JOURNEY
T O T H E
WESTERN ISLANDS
O F
SCOTLAND.
A NEW EDITION.
LONDON:
Printed for A. STRAHAN; and T. CAD ELL, in the Strand,
MDCCXCI,
1711
Strand, Oft. 26, 1785.
SINCE this Work was printed off, the Pub-
liflier having been informed that the Author, fome
years ago, had promifed the Laird of Rafay, to
orre, in a future edition, a paiTage concerning
him, p. 133, thinks it a juftice due to that
Gentleman to infert here the Advertifetnent re-
Jative to this matter, which was publifhed, by
Dr. Johnfon's defire, in the Edinburgh Newf-
papers in the year 1775, and which has been
lately reprinted in Mr. Bofwell's Tour to the
Hebrides :
" The Authonr of the Journey to the
" Weflern Iflands, having related that the
" Macleods of Rafay acknowledge the chief-
ci tainjhip^ or fuperiority^ of the Macleods of
" Sky, finds that he has been mlfinfonned or
" miftaken. He means in a future edition to
" correct bis err our ^ and wijftes to be told of
', if more, have been difcovercd"
JOURNEY
TO THE
WESTERN ISLANDS
O F
SCOTLAND,
I HAD defired to vifit the Hebrides, or
Weftern Iflands of Scotland, fo long,
that I fcarcely remember how the wifh was
originally excited; and was, in the Autumn
of the year 1773, induced to undertake the
journey, by finding in Mr. Bofwell a com-
panion, whofe acutenefs would help my
inquiry, and whofe gaiety of converfatioa
and civility of manners are fufficient to
B counteract
2 A JOURNEY TO THE
counteract the inconveniencies of travel,
in countries lefs hofpitable than we have
paffed.
On the eighteenth of Auguft we left
Edinburgh, a city too well known to admit
defcription, and direded our courfe north-
ward, along the eaftern coaft of Scotland,
accompanied the firft day by another
gentleman, who could ftay with us only
long enough to fhew us how much we loft
at reparation.
As we crofled the Frith of Forth, our
curiofity was attra&ed by Inch Keith y a
fmall ifland, which neither of my compa-
nions had ever vifited, though, lying
within their view, it had all their lives fo-
licited their notice. Here, by climbing
with fome difficulty over fhattered crags,
we made the firft experiment of unfre-
quented coafts. Inch Keith is nothing
more than a rock covered with a thin
layer
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 3
layer of earth, nor wholly bare of grafs,
and very fertile of thirties. A fmall herd
of cows grazes annually upon it in the
fummer. It feems never to have afforded
to man or beaft a permanent habitation.
We found only the ruins of a fmall fort,
not fo injured by time but that it might
be eafily reftored to its former ftate. It
feems never to have been intended as a
place of ftrength, nor was built to endure
a fiege, but merely to afford cover to a few
foldiers, who perhaps had the charge of a
battery, or were ftationed to give fignals
of approaching danger. There is there-
fore no provifion of water within the wall?*
though the fpring is fo near, that it might
have been eafily enclofed. One of the
flones had this infcription : <c Maria Reg.
<c 1564." It has probably been neglected
from the time that the whole ifland had
the fame king.
B 2 We
4 A JOURNEY TO THE
We left this little ifland with our
thoughts employed awhile on the different
appearance that it would have made, if
it had been placed at the fame diftance
from London, with the fame facility of
approach ; with what emulation of price
a few rocky acres would have been pur-
chafed, and with what expenfive induftry
they would have been cultivated and
adorned.
When we landed, we found our chaife
ready, and pafled through Kingborn % Kir-
kaldy, and Cowpar, places not unlike the
fmall or ftraggling market-towns in thofe
parts of England where commerce and
manufactures have not yet produced opu-
lence.
Though we were yet in the moft popu-
lous part of Scotland, and at fo fniall a
diftance from the capital, we met few paf-
fengers.
The
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 5
The roads are neither rough nor dirty ;
and it affords a fouthern ftranger a new
kind of pleafure to travel fo commodioufiy
without the interruption of toll-gates.
Where the bottom is rocky, as it feems
commonly to be in Scotland, a fmooth
way is made indeed with great labour, but
it never wants repairs ; and in thofe parts
where adventitious materials are neceflary,
the ground once confolidated is rarely
broken; for the inland commerce is not
great, nor are heavy commodities often
tranfported otherwife than by water. The
carriages in common ufe are fmall carts,
drawn each by one little horfe ; and a man
feems to derive fome degree of dignity
and importance from the reputation of
poffefling a two-horfe cart.
ST. ANDREWS.
At an hour fomewhat late we came to
St. Andrews, a city once archiepifcopal ;
B 3 where
6 A JOURNEY TO THE
where that univerfity Hill fubfifts in which
philofophy was formerly taught by Bucha-
nan, whofe name has as fair a claim to
immortality as can be conferred by modern
latinity, and perhaps a fairer than the in-
ftability of vernacular languages admits.
We found, that by the interpofition of
fome invifible friend, lodgings had been
provided for us at the houfe of one of the
profeflbrs, whofe eafy civility quickly made
us forget that we were ftrangers ; and in
the whole time of our ftay we were gra-
tified by every mode of kindnefs, and en*
tertained with all the elegance of lettered
hofpitality.
In the morning we rofe to perambulate
a city, which only hiftory fhews to have
once flourilhed, and furveyed the ruins of
ancient magnificence, of which even the
ruins cannot long be vifible, unlefs fome
Care be taken to preferve them \ and where
is
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 7
is the pleafure of preferving fuch mournful
memorials ? They have been till very lately"
fo much neglected, that every man carried
away the ftones who fancied that he wanted
them.
The cathedral, of which the foundations
may be ftill traced, and a fmall part of the
wall is ftanding, appears to have been a
fpacious and majeftick building, not un-
fuitable to the primacy of the kingdom.
Of the architecture, the poor remains can
hardly exhibit, even to an artift, a fuffi-
cient fpecimen. It was demolimed, as is
well known, in the tumult and violence of
Knox's reformation.
Not far from the cathedral, on the mar-
gin of the water, ftands a fragment of the
caftle, in which the archbifhop anciently
refided. It was never very large, and was
built with more attention to fecurity than
pleafure. Cardinal Beatoun is faid to have
B 4 had
8 A JOURNEY TO THE
had workmen employed in improving its
fortifications at the time when he was mur-
dered by the ruffians of reformation, in the
manner of which Knox has given what he
himfelf calls a merry narrative.
The change of religion in Scotland,
eager and vehement as it was, raifed an
epidemical enthufiafm, compounded of ful-
len fcrupuloufnefs and warlike ferocity,
which, in a people whom idlenefs refigned
to their own thoughts, and who converfing
only with each other, fuffered no dilution
of their zeal from the gradual influx of
new opinions, was long tranfmitted in its
full ftrength from the old to the young,
but by trade and intercourfe with Eng-
land, is now vifibly abating, and giving
way too faft to that laxity of practice
and indifference of opinion, in which men,
not fufficiently inflruded to find the middle
point, too eafily (helter themfelves from,
rigour and ccnftraint.
The
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 9
The city of St. Andrews, when it had
loft its archiepifcopal pre-eminence, gra-
Dually decayed : One of its ftreets is now
loft ; and in thofe that remain there is the
filence and folitude of inactive indigence
and gloomy depopulation.
The univerfity, within a few years, con-
fitted of three colleges, but is now reduced
to two ; the college of St. Leonard being
lately diflblved by the fale of its buildings
and the appropriation of its revenues to the
profeflbrs of the two others. The chapel
of the alienated college is yet ftanding, a
fahrick not inelegant of external ftruture ;
but I was always, by fome civil excufe,
hindered from entering it. A decent at-
tempt, as i was iince told, has been made
to convert it into a kind of green-houfe,
by planting its area with fhrubs. This
new method of gardening is unfucceff-
ful ; the plants do not hitherto profper.
To what ufe it will next be put, 1 have no
pleafure
io A JOURNEY TO THE
pleafure in conjeduring. It is fomething,
that its prefent ftate is at leaft not often-
tatioufly difplayed. Where there is yet
ihame, there may in time be virtue.
The diffolution of St. Leonard's College
was doubtlefs neceflary 5 but of that necef-
fity there is reafon to complain. It is
furely not without juft reproach, that a
nation, of which the commerce is hourly
extending, and the wealth increafing, de
nies any participation of its profperity to
its literary focieties ; and while its mer-
chants or its nobles are raifing palaces, fuf-
fers its univerfities to moulder into duft.
Of the two colleges yet ftanding, one is
by the inftitution of its founder appro-
priated to Divinity. It is faid to be ca-
pable of containing fifty ftudents ; but more
than one muft occupy a chamber. . The
library, which is of late eredion, is not
very fpacious, but elegant and luminous.
The
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. n
The doctor, by whom it was fhewn,
hoped to irritate or fubdue my Englifh va-
nity, by telling me, that we had no fuch
repofitory of books in England.
St. Andrews feems to be a place emi-
nently adapted to fludy and education,
being fituated in a populous, yet a cheap
country, and expofing the minds and man-
ners of young men neither to the levity
and diffolutenefs of a capital city, nor to
the grofs luxury of a town of commerce,
places naturally unpropitious to learning ;
in one the defire of knowledge eafily gives
way to the love of pleafure, and in the
other, is in danger of yielding to the love
of money.
The fludents however are reprefented
as at this time not exceeding a hun-
dred. Perhaps it may be fome obftruc-
tion to their increafe that there is no
epifcopal chapel in the place. I faw no
reafon
12 A JOURNEY TO THE
reafon for imputing their paucity to the
prefent profeflbrs; nor can the expence of
an academical education be very reafon-
ably objected. A ftudent of the higheft
clafs may keep his annual feffion, or as the
Englifh call it, his term, which lafts feven
months, for about fifteen pounds, and one
of lower rank for lefs than ten ; in which,
board, lodging, and inftruclion are all in-
cluded,
The chief magiftrate refident in the uni~
verfity, anfwering to our vice-chancellor,
and to the reftor magnifaus on the conti-
nent, had commonly the title of Lord
Redor; but being addrefled only as Mr.
Retfor in an inauguratory fpeech by the
prefent chancellor, he has fallen from his
former dignity of ftyle. Lordfhip was very
liberally annexed by our anceftors to any
ftation or character of dignity : They faid,
the Lord General, and Lord Ambajfador\ fo
fey> m y Lord t to the judge upon the
circuit,
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. ij
circuit, and yet retain in our Liturgy tie
Lords of the Council.
In walking among the ruins of reli-
gious buildings, we came to two vaults
over which had formerly flood the houfe
of the fub-prior. One of the vaults was
inhabited by an old woman, who claimed
the right of abode there, as the widow of
a man whofe anceftors had poflefTed the
fame gloomy manfion for no lefs than four
generations. The right, however it began,
was confidered as eftablifhed by legal pre-
fcription, and the old woman lives undif-.
turbed. She thinks however that fhe has
a claim to fomething more than fuffer-
ance ; for as her hufband's name was
Bruce, fhe is allied to royalty, and told
Mr. Bofwell that when there were perfons
of quality in the place, (he was diftinguifhed
by fome notice; that indeed fhe is now
neglected, but (he fpins a thread, has the
company
1.4 A JOURNEY TO THE
company of her cat, and is troublefome to
nobody.
Having now feen whatever this ancient
city offered to our curiofity, we left it with
good wifhes, having reafon to be highly
pleafed with the attention that was paid
us. But whoever furveys the world muft
fee many things that give him pain. - The
kindnefs of the profeffors did not contri-
bute to abate the uneafy remembrance of
an univerfity declining, a college alienated,
and a church profaned and haftening to
the ground.
St. Andrews indeed has formerly fuf-
fered more atrocious ravages and more ex-
tenfive deftru&ion, but recent evils affect
with greater force. We were reconciled to
the fight of archiepifcopal ruins. The di-
ftance of a calamity from the prefent time
feems to preclude the mind from contad
or
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 15
or fympatby. Events long pad are barely
known; they are not confidered. We read
with as little emotion the violence of Knox
and his followers, as the irruptions of Al-
aric and the Goths. Had the univerfity
been deftroyed two centuries ago, we fhould
not have regretted it ; but to fee it pining
in decay and ftruggling for life, fills the
mind with mournful images and ineffec-
tual wifhes.
ABERBROTHICK.
As we knew forrow and wifhes to be
vain, it was now our bufmefs to mind our
way. The roads of Scotland afford little
diverfion to the traveller, who feldom fees
himfelf either encountered or overtaken,
and who has nothing to contemplate but
grounds that have no vifible boundaries,
or are feparated by walls of loofe done.
From the bank of the Tweed to St. An-
5 drews
16 A JOURNEY TO THE
drews I had never feen a fingle tree,
which I did not believe to have grown
up far within the prefent century. Now
and then about a gentleman's houfe ftands
a fmall plantation, which in Scotch is called
a policy, but of thefe there are few,
and thofe few all very young. The va-
riety of fun and fhade is here utterly un-
known. There is no tree for either fhel-
ter or timber. The oak and the thorn is
equally a ftranger, and the whole country
is extended in uniform nakednefs, ex-
cept that in the road between Kirkaldy
and Cowpar^ I pafled for a few yards
between two hedges. A tree might be
a fhow in Scotland as a horfe in Venice.
At St. Andrews Mr. Bofwelf found only
one, and recommended it to my notice; I
told him that it was rough and low, or
looked as if I thought fo. This, faid he, is
nothing to another a few miles off. I was
ftill lefs delighted to hear that another tree
was not to be feen nearer. Nay, faid a
gentleman
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 17
gentleman that flood by, I know but of
this and that tree in the county.
The Lowlands of Scotland had once un-
doubtedly an equal portion of woods with
other countries, Forefls are every where
gradually diminifhed, as architecture and
cultivation prevail by the increafe of peo-
ple and the introduction of arts. But I
believe few regions have been denuded like
this, where many centuries muft have
pafled in wafte without the leaft thought
of future fupply. Davies obferves in his
account of Ireland, that no Irifhman had
ever planted an orchard. For that neg-
ligence fome excufe might be drawn from
an unfettled ftate of life, and the inftabi-
lity of property; but in Scotland poffeffion
has long been fecure, and inheritance re-
gular, yet it may be doubted whether be-
fore the Union any man between Edinburgh
and England had ever fet a tree.
Of
i A JOURNEY TO THE
Of this improvidence no other account
can be given than that it probably began
in times of tumult, and continued becaufe
it had begun. Eftablifhed cuftom is not
eafily broken, till fome great event {hakes
the whole fyftem of things, and life feems
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 leaft expenfive of all me-
thods of improvement. To drop a feed
into the ground can coft nothing, and the
trouble is not great of protecting the
young plant, till it is out of danger ;
though it muft be allowed to have fome
difficulty in places like thefe, where they
have neither wood for palifades, nor thorns
for hedges.
Our way was over the Firth of Tay,
where, though the water was not wide, we
paid four (hillings for ferrying the chaife.
In Scotland the necefiaries of life are eafily
procured,
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 19
procured, but fuperfluities and elegancies
are of the fame price at lead as in Eng->
land, and therefore may be confidered as
much dearer.
We flopped a while at Dundee, where I
remember nothing remarkable, and mount-
ing our chaife again, came about the clofe
of the day to Aberbrothick.
The monaftery of Aberbrothick is of
great renown in the hiftory of Scotland.
Its ruins afford ample teflimony of its an-
cient magnificence : Its extent might, I
fuppofe, eafily be found by following the
walls among the grafs and weeds, and
its height is known by fome parts yet
ftanding. The arch of one of the gates
is entire, and of another only fo far di-
lapidated as to diverfify the appearance. A
fquare apartment of great loftinefs is yet
{landing; its ufe I could not conjecture,
as its ejevation was very difproportionate
C 2 tO
20 A JOURNEY TO THE
to its area. Two corner towers particu-
larly attracted our attention. Mr. Bofwell,
whofe inquifitivenefs is feconded by great
adivity, fcrambled in at a high window,
but found the flairs within broken, and
could not reach the top. Of the other
tower we were told 'that the inhabitants
fometimes climbed it, but we did not
immediately difcern the entrance, and as
the night was gathering upon us, thought
proper to defift. Men {killed in architec-
ture might do what we did not attempt :
They might probably form an exadt ground*
plot of this venerable edifice. They may
from fome parts yet {landing conjecture
its general form, and perhaps by comparing
it with other buildings of the fame kind
and the fame age, attain an idea very near
to truth. I fhould fcarcely have regretted
my journey, had it afforded nothing more
than the fight of Aberbrothick.
MON-
.. \
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c.
MONTROSE.
Leaving thefe fragments of magnificence,
we travelled on to Montrofe, which we fur-
veyed in the morning, and found it well
built, airy, and clean. The town-houfe is
a handforne fabrick with a portico. We
then went to view the Englifh chapel, and
found a fmall church, clean to a degree
unknown in any other part of Scotland,
with commodious galleries, and what was
yet lefs expeded, with an organ.
At our inn we did not find a reception
fuch as we thought proportionate to the
commercial opulence of the place; but Mr.
Bofwell defired me to obferve that the inn-
keeper was an Englishman, and I then de-
fended him as well as I could.
When I had proceeded thus far, I had
opportunities of obferving what I had ne-
C 3 ver
12 A JOURNEY TO THE
ver heard, that there were many beggars in
Scotland. In Edinburgh the proportion is,
I think, not lefs than in London, and in
the fmaller places it is far greater than in
Englifh towns of the fame extent. It
muft, however, be allowed that they are
not importunate, nor clamorous. They
folicit filently, or very modeftly, and there-
fore though their behaviour may ftrike
with more force the heart of a ftranger,
they are certainly in danger of miffing the
attention of their countrymen. Novelty
has always fome power, an unaccuftomed
mode of begging excites an unaccuftomed
degree of pity. But the force of novelty
is by its own nature foon at an end ; the
efficacy of outcry and perfeverance is per-
manent and certain.
The road from Montrofe exhibited a
continuation of the fame appearances. The
country is ftill naked, the hedges are of
ftone> and the fields fo generally plowed
that
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 23
that it is hard to imagine where grafs is
found for the horfes that till them. The
harveft, which was almoft ripe, appeared
very plentiful.
Early in the afternoon Mr. Bofwell ob-
ferved that we were at no great diftance
from the houfe of Lord Monboddo. The
magnetifm of his converfation eafily drew
us out of our way, and the entertainment
which we received would have been a fuf-
ficient recompence for a much greater de-
viation.
The roads beyond Edinburgh, as they
are lefs frequented, muft 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 ex-
pedition, neither gives himfelf nor his
horfes unneceffary trouble. We did not
affect; the impatience we did not feel, bat
C 4 were
H A JOURNEY TO THE
were fatisfied with the company of each
other as well riding in the chaife, as fitting
at an inn. The night and the day are
equally folitary and equally fafe ; for where
there are fo few travellers, why fhould there
be robbers ?
ABERDEEN.
We came fomewhat late to Aberdeen,
and found the inn fo full, that we had
fome difficulty in obtaining admiffion, till
Mr. Bofwell made himfelf known : His
name overpowered all objection, and we
found a very good houfe and civil treat-
ment.
I received the next day a very kind let-
ter from Sir Alexander Gordon, whom I
had formerly known in London, and after
a ceffation of all intercourfe f9r near twenty
years met here profeflbr of phyfic in
the King's College. Such unexpected
3 renewals
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 25
renewals of acquaintance may be num-
bered among the moft pleating incidents of
life.
The knowledge of one profeflbr foon
procured me the notice of the reft, and I
did not want any token of regard, being
conducted wherever there was any thing
which I defired to fee, and entertained at
once with the novelty of the place, and the
kindnefs of communication.
To write of the cities of our own ifland
with the folemnity of geographical defcrip-
tion, as, if we had been caft upon a newly
difcovered coaft, has the appearance of
very frivolous oftentation ; yet as Scot-
land is little known to the greater part
of thofe who may read thefe obfervations,
it is not fuperfluous to relate, that under the
name of Aberdeen are comprifed two towns
ftanding about a mile diftant from each
other,
*6 A JOURNEY TO THE
other, but governed, I think, by the fame
magiflrates.
Old Aberdeen is the ancient epifcopal
city, in which are ftill to be feen the re-
mains of the cathedral. It has the ap-
pearance of a town in decay, having been
fituated in times when commerce was yet
unftudied, with very little attention to the
commodities of the harbour.
New Aberdeen has all the buftle of pro-
fperous trade, and all the mow of increaf-
ing opulence. It is built by the water-
fide. The houfes are large and lofty, and
the ftreets fpacious and clean. They build
almoft wholly with the granite ufed in the
new pavement of the ftreets of London,
which is well known not to want hardnefs,
yet they (hape it eafily. It is beautiful and
muft be very lafting.
What
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 27
What particular parts of commerce are
chiefly exercifed by the merchants of Aber-
deen, I have not inquired. The manu-
facture which forces itfelf upon a Granger's
eye is that of knit-ftockings, on which
the women of the lower clafs are vifibly
employed.
In each of thefe towns there is a col-
lege, or in ftrider language, an univer-
fity ; for in both there are profeffors of
the fame parts of learning, and the col-
leges hold their ieflions and confer degrees
feparately, with total independence of one
on the other.
In Old Aberdeen ftands the King's Col-
lege, of which the firft prefident was
He 51 or Boece, or Boethius^ who may be
juftly reverenced one of the revivers of ele-
gant learning. When he ftudied at Paris,
he was acquainted with Erafmiis, who af-
terwards gave him a publick teftimony of
his
S3 A JOURNEY TO THE
his efteem, by infcribing to him a cata-
logue of his works. The ftyle of Boethius,
though, perhaps, not always rigoroufly
pure, is formed with great diligence upon
ancient models, and wholly uninfected
with monadic barbarity. His hiftory is
written with elegance and vigour, but his
fabuloufnefs and credulity are juftly blamed.
His fabuloufnefs, if he was the author of
the fictions, is a fault for which no apo-
logy can be made; but his credulity may
be excufed in an age, when all men were
credulous. Learning was then rifing on
the world ; but ages fo long accuflomed to
darknefs, were too much dazzled with its
light to fee any thing diftindtly. The
firft race of fcholars in the fifteenth cen-
tury, and fome time after, were, for the
moft part, learning to fpeak, rather than
to think, and were therefore more ftudious
of elegance than of truth. The contem-
poraries of Boethius thought it fufficient to
know what the ancients had delivered.
The
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 29
The examination of tenets and of fads
was referved for another generation.
Boethius, as prefident of the univerfity,
enjoyed a revenue of forty Scottifh marks,
about two pounds four {hillings and fix-
pence of fterling money. In the prefent
age of trade and taxes, it is difficult even
for the imagination fo to raife the value of
money, or fo to diminifh. the demands
of life, as to fuppofe four and forty (hil-
lings a year, an honourable ftipend ; 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
whofe faults avarice was never reckoned,
granted to Roger Afcham, as a reward of
his learning, a penfion of 10 pounds a year.
The other, called the Marifchal College, is
in the new town. The hall is large and well
lighted.
jo A JOURNEY TO THE
lighted. One of its ornaments is the pic-
ture of Arthur Johnfton, who was princi-
pal of the college, and who holds among
the Latin poets of Scotland the next place
to the elegant Buchanan.
In the library I was fliewn fome curi-
ofities ; a Hebrew manufcript of exquifite
penmanfhip, and a Latin tranflation of
Ariilotle'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 neceffary, are
not now to be found. This was one of
the lateft performances of the transcribers,
for Aretinus died but about twenty years
before typography was invented. This
verfion has been printed, and may be found
in libraries, but is little read ; for the fame
books have been fince tranflated both by
Vitforius and Lambinus, who lived in an
age more cultivated ; but perhaps owed in
part
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 31
part to Aretinus that they were able to
excel him. Much is due to thofe who
firft broke the way to knowledge, and left
only to their fucceffors the tafk of fmooth-
ing it.
In both thefe colleges the methods of in-
ftru&ion are nearly the fame ; the lectures
differing only by the accidental difference
of diligence, or ability in the profeflbrs.
The ftudents wear fcarlet gowns and the
profeflbrs black, which is, I believe, the
academical drefs in all the Scottijh univer-
fities, except that of Edinburgh, where
the fcholars are not diftingui&ed by any
particular habit. In the King's College
there is kept a publick table, but the fcho-
lars of the Marifchal College are boarded
in the town. The expence of living is
kere, according to the information that I
could obtain, fomewhat more than at St.
Andrews.
The
32 A JOURNEY TO THE
The courfe of education is extended td
four years, at the end of which thofe who
take a degree, who sre not many, become
matters of arts, and whoever is a mafter
may, if he pleafes, immediately commence
doctor. The title of dodor, however, was
for a confiderable time bellowed only on
phyficians. The advocates are examined
and approved by their own body ; the mi-
nifters were not ambitious of titles, or were
afraid of being cenfurcd for ambition; and
the doctorate in every faculty was com-
monly given or fold into other countries.
The minifters are now reconciled to diftino
tion, and as it.muft always happen that
fome will excel others, have thought gra-
duation a proper teftimony of uncommon
abilities or acquifitionSi
The indifcriminate collation of degrees
has juilly taken away that refpect which
they originally claimed as flamps, by which
the literary value of men fo difting\iimed
was
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. }
was authoritatively dendted. That ada-
demical honours, or any others, ihould be
Conferred with exab proportion to merit,
is more than human judgment or hu-
man integrity have given reafon to ex-
pect* Perhaps degrees in univerfities can-
not be better adjufted by any general rule,
than by the length of time pafled in the
public profeffion of learning. An Englifli
or Irifh doctorate cannot be obtained by 1
very young man, and it is reafonable to
fuppofe, what is likewife by experience
commonly found true, that he who is by
age qualified to be a doctor, has in fo
much time gained learning fufficient not
to difgrace the title, or wit fufficient not
to defire it*
The Scotch univerfities hold but one
term or feflion in the year. That of Sta
Andrews continues eight months, that of
Aberdeen only five, from the firft of No-
vember to the firft of April,
D la
34 A JOURNEY TO THE
In Aberdeen there is an Englifh chapel,
in which the congregation was numerous
and fplendid. The form of public wor-
fhip ufed by the church of England is in
Scotland legally pradifed in licenfed cha-
pels, ferved by clergymen of Englifli or
Irifh ordination, and by tacit connivance
quietly permitted in feparate congregations
fupplied with minifters by the fucceflbrs
of the bifhops who were deprived at the
Revolution.
We came to Aberdeen on Saturday
Auguft 21. On Monday we were invited
into the town-hall, where I had the free-
dom of the city given me by the Lord
Provoft. The honour conferred had all the
decorations that politenefs could add, and
what I am afraid I fhould not have had to
fay of any city fouth of the Tweed, I
found no petty officer bowing for a fee.
The
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c* 35
The parchment containing the record of
admiffion, is with the feal appending,
faftened to a riband, and worn for one day
by the new citizen in his hafc
By a lady who faw us at the chapel, the
Earl of Errdl was informed of our arrival,
and we had the honour of an invitation to
his feat, called Slanes Caftle, as I am told,
improperly, from the caftle of that name,
which once flood at a place not far diftant.
The road beyond Aberdeen grew more
ftony, and continued equally naked of all
vegetable decoration. We travelled over/
a tracl of ground near the fea, which, not
long ago, fuffered a very uncommon and
unexpected calamity. The fand of the
fhore was raifed by a tempeft in fuch quan-
tities, and carried to fuch a diftance, that
an eftate was overwhelmed and loft. Such
and fo hopelefs was the barrennefs fuperin-
duced, that the owner, when he was re-
D 2 quired
3 6 A JOURNEY TO THE
quired to pay the ufual tax, defired rather
to refign the ground.
SLANES CASTLE. THE
BULLER OF BUCHAN.
We came in the afternoon to Slanes
Co/lie, built upon the margin of the fea,
fo that the walls of one of the towers feem
only a continuation of a perpendicular
rock, the foot of which is beaten by the
waves. To walk round the houfe feemed
impraticable> From the windows the eye
wanders over the fea that feparates Scot-
land from Norway, and when the winds
beat with violence, muft enjoy all the ter-
rifick grandeur of the tempeftuous ocean.
I would not for my amufement wifh for
a ftorm; but as ftorms, whether wifhed or
not, will fometimes happen, I may fay
without violation of humanity, that I
fliould willingly look out upon them from
Slanes Caftle,
When
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 37
When we were about to take our leave,
our departure was prohibited by the Coun-
tefs, till we fboqld have feen two places
upon the coaft, which fhe rightly corifi-
dered as worthy of curiofity, Dim Buy,
and the Eulkr of Bucban, to which Mr.
Boyd very kindly conducted us.
Dun Buy^ which in Erfe is faid to fig-
nify the Tellow-Rcck, is a double protu-
berance of ftone, open to the main fea on
one fide, 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 fea-fowls, which in the
Spring chufe 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 thofe
of a goofe. This bird is by the inha-
P 3 bitants
38 A JOURNEY TO THE
bitants named a Coot. That which is
called Coot in England, is here a Cooter.
Upon thefe rocks there was nothing that
could long detain attention, and we foon
turned pur eyes to the Butler, or Bouilkir
of Buchari) which no man can fee with in-
difference, who has either fenfe of dan-
ger or delight in rarity. It is a rock per-
pendicularly tubulated, united on one fide
with a high fhore, and on the other rifing
fteep to a great height, above the main
fea. The top is open, from which may
be feen a dark gulf of water which flows
into the cavity, through a breach made ia
the lower part of the inclofing rock. It
has the appearance of a vaft well bordered
with a wall. The edge of the Buller is
not wide, and to thofe that walk round,
appears very narrow. He that ventures to
look downward fees, that if his foot fliould
flip, he muft fall from his dreadful ele-
vation
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 39
vation upon ftones on one fide or into the
water on the other. We however went
round, and were glad when the circuit was
completed.
When we came down to the fea, we faw
fome boats, and rowers, and refolved to
explore the" Duller, at the Bottom. We
entered the arch, which the water had
made, and found ourfelves in a place, which,
though we could not think ourfelves in dan-
ger, we could fcarcely furvey without fome
recoil of the mind. The bafon in which
we floated was nearly circular, perhaps
thirty yards in diameter. We were in-
clofed by a natural wall, rifing fteep on
every fide to a height which produced the
idea of infurmountable confinement. The
interception of all lateral light caufed a
difmal gloom. Round us was a perpen-
dicular rock, above us the diftant fky, and
below an unknown profundity of water.
If I had any malice againft a walking fpi-
D 4 rit,
40 A JOURNEY TO THE
rit, inftead of laying him in the Red-tea,
would condemn him to refide i a the
Buller of Buchan.
But terrour without danger is only one
of the fports of fancy, a voluntary agita-
tion of the mind that is permitted no longer
than it pleafes. We were foon at leifure
to examine the place with minute in-
fpedion, and found many cavities which,
38 the watermen told us, went backward
to a depth which they had never explored.
Their extent we had not time to try ; they
are fajd to ferve different purpofes. Ladies
come hither fometimes in the fummer with
collations, and fmugglers make them ftore-
Jioufes for clandeftine merchandife. Jt is
Jiardly to be doubted but the pirates of an-
cient times often ufed them as magazines
of arms, or repertories of plunder.
TO the little veflels ufed by the northern
the Buller may have ferved as a.
flicker
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 41
flielter from ftorms, and perhaps as a re-
treat from enemies ; the entrance might
have been flopped, or guarded with little
difficulty, and though the veflels that were
flationed within would have been battered
with ftones fhowered on them from above,
yet the crews would have lain fafe in the
caverns.
Next morning we continued our jour-
ney, pleafed with our reception at Slanes
Caftle, of which we had now leifure to
recount the grandeur and the elegance ;
for our way afforded us few topics of con-
verfation. The ground was neither uncul-
tivated nor unfruitful ; but it was ftill all
arable. Of flocks or herds there was no
appearance. I had now travelled two hun-
dred miles in Scotland, and feen only one
tree not younger than myfelf.
BAMFF.
42 A JOURNEY TO THE
B A M F F.
We dined this day at the houfe of Mr.
Frazer of Streichton, who fhewed us in his
grounds feme (tones yet {landing of a
druidical circle, and what I began to think
more worthy of notice, fome foreft trees of
full growth.
At night we came to Bamff, where I
remember nothing that particularly claimed
my attention. The ancient towns of Scot-
land have generally an appearance unufual
to Englifhmen. The houfes, whether great
or fmall, are for the moft part built of
ftones. Their ends are now and then next
the ftreets, and the entrance into them is
very often by a flight of fteps, which reaches
up to the fecond ftory. The floor which is
level with the ground, being entered only
by flairs defcending within the houfe.
The
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 43
The art of joining fquares of glafs with
lead is little ufed in Scotland, and in fome
places is totally forgotten. The frames of
their windows are all of wood. They are
more frugal of their glafs than the Englifh,
and will often, in houfes not otherwife
mean, compofe a fquare of two pieces, not
joining like cracked glafs, but with one
edge laid perhaps half an inch over the
other. Their windows do not move upon
hinges, but are pufhed up and drawn
down in grooves, yet they are feldom ac-
commodated with weights and pullies. He
that would have his window open muft
hold it with his hand, unlefs what may be
fometimes found among good contrivers,
there be a nail which he may flick into a
hole, to keep it from falling.
What cannot be done without fome un-
common trouble or particular expedient,
will not often be done at all. The incom-
modioufnefs of the Scotch windows keeps
4 them
44 A JOURNEY TO THE
them very clofely {hut. The neceflity of
ventilating human habitations has not yet
been found by our northern neighbours;
and even in houles well built and elegantly
furnifhed, a ftranger may be fometimes
forgiven, if he allows himfelf to wifli for
freiher air,
1 "hefe diminutive obfervations feem to
take away fomething from the dignity of
writing, and therefore are never commu-
nicated but with hefitation, and a little fear
of abafement and contempt. But it muft
be remembered, that life confifts not of a
feries of illuflrious actions, or elegant en-
joyments ; the greater part of our time
pafles in compliance with neceflities, in the
performance of daily duties, in the re-
moval of fmall inconveniencies, in the pro-
curement of petty pleafures ; and we are
well or ill at eafe, as the main ftream of
life glides on fmoothly, or is ruffled by
fmall obflacles and frequent interruption.
The
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 45
The true ftate of every nation is the ftate
of common life. The manners of a people
are not to be found in the fchools of learn-
ing, or the palaces of greatnefs, where the
national character is obfcured or oblite-
rated by travel or inftruction, by philo-
fophy or vanity; nor is public happinefs,
to be eftimated by the aflemblies of the gay,
or the banquets of the rich. The great
mafs of nations is neither rich nor gay :
they whofe aggregate conftitutes the people,
are found in the ftreets, and the villages,
in the fhops and farms; and from, them
collectively confidered, muft the rneafure
of general profperity be taken* As they
approach to delicacy a nation is refined, as
their conveniencies are multiplied^ a na-
tion, at leaft a commercial nation, mull be
denominated wealthy.
ELGIN.
4 6 A JOURNEY TO TH
ELGIN.
Finding nothing to detain us at Bamft$
we fet out in the morning, and having
breakfafted at Cullen, about noon came to
Elgin, where in the inn, that we fuppofed the
beft, a dinner was fet before us, which we
could not eat. This was the firft time, and
except one, the laft, that I found any rea-
fon to complain of a Scottifli table; and fuch
difappointments, I fuppofe, muft be ex-
pected in every country, where there is
no great frequency of travellers*
The ruins of the cathedral of Elgin
afforded us another proof of the wafte of
reformation. There is enough yet re-
maining to {hew, that it was once magni-
ficent. Its whole plot is eafily traced. On
the north fide of the choir, the chapter-
houfe, which is roofed with an arch of
Hone, remains entire ; and on the fouth
fide, another mafs of building, which we
could
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 47
could not enter, is preferved by the care
of the family of Gordon ; but ihe body of
the church is a mafs of fragments.
A paper was here put into our hands,
which deduced from fufficient authorities
the hiftory of this venerable ruin. The
church of Elgin had, in the inteftine tu-
mults of the barbarous ages, been laid
wafte by the irruption of a highland
chief, whom the bifhop had offended ;
but it was gradually reftored to the ftate*
of which the traces may be now difcerned*
and was at laft not deftroyed by the tu-
multuous violence of Knox, but more
fhamefully fuffered to dilapidate by deli-
berate robbery and frigid indifference*
There is ftill extant, in the books of the
council, an order, of which I cannot re*
member the date, but which was doubtlefs
iflfued after the reformation, directing that
the lead, which covers the two cathedrals
of Elgin and Aberdeen, {hall be taken
away>
48 A JOURNEY TO THE
away, and converted into money for the
fupport of the army. A Scotch army was
in thofe times very cheaply kept ; yet the
lead of two churches muft have born fo
fmall a proportion to any military expence,
that it is hard not to believe the reafon
alleged to be merely popular, and the
money intended for fome private purfe.
The order however was obeyed \ the two
churches were dripped, and the lead was
{hipped to be fold in Holland. I hope
every reader will 'rejoice that this cargo of
facrilege was loft at fea.
Let us not however make too much hafte
to defpife our neighbours. Our own ca-
thedrals are mouldering by unregarded di*
lapidation. It feems to be part of the def-
picable philofophy of the time to defpife mo-
numents of facred magnificence, and we are
in danger of doing that deliberately, which
the Scots did not do but in the unfettled
ftate of an imperfecT; conflitution,
Thofe
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 49
Thofe who had once uncovered the ca-
thedrals never wiftied to cover them again:
and being thus made ufelefs, they were firft
neglected, and perhaps, as the (tone was
wanted, afterwards demolifhed.
Elgin feems a place of little trade, and
thinly inhabited. The epifcopal cities of
Scotland, I believe, generally fell with their
churches, though fome of them have fince
recovered by a fituation convenient for
commerce. Thus G/aJgow, though it has
no longer an archbifhop, has rifen beyond
its original ftate by the opulence of its
traders ; and Aberdeen > though its ancient
flock had decayed, flourifhes by a new
flioot in another place.
In the chief ftreet of Elgin, the houfes
jut over the lowed ftory, like the old
buildings of timber in London, but with
greater prominence; fo that there is fome-
times a walk for a confiderable length
E under
50 A JOURNEY TO THE
under a cloifter, or portico, which is now
indeed frequently broken, becaufe the new
houfes have another form, but feems to
have been uniformly continued in the old
city.
FORES. CALDER. FORT GEORGE.
We went forwards the fame day to
Fores, the town to which Macbeth was
travelling, when he met the weird fitters
in his way. This to an Englishman is
claffic ground. Our imaginations were
heated, and our thoughts recalled to their
old amufements.
We had now a prelude to the High-
lands. We began to leave fertility and cul-
ture behind us, and faw for a great length
of road nothing but heath ; yet at Focha-
b rs> a feat belonging to the duke of
Gordon, there is aa orchard, which in
Scotland
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 51
Scotland I had never feen before, with fome
timber trees, and a plantation of oaks.
At Fores we found good accommoda-
tion, but nothing worthy of particular re-
mark, and next morning entered upon the
road, on which Macbeth heard the fatal
prediction; but we travelled on not inter-
rupted by promifes of kingdoms, and came
to Nairn^ a royal burgh, which, if once
it flourimed, is now in a ftate of miferable
decay ; but I know not whether its chief
annual magiftrate has not ftill the title of
Lord Provoft.
At Nairn we may fix the verge of the
Highlands ; for here I firft faw peat fires,
and firft heard the Erfe language. We
had no motive to flay longer than to break-
faft, and went forward to the houfe of
Mr. Macaulay, the minifter who publifhed
an account of St. Kilda, and by his di~
reclion vifited Calder Caftle, from which
E 2 Macbeth
52 A JOURNEY TO THE
Macbeth drew his fecond title. It has
been formerly a place of ftrength. The
draw-bridge is ftill to be feen, but the
moat is now dry. The tower is very an-
cient. Its walls are of great thicknefs*
arched on the top with ftone, and fur-
rounded with battlements. The reft of
the houfe is later, though far from modern.
We were favoured by a gentleman, who
lives in the caftle, with a letter to one of
the officers at Fort George, which being
the moft regular fortification in the ifland,
well deferves the notice of a traveller, who
has never travelled before. We went thi-
ther next day, found a very kind recep-
tion, were led round the works by a gen-
tleman, who explained the ufe of every
part, and entertained by Sir Eyre Coote,
the governor, with fuch elegance of con-
verfation as left us no attention to the de-
licacies of his table.
Of
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 53
Of Fort George I (hall not attempt to
give any account. I cannot delineate it
fcientifically, and a loofe and popular de-
fcription is of ufe only when the imagina-
tion is to be amufed. There was every-
where an appearance of the utmoft neat-
nefs and regularity. But my fuffrage is of
little value, becaufe this and Fort Auguftus
are the only garrifons that 1 ever faw.
We did not regret the time fpent at the
fort, though in confequence of our delay
we came fomewhat late to Invernefs, the
town which may properly be called the ca-
pital of the Highlands. Hither the inha-
bitants of the inland parts come to be fup-
plied with what they cannot make for
themfelves : Hither the young nymphs of
the mountains and valleys are fent for edu-
cation, and as far as my obfervation has
reached, are not fent in vain.
E 3 INVER-
54 A JOURNEY TO THE
INVERNESS.
Invernefs was the laft place which had
a regular communication by high roads
with the fouthern counties. All the ways
beyond it have, I believe, been made by
the foldiers in this century. At Invernefs
therefore Cromwell, when he fubdued Scot-
land, ftationed a garrifon, as at the boun-
dary of the Highlands. The foldiers feem
to have incorporated afterwards with the
inhabitants, and to have peopled the place
with an Englifh race ; for the language
of this town has been long confidered as
peculiarly elegant.
Here is a caftle, called the caftle of Mac-
beth, the walls of which are yet (landing.
It was no very capacious edifice, but
(lands upon a rock fo high and fleep,
that I think it was once not acceflible,^ but
by the help of ladders, or a bridge. Over
againft
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 55
againft it, on another hill, was a fort built
by Cromwell, now totally demoliihed ; for
no faction of Scotland loved the name of
Crowwelli or had any defire to continue his
memory.
Yet what the Romans did to other na-
tions, was in a great degree done by Crom-
well to the Scots ; he civilized them by
conqueft, and introduced by ufeful violence
the arts of peace. I was told at Aber-
deen that the people learned from Crom-
well's foldiers to make fhoes and to plant
kail.
How they lived without kail, it is not
eafy to guefs : They cultivate hardly any
other plant for common tables, and when
they had not kail they probably had no-
thing. The numbers that go barefoot are
(Till fufficient to {hew that fhoes may be
fpared ; they are not yet confidered as ne-
ceflaries of life ; for tall boys, not other-
E 4 wife
56 A JOURNEY TO THE
wife meanly drefled, run without them in
the ftreets and in the iflands ; the fons of
gentlemen pafs feveral of their firft yeara
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
conveniencies of common life. Literature,
foon after its revival, found its way to
Scotland, and from the middle of the fix-
teenth century, almoft to the middle of
the feventeenth, the politer ftudies were
very diligently purfued. The Latin poetry
of Delicicz Poet arum Scotorum would have
done honour to any nation, at leaft till the
publication of Mays Supplement the Eng-
lifh had very little to oppofe.
Yet men thus ingenious and inquifitive
were content to live in total ignorance of
the
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 57
the tiades by which human wants are fup-
plied, and to fupply them by the grofieft
means. Till the Union made them ao
quainted with Englifh manners, the cul-
ture of their lands was unfkilful, and their
domeftick life unformed ; their tables were
coarfe as the feafts of Efkimeaux, and
their houfes filthy as the cottages of Hot-
tentots.
Since they have known that their condi-
tion was capable of improvement, their
progrefs in ufeful knowledge has been ra-
pid and uniform. What remains to be
done they will quickly do, and then won-
der, like me, why that which was fo ne-
ceflary and fo eafy was fo long delayed.
But they muft be for ever content to owe
to the Englifh that elegance and culture,
which, if they had been vigilant and active,
perhaps the Engliih might have owed to
them.
Here
5 8 A JOURNEY TO THE
- Here the appearance of life began to
alter. I had feen a few women with plaids
at Aberdeen\ but at Invernefs the Highland
manners are common. There is I think a
kirk, in which only the Erfe language is
ufed. There is likewife an Englifh chapel,
but meanly built, where on Sunday we faw
a very decent congregation.
We were now to bid farewell to the
luxury of travelling, and to enter a coun-
try upon which perhaps no wheel has ever
rolled. We could indeed have ufed our
poft-chaife one day longer, along the mi-
litary road to Fort Augujius, but we could
have hired no horfes beyond Invernefs,
and we were not fo fparing of ourfelves,
as to lead them, merely that we might
have one day longer the indulgence of a
carriage.
At Invernefs therefore we procured three
horfes for ourfelves and a fervant, and one
more
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 9
more for our baggage, which was no very
heavy load. We found in the courfe of
our journey the convenience of having
difencumbered ourfelves, by laying afide
whatever we could fpare ; for it is not
to be imagined without experience, how in
climbing crags, and treading bogs, and
winding through narrow and obftruded
paffages, a little bulk will hinder, and a
little weight will burden ; or how often a
man that has pleafed himfelf at home with
his own refolution, will, in the hour of
darknefs and fatigue, be content to leave
behind him every thing but himfelf.
LOUGH NESS.
We took two Highlanders to run befide
us, partly to mew us the way, and partly
to take back from the fea-fide the horfes,
of which they were the owners. One of
them was a man of great livelinefs and
activity, of whom his companion faid,
that
Co A JOURNEY TO THE
that he would tire any horfe in Invernefs,
Both of them were civil and ready-handed.
Civility feems part of the national charac-
ter of Highlanders. Every chieftain is a
monarch, and politenefs, the natural pro-
duct of royal government, is diffufed from
the laird through the whole clan. But
they are not ' commonly dextrous: their
narrownefs of life confines them to a few
operations, and they are accuftomed to en-
dure little wants more than to remove
them.
We mounted our fteeds on the thirteenth
of Auguft, and dire&ed our guides to con-*
duct us to Fort Auguftus. It is built at
the head of Lough Nefs, of which Inver-
nefs ftands at the outlet. The way be-
tween them has been cut by the foldiers,
and the greater part of it runs along a rock,
levelled with great labour and exatnefs,
near the water-fide.
Moft
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 61
Moft of this day's journey was very
pleafant. The day, though bright, was
not hot ; and the appearance of the coun-
try, if I had not feen the Peak, would
have been wholly new. We went upon a
furface fo hard and level, that we had
tittle care to hold the bridle, and were
therefore at full leifure for contemplation*
On the left were high and fteep rocks
{haded with birch, the hardy native of the
North, and covered with fera or heath.
On the right the limpid waters of Lough
Nefs were beating their bank, and waving
their furface by a gentle agitation. Beyond
them were rocks fometimes covered with
verdure, and fometimes towering in horrid
nakednefs. Now and then we efpied a
little corn-field, which ferved to imprefs
more ftrongly the general barrennefs.
Lough Nefs is about twenty-four miles
long, and from one mile to two miles broad.
It is remarkable that Boethlus^ in his de-
>*
3 fcription
62 A JOURNEY TO THE
fcription of Scotland, gives it twelve miles
of breadth. When hiftorians or geogra-
phers exhibit falfe accounts of places far
diftant, they may be forgiven, becaufe they
can tell but what they are told ; and that
their accounts exceed the truth may be
juftly fuppofed, becaufe moft men exagge-
rate to others, if not to themfelves : but
Boethius lived at no great diftance ; if he
never faw the lake, he mud have been very
incurious, and if he had feen it, his veracity
yielded to very flight temptations.
Lough Nefs, though not twelve miles
broad, is a very remarkable diffufion of
water without iflands. It fills a large hol-
low between two ridges of high rocks,
being fupplied partly by the torrents which
fall into it on either fide, and partly, as is
fuppofed, by.fprings at the bottom. Its
water it remarkably clear and pleafant, and
is imagined by the natives to be medicinal.
We were told, that it is in forne places a
hundred
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 63
hundred and forty fathom deep, a profun-
dity fcarcely credible, and which probably
thofe that relate it have never founded. Its
fi(h are falmon, trout, and pike.
It was faid at Fort Augujlu^ that Lough
Nefs is open in the hardell winters, though
a lake not far from it is covered with ice.
In difcuffing thefe exceptions from the
courfe of nature, the firft queftion is, whe-
ther the fad be juftly ftated. That which
is ftrange is delightful, and a pleafing er-
ror is not willingly detected. Accuracy of
narration is not very common, and there
are few fo rigidly philofophical, as not to
reprefent as perpetual, what is only fre-
quent, or as conftant, what is really cafual.
If it be true that Lough Nefs never freezes,
it is either iheltered by its high banks from
the cold blafts, and expofed only to thofe
winds which have more power to agitate
than congeal ; or it is kept in perpetual
motion by the rulh of ftreams from the
rocks
64 A JOURNEY TO THE
rocks that inclofe it. Its profundity, though
it fhould be fuch as is reprefented, can have
little part in this exemption ; for though
deep wells are not frozen, becaufe their
water- is fecluded from the external air,
yet where a wide furface is expofed to the
full influence of a freezing atmofphere, I
know not why the depth fhould keep it
open. Natural philofophy is now one of
the favourite ftudies of the Scottifh nation,
and Lough Nefs well deferves to be dili-
gently examined.
The road on which we travelled, and
which was itfelf a fource of entertainment,
is made along the rock, in the direction of
the lough, fometimes by breaking off pro-
tuberances, and fometimes by cutting the
great mafs of ftone to a confiderable depth.
The fragments are piled in a loofe wall on
cither fide, with apertures left at very fhort
fpaces, to give a paflage to the wintry
currents. Part of it is bordered with low
trees,
WESTERN ISLANDS, & c . 65
tree?, from which our guides gathered
nuts, and would have had the appearance
of an Englifh lane, except that an Englifh
lane is almoft always dirty. It has been
made with great labour, but has this ad-
vantage, that it cannot, without equal
labour, be broken up.
Within our fight there were goats feed-
ing or playing. The mountains have red
deer, but they came not within view ; and
if what is faid of their vigilance and fub-
tlety be true, they have fome claim to that
palm of wifdom, which the eaftern philo-
fopher, whom Alexander interrogated, gave
to thofe beafts which live furtheft from
men.
Near the way,, by the water fide, we
efpied a cottage. This was the firft High-
land Hut that I had feen ; and as our bufi-
nefs was with life and manners, we were
willing to vifit it. To enter a habitation
without leave, feems to be not confidered
F here
66 A JOURNEY TO THE
here as rudenefs or intrufion. The old
laws of hofpitality ftill give this licence to
a ftranger.
A hut is conftruded with loofe ftones,
ranged for the moft part with fome ten-
dency to circularity. It muft be placed
where the wind cannot aft upon it with
violence, becaufe it has no cement ; and
where the water will run eafily away, be-
caufe it has no floor but the naked ground.
The wall, which is commonly about fix
feet high, declines from the perpendicular
a little inward. Such rafters as can be
procured are then raifed for a roof, and
covered with heath, which makes a ftrong
and warm thatch, kept from flying off by
ropes of twifted heath, of which the ends,
reaching from the centre of the thatch to
the top of the wall, are held firm by the
weight of a large ftone. No light is ad-
mitted but at the entrance, and through a
hole in the thatch, which gives vent to the
fmoke. This hole is not directly over the
fire,
WESTERN ISLANDS, & c . 67
fire, left the rain fhould extinguifh it ; and
the fmoke therefore naturally fills the place
before it efcapes. Such is the general flruc-
ture of the houfes in which one of the na-
tions of this opulent and powerful ifland has
been hitherto content to live. Huts how-
ever are not more uniform than palaces; and
this which we were infpeding was very far
from one of the meaneft, for it was divided
into feveral apartments ; and its inhabit-
ants pofiefied fuch property as a paftoral
poet might exalt into riches.
When we entered, we found an old
woman boiling goats-flem in a kettle. She
fpoke little Englifh, but we had inter-
preters at hand ; and fhe was willing
enough to difplay her whole fyftem of
economy. She has five children, of which
none are yet gone from her. The elded,
a boy of thirteen, and her hufLand, who
is eighty years old, were at work in the
wood. Her two next fons were gone to
F 2 Invernefi
63 A JOURNEY TO THE
Invernefs to buy meal> by which oatmeal
is always meant. Meal me confidered as
expenfive food, and told us, that in Spring
when the goats gave milk, the children
could live without it. She is miftrefs of
fixty goats, and I faw many kids in an
enclofure at the end of her houfe. She had
alfo fome poultry. By the lake we faw a
potatoe-garden, and a fmall fpot of ground
on which flood four fhucks, containing
each twelve fheaves of barley. She has all
this from the labour of their own hands,
and for what is neceffary to be bought, her
kids and her chickens are fent to market.
With the true paftoral hofpitality, fhe
afked us to fit down and drink whifky.
She is religious, and though the kirk is
four miles off, probably eight Englifli
miles, fhe goes thither every Sunday. We
gave her a fhilling, and fhe begged fnuff ;
for fnuff is the luxury of a Highland cot-
tage.
Soon
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 69
Soon afterwards we came to the General
Hut, fo called becaufe it was the temporary
abode of Wade, while he fuperintended
the works upon the road. It is now a
houfe of entertainment for pafTengers, and
we found it not ill flocked with provifions.
FALL OF FIERS.
Towards evening we crofTed by a bridge,
the river which makes the celebrated fall
of Fiers. The country at the bridge
ftrikes the imagination with all the gloom
and grandeur of Siberian folitude. The
way makes a flexure, and the mountains,
covered with trees, rife at once on the left
hand and in the front. We defired our
k guides to fhew us the fall, and difmounting
clambered over very rugged craggs, till I be-
gan to wifh that our curiofity might have
been gratified with lefs trouble and danger.
We came at lafl to a place where we could
overlook the river, and faw a channel torn,
F 3 as
70 A JOURNEY TO THE
as it feems, through black piles of flone,
by which the ftream is obMrucled and
broken, till it comes to a very fleep defcent,
of fuch dreadful depth, that we were na-
turally inclined to turn afide our eyes.
But we vifited the place at an unfeafon-
able time, and found it divefted of its
dignity and terror. Nature never gives
every thing at once. A long continuance
of dry weather, which made the reft of
the way eafy'and delightful, deprived us
of the pleafure expected from the fall of
Fiers. The river having now ho water
but what the fprings fupply, fhowed us
only a fwift current, clear and (hallow,
fretting over the afperities of the rocky
bottom, and we were left to exercife cur
thoughts, by endeavouring to conceive the
efft<t of a thoufand ftreams poured from
the mountains into one channel, ftruggling
for expanfion in a narrow paiTage, exaf-
perated by rocks rifing in their way, and
at
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 71
at laft difcharging all their violence of
waters by a fudden fall through the horrid
chafm.
The way now grew lefs eafy, defcending
by an uneven declivity, but without either
dirt or danger. We did not arrive at Fort
Auguftus till it was late. Mr. Bojwel/, who,
between his father's merit and his own,
is fure of reception wherever he comes,
fent a fervant before to beg admiffion and
entertainment for that night. Mr. Tra-
paud, the governor, treated us with that
courtefy which is fo clofely conneded with
the military chara&er. He came out to
meet us beyond the gates, and apologized
that, at fo late an hour, the rules of a
garrifon fuffered him to give us entrance
only at the poftern.
FORT AUGUSTUS.
In the morning we viewed the fort,
which is much lefs than that of St. George,
F 4 and
72 A JOURNEY TO THE
and is faid to be commanded by the neigh-
bouring hills. It was not long ago taken
by the Highlanders. But its fituation feems
well chofen for pleafure, if not for ftrength ;
it ftands at the head of the lake, and, by
a floop of fixty tuns, is fupplied from In-
vernefs with great convenience.
We were now to crofs the Highlands
towards the weftern coaft, and to content
ourfelves with fuch accommodations, as a
way fo little frequented could afford. The
journey was not formidable, for it was but
of two days, very unequally divided, be-
caufe the only houfe, where we could be
entertained, was not further off than a
third of the way. We foon came to a
high hill, which we mounted by a military
road, cut in traverfes, fo that as we went
upon a higher ftage, we faw the baggage
following us below in a contrary diredioa.
To make this way, the rock has been hewn
to a level with labour that might have
broken
WESTERN ISLANDS, fee. 73
broken the perfeverance of a Roman
legion.
The country is totally denuded of its
wood, but the flumps both of oaks and
firs, which are ftill found, fhew that it has
been once a foreft of large timber. I do
not remember that we faw any animals,
but we were told that, in the mountains,
there are flags, roebucks, goats, and
rabbits.
We did not perceive that this tract was
poflefled by human beings, except that
once we faw a corn-field, in which a lady
was walking with fome gentlemen. Their
houfe was certainly at no great diftance,
but fo fituated that we could not defcry it.
Faffing on through the drearinefs of
folitude, we found a party of foldiers from,
the fort, working on the road, under the
fuperintendence of a ferjeant. We told
them
74 A JOURNEY TO THE
them how kindly we had been treated at
the garrifon, and as we were enjoying the
benefit of their, labours, begged leave to
{hew our gratitude by a fmall prefent.
A N O C H.
Early in the afternoon we came to Anoch,
a village in GknmoWfon of three huts, one
of which is diftinguifhed by a chimney.
Here we were to dine and lodge, and were
conducted through the firft room, that
had the chimney, into another lighted by
a fmall glafs window. The landlord at-
tended us with great civility, and told us
what he could give us to eat and drink.
I found fome books on a fhelf, among
which were a volume or more of Prjdeaux's
Connection.
This I mentioned as fomething unex-
pected, and perceived that I did not pleafe
him. I praifed the propriety of his lan-
guage,
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 75
guage, and was anfwered that I need not
wonder, for he had learned it by grammar.
By fbbfequent opportunities of obfer-
vation I found that my hod's di&ion had
nothing peculiar. Thofe Highlanders that
can fpeak Englifh, commonly fpeak it well,
with few of the words, and little of the
tone by which a Scotchman is diftinguifh-
ed. Their language feems to have been
learned in the army or the navy, or by
fome communication with thofe who could
give them good examples of accent and
pronunciation. By their Lowland neigh-
bours they would not willingly be taught;
for they have long confidered them as a
mean and degenerate race. Thefe preju-
dices are wearing faft away ; but fo much
of them ftill remains, that when I afked a
very learned minifler in the iflands, which
they confidered as their moft favage clans :
u fbofe, faid he, that live next the Low-
lands*
6 As
76 A JOURNEY TO THE
As we came hither early in the day,
we had time fufficient to furvey the place.
The houfe was built like other huts of
loofe ftones, but the part in which we
dined and flept 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 ftands
in a glen, or valley, pleafantly watered by
a winding river. But this country, how-
ever it may delight the gazer or amufe the
naturalift, is of no great advantage to its
owners. Our landlord told us of a gen-
tleman, who poffefTes lands, eighteen
Scotch miles in length, and three in
breadth; a fpace containing at leafl a hun-
dred fquare Englifh miles. He has raifed
his rents to the danger of depopulat-
ing his farms, and he fells his timber,
and by exerting every art of augmen-
tation, has obtained an yearly revenue
of four hundred pounds, which for a
hundred
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 77
hundred fquare miles is three half-pence
an acre.
Some time after dinner we were fur-
prifed by the entrance of a young woman,
not inelegant either in mien or drefs, who
afked us whether we would have tea.
We found that fhe was the daughter of
our hoft, and defired her to make it. Her
converfation, like her appearance, was
gentle and pleafing. We knew that the
girls of the Highlands are all gentlewo-
men, and treated her with great refped,
which fhe received as cuflomary and due,
and was neither elated by it, nor confufed,
but repaid my civilities without embarraff-
ment, and told me how much I honoured
her country by coming to furvey it.
She had been at irroernefs to gain the
common female qualifications, and had,
like her father, the Englim pronunciation.
I prefented her with a book, which I hap-
pened
73 A JOURNEY TO THE
pened to have about me, and fhould not
be pleafed to think that {he forgets me.
In the evening the foldiers, whom we
had pafled on the road, came to fpend at
our inn the little money that we had given
them. They had the true military impa-
tience of coin in their pockets, and had
marched at leaft fix miles to find the firft
place where liquor could be bought. Hav-
ing never been before in a place fo wild
and unfrequented, 1 was glad of their ar-
rival, becaufe I knew that we had made
them friends, and to gain ftill more of their
good will, we went to them, where they
were caroufing in the barn, and added
fomething 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 indig-
nation at the bad qualities of whifky.
We
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 79
We had gained fo much the favour of
our hoft, that when we left his houfe in
the morning, he walked by us a great way,
and entertained us with converfation both
on his own condition, and that c< the
country. His life feemed to be merely j af-
toral, except that he differed from fome
of the ancient Nomades in having a fet-
tled dwelling. His wealth confifts of one
hundred (heep, as many goats, twelve milk-
cows, and twenty-eight beeves ready for
the drovers.
From him we firft heard of the gene-
ral diflatisfa&ion, which is now driving the
Highlanders into the other hemifphere ;
and when I afked him whether they would
ftay at home, if they were well treated,
he anfwered with indignation, that no man
willingly left his native country. Of the
farm, which he himfelf occupied, the rent
had, in twenty- five years, been advanced
from five to twenty pounds, which he
found
8o A JOURNEY TO THE
found himfelf fo little able to pay, that he
would be glad to try his fortune in feme
other place. Yet he owned the reafonable-
nefs of raifmg the Highland rents in a cer-
tain degree, and declared himfelf willing
to pay ten pounds for the ground which
he had formerly had for five.
Our hoft having amufed us for a time,
refigned us to our guides. The journey
of this day was long, not that the diftance
was great, but that the way was diffi-
cult. We were now in the bofom of the
Highlands, with full leifure to contem-
plate the appearance and properties of
mountainous regions, fuch as have been, in
many countries, the laft fhelters of na-
tional diftrefs, and are every where the
fcenes of adventures, ftratagems, furprifes,
and efcapes.
Mountainous countries are not pafTed
but with difficulty, not merely from the
labour
WESTERN ISLANDS, Sec. Si
labour of climbing ; for to climb is not
always neceflary: but becaufe that which
is not mountain is commonly bog, through
which the way muft be picked with cau-
tion. Where there are hills, there is much
rain, and the torrents pouring down into
the intermediate fpaces, feldom find fo
ready an outlet, as not to ftagnate till they
have broken the texture of the ground.
Of the hills, which our journey offered
to the view on either fide, we did not take
the height, nor did we fee any that afto-
nifhed us with their loftinefs. Towards
the fummit of one, there was a white
fjpot, which I fhould have called a naked
rock, but the guides, who had better
eyes, and were acquainted with the phe-
nomena of the country, declared it to be
fnow. It had already lafted to the end of
Auguft, and was likely to maintain its
conteft with the fun, till it fhould be rein-
forced by winter.
G The
82 A JOURNEY TO THE
The height of mountains philofophically
confidered is properly computed from the
furface of the next fea; but as it affe&s
the eye or imagination of the paflenger, as
it makes either a fpe&acle or an obftruo
tion, it muft be reckoned from the place
where the rife begins to make a confider-
able angle with the plain. In extenfive
continents the land may, by gradual ele-
vation, attain great height, without any
other appearance than that of a plane
gently inclined, and if a hill placed upon
fuch raifed ground be defcribed, as hav-
ing its altitude equal to the whole fpace
above the fea, the reprefentation will be
fallacious.
Thefe mountains may be properly enough
meafured from the inland bafe; for it is
not much above the fea. As we advanced
at evening towards the weftern coaft, I did
not obferve the declivity to be greater
than
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. sj
than is neceffary for the difcharge of the
inland waterSi
We pafled many rivers and rivulets,
which commonly ran with a clear {hallow
ftream over a hard pebbly bottom. Thefe
channels, which feem fo much wider thaii
the water that they convey would naturally
require, are formed by the Tiolence of
wintry floods, produced by the accumu-
lation of innumerable ftreams that fall
in rainy weather from the hills, and burfl-
ing away with refiftlefs impetuofity, make
themfelves a paflage proportionate to their
mafs.
Such capricious and temporary waters
Cannot be expeded to produce many fifh*
The rapidity of the wintry deluge fweeps
them away* and the fcantinefs of the fum- 4 -
mer ftream would hardly fuftain them
above the ground. This is the reafon why
G 2 in
84 A JOURNEY TO THE
in fording the northern rivers, no fifties
are feen, as in England, wandering in
the water.
Of the hills many may be called with
Homer's Ida abundant in fprings, but few
can deferve the epithet which he beftows
upon Pel ion by waving their leaves. They
exhibit very little variety ; being almoft
wholly covered with dark heath, and even
that feems to be checked in its growth.
What is not heath is nakednefs, a little
diverfified by now and then a ftream rufh-
ing down the fteep. An eye accuftomed
to flowery paftures and waving harvefts is
aftonifhed and repelled by this wide ex-
tent of hppelefs fterility. The appearance
is that of matter incapable of form or
ufefulnefs, difmiffed by nature from her
care and difmherited of her favours, left
in its original elemental ftate, or quickened
only with one fallen power of ufelefs ve-
getation.
It
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. $5
It will very readily occur, that this uni-
formity of barrennefs can afford very little
amufement to the traveller; that it is eafy
to fit at home and conceive rocks and
heath, and waterfalls; and that thefe jour-
neys are ufelefs labours, which neither
impregnate the imagination, nor enlarge
the underftanding. It is true that of far
the greater part of things, we muft content
ourfelves with fuch knowledge as defcrip-
tion may exhibit, or analogy fupply ; but
it is true likewife, that thefe ideas are
always incomplete, and that at leaft, till
\ve have compared them with realities, we
do not know them to be juft. As we fee
more, we become poffeffed of more cer-
tainties, and confequently gain more prin-
ciples of reafoning, and found a wicler
bafis of analogy.
Regions mountainous and wild, thinly
inhabited, and little cultivated, make a
G 3 great
86 A JOURNEY TO THE
great part of the earth, and he that has
never feen them, muft live unacquainted
with much of the face of nature, and with
one of the great fcenes of human ex-
iftence.
As the day advanced towards noon, we
entered a narrow valley not very flowery,
but fufficiently verdant. Our guides told
us, that the horfes could not travel all day
without reft or meat, and entreated us to
flop here, becaufe no grafs would be found
in any other place. The requeft was rea-
fonable and the argument cogent. We
therefore willingly difmounted and diverted
ourfelves as the place gave us oppor-?
tunity.
I fat down on a bank, fuch as a writer
of Romance might have delighted to feign.
I had indeed no trees to whifper over
my head, but a clear rivulet ftreamed at
my
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 87
my feet. The day was calm, the air foft,
and all was rudenefs, filence, and folitude.
Before me, and on either fide, were high
hills, which by hindering the eye from
ranging, forced the mind to find enter-
tainment for itfelf. Whether I fpent
the hour well I know not ; for here
I firft conceived the thought of this nar-
ration.
We were in this place at eafe and by
choice, and had no evils to fuffer or to
fear ; yet the imaginations excited by the
view of an unknown and untravelled wil-
dernefs are not fuch as arife in the ar-
tificial folitude of parks and gardens, a
flattering notion of felf-fufficiency, a pla-
cid indulgence of voluntary delufions, a
fecure expanfion of the fancy, or a cool
concentration of the mental powers. The
phantoms which haunt a defert are want,
and mifery, and danger ; the evils of
dereliction rufh upon the thoughts ; man is
G 4 made
88 A JOURNEY TO THE
made unwillingly acquainted with his own
weaknefs, and meditation mews him only
how little he can fuftain, and how little
he can perform. There were no traces
of inhabitants, except perhaps a rude pile
of clods called a fummer hut, in which
a herdfman had refted in the favourable
leafons. L Whoever had been in the place
where I then fat, unprovided with pro-
vifions and ignorant of the country, might,
at lead before the roads were made, have
wandered among the rocks, till he had pe-
rimed with hardship, before he could have
found either food or fhelter. Yet what are
thefe hillocks to the ridges of Taurus, or
thefe fpots of wildnefs to the defarts of
America ?
It was not long before we were invited
to mount, and continued our journey along
the fide of a lough, kept full by many
ftreams, which with more or lefs rapidity
and noife crofted the road from the hills
on
WESTERN ISLANDS, & c . 98
on the other hand. Thefe currents, in,
their diminiflied ftate, after feveral dry
months, afford, to one who has always
lived in level countries, an unufual and
delightful fpetacle ; but in the rainy fea-
ion, fuch as every winter may be expected
to bring, muft precipitate an impetuous
and tremendous flood. I fuppofe the way
by which we went, is at that time im-
paffable*
GLENSHEALS.
The lough at laft ended in a river broad
and (hallow like the reft, but that it may
be pafled when it is deeper, there is a
bridge over it. Beyond it is a valley called
Glen/heals, inhabited by the clan of Mac-
rae. Here we found a village called Auk-
no/heals, confifting of many huts, perhaps
twenty, built all of dry-Jlone> that is, ftones
piled up without mortar.
? o A JOURNEY TO THE
We had, by the direction of the officers
at Fort Augujlu^ taken bread for ourfelves,
and tobacco for thofe Highlanders who
might (hew us any kindnefs. We were
now at a place where we could obtain milk,
but muft have wanted bread if we had not
brought it. The people of this valley did
not appear to know any Englifh, and our
guides now became doubly necefiary as
interpreters, A woman, whole hut was
diftinguifhed by greater fpacioufnefs and
better architecture, brought out fome pails
of milk. The villagers gathered about us
in confiderable numbers, I believe without
any evil intention, but with a very favage
wildnefs of afped and manner. When our
meal was over, Mr. Bofivell fliced the
bread, and divided it amongft them, as he
fuppofed them never to have tafted a
wheaten loaf before. He then gave them,
little pieces of twifted tobacco, and among
the children we diftributed a fmall handful
of halfpence, which they received with
great;
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c, 91
great eagernefs. Yet I have been fince
told, that the people of that valley are not
indigent 3 and when we mentioned them
afterwards as needy and pitiable, a High-
land lady let us know, that we might
fpare our commiferation ; for the dame
whofe milk we drank had probably more
than a dozen milk- cows. She feemed un-
willing to take any price, but being prefled
to make a demand, at laft named a fhilling,
Honefty is not greater where elegance is
lefs. One of the by-ftanders, as we were
told afterwards, advifed her to afk more,
but fhe faid a (hilling was enough. We
gave her half a crown, and I hope got
fome credit by our behaviour ; for the com-
pany faid, if our interpreters did not flat-
ter us, that they had not feen fuch a day
fince the old laird of Macleod pafled through
their country.
The Macraes, as we heard afterwards in
the Hebrides, were originally an indigent
I and
92 A JOURNEY TO THE
and fubordinate clan, and having no farms
nor ftock, were in great numbers fervants
to the Maclellans, who, in the war of
Charles the Firft, took arms at the call of
the heroic Montrofe, and were, in one of
his battles, almoft all deftroyed. The wo-
men that were left at home, being thus
deprived of their hufbands, like the Scy-
thian ladies of old, married their fervants,
and the Macraes became a confiderable
race.
THE HIGHLANDS.
As we continued our journey, we were
at leifure to extend our fpeculations, and
to inveftigate the reafon of thofe peculia-
rities by which fuch rugged regions as thefe
before us are generally diftinguifhed.
Mountainous countries commonly con-
tain the original, at leaft the oldeft race of
inhabitants, for they are not eafily con-
quered,
WESTERN ISLANDS, & c . 93
quered, becaufe they muft be entered by
narrow ways, expofed to every power of
mifchief from thofe that occupy the heights;
and every new ridge is a new fortrefs,
where the defendants have again the fame
advantages. If the affailants either force
the ftrait, or ftorm the fummit, they gain
only fo much ground ; their enemies are
fled to take pofleflion of the next rock, and
the purfuers ftand at gaze, knowing nei-
ther where the ways of efcape wind among
the fleeps, nor where the bog has firmnefs
to fuftain them : befides that, mountaineers
have an agility in climbing and defcending
diftincl: from ftrength or courage, and at-
tainable only by 'life.
If the war be not foon concluded, the
invaders are diflodged by hunger ; for in
thofe anxious and toilfome marches, pro-
vifions cannot eafily be carried, and are
never to be found. The wealth of moun-
tains is cattle, which, while the men ftand
in the pafles, the women drive away.
Such
94 A JOURKEY TO THE
Such lands at laft cannot repay the expencg
of conqueft, and therefore perhaps have
not been fo often invaded by the mere am-
bition of dominion ; as by refentment
of robberies and infults* or the defire of
enjoying in fecurity the more fruitful pro-
vinces.
As mountains are long before they are
conquered, they are likewife long before
they are civilized. Men are foftened by
intercourfe mutually profitable, and in-
ftru&ed by comparing their own notions
with thofe of others. Thus Casfar found
the maritime parts of Britain made lefs
barbarous by their commerce with the
Gauls. Into a barren and rough trad no
ftranger is brought either by the hope of
gain or of pleafure. The inhabitants having
neither commodities for fale, nor money
for purchafe, feldom vifit more polifhed
places, or if they do vifit them feldom re--
turn.
It
WESTERN ISLANDS, & c . 95
It fometimes happens that by conqueft,
intermixture, or gradual refinement, the
cultivated parts of a country change their
language. The mountaineers then become
a diilincl: nation, cut off by diilimilitude
of fpeech from converfation with their
neighbours. Thus in Bifcay, the original
Cantabrian, and in Dalecarlia, the old Swe-
difh ftill fubfifts. Thus Wales and the
Highlands fpeak the tongue of the firft
inhabitants of Britain, while the other
parts have received firfl the Saxon, and in
fome degree afterwards the French, and
then formed a third language between
them.
That the primitive manners are conti-
nued where the primitive language is
fpoken, no nation will defire me to fuppofe,
for the manners of mountaineers are com-
monly favage, but they are rather produced
by their Situation than derived from their
anceftors.
Such
56 A JOURNEY TO THE
Such feems to be the difpofition of man,
that whatever makes a diftinction produces
rivalry. England, before other caufes of
enmity were found> was difturbed for fome
centuries by the contefts of the northern
and fouthern counties ; fo that at Oxford,
the peace of ftudy could for a long time
be preferved only by chufing annually one
of the prodors from each fide of the Trent.
A tract interfered by many ridges of
mountains, naturally divides its inhabit-
ants into petty nations, which are made
by a thoufand caufes enemies to each other*
Each will exalt its own chiefs, each will
boaft the valour of its men, or the beauty
of its women, and every claim of fupe-
riority irritates competition ; injuries will
fometimes be done, and be more injurioufly
defended ; retaliation will fometimes be at-
tempted, and the debt exacted with too
much intereft.
In the Highlands it was a law, that if
a robber was flickered from juftice, any
man
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 97
man of the fame clan might be taken in
his place. This was a kind of irregular
juftice, which, though necefiary in favage
times, could hardly fail to end in a feud,
and a feud once kindled among an idle
people with no variety of purfuits to divert
their thoughts, hurnt on for ages either
fullenly glowing in fecret mifchief, or open-
ly blazing into public violence. Of the
effects of this violent judicature, there are
not wanting memorials. The cave is now
to be feen to which one of the Campbells,
who had injured the Macdonalds, retired
with a body of his own clan. The Mac-
donalds required the offender, and being
refufed, made a fire at the mouth of the
cave, by which he and his adherents were
fuffocated together.
Mountaineers are warlike, becaufe by
their feuds and competitions they confider
themfelves as furrounded with enemies, and
are always prepared to repel incurfions, or
H to
9* A JOURNEY TO THE
to make them. Like the Greeks in their
unpolifhed ftate, defcribed by Thucydides,
the Plighlanders, till lately, went always
armed, and carried their weapons to vifits,
and to church.
Mountaineers are thievim, becaufe they
are poor, and having neither manufactures
nor commerce, can grow richer only by
robbery. They regularly plunder their
neighbours, for their neighbours are com-
monly their enemies ; and having loft that
reverence for property, by which the order
of civil life is preferved, foon confider all
as enemies, whom they do not reckon as
friends, and think themfelves licenfed to
invade whatever they are not obliged to
protect.
By a ftrid adminiftration of the laws,
fmce the laws have been introduced into
the Highlands, this difpofition to thievery
is very much repreft, Thirty years ago no
herd
WESTERN ISLANDS, Sec. 99
herd had ever been conducted through the
mountains, without paying tribute in the
Anight to fome of the clans ; but cattle are
now driven, and paflengers travel without
danger, fear, or moleftation.
Among a warlike people, the quality of
higheft efteem h perfonal courage, and
with the oftentatious difplay of courage are
clofely connected promptitude of offence
and quicknefs of refentment. The High-
landers, before they were difarmed, were
fo addicted to quarrels, that the boys tifed
to follow any publick proceflion or cere-
mony, however feftive, or however folemn,
in expectation of the battle, which was
fure to happen before the company dif-
perfed.
Mountainous regions are fometimes fo
remote from the feat of government, and
fo difficult of accefs, that they are very
little under the influence of the fovereign,
H 2 or
ioo A JOURNEY TO THE
or within the reach of national jufticc*
Law is 'nothing without power ; and the
fentence of a diftant court could not be
eafily executed, nor perhaps very fafely
promulgated, among men ignorantly proud
and habitually violent, unconnected with
the general fyftem, and accuftomed to re-
verence only their own lords. It has there-
fore been neceffary to ered many parti-
cular jurifdidtions, and commit the punifh-
ment of crimes, and the decifion of right
to the proprietors of the country who could
enforce their own decrees. Jt immediately
appear s that fuch judges will be often igno-
rant, and often partial ; but in the imma-
turity of political eftabliftiments no better
expedient could be found. As government
advances towards perfection, provincial
judicature is perhaps in every empire gra-
dually abolifhed.
Thofe who had thus the difpenfation of
law, were by confequence themfelves law-
lefs.
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 101
lefs. Their vaflals had no fhelter from
outrages and oppreffions ; but were con-
demned to endure, without refiftance, the
caprices of wantonnefs, and the rage of
cruelty.
In the Highlands, fome great lords had
an hereditary jurifdi&ion over counties; and
fome chieftains over their own lands ; till
the final conqueft of the Highlands afforded
an opportunity of crufhing all the local
courts, and of extending the general bene-
fits of equal law to the low and the high,
in the deepeft recefles and obfcureft cor-
ners.
While the chiefs had this refemblance
of royalty, they had little inclination to
appeal, on any queftion, to fuperior judica-
tures. A claim of lands between two
powerful lairds was decided like a conteft
for dominion between fovereign powers.
They drew their forces into the field, and
H 3 right
102 A JOURNEY TO THE
right attended on the ftrongeft. This was,
in ruder times, the common pradice, which
the kings of Scotland could feldom control.
Even fo lately as in the laft years of King
William, a battle was fought at Mull Roy,
on a plain a few miles to the fouth of In-
vernefs, between the clans of Mackintofo
and Macdonald of Keppocb. Col. Macdo-
nahi, the head of a fmall clan, refufed to
pay the dues demanded from him by Mac-
kintojh) as his fuperior lord. They dif-
dained the interpofition of judges and laws,
and calling each bis followers to maintain
the dignity of the clan, fought a formal
battle, in which feveral considerable men
fell on the fide of Mackinto/h^ without a
complete victory to either. This is faid to
have been the laft open war made between
the clans by their own authority.
The Highland lords made treaties, and
formed alliances, of which fome traces may
ftill
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 103
flill be found, and fome confequences flill
remain as lading evidences of petty rega-
lity. The terms of one of thefe confede-
racies were, that each fhould fupport the
other in the right, or in the wrong, ex-
cept againft the king.
The inhabitants of mountains form dif-
tind races, and are careful to preferve their
genealogies. Men in a fmall diftricT: ne-
ceflarily mingle blood by intermarriages,
and combine at laft into one family, with
a common intereft in the honour and dif-
grace of every individual. Then begins
that union of affetions, and co-operation
of endeavours, that conftitute a clan. They
who confider themfelves as ennobled by
their family, will think highly of their
progenitors, and they who through fuc-
ceffive generations live always together in
the fame place, will preferve local ftories
#nd hereditary prejudices. Thus every
Jlighlander can talk of his anceftors, and
H 4 recount
104 A JOURNEY TO THE
recount the outrages which they fuffered
from the wicked inhabitants of the next
valley.
Such are the effects of habitation among
mountains, and fuch were the qualities of
the Highlanders, while their rocks fecluded
them from the reft of mankind, and kept
them an unaltered and difcriminated race.
They are now loling their diftin&ion, and
haftening to mingle with the general com-
munity.
G L E N E L G.
We left Auknajheals and the Macraes
in the afternoon, and in the evening came
to Ratikeit) a high hill on which a road is
cut, but fo fteep and narrow, that it is very
difficult. There is now a defign of making
another way round the bottom. Upon one
of the precipices, my horfe, weary with
the fteepnefs of the rife, ftaggered a little,
and
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 105
and I called in hafte to the Highlander to
hold him. This was the only moment of
my journey, in which I thought my felf en-
dangered.
Having furmounted the hill at laft, we
were told that at Glenelg^ on the fea-fide,
we mould come to a houfe of lime and
flate and glafs. This image of magnifi-
cence raifed our expectation. At laft we
came to our inn weary and peevith, and
began to inquire for meat and beds,
Of the provifions the negative catalogue
was very copious. Here was no meat, no
milk, no bread, no eggs, no wine. We
did not exprefs much fatisfaclion. Here
however we were to ftay. Whifky we
might have, atid I believe at laft they
caught a fowl and killed it. We had fome
bread, and with that we prepared ourfelves
to be contented, when we had a very emi-
nent proof of Highland hofpitality. Along
fome
ic5 A JOURNEY TO THE
feme miles of the way, in the evening, a
gentleman's fervant 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 prefent
from his matter of rum and fugar. The
man had mentioned his company, and the
gentleman, whofe name, I think, is Gordon,
well knowing the penury of the place, had
this attention to two men, whofe names
perhaps he had not heard, by whom his
kindnefs was not likely to be ever repaid,
and who could be recommended to him
him only by their neceflities.
We were now to examine our lodging*
Out of one of the beds, on which we were
to repofe, ftarted up, at bur entrance, a
man black as a Cyclops from the forge.
Other circumftances of no elegant recital
concurred to difgiift us. We had been
frighted by a lady at Edinburgh, with
difcouraging
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 107
difcouraging reprefentations of Highland
lodgings. Sleep, however, was neceflary.
Our Highlanders had at laft found fome
hay, with which the inn could not fupply
them. I directed them to bring a bundle
into the room, and flept upon it in my
riding coat. Mr. Bofwell being more deli-
cate, laid himfelf iheets with hay over and
under him, and lay in linen like a gentle-
man,
SKY. ARMYDEL.
In the morning, September the twen-
tieth, we found ourfelves on the edge of
the fea. Having procured a boat, we dif-
miffed our Highlanders, whom I would
recommend to the fervice of any future
travellers, and were ferried over to the ifle
of Sky. We landed at Armidel, where we
were met on the fands by Sir Alexander
Macdonald, who was at that time there
with his lady, preparing to leave the ifland
and refide at Edinburgh.
13 Armidel
io8 A JOURNEY TO THE
Armldel is a neat houfe, built where
the Macdonalds had once a feat, which
was burnt in the commotions that followed
the Revolution. The walled orchard, which
belonged to the former houfe, ftili remains.
It is well fhaded by tall am trees, of a
fpecies, as Mr. Janes the foflilift informed
me, uncommonly valuable. This planta-
tion is very properly mentioned by Dr.
Campbell, in his new account of the flate
of Britain^ and deferves attention; becaufe
it proves that the prefent nakednefs of the
Hebrides is not wholly the fault of nature.
As we fat at Sir Alexander's table, we
were entertained, according to the anqent
ufage of the North, with the melody of
the bagpipe, Every thing in thofe coun-
tries has its hiftory. As the bagpiper was
playing, an elderly gentleman informed
us, that in fome remote time, the Macdo-
nalds of Glengary having been injured, or
offended by the inhabitants of Citlhden*
and
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 109
and refolving to have juftice or vengeance,
came to Culhden on a Sunday, where find-
ing their enemies at worfhip, they fhut
them' up in the church, which they fet on
fire; and this, faid he, is the tune that the
piper played while they were burning.
Narrations like this, however uncertain,
deferve the notice of a traveller, becaufe
they are the only records of a nation that
has no hiftorians, and afford the moft ge-
nuine reprefentation of the life and cha-
racter of the ancient Highlanders.
Under the denomination of Highlander
are comprehended in Scotland all that now
fpeak the Erfe language, or retain the pri-
mitive manners, whether they live among
the mountains or in the iflands; and in
that fenfe I ufe the name, when there is
not fome apparent reafon for making a
diftindion.
In
no A JOURNEY TO THE
In Sky I firft obferved the ufe of Brogues,
a kind of artlefs fhoes, ditched with thongs
fo loofely, that though they defend the
foot from ftones, they do not exclude
water. Brogues were formerly made
of raw hides, with the hair inwards, and
fuch are perhaps ftill ufed in rude and re-
mote parts; but they are faid not to laft
above two days. Where life is fomewhat
improved, they are now made of leather
tanned with oak bark, as in other places,
or with the bark of birch, or roots of tor-
mentil, a fubftance recommended in defecl:
of bark, about forty years ago, to the Irifh
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 fpecimen of Highland informa-
tion.
WESTERN ISLANDS, & c . in
tion. One day I was told, that to make
brogues was a domeftic art, which every
man pradifed for himfelf, and that a pair
of brogues was the work of an hour. I
fuppofed that the hufband 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 coft half a
crown. It will eafily occur that thefe re-
prefentations may both be true, and that,
in fome places, men may buy them, and
in others, make them for themfelves 5 but
I had both the accounts in the fame houfe
within two days.
Many of my fubfequent inquiries upon
more interefting topicks ended in the like
uncertainty. He that travels in the High-
lands may eafily faturate his foul with in-
telligence, if he will acquiefce in the firft
account. The Highlander gives to every
queftion an anfwer fo prompt and peremp-
tory, that ikepticifm itfelf is dared into
filence,
ii2 A JOURNEY TO THE
filence, and the mind finks before the bold
reporter in unrefifting credulity; but if a
fecond queftion be ventured, it breaks the
enchantment; for it is immediately dif-
covered, that what was told fo confidently
was told at hazard, and that fuch fearleffnefs
of aflertion was either the fport of negli-
gence, or the refuge of ignorance.
If individuals are thus at variance with
themfelves, it can be no wonder that the ac-
counts of different men are contradictory.
The traditions of an ignorant and favage
people have been for ages negligently heard,
and unfkilfully related. Diftant events
muft have been mingled together, and the
actions of one man given to another.
Thefe, however, are deficiencies in ftory,
for which no man is now to be cenfured.
It were enough, if what there is yet op-
portunity of examining were accurately
infpe&ed, and juftly reprefented; but fuch is
the laxity of Highland converfation, that
the
WESTERN ISLANDS, & c . 113
the inquirer is kept in continual fufpenfej
and by a kind of intellectual retrogradatior^
knows lefs as he hears more*
4F
In the iflands the plaid is rarely worn.
The law by which the Highlanders have
been obliged to change the form of their
drefs, has, in all the places that we have
vifited, been univerfally obeyed. I have
feen only one gentleman completely cloth-
ed in the ancient habit, and by him it was
worn only occafionally and wantonly. The
common people do not think themfelves
under any legal neceffity of having coats 5
for they fay that the law againft plaids was
made by Lord Hardwicke, and was in force
only for his life : but the fame 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 fllll
Very common, and the bonnet almoft tmi
I terfalj
ii4 A JOURNEY TO THE
verfal ; but their attire is fuch as produces,
in a fufficient degree, the effed intended
by the law, of abolifliing the diffimilitude
of appearance between the Highlanders
and the other inhabitants of Britain ; and,
if drefs be fuppofed to have much influ-
ence, facilitates their coalition with their
fellow-fubjets.
What we have long ufed we naturally
like, and therefore the Highlanders were
Unwilling to lay afide their plaid, which
yet to an unprejudiced fpeclator muft appear
an incommodious and cumberfome drefs;
for, hanging loofe upon the body, it muft
flutter in a quick motion, or require one
of the hands to keep it clofe. The Romans
always laid a fide the gown when they had
any thing to do. It was a drefs fo unfuit-
able to war, that the fame word which fig-
nified a gown fignified peace. The chief
ufe of a plaid feems to be this, that they
could commudioufly wrap themfelves in it,
when
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. ii$
when they were obliged to fleep without a
better cover.
In our paflage from Scotland to Sky, we
were wet for the firft time with a fhower.
This was the beginning of the Highland
winter, after which we were told that a
fucceffion of three dry days was not to be
expedted for many months. The winter
of the Hebrides confifts of little more than
rain and wind. As they are furrounded
by an ocean never frozen, the blafts that
come to them over the water are too much
foftened to have the power of congelation*
The fait loughs, or inlets of the fea, which
{hoot very far into the ifland, never have
any ice upon them, and the pools of frefh
water will never bear the walker. The
fnow that fometimes falls, is foon diflblved
by the air, or the rain*
This is not the defcription of a cruel cli-
mate, yet the dark months are here a time
I 2 of
n6 A JOURNEY TO THE
of great diftrefs ; becaufe the fummer car*
do little more than feed itfelf, and winter
comes with its cold and its fcarcity upon
families very flenderly provided*
CORIATACHAN IN SKY.
The third or fourth day after our arrival
at Armtdel) brought us an invitation to the
ifle of Raajay^ which lies eaft of Sky, It
is incredible how foon the account of any
event is propagated in thefe narrow coun-
tries by the love of talk, which much lei-
fure produces, and the relief given to the
mind in the penury of infular converfation
by a new topick. The arrival of Grangers
at a place fo rarely vifited, excites rumour*
and quickens curiofity. I know not whe-
ther we touched at any corner, where Fame
had not already prepared us a reception.
To gain a commodious paffage to Raafay,
it was neceflary to pafs over a large part of
Sty
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 117
Sky. We were furniflied therefore with
horfes and a guide. In the iflands there
are no roads, nor any marks by which a
ftranger may find his way. The horfeman
has always at his fide a native of the place,
who, by purfuing game, or tending cattle,
or being often employed in meffages or
conduct, has learned where the ridge of the
hill has breadth fufficient to allow a horfe
and his rider a paiTage, and where the mofs
or bog is hard enough to bear them. The
bogs are avoided as toilfome at leaft, if not
unfafe, and therefore the journey is made
generally from precipice to precipice; from
which if the eye ventures to look down, it
fees below a gloomy cavity, whence the
rum of water is fometimes heard.
But there fecms to be in all this more
alarm than danger. The Highlander walks
carefully before, and the horfe, accuftomed
to the ground, follows him with little de-
viation. Sometimes the hill is too fteep for
I 3 the
n8 A JOURNEY TO THE
the horfeman to keep his feat, and fome-
times the mofs is too tremulous to bear
the double weight of horfe and man. The
rider then difmounts, and all fliift as they
can.
Journies made in this manner are rather
tedious than long. A very few miles re-
quire feveral hours. From Armidel we
came at night to Coriatachan> a houfe very
pleafantly fituated between two brooks,
with one of the higheft hills of the ifland
behind it. It is the refidence of Mr. Mac-
kinnon, by whom we were treated with very
liberal hofpitality, among a more numerous
and elegant company than it could have
been fuppofed eafy to collect.
The hill behind the houfe we did not
climb. The weather was rough, and the
height and fteepnefs difcouraged'us. We
were told that there is a cairne upon it. A
is a heap of ftones thrown upon the
grave
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 119
grave of one eminent for dignity of birth,
or fplendour of atchievements. It is faid mat
by digging, an urn is always found under
thefe cairnes : tbey muft therefore have
been thus piled by a people whofe cuftom
was to burn the dead. To pile ftones is, I
believe, a northern cuftom, and to burn the
body was the Roman practice ; nor do I
know when it was that thefe two ads of
fepulture were united.
The weather was next day too violent
for the continuation of our journey; but
we had no reafon to complain of the inter-
ruption. We faw in every place, what we
chiefly defired to know, the manners of the
people. We had company, and, if we
had chofen retirement, we might have had
books.
I never was in any houfe of the Iflands,
where I"* did not find books in more lan-
guages than one, if I ftaid long enough to
want them, except one from which the
I 4 family
120 A JOURNEY TO THE
family was remoyed. Literature is np|
neglected by the higher rank of the He*
bridians.
It need not, I fuppofe, be mentioned,
that in countries fo little frequented as the
Iflands, there are no houfes where travel-
lers are entertained for money. He that
wanders about thefe wilds, either procures
recommendations to thofe whofe habita-
tions lie near his way, or, when night and
wearinefs come upon him, takes the chance
pf general hofpitality. If he finds only 3,
cottage^ he can pfpecT: little more than
fhelter ; for the cottagers have little more
for themfelves : but if his good fortune
brings him to the refidence of a gentleman,
he will be glad of a ftorm to prolong his
ftay. There is, however, one inn by the
fea-fide at Sconfor, in Sky, where the poft-
office is kept.
At the tables where a ftranger is received,
aeither plenty nor delicacy is wanting. A
tract
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 121
traft of land fo thinly inhabited, mud have
much wild-fowl ; and I fcarcely remember
to have feen a dinner without them. The
nipor-game is every where to be had. That
the fea abounds with fifh, needs not be
told, for it fupplies a great part of Europe.
The iile of Sky has flags and roebucks,
but no hares. They fell very numerous
droves of oxen yearly to England, and
therefore cannot be fuppofed to want beef
at home. Sheep and goats are in great
numbers, and they have the common do-
meflick fowls.
/
But as here is nothing to be bought,
every family muft kill its own meat, and
roaft part of it fomewhat fooner than Api-
cius would prefcribe. Every kind of flefh
is undoubtedly excelled by the variety and
Emulation of Englifh markets ; but that
which is not beft may be yet very free from
l, and he that flull complain of his fare
in
ia2 A JOUR1STEY TO THE
in the Hebrides, has improved his delicacy
more than his manhood*
Their fowls are not like thofe plumped
for fale by the poulterers of London, but
they are as good as other places commonly
afford, except that the geefe, by feeding in
the fea, have univerfally a fifhy ranknefs.
Thefe geefe feem to be of a middle race,
between the wild and domeftick kinds.
They are fo tame as to own a home, and
fo wild as fometimes to fly quite away.
Their native bread is made of oats, or
barley. Of oatmeal they fpread very thin
cakes, coarfe and hard, to which unac-
cuftomed palates are not eafily reconciled.
The barley cakes are thicker and fofter ;
I began to eat them without unwillingnefs ;
the blacknefs of their colour raifes fome
diflike, but the tafte is not difagreeable.
In
WESTERN ISLANDS, See. 1:3
In moft houfes there is wheat flower, with
which we were fure to be treated, if we
ftaid long enough to have it kneaded and
baked. As neither yeaft nor leaven are
ufed 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 wo-
men's diet I can give no account, as foon as
he appears in the morning, fwallows a ghfs
of whifky ; yet they are not a drunken
race, at leaft I never was prefent at much
intemperance ; but no man is fo ahftemious
as to refufe the morning dram, which they
call &Jkalk<
The word wkifky fignifies water, and
is applied by way of eminence to ftrong
water ) or diftilled liquor. The fpirit druak
in the North is drav;n from barley. 1 never
tafted it, except once for experiment at the
inn in In-wary^ when 1 thought it - -
ic fable
A JOURNEY TO THE
ferable to any Englifo malt brandy. It
was ftrong, but not pungent, and was free
from the empyreumatic tafte or fmell.
What was the procefs I had no opportunity
of inquiring, nor do I wifh to improve
the art of making poifon pleafant.
Not long after the dram, may be ex-
pe&ed the breakfaft, a meal in which the
Scots, whether of the lowlands or moun-
tains, muft be confefled to excel us. The
tea and coffee are accompanied not only
with butter, but with honey, conferves,
and marmalades. If an epicure could re-
move by a wifh, in queft of fenfual grati-
fications, wherever he had fupped he would
breakfaft in Scotland.
In the iflands, however, they do what I
found it not very eafy to endure. They
pollute the tea-table by plates piled with
large dices of Chefhire cheefe, which
mingles its lefs grateful odours with the
fragrance of the tea.
Where
WESTERN ISLANDS, &t. 125
Where many queftions are to be afkedj
fome will be omitted. I forgot to enquire
how they were fupplied with fo much ex-
otic luxury. Perhaps the French may
bring them wine for wool, and the Dutch
give them tea and coffee at the riming fea-
fon, in exchange for frefh provifion.
Their trade is unconftrained ; they pay
no cuftoms j for there is no officer to de-
mand them ; whatever therefore is made
dear only by impoft, is obtained here at an
eafy rate.
A dinner in the Weftern Iflands differs
very little from a dinner in England, ex-
cept that in the place of tarts, there are
always fet different preparations of milk.
This part of their diet will admit fome
improvement. Though they have milk,
and eggs, and fugar, few of them know how
to compound them in a cuitard. Their
gardens afford them no great variety, but
they have always fome vegetables on the
table,
126 A JOURNEY TO THfi
table. Potatoes at leaft 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 vifcous kind.
Their more elaborate cookery, or made
dimes, ail Englifhman, at the firft tafte is
not likely to approve, but the culinary com-
pofitions of every country are often fuch
as become grateful to other nations only
by degrees ; though I have read a French
author, who, in the elation of his heart,
fays, that French cookery pleafes all
foreigners, but foreign cookery never fa-
tisfies a Frenchman.
Their fuppers are, like their dinners,
Various and plentiful. The table is always
covered with elegant linen. Their plates
for common ufe are often of that kind of
manufacture which is called cream co-
loured, or queen's ware. They ufe filver
4 on
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 127
on- all occafions where it is common in
England, nor did I ever find the fpoon of
horn, but in one houfe.
The knives are not often either very
bright, or very {harp. They are indeed
inftruments of which the Highlanders have
not been long acquainted with the general
life. They were not regularly laid on the
table, before the prohibition of arms, and
the change of drefs. Thirty years ago
the Highlander wore his knife as a com-
panion to his dirk or dagger, and when
the company fat down to meat, the men
who had knives, cut the flefh into fmall
pieces for the women, who with their
fingers conveyed it to their mouths.
There was perhaps never any change
of national manners fo quick, fo great, and
fo general, as that which has operated in
the Highlands, by the laft conqueft, and
the fubfequent laws, We came thither
too
xftft A JOURNEY TO THE
too late to fee what we expected, a people
of peculiar appearance, and a fyftem of
antiquated life. The clans retain little
now of their original character, their fe-
rocity of temper is foftened, their military
ardour is extinguifhed, their dignity of in-
dependence is deprefled, their contempt of
government fubdued, and their reverence
for their chiefs abated. Of what they had
before the late conqueft of their country,
there remain only their language and their
poverty. Their language is attacked on
dvery fide. Schools are erected, in which
fenglijh only is taught, and there were
lately fome who thought it reafonable to
f efufe them a verfiori of the holy fcripturesj
that they might have no monument of
their mother- tongue*
That their poverty 5 gradually abated,
dannot be mentioned among the unpleafing
confequences of fubje&ion* They are now
acquainted with money, and the poffibility
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 129
of gain will by degrees make them induf-
trious. Such is the effed of the late regu-
lations, that a longer journey than to the
Highlands muft be taken by him whofe
curiofity pants for favage virtues and bar-
barous grandeur*
R A A S A Y.
At the firft intermiflion of the ftormy
weathef we were informed, that the boat,
which was to convey us to Raafay, attended
us on the coaft. We had from this time
our intelligence facilitated, and our coaver-
fation enlarged, by the company of Mr.
Macqueen, minifter of a parirfi in Sky 9
whofe knowledge and politenefs give hint
a title equally to kindnefs and refpedi, and
who, from this time, never forfook us till
we were preparing to leave Sky, and the
adjacent places.
The boat was under the direction of
Mr. Malcolm Macho d, a gentleman of Ra-
ft, afay.
ijo A JOURNEY TO THE
afay. The water was calm, and the rowers
were vigorous ; fo that our paflage was
quick and pleafant. When we came near
the ifland, we faw the laird's houfe, a neat
modern fabrick, and found Mr. Macleod*
the proprietor of the Ifland, with many
gentlemen, expe&ing us on the beach. We
had, as at all other places, fome difficulty
in landing. The crags were irregularly
broken, and a falfe flep would have been
very mifchievous.
It feemed that the rocks might, with no
great labour, have been hewn almoft into
a regular flight of fteps ; and as there are
no other landing places, I confidered this
rugged afcent as the confequence of a form
of life inured to hardfhips, and therefore
not fludious of nice accommodations. But
I know not whether, for many ages, it was
-not confidered as a part of military po-
licy, to keep the country not eafily accef-
fible. The rocks are natural fortifica-
tions,
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 131
tions, and an enemy climbing with diffi-
culty, was eafily deftroyed by thofe who
flood high above him.
Our reception exceeded our expectations.
We found nothing but civility, elegance,
and plenty. After the ufual refrefhments,
and the ufual converfation, the evening
came upon us. The carpet was then rolled
off the floor; the mufician was called, and
the whole company was invited to dance,
nor did ever fairies trip with greater ala-
crity. The general air of feftivity, which
predominated in this place, fo far remote
from all thofe regions which the mind has
been ufed to contemplate as the manfions
of pleafure, ftruck the imagination with a
delightful furprife, analogous to that which
is felt at an unexpected emerfioa from dark-
nefs into light.
When it was time to fup, the dance
ceafed 3 and fix and thirty perfons fat down
K 2 to
132 A JOURNEY TO THE
to two tables in the fame room. After fup-
per the ladies fung Erfe fongs, to which I
liftened as an EngUJh audience to an Italian
opera, delighted with the founds of words
which I did not underftand.
I inquired the fubjeds of the fongs, and
was told of one, that it was a love fong,
and of another, that it was a farewell com-
pofed by one of the Iflanders that was go-
ing, in this epidemical fury of emigration,
to feek his fortune in America. What
fentiments would rife, on fuch an occafion,
in the heart of one who had not been
taught to lament by precedent, I fhould
gladly have known ; but the lady, by whom
I fat, thought herfelf not equal to the work
of tranflating.
Mr. Macleod is the proprietor of the
iflands of Raafay, Rona, and Fladda> and
pofleffes an extenfive diftricl: in Sky. The
eftate has not, during four hundred years,
gained
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 133
gained or loft a fmgle acre. He acknow-
ledges Machod of Dunvegan as his chief,
though his anceftors have formerly difputed
the pre-eminence.
One of the old Highland alliances has
continued for two hundred years, and is
fiill fubfifting between Macleod of Raafay
and Macdonald of Sky, in confequence of
which, the furvivor always inherits the
arms of the deceafed ; a natural memorial
of military friendfhip. At the death of the
late Sir James Macdonald^ his fword was
delivered to the prefent laird of Raafay.
The family of Raafay confifts of the laird,
the lady, three fons, and ten daughters. For
the fons there is a tutor in the houfe, and
the lady is faid to be very fkilful and dili-
gent in the education of her girls. More
gentlenefs of manners, or a more pleafing
appearance of domeftick fociety, is not
fpuud in the moft poliihed countries,
K 3 Raafay
134 A JOURNEY TO THE
Raafay is the only inhabited ifland in
Mr. Macleod\ poffeflion. Rona and Fladda
afford only pafture for cattle, of which one
hundred and fixty winter in Rona> under
the fuperintendence of a folitary herdfman.
The length of Raafay is, by computa-
tion, fifteen miles, and the breadth two?
Thefe countries have never been meafured,
and the computation by miles is negligent
and arbitrary. We obferved in travelling,
that the nominal and real diftance of places
had very little relation to each other, Ra-
afay probably contains near a hundred
fquare miles. It affords not much ground,
notwithstanding its extent, either for tillage,
or pafture ; for it is rough, rocky, and
barren. The cattle often perifh by falling
from the precipices. It is like the other
iflands, I think, generally naked of fhade,
but it is naked by neglecl: ; for the laird
has an orchard, and very large foreft trees
grow about his houfe. Like other hilly
countries
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 135
countries it has many rivulets. One of
the brooks turns a corn-mill, and at leaft
one produces trouts.
In the ftreams or frem lakes of the iflands*
I have never heard of any other fifh
than trouts and eels. The trouts, which I
have feen, are not large -, the colour of their
fleih is tinged as in England. Of their eels
I can give no account, having never tafted
them ; for I believe they are not confidered
as wholefome food.
It is not very eafy to fix the principles
upon which mankind have agreed to eat
fome animals, and rejecl: others; and as
the principle is not evident, it is not uni-
form. That which is fele&ed as delicate
in one country, is by its neighbours abhor-
red as loathfome. The Neapolitans lately
refufed to eat potatoes in a famine. An
Englifhman is not eafily perfuaded to dine
on fnails with an Italian, on frogs with a
K 4 Freachman,
136 A JOURNEY TO THE
Frenchman, or on horfe flefli with a Tar-
tar. The vulgar inhabitants of Sky, I
know not whether of the other iflands,
have not only eels, but pork and bacon in
abhorrence, and accordingly I never faw a
hog in the Hebrides, except one at Dun-
Raafoy has wild fowl in abundance, but
neither deer, hares, nor rabbits. Why it
has them not, might be afked, but that of
fuch queftions there is no end. Why does
any nation want what it might have ?
Why are not fpices tranfplanted to Ame-
rica ? Why does tea continue to be brought
from China ? Life improves but by flow
degrees, and much in every place is yet to
<lo. Attempts have been made to raife
roebucks in Rao/ay^ but without effect.
The young ones it is extremely difficult to
rear, and the old can very feldom be taken
alive.
Hares
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 137
Hares and rabbits might be more eafily
obtained. That they have few or none of
either in Sky, they impute to the ravage
of the foxes, and have therefore fet,
for fome years paft, a price upon their
heads, which, as the number was dimi-
nifhed, has been gradually raifed, from
three fhillings and fixpence to a guinea, a
fum fo great in this part of the world,
that, in a fhort time, Sky may be as free
from foxes, as England from wolves. The
fund for thefe rewards is a tax of fixpence
in the pound, impofed by the farmers on
themfelves, and faid to be paid with great
willingnefs.
The beafts of prey in the Iflands are
foxes, otters, and weafels. The foxes are
bigger than thofe of England ; but the
otters exceed ours in a far greater propor-
tion. I faw one at sir mi del, of a fize
much beyond that which I fuppofed them
ever to attain ; and Mr. Maclean ^ the heir
of
A JOURNEY TO THE
of Col, a man of middle ftature, informed
me that he once fhot an otter, of which the
tail reached the ground, when he held up
the head to a level with his own, I ex-
peeled the otter to have a foot particularly
formed for the art of fwimming; but upon
examination,! did not find it differing much
from that of a fpaniel. As he preys in the
fea, he does little vifible mifchief, and is
killed only for his fur. White otters are
fometimes feen.
In 'R.aafay they might have hares and
rabbits, for they have no foxes. Some de-
predations, fuch as were never made be-
fore, have caufed a fufpicion that a fox has
been lately landed in the ifland by fpite or
wantonnefs. This imaginary ftranger has
never yet been feen, and therefore, per-
haps, the mifchief was done by fome other
animal. It is not likely that a creature fo
ungentle, whofe head could have been fold
in Sky for a guinea, fliould be kept alive
9 only
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 139
only to gratify the malice of fending him.
to prey upon a neighbour : and the paflage
from Sky is wider than a fox would ven-
ture to fwim, unlefs he were chafed by
dogs into the fea, and perhaps then his
flrength would enable him to crofs. How
beafts of prey came into any iflands is not
eafy to guefs. In cold countries they take
advantage of hard winters, and travel over
the ice: but this is a very fcanty folution ;
for they are found where they have no dif-
coverable means of coming.
The corn of this ifland is but little. I
faw the harveft of a fmall field. The wo-
men reaped the corn, and the men bound
up the fheaves. The ftrokes of the fickle
were timed by the modulation of the har-
veft fong, in which all their voices were
united. They accompany in the Highlands
every action, which can be done in equal
time, with an appropriated ftrain, which
has, they fay, not much meaning ; but
its
I 4 o A JOURNEY TO THE
its effe&s are regularity and cheerfulnefs.
The ancient proceleufmatick fong, by
which the rowers of gallies were animated,
may be fuppofed to have been of this kind.
There is now an oar-Jong ufed by the
Hebridiam,
The ground of Raafay feems fitter for
cattle than for corn, and of black cattle I
fuppofe the number is very great. The
Laird himfelf keeps a herd of four hundred,
one hundred of which are annually fold.
Of an extenfive domain, which he holds in
his own hands, he confiders the fale of
cattle as repaying him the rent, and fup-
ports the plenty of a very liberal table with
the remaining product,
Raafay is fuppofed to have been very long
inhabited. On one fide of it they fhow
caves, into which the rude nations of the
firft ages retreated from the weather. Thefe
dreary vaults might have had other ufes.
There
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 141
There is ftill a cavity near the houfe called
the oar-cave, in which the feamen, after
one of thofe piratical expeditions, which in
rougher times was very frequent, ufed, as
tradition tells, to hide their oars. This
hollow was near the fea, that nothing fo
neceffary might be far to be fetched; and
it was fecret, that enemies, if they landed,
could find nothing. Yet it is not very evi-
dent of what ufe it was to hide their oars
from thofe, who, if they were matters of
the coaft, could take away their boats.
A proof much ftronger of the diflance at
which the firft poffeffors of this ifland lived
from the prefent time, is afforded by the ftone
heads of arrows which are very frequently
picked up. The people call them Elf-bolts^
and believe that the fairies fhoot them
at the cattle. They nearly refemble thofe
which Mr. 'Banks has lately brought from
the favage countries in the Pacifick Ocean,
and
142 A JOURNEY TO THE
and muft have been made by a nation to
which the ufe of metals was unknown.
The number of this little community
has never been counted by its ruler, nor have
I obtained any pofitive account, confiftent
with ,the refult of political computation*
Not many years ago, the late Laird led out
one hundred men upon a military expedi-
tion. The fixth part of a people is fup-
pofed capable of bearing arms : Raafay had
therefore fix hundred inhabitants. But be-
caufe it is not likely, that every man
able to ferve in the field would follow the
fummons, or that the chief would leave
his lands totally defencelefs, or take away
all the hands qualified for labour, let it
be fuppofed, that half as many might be
permitted to flay at home. The whole
number will then be nine hundred, or nine
to a fquare mile; a degree of populoufnefs
greater than thofe tracts of defolation can
often
WESTERN ISLANDS, & c . 143
often {how. They are content with their
country, and faithful to their chiefs, and yet
uninfeded with the fever of migration.
Near the houfe at Raafay^ is a chapel
unroofed and ruinous, which has long been,
ufed only as a place of burial. About the
churches, in the iflands, are fmall fquares
inclofed with ftone, which belong to par-
ticular families, as repofitories for the
dead. At Raafay there is one, I think, for
the proprietor, and one for fome collateral
houfe.
It is told by Martin^ that at the death of
the Lady of the Ifland, it has been here the
cuftom to erecT: a crofs. This we found not
to be true. The ftones that iland about
the chapel at a fmall diftance, fome of
which perhaps have crofles cut upon them,
are believed to have been not funeral mo-
numents, but the ancient boundaries of
the fan&uary or confecrated ground.
Martin
A JOURNEY TO THE
Martin was a man not illiterate : he was
an inhabitant of Sky 9 and therefore was
within reach of intelligence, and with no
great difficulty might have vifited the places
which he undertakes to defcribe; yet with
all his opportunities, he has often fuffered
himfelf to be deceived. He lived in the
laft century, when the chiefs of the clans
had loft little of their original influence.
The mountains were yet unpenetrated, no
inlet was opened to foreign novelties, and
the feudal inftitutions operated upon life
with their full force. He might therefore
have difplayed a feries of fubordination and
a form of government, which, in more lu-
minous and improved regions, have been
long forgotten, and have delighted his
readers with many uncouth cuftoms that
are now difufed, and wild opinions that
prevail no longer. But he probably had
not knowledge of the world fufficient to
qualify him for judging what would de-
ferve or gain the attention of mankind.
The
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 145
The mode of life which was familiar to
himfelf, he did not fuppofe unknown
to others, nor imagined that he could
give pleafure by telling that of which it
was, in his little country, impofiible to be
ignorant*
What he has negle&ed cannot now be
performed. In nations, where there is
hardly the ufe of letters, what is once out
of fight is loft for ever. They think but
little, and of their few thoughts, none are
wafted on the paft, in which they are nei-
ther interefted by fear nor hope. Their
only regifters are ftated obfervances and
practical reprefentations. For this reafou
an age of ignorance is an age of ceremony.
Pageants, and proceffions, and commemo-
rations, gradually fhrink away, as better
methods come into ufe of recording events,
and prefer ving rights.
It is not only in Raafay that the chapel
is unroofed and ufelefs ; through the few
L
J4 6 A JOURNEY TO THE
iflands which we vifited, we neither faw nor
heard of any houfe of prayer, except in
Sky, that was not in ruins. The malig-
nant influence of Cahinifm has blafted
ceremony and decency together j and if
the remembrance of papal fuperftition is
obliterated, the monuments of papal piety
are likewife effaced.
It has been, for many years, popular to
talk of the lazy devotion of the Romifli
clergy ; over the fleepy lazinefs of men
that erected churches, we may indulge our
fuperiority with a new triumph, by com-
paring it with the fervid adivity of thofe
who fuffer them to fall.
Of the deftruftion of churches, the decay
of religion muft in time be the confe*
quence ; for while the public ads of the
miniftry are now performed in houfes, a very
fmall number can be prefent ; and as the
greater part of the Inlanders make no ufe
of
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 147
of bdbks, all muft neceffarily live in total
ignorance who want the opportunity of
vocal inftru&ion.
From thefe remains of ancient
which are every where to be found, it has
been conjedlured, that, for the laft two cen-
turies, the inhabitants of the Iflands have
decreafed in number. This argument,
which fuppofes that the churches have been
fuffered to fall, only becaufe they were no
longer neceflary, would have fome force,
if the houfes of worfhip ftill remaining
were fufEcient for the people. But fince
they have now no churches at all> thefe
venerable fragments do not prove the peo-
ple of former times to have been more nu-
merous, but to have been more devout. If
the inhabitants were doubled with their
prefent principles, it appears not that any
provifion for publick worfhip would be
made. Where the religion of a country
enforces confecrated buildings, the number
L z of
i 4 8 A JOURNEY TO THE
of thofe buildings may be fuppofed to afford
fome indication, however uncertain, of the
populoufnefs 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 thefe dilapidations are faid to
be found in iflands 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 aufterities.
Voluntary folitude was the great art of pro-
pitiation, by which crimes were effaced,
and confcience was appeafed ; it is there-
fore not unlikely, that oratories were often
built in places where retirement was fure to
have no diftarbance.
Raafay has little that can detain a tra-
veller, except the Laird and his family ;
but their power wants no auxiliaries*
Such
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c.
Such a feat of hofpitality, amidft 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 ftorm :
within is plenty and elegance, beauty and
gaiety, the fong and the dance. In Raafay^
if I could have found an Ulyfies, I had
fancied a Phaacia.
DUNVEGAN.
At Raafay^ by good fortune, Macleod^ fo
the chief of the clan is called, was paying
a vifit, and by him we were invited to his
feat at Dunvegan. Raafay has a ftout boat,
built in Norway, in which, with fix oars,
he conveyed us back to Sky. We landed
at Port Re^ fo called, becaufe James the
Fifth of Scotland^ who had curiofity to vifit
the Iflands, came into it. The port is made
by an inlet of the fea, deep and narrow,
L 3 where
150 A JOURNEY TO THE
where a fhip lay waiting to difpeople Sky,
by carrying the natives away to America.
In coafting Sky, we pafled by the cavern in
which it was the cuftom, as Martin relates,
to catch birds in the night, by making a
fire at the entrance. This practice is dif-
ufed ; for the birds, as is known often to
happen, have changed their haunts.
Here we dined at a publick houfe, I be-
lieve the only inn pf the ifland, and having
mounted our horfes, travelled in the man-
ner already defcribed, till we came to Kingf-
borough, a place diftinguifhed by that name,
becaufe the King lodged here when he
landed at Port Re. We were entertained
with the ufual hofpitality by Mr. Macdonald
and his lady Flora Macdonald, a name that
'Will be mentioned in hiftory, and if cou-
rage and fidelity be virtues, mentioned with
honour. She is a woman of middle ftature,
foft
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 151
foft features, gentle manners, and elegant
prefence.
In the morning we fent our horfes round
a promontory to meet us, and fpared our-
felves part of the day's fatigue, by croffing
an arm of the fea. We had at laft fome
difficulty in coming to Dimvegan*, for our
way led over an extenfive moor, where
every ftep was to be taken with caution,
and we were often obliged to alight, be-
caufe the ground could not be trufted. la
travelling this watery flat, I perceived that
it had a vifible declivity, and might with-
out much expence or difficulty be drained.
But difficulty and expence are relative
terms, which have different meanings ia
different places.
To Dunvegan we came, very willing to
be at reft, and found our fatigue amply
recompenfed by our reception. Lady Mac-
who had lived many years in England,
L 4 was
152 A JOURNEY TO THE
was newly come hither with her fon and
four daughters, who knew all the arts of
fouthern elegance, and all the modes of
Englifh economy. Here therefore we fet-
tled, and did not fpoil the prefent hour with
thoughts of departure,
Dunwgan is a rocky prominence, that
juts out into a bay, on the weft fide of Sky.
The houfe, which is the principal feat of
Macleod) is partly old and partly modern ;
it is built upon the rock, and looks upon
the water. It forms two fides of a fmali
fquare : on the third fide is the fkeleton of
a caftle of unknown antiquity, fuppofed to
have been a Norwegian fortrefs, when the
Danes were maflers of the Iflands. It is fo
nearly entire, that it might have eafily been
made habitable, were there not an ominous
tradition in the family, that the owner mail
not long outlive the reparation. The
grandfather of the prefent Laird, in de-
fiance of prediction, began the work, but
defifted
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 153
defifted in a little time, and applied his
money to worfe ufes.
As the inhabitants of the Hebrides lived,
for many ages, in continual expe&ation of
hoftilities, the chief of every clan refided
in a fortrefs. This houfe was acceflible
only from the water, till the laft pofleffor
opened an entrance by flairs upon the land.
They had formerly reafon to be afraid,
not only of declared wars and authorized
invaders, or of roving pirates, which, in the
northern feas, muft have been very com-
mon; but of inroads and infults from rival
clans, who, in the plenitude of feudal inde-
pendence, afked no leave of their Sovereign
to make war on one another. Sky has
been ravaged by a feud between the two
mighty powers of Macdmald and Macleod.
Macdonald having married a Macleod, upon
fome difcontent difmifled her, perhaps be-
caufe file had brought him no children.
Before
154 A JOURNEY TO THE
Before the reign of James the Fifth, a High-
land Laird made a trial of his wife for a
certain time, and if fhe did not pleafe him,
he was then at liberty to fend her away.
This however muft always have offended,
and Macleod refenting the injury, whatever
were its circumftances, declared, that the
wedding had been folemnized without a
bonfire, but that the feparation fhould be
better illuminated ; and raifing a little army,
fet fire to the territories of Macdonald* who
returned the vifit, and prevailed.
Another fiory may fhow the diforderly
ftate of infular neighbourhood. The in-
habitants of the Ifle of Egg, meeting a
boat manned by Macleods, tied the crew
hand and foot, and fet them a- drift. Mac-
leod landed upon Egg, arid demanded the
offenders ; but the inhabitants refufing to
furrender them, retreated to a cavern, into
which they thought their enemies unlikely
to follow them. Macleod choked them
1 with
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 155
with fmoke, and left them lying dead by
families as they flood.
Here the violence of the weather con-
fined us for fome time, not at all to our
difcontent or inconvenience. We would
indeed very willingly have vifited the
Iflands, which might be feen from the
houfe fcattered in the fea, and I was par-
ticularly defirous to have viewed IJ'ay ; but
the ftorms did not permit us to launch a
boat, and we were condemned to liflen in
idlenefs to the wind, except when we were
better engaged by liftening to the ladies.
We had here more winds than waves,
and fuffered the feverity of a tempeft, with-
out enjoying its magnificence. The fea
being broken by the multitude of iflands,
does not roar with fo much noife, nor beat
the ftorm with fuch foamy violence, as I
have remarked on the coaft of SuJJex.
Though, while I was in the Hebrides, the
wind
i 5 6 A JOURNEY TO THE
wind was extremely turbulent, I never faw
very high billows.
The country about Dunvegan is rough
and barren. There are no trees, except in
the orchard, which is a low flickered fpot
furrounded with a wall.
When this houfe was intended to fuftain
a fiege, a well was made in the court, by
boring the rock downwards, till water was
found, which though fo near to the fea,
I have not heard mentioned as brackifh,
though it has fome hardnefs, or other quali-
ties, which makes it lefs fit for ufe; and the
family is now better fupplied from a ftream,
which runs by the rock, from two pleafmg
water-falls. .
Here we faw fome traces of former
manners, and heard fome (landing tradi-
tions. In the houfe is kept an ox's horn,
hollowed fo as to hold perhaps two quarts,
which
WESTERN ISLANDS, & c . 157
which the heir of Macleod was expefted to
fwallow at one draught, as a teft of his man-
hood, before he was permitted to bear arms,
or could claim a feat among the men. It is.
held that the return of the Laird to Dunve-
gan, after any confiderable abfence, produces
a plentiful capture of herrings; and that, if
any woman croffes the water to the oppofite
Ifland, the herrings will defert the coaft.
Boetius tells the fame of fome other place.
This tradition is not uniform. Some hold
that no woman may pafs, and others that
none may pafs but a Macleod.
Among other guefts, which the hofpita-
lity of Dunwgan brought to the table, a
vifit was paid by the Laird and Lady of a
fmall ifland fouth of Sky, of which the pro-
per name is Muack, which fignifies fwine.
It is commonly called Muck> which the pro-
prietor not liking, has endeavoured, without
effect, to change to Monk. It is ufual to call
gentlemen in Scotland by the name of thei;
pofleflions,
158 A JOURNEY TO THE
jtoflfeffions, as Raafay, Bemera, Loch Buy 9
a practice necefTary in countries inhabited
by clans, where all that live in the fame
territory have one name, and muft be
therefore difcriminated by fome addition.
This gentleman, whofe name, I think, is
Maclean^ fhould be regularly called Muck\
but the appellation, which he thinks too
coarfe for his Ifland, he would like ftill lefs
for himfelf, and he is therefore addrefled
by the title of, IJle of Muck.
This little ifland, however it be named*
is of considerable value. It is too Eng~
HJh miles long, and three quarters of a mile
broad, and confequently contains only nine
hundred and fixty Engli/h acres. It is
chiefly arable. Half of this little domi-
nion the Laird retains in his own hand,
and on the other half, live one hundred
and fixty perfons, who pay their rent by
exported corn. What rent they pay, we
were not told, and could not decently in-
quire*
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c.- 159
quire. The proportion of the people to
the land is fuch, as the moft fertile coun-
tries do not commonly maintain.
The Laird having all his people under
his immediate view, feems to be very atten-
tive to their happinefs. The devaftation of
the fmall-pox, when it vifits places where
it comes feldom, is well known. He has
di farmed it of its terrour at Muack, by in-
oculating eighty of his people. The ex-
pence was two (hillings and fixpence a
head. Many trades they cannot have
among them, but upon occafion, he fetches
a fmith from the Ifle of Egg, and has a
tailor from the main land, fix times a year.
This Ifland well deferved to be feen, but the
Laird's abfence left us no opportunity.
Every inhabited Ifland has its appendant
and fubordinate iflets. Muck y however
fmall, has yet others fmaller about it, one
of which has only ground fufficient to afford
jiafture for three wethers,
9 At
i : 6o A JOURNEY TO THE
At Dungevan I had tafted lotus, and
was in danger of forgetting that I was
ever 'to depart, till Mr. Bofwell fagely re-
proached me with my fluggifhnefs and foft-
nefs. I had no very forcible defence to
make ; and we agreed to purfue our jour-
ney. Macleod accompanied us to Ulinifii
where we were entertained by the {herirT
of the Ifland.
U L I N I S H.
Mr, Macqueen travelled with us, and di-
reded our attention to all that was worthy
of obfervation. With him we went to fee
an ancient building, called a dun or bo-
rough. It was a circular inclofure, about
forty two feet in diameter, walled round
with loofe ftones, perhaps to the height of
nine feet. The walls are very thick, di-
miniihing a little towards the top, and
though in thefe countries, ftone is not
"brought far, muft have been raifed with
much labour. Within the great circle were
feveral
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 161
feveral final ler rounds of wall, which form-
ed d,iftint apartments. Its date and its
tofe are unknown. Some fuppofe it the
original feat of the chiefs of the Mackods*
Mr. Macqueen thought it a Dani/h fort.
The entrance is covered with flat ftones,
2nd is narrow, becaufe it was neceflary
that the ftones which lie over it, fhould
reach from one wall to the other ; yet*
Urait as the paftage is, they feem heavier
than could have been placed where they
how lie, by the naked ftrength of as many
men as might ftand about them. They
were probably raifed by putting long pieces
of wood under them, to which the acYion
of a long line of lifters might be applied*
Savages, in all countries, have patience
proportionate to their unfkilfulnefs, and
are content to attain their end by very te-
dious methods.
If it was ever roofed, it might once have
been a dwelling, but as there is no provi-
M fioa
162 A JOURNEY TO THE
fion for water, it could not have been 2t
fortrefs. In Sky> as in every other place^
there is an ambition of exalting whatever
has furvived memory, to fome important
ufe, and referring it to very remote ages.
I am inclined to fufpedt, that in lawlefs
times, when the inhabitants of every moun-
tain Hole the cattle of their neighbour,
thefe enclofures were ufed to fecure the
lierds and flocks in the night. When they
were driven within the wall, they might
be eafily watched, and defended as long as
could be needful 5 for the robbers durft not
wait till the injured clan ihould find them
in the morning.
The interior enclofures, if the whole
building were once a houfe, were the
chambers of the chief inhabitants. If it
was a place of fecurity for cattle, they
were probably the (belters of the keepers.
From the Dun we were conducted to
another place of feeurity, a cave carried a
great
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 163
great way under ground, which had been
difcovered by digging after a fox. Thefe
caves, of which many have been found*
and many probably remain concealed, are
formed, I believe, commonly by taking ad-
vantage of a hollow, where banks or rocks
rife on either fide. If no fuch place can
be found, the ground muft be cut away*
The walls are made by piling ftones againft
the earth, on either fide* It is then roofed
by large ftones laid acrofs the cavern,
which therefore cannot be wide. Over the
roof, turfs were placed* and grafs was fuf-
fered to grow; and the mouth was con*
cealed by bufhes, or fome other cover.
Thefe caves were reprefented to us as
the cabins of the firft rude inhabitants, of
which, however, I am by no mearis per-
fuaded. This was fo low, that no man
could ftand upright in it. By their con-*
ftrudion they are all fo narrow, that two
can never pafs along them together, and
M 2 being
164 A JOURNEY TO THE
being fubterraneous, they muft be always
damp. They are not the work of an age
much ruder than the prefent; for they are
formed with as much art as the conftruc-
tion of a common hut requires. I imagine
them to have been places only of occafional
ufe, in which the Iflander, upon a fudden
alarm, hid his utenfils, or his clothes, and
perhaps fometimes his wife and children.
This cave we entered, but could not pro-
ceed the whole length, and went away
without knowing how far it was carried.
For this omiffion we lhall be blamed, as we
perhaps have blamed other travellers ; but
the day was rainy, and the ground was
damp. We had with us neither fpades
nor pickaxes, and if love of eafe furmounted
our defire of knowledge, the offence has
not the invidioufnefs of fingularity.
Edifices, either {landing or ruined, are
the chief records of an illiterate nation. In
fome
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 165
fbme part of this journey, at no great
diftance from our way, flood a fhattered
fortrefs, of which the learned minifter,
to whofe communication we are much in-
debted, gave us an account.
Thofe, faid 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 fo near his wifh, was im-
patient of delay; and had art and influence
fufEcient to engage feveral gentlemen in a
plot againft the Laird's life. Something
muft be ftipulated on both fides ; for they
would not dip their hands in blood merely
for Hugh's advancement. The compact
was formally written, figned by the con-
fpirators, and placed in the hands of one
Macleod.
It happened that Macleod had fold fome
cattle to a drover, who not having ready
M 3 money,
i66 A JOURNEY TO THE
money, gave him a bond for payment?,
The debt was difcharged, and the bond re-
demanded; which Macleod, who could not
read, intending to put into his hands, gave
him the confpiracy. 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 fafety. He made a pub-
lic feaft, and inviting Hugh Macdonald
and his confederates, placed each of them
at the table between two men of known
fidelity. The eompaft of confpiracy was
then (hewn, and every man confronted
with his own name. Macdonald ated
\vith great moderation. He upbraided
Hugh, both with difloyalty and ingra-
titude ; but told the reft, that he con-
fidered them as men deluded and mifin-
formed. Hugh was fworn to fidelity, and
difmified with his companions; but he was
Dot generous enough to be reclaimed by
lenity; and finding no longer any counte-
nance
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 167
nance among the gentlemen, endeavoured
to execute the fame defign by meaner hands.
In this pradice he was detected, taken to
Macdonald's caftle, and imprifoned in the
dungeon. When he was hungry, they let
down a plentiful meal of falted meat ; and
when, after his repaft, he called for drink,
conveyed to him a covered cup, which,
when he lifted the lid, he found empty.
From that time they vifited him no more, but
left him to perifh in folitude and darknefs.
We were then told of a cavern by the
fea-fide, remarkable for the powerful re-
verberation of founds. After dinner, we
took a boat, to explore this curious cavity.
The boatmen, who feemed to be of a rank
above that of common drudges, inquired
who the ftrangers were, and being told we
came one from Scotland, and the other
from England, afked if the EngUJhman
could recount a long genealogy. What
M 4 anfwer
i68 A JOURNEY TO THE
anfwer was given them, the converfation
being in Erfe, I was not much inclined to
examine.
They expedited no good event of the
voyage ; for one of them declared that he
heard the cry of an Englijh ghoft. This
omen I was not told till after our return,
and therefore cannot claim the dignity of
defpifing it.
The fea was fmooth. We never left the
fhore, and came without any difafter to
the cavern, which we found rugged and
misfhapen, about one hundred and eighty
feet long, thirty wide in the broader! part,
and in the loftiefr, as we guefled, about
thirty high. It was now dry, but at high
water the fea rifes in it hear fix feet.
Here I faw what I had never feen before,
limpets and mufcles in their natural ftate.
Put, as a new teftimony to the veracity of
common
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 163
common fame, here was no echo to be
heard.
We then walked through a natural arch
in the rock, which might have pleafed us
by its novelty, had the ftones, which en-
cumbered our feet, given us leifure to con-
fider it. We were fhown the gummy feed
of the kelp, that fattens itfelf to a ftone,
from, which it grows into a ftrong ftalk.
In our return, we found a little boy
upon the point of a rock, catching with his
angle, a fupper for the family. We rowed
up to him, and borrowed his rod, with
which Mr. Bojwell caught a cuddy.
The cuddy is a fifh of which I know
not the philofophical name. It is not much
bigger than a gudgeon, but is of great ufe
in thefe Iflands, as it affords the lower
people both food, and 'oil for their lamps,
poddies are fo abundant, at fome times of
the
, 7 o A JOURNEY TO THE
the year, that they are caught like white-*
bait in the Thames, only by dipping a
bafcet and drawing it back,
If it were always practicable to fifh,
thefe Iflands could never be in much dan-*
ger from famine; but unhappily in the
winter, when other provifion fails, the feas
are commonly too rough for nets, or boats.
TALISKER IN SKY.
From Ulinijh) our next ftage was to Ta-
lljker^ the houfe of Colonel Macleod> an
officer in the Dutch fervice, who in this
time of univerfal peace, has for feveral years
been permitted to be abfent from his regi-
ment. Having been bred to phyfick, he
is confequently a icholar, and his lady, by
accompanying him in his different places
of refidence, is become flcilful in feveral
languages, lalijker is the place beyond all
that I have feen, from which the gay and the
4 jovial
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 171
jovial feem utterly excluded; and where the
hermit might expert to grow old in medi-
tation, without poffibiltty of difturbance or
interruption. It is fituated very near the
fea, but upon a coaft where no veflel lands
but when it is driven by a tempeft on
the rocks. Towards the land are lofty
hills ftreaming with water-falls. The gar-
den is fheltered by firs, or pines, which
grow there fo profperoufly, that fome,
which the prefent inhabitant planted, are
very high and thick.
At this place we very happily met Mr.
Donald Maclean, a young gentleman, the
eldefl fon of the Laird of Col, heir to a
very great extent of land, and fo defirous
of improving his inheritance, that he fpent
a confiderable time among the farmers of
Hertford/hire, and Hampjhire, to learn
their practice. He worked with his own
hands at the principal operations of agri-
that he might not deceive himfelf
by
172 A JOURNEY TO THE
by a falfe opinion of fkill, which if he
fhould find it deficient at home, he had no
means of completing. If the world has
agreed to praife the travels and manual
labours to the Czar of Mufcovy, let Col
have his fhare of the like applaufe, in the
proportion of his dominion^ to the empire
of Ruffia.
This young gentleman was fporting ir$
the mountains of Sky, and when he was
weary with following his game, repaire4
for lodging to T^HJker. At night he
miffed one of his dogs, and when he went
to feek him in the morning, found two
eagles feeding on his carcafs.
Col, for he muft be named by his pof-
feffions, hearing that our intention was tq
vifit Jona* offered to condud us to his
chief, Sir Allan Maclean* who lived in the
ifle of Inch Kenneth, and would readily
find us a convenient paflage. From this
time
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c.
time was formed an acquaintance, which
being begun by kindnefs, was accidentally
continued by conftraint ; we derived much
pleafure from it, and I hope have given
him no reafon to repent it.
The weather was now almofl one con-
tinued ftorm, and we were to fnatch fome
happy intermhTion to be conveyed to M#/7,
the third Ifland of the Hebrides, lying
about a degree fouth of Sky> whence we
might eafily find our way to Inch Kenneth,
where Sir Allan Maclean refided, and after*
ward to Jona.
For this purpofe, the moft commodious
ftation that we could take was Armidel^
which Sir Alexander Macdonald had now
left to a gentleman, who lived there as his
factor or fteward.
In our way to Armidel> was Coriatachau,
where we had already been, and to which
therefore we were very willing to return*
We
174 A JOURNEY TO THE
We (laid however fo long at Talifeer, that
a great part of our journey was performed
in the gloorn of the evening. In travelling
even thus almoft without light thro* naked
folitude, when there is a guide whofe con-
duit may be trufted, a mind not naturally
too much difpofed to fear, may preferve
fome degree of cheerfulnefs ; but what
muft be the folicitude of him who fhould
be wandering, among the craggs and hol-
lows, 'benighted, ignorant, and alone?
The fidions of the Gothick romances were
not fo remote from credibility as they are
now thought. In the full prevalence of
the feudal inftitution, when violence defo-
lated the world, and every baron lived in a
fortrefs, forefts and caftles were regularly
fucceeded by each other, and the adventurer
might very fuddenly pafs from the gloom
of woods, or the ruggednefs of moors,
to feats of plenty, gaiety, and magnifi-
cence. Whatever is imaged in the wildeft
tale,
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 175
tale, if giants, dragons, and enchant-
ment be excepted, would be felt by him*
who, wandering in the mountains with-
out a guide, or upon the fea without a pi-
lot, fhould be carried amidft his terrour and
uncertainty, to the hofpitality and elegance
of Raafay and Dunvegan.
To Coriatachan at laft we came, and
found ourfelves welcomed as before. Here
we ftaid two days, and made fuch in-
quiries as curiofity fuggefted. The houfe
was filled with company, among whom
Mr* Macpbcrfon and his fifter diftinguifhed
themfelves by their politenefs and accom-
pliihments. By him we were invited
to Oftig, a houfe not far from Armidel*
where we might eafily hear of a boat, when
the weather would fuffer us to leave the
Ifland.
OS TIG IN SKY.
At OJltg, of Which Mn Macpherfon ig
minifter, we were entertained for fome days,
then
176 A JOURNEY TO THE
then removed to Armidel, where we finimecl
our obfervations on the ifland of Sky.
As this ifland lies in the fifty-feventh
degree, the air cannot be fuppofed to have
much warmth. The long continuance of
the fun above the horizon, does indeed
fometimes produce great heat in northerri
latitudes; but this ean only happen in fhel-
tered places, where the atmofphere is to a
certain degree ftagnant, and the fame mafs
of air continues to receive for many hours
the rays of the fun, and the vapours of the
earth. 'Sky lies open on the weft and north
to a vaft extent of ocean, and is cooled
in the fumrner by a perpetual ventilation,
but by the fame blafts is kept warm in!
winter. Their weather is not pleafmg.
Half the year is deluged with rain. Frorri
the autumnal to the vernal equinox, a dry
day is hardly known, except when the
fhowers are fufpended by a tempeft. ^Under
fuch flues can be expeded no great exu-
berance
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 177
berance of vegetation. Their winter over-
takes their fummer, and their harvefl lies
upon the ground drenched with rain. The
autumn ftruggles hard to produce fome of
our early fruits. I gathered goofeberries
in September ; but they were fmall, and
the huik was thick.
Their winter is feldom fuch as puts a
full ftop to the growth of plants, or reduces
the cattle to live wholly on the furplufage
of the fummer. In the year Seventy- one
they had a fevere feafon, remembered by
the name of the Black Spring, from which,
the ifland has not yet recovered. The
fnow lay long upon the ground, a calamity
hardly known before. Part of their cattle
died for want, part were unfeafonably fold
to buy fuflenance for the owners ; and,
what I have not read or heard of before,
the kine that furvived were fo emaciated
and difpirited, that they did not require
N the
A JOURNEY TO THE
the male at the ufual time. Many of the
roebucks perilhed.
The foil, as in other countries, has its
diverfities. In fome parts there is only a
thin layer of earth fpread upon a rock,
which bears nothing but fhort brown heath,
and perhaps is not generally capable of any
better product. There are many bogs or
moffes of greater or lefs extent, where the
foil cannot be fuppofed to want depth,
though it is too wet for the plough. But we
did not obferve in thefe any aquatick plants.
The vallies and the mountains are alike
darkened with heath. Some grafs, how-
ever, grows here and there, and fome hap-
pier fpots of earth are capable of tillage.
Their agriculture is laborious, and per-
haps rather feeble than unfldlful. Their
chief manure is fea- weed, which, when they
lay it to rot upon the field, gives them a bet-
ter crop than thofe of the Highlands, They
heap
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 179
heap fea-fhells upon the dunghill, which in
time moulder into a fertilifing fubftance.
When they find a vein of earth where they
cannot ufe it, they dig it up, and add it to
the mould of a more commodious place.
Their corn grounds often lie in fuch in-
tricacies among the craggs, that there is no
room for the action of a team and plough.
'The foil is then turned up by manual la-
bour with an inftrument called a crooked
fpade, of a form and weight which to me
appeared very incommodious, and would
perhaps be foon improved in a country
where workmen could be eafily found and
eafily paid. It has a narrow blade of iron
fixed to a long and heavy piece of wood,
which muft have, about a foot and a half
above the iron, a knee or flexure with the
angle downwards. When the farmer en-
counters a (lone which is the great impe-
diment of his operations, he drives the blade
under it, and bringing the knee or angle to
% the
i8o A JOURNEY TO THE
the ground, has in the long handle a very
forcible lever.
According to the different mode of til-
lage, farms are diftinguifhed into long land
and JJoort land. Long land is that which
affords room for a plough, and ihort land
is turned up by the fpade.
The grain which they commit to the fur-
rows thus tedioufly formed, is either oats
or barley. They do not fow barley with-
out very copious manure, and then they
expecl: from it ten for one, an increafe
equal to that of better countries ; but the
culture is fo operofe that they content
themfelves commonly with oats ; and who
can relate without compaffion, that after
all their diligence they are to expecl: only a
triple increafe ? It is in vain to hope for
plenty, when a third part of the harveft
muft be referved for feed.
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 181
When their grain is arrived at the ftate
which they muft confider as ripenefs, they
do not cut, but pull the barley : to the
oats they apply the fickle. Wheel car-
riages they have none, but make a frame
qf timber, which is drawn by one horfe
with the two points behind preffing on the
ground. On this they fometimes drag
home their (heaves, but often convey them
fyome in a kind of open panier, or frame
of flicks upon the horfe's back.
Of that which is obtained with fo much
difficulty, nothing furely ought to be wafted ;
yet their method of clearing their oats from
the hufk is by parching them in the ftraw.
Thus with tjie genuine improvidence of
favages, they deftroy that fodder for want
of which their cattle may perifli. From
this practice they have two petty conveni-
encies. They dry the grain fo that it is
eafily reduced to meal, and they efcape the
theft of the threfher. The tafte go \i traced
N 3 from
j82 A JOURNEY TO THE
from the fire by the oats, as by every other
fcorched fubftance, life muft long ago have
made grateful. The oats that are not
parched muft be dried in a kiln.
The barns of Sky I never faw. That
which Macleod of Raafay had erected near
his houfe was fo contrived, becaufe the har-
veft is feldom 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 obferve that the
common greens were wanting, and fuppofe,
that by choofing an advantageous expofition,
they can raife all the more hardy efculent
plants. Of vegetable fragrance or beauty
they are not yet ftudious. Few vows are
made to Flora in the Hebrides.
They gather a little hay, but the grafs is
ipown late; and is fo often almoft dry acd
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 183
again very wet, before it is houfed, that it
becomes a collection of withered (talks with-
out tafte or fragrance ; it mud be eaten by
cattle that have nothing elfe, but by mod
farmers would be thrown away.
In the Iflands I have not heard that any
fubterraneous treafures have been difco-
vered, though where there are mountains,
there are commonly minerals. One of the
rocks in Col has a black vein, imagined to
confift of the ore of lead; but it was never
yet opened or eflayed. In Sky a black mafs
was accidentally picked up, and brought
into the houfe of the owner of the land,
who found himfeif ftrongly 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 feparated by fire, muft, if it were
found, be carried away in its mineral ftate,
here being no fewel for the fmelting houfe
or forge. Perhaps by diligent fearch in
N 4 thi$
1 84 A JOURNEY TO THE
this world of ftone, fome valuable fpecies
of marble might be difcovered. -But nei^
ther philofophical curiofity v nor commercial
induftry, have yet fixed their abode here,
where the importunity of immediate want
fupplied but for the day, and craving on
the morrow, has left little room for excur-
five knowledge or the pleafmg fancies of
diftant profit.
They have lately found a manufa&ure
confiderably lucrative. Their rocks abound
with kelp, a fea-plant, of which the afhes
are melted into glafs. They burn kelp in
great quantities, and then fend it away
in {hips, which come regularly to purchafe
them. This new fource of riches has raifed
the rents of many maritime farms; but the
tenants pay, like all other tenants, the ad-
ditional rent with great unwillingnefs ; be-
caufe they confider the profits of the kelp
as the mere product of perfonal labour,
to which the landlord contributes nothing.
How-
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 185
However, as any man may be faid 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 elfe foun4
or raifed 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 defired the reputation of pofTeffing.
The cattle of Sky are not fo fmall as is
commonly believed. Since they have fent
their beeves in great numbers to fouthern
marts, they have probably taken more care
of their breed. At fitted times the annual
growth of cattle is driven to a fair, by a ge-
neral drover, and with the money, which he
returns to the farmer, the rents are paid.
The price regularly expeded, is from,
two to three pounds a head : there was once
one
i86 A JOURNEY TO THE
one fold for five pounds. They go from
the Iflands very lean, and are not offered
to the butcher, till they have been long
fatted in Engltfh paftures.
Of their black cattle, forne are without
horns, called by the Scots bumble cows,
as we call a bee an bumble bee, that wants
a fling, Whether this difference be fpeci-
fick, or accidental, though we inquired
with great diligence, we could not be in-
formed. We are not very fure that the bull
is ever without horns, though we have been
told, that fuch bulls there are. What is
produced by putting a horned and unhorned
male and female together, no man has
ever tried, that thought the refult worthy
of obfervation.
Their horfes are, like their cows, of a
moderate fize. I had no difficulty to mount
myfelf commodioufly by the favour of
the gentlemen, I heard of very little
cows
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 187
eows in Barra, and very little horfes in
Rum, where perhaps no care is taken to
prevent that diminution of fize, which muft
always happen, where the greater and the
lefs copulate promifcuoufly, and ths young
animal is reftrained from growth by pe->
nury of fuftenance.
The goat is the general inhabitant of the
earth, complying with every difference of
climate, and of foil. The goats of the He-
brides are like others : nor did 1 hear any
thing of their flieep, to be particularly re-
marked.
In the penury of thefe malignant regions
nothing is left that can be converted to food.
The goats and the fheep are milked like the
cows. A fingte meal of a goat is a quart,
and of a fheep a pint. Such at leaft was
the account, which I could extracl: from
thofe of whom I am not fure that they ever
had inquired.
The
>88 A JOURNEY TO THE
The milk of goats is much thinner than,
that of cows, and that of fheep is much
thicker. Sheeps milk is never eaten be-
fore it is boiled : as it is thick, it muft be
very liberal of curd, and the people of /,
Jilda form it into fmall cheefes.
The (lags of the mountains are lefs than
thofe of our parks, or forefts, perhaps not
bigger than our fallow deer. Their flefh
has no ranknefs, nor is inferiour in flavour
to our common venifon. The roebuck I
neither faw nor tailed. Thefe are not coun-
tries for a regular chafe. The deer are not
driven with horns and hounds. A fportf-
man, 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 flronger than thofe with which
we courfe hares, and thofe are the only
dogs ufed by them for the chafe.
Man,
M
WESTERN ISLANDS, &e. 189
an is by the ufe of fire-arms made fo
much an overmatch for other animals, that
in all countries, where they are in ufe, the
wild part of the creation fenfibly dimi-
nifhes. There will probably not .be long
either flags or roebucks in the Iflands. All
the beafts of chafe would have been loft
long ago in countries well inhabited, had
they not been preferved by laws for the
pleafure of the rich.
There are in Sky neither rats nor mice,
but the weafel is fo frequent, that he is
heard in houfes rattling behind chefts or
beds, as rats in England. They probably
owe to his predominance that they have no
other vermin ; for fince the great rat took
pofleffion of this part of the world, fcarce
a fliip can touch at any port, but fome of
his race are left behind. They have with-
in thefe few years began to infeft the Me
of Col, where being left by fome trading
veflel,
1 90 A JOURNEY TO THE
veffel, they have increafed for want of wea*
fels to oppofe them.
The inhabitants of Sky, and of the other
Iflands, which I have feen, are commonly
of the middle fixture, with fewer among
them very tall or very fhort, than are feen
in England, or perhaps, as their numbers
are fmall, the chances of any deviation
from the common meafure are neceffarily
few. The talleft men that I faw are among
thofe of higher rank. In regions of bar-
rennefs and fcarcity, the human race is
hindered in its .growth by the fame caufes
as other animals.
The ladies have as much beauty here as
in other places, but bloom and foftnefs are
not to be expected among the lower clafles,
whofe faces are expofed to the rudenefs of
the climate, and whofe features are fome-
times contracted by want, and fometimes
hardened by the blafts. Supreme beauty
is
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c.
is feldom found in cottages or work-fhops,
even where no real hardfhips are fufFered.
To expand the human face to its full per-
fection, it feems neceflary that the mind
fhould co-operate by placidnefs of content,
or confcioufnefs of fuperiority.
Their ftrength is proportionate to their
fize, but they are accuftomed to run upon
rough ground, and therefore can with
great agility fkip over the bog, or clam-
ber the mountain. For a .campaign in the
waftes of America, foldiers better qualified
could not have been found. Having little
work to do, they are not willing, nor per-
haps able to endure a long continuance of
manual labour, and are therefore confider-
ed as habitually idle.
Having never been fupplied with thefe
accommodations, which life extenfively di*
verfified with trades affords, they fupply
their wants by very inefficient fliifts,
and
192 A JOURNEY TO THE
and endure many inconveniences, which
a little attention would eafily relieve. I
have feen a horfe carrying home the harveft
on a crate. Under his tail was a (lick for a
crupper, held at the two ends by twifts of
ftraw. Hemp will grow in their iflands,
and therefore ropes may be had. If they
wanted hemp, they might make better cord-
age of rufhes, or perhaps of nettles, than
Their method of life neither' fecures
them perpetual health, nor expofes them
to any particular difeafes. There are phy-
ficians in the Iflands 1 , who, I believe, all
pra&ife chirurgery, and all compound their
own medicines.
It is generally fuppofed, that life is longer
in places where there are few oppor-
tunities of luxury; but I found no in-
ftance here of extraordinary longevity. A
cottager grows old over his oaten cakes,
like
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 193
like a citizen at a turtle feaft. He is in-
deed feldom incommoded by corpulence.
Poverty preferves him from finking under
the burden of himfelf, but he efcapes ho
other injury of time. Inftances of long
life are often related, which thofe 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 ftands trembling on
the brink of his own clima&erick.
Length of life is diftributed impartially
to very different modes of life in very diffe-
rent climates; arid 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, prefided at her table
with the full exercife of all her powers; and
the other has attained her eighty-fourth,
without any diminution of her vivacity,
O and
A JOURNEY TO THE
and with little reafon to accufe time of
depredations on her beauty.
In the Iflands, as in moft other places,
the inhabitants are of different rank, and
one does not encroach here upon another*
Where there is no commerce nor manufac-
ture, he that is born poor can fcarce be-
come rich ; and if none are able to buy
eftates, he that is born to land cannot anni-
hilate his family by felling it. This was
once the ftate of thefe countries. Perhaps
there is no example, till within a century
and half, of any family whofe eftate was
alienated otherwife than by violence or for-
feiture. Since money has been brought
amongft them, they have found* like others,
the art of fpending more, than they receive ;
and I faw with grief the chief of a very
ancient clan, whcfe Ifland was condemned
by law to be fold for the fatisfa&ion of his
creditors.
The
WESTE-RN ISLANDS, &c. 195
The name of higheft dignity Is Laird, of
which there are in the extenfive Ifle of Sky
only three, Macdonald^ Macleod, and Mac-,
lunnon. The Laird is the original owner
of the land, whofe natural power muft he
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 paiTes directly from the
hand that gathers it to the mouth that eats
it. The Laird has all thofe in his power
that live upon his farms. Kings can, for
the moft part, only exalt or degrade. The
Laird at pleafure can feed or ilarve, can
give bread, or withhold it. This inherent
power was yet flrengthened by the kind-
nefs of confanguinity, and the reverence of
patriarchal authority. The Laird was the
father of the Clan, and his tenants com-
monly bore his name. And to thefe prin-
ciples of original command was added, for
many ages, an exclufive right of legal
jurifdidion.
O 2 This
A JOURNEY TO
This multifarious and extenfive obliga-
tion operated with force fcarcely credible.
Every duty, moral or political, was ab-
forbed in affedion and adherence to the
Chief. Not many years have pafled fince
the Clans knew no law but the Laird's will.
He told them to whom they fhould be
friends or enemies, what king they fhould
obey, and what religion they fhould pro-
fefs.
When the Scots firft rofe in arms againft
the fucceffion of the houfe of Hanover^
Lovat y the Chief of the Frafers, was in
exile for a rape. The Frafers were very
numerous, and very zealous againft the
government. A pardon was fent to Lovat.
He came to the EngUJh camp, and the
Clan immediately deferted to him.
Next in dignity to the Laird is the
Tackfman; a large taker of leafe-holder
of land, of which he keeps part, as a do-
main
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 197
main in his own hand, and lets part to
under-tenants. The Tackfman is necefla-
rily a man capable of featuring to the Laird
the whole rent, and is commonly a colla-
teral relation. Thefe tacks > or fubordinate
pofTeffions, were long confidered as here-
ditary, and the occupant was diftinguimed
by the name of the place at which he
refided. He held a middle ftation, by
which the higheil and the loweft orders
were conne&ed. He paid rent and reve-
rence to the Laird, and received them from
the tenants. This tenure ftill fubfifts, with
its original operation, but not with the
primitive liability. Since the iilanders, no
longer content to live, have learned the
defire of growing rich, an ancient depend-
ent is in danger of giving way to a higher
bidder, at the expence of domeftic dig-
nity and hereditary power. The ftranger,
whofe money buys him preference, confi-
ders himfelf as paying for all that he has,
and is indifferent about the Laird's honour
O or
j 9 8 A JOURNEY T.O THE
or fafety. The commodioufnefs of money
is indeed great ; but there are fome advan-
tages which money cannot buy, and which
therefore no wife man will by the love of
money be tempted to forego.
I have found in the hither parts of Scot-
land r men not defective in judgment or
general experience, who confider the Tackf-
man a& a ufelefs burden of the ground,
as a drone who lives upon the product of
an eftate, without the right of property,
or the merit of labour, and who impove-
riiHes at once the landlord and the tenant.
The land, fay they, is let to the Tackf-
man at fix-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 fets the ground at eight-pence, he will
increafe his revenue by a fourth part, and
the tenant's burden will be diminiihed by
a fifth*
Thofe
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 199
Thofe who purfue this train of reafon-
ing, feem not fufficiently to inquire whi-
ther it will lead them, nor to know that it
will equally {hew the propriety of fuppreff-
ing all wholefale trade, of {hutting up the
fhops of every man who fells what he does
not make, and of extruding all whofe
agency and profit intervene between the
martufa&urer and the confumer. They
may, by ftretching their underftandings a
little wider, comprehend, that all thofe
who by undertaking large quantities of
manufa&ure, and affording employment to
many labourers, make themfelves conii-
dered as benefactors to the publick, have
enly been robbing their workmen with one
hand, and their cuftomers with the other.
If Crowley had fold only what he could
make, and all his fmiths had wrought their
own iron with their own hammers, he
would have lived on lefs, and they would
have fold their work for more. The fala-
ries of fuperintendents and clerks would
O 4 have
A JOURNEY TO THE
have been partly faved, and partly fhared,
and nails been fometimes cheaper by a far-
thing in a hundred. But then if the fmith
could not have found an immediate pur-
chafer, he muft have deferred his anvil;
if there had by accident at any time been
more fellers than buyers, the workmen
muft have reduced their profit to nothing,
by underfelling one another ; and as no
great flock could have been in amy hand,
no fudden demand of large quantities could
have been anfwered, and the builder muft
have flood flill till the nailer could fupply
him.
According to thefe fchemes, univerfaj
plenty is to begin and end in univerfal
mifery. Hope and emulation will he ut-
terly extinguifhed ; and as all muft obey
the call of immediate neceffity, nothing;
that requires extenfive views, or provides
for diftant confequences, will ever be per-
formed,
To
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 2or
To the fouthern inhabitants of Scotland,
the ftate of the mountains and the iflands
is equally unknown with that of Borneo or
Sumatra : Of both they have only heard a
little, and guefs the reft. They are ftran-
gers to the language and the manners, to
the advantages and wants of the people,
whofe life they would model, and whofe
evils they would remedy.
Nothing is lefs difficult than to procure
one convenience by the forfeiture of another.
A foldier may expedite his march by throw-*
ing away his arms. To banifh the Tackf-
man is eafy, to make a country plentiful
by diminiihing the people, is an expeditious
mode of hufbandry ; but that abundance,
which there is nobody to enjoy, contributes
little to human happinefs.
As the mind mull govern the hands, fo
in every fociety the man of intelligence
muft direct the man of labour. If the
Tackfmea
202 A JOURNEY TO THE
Tackfmen be taken away, the Hebrides
muft in their prefent ftate be given up to
groflfnefs and ignorance ; the tenant, for
want of inftrudiion, will be unfkilful, and
for want of admonition will be negli-
gent- The Laird, in thefe wide eftates,
which often confift of iflands remote from
one another, cannot extend his perfonal
influence to all his tenants ; and the
fteward having no dignity annexed to his
character, can have little authority among
men taught to pay reverence only to birth,
and who regard the Tackfman as their
hereditary fuperior; nor can the fteward
have equal zeal for the profperity of an
eftate profitable only lo the Laird, with
the Tackfman, who has the Laird's income
involved in his own.
The only gentlemen in .the iflands are
the Lairds, the Tackfmen, and the Mini-
ilers, who frequently improve their livings
by becoming farmers. If the Tackfmen
be
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 203
be banifhed, who will be left to impart
knowledge, or imprefs civility ? The Laird
muft always be at a diftance from the
greater part of his lands ; and if he refides
at all upon them, rriuft drag his days in
folitude, having no longer either a friend
or a companion ; he will therefore depart
to~fome more comfortable refidence, and
leave the tenants to the wifdom and mercy
of a factor.
Of tenants there are different orders, as
they have greater or lefs flock. Land is
fometimes leafed to a fmall fellowfhip, who
live in a clufter of huts, called a Tenants
Town, and are bound jointly and fepa-
rately for the payment of their rent. Thefe,
I believe, employ in the care of their
cattle, and the labour of tillage, a kind of
tenants yet lower; who hiving a hut, with
grafs for a certain number of cows and
flieep,- pay their rent by a ftipulated quan-
tity of labour.
The
A JOURNEY TO THE
The condition of domeftic fervants, or
the price of occafional labour, I do not
know with certainty. I was told that the
maids have fheep, and are allowed to fpin
for their own clothing ; perhaps they have
no pecuniary wages, or none but in very
wealthy families. The ilate of life which
has hitherto been purely paftoral, begins
now to be a little variegated with com-
merce ; but novelties enter by degrees, and
till one mode has fully prevailed over the
other, no fettled notion can be formed.
Such is the fyftem of infular fabordina-
tion, 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 pleafures which they did
not know, a blind veneration for their
chiefs,
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 165
chiefs, and a ftrong convi&ion of their own
importance.
Their pride has been crufhed by the
heavy hand of a vindictive conqueror,
whofe feverities have been followed by
laws, which, though they cannot be called
cruel, have produced much difcontent, be-
caufe they operate upon the furface of life,
and make every eye bear witnefs to fubjec-
tion. To be compelled to a new drefs has
always been found painful.
Their chiefs being now deprived of their
jurifdidion, have already loft much of their
influence; and as they gradually degene-
rate from patriarchal rulers to rapacious
landlords, they will divert themfelves of
the little that remains.
That dignity which they derived from
an opinion of their military importance,
the law, which difarmed them, has abated.
An
205 A JOURNEY TO THE
An old gentleman, delighting himfelf wi.th
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 rab-
ble has now ceafed. The Chief has loft his
formidable retinue; and the Highlander
walks his heath unarmed and defencelefs,
with the peaceable fubmiffion of a French
peafant or Englifh cottager.
Their ignorance grows every day lefs,
but their knowledge is yet of little other
ufe than to (hew them their wants. They
are now in the period of education, and
feel the uneafmefs of difcipline, without
yet perceiving the benefit of inftrudion.
The laft law, by which the Highlanders
are deprived of their arms, has operated
with efficacy beyond expectation. Of for-
mer ftatutes made with the fame defign, the
execution had been feeble, and the efFecT:
incon-
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 207
inconfiderable. Concealment was undoubt-
edly pradifed, and perhaps often with
connivance. There was tendernefs or par-
tiality on one fide, and obftinacy on the
other. But the law, which followed the
victory of Culloden, found the whole na-
tion deje&ed and intimidated ; informa-
tions were given without danger, and
without fear, and the arms were collected
with fuch rigour, that every houfe was
defpoiled of its defence,
To difarm part of the Highlands, could
give no reafonable occafion of complaint.
Every government muft be allowed the
power of taking away the weapon that is
lifted againft it. But the loyal Clans rnur-i
inured, with fome appearance of juftice,
that after having defended the King, they
were forbidden for the future to defend
themfelves ; and that the fword fhould be
forfeited, which had been legally employed.
Their cafe is undoubtedly hard, but in
5 political
io8 A JOURNEY TO THE
political regulations, good cannot be com-
plete, it can only be predominant.
Whether by difarming a people thus
broken into feveral tribes, and thus remote
from the feat of power, more good than
evil has been produced, may deferve in-
quiry. The fupreme power in every com*
munity has the right of debarring every
individual, and every fubordinate fociety,
from felf-defence, only becaufe the fupreme
power is able to defend them; and there-
fore where the governor cannot aft, he
xnuft truft the fufejed to aft for himfelf.
Thefe Iflands might be wafted with fire and
fword before their fovereign would know
their diftrefs. A gang of robbers, fuch as
has been lately found confederating them-
felves in the Highlands, might lay a wide
region under contribution. The crew of
a petty privateer might land on the largeft
and moft wealthy of the Iflands, and riot
without control in cruelty and wafte. It
was
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 209
was obferved by one of the Chiefs of
that fifty armed men might, without refift-
ance, ravage the country. Laws that
place the fubjects in fuch a ftate, contra-
vene the firft principles of the compact of
authority : they exadt obedience, and yield
no protection.
It affords a generous and manly pleafure
to conceive a little nation gathering its
fruits and tending its herds with fearlefs
confidence, though it lies open on every
fide to invafion, where, in contempt of
walls and trenches, every man fleeps fecure-
ly with his fword befide him; where all on
the firft approach of hoftility came together
at the call to battle, as at a fummons to a
feftal {how; and committing their cattle
to the care of thofe whom age or nature
has difabled, engage the enemy with that
competition for hazard and for glory,
which operate in men that fight under the
eye of thofe, whofe diilike or kindnefs they
P have
210 A JOURNEY TO THE
have always confidered as the greateft evil
or the greateft good.
This was, in the beginning of the pre-
fent century, the ftate of the Highlands.
Every man was a foldier, who partook of
national confidence, and interefted himfelf
in national honour. To lofe this fpirit, is
to lofe what no fmall advantage will com-
penfate.
It may likewife deferve to be inquired,
whether a great nation ought to be totally
commercial ? whether, amidft the uncer-
tainty of human affairs, too much atten-
tion to one mode of happinefs may not
endanger others ? whether the pride of
riches muft not fometimes have recourfe to
the protection of courage? and whether,
if it be necefiary to preferve in fome part
of the empire the military fpirit, it can
fubfift more commodioufly in any place,
than in remote and unprofitable provinces,
7 where
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 211
where it can commonly do little harm, and
whence it may be called forth at any fud-
den exigence ?
It muft however be confefled, that a man
who places honour only in fuccefsful vio-
lence, is a very troublefome and pernicious
animal in time of peace; and that the mar-
tial character cannot prevail in a whole
people, but by the diminution of all other
virtues. He that is accuftomed to refolve
all right into conqueft, will have very little
tendernefs or equity. All the friendfhip in
fuch a life can only be a confederacy of
invafion, or alliance of defence. The ftrong
muft flourifh by force, and the weak fub-
fift by ftratagem.
Till the Highlanders loft their ferocity,
with their arms, they fuffered from each
other all that malignity could didate, or
precipitance could adt. Every provocation
was revenged with blood, and no man that
P 2 ventured
A JOURNEY TO THE
ventured into a numerous company, by
whatever occafion brought together, was
fure of returning without a wound. If
they are now expofed to foreign hoftilities,
they may talk of the danger, but can
feldom feel it. If they are no longer mar-
tial, they are no longer quarrelfome. Mifery
is caufed for the moft part, not by a heavy
crufh of difafter, but by the corrofion of
lefs vifible evils, which canker enjoyment,
and undermine fecurity. The vifit of an
invader is neceflarily rare, but domeftick
animofities allow no ceflation.
The abolition of the local jurifdidions,
which had for fo many ages been exercifed
by the Chiefs, has likewife its evil and its
good. The feudal conflitution naturally
diffufed itfelf into long ramifications of
fubordinate authority. To this general
temper of the government was added the
peculiar form of the country, broken by
mountains into many fubdivifions fcarcely
acceffible
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 213
accqffible but to the natives, and guarded
by pafles, or perplexed with intricacies,
through which national juftice could not
find its way.
The power of deciding controverfies, and
of punifhing offences, as fome fuch powe'r
there mud always be, was entrufted to
the Lairds of the country, to thofe whom
the people confidered as their natural
judges. It cannot be fuppofed that a rug-
ged proprietor of the rocks, unprincipled
and unenlightened, was a nice refolver of
entangled claims, or very exacT; in propor-
tioning punifhment to offences. But the
more he indulged his own will, the more
he held his vaflals in dependance. Pru-
dence and innocence, without the favour
of the Chief, conferred no fecurity ; and
crimes involved no danger, when the judge
was refolute to acquit.
P 3 When
A JOURNEY TO THE
When the Chiefs were men of know-
ledge and virtue, the convenience of a
domeftick judicature was great. No long
journies were neceflary, nor artificial de-
lays could be pradifed ; the character, the
alliances, and interefts of the litigants were
known to the court, and all falfe pretences
were eafily detected. The fentence, when it
was pad, could not be evaded ; the power
of the Laird fuperfeded formalities, and
juftice could not be defeated by intereft or
ftratagem.
I doubt not but that fince the regular
judges have made their circuits through the
whole country, right has been every where
more wifely and more equally diftributed ;
the complaint is, that litigation is grown
troublefome, and that the magiltrates are
, too few, and therefore often too remote
for general convenience.
Many
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 215
Many of the fmaller Iflands have no
legal officer within them. I once alked,
If a crime fhould be committed, by what
authority the offender could be feized ?
and was told, that the Laird would exert
his right; a right which he muft now
ufurp, but which furely neceflity muft vin-
dicate, and which is therefore yet exer-
cifed in lower degrees by fome of the
proprietors, when legal proceffes cannot be
obtained.
In all greater queftibns, however, there
is now happily an end to all fear or hope
from malice or from favour. The roads
are fecure in thofe places through which,
forty years ago, no traveller could pafs
without a convoy. All trials of right by
the fword are forgotten, and the mean are
in as little danger from the powerful as in
other places. No fcheme of policy has, in
any country, yet brought the rich and
poor on equal terms into courts of judica-
P 4 ture-
A JOURNEY TO THE
ture. Perhaps experience, improving on
experience, rnay in time effect it.
Thofe who have long enjoyed dig-
nity and power, ought not to lofe it with-
out fome equivalent. There was paid
to the Chiefs by the publick, in ex-
change for their privileges, perhaps a fum
greater than moft of them had ever pof-
fefled, which excited a thirft for riches, of
which it (hewed them the ufe. When the
power of birth and ftation ceafes, no hope
remains but from the prevalence of money.
Power and wealth fupply the place of each
other. Power confers the ability of grati-
fying our defire without the confent of
others. Wealth enables us to obtain the
confent of others to our gratification*
Power, fimply confidered, whatever it con-
fers on one, muft take from another.
Wealth enables its owner to give to others,
by taking only from himfelf. Power pleafes
the viqlent and proud: wealth delights the
placid
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 217
placid and the timorous. Youth therefore
flies at power, and age grovels after
riches.
The Chiefs, diverted of their preroga-
tives, neceffarily turned their thoughts to
the improvement of their revenues, and
expect more rent, as they have lefs ho-
mage. ,The tenant, who is far from per-
ceiving that his condition is made better in
the fame proportion, as that of his land-
lord is made worfe, does not immediately
fee why his induftry is to be taxed more
heavily than before. He refufes to pay the
demand, and is ejected ; the ground is then
let to a Granger, who perhaps brings a
larger flock, but who, taking the land at
its full price, treats with the Laird upon
equal terms, and confiders him not as a
Chief, but as a trafficker in land. Thus
the eftate perhaps is improved, but the
Clan is broken.
It
2i8 A JOURNEY TO THE
It feeins to be the general opinion, that
the rents have been raifed with too much
eagernefs. Some regard mufl be paid to
prejudice. Thofe who have hitherto paid
but little, will not fuddenly be perfuaded to
pay much, though they can afford it. As
ground is gradually improved, and the va-
lue of money decreafes, the rent may be
raifed without an'y diminution of the far-
mer's profits : yet it is neceflary in thefe
countries, where the ejection of a tenant is
a greater evil, than in more populous places,
to confider not merely what the land will
produce, but with what ability the inhabitant
can cultivate it. A certain flock can allow
but a certain payment ; for if the land be
doubled, and the flock remains the fame,
the tenant becomes no richer. The pro-
prietors of the Highlands might perhaps
often increafe their income, by fubdividing
the farms, and allotting to every occupier
only fo many acres as he can profitably
employ, but that they want people.
There
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 219
There feems now, whatever be the caufe,
to be through a great part of the Highlands
a general difcontent. That adherence,
which was lately profeffcd by every man
to the Chief of his name, has now little
prevalence; and he that cannot live as he
defires at home, liflens to the tale of for-
tunate iflands and happy regions, where
every man may have land of his own, and
eat the product of his labour without a
fuperior.
Thofe who have obtained grants of Ame-
rican lands, have, as is well known, in-
vited fettlers from all quarters of the globe ;
and among other places, where oppreffion
might produce a wifti for new habitations,
their emiflaries would not fail to try their
perfuafions in the Ifles of Scotland, where at
the time when the Clans were newly dif-
united from their Chiefs, and exafperated
by unprecedented exa&ionSj it is no won-
der that they prevailed.
Whether
220 A JOURNEY TO THE
Whether the mifchiefs of emigration
were immediately perceived, may be juftly
queftioned. They who went firft, were
probably fuch as could beft be fpared ; but
the accounts lent by the earlieft adventurers,
whether true or falfe, inclined many to fol-
low them ; and whole neighbourhoods
formed parties for removals fo that depar-
ture from their native country is no longer
exile. He that goes thus accompanied,
carries with him all that makes life plea-
fant. He fits down in a better climate,
furrounded by his kindred and his friends:
they carry with them their language, their
opinions, their popular fongs, and heredi-
tary 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
thofe that go away together fettle on the
fame fpot, and preferve their ancient union.
But fome relate that thefe adventurous vifit-
ants
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 221
ants of unknown regions, after a voyage
patTed in dreams of plenty and felicity, are
difperfed at laft upon a fylvan wildernefs,
where their firft years muft be fpent in toil,
to clear the ground which is afterwards
to be tilled, and that the whole effect of
their undertaking is only more fatigue and
equal fcarcity.
Both accounts may be fufpe&ed. Thofe
who are gone will endeavour by every art
to draw others after them ; for as their
numbers are greater, they will provide bet-
ter for themfelves. When Nova Scotia was
firft peopled, I remember a letter, publilhed
under the character of a New Planter, who
related how much the climate put him in
mind of Italy. Such intelligence the He*
brldlans probably receive from their tranf-
marine correfpondents. But with equal
temptations of intereft, and perhaps with
no greater nicenefs of veracity, the owners
of the Iflands fpread ftories of American
hardfhips
222 A JOURNEY TO THE
hardfhips to keep their people content at
home.
Some method to flop this epidemick de-
fire of wandering, which fpreads its conta-
gion from valley to valley, deferves to be
fought with great diligence. In more fruit-
ful countries, the removal of one, only
makes room for the fucceffion of another :
but in the Hebrides, the lofs of an inha-
bitant leaves a lafting vacuity ; for nobody
born in any other parts of the world will
choofe this country for his refidence; and
an Ifiand once depopulated will remain
a defert, as long as the prefent facility of
travel gives every one, who is difcontented
and unfettled, the choice of his abode.
Let it be inquired, whether the firft in-
tention of thofe 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 diflatif-
fied
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 223
fied with that part of the globe, which their
birth has allotted them, and refolve not to
live without the pleafures of happier cli-
mates ; if they long for bright funs, and
calm fkies, and flowery fields, and fragrant
gardens, I know not by what eloquence
they can be perfuaded, or by what offers
they can be hired, to ftay.
i
But if they are driven from their native
country by pofitive evils, and difgufted by
ill-treatment, real or imaginary, it were
fit to remove their grievances, and quiet
their refentment ; fince, if they have been
hitherto undutiful fubjeds, they will not
much mend their principles by American
converfation.
To allure them into the army, it was
thought proper to indulge them in the con-
tinuance of their national drefs. If this
conceffion could have any effect, it might
eafily be made. That diffimilitude of ap-
pearance,
S24 A JOURNEY TO THE
pearance, which was fuppofed to keep them
dlflind: from the reft of the nation, might
difincline them from coalefcing with the
Fenfyhanians or people of Connecticut.
If the reftitution of their arms will recon-
cile them to their country, let them have
again thofe weapons, which will not be
more mifchievous at home than in the Co-
lonies. That they may not fly from the
increafe of rent, I know not whether the
general good does not require that the land-
lords be, for a time, reftrained in their de-
mands, and kept quiet by penfions propor-
tionate to their lofs.
To hinder* infurrecYion by driving away
the people, and to govern peaceably by
having no fubjeds, is an expedient that
argues no great profundity of politicks.
To foften the obdurate, to convince the
miftaken, to mollify the refentful, are wor-
thy of a flatefman ; but it affords a legifla-
tor litile felf-applaufe to confider, that
where
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 225
where there was formerly an infurre&ion,
there is now a wildernefs.
It has been a queftion often agitated
without folution, why thofe northern re-
gions are now fo thinly peopled, which for-
merly overwhelmed with their armies the
Roman empire. The queftion fuppofes what
I believe is not true, that they had once
more inhabitants than they could maintain,
and overflowed only becaufe they were full.
This is to eftimate the manners of all
countries and ages by our own. Migration,
while the ftate of life was unfettled, and there
was little communication of intelligence be-
tween diftant places, was among the wilder
nations of Europe, capricious and cafual.
An adventitious projector heard of a fertile
coaft 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 prefent. When Caefar
A JOURNEY TO THE
was in Gaul, he found the Helvetians pre-
paring to go they knew not whither, and
put a flop to their motions. They fettled
again in their own country, where they
were fo far from wanting room, that they
had accumulated three years provifion 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 queft
of danger, and willing took the chance of
Empire or Death. If their troops were
numerous, the countries from which they
were collected are of vaft extent, and with-
out much exuberance of people great ar-
mies may be raifed where every man is
a foldier. But their true numbers were
never known. Thofe who were conquered
by them are their hiftorians, and fhame
may have excited them to fay, that they
were overwhelmed with multitudes. To
count is a modern practice, the ancient
7 method
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 227
method was to guefs ; and when numbers
are gueffed they are always magnified.
Thus England has for feveral years been
filled with the atchievements of feventy
thoufand Highlanders employed in Ame-
rica. I have heard from an Englifh officer,
not much inclined to favour them, that
their behaviour deferved a very high degree
of military praife ; but their number has
been much exaggerated. One of the mini-
fters told me, that feventy thoufand men
could not have been found in all the High-
lands, and that more than twelve thoufand
never took the field. Thofe that went to
the American war, went to deftru&ion.
Of the old Highland regiment, confiding of
twelve hundred, only feventy-fix furvived
to fee their country again.
The Gothick fwarms have at leaf! been
multiplied with equal liberality. That they
bore no great proportion to the inhabitants,
in whofe countries they fettled, is plain from-
the
228 A JOURNEY TO THE
the paucity of northern words now found
in the provincial languages. Their coun-
try was not deferred for want of room,
becaufe it was covered with forefts of vaft
extent; and the firft effecl of plenitude of
inhabitants is the deftrudion of wood. As
the Europeans fpread over America^ the
lands are gradually laid naked.
I would not be underflood to fay, that
neceflity had never any part in their expe-
ditions. A nation, whofe agriculture is
fcanty or unfkilful, may be driven out by
famine. A nation of hunters may have ex-
haufted their game. I only affirm that the
northern regions were not, when their ir-
ruptions fubdued the Romans, overpeopled
with regard to their real extent of territory,
and power of fertility. In a country fully
inhabited, however afterward laid wafte,
evident marks will remain of its former
populoufnefs. But of Scandinavia and Ger-
tnany> nothing is known but that as we
trace
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 229
trace their (late upwards into antiquity,
their woods were greater and their culti-
vated ground was lefs.
That caufes very different from want of
room may produce a general difpofition to
feek another country, is apparent from the
prefent conduct of the Highlanders, who
are in fome places ready to threaten a total
feceffion. The numbers which have al-
ready gone, though like other numbers
they may be magnified, are very great,
and fuch as if they had gone together and
agreed upon any certain fettlement, might
have founded an independent government
in the depths of the weftern continent. Nor
are they only the lowed and moft indi-
gent ; many men of confiderable wealth
have taken with them their train of la-
bourers and dependants; and if they con-
tinue the feudal fcheme of polity, may
eftablim new Clans in the other hemifphere.
Tha
230 A JOURNEY TO THE
That the immediate motives of their
defertion muft be imputed to their land-
lords, may be reafonably concluded, becaufe
fome Lairds of more prudence and lefs
rapacity have kept their vaflals undimi-
nimed. From Raafay only one man had
been feduced, and at Col there was no wifh
to go away.
The traveller who comes hither from
more opulent countries, to fpeculate upon
the remains of paftoral life, will not much
wonder that a common Highlander has no
ftrong adherence to his native foil ; for of
animal enjoyments, or of phyfical good, he
leaves nothing that he may not find again
wherefoever he may be thrown.
The habitations of men in the Hebrides
may be diflinguifhed into huts and houfes.
By a boufe, I mean a building with one
ftory over another ; by a hut) a dwelling
with only one floor. The Laird, who for-
merly
WESTERN ISLANDS, & c . 231
merly lived in a caflle, now lives in a
houfe ; fometimes fufficiently neat, but fel-
dom very fpacious or fplendid. The Tacki-
men and the Minifters have commonly
houfes. Wherever there is a houfe, the
flranger finds a welcome, and to the other
evils of exterminating Tackfmen may be
added the unavoidable ceflation of hofpi-
tality, or the devolution of too heavy a
burden on the Minifters.
Of the houfes little can be faid. They
are fmall, and by the neceflity of accumu-
lating ftores, where there are fo few oppor-
tunities of purchafe, the rooms are very
heterogeneoufly filled. With want of clean-
linefs it were ingratitude to reproach them.
The fervants having been bred upon the
naked earth, think every floor clean, and
the quick fucceffion of guefts, perhaps not
always over-elegant, does not allow much
time for adjufting their apartments.
Huts
232 A JOURNEY TO THE
Huts are of many gradations ; from
murky dens, to commodious dwellings.
The wall of a common hut is always
built without mortar, by a fkilful adaptation
of loofe ftones. Sometimes perhaps a double
wall of ftones is raifed, and the interme-
diate fpace rilled with earth. The air is
thus completely excluded. Some walls
are, I think, formed of turfs, held toge-
ther by a wattle, or texture of twigs.
Of the meaneft huts, the firft room is
lighted by the entrance, and the fecond by
the fmoke-hole. The fire is ufually made
in the middle. But there are huts, or
dwellings, of only one ftory, inhabited by
gentlemen, which have walls cemented
with mortar, glafs windows, and boarded
floors. Of thefe all have chimneys, and
fome chimneys have grates.
The houfe and the furniture are not
always nicely fuited. We were driven
once,
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 233
once, by miffing a paffage, to the hut of a
gentleman, where, after a very liberal
fupper, when I was conducted to my cham-
ber, I found an elegant bed of Indian cot-
ton, fpread with fine fheets. The accom-
modation was flattering; I undreiTed myfelf,
and felt my feet in the mire. The bed
flood upon the bare earth, which a long
courfe of rain had foftened to a puddle.
In paftoral countries the condition of the
loweft rank of people is fufficiently wretch-
ed. Among manufacturers, men that have
no property may have art and indufiry,
which make them neceflary, 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 fkill and dexterity can be
much diftinguifhed. He therefore who is
born poor never can be rich. The fon
merely occupies the place of the father, and
life
234 A JOURNEY TO THE
life knows nothing of progreffion or ad*
vancement.
The petty tenants, and labouring pea-
fants, live in miferable cabins, which afford
them little more than fhelter from the
florms. The Boor of Norway is faid to
make all his own utenfils. In the Hebrides,
whatever might be their ingenuity, the
want of wood leaves them no materials.
They are probably content with fuch ac-
commodations as flones of different forms
and fizes can afford them.
Their food is not better than their lodg-
ing. They feldom tafte the flefh of land
animals ; for here are no markets. What
each man eats is from his own flock. The
great effect of money is to break property
into fmall parts. In towns, he that has a
{hilling may have a piece of meat; but
where there is no commerce, no man can
eat mutton but by killing a fheep.
Fifh
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 235
Fim in fair weather they need not want;
but, I believe, man never lives long on
fifh, but by conftraint ; he will rather feed
upon roots and berries.
The only fewel of the Iflands is peat.
Their wood is all confumed, and coal they
have not yet found. Peat is dug out of
the marfhes, from the depth of one foot to
that of fix. That is accounted the beft
which is neareft the furface. It appears to
be a mafs of black earth held together by
\egetable fibres. I know not whether the
earth be bituminous, or whether the fibres
be not the only combuftible part; which,
by heating the interpofed earth red hot,
make a burning mafs. The heat is not
very ftrong nor lading. The afhes are
yellowifh, and in a large quantity. When
they dig peat, they cut it into fquare pieces,
and pile it up to dry befide the houfe. In
fome places it has an offenfive frnell. It
is like wood charked for the fmith. The
common
236 A JOURNEY TO THE
common method of making peat fires, is
by heaping it on the hearth ; but it burns
well in grates, and in the beft houfes is fo
ufed.
The common opinion is, that peat grows
again where it has been cut ; which, as it
feems to be chiefly a vegetable fubitance, is
not unlikely to be true, whether known or
not to thofe who relate it.
There are water mills in Sky and Raafay\
but where they are too far diftant, the
houfe-wives grind their oats with a quern,
or hand-mill, which confifts of two ftones,
about a foot and a half in diameter ; the
lower is a little convex, to which the
concavity of the upper muft be fitted. In
the middle of the upper ftone is a round
bole, and on one fide is a long handle. The
grinder iheds the corn gradually into the
hole with one hand, and works the handle
round with the other. The corn Hides
down
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 237
down the convexity of the lower ftone, and
by the motion of the upper is ground in its
paffage. Thefe ftones are found in Lock-
abar.
The Iflands afford few pleafures, except
to the hardy fportfman, who can tread the
moor and climb the mountain. The dif-
tance of one family from another, in a
country where travelling has fo much diffi-
culty, makes frequent intercourfe imprac-
ticable. Vifits laft feveral days, and are
commonly paid by water ; yet I never faw
a boat furniflied with benches, or made
commodious by any addition to the firft
fabrick. Conveniencies are not miffed where
they never were enjoyed.
The folace which the bagpipe can give,
they have long enjoyed ; but among other
changes, which the laft revolution in-
troduced, the ufe of the bagpipe begins to
be forgotten. Some of the chief families
flill
238 A JOURNEY TO THE
ftill entertain a piper, whofe office was an-
ciently hereditary. Macrimmon was piper to
Mackody and Rankin to Mack an 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, fu-
perintended by Rankin, which expired
about fixteen years ago. To thefe colleges,
while the pipe retained its honour, the
ftudents of mufick repaired for education.
I have had my dinner exhilarated by the
bagpipe, at Armidale, at Dunvegan, and
in Col.
^
The general converfation of the Wanders
has nothing particular. I did not meet
with the inquifitivenefs of which I have
read, and fufpeft the judgment to have
been rafhly made. A ftranger of curiofity
comes into a place where a ftranger is fel-
dom
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 2391
dom feen : he importupes the people with
queftions, of which they cannot guefs the
motive, and gazes with furprife on things
which they, having had them always be-
fore their eyes, do not fufpecl; of any thing
wonderful. He appears to them like fome
being of another world, and then thinks it
peculiar that they take their turn to in-
quire whence he comes, and whither he
is going.
The Iflands were long unfurnifhed
with inftrudion for youth, and none but
the fons of gentlemen could have any lite-
rature. There are now parochial fchools,
to which the lord of every manor pays a
certain ftipend, Here the children are taught
to read ; but by the rule of their inftitu-
tion, they teach only EngKJh^.^Q that the
natives read a language which they may
never ufe or underfland. If a parifh, which
often happens, contains feveral Iflands, the
fchool being but in one, cannot affift the
reft.
240 A JOURNEY TO THE
reft. This is the ftate of C<?7, which, how-
ever, is more enlightened than fome other
places ; for the deficiency is fupplied by a
young gentleman, who, for his own im-
provement, travels every year on foot over
the Highlands to the feffion at Aberdeen ;
and at his return, during the vacation,
teaches to read and write in his native
Ifland.
In Sky there are two grammar fchools,
where boarders are taken to be regularly
educated. The price of board is from three
pounds, to four pounds ten (hillings a
year, and that of inftrudtion is half a crown
a quarter. But the fcholars are birds of
paflage, who live at fchool only in the
fummer; for in winter provifions cannot
be made for any coafiderable number in
one place. This periodical difperfion im-
prefies ftrongly the fcarcity of thefe coun-
tries.
I heard
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 241
Having heard of no boarding- fchool for
ladies nearer than Invernefs, I fuppofe their
education is generally domeftick. The
elder daughters of the higher families are
fent into the world, and may contribute by
their acquifitions to the improvement of
the reft*
Women muft here ftudy to be either
pleafmg or ufeful. Their deficiencies are
feldom fupplied 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 queftion is, How many
Cows a young lady will bring her hufband ?
A rich maiden has from ten to forty ; but
two cows are a decent fortune for one who
pretends to no diftindtion.
The religion of the IfUnds is that of the
Kirk of Scotland. The gentlemen with
whom 1 converfed are all inclined to the
R EngKJb
A JOURNEY TO THE
Englijh liturgy; but r they are obliged to
rnai&tain the eftablifhed Minifter, and the
country is too poor to afford payment to
another, who muft live wholly on the con-
tribution of his audience.
They therefore all attend the worftiip of
the Kirk, as often as a vifit from their Mi-
nifter, or the practicability of travelling
gives them opportunity ; nor have they any
reafon to complain of infufficient paftors ;
for I faw not one in the Iflands, whom I had
reafon to think either deficient in learning,
or irregular in life ; but found feveral with
whom I could not converfe without wifh-
ing, as my refpecT: increafed, that they had
not been Prefbyterians.
The ancient rigour of puritanifm is now
very much relaxed, though all are not yet
(equally 'enlightened. I fometimes met
with prejudices fufficiently malignant, but
they were prejudices of ignorance. The
Minifters
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 243
Minifters in the Iflands had attained fuch
knowledge as may juftly be admired in
men, who have no motive to ftudy, but
generous curiofity, or, what is ftill better,
deiire of ufefulnefs ; with fuch politenefs
as fo narrow a circle of converfe could not
have fupplied, but to minds naturally dif-
pofed to elegance.
Reafon and truth will prevail at laft.
The moft learned of the Scottifh Do&ors
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 fome parifhes the Lord's Prayer
is fuffered : in others it is ftill rejeted as a
form ; and he that fhould make it part of
his fupplication would be fufpeted of here-
tical pravity.
The principle upon which extemporary
prayer was originally introduced, is no
longer admitted. The Minifter formerly,
R 2 in
H4 A JOURNEY TO THE
in the effufion of his prayer, expeded im-
mediate, and perhaps perceptible infpira-
tion, and therefore thought it his duty
not to think before what he fhould fay. It
is now univerfally confefled, that men
pray as they fpeak on other occafions, ac-
cording to the general meafure of their
abilities and attainments. Whatever each
may think of a form prefcribed by ano-
ther, he cannot but believe that he can
himfelf compofe by ftudy and meditation a
better prayer than will rife in his mind at
a fudden call ; and if he has any hope of
fupernatural help, why may he not as well
receive it when he writes as when he
fpeaks ?
In the variety of mental powers, fome
muft perform extemporary prayer with
much imperfection; and in the eagernefs
and rafhnefs of contradictory opinions,
if public liturgy be left to the pri-
vate judgment of every Minifter, the
congre-
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 245
congregation may often be offended or
mifled.
There is in Scotland, as among ourfelves,
a reftlefs fufpicion of popifli machinations,
and a clamour of numerous converts to the
Romifh religion. The report is, I believe,
in both parts of the Ifland equally falfe.
The Romifli religion is profefled only in
Egg and Canna y two fmali iflands, into
which the Reformation never made its
way. If any miffionaries are bufy in the
Highlands, their zeal entitles them to re-
fpect, even from thofe who cannot think
favourably of their doctrine.
The political tenets of the Wanders I
was not curious to inveftigate, and they
were not eager to obtrude. Their conver-
fation is decent and inoffenfive. They dif-
dain to drink for their principles, and there
is no difaffecYion at their tables. I never
heard a health offered by a Highlander that
R 3 might
246 A JOURNEY TO THE
might not have circulated with propriety
within the precincts of the King's palace.
Legal government has yet fomething of
novelty to which they cannot perfectly con-
form. The ancient fpirit that appealed
only to the fword, is yet among them. The
tenant of Scalpa^ an ifland belonging to
Macdonald, took no care to bring his rent ,
when the landlord talked of exacting pay-
ment, he declared his refolution to keep his
ground, and drive all intruders from the
Ifland, and continued to feed his cattle as
on his own land, till it became neceflary for
the Sheriff to diflodge him by violence.
The various kinds of fuperftition "which
prevailed here, as in all other regions of
Ignorance, are by the diligence of the Mi-
nifters almoft extirpated.
Q Browny, mentioned by Martin, no-
thing has been heard for many years.
Browny
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 247
Browny was a fturdy Fairy; who, if he
was fed, and kindly treated, would, as they
faid, do a great deal of work. They now
pay him no wages, and are content to la-
bour for themfelves.
In Troda, within thefe three-and-thirty
years, milk was put every Saturday for
Greogacb, or the Old Man ivitb the Long
Beard. Whether Greogach was courted
as kind, or dreaded as terrible, whether
they meant, by giving him the milk, to
obtain gopd, or avert evil, I was not in-
formed. The Minifter is now living by
-whom the practice was abolimed.
They have ftill among them a great
number of charms for the cure of different
difeafes; they are all invocations, perhaps
tranfmitted to them from the times of po-
pery, which increafing knowledge will
bring into difufe.
They have opinions, which cannot be
ranked with fu perdition, becaufe they re-
R 4 gard
248 A JOURNfif% TO THE
gard only natural effects. They exped
better crops of grain, by fowing their feed
in the moon's increafe. The moon has
great influence in vulgar philofophy. In
my memory it was a precept annually given
in one of the Englijh Almanacks, to kill
hogs when the moon was increafing^ and
the bacon 'would prove the better in boil-
ing.
We fhould have had little claim to the
praife of curiofity, if we had not endeavour-
ed with particular attention to examine the
queftion of the Second Sight. Of an opi-
nion received for centuries by a whole na-
tion, and fuppofed to be confirmed through
its whole defcent, by a feries of fucceffive
fads, it is defirable that the truth fhould
be eftablifhed, or the fallacy detected.
The Second Sight is an impreffion made
either by the mind upon the eye, or by the
eye upon the mind, by which things diftant
or future are perceived, and feen as if they
were
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c.
were prefent. A man on a journey far
from home falls from his horfe, another,
who is perhaps at work about the houfe,
fees him bleeding on the ground, com-
monly with a landfcape of the place where
the accident befalls him. Another feer,
driving home his cattle, or wandering in
idlenefs, or mufing in the funfhine, is
fuddenly furprifed by the appearance of a
bridal ceremony, or funeral proceffion, and
counts the mourners or attendants, of
whom, if he knows them, he relates the
names, if he knows them not, he can
defcribe the drefles. Things diftant are
feen at the inftant 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 can-
not be called, is neither voluntary nor
conftant. The appearances have no de^
pendence upon choice: they cannot be
fummoned,
250 A JOURNEY TO THE
fummoned, detained, or recalled. The
impreffiqn is fudden, and the effect often
painful.
By the term Second Sight, feems to be
meant a mode of feeing, fuperadded to that
which Nature generally beftows, In the
Earfe it is called Taifch ; which fignifies
likewife a fpedtre, or a vifion. I know
not, nor is it likely that the Highlanders
ever examined, whether by Taifch) ufed
for Second Sight ', they mean the power of
feeing, or the thing feen.
I do not find it to be true, as it is re*
ported, that to the Second Sight nothing
is prefented but phantoms of evil. Good
feems to have the fame proportion in thofe
vifionary fcenes, as it obtains in real life :
almoft all remarkable events have evil for
their bafis ; and are either miferies incur-
red, or miferies efcaped. Our fenfe is fo
much ftronger of what we fuffer, than of
what
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 251
what we enjoy, that the ideas of pain pre-
dominate in almoft every mind. What is
recolledion but a revival of vexations, or
hiftory but a record of wars, treafons, and
calamities ? Death, which is confidered as
the greater!: evil, happens to all. The
greateft good, be it what it will, is the lot
but of a part.
That they fhould often fee death is to be
expe&ed ; becaufe death is an event fre-
quent and important. But they fee like-
wife more pleafing incidents. A gentle-
man told me, that when he had once gone
far from his own (Hand, one of his labour-
ing fervants predicted his return, and de-
fcribed the livery of his attendant, which
he had never worn at home; and which
had been, without any previous defign,
occafionally given him.
Gurdefire of information was keen, and
our inquiry frequent. Mr. fiofwelPs frank-
nefs
A JOURNEY TO THE
nefs and gaiety made every body commu-
nicative ; and we heard many tales of thefe
airy {hows, with more or lefs evidence and
diftindnefs.
It is the common talk of the Lowland
Scots, that the notion of the Second Sight
is wearing away with other fuperftitions ;
and that its reality is no longer fuppofed,
but by the grofleft people. How far its
prevalence ever extended, or what ground
it has loft, I know not. The Iflanders of
all degrees, whether of rank or underftand-*
ing, univerfally admit it, except the Mini-
fters, who univerfally deny it, and are
fufpeded to deny it, in confequence of a
fyftem, againft conviction. One of them
honeftly told me, that he came to Sky with
a refolution not to believe it.
Strong reafons for incredulity will readily
occur. This faculty of feeing things out
of fight is local, and commonly ufelefs. It
is
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 253
is a breach of the common order of things,
without any vifible reafon or perceptible
benefit. It is afcribed only to a people
very little enlightened ; and among them,
for the moft part, to the mean and. the ig-
norant.
To the confidence of thefe obje&ions it
may be replied, that by prefuming to de-
termine what is fit, and what is beneficial,
they prefuppofe more knowledge of the
univerfal fyftem than man has attained ;
and therefore depend upon principles too
complicated and extenfive for our com-
prehenfion; and that there can be no fecu-
rity in the confequence, when the premifes
are not underftood; that the Second Sight
is only wonderful becaufe it is rare, for
confidered in itfelf, it involves no more
difficulty than dreams, or perhaps than the
regular exercife of the cogitative faculty ;
that a general opinion of communicative
impulfes, or vifionary reprefentations, has-
prevailed
A JOURNEY TO THE
prevailed in all ages and all nations ; that
particular inftances have been given, with
fuch evidence, as neither Bacon nor Bayle
has been able to refift; -that fudden im-
preflions, which the event has verified*
have been felt by more than own or publifii
them ; that the Second Sight of the He-
brides implies only the local frequency of a
power, which is no where totally unknown $
and that where we are unable to decide by
antecedent reafon, we muft be content to
yield to the force of teftirnony.
By pretenfion to Second Sight, no profit
was ever fought or gained. It is an invo-
luntary affedion, in which neither hope
nor fear are known to have any part*
Thofe who profefs to feel it, do not boaft
of it as a privilege, nor are confidered by
others as advantageoufly diftinguifhed*
They have no temptation to feign'j and
their hearers have no motive to encourage
the impofture.
5 To
WESTERN ISLANDS, & c . 255
To talk with any of thefe feers is not
eafy. There is one living in Sky, with
whom we would have gladly converted;
but he was very grofs and ignorant, and
knew no Engljh. The proportion in thefe
countries of the poor to the rich is fuch,
that if we fuppofe the quality to be acci-
dental, it can very rarely happen to a man
of education ; and yet on fuch men it has
fometimes fallen. There is now a Second
Sighted gentleman in the Highlands, who
complains of the terrors to which he is
expofed.
The forefight of the Seers is not always
prefcience : they are inrprefied with images,
of which the event only fhews them the
meaning. They tell what they have feen
to others, who are at that time not more
knowing than themfelves, but may be-*
come at laft very adequate witnefles, by
corn-paring the narrative v/ith its verifi-
cation.
To
A JOURNEY TO TFl
To collecT: fufficient tefti monies for the
fatisfaction of the publick, or of ourfelves*
would have required more time than we
could beftow* There is, againft it, the
feeming analogy of things confufedly feen,
and little underftood ; and for it, the
indiftinft cry of national perfuafion, which
may be perhaps refolved at laft into preju-
dice and tradition. I never could advance
my curiofity to conviction ; but came away
at laft only willing to believe.
As there fubfifts no longer in the Iflanda
much of that peculiar and difcriminative
form of life, of which the idea had delighted
our imagination, we were willing to liften
to fuch accounts of paft times as would be
given us. But we foon found what memo-
rials were to be expected from an illiterate
people, whofe whole time is a feries of dif-
trefs 5 where every morning is labour-
ing with expedients for the evening j and
wjiere all mental pains or pleafure arofe
from
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 257
from the dread of winter, the expeda-
tion of fpring, the caprices of their Chiefs,
and the motions of the neighbouring Clane ;
where there was neither fhame from igno-
rance, nor pride in knowledge; neither
curiofity to inquire, nor vanity to commu-
nicate*
The Chiefs indeed were exempt from
urgent penury, and daily difficulties j and
in their houfes were preferved what ac-
counts remained of paft ages. But the
Chiefs were fometimes ignorant and care-
lefs, and fometimes kept bufy by turbu-
lence and contention ; and one generation of
ignorance effaces the whole feries of unwrit-
ten hiftory. Books are faithful repofitories,
which may be a while negleded or forgot-
ten ; but when they are opened again,
will again impart their inftruclion : me-
mory, once interrupted, is rtot to be re-
called. Written learning is a fixed lumi-
nary, which, after the cloud that had hid*
S dera
S5* A JOURNEY TO THE
den it has paft away, is again bright in its
proper ftation. Tradition is but a meteor,
which, if once it falls, cannot be rekindled.
It feems to be univerfally fuppofed, that
much of the local hiftory was preferved by
the Bards, of whom one is faid to have
been retained by every great family. After
thefe Bards were fome of my firft inquiries ;
and I received fuch anfwers as, for a while,
made me pleafe myfelf with my increafe of
knowledge ; for I had not then learned
how to eftimate the narration of a High-
lander.
They faid that a great family had a Bard
and a Senachi^ who were the poet and hifto-
rian of the houfe; 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, fome
certain knowledge might - be attained.
Though the office had ceafed, its effects
might
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 259
might continue; the poems might be found
though there was no poet.
Another converfation indeed informed
me, that the fame man was both Bard and
Senachi. This variation difcouraged me 5
but as the practice might be different in
different times, or at the fame time in dif*-
ferent families, there was yet no reafon for
fuppofing that I mufl neceffarily fit down
in total ignorance*
Soon after I was told by a gentleman
who is generally acknowledged the greatefl
matter of Hebridian antiquities, that there
had indeed once been both Bards and Sena-
chies ; and that Senachi fignified the man of
talk^ or of converfation ; but that neither
Bard nor Senachi had exifted for fome cen-
turies. I have no reafon to fuppofe it ex-
actly known at what time the cuftom
ceafed, nor did it probably ceafe in all
houfes at once. But whenever the practice
82 of
26'o A JOURNEY TO THE
of recitation was difufed, the works, whe-
ther poetical or hiftorical, perifhed with
the authors ; for in thofe times nothing
had been written in the Earfe language.
Whether the Man of talk was a hiftorianj
whofe office was to tell truth, or a ftory-
teller, like thofe which were in the laft
century, and perhaps are now among the
Irifh, whofe trade was only to amufe, it
now would be vain to inquire.
Mod of the domeftick offices were, I be-
lieve, hereditary ; and probably the laureat
of a Clan was always the fon of the laft
laureat. The hiftory of the race could no
otherwife be communicated, or retained ;
but what genius could be expected in a
poet by inheritance ?
The nation was wholly illiterate. Nei-
ther Bards norSenachies could write or read;
but if they were ignorant, there was ao
danger
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 261
danger of detection ; they were believed
by thofe whofe vanity they flattered.
The recital of genealogies, which has
been confidered as very efficacious to the
prefervation of a true feries of anceftry,
was anciently made, when the heir of the
family came to manly age. This pradice
has never fubfifted within time of memory,
nor was much credit due to fuch rehearfers,
who might obtrude fictitious pedigrees,
either to pleafe their mafters, or to hide
the deficiency of their own memories.
Where the Chiefs of the Highlands have
found the hiftories of their defcent is dif-
ficult to tell ; for no Earfe genealogy was
ever written. In general this only is evi-
dent, that the principal houfeof a clan muft
be very ancient, and that thofe muft have
lived long in a place, of whom it is not
Jsnown when they came thither.
S 3 Thus
262 A JOURNEY TO THE
Thus hopelefs are all attempts to find
any traces of Highland learning. Nor are
their primitive cuftoms and ancient manner
of life otherwife than very faintly and
Uncertainly remembered by the prefent
race.
The peculiarities which ftrike the native
pf a commercial country, proceeded in a
great meafure from the want of money. TQ
the fervants and dependants that were not
domefticks, and if an eftimate be made
from the capacity of any of their old houfes
which I have feen, their domefticks could
have been but few, were appropriated cer-
tain portions of land for their fupport.
Macdonald has a piece of ground yet, called
the Bards or Senachies field. When a beef
was killed for the hqufe, particular parts
were claimed as fees by the feveral officers,
or workmen. What was the right of each I
have not learned. The head belonged to
fhe frnith, and the udder of a cow to the
piper :
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 263
piper; the weaver had likewife his parti-
cular part ; and fo many pieces followed
thefe prefcriptive claims, that the Laird's
was at laft but little.
The payment of rent in kind has been
fo long difufed in England, that it is totally
forgotten. It was pradifed very lately in
the Hebrides^ and probably flill continues,
not only in St. Kilda^ where money is not
yet known, but in others of the fmaller and
remoter Iflands. It were perhaps to be
defired, that no change in this parti-
cular fliould have been made. When
the Laird could only eat the produce of his
lands, he was under the neceffity of refid-
ing upon them ; and when the tenant could
not convert his flock into more portable
riches, he could never be tempted away
from his farm, from the only place where
he could be wealthy. Money confounds
fubordination, by overpowering the diftinc-
tions of rank and birth, and weakens au-
S 4 thority
A JOURNEY TO THE
thority by fupplying power of refiftance,
or expedients for efcape. The feudal
fyftem is formed for a nation employed in
agriculture, and has never long kept its
Jiold where gold and filver have become
common.
Their arms were anciently the Claymore,
or great two-handed fword, and afterwards
the two-edged fword and target, or buckler,
which was fuftained on the left arm. In
the midft of the target, which was made
of wood, covered with leather, and fludded
with nails, a llender lance, about two feet
long, was fometimes fixed ; it was heavy
and cumberous, and accordingly has for
fome time paft been gradually laid afide.
Very few targets were at Culloden. The
dirk, or broad dagger, I am afraid, was of
more ufe in private quarrels than in battles.
The Lochaber-ax is only a flight alteration
pf the old Ewglijh bill.
After
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 265
After all that has been faid of the force
and terrour of the Highland fword, I could
not find that the art of defence was any
part of common education. The gentle-
men were perhaps fometimes fkilful gla-
diators, but the common men had no other
powers than thofe of violence and courage.
Yet it is well known, that the onfet of the
Highlanders was very formidable. As an
army cannot confift of philofophers, a
panick is eafily excited by any unwonted
mode of annoyance. New dangers are natu-
rally magnified ; and men accuftomed only
to exchange bullets at a diftance, and rather
to hear their enemies than fee them, are
difcouraged and amazed when they find
themfelves encountered hand to hand, and
catch the gleam of fleel flafliing in their
faces.
The Highland weapons gave opportu-
nity for many exertions of perfonal cou-
rage, and fometimes for fingle combats in
the
a66 A JOURNEY TO THE
the field; like thofe which occur fa fre-
\quently in fabulous wars. At Falkirk, a
gentleman now living, was, [I fuppofe after
the retreat of the King's troops, engaged
at a diftance from the reft with an Irifh
dragoon. They were both fkilful fwordf-
men, and the conteft was not eafily de-
cided : the dragoon at laft had the advan-
tage, and the Highlander called for quarter
but quarter was refufed him, and the fight
continued till he was reduced to defend
himfelf upon his knee. At that inftant one
of the Macleods came to his refcue ; who,
as it is faid, offered quarter to the dragoon,
but he thought himfelf obliged to reject
what he had before refufed, and, as battle
gives little time to deliberate, was imme-
diately killed.
'Funerals were formerly folemnized by
calling multitudes together, and entertain-
ing them at great expence. This emulation
of ufelefs coft has been for fome time difcou-
raged,
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 267
raged, and at laft in the Ifle of Sky is almoft
fupprefled. ,
Of the Earfe language, as I underftand
nothing, I cannot fay more than I have been
told. It is the rude fpeech of a barbarous
people, who had few thoughts to exprefs,
and were content, as they conceived grofsly,
to be grofsly underftood. After what has
been lately talked of Highland Bards, and
Highland genius, many will ftartle when
they are told, that the Earfe never was a
written language ; that there is not in the
world an Earfe manufcript a hundred
years old ; and that the founds of the
Highlanders were never exprefled by let-
ters, till fome little books of piety were
tranflated, and a metrical verfion of the
Pfalms was made by the Synod of Argyle.
Whoever therefore now writes in this lan-
guage, fpells according to his own percep-
tion of the found, and his own idea of the
power
268 A JOURNEY TO THE
power of the letters. The Weljh and the
Irijh are cultivated tongues. The Welfh,
two hundred years ago, infulted their Eug-
lijh neighbours for the inftability of their
Orthography 5 while the Earfe merely float-
ed 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 thofe
who undertake to teach others muft have
undergone fome labour in improving them-
felves, they fet a proportionate value on
their own thoughts, and wifh to enforce
them by efficacious expreffions; fpeech
becomes embodied and permanent; diffe-
rent modes and phrafes are compared, and
the beft obtains an eftablifhment. By de-
grees one age improves upon another.
Exadnefs is firft obtained, and afterwards
elegance. But di&ion, merely vocal, is
always in its childhood. As no man leaves
his
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 269
his eloquence behind him, the new gene-
rations have all to learn. There may
pofiibly be books without a poliQied lan-
guage, but there can be no polifhed lan-
guage without books.
That the Bards could not read more than
the reft of their countrymen, it is reafon-
able to fuppofe j becaufe, if they had read,
they could probably have written ; and
how high their compofitions may reafon-
ably be rated, an inquirer may beft judge
by confidering what ftores of imagery,
what principles of ratiocination, what com-
prehenfion of knowledge, and what delicacy
of elocution he has known any man at-
tain who cannot read. The ilate of the
Bards was yet more hopelefs. He that
cannot read, may now converfe with thofe
that can ; but the Bard was a barbarian
among barbarians, who, knowing nothing
himfelf, lived with others that knew
no more.
There
270 A JOURNEY TO THE
There has lately been in the Iflands ond
of thefe illiterate poets, *who hearing the
Bible read at church, is faid to have turned
the facred hiftory into verfe. I heard part
of a dialogue, compofed by him, tranflated
by a young lady in Mull, and thought it
had more meaning than I expe&ed from a
man totally uneducated; but he had fome
opportunities of knowledge; he lived among
a learned people. After all that has been
done for the inftrudion of the Highlanders,
the antipathy between their language and
literature flill continues ; and no man that
has learned only Earfe is, at this time,
able to read.
The Earfe has many dialects, and
the words ufed in fome Iflands are not
always known in others. In literate na*
tions, though the pronunciation, and fome-
times the words of common fpeech may
differ, as now in England, compared with
the South of Scotland^ yet there is a written
9 didtion,
WESTERN ISLANDS, & c . 271
di&ion, which pervades all dialects, and
is underftood in every province. But where
the whole language is colloquial, he that
has only one part, never gets the reft,
as he cannot get it but by change of
refidence.
In an unwritten fpeech, nothing that
is not very fhort is tranfmitted from one
generation to another. Few have opportu-
nities of hearing a long compofition often
enough to learn it, or have inclination to
repeat it fo often as is neceflary to retain it;
and what is once forgotten is loft for ever.
I believe there cannot be recovered, in the
whole Earfe language, five hundred lines
of which there is any evidence to prove
them a hundred years old. Yet I hear that
the father of Offian boafts of two chefts
more of ancient poetry, which he fup-
prefies, becaufe they are too good for the
Englijh.
He
A JOURNEY TO THE
He that goes into the Highlands with
a mind naturally acquiefcent, and a credu-
lity eager for wonders, may come back
with an opinion very different from mine ;
for the inhabitants knowing the ignorance
of all ftrangers in their language and anti-
quities, perhaps are not very fcrupulous
adherents to truth; yet I do not fay that
they deliberately fpeak ftudied falfehood, or
have a fettled purpofe to deceive. They
have inquired and confidered little, and do
not always feel their own ignorance. They
are not much accuftomed to be interrogated
by others ; and feem never to have thought
upon interrogating themfelves ; fo that if
they do not know what they tell to be true,
they likewife do not diflinctly perceive it
to be falfe.
Mr. Bofwell was very diligent in his in-
quiries ; and the refult of his inveftigations
was, that the anfwer to the fecond queftiori
was
WESTERN ISLANDS, c. 273
was commonly fuch as nullified the anfwer
to the firft.
We were a while told, that they had an
old tranflation of the fcriptures ; and told
it till it would appear obftinacy to inquire
again. Yet by continued accumulation of
queftions we found, that the tranflatioa
meant, if any meaning there were, wa$
nothing elfe than the Irijh Bible.
We heard of manufcripts that were, or
that had been in the hands of fomebody's
father, or grandfather; but at laft we had
no reafon to believe they were other
than Irifh. Martin mentions Irifh, but
never any Earfe manufcripts, to be found
in the Iflands in his time.
I fuppofe my opinion of the poems of
Offian is already difcovered. I believe they
never exifted in any other form than that
which we have feen. The editor, or au-
thor, never could {hew the original ; nor
can it be fhewa by any other j to revenge
T reafonable
274 A JOURNEY TO THE
reafonable incredulity, by refufing evi-
dence, is a degree of inference, with which
the world is not yet acquainted ; and ftub-
born audacity is the laft refuge of guilt. It
would be eafy to fhew 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 doubtlefs in-
ferted names that circulate in popular (lories,
/and may have tranflated fome wander-
ing ballads, if any can be found ; and the
names, and fome of the images being recol-
lected, make an inaccurate auditor imagine,
by the help of Caledonian bigotry, that he
has formerly heard the whole.
I afked a very learned Minifter in Sky,
who had ufed all arts to make me be-
lieve the genuinenefs of the book, whe-
ther at !aft he believed it himfelf ? but he
would not anfwer. He wifhed me to be
deceived, for the honour of his country ;
but would not directly and formally de-
ceive me. Yet has this man's teftimony
been
WESTERN ISLANDS, & c . 275
been publickly produced, as of one that
held Fingal to be the work of Offian.
It is faid, that fome men of integrity
profefs to have heard parts of it, but they
all heard them when they were boys ; and
it never was faid that any of them could
recite fix lines. They remember names,
and perhaps fome proverbial fentiments;
and, having no diftirid ideas, coin a refem-
blance without an original. The perfua-
fion of the Scots, however, is far from
univerfal ; and in a queftion fo capable of
proof, why fhould doubt be fuffered to con-
tinue ? The editor has been heard to fay,
that part of the poem was received by him,
in the Saxon character. He has then
found, by fome peculiar fortune, an un-
written language, written in a character
which the natives probably never beheld.
I have yet fuppofed no impoflure but in
the publifher ; yet I am far from certainty,
that fome tranflatkms have not been lately
T 2 made,
276 A JOURNEY TO THE
made, that may now be obtruded as parts
of the original work. Credulity on one
part is a ftrong temptation to deceit on the
other, efpecially to deceit of which no per-
fonal injury is the confequence, and which
flatters the author with his own ingenuity.
The Scots have fomething to plead for
their eafy reception of an improbable
fi&ion : they are feduced by their fondnefs
for their fuppofed ancestors. A Scotchman
muft be a very fturdy moralift, who does
not love Scotland better than truth; he will
always love it better than inquiry; and if
fatfehood flatters his vanity, will not be
very diligent to detect it. Neither ought
the Englifo to be much influenced by Scotch
authority; for of the paft and prefent ftate
of the whole Earfe nation, the Lowlanders
are at leaft as ignorant ,as oarfelves. To
be ignorant is painful ; but it is dangerous
to quiet our uneafinefs by the delufive
opiate, of faafty perfuafion.
But
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 277
But this is the age in which thofe
who could not read, have been fuppofed to
write; in which the giants of antiquated
romance have been exhibited as realities.
If we know little of the ancient High-
landers, let us not fill the vacuity with
Offian. If we have not fearched the Magel-
lanick regions, let us however forbear to
people them with Patagont.
Having waited fome days at Armidel %
we were flattered at laft with a wind that
promifed to convey us to Mull. We went
on board a boat that was taking in kelp,
and left the lile of Sky t behind us. We
were doomed to experience, like others,
the danger of tr lifting to the wind, which
blew againft us, in a (hort time, with
fuch violence, that we, being no feafoned
failors, were willing to call it a tempefr p
I was fea-fick and lay down, Mr. Bofivell
kept the deck. The mafter knew not well
whither to go; and our difficulties might
perhaps have filled a very patheticls page,
T 3 had
478 A JOURNEY TO THE
had not Mr. Maclean of CW, who, with
every other qualification which infular life
requires, is a very active and fkilful ma-
riner, piloted us fafe into his own harbour.
COL.
In the morning we found ourfelve-s under
the Me of Col, where we landed ; and
pafled the firft day and night with Cap-
tain Maclean, a gentleman who has lived
fome time in the Eaft Indies ; but having
dethroned no Nabob, is not too rich to fet-
tle in his own country.
Next day the wind was fair, and we
might have had an eafy paflage to Mull\
but having, contrarily to our own intention,
landed upon a new Ifland, we would not
leave it wholly unexamined. We there-
fore fuffered the veflel to depart without us,
and trufted the fides for another wind.
Mr. Maclean of Col, having a very nume-
4. A
"l f . rous family, has, for fome time paft,
refided
'.-
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 279
rcfided at Aberdeen, that he may fuperin-
tend their education, and leaves the young
gentleman, our friend, to govern his do-
minions, with the full power of a High-
land Chief. By the abfence of the Laird's
family, our entertainment was made more
difficult, becaufe the houfe was in a great
degree disfurnifhed ; but young Col's kind-
nefs and activity fupplied all defeds, and
procured us more than fufficient accommo-
dation.
Here I firft mounted a little Highland
fieed ; and if there had been many fpe&a-
tors, fhould have been fomewhat afhamed
of my figure in the march. The horfes of
the Iflands, as of other barren countries,
are very low: they are indeed mufculous
and ftrong, beyond what their fize gives
reafon for expeding; but a bulky man
upon one of their backs makes a very dif-
proportionate appearance.
T 4 From
*8o A JOURNEY TO THE
"From the habitation of Captain Maclean,
we went to Griffipol^ but called by the way
on Mr. Hc5ior Maclean, the Minifter of
Colj whom we found in a hut, that is,
a houfe of only one floor, but with win-
dows and chimney, and not inelegantly
furniihed. Mr. Maclean has the reputa-
tion of great learning : he is feventy-feven
years old, but not infirm, with a look of
venerable dignity, excelling what I re-
member in any other man.
His converfation was not unfuitable to
his appearance. J loft fome of his good-
will, by treating a heretical writer with
more regard than, in his opinion, a here-
tick could deferve. I honoured his ortho-
doxy, and did not much cenfure his afpe-
rity. A man who has fettled his opinions,
does not love to have the tranquillity of his
conviction difturbed ; and at feventy-feven
it is time to be in earneft.
Men-
WESTERN ISLANDS, ;&c. sSt
Mention was made of the Earfe tranfia-
tion of the New Teftament, which has been,
lately published, and of which the learned
Mr. M&cqueen of Sky fpoke with commen-
dation ; but Mr. Maclean faid he did not
ufe it, becaufe he could make the text more
intelligible to his auditors by an extempo-
rary verfion. From this I inferred, that the
language of the tranflation was not the
language of the Ifle of CoL
He has no publlck edifice for the exer>
cife of his miniftry ; 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 worfliip that
is now granted to the inhabitants of the
Ifland, fome of whom muft travel thither
perhaps ten miles. Two chapels were
ere&ed by their anceftors, of which I faw
the Skeletons, which now ftand faithful
witneffes of the triumph of Reformation.
The
182 A JOURNEY TO THE
The want of churches is not the only
impediment to piety : there is likewife a
want of Minifters. A parifh often con-
tains more Iflands than one ; and each
Ifland can have the Minifter only in its
own turn. At Raafa they had, I think,
a right to fervice only every third Sunday.
All the provifion made by the prefent eccle-
fiaftical conftitution, for the inhabitants of
about a hundred fquare miles, is a prayer
and fermon in a little room, once in three
weeks : and even this parfimonious diftri-
bution is at the mercy of the weather : and
in thofe Iflands where the Minifler does not
refide, it is impoflible to tell how many
weeks or months may pafs without any
publick exercife of religion.
GRISSIPOL IN COL.
After a fhort converfation with Mr. Mac*
lean^ we went on to Grijipol, a houfe an<J
farm tenanted by Mr. Macfweytiy where I
faw
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 283
faw more of the ancient life of a High-
lander, than I had yet found. Mrs. Mac-
fweyn could fpeak no EngKfa and had
never feen any other places than the Iflands
of Sky, Mul/, and Col: but fhe was hofpi-
table and good-humoured, and fpread her
table with fufficient liberality. We found
tea here, as in every other place, but our
fpoons were of horn.
The houfe of Grijfipol ft and s by a brook
very clear and quick ; which is, I fuppofe,
one of the moft copious ftreams in the
Ifland. This place was the fcene of an
action, much celebrated in the traditional
hiftory of Col, but which probably no two
relaters will tell alike.
Some time, in the obfcure ages, Macneil
of Earra married the Lady Maclean , who
had the Ifle of Col for her jointure. Whe-
ther Macneil detained Co/ 9 when the
widow was dead, or whether fhe lived fo
long
A JOURNEY TO THE
long as to make her heirs impatient, is per-
haps not now known. The younger fon,
called John Gerves, or John the Giant > a
man of great ftrength, who was then in
Ireland* either for fafety ; or for educa-
tion, dreamed of recovering his inherit-
ance ; and getting fome adventurers toge-
ther, which in thofe unfettled times was
not hard to do, invaded Col. He was driven
away, but was not difcouraged, and col-
lecting new followers, in three years came
again with fifty men. In his way he
flopped at Artormijh in Morvern, where
his uncle was pfifoner to Macleod, and was
then with his enemies in a tent. Maclean
took with him only one fervanr, whom he
ordered to flay at the outfide ; and where
he fhould fee the tent prefled outwards, to
flrike with his dirk ; it being the intention
of Maclean, as any man provoked him, to
lay hands upon him, and pufli him back.
He entered the tent alone, with his Locba-
bar-axe in his hand, and flruck fuch terror
intq
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c.
into the whole affembly, that they difmiiTed
his uncle.
When he landed at Col, he fa w the fen*
tinel, who kept watch towards the fea,
running off to Griffipol^ ,to give Macneil^
who was there with a hundred and twenty
men, an account of the invafion. He told
Macgil/y 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 pro-
mife, Macgill purfued the meflenger, and
either killed, or flopped him; and his
pofterity, till very lately, held the lands
in Mull.
The alarm being thus prevented, he came
unexpectedly upon MacneiL Chiefs were
in thofe days never wholly unprovided for
an enemy. A fight enfued, in which one
of their followers is faid to have given an
extraordinary proof of activity, by bound-
ing-
286 A JOURNEY TO THE
ing backwards over the brook of Griffipol.
Macneil being killed, and many of his clan
deftroyed, Maclean took pofleffion of the
Ifland, which the Macneils attempted to
conquer by another invafion, but were de-
feated and repulfed.
Maclean, in his turn, invaded the eftate
of the Macneils > took the caftle of Brecacig,
and conquered the Ifle of Barra, which he
held for feven years, and then reftored it
to the heirs.
CASTLE OF COL.
From Griffipol, Mr. Maclean conducted
us to his father's feat ; a neat new houfe,
eredted near the old caftle, I think, by
the laft proprietor. Here we were allowed
to take our ftation, and lived very commo-
dioufly, while we waited for moderate
weather and a fair wind, which we did
not fo foon obtain, but we had time to get
fome
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 287
fome information of the prefent (late of
Col, partly by inquiry, and partly by occa-
fional excurfions.
Col is computed to be thirteen miles ia
length, and three in breadth. Both the
ends are the property of the Duke of Ar-
gyle^ 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 furface much di-
ver fified with protuberances, and covered
with a thin layer of earth, which is often
broken, and difcovers'the ftone. Such a
foil is not for plants that firike deep roots ;
and perhaps in the whole Ifland nothing
has ever yet grown to the height of a table.
The uncultivated parts are clothed with
heath, among which induftry has inter-
fperfed fpots of grafs and corn ; but no
attempt has yet been made to raife a tree.
Young Col 9 who has a very laudable defire
of
288 A JOURNEY TO THE
of improving his patrimony, purpofes fome
time to plant an orchard ; which, if it be
flickered by a wall, may perhaps fucceed.
Jle 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 con-
fidered by Mr. Macfweyn as the idle pro-
j eel: of a young head, heated with Englijh
fancies ; but he has now found that tur-
nips will really grow, and that hungry
fheep and cows will really eat them.
By fuch acquifitions as thefe, the He-
brides may in time rife above their annual
diftrefs. Wherever heath will grow, there
is reafon to think fomething better may
draw nourifhment ; and by trying the pro-
duction of oilier places, plants will be found
fuitable to every foil.
Col has many lochs, fome of which have
trouts and eels, and others have never yet
13 been
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 289
been flocked ; another proof of the negli-
gence of the Iflanders, who might take
fifh in the inland waters, when they can-
not go to fea.
Their quadrupeds are horfes, cows, fheep,
and goats. They have neither deer, hares,
nor rabbits. They have no vermin, except
rats, which have been lately brought thi-
ther by fea, as to other places ; and are
free from ferpents, frogs, and toads.
The hdrveft in Col y and in Lewis, is
ripe fooner than in Sky y and the winter in
Col is never cold, but very tempeftuous. I
know not that I ever heard the wind fo
loud in any other place ; and Mr. Bofwell
obferved, that its noife was all its own, for
there were no trees to increafe it.
Noife is not the worft effed of the tern-
pefts ; for they have thrown the fand from
the fliore over a confiderable part of the
U land;
$90 A JOURNEY TO THE
land ; and it is faid ftill to encroach and
deftroy more and more pafture ; but I am
not of opinion, that by any furveys or
land-marks, its limits have been ever fixed,
or its progreiEon afcertained. If one man
has confidence enough to fay, that it ad-
vances, nobody can bring any proof to
fupport him in denying it. The reafon
why it is not fpread to a greater extent,
feems to be, that the wind and rain come
almoft together, and that it is made clofe
and heavy by the wet before the ftorms
can put it in motion. So thick is the bed,
and fo fmall the particles, that if a traveller
fhould be caught by a fudden guft in dry
weather, he would find it very difficult to
efcape with life.
For natural curiofities, I was fhown only
two great mafles of flone, which lie loofe
upon the ground ; one on the top of a hill,
and the other at a fmall diftance from the
bottom. They certainly were never put
13 into
WESTERN ISLANDS, &e. 291
into their prefent places by human ftrength
or {kill ; and though an earthquake might
have broken off the lower ftone, and rolled
it into the valley, no account can be given
of the other, which lies on the hill, unlefs,
which I forgot to examine, there be ftili
near it fome higher rock, from which it
might be torn. All nations have a tra-
dition, that their earlieft anceftors were
giants, and thefe ftones are faid to have
been thrown up and down by a giant and
his miftrefs. There are fo many more im-
portant things, of which human knowledge
can give no account, that it may be for-
given us, if we fpeculate no longer on two
ftones in CoL
This Ifland is very populous. About
nine-and-twenty years ago, the fencible
men of Col were reckoned one hundred and
forty, which is the fixth of eight hundred
and forty ; and probably fome contrived to
be left out of the lift. The Minifter told us,
U 2 that
A JOURNEY TO THE
that a few years ago the inhabitants were
eight hundred, between the ages of feven
and of feventy. Round numbers are fel-
dom exact. But in this cafe 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
increafed to at leaft a thoufand ; arid if the
dimenfions of the country have been accu-
rately related, every mile maintains more
than twenty-five.
This proportion of habitation is greater
than the appearance of the country feems
to admit ; for wherever the eye wanders, it
feems much wafte and little cultivation. I
am more inclined to extend the land, of
which no meafure has ever been taken,
than to diminifti the people, who have been
really numbered. Let it be fuppofed, that
a computed mile contains a mile and a half,
as was commonly found true in the men-
furation of the Englifh roads^ and we fhall
then
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c.
then allot nearly twelve to a mile, which
agrees much better with ocular obferva-
tion.
Here as in Sky and other Iflands, are
the Laird, the Tackfmen, and the under-
tenants.
Mr. Maclean, the Laird, has very ex-
tenfive poffeffions, being proprietor, not
only of far the greater part of Cb/, but of
the extenfive Ifland of Rum y and a very
confiderable territory in Mull.
Rum is one of the larger Iflands, almoft
fquare, and therefore of great capacity in
proportion to its fides. By the ufual method
of eftimating computed extent, it may con-
tain more than a hundred and twenty
fquare miles.
It originally belonged to Clanrcnald, and
was purchafed by Col ; who, in fome dif-
U 3 pute
294 A JOURNEY TO THE
pute about the bargain, made Clanronald
prifoner, and kept him nine months in con-
finement. Its owner reprefents it as moun-
tainous, rugged, and barren. In the hills
there are red deer. The horfes are very
fmall, 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 jfhape uncommonly elegant, he
could not fell him but at a high price ; and
that whoever had him (hould pay a guinea
and a half.
There are faid to be in Earra^ a race of
horfes yet fmaller, of which the higheil is
not above thirty-fix inches.
The rent of "Rum is not great. Mr.
Maclean declared, that he (hould be very
rich if he could fet his land at two pence
halfpenny an acre. The inhabitants are
fifty-eight families, who continued Papifts
for fome time after the Laird became a Pro-
teftant.
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 295
teftant. ^Their adherence to their old reli-
gion was ftrengthened by the countenance
of the Laird's fitter, a zealous Romanift,
till one Sunday, as they were going to mafs
under the conduct of their patronefs, Mac-
lean met them on the way, gave one of
them a blow on the head with a yellow
Jlicky I fuppofe a cane, for which the Earfe
had no name, and drove them to the kirk,
from which they have never fince departed.
Since the ufe of this method of converfion,
the inhabitants of Egg and Canna, who
continue Papifts, call the Proteftantifm of
Rum, the religion of the Tellow Sticky
7 The only Popiih Iflands are Egg and
.^ Egg is the principal Ifland of a
parifh, in which, though he has no congre-
gation, the Proteftant Minifler refides. I
have heard of nothing curious in it, but the
cave in which a former generation of the
Iflanders were fmothered by Mackod.
U 4 If
296 A JOURNEY TO THE
If we had travelled with more leifure, it
had not been fit to have neglected the Po-
pifh Iflands. Popery is favourable to cere-
mony - y and among ignorant nations, cere-
mony is the only prefervative of tradition.
Since Proteftantifin was extended to the fa^
vage parts of Scotland, it has perhaps been
one of the chief labours of the Minifters to
abolifh ftated obfervances, becaufe they
continued the remembrance of the former
religion. We therefore who came to hear
old traditions, and fee antiquated manners,
mould probably have found them amongft
the Papifls.
Canna, the other Popiih Ifland, belongs
to Clanronald. It is faid not to comprife
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 dif-
trefles, which Mr. Pennant, in a fit of fim-
pie
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 297
pie credulity, feems to think almoft worthy
of an elegy by Offian. Wherever we roved,
we were pleafed to fee the reverence with
which his fubjecls regarded him. He did
not endeavour to dazzle them by any mag-
nificence of drefs : his only diftin&ion was
a feather in his bonnet; but as foon as he
appeared, they forfook their work and
eluftered about him : he took them by the
hand, and they feemed mutually delighted.
He has the proper difpofition of a Chieftain,
and feems defirous to continue the cuftoms
of his houfe. The bagpiper played regu-
larly, when dinner was ferved, whofe per-
fon and drefs made a good appearance ;
and he brought no difgrace upon the family
of Rankin, which has long fupplied the
, IT i Lairds of CJ with hereditary mufick.
^ t_ 7
The Tackfmen of Col feem to live with
lefs dignity and convenience than thofe of
Sky; where they had good houfes, and
tables not only plentiful, but delicate. In
Col
298 A JOURNEY TO THE
Col only two houfes pay the window-tax ;
for only two have fix windows, which, I fup-
pofe, are the Laird's and Mr. Macfweyrfs.
The rents have, till within feven years,
been paid in kind, but the tenants finding
that cattle and corn varied in their price,
defired for the future to give their land-
lord money; which, not having yet arrived
at the philofophy of commerce, they con-
fider as being every year of the fame
value.
We were told of ^a particular mode of
undertenure. The Tackfman admits fome
*>f his inferior neighbours to the cultiva-
tion of his grounds, on condition that per-
forming all the work, and giving a third
part of the feed, they (hall keep a certain
number of cows, fheep, and goats, and reap
a third part of the harveft. Thus by lefs
than the tillage of two acres they pay the
rent of one.
There
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 299
There are tenants below the rank of
Tackfmen, that have got fmaller tenants
under them; for in every place, where
money is not the general equivalent, there
muft be fome whofe labour is immediately
paid by daily food.
A country that has no money, is by no
means convenient for beggars, both becaufe
fuch countries are commonly poor, and be-
caufe charity requires fome trouble and
fome thought. A penny is eafily given
upon the firft impulfe of compaffion, or im-
patience of importunity ; but few will de-
liberately fearch their cupboards or their
granaries to find out fomething to give.
A penny is likewife eafily fpent ; but vic-
tuals, if they are unprepared, require houfe-
room, and fire, and utenfils, which the
beggar knows not where to find.
Yet beggars there fometimes are, who
wander from Ifland to Ifland. We had,
in
A JOURNEY TO T FIE
in ,our paffage to Mull, the company of a
woman and her child, who had exhaufted
the charity of Co!. The arrival of a beg-
gar on an Ifland is accounted a fmiftrous
event. Every body confiders that he fhali
have the lefs for what he gives away.
Their alms, I believe, is generally oat-
meal.
Near to Ccl is another Ifland called Tir-
eye, eminent for its fertility. Though it
has but half the extent of Rum, it is fo well
peopled, that there have appeared, not long
ago, nine hundred and fourteen at a fune-
ral. The plenty of this Ifland enticed
beggars to it, who feemed fo burthenfome to
the inhabitants, that a formal compact was
drawn up, by which they obliged them-
felves to grant no more relief to cafual
wanderers, becaufe they had among them
an indigent woman of high birth, whom
they confidered as entitled to all that they
could fpare. I have read the ftipujation,
which
WESTERN ISLANDS, & c . 301
which was indited with juridical forma-
lity, but was never made valid by regular
fubfcription.
If the inhabitants of Col have nothing
to give, it is not that they are opprefled
by their landlord : their leafes feem to be
very profitable. One farmer, who pays
only feven pounds a year, has maintained
feven daughters and three fons, of whom
the eldefl is educated at Aberdeen for the
miniflry ; and now, at every vacation,
opens a fchool in Col.
Life is here, in fome refpects, improved
beyond the condition of fome other Iflands.
In Sky what is wanted can only be bought,
as the arrival of fome wandering pedlar may
afford an opportunity; but in Cdl there is
a ftanding (hop, and in Mull there are two/"
A fhop in the Iflands, as in other places of
little frequentation, is a repofitory of every
thing requifite for common ufe. Mr.
Bofweir*
302 A JOURNEY TO THE
Bofiue/Ps journal was filled, and he bought
fome paper in Col. To a man that ranges
the ftreets of London^ where he is tempted
to contrive wants for the pleafure of fup-
plying them, a fhop affords no image
worthy of attention ; but in an Ifland, it
turns the balance of exiftence between good
and evil. To live in perpetual want of lit-
tle things, is a ftate not indeed of torture,
but of conftant vexation. I have in Sky
had fome difficulty to find ink for a letter;
and if a woman breaks her needle, the
work is at ^a flop.
As it is, the Iflanders are obliged to con-
tent themfelves with fuccedaneous means
for many common purpofes. I have feen
the chief man of a very wide diftricl: riding
with a halter for a bridle, and governing
his hobby with a wooden curb.
The people of CW, however, do not
want dexterity to fupply fome of their
neceflities.
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 303
tieceffities. Several arts which make trades,
and demand apprenticefhips in great cities,
are here the practices of daily economy.
In every houfe candles are made, both
moulded and dipped. Their wicks are fmall
ihreds of linen cloth. They all know how
to extract from the Cuddy, oil for their
lamps. They all tan Ikins, and make
brogues.
As we travelled through Sky, we faw
many cottages, but they very frequently
flood fmgle 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 adjoin-
ing} thus they made an appearance of focial
commerce and mutual offices, and of fome
attention to convenience and future fupply.
There is not in the Weftern I/lands any col-
lection of buildings that can make preten-
fions to be called a town, except in the Me
of Lpwis, which I have not feen.
If
304 A JOURNEY TO THE
If Lewis is diftinguifhed by a town, Col
has alfo fomething peculiar. The young
Laird has attempted what no Iflander per-
haps 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 houfe to the
harbour.
Of taxes here is no reafon for complain-
ing ; they are paid by a very eafy com-
pofition. The malt-tax for Col is twenty
fhillings. Whifky is very plentiful: there
are feveral ftills in the Ifland, and more is
made than the inhabitants confume.
The great bufinefs of infular policy is
now to keep the people in their own coun-
try. As the world has been let in upon
them, they have heard of happier climates,
and lefs arbitrary government ; and if they
are difgufted, have erniffaries among them
ready to offer them land and houfes, as a
reward
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 305
reward for deferting their Chief and Clan.
f Many have departed both from the main
of Scotland, and from the Iflands ; and all
that go may be confidered as fubje&s loft
to the Britifi crown ; for a nation fcattered
in the boundlefs regions of America referrt-
bles rays diverging from a focus. All the
rays remain, but the heat is gone. Their
power confifted in their concentration :
when they are difperfed they have no ef-
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 profperity of
any community, they muft want that fecu-
rity, that dignity, that happinefs, whatever
it be, which a profperous community throws
back upon individuals.
The inhabitants of Col have not yet
learned to be weary of their heath and
X rocks,
306 A JOURNEY TO THE
rocks, but attend their agriculture and their
dairies, without liftening to American fe-
ducements.
There are fome however who think that
this emigration has raifed terrour difpro-
portionate to its real evil ; and that it is
only a new mode of doing what was always
done. The Highlands, they fay, never
maintained their natural inhabitants ; but
the people, when they found themfelves
too numerous, inftead of extending culti-
vation, provided for themfelves by a more
compendious method, and fought better
fortune in other countries. They did not
indeed go away in collective bodies, but
withdrew invifibly, a few at a time 5 but
the whole number of fugitives was not lefs,
and the difference between other times and
this, is only the fame as between evapora-
tion and effufion.
This is plaufible, but I am afraid it is
not true. Thofe who went before, if they
were
WESTERN ISLANDS, & c . 307
were not fenfibly mifled, as the argument
fuppofes, muft have gone either in lefs num-
ber, or in a manner lefs detrimental, than
at prefent ; becaufe formerly there was no
complaint. Thofe who then left the coun-
try were generally the idle dependants on
overburdened families, or men who had no
property; and therefore carried away only
themfelves. In the prefent eagernefs o
emigration, families, and almoft commu-
nities, go away together. Thofe who were
confidered as profperous and wealthy fell
their ftock and carry away the money.
Once none went away but the ufelefs and
poor 5 in fome parts there is now reafon
to fear, that none will ftay but thofe who
are too poor to remove themfelves, and too
ufelefs to be removed at the coft of others.
Of antiquity there is not more know-
ledge in Col than in other places ; but
every where fomething may be gleaned.
X 2 How
308 A JOURNEY TO THE
How ladies were portioned, when there
was no money, it would be difficult for an
Engtijbman to guefs. In 1649, Maclean
of Dronart in Mull married his fifter Hw-
gala to Maclean of Col, with a hundred
and eighty kine; and ftipulated, that if (he
became a widow, her jointure fhould be
three hundred and fixty. I fuppofe fome
proportionate tra&of land was appropriated
to their pafturage.
The difpofition to pompous and expend ve
funerals, which has at one time or other
prevailed in moft parts of the civilized
world, is not yet fupprefled in the Iflands,
though fome of the ancient folemnities arc
worn away, and fingers are no longer hired
to attend the proceffion. Nineteen years
ago, at the burial of the Laird of Co/ 9 were
killed thirty cows, and about fifty fheep.
The number of the cows is pofitively told,
and we rnuft fuppofe other victuals in like
proportion.
Mr.
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 309
Mr. Maclean informed us of an odd
game, of which he did not tell the origi-
nal, but which may perhaps be ufed in
other places, where the reafon of it is not
yet forgot. /At New-year's eve, in the
hall or caftle of the Laird, where, at feftal
feafons, there may be fuppofed a very
numerous company, one man dreffes him-
felf in a cow's hide, upon which other men
beat with flicks. He runs with all this
noife round the houfe, which all the com-
pany quits in a counterfeited fright : the
door is then {hut. At New-year's eve there
is no great pleafure to be had out of doors
in the Hebrides. They are fure foon to re-
cover from their terrour enough to folicit
for re-admiffion; which, for the honour of
poetry, is not to be obtained but by re-
peating a verfe, with which thofe that are
knowing and provident take care to be
furnifhed.
X 3 Very
310 A JOURNEY TO THE
Very near the houfe of Maclean ftands
the caflle of Col, which was the manfion of
the Laird, till the houfe was built. It is
built upon a rock, as Mr. Bofaell remark-
ed, that it might not be mined. It is
very ftrong, and having been not long
uninhabited, is yet in repair. On thq
wall was, not long ago, a ftone with an
infcription, importing, that if any man
of the Clan cf Mac Ionic h Jball appear
before this caftle, though he come at mid-
night, with a marts head in his bandy he
JJ-jall there find fafety and protection againjl
all but the King.
This is an old Highland treaty made upon
a very memorable occaiion. Maclean^ the
fon of.Jokn Gerves, who recovered Co/, and
conquered Barra, had obtained, it is faid,
from 'James the Second; a grant of the lands
of Loch' el, forfeited, I fuppofe, byfome
offence againft the ftate.
Forfeited
XVESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 311
Forfeited eftates were not in thofe days
quietly refigned ; Maclean, therefore, went
with an armed force to feize his new pof-
feffions, and, I know not for what reafon,
took his wife with him. The Camerom
rofe in defence of their Chief, and a battle
was fought at the head of Loch Ncfs^ near
the place where Fort Auguftus now ftands,
in which Lochlel obtained the vidory, and
Maclean, with his followers, was defeated
and deftroyed.
The lady fell into the hands of the con-
querors, and being found pregnant, was
placed in the cuftody of Madomch^ one of
a tribe or family branched from Cameron^
with orders, if fhe brought a boy, to deftroy
him, if a girl, to fpare her.
MadonicJos wife, who was with child
likewife, had a girl about the fame time
at which lady Maclean brought a boy, and
with more generofity to his cap-
X 4 tive,
A JOURNEY TO THE
tive, than fidelity to his truft, contrived
that the children {hould be changed.
Maclean being thus preferved from death,
in time recovered his original patrimony ;
and in gratitude to his friend, made his
caille a place of refuge to any of the Clan
that {hould think himfelf in danger ; and
as a proof of reciprocal confidence, Maclean
took upon himfelf and his pofterity the
care of educating the heir of Maclonicb.
This ftory, like all other traditions of
the Highlands, is varioufiy related ; but
though fome circumftances are uncertain,
the principal fat is true. Maclean un-
doubtedly owed his prefervation to Mach-
nicb ; for the treaty between the two fami-
lies has been ftridlly obferved : it did not
fink into difufe and oblivion, but continued
in its full force while the chieftains retained
their power. I have read a demand of pro-
tstion, made not mpre than thirty-feven
years;
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 313
years ago, for one of the Macknichs, named
Ewen Cameron, who had been acceffory to
the death of Macmartin^ and had been
banifhed by Lochiel, his lord, for a certain
term ; at the expiration of which he
returned married from France ; but the
Macmartins, not fatisfied with the punifh-
ment, when he attempted to fettle, dill
threatened him with vengeance. He there-
fore aiked> and obtained fhelter in the Ifle
of Col.
The power of protection fubfifts no
longer ; but what the law permits is yet
continued, and Maclean of Col now educates
the heir of Maclonich.
There ftill remains in the Iflands, though
it is paffing faft away, the cuftom of fofter-
age. A Laird, a man of wealth and emi-
nence, fends his child, either male or female,
to a tackfman, or tenant, to be foftered.
It is not always his own tenant, but fome
diftant
A JOURNEY TO THE
diftant friend that obtains this honour;
for an honour fuch a truft is very reafon-
ably thought. The terms of fofterage feem
to vary in different iflands. In Mull the
father fends with his child a certain num-
ber of cows, to which the fame number is
added by the foflerer. The father appro-
priates a proportionable extent of ground,
without rent, for their pafturage. If every
cow brings a calf, half belongs to the
foflerer, 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 parents, it is accompanied by all the
cows given, both by the father and by the
fofterer, with half of the increafe of the
flock by propagation. Thefe beads are
confidered as a portion, and called Mac-
alive cattle, of which the father has the
produce, but is fuppofed not to have the
full property, but to owe the fame number
to the child, as a portion to the daughter,
or a flock for the fon.
Children
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 315
Children continue with the fofterer per-
haps fix years, and cannot, where this is
the practice, be confidered as burdenfome.
The fefterer, if he gives four cows, re-
ceives likewife four, and has, while the
child continues with him, grafs for eight
without rent, with half the calves, and all
the milk, for which he pays only four cows
when he difmiffes his Dalt, for that is the
name for a fofter child.
Fofterage is, I believe, fometimes per-
formed upon more liberal terms. Our
friend, the young Laird of Col y was fof-
tered by Macf<.ieyn of Griffipol. Mac-
fweyn then lived a tenant to Sir James
Macdonald in the Jfle of Sky : and there-
fore C0/, whether he fent him cattle or not,
could grant him no land. The Dalt, how-
ever, at his return, brought back a confi-
derable number of Mac alive cattle, and of
the friendmip fo formed there have been
good effeds. When Macdanald raifed his
8 rents,
3*6 A JOURNEY TO THE
rents, Macfweyn was, like other tenants,
difcontented, and, refigning his farm, re-
moved from Sky to Co/, and was eftablifh-
ed at Grffipol.
Thefe obfervations we made by favour of
the contrary wind that drove us to Co/, an
Ifland not often vifited ; for there is not much
to amufe curiofity, or to attract avarice.
The ground has been hitherto, I be-
lieve, ufed chiefly for pafturage. In a dif-
trid, fuch as the eye can command,
there is a general herdfman, who knows
all the cattle of the neighbourhood, and
whofe ftation is upon a hill, from which
he furveys the lower grounds 5 and if one
man's cattle invade another's grafs, drives
them back to their own borders. But other
means of profit begin to be found; kelp is
gathered and burnt, and floops are loaded
with the concreted aflies. Cultivation is
likely to be improved by the fkill and en^
couragement
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 317
couragement of the prefent heir, and the
inhabitants of thofe obfcure vallies will
partake of the general progrefs of life.
The rents of the parts which belong to
the Duke of Argyle, have been raifed from
fifty-five to one hundred and five pounds,
whether from the land or the fea I cannot
tell. The bounties of the fea have lately
been fo great, that a farm in Southuift has
rifen in ten years from a rent of thirty
pounds to one hundred and eighty.
He who lives in Col, and finds himfelf
condemned to folitary meals, and incommu-
nicable refle&ion, will find the ufefulnefs
of that middle order of Tackfmen, which
fome who applaud their own wifdom are
wi(hing to deftroy. Without intelligence
man is not focial, he is only gregarious;
and little intelligence will there be, where
all are conftrained to daily labour, and every
mind muft wait upon the hand.
After
A JOURNEY TO THE
After having liftened for fome days to
the tempeft, and wandered about the Ifland
till our curiofity was fatisfied, we began to
think about our departure. To leave Col
in Odober was not very eafy. We how-
ever found a {loop which lay on the coaft
to carry kelp; and for a price which we
thought levied upon our neceffities, the
matter agreed to carry us to Mu// 9 whence
we migh't readily pafs back to Scotland.
MULL.
As we were to catch the firft favourable
breath, we fpent the night not very ele-
gantly nor pleafantly in the verier, and
were landed next day at Tobor Morar, a
port in Mully which appears to an unex-
perienced eye formed for the fecurity of
Ihips ; for its mouth is clofed by a fmall
ifland, which admits them through narrow-
channels into a bafon fufficiently capacious.
They are indeed fafe from the . fea, but
there
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 319
there is a hollow between the mountains,
through which the wind iffues from the
land with very mifchievous violence.
There was no danger while we were
there, and we found feveral other veflels
at anchor ; fo that the port had a very
commercial appearance.
The young Laird of Ccl y who had deter-
mined not to let us lofe his company, while
there was any difficulty remaining, came
over with us. His influence foon ap-
peared ; for he procured us horfes, and
conducted us to the houfe of Doctor Mac-
clean^ where we found very kind enter-
tainment, and very pleafing converfation.
Mifs Maclean^ who was born, and had
been bred at Glq/govv, having removed
with her father to Mull, added to other
qualifications, a great knowledge of the
Earfe language, which fhe had not learned
ia her. childhood, but gained by fludy, and
wa*
320 A JOURNEY TO THE
was the only interpreter of Earfe
that I could ever find.
The Ifle of Muff i* perhaps in extent the
third of the Hebrides. It is not broken
by waters, nor fhot into promontories, but
i$ a folid and compact mafs, of breadth
nearly equal to its length. Of the dimen-
fions of the larger Iflands, there is no
knowledge approaching to exa&nefs. I am
willing to eftimate it as containing about
three hundred fquare miles.
Mull had fuffered like Sky by the black
winter of feventy-one, in which, contrary
to all experience, a continued froft detained
the fnow eight weeks upon the ground.
Againft a calamity never known, no provi-
fion had been made, and the people could
only pine in helplefs mifery. One tenant
was mentioned, whofe cattle perimed to the
value of three .hundred pounds ; a lofs
which probably more than the life of mart
is
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 321
is neceflary to repair. In countries like
thefe, the defcriptions of famine become
intelligible. Where by vigorous and art-
ful cultivation of a foil naturally fertile,
there is commonly a fuperfluous growth
both of grain and grafs; where the fields
are crowded with cattle ; and where every
hand is able to attract wealth from a di-
ftance, by making fomething that promotes
eafe, or gratifies vanity, a dear year pro-
duces only a comparative want, which
is rather feen than felt, and which termi-
nates commonly in no worfe effect:, than
that of condemning the lower orders of
the community to facrifice a little luxury to
convenience, or at mod a little convenience
to neceffity.
But where the climate is unkind, and the
ground penurious, fo that the moft fruit-
ful years produce only enough to main-
tain themfelves; where life unimproved,
and unadorned, fades into fomething little
Y more
322 A JOURNEY TO THE
more than naked exiftence, and every one is
bufy for himfelf, without any arts by
which the pleafure of others may be in-
creafed ; if to the daily burden of diftrefs
any additional weight be added, nothing
remains but to defpair and die. In Mull
the difappointment of a harveft, or a mur-
rain, among the cattle, cuts off the regu-
lar provifion ; and they who have no
manufactures can purchafe no part of the
fuperfluities of other countries. The con-
fequence of a bad feafon is here not fear-
city, but emptinefs ; and they whofe plenty
was barely a fupply of natural and prefent
need, when that {lender ftock fails, muft
perifh with hunger.
All travel has its advantages. If the paf-
fenger vifits better countries, he may learn
to improve his own, and if fortune carries
him to worfe, he may learn to enjoy it.
Mr. Bofwell's curiofity flrongly impelled
him to furvey lona, or Icolmkill^ which was
to
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 323
to the early ages the great fchool of
Theology, and is fuppofed to have been
the place of fepulture for the ancient kings.
I, though lefs eager, did not oppofe him.
That we might perform this expedition,
it was neceffary to traverfe a great part of
Mull. We paflfed a day at Dr. Maclean's,
and could have been well contented to flay
longer. But Col provided us horfes, and
we purfued our journey. This was a day
of inconvenience, for the country is very
rough, and my horfe 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 %
ruined chapel in our way.
It is natural, in traverfing this gloom of
defolation, to inquire, whether fomething
may not be done to give Nature a more
cheerful face, and whether thofe hills and
moors that afford heath cannot with a little
Y * care
J24 A JOURNEY TO THE
care and labour bear fomething better?
The firft thought that occurs is to cover
them with trees, for that in many of thefe
naked regions trees will grow, is evident,
becaufe flumps and roots are yet remain-
ing; and the fpeculatift haftily proceeds to
cenfure that negligence and lazinefs that
has omitted for fo long a time fo eafy an
improvement.
To drop feeds into the ground, and at-
tend their growth, requires little labour
and no {kill. He who remembers that all
the woods, by which the wants of man
have been fupplied from the Deluge till
now, were felf-fown, will not eafily be
perfuaded to think all the art and prepara-
tion neceffary which the Georgick writers
prefcribe 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
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 325
But there is a frightful interval between
the feed and timber. He that calculates
the growth of trees, has the unwelcome
remembrance of the (hortnefs of life driven
hard upon him. He knows that he is do-
ing what will never benefit himfelf; and
when he rejoices to fee the ftem rife, is dif-
pofed to repine that another fhall cut it
down.
Plantation is naturally the employment
of a mind unburdened with care, and va-
cant to futurity, faturated with prefent
good, and at leifure to derive gratification
from the profped of pofterity. He that
pines with hunger, is in little care how
others fhall be fed. The poor man is fel-
dom ftudious to make his grandfon rich.
It may be foon difcovered, why in a place,
which hardly fupplies the cravings of ne-
ceflity, there has been little attention to the
delights of fancy, and why diftant conve-
nience is unregarded, where the thoughts
Y 3 are
326 A JOURNEY TO THE
are turned with inceflant folicitude upon
every poffibility of immediate advantage.
Neither is it quire fo eafy to raife large
woods, as may be conceived. Trees intend-
ed to produce timber muft be fown where
they are to grOwj and ground fown with
trees muft be kept ufelefs for a long time,
inclofed at an expence from which many
will be difcou raged by the remotenefs of
the profit, and watched with that attention,
which* in places where it is moft needed,
will neither be given nor bought. That it
cannot be plowed is evident ; and if cattle
be fuffered to graze upon it, they will de-
vour the plants as faft as they rife. Even
in coarfer countries, where herds and flocks
are not fed, not only the deer and the wild
goats will browfe upon them, but the hare
and rabbit will nibble them. It is there-
fore reasonable to believe, what I do not
remember any naturalift to have remarked,
that there was a time when the world was
very
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 327
very thinly inhabited by beafts, as well as
men, and that the woods had leifure to rife
high before animals had bred numbers fuf-
ficient to intercept them.
Sir James Macdonahi, in part of the
waftes of his territory, fet or lowed trees,
to the number, as I have been told, of
feveral millions, expecting, doubtlefs, that
they would grow up into future navies and
cities ; but for want of inclofure, and of
that care which is always neceflfary, and
will hardly ever be taken, all his coft and
labour have been loft, and the ground is
likely to continue an ufelefs heath.
Having not any experience of a journey
in Midi, we had no doubt of reaching the
fea by day-light, and therefore had not left
Dr. Macleans very early. We travelled
diligently enough, but found the country,
for road there was none, very difficult to
pafs. We were always flruggling with
Y 4 fome
A JOURNEY TO THE
fome obftrudion or other, and our vexa-
tion was not balanced by any gratification
of the eye or mind. We were now long
enough acquainted with hills and heath to
have loft the emotion that they once raifed,
whether pleafing or painful, and had our
mind employed only on our own fatigue.
We were however fure, under Col's pro-
te&ion, of efcaping all real evils. There
was no houfe 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 coaft, but difcovered on
the way, that he then lay in bed without
hope of life.
We refolved not to embarrafs a family,
in a time of fo much forrow, if any other
expedient could be found ; and as the Ifland
of Ufoa was over-againft us, it was deter-
mined that we fliould pafs the ftrait and
have recourfe to the Laird, who, like the
other gentlemen of the Iflands, was known
to
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c.
to Col. We expected to find a ferry-boat,
but when at laft we came to the water, the
boat was gone.
We were now again at a ftop. It was the
fixteenth of Qdtober, a time when it is not
convenient to fleep in the Hebrides with-
out a cover, and there was no houfe within
our reach, but that which we had already
declined.
U L V A.
While we flood deliberating, we were
happily efpied from an Irijh fhip, that lay
at anchor in the ftrait. The matter faw
that we wanted a paflage, and with great
civility fent us his boat, which quickly con-
veyed us to ET/w, where we were very
liberally entertained by Mr. Macquarry.
To Uha we came in the dark, and left
it before noon the next day. A v^rv cxadt
defcriptioa
330 A JOURNEY TO THE
defcription therefore will not be expected.
We were told, that it is an Ifland of no
great extent, rough and barren, inhabited
by the Macquarrys ; a Clan not powerful
nor numerous, but of antiquity, which
mod other families are content to reve-
rence. The name is fuppofed to be a de-
pravation of fome other; for the Earje
language does not afford it any etymo-
logy. Mcicquarry is proprietor both of
Utva and fome adjacent Iflands, among
which is Stajfa, fo lately raifed to renown
by Mr. Banks.
When the Iflanders were reproached
with their ignorance, or infenfibility of the
wonders of Staffa, they had not much to
reply. They had indeed confidered it
littlej becaufe they had always feen it ; and
none but philofophers, nor they always,
are ftruck with wonder, otherwife than by
novelty. How would it furprife an unen-
lightened ploughman, to hear a company
of
WESTERN ISLANDS, &e. 331
of fober men, inquiring by what power the
hand tofles a ftone, or why the (lone, when
it is tofled, falls to the ground !
Of the anceftors of Macquarry, who thus
lies hid in his unfrequented Ifland, I have
found memorials in all places where they
could be expeded.
Inquiring after the reliques of former
manners, I found that in Uha 9 and, I
think, no where elfe, is continued the pay-
ment of the Merc bet a Mutierum ; 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 Enghjh, is vari-
oufly delivered. It is pleafant to find an-
cient cuftoms in old families. This pay-
ment, like others, was, for want of money,
made anciently in the produce of the land.
Macquarry was ufed to demand a ftieep,
for which he now takes a crown, by that
inattention to the uncertain proportion be-
tween
332 A JOURNEY TO THE
tween the value and the denomination of
money, which has brought much diforder
into Europe. A fheep has always the fame
power of fupplying human wants, but a
crown will bring at one time more, at an-
other lefs.
Ufoa was not neglected by the piety of
ancient times : it has ftill to fhow what was
once a church.
INCH KENNETH.
In the morning we went again into the
boat, and were landed on Inch Kenneth^ an
Ifland about a mile long, and perhaps half
a mile broad, remarkable for pleafantnefs
and fertility. It is verdant and grafly, and
fit both for pafture and tillage ; but it has
no trees. Its only inhabitants were Sir
Allan Maclean, and two young Iadies 5 his
daughters, with their fervants,
Romance
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 333
X
Romance does not often exhibit a fcene
that ftrikes the imagination more than this
little defert in thefe depths of Weftern ob-
fcurity, occupied not by a grofs herdfman,
or amphibious fifherman, but by a gentle-
man and two ladies, of high birth, polifhed
manners, and elegant converfation, who,
in a habitation raifed not very far above
the ground, but furnifhed with unexpected
neatnefs and convenience, practifed all the
kindnefs of hofpitality, and refinement of
courtefy^
Sir Allan is the Chieftain of the great
Clan of Maclean, which is faid to claim the
fecond place among the Highland families,
yielding only to Macdonald. Though by
the mifccndu&of his anceftors, moft of the
extenfive territory, which would have de-
fcended to him, has been alienated, he ftill
retains much of the dignity and authority
of his birth. When foldiers were lately
wanting for the American war, application
was
334 A JOURNEY TO THE
was made to Sir Allan, and he nominated
a hundred men for the fervice, who obeyed
the fummons, and bore arms under his
command.
He had then, for fome time, refided
with the young ladies in Inch Kenneth^
where he lives not only with plenty, but
with elegance, having conveyed to his cot-
tage a collection of books, and what elfe is
neceffary to make his hours pleafant.
When we landed, we were met by Sir
Allan and the ladies, accompanied by Mifs
Macquarry, who had patted fome time with
them, and now returned to Ufoa with her
father.
We all walked together to the manfion,
where we found one cottage for Sir Allan ^
and I think two more for the domefticks
and the offices. We entered, and wanted
little that palaces afford. Our room was
1 1 neatly
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 335
neatly floored, and well lighted ; and our
dinner, which was drefled 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
fuffered to pafs without fome religious dif-
fin&ion, and invited us to partake in his
ads of domeftick worfhip ; which I hope
neither Mr. Bofwell nor myfelf will be fuf-
peded of a difpofition to refufe. The elder
of the ladies read the Englijh fervice.
Inch Kenneth was once a feminary of
ecclefiafticks, fubordinate, I fuppofe, to
IcQlmkill. Sir Allan had a mind to trace
the foundation of the college, but neither
I nor Mr. Bofwell> who bends a keener eye
on vacancy > were able to perceive them.
Our attention, however, was fufficiently
engaged by a venerable chapel, which
ftands yet entire, except that the roof is
gone.
A JOURNEY TO THE
gone. It is about fixty feet in length, and
thirty in breadth. On one fide of the altar
is a has relief of the blefled Virgin, and by
it lies a little bell ; which, though cracked,
and without a clapper, has remained there
for ages, guarded only by the venerable-
nefs of the place. The ground round the
chapel is covered with grave- ftones of
Chiefs and ladies ; and ftill continues to be
a place of fepulture.
Inch Kenneth is a proper prelude to
Icolmkill. It was not without fome
mournful emotion that we contemplated
the ruins of religious ftru&ures, and the
monuments of the dead.
On the next day we took a more diftind
view of the place, and went with the boat
to fee oyfters in the bed, out of which the
boat-men forced up as many as were want-
ed. Even Inch Kenneth has a fubordi-
nate Ifland, named Sandiland, I fuppbfe,
ill
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 337
in contempt, where we landed, and found
a rock, with a furface of perhaps four
acres, of which one is naked ftone, another
fpread with land and fhells, fome of which
I picked up for their glofly beauty, and
two covered with a little earth and grafs,
on which Sir Allan has a few fheep. I
doubt not but when there was a college at
Inch Kenneth^ there was a hermitage upon
Sandiland.
Having wandered over thofe extenfive
plains, we committed ourfelves again to the
winds and waters ; and after a voyage of
about ten minutes, in which we met with
nothing very obfervable, were again fafe
upon dry ground.
We told Sir Allan our defire of vifiting
Icolmkill) and entreated him to give up his
prote&ion, and his company. He thought
proper to hefitate a little; but the Ladies
hinted, that as they^knew he would not
Z finally
338 A JOURNEY TO THE
finally fefufe, he would do better if he pre-
ferred the grace of ready compliance. He
took their advice, and promifed to carry us
on the morrow in his boat.
We pafled the remaining part of the day
In fuch amufements as were in our power.
Sir Allan related the American campaign,
and at evening one of the Ladies played on
her harpfichord, while Col and Mr. Eofwell
danced a Scottijh reel with the other.
We could have been eafily perfuaded to
a longer ftay upon Inch Kenneth^ but life
will not be all pafled in delight. The feffion
at Edinburgh was approaching, from which
Mr. Eofwell could not be abfent.
In the morning our boat was ready : it
was high and ftrong. Sir Allan victualled
it for the day, and provided able rowers.
We now parted from the young Laird of
C0/, who had treated us with fo much kind-
nefs,
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 339
nefs, and concluded his favours by con-
figning us to Sir Allan. Here we had the
laft embrace of this amiable man, who,
while thefe pages were preparing to atteft
his virtues, perifhed in the paffage between
Ufa a and Inch Kenneth.
Sir Allan, to whom the whole region
was well known, told us of a very remark-
able cave, to which he would fhow us the
way. We had been difappointed already
by one cave, and were not much elevated
by the expectation of another.
It was yet better to fee it, and we flop-
ped at fome rocks on the coaft of Mull.
The mouth is fortified by vaft fragments of
ftone, over which we made our way, nei-
ther very nimbly, nor very fecurely. The
place, however, well repaid our trouble.
The bottom, as far as the flood ruflies in,
was encumbered with large pebbles, but as
Z 2 we
340 A JOURNEY TO THE
we advanced was fpread over with fmooth
fand. The breadth is about forty-five feet:
the roof rifes in an arch, almoft regular, to
a height which we could not meafure; but
I think it about thirty feet.
This part of our curiofity was nearly
fruftrated ; for though we went to fee a
cave, and knew that caves are dark, we
forgot to carry tapers, and did not difcover
our omiffion till we were wakened by our
wants. Sir Allan then fent one of the boat-
men into the country, who foon returned
with one little candle. We were thus en-
abled to go forward, but could not venture
far. Having paffed inward from the fea to
a great depth, we found on the right hand
a narrow paflage, perhaps not more than
fix feet wide, obftructed by great ftones,
over which we climbed and came into a
fecond cave, in breadth twenty-five feet.
The air in this apartment was very warm,
but not oppreffive, nor loaded with vapours,
Our
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 341
Our light fhowed no tokens of a feculent
or corrupted atmofphere. Here was a
fquare ftone, called, as we are told, Fin-
gal's Table.
If we had been provided with torches,
we fliould have proceeded in our fearch,
though we had already gone as far as any
former adventurer, except fome who are
reported never to have returned ; and,
meafuring our way back, we found it more
than a hundred and fixty yards, the eleventh
part of a mile.
Our meafures were not critically exact,
having been made with a walking pole, fuch
as it is convenient to carry in thefe rocky
countries, of which I guefled the length by
ftanding againft it. In this there could be
no great errour, nor do I much doubt but
the Highlander, whom we employed, re-
ported the number right. More nicety
however is better, and no man ihould tra-
Z 3 vel
A JOURNEY TO THE
vel unprovided with inftruments for taking
heights and diftances.
There is yet another caufe of errour not
always eafily furmounted, though more
dangerous to the veracity of itinerary nar-
ratives, than imperfect menfuration. An
obferver deeply imprefled by any remark-
able fpedacle, does not fuppoie, that the
traces will foon vanifh from his mind,
and having commonly no great conve-
nience for writing, defers the defcription to
a time of more leifure, and better accom-
modation.
He who has not made the experiment,
or who is not accuftomed to require ri-
gorous accuracy from himfelf, will fcarcely
believe how much a few hours take from
certainty of knowledge, and diftindnefs of
imagery; how the fucceffion of objeds will
be broken, how feparate parts will be con-
fufed, and how many particular features
and
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 343
and difcriminations will be compreffed and
conglobated into one grofs and general
idea.
To this dilatory notation muft be im-
puted the falfe relations of travellers, where
there is no imaginable motive to deceive.
They trufted to memory what cannot be
trufted fafely but to the eye, and told by
guefs what a few hours before they had
known with certainty. Thus it was that
Wheeler and Spen defcribed with irrecon-
cilable contrariety things which they
furveyed together, and which both un-
doubtedly defigned to {how as they favy
them.
When we had fatisfied our curiofity in
the cave, fo far as our penury of light perr
mitted Us, we clambered again to our boats,
and proceeded along the coaft of Mull to a
headland, called Aturi y remarkable for the
Z 4 columnar
344 A JOURNEY TO THE
columnar form of the rocks, which rife in
a feries of pilafters, with a degree of regu-
larity, which Sir Allan thinks not lefs
worthy of curiofity than the fhore of
Sta/a.
Not long after we came to another range
of black rocks, which had the appearance
of broken pilafters, fet one behind an-
other to a great depth. This place was
cliofen by Sir Allan for our dinner.
We were eafily accommodated with feats,
for the ftones were of all heights, and
refrefhed ourfelves and our boatmen, who
could have no other reft till we were at
Icolmkill.
The evening was now approaching, and
we were yet at a confiderable diftance from
the end of our expedition. We could
therefore ftop no more to make remarks in
the way, but fet forward with ibme degree
of
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c f 345
of eagernefs. The day foon failed us,
and the moon prefented a very folemn and
pleafing fcene. The fky was clear, fo that
the eye commanded a wide circle : the fea
was neither ftiij nor turbulent : the wind
neither filent nor loud. We were never
far from one coaft or another, on which, if
the weather had become violent, we could
have found flicker, and therefore contem-
plated at eafe the region through which we
glided in the tranquillity of the night, and
faw now a rock and now an ifland grow
gradually confpicuous and gradually ob-
fcure. I committed the fault which I have
juft been cenfuring, in neglecting, as we
pa{fed, to note the feries of this placid na-
vigation.
We were very near an Ifland, called
Nuns I/land, perhaps from an ancient con-
vent. Here is faid to have been dug the
ftone which was ufed in the buildings of
Icolmkill.
346 A JOURNEY TO THE
JccJmkilL Whether it is now inhabited we
could not ftay to inquire.
At laft 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 illuftrious
Ifland, which was once the luminary of the
Caledonian regions, whence favage Clans and
roving barbarians derived the benefits of
knowledge> and the bleffings of religion*
To abftracT: the mind from all local emotion
would be impoffible, if it were endeavoured,
and would be foolifh, if it were poffible.
Whatever withdraws us from the power
of our fenfes ; whatever makes the paft, the
diftant, or the future predominate over the
prefent, advances us in the dignity of think*
ing beings.. Far from me and from my
friends,
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 347
friends, be fuch frigid philofophy as may
conduct us indifferent and unmoved over
any ground which has been dignified by
wifdom, bravery, or virtue. That man is
little to be envied, whofe patriotifrn would
not gain force upon the plain of Marathon,
or whole piety would not grow warmer
among the ruins of Icna.
We came too late to vifit monuments:
fome care was necefTary for ourfelves.
Whatever was in the Ifland, Sir Allan
could demand, for the inhabitants were
Macleans ; but having little they could not
give us much. He went to the headman
of the Ifland, whom Fame, but Fame de-
lights in amplifying, reprefents as worth,
no lefs than fifty pounds. He was perhaps
proud enough of his guefts, but ill pre-
pared for our entertainment ; however, he
foon produced more provifion than men not
luxurious require. Our lodging was next
to be provided. We found a barn well
flocked
348 A JOURNEY TO THE
flocked with hay, and made our beds as
foft as we could.
In the morning we rofe and furveyed
the place. The churches of the two con^
vents are both ftanding, though unroofed.
They were built of unhewn ftone, but
folid, and not inelegant. I brought away
rude meafures of the buildings, fuch as
I cannot much truft myfelf, inaccurately
taken, and obfcurely noted. Mr. Pennant's
delineations, which are doubtlefs exact,
have made my unfkilful defcription left
neceffary.
The epifcopal church confifts of two
parts, feparated 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 fmall, an-
other building of equal dimenfion was
added, and the tower then was neceflarily
in the middle.
That
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 349
That thefe edifices are of different ages
feems evident. The arch of the firft church
is Roman, being part of a circle ; that of the
additional building is pointed, and there-
fore -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 fome walls remaining,
but nothing approaching to a complete
apartment.
The bottom of the church is fo incum-
bered with mud and rubbifh, that we could
make no difcoveries of curious infcriptions,
and what there are have been already
publifhed. The place is faid to be known
where the black {tones lie concealed, on
which the old Highland Chiefs, when they
made contracts and alliances, ufed to take
the oath, which was coniidered as more
facred than any other obligation, and which
could
350 A JOURNEY TO THE
could not be violated without the blacked
infamy. In thofe days of violence and
rapine, it was of great importance to im-
prefs upon favage minds the fan&ity of an
oath, by fome particular and extraordinary
circumftances. They would not have re-
courfe to the black ftones, upon fmall or
common occafions, and when they had
cftablifhed their faith by this tremendous
faiiction, inconftancy and treachery were
no longer feared.
The chapel of the nunnery is now ufed
by the inhabitants as a kind of general
cow-houfe, and the bottom is confequently
too miry for examination. Some of the
ftones which covered the later abbeffes have
iofcripnons, which might yet be read, if
the chapel were cleanfed. The roof of
this, as of all the other buildings, is totally
deftroyed, not only becaufe timber quick*
ly decays when it is neglected, but be-
caufe in an ifland utterly deftitute of wood,
it
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 35 1
it was wanted for ufe, and was confequently
the firft plunder of needy rapacity.
The chancel of the nuns* chapel is
covered with an arch of ftone, to which
time has done no injury ; and a final 1
apartment communicating with the choir,
on the north fide, like the chapter-houfe in
cathedrals, roofed with ftone in the fame
manner, is likewife entire.
In one of the churches was a marble
altar, which the fuperftition of the inha-
bitants has deftroyed. Their opinion was,
that a fragment of this ftone was a defence
againft ftiipwrecks, fire, and mifcarriages.
In one corner of the church the bafon for
holy water is yet unbroken.
The cemetry of the nunnery was, till
very lately, regarded with fuch reverence,
that only women were buried in it. Thefe
reliques of veneration always produce fome
mournful
A JOURNEY TO THE
mournful pleafure. I could have forgiven
a great injury more eafily than the viola-
tion of this imaginary fan&ity.
South of the chapel ftand the walls of a
large room, which was probably the hall,
or refectory of the nunnery. This apart-
ment is capable of repair. Of the reft of
the convent there are only fragments.
Befides the two principal churches, there
are, I think, five chapels yet (landing, and
three more remembered. There are alfo
crofles, of which two bear the names of
St. John and St. Matthew*
A large fpace of ground about thefe con-
fecrated edifices is covered with grave-
ftones, few of which have any infcription.
He that furveys it, attended by an infular
antiquary, may be told where the Kings
of many nations are buried, and if he
loves to footh his imagination with the
13 thoughts
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 353
thoughts that fiaturally rife in places
where the great and the powerful lie min-
gled with the duft, let him liften in fub-
miflive filence ; for if he afks any queftions,
his delight is at an end.
Ion a has long enjoyed, without any very
credible atteftation, the honour of being
reputed the cemetery of the Scotftfh Kings.
It is not unlikely, that, when the opinion
of local fandity was prevalent, the Chief-
tains of the Ifles, and perhaps fome of the
Norwegian or Irijh princes, were repofited
in this venerable enclofure. But by whom
the fubterraneous vaults are peopled is now
utterly unknown. 1 he graves are very
numerous, and fome of them undoubtedly
contain the remains of men, who did not
expecl to be fo foon forgotten.
Not far from this awful ground, may
be traced the garden of the monaftery:
the fifhponds are yet difcernible, and the
A a aqueduct,
354 A JOURNEY TO THE
aqueduft, which fupplied them, is ftill
in ufe.
There remains a broken building, which
is called the Bifhop's houfe, I know not
by what authority. It was once the red*
dence of fome man above the common rank,
for it has two ftories and a chimney. We
were {hewn a chimney at the other end,
which was only a nich, without perfora-
tion, but fo much does antiquarian cre-
dulity, or patriotick vanity prevail, that it
was not much more fafe to truft the eye of
our inftrudor than the memory.
There is in the liland one houfe more,
and only one, that has a chimney; we en*
tered it, and found it neither wanting re-
pair nor inhabitants; but to the farmers,
who now poflefs it, the chimney is of no
great value; for their fire was made on the
floor, in the middle of the room, and not-
withftanding the dignity of their manfion,
they
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 355
they rejoiced, like their neighbours, in
the comforts of fmoke.
It is obferved, that ecclefiaftical colleges
are always in the moft pleafant and fruitful
places* While the world allowed the
monks their choice, it is furely no difho-
nour that they chofe well. This Ifland is
remarkably fruitful. The village near the
churches is faid to contain feventy 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 fruitfulnefs of lona is now its
whole profperity. The inhabitants are re-
markably grofs, and remarkably negleded :
I know not if they are vifited by any Mi-
nifter. The Ifland, which was once the
metropolis of learning and piety, has now
no fchool for education, nor temple for
A a 2 worfhip,
356 A JOURNEY TO THE
worfhip, only two inhabitants that can
fpeak Englijb, and not one that can write
or read.
The people are of the Clan of Mackan ;
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 (harply reprehended by
him, for not fending him fome rum, de-
clared after his departure, in Mr. Eofwell's
prefence, that he had no defign of difap-
pointing him, for, faid he, / w:uld cut my
bones\ for him ; an d if be had fent his Jog
for if 9 he foould have had it.
When we were to depart, our boat was
left by the ebb at a great diftance from the
water, but no fooner did we wifh it afloat,
than the iflanders gathered round it, and,
by the union of many hands, pulhed it
down the beach ; every man who could
2 contribute
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 357
contribute his help feemed to think himfelf
happy in the opportunity of being, for a
moment, ufeful to his Chief.
We now left thofe illuftrious ruins, by
which Mr. Bofwe'l was much affe&ed, nor
would I willingly be thought to have look-
ed upon them without fome emotion. Per-
haps, in the revolutions of the world, lona
may be fometime again the inftrudrefs of
the Weftern Regions.
It was no long voyage to Mull^ where,
under Sir Allan's protedion, we landed in
the evening, and were entertained for the
night by Mr. Maclean, a Minifter that lives
upon the coaft, whofe elegance of conver-
fation, and ftrength of judgment, would
make him confpicuous in places of greater
celebrity. Next day we dined with Dr.
Maclean, another phyfician, and then tra-
velled on to the houfe of a very powerful
A a 3 Laird,
A JOURNEY TO THE
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 addrefTed by his name. The Laird of
Dunvegan is called Macleod^ but other
gentlemen of the fame family are denomi-
nated by the places where they refide, as
Raafa, or rfalijker. The diftindion of the
meaner people is made by their Chriftian
names. In confequence of this pradice,
the late Laird of Macfarlane, an eminent
genealogift, confidered himfelf as difre-
fpedfully treated, if the common addition
was applied to him. Mr. Macfarlane, faid
he, may with equal propriety be faid to
many; but I, and I only, am Macfarlam.
Our afternoon journey was through a
country of fuch gloomy defolation, that
Mr. Bofwell thought no part of the High-
lands equally terrifick, yet we came with-
out
2
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 359
out any difficulty, at evening, to Lochbuy,
where we found a true Highland Laird,
tough and haughty, and tenacious of his
dignity; who, hearing my name, inquired
whether I was of the John/ions of Gkncce^
or of Ardnamurchan ?
Lochbuy has, like the other infular
Chieftains, quitted the caftle that flickered
his anceftors, and lives near it, in a
manfion not very fpacious or fplendid. I
have feen no houfes in the Iflands much to
be envied for convenience or magnificence,
yet they bear teftimony to the progrefs of
arts and civility, as they fhew that rapine
and furprife are no longer dreaded, and are
much more commodious than the ancient
fortrefles.
The caftles of the Hebrides, many of
which are ftanding, and many ruined,
were always built upon points of land, on
the margin of the fea. For the choice of
A a 4 this
360 A JOURNEY TO THE
{his fituation there muft have been fome
general reafon, which the change of man-
ners has left in obfcurity. They were of
no ufe in the days of piracy, as defences of
the coaft; for it was equally acceffible in
other places. Had they been fea-marks or
light-houfes, they would have been of
more fe to the invader than the natives,
who could want no fuch directions on 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 confidered merely as places of
retreat, the fituation feems not well chofen;
for the Laird of an Ifland is fafeft from
foreign enemies in the centre: on the coaft
he might be mofe fuddenly furprifed than
in the inland parts ; and the invaders, if
their enterpriie rnifcarried, might more
eafily retreat. Some convenience, how-
ever, whatever it was, their pofition on
the fhore afforded ; for uniformity of prac*
tice
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c, 361
tlce feldom continues long without good
reafon.
A caftle in the Iflands is only a fingle
tower of three or four ftories, of which the
walls are fometimes eight or nine feet
thick, with narrow windows, and clofe
winding flairs of ftone. The top rifes in a
cone, or pyramid of ftone, encompafled
by battlements. The intermediate floors
are fometimes frames of timber, as in com-c
mon houfes, and fometimes arches of (lone,
or alternately ftone and timber ; fo that
there was very little danger from fire. In
the centre of every floor, from top to hot-?
torn, is the chief room, of no great ex-
tent, round which there are narrow cavi-
ties, or recefles, formed by fmall 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 provifion ; but their ene-
mies could feldom ftay to blockade them ;
for
362 A JOURNEY TO THE
for if they failed in the fir ft attack, their
next care was to efcape.
The walls were always too ftrong to be
fhaken by fuch defultory hoftilities; the
windows were too narrow to be entered,
and the battlements too high to be fcaled.
The only danger was at the gates, over
which the wall was built with a fquare ca-
vity, not unlike a chimney, continued to the
top. Through this hollow the defendants
let fall ftones upon thofe who attempted to
break the gate, and poured down water,
perhaps fcalding water, if the attack was
made with fire. The caftle of Locbbuy was
fecured by double doors, of which the
outer was an iron grate.
In every caftle is a well and a dungeon.
The ufe of the well is evident. The dun-
geon is a deep fubterraneous cavity, walled
on the fides, and arched on the top, into
which the defcent is through a narrow door,
by
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 363
by a ladder or a rope, fo that it feems im-
poffible to efcape, when the rope or ladder
is drawn up. The dungeon was, I fup^
pofe, in war, a prifon for fuch captives as
were treated with feverity, and, in peace,
for fuch delinquents as had committed
crimes within the Laird's jurifdi&ion ; for
the manfions of many Lairds were, till the
late privation of their privileges, the halls
of juftice to their own tenants.
As thefe fortifications were the produc-
tions of mere neceffity, they are built only
for fafety, with little regard to convenience,
and with none to elegance or pleafure. It
was fufficient for a Laird of the Hebrides,
if he had a ftrong houfe, in which he could
hide his wife and children from the next
Clan. That they are not large nor fplendid,
is no wonder. It is not eafy to find how
they are raifed, fuch as they are, by men
who had no money, in countries where the
labourers and artificers could fcarcely be fed.
The
364 A JOURNEY TO THE
The buildings in different parts of the
Iflands fliew their degrees of wealth and
power. I believe that for all the caftles
which I have feen beyond the Tweed, the
ruins yet remaining of fome one of thefe
which the Englijh bqilt in Wales, would
fypply ipaterials.
Thefe caftles afford another evidence
that the fidions of romantic chivalry had
for their bafis the real manners of the
feudal times, when every Lord of a feignory
Jived in his hold lawlefs and unaccountable,
with all the licentiaufnefs and infolence of
unconteiled fuperiority and unprincipled
power. The traveller, whoever he might
be, coming to the fortified habitation of a
Chieftain, would, probably, have been in-
terrogated from the battlements, admitted
with caution at the gate, introduced to a
petty Monarch, fierce with habitual hofti-
lity, and vigilant with ignorant fufpicion;
who, according to his general temper, or
accidental
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 365
accidental humour, would have feated a
ftranger as his gueft at the table, or as a
fpy 'confined him in the dungeon.
Lochbuy means the Tellow Lake, which
is the name given to an inlet of the fea,
upon which the caftle of Mr. Maclean
(lands. The reafon of the appellation we
did not learn.
We were now to leave the
where we had fpent fome weeks with fuf-
ficient amufement, and where we had am-
plified our thoughts with new fcenes of
nature, and new modes of life, More
time would have given us a more diftint
view, but it was neceffary that Mr. Bof*
well fhould return before the courts of juf-
tice were opened ; and it was not proper to
live too long upon hofpitality, however
liberally imparted.
Of thefe iflands it muft be confeffed, that
they have not many allurements, but to
the
366 A JOURNEY TO THE
the mere lover of naked nature. The in-
habitants are thin, provifions are fcarce,
and defolation and penury give little
pleafure.
The people colle&ively confidered are
not few, though their numbers are fmall
in proportion to the fpace which they oc-
cupy. Mull is faid to contain fix thoufand,
and Sky fifteen thoufand. Of the compu-
tation refpedling Mull, I can give no ac-
count; but when I doubted the truth of
the numbers attributed to Sky^ one of the
Minifters exhibited fuch fads as conquered
my incredulity.
Of the proportion, which the product of
any region bears to the people, an eftimate
is commonly made according to the pecuni-
ary price of the neceflaries of life ; a prin-
ciple of judgment which is never cer-
tain, becaufe it fuppofes what is far from
truth, that the value of money is always
the
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 367
the fame, and fo meafures an unknown
quantity by an uncertain ftandard. It is
competent enough when the markets of the
fame country, at different times, and thofe
times not too diftant, are to be compared ;
but of very little ufe for the purpofe of mak-
ing one nation acquainted with the ftate
of another. Provifions, though plenti-
ful, are fold in places of great pecuniary
opulence for nominal prices, to which,
however fcarce, where gold and filver arc
yet fcarcer, they can never be raifed.
In the Weftern I/lands there is fo little in-
ternal commerce, that hardly any thing has
a known or fettled rate. The price of
things brought in, or carried out, is to be
confidered as that of a foreign market; and
even this there is fome difficulty in difco-
vering, becaufe their denominations of
quantity are different from ours; and when
there is ignorance on both fides, no appeal
can be made to a common meafure.
This,
A^JOURNEY TO THE
This, however, is not the only impedi-
ment. The Scots, with a vigilance of jea-
loufy which never goes to fleep, always
fufpecl: that an Eng!?JJoman defpifes them
for their poverty, and to convince him
that they are not lefs rich than their neigh-
bours, are fure to tell him a price higher
than the true. When Lejley, two hundred
years ago, related fo punclilioufly, that a
hundred hen eggs, new laid, were fold in
the Iflands for a penny, he fuppofed that
no inference could poffibly follow, but that
eggs were in great abundance.. Pofterity
has fince grown wifer; and having learn-
ed, that nominal and real value may differ,
they now tell no fuch ftories, left the
foreigner fhould happen to collecl, not that
eggs are many, but that pence are few.
Money and wealth have by the ufe of
commercial language been fo long con-
founded, that they are commonly fuppofed
to be the fame; and this - prejudice has
fpread
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 369
fpread fo widely in Scotland, that I know
not whether I found man or woman, whom
I interrogated concerning payments of mo-
ney, that could furmount the illiberal defire
of deceiving me, by reprefenting every
thing as dearer than it is*
From Locbbuy we rode a very few miles
to the fide of Mult, which faces Scotland^
where, having taken leave of our kind pro-^
tedor, Sir Allan^ we embarked in a boat, in
which the feat provided for our accommo-
dation was a heap of rough brufhwood ; and
on the twenty-fecond of Qttober repofed at
a tolerable inn on the main land.
On the next day we began out 1 journey
fouthwards* The weather was tempeftu^
ous* For half the day the ground was
rough, and our horfes were ftill fmall.
Had they required much reftraint, we might
have been reduced to difficulties ; for I
think we had amongft us but one bridle*
Bb We
370 A JOURNEY TO THE
We fed the poor animals liberally, and they
performed their journey well. In the lat-
ter part of the day, we came to a firm and
fmooth road, made by the foldiers, on
which we travelled with great fecurity,
bufied with contemplating the fcene about
us. The night came on while we had yet
a great part of the way to go, though not
fo dark but that we could difcern the ca-
taracts which poured down the hills on
one fide, and fell into one general channel
that ran with great violence on the other.
The wind was loud, the rain was heavy,
and the whiftling of the blaft, the fall of
the fhower, the rufh of the cataracts, and
the roar of the torrent, made a nobler cho-
rus of the rough mufic of nature, than it
had ever been my chance to hear before.
The ftreams, which ran crofs the way from
the hills to the main current, were fo fre-
quent, that after a while I began to count
them ; and, in ten miles, reckoned fifty-
five, probably miffing fome, and having
12 let
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 371
let fome pafs before they forced tfoemfelves
upon my notice. At lafl we came to I/jv r-
ar)\ where we found an inn, not only com-
modious, but magnificent.
The difficulties of peregrination were
now at an end. Mr. Bofweli had the ho-
nour of being known to the Duke of Ar-
gy/e, by whom we were very kindly enter-
tained at his fplendid feat, and fupplied
with conveniences for furveying his fpa-
cious park and rifing forefts.
After two days ftay at Inverary we pro-
ceeded fouchward over Glencoe, a black
and dreary region, now made eafily paff-
able by a military road, which rifes fronn
either end of the g/en, by an acclivity not
dangeroufly fteep, but fuinciently labori-
ous. In the middle, at the top of the hill,
is a feat with this infcription, jRr/?, and be
thankful* Stones were placed to mark the
diftanceS) which the inhabitants have taken
B b a away,
37* A JOURNEY TO THE
away, refolved, they faid, to have no new
miles.
In this rainy feafon the hills ftreamed
with waterfalls, which, crofting the way,
formed currents on the other fide, that ran
in contrary directions as they fell to the
north or fouth of the fummit. Being, by
the favour of the Duke, well mounted, I
went up and down the hill with great con-
venience.
From Glencoe we palled through a plea-
fant country to the banks of Loch Lomond^
and were received at the houfe of Sir
Barnes Coljuhoun, who is owner of almoft
all the thirty iflands of the Loch, which we
went in a boat next morning to furvey.
The heavtnefs of the rain fhortened our
voyage, but we landed on one ifland
planted with yew, and flocked with deer,
and on another, containing perhaps not
more than half an acre, remarkable for the
ruins
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 373
ruins of an old caftle, on which the ofprey
builds her annual neft. Had Loch Lomond
been in a happier climate, it would have
been the boaft of wealth and vanity to own
one of the little fpots which it inclofes, and
to have employed upon it all the arts of
embellilhment. But as it is, the iflets,
which court the gazer at a diftance, dif-
guft him at his approach, when he finds,
inftead of loft lawns and fhady thickets, no-
thing more than uncultivated ruggednefs.
Where the Loch difcharges itfelf into a
river, called the Leven, we paffed a night
with Mr. Smollet) a relation of Dodor Smol-
let, to whofe memory he has raifed an
obelifk on the bank near the houfe in which
he was born. The civility and refpecT:
which we found at every place, it is un-
grateful to omit, and tedious to repeat.
Here we were met by a poft-chaife, that
conveyed us to Glafgow.
Bb3 To
374 A JOURNEY TO THE
To defcribe a city fo much frequented as
GlafgoiV) is unnecelTary. The profperity of
its commerce appears by the greatoefs of
many private houfes, and a general appear-
ance of wealth. It is the only epifcopal
city whofe cathedral was left (landing in
the rage of Reformation. It is now di-
vided into many feparate places of worihip,
which, taken all together, compofe a great
pile, that had been fome centuries in build-
ing, but was never finifhed ; for the change
of religion intercepted its progrefs, before
the crofs ifle was added, which feems eflen-
tial to a Gotbick cathedral.
The college has not had a fufficient (hare
of the increafing magnificence of the place.
The feflion was begun ; for it commences
on the tenth of October, and continues to
f
the tenth of June; but the ftudents appear-
ed not numerous, being, I fuppofe, not yet
returned from their feveral homes. The
divifion of the academical year into one
feflion,
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 375
feffion, and one recefs, feems to me bet-
ter accommodated to the prefent ftate of
life, than that variegation of time by
terms and vacations derived from diftant
centuries, in which it was probably conve-
nient, and ftill continued in the 'Englijh
univerfities. So many folid months as the
Scotch fcheme of education joins together,
allow and encourage a plan for each part of
the year; but with us, he that has fettled
himfelf to ftudy in the college is foon
tempted into the country, and he that has
adjufted his life in the country, is furnmon-
ed back to his college.
Yet when I have allowed to the univer-
fities of Scotland a more rational diftribu-
tion of time, I have given them, fo far as
my inquiries have informed me, all that
they can claim. The iludents, for the moft
part, go thither boys, and depart before
they are men ; they carry with them little
fundamental knowledge, and therefore the
B b 4 fuper-
3;6 A JOURNEY TO THE
fuperftrudture cannot be lofty. The gram-
mar fchools are not generally well fup-
plied ; for the character of a fchool-mafter
being there lefs honourable than in England?
is feldom accepted by men who are capable
to adorn it, and where the fchool has been
deficient, the college can effedl little.
Men bred in the univerfities of Scotland
cannot be expected to be often decorated
with the fplendours of ornamental erudi-
tion, bt they obtain a mediocrity of know-
ledge, between learning and ignorance, not
inadequate to the purpofes of common life,
'which is, 1 believe, very widely diffufcd
among them, and which countenanced in
general by a national combination fo in-?
vjdious, that their friends cannot defend
it, and a^uated in particulars by a fpirit of
enterprife, fo vigorous, that their enemies
are conftrained to praife it, enables them
to find, or to make their way to employ-?
njent, riches, and diiUndion.
From
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 377
From Glafgow we direded our courfe to
duMnleck) an eftate devolved, through a
long feries of anceftors, to Mr. BofaelP*
father, the prefent poffeffor. In our way
\ve found feveral places remarkable enough
in themfelves, but already defcribed by
thofe who viewed them at more leifure, or
with much more (kill ; and flopped two days
at Mr. Campbeir^ a gentleman married to
Mr. Bofwelf* fitter.
i which fignifies * jlony fal>
feems not now to have any particular claim
to its denomination. It is a diftricl: gene-
rally level, and fufficiently fertile, but like
all the Wcjlern fide of Scotland) incommoded
by very frequent rain. It was, with the reft
of the country, generally naked, till the
prefent pofleffor finding, by the growth of
fome (lately trees near his old caftle, that
the ground was favourable enough to tim->
ber, adorned it very diligently with annual
plantations.
Lord
378 A JOURNEY TO THE-
Lord Aitcbinleck^ who is one of the
Judges of Scotland^ and therefore not
wholly at leifure for domeftick bufmefs or
pleafure, has yet found time to make
improvements in his patrimony. He has
built a houfe of hewn ftone, very ftately
and durable, and has advanced the value
of his lands with great tendernefs to his
tenants.
I was, however, lefs delighted with the
elegance of the modern manfion, than with
the fullen dignity of the old caftle. I clam-
bered with Mr. Bofwell among the ruins,
which afford ftriking images of ancient
life. It is, like other caftles, built upon
a point of rock, and was, I believe, an-
ciently furrounded with a moat. There is
another rock near it, to which the draw-
bridge, when it was let down, is faid to
have reached. Here, in the ages of tumult
and rapiae, the Laird was furprifed and
killed by the neighbouring Chief, who
perhaps
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 379
perhaps might have extinguished the fa-
mily, had he not in a few days been ieized
and hanged, together with his Tons, by
Doughs, who came with his forces to the
relief of Auihinleck.
At no great diftance from the houfe runs
a pleafing brook, by a red rock, out of
which has been hewn a very agreeable and
commodious fummer- houfe, at lefs ex-
pence, as Lord Anchinleck told me, than
would have been required to build a room
of the fame dimenfions. The rock feems to
have no more dampnefs than any other
wall. Such opportunities of variety it is
judicious not to negledt.
We now returned to Edinburgh^ where
I pa (Ted fome days with men of learning,
whofe names want no advancement from
my commemoration, or with women of
elegance, which perhaps difclaims a pe-
dant's praife.
The
3$o A JOURNEY TO THE
The converfation of the Scots grows every
day lefs unpleafing to the Englijh\ their
peculiarities wear faft away ; their dialed: is
likely to become in half a century provin-
cial and ruftick, even to themfelves. The
great, the learned, the ambitious, and the
vain, all cultivate the EngiiJJj phrafe, and
the EngHJh pronunciation, and in fplendid
companies Scotch is not much heard, ex-
cept now and then from an old Lady.
There is one fubjeft of philofophical cu-
riofity to be found in Edinburgh, which
no other city has to fhew ; a college of the
deaf and dumb, who are taught to fpeak,
to read, to wrire, and to pradife arirhme-
tick, by a gentleman, whofe name is Braid-
wood. The number which attends him
is, I think, about twelve, which he
brings together into a little fchool, and
inftruds according to their feveral degrees
of proficiency.
I do
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 38*
I do not mean to mention the inftru&ion
of the deaf as new* Having been firft prac-
tifed upon the ion of a conftable of Spain, it
was afterwards cultivated with much emu-
lation in England, by Wallis and Holder^
and was lately profefled by Mr. Baker*
who once flattered me with hopes of feeing
his method published. How far any for-
mer teachers have fuccceded, it is not eafy
to know ; the improvement of Mr. Braid-"
wood's pupils is wonderful. They not only
fpeak, write, and under/land what is writ-
ten, but if he that fpeaks looks towards
them, and modifies his organs by diftinct
and full utterance, they know fo well what
is fpoken, that it is an expreffion fcarcely
figurative to fay, they hear with the eye.
That any have attained to the power men-
tioned by Burnet, of feeling founds, by lay-
ing a hand on the fpeaker's mouth, I know
not ; but 1 have feen fo much, that I can be-
lieve more ; a imgle word, or a fhort fenrence,
I think, may pofTibly be fo diftinguiflied.
It
382 A JOURNEY TO THE
It will readily be fuppofed by thofe that
confider this fubject, that Mr. Braidwoocfs
fcholars fpell accurately. Orthography is
vitiated among fuch as learn firft to fpeak,
and then to write, by imperfect notions of
the relation between letters and vocal utter-
ance ; but to thofe (indents every character
is of equal importance ; for letters are to
them not fymbols of names, but of things ,
when they write they do not reprefent a
found, but delineate a form.
This fchool I vifited, and found fome of
the fcholars waiting for their mafter, whom
they are faid to receive at his entrance with
fmiling countenances and fparkling eyes,
delighted with the hope of new ideas. One
of the young Ladies had her flate before
her, on which I wrote a queflion confifting
of three figures, to be multiplied by two
figures. She looked upon it, and quiver-
ing her fingers in a manner which I thought
very pretty, but of which I know not whe-
ther
WESTERN ISLANDS, &c. 383
ther it was art or play, multiplied the fum
regularly in two lines, obferving the 'deci-
mal place ; but did not add the two lines to-
gether, probably difdaining fo eafy an ope-
ration. I pointed at the place where the
fum total fhould ftand, and ihe noted it with
fuch expedition as feemed to fhew that fhe
had it only to write.
It was pleafing to fee one of the mod
defperate of human calamities capable of fo
much help : whatever enlarges hope, will
exalt courage; after having feen the deaf
taught arithmetick, who would be afraid to
cultivate the Hebrides?
Such are the things which this journe7
hio given me 211 opportunity of feeing,
* fuch are the reflections which that
fight has raifed. Having pafled my time
alinoft wholly in cities, I may have been
furprifed by modes of life and appearances
of nature, that are familiar to men of
wider
384 A JOURNEY, &c.
wider furvey and more varied converfation.
Novelty and ignorance muft always be reci-
procal, and I cannot but be confcious that
my thoughts on national manners, are the
thoughts of one who has feen but little.
H E END.
eforc
BINDING SECT. OCT 2 3 1967
Johnson, Samuel
880 A journey to the Western
H4.J6 islands of Scotland
1791 New ed.
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