vanity on strangers — Evil of such conceits — Lower class — •Their wretched poverty — Laborious occupation of women — Brogues — Carts — Drivers — Harness — Horses unshod — Ill-contrived wheels — Public curiosity at a chariot — Scarcity of pasture — Wretched state of horses in winter — Grass — Great scarcity of hay — Fairs at Inverness — Poverty. 62 — 84 LETTER V. Fairs continued — Dress — A curious precaution — Plaid the undress of ladies — Mode of wearing distinguish Whig and Tory — Handsome women — Maid-servants — -Their poverty — Their labour and small wages — Strange habits — Seldom wear shoes — -Reflection on xvi CONTENTS. their condition — Children of the poor — Their wretch- ed appeai'ance — Their dress — Frequency of a loathsome distemper — Merchants and magistrates — Their narrow- mindedness — Suspicion — Mean artifices of shopkeepers — A candid proposal, and its effects — Will not lend without a pledge — Distinction between a measure for buying and selling — Jealousy — Soldiers the best trades- men — Education. .... 85 — 105 LETTER VI. Visit to a laird's lady — Conversation — Opinion of Eng- lish ladies — Comparison between the English and Scotch — Illustration — Insincerity — Indolence of work- ing tradesmen — Want of encouragement — Best workmen emigrate — Fishermen— their indolence — Women bring them and their fish to land — Remarkable pride — Lower class object to particular trades — Backward in giving information— Their lodgings — Ludicrous appearance — Bedding — Opinion respecting the English in eating- Considered and refuted — Provisions, prices of — Anecdote — Indebted to the English originally for vegetables — Highlanders refuse to eat pork — Influence of chiefs — Animal food — -English inn — Hares and birds numerous — Partridges — River fish — Inhabitants refuse to eat eels and pike — Do not engage in field exercises — Salmon, from its plenty, considered a common food — Anecdote — Parental distress. . . 106 — 131 LETTER VII. Complaint against the English — Cheapness of provisions — ■ Curious law respecting the green plover — Highland CONTENTS. xvii baronet — Hospitality — Meanness — Highland cookery — Anecdote — Comparison with the English — French claret — Brandy — The laird of Culloden — His hospi- tality — Humorous contrivance — Hounds, and hare- hunting — Foxes — Beggars, numerous and importunate — Police — A Frenchman's comment — Highland thrifti- ness— A diverting instance of — Common sayings — Kitchens filthy — An instance of, and remarks on — Butter — Filthy state of public inns — Landlords — Their want of ceremony — Pride of family — A ridiculous instance of, ..... 13^ — ^55 LETTER Vin. Correspondence interrupted — Reason of — Visit to a High- land chief — Account of the excursion — Occurrences on the way — Arrival at the castle — Reception — Entertain- ment — Musicians — Style of dinner- — ^ Ostentation — Number of Highlanders in attendance — Chief engrosses the conversation — Departure — Return — Remarks — Wretched stables —Trial of patience — Highland Ale — The pint stoop — A dialogue — English spoken at Inver- ness — Irish in the Lowlands — Herring fishery — Instance of a plentiful season — Fraud on salt duty — Appointment of a new Officer — Is bribed — Intimidated by a smuggler — Curious consequences — Importations — Attempt to prohibit brandy — Scarcity of port — -Soldiers — ^Wretched quarters — A complaint — Honour among merchants — Ministers and their stipends — Style of dis- courses—Strongly object to personal decoration — Force of flattery 156—178 B xviii CONTENTS. LETTER IX. Ministers appear to disregard morality in their sermons- - Their prayers — Extempoie preaching — Danger of — Mistakes in — An instance of — Approval of a Minister at Edinburgh — Extracts from a sermon — Lilly the astrologer — Improvement of young ministers — Ministers circumscribed in their intercourse — Their strict observ- ance of the Sabbath — Are much revered by the people — Their strictness — Instance of — In synod assume great authority — Neglect of the kirk — Its consequences — Meeting of synod — Whimsical saying — Watchful of the female character — Singular marriage by declaration — Power of the kirk to compel — Routine for enforcing -^Penance — Injudicious application of — Fatal occur- rence — Power of the presbytery — Instance of — Doing penance — Style of ministerial rebuke — Power of ministers with the bulk of the people-— Instance of- — Kirk treasurer — His spies-^Frequent sei"vice on Sunday — Kirk bell — Music bells. . . . 179—208 LETTER X. A progress among the mountains — Guide and his discourse — Mountain scenery — Extravagant gratitude of a High- lander — Reflection on the condition of Highlanders — Curious letter from a young Highlander in America — Remarks on. .... 209 — 221 LETTER XI. Episcopalians — Remarkable instance of disloyalty — Non- juring ministers — Political cast of their instructions — CONTENTS. xix Weddings — Penny, or servant's weddings — Do not use the ring — Custom of plunging infants into water — Chiistening — Admonition to parents — Funerals — Mode of invitation to — Of procession — Bagpipe — Funerals among the higher class — Entertainment at— Excessive drinking — Minister has no demand for christening, marrying, or burial — Inconvenience of burial fees in England — Oliver Cromwell's fort — His army — His colours. ...... 222-^237 LETTER XII. The name of Cromwell disliked by the Highlanders — His success — Inverness quay — A remarkable hill, said to be inhabited by fairies and frequented by witches — Notion of judges respecting witches — Trial at Hertfoi'd — Trial of two Highland women, a mother and daughtei", ac- cused of witchcraft — Their condemnation and reputed confession — Gross absurdity of such imputations — Said to have been used as an engine of political power — Danger of exposing this notion — Island on the river Ness — Plantation — Moor-stones — Soldiers raise im- mense blocks of stone — Anecdote — The laird of Fair- field — Frequency of moitgage — Daughter's portion — Usury prohibited. .... 238 — 255 LETTER XIII. Castle of Culloden — Female courage — Parks — Disappoint an English officer — Arable land^Plowing — Poverty of labourers — Corn cut while green — Wages of labour- ers — ^Kinds of grain — Scanty produce — Trades — Im- XX CONTENTS. proved by communication with the soldieis — Partiality of the Scotch for their countrymen- — Distress during scarcity — Anecdote — Description of Fort-WilHam and Marybuigh — Houses built of wood — These Letters designed to contain nothing that may be found elsewhere — Answer to an inquiry — Account of Inverness and country around concluded — White hares and small birds on the snowy mountains. . . , 256^274, INTRODUCTION. ' I 'HE author of the following letters (the genuineness of which has never been questioned in the country where the accuracy of his delineations may best be appreciated) is commonly understood to have been Captain Burt, an officer of engineers, who, about 1730, was sent into Scotland as a contractor, &c. The character of the w^ork is long since decided by the general approbation of those who are most masters of the subject ; so that it will be here only necessary to add such notices and remarks as may tend to illustrate the subject in general, as well as to prepare the reader for what is to follow. And first, it may be expected that some- what should be said of the antiquity of the Highlanders, and the unmixed purity of their ii INTRODUCTION. Celtic blood and language^ of which they are more proud than of other more valuable dis- tinctions to which they have a less question- able claim. Whence the first inhabitants of our moun- tains came, or who they were, it would now be idle to inquire. They have no written annals of their own ; and the few scattered notices respecting them that remain, are to be gathered from strangers, who cannot be sup- posed to have had any accurate knowledge of their traditions concerning themselves. That a large portion of their population once was Celtic^ cannot be doubted ; but of this distinc- tion, there seems to be less understood than the learned have commonly supposed. The traditions, superstitions, and earliest impres- sions of all the nations of the west., of whom in a less cultivated state, we have any know- ledge, seem to point to the ecut^ " the great cradle of mankind," as the land of their fatljers ; and we consider the Goths and Celts as deriving their origin as well as their language from the INTRODUCTION. Hi same source ; the Celts having been the earlier, and the Goths the later wanderers westward. Although their complexion, language, religion, and habits, formed under different skies, and in different circumstances, exhibited in the end different appearances ; yet the further back that we are able to trace them, the stronger the marks of identity are found to be ; and presumptive evidence must be admitted, where positive proof is not to be expected. Of this kind of evidence, a very curious example is to be found in the end of the seventh book of Temora, where the following striking apos- trophe occurs : — " Ullin, a Charuill, a Raoinne, Guthan aimsir a dh' aom o shean, Cluinneam sibh an dorchadas Shelma, Agus mosglaibhse anam nan dan. Ni' n cluinneam sibh, shil nam fonn : Cia an talla do neoil bheil ur suain i* Na thribhuail sibh clarsach nach trom, An truscan ceo maidne is gruaim, Far an eirich gu fuimear a' ghrian O stuaidh nan ceann glas ?" Literally thus in English : iv INTRODUCTION. Ullin, Carruil, and Rouno, Voices of the time that has given way of old, Let me hear you in the darkness of Selma, And awaken the spirit of songs. — 1 hear you not, children of melody : [/«] what hall of clouds is your [rfj-/] slumber ? Strike ye the harp that is not heavy, In the gloomy robes of the mist of the morning, Where the sun rises very sonorous From the grey-headed waves ? Now, we know that all nations, having no light but that of nature to guide them, espe- cially when in difficult circumstances, look with fond aspirations towards the land of their fathers, to which they believe and hope that their souls after death will return. This was the belief of the Goths in their state of pro- bation in Scandinavia, and the ha/I of Odin was in Asgard ; and here we find the Caledonian bard, in the true spirit of the ancient and original belief of his countrymen, supposing the hall of the rest of his departed friends to be in the east^ where the sun rises.* * This is only one of many passages in the poems ascribed to Ossian, which cannot reasonably be suspected imRODucnoN. v But whoever the first settlers were, their state was so precarious, that the same districts were continually changing their masters, some- times in possession of one tribe, sometimes of another, sometimes of Goths, sometimes of Celts, and finally, of a mixed race composed of both. In the earliest periods of which history or tradition have preserved any memorials, the characters and habits of life of the inhabitants of the Scotish Highlands and Isles, and of the Northern Men, with whom they had con- stant intercourse, so nearly resembled each other, that what is said of one, may be w'ith equal justice applied to the other ; and even their languages bear the nearer resemblance to each other, the further back that they are traced. Almost all the great Highland clans know not only ivhence they came to their present settlements, whether from Ireland, because they refer to things which the compilers had no means of knowing ; the beauty of the poetry has preserved it ; but it is in direct opposition to all their own idle theories, and therefore all the commentators have passed it over in silence. vi INTRODUCTION. Norway, or the Scotish Lowlands, but many of them know the precise time of their emigra- tion. Of those who came from Ireland, the Celtic origin may well be doubted. We know that the Goths had established them- selves in that island as early as the third cen- tury, and that Cork, Dublin, Waterford, Limerick, &c., were built by them.* As the descendants of these colonists were mariners and pirates, like their fathers, they kept to the sea-coast, and were therefore more likely than iiplanders to remove in the case of distress, dis- content, or want of room at home, to the * In the Irish legend of Gadelus and Scota, their language is brought from Scythia, to which in the lax sense in which that appellation was commonly used, we see no great objection ; and Gadelus is called the son of Niull, a name which has from time immemorial been peculiar to the Goths of the North and their descendants ; so long ago was all distinction between Gothic and Celtic lost among the Irish ! — The Irish dictionary of O'Reilly (so creditable to the zeal and industry of the compiler) is a curious proof of this confusion of identity, as it contains, at least, ten Norse and Anglo-Saxon words, for one that is decidedly Celtic. INTRODUCTION. vii Scotish Highlands and Isles. That many of these isles were inhabited by Goths from Scandinavia, at a very early period, is evident from the traditions, poetry, and tales, of the Highlanders. Indeed with respect to some of them, no traces remain of their having ever had any other permanent inhabitants.* With the history of the more recent arrival of the Northern Men in Orkney, Shetland, Caith- ness, Sutherland, &c., we are better acquainted from the Icelandic historians ; and of the Hebridians and Highlanders, properly so called, the great clans of M'Leod, M'Lean, McNeil, Sutherland, M' Iver, Graham (Gram), Bruce (Bris), &c., are confessedly from the same quarter ; if the M -Donalds and M'Kenzies (to the latter of whom we attach the M'Rras) came immediately from Ireland their designations * The oldest appellation by which the Hebrides are known to have been designated was Innse nan Gall, "The isles of the strangers." The ancient kingdom of Galway in Ireland had its denomination from the same circum- stance ; and the wild Scott of Galloway in Scotland can hardly be presumed to have been a Celt. viii INTRODUCTION. nevertheless show that they were not originally Celtic ; the Frazers {de Fresale), and the Chis- holms (whose real name is Cecil) went from the Lowlands, as did the Gordons, and the Stewarts of Appin and Athol ; the Kennedies (one of the last reclaimed of all the clans) were from Carrick and its neighbourhood ; the Campbells {de campo hello) are allowed to be Normans ; the Murrays, as well as the M'lntoshes, M'Phersons, and other branches of the Clan Chattan^^ are generally understood to have come from the interior of Germany ; and, in short, with the exception of the Macgregors, their descendants the Macnabs, the \Irish f] * The name of Cameron (Lat. Camerarlus) seems to have been at first a title of office, such as could not have originated in the Highlands. It answers to the Scotish and English Chalmers, Chaumers, Chambers, Chamberlain, &c. M'Kay is spelt at least a dozen different ways; but, as it is uniformly pronounced by the Highlanders, it seems to mean the son of Guy. — But the three oldest worthies in the genealogical tree of the Reay family stand thus : Morgan Mac Magnus Vic Alaster (Alexander) ; a de- lectable jumble of British, Gothic, and Greek names, for the foundation of an hypothesis ! INTRODUCTION. ix Macarthurs, and a few others of inferior note, there seem to be none of the ancient Celtic race remaining. How the mefi were thus changed, while the language continued, is easily accounted for. The frequent appeals made to the king by chiefs at war among themselves, sometimes drew upon them the chastisement of the Scotish government, which was fond enough of seizing such opportunities of extending its own influ- ence. Expeditions were fitted out, encour- agement was given to the neighbours of the devoted party to join their array, and wherever the army went, submission and order were produced for the time ; but the state of the country remained the same as before. The possessions of the parties against whom the vengeance of the invaders was directed, were given, partly to new settlers from the Low- lands, and partly to their more powerful or more politic neighbours, as a bribe to ensure their favour to the new arrangements. These colonists, being mostly young male adventurers X INTRODUCTION. consulted their own interest and security by marrying women of the country, and the children of such marriages, being left in child- hood entirely to the care of their mothers, grew up perfect Highlanders in language, habits, and ideas, and were no wise to be distinguished from their neighbours, except that, perhaps, they were less civilized, being strangers to the cultivation peculiar to the country of their fathers, without having acquired in its full virtue that of the country in which they were born. The Scandinavians, who over-ran a great part of the isles and adjacent districts of the main-land, brought few women from their own country, and their descendants were naturalized in the same manner ; and tbe best dialect of tbe Gaelic is now spoken by those clans whose Gothic extraction has never been disputed. Their tales, poetry, and traditions, continued with, the language in which they had always been delivered down from one generation to another.* * " How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange INTRODUCTION. xi From the iiccounts to be found in various parts of this work, particularly in the Gart- more MS. it will be seen that, from the land ? " is an exclamation, the pathos of which can never be fully appreciated by him who has never quitted the land of Ins fathers. The bodies and understandings of men are more easily transferred from one region to another, than their sp'irtty particularly that spirit which is the source, soul, and essence of poetry ; and we know of no colonists, properly so called, that have produced any good original ]ioeX.vy. The Greek colonies ceased to be poetical as soon as their identity with the parent states ceased ; the Goths, Lombards, Burgundians, Franks, Normans, Anglo- Saxons, and Danes, had plenty of mythic, heroic, and romantic poetry in their own country, which continued to be the delight of the generations that emigrated, while their original impressions remained ; but they produced nothing of the hind in their neiv settlements. It was the same with the Scandinavians, who settled in the Highlands and Isles ; and we are of opinion, that, of all the fine national poetry of the old school, preserved till a late period among our mountaineers, none was composed after the arrival of these strangers among them. The Goths lost their own poetry, with their language ; and although locality, with the prejudices and enthusiasm thence arising, added to the astonishing retentiveness of memory, produced by constant habit and exercise (which disappears upon the introduction of letters), preserved among their descendants the Gaelic strains which they found in the xii INTRODUCTION. manner in which the lands, the superiority of which belonged to the chief of a clan, were portioned out by division and subdivision, according to proximity of blood, to the cadets of great families, the aboriginal inhabitants of the country must in the end have been actually shouldered out of existence, because no means were left for their support, and consequently they could not marry and be productive. These men, attached by habit, language, and prejudice, to their native country, upon which they had little claim but for benevolence, became sorners and sturdy beggars, and were tolerated, and supported, as the Lazzaroni were in Naples, and as Abraham-men.^ and sturdy beggars of all sorts, were in England, after the suppression of the monasteries, and country, with the hmguage in which they were clothed ; the spirit, feehng, and irresistible impulse which first in- spired them died away, and nothing new of the same kind was afterwards attempted with any success. If these observations are allowed to be just, they will serve to throw considerable light upon a subject which has hitherto given rise to much unreasonable and ill-judged cavilling. INTRODUCTION. xiii before there was any regular parochial provi- sion for the poor. From this system it arose, that each Highland clan at last actually became what they boasted themselves to be — one family, descended from the same founder, and all related to their chief, and to each other. If the chiefs of so many such clans were Goths^ bow is it possible that the pure Celtic blood should have continued its current, unpolluted, among them, till the present day ? The Celtic form of their language has been sufficiently accounted for ; and its identity with the Irish proves nothing more than what we know to have been the case, that both dialects, having passed through nearly the same alembic, have come out of nearly the same form, with much more purity than could well have been ex- pected, and much less than their admirers have generally claimed for them. For the illustration of the characters and manners of our mountaineers, such as they were in the davs of our author, it will not be necessary to go further back in time than the xiv INTRODUCTION. period when their condition began to differ from that of their neighbours, and submission and tribute were required of them by the kings of Scothmd, to whom they owed no homage, and whose general enmity was less to be feared than their partial protection. Their liberty, their arms, and the barren fastnesses of their country, were almost all that they could call their owii ; a warlike race of men, under such circumstances, are not likely to give up their all with good will ; and those who had not enough for themselves, must have been little disposed to contribute any- thing for the support of a power which it was certainly not their interest to strengthen. Emigrants from Ireland, or from Scan- dinavia (most of whom had withdrawn from the usurpations of a sovereignty in their own country, to which their proud spirits could not submit),* whether they obtained their settlements by conquest or by compact, as * See Snorro's Ke'imskritigla, Orkneyigagasa, the History of the kings of Man and the Isles, Torfaus, &c. INTRODUCTION. xv they had been accustomed to consider their swords as the sole arbiters of their rights, were not likely to put their acquisitions at the mercy of a king to whom they owed no allegiance, so long as they had the means of asserting their independence. Of the state of our own mountaineers when these strangers first arrived among them, we know very little ; but the Irish, with whom they had constant intercourse, and who inhabited a much finer country,'" must have been in a very rude state indeed, when they suffered themselves to be conquered by a handful of Englishmen. But whatever the previous state of the country was, such an accession of ambitious and ad- venturous pirates and freebooters to their population, was not likely to contribute to * It is probable that the poverty of the Scoto-Gael of that day was in their favoui^, and that they were in many respects superior to the Irish, because they were altogether free from the debasement of character produced by the clergy of that age, in every country where they acquired such influence as they then had in Ireland, " the Island of Saints.'' xvi INTRODUCTION. the tranquillity of the neighbourhood ; and after the estabHshment of the English in Ireland the constant intercourse between the Highlanders and Irish afforded the English an opportunity of making alliances with the Highland chiefs, whom they engaged to make diversions in their favour by attacking the Scots, as the French stirred up the Scots against the English. The attempts made from time to time to civilize the country, by partial colonization from the Lowlands, had very little effect, as the colonists uniformly adopted the spirit and habits of the natives, it being more agreeable and easy to lay aside the restraints imposed by an artificial state of society, than to adopt them ; but some better results attended the pohcy of obliging the refractory chiefs to attend the court, or surrender themselves to some man of rank, under whose surveillance they were to remain till pardoned ; after which they were to present themselves an- nually, either in Edinburgh or elsewhere, to INTRODUCTION. xvii renew their assurances of " good behaviour." This produced at least a more intimate acquaintance, and consequent connection, be- tween the gentry of the Highlands and Low- lands, and made the former ambitious of acquiring those accomplishments, which might justify their pretensions to a distinction and consideration, which they had no other means of supporting, beyond the range of their own mountains. Limited as the diffusion of book- learning certainly was among them, one thing is nevertheless unquestionable, that history^ poetry, and mus'ic^ were the favourite recreations of their leisure^ among the lowest vulgar ; and their clergy and physicians, who were all gentlemen, read and wrote, both in their mother tongue, and in Latin. From the Privy Council record, at the beginning of the seven- teenth century, it appears that the gentlemen of note, although they understood English, com- monly signed their names in a bold distinct Irish Character (as it is called), which shows that they were accustomed to writing in their own xviii INTRODUCTION. language, and probably were, partly at least, educated in Ireland, to which country all who adopted either poetry or music as a profession, were uniformly sent to finish their education, till within the memory of persons still living. The disturbances in the reign of Charles the First, opened a new sera in the history of the Highlanders ; but it is much to be re- gretted, that, for a long period after, having no historians of their own, their friends durst not speak the truth of them, and their charac- ters have therefore been entirely at the mercy of their bitterest enemies, who knew them only to hate them, in proportion as they feared them. Of all their virtues, courage was the only respectable quality conceded to them, and this out of compliment to the best disciplined troops of the day, whom, with less than equal numbers, they had so often routed ; but even their courage was disparaged, being repre- sented as mere ferocity., arising from ignorance, and a blind and slavish submission to their chiefs. To speak of them otherwise, beyond INTRODUCTION. xix the precincts of their own glens, was so unsafe, that in 1744 and 5, all the measures adopted and recommended by President Forbes, were near being frustrated, and he himself persecuted as a Jacobite, because he spoke and wrote of them like a gentleman and a man of discernment, being almost the only- man of his party that had the liberal spirit and good sense to do so.* In one great and radical mistake, all our historians agree. They represent the attach- ment of the clans to the house of Stewart, as cherishing the ferocious habits, and retarding the civilization of the Highlanders ; whereas * It is no small recommendation of the " Report of Marshal Wade," that appears from internal evidence, as well as from other circumstances, to have been drawn up in concert with President Forbes (one of the first men of his time), if not by him. Indeed a sketch of such a report has lately been discovered among the Culloden papers, a copy of which Colonel Stuart of Garth, with his usual politeness and liberality, very kindly offered to com- municate to the present writer ; and it has not been made use of, only because it does not differ materially from the revised copy presented to Government. XX INTRODUCTION. the very reverse of this was the case. The real friends of the house of Stewart, in England, and more particularly in Scotland, were distinguished by a refined education, high breeding, elevated sentiments, a chival- rous love of fame, a noble and disinterested devotion to a cause which they believed to be good, and a social, warm-hearted, conviviality and frankness of character, totally different from the sour, intolerant, and acrimonious spirit of Presbyterian bigotry in the north,* and the heartless and selfish saving knowledge of the south — " When the very dogs at the English court " Did bark and howl in German."! * This is said of a century ago ; to which we are happy to add, that among the Presbyterians of the Estab- lishment in Scotland, acrimonious oigotry is now about as rare as enlightened liberality then was. t It is much to be regretted, that Capt. Burt was, by his situation in Scotland, precluded from all intercourse with those who were suspected of attachment to the house of Stewart, and obliged to depend for his information and experience, entirely upon the oi)posite party. If he had dared to associate with the Cavaliers, his opinion of the INTRODUCTION. xxi From the stdte of their country, the political bias of the Highlanders, and the ecldt which they had acquired under Montrose and Dundee, the eyes of all Europe were turned towards them as the only hope of the house of Stewart. Their chiefs were courted by, and had frequent personal intercourse with the friends of that family who were of most note, both in Scotland, England, and Ireland, and on the continent. Studying to accomplish themselves for the part they had to act, and manners and spirit of the Scots, even in those times of common suffering, restless impatience, and general ani- mosity (political and religiovis, as well as national), would have been very different. Of the kind of information to be derived from tvh'igs of that day, an excellent specimen will be found in Graham of Gartmore's MS., where, although the sentiments often savour of party spirit and personal dislike, the particular statements are very curious and valuable, and being drawn up with considerable ability, make that article an important historical document. It will be remarked, that in the Letters upon the Highlands, where our author depends chiefly upon his own observation, which was shrewd and discriminating, and upon his understanding, which was enlightened and liberal, there is little to be objected to. xxii INTRODUCTION. always received with the greatest distinction in the best society, they became statesmen, warriors, and fine gentlemen. Their sons, after passing through the usual routine in the schools and universities of Scotland, were sent to France to finish their education. As the policy of the whig governments was to crush and destroy, not to conciliate, and they found neither countenance nor employ- ment at home, they entered into the French or Spanish service, and in those countries were, from political views, treated with a distinction suitable, not to their pecuniary circumstances, but to their importance in their own country. Great numbers of the more promising of the youth of their clans joined them ; and, in order that the luxurious indulgencics of a more favoured climate might not render them unfit or unwilling to settle in their own country, at the end of two or three years they returned for a time to their rela- tions, with all their accomplishments in know- ledge and manners, and, with their relish for INTRODUCTION. xxiii early habits still unimpaired, resumed the quilted plaid and bonnet, and were replaced in their regiments abroad by another set of young adventurers of the same description. Thus among the gentry, the urbanity and knowledge of the most polished countries in Europe were added to a certain moral and mental civilization, good in its kind, and peculiar to themselves. At home, they con- versed with the lower classes, in the most kindly and cordial manner, on all occasions, and gratified their laudable and active curiosity, in communicating all they knew. This advan- tage of conversing freely with their superiors, the peasantry of no other country in Europe enjoyed, and the consequence was, that in 1745 the Scottish Highlanders, of all descrip- tions, had more of that polls b of mind and se?itiment^ which constitutes real civilization, than in general the inhabitants of any other country we know of, not even excepting Iceland. This a stranger, who, not under- standing their language, could see only the xxiv INTRODUCTION. outside of things, could never be sensible of. Book-learnings it is true, was confined to the gentry, because in a country so thinly peopled, schools would have been useless ; they were too poor to have private instructors ; and they had good reasons for looking with no favour- able eye upon any thing that was Saxon. But most of the gentlemen spoke Gaelic, English, Latin,'"' and French, and many of- them Spanish, having access to all the in- formation of which these languages were the vehicles. The lower classes were, each ac- cording to his gift of natural intellect, well acquainted with the topography of their own country, and with its history, particular as well as general, for at least three centuries back ; they repeated and listened to, with all the enthusiastic delight of a thorough feeling and perfect intelligence, many thousand lines * Such of the foreign officers stationed in the High- lands, in 1746, as could not speak. French, found them- selves at no loss among the gentlemen of the country, who conversed ivUh them In Latin ; an accomplishment which, we fear, very few of their grandsons can boast of. INTRODUCTION. xxv of poetry of the very highest kind"' (for such they really had among them in abundance, notwithstanding the doubts which the disho- nesty of MacPherson and his associates has raised on that subject) ; and their music (which, as it speaks the language of nature, not of nations, is more intelligible to a stranger) is allowed, when performed con afnorCj to be the production of a people * My very learned and excellent friend Mr Ewen M'Lauchlan, now engaged in preparing a Dictionary of the Gaelic Language, a few years ago translated the first four books of Homer's Iliad into Gaelic verse. This translation he read, in the neighbourhood of Fort-William, to groups of men and women of the very lowest class, shepherds and mechanics, who had never learnt the power of letters. They listened to him with such enthusiasm as showed that the beauties of the composition had their full effect, and made such remarks as would have put to shame the comments of better instructed critics. We should like to see an Englishman make a similar experiment upon a party of cloivns, or even of comfortable citizens, of his own country. — Book-learning is sometimes over-rated. A Highlander now learns from books — to despise the lore of his fathers, whose minds were much more cultivated than his own ; and this is almost all that he does learn. xxvi imRODUCTIOK among whom the better sympathies of our nature must have been cultivated to a great extent. These facts indicate a very high degree of intellectual refinement, entirely independent of the fashion of their lower garments,* from the sight of which, and the sound of a language which they did not understand, their neighbours were fully satis- fied of their barbarity, and inquired no further. In justification of this account of their cha- racter in 1745, in addition to the informa- tion procured in the country, as well as in the Lowlands and in England, we can with con- fidence appeal to the letters of their chiefs, and to the public documents and periodical publications of the time, although these last * Delicacy like civilization, is a relative, and not an absolute term. A gentleman who, in the days of Henry the Seventh of England, had apjjeared in tight breeches or pantaloons, without a brayette, would have been punished for an indecent exposure of his person. A Russian boor wears his shirt over his pantaloons, and considers our fashion as impudently indelicate. — Who is right? INTRODUCTION. xxvii were written by their bitterest enemies, with a view to influence the public against them. From all the information we have been able to collect, it appears that in their whole progress to and from Derby, their conduct, all circumstances considered, was not only orderly and proper, but, in innumerable instances, in the highest degree humane and magnanimous."" In England, the courtly * Inconvenience from the presence of so many strange guests was unavoidable. They wanted horses and arms, which they received from theiv friends, and (ooi from their unfriends, but with the assuiance of indemnification as soon as King James was established on the throne. The common men, also, when not under the eye of their officers, sometimes took, shots which they did not always pay for ; but he that looked at their feet, and felt their purses, would have been more disposed to pity the necessity than complain of the outrage. If outrages did take place, it was not from the clansmen, who were too jealous of the honour of their name, to do any thing that was discounte- nanced by their superiors. But in all cases of civil war, there are found in every country great number of loose and disorderly persons, who are always ready to take shelter under the standard of insurrection, from the vengeance of the laws which their crimes have provoked. Many such, chiefly from the Lowlands, accompanied the xxviii INTRODUCTION. elegance, in manners and conversation, of the Highland gentleman, their dignified deport- ment, the discipline they preserved among their men, but, above all, the kind-hearted, sensible, and considerate good-nature and indulgence which they everywhere manifested towards women and children (a strong feature in the Highland character, and the best proof of true civilization), which was so different from what the English had been led to expect, made so favourable an impression, and formed such a contrast to the insolent brutality of the king's troops, officers and men, who marched down after them, that in many instances. army of Charles, under circumstanees that rendered the keeping up good discipline, with respect to them, absolutely impossible. There were still greater numbers of these outlaws and hroken-men out in 17 15, who, after the failure of the earl of Mar, found sympathy and shelter among the Jacobite clans ; and it was of such vagabonds that the rabble was composed who, in 17 19, joined the 300 Spaniards, and were concerned in the Skirmish at Glcn- shiel, of which the government made a handle for exercis- ing all manner of tyranny and oppression upon those who had no concern in it. INTRODUCTION. xxix which we know from, the parties concerned, the women (for the ?}ien durst not speak out) could not help telling the latter, " when the rebels, as they are called, were here, they behaved very differently — they behaved like gentlemen — quite like gentlemen — God help them !" Such reproaches, so justly provoked, and so often repeated, produced only aggrava- tion of insult and abuse, and (such was the spirit of the time) ladies of the greatest res- pectability were, by officers of rank, damned for Jacobite b*****s, and told that they were all rebels together, if they durst avow it, and deserved to have their houses burnt over their heads !* * One young widow lady in Cheshire, from whose daughter we had the anecdote, told a party of officers on such an occasion, " If I am not a Jacobite, it certainly is not your fault ; — ye have done all ye could to make me one ! " An observation, the truth of which would have been sensibly felt by the king's troops, had the Highland army been in a condition once more to enter England, and avail themselves of the favour which their own good conduct and the insolence of their enemies had procured them in that country. XXX INTRODUCTION. With the exception of Mrs Gnint's admir- able Essays, and those of the Rev. Dr Graham of Aberfoyl, ahnost all the accounts of the Highlanders have been written either by enemies, with all the virulence of party spirit, or by strangers, from partial informa- tion ; and, consequently, hardly any thing has been said of them but to their disadvantage. Hence the vague and idle declamations about deadly fcudi bciivccn clan and clan^ bloody conflicts^ desperate encounters^ depredations., robberies^ murders.^ assassinations., '•'•and all manner of licentiousness.'''' In answer to all which, we shall only observe, that every clan was a little community by itself, under circum- stances by no means favourable to quiet life among a poor, free, bold, and hardy race of men ; and ask the dispassionate reader, ivhat all the great and polished nations of the earth were doing., while the mountaineers of Scotland were thus murdering one another ? Amid the proud triumphs of that civilization under which we are now supposed to live, it is INTRODUCTION. xxxi mortifying to reflect, that in the course of twenty years, during the last war, there was twice as much Highland blood split [upwards of 13,000 have been enlisted into one single regiment !] as was shed by Highlanders on their own account, in any way whatsoever, during the three centuries that preceded the abolition of the feudal system among them in 1748!"' That they lifted cattle is true, — and this * This is a melancholy truth, not a political reflection. We are sensible that the war in which they were engaged could not have been avoided, without giving up all that ought to be dear to a brave and free people ; and that the unshaken firmness with which it was prosecuted, under the most discouraging circumstances, has been the means of saving Europe from the last state of political and moral degradation, in which the voice of nature, truth, and honour, would have been utterly stifled, and no example of freedom left for the regeneration of mankind. At the breaking out of the French revolution, France was called the most civilized country in the luorld, and this insulting jargon still continues in the mouth of a paity; but surely Rob Roy and the Clangregor, at a time when their neiehbours hunted them down with blood-hounds, were O humane and gallant fellows, when compared with Bouna- parte, Massena, Suchet, Davoust, and Vandamme ! xxxii INTRODUCTION. was so common, that the poor beasts, like their fellow-denizens of the wilderness, the deer and roe, seldom knew to what glen they belonged ; — but these things were managed in a way peculiar to themselves, and so seldom occasioned bloodshed, that with all their her- ships^ riefs^ hot-trods^ and rescues, we may venture to afBrm, that ten Yorkshiremen lost their lives for horse-stealing, for one Highlander that died in a case of cattle- lifting. Private robbery^ murdtr^ and petty theft were hardly known among them. Tt has been said that " there was nothing to steal;" but there was comparative wealth and poverty in their country, as well as elsewhere ; and the poorer the people were, the stronger was the temptation, and the stronger must the prin- ciple have been that enabled them to resist it. And here, for the sake of illustration, it may not be out of place to say somewhat of the heavy accusations brought against the Clangregor, particularly in Graham of Gart- INTRODUCTION. xxxiii more's MS. As there is no end to the clamours which have been echoed from one generation to another, against this dis- orderly tribe, we shall state a few simple facts, to show the nature of their irregu- larities. They had long been deprived of their lands, their name, their political exist- ence, and the protection of the Laws, and left to provide for, and protect themselves as best they might. Their lands had been appro- priated by their more powerful and politic neighbours, particularly the predecessors of the duke of Montrose. This, and that noble- man's new-fangled whig politics, "* had exposed him particularly to their indignation, which he shared with Graham of Gartmore, and other gentlemen of the clan, who, having adopted the same principles, were regarded as recreant Grahams. When they lifted the duke's cattle., took his rents from his steward, or emptied * See the character of the first whig marquis of Montrose, in Lockhart of Carnwath's Memoirs of Scot- land, published in 1 7 1 4. C xxxiv INTRODUCTION. his giniel of the farm-meal after it had been paid in, they considered themselves as only takint^ what ought to have been their own. The manner in which this was commonly done, shows how unjustly they were accused of general cruelty and oppression to their neigh- bours. On one occasion, Rob Roy, with only one attendant^! went to the house in which the duke's tenants had been convened to pay their rents ; took the money from the steward in their presence ; gave them certificates that all had been duly paid before he seized it, which exonerated them from all further claim ; treated them liberally with whiskey ; made them swear upon his dirk., that not one of them would stir out of the house, till three hours after he was gone ; took a good-humoured leave of them ; and deliberately returned to the Braes. Those who know the spirit of the Grahams of that day, will be satisfied that this could never have taken place had the tenants not been very well pleased to see their money come into Rob's hands. When called INTRODUCTION, xxxv out by the duke to hunt down Rob and his followers, they always contrived to give him timely warning, or to mislead the scent, so that the expedition came to nothing. When the duke once armed them for defence, they sent notice to Rob's nephew, Glengyle, to come round with such a force as would be a decent excuse for their submission, and collect the arms, which they considered as a disagree- able and dangerous deposit ; and when the M'Gregors took the field in 1715, the cava- lier spirit of the Grahams rose, and many of the duke's dependants, scorning their superior and his politics, followed their standard. This showed that they did not consider the Braes of Balquhidder as a bad neighbourhood. In all the thinly-peopled districts by which the M'Gregors were surrounded, the whole property of the tenants was constantly at the mercy of tbieves, if there had been such in the country. The doors of their houses were closed by a latch, or wooden bolt ; and a man with a clasp-knife might in a few minutes have xxxvi INTRODUCTION. cut open the door, or even the wicker walls of the house. Detached from the dwelling-house, from fear of fire, was a small wicker barn, or store-house, still less carefully secured, in which they kept their whole stock of hams, butter, cheese (for they then had such things), corn, meal, blankets, webs, yarn, wool, &c. These houses and barns were often left unpro- tected for days together, when the people w^ere abroad cutting and winn'uig turf, making hay or reaping for their superior, or tending their cattle in distant pastures. This was the case all over the Highlands ; yet nothing was ever stolen or disturbed! — Of what civilized country, in the best of times, can as much be said ? A spirit of revenge has too often been attri- buted to them, as a distinguishing feature of character ; and the ancient prejudice on this subject remains, long after the habits in which it originated have disappeared.'" In a certain * Campbell of Glenlyon lived to a good old age, and died a natural death, in the midst of the relations and INTRODUCTION. xxxvii state of society, in all countries, revenge has been not only accounted manly and honourable, but has been bequeathed as a sacred trust, from father to son, through ages, to be wreaked as an indispensable duty of piety. This was particularly the case among the Scandinavians, from whom many of the Highlanders are de- scended ; and as they remained longer than their neighbours in a state in which they had no laws to appeal to, there can be no doubt that many things were done in the way of retaliation, which would now be considered as friends of the M'Donalds of Glenco, in whose massacre he had acted such an infamous part. In 1745, when the Highland army was encamped in the neighbourhood of the house of the Earl of Stair, whose father had been the chief author and orderer of that massacre, and who himself com- manded a regiment in the king's service. Prince Charles, apprehensive of some outrage from the Glenco-men, sent a guard to protect the earl's house; on which the M'Donalds immediately quitted the camp ; and although at that time utter ruin must have been the certain consequence of a separation from the army, they were with great difficulty prevailed upon to return, so strong was their virtuous indignation at being thought capable of a cowardly revenge, and visiting the iniquities of the father upon the children;;. Kxxviii INTRODUCTION. lawless and violent ; but, as the sum of in- fliction from XA'ilful resentment among them bore no proportion to the sum of infliction from outraged laws in other countries, the balance in favour of humanity and forbearance, even in the most turbulent times we are acquainted with, will be found to be considerably in their favour. A man killed at his own fire-side by him whom he had injured, was talked of for ages, while five hundred such persons hanged at Tyburn were forgotten as soon as cut down!* * If a robbery, murder, or assassination did take place, they showed their hori or of the deed by raising a cairn of memorial on the spot, to point a salutary moral to all succeeding generations. The deep and lasting impression made by such occurrences showed how rare they were; but when the delinquencies of many centuries were (for want of other news) related to a stranger, in the course of a single evening, with as much minuteness of detail as if they had occurred but yesterday, neither his own feelings, nor his rej)ort to others, were likely to be favourable to a people among whom he had heard of so many enormities. But who would look for the character of the English nation in the Newgate Calendar I Captain Burt saw a murderer hanged at Inverness : the hangman was eighty INTRODUCTION. xxxix Men of strong and lively feelings are gene- rally earnest in their likings and dislikings; but notwithstanding the constant provoca- tions they have been receiving, during the last thirty years, from their landlords, land- stewards, (generally English or Lowland attornies I) Lowland tacksmen, farm-appraisers, and farm-jobbers, who live among them, or occasionally visit them, like the pestilence, with oppression, insult, and misery in their train, "Destruction before them, and sorrow behind; " in the midst of these grievous and daily wrongs, wilful fire-raising, houghing of cattle, and assassination, so common among their neighbours, are unheard of among thefu I On the subject of drunkenness^ of which they have been so often accused, we refer the years old, and had not yet learned his trade, from want of practice ! In the populous county of Murray, in which the present writer was born, there have been only two executions in his time, being a space of forty-six years. xl INTRODUCTION. reader with confidence to Mrs. Grant's Essays, which are written in the true spirit of candour and of truth, and from an intimate and thorough knowledge of her subject. Donald is a lively, -svarmhearted, companionable fellow : likes whiskey when he wants it, as others learn to do who visit his country ; and is no enemy to a hearty jollification upon occasion ; but we never knew in the Highlands an habitual drunkard, who had learnt that vice in his own country, if we except such, about Fort-William and Fort-Augustus, as had been corrupted by the foreign soldiers resident among them. This was the case about thirty years ago, but a melancholy change has since taken place. At that time, the privilege of distilling at Farrintosh had not been withdrawn from the Culloden family, and good whiskey was so cheap (about tenpence an English quart), that there was no temptation to illicit distillation. At present, the poor distressed and degraded peasants (who would still do well if they could, and cling to their native glens, the land of their INTRODUCTION. xli fathers, to the hist) are compelled, by hard necessity, to have recourse to smuggling, in order to raise money to gratify the insane avarice of their misguided and degenerate landlords, who, with a view to immediate gain, connive at their proceedings, without consider- ing that their own ruin must be the con- sequence of the demoralization of their tenants. Illicit stills are to be found every- where : encouraging drunkenness is encourag- ing trade; and the result is such as might be expected. But that the Highlander, when he has fair means of showing himself, is still averse to such profligacy, is proved by the conduct of the Highland regiments,* which, * Of these regiments, from their first establishment, it is to be hoped that a very complete account will soon appear, which will throw much light on the past, as well as present state and character of the Highlanders; as Colonel Stewart of Garth has for several years been collecting materials for that purpose. The present writer is much indebted to that gentleman's communicative frankness, liberality, and polite- ness; and with confidence appeals to his extensive collec- tion of unquestionable facts, for the confirmation of such theories and statements, however novel they may sometimes xlii INTRODUCTION. amid the contagion of bad examples, and all the licences peculiar to camps and a military life, have always been distinguished above all others wherever they have been stationed, for their sobriety, honesty, and kindly good nature and good humour. It is almost peculiar to this people, that the greatest beauties in their character have commonly been considered as blemishes. Among these, the most prominent are fajnily ■pride .^ the love of kindred., even to the exclusion of justice., and attachment to a country which seems to have so few charms to the inhabitants of more favoured regions, h family consisting of four or five thousand souls, all known to, connected with, and depending upon, each other, is certainly something that a man may be justified in considering as of some Import- ance ; and if a Highlander could neither be induced by threats nor promises to appear in a criminal court against a kinsman, or give appear, as are found in the Introduction and Notes to this work. INTRODUCTION. xliii him up to the vengeance of the law,* as is so common elsewhere, we may admire and pity, but can hardly in our hearts blam.e him, — Who that has done such things ever did any good afterwards ? f The Highlander loves his country^ because he loves heartily well every thing that has ever been interesting to him, and this his own coun- try was before he knew any other. Wherever he goes, he finds the external face of nature, or the institutions, language, and manners of the people, so different from what was dear to him in his youth, that he is everyzuhere else a stranger^ and naturally sighs for ho?ne^ with all its disadvantages, which, however formidable they may appear to others, are with him con- nected with such habits and recollections, that * The Loivland laivs were always held in abhorrence by the Highlanders, whom their •vengeance often reached, but their protection never. t Let those applaud the stoical sternness of Roman justice and Roman -virtue, who admire it ; to us, it has, in general, appeared a cold-blooded parade of theatrical ostentation, with which nature and truth had no con- nection. xliv INTRODUCTION. he would not remove them, if a wish could do it. Some of the rimges mentioned in the follow- ing work, may give rise to misapprehension. To strangers, the children of the gentry ap- peared to be totally neglected, till they were of an age to go to school ; and this, in some measure, continued even to our own times ; but // was the wisdom and affection of their parents that put them in such situations. Aware of the sacredness of their trust, those with whom they were placed never lost sight of their future destiny ; and as they were better acquainted with the condition of their superiors than persons of the same rank in life had means of being in other countries, no habits of mean- ness or vulgarity were contracted from such an education. Delicacy, with respect to food, clothing, and accommodation, would have been the greatest curse that could be entailed upon them : from early association, they learnt to feel an interest in all that concerned those among whom they had spent those years to INTRODUCTION. xlv which all luok back with fond regret ; and this intimate practical acquaintance with the con- dition, habits, and feelings of their dependants, produced afterwards a bond of union and endearment in the highest degree beneficial to all parties ; at the same time that they could, with less inconvenience, encounter such diffi- culties and privations as the future vicissitudes of life might expose them to. The ostentaiiousness of the public^ and beggar- liness of tbe private economy of their chiefs, has been ridiculed. — If they stinted themselves, in order to entertain their guests the better, they surely deserved a more grateful return. They lived in a poor country, where good fare could not be found for every day ; and after half a dozen servants had waited at table, while the chief and his family were making a private meal of hasty-pudding and milk, crowdy (gradden- meal and whipt cream), curds and cream, bread and cheese, fish, or what they might chance to have, those servants retired to the kitchen, cheerful and contented to their homely dinner, xlvi INTRODUCTION. without any of those heart-burnings produced by the sight of luxuries in which they could have no share. Their fare might be hard, but their superiors were contented with it, and so were they. Such self-denial in the chiefs reconciled their dependants to dis- advantages which they had no means of surmounting, and was equally humane and considerate. Their submission to their chiefs has been called slavish ; and too many of the chiefs of the present day are willing enough to have this believed, because they wish to impute their own Vv'ant of influence to any cause rather than the true one ; but the lowest clansman felt his own individual importance as much as his chief, whom he considered as such only "ad vitam aut ad culpam;" and although there was cer- tainly a strong feeling in favour of the lineal descendant of the steam-father of their race, which prevented them from being rash, harsh, or unjust to him, there was also a strong feeling of honour and independence, which prevented INTRODUCTION. xlvli them from being unjust to themselves.* When a chief proved unworthy of his rank, he was degraded from it, and (to avoid jealousy and strife) the next in order was constituted in his room — but never a low-born man or a stranger; as it was a salutary rule among them, as in other military establishments, not to put one officer over the head of another. But it was not with a Highland chief as with other rulers; " when he fell, he fell like Lucifer, never to rise again ;" his degradation was complete, because he owed it to a common feeling of re- probation, not to the caprice, malice, or ambi- tion of a faction ; for every one was thoroughly acquainted with the merits of the cause, and * We believe the Highlands of Scotland to be the only country in Europe where the very name of slavery was un- known, and where the lov/est retainer of a feudal baron enjoyed, in his place, the importance of a member of the community to which he belonged. The Gaelic language has no word synonymous to slave, for tra'tll is Norse (jrael, in English, thrall) ; and the thralls whom the Norwegians brought with them soon had their chains decomposed by the free air of our mountains. xlviii INTRODUCTION. while there was any thing to be said in his favour, his people had too much respect for themselves to show public disrespect to him. The same dignified feeling prevented their re- sentment from being bloody ; he was still their kinsman, however unworthy ; and having none among them to take his part, was no longer dangerous.'" Their ajfcctation of gentry (if such a term may be allowed) has been treated with endless ridicule, because it did not (much to the credit of their liberality) include the idea of wealth ; but we believe ^ew gentlemen in the Highlands, however poor, would have been flattered by being classed, as to civilization^ with i\\e gentle- fuan, our author's friend, wbo attempted to ride into the rainbow. The humane, indulgent, and delicate atten- tion of people of fortune in the Highlands to * In one instance, it is true, a deposed chief was killed in battle by his clan, but it was in an attempt to force liimself upon them by the assistance of a neighbouring tribe to which he was allied by marriage. INTRODUCTION. xlix their poor relations was one of the finest fea- tures in their character, and might furnish a very edifying example to the inhabitants of more favoured regions ; and, to an honourable mind, there are surely considerations of higher importance than jBne clothes and good eating. It has been imputed to thexr pride and stupidity, that they did not flee from the poverty of their own country, and try their fortunes, as labour- ers and mechanics, among strangers, where they might, in time, have obtained better food and accommodation ; but to give up their rank in society, with all the endearing offices and sympathies of friendship and affection to which they had been accustomed at home, and which .were so soothing and so flattering to their feelings, and to go where they were sure to be degraded beneath the lowest of the low, and continually exposed to contempt, ridicule, and insult, for their ignorance of the arts and habitudes of those among whom they lived ; — in short, to sell their birth-right for a fiiess of pottage,-- would have argued a beggarliness of d 1 INTRODUCTION. soul and spirit, which, happily, their worst enemies do not accuse them of. The foregoing remarks, which seemed ne- cessary for illustrating the characters of a very singular and interesting people, have already extended this preface to a much greater length than was at first intended, which will be the less regretted, if the honest wish by which these details were prompted has been in any degree fulfilled. Of undue partiality, it is hoped the writer will not be rashly accused, for he is not a Highlander ; and, having gone to the mountains, at the age of fifteen, from the Laigh of Murray (" whence every man had a right to drive a prey ;" and where, of course, the character of their neighbours was not very popular), he carried among them prejudices which nothing but the conviction arising from observation and experience could have re- moved. Of what he then heard, saw, and felt, he has since had sufficient leisure to form a cool and dispassionate estimate, during a resi- dence of many years in various parts of England, INTRODUCTION. li Wales, the north of Europe, and the Lowlands of Scotland, As he had no Celtic enthusiasm to struggle with, and his deductions have all been made from facts, it is hoped they may be received by strangers with suitable confidence. To what good purpose he has availed himself of the advantages he enjoyed, in fitting himself for his present task, every reader will judge for himself; but when he makes it known that it was first recommended to him by Mr. Scott (to whom both he and this publication, as well as the world in general, are so much indebted), his vanity will readily be pardoned, as, even if it should be found that that gentleman's kind- ness for the man has over-stepped his discre- tion as to the writer, the general conclusion will not be dishonourable to either party. As a close affinity in manners, habits, and character, between the ancient as well as pre- sent mountaineers of Norway and Scotland has frequently been alluded to, these prolusions may be closed, not unaptly, with a fragment of Highland biography, which may be regarded lii INTRODUCTION. as a great curiosity, particularly by such as are acquainted with the Icelandic and Norse Sagas, which it so strongly resembles. Of Hajiuner Donald^ we shall only observe, that although the circumstances of his early life made him (like Viga Glum, and other celebrated kcnips and homicides of the North) a very unmanageable and dangerous neighbour, there were then varieties of character in the Highlands as well as elsewhere. Donald's clan had been but lately introduced into the country ; bis father, although a brave man, was denominated " the Peaceful ; " and bis son narrowly escaped being murdered in the very act of teaching his servants bow to cultivate tbe ground. THE HISTORY OF DONALD THE HAMMERER. From an authentic Account of the Family of Invernahyle. [MS. communicated by Walter Scott, Esq.] Alexander, the first Invernahyle, commonly- called Saoileacb^ or "the Peaceful," was son of Allan Stewart, third laird of Appin. He mar- ried Margaret M 'Donald, daughter of Donald M'Donald of Moidart, commonly called Donald an Lochan^ or Donald of the Lakes ; but a deadly feud arose between Invernahyle and the family of DunstafFnage, which, in the first instance, caused the overthrow of both. Alexander walked out early in a summer morning from Island Stalker, and stepped over to Isle-nan-gall, where he laid himself down on liv INTRODUCTION. the grass, with his Lochaber axe beside him, a weapon, at that period, more used in the High- hinds than the broad -sword. Whilst he there reposed, apprehensive of no danger, the cele- brated Cailen Uaine, or Green Colin, arrived at the island in his barge, with a number of men, whom he had brought from DunstafFnage to assist him in destroying his brother's enemy. Upon being observed by Alexander, he ad- vanced in the most friendly manner, and was about to salute him, when, seeing the axe lying on the ground, he grasped it, and said, "This is a good axe, Alexander, if there were peace enough in it." To which Alexander quickly replied, "Do you think there is not that in it ? " and laid hold of the axe likewise, being fully sensible of the spirit of Colin's remark. During the struggle, Colin's men surrounded Alexander, and basely murdered him. They then proceeded to Island Stalker, and after killing every one of Alexander's friends that they could find, took possession of Invernahyle and all his other property. INTRODUCTION. Iv Not one person escaped the fury of Green Colin and his men, except the nurse, who hap- pened to be out walking in the fields with Alexander s only child in her arms, who had been named Donald, from his mother's father. The nurse was the blacksmith's wife of Moidart, and being an old acquaintance of ^Alexander's wife, was brought by her into Appin. Upon hearing what had happened to the family in which she was engaged, and that diligent search was made for her by Green Colin and his gang, in order to put the child to death, she fled home to her own country ; and, upon discovering to her husband what had happened to the family of Invernahyle, they agreed to bring up the child as one of their own. [7/ is said, the woman, being pursued in her flight, and knowing the infant's life was aimed at, hid it in a cave, having first tied a piece of lard round its neck. The nurse was made prisoner, and detained for several days. On her release, she went to the cave, expecting only to find the reliques of her charge ; Ivi INTRODUCTION. but the infant was alive and well^ the lard being reduced to the size of a hazel-?iut. — W. S.] When young Donald had acquired some strength, he was called to assist his supposed father in carrying on his trade ; and so uncom- mon was his strength, that when only eighteen years of age, he could wield a large fore-ham- mer in each hand, for the length of the longest day, without the least seeming difficulty or fatigue. At last the blacksmith and his wife resolved to discover to Donald the secret they had so long kept, not only from him, but from the world. After relating the mournful tale of his parents' death, the smith brought a sword of his own making, and put it into Donald's hand, saying, •' I trust the blood that runs in your veins, and the spirit of your fathers, will guide your actions ; and that this sword will be the means of clearing the difficulties that lie in the way of your recovering your paternal estate." Donald heard with surprise the story of his birth and early misfortune ; but vowed never to put INTRODUCTION. Ivii the sword into a scabbard until he had swept the murderers of his parents from the earth. * His mother's father, who still lived in Moidart, upon being satisfied that Donald was his grand- son, and seeing his determination of recovering his father's property, gave him a few men, with whom he proceeded to Appin. Upon arriving at Island Stalker, Donald de- clared himself the son of the late Invernahyle, and sent Green Colin a challenge to fight him singly ; but, instead of complying with the challenge, Colin gathered all his retainers, and advanced with them in the order of battle ; but Donald and his men commenced the attack, and, after a desperate engagement, succeeded in killing not only Green Colin, but nearly the whole of his men, by which Invernahyle became his property without any further trouble. Donald's history being now made public, he got the appellation of Donul nan Ord, or " Do- nald the Hammerer,'' by which he was ever * The Blacksmith also presented Donald with his sons to aid him in recovering his natural rights. — W. S. Iviii IN'TRODUCTION. after known. Resolving lo revenge the wrongs his father had suffered from the family of Dun- staffnage, Donald mustered all his fighting-men, and attacked the Campbells wherever he could find any of that name. Argyle came at last to be interested in the distress that Donald was bringing on his clan, and employed several par- ties to cut him off, but in vain. Donald, seeing Argyle's intention, instead of being intimidated, penetrated, with his trusty band, into the heart of Argyle's country, spoiled his tenants, and carried away a considerable booty from the side of Lochow, which at that time gave a title to the chief of the clan. There is handed down a little roundlet which narrates this transac- tion : Donul nan Old, d:illta Ghobhain, Aillcagan nan Liiircach leathar, Thog a Creach 'o thaobh Loch A ; /'. e., " Donald the Hammerer, the smith's foster-son, the ornament of the leathern apron lifted a prey from the side of Lochow." Argyle, much enraged at this transaction, INTRODUCTION. lix began to think seriously of revenge, by raising his whole clan, and following to destroy him ; but wisely seeing that this could not be done without much noise in the country, and aware that Donald might be supported by the Camerons, and other powerful clans with whom Argyle was at war, set on foot a negociation with the laird of Appin, to try and get Donald to make restitution, and to be peaceful. The result was, that Appin and his other friends insisted with Donald, that unless he came to terms with Argyle, they would leave him to his own fate. Donald, unwilling to split with his friends, and thinking that he had just done enough to revenge the death of his parents, actually went to Inverary, with a single attendant, to hold a conference with Argyle at his own place. Argyle had too much honour to take advantage of this bold step of Donald ; but conceived, from his rusticity, that he might soon get him into a scrape that might prove fatal to him. Upon arriving at Inverary, Donald met Argyle in Ix INTRODUCTION. the fields, and is said to have accosted him thus : — A mic Cailen ghiiomaich ghlais, Is beg an hachd a thaead dhiom ; 'S nan a philleach mi air mi ais, Ma's a ma th'again dhiot,"' /'. e., "Son of sallow, sulky Colin, Small's the grace will go from me ; And if I get but back again, 'Tis all the boon I want from thee." In the course of some indifferent conver- sation, Donald frequently indulged in a loud horse-laugh (a habit which some of his de- scendants are noted for as far down as the eighth generation) ; to rally Donald a little on this, Argyle desired him to look at a rock on a hill above Ardkinglas, then in their view, which resembles a man's face reclined back- wards, with the mouth widely expanded, and asked him if he knew the name of that rock ? Donald answered in the negative. Argyle then told him, it was Gaire Graiinda (ugly laugh). Donald perceiving the allusion, and, * This is given in the orthography in which we found it, as are all the other scraps of Gaelic. INTRODUCTION. Ixi with his other qualifications, being a good poet, replied off hand — Gaire Grannda s' ainm do'n chreig ; 'S fanaudh 1 mirr sin do ghna ; Gheibhead tu lethid agad fein, Na n sealladh tu 'n euden do mhna ; /'. e., " ^sb J-'^^g^ is the name of the rock ; An ugly mocker 'twill ever be ; But if you will look on your own wife's face, As ugly a sight you at home may see." When at length they came to talk of business, the terms upon which Argyle offered peace were, that Donald should raise a bership (plun- dering) in Moidart, and another in Athole, thinking probably that Donald would be cut off in some of these attempts, or, if successful against such powerful people, his own disgrace would be less in what was done to his own lands. Donald readily agreed to the terms, and set out instantly for Moidart to inform his uncle of the engagement he had come under, and asked his advice. His uncle told him, the people of certain farms had offended him much ; and if Donald would attack them, he, to save Ixii INTRODUCTION. the appearance of being in the plot, would assist them in striving to recover the spoil, but would not be in such haste that Donald would run any risk of being overtaken. Donald soon gathered his men, and set fire to nearly all the farm-houses in Moidart, and got clear off with the spoil. This affair made great noise in the country. He went next to Athole, and carried desolation through that country with equal success ; which intimidated Argyle so much, that he made peace with Donald on the terms proposed by the latter. Not content with plundering the Highlands from one end to the other, Donald often de- scended into the Low- country. One time, as returning from Stirlingshire, on passing through Monteith, his party called at a house where a wedding dinner was preparing for a party, at which the earl of Monteith was to be present ; but, not caring for this, they stepped in and ate up the whole that was intended for the wedding party. Upon the earl's arriving with the marriage people, he was so enraged at the INTRODUCTION. Ixiii affront put upon his clan, that he instantly pursued Donald, and soon came up with him. One of the earl's men called out ironi- cally, Stewaitich chui nan t Apan, A cheiradhich glass air a chal. One of Donald's men, with great coolness, drawing an arrow out of his quiver, replied, Ma tha 'n t Apan againn mar dhucha, 'S du dhuinn gun tarruin sin farsid ; /. e. "If Appin is our country, we would draw thee [t/jy tied], wert thou there ; " and wnth this took his aim at the Monteith man and shot him through the heart. A bloody engagement then ensued, in which the earl and nearly the whole of his followers were killed, and Donald the Hammerer escaped with only a single attendant, through the night coming on.* * This skirmish took, place betwixt Loch Katrine and the Loch of Monteith. (See Dr. Graham, on the scenery of these districts.) As the quarrel began on account of the poultry devoured by the Highlanders, which they plundered from the earl's offices, situated on the side of the port of Monteith, to accommodate his castle in the adjacent Ixiv INTRODUCTION. Donald married a daughter of John Stewart Ban Rannoch, alias, yan Mac Roibeart, by whom he had four sons, first Jan More, who died at Taymouth when young ; second, Dun- can, who succeeded him; third, Allan, of whom the present Ballechelish ; fourth, yames nan Gleann, who had the lands of Lettershuna. Donald the Hammerer had only one daughter, who was married to Archibald Campbell called Gillisbuegdie, of whom the present AcJjalladair. During Donald's life-time, the feud that sub- sisted between him and the family of Dunstafi^- nage did not entirely subside ; but it was pru- dently concluded, in order to put a final end to it, that Duncan should pay his addresses to Helena, a daughter of DunstafFnage, which he did with success. This was carried on un- known to Doniild ; and when the marriage took place, he was in very bad blood with his son ; and Duncan, not having any thing to sup- island, the name of Gtamoch an ger'ig, or Grames of the hens, was fixed on the family of the Grames of Monteith. — w. s. INTRODUCTION. Ixv port himself and his young wife, went to live with the smith's wife of Moidart, who had nursed his father, upon the farm of Inverfalla, which her husband had received from Dotiul nan Ord as a grateful recompence for his for- mer kindness ; but, the smith being dead, the old woman now lived by herself Being more inclined to live by cultivating the arts of peace than by plundering his neigh- bours, Duncan spent much of his time in im- proving the farm of Inverfalla, which his father, considering as far below the dignity of a High- land gentleman, could not brook to see. Once, as Donald w^as walking upon the green of Invernahyle, he looked across the river, and saw several men working upon the farm of Inverfalla, In the mean time Duncan came out, and took a spade from one of the men, seemingly to let him see how he should per- form the work in which he was employed. This was too much for the old gentleman to bear. He launched the currach (a wicker boat covered with hides) with his own hand, and Ixvi INTRODUCTION. rowed it across to Inverfalla. As he ap- proached, Duncan, being struck with the fury of his countenance, fled from the impending storm into the house; but the old man followed him with a naked sword in his hand. Upon entering a room that was somewhat dark, Donald, thinking his degenerate son had con- cealed himself under the bed-clothes, made a deadly stab at his supposed son ; but instead of killing him his sword went through the heart of his old nurse, who was then near eighty years of age. After this unfortunate accident Donald be- came very religious ; he resigned all his lands to his sons, and went to hve at Columkill, where he at last died at the age of eighty-seven. LETTER I. Inverness. TN the Course of Evidence, or other Exami- nation, one slight accidental Hint may be the Cause of a long and intricate Enquiry ; and thus the bare Mention I lately made of a few Notes I had taken, relating to these Parts and to the Highlands, will be the Occasion of some Employment for me ; but I am far from making a Merit of any Trouble I can take to gratify your Curiosity ; and more especially in This ; for to tell you the Truth, I have at present little else to do ; my only Fear is, my Endeavour will not answer your Expectation. Our Friendship is as old as our Acquaint- ance, which you know is of no inconsiderable 1 LETTER I Standing, and complimental Speeches between us were, by Consent, banished from the Beginning, as being unsuitable to that Sin- cerity which a strict Friendship requires. But I may say, with great Truth, there is but one other in the World could prevail with me to communicate, in Writing, such Circum- stances as I perfectly foresee will make up great Part of this Correspondence ; and there- fore I must stipulate, even with you, that none of my future Letters, on this Subject, may be shewn to any other than our common Friend — — - in whom you know we can confide. I have several Reasons for this Precaution, which I make no doubt you will approve. First, The contrary might create inconveni- ences to me in my present Situation. It might furnish Matter for disobliging Com- parisons, to which some of our Countrymen are but too much addicted. This again might give Offence, especially to such who are so National as not to consider. LETTER I. 3 that a Man's Native Country is not of his own making, or his being born in it the Effect of his Choice. And lastly, It would do me no great honour to be known to have made a Collection of Inci- dents, mostly low, and sometimes disagreeable. Yet even in this I have a common Observation on my Side, which is. That the genuine Char- acter of any particular Person may be best discovered, when he appears in his domestic Capacity ; when he is free from all Restraint by Fear of Foreign Observation and Censure ; and, by a parity of Reason, the Genius of a whole People may be better known by their Actions and Inclinations in their Native Country, than it can be from Remarks made upon any Numbers of them, when they are dispersed in other Parts of the World. In Public, all Mankind act more or less in Disguise. If I were to confine myself to the Customs of the Country and the Manners of the People, I think it would need but little Apology to the 4 LETTER J. most National ; for the several Members oF every Community think themselves sufficiently furnished with Arguments, whereby to justify their general Conduct ; but in speaking of the Country, I have met with some, who, in hearing the most modest Description of any Part of it, have been suddenly acted upon by an unruly Passion, complicated of Jealousy, Pity, and Anger : this, I have often compared in my Mind to the Yearnings of a fond Mother for a misshapen Child, when she thinks any one too prying into its Deformity. If I shall take Notice of any Thing amiss, either here or in the Mountains, which they know to be wrong, and it is in their Power to amend, I shall apply, in my own Justification, what is said by Spenser upon a like Occasion: " The best (said he) that I can you advise, Is to avoid the Occasion of the III : For, when the Cause whence Evil doth arise Removed is, the Effect surceaseth still." The Highlands are but little known even to the Inhabitants of the low Country of Scotland, LETTER I. 5 for they have ever dreaded the Difficulties and Dangers of Travelling among the Mountains ; and when some extraordinary Occasion has obliged any one of them to such a Progress, he has, generally speaking, made his Testament before he set out, as though he were entering upon a long and dangerous Sea Voyage, wherein it was very doubtful if he should ever return. But to the People of England, excepting some few, and those chiefly the Soldiery, the Highlands are hardly known at all : for there has been less, that 1 know of, written upon the Subject, than oi either of the Indies ; and even that little which has been said, conveys no Idea of what a Traveller almost continually sees and meets with in passing among the Mountains ; nor does it communicate any Notion of the Temper of the Natives, while they remain in their own Country. The verbal Misrepresentations that have been made of the Lowlands are very extra- ordinary; and though good Part of it be greatly 6 LETTER I. superior in the Quality of the Soil to the North of England, and in some Parts equal to the best of the South, yet there are some among our Countrymen who are so prejudiced, that they will not allow (or not own) there is any Thing good on this Side the Tw^eed. On the other hand, some flattering Accounts that have been published, what with Commendation, and what with Concealment, might induce a Stranger to both Parts of the Island, to con- clude, that Scotland in general is the better Country of the two ; and I wish it were so (as we are become one People) for the Benefit of tha whole. About a Week ago, I borrowed a Book called ' A Journey through Scotland,' published in the Year 1723 ; and having dipped into it in many Places, I think it might with more Propriety be called, ' A Journey to the Heralds Office, and the Seats of the Nobility and Gentry of North-Britain.' He calls almost all their Houses Palaces. He makes no less than Five in one Street, Part of LETTER I. 7 the Suburbs of Edinburgh, besides the real Palace of Holyrood-House ; but if you were to see them with that pompous Title, you would be surprised, though you would think some of them good Houses when mentioned with Modesty. But 1 think every one of the Five would greatly suffer by the Comparison, if they stood near Marlborough-House in St. James's Park; and yet nobody ever thought of Erecting that Building into a Palace. It would be contrary to my Inclination, and even ridiculous to deny, that there is a great Number of noble and spacious old Seats in Scotland, besides those that were Kings' Palaces, of both which some are built in a better Taste than most of the old Seats in England that I have seen : These I am told were built after the models of Sir William Bruce, who was their Inigo Jones ; but many of them are now in a ruinous Condition. And it must be confessed there are some very stately modern Buildings : but our itinerant Author 8 LETTER I gives such magnificent Descriptions of some of his Palaces, as carry with them nothing but Disappointment to the Eye of the travelling Spectator. He labours the Plantations about the Country-Seats so much, that he shows thereby what a Rarity Trees are in Scotland ; and in- deed it has been often remarked, that here are but few Birds except such as build their Nests upon the Ground, so scarce are Hedges and Trees. The Post-House at Haddington, a wretched Inn, by Comparison, he says, is inferior to none on the London Road. In this Town he says there are Coffee- Houses and Taverns as in England ; — Who would not thence infer, there are spacious Rooms, many Waiters, plentiful Larders, &c. ? And as to the onlv Coflfee-Room we have, I shall say something of it in its proper Place. But the Writer is held greatly in Esteem by the People here, for calling this the 'Pretty LETTER I. 9 Town of Inverness.' How often have I heard those Words quoted with Pleasure ! Here I am about to premise something in relation to the Sheets which are to follow: And first, I intend to send you one of these Letters every Fortnight, and oftener if I find it convenient, till I have, as I may say, writ myself quite out. In doing this, I shall not confine myself to Order or Method, but take my Paragraphs just as they come to Hand, except where one Fact or Observation naturally arises from another. Nor shall I be solicitous about the Elegancy of Style, but content myself with an Endeavour only to be understood ; for both or either of those Niceties would deprive me of some other Amusements, and that, I am sure, you do not expect, nor would you suffer it if you could help it. There will be little said that can be appli- cable to Scotland in general ; but if any Thing of that Nature should occur, I shall note it to be so. All Parts of the Highlands are not exactly lo LETTER 1. alike, either in the Height of the Country or the Customs and Manners of the Natives, of whom some are more civilised than others. Nothing will be set down but what I have personally known, or received from such whose information I had no Reason to suspect ; and all without Prejudice or Partiality. And lastly, I shall be very sparing of the Names of particular Persons (especially when no Honour can be dispensed by the Mention of them), not only as they are unknown to you, but, to tell you the Truth, in Prudence to myself; for, as our Letters are carried to Edinburgh the Hill-way, by a Foot Post, there is one who makes no Scruple to intrude, by Means of his Emissaries, into the Affairs and Sentiments of others, especially if he fancies there is any Thing relating to himself; so jealous and in- quisitive is Guilt. And therefore I shall ne- glect no Opportunity of sending them to Edinburgh by private Hands. But if you should be curious at any Time to know the Name of some particular Person ; in that Case, LETTER I II a Hint, and the Date of my Letter, will enable me to give you that Satisfaction. But I must add, that the frequent Egotisms which I foresee 1 shall be obliged to use in Passages merely relating to myself, incline me to wish that our Language would sometimes (like the French) admit of the third Person, only to vary the eternal (I). This is all I have to say by way of Preface : what Apologies I may have Occasion to make in my Progress, I do not know ; but I pro- mise, that as they are dry^ so shall they be as few as possible. LETTER II. A BOUT a Twelvemonth after I first came to this Town, and had been twice to Edinburgh by the way of the Hills, I received a Letter from an old Acquaintance, desiring me to give him an Account of my first Journey hither, the same to commence from the Borders of Scotland. 1 could not, you may imagine, conceive the Meaning of a Request so extraordinary ; but however I complied implicitly. Some time afterwards, by a Letter of Thanks, I was given to understand, it was an Expedient, agreed upon between him and another, whereby to decide a Dispute. Now all this Preface is only to introduce my Request to you, that you will absolve me from the Promise I made you last Week, and LETTER 11. 13 in lieu of what you might demand, accept of a Copy of that Letter. I should not have waved my promised Design, but for an Affair which something related to myself, and required my Attention, and therefore I could not find Time to tack to- gether so many Memorandums, as such Letters, as I intend to send you, require ; for if they are not pretty long, I shall be self-condemned, since you know I used to say, by Way of Complaint against , that letters from one Friend to another should be of a Length pro- portioned to the Distance between them. After some Compliments, my Letter was as follows : " According to your Desire, 1 shall begin my Account with the Entertainment I met with after passing the Tweed at Kelso, but shall not trouble you with the Exaction and intolerable Insolence of the Ferryman, because I think you can match their Impudence at our own Horseferry : I shall only say, that I could obtain no Redress, although I complained 14 LETTER U. of them to the principal Mcigistrate of the Town. " Having done with them, my Horses were led to the Stable, and myself conducted up one Pair of Stairs, where I was soon attended by a handsome genteel Man, well dressed, who gave me a kindly Welcome to the House. " This induced me to ask him what I could have to eat : to which he civilly answered, The good Wife will be careful nothing shall be wanting ; but that he never concerned himself about any Thing relating to the public (as he called it) : that is, he would have me know he was a Gentleman^ and did not employ himself in any Thing so low as Attendance, but left it to his Wife. Thus he took his Leave of me : and soon after came up my Landlady, whose Dress and Appearance seemed to me to be so unfit for the Wife of that Gentleman, that I could hardly believe she was any other than a Servant ; but she soon took care, in her turn, by some airs she LETTER II. 15 gave herself, to let me know she was Mistress of the house, " I asked what was to be had, and she told me potted Pigeons ; and nothing, I thought, could be more agreeable, as requiring no Waiting, after a fatiguing Day's Journey in which I had eaten nothing. " The Cloth was laid, but I was too un- willing to grease my Fingers to touch it ; and presently after, the Pot of Pigeons was set on the Table. " When I came to examine my Gates, there were two or three of the Pigeons lay mangled in the Pot, and behind were the Furrows, in the Butter, of those Fingers that had raked them out of it, and the Butter itself needed no close Application to discover its Quality. " My disgust at this Sight was so great, and being a brand-new Traveller in this Country, I ate a Crust of Bread, and drank about a Pint of good Claret ; and although the Night was approaching, I called for my Horses, and marched off, thinking to meet / 1 6 LETTER II. with something better, but I was benighted on a rough Moor, and met with yet worse Enter- tainment at a little House which was my next (garters. " At my first Entrance I perceived some Things like Shadows moving about before the Fire, which was made with Peats ; and going nearer to them, I could discern, and that was all, two small Children in Motion, stark naked, and a very old Man sitting by the Fire-side. " I soon went out, under Pretence of care for my Horses, but in reality to relieve my Lungs and Eyes of the Smoke. At my Return I could perceive the old Man's Fingers to be in a very bad Condition, and immediately 1 was seized with an Apprehension that I should be put into his Bed. " Here I was told I might have a Breast of Mutton done upon the Brander (or Gridiron) : but when it was brought me, it appeared to have been smoked and dried in the Chimney Corner ; and it looked like the Glue that LETTER II. 17 hangs up in an Ironmonger's Shop : This, you may believe, was very disgusting to the Eye ; and for the Smell, it had no other, that I could perceive, than that of the Butter wherewith it was greased in the Dressing ; but, for my Relief, there were some new-laid Eggs, which were my Regale. And now methinks I hear one of this Country say, a true English- man ! he is already talking of Eating. "When I had been conducted to my Lodging-Room, I found the Curtains of my Bed were very foul by being handled by the dirty Wenches ; and the old Man's Fingers being present with me, I sat down by the Fire, and asked myself, for which of my Sins I was sent into this Country ; but I have been some- thing reconciled to it since then, for we have here our Pleasures and Diversions, though not in such Plenty and Variety, as you have in London. "But to proceed : Being tired and sleepy, at last I came to a Resolution to see how my Bed looked within Side, and to my Joy I iB LETTER If. found exceeding good Linen, white, well aired and hardened, and I tliink as good as in our best Inns in England, so I slept very comfortably. " And here I must take Notice of what I have since found almost every where, but chiefly in the Low Country, that is, good Linen ; for the Spinning descends from Mother to Daughter by Succession, till the Stock becomes considerable ; insomuch that even the ordinary People are generally much better furnished in that Particular, than those of the same Rank in England — T am speaking chiefly of Sheeting and Table-Linen. "There happened nothing extraordinary between this Place and Edinburgh, where I made no long Stay. " When I first came into the High Street of that City, I thought I had not seen- any Thing of the Kind more magnificent : the extreme Height of the Houses, which are, for the most Part, built w ith Stone, and well sashed ; the Breadth and Length of the Street, and (it LETTER II. 19 being dry Weather) a Cleanness made by the high Winds, I was extremely pleased to find every Thing look so unlike the Descriptions of that Town which had been given me by some of my Countrymen. "Being a Stranger, I was invited to sup at a Tavern. The Cook was too filthy an Object to be described ; only another English Gentle- man whispered me and said, he believed, if the Fellow was to be thrown against the Wall, he would stick to it. " Twisting round and round his Hand a greasy Towel, he stood waiting to know what we would have for Supper, and mentioned several Things himself; among the rest, a Duke, a Fool, or a Meer-Fool. This was nearly according to his ' Pronunciation ; but he meant a Duck, a Fowl, or a Moor-fovtl, or Grouse. "We supped very plentifully, and drank good French Claret, and were very merry till the Clock struck Ten, the Hour when every- body is at Liberty, by beat of the City Drum, 2 LETTER 11. to throw their Filth out at the Windows. Then the Company began to light Pieces of Paper, and throw them upon the Table to smoke the Room, and, as 1 thought, to mix one bad Smell with another. "Being in my Retreat to pass through a long narrow Wynde or Alley, to go to my new Lodgings, a Guide was assigned me, who went before me to prevent my Disgrace, crying out all the Way, with a loud Voice, "Hud your Haunde." The throwing up of a Sash, or otherwise opening a Window, made me tremble, while behind and before me, at some little Distance, fell the terrible shower. " Well, I. escaped all the Danger, and arrived, not only safe and sound, but sweet and clean, at my new C)uarters ; but when I was in Bed I was forced to hide my Head between the Sheets ; for the Smell of the Filth, thrown out by the Neighbours on the Back-side of the House, came pouring into the Room to such a Degree, I was almost poisoned with the Stench." LETTER II. 2 1 I shall here add to my Letter, as I am mak- ing a Copy of it, a few Observations. When I was last in Edinburgh I set myself to consider of this great Annoyance, and, in Conclusion, found it remediless. " The City, it seems, was built upon that Rock for Protection, by the Castle, in danger- our Times ; but the Space was too narrow to contain a sufficient Number of Inhabitants, otherwise than by very high Buildings, crowded close together, insomuch that there are hardly any back Yards. " Eight, Ten, and even Twelve Stories have each a particular Family, and perhaps a sepa- rate Proprietor ; and therefore any Thing so expensive as a Conveyance down from the up- permost Floor could never be agreed on ; or could there be made, within the Building, any Receiver suitable to such Numbers of People. " There is indeed between the City and the Sea a large flat Space of Land, with a Rivulet running through it, which would be very com- modious for a City : but great Part of it has 42 LETTER II. been made the Property of the Corporation ; and the Magistrates for the time being will not suffer any Houses to be built on it ; for if they did, the old City would soon be de- serted, which would bring a very great Loss upon some, and total Ruin upon others, of the Proprietors in those buildings." I have said thus much upon this uncleanly Subject, only, as you may have heard some maliciously, or at best inconsiderately, say, that this Evil proceeds from (what one would think no body could believe) a Love of Nastiness, and not Necessity, I shall only add, as it falls in my Way, that the main Street is cleaned by Scavengers every Morning early, except Sun- day, which therefore is the most Uncleanly Day. But to return : Having Occasion the next Morning afier my Arrival to Enquire for a Person with whom I had some Concerns, I was amazed at the Length and Gibberish of a Direction given me where to find him. , I was told that I must go down the Street, LETTER 11 23 and on the North Side, over against such a Place, turn down such a Wynde ; and, on the West Side of the Wynde, inquire for such a Launde (or Building), where the Gentleman stayd, at the thrid Stair, that is, three Stories high. This Direction in a Language I hardly under- stood, and by Points of the Compass which I then knew nothing of, as they related to the Town, put me to a good deal of Difficulty. At length 1 found out the Subject of my Enquiry, who was greatly diverted when I told him (with as much Humour as I was Master of) what had been my Perplexity. Yet in my Nar- ration I concealed the nauseous Inconvenience of going down the steep narrow Wynde, and ascending to his Lodging. I then had no Knowledge of the Cawdys, a very useful Black-guard, who attend the Coffee-Houses and public Places to go of Errands ; and though they are Wretches, that in Rags lye upon the Stairs, and in the Streets at Night, yet are they often consider- 24 LETTER 11. ably trusted, and, as I have been told, have seldom or never proved unfaithful. These Boys know every body in the Town who is of any kind of Note, so that one of them would have been a ready Guide to the Place I wanted to find ; and 1 afterwards wondered that one of them was not recom- mended to me by my new Landlady. This Corps has a kind of Captain or Magis- trate presiding over them, whom they call the Constable of the Cazudys^ and in case of Neglect or other Misdemeanor he punishes the Delinquents, mostly by Fines of Ale and Brandy, but sometimes corporally. They have for the most Part an uncommon Acuteness, are very ready at proper Answers, and execute suddenly and well whatever Em- ployment is assigned them. Whether it be true or not I cannot say, but I have been told by several, That one of the Judges formerly abandoned two of his Sons for a Time to this Way of Life, as believing it would create in them a Sharpness which LEITER 11 25 might be of Use to them in the future Course of their Lives. This is all that I knew about Edinburgh at that Time, by Reason of the Shortness of my Stay : The day following, my Affairs called me to begin my Journey to Glasgow. Glasgow is, to outward Appearance, the prettiest and most uniform Town that I ever saw ; and I believe there is nothing like it in Britain. It has a spacious Carrifour^ where stands the Cross ; and going round it, you have, by Turns, the View of four Streets, that in regular Angles proceed from thence. The Houses of these Streets are faced with Ashler Stone, they are well sashed, all of one Model, and Piazzas run through them on either Side, which give a good Air to the Buildings. There are some other handsome Streets, but the extreme Parts of the Town are mean and disagreeable to the eye. There was nothing remarkable in my Way to Glasgow, that I took Notice of, being in 26 LETTER 11. haste, but the Church at Linlithgow, a noble old Gothic Building, formerly a Cathedral, now much in Ruins, chiefly from the usual Rage that attends Reformation. It is really provoking to see how the Popu- lace have broke and defaced the statues and other Ornaments, under the Notion of their being Relics of Popery. As this Town was our Baiting-place, a Gentleman (the Son of a celebrated Scots Bishop) who was with me, proposed, that while Dinner was getting ready we should go and view the inside of the Structure ; and as we took notice that great Part of the Floor was broken up, and that the Pews were im- moderately dusty, the Precentor, or Clerk, who attended us, took Occasion to say, he did not apprehend that Cleanliness was essential to Devotion ; upon which, my Friend turned hastily upon him, and said very angrily, " What ! This Church was never intended for your slovenly Worship." This Epithet, pronounced with so much Ardour, immediately LETTER IL 27 after his Censure of the Presbyterian Zeal, was to me some Matter of Speculation. My Stay at Glasgow was very short as it had been at Edinburgh, to which last, in five Days, I returned, in order to proceed to this Town. Upon consulting some Gentlemen, which of the two Ways was most eligible for me to take, /. e. w^iether through the Highlands, or by the Sea-Coast, I found they were divided ; one giving a dreadful Account of the Rough- ness and Danger of the Mountains, another commending the Shortness of the Cut over the Hills. One told me it was a hundred and fifty Miles by the Coast, another that it was; but ninety Miles the other Way ; but I de- cided the Matter myself upon the Strength of the old Proverb — " That the farthest Way about is the nearest Way home." Not but that I sometimes met with Roads which, at that Time, I thought pretty rough ; but after passing through the Highlands, they were all, smoothed in my Imagination, into Bowling- greens. 2 8 LETTER If. As the Country near the Coast has, here and there, little rising Hills, which overlook the Sea, and discover Towns at a considerable Distance, I was well enough diverted with various Prospects in my Journey, and wanted nothing but Trees, Enclosures, and smoother Roads, to make it very agreeable. The Lowlands, between the Sea and the high Country, to the Left, are generally narrow ; and the rugged romantic Appearance of the Mountains was to me, at that time, no bad Prospect ; but since that, I have been taught to think otherwise, by the Sufferings I have met with among them. I had little Reason to complain of my entertainment at the several Houses where I set up, because I never w^anted what w-as proper for the Support of Life, either for myself or my Horses : I mention them, because, in a Journey, they are as it were a Part of one's Self The worst of all was the Cookery. One Thing I observed of almost all the Towns that I saw at a Distance, which was, LETTER II. 29 that they seemed to be very large, and made a handsome Appearance ; but when I passed through them, there appeared a Meanness which discovered the Condition of the Inhabi- tants : and all the Out-Skirts, which served to increase the Extent of them at a Distance, were nothing but the Ruins of little Houses, and those in pretty great Numbers. Of this I asked the Reason, and was told, that when one of those Houses was grown old and decayed, they often did not repair it, but, taking out the Timber, they let the Walls stand as a fit Enclosure for a Kale-Tard {i.e. a little Garden for Cole worts), and that they built anew upon another Spot. By this you may conclude that Stone and Ground-rents in those Towns are not very valuable. But the little Fishing-Towns were generally disagree- able to pass, from the strong Smell of the Had- docks and Whitings that were hung up to dry on Lines along the sides of the Houses from one End of the Village to the other : and such Numbers of half-naked Children, but fresh- 3c LETTER II. coloured, strong, and healthy, I think are not to be met with in the Inland Towns. Some will have their Numbers and Strength to be, the Eilects of Shell-Fish. I have one Thing more to observe to you, which is, that still as I \\ent Northward, the Cattle and the Carts grew less and less. The Sheep likewise diminished in their Size by Degrees as 1 advanced ; and their Wool grew coarser, till at Length, upon a transient View, they seemed to be clothed with Hair. This I think proceeds less from the C)uality of the Soil than the excessive Cold of the Hills in the Winter Season, because the Mutton is ex- ceedingly good. Thus I have Acquainted you how I came hither, and I hope it will not now be very long before I have a greater Pleasure in tell- ing you, by Word of Mouth, in what Manner. I got Home ; yet must I soon return. LETTER III. T AM now about to enter upon the Perform- ance of my promise, and shall begin with a Description of this Town, which, however obscure it may be thought with you, yet is of no inconsiderable account in these remote regions. And it is often said to be the most like to an English Town of any at this End of the Island. But I have a further View than barely to make you acquainted with these Parts without your having the Inconveniences, Fatigue, and Hazards of a Northern Journey of five hundred Miles ; and that Design is, to show you, by Example, the melancholy Consequence of the Want of Manufactories and foreign Trade, and most especially with respect to the common People, whom it affects even to the Want of Necessaries ; not to mention the 9 32 LETTER 111. Morals of the next Degree. It is here, indeed, their Happiness, that they do not so sensibly feel the Want of these Advantages, as they would do if they had known the Loss of them. And notwithstanding the natural Fertility of the South, I am, by Observation, taught to conclude, that without these important Profits, which enable the higher Orders of Men to spare a Part of their Income to employ others in ornamental and other Works not absolutely necessary ; I say, in that Case, the ordinary People with you would be, perhaps, not quite, but nearly as wretched as these, whose Circumstances almost continually excite in me the painful Passion of Pity, as the Objects of it are seldom out of my sight. I shall not make any Remarks how much it is incumbent on the Rulers of Kingdoms and States (who are to the people what a Father is to his helpless Family) to watch over this Source of human Convenience and Happiness, because this has been your favourite Topic, LETTER III. 33 and indeed the contrary would be in me (as the common Phrase is) " like carrying Coals to Newcastle." If Wit were my Talent, or even a genteel ridicule, which is but a faint resemblance of Wit (if it may be said to be any Thing like it) — I say, if both or either of these were my Gift, you would not expect to be entertained that Way upon this Account ; for you per- fectly know that Poverty, simply as such, and unattended by Sloth, Pride, and (let me say) other unsuitable Vices, was never thought by the Judicious to be a proper Subject for Wit or Raillery. But I cannot forbear to observe, en passant^ that those Pretenders to wit that deal in odious Hyperboles create Distaste to ingenuous Minds. I shall give you only two Examples of such insipid Jests. The first was, in describing the Country Cabins in the North of Ireland, by saying, one might put one's Arm do\vn the Chimney and unlatch the Door. This re- garded all of that Country ; but the other was 34 LETTER III personal to one who, perhaps, had carried his Economy a little too far. Sir, — says the Joker to me, who was a Stranger to the other, this Gentleman is a very generous Man- — I made him a Visit the other Day, and the Bars of his Grate were the Wires of a Bird-cage, and he threw on his Coals with an Ockamy Spoon. It is true, the laughing Part of the Company were diverted with the Sarcasm ; but it was so much at the Expense of the old Gentleman, that I thought he would run mad with Resent- ment. It would be needless to describe the Situa- tion of this Town, as it relates to the Island in General, because a Map of Britain will, at one View, afford you a better idea of it than any Words I can put together for that Pur- pose ; I thall therefore content myself with saying only, That the Murray Firth is navig- able within less than half a Mile of the Town, and that the rest of the Navigation to it is supplied by the River Ness. LETTER III S5 Inverness is one of the Royal Boroughs of Scothmd, and jointly with Nairne, Forres, and Channery, sends a Member to Parlia- ment. The Town has a military Governor, and the Corporation a Provost and four Bailies, a kind of Magistrates little differing from our Mayors and Aldermen : besides whom, there is a Dean of Guild who presides in Matters of Trade ; and other Borough Officers, as in the rest of the corporate Towns of this Country. It is not only the Head Borough or County- Town of the Shire of Inverness, which is of large Extent, but generally esteemed to be the Capital of the Highlands : but the Natives do not call themselves Highlanders, not so much on Account of their low Situation, as because they speak English. This Rule whereby to denominate them- selves, they borrow from the Kirk, which, in all its Acts and Ordinances distinguishes the Lowlands from the Highlands by the Language generally spoken by the Inhabitants, whether ^6 LETTER III, the Parish or District lies in the High or Low Country. Yet although they speak English, there are scarce any who do not understand the Irish Tongue ; and it is necessary they should do so, to carry on their Dealings with the neighbour- ing Country People ; for within less than a Mile of the Town, there are few who speak any English at all. What I am saying must be understood only of the ordinary People ; for the Gentry, for the most Part, speak our Language in the re- motest parts of Scotland. The Town principally consists of four Streets, of which three centre at the Cross, and the other is something irregular. The Castle stands upon a little steep Hill closely adjoining to the Town, on the South Side, built with unhewn Stone ; it was lately in Ruins, but is now completely repaired, to serve as a Part of the Citadel of Fort George, whereof the first Foundation Stone was laid in Summer 1726, and is to consist of Barracks T^iKX .f. ff/7/i7ht- ^ati/.'- LETTER III. 37 for six Companies. This Castle, whereof the Duke of Gordon is hereditary Keeper, was formerly a Royal Palace, where Mary, the mother of our King James the First, resided, at such Times when she thought it her Interest to oblige the Highlanders with her Presence and Expense, or that her Safety required it. You will think it was a very scanty Palace, when I have told you, that before it was re- paired, it consisted of only six Lodging-Rooms, the Offices below, and the Gallery above ; which last being taken down, and the Rooms divided each into two, there are now twelve Apartments for Officers' Lodgings. While this Building was in Repairing, three Soldiers who were employed in digging up a Piece of Ground very near the Door, dis- covered a dead Body, which was supposed to be the Corpse of a Man ; I say supposed, because a Part of it was defaced before they were aware. This was believed to have lain there a great Number of Years, because when it was touched 38 LETTER III it fell to Dust. At this unexpected Sight, the Soldiers most valiantly ran away, and the Accident, you will believe, soon brought a good Number of Spectators to the Place. As I was talking with one of the Towns- men, and took Notice how strange it was that a Body should be buried so near the Door of the House ; " 'Troth,'' says he, " I dinno doubt but this was ane of Mary's Lovers." I verily believe this Man had been after- wards rebuked for this unguarded Expression to me, an Englishman ; because, when I hap- pened to meet him in the Street the Day fol- lowing, he officiously endeavoured to give his Words another Turn, which made the Impres- sion I had received, much stronger than it had been before. But this I have observed of many (my sell- not excepted), who, by endeavouring to excuse a Blunder, like a spirited Horse in one of our Bogs, the more he struggles to get out, the deeper he plunges himself in the Mire. Upon the Whole, this Hint at the Policy LETTER III 39 of her Amours, from a Native of this Town, induced me to believe there is some received Tradition among the People concerning her, not much to the Advantage of her memory. I had often heard something to this Purpose in London, but could not easily believe it ; and rather thought it might have arisen originally from Complaisance to one, who, if we may believe some Scots Memoirs, was as jealous of the Praises of her fine Person, as apprehensive of a much more dangerous Com- petition. Before I have done with the Castle, I must acquaint you with an odd Accident that had like to have happened to it, not many Days after the above mentioned Discovery. And first I must tell you, that one End of the Building extends to the Edge of a very steep Descent to the River, and that Slope is com- posed of a very loose Gravel. The Workmen had ignorantly dug away some little Part of the Foot of the Declivity, to make a Passage something wider between 40 LETTER III that and the Water. This was done in the Evening, and pretty early in the Night we were alarmed with a dreadful Noise of runn- ing about, and calling upon a great Number of Names, insomuch that I concluded the Town was on fire. This brought me suddenly to my Window, and there I was informed that the Gravel was running, and followed by con- tinual Successions ; and that the Castle would be down before Morning. However, it was prevented ; for the Town Masons and Soldiers soon run up a dry Wall against the Foot of the Hill (for stones are everywhere at Hand in this Country), which furnished them with the hasty Means to pre- vent its Fall. The Bridge is about eighty Yards over, and a Piece of Good Workmanship, consisting of seven Arches, built with Stone, and maintained by a Toll of a Bodle^ or the sixth Part of a Penny for each foot-passenger with Goods ; a Penny for a loaded Horse, &c. And here 1 cannot forbear to give you an LETTER III. 41 Instance of the extreme Indigence of some ot the Country People, by assuring you, I have seen Women with heavy Loads, at a Distance from the Bridge (the Water being low), wade over the large Stones, which are made slippery by the Sulphur, almost up to the Middle, at the Hazard of their Lives, being desirous to save, or unable to pay, one single bodle. From the Bridge we have often the Diver- sion to see the Seals pursue the Salmon as they come up the River : they are sometimes within fifty Yards of us ; and one of them came so near the Shore that a Salmon leaped out of the Water for its Safety, and the Seal, being shot at, dived ; but before any body could come near, the Fish had thrown itself back again into the River. As this amphibious Creature, though familiar to us, may be to you a Kind of Curiosity, Per- haps you may expect some Description of it. The Head at some Distance resembles that of a Dog, with his Ears cut close ; but when near, you see it has a long thick Snout, a wide 42 LETTER III Mouth, and the Eyes sunk within the Head ; •and ahogether it has a most horrid Look, insomuch that if any one were to paint a Gorgon's Head, I think he could not find a more frightful Model. As they swim, the Head, which is high above Water, is continually moving from Side to Side to discover Danger. The Body is horizontally flattish, and covered with a hairy Skin, often finely varied with spots, as you may see by Trunks that are made to keep out wet. The Female has Breasts like a Woman, that sometimes appear above Water, which makes some to think it occasioned the Fiction of a Mermaid; and, if so, the mermaid of the Ancients must have been wondrous hand- some ! The Breast of the Male is likewise so resembling to that of a Man, that an Officer, seeing one of them in cutting up, went away, telling me, it was so like that Part of a human Body, he could not stand it, for that was his Expression. Beneath the Skin is a deep spongy Fat, LETTER III. 43 something like that of the skinny Part of a Leg of Mutton : from this they chiefly draw the Oil, The Fins or Feet are very near the Body, webbed like a Duck, about twelve Inches wide, but in Shape very much like the Hand of a Man : when they Feed as they swim, they stoop the Head down to the fore Foot, as I once saw when one of them had a Piece of Salmon (I may say) in its Hand, as I was cross- ing Cromarty Bay. When they dive, they swim under Water, I think I may say, a Q^uarier of a Mile to- gether ; and they dart after their Prey with a surprising Velocity, considering their Bulk and the Element they divide. The Fishermen take them by intercepting them in their Return to the Water, when they have been sleeping or basking in the Sun upon the Shore, and there they knock them down with their Clubs. They tell me, that every grown Seal is worth to them about Forty Shillings Sterling, which arises from the Skin and the Oil. 44 LETTER III. When you happen to be within Musket- Shot of them, they are so quick with the Eye, that, at the Flash in the Pan, they plunge so suddenly, they are under Water before the Ball can reach them. I have seen ten or fifteen of them, young and old, in an Arm of the Sea among the Mountains, which, upon the Discovery of our Boat, flounced into the Water all at once, from a little rocky Island, near the Turn of a Point, and raised a surprising Surge round about them. But as to their being dangerous to the Fishermen, in throwing Stones behind them when they are pursued, it does well enough for the Volume of a travelling Author, who if he did not create Wonders, or steal them from others, might have little to say ; but in their scrambling Flight over a Beach of Loose Stones, it is impossible but some of them must be re- moved and thrown behind them ; and this, no Doubt, has given a Hint for the Romance, These Writers, for the better Sale of their 7^^. LETTER III 45 Books, depend on the Reader's Love of Admiration, the great Assistant to Credulity. But, in particular, that those Animals, with their short Fins or Feet, can Wound at a Dis- tance, must certainly be concluded from this false Principle, viz. That a Stone may be sent from a Sling of four Inches long, with equal Force, to another of as many Feet. Before I leave the Bridge, I shall take Notice of one Thing more, which is commonly to be seen by the sides of the River (and not only here, but in all the Parts of Scotland where I have been), that is, Women with their Coats tucked up, stamping, in Tubs, upon Linen by this Way of Washing ; and not only in Summer, but in the hardest frosty Weather, when their Legs and Feet are almost literally as red as Blood with the Cold ; and often two of these Wenches stamp in one Tub, supporting themselves by their Arms thrown over each other's Shoulders. But what seems to me yet stranger is, as I have been assured by an English Gentlewoman, 46 LETTER III that they have insisted with her to have the Liberty of washing at the River ; and, as People pass, by, they divert themselves by talking very freely to them, like our Codders, and other Women, employed in the Fields and Gardens about London. What I have said above, relating to their washing at the River in a hard Frost may require an explanation, viz. the River Ness, like the Lake from whence it comes, never freezes, from the great quantity of Sulphur with which it is impregnated ; but, on the contrary, will dissolve the Icicles, contracted from other Waters, at the Horses' Heels, in a very short Space of Time. From the Tolbooth, or County Gaol, the greatest Part of the Murderers and other noto- rious Villains, that have been committed since I have been here, have made their Escape ; and I think this has manifestly proceeded from the Furtherance or Connivance of the Keepers, or rather their Keepers. When this Evil has been complained of, LETTER III. 47 the Excuse was, the Prison is a weak old Building, and the Town is not in Condition to keep it in Repair : but, for my own Part, I cannot help concluding, from many Circum- stances, that the greatest Part of these Escapes have been the Consequence, either of Clan -Interest or Clannish Terror. As for Example, if one of the Magistrates were a Cameron (for the Purpose), the Criminal (Cameron) must not suffer, if the Clan be desirous he should be saved. In short, they have several other Ties or Attachments one to another, which Occasion (like Money in the South) this Partiality. When any Ship in these Parts is bound for the West Indies, to be sure a neighbouring Chief, of whom none dares openly to com- plain, has several Thieves to send Prisoners to Town. It has been whispered, their Crimes were only asking their Dues, and such-like Offences ; and I have been well assured, they have been threatened with hanging, or at least perpetual h 48 LETTER 111 Imprisonment, to intimidate and force them to sign a Contract for their Banishment, which they seldom refused to do, as knowing there would be no Want of Witnesses against Them, however innocent they were ; and then they were put on board the Ship, the Master pay- ing so much a-Head for them. Thus two Purposes were served at once, viz. the getting rid of troublesome Fellows, and making Money of them at the same time : but these poor Wretches never escaped out of Prison. All this I am apt to believe, because I met with an Example, at his own House, which leaves me no Room to doubt it. As this Chief was walking alone, in his Garden, with his Dirk and Pistol by his Side, and a Gun in his Hand (as if he feared to be assassinated), and, as I was reading in his Par- lour, there came to me by Stealth (as I soon perceived), a young Fellow, who accosted me with such an Accent as made me conclude he was a Native of Middlesex ; and every now LETTER 111 49 and then he turned about, as if he feared to be observed by any of the Family. He told me, that when his Master was in London, he had made him Promises of great Advantage, if he would serve him as his Gen- tleman ; but, though he had been there two Years, he could not obtain either his Wages or Discharge. And, says he, when I ask for either of them, he tells me I know I have robbed him, and nothing is more easy for him than to find, among these Highlanders, abundant Evidence against me (innocent as I am) ; and Then my Fate must be a perpetual Gaol or Transporta- tion : and There is no Means for me to make my Escape, being here in the Midst of his Clan, and never suffered to go far from Home. You will believe I was much affected with the melancholy Circumstance of the poor young Man ; but told him, that my speaking for him would discover his Complaint to me, which might enrage his Master; and, in that so LETTER II L Case, 1 did not know what might be the Con- sequence to him. Then, with a sorrowful Look, he left me, and (as it happened) in very good Time. This Chief does not think the present abject Disposition of his Clan towards him to be sufficient, but entertains that tyrannical and detestable Maxim, — that to render them poor, will double the Tie of their Obedience ; and accordingly he makes Use of all oppressive Means to that End. To prevent any Diminution of the Number of those who do not offend him, he dissuades from their Purpose all such as show an Inclina- tion to Traffic, or to put their children out to Trades, as knowing they would, by such an i\lienation, shake off at least good Part of their slavish Attachment to him and his Family. This he does, when downright Authority fails, by telling them how their Ancestors chose to live sparingly, and be accounted a Martial People, rather than submit themselves to low and mercenary Employments like the Low- LETTER in. 51 landers, whom their Forefathers always de- spised for the Want of that Warlike Temper which they (his Vassals) still retained, &c. I shall say no more of this Chief at present, because I may have Occasion to speak of him again when I come to that Part which is properly called Highlands ; but I cannot so easily dismiss his Maxim, without some little Animadversion upon it. It may, for aught I know, be suitable to Clannish Power ; but, in general, it seems quite contrary to Reason, Justice, and Nature, that any one Person, from the mere Accident of his Birth, should have the Prerogative to oppress a whole Community, for the Gratifica- tion of his own selfish Views and Inclinations : and I cannot but think, the Concerted Poverty of a People is, of all Oppressions the strongest Instigation to Sedition, Rebellion, and Plunder. The Town-Hall is a plain Building of Rubble ; and there is one Room in it, where the Magistrates meet upon the Town Business, 52 LETTER I If. which would be tolerably handsome, but the Walls are rough, not white-washed, or so much as plastered ; and no Furniture in it but a Table, some bad Chairs, and altogether immoderately dirty. The Market-Cross is the Exchange of the Merchants, and other Men of Business. There they stand in the Middle of the dirty Street, and are frequently interrupted in their Negociations by Horses and Carts, which often separate them one from another in the Midst of their Bargains or other Aifairs. But this is nothing extraordinary in Scotland ; for it is the same in other Towns, and even at the Cross of Edinburgh. Over-against the Cross is the CofFee-House. A Gentleman, who loves Company and Play, keeps it for his Diversion ; for so I am told by the People of the Town ; but he has con- descended to complain to me of the little he gets by his Countrymen. As to a Description ol the CofFee-Room, the Furniture, and Utensils, I must be excused M I ■,/ 'fffffUf.l _j>t them. Even the best Sort of Street Houses, in ail LETTER III s5 the great Towns of the Low Country, are, for the most Part contrived after one Manner, with a Stair Case without-side, either round or square, which leads to each Floor, as I men- tioned in my last Letter. By the Way, they call a Floor a House ; the Whole Building is called a Land ; an Alley, as I said before, is a Wynde ; a little Court, or a turn-again Alley, is a Closs ; a round Stair-case, a Turnpike ; and a square one goes by the name of a Ska/e Stair. In this Town the Houses are so differently modelled, they can- not be brought under any general Description; but commonly the back Part, or one End, Is turned toward the Street, and you pass by it through a short Alley into a little Court-Yard, to ascend by Stairs above the first Story. This lowest Stage of the Building has a Door toward the Street, and serves for a Shop or a Warehouse, but has no Communication with the rest. The Houses are for the most part low, be- cause of the violent Flurries of Wind which S6 LETTER III. often pour upon the Town from the Openings of the adjacent Mountains, and are built with Rubble-Stone, as are all the Houses in every other Town of Scotland that I have seen, ex- cept Edinburgh, Glasgow, Perth, Stirling, and Aberdeen ; where some of them are faced with Ashler Stone ; but the four Streets of Glasgow, as I have said before, are so from one end to the other. The Rubble Walls of these Houses are com- posed of Stones of different Shapes and Sizes ; and many of them, being Pebbles, are almost round, which, in laying them, leave large Gaps, and on the outside they fill up those Interstices by driving in flat Stones of a small Size ; and, in the end, face the Work all over with Mortar thrown against it with a Trowel, which they call harling. This Rough-Casting is apt to be damaged by the Weather, and must be sometimes re- newed, otherwise some of the Stones will drop out. It is true, this is not much unlike the way LETTER III ^y of Building in some remote Parts of England ; only there, the Stones are squarer, and more nearly proportioned one to another : but I have been thus particular, because I have often heard it said by some of the Scots in London, before I knew any Thing of Scotland, that the Houses were all built with Stone, as despising our Bricks, and concealing the Manner and Appear- ance of their Buildings. This gave me a false Idea of Magnificence, both as to Beauty and Expense, by comparing them in my Thoughts with our Stone Buildings in the south, which are costly, scarce, and agreeable to the Eye. The Chasms in the Inside and Middle of these Walls, and the disproportionate Quantity of Mortar, by Comparison, with the Stone, render them receptacles for prodigious num- bers of Rats, which scratch their way from the Inside of the House half through the Wall, where they burrow and breed securely, and by that means abound every where in the small Scots Towns, especially near the Sea. But 58 LETTER III among the inner Parts of the Mountains I never saw or heard of any such Thing, except, upon Recollection, in a Part called Coulnakyle, in Strathspey, to which place 1 have been told they were brought, in the year 1723, from a ship, among some London Goods. They were then thought by the Inhabitants to be a sure Presage of good Luck ; and so indeed they were, for much Money followed : but when those Works are at an End, I be- lieve famine, or another Transportation, must be the Fate of the Vermin. I have been credibly informed, that when the Rats have been increased to a great Degree in some small Villages, and could hardly subsist, they have crept into the little Horses' Manes and Tails (which are always tangled and matted, being never combed), in Order to be transported to other Places, as it were, to plant new Colonies, or to find fresh (garters, less burdened with Numbers. And I was lately told by a Countryman that lives about two Miles off, who brought me a Bundle of LETTER III. 59 Straw, that having slept in a Stable here, he carried Home one of them in his Plaid. But such Numbers of them are seen by the Morn- ing Twilight in the Streets, for Water, after Dry Weather succeeded by a Shower of Rain, as is incredible : and (what at first seemed strange to me) among them several Weasels. You will certainly say I was distressed for want of matter, when I dwelt so long upon Rats ; but they are an intolerable Nuisance. The Houses of this Town were neither sashed nor slated before the Union, as I have been informed by several old People : and to this day the Ceilings are rarely Plastered : nothing but the single Boards serve for Floor and Ceiling, and the partitions being often composed of upright Boards only, they are sometimes shrunk, and any body may not only hear, but see, what passes in the room adjoin- ing. When first I came to this Country, I observed in the Floor of several Houses a good Number of Circles of about an Inch 6o LETTER III Diameter, and likewise some round Holes of the same Size, the Meaning of which I did not then understand ; but, not long after, I discovered the Cause of those inconvenient Apertures. These, in great Measure, lay the Family be- low open to those that are above, who, on their Part, are incommoded with the Voices of the others. The Boards, when taken from the saw- mill, are bored at a good Distance from one end of them, for the Conveniency of their Way of Carriage. They put a Cord (or a woodie as they call it) through the Holes of several of them, to keep them flat to the Horses' Side, and the Corners of the other End drag upon the Ground ; but before these Boards are laid in the Floor the Holes are filled up with Plugs, which they cut away, even with the Surface on each Side; and when these Stop-Gaps shrink, they drop out, and are seldom supplied. LETTER III. 6 1 Those Houses that are not sashed, have two Shutters that turn upon Hinges for the low half of the Window, and only the upper Part is glazed ; so that there is no seeing any Thing in the Street, in Bad Weather, without great inconvenience. Asking the reason of this, I was told that these People still continue those Shutters as an old Custom v/hich was at first occasioned by Danger ; for that formerly, in their Clan- Quarrels, several had been shot from the opposite Side of the Way, when they were in their Chamber, and by these Shutters they were concealed and in safety ; but I believe the true reason is, the saving the expense of Glass, for it is the same in the out-parts of all the Towns and Cities in the Low Country. LETTER IV. T^T'ITHOUT any long Preface, I shall make this Letter a Continuation of the Descriptions I have entered into ; but, at the same Time, am not without Fear that my former was rather dry and tedious to you, than informing and diverting ; and this I apprehend the more, because good Part of it was not agreeable to myself. What I have hitherto said, with Respect to the Buildings of this Town, relates only to the principal Part of the Streets ; the middling Sort of Houses, as in other Towns, are very low, and have generally a close Wooden-Stair Case before the front. By one end of this you ascend, and in it above are small round or oval Holes, just big enough for the Head to go through ; and in Summer, or when any Thing extraordinary happens in the Street to LETTER IV. 6s excite the Curiosity of the Inhabitants, they look like so many People with their Heads in the Pillory. But the extreme Parts of the Town are made up of most miserably low, dirty Hovels, faced and covered with Turf, with a bottom- less Tub, or Basket, in the Roof for a Chimney. The Pavement here is very good ; but, as in other small Towns where the Streets are narrow, it is so much rounded, that when it is dry, it is dangerous to ride, insomuch that Horses which are shod are often falling ; and when it is dirty, and beginning to dry, it is slippery to the Feet, for in Scotland you walk generally in the Middle of the Streets. I asked the Magistrates one Day, when the Dirt was almost above one's Shoes, why they suffered the Town to be so excessively dirty, and did not employ People to cleanse the Street? The Answer was, "It will not be long before we have a Shower." But as to the Slipperiness, we have many 64 LETTER IV. principal Towns in England paved with small Pebbles, that, going down Hill, or along a Slope, are not less dangerous to ride over, especially in dry Weather. Some of the Houses are marked on the Outside with the first letters of the Owner's Name, and that of his Wife if he be a married man. This is, for the most Part, over the uppermost Window ; as for example, CM. MM. Charles Maclean, Margaret Mackenzie ; for the Woman writes her Maiden Name after Marriage ; and supposing her to be a Widow that has had several Husbands, if she does not choose to continue the Use of her Maiden Name, she may take the name of either of her deceased Husbands, as she thinks fit. This you may be sure has been the Cause of many a Joke among our Countrymen, in sup- posing something extraordinary in that Man above the rest, whose Name, after all, she chose to bear. Within-Doors, upon the Chimney-piece of one of the Rooms, in some Houses, there are LETTER IV. 6s likewise initial letters of the Proprietor's Name, with a Scrap of their Poetry, of which I shall give you only two instances. One of them is as follows : "16WMB As with the Fire, EMP 94 So with thy God do stand ; Keep not far ofF, Nor come thou too near Hand. " The other is ; " 16 Christ is my Life and Rent, 78 His Promise is my Evident. LS HF" The word Evident alludes to the owner's Title to the House, the same signifying, in Scotland, a Title-Deed. I had forgot to mention an Inscription upon the Outside of one of those Houses, viz. " Our Building is not here, but we Hope for ane better in Christ. " I was saying in my last Letter, that here the Ground-Floors are called Warehouses ; they 66 LETTER IV. are so, but they would seem very odd to you under that Denomination. There is, indeed, a Shop up a Pair of Stairs, which is kept by three or four Merchants in Partnership, and that is pretty well stored with various Sorts of small Goods and Wares, mostly from London. This Shop is called, by Way of Eminence, the Warehouse : here (for the Purpose) a Hat, which with you would cost thirteen or fourteen Shillings, goes by the established Name of a Guinea Hat, and other Things are much in the same Proportion. I remember to have read, in one of the Tat- lers or Spectators, a Piece of Ridicule upon the French Vanity, where it is said, that a Barber writes upon his Sign, Magazin de Peruqiies ; and a Cobbler upon an old Boot, La Botte Royale^ &:c. ; but I am sorry to say, that, of late, something of this Kind has crept into our proud Metropolis ; for here and there you may now see an ordinary Shop dubbed with the important Title of a Warehouse : — this I think is no good Presage. LETTER IV, Gj But to" return to the general Run of Ware- houses in this Town. It is true some of them contain Hogsheads of French Wines, Pieces of Brandy, and other Goods that will not be spoiled by Dampness ; but the Cargo of others, that I have happened to see open, have consisted chiefly of empty Casks and Bottles, Hoops, Chalk (which last is not to be found in this Country), and other Merchandise of like Value. On this Side the Tweed many Things are aggrandized, in Imitation of their ancient Allies (as they call them), the French. A pedling Shopkeeper, that sells a Penny- worth of Thread, is a Merchant ; the Person who is sent for that Thread has received a Commission ; and, bringing it to the Sender, is making Report. A bill to let you know there is a single Room to be let, is called a Placard ; the Doors are Ports ; an enclosed Field of two Acres is a Park ; and the Wife of a Laird of fifteen pounds a Year is a Lady ; and treated with — your Ladyship, 1 am not unaware it may be objected, with 68 LETTER IV. respect to the Word Merchant, that in France it signifies no more than a Shopkeeper, or other small Dealer, and that the Exporter and Importer are called un Ncgociant ; and it may be said by these People, they use the Word in the same Sense ; but, if that were granted, would it not be more proper, in Correspond- ence, to make use of Words suited to the Acceptation of the Country corresponded to? A Friend of mine told me, when I was last in London, that he had received, some Time before, a Bill of Exchange from this Country, directed to , Merchant, in London. You know it is deemed a kind of Affront among real Merchants, to be too particularly pointed out in a Direction, as supposing them not well known, no not even at the Royal Exchange and Post-office. — But, as I was saying, this Scots Merchant was sought after for several Days upon Change, and the Scots Walk in par- ticular, but Nobody knew any Thing of him ; till at length, by mere Accident, he was found LETTER IV. 69 to lodge up two pair of Stairs, at a little House over against London Wall. Would it not have been more reasonable to have given upon the Bill a full Direction to his Place of Abode (and called him Esquire, if his correspondent pleased), than to send People in this Manner upon a Wild-Goose Chase ? I will not suppose one Part of the Design in it to be the gaining Time before the Mer- chant could be found out ; but there are evidently two other Reasons for such blind Directions, -viz. — they serve to give Weight to their Bills at Home, and as they think, an Air of Importance to their Correspondence and Countrymen in London ; but, in Reality, all this serves but to render the Drawer and Accepter ridiculous in the End. I am told once a Week that the Gentlewoman that washes my Linen is below, an freqaea tly hear something or other of a Gentleman that keeps a change not far from hence. They call an Alehouse a change, and think a Man yo^ LETTER IV. of a good Family suffers no Diminution of his; Gentility to keep it, though his House and Sale are too inconsiderable to be mentioned without the appearance of Burlesque. I was once surprised to see a neighbouring Lord dismount from his Horse, take an Ale- house-keeper in his Arms, kiss him, and make him as many Compliments as if he had been a Brother Peer. I could not help asking his Lordship the Meaning of that great Famil- iarity ; and he told me that m.y Landlord was, of as good a Family as any in Scotland, but that the Laird his Father had a great many Children, and but little to give them. By the Way, in the Lowlands, where there are some few Signs at Public-Houses, I have seen written upon several — Mr Alexander, or Mr James such-a-one : This is a Token that the Man of the House is a Gentleman either by Birth, or that he has taken his Master-of-Arts Degree at the University. I shall give you but one more Instance of this Kind of Gentility. LETTER IV. 71 At a Town called Nairne, not far from hence, an Officer who hoped to get a Recruit or two (though contrary to an Order to enlist no Scotsman while the Regiment was in Scotland, because otherwise, in the Course of several Years, it might, by Mortality, become almost a Scots Regiment instead of English), — I say, this Officer sent for a Piper to play about the Town before the Serjeant, as more agreeable to the People than a Drum. After some Time, our Landlord came to us, and, for an Introduction, told us the Piper was a very good Gentleman., thinking I suppose, that otherwise we should not show him due Respect according to his Rank. He then went out, and, returning with him, he intro- duced our Musician to us, who entered the Room, like a Spaniard, with a grave Air and stately Step : at first he seemed to expect we should treat him according to the Custom of the Country, by asking him to sit and take a Glass with us ; but we were not well enough bred for that, and let him stand, with a dis- 72 LETTER IV. appointed Counteniince, to hear what was to be his Employment. This we partly did, as knowing we had in Reserve a better Way of making our Court. In the Evening, when he returned with the Serjeant, our Landlord made him a kind of Speech before us, telling him (for he came two Miles) that we had sent to him rather than any other, having heard how excellent he was in his Way, and at the same Time stole into his Hand the two Shillings that were ordered him with as much Caution as if he had been Bribing at an Election, or feeing an Attorney-General before Company. 'Twas now quite another Countenance ; and, being pleased with his Reward (which was great in this Country, being no less than one Pound four Shillings), he expressed his Gratitude by Playing a Voluntary on his Pipe for more than half an Hour, as he strided back- ward and forward, out-side the House, under our Window. Here is Gentility in Disguise ; and I ani LETTER IV. 73 sorry to say that this Kind of Vanity in People of no Fortune makes them ridiculous to Stran- gers, and I wish they could divest themselves of it, and apply to something more substantial than the airy Notion of Ancient Eamily^ which, by extending our Thoughts, we shall find may be claimed by all Mankind, But it may be said that this Pretention pro- cures them some Respect from those who are every Way their Equals, if not Superior to them, except in this Particular. This I grant, and there lies the Mischief; for by that flatter- ing Conceit, and the Respect shown them, they are brought to be ashamed of honest em- ployments, which perhaps they want as much or more than the others, and which might be advantageous to them, their Families, and Country. Thus you see a Gentleman may be a merce- nary Piper, or keep a little Alehouse where he brews his Drink in a Kettle ; but to be of any Working Trade, however profitable, would be a Disgrace to him, his present Rela- 74 LETTER IV. tions, and all his Ancestry. If this be not a proper Subject of Ridicule, I think there never was any such Thing. But to return to Town after my Ramble : here is a melancholy Appearance of Objects in the Streets ; — in one Part the poor Women, Maid-servants, and Children, in the coldest Weather, in the Dirt or in Snow, either walk- ing or standing to talk with one another, with- out Stockings or Shoes. In another Place, you see a Man dragging along a half-starved Horse little bigger than an Ass, in a Cart, about the Size of a Wheel-Barrow. One Part of his Plaid is wrapt round his Body, and the Rest is thrown over his left Shoulder ; and every now and then he turns himself about, either to adjust his Mantle, when blown off by the Wind or fallen by his stooping, or to thump the poor little Horse with a great Stick. The Load in this Cart, if compact, might be carried under his Arm ; but he must not bear any Burden himself, though his Wife has, perhaps, at the same Time, a greater n>i.j. F.^afi/cK .t^cia. • LETTER IV. ys Load on her Loins than he has in his Cart : — I say on her Loins, for the Women carry Fish, and other heavy Burdens, in the same Manner as the Scots Pedlars carry their Packs in England. The poor Men are seldom barefoot in the Town, but wear Brogues^ a Sort of Pumps without Heels, which keep them little more from the Wet and Dirt than if they had none, but they serve to defend their Feet from the Gravel and Stones, They have three several Sorts of Carts, according to the enclosed Sketches, of which that Species wherein they Carry their Peats (being a light Kind of Loading) is the largest ; but as they too are very small, their Numbers are sometimes so great, that they fill up one of the Streets (which is the Market for that Fuel) in such Manner, it is impossible to pass by them on Horseback, and difficult on Foot. It is really provoking to see the Idleness and Inhumanity of some of the Leaders of this 76 LETTER IV. Sort of Carts ; for, as they are something higher than the Horse's Tail, in the motion they keep rubbing against it till the Hair is worn off, and the Dock quite raw, without any Care being taken to prevent it, or to ease the Hurt when discovered. Some of these Carts are led by Women, who are generally bare-foot, with a Blanket for the covering of their Bodies, and in cold or wet Weather they bring it quite over them. At other times they wear a Piece of Linen upon their Heads, made up like a Napkin-Cap in an inn, only not tied at top, but hanging down behind. Instead of Ropes for Halters and Harness, they generally make use of Sticks of Birch twisted and knotted together ; these are called Woodies ; but some few have Ropes made of the Manes and Tails of their horses, which are shorn in the Spring for that Pur- pose. The Horse-Collar and Crupper are made of Straw-bands ; and, to save the Horse's Back, LETTER IV. yy they put under the Cart saddle a Parcel of old Rags. Their Horses are never dressed or shod, and appear, as we say, as ragged as Colts. In short, if you were to see the whole Equi- page, you would not think it possible for any Droll-Painter to invent so perfect a Picture of Misery. If the Horse carries any Burden upon his Back, a Stick of a Yard long goes across, under his Tail, for a crupper ; but this I have seen in Prints of the loaded Mules in Italy. When the Carter has had Occasion to turn about one Sort of these Carts in a narrow Place, I have seen him take up the Cart, Wheels and all, and walk round with it, while the poor little Horse has been struggling to keep himself from being thrown. The Wheels, when new, are about a Foot and half high, but are soon worn very small : they are made of three pieces of Plank, pinned together at the Edges like the Head of a Butter-Firkin, and the Axletree goes 78 LETTER IV. round with the Wheel ; which having some Part of the Circumference with the Grain and other Parts not, it wears unequally, and in a little Time is rather angular than round, which causes a disagreeable Noise as it moves upon the Stones. I have mentioned these Carts, Horses, and Drivers, or rather Draggers of them, not as immediately relating to the Town, but as they increase, in great Measure, the wretched Appearance in the Streets ; for these Carters, for the most Part, live in Huts dispersed in the adjacent Country. There is little Need of Carts for the Business of the Town ; and when a Hogshead of Wine has been to be carried to any Part not very far distant, it has been placed upon a kind of Frame among four Horses, two on a Side, following each other ; for not far off, except along the Sea-Coast and some New Road, the Ways are so rough and rocky that no Wheel ever turned upon them since the Formation of this Globe ; and, there- fore, if the Townsmen were furnished with LETTER IV. 79 sufficient Wheel-Carriages for Goods of great Weight, they would be seldom useful. The Description of these puny Vehicles brings to my Memory how I was entertained with the Surprise and Amusement of the common People in this Town, when, in the Year 1725, a Chariot with six monstrous great Horses arrived here, by way of the Sea- Coast. An Elephant, publicly exposed in one of the Streets of London, could not have ex- cited greater Admiration. One asked what the Chariot was : another, who had seen the Gentleman alight, told the first, with a Sneer at his Ignorance, it was a great Cart to carry People in, and such like. But since the making of some of the Roads, I have passed through them with a Friend, and was greatly delighted to see the Highlanders run from their Huts close to the Chariot, and, looking up, bow with their Bonnets to the Coachman, little regarding us that were within. It is not unlikely they looked upon him as a kind of Prime-Minister, that guided so im- 8o LETTER IV. portant a Machine ; and perhaps they might think that we were his Masters, but had dehvered the Reins into his Hands, and, at that time, had Httle or no Will of our own, but suffered ourselves to be conducted by him as he thought fit ; and therefore their Addresses were directed to the Minister, at least in the first Place ; for motion would not allow us to see a second Bow, if they were inclined to make it. It is a common Thing for the poorest Sort hereabouts to lead their Horses out in Summer, when they have done their Work, and attend them while they graze by the Sides of the Roads and Edges of the Corn-Fields, where there is any little Grass to be had without a Trespass ; and generally they hold them all the while by the halter, for they are certainly punished if it be known they encroached ever so little upon a Field, of which none are enclosed. In like Manner, you may see a Man tending a single Cow for the greatest Part of the Day. In Winter the Horse is LETTER IV. 8 1 allowed no more Provender than will barely keep him alive, and sometimes not even that ; for I have known almost two Hundred of them, near the Town, to die of mere Want, within a small Compass of Time. You will find in another Letter how I came to know their Numbers. Certainly nothing can be more disagreeable than to see them pass the Streets before this Mortality, hanging down their Heads, reeling with Weakness ; and having Spots of their Skins, of a Foot diameter, appearing without Hair, the Eifect of their exceeding Poverty : but the Mares, in particular, are yet a more unseemly Sight. When the Grass in the Season is pretty well grown, the Country People cut it, and bring it green to the Town for Sale, to feed the Horses that are kept in it ; as others like- wise do to Edinburgh, where there is a spacious Street known by the Name of the Grass-Market ; and this is customary in all the Parts of the Low Country where I have been, 82 LETTER IV. at the Time of the Year for that kind of Marketing. Hay is here a rare Commodity indeed ; sometimes there is none at all ; and I have had it brought me forty Miles by sea, at the rate of Half-a-Crown or Three Shillings a Truss. I have given Twenty-pence for a Bundle of Straw, not more than one of our Trusses, and Oats have cost me at the Rate of four Shillings a Bushel, otherwise I must have seen, as we say, my Horses' Skins stripped over their Ears. But this is not always the Case ; for sometimes, after the Harvest, Oats and Straw have been pretty reasonable. A certain Officer, soon after his Arrival at this Town, observing in what a miserable State the Horses were, and finding his own would cost him more in keeping than was well con- sistent with his Pay, shot them. And being asked why he did not rather choose to sell them, though but for a small Matter, his Answer was, they were old Servants and his LETTER IV. 83 Compassion for them would not suffer him to let them fail into the Hands of such Keepers. And indeed the Town Horses are but sparingly- fed, as you may believe, especially when their Provender is at such an extravagant Price. Here are four or five Fairs in the Year, when the Highlanders bring their Commodities to Market : but, good God ! you could not conceive there was such Misery in this Island. One has under his Arm a small Roll of Linen, another a Piece of Coarse Plaiding; these are considerable Dealers. But the Mer- chandise of the greatest Part of them is of a most contemptible Value, such are these, viz. — two or three Cheeses, of about three or four Pounds weight a-piece; a Kid sold for Six- pence or Eight-pence at the most ; a small Quantity of Butter, in something that looks like a Bladder, and is sometimes set down upon the Dirt in the Street ; three or four Goat- skins ; a Piece of Wood for an Axletree to one of the little Carts, &c. With the Pro- duce of what each of them sells, they generally 84 LETTER IV, buy something, viz. — a Horn, or Wooden Spoon or two, a Knife, a Wooden Platter, and such-like Necessaries for their Huts, and carry home with them little or no Money. I am just now told the Mail is about to be sealed, and therefore must refer you to my next, for the Conclusion of this Melan- choly Description. P. S. You may see one eating a large onion without salt or bread ; another gnawing a car- rot, &c. These are rarities not to be had in their own parts of the country. I LETTER V. ALMOST long for the Time when 1 may expect your Thoughts of my Letters relating to this Country, and should not at all be surprised to find you say, as they do after Ten o'clock at Night in the Wyndes and Closes of Edinburgh, " Hand your Haunde." But if that should be the Case, I can plead your Injunction and the Nature of the Subject. Upon second Thoughts, 1 take it, we are just even with one another; for you cannot complain that these Letters are not satisfactory, because I have been only doing the Duty of a Friend, by endeavouring to gratify your curi- osity ; nor can I find any Cause of Blame in you, since you could not possibly conceive the Consequence of the Task you enjoined on me. 86 LETTER V. But, according to my Promise, to continue my account of our Highland Fair. If you would conceive rightly of it, you must imagine you see two or three Hundred half-naked, half-starved Creatures of both Sexes, without so much as a Smile or any Cheerfulness among them, stalking about with Goods, such as 1 have described, up to their Ankles in dirt ; and at Night Numbers of them lying together in Stables, or other Outhouse Hovels that are hardly any Defence against the Weather. I am speaking of a Winter Fair, for in Summer the greatest Part of them lie about in the open Country. The Gentlemen, Magistrates, Merchants, and Shopkeepers, are dressed after the Eng- lish Manner, and make a good Appearance enough, according to their several Ranks, and the working Tradesmen are not very ill clothed; and now and then, to relieve your Eyes yet more from these frequent Scenes of Misery, you see some of their Women of Fashion : I &ay sometimes, for they go seldom Abroad ; LETTER V. 87 but, when they appear, they are generally well dressed in the English Mode. As I have touched upon the Dress of the Men, I shall give you a notable Instance of Precaution used by some of them against the Tailor's purloining. This is to buy every Thing that goes to the making of a Suit of Clothes, even to the Staytape and Thread ; and when they are to be delivered out, they are, all together, weighed before the Tailor s Face. And when he brings Home the Suit, it is again put into the Scale with the Shreds of every Sort, and it is expected the Whole shall answer the original Weight. But I was told in Edinburgh of the same Kind of Circumspection, but not as a common Practice. The Plaid is the Undress of the Ladies ; and to a genteel Woman, who adjusts it with a good Air, is a becoming Veil. But as I am pretty sure you never saw one of them in England, I shall employ a few Words to describe it to you. It is made of Silk or fine 88 LETTER V. Worsted, chequered with various lively colours, tvi'o Breadths wide, and three Yards in Length; it is brought over the Head, and may hide or discover the Face according to the Wearer's Fancy or Occasion : it reaches to the Waist behind ; one Corner falls as low as the Ankle on one Side ; and the other Part, in Folds, hangs down from the opposite arm. I have been told, in Edinburgh, that the Ladies distinguish their Political Principles, whether Whig or Tory, by the Manner of wearing their Plaids ; that is, one of the Parties reverses the old Fashion, but which of them it is, I do not remember, nor is it material. I do assure you we have here, among the better Sort, a full Proportion of pretty Women, as indeed there is all over Scotland. But, pray remember, I now anticipate the Jest, " That Women grow handsomer and hand- somer the longer one continues from Home." The Men have more Regard to the Come- liness of their posterity, than in those Countries LETTER V. 89 where a large Fortune serves to soften the hardest Features, and even to make the Crooked straight ; and, indeed, their Defini- tion of a fine Woman seems chiefly to be directed to that Purpose ; for, after speaking of her Face, they say, " She's a fine, healthy, straight, strong, strapping Lassie." I fancy now I hear one of our delicate Ladies say, " 'Tis just so they would describe a Flander's Mare." I am not for confounding the Characters of the two Sexes one with another ; but I should not care to have my Son a valetudinary being, partaking of his Mother's nice Constitution. I was once commending to a Lady of Fortune in London, the upright, firm, yet easy Manner of the Ladies walking in Edinburgh. And when I had done, she fluttered her Fan, and with a Kind of Disdain, mixed with Jealousy to hear them commended, she said, " Mr ■ , I do not at all wonder at that, they are used to walk." My next Subject is to be the Servants. I 90 LETTER V. know little remarkable of the Men, only that they are generally great Lovers of Ale ; but my poor Maids, if I may judge of others by what passes in my own Quarters, have not had the best of Chances, when their Lots fell to be born in this Country. It is true they have not a great deal of Household Work to do ; but when that little is done, they are kept to Spinning, by which some of there Mistresses are chiefly maintained. Sometimes there are two or three of them in a House of no greater Number of Rooms, at the Wages of three half-Crowns a-Year each, a Peck of Oatmeal for a Week's Diet ; and happy she that can get the Skimming of a Pot to mix with her Oatmeal for better Commons. To this Allowance is added a Pair of Shoes or tw-o, for Sundays when they go to Kirk. These are such as are kept at Board- Wages. In Larger Families, I suppose, their Standing Wages is not much more, because they make no better Appearance than the others. But if any one of them happens, by the Encour- LETTER V. 9 J agement of some English Family, or one more reasonable than Ordinary among the Natives, to get Clothes something better than the rest, it is ten to one that Envy excites them to tell her to her Face, " she must have been a Heure, or she cou'd n'ere ha getten sic bonny geer." All these generally lie in the Kitchen, a "very improper Place, one would think, for a Lodging, especially of such who have not wherewithal to keep themselves clean. They do several Sorts of Work with their Feet. I have already mentioned their Wash- ing at the River. When they wash a Room, which the English Lodgers require to be some- times done, they likewise do it with their Feet. First, they spread a wet Cloth upon Part of the Floor ; then, with their coats tucked up, they stand upon the Cloth and shuffle it backward and forward with their Feet ; then they go to another Part and do the same, till they have gone all over the Room. After this, they wash the Cloth, spread it again, 92 LETTER V. and draw it along in all Places, by turns, till the whole Work is finished. This last opera- tion draws away all the remaining Water. I have seen this likewise done at my Lodgings within a Qiiarter of a Mile of Edinburgh. When I first saw it, I ordered a Mop to be made, and the Girls to be shown the ITse of it ; but, as it is said of the Spaniards, there was no persuading them to change their old Method. I have seen Women by the River-Side wash- ing Parsnips, Turnips, and Herbs, in Tubs, with their Feet. An English Lieutenant- Colonel told me, that about a Mile from the Town he saw, at some little Distance, a Wench turning and twisting herself about as she stood in a little Tub ; and as he could perceive, being on Horseback, that there was no Water in it, he rode up close to her, and Found she was grinding off the Beards and Hulls of Barley with her naked Feet, which Barley, she said, was to make Broth withal : and, since that, upon Inquiry, I have been told it is a common Thing. LETTER V. 93 They hardly ever wear Shoes, as I said before, but on a Sunday ; and then, being unused to them, when they go to Church they walk very awkwardly : or, as we say, like a Cat shod with Walnut-shells. I have seen some of them come out of Doors, early in a Morning, with their Legs covered up to the Calf with dried Dirt, the Remains of what they contracted in the Streets the Day before : in short, a Stranger might think there was but little Occasion for Strict laws against low Fornication. When they go Abroad, they wear a Blanket over their Heads, as the poor Women do, something like the Pictures you may have seen of some bare-footed Order among the Romish Priests. And the same Blanket that serves them for a Mantle by day, is made a Part of their Bed- ding at Night, which is generally spread upon the floor : this, I think, they call a Sbakedoivn. I make no Doubt you are, long before this, fully satisfied of the Truth of my Prediction 94 LETTER V. in the first Letter ; for to make you thoroughly acquainted with these remote Parts, you see I have been reduced to Tittle-Tattle as low as that of a gossiping Woman : however as I am in for 7, I must now proceed. Let those who deride the Dirtiness and Idleness of these poor Creatures, which my Countrymen are too apt to do, as I observed before ; let them, I say, consider what Inclina- tion they can have to recommend themselves ? What Emulation can there proceed from mere Despair ? Cleanliness is too expensive for their small wages; and what Inducement can they have, in such a Station, to be diligent and obliging to those who use them more like Negroes than Natives of Britain ? Besides, it is not any Thing in Nature that renders them more idle and uncleanly than others, as some would inconsiderately suggest ; because many of them, when they happened to be transplanted into a richer soil, grow as good Servants as any whatever; and this I have known by Experience. LETTER V. 95 It is a Happiness to Infancy, especially here, that it cannot reflect and make compari- sons of its Condition ; otherwise how miser- able would be the Children of the Poor that one sees continually in the Streets ! Their wretched Food makes them look Pot-bellied ; they are seldom washed ; and many of them have their Hair clipped, all but a Lock that hangs down over the Forehead, like the Representation of old Time in a Picture : the Boys have nothing but a coarse Kind of Vest, buttoned down the back, as if they were Idiots, and that their Coats were so made, to prevent their often stripping themselves quite naked. The Girls have a Piece of Blanket wrapped about their Shoulders, and are bareheaded like the Boys ; and both without Stockings and Shoes in the hardest of the Seasons, But what seems to me the worst of all is, they are over-run with the Itch, which continues upon them from Year to Year, without any Care taken to free them from that loathsome Dis- / 96 LETTER V. temper. Nor indeed is it possible to keep them long from it, except all could agree, it is so universal among them ; and as the Children of People in better Circumstances are not nice in the Choice of their Companions and Play- fellows, they are most of them likewise infected with this Disease ; insomuch that, upon entering a Room where there was a pretty Boy or Girl that I should have been pleased to have caressed and played with (besides the Compliment of it to the Father and Mother), it has been a great Disappoint- ment to me to discover it could not be done with Safety to myself: and though the Chil- dren of the upper Classes wear Shoes and Stockings in Winter-time, yet nothing is more common than to see them bare- foot in the Summer. I have often been a Witness, that when the Father or Mother of the lesser Children has ordered their Shoes and Stockings to be put on, as soon as ever they had an Op- portunity they have pulled them off, which, LETTER V, 97 I suppose, was done to set their Feet at Liberty. From the Sight of these Children in the Streets, I have heard some reflect, that many a gay Equipage, in other Countries, has sprung from a Bonnet and bare Feet ; but for my own Part, I think a Fortune obtained by worthy Actions or honest Industry does real Honour to the possessor ; yet the Generality are so far misled by customary Notions, as to call the Founder of an honourable Family an upstart ; and a very unworthy Descendant is honoured with that Esteem which was withheld from his Ancestor. But what is yet more extra- ordinary is, that every Successor grows more honourable with Time, though it be but barely on that Account ; as if it were an accepted Principle, that a Stream must needs run the clearer the further it is removed from the Fountain-Head. But Antiquity gives a Sanction to any Thing. I have little Conversation with the Inhabit- ants of this Town, except some few, who are 98 LETTER V. not comprehended in any Thing I have said, or will be in any Thing I am about to say of the Generality. The Coldness between the Magistrates and Merchants and myself has arisen from a Shyness in them towards me, and my Disinclination to any Kind of Intimacy with them ; and therefore, I think, I may freely mention the narrow Way they are in, without the Imputation of a Spy, as some of them foolishly gave out I was in my Absence when last in London. If I had had any Inclination to expose their Proceedings in another Place, for they were public enough here, I might have done it long ago, perhaps to my Advantage ; but those deceitful, boggy Ways lie quite out of my Road to Profit or Preferment. Upon my Return, I asked some of them how such a scandalous Thought could ever enter into their Heads, since they knew I had little Conversation with them ; and that on the contrary, if I resided here in that infamous Capacity, I should have endeavoured to insinu- LETTER V. 99 ate myself into their Confidence, and put them upon such Subjects as would enable me to perform my treacherous Office ; but that I never so much as heard there was any Concern about them ; for they were so obscure, I did not remember ever to have heard of Inverness till it was my Lot to know it so well as I did ; and, besides, that nothing could be more Public than the Reason of my Continuance among them. This produced a Denial of the Fact from some, and in others a Mortification, whether real or feigned is not much my Concern. I shall here take Notice, that there is hardly any Circumstance or Description I have given you, but what is known to some one Officer or more of every Regiment in Britain, as they have been quartered here by Rotation. And, if there were Occasion, I might appeal to them for a Justification (the Interested excepted) that I have exaggerated nothing ; and I pro- mise you I shall pursue the same Route throughout all my Progress. ICO LETTER V. I wish I could say more to the Integrity of our own lower Order of Shopkeepers, than Truth and Justice will allow me to do ; but these, I think are sharper (to use no worse an Expression) in Proportion as their Temptations are stronger. Having Occasion for some Holland Cloth, I sent to one of these Merchants, who brought me two or three Pieces, which I just looked upon, and told him that as 1 neither understood the Quality, nor knew the Price of that Sort of Goods, I would make him, as we say, both Seller and Buyer, reserving to himself the same Profit as he would take from others. At first he started at the Proposal; and having recollected himself, he said, " I cannot deal in that Manner ; " [ asked him why ? but I could get nothing more from him, but that it was not their Way of Dealing. Upon this, I told him it was apparently his Design to have over-reached me, but that he had some Probity left, which he did not seem to know of, by refusing my Offer ; because it LETTER V. loi carried with it a Trust and Confidence in his Honesty : and thereupon we parted. Since that, I made the same Proposal to a Mercer in Edinburgh, and was fairly and honestly dealt with. But the Instances some of these People give of their Distrust one of another, in Matters of a most trifling Value, would fill any Stranger with Notions very disadvantage- ous to the Credit of the Generality. I sent one Day to a Merchant's hard by for some little Thing I wanted ; which being brought me by my Servant, he laughed and told me, that while he was in the Shop, there came in the Maid-Servant of another Merchant with a message from her Master, which v/as to borrow an Ell to measure a Piece of Cloth, and to signify that he had sent a Napkin, that is, a Handkerchief, as a Pledge for its being returned ; that the Maid took the Ell, and was going away with it, without leaving the vSecurity ; upon which the Merchant's Wife called out hastily and earnestly to her for the 102 LETTER V. Pawn ; and then the Wench pulled it out of her Bosom and gave it to her, not without some seeming Shame for her Attempt to go away with it. Speaking of an Ell Measure, brings to my Mind a Thing that passed a few Weeks ago when I was present. An English Gentleman sent for a Wright, or Carpenter, to make him an Ell ; but before the Workman came, he had borrowed one, and offered it as a Pattern. " No, Sir," says the Man, " it must not be made by this ; for your's, I suppose, is to be for buying, and this is to sell by." I have not myself entirely escaped Suspicions of my Honesty ; for sending one Day to a Shop for some two-penny Business, a Groat was demanded for it ; the two-pence was taken, the Thing was sent, but my Boy's Cap was detained for the remaining half of that considerable Sum. It is a common Observation with the English, that when several of these People are LETTER V. 103 in Competition for some profitable Business or Bargain, each of them speaks to the Disadvan- tage of his Competitors. Some Time ago, there was Occasion to hire Ovens wherewith to bake Bread for the Soldiery then encamped near the Town. The Officer who had the Care of providing those Ovens, thought fit, as the first Step towards his Agreements, to talk with several of the Candidates separately, at their own Houses, and to see what Conveniency they had where- with to perform a Contract of that Nature. In the Course of this Inquiry, he found that every one of them was speaking not much to the Advantage of the Rest, and, in the Con- clusion, he cried out, " Every one of these Men tells me the others are Rogues : and," added with an Oath, " I believe them all." But, on the other Hand, if we ask of almost any one of them, who is quite disinterested, the Character of some Working Tradesmen, though the latter be not at all beholden to Fame, the Answer to our Inquiry will be — 104 LETTER V. "There is not an honester Lad in all Britain." This is done in order to Secure the Profit to their own Countrymen ; for the Soldiers rival them in many Things, especially in handi- craft Trades. I take this last to be upon the Principle (for certainly it is one with them) that every Gain they make off the English is an Acquisition to their Country. But I desire I may not be understood to speak of all in general, for there are several among them, whom I believe, in Spite of Edu- cation, to be very worthy, honest Men ; — I say against Education, because I have often observed, by Children of seven or eight Years old, that when they have been asked a Question, they have either given an indirect Answer at first, or considered for a Time what Answer was fittest for them to make. And this was not my Observation alone, but that of several others, upon Trial, which made us conclude that such Precaution, at such an Age, could not be other than the Effect of Precept. LETTER V. 105 P. S. — I have several Times been told, by Gentlemen of this Country with whom I have contracted Acquaintance and Friendship, that others have said it would have been but just that some Native had had my Appointment ; and once it was hinted to me directly. This induced me to say (for I could not help it), I should readily agree to it, and cheerfully resign ; and would further take upon me to answer for all my Countrymen that they should do the same, provided no Scotsmen had any Government Employment be-south the Tweed ; and then I doubted not that there would be ample Room at Home for us all. This I should not have chosen to say, but it was begged and I gave it. LETTER VI. A S I am inclined to give you a Taste of "^^ every Thing this Country affords, I shall now step out of my Way for a little while, to acquaint you, that the other Day, in the Even- ing, I made a Visit to a Laird's Lady, who is much esteemed for her Wit, and really not without some Reason. After a good deal of Tea-Table Chat, she brought upon the Carpet the Subject of her own Sex ; and thence her Ladyship proceeded to some Comparisons between the Conduct of the English and Scots Women. She began, in a Sort of jeering Manner, to tell me our Females are great Enemies to Dust ; which led me to answer, — It was no Wonder, for it spoiled their Furniture, and dirtied their Clothes. In the next Place she entertained me with LETTER VI 107 a Parallel between the Amours of the English and the Scots Women, The English, she said, often take liberties after they are married, and seldom before ; whereas the Scots Women, when they make a Trip, it is while they are single, and very rarely afterwards : and, indeed, this last is not often known, except among those who think themselves above Reputation and Scandal. Now as she had condescended to own that the Scotish Females are frail as well as ours, though in different Circumstances of Life, which was, indeed, an Acknowledgment be- yond what I expected, I could not, for that Reason, persuade myself to mention another Difference, which is, that the English Women are not so well watched. There were many other Things said upon this Subject which I shall not trouble you with; but I must tell you, that this Conversation reminds me of a Passage which, perhaps, might otherwise never have recurred to my Memory, or, at most, would have been little regarded. io8 LETTER VI One Day, when I was in Edinburgh, I walked out with three married Women, whose Husbands, some Time after Dinner, retired to their respective Avocations or Diversions, and left them to my Conduct. As we approached the Fields, we happened to meet a "Woman with Cherries : this gave me an Opportunity to treat the Ladies with some of that Fruit ; and as we were Walking along, says one of them to me, — "Mr. , there is a good deal of Difference between a married Woman in Scotland and one in Eng- land. Here are now three of us, and I believe I may venture to say, we could not, all of us together, purchase one single Pound of Cherries." You may be sure I thought their Credit very low at that Time, and I endeavoured to turn it off as an accident ; but she told me that such Kind of Vacuities were pretty general among the married Woman in Scotland; and, upon her Appeal to the other two, it was confirmed. I have often heard it said by the English, LETTER VL 109 that the Men are not our Friends, but I think the Females have no Aversion to us ; not that I fancy our Persons are better made, or that we are more engaging in any Respect than their own Countrymen, but from the Notion that prevails among them (at least such as I have been acquainted), viz. that the English are the kindest Husbands in the World. Perhaps it may be said, I was their Dupe, and did not discover the Sneer at what they may think a too precarious Confidence, of which their Sex is, without Doubt, the most competent Judge. But I have heard some of these Ladies first accuse the English Women, and then treat the Chimera with such excessive Virulence, that I have been tempted to suspect it pro- ceeded from Jealousy, not unattended by Envy, at that Liberty which may give Oppor- tunities for such Unfaithfulness; for otherwise I think it might have been sufficient, even if the Fact were true, barely to show their Dislike of such a perfidious Conduct. And, no LETTER VI. besides, I cannot say it has not happened in the World, that the most severe Censure has been changed to a more charitable Opinion from Experience of human Weakness, or that such Virulence was never used as a Means to excite a Conquest. To conclude these Re- marks : I think it was not over complaisant in a Stranger, to bring such a general Accusation against his Countrywomen ; and if I had done as much by them it might have been deemed a National Reflection. But to me it would be a new Kind of Knight-errantry, to fight with the Gentlewomen in Defence of the Ladies ; and therefore I contented myself with turning (in as genteel a Manner as I could) their Accusation and Parade of Virtue into Ridicule. But to return to my general Purpose. The working Tradesmen, for the most Part, are indolent, and no Wonder, since they have so little Incitement to Industry, or profitable Employment to encourage them to it. If a Bolt for a Door be wanted, the Dweller LETTER VI. Ill often supplies it with one of wood ; and so of many other Things, insomuch that the poor Smith is sometimes hardly enabled to maintain himself in Oatmeal. The Neatness of a Carpenter's Work is little regarded. If it will just answer the Occasion, and come very cheap, it is enough. I shall not trouble you with further Instances. But to show you what they might be, if they had Encouragement, I shall mention a Passage that related to myself. I sent one Day for a Wright (they have no such Distinction as yoiner) to make me an Engine to chop Straw withal for my Korses ; and told him it must be neatly made, and I would pay him accord- ingly ; otherwise when it was done it would be his own. The young Man, instead of being discouraged by the Danger of losing his Time and Materials, was overjoyed at the Conditions, and told me, at the same Time, that he should be quite undone if he was long about Work which he did for his Countrymen, for in that Case they would not pay hin» for m 112 LETTER VI. his Time. In fine, he made me the Machine, which was more like the Work of one of your Cabinet-Makers in London than that of an Inverness Carpenter ; and he brought it Home in as little Time as I could reasonably expect. Here I may observe, that when a young Fellow finds he has a Genius for his Trade or Business, and has any Thing of Spirit, he generally lays hold of the first Occasion to remove to England, or some other Country, where he hopes for better Encouragement. Hence, 1 take it, arose a Kind of Proverb, That there never came a Fool out of Scotland. Some, perhaps, would be giving this a diiferent Interpretation ; but what I mean is, that the cleverest and most sprightly among them leave the narrow Way of their own Country ; and from this may come, for aught I know, another Saying, That they seldom desire to return Home. This very Man of whom I have been speak- ing took Occasion to tell me, that in two or ^^^^-v-, xX^VAlJ-^-V KiRiS^^Ki l/f/^^y'-'^ LETTER VI. 113 three Months he should go to seek Employ- ment in London. The Fishermen would not be mentioned, but for their remarkable Laziness ; for they might find a Sale for much more Sea-Fish than they do, but so long as any Money remains of the last Marketing, and until they are driven out by the last Necessity, they will not meddle with Salt Water. At low Ebb, when their Boats lie off at a considerable Distance from the Shore, for Want of Depth of Water, the Women tuck up their Garments to an indecent Height, and wade to the Vessels, where they receive their loads of Fish for the Market ; and when the Whole Cargo is brought to Land they take the Fishermen upon their Backs, and bring them on Shore in the same Manner. There is here none of that Emulation among the ordinary People, nor any of that Pride which the meanest Cottagers in England generally take in the Cleanliness and little Ornaments of their Hovels ; yet, at the same 114 LETTER VL Time, these poor Wretches entertain a Kind of Pride -which is, I think, peculiar to them- selves. The Officers of a certain Regiment kept here a Pack of Beagles ; and suspecting some of them to be in Danger of the Mange, they sent to the Boatmen to take them out a little Way to Sea, and throw them over-board, imagining their Swimming in Salt Water would cure them of the Distemper, if they were infected. The Servant offered them good Hire for their Trouble ; but they gave him bad Language, and told him they would not do it. Upon this, some of the Officers went themselves, and, in Hopes to prevail, offered them a double Reward ; but they said they would not, for any Money, do a Thing so scandalous as to freight their Boats with Dogs ; and absolutely refused it. The poorest Creature that loses a Horse by Death, would sell him for Three-pence to a Soldier, who made it a Part of his Business to buy them ; and he made not only Sixpence of LETTER VI. 115 the Carcase to feed the Hounds, but got two Shillings or haif-a-Crown for the Hide. But the Owner would not flay the Horse, though he knew very well how to do it, as almost every one here, and in the Highlands, is some- thing of a Tanner ; and their Reason is, that it is an Employment only Jit for the Hang- man. Upon this Principle, the Soldier was frequently pursued in the Streets by the Children, and called by that opprobrious Name. Very often, if you ask Questions of the ordi- nary People here and hereabouts, they will answer you by Haniel Sasson Uggif, i. e. they have, or speak, no Saxon (or English). This they do to save the Trouble of giving other Answers : but they have been frequently brought, by the Officers, to speak that Language by the same Method that Moliere's Faggot-binder was forced to confess himself a Doctor of Physic. The Lodgings of the ordinary People are indeed most miserable ones ; and even those ii6 LETTER VI. of some who make a tolerable Appearance in the Streets are not much better. Going along with some Company toward one of the Out-parts of the Town, I was shown the Apartment of a young Woman, who looks pretty smart when Abroad, and affects to adorn her Face with a good many Patches, but is of no ill Fame. The Door of the House, or rather Hut, being open, and Nobody within, 1 was pre- vailed with to enter and observe so great a Curiosity. Her Bed was in one Corner of the Room upon the Ground, made up with Straw, and even that in small Ouantity, and upon it lay a couple of Blankets, which were her Covering and that of two Children that lay with her. In the opposite Corner was just such another Bed for two young Fellows, who lay in the same Room. At another Time I happened to be of a Party who had agreed to go five or six and twenty Miles into the Highlands, a small Part by Land and the Rest by Water ; but a Person LETTER VL 117 who was not agreeable to any of us, having, as we say, pinned himself upon us. and being gone Home, it was resolved that, to avoid him, we should set out at Ten o'Clock the same Night, instead of the next Morning, as was at first intended. About Twelve we arrived at the End of Loch Ness, where we were to wait for News from the Vessel. We were soon conducted to a House where lives a Brother to the Pretender's famous Brigadier ; and upon entering a large Room, by the Candle, we discovered, on different Parts of the Floor, nine Persons, including Children, all laid in the Manner above described ; and among the rest, a young Woman, as near as I could guess about seventeen or eighteen, who, being surprised at the Light and the Bustle we made, between Sleeping and Waking, threw off part of the Blankets, and started up, stared at us earnestly, and, being stark naked, scratched herself in several Parts till thoroughly wakened. After all this, I think I need not say any ii8 LETTER VI. Thing about the Lodgings of the meanest Sort of People. I shall not go about to deny, because 1 would not willingly be laughed at, that the English Luxury is in every Thing carried to an exorbitant Height ; but if there were here a little of that Vice, it would be well for the lower Order of People, who, by that Means, would likewise mend their Commons in Proportion to it. By Accounts of the Plenty and Variety of Food at the Tables of the Luxurious in England, the People, who have not eaten with the. English, conclude they are likewise Devourers of great (Quantities of Victuals at a Meal, and at other Times talk of little else besides Eating. This is their Notion of us, but particularly of our Gormandizing. I shall give you one Instance : Some Years ago I obtained the Favour and great Conveniency to board, for a Time, with an English Gentleman in a House near Edin- burgh, of which the Proprietor retained the uppermost Floor to himself and Family. LETTER VI. 119 It seems, by what follows, that this Gentle- man had amused himself sometimes by observ- ing what passed among us ; and being one Day invited to our Table, after Dinner he told us very frankly, that he had been watch- ing us all the Time we were Eating, because he had thought we must necessarily have large Stomachs to consume the Quantity of Victuals brought so often from the Market ; but that now he concluded we were as moderate as any. Thus the Wonder had been reciprocal ; for while he was surprised at our Plenty (not knowing how much was given away,) we were at a Loss to think how he and his Family could subsist upon their slender Provision. For my own Part, I never dined in a mixed Company of Scots and English, but I found the former not only eat as much as the others, but seemed as well pleased with the Delicacy and Diversity of the Dishes ; but I shall make no Inference from thence. It is from this Notion of the People that my Countrymen, not only here, but all over I20 LETTER VI. Scotland, are dignified with the title of Poke Puddings which, according to the Sense of the Word among the Natives, signifies a Glutton. Yet this Reproach should not deter me from giving you an Account of our Way of Living in this Country, that is of our Eatings supposing every one that charges us with that swinish Vice were to read this Letter, Our principal Diet, then, consists of such Things as you in London esteem to be the greatest Rarities, viz. Salmon and Trout just taken out of the River, and both very good in their Kind : Partridge, Grouse, Hare, Duck, and Mallard, Woodcocks, Snipes, &c., each in its proper Season. And yet for the greatest Part of the Year, like the Israelites who longed for the Garlic and Onions of Egypt, we are hankering after Beef, Mutton, Veal, Lamb, &c. It is not only me, but every one that comes hither, is soon disgusted with these Kinds of Food, when obliged to eat them often for Want of other Fare, which is not seldom our Case. LETTER VI. Ill There is hardly any such Thing as Mutton to be had till August, or Beef till September, — that is to say, in Quality fit to be eaten ; and both go out about Christmas. And, therefore, at or about Martinmas (the iith of November), such of the Inhabitants, who are any Thing beforehand with the World, salt up a Qiiantity of Beef, as if they were going a Voyage. And this is common in all Parts of Scotland where I have been. It would be tedious to set down the Price of every Species of Provision. I shall only say, that Mutton and Beef are about a Penny a Pound ; Salmon, which was at the same Price, is, by a late Regulation of the Magistrates, raised to Two-pence a Pound, which is thought by many to be an exorbitant Price. A Fowl, which they, in general, call a Hen, may be had at Market for Two-pence or Two-pence-Halfpenny, but so lean they are good for little. It would be too ludicrous to say that one of them might almost be cut up with the Breast of another, but they are. so 122 LETTER VI. poor, thcit some used to say they believed the Oats were given them out by Tale. This brings to my Remembrance a Story I have heard of a Foreigner, who being newly arrived in this Country, at a public House de- sired something to eat. A Fowl was proposed, and accepted ; but when it was dressed and brought to Table, the Stranger showed a great Dislike to it, which the Landlord perceiving, brought him a Piece of fresh Salmon, and said, — " Sir, I observe you do not like the Fowl ; pray what do you think of this?" — "Think," says the Guest, " why I think it is very fine Salmon, and no Wonder, for that is of God Almighty's Feeding ; if it had been fed by you, I suppose it would have been as lean as this poor Fowl, which I desire you will take away." We have, in Plenty, Variety, and good Per- fection, Roots and Greens, which you know have always made a principal Part of my Luxury. This, I think, has been chiefly owing to a LETTER VI. 123 Communication with the English : and I have been told by old People in Edinburgh, that no longer ago than forty Years, there was little else but Cale in their Green-Market, which is now plentifully furnished with that Sort of Provision ; and I think altogether as good as in London. Pork is not very common with us, but what we have is good. I have often heard it said that the Scots will not eat it. This may be ranked among the rest of the Prejudices ; for this Kind of Food is common in the Lowlands, and Aberdeen, in particular, is famous for furnishing Families with pickled Pork for Winter Provision, as well as their Shipping. I own I never saw any Swine among the Mountains, and there is good Reason for it : those People have no Offal wherewith to feed them ; and were they to give them other Food, one single Sow would devour all the Provisions of a Family. It is here a general Notion, that where the 124 LETTER VL Chief declares against Pork, his Followers affect to show the same Dislike ; but of this Affectation I happened once to see an Example. One of the Chiefs, who brought hither with him a Gentleman of his own Clan, dined with several of us at a Public-House, where the Chief refused the Pork, and the Laird did the same ; but some Days afterward, the latter being invited to our Mess, and under no Res- traint, he ate it with as good an Appetite as any of us all. The little Highland Mutton, when fat, is delicious, and certainly the greatest of Luxuries. And the small Beef, when fresh, is very sweet and succulent, but it wants that Substance which should preserve it long when salted. I am speaking of these two Sorts of Provision when they are well fed ; but the general Run of the Market here, and in other Places too, is such as would not be suffered in any Part of England that I know of. We (the English) have the Conveniency ot a Public-House (or Tavern, if you please), LETTER VL 125 kept by a Countrywoman of ours, where every Thing is dressed our own Way ; but some- times it has been difficult for our Landlady to get any Thing for us to eat except some Sort of Food so often reiterated as almost to create a Loathing. And one Day I remember she told us there was Nothing at all to be had in the Town. This you may believe was a melancholy Declaration to a Parcel of Poke Puddings ; but, for some Relief, a Highlander soon after happened to bring to Town some of the Moor-Game to sell, which (in looking out sharp) she secured for our Dinner. Hares and the several Kinds of Birds above-mentioned, abound in the neighbouring Country near the Town, even to Exuberance ; rather too much, I think, for the Sportsman's Diversion, who generally likes a little more Expectation ; so that we never need to want that Sort of Provision of what we may kill ourselves ; and, besides, we often make Pre- sents of them to such of the Inhabitants who 126 LETTER VL are in our Esteem ; for none of them, that I know of, will bestow Powder and Shot upon any of the Game. It is true, they may sometimes buy a Par- tridge for a Penny, or less, and the others in Proportion ; — I say sometimes, for there are not very many brought to Market, except in Time of Snow, and then indeed I have seen Sacks full of them. I remember that the first hard Weather after I came, I asked the Magistrates why such Poaching was suffered within their District ; and their Answer was, that there was enough of them, and if they were not brought to Market they should get none themselves. The River is not less plentiful in Fish. I have often seen above a hundred large Salmon brought to Shore at one Haul. Trout is as plenty, and a small Fish the People call a little Trout, but of another Species, which is ex- ceedingly good, called in the North of England a Bran/in. These are so like the Salmon- Fry, that they are hardly to be distinguished ; LE-T1ER VI. 127 only the Scales come off the Fry in handling, the others have none. It is, by Law, no less than Transportation to take the Salmon-Fry ; but, in the Season, the River is so full of them that Nobody minds it, and those young Fish are so simple the Children catch them with a crooked Pin. Yet the Townsmen are of Opinion that all such of them as are bred in the River, and are not devoured at Sea by larger Fish, return thither at the proper Season ; and as a Proof, they affirm they have taken many of them, and, by Way of Experiment, clipped their Tails into a forked Figure, like that of a Swallow, and found them with that Mark when full grown and taken out of the Cridves. Eels there are, and very good, but the In- habitants will not eat of them any more than they will of a Pike, for which Reason some of these last, in the standing Lakes, are grown to a monstrous Size ; and I do assure you, I have eaten of Trouts taken in those Waters each of fifteen or sixteen pounds Weight. ti 128 LETTER VI. I am surprised the Townsmen take no Delight in Field-Exercises or Fishing, in both of which there is Health and Diversion, but will rather choose to spend great Part of their Time in the wretched Coffee-Room, playing at Backgammon, or Hazard, mostly for Half- pence. But I must ingenuously confess to you that they might retaliate this Accusation, so far as it relates to mis-spending of Time, if they had but the Opportunity to let you know they have seen me throwing Haddocks' and Whitings' Heads into the River from the Parapet of the Bridge, only to see the Eels turn up their Silver Bellies in striving one with another for the Prey. At other Times they might tell you they saw me letting Feathers fly in the Wind, for the Swallows that build under the Arches (which are ribbed within-Side), to make their Circuits in the Air, and contend for them to carry them to their Nests. I have been jestingly re- proached by them, en passant^ for both these LETTER VI. 129 Amusements, as being too juvenile for me. This I have returned in their own Way, by- telling them I thought myself at least as well employed as they, when tumbling over and over a little Cube made out of a Bone, and making every black Spot on the Faces of it a Subject of their Fear and Hope. Nor did I think the Emperor Domitian's ordinary Diver- sion was any Thing more manly than mine ; but I think myself, this Instant, much better employed by endeavouring to contribute to your Amusement. The meanest Servants, who are not at Board- wages, will not make a Meal upon Salmon if they can get any Thing else to eat. I have been told it here, as a very good Jest, that a Highland Gentleman, who went to London by Sea, soon after his Landing passed by a Tavern where the Larder appeared to the Street, and operated so strongly upon his Appetite that he went in — that there were among other Things a Rump of Beef and some Salmon : of the Beef he ordered a Steak for himself, 130 LETTER VI. "but," says he, "let Duncan have some Salmon." To be short, the Cook who attended him humoured the Jest, and the Master's eating was Eight Pence, and Duncan's came to almost as many Shillings. I was speaking of Provisions in this Town according to the ordinary Markets, but their Prices are not always such to us. There are two or three People, not hr from the Town, who, having an Eye to our Mess, employ themselves now and then in fattening Fowls, and sometimes a Turkey, a Lamb, &c., these come very near, if not quite, as dear as they are in London. I shall conclude this Letter with an Incident which 1 confess is quite foreign to my present Purpose, but may contribute to my main De- sign. Since my last, as I was passing along the Street, I saw a Woman sitting with a young Child lying upon her Lap, over which she was crying and lamenting, as in the utmost Despair concerning it. At first I thought it was Want, LETTER VI. 131 but found she was come from Fort William, and that the Ministers here had refused to christen her Child, because she did not know who was the Father of it ; then she renewed her Grief, and, hanging down her Head over the Infant, she talked to it, as if it must certainly be damned if it should die without Baptism. To be short, several of us together prevailed to have the Child christened, not that we thought the Infant in Danger, but to relieve the Mother from her dreadful Appre- hensions. I take this Refusal to be partly political, and used as a Means whereby to find out the Male Transgressor ; but that Knowledge would have been to little Purpose in this case, it being a regimental child: and, indeed, this was our principal Argument, for any Dispute against the established Rules of the Kirk would be deemed Impertinence if not Profaneness. LETTER VII. T^HE Inhabitants complain loudly that the English, since the Union, have en- chanced the Rates of every Thing by giving extravagant Prices ; and I must own, in par- ticular, there has been Sevenpence or Eight- pence a Pound given by some of them for Beef or Mutton that has been well-fed and brought to them early in the Season. But the Townspeople are not so nice in the Quality of these Things ; and to some the Meat is good enough if it will but serve for Soup. As to their Complaint, I would know what Injury it is to the Country in general, that Strangers especially are lavish in their Ex- penses ; does it not cause a greater Circulation of Money among them, and that too brought from distant Places, to which but a very small Part of it ever returns ? LETTER VIL 33 But it is in vain to tell these People that the extraordinary Cheapness of Provisions is a certain Token of the Poverty of a Country ; for that would insinuate they are Gainers by the Union, which they cannot bear to hear of. As an Instance of the low Price of Pro- visions formerly, I have been told by some old People that, at the Time of the Revolution, General Mackay was accustomed to dine at one of these Public-Houses, where he was served with great Variety, and paid only two Shillings and Sixpence Scots, — that is. Two- pence-halfpenny for his Ordinary. When I was speaking of Game and Wild- Fowl in my last Letter, it did not occur to me to have often heard in this Country of an old Scotish Act of Parliament for Encouragement to destroy the Green Plover, or Pewit, which, as said, is therein called the ungrateful Bird ; for that it came to Scotland to breed, and then returned to England with its Young to feed the Enemy ; but I never could obtain any 134 LETTER Vll. Satisfaction in this Point, although a certain Baronet, in the Shire of Ross, who is an Advocate, or Counsellor-at-La\v, mentioned it to me at his own House in that County as a Thing certain ; and he seemed then to think he could produce the Act of Parliament, or at least the Title of it in one of his Catalogues ; but he sought a long while to no Purpose, which, as well as my own Reason, made me con- clude there was Nothing in it ; though, at the same Time, it was Matter of Wonder to me that the Knight should seem so positive he could produce Evidence of a Fact, and earnestly seek it, which, if found, would have been an undeniable Ridicule upon the Legislature of his own Country. What kind of Food this Bird is I do not know, for, although I have shot many of them here, I never made any other Use of them than to pluck off the Crown or Crest to busk my Flies for Fishing, and gave the Bird to the next poor Highlander I met withal; but per- haps you may have partaken of this Advantage, LETTER VIL 135 which was so much envied by the Scots according to the Tradition. I would, but cannot, forbear to give you, en passant^ a Specimen of this Highland Baronet's Hospitality at the Time above- mentioned. He had known me both at Inverness and Edinburgh, and I, being out with an English OfEcer sporting near his House, proposed to make him a Visit. After the Meeting-Compliments were over, he called for a Bottle of Wine ; and, when the Glass had once gone about, " Gentlemen," says he, pretty abruptly, " this Wine is not so good as you drink at Inverness." We assured him it was, and repeated it several Times ; but he still insisted it was not, took it away himself, and set a Bottle of Ale before us in its stead, which we just tasted out of pure Civility : but we were no Losers by this, for the Benefit of Refreshment by his Wine after Patigue would have been the least of Trifles, compared with the Diversion we had in going Home, at this — 136 LETTER VII. what shall I call it ? — this barefaced 1 don't know what ! From the Provisions of this Country it would be an easy natural Transition to the Cookery, but it might be disagreeable ; and it would be almost endless to tell you what I know and have heard upon that Subject. 1 do not mean as to the Composition of the Dishes, but the Uncleanliness by which they are prepared. But how should you think it otherwise, when you recollect what has been said of the poor Condition of the female Servants ? and what would you think to have your Dinner dressed by one of them? I do assure you that, being upon a Journey in these Parts, hard Eggs have been my only Food for several Days successively. Shall I venture at one only Instance of Cookery .? I will, and that a recent one, and therefore comes first to Hand ; but it does not come up to many others that I know, and are not fit to be told to any one that has not an immoveable Stomach. An Officer, who arrived here a few Days LETTER VII. 137 ago with his Wife and Son, a Boy of about five or six Years old, told me, that, at a House not far distant from this Place, as they were waiting for Dinner, the Child, who had been gaping about the Kitchen, came running into the Room and fell a-crying, of which the Mother asking the Reason, he sobbed, and said, " Mamma, don't eat any of the Greens ! " This occasioned a further Inquiry ; by which it appeared, the Maid had been wringing the Cale with her Hands, as if she was wringing a Dish-clout, and was setting it up in Pyramids round the Dish by Way of Ornament, and that her Hands were very Dirty, and her Fingers in a lamentable Condition with the Itch. Soon after the Coleworts were brought to Table just as the Child had described their Figure and Situation, and the Wench's Hands convinced them that his whole Complaint was just and reasonable. But I would not be thought by this to insinu- ate that there is nothing but Cleanliness in Eng- 138 LETTER VlL hmd ; for I have heard of foul Practices there, especially by the Men-cooks in the Kitchens of Persons of Distinction ; among whom I was told by one, that, happening to go into his Kitchen, where he had hardly ever been before, probably by some Information, he observed his Cook had stuck upon the smoky Chimney- Piece a large Lump of Butter, and (like the Pot of Pigeons at Kelso) had raked Part of it off with his Fingers by Handfuls as he had Occasion to throw them into the Sauce- pan, We have one great Advantage, that makes Amends for many Inconveniences, that is, wholesome and agreeable Drink, — I mean French Claret, which is to be met with almost every where in Public-Houses of any Note, ex- cept in the Heart of the Highlands, and some- times even there ; but the Concourse of my Countrymen has raised the Price of it con- siderably. At my first Coming it was but Sixteen-pence a Bottle, and now it is raised to two Shillings, although there be no more Duty LETTER VIL 139 paid upon it now than there was before, which, indeed, was often none at all. French Brandy, very good, is about three Shillings and Sixpence or four Shillings a Gallon, but in Quantities, from hovering Ships on the Coast, it has been bought for Twenty-pence. Lemons are seldom wanting here ; so that Punch, for those that like it, is very reasonable ; but few care to drink it, as thinking the Claret a much better Liquor — in which I agree with them. There lives in our Neighbourhood, at a House (or Castle) called Culloden, a Gentle- man whose Hospitality is almost without Bounds. It is the Custom of that House, at the first Visit or Introduction, to take up your Freedom by Cracking his Nut (as he terms it), that is, a Cocoa-shell, which holds a Pint filled with Champagne, or such other Sort of Wine as you shall choose. You may guess by the Introduction, at the Contents of the Volume. Few go away sober at any Time ; and for the MO LETTER VIL greatest Part of his Guests, in the Conclusion, they cannot go at all. This he partly brings about by artfully pro- posing, after the Public Healths (which always imply Bumpers) such private ones as he knows •will pique the Interest or Inclinations of each particular Person of the Company, whose Turn it is to take the Lead to begin it in a Brimmer ; and he himself being always cheer- ful, and sometimes saying good Things, his Guests soon lose their Guard, and then I need say no more. For my own Part, I stipulated with him, upon the first Acquaintance, for the Liberty of retiring when I thought convenient ; and, as Perseverance was made a Point of Honour, that I might do it without Reproach. As the Company are disabled one after another, two Servants who are all the while in Waiting, take up the Invalids with short Poles in their Chairs, as they sit (if not fallen down), and carry them to their Beds ; and still the Hero holds out. LETTER VIL 141 I remember one Evening an English Officer, who has a good Deal of Humour, feigned himself drunk, and acted his Part so naturally, that it was difficult to distinguish it from Reality ; upon which the Servants were pre- paring to take him up and carry him off. He let them alone till they had fixed the Machine, and then raising himself upon his Feet, made them a sneering Bow, and told them he believed there was no Occasion for their Assistance ; whereupon one of them, with Sang froid and a serious Air, said, "No Matter, sir, we shall have you by and by." This Laird keeps a plentiful Table, and excel- lent Wines of various Sorts and in great Quantities ; as, indeed, he ought, for I have often said I thought there was as much Wine spilt in his Hall, as would content a moderate Family. We gave to a Hound-Puppy that is now pretty well grown, in Honour of him, the name of Burnper : another we called Nancy^ after our most celebrated Toast ; so that, shortly, in our eagerest Chase we shall 142 LETTER VIL remember Love and the Bottle — You know to what this alludes. I think a Pack of Hounds were never kept cheaper than here (as you may believe from the Mortality of Horses I have already mentioned), or that there is better Hare-Hunt- ing in any Part of Britain than hereabouts ; though it be pretty rough Riding in some Places, and the Ground mostly hilly. We never go far from the Town, or beat long for the Game, or indeed have much Regard to Seasons, for none here trouble themselves about it ; insomuch that we might hunt at any Time of the Year without Censure, Yet I have heard of a Gentleman of this Country, who was so scrupulous a Sportsman, that when Word was brought him that his Servant was drowned in passing a Highland Ford, he cried out, " I thought the Fellow would come to an untimely End — for he shot a Hare in her Form ! " In some Parts, within less than ten Miles of us, near the Coast, the Hares are in such LETTER VI r. 143 Numbers there is but little Diversion in Hunting, for one being started soon turns out a fresh one ; then the Pack is divided, and must be called off, &c., insomuch that a whole Day's Hunting has been entirely fruitless. The Country People are very forward to tell us where the Maukin is, as they call a Hare, and are pleased to see them destroyed, because they do Hurt to their Cale-Yards, Besides the Hares, there are Numbers of Foxes ; but they take to the Mountains, which are rocky, and sometimes inaccessible to the Dogs, of which several have been lost by falling from Precipices in the Pursuit ; for the Fox in his Flight takes the most dangerous Way. But when we happen to kill one of them, it is carried Home, through the Bless- ings of the People, like a dangerous Captive in a Roman Triumph. In this little Town there are no less than Four natural Fools. There are hardly any crooked People (except by Accidents), because 144 LETTER VII. there has been no Care taken to mend their Shapes when they were young. The Beggars are numerous, and exceedingly importunate, for there is no Parish Allowance to any. I have been told that, before the Union, they never presumed to ask for more than a Bodle (or the sixth Part of a Penny), but now they beg for a Baubee (or Halfpenny). And some of them, that they may not appear to be ordinary Beggars, tell you it is to buy Snuif. Yet still it is common for the Inhabitants (as 1 have seen in Edinburgh), when they have none of the smallest Money, to stop in the Street, and giving a Halfpenny, take from the Beggar a Plack^ i. e. two Bodies (or the third Part of a Penny) in Change. Yet, although the Beggars frequently receive so sm.all an Alms- from their Benefactors, I don't know how it is, but they are generally shod, when the poor working Women go barefoot. But here are no idle young Fellows and Wenches begging about the Streets, as with you in LETTER VIL 145 London, to the Disgrace of all Order, and, as the French call it, Police. By the Way, this Police is still a great Office in Scotland ; but, as they phrase it, is grown into Disuetude, though the Salaries remain. Having mentioned this French Word more by Accident than Choice, I am tempted (by Way of Chat) to make Mention likewise of a Frenchman who understood a little English. Soon after his Arrival in London, he had observed a good deal of Dirt and Disorder in the Streets ; and asking about the Police, but finding none that understood the Term, he cried out — " Good Lord ! how can one expect Order among these People, who have not such a Word as Police in their Language ! " By what I have seen, the People here are something cleaner in their Houses than in other Parts of this Country where I have been ; yet I cannot set them up as Patterns of Cleanliness. But in mere Justice to a Laird's Lady, my next-door Neighbour, I must tell you that in 146 LETTER III. her Person, and every Article of her Family, there is not, I believe, a cleaner Woman in all Britain ; and there may be others the same, for aught I know, but I never had the Satis- faction to be acquainted with them. I shall not enter into Particulars ; only they are, for the most Part, very cautious of wear- ing out their Household Utensils of Metal ; insomuch that I have sometimes seen a Pewter Vessel to drink out of not much unlike in Colour to a lieaden Pot to preserve Tobacco or Snuif. I was one Day greatly diverted with the grievous Complaint of a Neighbouring Woman, of whom our Cook had borrowed a Pewter Pudding-Pan (for we had then formed a Mess in a private Lodging), and when we had done with it, and she came for her Dish, she was told, by the Servants below Stairs, that it should be cleaned, and then sent Home. This the Woman took to be such an intend- ed Injury to her Pan, that she cried out — " Lord ! you'll wear it out !" and then came up LETTER VII. 147 Stairs to make her Complaint to us, which she did very earnestly. We perceived the Jest, and gravely told her it was but reasonable and civil, since it was borrowed, to send it Home clean. This did not at all content her, and she left us ; but at the Foot of the Stairs, she peremptorily de- manded her Moveable ; and when she found it had been scoured before it was used, she lost all Patience, saying she had had it fifteen Years, and it had never been scoured before ; and she swore she would never lend it again to any of our Country. But why not to aiiy f sure the Woman in her Rage intended that same any as a National Re/lection. And, with- out a Jest, I verily think it was as much so as some Words I have heard over a Bottle, from which some wrong-headed, or rather rancorous, Coxcombs have wrested that malicious Infer- ence ; though, at the same. Time, the Affront was not discovered by any other of the Com- pany. But this does not happen so often with them on this Side the Tweed as in London, 148 LE-JTER VIL where I have known it to have been done several Times apparently to raise a Ouerelle d' Allemand. Not only here, but in other Parts of Scot- land, I have heard several common Sayings very well adapted to the Inclination of the People to save themselves Pains and Trouble ; as, for one instance, " A clean Kitchen is a Token of poor Housekeeping." Another is, " If a Family remove from a House, and leave it in a clean Condition, the succeeding Tenant will not be fortunate in it." Now 1 think it is intended the Reverse of both these Proverbs should be understood, viz. That a foul Kitchen is a Sign of a plentiful Table (by which one might conclude that some live like Princes) ; and that a dirty House will be an advantage to him that takes it. But I shall give you an Example of the Fallacy of both these Maxims, /. ^., from a filthy Kitchen without much Cookery, and the new Tenant's ill-Fortune to be at the Expense of making a dirty House clean (I cannot say sweet), and paying Half a LETTER VIL 149 year's Rent without having any Benefit from it. — This happened to a Friend of mine. Some few Years ago he thought it would be his Lot to continue long in the Lowlands ; and accordingly he took a House, or Floor, within Half a Quarter of a Mile of Edinburgh, which was then about to be left by a Woman of Distinction ; and it not being thought proper he should see the several Apartments while the Lady was in the House, for he might judge of them by those beneath, he, immedi- ately after her Removal, went to view his Bargain. The Floor of the Room where she saw Company was clean, being rubbed every Morning according to Custom ; but the Insides of the Corner-Cupboards, and every other Part out of Sight, were in a dirty Condition ; but, when he came to the Kitchen, he was not only disgusted at the Sight of it, but sick with the Smell, which was intolerable ; he could not so much as guess whether the Floor was Wood or Stone, it was covered over so deep with accumulated Grease and Dirt, mingled 150 LETTER VII. together. The Drawers under the Table looked as if they were almost transparent with Grease ; the Walls near the Servants' Table, "which had been white, were almost covered with SnufF spit against it ; and Bones of Sheeps' Heads lay scattered under the Dresser. His new Landlord was, or affected to be, as much moved with the Stench as he him- self; yet the Lodging Apartment of the two young Ladies adjoined to this odoriferous Kitchen, Well, he hired two Women to cleanse this Augean Part, and bought a vast (>uantity of sweet-Herbs wherewith to rub it every where; and yet he could not bear the Smell of it a Month afterwards. — Of all this I was myself a Witness. You know very well that a thorough Neat- ness, both in House and Person, requires Ex- pense ; and therefore such as are in narrow Circumstances may reasonably plead an Excuse for the Want of it ; but when Persons of LETTER VII. 151 Fortune will suffer their Houses to be worse than Hog-styes, I do not see how they differ in that Particular from Hottentots, and they certainly deserve a verbal Punishment^ though I could very willingly have been excused from being the Executioner ; but this is only to you; yet, if it were made Public (reserving Names), I think it might be serviceable to some in whatever Part of this Island they may be. As to myself, I profess I should esteem it as a Favour rather than an Offence, that any one would take the Trouble to hold up a Mirror to me, in which I could see where to wipe off those Spots that would otherwise render me ridiculous. I shall only trouble you with one more of these saving Sayings, which is, "That if the Butter has no Hairs in it the Cow that gave the Milk will not thrive." But on this Occasion I cannot forbear to tell you, it falls out so a-propos^ that an English Gentleman, in his Way hither, had some Butter set before him in which were a great Number of Hairs ; 152 LETTER VII whereupon he called to the Landlady, desiring she would bring him some Butter upon one Plate and the Hairs upon another, and he would mix them himself, for he thought they were too many in Proportion for the Quantity of Butter that was before him. Some of the Inns in these remote Parts, and even far South of us, are not very invit- ing : your Chamber, to which you sometimes enter from without-Doors, by Stairs as dirty as the Streets, is so far from having befn washed, it has hardly ever been scraped, and it would be no Wonder if you stumbled over Clods of dried Dirt in going from the Fire- Side to the Bed, under which there often is Lumber and Dust that almost fill up the Space between the Floor and the Bedstead. But it is nauseous to see the Walls and Inside of the Curtains spotted, as if every one that had lain there had spit straight forward in whatever Position they lay. Leonardo da Vinci, a celebrated Painter, and famous for his Skill in other Arts and Sciences, LETTER VIJ. 153 in II Treatise written by himself on the Art of Painting, advises those of his Profession to contemplate the Spots on an old Wall, as a Means to revive their latent Ideas ; and he tells them they may thereby create new Thoughts, which might produce something purely Original. I doubt not he meant in the same Manner as People fancy they see Heads and other Images in a decaying Fire. This Precept of his has sometimes come in my Mind when I cast my Eye on the various Forms and Colours of the Spots I have been speaking of; and a very little Attention has produced the Effect proposed by the Painter. My Landlord comes into the Room unin- vited, and though he never saw you before, sits himself down and enters into Conversation with you, and is so sociable as to drink with you ; and many of them will call, when the Bottle is out, for another ; but, like mine Host at Kelso, few will stir to fetch any Thing that is wanting. 154 LETTER VIL This Behaviour may have been made, by- custom, familiar to their own Countrymen ; but I wonder they do not consider that it may be disagreeable to Strangers of any Appearance, who have been used to treat their Landlords in quite another Manner, even permitting an Innkeeper, worth Thousands, to wait at Table and never show the least Un- easiness at his Humility ; but it may be said he was no Gentle?nan. Pride of Family, in mean People, is not peculiar to this Country, but is to be met with in others ; and indeed it seems natural to Mankind, when they are not possessed of the Goods of Fortune, to pique themselves upon some imaginary Advantage. Upon this Re- mark I shall so far anticipate (by Way of Postscript) my Highland Account as to give you a low Occurrence that happened when I was last among the Hills. A young Highland Girl in Rags, and only the Bastard Daughter of a Man very poor and employed as a Labourer, but of a Family so LETTER VIL 155 old that, with respect to him and many others, it was quite worn out. This Girl was taken in by a Corporal's Wife, to do any dirty Work in an Officer's Kitcken, and, having been guilty of some Fault or Neglect, was treated a little roughly ; whereupon the Neigh- bouring Highland Women loudly clamoured against the Cook, saying, " What a Monster is that to maltreat a Gtntlejiians Bah'n ! " and the poor Wretch's Resentment was beyond Expression upon that very Account. L E 1^ T K R VIII. A S I have, in Point of Time, till the hist Post, been perfectly punctual in this my tattling Correspondence, though not so exact in my Letters upon other Subjects, you may possibly expect I should give you a Reason for this Failure, at least I am myself inclined to do so. Several of us (the English) have been, by Invitation, to dine with an eminent Chief, not many Miles from hence, in the Highlands ; but I do assure you it was his Importunity (the Effect of his Interest) and our own Curiosity, more than any particular Inclination, that in- duced us to a Compliance. We set out early in the Morning without Guide or Interpreter, and passed a pretty wide River, into the County of Ross, by a Boat that we feared would fall to Pieces in the Passage. LETTER VIII. 157 This Excursion was made in order to a short Visit on that Side the Murray Frith, and to lengthen out the Way, that we might not be too early with our noble Host. Our first Visit being dispatched, we changed our Course, and as the Sailor says, stood di- rectly, as we thought, for the Castle of our Inviter ; but we soon strayed out of our Way among the Hills, where there was nothing but Heath, Bogs, and Stones, and no visible Track to direct us, it being across the Country, In our Way we inquired of three several Highlanders, but could get nothing from them but Haniti Sasson Uggit. We named the Title of our Chief, and pointed with the Finger ; but he was known to none of them, otherwise than by his Fatronymic^ which none of us knew at that Time. (I shall have some- thing to say of this Word, when I come to speak of the Highlands in General), But if we had been never so well acquainted with his Ancestry Name, it would have stood us in little Stead, unless we had known likewise 158 LETTER VUL how to persuade some one of those Men to show us the Way. At length we happened to meet with a Gentleman, as I supposed, because he spoke English, and he told us we must go West a Piece (though there was no Appearance of the Sun), and then incline to the North ; that then we were to go along the Side of a Hill, and ascend another (which to us was then unseen), and from the Top of it we should see the Castle. I should have told you, that in this part of our Peregrination we were upon the Borders of the Mountains only ; and the Hills, for the most Part, not much higher than Hampstead or Highgate. No sooner had he given us this confused Direction, but he skipped over a little Bog, that was very near us, and left us to our per- plexed Consultations. However, at last we gained the Height ; but when we were there, one of our Company began to curse the High- lander for deceiving us, being prepossessed with the Notion of a Castle, and seeing only LETTER VIII 159 a House hardly fit for one of our Farmers of fifty Pounds a-year ; and in the Court-Yard a Parcel of low Outhouses, all built with Turf, like other Highland Huts. When we approached this Castle^ our Chiet with several Attendants (for he had seen us on the Hill), came a little Way to meet us ; gave us a Welcome, and conducted us into a Parlour pretty well furnished. After some Time, \ve had Notice given us that Dinner was ready in another Room ; where we were no sooner sat down to Table, but a Band of Music struck up in a little place out of Sight, and continued Playing all the Time of Dinner. These concealed Musicians he would have had us think were his constant Domestics ; but I saw one of them, some Time after Dinner, by mere Chance, whereby I knew they were brought from this Town to regale us with more Magnificence, Our Entertainment consisted of a great Number of Dishes, at a long Table, all brought P i6o LETTER VIIL in under Covers, but almost cold. What the greatest Part of them were I could not tell, nor did I inquire, for they were disguised after the French Manner ; but there was placed next to me a Dish, which 1 guessed to be boiled Beef; — I say that was my Conjecture, for it was covered all over with stewed Cabbage, like a smothered Rabbit, and over all a Deluge of bad Butter. When I had removed some of the Encum- brance, helped myself, and tasted, I found the Pot it was boiled in had given it too high a Goiit for my Palate, which is always inclined to plain Eating. I then desired one of the Company to help me to some Roasted Mutton, which was indeed delicious, and therefore served very well for my Share of all this inelegant and ostentatious Plenty. We had very good Wine, but did not drink much of it ; but one Thing I should have told you was intolerable, viz. the number of High- landers that attended at Table, whose Feet LETTER VIII. 161 and foul Linen, or Woollen, I don't know which, were more than a Match for the Odour of the Dishes. The Conversation was greatly engrossed by the Chief, before, at, and after Dinner ; but I do not recollect any Thing was said that is worth repeating. There were, as we went home, several De- scants upon our Feast ; but I remember one of our Company said he had tasted a Pie, and that many a Peruke had been baked in a better Crust. When we were returned hither in the Even- ing we supped upon Beef-Steaks, which some, who complained they had not made a. Dinner, rejoiced over, and called them a Luxury. I make little Doubt but, after our noble Host had gratified his Ostentation and Vanity, he cursed us in his Heart for the Expense, and that his Family must starve for a Month to retrieve the Profusion ; for this is according to his known Character. Toward the Conclusion of my last Letter 1 i62 LETTER Vlll gave you some Account of the Lodging-Rooms of many of the Inns in this Country, not for- getting my Landlord ; and now I shall descend to the Stables, which are often wretched Hovels, and, instead of Straw for Litter, are clogged with such an accumulated Quantity of Dung, one might almost think they required another Hercules to cleanse them. There is another Thing very inconvenient to the Traveller, which I had omitted. He is made to M'ait a most unreasonable while for every Thing for which he has Occasion. I shall give you only one Listance among a hundred. At the Blair of Athol, benighted, tired, and hungry, I came to the Inn, and was put into a Room without any Light ; where, knowing the dilatory Way of those People, I sat patiently waiting for a Candle near half an Hour ; at last, quite tired with Expectation, I called pretty hastily, and, I must confess, not with- out Anger, for a Light and some Wine; this brought in a Servant Maid, who, as usual. LETTER VIIL 163 cried out, '•'■Wbafs your will?''' I then again told her my Wants ; but had no other Answer than that her Mistress had the Keys, and was at Supper, and she could not be disturbed. Her Mistress, it is true, is a Gentlewoman, but before she was married to the stately Beggar who keeps that House she lived in this Town, and was humble enough to draw Two- penny. The Two-penny, as they call it, is their com- mon Ale ; the Price of it is Two-pence for a Scots Pint, which is two Quarts. In sliding thus from the Word Two-penny to a Description of that Liquor, there came to my Memory a ridiculing Dissertation upon such Kind of Transitions in one of the Tatlers, for those Books I have with me, which, indeed, are here a good Part of my Library. This Liquor is disagreeable to those who are not used to it ; but Time and Custom will make almost any Thing familiar. The Malt, which is dried with Peat, Turf, or Furzes, gives to the Drink a Taste of that Kind of i64 LETTER VIIL Fuel ; it is often drank before it is cold out of a Cap^ or Co'if^ as they call it : this is a wooden Dish, with two Ears or Handles, about the Size of a Tea-Saucer, and as Shallow, so that a steady Hand is necessary to carry it to the Mouth, and, in Windy Weather, at the Door of a Change, I have seen the Liquor blown into the Drinker's Face. This Drink is of itself apt to give a Diarrhoea ; and therefore, when the Natives drink plentifully of it, they interlace it with Brandy or Usky. I have been speaking only of the common Ale ; for in some few Gentlemen's Houses I have drank as good as I think I ever met with in any Part of England, but not brewed with the Malt of this Country. The Mention of their capacious Pint Pot, which they call a Stoiip, puts me in Mind of Part of a Dialogue between two Footmen, one English the other Scots. Says the English Fellow, " Ye sorry Dog, your Shilling is but a Penny." "Aye," says Sawny, who, it seems, was a Lover of Ale, LETTER Vm. 165 "'tis true ; but the De'el tak him that has the least Pint Stoup." They tell me, that in Edinburgh and other great Towns, where there are considerable Brewings, they put Salt into the Drink, which makes it brackish and intoxicating. The Natives of this Town speak better English than those of any other Part of Scot- land, having learned it originally from the Troops in the Time of Oliver Cromwell ; but the Irish Accent that sometimes attends it is not very agreeable. The Irish Tongue was, I may say lately, universal even in many Parts of the Lowlands; and I have heard it from several in Edinburgh, that, before the Union, it was the Language of the Shire of Fife, although that County be separated from the Capital only by the Frith of Forth, an Arm of the Sea, which from thence is but seven Miles over ; and, as a Proof, they told me, after that Event (the Union) it became one Condition of an Inden- ture, when a Youth of either Sex was to be 1 66 LETTER VIII. bound on the Edinburgh Side of the Water, that the Apprentice should be taught the English Tongue. This Town is not ill situated for Trade, and very well for a Herring-Fishery in particular; but except the Shoals would be so complaisant as to steer into some Part of the Murray Frith near them, they may remain in Safety from any Attempts of our Adventurers : yet, not- withstanding they do not go out to Sea them- selves, they are continually complaining of the Dutch, who, they say, with their vast Number of Busses, break and drive the Shoals from coming nearer to them. There was lately a Year in which they made a considerable Advantage (I think they say live or six Thousand Pounds) from the ()uantity of Fish, which, as I may say, fell into their Mouths ; but this happens very rarely, and then their Nets and Vessels are in a bad Condition. Their Excuse is, that they are poor ; and when they have been asked. Why then does not a greater Number con- LETTER VIIl. 167 tribute to a Stock sufficient to carry on a Fishery effectually ? to this they have answered frankly, that they could not Trust one another, Some of the honester Sort have complained, that when they had a good Quantity of Fish to send abroad (for the Sake of the Bounty on Salt exported), the Herrings have not swam much thicker in the Barrel than they did be- fore in the Sea, and this brought their Ships into Disrepute at foreign Markets. I have heard, from good Authority, of a Piece of Finesse that was practised here, which must have been the Product of some very fertile Brain, viz. the screwing of Wool into a Cask, and laying over it some Pieces of pickled Salmon, separated by a false Head, and by that Means, and an Oath, obtaining the Bounty upon Salt exported, as if the whole was Salmon, and at the same Time running the Wool ; but to this, the Connivance of the Collector of the Customs was necessary. This Fraud (among others) was made a Handle to procure the Appointment of an i68 LETTER VIJL Inspector-General at the Salary of 200 /. per Annwn^ which was done at the Representation and Request of a certain M of D , who had been, as the Cant is, a good Boy for many Years, and never asked for any Thing ; but at first the M r made strong Objec- tions to it, as it was to be a new-created Place, which was generally the Cause of Clamour, and particularly with Respect to the Person proposed, who had formerly been condemned to be hanged for Perjury relating to the Cus- toms, and was a Jacobite. But, in order to remove all these Scruples, the Gentleman who solicited the Affiiir first acknowledged all that to be true. "But, sir," said he, "the Laird is familiar with the Man's Wife." — "Nay then," says the M r, "he must have it." Not long afterwards, there was Information given that a considerable Quantity of Wine and Brandy was run, and lodged in a House on the north Side of the Murray Frith, and the new-made Officer applied accordingly for a Serjeant and twelve Men to support him in LETTER VII f. 169 making the Seizure. When he arrived at the Place, and had posted his Guard at some small Distance from the House, he went in and de- clared his Business : whereupon the Owner told him, that if he proceeded further he would ruin him ; for that he knew of a Sum of Money he had taken, on the other Side of the Water, for his Connivance at a much greater Cargo. Upon this, with Guilt and Surprise, the Custom-House Officer said, " But what must I do with the Soldiers?" — "Nay," says the other, "do you look to that." Then he went out, and having mused awhile, he returned in better Spirits, and said, "Now I have got it ! You have Fire- Arms, I suppose ?" — " Yes," says the other. — " Then do you arm yourself and your Servants, and come resolutely to the Door, and swear to me that you will all die upon the Spot rather than your House should be ransacked, unless an authentic Warrant be produced for that Purpose." This was done ; and the Officer immediately fell to fumbling in his Pockets, till he had gone 170 LETTER VIIl through the whole Order of them ; and then, turning to the Serjeant, he cried out, "What an unfortunate Dog am I ! what shall 1 do ? I have left my Warrant at Home !" To conclude: after all this Farce had been well acted, he told the Serjeant there could nothing be done, by reason of this unlucky Accident, but to return to Inverness, giving him Half-a-Crown, and to each of the Soldiers one Shilling. Some Time ago Insurance was the Practice, which the Royal Exchange soon discovered ; but this Imputation was brought upon the Town, as I have been assured, by one single Person. But what am I talking of? I am mentioning to you four or five illicit Dealers, when you can tell me of great Part of our own Coast, where almost all Degrees of Men are either practising, encouraging, or conniving at the same Iniquity. The principal Importation of these Parts consists in Whines, Brandy, Tea, Silks, &c., which is no great Advantage to those who LETTER VIII. 171 deal that Way, when their Losses by bad Debts, Seizures, and other Casualties, are taken into the Account : and it is injurious to the Community, by exchanging their Money for those Commodities which are consumed among themselves, excepting the Soldiery and a few Strangers, who bring their Money with them. Every now and then, by starts, there have been Agreements made among the Landed Men, to banish, as much as in them lay, the Use of Brandy in particular. By those con- tracts they have promised to confine themselves to their own Growth, and to enjoin the same to their Families, Tenants, and other Depen- dants ; but, like some salutary Laws made for the Public, these Resolutions have not been regarded long. I wish the Reformation could be made for the Good of the Country (for the Evil is universal) ; but I cannot say I should even be contented it should extend to the Claret, till my time comes to return to England and humble Port, 172 LETTER VIIL of which, If I were but only inclined to taste, there is not one Glass to be obtained for Love or Money, either here or in any other Part of Scotland that has fallen within my Knowledge : but this does not at all excite my Regret. You will say 1 have been giving you a pretty Picture of Patriotism in miniature, or as it relates to myself. Sometimes they export pretty handsome Quantities of pickled Salmon, and the Money expended by the Troops is a good Advantage t9 the Town and the Country hereabouts ; of which they are so sensible, that, unlike our own Countrymen who think the Soldiery a Burden, they have several Times solicited for more Companies to be quartered in the Town ; though, God knows, most of the (^larters are such as, with you, would hardly be thought good enough for a favourite Dog. It was but the other Day that a Grenadier came to the Commanding Officer, and begged of him to take a View of his Bed ; and, with Tears in his Eyes told him he had alvxays LETTER VIII. 173 been a clean Fellow (for those were his Words), but here he could not keep himself free from Vermin, As I happened to be present, the Officer desired me to go along with him. I did so ; and what the Man called a Bed proved to be a little Quantity of Straw, not enough to keep his Sides from the Hardness of the Ground, and that too laid under the Stairs very near the Door of a miserable Hovel. And though the Magistrates have often been applied to, and told that the very meanest among the Soldiers have never been used to such Lodging, yet their favourite Town's-People have always been excused, and these most wretched Quarters continued to them. And 1 cannot doubt but this has contributed greatly to the Bloody-Flux, which sweeps away so many of them, that, at some Seasons, for a good while together, there has hardly a Day passed but a Soldier has been buried. Thus are they desirous to make their Gains of the poor Men without any Regard to their Ease or their Health, 174 LETTER VIIL which I think is something to the Purpose ot a profligate Saying I have heard, — " Give me the Fortune, and let the Devil take the Woman ! " But when the new Barracks are completed, the Soldiers will have warm Qiiarters, and the Town lose great Part of their Profit by Provision made for them from more distant Parts. There is one Practice among these Mer- chants which is not only politic but com- mendable, and not to be met with every where, w hich is, that if a Bill of Exchange be drawn upon any one of them, and he fails in Cash to make Payment in due Time, in that Case the Rest of them will contribute to it rather than the Town should receive any Discredit. In a former Letter I took Notice that there are two Churches in this Town, one for the English, the other for the Irish Tongue. To these there are three Ministers, each of them, as I am told, at one hundred Pounds a-Year. It is a Rule in Scotland, or at least is gen- erally understood to be so, that none shall have LETTER VIIL 175 more than that Stipend, or any less than fifty ; yet 1 have been likewise informed, that some of the Ministers in Edinburgh and other Cities make of it near two Hundred, but how the Addition arises has not come to my Knowledge. What I shall say of the Ministers of this Town is, that they are Men of good Lives and sober Conversation, and less stiff in many indifferent Matters than most of their Brethren in other Parts of Scotland ; and, to say the Truth, the Scotish Clergy (except some rare Examples to the contrary) lead regular and unblamable Lives. What I have further to say on this Head shall be more general, but nothing of this Kind can be applied to all. The Subjects of their Sermons are, for the most part, Grace, Free-Will, Predestination, and other Topics hardly ever to be determined ; they might as well talk Hebrew to the Common People, and 1 think to any Body else. But thou shalt do no Manner of Work they urge with very great success. The Text relating 176 LETTER VIII. to Ccesar's Tribute is seldom explained, even in Places where great Part of the Inhabitants live by the contrary of that Example. In England, you know, the Minister, if the People were found to be negligent of their Clothes when they came to Church, would re- commend Decency and Cleanliness, as a Mark of Respect due to the Place of "Worship ; and indeed, humanly speaking, it is so to one another. But, on the contrary, if a Woman, in some Parts of Scotland, should appear at Kirk dressed, though not better than at an ordinary Visit, she would be in Danger of a Rebuke from the Pulpit, and of being told she ought to purify her Soul, and not employ Part of the Sabbath in decking out her Body ; and I must needs say, that most of the Females in both Parts of the Kingdom follow, in that Particu- lar, the instructions of their spiritual Guides religiously. The Minister here in Scotland would have the Ladies come to Kirk in their Plaids, which hide any loose Dress, and their Faces, too, if LETTER Vllf. 177 they would be persuaded, in order to prevent the wandering Thoughts of young Fellows, and perhaps some young old ones too ; for the Minister looks upon a well-dressed Woman to be an Object unfit to be seen in the Time oi Divine Service, especially if she be handsome. The before-mentioned Writer of a " Journey through Scotland, " has borrowed a Thought from the Tatler or Spectator, I do not remem- ber which of them. Speaking of the Ladies' Plaids, he says — "They are striped with Green, Scarlet, and other Colours, which, in the Middle of a Church on a Sunday, look like a Parterre de Fleurs.'" Instead of striped he should have said chequered^ but that would not so well agree with his Flowers ; and I must ask Leave to differ from him in the Simile, for at first I thought it a very odd sight ; and as to out- ward Appearance, more fit to be compared with an Assembly of Harlequins than a Bed of Tulips. But I am told this Traveller through Scot- 178 LETTER VIII. land was not ill paid for his Adulation by the Extraordinary Call there has been for his last Volume. The other two, which I am told relate to England, I have not seen, nor did I ever hear their Character. They tell me this Book is more common in this Country than I shall say ; and this, in par- ticular, that I have seen was thumbed in the opening where the pretty Town of Inverness is mentioned, much more than the Book we saw at a Painter's House in Westminster some Years ago ; which you will remember (to our Diversion) was immoderately soiled in that important Part where Mention was made of himself. O, Flattery ! never did any Altar smoke with so much Incense as thine ! — thy Female Votaries fall down reversed before thee ; the "Wise, the Great — whole Towns, Cities, Pro- vinces, and Kingdoms — receive thy Oracles with Joy, and even adore the very Priests that serve in thy Temples ! LETTER IX. T WISH these Ministers would speak oftener, and sometimes more civilly than they do, of Morality. To tell the People they may go to Hell with all their Morality at their Back, — this surely may insinuate to weak Minds, that it is to be avoided as a Kind of Sin ; — at best that it will be of no Use to them : and then no Wonder they neglect it, and set their enthusiastic Notions of Grace in the Place of Righteous- ness. This Is in general ; but I must own, in particular, that one of the Ministers ^of this Town has been so careful of the Morals of his Congregation that he earnestly exhorted them, from the Pulpit, to fly from the Example of a wicked neighbouring Nation. Their Prayers are often more like Narra- tions to the Almighty than Petitions for what i8o LETTER IX. they want ; and the SoNgh, as it is called (the Whine), is unmanly, and much beneath the Dignity of their Subject. I have heard of one Minister so great a Pro- ficient in this Sough, and his Notes so remark- ably flat and productive of Horror, that a Master of Music set them to his Fiddle, and the Wag used to say, that in the most jovial Company, after he had played his Tune but once over, there was no more Mirth among them all the rest of that Evening than if they were just come out of the Cave of Trophonius. Their preaching Extempore exposes them to the Danger of exhibiting undigested Thoughts and Mistakes ; as, indeed, it might do to any others who make long Harangues without some previous Study and Reflection ; but that some of them make little Preparation, I am apt to conclude from their immethodical Ramblings. I shall mention one Mistake, — I may call it an Absurdity : The Minister was explaining to his Con- LETTER IX. i8i gregation the great Benefits arising from the Sabbath. He told them it was a Means of frequently renewing their Covenant, &c, ; and, likewise, it was a worldly Good, as a Day of Rest for themselves, their Servants, and Cattle. Then he recounted to them the different Days observed in other Religions, as the Seventh Day by the Jews, &c. "But," says he, " behold the particular Wisdom of our Institu- tion, in ordaining it to be kept on the First ; for if it were any other Day, it would make a broken Week /" The Cant is only approved of by the ignorant (poor or rich), into whom it instils a Kind of Enthusiasm, in moving their Passions by sudden Starts of various Sounds. They have made of it a Kind of Art not easy to attain ; but People of better Understanding make a Jest of this Drollery, and seem to be highly pleased when they meet with its contrary. The latter is manifest to me by their Judgment of a Sermon preached at Edin- burgh by a Scots Minister, one Mr Wishart. i82 LETTER IX. Several of us went to hear him, and you would not have been better pleased in any- Church in England. There was a great Number of considerable People, and never was there a more general Approbation than there was among them at going from the Kirk, This Gentleman, as I was afterwards in- formed, has set before him Archbishop Tillot- son for his Model ; and, indeed, I could dis- cover several of that Prelate's Thoughts in the Sermon. How different was that of another Edin- burgh Minister, who, in one of his Sermons, made Use of an extraordinary Comparison, surely not fit for a Congregation to hear, viz. Christians, with Respect to Grace, are like a Maid ; it's hard to get it into them, difficult to make them keep it, and painful for them to part with it. But it may be supposed, that when Mess John had stumbled upon the Simile, he thought it too ci propos to be con- cealed. LETTER IX. 18c; J And I have been told, that in explaining to a poor Sinner upon the Stool of Repentance, the Heinousness of the Sin of Fornication, some of them, in their extemporary Admoni- tions, have stumbled upon Descriptions not much tending to promote Chastity in the Congregation. One of the Ministers of this Town (an old Man, who died some time ago) undertook one Day to entertain us with a Dialogue from the Pulpit relating to the Fall of Man, in the following Manner, which cannot so well be conveyed in Writing as by Word of Mouth :— First 'he spoke in a low Voice "And the L. G. came into the Garden, and said — " Then loud and angrily " Adam, where art ? " Low and humbly " Lo, here am I, Lord ! " Violently " And what are ye deeing there ? " With a fearful trembling Accent " Lord, I was nacked, and I hid mysel." i84 LETTER IX. Outnigcously " Nacked ! And what then ? Hast thou eaten, &c." Thus he profanely (without thinking so) described the Omniscient and Merciful God in the Character of an angry Master, who had not Patience to hear what his poor offend- ing Servant had to say in excuse of his Fault. And this they call speaking in a familiar Way to the Understandings of the ordinary People. But perhaps they think what the famous Astrologer, Lilly, declared to a Gentleman, who asked him how he thought any Man of good Sense would buy his Predictions. This Question started another, which was — What Proportion the Men of Sense bore to those who could not be called so f and at last they were reduced to one in twenty. "Now," says the Conjuror, " let the nineteen buy my Prophecies, and then," snapping his Fingers, " that ! for your one Man of good Sense." Not to trouble you with any more Particu- lars of their Oddities from the Pulpit, I shall only say, that, since I have been in this LETTER IX. 185 Country, I have heard so many, and of so many, that I really think there is nothing set down in the Book, "called " Scots Presbyterian Eloquence," but what, at least, is probable. But the young Ministers are introducing a Manner more decent and reasonable, which irritates the old Stagers against them ; and therefore they begin to preach at one another. If you happen to be in Company with one or more of them, and Wine, Ale, or even a Dram is called for, you must not drink till a long Grace be said over it, unless you could be contented to be thought irreligious and unmannerly. Some Time after my coming to this Country I had Occasion to ride a little Way with two Ministers of the Kirk ; and, as we were passing by the Door of a C/jatige, one of them, the Weather being Cold, proposed a Dram. As the Alehouse-Keeper held it in his Hand, I could not conceive the Reason of their bowing to each other, as Pleading by Signs to be excused, without speaking one Word. 1 86 LETTER IX. I could not but think they were contend- ing who should drink last, and myself, a Stranger, out of the Question ; but, in the end, the Glass was forced upon me, and I found the Compliment was which of them should give the Preference to the other saying Grace over the Brandy. For my Part, I thought they did not well consider to whom they were about to make their Address, when they were using all this Ceremony one to another in his Presence ; and, to use their own Way of Argument, concluded they would not have done it in the Presence at St. James's. They seem to me to have but little Know- ledge of Men, being restrained from all free Conversation, even in Coffee-houses, by the Fear of Scandal, which may be attended with the Loss of their Livelihood ; and they are exceedingly strict and severe upon one another in every Thing which, according to their Way of Judging, might give Offence. Not long ago, one of them, as I am told, was suspended for having a Shoulder of LETTER IX. 187 Mutton roasted on a Sunday Morning; another for powdering his Peruke on that Day. Six or seven Years ago, a Minister (if my Information be right) was suspended by one of the Presbyteries — -The occasion this : He was to preach at a Kirk some little Way within the Highlands, and set out on the Saturday ; but, in his Journey, the Rains had swelled the Rivers to such a Degree, that a Ford which lay in his Way was become impassable. This obliged him to take up his Lodging for that Night at a little Hut near the River ; and getting up early the next Morning, he found the Waters just enough abated for him to venture a Passage, which he did with a good deal of Hazard, and came to the Kirk in good Time, where he found the People as- sembled and waiting his Arrival. This riding on Horseback of a Sunday was deemed a great Scandal. It is true, that when this Affair was brought, by Appeal, before the General Assembly in Edinburgh, his Suspen- i88 LETTER IX. sion was removed, but not without a good many Debates on the Subject. Though some Things of this Kind are carried too far, yet I cannot but be of Opinion, that these Restraints on the Conduct of the Ministers, which produce so great Regularity among them, contribute much to the Respect they meet with from the People ; for although they have not the Advantage of any outward Appearance, by Dress, to strike the Imagina- tion, or to distinguish them from other Men who happen to wear Black or dark Gray, yet they are, I think I may say, ten Times more reverenced than our Ministers in England. Their Severity likewise to the People, for Matters of little Consequence, or even for Works of Necessity, is sometimes extra- ordinary. A Poor Man who lodged in a little House where (as I have said) one Family may often hear what is said in another ; this Man was complained of to the Minister of the Parish by his next Neighbour, that he had talked too LETTER IX. 189 freely to his ozun Wife, and threatened her with such Usage as we may reasonably sup- pose she would easily forgive. In Conclusion, the Man was sentenced to do Penance for giving Scandal to his Neighbours : a pretty Subject for a Congregation to rumin- ate upon ! The Informer's Wife, it seems, was utterly against her Husband's making the Complaint ; but it was thought she might have been the innocent Occasion of it, by some provoking Words or Signs that bore Relation to the Criminal's Offence. This was done not far from Edinburgh. One of our more northern Ministers, whose Parish lies along the Coast between Spey and Findhorn, made some Fishermen do Penance for Sabbath-breaking, in going out to Sea, though purely with Endeavour to save a Vessel in Distress by a Storm. But behold how in- consistent with this pious Zeal was his Practice in a Case relating to his own Profit. Whenever the Director of a certain English IQO LETTER IX. Undertaking In this Country fell short of Silver ■wherewith to pay a great number of Workmen, and he was therefore obliged on Pay-Day to give Gold to be divided among several of them, then this careful Guardian of the Sabbath ex- acted of the poor Men a Shilling for the Change of every Guinea, taking that exorbi- tant Advantage of their Necessity. In Business, or ordinary Conversation, they are, for the most Part, complaisant ; and I may say, supple, when you talk with them singly ; — at least I have found them so ; but when collected in a Body at a Presbytery, or Synod, they assume a vast Authority, and make the poor Sinner tremble. Constantly attending Ordinances, as they phrase it, is a Means with them of softening Vices into mere Frailties ; but a Person who neglects the Kirk, will find but little (garter. Some time ago two Officers of the Army had transgressed with two Sisters at Stirling : one of these Gentlemen seldom failed of going to Kirk, the other never was there. The LETTER IX. 191 Affair came to a Hearing before a Presby- tery, and the Result was, that the Girl who had the Child by the Kirk-goer was an impu- dent Baggage, and deserved to be whipped out of Town for seducing an honest Man ; and that he who never went to Kirk, was an aban- doned Wretch for debauching her Sister. Whether the ordinary People have a Notion that when so many holy Men meet together upon any Occasion, the evil Spirits are thereby provoked to be Mischievous, or what their whimsical Fancy is I cannot tell, but it -is with them a common Saying, that when the Clergy assemble the Day is cer- tainly tempestuous. If my Countrymen's Division of the Year were just, there would always be a great Chance for it without any supernatural Cause; for they say, in these northern Parts, the Year is composed of nine Months Winter and three Months bad Weather ; but I cannot fully agree with them in their Observation, though, as I have said before, the neighbouring Mountains 192 LETTER IX. frequently convey to us such Winds as may not improperly be called Tempests. In one of my Journeys hither, I observed, at the first Stage on this Side Berwick, a good deal of Scribbling upon a Window; and among the rest, the following Lines, viz. Scotland! thy Weather's like a modish Wife, Thy Winds and Rains for ever are at strife; So Termagant, awhile her Bluster tries, And when she can no longer scold — she Cries! A. H. By the two initial Letters of a Name, I soon concluded it was your Neighbour, Mr. Aaron Hill, but wondered at his Manner of taking Leave of this Country, after he had been so exceedingly complaisant to it, when here, as to compare its subterraneous Riches with those of Mexico and Peru. There is one Thing I always greatly dis- approved, which is, that when any Thing is whispered, though by few, to the Disadvan- tage of a Woman's Reputation, and the Matter be never so doubtful, the Ministers are ofFici- LETTER IX. 193 ously busy to find out the Truth, and by that Means make a Kind of Publication of what, perhaps, was only a malicious Surmise — or if true, might have been hushed up; but their stirring in it possesses the Mind of every one, who has any Knowledge of the Party accused, to her Disadvantage : and this is done to pre- vent Scandal ! I will not say what I have heard others allege, That those who are so needlessly inquisitive in Matters of this Nature must certainly feel a secret Pleasure in such-like Examinations ; and the Joke among the Eng- lish is, that they highly approve of this pro- ceeding, as it serves for a Direction where to find a loving Girl upon Occasion. I have been told, that if two or more of- these Ministers admonish, or accuse a Man, concerning the Scandal of suspected Visits to some Woman, and that he, through Anger, Peevishness, Contempt, or Desire to screen the Woman's Reputation, should say, Sbe is my Wife, then the Ministers will make a Declar- ation upon the Spot to this Purpose, viz. 194 LETTER IX. "In the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, we pronounce you, A. B. and C. D., to be Man and Wife;" and the Marriage is valid, at least so far as it relates to Scotland ; but whether this Kind of Coupling would be binding when the Parties are in any other Country has not come to my Knowledge. If a Woman of any Consideration has made a Slip, which becomes visible, and her Lover be a Man of some Fortune, and an Inhabitant, the Kirk will support her, and oblige him either to marry her, to undergo the Penance, or leave the Country ; for the Woman in that Circumstance always declares she was deceived under Promise of Marriage : and some of them have spread their Snares with Design by that Means to catch a Husband. Nay, I have known English Gentlemen, who have been in Government Employments, that, after such an Affair, have been hunted from Place to Place, almost from one End of Scotland to the other, by the W^omen, who, wherever they came, have been favoured by the Clergy ; and, at LETTER IX. 195 best, the Man has got rid of his Embarrassment, by a Composition : and, indeed, it is no jesting Matter ; for although his Stay in this Country might not be long enough to see the End of the Prosecution, or, by Leave of Absence, he might get away to England, yet the Process being carried on from a Kirk Session to a Presbytery, and thence to a Synod, and from them to the General Assembly, which is the dernier Ressort in these Cases ; yet from thence the Crime and Contempt may be represented above ; and how could any particular Person expect to be upheld in the Continuance of his Employment, against so considerable a Body as a National Clergy, in Transgression against the Laws of the Country, v/ith a contempt of that Authority by which those Laws are sup- ported ? I mention this, because I have heard several make a Jest of the Kirk's Authority. When a Woman has undergone the Pen- ance, with an Appearance of Repentance, she has wiped off the Scandal among all the godly ; and a Female Servant, in that regenerated 196 LETTER IX. State, is as well received into one of those Families as if she had never given a Proof of her Frailty. There is one Kind of Severity of the Kirk which I cannot but think very extraordinary ; and that is, the shameful Punishment by Pen- ance for Ante-7mptial Fornication, as they call it ; for the greatest Part of Male Trans- gressors that Way, when they have gratified their Curiosity, entertain a quite different Opinion of the former Object of their Desire from what they had while she retained her Innocence, and regard her with Contempt if not with Hatred. And therefore one might think it a Kind of Virtue, at least Honesty, in the Man who afterwards makes the only Reparation he can for the Injury done, by marrying the Woman he has otherwise brought to infamy. Now may not this public Shame deter many from making that honest Satisfac- tion ? But the great Oifence is against the Office, which formerly here was the Preroga- tive of the civil Magistrate as well as the LETTER IX. 197 Minister, till the former was jostled out of it by Clamour. There happened, a very few Years ago, a fatal Instance of the Change of Opinion above- mentioned : — A young Gentleman (if he may deserve the Title) made his Addresses to the only Daughter of a considerable Merchant in a City of the Lowlands ; and one Evening as the Young People were alone together, being supposed to be just upon the Eve of Marriage, and the young Woman's Father and Mother in the next Room, which was separated only by a slight Partition, the eager Spark made his villanous Attempt with oaths and Imprecations, and using common Plea, that they were already Man and Wife before God, and promising the Ceremony should be performed the next Day, and perhaps he meant it at that Instant. By these Means he put the poor Girl under a Dilemma, either to give herself up, or, by resisting the Violence, to expose her Lover to the Fury of her Parents. Thus she was — 198 LETTER IX. ■what shall I say ? — one must not say undone, for fear of a Joke, though not from you. And as that Kind of Conquest, once obtained, renders the Vanquished a Slave to her Con- queror, the Wedding was delayed, and she soon found herself with Child. At length the Time came when she was delivered, and in that feeble State she begged she might only speak to her Deceiver; who, with great DifBcuky, was prevailed with to see her. But when she put him in Mind of the Circum- stances she was in when he brought her to Ruin, he, in a careless, indolent Manner, told her she was as willing as himself; upon which she cried out, " Villain, you know yourself to be a Liar!" and immediately jumped out of Bed, and dropped down dead upon the Floor. But I must go a little further, to do Justice to the young Gentlemen of that Town and the Neighbourhood of it ; for as soon as the melancholy Catastrophe was known, they declared to all the Keepers of Taverns and Coffee-Houses where they came, that if ever LETTER IX. 199 they entertained that Fellow they would never after enter their Doors. Thus, in a very little Time, he was de- prived of all Society, and obliged to quit the Country. I am afraid your smart ones in London would have called this Act of Barbarity only a Piece of Gallantry, and the Betrayer would have been as well received among them as ever before. I know I should be laughed at by the Liber- tines, for talking thus gravely upon this Sub- ject, if my Letter were to fall into their Hands, But it is not in their Power, by a Sneer, to alter the Nature of Justice, Honour, or Honesty, for they will always be the same. What I have said is only for repairing the effect of Violence, Deceit, and Perjury ; and of this, every one is a conscious Judge of himself. If any one be brought before a Presbytery, &c., to be questioned for Sculduddery^ i.e. Fornication or Adultery, and shows a Neglect 2 00 LETTER IX. of their Authority, the Offender is not only brought to Punishment by their Means, but will be avoided by his Friends, Acquaintance, and all that know him and his Circumstance in that Respect. I remember a particular Instance in Edin- burgh, where the Thing was carried to an ex- traordinary Height. A married Footman was accused of Adultery with one of the Wenches in the same Family where he served ; and, before a Kirk Session, was required to confess, for nothing less will satisfy ; but he persisted in a Denial of the Fact. This Contempt of the Clergy and lay Elders, or, as they say, of the Kirk, excited against him so much the Resentment and Horror of the ordinary People (who looked upon him as in a State of Damnation while the Anathema hung over his Head), that none of them would drink at the House where his Wife kept a Change. Thus the poor Woman was punished for LETTER IX. 20 1 the Obstinacy of her Husband, notwithstanding she was Innocent, and had been wronged the other Way. I was told in Edinburgh that a certain Scots Colonel, being convicted of Adultery (as being a married Man), and refusing to com- pound, he was sentenced to stand in a Hair Cloth at the Kirk Door every Sunday Morning for a whole Year, and to this he submitted. At the Beginning of his Penance he con- cealed his Face as much as he could, but three or four young Lasses passing by him, one of them stooped down, and cried out to her Companions, " Lord ! it's Colonel ." Upon which he suddenly threw aside his Dis- guise, and said, " Miss, you are right ; and if you will be the Subject of it, I will wear this Coat another Twelvemonth." Some young Fellows of Fortune have made slight of the Stool of Repentance, being attended by others of their Age and Circum- stances of Life, who to keep them in Coun- tenance, stand with them in the same Gallery 202 LETTER IX. or Pew fronting the Pulpit ; so that many ot the Spectators, Strangers especially, cannot distinguish the Culprit from the rest. Here is a long extemporary Reproof and Admonition, as I said before, which often creates Mirth among some of the Congregation. This Contempt of the Punishment has occasioned, and more especially of late Years, a Composition in Money with these young Rakes, and the Kirk Treasurer gives regular Receipts and Discharges for such and such Fornications. As I have already told you how much the Ministers are revered, especially by the Com- monalty, you will readily conclude the Mob are at their Devotion upon the least Hint given for that Purpose ; of which there are many riotous Instances, particularly at the opening of the Playhouse in Edinburgh, to which the Clergy were very averse, and left no Stone unturned to prevent it. I do not, indeed, remember there was much Disturbance at the Institution of the Ball or LETTER IX. 203 Assembly, because that Meeting is Chiefly composed of People of Distinction ; and none are admitted but such as have at least a just Title to Gentility, except Strangers of good Appearance. And if by Chance any others intrude they are expelled upon the Spot, by Order of the Directrice^ or Governess, who is a Woman of Quality. — I say, it is not in my Memory there was any Riot at the first of these Meetings : but some of the Ministers published their Warnings and Adm.onitions against promiscuous Dancing ; and in one of their printed Papers, which was cried about the Streets, it was said that the Devils are particularly busy upon such Occasions. And Asmodeus was pitched upon as the most dangerous of all in exciting to carnality. In both these Cases, viz. the Playhouse and the Assembly, the Ministers lost Ground to their great Mortification ; for the most Part of the Ladies turned Rebels to their Remonsti^ances, notwithstanding their frightful Danger. I think I never saw so many pretty Women 204 LETTER IX. of Distinction together as at that Assembly, and therefore it is no Wonder that those who know the artful Insinuations of that fleshly Spirit should be jealous of so much Beauty. But I have not done with my Kirk Treasurer : — this in Edinburgh is thought a profitable Employment. I have heard of one of them (severe enough upon others) who, having a round sum of Money in his Keeping, the Property of the Kirk, marched oif with the Cash, and took his Neighbour's Wife along with him to bear him Company and partake of the Spoil. There are some rugged Hills about the Skirts of that City, which, by their Hollows and Windings, may serve as Screens from incurious Eyes ; but there are Sets of Fellows, Enemies to Love and Lovers of Profit, who make it a Part of their Business, when they see two Persons of different Sexes walk out to take the Air, to dog them about from Place to Place, and observe their Motions, while they themselves are concealed. And if LETTER IX. 205 they happen to see any Kind of Freedom between them, or perhaps none at all, they march up to them and demand the BuUing- Siller (alluding to the Money usually given for the use of a Bull) ; and if they have not something given them (which to do would be a tacit Confession), they, very likely, go and inform the Kirk Treasurer of what perhaps they never saw, who certainly makes the Man a Visit the next Morning. And as he (the Treasurer), like our informing Justices for- merly, encourages these Wretches, People lie at the Mercy of Villains who would perhaps forswear themselves for Six-pence a Piece. The same Fellows, or such like, are peeping about the Streets of Edinburgh in the Night- time, to see who and who are together ; and sometimes affront a Brother and Sister, or a Man and his Wife. I have known the Town-guard, a Band of Men armed and clothed in Uniforms like Soldiers, to beset a House for a whole Night, upon an Information that a Man and a Woman 2o6 LETTER IX. went in there, though in the Day-time. In short, one would think there was no sin, according to them, but Fornication, or other Virtue besides keeping the Sabbath, People would startle more at the humming or whistling Part of a Tune on a Sunday, than if any Body should tell them you had ruined a Family. I thought I had finished my Letter ; but stepping to the Window, I saw the People crowding out of the Kirk from Morning Service ; and the Bell begins to ring, as if they were to face about and return. And now I am sitting down again to add a few Words on that Subject ;— but you have per- ceived that such occasional Additions have been pretty common in the Course of this Prattle. This Bell is a Warning to those who are going out, that they must soon return ; and a Notice to such as are at Home, that the Afternoon Service is speedily to begin. They have a Bell in most of the Lowland Kirks ; LETTER IX. 207 and as the Presbyterians and other Sectaries in England are not allowed to be convened by that Sound (of their own), so neither are those of the Episcopal Church in Scotland. But I need not tell you, that every where the reigning Church will be paramount, and keep all other Communities under. The People, in the short Interval between the Times of Service, walk about in the Church- yard, the neighbouring Fields, or step Home and eat an Egg or some little ready-dressed Morsel, and then go back to their Devotions. But they fare better in the Evening ; which has given Rise to a common Saying in Scot- land, viz. " If you would live well on the Sabbath, you must eat an Episcopal Dinner and a Presbyterian Supper." By this it should seem, that the Episcopalians here provide a Dinner, as in England; — I say it seems so, for I never was at one of their Meetings, or dined with any of them at their Houses on a Sunday. I have just now taken Notice that each Church has but one Bell ; which leads me to 2o8 LETTER IX. acquaint you, that on a Joy-Day, as the King's Birth-Day, &c. (we will suppose in Edinburgh, where there are nine Churches), the Bells are all rung at a Time, and almost all of them within Hearing. This causes a most disagree- able Jangling, by their often clashing one with another. And thus their Joy is expressed by the same Means as our Sorrow would be for the Death of a good King. But their Music Bells (as they call them) are very entertaining, and a Disgrace to our Clock-work Chimes. They are played at the Hours of Exchange, that is, from Eleven to Twelve, upon Keys like an Organ or Harpsichord ; only as the Force in this Case must be greater than upon those Instruments, the Musician has a small Cushion to each Hand, to save them from bruising. He plays Scots, English, Irish, and Italian Tunes to great Perfection, and is heard all over the City. This he performs every Week- Day, and,' I am told, receives from the Town, for this Service, a salary of Fifty Pounds a- Year. LETTER X. T AM now to acquaint you that I have-not at this Time sufficient Provision for your usual Repast. But, by the Way, I cannot help accusing myself of some Arrogance, in using such a Metaphor ; because your ordinary Fare has been little else beside Brochan^ Cale^ Stirabout^ Sowings^ &c. (Oatmeal varied in several Shapes) : But, that you may be provided with something, I am now about to give you a Haggass, which would be yet less agreeable, were it not to be a little seasoned with Variety. The Day before Yesterday, an Occasion called me to make a Progress of about six or seven Miles among the Mountains ; but before I set out, I was told the Way was dangerous to Strangers, who might lose themselves in the Hills if they had not a Conductor. For this Reason, about two Miles from hence, I hired 2i6 LETTER X. a Guide, and agreed with him for Six-pence to attend me the whole Day. This poor Man went Barefoot, sometimes by my Horse's-side, and in dangerous Places leading him by the Bridle, winding about from Side to Side among the Rocks, to such Gaps where the Horses could raise their Feet high enough to mount the Stones, or stride over them. In this tedious Passage, in order to divert myself (having an Interpreter with me), I asked my Guide a great many Questions relat- ing to the Highlands, all which he answered very properly. In his turn, he told me, by Way of Ques- tion, to hear what I would say, that he believed there would be no War ; but I did not under- stand his Meaning till I was told. By W^ir he meant Rebellion ; and then, with a dismal Countenance, he said he was by Trade a Weaver, and that in the year 1715, the Seidir Roy, or Red Soldiers, as they call them (to distinguish them from the Highland Companies, whom they call Seickr Don, or the Black LETTER X. 211 Soldiers) — I say he told me, that they burnt his House and his Loom, and he had never been in a Condition since that Time to pur- chase Materials for his Work, otherwise he had not needed to be a Guide ; and he thought his Case very hard, because he had not been in the Affair^ or the Scrape^ as they call it all over Scotland, being cautious of using the Word Rebellion. But this last Declaration of his, 1 did not so much depend on. When he had finished his Story, which, by interpreting, took up a good Deal of Time, I recounted to him the Fable of the Pigeon's Fate that happened to be among the Jackdaws, at which he laughed heartily, notwithstanding his late Grief for his Loss ; and doubtless the Fable was to him entirely new. I then asked his Reason why he thought there would not be another War (as he called it) ; and his Answer was, he believed the English did not expect one, because they were fooling away their Money, in removing great Stones and blowing up of Rocks. 2 12 LETTER X. Here he spoke his Grievance as a Guide ; and indeed, when the Roads are finished according to the Plan proposed, there will be but little Occasion for those People, except such as can speak English, and may by some be thought necessary for Interpreters in their Journeys : — I say they will be useless as Guides alone, reckoning from the south of Scotland to this Town the Mountain Way (for along the Coast hither, the Road can hardly be mistaken), and counting again from the Lowlands to the West End of the Opening among the Mountains that run from hence quite across the Island. But all the Highlands north of this Town and the said Opening will remain as rugged and dangerous as ever. At length I arrived at the Spot, of which I was to take a View, and found it most horrible ; but in the Way, that I went, being the shortest Cut going Southward, it is not to be avoided. This is a deep, narrow Hollow, between LETTER X. 213 very steep Mountains, into which huge Parts of Rocks have fallen. It is a terrifying Sight to those who are not accustomed to such Views ; and at Bottom is a small but danger- ous Burn, running wildly among the Rocks, especially in Times of Rain. You descend by a Declivity in the Face of the Mountain, from whence the Rocks have parted (for they have visibly their Decay), and the Rivulet is par- ticularly dangerous, when the Passenger is going along with the Stream, and pursued by the Torrent. But you have not far to go in this Bottom before you leave the Current, which pursues its Way, in continued Wind- ings, among the Feet of the Mountains ; and soon after you ascend by a steep and rocky Hill, and when the Height is attained, you would think the most rugged Ways you could possibly conceive to be a happy Variety. When I had returned to the Hut where I took my Guide, being pleased with the Fellow's good Humour, and Frankness in answering my Questions, instead of Six-pence 2 14 LETTER X. 1 gave him a Shilling. At first he could not trust his own Eyes, or thought I was mistaken ; but being told what it was, and that it was all his own, he fell on his Knees and cried out, he never, in all his Life before, knew any Body give more than they bargained for. This done, he ran into his Hut, and brought out four Children almost naked, to show them to me, with a Prayer for the English. Thus I had, for so small a Price as one Sixpence, the exquisite Pleasure of making a poor Creature happy for a Time. Upon my Highlander's Lamentation of his Loss and present bad Circumstances, I could not forbear to reflect and moralize a little, concluding, that Ruin is Ruin, as much to the Poor as to those that had been Rich. Here's a poor Highlandman (whose House, Loom, and all his other Effects were, it is likely, not worth Thirty Shillings) as effectu- ally undone, by the Loss he sustained, as one that had been in the Possession of Thousands; and the burning of one of their Huts, which LETTER X. 215 does not cost fifteen Shillings in Building, is much worse to them than the Loss of a Palace by Fire is to the Owner. And were it not for their fond Attachment to their Chiefs, and the Advantage those Gentlemen take of their Slave-like Notions of Patriarchal Power, I verily believe there are but few among them that would engage in an Enterprize so danger- ous to them as Rebellion ; and as some Proof of this, I have been told by several People of this Town, that in the Year 1715, the then Earl of Mar continued here for near two Months together before he could muster two Hundred Highlanders, so unwilling were these poor People to leave their little Houses and their Families to go a King-Making. But when a Number sufficient for his pre- sent Purpose had been corrupted by Rewards and Promises, he sent them out in Parties from Hut to Hut, threatening Destruction to such as refused to join with them. But it may be necessary to let you know that these Men, of whom I have been speak- 2i6 LETTER X. ing, were not such as were immediately under the Eye of their respective Chiefs, but scattered in little Dwellings about the Skirts of the Mountains. Here follows the Copy of a Highlander's Letter, which has been lately handed about this Town, as a kind of Curiosity. When I first saw it, I suspected it to be supposititious, and calculated as a Lure, where- by to entice some Highlanders to the Colony from whence it was supposed to be written ; but I was afterwards assured, by a very credible Person, that he knew it to be genuine. Endorsed — Letter from Donald M'Pherson a young Highland Lad, who was sent to Virginia with Captain Toline, and was born near the house of Culloden where his father lives. LETTER X. 217 Portobago in Marllante^ 2 June 17 — . Teer Lofen Kynt Fater, Dis is te lat ye ken, dat I am in quid Healt, plessed be Got for dat, houpin te here de lyk frae yu, as I am yer nane Sin, 1 wad a bine ill leart gin I had na latten yu ken tis, be Kaptin Rogirs Skep dat geangs to Innerness, per cunnan I dinna ket sika anither aperlunti dis Towmen agen. De Skep dat I kam in was a lang tym o de See cumin oure heir, but plissit pi Got for a ting wi a kepit our Heels unco weel, pat Shonie Magwillivray dat hat ay a Sair Heet. Dere was Saxty o's a kame inte te C)iiintry hel a lit an lim an nane o's a dyit pat Shonie Magwillivray an an otter Ross lad dat kam oure wi's an mai pi dem twa wad a dyit gin tey hed bitten at hame. Pi mi fait I kanna komplin for kumin te dis Quintry, for mestir Nicols, Lort pliss hem, pat mi till a pra Mestir, dey ca him Shon Bayne, an hi lifes in Marylant in te rifer Potomak, he nifer gart mi wark ony ting pat fat I lykit mi sel : de meast o a mi Wark is waterin a pra 2i8 LETTER X. stennt Hors, an pringin Wyn an Pread ut o de seller te mi Mestir's Tebil. Sin efer I kam til him I nefer wantit a Pottle o potter Ele nor is in a Shon Glass hous, for I ay set toun wi de Pairns te Dennir. Mi Mestir seys till mi, fan I can speek lyk de fouk hier dat I sanna pe pidden di nating pat gar his Plackimors wurk, for de fyt Fouk dinna ise te wurk pat te first yeer aftir dey kum in te de Quintry. Tey speek a lyk de Sogers in Innerness. Lofen Fater, fan de Sarvants hier he deen wi der Mestirs, dey grou unco rich, an its ne wonter for day mak a hantil o Tombako ; an des Sivites an Apels an de Sheries an de Pires grou in de Wuds wantin Tyks apout dem. De Swynes te Ducks an Durkies geangs en de Wuds wantin Mestirs. De Tombako grous shust lyk de Dockins en de bak o de Lairts yart an de Skeps dey cum fra ilka Place an bys dem an gies a hantel o Silder and Gier for dem. LETTER X. 2ig Mi nane Mestir kam til de Quintry a Sarfant an weil I wot hi's nou wort mony a susan punt. Fait ye mey pelive mi de pirest Plantir hire lifes amost as weil as de Lairt o Collottin. Mai pi fan mi Tim is ut I wel kom hem an sie yu pat not for de furst nor de neest Yeir till I gater somting o mi nane, for fan I ha dun wi mi Mestir, hi maun gi mi a Plantashon to set mi up, its de Quistium hier in dis C)uintry ; an syn I houp to gar yu trink wyn insteat o Tippeni in Innerness. I wis I hat kum our hier twa or tri Yiers seener nor I dit, syn I wad ha kum de seener hame, pat Got bi tanket dat I kam sa seen as I dit. Gin yu koud sen mi owr be ony o yur Innerness skeps, ony ting te mi, an it war as muckle Clays as mak a Que\t it wad, mey pi, gar my Meister tink te mere o mi. It's trw I ket Clays eneu fe him bat oni ting fe yu wad luck weel an Pony, an ant plese Got gih I life, I sal pey yu pack agen. Lofen Fater, de Man dat vryts dis Letir for 220 LETTER X. mi is van Shams Macbeyne, hi lifes shust a Myl fe mi, hi hes pin unko kyn te mi sin efer I kam te de Qiiintrie. Hi wes Porn en Petic an kam our a sarfant fe Klesgou an hes peen hes nane Man tvva yeirs, an has Sax Placki- mors wurkin til hem alrety makin Tombako ilka Tay. Heil win hem, shortly an a te Geir dat he hes Wun bier an py a lerts kip at hem. Luck dat yu duina forket te vryt til mi ay, fan yu ket ony ocasbion. Got Almicbte pliss you Fater an a de leve o de bous, for I bana forkoten nane o yu, nor dinna yu forket mi, for plise Got I sal kum hem wi Gier eneuch te di yu a an mi nane Sel Guid. I weit you will be very vokie, fan yu sii yur nane Sins Fesh agen, for I heive leirt a hantle bevens sin 1 sau yu an I am unco buick leirt. A tis is fe yur lofen an Opetient Sin, Tonal Mackaferson. Directed — For Shames Mackaferson neir te Lairt o Collottin's bous, neir Innerness en de Nort o Skotlan. LETTER X. Ill This Letter is a notable Instance of those extravagant Hopes that often attend a new Condition. Yet Donald, notwithstanding all his Happiness, desires his Father to send him some Clothes ; not that he wants, or shall want them, but that they would look bonny, and recommend him to his Master. But I shall not further anticipate that Difficulty, which I know will not be unpleasing to you. If you should think poor Donald's Senti- ments of his Change to be worth your Notice, and at the same Time find yourself at a Loss to make out any Part of his Letter, your Friend Sir Alexander, who is very communi- cative, will be pleased with the Office of your Interpreter. There is one Thing I should have told you at first, which is, that where I have marked the single (a) thus (a), it must be pronounced (au), which signifies (all). LETTER XL "XTEAR the Conclusion of my last Letter but one, I happened to say a Word or two concerning the Episcopalians of this Country, of whom I do not remember to have known one that is not a professed Jacobite, except such as are in the Army, or otherwise em- ployed under the Government, and therefore 1 must suppose all those who have accepted of Commissions or Places were in their Hearts of Revolutional Principles before they entered into Office, or that they changed for them on that Occasion. You know my true Meaning ; but many People in this Country render the word Revolution a very equivocal Expression — nor, among many, is it free from Ambiguity in the South. Their Ministers here are all Nonjurors, LETTER XL 223 that I know, except those of the Chief Baron's Chapel in Edinburgh, and the Episcopal Church at Aberdeen ; but whether there is any qualified Episcopal Minister at Glasgow, St Andrews, &c., I do not know. The Nonjuring Ministers generally lead regular Lives ; and it behoves them so to do, for otherwise they would be distanced by their Rivals. I saw a flagrant Example of the People's Disaffection to the present Government in the above mentioned Church of Aberdeen, where there is an Organ, the only one I know of, and the Service is chaunted as in our Cathedrals. Being there, one Sunday Morning, v^'ith another English Gentleman, when the Minister came to that Part of the Litany where the King is prayed for by Name, the People all rose up as one, in Contempt of it, and Men and Women set themselves about some trivial Action, as taking Snuff, &c., to show their Dislike, and signify to each other they were 2 24 LETTER XL all of one Mind ; and when the Responsal should have been pronounced, though they had been loud in all that preceded, to our Amazement there was not one single Voice to be heard but our own, so suddenly and entirely were we dropped. At coming out of the Church we complained to the Minister (who, as I said before, was qualified) of this rude Behaviour of his Con- gregation, who told us he was greatly ashamed of it, and had often admonished them, at least, with more Decency. The Nonjuring Ministers have made a Kind of Linsey-Woolsey piece of Stuff of their Doctrine, by interweaving the People's civil Rights with Religion, and teaching them, that it is as Unchristian not to believe their Notions of Government as to disbelieve the Gospel. But I believe the Business, in a great Measure is to procure and preserve separate Congre- gations to themselves, in which they find their Account by inciting State Enthusiasm, as others do Church Fanaticism, and, in return, their LETTER XI. 22 s Hearers have the secret Pleasure of trans- gressing under the Umbrage of Duty. 1 have often admired the Zeal of a pretty well dressed Jacobite, when I have seen her go down one of the narrow^ steep Wyndes in Edinburgh, through an Accumulation of the worst Kind of Filth, and whip up a blind Staircase almost as foul, yet with an Air as degage, as if she were going to meet a favourite Lover in some poetic Bower : and, indeed, the Difference between the Generality of those People and the Presbyterians, particularly the Women, is visible when they come from their respective Instructors, for the former appear with cheerful Countenances, and the others look as if they had been just before convicted and sentenced by their gloomy Teachers. I shall now, for a while, confine myself to some Customs in this Town ; and shall not wander, except something material starts in my Way. The Evening before a Wedding there is a Ceremony called the Feet-Wasbing^ when the 2 26 LETTER XL Bridesmaids attend the future Bride, and wash her Feet. They have a Penny-Wedding ; — that is, when 3 Servant-Maid has served faithfully, and gained the Good-Will of her Master and Mistress, they invite their Relations and Friends, and there is a Dinner or Supper on the day the Servant is married, and Music and Dancing follow to complete the Evening. The Bride must go about the Room and kiss every Man in the Company, and in the End every Body puts Money into a Dish, according to their Inclination and Ability. By this Means a Family in good Circum- stances, and respected by those they invite, have procured for the new Couple wherewithal to begin the World pretty comfortably for People of their low Condition, But I should have told you, that the whole Expense of the Feast and Fiddlers is paid out of the Contri- butions. This and the former are likewise Customs all over the Lowlands of Scotland. I never was present at one of their Wed- LETTER XL 227 dings, nor have I heard of any Thing extra- ordinary in that Ceremony, only they do not use the Ring in Marriage, as in England. But it is a most comical Farce to see an ordinary Bride conducted to Church by two Men, who take her under the Arms, and hurry the poor unwilling Creature along the Streets, as you may have seen a Pickpocket dragged to a Horse-pond in London. I have some- where read of a Kind of Force, of old, put upon Virgins in the Article of Marriage, in some Eastern Country, where the Practice was introduced to conquer their Modesty ; but I think, in this Age and Nation, there is little Occasion for any such Violence ; and, perhaps, with Reverence to Antiquity, though it often reproaches our Times, it was then only used to save Appearances. The moment a Child is born, in these Northern Parts, it is immerged in cold Water, be the Season of the Year never so rigorous. When I seemed at first a little shocked at the Mention of this strange extreme, the good 2 28 LETTER XL Women told me the Midwives would not forego that Practice if my Wife, though a Stranger, had a Child born in this Country. At the Christening, the Husband holds up the Child before the Pulpit, from whence the Minister gives him a long extemporary Admoni- tion concerning its Education. In most Places the Infant's being brought to the Church is not to be dispensed with, though it be in never so weak a Condition ; but here, as I said before, they are not so scrupulous in that and some other Particulars. For inviting People to ordinary Buryings, in all Parts of the Low-Country as well as here, a Man goes about with a Bell, and, when he comes to one of his Stations (suppose the Deceased was a Man), he cries, " All Brethren and Sisters, I let you to wot, that there is a Brother departed this Life, at the Pleasure of Almighty God ; they called him, &c. — he lived at, &c." — And so for a Woman, with the necessary Alterations. The Corpse is carried, not upon Men's LETTER XL 229 Shoulders, as in England, but underhand upon a Bier ; and the nearest Relation to the Deceased carries the Head, the next of Kin on his right Hand, &c., and, if the Church- yard be any Thing distant, they are relieved by others as Occasion may require. The Men go two and two before the Bier, and the Women, in the same order, follow after it ; and all the Way the Bell-man goes tinkling before the Procession, as is done before the Host in Popish Countries. Not long ago a Highlandman was buried here. There were few in the Procession be- sides Highlanders in their usual Garb; and all the Way before them a Piper played on his Bagpipe, which was hung with narrow Streamers of Black Crape. When People of some Circumstance are to be buried, the nearest Relation sends printed Letters signed by himself, and sometimes, but rarely, the Invitation has been general, and made by Beat of Drum. The Friends of the Deceased usually meet 230 LETTER XL at the House of mourning the Day before the Funeral, where they sit a good while, like Quakers at a silent Meeting, in dumb Show of Sorrow ; but in Time the Bottle is intro- duced, and the Ceremony quite reversed. It is esteemed very slighting, and scarcely ever to be forgiven, not to attend after Invita- tion, if you are in Health ; the only Means to escape Resentment is to send a Letter, in Answer, with some reasonable Excuse. The Company, which is always numerous, meets in the Street at the Door of the De- ceased ; and when a proper Number of them are assembled, some of those among them, who are of highest Rank or most esteemed, and Strangers, are the first invited to walk into a Room, where there usually are several Pyramids of Plumcake, Sweetmeats, and several Dishes, with Pipes and Tobacco ; the last is according to an Old Custom, for it is very rare to see any Body smoke in Scotland. The nearest Relations and Friends of the Person to be interred attend, and, like LETTER XL 231 Waiters, serve you with Wine for iiboiit a C)iiarter of an Hour ; and no sooner have you accepted of one Glass but another is at your Elbow, and so a Third, &c. There is no Ex- cuse to be made for not Drinking, for then it will be said, " You have obliged a Brother, or my Cousin such-a-one ; pray. Sir, what have 1 done to be refused ? " When the usual Time is expired, this Detachment goes out and another succeeds ; and when all have had their Tour, they accompany the Corpse to the Grave, which they generally do about Noon. The Minister, who is always invited, per- forms no Kind of Funeral Service for those of any Rank whatever, but most commonly is one of the last that leaves the Place of Burial. When the Company are about to return, a Part of them are selected to go back to the House, where all Sorrow seems to be immedi- ately banished, and the Wine is filled about as fast as it can go round, till there is hardly a sober Person among them. And, by the Way, I have been often told, that some have kept 2 32 LETTER XL their Friends drinking upon this Occasion for more Days together than I can venture to mention. In the Conclusion, some of the Sweetmeats are put into your Hat, or thrust into your Pocket, which enables you to make a great Compliment to the Women of your Acquaint- ance. This last Homage they call the Dredgy ; but 1 suppose they mean the Dirge — that is, a Service performed for a dead Person some Time after his Death ; or this may be instead of a Lamentation sung at the Funeral ; but I am sure it has no Sadness attending it, except it be for an aching Head the next Morning. The Day following, every one that has Black puts it on, and wears it for some Time after- wards ; and if the Deceased was any Thing considerable, though the Mourners' Relation to him was never so remote, it serves to soothe the Vanity of some, by inciting the Question, "For whom do you mourn?" — "My Cousin, the Laird of such-a-place, " or "My Lord LETTER XL 233 such-a-one," is the Answer to the Qiiestion begged by the sorrowful Dress. I have seen the Doors and Gates blacked over in token of Mourning. I must confess I never was present at more than one of these Funerals, though afterwards invited to several, and was pretty hard put to it to find out proper Excuses ; but I never fiiiled to enquire what had passed at those Assemblies, and found but little Difference among them. You know I never cared to be singular when once engaged in Company, and in this Case I thought it best, being a Stranger, to comply with their Customs, though I could not but foresee the Inconvenience that was to follow so great an Intimacy with the Bottle. You will, perhaps, wonder why I have con- tinued so long upon this Subject, none of the most entertaining ; but as the better Sort here are almost all of them related to one another in some Degree, either by Consanguinity, Marriage, or Clanship, it is to them, as it were, 234 LETTER XL a Kind of Business, and takes up good Part ot their Time. In short, they take a great Pride and Pleasure in doing Honours to their Dead. The Minister or Parish has no demand for Christening, Marrying, or Burying. This last Expense, particularly, I have ever thought un- reasonable to be charged upon the poorer Sort in England. A poor industrious Man, for Ex- ample, who has laboured hard for fifty Years together, brought up a numerous Family, and been at last reduced to Necessity by his extra- ordinary Charge, Age, and long Sickness, shall not be entitled to his Length and Breadth under the Ground of that Parish where he had lived, but his poor old Widow must borrow or beg to pay the Duties, or (which to her, perhaps, is yet worse) be forced to make her humble Suit to an imperious Parish Officer, whose Insolence to his Inferiors (in Fortune) was ever increasing with the Success he met with in the World ; Besides the Dis- grace and Contumely the poor Wretch must suffer from her Neighbours in the Alley, for LETTER XL 235 that remarkable State of Poverty, viz. being reduced to beg the Ground. And none more ready than the Poor to reproach with their Poverty any whom they have the Pleasure to think yet poorer than themselves. This to her may be as real Distress as any Dis- honour that happens to People of better Condition. Before I proceed to the Highlands (/. e. the Mountains), I shall conduct you round this Town, to see if there be any Thing worth your Notice in the adjacent Country. Toward the North-West, the Highlands begin to rise within a Mile of the Town. To some other Points (I speak exclusive of the Coast-Way) there are from three to five or six Miles of what the Natives call a flat Country, by Comparison with the surrounding Hills ; but to you, who have been always accustomed to the South of England, this Plain (as they deem it) would appear very rough and uneven. 1 shall begin with the Ruins of a Fort built 236 LETTER XL by Oliver Cromwell in the Year 1653 or 1654, which, in his Time, commanded the Town, the Mouth of the River, and Part of the Country on the Land Sides of it where there are no hills. It lies something to the North-East of us, and is washed by a navigable Part of the Ness, near its Issue in to the Murray Frith. The Figure of the Out-work is a Pentagon of two hundred Yards to a Side, surrounded to Landward with a Fosse, now almost filled up with Rubbish. The Rampart is not un- pleasant for a Walk in a Summer's Evening, and among the Grass grow Carraways that have so often regaled my Palate, and of which the Seeds are supposed to have been scattered, by Accident, from Time out of Mind, Oliver had 1,200 Men in and near this Citadel, under the Command of one Colonel Fitz, who had been a Tailor, as I have been informed by a very ancient Laird, who said he remembered every remarkable Passage which happened at that Time, and, most especially. LETTER XL 237 Oliver's Colours, which were so strongly impressed on his Memory, that he thought he then saw them spread out by the Wind, with the Word Emmanuel (God with us) upon them, in very large golden Characters. LETTER XII. nPHE Niime of Oliver, I am told, continues still to be used in some Parts, as a Terror to the Children of the Highlanders; but, that is so common a Saying of others who have rendered themselves formidable, that I shall lay no Stress upon it. He invaded the Borders of the Highlands, and shut the Natives up within their Mountains. In several Parts he penetrated far within, and made Fortresses and Settlements among them ; and obliged the proudest and most powerful of the Chiefs of Clans, even such as had formerly contended with their Kings, to send their Sons and nearest Relations as Host- ages for their peaceable Behaviour. But, doubtless this Success was owing, in great Measure, to the good Understanding there was at that Time between England and LETTER XII 239 France ; otherwise it is to be supposed that the ancient Ally of Scotland, as it is called here, would have endeavoured to break those Measures, by hiring and assisting the Scots to invade our Borders, in order to divert the English Troops from making so great a Pro- gress in this Part of the Island. Near the Fort is the Quay, where there are seldom more than two or three Ships, and those of no great Burden. About a Mile Westward from the Town, there rises, out of a perfect Flat, a very regular Hill; whether natural or artificial, I could never find by any Tradition ; the natives call it Tomman-heurach. It is almost in the Shape of a Thames Wherry, turned Keel upwards, for which Reason they sometimes call it Noah's Ark. The Length of it is about Four Hundred Yards, and the Breadth at Bottom about One hundred and fifty. From below, at every Point of View, it seems to end at Top in a narrow Ridge ; but when you are there, you u 240 LETTER XII. find a Plain large enough to draw up two or three Battalions of Men. Hither we sometimes retire in a Summer's Evening, and sitting down on the Heath, we beat with our Hands upon the Ground, and raise a most fragrant Smell of wild Thyme, Pennyroyal, and other aromatic Herbs, that grow among the Heath : and as there is like- wise some Grass among it, the Sheep are fed the first ; and when they have eaten it bare, they are succeeded by Goats, which browse upon the sweet Herbs that are left untouched by the Sheep. I mention this purely because I have often heard you commend the Windsor Mutton, sup- posing its Delicacy to proceed from those Herbs; and, indeed, the Notion is not uncommon. But this is not the only Reason why I speak of this Hill ; it is the weak Credulity with which it is attended, that led me to this De- tail ; for as any Thing, ever so little extraor- dinary, may serve as a Foundation (to such as are ignorant, heedless, or interested) for ridicul- LETTER XII. 241 ous Stories and Imaginations, so the Fairies within it are innumerable, and Witches find it the most convenient Place for their Frolics and Gambols in the Night-time. I am pleased when I reflect, that the Notion of Witches is pretty well worn out among People of any tolerable Sense and Education in England ; but here it remains even among some that sit judicially; and Witchcraft and Charming (as it is called) make up a consider- able Article in the recorded Acts of the General Assembly. I am not unaware that here the famous Trial at Hertford, for Witchcraft, may be ob- jected to me. It is true the poor Woman was brought in guilty by an ignorant, obstinate Jury, but it was against the Sentiments of the Judge, who, when the Minister of the Parish declared, upon the Faith of a Clergyman, he believed the Woman to be a Witch, told him in open Court, that therefore, upon the Faith of a Judge, he took him to be no Conjuror. 242 LETTER XII. Thus you see, by the Example of this Clergyman, that Ignorance of the Nature of Things may be compatible with what is generally called Learning ; for I cannot sup- pose that, in a Case of Blood, there could be any Regard had to the Interest of a Profession. But perhaps the above Assertion may be thought a little too dogmatical ; — I appeal to Reason and Experience. After all, the Woman was pardoned by the late Queen (if any one may properly be said to be forgiven a crime they never committed), and a worthy Gentleman in that county gave her an Apartment over his Stables, sent her Victuals from his Table, let her attend his Children and she was looked upon, ever after, by the Family as an honest good-natured old Woman. But I shall now give an Instance (in this Country) wherein the Judge was not so clear- sighted. In the Beginning of the Year 1727, two poor Highland Women (Mother and Daughter), in the Shire of Sutherland, were accused of LETTER XII 243 Witchcraft, tried, and condemned to be burnt. This Proceeding was in a Court held by the Deputy-Sheriff The young one made her Escape out of Prison, but the old Woman suffered that cruel Death in a Pitch-Barrel, in June following, at Dornoch, the Head Borough of that County. In the Introduction to the Chapter under the Title of Witchcraft, in "Nelson's Justice," which I have by me, there are these Words : — " It seems plain that there are Witches, be- cause Laws have been made to punish such Offenders, though few have been convicted of Witchcraft." Then he quotes one single Statute, viz. i Jac. c. 12. May not any one say, with just as much Reason, it seems plain there has been a Phoenix, because Poets have often made it serve for a Simile in their Writings, and Painters have given us the Representation of such a Bird in their Pictures ? It is said those Highland Women confessed ; but, as it is here a Maxim that Wizards and 244 LETTER XII. Witches "will never acknowledge their Guilt so long as they can get any Thing to drink, I should not wonder if they owned themselves to be Devils, for Ease of so tormenting a Necessity, when their Vitals were ready to crack with Thirst. I am almost ashamed to ask seriously how it comes to pass that in populous Cities, among the most wicked and abandoned Wretches, this Art should not be discovered ; and yet that so many little Villages and obscure Places should be Nurseries for Witchcraft ? — But the Thing is not worth speaking of, any further than that it is greatly to be wished that any such Law should be annulled, which subjects the Lives of Human Creatures to the Weakness of an ignorant Magistrate or Jury, for a Crime of which they never had the Power to be guilty ; and this might free them from the Miseries and Insults these poor Wretches suffer when unhappily fallen under the Imputation. In this county of Sutherland, as I have been assured, several others have LETTER Xll 245 undergone the same Fate within the Compass of no great Number of Years. I must own it is possible there may be some, oppressed by Poverty, and actuated by its concomitant Envy, who may malign a thriving Neighbour so far as to Poison his Cattle, or privately do him other Hurt in his Property, for which they may deserve the Gallows as much as if they did the Mischief by some supernatural Means ; but for such wicked Practices, when discovered, the Law is open, and they are liable to be punished according to the C)uality of the Offence. Witchcraft, if there were such a Crime, I think would be of a Nature never to be proved by honest Witnesses : for who could testify they saw the identical Person of such a one riding in the dark upon a Broomstick through the Air ; — a human Body, composed of Flesh and Bones, crammed through a Key hole ; — or know an old Woman through the Disguise of a Cat ? These are some of the common Topics of your wise Witchmongers ! 246 LETTER XIL But to be more serious : we have Reason to conclude, from several authentic Relations of Facts, that this supposed Crime has sometimes been made a political Engine of Power, where- by to destroy such Persons as were to be taken off, which could not otherwise be done with any seeming Appearance of Justice : and who should be fitter Instruments to this Purpose, than such, who would be so wicked as for Hire, and Assurance of Indemnity, to own themselves Accomplices with the Party accused ? Notwithstanding this Subject has led me further than I at first intended to go, I must add to it a Complaint made to me about two Months since, by an Englishman who is here in a Government Employment. As he was observing the Work of some Carpenters, who were beginning the Construc- tion of a large Boat, there came an old Woman to get some Chips, who, by his Des- cription of her, was indeed ugly enough. One of the Workmen rated her, and bid her be LETTER XIL 247 gone, for he knew she was a Witch. Upon that, this Person took upon him to vindicate the old Woman, and, unluckily, to drop some Words as if there were none such. Immedi- ately two of them came up to him, and held their Axes near his Head, with a Motion as if they were about to cleave his Skull, telling him he deserved Death ; for that he was him- self a Warlock, or Wizard, which they knew by his taking the Witch's Part. And he, observing their Ignorance and Rage, got away from them as fast as he could, in a terrible Fright, and with a Resolution to lay aside all Curiosity relating to that Boat, though the Men were at Work not far from his Lodgings. The greatest Ornament we have in all the adjacent Country, is about a (garter of a Mile from the Town, but not to be seen from it, by Reason of the Castle-Hill. It is an Island about Six hundred Yards long, surrounded by two Branches of the River Ness, well planted with Trees of Different Kinds, and may not unaptly be compared with the Island in St 248 LETTER XII. James's Park ; all, except Fruit Trees, Gravel- Walks, and Grass-PIots ; for I speak chiefly of its outward Appearance, the Beauty v/hereof is much increased by the Nakedness of the surrounding Country and the Blackness of the bordering Mountains. For in any View hereabouts there is hardly another Tree to be seen, except about the Houses of two or three Lairds, and they are but few. Hither the Magistrates conduct the Judges and their Attendants, when they are upon their Circuit in the Beginning of May ; and sometimes such other Gentlemen, to whom they do the Honours of the Corporation by presenting them with their Freedom, if it happens to be in the Salmon Season. The Entertainment is Salmon, taken out of the Cruives just by, and immediately boiled and set upon a Bank of Turf, the Seats the same, not unlike one of our Country Cock- Pits ; and during the Time of Eating, the Heart of the Fish lies upon a Plate in View, and keeps in a panting Motion all the while, LETTER XII. ' 249 which to Strangers is a great Rarity. The Cruives above the Salmon-Leap (which is a steep Slope composed of large loose Stones) are made into many Divisions by loose Walls, and have about three or four Feet Water. These render such a Number of Fish as they contain an agreeable Sight, being therein confined, to be ready at any Time for the Barrel or the Table. I am told there was formerly a fine planted Avenue from the Town to this Island ; but one of the Magistrates, in his solitary Walk, being shot by a Highlander from behind the Trees, upon some Clan Quarrel, they were soon after cut down ; and indeed I think such Kind of Walks, unless very near a House, are not the most suitable to this Country : I do not mean on Account of Robberies, but Revenge. In several Places upon the Heaths, at no great Distance from this Town, and in other Parts of the Country, there are large Moor- stones, set up in regular Circles one within 250 LETTER Xll. another, with a good Space between each Round. In some of these Groups there are only two such Circles, in others three ; and some of the Stones on the outermost Ring are nine or ten Feet high above the Surface of the Ground, and in Bulk proportionable. How long Time they have been in that Situation nobody knows, or for what purpose they were disposed in that Order ; only some pretend, by Tradition, they were used as Temples for Sacrifices in the time of the Romans ; and others have been taught, by that variable Instructor, that they were Tri- bunals for the Trials of supposed Criminals in a Roman Army. What Matter of Wonder and Curiosity their Size might be upon Hounslow Heath I do not know ; but here among these Rocks, by Comparison, they make no Figure at all. Besides, the Soldiers, by the Force of Engines and Strength, have raised Stones as large or larger, that lay more than half buried under Ground, in the Lines marked out for the new LETTER XIL 251 projected Roads ; and they have likewise set them upright along the Sides of those Ways. Having chanced to mention the Stones raised 'out of the Ground by the Troop.^-, 1 cannot forbear a little Tattle concerning two Officers that are employed upon the, new Roads, as Directors of the Work in different Parts of the Highlands ; and, if you please, you may take it for a Piece of Highland News, for I am sure your public Papers often contain Para- graphs altogether as trifling, and not so true. Upon one of these Stones (surprisingly large to be removed) one of those Gentlemen employed a Soldier, who is a Mason by Trade, to engrave an Inscription of his making, in Latin, fearing, perhaps his own Renown might wear out with our Language. The Substance of it is, the Date of the Year, Time of the Reign, Director's Name, &c. Some little Time after this was done, the other Officer's Party of Men having raised out of the Ground a Stone, as he thought, yet bigger than the former, he began to envy 252 LETTER XII. his Competitor's Foundation for Fume, and applied himself to a third Officer (who had done several little Poetical Pieces) to think of some Words for his Stone. But I should tell you, that before he did so, it had been remarked, he had too often boasted of the Exploit in the first Person, viz. — " I raised a larger Stone than ," &c. The Poet Officer told him he would satisfy him ofF-Hand, and it should be in English, which would be understood by more People than the other's Latin, and by that Means he would have the Advantage of his Rival at least in that Particular. But instead of his real Name, I shall insert a feigned one, and under that only Disguise give you the proposed Inscription as follows : " Hibeni alone Rais'd up this Stone ; Ah ! Hone, Ah Hone." Upon this, the Hero turned ridiculously grave; and says he, "The Soldiers did the slavish Part only with their Hands, but, in LETTER XII. 253 Effect, it was I that did it with my Head : and therefore I do not like any Burlesque upon my Performance. One Thing, which I take to be a Curiosity in its Kind, had like to have escaped me, viz. a single enclosed Field, nearly adjoining to the Suburbs of this Town, containing, as near as I can guess, about five or six acres, called Fairfield. This to the Owner gives the Title of Laird of Fair-field, and it would be a neglect or kind of affront to call him by his proper name, but only Fair-field. For those they call Lairds in Scotland do not go by their surname ; but, as in France, by the Name of their House, Estate, or Part of it. But if the Lairdship be sold, the Title goes along with it to the Purchaser, and nothing can continue the Name of it to the first Possessor but mere Courtesy. There are few Estates in this Country free from Mortgages and Incumbrances (I wish I could not say the same of England) ; but the Reason given me for it, by some Gentle- 254 LETTER XII. men of pretty good Estates, seems to be something extraordinary. They do not care to ascribe it to the Poverty of their Tenants, from the incon- siderable Farms they occupy, or other Dis- advantages incident to these Parts ; but say it has proceeded from the Fortunes given with their Daughters. Now the Portion or Tocker^ as they call it, of a Laird's eldest Daughter, is looked upon to be a handsome One if it amounts to one thousand Merks, which is ^^l. lis. lid. Sterling; and Ten thousand Merks, or 555^- ^^^- ^a'^- ^^ generally es- teemed no bad Tocker for a Daughter of the lower Rank of Quality. The Scots Merk is Thirteen-pence and one- third of a Penny of our Money. Having touched upon Mortgages, which in Scotland are called Wadsetts^ I shall say a few Words on that Article. By the Canon Law of Scotland all Kind of Usury is prohibited ; but as the forbidding it is very incommodious to a Country, on LETTER XIL 255 Account of Trade and Husbandry, as well as to particular Persons, and besides, a Law most easily evaded ; there was a Method contrived by the People, whereby to sell their Estates, with a conditional Right of Redemption. This is called 3. proper Wadseit, where the Mortgagee takes into Possession so much Land as will secure the Principal and Interest of the Money lent, and sometimes more ; for which he is never to give Account, though there should be a Surplus, but only to return the Lands to the former Proprietor when the principal Sum is paid off. LETTER XIII. T SHALL now return to the neighbouring Country. Here are but two Houses ot any Note within many Miles of us, on this Side the Murray Frith ; one is the House of Culloden, which I have mentioned in a former Letter. This is about two Miles off, and is a pretty large Fabric, built with Stone, and divided into many Rooms, among which the Hall is very spacious. There are good Gardens belonging to it, and a noble planted Avenue, of great Length, that leads to the House, and a Plantation of Trees about it. This House (or Castle) was besieged, in the year 17 15, by a Body of the Rebels ; and the Laird being absent in Parliament, his Lady LETTER XI 11. 25y baffled all their Attempts with extraordinary- Courage and Presence of Mind. Nearly adjoining are the Parks — that is, one large Tract of Ground, surrounded with a low Wall of loose Stones, and divided into several Parts by Partitions of the same. The Surface of the Ground is all over Heath, or, as they call it, Heatber, without any Trees ; but some of it has been lately sown with the Seed of firs, which are now grown about a Foot and a Half high, but are hardly to be seen for the Heath. An English Captain, the Afternoon of the day following his Arrival here from London, desired me to ride out with him, and show him the Parks of Culloden, without telling me the Reason of his Curiosity. Accordingly we set out, and when we were pretty near the Place, he asked me, — " Where are these Parks ? For," says he, "there is nothing near in View but Heath, and, at a Distance, Rocks and Mountains." I pointed to the Enclosure; and, being a little Way before him, heard him 258 LETTER XIIL cursing in Soliloquy, which occasioned my making a Halt, and asking if any Thing had displeased him. Then he told me, that, at a Coffee-House in London, he was one Day commending the Park of Studley, in Yorkshire, and those of several other Gentlemen in other Parts of England, when a Scots Captain, who was by, cried out — " Ah, Sir ! but if you were to see the Parks at Culloden, in Scot- land!" This my Companion repeated several Times with different Modulations of Voice ; and then, in an angry Manner, swore, if he had known how grossly he had been imposed on, he could not have put up with so great an Affront. But I should have told you, that every one of the small Divisions above-mentioned is called a separate Park, and that the Reason for making some of the inner Walls has been to prevent the Hares, with which, as I said before, the Country abounds, from cropping the tender Tops of these young Firs, which, indeed, effectually spoils their regular Growth. LETTER XIJl 2S9 The other House I spoke of is not much farther distant from the Contrary Side of the Town, and belongs to the younger Brother of the Gentleman above-mentioned ; he is Lord- Advocate, or Attorney-General, for Scotland : it is a good old Building, but not so large as the other ; and near it there is a most romantic Wood, whereof one Part consists of great Heights and Hollows ; and the Brush- wood at the Foot of the Trees, with the Springs that issue out of the Sides of the Hills, invite the AVoodcocks, which, in the Season, are generally there in great Numbers, and render it the best Spot for Cock-shooting that ever I knew. Neither of these Houses are to be seen from any Part near the Town. The Gentleman, of whose House 1 have last been Speaking, were it not for a valetudin- ary State of Health, and the Avocations of his Office, would be as highly pleased to see his Friends about him at Table and over a Bottle as his hospitable Brother. In the Spots of arable Land near the Town i6o LETTER Xllf. the People sometimes Plough with eight small Beasts, part Oxen and part Cows. They do not drive them with a Goad, as in England, but beat them with a long Stick, making a hideous Irish Noise in calling to them as they move along. The Poverty of the Field Labourers here- abouts is deplorable. I was one Day riding out for Air and Exercise, and in my Way I saw a Woman cutting green Barley in a little Plot before her Hut : this induced me to turn aside and ask her what Use she intended it for, and she told me it was to make Bread for her Family. The Grain was so green and soft that I easily pressed some of it between my Fingers ; so that when she had prepared it, certainly it must have been more like a Poultice than what she called it, Bread. There was a Gentleman with me, who was my Interpreter ; and though he told me what the Woman said, yet he did not seem greatly to approve of my Curiosity. Their Harvest-Labourers are often paid in LETTER XIII. 261 Kind viz. Oats or Barley ; and the Person thus paid goes afterwards about with the Sheaves, to sell them to such as will purchase them. If they are paid in Money, their Wages is Two-pence halfpenny or Three- pence a-Day and their Dinner, which I suppose is Oatmeal. There is no other Sort of Grain hereabouts, besides Oats, Barley, and Beer, which last is an inferior species of Barley, but of greater Increase. A field of Wheat would be as great a Rarity as a Nightingale in any Part of Scotland, or a Cat-o'-mountain in Middlesex. And yet I have seen good Wheat in some of the Lowland Part of the Shire of Murray ; which is, indeed, but a narrow Space between the Sea and the Mountains not very far South of us. It is true, a certain Gentleman, not far from the Coast, in the County of Ross, which is further North than we are, by Favour of an extraordinary Year, and a Piece of new Ground, raised some Wheat ; but he made so much parade of it, that the Stack stood in his 262 LETTER XI If. Court-yard till the Rats had almost devoured it. This, and a good Melon he treated me with, which was raised under a Rock facing the South, and strongly reflecting the Heat of the Sun, so equally flattered him, that he afterwards made Use of me as a Witness of both upon several Occasions. But Melons may be produced in Lapland. In the Lowlands of Scotland I have seen, in many Places, very fertile Land, good Wheat, and Oats in particular, much better than ever I saw in the Growth of England. But, per- haps, you will imagine that, as Oatmeal serves for Bread, and, in other Shapes, for most Part of the Rest of the ordinary People's Diet, they are more careful in the Choice of the Seed than our Farmers are, who know their Oats are chiefly used as Provender for Cattle ; but, I think, in some Parts of the Country, the Soil is peculiarly adapted to that Kind of Grain. In some remote Parts of England I have seen Bread for the Field Labourers, and other LETTER XIII. 263 poor People, so black, so heavy, and so harsh, that the Bonnack^ as they call it (a thin Oat- meal Cake baked on a Plate over the Fire), may, by comparison, be called a Pie-Crust. By the small Proportion the arable Lands hereabouts bear to the rocky Grounds and barren Heaths, there is hardly a Product of Grain sufficient to supply the Inhabitants, let the Year be ever so favourable ; and, there- fore, any ill Accident that happens to their Growth, or Harvest, produces a melancholy Effect. I have known, in such a Circumstance, the Town in a Consternation for Want of Oatmeal, when Shipping has been retarded, and none to be procured in these Parts (as we say) for Love or Money. There are but few in this Town that eat Wheat-Bread, besides the English and those that belong to them, and some of the principal Inhabitants, but not their Servants. Among the English, I think I may include good Part of the private Soldiers, that are working Men. All the handicraft Tradesmen have improved 264 LETTER XIIL their Skill in their several Occupations, by Ex- ample of the Workmen among the Troops, who are often employed by the Inhabitants as Journeymen ; and in particular the Bakers, whose Bread, I think, is not inferior to that of London, except when their Flour is grown, or musty, when imported. This sometimes happens ; but they are too national to hold any Correspondence but with their Country- men, who, I think, have not the same Regard for them, but study too carefully their own extraordinary Profit. — I am speaking of such as have their Goods from England. This brings to my Remembrance an Ob- servation I met with in London a good many Years ago, and that is, what an Advantage the Scots, the Quakers, and the French Refugees, have over the Generality of Trading People in England, since they all confine the Profit of their Dealings, so far as ever they can, within their respective Circles ; and moreover have an equal Chance for Trading-Profit with all others who make no such partial Distinction ; LETTER XIIL 26s and therefore it was no Wonder they throve accordingly. I happened lately, upon a certain Occasion, to mention this to an old Officer in the Army, who thereupon told me he had observed, through all the Quarters in England, that if there were any Scots Tradesmen or Shop- keepers in a Country Town, the New-comers of that Nation soon found them out, and would deal with no others, so far as they could be served or supplied by them. This, I think, is carrying it too far, and teaching an ill Lesson against themselves. And we, on the other Hand, are accused of the contrary Extreme, which is an unnational Neglect (if I may use such an Expression) of one another, when we happen to meet in foreign Countries. But to return. — When the Flour is musty, they mingle Seeds with the Dough, to over- come the disagreeable Smell and Taste. This I have likewise met with in Edinburgh and other great Towns of the Low Country. 266 LETTER XII I. About the Time of one great Scarcity here, the Garrison of Fort William, )pposite to us on the West Coast, was very low in Oatmeal, and the little Hovel-Town of Maryburgh, nearly adjoining to it, was almost destitute. Some Affairs at that Time called me to the Fort ; and, being at the Governor's House, one of the Townswomen came to his Lady, and besought her to use her Interest that she might be spared out of the Stores, for her Money, or to repay it in Kind, only one Peck of Oat- meal to keep her Children from Starving ; for that there was none to be sold in the Town, or other Food to be had whatever. The Lady, who is one of the best and most agreeable of Women, told her she feared her Husband could not be prevailed on to part with any at that Time. This she said, as knowing that Kind of Provision was almost exhausted, and a great Number of Mouths to be fed; that there was but a very precarious Dependence upon the Winds for a Supply, and that other Sea Accidents might happen ; but to show LETTER XIIL ^6y her good Will, she gave her a Shilling. The poor Woman, holding up the Money, first looked at that in a musing Manner, then at the Lady, and bursting out into Tears, cried — '•Madam, what must I do with this? My Children cannot eat it !" And laid the Shilling down upon the Table in the greatest Sorrow and Despair. It would be too trite to remark upon the uselessness of Money, when it cannot be bartered for something absolutely necessary to Life. But I do assure you I was hardly ever more affected with Distress than upon this Occasion, for I never saw such an Example of it before. I must not leave you in Suspense. The Governor, commiserating the poor Woman's Circumstances, spared her that small Quantity ; and then the Passion of Joy seemed more unruly in the poor Creature's Breast than all her Grief and Fear had been before. Some few Days afterwards, a Ship that had lain Wind-bound in the Orkneys, arrived ; and upon my return hither, I found there had 268 LETTER XIJI. been a Supply likewise by Sea from the Low- Country. I shall make no Apology for going a little out of my Way to give you a short Account of the Fortress of Fort-William, and the Town of Maryburgh that belongs to it ; because, upon a like Occasion, you give me a Hint in one of your Letters, that such sudden Starts of Variety were agreeable to you. The Fort is situated in Lochaber, a Country which, though bordering upon the Western Ocean, yet is within the Shire of Inverness. Oliver Cromwell made there a Settlement, as I have said before ; but the present Citadel was built in the Reign of King William and Queen Mary, and called after the Name ot the King. It was in great Measure originally designed as a Check upon the Chief of the Camerons, a Clan which, in those Days, was greatly addicted to Plunder, and strongly in- clined to Rebellion. It stands in a most barren rocky Country, and is washed on one of the Faces of the LETTER XIIL 26g Fortification by a navigable Arm of the Sea. It is almost surrounded, on the Land Sides, ■with Rivers, not far distant from it, which though but small, are often impassible from their Depth and Rapidity. And lastly, it is near the Foot of an exceedingly high Mountain, called Ben-Nevis, of which I may have Occa- sion to say something in some future Letter, relating particularly to the High-Country. The town was erected into a Barony in Favour of the Governor of the Fort for the Time being, and into a Borough bearing the Name of Queen Mary. It was originally designed as a Sutlery to the Garrison in so barren a Country, where little can be had for the Support of the Troops. The Houses were neither to be built with Stone nor Brick, and are to this Day composed of Timber, Boards, and Turf. This was ordained, to the End they might the more suddenly be burnt, or otherwise destroyed, by Order of the Governor, to prevent any Lodgment of an Enemy that might 270 LETTER XIII. annoy the Fort, in Case of Rebellion or Invasion. In your last Letter you desire to know of me what is the Qualification of Fortune required of the Elector and Elected to a Seat in Parliament for a County or Borough in Scotland. This induces me to believe the Baronet is either gone into Bedfordshire, or come to Edinburgh. What you now require of me is one, among many, of those Articles I have left out of my Account, concluding you might have met with it in some Treatise of the Constitution of Scotland ; for I intended, from the Beginning, to give you nothing but what I suppose was no where else to be found. And now I shall endeavour to satisfy your Curiosity in that Point, according to the best Information I have obtained. One and the same Qualification is required of a Voter and a Candidate for a County, which is 400/. Scots, or t,t^/. 6s. 8d. Sterling LETTER XI f I. 271 per Annum, according to the old Rent, or as they stand rated on the King's Books. These are called Barons ; and none others vote for the Shires, except some few in the County of Sutherland, where several of the old Voters, refusing to pay their Quota of 61. 1 3X. \d. Scots, or 11 J. I J J. sterling per Diem, for the Maintenance of their Representative in Time of the Session, others were willing to be taxed in their Stead, providing they might have the Privilege of Voting, which they obtained there- by, to the Exclusion of the former. The Magistrates and Town-Council elect Members to represent the Boroughs, or Cor- poration-Towns ; and there is neither Land nor Money C)ualiiication required either of the Candidate or Electors. This Letter brings you the Conclusion of my Chat, in Relation to this Town and the Country near it, having at present exhausted my Memory as well as my written Remarks on that Head. In my next I shall begin my Account of the Highlands, which I hope will y 2-2 LETTER X/IL / be soiiifcthing more gnileful to your Curiosity thiin I think the former could possibly be ; but if, in my Mountain-progress, any Thing new and worth your Notice relating to these Parts should happen, either by Occurrence or Recollection, you may expect a separate Letter by Way of Supplement. But what am I saving ? This very Moment a Thought has obtruded, which tells me, that, when I was speaking of our Hunting and Fowling, I did not remember to acquaint you that it is no uncommon Thing, when the Mountains are deep in Snow, for us to see Hares almost as white, which descend into these Plains for Sustenance ; but although we have hunted several of them for awhile, yet always without Success, for they keep near the Feet of the Hills, and, immediately on being started, make to the Heights, where the Scent is lost, and they baffle all Pursuit. As white Rabbits are common in F.ngland, and our Ideas arise from what we know, you may think, perhaps, we have been deceived ; but LETTER Xlir. 273 that cannot be, for there is not a Rabbit in all the Country; and besides, if there were any, we have been too near those Hares at starting to be mistaken in that Particular : but this is not the only Thing of the Kind ; Snow sends down from the Mountains large Flights of small Birds, about the Size of Larks or some- thing bigger, and very White, which they are not in Summer, any more than the Mountain- Hare. These have here no other Name than Snow- Birds. It should seem as if Nature changed the Coats of these Creatures, that they might not be too easy a Prey to the Foxes, Wild Cats, Eagles, and Hawks, as tliey would be from dis- tant Views, in Time of Snow, if they retained in Winter their natural Colour : but in general Nature has been provident in rendering diffi- cult the finding of Animals pleasing to Mankind for Food, Diversion, and Exercise, as you may have observed in England ; the Hare, the Partridge, Woodcock, Fieldfare, &:c., are all, by their Clothing, in good Measure suited to 274 LETTER XIII. their respective Hdiints and Places of Conceal- ment ; and some of them, one might ahnost think, were sensible of the Advantage, when we see them lie without Motion till they are almost trod upon, as if knowing that Action would catch the Eye, and being motionless, they should continue concealed by their Resembling Colour. I shall never entertain the least Doubt of your sincere Intentions in every Thing ; but, since 1 received your last Letter, which relates to this Prattle, I cannot but be apprehensive your favourable Opinion of it proceeds less from your Satisfaction than a friendly Partiality to , 8k c. END OF VOLUME FJRST. Tiinihiill c'-= Spears. Printers, Edinburgh. 'J I3jn» JUI ' JUJ/ \inii ji »' VIV/J I I T J J V* UVJI IT J JV .-),OFCALIF0% .^.OFCALIFO/? V^ ■-^J a1 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY Los Angeles This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. in:. 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