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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/2064-h.zip b/2064-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..d154dae --- /dev/null +++ b/2064-h.zip diff --git a/2064-h/2064-h.htm b/2064-h/2064-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..fbc0cf6 --- /dev/null +++ b/2064-h/2064-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,5420 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html + PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<html> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=US-ASCII" /> +<title>A Journey to the Western Isles of Scotland</title> + <style type="text/css"> +/*<![CDATA[ XML blockout */ +<!-- + P { margin-top: .75em; + margin-bottom: .75em; + } + H1, H2 { + text-align: center; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + } + H3, H4 { + text-align: left; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; + } + BODY{margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + } + .blkquot {margin-left: 4em; margin-right: 4em;} /* block indent */ + // --> + /* XML end ]]>*/ + </style> +</head> +<body> +<h2> +<a href="#startoftext">A Journey to the Western Isles of Scotland, by Samuel Johnson</a> +</h2> +<pre> +The Project Gutenberg eBook, A Journey to the Western Isles of Scotland, +by Samuel Johnson + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: A Journey to the Western Isles of Scotland + + +Author: Samuel Johnson + +Release Date: April 20, 2005 [eBook #2064] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A JOURNEY TO THE WESTERN ISLES OF +SCOTLAND*** +</pre> +<p><a name="startoftext"></a></p> +<p>Transcribed from the 1775 edition with the corrections noted in the +1785 errata by David Price, email ccx074@coventry.ac.uk</p> +<h1>A JOURNEY TO THE WESTERN ISLANDS OF SCOTLAND</h1> +<h2>INCH KEITH</h2> +<p>I had desired to visit the Hebrides, or Western Islands of Scotland, +so long, that I scarcely remember how the wish was originally excited; +and was in the Autumn of the year 1773 induced to undertake the journey, +by finding in Mr. Boswell a companion, whose acuteness would help my +inquiry, and whose gaiety of conversation and civility of manners are +sufficient to counteract the inconveniences of travel, in countries +less hospitable than we have passed.</p> +<p>On the eighteenth of August we left Edinburgh, a city too well known +to admit description, and directed our course northward, along the eastern +coast of Scotland, accompanied the first day by another gentleman, who +could stay with us only long enough to shew us how much we lost at separation.</p> +<p>As we crossed the Frith of Forth, our curiosity was attracted by +Inch Keith, a small island, which neither of my companions had ever +visited, though, lying within their view, it had all their lives solicited +their notice. Here, by climbing with some difficulty over shattered +crags, we made the first experiment of unfrequented coasts. Inch +Keith is nothing more than a rock covered with a thin layer of earth, +not wholly bare of grass, and very fertile of thistles. A small +herd of cows grazes annually upon it in the summer. It seems never +to have afforded to man or beast a permanent habitation.</p> +<p>We found only the ruins of a small fort, not so injured by time but +that it might be easily restored to its former state. It seems +never to have been intended as a place of strength, nor was built to +endure a siege, but merely to afford cover to a few soldiers, who perhaps +had the charge of a battery, or were stationed to give signals of approaching +danger. There is therefore no provision of water within the walls, +though the spring is so near, that it might have been easily enclosed. +One of the stones had this inscription: ‘Maria Reg. 1564.’ +It has probably been neglected from the time that the whole island had +the same king.</p> +<p>We left this little island with our thoughts employed awhile on the +different appearance that it would have made, if it had been placed +at the same distance from London, with the same facility of approach; +with what emulation of price a few rocky acres would have been purchased, +and with what expensive industry they would have been cultivated and +adorned.</p> +<p>When we landed, we found our chaise ready, and passed through Kinghorn, +Kirkaldy, and Cowpar, places not unlike the small or straggling market-towns +in those parts of England where commerce and manufactures have not yet +produced opulence.</p> +<p>Though we were yet in the most populous part of Scotland, and at +so small a distance from the capital, we met few passengers.</p> +<p>The roads are neither rough nor dirty; and it affords a southern +stranger a new kind of pleasure to travel so commodiously without the +interruption of toll-gates. Where the bottom is rocky, as it seems +commonly to be in Scotland, a smooth way is made indeed with great labour, +but it never wants repairs; and in those parts where adventitious materials +are necessary, the ground once consolidated is rarely broken; for the +inland commerce is not great, nor are heavy commodities often transported +otherwise than by water. The carriages in common use are small +carts, drawn each by one little horse; and a man seems to derive some +degree of dignity and importance from the reputation of possessing a +two-horse cart.</p> +<h2>ST. ANDREWS</h2> +<p>At an hour somewhat late we came to St. Andrews, a city once archiepiscopal; +where that university still subsists in which philosophy was formerly +taught by Buchanan, whose name has as fair a claim to immortality as +can be conferred by modern latinity, and perhaps a fairer than the instability +of vernacular languages admits.</p> +<p>We found, that by the interposition of some invisible friend, lodgings +had been provided for us at the house of one of the professors, whose +easy civility quickly made us forget that we were strangers; and in +the whole time of our stay we were gratified by every mode of kindness, +and entertained with all the elegance of lettered hospitality.</p> +<p>In the morning we rose to perambulate a city, which only history +shews to have once flourished, and surveyed the ruins of ancient magnificence, +of which even the ruins cannot long be visible, unless some care be +taken to preserve them; and where is the pleasure of preserving such +mournful memorials? They have been till very lately so much neglected, +that every man carried away the stones who fancied that he wanted them.</p> +<p>The cathedral, of which the foundations may be still traced, and +a small part of the wall is standing, appears to have been a spacious +and majestick building, not unsuitable to the primacy of the kingdom. +Of the architecture, the poor remains can hardly exhibit, even to an +artist, a sufficient specimen. It was demolished, as is well known, +in the tumult and violence of Knox’s reformation.</p> +<p>Not far from the cathedral, on the margin of the water, stands a +fragment of the castle, in which the archbishop anciently resided. +It was never very large, and was built with more attention to security +than pleasure. Cardinal Beatoun is said to have had workmen employed +in improving its fortifications at the time when he was murdered by +the ruffians of reformation, in the manner of which Knox has given what +he himself calls a merry narrative.</p> +<p>The change of religion in Scotland, eager and vehement as it was, +raised an epidemical enthusiasm, compounded of sullen scrupulousness +and warlike ferocity, which, in a people whom idleness resigned to their +own thoughts, and who, conversing only with each other, suffered no +dilution of their zeal from the gradual influx of new opinions, was +long transmitted in its full strength from the old to the young, but +by trade and intercourse with England, is now visibly abating, and giving +way too fast to that laxity of practice and indifference of opinion, +in which men, not sufficiently instructed to find the middle point, +too easily shelter themselves from rigour and constraint.</p> +<p>The city of St. Andrews, when it had lost its archiepiscopal pre-eminence, +gradually decayed: One of its streets is now lost; and in those that +remain, there is silence and solitude of inactive indigence and gloomy +depopulation.</p> +<p>The university, within a few years, consisted of three colleges, +but is now reduced to two; the college of St. Leonard being lately dissolved +by the sale of its buildings and the appropriation of its revenues to +the professors of the two others. The chapel of the alienated +college is yet standing, a fabrick not inelegant of external structure; +but I was always, by some civil excuse, hindred from entering it. +A decent attempt, as I was since told, has been made to convert it into +a kind of green-house, by planting its area with shrubs. This +new method of gardening is unsuccessful; the plants do not hitherto +prosper. To what use it will next be put I have no pleasure in +conjecturing. It is something that its present state is at least +not ostentatiously displayed. Where there is yet shame, there +may in time be virtue.</p> +<p>The dissolution of St. Leonard’s college was doubtless necessary; +but of that necessity there is reason to complain. It is surely +not without just reproach, that a nation, of which the commerce is hourly +extending, and the wealth encreasing, denies any participation of its +prosperity to its literary societies; and while its merchants or its +nobles are raising palaces, suffers its universities to moulder into +dust.</p> +<p>Of the two colleges yet standing, one is by the institution of its +founder appropriated to Divinity. It is said to be capable of +containing fifty students; but more than one must occupy a chamber. +The library, which is of late erection, is not very spacious, but elegant +and luminous.</p> +<p>The doctor, by whom it was shewn, hoped to irritate or subdue my +English vanity by telling me, that we had no such repository of books +in England.</p> +<p>Saint Andrews seems to be a place eminently adapted to study and +education, being situated in a populous, yet a cheap country, and exposing +the minds and manners of young men neither to the levity and dissoluteness +of a capital city, nor to the gross luxury of a town of commerce, places +naturally unpropitious to learning; in one the desire of knowledge easily +gives way to the love of pleasure, and in the other, is in danger of +yielding to the love of money.</p> +<p>The students however are represented as at this time not exceeding +a hundred. Perhaps it may be some obstruction to their increase +that there is no episcopal chapel in the place. I saw no reason +for imputing their paucity to the present professors; nor can the expence +of an academical education be very reasonably objected. A student +of the highest class may keep his annual session, or as the English +call it, his term, which lasts seven months, for about fifteen pounds, +and one of lower rank for less than ten; in which board, lodging, and +instruction are all included.</p> +<p>The chief magistrate resident in the university, answering to our +vice-chancellor, and to the <i>rector magnificus</i> on the continent, +had commonly the title of Lord Rector; but being addressed only as Mr. +Rector in an inauguratory speech by the present chancellor, he has fallen +from his former dignity of style. Lordship was very liberally +annexed by our ancestors to any station or character of dignity: They +said, the Lord General, and Lord Ambassador; so we still say, my Lord, +to the judge upon the circuit, and yet retain in our Liturgy the Lords +of the Council.</p> +<p>In walking among the ruins of religious buildings, we came to two +vaults over which had formerly stood the house of the sub-prior. +One of the vaults was inhabited by an old woman, who claimed the right +of abode there, as the widow of a man whose ancestors had possessed +the same gloomy mansion for no less than four generations. The +right, however it began, was considered as established by legal prescription, +and the old woman lives undisturbed. She thinks however that she +has a claim to something more than sufferance; for as her husband’s +name was Bruce, she is allied to royalty, and told Mr. Boswell that +when there were persons of quality in the place, she was distinguished +by some notice; that indeed she is now neglected, but she spins a thread, +has the company of her cat, and is troublesome to nobody.</p> +<p>Having now seen whatever this ancient city offered to our curiosity, +we left it with good wishes, having reason to be highly pleased with +the attention that was paid us. But whoever surveys the world +must see many things that give him pain. The kindness of the professors +did not contribute to abate the uneasy remembrance of an university +declining, a college alienated, and a church profaned and hastening +to the ground.</p> +<p>St. Andrews indeed has formerly suffered more atrocious ravages and +more extensive destruction, but recent evils affect with greater force. +We were reconciled to the sight of archiepiscopal ruins. The distance +of a calamity from the present time seems to preclude the mind from +contact or sympathy. Events long past are barely known; they are +not considered. We read with as little emotion the violence of +Knox and his followers, as the irruptions of Alaric and the Goths. +Had the university been destroyed two centuries ago, we should not have +regretted it; but to see it pining in decay and struggling for life, +fills the mind with mournful images and ineffectual wishes.</p> +<h2>ABERBROTHICK</h2> +<p>As we knew sorrow and wishes to be vain, it was now our business +to mind our way. The roads of Scotland afford little diversion +to the traveller, who seldom sees himself either encountered or overtaken, +and who has nothing to contemplate but grounds that have no visible +boundaries, or are separated by walls of loose stone. From the +bank of the Tweed to St. Andrews I had never seen a single tree, which +I did not believe to have grown up far within the present century. +Now and then about a gentleman’s house stands a small plantation, +which in Scotch is called a policy, but of these there are few, and +those few all very young. The variety of sun and shade is here +utterly unknown. There is no tree for either shelter or timber. +The oak and the thorn is equally a stranger, and the whole country is +extended in uniform nakedness, except that in the road between Kirkaldy +and Cowpar, I passed for a few yards between two hedges. A tree +might be a show in Scotland as a horse in Venice. At St. Andrews +Mr. Boswell found only one, and recommended it to my notice; I told +him that it was rough and low, or looked as if I thought so. This, +said he, is nothing to another a few miles off. I was still less +delighted to hear that another tree was not to be seen nearer. +Nay, said a gentleman that stood by, I know but of this and that tree +in the county.</p> +<p>The Lowlands of Scotland had once undoubtedly an equal portion of +woods with other countries. Forests are every where gradually +diminished, as architecture and cultivation prevail by the increase +of people and the introduction of arts. But I believe few regions +have been denuded like this, where many centuries must have passed in +waste without the least thought of future supply. Davies observes +in his account of Ireland, that no Irishman had ever planted an orchard. +For that negligence some excuse might be drawn from an unsettled state +of life, and the instability of property; but in Scotland possession +has long been secure, and inheritance regular, yet it may be doubted +whether before the Union any man between Edinburgh and England had ever +set a tree.</p> +<p>Of this improvidence no other account can be given than that it probably +began in times of tumult, and continued because it had begun. +Established custom is not easily broken, till some great event shakes +the whole system of things, and life seems to recommence upon new principles. +That before the Union the Scots had little trade and little money, is +no valid apology; for plantation is the least expensive of all methods +of improvement. To drop a seed into the ground can cost nothing, +and the trouble is not great of protecting the young plant, till it +is out of danger; though it must be allowed to have some difficulty +in places like these, where they have neither wood for palisades, nor +thorns for hedges.</p> +<p>Our way was over the Firth of Tay, where, though the water was not +wide, we paid four shillings for ferrying the chaise. In Scotland +the necessaries of life are easily procured, but superfluities and elegancies +are of the same price at least as in England, and therefore may be considered +as much dearer.</p> +<p>We stopped a while at Dundee, where I remember nothing remarkable, +and mounting our chaise again, came about the close of the day to Aberbrothick.</p> +<p>The monastery of Aberbrothick is of great renown in the history of +Scotland. Its ruins afford ample testimony of its ancient magnificence: +Its extent might, I suppose, easily be found by following the walls +among the grass and weeds, and its height is known by some parts yet +standing. The arch of one of the gates is entire, and of another +only so far dilapidated as to diversify the appearance. A square +apartment of great loftiness is yet standing; its use I could not conjecture, +as its elevation was very disproportionate to its area. Two corner +towers, particularly attracted our attention. Mr. Boswell, whose +inquisitiveness is seconded by great activity, scrambled in at a high +window, but found the stairs within broken, and could not reach the +top. Of the other tower we were told that the inhabitants sometimes +climbed it, but we did not immediately discern the entrance, and as +the night was gathering upon us, thought proper to desist. Men +skilled in architecture might do what we did not attempt: They might +probably form an exact ground-plot of this venerable edifice. +They may from some parts yet standing conjecture its general form, and +perhaps by comparing it with other buildings of the same kind and the +same age, attain an idea very near to truth. I should scarcely +have regretted my journey, had it afforded nothing more than the sight +of Aberbrothick.</p> +<h2>MONTROSE</h2> +<p>Leaving these fragments of magnificence, we travelled on to Montrose, +which we surveyed in the morning, and found it well built, airy, and +clean. The townhouse is a handsome fabrick with a portico. +We then went to view the English chapel, and found a small church, clean +to a degree unknown in any other part of Scotland, with commodious galleries, +and what was yet less expected, with an organ.</p> +<p>At our inn we did not find a reception such as we thought proportionate +to the commercial opulence of the place; but Mr. Boswell desired me +to observe that the innkeeper was an Englishman, and I then defended +him as well as I could.</p> +<p>When I had proceeded thus far, I had opportunities of observing what +I had never heard, that there are many beggars in Scotland. In +Edinburgh the proportion is, I think, not less than in London, and in +the smaller places it is far greater than in English towns of the same +extent. It must, however, be allowed that they are not importunate, +nor clamorous. They solicit silently, or very modestly, and therefore +though their behaviour may strike with more force the heart of a stranger, +they are certainly in danger of missing the attention of their countrymen. +Novelty has always some power, an unaccustomed mode of begging excites +an unaccustomed degree of pity. But the force of novelty is by +its own nature soon at an end; the efficacy of outcry and perseverance +is permanent and certain.</p> +<p>The road from Montrose exhibited a continuation of the same appearances. +The country is still naked, the hedges are of stone, and the fields +so generally plowed that it is hard to imagine where grass is found +for the horses that till them. The harvest, which was almost ripe, +appeared very plentiful.</p> +<p>Early in the afternoon Mr. Boswell observed that we were at no great +distance from the house of lord Monboddo. The magnetism of his +conversation easily drew us out of our way, and the entertainment which +we received would have been a sufficient recompense for a much greater +deviation.</p> +<p>The roads beyond Edinburgh, as they are less frequented, must be +expected to grow gradually rougher; but they were hitherto by no means +incommodious. We travelled on with the gentle pace of a Scotch +driver, who having no rivals in expedition, neither gives himself nor +his horses unnecessary trouble. We did not affect the impatience +we did not feel, but were satisfied with the company of each other as +well riding in the chaise, as sitting at an inn. The night and +the day are equally solitary and equally safe; for where there are so +few travellers, why should there be robbers.</p> +<h2>ABERDEEN</h2> +<p>We came somewhat late to Aberdeen, and found the inn so full, that +we had some difficulty in obtaining admission, till Mr. Boswell made +himself known: His name overpowered all objection, and we found a very +good house and civil treatment.</p> +<p>I received the next day a very kind letter from Sir Alexander Gordon, +whom I had formerly known in London, and after a cessation of all intercourse +for near twenty years met here professor of physic in the King’s +College. Such unexpected renewals of acquaintance may be numbered +among the most pleasing incidents of life.</p> +<p>The knowledge of one professor soon procured me the notice of the +rest, and I did not want any token of regard, being conducted wherever +there was any thing which I desired to see, and entertained at once +with the novelty of the place, and the kindness of communication.</p> +<p>To write of the cities of our own island with the solemnity of geographical +description, as if we had been cast upon a newly discovered coast, has +the appearance of very frivolous ostentation; yet as Scotland is little +known to the greater part of those who may read these observations, +it is not superfluous to relate, that under the name of Aberdeen are +comprised two towns standing about a mile distant from each other, but +governed, I think, by the same magistrates.</p> +<p>Old Aberdeen is the ancient episcopal city, in which are still to +be seen the remains of the cathedral. It has the appearance of +a town in decay, having been situated in times when commerce was yet +unstudied, with very little attention to the commodities of the harbour.</p> +<p>New Aberdeen has all the bustle of prosperous trade, and all the +shew of increasing opulence. It is built by the water-side. +The houses are large and lofty, and the streets spacious and clean. +They build almost wholly with the granite used in the new pavement of +the streets of London, which is well known not to want hardness, yet +they shape it easily. It is beautiful and must be very lasting.</p> +<p>What particular parts of commerce are chiefly exercised by the merchants +of Aberdeen, I have not inquired. The manufacture which forces +itself upon a stranger’s eye is that of knit-stockings, on which +the women of the lower class are visibly employed.</p> +<p>In each of these towns there is a college, or in stricter language, +an university; for in both there are professors of the same parts of +learning, and the colleges hold their sessions and confer degrees separately, +with total independence of one on the other.</p> +<p>In old Aberdeen stands the King’s College, of which the first +president was Hector Boece, or Boethius, who may be justly reverenced +as one of the revivers of elegant learning. When he studied at +Paris, he was acquainted with Erasmus, who afterwards gave him a public +testimony of his esteem, by inscribing to him a catalogue of his works. +The stile of Boethius, though, perhaps, not always rigorously pure, +is formed with great diligence upon ancient models, and wholly uninfected +with monastic barbarity. His history is written with elegance +and vigour, but his fabulousness and credulity are justly blamed. +His fabulousness, if he was the author of the fictions, is a fault for +which no apology can be made; but his credulity may be excused in an +age, when all men were credulous. Learning was then rising on +the world; but ages so long accustomed to darkness, were too much dazzled +with its light to see any thing distinctly. The first race of +scholars, in the fifteenth century, and some time after, were, for the +most part, learning to speak, rather than to think, and were therefore +more studious of elegance than of truth. The contemporaries of +Boethius thought it sufficient to know what the ancients had delivered. +The examination of tenets and of facts was reserved for another generation.</p> +<p>* * * * *</p> +<p>Boethius, as president of the university, enjoyed a revenue of forty +Scottish marks, about two pounds four shillings and sixpence of sterling +money. In the present age of trade and taxes, it is difficult +even for the imagination so to raise the value of money, or so to diminish +the demands of life, as to suppose four and forty shillings a year, +an honourable stipend; yet it was probably equal, not only to the needs, +but to the rank of Boethius. The wealth of England was undoubtedly +to that of Scotland more than five to one, and it is known that Henry +the eighth, among whose faults avarice was never reckoned, granted to +Roger Ascham, as a reward of his learning, a pension of ten pounds a +year.</p> +<p>The other, called the Marischal College, is in the new town. +The hall is large and well lighted. One of its ornaments is the +picture of Arthur Johnston, who was principal of the college, and who +holds among the Latin poets of Scotland the next place to the elegant +Buchanan.</p> +<p>In the library I was shewn some curiosities; a Hebrew manuscript +of exquisite penmanship, and a Latin translation of Aristotle’s +Politicks by Leonardus Aretinus, written in the Roman character with +nicety and beauty, which, as the art of printing has made them no longer +necessary, are not now to be found. This was one of the latest +performances of the transcribers, for Aretinus died but about twenty +years before typography was invented. This version has been printed, +and may be found in libraries, but is little read; for the same books +have been since translated both by Victorius and Lambinus, who lived +in an age more cultivated, but perhaps owed in part to Aretinus that +they were able to excel him. Much is due to those who first broke +the way to knowledge, and left only to their successors the task of +smoothing it.</p> +<p>In both these colleges the methods of instruction are nearly the +same; the lectures differing only by the accidental difference of diligence, +or ability in the professors. The students wear scarlet gowns +and the professors black, which is, I believe, the academical dress +in all the Scottish universities, except that of Edinburgh, where the +scholars are not distinguished by any particular habit. In the +King’s College there is kept a public table, but the scholars +of the Marischal College are boarded in the town. The expence +of living is here, according to the information that I could obtain, +somewhat more than at St. Andrews.</p> +<p>The course of education is extended to four years, at the end of +which those who take a degree, who are not many, become masters of arts, +and whoever is a master may, if he pleases, immediately commence doctor. +The title of doctor, however, was for a considerable time bestowed only +on physicians. The advocates are examined and approved by their +own body; the ministers were not ambitious of titles, or were afraid +of being censured for ambition; and the doctorate in every faculty was +commonly given or sold into other countries. The ministers are +now reconciled to distinction, and as it must always happen that some +will excel others, have thought graduation a proper testimony of uncommon +abilities or acquisitions.</p> +<p>The indiscriminate collation of degrees has justly taken away that +respect which they originally claimed as stamps, by which the literary +value of men so distinguished was authoritatively denoted. That +academical honours, or any others should be conferred with exact proportion +to merit, is more than human judgment or human integrity have given +reason to expect. Perhaps degrees in universities cannot be better +adjusted by any general rule than by the length of time passed in the +public profession of learning. An English or Irish doctorate cannot +be obtained by a very young man, and it is reasonable to suppose, what +is likewise by experience commonly found true, that he who is by age +qualified to be a doctor, has in so much time gained learning sufficient +not to disgrace the title, or wit sufficient not to desire it.</p> +<p>The Scotch universities hold but one term or session in the year. +That of St. Andrews continues eight months, that of Aberdeen only five, +from the first of November to the first of April.</p> +<p>In Aberdeen there is an English Chapel, in which the congregation +was numerous and splendid. The form of public worship used by +the church of England is in Scotland legally practised in licensed chapels +served by clergymen of English or Irish ordination, and by tacit connivance +quietly permitted in separate congregations supplied with ministers +by the successors of the bishops who were deprived at the Revolution.</p> +<p>We came to Aberdeen on Saturday August 21. On Monday we were +invited into the town-hall, where I had the freedom of the city given +me by the Lord Provost. The honour conferred had all the decorations +that politeness could add, and what I am afraid I should not have had +to say of any city south of the Tweed, I found no petty officer bowing +for a fee.</p> +<p>The parchment containing the record of admission is, with the seal +appending, fastened to a riband and worn for one day by the new citizen +in his hat.</p> +<p>By a lady who saw us at the chapel, the Earl of Errol was informed +of our arrival, and we had the honour of an invitation to his seat, +called Slanes Castle, as I am told, improperly, from the castle of that +name, which once stood at a place not far distant.</p> +<p>The road beyond Aberdeen grew more stony, and continued equally naked +of all vegetable decoration. We travelled over a tract of ground +near the sea, which, not long ago, suffered a very uncommon, and unexpected +calamity. The sand of the shore was raised by a tempest in such +quantities, and carried to such a distance, that an estate was overwhelmed +and lost. Such and so hopeless was the barrenness superinduced, +that the owner, when he was required to pay the usual tax, desired rather +to resign the ground.</p> +<h2>SLANES CASTLE, THE BULLER OF BUCHAN</h2> +<p>We came in the afternoon to Slanes Castle, built upon the margin +of the sea, so that the walls of one of the towers seem only a continuation +of a perpendicular rock, the foot of which is beaten by the waves. +To walk round the house seemed impracticable. From the windows +the eye wanders over the sea that separates Scotland from Norway, and +when the winds beat with violence must enjoy all the terrifick grandeur +of the tempestuous ocean. I would not for my amusement wish for +a storm; but as storms, whether wished or not, will sometimes happen, +I may say, without violation of humanity, that I should willingly look +out upon them from Slanes Castle.</p> +<p>When we were about to take our leave, our departure was prohibited +by the countess till we should have seen two places upon the coast, +which she rightly considered as worthy of curiosity, Dun Buy, and the +Buller of Buchan, to which Mr. Boyd very kindly conducted us.</p> +<p>Dun Buy, which in Erse is said to signify the Yellow Rock, is a double +protuberance of stone, open to the main sea on one side, and parted +from the land by a very narrow channel on the other. It has its +name and its colour from the dung of innumerable sea-fowls, which in +the Spring chuse this place as convenient for incubation, and have their +eggs and their young taken in great abundance. One of the birds +that frequent this rock has, as we were told, its body not larger than +a duck’s, and yet lays eggs as large as those of a goose. +This bird is by the inhabitants named a Coot. That which is called +Coot in England, is here a Cooter.</p> +<p>Upon these rocks there was nothing that could long detain attention, +and we soon turned our eyes to the Buller, or Bouilloir of Buchan, which +no man can see with indifference, who has either sense of danger or +delight in rarity. It is a rock perpendicularly tubulated, united +on one side with a high shore, and on the other rising steep to a great +height, above the main sea. The top is open, from which may be +seen a dark gulf of water which flows into the cavity, through a breach +made in the lower part of the inclosing rock. It has the appearance +of a vast well bordered with a wall. The edge of the Buller is +not wide, and to those that walk round, appears very narrow. He +that ventures to look downward sees, that if his foot should slip, he +must fall from his dreadful elevation upon stones on one side, or into +water on the other. We however went round, and were glad when +the circuit was completed.</p> +<p>When we came down to the sea, we saw some boats, and rowers, and +resolved to explore the Buller at the bottom. We entered the arch, +which the water had made, and found ourselves in a place, which, though +we could not think ourselves in danger, we could scarcely survey without +some recoil of the mind. The bason in which we floated was nearly +circular, perhaps thirty yards in diameter. We were inclosed by +a natural wall, rising steep on every side to a height which produced +the idea of insurmountable confinement. The interception of all +lateral light caused a dismal gloom. Round us was a perpendicular +rock, above us the distant sky, and below an unknown profundity of water. +If I had any malice against a walking spirit, instead of laying him +in the Red-sea, I would condemn him to reside in the Buller of Buchan.</p> +<p>But terrour without danger is only one of the sports of fancy, a +voluntary agitation of the mind that is permitted no longer than it +pleases. We were soon at leisure to examine the place with minute +inspection, and found many cavities which, as the waterman told us, +went backward to a depth which they had never explored. Their +extent we had not time to try; they are said to serve different purposes. +Ladies come hither sometimes in the summer with collations, and smugglers +make them storehouses for clandestine merchandise. It is hardly +to be doubted but the pirates of ancient times often used them as magazines +of arms, or repositories of plunder.</p> +<p>To the little vessels used by the northern rovers, the Buller may +have served as a shelter from storms, and perhaps as a retreat from +enemies; the entrance might have been stopped, or guarded with little +difficulty, and though the vessels that were stationed within would +have been battered with stones showered on them from above, yet the +crews would have lain safe in the caverns.</p> +<p>Next morning we continued our journey, pleased with our reception +at Slanes Castle, of which we had now leisure to recount the grandeur +and the elegance; for our way afforded us few topics of conversation. +The ground was neither uncultivated nor unfruitful; but it was still +all arable. Of flocks or herds there was no appearance. +I had now travelled two hundred miles in Scotland, and seen only one +tree not younger than myself.</p> +<h2>BAMFF</h2> +<p>We dined this day at the house of Mr. Frazer of Streichton, who shewed +us in his grounds some stones yet standing of a druidical circle, and +what I began to think more worthy of notice, some forest trees of full +growth.</p> +<p>At night we came to Bamff, where I remember nothing that particularly +claimed my attention. The ancient towns of Scotland have generally +an appearance unusual to Englishmen. The houses, whether great +or small, are for the most part built of stones. Their ends are +now and then next the streets, and the entrance into them is very often +by a flight of steps, which reaches up to the second story, the floor +which is level with the ground being entered only by stairs descending +within the house.</p> +<p>The art of joining squares of glass with lead is little used in Scotland, +and in some places is totally forgotten. The frames of their windows +are all of wood. They are more frugal of their glass than the +English, and will often, in houses not otherwise mean, compose a square +of two pieces, not joining like cracked glass, but with one edge laid +perhaps half an inch over the other. Their windows do not move +upon hinges, but are pushed up and drawn down in grooves, yet they are +seldom accommodated with weights and pullies. He that would have +his window open must hold it with his hand, unless what may be sometimes +found among good contrivers, there be a nail which he may stick into +a hole, to keep it from falling.</p> +<p>What cannot be done without some uncommon trouble or particular expedient, +will not often be done at all. The incommodiousness of the Scotch +windows keeps them very closely shut. The necessity of ventilating +human habitations has not yet been found by our northern neighbours; +and even in houses well built and elegantly furnished, a stranger may +be sometimes forgiven, if he allows himself to wish for fresher air.</p> +<p>These diminutive observations seem to take away something from the +dignity of writing, and therefore are never communicated but with hesitation, +and a little fear of abasement and contempt. But it must be remembered, +that life consists not of a series of illustrious actions, or elegant +enjoyments; the greater part of our time passes in compliance with necessities, +in the performance of daily duties, in the removal of small inconveniences, +in the procurement of petty pleasures; and we are well or ill at ease, +as the main stream of life glides on smoothly, or is ruffled by small +obstacles and frequent interruption. The true state of every nation +is the state of common life. The manners of a people are not to +be found in the schools of learning, or the palaces of greatness, where +the national character is obscured or obliterated by travel or instruction, +by philosophy or vanity; nor is public happiness to be estimated by +the assemblies of the gay, or the banquets of the rich. The great +mass of nations is neither rich nor gay: they whose aggregate constitutes +the people, are found in the streets, and the villages, in the shops +and farms; and from them collectively considered, must the measure of +general prosperity be taken. As they approach to delicacy a nation +is refined, as their conveniences are multiplied, a nation, at least +a commercial nation, must be denominated wealthy.</p> +<h2>ELGIN</h2> +<p>Finding nothing to detain us at Bamff, we set out in the morning, +and having breakfasted at Cullen, about noon came to Elgin, where in +the inn, that we supposed the best, a dinner was set before us, which +we could not eat. This was the first time, and except one, the +last, that I found any reason to complain of a Scotish table; and such +disappointments, I suppose, must be expected in every country, where +there is no great frequency of travellers.</p> +<p>The ruins of the cathedral of Elgin afforded us another proof of +the waste of reformation. There is enough yet remaining to shew, +that it was once magnificent. Its whole plot is easily traced. +On the north side of the choir, the chapter-house, which is roofed with +an arch of stone, remains entire; and on the south side, another mass +of building, which we could not enter, is preserved by the care of the +family of Gordon; but the body of the church is a mass of fragments.</p> +<p>A paper was here put into our hands, which deduced from sufficient +authorities the history of this venerable ruin. The church of +Elgin had, in the intestine tumults of the barbarous ages, been laid +waste by the irruption of a highland chief, whom the bishop had offended; +but it was gradually restored to the state, of which the traces may +be now discerned, and was at last not destroyed by the tumultuous violence +of Knox, but more shamefully suffered to dilapidate by deliberate robbery +and frigid indifference. There is still extant, in the books of +the council, an order, of which I cannot remember the date, but which +was doubtless issued after the Reformation, directing that the lead, +which covers the two cathedrals of Elgin and Aberdeen, shall be taken +away, and converted into money for the support of the army. A +Scotch army was in those times very cheaply kept; yet the lead of two +churches must have born so small a proportion to any military expence, +that it is hard not to believe the reason alleged to be merely popular, +and the money intended for some private purse. The order however +was obeyed; the two churches were stripped, and the lead was shipped +to be sold in Holland. I hope every reader will rejoice that this +cargo of sacrilege was lost at sea.</p> +<p>Let us not however make too much haste to despise our neighbours. +Our own cathedrals are mouldering by unregarded dilapidation. +It seems to be part of the despicable philosophy of the time to despise +monuments of sacred magnificence, and we are in danger of doing that +deliberately, which the Scots did not do but in the unsettled state +of an imperfect constitution.</p> +<p>Those who had once uncovered the cathedrals never wished to cover +them again; and being thus made useless, they were, first neglected, +and perhaps, as the stone was wanted, afterwards demolished.</p> +<p>Elgin seems a place of little trade, and thinly inhabited. +The episcopal cities of Scotland, I believe, generally fell with their +churches, though some of them have since recovered by a situation convenient +for commerce. Thus Glasgow, though it has no longer an archbishop, +has risen beyond its original state by the opulence of its traders; +and Aberdeen, though its ancient stock had decayed, flourishes by a +new shoot in another place.</p> +<p>In the chief street of Elgin, the houses jut over the lowest story, +like the old buildings of timber in London, but with greater prominence; +so that there is sometimes a walk for a considerable length under a +cloister, or portico, which is now indeed frequently broken, because +the new houses have another form, but seems to have been uniformly continued +in the old city.</p> +<h2>FORES. CALDER. FORT GEORGE</h2> +<p>We went forwards the same day to Fores, the town to which Macbeth +was travelling, when he met the weird sisters in his way. This +to an Englishman is classic ground. Our imaginations were heated, +and our thoughts recalled to their old amusements.</p> +<p>We had now a prelude to the Highlands. We began to leave fertility +and culture behind us, and saw for a great length of road nothing but +heath; yet at Fochabars, a seat belonging to the duke of Gordon, there +is an orchard, which in Scotland I had never seen before, with some +timber trees, and a plantation of oaks.</p> +<p>At Fores we found good accommodation, but nothing worthy of particular +remark, and next morning entered upon the road, on which Macbeth heard +the fatal prediction; but we travelled on not interrupted by promises +of kingdoms, and came to Nairn, a royal burgh, which, if once it flourished, +is now in a state of miserable decay; but I know not whether its chief +annual magistrate has not still the title of Lord Provost.</p> +<p>At Nairn we may fix the verge of the Highlands; for here I first +saw peat fires, and first heard the Erse language. We had no motive +to stay longer than to breakfast, and went forward to the house of Mr. +Macaulay, the minister who published an account of St. Kilda, and by +his direction visited Calder Castle, from which Macbeth drew his second +title. It has been formerly a place of strength. The drawbridge +is still to be seen, but the moat is now dry. The tower is very +ancient: Its walls are of great thickness, arched on the top with stone, +and surrounded with battlements. The rest of the house is later, +though far from modern.</p> +<p>We were favoured by a gentleman, who lives in the castle, with a +letter to one of the officers at Fort George, which being the most regular +fortification in the island, well deserves the notice of a traveller, +who has never travelled before. We went thither next day, found +a very kind reception, were led round the works by a gentleman, who +explained the use of every part, and entertained by Sir Eyre Coote, +the governour, with such elegance of conversation as left us no attention +to the delicacies of his table.</p> +<p>Of Fort George I shall not attempt to give any account. I cannot +delineate it scientifically, and a loose and popular description is +of use only when the imagination is to be amused. There was every +where an appearance of the utmost neatness and regularity. But +my suffrage is of little value, because this and Fort Augustus are the +only garrisons that I ever saw.</p> +<p>We did not regret the time spent at the fort, though in consequence +of our delay we came somewhat late to Inverness, the town which may +properly be called the capital of the Highlands. Hither the inhabitants +of the inland parts come to be supplied with what they cannot make for +themselves: Hither the young nymphs of the mountains and valleys are +sent for education, and as far as my observation has reached, are not +sent in vain.</p> +<h2>INVERNESS</h2> +<p>Inverness was the last place which had a regular communication by +high roads with the southern counties. All the ways beyond it +have, I believe, been made by the soldiers in this century. At +Inverness therefore Cromwell, when he subdued Scotland, stationed a +garrison, as at the boundary of the Highlands. The soldiers seem +to have incorporated afterwards with the inhabitants, and to have peopled +the place with an English race; for the language of this town has been +long considered as peculiarly elegant.</p> +<p>Here is a castle, called the castle of Macbeth, the walls of which +are yet standing. It was no very capacious edifice, but stands +upon a rock so high and steep, that I think it was once not accessible, +but by the help of ladders, or a bridge. Over against it, on another +hill, was a fort built by Cromwell, now totally demolished; for no faction +of Scotland loved the name of Cromwell, or had any desire to continue +his memory.</p> +<p>Yet what the Romans did to other nations, was in a great degree done +by Cromwell to the Scots; he civilized them by conquest, and introduced +by useful violence the arts of peace. I was told at Aberdeen that +the people learned from Cromwell’s soldiers to make shoes and +to plant kail.</p> +<p>How they lived without kail, it is not easy to guess: They cultivate +hardly any other plant for common tables, and when they had not kail +they probably had nothing. The numbers that go barefoot are still +sufficient to shew that shoes may be spared: They are not yet considered +as necessaries of life; for tall boys, not otherwise meanly dressed, +run without them in the streets; and in the islands the sons of gentlemen +pass several of their first years with naked feet.</p> +<p>I know not whether it be not peculiar to the Scots to have attained +the liberal, without the manual arts, to have excelled in ornamental +knowledge, and to have wanted not only the elegancies, but the conveniences +of common life. Literature soon after its revival found its way +to Scotland, and from the middle of the sixteenth century, almost to +the middle of the seventeenth, the politer studies were very diligently +pursued. The Latin poetry of <i>Deliciæ Poëtarum Scotorum</i> +would have done honour to any nation, at least till the publication +of <i>May’s Supplement</i> the English had very little to oppose.</p> +<p>Yet men thus ingenious and inquisitive were content to live in total +ignorance of the trades by which human wants are supplied, and to supply +them by the grossest means. Till the Union made them acquainted +with English manners, the culture of their lands was unskilful, and +their domestick life unformed; their tables were coarse as the feasts +of Eskimeaux, and their houses filthy as the cottages of Hottentots.</p> +<p>Since they have known that their condition was capable of improvement, +their progress in useful knowledge has been rapid and uniform. +What remains to be done they will quickly do, and then wonder, like +me, why that which was so necessary and so easy was so long delayed. +But they must be for ever content to owe to the English that elegance +and culture, which, if they had been vigilant and active, perhaps the +English might have owed to them.</p> +<p>Here the appearance of life began to alter. I had seen a few +women with plaids at Aberdeen; but at Inverness the Highland manners +are common. There is I think a kirk, in which only the Erse language +is used. There is likewise an English chapel, but meanly built, +where on Sunday we saw a very decent congregation.</p> +<p>We were now to bid farewel to the luxury of travelling, and to enter +a country upon which perhaps no wheel has ever rolled. We could +indeed have used our post-chaise one day longer, along the military +road to Fort Augustus, but we could have hired no horses beyond Inverness, +and we were not so sparing of ourselves, as to lead them, merely that +we might have one day longer the indulgence of a carriage.</p> +<p>At Inverness therefore we procured three horses for ourselves and +a servant, and one more for our baggage, which was no very heavy load. +We found in the course of our journey the convenience of having disencumbered +ourselves, by laying aside whatever we could spare; for it is not to +be imagined without experience, how in climbing crags, and treading +bogs, and winding through narrow and obstructed passages, a little bulk +will hinder, and a little weight will burthen; or how often a man that +has pleased himself at home with his own resolution, will, in the hour +of darkness and fatigue, be content to leave behind him every thing +but himself.</p> +<h2>LOUGH NESS</h2> +<p>We took two Highlanders to run beside us, partly to shew us the way, +and partly to take back from the sea-side the horses, of which they +were the owners. One of them was a man of great liveliness and +activity, of whom his companion said, that he would tire any horse in +Inverness. Both of them were civil and ready-handed. Civility +seems part of the national character of Highlanders. Every chieftain +is a monarch, and politeness, the natural product of royal government, +is diffused from the laird through the whole clan. But they are +not commonly dexterous: their narrowness of life confines them to a +few operations, and they are accustomed to endure little wants more +than to remove them.</p> +<p>We mounted our steeds on the thirtieth of August, and directed our +guides to conduct us to Fort Augustus. It is built at the head +of Lough Ness, of which Inverness stands at the outlet. The way +between them has been cut by the soldiers, and the greater part of it +runs along a rock, levelled with great labour and exactness, near the +water-side.</p> +<p>Most of this day’s journey was very pleasant. The day, +though bright, was not hot; and the appearance of the country, if I +had not seen the Peak, would have been wholly new. We went upon +a surface so hard and level, that we had little care to hold the bridle, +and were therefore at full leisure for contemplation. On the left +were high and steep rocks shaded with birch, the hardy native of the +North, and covered with fern or heath. On the right the limpid +waters of Lough Ness were beating their bank, and waving their surface +by a gentle agitation. Beyond them were rocks sometimes covered +with verdure, and sometimes towering in horrid nakedness. Now +and then we espied a little cornfield, which served to impress more +strongly the general barrenness.</p> +<p>Lough Ness is about twenty-four miles long, and from one mile to +two miles broad. It is remarkable that Boethius, in his description +of Scotland, gives it twelve miles of breadth. When historians +or geographers exhibit false accounts of places far distant, they may +be forgiven, because they can tell but what they are told; and that +their accounts exceed the truth may be justly supposed, because most +men exaggerate to others, if not to themselves: but Boethius lived at +no great distance; if he never saw the lake, he must have been very +incurious, and if he had seen it, his veracity yielded to very slight +temptations.</p> +<p>Lough Ness, though not twelve miles broad, is a very remarkable diffusion +of water without islands. It fills a large hollow between two +ridges of high rocks, being supplied partly by the torrents which fall +into it on either side, and partly, as is supposed, by springs at the +bottom. Its water is remarkably clear and pleasant, and is imagined +by the natives to be medicinal. We were told, that it is in some +places a hundred and forty fathoms deep, a profundity scarcely credible, +and which probably those that relate it have never sounded. Its +fish are salmon, trout, and pike.</p> +<p>It was said at fort Augustus, that Lough Ness is open in the hardest +winters, though a lake not far from it is covered with ice. In +discussing these exceptions from the course of nature, the first question +is, whether the fact be justly stated. That which is strange is +delightful, and a pleasing error is not willingly detected. Accuracy +of narration is not very common, and there are few so rigidly philosophical, +as not to represent as perpetual, what is only frequent, or as constant, +what is really casual. If it be true that Lough Ness never freezes, +it is either sheltered by its high banks from the cold blasts, and exposed +only to those winds which have more power to agitate than congeal; or +it is kept in perpetual motion by the rush of streams from the rocks +that inclose it. Its profundity though it should be such as is +represented can have little part in this exemption; for though deep +wells are not frozen, because their water is secluded from the external +air, yet where a wide surface is exposed to the full influence of a +freezing atmosphere, I know not why the depth should keep it open. +Natural philosophy is now one of the favourite studies of the Scottish +nation, and Lough Ness well deserves to be diligently examined.</p> +<p>The road on which we travelled, and which was itself a source of +entertainment, is made along the rock, in the direction of the lough, +sometimes by breaking off protuberances, and sometimes by cutting the +great mass of stone to a considerable depth. The fragments are +piled in a loose wall on either side, with apertures left at very short +spaces, to give a passage to the wintry currents. Part of it is +bordered with low trees, from which our guides gathered nuts, and would +have had the appearance of an English lane, except that an English lane +is almost always dirty. It has been made with great labour, but +has this advantage, that it cannot, without equal labour, be broken +up.</p> +<p>Within our sight there were goats feeding or playing. The mountains +have red deer, but they came not within view; and if what is said of +their vigilance and subtlety be true, they have some claim to that palm +of wisdom, which the eastern philosopher, whom Alexander interrogated, +gave to those beasts which live furthest from men.</p> +<p>Near the way, by the water side, we espied a cottage. This +was the first Highland Hut that I had seen; and as our business was +with life and manners, we were willing to visit it. To enter a +habitation without leave, seems to be not considered here as rudeness +or intrusion. The old laws of hospitality still give this licence +to a stranger.</p> +<p>A hut is constructed with loose stones, ranged for the most part +with some tendency to circularity. It must be placed where the +wind cannot act upon it with violence, because it has no cement; and +where the water will run easily away, because it has no floor but the +naked ground. The wall, which is commonly about six feet high, +declines from the perpendicular a little inward. Such rafters +as can be procured are then raised for a roof, and covered with heath, +which makes a strong and warm thatch, kept from flying off by ropes +of twisted heath, of which the ends, reaching from the center of the +thatch to the top of the wall, are held firm by the weight of a large +stone. No light is admitted but at the entrance, and through a +hole in the thatch, which gives vent to the smoke. This hole is +not directly over the fire, lest the rain should extinguish it; and +the smoke therefore naturally fills the place before it escapes. +Such is the general structure of the houses in which one of the nations +of this opulent and powerful island has been hitherto content to live. +Huts however are not more uniform than palaces; and this which we were +inspecting was very far from one of the meanest, for it was divided +into several apartments; and its inhabitants possessed such property +as a pastoral poet might exalt into riches.</p> +<p>When we entered, we found an old woman boiling goats-flesh in a kettle. +She spoke little English, but we had interpreters at hand; and she was +willing enough to display her whole system of economy. She has +five children, of which none are yet gone from her. The eldest, +a boy of thirteen, and her husband, who is eighty years old, were at +work in the wood. Her two next sons were gone to Inverness to +buy meal, by which oatmeal is always meant. Meal she considered +as expensive food, and told us, that in Spring, when the goats gave +milk, the children could live without it. She is mistress of sixty +goats, and I saw many kids in an enclosure at the end of her house. +She had also some poultry. By the lake we saw a potatoe-garden, +and a small spot of ground on which stood four shucks, containing each +twelve sheaves of barley. She has all this from the labour of +their own hands, and for what is necessary to be bought, her kids and +her chickens are sent to market.</p> +<p>With the true pastoral hospitality, she asked us to sit down and +drink whisky. She is religious, and though the kirk is four miles +off, probably eight English miles, she goes thither every Sunday. +We gave her a shilling, and she begged snuff; for snuff is the luxury +of a Highland cottage.</p> +<p>Soon afterwards we came to the General’s Hut, so called because +it was the temporary abode of Wade, while he superintended the works +upon the road. It is now a house of entertainment for passengers, +and we found it not ill stocked with provisions.</p> +<h2>FALL OF FIERS</h2> +<p>Towards evening we crossed, by a bridge, the river which makes the +celebrated fall of Fiers. The country at the bridge strikes the +imagination with all the gloom and grandeur of Siberian solitude. +The way makes a flexure, and the mountains, covered with trees, rise +at once on the left hand and in the front. We desired our guides +to shew us the fall, and dismounting, clambered over very rugged crags, +till I began to wish that our curiosity might have been gratified with +less trouble and danger. We came at last to a place where we could +overlook the river, and saw a channel torn, as it seems, through black +piles of stone, by which the stream is obstructed and broken, till it +comes to a very steep descent, of such dreadful depth, that we were +naturally inclined to turn aside our eyes.</p> +<p>But we visited the place at an unseasonable time, and found it divested +of its dignity and terror. Nature never gives every thing at once. +A long continuance of dry weather, which made the rest of the way easy +and delightful, deprived us of the pleasure expected from the fall of +Fiers. The river having now no water but what the springs supply, +showed us only a swift current, clear and shallow, fretting over the +asperities of the rocky bottom, and we were left to exercise our thoughts, +by endeavouring to conceive the effect of a thousand streams poured +from the mountains into one channel, struggling for expansion in a narrow +passage, exasperated by rocks rising in their way, and at last discharging +all their violence of waters by a sudden fall through the horrid chasm.</p> +<p>The way now grew less easy, descending by an uneven declivity, but +without either dirt or danger. We did not arrive at Fort Augustus +till it was late. Mr. Boswell, who, between his father’s +merit and his own, is sure of reception wherever he comes, sent a servant +before to beg admission and entertainment for that night. Mr. +Trapaud, the governor, treated us with that courtesy which is so closely +connected with the military character. He came out to meet us +beyond the gates, and apologized that, at so late an hour, the rules +of a garrison suffered him to give us entrance only at the postern.</p> +<h2>FORT AUGUSTUS</h2> +<p>In the morning we viewed the fort, which is much less than that of +St. George, and is said to be commanded by the neighbouring hills. +It was not long ago taken by the Highlanders. But its situation +seems well chosen for pleasure, if not for strength; it stands at the +head of the lake, and, by a sloop of sixty tuns, is supplied from Inverness +with great convenience.</p> +<p>We were now to cross the Highlands towards the western coast, and +to content ourselves with such accommodations, as a way so little frequented +could afford. The journey was not formidable, for it was but of +two days, very unequally divided, because the only house, where we could +be entertained, was not further off than a third of the way. We +soon came to a high hill, which we mounted by a military road, cut in +traverses, so that as we went upon a higher stage, we saw the baggage +following us below in a contrary direction. To make this way, +the rock has been hewn to a level with labour that might have broken +the perseverance of a Roman legion.</p> +<p>The country is totally denuded of its wood, but the stumps both of +oaks and firs, which are still found, shew that it has been once a forest +of large timber. I do not remember that we saw any animals, but +we were told that, in the mountains, there are stags, roebucks, goats +and rabbits.</p> +<p>We did not perceive that this tract was possessed by human beings, +except that once we saw a corn field, in which a lady was walking with +some gentlemen. Their house was certainly at no great distance, +but so situated that we could not descry it.</p> +<p>Passing on through the dreariness of solitude, we found a party of +soldiers from the fort, working on the road, under the superintendence +of a serjeant. We told them how kindly we had been treated at +the garrison, and as we were enjoying the benefit of their labours, +begged leave to shew our gratitude by a small present.</p> +<h2>ANOCH</h2> +<p>Early in the afternoon we came to Anoch, a village in Glenmollison +of three huts, one of which is distinguished by a chimney. Here +we were to dine and lodge, and were conducted through the first room, +that had the chimney, into another lighted by a small glass window. +The landlord attended us with great civility, and told us what he could +give us to eat and drink. I found some books on a shelf, among +which were a volume or more of Prideaux’s Connection.</p> +<p>This I mentioned as something unexpected, and perceived that I did +not please him. I praised the propriety of his language, and was +answered that I need not wonder, for he had learned it by grammar.</p> +<p>By subsequent opportunities of observation, I found that my host’s +diction had nothing peculiar. Those Highlanders that can speak +English, commonly speak it well, with few of the words, and little of +the tone by which a Scotchman is distinguished. Their language +seems to have been learned in the army or the navy, or by some communication +with those who could give them good examples of accent and pronunciation. +By their Lowland neighbours they would not willingly be taught; for +they have long considered them as a mean and degenerate race. +These prejudices are wearing fast away; but so much of them still remains, +that when I asked a very learned minister in the islands, which they +considered as their most savage clans: ‘Those,’ said he, +‘that live next the Lowlands.’</p> +<p>As we came hither early in the day, we had time sufficient to survey +the place. The house was built like other huts of loose stones, +but the part in which we dined and slept was lined with turf and wattled +with twigs, which kept the earth from falling. Near it was a garden +of turnips and a field of potatoes. It stands in a glen, or valley, +pleasantly watered by a winding river. But this country, however +it may delight the gazer or amuse the naturalist, is of no great advantage +to its owners. Our landlord told us of a gentleman, who possesses +lands, eighteen Scotch miles in length, and three in breadth; a space +containing at least a hundred square English miles. He has raised +his rents, to the danger of depopulating his farms, and he fells his +timber, and by exerting every art of augmentation, has obtained an yearly +revenue of four hundred pounds, which for a hundred square miles is +three halfpence an acre.</p> +<p>Some time after dinner we were surprised by the entrance of a young +woman, not inelegant either in mien or dress, who asked us whether we +would have tea. We found that she was the daughter of our host, +and desired her to make it. Her conversation, like her appearance, +was gentle and pleasing. We knew that the girls of the Highlands +are all gentlewomen, and treated her with great respect, which she received +as customary and due, and was neither elated by it, nor confused, but +repaid my civilities without embarassment, and told me how much I honoured +her country by coming to survey it.</p> +<p>She had been at Inverness to gain the common female qualifications, +and had, like her father, the English pronunciation. I presented +her with a book, which I happened to have about me, and should not be +pleased to think that she forgets me.</p> +<p>In the evening the soldiers, whom we had passed on the road, came +to spend at our inn the little money that we had given them. They +had the true military impatience of coin in their pockets, and had marched +at least six miles to find the first place where liquor could be bought. +Having never been before in a place so wild and unfrequented, I was +glad of their arrival, because I knew that we had made them friends, +and to gain still more of their good will, we went to them, where they +were carousing in the barn, and added something to our former gift. +All that we gave was not much, but it detained them in the barn, either +merry or quarrelling, the whole night, and in the morning they went +back to their work, with great indignation at the bad qualities of whisky.</p> +<p>We had gained so much the favour of our host, that, when we left +his house in the morning, he walked by us a great way, and entertained +us with conversation both on his own condition, and that of the country. +His life seemed to be merely pastoral, except that he differed from +some of the ancient Nomades in having a settled dwelling. His +wealth consists of one hundred sheep, as many goats, twelve milk-cows, +and twenty-eight beeves ready for the drover.</p> +<p>From him we first heard of the general dissatisfaction, which is +now driving the Highlanders into the other hemisphere; and when I asked +him whether they would stay at home, if they were well treated, he answered +with indignation, that no man willingly left his native country. +Of the farm, which he himself occupied, the rent had, in twenty-five +years, been advanced from five to twenty pounds, which he found himself +so little able to pay, that he would be glad to try his fortune in some +other place. Yet he owned the reasonableness of raising the Highland +rents in a certain degree, and declared himself willing to pay ten pounds +for the ground which he had formerly had for five.</p> +<p>Our host having amused us for a time, resigned us to our guides. +The journey of this day was long, not that the distance was great, but +that the way was difficult. We were now in the bosom of the Highlands, +with full leisure to contemplate the appearance and properties of mountainous +regions, such as have been, in many countries, the last shelters of +national distress, and are every where the scenes of adventures, stratagems, +surprises and escapes.</p> +<p>Mountainous countries are not passed but with difficulty, not merely +from the labour of climbing; for to climb is not always necessary: but +because that which is not mountain is commonly bog, through which the +way must be picked with caution. Where there are hills, there +is much rain, and the torrents pouring down into the intermediate spaces, +seldom find so ready an outlet, as not to stagnate, till they have broken +the texture of the ground.</p> +<p>Of the hills, which our journey offered to the view on either side, +we did not take the height, nor did we see any that astonished us with +their loftiness. Towards the summit of one, there was a white +spot, which I should have called a naked rock, but the guides, who had +better eyes, and were acquainted with the phenomena of the country, +declared it to be snow. It had already lasted to the end of August, +and was likely to maintain its contest with the sun, till it should +be reinforced by winter.</p> +<p>The height of mountains philosophically considered is properly computed +from the surface of the next sea; but as it affects the eye or imagination +of the passenger, as it makes either a spectacle or an obstruction, +it must be reckoned from the place where the rise begins to make a considerable +angle with the plain. In extensive continents the land may, by +gradual elevation, attain great height, without any other appearance +than that of a plane gently inclined, and if a hill placed upon such +raised ground be described, as having its altitude equal to the whole +space above the sea, the representation will be fallacious.</p> +<p>These mountains may be properly enough measured from the inland base; +for it is not much above the sea. As we advanced at evening towards +the western coast, I did not observe the declivity to be greater than +is necessary for the discharge of the inland waters.</p> +<p>We passed many rivers and rivulets, which commonly ran with a clear +shallow stream over a hard pebbly bottom. These channels, which +seem so much wider than the water that they convey would naturally require, +are formed by the violence of wintry floods, produced by the accumulation +of innumerable streams that fall in rainy weather from the hills, and +bursting away with resistless impetuosity, make themselves a passage +proportionate to their mass.</p> +<p>Such capricious and temporary waters cannot be expected to produce +many fish. The rapidity of the wintry deluge sweeps them away, +and the scantiness of the summer stream would hardly sustain them above +the ground. This is the reason why in fording the northern rivers, +no fishes are seen, as in England, wandering in the water.</p> +<p>Of the hills many may be called with Homer’s Ida ‘abundant +in springs’, but few can deserve the epithet which he bestows +upon Pelion by ‘waving their leaves.’ They exhibit +very little variety; being almost wholly covered with dark heath, and +even that seems to be checked in its growth. What is not heath +is nakedness, a little diversified by now and then a stream rushing +down the steep. An eye accustomed to flowery pastures and waving +harvests is astonished and repelled by this wide extent of hopeless +sterility. The appearance is that of matter incapable of form +or usefulness, dismissed by nature from her care and disinherited of +her favours, left in its original elemental state, or quickened only +with one sullen power of useless vegetation.</p> +<p>It will very readily occur, that this uniformity of barrenness can +afford very little amusement to the traveller; that it is easy to sit +at home and conceive rocks and heath, and waterfalls; and that these +journeys are useless labours, which neither impregnate the imagination, +nor enlarge the understanding. It is true that of far the greater +part of things, we must content ourselves with such knowledge as description +may exhibit, or analogy supply; but it is true likewise, that these +ideas are always incomplete, and that at least, till we have compared +them with realities, we do not know them to be just. As we see +more, we become possessed of more certainties, and consequently gain +more principles of reasoning, and found a wider basis of analogy.</p> +<p>Regions mountainous and wild, thinly inhabited, and little cultivated, +make a great part of the earth, and he that has never seen them, must +live unacquainted with much of the face of nature, and with one of the +great scenes of human existence.</p> +<p>As the day advanced towards noon, we entered a narrow valley not +very flowery, but sufficiently verdant. Our guides told us, that +the horses could not travel all day without rest or meat, and intreated +us to stop here, because no grass would be found in any other place. +The request was reasonable and the argument cogent. We therefore +willingly dismounted and diverted ourselves as the place gave us opportunity.</p> +<p>I sat down on a bank, such as a writer of Romance might have delighted +to feign. I had indeed no trees to whisper over my head, but a +clear rivulet streamed at my feet. The day was calm, the air soft, +and all was rudeness, silence, and solitude. Before me, and on +either side, were high hills, which by hindering the eye from ranging, +forced the mind to find entertainment for itself. Whether I spent +the hour well I know not; for here I first conceived the thought of +this narration.</p> +<p>We were in this place at ease and by choice, and had no evils to +suffer or to fear; yet the imaginations excited by the view of an unknown +and untravelled wilderness are not such as arise in the artificial solitude +of parks and gardens, a flattering notion of self-sufficiency, a placid +indulgence of voluntary delusions, a secure expansion of the fancy, +or a cool concentration of the mental powers. The phantoms which +haunt a desert are want, and misery, and danger; the evils of dereliction +rush upon the thoughts; man is made unwillingly acquainted with his +own weakness, and meditation shows him only how little he can sustain, +and how little he can perform. There were no traces of inhabitants, +except perhaps a rude pile of clods called a summer hut, in which a +herdsman had rested in the favourable seasons. Whoever had been +in the place where I then sat, unprovided with provisions and ignorant +of the country, might, at least before the roads were made, have wandered +among the rocks, till he had perished with hardship, before he could +have found either food or shelter. Yet what are these hillocks +to the ridges of Taurus, or these spots of wildness to the desarts of +America?</p> +<p>It was not long before we were invited to mount, and continued our +journey along the side of a lough, kept full by many streams, which +with more or less rapidity and noise, crossed the road from the hills +on the other hand. These currents, in their diminished state, +after several dry months, afford, to one who has always lived in level +countries, an unusual and delightful spectacle; but in the rainy season, +such as every winter may be expected to bring, must precipitate an impetuous +and tremendous flood. I suppose the way by which we went, is at +that time impassable.</p> +<h2>GLENSHEALS</h2> +<p>The lough at last ended in a river broad and shallow like the rest, +but that it may be passed when it is deeper, there is a bridge over +it. Beyond it is a valley called Glensheals, inhabited by the +clan of Macrae. Here we found a village called Auknasheals, consisting +of many huts, perhaps twenty, built all of dry-stone, that is, stones +piled up without mortar.</p> +<p>We had, by the direction of the officers at Fort Augustus, taken +bread for ourselves, and tobacco for those Highlanders who might show +us any kindness. We were now at a place where we could obtain +milk, but we must have wanted bread if we had not brought it. +The people of this valley did not appear to know any English, and our +guides now became doubly necessary as interpreters. A woman, whose +hut was distinguished by greater spaciousness and better architecture, +brought out some pails of milk. The villagers gathered about us +in considerable numbers, I believe without any evil intention, but with +a very savage wildness of aspect and manner. When our meal was +over, Mr. Boswell sliced the bread, and divided it amongst them, as +he supposed them never to have tasted a wheaten loaf before. He +then gave them little pieces of twisted tobacco, and among the children +we distributed a small handful of halfpence, which they received with +great eagerness. Yet I have been since told, that the people of +that valley are not indigent; and when we mentioned them afterwards +as needy and pitiable, a Highland lady let us know, that we might spare +our commiseration; for the dame whose milk we drank had probably more +than a dozen milk-cows. She seemed unwilling to take any price, +but being pressed to make a demand, at last named a shilling. +Honesty is not greater where elegance is less. One of the bystanders, +as we were told afterwards, advised her to ask for more, but she said +a shilling was enough. We gave her half a crown, and I hope got +some credit for our behaviour; for the company said, if our interpreters +did not flatter us, that they had not seen such a day since the old +laird of Macleod passed through their country.</p> +<p>The Macraes, as we heard afterwards in the Hebrides, were originally +an indigent and subordinate clan, and having no farms nor stock, were +in great numbers servants to the Maclellans, who, in the war of Charles +the First, took arms at the call of the heroic Montrose, and were, in +one of his battles, almost all destroyed. The women that were +left at home, being thus deprived of their husbands, like the Scythian +ladies of old, married their servants, and the Macraes became a considerable +race.</p> +<h2>THE HIGHLANDS</h2> +<p>As we continued our journey, we were at leisure to extend our speculations, +and to investigate the reason of those peculiarities by which such rugged +regions as these before us are generally distinguished.</p> +<p>Mountainous countries commonly contain the original, at least the +oldest race of inhabitants, for they are not easily conquered, because +they must be entered by narrow ways, exposed to every power of mischief +from those that occupy the heights; and every new ridge is a new fortress, +where the defendants have again the same advantages. If the assailants +either force the strait, or storm the summit, they gain only so much +ground; their enemies are fled to take possession of the next rock, +and the pursuers stand at gaze, knowing neither where the ways of escape +wind among the steeps, nor where the bog has firmness to sustain them: +besides that, mountaineers have an agility in climbing and descending +distinct from strength or courage, and attainable only by use.</p> +<p>If the war be not soon concluded, the invaders are dislodged by hunger; +for in those anxious and toilsome marches, provisions cannot easily +be carried, and are never to be found. The wealth of mountains +is cattle, which, while the men stand in the passes, the women drive +away. Such lands at last cannot repay the expence of conquest, +and therefore perhaps have not been so often invaded by the mere ambition +of dominion; as by resentment of robberies and insults, or the desire +of enjoying in security the more fruitful provinces.</p> +<p>As mountains are long before they are conquered, they are likewise +long before they are civilized. Men are softened by intercourse +mutually profitable, and instructed by comparing their own notions with +those of others. Thus Cæsar found the maritime parts of +Britain made less barbarous by their commerce with the Gauls. +Into a barren and rough tract no stranger is brought either by the hope +of gain or of pleasure. The inhabitants having neither commodities +for sale, nor money for purchase, seldom visit more polished places, +or if they do visit them, seldom return.</p> +<p>It sometimes happens that by conquest, intermixture, or gradual refinement, +the cultivated parts of a country change their language. The mountaineers +then become a distinct nation, cut off by dissimilitude of speech from +conversation with their neighbours. Thus in Biscay, the original +Cantabrian, and in Dalecarlia, the old Swedish still subsists. +Thus Wales and the Highlands speak the tongue of the first inhabitants +of Britain, while the other parts have received first the Saxon, and +in some degree afterwards the French, and then formed a third language +between them.</p> +<p>That the primitive manners are continued where the primitive language +is spoken, no nation will desire me to suppose, for the manners of mountaineers +are commonly savage, but they are rather produced by their situation +than derived from their ancestors.</p> +<p>Such seems to be the disposition of man, that whatever makes a distinction +produces rivalry. England, before other causes of enmity were +found, was disturbed for some centuries by the contests of the northern +and southern counties; so that at Oxford, the peace of study could for +a long time be preserved only by chusing annually one of the Proctors +from each side of the Trent. A tract intersected by many ridges +of mountains, naturally divides its inhabitants into petty nations, +which are made by a thousand causes enemies to each other. Each +will exalt its own chiefs, each will boast the valour of its men, or +the beauty of its women, and every claim of superiority irritates competition; +injuries will sometimes be done, and be more injuriously defended; retaliation +will sometimes be attempted, and the debt exacted with too much interest.</p> +<p>In the Highlands it was a law, that if a robber was sheltered from +justice, any man of the same clan might be taken in his place. +This was a kind of irregular justice, which, though necessary in savage +times, could hardly fail to end in a feud, and a feud once kindled among +an idle people with no variety of pursuits to divert their thoughts, +burnt on for ages either sullenly glowing in secret mischief, or openly +blazing into public violence. Of the effects of this violent judicature, +there are not wanting memorials. The cave is now to be seen to +which one of the Campbells, who had injured the Macdonalds, retired +with a body of his own clan. The Macdonalds required the offender, +and being refused, made a fire at the mouth of the cave, by which he +and his adherents were suffocated together.</p> +<p>Mountaineers are warlike, because by their feuds and competitions +they consider themselves as surrounded with enemies, and are always +prepared to repel incursions, or to make them. Like the Greeks +in their unpolished state, described by Thucydides, the Highlanders, +till lately, went always armed, and carried their weapons to visits, +and to church.</p> +<p>Mountaineers are thievish, because they are poor, and having neither +manufactures nor commerce, can grow richer only by robbery. They +regularly plunder their neighbours, for their neighbours are commonly +their enemies; and having lost that reverence for property, by which +the order of civil life is preserved, soon consider all as enemies, +whom they do not reckon as friends, and think themselves licensed to +invade whatever they are not obliged to protect.</p> +<p>By a strict administration of the laws, since the laws have been +introduced into the Highlands, this disposition to thievery is very +much represt. Thirty years ago no herd had ever been conducted +through the mountains, without paying tribute in the night, to some +of the clans; but cattle are now driven, and passengers travel without +danger, fear, or molestation.</p> +<p>Among a warlike people, the quality of highest esteem is personal +courage, and with the ostentatious display of courage are closely connected +promptitude of offence and quickness of resentment. The Highlanders, +before they were disarmed, were so addicted to quarrels, that the boys +used to follow any publick procession or ceremony, however festive, +or however solemn, in expectation of the battle, which was sure to happen +before the company dispersed.</p> +<p>Mountainous regions are sometimes so remote from the seat of government, +and so difficult of access, that they are very little under the influence +of the sovereign, or within the reach of national justice. Law +is nothing without power; and the sentence of a distant court could +not be easily executed, nor perhaps very safely promulgated, among men +ignorantly proud and habitually violent, unconnected with the general +system, and accustomed to reverence only their own lords. It has +therefore been necessary to erect many particular jurisdictions, and +commit the punishment of crimes, and the decision of right to the proprietors +of the country who could enforce their own decrees. It immediately +appears that such judges will be often ignorant, and often partial; +but in the immaturity of political establishments no better expedient +could be found. As government advances towards perfection, provincial +judicature is perhaps in every empire gradually abolished.</p> +<p>Those who had thus the dispensation of law, were by consequence themselves +lawless. Their vassals had no shelter from outrages and oppressions; +but were condemned to endure, without resistance, the caprices of wantonness, +and the rage of cruelty.</p> +<p>In the Highlands, some great lords had an hereditary jurisdiction +over counties; and some chieftains over their own lands; till the final +conquest of the Highlands afforded an opportunity of crushing all the +local courts, and of extending the general benefits of equal law to +the low and the high, in the deepest recesses and obscurest corners.</p> +<p>While the chiefs had this resemblance of royalty, they had little +inclination to appeal, on any question, to superior judicatures. +A claim of lands between two powerful lairds was decided like a contest +for dominion between sovereign powers. They drew their forces +into the field, and right attended on the strongest. This was, +in ruder times, the common practice, which the kings of Scotland could +seldom control.</p> +<p>Even so lately as in the last years of King William, a battle was +fought at Mull Roy, on a plain a few miles to the south of Inverness, +between the clans of Mackintosh and Macdonald of Keppoch. Col. +Macdonald, the head of a small clan, refused to pay the dues demanded +from him by Mackintosh, as his superior lord. They disdained the +interposition of judges and laws, and calling each his followers to +maintain the dignity of the clan, fought a formal battle, in which several +considerable men fell on the side of Mackintosh, without a complete +victory to either. This is said to have been the last open war +made between the clans by their own authority.</p> +<p>The Highland lords made treaties, and formed alliances, of which +some traces may still be found, and some consequences still remain as +lasting evidences of petty regality. The terms of one of these +confederacies were, that each should support the other in the right, +or in the wrong, except against the king.</p> +<p>The inhabitants of mountains form distinct races, and are careful +to preserve their genealogies. Men in a small district necessarily +mingle blood by intermarriages, and combine at last into one family, +with a common interest in the honour and disgrace of every individual. +Then begins that union of affections, and co-operation of endeavours, +that constitute a clan. They who consider themselves as ennobled +by their family, will think highly of their progenitors, and they who +through successive generations live always together in the same place, +will preserve local stories and hereditary prejudices. Thus every +Highlander can talk of his ancestors, and recount the outrages which +they suffered from the wicked inhabitants of the next valley.</p> +<p>Such are the effects of habitation among mountains, and such were +the qualities of the Highlanders, while their rocks secluded them from +the rest of mankind, and kept them an unaltered and discriminated race. +They are now losing their distinction, and hastening to mingle with +the general community.</p> +<h2>GLENELG</h2> +<p>We left Auknasheals and the Macraes its the afternoon, and in the +evening came to Ratiken, a high hill on which a road is cut, but so +steep and narrow, that it is very difficult. There is now a design +of making another way round the bottom. Upon one of the precipices, +my horse, weary with the steepness of the rise, staggered a little, +and I called in haste to the Highlander to hold him. This was +the only moment of my journey, in which I thought myself endangered.</p> +<p>Having surmounted the hill at last, we were told that at Glenelg, +on the sea-side, we should come to a house of lime and slate and glass. +This image of magnificence raised our expectation. At last we +came to our inn weary and peevish, and began to inquire for meat and +beds.</p> +<p>Of the provisions the negative catalogue was very copious. +Here was no meat, no milk, no bread, no eggs, no wine. We did +not express much satisfaction. Here however we were to stay. +Whisky we might have, and I believe at last they caught a fowl and killed +it. We had some bread, and with that we prepared ourselves to +be contented, when we had a very eminent proof of Highland hospitality. +Along some miles of the way, in the evening, a gentleman’s servant +had kept us company on foot with very little notice on our part. +He left us near Glenelg, and we thought on him no more till he came +to us again, in about two hours, with a present from his master of rum +and sugar. The man had mentioned his company, and the gentleman, +whose name, I think, is Gordon, well knowing the penury of the place, +had this attention to two men, whose names perhaps he had not heard, +by whom his kindness was not likely to be ever repaid, and who could +be recommended to him only by their necessities.</p> +<p>We were now to examine our lodging. Out of one of the beds, +on which we were to repose, started up, at our entrance, a man black +as a Cyclops from the forge. Other circumstances of no elegant +recital concurred to disgust us. We had been frighted by a lady +at Edinburgh, with discouraging representations of Highland lodgings. +Sleep, however, was necessary. Our Highlanders had at last found +some hay, with which the inn could not supply them. I directed +them to bring a bundle into the room, and slept upon it in my riding +coat. Mr. Boswell being more delicate, laid himself sheets with +hay over and under him, and lay in linen like a gentleman.</p> +<h2>SKY. ARMIDEL</h2> +<p>In the morning, September the second, we found ourselves on the edge +of the sea. Having procured a boat, we dismissed our Highlanders, +whom I would recommend to the service of any future travellers, and +were ferried over to the Isle of Sky. We landed at Armidel, where +we were met on the sands by Sir Alexander Macdonald, who was at that +time there with his lady, preparing to leave the island and reside at +Edinburgh.</p> +<p>Armidel is a neat house, built where the Macdonalds had once a seat, +which was burnt in the commotions that followed the Revolution. +The walled orchard, which belonged to the former house, still remains. +It is well shaded by tall ash trees, of a species, as Mr. Janes the +fossilist informed me, uncommonly valuable. This plantation is +very properly mentioned by Dr. Campbell, in his new account of the state +of Britain, and deserves attention; because it proves that the present +nakedness of the Hebrides is not wholly the fault of Nature.</p> +<p>As we sat at Sir Alexander’s table, we were entertained, according +to the ancient usage of the North, with the melody of the bagpipe. +Everything in those countries has its history. As the bagpiper +was playing, an elderly Gentleman informed us, that in some remote time, +the Macdonalds of Glengary having been injured, or offended by the inhabitants +of Culloden, and resolving to have justice or vengeance, came to Culloden +on a Sunday, where finding their enemies at worship, they shut them +up in the church, which they set on fire; and this, said he, is the +tune that the piper played while they were burning.</p> +<p>Narrations like this, however uncertain, deserve the notice of the +traveller, because they are the only records of a nation that has no +historians, and afford the most genuine representation of the life and +character of the ancient Highlanders.</p> +<p>Under the denomination of Highlander are comprehended in Scotland +all that now speak the Erse language, or retain the primitive manners, +whether they live among the mountains or in the islands; and in that +sense I use the name, when there is not some apparent reason for making +a distinction.</p> +<p>In Sky I first observed the use of Brogues, a kind of artless shoes, +stitched with thongs so loosely, that though they defend the foot from +stones, they do not exclude water. Brogues were formerly made +of raw hides, with the hair inwards, and such are perhaps still used +in rude and remote parts; but they are said not to last above two days. +Where life is somewhat improved, they are now made of leather tanned +with oak bark, as in other places, or with the bark of birch, or roots +of tormentil, a substance recommended in defect of bark, about forty +years ago, to the Irish tanners, by one to whom the parliament of that +kingdom voted a reward. The leather of Sky is not completely penetrated +by vegetable matter, and therefore cannot be very durable.</p> +<p>My inquiries about brogues, gave me an early specimen of Highland +information. One day I was told, that to make brogues was a domestick +art, which every man practised for himself, and that a pair of brogues +was the work of an hour. I supposed that the husband made brogues +as the wife made an apron, till next day it was told me, that a brogue-maker +was a trade, and that a pair would cost half a crown. It will +easily occur that these representations may both be true, and that, +in some places, men may buy them, and in others, make them for themselves; +but I had both the accounts in the same house within two days.</p> +<p>Many of my subsequent inquiries upon more interesting topicks ended +in the like uncertainty. He that travels in the Highlands may +easily saturate his soul with intelligence, if he will acquiesce in +the first account. The Highlander gives to every question an answer +so prompt and peremptory, that skepticism itself is dared into silence, +and the mind sinks before the bold reporter in unresisting credulity; +but, if a second question be ventured, it breaks the enchantment; for +it is immediately discovered, that what was told so confidently was +told at hazard, and that such fearlessness of assertion was either the +sport of negligence, or the refuge of ignorance.</p> +<p>If individuals are thus at variance with themselves, it can be no +wonder that the accounts of different men are contradictory. The +traditions of an ignorant and savage people have been for ages negligently +heard, and unskilfully related. Distant events must have been +mingled together, and the actions of one man given to another. +These, however, are deficiencies in story, for which no man is now to +be censured. It were enough, if what there is yet opportunity +of examining were accurately inspected, and justly represented; but +such is the laxity of Highland conversation, that the inquirer is kept +in continual suspense, and by a kind of intellectual retrogradation, +knows less as he hears more.</p> +<p>In the islands the plaid is rarely worn. The law by which the +Highlanders have been obliged to change the form of their dress, has, +in all the places that we have visited, been universally obeyed. +I have seen only one gentleman completely clothed in the ancient habit, +and by him it was worn only occasionally and wantonly. The common +people do not think themselves under any legal necessity of having coats; +for they say that the law against plaids was made by Lord Hardwicke, +and was in force only for his life: but the same poverty that made it +then difficult for them to change their clothing, hinders them now from +changing it again.</p> +<p>The fillibeg, or lower garment, is still very common, and the bonnet +almost universal; but their attire is such as produces, in a sufficient +degree, the effect intended by the law, of abolishing the dissimilitude +of appearance between the Highlanders and the other inhabitants of Britain; +and, if dress be supposed to have much influence, facilitates their +coalition with their fellow-subjects.</p> +<p>What we have long used we naturally like, and therefore the Highlanders +were unwilling to lay aside their plaid, which yet to an unprejudiced +spectator must appear an incommodious and cumbersome dress; for hanging +loose upon the body, it must flutter in a quick motion, or require one +of the hands to keep it close. The Romans always laid aside the +gown when they had anything to do. It was a dress so unsuitable +to war, that the same word which signified a gown signified peace. +The chief use of a plaid seems to be this, that they could commodiously +wrap themselves in it, when they were obliged to sleep without a better +cover.</p> +<p>In our passage from Scotland to Sky, we were wet for the first time +with a shower. This was the beginning of the Highland winter, +after which we were told that a succession of three dry days was not +to be expected for many months. The winter of the Hebrides consists +of little more than rain and wind. As they are surrounded by an +ocean never frozen, the blasts that come to them over the water are +too much softened to have the power of congelation. The salt loughs, +or inlets of the sea, which shoot very far into the island, never have +any ice upon them, and the pools of fresh water will never bear the +walker. The snow that sometimes falls, is soon dissolved by the +air, or the rain.</p> +<p>This is not the description of a cruel climate, yet the dark months +are here a time of great distress; because the summer can do little +more than feed itself, and winter comes with its cold and its scarcity +upon families very slenderly provided.</p> +<h2>CORIATACHAN IN SKY</h2> +<p>The third or fourth day after our arrival at Armidel, brought us +an invitation to the isle of Raasay, which lies east of Sky. It +is incredible how soon the account of any event is propagated in these +narrow countries by the love of talk, which much leisure produces, and +the relief given to the mind in the penury of insular conversation by +a new topick. The arrival of strangers at a place so rarely visited, +excites rumour, and quickens curiosity. I know not whether we +touched at any corner, where Fame had not already prepared us a reception.</p> +<p>To gain a commodious passage to Raasay, it was necessary to pass +over a large part of Sky. We were furnished therefore with horses +and a guide. In the Islands there are no roads, nor any marks +by which a stranger may find his way. The horseman has always +at his side a native of the place, who, by pursuing game, or tending +cattle, or being often employed in messages or conduct, has learned +where the ridge of the hill has breadth sufficient to allow a horse +and his rider a passage, and where the moss or bog is hard enough to +bear them. The bogs are avoided as toilsome at least, if not unsafe, +and therefore the journey is made generally from precipice to precipice; +from which if the eye ventures to look down, it sees below a gloomy +cavity, whence the rush of water is sometimes heard.</p> +<p>But there seems to be in all this more alarm than danger. The +Highlander walks carefully before, and the horse, accustomed to the +ground, follows him with little deviation. Sometimes the hill +is too steep for the horseman to keep his seat, and sometimes the moss +is too tremulous to bear the double weight of horse and man. The +rider then dismounts, and all shift as they can.</p> +<p>Journies made in this manner are rather tedious than long. +A very few miles require several hours. From Armidel we came at +night to Coriatachan, a house very pleasantly situated between two brooks, +with one of the highest hills of the island behind it. It is the +residence of Mr. Mackinnon, by whom we were treated with very liberal +hospitality, among a more numerous and elegant company than it could +have been supposed easy to collect.</p> +<p>The hill behind the house we did not climb. The weather was +rough, and the height and steepness discouraged us. We were told +that there is a cairne upon it. A cairne is a heap of stones thrown +upon the grave of one eminent for dignity of birth, or splendour of +atchievements. It is said that by digging, an urn is always found +under these cairnes: they must therefore have been thus piled by a people +whose custom was to burn the dead. To pile stones is, I believe, +a northern custom, and to burn the body was the Roman practice; nor +do I know when it was that these two acts of sepulture were united.</p> +<p>The weather was next day too violent for the continuation of our +journey; but we had no reason to complain of the interruption. +We saw in every place, what we chiefly desired to know, the manners +of the people. We had company, and, if we had chosen retirement, +we might have had books.</p> +<p>I never was in any house of the Islands, where I did not find books +in more languages than one, if I staid long enough to want them, except +one from which the family was removed. Literature is not neglected +by the higher rank of the Hebridians.</p> +<p>It need not, I suppose, be mentioned, that in countries so little +frequented as the Islands, there are no houses where travellers are +entertained for money. He that wanders about these wilds, either +procures recommendations to those whose habitations lie near his way, +or, when night and weariness come upon him, takes the chance of general +hospitality. If he finds only a cottage, he can expect little +more than shelter; for the cottagers have little more for themselves: +but if his good fortune brings him to the residence of a gentleman, +he will be glad of a storm to prolong his stay. There is, however, +one inn by the sea-side at Sconsor, in Sky, where the post-office is +kept.</p> +<p>At the tables where a stranger is received, neither plenty nor delicacy +is wanting. A tract of land so thinly inhabited, must have much +wild-fowl; and I scarcely remember to have seen a dinner without them. +The moorgame is every where to be had. That the sea abounds with +fish, needs not be told, for it supplies a great part of Europe. +The Isle of Sky has stags and roebucks, but no hares. They sell +very numerous droves of oxen yearly to England, and therefore cannot +be supposed to want beef at home. Sheep and goats are in great +numbers, and they have the common domestick fowls.</p> +<p>But as here is nothing to be bought, every family must kill its own +meat, and roast part of it somewhat sooner than Apicius would prescribe. +Every kind of flesh is undoubtedly excelled by the variety and emulation +of English markets; but that which is not best may be yet very far from +bad, and he that shall complain of his fare in the Hebrides, has improved +his delicacy more than his manhood.</p> +<p>Their fowls are not like those plumped for sale by the poulterers +of London, but they are as good as other places commonly afford, except +that the geese, by feeding in the sea, have universally a fishy rankness.</p> +<p>These geese seem to be of a middle race, between the wild and domestick +kinds. They are so tame as to own a home, and so wild as sometimes +to fly quite away.</p> +<p>Their native bread is made of oats, or barley. Of oatmeal they +spread very thin cakes, coarse and hard, to which unaccustomed palates +are not easily reconciled. The barley cakes are thicker and softer; +I began to eat them without unwillingness; the blackness of their colour +raises some dislike, but the taste is not disagreeable. In most +houses there is wheat flower, with which we were sure to be treated, +if we staid long enough to have it kneaded and baked. As neither +yeast nor leaven are used among them, their bread of every kind is unfermented. +They make only cakes, and never mould a loaf.</p> +<p>A man of the Hebrides, for of the women’s diet I can give no +account, as soon as he appears in the morning, swallows a glass of whisky; +yet they are not a drunken race, at least I never was present at much +intemperance; but no man is so abstemious as to refuse the morning dram, +which they call a skalk.</p> +<p>The word whisky signifies water, and is applied by way of eminence +to strong water, or distilled liquor. The spirit drunk in the +North is drawn from barley. I never tasted it, except once for +experiment at the inn in Inverary, when I thought it preferable to any +English malt brandy. It was strong, but not pungent, and was free +from the empyreumatick taste or smell. What was the process I +had no opportunity of inquiring, nor do I wish to improve the art of +making poison pleasant.</p> +<p>Not long after the dram, may be expected the breakfast, a meal in +which the Scots, whether of the lowlands or mountains, must be confessed +to excel us. The tea and coffee are accompanied not only with +butter, but with honey, conserves, and marmalades. If an epicure +could remove by a wish, in quest of sensual gratifications, wherever +he had supped he would breakfast in Scotland.</p> +<p>In the islands however, they do what I found it not very easy to +endure. They pollute the tea-table by plates piled with large +slices of cheshire cheese, which mingles its less grateful odours with +the fragrance of the tea.</p> +<p>Where many questions are to be asked, some will be omitted. +I forgot to inquire how they were supplied with so much exotic luxury. +Perhaps the French may bring them wine for wool, and the Dutch give +them tea and coffee at the fishing season, in exchange for fresh provision. +Their trade is unconstrained; they pay no customs, for there is no officer +to demand them; whatever therefore is made dear only by impost, is obtained +here at an easy rate.</p> +<p>A dinner in the Western Islands differs very little from a dinner +in England, except that in the place of tarts, there are always set +different preparations of milk. This part of their diet will admit +some improvement. Though they have milk, and eggs, and sugar, +few of them know how to compound them in a custard. Their gardens +afford them no great variety, but they have always some vegetables on +the table. Potatoes at least are never wanting, which, though +they have not known them long, are now one of the principal parts of +their food. They are not of the mealy, but the viscous kind.</p> +<p>Their more elaborate cookery, or made dishes, an Englishman at the +first taste is not likely to approve, but the culinary compositions +of every country are often such as become grateful to other nations +only by degrees; though I have read a French author, who, in the elation +of his heart, says, that French cookery pleases all foreigners, but +foreign cookery never satisfies a Frenchman.</p> +<p>Their suppers are, like their dinners, various and plentiful. +The table is always covered with elegant linen. Their plates for +common use are often of that kind of manufacture which is called cream +coloured, or queen’s ware. They use silver on all occasions +where it is common in England, nor did I ever find the spoon of horn, +but in one house.</p> +<p>The knives are not often either very bright, or very sharp. +They are indeed instruments of which the Highlanders have not been long +acquainted with the general use. They were not regularly laid +on the table, before the prohibition of arms, and the change of dress. +Thirty years ago the Highlander wore his knife as a companion to his +dirk or dagger, and when the company sat down to meat, the men who had +knives, cut the flesh into small pieces for the women, who with their +fingers conveyed it to their mouths.</p> +<p>There was perhaps never any change of national manners so quick, +so great, and so general, as that which has operated in the Highlands, +by the last conquest, and the subsequent laws. We came thither +too late to see what we expected, a people of peculiar appearance, and +a system of antiquated life. The clans retain little now of their +original character, their ferocity of temper is softened, their military +ardour is extinguished, their dignity of independence is depressed, +their contempt of government subdued, and the reverence for their chiefs +abated. Of what they had before the late conquest of their country, +there remain only their language and their poverty. Their language +is attacked on every side. Schools are erected, in which English +only is taught, and there were lately some who thought it reasonable +to refuse them a version of the holy scriptures, that they might have +no monument of their mother-tongue.</p> +<p>That their poverty is gradually abated, cannot be mentioned among +the unpleasing consequences of subjection. They are now acquainted +with money, and the possibility of gain will by degrees make them industrious. +Such is the effect of the late regulations, that a longer journey than +to the Highlands must be taken by him whose curiosity pants for savage +virtues and barbarous grandeur.</p> +<h2>RAASAY</h2> +<p>At the first intermission of the stormy weather we were informed, +that the boat, which was to convey us to Raasay, attended us on the +coast. We had from this time our intelligence facilitated, and +our conversation enlarged, by the company of Mr. Macqueen, minister +of a parish in Sky, whose knowledge and politeness give him a title +equally to kindness and respect, and who, from this time, never forsook +us till we were preparing to leave Sky, and the adjacent places.</p> +<p>The boat was under the direction of Mr. Malcolm Macleod, a gentleman +of Raasay. The water was calm, and the rowers were vigorous; so +that our passage was quick and pleasant. When we came near the +island, we saw the laird’s house, a neat modern fabrick, and found +Mr. Macleod, the proprietor of the Island, with many gentlemen, expecting +us on the beach. We had, as at all other places, some difficulty +in landing. The craggs were irregularly broken, and a false step +would have been very mischievous.</p> +<p>It seemed that the rocks might, with no great labour, have been hewn +almost into a regular flight of steps; and as there are no other landing +places, I considered this rugged ascent as the consequence of a form +of life inured to hardships, and therefore not studious of nice accommodations. +But I know not whether, for many ages, it was not considered as a part +of military policy, to keep the country not easily accessible. +The rocks are natural fortifications, and an enemy climbing with difficulty, +was easily destroyed by those who stood high above him.</p> +<p>Our reception exceeded our expectations. We found nothing but +civility, elegance, and plenty. After the usual refreshments, +and the usual conversation, the evening came upon us. The carpet +was then rolled off the floor; the musician was called, and the whole +company was invited to dance, nor did ever fairies trip with greater +alacrity. The general air of festivity, which predominated in +this place, so far remote from all those regions which the mind has +been used to contemplate as the mansions of pleasure, struck the imagination +with a delightful surprise, analogous to that which is felt at an unexpected +emersion from darkness into light.</p> +<p>When it was time to sup, the dance ceased, and six and thirty persons +sat down to two tables in the same room. After supper the ladies +sung Erse songs, to which I listened as an English audience to an Italian +opera, delighted with the sound of words which I did not understand.</p> +<p>I inquired the subjects of the songs, and was told of one, that it +was a love song, and of another, that it was a farewell composed by +one of the Islanders that was going, in this epidemical fury of emigration, +to seek his fortune in America. What sentiments would arise, on +such an occasion, in the heart of one who had not been taught to lament +by precedent, I should gladly have known; but the lady, by whom I sat, +thought herself not equal to the work of translating.</p> +<p>Mr. Macleod is the proprietor of the islands of Raasay, Rona, and +Fladda, and possesses an extensive district in Sky. The estate +has not, during four hundred years, gained or lost a single acre. +He acknowledges Macleod of Dunvegan as his chief, though his ancestors +have formerly disputed the pre-eminence.</p> +<p>One of the old Highland alliances has continued for two hundred years, +and is still subsisting between Macleod of Raasay and Macdonald of Sky, +in consequence of which, the survivor always inherits the arms of the +deceased; a natural memorial of military friendship. At the death +of the late Sir James Macdonald, his sword was delivered to the present +laird of Raasay.</p> +<p>The family of Raasay consists of the laird, the lady, three sons +and ten daughters. For the sons there is a tutor in the house, +and the lady is said to be very skilful and diligent in the education +of her girls. More gentleness of manners, or a more pleasing appearance +of domestick society, is not found in the most polished countries.</p> +<p>Raasay is the only inhabited island in Mr. Macleod’s possession. +Rona and Fladda afford only pasture for cattle, of which one hundred +and sixty winter in Rona, under the superintendence of a solitary herdsman.</p> +<p>The length of Raasay is, by computation, fifteen miles, and the breadth +two. These countries have never been measured, and the computation +by miles is negligent and arbitrary. We observed in travelling, +that the nominal and real distance of places had very little relation +to each other. Raasay probably contains near a hundred square +miles. It affords not much ground, notwithstanding its extent, +either for tillage, or pasture; for it is rough, rocky, and barren. +The cattle often perish by falling from the precipices. It is +like the other islands, I think, generally naked of shade, but it is +naked by neglect; for the laird has an orchard, and very large forest +trees grow about his house. Like other hilly countries it has +many rivulets. One of the brooks turns a corn-mill, and at least +one produces trouts.</p> +<p>In the streams or fresh lakes of the Islands, I have never heard +of any other fish than trouts and eels. The trouts, which I have +seen, are not large; the colour of their flesh is tinged as in England. +Of their eels I can give no account, having never tasted them; for I +believe they are not considered as wholesome food.</p> +<p>It is not very easy to fix the principles upon which mankind have +agreed to eat some animals, and reject others; and as the principle +is not evident, it is not uniform. That which is selected as delicate +in one country, is by its neighbours abhorred as loathsome. The +Neapolitans lately refused to eat potatoes in a famine. An Englishman +is not easily persuaded to dine on snails with an Italian, on frogs +with a Frenchman, or on horseflesh with a Tartar. The vulgar inhabitants +of Sky, I know not whether of the other islands, have not only eels, +but pork and bacon in abhorrence, and accordingly I never saw a hog +in the Hebrides, except one at Dunvegan.</p> +<p>Raasay has wild fowl in abundance, but neither deer, hares, nor rabbits. +Why it has them not, might be asked, but that of such questions there +is no end. Why does any nation want what it might have? +Why are not spices transplanted to America? Why does tea continue +to be brought from China? Life improves but by slow degrees, and +much in every place is yet to do. Attempts have been made to raise +roebucks in Raasay, but without effect. The young ones it is extremely +difficult to rear, and the old can very seldom be taken alive.</p> +<p>Hares and rabbits might be more easily obtained. That they +have few or none of either in Sky, they impute to the ravage of the +foxes, and have therefore set, for some years past, a price upon their +heads, which, as the number was diminished, has been gradually raised, +from three shillings and sixpence to a guinea, a sum so great in this +part of the world, that, in a short time, Sky may be as free from foxes, +as England from wolves. The fund for these rewards is a tax of +sixpence in the pound, imposed by the farmers on themselves, and said +to be paid with great willingness.</p> +<p>The beasts of prey in the Islands are foxes, otters, and weasels. +The foxes are bigger than those of England; but the otters exceed ours +in a far greater proportion. I saw one at Armidel, of a size much +beyond that which I supposed them ever to attain; and Mr. Maclean, the +heir of Col, a man of middle stature, informed me that he once shot +an otter, of which the tail reached the ground, when he held up the +head to a level with his own. I expected the otter to have a foot +particularly formed for the art of swimming; but upon examination, I +did not find it differing much from that of a spaniel. As he preys +in the sea, he does little visible mischief, and is killed only for +his fur. White otters are sometimes seen.</p> +<p>In Raasay they might have hares and rabbits, for they have no foxes. +Some depredations, such as were never made before, have caused a suspicion +that a fox has been lately landed in the Island by spite or wantonness. +This imaginary stranger has never yet been seen, and therefore, perhaps, +the mischief was done by some other animal. It is not likely that +a creature so ungentle, whose head could have been sold in Sky for a +guinea, should be kept alive only to gratify the malice of sending him +to prey upon a neighbour: and the passage from Sky is wider than a fox +would venture to swim, unless he were chased by dogs into the sea, and +perhaps than his strength would enable him to cross. How beasts +of prey came into any islands is not easy to guess. In cold countries +they take advantage of hard winters, and travel over the ice: but this +is a very scanty solution; for they are found where they have no discoverable +means of coming.</p> +<p>The corn of this island is but little. I saw the harvest of +a small field. The women reaped the Corn, and the men bound up +the sheaves. The strokes of the sickle were timed by the modulation +of the harvest song, in which all their voices were united. They +accompany in the Highlands every action, which can be done in equal +time, with an appropriated strain, which has, they say, not much meaning; +but its effects are regularity and cheerfulness. The ancient proceleusmatick +song, by which the rowers of gallies were animated, may be supposed +to have been of this kind. There is now an oar-song used by the +Hebridians.</p> +<p>The ground of Raasay seems fitter for cattle than for corn, and of +black cattle I suppose the number is very great. The Laird himself +keeps a herd of four hundred, one hundred of which are annually sold. +Of an extensive domain, which he holds in his own hands, he considers +the sale of cattle as repaying him the rent, and supports the plenty +of a very liberal table with the remaining product.</p> +<p>Raasay is supposed to have been very long inhabited. On one +side of it they show caves, into which the rude nations of the first +ages retreated from the weather. These dreary vaults might have +had other uses. There is still a cavity near the house called +the oar-cave, in which the seamen, after one of those piratical expeditions, +which in rougher times were very frequent, used, as tradition tells, +to hide their oars. This hollow was near the sea, that nothing +so necessary might be far to be fetched; and it was secret, that enemies, +if they landed, could find nothing. Yet it is not very evident +of what use it was to hide their oars from those, who, if they were +masters of the coast, could take away their boats.</p> +<p>A proof much stronger of the distance at which the first possessors +of this island lived from the present time, is afforded by the stone +heads of arrows which are very frequently picked up. The people +call them Elf-bolts, and believe that the fairies shoot them at the +cattle. They nearly resemble those which Mr. Banks has lately +brought from the savage countries in the Pacifick Ocean, and must have +been made by a nation to which the use of metals was unknown.</p> +<p>The number of this little community has never been counted by its +ruler, nor have I obtained any positive account, consistent with the +result of political computation. Not many years ago, the late +Laird led out one hundred men upon a military expedition. The +sixth part of a people is supposed capable of bearing arms: Raasay had +therefore six hundred inhabitants. But because it is not likely, +that every man able to serve in the field would follow the summons, +or that the chief would leave his lands totally defenceless, or take +away all the hands qualified for labour, let it be supposed, that half +as many might be permitted to stay at home. The whole number will +then be nine hundred, or nine to a square mile; a degree of populousness +greater than those tracts of desolation can often show. They are +content with their country, and faithful to their chiefs, and yet uninfected +with the fever of migration.</p> +<p>Near the house, at Raasay, is a chapel unroofed and ruinous, which +has long been used only as a place of burial. About the churches, +in the Islands, are small squares inclosed with stone, which belong +to particular families, as repositories for the dead. At Raasay +there is one, I think, for the proprietor, and one for some collateral +house.</p> +<p>It is told by Martin, that at the death of the Lady of the Island, +it has been here the custom to erect a cross. This we found not +to be true. The stones that stand about the chapel at a small +distance, some of which perhaps have crosses cut upon them, are believed +to have been not funeral monuments, but the ancient boundaries of the +sanctuary or consecrated ground.</p> +<p>Martin was a man not illiterate: he was an inhabitant of Sky, and +therefore was within reach of intelligence, and with no great difficulty +might have visited the places which he undertakes to describe; yet with +all his opportunities, he has often suffered himself to be deceived. +He lived in the last century, when the chiefs of the clans had lost +little of their original influence. The mountains were yet unpenetrated, +no inlet was opened to foreign novelties, and the feudal institution +operated upon life with their full force. He might therefore have +displayed a series of subordination and a form of government, which, +in more luminous and improved regions, have been long forgotten, and +have delighted his readers with many uncouth customs that are now disused, +and wild opinions that prevail no longer. But he probably had +not knowledge of the world sufficient to qualify him for judging what +would deserve or gain the attention of mankind. The mode of life +which was familiar to himself, he did not suppose unknown to others, +nor imagined that he could give pleasure by telling that of which it +was, in his little country, impossible to be ignorant.</p> +<p>What he has neglected cannot now be performed. In nations, +where there is hardly the use of letters, what is once out of sight +is lost for ever. They think but little, and of their few thoughts, +none are wasted on the past, in which they are neither interested by +fear nor hope. Their only registers are stated observances and +practical representations. For this reason an age of ignorance +is an age of ceremony. Pageants, and processions, and commemorations, +gradually shrink away, as better methods come into use of recording +events, and preserving rights.</p> +<p>It is not only in Raasay that the chapel is unroofed and useless; +through the few islands which we visited, we neither saw nor heard of +any house of prayer, except in Sky, that was not in ruins. The +malignant influence of Calvinism has blasted ceremony and decency together; +and if the remembrance of papal superstition is obliterated, the monuments +of papal piety are likewise effaced.</p> +<p>It has been, for many years, popular to talk of the lazy devotion +of the Romish clergy; over the sleepy laziness of men that erected churches, +we may indulge our superiority with a new triumph, by comparing it with +the fervid activity of those who suffer them to fall.</p> +<p>Of the destruction of churches, the decay of religion must in time +be the consequence; for while the publick acts of the ministry are now +performed in houses, a very small number can be present; and as the +greater part of the Islanders make no use of books, all must necessarily +live in total ignorance who want the opportunity of vocal instruction.</p> +<p>From these remains of ancient sanctity, which are every where to +be found, it has been conjectured, that, for the last two centuries, +the inhabitants of the Islands have decreased in number. This +argument, which supposes that the churches have been suffered to fall, +only because they were no longer necessary, would have some force, if +the houses of worship still remaining were sufficient for the people. +But since they have now no churches at all, these venerable fragments +do not prove the people of former times to have been more numerous, +but to have been more devout. If the inhabitants were doubled +with their present principles, it appears not that any provision for +publick worship would be made. Where the religion of a country +enforces consecrated buildings, the number of those buildings may be +supposed to afford some indication, however uncertain, of the populousness +of the place; but where by a change of manners a nation is contented +to live without them, their decay implies no diminution of inhabitants.</p> +<p>Some of these dilapidations are said to be found in islands now uninhabited; +but I doubt whether we can thence infer that they were ever peopled. +The religion of the middle age, is well known to have placed too much +hope in lonely austerities. Voluntary solitude was the great act +of propitiation, by which crimes were effaced, and conscience was appeased; +it is therefore not unlikely, that oratories were often built in places +where retirement was sure to have no disturbance.</p> +<p>Raasay has little that can detain a traveller, except the Laird and +his family; but their power wants no auxiliaries. Such a seat +of hospitality, amidst the winds and waters, fills the imagination with +a delightful contrariety of images. Without is the rough ocean +and the rocky land, the beating billows and the howling storm: within +is plenty and elegance, beauty and gaiety, the song and the dance. +In Raasay, if I could have found an Ulysses, I had fancied a Phoeacia.</p> +<h2>DUNVEGAN</h2> +<p>At Raasay, by good fortune, Macleod, so the chief of the clan is +called, was paying a visit, and by him we were invited to his seat at +Dunvegan. Raasay has a stout boat, built in Norway, in which, +with six oars, he conveyed us back to Sky. We landed at Port Re, +so called, because James the Fifth of Scotland, who had curiosity to +visit the Islands, came into it. The port is made by an inlet +of the sea, deep and narrow, where a ship lay waiting to dispeople Sky, +by carrying the natives away to America.</p> +<p>In coasting Sky, we passed by the cavern in which it was the custom, +as Martin relates, to catch birds in the night, by making a fire at +the entrance. This practice is disused; for the birds, as is known +often to happen, have changed their haunts.</p> +<p>Here we dined at a publick house, I believe the only inn of the island, +and having mounted our horses, travelled in the manner already described, +till we came to Kingsborough, a place distinguished by that name, because +the King lodged here when he landed at Port Re. We were entertained +with the usual hospitality by Mr. Macdonald and his lady, Flora Macdonald, +a name that will be mentioned in history, and if courage and fidelity +be virtues, mentioned with honour. She is a woman of middle stature, +soft features, gentle manners, and elegant presence.</p> +<p>In the morning we sent our horses round a promontory to meet us, +and spared ourselves part of the day’s fatigue, by crossing an +arm of the sea. We had at last some difficulty in coming to Dunvegan; +for our way led over an extensive moor, where every step was to be taken +with caution, and we were often obliged to alight, because the ground +could not be trusted. In travelling this watery flat, I perceived +that it had a visible declivity, and might without much expence or difficulty +be drained. But difficulty and expence are relative terms, which +have different meanings in different places.</p> +<p>To Dunvegan we came, very willing to be at rest, and found our fatigue +amply recompensed by our reception. Lady Macleod, who had lived +many years in England, was newly come hither with her son and four daughters, +who knew all the arts of southern elegance, and all the modes of English +economy. Here therefore we settled, and did not spoil the present +hour with thoughts of departure.</p> +<p>Dunvegan is a rocky prominence, that juts out into a bay, on the +west side of Sky. The house, which is the principal seat of Macleod, +is partly old and partly modern; it is built upon the rock, and looks +upon the water. It forms two sides of a small square: on the third +side is the skeleton of a castle of unknown antiquity, supposed to have +been a Norwegian fortress, when the Danes were masters of the Islands. +It is so nearly entire, that it might have easily been made habitable, +were there not an ominous tradition in the family, that the owner shall +not long outlive the reparation. The grandfather of the present +Laird, in defiance of prediction, began the work, but desisted in a +little time, and applied his money to worse uses.</p> +<p>As the inhabitants of the Hebrides lived, for many ages, in continual +expectation of hostilities, the chief of every clan resided in a fortress. +This house was accessible only from the water, till the last possessor +opened an entrance by stairs upon the land.</p> +<p>They had formerly reason to be afraid, not only of declared wars +and authorized invaders, or of roving pirates, which, in the northern +seas, must have been very common; but of inroads and insults from rival +clans, who, in the plenitude of feudal independence, asked no leave +of their Sovereign to make war on one another. Sky has been ravaged +by a feud between the two mighty powers of Macdonald and Macleod. +Macdonald having married a Macleod upon some discontent dismissed her, +perhaps because she had brought him no children. Before the reign +of James the Fifth, a Highland Laird made a trial of his wife for a +certain time, and if she did not please him, he was then at liberty +to send her away. This however must always have offended, and +Macleod resenting the injury, whatever were its circumstances, declared, +that the wedding had been solemnized without a bonfire, but that the +separation should be better illuminated; and raising a little army, +set fire to the territories of Macdonald, who returned the visit, and +prevailed.</p> +<p>Another story may show the disorderly state of insular neighbourhood. +The inhabitants of the Isle of Egg, meeting a boat manned by Macleods, +tied the crew hand and foot, and set them a-drift. Macleod landed +upon Egg, and demanded the offenders; but the inhabitants refusing to +surrender them, retreated to a cavern, into which they thought their +enemies unlikely to follow them. Macleod choked them with smoke, +and left them lying dead by families as they stood.</p> +<p>Here the violence of the weather confined us for some time, not at +all to our discontent or inconvenience. We would indeed very willingly +have visited the Islands, which might be seen from the house scattered +in the sea, and I was particularly desirous to have viewed Isay; but +the storms did not permit us to launch a boat, and we were condemned +to listen in idleness to the wind, except when we were better engaged +by listening to the ladies.</p> +<p>We had here more wind than waves, and suffered the severity of a +tempest, without enjoying its magnificence. The sea being broken +by the multitude of islands, does not roar with so much noise, nor beat +the shore with such foamy violence, as I have remarked on the coast +of Sussex. Though, while I was in the Hebrides, the wind was extremely +turbulent, I never saw very high billows.</p> +<p>The country about Dunvegan is rough and barren. There are no +trees, except in the orchard, which is a low sheltered spot surrounded +with a wall.</p> +<p>When this house was intended to sustain a siege, a well was made +in the court, by boring the rock downwards, till water was found, which +though so near to the sea, I have not heard mentioned as brackish, though +it has some hardness, or other qualities, which make it less fit for +use; and the family is now better supplied from a stream, which runs +by the rock, from two pleasing waterfalls.</p> +<p>Here we saw some traces of former manners, and heard some standing +traditions. In the house is kept an ox’s horn, hollowed +so as to hold perhaps two quarts, which the heir of Macleod was expected +to swallow at one draught, as a test of his manhood, before he was permitted +to bear arms, or could claim a seat among the men. It is held +that the return of the Laird to Dunvegan, after any considerable absence, +produces a plentiful capture of herrings; and that, if any woman crosses +the water to the opposite Island, the herrings will desert the coast. +Boetius tells the same of some other place. This tradition is +not uniform. Some hold that no woman may pass, and others that +none may pass but a Macleod.</p> +<p>Among other guests, which the hospitality of Dunvegan brought to +the table, a visit was paid by the Laird and Lady of a small island +south of Sky, of which the proper name is Muack, which signifies swine. +It is commonly called Muck, which the proprietor not liking, has endeavoured, +without effect, to change to Monk. It is usual to call gentlemen +in Scotland by the name of their possessions, as Raasay, Bernera, Loch +Buy, a practice necessary in countries inhabited by clans, where all +that live in the same territory have one name, and must be therefore +discriminated by some addition. This gentleman, whose name, I +think, is Maclean, should be regularly called Muck; but the appellation, +which he thinks too coarse for his Island, he would like still less +for himself, and he is therefore addressed by the title of, Isle of +Muck.</p> +<p>This little Island, however it be named, is of considerable value. +It is two English miles long, and three quarters of a mile broad, and +consequently contains only nine hundred and sixty English acres. +It is chiefly arable. Half of this little dominion the Laird retains +in his own hand, and on the other half, live one hundred and sixty persons, +who pay their rent by exported corn. What rent they pay, we were +not told, and could not decently inquire. The proportion of the +people to the land is such, as the most fertile countries do not commonly +maintain.</p> +<p>The Laird having all his people under his immediate view, seems to +be very attentive to their happiness. The devastation of the small-pox, +when it visits places where it comes seldom, is well known. He +has disarmed it of its terrour at Muack, by inoculating eighty of his +people. The expence was two shillings and sixpence a head. +Many trades they cannot have among them, but upon occasion, he fetches +a smith from the Isle of Egg, and has a tailor from the main land, six +times a year. This island well deserved to be seen, but the Laird’s +absence left us no opportunity.</p> +<p>Every inhabited island has its appendant and subordinate islets. +Muck, however small, has yet others smaller about it, one of which has +only ground sufficient to afford pasture for three wethers.</p> +<p>At Dunvegan I had tasted lotus, and was in danger of forgetting that +I was ever to depart, till Mr. Boswell sagely reproached me with my +sluggishness and softness. I had no very forcible defence to make; +and we agreed to pursue our journey. Macleod accompanied us to +Ulinish, where we were entertained by the sheriff of the Island.</p> +<h2>ULINISH</h2> +<p>Mr. Macqueen travelled with us, and directed our attention to all +that was worthy of observation. With him we went to see an ancient +building, called a dun or borough. It was a circular inclosure, +about forty-two feet in diameter, walled round with loose stones, perhaps +to the height of nine feet. The walls were very thick, diminishing +a little toward the top, and though in these countries, stone is not +brought far, must have been raised with much labour. Within the +great circle were several smaller rounds of wall, which formed distinct +apartments. Its date, and its use are unknown. Some suppose +it the original seat of the chiefs of the Macleods. Mr. Macqueen +thought it a Danish fort.</p> +<p>The entrance is covered with flat stones, and is narrow, because +it was necessary that the stones which lie over it, should reach from +one wall to the other; yet, strait as the passage is, they seem heavier +than could have been placed where they now lie, by the naked strength +of as many men as might stand about them. They were probably raised +by putting long pieces of wood under them, to which the action of a +long line of lifters might be applied. Savages, in all countries, +have patience proportionate to their unskilfulness, and are content +to attain their end by very tedious methods.</p> +<p>If it was ever roofed, it might once have been a dwelling, but as +there is no provision for water, it could not have been a fortress. +In Sky, as in every other place, there is an ambition of exalting whatever +has survived memory, to some important use, and referring it to very +remote ages. I am inclined to suspect, that in lawless times, +when the inhabitants of every mountain stole the cattle of their neighbour, +these inclosures were used to secure the herds and flocks in the night. +When they were driven within the wall, they might be easily watched, +and defended as long as could be needful; for the robbers durst not +wait till the injured clan should find them in the morning.</p> +<p>The interior inclosures, if the whole building were once a house, +were the chambers of the chief inhabitants. If it was a place +of security for cattle, they were probably the shelters of the keepers.</p> +<p>From the Dun we were conducted to another place of security, a cave +carried a great way under ground, which had been discovered by digging +after a fox. These caves, of which many have been found, and many +probably remain concealed, are formed, I believe, commonly by taking +advantage of a hollow, where banks or rocks rise on either side. +If no such place can be found, the ground must be cut away. The +walls are made by piling stones against the earth, on either side. +It is then roofed by larger stones laid across the cavern, which therefore +cannot be wide. Over the roof, turfs were placed, and grass was +suffered to grow; and the mouth was concealed by bushes, or some other +cover.</p> +<p>These caves were represented to us as the cabins of the first rude +inhabitants, of which, however, I am by no means persuaded. This +was so low, that no man could stand upright in it. By their construction +they are all so narrow, that two can never pass along them together, +and being subterraneous, they must be always damp. They are not +the work of an age much ruder than the present; for they are formed +with as much art as the construction of a common hut requires. +I imagine them to have been places only of occasional use, in which +the Islander, upon a sudden alarm, hid his utensils, or his cloaths, +and perhaps sometimes his wife and children.</p> +<p>This cave we entered, but could not proceed the whole length, and +went away without knowing how far it was carried. For this omission +we shall be blamed, as we perhaps have blamed other travellers; but +the day was rainy, and the ground was damp. We had with us neither +spades nor pickaxes, and if love of ease surmounted our desire of knowledge, +the offence has not the invidiousness of singularity.</p> +<p>Edifices, either standing or ruined, are the chief records of an +illiterate nation. In some part of this journey, at no great distance +from our way, stood a shattered fortress, of which the learned minister, +to whose communication we are much indebted, gave us an account.</p> +<p>Those, said he, are the walls of a place of refuge, built in the +time of James the Sixth, by Hugh Macdonald, who was next heir to the +dignity and fortune of his chief. Hugh, being so near his wish, +was impatient of delay; and had art and influence sufficient to engage +several gentlemen in a plot against the Laird’s life. Something +must be stipulated on both sides; for they would not dip their hands +in blood merely for Hugh’s advancement. The compact was +formerly written, signed by the conspirators, and placed in the hands +of one Macleod.</p> +<p>It happened that Macleod had sold some cattle to a drover, who, not +having ready money, gave him a bond for payment. The debt was +discharged, and the bond re-demanded; which Macleod, who could not read, +intending to put into his hands, gave him the conspiracy. The +drover, when he had read the paper, delivered it privately to Macdonald; +who, being thus informed of his danger, called his friends together, +and provided for his safety. He made a public feast, and inviting +Hugh Macdonald and his confederates, placed each of them at the table +between two men of known fidelity. The compact of conspiracy was +then shewn, and every man confronted with his own name. Macdonald +acted with great moderation. He upbraided Hugh, both with disloyalty +and ingratitude; but told the rest, that he considered them as men deluded +and misinformed. Hugh was sworn to fidelity, and dismissed with +his companions; but he was not generous enough to be reclaimed by lenity; +and finding no longer any countenance among the gentlemen, endeavoured +to execute the same design by meaner hands. In this practice he +was detected, taken to Macdonald’s castle, and imprisoned in the +dungeon. When he was hungry, they let down a plentiful meal of +salted meat; and when, after his repast, he called for drink, conveyed +to him a covered cup, which, when he lifted the lid, he found empty. +From that time they visited him no more, but left him to perish in solitude +and darkness.</p> +<p>We were then told of a cavern by the sea-side, remarkable for the +powerful reverberation of sounds. After dinner we took a boat, +to explore this curious cavity. The boatmen, who seemed to be +of a rank above that of common drudges, inquired who the strangers were, +and being told we came one from Scotland, and the other from England, +asked if the Englishman could recount a long genealogy. What answer +was given them, the conversation being in Erse, I was not much inclined +to examine.</p> +<p>They expected no good event of the voyage; for one of them declared +that he heard the cry of an English ghost. This omen I was not +told till after our return, and therefore cannot claim the dignity of +despising it.</p> +<p>The sea was smooth. We never left the shore, and came without +any disaster to the cavern, which we found rugged and misshapen, about +one hundred and eighty feet long, thirty wide in the broadest part, +and in the loftiest, as we guessed, about thirty high. It was +now dry, but at high water the sea rises in it near six feet. +Here I saw what I had never seen before, limpets and mussels in their +natural state. But, as a new testimony to the veracity of common +fame, here was no echo to be heard.</p> +<p>We then walked through a natural arch in the rock, which might have +pleased us by its novelty, had the stones, which incumbered our feet, +given us leisure to consider it. We were shown the gummy seed +of the kelp, that fastens itself to a stone, from which it grows into +a strong stalk.</p> +<p>In our return, we found a little boy upon the point of rock, catching +with his angle, a supper for the family. We rowed up to him, and +borrowed his rod, with which Mr. Boswell caught a cuddy.</p> +<p>The cuddy is a fish of which I know not the philosophical name. +It is not much bigger than a gudgeon, but is of great use in these Islands, +as it affords the lower people both food, and oil for their lamps. +Cuddies are so abundant, at sometimes of the year, that they are caught +like whitebait in the Thames, only by dipping a basket and drawing it +back.</p> +<p>If it were always practicable to fish, these Islands could never +be in much danger from famine; but unhappily in the winter, when other +provision fails, the seas are commonly too rough for nets, or boats.</p> +<h2>TALISKER IN SKY</h2> +<p>From Ulinish, our next stage was to Talisker, the house of colonel +Macleod, an officer in the Dutch service, who, in this time of universal +peace, has for several years been permitted to be absent from his regiment. +Having been bred to physick, he is consequently a scholar, and his lady, +by accompanying him in his different places of residence, is become +skilful in several languages. Talisker is the place beyond all +that I have seen, from which the gay and the jovial seem utterly excluded; +and where the hermit might expect to grow old in meditation, without +possibility of disturbance or interruption. It is situated very +near the sea, but upon a coast where no vessel lands but when it is +driven by a tempest on the rocks. Towards the land are lofty hills +streaming with waterfalls. The garden is sheltered by firs or +pines, which grow there so prosperously, that some, which the present +inhabitant planted, are very high and thick.</p> +<p>At this place we very happily met Mr. Donald Maclean, a young gentleman, +the eldest son of the Laird of Col, heir to a very great extent of land, +and so desirous of improving his inheritance, that he spent a considerable +time among the farmers of Hertfordshire, and Hampshire, to learn their +practice. He worked with his own hands at the principal operations +of agriculture, that he might not deceive himself by a false opinion +of skill, which, if he should find it deficient at home, he had no means +of completing. If the world has agreed to praise the travels and +manual labours of the Czar of Muscovy, let Col have his share of the +like applause, in the proportion of his dominions to the empire of Russia.</p> +<p>This young gentleman was sporting in the mountains of Sky, and when +he was weary with following his game, repaired for lodging to Talisker. +At night he missed one of his dogs, and when he went to seek him in +the morning, found two eagles feeding on his carcass.</p> +<p>Col, for he must be named by his possessions, hearing that our intention +was to visit Jona, offered to conduct us to his chief, Sir Allan Maclean, +who lived in the isle of Inch Kenneth, and would readily find us a convenient +passage. From this time was formed an acquaintance, which being +begun by kindness, was accidentally continued by constraint; we derived +much pleasure from it, and I hope have given him no reason to repent +it.</p> +<p>The weather was now almost one continued storm, and we were to snatch +some happy intermission to be conveyed to Mull, the third Island of +the Hebrides, lying about a degree south of Sky, whence we might easily +find our way to Inch Kenneth, where Sir Allan Maclean resided, and afterward +to Jona.</p> +<p>For this purpose, the most commodious station that we could take +was Armidel, which Sir Alexander Macdonald had now left to a gentleman, +who lived there as his factor or steward.</p> +<p>In our way to Armidel was Coriatachan, where we had already been, +and to which therefore we were very willing to return. We staid +however so long at Talisker, that a great part of our journey was performed +in the gloom of the evening. In travelling even thus almost without +light thro’ naked solitude, when there is a guide whose conduct +may be trusted, a mind not naturally too much disposed to fear, may +preserve some degree of cheerfulness; but what must be the solicitude +of him who should be wandering, among the craggs and hollows, benighted, +ignorant, and alone?</p> +<p>The fictions of the Gothick romances were not so remote from credibility +as they are now thought. In the full prevalence of the feudal +institution, when violence desolated the world, and every baron lived +in a fortress, forests and castles were regularly succeeded by each +other, and the adventurer might very suddenly pass from the gloom of +woods, or the ruggedness of moors, to seats of plenty, gaiety, and magnificence. +Whatever is imaged in the wildest tale, if giants, dragons, and enchantment +be excepted, would be felt by him, who, wandering in the mountains without +a guide, or upon the sea without a pilot, should be carried amidst his +terror and uncertainty, to the hospitality and elegance of Raasay or +Dunvegan.</p> +<p>To Coriatachan at last we came, and found ourselves welcomed as before. +Here we staid two days, and made such inquiries as curiosity suggested. +The house was filled with company, among whom Mr. Macpherson and his +sister distinguished themselves by their politeness and accomplishments. +By him we were invited to Ostig, a house not far from Armidel, where +we might easily hear of a boat, when the weather would suffer us to +leave the Island.</p> +<h2>OSTIG IN SKY</h2> +<p>At Ostig, of which Mr. Macpherson is minister, we were entertained +for some days, then removed to Armidel, where we finished our observations +on the island of Sky.</p> +<p>As this Island lies in the fifty-seventh degree, the air cannot be +supposed to have much warmth. The long continuance of the sun +above the horizon, does indeed sometimes produce great heat in northern +latitudes; but this can only happen in sheltered places, where the atmosphere +is to a certain degree stagnant, and the same mass of air continues +to receive for many hours the rays of the sun, and the vapours of the +earth. Sky lies open on the west and north to a vast extent of +ocean, and is cooled in the summer by perpetual ventilation, but by +the same blasts is kept warm in winter. Their weather is not pleasing. +Half the year is deluged with rain. From the autumnal to the vernal +equinox, a dry day is hardly known, except when the showers are suspended +by a tempest. Under such skies can be expected no great exuberance +of vegetation. Their winter overtakes their summer, and their +harvest lies upon the ground drenched with rain. The autumn struggles +hard to produce some of our early fruits. I gathered gooseberries +in September; but they were small, and the husk was thick.</p> +<p>Their winter is seldom such as puts a full stop to the growth of +plants, or reduces the cattle to live wholly on the surplusage of the +summer. In the year Seventy-one they had a severe season, remembered +by the name of the Black Spring, from which the island has not yet recovered. +The snow lay long upon the ground, a calamity hardly known before. +Part of their cattle died for want, part were unseasonably sold to buy +sustenance for the owners; and, what I have not read or heard of before, +the kine that survived were so emaciated and dispirited, that they did +not require the male at the usual time. Many of the roebucks perished.</p> +<p>The soil, as in other countries, has its diversities. In some +parts there is only a thin layer of earth spread upon a rock, which +bears nothing but short brown heath, and perhaps is not generally capable +of any better product. There are many bogs or mosses of greater +or less extent, where the soil cannot be supposed to want depth, though +it is too wet for the plow. But we did not observe in these any +aquatick plants. The vallies and the mountains are alike darkened +with heath. Some grass, however, grows here and there, and some +happier spots of earth are capable of tillage.</p> +<p>Their agriculture is laborious, and perhaps rather feeble than unskilful. +Their chief manure is seaweed, which, when they lay it to rot upon the +field, gives them a better crop than those of the Highlands. They +heap sea shells upon the dunghill, which in time moulder into a fertilising +substance. When they find a vein of earth where they cannot use +it, they dig it up, and add it to the mould of a more commodious place.</p> +<p>Their corn grounds often lie in such intricacies among the craggs, +that there is no room for the action of a team and plow. The soil +is then turned up by manual labour, with an instrument called a crooked +spade, of a form and weight which to me appeared very incommodious, +and would perhaps be soon improved in a country where workmen could +be easily found and easily paid. It has a narrow blade of iron +fixed to a long and heavy piece of wood, which must have, about a foot +and a half above the iron, a knee or flexure with the angle downwards. +When the farmer encounters a stone which is the great impediment of +his operations, he drives the blade under it, and bringing the knee +or angle to the ground, has in the long handle a very forcible lever.</p> +<p>According to the different mode of tillage, farms are distinguished +into long land and short land. Long land is that which affords +room for a plow, and short land is turned up by the spade.</p> +<p>The grain which they commit to the furrows thus tediously formed, +is either oats or barley. They do not sow barley without very +copious manure, and then they expect from it ten for one, an increase +equal to that of better countries; but the culture is so operose that +they content themselves commonly with oats; and who can relate without +compassion, that after all their diligence they are to expect only a +triple increase? It is in vain to hope for plenty, when a third +part of the harvest must be reserved for seed.</p> +<p>When their grain is arrived at the state which they must consider +as ripeness, they do not cut, but pull the barley: to the oats they +apply the sickle. Wheel carriages they have none, but make a frame +of timber, which is drawn by one horse with the two points behind pressing +on the ground. On this they sometimes drag home their sheaves, +but often convey them home in a kind of open panier, or frame of sticks +upon the horse’s back.</p> +<p>Of that which is obtained with so much difficulty, nothing surely +ought to be wasted; yet their method of clearing their oats from the +husk is by parching them in the straw. Thus with the genuine improvidence +of savages, they destroy that fodder for want of which their cattle +may perish. From this practice they have two petty conveniences. +They dry the grain so that it is easily reduced to meal, and they escape +the theft of the thresher. The taste contracted from the fire +by the oats, as by every other scorched substance, use must long ago +have made grateful. The oats that are not parched must be dried +in a kiln.</p> +<p>The barns of Sky I never saw. That which Macleod of Raasay +had erected near his house was so contrived, because the harvest is +seldom brought home dry, as by perpetual perflation to prevent the mow +from heating.</p> +<p>Of their gardens I can judge only from their tables. I did +not observe that the common greens were wanting, and suppose, that by +choosing an advantageous exposition, they can raise all the more hardy +esculent plants. Of vegetable fragrance or beauty they are not +yet studious. Few vows are made to Flora in the Hebrides.</p> +<p>They gather a little hay, but the grass is mown late; and is so often +almost dry and again very wet, before it is housed, that it becomes +a collection of withered stalks without taste or fragrance; it must +be eaten by cattle that have nothing else, but by most English farmers +would be thrown away.</p> +<p>In the Islands I have not heard that any subterraneous treasures +have been discovered, though where there are mountains, there are commonly +minerals. One of the rocks in Col has a black vein, imagined to +consist of the ore of lead; but it was never yet opened or essayed. +In Sky a black mass was accidentally picked up, and brought into the +house of the owner of the land, who found himself strongly inclined +to think it a coal, but unhappily it did not burn in the chimney. +Common ores would be here of no great value; for what requires to be +separated by fire, must, if it were found, be carried away in its mineral +state, here being no fewel for the smelting-house or forge. Perhaps +by diligent search in this world of stone, some valuable species of +marble might be discovered. But neither philosophical curiosity, +nor commercial industry, have yet fixed their abode here, where the +importunity of immediate want supplied but for the day, and craving +on the morrow, has left little room for excursive knowledge or the pleasing +fancies of distant profit.</p> +<p>They have lately found a manufacture considerably lucrative. +Their rocks abound with kelp, a sea-plant, of which the ashes are melted +into glass. They burn kelp in great quantities, and then send +it away in ships, which come regularly to purchase them. This +new source of riches has raised the rents of many maritime farms; but +the tenants pay, like all other tenants, the additional rent with great +unwillingness; because they consider the profits of the kelp as the +mere product of personal labour, to which the landlord contributes nothing. +However, as any man may be said to give, what he gives the power of +gaining, he has certainly as much right to profit from the price of +kelp as of any thing else found or raised upon his ground.</p> +<p>This new trade has excited a long and eager litigation between Macdonald +and Macleod, for a ledge of rocks, which, till the value of kelp was +known, neither of them desired the reputation of possessing.</p> +<p>The cattle of Sky are not so small as is commonly believed. +Since they have sent their beeves in great numbers to southern marts, +they have probably taken more care of their breed. At stated times +the annual growth of cattle is driven to a fair, by a general drover, +and with the money, which he returns to the farmer, the rents are paid.</p> +<p>The price regularly expected, is from two to three pounds a head: +there was once one sold for five pounds. They go from the Islands +very lean, and are not offered to the butcher, till they have been long +fatted in English pastures.</p> +<p>Of their black cattle, some are without horns, called by the Scots +humble cows, as we call a bee an humble bee, that wants a sting. +Whether this difference be specifick, or accidental, though we inquired +with great diligence, we could not be informed. We are not very +sure that the bull is ever without horns, though we have been told, +that such bulls there are. What is produced by putting a horned +and unhorned male and female together, no man has ever tried, that thought +the result worthy of observation.</p> +<p>Their horses are, like their cows, of a moderate size. I had +no difficulty to mount myself commodiously by the favour of the gentlemen. +I heard of very little cows in Barra, and very little horses in Rum, +where perhaps no care is taken to prevent that diminution of size, which +must always happen, where the greater and the less copulate promiscuously, +and the young animal is restrained from growth by penury of sustenance.</p> +<p>The goat is the general inhabitant of the earth, complying with every +difference of climate, and of soil. The goats of the Hebrides +are like others: nor did I hear any thing of their sheep, to be particularly +remarked.</p> +<p>In the penury of these malignant regions, nothing is left that can +be converted to food. The goats and the sheep are milked like +the cows. A single meal of a goat is a quart, and of a sheep a +pint. Such at least was the account, which I could extract from +those of whom I am not sure that they ever had inquired.</p> +<p>The milk of goats is much thinner than that of cows, and that of +sheep is much thicker. Sheeps milk is never eaten before it is +boiled: as it is thick, it must be very liberal of curd, and the people +of St. Kilda form it into small cheeses.</p> +<p>The stags of the mountains are less than those of our parks, or forests, +perhaps not bigger than our fallow deer. Their flesh has no rankness, +nor is inferiour in flavour to our common venison. The roebuck +I neither saw nor tasted. These are not countries for a regular +chase. The deer are not driven with horns and hounds. A +sportsman, with his gun in his hand, watches the animal, and when he +has wounded him, traces him by the blood.</p> +<p>They have a race of brinded greyhounds, larger and stronger than +those with which we course hares, and those are the only dogs used by +them for the chase.</p> +<p>Man is by the use of fire-arms made so much an overmatch for other +animals, that in all countries, where they are in use, the wild part +of the creation sensibly diminishes. There will probably not be +long, either stags or roebucks in the Islands. All the beasts +of chase would have been lost long ago in countries well inhabited, +had they not been preserved by laws for the pleasure of the rich.</p> +<p>There are in Sky neither rats nor mice, but the weasel is so frequent, +that he is heard in houses rattling behind chests or beds, as rats in +England. They probably owe to his predominance that they have +no other vermin; for since the great rat took possession of this part +of the world, scarce a ship can touch at any port, but some of his race +are left behind. They have within these few years began to infest +the isle of Col, where being left by some trading vessel, they have +increased for want of weasels to oppose them.</p> +<p>The inhabitants of Sky, and of the other Islands, which I have seen, +are commonly of the middle stature, with fewer among them very tall +or very short, than are seen in England, or perhaps, as their numbers +are small, the chances of any deviation from the common measure are +necessarily few. The tallest men that I saw are among those of +higher rank. In regions of barrenness and scarcity, the human +race is hindered in its growth by the same causes as other animals.</p> +<p>The ladies have as much beauty here as in other places, but bloom +and softness are not to be expected among the lower classes, whose faces +are exposed to the rudeness of the climate, and whose features are sometimes +contracted by want, and sometimes hardened by the blasts. Supreme +beauty is seldom found in cottages or work-shops, even where no real +hardships are suffered. To expand the human face to its full perfection, +it seems necessary that the mind should co-operate by placidness of +content, or consciousness of superiority.</p> +<p>Their strength is proportionate to their size, but they are accustomed +to run upon rough ground, and therefore can with great agility skip +over the bog, or clamber the mountain. For a campaign in the wastes +of America, soldiers better qualified could not have been found. +Having little work to do, they are not willing, nor perhaps able to +endure a long continuance of manual labour, and are therefore considered +as habitually idle.</p> +<p>Having never been supplied with those accommodations, which life +extensively diversified with trades affords, they supply their wants +by very insufficient shifts, and endure many inconveniences, which a +little attention would easily relieve. I have seen a horse carrying +home the harvest on a crate. Under his tail was a stick for a +crupper, held at the two ends by twists of straw. Hemp will grow +in their islands, and therefore ropes may be had. If they wanted +hemp, they might make better cordage of rushes, or perhaps of nettles, +than of straw.</p> +<p>Their method of life neither secures them perpetual health, nor exposes +them to any particular diseases. There are physicians in the Islands, +who, I believe, all practise chirurgery, and all compound their own +medicines.</p> +<p>It is generally supposed, that life is longer in places where there +are few opportunities of luxury; but I found no instance here of extraordinary +longevity. A cottager grows old over his oaten cakes, like a citizen +at a turtle feast. He is indeed seldom incommoded by corpulence. +Poverty preserves him from sinking under the burden of himself, but +he escapes no other injury of time. Instances of long life are +often related, which those who hear them are more willing to credit +than examine. To be told that any man has attained a hundred years, +gives hope and comfort to him who stands trembling on the brink of his +own climacterick.</p> +<p>Length of life is distributed impartially to very different modes +of life in very different climates; and the mountains have no greater +examples of age and health than the low lands, where I was introduced +to two ladies of high quality; one of whom, in her ninety-fourth year, +presided at her table with the full exercise of all her powers; and +the other has attained her eighty-fourth, without any diminution of +her vivacity, and with little reason to accuse time of depredations +on her beauty.</p> +<p>In the Islands, as in most other places, the inhabitants are of different +rank, and one does not encroach here upon another. Where there +is no commerce nor manufacture, he that is born poor can scarcely become +rich; and if none are able to buy estates, he that is born to land cannot +annihilate his family by selling it. This was once the state of +these countries. Perhaps there is no example, till within a century +and half, of any family whose estate was alienated otherwise than by +violence or forfeiture. Since money has been brought amongst them, +they have found, like others, the art of spending more than they receive; +and I saw with grief the chief of a very ancient clan, whose Island +was condemned by law to be sold for the satisfaction of his creditors.</p> +<p>The name of highest dignity is Laird, of which there are in the extensive +Isle of Sky only three, Macdonald, Macleod, and Mackinnon. The +Laird is the original owner of the land, whose natural power must be +very great, where no man lives but by agriculture; and where the produce +of the land is not conveyed through the labyrinths of traffick, but +passes directly from the hand that gathers it to the mouth that eats +it. The Laird has all those in his power that live upon his farms. +Kings can, for the most part, only exalt or degrade. The Laird +at pleasure can feed or starve, can give bread, or withold it. +This inherent power was yet strengthened by the kindness of consanguinity, +and the reverence of patriarchal authority. The Laird was the +father of the Clan, and his tenants commonly bore his name. And +to these principles of original command was added, for many ages, an +exclusive right of legal jurisdiction.</p> +<p>This multifarious, and extensive obligation operated with force scarcely +credible. Every duty, moral or political, was absorbed in affection +and adherence to the Chief. Not many years have passed since the +clans knew no law but the Laird’s will. He told them to +whom they should be friends or enemies, what King they should obey, +and what religion they should profess.</p> +<p>When the Scots first rose in arms against the succession of the house +of Hanover, Lovat, the Chief of the Frasers, was in exile for a rape. +The Frasers were very numerous, and very zealous against the government. +A pardon was sent to Lovat. He came to the English camp, and the +clan immediately deserted to him.</p> +<p>Next in dignity to the Laird is the Tacksman; a large taker or lease-holder +of land, of which he keeps part, as a domain, in his own hand, and lets +part to under tenants. The Tacksman is necessarily a man capable +of securing to the Laird the whole rent, and is commonly a collateral +relation. These tacks, or subordinate possessions, were long considered +as hereditary, and the occupant was distinguished by the name of the +place at which he resided. He held a middle station, by which +the highest and the lowest orders were connected. He paid rent +and reverence to the Laird, and received them from the tenants. +This tenure still subsists, with its original operation, but not with +the primitive stability. Since the islanders, no longer content +to live, have learned the desire of growing rich, an ancient dependent +is in danger of giving way to a higher bidder, at the expense of domestick +dignity and hereditary power. The stranger, whose money buys him +preference, considers himself as paying for all that he has, and is +indifferent about the Laird’s honour or safety. The commodiousness +of money is indeed great; but there are some advantages which money +cannot buy, and which therefore no wise man will by the love of money +be tempted to forego.</p> +<p>I have found in the hither parts of Scotland, men not defective in +judgment or general experience, who consider the Tacksman as a useless +burden of the ground, as a drone who lives upon the product of an estate, +without the right of property, or the merit of labour, and who impoverishes +at once the landlord and the tenant. The land, say they, is let +to the Tacksman at sixpence an acre, and by him to the tenant at ten-pence. +Let the owner be the immediate landlord to all the tenants; if he sets +the ground at eight-pence, he will increase his revenue by a fourth +part, and the tenant’s burthen will be diminished by a fifth.</p> +<p>Those who pursue this train of reasoning, seem not sufficiently to +inquire whither it will lead them, nor to know that it will equally +shew the propriety of suppressing all wholesale trade, of shutting up +the shops of every man who sells what he does not make, and of extruding +all whose agency and profit intervene between the manufacturer and the +consumer. They may, by stretching their understandings a little +wider, comprehend, that all those who by undertaking large quantities +of manufacture, and affording employment to many labourers, make themselves +considered as benefactors to the publick, have only been robbing their +workmen with one hand, and their customers with the other. If +Crowley had sold only what he could make, and all his smiths had wrought +their own iron with their own hammers, he would have lived on less, +and they would have sold their work for more. The salaries of +superintendents and clerks would have been partly saved, and partly +shared, and nails been sometimes cheaper by a farthing in a hundred. +But then if the smith could not have found an immediate purchaser, he +must have deserted his anvil; if there had by accident at any time been +more sellers than buyers, the workmen must have reduced their profit +to nothing, by underselling one another; and as no great stock could +have been in any hand, no sudden demand of large quantities could have +been answered and the builder must have stood still till the nailer +could supply him.</p> +<p>According to these schemes, universal plenty is to begin and end +in universal misery. Hope and emulation will be utterly extinguished; +and as all must obey the call of immediate necessity, nothing that requires +extensive views, or provides for distant consequences will ever be performed.</p> +<p>To the southern inhabitants of Scotland, the state of the mountains +and the islands is equally unknown with that of Borneo or Sumatra: Of +both they have only heard a little, and guess the rest. They are +strangers to the language and the manners, to the advantages and wants +of the people, whose life they would model, and whose evils they would +remedy.</p> +<p>Nothing is less difficult than to procure one convenience by the +forfeiture of another. A soldier may expedite his march by throwing +away his arms. To banish the Tacksman is easy, to make a country +plentiful by diminishing the people, is an expeditious mode of husbandry; +but little abundance, which there is nobody to enjoy, contributes little +to human happiness.</p> +<p>As the mind must govern the hands, so in every society the man of +intelligence must direct the man of labour. If the Tacksmen be +taken away, the Hebrides must in their present state be given up to +grossness and ignorance; the tenant, for want of instruction, will be +unskilful, and for want of admonition will be negligent. The Laird +in these wide estates, which often consist of islands remote from one +another, cannot extend his personal influence to all his tenants; and +the steward having no dignity annexed to his character, can have little +authority among men taught to pay reverence only to birth, and who regard +the Tacksman as their hereditary superior; nor can the steward have +equal zeal for the prosperity of an estate profitable only to the Laird, +with the Tacksman, who has the Laird’s income involved in his +own.</p> +<p>The only gentlemen in the Islands are the Lairds, the Tacksmen, and +the Ministers, who frequently improve their livings by becoming farmers. +If the Tacksmen be banished, who will be left to impart knowledge, or +impress civility? The Laird must always be at a distance from +the greater part of his lands; and if he resides at all upon them, must +drag his days in solitude, having no longer either a friend or a companion; +he will therefore depart to some more comfortable residence, and leave +the tenants to the wisdom and mercy of a factor.</p> +<p>Of tenants there are different orders, as they have greater or less +stock. Land is sometimes leased to a small fellowship, who live +in a cluster of huts, called a Tenants Town, and are bound jointly and +separately for the payment of their rent. These, I believe, employ +in the care of their cattle, and the labour of tillage, a kind of tenants +yet lower; who having a hut with grass for a certain number of cows +and sheep, pay their rent by a stipulated quantity of labour.</p> +<p>The condition of domestick servants, or the price of occasional labour, +I do not know with certainty. I was told that the maids have sheep, +and are allowed to spin for their own clothing; perhaps they have no +pecuniary wages, or none but in very wealthy families. The state +of life, which has hitherto been purely pastoral, begins now to be a +little variegated with commerce; but novelties enter by degrees, and +till one mode has fully prevailed over the other, no settled notion +can be formed.</p> +<p>Such is the system of insular subordination, which, having little +variety, cannot afford much delight in the view, nor long detain the +mind in contemplation. The inhabitants were for a long time perhaps +not unhappy; but their content was a muddy mixture of pride and ignorance, +an indifference for pleasures which they did not know, a blind veneration +for their chiefs, and a strong conviction of their own importance.</p> +<p>Their pride has been crushed by the heavy hand of a vindictive conqueror, +whose seventies have been followed by laws, which, though they cannot +be called cruel, have produced much discontent, because they operate +upon the surface of life, and make every eye bear witness to subjection. +To be compelled to a new dress has always been found painful.</p> +<p>Their Chiefs being now deprived of their jurisdiction, have already +lost much of their influence; and as they gradually degenerate from +patriarchal rulers to rapacious landlords, they will divest themselves +of the little that remains.</p> +<p>That dignity which they derived from an opinion of their military +importance, the law, which disarmed them, has abated. An old gentleman, +delighting himself with the recollection of better days, related, that +forty years ago, a Chieftain walked out attended by ten or twelve followers, +with their arms rattling. That animating rabble has now ceased. +The Chief has lost his formidable retinue; and the Highlander walks +his heath unarmed and defenceless, with the peaceable submission of +a French peasant or English cottager.</p> +<p>Their ignorance grows every day less, but their knowledge is yet +of little other use than to shew them their wants. They are now +in the period of education, and feel the uneasiness of discipline, without +yet perceiving the benefit of instruction.</p> +<p>The last law, by which the Highlanders are deprived of their arms, +has operated with efficacy beyond expectation. Of former statutes +made with the same design, the execution had been feeble, and the effect +inconsiderable. Concealment was undoubtedly practised, and perhaps +often with connivance. There was tenderness, or partiality, on +one side, and obstinacy on the other. But the law, which followed +the victory of Culloden, found the whole nation dejected and intimidated; +informations were given without danger, and without fear, and the arms +were collected with such rigour, that every house was despoiled of its +defence.</p> +<p>To disarm part of the Highlands, could give no reasonable occasion +of complaint. Every government must be allowed the power of taking +away the weapon that is lifted against it. But the loyal clans +murmured, with some appearance of justice, that after having defended +the King, they were forbidden for the future to defend themselves; and +that the sword should be forfeited, which had been legally employed. +Their case is undoubtedly hard, but in political regulations, good cannot +be complete, it can only be predominant.</p> +<p>Whether by disarming a people thus broken into several tribes, and +thus remote from the seat of power, more good than evil has been produced, +may deserve inquiry. The supreme power in every community has +the right of debarring every individual, and every subordinate society +from self-defence, only because the supreme power is able to defend +them; and therefore where the governor cannot act, he must trust the +subject to act for himself. These Islands might be wasted with +fire and sword before their sovereign would know their distress. +A gang of robbers, such as has been lately found confederating themselves +in the Highlands, might lay a wide region under contribution. +The crew of a petty privateer might land on the largest and most wealthy +of the Islands, and riot without control in cruelty and waste. +It was observed by one of the Chiefs of Sky, that fifty armed men might, +without resistance ravage the country. Laws that place the subjects +in such a state, contravene the first principles of the compact of authority: +they exact obedience, and yield no protection.</p> +<p>It affords a generous and manly pleasure to conceive a little nation +gathering its fruits and tending its herds with fearless confidence, +though it lies open on every side to invasion, where, in contempt of +walls and trenches, every man sleeps securely with his sword beside +him; where all on the first approach of hostility came together at the +call to battle, as at a summons to a festal show; and committing their +cattle to the care of those whom age or nature has disabled, engage +the enemy with that competition for hazard and for glory, which operate +in men that fight under the eye of those, whose dislike or kindness +they have always considered as the greatest evil or the greatest good.</p> +<p>This was, in the beginning of the present century, the state of the +Highlands. Every man was a soldier, who partook of national confidence, +and interested himself in national honour. To lose this spirit, +is to lose what no small advantage will compensate.</p> +<p>It may likewise deserve to be inquired, whether a great nation ought +to be totally commercial? whether amidst the uncertainty of human affairs, +too much attention to one mode of happiness may not endanger others? +whether the pride of riches must not sometimes have recourse to the +protection of courage? and whether, if it be necessary to preserve in +some part of the empire the military spirit, it can subsist more commodiously +in any place, than in remote and unprofitable provinces, where it can +commonly do little harm, and whence it may be called forth at any sudden +exigence?</p> +<p>It must however be confessed, that a man, who places honour only +in successful violence, is a very troublesome and pernicious animal +in time of peace; and that the martial character cannot prevail in a +whole people, but by the diminution of all other virtues. He that +is accustomed to resolve all right into conquest, will have very little +tenderness or equity. All the friendship in such a life can be +only a confederacy of invasion, or alliance of defence. The strong +must flourish by force, and the weak subsist by stratagem.</p> +<p>Till the Highlanders lost their ferocity, with their arms, they suffered +from each other all that malignity could dictate, or precipitance could +act. Every provocation was revenged with blood, and no man that +ventured into a numerous company, by whatever occasion brought together, +was sure of returning without a wound. If they are now exposed +to foreign hostilities, they may talk of the danger, but can seldom +feel it. If they are no longer martial, they are no longer quarrelsome. +Misery is caused for the most part, not by a heavy crush of disaster, +but by the corrosion of less visible evils, which canker enjoyment, +and undermine security. The visit of an invader is necessarily +rare, but domestick animosities allow no cessation.</p> +<p>The abolition of the local jurisdictions, which had for so many ages +been exercised by the chiefs, has likewise its evil and its good. +The feudal constitution naturally diffused itself into long ramifications +of subordinate authority. To this general temper of the government +was added the peculiar form of the country, broken by mountains into +many subdivisions scarcely accessible but to the natives, and guarded +by passes, or perplexed with intricacies, through which national justice +could not find its way.</p> +<p>The power of deciding controversies, and of punishing offences, as +some such power there must always be, was intrusted to the Lairds of +the country, to those whom the people considered as their natural judges. +It cannot be supposed that a rugged proprietor of the rocks, unprincipled +and unenlightened, was a nice resolver of entangled claims, or very +exact in proportioning punishment to offences. But the more he +indulged his own will, the more he held his vassals in dependence. +Prudence and innocence, without the favour of the Chief, conferred no +security; and crimes involved no danger, when the judge was resolute +to acquit.</p> +<p>When the chiefs were men of knowledge and virtue, the convenience +of a domestick judicature was great. No long journies were necessary, +nor artificial delays could be practised; the character, the alliances, +and interests of the litigants were known to the court, and all false +pretences were easily detected. The sentence, when it was past, +could not be evaded; the power of the Laird superseded formalities, +and justice could not be defeated by interest or stratagem.</p> +<p>I doubt not but that since the regular judges have made their circuits +through the whole country, right has been every where more wisely, and +more equally distributed; the complaint is, that litigation is grown +troublesome, and that the magistrates are too few, and therefore often +too remote for general convenience.</p> +<p>Many of the smaller Islands have no legal officer within them. +I once asked, If a crime should be committed, by what authority the +offender could be seized? and was told, that the Laird would exert his +right; a right which he must now usurp, but which surely necessity must +vindicate, and which is therefore yet exercised in lower degrees, by +some of the proprietors, when legal processes cannot be obtained.</p> +<p>In all greater questions, however, there is now happily an end to +all fear or hope from malice or from favour. The roads are secure +in those places through which, forty years ago, no traveller could pass +without a convoy. All trials of right by the sword are forgotten, +and the mean are in as little danger from the powerful as in other places. +No scheme of policy has, in any country, yet brought the rich and poor +on equal terms into courts of judicature. Perhaps experience, +improving on experience, may in time effect it.</p> +<p>Those who have long enjoyed dignity and power, ought not to lose +it without some equivalent. There was paid to the Chiefs by the +publick, in exchange for their privileges, perhaps a sum greater than +most of them had ever possessed, which excited a thirst for riches, +of which it shewed them the use. When the power of birth and station +ceases, no hope remains but from the prevalence of money. Power +and wealth supply the place of each other. Power confers the ability +of gratifying our desire without the consent of others. Wealth +enables us to obtain the consent of others to our gratification. +Power, simply considered, whatever it confers on one, must take from +another. Wealth enables its owner to give to others, by taking +only from himself. Power pleases the violent and proud: wealth +delights the placid and the timorous. Youth therefore flies at +power, and age grovels after riches.</p> +<p>The Chiefs, divested of their prerogatives, necessarily turned their +thoughts to the improvement of their revenues, and expect more rent, +as they have less homage. The tenant, who is far from perceiving +that his condition is made better in the same proportion, as that of +his landlord is made worse, does not immediately see why his industry +is to be taxed more heavily than before. He refuses to pay the +demand, and is ejected; the ground is then let to a stranger, who perhaps +brings a larger stock, but who, taking the land at its full price, treats +with the Laird upon equal terms, and considers him not as a Chief, but +as a trafficker in land. Thus the estate perhaps is improved, +but the clan is broken.</p> +<p>It seems to be the general opinion, that the rents have been raised +with too much eagerness. Some regard must be paid to prejudice. +Those who have hitherto paid but little, will not suddenly be persuaded +to pay much, though they can afford it. As ground is gradually +improved, and the value of money decreases, the rent may be raised without +any diminution of the farmer’s profits: yet it is necessary in +these countries, where the ejection of a tenant is a greater evil, than +in more populous places, to consider not merely what the land will produce, +but with what ability the inhabitant can cultivate it. A certain +stock can allow but a certain payment; for if the land be doubled, and +the stock remains the same, the tenant becomes no richer. The +proprietors of the Highlands might perhaps often increase their income, +by subdividing the farms, and allotting to every occupier only so many +acres as he can profitably employ, but that they want people.</p> +<p>There seems now, whatever be the cause, to be through a great part +of the Highlands a general discontent. That adherence, which was +lately professed by every man to the chief of his name, has now little +prevalence; and he that cannot live as he desires at home, listens to +the tale of fortunate islands, and happy regions, where every man may +have land of his own, and eat the product of his labour without a superior.</p> +<p>Those who have obtained grants of American lands, have, as is well +known, invited settlers from all quarters of the globe; and among other +places, where oppression might produce a wish for new habitations, their +emissaries would not fail to try their persuasions in the Isles of Scotland, +where at the time when the clans were newly disunited from their Chiefs, +and exasperated by unprecedented exactions, it is no wonder that they +prevailed.</p> +<p>Whether the mischiefs of emigration were immediately perceived, may +be justly questioned. They who went first, were probably such +as could best be spared; but the accounts sent by the earliest adventurers, +whether true or false, inclined many to follow them; and whole neighbourhoods +formed parties for removal; so that departure from their native country +is no longer exile. He that goes thus accompanied, carries with +him all that makes life pleasant. He sits down in a better climate, +surrounded by his kindred and his friends: they carry with them their +language, their opinions, their popular songs, and hereditary merriment: +they change nothing but the place of their abode; and of that change +they perceive the benefit.</p> +<p>This is the real effect of emigration, if those that go away together +settle on the same spot, and preserve their ancient union. But +some relate that these adventurous visitants of unknown regions, after +a voyage passed in dreams of plenty and felicity, are dispersed at last +upon a Sylvan wilderness, where their first years must be spent in toil, +to clear the ground which is afterwards to be tilled, and that the whole +effect of their undertakings is only more fatigue and equal scarcity.</p> +<p>Both accounts may be suspected. Those who are gone will endeavour +by every art to draw others after them; for as their numbers are greater, +they will provide better for themselves. When Nova Scotia was +first peopled, I remember a letter, published under the character of +a New Planter, who related how much the climate put him in mind of Italy. +Such intelligence the Hebridians probably receive from their transmarine +correspondents. But with equal temptations of interest, and perhaps +with no greater niceness of veracity, the owners of the Islands spread +stories of American hardships to keep their people content at home.</p> +<p>Some method to stop this epidemick desire of wandering, which spreads +its contagion from valley to valley, deserves to be sought with great +diligence. In more fruitful countries, the removal of one only +makes room for the succession of another: but in the Hebrides, the loss +of an inhabitant leaves a lasting vacuity; for nobody born in any other +parts of the world will choose this country for his residence, and an +Island once depopulated will remain a desert, as long as the present +facility of travel gives every one, who is discontented and unsettled, +the choice of his abode.</p> +<p>Let it be inquired, whether the first intention of those who are +fluttering on the wing, and collecting a flock that they may take their +flight, be to attain good, or to avoid evil. If they are dissatisfied +with that part of the globe, which their birth has allotted them, and +resolve not to live without the pleasures of happier climates; if they +long for bright suns, and calm skies, and flowery fields, and fragrant +gardens, I know not by what eloquence they can be persuaded, or by what +offers they can be hired to stay.</p> +<p>But if they are driven from their native country by positive evils, +and disgusted by ill-treatment, real or imaginary, it were fit to remove +their grievances, and quiet their resentment; since, if they have been +hitherto undutiful subjects, they will not much mend their principles +by American conversation.</p> +<p>To allure them into the army, it was thought proper to indulge them +in the continuance of their national dress. If this concession +could have any effect, it might easily be made. That dissimilitude +of appearance, which was supposed to keep them distinct from the rest +of the nation, might disincline them from coalescing with the Pensylvanians, +or people of Connecticut. If the restitution of their arms will +reconcile them to their country, let them have again those weapons, +which will not be more mischievous at home than in the Colonies. +That they may not fly from the increase of rent, I know not whether +the general good does not require that the landlords be, for a time, +restrained in their demands, and kept quiet by pensions proportionate +to their loss.</p> +<p>To hinder insurrection, by driving away the people, and to govern +peaceably, by having no subjects, is an expedient that argues no great +profundity of politicks. To soften the obdurate, to convince the +mistaken, to mollify the resentful, are worthy of a statesman; but it +affords a legislator little self-applause to consider, that where there +was formerly an insurrection, there is now a wilderness.</p> +<p>It has been a question often agitated without solution, why those +northern regions are now so thinly peopled, which formerly overwhelmed +with their armies the Roman empire. The question supposes what +I believe is not true, that they had once more inhabitants than they +could maintain, and overflowed only because they were full.</p> +<p>This is to estimate the manners of all countries and ages by our +own. Migration, while the state of life was unsettled, and there +was little communication of intelligence between distant places, was +among the wilder nations of Europe, capricious and casual. An +adventurous projector heard of a fertile coast unoccupied, and led out +a colony; a chief of renown for bravery, called the young men together, +and led them out to try what fortune would present. When Cæsar +was in Gaul, he found the Helvetians preparing to go they knew not whither, +and put a stop to their motions. They settled again in their own +country, where they were so far from wanting room, that they had accumulated +three years provision for their march.</p> +<p>The religion of the North was military; if they could not find enemies, +it was their duty to make them: they travelled in quest of danger, and +willingly took the chance of Empire or Death. If their troops +were numerous, the countries from which they were collected are of vast +extent, and without much exuberance of people great armies may be raised +where every man is a soldier. But their true numbers were never +known. Those who were conquered by them are their historians, +and shame may have excited them to say, that they were overwhelmed with +multitudes. To count is a modern practice, the ancient method +was to guess; and when numbers are guessed they are always magnified.</p> +<p>Thus England has for several years been filled with the atchievements +of seventy thousand Highlanders employed in America. I have heard +from an English officer, not much inclined to favour them, that their +behaviour deserved a very high degree of military praise; but their +number has been much exaggerated. One of the ministers told me, +that seventy thousand men could not have been found in all the Highlands, +and that more than twelve thousand never took the field. Those +that went to the American war, went to destruction. Of the old +Highland regiment, consisting of twelve hundred, only seventy-six survived +to see their country again.</p> +<p>The Gothick swarms have at least been multiplied with equal liberality. +That they bore no great proportion to the inhabitants, in whose countries +they settled, is plain from the paucity of northern words now found +in the provincial languages. Their country was not deserted for +want of room, because it was covered with forests of vast extent; and +the first effect of plenitude of inhabitants is the destruction of wood. +As the Europeans spread over America the lands are gradually laid naked.</p> +<p>I would not be understood to say, that necessity had never any part +in their expeditions. A nation, whose agriculture is scanty or +unskilful, may be driven out by famine. A nation of hunters may +have exhausted their game. I only affirm that the northern regions +were not, when their irruptions subdued the Romans, overpeopled with +regard to their real extent of territory, and power of fertility. +In a country fully inhabited, however afterward laid waste, evident +marks will remain of its former populousness. But of Scandinavia +and Germany, nothing is known but that as we trace their state upwards +into antiquity, their woods were greater, and their cultivated ground +was less.</p> +<p>That causes were different from want of room may produce a general +disposition to seek another country is apparent from the present conduct +of the Highlanders, who are in some places ready to threaten a total +secession. The numbers which have already gone, though like other +numbers they may be magnified, are very great, and such as if they had +gone together and agreed upon any certain settlement, might have founded +an independent government in the depths of the western continent. +Nor are they only the lowest and most indigent; many men of considerable +wealth have taken with them their train of labourers and dependants; +and if they continue the feudal scheme of polity, may establish new +clans in the other hemisphere.</p> +<p>That the immediate motives of their desertion must be imputed to +their landlords, may be reasonably concluded, because some Lairds of +more prudence and less rapacity have kept their vassals undiminished. +From Raasa only one man had been seduced, and at Col there was no wish +to go away.</p> +<p>The traveller who comes hither from more opulent countries, to speculate +upon the remains of pastoral life, will not much wonder that a common +Highlander has no strong adherence to his native soil; for of animal +enjoyments, or of physical good, he leaves nothing that he may not find +again wheresoever he may be thrown.</p> +<p>The habitations of men in the Hebrides may be distinguished into +huts and houses. By a house, I mean a building with one story +over another; by a hut, a dwelling with only one floor. The Laird, +who formerly lived in a castle, now lives in a house; sometimes sufficiently +neat, but seldom very spacious or splendid. The Tacksmen and the +Ministers have commonly houses. Wherever there is a house, the +stranger finds a welcome, and to the other evils of exterminating Tacksmen +may be added the unavoidable cessation of hospitality, or the devolution +of too heavy a burden on the Ministers.</p> +<p>Of the houses little can be said. They are small, and by the +necessity of accumulating stores, where there are so few opportunities +of purchase, the rooms are very heterogeneously filled. With want +of cleanliness it were ingratitude to reproach them. The servants +having been bred upon the naked earth, think every floor clean, and +the quick succession of guests, perhaps not always over-elegant, does +not allow much time for adjusting their apartments.</p> +<p>Huts are of many gradations; from murky dens, to commodious dwellings.</p> +<p>The wall of a common hut is always built without mortar, by a skilful +adaptation of loose stones. Sometimes perhaps a double wall of +stones is raised, and the intermediate space filled with earth. +The air is thus completely excluded. Some walls are, I think, +formed of turfs, held together by a wattle, or texture of twigs. +Of the meanest huts, the first room is lighted by the entrance, and +the second by the smoke hole. The fire is usually made in the +middle. But there are huts, or dwellings of only one story, inhabited +by gentlemen, which have walls cemented with mortar, glass windows, +and boarded floors. Of these all have chimneys, and some chimneys +have grates.</p> +<p>The house and the furniture are not always nicely suited. We +were driven once, by missing a passage, to the hut of a gentleman, where, +after a very liberal supper, when I was conducted to my chamber, I found +an elegant bed of Indian cotton, spread with fine sheets. The +accommodation was flattering; I undressed myself, and felt my feet in +the mire. The bed stood upon the bare earth, which a long course +of rain had softened to a puddle.</p> +<p>In pastoral countries the condition of the lowest rank of people +is sufficiently wretched. Among manufacturers, men that have no +property may have art and industry, which make them necessary, and therefore +valuable. But where flocks and corn are the only wealth, there +are always more hands than work, and of that work there is little in +which skill and dexterity can be much distinguished. He therefore +who is born poor never can be rich. The son merely occupies the +place of the father, and life knows nothing of progression or advancement.</p> +<p>The petty tenants, and labouring peasants, live in miserable cabins, +which afford them little more than shelter from the storms. The +Boor of Norway is said to make all his own utensils. In the Hebrides, +whatever might be their ingenuity, the want of wood leaves them no materials. +They are probably content with such accommodations as stones of different +forms and sizes can afford them.</p> +<p>Their food is not better than their lodging. They seldom taste +the flesh of land animals; for here are no markets. What each +man eats is from his own stock. The great effect of money is to +break property into small parts. In towns, he that has a shilling +may have a piece of meat; but where there is no commerce, no man can +eat mutton but by killing a sheep.</p> +<p>Fish in fair weather they need not want; but, I believe, man never +lives long on fish, but by constraint; he will rather feed upon roots +and berries.</p> +<p>The only fewel of the Islands is peat. Their wood is all consumed, +and coal they have not yet found. Peat is dug out of the marshes, +from the depth of one foot to that of six. That is accounted the +best which is nearest the surface. It appears to be a mass of +black earth held together by vegetable fibres. I know not whether +the earth be bituminous, or whether the fibres be not the only combustible +part; which, by heating the interposed earth red hot, make a burning +mass. The heat is not very strong nor lasting. The ashes +are yellowish, and in a large quantity. When they dig peat, they +cut it into square pieces, and pile it up to dry beside the house. +In some places it has an offensive smell. It is like wood charked +for the smith. The common method of making peat fires, is by heaping +it on the hearth; but it burns well in grates, and in the best houses +is so used.</p> +<p>The common opinion is, that peat grows again where it has been cut; +which, as it seems to be chiefly a vegetable substance, is not unlikely +to be true, whether known or not to those who relate it.</p> +<p>There are water mills in Sky and Raasa; but where they are too far +distant, the house-wives grind their oats with a quern, or hand-mill, +which consists of two stones, about a foot and a half in diameter; the +lower is a little convex, to which the concavity of the upper must be +fitted. In the middle of the upper stone is a round hole, and +on one side is a long handle. The grinder sheds the corn gradually +into the hole with one hand, and works the handle round with the other. +The corn slides down the convexity of the lower stone, and by the motion +of the upper is ground in its passage. These stones are found +in Lochabar.</p> +<p>The Islands afford few pleasures, except to the hardy sportsman, +who can tread the moor and climb the mountain. The distance of +one family from another, in a country where travelling has so much difficulty, +makes frequent intercourse impracticable. Visits last several +days, and are commonly paid by water; yet I never saw a boat furnished +with benches, or made commodious by any addition to the first fabric. +Conveniences are not missed where they never were enjoyed.</p> +<p>The solace which the bagpipe can give, they have long enjoyed; but +among other changes, which the last Revolution introduced, the use of +the bagpipe begins to be forgotten. Some of the chief families +still entertain a piper, whose office was anciently hereditary. +Macrimmon was piper to Macleod, and Rankin to Maclean of Col.</p> +<p>The tunes of the bagpipe are traditional. There has been in +Sky, beyond all time of memory, a college of pipers, under the direction +of Macrimmon, which is not quite extinct. There was another in +Mull, superintended by Rankin, which expired about sixteen years ago. +To these colleges, while the pipe retained its honour, the students +of musick repaired for education. I have had my dinner exhilarated +by the bagpipe, at Armidale, at Dunvegan, and in Col.</p> +<p>The general conversation of the Islanders has nothing particular. +I did not meet with the inquisitiveness of which I have read, and suspect +the judgment to have been rashly made. A stranger of curiosity +comes into a place where a stranger is seldom seen: he importunes the +people with questions, of which they cannot guess the motive, and gazes +with surprise on things which they, having had them always before their +eyes, do not suspect of any thing wonderful. He appears to them +like some being of another world, and then thinks it peculiar that they +take their turn to inquire whence he comes, and whither he is going.</p> +<p>The Islands were long unfurnished with instruction for youth, and +none but the sons of gentlemen could have any literature. There +are now parochial schools, to which the lord of every manor pays a certain +stipend. Here the children are taught to read; but by the rule +of their institution, they teach only English, so that the natives read +a language which they may never use or understand. If a parish, +which often happens, contains several Islands, the school being but +in one, cannot assist the rest. This is the state of Col, which, +however, is more enlightened than some other places; for the deficiency +is supplied by a young gentleman, who, for his own improvement, travels +every year on foot over the Highlands to the session at Aberdeen; and +at his return, during the vacation, teaches to read and write in his +native Island.</p> +<p>In Sky there are two grammar schools, where boarders are taken to +be regularly educated. The price of board is from three pounds, +to four pounds ten shillings a year, and that of instruction is half +a crown a quarter. But the scholars are birds of passage, who +live at school only in the summer; for in winter provisions cannot be +made for any considerable number in one place. This periodical +dispersion impresses strongly the scarcity of these countries.</p> +<p>Having heard of no boarding-school for ladies nearer than Inverness, +I suppose their education is generally domestick. The elder daughters +of the higher families are sent into the world, and may contribute by +their acquisitions to the improvement of the rest.</p> +<p>Women must here study to be either pleasing or useful. Their +deficiencies are seldom supplied by very liberal fortunes. A hundred +pounds is a portion beyond the hope of any but the Laird’s daughter. +They do not indeed often give money with their daughters; the question +is, How many cows a young lady will bring her husband. A rich +maiden has from ten to forty; but two cows are a decent fortune for +one who pretends to no distinction.</p> +<p>The religion of the Islands is that of the Kirk of Scotland. +The gentlemen with whom I conversed are all inclined to the English +liturgy; but they are obliged to maintain the established Minister, +and the country is too poor to afford payment to another, who must live +wholly on the contribution of his audience.</p> +<p>They therefore all attend the worship of the Kirk, as often as a +visit from their Minister, or the practicability of travelling gives +them opportunity; nor have they any reason to complain of insufficient +pastors; for I saw not one in the Islands, whom I had reason to think +either deficient in learning, or irregular in life: but found several +with whom I could not converse without wishing, as my respect increased, +that they had not been Presbyterians.</p> +<p>The ancient rigour of puritanism is now very much relaxed, though +all are not yet equally enlightened. I sometimes met with prejudices +sufficiently malignant, but they were prejudices of ignorance. +The Ministers in the Islands had attained such knowledge as may justly +be admired in men, who have no motive to study, but generous curiosity, +or, what is still better, desire of usefulness; with such politeness +as so narrow a circle of converse could not have supplied, but to minds +naturally disposed to elegance.</p> +<p>Reason and truth will prevail at last. The most learned of +the Scottish Doctors would now gladly admit a form of prayer, if the +people would endure it. The zeal or rage of congregations has +its different degrees. In some parishes the Lord’s Prayer +is suffered: in others it is still rejected as a form; and he that should +make it part of his supplication would be suspected of heretical pravity.</p> +<p>The principle upon which extemporary prayer was originally introduced, +is no longer admitted. The Minister formerly, in the effusion +of his prayer, expected immediate, and perhaps perceptible inspiration, +and therefore thought it his duty not to think before what he should +say. It is now universally confessed, that men pray as they speak +on other occasions, according to the general measure of their abilities +and attainments. Whatever each may think of a form prescribed +by another, he cannot but believe that he can himself compose by study +and meditation a better prayer than will rise in his mind at a sudden +call; and if he has any hope of supernatural help, why may he not as +well receive it when he writes as when he speaks?</p> +<p>In the variety of mental powers, some must perform extemporary prayer +with much imperfection; and in the eagerness and rashness of contradictory +opinions, if publick liturgy be left to the private judgment of every +Minister, the congregation may often be offended or misled.</p> +<p>There is in Scotland, as among ourselves, a restless suspicion of +popish machinations, and a clamour of numerous converts to the Romish +religion. The report is, I believe, in both parts of the Island +equally false. The Romish religion is professed only in Egg and +Canna, two small islands, into which the Reformation never made its +way. If any missionaries are busy in the Highlands, their zeal +entitles them to respect, even from those who cannot think favourably +of their doctrine.</p> +<p>The political tenets of the Islanders I was not curious to investigate, +and they were not eager to obtrude. Their conversation is decent +and inoffensive. They disdain to drink for their principles, and +there is no disaffection at their tables. I never heard a health +offered by a Highlander that might not have circulated with propriety +within the precincts of the King’s palace.</p> +<p>Legal government has yet something of novelty to which they cannot +perfectly conform. The ancient spirit, that appealed only to the +sword, is yet among them. The tenant of Scalpa, an island belonging +to Macdonald, took no care to bring his rent; when the landlord talked +of exacting payment, he declared his resolution to keep his ground, +and drive all intruders from the Island, and continued to feed his cattle +as on his own land, till it became necessary for the Sheriff to dislodge +him by violence.</p> +<p>The various kinds of superstition which prevailed here, as in all +other regions of ignorance, are by the diligence of the Ministers almost +extirpated.</p> +<p>Of Browny, mentioned by Martin, nothing has been heard for many years. +Browny was a sturdy Fairy; who, if he was fed, and kindly treated, would, +as they said, do a great deal of work. They now pay him no wages, +and are content to labour for themselves.</p> +<p>In Troda, within these three-and-thirty years, milk was put every +Saturday for Greogach, or ‘the Old Man with the Long Beard.’ +Whether Greogach was courted as kind, or dreaded as terrible, whether +they meant, by giving him the milk, to obtain good, or avert evil, I +was not informed. The Minister is now living by whom the practice +was abolished.</p> +<p>They have still among them a great number of charms for the cure +of different diseases; they are all invocations, perhaps transmitted +to them from the times of popery, which increasing knowledge will bring +into disuse.</p> +<p>They have opinions, which cannot be ranked with superstition, because +they regard only natural effects. They expect better crops of +grain, by sowing their seed in the moon’s increase. The +moon has great influence in vulgar philosophy. In my memory it +was a precept annually given in one of the English Almanacks, ‘to +kill hogs when the moon was increasing, and the bacon would prove the +better in boiling.’</p> +<p>We should have had little claim to the praise of curiosity, if we +had not endeavoured with particular attention to examine the question +of the Second Sight. Of an opinion received for centuries by a +whole nation, and supposed to be confirmed through its whole descent, +by a series of successive facts, it is desirable that the truth should +be established, or the fallacy detected.</p> +<p>The Second Sight is an impression made either by the mind upon the +eye, or by the eye upon the mind, by which things distant or future +are perceived, and seen as if they were present. A man on a journey +far from home falls from his horse, another, who is perhaps at work +about the house, sees him bleeding on the ground, commonly with a landscape +of the place where the accident befalls him. Another seer, driving +home his cattle, or wandering in idleness, or musing in the sunshine, +is suddenly surprised by the appearance of a bridal ceremony, or funeral +procession, and counts the mourners or attendants, of whom, if he knows +them, he relates the names, if he knows them not, he can describe the +dresses. Things distant are seen at the instant when they happen. +Of things future I know not that there is any rule for determining the +time between the Sight and the event.</p> +<p>This receptive faculty, for power it cannot be called, is neither +voluntary nor constant. The appearances have no dependence upon +choice: they cannot be summoned, detained, or recalled. The impression +is sudden, and the effect often painful.</p> +<p>By the term Second Sight, seems to be meant a mode of seeing, superadded +to that which Nature generally bestows. In the Earse it is called +Taisch; which signifies likewise a spectre, or a vision. I know +not, nor is it likely that the Highlanders ever examined, whether by +Taisch, used for Second Sight, they mean the power of seeing, or the +thing seen.</p> +<p>I do not find it to be true, as it is reported, that to the Second +Sight nothing is presented but phantoms of evil. Good seems to +have the same proportions in those visionary scenes, as it obtains in +real life: almost all remarkable events have evil for their basis; and +are either miseries incurred, or miseries escaped. Our sense is +so much stronger of what we suffer, than of what we enjoy, that the +ideas of pain predominate in almost every mind. What is recollection +but a revival of vexations, or history but a record of wars, treasons, +and calamities? Death, which is considered as the greatest evil, +happens to all. The greatest good, be it what it will, is the +lot but of a part.</p> +<p>That they should often see death is to be expected; because death +is an event frequent and important. But they see likewise more +pleasing incidents. A gentleman told me, that when he had once +gone far from his own Island, one of his labouring servants predicted +his return, and described the livery of his attendant, which he had +never worn at home; and which had been, without any previous design, +occasionally given him.</p> +<p>Our desire of information was keen, and our inquiry frequent. +Mr. Boswell’s frankness and gaiety made every body communicative; +and we heard many tales of these airy shows, with more or less evidence +and distinctness.</p> +<p>It is the common talk of the Lowland Scots, that the notion of the +Second Sight is wearing away with other superstitions; and that its +reality is no longer supposed, but by the grossest people. How +far its prevalence ever extended, or what ground it has lost, I know +not. The Islanders of all degrees, whether of rank or understanding, +universally admit it, except the Ministers, who universally deny it, +and are suspected to deny it, in consequence of a system, against conviction. +One of them honestly told me, that he came to Sky with a resolution +not to believe it.</p> +<p>Strong reasons for incredulity will readily occur. This faculty +of seeing things out of sight is local, and commonly useless. +It is a breach of the common order of things, without any visible reason +or perceptible benefit. It is ascribed only to a people very little +enlightened; and among them, for the most part, to the mean and the +ignorant.</p> +<p>To the confidence of these objections it may be replied, that by +presuming to determine what is fit, and what is beneficial, they presuppose +more knowledge of the universal system than man has attained; and therefore +depend upon principles too complicated and extensive for our comprehension; +and that there can be no security in the consequence, when the premises +are not understood; that the Second Sight is only wonderful because +it is rare, for, considered in itself, it involves no more difficulty +than dreams, or perhaps than the regular exercise of the cogitative +faculty; that a general opinion of communicative impulses, or visionary +representations, has prevailed in all ages and all nations; that particular +instances have been given, with such evidence, as neither Bacon nor +Bayle has been able to resist; that sudden impressions, which the event +has verified, have been felt by more than own or publish them; that +the Second Sight of the Hebrides implies only the local frequency of +a power, which is nowhere totally unknown; and that where we are unable +to decide by antecedent reason, we must be content to yield to the force +of testimony.</p> +<p>By pretension to Second Sight, no profit was ever sought or gained. +It is an involuntary affection, in which neither hope nor fear are known +to have any part. Those who profess to feel it, do not boast of +it as a privilege, nor are considered by others as advantageously distinguished. +They have no temptation to feign; and their hearers have no motive to +encourage the imposture.</p> +<p>To talk with any of these seers is not easy. There is one living +in Sky, with whom we would have gladly conversed; but he was very gross +and ignorant, and knew no English. The proportion in these countries +of the poor to the rich is such, that if we suppose the quality to be +accidental, it can very rarely happen to a man of education; and yet +on such men it has sometimes fallen. There is now a Second Sighted +gentleman in the Highlands, who complains of the terrors to which he +is exposed.</p> +<p>The foresight of the Seers is not always prescience; they are impressed +with images, of which the event only shews them the meaning. They +tell what they have seen to others, who are at that time not more knowing +than themselves, but may become at last very adequate witnesses, by +comparing the narrative with its verification.</p> +<p>To collect sufficient testimonies for the satisfaction of the publick, +or of ourselves, would have required more time than we could bestow. +There is, against it, the seeming analogy of things confusedly seen, +and little understood, and for it, the indistinct cry of national persuasion, +which may be perhaps resolved at last into prejudice and tradition. +I never could advance my curiosity to conviction; but came away at last +only willing to believe.</p> +<p>As there subsists no longer in the Islands much of that peculiar +and discriminative form of life, of which the idea had delighted our +imagination, we were willing to listen to such accounts of past times +as would be given us. But we soon found what memorials were to +be expected from an illiterate people, whose whole time is a series +of distress; where every morning is labouring with expedients for the +evening; and where all mental pains or pleasure arose from the dread +of winter, the expectation of spring, the caprices of their Chiefs, +and the motions of the neighbouring clans; where there was neither shame +from ignorance, nor pride in knowledge; neither curiosity to inquire, +nor vanity to communicate.</p> +<p>The Chiefs indeed were exempt from urgent penury, and daily difficulties; +and in their houses were preserved what accounts remained of past ages. +But the Chiefs were sometimes ignorant and careless, and sometimes kept +busy by turbulence and contention; and one generation of ignorance effaces +the whole series of unwritten history. Books are faithful repositories, +which may be a while neglected or forgotten; but when they are opened +again, will again impart their instruction: memory, once interrupted, +is not to be recalled. Written learning is a fixed luminary, which, +after the cloud that had hidden it has past away, is again bright in +its proper station. Tradition is but a meteor, which, if once +it falls, cannot be rekindled.</p> +<p>It seems to be universally supposed, that much of the local history +was preserved by the Bards, of whom one is said to have been retained +by every great family. After these Bards were some of my first +inquiries; and I received such answers as, for a while, made me please +myself with my increase of knowledge; for I had not then learned how +to estimate the narration of a Highlander.</p> +<p>They said that a great family had a Bard and a Senachi, who were +the poet and historian of the house; and an old gentleman told me that +he remembered one of each. Here was a dawn of intelligence. +Of men that had lived within memory, some certain knowledge might be +attained. Though the office had ceased, its effects might continue; +the poems might be found, though there was no poet.</p> +<p>Another conversation indeed informed me, that the same man was both +Bard and Senachi. This variation discouraged me; but as the practice +might be different in different times, or at the same time in different +families, there was yet no reason for supposing that I must necessarily +sit down in total ignorance.</p> +<p>Soon after I was told by a gentleman, who is generally acknowledged +the greatest master of Hebridian antiquities, that there had indeed +once been both Bards and Senachies; and that Senachi signified ‘the +man of talk,’ or of conversation; but that neither Bard nor Senachi +had existed for some centuries. I have no reason to suppose it +exactly known at what time the custom ceased, nor did it probably cease +in all houses at once. But whenever the practice of recitation +was disused, the works, whether poetical or historical, perished with +the authors; for in those times nothing had been written in the Earse +language.</p> +<p>Whether the ‘Man of talk’ was a historian, whose office +was to tell truth, or a story-teller, like those which were in the last +century, and perhaps are now among the Irish, whose trade was only to +amuse, it now would be vain to inquire.</p> +<p>Most of the domestick offices were, I believe, hereditary; and probably +the laureat of a clan was always the son of the last laureat. +The history of the race could no otherwise be communicated, or retained; +but what genius could be expected in a poet by inheritance?</p> +<p>The nation was wholly illiterate. Neither bards nor Senachies +could write or read; but if they were ignorant, there was no danger +of detection; they were believed by those whose vanity they flattered.</p> +<p>The recital of genealogies, which has been considered as very efficacious +to the preservation of a true series of ancestry, was anciently made, +when the heir of the family came to manly age. This practice has +never subsisted within time of memory, nor was much credit due to such +rehearsers, who might obtrude fictitious pedigrees, either to please +their masters, or to hide the deficiency of their own memories.</p> +<p>Where the Chiefs of the Highlands have found the histories of their +descent is difficult to tell; for no Earse genealogy was ever written. +In general this only is evident, that the principal house of a clan +must be very ancient, and that those must have lived long in a place, +of whom it is not known when they came thither.</p> +<p>Thus hopeless are all attempts to find any traces of Highland learning. +Nor are their primitive customs and ancient manner of life otherwise +than very faintly and uncertainly remembered by the present race.</p> +<p>The peculiarities which strike the native of a commercial country, +proceeded in a great measure from the want of money. To the servants +and dependents that were not domesticks, and if an estimate be made +from the capacity of any of their old houses which I have seen, their +domesticks could have been but few, were appropriated certain portions +of land for their support. Macdonald has a piece of ground yet, +called the Bards or Senachies field. When a beef was killed for +the house, particular parts were claimed as fees by the several officers, +or workmen. What was the right of each I have not learned. +The head belonged to the smith, and the udder of a cow to the piper: +the weaver had likewise his particular part; and so many pieces followed +these prescriptive claims, that the Laird’s was at last but little.</p> +<p>The payment of rent in kind has been so long disused in England, +that it is totally forgotten. It was practised very lately in +the Hebrides, and probably still continues, not only in St. Kilda, where +money is not yet known, but in others of the smaller and remoter Islands. +It were perhaps to be desired, that no change in this particular should +have been made. When the Laird could only eat the produce of his +lands, he was under the necessity of residing upon them; and when the +tenant could not convert his stock into more portable riches, he could +never be tempted away from his farm, from the only place where he could +be wealthy. Money confounds subordination, by overpowering the +distinctions of rank and birth, and weakens authority by supplying power +of resistance, or expedients for escape. The feudal system is +formed for a nation employed in agriculture, and has never long kept +its hold where gold and silver have become common.</p> +<p>Their arms were anciently the Glaymore, or great two-handed sword, +and afterwards the two-edged sword and target, or buckler, which was +sustained on the left arm. In the midst of the target, which was +made of wood, covered with leather, and studded with nails, a slender +lance, about two feet long, was sometimes fixed; it was heavy and cumberous, +and accordingly has for some time past been gradually laid aside. +Very few targets were at Culloden. The dirk, or broad dagger, +I am afraid, was of more use in private quarrels than in battles. +The Lochaber-ax is only a slight alteration of the old English bill.</p> +<p>After all that has been said of the force and terrour of the Highland +sword, I could not find that the art of defence was any part of common +education. The gentlemen were perhaps sometimes skilful gladiators, +but the common men had no other powers than those of violence and courage. +Yet it is well known, that the onset of the Highlanders was very formidable. +As an army cannot consist of philosophers, a panick is easily excited +by any unwonted mode of annoyance. New dangers are naturally magnified; +and men accustomed only to exchange bullets at a distance, and rather +to hear their enemies than see them, are discouraged and amazed when +they find themselves encountered hand to hand, and catch the gleam of +steel flashing in their faces.</p> +<p>The Highland weapons gave opportunity for many exertions of personal +courage, and sometimes for single combats in the field; like those which +occur so frequently in fabulous wars. At Falkirk, a gentleman +now living, was, I suppose after the retreat of the King’s troops, +engaged at a distance from the rest with an Irish dragoon. They +were both skilful swordsmen, and the contest was not easily decided: +the dragoon at last had the advantage, and the Highlander called for +quarter; but quarter was refused him, and the fight continued till he +was reduced to defend himself upon his knee. At that instant one +of the Macleods came to his rescue; who, as it is said, offered quarter +to the dragoon, but he thought himself obliged to reject what he had +before refused, and, as battle gives little time to deliberate, was +immediately killed.</p> +<p>Funerals were formerly solemnized by calling multitudes together, +and entertaining them at great expence. This emulation of useless +cost has been for some time discouraged, and at last in the Isle of +Sky is almost suppressed.</p> +<p>Of the Earse language, as I understand nothing, I cannot say more +than I have been told. It is the rude speech of a barbarous people, +who had few thoughts to express, and were content, as they conceived +grossly, to be grossly understood. After what has been lately +talked of Highland Bards, and Highland genius, many will startle when +they are told, that the Earse never was a written language; that there +is not in the world an Earse manuscript a hundred years old; and that +the sounds of the Highlanders were never expressed by letters, till +some little books of piety were translated, and a metrical version of +the Psalms was made by the Synod of Argyle. Whoever therefore +now writes in this language, spells according to his own perception +of the sound, and his own idea of the power of the letters. The +Welsh and the Irish are cultivated tongues. The Welsh, two hundred +years ago, insulted their English neighbours for the instability of +their Orthography; while the Earse merely floated in the breath of the +people, and could therefore receive little improvement.</p> +<p>When a language begins to teem with books, it is tending to refinement; +as those who undertake to teach others must have undergone some labour +in improving themselves, they set a proportionate value on their own +thoughts, and wish to enforce them by efficacious expressions; speech +becomes embodied and permanent; different modes and phrases are compared, +and the best obtains an establishment. By degrees one age improves +upon another. Exactness is first obtained, and afterwards elegance. +But diction, merely vocal, is always in its childhood. As no man +leaves his eloquence behind him, the new generations have all to learn. +There may possibly be books without a polished language, but there can +be no polished language without books.</p> +<p>That the Bards could not read more than the rest of their countrymen, +it is reasonable to suppose; because, if they had read, they could probably +have written; and how high their compositions may reasonably be rated, +an inquirer may best judge by considering what stores of imagery, what +principles of ratiocination, what comprehension of knowledge, and what +delicacy of elocution he has known any man attain who cannot read. +The state of the Bards was yet more hopeless. He that cannot read, +may now converse with those that can; but the Bard was a barbarian among +barbarians, who, knowing nothing himself, lived with others that knew +no more.</p> +<p>There has lately been in the Islands one of these illiterate poets, +who hearing the Bible read at church, is said to have turned the sacred +history into verse. I heard part of a dialogue, composed by him, +translated by a young lady in Mull, and thought it had more meaning +than I expected from a man totally uneducated; but he had some opportunities +of knowledge; he lived among a learned people. After all that +has been done for the instruction of the Highlanders, the antipathy +between their language and literature still continues; and no man that +has learned only Earse is, at this time, able to read.</p> +<p>The Earse has many dialects, and the words used in some Islands are +not always known in others. In literate nations, though the pronunciation, +and sometimes the words of common speech may differ, as now in England, +compared with the South of Scotland, yet there is a written diction, +which pervades all dialects, and is understood in every province. +But where the whole language is colloquial, he that has only one part, +never gets the rest, as he cannot get it but by change of residence.</p> +<p>In an unwritten speech, nothing that is not very short is transmitted +from one generation to another. Few have opportunities of hearing +a long composition often enough to learn it, or have inclination to +repeat it so often as is necessary to retain it; and what is once forgotten +is lost for ever. I believe there cannot be recovered, in the +whole Earse language, five hundred lines of which there is any evidence +to prove them a hundred years old. Yet I hear that the father +of Ossian boasts of two chests more of ancient poetry, which he suppresses, +because they are too good for the English.</p> +<p>He that goes into the Highlands with a mind naturally acquiescent, +and a credulity eager for wonders, may come back with an opinion very +different from mine; for the inhabitants knowing the ignorance of all +strangers in their language and antiquities, perhaps are not very scrupulous +adherents to truth; yet I do not say that they deliberately speak studied +falsehood, or have a settled purpose to deceive. They have inquired +and considered little, and do not always feel their own ignorance. +They are not much accustomed to be interrogated by others; and seem +never to have thought upon interrogating themselves; so that if they +do not know what they tell to be true, they likewise do not distinctly +perceive it to be false.</p> +<p>Mr. Boswell was very diligent in his inquiries; and the result of +his investigations was, that the answer to the second question was commonly +such as nullified the answer to the first.</p> +<p>We were a while told, that they had an old translation of the scriptures; +and told it till it would appear obstinacy to inquire again. Yet +by continued accumulation of questions we found, that the translation +meant, if any meaning there were, was nothing else than the Irish Bible.</p> +<p>We heard of manuscripts that were, or that had been in the hands +of somebody’s father, or grandfather; but at last we had no reason +to believe they were other than Irish. Martin mentions Irish, +but never any Earse manuscripts, to be found in the Islands in his time.</p> +<p>I suppose my opinion of the poems of Ossian is already discovered. +I believe they never existed in any other form than that which we have +seen. The editor, or author, never could shew the original; nor +can it be shewn by any other; to revenge reasonable incredulity, by +refusing evidence, is a degree of insolence, with which the world is +not yet acquainted; and stubborn audacity is the last refuge of guilt. +It would be easy to shew it if he had it; but whence could it be had? +It is too long to be remembered, and the language formerly had nothing +written. He has doubtless inserted names that circulate in popular +stories, and may have translated some wandering ballads, if any can +be found; and the names, and some of the images being recollected, make +an inaccurate auditor imagine, by the help of Caledonian bigotry, that +he has formerly heard the whole.</p> +<p>I asked a very learned Minister in Sky, who had used all arts to +make me believe the genuineness of the book, whether at last he believed +it himself? but he would not answer. He wished me to be deceived, +for the honour of his country; but would not directly and formally deceive +me. Yet has this man’s testimony been publickly produced, +as of one that held Fingal to be the work of Ossian.</p> +<p>It is said, that some men of integrity profess to have heard parts +of it, but they all heard them when they were boys; and it was never +said that any of them could recite six lines. They remember names, +and perhaps some proverbial sentiments; and, having no distinct ideas, +coin a resemblance without an original. The persuasion of the +Scots, however, is far from universal; and in a question so capable +of proof, why should doubt be suffered to continue? The editor +has been heard to say, that part of the poem was received by him, in +the Saxon character. He has then found, by some peculiar fortune, +an unwritten language, written in a character which the natives probably +never beheld.</p> +<p>I have yet supposed no imposture but in the publisher, yet I am far +from certainty, that some translations have not been lately made, that +may now be obtruded as parts of the original work. Credulity on +one part is a strong temptation to deceit on the other, especially to +deceit of which no personal injury is the consequence, and which flatters +the author with his own ingenuity. The Scots have something to +plead for their easy reception of an improbable fiction; they are seduced +by their fondness for their supposed ancestors. A Scotchman must +be a very sturdy moralist, who does not love Scotland better than truth: +he will always love it better than inquiry; and if falsehood flatters +his vanity, will not be very diligent to detect it. Neither ought +the English to be much influenced by Scotch authority; for of the past +and present state of the whole Earse nation, the Lowlanders are at least +as ignorant as ourselves. To be ignorant is painful; but it is +dangerous to quiet our uneasiness by the delusive opiate of hasty persuasion.</p> +<p>But this is the age, in which those who could not read, have been +supposed to write; in which the giants of antiquated romance have been +exhibited as realities. If we know little of the ancient Highlanders, +let us not fill the vacuity with Ossian. If we had not searched +the Magellanick regions, let us however forbear to people them with +Patagons.</p> +<p>Having waited some days at Armidel, we were flattered at last with +a wind that promised to convey us to Mull. We went on board a +boat that was taking in kelp, and left the Isle of Sky behind us. +We were doomed to experience, like others, the danger of trusting to +the wind, which blew against us, in a short time, with such violence, +that we, being no seasoned sailors, were willing to call it a tempest. +I was sea-sick and lay down. Mr. Boswell kept the deck. +The master knew not well whither to go; and our difficulties might perhaps +have filled a very pathetick page, had not Mr. Maclean of Col, who, +with every other qualification which insular life requires, is a very +active and skilful mariner, piloted us safe into his own harbour.</p> +<h2>COL</h2> +<p>In the morning we found ourselves under the Isle of Col, where we +landed; and passed the first day and night with Captain Maclean, a gentleman +who has lived some time in the East Indies; but having dethroned no +Nabob, is not too rich to settle in own country.</p> +<p>Next day the wind was fair, and we might have had an easy passage +to Mull; but having, contrarily to our own intention, landed upon a +new Island, we would not leave it wholly unexamined. We therefore +suffered the vessel to depart without us, and trusted the skies for +another wind.</p> +<p>Mr. Maclean of Col, having a very numerous family, has, for some +time past, resided at Aberdeen, that he may superintend their education, +and leaves the young gentleman, our friend, to govern his dominions, +with the full power of a Highland Chief. By the absence of the +Laird’s family, our entertainment was made more difficult, because +the house was in a great degree disfurnished; but young Col’s +kindness and activity supplied all defects, and procured us more than +sufficient accommodation.</p> +<p>Here I first mounted a little Highland steed; and if there had been +many spectators, should have been somewhat ashamed of my figure in the +march. The horses of the Islands, as of other barren countries, +are very low: they are indeed musculous and strong, beyond what their +size gives reason for expecting; but a bulky man upon one of their backs +makes a very disproportionate appearance.</p> +<p>From the habitation of Captain Maclean, we went to Grissipol, but +called by the way on Mr. Hector Maclean, the Minister of Col, whom we +found in a hut, that is, a house of only one floor, but with windows +and chimney, and not inelegantly furnished. Mr. Maclean has the +reputation of great learning: he is seventy-seven years old, but not +infirm, with a look of venerable dignity, excelling what I remember +in any other man.</p> +<p>His conversation was not unsuitable to his appearance. I lost +some of his good-will, by treating a heretical writer with more regard +than, in his opinion, a heretick could deserve. I honoured his +orthodoxy, and did not much censure his asperity. A man who has +settled his opinions, does not love to have the tranquillity of his +conviction disturbed; and at seventy-seven it is time to be in earnest.</p> +<p>Mention was made of the Earse translation of the New Testament, which +has been lately published, and of which the learned Mr. Macqueen of +Sky spoke with commendation; but Mr. Maclean said he did not use it, +because he could make the text more intelligible to his auditors by +an extemporary version. From this I inferred, that the language +of the translation was not the language of the Isle of Col.</p> +<p>He has no publick edifice for the exercise of his ministry; and can +officiate to no greater number, than a room can contain; and the room +of a hut is not very large. This is all the opportunity of worship +that is now granted to the inhabitants of the Island, some of whom must +travel thither perhaps ten miles. Two chapels were erected by +their ancestors, of which I saw the skeletons, which now stand faithful +witnesses of the triumph of the Reformation.</p> +<p>The want of churches is not the only impediment to piety: there is +likewise a want of Ministers. A parish often contains more Islands +than one; and each Island can have the Minister only in its own turn. +At Raasa they had, I think, a right to service only every third Sunday. +All the provision made by the present ecclesiastical constitution, for +the inhabitants of about a hundred square miles, is a prayer and sermon +in a little room, once in three weeks: and even this parsimonious distribution +is at the mercy of the weather; and in those Islands where the Minister +does not reside, it is impossible to tell how many weeks or months may +pass without any publick exercise of religion.</p> +<h2>GRISSIPOL IN COL</h2> +<p>After a short conversation with Mr. Maclean, we went on to Grissipol, +a house and farm tenanted by Mr. Macsweyn, where I saw more of the ancient +life of a Highlander, than I had yet found. Mrs. Macsweyn could +speak no English, and had never seen any other places than the Islands +of Sky, Mull, and Col: but she was hospitable and good-humoured, and +spread her table with sufficient liberality. We found tea here, +as in every other place, but our spoons were of horn.</p> +<p>The house of Grissipol stands by a brook very clear and quick; which +is, I suppose, one of the most copious streams in the Island. +This place was the scene of an action, much celebrated in the traditional +history of Col, but which probably no two relaters will tell alike.</p> +<p>Some time, in the obscure ages, Macneil of Barra married the Lady +Maclean, who had the Isle of Col for her jointure. Whether Macneil +detained Col, when the widow was dead, or whether she lived so long +as to make her heirs impatient, is perhaps not now known. The +younger son, called John Gerves, or John the Giant, a man of great strength +who was then in Ireland, either for safety, or for education, dreamed +of recovering his inheritance; and getting some adventurers together, +which, in those unsettled times, was not hard to do, invaded Col. +He was driven away, but was not discouraged, and collecting new followers, +in three years came again with fifty men. In his way he stopped +at Artorinish in Morvern, where his uncle was prisoner to Macleod, and +was then with his enemies in a tent. Maclean took with him only +one servant, whom he ordered to stay at the outside; and where he should +see the tent pressed outwards, to strike with his dirk, it being the +intention of Maclean, as any man provoked him, to lay hands upon him, +and push him back. He entered the tent alone, with his Lochabar-axe +in his hand, and struck such terror into the whole assembly, that they +dismissed his uncle.</p> +<p>When he landed at Col, he saw the sentinel, who kept watch towards +the sea, running off to Grissipol, to give Macneil, who was there with +a hundred and twenty men, an account of the invasion. He told +Macgill, one of his followers, that if he intercepted that dangerous +intelligence, by catching the courier, he would give him certain lands +in Mull. Upon this promise, Macgill pursued the messenger, and +either killed, or stopped him; and his posterity, till very lately, +held the lands in Mull.</p> +<p>The alarm being thus prevented, he came unexpectedly upon Macneil. +Chiefs were in those days never wholly unprovided for an enemy. +A fight ensued, in which one of their followers is said to have given +an extraordinary proof of activity, by bounding backwards over the brook +of Grissipol. Macneil being killed, and many of his clan destroyed, +Maclean took possession of the Island, which the Macneils attempted +to conquer by another invasion, but were defeated and repulsed.</p> +<p>Maclean, in his turn, invaded the estate of the Macneils, took the +castle of Brecacig, and conquered the Isle of Barra, which he held for +seven years, and then restored it to the heirs.</p> +<h2>CASTLE OF COL</h2> +<p>From Grissipol, Mr. Maclean conducted us to his father’s seat; +a neat new house, erected near the old castle, I think, by the last +proprietor. Here we were allowed to take our station, and lived +very commodiously, while we waited for moderate weather and a fair wind, +which we did not so soon obtain, but we had time to get some information +of the present state of Col, partly by inquiry, and partly by occasional +excursions.</p> +<p>Col is computed to be thirteen miles in length, and three in breadth. +Both the ends are the property of the Duke of Argyle, but the middle +belongs to Maclean, who is called Col, as the only Laird.</p> +<p>Col is not properly rocky; it is rather one continued rock, of a +surface much diversified with protuberances, and covered with a thin +layer of earth, which is often broken, and discovers the stone. +Such a soil is not for plants that strike deep roots; and perhaps in +the whole Island nothing has ever yet grown to the height of a table. +The uncultivated parts are clothed with heath, among which industry +has interspersed spots of grass and corn; but no attempt has yet been +made to raise a tree. Young Col, who has a very laudable desire +of improving his patrimony, purposes some time to plant an orchard; +which, if it be sheltered by a wall, may perhaps succeed. He has +introduced the culture of turnips, of which he has a field, where the +whole work was performed by his own hand. His intention is to +provide food for his cattle in the winter. This innovation was +considered by Mr. Macsweyn as the idle project of a young head, heated +with English fancies; but he has now found that turnips will really +grow, and that hungry sheep and cows will really eat them.</p> +<p>By such acquisitions as these, the Hebrides may in time rise above +their annual distress. Wherever heath will grow, there is reason +to think something better may draw nourishment; and by trying the production +of other places, plants will be found suitable to every soil.</p> +<p>Col has many lochs, some of which have trouts and eels, and others +have never yet been stocked; another proof of the negligence of the +Islanders, who might take fish in the inland waters, when they cannot +go to sea.</p> +<p>Their quadrupeds are horses, cows, sheep, and goats. They have +neither deer, hares, nor rabbits. They have no vermin, except +rats, which have been lately brought thither by sea, as to other places; +and are free from serpents, frogs, and toads.</p> +<p>The harvest in Col, and in Lewis, is ripe sooner than in Sky; and +the winter in Col is never cold, but very tempestuous. I know +not that I ever heard the wind so loud in any other place; and Mr. Boswell +observed, that its noise was all its own, for there were no trees to +increase it.</p> +<p>Noise is not the worst effect of the tempests; for they have thrown +the sand from the shore over a considerable part of the land; and it +is said still to encroach and destroy more and more pasture; but I am +not of opinion, that by any surveys or landmarks, its limits have been +ever fixed, or its progression ascertained. If one man has confidence +enough to say, that it advances, nobody can bring any proof to support +him in denying it. The reason why it is not spread to a greater +extent, seems to be, that the wind and rain come almost together, and +that it is made close and heavy by the wet before the storms can put +it in motion. So thick is the bed, and so small the particles, +that if a traveller should be caught by a sudden gust in dry weather, +he would find it very difficult to escape with life.</p> +<p>For natural curiosities, I was shown only two great masses of stone, +which lie loose upon the ground; one on the top of a hill, and the other +at a small distance from the bottom. They certainly were never +put into their present places by human strength or skill; and though +an earthquake might have broken off the lower stone, and rolled it into +the valley, no account can be given of the other, which lies on the +hill, unless, which I forgot to examine, there be still near it some +higher rock, from which it might be torn. All nations have a tradition, +that their earliest ancestors were giants, and these stones are said +to have been thrown up and down by a giant and his mistress. There +are so many more important things, of which human knowledge can give +no account, that it may be forgiven us, if we speculate no longer on +two stones in Col.</p> +<p>This Island is very populous. About nine-and-twenty years ago, +the fencible men of Col were reckoned one hundred and forty, which is +the sixth of eight hundred and forty; and probably some contrived to +be left out of the list. The Minister told us, that a few years +ago the inhabitants were eight hundred, between the ages of seven and +of seventy. Round numbers are seldom exact. But in this +case the authority is good, and the errour likely to be little. +If to the eight hundred be added what the laws of computation require, +they will be increased to at least a thousand; and if the dimensions +of the country have been accurately related, every mile maintains more +than twenty-five.</p> +<p>This proportion of habitation is greater than the appearance of the +country seems to admit; for wherever the eye wanders, it sees much waste +and little cultivation. I am more inclined to extend the land, +of which no measure has ever been taken, than to diminish the people, +who have been really numbered. Let it be supposed, that a computed +mile contains a mile and a half, as was commonly found true in the mensuration +of the English roads, and we shall then allot nearly twelve to a mile, +which agrees much better with ocular observation.</p> +<p>Here, as in Sky, and other Islands, are the Laird, the Tacksmen, +and the under tenants.</p> +<p>Mr. Maclean, the Laird, has very extensive possessions, being proprietor, +not only of far the greater part of Col, but of the extensive Island +of Rum, and a very considerable territory in Mull.</p> +<p>Rum is one of the larger Islands, almost square, and therefore of +great capacity in proportion to its sides. By the usual method +of estimating computed extent, it may contain more than a hundred and +twenty square miles.</p> +<p>It originally belonged to Clanronald, and was purchased by Col; who, +in some dispute about the bargain, made Clanronald prisoner, and kept +him nine months in confinement. Its owner represents it as mountainous, +rugged, and barren. In the hills there are red deer. The +horses are very small, but of a breed eminent for beauty. Col, +not long ago, bought one of them from a tenant; who told him, that as +he was of a shape uncommonly elegant, he could not sell him but at a +high price; and that whoever had him should pay a guinea and a half.</p> +<p>There are said to be in Barra a race of horses yet smaller, of which +the highest is not above thirty-six inches.</p> +<p>The rent of Rum is not great. Mr. Maclean declared, that he +should be very rich, if he could set his land at two-pence halfpenny +an acre. The inhabitants are fifty-eight families, who continued +Papists for some time after the Laird became a Protestant. Their +adherence to their old religion was strengthened by the countenance +of the Laird’s sister, a zealous Romanist, till one Sunday, as +they were going to mass under the conduct of their patroness, Maclean +met them on the way, gave one of them a blow on the head with a yellow +stick, I suppose a cane, for which the Earse had no name, and drove +them to the kirk, from which they have never since departed. Since +the use of this method of conversion, the inhabitants of Egg and Canna, +who continue Papists, call the Protestantism of Rum, the religion of +the Yellow Stick.</p> +<p>The only Popish Islands are Egg and Canna. Egg is the principal +Island of a parish, in which, though he has no congregation, the Protestant +Minister resides. I have heard of nothing curious in it, but the +cave in which a former generation of the Islanders were smothered by +Macleod.</p> +<p>If we had travelled with more leisure, it had not been fit to have +neglected the Popish Islands. Popery is favourable to ceremony; +and among ignorant nations, ceremony is the only preservative of tradition. +Since protestantism was extended to the savage parts of Scotland, it +has perhaps been one of the chief labours of the Ministers to abolish +stated observances, because they continued the remembrance of the former +religion. We therefore who came to hear old traditions, and see +antiquated manners, should probably have found them amongst the Papists.</p> +<p>Canna, the other Popish Island, belongs to Clanronald. It is +said not to comprise more than twelve miles of land, and yet maintains +as many inhabitants as Rum.</p> +<p>We were at Col under the protection of the young Laird, without any +of the distresses, which Mr. Pennant, in a fit of simple credulity, +seems to think almost worthy of an elegy by Ossian. Wherever we +roved, we were pleased to see the reverence with which his subjects +regarded him. He did not endeavour to dazzle them by any magnificence +of dress: his only distinction was a feather in his bonnet; but as soon +as he appeared, they forsook their work and clustered about him: he +took them by the hand, and they seemed mutually delighted. He +has the proper disposition of a Chieftain, and seems desirous to continue +the customs of his house. The bagpiper played regularly, when +dinner was served, whose person and dress made a good appearance; and +he brought no disgrace upon the family of Rankin, which has long supplied +the Lairds of Col with hereditary musick.</p> +<p>The Tacksmen of Col seem to live with less dignity and convenience +than those of Sky; where they had good houses, and tables not only plentiful, +but delicate. In Col only two houses pay the window tax; for only +two have six windows, which, I suppose, are the Laird’s and Mr. +Macsweyn’s.</p> +<p>The rents have, till within seven years, been paid in kind, but the +tenants finding that cattle and corn varied in their price, desired +for the future to give their landlord money; which, not having yet arrived +at the philosophy of commerce, they consider as being every year of +the same value.</p> +<p>We were told of a particular mode of under-tenure. The Tacksman +admits some of his inferior neighbours to the cultivation of his grounds, +on condition that performing all the work, and giving a third part of +the seed, they shall keep a certain number of cows, sheep, and goats, +and reap a third part of the harvest. Thus by less than the tillage +of two acres they pay the rent of one.</p> +<p>There are tenants below the rank of Tacksmen, that have got smaller +tenants under them; for in every place, where money is not the general +equivalent, there must be some whose labour is immediately paid by daily +food.</p> +<p>A country that has no money, is by no means convenient for beggars, +both because such countries are commonly poor, and because charity requires +some trouble and some thought. A penny is easily given upon the +first impulse of compassion, or impatience of importunity; but few will +deliberately search their cupboards or their granaries to find out something +to give. A penny is likewise easily spent, but victuals, if they +are unprepared, require houseroom, and fire, and utensils, which the +beggar knows not where to find.</p> +<p>Yet beggars there sometimes are, who wander from Island to Island. +We had, in our passage to Mull, the company of a woman and her child, +who had exhausted the charity of Col. The arrival of a beggar +on an Island is accounted a sinistrous event. Every body considers +that he shall have the less for what he gives away. Their alms, +I believe, is generally oatmeal.</p> +<p>Near to Col is another Island called Tireye, eminent for its fertility. +Though it has but half the extent of Rum, it is so well peopled, that +there have appeared, not long ago, nine hundred and fourteen at a funeral. +The plenty of this Island enticed beggars to it, who seemed so burdensome +to the inhabitants, that a formal compact was drawn up, by which they +obliged themselves to grant no more relief to casual wanderers, because +they had among them an indigent woman of high birth, whom they considered +as entitled to all that they could spare. I have read the stipulation, +which was indited with juridical formality, but was never made valid +by regular subscription.</p> +<p>If the inhabitants of Col have nothing to give, it is not that they +are oppressed by their landlord: their leases seem to be very profitable. +One farmer, who pays only seven pounds a year, has maintained seven +daughters and three sons, of whom the eldest is educated at Aberdeen +for the ministry; and now, at every vacation, opens a school in Col.</p> +<p>Life is here, in some respects, improved beyond the condition of +some other Islands. In Sky what is wanted can only be bought, +as the arrival of some wandering pedlar may afford an opportunity; but +in Col there is a standing shop, and in Mull there are two. A +shop in the Islands, as in other places of little frequentation, is +a repository of every thing requisite for common use. Mr. Boswell’s +journal was filled, and he bought some paper in Col. To a man +that ranges the streets of London, where he is tempted to contrive wants, +for the pleasure of supplying them, a shop affords no image worthy of +attention; but in an Island, it turns the balance of existence between +good and evil. To live in perpetual want of little things, is +a state not indeed of torture, but of constant vexation. I have +in Sky had some difficulty to find ink for a letter; and if a woman +breaks her needle, the work is at a stop.</p> +<p>As it is, the Islanders are obliged to content themselves with succedaneous +means for many common purposes. I have seen the chief man of a +very wide district riding with a halter for a bridle, and governing +his hobby with a wooden curb.</p> +<p>The people of Col, however, do not want dexterity to supply some +of their necessities. Several arts which make trades, and demand +apprenticeships in great cities, are here the practices of daily economy. +In every house candles are made, both moulded and dipped. Their +wicks are small shreds of linen cloth. They all know how to extract +from the Cuddy, oil for their lamps. They all tan skins, and make +brogues.</p> +<p>As we travelled through Sky, we saw many cottages, but they very +frequently stood single on the naked ground. In Col, where the +hills opened a place convenient for habitation, we found a petty village, +of which every hut had a little garden adjoining; thus they made an +appearance of social commerce and mutual offices, and of some attention +to convenience and future supply. There is not in the Western +Islands any collection of buildings that can make pretensions to be +called a town, except in the Isle of Lewis, which I have not seen.</p> +<p>If Lewis is distinguished by a town, Col has also something peculiar. +The young Laird has attempted what no Islander perhaps ever thought +on. He has begun a road capable of a wheel-carriage. He +has carried it about a mile, and will continue it by annual elongation +from his house to the harbour.</p> +<p>Of taxes here is no reason for complaining; they are paid by a very +easy composition. The malt-tax for Col is twenty shillings. +Whisky is very plentiful: there are several stills in the Island, and +more is made than the inhabitants consume.</p> +<p>The great business of insular policy is now to keep the people in +their own country. As the world has been let in upon them, they +have heard of happier climates, and less arbitrary government; and if +they are disgusted, have emissaries among them ready to offer them land +and houses, as a reward for deserting their Chief and clan. Many +have departed both from the main of Scotland, and from the Islands; +and all that go may be considered as subjects lost to the British crown; +for a nation scattered in the boundless regions of America resembles +rays diverging from a focus. All the rays remain, but the heat +is gone. Their power consisted in their concentration: when they +are dispersed, they have no effect.</p> +<p>It may be thought that they are happier by the change; but they are +not happy as a nation, for they are a nation no longer. As they +contribute not to the prosperity of any community, they must want that +security, that dignity, that happiness, whatever it be, which a prosperous +community throws back upon individuals.</p> +<p>The inhabitants of Col have not yet learned to be weary of their +heath and rocks, but attend their agriculture and their dairies, without +listening to American seducements.</p> +<p>There are some however who think that this emigration has raised +terrour disproportionate to its real evil; and that it is only a new +mode of doing what was always done. The Highlands, they say, never +maintained their natural inhabitants; but the people, when they found +themselves too numerous, instead of extending cultivation, provided +for themselves by a more compendious method, and sought better fortune +in other countries. They did not indeed go away in collective +bodies, but withdrew invisibly, a few at a time; but the whole number +of fugitives was not less, and the difference between other times and +this, is only the same as between evaporation and effusion.</p> +<p>This is plausible, but I am afraid it is not true. Those who +went before, if they were not sensibly missed, as the argument supposes, +must have gone either in less number, or in a manner less detrimental, +than at present; because formerly there was no complaint. Those +who then left the country were generally the idle dependants on overburdened +families, or men who had no property; and therefore carried away only +themselves. In the present eagerness of emigration, families, +and almost communities, go away together. Those who were considered +as prosperous and wealthy sell their stock and carry away the money. +Once none went away but the useless and poor; in some parts there is +now reason to fear, that none will stay but those who are too poor to +remove themselves, and too useless to be removed at the cost of others.</p> +<p>Of antiquity there is not more knowledge in Col than in other places; +but every where something may be gleaned.</p> +<p>How ladies were portioned, when there was no money, it would be difficult +for an Englishman to guess. In 1649, Maclean of Dronart in Mull +married his sister Fingala to Maclean of Coll, with a hundred and eighty +kine; and stipulated, that if she became a widow, her jointure should +be three hundred and sixty. I suppose some proportionate tract +of land was appropriated to their pasturage.</p> +<p>The disposition to pompous and expensive funerals, which has at one +time or other prevailed in most parts of the civilized world, is not +yet suppressed in the Islands, though some of the ancient solemnities +are worn away, and singers are no longer hired to attend the procession. +Nineteen years ago, at the burial of the Laird of Col, were killed thirty +cows, and about fifty sheep. The number of the cows is positively +told, and we must suppose other victuals in like proportion.</p> +<p>Mr. Maclean informed us of an odd game, of which he did not tell +the original, but which may perhaps be used in other places, where the +reason of it is not yet forgot. At New-year’s eve, in the +hall or castle of the Laird, where, at festal seasons, there may be +supposed a very numerous company, one man dresses himself in a cow’s +hide, upon which other men beat with sticks. He runs with all +this noise round the house, which all the company quits in a counterfeited +fright: the door is then shut. At New-year’s eve there is +no great pleasure to be had out of doors in the Hebrides. They +are sure soon to recover from their terrour enough to solicit for re-admission; +which, for the honour of poetry, is not to be obtained but by repeating +a verse, with which those that are knowing and provident take care to +be furnished.</p> +<p>Very near the house of Maclean stands the castle of Col, which was +the mansion of the Laird, till the house was built. It is built +upon a rock, as Mr. Boswell remarked, that it might not be mined. +It is very strong, and having been not long uninhabited, is yet in repair. +On the wall was, not long ago, a stone with an inscription, importing, +that ‘if any man of the clan of Maclonich shall appear before +this castle, though he come at midnight, with a man’s head in +his hand, he shall there find safety and protection against all but +the King.’</p> +<p>This is an old Highland treaty made upon a very memorable occasion. +Maclean, the son of John Gerves, who recovered Col, and conquered Barra, +had obtained, it is said, from James the Second, a grant of the lands +of Lochiel, forfeited, I suppose, by some offence against the state.</p> +<p>Forfeited estates were not in those days quietly resigned; Maclean, +therefore, went with an armed force to seize his new possessions, and, +I know not for what reason, took his wife with him. The Camerons +rose in defence of their Chief, and a battle was fought at the head +of Loch Ness, near the place where Fort Augustus now stands, in which +Lochiel obtained the victory, and Maclean, with his followers, was defeated +and destroyed.</p> +<p>The lady fell into the hands of the conquerours, and being found +pregnant was placed in the custody of Maclonich, one of a tribe or family +branched from Cameron, with orders, if she brought a boy, to destroy +him, if a girl, to spare her.</p> +<p>Maclonich’s wife, who was with child likewise, had a girl about +the same time at which lady Maclean brought a boy, and Maclonich with +more generosity to his captive, than fidelity to his trust, contrived +that the children should be changed.</p> +<p>Maclean being thus preserved from death, in time recovered his original +patrimony; and in gratitude to his friend, made his castle a place of +refuge to any of the clan that should think himself in danger; and, +as a proof of reciprocal confidence, Maclean took upon himself and his +posterity the care of educating the heir of Maclonich.</p> +<p>This story, like all other traditions of the Highlands, is variously +related, but though some circumstances are uncertain, the principal +fact is true. Maclean undoubtedly owed his preservation to Maclonich; +for the treaty between the two families has been strictly observed: +it did not sink into disuse and oblivion, but continued in its full +force while the chieftains retained their power. I have read a +demand of protection, made not more than thirty-seven years ago, for +one of the Maclonichs, named Ewen Cameron, who had been accessory to +the death of Macmartin, and had been banished by Lochiel, his lord, +for a certain term; at the expiration of which he returned married from +France, but the Macmartins, not satisfied with the punishment, when +he attempted to settle, still threatened him with vengeance. He +therefore asked, and obtained shelter in the Isle of Col.</p> +<p>The power of protection subsists no longer, but what the law permits +is yet continued, and Maclean of Col now educates the heir of Maclonich.</p> +<p>There still remains in the Islands, though it is passing fast away, +the custom of fosterage. A Laird, a man of wealth and eminence, +sends his child, either male or female, to a tacksman, or tenant, to +be fostered. It is not always his own tenant, but some distant +friend that obtains this honour; for an honour such a trust is very +reasonably thought. The terms of fosterage seem to vary in different +islands. In Mull, the father sends with his child a certain number +of cows, to which the same number is added by the fosterer. The +father appropriates a proportionable extent of ground, without rent, +for their pasturage. If every cow brings a calf, half belongs +to the fosterer, and half to the child; but if there be only one calf +between two cows, it is the child’s, and when the child returns +to the parent, it is accompanied by all the cows given, both by the +father and by the fosterer, with half of the increase of the stock by +propagation. These beasts are considered as a portion, and called +Macalive cattle, of which the father has the produce, but is supposed +not to have the full property, but to owe the same number to the child, +as a portion to the daughter, or a stock for the son.</p> +<p>Children continue with the fosterer perhaps six years, and cannot, +where this is the practice, be considered as burdensome. The fosterer, +if he gives four cows, receives likewise four, and has, while the child +continues with him, grass for eight without rent, with half the calves, +and all the milk, for which he pays only four cows when he dismisses +his Dalt, for that is the name for a foster child.</p> +<p>Fosterage is, I believe, sometimes performed upon more liberal terms. +Our friend, the young Laird of Col, was fostered by Macsweyn of Grissipol. +Macsweyn then lived a tenant to Sir James Macdonald in the Isle of Sky; +and therefore Col, whether he sent him cattle or not, could grant him +no land. The Dalt, however, at his return, brought back a considerable +number of Macalive cattle, and of the friendship so formed there have +been good effects. When Macdonald raised his rents, Macsweyn was, +like other tenants, discontented, and, resigning his farm, removed from +Sky to Col, and was established at Grissipol.</p> +<p>These observations we made by favour of the contrary wind that drove +us to Col, an Island not often visited; for there is not much to amuse +curiosity, or to attract avarice.</p> +<p>The ground has been hitherto, I believe, used chiefly for pasturage. +In a district, such as the eye can command, there is a general herdsman, +who knows all the cattle of the neighbourhood, and whose station is +upon a hill, from which he surveys the lower grounds; and if one man’s +cattle invade another’s grass, drives them back to their own borders. +But other means of profit begin to be found; kelp is gathered and burnt, +and sloops are loaded with the concreted ashes. Cultivation is +likely to be improved by the skill and encouragement of the present +heir, and the inhabitants of those obscure vallies will partake of the +general progress of life.</p> +<p>The rents of the parts which belong to the Duke of Argyle, have been +raised from fifty-five to one hundred and five pounds, whether from +the land or the sea I cannot tell. The bounties of the sea have +lately been so great, that a farm in Southuist has risen in ten years +from a rent of thirty pounds to one hundred and eighty.</p> +<p>He who lives in Col, and finds himself condemned to solitary meals, +and incommunicable reflection, will find the usefulness of that middle +order of Tacksmen, which some who applaud their own wisdom are wishing +to destroy. Without intelligence man is not social, he is only +gregarious; and little intelligence will there be, where all are constrained +to daily labour, and every mind must wait upon the hand.</p> +<p>After having listened for some days to the tempest, and wandered +about the Island till our curiosity was satisfied, we began to think +about our departure. To leave Col in October was not very easy. +We however found a sloop which lay on the coast to carry kelp; and for +a price which we thought levied upon our necessities, the master agreed +to carry us to Mull, whence we might readily pass back to Scotland.</p> +<h2>MULL</h2> +<p>As we were to catch the first favourable breath, we spent the night +not very elegantly nor pleasantly in the vessel, and were landed next +day at Tobor Morar, a port in Mull, which appears to an unexperienced +eye formed for the security of ships; for its mouth is closed by a small +island, which admits them through narrow channels into a bason sufficiently +capacious. They are indeed safe from the sea, but there is a hollow +between the mountains, through which the wind issues from the land with +very mischievous violence.</p> +<p>There was no danger while we were there, and we found several other +vessels at anchor; so that the port had a very commercial appearance.</p> +<p>The young Laird of Col, who had determined not to let us lose his +company, while there was any difficulty remaining, came over with us. +His influence soon appeared; for he procured us horses, and conducted +us to the house of Doctor Maclean, where we found very kind entertainment, +and very pleasing conversation. Miss Maclean, who was born, and +had been bred at Glasgow, having removed with her father to Mull, added +to other qualifications, a great knowledge of the Earse language, which +she had not learned in her childhood, but gained by study, and was the +only interpreter of Earse poetry that I could ever find.</p> +<p>The Isle of Mull is perhaps in extent the third of the Hebrides. +It is not broken by waters, nor shot into promontories, but is a solid +and compact mass, of breadth nearly equal to its length. Of the +dimensions of the larger Islands, there is no knowledge approaching +to exactness. I am willing to estimate it as containing about +three hundred square miles.</p> +<p>Mull had suffered like Sky by the black winter of seventy-one, in +which, contrary to all experience, a continued frost detained the snow +eight weeks upon the ground. Against a calamity never known, no +provision had been made, and the people could only pine in helpless +misery. One tenant was mentioned, whose cattle perished to the +value of three hundred pounds; a loss which probably more than the life +of man is necessary to repair. In countries like these, the descriptions +of famine become intelligible. Where by vigorous and artful cultivation +of a soil naturally fertile, there is commonly a superfluous growth +both of grain and grass; where the fields are crowded with cattle; and +where every hand is able to attract wealth from a distance, by making +something that promotes ease, or gratifies vanity, a dear year produces +only a comparative want, which is rather seen than felt, and which terminates +commonly in no worse effect, than that of condemning the lower orders +of the community to sacrifice a little luxury to convenience, or at +most a little convenience to necessity.</p> +<p>But where the climate is unkind, and the ground penurious, so that +the most fruitful years will produce only enough to maintain themselves; +where life unimproved, and unadorned, fades into something little more +than naked existence, and every one is busy for himself, without any +arts by which the pleasure of others may be increased; if to the daily +burden of distress any additional weight be added, nothing remains but +to despair and die. In Mull the disappointment of a harvest, or +a murrain among the cattle, cuts off the regular provision; and they +who have no manufactures can purchase no part of the superfluities of +other countries. The consequence of a bad season is here not scarcity, +but emptiness; and they whose plenty, was barely a supply of natural +and present need, when that slender stock fails, must perish with hunger.</p> +<p>All travel has its advantages. If the passenger visits better +countries, he may learn to improve his own, and if fortune carries him +to worse, he may learn to enjoy it.</p> +<p>Mr. Boswell’s curiosity strongly impelled him to survey Iona, +or Icolmkil, which was to the early ages the great school of Theology, +and is supposed to have been the place of sepulture for the ancient +kings. I, though less eager, did not oppose him.</p> +<p>That we might perform this expedition, it was necessary to traverse +a great part of Mull. We passed a day at Dr. Maclean’s, +and could have been well contented to stay longer. But Col provided +us horses, and we pursued our journey. This was a day of inconvenience, +for the country is very rough, and my horse was but little. We +travelled many hours through a tract, black and barren, in which, however, +there were the reliques of humanity; for we found a ruined chapel in +our way.</p> +<p>It is natural, in traversing this gloom of desolation, to inquire, +whether something may not be done to give nature a more cheerful face, +and whether those hills and moors that afford heath cannot with a little +care and labour bear something better? The first thought that +occurs is to cover them with trees, for that in many of these naked +regions trees will grow, is evident, because stumps and roots are yet +remaining; and the speculatist hastily proceeds to censure that negligence +and laziness that has omitted for so long a time so easy an improvement.</p> +<p>To drop seeds into the ground, and attend their growth, requires +little labour and no skill. He who remembers that all the woods, +by which the wants of man have been supplied from the Deluge till now, +were self-sown, will not easily be persuaded to think all the art and +preparation necessary, which the Georgick writers prescribe to planters. +Trees certainly have covered the earth with very little culture. +They wave their tops among the rocks of Norway, and might thrive as +well in the Highlands and Hebrides.</p> +<p>But there is a frightful interval between the seed and timber. +He that calculates the growth of trees, has the unwelcome remembrance +of the shortness of life driven hard upon him. He knows that he +is doing what will never benefit himself; and when he rejoices to see +the stem rise, is disposed to repine that another shall cut it down.</p> +<p>Plantation is naturally the employment of a mind unburdened with +care, and vacant to futurity, saturated with present good, and at leisure +to derive gratification from the prospect of posterity. He that +pines with hunger, is in little care how others shall be fed. +The poor man is seldom studious to make his grandson rich. It +may be soon discovered, why in a place, which hardly supplies the cravings +of necessity, there has been little attention to the delights of fancy, +and why distant convenience is unregarded, where the thoughts are turned +with incessant solicitude upon every possibility of immediate advantage.</p> +<p>Neither is it quite so easy to raise large woods, as may be conceived. +Trees intended to produce timber must be sown where they are to grow; +and ground sown with trees must be kept useless for a long time, inclosed +at an expence from which many will be discouraged by the remoteness +of the profit, and watched with that attention, which, in places where +it is most needed, will neither be given nor bought. That it cannot +be plowed is evident; and if cattle be suffered to graze upon it, they +will devour the plants as fast as they rise. Even in coarser countries, +where herds and flocks are not fed, not only the deer and the wild goats +will browse upon them, but the hare and rabbit will nibble them. +It is therefore reasonable to believe, what I do not remember any naturalist +to have remarked, that there was a time when the world was very thinly +inhabited by beasts, as well as men, and that the woods had leisure +to rise high before animals had bred numbers sufficient to intercept +them.</p> +<p>Sir James Macdonald, in part of the wastes of his territory, set +or sowed trees, to the number, as I have been told, of several millions, +expecting, doubtless, that they would grow up into future navies and +cities; but for want of inclosure, and of that care which is always +necessary, and will hardly ever be taken, all his cost and labour have +been lost, and the ground is likely to continue an useless heath.</p> +<p>Having not any experience of a journey in Mull, we had no doubt of +reaching the sea by day-light, and therefore had not left Dr. Maclean’s +very early. We travelled diligently enough, but found the country, +for road there was none, very difficult to pass. We were always +struggling with some obstruction or other, and our vexation was not +balanced by any gratification of the eye or mind. We were now +long enough acquainted with hills and heath to have lost the emotion +that they once raised, whether pleasing or painful, and had our mind +employed only on our own fatigue. We were however sure, under +Col’s protection, of escaping all real evils. There was +no house in Mull to which he could not introduce us. He had intended +to lodge us, for that night, with a gentleman that lived upon the coast, +but discovered on the way, that he then lay in bed without hope of life.</p> +<p>We resolved not to embarrass a family, in a time of so much sorrow, +if any other expedient could he found; and as the Island of Ulva was +over-against us, it was determined that we should pass the strait and +have recourse to the Laird, who, like the other gentlemen of the Islands, +was known to Col. We expected to find a ferry-boat, but when at +last we came to the water, the boat was gone.</p> +<p>We were now again at a stop. It was the sixteenth of October, +a time when it is not convenient to sleep in the Hebrides without a +cover, and there was no house within our reach, but that which we had +already declined.</p> +<h2>ULVA</h2> +<p>While we stood deliberating, we were happily espied from an Irish +ship, that lay at anchor in the strait. The master saw that we +wanted a passage, and with great civility sent us his boat, which quickly +conveyed us to Ulva, where we were very liberally entertained by Mr. +Macquarry.</p> +<p>To Ulva we came in the dark, and left it before noon the next day. +A very exact description therefore will not be expected. We were +told, that it is an Island of no great extent, rough and barren, inhabited +by the Macquarrys; a clan not powerful nor numerous, but of antiquity, +which most other families are content to reverence. The name is +supposed to be a depravation of some other; for the Earse language does +not afford it any etymology. Macquarry is proprietor both of Ulva +and some adjacent Islands, among which is Staffa, so lately raised to +renown by Mr. Banks.</p> +<p>When the Islanders were reproached with their ignorance, or insensibility +of the wonders of Staffa, they had not much to reply. They had +indeed considered it little, because they had always seen it; and none +but philosophers, nor they always, are struck with wonder, otherwise +than by novelty. How would it surprise an unenlightened ploughman, +to hear a company of sober men, inquiring by what power the hand tosses +a stone, or why the stone, when it is tossed, falls to the ground!</p> +<p>Of the ancestors of Macquarry, who thus lies hid in his unfrequented +Island, I have found memorials in all places where they could be expected.</p> +<p>Inquiring after the reliques of former manners, I found that in Ulva, +and, I think, no where else, is continued the payment of the Mercheta +Mulierum; a fine in old times due to the Laird at the marriage of a +virgin. The original of this claim, as of our tenure of Borough +English, is variously delivered. It is pleasant to find ancient +customs in old families. This payment, like others, was, for want +of money, made anciently in the produce of the land. Macquarry +was used to demand a sheep, for which he now takes a crown, by that +inattention to the uncertain proportion between the value and the denomination +of money, which has brought much disorder into Europe. A sheep +has always the same power of supplying human wants, but a crown will +bring at one time more, at another less.</p> +<p>Ulva was not neglected by the piety of ardent times: it has still +to show what was once a church.</p> +<h2>INCH KENNETH</h2> +<p>In the morning we went again into the boat, and were landed on Inch +Kenneth, an Island about a mile long, and perhaps half a mile broad, +remarkable for pleasantness and fertility. It is verdant and grassy, +and fit both for pasture and tillage; but it has no trees. Its +only inhabitants were Sir Allan Maclean and two young ladies, his daughters, +with their servants.</p> +<p>Romance does not often exhibit a scene that strikes the imagination +more than this little desert in these depths of Western obscurity, occupied +not by a gross herdsman, or amphibious fisherman, but by a gentleman +and two ladies, of high birth, polished manners and elegant conversation, +who, in a habitation raised not very far above the ground, but furnished +with unexpected neatness and convenience, practised all the kindness +of hospitality, and refinement of courtesy.</p> +<p>Sir Allan is the Chieftain of the great clan of Maclean, which is +said to claim the second place among the Highland families, yielding +only to Macdonald. Though by the misconduct of his ancestors, +most of the extensive territory, which would have descended to him, +has been alienated, he still retains much of the dignity and authority +of his birth. When soldiers were lately wanting for the American +war, application was made to Sir Allan, and he nominated a hundred men +for the service, who obeyed the summons, and bore arms under his command.</p> +<p>He had then, for some time, resided with the young ladies in Inch +Kenneth, where he lives not only with plenty, but with elegance, having +conveyed to his cottage a collection of books, and what else is necessary +to make his hours pleasant.</p> +<p>When we landed, we were met by Sir Allan and the Ladies, accompanied +by Miss Macquarry, who had passed some time with them, and now returned +to Ulva with her father.</p> +<p>We all walked together to the mansion, where we found one cottage +for Sir Allan, and I think two more for the domesticks and the offices. +We entered, and wanted little that palaces afford. Our room was +neatly floored, and well lighted; and our dinner, which was dressed +in one of the other huts, was plentiful and delicate.</p> +<p>In the afternoon Sir Allan reminded us, that the day was Sunday, +which he never suffered to pass without some religious distinction, +and invited us to partake in his acts of domestick worship; which I +hope neither Mr. Boswell nor myself will be suspected of a disposition +to refuse. The elder of the Ladies read the English service.</p> +<p>Inch Kenneth was once a seminary of ecclesiasticks, subordinate, +I suppose, to Icolmkill. Sir Allan had a mind to trace the foundations +of the college, but neither I nor Mr. Boswell, who bends a keener eye +on vacancy, were able to perceive them.</p> +<p>Our attention, however, was sufficiently engaged by a venerable chapel, +which stands yet entire, except that the roof is gone. It is about +sixty feet in length, and thirty in breadth. On one side of the +altar is a bas relief of the blessed Virgin, and by it lies a little +bell; which, though cracked, and without a clapper, has remained there +for ages, guarded only by the venerableness of the place. The +ground round the chapel is covered with gravestones of Chiefs and ladies; +and still continues to be a place of sepulture.</p> +<p>Inch Kenneth is a proper prelude to Icolmkill. It was not without +some mournful emotion that we contemplated the ruins of religious structures +and the monuments of the dead.</p> +<p>On the next day we took a more distinct view of the place, and went +with the boat to see oysters in the bed, out of which the boatmen forced +up as many as were wanted. Even Inch Kenneth has a subordinate +Island, named Sandiland, I suppose in contempt, where we landed, and +found a rock, with a surface of perhaps four acres, of which one is +naked stone, another spread with sand and shells, some of which I picked +up for their glossy beauty, and two covered with a little earth and +grass, on which Sir Allan has a few sheep. I doubt not but when +there was a college at Inch Kenneth, there was a hermitage upon Sandiland.</p> +<p>Having wandered over those extensive plains, we committed ourselves +again to the winds and waters; and after a voyage of about ten minutes, +in which we met with nothing very observable, were again safe upon dry +ground.</p> +<p>We told Sir Allan our desire of visiting Icolmkill, and entreated +him to give us his protection, and his company. He thought proper +to hesitate a little, but the Ladies hinted, that as they knew he would +not finally refuse, he would do better if he preserved the grace of +ready compliance. He took their advice, and promised to carry +us on the morrow in his boat.</p> +<p>We passed the remaining part of the day in such amusements as were +in our power. Sir Allan related the American campaign, and at +evening one of the Ladies played on her harpsichord, while Col and Mr. +Boswell danced a Scottish reel with the other.</p> +<p>We could have been easily persuaded to a longer stay upon Inch Kenneth, +but life will not be all passed in delight. The session at Edinburgh +was approaching, from which Mr. Boswell could not be absent.</p> +<p>In the morning our boat was ready: it was high and strong. +Sir Allan victualled it for the day, and provided able rowers. +We now parted from the young Laird of Col, who had treated us with so +much kindness, and concluded his favours by consigning us to Sir Allan. +Here we had the last embrace of this amiable man, who, while these pages +were preparing to attest his virtues, perished in the passage between +Ulva and Inch Kenneth.</p> +<p>Sir Allan, to whom the whole region was well known, told us of a +very remarkable cave, to which he would show us the way. We had +been disappointed already by one cave, and were not much elevated by +the expectation of another.</p> +<p>It was yet better to see it, and we stopped at some rocks on the +coast of Mull. The mouth is fortified by vast fragments of stone, +over which we made our way, neither very nimbly, nor very securely. +The place, however, well repaid our trouble. The bottom, as far +as the flood rushes in, was encumbered with large pebbles, but as we +advanced was spread over with smooth sand. The breadth is about +forty-five feet: the roof rises in an arch, almost regular, to a height +which we could not measure; but I think it about thirty feet.</p> +<p>This part of our curiosity was nearly frustrated; for though we went +to see a cave, and knew that caves are dark, we forgot to carry tapers, +and did not discover our omission till we were wakened by our wants. +Sir Allan then sent one of the boatmen into the country, who soon returned +with one little candle. We were thus enabled to go forward, but +could not venture far. Having passed inward from the sea to a +great depth, we found on the right hand a narrow passage, perhaps not +more than six feet wide, obstructed by great stones, over which we climbed +and came into a second cave, in breadth twenty-five feet. The +air in this apartment was very warm, but not oppressive, nor loaded +with vapours. Our light showed no tokens of a feculent or corrupted +atmosphere. Here was a square stone, called, as we are told, Fingal’s +Table.</p> +<p>If we had been provided with torches, we should have proceeded in +our search, though we had already gone as far as any former adventurer, +except some who are reported never to have returned; and, measuring +our way back, we found it more than a hundred and sixty yards, the eleventh +part of a mile.</p> +<p>Our measures were not critically exact, having been made with a walking +pole, such as it is convenient to carry in these rocky countries, of +which I guessed the length by standing against it. In this there +could be no great errour, nor do I much doubt but the Highlander, whom +we employed, reported the number right. More nicety however is +better, and no man should travel unprovided with instruments for taking +heights and distances.</p> +<p>There is yet another cause of errour not always easily surmounted, +though more dangerous to the veracity of itinerary narratives, than +imperfect mensuration. An observer deeply impressed by any remarkable +spectacle, does not suppose, that the traces will soon vanish from his +mind, and having commonly no great convenience for writing, defers the +description to a time of more leisure, and better accommodation.</p> +<p>He who has not made the experiment, or who is not accustomed to require +rigorous accuracy from himself, will scarcely believe how much a few +hours take from certainty of knowledge, and distinctness of imagery; +how the succession of objects will be broken, how separate parts will +be confused, and how many particular features and discriminations will +be compressed and conglobated into one gross and general idea.</p> +<p>To this dilatory notation must be imputed the false relations of +travellers, where there is no imaginable motive to deceive. They +trusted to memory, what cannot be trusted safely but to the eye, and +told by guess what a few hours before they had known with certainty. +Thus it was that Wheeler and Spon described with irreconcilable contrariety +things which they surveyed together, and which both undoubtedly designed +to show as they saw them.</p> +<p>When we had satisfied our curiosity in the cave, so far as our penury +of light permitted us, we clambered again to our boat, and proceeded +along the coast of Mull to a headland, called Atun, remarkable for the +columnar form of the rocks, which rise in a series of pilasters, with +a degree of regularity, which Sir Allan thinks not less worthy of curiosity +than the shore of Staffa.</p> +<p>Not long after we came to another range of black rocks, which had +the appearance of broken pilasters, set one behind another to a great +depth. This place was chosen by Sir Allan for our dinner. +We were easily accommodated with seats, for the stones were of all heights, +and refreshed ourselves and our boatmen, who could have no other rest +till we were at Icolmkill.</p> +<p>The evening was now approaching, and we were yet at a considerable +distance from the end of our expedition. We could therefore stop +no more to make remarks in the way, but set forward with some degree +of eagerness. The day soon failed us, and the moon presented a +very solemn and pleasing scene. The sky was clear, so that the +eye commanded a wide circle: the sea was neither still nor turbulent: +the wind neither silent nor loud. We were never far from one coast +or another, on which, if the weather had become violent, we could have +found shelter, and therefore contemplated at ease the region through +which we glided in the tranquillity of the night, and saw now a rock +and now an island grow gradually conspicuous and gradually obscure. +I committed the fault which I have just been censuring, in neglecting, +as we passed, to note the series of this placid navigation.</p> +<p>We were very near an Island, called Nun’s Island, perhaps from +an ancient convent. Here is said to have been dug the stone that +was used in the buildings of Icolmkill. Whether it is now inhabited +we could not stay to inquire.</p> +<p>At last we came to Icolmkill, but found no convenience for landing. +Our boat could not be forced very near the dry ground, and our Highlanders +carried us over the water.</p> +<p>We were now treading that illustrious Island, which was once the +luminary of the Caledonian regions, whence savage clans and roving barbarians +derived the benefits of knowledge, and the blessings of religion. +To abstract the mind from all local emotion would be impossible, if +it were endeavoured, and would be foolish, if it were possible. +Whatever withdraws us from the power of our senses; whatever makes the +past, the distant, or the future predominate over the present, advances +us in the dignity of thinking beings. Far from me and from my +friends, be such frigid philosophy as may conduct us indifferent and +unmoved over any ground which has been dignified by wisdom, bravery, +or virtue. That man is little to be envied, whose patriotism would +not gain force upon the plain of Marathon, or whose piety would not +grow warmer among the ruins of Iona!</p> +<p>We came too late to visit monuments: some care was necessary for +ourselves. Whatever was in the Island, Sir Allan could command, +for the inhabitants were Macleans; but having little they could not +give us much. He went to the headman of the Island, whom Fame, +but Fame delights in amplifying, represents as worth no less than fifty +pounds. He was perhaps proud enough of his guests, but ill prepared +for our entertainment; however, he soon produced more provision than +men not luxurious require. Our lodging was next to be provided. +We found a barn well stocked with hay, and made our beds as soft as +we could.</p> +<p>In the morning we rose and surveyed the place. The churches +of the two convents are both standing, though unroofed. They were +built of unhewn stone, but solid, and not inelegant. I brought +away rude measures of the buildings, such as I cannot much trust myself, +inaccurately taken, and obscurely noted. Mr. Pennant’s delineations, +which are doubtless exact, have made my unskilful description less necessary.</p> +<p>The episcopal church consists of two parts, separated by the belfry, +and built at different times. The original church had, like others, +the altar at one end, and tower at the other: but as it grew too small, +another building of equal dimension was added, and the tower then was +necessarily in the middle.</p> +<p>That these edifices are of different ages seems evident. The +arch of the first church is Roman, being part of a circle; that of the +additional building is pointed, and therefore Gothick, or Saracenical; +the tower is firm, and wants only to be floored and covered.</p> +<p>Of the chambers or cells belonging to the monks, there are some walls +remaining, but nothing approaching to a complete apartment.</p> +<p>The bottom of the church is so incumbered with mud and rubbish, that +we could make no discoveries of curious inscriptions, and what there +are have been already published. The place is said to be known +where the black stones lie concealed, on which the old Highland Chiefs, +when they made contracts and alliances, used to take the oath, which +was considered as more sacred than any other obligation, and which could +not be violated without the blackest infamy. In those days of +violence and rapine, it was of great importance to impress upon savage +minds the sanctity of an oath, by some particular and extraordinary +circumstances. They would not have recourse to the black stones, +upon small or common occasions, and when they had established their +faith by this tremendous sanction, inconstancy and treachery were no +longer feared.</p> +<p>The chapel of the nunnery is now used by the inhabitants as a kind +of general cow-house, and the bottom is consequently too miry for examination. +Some of the stones which covered the later abbesses have inscriptions, +which might yet be read, if the chapel were cleansed. The roof +of this, as of all the other buildings, is totally destroyed, not only +because timber quickly decays when it is neglected, but because in an +island utterly destitute of wood, it was wanted for use, and was consequently +the first plunder of needy rapacity.</p> +<p>The chancel of the nuns’ chapel is covered with an arch of +stone, to which time has done no injury; and a small apartment communicating +with the choir, on the north side, like the chapter-house in cathedrals, +roofed with stone in the same manner, is likewise entire.</p> +<p>In one of the churches was a marble altar, which the superstition +of the inhabitants has destroyed. Their opinion was, that a fragment +of this stone was a defence against shipwrecks, fire, and miscarriages. +In one corner of the church the bason for holy water is yet unbroken.</p> +<p>The cemetery of the nunnery was, till very lately, regarded with +such reverence, that only women were buried in it. These reliques +of veneration always produce some mournful pleasure. I could have +forgiven a great injury more easily than the violation of this imaginary +sanctity.</p> +<p>South of the chapel stand the walls of a large room, which was probably +the hall, or refectory of the nunnery. This apartment is capable +of repair. Of the rest of the convent there are only fragments.</p> +<p>Besides the two principal churches, there are, I think, five chapels +yet standing, and three more remembered. There are also crosses, +of which two bear the names of St. John and St. Matthew.</p> +<p>A large space of ground about these consecrated edifices is covered +with gravestones, few of which have any inscription. He that surveys +it, attended by an insular antiquary, may be told where the Kings of +many nations are buried, and if he loves to sooth his imagination with +the thoughts that naturally rise in places where the great and the powerful +lie mingled with the dust, let him listen in submissive silence; for +if he asks any questions, his delight is at an end.</p> +<p>Iona has long enjoyed, without any very credible attestation, the +honour of being reputed the cemetery of the Scottish Kings. It +is not unlikely, that, when the opinion of local sanctity was prevalent, +the Chieftains of the Isles, and perhaps some of the Norwegian or Irish +princes were reposited in this venerable enclosure. But by whom +the subterraneous vaults are peopled is now utterly unknown. The +graves are very numerous, and some of them undoubtedly contain the remains +of men, who did not expect to be so soon forgotten.</p> +<p>Not far from this awful ground, may be traced the garden of the monastery: +the fishponds are yet discernible, and the aqueduct, which supplied +them, is still in use.</p> +<p>There remains a broken building, which is called the Bishop’s +house, I know not by what authority. It was once the residence +of some man above the common rank, for it has two stories and a chimney. +We were shewn a chimney at the other end, which was only a nich, without +perforation, but so much does antiquarian credulity, or patriotick vanity +prevail, that it was not much more safe to trust the eye of our instructor +than the memory.</p> +<p>There is in the Island one house more, and only one, that has a chimney: +we entered it, and found it neither wanting repair nor inhabitants; +but to the farmers, who now possess it, the chimney is of no great value; +for their fire was made on the floor, in the middle of the room, and +notwithstanding the dignity of their mansion, they rejoiced, like their +neighbours, in the comforts of smoke.</p> +<p>It is observed, that ecclesiastical colleges are always in the most +pleasant and fruitful places. While the world allowed the monks +their choice, it is surely no dishonour that they chose well. +This Island is remarkably fruitful. The village near the churches +is said to contain seventy families, which, at five in a family, is +more than a hundred inhabitants to a mile. There are perhaps other +villages: yet both corn and cattle are annually exported.</p> +<p>But the fruitfulness of Iona is now its whole prosperity. The +inhabitants are remarkably gross, and remarkably neglected: I know not +if they are visited by any Minister. The Island, which was once +the metropolis of learning and piety, has now no school for education, +nor temple for worship, only two inhabitants that can speak English, +and not one that can write or read.</p> +<p>The people are of the clan of Maclean; and though Sir Allan had not +been in the place for many years, he was received with all the reverence +due to their Chieftain. One of them being sharply reprehended +by him, for not sending him some rum, declared after his departure, +in Mr. Boswell’s presence, that he had no design of disappointing +him, ‘for,’ said he, ‘I would cut my bones for him; +and if he had sent his dog for it, he should have had it.’</p> +<p>When we were to depart, our boat was left by the ebb at a great distance +from the water, but no sooner did we wish it afloat, than the islanders +gathered round it, and, by the union of many hands, pushed it down the +beach; every man who could contribute his help seemed to think himself +happy in the opportunity of being, for a moment, useful to his Chief.</p> +<p>We now left those illustrious ruins, by which Mr. Boswell was much +affected, nor would I willingly be thought to have looked upon them +without some emotion. Perhaps, in the revolutions of the world, +Iona may be sometime again the instructress of the Western Regions.</p> +<p>It was no long voyage to Mull, where, under Sir Allan’s protection, +we landed in the evening, and were entertained for the night by Mr. +Maclean, a Minister that lives upon the coast, whose elegance of conversation, +and strength of judgment, would make him conspicuous in places of greater +celebrity. Next day we dined with Dr. Maclean, another physician, +and then travelled on to the house of a very powerful Laird, Maclean +of Lochbuy; for in this country every man’s name is Maclean.</p> +<p>Where races are thus numerous, and thus combined, none but the Chief +of a clan is addressed by his name. The Laird of Dunvegan is called +Macleod, but other gentlemen of the same family are denominated by the +places where they reside, as Raasa, or Talisker. The distinction +of the meaner people is made by their Christian names. In consequence +of this practice, the late Laird of Macfarlane, an eminent genealogist, +considered himself as disrespectfully treated, if the common addition +was applied to him. Mr. Macfarlane, said he, may with equal propriety +be said to many; but I, and I only, am Macfarlane.</p> +<p>Our afternoon journey was through a country of such gloomy desolation, +that Mr. Boswell thought no part of the Highlands equally terrifick, +yet we came without any difficulty, at evening, to Lochbuy, where we +found a true Highland Laird, rough and haughty, and tenacious of his +dignity; who, hearing my name, inquired whether I was of the Johnstons +of Glencroe, or of Ardnamurchan.</p> +<p>Lochbuy has, like the other insular Chieftains, quitted the castle +that sheltered his ancestors, and lives near it, in a mansion not very +spacious or splendid. I have seen no houses in the Islands much +to be envied for convenience or magnificence, yet they bare testimony +to the progress of arts and civility, as they shew that rapine and surprise +are no longer dreaded, and are much more commodious than the ancient +fortresses.</p> +<p>The castles of the Hebrides, many of which are standing, and many +ruined, were always built upon points of land, on the margin of the +sea. For the choice of this situation there must have been some +general reason, which the change of manners has left in obscurity. +They were of no use in the days of piracy, as defences of the coast; +for it was equally accessible in other places. Had they been sea-marks +or light-houses, they would have been of more use to the invader than +the natives, who could want no such directions of their own waters: +for a watch-tower, a cottage on a hill would have been better, as it +would have commanded a wider view.</p> +<p>If they be considered merely as places of retreat, the situation +seems not well chosen; for the Laird of an Island is safest from foreign +enemies in the center; on the coast he might be more suddenly surprised +than in the inland parts; and the invaders, if their enterprise miscarried, +might more easily retreat. Some convenience, however, whatever +it was, their position on the shore afforded; for uniformity of practice +seldom continues long without good reason.</p> +<p>A castle in the Islands is only a single tower of three or four stories, +of which the walls are sometimes eight or nine feet thick, with narrow +windows, and close winding stairs of stone. The top rises in a +cone, or pyramid of stone, encompassed by battlements. The intermediate +floors are sometimes frames of timber, as in common houses, and sometimes +arches of stone, or alternately stone and timber; so that there was +very little danger from fire. In the center of every floor, from +top to bottom, is the chief room, of no great extent, round which there +are narrow cavities, or recesses, formed by small vacuities, or by a +double wall. I know not whether there be ever more than one fire-place. +They had not capacity to contain many people, or much provision; but +their enemies could seldom stay to blockade them; for if they failed +in the first attack, their next care was to escape.</p> +<p>The walls were always too strong to be shaken by such desultory hostilities; +the windows were too narrow to be entered, and the battlements too high +to be scaled. The only danger was at the gates, over which the +wall was built with a square cavity, not unlike a chimney, continued +to the top. Through this hollow the defendants let fall stones +upon those who attempted to break the gate, and poured down water, perhaps +scalding water, if the attack was made with fire. The castle of +Lochbuy was secured by double doors, of which the outer was an iron +grate.</p> +<p>In every castle is a well and a dungeon. The use of the well +is evident. The dungeon is a deep subterraneous cavity, walled +on the sides, and arched on the top, into which the descent is through +a narrow door, by a ladder or a rope, so that it seems impossible to +escape, when the rope or ladder is drawn up. The dungeon was, +I suppose, in war, a prison for such captives as were treated with severity, +and, in peace, for such delinquents as had committed crimes within the +Laird’s jurisdiction; for the mansions of many Lairds were, till +the late privation of their privileges, the halls of justice to their +own tenants.</p> +<p>As these fortifications were the productions of mere necessity, they +are built only for safety, with little regard to convenience, and with +none to elegance or pleasure. It was sufficient for a Laird of +the Hebrides, if he had a strong house, in which he could hide his wife +and children from the next clan. That they are not large nor splendid +is no wonder. It is not easy to find how they were raised, such +as they are, by men who had no money, in countries where the labourers +and artificers could scarcely be fed. The buildings in different +parts of the Island shew their degrees of wealth and power. I +believe that for all the castles which I have seen beyond the Tweed, +the ruins yet remaining of some one of those which the English built +in Wales, would supply materials.</p> +<p>These castles afford another evidence that the fictions of romantick +chivalry had for their basis the real manners of the feudal times, when +every Lord of a seignory lived in his hold lawless and unaccountable, +with all the licentiousness and insolence of uncontested superiority +and unprincipled power. The traveller, whoever he might be, coming +to the fortified habitation of a Chieftain, would, probably, have been +interrogated from the battlements, admitted with caution at the gate, +introduced to a petty Monarch, fierce with habitual hostility, and vigilant +with ignorant suspicion; who, according to his general temper, or accidental +humour, would have seated a stranger as his guest at the table, or as +a spy confined him in the dungeon.</p> +<p>Lochbuy means the Yellow Lake, which is the name given to an inlet +of the sea, upon which the castle of Mr. Maclean stands. The reason +of the appellation we did not learn.</p> +<p>We were now to leave the Hebrides, where we had spent some weeks +with sufficient amusement, and where we had amplified our thoughts with +new scenes of nature, and new modes of life. More time would have +given us a more distinct view, but it was necessary that Mr. Boswell +should return before the courts of justice were opened; and it was not +proper to live too long upon hospitality, however liberally imparted.</p> +<p>Of these Islands it must be confessed, that they have not many allurements, +but to the mere lover of naked nature. The inhabitants are thin, +provisions are scarce, and desolation and penury give little pleasure.</p> +<p>The people collectively considered are not few, though their numbers +are small in proportion to the space which they occupy. Mull is +said to contain six thousand, and Sky fifteen thousand. Of the +computation respecting Mull, I can give no account; but when I doubted +the truth of the numbers attributed to Sky, one of the Ministers exhibited +such facts as conquered my incredulity.</p> +<p>Of the proportion, which the product of any region bears to the people, +an estimate is commonly made according to the pecuniary price of the +necessaries of life; a principle of judgment which is never certain, +because it supposes what is far from truth, that the value of money +is always the same, and so measures an unknown quantity by an uncertain +standard. It is competent enough when the markets of the same +country, at different times, and those times not too distant, are to +be compared; but of very little use for the purpose of making one nation +acquainted with the state of another. Provisions, though plentiful, +are sold in places of great pecuniary opulence for nominal prices, to +which, however scarce, where gold and silver are yet scarcer, they can +never be raised.</p> +<p>In the Western Islands there is so little internal commerce, that +hardly any thing has a known or settled rate. The price of things +brought in, or carried out, is to be considered as that of a foreign +market; and even this there is some difficulty in discovering, because +their denominations of quantity are different from ours; and when there +is ignorance on both sides, no appeal can be made to a common measure.</p> +<p>This, however, is not the only impediment. The Scots, with +a vigilance of jealousy which never goes to sleep, always suspect that +an Englishman despises them for their poverty, and to convince him that +they are not less rich than their neighbours, are sure to tell him a +price higher than the true. When Lesley, two hundred years ago, +related so punctiliously, that a hundred hen eggs, new laid, were sold +in the Islands for a peny, he supposed that no inference could possibly +follow, but that eggs were in great abundance. Posterity has since +grown wiser; and having learned, that nominal and real value may differ, +they now tell no such stories, lest the foreigner should happen to collect, +not that eggs are many, but that pence are few.</p> +<p>Money and wealth have by the use of commercial language been so long +confounded, that they are commonly supposed to be the same; and this +prejudice has spread so widely in Scotland, that I know not whether +I found man or woman, whom I interrogated concerning payments of money, +that could surmount the illiberal desire of deceiving me, by representing +every thing as dearer than it is.</p> +<p>From Lochbuy we rode a very few miles to the side of Mull, which +faces Scotland, where, having taken leave of our kind protector, Sir +Allan, we embarked in a boat, in which the seat provided for our accommodation +was a heap of rough brushwood; and on the twenty-second of October reposed +at a tolerable inn on the main land.</p> +<p>On the next day we began our journey southwards. The weather +was tempestuous. For half the day the ground was rough, and our +horses were still small. Had they required much restraint, we +might have been reduced to difficulties; for I think we had amongst +us but one bridle. We fed the poor animals liberally, and they +performed their journey well. In the latter part of the day, we +came to a firm and smooth road, made by the soldiers, on which we travelled +with great security, busied with contemplating the scene about us. +The night came on while we had yet a great part of the way to go, though +not so dark, but that we could discern the cataracts which poured down +the hills, on one side, and fell into one general channel that ran with +great violence on the other. The wind was loud, the rain was heavy, +and the whistling of the blast, the fall of the shower, the rush of +the cataracts, and the roar of the torrent, made a nobler chorus of +the rough musick of nature than it had ever been my chance to hear before. +The streams, which ran cross the way from the hills to the main current, +were so frequent, that after a while I began to count them; and, in +ten miles, reckoned fifty-five, probably missing some, and having let +some pass before they forced themselves upon my notice. At last +we came to Inverary, where we found an inn, not only commodious, but +magnificent.</p> +<p>The difficulties of peregrination were now at an end. Mr. Boswell +had the honour of being known to the Duke of Argyle, by whom we were +very kindly entertained at his splendid seat, and supplied with conveniences +for surveying his spacious park and rising forests.</p> +<p>After two days stay at Inverary we proceeded Southward over Glencroe, +a black and dreary region, now made easily passable by a military road, +which rises from either end of the glen by an acclivity not dangerously +steep, but sufficiently laborious. In the middle, at the top of +the hill, is a seat with this inscription, ‘Rest, and be thankful.’ +Stones were placed to mark the distances, which the inhabitants have +taken away, resolved, they said, ‘to have no new miles.’</p> +<p>In this rainy season the hills streamed with waterfalls, which, crossing +the way, formed currents on the other side, that ran in contrary directions +as they fell to the north or south of the summit. Being, by the +favour of the Duke, well mounted, I went up and down the hill with great +convenience.</p> +<p>From Glencroe we passed through a pleasant country to the banks of +Loch Lomond, and were received at the house of Sir James Colquhoun, +who is owner of almost all the thirty islands of the Loch, which we +went in a boat next morning to survey. The heaviness of the rain +shortened our voyage, but we landed on one island planted with yew, +and stocked with deer, and on another containing perhaps not more than +half an acre, remarkable for the ruins of an old castle, on which the +osprey builds her annual nest. Had Loch Lomond been in a happier +climate, it would have been the boast of wealth and vanity to own one +of the little spots which it incloses, and to have employed upon it +all the arts of embellishment. But as it is, the islets, which +court the gazer at a distance, disgust him at his approach, when he +finds, instead of soft lawns; and shady thickets, nothing more than +uncultivated ruggedness.</p> +<p>Where the Loch discharges itself into a river, called the Leven, +we passed a night with Mr. Smollet, a relation of Doctor Smollet, to +whose memory he has raised an obelisk on the bank near the house in +which he was born. The civility and respect which we found at +every place, it is ungrateful to omit, and tedious to repeat. +Here we were met by a post-chaise, that conveyed us to Glasgow.</p> +<p>To describe a city so much frequented as Glasgow, is unnecessary. +The prosperity of its commerce appears by the greatness of many private +houses, and a general appearance of wealth. It is the only episcopal +city whose cathedral was left standing in the rage of Reformation. +It is now divided into many separate places of worship, which, taken +all together, compose a great pile, that had been some centuries in +building, but was never finished; for the change of religion intercepted +its progress, before the cross isle was added, which seems essential +to a Gothick cathedral.</p> +<p>The college has not had a sufficient share of the increasing magnificence +of the place. The session was begun; for it commences on the tenth +of October and continues to the tenth of June, but the students appeared +not numerous, being, I suppose, not yet returned from their several +homes. The division of the academical year into one session, and +one recess, seems to me better accommodated to the present state of +life, than that variegation of time by terms and vacations derived from +distant centuries, in which it was probably convenient, and still continued +in the English universities. So many solid months as the Scotch +scheme of education joins together, allow and encourage a plan for each +part of the year; but with us, he that has settled himself to study +in the college is soon tempted into the country, and he that has adjusted +his life in the country, is summoned back to his college.</p> +<p>Yet when I have allowed to the universities of Scotland a more rational +distribution of time, I have given them, so far as my inquiries have +informed me, all that they can claim. The students, for the most +part, go thither boys, and depart before they are men; they carry with +them little fundamental knowledge, and therefore the superstructure +cannot be lofty. The grammar schools are not generally well supplied; +for the character of a school-master being there less honourable than +in England, is seldom accepted by men who are capable to adorn it, and +where the school has been deficient, the college can effect little.</p> +<p>Men bred in the universities of Scotland cannot be expected to be +often decorated with the splendours of ornamental erudition, but they +obtain a mediocrity of knowledge, between learning and ignorance, not +inadequate to the purposes of common life, which is, I believe, very +widely diffused among them, and which countenanced in general by a national +combination so invidious, that their friends cannot defend it, and actuated +in particulars by a spirit of enterprise, so vigorous, that their enemies +are constrained to praise it, enables them to find, or to make their +way to employment, riches, and distinction.</p> +<p>From Glasgow we directed our course to Auchinleck, an estate devolved, +through a long series of ancestors, to Mr. Boswell’s father, the +present possessor. In our way we found several places remarkable +enough in themselves, but already described by those who viewed them +at more leisure, or with much more skill; and stopped two days at Mr. +Campbell’s, a gentleman married to Mr. Boswell’s sister.</p> +<p>Auchinleck, which signifies a stony field, seems not now to have +any particular claim to its denomination. It is a district generally +level, and sufficiently fertile, but like all the Western side of Scotland, +incommoded by very frequent rain. It was, with the rest of the +country, generally naked, till the present possessor finding, by the +growth of some stately trees near his old castle, that the ground was +favourable enough to timber, adorned it very diligently with annual +plantations.</p> +<p>Lord Auchinleck, who is one of the Judges of Scotland, and therefore +not wholly at leisure for domestick business or pleasure, has yet found +time to make improvements in his patrimony. He has built a house +of hewn stone, very stately, and durable, and has advanced the value +of his lands with great tenderness to his tenants.</p> +<p>I was, however, less delighted with the elegance of the modern mansion, +than with the sullen dignity of the old castle. I clambered with +Mr. Boswell among the ruins, which afford striking images of ancient +life. It is, like other castles, built upon a point of rock, and +was, I believe, anciently surrounded with a moat. There is another +rock near it, to which the drawbridge, when it was let down, is said +to have reached. Here, in the ages of tumult and rapine, the Laird +was surprised and killed by the neighbouring Chief, who perhaps might +have extinguished the family, had he not in a few days been seized and +hanged, together with his sons, by Douglas, who came with his forces +to the relief of Auchinleck.</p> +<p>At no great distance from the house runs a pleasing brook, by a red +rock, out of which has been hewn a very agreeable and commodious summer-house, +at less expence, as Lord Auchinleck told me, than would have been required +to build a room of the same dimensions. The rock seems to have +no more dampness than any other wall. Such opportunities of variety +it is judicious not to neglect.</p> +<p>We now returned to Edinburgh, where I passed some days with men of +learning, whose names want no advancement from my commemoration, or +with women of elegance, which perhaps disclaims a pedant’s praise.</p> +<p>The conversation of the Scots grows every day less unpleasing to +the English; their peculiarities wear fast away; their dialect is likely +to become in half a century provincial and rustick, even to themselves. +The great, the learned, the ambitious, and the vain, all cultivate the +English phrase, and the English pronunciation, and in splendid companies +Scotch is not much heard, except now and then from an old Lady.</p> +<p>There is one subject of philosophical curiosity to be found in Edinburgh, +which no other city has to shew; a college of the deaf and dumb, who +are taught to speak, to read, to write, and to practice arithmetick, +by a gentleman, whose name is Braidwood. The number which attends +him is, I think, about twelve, which he brings together into a little +school, and instructs according to their several degrees of proficiency.</p> +<p>I do not mean to mention the instruction of the deaf as new. +Having been first practised upon the son of a constable of Spain, it +was afterwards cultivated with much emulation in England, by Wallis +and Holder, and was lately professed by Mr. Baker, who once flattered +me with hopes of seeing his method published. How far any former +teachers have succeeded, it is not easy to know; the improvement of +Mr. Braidwood’s pupils is wonderful. They not only speak, +write, and understand what is written, but if he that speaks looks towards +them, and modifies his organs by distinct and full utterance, they know +so well what is spoken, that it is an expression scarcely figurative +to say, they hear with the eye. That any have attained to the +power mentioned by Burnet, of feeling sounds, by laying a hand on the +speaker’s mouth, I know not; but I have seen so much, that I can +believe more; a single word, or a short sentence, I think, may possibly +be so distinguished.</p> +<p>It will readily be supposed by those that consider this subject, +that Mr. Braidwood’s scholars spell accurately. Orthography +is vitiated among such as learn first to speak, and then to write, by +imperfect notions of the relation between letters and vocal utterance; +but to those students every character is of equal importance; for letters +are to them not symbols of names, but of things; when they write they +do not represent a sound, but delineate a form.</p> +<p>This school I visited, and found some of the scholars waiting for +their master, whom they are said to receive at his entrance with smiling +countenances and sparkling eyes, delighted with the hope of new ideas. +One of the young Ladies had her slate before her, on which I wrote a +question consisting of three figures, to be multiplied by two figures. +She looked upon it, and quivering her fingers in a manner which I thought +very pretty, but of which I know not whether it was art or play, multiplied +the sum regularly in two lines, observing the decimal place; but did +not add the two lines together, probably disdaining so easy an operation. +I pointed at the place where the sum total should stand, and she noted +it with such expedition as seemed to shew that she had it only to write.</p> +<p>It was pleasing to see one of the most desperate of human calamities +capable of so much help; whatever enlarges hope, will exalt courage; +after having seen the deaf taught arithmetick, who would be afraid to +cultivate the Hebrides?</p> +<p>Such are the things which this journey has given me an opportunity +of seeing, and such are the reflections which that sight has raised. +Having passed my time almost wholly in cities, I may have been surprised +by modes of life and appearances of nature, that are familiar to men +of wider survey and more varied conversation. Novelty and ignorance +must always be reciprocal, and I cannot but be conscious that my thoughts +on national manners, are the thoughts of one who has seen but little.</p> +<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A JOURNEY TO THE WESTERN ISLES OF</p> +<pre> +SCOTLAND*** + + +***** This file should be named 2064-h.htm or 2064-h.zip****** + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/0/6/2064 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: A Journey to the Western Isles of Scotland + + +Author: Samuel Johnson + +Release Date: April 20, 2005 [eBook #2064] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A JOURNEY TO THE WESTERN ISLES OF +SCOTLAND*** + + + + + + +Transcribed from the 1775 edition with the corrections noted in the 1785 +errata by David Price, email ccx074@coventry.ac.uk + + + + + +A JOURNEY TO THE WESTERN ISLANDS OF SCOTLAND + + +INCH KEITH + + +I had desired to visit the Hebrides, or Western Islands of Scotland, so +long, that I scarcely remember how the wish was originally excited; and +was in the Autumn of the year 1773 induced to undertake the journey, by +finding in Mr. Boswell a companion, whose acuteness would help my +inquiry, and whose gaiety of conversation and civility of manners are +sufficient to counteract the inconveniences of travel, in countries less +hospitable than we have passed. + +On the eighteenth of August we left Edinburgh, a city too well known to +admit description, and directed our course northward, along the eastern +coast of Scotland, accompanied the first day by another gentleman, who +could stay with us only long enough to shew us how much we lost at +separation. + +As we crossed the Frith of Forth, our curiosity was attracted by Inch +Keith, a small island, which neither of my companions had ever visited, +though, lying within their view, it had all their lives solicited their +notice. Here, by climbing with some difficulty over shattered crags, we +made the first experiment of unfrequented coasts. Inch Keith is nothing +more than a rock covered with a thin layer of earth, not wholly bare of +grass, and very fertile of thistles. A small herd of cows grazes +annually upon it in the summer. It seems never to have afforded to man +or beast a permanent habitation. + +We found only the ruins of a small fort, not so injured by time but that +it might be easily restored to its former state. It seems never to have +been intended as a place of strength, nor was built to endure a siege, +but merely to afford cover to a few soldiers, who perhaps had the charge +of a battery, or were stationed to give signals of approaching danger. +There is therefore no provision of water within the walls, though the +spring is so near, that it might have been easily enclosed. One of the +stones had this inscription: 'Maria Reg. 1564.' It has probably been +neglected from the time that the whole island had the same king. + +We left this little island with our thoughts employed awhile on the +different appearance that it would have made, if it had been placed at +the same distance from London, with the same facility of approach; with +what emulation of price a few rocky acres would have been purchased, and +with what expensive industry they would have been cultivated and adorned. + +When we landed, we found our chaise ready, and passed through Kinghorn, +Kirkaldy, and Cowpar, places not unlike the small or straggling market- +towns in those parts of England where commerce and manufactures have not +yet produced opulence. + +Though we were yet in the most populous part of Scotland, and at so small +a distance from the capital, we met few passengers. + +The roads are neither rough nor dirty; and it affords a southern stranger +a new kind of pleasure to travel so commodiously without the interruption +of toll-gates. Where the bottom is rocky, as it seems commonly to be in +Scotland, a smooth way is made indeed with great labour, but it never +wants repairs; and in those parts where adventitious materials are +necessary, the ground once consolidated is rarely broken; for the inland +commerce is not great, nor are heavy commodities often transported +otherwise than by water. The carriages in common use are small carts, +drawn each by one little horse; and a man seems to derive some degree of +dignity and importance from the reputation of possessing a two-horse +cart. + + + + +ST. ANDREWS + + +At an hour somewhat late we came to St. Andrews, a city once +archiepiscopal; where that university still subsists in which philosophy +was formerly taught by Buchanan, whose name has as fair a claim to +immortality as can be conferred by modern latinity, and perhaps a fairer +than the instability of vernacular languages admits. + +We found, that by the interposition of some invisible friend, lodgings +had been provided for us at the house of one of the professors, whose +easy civility quickly made us forget that we were strangers; and in the +whole time of our stay we were gratified by every mode of kindness, and +entertained with all the elegance of lettered hospitality. + +In the morning we rose to perambulate a city, which only history shews to +have once flourished, and surveyed the ruins of ancient magnificence, of +which even the ruins cannot long be visible, unless some care be taken to +preserve them; and where is the pleasure of preserving such mournful +memorials? They have been till very lately so much neglected, that every +man carried away the stones who fancied that he wanted them. + +The cathedral, of which the foundations may be still traced, and a small +part of the wall is standing, appears to have been a spacious and +majestick building, not unsuitable to the primacy of the kingdom. Of the +architecture, the poor remains can hardly exhibit, even to an artist, a +sufficient specimen. It was demolished, as is well known, in the tumult +and violence of Knox's reformation. + +Not far from the cathedral, on the margin of the water, stands a fragment +of the castle, in which the archbishop anciently resided. It was never +very large, and was built with more attention to security than pleasure. +Cardinal Beatoun is said to have had workmen employed in improving its +fortifications at the time when he was murdered by the ruffians of +reformation, in the manner of which Knox has given what he himself calls +a merry narrative. + +The change of religion in Scotland, eager and vehement as it was, raised +an epidemical enthusiasm, compounded of sullen scrupulousness and warlike +ferocity, which, in a people whom idleness resigned to their own +thoughts, and who, conversing only with each other, suffered no dilution +of their zeal from the gradual influx of new opinions, was long +transmitted in its full strength from the old to the young, but by trade +and intercourse with England, is now visibly abating, and giving way too +fast to that laxity of practice and indifference of opinion, in which +men, not sufficiently instructed to find the middle point, too easily +shelter themselves from rigour and constraint. + +The city of St. Andrews, when it had lost its archiepiscopal +pre-eminence, gradually decayed: One of its streets is now lost; and in +those that remain, there is silence and solitude of inactive indigence +and gloomy depopulation. + +The university, within a few years, consisted of three colleges, but is +now reduced to two; the college of St. Leonard being lately dissolved by +the sale of its buildings and the appropriation of its revenues to the +professors of the two others. The chapel of the alienated college is yet +standing, a fabrick not inelegant of external structure; but I was +always, by some civil excuse, hindred from entering it. A decent +attempt, as I was since told, has been made to convert it into a kind of +green-house, by planting its area with shrubs. This new method of +gardening is unsuccessful; the plants do not hitherto prosper. To what +use it will next be put I have no pleasure in conjecturing. It is +something that its present state is at least not ostentatiously +displayed. Where there is yet shame, there may in time be virtue. + +The dissolution of St. Leonard's college was doubtless necessary; but of +that necessity there is reason to complain. It is surely not without +just reproach, that a nation, of which the commerce is hourly extending, +and the wealth encreasing, denies any participation of its prosperity to +its literary societies; and while its merchants or its nobles are raising +palaces, suffers its universities to moulder into dust. + +Of the two colleges yet standing, one is by the institution of its +founder appropriated to Divinity. It is said to be capable of containing +fifty students; but more than one must occupy a chamber. The library, +which is of late erection, is not very spacious, but elegant and +luminous. + +The doctor, by whom it was shewn, hoped to irritate or subdue my English +vanity by telling me, that we had no such repository of books in England. + +Saint Andrews seems to be a place eminently adapted to study and +education, being situated in a populous, yet a cheap country, and +exposing the minds and manners of young men neither to the levity and +dissoluteness of a capital city, nor to the gross luxury of a town of +commerce, places naturally unpropitious to learning; in one the desire of +knowledge easily gives way to the love of pleasure, and in the other, is +in danger of yielding to the love of money. + +The students however are represented as at this time not exceeding a +hundred. Perhaps it may be some obstruction to their increase that there +is no episcopal chapel in the place. I saw no reason for imputing their +paucity to the present professors; nor can the expence of an academical +education be very reasonably objected. A student of the highest class +may keep his annual session, or as the English call it, his term, which +lasts seven months, for about fifteen pounds, and one of lower rank for +less than ten; in which board, lodging, and instruction are all included. + +The chief magistrate resident in the university, answering to our vice- +chancellor, and to the _rector magnificus_ on the continent, had commonly +the title of Lord Rector; but being addressed only as Mr. Rector in an +inauguratory speech by the present chancellor, he has fallen from his +former dignity of style. Lordship was very liberally annexed by our +ancestors to any station or character of dignity: They said, the Lord +General, and Lord Ambassador; so we still say, my Lord, to the judge upon +the circuit, and yet retain in our Liturgy the Lords of the Council. + +In walking among the ruins of religious buildings, we came to two vaults +over which had formerly stood the house of the sub-prior. One of the +vaults was inhabited by an old woman, who claimed the right of abode +there, as the widow of a man whose ancestors had possessed the same +gloomy mansion for no less than four generations. The right, however it +began, was considered as established by legal prescription, and the old +woman lives undisturbed. She thinks however that she has a claim to +something more than sufferance; for as her husband's name was Bruce, she +is allied to royalty, and told Mr. Boswell that when there were persons +of quality in the place, she was distinguished by some notice; that +indeed she is now neglected, but she spins a thread, has the company of +her cat, and is troublesome to nobody. + +Having now seen whatever this ancient city offered to our curiosity, we +left it with good wishes, having reason to be highly pleased with the +attention that was paid us. But whoever surveys the world must see many +things that give him pain. The kindness of the professors did not +contribute to abate the uneasy remembrance of an university declining, a +college alienated, and a church profaned and hastening to the ground. + +St. Andrews indeed has formerly suffered more atrocious ravages and more +extensive destruction, but recent evils affect with greater force. We +were reconciled to the sight of archiepiscopal ruins. The distance of a +calamity from the present time seems to preclude the mind from contact or +sympathy. Events long past are barely known; they are not considered. We +read with as little emotion the violence of Knox and his followers, as +the irruptions of Alaric and the Goths. Had the university been +destroyed two centuries ago, we should not have regretted it; but to see +it pining in decay and struggling for life, fills the mind with mournful +images and ineffectual wishes. + + + + +ABERBROTHICK + + +As we knew sorrow and wishes to be vain, it was now our business to mind +our way. The roads of Scotland afford little diversion to the traveller, +who seldom sees himself either encountered or overtaken, and who has +nothing to contemplate but grounds that have no visible boundaries, or +are separated by walls of loose stone. From the bank of the Tweed to St. +Andrews I had never seen a single tree, which I did not believe to have +grown up far within the present century. Now and then about a +gentleman's house stands a small plantation, which in Scotch is called a +policy, but of these there are few, and those few all very young. The +variety of sun and shade is here utterly unknown. There is no tree for +either shelter or timber. The oak and the thorn is equally a stranger, +and the whole country is extended in uniform nakedness, except that in +the road between Kirkaldy and Cowpar, I passed for a few yards between +two hedges. A tree might be a show in Scotland as a horse in Venice. At +St. Andrews Mr. Boswell found only one, and recommended it to my notice; +I told him that it was rough and low, or looked as if I thought so. This, +said he, is nothing to another a few miles off. I was still less +delighted to hear that another tree was not to be seen nearer. Nay, said +a gentleman that stood by, I know but of this and that tree in the +county. + +The Lowlands of Scotland had once undoubtedly an equal portion of woods +with other countries. Forests are every where gradually diminished, as +architecture and cultivation prevail by the increase of people and the +introduction of arts. But I believe few regions have been denuded like +this, where many centuries must have passed in waste without the least +thought of future supply. Davies observes in his account of Ireland, +that no Irishman had ever planted an orchard. For that negligence some +excuse might be drawn from an unsettled state of life, and the +instability of property; but in Scotland possession has long been secure, +and inheritance regular, yet it may be doubted whether before the Union +any man between Edinburgh and England had ever set a tree. + +Of this improvidence no other account can be given than that it probably +began in times of tumult, and continued because it had begun. Established +custom is not easily broken, till some great event shakes the whole +system of things, and life seems to recommence upon new principles. That +before the Union the Scots had little trade and little money, is no valid +apology; for plantation is the least expensive of all methods of +improvement. To drop a seed into the ground can cost nothing, and the +trouble is not great of protecting the young plant, till it is out of +danger; though it must be allowed to have some difficulty in places like +these, where they have neither wood for palisades, nor thorns for hedges. + +Our way was over the Firth of Tay, where, though the water was not wide, +we paid four shillings for ferrying the chaise. In Scotland the +necessaries of life are easily procured, but superfluities and elegancies +are of the same price at least as in England, and therefore may be +considered as much dearer. + +We stopped a while at Dundee, where I remember nothing remarkable, and +mounting our chaise again, came about the close of the day to +Aberbrothick. + +The monastery of Aberbrothick is of great renown in the history of +Scotland. Its ruins afford ample testimony of its ancient magnificence: +Its extent might, I suppose, easily be found by following the walls among +the grass and weeds, and its height is known by some parts yet standing. +The arch of one of the gates is entire, and of another only so far +dilapidated as to diversify the appearance. A square apartment of great +loftiness is yet standing; its use I could not conjecture, as its +elevation was very disproportionate to its area. Two corner towers, +particularly attracted our attention. Mr. Boswell, whose inquisitiveness +is seconded by great activity, scrambled in at a high window, but found +the stairs within broken, and could not reach the top. Of the other +tower we were told that the inhabitants sometimes climbed it, but we did +not immediately discern the entrance, and as the night was gathering upon +us, thought proper to desist. Men skilled in architecture might do what +we did not attempt: They might probably form an exact ground-plot of this +venerable edifice. They may from some parts yet standing conjecture its +general form, and perhaps by comparing it with other buildings of the +same kind and the same age, attain an idea very near to truth. I should +scarcely have regretted my journey, had it afforded nothing more than the +sight of Aberbrothick. + + + + +MONTROSE + + +Leaving these fragments of magnificence, we travelled on to Montrose, +which we surveyed in the morning, and found it well built, airy, and +clean. The townhouse is a handsome fabrick with a portico. We then went +to view the English chapel, and found a small church, clean to a degree +unknown in any other part of Scotland, with commodious galleries, and +what was yet less expected, with an organ. + +At our inn we did not find a reception such as we thought proportionate +to the commercial opulence of the place; but Mr. Boswell desired me to +observe that the innkeeper was an Englishman, and I then defended him as +well as I could. + +When I had proceeded thus far, I had opportunities of observing what I +had never heard, that there are many beggars in Scotland. In Edinburgh +the proportion is, I think, not less than in London, and in the smaller +places it is far greater than in English towns of the same extent. It +must, however, be allowed that they are not importunate, nor clamorous. +They solicit silently, or very modestly, and therefore though their +behaviour may strike with more force the heart of a stranger, they are +certainly in danger of missing the attention of their countrymen. Novelty +has always some power, an unaccustomed mode of begging excites an +unaccustomed degree of pity. But the force of novelty is by its own +nature soon at an end; the efficacy of outcry and perseverance is +permanent and certain. + +The road from Montrose exhibited a continuation of the same appearances. +The country is still naked, the hedges are of stone, and the fields so +generally plowed that it is hard to imagine where grass is found for the +horses that till them. The harvest, which was almost ripe, appeared very +plentiful. + +Early in the afternoon Mr. Boswell observed that we were at no great +distance from the house of lord Monboddo. The magnetism of his +conversation easily drew us out of our way, and the entertainment which +we received would have been a sufficient recompense for a much greater +deviation. + +The roads beyond Edinburgh, as they are less frequented, must be expected +to grow gradually rougher; but they were hitherto by no means +incommodious. We travelled on with the gentle pace of a Scotch driver, +who having no rivals in expedition, neither gives himself nor his horses +unnecessary trouble. We did not affect the impatience we did not feel, +but were satisfied with the company of each other as well riding in the +chaise, as sitting at an inn. The night and the day are equally solitary +and equally safe; for where there are so few travellers, why should there +be robbers. + + + + +ABERDEEN + + +We came somewhat late to Aberdeen, and found the inn so full, that we had +some difficulty in obtaining admission, till Mr. Boswell made himself +known: His name overpowered all objection, and we found a very good house +and civil treatment. + +I received the next day a very kind letter from Sir Alexander Gordon, +whom I had formerly known in London, and after a cessation of all +intercourse for near twenty years met here professor of physic in the +King's College. Such unexpected renewals of acquaintance may be numbered +among the most pleasing incidents of life. + +The knowledge of one professor soon procured me the notice of the rest, +and I did not want any token of regard, being conducted wherever there +was any thing which I desired to see, and entertained at once with the +novelty of the place, and the kindness of communication. + +To write of the cities of our own island with the solemnity of +geographical description, as if we had been cast upon a newly discovered +coast, has the appearance of very frivolous ostentation; yet as Scotland +is little known to the greater part of those who may read these +observations, it is not superfluous to relate, that under the name of +Aberdeen are comprised two towns standing about a mile distant from each +other, but governed, I think, by the same magistrates. + +Old Aberdeen is the ancient episcopal city, in which are still to be seen +the remains of the cathedral. It has the appearance of a town in decay, +having been situated in times when commerce was yet unstudied, with very +little attention to the commodities of the harbour. + +New Aberdeen has all the bustle of prosperous trade, and all the shew of +increasing opulence. It is built by the water-side. The houses are +large and lofty, and the streets spacious and clean. They build almost +wholly with the granite used in the new pavement of the streets of +London, which is well known not to want hardness, yet they shape it +easily. It is beautiful and must be very lasting. + +What particular parts of commerce are chiefly exercised by the merchants +of Aberdeen, I have not inquired. The manufacture which forces itself +upon a stranger's eye is that of knit-stockings, on which the women of +the lower class are visibly employed. + +In each of these towns there is a college, or in stricter language, an +university; for in both there are professors of the same parts of +learning, and the colleges hold their sessions and confer degrees +separately, with total independence of one on the other. + +In old Aberdeen stands the King's College, of which the first president +was Hector Boece, or Boethius, who may be justly reverenced as one of the +revivers of elegant learning. When he studied at Paris, he was +acquainted with Erasmus, who afterwards gave him a public testimony of +his esteem, by inscribing to him a catalogue of his works. The stile of +Boethius, though, perhaps, not always rigorously pure, is formed with +great diligence upon ancient models, and wholly uninfected with monastic +barbarity. His history is written with elegance and vigour, but his +fabulousness and credulity are justly blamed. His fabulousness, if he +was the author of the fictions, is a fault for which no apology can be +made; but his credulity may be excused in an age, when all men were +credulous. Learning was then rising on the world; but ages so long +accustomed to darkness, were too much dazzled with its light to see any +thing distinctly. The first race of scholars, in the fifteenth century, +and some time after, were, for the most part, learning to speak, rather +than to think, and were therefore more studious of elegance than of +truth. The contemporaries of Boethius thought it sufficient to know what +the ancients had delivered. The examination of tenets and of facts was +reserved for another generation. + +* * * * * + +Boethius, as president of the university, enjoyed a revenue of forty +Scottish marks, about two pounds four shillings and sixpence of sterling +money. In the present age of trade and taxes, it is difficult even for +the imagination so to raise the value of money, or so to diminish the +demands of life, as to suppose four and forty shillings a year, an +honourable stipend; yet it was probably equal, not only to the needs, but +to the rank of Boethius. The wealth of England was undoubtedly to that +of Scotland more than five to one, and it is known that Henry the eighth, +among whose faults avarice was never reckoned, granted to Roger Ascham, +as a reward of his learning, a pension of ten pounds a year. + +The other, called the Marischal College, is in the new town. The hall is +large and well lighted. One of its ornaments is the picture of Arthur +Johnston, who was principal of the college, and who holds among the Latin +poets of Scotland the next place to the elegant Buchanan. + +In the library I was shewn some curiosities; a Hebrew manuscript of +exquisite penmanship, and a Latin translation of Aristotle's Politicks by +Leonardus Aretinus, written in the Roman character with nicety and +beauty, which, as the art of printing has made them no longer necessary, +are not now to be found. This was one of the latest performances of the +transcribers, for Aretinus died but about twenty years before typography +was invented. This version has been printed, and may be found in +libraries, but is little read; for the same books have been since +translated both by Victorius and Lambinus, who lived in an age more +cultivated, but perhaps owed in part to Aretinus that they were able to +excel him. Much is due to those who first broke the way to knowledge, +and left only to their successors the task of smoothing it. + +In both these colleges the methods of instruction are nearly the same; +the lectures differing only by the accidental difference of diligence, or +ability in the professors. The students wear scarlet gowns and the +professors black, which is, I believe, the academical dress in all the +Scottish universities, except that of Edinburgh, where the scholars are +not distinguished by any particular habit. In the King's College there +is kept a public table, but the scholars of the Marischal College are +boarded in the town. The expence of living is here, according to the +information that I could obtain, somewhat more than at St. Andrews. + +The course of education is extended to four years, at the end of which +those who take a degree, who are not many, become masters of arts, and +whoever is a master may, if he pleases, immediately commence doctor. The +title of doctor, however, was for a considerable time bestowed only on +physicians. The advocates are examined and approved by their own body; +the ministers were not ambitious of titles, or were afraid of being +censured for ambition; and the doctorate in every faculty was commonly +given or sold into other countries. The ministers are now reconciled to +distinction, and as it must always happen that some will excel others, +have thought graduation a proper testimony of uncommon abilities or +acquisitions. + +The indiscriminate collation of degrees has justly taken away that +respect which they originally claimed as stamps, by which the literary +value of men so distinguished was authoritatively denoted. That +academical honours, or any others should be conferred with exact +proportion to merit, is more than human judgment or human integrity have +given reason to expect. Perhaps degrees in universities cannot be better +adjusted by any general rule than by the length of time passed in the +public profession of learning. An English or Irish doctorate cannot be +obtained by a very young man, and it is reasonable to suppose, what is +likewise by experience commonly found true, that he who is by age +qualified to be a doctor, has in so much time gained learning sufficient +not to disgrace the title, or wit sufficient not to desire it. + +The Scotch universities hold but one term or session in the year. That +of St. Andrews continues eight months, that of Aberdeen only five, from +the first of November to the first of April. + +In Aberdeen there is an English Chapel, in which the congregation was +numerous and splendid. The form of public worship used by the church of +England is in Scotland legally practised in licensed chapels served by +clergymen of English or Irish ordination, and by tacit connivance quietly +permitted in separate congregations supplied with ministers by the +successors of the bishops who were deprived at the Revolution. + +We came to Aberdeen on Saturday August 21. On Monday we were invited +into the town-hall, where I had the freedom of the city given me by the +Lord Provost. The honour conferred had all the decorations that +politeness could add, and what I am afraid I should not have had to say +of any city south of the Tweed, I found no petty officer bowing for a +fee. + +The parchment containing the record of admission is, with the seal +appending, fastened to a riband and worn for one day by the new citizen +in his hat. + +By a lady who saw us at the chapel, the Earl of Errol was informed of our +arrival, and we had the honour of an invitation to his seat, called +Slanes Castle, as I am told, improperly, from the castle of that name, +which once stood at a place not far distant. + +The road beyond Aberdeen grew more stony, and continued equally naked of +all vegetable decoration. We travelled over a tract of ground near the +sea, which, not long ago, suffered a very uncommon, and unexpected +calamity. The sand of the shore was raised by a tempest in such +quantities, and carried to such a distance, that an estate was +overwhelmed and lost. Such and so hopeless was the barrenness +superinduced, that the owner, when he was required to pay the usual tax, +desired rather to resign the ground. + + + + +SLANES CASTLE, THE BULLER OF BUCHAN + + +We came in the afternoon to Slanes Castle, built upon the margin of the +sea, so that the walls of one of the towers seem only a continuation of a +perpendicular rock, the foot of which is beaten by the waves. To walk +round the house seemed impracticable. From the windows the eye wanders +over the sea that separates Scotland from Norway, and when the winds beat +with violence must enjoy all the terrifick grandeur of the tempestuous +ocean. I would not for my amusement wish for a storm; but as storms, +whether wished or not, will sometimes happen, I may say, without +violation of humanity, that I should willingly look out upon them from +Slanes Castle. + +When we were about to take our leave, our departure was prohibited by the +countess till we should have seen two places upon the coast, which she +rightly considered as worthy of curiosity, Dun Buy, and the Buller of +Buchan, to which Mr. Boyd very kindly conducted us. + +Dun Buy, which in Erse is said to signify the Yellow Rock, is a double +protuberance of stone, open to the main sea on one side, and parted from +the land by a very narrow channel on the other. It has its name and its +colour from the dung of innumerable sea-fowls, which in the Spring chuse +this place as convenient for incubation, and have their eggs and their +young taken in great abundance. One of the birds that frequent this rock +has, as we were told, its body not larger than a duck's, and yet lays +eggs as large as those of a goose. This bird is by the inhabitants named +a Coot. That which is called Coot in England, is here a Cooter. + +Upon these rocks there was nothing that could long detain attention, and +we soon turned our eyes to the Buller, or Bouilloir of Buchan, which no +man can see with indifference, who has either sense of danger or delight +in rarity. It is a rock perpendicularly tubulated, united on one side +with a high shore, and on the other rising steep to a great height, above +the main sea. The top is open, from which may be seen a dark gulf of +water which flows into the cavity, through a breach made in the lower +part of the inclosing rock. It has the appearance of a vast well +bordered with a wall. The edge of the Buller is not wide, and to those +that walk round, appears very narrow. He that ventures to look downward +sees, that if his foot should slip, he must fall from his dreadful +elevation upon stones on one side, or into water on the other. We +however went round, and were glad when the circuit was completed. + +When we came down to the sea, we saw some boats, and rowers, and resolved +to explore the Buller at the bottom. We entered the arch, which the +water had made, and found ourselves in a place, which, though we could +not think ourselves in danger, we could scarcely survey without some +recoil of the mind. The bason in which we floated was nearly circular, +perhaps thirty yards in diameter. We were inclosed by a natural wall, +rising steep on every side to a height which produced the idea of +insurmountable confinement. The interception of all lateral light caused +a dismal gloom. Round us was a perpendicular rock, above us the distant +sky, and below an unknown profundity of water. If I had any malice +against a walking spirit, instead of laying him in the Red-sea, I would +condemn him to reside in the Buller of Buchan. + +But terrour without danger is only one of the sports of fancy, a +voluntary agitation of the mind that is permitted no longer than it +pleases. We were soon at leisure to examine the place with minute +inspection, and found many cavities which, as the waterman told us, went +backward to a depth which they had never explored. Their extent we had +not time to try; they are said to serve different purposes. Ladies come +hither sometimes in the summer with collations, and smugglers make them +storehouses for clandestine merchandise. It is hardly to be doubted but +the pirates of ancient times often used them as magazines of arms, or +repositories of plunder. + +To the little vessels used by the northern rovers, the Buller may have +served as a shelter from storms, and perhaps as a retreat from enemies; +the entrance might have been stopped, or guarded with little difficulty, +and though the vessels that were stationed within would have been +battered with stones showered on them from above, yet the crews would +have lain safe in the caverns. + +Next morning we continued our journey, pleased with our reception at +Slanes Castle, of which we had now leisure to recount the grandeur and +the elegance; for our way afforded us few topics of conversation. The +ground was neither uncultivated nor unfruitful; but it was still all +arable. Of flocks or herds there was no appearance. I had now travelled +two hundred miles in Scotland, and seen only one tree not younger than +myself. + + + + +BAMFF + + +We dined this day at the house of Mr. Frazer of Streichton, who shewed us +in his grounds some stones yet standing of a druidical circle, and what I +began to think more worthy of notice, some forest trees of full growth. + +At night we came to Bamff, where I remember nothing that particularly +claimed my attention. The ancient towns of Scotland have generally an +appearance unusual to Englishmen. The houses, whether great or small, +are for the most part built of stones. Their ends are now and then next +the streets, and the entrance into them is very often by a flight of +steps, which reaches up to the second story, the floor which is level +with the ground being entered only by stairs descending within the house. + +The art of joining squares of glass with lead is little used in Scotland, +and in some places is totally forgotten. The frames of their windows are +all of wood. They are more frugal of their glass than the English, and +will often, in houses not otherwise mean, compose a square of two pieces, +not joining like cracked glass, but with one edge laid perhaps half an +inch over the other. Their windows do not move upon hinges, but are +pushed up and drawn down in grooves, yet they are seldom accommodated +with weights and pullies. He that would have his window open must hold +it with his hand, unless what may be sometimes found among good +contrivers, there be a nail which he may stick into a hole, to keep it +from falling. + +What cannot be done without some uncommon trouble or particular +expedient, will not often be done at all. The incommodiousness of the +Scotch windows keeps them very closely shut. The necessity of +ventilating human habitations has not yet been found by our northern +neighbours; and even in houses well built and elegantly furnished, a +stranger may be sometimes forgiven, if he allows himself to wish for +fresher air. + +These diminutive observations seem to take away something from the +dignity of writing, and therefore are never communicated but with +hesitation, and a little fear of abasement and contempt. But it must be +remembered, that life consists not of a series of illustrious actions, or +elegant enjoyments; the greater part of our time passes in compliance +with necessities, in the performance of daily duties, in the removal of +small inconveniences, in the procurement of petty pleasures; and we are +well or ill at ease, as the main stream of life glides on smoothly, or is +ruffled by small obstacles and frequent interruption. The true state of +every nation is the state of common life. The manners of a people are +not to be found in the schools of learning, or the palaces of greatness, +where the national character is obscured or obliterated by travel or +instruction, by philosophy or vanity; nor is public happiness to be +estimated by the assemblies of the gay, or the banquets of the rich. The +great mass of nations is neither rich nor gay: they whose aggregate +constitutes the people, are found in the streets, and the villages, in +the shops and farms; and from them collectively considered, must the +measure of general prosperity be taken. As they approach to delicacy a +nation is refined, as their conveniences are multiplied, a nation, at +least a commercial nation, must be denominated wealthy. + + + + +ELGIN + + +Finding nothing to detain us at Bamff, we set out in the morning, and +having breakfasted at Cullen, about noon came to Elgin, where in the inn, +that we supposed the best, a dinner was set before us, which we could not +eat. This was the first time, and except one, the last, that I found any +reason to complain of a Scotish table; and such disappointments, I +suppose, must be expected in every country, where there is no great +frequency of travellers. + +The ruins of the cathedral of Elgin afforded us another proof of the +waste of reformation. There is enough yet remaining to shew, that it was +once magnificent. Its whole plot is easily traced. On the north side of +the choir, the chapter-house, which is roofed with an arch of stone, +remains entire; and on the south side, another mass of building, which we +could not enter, is preserved by the care of the family of Gordon; but +the body of the church is a mass of fragments. + +A paper was here put into our hands, which deduced from sufficient +authorities the history of this venerable ruin. The church of Elgin had, +in the intestine tumults of the barbarous ages, been laid waste by the +irruption of a highland chief, whom the bishop had offended; but it was +gradually restored to the state, of which the traces may be now +discerned, and was at last not destroyed by the tumultuous violence of +Knox, but more shamefully suffered to dilapidate by deliberate robbery +and frigid indifference. There is still extant, in the books of the +council, an order, of which I cannot remember the date, but which was +doubtless issued after the Reformation, directing that the lead, which +covers the two cathedrals of Elgin and Aberdeen, shall be taken away, and +converted into money for the support of the army. A Scotch army was in +those times very cheaply kept; yet the lead of two churches must have +born so small a proportion to any military expence, that it is hard not +to believe the reason alleged to be merely popular, and the money +intended for some private purse. The order however was obeyed; the two +churches were stripped, and the lead was shipped to be sold in Holland. I +hope every reader will rejoice that this cargo of sacrilege was lost at +sea. + +Let us not however make too much haste to despise our neighbours. Our +own cathedrals are mouldering by unregarded dilapidation. It seems to be +part of the despicable philosophy of the time to despise monuments of +sacred magnificence, and we are in danger of doing that deliberately, +which the Scots did not do but in the unsettled state of an imperfect +constitution. + +Those who had once uncovered the cathedrals never wished to cover them +again; and being thus made useless, they were, first neglected, and +perhaps, as the stone was wanted, afterwards demolished. + +Elgin seems a place of little trade, and thinly inhabited. The episcopal +cities of Scotland, I believe, generally fell with their churches, though +some of them have since recovered by a situation convenient for commerce. +Thus Glasgow, though it has no longer an archbishop, has risen beyond its +original state by the opulence of its traders; and Aberdeen, though its +ancient stock had decayed, flourishes by a new shoot in another place. + +In the chief street of Elgin, the houses jut over the lowest story, like +the old buildings of timber in London, but with greater prominence; so +that there is sometimes a walk for a considerable length under a +cloister, or portico, which is now indeed frequently broken, because the +new houses have another form, but seems to have been uniformly continued +in the old city. + + + + +FORES. CALDER. FORT GEORGE + + +We went forwards the same day to Fores, the town to which Macbeth was +travelling, when he met the weird sisters in his way. This to an +Englishman is classic ground. Our imaginations were heated, and our +thoughts recalled to their old amusements. + +We had now a prelude to the Highlands. We began to leave fertility and +culture behind us, and saw for a great length of road nothing but heath; +yet at Fochabars, a seat belonging to the duke of Gordon, there is an +orchard, which in Scotland I had never seen before, with some timber +trees, and a plantation of oaks. + +At Fores we found good accommodation, but nothing worthy of particular +remark, and next morning entered upon the road, on which Macbeth heard +the fatal prediction; but we travelled on not interrupted by promises of +kingdoms, and came to Nairn, a royal burgh, which, if once it flourished, +is now in a state of miserable decay; but I know not whether its chief +annual magistrate has not still the title of Lord Provost. + +At Nairn we may fix the verge of the Highlands; for here I first saw peat +fires, and first heard the Erse language. We had no motive to stay +longer than to breakfast, and went forward to the house of Mr. Macaulay, +the minister who published an account of St. Kilda, and by his direction +visited Calder Castle, from which Macbeth drew his second title. It has +been formerly a place of strength. The drawbridge is still to be seen, +but the moat is now dry. The tower is very ancient: Its walls are of +great thickness, arched on the top with stone, and surrounded with +battlements. The rest of the house is later, though far from modern. + +We were favoured by a gentleman, who lives in the castle, with a letter +to one of the officers at Fort George, which being the most regular +fortification in the island, well deserves the notice of a traveller, who +has never travelled before. We went thither next day, found a very kind +reception, were led round the works by a gentleman, who explained the use +of every part, and entertained by Sir Eyre Coote, the governour, with +such elegance of conversation as left us no attention to the delicacies +of his table. + +Of Fort George I shall not attempt to give any account. I cannot +delineate it scientifically, and a loose and popular description is of +use only when the imagination is to be amused. There was every where an +appearance of the utmost neatness and regularity. But my suffrage is of +little value, because this and Fort Augustus are the only garrisons that +I ever saw. + +We did not regret the time spent at the fort, though in consequence of +our delay we came somewhat late to Inverness, the town which may properly +be called the capital of the Highlands. Hither the inhabitants of the +inland parts come to be supplied with what they cannot make for +themselves: Hither the young nymphs of the mountains and valleys are sent +for education, and as far as my observation has reached, are not sent in +vain. + + + + +INVERNESS + + +Inverness was the last place which had a regular communication by high +roads with the southern counties. All the ways beyond it have, I +believe, been made by the soldiers in this century. At Inverness +therefore Cromwell, when he subdued Scotland, stationed a garrison, as at +the boundary of the Highlands. The soldiers seem to have incorporated +afterwards with the inhabitants, and to have peopled the place with an +English race; for the language of this town has been long considered as +peculiarly elegant. + +Here is a castle, called the castle of Macbeth, the walls of which are +yet standing. It was no very capacious edifice, but stands upon a rock +so high and steep, that I think it was once not accessible, but by the +help of ladders, or a bridge. Over against it, on another hill, was a +fort built by Cromwell, now totally demolished; for no faction of +Scotland loved the name of Cromwell, or had any desire to continue his +memory. + +Yet what the Romans did to other nations, was in a great degree done by +Cromwell to the Scots; he civilized them by conquest, and introduced by +useful violence the arts of peace. I was told at Aberdeen that the +people learned from Cromwell's soldiers to make shoes and to plant kail. + +How they lived without kail, it is not easy to guess: They cultivate +hardly any other plant for common tables, and when they had not kail they +probably had nothing. The numbers that go barefoot are still sufficient +to shew that shoes may be spared: They are not yet considered as +necessaries of life; for tall boys, not otherwise meanly dressed, run +without them in the streets; and in the islands the sons of gentlemen +pass several of their first years with naked feet. + +I know not whether it be not peculiar to the Scots to have attained the +liberal, without the manual arts, to have excelled in ornamental +knowledge, and to have wanted not only the elegancies, but the +conveniences of common life. Literature soon after its revival found its +way to Scotland, and from the middle of the sixteenth century, almost to +the middle of the seventeenth, the politer studies were very diligently +pursued. The Latin poetry of _Deliciae Poetarum Scotorum_ would have +done honour to any nation, at least till the publication of _May's +Supplement_ the English had very little to oppose. + +Yet men thus ingenious and inquisitive were content to live in total +ignorance of the trades by which human wants are supplied, and to supply +them by the grossest means. Till the Union made them acquainted with +English manners, the culture of their lands was unskilful, and their +domestick life unformed; their tables were coarse as the feasts of +Eskimeaux, and their houses filthy as the cottages of Hottentots. + +Since they have known that their condition was capable of improvement, +their progress in useful knowledge has been rapid and uniform. What +remains to be done they will quickly do, and then wonder, like me, why +that which was so necessary and so easy was so long delayed. But they +must be for ever content to owe to the English that elegance and culture, +which, if they had been vigilant and active, perhaps the English might +have owed to them. + +Here the appearance of life began to alter. I had seen a few women with +plaids at Aberdeen; but at Inverness the Highland manners are common. +There is I think a kirk, in which only the Erse language is used. There +is likewise an English chapel, but meanly built, where on Sunday we saw a +very decent congregation. + +We were now to bid farewel to the luxury of travelling, and to enter a +country upon which perhaps no wheel has ever rolled. We could indeed +have used our post-chaise one day longer, along the military road to Fort +Augustus, but we could have hired no horses beyond Inverness, and we were +not so sparing of ourselves, as to lead them, merely that we might have +one day longer the indulgence of a carriage. + +At Inverness therefore we procured three horses for ourselves and a +servant, and one more for our baggage, which was no very heavy load. We +found in the course of our journey the convenience of having +disencumbered ourselves, by laying aside whatever we could spare; for it +is not to be imagined without experience, how in climbing crags, and +treading bogs, and winding through narrow and obstructed passages, a +little bulk will hinder, and a little weight will burthen; or how often a +man that has pleased himself at home with his own resolution, will, in +the hour of darkness and fatigue, be content to leave behind him every +thing but himself. + + + + +LOUGH NESS + + +We took two Highlanders to run beside us, partly to shew us the way, and +partly to take back from the sea-side the horses, of which they were the +owners. One of them was a man of great liveliness and activity, of whom +his companion said, that he would tire any horse in Inverness. Both of +them were civil and ready-handed. Civility seems part of the national +character of Highlanders. Every chieftain is a monarch, and politeness, +the natural product of royal government, is diffused from the laird +through the whole clan. But they are not commonly dexterous: their +narrowness of life confines them to a few operations, and they are +accustomed to endure little wants more than to remove them. + +We mounted our steeds on the thirtieth of August, and directed our guides +to conduct us to Fort Augustus. It is built at the head of Lough Ness, +of which Inverness stands at the outlet. The way between them has been +cut by the soldiers, and the greater part of it runs along a rock, +levelled with great labour and exactness, near the water-side. + +Most of this day's journey was very pleasant. The day, though bright, +was not hot; and the appearance of the country, if I had not seen the +Peak, would have been wholly new. We went upon a surface so hard and +level, that we had little care to hold the bridle, and were therefore at +full leisure for contemplation. On the left were high and steep rocks +shaded with birch, the hardy native of the North, and covered with fern +or heath. On the right the limpid waters of Lough Ness were beating +their bank, and waving their surface by a gentle agitation. Beyond them +were rocks sometimes covered with verdure, and sometimes towering in +horrid nakedness. Now and then we espied a little cornfield, which +served to impress more strongly the general barrenness. + +Lough Ness is about twenty-four miles long, and from one mile to two +miles broad. It is remarkable that Boethius, in his description of +Scotland, gives it twelve miles of breadth. When historians or +geographers exhibit false accounts of places far distant, they may be +forgiven, because they can tell but what they are told; and that their +accounts exceed the truth may be justly supposed, because most men +exaggerate to others, if not to themselves: but Boethius lived at no +great distance; if he never saw the lake, he must have been very +incurious, and if he had seen it, his veracity yielded to very slight +temptations. + +Lough Ness, though not twelve miles broad, is a very remarkable diffusion +of water without islands. It fills a large hollow between two ridges of +high rocks, being supplied partly by the torrents which fall into it on +either side, and partly, as is supposed, by springs at the bottom. Its +water is remarkably clear and pleasant, and is imagined by the natives to +be medicinal. We were told, that it is in some places a hundred and +forty fathoms deep, a profundity scarcely credible, and which probably +those that relate it have never sounded. Its fish are salmon, trout, and +pike. + +It was said at fort Augustus, that Lough Ness is open in the hardest +winters, though a lake not far from it is covered with ice. In +discussing these exceptions from the course of nature, the first question +is, whether the fact be justly stated. That which is strange is +delightful, and a pleasing error is not willingly detected. Accuracy of +narration is not very common, and there are few so rigidly philosophical, +as not to represent as perpetual, what is only frequent, or as constant, +what is really casual. If it be true that Lough Ness never freezes, it +is either sheltered by its high banks from the cold blasts, and exposed +only to those winds which have more power to agitate than congeal; or it +is kept in perpetual motion by the rush of streams from the rocks that +inclose it. Its profundity though it should be such as is represented +can have little part in this exemption; for though deep wells are not +frozen, because their water is secluded from the external air, yet where +a wide surface is exposed to the full influence of a freezing atmosphere, +I know not why the depth should keep it open. Natural philosophy is now +one of the favourite studies of the Scottish nation, and Lough Ness well +deserves to be diligently examined. + +The road on which we travelled, and which was itself a source of +entertainment, is made along the rock, in the direction of the lough, +sometimes by breaking off protuberances, and sometimes by cutting the +great mass of stone to a considerable depth. The fragments are piled in +a loose wall on either side, with apertures left at very short spaces, to +give a passage to the wintry currents. Part of it is bordered with low +trees, from which our guides gathered nuts, and would have had the +appearance of an English lane, except that an English lane is almost +always dirty. It has been made with great labour, but has this +advantage, that it cannot, without equal labour, be broken up. + +Within our sight there were goats feeding or playing. The mountains have +red deer, but they came not within view; and if what is said of their +vigilance and subtlety be true, they have some claim to that palm of +wisdom, which the eastern philosopher, whom Alexander interrogated, gave +to those beasts which live furthest from men. + +Near the way, by the water side, we espied a cottage. This was the first +Highland Hut that I had seen; and as our business was with life and +manners, we were willing to visit it. To enter a habitation without +leave, seems to be not considered here as rudeness or intrusion. The old +laws of hospitality still give this licence to a stranger. + +A hut is constructed with loose stones, ranged for the most part with +some tendency to circularity. It must be placed where the wind cannot +act upon it with violence, because it has no cement; and where the water +will run easily away, because it has no floor but the naked ground. The +wall, which is commonly about six feet high, declines from the +perpendicular a little inward. Such rafters as can be procured are then +raised for a roof, and covered with heath, which makes a strong and warm +thatch, kept from flying off by ropes of twisted heath, of which the +ends, reaching from the center of the thatch to the top of the wall, are +held firm by the weight of a large stone. No light is admitted but at +the entrance, and through a hole in the thatch, which gives vent to the +smoke. This hole is not directly over the fire, lest the rain should +extinguish it; and the smoke therefore naturally fills the place before +it escapes. Such is the general structure of the houses in which one of +the nations of this opulent and powerful island has been hitherto content +to live. Huts however are not more uniform than palaces; and this which +we were inspecting was very far from one of the meanest, for it was +divided into several apartments; and its inhabitants possessed such +property as a pastoral poet might exalt into riches. + +When we entered, we found an old woman boiling goats-flesh in a kettle. +She spoke little English, but we had interpreters at hand; and she was +willing enough to display her whole system of economy. She has five +children, of which none are yet gone from her. The eldest, a boy of +thirteen, and her husband, who is eighty years old, were at work in the +wood. Her two next sons were gone to Inverness to buy meal, by which +oatmeal is always meant. Meal she considered as expensive food, and told +us, that in Spring, when the goats gave milk, the children could live +without it. She is mistress of sixty goats, and I saw many kids in an +enclosure at the end of her house. She had also some poultry. By the +lake we saw a potatoe-garden, and a small spot of ground on which stood +four shucks, containing each twelve sheaves of barley. She has all this +from the labour of their own hands, and for what is necessary to be +bought, her kids and her chickens are sent to market. + +With the true pastoral hospitality, she asked us to sit down and drink +whisky. She is religious, and though the kirk is four miles off, +probably eight English miles, she goes thither every Sunday. We gave her +a shilling, and she begged snuff; for snuff is the luxury of a Highland +cottage. + +Soon afterwards we came to the General's Hut, so called because it was +the temporary abode of Wade, while he superintended the works upon the +road. It is now a house of entertainment for passengers, and we found it +not ill stocked with provisions. + + + + +FALL OF FIERS + + +Towards evening we crossed, by a bridge, the river which makes the +celebrated fall of Fiers. The country at the bridge strikes the +imagination with all the gloom and grandeur of Siberian solitude. The +way makes a flexure, and the mountains, covered with trees, rise at once +on the left hand and in the front. We desired our guides to shew us the +fall, and dismounting, clambered over very rugged crags, till I began to +wish that our curiosity might have been gratified with less trouble and +danger. We came at last to a place where we could overlook the river, +and saw a channel torn, as it seems, through black piles of stone, by +which the stream is obstructed and broken, till it comes to a very steep +descent, of such dreadful depth, that we were naturally inclined to turn +aside our eyes. + +But we visited the place at an unseasonable time, and found it divested +of its dignity and terror. Nature never gives every thing at once. A +long continuance of dry weather, which made the rest of the way easy and +delightful, deprived us of the pleasure expected from the fall of Fiers. +The river having now no water but what the springs supply, showed us only +a swift current, clear and shallow, fretting over the asperities of the +rocky bottom, and we were left to exercise our thoughts, by endeavouring +to conceive the effect of a thousand streams poured from the mountains +into one channel, struggling for expansion in a narrow passage, +exasperated by rocks rising in their way, and at last discharging all +their violence of waters by a sudden fall through the horrid chasm. + +The way now grew less easy, descending by an uneven declivity, but +without either dirt or danger. We did not arrive at Fort Augustus till +it was late. Mr. Boswell, who, between his father's merit and his own, +is sure of reception wherever he comes, sent a servant before to beg +admission and entertainment for that night. Mr. Trapaud, the governor, +treated us with that courtesy which is so closely connected with the +military character. He came out to meet us beyond the gates, and +apologized that, at so late an hour, the rules of a garrison suffered him +to give us entrance only at the postern. + + + + +FORT AUGUSTUS + + +In the morning we viewed the fort, which is much less than that of St. +George, and is said to be commanded by the neighbouring hills. It was +not long ago taken by the Highlanders. But its situation seems well +chosen for pleasure, if not for strength; it stands at the head of the +lake, and, by a sloop of sixty tuns, is supplied from Inverness with +great convenience. + +We were now to cross the Highlands towards the western coast, and to +content ourselves with such accommodations, as a way so little frequented +could afford. The journey was not formidable, for it was but of two +days, very unequally divided, because the only house, where we could be +entertained, was not further off than a third of the way. We soon came +to a high hill, which we mounted by a military road, cut in traverses, so +that as we went upon a higher stage, we saw the baggage following us +below in a contrary direction. To make this way, the rock has been hewn +to a level with labour that might have broken the perseverance of a Roman +legion. + +The country is totally denuded of its wood, but the stumps both of oaks +and firs, which are still found, shew that it has been once a forest of +large timber. I do not remember that we saw any animals, but we were +told that, in the mountains, there are stags, roebucks, goats and +rabbits. + +We did not perceive that this tract was possessed by human beings, except +that once we saw a corn field, in which a lady was walking with some +gentlemen. Their house was certainly at no great distance, but so +situated that we could not descry it. + +Passing on through the dreariness of solitude, we found a party of +soldiers from the fort, working on the road, under the superintendence of +a serjeant. We told them how kindly we had been treated at the garrison, +and as we were enjoying the benefit of their labours, begged leave to +shew our gratitude by a small present. + + + + +ANOCH + + +Early in the afternoon we came to Anoch, a village in Glenmollison of +three huts, one of which is distinguished by a chimney. Here we were to +dine and lodge, and were conducted through the first room, that had the +chimney, into another lighted by a small glass window. The landlord +attended us with great civility, and told us what he could give us to eat +and drink. I found some books on a shelf, among which were a volume or +more of Prideaux's Connection. + +This I mentioned as something unexpected, and perceived that I did not +please him. I praised the propriety of his language, and was answered +that I need not wonder, for he had learned it by grammar. + +By subsequent opportunities of observation, I found that my host's +diction had nothing peculiar. Those Highlanders that can speak English, +commonly speak it well, with few of the words, and little of the tone by +which a Scotchman is distinguished. Their language seems to have been +learned in the army or the navy, or by some communication with those who +could give them good examples of accent and pronunciation. By their +Lowland neighbours they would not willingly be taught; for they have long +considered them as a mean and degenerate race. These prejudices are +wearing fast away; but so much of them still remains, that when I asked a +very learned minister in the islands, which they considered as their most +savage clans: 'Those,' said he, 'that live next the Lowlands.' + +As we came hither early in the day, we had time sufficient to survey the +place. The house was built like other huts of loose stones, but the part +in which we dined and slept was lined with turf and wattled with twigs, +which kept the earth from falling. Near it was a garden of turnips and a +field of potatoes. It stands in a glen, or valley, pleasantly watered by +a winding river. But this country, however it may delight the gazer or +amuse the naturalist, is of no great advantage to its owners. Our +landlord told us of a gentleman, who possesses lands, eighteen Scotch +miles in length, and three in breadth; a space containing at least a +hundred square English miles. He has raised his rents, to the danger of +depopulating his farms, and he fells his timber, and by exerting every +art of augmentation, has obtained an yearly revenue of four hundred +pounds, which for a hundred square miles is three halfpence an acre. + +Some time after dinner we were surprised by the entrance of a young +woman, not inelegant either in mien or dress, who asked us whether we +would have tea. We found that she was the daughter of our host, and +desired her to make it. Her conversation, like her appearance, was +gentle and pleasing. We knew that the girls of the Highlands are all +gentlewomen, and treated her with great respect, which she received as +customary and due, and was neither elated by it, nor confused, but repaid +my civilities without embarassment, and told me how much I honoured her +country by coming to survey it. + +She had been at Inverness to gain the common female qualifications, and +had, like her father, the English pronunciation. I presented her with a +book, which I happened to have about me, and should not be pleased to +think that she forgets me. + +In the evening the soldiers, whom we had passed on the road, came to +spend at our inn the little money that we had given them. They had the +true military impatience of coin in their pockets, and had marched at +least six miles to find the first place where liquor could be bought. +Having never been before in a place so wild and unfrequented, I was glad +of their arrival, because I knew that we had made them friends, and to +gain still more of their good will, we went to them, where they were +carousing in the barn, and added something to our former gift. All that +we gave was not much, but it detained them in the barn, either merry or +quarrelling, the whole night, and in the morning they went back to their +work, with great indignation at the bad qualities of whisky. + +We had gained so much the favour of our host, that, when we left his +house in the morning, he walked by us a great way, and entertained us +with conversation both on his own condition, and that of the country. His +life seemed to be merely pastoral, except that he differed from some of +the ancient Nomades in having a settled dwelling. His wealth consists of +one hundred sheep, as many goats, twelve milk-cows, and twenty-eight +beeves ready for the drover. + +From him we first heard of the general dissatisfaction, which is now +driving the Highlanders into the other hemisphere; and when I asked him +whether they would stay at home, if they were well treated, he answered +with indignation, that no man willingly left his native country. Of the +farm, which he himself occupied, the rent had, in twenty-five years, been +advanced from five to twenty pounds, which he found himself so little +able to pay, that he would be glad to try his fortune in some other +place. Yet he owned the reasonableness of raising the Highland rents in +a certain degree, and declared himself willing to pay ten pounds for the +ground which he had formerly had for five. + +Our host having amused us for a time, resigned us to our guides. The +journey of this day was long, not that the distance was great, but that +the way was difficult. We were now in the bosom of the Highlands, with +full leisure to contemplate the appearance and properties of mountainous +regions, such as have been, in many countries, the last shelters of +national distress, and are every where the scenes of adventures, +stratagems, surprises and escapes. + +Mountainous countries are not passed but with difficulty, not merely from +the labour of climbing; for to climb is not always necessary: but because +that which is not mountain is commonly bog, through which the way must be +picked with caution. Where there are hills, there is much rain, and the +torrents pouring down into the intermediate spaces, seldom find so ready +an outlet, as not to stagnate, till they have broken the texture of the +ground. + +Of the hills, which our journey offered to the view on either side, we +did not take the height, nor did we see any that astonished us with their +loftiness. Towards the summit of one, there was a white spot, which I +should have called a naked rock, but the guides, who had better eyes, and +were acquainted with the phenomena of the country, declared it to be +snow. It had already lasted to the end of August, and was likely to +maintain its contest with the sun, till it should be reinforced by +winter. + +The height of mountains philosophically considered is properly computed +from the surface of the next sea; but as it affects the eye or +imagination of the passenger, as it makes either a spectacle or an +obstruction, it must be reckoned from the place where the rise begins to +make a considerable angle with the plain. In extensive continents the +land may, by gradual elevation, attain great height, without any other +appearance than that of a plane gently inclined, and if a hill placed +upon such raised ground be described, as having its altitude equal to the +whole space above the sea, the representation will be fallacious. + +These mountains may be properly enough measured from the inland base; for +it is not much above the sea. As we advanced at evening towards the +western coast, I did not observe the declivity to be greater than is +necessary for the discharge of the inland waters. + +We passed many rivers and rivulets, which commonly ran with a clear +shallow stream over a hard pebbly bottom. These channels, which seem so +much wider than the water that they convey would naturally require, are +formed by the violence of wintry floods, produced by the accumulation of +innumerable streams that fall in rainy weather from the hills, and +bursting away with resistless impetuosity, make themselves a passage +proportionate to their mass. + +Such capricious and temporary waters cannot be expected to produce many +fish. The rapidity of the wintry deluge sweeps them away, and the +scantiness of the summer stream would hardly sustain them above the +ground. This is the reason why in fording the northern rivers, no fishes +are seen, as in England, wandering in the water. + +Of the hills many may be called with Homer's Ida 'abundant in springs', +but few can deserve the epithet which he bestows upon Pelion by 'waving +their leaves.' They exhibit very little variety; being almost wholly +covered with dark heath, and even that seems to be checked in its growth. +What is not heath is nakedness, a little diversified by now and then a +stream rushing down the steep. An eye accustomed to flowery pastures and +waving harvests is astonished and repelled by this wide extent of +hopeless sterility. The appearance is that of matter incapable of form +or usefulness, dismissed by nature from her care and disinherited of her +favours, left in its original elemental state, or quickened only with one +sullen power of useless vegetation. + +It will very readily occur, that this uniformity of barrenness can afford +very little amusement to the traveller; that it is easy to sit at home +and conceive rocks and heath, and waterfalls; and that these journeys are +useless labours, which neither impregnate the imagination, nor enlarge +the understanding. It is true that of far the greater part of things, we +must content ourselves with such knowledge as description may exhibit, or +analogy supply; but it is true likewise, that these ideas are always +incomplete, and that at least, till we have compared them with realities, +we do not know them to be just. As we see more, we become possessed of +more certainties, and consequently gain more principles of reasoning, and +found a wider basis of analogy. + +Regions mountainous and wild, thinly inhabited, and little cultivated, +make a great part of the earth, and he that has never seen them, must +live unacquainted with much of the face of nature, and with one of the +great scenes of human existence. + +As the day advanced towards noon, we entered a narrow valley not very +flowery, but sufficiently verdant. Our guides told us, that the horses +could not travel all day without rest or meat, and intreated us to stop +here, because no grass would be found in any other place. The request +was reasonable and the argument cogent. We therefore willingly +dismounted and diverted ourselves as the place gave us opportunity. + +I sat down on a bank, such as a writer of Romance might have delighted to +feign. I had indeed no trees to whisper over my head, but a clear +rivulet streamed at my feet. The day was calm, the air soft, and all was +rudeness, silence, and solitude. Before me, and on either side, were +high hills, which by hindering the eye from ranging, forced the mind to +find entertainment for itself. Whether I spent the hour well I know not; +for here I first conceived the thought of this narration. + +We were in this place at ease and by choice, and had no evils to suffer +or to fear; yet the imaginations excited by the view of an unknown and +untravelled wilderness are not such as arise in the artificial solitude +of parks and gardens, a flattering notion of self-sufficiency, a placid +indulgence of voluntary delusions, a secure expansion of the fancy, or a +cool concentration of the mental powers. The phantoms which haunt a +desert are want, and misery, and danger; the evils of dereliction rush +upon the thoughts; man is made unwillingly acquainted with his own +weakness, and meditation shows him only how little he can sustain, and +how little he can perform. There were no traces of inhabitants, except +perhaps a rude pile of clods called a summer hut, in which a herdsman had +rested in the favourable seasons. Whoever had been in the place where I +then sat, unprovided with provisions and ignorant of the country, might, +at least before the roads were made, have wandered among the rocks, till +he had perished with hardship, before he could have found either food or +shelter. Yet what are these hillocks to the ridges of Taurus, or these +spots of wildness to the desarts of America? + +It was not long before we were invited to mount, and continued our +journey along the side of a lough, kept full by many streams, which with +more or less rapidity and noise, crossed the road from the hills on the +other hand. These currents, in their diminished state, after several dry +months, afford, to one who has always lived in level countries, an +unusual and delightful spectacle; but in the rainy season, such as every +winter may be expected to bring, must precipitate an impetuous and +tremendous flood. I suppose the way by which we went, is at that time +impassable. + + + + +GLENSHEALS + + +The lough at last ended in a river broad and shallow like the rest, but +that it may be passed when it is deeper, there is a bridge over it. +Beyond it is a valley called Glensheals, inhabited by the clan of Macrae. +Here we found a village called Auknasheals, consisting of many huts, +perhaps twenty, built all of dry-stone, that is, stones piled up without +mortar. + +We had, by the direction of the officers at Fort Augustus, taken bread +for ourselves, and tobacco for those Highlanders who might show us any +kindness. We were now at a place where we could obtain milk, but we must +have wanted bread if we had not brought it. The people of this valley +did not appear to know any English, and our guides now became doubly +necessary as interpreters. A woman, whose hut was distinguished by +greater spaciousness and better architecture, brought out some pails of +milk. The villagers gathered about us in considerable numbers, I believe +without any evil intention, but with a very savage wildness of aspect and +manner. When our meal was over, Mr. Boswell sliced the bread, and +divided it amongst them, as he supposed them never to have tasted a +wheaten loaf before. He then gave them little pieces of twisted tobacco, +and among the children we distributed a small handful of halfpence, which +they received with great eagerness. Yet I have been since told, that the +people of that valley are not indigent; and when we mentioned them +afterwards as needy and pitiable, a Highland lady let us know, that we +might spare our commiseration; for the dame whose milk we drank had +probably more than a dozen milk-cows. She seemed unwilling to take any +price, but being pressed to make a demand, at last named a shilling. +Honesty is not greater where elegance is less. One of the bystanders, as +we were told afterwards, advised her to ask for more, but she said a +shilling was enough. We gave her half a crown, and I hope got some +credit for our behaviour; for the company said, if our interpreters did +not flatter us, that they had not seen such a day since the old laird of +Macleod passed through their country. + +The Macraes, as we heard afterwards in the Hebrides, were originally an +indigent and subordinate clan, and having no farms nor stock, were in +great numbers servants to the Maclellans, who, in the war of Charles the +First, took arms at the call of the heroic Montrose, and were, in one of +his battles, almost all destroyed. The women that were left at home, +being thus deprived of their husbands, like the Scythian ladies of old, +married their servants, and the Macraes became a considerable race. + + + + +THE HIGHLANDS + + +As we continued our journey, we were at leisure to extend our +speculations, and to investigate the reason of those peculiarities by +which such rugged regions as these before us are generally distinguished. + +Mountainous countries commonly contain the original, at least the oldest +race of inhabitants, for they are not easily conquered, because they must +be entered by narrow ways, exposed to every power of mischief from those +that occupy the heights; and every new ridge is a new fortress, where the +defendants have again the same advantages. If the assailants either +force the strait, or storm the summit, they gain only so much ground; +their enemies are fled to take possession of the next rock, and the +pursuers stand at gaze, knowing neither where the ways of escape wind +among the steeps, nor where the bog has firmness to sustain them: besides +that, mountaineers have an agility in climbing and descending distinct +from strength or courage, and attainable only by use. + +If the war be not soon concluded, the invaders are dislodged by hunger; +for in those anxious and toilsome marches, provisions cannot easily be +carried, and are never to be found. The wealth of mountains is cattle, +which, while the men stand in the passes, the women drive away. Such +lands at last cannot repay the expence of conquest, and therefore perhaps +have not been so often invaded by the mere ambition of dominion; as by +resentment of robberies and insults, or the desire of enjoying in +security the more fruitful provinces. + +As mountains are long before they are conquered, they are likewise long +before they are civilized. Men are softened by intercourse mutually +profitable, and instructed by comparing their own notions with those of +others. Thus Caesar found the maritime parts of Britain made less +barbarous by their commerce with the Gauls. Into a barren and rough +tract no stranger is brought either by the hope of gain or of pleasure. +The inhabitants having neither commodities for sale, nor money for +purchase, seldom visit more polished places, or if they do visit them, +seldom return. + +It sometimes happens that by conquest, intermixture, or gradual +refinement, the cultivated parts of a country change their language. The +mountaineers then become a distinct nation, cut off by dissimilitude of +speech from conversation with their neighbours. Thus in Biscay, the +original Cantabrian, and in Dalecarlia, the old Swedish still subsists. +Thus Wales and the Highlands speak the tongue of the first inhabitants of +Britain, while the other parts have received first the Saxon, and in some +degree afterwards the French, and then formed a third language between +them. + +That the primitive manners are continued where the primitive language is +spoken, no nation will desire me to suppose, for the manners of +mountaineers are commonly savage, but they are rather produced by their +situation than derived from their ancestors. + +Such seems to be the disposition of man, that whatever makes a +distinction produces rivalry. England, before other causes of enmity +were found, was disturbed for some centuries by the contests of the +northern and southern counties; so that at Oxford, the peace of study +could for a long time be preserved only by chusing annually one of the +Proctors from each side of the Trent. A tract intersected by many ridges +of mountains, naturally divides its inhabitants into petty nations, which +are made by a thousand causes enemies to each other. Each will exalt its +own chiefs, each will boast the valour of its men, or the beauty of its +women, and every claim of superiority irritates competition; injuries +will sometimes be done, and be more injuriously defended; retaliation +will sometimes be attempted, and the debt exacted with too much interest. + +In the Highlands it was a law, that if a robber was sheltered from +justice, any man of the same clan might be taken in his place. This was +a kind of irregular justice, which, though necessary in savage times, +could hardly fail to end in a feud, and a feud once kindled among an idle +people with no variety of pursuits to divert their thoughts, burnt on for +ages either sullenly glowing in secret mischief, or openly blazing into +public violence. Of the effects of this violent judicature, there are +not wanting memorials. The cave is now to be seen to which one of the +Campbells, who had injured the Macdonalds, retired with a body of his own +clan. The Macdonalds required the offender, and being refused, made a +fire at the mouth of the cave, by which he and his adherents were +suffocated together. + +Mountaineers are warlike, because by their feuds and competitions they +consider themselves as surrounded with enemies, and are always prepared +to repel incursions, or to make them. Like the Greeks in their +unpolished state, described by Thucydides, the Highlanders, till lately, +went always armed, and carried their weapons to visits, and to church. + +Mountaineers are thievish, because they are poor, and having neither +manufactures nor commerce, can grow richer only by robbery. They +regularly plunder their neighbours, for their neighbours are commonly +their enemies; and having lost that reverence for property, by which the +order of civil life is preserved, soon consider all as enemies, whom they +do not reckon as friends, and think themselves licensed to invade +whatever they are not obliged to protect. + +By a strict administration of the laws, since the laws have been +introduced into the Highlands, this disposition to thievery is very much +represt. Thirty years ago no herd had ever been conducted through the +mountains, without paying tribute in the night, to some of the clans; but +cattle are now driven, and passengers travel without danger, fear, or +molestation. + +Among a warlike people, the quality of highest esteem is personal +courage, and with the ostentatious display of courage are closely +connected promptitude of offence and quickness of resentment. The +Highlanders, before they were disarmed, were so addicted to quarrels, +that the boys used to follow any publick procession or ceremony, however +festive, or however solemn, in expectation of the battle, which was sure +to happen before the company dispersed. + +Mountainous regions are sometimes so remote from the seat of government, +and so difficult of access, that they are very little under the influence +of the sovereign, or within the reach of national justice. Law is +nothing without power; and the sentence of a distant court could not be +easily executed, nor perhaps very safely promulgated, among men +ignorantly proud and habitually violent, unconnected with the general +system, and accustomed to reverence only their own lords. It has +therefore been necessary to erect many particular jurisdictions, and +commit the punishment of crimes, and the decision of right to the +proprietors of the country who could enforce their own decrees. It +immediately appears that such judges will be often ignorant, and often +partial; but in the immaturity of political establishments no better +expedient could be found. As government advances towards perfection, +provincial judicature is perhaps in every empire gradually abolished. + +Those who had thus the dispensation of law, were by consequence +themselves lawless. Their vassals had no shelter from outrages and +oppressions; but were condemned to endure, without resistance, the +caprices of wantonness, and the rage of cruelty. + +In the Highlands, some great lords had an hereditary jurisdiction over +counties; and some chieftains over their own lands; till the final +conquest of the Highlands afforded an opportunity of crushing all the +local courts, and of extending the general benefits of equal law to the +low and the high, in the deepest recesses and obscurest corners. + +While the chiefs had this resemblance of royalty, they had little +inclination to appeal, on any question, to superior judicatures. A claim +of lands between two powerful lairds was decided like a contest for +dominion between sovereign powers. They drew their forces into the +field, and right attended on the strongest. This was, in ruder times, +the common practice, which the kings of Scotland could seldom control. + +Even so lately as in the last years of King William, a battle was fought +at Mull Roy, on a plain a few miles to the south of Inverness, between +the clans of Mackintosh and Macdonald of Keppoch. Col. Macdonald, the +head of a small clan, refused to pay the dues demanded from him by +Mackintosh, as his superior lord. They disdained the interposition of +judges and laws, and calling each his followers to maintain the dignity +of the clan, fought a formal battle, in which several considerable men +fell on the side of Mackintosh, without a complete victory to either. +This is said to have been the last open war made between the clans by +their own authority. + +The Highland lords made treaties, and formed alliances, of which some +traces may still be found, and some consequences still remain as lasting +evidences of petty regality. The terms of one of these confederacies +were, that each should support the other in the right, or in the wrong, +except against the king. + +The inhabitants of mountains form distinct races, and are careful to +preserve their genealogies. Men in a small district necessarily mingle +blood by intermarriages, and combine at last into one family, with a +common interest in the honour and disgrace of every individual. Then +begins that union of affections, and co-operation of endeavours, that +constitute a clan. They who consider themselves as ennobled by their +family, will think highly of their progenitors, and they who through +successive generations live always together in the same place, will +preserve local stories and hereditary prejudices. Thus every Highlander +can talk of his ancestors, and recount the outrages which they suffered +from the wicked inhabitants of the next valley. + +Such are the effects of habitation among mountains, and such were the +qualities of the Highlanders, while their rocks secluded them from the +rest of mankind, and kept them an unaltered and discriminated race. They +are now losing their distinction, and hastening to mingle with the +general community. + + + + +GLENELG + + +We left Auknasheals and the Macraes its the afternoon, and in the evening +came to Ratiken, a high hill on which a road is cut, but so steep and +narrow, that it is very difficult. There is now a design of making +another way round the bottom. Upon one of the precipices, my horse, +weary with the steepness of the rise, staggered a little, and I called in +haste to the Highlander to hold him. This was the only moment of my +journey, in which I thought myself endangered. + +Having surmounted the hill at last, we were told that at Glenelg, on the +sea-side, we should come to a house of lime and slate and glass. This +image of magnificence raised our expectation. At last we came to our inn +weary and peevish, and began to inquire for meat and beds. + +Of the provisions the negative catalogue was very copious. Here was no +meat, no milk, no bread, no eggs, no wine. We did not express much +satisfaction. Here however we were to stay. Whisky we might have, and I +believe at last they caught a fowl and killed it. We had some bread, and +with that we prepared ourselves to be contented, when we had a very +eminent proof of Highland hospitality. Along some miles of the way, in +the evening, a gentleman's servant had kept us company on foot with very +little notice on our part. He left us near Glenelg, and we thought on +him no more till he came to us again, in about two hours, with a present +from his master of rum and sugar. The man had mentioned his company, and +the gentleman, whose name, I think, is Gordon, well knowing the penury of +the place, had this attention to two men, whose names perhaps he had not +heard, by whom his kindness was not likely to be ever repaid, and who +could be recommended to him only by their necessities. + +We were now to examine our lodging. Out of one of the beds, on which we +were to repose, started up, at our entrance, a man black as a Cyclops +from the forge. Other circumstances of no elegant recital concurred to +disgust us. We had been frighted by a lady at Edinburgh, with +discouraging representations of Highland lodgings. Sleep, however, was +necessary. Our Highlanders had at last found some hay, with which the +inn could not supply them. I directed them to bring a bundle into the +room, and slept upon it in my riding coat. Mr. Boswell being more +delicate, laid himself sheets with hay over and under him, and lay in +linen like a gentleman. + + + + +SKY. ARMIDEL + + +In the morning, September the second, we found ourselves on the edge of +the sea. Having procured a boat, we dismissed our Highlanders, whom I +would recommend to the service of any future travellers, and were ferried +over to the Isle of Sky. We landed at Armidel, where we were met on the +sands by Sir Alexander Macdonald, who was at that time there with his +lady, preparing to leave the island and reside at Edinburgh. + +Armidel is a neat house, built where the Macdonalds had once a seat, +which was burnt in the commotions that followed the Revolution. The +walled orchard, which belonged to the former house, still remains. It is +well shaded by tall ash trees, of a species, as Mr. Janes the fossilist +informed me, uncommonly valuable. This plantation is very properly +mentioned by Dr. Campbell, in his new account of the state of Britain, +and deserves attention; because it proves that the present nakedness of +the Hebrides is not wholly the fault of Nature. + +As we sat at Sir Alexander's table, we were entertained, according to the +ancient usage of the North, with the melody of the bagpipe. Everything +in those countries has its history. As the bagpiper was playing, an +elderly Gentleman informed us, that in some remote time, the Macdonalds +of Glengary having been injured, or offended by the inhabitants of +Culloden, and resolving to have justice or vengeance, came to Culloden on +a Sunday, where finding their enemies at worship, they shut them up in +the church, which they set on fire; and this, said he, is the tune that +the piper played while they were burning. + +Narrations like this, however uncertain, deserve the notice of the +traveller, because they are the only records of a nation that has no +historians, and afford the most genuine representation of the life and +character of the ancient Highlanders. + +Under the denomination of Highlander are comprehended in Scotland all +that now speak the Erse language, or retain the primitive manners, +whether they live among the mountains or in the islands; and in that +sense I use the name, when there is not some apparent reason for making a +distinction. + +In Sky I first observed the use of Brogues, a kind of artless shoes, +stitched with thongs so loosely, that though they defend the foot from +stones, they do not exclude water. Brogues were formerly made of raw +hides, with the hair inwards, and such are perhaps still used in rude and +remote parts; but they are said not to last above two days. Where life +is somewhat improved, they are now made of leather tanned with oak bark, +as in other places, or with the bark of birch, or roots of tormentil, a +substance recommended in defect of bark, about forty years ago, to the +Irish tanners, by one to whom the parliament of that kingdom voted a +reward. The leather of Sky is not completely penetrated by vegetable +matter, and therefore cannot be very durable. + +My inquiries about brogues, gave me an early specimen of Highland +information. One day I was told, that to make brogues was a domestick +art, which every man practised for himself, and that a pair of brogues +was the work of an hour. I supposed that the husband made brogues as the +wife made an apron, till next day it was told me, that a brogue-maker was +a trade, and that a pair would cost half a crown. It will easily occur +that these representations may both be true, and that, in some places, +men may buy them, and in others, make them for themselves; but I had both +the accounts in the same house within two days. + +Many of my subsequent inquiries upon more interesting topicks ended in +the like uncertainty. He that travels in the Highlands may easily +saturate his soul with intelligence, if he will acquiesce in the first +account. The Highlander gives to every question an answer so prompt and +peremptory, that skepticism itself is dared into silence, and the mind +sinks before the bold reporter in unresisting credulity; but, if a second +question be ventured, it breaks the enchantment; for it is immediately +discovered, that what was told so confidently was told at hazard, and +that such fearlessness of assertion was either the sport of negligence, +or the refuge of ignorance. + +If individuals are thus at variance with themselves, it can be no wonder +that the accounts of different men are contradictory. The traditions of +an ignorant and savage people have been for ages negligently heard, and +unskilfully related. Distant events must have been mingled together, and +the actions of one man given to another. These, however, are +deficiencies in story, for which no man is now to be censured. It were +enough, if what there is yet opportunity of examining were accurately +inspected, and justly represented; but such is the laxity of Highland +conversation, that the inquirer is kept in continual suspense, and by a +kind of intellectual retrogradation, knows less as he hears more. + +In the islands the plaid is rarely worn. The law by which the +Highlanders have been obliged to change the form of their dress, has, in +all the places that we have visited, been universally obeyed. I have +seen only one gentleman completely clothed in the ancient habit, and by +him it was worn only occasionally and wantonly. The common people do not +think themselves under any legal necessity of having coats; for they say +that the law against plaids was made by Lord Hardwicke, and was in force +only for his life: but the same poverty that made it then difficult for +them to change their clothing, hinders them now from changing it again. + +The fillibeg, or lower garment, is still very common, and the bonnet +almost universal; but their attire is such as produces, in a sufficient +degree, the effect intended by the law, of abolishing the dissimilitude +of appearance between the Highlanders and the other inhabitants of +Britain; and, if dress be supposed to have much influence, facilitates +their coalition with their fellow-subjects. + +What we have long used we naturally like, and therefore the Highlanders +were unwilling to lay aside their plaid, which yet to an unprejudiced +spectator must appear an incommodious and cumbersome dress; for hanging +loose upon the body, it must flutter in a quick motion, or require one of +the hands to keep it close. The Romans always laid aside the gown when +they had anything to do. It was a dress so unsuitable to war, that the +same word which signified a gown signified peace. The chief use of a +plaid seems to be this, that they could commodiously wrap themselves in +it, when they were obliged to sleep without a better cover. + +In our passage from Scotland to Sky, we were wet for the first time with +a shower. This was the beginning of the Highland winter, after which we +were told that a succession of three dry days was not to be expected for +many months. The winter of the Hebrides consists of little more than +rain and wind. As they are surrounded by an ocean never frozen, the +blasts that come to them over the water are too much softened to have the +power of congelation. The salt loughs, or inlets of the sea, which shoot +very far into the island, never have any ice upon them, and the pools of +fresh water will never bear the walker. The snow that sometimes falls, +is soon dissolved by the air, or the rain. + +This is not the description of a cruel climate, yet the dark months are +here a time of great distress; because the summer can do little more than +feed itself, and winter comes with its cold and its scarcity upon +families very slenderly provided. + + + + +CORIATACHAN IN SKY + + +The third or fourth day after our arrival at Armidel, brought us an +invitation to the isle of Raasay, which lies east of Sky. It is +incredible how soon the account of any event is propagated in these +narrow countries by the love of talk, which much leisure produces, and +the relief given to the mind in the penury of insular conversation by a +new topick. The arrival of strangers at a place so rarely visited, +excites rumour, and quickens curiosity. I know not whether we touched at +any corner, where Fame had not already prepared us a reception. + +To gain a commodious passage to Raasay, it was necessary to pass over a +large part of Sky. We were furnished therefore with horses and a guide. +In the Islands there are no roads, nor any marks by which a stranger may +find his way. The horseman has always at his side a native of the place, +who, by pursuing game, or tending cattle, or being often employed in +messages or conduct, has learned where the ridge of the hill has breadth +sufficient to allow a horse and his rider a passage, and where the moss +or bog is hard enough to bear them. The bogs are avoided as toilsome at +least, if not unsafe, and therefore the journey is made generally from +precipice to precipice; from which if the eye ventures to look down, it +sees below a gloomy cavity, whence the rush of water is sometimes heard. + +But there seems to be in all this more alarm than danger. The Highlander +walks carefully before, and the horse, accustomed to the ground, follows +him with little deviation. Sometimes the hill is too steep for the +horseman to keep his seat, and sometimes the moss is too tremulous to +bear the double weight of horse and man. The rider then dismounts, and +all shift as they can. + +Journies made in this manner are rather tedious than long. A very few +miles require several hours. From Armidel we came at night to +Coriatachan, a house very pleasantly situated between two brooks, with +one of the highest hills of the island behind it. It is the residence of +Mr. Mackinnon, by whom we were treated with very liberal hospitality, +among a more numerous and elegant company than it could have been +supposed easy to collect. + +The hill behind the house we did not climb. The weather was rough, and +the height and steepness discouraged us. We were told that there is a +cairne upon it. A cairne is a heap of stones thrown upon the grave of +one eminent for dignity of birth, or splendour of atchievements. It is +said that by digging, an urn is always found under these cairnes: they +must therefore have been thus piled by a people whose custom was to burn +the dead. To pile stones is, I believe, a northern custom, and to burn +the body was the Roman practice; nor do I know when it was that these two +acts of sepulture were united. + +The weather was next day too violent for the continuation of our journey; +but we had no reason to complain of the interruption. We saw in every +place, what we chiefly desired to know, the manners of the people. We +had company, and, if we had chosen retirement, we might have had books. + +I never was in any house of the Islands, where I did not find books in +more languages than one, if I staid long enough to want them, except one +from which the family was removed. Literature is not neglected by the +higher rank of the Hebridians. + +It need not, I suppose, be mentioned, that in countries so little +frequented as the Islands, there are no houses where travellers are +entertained for money. He that wanders about these wilds, either +procures recommendations to those whose habitations lie near his way, or, +when night and weariness come upon him, takes the chance of general +hospitality. If he finds only a cottage, he can expect little more than +shelter; for the cottagers have little more for themselves: but if his +good fortune brings him to the residence of a gentleman, he will be glad +of a storm to prolong his stay. There is, however, one inn by the sea- +side at Sconsor, in Sky, where the post-office is kept. + +At the tables where a stranger is received, neither plenty nor delicacy +is wanting. A tract of land so thinly inhabited, must have much wild- +fowl; and I scarcely remember to have seen a dinner without them. The +moorgame is every where to be had. That the sea abounds with fish, needs +not be told, for it supplies a great part of Europe. The Isle of Sky has +stags and roebucks, but no hares. They sell very numerous droves of oxen +yearly to England, and therefore cannot be supposed to want beef at home. +Sheep and goats are in great numbers, and they have the common domestick +fowls. + +But as here is nothing to be bought, every family must kill its own meat, +and roast part of it somewhat sooner than Apicius would prescribe. Every +kind of flesh is undoubtedly excelled by the variety and emulation of +English markets; but that which is not best may be yet very far from bad, +and he that shall complain of his fare in the Hebrides, has improved his +delicacy more than his manhood. + +Their fowls are not like those plumped for sale by the poulterers of +London, but they are as good as other places commonly afford, except that +the geese, by feeding in the sea, have universally a fishy rankness. + +These geese seem to be of a middle race, between the wild and domestick +kinds. They are so tame as to own a home, and so wild as sometimes to +fly quite away. + +Their native bread is made of oats, or barley. Of oatmeal they spread +very thin cakes, coarse and hard, to which unaccustomed palates are not +easily reconciled. The barley cakes are thicker and softer; I began to +eat them without unwillingness; the blackness of their colour raises some +dislike, but the taste is not disagreeable. In most houses there is +wheat flower, with which we were sure to be treated, if we staid long +enough to have it kneaded and baked. As neither yeast nor leaven are +used among them, their bread of every kind is unfermented. They make +only cakes, and never mould a loaf. + +A man of the Hebrides, for of the women's diet I can give no account, as +soon as he appears in the morning, swallows a glass of whisky; yet they +are not a drunken race, at least I never was present at much +intemperance; but no man is so abstemious as to refuse the morning dram, +which they call a skalk. + +The word whisky signifies water, and is applied by way of eminence to +strong water, or distilled liquor. The spirit drunk in the North is +drawn from barley. I never tasted it, except once for experiment at the +inn in Inverary, when I thought it preferable to any English malt brandy. +It was strong, but not pungent, and was free from the empyreumatick taste +or smell. What was the process I had no opportunity of inquiring, nor do +I wish to improve the art of making poison pleasant. + +Not long after the dram, may be expected the breakfast, a meal in which +the Scots, whether of the lowlands or mountains, must be confessed to +excel us. The tea and coffee are accompanied not only with butter, but +with honey, conserves, and marmalades. If an epicure could remove by a +wish, in quest of sensual gratifications, wherever he had supped he would +breakfast in Scotland. + +In the islands however, they do what I found it not very easy to endure. +They pollute the tea-table by plates piled with large slices of cheshire +cheese, which mingles its less grateful odours with the fragrance of the +tea. + +Where many questions are to be asked, some will be omitted. I forgot to +inquire how they were supplied with so much exotic luxury. Perhaps the +French may bring them wine for wool, and the Dutch give them tea and +coffee at the fishing season, in exchange for fresh provision. Their +trade is unconstrained; they pay no customs, for there is no officer to +demand them; whatever therefore is made dear only by impost, is obtained +here at an easy rate. + +A dinner in the Western Islands differs very little from a dinner in +England, except that in the place of tarts, there are always set +different preparations of milk. This part of their diet will admit some +improvement. Though they have milk, and eggs, and sugar, few of them +know how to compound them in a custard. Their gardens afford them no +great variety, but they have always some vegetables on the table. +Potatoes at least are never wanting, which, though they have not known +them long, are now one of the principal parts of their food. They are +not of the mealy, but the viscous kind. + +Their more elaborate cookery, or made dishes, an Englishman at the first +taste is not likely to approve, but the culinary compositions of every +country are often such as become grateful to other nations only by +degrees; though I have read a French author, who, in the elation of his +heart, says, that French cookery pleases all foreigners, but foreign +cookery never satisfies a Frenchman. + +Their suppers are, like their dinners, various and plentiful. The table +is always covered with elegant linen. Their plates for common use are +often of that kind of manufacture which is called cream coloured, or +queen's ware. They use silver on all occasions where it is common in +England, nor did I ever find the spoon of horn, but in one house. + +The knives are not often either very bright, or very sharp. They are +indeed instruments of which the Highlanders have not been long acquainted +with the general use. They were not regularly laid on the table, before +the prohibition of arms, and the change of dress. Thirty years ago the +Highlander wore his knife as a companion to his dirk or dagger, and when +the company sat down to meat, the men who had knives, cut the flesh into +small pieces for the women, who with their fingers conveyed it to their +mouths. + +There was perhaps never any change of national manners so quick, so +great, and so general, as that which has operated in the Highlands, by +the last conquest, and the subsequent laws. We came thither too late to +see what we expected, a people of peculiar appearance, and a system of +antiquated life. The clans retain little now of their original +character, their ferocity of temper is softened, their military ardour is +extinguished, their dignity of independence is depressed, their contempt +of government subdued, and the reverence for their chiefs abated. Of +what they had before the late conquest of their country, there remain +only their language and their poverty. Their language is attacked on +every side. Schools are erected, in which English only is taught, and +there were lately some who thought it reasonable to refuse them a version +of the holy scriptures, that they might have no monument of their mother- +tongue. + +That their poverty is gradually abated, cannot be mentioned among the +unpleasing consequences of subjection. They are now acquainted with +money, and the possibility of gain will by degrees make them industrious. +Such is the effect of the late regulations, that a longer journey than to +the Highlands must be taken by him whose curiosity pants for savage +virtues and barbarous grandeur. + + + + +RAASAY + + +At the first intermission of the stormy weather we were informed, that +the boat, which was to convey us to Raasay, attended us on the coast. We +had from this time our intelligence facilitated, and our conversation +enlarged, by the company of Mr. Macqueen, minister of a parish in Sky, +whose knowledge and politeness give him a title equally to kindness and +respect, and who, from this time, never forsook us till we were preparing +to leave Sky, and the adjacent places. + +The boat was under the direction of Mr. Malcolm Macleod, a gentleman of +Raasay. The water was calm, and the rowers were vigorous; so that our +passage was quick and pleasant. When we came near the island, we saw the +laird's house, a neat modern fabrick, and found Mr. Macleod, the +proprietor of the Island, with many gentlemen, expecting us on the beach. +We had, as at all other places, some difficulty in landing. The craggs +were irregularly broken, and a false step would have been very +mischievous. + +It seemed that the rocks might, with no great labour, have been hewn +almost into a regular flight of steps; and as there are no other landing +places, I considered this rugged ascent as the consequence of a form of +life inured to hardships, and therefore not studious of nice +accommodations. But I know not whether, for many ages, it was not +considered as a part of military policy, to keep the country not easily +accessible. The rocks are natural fortifications, and an enemy climbing +with difficulty, was easily destroyed by those who stood high above him. + +Our reception exceeded our expectations. We found nothing but civility, +elegance, and plenty. After the usual refreshments, and the usual +conversation, the evening came upon us. The carpet was then rolled off +the floor; the musician was called, and the whole company was invited to +dance, nor did ever fairies trip with greater alacrity. The general air +of festivity, which predominated in this place, so far remote from all +those regions which the mind has been used to contemplate as the mansions +of pleasure, struck the imagination with a delightful surprise, analogous +to that which is felt at an unexpected emersion from darkness into light. + +When it was time to sup, the dance ceased, and six and thirty persons sat +down to two tables in the same room. After supper the ladies sung Erse +songs, to which I listened as an English audience to an Italian opera, +delighted with the sound of words which I did not understand. + +I inquired the subjects of the songs, and was told of one, that it was a +love song, and of another, that it was a farewell composed by one of the +Islanders that was going, in this epidemical fury of emigration, to seek +his fortune in America. What sentiments would arise, on such an +occasion, in the heart of one who had not been taught to lament by +precedent, I should gladly have known; but the lady, by whom I sat, +thought herself not equal to the work of translating. + +Mr. Macleod is the proprietor of the islands of Raasay, Rona, and Fladda, +and possesses an extensive district in Sky. The estate has not, during +four hundred years, gained or lost a single acre. He acknowledges +Macleod of Dunvegan as his chief, though his ancestors have formerly +disputed the pre-eminence. + +One of the old Highland alliances has continued for two hundred years, +and is still subsisting between Macleod of Raasay and Macdonald of Sky, +in consequence of which, the survivor always inherits the arms of the +deceased; a natural memorial of military friendship. At the death of the +late Sir James Macdonald, his sword was delivered to the present laird of +Raasay. + +The family of Raasay consists of the laird, the lady, three sons and ten +daughters. For the sons there is a tutor in the house, and the lady is +said to be very skilful and diligent in the education of her girls. More +gentleness of manners, or a more pleasing appearance of domestick +society, is not found in the most polished countries. + +Raasay is the only inhabited island in Mr. Macleod's possession. Rona +and Fladda afford only pasture for cattle, of which one hundred and sixty +winter in Rona, under the superintendence of a solitary herdsman. + +The length of Raasay is, by computation, fifteen miles, and the breadth +two. These countries have never been measured, and the computation by +miles is negligent and arbitrary. We observed in travelling, that the +nominal and real distance of places had very little relation to each +other. Raasay probably contains near a hundred square miles. It affords +not much ground, notwithstanding its extent, either for tillage, or +pasture; for it is rough, rocky, and barren. The cattle often perish by +falling from the precipices. It is like the other islands, I think, +generally naked of shade, but it is naked by neglect; for the laird has +an orchard, and very large forest trees grow about his house. Like other +hilly countries it has many rivulets. One of the brooks turns a corn- +mill, and at least one produces trouts. + +In the streams or fresh lakes of the Islands, I have never heard of any +other fish than trouts and eels. The trouts, which I have seen, are not +large; the colour of their flesh is tinged as in England. Of their eels +I can give no account, having never tasted them; for I believe they are +not considered as wholesome food. + +It is not very easy to fix the principles upon which mankind have agreed +to eat some animals, and reject others; and as the principle is not +evident, it is not uniform. That which is selected as delicate in one +country, is by its neighbours abhorred as loathsome. The Neapolitans +lately refused to eat potatoes in a famine. An Englishman is not easily +persuaded to dine on snails with an Italian, on frogs with a Frenchman, +or on horseflesh with a Tartar. The vulgar inhabitants of Sky, I know +not whether of the other islands, have not only eels, but pork and bacon +in abhorrence, and accordingly I never saw a hog in the Hebrides, except +one at Dunvegan. + +Raasay has wild fowl in abundance, but neither deer, hares, nor rabbits. +Why it has them not, might be asked, but that of such questions there is +no end. Why does any nation want what it might have? Why are not spices +transplanted to America? Why does tea continue to be brought from China? +Life improves but by slow degrees, and much in every place is yet to do. +Attempts have been made to raise roebucks in Raasay, but without effect. +The young ones it is extremely difficult to rear, and the old can very +seldom be taken alive. + +Hares and rabbits might be more easily obtained. That they have few or +none of either in Sky, they impute to the ravage of the foxes, and have +therefore set, for some years past, a price upon their heads, which, as +the number was diminished, has been gradually raised, from three +shillings and sixpence to a guinea, a sum so great in this part of the +world, that, in a short time, Sky may be as free from foxes, as England +from wolves. The fund for these rewards is a tax of sixpence in the +pound, imposed by the farmers on themselves, and said to be paid with +great willingness. + +The beasts of prey in the Islands are foxes, otters, and weasels. The +foxes are bigger than those of England; but the otters exceed ours in a +far greater proportion. I saw one at Armidel, of a size much beyond that +which I supposed them ever to attain; and Mr. Maclean, the heir of Col, a +man of middle stature, informed me that he once shot an otter, of which +the tail reached the ground, when he held up the head to a level with his +own. I expected the otter to have a foot particularly formed for the art +of swimming; but upon examination, I did not find it differing much from +that of a spaniel. As he preys in the sea, he does little visible +mischief, and is killed only for his fur. White otters are sometimes +seen. + +In Raasay they might have hares and rabbits, for they have no foxes. Some +depredations, such as were never made before, have caused a suspicion +that a fox has been lately landed in the Island by spite or wantonness. +This imaginary stranger has never yet been seen, and therefore, perhaps, +the mischief was done by some other animal. It is not likely that a +creature so ungentle, whose head could have been sold in Sky for a +guinea, should be kept alive only to gratify the malice of sending him to +prey upon a neighbour: and the passage from Sky is wider than a fox would +venture to swim, unless he were chased by dogs into the sea, and perhaps +than his strength would enable him to cross. How beasts of prey came +into any islands is not easy to guess. In cold countries they take +advantage of hard winters, and travel over the ice: but this is a very +scanty solution; for they are found where they have no discoverable means +of coming. + +The corn of this island is but little. I saw the harvest of a small +field. The women reaped the Corn, and the men bound up the sheaves. The +strokes of the sickle were timed by the modulation of the harvest song, +in which all their voices were united. They accompany in the Highlands +every action, which can be done in equal time, with an appropriated +strain, which has, they say, not much meaning; but its effects are +regularity and cheerfulness. The ancient proceleusmatick song, by which +the rowers of gallies were animated, may be supposed to have been of this +kind. There is now an oar-song used by the Hebridians. + +The ground of Raasay seems fitter for cattle than for corn, and of black +cattle I suppose the number is very great. The Laird himself keeps a +herd of four hundred, one hundred of which are annually sold. Of an +extensive domain, which he holds in his own hands, he considers the sale +of cattle as repaying him the rent, and supports the plenty of a very +liberal table with the remaining product. + +Raasay is supposed to have been very long inhabited. On one side of it +they show caves, into which the rude nations of the first ages retreated +from the weather. These dreary vaults might have had other uses. There +is still a cavity near the house called the oar-cave, in which the +seamen, after one of those piratical expeditions, which in rougher times +were very frequent, used, as tradition tells, to hide their oars. This +hollow was near the sea, that nothing so necessary might be far to be +fetched; and it was secret, that enemies, if they landed, could find +nothing. Yet it is not very evident of what use it was to hide their +oars from those, who, if they were masters of the coast, could take away +their boats. + +A proof much stronger of the distance at which the first possessors of +this island lived from the present time, is afforded by the stone heads +of arrows which are very frequently picked up. The people call them Elf- +bolts, and believe that the fairies shoot them at the cattle. They +nearly resemble those which Mr. Banks has lately brought from the savage +countries in the Pacifick Ocean, and must have been made by a nation to +which the use of metals was unknown. + +The number of this little community has never been counted by its ruler, +nor have I obtained any positive account, consistent with the result of +political computation. Not many years ago, the late Laird led out one +hundred men upon a military expedition. The sixth part of a people is +supposed capable of bearing arms: Raasay had therefore six hundred +inhabitants. But because it is not likely, that every man able to serve +in the field would follow the summons, or that the chief would leave his +lands totally defenceless, or take away all the hands qualified for +labour, let it be supposed, that half as many might be permitted to stay +at home. The whole number will then be nine hundred, or nine to a square +mile; a degree of populousness greater than those tracts of desolation +can often show. They are content with their country, and faithful to +their chiefs, and yet uninfected with the fever of migration. + +Near the house, at Raasay, is a chapel unroofed and ruinous, which has +long been used only as a place of burial. About the churches, in the +Islands, are small squares inclosed with stone, which belong to +particular families, as repositories for the dead. At Raasay there is +one, I think, for the proprietor, and one for some collateral house. + +It is told by Martin, that at the death of the Lady of the Island, it has +been here the custom to erect a cross. This we found not to be true. The +stones that stand about the chapel at a small distance, some of which +perhaps have crosses cut upon them, are believed to have been not funeral +monuments, but the ancient boundaries of the sanctuary or consecrated +ground. + +Martin was a man not illiterate: he was an inhabitant of Sky, and +therefore was within reach of intelligence, and with no great difficulty +might have visited the places which he undertakes to describe; yet with +all his opportunities, he has often suffered himself to be deceived. He +lived in the last century, when the chiefs of the clans had lost little +of their original influence. The mountains were yet unpenetrated, no +inlet was opened to foreign novelties, and the feudal institution +operated upon life with their full force. He might therefore have +displayed a series of subordination and a form of government, which, in +more luminous and improved regions, have been long forgotten, and have +delighted his readers with many uncouth customs that are now disused, and +wild opinions that prevail no longer. But he probably had not knowledge +of the world sufficient to qualify him for judging what would deserve or +gain the attention of mankind. The mode of life which was familiar to +himself, he did not suppose unknown to others, nor imagined that he could +give pleasure by telling that of which it was, in his little country, +impossible to be ignorant. + +What he has neglected cannot now be performed. In nations, where there +is hardly the use of letters, what is once out of sight is lost for ever. +They think but little, and of their few thoughts, none are wasted on the +past, in which they are neither interested by fear nor hope. Their only +registers are stated observances and practical representations. For this +reason an age of ignorance is an age of ceremony. Pageants, and +processions, and commemorations, gradually shrink away, as better methods +come into use of recording events, and preserving rights. + +It is not only in Raasay that the chapel is unroofed and useless; through +the few islands which we visited, we neither saw nor heard of any house +of prayer, except in Sky, that was not in ruins. The malignant influence +of Calvinism has blasted ceremony and decency together; and if the +remembrance of papal superstition is obliterated, the monuments of papal +piety are likewise effaced. + +It has been, for many years, popular to talk of the lazy devotion of the +Romish clergy; over the sleepy laziness of men that erected churches, we +may indulge our superiority with a new triumph, by comparing it with the +fervid activity of those who suffer them to fall. + +Of the destruction of churches, the decay of religion must in time be the +consequence; for while the publick acts of the ministry are now performed +in houses, a very small number can be present; and as the greater part of +the Islanders make no use of books, all must necessarily live in total +ignorance who want the opportunity of vocal instruction. + +From these remains of ancient sanctity, which are every where to be +found, it has been conjectured, that, for the last two centuries, the +inhabitants of the Islands have decreased in number. This argument, +which supposes that the churches have been suffered to fall, only because +they were no longer necessary, would have some force, if the houses of +worship still remaining were sufficient for the people. But since they +have now no churches at all, these venerable fragments do not prove the +people of former times to have been more numerous, but to have been more +devout. If the inhabitants were doubled with their present principles, +it appears not that any provision for publick worship would be made. +Where the religion of a country enforces consecrated buildings, the +number of those buildings may be supposed to afford some indication, +however uncertain, of the populousness of the place; but where by a +change of manners a nation is contented to live without them, their decay +implies no diminution of inhabitants. + +Some of these dilapidations are said to be found in islands now +uninhabited; but I doubt whether we can thence infer that they were ever +peopled. The religion of the middle age, is well known to have placed +too much hope in lonely austerities. Voluntary solitude was the great +act of propitiation, by which crimes were effaced, and conscience was +appeased; it is therefore not unlikely, that oratories were often built +in places where retirement was sure to have no disturbance. + +Raasay has little that can detain a traveller, except the Laird and his +family; but their power wants no auxiliaries. Such a seat of +hospitality, amidst the winds and waters, fills the imagination with a +delightful contrariety of images. Without is the rough ocean and the +rocky land, the beating billows and the howling storm: within is plenty +and elegance, beauty and gaiety, the song and the dance. In Raasay, if I +could have found an Ulysses, I had fancied a Phoeacia. + + + + +DUNVEGAN + + +At Raasay, by good fortune, Macleod, so the chief of the clan is called, +was paying a visit, and by him we were invited to his seat at Dunvegan. +Raasay has a stout boat, built in Norway, in which, with six oars, he +conveyed us back to Sky. We landed at Port Re, so called, because James +the Fifth of Scotland, who had curiosity to visit the Islands, came into +it. The port is made by an inlet of the sea, deep and narrow, where a +ship lay waiting to dispeople Sky, by carrying the natives away to +America. + +In coasting Sky, we passed by the cavern in which it was the custom, as +Martin relates, to catch birds in the night, by making a fire at the +entrance. This practice is disused; for the birds, as is known often to +happen, have changed their haunts. + +Here we dined at a publick house, I believe the only inn of the island, +and having mounted our horses, travelled in the manner already described, +till we came to Kingsborough, a place distinguished by that name, because +the King lodged here when he landed at Port Re. We were entertained with +the usual hospitality by Mr. Macdonald and his lady, Flora Macdonald, a +name that will be mentioned in history, and if courage and fidelity be +virtues, mentioned with honour. She is a woman of middle stature, soft +features, gentle manners, and elegant presence. + +In the morning we sent our horses round a promontory to meet us, and +spared ourselves part of the day's fatigue, by crossing an arm of the +sea. We had at last some difficulty in coming to Dunvegan; for our way +led over an extensive moor, where every step was to be taken with +caution, and we were often obliged to alight, because the ground could +not be trusted. In travelling this watery flat, I perceived that it had +a visible declivity, and might without much expence or difficulty be +drained. But difficulty and expence are relative terms, which have +different meanings in different places. + +To Dunvegan we came, very willing to be at rest, and found our fatigue +amply recompensed by our reception. Lady Macleod, who had lived many +years in England, was newly come hither with her son and four daughters, +who knew all the arts of southern elegance, and all the modes of English +economy. Here therefore we settled, and did not spoil the present hour +with thoughts of departure. + +Dunvegan is a rocky prominence, that juts out into a bay, on the west +side of Sky. The house, which is the principal seat of Macleod, is +partly old and partly modern; it is built upon the rock, and looks upon +the water. It forms two sides of a small square: on the third side is +the skeleton of a castle of unknown antiquity, supposed to have been a +Norwegian fortress, when the Danes were masters of the Islands. It is so +nearly entire, that it might have easily been made habitable, were there +not an ominous tradition in the family, that the owner shall not long +outlive the reparation. The grandfather of the present Laird, in +defiance of prediction, began the work, but desisted in a little time, +and applied his money to worse uses. + +As the inhabitants of the Hebrides lived, for many ages, in continual +expectation of hostilities, the chief of every clan resided in a +fortress. This house was accessible only from the water, till the last +possessor opened an entrance by stairs upon the land. + +They had formerly reason to be afraid, not only of declared wars and +authorized invaders, or of roving pirates, which, in the northern seas, +must have been very common; but of inroads and insults from rival clans, +who, in the plenitude of feudal independence, asked no leave of their +Sovereign to make war on one another. Sky has been ravaged by a feud +between the two mighty powers of Macdonald and Macleod. Macdonald having +married a Macleod upon some discontent dismissed her, perhaps because she +had brought him no children. Before the reign of James the Fifth, a +Highland Laird made a trial of his wife for a certain time, and if she +did not please him, he was then at liberty to send her away. This +however must always have offended, and Macleod resenting the injury, +whatever were its circumstances, declared, that the wedding had been +solemnized without a bonfire, but that the separation should be better +illuminated; and raising a little army, set fire to the territories of +Macdonald, who returned the visit, and prevailed. + +Another story may show the disorderly state of insular neighbourhood. The +inhabitants of the Isle of Egg, meeting a boat manned by Macleods, tied +the crew hand and foot, and set them a-drift. Macleod landed upon Egg, +and demanded the offenders; but the inhabitants refusing to surrender +them, retreated to a cavern, into which they thought their enemies +unlikely to follow them. Macleod choked them with smoke, and left them +lying dead by families as they stood. + +Here the violence of the weather confined us for some time, not at all to +our discontent or inconvenience. We would indeed very willingly have +visited the Islands, which might be seen from the house scattered in the +sea, and I was particularly desirous to have viewed Isay; but the storms +did not permit us to launch a boat, and we were condemned to listen in +idleness to the wind, except when we were better engaged by listening to +the ladies. + +We had here more wind than waves, and suffered the severity of a tempest, +without enjoying its magnificence. The sea being broken by the multitude +of islands, does not roar with so much noise, nor beat the shore with +such foamy violence, as I have remarked on the coast of Sussex. Though, +while I was in the Hebrides, the wind was extremely turbulent, I never +saw very high billows. + +The country about Dunvegan is rough and barren. There are no trees, +except in the orchard, which is a low sheltered spot surrounded with a +wall. + +When this house was intended to sustain a siege, a well was made in the +court, by boring the rock downwards, till water was found, which though +so near to the sea, I have not heard mentioned as brackish, though it has +some hardness, or other qualities, which make it less fit for use; and +the family is now better supplied from a stream, which runs by the rock, +from two pleasing waterfalls. + +Here we saw some traces of former manners, and heard some standing +traditions. In the house is kept an ox's horn, hollowed so as to hold +perhaps two quarts, which the heir of Macleod was expected to swallow at +one draught, as a test of his manhood, before he was permitted to bear +arms, or could claim a seat among the men. It is held that the return of +the Laird to Dunvegan, after any considerable absence, produces a +plentiful capture of herrings; and that, if any woman crosses the water +to the opposite Island, the herrings will desert the coast. Boetius +tells the same of some other place. This tradition is not uniform. Some +hold that no woman may pass, and others that none may pass but a Macleod. + +Among other guests, which the hospitality of Dunvegan brought to the +table, a visit was paid by the Laird and Lady of a small island south of +Sky, of which the proper name is Muack, which signifies swine. It is +commonly called Muck, which the proprietor not liking, has endeavoured, +without effect, to change to Monk. It is usual to call gentlemen in +Scotland by the name of their possessions, as Raasay, Bernera, Loch Buy, +a practice necessary in countries inhabited by clans, where all that live +in the same territory have one name, and must be therefore discriminated +by some addition. This gentleman, whose name, I think, is Maclean, +should be regularly called Muck; but the appellation, which he thinks too +coarse for his Island, he would like still less for himself, and he is +therefore addressed by the title of, Isle of Muck. + +This little Island, however it be named, is of considerable value. It is +two English miles long, and three quarters of a mile broad, and +consequently contains only nine hundred and sixty English acres. It is +chiefly arable. Half of this little dominion the Laird retains in his +own hand, and on the other half, live one hundred and sixty persons, who +pay their rent by exported corn. What rent they pay, we were not told, +and could not decently inquire. The proportion of the people to the land +is such, as the most fertile countries do not commonly maintain. + +The Laird having all his people under his immediate view, seems to be +very attentive to their happiness. The devastation of the small-pox, +when it visits places where it comes seldom, is well known. He has +disarmed it of its terrour at Muack, by inoculating eighty of his people. +The expence was two shillings and sixpence a head. Many trades they +cannot have among them, but upon occasion, he fetches a smith from the +Isle of Egg, and has a tailor from the main land, six times a year. This +island well deserved to be seen, but the Laird's absence left us no +opportunity. + +Every inhabited island has its appendant and subordinate islets. Muck, +however small, has yet others smaller about it, one of which has only +ground sufficient to afford pasture for three wethers. + +At Dunvegan I had tasted lotus, and was in danger of forgetting that I +was ever to depart, till Mr. Boswell sagely reproached me with my +sluggishness and softness. I had no very forcible defence to make; and +we agreed to pursue our journey. Macleod accompanied us to Ulinish, +where we were entertained by the sheriff of the Island. + + + + +ULINISH + + +Mr. Macqueen travelled with us, and directed our attention to all that +was worthy of observation. With him we went to see an ancient building, +called a dun or borough. It was a circular inclosure, about forty-two +feet in diameter, walled round with loose stones, perhaps to the height +of nine feet. The walls were very thick, diminishing a little toward the +top, and though in these countries, stone is not brought far, must have +been raised with much labour. Within the great circle were several +smaller rounds of wall, which formed distinct apartments. Its date, and +its use are unknown. Some suppose it the original seat of the chiefs of +the Macleods. Mr. Macqueen thought it a Danish fort. + +The entrance is covered with flat stones, and is narrow, because it was +necessary that the stones which lie over it, should reach from one wall +to the other; yet, strait as the passage is, they seem heavier than could +have been placed where they now lie, by the naked strength of as many men +as might stand about them. They were probably raised by putting long +pieces of wood under them, to which the action of a long line of lifters +might be applied. Savages, in all countries, have patience proportionate +to their unskilfulness, and are content to attain their end by very +tedious methods. + +If it was ever roofed, it might once have been a dwelling, but as there +is no provision for water, it could not have been a fortress. In Sky, as +in every other place, there is an ambition of exalting whatever has +survived memory, to some important use, and referring it to very remote +ages. I am inclined to suspect, that in lawless times, when the +inhabitants of every mountain stole the cattle of their neighbour, these +inclosures were used to secure the herds and flocks in the night. When +they were driven within the wall, they might be easily watched, and +defended as long as could be needful; for the robbers durst not wait till +the injured clan should find them in the morning. + +The interior inclosures, if the whole building were once a house, were +the chambers of the chief inhabitants. If it was a place of security for +cattle, they were probably the shelters of the keepers. + +From the Dun we were conducted to another place of security, a cave +carried a great way under ground, which had been discovered by digging +after a fox. These caves, of which many have been found, and many +probably remain concealed, are formed, I believe, commonly by taking +advantage of a hollow, where banks or rocks rise on either side. If no +such place can be found, the ground must be cut away. The walls are made +by piling stones against the earth, on either side. It is then roofed by +larger stones laid across the cavern, which therefore cannot be wide. +Over the roof, turfs were placed, and grass was suffered to grow; and the +mouth was concealed by bushes, or some other cover. + +These caves were represented to us as the cabins of the first rude +inhabitants, of which, however, I am by no means persuaded. This was so +low, that no man could stand upright in it. By their construction they +are all so narrow, that two can never pass along them together, and being +subterraneous, they must be always damp. They are not the work of an age +much ruder than the present; for they are formed with as much art as the +construction of a common hut requires. I imagine them to have been +places only of occasional use, in which the Islander, upon a sudden +alarm, hid his utensils, or his cloaths, and perhaps sometimes his wife +and children. + +This cave we entered, but could not proceed the whole length, and went +away without knowing how far it was carried. For this omission we shall +be blamed, as we perhaps have blamed other travellers; but the day was +rainy, and the ground was damp. We had with us neither spades nor +pickaxes, and if love of ease surmounted our desire of knowledge, the +offence has not the invidiousness of singularity. + +Edifices, either standing or ruined, are the chief records of an +illiterate nation. In some part of this journey, at no great distance +from our way, stood a shattered fortress, of which the learned minister, +to whose communication we are much indebted, gave us an account. + +Those, said he, are the walls of a place of refuge, built in the time of +James the Sixth, by Hugh Macdonald, who was next heir to the dignity and +fortune of his chief. Hugh, being so near his wish, was impatient of +delay; and had art and influence sufficient to engage several gentlemen +in a plot against the Laird's life. Something must be stipulated on both +sides; for they would not dip their hands in blood merely for Hugh's +advancement. The compact was formerly written, signed by the +conspirators, and placed in the hands of one Macleod. + +It happened that Macleod had sold some cattle to a drover, who, not +having ready money, gave him a bond for payment. The debt was +discharged, and the bond re-demanded; which Macleod, who could not read, +intending to put into his hands, gave him the conspiracy. The drover, +when he had read the paper, delivered it privately to Macdonald; who, +being thus informed of his danger, called his friends together, and +provided for his safety. He made a public feast, and inviting Hugh +Macdonald and his confederates, placed each of them at the table between +two men of known fidelity. The compact of conspiracy was then shewn, and +every man confronted with his own name. Macdonald acted with great +moderation. He upbraided Hugh, both with disloyalty and ingratitude; but +told the rest, that he considered them as men deluded and misinformed. +Hugh was sworn to fidelity, and dismissed with his companions; but he was +not generous enough to be reclaimed by lenity; and finding no longer any +countenance among the gentlemen, endeavoured to execute the same design +by meaner hands. In this practice he was detected, taken to Macdonald's +castle, and imprisoned in the dungeon. When he was hungry, they let down +a plentiful meal of salted meat; and when, after his repast, he called +for drink, conveyed to him a covered cup, which, when he lifted the lid, +he found empty. From that time they visited him no more, but left him to +perish in solitude and darkness. + +We were then told of a cavern by the sea-side, remarkable for the +powerful reverberation of sounds. After dinner we took a boat, to +explore this curious cavity. The boatmen, who seemed to be of a rank +above that of common drudges, inquired who the strangers were, and being +told we came one from Scotland, and the other from England, asked if the +Englishman could recount a long genealogy. What answer was given them, +the conversation being in Erse, I was not much inclined to examine. + +They expected no good event of the voyage; for one of them declared that +he heard the cry of an English ghost. This omen I was not told till +after our return, and therefore cannot claim the dignity of despising it. + +The sea was smooth. We never left the shore, and came without any +disaster to the cavern, which we found rugged and misshapen, about one +hundred and eighty feet long, thirty wide in the broadest part, and in +the loftiest, as we guessed, about thirty high. It was now dry, but at +high water the sea rises in it near six feet. Here I saw what I had +never seen before, limpets and mussels in their natural state. But, as a +new testimony to the veracity of common fame, here was no echo to be +heard. + +We then walked through a natural arch in the rock, which might have +pleased us by its novelty, had the stones, which incumbered our feet, +given us leisure to consider it. We were shown the gummy seed of the +kelp, that fastens itself to a stone, from which it grows into a strong +stalk. + +In our return, we found a little boy upon the point of rock, catching +with his angle, a supper for the family. We rowed up to him, and +borrowed his rod, with which Mr. Boswell caught a cuddy. + +The cuddy is a fish of which I know not the philosophical name. It is +not much bigger than a gudgeon, but is of great use in these Islands, as +it affords the lower people both food, and oil for their lamps. Cuddies +are so abundant, at sometimes of the year, that they are caught like +whitebait in the Thames, only by dipping a basket and drawing it back. + +If it were always practicable to fish, these Islands could never be in +much danger from famine; but unhappily in the winter, when other +provision fails, the seas are commonly too rough for nets, or boats. + + + + +TALISKER IN SKY + + +From Ulinish, our next stage was to Talisker, the house of colonel +Macleod, an officer in the Dutch service, who, in this time of universal +peace, has for several years been permitted to be absent from his +regiment. Having been bred to physick, he is consequently a scholar, and +his lady, by accompanying him in his different places of residence, is +become skilful in several languages. Talisker is the place beyond all +that I have seen, from which the gay and the jovial seem utterly +excluded; and where the hermit might expect to grow old in meditation, +without possibility of disturbance or interruption. It is situated very +near the sea, but upon a coast where no vessel lands but when it is +driven by a tempest on the rocks. Towards the land are lofty hills +streaming with waterfalls. The garden is sheltered by firs or pines, +which grow there so prosperously, that some, which the present inhabitant +planted, are very high and thick. + +At this place we very happily met Mr. Donald Maclean, a young gentleman, +the eldest son of the Laird of Col, heir to a very great extent of land, +and so desirous of improving his inheritance, that he spent a +considerable time among the farmers of Hertfordshire, and Hampshire, to +learn their practice. He worked with his own hands at the principal +operations of agriculture, that he might not deceive himself by a false +opinion of skill, which, if he should find it deficient at home, he had +no means of completing. If the world has agreed to praise the travels +and manual labours of the Czar of Muscovy, let Col have his share of the +like applause, in the proportion of his dominions to the empire of +Russia. + +This young gentleman was sporting in the mountains of Sky, and when he +was weary with following his game, repaired for lodging to Talisker. At +night he missed one of his dogs, and when he went to seek him in the +morning, found two eagles feeding on his carcass. + +Col, for he must be named by his possessions, hearing that our intention +was to visit Jona, offered to conduct us to his chief, Sir Allan Maclean, +who lived in the isle of Inch Kenneth, and would readily find us a +convenient passage. From this time was formed an acquaintance, which +being begun by kindness, was accidentally continued by constraint; we +derived much pleasure from it, and I hope have given him no reason to +repent it. + +The weather was now almost one continued storm, and we were to snatch +some happy intermission to be conveyed to Mull, the third Island of the +Hebrides, lying about a degree south of Sky, whence we might easily find +our way to Inch Kenneth, where Sir Allan Maclean resided, and afterward +to Jona. + +For this purpose, the most commodious station that we could take was +Armidel, which Sir Alexander Macdonald had now left to a gentleman, who +lived there as his factor or steward. + +In our way to Armidel was Coriatachan, where we had already been, and to +which therefore we were very willing to return. We staid however so long +at Talisker, that a great part of our journey was performed in the gloom +of the evening. In travelling even thus almost without light thro' naked +solitude, when there is a guide whose conduct may be trusted, a mind not +naturally too much disposed to fear, may preserve some degree of +cheerfulness; but what must be the solicitude of him who should be +wandering, among the craggs and hollows, benighted, ignorant, and alone? + +The fictions of the Gothick romances were not so remote from credibility +as they are now thought. In the full prevalence of the feudal +institution, when violence desolated the world, and every baron lived in +a fortress, forests and castles were regularly succeeded by each other, +and the adventurer might very suddenly pass from the gloom of woods, or +the ruggedness of moors, to seats of plenty, gaiety, and magnificence. +Whatever is imaged in the wildest tale, if giants, dragons, and +enchantment be excepted, would be felt by him, who, wandering in the +mountains without a guide, or upon the sea without a pilot, should be +carried amidst his terror and uncertainty, to the hospitality and +elegance of Raasay or Dunvegan. + +To Coriatachan at last we came, and found ourselves welcomed as before. +Here we staid two days, and made such inquiries as curiosity suggested. +The house was filled with company, among whom Mr. Macpherson and his +sister distinguished themselves by their politeness and accomplishments. +By him we were invited to Ostig, a house not far from Armidel, where we +might easily hear of a boat, when the weather would suffer us to leave +the Island. + + + + +OSTIG IN SKY + + +At Ostig, of which Mr. Macpherson is minister, we were entertained for +some days, then removed to Armidel, where we finished our observations on +the island of Sky. + +As this Island lies in the fifty-seventh degree, the air cannot be +supposed to have much warmth. The long continuance of the sun above the +horizon, does indeed sometimes produce great heat in northern latitudes; +but this can only happen in sheltered places, where the atmosphere is to +a certain degree stagnant, and the same mass of air continues to receive +for many hours the rays of the sun, and the vapours of the earth. Sky +lies open on the west and north to a vast extent of ocean, and is cooled +in the summer by perpetual ventilation, but by the same blasts is kept +warm in winter. Their weather is not pleasing. Half the year is deluged +with rain. From the autumnal to the vernal equinox, a dry day is hardly +known, except when the showers are suspended by a tempest. Under such +skies can be expected no great exuberance of vegetation. Their winter +overtakes their summer, and their harvest lies upon the ground drenched +with rain. The autumn struggles hard to produce some of our early +fruits. I gathered gooseberries in September; but they were small, and +the husk was thick. + +Their winter is seldom such as puts a full stop to the growth of plants, +or reduces the cattle to live wholly on the surplusage of the summer. In +the year Seventy-one they had a severe season, remembered by the name of +the Black Spring, from which the island has not yet recovered. The snow +lay long upon the ground, a calamity hardly known before. Part of their +cattle died for want, part were unseasonably sold to buy sustenance for +the owners; and, what I have not read or heard of before, the kine that +survived were so emaciated and dispirited, that they did not require the +male at the usual time. Many of the roebucks perished. + +The soil, as in other countries, has its diversities. In some parts +there is only a thin layer of earth spread upon a rock, which bears +nothing but short brown heath, and perhaps is not generally capable of +any better product. There are many bogs or mosses of greater or less +extent, where the soil cannot be supposed to want depth, though it is too +wet for the plow. But we did not observe in these any aquatick plants. +The vallies and the mountains are alike darkened with heath. Some grass, +however, grows here and there, and some happier spots of earth are +capable of tillage. + +Their agriculture is laborious, and perhaps rather feeble than unskilful. +Their chief manure is seaweed, which, when they lay it to rot upon the +field, gives them a better crop than those of the Highlands. They heap +sea shells upon the dunghill, which in time moulder into a fertilising +substance. When they find a vein of earth where they cannot use it, they +dig it up, and add it to the mould of a more commodious place. + +Their corn grounds often lie in such intricacies among the craggs, that +there is no room for the action of a team and plow. The soil is then +turned up by manual labour, with an instrument called a crooked spade, of +a form and weight which to me appeared very incommodious, and would +perhaps be soon improved in a country where workmen could be easily found +and easily paid. It has a narrow blade of iron fixed to a long and heavy +piece of wood, which must have, about a foot and a half above the iron, a +knee or flexure with the angle downwards. When the farmer encounters a +stone which is the great impediment of his operations, he drives the +blade under it, and bringing the knee or angle to the ground, has in the +long handle a very forcible lever. + +According to the different mode of tillage, farms are distinguished into +long land and short land. Long land is that which affords room for a +plow, and short land is turned up by the spade. + +The grain which they commit to the furrows thus tediously formed, is +either oats or barley. They do not sow barley without very copious +manure, and then they expect from it ten for one, an increase equal to +that of better countries; but the culture is so operose that they content +themselves commonly with oats; and who can relate without compassion, +that after all their diligence they are to expect only a triple increase? +It is in vain to hope for plenty, when a third part of the harvest must +be reserved for seed. + +When their grain is arrived at the state which they must consider as +ripeness, they do not cut, but pull the barley: to the oats they apply +the sickle. Wheel carriages they have none, but make a frame of timber, +which is drawn by one horse with the two points behind pressing on the +ground. On this they sometimes drag home their sheaves, but often convey +them home in a kind of open panier, or frame of sticks upon the horse's +back. + +Of that which is obtained with so much difficulty, nothing surely ought +to be wasted; yet their method of clearing their oats from the husk is by +parching them in the straw. Thus with the genuine improvidence of +savages, they destroy that fodder for want of which their cattle may +perish. From this practice they have two petty conveniences. They dry +the grain so that it is easily reduced to meal, and they escape the theft +of the thresher. The taste contracted from the fire by the oats, as by +every other scorched substance, use must long ago have made grateful. The +oats that are not parched must be dried in a kiln. + +The barns of Sky I never saw. That which Macleod of Raasay had erected +near his house was so contrived, because the harvest is seldom brought +home dry, as by perpetual perflation to prevent the mow from heating. + +Of their gardens I can judge only from their tables. I did not observe +that the common greens were wanting, and suppose, that by choosing an +advantageous exposition, they can raise all the more hardy esculent +plants. Of vegetable fragrance or beauty they are not yet studious. Few +vows are made to Flora in the Hebrides. + +They gather a little hay, but the grass is mown late; and is so often +almost dry and again very wet, before it is housed, that it becomes a +collection of withered stalks without taste or fragrance; it must be +eaten by cattle that have nothing else, but by most English farmers would +be thrown away. + +In the Islands I have not heard that any subterraneous treasures have +been discovered, though where there are mountains, there are commonly +minerals. One of the rocks in Col has a black vein, imagined to consist +of the ore of lead; but it was never yet opened or essayed. In Sky a +black mass was accidentally picked up, and brought into the house of the +owner of the land, who found himself strongly inclined to think it a +coal, but unhappily it did not burn in the chimney. Common ores would be +here of no great value; for what requires to be separated by fire, must, +if it were found, be carried away in its mineral state, here being no +fewel for the smelting-house or forge. Perhaps by diligent search in +this world of stone, some valuable species of marble might be discovered. +But neither philosophical curiosity, nor commercial industry, have yet +fixed their abode here, where the importunity of immediate want supplied +but for the day, and craving on the morrow, has left little room for +excursive knowledge or the pleasing fancies of distant profit. + +They have lately found a manufacture considerably lucrative. Their rocks +abound with kelp, a sea-plant, of which the ashes are melted into glass. +They burn kelp in great quantities, and then send it away in ships, which +come regularly to purchase them. This new source of riches has raised +the rents of many maritime farms; but the tenants pay, like all other +tenants, the additional rent with great unwillingness; because they +consider the profits of the kelp as the mere product of personal labour, +to which the landlord contributes nothing. However, as any man may be +said to give, what he gives the power of gaining, he has certainly as +much right to profit from the price of kelp as of any thing else found or +raised upon his ground. + +This new trade has excited a long and eager litigation between Macdonald +and Macleod, for a ledge of rocks, which, till the value of kelp was +known, neither of them desired the reputation of possessing. + +The cattle of Sky are not so small as is commonly believed. Since they +have sent their beeves in great numbers to southern marts, they have +probably taken more care of their breed. At stated times the annual +growth of cattle is driven to a fair, by a general drover, and with the +money, which he returns to the farmer, the rents are paid. + +The price regularly expected, is from two to three pounds a head: there +was once one sold for five pounds. They go from the Islands very lean, +and are not offered to the butcher, till they have been long fatted in +English pastures. + +Of their black cattle, some are without horns, called by the Scots humble +cows, as we call a bee an humble bee, that wants a sting. Whether this +difference be specifick, or accidental, though we inquired with great +diligence, we could not be informed. We are not very sure that the bull +is ever without horns, though we have been told, that such bulls there +are. What is produced by putting a horned and unhorned male and female +together, no man has ever tried, that thought the result worthy of +observation. + +Their horses are, like their cows, of a moderate size. I had no +difficulty to mount myself commodiously by the favour of the gentlemen. I +heard of very little cows in Barra, and very little horses in Rum, where +perhaps no care is taken to prevent that diminution of size, which must +always happen, where the greater and the less copulate promiscuously, and +the young animal is restrained from growth by penury of sustenance. + +The goat is the general inhabitant of the earth, complying with every +difference of climate, and of soil. The goats of the Hebrides are like +others: nor did I hear any thing of their sheep, to be particularly +remarked. + +In the penury of these malignant regions, nothing is left that can be +converted to food. The goats and the sheep are milked like the cows. A +single meal of a goat is a quart, and of a sheep a pint. Such at least +was the account, which I could extract from those of whom I am not sure +that they ever had inquired. + +The milk of goats is much thinner than that of cows, and that of sheep is +much thicker. Sheeps milk is never eaten before it is boiled: as it is +thick, it must be very liberal of curd, and the people of St. Kilda form +it into small cheeses. + +The stags of the mountains are less than those of our parks, or forests, +perhaps not bigger than our fallow deer. Their flesh has no rankness, +nor is inferiour in flavour to our common venison. The roebuck I neither +saw nor tasted. These are not countries for a regular chase. The deer +are not driven with horns and hounds. A sportsman, with his gun in his +hand, watches the animal, and when he has wounded him, traces him by the +blood. + +They have a race of brinded greyhounds, larger and stronger than those +with which we course hares, and those are the only dogs used by them for +the chase. + +Man is by the use of fire-arms made so much an overmatch for other +animals, that in all countries, where they are in use, the wild part of +the creation sensibly diminishes. There will probably not be long, +either stags or roebucks in the Islands. All the beasts of chase would +have been lost long ago in countries well inhabited, had they not been +preserved by laws for the pleasure of the rich. + +There are in Sky neither rats nor mice, but the weasel is so frequent, +that he is heard in houses rattling behind chests or beds, as rats in +England. They probably owe to his predominance that they have no other +vermin; for since the great rat took possession of this part of the +world, scarce a ship can touch at any port, but some of his race are left +behind. They have within these few years began to infest the isle of +Col, where being left by some trading vessel, they have increased for +want of weasels to oppose them. + +The inhabitants of Sky, and of the other Islands, which I have seen, are +commonly of the middle stature, with fewer among them very tall or very +short, than are seen in England, or perhaps, as their numbers are small, +the chances of any deviation from the common measure are necessarily few. +The tallest men that I saw are among those of higher rank. In regions of +barrenness and scarcity, the human race is hindered in its growth by the +same causes as other animals. + +The ladies have as much beauty here as in other places, but bloom and +softness are not to be expected among the lower classes, whose faces are +exposed to the rudeness of the climate, and whose features are sometimes +contracted by want, and sometimes hardened by the blasts. Supreme beauty +is seldom found in cottages or work-shops, even where no real hardships +are suffered. To expand the human face to its full perfection, it seems +necessary that the mind should co-operate by placidness of content, or +consciousness of superiority. + +Their strength is proportionate to their size, but they are accustomed to +run upon rough ground, and therefore can with great agility skip over the +bog, or clamber the mountain. For a campaign in the wastes of America, +soldiers better qualified could not have been found. Having little work +to do, they are not willing, nor perhaps able to endure a long +continuance of manual labour, and are therefore considered as habitually +idle. + +Having never been supplied with those accommodations, which life +extensively diversified with trades affords, they supply their wants by +very insufficient shifts, and endure many inconveniences, which a little +attention would easily relieve. I have seen a horse carrying home the +harvest on a crate. Under his tail was a stick for a crupper, held at +the two ends by twists of straw. Hemp will grow in their islands, and +therefore ropes may be had. If they wanted hemp, they might make better +cordage of rushes, or perhaps of nettles, than of straw. + +Their method of life neither secures them perpetual health, nor exposes +them to any particular diseases. There are physicians in the Islands, +who, I believe, all practise chirurgery, and all compound their own +medicines. + +It is generally supposed, that life is longer in places where there are +few opportunities of luxury; but I found no instance here of +extraordinary longevity. A cottager grows old over his oaten cakes, like +a citizen at a turtle feast. He is indeed seldom incommoded by +corpulence. Poverty preserves him from sinking under the burden of +himself, but he escapes no other injury of time. Instances of long life +are often related, which those who hear them are more willing to credit +than examine. To be told that any man has attained a hundred years, +gives hope and comfort to him who stands trembling on the brink of his +own climacterick. + +Length of life is distributed impartially to very different modes of life +in very different climates; and the mountains have no greater examples of +age and health than the low lands, where I was introduced to two ladies +of high quality; one of whom, in her ninety-fourth year, presided at her +table with the full exercise of all her powers; and the other has +attained her eighty-fourth, without any diminution of her vivacity, and +with little reason to accuse time of depredations on her beauty. + +In the Islands, as in most other places, the inhabitants are of different +rank, and one does not encroach here upon another. Where there is no +commerce nor manufacture, he that is born poor can scarcely become rich; +and if none are able to buy estates, he that is born to land cannot +annihilate his family by selling it. This was once the state of these +countries. Perhaps there is no example, till within a century and half, +of any family whose estate was alienated otherwise than by violence or +forfeiture. Since money has been brought amongst them, they have found, +like others, the art of spending more than they receive; and I saw with +grief the chief of a very ancient clan, whose Island was condemned by law +to be sold for the satisfaction of his creditors. + +The name of highest dignity is Laird, of which there are in the extensive +Isle of Sky only three, Macdonald, Macleod, and Mackinnon. The Laird is +the original owner of the land, whose natural power must be very great, +where no man lives but by agriculture; and where the produce of the land +is not conveyed through the labyrinths of traffick, but passes directly +from the hand that gathers it to the mouth that eats it. The Laird has +all those in his power that live upon his farms. Kings can, for the most +part, only exalt or degrade. The Laird at pleasure can feed or starve, +can give bread, or withold it. This inherent power was yet strengthened +by the kindness of consanguinity, and the reverence of patriarchal +authority. The Laird was the father of the Clan, and his tenants +commonly bore his name. And to these principles of original command was +added, for many ages, an exclusive right of legal jurisdiction. + +This multifarious, and extensive obligation operated with force scarcely +credible. Every duty, moral or political, was absorbed in affection and +adherence to the Chief. Not many years have passed since the clans knew +no law but the Laird's will. He told them to whom they should be friends +or enemies, what King they should obey, and what religion they should +profess. + +When the Scots first rose in arms against the succession of the house of +Hanover, Lovat, the Chief of the Frasers, was in exile for a rape. The +Frasers were very numerous, and very zealous against the government. A +pardon was sent to Lovat. He came to the English camp, and the clan +immediately deserted to him. + +Next in dignity to the Laird is the Tacksman; a large taker or +lease-holder of land, of which he keeps part, as a domain, in his own +hand, and lets part to under tenants. The Tacksman is necessarily a man +capable of securing to the Laird the whole rent, and is commonly a +collateral relation. These tacks, or subordinate possessions, were long +considered as hereditary, and the occupant was distinguished by the name +of the place at which he resided. He held a middle station, by which the +highest and the lowest orders were connected. He paid rent and reverence +to the Laird, and received them from the tenants. This tenure still +subsists, with its original operation, but not with the primitive +stability. Since the islanders, no longer content to live, have learned +the desire of growing rich, an ancient dependent is in danger of giving +way to a higher bidder, at the expense of domestick dignity and +hereditary power. The stranger, whose money buys him preference, +considers himself as paying for all that he has, and is indifferent about +the Laird's honour or safety. The commodiousness of money is indeed +great; but there are some advantages which money cannot buy, and which +therefore no wise man will by the love of money be tempted to forego. + +I have found in the hither parts of Scotland, men not defective in +judgment or general experience, who consider the Tacksman as a useless +burden of the ground, as a drone who lives upon the product of an estate, +without the right of property, or the merit of labour, and who +impoverishes at once the landlord and the tenant. The land, say they, is +let to the Tacksman at sixpence an acre, and by him to the tenant at ten- +pence. Let the owner be the immediate landlord to all the tenants; if he +sets the ground at eight-pence, he will increase his revenue by a fourth +part, and the tenant's burthen will be diminished by a fifth. + +Those who pursue this train of reasoning, seem not sufficiently to +inquire whither it will lead them, nor to know that it will equally shew +the propriety of suppressing all wholesale trade, of shutting up the +shops of every man who sells what he does not make, and of extruding all +whose agency and profit intervene between the manufacturer and the +consumer. They may, by stretching their understandings a little wider, +comprehend, that all those who by undertaking large quantities of +manufacture, and affording employment to many labourers, make themselves +considered as benefactors to the publick, have only been robbing their +workmen with one hand, and their customers with the other. If Crowley +had sold only what he could make, and all his smiths had wrought their +own iron with their own hammers, he would have lived on less, and they +would have sold their work for more. The salaries of superintendents and +clerks would have been partly saved, and partly shared, and nails been +sometimes cheaper by a farthing in a hundred. But then if the smith +could not have found an immediate purchaser, he must have deserted his +anvil; if there had by accident at any time been more sellers than +buyers, the workmen must have reduced their profit to nothing, by +underselling one another; and as no great stock could have been in any +hand, no sudden demand of large quantities could have been answered and +the builder must have stood still till the nailer could supply him. + +According to these schemes, universal plenty is to begin and end in +universal misery. Hope and emulation will be utterly extinguished; and +as all must obey the call of immediate necessity, nothing that requires +extensive views, or provides for distant consequences will ever be +performed. + +To the southern inhabitants of Scotland, the state of the mountains and +the islands is equally unknown with that of Borneo or Sumatra: Of both +they have only heard a little, and guess the rest. They are strangers to +the language and the manners, to the advantages and wants of the people, +whose life they would model, and whose evils they would remedy. + +Nothing is less difficult than to procure one convenience by the +forfeiture of another. A soldier may expedite his march by throwing away +his arms. To banish the Tacksman is easy, to make a country plentiful by +diminishing the people, is an expeditious mode of husbandry; but little +abundance, which there is nobody to enjoy, contributes little to human +happiness. + +As the mind must govern the hands, so in every society the man of +intelligence must direct the man of labour. If the Tacksmen be taken +away, the Hebrides must in their present state be given up to grossness +and ignorance; the tenant, for want of instruction, will be unskilful, +and for want of admonition will be negligent. The Laird in these wide +estates, which often consist of islands remote from one another, cannot +extend his personal influence to all his tenants; and the steward having +no dignity annexed to his character, can have little authority among men +taught to pay reverence only to birth, and who regard the Tacksman as +their hereditary superior; nor can the steward have equal zeal for the +prosperity of an estate profitable only to the Laird, with the Tacksman, +who has the Laird's income involved in his own. + +The only gentlemen in the Islands are the Lairds, the Tacksmen, and the +Ministers, who frequently improve their livings by becoming farmers. If +the Tacksmen be banished, who will be left to impart knowledge, or +impress civility? The Laird must always be at a distance from the +greater part of his lands; and if he resides at all upon them, must drag +his days in solitude, having no longer either a friend or a companion; he +will therefore depart to some more comfortable residence, and leave the +tenants to the wisdom and mercy of a factor. + +Of tenants there are different orders, as they have greater or less +stock. Land is sometimes leased to a small fellowship, who live in a +cluster of huts, called a Tenants Town, and are bound jointly and +separately for the payment of their rent. These, I believe, employ in +the care of their cattle, and the labour of tillage, a kind of tenants +yet lower; who having a hut with grass for a certain number of cows and +sheep, pay their rent by a stipulated quantity of labour. + +The condition of domestick servants, or the price of occasional labour, I +do not know with certainty. I was told that the maids have sheep, and +are allowed to spin for their own clothing; perhaps they have no +pecuniary wages, or none but in very wealthy families. The state of +life, which has hitherto been purely pastoral, begins now to be a little +variegated with commerce; but novelties enter by degrees, and till one +mode has fully prevailed over the other, no settled notion can be formed. + +Such is the system of insular subordination, which, having little +variety, cannot afford much delight in the view, nor long detain the mind +in contemplation. The inhabitants were for a long time perhaps not +unhappy; but their content was a muddy mixture of pride and ignorance, an +indifference for pleasures which they did not know, a blind veneration +for their chiefs, and a strong conviction of their own importance. + +Their pride has been crushed by the heavy hand of a vindictive conqueror, +whose seventies have been followed by laws, which, though they cannot be +called cruel, have produced much discontent, because they operate upon +the surface of life, and make every eye bear witness to subjection. To +be compelled to a new dress has always been found painful. + +Their Chiefs being now deprived of their jurisdiction, have already lost +much of their influence; and as they gradually degenerate from +patriarchal rulers to rapacious landlords, they will divest themselves of +the little that remains. + +That dignity which they derived from an opinion of their military +importance, the law, which disarmed them, has abated. An old gentleman, +delighting himself with the recollection of better days, related, that +forty years ago, a Chieftain walked out attended by ten or twelve +followers, with their arms rattling. That animating rabble has now +ceased. The Chief has lost his formidable retinue; and the Highlander +walks his heath unarmed and defenceless, with the peaceable submission of +a French peasant or English cottager. + +Their ignorance grows every day less, but their knowledge is yet of +little other use than to shew them their wants. They are now in the +period of education, and feel the uneasiness of discipline, without yet +perceiving the benefit of instruction. + +The last law, by which the Highlanders are deprived of their arms, has +operated with efficacy beyond expectation. Of former statutes made with +the same design, the execution had been feeble, and the effect +inconsiderable. Concealment was undoubtedly practised, and perhaps often +with connivance. There was tenderness, or partiality, on one side, and +obstinacy on the other. But the law, which followed the victory of +Culloden, found the whole nation dejected and intimidated; informations +were given without danger, and without fear, and the arms were collected +with such rigour, that every house was despoiled of its defence. + +To disarm part of the Highlands, could give no reasonable occasion of +complaint. Every government must be allowed the power of taking away the +weapon that is lifted against it. But the loyal clans murmured, with +some appearance of justice, that after having defended the King, they +were forbidden for the future to defend themselves; and that the sword +should be forfeited, which had been legally employed. Their case is +undoubtedly hard, but in political regulations, good cannot be complete, +it can only be predominant. + +Whether by disarming a people thus broken into several tribes, and thus +remote from the seat of power, more good than evil has been produced, may +deserve inquiry. The supreme power in every community has the right of +debarring every individual, and every subordinate society from +self-defence, only because the supreme power is able to defend them; and +therefore where the governor cannot act, he must trust the subject to act +for himself. These Islands might be wasted with fire and sword before +their sovereign would know their distress. A gang of robbers, such as +has been lately found confederating themselves in the Highlands, might +lay a wide region under contribution. The crew of a petty privateer +might land on the largest and most wealthy of the Islands, and riot +without control in cruelty and waste. It was observed by one of the +Chiefs of Sky, that fifty armed men might, without resistance ravage the +country. Laws that place the subjects in such a state, contravene the +first principles of the compact of authority: they exact obedience, and +yield no protection. + +It affords a generous and manly pleasure to conceive a little nation +gathering its fruits and tending its herds with fearless confidence, +though it lies open on every side to invasion, where, in contempt of +walls and trenches, every man sleeps securely with his sword beside him; +where all on the first approach of hostility came together at the call to +battle, as at a summons to a festal show; and committing their cattle to +the care of those whom age or nature has disabled, engage the enemy with +that competition for hazard and for glory, which operate in men that +fight under the eye of those, whose dislike or kindness they have always +considered as the greatest evil or the greatest good. + +This was, in the beginning of the present century, the state of the +Highlands. Every man was a soldier, who partook of national confidence, +and interested himself in national honour. To lose this spirit, is to +lose what no small advantage will compensate. + +It may likewise deserve to be inquired, whether a great nation ought to +be totally commercial? whether amidst the uncertainty of human affairs, +too much attention to one mode of happiness may not endanger others? +whether the pride of riches must not sometimes have recourse to the +protection of courage? and whether, if it be necessary to preserve in +some part of the empire the military spirit, it can subsist more +commodiously in any place, than in remote and unprofitable provinces, +where it can commonly do little harm, and whence it may be called forth +at any sudden exigence? + +It must however be confessed, that a man, who places honour only in +successful violence, is a very troublesome and pernicious animal in time +of peace; and that the martial character cannot prevail in a whole +people, but by the diminution of all other virtues. He that is +accustomed to resolve all right into conquest, will have very little +tenderness or equity. All the friendship in such a life can be only a +confederacy of invasion, or alliance of defence. The strong must +flourish by force, and the weak subsist by stratagem. + +Till the Highlanders lost their ferocity, with their arms, they suffered +from each other all that malignity could dictate, or precipitance could +act. Every provocation was revenged with blood, and no man that ventured +into a numerous company, by whatever occasion brought together, was sure +of returning without a wound. If they are now exposed to foreign +hostilities, they may talk of the danger, but can seldom feel it. If +they are no longer martial, they are no longer quarrelsome. Misery is +caused for the most part, not by a heavy crush of disaster, but by the +corrosion of less visible evils, which canker enjoyment, and undermine +security. The visit of an invader is necessarily rare, but domestick +animosities allow no cessation. + +The abolition of the local jurisdictions, which had for so many ages been +exercised by the chiefs, has likewise its evil and its good. The feudal +constitution naturally diffused itself into long ramifications of +subordinate authority. To this general temper of the government was +added the peculiar form of the country, broken by mountains into many +subdivisions scarcely accessible but to the natives, and guarded by +passes, or perplexed with intricacies, through which national justice +could not find its way. + +The power of deciding controversies, and of punishing offences, as some +such power there must always be, was intrusted to the Lairds of the +country, to those whom the people considered as their natural judges. It +cannot be supposed that a rugged proprietor of the rocks, unprincipled +and unenlightened, was a nice resolver of entangled claims, or very exact +in proportioning punishment to offences. But the more he indulged his +own will, the more he held his vassals in dependence. Prudence and +innocence, without the favour of the Chief, conferred no security; and +crimes involved no danger, when the judge was resolute to acquit. + +When the chiefs were men of knowledge and virtue, the convenience of a +domestick judicature was great. No long journies were necessary, nor +artificial delays could be practised; the character, the alliances, and +interests of the litigants were known to the court, and all false +pretences were easily detected. The sentence, when it was past, could +not be evaded; the power of the Laird superseded formalities, and justice +could not be defeated by interest or stratagem. + +I doubt not but that since the regular judges have made their circuits +through the whole country, right has been every where more wisely, and +more equally distributed; the complaint is, that litigation is grown +troublesome, and that the magistrates are too few, and therefore often +too remote for general convenience. + +Many of the smaller Islands have no legal officer within them. I once +asked, If a crime should be committed, by what authority the offender +could be seized? and was told, that the Laird would exert his right; a +right which he must now usurp, but which surely necessity must vindicate, +and which is therefore yet exercised in lower degrees, by some of the +proprietors, when legal processes cannot be obtained. + +In all greater questions, however, there is now happily an end to all +fear or hope from malice or from favour. The roads are secure in those +places through which, forty years ago, no traveller could pass without a +convoy. All trials of right by the sword are forgotten, and the mean are +in as little danger from the powerful as in other places. No scheme of +policy has, in any country, yet brought the rich and poor on equal terms +into courts of judicature. Perhaps experience, improving on experience, +may in time effect it. + +Those who have long enjoyed dignity and power, ought not to lose it +without some equivalent. There was paid to the Chiefs by the publick, in +exchange for their privileges, perhaps a sum greater than most of them +had ever possessed, which excited a thirst for riches, of which it shewed +them the use. When the power of birth and station ceases, no hope +remains but from the prevalence of money. Power and wealth supply the +place of each other. Power confers the ability of gratifying our desire +without the consent of others. Wealth enables us to obtain the consent +of others to our gratification. Power, simply considered, whatever it +confers on one, must take from another. Wealth enables its owner to give +to others, by taking only from himself. Power pleases the violent and +proud: wealth delights the placid and the timorous. Youth therefore +flies at power, and age grovels after riches. + +The Chiefs, divested of their prerogatives, necessarily turned their +thoughts to the improvement of their revenues, and expect more rent, as +they have less homage. The tenant, who is far from perceiving that his +condition is made better in the same proportion, as that of his landlord +is made worse, does not immediately see why his industry is to be taxed +more heavily than before. He refuses to pay the demand, and is ejected; +the ground is then let to a stranger, who perhaps brings a larger stock, +but who, taking the land at its full price, treats with the Laird upon +equal terms, and considers him not as a Chief, but as a trafficker in +land. Thus the estate perhaps is improved, but the clan is broken. + +It seems to be the general opinion, that the rents have been raised with +too much eagerness. Some regard must be paid to prejudice. Those who +have hitherto paid but little, will not suddenly be persuaded to pay +much, though they can afford it. As ground is gradually improved, and +the value of money decreases, the rent may be raised without any +diminution of the farmer's profits: yet it is necessary in these +countries, where the ejection of a tenant is a greater evil, than in more +populous places, to consider not merely what the land will produce, but +with what ability the inhabitant can cultivate it. A certain stock can +allow but a certain payment; for if the land be doubled, and the stock +remains the same, the tenant becomes no richer. The proprietors of the +Highlands might perhaps often increase their income, by subdividing the +farms, and allotting to every occupier only so many acres as he can +profitably employ, but that they want people. + +There seems now, whatever be the cause, to be through a great part of the +Highlands a general discontent. That adherence, which was lately +professed by every man to the chief of his name, has now little +prevalence; and he that cannot live as he desires at home, listens to the +tale of fortunate islands, and happy regions, where every man may have +land of his own, and eat the product of his labour without a superior. + +Those who have obtained grants of American lands, have, as is well known, +invited settlers from all quarters of the globe; and among other places, +where oppression might produce a wish for new habitations, their +emissaries would not fail to try their persuasions in the Isles of +Scotland, where at the time when the clans were newly disunited from +their Chiefs, and exasperated by unprecedented exactions, it is no wonder +that they prevailed. + +Whether the mischiefs of emigration were immediately perceived, may be +justly questioned. They who went first, were probably such as could best +be spared; but the accounts sent by the earliest adventurers, whether +true or false, inclined many to follow them; and whole neighbourhoods +formed parties for removal; so that departure from their native country +is no longer exile. He that goes thus accompanied, carries with him all +that makes life pleasant. He sits down in a better climate, surrounded +by his kindred and his friends: they carry with them their language, +their opinions, their popular songs, and hereditary merriment: they +change nothing but the place of their abode; and of that change they +perceive the benefit. + +This is the real effect of emigration, if those that go away together +settle on the same spot, and preserve their ancient union. But some +relate that these adventurous visitants of unknown regions, after a +voyage passed in dreams of plenty and felicity, are dispersed at last +upon a Sylvan wilderness, where their first years must be spent in toil, +to clear the ground which is afterwards to be tilled, and that the whole +effect of their undertakings is only more fatigue and equal scarcity. + +Both accounts may be suspected. Those who are gone will endeavour by +every art to draw others after them; for as their numbers are greater, +they will provide better for themselves. When Nova Scotia was first +peopled, I remember a letter, published under the character of a New +Planter, who related how much the climate put him in mind of Italy. Such +intelligence the Hebridians probably receive from their transmarine +correspondents. But with equal temptations of interest, and perhaps with +no greater niceness of veracity, the owners of the Islands spread stories +of American hardships to keep their people content at home. + +Some method to stop this epidemick desire of wandering, which spreads its +contagion from valley to valley, deserves to be sought with great +diligence. In more fruitful countries, the removal of one only makes +room for the succession of another: but in the Hebrides, the loss of an +inhabitant leaves a lasting vacuity; for nobody born in any other parts +of the world will choose this country for his residence, and an Island +once depopulated will remain a desert, as long as the present facility of +travel gives every one, who is discontented and unsettled, the choice of +his abode. + +Let it be inquired, whether the first intention of those who are +fluttering on the wing, and collecting a flock that they may take their +flight, be to attain good, or to avoid evil. If they are dissatisfied +with that part of the globe, which their birth has allotted them, and +resolve not to live without the pleasures of happier climates; if they +long for bright suns, and calm skies, and flowery fields, and fragrant +gardens, I know not by what eloquence they can be persuaded, or by what +offers they can be hired to stay. + +But if they are driven from their native country by positive evils, and +disgusted by ill-treatment, real or imaginary, it were fit to remove +their grievances, and quiet their resentment; since, if they have been +hitherto undutiful subjects, they will not much mend their principles by +American conversation. + +To allure them into the army, it was thought proper to indulge them in +the continuance of their national dress. If this concession could have +any effect, it might easily be made. That dissimilitude of appearance, +which was supposed to keep them distinct from the rest of the nation, +might disincline them from coalescing with the Pensylvanians, or people +of Connecticut. If the restitution of their arms will reconcile them to +their country, let them have again those weapons, which will not be more +mischievous at home than in the Colonies. That they may not fly from the +increase of rent, I know not whether the general good does not require +that the landlords be, for a time, restrained in their demands, and kept +quiet by pensions proportionate to their loss. + +To hinder insurrection, by driving away the people, and to govern +peaceably, by having no subjects, is an expedient that argues no great +profundity of politicks. To soften the obdurate, to convince the +mistaken, to mollify the resentful, are worthy of a statesman; but it +affords a legislator little self-applause to consider, that where there +was formerly an insurrection, there is now a wilderness. + +It has been a question often agitated without solution, why those +northern regions are now so thinly peopled, which formerly overwhelmed +with their armies the Roman empire. The question supposes what I believe +is not true, that they had once more inhabitants than they could +maintain, and overflowed only because they were full. + +This is to estimate the manners of all countries and ages by our own. +Migration, while the state of life was unsettled, and there was little +communication of intelligence between distant places, was among the +wilder nations of Europe, capricious and casual. An adventurous +projector heard of a fertile coast unoccupied, and led out a colony; a +chief of renown for bravery, called the young men together, and led them +out to try what fortune would present. When Caesar was in Gaul, he found +the Helvetians preparing to go they knew not whither, and put a stop to +their motions. They settled again in their own country, where they were +so far from wanting room, that they had accumulated three years provision +for their march. + +The religion of the North was military; if they could not find enemies, +it was their duty to make them: they travelled in quest of danger, and +willingly took the chance of Empire or Death. If their troops were +numerous, the countries from which they were collected are of vast +extent, and without much exuberance of people great armies may be raised +where every man is a soldier. But their true numbers were never known. +Those who were conquered by them are their historians, and shame may have +excited them to say, that they were overwhelmed with multitudes. To +count is a modern practice, the ancient method was to guess; and when +numbers are guessed they are always magnified. + +Thus England has for several years been filled with the atchievements of +seventy thousand Highlanders employed in America. I have heard from an +English officer, not much inclined to favour them, that their behaviour +deserved a very high degree of military praise; but their number has been +much exaggerated. One of the ministers told me, that seventy thousand +men could not have been found in all the Highlands, and that more than +twelve thousand never took the field. Those that went to the American +war, went to destruction. Of the old Highland regiment, consisting of +twelve hundred, only seventy-six survived to see their country again. + +The Gothick swarms have at least been multiplied with equal liberality. +That they bore no great proportion to the inhabitants, in whose countries +they settled, is plain from the paucity of northern words now found in +the provincial languages. Their country was not deserted for want of +room, because it was covered with forests of vast extent; and the first +effect of plenitude of inhabitants is the destruction of wood. As the +Europeans spread over America the lands are gradually laid naked. + +I would not be understood to say, that necessity had never any part in +their expeditions. A nation, whose agriculture is scanty or unskilful, +may be driven out by famine. A nation of hunters may have exhausted +their game. I only affirm that the northern regions were not, when their +irruptions subdued the Romans, overpeopled with regard to their real +extent of territory, and power of fertility. In a country fully +inhabited, however afterward laid waste, evident marks will remain of its +former populousness. But of Scandinavia and Germany, nothing is known +but that as we trace their state upwards into antiquity, their woods were +greater, and their cultivated ground was less. + +That causes were different from want of room may produce a general +disposition to seek another country is apparent from the present conduct +of the Highlanders, who are in some places ready to threaten a total +secession. The numbers which have already gone, though like other +numbers they may be magnified, are very great, and such as if they had +gone together and agreed upon any certain settlement, might have founded +an independent government in the depths of the western continent. Nor +are they only the lowest and most indigent; many men of considerable +wealth have taken with them their train of labourers and dependants; and +if they continue the feudal scheme of polity, may establish new clans in +the other hemisphere. + +That the immediate motives of their desertion must be imputed to their +landlords, may be reasonably concluded, because some Lairds of more +prudence and less rapacity have kept their vassals undiminished. From +Raasa only one man had been seduced, and at Col there was no wish to go +away. + +The traveller who comes hither from more opulent countries, to speculate +upon the remains of pastoral life, will not much wonder that a common +Highlander has no strong adherence to his native soil; for of animal +enjoyments, or of physical good, he leaves nothing that he may not find +again wheresoever he may be thrown. + +The habitations of men in the Hebrides may be distinguished into huts and +houses. By a house, I mean a building with one story over another; by a +hut, a dwelling with only one floor. The Laird, who formerly lived in a +castle, now lives in a house; sometimes sufficiently neat, but seldom +very spacious or splendid. The Tacksmen and the Ministers have commonly +houses. Wherever there is a house, the stranger finds a welcome, and to +the other evils of exterminating Tacksmen may be added the unavoidable +cessation of hospitality, or the devolution of too heavy a burden on the +Ministers. + +Of the houses little can be said. They are small, and by the necessity +of accumulating stores, where there are so few opportunities of purchase, +the rooms are very heterogeneously filled. With want of cleanliness it +were ingratitude to reproach them. The servants having been bred upon +the naked earth, think every floor clean, and the quick succession of +guests, perhaps not always over-elegant, does not allow much time for +adjusting their apartments. + +Huts are of many gradations; from murky dens, to commodious dwellings. + +The wall of a common hut is always built without mortar, by a skilful +adaptation of loose stones. Sometimes perhaps a double wall of stones is +raised, and the intermediate space filled with earth. The air is thus +completely excluded. Some walls are, I think, formed of turfs, held +together by a wattle, or texture of twigs. Of the meanest huts, the +first room is lighted by the entrance, and the second by the smoke hole. +The fire is usually made in the middle. But there are huts, or dwellings +of only one story, inhabited by gentlemen, which have walls cemented with +mortar, glass windows, and boarded floors. Of these all have chimneys, +and some chimneys have grates. + +The house and the furniture are not always nicely suited. We were driven +once, by missing a passage, to the hut of a gentleman, where, after a +very liberal supper, when I was conducted to my chamber, I found an +elegant bed of Indian cotton, spread with fine sheets. The accommodation +was flattering; I undressed myself, and felt my feet in the mire. The +bed stood upon the bare earth, which a long course of rain had softened +to a puddle. + +In pastoral countries the condition of the lowest rank of people is +sufficiently wretched. Among manufacturers, men that have no property +may have art and industry, which make them necessary, and therefore +valuable. But where flocks and corn are the only wealth, there are +always more hands than work, and of that work there is little in which +skill and dexterity can be much distinguished. He therefore who is born +poor never can be rich. The son merely occupies the place of the father, +and life knows nothing of progression or advancement. + +The petty tenants, and labouring peasants, live in miserable cabins, +which afford them little more than shelter from the storms. The Boor of +Norway is said to make all his own utensils. In the Hebrides, whatever +might be their ingenuity, the want of wood leaves them no materials. They +are probably content with such accommodations as stones of different +forms and sizes can afford them. + +Their food is not better than their lodging. They seldom taste the flesh +of land animals; for here are no markets. What each man eats is from his +own stock. The great effect of money is to break property into small +parts. In towns, he that has a shilling may have a piece of meat; but +where there is no commerce, no man can eat mutton but by killing a sheep. + +Fish in fair weather they need not want; but, I believe, man never lives +long on fish, but by constraint; he will rather feed upon roots and +berries. + +The only fewel of the Islands is peat. Their wood is all consumed, and +coal they have not yet found. Peat is dug out of the marshes, from the +depth of one foot to that of six. That is accounted the best which is +nearest the surface. It appears to be a mass of black earth held +together by vegetable fibres. I know not whether the earth be +bituminous, or whether the fibres be not the only combustible part; +which, by heating the interposed earth red hot, make a burning mass. The +heat is not very strong nor lasting. The ashes are yellowish, and in a +large quantity. When they dig peat, they cut it into square pieces, and +pile it up to dry beside the house. In some places it has an offensive +smell. It is like wood charked for the smith. The common method of +making peat fires, is by heaping it on the hearth; but it burns well in +grates, and in the best houses is so used. + +The common opinion is, that peat grows again where it has been cut; +which, as it seems to be chiefly a vegetable substance, is not unlikely +to be true, whether known or not to those who relate it. + +There are water mills in Sky and Raasa; but where they are too far +distant, the house-wives grind their oats with a quern, or hand-mill, +which consists of two stones, about a foot and a half in diameter; the +lower is a little convex, to which the concavity of the upper must be +fitted. In the middle of the upper stone is a round hole, and on one +side is a long handle. The grinder sheds the corn gradually into the +hole with one hand, and works the handle round with the other. The corn +slides down the convexity of the lower stone, and by the motion of the +upper is ground in its passage. These stones are found in Lochabar. + +The Islands afford few pleasures, except to the hardy sportsman, who can +tread the moor and climb the mountain. The distance of one family from +another, in a country where travelling has so much difficulty, makes +frequent intercourse impracticable. Visits last several days, and are +commonly paid by water; yet I never saw a boat furnished with benches, or +made commodious by any addition to the first fabric. Conveniences are +not missed where they never were enjoyed. + +The solace which the bagpipe can give, they have long enjoyed; but among +other changes, which the last Revolution introduced, the use of the +bagpipe begins to be forgotten. Some of the chief families still +entertain a piper, whose office was anciently hereditary. Macrimmon was +piper to Macleod, and Rankin to Maclean of Col. + +The tunes of the bagpipe are traditional. There has been in Sky, beyond +all time of memory, a college of pipers, under the direction of +Macrimmon, which is not quite extinct. There was another in Mull, +superintended by Rankin, which expired about sixteen years ago. To these +colleges, while the pipe retained its honour, the students of musick +repaired for education. I have had my dinner exhilarated by the bagpipe, +at Armidale, at Dunvegan, and in Col. + +The general conversation of the Islanders has nothing particular. I did +not meet with the inquisitiveness of which I have read, and suspect the +judgment to have been rashly made. A stranger of curiosity comes into a +place where a stranger is seldom seen: he importunes the people with +questions, of which they cannot guess the motive, and gazes with surprise +on things which they, having had them always before their eyes, do not +suspect of any thing wonderful. He appears to them like some being of +another world, and then thinks it peculiar that they take their turn to +inquire whence he comes, and whither he is going. + +The Islands were long unfurnished with instruction for youth, and none +but the sons of gentlemen could have any literature. There are now +parochial schools, to which the lord of every manor pays a certain +stipend. Here the children are taught to read; but by the rule of their +institution, they teach only English, so that the natives read a language +which they may never use or understand. If a parish, which often +happens, contains several Islands, the school being but in one, cannot +assist the rest. This is the state of Col, which, however, is more +enlightened than some other places; for the deficiency is supplied by a +young gentleman, who, for his own improvement, travels every year on foot +over the Highlands to the session at Aberdeen; and at his return, during +the vacation, teaches to read and write in his native Island. + +In Sky there are two grammar schools, where boarders are taken to be +regularly educated. The price of board is from three pounds, to four +pounds ten shillings a year, and that of instruction is half a crown a +quarter. But the scholars are birds of passage, who live at school only +in the summer; for in winter provisions cannot be made for any +considerable number in one place. This periodical dispersion impresses +strongly the scarcity of these countries. + +Having heard of no boarding-school for ladies nearer than Inverness, I +suppose their education is generally domestick. The elder daughters of +the higher families are sent into the world, and may contribute by their +acquisitions to the improvement of the rest. + +Women must here study to be either pleasing or useful. Their +deficiencies are seldom supplied by very liberal fortunes. A hundred +pounds is a portion beyond the hope of any but the Laird's daughter. They +do not indeed often give money with their daughters; the question is, How +many cows a young lady will bring her husband. A rich maiden has from +ten to forty; but two cows are a decent fortune for one who pretends to +no distinction. + +The religion of the Islands is that of the Kirk of Scotland. The +gentlemen with whom I conversed are all inclined to the English liturgy; +but they are obliged to maintain the established Minister, and the +country is too poor to afford payment to another, who must live wholly on +the contribution of his audience. + +They therefore all attend the worship of the Kirk, as often as a visit +from their Minister, or the practicability of travelling gives them +opportunity; nor have they any reason to complain of insufficient +pastors; for I saw not one in the Islands, whom I had reason to think +either deficient in learning, or irregular in life: but found several +with whom I could not converse without wishing, as my respect increased, +that they had not been Presbyterians. + +The ancient rigour of puritanism is now very much relaxed, though all are +not yet equally enlightened. I sometimes met with prejudices +sufficiently malignant, but they were prejudices of ignorance. The +Ministers in the Islands had attained such knowledge as may justly be +admired in men, who have no motive to study, but generous curiosity, or, +what is still better, desire of usefulness; with such politeness as so +narrow a circle of converse could not have supplied, but to minds +naturally disposed to elegance. + +Reason and truth will prevail at last. The most learned of the Scottish +Doctors would now gladly admit a form of prayer, if the people would +endure it. The zeal or rage of congregations has its different degrees. +In some parishes the Lord's Prayer is suffered: in others it is still +rejected as a form; and he that should make it part of his supplication +would be suspected of heretical pravity. + +The principle upon which extemporary prayer was originally introduced, is +no longer admitted. The Minister formerly, in the effusion of his +prayer, expected immediate, and perhaps perceptible inspiration, and +therefore thought it his duty not to think before what he should say. It +is now universally confessed, that men pray as they speak on other +occasions, according to the general measure of their abilities and +attainments. Whatever each may think of a form prescribed by another, he +cannot but believe that he can himself compose by study and meditation a +better prayer than will rise in his mind at a sudden call; and if he has +any hope of supernatural help, why may he not as well receive it when he +writes as when he speaks? + +In the variety of mental powers, some must perform extemporary prayer +with much imperfection; and in the eagerness and rashness of +contradictory opinions, if publick liturgy be left to the private +judgment of every Minister, the congregation may often be offended or +misled. + +There is in Scotland, as among ourselves, a restless suspicion of popish +machinations, and a clamour of numerous converts to the Romish religion. +The report is, I believe, in both parts of the Island equally false. The +Romish religion is professed only in Egg and Canna, two small islands, +into which the Reformation never made its way. If any missionaries are +busy in the Highlands, their zeal entitles them to respect, even from +those who cannot think favourably of their doctrine. + +The political tenets of the Islanders I was not curious to investigate, +and they were not eager to obtrude. Their conversation is decent and +inoffensive. They disdain to drink for their principles, and there is no +disaffection at their tables. I never heard a health offered by a +Highlander that might not have circulated with propriety within the +precincts of the King's palace. + +Legal government has yet something of novelty to which they cannot +perfectly conform. The ancient spirit, that appealed only to the sword, +is yet among them. The tenant of Scalpa, an island belonging to +Macdonald, took no care to bring his rent; when the landlord talked of +exacting payment, he declared his resolution to keep his ground, and +drive all intruders from the Island, and continued to feed his cattle as +on his own land, till it became necessary for the Sheriff to dislodge him +by violence. + +The various kinds of superstition which prevailed here, as in all other +regions of ignorance, are by the diligence of the Ministers almost +extirpated. + +Of Browny, mentioned by Martin, nothing has been heard for many years. +Browny was a sturdy Fairy; who, if he was fed, and kindly treated, would, +as they said, do a great deal of work. They now pay him no wages, and +are content to labour for themselves. + +In Troda, within these three-and-thirty years, milk was put every +Saturday for Greogach, or 'the Old Man with the Long Beard.' Whether +Greogach was courted as kind, or dreaded as terrible, whether they meant, +by giving him the milk, to obtain good, or avert evil, I was not +informed. The Minister is now living by whom the practice was abolished. + +They have still among them a great number of charms for the cure of +different diseases; they are all invocations, perhaps transmitted to them +from the times of popery, which increasing knowledge will bring into +disuse. + +They have opinions, which cannot be ranked with superstition, because +they regard only natural effects. They expect better crops of grain, by +sowing their seed in the moon's increase. The moon has great influence +in vulgar philosophy. In my memory it was a precept annually given in +one of the English Almanacks, 'to kill hogs when the moon was increasing, +and the bacon would prove the better in boiling.' + +We should have had little claim to the praise of curiosity, if we had not +endeavoured with particular attention to examine the question of the +Second Sight. Of an opinion received for centuries by a whole nation, +and supposed to be confirmed through its whole descent, by a series of +successive facts, it is desirable that the truth should be established, +or the fallacy detected. + +The Second Sight is an impression made either by the mind upon the eye, +or by the eye upon the mind, by which things distant or future are +perceived, and seen as if they were present. A man on a journey far from +home falls from his horse, another, who is perhaps at work about the +house, sees him bleeding on the ground, commonly with a landscape of the +place where the accident befalls him. Another seer, driving home his +cattle, or wandering in idleness, or musing in the sunshine, is suddenly +surprised by the appearance of a bridal ceremony, or funeral procession, +and counts the mourners or attendants, of whom, if he knows them, he +relates the names, if he knows them not, he can describe the dresses. +Things distant are seen at the instant when they happen. Of things +future I know not that there is any rule for determining the time between +the Sight and the event. + +This receptive faculty, for power it cannot be called, is neither +voluntary nor constant. The appearances have no dependence upon choice: +they cannot be summoned, detained, or recalled. The impression is +sudden, and the effect often painful. + +By the term Second Sight, seems to be meant a mode of seeing, superadded +to that which Nature generally bestows. In the Earse it is called +Taisch; which signifies likewise a spectre, or a vision. I know not, nor +is it likely that the Highlanders ever examined, whether by Taisch, used +for Second Sight, they mean the power of seeing, or the thing seen. + +I do not find it to be true, as it is reported, that to the Second Sight +nothing is presented but phantoms of evil. Good seems to have the same +proportions in those visionary scenes, as it obtains in real life: almost +all remarkable events have evil for their basis; and are either miseries +incurred, or miseries escaped. Our sense is so much stronger of what we +suffer, than of what we enjoy, that the ideas of pain predominate in +almost every mind. What is recollection but a revival of vexations, or +history but a record of wars, treasons, and calamities? Death, which is +considered as the greatest evil, happens to all. The greatest good, be +it what it will, is the lot but of a part. + +That they should often see death is to be expected; because death is an +event frequent and important. But they see likewise more pleasing +incidents. A gentleman told me, that when he had once gone far from his +own Island, one of his labouring servants predicted his return, and +described the livery of his attendant, which he had never worn at home; +and which had been, without any previous design, occasionally given him. + +Our desire of information was keen, and our inquiry frequent. Mr. +Boswell's frankness and gaiety made every body communicative; and we +heard many tales of these airy shows, with more or less evidence and +distinctness. + +It is the common talk of the Lowland Scots, that the notion of the Second +Sight is wearing away with other superstitions; and that its reality is +no longer supposed, but by the grossest people. How far its prevalence +ever extended, or what ground it has lost, I know not. The Islanders of +all degrees, whether of rank or understanding, universally admit it, +except the Ministers, who universally deny it, and are suspected to deny +it, in consequence of a system, against conviction. One of them honestly +told me, that he came to Sky with a resolution not to believe it. + +Strong reasons for incredulity will readily occur. This faculty of +seeing things out of sight is local, and commonly useless. It is a +breach of the common order of things, without any visible reason or +perceptible benefit. It is ascribed only to a people very little +enlightened; and among them, for the most part, to the mean and the +ignorant. + +To the confidence of these objections it may be replied, that by +presuming to determine what is fit, and what is beneficial, they +presuppose more knowledge of the universal system than man has attained; +and therefore depend upon principles too complicated and extensive for +our comprehension; and that there can be no security in the consequence, +when the premises are not understood; that the Second Sight is only +wonderful because it is rare, for, considered in itself, it involves no +more difficulty than dreams, or perhaps than the regular exercise of the +cogitative faculty; that a general opinion of communicative impulses, or +visionary representations, has prevailed in all ages and all nations; +that particular instances have been given, with such evidence, as neither +Bacon nor Bayle has been able to resist; that sudden impressions, which +the event has verified, have been felt by more than own or publish them; +that the Second Sight of the Hebrides implies only the local frequency of +a power, which is nowhere totally unknown; and that where we are unable +to decide by antecedent reason, we must be content to yield to the force +of testimony. + +By pretension to Second Sight, no profit was ever sought or gained. It +is an involuntary affection, in which neither hope nor fear are known to +have any part. Those who profess to feel it, do not boast of it as a +privilege, nor are considered by others as advantageously distinguished. +They have no temptation to feign; and their hearers have no motive to +encourage the imposture. + +To talk with any of these seers is not easy. There is one living in Sky, +with whom we would have gladly conversed; but he was very gross and +ignorant, and knew no English. The proportion in these countries of the +poor to the rich is such, that if we suppose the quality to be +accidental, it can very rarely happen to a man of education; and yet on +such men it has sometimes fallen. There is now a Second Sighted +gentleman in the Highlands, who complains of the terrors to which he is +exposed. + +The foresight of the Seers is not always prescience; they are impressed +with images, of which the event only shews them the meaning. They tell +what they have seen to others, who are at that time not more knowing than +themselves, but may become at last very adequate witnesses, by comparing +the narrative with its verification. + +To collect sufficient testimonies for the satisfaction of the publick, or +of ourselves, would have required more time than we could bestow. There +is, against it, the seeming analogy of things confusedly seen, and little +understood, and for it, the indistinct cry of national persuasion, which +may be perhaps resolved at last into prejudice and tradition. I never +could advance my curiosity to conviction; but came away at last only +willing to believe. + +As there subsists no longer in the Islands much of that peculiar and +discriminative form of life, of which the idea had delighted our +imagination, we were willing to listen to such accounts of past times as +would be given us. But we soon found what memorials were to be expected +from an illiterate people, whose whole time is a series of distress; +where every morning is labouring with expedients for the evening; and +where all mental pains or pleasure arose from the dread of winter, the +expectation of spring, the caprices of their Chiefs, and the motions of +the neighbouring clans; where there was neither shame from ignorance, nor +pride in knowledge; neither curiosity to inquire, nor vanity to +communicate. + +The Chiefs indeed were exempt from urgent penury, and daily difficulties; +and in their houses were preserved what accounts remained of past ages. +But the Chiefs were sometimes ignorant and careless, and sometimes kept +busy by turbulence and contention; and one generation of ignorance +effaces the whole series of unwritten history. Books are faithful +repositories, which may be a while neglected or forgotten; but when they +are opened again, will again impart their instruction: memory, once +interrupted, is not to be recalled. Written learning is a fixed +luminary, which, after the cloud that had hidden it has past away, is +again bright in its proper station. Tradition is but a meteor, which, if +once it falls, cannot be rekindled. + +It seems to be universally supposed, that much of the local history was +preserved by the Bards, of whom one is said to have been retained by +every great family. After these Bards were some of my first inquiries; +and I received such answers as, for a while, made me please myself with +my increase of knowledge; for I had not then learned how to estimate the +narration of a Highlander. + +They said that a great family had a Bard and a Senachi, who were the poet +and historian of the house; and an old gentleman told me that he +remembered one of each. Here was a dawn of intelligence. Of men that +had lived within memory, some certain knowledge might be attained. Though +the office had ceased, its effects might continue; the poems might be +found, though there was no poet. + +Another conversation indeed informed me, that the same man was both Bard +and Senachi. This variation discouraged me; but as the practice might be +different in different times, or at the same time in different families, +there was yet no reason for supposing that I must necessarily sit down in +total ignorance. + +Soon after I was told by a gentleman, who is generally acknowledged the +greatest master of Hebridian antiquities, that there had indeed once been +both Bards and Senachies; and that Senachi signified 'the man of talk,' +or of conversation; but that neither Bard nor Senachi had existed for +some centuries. I have no reason to suppose it exactly known at what +time the custom ceased, nor did it probably cease in all houses at once. +But whenever the practice of recitation was disused, the works, whether +poetical or historical, perished with the authors; for in those times +nothing had been written in the Earse language. + +Whether the 'Man of talk' was a historian, whose office was to tell +truth, or a story-teller, like those which were in the last century, and +perhaps are now among the Irish, whose trade was only to amuse, it now +would be vain to inquire. + +Most of the domestick offices were, I believe, hereditary; and probably +the laureat of a clan was always the son of the last laureat. The +history of the race could no otherwise be communicated, or retained; but +what genius could be expected in a poet by inheritance? + +The nation was wholly illiterate. Neither bards nor Senachies could +write or read; but if they were ignorant, there was no danger of +detection; they were believed by those whose vanity they flattered. + +The recital of genealogies, which has been considered as very efficacious +to the preservation of a true series of ancestry, was anciently made, +when the heir of the family came to manly age. This practice has never +subsisted within time of memory, nor was much credit due to such +rehearsers, who might obtrude fictitious pedigrees, either to please +their masters, or to hide the deficiency of their own memories. + +Where the Chiefs of the Highlands have found the histories of their +descent is difficult to tell; for no Earse genealogy was ever written. In +general this only is evident, that the principal house of a clan must be +very ancient, and that those must have lived long in a place, of whom it +is not known when they came thither. + +Thus hopeless are all attempts to find any traces of Highland learning. +Nor are their primitive customs and ancient manner of life otherwise than +very faintly and uncertainly remembered by the present race. + +The peculiarities which strike the native of a commercial country, +proceeded in a great measure from the want of money. To the servants and +dependents that were not domesticks, and if an estimate be made from the +capacity of any of their old houses which I have seen, their domesticks +could have been but few, were appropriated certain portions of land for +their support. Macdonald has a piece of ground yet, called the Bards or +Senachies field. When a beef was killed for the house, particular parts +were claimed as fees by the several officers, or workmen. What was the +right of each I have not learned. The head belonged to the smith, and +the udder of a cow to the piper: the weaver had likewise his particular +part; and so many pieces followed these prescriptive claims, that the +Laird's was at last but little. + +The payment of rent in kind has been so long disused in England, that it +is totally forgotten. It was practised very lately in the Hebrides, and +probably still continues, not only in St. Kilda, where money is not yet +known, but in others of the smaller and remoter Islands. It were perhaps +to be desired, that no change in this particular should have been made. +When the Laird could only eat the produce of his lands, he was under the +necessity of residing upon them; and when the tenant could not convert +his stock into more portable riches, he could never be tempted away from +his farm, from the only place where he could be wealthy. Money confounds +subordination, by overpowering the distinctions of rank and birth, and +weakens authority by supplying power of resistance, or expedients for +escape. The feudal system is formed for a nation employed in +agriculture, and has never long kept its hold where gold and silver have +become common. + +Their arms were anciently the Glaymore, or great two-handed sword, and +afterwards the two-edged sword and target, or buckler, which was +sustained on the left arm. In the midst of the target, which was made of +wood, covered with leather, and studded with nails, a slender lance, +about two feet long, was sometimes fixed; it was heavy and cumberous, and +accordingly has for some time past been gradually laid aside. Very few +targets were at Culloden. The dirk, or broad dagger, I am afraid, was of +more use in private quarrels than in battles. The Lochaber-ax is only a +slight alteration of the old English bill. + +After all that has been said of the force and terrour of the Highland +sword, I could not find that the art of defence was any part of common +education. The gentlemen were perhaps sometimes skilful gladiators, but +the common men had no other powers than those of violence and courage. +Yet it is well known, that the onset of the Highlanders was very +formidable. As an army cannot consist of philosophers, a panick is +easily excited by any unwonted mode of annoyance. New dangers are +naturally magnified; and men accustomed only to exchange bullets at a +distance, and rather to hear their enemies than see them, are discouraged +and amazed when they find themselves encountered hand to hand, and catch +the gleam of steel flashing in their faces. + +The Highland weapons gave opportunity for many exertions of personal +courage, and sometimes for single combats in the field; like those which +occur so frequently in fabulous wars. At Falkirk, a gentleman now +living, was, I suppose after the retreat of the King's troops, engaged at +a distance from the rest with an Irish dragoon. They were both skilful +swordsmen, and the contest was not easily decided: the dragoon at last +had the advantage, and the Highlander called for quarter; but quarter was +refused him, and the fight continued till he was reduced to defend +himself upon his knee. At that instant one of the Macleods came to his +rescue; who, as it is said, offered quarter to the dragoon, but he +thought himself obliged to reject what he had before refused, and, as +battle gives little time to deliberate, was immediately killed. + +Funerals were formerly solemnized by calling multitudes together, and +entertaining them at great expence. This emulation of useless cost has +been for some time discouraged, and at last in the Isle of Sky is almost +suppressed. + +Of the Earse language, as I understand nothing, I cannot say more than I +have been told. It is the rude speech of a barbarous people, who had few +thoughts to express, and were content, as they conceived grossly, to be +grossly understood. After what has been lately talked of Highland Bards, +and Highland genius, many will startle when they are told, that the Earse +never was a written language; that there is not in the world an Earse +manuscript a hundred years old; and that the sounds of the Highlanders +were never expressed by letters, till some little books of piety were +translated, and a metrical version of the Psalms was made by the Synod of +Argyle. Whoever therefore now writes in this language, spells according +to his own perception of the sound, and his own idea of the power of the +letters. The Welsh and the Irish are cultivated tongues. The Welsh, two +hundred years ago, insulted their English neighbours for the instability +of their Orthography; while the Earse merely floated in the breath of the +people, and could therefore receive little improvement. + +When a language begins to teem with books, it is tending to refinement; +as those who undertake to teach others must have undergone some labour in +improving themselves, they set a proportionate value on their own +thoughts, and wish to enforce them by efficacious expressions; speech +becomes embodied and permanent; different modes and phrases are compared, +and the best obtains an establishment. By degrees one age improves upon +another. Exactness is first obtained, and afterwards elegance. But +diction, merely vocal, is always in its childhood. As no man leaves his +eloquence behind him, the new generations have all to learn. There may +possibly be books without a polished language, but there can be no +polished language without books. + +That the Bards could not read more than the rest of their countrymen, it +is reasonable to suppose; because, if they had read, they could probably +have written; and how high their compositions may reasonably be rated, an +inquirer may best judge by considering what stores of imagery, what +principles of ratiocination, what comprehension of knowledge, and what +delicacy of elocution he has known any man attain who cannot read. The +state of the Bards was yet more hopeless. He that cannot read, may now +converse with those that can; but the Bard was a barbarian among +barbarians, who, knowing nothing himself, lived with others that knew no +more. + +There has lately been in the Islands one of these illiterate poets, who +hearing the Bible read at church, is said to have turned the sacred +history into verse. I heard part of a dialogue, composed by him, +translated by a young lady in Mull, and thought it had more meaning than +I expected from a man totally uneducated; but he had some opportunities +of knowledge; he lived among a learned people. After all that has been +done for the instruction of the Highlanders, the antipathy between their +language and literature still continues; and no man that has learned only +Earse is, at this time, able to read. + +The Earse has many dialects, and the words used in some Islands are not +always known in others. In literate nations, though the pronunciation, +and sometimes the words of common speech may differ, as now in England, +compared with the South of Scotland, yet there is a written diction, +which pervades all dialects, and is understood in every province. But +where the whole language is colloquial, he that has only one part, never +gets the rest, as he cannot get it but by change of residence. + +In an unwritten speech, nothing that is not very short is transmitted +from one generation to another. Few have opportunities of hearing a long +composition often enough to learn it, or have inclination to repeat it so +often as is necessary to retain it; and what is once forgotten is lost +for ever. I believe there cannot be recovered, in the whole Earse +language, five hundred lines of which there is any evidence to prove them +a hundred years old. Yet I hear that the father of Ossian boasts of two +chests more of ancient poetry, which he suppresses, because they are too +good for the English. + +He that goes into the Highlands with a mind naturally acquiescent, and a +credulity eager for wonders, may come back with an opinion very different +from mine; for the inhabitants knowing the ignorance of all strangers in +their language and antiquities, perhaps are not very scrupulous adherents +to truth; yet I do not say that they deliberately speak studied +falsehood, or have a settled purpose to deceive. They have inquired and +considered little, and do not always feel their own ignorance. They are +not much accustomed to be interrogated by others; and seem never to have +thought upon interrogating themselves; so that if they do not know what +they tell to be true, they likewise do not distinctly perceive it to be +false. + +Mr. Boswell was very diligent in his inquiries; and the result of his +investigations was, that the answer to the second question was commonly +such as nullified the answer to the first. + +We were a while told, that they had an old translation of the scriptures; +and told it till it would appear obstinacy to inquire again. Yet by +continued accumulation of questions we found, that the translation meant, +if any meaning there were, was nothing else than the Irish Bible. + +We heard of manuscripts that were, or that had been in the hands of +somebody's father, or grandfather; but at last we had no reason to +believe they were other than Irish. Martin mentions Irish, but never any +Earse manuscripts, to be found in the Islands in his time. + +I suppose my opinion of the poems of Ossian is already discovered. I +believe they never existed in any other form than that which we have +seen. The editor, or author, never could shew the original; nor can it +be shewn by any other; to revenge reasonable incredulity, by refusing +evidence, is a degree of insolence, with which the world is not yet +acquainted; and stubborn audacity is the last refuge of guilt. It would +be easy to shew it if he had it; but whence could it be had? It is too +long to be remembered, and the language formerly had nothing written. He +has doubtless inserted names that circulate in popular stories, and may +have translated some wandering ballads, if any can be found; and the +names, and some of the images being recollected, make an inaccurate +auditor imagine, by the help of Caledonian bigotry, that he has formerly +heard the whole. + +I asked a very learned Minister in Sky, who had used all arts to make me +believe the genuineness of the book, whether at last he believed it +himself? but he would not answer. He wished me to be deceived, for the +honour of his country; but would not directly and formally deceive me. +Yet has this man's testimony been publickly produced, as of one that held +Fingal to be the work of Ossian. + +It is said, that some men of integrity profess to have heard parts of it, +but they all heard them when they were boys; and it was never said that +any of them could recite six lines. They remember names, and perhaps +some proverbial sentiments; and, having no distinct ideas, coin a +resemblance without an original. The persuasion of the Scots, however, +is far from universal; and in a question so capable of proof, why should +doubt be suffered to continue? The editor has been heard to say, that +part of the poem was received by him, in the Saxon character. He has +then found, by some peculiar fortune, an unwritten language, written in a +character which the natives probably never beheld. + +I have yet supposed no imposture but in the publisher, yet I am far from +certainty, that some translations have not been lately made, that may now +be obtruded as parts of the original work. Credulity on one part is a +strong temptation to deceit on the other, especially to deceit of which +no personal injury is the consequence, and which flatters the author with +his own ingenuity. The Scots have something to plead for their easy +reception of an improbable fiction; they are seduced by their fondness +for their supposed ancestors. A Scotchman must be a very sturdy +moralist, who does not love Scotland better than truth: he will always +love it better than inquiry; and if falsehood flatters his vanity, will +not be very diligent to detect it. Neither ought the English to be much +influenced by Scotch authority; for of the past and present state of the +whole Earse nation, the Lowlanders are at least as ignorant as ourselves. +To be ignorant is painful; but it is dangerous to quiet our uneasiness by +the delusive opiate of hasty persuasion. + +But this is the age, in which those who could not read, have been +supposed to write; in which the giants of antiquated romance have been +exhibited as realities. If we know little of the ancient Highlanders, +let us not fill the vacuity with Ossian. If we had not searched the +Magellanick regions, let us however forbear to people them with Patagons. + +Having waited some days at Armidel, we were flattered at last with a wind +that promised to convey us to Mull. We went on board a boat that was +taking in kelp, and left the Isle of Sky behind us. We were doomed to +experience, like others, the danger of trusting to the wind, which blew +against us, in a short time, with such violence, that we, being no +seasoned sailors, were willing to call it a tempest. I was sea-sick and +lay down. Mr. Boswell kept the deck. The master knew not well whither +to go; and our difficulties might perhaps have filled a very pathetick +page, had not Mr. Maclean of Col, who, with every other qualification +which insular life requires, is a very active and skilful mariner, +piloted us safe into his own harbour. + + + + +COL + + +In the morning we found ourselves under the Isle of Col, where we landed; +and passed the first day and night with Captain Maclean, a gentleman who +has lived some time in the East Indies; but having dethroned no Nabob, is +not too rich to settle in own country. + +Next day the wind was fair, and we might have had an easy passage to +Mull; but having, contrarily to our own intention, landed upon a new +Island, we would not leave it wholly unexamined. We therefore suffered +the vessel to depart without us, and trusted the skies for another wind. + +Mr. Maclean of Col, having a very numerous family, has, for some time +past, resided at Aberdeen, that he may superintend their education, and +leaves the young gentleman, our friend, to govern his dominions, with the +full power of a Highland Chief. By the absence of the Laird's family, +our entertainment was made more difficult, because the house was in a +great degree disfurnished; but young Col's kindness and activity supplied +all defects, and procured us more than sufficient accommodation. + +Here I first mounted a little Highland steed; and if there had been many +spectators, should have been somewhat ashamed of my figure in the march. +The horses of the Islands, as of other barren countries, are very low: +they are indeed musculous and strong, beyond what their size gives reason +for expecting; but a bulky man upon one of their backs makes a very +disproportionate appearance. + +From the habitation of Captain Maclean, we went to Grissipol, but called +by the way on Mr. Hector Maclean, the Minister of Col, whom we found in a +hut, that is, a house of only one floor, but with windows and chimney, +and not inelegantly furnished. Mr. Maclean has the reputation of great +learning: he is seventy-seven years old, but not infirm, with a look of +venerable dignity, excelling what I remember in any other man. + +His conversation was not unsuitable to his appearance. I lost some of +his good-will, by treating a heretical writer with more regard than, in +his opinion, a heretick could deserve. I honoured his orthodoxy, and did +not much censure his asperity. A man who has settled his opinions, does +not love to have the tranquillity of his conviction disturbed; and at +seventy-seven it is time to be in earnest. + +Mention was made of the Earse translation of the New Testament, which has +been lately published, and of which the learned Mr. Macqueen of Sky spoke +with commendation; but Mr. Maclean said he did not use it, because he +could make the text more intelligible to his auditors by an extemporary +version. From this I inferred, that the language of the translation was +not the language of the Isle of Col. + +He has no publick edifice for the exercise of his ministry; and can +officiate to no greater number, than a room can contain; and the room of +a hut is not very large. This is all the opportunity of worship that is +now granted to the inhabitants of the Island, some of whom must travel +thither perhaps ten miles. Two chapels were erected by their ancestors, +of which I saw the skeletons, which now stand faithful witnesses of the +triumph of the Reformation. + +The want of churches is not the only impediment to piety: there is +likewise a want of Ministers. A parish often contains more Islands than +one; and each Island can have the Minister only in its own turn. At +Raasa they had, I think, a right to service only every third Sunday. All +the provision made by the present ecclesiastical constitution, for the +inhabitants of about a hundred square miles, is a prayer and sermon in a +little room, once in three weeks: and even this parsimonious distribution +is at the mercy of the weather; and in those Islands where the Minister +does not reside, it is impossible to tell how many weeks or months may +pass without any publick exercise of religion. + + + + +GRISSIPOL IN COL + + +After a short conversation with Mr. Maclean, we went on to Grissipol, a +house and farm tenanted by Mr. Macsweyn, where I saw more of the ancient +life of a Highlander, than I had yet found. Mrs. Macsweyn could speak no +English, and had never seen any other places than the Islands of Sky, +Mull, and Col: but she was hospitable and good-humoured, and spread her +table with sufficient liberality. We found tea here, as in every other +place, but our spoons were of horn. + +The house of Grissipol stands by a brook very clear and quick; which is, +I suppose, one of the most copious streams in the Island. This place was +the scene of an action, much celebrated in the traditional history of +Col, but which probably no two relaters will tell alike. + +Some time, in the obscure ages, Macneil of Barra married the Lady +Maclean, who had the Isle of Col for her jointure. Whether Macneil +detained Col, when the widow was dead, or whether she lived so long as to +make her heirs impatient, is perhaps not now known. The younger son, +called John Gerves, or John the Giant, a man of great strength who was +then in Ireland, either for safety, or for education, dreamed of +recovering his inheritance; and getting some adventurers together, which, +in those unsettled times, was not hard to do, invaded Col. He was driven +away, but was not discouraged, and collecting new followers, in three +years came again with fifty men. In his way he stopped at Artorinish in +Morvern, where his uncle was prisoner to Macleod, and was then with his +enemies in a tent. Maclean took with him only one servant, whom he +ordered to stay at the outside; and where he should see the tent pressed +outwards, to strike with his dirk, it being the intention of Maclean, as +any man provoked him, to lay hands upon him, and push him back. He +entered the tent alone, with his Lochabar-axe in his hand, and struck +such terror into the whole assembly, that they dismissed his uncle. + +When he landed at Col, he saw the sentinel, who kept watch towards the +sea, running off to Grissipol, to give Macneil, who was there with a +hundred and twenty men, an account of the invasion. He told Macgill, one +of his followers, that if he intercepted that dangerous intelligence, by +catching the courier, he would give him certain lands in Mull. Upon this +promise, Macgill pursued the messenger, and either killed, or stopped +him; and his posterity, till very lately, held the lands in Mull. + +The alarm being thus prevented, he came unexpectedly upon Macneil. Chiefs +were in those days never wholly unprovided for an enemy. A fight ensued, +in which one of their followers is said to have given an extraordinary +proof of activity, by bounding backwards over the brook of Grissipol. +Macneil being killed, and many of his clan destroyed, Maclean took +possession of the Island, which the Macneils attempted to conquer by +another invasion, but were defeated and repulsed. + +Maclean, in his turn, invaded the estate of the Macneils, took the castle +of Brecacig, and conquered the Isle of Barra, which he held for seven +years, and then restored it to the heirs. + + + + +CASTLE OF COL + + +From Grissipol, Mr. Maclean conducted us to his father's seat; a neat new +house, erected near the old castle, I think, by the last proprietor. Here +we were allowed to take our station, and lived very commodiously, while +we waited for moderate weather and a fair wind, which we did not so soon +obtain, but we had time to get some information of the present state of +Col, partly by inquiry, and partly by occasional excursions. + +Col is computed to be thirteen miles in length, and three in breadth. +Both the ends are the property of the Duke of Argyle, but the middle +belongs to Maclean, who is called Col, as the only Laird. + +Col is not properly rocky; it is rather one continued rock, of a surface +much diversified with protuberances, and covered with a thin layer of +earth, which is often broken, and discovers the stone. Such a soil is +not for plants that strike deep roots; and perhaps in the whole Island +nothing has ever yet grown to the height of a table. The uncultivated +parts are clothed with heath, among which industry has interspersed spots +of grass and corn; but no attempt has yet been made to raise a tree. +Young Col, who has a very laudable desire of improving his patrimony, +purposes some time to plant an orchard; which, if it be sheltered by a +wall, may perhaps succeed. He has introduced the culture of turnips, of +which he has a field, where the whole work was performed by his own hand. +His intention is to provide food for his cattle in the winter. This +innovation was considered by Mr. Macsweyn as the idle project of a young +head, heated with English fancies; but he has now found that turnips will +really grow, and that hungry sheep and cows will really eat them. + +By such acquisitions as these, the Hebrides may in time rise above their +annual distress. Wherever heath will grow, there is reason to think +something better may draw nourishment; and by trying the production of +other places, plants will be found suitable to every soil. + +Col has many lochs, some of which have trouts and eels, and others have +never yet been stocked; another proof of the negligence of the Islanders, +who might take fish in the inland waters, when they cannot go to sea. + +Their quadrupeds are horses, cows, sheep, and goats. They have neither +deer, hares, nor rabbits. They have no vermin, except rats, which have +been lately brought thither by sea, as to other places; and are free from +serpents, frogs, and toads. + +The harvest in Col, and in Lewis, is ripe sooner than in Sky; and the +winter in Col is never cold, but very tempestuous. I know not that I +ever heard the wind so loud in any other place; and Mr. Boswell observed, +that its noise was all its own, for there were no trees to increase it. + +Noise is not the worst effect of the tempests; for they have thrown the +sand from the shore over a considerable part of the land; and it is said +still to encroach and destroy more and more pasture; but I am not of +opinion, that by any surveys or landmarks, its limits have been ever +fixed, or its progression ascertained. If one man has confidence enough +to say, that it advances, nobody can bring any proof to support him in +denying it. The reason why it is not spread to a greater extent, seems +to be, that the wind and rain come almost together, and that it is made +close and heavy by the wet before the storms can put it in motion. So +thick is the bed, and so small the particles, that if a traveller should +be caught by a sudden gust in dry weather, he would find it very +difficult to escape with life. + +For natural curiosities, I was shown only two great masses of stone, +which lie loose upon the ground; one on the top of a hill, and the other +at a small distance from the bottom. They certainly were never put into +their present places by human strength or skill; and though an earthquake +might have broken off the lower stone, and rolled it into the valley, no +account can be given of the other, which lies on the hill, unless, which +I forgot to examine, there be still near it some higher rock, from which +it might be torn. All nations have a tradition, that their earliest +ancestors were giants, and these stones are said to have been thrown up +and down by a giant and his mistress. There are so many more important +things, of which human knowledge can give no account, that it may be +forgiven us, if we speculate no longer on two stones in Col. + +This Island is very populous. About nine-and-twenty years ago, the +fencible men of Col were reckoned one hundred and forty, which is the +sixth of eight hundred and forty; and probably some contrived to be left +out of the list. The Minister told us, that a few years ago the +inhabitants were eight hundred, between the ages of seven and of seventy. +Round numbers are seldom exact. But in this case the authority is good, +and the errour likely to be little. If to the eight hundred be added +what the laws of computation require, they will be increased to at least +a thousand; and if the dimensions of the country have been accurately +related, every mile maintains more than twenty-five. + +This proportion of habitation is greater than the appearance of the +country seems to admit; for wherever the eye wanders, it sees much waste +and little cultivation. I am more inclined to extend the land, of which +no measure has ever been taken, than to diminish the people, who have +been really numbered. Let it be supposed, that a computed mile contains +a mile and a half, as was commonly found true in the mensuration of the +English roads, and we shall then allot nearly twelve to a mile, which +agrees much better with ocular observation. + +Here, as in Sky, and other Islands, are the Laird, the Tacksmen, and the +under tenants. + +Mr. Maclean, the Laird, has very extensive possessions, being proprietor, +not only of far the greater part of Col, but of the extensive Island of +Rum, and a very considerable territory in Mull. + +Rum is one of the larger Islands, almost square, and therefore of great +capacity in proportion to its sides. By the usual method of estimating +computed extent, it may contain more than a hundred and twenty square +miles. + +It originally belonged to Clanronald, and was purchased by Col; who, in +some dispute about the bargain, made Clanronald prisoner, and kept him +nine months in confinement. Its owner represents it as mountainous, +rugged, and barren. In the hills there are red deer. The horses are +very small, but of a breed eminent for beauty. Col, not long ago, bought +one of them from a tenant; who told him, that as he was of a shape +uncommonly elegant, he could not sell him but at a high price; and that +whoever had him should pay a guinea and a half. + +There are said to be in Barra a race of horses yet smaller, of which the +highest is not above thirty-six inches. + +The rent of Rum is not great. Mr. Maclean declared, that he should be +very rich, if he could set his land at two-pence halfpenny an acre. The +inhabitants are fifty-eight families, who continued Papists for some time +after the Laird became a Protestant. Their adherence to their old +religion was strengthened by the countenance of the Laird's sister, a +zealous Romanist, till one Sunday, as they were going to mass under the +conduct of their patroness, Maclean met them on the way, gave one of them +a blow on the head with a yellow stick, I suppose a cane, for which the +Earse had no name, and drove them to the kirk, from which they have never +since departed. Since the use of this method of conversion, the +inhabitants of Egg and Canna, who continue Papists, call the +Protestantism of Rum, the religion of the Yellow Stick. + +The only Popish Islands are Egg and Canna. Egg is the principal Island +of a parish, in which, though he has no congregation, the Protestant +Minister resides. I have heard of nothing curious in it, but the cave in +which a former generation of the Islanders were smothered by Macleod. + +If we had travelled with more leisure, it had not been fit to have +neglected the Popish Islands. Popery is favourable to ceremony; and +among ignorant nations, ceremony is the only preservative of tradition. +Since protestantism was extended to the savage parts of Scotland, it has +perhaps been one of the chief labours of the Ministers to abolish stated +observances, because they continued the remembrance of the former +religion. We therefore who came to hear old traditions, and see +antiquated manners, should probably have found them amongst the Papists. + +Canna, the other Popish Island, belongs to Clanronald. It is said not to +comprise more than twelve miles of land, and yet maintains as many +inhabitants as Rum. + +We were at Col under the protection of the young Laird, without any of +the distresses, which Mr. Pennant, in a fit of simple credulity, seems to +think almost worthy of an elegy by Ossian. Wherever we roved, we were +pleased to see the reverence with which his subjects regarded him. He +did not endeavour to dazzle them by any magnificence of dress: his only +distinction was a feather in his bonnet; but as soon as he appeared, they +forsook their work and clustered about him: he took them by the hand, and +they seemed mutually delighted. He has the proper disposition of a +Chieftain, and seems desirous to continue the customs of his house. The +bagpiper played regularly, when dinner was served, whose person and dress +made a good appearance; and he brought no disgrace upon the family of +Rankin, which has long supplied the Lairds of Col with hereditary musick. + +The Tacksmen of Col seem to live with less dignity and convenience than +those of Sky; where they had good houses, and tables not only plentiful, +but delicate. In Col only two houses pay the window tax; for only two +have six windows, which, I suppose, are the Laird's and Mr. Macsweyn's. + +The rents have, till within seven years, been paid in kind, but the +tenants finding that cattle and corn varied in their price, desired for +the future to give their landlord money; which, not having yet arrived at +the philosophy of commerce, they consider as being every year of the same +value. + +We were told of a particular mode of under-tenure. The Tacksman admits +some of his inferior neighbours to the cultivation of his grounds, on +condition that performing all the work, and giving a third part of the +seed, they shall keep a certain number of cows, sheep, and goats, and +reap a third part of the harvest. Thus by less than the tillage of two +acres they pay the rent of one. + +There are tenants below the rank of Tacksmen, that have got smaller +tenants under them; for in every place, where money is not the general +equivalent, there must be some whose labour is immediately paid by daily +food. + +A country that has no money, is by no means convenient for beggars, both +because such countries are commonly poor, and because charity requires +some trouble and some thought. A penny is easily given upon the first +impulse of compassion, or impatience of importunity; but few will +deliberately search their cupboards or their granaries to find out +something to give. A penny is likewise easily spent, but victuals, if +they are unprepared, require houseroom, and fire, and utensils, which the +beggar knows not where to find. + +Yet beggars there sometimes are, who wander from Island to Island. We +had, in our passage to Mull, the company of a woman and her child, who +had exhausted the charity of Col. The arrival of a beggar on an Island +is accounted a sinistrous event. Every body considers that he shall have +the less for what he gives away. Their alms, I believe, is generally +oatmeal. + +Near to Col is another Island called Tireye, eminent for its fertility. +Though it has but half the extent of Rum, it is so well peopled, that +there have appeared, not long ago, nine hundred and fourteen at a +funeral. The plenty of this Island enticed beggars to it, who seemed so +burdensome to the inhabitants, that a formal compact was drawn up, by +which they obliged themselves to grant no more relief to casual +wanderers, because they had among them an indigent woman of high birth, +whom they considered as entitled to all that they could spare. I have +read the stipulation, which was indited with juridical formality, but was +never made valid by regular subscription. + +If the inhabitants of Col have nothing to give, it is not that they are +oppressed by their landlord: their leases seem to be very profitable. One +farmer, who pays only seven pounds a year, has maintained seven daughters +and three sons, of whom the eldest is educated at Aberdeen for the +ministry; and now, at every vacation, opens a school in Col. + +Life is here, in some respects, improved beyond the condition of some +other Islands. In Sky what is wanted can only be bought, as the arrival +of some wandering pedlar may afford an opportunity; but in Col there is a +standing shop, and in Mull there are two. A shop in the Islands, as in +other places of little frequentation, is a repository of every thing +requisite for common use. Mr. Boswell's journal was filled, and he +bought some paper in Col. To a man that ranges the streets of London, +where he is tempted to contrive wants, for the pleasure of supplying +them, a shop affords no image worthy of attention; but in an Island, it +turns the balance of existence between good and evil. To live in +perpetual want of little things, is a state not indeed of torture, but of +constant vexation. I have in Sky had some difficulty to find ink for a +letter; and if a woman breaks her needle, the work is at a stop. + +As it is, the Islanders are obliged to content themselves with +succedaneous means for many common purposes. I have seen the chief man +of a very wide district riding with a halter for a bridle, and governing +his hobby with a wooden curb. + +The people of Col, however, do not want dexterity to supply some of their +necessities. Several arts which make trades, and demand apprenticeships +in great cities, are here the practices of daily economy. In every house +candles are made, both moulded and dipped. Their wicks are small shreds +of linen cloth. They all know how to extract from the Cuddy, oil for +their lamps. They all tan skins, and make brogues. + +As we travelled through Sky, we saw many cottages, but they very +frequently stood single on the naked ground. In Col, where the hills +opened a place convenient for habitation, we found a petty village, of +which every hut had a little garden adjoining; thus they made an +appearance of social commerce and mutual offices, and of some attention +to convenience and future supply. There is not in the Western Islands +any collection of buildings that can make pretensions to be called a +town, except in the Isle of Lewis, which I have not seen. + +If Lewis is distinguished by a town, Col has also something peculiar. The +young Laird has attempted what no Islander perhaps ever thought on. He +has begun a road capable of a wheel-carriage. He has carried it about a +mile, and will continue it by annual elongation from his house to the +harbour. + +Of taxes here is no reason for complaining; they are paid by a very easy +composition. The malt-tax for Col is twenty shillings. Whisky is very +plentiful: there are several stills in the Island, and more is made than +the inhabitants consume. + +The great business of insular policy is now to keep the people in their +own country. As the world has been let in upon them, they have heard of +happier climates, and less arbitrary government; and if they are +disgusted, have emissaries among them ready to offer them land and +houses, as a reward for deserting their Chief and clan. Many have +departed both from the main of Scotland, and from the Islands; and all +that go may be considered as subjects lost to the British crown; for a +nation scattered in the boundless regions of America resembles rays +diverging from a focus. All the rays remain, but the heat is gone. Their +power consisted in their concentration: when they are dispersed, they +have no effect. + +It may be thought that they are happier by the change; but they are not +happy as a nation, for they are a nation no longer. As they contribute +not to the prosperity of any community, they must want that security, +that dignity, that happiness, whatever it be, which a prosperous +community throws back upon individuals. + +The inhabitants of Col have not yet learned to be weary of their heath +and rocks, but attend their agriculture and their dairies, without +listening to American seducements. + +There are some however who think that this emigration has raised terrour +disproportionate to its real evil; and that it is only a new mode of +doing what was always done. The Highlands, they say, never maintained +their natural inhabitants; but the people, when they found themselves too +numerous, instead of extending cultivation, provided for themselves by a +more compendious method, and sought better fortune in other countries. +They did not indeed go away in collective bodies, but withdrew invisibly, +a few at a time; but the whole number of fugitives was not less, and the +difference between other times and this, is only the same as between +evaporation and effusion. + +This is plausible, but I am afraid it is not true. Those who went +before, if they were not sensibly missed, as the argument supposes, must +have gone either in less number, or in a manner less detrimental, than at +present; because formerly there was no complaint. Those who then left +the country were generally the idle dependants on overburdened families, +or men who had no property; and therefore carried away only themselves. +In the present eagerness of emigration, families, and almost communities, +go away together. Those who were considered as prosperous and wealthy +sell their stock and carry away the money. Once none went away but the +useless and poor; in some parts there is now reason to fear, that none +will stay but those who are too poor to remove themselves, and too +useless to be removed at the cost of others. + +Of antiquity there is not more knowledge in Col than in other places; but +every where something may be gleaned. + +How ladies were portioned, when there was no money, it would be difficult +for an Englishman to guess. In 1649, Maclean of Dronart in Mull married +his sister Fingala to Maclean of Coll, with a hundred and eighty kine; +and stipulated, that if she became a widow, her jointure should be three +hundred and sixty. I suppose some proportionate tract of land was +appropriated to their pasturage. + +The disposition to pompous and expensive funerals, which has at one time +or other prevailed in most parts of the civilized world, is not yet +suppressed in the Islands, though some of the ancient solemnities are +worn away, and singers are no longer hired to attend the procession. +Nineteen years ago, at the burial of the Laird of Col, were killed thirty +cows, and about fifty sheep. The number of the cows is positively told, +and we must suppose other victuals in like proportion. + +Mr. Maclean informed us of an odd game, of which he did not tell the +original, but which may perhaps be used in other places, where the reason +of it is not yet forgot. At New-year's eve, in the hall or castle of the +Laird, where, at festal seasons, there may be supposed a very numerous +company, one man dresses himself in a cow's hide, upon which other men +beat with sticks. He runs with all this noise round the house, which all +the company quits in a counterfeited fright: the door is then shut. At +New-year's eve there is no great pleasure to be had out of doors in the +Hebrides. They are sure soon to recover from their terrour enough to +solicit for re-admission; which, for the honour of poetry, is not to be +obtained but by repeating a verse, with which those that are knowing and +provident take care to be furnished. + +Very near the house of Maclean stands the castle of Col, which was the +mansion of the Laird, till the house was built. It is built upon a rock, +as Mr. Boswell remarked, that it might not be mined. It is very strong, +and having been not long uninhabited, is yet in repair. On the wall was, +not long ago, a stone with an inscription, importing, that 'if any man of +the clan of Maclonich shall appear before this castle, though he come at +midnight, with a man's head in his hand, he shall there find safety and +protection against all but the King.' + +This is an old Highland treaty made upon a very memorable occasion. +Maclean, the son of John Gerves, who recovered Col, and conquered Barra, +had obtained, it is said, from James the Second, a grant of the lands of +Lochiel, forfeited, I suppose, by some offence against the state. + +Forfeited estates were not in those days quietly resigned; Maclean, +therefore, went with an armed force to seize his new possessions, and, I +know not for what reason, took his wife with him. The Camerons rose in +defence of their Chief, and a battle was fought at the head of Loch Ness, +near the place where Fort Augustus now stands, in which Lochiel obtained +the victory, and Maclean, with his followers, was defeated and destroyed. + +The lady fell into the hands of the conquerours, and being found pregnant +was placed in the custody of Maclonich, one of a tribe or family branched +from Cameron, with orders, if she brought a boy, to destroy him, if a +girl, to spare her. + +Maclonich's wife, who was with child likewise, had a girl about the same +time at which lady Maclean brought a boy, and Maclonich with more +generosity to his captive, than fidelity to his trust, contrived that the +children should be changed. + +Maclean being thus preserved from death, in time recovered his original +patrimony; and in gratitude to his friend, made his castle a place of +refuge to any of the clan that should think himself in danger; and, as a +proof of reciprocal confidence, Maclean took upon himself and his +posterity the care of educating the heir of Maclonich. + +This story, like all other traditions of the Highlands, is variously +related, but though some circumstances are uncertain, the principal fact +is true. Maclean undoubtedly owed his preservation to Maclonich; for the +treaty between the two families has been strictly observed: it did not +sink into disuse and oblivion, but continued in its full force while the +chieftains retained their power. I have read a demand of protection, +made not more than thirty-seven years ago, for one of the Maclonichs, +named Ewen Cameron, who had been accessory to the death of Macmartin, and +had been banished by Lochiel, his lord, for a certain term; at the +expiration of which he returned married from France, but the Macmartins, +not satisfied with the punishment, when he attempted to settle, still +threatened him with vengeance. He therefore asked, and obtained shelter +in the Isle of Col. + +The power of protection subsists no longer, but what the law permits is +yet continued, and Maclean of Col now educates the heir of Maclonich. + +There still remains in the Islands, though it is passing fast away, the +custom of fosterage. A Laird, a man of wealth and eminence, sends his +child, either male or female, to a tacksman, or tenant, to be fostered. +It is not always his own tenant, but some distant friend that obtains +this honour; for an honour such a trust is very reasonably thought. The +terms of fosterage seem to vary in different islands. In Mull, the +father sends with his child a certain number of cows, to which the same +number is added by the fosterer. The father appropriates a +proportionable extent of ground, without rent, for their pasturage. If +every cow brings a calf, half belongs to the fosterer, and half to the +child; but if there be only one calf between two cows, it is the child's, +and when the child returns to the parent, it is accompanied by all the +cows given, both by the father and by the fosterer, with half of the +increase of the stock by propagation. These beasts are considered as a +portion, and called Macalive cattle, of which the father has the produce, +but is supposed not to have the full property, but to owe the same number +to the child, as a portion to the daughter, or a stock for the son. + +Children continue with the fosterer perhaps six years, and cannot, where +this is the practice, be considered as burdensome. The fosterer, if he +gives four cows, receives likewise four, and has, while the child +continues with him, grass for eight without rent, with half the calves, +and all the milk, for which he pays only four cows when he dismisses his +Dalt, for that is the name for a foster child. + +Fosterage is, I believe, sometimes performed upon more liberal terms. Our +friend, the young Laird of Col, was fostered by Macsweyn of Grissipol. +Macsweyn then lived a tenant to Sir James Macdonald in the Isle of Sky; +and therefore Col, whether he sent him cattle or not, could grant him no +land. The Dalt, however, at his return, brought back a considerable +number of Macalive cattle, and of the friendship so formed there have +been good effects. When Macdonald raised his rents, Macsweyn was, like +other tenants, discontented, and, resigning his farm, removed from Sky to +Col, and was established at Grissipol. + +These observations we made by favour of the contrary wind that drove us +to Col, an Island not often visited; for there is not much to amuse +curiosity, or to attract avarice. + +The ground has been hitherto, I believe, used chiefly for pasturage. In +a district, such as the eye can command, there is a general herdsman, who +knows all the cattle of the neighbourhood, and whose station is upon a +hill, from which he surveys the lower grounds; and if one man's cattle +invade another's grass, drives them back to their own borders. But other +means of profit begin to be found; kelp is gathered and burnt, and sloops +are loaded with the concreted ashes. Cultivation is likely to be +improved by the skill and encouragement of the present heir, and the +inhabitants of those obscure vallies will partake of the general progress +of life. + +The rents of the parts which belong to the Duke of Argyle, have been +raised from fifty-five to one hundred and five pounds, whether from the +land or the sea I cannot tell. The bounties of the sea have lately been +so great, that a farm in Southuist has risen in ten years from a rent of +thirty pounds to one hundred and eighty. + +He who lives in Col, and finds himself condemned to solitary meals, and +incommunicable reflection, will find the usefulness of that middle order +of Tacksmen, which some who applaud their own wisdom are wishing to +destroy. Without intelligence man is not social, he is only gregarious; +and little intelligence will there be, where all are constrained to daily +labour, and every mind must wait upon the hand. + +After having listened for some days to the tempest, and wandered about +the Island till our curiosity was satisfied, we began to think about our +departure. To leave Col in October was not very easy. We however found +a sloop which lay on the coast to carry kelp; and for a price which we +thought levied upon our necessities, the master agreed to carry us to +Mull, whence we might readily pass back to Scotland. + + + + +MULL + + +As we were to catch the first favourable breath, we spent the night not +very elegantly nor pleasantly in the vessel, and were landed next day at +Tobor Morar, a port in Mull, which appears to an unexperienced eye formed +for the security of ships; for its mouth is closed by a small island, +which admits them through narrow channels into a bason sufficiently +capacious. They are indeed safe from the sea, but there is a hollow +between the mountains, through which the wind issues from the land with +very mischievous violence. + +There was no danger while we were there, and we found several other +vessels at anchor; so that the port had a very commercial appearance. + +The young Laird of Col, who had determined not to let us lose his +company, while there was any difficulty remaining, came over with us. His +influence soon appeared; for he procured us horses, and conducted us to +the house of Doctor Maclean, where we found very kind entertainment, and +very pleasing conversation. Miss Maclean, who was born, and had been +bred at Glasgow, having removed with her father to Mull, added to other +qualifications, a great knowledge of the Earse language, which she had +not learned in her childhood, but gained by study, and was the only +interpreter of Earse poetry that I could ever find. + +The Isle of Mull is perhaps in extent the third of the Hebrides. It is +not broken by waters, nor shot into promontories, but is a solid and +compact mass, of breadth nearly equal to its length. Of the dimensions +of the larger Islands, there is no knowledge approaching to exactness. I +am willing to estimate it as containing about three hundred square miles. + +Mull had suffered like Sky by the black winter of seventy-one, in which, +contrary to all experience, a continued frost detained the snow eight +weeks upon the ground. Against a calamity never known, no provision had +been made, and the people could only pine in helpless misery. One tenant +was mentioned, whose cattle perished to the value of three hundred +pounds; a loss which probably more than the life of man is necessary to +repair. In countries like these, the descriptions of famine become +intelligible. Where by vigorous and artful cultivation of a soil +naturally fertile, there is commonly a superfluous growth both of grain +and grass; where the fields are crowded with cattle; and where every hand +is able to attract wealth from a distance, by making something that +promotes ease, or gratifies vanity, a dear year produces only a +comparative want, which is rather seen than felt, and which terminates +commonly in no worse effect, than that of condemning the lower orders of +the community to sacrifice a little luxury to convenience, or at most a +little convenience to necessity. + +But where the climate is unkind, and the ground penurious, so that the +most fruitful years will produce only enough to maintain themselves; +where life unimproved, and unadorned, fades into something little more +than naked existence, and every one is busy for himself, without any arts +by which the pleasure of others may be increased; if to the daily burden +of distress any additional weight be added, nothing remains but to +despair and die. In Mull the disappointment of a harvest, or a murrain +among the cattle, cuts off the regular provision; and they who have no +manufactures can purchase no part of the superfluities of other +countries. The consequence of a bad season is here not scarcity, but +emptiness; and they whose plenty, was barely a supply of natural and +present need, when that slender stock fails, must perish with hunger. + +All travel has its advantages. If the passenger visits better countries, +he may learn to improve his own, and if fortune carries him to worse, he +may learn to enjoy it. + +Mr. Boswell's curiosity strongly impelled him to survey Iona, or +Icolmkil, which was to the early ages the great school of Theology, and +is supposed to have been the place of sepulture for the ancient kings. I, +though less eager, did not oppose him. + +That we might perform this expedition, it was necessary to traverse a +great part of Mull. We passed a day at Dr. Maclean's, and could have +been well contented to stay longer. But Col provided us horses, and we +pursued our journey. This was a day of inconvenience, for the country is +very rough, and my horse was but little. We travelled many hours through +a tract, black and barren, in which, however, there were the reliques of +humanity; for we found a ruined chapel in our way. + +It is natural, in traversing this gloom of desolation, to inquire, +whether something may not be done to give nature a more cheerful face, +and whether those hills and moors that afford heath cannot with a little +care and labour bear something better? The first thought that occurs is +to cover them with trees, for that in many of these naked regions trees +will grow, is evident, because stumps and roots are yet remaining; and +the speculatist hastily proceeds to censure that negligence and laziness +that has omitted for so long a time so easy an improvement. + +To drop seeds into the ground, and attend their growth, requires little +labour and no skill. He who remembers that all the woods, by which the +wants of man have been supplied from the Deluge till now, were self-sown, +will not easily be persuaded to think all the art and preparation +necessary, which the Georgick writers prescribe to planters. Trees +certainly have covered the earth with very little culture. They wave +their tops among the rocks of Norway, and might thrive as well in the +Highlands and Hebrides. + +But there is a frightful interval between the seed and timber. He that +calculates the growth of trees, has the unwelcome remembrance of the +shortness of life driven hard upon him. He knows that he is doing what +will never benefit himself; and when he rejoices to see the stem rise, is +disposed to repine that another shall cut it down. + +Plantation is naturally the employment of a mind unburdened with care, +and vacant to futurity, saturated with present good, and at leisure to +derive gratification from the prospect of posterity. He that pines with +hunger, is in little care how others shall be fed. The poor man is +seldom studious to make his grandson rich. It may be soon discovered, +why in a place, which hardly supplies the cravings of necessity, there +has been little attention to the delights of fancy, and why distant +convenience is unregarded, where the thoughts are turned with incessant +solicitude upon every possibility of immediate advantage. + +Neither is it quite so easy to raise large woods, as may be conceived. +Trees intended to produce timber must be sown where they are to grow; and +ground sown with trees must be kept useless for a long time, inclosed at +an expence from which many will be discouraged by the remoteness of the +profit, and watched with that attention, which, in places where it is +most needed, will neither be given nor bought. That it cannot be plowed +is evident; and if cattle be suffered to graze upon it, they will devour +the plants as fast as they rise. Even in coarser countries, where herds +and flocks are not fed, not only the deer and the wild goats will browse +upon them, but the hare and rabbit will nibble them. It is therefore +reasonable to believe, what I do not remember any naturalist to have +remarked, that there was a time when the world was very thinly inhabited +by beasts, as well as men, and that the woods had leisure to rise high +before animals had bred numbers sufficient to intercept them. + +Sir James Macdonald, in part of the wastes of his territory, set or sowed +trees, to the number, as I have been told, of several millions, +expecting, doubtless, that they would grow up into future navies and +cities; but for want of inclosure, and of that care which is always +necessary, and will hardly ever be taken, all his cost and labour have +been lost, and the ground is likely to continue an useless heath. + +Having not any experience of a journey in Mull, we had no doubt of +reaching the sea by day-light, and therefore had not left Dr. Maclean's +very early. We travelled diligently enough, but found the country, for +road there was none, very difficult to pass. We were always struggling +with some obstruction or other, and our vexation was not balanced by any +gratification of the eye or mind. We were now long enough acquainted +with hills and heath to have lost the emotion that they once raised, +whether pleasing or painful, and had our mind employed only on our own +fatigue. We were however sure, under Col's protection, of escaping all +real evils. There was no house in Mull to which he could not introduce +us. He had intended to lodge us, for that night, with a gentleman that +lived upon the coast, but discovered on the way, that he then lay in bed +without hope of life. + +We resolved not to embarrass a family, in a time of so much sorrow, if +any other expedient could he found; and as the Island of Ulva was over- +against us, it was determined that we should pass the strait and have +recourse to the Laird, who, like the other gentlemen of the Islands, was +known to Col. We expected to find a ferry-boat, but when at last we came +to the water, the boat was gone. + +We were now again at a stop. It was the sixteenth of October, a time +when it is not convenient to sleep in the Hebrides without a cover, and +there was no house within our reach, but that which we had already +declined. + + + + +ULVA + + +While we stood deliberating, we were happily espied from an Irish ship, +that lay at anchor in the strait. The master saw that we wanted a +passage, and with great civility sent us his boat, which quickly conveyed +us to Ulva, where we were very liberally entertained by Mr. Macquarry. + +To Ulva we came in the dark, and left it before noon the next day. A +very exact description therefore will not be expected. We were told, +that it is an Island of no great extent, rough and barren, inhabited by +the Macquarrys; a clan not powerful nor numerous, but of antiquity, which +most other families are content to reverence. The name is supposed to be +a depravation of some other; for the Earse language does not afford it +any etymology. Macquarry is proprietor both of Ulva and some adjacent +Islands, among which is Staffa, so lately raised to renown by Mr. Banks. + +When the Islanders were reproached with their ignorance, or insensibility +of the wonders of Staffa, they had not much to reply. They had indeed +considered it little, because they had always seen it; and none but +philosophers, nor they always, are struck with wonder, otherwise than by +novelty. How would it surprise an unenlightened ploughman, to hear a +company of sober men, inquiring by what power the hand tosses a stone, or +why the stone, when it is tossed, falls to the ground! + +Of the ancestors of Macquarry, who thus lies hid in his unfrequented +Island, I have found memorials in all places where they could be +expected. + +Inquiring after the reliques of former manners, I found that in Ulva, +and, I think, no where else, is continued the payment of the Mercheta +Mulierum; a fine in old times due to the Laird at the marriage of a +virgin. The original of this claim, as of our tenure of Borough English, +is variously delivered. It is pleasant to find ancient customs in old +families. This payment, like others, was, for want of money, made +anciently in the produce of the land. Macquarry was used to demand a +sheep, for which he now takes a crown, by that inattention to the +uncertain proportion between the value and the denomination of money, +which has brought much disorder into Europe. A sheep has always the same +power of supplying human wants, but a crown will bring at one time more, +at another less. + +Ulva was not neglected by the piety of ardent times: it has still to show +what was once a church. + + + + +INCH KENNETH + + +In the morning we went again into the boat, and were landed on Inch +Kenneth, an Island about a mile long, and perhaps half a mile broad, +remarkable for pleasantness and fertility. It is verdant and grassy, and +fit both for pasture and tillage; but it has no trees. Its only +inhabitants were Sir Allan Maclean and two young ladies, his daughters, +with their servants. + +Romance does not often exhibit a scene that strikes the imagination more +than this little desert in these depths of Western obscurity, occupied +not by a gross herdsman, or amphibious fisherman, but by a gentleman and +two ladies, of high birth, polished manners and elegant conversation, +who, in a habitation raised not very far above the ground, but furnished +with unexpected neatness and convenience, practised all the kindness of +hospitality, and refinement of courtesy. + +Sir Allan is the Chieftain of the great clan of Maclean, which is said to +claim the second place among the Highland families, yielding only to +Macdonald. Though by the misconduct of his ancestors, most of the +extensive territory, which would have descended to him, has been +alienated, he still retains much of the dignity and authority of his +birth. When soldiers were lately wanting for the American war, +application was made to Sir Allan, and he nominated a hundred men for the +service, who obeyed the summons, and bore arms under his command. + +He had then, for some time, resided with the young ladies in Inch +Kenneth, where he lives not only with plenty, but with elegance, having +conveyed to his cottage a collection of books, and what else is necessary +to make his hours pleasant. + +When we landed, we were met by Sir Allan and the Ladies, accompanied by +Miss Macquarry, who had passed some time with them, and now returned to +Ulva with her father. + +We all walked together to the mansion, where we found one cottage for Sir +Allan, and I think two more for the domesticks and the offices. We +entered, and wanted little that palaces afford. Our room was neatly +floored, and well lighted; and our dinner, which was dressed in one of +the other huts, was plentiful and delicate. + +In the afternoon Sir Allan reminded us, that the day was Sunday, which he +never suffered to pass without some religious distinction, and invited us +to partake in his acts of domestick worship; which I hope neither Mr. +Boswell nor myself will be suspected of a disposition to refuse. The +elder of the Ladies read the English service. + +Inch Kenneth was once a seminary of ecclesiasticks, subordinate, I +suppose, to Icolmkill. Sir Allan had a mind to trace the foundations of +the college, but neither I nor Mr. Boswell, who bends a keener eye on +vacancy, were able to perceive them. + +Our attention, however, was sufficiently engaged by a venerable chapel, +which stands yet entire, except that the roof is gone. It is about sixty +feet in length, and thirty in breadth. On one side of the altar is a bas +relief of the blessed Virgin, and by it lies a little bell; which, though +cracked, and without a clapper, has remained there for ages, guarded only +by the venerableness of the place. The ground round the chapel is +covered with gravestones of Chiefs and ladies; and still continues to be +a place of sepulture. + +Inch Kenneth is a proper prelude to Icolmkill. It was not without some +mournful emotion that we contemplated the ruins of religious structures +and the monuments of the dead. + +On the next day we took a more distinct view of the place, and went with +the boat to see oysters in the bed, out of which the boatmen forced up as +many as were wanted. Even Inch Kenneth has a subordinate Island, named +Sandiland, I suppose in contempt, where we landed, and found a rock, with +a surface of perhaps four acres, of which one is naked stone, another +spread with sand and shells, some of which I picked up for their glossy +beauty, and two covered with a little earth and grass, on which Sir Allan +has a few sheep. I doubt not but when there was a college at Inch +Kenneth, there was a hermitage upon Sandiland. + +Having wandered over those extensive plains, we committed ourselves again +to the winds and waters; and after a voyage of about ten minutes, in +which we met with nothing very observable, were again safe upon dry +ground. + +We told Sir Allan our desire of visiting Icolmkill, and entreated him to +give us his protection, and his company. He thought proper to hesitate a +little, but the Ladies hinted, that as they knew he would not finally +refuse, he would do better if he preserved the grace of ready compliance. +He took their advice, and promised to carry us on the morrow in his boat. + +We passed the remaining part of the day in such amusements as were in our +power. Sir Allan related the American campaign, and at evening one of +the Ladies played on her harpsichord, while Col and Mr. Boswell danced a +Scottish reel with the other. + +We could have been easily persuaded to a longer stay upon Inch Kenneth, +but life will not be all passed in delight. The session at Edinburgh was +approaching, from which Mr. Boswell could not be absent. + +In the morning our boat was ready: it was high and strong. Sir Allan +victualled it for the day, and provided able rowers. We now parted from +the young Laird of Col, who had treated us with so much kindness, and +concluded his favours by consigning us to Sir Allan. Here we had the +last embrace of this amiable man, who, while these pages were preparing +to attest his virtues, perished in the passage between Ulva and Inch +Kenneth. + +Sir Allan, to whom the whole region was well known, told us of a very +remarkable cave, to which he would show us the way. We had been +disappointed already by one cave, and were not much elevated by the +expectation of another. + +It was yet better to see it, and we stopped at some rocks on the coast of +Mull. The mouth is fortified by vast fragments of stone, over which we +made our way, neither very nimbly, nor very securely. The place, +however, well repaid our trouble. The bottom, as far as the flood rushes +in, was encumbered with large pebbles, but as we advanced was spread over +with smooth sand. The breadth is about forty-five feet: the roof rises +in an arch, almost regular, to a height which we could not measure; but I +think it about thirty feet. + +This part of our curiosity was nearly frustrated; for though we went to +see a cave, and knew that caves are dark, we forgot to carry tapers, and +did not discover our omission till we were wakened by our wants. Sir +Allan then sent one of the boatmen into the country, who soon returned +with one little candle. We were thus enabled to go forward, but could +not venture far. Having passed inward from the sea to a great depth, we +found on the right hand a narrow passage, perhaps not more than six feet +wide, obstructed by great stones, over which we climbed and came into a +second cave, in breadth twenty-five feet. The air in this apartment was +very warm, but not oppressive, nor loaded with vapours. Our light showed +no tokens of a feculent or corrupted atmosphere. Here was a square +stone, called, as we are told, Fingal's Table. + +If we had been provided with torches, we should have proceeded in our +search, though we had already gone as far as any former adventurer, +except some who are reported never to have returned; and, measuring our +way back, we found it more than a hundred and sixty yards, the eleventh +part of a mile. + +Our measures were not critically exact, having been made with a walking +pole, such as it is convenient to carry in these rocky countries, of +which I guessed the length by standing against it. In this there could +be no great errour, nor do I much doubt but the Highlander, whom we +employed, reported the number right. More nicety however is better, and +no man should travel unprovided with instruments for taking heights and +distances. + +There is yet another cause of errour not always easily surmounted, though +more dangerous to the veracity of itinerary narratives, than imperfect +mensuration. An observer deeply impressed by any remarkable spectacle, +does not suppose, that the traces will soon vanish from his mind, and +having commonly no great convenience for writing, defers the description +to a time of more leisure, and better accommodation. + +He who has not made the experiment, or who is not accustomed to require +rigorous accuracy from himself, will scarcely believe how much a few +hours take from certainty of knowledge, and distinctness of imagery; how +the succession of objects will be broken, how separate parts will be +confused, and how many particular features and discriminations will be +compressed and conglobated into one gross and general idea. + +To this dilatory notation must be imputed the false relations of +travellers, where there is no imaginable motive to deceive. They trusted +to memory, what cannot be trusted safely but to the eye, and told by +guess what a few hours before they had known with certainty. Thus it was +that Wheeler and Spon described with irreconcilable contrariety things +which they surveyed together, and which both undoubtedly designed to show +as they saw them. + +When we had satisfied our curiosity in the cave, so far as our penury of +light permitted us, we clambered again to our boat, and proceeded along +the coast of Mull to a headland, called Atun, remarkable for the columnar +form of the rocks, which rise in a series of pilasters, with a degree of +regularity, which Sir Allan thinks not less worthy of curiosity than the +shore of Staffa. + +Not long after we came to another range of black rocks, which had the +appearance of broken pilasters, set one behind another to a great depth. +This place was chosen by Sir Allan for our dinner. We were easily +accommodated with seats, for the stones were of all heights, and +refreshed ourselves and our boatmen, who could have no other rest till we +were at Icolmkill. + +The evening was now approaching, and we were yet at a considerable +distance from the end of our expedition. We could therefore stop no more +to make remarks in the way, but set forward with some degree of +eagerness. The day soon failed us, and the moon presented a very solemn +and pleasing scene. The sky was clear, so that the eye commanded a wide +circle: the sea was neither still nor turbulent: the wind neither silent +nor loud. We were never far from one coast or another, on which, if the +weather had become violent, we could have found shelter, and therefore +contemplated at ease the region through which we glided in the +tranquillity of the night, and saw now a rock and now an island grow +gradually conspicuous and gradually obscure. I committed the fault which +I have just been censuring, in neglecting, as we passed, to note the +series of this placid navigation. + +We were very near an Island, called Nun's Island, perhaps from an ancient +convent. Here is said to have been dug the stone that was used in the +buildings of Icolmkill. Whether it is now inhabited we could not stay to +inquire. + +At last we came to Icolmkill, but found no convenience for landing. Our +boat could not be forced very near the dry ground, and our Highlanders +carried us over the water. + +We were now treading that illustrious Island, which was once the luminary +of the Caledonian regions, whence savage clans and roving barbarians +derived the benefits of knowledge, and the blessings of religion. To +abstract the mind from all local emotion would be impossible, if it were +endeavoured, and would be foolish, if it were possible. Whatever +withdraws us from the power of our senses; whatever makes the past, the +distant, or the future predominate over the present, advances us in the +dignity of thinking beings. Far from me and from my friends, be such +frigid philosophy as may conduct us indifferent and unmoved over any +ground which has been dignified by wisdom, bravery, or virtue. That man +is little to be envied, whose patriotism would not gain force upon the +plain of Marathon, or whose piety would not grow warmer among the ruins +of Iona! + +We came too late to visit monuments: some care was necessary for +ourselves. Whatever was in the Island, Sir Allan could command, for the +inhabitants were Macleans; but having little they could not give us much. +He went to the headman of the Island, whom Fame, but Fame delights in +amplifying, represents as worth no less than fifty pounds. He was +perhaps proud enough of his guests, but ill prepared for our +entertainment; however, he soon produced more provision than men not +luxurious require. Our lodging was next to be provided. We found a barn +well stocked with hay, and made our beds as soft as we could. + +In the morning we rose and surveyed the place. The churches of the two +convents are both standing, though unroofed. They were built of unhewn +stone, but solid, and not inelegant. I brought away rude measures of the +buildings, such as I cannot much trust myself, inaccurately taken, and +obscurely noted. Mr. Pennant's delineations, which are doubtless exact, +have made my unskilful description less necessary. + +The episcopal church consists of two parts, separated by the belfry, and +built at different times. The original church had, like others, the +altar at one end, and tower at the other: but as it grew too small, +another building of equal dimension was added, and the tower then was +necessarily in the middle. + +That these edifices are of different ages seems evident. The arch of the +first church is Roman, being part of a circle; that of the additional +building is pointed, and therefore Gothick, or Saracenical; the tower is +firm, and wants only to be floored and covered. + +Of the chambers or cells belonging to the monks, there are some walls +remaining, but nothing approaching to a complete apartment. + +The bottom of the church is so incumbered with mud and rubbish, that we +could make no discoveries of curious inscriptions, and what there are +have been already published. The place is said to be known where the +black stones lie concealed, on which the old Highland Chiefs, when they +made contracts and alliances, used to take the oath, which was considered +as more sacred than any other obligation, and which could not be violated +without the blackest infamy. In those days of violence and rapine, it +was of great importance to impress upon savage minds the sanctity of an +oath, by some particular and extraordinary circumstances. They would not +have recourse to the black stones, upon small or common occasions, and +when they had established their faith by this tremendous sanction, +inconstancy and treachery were no longer feared. + +The chapel of the nunnery is now used by the inhabitants as a kind of +general cow-house, and the bottom is consequently too miry for +examination. Some of the stones which covered the later abbesses have +inscriptions, which might yet be read, if the chapel were cleansed. The +roof of this, as of all the other buildings, is totally destroyed, not +only because timber quickly decays when it is neglected, but because in +an island utterly destitute of wood, it was wanted for use, and was +consequently the first plunder of needy rapacity. + +The chancel of the nuns' chapel is covered with an arch of stone, to +which time has done no injury; and a small apartment communicating with +the choir, on the north side, like the chapter-house in cathedrals, +roofed with stone in the same manner, is likewise entire. + +In one of the churches was a marble altar, which the superstition of the +inhabitants has destroyed. Their opinion was, that a fragment of this +stone was a defence against shipwrecks, fire, and miscarriages. In one +corner of the church the bason for holy water is yet unbroken. + +The cemetery of the nunnery was, till very lately, regarded with such +reverence, that only women were buried in it. These reliques of +veneration always produce some mournful pleasure. I could have forgiven +a great injury more easily than the violation of this imaginary sanctity. + +South of the chapel stand the walls of a large room, which was probably +the hall, or refectory of the nunnery. This apartment is capable of +repair. Of the rest of the convent there are only fragments. + +Besides the two principal churches, there are, I think, five chapels yet +standing, and three more remembered. There are also crosses, of which +two bear the names of St. John and St. Matthew. + +A large space of ground about these consecrated edifices is covered with +gravestones, few of which have any inscription. He that surveys it, +attended by an insular antiquary, may be told where the Kings of many +nations are buried, and if he loves to sooth his imagination with the +thoughts that naturally rise in places where the great and the powerful +lie mingled with the dust, let him listen in submissive silence; for if +he asks any questions, his delight is at an end. + +Iona has long enjoyed, without any very credible attestation, the honour +of being reputed the cemetery of the Scottish Kings. It is not unlikely, +that, when the opinion of local sanctity was prevalent, the Chieftains of +the Isles, and perhaps some of the Norwegian or Irish princes were +reposited in this venerable enclosure. But by whom the subterraneous +vaults are peopled is now utterly unknown. The graves are very numerous, +and some of them undoubtedly contain the remains of men, who did not +expect to be so soon forgotten. + +Not far from this awful ground, may be traced the garden of the +monastery: the fishponds are yet discernible, and the aqueduct, which +supplied them, is still in use. + +There remains a broken building, which is called the Bishop's house, I +know not by what authority. It was once the residence of some man above +the common rank, for it has two stories and a chimney. We were shewn a +chimney at the other end, which was only a nich, without perforation, but +so much does antiquarian credulity, or patriotick vanity prevail, that it +was not much more safe to trust the eye of our instructor than the +memory. + +There is in the Island one house more, and only one, that has a chimney: +we entered it, and found it neither wanting repair nor inhabitants; but +to the farmers, who now possess it, the chimney is of no great value; for +their fire was made on the floor, in the middle of the room, and +notwithstanding the dignity of their mansion, they rejoiced, like their +neighbours, in the comforts of smoke. + +It is observed, that ecclesiastical colleges are always in the most +pleasant and fruitful places. While the world allowed the monks their +choice, it is surely no dishonour that they chose well. This Island is +remarkably fruitful. The village near the churches is said to contain +seventy families, which, at five in a family, is more than a hundred +inhabitants to a mile. There are perhaps other villages: yet both corn +and cattle are annually exported. + +But the fruitfulness of Iona is now its whole prosperity. The +inhabitants are remarkably gross, and remarkably neglected: I know not if +they are visited by any Minister. The Island, which was once the +metropolis of learning and piety, has now no school for education, nor +temple for worship, only two inhabitants that can speak English, and not +one that can write or read. + +The people are of the clan of Maclean; and though Sir Allan had not been +in the place for many years, he was received with all the reverence due +to their Chieftain. One of them being sharply reprehended by him, for +not sending him some rum, declared after his departure, in Mr. Boswell's +presence, that he had no design of disappointing him, 'for,' said he, 'I +would cut my bones for him; and if he had sent his dog for it, he should +have had it.' + +When we were to depart, our boat was left by the ebb at a great distance +from the water, but no sooner did we wish it afloat, than the islanders +gathered round it, and, by the union of many hands, pushed it down the +beach; every man who could contribute his help seemed to think himself +happy in the opportunity of being, for a moment, useful to his Chief. + +We now left those illustrious ruins, by which Mr. Boswell was much +affected, nor would I willingly be thought to have looked upon them +without some emotion. Perhaps, in the revolutions of the world, Iona may +be sometime again the instructress of the Western Regions. + +It was no long voyage to Mull, where, under Sir Allan's protection, we +landed in the evening, and were entertained for the night by Mr. Maclean, +a Minister that lives upon the coast, whose elegance of conversation, and +strength of judgment, would make him conspicuous in places of greater +celebrity. Next day we dined with Dr. Maclean, another physician, and +then travelled on to the house of a very powerful Laird, Maclean of +Lochbuy; for in this country every man's name is Maclean. + +Where races are thus numerous, and thus combined, none but the Chief of a +clan is addressed by his name. The Laird of Dunvegan is called Macleod, +but other gentlemen of the same family are denominated by the places +where they reside, as Raasa, or Talisker. The distinction of the meaner +people is made by their Christian names. In consequence of this +practice, the late Laird of Macfarlane, an eminent genealogist, +considered himself as disrespectfully treated, if the common addition was +applied to him. Mr. Macfarlane, said he, may with equal propriety be +said to many; but I, and I only, am Macfarlane. + +Our afternoon journey was through a country of such gloomy desolation, +that Mr. Boswell thought no part of the Highlands equally terrifick, yet +we came without any difficulty, at evening, to Lochbuy, where we found a +true Highland Laird, rough and haughty, and tenacious of his dignity; +who, hearing my name, inquired whether I was of the Johnstons of +Glencroe, or of Ardnamurchan. + +Lochbuy has, like the other insular Chieftains, quitted the castle that +sheltered his ancestors, and lives near it, in a mansion not very +spacious or splendid. I have seen no houses in the Islands much to be +envied for convenience or magnificence, yet they bare testimony to the +progress of arts and civility, as they shew that rapine and surprise are +no longer dreaded, and are much more commodious than the ancient +fortresses. + +The castles of the Hebrides, many of which are standing, and many ruined, +were always built upon points of land, on the margin of the sea. For the +choice of this situation there must have been some general reason, which +the change of manners has left in obscurity. They were of no use in the +days of piracy, as defences of the coast; for it was equally accessible +in other places. Had they been sea-marks or light-houses, they would +have been of more use to the invader than the natives, who could want no +such directions of their own waters: for a watch-tower, a cottage on a +hill would have been better, as it would have commanded a wider view. + +If they be considered merely as places of retreat, the situation seems +not well chosen; for the Laird of an Island is safest from foreign +enemies in the center; on the coast he might be more suddenly surprised +than in the inland parts; and the invaders, if their enterprise +miscarried, might more easily retreat. Some convenience, however, +whatever it was, their position on the shore afforded; for uniformity of +practice seldom continues long without good reason. + +A castle in the Islands is only a single tower of three or four stories, +of which the walls are sometimes eight or nine feet thick, with narrow +windows, and close winding stairs of stone. The top rises in a cone, or +pyramid of stone, encompassed by battlements. The intermediate floors +are sometimes frames of timber, as in common houses, and sometimes arches +of stone, or alternately stone and timber; so that there was very little +danger from fire. In the center of every floor, from top to bottom, is +the chief room, of no great extent, round which there are narrow +cavities, or recesses, formed by small vacuities, or by a double wall. I +know not whether there be ever more than one fire-place. They had not +capacity to contain many people, or much provision; but their enemies +could seldom stay to blockade them; for if they failed in the first +attack, their next care was to escape. + +The walls were always too strong to be shaken by such desultory +hostilities; the windows were too narrow to be entered, and the +battlements too high to be scaled. The only danger was at the gates, +over which the wall was built with a square cavity, not unlike a chimney, +continued to the top. Through this hollow the defendants let fall stones +upon those who attempted to break the gate, and poured down water, +perhaps scalding water, if the attack was made with fire. The castle of +Lochbuy was secured by double doors, of which the outer was an iron +grate. + +In every castle is a well and a dungeon. The use of the well is evident. +The dungeon is a deep subterraneous cavity, walled on the sides, and +arched on the top, into which the descent is through a narrow door, by a +ladder or a rope, so that it seems impossible to escape, when the rope or +ladder is drawn up. The dungeon was, I suppose, in war, a prison for +such captives as were treated with severity, and, in peace, for such +delinquents as had committed crimes within the Laird's jurisdiction; for +the mansions of many Lairds were, till the late privation of their +privileges, the halls of justice to their own tenants. + +As these fortifications were the productions of mere necessity, they are +built only for safety, with little regard to convenience, and with none +to elegance or pleasure. It was sufficient for a Laird of the Hebrides, +if he had a strong house, in which he could hide his wife and children +from the next clan. That they are not large nor splendid is no wonder. +It is not easy to find how they were raised, such as they are, by men who +had no money, in countries where the labourers and artificers could +scarcely be fed. The buildings in different parts of the Island shew +their degrees of wealth and power. I believe that for all the castles +which I have seen beyond the Tweed, the ruins yet remaining of some one +of those which the English built in Wales, would supply materials. + +These castles afford another evidence that the fictions of romantick +chivalry had for their basis the real manners of the feudal times, when +every Lord of a seignory lived in his hold lawless and unaccountable, +with all the licentiousness and insolence of uncontested superiority and +unprincipled power. The traveller, whoever he might be, coming to the +fortified habitation of a Chieftain, would, probably, have been +interrogated from the battlements, admitted with caution at the gate, +introduced to a petty Monarch, fierce with habitual hostility, and +vigilant with ignorant suspicion; who, according to his general temper, +or accidental humour, would have seated a stranger as his guest at the +table, or as a spy confined him in the dungeon. + +Lochbuy means the Yellow Lake, which is the name given to an inlet of the +sea, upon which the castle of Mr. Maclean stands. The reason of the +appellation we did not learn. + +We were now to leave the Hebrides, where we had spent some weeks with +sufficient amusement, and where we had amplified our thoughts with new +scenes of nature, and new modes of life. More time would have given us a +more distinct view, but it was necessary that Mr. Boswell should return +before the courts of justice were opened; and it was not proper to live +too long upon hospitality, however liberally imparted. + +Of these Islands it must be confessed, that they have not many +allurements, but to the mere lover of naked nature. The inhabitants are +thin, provisions are scarce, and desolation and penury give little +pleasure. + +The people collectively considered are not few, though their numbers are +small in proportion to the space which they occupy. Mull is said to +contain six thousand, and Sky fifteen thousand. Of the computation +respecting Mull, I can give no account; but when I doubted the truth of +the numbers attributed to Sky, one of the Ministers exhibited such facts +as conquered my incredulity. + +Of the proportion, which the product of any region bears to the people, +an estimate is commonly made according to the pecuniary price of the +necessaries of life; a principle of judgment which is never certain, +because it supposes what is far from truth, that the value of money is +always the same, and so measures an unknown quantity by an uncertain +standard. It is competent enough when the markets of the same country, +at different times, and those times not too distant, are to be compared; +but of very little use for the purpose of making one nation acquainted +with the state of another. Provisions, though plentiful, are sold in +places of great pecuniary opulence for nominal prices, to which, however +scarce, where gold and silver are yet scarcer, they can never be raised. + +In the Western Islands there is so little internal commerce, that hardly +any thing has a known or settled rate. The price of things brought in, +or carried out, is to be considered as that of a foreign market; and even +this there is some difficulty in discovering, because their denominations +of quantity are different from ours; and when there is ignorance on both +sides, no appeal can be made to a common measure. + +This, however, is not the only impediment. The Scots, with a vigilance +of jealousy which never goes to sleep, always suspect that an Englishman +despises them for their poverty, and to convince him that they are not +less rich than their neighbours, are sure to tell him a price higher than +the true. When Lesley, two hundred years ago, related so punctiliously, +that a hundred hen eggs, new laid, were sold in the Islands for a peny, +he supposed that no inference could possibly follow, but that eggs were +in great abundance. Posterity has since grown wiser; and having learned, +that nominal and real value may differ, they now tell no such stories, +lest the foreigner should happen to collect, not that eggs are many, but +that pence are few. + +Money and wealth have by the use of commercial language been so long +confounded, that they are commonly supposed to be the same; and this +prejudice has spread so widely in Scotland, that I know not whether I +found man or woman, whom I interrogated concerning payments of money, +that could surmount the illiberal desire of deceiving me, by representing +every thing as dearer than it is. + +From Lochbuy we rode a very few miles to the side of Mull, which faces +Scotland, where, having taken leave of our kind protector, Sir Allan, we +embarked in a boat, in which the seat provided for our accommodation was +a heap of rough brushwood; and on the twenty-second of October reposed at +a tolerable inn on the main land. + +On the next day we began our journey southwards. The weather was +tempestuous. For half the day the ground was rough, and our horses were +still small. Had they required much restraint, we might have been +reduced to difficulties; for I think we had amongst us but one bridle. We +fed the poor animals liberally, and they performed their journey well. In +the latter part of the day, we came to a firm and smooth road, made by +the soldiers, on which we travelled with great security, busied with +contemplating the scene about us. The night came on while we had yet a +great part of the way to go, though not so dark, but that we could +discern the cataracts which poured down the hills, on one side, and fell +into one general channel that ran with great violence on the other. The +wind was loud, the rain was heavy, and the whistling of the blast, the +fall of the shower, the rush of the cataracts, and the roar of the +torrent, made a nobler chorus of the rough musick of nature than it had +ever been my chance to hear before. The streams, which ran cross the way +from the hills to the main current, were so frequent, that after a while +I began to count them; and, in ten miles, reckoned fifty-five, probably +missing some, and having let some pass before they forced themselves upon +my notice. At last we came to Inverary, where we found an inn, not only +commodious, but magnificent. + +The difficulties of peregrination were now at an end. Mr. Boswell had +the honour of being known to the Duke of Argyle, by whom we were very +kindly entertained at his splendid seat, and supplied with conveniences +for surveying his spacious park and rising forests. + +After two days stay at Inverary we proceeded Southward over Glencroe, a +black and dreary region, now made easily passable by a military road, +which rises from either end of the glen by an acclivity not dangerously +steep, but sufficiently laborious. In the middle, at the top of the +hill, is a seat with this inscription, 'Rest, and be thankful.' Stones +were placed to mark the distances, which the inhabitants have taken away, +resolved, they said, 'to have no new miles.' + +In this rainy season the hills streamed with waterfalls, which, crossing +the way, formed currents on the other side, that ran in contrary +directions as they fell to the north or south of the summit. Being, by +the favour of the Duke, well mounted, I went up and down the hill with +great convenience. + +From Glencroe we passed through a pleasant country to the banks of Loch +Lomond, and were received at the house of Sir James Colquhoun, who is +owner of almost all the thirty islands of the Loch, which we went in a +boat next morning to survey. The heaviness of the rain shortened our +voyage, but we landed on one island planted with yew, and stocked with +deer, and on another containing perhaps not more than half an acre, +remarkable for the ruins of an old castle, on which the osprey builds her +annual nest. Had Loch Lomond been in a happier climate, it would have +been the boast of wealth and vanity to own one of the little spots which +it incloses, and to have employed upon it all the arts of embellishment. +But as it is, the islets, which court the gazer at a distance, disgust +him at his approach, when he finds, instead of soft lawns; and shady +thickets, nothing more than uncultivated ruggedness. + +Where the Loch discharges itself into a river, called the Leven, we +passed a night with Mr. Smollet, a relation of Doctor Smollet, to whose +memory he has raised an obelisk on the bank near the house in which he +was born. The civility and respect which we found at every place, it is +ungrateful to omit, and tedious to repeat. Here we were met by a post- +chaise, that conveyed us to Glasgow. + +To describe a city so much frequented as Glasgow, is unnecessary. The +prosperity of its commerce appears by the greatness of many private +houses, and a general appearance of wealth. It is the only episcopal +city whose cathedral was left standing in the rage of Reformation. It is +now divided into many separate places of worship, which, taken all +together, compose a great pile, that had been some centuries in building, +but was never finished; for the change of religion intercepted its +progress, before the cross isle was added, which seems essential to a +Gothick cathedral. + +The college has not had a sufficient share of the increasing magnificence +of the place. The session was begun; for it commences on the tenth of +October and continues to the tenth of June, but the students appeared not +numerous, being, I suppose, not yet returned from their several homes. +The division of the academical year into one session, and one recess, +seems to me better accommodated to the present state of life, than that +variegation of time by terms and vacations derived from distant +centuries, in which it was probably convenient, and still continued in +the English universities. So many solid months as the Scotch scheme of +education joins together, allow and encourage a plan for each part of the +year; but with us, he that has settled himself to study in the college is +soon tempted into the country, and he that has adjusted his life in the +country, is summoned back to his college. + +Yet when I have allowed to the universities of Scotland a more rational +distribution of time, I have given them, so far as my inquiries have +informed me, all that they can claim. The students, for the most part, +go thither boys, and depart before they are men; they carry with them +little fundamental knowledge, and therefore the superstructure cannot be +lofty. The grammar schools are not generally well supplied; for the +character of a school-master being there less honourable than in England, +is seldom accepted by men who are capable to adorn it, and where the +school has been deficient, the college can effect little. + +Men bred in the universities of Scotland cannot be expected to be often +decorated with the splendours of ornamental erudition, but they obtain a +mediocrity of knowledge, between learning and ignorance, not inadequate +to the purposes of common life, which is, I believe, very widely diffused +among them, and which countenanced in general by a national combination +so invidious, that their friends cannot defend it, and actuated in +particulars by a spirit of enterprise, so vigorous, that their enemies +are constrained to praise it, enables them to find, or to make their way +to employment, riches, and distinction. + +From Glasgow we directed our course to Auchinleck, an estate devolved, +through a long series of ancestors, to Mr. Boswell's father, the present +possessor. In our way we found several places remarkable enough in +themselves, but already described by those who viewed them at more +leisure, or with much more skill; and stopped two days at Mr. Campbell's, +a gentleman married to Mr. Boswell's sister. + +Auchinleck, which signifies a stony field, seems not now to have any +particular claim to its denomination. It is a district generally level, +and sufficiently fertile, but like all the Western side of Scotland, +incommoded by very frequent rain. It was, with the rest of the country, +generally naked, till the present possessor finding, by the growth of +some stately trees near his old castle, that the ground was favourable +enough to timber, adorned it very diligently with annual plantations. + +Lord Auchinleck, who is one of the Judges of Scotland, and therefore not +wholly at leisure for domestick business or pleasure, has yet found time +to make improvements in his patrimony. He has built a house of hewn +stone, very stately, and durable, and has advanced the value of his lands +with great tenderness to his tenants. + +I was, however, less delighted with the elegance of the modern mansion, +than with the sullen dignity of the old castle. I clambered with Mr. +Boswell among the ruins, which afford striking images of ancient life. It +is, like other castles, built upon a point of rock, and was, I believe, +anciently surrounded with a moat. There is another rock near it, to +which the drawbridge, when it was let down, is said to have reached. +Here, in the ages of tumult and rapine, the Laird was surprised and +killed by the neighbouring Chief, who perhaps might have extinguished the +family, had he not in a few days been seized and hanged, together with +his sons, by Douglas, who came with his forces to the relief of +Auchinleck. + +At no great distance from the house runs a pleasing brook, by a red rock, +out of which has been hewn a very agreeable and commodious summer-house, +at less expence, as Lord Auchinleck told me, than would have been +required to build a room of the same dimensions. The rock seems to have +no more dampness than any other wall. Such opportunities of variety it +is judicious not to neglect. + +We now returned to Edinburgh, where I passed some days with men of +learning, whose names want no advancement from my commemoration, or with +women of elegance, which perhaps disclaims a pedant's praise. + +The conversation of the Scots grows every day less unpleasing to the +English; their peculiarities wear fast away; their dialect is likely to +become in half a century provincial and rustick, even to themselves. The +great, the learned, the ambitious, and the vain, all cultivate the +English phrase, and the English pronunciation, and in splendid companies +Scotch is not much heard, except now and then from an old Lady. + +There is one subject of philosophical curiosity to be found in Edinburgh, +which no other city has to shew; a college of the deaf and dumb, who are +taught to speak, to read, to write, and to practice arithmetick, by a +gentleman, whose name is Braidwood. The number which attends him is, I +think, about twelve, which he brings together into a little school, and +instructs according to their several degrees of proficiency. + +I do not mean to mention the instruction of the deaf as new. Having been +first practised upon the son of a constable of Spain, it was afterwards +cultivated with much emulation in England, by Wallis and Holder, and was +lately professed by Mr. Baker, who once flattered me with hopes of seeing +his method published. How far any former teachers have succeeded, it is +not easy to know; the improvement of Mr. Braidwood's pupils is wonderful. +They not only speak, write, and understand what is written, but if he +that speaks looks towards them, and modifies his organs by distinct and +full utterance, they know so well what is spoken, that it is an +expression scarcely figurative to say, they hear with the eye. That any +have attained to the power mentioned by Burnet, of feeling sounds, by +laying a hand on the speaker's mouth, I know not; but I have seen so +much, that I can believe more; a single word, or a short sentence, I +think, may possibly be so distinguished. + +It will readily be supposed by those that consider this subject, that Mr. +Braidwood's scholars spell accurately. Orthography is vitiated among +such as learn first to speak, and then to write, by imperfect notions of +the relation between letters and vocal utterance; but to those students +every character is of equal importance; for letters are to them not +symbols of names, but of things; when they write they do not represent a +sound, but delineate a form. + +This school I visited, and found some of the scholars waiting for their +master, whom they are said to receive at his entrance with smiling +countenances and sparkling eyes, delighted with the hope of new ideas. +One of the young Ladies had her slate before her, on which I wrote a +question consisting of three figures, to be multiplied by two figures. +She looked upon it, and quivering her fingers in a manner which I thought +very pretty, but of which I know not whether it was art or play, +multiplied the sum regularly in two lines, observing the decimal place; +but did not add the two lines together, probably disdaining so easy an +operation. I pointed at the place where the sum total should stand, and +she noted it with such expedition as seemed to shew that she had it only +to write. + +It was pleasing to see one of the most desperate of human calamities +capable of so much help; whatever enlarges hope, will exalt courage; +after having seen the deaf taught arithmetick, who would be afraid to +cultivate the Hebrides? + +Such are the things which this journey has given me an opportunity of +seeing, and such are the reflections which that sight has raised. Having +passed my time almost wholly in cities, I may have been surprised by +modes of life and appearances of nature, that are familiar to men of +wider survey and more varied conversation. Novelty and ignorance must +always be reciprocal, and I cannot but be conscious that my thoughts on +national manners, are the thoughts of one who has seen but little. + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A JOURNEY TO THE WESTERN ISLES OF +SCOTLAND*** + + +******* This file should be named 2064.txt or 2064.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/0/6/2064 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.04.29.93*END* + + + + + +This etext was prepared by David Price, email ccx074@coventry.ac.uk +from the 1775 edition with the corrections noted in the 1785 errata. + + + + + +A JOURNEY TO THE WESTERN ISLANDS OF SCOTLAND + + + + +INCH KEITH + + + +I had desired to visit the Hebrides, or Western Islands of +Scotland, so long, that I scarcely remember how the wish was +originally excited; and was in the Autumn of the year 1773 induced +to undertake the journey, by finding in Mr. Boswell a companion, +whose acuteness would help my inquiry, and whose gaiety of +conversation and civility of manners are sufficient to counteract +the inconveniences of travel, in countries less hospitable than we +have passed. + +On the eighteenth of August we left Edinburgh, a city too well +known to admit description, and directed our course northward, +along the eastern coast of Scotland, accompanied the first day by +another gentleman, who could stay with us only long enough to shew +us how much we lost at separation. + +As we crossed the Frith of Forth, our curiosity was attracted by +Inch Keith, a small island, which neither of my companions had ever +visited, though, lying within their view, it had all their lives +solicited their notice. Here, by climbing with some difficulty +over shattered crags, we made the first experiment of unfrequented +coasts. Inch Keith is nothing more than a rock covered with a thin +layer of earth, not wholly bare of grass, and very fertile of +thistles. A small herd of cows grazes annually upon it in the +summer. It seems never to have afforded to man or beast a +permanent habitation. + +We found only the ruins of a small fort, not so injured by time but +that it might be easily restored to its former state. It seems +never to have been intended as a place of strength, nor was built +to endure a siege, but merely to afford cover to a few soldiers, +who perhaps had the charge of a battery, or were stationed to give +signals of approaching danger. There is therefore no provision of +water within the walls, though the spring is so near, that it might +have been easily enclosed. One of the stones had this inscription: +'Maria Reg. 1564.' It has probably been neglected from the time +that the whole island had the same king. + +We left this little island with our thoughts employed awhile on the +different appearance that it would have made, if it had been placed +at the same distance from London, with the same facility of +approach; with what emulation of price a few rocky acres would have +been purchased, and with what expensive industry they would have +been cultivated and adorned. + +When we landed, we found our chaise ready, and passed through +Kinghorn, Kirkaldy, and Cowpar, places not unlike the small or +straggling market-towns in those parts of England where commerce +and manufactures have not yet produced opulence. + +Though we were yet in the most populous part of Scotland, and at so +small a distance from the capital, we met few passengers. + +The roads are neither rough nor dirty; and it affords a southern +stranger a new kind of pleasure to travel so commodiously without +the interruption of toll-gates. Where the bottom is rocky, as it +seems commonly to be in Scotland, a smooth way is made indeed with +great labour, but it never wants repairs; and in those parts where +adventitious materials are necessary, the ground once consolidated +is rarely broken; for the inland commerce is not great, nor are +heavy commodities often transported otherwise than by water. The +carriages in common use are small carts, drawn each by one little +horse; and a man seems to derive some degree of dignity and +importance from the reputation of possessing a two-horse cart. + + + +ST. ANDREWS + + + +At an hour somewhat late we came to St. Andrews, a city once +archiepiscopal; where that university still subsists in which +philosophy was formerly taught by Buchanan, whose name has as fair +a claim to immortality as can be conferred by modern latinity, and +perhaps a fairer than the instability of vernacular languages +admits. + +We found, that by the interposition of some invisible friend, +lodgings had been provided for us at the house of one of the +professors, whose easy civility quickly made us forget that we were +strangers; and in the whole time of our stay we were gratified by +every mode of kindness, and entertained with all the elegance of +lettered hospitality. + +In the morning we rose to perambulate a city, which only history +shews to have once flourished, and surveyed the ruins of ancient +magnificence, of which even the ruins cannot long be visible, +unless some care be taken to preserve them; and where is the +pleasure of preserving such mournful memorials? They have been +till very lately so much neglected, that every man carried away the +stones who fancied that he wanted them. + +The cathedral, of which the foundations may be still traced, and a +small part of the wall is standing, appears to have been a spacious +and majestick building, not unsuitable to the primacy of the +kingdom. Of the architecture, the poor remains can hardly exhibit, +even to an artist, a sufficient specimen. It was demolished, as is +well known, in the tumult and violence of Knox's reformation. + +Not far from the cathedral, on the margin of the water, stands a +fragment of the castle, in which the archbishop anciently resided. +It was never very large, and was built with more attention to +security than pleasure. Cardinal Beatoun is said to have had +workmen employed in improving its fortifications at the time when +he was murdered by the ruffians of reformation, in the manner of +which Knox has given what he himself calls a merry narrative. + +The change of religion in Scotland, eager and vehement as it was, +raised an epidemical enthusiasm, compounded of sullen +scrupulousness and warlike ferocity, which, in a people whom +idleness resigned to their own thoughts, and who, conversing only +with each other, suffered no dilution of their zeal from the +gradual influx of new opinions, was long transmitted in its full +strength from the old to the young, but by trade and intercourse +with England, is now visibly abating, and giving way too fast to +that laxity of practice and indifference of opinion, in which men, +not sufficiently instructed to find the middle point, too easily +shelter themselves from rigour and constraint. + +The city of St. Andrews, when it had lost its archiepiscopal pre- +eminence, gradually decayed: One of its streets is now lost; and +in those that remain, there is silence and solitude of inactive +indigence and gloomy depopulation. + +The university, within a few years, consisted of three colleges, +but is now reduced to two; the college of St. Leonard being lately +dissolved by the sale of its buildings and the appropriation of its +revenues to the professors of the two others. The chapel of the +alienated college is yet standing, a fabrick not inelegant of +external structure; but I was always, by some civil excuse, hindred +from entering it. A decent attempt, as I was since told, has been +made to convert it into a kind of green-house, by planting its area +with shrubs. This new method of gardening is unsuccessful; the +plants do not hitherto prosper. To what use it will next be put I +have no pleasure in conjecturing. It is something that its present +state is at least not ostentatiously displayed. Where there is yet +shame, there may in time be virtue. + +The dissolution of St. Leonard's college was doubtless necessary; +but of that necessity there is reason to complain. It is surely +not without just reproach, that a nation, of which the commerce is +hourly extending, and the wealth encreasing, denies any +participation of its prosperity to its literary societies; and +while its merchants or its nobles are raising palaces, suffers its +universities to moulder into dust. + +Of the two colleges yet standing, one is by the institution of its +founder appropriated to Divinity. It is said to be capable of +containing fifty students; but more than one must occupy a chamber. +The library, which is of late erection, is not very spacious, but +elegant and luminous. + +The doctor, by whom it was shewn, hoped to irritate or subdue my +English vanity by telling me, that we had no such repository of +books in England. + +Saint Andrews seems to be a place eminently adapted to study and +education, being situated in a populous, yet a cheap country, and +exposing the minds and manners of young men neither to the levity +and dissoluteness of a capital city, nor to the gross luxury of a +town of commerce, places naturally unpropitious to learning; in one +the desire of knowledge easily gives way to the love of pleasure, +and in the other, is in danger of yielding to the love of money. + +The students however are represented as at this time not exceeding +a hundred. Perhaps it may be some obstruction to their increase +that there is no episcopal chapel in the place. I saw no reason +for imputing their paucity to the present professors; nor can the +expence of an academical education be very reasonably objected. A +student of the highest class may keep his annual session, or as the +English call it, his term, which lasts seven months, for about +fifteen pounds, and one of lower rank for less than ten; in which +board, lodging, and instruction are all included. + +The chief magistrate resident in the university, answering to our +vice-chancellor, and to the rector magnificus on the continent, had +commonly the title of Lord Rector; but being addressed only as Mr. +Rector in an inauguratory speech by the present chancellor, he has +fallen from his former dignity of style. Lordship was very +liberally annexed by our ancestors to any station or character of +dignity: They said, the Lord General, and Lord Ambassador; so we +still say, my Lord, to the judge upon the circuit, and yet retain +in our Liturgy the Lords of the Council. + +In walking among the ruins of religious buildings, we came to two +vaults over which had formerly stood the house of the sub-prior. +One of the vaults was inhabited by an old woman, who claimed the +right of abode there, as the widow of a man whose ancestors had +possessed the same gloomy mansion for no less than four +generations. The right, however it began, was considered as +established by legal prescription, and the old woman lives +undisturbed. She thinks however that she has a claim to something +more than sufferance; for as her husband's name was Bruce, she is +allied to royalty, and told Mr. Boswell that when there were +persons of quality in the place, she was distinguished by some +notice; that indeed she is now neglected, but she spins a thread, +has the company of her cat, and is troublesome to nobody. + +Having now seen whatever this ancient city offered to our +curiosity, we left it with good wishes, having reason to be highly +pleased with the attention that was paid us. But whoever surveys +the world must see many things that give him pain. The kindness of +the professors did not contribute to abate the uneasy remembrance +of an university declining, a college alienated, and a church +profaned and hastening to the ground. + +St. Andrews indeed has formerly suffered more atrocious ravages and +more extensive destruction, but recent evils affect with greater +force. We were reconciled to the sight of archiepiscopal ruins. +The distance of a calamity from the present time seems to preclude +the mind from contact or sympathy. Events long past are barely +known; they are not considered. We read with as little emotion the +violence of Knox and his followers, as the irruptions of Alaric and +the Goths. Had the university been destroyed two centuries ago, we +should not have regretted it; but to see it pining in decay and +struggling for life, fills the mind with mournful images and +ineffectual wishes. + + + +ABERBROTHICK + + + +As we knew sorrow and wishes to be vain, it was now our business to +mind our way. The roads of Scotland afford little diversion to the +traveller, who seldom sees himself either encountered or overtaken, +and who has nothing to contemplate but grounds that have no visible +boundaries, or are separated by walls of loose stone. From the +bank of the Tweed to St. Andrews I had never seen a single tree, +which I did not believe to have grown up far within the present +century. Now and then about a gentleman's house stands a small +plantation, which in Scotch is called a policy, but of these there +are few, and those few all very young. The variety of sun and +shade is here utterly unknown. There is no tree for either shelter +or timber. The oak and the thorn is equally a stranger, and the +whole country is extended in uniform nakedness, except that in the +road between Kirkaldy and Cowpar, I passed for a few yards between +two hedges. A tree might be a show in Scotland as a horse in +Venice. At St. Andrews Mr. Boswell found only one, and recommended +it to my notice; I told him that it was rough and low, or looked as +if I thought so. This, said he, is nothing to another a few miles +off. I was still less delighted to hear that another tree was not +to be seen nearer. Nay, said a gentleman that stood by, I know but +of this and that tree in the county. + +The Lowlands of Scotland had once undoubtedly an equal portion of +woods with other countries. Forests are every where gradually +diminished, as architecture and cultivation prevail by the increase +of people and the introduction of arts. But I believe few regions +have been denuded like this, where many centuries must have passed +in waste without the least thought of future supply. Davies +observes in his account of Ireland, that no Irishman had ever +planted an orchard. For that negligence some excuse might be drawn +from an unsettled state of life, and the instability of property; +but in Scotland possession has long been secure, and inheritance +regular, yet it may be doubted whether before the Union any man +between Edinburgh and England had ever set a tree. + +Of this improvidence no other account can be given than that it +probably began in times of tumult, and continued because it had +begun. Established custom is not easily broken, till some great +event shakes the whole system of things, and life seems to +recommence upon new principles. That before the Union the Scots +had little trade and little money, is no valid apology; for +plantation is the least expensive of all methods of improvement. +To drop a seed into the ground can cost nothing, and the trouble is +not great of protecting the young plant, till it is out of danger; +though it must be allowed to have some difficulty in places like +these, where they have neither wood for palisades, nor thorns for +hedges. + +Our way was over the Firth of Tay, where, though the water was not +wide, we paid four shillings for ferrying the chaise. In Scotland +the necessaries of life are easily procured, but superfluities and +elegancies are of the same price at least as in England, and +therefore may be considered as much dearer. + +We stopped a while at Dundee, where I remember nothing remarkable, +and mounting our chaise again, came about the close of the day to +Aberbrothick. + +The monastery of Aberbrothick is of great renown in the history of +Scotland. Its ruins afford ample testimony of its ancient +magnificence: Its extent might, I suppose, easily be found by +following the walls among the grass and weeds, and its height is +known by some parts yet standing. The arch of one of the gates is +entire, and of another only so far dilapidated as to diversify the +appearance. A square apartment of great loftiness is yet standing; +its use I could not conjecture, as its elevation was very +disproportionate to its area. Two corner towers, particularly +attracted our attention. Mr. Boswell, whose inquisitiveness is +seconded by great activity, scrambled in at a high window, but +found the stairs within broken, and could not reach the top. Of +the other tower we were told that the inhabitants sometimes climbed +it, but we did not immediately discern the entrance, and as the +night was gathering upon us, thought proper to desist. Men skilled +in architecture might do what we did not attempt: They might +probably form an exact ground-plot of this venerable edifice. They +may from some parts yet standing conjecture its general form, and +perhaps by comparing it with other buildings of the same kind and +the same age, attain an idea very near to truth. I should scarcely +have regretted my journey, had it afforded nothing more than the +sight of Aberbrothick. + + + +MONTROSE + + + +Leaving these fragments of magnificence, we travelled on to +Montrose, which we surveyed in the morning, and found it well +built, airy, and clean. The townhouse is a handsome fabrick with a +portico. We then went to view the English chapel, and found a +small church, clean to a degree unknown in any other part of +Scotland, with commodious galleries, and what was yet less +expected, with an organ. + +At our inn we did not find a reception such as we thought +proportionate to the commercial opulence of the place; but Mr. +Boswell desired me to observe that the innkeeper was an Englishman, +and I then defended him as well as I could. + +When I had proceeded thus far, I had opportunities of observing +what I had never heard, that there are many beggars in Scotland. +In Edinburgh the proportion is, I think, not less than in London, +and in the smaller places it is far greater than in English towns +of the same extent. It must, however, be allowed that they are not +importunate, nor clamorous. They solicit silently, or very +modestly, and therefore though their behaviour may strike with more +force the heart of a stranger, they are certainly in danger of +missing the attention of their countrymen. Novelty has always some +power, an unaccustomed mode of begging excites an unaccustomed +degree of pity. But the force of novelty is by its own nature soon +at an end; the efficacy of outcry and perseverance is permanent and +certain. + +The road from Montrose exhibited a continuation of the same +appearances. The country is still naked, the hedges are of stone, +and the fields so generally plowed that it is hard to imagine where +grass is found for the horses that till them. The harvest, which +was almost ripe, appeared very plentiful. + +Early in the afternoon Mr. Boswell observed that we were at no +great distance from the house of lord Monboddo. The magnetism of +his conversation easily drew us out of our way, and the +entertainment which we received would have been a sufficient +recompense for a much greater deviation. + +The roads beyond Edinburgh, as they are less frequented, must be +expected to grow gradually rougher; but they were hitherto by no +means incommodious. We travelled on with the gentle pace of a +Scotch driver, who having no rivals in expedition, neither gives +himself nor his horses unnecessary trouble. We did not affect the +impatience we did not feel, but were satisfied with the company of +each other as well riding in the chaise, as sitting at an inn. The +night and the day are equally solitary and equally safe; for where +there are so few travellers, why should there be robbers. + + + +ABERDEEN + + + +We came somewhat late to Aberdeen, and found the inn so full, that +we had some difficulty in obtaining admission, till Mr. Boswell +made himself known: His name overpowered all objection, and we +found a very good house and civil treatment. + +I received the next day a very kind letter from Sir Alexander +Gordon, whom I had formerly known in London, and after a cessation +of all intercourse for near twenty years met here professor of +physic in the King's College. Such unexpected renewals of +acquaintance may be numbered among the most pleasing incidents of +life. + +The knowledge of one professor soon procured me the notice of the +rest, and I did not want any token of regard, being conducted +wherever there was any thing which I desired to see, and +entertained at once with the novelty of the place, and the kindness +of communication. + +To write of the cities of our own island with the solemnity of +geographical description, as if we had been cast upon a newly +discovered coast, has the appearance of very frivolous ostentation; +yet as Scotland is little known to the greater part of those who +may read these observations, it is not superfluous to relate, that +under the name of Aberdeen are comprised two towns standing about a +mile distant from each other, but governed, I think, by the same +magistrates. + +Old Aberdeen is the ancient episcopal city, in which are still to +be seen the remains of the cathedral. It has the appearance of a +town in decay, having been situated in times when commerce was yet +unstudied, with very little attention to the commodities of the +harbour. + +New Aberdeen has all the bustle of prosperous trade, and all the +shew of increasing opulence. It is built by the water-side. The +houses are large and lofty, and the streets spacious and clean. +They build almost wholly with the granite used in the new pavement +of the streets of London, which is well known not to want hardness, +yet they shape it easily. It is beautiful and must be very +lasting. + +What particular parts of commerce are chiefly exercised by the +merchants of Aberdeen, I have not inquired. The manufacture which +forces itself upon a stranger's eye is that of knit-stockings, on +which the women of the lower class are visibly employed. + +In each of these towns there is a college, or in stricter language, +an university; for in both there are professors of the same parts +of learning, and the colleges hold their sessions and confer +degrees separately, with total independence of one on the other. + +In old Aberdeen stands the King's College, of which the first +president was Hector Boece, or Boethius, who may be justly +reverenced as one of the revivers of elegant learning. When he +studied at Paris, he was acquainted with Erasmus, who afterwards +gave him a public testimony of his esteem, by inscribing to him a +catalogue of his works. The stile of Boethius, though, perhaps, +not always rigorously pure, is formed with great diligence upon +ancient models, and wholly uninfected with monastic barbarity. His +history is written with elegance and vigour, but his fabulousness +and credulity are justly blamed. His fabulousness, if he was the +author of the fictions, is a fault for which no apology can be +made; but his credulity may be excused in an age, when all men were +credulous. Learning was then rising on the world; but ages so long +accustomed to darkness, were too much dazzled with its light to see +any thing distinctly. The first race of scholars, in the fifteenth +century, and some time after, were, for the most part, learning to +speak, rather than to think, and were therefore more studious of +elegance than of truth. The contemporaries of Boethius thought it +sufficient to know what the ancients had delivered. The +examination of tenets and of facts was reserved for another +generation. + + +Boethius, as president of the university, enjoyed a revenue of +forty Scottish marks, about two pounds four shillings and sixpence +of sterling money. In the present age of trade and taxes, it is +difficult even for the imagination so to raise the value of money, +or so to diminish the demands of life, as to suppose four and forty +shillings a year, an honourable stipend; yet it was probably equal, +not only to the needs, but to the rank of Boethius. The wealth of +England was undoubtedly to that of Scotland more than five to one, +and it is known that Henry the eighth, among whose faults avarice +was never reckoned, granted to Roger Ascham, as a reward of his +learning, a pension of ten pounds a year. + +The other, called the Marischal College, is in the new town. The +hall is large and well lighted. One of its ornaments is the +picture of Arthur Johnston, who was principal of the college, and +who holds among the Latin poets of Scotland the next place to the +elegant Buchanan. + +In the library I was shewn some curiosities; a Hebrew manuscript of +exquisite penmanship, and a Latin translation of Aristotle's +Politicks by Leonardus Aretinus, written in the Roman character +with nicety and beauty, which, as the art of printing has made them +no longer necessary, are not now to be found. This was one of the +latest performances of the transcribers, for Aretinus died but +about twenty years before typography was invented. This version +has been printed, and may be found in libraries, but is little +read; for the same books have been since translated both by +Victorius and Lambinus, who lived in an age more cultivated, but +perhaps owed in part to Aretinus that they were able to excel him. +Much is due to those who first broke the way to knowledge, and left +only to their successors the task of smoothing it. + +In both these colleges the methods of instruction are nearly the +same; the lectures differing only by the accidental difference of +diligence, or ability in the professors. The students wear scarlet +gowns and the professors black, which is, I believe, the academical +dress in all the Scottish universities, except that of Edinburgh, +where the scholars are not distinguished by any particular habit. +In the King's College there is kept a public table, but the +scholars of the Marischal College are boarded in the town. The +expence of living is here, according to the information that I +could obtain, somewhat more than at St. Andrews. + +The course of education is extended to four years, at the end of +which those who take a degree, who are not many, become masters of +arts, and whoever is a master may, if he pleases, immediately +commence doctor. The title of doctor, however, was for a +considerable time bestowed only on physicians. The advocates are +examined and approved by their own body; the ministers were not +ambitious of titles, or were afraid of being censured for ambition; +and the doctorate in every faculty was commonly given or sold into +other countries. The ministers are now reconciled to distinction, +and as it must always happen that some will excel others, have +thought graduation a proper testimony of uncommon abilities or +acquisitions. + +The indiscriminate collation of degrees has justly taken away that +respect which they originally claimed as stamps, by which the +literary value of men so distinguished was authoritatively denoted. +That academical honours, or any others should be conferred with +exact proportion to merit, is more than human judgment or human +integrity have given reason to expect. Perhaps degrees in +universities cannot be better adjusted by any general rule than by +the length of time passed in the public profession of learning. An +English or Irish doctorate cannot be obtained by a very young man, +and it is reasonable to suppose, what is likewise by experience +commonly found true, that he who is by age qualified to be a +doctor, has in so much time gained learning sufficient not to +disgrace the title, or wit sufficient not to desire it. + +The Scotch universities hold but one term or session in the year. +That of St. Andrews continues eight months, that of Aberdeen only +five, from the first of November to the first of April. + +In Aberdeen there is an English Chapel, in which the congregation +was numerous and splendid. The form of public worship used by the +church of England is in Scotland legally practised in licensed +chapels served by clergymen of English or Irish ordination, and by +tacit connivance quietly permitted in separate congregations +supplied with ministers by the successors of the bishops who were +deprived at the Revolution. + +We came to Aberdeen on Saturday August 21. On Monday we were +invited into the town-hall, where I had the freedom of the city +given me by the Lord Provost. The honour conferred had all the +decorations that politeness could add, and what I am afraid I +should not have had to say of any city south of the Tweed, I found +no petty officer bowing for a fee. + +The parchment containing the record of admission is, with the seal +appending, fastened to a riband and worn for one day by the new +citizen in his hat. + +By a lady who saw us at the chapel, the Earl of Errol was informed +of our arrival, and we had the honour of an invitation to his seat, +called Slanes Castle, as I am told, improperly, from the castle of +that name, which once stood at a place not far distant. + +The road beyond Aberdeen grew more stony, and continued equally +naked of all vegetable decoration. We travelled over a tract of +ground near the sea, which, not long ago, suffered a very uncommon, +and unexpected calamity. The sand of the shore was raised by a +tempest in such quantities, and carried to such a distance, that an +estate was overwhelmed and lost. Such and so hopeless was the +barrenness superinduced, that the owner, when he was required to +pay the usual tax, desired rather to resign the ground. + + + +SLANES CASTLE, THE BULLER OF BUCHAN + + + +We came in the afternoon to Slanes Castle, built upon the margin of +the sea, so that the walls of one of the towers seem only a +continuation of a perpendicular rock, the foot of which is beaten +by the waves. To walk round the house seemed impracticable. From +the windows the eye wanders over the sea that separates Scotland +from Norway, and when the winds beat with violence must enjoy all +the terrifick grandeur of the tempestuous ocean. I would not for +my amusement wish for a storm; but as storms, whether wished or +not, will sometimes happen, I may say, without violation of +humanity, that I should willingly look out upon them from Slanes +Castle. + +When we were about to take our leave, our departure was prohibited +by the countess till we should have seen two places upon the coast, +which she rightly considered as worthy of curiosity, Dun Buy, and +the Buller of Buchan, to which Mr. Boyd very kindly conducted us. + +Dun Buy, which in Erse is said to signify the Yellow Rock, is a +double protuberance of stone, open to the main sea on one side, and +parted from the land by a very narrow channel on the other. It has +its name and its colour from the dung of innumerable sea-fowls, +which in the Spring chuse this place as convenient for incubation, +and have their eggs and their young taken in great abundance. One +of the birds that frequent this rock has, as we were told, its body +not larger than a duck's, and yet lays eggs as large as those of a +goose. This bird is by the inhabitants named a Coot. That which +is called Coot in England, is here a Cooter. + +Upon these rocks there was nothing that could long detain +attention, and we soon turned our eyes to the Buller, or Bouilloir +of Buchan, which no man can see with indifference, who has either +sense of danger or delight in rarity. It is a rock perpendicularly +tubulated, united on one side with a high shore, and on the other +rising steep to a great height, above the main sea. The top is +open, from which may be seen a dark gulf of water which flows into +the cavity, through a breach made in the lower part of the +inclosing rock. It has the appearance of a vast well bordered with +a wall. The edge of the Buller is not wide, and to those that walk +round, appears very narrow. He that ventures to look downward +sees, that if his foot should slip, he must fall from his dreadful +elevation upon stones on one side, or into water on the other. We +however went round, and were glad when the circuit was completed. + +When we came down to the sea, we saw some boats, and rowers, and +resolved to explore the Buller at the bottom. We entered the arch, +which the water had made, and found ourselves in a place, which, +though we could not think ourselves in danger, we could scarcely +survey without some recoil of the mind. The bason in which we +floated was nearly circular, perhaps thirty yards in diameter. We +were inclosed by a natural wall, rising steep on every side to a +height which produced the idea of insurmountable confinement. The +interception of all lateral light caused a dismal gloom. Round us +was a perpendicular rock, above us the distant sky, and below an +unknown profundity of water. If I had any malice against a walking +spirit, instead of laying him in the Red-sea, I would condemn him +to reside in the Buller of Buchan. + +But terrour without danger is only one of the sports of fancy, a +voluntary agitation of the mind that is permitted no longer than it +pleases. We were soon at leisure to examine the place with minute +inspection, and found many cavities which, as the waterman told us, +went backward to a depth which they had never explored. Their +extent we had not time to try; they are said to serve different +purposes. Ladies come hither sometimes in the summer with +collations, and smugglers make them storehouses for clandestine +merchandise. It is hardly to be doubted but the pirates of ancient +times often used them as magazines of arms, or repositories of +plunder. + +To the little vessels used by the northern rovers, the Buller may +have served as a shelter from storms, and perhaps as a retreat from +enemies; the entrance might have been stopped, or guarded with +little difficulty, and though the vessels that were stationed +within would have been battered with stones showered on them from +above, yet the crews would have lain safe in the caverns. + +Next morning we continued our journey, pleased with our reception +at Slanes Castle, of which we had now leisure to recount the +grandeur and the elegance; for our way afforded us few topics of +conversation. The ground was neither uncultivated nor unfruitful; +but it was still all arable. Of flocks or herds there was no +appearance. I had now travelled two hundred miles in Scotland, and +seen only one tree not younger than myself. + + + +BAMFF + + + +We dined this day at the house of Mr. Frazer of Streichton, who +shewed us in his grounds some stones yet standing of a druidical +circle, and what I began to think more worthy of notice, some +forest trees of full growth. + +At night we came to Bamff, where I remember nothing that +particularly claimed my attention. The ancient towns of Scotland +have generally an appearance unusual to Englishmen. The houses, +whether great or small, are for the most part built of stones. +Their ends are now and then next the streets, and the entrance into +them is very often by a flight of steps, which reaches up to the +second story, the floor which is level with the ground being +entered only by stairs descending within the house. + +The art of joining squares of glass with lead is little used in +Scotland, and in some places is totally forgotten. The frames of +their windows are all of wood. They are more frugal of their glass +than the English, and will often, in houses not otherwise mean, +compose a square of two pieces, not joining like cracked glass, but +with one edge laid perhaps half an inch over the other. Their +windows do not move upon hinges, but are pushed up and drawn down +in grooves, yet they are seldom accommodated with weights and +pullies. He that would have his window open must hold it with his +hand, unless what may be sometimes found among good contrivers, +there be a nail which he may stick into a hole, to keep it from +falling. + +What cannot be done without some uncommon trouble or particular +expedient, will not often be done at all. The incommodiousness of +the Scotch windows keeps them very closely shut. The necessity of +ventilating human habitations has not yet been found by our +northern neighbours; and even in houses well built and elegantly +furnished, a stranger may be sometimes forgiven, if he allows +himself to wish for fresher air. + +These diminutive observations seem to take away something from the +dignity of writing, and therefore are never communicated but with +hesitation, and a little fear of abasement and contempt. But it +must be remembered, that life consists not of a series of +illustrious actions, or elegant enjoyments; the greater part of our +time passes in compliance with necessities, in the performance of +daily duties, in the removal of small inconveniences, in the +procurement of petty pleasures; and we are well or ill at ease, as +the main stream of life glides on smoothly, or is ruffled by small +obstacles and frequent interruption. The true state of every +nation is the state of common life. The manners of a people are +not to be found in the schools of learning, or the palaces of +greatness, where the national character is obscured or obliterated +by travel or instruction, by philosophy or vanity; nor is public +happiness to be estimated by the assemblies of the gay, or the +banquets of the rich. The great mass of nations is neither rich +nor gay: they whose aggregate constitutes the people, are found in +the streets, and the villages, in the shops and farms; and from +them collectively considered, must the measure of general +prosperity be taken. As they approach to delicacy a nation is +refined, as their conveniences are multiplied, a nation, at least a +commercial nation, must be denominated wealthy. + + + +ELGIN + + + +Finding nothing to detain us at Bamff, we set out in the morning, +and having breakfasted at Cullen, about noon came to Elgin, where +in the inn, that we supposed the best, a dinner was set before us, +which we could not eat. This was the first time, and except one, +the last, that I found any reason to complain of a Scotish table; +and such disappointments, I suppose, must be expected in every +country, where there is no great frequency of travellers. + +The ruins of the cathedral of Elgin afforded us another proof of +the waste of reformation. There is enough yet remaining to shew, +that it was once magnificent. Its whole plot is easily traced. On +the north side of the choir, the chapter-house, which is roofed +with an arch of stone, remains entire; and on the south side, +another mass of building, which we could not enter, is preserved by +the care of the family of Gordon; but the body of the church is a +mass of fragments. + +A paper was here put into our hands, which deduced from sufficient +authorities the history of this venerable ruin. The church of +Elgin had, in the intestine tumults of the barbarous ages, been +laid waste by the irruption of a highland chief, whom the bishop +had offended; but it was gradually restored to the state, of which +the traces may be now discerned, and was at last not destroyed by +the tumultuous violence of Knox, but more shamefully suffered to +dilapidate by deliberate robbery and frigid indifference. There is +still extant, in the books of the council, an order, of which I +cannot remember the date, but which was doubtless issued after the +Reformation, directing that the lead, which covers the two +cathedrals of Elgin and Aberdeen, shall be taken away, and +converted into money for the support of the army. A Scotch army +was in those times very cheaply kept; yet the lead of two churches +must have born so small a proportion to any military expence, that +it is hard not to believe the reason alleged to be merely popular, +and the money intended for some private purse. The order however +was obeyed; the two churches were stripped, and the lead was +shipped to be sold in Holland. I hope every reader will rejoice +that this cargo of sacrilege was lost at sea. + +Let us not however make too much haste to despise our neighbours. +Our own cathedrals are mouldering by unregarded dilapidation. It +seems to be part of the despicable philosophy of the time to +despise monuments of sacred magnificence, and we are in danger of +doing that deliberately, which the Scots did not do but in the +unsettled state of an imperfect constitution. + +Those who had once uncovered the cathedrals never wished to cover +them again; and being thus made useless, they were, first +neglected, and perhaps, as the stone was wanted, afterwards +demolished. + +Elgin seems a place of little trade, and thinly inhabited. The +episcopal cities of Scotland, I believe, generally fell with their +churches, though some of them have since recovered by a situation +convenient for commerce. Thus Glasgow, though it has no longer an +archbishop, has risen beyond its original state by the opulence of +its traders; and Aberdeen, though its ancient stock had decayed, +flourishes by a new shoot in another place. + +In the chief street of Elgin, the houses jut over the lowest story, +like the old buildings of timber in London, but with greater +prominence; so that there is sometimes a walk for a considerable +length under a cloister, or portico, which is now indeed frequently +broken, because the new houses have another form, but seems to have +been uniformly continued in the old city. + + + +FORES. CALDER. FORT GEORGE + + + +We went forwards the same day to Fores, the town to which Macbeth +was travelling, when he met the weird sisters in his way. This to +an Englishman is classic ground. Our imaginations were heated, and +our thoughts recalled to their old amusements. + +We had now a prelude to the Highlands. We began to leave fertility +and culture behind us, and saw for a great length of road nothing +but heath; yet at Fochabars, a seat belonging to the duke of +Gordon, there is an orchard, which in Scotland I had never seen +before, with some timber trees, and a plantation of oaks. + +At Fores we found good accommodation, but nothing worthy of +particular remark, and next morning entered upon the road, on which +Macbeth heard the fatal prediction; but we travelled on not +interrupted by promises of kingdoms, and came to Nairn, a royal +burgh, which, if once it flourished, is now in a state of miserable +decay; but I know not whether its chief annual magistrate has not +still the title of Lord Provost. + +At Nairn we may fix the verge of the Highlands; for here I first +saw peat fires, and first heard the Erse language. We had no +motive to stay longer than to breakfast, and went forward to the +house of Mr. Macaulay, the minister who published an account of St. +Kilda, and by his direction visited Calder Castle, from which +Macbeth drew his second title. It has been formerly a place of +strength. The draw-bridge is still to be seen, but the moat is now +dry. The tower is very ancient: Its walls are of great thickness, +arched on the top with stone, and surrounded with battlements. The +rest of the house is later, though far from modern. + +We were favoured by a gentleman, who lives in the castle, with a +letter to one of the officers at Fort George, which being the most +regular fortification in the island, well deserves the notice of a +traveller, who has never travelled before. We went thither next +day, found a very kind reception, were led round the works by a +gentleman, who explained the use of every part, and entertained by +Sir Eyre Coote, the governour, with such elegance of conversation +as left us no attention to the delicacies of his table. + +Of Fort George I shall not attempt to give any account. I cannot +delineate it scientifically, and a loose and popular description is +of use only when the imagination is to be amused. There was every +where an appearance of the utmost neatness and regularity. But my +suffrage is of little value, because this and Fort Augustus are the +only garrisons that I ever saw. + +We did not regret the time spent at the fort, though in consequence +of our delay we came somewhat late to Inverness, the town which may +properly be called the capital of the Highlands. Hither the +inhabitants of the inland parts come to be supplied with what they +cannot make for themselves: Hither the young nymphs of the +mountains and valleys are sent for education, and as far as my +observation has reached, are not sent in vain. + + + +INVERNESS + + + +Inverness was the last place which had a regular communication by +high roads with the southern counties. All the ways beyond it +have, I believe, been made by the soldiers in this century. At +Inverness therefore Cromwell, when he subdued Scotland, stationed a +garrison, as at the boundary of the Highlands. The soldiers seem +to have incorporated afterwards with the inhabitants, and to have +peopled the place with an English race; for the language of this +town has been long considered as peculiarly elegant. + +Here is a castle, called the castle of Macbeth, the walls of which +are yet standing. It was no very capacious edifice, but stands +upon a rock so high and steep, that I think it was once not +accessible, but by the help of ladders, or a bridge. Over against +it, on another hill, was a fort built by Cromwell, now totally +demolished; for no faction of Scotland loved the name of Cromwell, +or had any desire to continue his memory. + +Yet what the Romans did to other nations, was in a great degree +done by Cromwell to the Scots; he civilized them by conquest, and +introduced by useful violence the arts of peace. I was told at +Aberdeen that the people learned from Cromwell's soldiers to make +shoes and to plant kail. + +How they lived without kail, it is not easy to guess: They +cultivate hardly any other plant for common tables, and when they +had not kail they probably had nothing. The numbers that go +barefoot are still sufficient to shew that shoes may be spared: +They are not yet considered as necessaries of life; for tall boys, +not otherwise meanly dressed, run without them in the streets; and +in the islands the sons of gentlemen pass several of their first +years with naked feet. + +I know not whether it be not peculiar to the Scots to have attained +the liberal, without the manual arts, to have excelled in +ornamental knowledge, and to have wanted not only the elegancies, +but the conveniences of common life. Literature soon after its +revival found its way to Scotland, and from the middle of the +sixteenth century, almost to the middle of the seventeenth, the +politer studies were very diligently pursued. The Latin poetry of +Deliciae Poetarum Scotorum would have done honour to any nation, at +least till the publication of May's Supplement the English had very +little to oppose. + +Yet men thus ingenious and inquisitive were content to live in +total ignorance of the trades by which human wants are supplied, +and to supply them by the grossest means. Till the Union made them +acquainted with English manners, the culture of their lands was +unskilful, and their domestick life unformed; their tables were +coarse as the feasts of Eskimeaux, and their houses filthy as the +cottages of Hottentots. + +Since they have known that their condition was capable of +improvement, their progress in useful knowledge has been rapid and +uniform. What remains to be done they will quickly do, and then +wonder, like me, why that which was so necessary and so easy was so +long delayed. But they must be for ever content to owe to the +English that elegance and culture, which, if they had been vigilant +and active, perhaps the English might have owed to them. + +Here the appearance of life began to alter. I had seen a few women +with plaids at Aberdeen; but at Inverness the Highland manners are +common. There is I think a kirk, in which only the Erse language +is used. There is likewise an English chapel, but meanly built, +where on Sunday we saw a very decent congregation. + +We were now to bid farewel to the luxury of travelling, and to +enter a country upon which perhaps no wheel has ever rolled. We +could indeed have used our post-chaise one day longer, along the +military road to Fort Augustus, but we could have hired no horses +beyond Inverness, and we were not so sparing of ourselves, as to +lead them, merely that we might have one day longer the indulgence +of a carriage. + +At Inverness therefore we procured three horses for ourselves and a +servant, and one more for our baggage, which was no very heavy +load. We found in the course of our journey the convenience of +having disencumbered ourselves, by laying aside whatever we could +spare; for it is not to be imagined without experience, how in +climbing crags, and treading bogs, and winding through narrow and +obstructed passages, a little bulk will hinder, and a little weight +will burthen; or how often a man that has pleased himself at home +with his own resolution, will, in the hour of darkness and fatigue, +be content to leave behind him every thing but himself. + + + +LOUGH NESS + + + +We took two Highlanders to run beside us, partly to shew us the +way, and partly to take back from the sea-side the horses, of which +they were the owners. One of them was a man of great liveliness +and activity, of whom his companion said, that he would tire any +horse in Inverness. Both of them were civil and ready-handed. +Civility seems part of the national character of Highlanders. +Every chieftain is a monarch, and politeness, the natural product +of royal government, is diffused from the laird through the whole +clan. But they are not commonly dexterous: their narrowness of +life confines them to a few operations, and they are accustomed to +endure little wants more than to remove them. + +We mounted our steeds on the thirtieth of August, and directed our +guides to conduct us to Fort Augustus. It is built at the head of +Lough Ness, of which Inverness stands at the outlet. The way +between them has been cut by the soldiers, and the greater part of +it runs along a rock, levelled with great labour and exactness, +near the water-side. + +Most of this day's journey was very pleasant. The day, though +bright, was not hot; and the appearance of the country, if I had +not seen the Peak, would have been wholly new. We went upon a +surface so hard and level, that we had little care to hold the +bridle, and were therefore at full leisure for contemplation. On +the left were high and steep rocks shaded with birch, the hardy +native of the North, and covered with fern or heath. On the right +the limpid waters of Lough Ness were beating their bank, and waving +their surface by a gentle agitation. Beyond them were rocks +sometimes covered with verdure, and sometimes towering in horrid +nakedness. Now and then we espied a little cornfield, which served +to impress more strongly the general barrenness. + +Lough Ness is about twenty-four miles long, and from one mile to +two miles broad. It is remarkable that Boethius, in his +description of Scotland, gives it twelve miles of breadth. When +historians or geographers exhibit false accounts of places far +distant, they may be forgiven, because they can tell but what they +are told; and that their accounts exceed the truth may be justly +supposed, because most men exaggerate to others, if not to +themselves: but Boethius lived at no great distance; if he never +saw the lake, he must have been very incurious, and if he had seen +it, his veracity yielded to very slight temptations. + +Lough Ness, though not twelve miles broad, is a very remarkable +diffusion of water without islands. It fills a large hollow +between two ridges of high rocks, being supplied partly by the +torrents which fall into it on either side, and partly, as is +supposed, by springs at the bottom. Its water is remarkably clear +and pleasant, and is imagined by the natives to be medicinal. We +were told, that it is in some places a hundred and forty fathoms +deep, a profundity scarcely credible, and which probably those that +relate it have never sounded. Its fish are salmon, trout, and +pike. + +It was said at fort Augustus, that Lough Ness is open in the +hardest winters, though a lake not far from it is covered with ice. +In discussing these exceptions from the course of nature, the first +question is, whether the fact be justly stated. That which is +strange is delightful, and a pleasing error is not willingly +detected. Accuracy of narration is not very common, and there are +few so rigidly philosophical, as not to represent as perpetual, +what is only frequent, or as constant, what is really casual. If +it be true that Lough Ness never freezes, it is either sheltered by +its high banks from the cold blasts, and exposed only to those +winds which have more power to agitate than congeal; or it is kept +in perpetual motion by the rush of streams from the rocks that +inclose it. Its profundity though it should be such as is +represented can have little part in this exemption; for though deep +wells are not frozen, because their water is secluded from the +external air, yet where a wide surface is exposed to the full +influence of a freezing atmosphere, I know not why the depth should +keep it open. Natural philosophy is now one of the favourite +studies of the Scottish nation, and Lough Ness well deserves to be +diligently examined. + +The road on which we travelled, and which was itself a source of +entertainment, is made along the rock, in the direction of the +lough, sometimes by breaking off protuberances, and sometimes by +cutting the great mass of stone to a considerable depth. The +fragments are piled in a loose wall on either side, with apertures +left at very short spaces, to give a passage to the wintry +currents. Part of it is bordered with low trees, from which our +guides gathered nuts, and would have had the appearance of an +English lane, except that an English lane is almost always dirty. +It has been made with great labour, but has this advantage, that it +cannot, without equal labour, be broken up. + +Within our sight there were goats feeding or playing. The +mountains have red deer, but they came not within view; and if what +is said of their vigilance and subtlety be true, they have some +claim to that palm of wisdom, which the eastern philosopher, whom +Alexander interrogated, gave to those beasts which live furthest +from men. + +Near the way, by the water side, we espied a cottage. This was the +first Highland Hut that I had seen; and as our business was with +life and manners, we were willing to visit it. To enter a +habitation without leave, seems to be not considered here as +rudeness or intrusion. The old laws of hospitality still give this +licence to a stranger. + +A hut is constructed with loose stones, ranged for the most part +with some tendency to circularity. It must be placed where the +wind cannot act upon it with violence, because it has no cement; +and where the water will run easily away, because it has no floor +but the naked ground. The wall, which is commonly about six feet +high, declines from the perpendicular a little inward. Such +rafters as can be procured are then raised for a roof, and covered +with heath, which makes a strong and warm thatch, kept from flying +off by ropes of twisted heath, of which the ends, reaching from the +center of the thatch to the top of the wall, are held firm by the +weight of a large stone. No light is admitted but at the entrance, +and through a hole in the thatch, which gives vent to the smoke. +This hole is not directly over the fire, lest the rain should +extinguish it; and the smoke therefore naturally fills the place +before it escapes. Such is the general structure of the houses in +which one of the nations of this opulent and powerful island has +been hitherto content to live. Huts however are not more uniform +than palaces; and this which we were inspecting was very far from +one of the meanest, for it was divided into several apartments; and +its inhabitants possessed such property as a pastoral poet might +exalt into riches. + +When we entered, we found an old woman boiling goats-flesh in a +kettle. She spoke little English, but we had interpreters at hand; +and she was willing enough to display her whole system of economy. +She has five children, of which none are yet gone from her. The +eldest, a boy of thirteen, and her husband, who is eighty years +old, were at work in the wood. Her two next sons were gone to +Inverness to buy meal, by which oatmeal is always meant. Meal she +considered as expensive food, and told us, that in Spring, when the +goats gave milk, the children could live without it. She is +mistress of sixty goats, and I saw many kids in an enclosure at the +end of her house. She had also some poultry. By the lake we saw a +potatoe-garden, and a small spot of ground on which stood four +shucks, containing each twelve sheaves of barley. She has all this +from the labour of their own hands, and for what is necessary to be +bought, her kids and her chickens are sent to market. + +With the true pastoral hospitality, she asked us to sit down and +drink whisky. She is religious, and though the kirk is four miles +off, probably eight English miles, she goes thither every Sunday. +We gave her a shilling, and she begged snuff; for snuff is the +luxury of a Highland cottage. + +Soon afterwards we came to the General's Hut, so called because it +was the temporary abode of Wade, while he superintended the works +upon the road. It is now a house of entertainment for passengers, +and we found it not ill stocked with provisions. + + + +FALL OF FIERS + + + +Towards evening we crossed, by a bridge, the river which makes the +celebrated fall of Fiers. The country at the bridge strikes the +imagination with all the gloom and grandeur of Siberian solitude. +The way makes a flexure, and the mountains, covered with trees, +rise at once on the left hand and in the front. We desired our +guides to shew us the fall, and dismounting, clambered over very +rugged crags, till I began to wish that our curiosity might have +been gratified with less trouble and danger. We came at last to a +place where we could overlook the river, and saw a channel torn, as +it seems, through black piles of stone, by which the stream is +obstructed and broken, till it comes to a very steep descent, of +such dreadful depth, that we were naturally inclined to turn aside +our eyes. + +But we visited the place at an unseasonable time, and found it +divested of its dignity and terror. Nature never gives every thing +at once. A long continuance of dry weather, which made the rest of +the way easy and delightful, deprived us of the pleasure expected +from the fall of Fiers. The river having now no water but what the +springs supply, showed us only a swift current, clear and shallow, +fretting over the asperities of the rocky bottom, and we were left +to exercise our thoughts, by endeavouring to conceive the effect of +a thousand streams poured from the mountains into one channel, +struggling for expansion in a narrow passage, exasperated by rocks +rising in their way, and at last discharging all their violence of +waters by a sudden fall through the horrid chasm. + +The way now grew less easy, descending by an uneven declivity, but +without either dirt or danger. We did not arrive at Fort Augustus +till it was late. Mr. Boswell, who, between his father's merit and +his own, is sure of reception wherever he comes, sent a servant +before to beg admission and entertainment for that night. Mr. +Trapaud, the governor, treated us with that courtesy which is so +closely connected with the military character. He came out to meet +us beyond the gates, and apologized that, at so late an hour, the +rules of a garrison suffered him to give us entrance only at the +postern. + + + +FORT AUGUSTUS + + + +In the morning we viewed the fort, which is much less than that of +St. George, and is said to be commanded by the neighbouring hills. +It was not long ago taken by the Highlanders. But its situation +seems well chosen for pleasure, if not for strength; it stands at +the head of the lake, and, by a sloop of sixty tuns, is supplied +from Inverness with great convenience. + +We were now to cross the Highlands towards the western coast, and +to content ourselves with such accommodations, as a way so little +frequented could afford. The journey was not formidable, for it +was but of two days, very unequally divided, because the only +house, where we could be entertained, was not further off than a +third of the way. We soon came to a high hill, which we mounted by +a military road, cut in traverses, so that as we went upon a higher +stage, we saw the baggage following us below in a contrary +direction. To make this way, the rock has been hewn to a level +with labour that might have broken the perseverance of a Roman +legion. + +The country is totally denuded of its wood, but the stumps both of +oaks and firs, which are still found, shew that it has been once a +forest of large timber. I do not remember that we saw any animals, +but we were told that, in the mountains, there are stags, roebucks, +goats and rabbits. + +We did not perceive that this tract was possessed by human beings, +except that once we saw a corn field, in which a lady was walking +with some gentlemen. Their house was certainly at no great +distance, but so situated that we could not descry it. + +Passing on through the dreariness of solitude, we found a party of +soldiers from the fort, working on the road, under the +superintendence of a serjeant. We told them how kindly we had been +treated at the garrison, and as we were enjoying the benefit of +their labours, begged leave to shew our gratitude by a small +present. + + + +ANOCH + + + +Early in the afternoon we came to Anoch, a village in Glenmollison +of three huts, one of which is distinguished by a chimney. Here we +were to dine and lodge, and were conducted through the first room, +that had the chimney, into another lighted by a small glass window. +The landlord attended us with great civility, and told us what he +could give us to eat and drink. I found some books on a shelf, +among which were a volume or more of Prideaux's Connection. + +This I mentioned as something unexpected, and perceived that I did +not please him. I praised the propriety of his language, and was +answered that I need not wonder, for he had learned it by grammar. + +By subsequent opportunities of observation, I found that my host's +diction had nothing peculiar. Those Highlanders that can speak +English, commonly speak it well, with few of the words, and little +of the tone by which a Scotchman is distinguished. Their language +seems to have been learned in the army or the navy, or by some +communication with those who could give them good examples of +accent and pronunciation. By their Lowland neighbours they would +not willingly be taught; for they have long considered them as a +mean and degenerate race. These prejudices are wearing fast away; +but so much of them still remains, that when I asked a very learned +minister in the islands, which they considered as their most savage +clans: 'Those,' said he, 'that live next the Lowlands.' + +As we came hither early in the day, we had time sufficient to +survey the place. The house was built like other huts of loose +stones, but the part in which we dined and slept was lined with +turf and wattled with twigs, which kept the earth from falling. +Near it was a garden of turnips and a field of potatoes. It stands +in a glen, or valley, pleasantly watered by a winding river. But +this country, however it may delight the gazer or amuse the +naturalist, is of no great advantage to its owners. Our landlord +told us of a gentleman, who possesses lands, eighteen Scotch miles +in length, and three in breadth; a space containing at least a +hundred square English miles. He has raised his rents, to the +danger of depopulating his farms, and he fells his timber, and by +exerting every art of augmentation, has obtained an yearly revenue +of four hundred pounds, which for a hundred square miles is three +halfpence an acre. + +Some time after dinner we were surprised by the entrance of a young +woman, not inelegant either in mien or dress, who asked us whether +we would have tea. We found that she was the daughter of our host, +and desired her to make it. Her conversation, like her appearance, +was gentle and pleasing. We knew that the girls of the Highlands +are all gentlewomen, and treated her with great respect, which she +received as customary and due, and was neither elated by it, nor +confused, but repaid my civilities without embarassment, and told +me how much I honoured her country by coming to survey it. + +She had been at Inverness to gain the common female qualifications, +and had, like her father, the English pronunciation. I presented +her with a book, which I happened to have about me, and should not +be pleased to think that she forgets me. + +In the evening the soldiers, whom we had passed on the road, came +to spend at our inn the little money that we had given them. They +had the true military impatience of coin in their pockets, and had +marched at least six miles to find the first place where liquor +could be bought. Having never been before in a place so wild and +unfrequented, I was glad of their arrival, because I knew that we +had made them friends, and to gain still more of their good will, +we went to them, where they were carousing in the barn, and added +something to our former gift. All that we gave was not much, but +it detained them in the barn, either merry or quarrelling, the +whole night, and in the morning they went back to their work, with +great indignation at the bad qualities of whisky. + +We had gained so much the favour of our host, that, when we left +his house in the morning, he walked by us a great way, and +entertained us with conversation both on his own condition, and +that of the country. His life seemed to be merely pastoral, except +that he differed from some of the ancient Nomades in having a +settled dwelling. His wealth consists of one hundred sheep, as +many goats, twelve milk-cows, and twenty-eight beeves ready for the +drover. + +From him we first heard of the general dissatisfaction, which is +now driving the Highlanders into the other hemisphere; and when I +asked him whether they would stay at home, if they were well +treated, he answered with indignation, that no man willingly left +his native country. Of the farm, which he himself occupied, the +rent had, in twenty-five years, been advanced from five to twenty +pounds, which he found himself so little able to pay, that he would +be glad to try his fortune in some other place. Yet he owned the +reasonableness of raising the Highland rents in a certain degree, +and declared himself willing to pay ten pounds for the ground which +he had formerly had for five. + +Our host having amused us for a time, resigned us to our guides. +The journey of this day was long, not that the distance was great, +but that the way was difficult. We were now in the bosom of the +Highlands, with full leisure to contemplate the appearance and +properties of mountainous regions, such as have been, in many +countries, the last shelters of national distress, and are every +where the scenes of adventures, stratagems, surprises and escapes. + +Mountainous countries are not passed but with difficulty, not +merely from the labour of climbing; for to climb is not always +necessary: but because that which is not mountain is commonly bog, +through which the way must be picked with caution. Where there are +hills, there is much rain, and the torrents pouring down into the +intermediate spaces, seldom find so ready an outlet, as not to +stagnate, till they have broken the texture of the ground. + +Of the hills, which our journey offered to the view on either side, +we did not take the height, nor did we see any that astonished us +with their loftiness. Towards the summit of one, there was a white +spot, which I should have called a naked rock, but the guides, who +had better eyes, and were acquainted with the phenomena of the +country, declared it to be snow. It had already lasted to the end +of August, and was likely to maintain its contest with the sun, +till it should be reinforced by winter. + +The height of mountains philosophically considered is properly +computed from the surface of the next sea; but as it affects the +eye or imagination of the passenger, as it makes either a spectacle +or an obstruction, it must be reckoned from the place where the +rise begins to make a considerable angle with the plain. In +extensive continents the land may, by gradual elevation, attain +great height, without any other appearance than that of a plane +gently inclined, and if a hill placed upon such raised ground be +described, as having its altitude equal to the whole space above +the sea, the representation will be fallacious. + +These mountains may be properly enough measured from the inland +base; for it is not much above the sea. As we advanced at evening +towards the western coast, I did not observe the declivity to be +greater than is necessary for the discharge of the inland waters. + +We passed many rivers and rivulets, which commonly ran with a clear +shallow stream over a hard pebbly bottom. These channels, which +seem so much wider than the water that they convey would naturally +require, are formed by the violence of wintry floods, produced by +the accumulation of innumerable streams that fall in rainy weather +from the hills, and bursting away with resistless impetuosity, make +themselves a passage proportionate to their mass. + +Such capricious and temporary waters cannot be expected to produce +many fish. The rapidity of the wintry deluge sweeps them away, and +the scantiness of the summer stream would hardly sustain them above +the ground. This is the reason why in fording the northern rivers, +no fishes are seen, as in England, wandering in the water. + +Of the hills many may be called with Homer's Ida 'abundant in +springs', but few can deserve the epithet which he bestows upon +Pelion by 'waving their leaves.' They exhibit very little variety; +being almost wholly covered with dark heath, and even that seems to +be checked in its growth. What is not heath is nakedness, a little +diversified by now and then a stream rushing down the steep. An +eye accustomed to flowery pastures and waving harvests is +astonished and repelled by this wide extent of hopeless sterility. +The appearance is that of matter incapable of form or usefulness, +dismissed by nature from her care and disinherited of her favours, +left in its original elemental state, or quickened only with one +sullen power of useless vegetation. + +It will very readily occur, that this uniformity of barrenness can +afford very little amusement to the traveller; that it is easy to +sit at home and conceive rocks and heath, and waterfalls; and that +these journeys are useless labours, which neither impregnate the +imagination, nor enlarge the understanding. It is true that of far +the greater part of things, we must content ourselves with such +knowledge as description may exhibit, or analogy supply; but it is +true likewise, that these ideas are always incomplete, and that at +least, till we have compared them with realities, we do not know +them to be just. As we see more, we become possessed of more +certainties, and consequently gain more principles of reasoning, +and found a wider basis of analogy. + +Regions mountainous and wild, thinly inhabited, and little +cultivated, make a great part of the earth, and he that has never +seen them, must live unacquainted with much of the face of nature, +and with one of the great scenes of human existence. + +As the day advanced towards noon, we entered a narrow valley not +very flowery, but sufficiently verdant. Our guides told us, that +the horses could not travel all day without rest or meat, and +intreated us to stop here, because no grass would be found in any +other place. The request was reasonable and the argument cogent. +We therefore willingly dismounted and diverted ourselves as the +place gave us opportunity. + +I sat down on a bank, such as a writer of Romance might have +delighted to feign. I had indeed no trees to whisper over my head, +but a clear rivulet streamed at my feet. The day was calm, the air +soft, and all was rudeness, silence, and solitude. Before me, and +on either side, were high hills, which by hindering the eye from +ranging, forced the mind to find entertainment for itself. Whether +I spent the hour well I know not; for here I first conceived the +thought of this narration. + +We were in this place at ease and by choice, and had no evils to +suffer or to fear; yet the imaginations excited by the view of an +unknown and untravelled wilderness are not such as arise in the +artificial solitude of parks and gardens, a flattering notion of +self-sufficiency, a placid indulgence of voluntary delusions, a +secure expansion of the fancy, or a cool concentration of the +mental powers. The phantoms which haunt a desert are want, and +misery, and danger; the evils of dereliction rush upon the +thoughts; man is made unwillingly acquainted with his own weakness, +and meditation shows him only how little he can sustain, and how +little he can perform. There were no traces of inhabitants, except +perhaps a rude pile of clods called a summer hut, in which a +herdsman had rested in the favourable seasons. Whoever had been in +the place where I then sat, unprovided with provisions and ignorant +of the country, might, at least before the roads were made, have +wandered among the rocks, till he had perished with hardship, +before he could have found either food or shelter. Yet what are +these hillocks to the ridges of Taurus, or these spots of wildness +to the desarts of America? + +It was not long before we were invited to mount, and continued our +journey along the side of a lough, kept full by many streams, which +with more or less rapidity and noise, crossed the road from the +hills on the other hand. These currents, in their diminished +state, after several dry months, afford, to one who has always +lived in level countries, an unusual and delightful spectacle; but +in the rainy season, such as every winter may be expected to bring, +must precipitate an impetuous and tremendous flood. I suppose the +way by which we went, is at that time impassable. + + + +GLENSHEALS + + + +The lough at last ended in a river broad and shallow like the rest, +but that it may be passed when it is deeper, there is a bridge over +it. Beyond it is a valley called Glensheals, inhabited by the clan +of Macrae. Here we found a village called Auknasheals, consisting +of many huts, perhaps twenty, built all of dry-stone, that is, +stones piled up without mortar. + +We had, by the direction of the officers at Fort Augustus, taken +bread for ourselves, and tobacco for those Highlanders who might +show us any kindness. We were now at a place where we could obtain +milk, but we must have wanted bread if we had not brought it. The +people of this valley did not appear to know any English, and our +guides now became doubly necessary as interpreters. A woman, whose +hut was distinguished by greater spaciousness and better +architecture, brought out some pails of milk. The villagers +gathered about us in considerable numbers, I believe without any +evil intention, but with a very savage wildness of aspect and +manner. When our meal was over, Mr. Boswell sliced the bread, and +divided it amongst them, as he supposed them never to have tasted a +wheaten loaf before. He then gave them little pieces of twisted +tobacco, and among the children we distributed a small handful of +halfpence, which they received with great eagerness. Yet I have +been since told, that the people of that valley are not indigent; +and when we mentioned them afterwards as needy and pitiable, a +Highland lady let us know, that we might spare our commiseration; +for the dame whose milk we drank had probably more than a dozen +milk-cows. She seemed unwilling to take any price, but being +pressed to make a demand, at last named a shilling. Honesty is not +greater where elegance is less. One of the bystanders, as we were +told afterwards, advised her to ask for more, but she said a +shilling was enough. We gave her half a crown, and I hope got some +credit for our behaviour; for the company said, if our interpreters +did not flatter us, that they had not seen such a day since the old +laird of Macleod passed through their country. + +The Macraes, as we heard afterwards in the Hebrides, were +originally an indigent and subordinate clan, and having no farms +nor stock, were in great numbers servants to the Maclellans, who, +in the war of Charles the First, took arms at the call of the +heroic Montrose, and were, in one of his battles, almost all +destroyed. The women that were left at home, being thus deprived +of their husbands, like the Scythian ladies of old, married their +servants, and the Macraes became a considerable race. + + + +THE HIGHLANDS + + + +As we continued our journey, we were at leisure to extend our +speculations, and to investigate the reason of those peculiarities +by which such rugged regions as these before us are generally +distinguished. + +Mountainous countries commonly contain the original, at least the +oldest race of inhabitants, for they are not easily conquered, +because they must be entered by narrow ways, exposed to every power +of mischief from those that occupy the heights; and every new ridge +is a new fortress, where the defendants have again the same +advantages. If the assailants either force the strait, or storm +the summit, they gain only so much ground; their enemies are fled +to take possession of the next rock, and the pursuers stand at +gaze, knowing neither where the ways of escape wind among the +steeps, nor where the bog has firmness to sustain them: besides +that, mountaineers have an agility in climbing and descending +distinct from strength or courage, and attainable only by use. + +If the war be not soon concluded, the invaders are dislodged by +hunger; for in those anxious and toilsome marches, provisions +cannot easily be carried, and are never to be found. The wealth of +mountains is cattle, which, while the men stand in the passes, the +women drive away. Such lands at last cannot repay the expence of +conquest, and therefore perhaps have not been so often invaded by +the mere ambition of dominion; as by resentment of robberies and +insults, or the desire of enjoying in security the more fruitful +provinces. + +As mountains are long before they are conquered, they are likewise +long before they are civilized. Men are softened by intercourse +mutually profitable, and instructed by comparing their own notions +with those of others. Thus Caesar found the maritime parts of +Britain made less barbarous by their commerce with the Gauls. Into +a barren and rough tract no stranger is brought either by the hope +of gain or of pleasure. The inhabitants having neither commodities +for sale, nor money for purchase, seldom visit more polished +places, or if they do visit them, seldom return. + +It sometimes happens that by conquest, intermixture, or gradual +refinement, the cultivated parts of a country change their +language. The mountaineers then become a distinct nation, cut off +by dissimilitude of speech from conversation with their neighbours. +Thus in Biscay, the original Cantabrian, and in Dalecarlia, the old +Swedish still subsists. Thus Wales and the Highlands speak the +tongue of the first inhabitants of Britain, while the other parts +have received first the Saxon, and in some degree afterwards the +French, and then formed a third language between them. + +That the primitive manners are continued where the primitive +language is spoken, no nation will desire me to suppose, for the +manners of mountaineers are commonly savage, but they are rather +produced by their situation than derived from their ancestors. + +Such seems to be the disposition of man, that whatever makes a +distinction produces rivalry. England, before other causes of +enmity were found, was disturbed for some centuries by the contests +of the northern and southern counties; so that at Oxford, the peace +of study could for a long time be preserved only by chusing +annually one of the Proctors from each side of the Trent. A tract +intersected by many ridges of mountains, naturally divides its +inhabitants into petty nations, which are made by a thousand causes +enemies to each other. Each will exalt its own chiefs, each will +boast the valour of its men, or the beauty of its women, and every +claim of superiority irritates competition; injuries will sometimes +be done, and be more injuriously defended; retaliation will +sometimes be attempted, and the debt exacted with too much +interest. + +In the Highlands it was a law, that if a robber was sheltered from +justice, any man of the same clan might be taken in his place. +This was a kind of irregular justice, which, though necessary in +savage times, could hardly fail to end in a feud, and a feud once +kindled among an idle people with no variety of pursuits to divert +their thoughts, burnt on for ages either sullenly glowing in secret +mischief, or openly blazing into public violence. Of the effects +of this violent judicature, there are not wanting memorials. The +cave is now to be seen to which one of the Campbells, who had +injured the Macdonalds, retired with a body of his own clan. The +Macdonalds required the offender, and being refused, made a fire at +the mouth of the cave, by which he and his adherents were +suffocated together. + +Mountaineers are warlike, because by their feuds and competitions +they consider themselves as surrounded with enemies, and are always +prepared to repel incursions, or to make them. Like the Greeks in +their unpolished state, described by Thucydides, the Highlanders, +till lately, went always armed, and carried their weapons to +visits, and to church. + +Mountaineers are thievish, because they are poor, and having +neither manufactures nor commerce, can grow richer only by robbery. +They regularly plunder their neighbours, for their neighbours are +commonly their enemies; and having lost that reverence for +property, by which the order of civil life is preserved, soon +consider all as enemies, whom they do not reckon as friends, and +think themselves licensed to invade whatever they are not obliged +to protect. + +By a strict administration of the laws, since the laws have been +introduced into the Highlands, this disposition to thievery is very +much represt. Thirty years ago no herd had ever been conducted +through the mountains, without paying tribute in the night, to some +of the clans; but cattle are now driven, and passengers travel +without danger, fear, or molestation. + +Among a warlike people, the quality of highest esteem is personal +courage, and with the ostentatious display of courage are closely +connected promptitude of offence and quickness of resentment. The +Highlanders, before they were disarmed, were so addicted to +quarrels, that the boys used to follow any publick procession or +ceremony, however festive, or however solemn, in expectation of the +battle, which was sure to happen before the company dispersed. + +Mountainous regions are sometimes so remote from the seat of +government, and so difficult of access, that they are very little +under the influence of the sovereign, or within the reach of +national justice. Law is nothing without power; and the sentence +of a distant court could not be easily executed, nor perhaps very +safely promulgated, among men ignorantly proud and habitually +violent, unconnected with the general system, and accustomed to +reverence only their own lords. It has therefore been necessary to +erect many particular jurisdictions, and commit the punishment of +crimes, and the decision of right to the proprietors of the country +who could enforce their own decrees. It immediately appears that +such judges will be often ignorant, and often partial; but in the +immaturity of political establishments no better expedient could be +found. As government advances towards perfection, provincial +judicature is perhaps in every empire gradually abolished. + +Those who had thus the dispensation of law, were by consequence +themselves lawless. Their vassals had no shelter from outrages and +oppressions; but were condemned to endure, without resistance, the +caprices of wantonness, and the rage of cruelty. + +In the Highlands, some great lords had an hereditary jurisdiction +over counties; and some chieftains over their own lands; till the +final conquest of the Highlands afforded an opportunity of crushing +all the local courts, and of extending the general benefits of +equal law to the low and the high, in the deepest recesses and +obscurest corners. + +While the chiefs had this resemblance of royalty, they had little +inclination to appeal, on any question, to superior judicatures. A +claim of lands between two powerful lairds was decided like a +contest for dominion between sovereign powers. They drew their +forces into the field, and right attended on the strongest. This +was, in ruder times, the common practice, which the kings of +Scotland could seldom control. + +Even so lately as in the last years of King William, a battle was +fought at Mull Roy, on a plain a few miles to the south of +Inverness, between the clans of Mackintosh and Macdonald of +Keppoch. Col. Macdonald, the head of a small clan, refused to pay +the dues demanded from him by Mackintosh, as his superior lord. +They disdained the interposition of judges and laws, and calling +each his followers to maintain the dignity of the clan, fought a +formal battle, in which several considerable men fell on the side +of Mackintosh, without a complete victory to either. This is said +to have been the last open war made between the clans by their own +authority. + +The Highland lords made treaties, and formed alliances, of which +some traces may still be found, and some consequences still remain +as lasting evidences of petty regality. The terms of one of these +confederacies were, that each should support the other in the +right, or in the wrong, except against the king. + +The inhabitants of mountains form distinct races, and are careful +to preserve their genealogies. Men in a small district necessarily +mingle blood by intermarriages, and combine at last into one +family, with a common interest in the honour and disgrace of every +individual. Then begins that union of affections, and co-operation +of endeavours, that constitute a clan. They who consider +themselves as ennobled by their family, will think highly of their +progenitors, and they who through successive generations live +always together in the same place, will preserve local stories and +hereditary prejudices. Thus every Highlander can talk of his +ancestors, and recount the outrages which they suffered from the +wicked inhabitants of the next valley. + +Such are the effects of habitation among mountains, and such were +the qualities of the Highlanders, while their rocks secluded them +from the rest of mankind, and kept them an unaltered and +discriminated race. They are now losing their distinction, and +hastening to mingle with the general community. + + + +GLENELG + + + +We left Auknasheals and the Macraes its the afternoon, and in the +evening came to Ratiken, a high hill on which a road is cut, but so +steep and narrow, that it is very difficult. There is now a design +of making another way round the bottom. Upon one of the +precipices, my horse, weary with the steepness of the rise, +staggered a little, and I called in haste to the Highlander to hold +him. This was the only moment of my journey, in which I thought +myself endangered. + +Having surmounted the hill at last, we were told that at Glenelg, +on the sea-side, we should come to a house of lime and slate and +glass. This image of magnificence raised our expectation. At last +we came to our inn weary and peevish, and began to inquire for meat +and beds. + +Of the provisions the negative catalogue was very copious. Here +was no meat, no milk, no bread, no eggs, no wine. We did not +express much satisfaction. Here however we were to stay. Whisky +we might have, and I believe at last they caught a fowl and killed +it. We had some bread, and with that we prepared ourselves to be +contented, when we had a very eminent proof of Highland +hospitality. Along some miles of the way, in the evening, a +gentleman's servant had kept us company on foot with very little +notice on our part. He left us near Glenelg, and we thought on him +no more till he came to us again, in about two hours, with a +present from his master of rum and sugar. The man had mentioned +his company, and the gentleman, whose name, I think, is Gordon, +well knowing the penury of the place, had this attention to two +men, whose names perhaps he had not heard, by whom his kindness was +not likely to be ever repaid, and who could be recommended to him +only by their necessities. + +We were now to examine our lodging. Out of one of the beds, on +which we were to repose, started up, at our entrance, a man black +as a Cyclops from the forge. Other circumstances of no elegant +recital concurred to disgust us. We had been frighted by a lady at +Edinburgh, with discouraging representations of Highland lodgings. +Sleep, however, was necessary. Our Highlanders had at last found +some hay, with which the inn could not supply them. I directed +them to bring a bundle into the room, and slept upon it in my +riding coat. Mr. Boswell being more delicate, laid himself sheets +with hay over and under him, and lay in linen like a gentleman. + + + +SKY. ARMIDEL + + + +In the morning, September the second, we found ourselves on the +edge of the sea. Having procured a boat, we dismissed our +Highlanders, whom I would recommend to the service of any future +travellers, and were ferried over to the Isle of Sky. We landed at +Armidel, where we were met on the sands by Sir Alexander Macdonald, +who was at that time there with his lady, preparing to leave the +island and reside at Edinburgh. + +Armidel is a neat house, built where the Macdonalds had once a +seat, which was burnt in the commotions that followed the +Revolution. The walled orchard, which belonged to the former +house, still remains. It is well shaded by tall ash trees, of a +species, as Mr. Janes the fossilist informed me, uncommonly +valuable. This plantation is very properly mentioned by Dr. +Campbell, in his new account of the state of Britain, and deserves +attention; because it proves that the present nakedness of the +Hebrides is not wholly the fault of Nature. + +As we sat at Sir Alexander's table, we were entertained, according +to the ancient usage of the North, with the melody of the bagpipe. +Everything in those countries has its history. As the bagpiper was +playing, an elderly Gentleman informed us, that in some remote +time, the Macdonalds of Glengary having been injured, or offended +by the inhabitants of Culloden, and resolving to have justice or +vengeance, came to Culloden on a Sunday, where finding their +enemies at worship, they shut them up in the church, which they set +on fire; and this, said he, is the tune that the piper played while +they were burning. + +Narrations like this, however uncertain, deserve the notice of the +traveller, because they are the only records of a nation that has +no historians, and afford the most genuine representation of the +life and character of the ancient Highlanders. + +Under the denomination of Highlander are comprehended in Scotland +all that now speak the Erse language, or retain the primitive +manners, whether they live among the mountains or in the islands; +and in that sense I use the name, when there is not some apparent +reason for making a distinction. + +In Sky I first observed the use of Brogues, a kind of artless +shoes, stitched with thongs so loosely, that though they defend the +foot from stones, they do not exclude water. Brogues were formerly +made of raw hides, with the hair inwards, and such are perhaps +still used in rude and remote parts; but they are said not to last +above two days. Where life is somewhat improved, they are now made +of leather tanned with oak bark, as in other places, or with the +bark of birch, or roots of tormentil, a substance recommended in +defect of bark, about forty years ago, to the Irish tanners, by one +to whom the parliament of that kingdom voted a reward. The leather +of Sky is not completely penetrated by vegetable matter, and +therefore cannot be very durable. + +My inquiries about brogues, gave me an early specimen of Highland +information. One day I was told, that to make brogues was a +domestick art, which every man practised for himself, and that a +pair of brogues was the work of an hour. I supposed that the +husband made brogues as the wife made an apron, till next day it +was told me, that a brogue-maker was a trade, and that a pair would +cost half a crown. It will easily occur that these representations +may both be true, and that, in some places, men may buy them, and +in others, make them for themselves; but I had both the accounts in +the same house within two days. + +Many of my subsequent inquiries upon more interesting topicks ended +in the like uncertainty. He that travels in the Highlands may +easily saturate his soul with intelligence, if he will acquiesce in +the first account. The Highlander gives to every question an +answer so prompt and peremptory, that skepticism itself is dared +into silence, and the mind sinks before the bold reporter in +unresisting credulity; but, if a second question be ventured, it +breaks the enchantment; for it is immediately discovered, that what +was told so confidently was told at hazard, and that such +fearlessness of assertion was either the sport of negligence, or +the refuge of ignorance. + +If individuals are thus at variance with themselves, it can be no +wonder that the accounts of different men are contradictory. The +traditions of an ignorant and savage people have been for ages +negligently heard, and unskilfully related. Distant events must +have been mingled together, and the actions of one man given to +another. These, however, are deficiencies in story, for which no +man is now to be censured. It were enough, if what there is yet +opportunity of examining were accurately inspected, and justly +represented; but such is the laxity of Highland conversation, that +the inquirer is kept in continual suspense, and by a kind of +intellectual retrogradation, knows less as he hears more. + +In the islands the plaid is rarely worn. The law by which the +Highlanders have been obliged to change the form of their dress, +has, in all the places that we have visited, been universally +obeyed. I have seen only one gentleman completely clothed in the +ancient habit, and by him it was worn only occasionally and +wantonly. The common people do not think themselves under any +legal necessity of having coats; for they say that the law against +plaids was made by Lord Hardwicke, and was in force only for his +life: but the same poverty that made it then difficult for them to +change their clothing, hinders them now from changing it again. + +The fillibeg, or lower garment, is still very common, and the +bonnet almost universal; but their attire is such as produces, in a +sufficient degree, the effect intended by the law, of abolishing +the dissimilitude of appearance between the Highlanders and the +other inhabitants of Britain; and, if dress be supposed to have +much influence, facilitates their coalition with their fellow- +subjects. + +What we have long used we naturally like, and therefore the +Highlanders were unwilling to lay aside their plaid, which yet to +an unprejudiced spectator must appear an incommodious and +cumbersome dress; for hanging loose upon the body, it must flutter +in a quick motion, or require one of the hands to keep it close. +The Romans always laid aside the gown when they had anything to do. +It was a dress so unsuitable to war, that the same word which +signified a gown signified peace. The chief use of a plaid seems +to be this, that they could commodiously wrap themselves in it, +when they were obliged to sleep without a better cover. + +In our passage from Scotland to Sky, we were wet for the first time +with a shower. This was the beginning of the Highland winter, +after which we were told that a succession of three dry days was +not to be expected for many months. The winter of the Hebrides +consists of little more than rain and wind. As they are surrounded +by an ocean never frozen, the blasts that come to them over the +water are too much softened to have the power of congelation. The +salt loughs, or inlets of the sea, which shoot very far into the +island, never have any ice upon them, and the pools of fresh water +will never bear the walker. The snow that sometimes falls, is soon +dissolved by the air, or the rain. + +This is not the description of a cruel climate, yet the dark months +are here a time of great distress; because the summer can do little +more than feed itself, and winter comes with its cold and its +scarcity upon families very slenderly provided. + + + +CORIATACHAN IN SKY + + + +The third or fourth day after our arrival at Armidel, brought us an +invitation to the isle of Raasay, which lies east of Sky. It is +incredible how soon the account of any event is propagated in these +narrow countries by the love of talk, which much leisure produces, +and the relief given to the mind in the penury of insular +conversation by a new topick. The arrival of strangers at a place +so rarely visited, excites rumour, and quickens curiosity. I know +not whether we touched at any corner, where Fame had not already +prepared us a reception. + +To gain a commodious passage to Raasay, it was necessary to pass +over a large part of Sky. We were furnished therefore with horses +and a guide. In the Islands there are no roads, nor any marks by +which a stranger may find his way. The horseman has always at his +side a native of the place, who, by pursuing game, or tending +cattle, or being often employed in messages or conduct, has learned +where the ridge of the hill has breadth sufficient to allow a horse +and his rider a passage, and where the moss or bog is hard enough +to bear them. The bogs are avoided as toilsome at least, if not +unsafe, and therefore the journey is made generally from precipice +to precipice; from which if the eye ventures to look down, it sees +below a gloomy cavity, whence the rush of water is sometimes heard. + +But there seems to be in all this more alarm than danger. The +Highlander walks carefully before, and the horse, accustomed to the +ground, follows him with little deviation. Sometimes the hill is +too steep for the horseman to keep his seat, and sometimes the moss +is too tremulous to bear the double weight of horse and man. The +rider then dismounts, and all shift as they can. + +Journies made in this manner are rather tedious than long. A very +few miles require several hours. From Armidel we came at night to +Coriatachan, a house very pleasantly situated between two brooks, +with one of the highest hills of the island behind it. It is the +residence of Mr. Mackinnon, by whom we were treated with very +liberal hospitality, among a more numerous and elegant company than +it could have been supposed easy to collect. + +The hill behind the house we did not climb. The weather was rough, +and the height and steepness discouraged us. We were told that +there is a cairne upon it. A cairne is a heap of stones thrown +upon the grave of one eminent for dignity of birth, or splendour of +atchievements. It is said that by digging, an urn is always found +under these cairnes: they must therefore have been thus piled by a +people whose custom was to burn the dead. To pile stones is, I +believe, a northern custom, and to burn the body was the Roman +practice; nor do I know when it was that these two acts of +sepulture were united. + +The weather was next day too violent for the continuation of our +journey; but we had no reason to complain of the interruption. We +saw in every place, what we chiefly desired to know, the manners of +the people. We had company, and, if we had chosen retirement, we +might have had books. + +I never was in any house of the Islands, where I did not find books +in more languages than one, if I staid long enough to want them, +except one from which the family was removed. Literature is not +neglected by the higher rank of the Hebridians. + +It need not, I suppose, be mentioned, that in countries so little +frequented as the Islands, there are no houses where travellers are +entertained for money. He that wanders about these wilds, either +procures recommendations to those whose habitations lie near his +way, or, when night and weariness come upon him, takes the chance +of general hospitality. If he finds only a cottage, he can expect +little more than shelter; for the cottagers have little more for +themselves: but if his good fortune brings him to the residence of +a gentleman, he will be glad of a storm to prolong his stay. There +is, however, one inn by the sea-side at Sconsor, in Sky, where the +post-office is kept. + +At the tables where a stranger is received, neither plenty nor +delicacy is wanting. A tract of land so thinly inhabited, must +have much wild-fowl; and I scarcely remember to have seen a dinner +without them. The moorgame is every where to be had. That the sea +abounds with fish, needs not be told, for it supplies a great part +of Europe. The Isle of Sky has stags and roebucks, but no hares. +They sell very numerous droves of oxen yearly to England, and +therefore cannot be supposed to want beef at home. Sheep and goats +are in great numbers, and they have the common domestick fowls. + +But as here is nothing to be bought, every family must kill its own +meat, and roast part of it somewhat sooner than Apicius would +prescribe. Every kind of flesh is undoubtedly excelled by the +variety and emulation of English markets; but that which is not +best may be yet very far from bad, and he that shall complain of +his fare in the Hebrides, has improved his delicacy more than his +manhood. + +Their fowls are not like those plumped for sale by the poulterers +of London, but they are as good as other places commonly afford, +except that the geese, by feeding in the sea, have universally a +fishy rankness. + +These geese seem to be of a middle race, between the wild and +domestick kinds. They are so tame as to own a home, and so wild as +sometimes to fly quite away. + +Their native bread is made of oats, or barley. Of oatmeal they +spread very thin cakes, coarse and hard, to which unaccustomed +palates are not easily reconciled. The barley cakes are thicker +and softer; I began to eat them without unwillingness; the +blackness of their colour raises some dislike, but the taste is not +disagreeable. In most houses there is wheat flower, with which we +were sure to be treated, if we staid long enough to have it kneaded +and baked. As neither yeast nor leaven are used among them, their +bread of every kind is unfermented. They make only cakes, and +never mould a loaf. + +A man of the Hebrides, for of the women's diet I can give no +account, as soon as he appears in the morning, swallows a glass of +whisky; yet they are not a drunken race, at least I never was +present at much intemperance; but no man is so abstemious as to +refuse the morning dram, which they call a skalk. + +The word whisky signifies water, and is applied by way of eminence +to strong water, or distilled liquor. The spirit drunk in the +North is drawn from barley. I never tasted it, except once for +experiment at the inn in Inverary, when I thought it preferable to +any English malt brandy. It was strong, but not pungent, and was +free from the empyreumatick taste or smell. What was the process I +had no opportunity of inquiring, nor do I wish to improve the art +of making poison pleasant. + +Not long after the dram, may be expected the breakfast, a meal in +which the Scots, whether of the lowlands or mountains, must be +confessed to excel us. The tea and coffee are accompanied not only +with butter, but with honey, conserves, and marmalades. If an +epicure could remove by a wish, in quest of sensual gratifications, +wherever he had supped he would breakfast in Scotland. + +In the islands however, they do what I found it not very easy to +endure. They pollute the tea-table by plates piled with large +slices of cheshire cheese, which mingles its less grateful odours +with the fragrance of the tea. + +Where many questions are to be asked, some will be omitted. I +forgot to inquire how they were supplied with so much exotic +luxury. Perhaps the French may bring them wine for wool, and the +Dutch give them tea and coffee at the fishing season, in exchange +for fresh provision. Their trade is unconstrained; they pay no +customs, for there is no officer to demand them; whatever therefore +is made dear only by impost, is obtained here at an easy rate. + +A dinner in the Western Islands differs very little from a dinner +in England, except that in the place of tarts, there are always set +different preparations of milk. This part of their diet will admit +some improvement. Though they have milk, and eggs, and sugar, few +of them know how to compound them in a custard. Their gardens +afford them no great variety, but they have always some vegetables +on the table. Potatoes at least are never wanting, which, though +they have not known them long, are now one of the principal parts +of their food. They are not of the mealy, but the viscous kind. + +Their more elaborate cookery, or made dishes, an Englishman at the +first taste is not likely to approve, but the culinary compositions +of every country are often such as become grateful to other nations +only by degrees; though I have read a French author, who, in the +elation of his heart, says, that French cookery pleases all +foreigners, but foreign cookery never satisfies a Frenchman. + +Their suppers are, like their dinners, various and plentiful. The +table is always covered with elegant linen. Their plates for +common use are often of that kind of manufacture which is called +cream coloured, or queen's ware. They use silver on all occasions +where it is common in England, nor did I ever find the spoon of +horn, but in one house. + +The knives are not often either very bright, or very sharp. They +are indeed instruments of which the Highlanders have not been long +acquainted with the general use. They were not regularly laid on +the table, before the prohibition of arms, and the change of dress. +Thirty years ago the Highlander wore his knife as a companion to +his dirk or dagger, and when the company sat down to meat, the men +who had knives, cut the flesh into small pieces for the women, who +with their fingers conveyed it to their mouths. + +There was perhaps never any change of national manners so quick, so +great, and so general, as that which has operated in the Highlands, +by the last conquest, and the subsequent laws. We came thither too +late to see what we expected, a people of peculiar appearance, and +a system of antiquated life. The clans retain little now of their +original character, their ferocity of temper is softened, their +military ardour is extinguished, their dignity of independence is +depressed, their contempt of government subdued, and the reverence +for their chiefs abated. Of what they had before the late conquest +of their country, there remain only their language and their +poverty. Their language is attacked on every side. Schools are +erected, in which English only is taught, and there were lately +some who thought it reasonable to refuse them a version of the holy +scriptures, that they might have no monument of their mother- +tongue. + +That their poverty is gradually abated, cannot be mentioned among +the unpleasing consequences of subjection. They are now acquainted +with money, and the possibility of gain will by degrees make them +industrious. Such is the effect of the late regulations, that a +longer journey than to the Highlands must be taken by him whose +curiosity pants for savage virtues and barbarous grandeur. + + + +RAASAY + + + +At the first intermission of the stormy weather we were informed, +that the boat, which was to convey us to Raasay, attended us on the +coast. We had from this time our intelligence facilitated, and our +conversation enlarged, by the company of Mr. Macqueen, minister of +a parish in Sky, whose knowledge and politeness give him a title +equally to kindness and respect, and who, from this time, never +forsook us till we were preparing to leave Sky, and the adjacent +places. + +The boat was under the direction of Mr. Malcolm Macleod, a +gentleman of Raasay. The water was calm, and the rowers were +vigorous; so that our passage was quick and pleasant. When we came +near the island, we saw the laird's house, a neat modern fabrick, +and found Mr. Macleod, the proprietor of the Island, with many +gentlemen, expecting us on the beach. We had, as at all other +places, some difficulty in landing. The craggs were irregularly +broken, and a false step would have been very mischievous. + +It seemed that the rocks might, with no great labour, have been +hewn almost into a regular flight of steps; and as there are no +other landing places, I considered this rugged ascent as the +consequence of a form of life inured to hardships, and therefore +not studious of nice accommodations. But I know not whether, for +many ages, it was not considered as a part of military policy, to +keep the country not easily accessible. The rocks are natural +fortifications, and an enemy climbing with difficulty, was easily +destroyed by those who stood high above him. + +Our reception exceeded our expectations. We found nothing but +civility, elegance, and plenty. After the usual refreshments, and +the usual conversation, the evening came upon us. The carpet was +then rolled off the floor; the musician was called, and the whole +company was invited to dance, nor did ever fairies trip with +greater alacrity. The general air of festivity, which predominated +in this place, so far remote from all those regions which the mind +has been used to contemplate as the mansions of pleasure, struck +the imagination with a delightful surprise, analogous to that which +is felt at an unexpected emersion from darkness into light. + +When it was time to sup, the dance ceased, and six and thirty +persons sat down to two tables in the same room. After supper the +ladies sung Erse songs, to which I listened as an English audience +to an Italian opera, delighted with the sound of words which I did +not understand. + +I inquired the subjects of the songs, and was told of one, that it +was a love song, and of another, that it was a farewell composed by +one of the Islanders that was going, in this epidemical fury of +emigration, to seek his fortune in America. What sentiments would +arise, on such an occasion, in the heart of one who had not been +taught to lament by precedent, I should gladly have known; but the +lady, by whom I sat, thought herself not equal to the work of +translating. + +Mr. Macleod is the proprietor of the islands of Raasay, Rona, and +Fladda, and possesses an extensive district in Sky. The estate has +not, during four hundred years, gained or lost a single acre. He +acknowledges Macleod of Dunvegan as his chief, though his ancestors +have formerly disputed the pre-eminence. + +One of the old Highland alliances has continued for two hundred +years, and is still subsisting between Macleod of Raasay and +Macdonald of Sky, in consequence of which, the survivor always +inherits the arms of the deceased; a natural memorial of military +friendship. At the death of the late Sir James Macdonald, his +sword was delivered to the present laird of Raasay. + +The family of Raasay consists of the laird, the lady, three sons +and ten daughters. For the sons there is a tutor in the house, and +the lady is said to be very skilful and diligent in the education +of her girls. More gentleness of manners, or a more pleasing +appearance of domestick society, is not found in the most polished +countries. + +Raasay is the only inhabited island in Mr. Macleod's possession. +Rona and Fladda afford only pasture for cattle, of which one +hundred and sixty winter in Rona, under the superintendence of a +solitary herdsman. + +The length of Raasay is, by computation, fifteen miles, and the +breadth two. These countries have never been measured, and the +computation by miles is negligent and arbitrary. We observed in +travelling, that the nominal and real distance of places had very +little relation to each other. Raasay probably contains near a +hundred square miles. It affords not much ground, notwithstanding +its extent, either for tillage, or pasture; for it is rough, rocky, +and barren. The cattle often perish by falling from the +precipices. It is like the other islands, I think, generally naked +of shade, but it is naked by neglect; for the laird has an orchard, +and very large forest trees grow about his house. Like other hilly +countries it has many rivulets. One of the brooks turns a corn- +mill, and at least one produces trouts. + +In the streams or fresh lakes of the Islands, I have never heard of +any other fish than trouts and eels. The trouts, which I have +seen, are not large; the colour of their flesh is tinged as in +England. Of their eels I can give no account, having never tasted +them; for I believe they are not considered as wholesome food. + +It is not very easy to fix the principles upon which mankind have +agreed to eat some animals, and reject others; and as the principle +is not evident, it is not uniform. That which is selected as +delicate in one country, is by its neighbours abhorred as +loathsome. The Neapolitans lately refused to eat potatoes in a +famine. An Englishman is not easily persuaded to dine on snails +with an Italian, on frogs with a Frenchman, or on horseflesh with a +Tartar. The vulgar inhabitants of Sky, I know not whether of the +other islands, have not only eels, but pork and bacon in +abhorrence, and accordingly I never saw a hog in the Hebrides, +except one at Dunvegan. + +Raasay has wild fowl in abundance, but neither deer, hares, nor +rabbits. Why it has them not, might be asked, but that of such +questions there is no end. Why does any nation want what it might +have? Why are not spices transplanted to America? Why does tea +continue to be brought from China? Life improves but by slow +degrees, and much in every place is yet to do. Attempts have been +made to raise roebucks in Raasay, but without effect. The young +ones it is extremely difficult to rear, and the old can very seldom +be taken alive. + +Hares and rabbits might be more easily obtained. That they have +few or none of either in Sky, they impute to the ravage of the +foxes, and have therefore set, for some years past, a price upon +their heads, which, as the number was diminished, has been +gradually raised, from three shillings and sixpence to a guinea, a +sum so great in this part of the world, that, in a short time, Sky +may be as free from foxes, as England from wolves. The fund for +these rewards is a tax of sixpence in the pound, imposed by the +farmers on themselves, and said to be paid with great willingness. + +The beasts of prey in the Islands are foxes, otters, and weasels. +The foxes are bigger than those of England; but the otters exceed +ours in a far greater proportion. I saw one at Armidel, of a size +much beyond that which I supposed them ever to attain; and Mr. +Maclean, the heir of Col, a man of middle stature, informed me that +he once shot an otter, of which the tail reached the ground, when +he held up the head to a level with his own. I expected the otter +to have a foot particularly formed for the art of swimming; but +upon examination, I did not find it differing much from that of a +spaniel. As he preys in the sea, he does little visible mischief, +and is killed only for his fur. White otters are sometimes seen. + +In Raasay they might have hares and rabbits, for they have no +foxes. Some depredations, such as were never made before, have +caused a suspicion that a fox has been lately landed in the Island +by spite or wantonness. This imaginary stranger has never yet been +seen, and therefore, perhaps, the mischief was done by some other +animal. It is not likely that a creature so ungentle, whose head +could have been sold in Sky for a guinea, should be kept alive only +to gratify the malice of sending him to prey upon a neighbour: and +the passage from Sky is wider than a fox would venture to swim, +unless he were chased by dogs into the sea, and perhaps than his +strength would enable him to cross. How beasts of prey came into +any islands is not easy to guess. In cold countries they take +advantage of hard winters, and travel over the ice: but this is a +very scanty solution; for they are found where they have no +discoverable means of coming. + +The corn of this island is but little. I saw the harvest of a +small field. The women reaped the Corn, and the men bound up the +sheaves. The strokes of the sickle were timed by the modulation of +the harvest song, in which all their voices were united. They +accompany in the Highlands every action, which can be done in equal +time, with an appropriated strain, which has, they say, not much +meaning; but its effects are regularity and cheerfulness. The +ancient proceleusmatick song, by which the rowers of gallies were +animated, may be supposed to have been of this kind. There is now +an oar-song used by the Hebridians. + +The ground of Raasay seems fitter for cattle than for corn, and of +black cattle I suppose the number is very great. The Laird himself +keeps a herd of four hundred, one hundred of which are annually +sold. Of an extensive domain, which he holds in his own hands, he +considers the sale of cattle as repaying him the rent, and supports +the plenty of a very liberal table with the remaining product. + +Raasay is supposed to have been very long inhabited. On one side +of it they show caves, into which the rude nations of the first +ages retreated from the weather. These dreary vaults might have +had other uses. There is still a cavity near the house called the +oar-cave, in which the seamen, after one of those piratical +expeditions, which in rougher times were very frequent, used, as +tradition tells, to hide their oars. This hollow was near the sea, +that nothing so necessary might be far to be fetched; and it was +secret, that enemies, if they landed, could find nothing. Yet it +is not very evident of what use it was to hide their oars from +those, who, if they were masters of the coast, could take away +their boats. + +A proof much stronger of the distance at which the first possessors +of this island lived from the present time, is afforded by the +stone heads of arrows which are very frequently picked up. The +people call them Elf-bolts, and believe that the fairies shoot them +at the cattle. They nearly resemble those which Mr. Banks has +lately brought from the savage countries in the Pacifick Ocean, and +must have been made by a nation to which the use of metals was +unknown. + +The number of this little community has never been counted by its +ruler, nor have I obtained any positive account, consistent with +the result of political computation. Not many years ago, the late +Laird led out one hundred men upon a military expedition. The +sixth part of a people is supposed capable of bearing arms: Raasay +had therefore six hundred inhabitants. But because it is not +likely, that every man able to serve in the field would follow the +summons, or that the chief would leave his lands totally +defenceless, or take away all the hands qualified for labour, let +it be supposed, that half as many might be permitted to stay at +home. The whole number will then be nine hundred, or nine to a +square mile; a degree of populousness greater than those tracts of +desolation can often show. They are content with their country, +and faithful to their chiefs, and yet uninfected with the fever of +migration. + +Near the house, at Raasay, is a chapel unroofed and ruinous, which +has long been used only as a place of burial. About the churches, +in the Islands, are small squares inclosed with stone, which belong +to particular families, as repositories for the dead. At Raasay +there is one, I think, for the proprietor, and one for some +collateral house. + +It is told by Martin, that at the death of the Lady of the Island, +it has been here the custom to erect a cross. This we found not to +be true. The stones that stand about the chapel at a small +distance, some of which perhaps have crosses cut upon them, are +believed to have been not funeral monuments, but the ancient +boundaries of the sanctuary or consecrated ground. + +Martin was a man not illiterate: he was an inhabitant of Sky, and +therefore was within reach of intelligence, and with no great +difficulty might have visited the places which he undertakes to +describe; yet with all his opportunities, he has often suffered +himself to be deceived. He lived in the last century, when the +chiefs of the clans had lost little of their original influence. +The mountains were yet unpenetrated, no inlet was opened to foreign +novelties, and the feudal institution operated upon life with their +full force. He might therefore have displayed a series of +subordination and a form of government, which, in more luminous and +improved regions, have been long forgotten, and have delighted his +readers with many uncouth customs that are now disused, and wild +opinions that prevail no longer. But he probably had not knowledge +of the world sufficient to qualify him for judging what would +deserve or gain the attention of mankind. The mode of life which +was familiar to himself, he did not suppose unknown to others, nor +imagined that he could give pleasure by telling that of which it +was, in his little country, impossible to be ignorant. + +What he has neglected cannot now be performed. In nations, where +there is hardly the use of letters, what is once out of sight is +lost for ever. They think but little, and of their few thoughts, +none are wasted on the past, in which they are neither interested +by fear nor hope. Their only registers are stated observances and +practical representations. For this reason an age of ignorance is +an age of ceremony. Pageants, and processions, and commemorations, +gradually shrink away, as better methods come into use of recording +events, and preserving rights. + +It is not only in Raasay that the chapel is unroofed and useless; +through the few islands which we visited, we neither saw nor heard +of any house of prayer, except in Sky, that was not in ruins. The +malignant influence of Calvinism has blasted ceremony and decency +together; and if the remembrance of papal superstition is +obliterated, the monuments of papal piety are likewise effaced. + +It has been, for many years, popular to talk of the lazy devotion +of the Romish clergy; over the sleepy laziness of men that erected +churches, we may indulge our superiority with a new triumph, by +comparing it with the fervid activity of those who suffer them to +fall. + +Of the destruction of churches, the decay of religion must in time +be the consequence; for while the publick acts of the ministry are +now performed in houses, a very small number can be present; and as +the greater part of the Islanders make no use of books, all must +necessarily live in total ignorance who want the opportunity of +vocal instruction. + +From these remains of ancient sanctity, which are every where to be +found, it has been conjectured, that, for the last two centuries, +the inhabitants of the Islands have decreased in number. This +argument, which supposes that the churches have been suffered to +fall, only because they were no longer necessary, would have some +force, if the houses of worship still remaining were sufficient for +the people. But since they have now no churches at all, these +venerable fragments do not prove the people of former times to have +been more numerous, but to have been more devout. If the +inhabitants were doubled with their present principles, it appears +not that any provision for publick worship would be made. Where +the religion of a country enforces consecrated buildings, the +number of those buildings may be supposed to afford some +indication, however uncertain, of the populousness of the place; +but where by a change of manners a nation is contented to live +without them, their decay implies no diminution of inhabitants. + +Some of these dilapidations are said to be found in islands now +uninhabited; but I doubt whether we can thence infer that they were +ever peopled. The religion of the middle age, is well known to +have placed too much hope in lonely austerities. Voluntary +solitude was the great act of propitiation, by which crimes were +effaced, and conscience was appeased; it is therefore not unlikely, +that oratories were often built in places where retirement was sure +to have no disturbance. + +Raasay has little that can detain a traveller, except the Laird and +his family; but their power wants no auxiliaries. Such a seat of +hospitality, amidst the winds and waters, fills the imagination +with a delightful contrariety of images. Without is the rough +ocean and the rocky land, the beating billows and the howling +storm: within is plenty and elegance, beauty and gaiety, the song +and the dance. In Raasay, if I could have found an Ulysses, I had +fancied a Phoeacia. + + + +DUNVEGAN + + + +At Raasay, by good fortune, Macleod, so the chief of the clan is +called, was paying a visit, and by him we were invited to his seat +at Dunvegan. Raasay has a stout boat, built in Norway, in which, +with six oars, he conveyed us back to Sky. We landed at Port Re, +so called, because James the Fifth of Scotland, who had curiosity +to visit the Islands, came into it. The port is made by an inlet +of the sea, deep and narrow, where a ship lay waiting to dispeople +Sky, by carrying the natives away to America. + +In coasting Sky, we passed by the cavern in which it was the +custom, as Martin relates, to catch birds in the night, by making a +fire at the entrance. This practice is disused; for the birds, as +is known often to happen, have changed their haunts. + +Here we dined at a publick house, I believe the only inn of the +island, and having mounted our horses, travelled in the manner +already described, till we came to Kingsborough, a place +distinguished by that name, because the King lodged here when he +landed at Port Re. We were entertained with the usual hospitality +by Mr. Macdonald and his lady, Flora Macdonald, a name that will be +mentioned in history, and if courage and fidelity be virtues, +mentioned with honour. She is a woman of middle stature, soft +features, gentle manners, and elegant presence. + +In the morning we sent our horses round a promontory to meet us, +and spared ourselves part of the day's fatigue, by crossing an arm +of the sea. We had at last some difficulty in coming to Dunvegan; +for our way led over an extensive moor, where every step was to be +taken with caution, and we were often obliged to alight, because +the ground could not be trusted. In travelling this watery flat, I +perceived that it had a visible declivity, and might without much +expence or difficulty be drained. But difficulty and expence are +relative terms, which have different meanings in different places. + +To Dunvegan we came, very willing to be at rest, and found our +fatigue amply recompensed by our reception. Lady Macleod, who had +lived many years in England, was newly come hither with her son and +four daughters, who knew all the arts of southern elegance, and all +the modes of English economy. Here therefore we settled, and did +not spoil the present hour with thoughts of departure. + +Dunvegan is a rocky prominence, that juts out into a bay, on the +west side of Sky. The house, which is the principal seat of +Macleod, is partly old and partly modern; it is built upon the +rock, and looks upon the water. It forms two sides of a small +square: on the third side is the skeleton of a castle of unknown +antiquity, supposed to have been a Norwegian fortress, when the +Danes were masters of the Islands. It is so nearly entire, that it +might have easily been made habitable, were there not an ominous +tradition in the family, that the owner shall not long outlive the +reparation. The grandfather of the present Laird, in defiance of +prediction, began the work, but desisted in a little time, and +applied his money to worse uses. + +As the inhabitants of the Hebrides lived, for many ages, in +continual expectation of hostilities, the chief of every clan +resided in a fortress. This house was accessible only from the +water, till the last possessor opened an entrance by stairs upon +the land. + +They had formerly reason to be afraid, not only of declared wars +and authorized invaders, or of roving pirates, which, in the +northern seas, must have been very common; but of inroads and +insults from rival clans, who, in the plenitude of feudal +independence, asked no leave of their Sovereign to make war on one +another. Sky has been ravaged by a feud between the two mighty +powers of Macdonald and Macleod. Macdonald having married a +Macleod upon some discontent dismissed her, perhaps because she had +brought him no children. Before the reign of James the Fifth, a +Highland Laird made a trial of his wife for a certain time, and if +she did not please him, he was then at liberty to send her away. +This however must always have offended, and Macleod resenting the +injury, whatever were its circumstances, declared, that the wedding +had been solemnized without a bonfire, but that the separation +should be better illuminated; and raising a little army, set fire +to the territories of Macdonald, who returned the visit, and +prevailed. + +Another story may show the disorderly state of insular +neighbourhood. The inhabitants of the Isle of Egg, meeting a boat +manned by Macleods, tied the crew hand and foot, and set them a- +drift. Macleod landed upon Egg, and demanded the offenders; but +the inhabitants refusing to surrender them, retreated to a cavern, +into which they thought their enemies unlikely to follow them. +Macleod choked them with smoke, and left them lying dead by +families as they stood. + +Here the violence of the weather confined us for some time, not at +all to our discontent or inconvenience. We would indeed very +willingly have visited the Islands, which might be seen from the +house scattered in the sea, and I was particularly desirous to have +viewed Isay; but the storms did not permit us to launch a boat, and +we were condemned to listen in idleness to the wind, except when we +were better engaged by listening to the ladies. + +We had here more wind than waves, and suffered the severity of a +tempest, without enjoying its magnificence. The sea being broken +by the multitude of islands, does not roar with so much noise, nor +beat the shore with such foamy violence, as I have remarked on the +coast of Sussex. Though, while I was in the Hebrides, the wind was +extremely turbulent, I never saw very high billows. + +The country about Dunvegan is rough and barren. There are no +trees, except in the orchard, which is a low sheltered spot +surrounded with a wall. + +When this house was intended to sustain a siege, a well was made in +the court, by boring the rock downwards, till water was found, +which though so near to the sea, I have not heard mentioned as +brackish, though it has some hardness, or other qualities, which +make it less fit for use; and the family is now better supplied +from a stream, which runs by the rock, from two pleasing water- +falls. + +Here we saw some traces of former manners, and heard some standing +traditions. In the house is kept an ox's horn, hollowed so as to +hold perhaps two quarts, which the heir of Macleod was expected to +swallow at one draught, as a test of his manhood, before he was +permitted to bear arms, or could claim a seat among the men. It is +held that the return of the Laird to Dunvegan, after any +considerable absence, produces a plentiful capture of herrings; and +that, if any woman crosses the water to the opposite Island, the +herrings will desert the coast. Boetius tells the same of some +other place. This tradition is not uniform. Some hold that no +woman may pass, and others that none may pass but a Macleod. + +Among other guests, which the hospitality of Dunvegan brought to +the table, a visit was paid by the Laird and Lady of a small island +south of Sky, of which the proper name is Muack, which signifies +swine. It is commonly called Muck, which the proprietor not +liking, has endeavoured, without effect, to change to Monk. It is +usual to call gentlemen in Scotland by the name of their +possessions, as Raasay, Bernera, Loch Buy, a practice necessary in +countries inhabited by clans, where all that live in the same +territory have one name, and must be therefore discriminated by +some addition. This gentleman, whose name, I think, is Maclean, +should be regularly called Muck; but the appellation, which he +thinks too coarse for his Island, he would like still less for +himself, and he is therefore addressed by the title of, Isle of +Muck. + +This little Island, however it be named, is of considerable value. +It is two English miles long, and three quarters of a mile broad, +and consequently contains only nine hundred and sixty English +acres. It is chiefly arable. Half of this little dominion the +Laird retains in his own hand, and on the other half, live one +hundred and sixty persons, who pay their rent by exported corn. +What rent they pay, we were not told, and could not decently +inquire. The proportion of the people to the land is such, as the +most fertile countries do not commonly maintain. + +The Laird having all his people under his immediate view, seems to +be very attentive to their happiness. The devastation of the +small-pox, when it visits places where it comes seldom, is well +known. He has disarmed it of its terrour at Muack, by inoculating +eighty of his people. The expence was two shillings and sixpence a +head. Many trades they cannot have among them, but upon occasion, +he fetches a smith from the Isle of Egg, and has a tailor from the +main land, six times a year. This island well deserved to be seen, +but the Laird's absence left us no opportunity. + +Every inhabited island has its appendant and subordinate islets. +Muck, however small, has yet others smaller about it, one of which +has only ground sufficient to afford pasture for three wethers. + +At Dunvegan I had tasted lotus, and was in danger of forgetting +that I was ever to depart, till Mr. Boswell sagely reproached me +with my sluggishness and softness. I had no very forcible defence +to make; and we agreed to pursue our journey. Macleod accompanied +us to Ulinish, where we were entertained by the sheriff of the +Island. + + + +ULINISH + + + +Mr. Macqueen travelled with us, and directed our attention to all +that was worthy of observation. With him we went to see an ancient +building, called a dun or borough. It was a circular inclosure, +about forty-two feet in diameter, walled round with loose stones, +perhaps to the height of nine feet. The walls were very thick, +diminishing a little toward the top, and though in these countries, +stone is not brought far, must have been raised with much labour. +Within the great circle were several smaller rounds of wall, which +formed distinct apartments. Its date, and its use are unknown. +Some suppose it the original seat of the chiefs of the Macleods. +Mr. Macqueen thought it a Danish fort. + +The entrance is covered with flat stones, and is narrow, because it +was necessary that the stones which lie over it, should reach from +one wall to the other; yet, strait as the passage is, they seem +heavier than could have been placed where they now lie, by the +naked strength of as many men as might stand about them. They were +probably raised by putting long pieces of wood under them, to which +the action of a long line of lifters might be applied. Savages, in +all countries, have patience proportionate to their unskilfulness, +and are content to attain their end by very tedious methods. + +If it was ever roofed, it might once have been a dwelling, but as +there is no provision for water, it could not have been a fortress. +In Sky, as in every other place, there is an ambition of exalting +whatever has survived memory, to some important use, and referring +it to very remote ages. I am inclined to suspect, that in lawless +times, when the inhabitants of every mountain stole the cattle of +their neighbour, these inclosures were used to secure the herds and +flocks in the night. When they were driven within the wall, they +might be easily watched, and defended as long as could be needful; +for the robbers durst not wait till the injured clan should find +them in the morning. + +The interior inclosures, if the whole building were once a house, +were the chambers of the chief inhabitants. If it was a place of +security for cattle, they were probably the shelters of the +keepers. + +From the Dun we were conducted to another place of security, a cave +carried a great way under ground, which had been discovered by +digging after a fox. These caves, of which many have been found, +and many probably remain concealed, are formed, I believe, commonly +by taking advantage of a hollow, where banks or rocks rise on +either side. If no such place can be found, the ground must be cut +away. The walls are made by piling stones against the earth, on +either side. It is then roofed by larger stones laid across the +cavern, which therefore cannot be wide. Over the roof, turfs were +placed, and grass was suffered to grow; and the mouth was concealed +by bushes, or some other cover. + +These caves were represented to us as the cabins of the first rude +inhabitants, of which, however, I am by no means persuaded. This +was so low, that no man could stand upright in it. By their +construction they are all so narrow, that two can never pass along +them together, and being subterraneous, they must be always damp. +They are not the work of an age much ruder than the present; for +they are formed with as much art as the construction of a common +hut requires. I imagine them to have been places only of +occasional use, in which the Islander, upon a sudden alarm, hid his +utensils, or his cloaths, and perhaps sometimes his wife and +children. + +This cave we entered, but could not proceed the whole length, and +went away without knowing how far it was carried. For this +omission we shall be blamed, as we perhaps have blamed other +travellers; but the day was rainy, and the ground was damp. We had +with us neither spades nor pickaxes, and if love of ease surmounted +our desire of knowledge, the offence has not the invidiousness of +singularity. + +Edifices, either standing or ruined, are the chief records of an +illiterate nation. In some part of this journey, at no great +distance from our way, stood a shattered fortress, of which the +learned minister, to whose communication we are much indebted, gave +us an account. + +Those, said he, are the walls of a place of refuge, built in the +time of James the Sixth, by Hugh Macdonald, who was next heir to +the dignity and fortune of his chief. Hugh, being so near his +wish, was impatient of delay; and had art and influence sufficient +to engage several gentlemen in a plot against the Laird's life. +Something must be stipulated on both sides; for they would not dip +their hands in blood merely for Hugh's advancement. The compact +was formerly written, signed by the conspirators, and placed in the +hands of one Macleod. + +It happened that Macleod had sold some cattle to a drover, who, not +having ready money, gave him a bond for payment. The debt was +discharged, and the bond re-demanded; which Macleod, who could not +read, intending to put into his hands, gave him the conspiracy. +The drover, when he had read the paper, delivered it privately to +Macdonald; who, being thus informed of his danger, called his +friends together, and provided for his safety. He made a public +feast, and inviting Hugh Macdonald and his confederates, placed +each of them at the table between two men of known fidelity. The +compact of conspiracy was then shewn, and every man confronted with +his own name. Macdonald acted with great moderation. He upbraided +Hugh, both with disloyalty and ingratitude; but told the rest, that +he considered them as men deluded and misinformed. Hugh was sworn +to fidelity, and dismissed with his companions; but he was not +generous enough to be reclaimed by lenity; and finding no longer +any countenance among the gentlemen, endeavoured to execute the +same design by meaner hands. In this practice he was detected, +taken to Macdonald's castle, and imprisoned in the dungeon. When +he was hungry, they let down a plentiful meal of salted meat; and +when, after his repast, he called for drink, conveyed to him a +covered cup, which, when he lifted the lid, he found empty. From +that time they visited him no more, but left him to perish in +solitude and darkness. + +We were then told of a cavern by the sea-side, remarkable for the +powerful reverberation of sounds. After dinner we took a boat, to +explore this curious cavity. The boatmen, who seemed to be of a +rank above that of common drudges, inquired who the strangers were, +and being told we came one from Scotland, and the other from +England, asked if the Englishman could recount a long genealogy. +What answer was given them, the conversation being in Erse, I was +not much inclined to examine. + +They expected no good event of the voyage; for one of them declared +that he heard the cry of an English ghost. This omen I was not +told till after our return, and therefore cannot claim the dignity +of despising it. + +The sea was smooth. We never left the shore, and came without any +disaster to the cavern, which we found rugged and misshapen, about +one hundred and eighty feet long, thirty wide in the broadest part, +and in the loftiest, as we guessed, about thirty high. It was now +dry, but at high water the sea rises in it near six feet. Here I +saw what I had never seen before, limpets and mussels in their +natural state. But, as a new testimony to the veracity of common +fame, here was no echo to be heard. + +We then walked through a natural arch in the rock, which might have +pleased us by its novelty, had the stones, which incumbered our +feet, given us leisure to consider it. We were shown the gummy +seed of the kelp, that fastens itself to a stone, from which it +grows into a strong stalk. + +In our return, we found a little boy upon the point of rock, +catching with his angle, a supper for the family. We rowed up to +him, and borrowed his rod, with which Mr. Boswell caught a cuddy. + +The cuddy is a fish of which I know not the philosophical name. It +is not much bigger than a gudgeon, but is of great use in these +Islands, as it affords the lower people both food, and oil for +their lamps. Cuddies are so abundant, at sometimes of the year, +that they are caught like whitebait in the Thames, only by dipping +a basket and drawing it back. + +If it were always practicable to fish, these Islands could never be +in much danger from famine; but unhappily in the winter, when other +provision fails, the seas are commonly too rough for nets, or +boats. + + + +TALISKER IN SKY + + + +From Ulinish, our next stage was to Talisker, the house of colonel +Macleod, an officer in the Dutch service, who, in this time of +universal peace, has for several years been permitted to be absent +from his regiment. Having been bred to physick, he is consequently +a scholar, and his lady, by accompanying him in his different +places of residence, is become skilful in several languages. +Talisker is the place beyond all that I have seen, from which the +gay and the jovial seem utterly excluded; and where the hermit +might expect to grow old in meditation, without possibility of +disturbance or interruption. It is situated very near the sea, but +upon a coast where no vessel lands but when it is driven by a +tempest on the rocks. Towards the land are lofty hills streaming +with water-falls. The garden is sheltered by firs or pines, which +grow there so prosperously, that some, which the present inhabitant +planted, are very high and thick. + +At this place we very happily met Mr. Donald Maclean, a young +gentleman, the eldest son of the Laird of Col, heir to a very great +extent of land, and so desirous of improving his inheritance, that +he spent a considerable time among the farmers of Hertfordshire, +and Hampshire, to learn their practice. He worked with his own +hands at the principal operations of agriculture, that he might not +deceive himself by a false opinion of skill, which, if he should +find it deficient at home, he had no means of completing. If the +world has agreed to praise the travels and manual labours of the +Czar of Muscovy, let Col have his share of the like applause, in +the proportion of his dominions to the empire of Russia. + +This young gentleman was sporting in the mountains of Sky, and when +he was weary with following his game, repaired for lodging to +Talisker. At night he missed one of his dogs, and when he went to +seek him in the morning, found two eagles feeding on his carcass. + +Col, for he must be named by his possessions, hearing that our +intention was to visit Jona, offered to conduct us to his chief, +Sir Allan Maclean, who lived in the isle of Inch Kenneth, and would +readily find us a convenient passage. From this time was formed an +acquaintance, which being begun by kindness, was accidentally +continued by constraint; we derived much pleasure from it, and I +hope have given him no reason to repent it. + +The weather was now almost one continued storm, and we were to +snatch some happy intermission to be conveyed to Mull, the third +Island of the Hebrides, lying about a degree south of Sky, whence +we might easily find our way to Inch Kenneth, where Sir Allan +Maclean resided, and afterward to Jona. + +For this purpose, the most commodious station that we could take +was Armidel, which Sir Alexander Macdonald had now left to a +gentleman, who lived there as his factor or steward. + +In our way to Armidel was Coriatachan, where we had already been, +and to which therefore we were very willing to return. We staid +however so long at Talisker, that a great part of our journey was +performed in the gloom of the evening. In travelling even thus +almost without light thro' naked solitude, when there is a guide +whose conduct may be trusted, a mind not naturally too much +disposed to fear, may preserve some degree of cheerfulness; but +what must be the solicitude of him who should be wandering, among +the craggs and hollows, benighted, ignorant, and alone? + +The fictions of the Gothick romances were not so remote from +credibility as they are now thought. In the full prevalence of the +feudal institution, when violence desolated the world, and every +baron lived in a fortress, forests and castles were regularly +succeeded by each other, and the adventurer might very suddenly +pass from the gloom of woods, or the ruggedness of moors, to seats +of plenty, gaiety, and magnificence. Whatever is imaged in the +wildest tale, if giants, dragons, and enchantment be excepted, +would be felt by him, who, wandering in the mountains without a +guide, or upon the sea without a pilot, should be carried amidst +his terror and uncertainty, to the hospitality and elegance of +Raasay or Dunvegan. + +To Coriatachan at last we came, and found ourselves welcomed as +before. Here we staid two days, and made such inquiries as +curiosity suggested. The house was filled with company, among whom +Mr. Macpherson and his sister distinguished themselves by their +politeness and accomplishments. By him we were invited to Ostig, a +house not far from Armidel, where we might easily hear of a boat, +when the weather would suffer us to leave the Island. + + + +OSTIG IN SKY + + + +At Ostig, of which Mr. Macpherson is minister, we were entertained +for some days, then removed to Armidel, where we finished our +observations on the island of Sky. + +As this Island lies in the fifty-seventh degree, the air cannot be +supposed to have much warmth. The long continuance of the sun +above the horizon, does indeed sometimes produce great heat in +northern latitudes; but this can only happen in sheltered places, +where the atmosphere is to a certain degree stagnant, and the same +mass of air continues to receive for many hours the rays of the +sun, and the vapours of the earth. Sky lies open on the west and +north to a vast extent of ocean, and is cooled in the summer by +perpetual ventilation, but by the same blasts is kept warm in +winter. Their weather is not pleasing. Half the year is deluged +with rain. From the autumnal to the vernal equinox, a dry day is +hardly known, except when the showers are suspended by a tempest. +Under such skies can be expected no great exuberance of vegetation. +Their winter overtakes their summer, and their harvest lies upon +the ground drenched with rain. The autumn struggles hard to +produce some of our early fruits. I gathered gooseberries in +September; but they were small, and the husk was thick. + +Their winter is seldom such as puts a full stop to the growth of +plants, or reduces the cattle to live wholly on the surplusage of +the summer. In the year Seventy-one they had a severe season, +remembered by the name of the Black Spring, from which the island +has not yet recovered. The snow lay long upon the ground, a +calamity hardly known before. Part of their cattle died for want, +part were unseasonably sold to buy sustenance for the owners; and, +what I have not read or heard of before, the kine that survived +were so emaciated and dispirited, that they did not require the +male at the usual time. Many of the roebucks perished. + +The soil, as in other countries, has its diversities. In some +parts there is only a thin layer of earth spread upon a rock, which +bears nothing but short brown heath, and perhaps is not generally +capable of any better product. There are many bogs or mosses of +greater or less extent, where the soil cannot be supposed to want +depth, though it is too wet for the plow. But we did not observe +in these any aquatick plants. The vallies and the mountains are +alike darkened with heath. Some grass, however, grows here and +there, and some happier spots of earth are capable of tillage. + +Their agriculture is laborious, and perhaps rather feeble than +unskilful. Their chief manure is seaweed, which, when they lay it +to rot upon the field, gives them a better crop than those of the +Highlands. They heap sea shells upon the dunghill, which in time +moulder into a fertilising substance. When they find a vein of +earth where they cannot use it, they dig it up, and add it to the +mould of a more commodious place. + +Their corn grounds often lie in such intricacies among the craggs, +that there is no room for the action of a team and plow. The soil +is then turned up by manual labour, with an instrument called a +crooked spade, of a form and weight which to me appeared very +incommodious, and would perhaps be soon improved in a country where +workmen could be easily found and easily paid. It has a narrow +blade of iron fixed to a long and heavy piece of wood, which must +have, about a foot and a half above the iron, a knee or flexure +with the angle downwards. When the farmer encounters a stone which +is the great impediment of his operations, he drives the blade +under it, and bringing the knee or angle to the ground, has in the +long handle a very forcible lever. + +According to the different mode of tillage, farms are distinguished +into long land and short land. Long land is that which affords +room for a plow, and short land is turned up by the spade. + +The grain which they commit to the furrows thus tediously formed, +is either oats or barley. They do not sow barley without very +copious manure, and then they expect from it ten for one, an +increase equal to that of better countries; but the culture is so +operose that they content themselves commonly with oats; and who +can relate without compassion, that after all their diligence they +are to expect only a triple increase? It is in vain to hope for +plenty, when a third part of the harvest must be reserved for seed. + +When their grain is arrived at the state which they must consider +as ripeness, they do not cut, but pull the barley: to the oats +they apply the sickle. Wheel carriages they have none, but make a +frame of timber, which is drawn by one horse with the two points +behind pressing on the ground. On this they sometimes drag home +their sheaves, but often convey them home in a kind of open panier, +or frame of sticks upon the horse's back. + +Of that which is obtained with so much difficulty, nothing surely +ought to be wasted; yet their method of clearing their oats from +the husk is by parching them in the straw. Thus with the genuine +improvidence of savages, they destroy that fodder for want of which +their cattle may perish. From this practice they have two petty +conveniences. They dry the grain so that it is easily reduced to +meal, and they escape the theft of the thresher. The taste +contracted from the fire by the oats, as by every other scorched +substance, use must long ago have made grateful. The oats that are +not parched must be dried in a kiln. + +The barns of Sky I never saw. That which Macleod of Raasay had +erected near his house was so contrived, because the harvest is +seldom brought home dry, as by perpetual perflation to prevent the +mow from heating. + +Of their gardens I can judge only from their tables. I did not +observe that the common greens were wanting, and suppose, that by +choosing an advantageous exposition, they can raise all the more +hardy esculent plants. Of vegetable fragrance or beauty they are +not yet studious. Few vows are made to Flora in the Hebrides. + +They gather a little hay, but the grass is mown late; and is so +often almost dry and again very wet, before it is housed, that it +becomes a collection of withered stalks without taste or fragrance; +it must be eaten by cattle that have nothing else, but by most +English farmers would be thrown away. + +In the Islands I have not heard that any subterraneous treasures +have been discovered, though where there are mountains, there are +commonly minerals. One of the rocks in Col has a black vein, +imagined to consist of the ore of lead; but it was never yet opened +or essayed. In Sky a black mass was accidentally picked up, and +brought into the house of the owner of the land, who found himself +strongly inclined to think it a coal, but unhappily it did not burn +in the chimney. Common ores would be here of no great value; for +what requires to be separated by fire, must, if it were found, be +carried away in its mineral state, here being no fewel for the +smelting-house or forge. Perhaps by diligent search in this world +of stone, some valuable species of marble might be discovered. But +neither philosophical curiosity, nor commercial industry, have yet +fixed their abode here, where the importunity of immediate want +supplied but for the day, and craving on the morrow, has left +little room for excursive knowledge or the pleasing fancies of +distant profit. + +They have lately found a manufacture considerably lucrative. Their +rocks abound with kelp, a sea-plant, of which the ashes are melted +into glass. They burn kelp in great quantities, and then send it +away in ships, which come regularly to purchase them. This new +source of riches has raised the rents of many maritime farms; but +the tenants pay, like all other tenants, the additional rent with +great unwillingness; because they consider the profits of the kelp +as the mere product of personal labour, to which the landlord +contributes nothing. However, as any man may be said to give, what +he gives the power of gaining, he has certainly as much right to +profit from the price of kelp as of any thing else found or raised +upon his ground. + +This new trade has excited a long and eager litigation between +Macdonald and Macleod, for a ledge of rocks, which, till the value +of kelp was known, neither of them desired the reputation of +possessing. + +The cattle of Sky are not so small as is commonly believed. Since +they have sent their beeves in great numbers to southern marts, +they have probably taken more care of their breed. At stated times +the annual growth of cattle is driven to a fair, by a general +drover, and with the money, which he returns to the farmer, the +rents are paid. + +The price regularly expected, is from two to three pounds a head: +there was once one sold for five pounds. They go from the Islands +very lean, and are not offered to the butcher, till they have been +long fatted in English pastures. + +Of their black cattle, some are without horns, called by the Scots +humble cows, as we call a bee an humble bee, that wants a sting. +Whether this difference be specifick, or accidental, though we +inquired with great diligence, we could not be informed. We are +not very sure that the bull is ever without horns, though we have +been told, that such bulls there are. What is produced by putting +a horned and unhorned male and female together, no man has ever +tried, that thought the result worthy of observation. + +Their horses are, like their cows, of a moderate size. I had no +difficulty to mount myself commodiously by the favour of the +gentlemen. I heard of very little cows in Barra, and very little +horses in Rum, where perhaps no care is taken to prevent that +diminution of size, which must always happen, where the greater and +the less copulate promiscuously, and the young animal is restrained +from growth by penury of sustenance. + +The goat is the general inhabitant of the earth, complying with +every difference of climate, and of soil. The goats of the +Hebrides are like others: nor did I hear any thing of their sheep, +to be particularly remarked. + +In the penury of these malignant regions, nothing is left that can +be converted to food. The goats and the sheep are milked like the +cows. A single meal of a goat is a quart, and of a sheep a pint. +Such at least was the account, which I could extract from those of +whom I am not sure that they ever had inquired. + +The milk of goats is much thinner than that of cows, and that of +sheep is much thicker. Sheeps milk is never eaten before it is +boiled: as it is thick, it must be very liberal of curd, and the +people of St. Kilda form it into small cheeses. + +The stags of the mountains are less than those of our parks, or +forests, perhaps not bigger than our fallow deer. Their flesh has +no rankness, nor is inferiour in flavour to our common venison. +The roebuck I neither saw nor tasted. These are not countries for +a regular chase. The deer are not driven with horns and hounds. A +sportsman, with his gun in his hand, watches the animal, and when +he has wounded him, traces him by the blood. + +They have a race of brinded greyhounds, larger and stronger than +those with which we course hares, and those are the only dogs used +by them for the chase. + +Man is by the use of fire-arms made so much an overmatch for other +animals, that in all countries, where they are in use, the wild +part of the creation sensibly diminishes. There will probably not +be long, either stags or roebucks in the Islands. All the beasts +of chase would have been lost long ago in countries well inhabited, +had they not been preserved by laws for the pleasure of the rich. + +There are in Sky neither rats nor mice, but the weasel is so +frequent, that he is heard in houses rattling behind chests or +beds, as rats in England. They probably owe to his predominance +that they have no other vermin; for since the great rat took +possession of this part of the world, scarce a ship can touch at +any port, but some of his race are left behind. They have within +these few years began to infest the isle of Col, where being left +by some trading vessel, they have increased for want of weasels to +oppose them. + +The inhabitants of Sky, and of the other Islands, which I have +seen, are commonly of the middle stature, with fewer among them +very tall or very short, than are seen in England, or perhaps, as +their numbers are small, the chances of any deviation from the +common measure are necessarily few. The tallest men that I saw are +among those of higher rank. In regions of barrenness and scarcity, +the human race is hindered in its growth by the same causes as +other animals. + +The ladies have as much beauty here as in other places, but bloom +and softness are not to be expected among the lower classes, whose +faces are exposed to the rudeness of the climate, and whose +features are sometimes contracted by want, and sometimes hardened +by the blasts. Supreme beauty is seldom found in cottages or work- +shops, even where no real hardships are suffered. To expand the +human face to its full perfection, it seems necessary that the mind +should co-operate by placidness of content, or consciousness of +superiority. + +Their strength is proportionate to their size, but they are +accustomed to run upon rough ground, and therefore can with great +agility skip over the bog, or clamber the mountain. For a campaign +in the wastes of America, soldiers better qualified could not have +been found. Having little work to do, they are not willing, nor +perhaps able to endure a long continuance of manual labour, and are +therefore considered as habitually idle. + +Having never been supplied with those accommodations, which life +extensively diversified with trades affords, they supply their +wants by very insufficient shifts, and endure many inconveniences, +which a little attention would easily relieve. I have seen a horse +carrying home the harvest on a crate. Under his tail was a stick +for a crupper, held at the two ends by twists of straw. Hemp will +grow in their islands, and therefore ropes may be had. If they +wanted hemp, they might make better cordage of rushes, or perhaps +of nettles, than of straw. + +Their method of life neither secures them perpetual health, nor +exposes them to any particular diseases. There are physicians in +the Islands, who, I believe, all practise chirurgery, and all +compound their own medicines. + +It is generally supposed, that life is longer in places where there +are few opportunities of luxury; but I found no instance here of +extraordinary longevity. A cottager grows old over his oaten +cakes, like a citizen at a turtle feast. He is indeed seldom +incommoded by corpulence. Poverty preserves him from sinking under +the burden of himself, but he escapes no other injury of time. +Instances of long life are often related, which those who hear them +are more willing to credit than examine. To be told that any man +has attained a hundred years, gives hope and comfort to him who +stands trembling on the brink of his own climacterick. + +Length of life is distributed impartially to very different modes +of life in very different climates; and the mountains have no +greater examples of age and health than the low lands, where I was +introduced to two ladies of high quality; one of whom, in her +ninety-fourth year, presided at her table with the full exercise of +all her powers; and the other has attained her eighty-fourth, +without any diminution of her vivacity, and with little reason to +accuse time of depredations on her beauty. + +In the Islands, as in most other places, the inhabitants are of +different rank, and one does not encroach here upon another. Where +there is no commerce nor manufacture, he that is born poor can +scarcely become rich; and if none are able to buy estates, he that +is born to land cannot annihilate his family by selling it. This +was once the state of these countries. Perhaps there is no +example, till within a century and half, of any family whose estate +was alienated otherwise than by violence or forfeiture. Since +money has been brought amongst them, they have found, like others, +the art of spending more than they receive; and I saw with grief +the chief of a very ancient clan, whose Island was condemned by law +to be sold for the satisfaction of his creditors. + +The name of highest dignity is Laird, of which there are in the +extensive Isle of Sky only three, Macdonald, Macleod, and +Mackinnon. The Laird is the original owner of the land, whose +natural power must be very great, where no man lives but by +agriculture; and where the produce of the land is not conveyed +through the labyrinths of traffick, but passes directly from the +hand that gathers it to the mouth that eats it. The Laird has all +those in his power that live upon his farms. Kings can, for the +most part, only exalt or degrade. The Laird at pleasure can feed +or starve, can give bread, or withold it. This inherent power was +yet strengthened by the kindness of consanguinity, and the +reverence of patriarchal authority. The Laird was the father of +the Clan, and his tenants commonly bore his name. And to these +principles of original command was added, for many ages, an +exclusive right of legal jurisdiction. + +This multifarious, and extensive obligation operated with force +scarcely credible. Every duty, moral or political, was absorbed in +affection and adherence to the Chief. Not many years have passed +since the clans knew no law but the Laird's will. He told them to +whom they should be friends or enemies, what King they should obey, +and what religion they should profess. + +When the Scots first rose in arms against the succession of the +house of Hanover, Lovat, the Chief of the Frasers, was in exile for +a rape. The Frasers were very numerous, and very zealous against +the government. A pardon was sent to Lovat. He came to the +English camp, and the clan immediately deserted to him. + +Next in dignity to the Laird is the Tacksman; a large taker or +lease-holder of land, of which he keeps part, as a domain, in his +own hand, and lets part to under tenants. The Tacksman is +necessarily a man capable of securing to the Laird the whole rent, +and is commonly a collateral relation. These tacks, or subordinate +possessions, were long considered as hereditary, and the occupant +was distinguished by the name of the place at which he resided. He +held a middle station, by which the highest and the lowest orders +were connected. He paid rent and reverence to the Laird, and +received them from the tenants. This tenure still subsists, with +its original operation, but not with the primitive stability. +Since the islanders, no longer content to live, have learned the +desire of growing rich, an ancient dependent is in danger of giving +way to a higher bidder, at the expense of domestick dignity and +hereditary power. The stranger, whose money buys him preference, +considers himself as paying for all that he has, and is indifferent +about the Laird's honour or safety. The commodiousness of money is +indeed great; but there are some advantages which money cannot buy, +and which therefore no wise man will by the love of money be +tempted to forego. + +I have found in the hither parts of Scotland, men not defective in +judgment or general experience, who consider the Tacksman as a +useless burden of the ground, as a drone who lives upon the product +of an estate, without the right of property, or the merit of +labour, and who impoverishes at once the landlord and the tenant. +The land, say they, is let to the Tacksman at six-pence an acre, +and by him to the tenant at ten-pence. Let the owner be the +immediate landlord to all the tenants; if he sets the ground at +eight-pence, he will increase his revenue by a fourth part, and the +tenant's burthen will be diminished by a fifth. + +Those who pursue this train of reasoning, seem not sufficiently to +inquire whither it will lead them, nor to know that it will equally +shew the propriety of suppressing all wholesale trade, of shutting +up the shops of every man who sells what he does not make, and of +extruding all whose agency and profit intervene between the +manufacturer and the consumer. They may, by stretching their +understandings a little wider, comprehend, that all those who by +undertaking large quantities of manufacture, and affording +employment to many labourers, make themselves considered as +benefactors to the publick, have only been robbing their workmen +with one hand, and their customers with the other. If Crowley had +sold only what he could make, and all his smiths had wrought their +own iron with their own hammers, he would have lived on less, and +they would have sold their work for more. The salaries of +superintendents and clerks would have been partly saved, and partly +shared, and nails been sometimes cheaper by a farthing in a +hundred. But then if the smith could not have found an immediate +purchaser, he must have deserted his anvil; if there had by +accident at any time been more sellers than buyers, the workmen +must have reduced their profit to nothing, by underselling one +another; and as no great stock could have been in any hand, no +sudden demand of large quantities could have been answered and the +builder must have stood still till the nailer could supply him. + +According to these schemes, universal plenty is to begin and end in +universal misery. Hope and emulation will be utterly extinguished; +and as all must obey the call of immediate necessity, nothing that +requires extensive views, or provides for distant consequences will +ever be performed. + +To the southern inhabitants of Scotland, the state of the mountains +and the islands is equally unknown with that of Borneo or Sumatra: +Of both they have only heard a little, and guess the rest. They +are strangers to the language and the manners, to the advantages +and wants of the people, whose life they would model, and whose +evils they would remedy. + +Nothing is less difficult than to procure one convenience by the +forfeiture of another. A soldier may expedite his march by +throwing away his arms. To banish the Tacksman is easy, to make a +country plentiful by diminishing the people, is an expeditious mode +of husbandry; but little abundance, which there is nobody to enjoy, +contributes little to human happiness. + +As the mind must govern the hands, so in every society the man of +intelligence must direct the man of labour. If the Tacksmen be +taken away, the Hebrides must in their present state be given up to +grossness and ignorance; the tenant, for want of instruction, will +be unskilful, and for want of admonition will be negligent. The +Laird in these wide estates, which often consist of islands remote +from one another, cannot extend his personal influence to all his +tenants; and the steward having no dignity annexed to his +character, can have little authority among men taught to pay +reverence only to birth, and who regard the Tacksman as their +hereditary superior; nor can the steward have equal zeal for the +prosperity of an estate profitable only to the Laird, with the +Tacksman, who has the Laird's income involved in his own. + +The only gentlemen in the Islands are the Lairds, the Tacksmen, and +the Ministers, who frequently improve their livings by becoming +farmers. If the Tacksmen be banished, who will be left to impart +knowledge, or impress civility? The Laird must always be at a +distance from the greater part of his lands; and if he resides at +all upon them, must drag his days in solitude, having no longer +either a friend or a companion; he will therefore depart to some +more comfortable residence, and leave the tenants to the wisdom and +mercy of a factor. + +Of tenants there are different orders, as they have greater or less +stock. Land is sometimes leased to a small fellowship, who live in +a cluster of huts, called a Tenants Town, and are bound jointly and +separately for the payment of their rent. These, I believe, employ +in the care of their cattle, and the labour of tillage, a kind of +tenants yet lower; who having a hut with grass for a certain number +of cows and sheep, pay their rent by a stipulated quantity of +labour. + +The condition of domestick servants, or the price of occasional +labour, I do not know with certainty. I was told that the maids +have sheep, and are allowed to spin for their own clothing; perhaps +they have no pecuniary wages, or none but in very wealthy families. +The state of life, which has hitherto been purely pastoral, begins +now to be a little variegated with commerce; but novelties enter by +degrees, and till one mode has fully prevailed over the other, no +settled notion can be formed. + +Such is the system of insular subordination, which, having little +variety, cannot afford much delight in the view, nor long detain +the mind in contemplation. The inhabitants were for a long time +perhaps not unhappy; but their content was a muddy mixture of pride +and ignorance, an indifference for pleasures which they did not +know, a blind veneration for their chiefs, and a strong conviction +of their own importance. + +Their pride has been crushed by the heavy hand of a vindictive +conqueror, whose seventies have been followed by laws, which, +though they cannot be called cruel, have produced much discontent, +because they operate upon the surface of life, and make every eye +bear witness to subjection. To be compelled to a new dress has +always been found painful. + +Their Chiefs being now deprived of their jurisdiction, have already +lost much of their influence; and as they gradually degenerate from +patriarchal rulers to rapacious landlords, they will divest +themselves of the little that remains. + +That dignity which they derived from an opinion of their military +importance, the law, which disarmed them, has abated. An old +gentleman, delighting himself with the recollection of better days, +related, that forty years ago, a Chieftain walked out attended by +ten or twelve followers, with their arms rattling. That animating +rabble has now ceased. The Chief has lost his formidable retinue; +and the Highlander walks his heath unarmed and defenceless, with +the peaceable submission of a French peasant or English cottager. + +Their ignorance grows every day less, but their knowledge is yet of +little other use than to shew them their wants. They are now in +the period of education, and feel the uneasiness of discipline, +without yet perceiving the benefit of instruction. + +The last law, by which the Highlanders are deprived of their arms, +has operated with efficacy beyond expectation. Of former statutes +made with the same design, the execution had been feeble, and the +effect inconsiderable. Concealment was undoubtedly practised, and +perhaps often with connivance. There was tenderness, or +partiality, on one side, and obstinacy on the other. But the law, +which followed the victory of Culloden, found the whole nation +dejected and intimidated; informations were given without danger, +and without fear, and the arms were collected with such rigour, +that every house was despoiled of its defence. + +To disarm part of the Highlands, could give no reasonable occasion +of complaint. Every government must be allowed the power of taking +away the weapon that is lifted against it. But the loyal clans +murmured, with some appearance of justice, that after having +defended the King, they were forbidden for the future to defend +themselves; and that the sword should be forfeited, which had been +legally employed. Their case is undoubtedly hard, but in political +regulations, good cannot be complete, it can only be predominant. + +Whether by disarming a people thus broken into several tribes, and +thus remote from the seat of power, more good than evil has been +produced, may deserve inquiry. The supreme power in every +community has the right of debarring every individual, and every +subordinate society from self-defence, only because the supreme +power is able to defend them; and therefore where the governor +cannot act, he must trust the subject to act for himself. These +Islands might be wasted with fire and sword before their sovereign +would know their distress. A gang of robbers, such as has been +lately found confederating themselves in the Highlands, might lay a +wide region under contribution. The crew of a petty privateer +might land on the largest and most wealthy of the Islands, and riot +without control in cruelty and waste. It was observed by one of +the Chiefs of Sky, that fifty armed men might, without resistance +ravage the country. Laws that place the subjects in such a state, +contravene the first principles of the compact of authority: they +exact obedience, and yield no protection. + +It affords a generous and manly pleasure to conceive a little +nation gathering its fruits and tending its herds with fearless +confidence, though it lies open on every side to invasion, where, +in contempt of walls and trenches, every man sleeps securely with +his sword beside him; where all on the first approach of hostility +came together at the call to battle, as at a summons to a festal +show; and committing their cattle to the care of those whom age or +nature has disabled, engage the enemy with that competition for +hazard and for glory, which operate in men that fight under the eye +of those, whose dislike or kindness they have always considered as +the greatest evil or the greatest good. + +This was, in the beginning of the present century, the state of the +Highlands. Every man was a soldier, who partook of national +confidence, and interested himself in national honour. To lose +this spirit, is to lose what no small advantage will compensate. + +It may likewise deserve to be inquired, whether a great nation +ought to be totally commercial? whether amidst the uncertainty of +human affairs, too much attention to one mode of happiness may not +endanger others? whether the pride of riches must not sometimes +have recourse to the protection of courage? and whether, if it be +necessary to preserve in some part of the empire the military +spirit, it can subsist more commodiously in any place, than in +remote and unprofitable provinces, where it can commonly do little +harm, and whence it may be called forth at any sudden exigence? + +It must however be confessed, that a man, who places honour only in +successful violence, is a very troublesome and pernicious animal in +time of peace; and that the martial character cannot prevail in a +whole people, but by the diminution of all other virtues. He that +is accustomed to resolve all right into conquest, will have very +little tenderness or equity. All the friendship in such a life can +be only a confederacy of invasion, or alliance of defence. The +strong must flourish by force, and the weak subsist by stratagem. + +Till the Highlanders lost their ferocity, with their arms, they +suffered from each other all that malignity could dictate, or +precipitance could act. Every provocation was revenged with blood, +and no man that ventured into a numerous company, by whatever +occasion brought together, was sure of returning without a wound. +If they are now exposed to foreign hostilities, they may talk of +the danger, but can seldom feel it. If they are no longer martial, +they are no longer quarrelsome. Misery is caused for the most +part, not by a heavy crush of disaster, but by the corrosion of +less visible evils, which canker enjoyment, and undermine security. +The visit of an invader is necessarily rare, but domestick +animosities allow no cessation. + +The abolition of the local jurisdictions, which had for so many +ages been exercised by the chiefs, has likewise its evil and its +good. The feudal constitution naturally diffused itself into long +ramifications of subordinate authority. To this general temper of +the government was added the peculiar form of the country, broken +by mountains into many subdivisions scarcely accessible but to the +natives, and guarded by passes, or perplexed with intricacies, +through which national justice could not find its way. + +The power of deciding controversies, and of punishing offences, as +some such power there must always be, was intrusted to the Lairds +of the country, to those whom the people considered as their +natural judges. It cannot be supposed that a rugged proprietor of +the rocks, unprincipled and unenlightened, was a nice resolver of +entangled claims, or very exact in proportioning punishment to +offences. But the more he indulged his own will, the more he held +his vassals in dependence. Prudence and innocence, without the +favour of the Chief, conferred no security; and crimes involved no +danger, when the judge was resolute to acquit. + +When the chiefs were men of knowledge and virtue, the convenience +of a domestick judicature was great. No long journies were +necessary, nor artificial delays could be practised; the character, +the alliances, and interests of the litigants were known to the +court, and all false pretences were easily detected. The sentence, +when it was past, could not be evaded; the power of the Laird +superseded formalities, and justice could not be defeated by +interest or stratagem. + +I doubt not but that since the regular judges have made their +circuits through the whole country, right has been every where more +wisely, and more equally distributed; the complaint is, that +litigation is grown troublesome, and that the magistrates are too +few, and therefore often too remote for general convenience. + +Many of the smaller Islands have no legal officer within them. I +once asked, If a crime should be committed, by what authority the +offender could be seized? and was told, that the Laird would exert +his right; a right which he must now usurp, but which surely +necessity must vindicate, and which is therefore yet exercised in +lower degrees, by some of the proprietors, when legal processes +cannot be obtained. + +In all greater questions, however, there is now happily an end to +all fear or hope from malice or from favour. The roads are secure +in those places through which, forty years ago, no traveller could +pass without a convoy. All trials of right by the sword are +forgotten, and the mean are in as little danger from the powerful +as in other places. No scheme of policy has, in any country, yet +brought the rich and poor on equal terms into courts of judicature. +Perhaps experience, improving on experience, may in time effect it. + +Those who have long enjoyed dignity and power, ought not to lose it +without some equivalent. There was paid to the Chiefs by the +publick, in exchange for their privileges, perhaps a sum greater +than most of them had ever possessed, which excited a thirst for +riches, of which it shewed them the use. When the power of birth +and station ceases, no hope remains but from the prevalence of +money. Power and wealth supply the place of each other. Power +confers the ability of gratifying our desire without the consent of +others. Wealth enables us to obtain the consent of others to our +gratification. Power, simply considered, whatever it confers on +one, must take from another. Wealth enables its owner to give to +others, by taking only from himself. Power pleases the violent and +proud: wealth delights the placid and the timorous. Youth +therefore flies at power, and age grovels after riches. + +The Chiefs, divested of their prerogatives, necessarily turned +their thoughts to the improvement of their revenues, and expect +more rent, as they have less homage. The tenant, who is far from +perceiving that his condition is made better in the same +proportion, as that of his landlord is made worse, does not +immediately see why his industry is to be taxed more heavily than +before. He refuses to pay the demand, and is ejected; the ground +is then let to a stranger, who perhaps brings a larger stock, but +who, taking the land at its full price, treats with the Laird upon +equal terms, and considers him not as a Chief, but as a trafficker +in land. Thus the estate perhaps is improved, but the clan is +broken. + +It seems to be the general opinion, that the rents have been raised +with too much eagerness. Some regard must be paid to prejudice. +Those who have hitherto paid but little, will not suddenly be +persuaded to pay much, though they can afford it. As ground is +gradually improved, and the value of money decreases, the rent may +be raised without any diminution of the farmer's profits: yet it +is necessary in these countries, where the ejection of a tenant is +a greater evil, than in more populous places, to consider not +merely what the land will produce, but with what ability the +inhabitant can cultivate it. A certain stock can allow but a +certain payment; for if the land be doubled, and the stock remains +the same, the tenant becomes no richer. The proprietors of the +Highlands might perhaps often increase their income, by subdividing +the farms, and allotting to every occupier only so many acres as he +can profitably employ, but that they want people. + +There seems now, whatever be the cause, to be through a great part +of the Highlands a general discontent. That adherence, which was +lately professed by every man to the chief of his name, has now +little prevalence; and he that cannot live as he desires at home, +listens to the tale of fortunate islands, and happy regions, where +every man may have land of his own, and eat the product of his +labour without a superior. + +Those who have obtained grants of American lands, have, as is well +known, invited settlers from all quarters of the globe; and among +other places, where oppression might produce a wish for new +habitations, their emissaries would not fail to try their +persuasions in the Isles of Scotland, where at the time when the +clans were newly disunited from their Chiefs, and exasperated by +unprecedented exactions, it is no wonder that they prevailed. + +Whether the mischiefs of emigration were immediately perceived, may +be justly questioned. They who went first, were probably such as +could best be spared; but the accounts sent by the earliest +adventurers, whether true or false, inclined many to follow them; +and whole neighbourhoods formed parties for removal; so that +departure from their native country is no longer exile. He that +goes thus accompanied, carries with him all that makes life +pleasant. He sits down in a better climate, surrounded by his +kindred and his friends: they carry with them their language, +their opinions, their popular songs, and hereditary merriment: +they change nothing but the place of their abode; and of that +change they perceive the benefit. + +This is the real effect of emigration, if those that go away +together settle on the same spot, and preserve their ancient union. +But some relate that these adventurous visitants of unknown +regions, after a voyage passed in dreams of plenty and felicity, +are dispersed at last upon a Sylvan wilderness, where their first +years must be spent in toil, to clear the ground which is +afterwards to be tilled, and that the whole effect of their +undertakings is only more fatigue and equal scarcity. + +Both accounts may be suspected. Those who are gone will endeavour +by every art to draw others after them; for as their numbers are +greater, they will provide better for themselves. When Nova Scotia +was first peopled, I remember a letter, published under the +character of a New Planter, who related how much the climate put +him in mind of Italy. Such intelligence the Hebridians probably +receive from their transmarine correspondents. But with equal +temptations of interest, and perhaps with no greater niceness of +veracity, the owners of the Islands spread stories of American +hardships to keep their people content at home. + +Some method to stop this epidemick desire of wandering, which +spreads its contagion from valley to valley, deserves to be sought +with great diligence. In more fruitful countries, the removal of +one only makes room for the succession of another: but in the +Hebrides, the loss of an inhabitant leaves a lasting vacuity; for +nobody born in any other parts of the world will choose this +country for his residence, and an Island once depopulated will +remain a desert, as long as the present facility of travel gives +every one, who is discontented and unsettled, the choice of his +abode. + +Let it be inquired, whether the first intention of those who are +fluttering on the wing, and collecting a flock that they may take +their flight, be to attain good, or to avoid evil. If they are +dissatisfied with that part of the globe, which their birth has +allotted them, and resolve not to live without the pleasures of +happier climates; if they long for bright suns, and calm skies, and +flowery fields, and fragrant gardens, I know not by what eloquence +they can be persuaded, or by what offers they can be hired to stay. + +But if they are driven from their native country by positive evils, +and disgusted by ill-treatment, real or imaginary, it were fit to +remove their grievances, and quiet their resentment; since, if they +have been hitherto undutiful subjects, they will not much mend +their principles by American conversation. + +To allure them into the army, it was thought proper to indulge them +in the continuance of their national dress. If this concession +could have any effect, it might easily be made. That dissimilitude +of appearance, which was supposed to keep them distinct from the +rest of the nation, might disincline them from coalescing with the +Pensylvanians, or people of Connecticut. If the restitution of +their arms will reconcile them to their country, let them have +again those weapons, which will not be more mischievous at home +than in the Colonies. That they may not fly from the increase of +rent, I know not whether the general good does not require that the +landlords be, for a time, restrained in their demands, and kept +quiet by pensions proportionate to their loss. + +To hinder insurrection, by driving away the people, and to govern +peaceably, by having no subjects, is an expedient that argues no +great profundity of politicks. To soften the obdurate, to convince +the mistaken, to mollify the resentful, are worthy of a statesman; +but it affords a legislator little self-applause to consider, that +where there was formerly an insurrection, there is now a +wilderness. + +It has been a question often agitated without solution, why those +northern regions are now so thinly peopled, which formerly +overwhelmed with their armies the Roman empire. The question +supposes what I believe is not true, that they had once more +inhabitants than they could maintain, and overflowed only because +they were full. + +This is to estimate the manners of all countries and ages by our +own. Migration, while the state of life was unsettled, and there +was little communication of intelligence between distant places, +was among the wilder nations of Europe, capricious and casual. An +adventurous projector heard of a fertile coast unoccupied, and led +out a colony; a chief of renown for bravery, called the young men +together, and led them out to try what fortune would present. When +Caesar was in Gaul, he found the Helvetians preparing to go they +knew not whither, and put a stop to their motions. They settled +again in their own country, where they were so far from wanting +room, that they had accumulated three years provision for their +march. + +The religion of the North was military; if they could not find +enemies, it was their duty to make them: they travelled in quest +of danger, and willingly took the chance of Empire or Death. If +their troops were numerous, the countries from which they were +collected are of vast extent, and without much exuberance of people +great armies may be raised where every man is a soldier. But their +true numbers were never known. Those who were conquered by them +are their historians, and shame may have excited them to say, that +they were overwhelmed with multitudes. To count is a modern +practice, the ancient method was to guess; and when numbers are +guessed they are always magnified. + +Thus England has for several years been filled with the +atchievements of seventy thousand Highlanders employed in America. +I have heard from an English officer, not much inclined to favour +them, that their behaviour deserved a very high degree of military +praise; but their number has been much exaggerated. One of the +ministers told me, that seventy thousand men could not have been +found in all the Highlands, and that more than twelve thousand +never took the field. Those that went to the American war, went to +destruction. Of the old Highland regiment, consisting of twelve +hundred, only seventy-six survived to see their country again. + +The Gothick swarms have at least been multiplied with equal +liberality. That they bore no great proportion to the inhabitants, +in whose countries they settled, is plain from the paucity of +northern words now found in the provincial languages. Their +country was not deserted for want of room, because it was covered +with forests of vast extent; and the first effect of plenitude of +inhabitants is the destruction of wood. As the Europeans spread +over America the lands are gradually laid naked. + +I would not be understood to say, that necessity had never any part +in their expeditions. A nation, whose agriculture is scanty or +unskilful, may be driven out by famine. A nation of hunters may +have exhausted their game. I only affirm that the northern regions +were not, when their irruptions subdued the Romans, overpeopled +with regard to their real extent of territory, and power of +fertility. In a country fully inhabited, however afterward laid +waste, evident marks will remain of its former populousness. But +of Scandinavia and Germany, nothing is known but that as we trace +their state upwards into antiquity, their woods were greater, and +their cultivated ground was less. + +That causes were different from want of room may produce a general +disposition to seek another country is apparent from the present +conduct of the Highlanders, who are in some places ready to +threaten a total secession. The numbers which have already gone, +though like other numbers they may be magnified, are very great, +and such as if they had gone together and agreed upon any certain +settlement, might have founded an independent government in the +depths of the western continent. Nor are they only the lowest and +most indigent; many men of considerable wealth have taken with them +their train of labourers and dependants; and if they continue the +feudal scheme of polity, may establish new clans in the other +hemisphere. + +That the immediate motives of their desertion must be imputed to +their landlords, may be reasonably concluded, because some Lairds +of more prudence and less rapacity have kept their vassals +undiminished. From Raasa only one man had been seduced, and at Col +there was no wish to go away. + +The traveller who comes hither from more opulent countries, to +speculate upon the remains of pastoral life, will not much wonder +that a common Highlander has no strong adherence to his native +soil; for of animal enjoyments, or of physical good, he leaves +nothing that he may not find again wheresoever he may be thrown. + +The habitations of men in the Hebrides may be distinguished into +huts and houses. By a house, I mean a building with one story over +another; by a hut, a dwelling with only one floor. The Laird, who +formerly lived in a castle, now lives in a house; sometimes +sufficiently neat, but seldom very spacious or splendid. The +Tacksmen and the Ministers have commonly houses. Wherever there is +a house, the stranger finds a welcome, and to the other evils of +exterminating Tacksmen may be added the unavoidable cessation of +hospitality, or the devolution of too heavy a burden on the +Ministers. + +Of the houses little can be said. They are small, and by the +necessity of accumulating stores, where there are so few +opportunities of purchase, the rooms are very heterogeneously +filled. With want of cleanliness it were ingratitude to reproach +them. The servants having been bred upon the naked earth, think +every floor clean, and the quick succession of guests, perhaps not +always over-elegant, does not allow much time for adjusting their +apartments. + +Huts are of many gradations; from murky dens, to commodious +dwellings. + +The wall of a common hut is always built without mortar, by a +skilful adaptation of loose stones. Sometimes perhaps a double +wall of stones is raised, and the intermediate space filled with +earth. The air is thus completely excluded. Some walls are, I +think, formed of turfs, held together by a wattle, or texture of +twigs. Of the meanest huts, the first room is lighted by the +entrance, and the second by the smoke hole. The fire is usually +made in the middle. But there are huts, or dwellings of only one +story, inhabited by gentlemen, which have walls cemented with +mortar, glass windows, and boarded floors. Of these all have +chimneys, and some chimneys have grates. + +The house and the furniture are not always nicely suited. We were +driven once, by missing a passage, to the hut of a gentleman, +where, after a very liberal supper, when I was conducted to my +chamber, I found an elegant bed of Indian cotton, spread with fine +sheets. The accommodation was flattering; I undressed myself, and +felt my feet in the mire. The bed stood upon the bare earth, which +a long course of rain had softened to a puddle. + +In pastoral countries the condition of the lowest rank of people is +sufficiently wretched. Among manufacturers, men that have no +property may have art and industry, which make them necessary, and +therefore valuable. But where flocks and corn are the only wealth, +there are always more hands than work, and of that work there is +little in which skill and dexterity can be much distinguished. He +therefore who is born poor never can be rich. The son merely +occupies the place of the father, and life knows nothing of +progression or advancement. + +The petty tenants, and labouring peasants, live in miserable +cabins, which afford them little more than shelter from the storms. +The Boor of Norway is said to make all his own utensils. In the +Hebrides, whatever might be their ingenuity, the want of wood +leaves them no materials. They are probably content with such +accommodations as stones of different forms and sizes can afford +them. + +Their food is not better than their lodging. They seldom taste the +flesh of land animals; for here are no markets. What each man eats +is from his own stock. The great effect of money is to break +property into small parts. In towns, he that has a shilling may +have a piece of meat; but where there is no commerce, no man can +eat mutton but by killing a sheep. + +Fish in fair weather they need not want; but, I believe, man never +lives long on fish, but by constraint; he will rather feed upon +roots and berries. + +The only fewel of the Islands is peat. Their wood is all consumed, +and coal they have not yet found. Peat is dug out of the marshes, +from the depth of one foot to that of six. That is accounted the +best which is nearest the surface. It appears to be a mass of +black earth held together by vegetable fibres. I know not whether +the earth be bituminous, or whether the fibres be not the only +combustible part; which, by heating the interposed earth red hot, +make a burning mass. The heat is not very strong nor lasting. The +ashes are yellowish, and in a large quantity. When they dig peat, +they cut it into square pieces, and pile it up to dry beside the +house. In some places it has an offensive smell. It is like wood +charked for the smith. The common method of making peat fires, is +by heaping it on the hearth; but it burns well in grates, and in +the best houses is so used. + +The common opinion is, that peat grows again where it has been cut; +which, as it seems to be chiefly a vegetable substance, is not +unlikely to be true, whether known or not to those who relate it. + +There are water mills in Sky and Raasa; but where they are too far +distant, the house-wives grind their oats with a quern, or hand- +mill, which consists of two stones, about a foot and a half in +diameter; the lower is a little convex, to which the concavity of +the upper must be fitted. In the middle of the upper stone is a +round hole, and on one side is a long handle. The grinder sheds +the corn gradually into the hole with one hand, and works the +handle round with the other. The corn slides down the convexity of +the lower stone, and by the motion of the upper is ground in its +passage. These stones are found in Lochabar. + +The Islands afford few pleasures, except to the hardy sportsman, +who can tread the moor and climb the mountain. The distance of one +family from another, in a country where travelling has so much +difficulty, makes frequent intercourse impracticable. Visits last +several days, and are commonly paid by water; yet I never saw a +boat furnished with benches, or made commodious by any addition to +the first fabric. Conveniences are not missed where they never +were enjoyed. + +The solace which the bagpipe can give, they have long enjoyed; but +among other changes, which the last Revolution introduced, the use +of the bagpipe begins to be forgotten. Some of the chief families +still entertain a piper, whose office was anciently hereditary. +Macrimmon was piper to Macleod, and Rankin to Maclean of Col. + +The tunes of the bagpipe are traditional. There has been in Sky, +beyond all time of memory, a college of pipers, under the direction +of Macrimmon, which is not quite extinct. There was another in +Mull, superintended by Rankin, which expired about sixteen years +ago. To these colleges, while the pipe retained its honour, the +students of musick repaired for education. I have had my dinner +exhilarated by the bagpipe, at Armidale, at Dunvegan, and in Col. + +The general conversation of the Islanders has nothing particular. +I did not meet with the inquisitiveness of which I have read, and +suspect the judgment to have been rashly made. A stranger of +curiosity comes into a place where a stranger is seldom seen: he +importunes the people with questions, of which they cannot guess +the motive, and gazes with surprise on things which they, having +had them always before their eyes, do not suspect of any thing +wonderful. He appears to them like some being of another world, +and then thinks it peculiar that they take their turn to inquire +whence he comes, and whither he is going. + +The Islands were long unfurnished with instruction for youth, and +none but the sons of gentlemen could have any literature. There +are now parochial schools, to which the lord of every manor pays a +certain stipend. Here the children are taught to read; but by the +rule of their institution, they teach only English, so that the +natives read a language which they may never use or understand. If +a parish, which often happens, contains several Islands, the school +being but in one, cannot assist the rest. This is the state of +Col, which, however, is more enlightened than some other places; +for the deficiency is supplied by a young gentleman, who, for his +own improvement, travels every year on foot over the Highlands to +the session at Aberdeen; and at his return, during the vacation, +teaches to read and write in his native Island. + +In Sky there are two grammar schools, where boarders are taken to +be regularly educated. The price of board is from three pounds, to +four pounds ten shillings a year, and that of instruction is half a +crown a quarter. But the scholars are birds of passage, who live +at school only in the summer; for in winter provisions cannot be +made for any considerable number in one place. This periodical +dispersion impresses strongly the scarcity of these countries. + +Having heard of no boarding-school for ladies nearer than +Inverness, I suppose their education is generally domestick. The +elder daughters of the higher families are sent into the world, and +may contribute by their acquisitions to the improvement of the +rest. + +Women must here study to be either pleasing or useful. Their +deficiencies are seldom supplied by very liberal fortunes. A +hundred pounds is a portion beyond the hope of any but the Laird's +daughter. They do not indeed often give money with their +daughters; the question is, How many cows a young lady will bring +her husband. A rich maiden has from ten to forty; but two cows are +a decent fortune for one who pretends to no distinction. + +The religion of the Islands is that of the Kirk of Scotland. The +gentlemen with whom I conversed are all inclined to the English +liturgy; but they are obliged to maintain the established Minister, +and the country is too poor to afford payment to another, who must +live wholly on the contribution of his audience. + +They therefore all attend the worship of the Kirk, as often as a +visit from their Minister, or the practicability of travelling +gives them opportunity; nor have they any reason to complain of +insufficient pastors; for I saw not one in the Islands, whom I had +reason to think either deficient in learning, or irregular in life: +but found several with whom I could not converse without wishing, +as my respect increased, that they had not been Presbyterians. + +The ancient rigour of puritanism is now very much relaxed, though +all are not yet equally enlightened. I sometimes met with +prejudices sufficiently malignant, but they were prejudices of +ignorance. The Ministers in the Islands had attained such +knowledge as may justly be admired in men, who have no motive to +study, but generous curiosity, or, what is still better, desire of +usefulness; with such politeness as so narrow a circle of converse +could not have supplied, but to minds naturally disposed to +elegance. + +Reason and truth will prevail at last. The most learned of the +Scottish Doctors would now gladly admit a form of prayer, if the +people would endure it. The zeal or rage of congregations has its +different degrees. In some parishes the Lord's Prayer is suffered: +in others it is still rejected as a form; and he that should make +it part of his supplication would be suspected of heretical +pravity. + +The principle upon which extemporary prayer was originally +introduced, is no longer admitted. The Minister formerly, in the +effusion of his prayer, expected immediate, and perhaps perceptible +inspiration, and therefore thought it his duty not to think before +what he should say. It is now universally confessed, that men pray +as they speak on other occasions, according to the general measure +of their abilities and attainments. Whatever each may think of a +form prescribed by another, he cannot but believe that he can +himself compose by study and meditation a better prayer than will +rise in his mind at a sudden call; and if he has any hope of +supernatural help, why may he not as well receive it when he writes +as when he speaks? + +In the variety of mental powers, some must perform extemporary +prayer with much imperfection; and in the eagerness and rashness of +contradictory opinions, if publick liturgy be left to the private +judgment of every Minister, the congregation may often be offended +or misled. + +There is in Scotland, as among ourselves, a restless suspicion of +popish machinations, and a clamour of numerous converts to the +Romish religion. The report is, I believe, in both parts of the +Island equally false. The Romish religion is professed only in Egg +and Canna, two small islands, into which the Reformation never made +its way. If any missionaries are busy in the Highlands, their zeal +entitles them to respect, even from those who cannot think +favourably of their doctrine. + +The political tenets of the Islanders I was not curious to +investigate, and they were not eager to obtrude. Their +conversation is decent and inoffensive. They disdain to drink for +their principles, and there is no disaffection at their tables. I +never heard a health offered by a Highlander that might not have +circulated with propriety within the precincts of the King's +palace. + +Legal government has yet something of novelty to which they cannot +perfectly conform. The ancient spirit, that appealed only to the +sword, is yet among them. The tenant of Scalpa, an island +belonging to Macdonald, took no care to bring his rent; when the +landlord talked of exacting payment, he declared his resolution to +keep his ground, and drive all intruders from the Island, and +continued to feed his cattle as on his own land, till it became +necessary for the Sheriff to dislodge him by violence. + +The various kinds of superstition which prevailed here, as in all +other regions of ignorance, are by the diligence of the Ministers +almost extirpated. + +Of Browny, mentioned by Martin, nothing has been heard for many +years. Browny was a sturdy Fairy; who, if he was fed, and kindly +treated, would, as they said, do a great deal of work. They now +pay him no wages, and are content to labour for themselves. + +In Troda, within these three-and-thirty years, milk was put every +Saturday for Greogach, or 'the Old Man with the Long Beard.' +Whether Greogach was courted as kind, or dreaded as terrible, +whether they meant, by giving him the milk, to obtain good, or +avert evil, I was not informed. The Minister is now living by whom +the practice was abolished. + +They have still among them a great number of charms for the cure of +different diseases; they are all invocations, perhaps transmitted +to them from the times of popery, which increasing knowledge will +bring into disuse. + +They have opinions, which cannot be ranked with superstition, +because they regard only natural effects. They expect better crops +of grain, by sowing their seed in the moon's increase. The moon +has great influence in vulgar philosophy. In my memory it was a +precept annually given in one of the English Almanacks, 'to kill +hogs when the moon was increasing, and the bacon would prove the +better in boiling.' + +We should have had little claim to the praise of curiosity, if we +had not endeavoured with particular attention to examine the +question of the Second Sight. Of an opinion received for centuries +by a whole nation, and supposed to be confirmed through its whole +descent, by a series of successive facts, it is desirable that the +truth should be established, or the fallacy detected. + +The Second Sight is an impression made either by the mind upon the +eye, or by the eye upon the mind, by which things distant or future +are perceived, and seen as if they were present. A man on a +journey far from home falls from his horse, another, who is perhaps +at work about the house, sees him bleeding on the ground, commonly +with a landscape of the place where the accident befalls him. +Another seer, driving home his cattle, or wandering in idleness, or +musing in the sunshine, is suddenly surprised by the appearance of +a bridal ceremony, or funeral procession, and counts the mourners +or attendants, of whom, if he knows them, he relates the names, if +he knows them not, he can describe the dresses. Things distant are +seen at the instant when they happen. Of things future I know not +that there is any rule for determining the time between the Sight +and the event. + +This receptive faculty, for power it cannot be called, is neither +voluntary nor constant. The appearances have no dependence upon +choice: they cannot be summoned, detained, or recalled. The +impression is sudden, and the effect often painful. + +By the term Second Sight, seems to be meant a mode of seeing, +superadded to that which Nature generally bestows. In the Earse it +is called Taisch; which signifies likewise a spectre, or a vision. +I know not, nor is it likely that the Highlanders ever examined, +whether by Taisch, used for Second Sight, they mean the power of +seeing, or the thing seen. + +I do not find it to be true, as it is reported, that to the Second +Sight nothing is presented but phantoms of evil. Good seems to +have the same proportions in those visionary scenes, as it obtains +in real life: almost all remarkable events have evil for their +basis; and are either miseries incurred, or miseries escaped. Our +sense is so much stronger of what we suffer, than of what we enjoy, +that the ideas of pain predominate in almost every mind. What is +recollection but a revival of vexations, or history but a record of +wars, treasons, and calamities? Death, which is considered as the +greatest evil, happens to all. The greatest good, be it what it +will, is the lot but of a part. + +That they should often see death is to be expected; because death +is an event frequent and important. But they see likewise more +pleasing incidents. A gentleman told me, that when he had once +gone far from his own Island, one of his labouring servants +predicted his return, and described the livery of his attendant, +which he had never worn at home; and which had been, without any +previous design, occasionally given him. + +Our desire of information was keen, and our inquiry frequent. Mr. +Boswell's frankness and gaiety made every body communicative; and +we heard many tales of these airy shows, with more or less evidence +and distinctness. + +It is the common talk of the Lowland Scots, that the notion of the +Second Sight is wearing away with other superstitions; and that its +reality is no longer supposed, but by the grossest people. How far +its prevalence ever extended, or what ground it has lost, I know +not. The Islanders of all degrees, whether of rank or +understanding, universally admit it, except the Ministers, who +universally deny it, and are suspected to deny it, in consequence +of a system, against conviction. One of them honestly told me, +that he came to Sky with a resolution not to believe it. + +Strong reasons for incredulity will readily occur. This faculty of +seeing things out of sight is local, and commonly useless. It is a +breach of the common order of things, without any visible reason or +perceptible benefit. It is ascribed only to a people very little +enlightened; and among them, for the most part, to the mean and the +ignorant. + +To the confidence of these objections it may be replied, that by +presuming to determine what is fit, and what is beneficial, they +presuppose more knowledge of the universal system than man has +attained; and therefore depend upon principles too complicated and +extensive for our comprehension; and that there can be no security +in the consequence, when the premises are not understood; that the +Second Sight is only wonderful because it is rare, for, considered +in itself, it involves no more difficulty than dreams, or perhaps +than the regular exercise of the cogitative faculty; that a general +opinion of communicative impulses, or visionary representations, +has prevailed in all ages and all nations; that particular +instances have been given, with such evidence, as neither Bacon nor +Bayle has been able to resist; that sudden impressions, which the +event has verified, have been felt by more than own or publish +them; that the Second Sight of the Hebrides implies only the local +frequency of a power, which is nowhere totally unknown; and that +where we are unable to decide by antecedent reason, we must be +content to yield to the force of testimony. + +By pretension to Second Sight, no profit was ever sought or gained. +It is an involuntary affection, in which neither hope nor fear are +known to have any part. Those who profess to feel it, do not boast +of it as a privilege, nor are considered by others as +advantageously distinguished. They have no temptation to feign; +and their hearers have no motive to encourage the imposture. + +To talk with any of these seers is not easy. There is one living +in Sky, with whom we would have gladly conversed; but he was very +gross and ignorant, and knew no English. The proportion in these +countries of the poor to the rich is such, that if we suppose the +quality to be accidental, it can very rarely happen to a man of +education; and yet on such men it has sometimes fallen. There is +now a Second Sighted gentleman in the Highlands, who complains of +the terrors to which he is exposed. + +The foresight of the Seers is not always prescience; they are +impressed with images, of which the event only shews them the +meaning. They tell what they have seen to others, who are at that +time not more knowing than themselves, but may become at last very +adequate witnesses, by comparing the narrative with its +verification. + +To collect sufficient testimonies for the satisfaction of the +publick, or of ourselves, would have required more time than we +could bestow. There is, against it, the seeming analogy of things +confusedly seen, and little understood, and for it, the indistinct +cry of national persuasion, which may be perhaps resolved at last +into prejudice and tradition. I never could advance my curiosity +to conviction; but came away at last only willing to believe. + +As there subsists no longer in the Islands much of that peculiar +and discriminative form of life, of which the idea had delighted +our imagination, we were willing to listen to such accounts of past +times as would be given us. But we soon found what memorials were +to be expected from an illiterate people, whose whole time is a +series of distress; where every morning is labouring with +expedients for the evening; and where all mental pains or pleasure +arose from the dread of winter, the expectation of spring, the +caprices of their Chiefs, and the motions of the neighbouring +clans; where there was neither shame from ignorance, nor pride in +knowledge; neither curiosity to inquire, nor vanity to communicate. + +The Chiefs indeed were exempt from urgent penury, and daily +difficulties; and in their houses were preserved what accounts +remained of past ages. But the Chiefs were sometimes ignorant and +careless, and sometimes kept busy by turbulence and contention; and +one generation of ignorance effaces the whole series of unwritten +history. Books are faithful repositories, which may be a while +neglected or forgotten; but when they are opened again, will again +impart their instruction: memory, once interrupted, is not to be +recalled. Written learning is a fixed luminary, which, after the +cloud that had hidden it has past away, is again bright in its +proper station. Tradition is but a meteor, which, if once it +falls, cannot be rekindled. + +It seems to be universally supposed, that much of the local history +was preserved by the Bards, of whom one is said to have been +retained by every great family. After these Bards were some of my +first inquiries; and I received such answers as, for a while, made +me please myself with my increase of knowledge; for I had not then +learned how to estimate the narration of a Highlander. + +They said that a great family had a Bard and a Senachi, who were +the poet and historian of the house; and an old gentleman told me +that he remembered one of each. Here was a dawn of intelligence. +Of men that had lived within memory, some certain knowledge might +be attained. Though the office had ceased, its effects might +continue; the poems might be found, though there was no poet. + +Another conversation indeed informed me, that the same man was both +Bard and Senachi. This variation discouraged me; but as the +practice might be different in different times, or at the same time +in different families, there was yet no reason for supposing that I +must necessarily sit down in total ignorance. + +Soon after I was told by a gentleman, who is generally acknowledged +the greatest master of Hebridian antiquities, that there had indeed +once been both Bards and Senachies; and that Senachi signified 'the +man of talk,' or of conversation; but that neither Bard nor Senachi +had existed for some centuries. I have no reason to suppose it +exactly known at what time the custom ceased, nor did it probably +cease in all houses at once. But whenever the practice of +recitation was disused, the works, whether poetical or historical, +perished with the authors; for in those times nothing had been +written in the Earse language. + +Whether the 'Man of talk' was a historian, whose office was to tell +truth, or a story-teller, like those which were in the last +century, and perhaps are now among the Irish, whose trade was only +to amuse, it now would be vain to inquire. + +Most of the domestick offices were, I believe, hereditary; and +probably the laureat of a clan was always the son of the last +laureat. The history of the race could no otherwise be +communicated, or retained; but what genius could be expected in a +poet by inheritance? + +The nation was wholly illiterate. Neither bards nor Senachies +could write or read; but if they were ignorant, there was no danger +of detection; they were believed by those whose vanity they +flattered. + +The recital of genealogies, which has been considered as very +efficacious to the preservation of a true series of ancestry, was +anciently made, when the heir of the family came to manly age. +This practice has never subsisted within time of memory, nor was +much credit due to such rehearsers, who might obtrude fictitious +pedigrees, either to please their masters, or to hide the +deficiency of their own memories. + +Where the Chiefs of the Highlands have found the histories of their +descent is difficult to tell; for no Earse genealogy was ever +written. In general this only is evident, that the principal house +of a clan must be very ancient, and that those must have lived long +in a place, of whom it is not known when they came thither. + +Thus hopeless are all attempts to find any traces of Highland +learning. Nor are their primitive customs and ancient manner of +life otherwise than very faintly and uncertainly remembered by the +present race. + +The peculiarities which strike the native of a commercial country, +proceeded in a great measure from the want of money. To the +servants and dependents that were not domesticks, and if an +estimate be made from the capacity of any of their old houses which +I have seen, their domesticks could have been but few, were +appropriated certain portions of land for their support. Macdonald +has a piece of ground yet, called the Bards or Senachies field. +When a beef was killed for the house, particular parts were claimed +as fees by the several officers, or workmen. What was the right of +each I have not learned. The head belonged to the smith, and the +udder of a cow to the piper: the weaver had likewise his +particular part; and so many pieces followed these prescriptive +claims, that the Laird's was at last but little. + +The payment of rent in kind has been so long disused in England, +that it is totally forgotten. It was practised very lately in the +Hebrides, and probably still continues, not only in St. Kilda, +where money is not yet known, but in others of the smaller and +remoter Islands. It were perhaps to be desired, that no change in +this particular should have been made. When the Laird could only +eat the produce of his lands, he was under the necessity of +residing upon them; and when the tenant could not convert his stock +into more portable riches, he could never be tempted away from his +farm, from the only place where he could be wealthy. Money +confounds subordination, by overpowering the distinctions of rank +and birth, and weakens authority by supplying power of resistance, +or expedients for escape. The feudal system is formed for a nation +employed in agriculture, and has never long kept its hold where +gold and silver have become common. + +Their arms were anciently the Glaymore, or great two-handed sword, +and afterwards the two-edged sword and target, or buckler, which +was sustained on the left arm. In the midst of the target, which +was made of wood, covered with leather, and studded with nails, a +slender lance, about two feet long, was sometimes fixed; it was +heavy and cumberous, and accordingly has for some time past been +gradually laid aside. Very few targets were at Culloden. The +dirk, or broad dagger, I am afraid, was of more use in private +quarrels than in battles. The Lochaber-ax is only a slight +alteration of the old English bill. + +After all that has been said of the force and terrour of the +Highland sword, I could not find that the art of defence was any +part of common education. The gentlemen were perhaps sometimes +skilful gladiators, but the common men had no other powers than +those of violence and courage. Yet it is well known, that the +onset of the Highlanders was very formidable. As an army cannot +consist of philosophers, a panick is easily excited by any unwonted +mode of annoyance. New dangers are naturally magnified; and men +accustomed only to exchange bullets at a distance, and rather to +hear their enemies than see them, are discouraged and amazed when +they find themselves encountered hand to hand, and catch the gleam +of steel flashing in their faces. + +The Highland weapons gave opportunity for many exertions of +personal courage, and sometimes for single combats in the field; +like those which occur so frequently in fabulous wars. At Falkirk, +a gentleman now living, was, I suppose after the retreat of the +King's troops, engaged at a distance from the rest with an Irish +dragoon. They were both skilful swordsmen, and the contest was not +easily decided: the dragoon at last had the advantage, and the +Highlander called for quarter; but quarter was refused him, and the +fight continued till he was reduced to defend himself upon his +knee. At that instant one of the Macleods came to his rescue; who, +as it is said, offered quarter to the dragoon, but he thought +himself obliged to reject what he had before refused, and, as +battle gives little time to deliberate, was immediately killed. + +Funerals were formerly solemnized by calling multitudes together, +and entertaining them at great expence. This emulation of useless +cost has been for some time discouraged, and at last in the Isle of +Sky is almost suppressed. + +Of the Earse language, as I understand nothing, I cannot say more +than I have been told. It is the rude speech of a barbarous +people, who had few thoughts to express, and were content, as they +conceived grossly, to be grossly understood. After what has been +lately talked of Highland Bards, and Highland genius, many will +startle when they are told, that the Earse never was a written +language; that there is not in the world an Earse manuscript a +hundred years old; and that the sounds of the Highlanders were +never expressed by letters, till some little books of piety were +translated, and a metrical version of the Psalms was made by the +Synod of Argyle. Whoever therefore now writes in this language, +spells according to his own perception of the sound, and his own +idea of the power of the letters. The Welsh and the Irish are +cultivated tongues. The Welsh, two hundred years ago, insulted +their English neighbours for the instability of their Orthography; +while the Earse merely floated in the breath of the people, and +could therefore receive little improvement. + +When a language begins to teem with books, it is tending to +refinement; as those who undertake to teach others must have +undergone some labour in improving themselves, they set a +proportionate value on their own thoughts, and wish to enforce them +by efficacious expressions; speech becomes embodied and permanent; +different modes and phrases are compared, and the best obtains an +establishment. By degrees one age improves upon another. +Exactness is first obtained, and afterwards elegance. But diction, +merely vocal, is always in its childhood. As no man leaves his +eloquence behind him, the new generations have all to learn. There +may possibly be books without a polished language, but there can be +no polished language without books. + +That the Bards could not read more than the rest of their +countrymen, it is reasonable to suppose; because, if they had read, +they could probably have written; and how high their compositions +may reasonably be rated, an inquirer may best judge by considering +what stores of imagery, what principles of ratiocination, what +comprehension of knowledge, and what delicacy of elocution he has +known any man attain who cannot read. The state of the Bards was +yet more hopeless. He that cannot read, may now converse with +those that can; but the Bard was a barbarian among barbarians, who, +knowing nothing himself, lived with others that knew no more. + +There has lately been in the Islands one of these illiterate poets, +who hearing the Bible read at church, is said to have turned the +sacred history into verse. I heard part of a dialogue, composed by +him, translated by a young lady in Mull, and thought it had more +meaning than I expected from a man totally uneducated; but he had +some opportunities of knowledge; he lived among a learned people. +After all that has been done for the instruction of the +Highlanders, the antipathy between their language and literature +still continues; and no man that has learned only Earse is, at this +time, able to read. + +The Earse has many dialects, and the words used in some Islands are +not always known in others. In literate nations, though the +pronunciation, and sometimes the words of common speech may differ, +as now in England, compared with the South of Scotland, yet there +is a written diction, which pervades all dialects, and is +understood in every province. But where the whole language is +colloquial, he that has only one part, never gets the rest, as he +cannot get it but by change of residence. + +In an unwritten speech, nothing that is not very short is +transmitted from one generation to another. Few have opportunities +of hearing a long composition often enough to learn it, or have +inclination to repeat it so often as is necessary to retain it; and +what is once forgotten is lost for ever. I believe there cannot be +recovered, in the whole Earse language, five hundred lines of which +there is any evidence to prove them a hundred years old. Yet I +hear that the father of Ossian boasts of two chests more of ancient +poetry, which he suppresses, because they are too good for the +English. + +He that goes into the Highlands with a mind naturally acquiescent, +and a credulity eager for wonders, may come back with an opinion +very different from mine; for the inhabitants knowing the ignorance +of all strangers in their language and antiquities, perhaps are not +very scrupulous adherents to truth; yet I do not say that they +deliberately speak studied falsehood, or have a settled purpose to +deceive. They have inquired and considered little, and do not +always feel their own ignorance. They are not much accustomed to +be interrogated by others; and seem never to have thought upon +interrogating themselves; so that if they do not know what they +tell to be true, they likewise do not distinctly perceive it to be +false. + +Mr. Boswell was very diligent in his inquiries; and the result of +his investigations was, that the answer to the second question was +commonly such as nullified the answer to the first. + +We were a while told, that they had an old translation of the +scriptures; and told it till it would appear obstinacy to inquire +again. Yet by continued accumulation of questions we found, that +the translation meant, if any meaning there were, was nothing else +than the Irish Bible. + +We heard of manuscripts that were, or that had been in the hands of +somebody's father, or grandfather; but at last we had no reason to +believe they were other than Irish. Martin mentions Irish, but +never any Earse manuscripts, to be found in the Islands in his +time. + +I suppose my opinion of the poems of Ossian is already discovered. +I believe they never existed in any other form than that which we +have seen. The editor, or author, never could shew the original; +nor can it be shewn by any other; to revenge reasonable +incredulity, by refusing evidence, is a degree of insolence, with +which the world is not yet acquainted; and stubborn audacity is the +last refuge of guilt. It would be easy to shew it if he had it; +but whence could it be had? It is too long to be remembered, and +the language formerly had nothing written. He has doubtless +inserted names that circulate in popular stories, and may have +translated some wandering ballads, if any can be found; and the +names, and some of the images being recollected, make an inaccurate +auditor imagine, by the help of Caledonian bigotry, that he has +formerly heard the whole. + +I asked a very learned Minister in Sky, who had used all arts to +make me believe the genuineness of the book, whether at last he +believed it himself? but he would not answer. He wished me to be +deceived, for the honour of his country; but would not directly and +formally deceive me. Yet has this man's testimony been publickly +produced, as of one that held Fingal to be the work of Ossian. + +It is said, that some men of integrity profess to have heard parts +of it, but they all heard them when they were boys; and it was +never said that any of them could recite six lines. They remember +names, and perhaps some proverbial sentiments; and, having no +distinct ideas, coin a resemblance without an original. The +persuasion of the Scots, however, is far from universal; and in a +question so capable of proof, why should doubt be suffered to +continue? The editor has been heard to say, that part of the poem +was received by him, in the Saxon character. He has then found, by +some peculiar fortune, an unwritten language, written in a +character which the natives probably never beheld. + +I have yet supposed no imposture but in the publisher, yet I am far +from certainty, that some translations have not been lately made, +that may now be obtruded as parts of the original work. Credulity +on one part is a strong temptation to deceit on the other, +especially to deceit of which no personal injury is the +consequence, and which flatters the author with his own ingenuity. +The Scots have something to plead for their easy reception of an +improbable fiction; they are seduced by their fondness for their +supposed ancestors. A Scotchman must be a very sturdy moralist, +who does not love Scotland better than truth: he will always love +it better than inquiry; and if falsehood flatters his vanity, will +not be very diligent to detect it. Neither ought the English to be +much influenced by Scotch authority; for of the past and present +state of the whole Earse nation, the Lowlanders are at least as +ignorant as ourselves. To be ignorant is painful; but it is +dangerous to quiet our uneasiness by the delusive opiate of hasty +persuasion. + +But this is the age, in which those who could not read, have been +supposed to write; in which the giants of antiquated romance have +been exhibited as realities. If we know little of the ancient +Highlanders, let us not fill the vacuity with Ossian. If we had +not searched the Magellanick regions, let us however forbear to +people them with Patagons. + +Having waited some days at Armidel, we were flattered at last with +a wind that promised to convey us to Mull. We went on board a boat +that was taking in kelp, and left the Isle of Sky behind us. We +were doomed to experience, like others, the danger of trusting to +the wind, which blew against us, in a short time, with such +violence, that we, being no seasoned sailors, were willing to call +it a tempest. I was sea-sick and lay down. Mr. Boswell kept the +deck. The master knew not well whither to go; and our difficulties +might perhaps have filled a very pathetick page, had not Mr. +Maclean of Col, who, with every other qualification which insular +life requires, is a very active and skilful mariner, piloted us +safe into his own harbour. + + + +COL + + + +In the morning we found ourselves under the Isle of Col, where we +landed; and passed the first day and night with Captain Maclean, a +gentleman who has lived some time in the East Indies; but having +dethroned no Nabob, is not too rich to settle in own country. + +Next day the wind was fair, and we might have had an easy passage +to Mull; but having, contrarily to our own intention, landed upon a +new Island, we would not leave it wholly unexamined. We therefore +suffered the vessel to depart without us, and trusted the skies for +another wind. + +Mr. Maclean of Col, having a very numerous family, has, for some +time past, resided at Aberdeen, that he may superintend their +education, and leaves the young gentleman, our friend, to govern +his dominions, with the full power of a Highland Chief. By the +absence of the Laird's family, our entertainment was made more +difficult, because the house was in a great degree disfurnished; +but young Col's kindness and activity supplied all defects, and +procured us more than sufficient accommodation. + +Here I first mounted a little Highland steed; and if there had been +many spectators, should have been somewhat ashamed of my figure in +the march. The horses of the Islands, as of other barren +countries, are very low: they are indeed musculous and strong, +beyond what their size gives reason for expecting; but a bulky man +upon one of their backs makes a very disproportionate appearance. + +From the habitation of Captain Maclean, we went to Grissipol, but +called by the way on Mr. Hector Maclean, the Minister of Col, whom +we found in a hut, that is, a house of only one floor, but with +windows and chimney, and not inelegantly furnished. Mr. Maclean +has the reputation of great learning: he is seventy-seven years +old, but not infirm, with a look of venerable dignity, excelling +what I remember in any other man. + +His conversation was not unsuitable to his appearance. I lost some +of his good-will, by treating a heretical writer with more regard +than, in his opinion, a heretick could deserve. I honoured his +orthodoxy, and did not much censure his asperity. A man who has +settled his opinions, does not love to have the tranquillity of his +conviction disturbed; and at seventy-seven it is time to be in +earnest. + +Mention was made of the Earse translation of the New Testament, +which has been lately published, and of which the learned Mr. +Macqueen of Sky spoke with commendation; but Mr. Maclean said he +did not use it, because he could make the text more intelligible to +his auditors by an extemporary version. From this I inferred, that +the language of the translation was not the language of the Isle of +Col. + +He has no publick edifice for the exercise of his ministry; and can +officiate to no greater number, than a room can contain; and the +room of a hut is not very large. This is all the opportunity of +worship that is now granted to the inhabitants of the Island, some +of whom must travel thither perhaps ten miles. Two chapels were +erected by their ancestors, of which I saw the skeletons, which now +stand faithful witnesses of the triumph of the Reformation. + +The want of churches is not the only impediment to piety: there is +likewise a want of Ministers. A parish often contains more Islands +than one; and each Island can have the Minister only in its own +turn. At Raasa they had, I think, a right to service only every +third Sunday. All the provision made by the present ecclesiastical +constitution, for the inhabitants of about a hundred square miles, +is a prayer and sermon in a little room, once in three weeks: and +even this parsimonious distribution is at the mercy of the weather; +and in those Islands where the Minister does not reside, it is +impossible to tell how many weeks or months may pass without any +publick exercise of religion. + + + +GRISSIPOL IN COL + + + +After a short conversation with Mr. Maclean, we went on to +Grissipol, a house and farm tenanted by Mr. Macsweyn, where I saw +more of the ancient life of a Highlander, than I had yet found. +Mrs. Macsweyn could speak no English, and had never seen any other +places than the Islands of Sky, Mull, and Col: but she was +hospitable and good-humoured, and spread her table with sufficient +liberality. We found tea here, as in every other place, but our +spoons were of horn. + +The house of Grissipol stands by a brook very clear and quick; +which is, I suppose, one of the most copious streams in the Island. +This place was the scene of an action, much celebrated in the +traditional history of Col, but which probably no two relaters will +tell alike. + +Some time, in the obscure ages, Macneil of Barra married the Lady +Maclean, who had the Isle of Col for her jointure. Whether Macneil +detained Col, when the widow was dead, or whether she lived so long +as to make her heirs impatient, is perhaps not now known. The +younger son, called John Gerves, or John the Giant, a man of great +strength who was then in Ireland, either for safety, or for +education, dreamed of recovering his inheritance; and getting some +adventurers together, which, in those unsettled times, was not hard +to do, invaded Col. He was driven away, but was not discouraged, +and collecting new followers, in three years came again with fifty +men. In his way he stopped at Artorinish in Morvern, where his +uncle was prisoner to Macleod, and was then with his enemies in a +tent. Maclean took with him only one servant, whom he ordered to +stay at the outside; and where he should see the tent pressed +outwards, to strike with his dirk, it being the intention of +Maclean, as any man provoked him, to lay hands upon him, and push +him back. He entered the tent alone, with his Lochabar-axe in his +hand, and struck such terror into the whole assembly, that they +dismissed his uncle. + +When he landed at Col, he saw the sentinel, who kept watch towards +the sea, running off to Grissipol, to give Macneil, who was there +with a hundred and twenty men, an account of the invasion. He told +Macgill, one of his followers, that if he intercepted that +dangerous intelligence, by catching the courier, he would give him +certain lands in Mull. Upon this promise, Macgill pursued the +messenger, and either killed, or stopped him; and his posterity, +till very lately, held the lands in Mull. + +The alarm being thus prevented, he came unexpectedly upon Macneil. +Chiefs were in those days never wholly unprovided for an enemy. A +fight ensued, in which one of their followers is said to have given +an extraordinary proof of activity, by bounding backwards over the +brook of Grissipol. Macneil being killed, and many of his clan +destroyed, Maclean took possession of the Island, which the +Macneils attempted to conquer by another invasion, but were +defeated and repulsed. + +Maclean, in his turn, invaded the estate of the Macneils, took the +castle of Brecacig, and conquered the Isle of Barra, which he held +for seven years, and then restored it to the heirs. + + + +CASTLE OF COL + + + +From Grissipol, Mr. Maclean conducted us to his father's seat; a +neat new house, erected near the old castle, I think, by the last +proprietor. Here we were allowed to take our station, and lived +very commodiously, while we waited for moderate weather and a fair +wind, which we did not so soon obtain, but we had time to get some +information of the present state of Col, partly by inquiry, and +partly by occasional excursions. + +Col is computed to be thirteen miles in length, and three in +breadth. Both the ends are the property of the Duke of Argyle, but +the middle belongs to Maclean, who is called Col, as the only +Laird. + +Col is not properly rocky; it is rather one continued rock, of a +surface much diversified with protuberances, and covered with a +thin layer of earth, which is often broken, and discovers the +stone. Such a soil is not for plants that strike deep roots; and +perhaps in the whole Island nothing has ever yet grown to the +height of a table. The uncultivated parts are clothed with heath, +among which industry has interspersed spots of grass and corn; but +no attempt has yet been made to raise a tree. Young Col, who has a +very laudable desire of improving his patrimony, purposes some time +to plant an orchard; which, if it be sheltered by a wall, may +perhaps succeed. He has introduced the culture of turnips, of +which he has a field, where the whole work was performed by his own +hand. His intention is to provide food for his cattle in the +winter. This innovation was considered by Mr. Macsweyn as the idle +project of a young head, heated with English fancies; but he has +now found that turnips will really grow, and that hungry sheep and +cows will really eat them. + +By such acquisitions as these, the Hebrides may in time rise above +their annual distress. Wherever heath will grow, there is reason +to think something better may draw nourishment; and by trying the +production of other places, plants will be found suitable to every +soil. + +Col has many lochs, some of which have trouts and eels, and others +have never yet been stocked; another proof of the negligence of the +Islanders, who might take fish in the inland waters, when they +cannot go to sea. + +Their quadrupeds are horses, cows, sheep, and goats. They have +neither deer, hares, nor rabbits. They have no vermin, except +rats, which have been lately brought thither by sea, as to other +places; and are free from serpents, frogs, and toads. + +The harvest in Col, and in Lewis, is ripe sooner than in Sky; and +the winter in Col is never cold, but very tempestuous. I know not +that I ever heard the wind so loud in any other place; and Mr. +Boswell observed, that its noise was all its own, for there were no +trees to increase it. + +Noise is not the worst effect of the tempests; for they have thrown +the sand from the shore over a considerable part of the land; and +it is said still to encroach and destroy more and more pasture; but +I am not of opinion, that by any surveys or landmarks, its limits +have been ever fixed, or its progression ascertained. If one man +has confidence enough to say, that it advances, nobody can bring +any proof to support him in denying it. The reason why it is not +spread to a greater extent, seems to be, that the wind and rain +come almost together, and that it is made close and heavy by the +wet before the storms can put it in motion. So thick is the bed, +and so small the particles, that if a traveller should be caught by +a sudden gust in dry weather, he would find it very difficult to +escape with life. + +For natural curiosities, I was shown only two great masses of +stone, which lie loose upon the ground; one on the top of a hill, +and the other at a small distance from the bottom. They certainly +were never put into their present places by human strength or +skill; and though an earthquake might have broken off the lower +stone, and rolled it into the valley, no account can be given of +the other, which lies on the hill, unless, which I forgot to +examine, there be still near it some higher rock, from which it +might be torn. All nations have a tradition, that their earliest +ancestors were giants, and these stones are said to have been +thrown up and down by a giant and his mistress. There are so many +more important things, of which human knowledge can give no +account, that it may be forgiven us, if we speculate no longer on +two stones in Col. + +This Island is very populous. About nine-and-twenty years ago, the +fencible men of Col were reckoned one hundred and forty, which is +the sixth of eight hundred and forty; and probably some contrived +to be left out of the list. The Minister told us, that a few years +ago the inhabitants were eight hundred, between the ages of seven +and of seventy. Round numbers are seldom exact. But in this case +the authority is good, and the errour likely to be little. If to +the eight hundred be added what the laws of computation require, +they will be increased to at least a thousand; and if the +dimensions of the country have been accurately related, every mile +maintains more than twenty-five. + +This proportion of habitation is greater than the appearance of the +country seems to admit; for wherever the eye wanders, it sees much +waste and little cultivation. I am more inclined to extend the +land, of which no measure has ever been taken, than to diminish the +people, who have been really numbered. Let it be supposed, that a +computed mile contains a mile and a half, as was commonly found +true in the mensuration of the English roads, and we shall then +allot nearly twelve to a mile, which agrees much better with ocular +observation. + +Here, as in Sky, and other Islands, are the Laird, the Tacksmen, +and the under tenants. + +Mr. Maclean, the Laird, has very extensive possessions, being +proprietor, not only of far the greater part of Col, but of the +extensive Island of Rum, and a very considerable territory in Mull. + +Rum is one of the larger Islands, almost square, and therefore of +great capacity in proportion to its sides. By the usual method of +estimating computed extent, it may contain more than a hundred and +twenty square miles. + +It originally belonged to Clanronald, and was purchased by Col; +who, in some dispute about the bargain, made Clanronald prisoner, +and kept him nine months in confinement. Its owner represents it +as mountainous, rugged, and barren. In the hills there are red +deer. The horses are very small, but of a breed eminent for +beauty. Col, not long ago, bought one of them from a tenant; who +told him, that as he was of a shape uncommonly elegant, he could +not sell him but at a high price; and that whoever had him should +pay a guinea and a half. + +There are said to be in Barra a race of horses yet smaller, of +which the highest is not above thirty-six inches. + +The rent of Rum is not great. Mr. Maclean declared, that he should +be very rich, if he could set his land at two-pence halfpenny an +acre. The inhabitants are fifty-eight families, who continued +Papists for some time after the Laird became a Protestant. Their +adherence to their old religion was strengthened by the countenance +of the Laird's sister, a zealous Romanist, till one Sunday, as they +were going to mass under the conduct of their patroness, Maclean +met them on the way, gave one of them a blow on the head with a +yellow stick, I suppose a cane, for which the Earse had no name, +and drove them to the kirk, from which they have never since +departed. Since the use of this method of conversion, the +inhabitants of Egg and Canna, who continue Papists, call the +Protestantism of Rum, the religion of the Yellow Stick. + +The only Popish Islands are Egg and Canna. Egg is the principal +Island of a parish, in which, though he has no congregation, the +Protestant Minister resides. I have heard of nothing curious in +it, but the cave in which a former generation of the Islanders were +smothered by Macleod. + +If we had travelled with more leisure, it had not been fit to have +neglected the Popish Islands. Popery is favourable to ceremony; +and among ignorant nations, ceremony is the only preservative of +tradition. Since protestantism was extended to the savage parts of +Scotland, it has perhaps been one of the chief labours of the +Ministers to abolish stated observances, because they continued the +remembrance of the former religion. We therefore who came to hear +old traditions, and see antiquated manners, should probably have +found them amongst the Papists. + +Canna, the other Popish Island, belongs to Clanronald. It is said +not to comprise more than twelve miles of land, and yet maintains +as many inhabitants as Rum. + +We were at Col under the protection of the young Laird, without any +of the distresses, which Mr. Pennant, in a fit of simple credulity, +seems to think almost worthy of an elegy by Ossian. Wherever we +roved, we were pleased to see the reverence with which his subjects +regarded him. He did not endeavour to dazzle them by any +magnificence of dress: his only distinction was a feather in his +bonnet; but as soon as he appeared, they forsook their work and +clustered about him: he took them by the hand, and they seemed +mutually delighted. He has the proper disposition of a Chieftain, +and seems desirous to continue the customs of his house. The +bagpiper played regularly, when dinner was served, whose person and +dress made a good appearance; and he brought no disgrace upon the +family of Rankin, which has long supplied the Lairds of Col with +hereditary musick. + +The Tacksmen of Col seem to live with less dignity and convenience +than those of Sky; where they had good houses, and tables not only +plentiful, but delicate. In Col only two houses pay the window +tax; for only two have six windows, which, I suppose, are the +Laird's and Mr. Macsweyn's. + +The rents have, till within seven years, been paid in kind, but the +tenants finding that cattle and corn varied in their price, desired +for the future to give their landlord money; which, not having yet +arrived at the philosophy of commerce, they consider as being every +year of the same value. + +We were told of a particular mode of under-tenure. The Tacksman +admits some of his inferior neighbours to the cultivation of his +grounds, on condition that performing all the work, and giving a +third part of the seed, they shall keep a certain number of cows, +sheep, and goats, and reap a third part of the harvest. Thus by +less than the tillage of two acres they pay the rent of one. + +There are tenants below the rank of Tacksmen, that have got smaller +tenants under them; for in every place, where money is not the +general equivalent, there must be some whose labour is immediately +paid by daily food. + +A country that has no money, is by no means convenient for beggars, +both because such countries are commonly poor, and because charity +requires some trouble and some thought. A penny is easily given +upon the first impulse of compassion, or impatience of importunity; +but few will deliberately search their cupboards or their granaries +to find out something to give. A penny is likewise easily spent, +but victuals, if they are unprepared, require houseroom, and fire, +and utensils, which the beggar knows not where to find. + +Yet beggars there sometimes are, who wander from Island to Island. +We had, in our passage to Mull, the company of a woman and her +child, who had exhausted the charity of Col. The arrival of a +beggar on an Island is accounted a sinistrous event. Every body +considers that he shall have the less for what he gives away. +Their alms, I believe, is generally oatmeal. + +Near to Col is another Island called Tireye, eminent for its +fertility. Though it has but half the extent of Rum, it is so well +peopled, that there have appeared, not long ago, nine hundred and +fourteen at a funeral. The plenty of this Island enticed beggars +to it, who seemed so burdensome to the inhabitants, that a formal +compact was drawn up, by which they obliged themselves to grant no +more relief to casual wanderers, because they had among them an +indigent woman of high birth, whom they considered as entitled to +all that they could spare. I have read the stipulation, which was +indited with juridical formality, but was never made valid by +regular subscription. + +If the inhabitants of Col have nothing to give, it is not that they +are oppressed by their landlord: their leases seem to be very +profitable. One farmer, who pays only seven pounds a year, has +maintained seven daughters and three sons, of whom the eldest is +educated at Aberdeen for the ministry; and now, at every vacation, +opens a school in Col. + +Life is here, in some respects, improved beyond the condition of +some other Islands. In Sky what is wanted can only be bought, as +the arrival of some wandering pedlar may afford an opportunity; but +in Col there is a standing shop, and in Mull there are two. A shop +in the Islands, as in other places of little frequentation, is a +repository of every thing requisite for common use. Mr. Boswell's +journal was filled, and he bought some paper in Col. To a man that +ranges the streets of London, where he is tempted to contrive +wants, for the pleasure of supplying them, a shop affords no image +worthy of attention; but in an Island, it turns the balance of +existence between good and evil. To live in perpetual want of +little things, is a state not indeed of torture, but of constant +vexation. I have in Sky had some difficulty to find ink for a +letter; and if a woman breaks her needle, the work is at a stop. + +As it is, the Islanders are obliged to content themselves with +succedaneous means for many common purposes. I have seen the chief +man of a very wide district riding with a halter for a bridle, and +governing his hobby with a wooden curb. + +The people of Col, however, do not want dexterity to supply some of +their necessities. Several arts which make trades, and demand +apprenticeships in great cities, are here the practices of daily +economy. In every house candles are made, both moulded and dipped. +Their wicks are small shreds of linen cloth. They all know how to +extract from the Cuddy, oil for their lamps. They all tan skins, +and make brogues. + +As we travelled through Sky, we saw many cottages, but they very +frequently stood single on the naked ground. In Col, where the +hills opened a place convenient for habitation, we found a petty +village, of which every hut had a little garden adjoining; thus +they made an appearance of social commerce and mutual offices, and +of some attention to convenience and future supply. There is not +in the Western Islands any collection of buildings that can make +pretensions to be called a town, except in the Isle of Lewis, which +I have not seen. + +If Lewis is distinguished by a town, Col has also something +peculiar. The young Laird has attempted what no Islander perhaps +ever thought on. He has begun a road capable of a wheel-carriage. +He has carried it about a mile, and will continue it by annual +elongation from his house to the harbour. + +Of taxes here is no reason for complaining; they are paid by a very +easy composition. The malt-tax for Col is twenty shillings. +Whisky is very plentiful: there are several stills in the Island, +and more is made than the inhabitants consume. + +The great business of insular policy is now to keep the people in +their own country. As the world has been let in upon them, they +have heard of happier climates, and less arbitrary government; and +if they are disgusted, have emissaries among them ready to offer +them land and houses, as a reward for deserting their Chief and +clan. Many have departed both from the main of Scotland, and from +the Islands; and all that go may be considered as subjects lost to +the British crown; for a nation scattered in the boundless regions +of America resembles rays diverging from a focus. All the rays +remain, but the heat is gone. Their power consisted in their +concentration: when they are dispersed, they have no effect. + +It may be thought that they are happier by the change; but they are +not happy as a nation, for they are a nation no longer. As they +contribute not to the prosperity of any community, they must want +that security, that dignity, that happiness, whatever it be, which +a prosperous community throws back upon individuals. + +The inhabitants of Col have not yet learned to be weary of their +heath and rocks, but attend their agriculture and their dairies, +without listening to American seducements. + +There are some however who think that this emigration has raised +terrour disproportionate to its real evil; and that it is only a +new mode of doing what was always done. The Highlands, they say, +never maintained their natural inhabitants; but the people, when +they found themselves too numerous, instead of extending +cultivation, provided for themselves by a more compendious method, +and sought better fortune in other countries. They did not indeed +go away in collective bodies, but withdrew invisibly, a few at a +time; but the whole number of fugitives was not less, and the +difference between other times and this, is only the same as +between evaporation and effusion. + +This is plausible, but I am afraid it is not true. Those who went +before, if they were not sensibly missed, as the argument supposes, +must have gone either in less number, or in a manner less +detrimental, than at present; because formerly there was no +complaint. Those who then left the country were generally the idle +dependants on overburdened families, or men who had no property; +and therefore carried away only themselves. In the present +eagerness of emigration, families, and almost communities, go away +together. Those who were considered as prosperous and wealthy sell +their stock and carry away the money. Once none went away but the +useless and poor; in some parts there is now reason to fear, that +none will stay but those who are too poor to remove themselves, and +too useless to be removed at the cost of others. + +Of antiquity there is not more knowledge in Col than in other +places; but every where something may be gleaned. + +How ladies were portioned, when there was no money, it would be +difficult for an Englishman to guess. In 1649, Maclean of Dronart +in Mull married his sister Fingala to Maclean of Coll, with a +hundred and eighty kine; and stipulated, that if she became a +widow, her jointure should be three hundred and sixty. I suppose +some proportionate tract of land was appropriated to their +pasturage. + +The disposition to pompous and expensive funerals, which has at one +time or other prevailed in most parts of the civilized world, is +not yet suppressed in the Islands, though some of the ancient +solemnities are worn away, and singers are no longer hired to +attend the procession. Nineteen years ago, at the burial of the +Laird of Col, were killed thirty cows, and about fifty sheep. The +number of the cows is positively told, and we must suppose other +victuals in like proportion. + +Mr. Maclean informed us of an odd game, of which he did not tell +the original, but which may perhaps be used in other places, where +the reason of it is not yet forgot. At New-year's eve, in the hall +or castle of the Laird, where, at festal seasons, there may be +supposed a very numerous company, one man dresses himself in a +cow's hide, upon which other men beat with sticks. He runs with +all this noise round the house, which all the company quits in a +counterfeited fright: the door is then shut. At New-year's eve +there is no great pleasure to be had out of doors in the Hebrides. +They are sure soon to recover from their terrour enough to solicit +for re-admission; which, for the honour of poetry, is not to be +obtained but by repeating a verse, with which those that are +knowing and provident take care to be furnished. + +Very near the house of Maclean stands the castle of Col, which was +the mansion of the Laird, till the house was built. It is built +upon a rock, as Mr. Boswell remarked, that it might not be mined. +It is very strong, and having been not long uninhabited, is yet in +repair. On the wall was, not long ago, a stone with an +inscription, importing, that 'if any man of the clan of Maclonich +shall appear before this castle, though he come at midnight, with a +man's head in his hand, he shall there find safety and protection +against all but the King.' + +This is an old Highland treaty made upon a very memorable occasion. +Maclean, the son of John Gerves, who recovered Col, and conquered +Barra, had obtained, it is said, from James the Second, a grant of +the lands of Lochiel, forfeited, I suppose, by some offence against +the state. + +Forfeited estates were not in those days quietly resigned; Maclean, +therefore, went with an armed force to seize his new possessions, +and, I know not for what reason, took his wife with him. The +Camerons rose in defence of their Chief, and a battle was fought at +the head of Loch Ness, near the place where Fort Augustus now +stands, in which Lochiel obtained the victory, and Maclean, with +his followers, was defeated and destroyed. + +The lady fell into the hands of the conquerours, and being found +pregnant was placed in the custody of Maclonich, one of a tribe or +family branched from Cameron, with orders, if she brought a boy, to +destroy him, if a girl, to spare her. + +Maclonich's wife, who was with child likewise, had a girl about the +same time at which lady Maclean brought a boy, and Maclonich with +more generosity to his captive, than fidelity to his trust, +contrived that the children should be changed. + +Maclean being thus preserved from death, in time recovered his +original patrimony; and in gratitude to his friend, made his castle +a place of refuge to any of the clan that should think himself in +danger; and, as a proof of reciprocal confidence, Maclean took upon +himself and his posterity the care of educating the heir of +Maclonich. + +This story, like all other traditions of the Highlands, is +variously related, but though some circumstances are uncertain, the +principal fact is true. Maclean undoubtedly owed his preservation +to Maclonich; for the treaty between the two families has been +strictly observed: it did not sink into disuse and oblivion, but +continued in its full force while the chieftains retained their +power. I have read a demand of protection, made not more than +thirty-seven years ago, for one of the Maclonichs, named Ewen +Cameron, who had been accessory to the death of Macmartin, and had +been banished by Lochiel, his lord, for a certain term; at the +expiration of which he returned married from France, but the +Macmartins, not satisfied with the punishment, when he attempted to +settle, still threatened him with vengeance. He therefore asked, +and obtained shelter in the Isle of Col. + +The power of protection subsists no longer, but what the law +permits is yet continued, and Maclean of Col now educates the heir +of Maclonich. + +There still remains in the Islands, though it is passing fast away, +the custom of fosterage. A Laird, a man of wealth and eminence, +sends his child, either male or female, to a tacksman, or tenant, +to be fostered. It is not always his own tenant, but some distant +friend that obtains this honour; for an honour such a trust is very +reasonably thought. The terms of fosterage seem to vary in +different islands. In Mull, the father sends with his child a +certain number of cows, to which the same number is added by the +fosterer. The father appropriates a proportionable extent of +ground, without rent, for their pasturage. If every cow brings a +calf, half belongs to the fosterer, and half to the child; but if +there be only one calf between two cows, it is the child's, and +when the child returns to the parent, it is accompanied by all the +cows given, both by the father and by the fosterer, with half of +the increase of the stock by propagation. These beasts are +considered as a portion, and called Macalive cattle, of which the +father has the produce, but is supposed not to have the full +property, but to owe the same number to the child, as a portion to +the daughter, or a stock for the son. + +Children continue with the fosterer perhaps six years, and cannot, +where this is the practice, be considered as burdensome. The +fosterer, if he gives four cows, receives likewise four, and has, +while the child continues with him, grass for eight without rent, +with half the calves, and all the milk, for which he pays only four +cows when he dismisses his Dalt, for that is the name for a foster +child. + +Fosterage is, I believe, sometimes performed upon more liberal +terms. Our friend, the young Laird of Col, was fostered by +Macsweyn of Grissipol. Macsweyn then lived a tenant to Sir James +Macdonald in the Isle of Sky; and therefore Col, whether he sent +him cattle or not, could grant him no land. The Dalt, however, at +his return, brought back a considerable number of Macalive cattle, +and of the friendship so formed there have been good effects. When +Macdonald raised his rents, Macsweyn was, like other tenants, +discontented, and, resigning his farm, removed from Sky to Col, and +was established at Grissipol. + +These observations we made by favour of the contrary wind that +drove us to Col, an Island not often visited; for there is not much +to amuse curiosity, or to attract avarice. + +The ground has been hitherto, I believe, used chiefly for +pasturage. In a district, such as the eye can command, there is a +general herdsman, who knows all the cattle of the neighbourhood, +and whose station is upon a hill, from which he surveys the lower +grounds; and if one man's cattle invade another's grass, drives +them back to their own borders. But other means of profit begin to +be found; kelp is gathered and burnt, and sloops are loaded with +the concreted ashes. Cultivation is likely to be improved by the +skill and encouragement of the present heir, and the inhabitants of +those obscure vallies will partake of the general progress of life. + +The rents of the parts which belong to the Duke of Argyle, have +been raised from fifty-five to one hundred and five pounds, whether +from the land or the sea I cannot tell. The bounties of the sea +have lately been so great, that a farm in Southuist has risen in +ten years from a rent of thirty pounds to one hundred and eighty. + +He who lives in Col, and finds himself condemned to solitary meals, +and incommunicable reflection, will find the usefulness of that +middle order of Tacksmen, which some who applaud their own wisdom +are wishing to destroy. Without intelligence man is not social, he +is only gregarious; and little intelligence will there be, where +all are constrained to daily labour, and every mind must wait upon +the hand. + +After having listened for some days to the tempest, and wandered +about the Island till our curiosity was satisfied, we began to +think about our departure. To leave Col in October was not very +easy. We however found a sloop which lay on the coast to carry +kelp; and for a price which we thought levied upon our necessities, +the master agreed to carry us to Mull, whence we might readily pass +back to Scotland. + + + +MULL + + + +As we were to catch the first favourable breath, we spent the night +not very elegantly nor pleasantly in the vessel, and were landed +next day at Tobor Morar, a port in Mull, which appears to an +unexperienced eye formed for the security of ships; for its mouth +is closed by a small island, which admits them through narrow +channels into a bason sufficiently capacious. They are indeed safe +from the sea, but there is a hollow between the mountains, through +which the wind issues from the land with very mischievous violence. + +There was no danger while we were there, and we found several other +vessels at anchor; so that the port had a very commercial +appearance. + +The young Laird of Col, who had determined not to let us lose his +company, while there was any difficulty remaining, came over with +us. His influence soon appeared; for he procured us horses, and +conducted us to the house of Doctor Maclean, where we found very +kind entertainment, and very pleasing conversation. Miss Maclean, +who was born, and had been bred at Glasgow, having removed with her +father to Mull, added to other qualifications, a great knowledge of +the Earse language, which she had not learned in her childhood, but +gained by study, and was the only interpreter of Earse poetry that +I could ever find. + +The Isle of Mull is perhaps in extent the third of the Hebrides. +It is not broken by waters, nor shot into promontories, but is a +solid and compact mass, of breadth nearly equal to its length. Of +the dimensions of the larger Islands, there is no knowledge +approaching to exactness. I am willing to estimate it as +containing about three hundred square miles. + +Mull had suffered like Sky by the black winter of seventy-one, in +which, contrary to all experience, a continued frost detained the +snow eight weeks upon the ground. Against a calamity never known, +no provision had been made, and the people could only pine in +helpless misery. One tenant was mentioned, whose cattle perished +to the value of three hundred pounds; a loss which probably more +than the life of man is necessary to repair. In countries like +these, the descriptions of famine become intelligible. Where by +vigorous and artful cultivation of a soil naturally fertile, there +is commonly a superfluous growth both of grain and grass; where the +fields are crowded with cattle; and where every hand is able to +attract wealth from a distance, by making something that promotes +ease, or gratifies vanity, a dear year produces only a comparative +want, which is rather seen than felt, and which terminates commonly +in no worse effect, than that of condemning the lower orders of the +community to sacrifice a little luxury to convenience, or at most a +little convenience to necessity. + +But where the climate is unkind, and the ground penurious, so that +the most fruitful years will produce only enough to maintain +themselves; where life unimproved, and unadorned, fades into +something little more than naked existence, and every one is busy +for himself, without any arts by which the pleasure of others may +be increased; if to the daily burden of distress any additional +weight be added, nothing remains but to despair and die. In Mull +the disappointment of a harvest, or a murrain among the cattle, +cuts off the regular provision; and they who have no manufactures +can purchase no part of the superfluities of other countries. The +consequence of a bad season is here not scarcity, but emptiness; +and they whose plenty, was barely a supply of natural and present +need, when that slender stock fails, must perish with hunger. + +All travel has its advantages. If the passenger visits better +countries, he may learn to improve his own, and if fortune carries +him to worse, he may learn to enjoy it. + +Mr. Boswell's curiosity strongly impelled him to survey Iona, or +Icolmkil, which was to the early ages the great school of Theology, +and is supposed to have been the place of sepulture for the ancient +kings. I, though less eager, did not oppose him. + +That we might perform this expedition, it was necessary to traverse +a great part of Mull. We passed a day at Dr. Maclean's, and could +have been well contented to stay longer. But Col provided us +horses, and we pursued our journey. This was a day of +inconvenience, for the country is very rough, and my horse was but +little. We travelled many hours through a tract, black and barren, +in which, however, there were the reliques of humanity; for we +found a ruined chapel in our way. + +It is natural, in traversing this gloom of desolation, to inquire, +whether something may not be done to give nature a more cheerful +face, and whether those hills and moors that afford heath cannot +with a little care and labour bear something better? The first +thought that occurs is to cover them with trees, for that in many +of these naked regions trees will grow, is evident, because stumps +and roots are yet remaining; and the speculatist hastily proceeds +to censure that negligence and laziness that has omitted for so +long a time so easy an improvement. + +To drop seeds into the ground, and attend their growth, requires +little labour and no skill. He who remembers that all the woods, +by which the wants of man have been supplied from the Deluge till +now, were self-sown, will not easily be persuaded to think all the +art and preparation necessary, which the Georgick writers prescribe +to planters. Trees certainly have covered the earth with very +little culture. They wave their tops among the rocks of Norway, +and might thrive as well in the Highlands and Hebrides. + +But there is a frightful interval between the seed and timber. He +that calculates the growth of trees, has the unwelcome remembrance +of the shortness of life driven hard upon him. He knows that he is +doing what will never benefit himself; and when he rejoices to see +the stem rise, is disposed to repine that another shall cut it +down. + +Plantation is naturally the employment of a mind unburdened with +care, and vacant to futurity, saturated with present good, and at +leisure to derive gratification from the prospect of posterity. He +that pines with hunger, is in little care how others shall be fed. +The poor man is seldom studious to make his grandson rich. It may +be soon discovered, why in a place, which hardly supplies the +cravings of necessity, there has been little attention to the +delights of fancy, and why distant convenience is unregarded, where +the thoughts are turned with incessant solicitude upon every +possibility of immediate advantage. + +Neither is it quite so easy to raise large woods, as may be +conceived. Trees intended to produce timber must be sown where +they are to grow; and ground sown with trees must be kept useless +for a long time, inclosed at an expence from which many will be +discouraged by the remoteness of the profit, and watched with that +attention, which, in places where it is most needed, will neither +be given nor bought. That it cannot be plowed is evident; and if +cattle be suffered to graze upon it, they will devour the plants as +fast as they rise. Even in coarser countries, where herds and +flocks are not fed, not only the deer and the wild goats will +browse upon them, but the hare and rabbit will nibble them. It is +therefore reasonable to believe, what I do not remember any +naturalist to have remarked, that there was a time when the world +was very thinly inhabited by beasts, as well as men, and that the +woods had leisure to rise high before animals had bred numbers +sufficient to intercept them. + +Sir James Macdonald, in part of the wastes of his territory, set or +sowed trees, to the number, as I have been told, of several +millions, expecting, doubtless, that they would grow up into future +navies and cities; but for want of inclosure, and of that care +which is always necessary, and will hardly ever be taken, all his +cost and labour have been lost, and the ground is likely to +continue an useless heath. + +Having not any experience of a journey in Mull, we had no doubt of +reaching the sea by day-light, and therefore had not left Dr. +Maclean's very early. We travelled diligently enough, but found +the country, for road there was none, very difficult to pass. We +were always struggling with some obstruction or other, and our +vexation was not balanced by any gratification of the eye or mind. +We were now long enough acquainted with hills and heath to have +lost the emotion that they once raised, whether pleasing or +painful, and had our mind employed only on our own fatigue. We +were however sure, under Col's protection, of escaping all real +evils. There was no house in Mull to which he could not introduce +us. He had intended to lodge us, for that night, with a gentleman +that lived upon the coast, but discovered on the way, that he then +lay in bed without hope of life. + +We resolved not to embarrass a family, in a time of so much sorrow, +if any other expedient could he found; and as the Island of Ulva +was over-against us, it was determined that we should pass the +strait and have recourse to the Laird, who, like the other +gentlemen of the Islands, was known to Col. We expected to find a +ferry-boat, but when at last we came to the water, the boat was +gone. + +We were now again at a stop. It was the sixteenth of October, a +time when it is not convenient to sleep in the Hebrides without a +cover, and there was no house within our reach, but that which we +had already declined. + + + +ULVA + + + +While we stood deliberating, we were happily espied from an Irish +ship, that lay at anchor in the strait. The master saw that we +wanted a passage, and with great civility sent us his boat, which +quickly conveyed us to Ulva, where we were very liberally +entertained by Mr. Macquarry. + +To Ulva we came in the dark, and left it before noon the next day. +A very exact description therefore will not be expected. We were +told, that it is an Island of no great extent, rough and barren, +inhabited by the Macquarrys; a clan not powerful nor numerous, but +of antiquity, which most other families are content to reverence. +The name is supposed to be a depravation of some other; for the +Earse language does not afford it any etymology. Macquarry is +proprietor both of Ulva and some adjacent Islands, among which is +Staffa, so lately raised to renown by Mr. Banks. + +When the Islanders were reproached with their ignorance, or +insensibility of the wonders of Staffa, they had not much to reply. +They had indeed considered it little, because they had always seen +it; and none but philosophers, nor they always, are struck with +wonder, otherwise than by novelty. How would it surprise an +unenlightened ploughman, to hear a company of sober men, inquiring +by what power the hand tosses a stone, or why the stone, when it is +tossed, falls to the ground! + +Of the ancestors of Macquarry, who thus lies hid in his +unfrequented Island, I have found memorials in all places where +they could be expected. + +Inquiring after the reliques of former manners, I found that in +Ulva, and, I think, no where else, is continued the payment of the +Mercheta Mulierum; a fine in old times due to the Laird at the +marriage of a virgin. The original of this claim, as of our tenure +of Borough English, is variously delivered. It is pleasant to find +ancient customs in old families. This payment, like others, was, +for want of money, made anciently in the produce of the land. +Macquarry was used to demand a sheep, for which he now takes a +crown, by that inattention to the uncertain proportion between the +value and the denomination of money, which has brought much +disorder into Europe. A sheep has always the same power of +supplying human wants, but a crown will bring at one time more, at +another less. + +Ulva was not neglected by the piety of ardent times: it has still +to show what was once a church. + + + +INCH KENNETH + + + +In the morning we went again into the boat, and were landed on Inch +Kenneth, an Island about a mile long, and perhaps half a mile +broad, remarkable for pleasantness and fertility. It is verdant +and grassy, and fit both for pasture and tillage; but it has no +trees. Its only inhabitants were Sir Allan Maclean and two young +ladies, his daughters, with their servants. + +Romance does not often exhibit a scene that strikes the imagination +more than this little desert in these depths of Western obscurity, +occupied not by a gross herdsman, or amphibious fisherman, but by a +gentleman and two ladies, of high birth, polished manners and +elegant conversation, who, in a habitation raised not very far +above the ground, but furnished with unexpected neatness and +convenience, practised all the kindness of hospitality, and +refinement of courtesy. + +Sir Allan is the Chieftain of the great clan of Maclean, which is +said to claim the second place among the Highland families, +yielding only to Macdonald. Though by the misconduct of his +ancestors, most of the extensive territory, which would have +descended to him, has been alienated, he still retains much of the +dignity and authority of his birth. When soldiers were lately +wanting for the American war, application was made to Sir Allan, +and he nominated a hundred men for the service, who obeyed the +summons, and bore arms under his command. + +He had then, for some time, resided with the young ladies in Inch +Kenneth, where he lives not only with plenty, but with elegance, +having conveyed to his cottage a collection of books, and what else +is necessary to make his hours pleasant. + +When we landed, we were met by Sir Allan and the Ladies, +accompanied by Miss Macquarry, who had passed some time with them, +and now returned to Ulva with her father. + +We all walked together to the mansion, where we found one cottage +for Sir Allan, and I think two more for the domesticks and the +offices. We entered, and wanted little that palaces afford. Our +room was neatly floored, and well lighted; and our dinner, which +was dressed in one of the other huts, was plentiful and delicate. + +In the afternoon Sir Allan reminded us, that the day was Sunday, +which he never suffered to pass without some religious distinction, +and invited us to partake in his acts of domestick worship; which I +hope neither Mr. Boswell nor myself will be suspected of a +disposition to refuse. The elder of the Ladies read the English +service. + +Inch Kenneth was once a seminary of ecclesiasticks, subordinate, I +suppose, to Icolmkill. Sir Allan had a mind to trace the +foundations of the college, but neither I nor Mr. Boswell, who +bends a keener eye on vacancy, were able to perceive them. + +Our attention, however, was sufficiently engaged by a venerable +chapel, which stands yet entire, except that the roof is gone. It +is about sixty feet in length, and thirty in breadth. On one side +of the altar is a bas relief of the blessed Virgin, and by it lies +a little bell; which, though cracked, and without a clapper, has +remained there for ages, guarded only by the venerableness of the +place. The ground round the chapel is covered with grave-stones of +Chiefs and ladies; and still continues to be a place of sepulture. + +Inch Kenneth is a proper prelude to Icolmkill. It was not without +some mournful emotion that we contemplated the ruins of religious +structures and the monuments of the dead. + +On the next day we took a more distinct view of the place, and went +with the boat to see oysters in the bed, out of which the boat-men +forced up as many as were wanted. Even Inch Kenneth has a +subordinate Island, named Sandiland, I suppose in contempt, where +we landed, and found a rock, with a surface of perhaps four acres, +of which one is naked stone, another spread with sand and shells, +some of which I picked up for their glossy beauty, and two covered +with a little earth and grass, on which Sir Allan has a few sheep. +I doubt not but when there was a college at Inch Kenneth, there was +a hermitage upon Sandiland. + +Having wandered over those extensive plains, we committed ourselves +again to the winds and waters; and after a voyage of about ten +minutes, in which we met with nothing very observable, were again +safe upon dry ground. + +We told Sir Allan our desire of visiting Icolmkill, and entreated +him to give us his protection, and his company. He thought proper +to hesitate a little, but the Ladies hinted, that as they knew he +would not finally refuse, he would do better if he preserved the +grace of ready compliance. He took their advice, and promised to +carry us on the morrow in his boat. + +We passed the remaining part of the day in such amusements as were +in our power. Sir Allan related the American campaign, and at +evening one of the Ladies played on her harpsichord, while Col and +Mr. Boswell danced a Scottish reel with the other. + +We could have been easily persuaded to a longer stay upon Inch +Kenneth, but life will not be all passed in delight. The session +at Edinburgh was approaching, from which Mr. Boswell could not be +absent. + +In the morning our boat was ready: it was high and strong. Sir +Allan victualled it for the day, and provided able rowers. We now +parted from the young Laird of Col, who had treated us with so much +kindness, and concluded his favours by consigning us to Sir Allan. +Here we had the last embrace of this amiable man, who, while these +pages were preparing to attest his virtues, perished in the passage +between Ulva and Inch Kenneth. + +Sir Allan, to whom the whole region was well known, told us of a +very remarkable cave, to which he would show us the way. We had +been disappointed already by one cave, and were not much elevated +by the expectation of another. + +It was yet better to see it, and we stopped at some rocks on the +coast of Mull. The mouth is fortified by vast fragments of stone, +over which we made our way, neither very nimbly, nor very securely. +The place, however, well repaid our trouble. The bottom, as far as +the flood rushes in, was encumbered with large pebbles, but as we +advanced was spread over with smooth sand. The breadth is about +forty-five feet: the roof rises in an arch, almost regular, to a +height which we could not measure; but I think it about thirty +feet. + +This part of our curiosity was nearly frustrated; for though we +went to see a cave, and knew that caves are dark, we forgot to +carry tapers, and did not discover our omission till we were +wakened by our wants. Sir Allan then sent one of the boatmen into +the country, who soon returned with one little candle. We were +thus enabled to go forward, but could not venture far. Having +passed inward from the sea to a great depth, we found on the right +hand a narrow passage, perhaps not more than six feet wide, +obstructed by great stones, over which we climbed and came into a +second cave, in breadth twenty-five feet. The air in this +apartment was very warm, but not oppressive, nor loaded with +vapours. Our light showed no tokens of a feculent or corrupted +atmosphere. Here was a square stone, called, as we are told, +Fingal's Table. + +If we had been provided with torches, we should have proceeded in +our search, though we had already gone as far as any former +adventurer, except some who are reported never to have returned; +and, measuring our way back, we found it more than a hundred and +sixty yards, the eleventh part of a mile. + +Our measures were not critically exact, having been made with a +walking pole, such as it is convenient to carry in these rocky +countries, of which I guessed the length by standing against it. +In this there could be no great errour, nor do I much doubt but the +Highlander, whom we employed, reported the number right. More +nicety however is better, and no man should travel unprovided with +instruments for taking heights and distances. + +There is yet another cause of errour not always easily surmounted, +though more dangerous to the veracity of itinerary narratives, than +imperfect mensuration. An observer deeply impressed by any +remarkable spectacle, does not suppose, that the traces will soon +vanish from his mind, and having commonly no great convenience for +writing, defers the description to a time of more leisure, and +better accommodation. + +He who has not made the experiment, or who is not accustomed to +require rigorous accuracy from himself, will scarcely believe how +much a few hours take from certainty of knowledge, and distinctness +of imagery; how the succession of objects will be broken, how +separate parts will be confused, and how many particular features +and discriminations will be compressed and conglobated into one +gross and general idea. + +To this dilatory notation must be imputed the false relations of +travellers, where there is no imaginable motive to deceive. They +trusted to memory, what cannot be trusted safely but to the eye, +and told by guess what a few hours before they had known with +certainty. Thus it was that Wheeler and Spon described with +irreconcilable contrariety things which they surveyed together, and +which both undoubtedly designed to show as they saw them. + +When we had satisfied our curiosity in the cave, so far as our +penury of light permitted us, we clambered again to our boat, and +proceeded along the coast of Mull to a headland, called Atun, +remarkable for the columnar form of the rocks, which rise in a +series of pilasters, with a degree of regularity, which Sir Allan +thinks not less worthy of curiosity than the shore of Staffa. + +Not long after we came to another range of black rocks, which had +the appearance of broken pilasters, set one behind another to a +great depth. This place was chosen by Sir Allan for our dinner. +We were easily accommodated with seats, for the stones were of all +heights, and refreshed ourselves and our boatmen, who could have no +other rest till we were at Icolmkill. + +The evening was now approaching, and we were yet at a considerable +distance from the end of our expedition. We could therefore stop +no more to make remarks in the way, but set forward with some +degree of eagerness. The day soon failed us, and the moon +presented a very solemn and pleasing scene. The sky was clear, so +that the eye commanded a wide circle: the sea was neither still +nor turbulent: the wind neither silent nor loud. We were never +far from one coast or another, on which, if the weather had become +violent, we could have found shelter, and therefore contemplated at +ease the region through which we glided in the tranquillity of the +night, and saw now a rock and now an island grow gradually +conspicuous and gradually obscure. I committed the fault which I +have just been censuring, in neglecting, as we passed, to note the +series of this placid navigation. + +We were very near an Island, called Nun's Island, perhaps from an +ancient convent. Here is said to have been dug the stone that was +used in the buildings of Icolmkill. Whether it is now inhabited we +could not stay to inquire. + +At last we came to Icolmkill, but found no convenience for landing. +Our boat could not be forced very near the dry ground, and our +Highlanders carried us over the water. + +We were now treading that illustrious Island, which was once the +luminary of the Caledonian regions, whence savage clans and roving +barbarians derived the benefits of knowledge, and the blessings of +religion. To abstract the mind from all local emotion would be +impossible, if it were endeavoured, and would be foolish, if it +were possible. Whatever withdraws us from the power of our senses; +whatever makes the past, the distant, or the future predominate +over the present, advances us in the dignity of thinking beings. +Far from me and from my friends, be such frigid philosophy as may +conduct us indifferent and unmoved over any ground which has been +dignified by wisdom, bravery, or virtue. That man is little to be +envied, whose patriotism would not gain force upon the plain of +Marathon, or whose piety would not grow warmer among the ruins of +Iona! + +We came too late to visit monuments: some care was necessary for +ourselves. Whatever was in the Island, Sir Allan could command, +for the inhabitants were Macleans; but having little they could not +give us much. He went to the headman of the Island, whom Fame, but +Fame delights in amplifying, represents as worth no less than fifty +pounds. He was perhaps proud enough of his guests, but ill +prepared for our entertainment; however, he soon produced more +provision than men not luxurious require. Our lodging was next to +be provided. We found a barn well stocked with hay, and made our +beds as soft as we could. + +In the morning we rose and surveyed the place. The churches of the +two convents are both standing, though unroofed. They were built +of unhewn stone, but solid, and not inelegant. I brought away rude +measures of the buildings, such as I cannot much trust myself, +inaccurately taken, and obscurely noted. Mr. Pennant's +delineations, which are doubtless exact, have made my unskilful +description less necessary. + +The episcopal church consists of two parts, separated by the +belfry, and built at different times. The original church had, +like others, the altar at one end, and tower at the other: but as +it grew too small, another building of equal dimension was added, +and the tower then was necessarily in the middle. + +That these edifices are of different ages seems evident. The arch +of the first church is Roman, being part of a circle; that of the +additional building is pointed, and therefore Gothick, or +Saracenical; the tower is firm, and wants only to be floored and +covered. + +Of the chambers or cells belonging to the monks, there are some +walls remaining, but nothing approaching to a complete apartment. + +The bottom of the church is so incumbered with mud and rubbish, +that we could make no discoveries of curious inscriptions, and what +there are have been already published. The place is said to be +known where the black stones lie concealed, on which the old +Highland Chiefs, when they made contracts and alliances, used to +take the oath, which was considered as more sacred than any other +obligation, and which could not be violated without the blackest +infamy. In those days of violence and rapine, it was of great +importance to impress upon savage minds the sanctity of an oath, by +some particular and extraordinary circumstances. They would not +have recourse to the black stones, upon small or common occasions, +and when they had established their faith by this tremendous +sanction, inconstancy and treachery were no longer feared. + +The chapel of the nunnery is now used by the inhabitants as a kind +of general cow-house, and the bottom is consequently too miry for +examination. Some of the stones which covered the later abbesses +have inscriptions, which might yet be read, if the chapel were +cleansed. The roof of this, as of all the other buildings, is +totally destroyed, not only because timber quickly decays when it +is neglected, but because in an island utterly destitute of wood, +it was wanted for use, and was consequently the first plunder of +needy rapacity. + +The chancel of the nuns' chapel is covered with an arch of stone, +to which time has done no injury; and a small apartment +communicating with the choir, on the north side, like the chapter- +house in cathedrals, roofed with stone in the same manner, is +likewise entire. + +In one of the churches was a marble altar, which the superstition +of the inhabitants has destroyed. Their opinion was, that a +fragment of this stone was a defence against shipwrecks, fire, and +miscarriages. In one corner of the church the bason for holy water +is yet unbroken. + +The cemetery of the nunnery was, till very lately, regarded with +such reverence, that only women were buried in it. These reliques +of veneration always produce some mournful pleasure. I could have +forgiven a great injury more easily than the violation of this +imaginary sanctity. + +South of the chapel stand the walls of a large room, which was +probably the hall, or refectory of the nunnery. This apartment is +capable of repair. Of the rest of the convent there are only +fragments. + +Besides the two principal churches, there are, I think, five +chapels yet standing, and three more remembered. There are also +crosses, of which two bear the names of St. John and St. Matthew. + +A large space of ground about these consecrated edifices is covered +with gravestones, few of which have any inscription. He that +surveys it, attended by an insular antiquary, may be told where the +Kings of many nations are buried, and if he loves to sooth his +imagination with the thoughts that naturally rise in places where +the great and the powerful lie mingled with the dust, let him +listen in submissive silence; for if he asks any questions, his +delight is at an end. + +Iona has long enjoyed, without any very credible attestation, the +honour of being reputed the cemetery of the Scottish Kings. It is +not unlikely, that, when the opinion of local sanctity was +prevalent, the Chieftains of the Isles, and perhaps some of the +Norwegian or Irish princes were reposited in this venerable +enclosure. But by whom the subterraneous vaults are peopled is now +utterly unknown. The graves are very numerous, and some of them +undoubtedly contain the remains of men, who did not expect to be so +soon forgotten. + +Not far from this awful ground, may be traced the garden of the +monastery: the fishponds are yet discernible, and the aqueduct, +which supplied them, is still in use. + +There remains a broken building, which is called the Bishop's +house, I know not by what authority. It was once the residence of +some man above the common rank, for it has two stories and a +chimney. We were shewn a chimney at the other end, which was only +a nich, without perforation, but so much does antiquarian +credulity, or patriotick vanity prevail, that it was not much more +safe to trust the eye of our instructor than the memory. + +There is in the Island one house more, and only one, that has a +chimney: we entered it, and found it neither wanting repair nor +inhabitants; but to the farmers, who now possess it, the chimney is +of no great value; for their fire was made on the floor, in the +middle of the room, and notwithstanding the dignity of their +mansion, they rejoiced, like their neighbours, in the comforts of +smoke. + +It is observed, that ecclesiastical colleges are always in the most +pleasant and fruitful places. While the world allowed the monks +their choice, it is surely no dishonour that they chose well. This +Island is remarkably fruitful. The village near the churches is +said to contain seventy families, which, at five in a family, is +more than a hundred inhabitants to a mile. There are perhaps other +villages: yet both corn and cattle are annually exported. + +But the fruitfulness of Iona is now its whole prosperity. The +inhabitants are remarkably gross, and remarkably neglected: I know +not if they are visited by any Minister. The Island, which was +once the metropolis of learning and piety, has now no school for +education, nor temple for worship, only two inhabitants that can +speak English, and not one that can write or read. + +The people are of the clan of Maclean; and though Sir Allan had not +been in the place for many years, he was received with all the +reverence due to their Chieftain. One of them being sharply +reprehended by him, for not sending him some rum, declared after +his departure, in Mr. Boswell's presence, that he had no design of +disappointing him, 'for,' said he, 'I would cut my bones for him; +and if he had sent his dog for it, he should have had it.' + +When we were to depart, our boat was left by the ebb at a great +distance from the water, but no sooner did we wish it afloat, than +the islanders gathered round it, and, by the union of many hands, +pushed it down the beach; every man who could contribute his help +seemed to think himself happy in the opportunity of being, for a +moment, useful to his Chief. + +We now left those illustrious ruins, by which Mr. Boswell was much +affected, nor would I willingly be thought to have looked upon them +without some emotion. Perhaps, in the revolutions of the world, +Iona may be sometime again the instructress of the Western Regions. + +It was no long voyage to Mull, where, under Sir Allan's protection, +we landed in the evening, and were entertained for the night by Mr. +Maclean, a Minister that lives upon the coast, whose elegance of +conversation, and strength of judgment, would make him conspicuous +in places of greater celebrity. Next day we dined with Dr. +Maclean, another physician, and then travelled on to the house of a +very powerful Laird, Maclean of Lochbuy; for in this country every +man's name is Maclean. + +Where races are thus numerous, and thus combined, none but the +Chief of a clan is addressed by his name. The Laird of Dunvegan is +called Macleod, but other gentlemen of the same family are +denominated by the places where they reside, as Raasa, or Talisker. +The distinction of the meaner people is made by their Christian +names. In consequence of this practice, the late Laird of +Macfarlane, an eminent genealogist, considered himself as +disrespectfully treated, if the common addition was applied to him. +Mr. Macfarlane, said he, may with equal propriety be said to many; +but I, and I only, am Macfarlane. + +Our afternoon journey was through a country of such gloomy +desolation, that Mr. Boswell thought no part of the Highlands +equally terrifick, yet we came without any difficulty, at evening, +to Lochbuy, where we found a true Highland Laird, rough and +haughty, and tenacious of his dignity; who, hearing my name, +inquired whether I was of the Johnstons of Glencroe, or of +Ardnamurchan. + +Lochbuy has, like the other insular Chieftains, quitted the castle +that sheltered his ancestors, and lives near it, in a mansion not +very spacious or splendid. I have seen no houses in the Islands +much to be envied for convenience or magnificence, yet they bare +testimony to the progress of arts and civility, as they shew that +rapine and surprise are no longer dreaded, and are much more +commodious than the ancient fortresses. + +The castles of the Hebrides, many of which are standing, and many +ruined, were always built upon points of land, on the margin of the +sea. For the choice of this situation there must have been some +general reason, which the change of manners has left in obscurity. +They were of no use in the days of piracy, as defences of the +coast; for it was equally accessible in other places. Had they +been sea-marks or light-houses, they would have been of more use to +the invader than the natives, who could want no such directions of +their own waters: for a watch-tower, a cottage on a hill would +have been better, as it would have commanded a wider view. + +If they be considered merely as places of retreat, the situation +seems not well chosen; for the Laird of an Island is safest from +foreign enemies in the center; on the coast he might be more +suddenly surprised than in the inland parts; and the invaders, if +their enterprise miscarried, might more easily retreat. Some +convenience, however, whatever it was, their position on the shore +afforded; for uniformity of practice seldom continues long without +good reason. + +A castle in the Islands is only a single tower of three or four +stories, of which the walls are sometimes eight or nine feet thick, +with narrow windows, and close winding stairs of stone. The top +rises in a cone, or pyramid of stone, encompassed by battlements. +The intermediate floors are sometimes frames of timber, as in +common houses, and sometimes arches of stone, or alternately stone +and timber; so that there was very little danger from fire. In the +center of every floor, from top to bottom, is the chief room, of no +great extent, round which there are narrow cavities, or recesses, +formed by small vacuities, or by a double wall. I know not whether +there be ever more than one fire-place. They had not capacity to +contain many people, or much provision; but their enemies could +seldom stay to blockade them; for if they failed in the first +attack, their next care was to escape. + +The walls were always too strong to be shaken by such desultory +hostilities; the windows were too narrow to be entered, and the +battlements too high to be scaled. The only danger was at the +gates, over which the wall was built with a square cavity, not +unlike a chimney, continued to the top. Through this hollow the +defendants let fall stones upon those who attempted to break the +gate, and poured down water, perhaps scalding water, if the attack +was made with fire. The castle of Lochbuy was secured by double +doors, of which the outer was an iron grate. + +In every castle is a well and a dungeon. The use of the well is +evident. The dungeon is a deep subterraneous cavity, walled on the +sides, and arched on the top, into which the descent is through a +narrow door, by a ladder or a rope, so that it seems impossible to +escape, when the rope or ladder is drawn up. The dungeon was, I +suppose, in war, a prison for such captives as were treated with +severity, and, in peace, for such delinquents as had committed +crimes within the Laird's jurisdiction; for the mansions of many +Lairds were, till the late privation of their privileges, the halls +of justice to their own tenants. + +As these fortifications were the productions of mere necessity, +they are built only for safety, with little regard to convenience, +and with none to elegance or pleasure. It was sufficient for a +Laird of the Hebrides, if he had a strong house, in which he could +hide his wife and children from the next clan. That they are not +large nor splendid is no wonder. It is not easy to find how they +were raised, such as they are, by men who had no money, in +countries where the labourers and artificers could scarcely be fed. +The buildings in different parts of the Island shew their degrees +of wealth and power. I believe that for all the castles which I +have seen beyond the Tweed, the ruins yet remaining of some one of +those which the English built in Wales, would supply materials. + +These castles afford another evidence that the fictions of +romantick chivalry had for their basis the real manners of the +feudal times, when every Lord of a seignory lived in his hold +lawless and unaccountable, with all the licentiousness and +insolence of uncontested superiority and unprincipled power. The +traveller, whoever he might be, coming to the fortified habitation +of a Chieftain, would, probably, have been interrogated from the +battlements, admitted with caution at the gate, introduced to a +petty Monarch, fierce with habitual hostility, and vigilant with +ignorant suspicion; who, according to his general temper, or +accidental humour, would have seated a stranger as his guest at the +table, or as a spy confined him in the dungeon. + +Lochbuy means the Yellow Lake, which is the name given to an inlet +of the sea, upon which the castle of Mr. Maclean stands. The +reason of the appellation we did not learn. + +We were now to leave the Hebrides, where we had spent some weeks +with sufficient amusement, and where we had amplified our thoughts +with new scenes of nature, and new modes of life. More time would +have given us a more distinct view, but it was necessary that Mr. +Boswell should return before the courts of justice were opened; and +it was not proper to live too long upon hospitality, however +liberally imparted. + +Of these Islands it must be confessed, that they have not many +allurements, but to the mere lover of naked nature. The +inhabitants are thin, provisions are scarce, and desolation and +penury give little pleasure. + +The people collectively considered are not few, though their +numbers are small in proportion to the space which they occupy. +Mull is said to contain six thousand, and Sky fifteen thousand. Of +the computation respecting Mull, I can give no account; but when I +doubted the truth of the numbers attributed to Sky, one of the +Ministers exhibited such facts as conquered my incredulity. + +Of the proportion, which the product of any region bears to the +people, an estimate is commonly made according to the pecuniary +price of the necessaries of life; a principle of judgment which is +never certain, because it supposes what is far from truth, that the +value of money is always the same, and so measures an unknown +quantity by an uncertain standard. It is competent enough when the +markets of the same country, at different times, and those times +not too distant, are to be compared; but of very little use for the +purpose of making one nation acquainted with the state of another. +Provisions, though plentiful, are sold in places of great pecuniary +opulence for nominal prices, to which, however scarce, where gold +and silver are yet scarcer, they can never be raised. + +In the Western Islands there is so little internal commerce, that +hardly any thing has a known or settled rate. The price of things +brought in, or carried out, is to be considered as that of a +foreign market; and even this there is some difficulty in +discovering, because their denominations of quantity are different +from ours; and when there is ignorance on both sides, no appeal can +be made to a common measure. + +This, however, is not the only impediment. The Scots, with a +vigilance of jealousy which never goes to sleep, always suspect +that an Englishman despises them for their poverty, and to convince +him that they are not less rich than their neighbours, are sure to +tell him a price higher than the true. When Lesley, two hundred +years ago, related so punctiliously, that a hundred hen eggs, new +laid, were sold in the Islands for a peny, he supposed that no +inference could possibly follow, but that eggs were in great +abundance. Posterity has since grown wiser; and having learned, +that nominal and real value may differ, they now tell no such +stories, lest the foreigner should happen to collect, not that eggs +are many, but that pence are few. + +Money and wealth have by the use of commercial language been so +long confounded, that they are commonly supposed to be the same; +and this prejudice has spread so widely in Scotland, that I know +not whether I found man or woman, whom I interrogated concerning +payments of money, that could surmount the illiberal desire of +deceiving me, by representing every thing as dearer than it is. + +From Lochbuy we rode a very few miles to the side of Mull, which +faces Scotland, where, having taken leave of our kind protector, +Sir Allan, we embarked in a boat, in which the seat provided for +our accommodation was a heap of rough brushwood; and on the twenty- +second of October reposed at a tolerable inn on the main land. + +On the next day we began our journey southwards. The weather was +tempestuous. For half the day the ground was rough, and our horses +were still small. Had they required much restraint, we might have +been reduced to difficulties; for I think we had amongst us but one +bridle. We fed the poor animals liberally, and they performed +their journey well. In the latter part of the day, we came to a +firm and smooth road, made by the soldiers, on which we travelled +with great security, busied with contemplating the scene about us. +The night came on while we had yet a great part of the way to go, +though not so dark, but that we could discern the cataracts which +poured down the hills, on one side, and fell into one general +channel that ran with great violence on the other. The wind was +loud, the rain was heavy, and the whistling of the blast, the fall +of the shower, the rush of the cataracts, and the roar of the +torrent, made a nobler chorus of the rough musick of nature than it +had ever been my chance to hear before. The streams, which ran +cross the way from the hills to the main current, were so frequent, +that after a while I began to count them; and, in ten miles, +reckoned fifty-five, probably missing some, and having let some +pass before they forced themselves upon my notice. At last we came +to Inverary, where we found an inn, not only commodious, but +magnificent. + +The difficulties of peregrination were now at an end. Mr. Boswell +had the honour of being known to the Duke of Argyle, by whom we +were very kindly entertained at his splendid seat, and supplied +with conveniences for surveying his spacious park and rising +forests. + +After two days stay at Inverary we proceeded Southward over +Glencroe, a black and dreary region, now made easily passable by a +military road, which rises from either end of the glen by an +acclivity not dangerously steep, but sufficiently laborious. In +the middle, at the top of the hill, is a seat with this +inscription, 'Rest, and be thankful.' Stones were placed to mark +the distances, which the inhabitants have taken away, resolved, +they said, 'to have no new miles.' + +In this rainy season the hills streamed with waterfalls, which, +crossing the way, formed currents on the other side, that ran in +contrary directions as they fell to the north or south of the +summit. Being, by the favour of the Duke, well mounted, I went up +and down the hill with great convenience. + +From Glencroe we passed through a pleasant country to the banks of +Loch Lomond, and were received at the house of Sir James Colquhoun, +who is owner of almost all the thirty islands of the Loch, which we +went in a boat next morning to survey. The heaviness of the rain +shortened our voyage, but we landed on one island planted with yew, +and stocked with deer, and on another containing perhaps not more +than half an acre, remarkable for the ruins of an old castle, on +which the osprey builds her annual nest. Had Loch Lomond been in a +happier climate, it would have been the boast of wealth and vanity +to own one of the little spots which it incloses, and to have +employed upon it all the arts of embellishment. But as it is, the +islets, which court the gazer at a distance, disgust him at his +approach, when he finds, instead of soft lawns; and shady thickets, +nothing more than uncultivated ruggedness. + +Where the Loch discharges itself into a river, called the Leven, we +passed a night with Mr. Smollet, a relation of Doctor Smollet, to +whose memory he has raised an obelisk on the bank near the house in +which he was born. The civility and respect which we found at +every place, it is ungrateful to omit, and tedious to repeat. Here +we were met by a post-chaise, that conveyed us to Glasgow. + +To describe a city so much frequented as Glasgow, is unnecessary. +The prosperity of its commerce appears by the greatness of many +private houses, and a general appearance of wealth. It is the only +episcopal city whose cathedral was left standing in the rage of +Reformation. It is now divided into many separate places of +worship, which, taken all together, compose a great pile, that had +been some centuries in building, but was never finished; for the +change of religion intercepted its progress, before the cross isle +was added, which seems essential to a Gothick cathedral. + +The college has not had a sufficient share of the increasing +magnificence of the place. The session was begun; for it commences +on the tenth of October and continues to the tenth of June, but the +students appeared not numerous, being, I suppose, not yet returned +from their several homes. The division of the academical year into +one session, and one recess, seems to me better accommodated to the +present state of life, than that variegation of time by terms and +vacations derived from distant centuries, in which it was probably +convenient, and still continued in the English universities. So +many solid months as the Scotch scheme of education joins together, +allow and encourage a plan for each part of the year; but with us, +he that has settled himself to study in the college is soon tempted +into the country, and he that has adjusted his life in the country, +is summoned back to his college. + +Yet when I have allowed to the universities of Scotland a more +rational distribution of time, I have given them, so far as my +inquiries have informed me, all that they can claim. The students, +for the most part, go thither boys, and depart before they are men; +they carry with them little fundamental knowledge, and therefore +the superstructure cannot be lofty. The grammar schools are not +generally well supplied; for the character of a school-master being +there less honourable than in England, is seldom accepted by men +who are capable to adorn it, and where the school has been +deficient, the college can effect little. + +Men bred in the universities of Scotland cannot be expected to be +often decorated with the splendours of ornamental erudition, but +they obtain a mediocrity of knowledge, between learning and +ignorance, not inadequate to the purposes of common life, which is, +I believe, very widely diffused among them, and which countenanced +in general by a national combination so invidious, that their +friends cannot defend it, and actuated in particulars by a spirit +of enterprise, so vigorous, that their enemies are constrained to +praise it, enables them to find, or to make their way to +employment, riches, and distinction. + +From Glasgow we directed our course to Auchinleck, an estate +devolved, through a long series of ancestors, to Mr. Boswell's +father, the present possessor. In our way we found several places +remarkable enough in themselves, but already described by those who +viewed them at more leisure, or with much more skill; and stopped +two days at Mr. Campbell's, a gentleman married to Mr. Boswell's +sister. + +Auchinleck, which signifies a stony field, seems not now to have +any particular claim to its denomination. It is a district +generally level, and sufficiently fertile, but like all the Western +side of Scotland, incommoded by very frequent rain. It was, with +the rest of the country, generally naked, till the present +possessor finding, by the growth of some stately trees near his old +castle, that the ground was favourable enough to timber, adorned it +very diligently with annual plantations. + +Lord Auchinleck, who is one of the Judges of Scotland, and +therefore not wholly at leisure for domestick business or pleasure, +has yet found time to make improvements in his patrimony. He has +built a house of hewn stone, very stately, and durable, and has +advanced the value of his lands with great tenderness to his +tenants. + +I was, however, less delighted with the elegance of the modern +mansion, than with the sullen dignity of the old castle. I +clambered with Mr. Boswell among the ruins, which afford striking +images of ancient life. It is, like other castles, built upon a +point of rock, and was, I believe, anciently surrounded with a +moat. There is another rock near it, to which the drawbridge, when +it was let down, is said to have reached. Here, in the ages of +tumult and rapine, the Laird was surprised and killed by the +neighbouring Chief, who perhaps might have extinguished the family, +had he not in a few days been seized and hanged, together with his +sons, by Douglas, who came with his forces to the relief of +Auchinleck. + +At no great distance from the house runs a pleasing brook, by a red +rock, out of which has been hewn a very agreeable and commodious +summer-house, at less expence, as Lord Auchinleck told me, than +would have been required to build a room of the same dimensions. +The rock seems to have no more dampness than any other wall. Such +opportunities of variety it is judicious not to neglect. + +We now returned to Edinburgh, where I passed some days with men of +learning, whose names want no advancement from my commemoration, or +with women of elegance, which perhaps disclaims a pedant's praise. + +The conversation of the Scots grows every day less unpleasing to +the English; their peculiarities wear fast away; their dialect is +likely to become in half a century provincial and rustick, even to +themselves. The great, the learned, the ambitious, and the vain, +all cultivate the English phrase, and the English pronunciation, +and in splendid companies Scotch is not much heard, except now and +then from an old Lady. + +There is one subject of philosophical curiosity to be found in +Edinburgh, which no other city has to shew; a college of the deaf +and dumb, who are taught to speak, to read, to write, and to +practice arithmetick, by a gentleman, whose name is Braidwood. The +number which attends him is, I think, about twelve, which he brings +together into a little school, and instructs according to their +several degrees of proficiency. + +I do not mean to mention the instruction of the deaf as new. +Having been first practised upon the son of a constable of Spain, +it was afterwards cultivated with much emulation in England, by +Wallis and Holder, and was lately professed by Mr. Baker, who once +flattered me with hopes of seeing his method published. How far +any former teachers have succeeded, it is not easy to know; the +improvement of Mr. Braidwood's pupils is wonderful. They not only +speak, write, and understand what is written, but if he that speaks +looks towards them, and modifies his organs by distinct and full +utterance, they know so well what is spoken, that it is an +expression scarcely figurative to say, they hear with the eye. +That any have attained to the power mentioned by Burnet, of feeling +sounds, by laying a hand on the speaker's mouth, I know not; but I +have seen so much, that I can believe more; a single word, or a +short sentence, I think, may possibly be so distinguished. + +It will readily be supposed by those that consider this subject, +that Mr. Braidwood's scholars spell accurately. Orthography is +vitiated among such as learn first to speak, and then to write, by +imperfect notions of the relation between letters and vocal +utterance; but to those students every character is of equal +importance; for letters are to them not symbols of names, but of +things; when they write they do not represent a sound, but +delineate a form. + +This school I visited, and found some of the scholars waiting for +their master, whom they are said to receive at his entrance with +smiling countenances and sparkling eyes, delighted with the hope of +new ideas. One of the young Ladies had her slate before her, on +which I wrote a question consisting of three figures, to be +multiplied by two figures. She looked upon it, and quivering her +fingers in a manner which I thought very pretty, but of which I +know not whether it was art or play, multiplied the sum regularly +in two lines, observing the decimal place; but did not add the two +lines together, probably disdaining so easy an operation. I +pointed at the place where the sum total should stand, and she +noted it with such expedition as seemed to shew that she had it +only to write. + +It was pleasing to see one of the most desperate of human +calamities capable of so much help; whatever enlarges hope, will +exalt courage; after having seen the deaf taught arithmetick, who +would be afraid to cultivate the Hebrides? + +Such are the things which this journey has given me an opportunity +of seeing, and such are the reflections which that sight has +raised. Having passed my time almost wholly in cities, I may have +been surprised by modes of life and appearances of nature, that are +familiar to men of wider survey and more varied conversation. +Novelty and ignorance must always be reciprocal, and I cannot but +be conscious that my thoughts on national manners, are the thoughts +of one who has seen but little. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg Etext Journey to the Western Isles of Scotland + diff --git a/old/jwsct10.zip b/old/jwsct10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..57f677e --- /dev/null +++ b/old/jwsct10.zip |