'/I 
 
 n 0 
 
I 
 
X 
 
<J © M If S © If , 
 
 En^aved bi/ E .M^iicheE,j7om a J^ahiling' hi^ Sir Joshua Reynolds, 
 in. the possession of James BosweU, Esif. 
 
 Published Angxi5t/ 1817^ ijH • Chapmm , Glas^ovf. 
 
JOURNEY 
 
 TO THE 
 
 WESTERN ISLANDS 
 
 OF 
 
 BY SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 
 
 WITH 
 
 BY THE REV. DONALD M'NICOL, A.M. 
 
 OF LISMORE, ARGYLESHIRE. 
 
 BMBELLISHED WITH AN ELEGANT PORTRAIT OF_ JJiHHSOM. 
 
 GLASGOW : 
 ^vintttf at tltt ^tanj^ope P^jS, 
 
 BY AND FOR R. CHAPMAN. 
 Sold by A. & J. M. Duncan, Brash «Sr Reid, J. Smith & Son, W. TurnbuU, 
 p. Niven & Co., M. Ogle, J. Steven, T. Ogilvie, J. Wylie & Co., J. Jones, and J. SawQrs, 
 Also by P. Hill & Co., and A. Constable & Co., Edinburgh. 
 
 1817. 
 
ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 IT is now upwards of forty years since 
 Doctor Johnson's Tour to the Hebrides was 
 given to the world. The strength and beauty 
 of its language, the freedom and novelty of 
 its remarks, and the great literary fame of 
 its author, have concurred in establishing its 
 title to rank as a Classic in our language. 
 It is universally admitted, however, that the 
 strong prejudices of the traveller, and his 
 excusable ignorance of local circumstances 
 and manners, have given a colouring to many 
 of his observations which is highly objec- 
 tionable. Hence, in the progress of this 
 meritorious performance, much unreasonable 
 satire is mingled with the unction of praise, 
 and truth is frequently sacrificed at the 
 shrine of detraction. 
 
 When this work was ushered to the no- 
 tice of the public, Scotland, as might have 
 been anticipated, found many defenders ; but 
 
iv 
 
 ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 the only work of merit, which was professed- 
 ly published as an antidote to the misrepre- 
 sentations of Johnson, is the volume of Re- 
 marks by the Eev. Mr. M'Nicol, of Lismore. 
 The liveliness with which this volume is writ- 
 ten, the zeal and research it displays, and 
 the sarcasm with which it abounds, are at 
 once proofs of the talents, the industry, and 
 the patriotism of its author ; and, notwith- 
 standing some occasional sallies of indignant 
 nationality, though the great Rambler himself 
 were alive, he could hardly be displeased to 
 see himself associated with so judicious and 
 able an opponent. 
 
 Mr. M'Nicol's Remarks having become 
 exceedingly scarce, the Publisher flatters 
 himself that he offers a high gratification 
 to the lovers of literature in general, to 
 Scotsmen in particular, and to the just ad^ 
 mirers of Johnson himself, when he pre- 
 sents them with an elegant edition of the 
 Tour and the Remarks combined in one 
 volume. 
 
 Glasgow y August, 1817, 
 
Contents* 
 
 Aberbrothick ; Page 10 
 
 Aberdeen l6 
 
 Anoch 49 
 
 Armidel 71 
 
 Auchinleck 251 
 
 Banff. 27 
 
 BuIIer of Buchan 24 
 
 Calder S3 
 
 Castle of Col I90 
 
 Col 185 
 
 Coriatachan in Skye 77 
 
 Dun vegan 99 
 
 Elgin SO 
 
 Fall of Fiers 46 
 
 Fores SS 
 
 Fort Augustus 47 
 
 Fort George 33 
 
 Glasgow , 248 
 
 Glenelg , , 69 
 
 Glensheals 59 
 
 Grissipol in Col < 188 
 
 Icolmkill , , t 230 
 
vi CONTENTS. 
 
 Inch Keith Page 2 
 
 Inch Kenneth 221 
 
 Inveraray 246 
 
 Inverness S5 
 
 Loch Lomond........ 247 
 
 Loch Ness 39 
 
 Montrose 14 
 
 Mull 212 
 
 Ostig in Skye 117 
 
 Raasay 85 
 
 Skye 71 
 
 Slanes Castle 24 
 
 St. Andrew's 4 
 
 Talisker in Skye 113 
 
 The Highlands 6l 
 
 Ulinish ,106 
 
 Ulva 219 
 
 M|Nicol's Remarks on Johnson's Journey., 257 
 
/ 
 
 / 
 
 A 
 
 J 0 U K N E Y 
 
 TO THE 
 
 WESTERN ISLANDS 
 
 or 
 
 BY SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 
 
 FIRST PUBLISHED IN 1774. 
 
JOURNEY 
 
 TO THE 
 OP 
 
 SCOTLAND. 
 
 I HAD desired to visit the Hebrides, or 
 Western Islands of Scotland, so long, that I 
 scarcely remember how the wish was originally 
 excited; and was in the autumn of the year 
 1773 induced to undertake the journey, by find- 
 ing in Mr. Boswell a companion, whose acuteness 
 would help my inquiry, and whose gaiety of 
 conversation and civility of manners are suf- 
 ficient to counteract the inconveniences of travel, 
 in countries less hospitable than we have passed. 
 
 On the eighteenth of August we left Edin- 
 burgh, a city too well known to admit descrip- 
 tion, and directed our course northward, along 
 the eastern coast of Scotland, accompanied the 
 
2 
 
 JOURNEY TO THE 
 
 first day by another gentleman, who could stay 
 with us only long enough to show us how much 
 we lost at separation. 
 
 As we crossed the Frith of Forth, our curi- 
 osity was attracted by 
 
 a small island, which neither of my companions 
 had ever visited, though, lying within their view, 
 it had all their lives solicited their notice. Here, 
 by climbing with some difficulty over shattered 
 crags, we made the first experiment of unfre- 
 quented coasts. Inch Keith is nothing more 
 than a rock covered with a thin layer of earth, 
 not wholly bare of grass, and very fertile of this- 
 tles. A small herd of cows grazes annually upon 
 it in the summer. It seems never to have af- 
 forded to man or beast a permanent habitation. 
 
 AVe found only the ruins of a small fort, not 
 so injured by time but that it might be easily 
 restored to its former state. It seems never to 
 have been intended as a place of strength, nor 
 was built to endure a siege, but merely to afibrd 
 cover to a few soldiers, who perhaps had the 
 charge of a battery, or were stationed to give 
 signals of approaching danger. There is there- 
 fore no provision of water within the walls, 
 though the spring is so near that it might have 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 3 
 
 been easily inclosed. One of the stones had this 
 inscription : 
 
 MARIA REG. MDLXIV. 
 
 It has probably been neglected from the time 
 that the whole island had the same king. 
 
 We left this little island with our thoughts 
 employed a while on the diiFerent appearance 
 that it would have made, if it had been placed at 
 the same distance from London, with the same 
 facility of approach; with what emulation of 
 price a few rocky acres would have been pur- 
 chased, and with what expensive industry they 
 would have been cultivated and adorned. 
 
 When we landed, we found our chaise ready, 
 and passed through Kinghorn, Kirkcaldy, and 
 Cupar, places not unlike the small or straggling 
 market-towns in those parts of England where 
 commerce and manufactures have not yet pro- 
 duced opulence. 
 
 Though we were yet in the most populous 
 part of Scotland, and at so small a distance from 
 the capital, we met few passengers. 
 
 The roads are neither rough nor dirty ; and it 
 affords a southern stranger a new kind of pleasure 
 to travel so commodiously without the interrup- 
 tion of toll-gates. Where the bottom is rocky, as 
 it seems commonly to be in Scotland, a smooth 
 
4 
 
 JOURNEY TO THE 
 
 way is made indeed with great labour, but it 
 never wants repairs; and in those parts where 
 adventitious materials are necessary, the ground 
 once consolidated is rarely broken ; for the inland 
 commerce is not great, nor are heavy commodities 
 often transported otherwise than by water. The 
 carriages in common use are small carts, drawn 
 each by one little horse; and a man seems to 
 derive some degree of dignity and importance 
 from the reputation of possessing a two-horse 
 cart. 
 
 At an hour somewhat late we came to St. 
 Andrew's, a city once archiepiscopal ; where that 
 university still subsists in which philosophy was 
 formerly taught by Buchanan, whose name has 
 as fair a claim to immortality as can be conferred 
 by modern latinity, and perhaps a fairer than the 
 instability of vernacular languages admits. 
 
 We found, that by the interposition of some 
 invisible friend, lodgings had been provided for 
 us at the house of one of the professors, whose 
 easy civility quickly made us forget that we were 
 strangers ; and in the whole time of our stay we 
 were gi'atified by every mode of kindness, and 
 entertained with all the elegance of lettered hos- 
 pitality. 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 5 
 
 lii the morning we rose to perambulate a city, 
 which only history shows to have once flourished, 
 and surveyed the ruins of ancient magnificence, 
 of which even the ruins cannot long be visible, 
 unless some care be taken to preserve them ; and 
 where is the pleasure of preserving such mournful 
 memorials ? They have been till very lately so 
 much neglected, that every man carried away 
 the stones who fancied that he wanted them. 
 
 The cathedral, of which the foundations may 
 be still traced, and a small part of the wall is 
 standing, appears to have been a spacious and 
 majestic building, not unsuitable to the primacy 
 of the kingdom. Of the architecture, the poor 
 remains can hardly exhibit, even to an artist, a 
 sufficient specimen. It was demolished, as is well 
 known, in the tumult and violence of Knox's 
 reformation. 
 
 Not far from the cathedral, on the margin of 
 the water, stands a fragment of the castle, in 
 which the archbishop anciently resided. It was 
 never very large, and was built with more atten- 
 tion to security than pleasure. Cardinal Beatoun 
 is said to have had workmen employed in im- 
 proving its fortifications, at the time when he 
 was murdered by the ruffians of reformation, in 
 the manner in which Knox has given what he 
 himself calls a merry narrative. 
 
 The change of religion in Scotland, eager and 
 
6 
 
 JOURNEY TO TM 
 
 vehement as it was, raised an epidemical enthu- 
 siasm, compounded of sullen scrupulousness and 
 warlike ferocity, which, in a people whom idle- 
 ness resigned to their own thoughts, and who, 
 conversing only with each other, suffered no di- 
 lution of their zeal from the gradual influx of 
 new opinions, was long transmitted in its full 
 strength from the old to the young, but by trade 
 and intercourse with England, is now visibly 
 abating, and giving way too fast to that laxity 
 of practice, and indifference of opinion, in which 
 men, not sufficiently instructed to find the middle 
 point, too easily shelter themselves from rigour 
 and constraint. 
 
 The city of St. Andrew's, when it had lost its 
 archiepiscopal pre-eminence, gradually decayed: 
 one of its streets is now lost ; and in those that 
 remain, there is the silence and solitude of inac- 
 tive indigence and gloomy depopulation. 
 
 The university, within a few years, consisted 
 of three colleges, but is now reduced to two ; the 
 college of St. Leonard being lately dissolved by 
 the sale of its buildings, and the appropriation 
 of its revenues to the professors of the two others. 
 The chapel of the alienated college is yet stand- 
 ing, a fabric not inelegant of external structure : 
 but I was always, by some civil excuse, hindered 
 from entering it. A decent attempt, as I was 
 since told, has been made to convert it into a 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 7 
 
 kind of greenhouse, by planting its area with 
 shrubs. This new method of gardening is un- 
 successful; the plants do not hitherto prosper. 
 To what use it will next be put, I have no 
 pleasure in conjecturing. It is something, that 
 its present state is at least not ostentatiously 
 displayed. Where there is yet shame, there 
 may in time be virtue. 
 
 The dissolution of St. Leonard's College was 
 doubtless necessary; but of that necessity there is 
 reason to complain. It is surely not without just 
 reproach, that a nation, of which the commerce 
 is hourly extending, and the wealth increasing, 
 denies any participation of its prosperity to its 
 literary societies ; and while its merchants or its 
 nobles are raising palaces, suffers its universities 
 to moulder into dust 
 
 Of the two colleges yet standing, one is by 
 the institution of its founder appropriated to 
 divinity. It is said to be capable of containing 
 fifty students ; but more than one must occupy a 
 chamber. The library, which is of late erection, 
 is not very spacious, but elegant and luminous. 
 
 The doctor, by whom it was shown, hoped to 
 irritate or subdue my English vanity, by telling 
 me, that we had no such repository of books in 
 England. 
 
 St. Andrew's seems to be a place eminently 
 adapted to study and education, being situated 
 
8 
 
 JOURNEY TO THE 
 
 in a populous, yet a cheap country, and exposing 
 the minds and manners of young men neither 
 to the levity and dissoluteness of a capital city, 
 nor to the gross luxury of a town of commerce, 
 places naturally luipropitious to learning ; in one 
 the desire of knowledge easily gives way to the 
 love of pleasure, and in the other, is in danger of 
 yielding to the love of money. 
 
 The students, however, are represented as at 
 this time not exceeding a hundred. Perhaps it 
 may be some obstruction to their increase that 
 there is no episcopal chapel in the place. I saw 
 no reason for imputing their paucity to the 
 present professors; nor can the expense of an 
 academical education be very reasonably objec- 
 ted. A student of the highest class may keep his 
 annual session, or as the EngHsh call it, his term, 
 which lasts seven months, for about fifteen pounds, 
 and one of lower rank for less than ten ; in which, 
 board, lodging and instruction are all included. 
 
 The chief magistrate resident in the university, 
 answering to our vice-chancellor, and to the rector 
 magnijicus on the continent, had commonly the 
 title of Lord Rector ; but being addressed only 
 as ' Mr. Rector ' in an inauguratory speech by 
 the present chancellor, he has fallen from his 
 former dignity of style. Lordship w^as very li- 
 berally annexed by our ancestors to any station 
 or character of dignity : they said, the * Lord 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. 9 
 
 General,' and * Lord Ambassador •/ so we still 
 say, ' my Lord,' to the judge upon the circuit, 
 and yet retain in our Liturgy, * the Lords of the 
 Council.' 
 
 In walking among the ruins of these religious 
 buildings, we came to two vaults over which had 
 formerly stood the house of the subprior. One 
 of the vaults was inhabited by an old woman, 
 who claimed the right of abode there, as the 
 widow of a man whose ancestors had possessed 
 the same gloomy mansion for no less than four 
 generations. The right, however it began, was 
 considered as established by legal prescription, 
 and the old woman lives undisturbed. She 
 thinks however that she has a claim to somethino; 
 more than sufferance ; for as her husband's name 
 was Bruce, she is allied to royalty, and told Mr. 
 Bos well, that when there were persons of quality 
 in the place, she was distinguished by some no- 
 tice ; that indeed she is now neglected, but she 
 spins a thread, has the company of a cat, and is 
 troublesome to nobody. 
 
 Having now seen whatever this ancient city 
 offered to our curiosity, we left it with good 
 wishes, having reason to be highly pleased with 
 the attention that was paid us. But whoever 
 surveys the world must see many things that 
 give him pain. The kindness of the professors 
 did not contribute to abate the uneasy remem- 
 
 B 
 
10 JOURNEV TO THE 
 
 brance of a university declining, a college alien- 
 ated, and a church profaned and hastening to 
 the ground. 
 
 St. Andrew's indeed has formerly suffered 
 more atrocious ravages and more extensive de- 
 struction, but recent evils affect with greater 
 force. We were reconciled to the sight of archie- 
 piscopal ruins. The distance of a calamity from 
 the present time seems to preclude the mind 
 from contact or sympathy. Events long past 
 are barely known ; they are not considered. We 
 read with as little emotion the violence of Knox 
 and his foUow^ers, as the irruptions of Alaric and 
 the Goths. Had the university been destroyed 
 two centuries ago, we should not have regretted 
 it ; but to see it pining in decay, and struggling 
 for life, fills the mind vv^ith mournful images and 
 ineffectual wishes. 
 
 As we knew sorrow and wishes to be vain, it 
 was now our business to mind our way. The 
 roads of Scotland afford little diversion to the 
 traveller, who seldom sees himself either en- 
 countered or overtaken, and who has nothing to 
 contemplate but grounds that have no visible 
 boundaries, or are separated by walls of loose 
 stone. From the banks of the Tweed to St. 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 11 
 
 Andrew's I had never seen a single tree, which 
 I did not believe to have grown up far within 
 the present century. Now and then about a 
 gentleman's house stands a small plantation, 
 which in Scotch is called a policy , but of these 
 there are few, and those few all very young. 
 The variety of sun and shade is here utterly 
 unknown. There is no tree for either shelter 
 or timber. The oak and the thorn is equally a 
 stranger, and the whole country is extended in 
 uniform nakedness, except that in the road be- 
 tween Kirkcaldy and Cupar, I passed for a few 
 yards between two hedges. A tree might be a 
 show in Scotland, as a horse in Venice. At 
 St. Andrew's Mr. Boswell found only one, and 
 recommended it to my notice ; I told him that 
 it was rough and low, or looked as if I thought 
 so. " This," said he, " is nothing to another a 
 few miles off." I was still less delighted to hear x 
 that another tree was not to be seen nearer. 
 " Nay," said a gentleman that stood by, " I 
 know but of this and that tree in the county." 
 
 The lowlands of Scotland had once undoubt- 
 edly an equal portion of woods with other coun- 
 tries. Forests are every where gradually dimi- 
 nished, as architecture and cultivation prevail by 
 the increase of people and the introduction of 
 arts. But I believe few regions have been de- 
 nuded like this, M^here many centuries must have 
 
JOUllNEY TO THE 
 
 passed in waste without the least thought of future 
 supply. Davies observes in his account of Ireland, 
 that no Irishman had ever planted an orchard. 
 For that negligence some excuse might be drawn 
 from an unsettled state of life, and the instability 
 of property ; but in Scotland possession has long 
 been secure, and inheritance regular, yet it may 
 be doubted whether before the Union any man 
 between Edinburgh and England had ever set a 
 tree. 
 
 Of this improvidence no other account can 
 be given than that it probably began in times of 
 tumult, and continued because it had begun. 
 Established custom is not easily broken, till some 
 great event shakes the whole system of things, 
 and life seems to recommence upon new princi- 
 ples. That before the Union the Scots had little 
 trade and little money, is no valid apology ; for 
 plantation is the least expensive of all methods of 
 improvement. To di'op a seed into the ground 
 can cost nothing, and the trouble is not great 
 of protecting the young plant, till it is out of 
 danger ; though it must be allowed to have some 
 difficulty in places like these, where they have 
 neither wood for palisades, nor thorns for hedges. 
 
 Our way was over the Frith of Tay, where, 
 though the water was not wide, we paid four 
 shillings for ferrying the chaise. In Scotland 
 the necessaries of life are easily procured, but 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 13 
 
 superfluities and elegancies are of the same x^nce 
 at least as in England, and therefore may be 
 considered as much dearer. 
 
 We stopped a while at Dundee, where I re- 
 member nothing remarkable, and mounting our 
 chaise again, came about the close of the day to 
 Aberbrothick. 
 
 The monastery of Aberbrothick is of great 
 renown in the history of Scotland. Its ruins 
 afford ample testimony of its ancient magnifi- 
 cence: its extent might, I suppose, easily be 
 found by following the walls among the grass 
 and weeds, and its height is known by some 
 parts yet standing. The arch of one of the gates 
 is entire, and of another only so far dilapidated 
 as to diversify the appearance. A square apart- 
 ment of great loftiness is yet standing ; its use I 
 could not conjecture, as its elevation was very 
 disproportionate to its area. Two corner towers 
 particularly attracted our attention. Mr. Boswell, 
 whose inquisitiveness is seconded by great acti- 
 vity, scrambled in at a high window, but found 
 the stairs within broken, and could not reach the 
 top. Of the other tower we were told that the 
 inhabitants sometimes climbed it, but we did 
 not immediately discern the entrance, and as the 
 night was gathering upon us, thought proper 
 to desist. Men skilled in architecture might do 
 what we did not attempt : they might probably 
 
14 
 
 JOURNEY TO THE 
 
 form an exact ground-plot of this venerable edi- 
 fice. They may from some parts yet standing 
 conjecture its general form, and perhaps by com- 
 paring it with other buildings of the same kind 
 and the same age attain an idea very near to 
 truth. I should scarcely have regretted my 
 journey, had it afforded nothing more than the 
 sight of Aberbrothick. 
 
 Leaving these fragments of magnificence, we 
 travelled on to Montrose, which we surveyed in 
 the morning, and found it well built, airy and 
 clean. The townhouse is a handsome fabric 
 with a portico. We then went to view the 
 English chapel, and found a small church, clean 
 to a degree unknown in any other part of Scot- 
 land, with commodious galleries, and, what was 
 yet less expected, with an organ. 
 
 At our inn we did not find a reception such 
 as we thought proportionate to the commercial 
 opulence of the place ; but Mr. Boswell desired 
 me to observe that the innkeeper was an Eng- 
 lishman, and I then defended him as well as I 
 could. 
 
 When I had proceeded thus far, I had oppor- 
 tunities of observing what I had never heard, 
 that there were many beggars in Scotland. In 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. 1^ 
 
 Edinburgh the proportion is, I think, not less 
 than in London, and in the smaller places it is 
 far greater than in English towns of the same 
 extent. It must, however, be allowed, that they 
 are not importunate, nor clamorous. They so- 
 licit silently, or very modestly, and therefore, 
 though their behaviour may strike with more 
 force the heart of a stranger, they are certainly 
 in danger of missing the attention of their coun- 
 trymen. Novelty has always some power; an 
 unaccustomed mode of begging excites an un- 
 accustomed degree of pity. But the force of 
 novelty is by its own nature soon at an end ; the 
 efficacy of outcry and perseverance is permanent 
 and certain. 
 
 The road from Montrose exhibited a conti- 
 nuation of the same appearances. The covmtry 
 is still naked, the hedges are of stone, and the 
 fields so generally ploughed, that it is hard to 
 imagine where grass is found for the horses that 
 till them. The harvest, which was almost ripe^ 
 appeared very plentiful. 
 
 Early in the afternoon Mr. Boswell observed, 
 that we were at no great distance from the house 
 of Lord Monboddo. The magnetism of his con- 
 versation easily drew us out of our way, and the 
 entertainment which we received would have 
 been a sufficient recompence for a much greater 
 deviation. 
 
16 
 
 JOUIINEY TO THE 
 
 The roads beyond Edinburgh, as they are less 
 frequented, must be expected to grow gradually 
 rougher; but they were hitherto by no means 
 incommodious. We travelled on with the gentle 
 pace of a Scotch driver, who having no rivals in 
 expedition, neither gives himself nor his horses 
 unnecessary trouble. We did not affect the 
 impatience we did not feel, but were satisfied 
 with the company of each other, as well riding 
 in the chaise, as sitting at an inn. The night 
 and the day are equally solitary and equally safe; 
 for where there are so few travellers, why should 
 there be robbers ? 
 
 We came somewhat late to Aberdeen, and 
 found the inn so full, that we had some difficulty 
 in obtaining admission, till Mr. Bos well made 
 himself known: his name overpowered all ob- 
 jection, and we found a very good house and 
 civil treatment. 
 
 1 received the next day a very kind letter 
 from Sir Alexander Gordon, whom I had for- 
 merly known in London, and, after a cessation 
 of all intercourse for near twenty years, met here 
 professor of physic in the King's College. Such 
 unexpected renewals of acquaintance may be num- 
 bered among the most pleasing incidents of life. 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 17 
 
 The knowledge of one professor soon procured 
 me the notice of the rest, and I did not want 
 any token of regard, being conducted wherever 
 there was any thing which I desired to see, and 
 entertained at once with the novelty of the place, 
 and the kindness of communication. 
 
 To write of the cities of our own island with 
 the solemnity of geographical description, as if 
 we had been cast upon a newly discovered coast, 
 has the appearance of a very frivolous ostentation; 
 yet as Scotland is little known to the greater part 
 * of those who may read these observations, it is 
 not superfluous to relate, that under the name of 
 Aberdeen are comprised two towns, standing 
 about a mile distant from each other, but go- 
 verned, I think, by the same magistrates. 
 
 Old Aberdeen is the ancient episcopal city, in 
 which are still to be seen the remains of the 
 cathedral. It has the appearance of a town in 
 decay, having been situated, in times when com- 
 merce was yet unstudied, with very little atten- 
 tion to the commodities of the harbour. 
 
 New Aberdeen has all the bustle of prosperous 
 trade, and all the show of increasing opulence. 
 It is built by the water-side. The houses are 
 large and lofty, and the streets spacious and clean. 
 They build almost wholly with the granite used 
 in the new pavement of the streets of London, 
 Avhich is well known not to want hardness, yet 
 
 C 
 
18 
 
 JOURNEY TO THE 
 
 they shape it easily. It is beautiful, and must 
 be very lasting. 
 
 What particular parts of commerce are chiefly 
 exercised by the merchants of Aberdeen, I have 
 not inquired. The manufacture which forces 
 itself upon a stranger's eye is that of knit-stock- 
 ings, on which the women of the lower class are 
 visibly employed. 
 
 In each of these towns there is a college, or in 
 stricter language a university ; for in both there 
 are professors of the same parts of learning, and 
 the colleges hold their sessions and confer degrees • 
 separately, with total independence of one on the 
 other. 
 
 In Old Aberdeen stands the King's College, 
 of which the first president was Hector Boece, 
 or Boethius, who may be justly reverenced as 
 one of the revivers of elegant learning. When 
 he studied at Paris, he was acquainted with 
 Erasmus, who afterwards gave him a public tes- 
 timony of his esteem, by inscribing to him a 
 catalogue of his works. The style of Boethius, 
 though, perhaps, not always rigorously pure, is 
 formed with great diligence upon ancient models, 
 and wholly uninfected with monastic barbarity. 
 His history is written with elegance and vigour, 
 but his fabulousness and credulity are justly 
 blamed. His fabulousness, if he was the author 
 of the fictions, is a fault for which no apology can 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 19 
 
 be made ; but his credulity may be excused in 
 an age when all men were credulous. Learning- 
 was then rising on the w^orld ; but ages so long 
 accustomed to darkness, were too much dazzled 
 with its light to see any thing distinctly. The 
 first race of scholars in the fifteenth century, and 
 some time after, were, for the most part, learning 
 to speak, rather than to think, and were therefore 
 more studious of elegance than of truth. The 
 cotemporaries of Boethius thought it sufficient 
 to know what the ancients had delivered. The 
 examination of tenets and of facts was reserved 
 for another generation. 
 
 Boethius, as president of the university, en- 
 joyed a revenue of forty Scottish marks, about 
 two pounds four shillings and sixpence of sterling 
 money. In the present age of trade and taxes, 
 it is difficult even for the imagination so to raise 
 the value of money, or so to diminish the de- 
 mands of life, as to suppose four and forty shil- 
 lings a year an honourable stipend ; yet it was 
 probably equal, not only to the needs, but to the 
 rank of Boethius. The wealth of England was 
 undoubtedly to that of Scotland more than five 
 to one, and it is known that Henry the Eighth, 
 among whose faults avarice was never reckoned, 
 granted to Roger Ascham, as a reward of his 
 learning, a pension of ten pounds a year. 
 
 The other, called the Marischal College, is in 
 
20 
 
 JOURNEY TO THE 
 
 the new town. The hall is large and well lighted. 
 One of its ornaments is the picture of Arthur 
 Johnston, who was principal of the college, and 
 who holds among the Latin poets of Scotland 
 the next place to the elegant Buchanan. 
 
 In the library I was shown some curiosities ; 
 a Hebrew manuscript of exquisite penmanship, 
 and a Latin translation of Aristotle's Politics by 
 Leonardus Aretinus, written in the Roman cha- 
 racter with nicety and beauty, which, as the art 
 of printing has made them no longer necessary, 
 are not now to be found. This was one of the 
 latest performances of the transcribers, for Areti- 
 nus died but about twenty years before typogra- 
 phy was invented. This version has been printed, 
 and may be found in libraries, but is little read ; 
 for the same books have been since translated 
 both by Victorius and Lambinus, who lived in 
 an age more cultivated, but perhaps owed in 
 part to Aretinus that they were able to excel 
 him. Much is due to those who first broke the 
 way to knowledge, and left only to their succes- 
 sors the task of smoothing it. 
 
 In both these colleges the methods of instruc- 
 tion are nearly the same ; the lectures differing 
 only by the accidental difference of diligence or 
 ability in the professors. The students wear 
 scarlet gowns, and the professors black, which 
 is, I believe, the academical dress in all the 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. 21 
 
 Scottish universities, except that of Edinburgli^ 
 where the scholars ai-e not distinguished by any 
 particular habit. In the King's College there is 
 kept a public table, but the scholars of the Ma- 
 rischal College are boarded in the town. The 
 expense of living is here, according to the infor- 
 mation that I could obtain, somewhat more than 
 at St. Andrew's. 
 
 The course of education is extended to four 
 years, at the end of which those who take a de- 
 gree, who are not many, become masters of arts ; 
 and whoever is a master may, if he pleases, 
 immediately commence doctor. The title of 
 doctor, however, was for a considerable time 
 bestowed only on physicians. The advocates are 
 examined and approved by their own body ; the 
 ministers were not ambitious of titles, or were 
 afraid of being censured for ambition; and the 
 doctorate in every faculty was commonly given 
 or sold into other countries. The ministers are 
 now reconciled to distinction, and as it must 
 always happen that some will excel others, have 
 thought graduation a proper testimony of un- 
 common abilities or acquisitions. 
 
 The indiscriminate collation of degrees has 
 justly taken away that respect which they origi- 
 nally claimed, as stamps by which the literary 
 value of men so distinguished was authoritatively 
 denoted. That academical honours, or any others, 
 
22 JOURNEY TO THE 
 
 should be conferred with exact proportion to 
 merit, is more than human judgment or human 
 integrity have given reason to expect. Perhaps 
 degrees in universities cannot be better adjusted 
 by any general rule, than by the length of time 
 passed in the public profession of learning. An 
 English or Irish doctorate cannot be obtained by 
 a very young man, and it is reasonable to sup- 
 pose, w^hat is likewise by experience commonly 
 found true, that he who is by age qualified to be 
 a doctor, has in so much time gained learning 
 sufficient not to disgrace the title, or wit suffi- 
 cient not to desire it. 
 
 The Scotch universities hold but one term or 
 session in the year. That of St. Andrew's con- 
 tinues eight months, that of Aberdeen only five, 
 from the first of November to the first of April. 
 
 In Aberdeen there is an English chapel, in 
 which the congregation was numerous and splen- 
 did. The form of public worship used by the 
 church of England, is in Scotland legally prac- 
 tised in licensed chapels, served by clergymen 
 of English or Irish ordination, and by tacit 
 connivance quietly permitted in separate con- 
 gregations, supplied with ministers by the suc- 
 cessors of the bishops who were deprived at the 
 Revolution. 
 
 We came to Aberdeen on Saturday, August 
 21. On Monday we were invited into the town- 
 
AVESTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 23 
 
 hall, where I had the freedom of the city given 
 me by the Lord Provost. The honour conferred 
 had all the decorations that politeness could add, 
 and, what I am afraid I should not have had to 
 say of any city south of the Tweed, I found no 
 petty officer bowing for a fee. 
 
 The parchment containing the record of ad- 
 mission is, with the seal appending, fastened to a 
 riband, and worn for one day by the new citizen 
 in his hat. 
 
 By a lady who saw us at the chapel, the Earl 
 of Errol was informed of our arrival, and we had 
 the honour of an invitation to his seat, called 
 Slanes Castle, as I am told, improperly, from the 
 castle of that name, which once stood at a place 
 not far distant. 
 
 The road beyond Aberdeen grew more stony, 
 and continued equally naked of all vegetable 
 decoration. We travelled over a tract of ground 
 near the sea, which, not long ago, suffered a very 
 uncommon and unexpected calamity. The sand 
 of the shore was raised by a tempest in svich 
 quantities, and carried to such a distance, that an 
 estate was overwhelmed and lost. Such and so 
 hopeless was the barrenness superinduced, that 
 the owner, when he was required to pay the 
 usual tax, desired rather to resign the ground. 
 
24 
 
 JOURNEY TO THE 
 
 plants €a&t\t.—Wt)t MnlUv ot BucDan^ 
 
 We came in the afternoon to Slanes Castle, 
 built upon the margin of the sea, so that the walls 
 of one of the towers seem only a continuation of 
 a perpendicular rock, the foot of which is beaten 
 by the waves. To walk round the house seemed 
 impracticable. From the windows the eye wan- 
 ders over the sea that separates Scotland from 
 Norway, and when the winds beat with violence, 
 must enjoy all the terrific grandeur of the tem- 
 pestuous ocean. I would not for my amusement 
 wish for a storm ; but as storms, whether wished 
 or not, will sometimes happen, I may say, without 
 violation of humanity, that I should willingly look 
 out upon them from Slanes Castle. 
 
 When we were about to take our leave, our 
 departure was prohibited by the Countess till" we 
 should have seen two places upon the coast, 
 which she rightly considered as worthy of curio- 
 sity. Dun Buy, and the Buller of Buchan, to 
 which Mr. Boyd very kindly conducted us. 
 
 Dun Buy, which in Erse is said to signify the 
 Yellow Rock, is a double protuberance of stone, 
 open to the main sea on one side, and parted 
 from the land by a very narrow channel on the 
 other. It has its name and its colour from the 
 dung of innumerable sea fowls, which in the 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 25 
 
 spring choose this place as convenient for incu- 
 bation, and have their eggs and their young 
 taken in great abundance. One of the birds 
 that frequent this rock has, as we were told, its 
 body not larger than a duck's, and yet lays eggs 
 as large as those of a goose. This bird is by the 
 inhabitants named a coot. That which is called 
 coot in England, is here a cooter. 
 
 Upon these rocks there was nothing that could 
 long detain attention, and we soon turned our 
 eyes to the Buller or Bouilloir of Buchan, which 
 no man can see with indifference, who has either 
 sense of danger, or delight in rarity. It is a rock 
 perpendicularly tubulated, united on one side 
 with a high shore, and on the other rising steep 
 to a great height, above the main sea. The top 
 is open, from which may be seen a dark gulf of 
 water which flows into the cavity, through a 
 breach made in the lower part of the inclosing 
 rock. It has the appearance of a vast well bor- 
 dered with a wall. The edge of the Buller is not 
 wide, and to those that walk round, appears very 
 narrow. He that ventures to look downward, 
 sees that if his foot should slip, he must fall from 
 his dreadful elevation upon stones on one side, 
 or into the water on the other. We however 
 went round, and were glad when the circuit was 
 completed. 
 
 When we came down to the sea, we saw some 
 
 D 
 
26 
 
 JOUllNEY TO THE 
 
 boats, and rowers, and resolved to explore the 
 BuUer at the bottom. We entered the arch, 
 which the water had made, and found ourselves 
 in a place, which, though we could not think our- 
 selves in danger, we could scarcely survey with- 
 out some recoil of the mind. The bason in which 
 we floated was nearly circular, perhaps thirty 
 yards in diameter. We were enclosed by a na- 
 tural wall, rising steep on every side to a height 
 which produced the idea of insurmountable con- 
 finement. The interception of all lateral light 
 caused a dismal gloom. Round us was a per- 
 pendicular rock, above us the distant sky, and 
 below an unknown profundity of water. If I 
 had any malice against a walking spirit, instead 
 of laying him in the Red Sea, I would condemn 
 him to reside in the Buller of Buchan. 
 
 But terror without danger is only one of the 
 sports of fancy, a voluntary agitation of the mind 
 that is permitted no longer than it pleases. We 
 were soon at leisure to examine the place with 
 minute inspection, and found many cavities 
 which, as the watermen told us, went backward 
 to a depth which they had never explored. 
 Their extent we had not time to try ; they are 
 said to serve different purposes. Ladies come 
 hither sometimes in the summer with collations, 
 and smugglers make them store-houses for clan- 
 destine merchandise. It is hardly to be doubted 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 27 
 
 but the pirates of ancient times often used them 
 as magazines of arms, or repositories of plunder. 
 
 To the little vessels used by the northern 
 rowers, the Buller may have served as a shelter 
 from storms, and perhaps as a retreat from ene- 
 mies ; the entrance might have been stopped, or 
 guarded with little difficulty, and though the 
 vessels that were stationed within would have 
 been battered with stones showered on them 
 from above, yet the crews would have lain safe 
 in the caverns. 
 
 Next morning we continued our journey, 
 pleased with our reception at Slanes Castle, of 
 which we had now leisure to recount the gran- 
 deur and the elegance ; for our way afforded us 
 few topics of conversation. The gTound was 
 neither uncultivated nor unfruitful; but it was 
 still all arable. Of flocks or herds there was no 
 appearance. I had now travelled two hundred 
 miles in Scotland, and seen only one tree not 
 younger than myself. 
 
 We dined this day at the house of Mr. Frazer 
 of Streichon, who showed us in his gTOunds some 
 stones yet standing of a Druidical circle, and 
 what I began to think more worthy of notice, 
 some forest trees of full growth. 
 
•28 
 
 JOURNEY TO THE 
 
 At night we came to Banff, where I remember 
 nothing that particularly claimed my attention. 
 The ancient towns of Scotland have generally 
 an appearance unusual to Englishmen. The 
 houses, whether gieat or small, are for the most 
 part built of stones. Their ends are now and 
 then next the streets, and the entrance into them 
 is very often by a flight of steps, which reaches 
 up to the second story ; the floor which is level 
 with the ground being entered only by stairs 
 descending within the house. 
 
 The art of joining squares of glass with lead 
 is little used in Scotland, and in some places is 
 totally forgotten. The frames of their windows 
 are all of wood. They are more frugal of their 
 glass than the English, and will often, in houses 
 not otherwise mean, compose a square of two 
 pieces, not joining like cracked glass, but with 
 one edge laid perhaps half an inch over the other. 
 Their windows do not move upon hinges, but are 
 pushed up and drawn down in grooves, yet they 
 are seldom accommodated with weights and pul- 
 leys. He that would have his window open must 
 hold it with his hand, unless, what may be some- 
 times found among good contrivers, there be a 
 nail which he may stick into a hole, to keep it 
 from falling. 
 
 What cannot be done without some uncom- 
 mon trouble or particular expedient, will not 
 
AVESTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 S9 
 
 often be done at all. The incommodiousness of 
 the Scotch windows keeps them very closely shut. 
 The necessity of ventilating human habitations 
 has not yet been found by our northern neigh- 
 bours; and even in houses well built and ele- 
 gantly furnished, a stranger may be sometimes 
 forgiven, if he allows himself to wish for fresher 
 air. 
 
 These diminutive observations seem to take 
 away something from the dignity of writing, and 
 therefore are never communicated but with hesi- 
 tation, and a little fear of abasement and con- 
 tempt. But it must be remembered, that life 
 consists not of a series of illustrious actions, or 
 elegant enjoyments ; the greater part of our time 
 passes in compliance with necessities, in the per- 
 formance of daily duties, in the removal of small 
 inconveniencies, in the procurement of petty plea- 
 sures ; and we are well or ill at ease, as the main 
 stream of life glides on smoothly, or is ruffled by 
 small obstacles and frequent interruption. The 
 true state of every nation is the state of common 
 life. The manners of a people are not to be 
 found in the schools of learning, or the palaces of 
 greatness, where the national character is obscured 
 or obliterated by travel or instruction, by philoso- 
 phy or vanity ; nor is public happiness to be esti- 
 mated by the assemblies of the gay, or the ban- 
 quets of the rich. The great mass of nations is 
 
30 
 
 JOURKEY TO TilE 
 
 neither rich nor gay : they Avhose aggregate con- 
 stitutes the people, are found in the streets and 
 the villages, in the shops and farms ; and from 
 them, collectively considered, must the measure 
 of general prosperity be taken. As they approach 
 to delicacy, a nation is refined ; as their conve- 
 niencies are multiplied, a nation, at least a com- 
 mercial nation, must be denominated wealthy. 
 
 Finding nothing to detain us at Banff, we set 
 out in the morning, and having breakfasted at 
 Cullen, about noon came to Elgin, where, in the 
 inn that we supposed the best, a dinner was set 
 before us, which we could not eat. This was 
 the first time, and except one, the last, that I 
 found any reason to complain of a Scotch table ; 
 and such disappointments, I suppose, must be 
 expected in every country, where there is no 
 great frequency of travellers. 
 
 The ruins of the cathedral of Elgin afforded 
 us another proof of the waste of reformation. 
 There is enough yet remaining to sliow, that it 
 was once magnificent. Its whole plot is easily 
 traced. On the north side of the choir, the chap- 
 ter-house, which is roofed with an arch of stone, 
 remains entire; and on the south side, another 
 mass of building, which we could not enter, is 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 31 
 
 preserved by the care of the family of Gordon ; 
 but the body of the church is a mass of frag- 
 ments. 
 
 A paper was here put into our hands, which 
 deduced from sufficient authorities the history of 
 this venerable ruin. The church of Elgin had, 
 in the intestine tumults of the barbarous ages, 
 been laid waste by the irruption of a Highland 
 chief, whom the bishop had offended; but it 
 was gradually restored to the state of which the 
 traces may be now discerned, and was at last not 
 destroyed by the tumultuous violence of Ejiox, 
 but more shamefully suffered to dilapidate by 
 deliberate robbery and frigid indifference. There 
 is still extant, in the books of the council, an 
 order, of which I cannot remember the date, but 
 which was doubtless issued after the reformation, 
 directing that the lead, which covers the two 
 cathedrals of Elgin and Aberdeen, shall be taken 
 away,/ and converted into money for the support 
 of the army. A Scotch army was in those times 
 very cheaply kept ; yet the lead of two churches 
 must have borne so small a proportion to any 
 military expense, that it is hard not to believe 
 the reason alleged to be merely popular, and the 
 money intended for some private purse. The 
 order however was obeyed; the two churches 
 were stripped, and the lead was shipped to be 
 
3^ 
 
 JOURNEY TO THE 
 
 sold in Holland. I hope every reader will rejoice 
 that this cargo of sacrilege was lost at sea. 
 
 liCt us not however make too much haste to 
 despise our neighbours. Our own cathedrals are 
 mouldering by unregarded dilapidation. It 
 seems to be part of the despicable philosophy of 
 the time to despise monuments of sacred magni- 
 ficence, and we are in danger of doing that deli- 
 berately, which the Scots did not do but in the 
 unsettled state of an imperfect constitution. 
 
 Those who had once uncovered the cathedrals 
 never wished to cover them again; and being 
 thus made useless, they were first neglected, and 
 perhaps, as the stone was wanted, afterwards 
 demolished. 
 
 Elgin seems a place of little trade, and thinly 
 inhabited. The episcopal cities of Scotland, I 
 believe, generally fell with their churches, though 
 some of them have since recovered by a situa- 
 tion convenient for commerce. Thus Glasgow, 
 though it has no longer an archbishop, has risen 
 beyond its original state by the opulence of its 
 traders ; and Aberdeen, though its ancient stock 
 had decayed, flourishes by a new shoot in another 
 place. 
 
 In the chief street of Elgin, the houses jut 
 over the lowest story, like the old buildings of 
 timber in London, but with greater prominence ; 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 S3 
 
 so that there is sometimes a walk for a consider- 
 able length under a cloister, or portico, which is 
 now indeed frequently broken, because the new 
 houses have another form, but seems to have 
 been uniformly continued in the old city. 
 
 We went forwards the same day to Fores, 
 the town to which Macbeth was travelling when 
 he met the weird sisters in his way. This to an 
 Englishman is classic ground. Our imaginations 
 were heated, and our thoughts recalled to their 
 old amusements. 
 
 We had now a prelude to the Highlands. We 
 began to leave fertility and culture behind us, 
 and saw for a great length of road nothing but 
 heath ; yet at Fochabers^ a seat belonging to the 
 Duke of Gordon, there is an orchard, which in 
 Scotland I had never seen before, with some tim- 
 ber-trees, and a plantation of oaks. 
 
 At Fores we found good accommodation, but 
 nothing worthy of particular remark, and next 
 morning entered upon the road on which Mac- 
 beth heard the fatal prediction ; but we travelled 
 on, not interrupted by promises of kingdoms, and 
 came to Nairn, a royal burgh, which, if once it 
 flourished, is now in a state of miserable decay ; 
 
 E 
 
^4 
 
 JOURNEY TO THE 
 
 but I know not whether its chief annual magis- 
 trate has not still the title of Lord Provost. 
 
 At Naun we may fix the verge of the High- 
 lands; for here I first saw peat fires, and first 
 heard the Erse language. We had no motive 
 to stay longer than to breakfast, and went for- 
 ward to the house of Mr. Macaulay, the minister 
 who published an account of St. Kilda, and by his 
 direction visited Calder Castle, from which Mac- 
 beth drew his second title. It has been formerly 
 a place of strength. The draw-bridge is still to 
 be seen, but the moat is now dry. The tower is 
 very ancient. Its walls are of great thickness, 
 arched on the top with stone, and surrounded 
 with battlements. The rest of the house is later, 
 though far from modern. 
 
 We were favoured by a gentleman, who lives 
 in the castle, with a letter to one of the officers 
 at Fort George, which being the most regular 
 fortification in the island, well deserves the notice 
 of a traveller, who has never travelled before. 
 We went thither next day, found a very kind re- 
 ception, were led round the works by a gentle- 
 man, who explained the use of every part, and 
 entertained by Sir Eyre Coote, the governor, 
 with such elegance of conversation, as left us no 
 attention to the delicacies of his table. 
 
 Of Fort George I shall not attempt to give 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 35 
 
 any account. I cannot delineate it scientifically, 
 and a loose and popular description is of use only 
 when the imagination is to be amused. There 
 was every where an appearance of the utmost 
 neatness and regularity. But my suffrage is of 
 little value, because this and Fort Augustus are 
 the only garrisons that I ever saw. 
 
 We did not regret the time spent at the fort, 
 though in consequence of our delay we came 
 somewhat late to Inverness, the town which may 
 properly be called the capital of the Highlands. 
 Hither the inhabitants of the inland parts come 
 to be supplied with what they cannot make for 
 themselves; hither the young nymphs of the 
 mountains and valleys are sent for education, and 
 as far as my observation has reached, are not 
 sent in vain. 
 
 Inverness was the last place which had a regu- 
 lar communication by high roads with the southern 
 counties. AU the ways beyond it have, I believe, 
 been made by the soldiers in this century. At 
 Inverness therefore Cromwell, when he subdued 
 Scotland, stationed a garrison, as at the boundary 
 of the Highlands. The soldiers seem to have 
 incorporated afterwards with the inhabitants, and 
 to have peopled the place with an English race. 
 
36 
 
 JOURNEY TO THE 
 
 for the language of this town has been long con- 
 sidered as peculiarly elegant. 
 
 Here is a castle, called the Castle of Macbeth, 
 the walls of which are yet standing. It was no 
 very capacious edifice, but stands upon a rock 
 so high and steep, that I think it was once not 
 accessible, but by the help of ladders, or a bridge. 
 Over against it, on another hill, was a fort built 
 by Cromwell, now totally demolished; for no 
 faction of Scotland loved the name of Cromwell, 
 or had any desire to continue his memory. 
 
 Yet what the Romans did to other nations, 
 was in a great degree done by Cromwell to the 
 Scots; he civilized them by conquest, and in- 
 troduced by useful violence the arts of peace. 
 I was told at Aberdeen that the people learned 
 from Cromwell's soldiers to make shoes and to 
 plant kail. 
 
 How they lived without kail, it is not easy to 
 guess; they cultivate hardly any other plant 
 for common tables, and when they had not kail 
 they probably had nothing. The numbers that 
 go barefoot are still sufficient to show that shoes 
 may be spared ; they are not yet considered as 
 necessaries of life; for tall boys, not otherwise 
 meanly dressed, run without them in the streets ; 
 and in the islands the sons of gentlemen pass se- 
 veral of their first years with naked feet. 
 
 I know not whether it be not peculiar to the 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 37 
 
 Scots to have attained the liberal, without the 
 manual arts, to have excelled in ornamental know- 
 ledge,, and to have wanted not only the elegancies, 
 but the conveniencies of common life. Literature, 
 soon after its revival, found its way to Scotland, 
 and from the middle of the sixteenth century, 
 almost to the middle of the seventeenth, the po- 
 liter studies were very diligently pursued. The 
 Latin poetry of ' Delicia^ Poetarum Scotorum' 
 would have done honour to any nation; at least 
 till the publication of ' May's Supplement,' the 
 English had very little to oppose. 
 
 Yet men thus ingenious and inquisitive were 
 content to live in total ignorance of the trades 
 by which human wants are supplied, and to sup- 
 ply them by the grossest means. Till the Union 
 made them acquainted with English manners, the 
 culture of their lands was unskilful, and their do- 
 mestic life unformed ; their tables were coarse as 
 the feasts of Eskimeaux, and their houses filthy 
 as the cottages of Hottentots. 
 
 Since they have known that their condition 
 was capable of improvement, their progress in 
 useful knowledge has been rapid and uniform. 
 What remains to be done they will quickly do, 
 and then wonder, like me, why that which was 
 so necessary and so easy was so long delayed. 
 But they must be for ever content to owe to 
 the English that elegance and culture, which, 
 
38 
 
 JOURNEY TO THE 
 
 if they had been vigilant and active, perhaps the 
 English might have owed to them. 
 
 Here the appearance of life began to alter. I 
 had seen a few women with plaids at Aberdeen ; 
 but at Inverness the Highland manners, are com- 
 mon* There is, I think, a kirk, in which only 
 the Erse language is used. There is likewise 
 an English chapel, but meanly built, where on 
 Sunday we saw a very decent congregation. 
 
 We were now to bid farewell to the luxury 
 of travelling, and to enter a country, upon which 
 perhaps no wheel has ever rolled. We could 
 indeed have used our post-chaise one day longer, 
 along the military road to Fort Augustus, but 
 we could have hired no horses beyond Inver- 
 ness, and we were not so sparing of ourselves, 
 as to lead them, merely that we might have 
 one day longer the indulgence of a carriage. 
 
 At Inverness, therefore, we procured three 
 horses for ourselves and a servant, and one more 
 for our baggage, which was no very heavy load. 
 We found in the course of our journey the con- 
 venience of having disencumbered ovirselves, by 
 laying aside whatever we could spare ; for it is 
 not to be imagined without experience, how in 
 climbing crags, and treading bogs, and winding 
 through narrow and obstructed passages, a little 
 bulk will hinder, and a little weight will bur- 
 den, or how often a man that has plea.sed him- 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. S9 
 
 self at home with his own resolution, will, in the 
 hour of darkness and fatigue, be content to leave 
 behind him every thing but himself. 
 
 We took two Highlanders to run beside us, 
 partly to show us the way, and partly to take 
 back from the sea-side the horses, of which they 
 were the owners. One of them was a man of 
 great liveliness and activity, of whom his com- 
 panion said, that he would tire any horse in In- 
 verness. Both of them were civil and ready- 
 handed. Civility seems part of the national 
 character of Highlanders. Every chieftain is a 
 monarch, and politeness, the natural product of 
 royal government, is diffused from the laird 
 through the whole clan. But they are not com- 
 monly dexterous ; their narrowness of life con- 
 fines them to a few operations, and they are 
 accustomed to endure little wants more than 
 to remove them. 
 
 We mounted our steeds on the 28th of Au- 
 gust, and directed our guides to conduct us to 
 Fort Augustus. It is built at the head of Loch 
 Ness, of which Inverness stands at the outlet. 
 The way between them has been cut by the sol- 
 diers, and the greater part of it runs along a rock. 
 
40 
 
 JOUllMEY TO THE 
 
 levelled with great labour and exactness, near 
 the water-side. 
 
 Most of this day's journey was very pleasant. 
 The day, though bright, was not hot ; and the 
 appearance of the country, if J had not seen the 
 Peak, would have been wholly new. We went 
 upon a surface so hard and level, that we had 
 little care to hold the bridle, and were therefore 
 at full leisure for contemplation. On the left 
 were high and steepy rocks shaded with birch, 
 the hardy native of the north, and covered with 
 fern or heath. On the right the limpid waters 
 of Loch Ness were beating their bank, and 
 waving their surface by a gentle agitation. Be- 
 yond them were rocks sometimes covered with 
 verdure, and sometimes towering in horrid na- 
 kedness. Now and then we espied a little corn- 
 field, which served to impress more strongly the 
 general barrenness. 
 
 Loch Ness is about twenty -four miles long, 
 and from one mile to two miles broad. It is 
 remarkable that Boethius, in his description of 
 Scotland, gives it twelve miles of breadth. When 
 historians or geographers exhibit false accounts 
 of places far distant, they may be forgiven, be- 
 cause they can tell but what they are told ; and 
 that their accounts exceed the truth may be 
 justly supposed, because most men exaggerate to 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 41 
 
 others, if not to themselves : but Boethius lived 
 at no great distance ; if he never saw the lake, he 
 must have been very incurious, and if he had seen 
 it, his veracity yielded to very slight temptations. 
 
 Loch Ness, though not twelve miles troad, 
 is a very remarkable diffusion of water without 
 islands. It fills a large hollow between two ridges 
 of high rocks, being supplied partly by the tor- 
 rents which fall into it on either side, and partly, 
 as is supposed, by springs at the bottom. Its 
 water is remarkably clear and pleasant, and is 
 imagined by the natives to be medicinal. We 
 were told, that it is in some places a hundred and 
 forty fathom deep, a profundity scarcely credi- 
 ble, and which probably those that relate it have 
 never sounded. Its fish are salmon, trout, and 
 pike. 
 
 It was said at Fort Augustus, that Loch 
 Ness is open in the hardest winters, though a 
 lake not far from it is covered with ice. In dis- 
 cussing these exceptions from the course of na- 
 ture, the first question is, whether the fact be 
 justly stated. That which is strange is delight- 
 ful, and a pleasing error is not willingly detec- 
 ted. Accuracy of narration is not very common, 
 and there are few so rigidly philosophical, as not 
 to represent as perpetual what is only frequent, 
 or as constant, what is really casual. If it be 
 
 F 
 
42 
 
 JOURNEY TO THE 
 
 true that Loch Ness never freezes, it is either 
 sheltered by its high banks from the cold blasts, 
 and exposed only to those winds which have 
 more power to agitate than congeal; or it is 
 kept in perpetual motion by the rush of streams 
 from the rocks that enclose it. Its profun- 
 dity, though it should be such as is represented, 
 can have little part in this exemption ; for though 
 deep wells are not frozen, because their water is 
 secluded from the external air, yet where a wide 
 surface is exposed to the full influence of a 
 freezing atmosphere, I know not why the depth 
 should keep it open. Natural philosophy is 
 now one of the favourite studies of the Scot- 
 tish nation, and Loch Ness well deserves to be 
 diligently examined. 
 
 The road on which we travelled, and which 
 was itself a source of entertainment, is made 
 along the rock, in the direction of the loch, 
 sometimes by breaking off protuberances, and 
 sometimes by cutting the great mass of stone to a 
 considerable depth. The fragments are piled in 
 a loose wall on either side, with apertures left 
 at very short spaces, to give a passage to the 
 wintry currents. Part of it is bordered with 
 low trees, from which our guides gathered nuts, 
 and would have had the appearance of an Eng- 
 lish lane, except that an English lane is almost 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 43 
 
 always dirty. It has been made with great la- 
 bour, but has this advantage, that it cannot, 
 without equal labour, be broken up. 
 
 Within our sight there were goats feeding 
 or playing. The mountains have red deer, but 
 they came not within view ; and if what is said 
 of their vigilance and subtlety be true, they 
 have some claim to that pahn of wisdom, which 
 the eastern philosopher, whom Alexander inter- 
 rogated, gave to those beasts which live furthest 
 from men. 
 
 Near the way, by the water-side, we espied 
 a cottage. This was the first Highland hut that 
 I had seen; and as our business was with life 
 and manners, we were willing to visit it. To 
 enter a habitation without leave, seems to be 
 not considered here as rudeness or intrusion. 
 The old laws of hospitality still give this license 
 to a stranger. 
 
 A hut is constructed with loose stones, ranged 
 for the most part with some tendency to circu- 
 larity. It must be placed where the wind can- 
 not act upon it with violence, because it has no 
 cement ; and where the water will run easily 
 away, because it has no floor but the naked ground. 
 The wall, which is commonly about six feet 
 high, declines from the perpendicular a little 
 inward. Such rafters as can be procured are 
 then raised for a roof, and covered with heath. 
 
44 ^ JOURNEY TO THE 
 
 which makes a strong and warm thatch, kept 
 from flying off by ropes of twisted heath, of 
 which the ends, reaching from the centre of the 
 thatch to the top of tlie wall, are held firm by 
 the weight of a large stone. No light is admit- 
 ted, but at the entrance, and through a hole in the 
 thatch, which gives vent to the smoke. This 
 hole is not directly over the fire, lest the rain 
 should extinguish it, and the smoke therefore 
 naturally fills the place before it escapes. Such 
 is the general structure of the houses in which 
 one of the nations of this opulent and powerful 
 island has been hitherto content to live. Huts, 
 however, are not more uniform than palaces; 
 and tliis which we were inspecting was very far 
 from one of the meanest, for it was divided into 
 several apartments ; and its inhabitants possessed 
 such property as a pastoral poet might exalt into 
 riches. 
 
 When we entered, we found an old woman 
 boiling goat's flesh in a kettle. She spoke little 
 English, but we had interpreters at hand, and 
 she was willing enough to display her whole sys- 
 tem of economy. She has five children, of which 
 none are yet gone from her. The eldest, a boy 
 of thirteen, and her husband, who is eighty years 
 old, were at work in the wood. Her two next 
 sons were gone to Inverness to buy meal, by 
 which oatmeal is always meant. Meal she con- 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 45 
 
 sidered as expensive food, and told us, that in 
 spring when the goats gave milk, the children 
 could live without it. She is mistress of sixty 
 goats, and I saw many kids in an enclosure at 
 the end of her house. She had also some poul- 
 try. By the lake we saw a potato garden, and 
 a small spot of ground on which stood four 
 shucks, containing each twelve sheaves of bar- 
 ley. She has all this from the labour of their own 
 hands, and for what is necessary to be bought, 
 her kids and her chickens are sent to market. 
 
 With the true pastoral hospitality, she asked 
 us to sit down and drink whisky. She is reli- 
 gious, and though the kirk is four miles off, 
 probably eight English miles, she goes thither 
 every Sunday. We gave her a shilling, and she 
 begged snufF; for snuff is the luxury of a High- 
 land cottage. 
 
 Soon afterwards we came to the General's Hut, 
 so called because it was the temporary abode of 
 Wade, while he superintended the works upon 
 the road. It is now a house of entertainment 
 for passengers, and we found it not ill stocked 
 with provisions. 
 
46 
 
 JOURNEY TO THE 
 
 Towards evening we crossed, by a bridge, the 
 river which makes the celebrated Fall of Fiers. 
 The country at the bridge strikes the imagination 
 with all the gloom and grandeur of Siberian soli- 
 tude. The way makes a flexure, and the moun- 
 tains, covered with trees, rise at once on the left 
 hand and in the front. We desired our guides 
 to show us the fall, and, dismounting, clambered 
 over very rugged crags, till I began to wish that 
 our curiosity might have been gratified with less 
 trouble and danger. We came at last to a place 
 where we could overlook the river, and saw a 
 channel torn, as it seems, through black piles of 
 stone, by which the stream is obstructed and 
 broken, till it comes to a very steep descent, of 
 such dreadful depth, that we were naturally in- 
 clined to turn aside our eyes. 
 
 But we visited the place at an unseasonable 
 time, and found it divested of its dignity and 
 terror. Nature never gives every thing at once. 
 A long continuance of dry weather, which made 
 the rest of the way easy and delightful, deprived 
 us of the pleasure expected from the Fall of Fiers. 
 The river having now no water but what the 
 springs supply, showed us only a swift current, 
 clear and shallow, fretting over the asperities of 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 47 
 
 the rocky bottom; and we were left to exercise 
 our thoughts, by endeavouring to conceive the 
 effect of a thousand streams poured from the 
 mountains into one channel, struggling for ex- 
 pansion in a narrow passage, exasperated by rocks 
 rising in their way, and at last discharging all 
 their violence of waters by a sudden fall through 
 the horrid chasm. rj.. 
 The way now grew less easy, descending by 
 an uneven declivity, but without either dirt or 
 danger. We did not arrive at Fort Augustus 
 till it was late. Mr. Boswell, who, between his 
 father's merit and his own, is sure of reception 
 wherever he comes, sent a servant before to beg 
 admission and entertainment for that night. Mr. 
 Trapaud, the governor, treated us with that cour- 
 tesy which is so closely connected with the mili- 
 tary character. He came out to meet us beyond 
 the gates, and apologized that, at so late an hour, 
 the rules of a garrison suffered him to give us 
 entrance only at the postern. 
 
 In the morning we viewed the fort, which is 
 much less than that of St. George, and is said to 
 be commanded by the neighbouring hills. It 
 was not long ago taken by the Highlanders. But 
 
48 
 
 JOURNEY TO THE 
 
 its situation seems well chosen for pleasure, if not 
 for strength ; it stands at the head of the lake, 
 and, by a sloop of sixty tons, is supphed from 
 Inverness with great convenience. 
 
 yVe were now to cross the Highlands towards 
 the western coast, and to content ourselves with 
 such accommodations, as a way so little frequented 
 could afford. The journey was not formidable, for 
 it \^3,s but of two days, very unequally divided, 
 because the only house where we could be enter- 
 tained, was not further off than a third of the 
 way. We soon came to a high hill, which we 
 mounted by a military road, cut in traverses, so 
 that as we went upon a higher stage, we saw the 
 baggage following us below in a contrary direc- 
 tion. To make this way, the rock has been 
 hewn to a level, with labour that might have 
 broken the perseverance of a Roman legion. 
 
 The country is totally denuded of its w6od, 
 but the stumps both of oaks and firs, which are 
 still found, show that it has been once a forest of 
 large timber. I do not remember that we saw 
 any animals, but we were told that, in the 
 mountains, there are stags, roebucks, goats, and 
 rabbits. 
 
 We did not perceive that this tract was pos- 
 sessed by human beings, except that once we 
 saw a corn-field, in which a lady was walking 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 49 
 
 witli some gentlemen. Their house was certainly 
 at no great distance, but so situated that we 
 could not descry it. 
 
 Passing on through the dreariness of solitude^ 
 we found a party of soldiers from the fort, work- 
 ing on the road, under the superintendence of a 
 Serjeant. We told them how kindly we had 
 been treated at the garrison, and as we were 
 enjoying the benefit of their labours, begged 
 leave to show our gratitude by a small present. 
 
 Early in the afternoon we came to Anoch, a 
 village in GlenmoUison of three huts, one of 
 which is distinguished by a chimney. Here we 
 were to dine and lodge, and were conducted 
 through the first room, that had the chimney, 
 into another lighted by a small glass window. 
 The landlord attended us with great civility, 
 and told us what he could give us to eat and 
 drink. I found some books on a shelf, among 
 which were a volume or more of * Prideaux's 
 Connexion.' 
 
 This I mentioned as something unexpected, 
 and perceived that I did not please him. I 
 praised the propriety of his language, and was 
 answered that I need not wonder, for he had 
 learned it by grammar. 
 
 G 
 
50 
 
 JOURNEY TO THE 
 
 By subsequent opportunities of observation, I 
 found that my host's diction had nothing pecu- 
 liar. Those Highlanders that can speak English, 
 commonly speak it well, with few of the words, 
 and little of the tone by which a Scotchman is 
 distinguished. Their language seems to have 
 been learned in the army or the navy, or by some 
 communication with those who could give them 
 good examples of accent and pronunciation. By 
 their Lowland neighbours they would not wil- 
 lingly be taught; for they have long considered 
 them as a mean and degenerate race. These 
 prejudices are wearing fast away ; but so much 
 of them still remains, that when I asked a very 
 learned minister in the islands, which they con- 
 sidered as their most savage clans ; " Those," said 
 he, " that live next the Lowlands." 
 
 As we came hither early in the day, we had 
 time sufficient to survey the place. The house 
 was built like other huts, of loose stones ; but the 
 part in which we dined and slept was lined with 
 turf and wattled with twigs, which kept the 
 earth from falling. Near it was a garden of 
 turnips and a field of potatoes. It stands in a 
 glen, or valley, pleasantly watered by a winding 
 river. But this country, however it may delight 
 the gazer or amuse the naturalist, is of no great 
 advantage to its owners. Our landlord told us 
 of a gentleman who possesses lands, eighteen 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 51 
 
 Scotch miles in length, and three in breadth; a 
 space containing at least a hundred square Eng- 
 lish miles. He has raised his rents, to the danger 
 of depopulating his farms, and he sells his timber, 
 and by exerting every art of augmentation, has 
 obtained a yearly revenue of four hundred pounds, 
 which for a hundred square miles is three half- 
 pence an acre. 
 
 Smne time after dinner we were surprised by 
 the entrance of a young woman, not inelegant 
 either in mien or dress, who asked us whether 
 we would have tea. We found that she was the 
 daughter of our host, and desired her to make it. 
 Her conversation, Hke her appearance, was gentle 
 and pleasing. We knew that the girls of the 
 Higlilands are all gentlewomen, and treated her 
 with great respect, which she received as custo- 
 mary and due, and was neither elated by it, nor 
 confused, but repaid my civilities without em- 
 barrassment, and told me how much I honoured 
 her country by coming to survey it. 
 
 She had been at Inverness to gain the common 
 female qualifications, and had, like her father, the 
 English pronunciation. 1 presented her with a 
 book, which I happened to have about me, and 
 should not be pleased to think that she forgets 
 me. 
 
 In the evening the soldiers, whom we had 
 passed on the road, came to spend at our inn the 
 
52 
 
 JOURNEY TO THE 
 
 little money that we had given them. They had 
 the true military impatience of coin in their 
 pockets, and had marched at least six miles to 
 find the first place where liquor could be bought. 
 Having never been before in a place so wild and 
 unfrequented, I was glad of their arrival, because 
 I knew that we had made them friends, and to 
 gain still more of their good-will, we went to 
 them where they were carousing in the barn, 
 and added something to our former gift. All 
 that we gave was not much, but it detained 
 them in the barn, either merry or quarrelling, the 
 whole night, and in the morning they went back 
 to their work, with great indignation at the bad 
 qualities of whisky. 
 
 We had gained so much the favour of our 
 host, that, when we left his house in the morn- 
 ing, he walked by us a great way, and enter- 
 tained us with conversation both on his own 
 condition, and that of the country. His life 
 seemed to be merely pastoral, except that he 
 differed from some of the ancient Nomades in 
 having a settled dwelling. His wealth consists 
 of one hundred sheep, as many goats, twelve 
 milk cows, and twenty-eight beeves ready for 
 the drover. 
 
 From him we first heard of the general dissa- 
 tisfaction which is now driving the Highlanders 
 into the other hemisphere; and when I asked 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 5S 
 
 him whether they would stay at home, if they 
 were well treated, he answered with indignation, 
 that no man willingly left his native country. 
 Of the farm, which he himself occupied, the rent 
 had, in twenty-five years, been advanced from 
 five to twenty pounds, which he found himself 
 so little able to pay that he would be glad to try 
 his fortune in some other place. Yet he owned 
 the reasonableness of raising the Highland rents 
 in a certain degree, and declared himself willing 
 to pay ten pounds for the ground which he had 
 formerly had for five. 
 
 Our host having amused us for a time, re- 
 signed us to our guides. The journey of this 
 day was long, not that the distance was great, 
 but that the way was difficult. We were now 
 in the bosom of the Highlands, with full leisure 
 to contemplate the appearance and properties of 
 mountainous regions, such as have been, in many 
 countries, the last shelters of national distress, and 
 are every where the scenes of adventures, strata- 
 gems, surprises, and escapes. 
 
 Mountainous countries are not passed but 
 with difficulty, not merely from the labour of 
 climbing ; for to climb is not always necessary : 
 but because that which is not mountain is com- 
 monly bog, through which the way must be 
 picked with caution. Where there are hills, 
 there is much rain, and the torrents pouring 
 
54 
 
 JOURNEY TO THE 
 
 down into the intermediate spaces, seldom find 
 so ready an outlet, as not to stagnate, till they 
 have broken the texture of the ground. 
 
 Of the hills, which our journey offered to the 
 view on either side, we did not take the height, 
 nor did we see any that astonished us with their 
 loftiness. Towards the summit of one, there was 
 a white spot, which I should have called a naked 
 rock, but the guides, who had better eyes, and 
 were acquainted with the phenomena of the coun- 
 try, declared it to be snow. It had already lasted 
 to the end of August, and was likely to maintain 
 its contest with the sun, till it should be reinforced 
 by winter. 
 
 The height of mountains philosophically con- 
 sidered, is properly computed from the surface of 
 the next sea ; but as it affects the eye or imagina- 
 tion of the passenger, as it makes either a spec- 
 tacle or an obstruction, it must be reckoned from 
 the place where the rise begins to make a consi- 
 derable angle with the plain. In extensive 
 continents the land may, by gradual elevation, 
 attain great height, without any other appearance 
 than that of a plane gently inclined, and if a hill 
 placed upon such raised ground be described, as 
 having its altitude equal to the whole space above 
 the sea, the representation will be fallacious. 
 
 These mountains may be properly enough 
 measured from the inland base; for it is not 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 55 
 
 much above the sea. As we advanced at evening 
 towards the western coast, I did not observe the 
 declivity to be greater than is necessary for the 
 discharge of the inland waters. 
 
 We passed many rivers and rivulets, which 
 commonly ran with a clear shallow stream over 
 a hard pebbly bottom. These channels, which 
 seem so much wider than the water that they 
 convey would naturally require, are formed by 
 the violence of wintry floods, produced by the 
 accumulation of innumerable streams that fall in 
 rainy weather from the hills, and bursting away 
 with resistless impetuosity, make themselves a 
 passage proportionate to their mass. 
 
 Such capricious and temporary waters cannot 
 be expected to produce many fish. The rapidity 
 of the wintry deluge sweeps them away, and the 
 scantiness of the summer stream would hardly 
 sustain them above the ground. This is the 
 reason why in fording the northern rivers, no 
 fishes are seen, as in England, wandering in the 
 water. 
 
 Of the hills many may be called with Homer's 
 Ida, " abundant in springs," but few can deserve 
 the epithet which he bestows upon Pelion, by 
 « waving their leaves." They exhibit very little 
 variety ; being almost wholly covered with dark 
 heath, and even that seems to be checked in it^ 
 growth. What is not heath is nakedness, a little 
 
56 
 
 JOURNEY TO THE 
 
 diversified by now and then a stream rushing 
 down the steep. An eye accustomed to flowery 
 pastures and waving harvests is astonished and 
 repelled by this wide extent of hopeless sterility. 
 The appearance is that of matter incapable of 
 form or usefulness, dismissed by nature from her 
 care, and disinherited of her favours, left in its 
 original elemental state, or quickened only with 
 one sullen power of useless vegetation. 
 
 It will very readily occur, that this uniformity 
 of barrenness can afford very little amusement to 
 the traveller ; that it is easy to sit at home and 
 conceive rocks, and heath, and waterfalls; and 
 that these journeys are useless labours, which 
 neither impregnate the imagination, nor enlarge 
 the understanding. It is true, that of far the 
 greater part of things, we must content ourselves 
 with such knowledge as description may exhibit, 
 or analogy supply ; but it is true likewise, that 
 these ideas are always incomplete, and that, at 
 least, till we have compared them with realities, 
 we do not know them to be just. As we see 
 more, we become possessed of more certainties, 
 and consequently gain more principles of reason- 
 ing, and found a wider basis of analogy. 
 
 Regions mountainous and wild, thinly inha- 
 bited, and little cultivated, make a great part of 
 the earth, and he that has never seen them must 
 live unacquainted with much of the face of na- 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 57 
 
 ture, and with one of the great scenes of human 
 existence. 
 
 As the day advanced towards noon, we en- 
 tered a narrow valley not very flowery, but suf- 
 ficiently verdant. Our guides told us, that the 
 horses could not travel all day without rest or 
 meat, and entreated us to stop here, because no 
 grass would be found in any other place. The 
 request was reasonable, and the argument cogent. 
 We therefore wiUingly dismounted, and diverted 
 ourselves as the place gave us opportunity. 
 
 I sat down on a bank, such as a writer of ro- 
 jnance might have delighted to feign. I had 
 indeed no trees to whisper over my head, but a 
 clear rivulet streamed at my feet. The day was 
 calm, the air was soft, and all was rudeness, 
 silence, and solitude. Before me, and on either 
 side, were high hills, which by hindering the eye 
 from ranging, forced the mind to find entertain- 
 ment for itself Whether I spent tlie hour well 
 I know not ; for here I first conceived the thought 
 of this narration. 
 
 We were in this place at ease and by choice, 
 and had no evils to suffer or to fear; yet the 
 imaginations excited by the view of an unknown 
 and untravelled wilderness are not such as arise 
 in the artificial solitude of parks and gardens, a 
 flattering notion of self-sufficiency, a placid in- 
 
 H 
 
58 
 
 JOURNEY TO THE 
 
 dulgence of voluntary delusions, a secure expan- 
 sion of the fancy, or a cool concentration of the 
 mental powers. The phantoms which haunt a de- 
 sert are want, and misery, and danger ; the evils of 
 dereliction rush upon the thoughts ; man is made 
 unwillingly acquainted with his own weakness, 
 and meditation shows him only how little he can 
 sustain, and how little he can perform. There 
 were no traces of inhabitants, except perhaps a 
 rude pile of clods, called a summer hut, in which 
 a herdsman had rested in the favourable seasons. 
 Whoever had been in the place where I then sat, 
 unprovided with provisions, and ignorant of the 
 country, might, at least before the roads were 
 made, have wandered among the rocks till he had 
 perished with hardship, before he could have found 
 either food or shelter. Yet what are these hillocks 
 to the ridges of Taurus, or these spots of wilder- 
 ness to the deserts of America ? 
 
 It was not long before we were invited to 
 mount, and continued our journey along the side 
 of a loch, kept full by many streams, which with 
 more or less rapidity and noise crossed the road 
 from the hills on the other hand. These currents, 
 in their diminished state, after several dry months, 
 afford, to one who has always lived in level coun- 
 tries, an unusual and delightful spectacle; but 
 in the rainy season, such as every winter may be 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 expected to bring, must precipitate an impetuous 
 and tremendous flood. I suppose the way by 
 which we went is, at this time, impassable. 
 
 The loch at last ended in a river broad and 
 shallow like the rest, but that it may be passed 
 when it is deeper, there is a bridge over it. Be- 
 yond it is a valley called Glensheals, inhabited by 
 the clan of Macrae. Here we found a village 
 called Auknasheals, consisting of many huts, 
 perhaps twenty, built all of dry stone, that is, 
 stones piled up without mortar. 
 
 We had, by the direction of the officers at 
 Fort Augustus, taken bread for ourselves, and 
 tobacco for those Highlanders who might show 
 us any kindness. We were now at a place where 
 we could obtain milk, but must have wanted 
 bread if we had not brought it. The people of 
 this valley did not appear to know any English, 
 and our guides now became doubly necessary as 
 interpreters. A woman, whose hut was distin- 
 guished by greater spaciousness and better archi- 
 tecture, brought out some pails of milk. The 
 villagers gathered about us in considerable num- 
 bers, I believe without any evil intention, but 
 with a very savage wildness of aspect and man- 
 ner. When our meal was over, Mr. Boswell 
 
60 
 
 JOURNEY TO THE 
 
 sliced the bread, and divided it amongst them, 
 as he supposed them never to have tasted a 
 wheaten loaf before. He then gave them little 
 pieces of twisted tobacco, and among the chil- 
 di-en we distributed a small handful of halfpence, 
 which tliey received with great eagerness. Yet 
 I have been since told, that the people of that 
 valley are not indigent; and when we mentioned 
 them afterwards as needy and pitiable, a High- 
 land lady let us know, that we might spare our 
 commiseration; for the dame whose milk we 
 drank had probably more than a dozen milk 
 cows. She seemed unwilling to take any price, 
 but being pressed to make a demand, at last 
 named a shilling. Honesty is not greater where 
 elegance is less. One of the by-standers, as we 
 were told afterwards, advised her to ask more, 
 but she said a shilling was enough. We gave 
 her half-a-crown, and I hope got some credit by 
 our behaviour ; for the company said, if our in- 
 terpreters did not flatter us, that they had not 
 seen such a day since the old laird of JMacleod 
 passed through their country. 
 
 The Macraes, as we heard afterwards in the 
 Hebrides, were originally an indigent and subor- 
 dinate clan, and having no farms nor stock, were 
 in great numbers servants to the Maclellans, who, 
 in the war of Charles the First, took arms at the 
 call of the heroic Montrose, and were, in one of 
 
WESTEKN ISLANDS. 
 
 61 
 
 his battles, almost all destroyed. The women 
 that were left at home, being thus deprived of 
 their husbands, like the Scythian ladies of old, 
 married their servants, and the Macraes became 
 a considerable race. 
 
 As we continued our journey, we were at 
 leisure to extend our speculations, and to inves- 
 tigate the reason of those peculiarities by which 
 such rugged regions as these before us are gene- 
 rally distinguished. 
 
 Mountainous countries commonly contain the 
 original, at least the oldest race of inhabitants, for 
 they are not easily conquered, because they must 
 be entered by narrow ways, exposed to every 
 power of mischief from those that occupy the 
 heights ; and every new ridge is a new fortress, 
 where the defendants have again the same ad- 
 vantages. If the assailants either force the strait, 
 or storm the summit, they gain only so much 
 ground ; their enemies are fled to take possession 
 of the next rock, and the pursuers stand at gaze, 
 knowing neither where the ways of escape wind 
 among the steeps, nor where the bog has firmness 
 to sustain them ; besides that, mountaineers have 
 an agility in climbing and descending, distinct 
 
62 
 
 JOURNEY TO THE 
 
 from strength or courage, and attainable only by 
 use. 
 
 If the war be not soon concluded, the invaders 
 are dislodged by hunger; for in those anxious 
 and toilsome marches, provisions cannot easily be 
 carried, and are never to be found. The wealth 
 of mountains is cattle, which, while the men 
 stand in the passes, the women drive away. Such 
 lands at last cannot repay the expense of con- 
 quest, and therefore perhaps have not been so 
 often invaded by the mere ambition of dominion, 
 as by resentment of robberies and insults, or the 
 desire of enjoying in security the more fruitful 
 provinces. 
 
 As mountaineers are long before they are 
 conquered, they are likewise long before they 
 are civilized. Men are softened by intercourse 
 mutually profitable, and instructed by comparing 
 their own notions with those of others. Thus 
 Caesar found the maritime parts of Britain made 
 less barbarous by their commerce with the Gauls. 
 Into a barren and rough tract no stranger is 
 brought either by the hope of gain or of pleasure. 
 The inhabitants having neither commodities for 
 sale, nor money for purchase, seldom visit more 
 polished places, or if they do visit them, seldom 
 return. 
 
 It sometimes happens that by conquest, inter- 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 63 
 
 mixture, or gradual refinement, the cultivated 
 parts of a country change their language. The 
 mountaineers then become a distinct nation, cut 
 off by dissimilitude of speech from conversation 
 with their neighbours. Thus in Biscay, the ori- 
 ginal Cantabrian, and in Dalecarlia, the old Swe- 
 dish, still subsists. Thus Wales and the High- 
 lands speak the tongue of the first inhabitants of 
 Britain, while the other parts have received first 
 the Saxon, and in some degree afterwards the 
 French, and then formed a third language be- 
 tween them. 
 
 That the primitive manners are continued 
 where the primitive language is spoken, no na- 
 tion will desire me to suppose, for the manners 
 of mountaineers are commonly savage, but they 
 are rather produced by their situation than de- 
 rived from their ancestors. 
 
 Such seems to be the disposition of man, that 
 whatever makes a distinction produces rivalry. 
 England, before other causes of enmity were 
 found, was disturbed for some centuries by the 
 contests of the northern and southern counties ; 
 so that at Oxford, the peace of study could for a 
 long time be preserved only by choosing annually 
 one of the proctors from each side of the Trent. 
 A tract intersected by many ridges of mountains, 
 naturally divides its inhabitants into petty na- 
 tions, which are made by a thousand causes ene- 
 
64 
 
 JOURNEY TO THE 
 
 mies to each other. Each will exalt its own 
 chiefs, each will boast the valour of its men, or 
 the beauty of its women, and every claim of supe- 
 riority irritates competition ; injuries will some- 
 times be done, and be more injuriously defended ; 
 retaliation will sometimes be attempted, and the 
 debt exacted with too much interest. 
 
 In the Highlands it was a law, that if a robber 
 was sheltered from justice, any man of the same 
 clan might be taken in his place. This was a 
 kind of irregular justice, which, though necessary 
 in savage times, could hardly fail to end in a 
 feud; and a feud once kindled among an idle 
 people, with no variety of pursuits to divert their 
 thoughts, burnt on for ages, either sullenly glow- 
 ing in secret mischief, or openly blazing into 
 public violence. Of the effects of this violent 
 judicature, there are not wanting memorials. 
 The cave is now to be seen to which one of the 
 Campbells, who had injured the Macdonalds, re- 
 tired with a body of his own clan. The Mac- 
 donalds required the offender, and being refused, 
 made a fire at the mouth of the cave, by which 
 he and his adherents were suffocated together. 
 
 Mountaineers are warlike, because by their 
 feuds and competitions they consider themselves 
 as surrounded with enemies, and are always pre- 
 pared to repel incursions, or to make them. Like 
 the Greeks in their unpolished state, described by 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 65 
 
 Thucydides, the Highlanders, till lately, went 
 always armed, and carried their weapons to visits 
 and to church. 
 
 IMountaineers are thievish, because they are 
 poor, and having neither manufactures nor com- 
 merce, can grow rich only by robbery. They 
 regularly plunder their neighbours, for their 
 neighbours are commonly their enemies ; and 
 having lost that reverence for property, by which 
 the order of civil life is preserved, soon consider 
 all as enemies, whom they do not reckon as friends, 
 and think themselves licensed to invade whatever 
 they are not obliged to protect. 
 
 By a strict administration of the laws, since the 
 laws have been introduced into the Highlands, 
 this disposition to thievery is very much re- 
 pressed. Thirty years ago no herd had ever 
 been conducted through the mountains, without 
 paying tribute in the night to some of the clans ; 
 but cattle are now driven, and passengers travel, 
 without danger, fear, or molestation. 
 
 Among a warlike people, the quality of high- 
 est esteem is personal courage, and with the 
 ostentatious display of courage are closely con- 
 nected promptitude of offence, and quickness of 
 resentment. The Highlanders, before they were 
 disarmed, were so. addicted to quarrels, that the 
 boys used to follow any public procession or ce- 
 remony, however festive or however solemn, in 
 
 I 
 
JOUKNEY TO THE 
 
 expectation of the battle, which was sure to hap- 
 pen before the company dispersed. 
 
 Mountainous regions are sometimes so remote 
 from the seat of government, and so difficult of 
 access, that they are very little under the influence 
 of the sovereign, or within the reach of national 
 justice. Law is nothing without power; and 
 the sentence of a distant court could not be easily 
 executed, nor perhaps very safely promulgated, 
 among men ignorantly proud, and habitually vio- 
 lent, unconnected with the general system, and 
 accustomed to reverence only their own lords. 
 It has therefore been necessary to erect many 
 particular jurisdictions, and commit the punish- 
 ment of crimes, and the decision of right, to the 
 proprietors of the country who could enforce their 
 own decrees. It immediately appears that such 
 judges will be often ignorant, and often partial ; 
 but in the immaturity of political establishments 
 no better expedient could be found. As govern- 
 ment advances towards perfection, provincial 
 judicature is perhaps in every empire gradually 
 abolished. 
 
 Those who had thus the dispensation of law, 
 were by consequence themselves lawless. Their 
 vassals had no shelter from outrages and oppres- 
 sions ; but were condemned to endure, without 
 resistance, the caprices of wantonness, and the 
 rage of cruelty. 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 67 
 
 In the Highlands, some great lords had a 
 hereditary jurisdiction over counties ; and some 
 chieftains over their own lands; till the final 
 conquest of the Highlands afforded an opportu- 
 nity of crushing all the local courts, and of ex- 
 tending the general benefits of equal law to the 
 low and the high, in the deepest recesses and 
 obscurest corners. 
 
 While the chiefs had this resemblance of roy- 
 alty, they had little inclination to appeal, on any 
 question, to superior judicatures. A claim of 
 lands between two powerful lairds was decided 
 like a contest for dominion between sovereign 
 powers. They drew their forces into the field, 
 and right attended on the strongest. This was, 
 in ruder times, the common practice, which the 
 kings of Scotland could seldom controul. 
 
 Even so lately as in the last years of king 
 William, a battle was fought at Mulroy, on a 
 plain a few miles to the south of Inverness, be- 
 tween the clans of Mackintosh and Macdonald of 
 Keppoch. Colonel Macdonald, the head of a 
 small clan, refused to pay the dues demanded from 
 him by Mackintosh, as his superior lord. They 
 disdained the interposition of judges and laws, 
 and calling each his followers to maintain the 
 dignity of the clan, fought a formal battle, in 
 which several considerable men fell on the side of 
 Mackintosh, without a complete victory to either. 
 
68 
 
 JOURNEY TO THE 
 
 This is said to have been the last open war made 
 between the clans by their own authority. 
 
 The Highland lords made treaties, and formed 
 aUiances, of which some traces may still be found, 
 and some consequences still remain as lasting 
 evidences of petty regality. The terms of one of 
 these confederacies were, that each should support 
 the other in the right, or in the wrong, except 
 against the king. 
 
 The inhabitants of mountains form distinct 
 races, and are careful to preserve their genealo- 
 gies. Men in a small district necessarily mingle 
 blood by intermarriages, and combine at last into 
 one family, with a common interest in the honour 
 and disgrace of every individual. Then begins 
 that union of affections, and co-operation of endea- 
 vours, that constitute a clan. They who consider 
 themselves as ennobled by their family, will think 
 highly of their progenitors, and they who through 
 successive generations live always together in the 
 same place, will preserve local stories and heredi- 
 tary prejudices. Thus every Highlander can talk 
 of his ancestors, and recount the outrages which 
 they suffered from the wicked inhabitants of the 
 next valley. 
 
 Such are the efltects of habitation among 
 mountains, and such were the qualities of the 
 Highlanders, while their rocks secluded them 
 from the rest of mankind, and kept them an un- 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 altered and discriminated race. They are now 
 losing their distinction, and hastening to mingle 
 with the general community. 
 
 iSlentlja:. 
 
 We left Auknasheals and the Macraes in the 
 afternoon, and in the evening came to Ratikin, 
 a high hill on which a road is cut, but so steep 
 and narrow that it is very difficult. There is 
 now a design of making another way round the 
 bottom. Upon one of the precipices, my horse, 
 weary with the steepness of the rise, staggered a 
 little, and I called in haste to the Highlander to 
 hold him. This was the only moment of my 
 journey, in which I thought myself endangered. 
 
 Having surmounted the hill at last, we were 
 told, that at Glenelg, on the sea-side, we should 
 come to a house of lime, and slate, and glass. 
 This image of magnificence raised our expectation. 
 At last we came to our inn, weary and peevish, 
 and began to inquire for meat and beds. 
 
 Of the provisions the negative catalogue was 
 very copious. Here was no meat, no milk, no 
 bread, no eggs, no wine. We did not express 
 much satisfaction. Here however we were to 
 stay. Whisky we might have, and I believe at 
 last they caught a fowl and killed it. We had 
 some bread, and with that we prepared ourselves 
 
70 
 
 JOURNEY TO THE . 
 
 to be contented, when we had a very eminent 
 proof of Highland hospitality. Along some 
 miles of the way, in the evening, a gentleman's 
 servant had kept us company on foot with very 
 little notice on our part. He left us near Glenelg, 
 and we thought on him no more till he came to 
 us again, in about two hours, with a present from 
 his master of rum and sugar. The man had 
 mentioned his company, and the gentleman, 
 whose name, I think, is Gordon, well knowing 
 the penury of the place, had this attention to 
 two men, whose names perhaps he had not 
 heard, by whom his kindness was not likely to 
 be ever repaid, and who could be recommended 
 to him only by their necessities. 
 
 We w^ere now to examine our lodging. Out 
 of one of the beds, on which we were to repose, 
 started up, at our entrance, a man black as a 
 Cyclops from the forge. Other circumstances of 
 no elegant recital concurred to disgust us. We 
 had been frighted by a lady at Edinburgh, with 
 discouraging representations of Highland lodg- 
 ings. Sleep, however, was necessary. Our 
 Highlanders had at last found some hay, with 
 which the inn could not supply them, I directed 
 tliem to bring a bundle into the room, and slept 
 upon it in my riding coat. Mr. Boswell being 
 more delicate, laid himself sheets, with hay over 
 and under him, and lay in linen like a gentleman. 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 71 
 
 ^iim.—^tmiisth 
 
 In the morning, September the twentieth, 
 we found ourselves on the edge of the sea. Hav- 
 ing procured a boat, we dismissed our Highlanders, 
 whom I would recommend to the service of any 
 future travellers, and were ferried over to the isle 
 of Skye. We landed at Armidel, where we were 
 met on the sands by Sir Alexander JMacdonald, 
 who was at that time there with his lady, pre- 
 paring to leave the island, and reside at Edin- 
 burgh, 
 
 Armidel is a neat house, built where the 
 Macdonalds had once a seat, which was burnt in 
 the commotions that followed the Revolution. 
 The walled orchard, which belonged to the for- 
 mer house, still remains. It is well shaded by 
 tall ash-trees, of a species, as Mr. Janes the fossi- 
 list informed me, uncommonly valuable. This 
 plantation is very properly mentioned by Dr. 
 Campbell, in his new account of the state of 
 Britain, and deserves attention ; because it proves 
 that the present nakedness of the Hebrides is not 
 wholly the fault of nature. 
 
 As we sat at Sir Alexander's table, we were 
 entertained, according to the ancient usage of 
 the north, with the melody of the bagpipe. 
 Every thing in those countries has its history. 
 
72 
 
 JOURNEY TO THE 
 
 As the bagpiper was playing, an elderly gentle- 
 man informed us, that in some remote time, the 
 Macdonalds of Glengary having been injured, or 
 offended by the inhabitants of CuUoden, and re- 
 solving to have justice or vengeance, came to 
 CuUoden on a Sunday, where, finding their 
 enemies at worship, they shut them up in the 
 church, which they set on fire ; and this, said he, 
 is the tune that the piper played while they 
 were burning. 
 
 Narrations like this, however uncertain, de- 
 serve the notice of a traveller, because they are 
 the only records of a nation that has no historians, 
 and afford the most genuine representation of the 
 life and character of the ancient Highlanders. 
 
 Under the denomination of Higlilanders are 
 comprehended in Scotland all that now speak the 
 Erse language, or retain the primitive manners, 
 whether they live among the mountains or in 
 the islands ; and in that sense I use the name, 
 when there is not some apparent reason for 
 making a distinction. 
 
 In Skye I first observed the use of brogues, a 
 kind of artless shoes, stitched with thongs so 
 loosely, that though they defend the foot from 
 stones, they do not exclude water. Brogues 
 » were formerly made of raw hides, with the hair 
 inwards, and such are perhaps still used in rude 
 and remote parts ; but they are said not to last 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 73 
 
 above two days. Where life is somewhat im- 
 proved, they are now made of leather tanned 
 with oak bark, as in other places, or with tlie 
 bark of birch, or roots of tormentil, a substance 
 recommended in defect of bark, about forty years 
 ago, to the Irish tanners, by one to whom the 
 parliament of that kingdom voted a reward. 
 The leather of Skye is not completely penetrated 
 by vegetable matter, and therefore cannot be 
 very durable. 
 
 My inquiries about brogues, gave me an early 
 specimen of Highland information. One day I 
 was told, that to make brogues was a domestic 
 art, which every man practised for himself, and 
 that a pair of brogues was the work of an hour. 
 I supposed that the husband made brogues as 
 the wife made an apron, till next day it was told 
 me, that a brogue-maker was a trade, and that a 
 pair would cost half-a-crown. It will easily occur 
 that these representations may both be true, and 
 that, in some places, men may buy them, and in 
 others make them for themselves; but I had 
 both the accounts in the same house within two 
 days. 
 
 Many of my subsequent inquiries upon more 
 interesting topics ended in the like uncertainty. 
 He that travels in the Highlands may easily satu- 
 rate his soul with intelligence, if he will acquiesce 
 
 K 
 
74 
 
 JOURNEY TO THE 
 
 in the first account. The Highlander gives to 
 every question an answer so prompt and peremp- 
 tory, that scepticism itself is dared into silence, 
 and the mind sinks before the bold reporter in 
 unresisting credulity; but if a second question 
 be ventured, it breaks the enchantment ; for it is 
 immediately discovered, that what was told so 
 confidently was told at hazard, and that such 
 fearlessness of assertion was either the sport of 
 negligence, or the refuge of ignorance. 
 
 If individuals are thus at variance with them- 
 selves, it can be no wonder that the accounts of 
 different men are contradictory. The traditions 
 of an ignorant and savage people have been for 
 ages negligently heard, and unskilfully related. 
 Distant events must have been mingled together, 
 and the actions of one man given to another. 
 These, however, are deficiencies in story, for 
 which no man is now to be censured. It were 
 enough, if what there is yet opportunity of ex- 
 amining were accurately inspected, and justly 
 represented ; but such is the laxity of Highland 
 conversation, that the inquirer is kept in con- 
 tinual suspense, and by a kind of intellectual 
 retrogradation, knows less as he hears more. 
 
 In the islands the plaid is rarely worn. The 
 law by which the Highlanders have been obliged 
 to change the form of their dress, has, in all the 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 75 
 
 places that we have visited, been universally 
 obeyed. I have seen only one gentleman com- 
 pletely clothed in the ancient habit, and by him 
 it was worn only occasionally and wantonly. 
 The common people do not think themselves 
 under any legal necessity of having coats; for 
 they say that the law against plaids was made 
 by Lord Hardwicke, and was in force only for 
 his life : but the same poverty that made it then 
 difficult for them to change their clothing, hin- 
 derjs them now from changing it again. 
 
 The fillibeg, or lower garment, is still very 
 conamon, and the bonnet almost universal ; but 
 their attire is such as produces, in a sufficient de- 
 gree, the effect intended by the law, of abolish- 
 ing the dissimilitude of appearance between the 
 Highlanders and the other inhabitants of Britain; 
 and if dress be supposed to have much influence, 
 facilitates their coalition with their fellow-sub- 
 jects. 
 
 What we have long used we naturally like ; 
 and therefore the Highlanders were unwilling to 
 lay aside their plaid, which yet to an unprejvi- 
 diced spectator must appear an incommodious 
 and cumbersome dress; for hanging loose upon 
 the body, it must flutter in a quick motion, or 
 require one of the hands to keep it close. The 
 Romans always laid aside the gown when they 
 
76 
 
 JOURNEY TO THE 
 
 had any thing to do. It was a dress so unsuita- 
 ble to war, that the same word which signified a 
 gown signiiied peace. The chief use of a plaid 
 seems to be this, that they could commodiously 
 wrap themselves in it, when they were obliged 
 to sleep without a better cover. 
 
 In our passage from Scotland to Skye, we 
 were wet for the first time with a shower. This 
 was the beginning of the Highland winter, after 
 which we were told that a succession of three dry 
 days was not to be expected for many months. 
 The winter of the Hebrides consists of little more 
 than rain and wind. As they are surrounded by 
 an ocean never frozen, the blasts that come to 
 them over the water are too much softened to 
 have the power of congelation. The salt lochs, 
 or inlets of the sea, which shoot very far into the 
 island, never have any ice upon them, and the 
 pools of fresh water will never bear the walker. 
 The snow that sometimes falls, is soon dissolved 
 by the air, or the rain. 
 
 This is not the description of a cruel climate, 
 yet the dark months are here a time of great dis- 
 tress; because the summer can do little more 
 than feed itself, and winter comes with its cold 
 and its scarcity upon families very slenderly pro- 
 vided. 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 77 
 
 €ovMntf)m in ^Ixm. 
 
 The third or fourth day after our arrival at 
 Armidel, brought us an invitation to the isle of 
 Raasay, which lies east of Skye. It is incredible 
 how soon the account of any event is propagated 
 in these narrow countries by the love of talk, 
 which much leisure produces, and the relief given 
 to the mind in the penury of insular conversation 
 by a new topic. The arrival of strangers at a place 
 so rarely visited, excites rumour, and quickens 
 curiosity. I know not whether we touched at 
 any corner, where fame had not already prepared 
 us a reception. 
 
 To gain a commodious passage to Raasay, it 
 was necessary to pass over a large part of Skye. 
 We were furnished therefore with horses and a 
 guide. In the islands there are no roads, nor any 
 marks by which a stranger may find his way. 
 The horseman has always at his side a native of 
 the place, who, by pursuing game, or tending 
 cattle, or being often employed in messages or 
 conduct, has learned where the ridge of the hill 
 has breadth sufficient to allow a horse and his 
 rider a passage, and where the moss or bog is 
 hard enough to bear them. The bogs are avoided 
 as toilsome at least, if not unsafe, and therefore 
 
78 
 
 JOURNEY TO THE 
 
 the journey is made generally from precipice to 
 precipice; from which if the eye ventures to look 
 down, it sees below a gloomy cavity, whence the 
 rush of water is sometimes heard. 
 
 But there seems to be in all this more alarm 
 than danger. The Highlander walks carefully 
 before, and the horse, accustomed to the ground, 
 follows him with little deviation. Sometimes 
 the hill is too steep for the horseman to keep his 
 seat, and sometimes the moss is too tremulous to 
 bear the double weight of horse and man. The 
 rider then dismounts, and all shift as they can. 
 
 Journeys made in this manner are rather tedi- 
 ous than long. A very few miles require several 
 hours. From Armidel we came at night to Cori- 
 atachan, a house very pleasantly situated between 
 two brooks, with one of the highest hills of the 
 island behind it. It is the residence of Mr. Mac- 
 kinnon, by whom we were treated with very 
 liberal hospitality, among a more numerous and 
 elegant company than it could have been supposed 
 easy to collect. 
 
 The hill behind the house we did not climb. 
 The weather was rough, and the height and 
 steepness discouraged us. We were told that 
 there is a cairne upon it. A cairne is a heap of 
 stones thrown upon the grave of one eminent for 
 dignity of birth, or ^splendour of achievements. 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. 79 
 
 It is said, that by digging, an urn is always found 
 under these cairnes: they must therefore have 
 been thus piled by a people whose custom it was 
 to burn the dead. To pile stones is, I believe, a 
 northern custom, and to burn the body was the 
 Roman practice; nor do I know when it was 
 that these two acts of sepulture were united. 
 
 The weather was next day too violent for the 
 continuation of our journey ; but we had no 
 reason to complain of the interruption. We saw 
 in every place, what we chiefly desired to know, 
 the manners of the people. We had company, 
 and if we had chosen retirement, we might have 
 had books. 
 
 I never was in any house of the islands, where 
 1 did not find books in more languages than one, 
 if I had staid long enough to want them, except 
 one from which the family was removed. Lite- 
 rature is not neglected by the higher rank of the 
 Hebridians. 
 
 It need not, I suppose, be mentioned, that in 
 countries so little frequented as the islands, there 
 are no houses where travellers are entertained for 
 money. He that wanders about these wilds, 
 either procures recommendations to those whose 
 habitations lie near his way, or, when night and 
 weariness come upon him, takes the chance of 
 
80 
 
 JOURNEY TO THE 
 
 general hospitality. If he finds only a cottage, 
 he can expect little more than shelter ; for the 
 cottagers have little more for themselves : but if 
 his good fortune brings him to the residence of a 
 gentleman, he will be glad of a storm to prolong 
 his stay. There is, however, one inn by the sea- 
 side at Sconsor, in Skye, where the postoffice is 
 kept. 
 
 At the tables where a stranger is received, nei- 
 ther plenty nor delicacy is wanting. A tract of 
 land so thinly inhabited, must have much wild- 
 fowl ; and I scarcely remember to have seen a 
 dinner without them. The moor-game is every 
 where to be had. That the sea abounds with fish, 
 needs not be told, for it supplies a great part of 
 Europe. The isle of Skye has stags and roebucks, 
 but no hares. They send very numerous droves 
 of oxen yearly to England, and therefore cannot 
 be supposed to want beef at home. Sheep and 
 goats are in great numbers, and they have the 
 common domestic fowls. 
 
 But as here is nothing to be bought, every 
 family must kill its own meat, and roast part of 
 it somewhat sooner than Apicius would prescribe. 
 Every kind of flesh is undoubtedly excelled by 
 the variety and emulation of English markets ; 
 but that w^hich is not best may be yet very far 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 81. 
 
 from bad, and he that shall complain of his fare 
 in the Hebrides, has improved his delicacy more 
 than his manhood. 
 
 Their fowls are not like those plumped for 
 sale by the poulterers of London, but they are as 
 good as other places commonly afford, except 
 that the geese, by feeding in the sea, have uni- 
 versally a fishy rankness. 
 
 These geese seem to be of a middle race, be- 
 tween the wild and domestic kinds. They are 
 so tame as to own a home, and so wild as some- 
 times to fly quite away. 
 
 Their native bread is made of oats, or barley. 
 Of oatmeal they spread very thin cakes, coarse 
 and hard, to which unaccustomed palates are not 
 easily reconciled. The barley cakes are thicker 
 and softer ; I began to eat them without unwil- 
 lingness ; the blackness of their colour raises some 
 dislike, but the taste is not disagreeable. In 
 most houses there is wheat flour, with which we 
 were sure to be treated, if we staid long enough 
 to have it kneaded and baked. As neither yeast 
 nor leaven are used among them, their bread of 
 every kind is unfermented. They make only 
 cakes, and never mould a loaf 
 
 A man of the Hebrides, for of the women's 
 diet I can give no account, as soon as he appears 
 in the morning, swallows a glass of whisky ; yet 
 
 L 
 
82 
 
 JOURNEY TO THE 
 
 they are not a drunken race, at least I never was 
 present at much intemperance ; but no man is so 
 abstemious as to refuse the morning dram, which 
 they call a skalk. The word whisky signifies wa- 
 ter, and is applied by way of eminence to strong 
 water, or distilled liquor. The spirit drank in the 
 north is drawn from barley. I never tasted it, 
 except once for experiment at the inn in Inveraray, 
 when I thought it preferable to any English malt 
 brandy. It was strong, but not pungent, and 
 was free from the empyreumatic taste or smell. 
 What was the process I had no opportunity of 
 inquiring, nor do I wish to improve the art of 
 making poison pleasant. 
 
 Not long after the dram, may be expected the 
 breakfast, a meal in which the Scots, whether of 
 the lowlands or mountains, must be confessed to 
 excel us. The tea and coffee are accompanied 
 not only with butter, but with honey, conserves, 
 and marmalades. If an epicure could remove by 
 a wish, in quest of sensual gratifications, wherever 
 he had supped, he would breakfast in Scotland. 
 
 In the islands, however, they do what I found 
 it not very easy to endure. They pollute the tea- 
 table by plates piled with large slices of Cheshire 
 cheese, which mingles its less grateful odours 
 with the fragrance of the tea. 
 
 Where many questions are to be asked, some 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 83 
 
 will be omitted. I forgot to inquire how they 
 were supphed with so much exotic luxury. Per- 
 haps the French may bring them wine for wool, 
 and the Dutch give them tea and coffee at the 
 fishing season, in exchange for fresh provision. 
 Their trade is unconstrained ; they pay no cus- 
 toms, for there is no officer to demand them; 
 whatever, therefore, is made dear only by impost, 
 is obtained here at an easy rate. 
 
 A dinner in the Western Islands differs very 
 little from a dinner in England, except that in 
 the place of tarts there are always set different 
 preparations of milk. This part of their diet will 
 admit some improvement. Though they have 
 milk, and eggs, and sugar, few of them know 
 how to compound them in a custard. Their gar- 
 dens afford them no great variety, but they have 
 always some vegetables on the table. Potatoes 
 at least are never wanting, which, though they 
 have not known them long, are now one of the 
 principal parts of their food. They are not of the 
 mealy, but the viscous kind. 
 
 Their more elaborate cookery, or made dishes, 
 an EngHshman, at the first taste, is not likely to 
 approve, but the culinary compositions of every 
 country are often such as become grateful to other 
 nations only by degrees ; though I have read a 
 French author, who, in the elation of his heart. 
 
84 
 
 VOURNEY TO THE 
 
 says, that French cookery pleases aU foreigners, 
 but foreign cookery never satisfies a Frenchman. 
 
 Their suppers are hke their dinners, various, 
 and plentiful. The table is always covered with 
 elegant linen. Their plates for common use are 
 often of that kind of manufacture which is called 
 cream coloured, or queen's ware. They use silver 
 on all occasions where it is common in England, 
 nor did I ever find a spoon of horn but in one 
 house. 
 
 The knives are not often either very bright, 
 or very sharp. They are indeed instruments of 
 which the Highlanders have not been long ac- 
 quainted with the general use. They were not 
 regularly laid on the table, before the prohibition 
 of arms, and the change of dress. Thirty years 
 ago the Highlander wore his knife as a companion 
 to his dirk or dagger, and when the company sat 
 down to meat, the men who had knives, cut the 
 flesh into small pieces for the women, who with 
 their fingers conveyed it to their mouths. 
 
 There was, perhaps, never any change of na- 
 tional manners so quick, so great, and so general, 
 as that which has operated in the Highlands, by 
 the last conquest, and the subsequent laws. W e 
 came thither too late to see what we expected, a 
 people of peculiar appearance, and a system of 
 antiquated life. The clans retain little now of 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. SB 
 
 their original character ; their ferocity of temper 
 is softened, their miUtary ardour is extinguished, 
 their dignity of independence is depressed, their 
 contempt of government subdued, and their re- 
 verence for their chiefs abated. Of what they 
 had before the late conquest of their country, 
 there remain only their language and their po- 
 verty. Their language is attacked on every side. 
 Schools are erected, in which English only is 
 taught, and there were lately some who thought 
 it reasonable to refuse them a version of the holy 
 scriptures, that they might have no monument 
 of their mother-tongue. 
 
 That their poverty is gradually abated, cannot 
 be mentioned among the unpleasing consequences 
 of subjection. They are now acquainted with 
 money, and the possibiHty of gain will by degrees 
 make them industrious. Such is the effect of the 
 late regulations, that a longer journey than to the 
 Highlands must be taken by him whose curiosity 
 pants for savage virtues and barbarous grandeur. 
 
 At the first intermission of the stormy weather 
 we were informed, that the boat, which was to 
 convey us to Raasay, attended us on the coast. 
 
86 
 
 JOURNEY TO THE 
 
 We had from this time our intelHgence facilitated, 
 and our conversation enlarged, by the company 
 of jNIr. iSIacqueen, minister of a parish in Skye, 
 whose knowledge and politeness give him a title 
 equally to kindness and respect, and who, from 
 this time, never forsook us till we were preparing 
 to leave Skye, and the adjacent places. 
 
 The boat was under the direction of Mr. Mal- 
 colm Macleod, a gentleman of Raasay. The 
 water was calm, and the rowers were vigorous, so 
 that our passage was quick and pleasant. When 
 we came near the island, we saw the laird's house, 
 a neat modern fabric, and found Mr. JVIacleod, 
 the proprietor of the island, with many gentle- 
 men, expecting us on the beach. We had, as at 
 all other places, some difficulty in landing. The 
 crags were irregularly broken, and a false step 
 would have been very mischievous. 
 
 It seemed that the rocks might, with no great 
 labour, have been hewn almost into a regular 
 flight of steps ; and as there are no other landing 
 places, I considered this rugged ascent as the con- 
 sequence of a form of life inured to hardships, and 
 therefore not studious of nice accommodations. 
 But I know not whether, for many ages, it was 
 not considered as a part of militar}^ policy to keep 
 tlie country not easily accessible. The rocks are 
 
WESTEUN ISLANDS. 
 
 87 
 
 natural fortifications, and an enemy climbing 
 with difficulty was easily destroyed by those who 
 stood high above him. 
 
 Our reception exceeded our expectations. We 
 found nothing but civility, elegance, and plenty. 
 After the usual refreshments, and the usual con- 
 versation, the evening came upon us. The carpet 
 was then rolled off the floor ; the musician was 
 called, and the whole company was invited to 
 dance, nor did ever fairies trip with greater ala- 
 crity. The general air of festivity, which pre- 
 dominated in this place, so far remote from all 
 those regions which the mind has been used to 
 contemplate as the mansions of pleasure, struck 
 the imagination with a delightful surprise, analo- 
 gous to that which is felt at an unexpected emer- 
 sion from darkness into light. 
 
 When it was time to sup, the dance ceased, 
 and six and thirty persons sat down to two tables 
 in the same room. After supper the ladies sung 
 Erse songs, to which I listened as an English 
 audience to an Italian opera, delighted with the 
 sound of words which I did not understand. 
 
 I inquired the subjects of the songs, and was 
 told of one, that it was a love song, and of ano- 
 ther, that it was a farewell composed by one of 
 the islanders that was going, in this epidemical 
 fury of emigration, to seek his fortune in Ame- 
 
88 
 
 JOURNEY TO THE 
 
 rica. What sentiments would rise, on such an 
 occasion, in the heart of one who had not been 
 taught to lament by precedent, I should gladly 
 have known; but the lady, by whom I sat, 
 thought herself not equal to the work of trans- 
 lating. 
 
 Mr. Macleod is the proprietor of the islands of 
 Raasay, Rona, and Fladda, and possesses an ex- 
 tensive district in Skye. The estate has not, 
 during four hundred years, gained or lost a sin- 
 gle acre. 
 
 One of the old Highland alliances has con- 
 tinued for two hundred years, and is still subsist- 
 ing between Macleod of Raasay, and Macdonald 
 of Skye, in consequence of which, the survivor 
 always inherits the arms of the deceased ; a natu- 
 ral memorial of military friendship. At the death 
 of the late Sir James Macdonald, his sword was 
 delivered to the present laird of Raasay. 
 
 The family of Raasay consists of the laird, the 
 lady, three sons, and ten daughters. For the sons 
 there is a tutor in the house, and the lady is said 
 to be very skilful and dihgent in the education 
 of her girls. More gentleness of manners, or a 
 more pleasing appearance of[ domestic society, is 
 not found in the most polished countries. 
 
 Raasay is the only inhabited island in Mr. 
 Macleod's possession. Rona and Fladda afford 
 
westehn islands. 
 
 89 
 
 only pasture for cattle, of which one hundred and 
 sixty winter in Rona, under the superintendance 
 of a solitary herdsman. 
 
 The length of Raasay is, by computation, fif- 
 teen miles, and the breadth two. These countries 
 have never been measured, and the computation 
 by miles is negligent and arbitrary. We observed 
 in travelling, that the nominal and real distance 
 of places had very little relation to each other. 
 Raasay probably contains near a hundred square 
 miles. It affords not much ground, notwithstand- 
 ing its extent, either for tillage or pasture ; for it 
 is rough, rocky, and barren. The cattle often pe- 
 rish by falling from the precipices. It is like the 
 other islands, I think, generally naked of shade, 
 but it is naked by neglect; for the laird has an 
 orchard, and very large forest trees grow about 
 his house. Like other hilly countries, it has many 
 rivulets. One of the brooks turns a corn-mill, and 
 at least one produces trouts. 
 
 In the streams or fresh lakes of the islands, I 
 have never heard of any other fish than trouts 
 and eels. The trouts which 1 have seen are not 
 large; the colour of their flesh is tinged as in 
 England. Of their eels 1 can give no account, 
 having never tasted them ; for I believe they are 
 not considered as wholesome food. 
 
 M 
 
90 
 
 JOURNEY TO THE 
 
 It is not very easy to fix the principles upon 
 which mankind have agreed to eat some animals, 
 and reject others; and as the principle is not evi- 
 dent, it is not uniform. That which is selected 
 as delicate in one country, is by its neighbours 
 abhorred as loathsome. The Neapolitans lately 
 refused to eat potatoes in a famine. An Eng- 
 lishman is not easily persuaded to dine on snails 
 with an Italian, on frogs with a Frenchman, or 
 on horseflesh with a Tartar. The vulgar inhabi- 
 tants of Skye, I know not whether of the other 
 islands, have not only eels, but pork and bacon in 
 abhorrence, and accordingly I never saw a hog in 
 the Hebrides, except one at Dun vegan. 
 
 Raasay has wild-fowl in abundance, but neither 
 deer, hares, nor rabbits. Why it has them not, 
 might be asked, but that of such questions there 
 is no end. Why does any nation want what it 
 might have ? Why are not spices transplanted to 
 America ? Why does tea continue to be brought 
 from China? Life improves but by slow degrees, 
 and much in every place is yet to do. Attempts 
 have been made to raise roebucks in Raasay, but 
 without effect. The young ones it is extremely 
 difficult to rear, and the old can very seldom be 
 taken aUve. 
 
 Hares and rabbits might be more easily obtain- 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 91 
 
 ed. That they have few or none of either in Skye, 
 they impute to the ravage of the foxes, and have 
 therefore set, for some years past, a price upon their 
 heads, which, as the number was diminished, has 
 been gradually raised, from three shillings and six- 
 pence to a guinea, a sum so great in this part of 
 the world, that in a short time Skye may be as free 
 from foxes, as England from wolves. The fund 
 for these rewards is a tax of sixpence in the pound, 
 imposed by the farmers on themselves, and said to 
 be paid with great willingness. 
 
 The beasts of prey in the islands are foxes, ot- 
 ters, and weasels. The foxes are bigger than those 
 of England; but the otters exceed ours in a far 
 greater proportion. I saw one at Armidel, of a 
 size much beyond that which I supposed them 
 ever to attain; and Mr. Maclean, the heir of Col, 
 a man of middle stature, informed me that he once 
 shot an otter, of which the tail reached the ground, 
 when he held up the head to a level with his own. 
 I expected the otter to have a foot particularly 
 formed for the art of swimming; but upon exa- 
 mination, I did not find it differing much from 
 that of a spaniel. As he preys in the sea, he does 
 little visible mischief, and is killed only for his 
 fur. White otters are sometimes seen. 
 
 In Raasay they might have hares and rabbits, 
 for they have no foxes. Some depredations, such 
 
92 
 
 JOURNEY TO THE 
 
 as were never made before, have caused a suspi- 
 cion that a fox has been lately landed in the island 
 by spite or wantonness. This imaginary stranger 
 has never yet been seen, and therefore, perhaps, 
 the mischief Avas done by some other animal. It 
 is not likely that a creature so ungentle, whose 
 head could have been sold in Skye for a guinea, 
 should be kept alive only to gratify the malice of 
 sending him to prey upon a neighbour ; and the 
 passage from Skye is wider than a fox would ven- 
 ture to swim, unless he were chased by dogs into 
 the sea, and, j)erhaps, than his strength would en- 
 able him to cross. How beasts of prey came into 
 any islands is not easy to guess. In cold countries 
 they take advantage of hard winters, and travel 
 over the ice ; but this is a very scanty solution ; 
 for they are found where they have no discover- 
 able means of coming. 
 
 The corn of this island is but little. I saw the 
 harvest of a small field. The women reaped the 
 corn, and the men bound up the sheaves. The 
 strokes of the sickle were timed by the modula- 
 tion of the harvest-song, in which all their voices 
 were united. They accompany, in the Highlands, 
 every action, which can be done in equal time, 
 with an appropriated strain, which has, they say, 
 not much meaning ; but its effects are regularity 
 and cheerfulness. The ancient proceleusmatic 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 93 
 
 song, by which the rowers of galleys were anima- 
 ted, may be supposed to have been of this kind. 
 There is now an oar-song used by the Hebridians. 
 
 The ground of Raasay seems fitter for cattle 
 than for corn ; and of black cattle, I suppose, the 
 number is very great. The laird himself keeps a 
 herd of four hundred, one hundred of which are 
 annually sold. Of an extensive domain, which 
 he holds in his own hands, he considers the sale 
 of cattle as repaying him the rent, and supports 
 the plenty of a very liberal table with the remain- 
 ing product. 
 
 Raasay is supposed to have been very long in- 
 habited. On one side of it they show caves into 
 which the rude nations of the first ages retreated 
 from the weather. These dreary vaults might have 
 had other uses. There is still a cavity near the 
 house called the oar-cave, in which the seamen, 
 after one of those piratical expeditions, which in 
 rougher times was very frequent, used, as tradi- 
 tion tells, to hide their oars. This hollow was 
 near the sea, that nothing so necessary might be 
 far to be fetched; and it was secret, that enemies, 
 if they landed, could find nothing. Yet it is not 
 very evident of what use it was to hide their oars 
 from those, who, if they were masters of the coast, 
 could take away their boats. 
 
 A proof much stronger of the distance at which 
 
94 
 
 JOURNEY TO THE 
 
 the first possessors of this island lived from the pre- 
 sent time, is afforded by the stone heads of arrows, 
 which are very frequently picked up. The people 
 call them elf-bolts, and believe that the fairies shoot 
 them at the cattle. They nearly resemble those 
 which Mr. Banks has lately brought from the sa- 
 vage countries in the Pacific Ocean, and must have 
 been made by a nation to which the use of metals 
 was unknown. 
 
 The number of this little community has never 
 been counted by its ruler, nor have I obtained 
 any positive account, consistent with the result 
 of political computation. Not many years ago, 
 the late laird led out one hundred men upon a 
 miUtary expedition. The sixth part of a people 
 is supposed capable of bearing arms : Raasay had 
 therefore six hundred inhabitants. But because it 
 is not likely, that every man able to serve in the 
 field would follow the summons, or that the chief 
 would leave his lands totally defenceless, or take 
 away all the hands qualified for labour, let it be 
 supposed, that half as many might be permitted 
 to stay at home. The whole number will then 
 be nine hundred, or nine to a square mile ; a de- 
 gree of populousness greater than those tracts of 
 desolation can often show. They are content with 
 their country, and faithful to their chiefs, and yet 
 uninfected with the fever of migration. 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 95 
 
 Near the house at Raasay is a chapel, unroofed 
 and ruinous, which has long been used only as a 
 place of burial. About the churches in the islands 
 are small squares enclosed with stone, which be- 
 long to particular famihes, as repositories for the 
 dead. At Raasay there is one, I think, for the 
 proprietor, and one for some collateral house. 
 
 It is told by ]Martin, that at the death of the 
 lady of the island, it has been here the custom 
 to erect a cross. This we found not to be true. 
 The stones that stand about the chapel at a small 
 distance, some of which perhaps have crosses cut 
 upon them, are believed to have been, not funeral 
 monuments, but the ancient boundaries of the 
 sanctuary, or consecrated ground. 
 
 Martin was a man not illiterate : he was an in- 
 habitant of Skye, and therefore was within reach 
 of intelligence, and with no great difficulty might 
 have visited the places which he undertakes to 
 describe; yet with all his opportunities, he has 
 often suffered himself to be deceived. He lived 
 in the last century, when the chiefs of the clans 
 had lost little of their original influence. The 
 mountains were yet unpenetrated, no inlet was 
 opened to foreign novelties, and the feudal insti- 
 tutions operated upon life with their full force. 
 He might therefore have displayed a series of sub- 
 ordination and a form of government, which in 
 
96 
 
 JOURNEY TO THE 
 
 more luminous and improved regions, have been 
 long forgotten, and have delighted his readers with 
 many uncouth customs that are now disused, and 
 wild opinions that prevail no longer. But he pro- 
 bably had not knowledge of the world sufficient 
 to qualify him for judging what would deserve 
 or gain the attention of mankind. The mode of 
 life which was familiar to himself, he did not sup- 
 pose vmknown to others, nor imagined that he 
 could give pleasure by telling that of which it 
 was, in his little covintry, impossible to be igno- 
 rant. 
 
 What he has neglected cannot now be per- 
 formed. In nations, where there is hardly the 
 vise of letters, what is once out of sight is lost 
 for ever. They think but little, and of their few 
 thoughts, none are wasted on the past, in which 
 they are neither interested by fear nor hope. Their 
 only registers are stated observances and practical 
 representations. For this reason an age of igno- 
 rance is an age of ceremony. Pageants, and pro- 
 cessions, and commemorations, gradually shrink 
 away, as better methods come into use of record- 
 ing events, and preserving rights. 
 
 It is not only in Raasay that the chapel is un- 
 roofed and useless : through the few islands which 
 we visited we neither saw nor heard of any house 
 of prayer, except in Skye, that was not in ruins. 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 97 
 
 The malignant influence of Calvinism has blasted 
 ceremony and decency together; and if the re- 
 membrance of Papal superstition is obliterated, 
 the monuments of Papal piety are likewise ef- 
 faced. 
 
 It has been, for many years, popular to talk of 
 the lazy devotion of the Romish clergy ; over the 
 sleepy laziness of men that erected churches, we 
 may indulge our superiority with a new triumph, 
 by comparing it with the fervid activity of those 
 who suffer them to fall. 
 
 Of the destruction of churches, the decay of re- 
 ligion must in time be the consequence ; for while 
 the public acts of the ministry are now performed 
 in houses, a very small number can be present; 
 and as the greater part of the islanders make no 
 use of books, all must necessarily live in total 
 ignorance who want the opportunity of vocal in- 
 struction. 
 
 From these remains of ancient sanctity, which 
 are every where to be found, it has been conjec- 
 tured, that, for the last two centuries, the inhabi- 
 tants of the islands have decreased in number. 
 This argument, which supposes that the churches 
 have been suffered to fall, only because they were 
 no longer necessary, would have some force, if the 
 houses of worship still remaining were sufficient 
 for the people. But since they have now no 
 
 N 
 
98 
 
 JOURNEY TO THE 
 
 churches at all, these venerable fragments do not 
 prove the people of former times to have been 
 more numerous, but to have been more devout. 
 If the inhabitants were doubled, with their pre- 
 sent principles, it appears not that any provision 
 for public worship would be made. Where the 
 religion of a country enforces consecrated build- 
 ings, the number of those buildings may be sup- 
 posed to afford some indication, however uncer- 
 tain, of the populousness of the place ; but where, 
 by a change of manners, a nation is contented to 
 live without them, their decay implies no diminu- 
 tion of inhabitants. 
 
 Some of these dilapidations are said to be found 
 in islands now uninhabited ; but I doubt whether 
 we can thence infer that they were ever peopled. 
 The religion of the middle age is well known to 
 have placed too much hope in lonely austerities. 
 Voluntary solitude was the great art of propitia- 
 tion, by which crimes were effaced, and conscience 
 was appeased; it is therefore not unlikely, that 
 oratories were often built in places where retire- 
 ment was sure to have no disturbance. 
 
 Raasay has little that can detain a traveller, 
 except the laird and his family ; but their power 
 wants no auxiliaries. Such a seat of hospitality, 
 amidst the winds and waters, fills the imagination 
 with a delightful contrariety of images. Without 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. 99 
 
 is the rough ocean and the rocky land, the beating 
 billows and tlie howling storm: within is plenty 
 and elegance, beauty and gaiety, the song and the 
 dance. In Raasay, if I could have found an Ulys- 
 ses, I had fancied a Phjeacia. 
 
 At Raasay, by good fortune, Macleod, so the 
 chief of the clan is called, was paying a visit, and 
 by him we were invited to his seat at Dunve- 
 gan. Raasay has a stout boat, built in Norway, 
 in which, with six oars, he conveyed us back to 
 Skye. We landed at Port Re, so called, because 
 James the Fifth of Scotland, who had curiosity to 
 visit the islands, came into it. The port is made 
 by an inlet of the sea, deep and narrow, where a 
 ship lay waiting to dispeople Skye, by carrying 
 the natives away to America. 
 
 In coasting Skye, we passed by the cavern in 
 which it was the custom, as Martin relates, to 
 catch birds in the night, by making a fire at the 
 entrance. This practice is disused ; for the birds, 
 as is known often to happen, have changed their 
 haunts. 
 
 Here we dined at a public house, I believe the 
 only inn of the island, and having mounted our 
 horses, travelled in the manner already described. 
 
100 
 
 JOURNEY TO THE 
 
 till we came to Kingsborough, a place distin- 
 guished by that name, because the king lodged 
 here when he landed at Port Re. We were en- 
 tertained with the usual hospitality by Mr. Mac- 
 donald and his lady Flora iNIacdonald, a name 
 that will be mentioned in history, and if courage 
 and fidelity be virtues, mentioned with honour. 
 She is a woman of middle stature, soft features, 
 gentle manners, and elegant presence. 
 
 In the morning we sent our horses round a 
 promontory to meet us, and spared ourselves part 
 of the day's fatigue, by crossing an arm of the 
 sea. We had at last some difficulty in coming 
 to Dunvegan ; for our way led over an extensive 
 moor, where every step was to be taken with cau- 
 tion, and we were often obliged to alight, because 
 the ground could not be trusted. In traveUing 
 this watery flat, I perceived that it had a visible 
 declivity, and might without much expense or 
 difficulty be drained. But difficulty and expense 
 are relative terms, which have different meanings 
 in different places. 
 
 To Dunvegan we came, very willing to be at 
 rest, and found our fatigue amply recompensed 
 by our reception. Lady Macleod, who had lived 
 many years in England, was newly come hither 
 with her son and four daughters, who knew all 
 the arts of southern elegance, and all the modes 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 101 
 
 of English economy. Here therefore we settled, 
 and did not spoil the present hour with thoughts 
 of departure. 
 
 Dun vegan is a rocky prominence, that juts out 
 into a bay, on the west side of Skye. The house, 
 which is the principal seat of Macleod, is partly 
 old and partly modern; it is built upon the rock, 
 and looks upon the water. It forms two sides of 
 a small square: on the third side is the skeleton of 
 a castle of unknown antiquity, supposed to have 
 been a Norwegian fortress, when the Danes were 
 masters of the islands. It is so nearly entire, that 
 it might easily have been made habitable, were 
 there not an ominous tradition in the family, that 
 the owner shall not long outlive the reparation. 
 The grandfather of the present laird, in defiance 
 of prediction, began the work, but desisted in a 
 little time, and applied his money to worse uses. 
 
 As the inhabitants of the Hebrides lived, for 
 many ages, in continual expectation of hostilities, 
 the chief of every clan resided in a fortress. This 
 house was accessible only from the water, till the 
 last possessor opened an entrance by stairs upon 
 the land. 
 
 They had formerly reason to be afraid, not 
 only of declared wars and authorized invaders, or 
 of roving pirates, which, in the northern seas, 
 must have been very common; but of inroads 
 
102 
 
 JOURNEY TO THE 
 
 and insults from rival clans, who, in the plenitude 
 of feudal independence, asked no leave of their 
 sovereign to make war on one another. Skye has 
 been ravaged by a feud between the two mighty 
 powers of Macdonald and Macleod. Macdonald 
 having married a JNlacleod, upon some discontent 
 dismissed her, perhaps because she had brought 
 him no children. Before the reign of James the 
 Fifth, a Highland laird made a trial of his wife 
 for a certain time, and if she did not please him, 
 he was then at liberty to send her away. This 
 however must always have offended, and Macleod 
 resenting the injury, whatever were its circum- 
 stances, declared, that the wedding had been so- 
 lemnized without a bonfire, but that the separa- 
 tion should be better illuminated ; and raising a 
 little army, set fire to the territories of Macdonald, 
 who returned the visit, and prevailed. 
 
 Another story may show the disorderly state 
 of insular neighbourhood. The inhabitants of the 
 isle of Egg, meeting a boat manned by Macleods, 
 tied the crew hand and foot, and set them adrift. 
 Macleod landed upon Egg, and demanded the 
 offenders; but the inhabitants refusing to surren- 
 der them, retreated to a cavern, into which they 
 thought their enemies unlikely to follow them. 
 Macleod choked them with smoke, and left them 
 lying dead by families as they stood. 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 103 
 
 Here the violence of the weather confined us 
 for some time, not at all to our discontent or in- 
 convenience. We would indeed very willingly 
 have visited the islands, which might be seen from 
 the house scattered in the sea, and I was particu- 
 larly desirous to have viewed Isay ; but the storms 
 did not permit us to launch a boat, and we were 
 condemned to listen in idleness to the wind, ex- 
 cept when we were better engaged by listening to 
 the ladies. 
 
 We had here more wind than waves, and suf- 
 fered the severity of a tempest, without enjoying 
 its magnificence. The sea being broken by the 
 multitude of islands, does not roar with so much 
 noise, nor beat the storm with such foamy vio- 
 lence, as I have remarked on the coast of Sussex. 
 Though, while I was in the Hebrides, the wind 
 was extremely turbulent, I never saw very high 
 billows. 
 
 The country about Dun vegan is rough and 
 barren. There are no trees, except in the orchard, 
 which is a low sheltered spot, surrounded with a 
 wall. 
 
 When this house was intended to sustain a 
 siege, a well was made in the court, by boring 
 the rock downwards, till water was found, which, 
 though so near to the sea, I have not heard men- 
 tioned as brackish, though it has some hardness. 
 
104 
 
 JOURNEY TO THE 
 
 or other qualities, which make it less fit for use; 
 and the family is now better supplied from a 
 stream, which runs by the rock, from two pleas- 
 ing waterfalls. 
 
 Here we saw some traces of former manners, 
 and heard some standing traditions. In the house 
 is kept an ox's horn, hollowed so as to hold per- 
 haps two quarts, which the heir of JNIacleod was 
 expected to swallow at one draught, as a test of 
 his manhood, before he was permitted to bear 
 arms, or could claim a seat among the men. It 
 is held that the return of the laird to Dunvegan, 
 after any considerable absence, produces a plenti- 
 ful capture of herrings ; and that, if any woman 
 crosses the water to the opposite island, the her- 
 rings will desert the coast. Boethius tells the same 
 of some other place. This tradition is not uniform . 
 Some hold that no woman may pass, and others 
 that none may pass but a Macleod. 
 
 Among other guests, which the hospitality of 
 Dunvegan brought to the table, a visit was paid 
 by the laird and lady of a small island south of 
 Skye, of which the proper name is Muack, which 
 signifies swine. It is commonly called Muck, 
 which the proprietor not liking, has endeavoured, 
 without effect, to change to Monk. It is usual to 
 call gentlemen in Scotland by the name of their 
 possessions, as Kaasay, Bernera, Loch Buy, a prac- 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 105 
 
 tice necessary in countries inhabited by clans, where 
 all that live in the same territory have one name, 
 and must be therefore discriminated by some ad- 
 dition. This gentleman, whose name, I think, is 
 Maclean, should be regularly called Muck ; but 
 the appellation, which he thinks too coarse for his 
 island, he would like still less for himself, and he 
 is therefore addressed by the title of Isle of Muck. 
 
 This little island, however it be named, is of 
 considerable value. It is two English miles long, 
 and three quarters of a mile broad, and consequent- 
 ly contains only nine hundred and sixty English 
 acres! It is chiefly arable. Half of this little do- 
 minion the laird retains in his own hand, and on 
 the other half, live one hundred and sixty persons, 
 who pay their rent by exported corn. What rent 
 they pay we were not told, and could not decently 
 inquire. The proportion of the people to the land 
 is such, as the most fertile countries do not com- 
 monly maintain. 
 
 The laird having all his people under his im- 
 mediate view, seems to be very attentive to their 
 happiness. The devastation of the smallpox, 
 when it visits places where it comes seldom, is 
 well known. He has disarmed it of its terror at 
 Muack, by inoculating eighty of his people. The 
 expense was two shillings and sixpence a head. 
 Many trades they cannot have among them, but 
 
 o 
 
106 
 
 JOURNF.Y TO THE 
 
 upon occasion, he fetches a smith from the isle of 
 Egg, and has a tailor from the main land, six times 
 a year. This island well deserved to be seen, but 
 the laird's absence left us no opportunity. 
 
 Every inhabited island has its appendant and 
 subordinate islets. Muck, however small, has 
 yet others smaller about it, one of which has 
 only ground sufficient to afford pasture for three 
 wethers. 
 
 At Dunvegan I had tasted lotus, and was in 
 danger of forgetting that I was ever to depart, 
 till Mr. Boswell sagely reproached me with my 
 sluggishness and softness. I had no very forcible 
 defence to make; and we agreed to pursue our 
 journey. Macleod accompanied us to Ulinish, 
 where we were entertained by the sheriff of the 
 island. 
 
 Mr. Macqueen travelled with us, and directed 
 our attention to all that was worthy of observa- 
 tion. With him we went to see an ancient build- 
 ing, called a dun or borough. It was a circular 
 enclosure, about forty-two feet in diameter, walled 
 round with loose stones, perhaps to the height of 
 nine feet. The walls are very thick, diminishing 
 a little towards the top, and though in these coun- 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 107 
 
 tries stone is not brought far, must have been 
 raised with much labour. Within the great cir- 
 cle were sevjeral smaller rounds of wall, which 
 formed distinct apartments. Its date and its use 
 are unknown. Some suppose it the original seat 
 of the chiefs of tlie JMacleods. Mr. Macqueen 
 thought it a Danish fort. 
 
 The entrance is covered with flat stones, and is 
 narrow, because it was necessary that the stones 
 which lie over it, should reach from one wall to 
 the other; yet, strait as the passage is, tliey seem 
 heavier than could have been placed where they 
 now lie, by the naked strength of as many men 
 as might stand about them. They were probably 
 raised by putting long pieces of wood under them, 
 to which the action of a long line of lifters might 
 be applied. Savages, in all countries, have pa- 
 tience proportionate to their unskilfulness, and 
 are content to attain their end by very tedious 
 methods. 
 
 If it was ever roofed, it might once have been 
 a dwelling, but as there is no provision for water, 
 it could not have been a fortress. In Skye, as in 
 every other place, there is an ambition of exalting 
 whatever has survived memory, to some impor- 
 tant use, and referring it to very remote ages. I 
 am inclined to suspect, tliat in lawless times, when 
 the inhabitants of every mountain stole the cattle 
 
108 
 
 JOURNEY TO THE 
 
 of their neighbour, these enclosures were used to 
 secure the herds and the Hocks in the night. When 
 they were diiven within the wall, they might be 
 easily watched, and defended as long as could be 
 needful ; for the robbers durst not wait till the in- 
 jured clan should find them in the morning. 
 
 The interior enclosures, if the whole building 
 were once a house, were the chambers of the chief 
 inhabitants. If it was a place of security for cat- 
 tle, they were probably the shelters of the keepers. 
 
 From the Dun we were conducted to another 
 place of security, a cave carried a great way under 
 ground, which had been discovered by digging af- 
 ter a fox. These caves, of which many have been 
 found, and many probably remain concealed, are 
 formed, I believe, commonly by taking advantage 
 of a hollow, where banks or rocks rise on either 
 side. If no such place can be found, the ground 
 must be cut away. The walls are made by pil- 
 ing stones against the earth, on either side. It is 
 then roofed by large stones laid across the cavern, 
 which therefore cannot be wide. Over the roof, 
 turfs were placed, and grass was suffered to grow ; 
 and the mouth w^as concealed by bushes, or some 
 other cover. 
 
 These caves were represented to us as the cabins 
 of the first rude inhabitants, of which, however, I 
 am by no means persuaded. This was so low, that 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 109 
 
 no man could stand upright in it. By their con- 
 struction they are all so narrow, that two can 
 never pass along them together, and being sub- 
 terraneous, they must be always damp. They 
 are not the work of an age much ruder than the 
 present ; for they are formed with as much art as 
 the construction of a common hut requires. I 
 imagine them to have been places only of occa- 
 sional use, in which the islander, upon a sudden 
 alarm, hid his utensils, or his clothes, and perhaps 
 sometimes his wife and children. 
 
 This cave we entered, but could not proceed 
 the whole length, and went away without know- 
 ing how far it was carried. For this omission we 
 shall be blamed, as we perhaps have blamed other 
 travellers ; but the day was rainy, and the ground 
 was damp. We had with us neither spades nor 
 pickaxes, and if love of ease surmounted our de- 
 sire of knowledge, the offence has not the invidi- 
 ousness of singularity. 
 
 Edifices, either standing or ruined, are the chief 
 records of an illiterate nation. In some part of this 
 journey, at no great distance from our way, stood 
 a shattered fortress, of which the learned minister, 
 to whose communication we are much indebted, 
 gave us an account. 
 
 Those, said he, are the walls of a place of refuge, 
 built in the time of James the Sixth, by Hugh 
 
110 
 
 JOURNEY TO THE 
 
 Macdonald, who was next heir to the dignity 
 and fortune of his chief Hugh, being so near 
 his wish, was impatient of delay ; and had art and 
 influence sufficient to engage several gentlemen 
 in a plot against the laird's life. Something must 
 be stipulated on both sides; for they would not 
 dip their hands in blood merely for Hugh's ad- 
 vancement. The compact was tbrmally written, 
 signed by the conspirators, and placed in the hands 
 of one INIacleod. 
 
 It happened that Macleod had sold some cat- 
 tle to a drover, who, not having ready money, 
 gave him a bond for payment. The debt was 
 discharged, and the bond re-demanded; which 
 Macleod, who could not read, intending to i^ut 
 into his hands, gave him the conspiracy. The 
 di'over, wlien he had read the paper, delivered it 
 privately to Macdonald, who, being thus inform- 
 ed of his danger, called his friends together, and 
 provided for his safety. He made a public feast, 
 and inviting Hugh Macdonald and his confede- 
 rates, placed each of them at the table between 
 two men of known fidelity. The compact of con- 
 spiracy was then shown, and every man confronted 
 with his own name. INIacdonald acted ^vith great 
 moderation. He upbraided Hugh both with dis- 
 loyalty and ingratitude ; but told the rest, that he 
 considered them as men deluded and misinformed. 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 Ill 
 
 Hugh was sworn to fidelity, and dismissed with 
 his companions ; but he was not generous enough 
 to be reclaimed by lenity ; and finding no longer 
 any countenance among the gentlemen, endeav- 
 oured to execute the same design by meaner hands. 
 In this practice he Avas detected, taken to Macdon- 
 ald's castle, and imprisoned in the dungeon. When 
 he was hungry, they let down a plentiful meal of 
 salted meat; and when, after his repast, he called 
 for drink, conveyed to him a covered cup, which, 
 when he lifted the lid, he found empty. From 
 that time they visited him no more, but left him 
 to perish in solitude and darkness. 
 
 We were then told of a cavern by the sea- 
 side, remarkable for the powerful reverberation of 
 sounds. After dinner we took a boat, to explore 
 this curious cavity. The boatmen, who seemed to 
 be of a rank above that of the common drudges, 
 inquired who the strangers were, and being told 
 we came one from Scotland, and the other from 
 England, asked if the Englishman could recount 
 a long genealogy. What answer was given them, 
 the conversation being in Erse, I was not much 
 inclined to examine. 
 
 They expected no good event of the voyage ; 
 for one of them declared that he heard the cry of 
 an Enghsh ghost. This omen 1 was not told till 
 
112 
 
 JOURNEY TO THE 
 
 after our return, and therefore cannot claim the 
 dignity of despising it. 
 
 The sea was smooth. We never left the shore, 
 and came without any disaster to the cavern, which 
 we found rugged and misshapen, about one hun- 
 dred and eighty feet long, thirty wide in the broad- 
 est part, and in the loftiest, as we guessed, about 
 thirty high. It was now dry, but at high water 
 the sea rises in it near six feet. Here I saw what 
 I had never seen before, limpets and muscles in 
 their natural state. But, as a new testimony to 
 the veracity of common fame, here was no echo to 
 be heard. 
 
 We then walked through a natural arch in the 
 rock, which might have pleased us by its novelty, 
 had the stones, which encumbered our feet, given 
 us leisure to consider it. We were shown the 
 gummy seed of the kelp, that fastens itself to a 
 stone, from which it grows into a strong stalk. 
 
 In our return, we found a little boy upon the 
 point of a rock, catching with an angle a supper 
 for the family. We rowed up to him, and bor- 
 rowed his rod, with which Mr. Boswell caught a 
 cuddy. 
 
 The cuddy is a fish of which I know not the 
 philosophical name. It is not much bigger than 
 a gudgeon, but is of great use in these islands, as 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 113 
 
 it affords the lower people both food and oil for 
 their lamps. Cuddies are so abundant, at some 
 times of the year, that they are caught like white 
 bait in the Thames, only by dipping a basket and 
 di-awing it back. 
 
 If it were always practicable to fish, these 
 islands could never be in much danger from fa- 
 mine; but unhappily, in the winter, when other 
 provision fails, the seas are commonly too rough 
 for nets, or boats. 
 
 Wnli&ktt in ^feue. 
 
 From Ulinish our next stage was to Talisker, 
 tlie house of colonel Macleod, an officer in the 
 Dutch service, who in this time of universal peace, 
 has for several years been permitted to be absent 
 from his regiment. Having been bred to phy- 
 sic, he is consequently a scholar, and his lady, by 
 accompanying him in his different places of re- 
 sidence, is become skilful in several languages. 
 Talisker is the place beyond all that I have seen, 
 from which the gay and the jovial seem utterly 
 excluded ; and where the hermit might expect to 
 grow old in meditation, without possibility of dis- 
 turbance or interruption. It is situated very near 
 the sea, but upon a coast where no vessel lands 
 but when it is driven by a tempest on the rocks. 
 
 p 
 
114, 
 
 JOURNEY TO THE 
 
 Towards the land are lofty hills streaming with 
 waterfalls. The garden is sheltered by firs, or 
 pines, which grow there so prosperously, that 
 some, which the present inhabitant planted, are 
 very high and thick. 
 
 At this place we very happily met with Mr. 
 Donald Maclean, a young gentleman, the eldest 
 son of the laird of Col, heir to a very great extent 
 of land, and so desirous of improving his inheri- 
 tance, that he spent a considerable time among 
 the farmers of Hertfordshire and Hampshire, to 
 learn their practice. He worked with his own 
 hands at the principal operations of agriculture, 
 that he might not deceive himself by a false opi- 
 nion of skill, which if he should find it deficient at 
 home, he had no means of completing. If the 
 world has agreed to praise the travels and manual 
 labours of the czar of Muscovy, let Col have his 
 share of the like applause, in the proportion of his 
 dominions to the empire of Russia. 
 
 This young gentleman was sporting in the 
 mountains of Skye, and when he was weary with 
 following his game, repaired for lodging to Talis- 
 ker. At night he missed one of his dogs, and 
 when he went to seek him in the morning, found 
 two eagles feeding on his carcase. 
 
 Col, for he must be named by his possessions, 
 hearing that our intention was to visit lona, of- 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 115 
 
 fered to conduct us to his chief, Sir Allan Maclean, 
 who lived in the isle of Inch Kenneth, and would 
 readily find us a convenient passage. From this 
 time was formed an acquaintance, which being 
 begun by kindness, was accidentally continued by 
 constraint ; we derived much pleasure from it, and 
 I hope have given him no reason to repent it. 
 
 Tlie weather was now almost one continued 
 storm, and we were to snatch some happy inter- 
 mission to be conveyed to Mull, the third island 
 of the Hebrides, lying about a degree south of 
 Skye, whence we might easily find our way to 
 Inch Kenneth, where Sir Allan Maclean resided, 
 and afterward to lona. 
 
 For this purpose, the most commodious station 
 that we could take was Armidel, which Sir Alex- 
 ander Macdonald had now left to a gentleman who 
 lived there as his factor or steward. 
 
 In our way to Armidel was Coriatachan, where 
 we had already been, and to which therefore we 
 were very willing to return. We staid however so 
 long at Talisker, that a great part of our journey 
 was performed in the gloom of the evening. In 
 travelling even thus almost without light through 
 naked solitude, when there is a guide whose con- 
 duct may be trusted, a mind not naturally too 
 much disposed to fear, may preserve some degree 
 of cheerfulness ; but what must be the solicitude 
 
116 
 
 JOURNEY TO Tin: 
 
 of him who should be wandering, among the crags 
 and hollows, benighted, ignorant, and alone? 
 
 The fictions of the Gothic romances were not so 
 remote from credibility as they are now thought. 
 In the full prevalence of the feudal institution, 
 when violence desolated the world, and every ba- 
 ron lived in a fortress, forests and castles were re- 
 gularly succeeded by each other, and the adven- 
 turer might very suddenly pass from the gloom 
 of woods, or the ruggedness of moors, to seats of 
 plenty, gaiety, and magnificence. Whatever is 
 imagined in the wildest tale, if giants, dragons, 
 and enchantment be excepted, would be felt by 
 him, who, wandering in the mountains without 
 a guide, or upon the sea without a pilot, should 
 be carried amidst his terror and uncertainty, to 
 the hospitality and elegance of Raasay or Dun- 
 vegan. 
 
 To Coriatachan at last we came, and found 
 ourselves welcomed as before. Here we staid 
 two days, and made such inquiries as curiosit}" 
 suggested. The house was filled with company, 
 among whom Mr. IMacphcrson and his sister dis- 
 tinguished themselves by their politeness and ac- 
 complishments. By him we were invited to Ostig, 
 a house not far from Armidel, where we might 
 easily hear of a boat, when the weather would 
 sutFer us to leave the island. 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 117 
 
 i^stiff in ^Itsr. 
 
 At Ostig, of which Mr. Macpherson is minister, 
 we were entertained for some days, then removed 
 to Armidel, where we finished our observations on 
 the island of Skye. 
 
 As this island lies in the fifty-seventh degree, 
 the air cannot be supposed to have much warmth. 
 The long continuance of the sun above the hori- 
 zon, does indeed sometimes produce great heat 
 in northern latitudes ; but this can only happen 
 in sheltered places, where the atmosphere is to a 
 certain degree stagnant, and the same mass of air 
 continues to receive for many hours the rays of 
 the sun, and the vapours of the earth. Skye lies 
 open on the west and north to a vast extent of 
 ocean, and is cooled in the summer by a perpetual 
 ventilation, but by the same blasts is kept warm 
 in winter. Their weather is not pleasing. Half 
 the year is deluged with rain. From the autum- 
 nal to the vernal equinox, a dry day is hardly 
 known, except when the showers are suspended 
 by a tempest. Under such skies can be expected 
 no great exuberance of vegetation. Their win- 
 ter overtakes their summer, and their harvest lies- 
 upon the ground drenched with rain. The au- 
 
118 
 
 JOURNEY TO THE 
 
 tiimn struggles hard to produce some of our early 
 fruits. 1 gathered gooseberries in September ; but 
 they were small, and the husk was thick. 
 
 The winter is seldom such as puts a full stop 
 to the growth of plants, or reduces the cattle to 
 live wholly on the surplusage of the summer. In 
 the year seventy-one they had a severe season, 
 remembered by the name of the Black Spring, 
 from which the island has not yet recovered. The 
 snow lay long upon the ground, a calamity hardly 
 known before. Part of their cattle died for want, 
 part were unseasonably sold to buy sustenance for 
 the owners ; and, what I have not read or heard 
 of before, the kine that survived were so emacia- 
 ted and dispirited, that they did not require the 
 male at the usual time. Many of the roebucks 
 perished. 
 
 The soil, as in other countries, has its diversi- 
 ties. In some parts there is only a thin layer of 
 earth spread upon a rock, which bears nothing 
 but short brown heath, and perhaps is not gene- 
 rally capable of any better product. There are 
 many bogs or mosses of greater or less extent, 
 where the soil cannot be supposed to want depth, 
 though it is too wet for the plough. But we did 
 not observe in these any aquatic plants. The 
 valleys and the mountains are alike darkened with 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 119 
 
 heath. Some grass, however, grows here and 
 there, and some happier spots of earth are capable 
 of tillage. 
 
 Their agriculture is laborious, and perhaps ra- 
 ther feeble than unskilful. Their chief manure is 
 seaweed, which, when they lay it to rot upon the 
 field, gives them a better crop than those of the 
 Highlands. They heap seashells upon the dung- 
 hill, which in time moulder into a fertilizing sub- 
 stance. When they find a vein of earth where 
 they cannot use it, they dig it up, and add it to 
 the mould of a more commodious place. 
 
 Their corn grounds often lie in such intricacies 
 among the crags, that there is no room for the 
 action of a team and plough. The soil is then 
 turned up by manual labour, with an instrument 
 called a crooked spade, of a form and weight which 
 to me appeared very incommodious, and would 
 perhaps be soon improved in a country where 
 workmen could be easily found and easily paid. 
 It has a narrow blade of iron fixed to a long and 
 heavy piece of wood, which must have, about a 
 foot and a half above the iron, a knee or flexure 
 with the angle downwards. When the farmer en- 
 counters a stone, which is the great impediment 
 of his operations, he drives the blade under it, and 
 bringing the knee or angle to the ground, has in 
 the long handle a very forcible lever. 
 
120 
 
 JOURNEY TO THE 
 
 According to the different mode of tillage, 
 farms are distinguished into long land and short 
 land. Long land is that which affords room for a 
 plough, and short land is turned up by the spade. 
 
 The grain which they commit to the furrows 
 thus tediously formed, is either oats or barley. 
 They do not sow barley without very copious 
 manure, and then they expect from it ten for 
 one, an increase equal to that of better countries ; 
 but the culture is so operose, that they content 
 themselves commonly with oats ; and who can 
 relate without compassion, that after all their di- 
 ligence they are to expect only a triple increase ? 
 It is in vain to hope for plenty, w hen a third part 
 of the harvest must be reserved for seed. 
 
 When their grain is arrived at the state which 
 they must consider as ripeness, they do not cut, 
 but pull the barley : to the oats they apply the 
 sickle. Wheel carriages they have none, but 
 make a frame of timber w^hich is drawn by one 
 horse, with the two points behind pressing on the 
 ground. On this they sometimes drag home their 
 sheaves, but often convey them home in a kind of 
 open panier, or frame of sticks, vipon the horse's 
 back. 
 
 Of that which is obtained with so much diffi- 
 culty, nothing surely ought to be wasted; yet 
 their method of clearing their oats from the husk 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. 181 
 
 is by parching them in the straw. Thus, with the 
 genuine improvidence of savages, they destroy 
 that fodder for want of which their cattle may 
 perish. From this practice they liave two petty 
 conveniences : they dry the grain so that it is ea- 
 sily reduced to meal, and they escape the theft of 
 the thresher. The taste contracted from the fire 
 by the oats, as by every other scorched substance, 
 use must long ago have made grateful. The oats 
 that are not parched must be dried in a kiln. 
 
 The barns of Skye I never saw. That which 
 Macleod of Raasay had erected near his house was 
 so contrived, because the harvest is seldom brought 
 home dry, as by perpetual perflation to prevent the 
 mow from heating. 
 
 Of their gardens I can judge only from their 
 tables. I did not observe that the common greens 
 were wanting, and suppose, that by choosing an 
 advantageous exposition, they can raise all the 
 more hardy esculent plants. Of vegetable fra- 
 grance or beauty they are not yet studious. Few 
 vows are made to Flora in the Hebrides. 
 
 They gather a little hay ; but the grass is mown 
 late, and is so often almost dry and again very 
 wet, before it is housed, that it becomes a collec- 
 tion of withered stalks without taste or fragrance ; 
 it must be eaten by cattle that have nothing else, 
 
 Q 
 
122 JOURNEY TO THE 
 
 but by most English farmers would be thrown 
 away. 
 
 In the islands I have not heard that any sub- 
 terraneous treasures have been discovered, though 
 where there are mountains, there are commonly 
 minerals. One of the rocks in Col has a black vein, 
 imagined to consist of the ore of lead ; but it was 
 never yet opened or essayed. In Skye a black 
 mass was accidentally picked up, and brought in- 
 to the house of the owner of the land, who found 
 himself strongly inclined to think it a coal ; but 
 unhappily it did not burn in the chimney. Com- 
 mon ores would be here of no great value; for 
 what requires to be separated by fire, must, if it 
 were found, be carried away in its mineral state, 
 here being no fuel for the smelting-house or forge. 
 Perhaps by diligent search in this world of stone, 
 some valuable species of marble might be discov- 
 ered. But neither philosophical curiosity, nor 
 commercial industry, have yet fixed their abode 
 here, where the importunity of immediate want, 
 supplied but for the day, and craving on the mor- 
 row, has left little room for excursive knowledge, 
 or the pleasing fancies of distant profit. 
 
 They have lately found a manufacture consider- 
 ably lucrative. Their rocks abound with kelp, a 
 seaplant, of which the ashes are melted into glass. 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 123 
 
 They burn kelp in great quantities, and then send 
 it away in ships, which come regularly to purchase 
 them. This new source of riches has raised the 
 rents of many maritime farms; but the tenants 
 pay, like all other tenants, the additional rent 
 with great unwillingness ; because they consider 
 the profits of the kelp as the mere product of per- 
 sonal labour, to which the landlord contributes 
 nothing. However, as any man may be said to 
 give what he gives the power of gaining, he has 
 certainly as much right to profit from the price of 
 kelp as of any thing else found or raised upon his 
 ground. 
 
 This new trade has excited a long and eager 
 litigation between Macdonald and Macleod, for a 
 ledge of rocks, which, till the value of kelp was 
 known, neither of them desired the reputation of 
 possessing. 
 
 The cattle of Skye are not so small as is com- 
 monly believed. Since they have sent their beeves 
 in great numbers to southern marts, they have pro- 
 bably taken more care of their breed. At stated 
 times the annual growth of cattle is driven to a fair 
 by a general drover, and with the money, which 
 he returns to the farmer, the rents are paid. 
 
 The price regularly expected, is from two to 
 three pounds a head : there was once one sold for 
 five pounds. They go from the islands very lean, 
 
124. JOURNEY TO THE 
 
 and are not offered to the butcher till they liave 
 been long ftitted in English pastures. 
 
 Of their black cattle some are without horns, 
 called by the Scots humble cows, as we call a bee 
 an humble bee, that wants a sting. Whether this 
 difference be specific, or accidental, though we 
 inquired with great diligence, we could not be 
 informed. We are not very sure that the bull is 
 ever without horns, though we have been told, 
 that such bulls there are. What is produced by 
 putting a horned and unhorned male and female 
 together, no man has ever tried that thought the 
 result worthy of observation. 
 
 Their horses are, like their cows, of a moderate 
 size. I had no difficulty to mount myself commo- 
 diously by the favour of the gentlemen. I heard 
 of very little cows in Barra, and very little horses 
 in Rum, where perhaps no care is taken to pre- 
 vent that diminution of size, which must always 
 happen, where the greater and the less copulate 
 promiscuously, and the young animal is restrain- 
 ed from growth by penury of sustenance. 
 
 The goat is the general inhabitant of the earth, 
 complying with every difference of climate and of 
 soil. The goats of the Hebrides are like others : 
 nor did I hear any thing of their sheep to be par- 
 ticularly remarked. 
 
 In the penury of these malignant regions, no- 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 125 
 
 thing is left that can be converted to food. The 
 goats and the sheep are milked like the cows. A 
 single meal of a goat is a quart, and of a sheep a 
 pint. Such at least was the account, which I 
 could extract from those of whom I am not sure 
 that they ever had inquired. 
 
 The milk of goats is much thinner than that of 
 cows, and that of sheep is much thicker. Sheep's 
 milk is never eaten before it is boiled ; as it is thick, 
 it must be very liberal of curd, and the people of 
 St. Kilda form it into small cheeses. 
 
 The stags of the mountains are less than those 
 of our parks or forests, perhaps not bigger than 
 our fallow deer. Their flesh has no rankness, nor 
 is inferior in flavour to our common venison. The 
 roebuck I neither saw nor tasted. These are not 
 countries for a regular chase. The deer are not 
 driven with horns and hounds. A sportsman, 
 with his gun in his hand, watches the animal, 
 and when he has wounded him, traces him by 
 the blood. 
 
 They have a race of brinded greyhounds larg- 
 er and stronger than those with which we course 
 hares, and those are the only dogs used by them 
 for the chase. 
 
 Man is by the use of firearms made so much an 
 overmatch for other animals, that in all countries, 
 where they are in use, the wild part of the crea- 
 
ISIS JOURNEY TO THE 
 
 tion sensibly diminishes. There will probably not 
 be long either stags or roebucks in the islands. All 
 the beasts of chase would have been lost long ago 
 in countries well inhabited, had they not been 
 preserved by laws for the pleasure of the rich. 
 
 Tliere are in Skye neither rats nor mice, but 
 the weasel is so frequent, that he is heard in houses 
 rattling behind chests or beds, as rats in England. 
 They probably owe to his predominance that they 
 have no other vermin ; for since the great rat took 
 possession of this part of the world, scarce a ship 
 can touch at any port, but some of his race are left 
 behind. They have within these few years, be- 
 gan to infest the isle of Col, where, being left by 
 some trading vessel, they have increased for want 
 of weasels to oppose them. 
 
 The inhabitants of Skye, and of the other is- 
 lands, which I have seen, are commonly of the 
 middle stature, with fewer among them very tall 
 or very short than are seen in England ; or per- 
 haps, as their numbers are small, the chances of 
 any deviation from the common measure are ne- 
 cessarily few. The tallest men that I saw are 
 among those of higher rank. In regions of bar- 
 renness and scarcity, the human race is hindered 
 in its growth by the same causes as other animals. 
 
 The ladies have as much beauty here as in 
 other places, but bloom and softness are not to 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 127 
 
 be expected among the lower classes, whose faces 
 are exposed to the rudeness of the climate, and 
 whose features are sometimes contracted by want, 
 and sometimes hardened by the blasts. Supreme 
 beauty is seldom found in cottages or workshops, 
 even where no real hardships are suffered. To 
 expand the human face to its full perfection, it 
 seems necessary that the mind should co-operate 
 by placidness of content, or consciousness of su- 
 periority. 
 
 Their strength is proportionate to their size, but 
 they are accustomed to run upon rough ground, 
 and therefore can with great agility skip over the 
 bog, or clamber the mountain. For a campaign 
 in the wastes of America, soldiers better qualified 
 could not have been found. Having little work 
 to do, they are not willing, nor perhaps able, to 
 endure a long continuance of manual labour, and 
 are therefore considered as habitually idle. 
 
 Having never been supplied with those ac- 
 commodations, which life extensively diversified 
 with trades affords, they supply their wants by 
 very insufficient shifts, and endure many incon- 
 veniences, which a little attention would easily 
 relieve. I have seen a horse carrying home the 
 harvest on a crate. Under his tail was a stick for 
 a crupper, held at the two ends by twists of straw. 
 Hemp will grow in their islands, and therefore 
 
128 
 
 JOURNEY TO THE 
 
 ropes may be had. If they wanted hemp, they 
 might make better cordage of rushes, or perliaps 
 of nettles, than of straw. 
 
 Their method of Hfe neither secm-es them per- 
 petual health, nor exposes them to any particular 
 diseases. There are physicians in the islands, who, 
 I believe, all practise chirurgery, and all compound 
 their own medicines. 
 
 It is generally supposed, that life is longer in 
 places where there are few opportunities of lux- 
 ury; but I found no instance here of extraordi- 
 nary longevity. A cottager grows old over his 
 oaten cakes, like a citizen at a turtle feast. He is 
 indeed seldom incommoded by corpulence. Po- 
 verty preserves him from sinking under the bur- 
 den of himself, but he escapes no other injury of 
 time. Instances of long life are often related, 
 which those who hear them are more wiUing to 
 credit than examine. To be told that any man 
 lias attained a hundred years, gives hope and com- 
 fort to him who stands trembling on the brink of 
 Jiis own climacteric. 
 
 Length of life is distributed impartially to very 
 different modes of hfe in very different climates; 
 and the mountains have no greater examples of 
 age and health than the lowlands, ^v\\eve I was 
 introduced to two ladies of high quality ; one of 
 \vhom, in her ninety-fourth year, presided at her 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 129 
 
 table with the full exercise of all her powers ; and 
 the other has attained her eighty-fourth, without 
 any diminution of her vivacity, and with little rea- 
 son to accuse time of depredations on her beauty. 
 
 In the islands, as in most other places, the 
 inhabitants are of different rank, and one does 
 not encroach here upon another. Where there is 
 no commerce nor manufacture, he that is born 
 poor can scarcely become rich; and if none are 
 able to buy estates, he that is born to land can- 
 not annihilate his family by selling it. This was 
 once the state of these countries. Perhaps there 
 is no example, till within a century and half, of 
 any family whose estate was alienated otherwise 
 than by violence or forfeiture. Since money has 
 been brought amongst them, they have found, 
 like others, the art of spending more than they 
 receive; and I saw with grief the chief of a very 
 ancient clan, whose island was condemned by law 
 to be sold for the satisfaction of his creditors. 
 
 The name of highest in dignity is laird, of which 
 there are in the extensive isle of Skye only three, 
 Macdonald, Macleod, and Mackinnon. The laird 
 is the original owner of the land, whose natural 
 power must be very great where no man lives but 
 by agriculture ; and where the produce of the land 
 is not conveyed through the labyrinths of traffic, 
 but passes directly from the hand that gathers it 
 
 R 
 
130 
 
 JOURNEY TO THE 
 
 to the mouth that eats it. The laird has all those 
 in his power that live upon his farms. Kings 
 can, for the most part, only exalt or degrade. 
 The laird at pleasure can feed or starve, can give 
 bread or withhold it. This inherent power was 
 yet strengthened by the kindness of consangui- 
 nity, and the reverence of patriarchal authority. 
 The laird was the father of the clan, and his 
 tenants commonly bore his name. And to these 
 principles of original command was added, for 
 many ages, an exclusive right of legal jurisdic- 
 tion. 
 
 This multifarious and extensive obligation ope- 
 rated with force scarcely credible. Every duty, 
 moral or pohtical, was absorbed in affection and 
 adherence to the chief Not many years have 
 passed since the clans knew no law but the laird's 
 will. He told them to whom they should be 
 friends or enemies, what king they should obey, 
 and what religion they should profess. 
 
 When the Scots first rose in arms against the 
 succession of the house of Hanover, Lovat, the 
 chief of the Erasers, was in exile for a rape. The 
 Erasers were very numerous, and very zealous 
 against the government. A pardon was sent to 
 Lovat. He came to the English camp, and the 
 clan immediately deserted to him. 
 
 Next in dignity to the laird is the tacksman, a 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 131 
 
 large taker or lease-bolder of land, of which he 
 keeps part as a domain. in his own hand, and lets 
 part to under-tenants. The tacksman is necessarily 
 a man capable of securing to the laird the whole 
 rent, and is commonly a collateral relation. These 
 tacks, or subordinate possessions, were long con- 
 sidered as hereditary, and the occupant was dis- 
 tinguished by the name of the place at which he 
 resided. He held a middle station, by which the 
 highest and the lowest orders were connected. 
 He paid rent and reverence to the laird, and re- 
 ceived them from the tenants. This tenure still 
 subsists, with its original operation, but not with 
 the primitive stability. Since the islanders, no 
 longer content to live, have learned the desire of 
 growing rich, an ancient dependant is in danger 
 of giving way to a higher bidder, at the expense 
 of domestic dignity and hereditary power. The 
 stranger, whose money buys him preference, con- 
 siders himself as paying for all that he has, and 
 is indifferent about the laird's honour or safety. 
 The commodiousness of money is indeed great; 
 but there are some advantages which money can- 
 not buy, and which therefore no wise man will by 
 the love of money be tempted to forego. 
 
 I have found in the hither parts of Scotland, 
 men not defective in judgment or general ex- 
 perience, who consider the tacksman as a useless 
 
132 
 
 JOURNEY TO THE 
 
 burden of the ground, as a drone, who lives upon 
 the product of an estate, without the right of 
 property, or the merit of labour, and who impo- 
 verishes at once the landlord and the tenant. The 
 land, say they, is let to the tacksman at sixpence 
 an acre, and by him to the tenant at tenpence. 
 Let the owner be the immediate landlord to all 
 the tenants ; if he sets the ground at eightpence, 
 he will increase his revenue by a fourth part, and 
 the tenant's burden will be diminished by a fifth. 
 
 Those who pursue this train of reasoning, 
 seem not sufficiently to inquire whither it will 
 lead them, nor to know that it will equally show 
 the propriety of suppressing all wholesale trade, 
 of shutting up the shops of every man who sells 
 what he does not make, and of extruding all whose 
 agency and profit intervene between the manufac- 
 turer and the consumer. They may, by stretching 
 their understandings a little wider, comprehend, 
 that all those who, by undertaking large quanti- 
 ties of manufacture, and afJbrding employment to 
 many labourers, make themselves considered as 
 benefactors to the public, have only been robbing 
 their workmen with one hand, and their customers 
 with the other. If Crowley had sold only what he 
 could make, and all his smiths had wrought their 
 own iron with their own hammers, he would have 
 lived on less, and they would have sold their work 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 133 
 
 for more. The salaries of superintendents and 
 clerks would have been partly saved, and partly 
 shared, and nails been sometimes cheaper by a 
 farthing in a hundred. But then, if the smith 
 could not have fovmd an immediate purchaser, 
 he must have deserted his anvil ; if there had by 
 accident at any time been more sellers than buy- 
 ers, the workmen must have reduced their profit 
 to nothing, by underselling one another; and as 
 no great stock could have been in any hand, no 
 sudden demand of large quantities could have 
 been answered, and the builder must have stood 
 still till the nailer could supply him. 
 
 According to these schemes, universal plenty 
 is to begin and end in universal misery. Hope 
 and emulation will be utterly extinguished ; and 
 as all must obey the call of immediate necessity, 
 nothing that requires extensive views, or provides 
 for distant consequences, will ever be performed. 
 
 To the southern inhabitants of Scotland, the 
 state of the mountains and the islands is equally 
 unknown with that of Borneo or Sumatra: of both 
 they have only heard a little, and guess the rest. 
 They are strangers to the language and the man- 
 ners, to the advantages and wants of the people, 
 whose life they would model, and whose evils they 
 would remedy. 
 
 Nothing is less difficult than to procure one 
 
134 
 
 JOURNEY TO THE 
 
 convenience by the forfeiture of another. A sol- 
 dier may expedite his inarch by throwing away his 
 arms. To banish the tacksman is easy, to make 
 a country plentiful by diminishing the people, 
 is an expeditious mode of husbandry ; but that 
 abundance, which there is nobody to enjoy, con- 
 tributes little to human happiness. 
 
 As the mind must govern the hands, so in 
 every society the man of intelligence must direct 
 the man of labour. If the tacksmen be taken 
 away, the Hebrides must in their present state be 
 given up to grossness and ignorance ; the tenant, 
 for want of instruction, will be unskilful, and for 
 want of admonition, will be negligent. The laird, 
 in these wide estates, which often consist of islands 
 remote from one another, cannot extend his per- 
 sonal influence to all his tenants; and the stew- 
 ard having no dignity annexed to his character, 
 can have little authority among men taught to 
 pay reverence only to birth, and who regard the 
 tacksman as their hereditary superior; nor can 
 the steward have equal zeal for the prosperity of 
 an estate profitable only to the laird, with the 
 tacksman, who has the laird's income involved in 
 his own. 
 
 The only gentlemen in the islands are the lairds, 
 the tacksmen, and the ministers, who frequently 
 improve their livings by becoming farmers. If the 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 135 
 
 tacksmen be banished, who will be left to impart 
 knowledge, or impress civility ? The laird must 
 always be at a distance from the greater part of his 
 lands ; and if he resides at all upon them, must 
 drag his days in solitude, having no longer either 
 a friend or a companion ; he will therefore depart 
 to some more comfortable residence, and leave the 
 tenants to the wisdom and mercy of a factor. 
 
 Of tenants there are diiFerent orders, as they 
 have greater or less stock. Land is sometimes 
 leased to a small fellowship, who live in a cluster 
 of huts, called a Tenant's Town, and are bound 
 jointly and separately for the payment of their rent. 
 These, I believe, employ in the care of their cat- 
 tle and the labour of tillage, a kind of tenants yet 
 lower ; who having a hut, with grass for a certain 
 number of cows and sheep, pay their rent by a 
 stipulated quantity of labour. 
 
 The condition of domestic servants, or the price 
 of occasional labour, I do not know with certainty. 
 I was told that the maids have sheep, and are 
 allowed to spin for their own clothing; perhaps 
 they have no pecuniary wages, or none but in 
 very wealthy families. The state of life, which 
 has hitherto been purely pastoral, begins now to 
 be a little variegated with commerce; but novel- 
 ties enter by degrees, and till one mode has fully 
 
136 
 
 JOURNEY TO THE 
 
 prevailed over the other, no settled notion can be 
 formed. 
 
 Such is the system of insular subordination, 
 which having little variety, cannot afford much 
 delight in the view, nor long detain the mind in 
 contemplation. The inhabitants were for a long 
 time, perhaps, not unhappy; but their content 
 was a muddy mixture of pride and ignorance, an 
 indifference for pleasures which they did not know, 
 a blind veneration for their chiefs, and a strong 
 conviction of their own importance. 
 
 Their pride has been crushed by the heavy 
 hand of a vindictive conqueror, whose severities 
 have been followed by laws, which, though they 
 cannot be called cruel, have produced much dis- 
 content, because they operate upon the surface of 
 life, and make every eye bear witness to subjec- 
 tion. To be compelled to a new dress has always 
 been found painful. 
 
 Their chiefs being now deprived of their juris- 
 diction, have already lost much of their influence; 
 and as they gradually degenerate from patriarchal 
 rulers to rapacious landlords, they will divest them- 
 selves of the little that remains. 
 
 That dignity which they derived from an opi- 
 nion of their military importance, the law, which 
 disarmed them, has abated. An old gentleman, 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 137 
 
 delighting himself with the recollection of better 
 days, related, that forty years ago, a chieftain 
 walked out attended by ten or twelve followers, 
 with their arms rattling. That animating rabble 
 has now ceased. The chief has lost his formida- 
 ble retinue ; and the Highlander walks his heath 
 unarmed and defenceless, with the peaceable sub- 
 mission of a French peasant, or English cottager. 
 
 Their ignorance grows every day less, but their 
 knowledge is yet of little other use than to show 
 them their wants. They are now in the period 
 of education, and feel the uneasiness of discipline, 
 without yet perceiving the benefit of instruction. 
 
 The last law, by which the Highlanders are 
 deprived of their arms, has operated with efficacy 
 beyond expectation. Of former statutes made with 
 the same design, the execution had been feeble, 
 and the effect inconsiderable. Concealment was 
 undoubtedly practised, and perhaps often with 
 connivance. There was tenderness or partiality 
 on one side, and obstinacy on the other. But 
 the law, which followed the victory of CuUoden, 
 found the whole nation dejected and intimidated ; 
 informations were given without danger and with- 
 out fear, and the arms were collected with such 
 rigour, that every house was despoiled of its de- 
 fence. 
 
 To disarm part of the Highlands, could give 
 
 s 
 
138 
 
 JOURNEY TO THE 
 
 no reasonable occasion of complaint. Every go- 
 vernment must be allowed the power of taking 
 away the weapon that is lifted against it. But 
 the loyal clans murmured, with some appearance 
 of justice, that, after having defended the king, 
 they were forbidden for the future to defend them- 
 selves; and that the sword should be forfeited, 
 which had been legally employed. Their case is 
 undoubtedly hard, but in political regulations, 
 good cannot be complete, it can only be predo- 
 minant. 
 
 A^Hiether by disarming a people thus broken 
 into several tribes, and thus remote from the seat 
 of power, more good than evil has been produced, 
 may deserve inquiry. The supreme power in 
 every community has the right of debarring every 
 individual, and every subordinate society, from 
 self-defence, only because the supreme power is 
 able to defend them; and therefore where the 
 governor cannot act, he must trust the subject to 
 act for himself. These islands might be wasted 
 with fire and sword before their sovereign would 
 know their distress. A gang of robbers, such as 
 has been lately found confederating themselves 
 in the Highlands, might lay a wide region un- 
 der contribution. The crew of a petty privateer 
 might land on the largest and most wealthy of 
 the islands, and riot without control in cruelty 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. 139 
 
 and waste. It was observed by one of the chiefs 
 of Skye, that fifty armed men might, without 
 resistance, ravage the country. Laws that place 
 the subjects in such a state, contravene the first 
 principles of the compact of authority : they exact 
 obedience, and yield no protection. 
 
 It affords a generous and manly pleasure to 
 conceive a little nation gathering its fruits and 
 tending its herds with fearless confidence, though 
 it lies open on every side to invasion, where, in 
 contempt of walls and trenches, every man sleeps 
 securely with his sword beside him ; where all on 
 the first approach of hostility came together at the 
 call of battle, as at a summons to a festal show ; 
 and committing their cattle to the care of those 
 whom age or nature has disabled, engage the ene- 
 my with that competition for hazard and for glory, 
 which operate in men that fight under the eye of 
 those whose dislike or kindness they have always 
 considered as the greatest evil or the greatest good. 
 
 This was, in the beginning of the present cen- 
 tury, the state of the Highlands. Every man was 
 a soldier, who partook of national confidence, and 
 interested himself in national honour. To lose 
 this spirit, is to lose what no small advantage will 
 compensate. 
 
 It may likewise deserve to be inquired, whether 
 a great nation ought to be totally commercial? 
 
140 
 
 JOURNEY TO THE 
 
 whether amidst the uncertainty of human affairs, 
 too much attention to one mode of happiness may 
 not endanger others? whether the pride of riches 
 must not sometimes have recourse to the protec- 
 tion of courage ? and whether, if it be necessary to 
 preserve in some part of the empire the mihtary 
 spirit, it can subsist more commodiously in any 
 place than in remote and unprofitable provinces, 
 where it can commonly do little harm, and whence 
 it may be called forth at any sudden exigence ? 
 
 It must however be confessed, that a man 
 who places honour only in successful violence, is 
 a very troublesome and pernicious animal in time 
 of peace; and that the martial character cannot 
 prevail in a whole people, but by the diminution 
 of all other virtues. He that is accustomed to 
 resolve all right into conquest, will have very little 
 tenderness of equity. All the friendship in such 
 a life can be only a confederacy of invasion, or 
 alliance of defence. The strong must flourish by 
 force, and the weak subsist by stratagem. 
 
 Till the Highlanders lost their ferocity with 
 their arms, they suffered from each other all that 
 malignity could dictate, or precipitance could act. 
 Every provocation was revenged with blood, and 
 no man that ventured into a numerous company, 
 by whatever occasion brought together, was sure 
 of returning without a wound. If they are now 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 141 
 
 exposed to foreign hostilities, they may talk of the 
 danger, but can seldom feel it. If they are no 
 longer martial, they are no longer quarrelsome. 
 Misery is caused, for the most part, not by a 
 heavy crush of disaster, but by the corrosion of 
 less visible evils, which canker enjoyment, and 
 undermine security. The visit of an invader is 
 necessarily rare, but domestic animosities allow 
 no cessation. 
 
 The abolition of the local jurisdictions, which 
 had for so many ages been exercised by the chiefs, 
 has likewise its evil and its good. The feudal 
 constitution naturally diffused itself into long 
 ramifications of subordinate authority. To this 
 general temper of the government was added the 
 pecuUar form of the country, broken by mountains 
 into many subdivisions scarcely accessible but to 
 the natives, and guarded by passes, or perplexed 
 with intricacies, through which national justice 
 could not find its way. 
 
 The power of deciding controversies, and of 
 punishing offences, as some such power there must 
 always be, was entrusted to the lairds of the coun- 
 try, to those whom the people considered as their 
 natural judges. It cannot be supposed that a 
 rugged proprietor of the rocks, unprincipled and 
 unenlightened, was a nice resolver of entangled 
 claims, or very exact in proportioning punishment 
 
142 
 
 JOURNEY TO THE 
 
 to offences. But the more he indulged his own 
 will, the more he held his vassals in dependence. 
 Prudence and innocence, without the favour of the 
 chief, conferred no security ; and crimes involved 
 no danger, when the judge was resolute to acquit. 
 
 ^V^hen the chiefs were men of knowledge and 
 virtue, the convenience of a domestic judicature 
 was great. No long journeys were necessary, nor 
 artificial delays could be practised ; the character, 
 the alliances, and interests of the litigants, were 
 known to the court, and all false pretences were 
 easily detected. The sentence, when it was past, 
 could not be evaded ; the power of the laird su- 
 perseded formalities, and justice could not be de- 
 feated by interest or stratagem. 
 
 I doubt not but that since the regular judges 
 have made their circuits through the whole coun- 
 try, right has been every where more wisely and 
 more equally distributed; the complaint is, that 
 litigation is grown troublesome, and that the ma- 
 gistrates are too few, and therefore often too re- 
 mote for general convenience. 
 
 Many of the smaller islands have no legal officer 
 within them. I once asked, if a crime should be 
 committed, by what authority the offender could 
 be seized? and was told, that the laird would exy 
 ert his right ; a right which he must now usurp, 
 but which surely necessity must vindicate, and 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 143 
 
 which is therefore yet exercised in lower degrees, 
 by some of the proprietors, when legal processes 
 cannot be obtained. 
 
 In all greater questions, however, there is now 
 happily an end to all fear or hope from malice or 
 from favour. The roads are secure in those places 
 through which, forty years ago, no traveller could 
 pass without a convoy. All trials of right by the 
 sword are forgotten, and the mean are in as little 
 danger from the powerful as in other places. No 
 scheme of policy has, in any country, yet brought 
 the rich and poor on equal terms into courts of 
 judicature. Perhaps experience, improving on 
 experience, may in time effect it. 
 
 Those who have long enjoyed dignity and 
 power, ought not to lose it without some equiva- 
 lent. There was paid to the chiefs by the public, 
 in exchange for their privileges, perhaps a sum 
 greater than most of them had ever possessed, 
 which excited a thirst for riches, of which it 
 showed them the use. When the power of birth 
 and station ceases, no hope remains but from the 
 prevalence of money. Power and wealth supply 
 the place of each other. Power confers the abil- 
 ity of gratifying our desire without the consent of 
 others. Wealth enables us to obtain the consent 
 of others to our gratification. Power, simply 
 considered, whatever it confers on one, must take 
 
144 
 
 JOURNEY TO THE 
 
 from another. Wealth enables its owner to give 
 to others, by taking only from himself Power 
 pleases the violent and proud: wealth delights the 
 placid and the timorous. Youth therefore flies at 
 power, and age grovels after riches. 
 
 The chiefs, divested of their prerogatives, neces- 
 sarily turned their thoughts to the improvement 
 of their revenues, and expect more rent, as they 
 have less homage. The tenant, who is far from 
 perceiving that his condition is made better in the 
 same proportion as that of his landlord is made 
 worse, does not immediately see why his indus- 
 try is to be taxed more heavily than before. He 
 refuses to pay the demand, and is ejected; the 
 ground is then let to a stranger, who perhaps 
 brings a larger stock, but who, taking the land 
 at its full price, treats with the laird upon equal 
 terms, and considers him not as a chief but as 
 a trafficker in land. Thus the estate perhaps is 
 improved, but the clan is broken. 
 
 It seems to be the general opinion, that the 
 rents have been raised with too much eagerness. 
 Some regard must be paid to prejudice. Those 
 who have hitherto paid but little, will not sud- 
 denly be persuaded to pay much, though they 
 can afford it. As ground is gradually improved, 
 and the value of money decreases, the rent may 
 be raised without any diminution of the farmer's 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 145 
 
 profits ; yet it is necessary in these coinitries, where 
 the ejection of a tenant is a greater evil than in 
 more populous places, to consider not merely what 
 the land will produce, but with what ability the 
 inhabitant can cultivate it. A certain stock can 
 allow but a certain payment ; for if the land be 
 doubled, and the stock remains the same, the 
 tenant becomes no richer. The proprietors of 
 the Highlands might perhaps often increase their 
 income, by subdividing the farms, and allotting 
 to every occupier only so many acres as he can 
 profitably employ, but that they want people. 
 
 There seems now, whatever be the cause, to be 
 through a great part of the Highlands a general 
 discontent. That adherence which was lately pro- 
 fessed by every man to the chief of his name, has 
 now little prevalence; and he that cannot live as 
 he desires at home, listens to the tale of fortunate 
 islands, and happy regions, where every man may 
 have land of his own, and eat the product of his 
 labour without a superior. 
 
 Those who have obtained grants of American 
 - lands, have, as is well known, invited settlers from 
 all quarters of the globe ; and among other places, 
 where oppression might produce a wish for new 
 habitations, their emissaries would not fail to try 
 their persuasions in the isles of Scotland, where 
 at the time when the clans were newly disunited 
 
 T 
 
146 
 
 JOURNEY TO THE 
 
 from their chiefs, and exasperated by unpreceden- 
 ted exactions, it is no wonder that they prevailed. 
 
 AVhether the mischiefs of emigration were 
 immediately perceived, may be justly questioned. 
 They who went first, were probably such as could 
 best be spared ; but the accounts sent by the ear- 
 liest adventurers, whether true or false, inclined 
 many to follow them ; and whole neighbovirhoods 
 formed parties for removal ; so that departure from 
 their native country is no longer exile. He that 
 goes thus accompanied, carries with him all that 
 makes life pleasant. He sits down in a better cli- 
 mate, surrounded by his kindred and his friends : 
 they carry with them their language, their opi- 
 nions, their popular songs and hereditary merri- 
 ment: they change nothing but the place of their 
 abode ; and of that change they perceive the 
 benefit. 
 
 This is the real effect of emigration, if those 
 that go away together settle on the same spot, 
 and preserve their ancient union. But some re- 
 late that these adventurous visitants of unknown 
 regions, after a voyage passed in dreams of plenty 
 and felicity, are dispersed at last upon a sylvan 
 wilderness, where their first years must be spent 
 in toil to clear the ground which is afterwards to 
 be tilled, and that the whole effect of their under- 
 taking is only more fatigue and equal scarcity. 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 147 
 
 Both accounts may be suspected. Those who 
 are gone will endeavour by every art to draw oth- 
 ers after them ; for as their numbers are greater, 
 they will provide better for themselves. When 
 Nova Scotia was first peopled, I remember a letter, 
 published under the character of a New Planter, 
 who related how much the climate put him in 
 mind of Italy. Such intelligence the Hebridians 
 probably receive from their transmarine corres- 
 pondents. But with equal temptations of interest, 
 and perhaps with no greater niceness of veracity, 
 the owners of the islands spread stories of Ameri- 
 can hardships to keep their people content at home. 
 
 Some method to stop this epidemic desire of 
 wandering, which spreads its contagion from val- 
 ley to valley, deserves to be sought with great 
 diligence. In more fruitful countries, the remo- 
 val of one, only makes room for the succession 
 of another: but in the Hebrides, the loss of an 
 inhabitant leaves a lasting vacuity ; for nobody 
 born in any other parts of the world will choose 
 this country for his residence; and an island once 
 depopulated will remain a desert, as long as the 
 present facility of travel gives every one, who is 
 discontented and unsettled, the choice of his abode. 
 
 Let it be inquired, whether the first intention 
 of those who are fluttering on the wing, and col- 
 lecting a flock that they may take their flight, 
 
148 
 
 JOURNEY TO THE 
 
 be to attain good, or to avoid evil ? If they are 
 dissatisfied with that part of the globe which their 
 birth has allotted them, and resolve not to live 
 wdthout the pleasures of happier climates ; if they 
 long for bright suns, and calm skies, and flowery 
 fields, and fragrant gardens, I know not by what 
 eloquence they can be persuaded, or by what offers 
 they can be hired to stay. 
 
 But if they are driven from their native country 
 by positive evils, and disgusted by ill treatment, 
 real or imaginary, it were fit to remove their grie- 
 vances, and quiet their resentment ; since, if they 
 have been hitherto undutiful subjects, they will 
 not much mend their principles by American 
 conversation. 
 
 To allure them into the army, it was thought 
 proper to indulge them in the continuance of their 
 national dress. If this concession could have any 
 effect, it might easily be made. That dissimilitude 
 of appearance, which w^as supposed to keep them 
 distinct from the rest of the nation, might disin- 
 cline them from coalescing with the Pennsylvani- 
 ans or people of Connecticut. If the restitution of 
 their arms will reconcile them to their country, let 
 them have again those weapons, which will not be 
 more mischievous at home than in the Colonies. 
 That they may not fly from the increase of rent, 
 I know not whether the general good does not 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. 149 
 
 require that the landlords be, for a time, restrained 
 in their demands, and kept quiet by j^ensions 
 proportionate to their loss. 
 
 To hinder insurrection by driving away the 
 people, and to govern peaceably, by having no 
 subjects, is an expedient that argues no great pro- 
 fundity of politics. To soften the obdurate, to 
 convince the mistaken, to mollify the resentful, 
 are worthy of a statesman ; but it affords a legis- 
 lator little self-applause to consider, that where 
 there was formerly an insurrection, there is now 
 a wilderness. 
 
 It has been a question often agitated, without 
 solution, why those northern regions are now so 
 thinly peopled, which formerly overwhelmed with 
 their armies the Roman empire ? The question 
 supposes what I believe is not true, that they had 
 once more inhabitants than they could maintain, 
 and overflowed only because they were full. 
 
 This is to estimate the manners of all countries 
 and ages by our own. Migration, while the state 
 of life was unsettled, and there was little com- 
 munication of intelligence between distant places, 
 was among the wilder nations of Europe capricious 
 and casual. An adventurous projector heard of a 
 fertile coast unoccupied, and led out a colony ; a 
 chief of renown for bravery, called the young men 
 together, and led them out to try what fortune 
 
150 
 
 JOURNEY TO THE 
 
 would present. When Caesar was in Gaul, he 
 found the Helvetians preparing to go they knew 
 not whither, and put a stop to their motions. 
 They settled again in their own country, where 
 they were so far from wanting room, that they 
 had accumulated three years provision for their 
 march. 
 
 The religion of the north was military ; if they 
 could not find enemies, it was their duty to make 
 them : they travelled in quest of danger, and wil- 
 Hngly took the chance of empire or death. If 
 theu' troops were numerous, the countries from 
 which they were collected are of vast extent, and 
 without much exuberance of people great armies 
 may be raised where every man is a soldier. But 
 their true numbers were never known. Those 
 who were conquered by them are their historians, 
 and shame may have excited them to say, that 
 they were overwhelmed with multitudes. To 
 count is a modern practice, the ancient method 
 was to guess; and when numbers are guessed, 
 they are always magnified. 
 
 Thus England has for several years been filled 
 ^dth the achievements of seventy thousand High- 
 landers employed in America. I have heard from 
 an English officer, not much incHned to favour 
 them, that then- behaviour deserved a very high 
 degree of mihtary praise ; but their number has 
 
M'ESTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 151 
 
 been much exaggerated. One of the ministers 
 told me, that seventy thousand men could not 
 have been found in all the Highlands, and that 
 more than twelve thousand never took the field. 
 Those that went to the American war, went to 
 destruction. Of the old Highland regiment, con- 
 sisting of twelve hundred, only seventy-six sur^ 
 vived to see their country again. 
 
 The Gothic swarms have at least been multiplied 
 with equal liberality. That they bore no great 
 proportion to the inhabitants in whose countries 
 they settled, is plain from the paucity of north- 
 ern words now found in the provincial languages. 
 Their country was not deserted for want of room, 
 because it was covered with forests of vast extent ; 
 and the first effect of plenitude of inhabitants is 
 the destruction of wood. As the Europeans spread 
 over America, the lands are gradually laid naked. 
 
 I would not be understood to say, that neces- 
 sity had never any part in their expeditions. A 
 nation, whose agriculture is scanty or unskilful, 
 may be driven out by famine. A nation of hunters 
 may have exhausted their game. I only affirm, 
 that the northern regions were not, when their 
 irruptions subdued the Romans, overpeopled with 
 regard to their real extent of territory, and power 
 of fertility. In a country fully inhabited, however 
 afterward laid waste, evident marks will remain 
 
152 
 
 JOURNEY TO THE 
 
 of its former populousness. But of Scandinavia 
 and Germany, nothing is known but that as we 
 trace tlieir state upwards into antiquity, their 
 woods were greater, and their cultivated ground 
 was less. 
 
 That causes very different from want of room 
 may produce a general disposition to seek another 
 country, is apparent from the present conduct of 
 the Highlanders, who are in some places ready to 
 threaten a total secession. The numbers which 
 have already gone, though like other numbers 
 they may be magnified, are very great, and such 
 as if they had gone together, and agreed upon any 
 certain settlement, might have founded an inde- 
 pendent government in the depths of the western 
 continent. Nor are they only the lowest and most 
 indigent ; many men of considerable wealth have 
 taken with them their train of labourers and de- 
 pendants ; and if they continue the feudal scheme 
 of polity, may establish new clans in the other 
 liemisphere. 
 
 That the immediate motives of their desertion 
 must be imputed to their landlords, may be rea- 
 sonably concluded, because some lairds of more 
 prudence and less rapacity have kept their vassals 
 undiminished. From Raasay only one man had 
 been seduced, and at Col there was no wish to go 
 away. 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 153 
 
 The traveller who comes hither from more 
 opulent countries, to speculate upon the remains 
 of pastoral life, will not much wonder that a com- 
 mon Highlander has no strong adherence to his 
 native soil ; for of animal enjoyments, or of phy- 
 sical good, he leaves nothing that he may not find 
 again wheresoever he may be thrown. 
 
 The habitations of men in the Hebrides may 
 be distinguished into huts and houses. By a house, 
 I mean a building with one story over another; 
 by a hut, a dwelling with only one floor. The 
 ' laird, who formerly lived in a castle, now lives in 
 a house ; sometimes sufficiently neat, but seldom 
 very spacious or splendid. The tacksmen and the 
 ministers have commonly houses. Wherever there 
 is a house, the stranger finds a welcome, and to 
 the other evils of exterminating tacksmen may be 
 added the unavoidable cessation of hospitality, or 
 the devolution of too heavy a burden on the mi- 
 nisters. 
 
 Of the houses little can be said. They are 
 small, and by the necessity of accumulating stores, 
 where there are so few opportunities of purchase, 
 the rooms are very heterogeneously filled. With 
 want of cleanliness it were ingratitude to reproach 
 them. The servants having been bred upon the 
 naked earth, think every floor clean, and the quick 
 succession of guests, perhaps not always over-ele- 
 
 TJ 
 
154 
 
 JOURNEY TO THE 
 
 gant, does not allow much time for adjusting their 
 apartments. 
 
 Huts are of many gradations ; from murky dens 
 to commodious dwellings. 
 
 The wall of a common hut is always built with- 
 , out mortar, by a skilful adaptation of loose stones. 
 Sometimes perhaps a double wall of stones is raised, 
 and the intermediate space filled with earth. The 
 air is thus completely excluded. Some walls are, 
 I think, formed of turfs, held together by a wattle, 
 or texture of twigs. Of the meanest huts the first 
 room is lighted by the entrance, and the second 
 by the smokehole. The fire is usually made in 
 the middle. But there are huts, or dwellings of 
 only one story, inhabited by gentlemen, which 
 have walls cemented with mortar, glass windows, 
 and boarded floors. Of these all have chimneys, 
 and some chimneys have grates. 
 
 The house and the furniture are not always 
 nicely suited. We were driven once, by missing 
 a passage, to the hut of a gentleman, where, after 
 a very liberal supper, when I was conducted to 
 my chamber, I found an elegant bed of Indian 
 cotton, spread with fine sheets. The accommo- 
 dation was flattering; I undressed myself, and 
 felt my feet in the mire. The bed stood upon 
 the bare earth, which a long course of rain had 
 softened to a puddle. 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 155 
 
 In pastoral countries the condition of the lowest 
 rank of people is sufficiently wretched. Among 
 manufacturers, men that have no property may 
 have art and industry, which make them neces- 
 sary, and therefore valuable. But where flocks 
 and corn are the only wealth, there are always 
 more hands than work, and of that work there is 
 little in which skill and dexterity can be much 
 distinguished. He therefore who is born poor 
 never can be rich. The son merely occupies the 
 place of the father, and life knows nothing of pro- 
 gression or advancement. 
 
 The petty tenants, and labouring peasants, live 
 in miserable cabins, which afford them little more 
 than shelter from the storms. The boor of Nor- 
 way is said to make all his own utensils. In the 
 Hebrides, whatever might be their ingenuity, the 
 want of wood leaves them no materials. They 
 are probably content with such accommodations 
 as stones of different forms and sizes can afford 
 them. 
 
 Their food is not better than their lodging. 
 They seldom taste the flesh of land animals ; for 
 here are no markets. What each man eats is 
 from his own stock. The great effect of money 
 is to break property into small parts. In towns, 
 he that has a shilling may have a piece of meat ; 
 
156 JOURNEY TO THE 
 
 but where there is no commerce, no man can eat 
 mutton but by killing a sheep. 
 
 Fish in fair weather they need not want ; but, 
 1 believe, man never lives long on fish, but by 
 constraint; he will rather feed upon roots and 
 berries. 
 
 The only fuel of the islands is peat. Their 
 wood is all consumed, and coal they have not yet 
 found. Peat is dug out of the marshes, from the 
 depth of one foot to that of six. That is accoun- 
 ted the best w hich is nearest the surface. It ap- 
 pears to be a mass of black earth held together by 
 vegetable fibres. I know not whether the earth 
 be bituminous, or whether the fibres be not the 
 only combustible part ; which, by heating the in- 
 terposed earth red hot, make a burning mass. The 
 heat is not very strong nor lasting. The ashes are 
 yellowish, and in a large quantity. When they 
 dig peat, they cut it into square pieces, and pile 
 it up to dry beside the house. In some places it 
 has an offensive smell. It is like wood charked 
 for the smith. The common method of making- 
 peat fires is by heaping it on the hearth ; but it 
 burns well in grates, and in the best houses is 
 so used. 
 
 The common opinion is, that peat grows again 
 where it has been cut ; which, as it seems to be 
 
WESTERN INLANDS. 
 
 157 
 
 chiefly a vegetable substance, is not unlikely to 
 be true, whether known or not to those who re- 
 late it. 
 
 There are watermills in Skye and Kaasay ; but 
 where tliey are too far distant, the housewives 
 grind their oats with a quern, or handmill, which 
 consists of two stones, about a foot and a half in 
 diameter; the lower is a little convex, to which 
 the concavity of the upper must be fitted. In the 
 middle of the upper stone is a round hole, and on 
 one side is a long handle. The grinder sheds the 
 corn gradually into the hole with one hand, and 
 works the handle round with the other. The 
 corn slides down the convexity of the lower stone, 
 and by the motion of the upper is ground in its 
 passage. These stones are found in Lochaber. 
 
 The islands afibrd few pleasures, except to the 
 hardy sportsman, who can tread the moor and 
 climb the mountain. The distance of one family 
 from another, in a country where travelling has 
 so much difficulty, makes frequent intercourse 
 impracticable. Visits last several days, and are 
 commonly paid by water; yet I never saw a boat 
 furnished with benches, or made commodious by 
 any addition to the first fabric. Conveniences are 
 not missed where they never were enjoyed. 
 
 The solace which the bagpipe can give, they 
 have long enjoyed; but among other changes, 
 
158 
 
 JOURNEY TO THE 
 
 wliich the last revolution introduced, the use of 
 the bagpipe begins to be forgotten. Some of the 
 chief families still entertain a piper, whose office 
 was anciently hereditary. Macrimmon was piper 
 to Macleod, and Rankin to Maclean of Col. 
 
 The tunes of the bagpipe are traditional. There 
 has been in Skye, beyond all time of memory, a 
 college of pipers under the direction of Macrim- 
 mon, which is not quite extinct. I'here was 
 another in MuD, superintended by Rankin, which 
 expired about sixteen years ago. To these col- 
 leges, while the pipe retained its honour, the stu- 
 dents of music repaired for education. I have had 
 my dinner exhilarated by the bagpipe, at Armidel, 
 at Dunvegan, and in Col. 
 
 The general conversation of the islanders has 
 nothing particular. I did not meet with the in- 
 quisitiveness of which I have read, and suspect the 
 judgment to have been rashly made. A stranger 
 of curiosity comes into a place where a stranger is 
 seldom seen : he importunes the people with ques- 
 tions, of which they cannot guess the motive, and 
 gazes with surprise on things wliich they, having 
 had them always before their eyes, do not suspect 
 of any thing wonderful. He appears to them 
 like some being of another world, and then thinks 
 it peculiar that they take their turn to inquire 
 whence he comes, and whither he is going. 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 159 
 
 The islands were long unfurnished with in- 
 struction for youth, and none but the sons of 
 gentlemen could have any literature. There are 
 now parochial schools, to which the lord of e^ery 
 manor pays a certain stipend. Here the children 
 are taught to read; but by the rule of their insti- 
 tution they teach only English, so that the natives 
 read a language which they may never use or 
 understand. If a parish, which often happens, 
 contains several islands, the school being but in 
 one, cannot assist the rest. This is the state of 
 Col, which, however, is more enlightened than 
 some other places ; for the deficiency is supplied 
 by a young gentleman, who, for his own improve- 
 ment, travels every year on foot over the High- 
 lands to the session at Aberdeen ; and at his return, 
 during the vacation, teaches to read and write in 
 his native island. 
 
 In Skye there are two grammar schools, where 
 boarders are taken to be regularly educated. The 
 price of board is from three pounds, to four pounds 
 ten shiUings a year, and that of instruction is half- 
 a-crown a quarter. But the scholars are birds of 
 passage, who live at school only in the summer ; 
 for in winter provisions cannot be made for any 
 considerable number in one place. This periodi- 
 cal dispersion impresses strongly the scarcity of 
 these countries. 
 
160 
 
 JOURNEY TO THE 
 
 Having lieard of no boarding school for ladies 
 nearer than Inverness, I suppose their education 
 is generally domestic. The elder daughters of 
 the higher families are sent into the world, and 
 may contribute by their acquisitions to the im- 
 provement of the rest. 
 
 Women must here study to be either pleasing 
 or useful. Their deficiencies are seldom supplied 
 by very liberal fortunes. A hundred pounds is 
 a portion beyond the hope of any but the laird's 
 daughter. They do not indeed often give money 
 with their daughters ; the question is, How many 
 cows a young lady will bring her husband ? A 
 rich maiden has from ten to forty ; but two cows 
 are a decent fortune for one who pretends to no 
 distinction. 
 
 The religion of the islands is that of the kirk 
 of Scotland. The gentlemen with whom I con- 
 versed are all inclined to the English liturgy; 
 but they are obliged to maintain the established 
 minister, and the country is too poor to afford 
 payment to another, who must live w^hoUy on 
 the contribution of his audience. 
 
 They therefore all attend the worship of the 
 kirk, as often as a visit from their minister, or 
 the practicability of travelling, gives them oppor- 
 tunity ; nor have they any reason to complain of 
 insufficient pastors; for T saw not one in the islands, 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 161 
 
 whom I had reason to think either deficient in 
 learning, or irregular in life; but found several 
 with whom I could not converse without wish- 
 ing, as my respect increased, that they had not 
 been presbyterians. 
 
 The ancient rigour of puritanism is now very 
 much relaxed, though all are not yet equally 
 enhghtened. I sometimes met with prejudices 
 sufficiently malignant, but they were prejudices 
 of ignorance. The ministers in the islands had 
 attained such knowledge as may justly be ad- 
 mired in men, who have no motive to study but 
 generous curiosity, or what is still better, desire 
 of usefulness ; with such politeness as so narrow a 
 circle of converse could not have supplied, but to 
 minds naturally disposed to elegance. 
 
 Reason and truth will prevail at last. The 
 most learned of the Scottish doctors would now 
 gladly admit a form of prayer, if the people would 
 endure it. The zeal or rage of congregations has 
 its different degrees. In some parishes the Lord's 
 Prayer is suffered : in others it is still rejected as 
 a form, and he that should make it part of his sup- 
 plication, would be suspected of heretical pravity. 
 
 The principle upon which extemporary prayer 
 was originally introduced, is no longer admitted. 
 The minister formerly, in the effusion of his prayer, 
 expected immediate, and perhaps perceptible in- 
 
162 
 
 JOURNEY TO THE 
 
 spiration, and therefore thought it his duty not to 
 think before what he should say. It is now uni- 
 versally confessed, that men pray as they speak on 
 other occasions, according to the general measure 
 of their abilities and attainments. Whatever each 
 may think of a form prescribed by another, he 
 cannot but believe that he can himself compose 
 by study and meditation a better prayer than will 
 rise in his mind at a sudden call ; and if he has any 
 hope of supernatural help, why may he not as well 
 receive it when he writes as when he speaks? 
 
 In the variety of mental powers, some must 
 perform extemporary prayer with much imper- 
 fection ; and in the eagerness and rashness of 
 contradictory opinions, if public liturgy be left 
 to the private judgment of every minister, the 
 congregation may often be offended or misled. 
 
 There is in Scotland, as among ourselves, a 
 restless suspicion of popish machinations, and a 
 clamour of mmierous converts to the Romish re- 
 ligion. The report is, I believe, in both parts of 
 the island equally false. The Romish religion is 
 professed only in Egg and Canna, two small is- 
 lands, into which the Reformation never made its 
 way. If any missionaries are busy in the High- 
 lands, their zeal entitles them to respect, even 
 from those who cannot think favourably of their 
 doctrine. 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 163 
 
 The political tenets of the islanders I was not 
 curious to investigate, and they were not eager to 
 obtrude. Their conversation is decent and inof- 
 fensive. They disdain to drink for their princi- 
 ples, and there is no disaffection at their tables. I 
 never heard a health offered by a Highlander that 
 might not have circulated with propriety Avithin 
 the precincts of the king's palace. 
 
 Legal government has yet something of novel- 
 ty to which they cannot perfectly conform. The 
 ancient spirit that appealed only to the sword, is 
 yet among them. The tenant of Scalpa, an island 
 belonging to Macdonald, took no care to bring 
 his rent; when the landlord talked of exacting 
 payment, he declared his resolution to keep his 
 ground and drive all intruders from the island, 
 and continued to feed his cattle as on his own 
 land, till it became necessary for the sheriff to 
 dislodge him by violence. 
 
 The various kinds of superstition which pre- 
 vailed here, as in all other regions of ignorance, 
 are by the diligence of the ministers almost extir- 
 pated. 
 
 Of Brownie, mentioned by Martin, nothing has 
 been heard for many years. Brownie was a sturdy 
 fairy; who, if he was fed, and kindly treated, 
 would, as they said, do a great deal of work* 
 
164 
 
 JOURNEY TO THE 
 
 They now pay him no wages, and are content to 
 labour for themselves. 
 
 In Troda, within these three-and-thirty years, 
 milk was put every Saturday for Greogach, or 
 The Old Man with the Long Beard. Whether 
 Greogach was courted as kind, or dreaded as ter- 
 rible, whether they meant, by giving him the milk, 
 to obtain good or avert evil, I was not informed. 
 The minister is now living by whom the practice 
 was abolished. 
 
 They have still among them a great number of 
 charms for the cure of different diseases ; they are 
 all invocations, perhaps transmitted to them from 
 the times of popery, which increasing knowledge 
 will bring into disuse. 
 
 They have opinions, which cannot be ranked 
 with superstition, because they regard only natu- 
 ral effects. They expect better crops of grain, 
 by sowing their seed in the moon's increase. The 
 moon has great influence in vulgar philosophy. 
 In my memory it was a precept annually given 
 in one of the English almanacks, ' To kill hogs 
 when the moon was increasing, and the bacon 
 would prove the better in boiling.' 
 
 We should have had little claim to the praise 
 of curiosity, if we had not endeavoured with par- 
 ticular attention to examine the question of the 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 165 
 
 Second Sight. Of an opinion received for cen- 
 turies by a whole nation, and supposed to be 
 confirmed through its whole descent by a series 
 of successive facts, it is desirable that the truth 
 should be established, or the fallacy detected. 
 
 The Second Sight is an impression made either 
 by the mind upon the eye, or by the eye upon 
 the mind, by which things distant or future are 
 perceived, and seen as if they were present. A 
 man on a journey far from home falls from his 
 horse ; another, who is perhaps at work about the 
 house, sees him bleeding on the ground, commonly 
 with a landscape of the place where the accident 
 befalls him. Another seer, driving home his cat- 
 tle, or wandering in idleness, or musing in the 
 sunshine, is suddenly surprised by the appearance 
 of a bridal ceremony, or funeral procession, and 
 counts the mourners, or attendants, of whom, if 
 he knows them, he relates the names, if he knows 
 them not, he can describe the dresses. Things 
 distant are seen at the instant when they happen. 
 Of things future I know not that there is any rule 
 for determining the time between the sight and 
 the event. 
 
 This receptive faculty, for power it cannot be 
 called, is neither voluntary nor constant. The ap 
 pearances have no dependence upon choice : they 
 
16« 
 
 JOURNEY TO THE 
 
 cannot be summoned, detained, or recalled. The 
 impression is sudden, and the effect often painful. 
 
 By the term Second Sight, seems to be meant a 
 mode of seeing, superadded to that which nature 
 generally bestows. In the Erse it is called Taisch ; 
 which signifies likewise a spectre, or a vision. I 
 know not, nor is it likely that the Highlanders 
 ever examined, whether by Taisch, used for Se- 
 cond Sight, they mean the power of seeing, or 
 the thing seen. 
 
 I do not find it to be true, as it is reported, 
 that to the Second Sight nothing is presented but 
 phantoms of evil. Good seems to have the same 
 proportion in those visionary scenes, as it obtains 
 in real life : almost all remarkable events have evil 
 for their basis, and are either miseries incurred, or 
 miseries escaped. Our sense is so much stronger 
 of what we suffer, than of what we enjoy, that the 
 ideas of pain predominate in almost every mind. 
 What is recollection but a revival of vexations, 
 or history, but a record of wars, treasons, and 
 calamities? Death, which is considered as the 
 greatest evil, happens to all. The gi-eatest good, 
 be it what it will, is the lot but of a part. 
 
 That they should often see death is to be ex- 
 pected; because death is an event frequent and 
 important. But they see likewise more pleasing 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 167 
 
 incidents. A gentleman told me, that when he 
 had once gone far from his own island, one of his 
 labouring servants predicted his return, and de- 
 scribed the livery of his attendant, which he had 
 never worn at home ; and which had been, without 
 any previous design, occasionally given him. 
 
 Our desire of information was keen, and our 
 inquiry frequent. Mr. Boswell's frankness and 
 gaiety made every body communicative; and we 
 heard many tales of these airy shows, with more 
 or less evidence and distinctness. 
 
 It is the common talk of the Lowland Scots, 
 that the notions of the Second Sight is wearing 
 away with other superstitions ; and that its reality 
 is no longer supposed, but by the grossest people^ 
 How far its prevalence ever extended, or what 
 giwnd it has lost, I know not. The islanders of 
 all degrees, whether of rank or understanding, 
 vmiver sally admit it, except the ministers, who 
 universally deny it, and are suspected to deny it, 
 in consequence of a system, against conviction. 
 One of them honestly told me, that he came to 
 Skye with a resolution not to believe it. 
 
 Strong reasons for incredulity will readily oc- 
 cur. This faculty of seeing things out of sight 
 is local, and commonly useless. It is a breach of 
 the common order of things, without any visible 
 reason or perceptible benefit. It is ascribed only 
 
168 JOURNEY TO THj; 
 
 to a people very little enlightened; and among 
 them, for the most part, to the mean and igno- 
 rant. 
 
 To the confidence of these objections, it may be 
 replied, that by presuming to determine what is 
 lit, and what is beneficial, they presuppose more 
 knowledge of the universal system than man has 
 attained; and therefore depend upon principles 
 too complicated and extensive for our compre- 
 hension ; and that there can be no security in the 
 ' consequence, when the premises are not under- 
 stood; that the Second Sight is only wonderful 
 because it is rare, for, considered in itself, it in- 
 volves no more difficulty than dreams, or perhaps 
 than the regular exercise of the cogitative faculty ; 
 that a general opinion of communicative impulses, 
 or visionary representations, has prevailed in all 
 ages and all nations; that particular instances have 
 been given, with such evidence as neither Bacon 
 nor Bayle has been able to resist ; that sudden im- 
 pressions, which the event has verified, have been 
 felt by more than own or publish them ; that the 
 Second Sight of the Hebrides impHes only the 
 local frequency of a power which is no where to- 
 tally unknown; and that where we are unable to 
 decide by antecedent reason, w^e must be content 
 to yield to the force of testimony. 
 
 By pretensions to Second Sight, no profit was 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. 169 
 
 ever sought or gained. It is an involuntary affec- 
 tion, in which neither hope nor fear are known to 
 have any part. Those who profess to feel it do 
 not boast of it as a privilege, nor are considered 
 by others as advantageously distinguished. They 
 have no temptation to feign; and their hearers 
 have no motive to encourage the imposture. 
 
 To talk with any of these seers is not easy. 
 There is one living in Skye, with whom we would 
 have gladly conversed; but he was very gross and 
 ignorant, and knew no English. The proportion 
 in these countries of the poor to the rich is such, 
 that if we suppose the quality to be accidental, it 
 can very rarely happen to a man of education ; and 
 yet on such men it has sometimes fallen. There is 
 now a second sighted gentleman in the Highlands, 
 who complains of the terrors to which he is ex- 
 posed. 
 
 The foresight of the seers is not always pre- 
 science : they are impressed with images, of which 
 the event only shows them the meaning. They 
 tell what they have seen to others, who are at 
 that time not more knowing than themselves, but 
 may become at last very adequate witnesses, by 
 comparing the narrative with its verification. 
 
 To collect sufficient testimonies for the satis* 
 faction of the pubKc, or of ourselves, would have 
 required more time than we could bestow. There 
 
 Y 
 
170 
 
 JOURNEY TO THE 
 
 is against it, the seeming analogy of things con- 
 fusedly seen, and little understood ; and for it, the 
 indistinct cry of national persuasion, which may 
 be perhaps resolved at last into prejudice and tra- 
 dition. I never could advance my curiosity to 
 conviction ; but came away at last only willing to 
 believe. 
 
 As there subsists no longer in the islands much 
 of that peculiar and discriminative form of life, of 
 which the idea had delighted our imagination, we 
 were willing to listen to such accounts of past times 
 as would be given us. But we soon found what 
 memorials were to be expected from an illiterate 
 people, whose whole time is a series of distress; 
 where every morning is labouring with expedients 
 for the evening; and where all mental pains or 
 pleasure arose from the dread of winter, the ex- 
 pectation of the spring, the caprices of their chiefs, 
 and the motions of the neighbouring clans ; where 
 there was neither shame from ignorance, nor pride 
 in knowledge; neither curiosity to inquire, nor 
 vanity to communicate. 
 
 The chiefs, indeed, were exempt from urgent 
 penury and daily difficulties ; and in their houses 
 were preserved what accounts remained of past 
 ages. But the chiefs were sometimes ignorant 
 and careless, and sometimes kept busy by turbu- 
 lence and contention ; and one generation of igno- 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 171 
 
 ranee effaces the whole series of unwritten history. 
 Books are faithful repositories, which may be a 
 while neglected or forgotten ; but when they are 
 opened again, will again impart their instruction : 
 memory, once interrupted, is not to be recalled. 
 Written learning is a fixed luminary, which, af- 
 ter the cloud that had hidden it has past away, is 
 again bright in its proper station. Tradition is 
 but a meteor, which, if once it falls, cannot be 
 rekindled. 
 
 It seems to be universally supposed, that much 
 of the local history was preserved by the bards, of 
 whom one is said to have been retained by every 
 great family. After these bards were some of my 
 • first inquiries ; and I received such answers as, for 
 a while, made me please myself with my increase 
 of knowledge, for I had not then learned how to 
 estimate the narration of a Highlander. 
 
 They said that a great family had a bard and 
 a senachie, who were the poet and historian of 
 the house ; and an old gentleman told me that he 
 remembered one of each. Here was a dawn of 
 intelligence. Of men that had lived within me- 
 mory, some certain knowledge might be attained. 
 Though the office had ceased, its effects might 
 continue ; the poems might be found though there 
 was no poet. 
 
 Another conversation, indeed, informed me, 
 
172 
 
 JOURNEY TO THE 
 
 that the same man was both bard and senaehie. 
 This variation discouraged me; but as the prac- 
 tice might be different in different times, or at 
 the same time in different famihes, there was yet 
 no reason for supposing that I must necessarily sit 
 down in total ignorance. 
 
 Soon after I was told by a gentleman, who is 
 generally acknowledged the greatest master of 
 Hebridian antiquities, that there had indeed once 
 been both bards and senachies ; and that senaehie 
 signified the man of talk, or of conversation ; but 
 that neither bard nor senaehie had existed for some 
 centuries. I have no reason to suppose it exactly 
 known at what time the custom ceased, nor did it 
 probably cease in all houses at once. But when- 
 ever the practice of recitation was disused, the 
 w^orks, whether poetical or historical, perished 
 with the authors ; for in those times nothing had 
 been written in the Erse language. 
 
 Whether the man of talk was an historian, 
 whose office was to tell truth, or a story-teller, 
 like those which were in the last century, and 
 perhaps are now among the Irish, whose trade 
 was only to amuse, it now would be vain to in^ 
 quire, 
 
 JNIost of the domestic offices were, I believe, 
 hereditary ; and probably the laureat of a clan was 
 always the son of the last laureat. The history of 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 173 
 
 the race could no otherwise be communicated or 
 retained ; but wiiat genius could be expected in a 
 poet by inheritance ? 
 
 The nation was wholly illiterate. Neither 
 bards nor senachies could write or read; but if 
 they were ignorant, there was no danger of de- 
 tection ; they were believed by those whose vanity 
 they flattered. 
 
 The recital of genealogies, which has been 
 considered as very efficacious to the preservation 
 of a true series of ancestry, was anciently made 
 when the heir of the family came to manly age. 
 This ipractice has never subsisted within time of 
 memory, nor was much credit due to such rehear- 
 sers, who might obtrude fictitious pedigrees, either 
 to please their masters, or to hide the deficiency of 
 their own memories. 
 
 Where the chiefs of the Highlands have found 
 the histories of their descent is difficult to tell ; for 
 no Erse genealogy was ever written. In general 
 this only is evident, that the principal house of a 
 clan must be very ancient, and that those must 
 have lived long in a place, ofVhom it is not 
 known when they came thither. 
 
 Thus hopeless are all attempts to find any 
 traces of Highland learning. Nor are their primi- 
 tive customs and ancient manner of life otherwise 
 
174 
 
 JOURNEY TO THE 
 
 than very faintly and uncertainly remembered by 
 the present race. 
 
 The peculiarities which strike the native of a 
 commercial country, proceeded in a great measure 
 from the want of money. To the servants and 
 dependants that were not domestics, (and, if an es- 
 timate be made from the capacity of any of their 
 old houses which I have seen, their domestics could 
 have been but few,) were appropriated certain por- 
 tions of land for their support. Macdonald has a 
 piece of ground yet, called the bards' or senachies' 
 field. When a beef was killed for the house, par- 
 ticular parts were claimed as fees by the several 
 officers, or workmen. What was the right of each 
 I have not learned. The head belonged to the 
 smith, and the udder of a cow to the piper ; the 
 weaver had likewise his particular part; and so 
 many pieces followed these prescriptive claims, 
 that the laird's was at last but little. 
 
 The payment of rent in kind has been so long 
 disused in England, that it is totally forgotten. 
 It was practised very lately in the Hebrides, and 
 probably still continues, not only at St. Kilda, 
 where money is not yet known, but in others of 
 the smaller and remoter islands. It were perhaps 
 to be desired, that no change in this particular 
 should have been made. When the laird could 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 175 
 
 only eat the produce of his lands, he was under 
 the necessity of residing upon them; and when 
 the tenant could not convert his stock into more 
 portable riches, he could never be tempted away 
 from his farm, from the only place where he could 
 be wealthy. Money confounds subordination, by 
 overpowering the distinctions of rank and birth, 
 and weakens authority, by supplying power of 
 resistance, or expedients for escape. The feudal 
 system is formed for a nation employed in agri- 
 culture, and has never long kept its hold where 
 gold and silver have become common. 
 
 Their arms were anciently the claymore, or 
 great twohanded sword, and afterwards the two- 
 edged sword and target, or buckler, which was 
 sustained on the left arm. In the midst of the 
 target, which was made of wood covered with 
 leather, and studded with nails, a slender lance, 
 about two feet long, was sometimes fixed ; it was 
 heavy and cumbrous, and accordingly has for 
 sometime past been gradually laid aside. Very 
 few targets were at Culloden. The dirk, or broad 
 dagger, I am afraid, was of more use in private 
 quarrels than in battles. The Lochaber axe is 
 only a slight alteration of the old Enghsh bill. 
 
 After all that has been said of the force and 
 terror of the Highland sword, I could not find 
 that the art of defence was any part of common 
 
176 
 
 JOURNEV TO THE 
 
 education. The gentlemen were perhaps some- 
 times skilful gladiators, but the common men had 
 no other powers than those of violence and cour- 
 age. Yet it is well known, that the onset of the 
 Highlanders was very formidable. As an army 
 cannot consist of philosophers, a panic is easily 
 excited by any unwonted mode of annoyance. 
 New dangers are naturally magnified ; and men 
 accustomed only to exchange bullets at a distance, 
 and rather to hear their enemies than see them, are 
 discouraged and amazed when they find them- 
 selves encountered hand to hand, and catch the 
 gleam of steel flashing in their faces. 
 
 The Highland weapons gave opportunity for 
 many exertions of personal courage, and some- 
 times for single combats in the field; like those 
 which occur so frequently in fabulous wars. At 
 Falkirk, a gentleman now living was, I suppose, 
 after the retreat of the king's troops, engaged at 
 a distance from the rest with an Irish dragoon. 
 They were both skilful swordsmen, and the con- 
 test was not easily decided: the dragoon at last 
 had the advantage, and the Highlander called for 
 quarter; but quarter was refused him, and the 
 fight continued till he was reduced to defend him- 
 self upon his knee. At that instant one of the 
 Macleods came to his rescue; who, as it is said, 
 offered quarter to the dragoon, but he thought 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. 177 
 
 himself obliged to reject what he had before re- 
 fused, and, as battle gives little time to deliberate, 
 was immediately killed. 
 
 Funerals were formerly solemnized by calling 
 multitudes together, and entertaining them at a 
 great expense. This emulation of useless cost has 
 been for some time discouraged, and at last, in the 
 isle of Skye, is almost suppressed. 
 
 Of the Erse language, as I understand nothing, 
 I cannot say more than I have been told. It is 
 the rude speech of a barbarous people, who had 
 few thoughts to express, and were content, as 
 they conceived grossly, to be grossly understood. 
 After what has been lately talked of Highland 
 bards, and Highland genius, many will startle 
 when they are told, that the Erse never was a 
 written language; that there is not in the world 
 an Erse manuscript a hundred years old ; and 
 that the sounds of the Highlanders were never 
 expressed by letters, till some little books of pie- 
 ty were translated, and a metrical version of the 
 Psalms was made by the synod of Argyle. Who- 
 ever, therefore, now writes in this language, spells 
 according to his own perception of the sound, and 
 his own idea of the power of the letters. The 
 Welsh, and the Irish are cultivated tongues. The 
 Welsh, two hundred years ago, insulted their 
 English neighbours for the instability of their 
 
 z 
 
178 
 
 JOURNEY TO THE 
 
 orthography ; while the Erse merely floated in the 
 breath of the people, and could therefore receive 
 little improvement. 
 
 When a language begins to teem with books, it 
 is tending to refinement ; as those who undertake 
 to teach others must have undergone some labour 
 in improving themselves, they set a proportionate 
 value on their own thoughts, and wish to enforce 
 them by efficacious expressions ; speech becomes 
 embodied and permanent; different modes and 
 phrases are compared, and the best obtains an 
 estabUshment. By degrees, one age improves 
 upon another. Exactness is first obtained, and 
 afterwards elegance. But diction, merely vocal, 
 is always in its childhood. As no man leaves 
 his eloquence behind him, the new generations 
 have all to learn. There may possibly be books 
 without a polished language, but there can be no 
 polished language without books. 
 
 That the bards could not read more than the 
 rest of their countrymen, it is reasonable to sup- 
 pose; because, if they had read, they could pro- 
 bably have written; and how high their compo- 
 sitions may reasonably be rated, an inquirer may 
 best judge by considering what stores of imagery, 
 what principles of ratiocination, what comprehen- 
 sion of knowledge, and what delicacy of elocution 
 he has known any man attain who cannot read. 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 179 
 
 The state of the bards was yet more hopeless. 
 He that cannot read may now converse with those 
 that can ; but the bard was a barbarian among 
 barbarians, who, knowing nothing himself, lived 
 with others that knew no more. 
 
 There has lately been in the islands one of 
 these illiterate poets, who hearing the Bible read 
 at church, is said to have turned the sacred history 
 into verse. I heard part of a dialogue, composed 
 by him, translated by a young lady in Mull, and 
 thought it had more meaning than I expected 
 from a man totally uneducated ; but he had some 
 opportunities of knowledge; he lived among a 
 learned people. After all that has been done for 
 the instruction of the Highlanders, the antipathy 
 between their language and literature still conti- 
 nues ; and no man that has learned only Erse, is 
 at this time able to read. 
 
 The Erse has many dialects, and the words 
 used in some islands are not always known in oth- 
 ers. In literate nations, though the pronunciation, 
 and sometimes the words of common speech, may 
 differ, as now in England, compared with the 
 south of Scotland, yet there is a written diction, 
 which pervades all dialects, and is understood in 
 every province. But where the whole language 
 is colloquial, he that has only one part never gets 
 
180 
 
 JOURNEY TO THE 
 
 the rest, as he cannot get it but by change of 
 residence. 
 
 In an unwritten speech, nothing that is not 
 very short is transmitted from one generation to 
 another. Few have opportunities of hearing a 
 long composition often enough to learn it, or have 
 inclination to repeat it so often as is necessary to 
 retain it ; and what is once forgotten is lost for 
 ever. I believe there cannot be recovered in the 
 whole Erse language, five hundred lines of which 
 there is any evidence to prove them a hundred 
 years old. Yet I hear that the father of Ossian 
 boasts of two chests more of ancient poetry, which 
 he suppresses, because they are too good for the 
 English. 
 
 He that goes into the Highlands with a mind 
 naturally acquiescent, and a credulity eager for 
 wonders, may come back with an opinion very 
 different from mine ; for the inhabitants, knowing 
 the ignorance of all strangers in their language 
 and antiquities, perhaps are not very scrupulous 
 adherents to truth; yet I do not say that they 
 deliberately speak studied falsehood, or have a 
 settled purpose to deceive. They have inquired 
 and considered little, and do not always feel their 
 own ignorance. They are not much accustomed 
 to be interrogated by others : and seem never to 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 181 
 
 have thought upon interrogating themselves; so 
 that if they do not know what they tell to be 
 true, they likewise do not distinctly perceive it 
 to be false. 
 
 Mr. Boswell was very diligent in his inquiries ; 
 and the result of his investigations was, that the 
 answer to the second question was commonly such 
 as nullified the answer to the first. 
 
 We were a while told, that they had an old 
 translation of the scriptures; and told it till it 
 would appear obstinacy to inquire again. Yet by 
 continued accumulation of questions we found, 
 that the translation meant, if any meaning there 
 were, was nothing else than the Irish Bible. 
 
 We heard of manuscripts that were, or that 
 had been, in the hands of somebody's father, or 
 grandfather ; but at last we had no reason to be- 
 lieve they were other than Irish. Martin men- 
 tions Irish, but never any Erse manuscripts, to 
 be found in the islands in his time. 
 
 I suppose my opinion of the poems of Ossian 
 is already discovered. I believe they never ex- 
 isted in any other form than that which we have 
 seen. The editor, or author, never could show 
 the original ; nor can it be shown by any other ; 
 to revenge reasonable incredulity, by refusing evi- 
 dence, is a degree of insolence, with which the 
 world is not yet acquainted; and stubborn auda- 
 
182 
 
 JOURNEY TO THE 
 
 city is the last refuge of guilt. It would be easy 
 to show it if he had it ; but whence could it be 
 had ? It is too long to be remembered, and the 
 language formerly had nothing written. He has 
 doubtless inserted names that circulated in popu- 
 lar stories, and may have translated some wander- 
 ing ballads, if any can be found ; and the names, 
 and some of the images, being recollected, make 
 an inaccurate auditor imagine, by the help of Ca- 
 ledonian bigotry, that he has formerly heard the 
 whole. 
 
 I asked a very learned minister in Skye, who had 
 used all arts to make me believe the genuineness 
 of the book, whether at last he believed it himself? 
 but he would not answer. He wished me to be 
 deceived for the honour of his country ; but would 
 not directly and formally deceive me. Yet has this 
 man's testimony been publicly produced, as of one 
 that held Fingal to be the work of Ossian. 
 
 It is said, that some men of integrity profess 
 to have heard parts of it, but they all heard them 
 when they were boys ; and it was never said that 
 any of them could recite six lines. They remember 
 names, and perhaps some proverbial sentiments ; 
 and having no distinct ideas, coin a resemblance 
 without an original. The persuasion of the Scots, 
 however, is far from universal ; and in a question 
 so capable of proof, why should doubt be suffered 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 183 
 
 to continue ? The editor has been heard to say, 
 that part of the poem was received by him in the 
 Saxon character. He has then found, by some 
 peculiar fortune, an unwritten language, written 
 in a character which the natives probably never 
 beheld. 
 
 I have yet supposed no imposture but in the 
 publisher ; yet I am far from certainty, that some 
 translations have not been lately made, that may 
 now be obtruded as parts of the original work. 
 Credulity on one part is a strong temptation to 
 deceit on the other, especially to deceit of which 
 no personal injury is the consequence, and which 
 flatters the author with his own ingenuity. The 
 Scots have something to plead for their easy re- 
 ception of an improbable fiction : they are seduced 
 by their fondness for their supposed ancestors. A 
 Scotchman must be a very sturdy moralist, who 
 does not love Scotland better than truth ; he will 
 always love it better than inquiry : and if falsehood 
 flatters his vanity, will not be very diligent to de- 
 tect it. Neither ought the English to be much 
 influenced by Scotch authority; for of the past 
 and present state of the whole Erse nation, the 
 Lowlanders are at least as ignorant as ourselves. 
 To be ignorant is painful ; but it is dangerous to 
 quiet our uneasiness by the delusive opiate of hasty 
 persuasion. 
 
184 
 
 JOURNEY TO THE 
 
 But this is the age in which those who could 
 not read, have been supposed to write ; in which 
 the giants of antiquated romance have been exhi- 
 bited as reaUties. If we know little of the ancient 
 Highlanders, let us not fill the vacuity with Os- 
 sian. If we have not searched the Magellanic 
 regions, let us however forbear to people them 
 with Patagons. 
 
 Having waited some days at Armidel, we 
 were flattered at last with a wind that promised 
 to convey us to Mull. We went on board a 
 boat that was taking in kelp, and left the isle of 
 Skye behind us. We were doomed to experi- 
 ence, like others, the danger of trusting to the 
 wind, which blew against us, in a short time, with 
 such violence, that we, being no seasoned sailors, 
 were willing to call it a tempest. I was seasick, 
 and lay down. Mr. Boswell kept the deck. The 
 master knew not well whither to go ; and our dif- 
 ficulties might perhaps have filled a very pathetic 
 page, had not Mr. Maclean of Col, who, with 
 every other qualification which insular life re- 
 quires, is a very active and skilful mariner, piloted 
 us safe into his own harbour. 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 185 
 
 In the morning we found ourselves under the 
 isle of Col, where we landed; and passed the first 
 day and night with Captain Maclean, a gentleman 
 who has lived some time in the East Indies, but 
 having dethroned no Nabob, is not too rich to 
 settle in his own country. 
 
 Next day the wind was fair, and we might have 
 had an easy passage to Mull ; but having, contra- 
 rily to our own intention, landed upon a new is- 
 land, we would not leave it wholly unexamined. 
 We therefore suffered the vessel to depart without 
 us, and trusted the skies for another wind. 
 
 Mr. Maclean of Col, having a very numerous 
 family, has, for some time past, resided at Aber- 
 deen, that he may superintend their education, 
 and leaves the young gentleman, our friend, to 
 govern his dominions, with the full power of a 
 Highland chief By the absence of the laird's fa- 
 mily, our entertainment was made more difficult, 
 because the house was in a great degree disfur- 
 nished; but young Col's kindness and activity 
 supplied all defects, and procured us more than 
 sufficient accommodation. 
 
 Here I first mounted a little Highland steed ; 
 and if there had been many spectators, should 
 
 S A 
 
186 
 
 JOURNEY TO THE 
 
 have been somewhat ashamed of my figure in the 
 march. The horses of the islands, as of other 
 barren countries, are very low : they are indeed 
 musculous and strong, beyond what their size 
 gives reason for expecting ; but a bulky man upon 
 one of their backs makes a very disproportionate 
 appearance. 
 
 From the habitation of Captain Maclean we 
 went to Grissipol, but called by the way on Mr. 
 Hector JNIaclean, the minister of Col, whom we 
 found in a hut, that is, a house of only one floor, 
 but with windows and chimney, and not inele- 
 gantly furnished. Mr. Maclean has the reputation 
 of great learning : he is seventy-seven years old, 
 but not infirm, with a look of venerable dignity 
 excelling what I remember in any other man. 
 
 His conversation was not unsuitable to his ap- 
 pearance. I lost some of his good will, by treat- 
 ing a heretical writer with more regard, than in his 
 opinion, a heretic could deserve. I honoured his 
 orthodoxy, and did not much censure his asperity. 
 A man who has settled his opinions, does not love 
 to have the tranquillity of his conviction disturbed; 
 and at seventy-seven it is time to be in earnest. 
 
 Mention was made of the Erse translation of 
 the New Testament, which has been lately pub- 
 lislied, and of which the learned Mr. Macqueen of 
 Skye spoke with commendation; but Mr. Maclean 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 187 
 
 said, he did not use it, because he could make 
 the text more intelligible to his auditors by an 
 extemporary version. From this I inferred, that 
 the language of the translation was not the lan- 
 guage of the isle of Col. 
 
 He has no public edifice for the exercise of his 
 ministry ; and can officiate to no greater number 
 than a room can contain ; and the room of a hut 
 is not very large. This is all the opportunity of 
 worship that is now granted to the inhabitants 
 of the island, some of whom must travel thither 
 perhaps ten miles. Two chapels were erected 
 by their ancestors, of which I saw the skeletons, 
 which now stand faithful witnesses of the triumph 
 of Keformation. 
 
 The want of churches is not the only impedi- 
 ment to piety : there is likewise a want of minis- 
 ters. A parish often contains more islands than 
 one ; and each island can have the minister only 
 in its own turn. At Raasay, they had, I think, 
 a right to service only every third Sunday. All 
 the provision made by the present ecclesiastical 
 constitution, for the inhabitants of about a hun- 
 dred square miles, is a prayer and sermon in a 
 little room, once in three weeks; and even this 
 parsimonious distribution is at the mercy of the 
 weather : and in those islands where the minister 
 does not reside, it is impossible to tell how many 
 
188 JOURNEY TO THE 
 
 weeks or months may pass without any public 
 exercise of religion. 
 
 iSrissipuI in €oh 
 
 After a short conversation with Mr. Maclean, 
 we went on to Grissipol, a house and farm tenanted 
 by Mr. Macsweyn, where I saw more of the ancient 
 life of a Highlander than I had yet found. Mrs. 
 Macsweyn could speak no English, and had never 
 seen any other places than the islands of Skye, 
 Mull, and Col : but she was hospitable and good- 
 humoured, and spread her table with sufficient 
 liberality. We found tea here, as in every other 
 place, but our spoons were of horn. 
 
 The house of Grissipol stands by a brook very 
 clear and quick ; which is, I suppose, one of the 
 most copious streams in the island. This place 
 was the scene of an action, much celebrated in the 
 traditional history of Col, but which probably no 
 two relaters will tell alike. 
 
 Some time, in the obscure ages, Macneil of Barra 
 married the lady Maclean, who had the isle of Col 
 for her jointure. Whether Macneil detained Col, 
 when the widow was dead, or whether she lived 
 so long as to make her heirs impatient, is perhaps 
 not now known. The younger son, called John 
 Gerves, or John the Giant, a man of great strength, 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 189 
 
 who was then in Ireland, either for safety or for 
 education, dreamed of recovering his inheritance ; 
 and getting some adventurers together, which in 
 those unsettled times was not hard to do, invaded 
 Col. He was driven away, but was not discour- 
 aged, and collecting new followers, in three years 
 came again with fifty men. In his way he stopped 
 at Artorinish in Morven, where his uncle was 
 prisoner to Macleod, and was then with his ene- 
 mies in a tent. Maclean took with him only 
 one servant, whom he ordered to stay at the out- 
 side ; and where he should see the tent pressed 
 outwards, to strike with his dirk; it being the 
 intention of Maclean, as any man provoked him, 
 to lay hands upon him, and push him back. He 
 entered the tent alone, with his Lochaber axe in 
 his hand, and struck such terror into the whole 
 assembly, that they dismissed his uncle. 
 
 When he landed at Col, he saw the sentinel, 
 who kept watch towards the sea, running off to 
 Grissipol, to give Macneil, who was there with a 
 hundred and twenty men, an account of the inva- 
 sion. He told Macgill, one of his followers, that 
 if he intercepted that dangerous intelligence, by 
 catching the courier, he would give him certain 
 lands in Mull. Upon this promise, Macgill put- 
 sued the messenger, and either killed or stopped 
 
190 
 
 JOURNEY TO THE 
 
 him ; and his posterity, till very lately, held the 
 lands in Mull. 
 
 The alarm being thus prevented, he came un- 
 expectedly upon Macneil. Chiefs were in those 
 days never wholly unprovided for an enemy. A 
 fight ensued, in which one of their followers is 
 said to have given an extraordinary proof of acti- 
 vity, by bounding backwards over the brook of 
 Qrissipol. Macneil being killed, and many of his 
 clan destroyed, IMaclean took possession of the 
 island, which the IMacneils attempted to conquer 
 by another invasion, but were defeated and re- 
 pulsed. 
 
 Maclean, in his turn, invaded the estate of the 
 Maciieils, took the castle of Brecacig, and con- 
 quered the isle of Barra, which he held for seven 
 years, and then restored it to the heirs. 
 
 Castle ot €ol 
 
 yrom Grissipol Mr. IMaclean conducted us to his 
 father's seat ; a neat new house erected near the 
 old castle, 1 think, by the last proprietor. Here 
 we were allowed to take our station, and lived 
 very commodiously, while we waited for moderate 
 weather and a fair wind, which we did not so soon 
 obtain, but we had time to get some information 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 191 
 
 of the present state of Col, partly by inquiry, and 
 partly by occasional excursions. 
 
 Col is computed to be thirteen miles in length, 
 and three in breadth. Both the ends are the pro- 
 perty of the Duke of Argyle, but the middle be- 
 longs to Maclean, who is called Col, as the only 
 laird. 
 
 Col is not properly rocky ; it is rather one con-* 
 tinned rock, of a surface much diversified with proy 
 tuberances, and covered with a thin layer of earth, 
 which is often broken, and discovers the stone. 
 Such a soil is not for plants that strike deep roots ; 
 and perhaps in the whole island nothing has ever 
 yet grown to the height of a table. The unculti- 
 vated parts are clothed with heath, among which 
 industry has interspersed spots of grass and corns ; 
 but no attempt has been made to raise a tree.. 
 Young Col, who has a very laudable desire of 
 improving his patrimony, purposes some time to 
 plant an orchard; which, if it be sheltered by a 
 wall, may perhaps succeed. He has introduced 
 the culture of turnips, of which he has a field, 
 v/here the whole work was performed by his own 
 hand. His intention is to provide food for his 
 cattle in the winter. This innovation was consi- 
 dered by Mr. Macsweyn as the idle project of a 
 young head, heated with English fancies ; but he 
 
192 
 
 JOURNEY TO THE 
 
 has now found that turnips will really grow, and 
 that hungry sheep and cows will really eat them. 
 
 By such acquisitions as these, the Hebrides may 
 in time rise above their annual distress. Where- 
 ever heath will grow, there is reason to think some- 
 thing better may draw nourishment ; and by try- 
 ing the production of other places, plants will be 
 ffound suitable to every soil. 
 ^ Col has many lochs, some of which have trouts 
 and eels, and others have never yet been stocked ; 
 another proof of the negligence of the islanders, 
 who might take fish in the Inland waters when 
 they cannot go to sea. 
 
 Their quadrupeds are horses, cows, sheep, and 
 goats. They have neither deer, hares, nor rabbits. 
 They have no vermin except rats, which have been 
 lately brought thither by sea, as to other places ; 
 and are free from serpents, frogs, and toads. 
 
 The harvest in Col and in Lewis, is ripe sooner 
 than in Sky e, and the winter in Col is never cold, 
 but very tempestuous. I know not that I ever 
 heard the wind so loud in any other place; and 
 Mr. Boswell observed that its noise was all its 
 own, for there was no trees to increase it. 
 
 Noise is not the worst effect of the tempests : 
 for they have thrown sand from the shore over a 
 considerable part of the land, and is said still to 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 193 
 
 encroach and destroy more and more pasture ; but 
 I am not of opinion, that by any surveys or land- 
 marks, its limits have been ever fixed, or its pro- 
 gression ascertained. If one man has confidence 
 enough to say, that it advances, nobody can bring 
 any proof to support him in denying it. The 
 reason why it is not spread to a greater extent, 
 seems to be, that the wind and rain come almost 
 together, and that it is made close and heavy hyt' 
 the wet before the storms can put it in motion. 
 So thick is the bed, and so small the particles, 
 that if a traveller should be caught by a sudden 
 gust in dry weather, he would find it very diffi- 
 cult to escape with life. 
 
 For natural curiosities I was shown only two 
 great masses of stone, which lie loose upon the 
 ground ; one on the top of a hill, and the other at 
 a small distance from the bottom. They certainly 
 were never put into their present places by human 
 strength or skill ; and though an earthquake might 
 have broken off the lower stone, and rolled it into 
 the valley, no account can be given of the other, 
 which lies on the hill, unless, which I forgot to 
 examine, there be still near it some higher rock, 
 from which it might be torn. All nations have a 
 tradition, that their earliest ancestors were giantsj 
 and these stones are said to have been thrown up 
 and down by a giant and his mistress. There are 
 
 2 B 
 
194 
 
 JOURNEY TO THE 
 
 SO many more important things of which human 
 knowledge can give no account, that it may be 
 forgiven us, if we speculate no longer on two 
 stones in Col. 
 
 This island is very populous. About nine-and- 
 twenty years ago, the fencible men of Col were 
 reckoned one hundred and forty ; which is the 
 sixth of eight hundred and forty; and probably 
 fiome contrived to be left out of the list. The mi- 
 nister told us, that a few years ago the inhabitants 
 were eight hundred, between the ages of seven and 
 of seventy. Round numbers are seldom exact. 
 But in this case the authority is good, and the 
 error likely to be little. If to the eight hundred 
 be added what the laws of computation require, 
 they will be increased to at least a thousand ; and 
 if the dimensions of the country have been accu- 
 rately related, every mile maintains more than 
 twenty-five. 
 
 This proportion of habitation is greater than 
 the appearance of the country seems to admit; 
 for wherever the eye wanders, it seems much 
 waste, and little cultivation. I am more inclined 
 to extend the land, of which no measure has ever 
 been taken, than to diminish the people, who have 
 been really numbered. Let it be supposed, that a 
 computed mile contains a mile and a half, as was 
 commonly found true in the mensuration of the 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 195 
 
 English roads, and we shall then allot nearly 
 twelve to a mile, which agrees much better with 
 ocular observation. 
 
 Here, as in Skye, and other islands, are the 
 laird, the tacksmen, and the under-tenants. 
 
 Mr. Maclean, the laird, has very extensive 
 possessions, being proprietor, not only of far the 
 greater part of Col, but of the extensive island of 
 Rum, and a very considerable territory in Mull. 
 
 Rum is one of the larger islands, almost square, 
 and therefore of great capacity in proportion to its 
 sid^s. By the usual method of estimating compu- 
 ted extent, it may contain more than a hundred 
 and twenty square miles. 
 
 It originally belonged to Clanronald, and was 
 purchased by Col; who, in some dispute about the 
 bargain, made Clanronald prisoner, and kept him 
 nine months in confinement. Its owner repre- 
 sents it as mountainous, rugged, and barren. In 
 the hills there are red deer. The horses are very 
 small, but of a breed eminent for beauty. Col, 
 not long ago, bought one of them from a tenant ; 
 who told him, that as he was of a shape uncom- 
 monly elegant, he could not sell him but at a high 
 price; and that whoever had him should pay a 
 guinea and a half 
 
 There are said to be in Barra a race of horses 
 
196 
 
 JOURNEY TO THE 
 
 yet smaller, of which the highest is not above 
 thirty-six inches. 
 
 The rent of Hum is not great. Mr. Maclean 
 declared that he should be very rich, if he could 
 set his land at twopence halfpenny an acre. The 
 inhabitants are fifty-eight families, who continued 
 papists for some time after the laird became a pro 
 testant. Their adherence to their old religion was 
 strengthened by the countenance of the laird's sis- 
 ter, a zealous Romanist, till one Sunday, as they 
 were going to mass under the conduct of their pa- 
 troness, Maclean met them on the way, gave one 
 of them a blow on the head with a yellow stick, I 
 suppose a cane, for which the Erse had no name, 
 and drove them to the kirk, from which they have 
 never since departed. Since the use of this method 
 of conversion, the inhabitants of Egg and Canna, 
 who continue papists, call the protestantism of 
 Rum the religion of the Yellow Stick. 
 
 The only popish islands are Egg and Canna. 
 Egg is the principal island of a parish, in which, 
 though he has no congregation, the protestant 
 minister resides. I have heard of nothing curious 
 in it, but the cave in which a former generation of 
 the islanders were smothered by Macleod. 
 
 If we had travelled with more leisure, it had 
 not been lit to have neglected the popish islands. 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. 197 
 
 Popery is favourable to ceremony ; and among 
 ignorant nations ceremony is the only preservative 
 of tradition. Since protestantism was extended 
 to the savage parts of Scotland, it has perhaps 
 been one of the chief labours of the ministers to 
 abolish stated observances, because they continued 
 the remembrance of the former religion. We, 
 therefore, who came to hear old traditions, and 
 see antiquated manners, should probably have 
 found them amongst the papists. 
 
 Canna, the other popish island, belongs to 
 Clanronald. It is said not to comprise more than 
 twelve miles of land, and yet maintains as many 
 inhabitants as Rum. 
 
 We were at Col under the protection of the 
 young laird, without any of the distresses which 
 Mr. Pennant, in a fit of simple credulity, seems 
 to think almost worthy of an elegy by Ossian. 
 Wherever we roved, we were pleased to see the 
 reverence with which his subjects regarded him. 
 He did not endeavour to dazzle them by any 
 magnificence of dress : his only distinction was a 
 feather in his bonnet; but as soon as he appeared, 
 they forsook their work and clustered about him : 
 he took them by the hand, and they seemed mu- 
 tually delighted. He has the proper disposition 
 of a chieftain, and seems desirous to continue the 
 customs of his house. The bagpiper played regu- 
 
198 
 
 JOURNEY TO THE 
 
 larly, when dinner was served, whose person and 
 dress made a good appearance; and he brought 
 no disgrace upon the family of Rankin, which 
 has long suppUed the lairds of Col with hereditary 
 music. 
 
 The tacksmen of Col seem to live with less dig- 
 nity and convenience than those of Skye ; where 
 they had good houses, and tables not only plen- 
 tiful, but delicate. In Col only two houses pay 
 the window tax ; for only two have six windows, 
 which, 1 suppose, are the laird's and Mr. Mac- 
 sweyn's. 
 
 The rents have, till within seven years, been 
 paid in kind; but the tenants finding that cattle 
 and corn varied in their price, desired for the fu- 
 ture to give their landlord money; which, not 
 having yet arrived at the philosophy of commerce, 
 they consider as being every year of the same 
 value. 
 
 W e were told of a particular mode of under- 
 tenure. The tacksman admits some of his inferior 
 neighbours to the cultivation of his grounds, on 
 condition that, performing all the work, and giving 
 a third part of the seed, they shall keep a certain 
 number of cows, sheep, and goats, and reap a third 
 part of the harvest. Thus by less than the tillage 
 of two acres they pay the rent of one. 
 
 There are tenants below the rank of tacksmen, 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 199 
 
 that have got smaller tenants under them; for 
 in every place, where money is not the general 
 equivalent, there must be some whose labour is 
 immediately paid by daily food. 
 
 A country that has no money, is by no means 
 convenient for beggars, both because such coun- 
 tries are commonly poor, and because charity re- 
 quires some trouble and some thought. A penny 
 is easily given upon the first impulse of compas- 
 sion, or impatience of importunity ; but few will 
 deliberately search their cupboards or their gra- 
 naries to lind out something to give. A penny 
 is likewise easily spent ; but victuals, if they 
 are unprepared, require house-room, and fire, and 
 utensils, which the beggar knows not where to 
 find. 
 
 Yet beggars there sometimes are, who wander 
 from island to island. We had, in our passage to 
 Mull, the company of a woman and her child, who 
 had exhausted the charity of Col. The arrival of 
 a beggar on an island is accounted a sinistrous 
 event. Every body considers that he shall have 
 the less for wliat he gives away. Their alms, I 
 believe, is generally oatmeal. 
 
 Near to Col is another island called Tirey, 
 eminent for its fertility. Though it has but half 
 the extent of Rum, it is so well peopled, that 
 there have appeared, not long ago, nine hundred 
 
200 
 
 JOURNEY TO THE 
 
 and fourteen at a funeral. The plenty of this 
 island enticed beggars to it, who seemed so bur- 
 then some to the inhabitants, that a formal compact 
 was drawn up, by which they obliged themselves 
 to grant no more relief to casual wanderers, be- 
 cause they had among them an indigent woman of 
 high birth, whom they considered as entitled to all 
 that they could spare. I have read the stipulation, 
 which was indited with juridical formality, but 
 was never made valid by regular subscription. 
 
 If the inhabitants of Col have nothing to give, 
 it is not that they are oppressed by their landlord : 
 their leases seem to be very profitable. One far- 
 mer, who pays only seven pounds a year, has 
 maintained seven daughters and three sons, of 
 whom the eldest is educated at Aberdeen for the 
 ministry; and now, at every vacation, opens a 
 school in Col. 
 
 Life is here, in some respects, improved beyond 
 the condition of some other islands. In Skye, 
 what is wanted can only be bought, as the arri- 
 val of some wandering pedlar may afford an op- 
 portunity ; but in Col there is a standing shop, 
 and in Mull there are two. A shop in the is- 
 lands, as in other places of little frequentation, is 
 a repository of every thing requisite for common 
 use. Mr. Boswell's journal was filled, and he 
 bought some paper in Col. To a man that ranges 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 201 
 
 the streets of London, where he is tempted to 
 contrive wants for the pleasure of supplying them, 
 a shop affords no image worthy of attention ; but 
 in an island, it turns the balance of existence be- 
 tween good and evil. To live in perpetual want 
 of little things, is a state not indeed of torture, 
 but of constant vexation. I have in Skye had 
 some difficulty to find ink for a letter ; and if a 
 woman breaks her needle, the work is at a stop. 
 
 As it is, the islanders are obliged to content 
 themselves with succedaneous means for many 
 common purposes. I have seen the chief man 
 of a very wide district riding with a halter for a 
 bridle, and governing his hobby with a wooden 
 curb. 
 
 The people of Col, however, do not want dex- 
 terity to supply some of their necessities. Several 
 arts which make trades, and demand apprentice- 
 ships in great cities, are here the practices of daily 
 economy. In every house candles are made, both 
 moulded and dipped. Their wicks are small shreds 
 of linen cloth. They all know how to extract from 
 the cuddy oil for their lamps. They all tan skins, 
 and make brogues. 
 
 As we travelled through Skye, we saw many 
 cottages, but they very frequently stood single on 
 the naked ground. In Col, where the hills opened 
 a place convenient for habitation, we found a petty 
 
 2 c 
 
202 
 
 JOURNEY TO THE 
 
 village, of which every hut had a little garden 
 adjoining; thus they made an appearance of social 
 commerce and mutual offices, and of some atten- 
 tion to convenience and future supply. There 
 is not in the Western Islands any collection of 
 buildings that can make pretensions to be called 
 a town, except in the isle of Lewis, which I have 
 not seen. 
 
 If Lewis is distinguished by a town. Col has 
 also something peculiar. The young laird has at- 
 tempted what no islander, perhaps, ever thought 
 on. He has begim a road capable of a wheel car- 
 riage. He has carried it about a mile, and will 
 continue it by annual elongation from his house 
 to the harbour. 
 
 Of taxes here is no reason for complaining; 
 they are paid by a very easy composition. The 
 malt tax for Col is twenty shillings. Whisky is 
 very plentiful ; there are several stills in the island, 
 and more is made than the inhabitants consume. 
 
 The great business of insular policy is now to 
 keep the people in their own country. As the 
 world has been let in upon them, they have heard 
 of happier climates, and less arbitrary government ; 
 and if they are disgusted, have emissaries among 
 them ready to offer them land and houses, as a 
 reward for deserting their chief and clan. Many 
 have departed both from the main of Scotland, 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 203 
 
 and from the islands; and all that go may be 
 considered as subjects lost to the British crown ; 
 for a nation scattered in the boundless regions of 
 America resembles rays diverging from a focus. 
 All the rays remain, but the heat is gone. Their 
 power consisted in their concentration : when they 
 are dispersed, they have no effect. 
 
 It may be thought that they are happier by the 
 change; but they are not happy as a nation, for 
 they are a nation no longer. As they contribute 
 not to the prosperity of any community, they must 
 want that security, that dignity, that happiness, 
 whatever it be, which a prosperous community 
 throws back upon individuals. 
 
 The inhabitants of Col have not yet learned to 
 be weary of their heath and rocks, but attend their 
 agriculture and their dairies, without listening to 
 American seducements. 
 
 There are some, however, who think that this 
 emigration has raised terror disproportionate to its 
 real evil; and that it is only a new mode of doing 
 what was always done. The Highlands, they say, 
 never maintained their natural inhabitants; but 
 the people, when they found themselves too nume- 
 rous, instead of extending cultivation, provided for 
 themselves by a more compendious method, and 
 sought better fortune in other countries. They 
 did not, indeed, go away in collective bodies, but 
 
204 
 
 JOURNEY TO THE 
 
 withdrew invisibly, a few at a time ; but the whole 
 number of fugitives was not less, and the difference 
 between other times and this, is only the same as 
 between evaporation and effusion. 
 
 This is plausible, but I am afraid it is not true. 
 Those who went before, if they were not sensi- 
 bly missed, as the argument supposes, must have 
 gone either in less number, or in a manner less 
 detrimental than at present; because formerly 
 there was no complaint. Those who then left 
 the country were generally the idle dependents 
 on overburdened families, or men who had no 
 property ; and therefore carried away only them- 
 selves. In the present eagerness of emigration, 
 families, and almost commimities, go away to- 
 gether. Those who were considered as prosperous 
 and wealthy, sell their stock and carry away the 
 money. Once none went away but the useless 
 and poor; in some parts there is now reason to 
 fear, that none will stay but those who are too 
 poor to remove themselves, and too useless to be 
 removed at the cost of others. 
 
 Of antiquity there is not more knowledge in 
 Col than in other places; but every where some- 
 thing may be gleaned. 
 
 How ladies were portioned, when there was no 
 money, it would be difficult for an Englishman to 
 guess. In 1649, Maclean of Dronart, in Mull, 
 
I 
 
 WESTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 205 
 
 married his sister Fingala to Maclean of Col, with 
 a hundred and eighty kine; and stipulated, that if 
 she became a widow, her jointure should be three 
 hundred and sixty. I suppose some proportionate 
 tract of land was appropriated to their pasturage. 
 
 The disposition to pompous and expensive 
 funerals, which has at one time or other prevailed 
 in most parts of the civilized world, is not yet 
 suppressed in the islands, though some of the an- 
 cient solemnities are worn away, and singers are no 
 longer hired to attend the procession. Nineteen 
 years ago, at the burial of the laird of Col, were 
 killed thirty cows, and about fifty sheep. The 
 number of the cows is positively told, and we must 
 suppose other victuals in like proportion. 
 
 Mr. Maclean informed us of an old game, of 
 which he did not tell the original, but which may 
 perhaps be used in other places, where the reason 
 of it is not yet forgot. At New-year's eve, in the 
 hall or castle of the laird, where, at festal seasons, 
 there may be supposed a very numerous company, 
 one man dresses himself in a cow's hide, upon which 
 other men beat with sticks. He runs with all this 
 noise round the house, which all the company quits 
 in a counterfeited fright : the door is then shut. 
 At New-year's eve there is no great pleasure to be 
 had out of doors in the Hebrides. They are sure 
 soon to recover from their terror enough to solicit 
 
206 
 
 JOURNEY TO THE 
 
 for re-admission : which, for the honour of poetry, 
 is not to be obtained but by repeating a verse, with 
 which those that are knowing and provident take 
 care to be furnished. 
 
 Very near the house of Maclean stands the 
 castle of Col, which was the mansion of the laird, 
 till the house was built. It is built upon a rock, 
 as Mr. Boswell remarked, that it might not be 
 mined. It is very strong, and having been not 
 long uninhabited, is yet in repair. On the wall 
 was, not long ago, a stone with an inscription, 
 importing, * That if any man of the clan of Mac- 
 lonich shall appear before this castle, though he 
 come at midnight, with a man's head in his hand, 
 he shall there find safety and protection against all 
 but the king.' 
 
 This is an old Highland treaty, made upon a 
 very memorable occasion. Maclean, the son of 
 John Gerves, who recovered Col, and conquered 
 Barra, had obtained, it is said, from James the 
 Second, a grant of the lands of Lochiel, forfeited, 
 I suppose, by some offence against the state. 
 
 Forfeited estates were not in those days quietly 
 resigned ; Maclean, therefore, went with an armed 
 force to seize his new possessions, and, I know not 
 for what reason, took his wife with him. The 
 .Camerons rose in defence of their chief, and a 
 battle was fought at the head of Loch Ness, near 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 207 
 
 the place where Fort Augustus now stands, in 
 which Lochiel obtained the victory, and Maclean, 
 with his followers, was defeated and destroyed. 
 
 The lady fell into the hands of the conquerors, 
 and being found pregnant, was placed in the cus- 
 tody of Maclonich, one of a tribe or family branch- 
 ed from Cameron, with orders, if she brought a boy, 
 to destroy him, if a girl, to spare her. 
 
 Maclonich's wife, who was with child likewise, 
 had a girl about the same time at which lady Mac- 
 lean brought a boy ; and Maclonich, with more 
 generosity to his captive, than fidelity to his trust, 
 contrived that the children should be changed. 
 
 Maclean being thus preserved from death, in 
 time recovered his original patrimony; and in 
 gratitude to his friend, made his castle a place of 
 refuge to any of the clan that should think himself 
 in danger ; and as a proof of reciprocal confidence, 
 Maclean took upon himself and his posterity the 
 care of educating the heir of Maclonich. 
 
 This story, like all other traditions of the 
 Highlands, is variously related ; but though some 
 circumstances are uncertain, the principal fact is 
 true. Maclean undoubtedly owed his preserva- 
 tion to Maclonich ; for the treaty between the two 
 families has been strictly observed : it did not sink 
 into disuse and oblivion, but continued in its full 
 force while the chieftains retained their power. I 
 
208 
 
 JOURNEY TO THE 
 
 have read a demand of protection, made not more 
 than thirty-seven years ago, for one of the Mac- 
 lonichs, named Ewen Cameron, who had been 
 accessory to the death of Macmartin, and had 
 been banished by Lochiel, his lord, for a certain 
 term ; at the expiration of which he returned 
 married from France; but the Macmartins, not 
 satisfied with the punishment, when he attemp- 
 ted to settle, still threatened him with vengeance. 
 He therefore asked, and obtained, shelter in the 
 isle of Col. 
 
 The power of protection subsists no longer; 
 but what the law permits is yet continued, and 
 Maclean of Col now educates the heir of Mac- 
 lonich. 
 
 There still remains in the islands, though it is 
 passing fast away, the custom of fosterage. A 
 laird, a man of wealth and eminence, sends his 
 child, either male or female, to a tacksman, or 
 tenant, to be fostered. It is not always his own 
 tenant, but some distant friend, that obtains this 
 honour; for an honour such a trust is very rea- 
 sonably thought. The terms of fosterage seem 
 to vary in different islands. In jNlull, the father 
 sends with his child a certain number of cows, to 
 which the same number is added by the fosterer. 
 The father appropriates a proportionable extent 
 of ground, without rent, for their pasturage. If 
 
WESTiiRN ISLANDS. 
 
 209 
 
 every cow brings a calf, half belongs to the foster- 
 er, 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 fosterer, with half of the increase of the stock 
 by propagation. These beasts are considered as a 
 portion, and called Macalive cattle, of which the 
 father has the produce, but is supposed not to have 
 the full property, but to owe the same number to 
 the child, as a portion to the daughter, or a stock 
 for the son. 
 
 Children continue with the fosterer perhaps six 
 years, and cannot, where this is the practice, be 
 considered as burdensome. The fosterer, if he 
 gives four cows, receives likewise four, and has, 
 while the child continues with him, grass for 
 eight without rent, with half the calves, and all 
 the milk, for which he pays only four cows, when 
 he dismisses his dalt, for that is the name for a 
 fostered child. 
 
 Fosterage is, I believe, sometimes performed 
 upon more liberal terms. Our friend, the young 
 laird of Col, was fostered by Macsweyn of Grissi- 
 pol. Macsweyn then lived a tenant to Sir James 
 Macdonald in the isle of Skye; and therefore Col, 
 whether he sent him cattle or not, could grant 
 him no land. The dalt, however, at his return, 
 
 2 D 
 
JOURNEY TO THE 
 
 brought back a considerable number of Macalive 
 cattle, and of the friendship so formed there have 
 been good effects. When Macdonald raised his 
 rents, Macsweyn was, like other tenants, discon- 
 tented, and, resigning his farm, removed from 
 Skye to Col, and was established at Grissipol. 
 
 These observations we made by favour of the 
 contrary wind that drove us to Col, an island not 
 often visited ; for there is not much to amuse cu- 
 riosity, or to attract avarice. 
 
 The ground has been hitherto, I believe, used 
 chiefly for pasturage. In a district, such as the 
 eye can command, there is a general herdsman, 
 who knows all the cattle of the neigbourhood, 
 and whose station is upon a hill, from which he 
 surveys the lower grounds ; and if one man's cat- 
 tle invade another's grass, drives them back to their 
 own borders. But other means of profit begin to 
 be found ; kelp is gathered and burnt, and sloops 
 are loaded with the concreted ashes. Cultivation 
 is likely to be improved by the skill and encour- 
 agement of the present heir, and the inhabitants 
 of those obscure valleys will partake of the general 
 progress of life. 
 
 The rents of the parts which belong to the duke 
 of Argyle, have been raised from fifty-five to one 
 hundred and five pounds, whether from the land 
 or the sea I cannot tell. The bounties of the sea 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 211 
 
 have lately been so great, that a farm in South 
 Uist has risen in ten years from a rent of thirty 
 pounds to one hundred and eighty. 
 
 He who lives in Col, and finds himself con- 
 demned to solitary meals, and incommunicable 
 reflection, will find the usefulness of that middle 
 order of tacksmen, which some who applaud their 
 own wisdom are wishing to destroy. Without in- 
 telligence, man is not social, he is only gregarious ; 
 and little intelligence will there be, where all are 
 constrained to daily labour, and every mind must 
 wait upon the hand. 
 
 After having listened for some days to the 
 tempest, and wandered about the island till our 
 curiosity was satisfied, we began to think about 
 our departure. To leave Col in October was not 
 very easy. We, however, found a sloop which 
 lay on the coast to carry kelp ; and for a price, 
 which we thought levied upon our necessities, 
 the master agreed to carry us to Mull, whence 
 we might readily pass back to Scotland, 
 
219 
 
 JOURNEY TO THE 
 
 Mnlh 
 
 As we were to catch the first favourable breath, 
 we spent the night not very elegantly nor plea- 
 santly in the vessel, and were landed next day at 
 Tabor Morar, a port in Mull, which appears to 
 an unexperienced eye formed for the security of 
 ships ; for its mouth is closed by a small island, 
 which admits them through narrow channels into 
 a bason sufficiently capacious. They are indeed 
 safe from the sea, but there is a hollow between 
 the mountains, through which the wind issues 
 from the land with very mischievous violence. 
 
 There was no danger while we were there, and 
 we found several other vessels at anchor; so that 
 the port had a very commercial appearance. 
 
 The young laird of Col, who had determined 
 not to let us lose his company, while there was 
 any difficulty remaining, came over with us. His 
 influence soon appeared; for he procured us hor- 
 ses, and conducted us to the house of doctor Mac- 
 lean, where we found very kind entertainment and 
 very pleasing conversation. Miss Maclean, who 
 was born, and had been bred at Glasgow, having 
 removed with her father to Mull, added to other 
 qualifications, a great knowledge of the Erse lan- 
 guage, which she had not learned in her childhood, 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 213 
 
 but gained by study, and was the only interpreter 
 of Erse poetry that I could ever find. 
 
 The isle of Mull is perhaps in extent the third 
 of the Hebrides. It is not broken by waters, nor 
 shot into promontories, but is a solid and compact 
 mass, of breadth nearly equal to its length. Of 
 the dimensions of the larger islands, there is no 
 knowledge approaching to exactness. I am wil- 
 ling to estimate it as containing about three hun- 
 dred square miles. 
 
 Mull had suffered like Skye by the black 
 winter of seventy -one, in which, contrary to all 
 experience, a continued frost detained the snow 
 eight weeks upon the ground. Against a cala- 
 mity never known, no provision had been made, 
 and the people could only pine in helpless misery. 
 One tenant was mentioned, whose cattle perished 
 to the value of three hundred pounds ; a loss which 
 probably more than the life of man is necessary to 
 repair. In countries like these, the descriptions of 
 famine become intelligible. Where by vigorous 
 and artful cultivation of a soil naturally fertile, 
 there is commonly a superfluous growth both of 
 grain and grass; where the fields are crowded with 
 cattle; and where every hand is able to attract 
 wealth from a distance, by making something that 
 promotes ease, or gratifies vanity, a dear year ro- 
 duces only a comparative want, which is rather 
 
214 JOURNEY TO THE 
 
 seen than felt, and which terminates commonly in 
 no worse effect, than that of condemning the lower 
 orders of the community to sacrifice a little luxury 
 to convenience, or at most a little convenience to 
 necessity. 
 
 But where the climate is unkind, and the ground 
 penurious, so that the most fruitful years produce 
 only enough to maintain themselves ; where life 
 unimproved, and unadorned, fades into something 
 little more than naked existence, and every one is 
 busy for himself, without any arts by which the 
 pleasure of others may be increased ; if to the daily 
 burden of distress any additional weight be added, 
 nothing remains but to despair and die. In Mull 
 the disappointment of a harvest, or a murrain a- 
 mong the cattle, cuts off' the regular provision ; and 
 they who have no manufactures can purchase no 
 part of the superfluities of other countries. The 
 consequence of a bad season is here not scarcity, 
 but emptiness ; and they whose plenty was barely 
 a supply of natural and present need, when that 
 slender stalk fails, must perish with hunger. 
 
 All travel has its advantages. If the passenger 
 visits better countries, he may learn to improve his 
 own, and if fortune carries him to worse, he may 
 learn to enjoy it. 
 
 Mr. Boswell's curiosity strongly impelled him 
 to survey lona, or Icolmkill, which was to the 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 215 
 
 early ages the great school of theology, and is 
 supposed to have been the place of sepulture for 
 the ancient kings. I, though less eager, did not 
 oppose him. 
 
 That we might perform this expedition, it was 
 necessary to traverse a great part of Mull. We 
 passed a day at Dr. Maclean's, and could have 
 been well contented to stay longer. But Col 
 provided us horses, and we pursued our journey. 
 This was a day of inconvenience, for the country 
 is very rough, and my horse was but little. We 
 travelled many hours through a track, black and 
 barren, in which, however, there were the reliques 
 of humanity ; for we found a ruined chapel in our 
 way. 
 
 It is natural, in traversing this gloom of deso- 
 lation, to inquire, whether something may not 
 be done to give nature a more cheerful face ; and 
 whether those hills and moors that afford heath, 
 cannot, with a little care and labour, bear some- 
 thing better ? The first thought that occurs is to 
 cover them with trees, for that in many of these 
 naked regions trees will grow, is evident, because 
 stumps and roots are yet remaining ; and the spe- 
 culatist hastily proceeds to censure that negligence 
 and laziness that has omitted for so long a time so 
 easy an improvement. 
 
 To drop seeds into the ground, and attend 
 
JOURNEY TO THE 
 
 their growth, requires little labour and no skill. 
 He who remembers that all the woods, by which 
 the wants of man have been supplied from the 
 Deluge till now, were self-sown, will not easily 
 be persuaded to think all the art and preparation 
 necessary, which the georgic writers prescribe to 
 planters. Trees certainly have covered the earth 
 with very little culture. They wave their tops 
 among the rocks of Norway, and might thrive as 
 well in the Highlands and Hebrides. 
 
 But there is a frightful interval between the 
 seed and timber. He that calculates the growth 
 of trees, has the unwelcome remembrance of the 
 shortness of life driven hard upon him. He knows 
 that he is doing what will never benefit himself ; 
 and when he rejoices to see the stem rise, is dis- 
 posed to repine that another shall cut it down. 
 
 Plantation is naturally the employment of a 
 mind unburdened with care, and vacant to futu- 
 rity, saturated with present good, and at leisure to 
 derive gratification from the prospect of posterity. 
 He that pines with hunger, is in little care how 
 others shall be fed. The poor man is seldom 
 studious to make his grandson rich. It may be 
 soon discovered, why in a place, which hardly 
 supplies the cravings of necessity, there has been 
 little attention to the delights of fancy, and why 
 distant convenience is unregarded, where the 
 
WESTOKN ISLANDS. 
 
 217 
 
 thoughts are turned with incessant solicitude upon 
 every possibihty of immediate advantage. 
 
 Neither is it quite so easy to raise large woodsj 
 as may be conceived. Trees intended to produce 
 timber must be sown where they are to grow ; and 
 ground sown with trees must be kept useless for 
 a long time, enclosed at an expense from which 
 many will be discouraged by the remoteness of 
 the profit, and watched with that attention, which, 
 in places where it is most needed, will neither be 
 given nor .bought. That it cannot be ploughed 
 is evident : and if cattle be suffered to graze upon 
 it, they will devour the plants as fast as they rise. 
 Even in coarser countries, where herds and flocks 
 are not fed, not only the deer and the wild goats 
 will browse upon them, but the hare and rabbit 
 will nibble them. It is therefore reasonable to 
 believe, what I do not remember any naturalist 
 to have remarked, that there was a time when 
 the world was very thinly inhabited by beasts, as 
 well as men, and that the woods had leisure to 
 rise high before animals had bred numbers sufii- 
 cient to intercept them. 
 
 Sir James Macdonald, in part of the wastes of 
 his territory, set or sowed trees, to the number, 
 as I have been told, of several millions, expecting, 
 doubtless, that they would grow up into future 
 navies and cities ; but for want of enclosure, and 
 
 2 E 
 
218 
 
 JOURNEY TO THE 
 
 of that care which is always necessary, and will 
 liardly ever be taken, all his cost and labour have 
 been lost, and the ground is likely to continue a 
 useless heath. 
 
 Having not any experience of a journey in 
 Mull, we had no doubt of reaching the sea by 
 daylight, and therefore had not left Dr. Maclean's 
 very early. We travelled diligently enough, but 
 found the country, for road there was none, very 
 difficult to pass. We were always struggling 
 with some obstruction or other, and our vexation 
 was not balanced by any gratification of the eye 
 or mind. We were now long enough acquainted 
 with hills and heath to have lost the emotion that 
 they once raised, whether pleasing or painful, and 
 had our mind employed only on our own fatigue. 
 We were however sure, under CoFs protection, 
 of escaping all real evils. There was no house in 
 Mull to which he could not introduce us. He 
 had intended to lodge us, for that night, with a 
 gentleman that lived upon the coast, but discov- 
 ered on the way, that he then lay in bed without 
 hope of life. 
 
 We resolved not to embarrass a family, in a 
 time of so much sorrow, if any other expedient 
 could be found ; and as the island of Ulva was 
 over-against us, it was determined that we should 
 pass the strait, and have recourse to the laird, who. 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 219 
 
 like the other gentlemen of the islands, was known 
 to Col. We expected to find a ferryboat, but 
 when at last we came to the water, the boat was 
 gone. 
 
 We were now again at a stop. It was the 
 sixteenth of October, a time when it is not con- 
 venient to sleep in the Hebrides without a cover, 
 and there was no house within our reach, but that 
 which we had already declined. 
 
 mm. 
 
 While we stood deliberating, we were happily 
 espied from an Irish ship, that lay at anchor in the 
 strait. The master saw that we wanted a passage, 
 and with great civility sent us his boat, which 
 quickly conveyed us to Ulva, where we were very 
 liberally entertained by Mr. Macquarry. 
 
 To Ulva we came in the dark, and left it before 
 noon the next day. A very exact description 
 therefore will not be expected. We were told, 
 that it is an island of no great extent, rough and 
 barren, inhabited by the JNIacquarrys ; a clan not 
 powerful nor numerous, but of antiquity, which 
 most other families are content to reverence. The 
 name is supposed to be a depravation of some oth- 
 er ; for the Erse language does not afford it any 
 etymology. Macquarry is proprietor both of 
 
JOURNEY TO THE 
 
 Ulva and some adjacent islands, among which is 
 Staffa, so lately raised to renown by Mr. Banks. 
 
 When the islanders were reproached with their 
 ignorance, or insensibility of the wonders of StafFa, 
 they had not much to reply. They had indeed 
 considered it little, because they had always seen 
 it; and none but philosophers, nor they always, 
 are struck with wonder, otherwise than by novel- 
 ty. How would it surprise an unenlightened 
 ploughman, to hear a company of sober men, in- 
 quiring by what power the hand tosses a stone, 
 or why the stone, when it is tossed, falls to the 
 ground ! 
 
 Of the ancestors of Macquarry, who thus lie 
 hid in his unfrequented island, I have found me- 
 morials in all places where they could be expected. 
 
 Inquiring after the reliques of former manners, 
 I found that in Ulva, and, I think, no where else, is 
 continued the payment of the mercheta mulierum ; 
 a fine in old times due to the laird at the marriage 
 of a virgin. The original of this claim, as of our 
 tenure of Borough English, is variously delivered. 
 It is pleasant to find ancient customs in old fami- 
 lies. This payment, like others, was, for want of 
 money, made anciently in the produce of the land. 
 Macquarry was used to demand a sheep, for which 
 he now takes a crown, by that inattention to the 
 vmcertain proportion between the value and the 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 221 
 
 denomination of money, which has brought much 
 disorder into Europe. A sheep has always the same 
 power of supplying human wants, but a crown will 
 bring at one time more, at another less. 
 
 Ulva was not neglected by the piety of ancient 
 times; it has still to show what was once a church. 
 
 In the morning we went again into the boat, 
 and were landed on Inch Kenneth, an island a- 
 boiit a mile long, and perhaps half a mile bread, 
 remarkable for pleasantness and fertility. It is 
 verdant and grassy, and fit both for pasture and 
 tillage ; but it has no trees. Its only inhabitants 
 were Sir Allan Maclean and two young ladies, his 
 daughters, with their servants. 
 
 Romance does not often exhibit a scene that 
 strikes the imagination more than this little desert, 
 in these depths of western obscurity, occupied not 
 by a gross herdsman, or amphibious fisherman, but 
 by a gentleman and two ladies, of high birth, po- 
 lished manners, and elegant conversation, who, in 
 a habitation raised not very far above the ground, 
 but furnished with unexpected neatness and con- 
 venience, practised all the kindness of hospitality, 
 and refinement of courtesy. 
 
 Sir Allan is the chieftain of the great clan of 
 
222 
 
 JOURNEY TO THE 
 
 JNIaclean, which is said to claim the second place 
 among the Higliland families, yielding only to 
 IVIacdonald. Though by the misconduct of his 
 ancestors, most of the extensive temtory, which 
 would have descended to him, has been alienated, 
 he still retains much of the dignity and authority 
 of his birth. When soldiers w^ere liitely wanting 
 for the American war, application was made to Sir 
 Allan, and he nominated a hundred men for the 
 service, who obeyed the summons, and bore arms 
 under his command. 
 
 He had then, for some time, resided with the 
 young ladies in Inch Kenneth, where he lives not 
 only with plenty, but with elegance, having con- 
 veyed to his cottage a collection of books, and 
 what else is necessary to make his hours pleasant. 
 
 When we landed, we were met by Sir Allan 
 and the ladies, accompanied by Miss Macquarry, 
 who had passed some time with them, and now 
 returned to Ulva with her father. 
 
 We all walked together to the mansion, where 
 we found one cottage for Sir Allan, and I think 
 two more for the domestics and the offices. We 
 entered, and wanted little that palaces afford. Our 
 room was neatly floored and well lighted ; and our 
 dinner, which was dressed in one of the other huts, 
 was plentiful and delicate. 
 
 In the afternoon Sir Allan reminded us, that the 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 223 
 
 day was Sunday, which he never suffered to pass 
 without some reUgious distinction, and invited us 
 to partake in his acts of domestic worship ; which 
 I hope neither Mr. Boswell nor myself will be 
 suspected of a disposition to refuse. The elder 
 of the ladies read the English service. 
 
 Inch Kenneth was once a seminary of ecclesi- 
 astics, subordinate, I suppose, to Icolmkill. Sir 
 Allan had a mind to trace the foundation of the 
 college, but neither I nor Mr. Boswell, who he7ids 
 a keener eye on vacancy , were able to perceive 
 them. 
 
 Our attention, however, was sufficiently en- 
 gaged by a venerable chapel, which stands yet 
 entire, except that the roof is gone. It is about 
 sixty feet in length, and thirty in breadth. On 
 one side of the altar is a bas-relief of the blessed 
 Virgin, and by it lies a little bell ; which, though 
 cracked and without a clapper, has remained there 
 for ages, guarded only by the venerableness of the 
 place. The ground round the chapel is covered 
 with grave-stones of chiefs and ladies; and still 
 continues to be a place of sepulture. 
 
 Inch Kenneth is a proper prelude to Icolmkill. 
 It was not without some mournful emotion that 
 we contemplated the ruins of religious structures, 
 and the monuments of the dead. 
 
 On the next day we took a more distinct view 
 
224 
 
 JOURNEY TO THE 
 
 of the place, and went with the boat to see oysters 
 in the bed, out of whicli the boatmen forced up as 
 many as were wanted. Even Inch Kenneth has 
 a subordinate island, named Sandiland, I suppose 
 in contempt, where we landed, and found a rock, 
 with a surface of perhaps four acres, of which one is 
 naked stone, another spread with sand and shells, 
 some of which I picked up for their glossy beauty, 
 and two covered with a little earth and grass, on 
 which Sir Allan has a few sheep. I doubt not but 
 when there was a college at Inch Kenneth, there 
 was a hermitage upon Sandiland. 
 
 Having wandered over those extensive plains, 
 we committed ourselves again to the winds and 
 waters ; and after a voyage of about ten minutes, 
 in w^hich we met with nothing very observable, 
 were again safe upon dry ground. 
 
 We told Sir Allan our desire of visiting Icolm- 
 kill, and entreated him to give us his protection, 
 and his company. He thought proper to hesitate 
 a little ; but the ladies hinted, that as they knew 
 he would not finally refuse, he would do better if 
 he preserved the grace of ready compliance. He 
 took their advice, and promised to carry us on the 
 morrow in his boat. 
 
 We passed the remaining part of the day in such 
 amusements as were in our power. Su* Allan re- 
 lated the American campaign, and at evening ono 
 
westehn islands. 
 
 of the ladies played on her harpsichord, while Col 
 and Mr. Boswell danced a Scottish reel with the 
 other. • " ' ' ■'■•'< ' 
 
 We could have been easily persu8[ded to a long- 
 er stay upon Inch Kenneth, but life will not be 
 all passed in delight. The session at Edinburgh 
 was approaching, from which Mr. Boswell could 
 not be absent. 
 
 In the morning our boat was ready: it was 
 high and strong. Sir Allan victualled it for the 
 day, and provided able rowers. We now parted 
 from the young laird of Col, who had treated us 
 with so much kindness, and concluded his favours 
 by consigning us to Sir Allan. Here we had the 
 last embrace of this amiable man, who, while these 
 pages were preparing to attest his virtues, perished 
 in the passage between Ulva and Inch Kenneth. 
 
 Sir Allan, to whom the whole region was well 
 known, told us of a very remarkable cave, to which 
 he would show us the way. We had been disap- 
 pointed already by one cave, and were not much 
 elevated by the expectation of another. 
 
 It was yet better to see it, and we stopped at 
 some rocks on the coast of Mull. The mouth is 
 fortified by vast fragments of stone, over which 
 we made our way, neither very nimbly, nor very 
 securely. The place, however, well repaid our 
 
 2! F 
 
226 
 
 JOURNEY TO THE 
 
 trouble. The bottom, as far as the flood rushes 
 in, was encumbered with large pebbles, but as we 
 advanced was spread over with smooth sand. The 
 breadth is about forty-five feet : the roof rises in an 
 arch, almost regular, to a height which we could 
 not measure ; but I think it about thirty feet. 
 
 This part of our curiosity was nearly frustrated ; 
 for though we went to see a cave, and knew that 
 caves are dark, we forgot to carry tapers, and did 
 not discover our omission till we were wakened by 
 our wants. Sir Allan then sent one of the boat- 
 men into the country, who soon returned with one 
 little candle. We were thus enabled to go forward, 
 but could not venture far. Having passed inward 
 from the sea to a great depth, we found on the right 
 hand a narrow passage, perhaps not more than six 
 feet wide, obstructed by great stones, over which 
 we climbed, and came into a second cave in breadth ^ 
 twenty-five feet. The air in this apartment was 
 very warm, but not oppressive, nor loaded with 
 vapours. Our light showed no tokens of a fecu- 
 lent or corrupted atmosphere. Here was a square 
 stone, called, as we were told, Fingal's Table. 
 
 If we had been provided with torches, we should 
 have proceeded in our search, though we had al- 
 ready gone as far as any former adventurer, except 
 some who are reported never to have returned; 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 227 
 
 and measuring our way back, we found it more 
 than a hundred and sixty yards, the eleventh part 
 of a mile. 
 
 Our measures were not critically exact, having 
 been made with a walking pole, such as it is con- 
 venient to carry in these rocky countries, of which 
 I guessed the length by standing against it. In 
 this there could be no great error, nor do I much 
 doubt but the Highlander, whom we employed, 
 reported the number right. More nicety however 
 is better, and no man should travel unprovided 
 with instruments for taking heights and distances. 
 
 There is yet another cause of error not always 
 easily surmounted, though more dangerous to the 
 veracity of itinerary narratives, than imperfect 
 mensuration. An observer deeply impressed by 
 any remarkable spectacle, does not suppose that 
 the traces will soon vanish from his mind, and 
 having commonly no great convenience for wri- 
 ting, defers the description to a time of more lei- 
 sure and better accommodation. 
 
 He who has not made the experiment, or who 
 is not accustomed to require rigorous accuracy 
 from himself, will scarcely believe how much a 
 few hours take from, certainty of knowledge, and 
 distinctness of imagery ; how the succession of ob- 
 jects will be broken, how separate parts will be 
 confused, and how many particular features and 
 
JOURNEY TO THE 
 
 discriminations will be compressed and congloba- 
 ted into one gross and general idea. 
 
 To this dilatory notation must be imputed 
 the false relations of travellers, where there is no 
 imaginable motive to deceive. They trusted to 
 memory what cannot be trusted safely but to the 
 eye, and told by guess what a few hours before 
 they had known with certainty. Thus it was 
 that Wheeler and Spen described with irrecon- 
 cileable contrariety things which they surveyed 
 together, and which both undoubtedly designed 
 to show as they saw them. . 
 
 When we had satisfied our curiosity in the 
 cave, so far as our penury of light permitted us, 
 we clambered again to our boats, and proceeded 
 along the coast of Mull to a headland, called Atun, 
 remarkable for the columnar form of the rocks, 
 which rise in a series of pilasters, with a degree of 
 regularity, which Sir Allan thinks not less worthy 
 of curiosity than the shore of StafFa. 
 
 Not long after we came to another range of 
 black rocks, which had the appearance of broken 
 pilasters, set one behind another to a great depth. 
 This place was chosen by Sir Allan for our din- 
 ner. We were easily accommodated with seats, 
 for the stones were of all heights, and refreshed 
 ourselves and our boatmen, who could have no 
 other rest till we were at Icolmkill. 
 
The evening was now approaching, and we 
 were yet at a considerable distance from the end 
 of our expedition. We could therefore stop no 
 more to make remarks in the way, but set forward 
 with some degree of eagerness. The day soon 
 failed us, and the moon presented a very solemn 
 and pleasing scene. The sky was clear, so that 
 the eye commanded a wide circle : the sea was 
 neither still nor turbulent; the wind neither silent 
 nor loud. We were never far from one coast or 
 another, on which, if the weather had become vio- 
 lent, we could have found shelter, and therefore 
 contemplated at ease the region through which 
 we glided in the tranquillity of the night, and 
 saw now a rock and now an island grow gradually 
 conspicuous and gradually obscure. I committed 
 the fault which I had just been censuring, in ne- 
 glecting, as we passed, to note the series of this 
 placid navigation. 
 
 W e were very near an island, called Nun's Is- 
 land, perhaps from an ancient convent. Here is 
 said to have been dug the stone which was used 
 in the buildings of Icolmkill. Whether it is now 
 inhabited we could not stay to inquire. 
 
 At last we came to 
 
230 
 
 JOURNEY TO THE 
 
 Kctilmltni, 
 
 but found no convenience for landing. Our boat 
 could not be forced very near the dry ground, and 
 our Highlanders carried us over the water. 
 
 We were now treading that illustrious island, 
 which was once the luminary of the Caledonian 
 regions, whence savage clans and roving barbari- 
 ans derived the benefits of knowledge, and the 
 blessings of religion. To abstract the mind from 
 all local emotion would be impossible, if it were 
 endeavoured, and would be foolish, if it were pos- 
 sible. A¥hatever withdraws us from the power 
 of our senses; whatever makes the past, the dis- 
 tant, or the future predominate over the present, 
 advances us in the dignity of thinking beings. 
 Far from me and from my fiiends be such frigid 
 philosophy, as may conduct us indifferent and 
 unmoved over any ground which has been dig- 
 nified by wisdom, bravery, or virtue. That man 
 is little to be envied, whose patriotism would not 
 gain force upon the plain of Marathon, or whose 
 piety would not grow warmer among the ruins of 
 lona. 
 
 We came too late to visit monuments : some 
 care was necessary for ourselves. Whatever was 
 in the island, Sir Allan could demand, for the 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 231 
 
 inhabitants were Macleans; but having little, they 
 could not give us much. He went to tJhe head 
 man of the island, whom fame, but fame delights 
 in amplifying, represents as worth no less than 
 fifty pounds. He was perhaps proud enough of 
 his guests, but ill prepared for our entertainment ; 
 however, he soon produced more provision than 
 men not luxurious require. Our lodging was next 
 to be provided. We found a barn well stocked 
 with hay, and made our beds as soft as we could. 
 
 In the morning we rose and surveyed the 
 place. The churches of the two convents are both 
 standing, though unroofed. They were built of 
 unhewn «tone, but solid, and not inelegant. I 
 brought away rude measures of the buildings, such 
 as I cannot much trust myself, inaccurately taken, 
 and obscurely noted. Mr. Pennant's delineations, 
 which are doubtless exact, have made my unskilful 
 description less necessary. 
 
 The episcopal church consists of two parts, se- 
 parated by the belfry, and built at different times. 
 The original church had, like others, the altar at 
 one end, and tower at the other ; but as it grew 
 too small, another building of equal dimension 
 was added, and the tower then was necessarily in 
 the middle. 
 
 That these edifices are of different ages seems 
 evident. The arch of the first church is Koman, 
 
232 JOtniNEY TO THE 
 
 being part of a circle ; that of the additional build- 
 ing is pointed, and therefore Gothic or Saracenical ; 
 the tower is firm, and wants only to be floored and 
 covered. 
 
 Of the chambers or cells belonging to the monks, 
 there are some walls remaining, but nothing ap- 
 proaching to a complete apartment. 
 
 The bottom of the church is so encumbered 
 with mud and rubbish, that we could make no 
 discoveries of curious inscriptions, and what there 
 are have been already published. The place is 
 said to be known where the black stones lie con- 
 cealed, on which the old Highland chiefs, when 
 they made contracts and alliances, used to take the 
 oath, which was considered as more sacred than 
 any other obligation, and which could not be viola- 
 ted without the blackest infamy. In those days 
 of violence and rapine, it was of great importance 
 to impress upon savage minds the sanctity of an 
 oath, by some particular and extraordinary cir- 
 cumstances. They would not have recourse to 
 the black stones, upon small or common occasions, 
 and when they had established their faith by this 
 tremendous sanction, inconstancy and treachery 
 were no longer feared. 
 
 The chapel of the nunnery is now used by the 
 inhabitants as a kind of general cow-house, and the 
 bottom is consequently too miry for examination. 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 233 
 
 Some of the stones which covered the later abbes- 
 ses have inscriptions, which might yet be read, if 
 the chapel were cleansed. The roof of this, as 
 of all the other buildings, is totally destroyed, 
 not only because timber quickly decays when it 
 is neglected, but because in an island utterly des- 
 titute of wood, it was wanted for use, and was 
 consequently the first plunder of needy rapacity. 
 
 The chancel of the nuns' chapel is covered with 
 an arch of stone, to which time has done no injury ; 
 and a small apartment communicating with the 
 choir, on the north side, like the chapter- house in 
 cathedrals, roofed with stone in the same manner, 
 is likewise entire. 
 
 In one of the churches was a marble altar, 
 which the superstition of the inhabitants has de- 
 stroyed. Their opinion was, that a fragment of 
 this stone was a defence against shipwrecks, fire, 
 and miscarriages. In one corner of the church the 
 bason for holy water is yet unbroken. 
 
 The cemetery of the nunnery was, till very 
 lately, regarded with such reverence, that only 
 women were buried in it. These reliques of ve- 
 neration always produce some mournful pleasure. 
 I could have forgiven a great injury more easily 
 than the violation of this imaginary sanctity. 
 
 South of the chapel stand the walls of a large 
 room, which was probably the hall, or refectory 
 
 2 G 
 
234 
 
 JOURNEY TO THE 
 
 of the nunnery. This apartment is capable of re- 
 pair. Of the rest of the convent there are only 
 fragments. 
 
 Besides the two principal churches, there are, I 
 think, five chapels yet standing, and three more 
 remembered. There are also crosses, of which two 
 bear the names of St. John and St. Matthew. 
 
 A large space of ground about these consecrated 
 edifices is covered with grave-stones, few of which 
 have any inscription. He that surveys it, atten- 
 ded by an insular antiquary, may be told where 
 the kings of many nations are buried, and if he 
 loves to sooth his imagination with the thoughts 
 that naturally arise in places where the great and 
 the powerful lie mingled with the dust, let him 
 listen in submissive silence ; for if he asks any 
 questions, his delight is at an end. 
 
 lona has long enjoyed, without any very cre- 
 dible attestation, the honour of being reputed the 
 cemetery of the Scottish kings. It is not unlikely, 
 that, when the opinion of local sanctity was preva- 
 lent, the chieftains of the isles, and perhaps some 
 of the Norwegian or Irish princes, were reposited 
 in this venerable enclosure. But by w^hom the 
 subterraneous vaults are peopled is now utterly 
 unknown. The graves are very numerous, and 
 some of them undoubtedly contain the remains of 
 men, who did not expect to be so soon forgotten. 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 235 
 
 Not far from this awful ground may be traced 
 the garden of the monastery : the fishponds are yet 
 discernible, and the aqueduct which supplied them 
 is still in use. 
 
 There remains a broken building, which is cal- 
 led the Bishop's House, I know not by what au- 
 thority. It was once the residence of some man 
 above the common rank, for it has two stories and 
 a chimney. We were shown a chimney at the 
 other end, which was only a niche, without per- 
 foration, but so much does antiquarian credulity, 
 or patriotic vanity prevail, that it was not much 
 more safe to trust the eye of our instructor than 
 the memory. 
 
 There is in the island one house more, and only 
 one, that has a chimney ; we entered it, and found 
 it neither wanting repair nor inhabitants ; but to 
 the farmers, who now possess it, the chimney is of 
 no great value ; for their fire was made on the floor, 
 in the middle of the room, and notwithstanding the 
 dignity of their mansion, they rejoiced, like their 
 neighbours, in the comforts of smoke. 
 
 It is observed, that ecclesiastical colleges are 
 always in the most pleasant and fruitful places. 
 While the world allowed the monks their choice, it 
 is surely no dishonour that they chose well. This 
 island is remarkably fruitful. The village near the 
 
236 
 
 JOURNEY TO THE 
 
 churches is said to contain seventy famihes, which, 
 at five in a family, is more than a hundred inhabi- 
 tants to a mile. There are perhaps other villages ; 
 yet both corn and cattle are annually exported. 
 
 But the fruitfulness of lona is now its whole 
 prosperity. The inhabitants are remarkably gross, 
 and remarkably neglected : I know not if they are 
 visited by any minister. The island, which was 
 once the metropolis of learning and piety, has now 
 no school for education, nor temple for worship ; 
 only two inhabitants that can speak English, and 
 not one that can write or read. 
 
 The people are of the clan of Maclean; and 
 though Sir Allan had not been in the place for 
 many years, he was received with all the reverence 
 due to their chieftain. One of them being sharp- 
 ly reprehended by him, for not sending him some 
 rum, declared after his departure, in Mr. Boswell's 
 presence, that he had no design of disappointing 
 him, * for,' said he, * I would cut my bones for him ; 
 and if he had sent his dog for it, he should have 
 had it.' 
 
 When we were to depart, our boat was left by 
 the ebb at a great distance from the water, but no 
 sooner did we wish it afloat, than the islanders ga- 
 thered round it, and, by the union of many hands, 
 pushed it down the beach ; every man who could 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 237 
 
 contribute his help seemed to think liimself happy 
 in tlie opportunity of being, for a moment, useful 
 to his chief. 
 
 We now left those illustrious ruins, by which 
 Mr. Boswell was much affected, nor would I 
 willingly be thought to have looked upon them 
 without some emotion. Perhaps, in the revolu- 
 tions of the world, lona may be sometime again 
 the instructress of the western regions. 
 
 It was no long voyage to Mull, where under Sir 
 Allan's protection, we landed in the evening, and 
 were entertained for the night by Mr. Maclean, a 
 minister that lives upon the coast, whose elegance 
 of conversation, and strength of judgment, would 
 make him conspicuous in places of greater cele- 
 brity. Next day we dined with Dr. Maclean, 
 another physician, and then travelled on to the 
 house of a very powerful laird, Maclean of Loch- 
 buy; for in this country every man's name is 
 Maclean. 
 
 Where races are thus numerous, and thus com- 
 bined, none but the chief of a clan is addressed 
 by his name. The laird of Dunvegan is called 
 Macleod, but other gentlemen of the same family 
 are denominated by the places where they reside, 
 as Raasay or Talisker. The distinction of the 
 meaner people is made by their christian names. 
 In consequence of this practice, the late laird of 
 
S38 
 
 JOURNEY TO THE 
 
 Macfarlane, an eminent genealogist, considered 
 himself as disrespectfully treated, if the common 
 addition was applied to him. Mr. Macfarlane, 
 said he, may with equal propriety be said to ma- 
 ny; but I, and I only, am Macfarlane. 
 
 Our afternoon journey was through a coun- 
 try of such gloomy desolation, that Mr. Boswell 
 thought no part of the Highlands equally terrific, 
 yet we came without any difficulty, at evening, to 
 Lochbuy, where we found a true Highland laird, 
 rough and haughty, and tenacious of his dignity ; 
 who, hearing my name, inquired whether I was of 
 the Johnstones of Glencoe, or of Ardnamurchan? 
 
 Lochbuy has, like the other insular chieftains, 
 quitted the castle that sheltered his ancestors, and 
 lives near it, in a mansion not very spacious or 
 splendid. I have seen no houses in the islands 
 much to be envied for convenience or magnifi- 
 cence, yet they bear testimony to the progress of 
 arts and civility, as they show that rapine and 
 surprise are no longer dreaded, and are much 
 more commodious than the ancient fortresses. 
 
 The castles of the Hebrides, many of which are 
 standing, and many ruined, were always built up- 
 on points of land, on the margin of the sea. For 
 the choice of this situation there must have been 
 some general reason, which the change of manners 
 has left in obscurity. They were of no use in the 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 239 
 
 days of piracy, as defences of the coast; for it was 
 equally accessible in other places. Had they been 
 seamarks or lighthouses, they would have been 
 of more use to the invader than the natives, who 
 could want no such directions on their own waters : 
 for a watchtower, a cottage on a hill would have 
 been better, as it would have commanded a wider 
 view. 
 
 If they be considered merely as places of re- 
 treat, the situation seems not well chosen; for 
 the laird of an island is safest from foreign ene- 
 mies in the centre: on the coast he might be 
 more suddenly surprised than in the inland parts ; 
 and the invaders, if their enterprise miscarried, 
 might more easily retreat. Some convenience, 
 however, whatever it was, their position on the 
 shore afforded ; for uniformity of practice seldom 
 continues long without good reason. 
 
 A castle in the islands is only a single tower of 
 three or four stories, of which the walls are some- 
 times eight or nine feet thick, with narrow win- 
 dows, and close winding stairs of stone. The top 
 rises in a cone, or pyramid of stone, encompassed 
 by battlements. The intermediate floors are some- 
 times frames of timber, as in common houses, and 
 sometimes arches of stone, or alternately stone and 
 timber; so that there was very little danger from 
 fire. In the centre of every floor, from top to bot- 
 
240 
 
 JOURNEY TO THE 
 
 torn, is the chief room, of no great extent, round 
 which there are narrow cavities, or recesses formed 
 by small vacuities, or by a double wall. I know 
 not whether there be ever more than one fireplace. 
 They had not capacity to contain many people or 
 much provision ; but their enemies could seldom 
 stay to blockade them ; for if they failed in their 
 first attack, their next care was to escape. 
 
 The walls were always too strong to be shaken 
 by such desultory hostilities; the windows were 
 too narrow to be entered, and the battlements 
 too high to be scaled. The only danger was at 
 the gates, over which the wall was built with a 
 square cavity, not unlike a chimney, continued to 
 the top. Through this hollow the defendants let 
 fall stones upon those who attempted to break the 
 gate, and poured down water, perhaps scalding 
 water, if the attack was made with fire. The 
 castle of Lochbuy was secured by double doors, 
 of which the outer was an iron grate. 
 
 In every castle is a well and a dungeon. The 
 use of the well is evident. The dungeon is a 
 deep subterraneous cavity, walled on the sides, 
 and arched on the top, into which the descent is 
 through a narrow door, by a ladder or a rope, so 
 that it seems impossible to escape, when the rope 
 or ladder is drawn up. The dungeon was, I sup- 
 pose, in war, a prison for such captives as were 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 241 
 
 treated with severity ; and in peace, for such delin- 
 quents as had committed crimes within the laird's 
 jurisdiction ; for the mansions of many lairds were, 
 till the late privation of their privileges, the halls 
 of justice to their own tenants. 
 
 As these fortifications were the productions 
 of mere necessity, they are built only for safety, 
 with little regard to convenience, and with none 
 to elegance or pleasure. It was sufficient for a 
 laird of the Hebrides, if he had a strong house, 
 in which he could hide his wife and children from 
 the next clan. That they are not large nor splen- 
 did is no wonder. It is not easy to find how they 
 were raised, such as they are, by men who had 
 no money, in countries where the labourers and 
 artificers could scarcely be fed. The buildings in 
 different parts of the islands show their degrees 
 of wealth and power. I believe that for all the 
 castles which I have seen beyond the Tweed, the 
 ruins yet remaining of some one of those which 
 the English built in Wales, would supply mate- 
 rials. 
 
 These castles afford another evidence that the 
 fictions of romantic chivalry had for their basis the 
 real manners of the feudal times, when every lord 
 of a seignory Hved in his hold lawless and unac- 
 countable, with all the licentiousness and insolence 
 of uncontested superiority and unprincipled power. 
 
 2 H 
 
JOURNEY TO THE 
 
 The traveller, whoever he might be, coming to the 
 fortified habitation of a chieftain, would, probably, 
 have been interrogated from the battlements, ad- 
 mitted with caution at the gate, introduced to a 
 petty monarch, fierce with habitual hostility, and 
 vigilant with ignorant suspicion; who, according 
 to his general temper, or accidental humour, would 
 have seated a stranger as his guest at the table, or 
 as a spy confined him in the dungeon. 
 
 Lochbuy means the Yellow Lake, which is the 
 name given to an inlet of the sea, upon which the 
 castle of Mr. Maclean stands. The reason of the 
 appellation we did not learn. 
 
 We were now to leave the Hebrides, where we 
 had spent some weeks with sufficient amusement, 
 and where we had amplified our thoughts wdth 
 new scenes of nature, and new modes of life. More 
 time would have given us a more distinct view, but 
 it was necessary that Mr. Boswell should return 
 before the Courts of Justice were opened ; and it 
 was not proper to live too long upon hospitality, 
 however liberally imparted. 
 
 Of these islands, it must be confessed, that they 
 have not many allurements, but to the mere lover 
 of naked nature. The inhabitants are thin, pro- 
 visions are scarce, and desolation and penury give 
 little pleasure. 
 
 The people collectively considered are not few. 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 though their numbers are small in proportion to 
 the space which they occupy. Mull is said to 
 contain six thousand, and Skye fifteen thousand. 
 Of the computation respecting Mull, I can give 
 no account ; but when I doubted the truth of the 
 numbers attributed to Skye, one of the ministers 
 exhibited such facts as conquered my incredulity. 
 
 Of the proportion which the product of any re- 
 gion bears to the people, an estimate is commonly 
 made according to the pecuniary price of the ne- 
 cessaries of life; a principle of judgment which is 
 never certain, because it supposes, what is far from 
 truth, that the value of money is always the same, 
 and so measures an unknown quantity by an un- 
 certain standard. It is competent enough when 
 the markets of the same country, at different times, 
 and those times not too distant, are to be compared; 
 but of very little use for the purpose of making 
 one nation acquainted with the state of another. 
 Provisions, though plentiful, are sold in places of 
 great pecuniary opulence for nominal prices, to 
 which, however scarce, where gold and silver are 
 yet scarcer, they can never be raised. 
 
 In the Western Islands there is so little internal 
 commerce, that hardly any thing has a known or 
 settled rate. The price of things brought in, or 
 carried out, is to be considered as that of a foreign 
 market ; and even this there is some difficulty in 
 
244 
 
 JOURNEY TO THE 
 
 discovering, because their denominations of quan- 
 tity are different from ours; and when there is 
 ignorance on both sides, no appeal can be made 
 to a common measure. 
 
 This, however, is not the only impediment. 
 The Scots, with a vigilance of jealousy which ne- 
 ver goes to sleep, always suspect that an English- 
 man despises them for their poverty, and to con- 
 vince him that they are not less rich than their 
 neighbours, are sure to tell him a price higher than 
 the true. When Lesley, two hundred years ago, 
 related so punctiliously, that a hundred hen eggs, 
 new laid, were sold in the islands for a penny, he 
 supposed that no inference could possibly follow, 
 but that eggs were in great abundance. Posterity 
 has since grown wiser; and having learned, that 
 nominal and real value may differ, they now tell 
 no such stories, lest the foreigner should happen 
 to collect, not that eggs are many, but that pence 
 are few. 
 
 Money and wealth have, by the use of commer- 
 cial language, been so long confounded, that they 
 are commonly supposed to be the same; and this 
 prejudice has spread so widely in Scotland, that I 
 know not whether I found man or woman, whom I 
 interrogated concerning payments of money, that 
 could surmount the illiberal desire of deceiving me, 
 by representing every thing as dearer than it is. 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 From Lochbuy we rode a very few miles to 
 the side of Mull, which faces Scotland, where, 
 having taken leave of our kind protector. Sir 
 Allan, we embarked in a boat, in which the seat 
 provided for our accommodation was a heap of 
 rough brushwood ; and on the twenty-second of 
 October reposed at a tolerable inn on the main 
 land. 
 
 On the next day we began our journey south- 
 wards. The weather was tempestuous. For half 
 the day the ground was rough, and our horses 
 were still small. Had they required much re- 
 straint, we might have been reduced to difficul- 
 ties; for I think we had amongst us but one 
 bridle. We fed the poor animals liberally, and 
 they performed their journey well. In the latter 
 part of the day we came to a firm and smooth 
 road, made by the soldiers, on which we travelled 
 with great security, busied with contemplating 
 the scene about us. The night came on while 
 we had yet a great part of the way to go, though 
 not so dark but that we could discern the cata- 
 racts which poured down the hills on one side, and 
 fell into one general channel that ran with great 
 violence on the other. The wind was loud, the 
 rain was heavy, and the whistling of the blast, the 
 fall of the shower, the rush of the cataracts, and 
 the roar of the torrent, made a nobler chorus of 
 
246 
 
 JOURNEY TO THE 
 
 the rough music of nature than it had ever been 
 my chance to hear before. The streams which ran 
 across the way from the hills to the main current, 
 were so frequent, that after a w^hile I began to 
 count them ; and, in ten miles, reckoned fifty-five, 
 probably missing some, and having let some pass 
 before they forced themselves upon my notice. 
 At last we came to 
 
 where we found an inn, not only commodious, but 
 magnificent. 
 
 The difficulties of peregrination were now at 
 an end. Mr. Boswell had the honour of being 
 known to the duke of Argyle, by whom we were 
 very kindly entertained at his splendid seat, and 
 supplied with conveniences for surveying his spa- 
 cious park and rising forests. 
 
 After two days stay at Inveraray we proceed- 
 ed southward over Glencroe, a black and dreary 
 region, now made easily passable by a military 
 road, which rises from either end of the glen by 
 an acclivity not dangerously steep, but sufficiently 
 laborious. In the middle, at the top of the hill, is 
 a seat with this inscription, 
 
 REST, AND BE THANKFUL. 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 247 
 
 Stones were placed to mark the distances, which 
 the inhabitants have taken away, resolved, they 
 said, ' to have no new miles.' 
 
 In this rainy season the hills streamed with wa- 
 terfalls, which, crossing the way, formed currents 
 on the other side, that ran in contrary directions 
 as they fell to the north or south of the summit. 
 Being, by the favour of the duke, well mounted, 
 I went up and down the hill with great conveni- 
 ence. 
 
 From Glencroe we passed through a pleasant 
 country to the banks of 
 
 and were received at the house of Sir James Col- 
 quhoun, who is owner of almost all the thirty 
 islands of the loch, which we went in a boat next 
 morning to survey. The heaviness of the rain 
 shortened our voyage, but we landed on one island 
 planted with yew, and stocked with deer, and on 
 another containing perhaps not more than half an 
 acre, remarkable for the ruins of an old castle, on 
 which the osprey builds her annual nest. Had 
 Loch Lomond been in a happier climate, it would 
 have been the boast of wealth and vanity to own 
 one of the little spots which it encloses, and to have 
 employed upon it all the arts of embellishment. 
 
248 
 
 JOURNEY TO THE 
 
 But as it is, the islets, which court the gazer at a 
 distance, disgust him at his approach, when he 
 finds, instead of soft lawns and shady thickets, 
 nothing more than uncultivated ruggedness. 
 
 Where the loch discharges itself into a river 
 called the Leven, we passed a night with Mr. 
 Smollett, a relation of Dr. Smollett, to whose me- 
 mory he has raised an obelisk on the bank near 
 the house in which he was born. The civility 
 and respect which we found at every place, it is 
 ungrateful to omit, and tedious to repeat. Here 
 we were met by a postchaise, that conveyed us to 
 
 To describe a city so much frequented as 
 Glasgow, is unnecessary. The prosperity of its 
 commerce appears by the greatness of many pri- 
 vate houses, and a general appearance of wealth. 
 It is the only episcopal city whose cathedral was 
 left standing in the rage of reformation. It is 
 now divided into many separate places of wor- 
 ship, which, taken altogether, compose a great 
 pile, that had been some centuries in building, 
 but was never finished; for the change of religion 
 intercepted its progress, before the cross isle was 
 added, which seems essential to a Gothic cathe- 
 dral. 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. jSl49 
 
 The college has not had a sufficient share of the 
 increasing magnificence of the place. The session 
 was begun ; for it commences on the tenth of Octo- 
 ber, and continues to the tenth of June ; but the 
 students appeared not numerous, being, I suppose, 
 not yet returned from their several homes^ The 
 division of the academical year into one session^ 
 and one recess, seems to me better accommodated 
 to the present state of life, than that variegation of 
 time by terms and vacations, derived from distant 
 centuries, in which it was probably convenient, 
 and still continued in the English universities. So 
 many solid months as the Scotch scheme of edu- 
 cation joins together, allow and encourage a plan 
 for each part of the year ; but with us, he that has 
 settled himself to study in the college is soon temp- 
 ted into the country, and he that has adjusted his 
 life in the country, is summoned back to his col- 
 lege. 
 
 Yet when I have allowed to the universities 
 of Scotland a more rational distribution of time, 
 I have given them, so far as my inquiries have 
 informed me, all that they can claim. The stu- 
 dents, for the most part, go thither boys and de- 
 part before they are men; they carry with them 
 little fundamental knowledge, and therefore the 
 superstructure cannot be lofty. The grammar- 
 schools are not generally well supplied ; for the 
 
 2 I 
 
250 
 
 JOURNEY TO THE 
 
 character of a schoolmaster being there less hon- 
 ourable than in England, is seldom accepted by 
 men who are capable to adorn it, and where the 
 school has been deficient, the college can effect 
 little. 
 
 Men bred in the universities of Scotland cannot 
 be expected to be often decorated with the splen- 
 dours of ornamental erudition, but they obtain a 
 mediocrity of knowledge between learning and 
 ignorance, not inadequate to the purposes of com- 
 mon life, which is, I believe, very widely diffused 
 among them, and which, countenanced in general 
 by a national combination so invidious, that their 
 friends cannot defend it, and actuated in particu- 
 lars by a spirit of enterprise, so vigorous, that their 
 enemies are constrained to praise it, enables them 
 to find, or to make their way to employment, 
 riches, and distinction. 
 
 From Glasgow we directed our course to Au- 
 chinleck, an estate devolved, through a long series 
 of ancestors, to Mr. BoswelPs fatlier, the present 
 possessor. In our way we found several places 
 remarkable enough in themselves, but already 
 described by those who viewed them at more 
 leisure, or with much more skill; and stopped 
 two days at Mr. Campbell's, a gentleman married 
 to Mr. Boswell's sister. 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 251 
 
 which signifies a stony field, seems not now to 
 have any particular claim to its denomination. It 
 is a district generally level, and sufficiently fertile, 
 but, like all the western side of Scotland, incom- 
 moded by very frequent rain. It was, with the 
 rest of the country, generally naked, till the pre- 
 sent possessor finding, by the growth of some 
 stately trees near his old castle, that the ground 
 was favourable enough to timber, adorned it very 
 diligently with annual plantations. 
 
 Lord Auchinleck, who is one of the judges of 
 Scotland, and therefore not wholly at leisure for 
 domestic business or pleasure, has yet found time 
 to make improvements in his patrimony. He 
 has built a house of hewn stone, very stately and 
 durable, and has advanced the value of his lands 
 with great tenderness to his tenants. 
 
 I was, however, less delighted with the ele- 
 gance of the modern mansion, than with the sullen 
 dignity of the old castle. I clambered with Mr. 
 Boswell among the ruins, which afford striking 
 images of ancient life. It is, like other castles, 
 built upon a point of rock, and was, I believe, 
 anciently surrounded with a moat. There is an- 
 other rock near it, to which the drawbridge, when 
 
252 
 
 JOURNEY TO THE 
 
 it was let down, is said to have reached. Here,, 
 in the ages of tumult and rapine, the laird was 
 surprised and killed by the neighbouring chief, 
 who perhaps might have extinguished the family, 
 had he not in a few days been seized and hanged, 
 together with his sons, by Douglas, who came with 
 his forces to the relief of Auchinleck. 
 
 At no great distance from the house runs a plea- 
 sing brook, by a red rock, out of which has been 
 hewn a very agreeable and commodious summer- 
 house, at less expense, as Lord Auchinleck told 
 me, than would have been required to build a 
 room of the same dimensions. The rock seems 
 to have no more dampness than any other wall. 
 Such opportunities of variety it is judicious not 
 to neglect. 
 
 We now returned to Edinburgh, where I 
 passed some days with men of learning, whose 
 names want no advancement from my commemo- 
 ration, or with women of elegance, which perhaps 
 disclaims a pedant's praise. 
 
 The conversation of the Scots grov/s every day 
 less unpleasing to the English ; their peculiarities 
 wear fast away ; their dialect is likely to become 
 in half a century provincial and rustic, even to 
 themselves. The great, the learned, the ambi- 
 tious, and the vain, all cultivate the English 
 phrase, and the English pronunciation, and in 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 splendid companies Scotch is not much heard, 
 except now and then from an old lady. 
 
 There is one subject of philosophical curiosity 
 to be found in Edinburgh, which no other city has 
 to show ; a College of the Deaf and Dumb, who are 
 taught to speak, to read, to write, and to practise 
 arithmetic, by a gentleman, whose name is Braid- 
 wood. The number which attends him is, I think, 
 about twelve, which he brings together into a lit- 
 tle school, and instructs according to their several 
 degrees of proficiency. 
 
 I do not mean to mention the instruction of the 
 deaf as new. Having been first practised upon 
 the son of a constable of Spain, it was afterwards 
 cultivated with much emulation in England, by 
 Wallis and Holder, and was lately professed by 
 Mr. Baker, who once flattered me with hopes of 
 seeing his method published. How far any for- 
 mer teachers have succeeded, it is not easy to 
 know ; the improvement of Mr. Braidwood's pu- 
 pils is wonderful. They not only speak, write, 
 and understand what is written, but if he that 
 speaks looks towards them, and modifies his or- 
 gans by distinct and full utterance, they know 
 so well what is spoken, that it is an expression 
 scarcely figurative to say they hear with the eye. 
 That any have attained to the power mentioned 
 by Burnet, of feeling sounds, by laying a hand 
 
S54 
 
 JOURNEY TO THE 
 
 on the speaker's mouth, I know not; but I have 
 seen so much, that I can believe more; a single 
 word, or a short sentence, I think, may possibly 
 be so distinguished. 
 
 It will readily be supposed by those that con- 
 sider this subject, that Mr. Braid wood's scholars 
 spell accurately. Orthography is vitiated among 
 such as learn first to speak, and then to write, by 
 imperfect notions of the relation between letters 
 and vocal utterance ; but to those students every 
 character is of equal importance; for letters, are 
 to them not symbols of names, but of things; 
 when they write they do not represent a sound, 
 but delineate a form. 
 
 This school I visited, and found some of the 
 scholars waiting for their master, whom they are 
 said to receive at his entrance with smiling coun- 
 tenances and sparkling eyes, dehghted with the 
 hope of new ideas. One of the young ladies had 
 her slate before her, on which I WTote a question 
 consisting of three figures, to be multiplied by two 
 figures. She looked upon it, and quivering her 
 fingers in a manner which I thought very pretty, 
 but of which I knew not whether it was art or 
 play, multiplied the sum regularly in two lines, 
 observing the decimal place ; but did not add the 
 two lines together, probably disdaining so easy 
 an operation. I pointed at the place where the 
 
WESTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 255 
 
 sum total should stand, and she noted it with such 
 expedition as seemed to show that she had it only 
 to write. 
 
 It was pleasing to see one of the most des- 
 perate of human calamities capable of so much 
 help : whatever enlarges hope, will exalt courage ; 
 after having seen the deaf taught arithmetic, who 
 would be afraid to cultivate the Hebrides ? 
 
 Such are the things which this journey has 
 given me an opportunity of seeing, and such are 
 the reflections which that sight has raised. Hav- 
 ing passed my time almost wholly in cities, I may 
 have been surprised by modes of life and appear- 
 ances of nature, that are familiar to men of wider 
 survey and more varied conversation. Novelty 
 and ignorance must always be reciprocal, and I 
 cannot but be conscious that my thoughts on na- 
 tional manners, are the thoughts of one who has 
 seen but little. 
 
 END OP THE JOtTRNEY. 
 
REMARKS 
 
 ON 
 
 DR. SAMUEL JOHNSON'S 
 
 3onvmv to tf^t J^ebrilies ; 
 
 WITH OBSERVATIONS ON THE 
 
 Antiquities y Language^ Genius^ and Manners. 
 
 OF THE 
 
 HIGHLANDERS OF SCOTLAND. 
 
 BY THE REV. DONALD M'NICOL, A.M. 
 
 MIXISTER OF LISMORE, ARGYLESHIRE. 
 
 OLD MEN AND TRAVELLERS LIE BY AUTHORITY.— -KflJ/'s Proverbs. 
 
 FIRST PUBLISHED IN 1779- 
 
 2 K 
 
ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 THE following sheets were written soon 
 after Dr. Johnson's ' Journey to the Hebrides' 
 was printed. But as the writer had never 
 made his appearance at the bar of the Public, 
 he was unwilling to enter the lists, with such 
 a jDOw;er/w/ antagonist, without previously con- 
 sulting a few learned friends. The distance 
 of those friends made it difficult to procure 
 their opinion, without some trouble and a 
 great loss of time : besides, the Author was 
 not so fond of his work as to be very anxious 
 about its publication. 
 
 He is, however, sensible, that the publi- 
 cation, if it was at all to happen, has been too 
 long delayed. Answers to eminent writers 
 
ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 are generally indebted, for their sale and cir- 
 culation, to the works which they endeavour 
 to refute. Unfortunately, Dr. Johnson's 
 ' Journey ' has lain dead in the library for 
 some time past. This consideration is so 
 discouraging, that the writer of the Remarks 
 expects little literary reputation, and less pro- 
 fit, from his labours. But, as he had gone 
 so far, he was induced to go farther still, were 
 it for nothing more than the ambition of send- 
 ing his work to sleep^ on the same shelf, with 
 that of the learned Dr. Johnson. 
 
REMARKS 
 
 ON 
 
 DR. SAMUEL JOHNSON'S JOURNEY 
 
 TO THE 
 
 HEBRIDES. 
 
 Travelling through the difFerent king- 
 doms of Europe has greatly prevailed, of late 
 years, among men of curiosity and taste. Some 
 are led abroad by the mere love of novelty ; oth- 
 ers have a more solid purpose m view, a desire of 
 acquiring an extensive knowledge of mankind. 
 As the observations of the former are generally 
 of a cursory nature, and seldom extend beyond 
 the circle of their private acquaintance, it is from 
 the latter only that we can expect a more public 
 and particular information relative to foreign parts. 
 Some ingenious and valuable productions of this 
 kind have lately made their appearance ; and when 
 a man communicates, with candour and fidelity, 
 
262 
 
 REMARKS ON 
 
 what he has seen in other countries, he cannot 
 render a more agreeable or useful service to his 
 own. 
 
 By such faithful portraits of men and manners, 
 we are presented with a view of the world around 
 us, as it really is. Our author, like a trusty guide, 
 conducts us through the scenes he describes, and 
 makes us acquainted with the inhabitants; and 
 thus we reap all the pleasures and advantages of 
 travel, without the inconveniences attending it. 
 There is no country so contemptible as not to 
 furnish some things that may please, nor is any 
 arrived to that degree of perfection as to afford 
 no matter of dislike. When, therefore, no false 
 colouring is used, to diminish what is commen- 
 dable, or magnify defects, we often find reason to 
 give up much of our supposed superiority over 
 other nations. Hence our candour increases with 
 our knowledge of mankind, and we get rid of the 
 folly of prejudice and self-conceit ; which is equally 
 ridiculous in a people as individuals, and equally 
 an obstacle to improvement. 
 
 It were to be wished that the Treatise, which 
 is the subject of the following sheets, had been 
 formed on such a plan as has been now mentioned, 
 as it would be a much more agreeable task to com- 
 mend than censure it. But it will appear, from 
 the sequel, how far its author has acquitted himself 
 
JOHNSON'S JOURNEY. 
 
 263 
 
 with that candour which Could inform the curious, 
 or undeceive the prejudiced. 
 
 When it was known, some years ago, that Dr. 
 Samuel Johnson, a man of some reputation for 
 letters, had undertaken a tour through Scotland, 
 it was naturally enough expected, that one of his 
 contemplative turn would, some time or other, 
 give a public account of his journey. His early 
 prejudices against the country were sufficiently 
 known; but every one expected a fair, if not a 
 flattering, representation, from the narrative of 
 grey hairs. But there was another circumstance 
 which promised a collateral security for the Doc- 
 tor's fair dealing. Mr. Pennant, and other gen- 
 tlemen of abilities and integrity, had made the 
 same tour before him, and, like men of liberal 
 sentiments, spoke respectfully of the Scotch nation. 
 It was thought, therefore, that this, if nothing else, 
 would prove a check to his prepossessions, and 
 make him extremely cautious, were it only for 
 his own sake, how he contradicted such respecta- 
 ble authorities. 
 
 Neither of these considerations, however, had 
 any weight. The Doctor hated Scotland ; that was 
 the master-passion, and it scorned all restraints. 
 He seems to have set out with a design to give a 
 distorted representation of every thing he saw on 
 the north side of the Tweed; and it is but doing 
 
264 
 
 REMARKS ON 
 
 him justice to acknowledge, that he has not failed 
 in the execution. 
 
 But consistency has not always been attended 
 to in the course of his narration. He differs no 
 more from other travellers, than he often does from 
 himself, denying at one time what he has asserted 
 at another, as prejudice, or a more generous passion, 
 happened, by turns, to prevail; which, to say no 
 worse, is but an awkward situation for a man who 
 makes any pretensions to be believed. 
 
 At the same time I am not so partial to my 
 country, as to say that Dr. Johnson is always in 
 the wrong when he finds fault. On the contrary, 
 I am ready to allow him, as, I believe, will every 
 Scotchman, that the road through the mountains, 
 from Fort Augustus to Glenelg, is not quite so 
 smooth as that between London and Bath ; and 
 that he could not find, in the huts or cottages at 
 Anoch and Glensheals, the same luxuries and ac- 
 commodations as in the inns on an English post- 
 road. In these, and such like remarks, the Doc- 
 tor's veracity must certainly remain unimpeached. 
 But the bare merit of teUing truth will not always 
 atone for a want of candour in the intention. In 
 the more remote and unfrequented parts of a 
 country, little refinement is to be expected; it is, 
 therefore, no less frivolous to examine them with 
 too critical an eye, than disingenuous to exhibit 
 
JOHNSON'S JOmiNEY. 
 
 265 
 
 them as specimens of the rest. This, however, 
 has been too much the practice with Dr. Johnson, 
 in his account of Scotland; every trifling defect is 
 eagerly brought forward, while the more perfect 
 parts of the piece are as carefully kept out of view. 
 If other travellers were to proceed on the same 
 plan, what nation in Europe but might be made 
 to appear ridiculous ? 
 
 The objects of any moment, which have been 
 chiefly distinguished by that odium which Dr. 
 Johnson bears to every thing that is Scotch, seem 
 to be, the Poems of Ossian ; the whole Gaelic lan- 
 guage ; our seminaries of learning ; the Reforma- 
 tion ; and the veracity of all Scotch, and particu- 
 larly Highland narration. The utter extinction 
 of the two former seems to have been the principal 
 motive of his journey to the North. To pave the 
 way for this favourite purpose, and being aware 
 that the influence of tradition, to which all ages 
 and nations have ever paid some regard in matters 
 of remote antiquity, must be removed, he resolves, 
 point blank, to deny the validity of all Scotch, and 
 particularly Highland narration. This he employs 
 all his art to persuade the public is always vague 
 and fabulous, and deserves no manner of credit, 
 except when it proves unfavourable to the coun- 
 try ; then, indeed, it is deemed altogether infallible, 
 
 2 L 
 
266 
 
 REMARKS ON 
 
 and is adduced, by himself, upon all occasions, in 
 proof of what he asserts. But this is a mode of 
 reasoning with which the world has been totally 
 unacquainted before the Doctor's days. 
 
 The poems of Ossian were no sooner made 
 known to the public, though stripped of their na- 
 tive ancient garb, than they became the delight 
 and admiration of the learned over all Europe. 
 Dr. Johnson, perhaps, was the only man, of any 
 pretensions to be ranked in that class, who chose 
 to dissent from the general voice. The moment 
 he heard of the publication and fame of those po- 
 ems, he declared them spurious, without waiting 
 for the common formality of a perusal. His cyni- 
 cal disposition instantly took the alarm ; and that, 
 aided by his prejudices, would not suffer him to 
 admit that a composition of such acknowledged 
 merit could originate from a country which, be- 
 cause he hated, he always affected to despise. 
 
 But what is the consequence of this hasty and ab- 
 surd declaration ? After all that has been said upon 
 the subject, the poems must still be considered as 
 the production either of Ossian or Mr. Macpherson. 
 Dr. Johnson does not vouchsafe to tell us who else 
 was the author; and consequently the national 
 claim remains perfectly entire. In labouring to 
 deny their antiquity, therefore, the Doctor only 
 
JOHNSON'S JOURNEY. 
 
 267 
 
 plucks the wreath of ages from the tomb of the 
 ancient bard, to adorn the brow of the modern 
 Caledonian. For the moment Mr. Macpherson 
 ceases to be admitted as a translator, he instantly 
 acquires a title to the original. This consequence 
 is unavoidable, though it is not to be supposed 
 Dr. Johnson intended it. Naturally pompous and 
 vain, and ridiculously ambitious of an exclusive 
 reputation in letters, it can hardly be believed 
 that he would voluntarily bestow so envied a 
 compliment on a young candidate for fame, who 
 had already, in other respects, made a discovery 
 of talents sufficient to alarm his own pride: but 
 we often derive from the folly of some men, more 
 than we claim from their justice. 
 
 From the first appearance of Ossian's poems in 
 public, we may date the origin of Dr. Johnson's 
 intended tour to Scotland; vv^hatever he may pre- 
 tend to tell us, in the beginning of his narration. 
 There are many circumstances to justify this o- 
 pinion; among which a material one is, that a 
 gentleman of undoubted honour and veracity, who 
 happened to be at London soon after that period, 
 informed me upon his return to the country, that 
 Caledonia might, some day, look for an unfriendly 
 visit from the Doctor. So Kttle able was he, it 
 seems, to conceal his ill-humour on that occasion, 
 that it became the subject of common discourse ; 
 
268 
 
 REMARKS ON 
 
 and the event has fully verified what was predic- 
 ted as the consequence. 
 
 In the year 1773 he accomplished his purpose; 
 and sometime in the year following he published 
 an account of his journey, which plainly shows 
 the spirit with which it was undertaken. All men 
 have their prejudices more or less, nor are the best 
 always without them ; but so sturdy an instance 
 as this is hardly to be met with. It is without 
 example, in any attempt of the like kind that has 
 gone before it ; and it is to be hoped, for the sake 
 of truth and the credit of human nature, it will 
 furnish none to such as may come after. 
 
 As, in refuting the misrepresentations, and de- 
 tecting the inconsistencies of Dr. Johnson, it may 
 sometimes be found necessary to draw a compa- 
 rison between the north and the south side of the 
 Tweed, it is proper to premise here, that this shall 
 always be done, without the least intention to 
 reflect on the English nation. My mind was 
 perfectly free from the narrowness of national pre- 
 judice before this occasion, and I am not yet suf- 
 ficiently provoked, by the Doctor's injustice to 
 my country, to retaliate against his. To illustrate 
 the subject by similar instances, is my only aim ; 
 as then, like objects brought nearer to the eye, 
 observations, when applied more immediately to 
 ourselves, will strike more forcibly. This much. 
 
JOHNSON'S JOURNEY. 
 
 269 
 
 I hope, will suffice as an apology with every can- 
 did Englishman. And as to some people among 
 ourselves, who easily give up many points of 
 national honour, they are chiefly upstarts in the 
 world ; a set of men, who, in all countries, are apt 
 to make lie^ht of distinctions from which their own 
 obscurity excludes them. 
 
 My first intention was to write what I had to 
 say on this subject in the form of an Essay. Upon 
 farther consideration, however, the method I have 
 now adopted appeared the most eligible ; as, by 
 citing the Doctor's own words, the public will be 
 the better enabled to judge what justice is done to 
 his meaning. This plan, on account of the fre- 
 quent interruptions, may not, perhaps, render the 
 performance so entertaining to some readers; but 
 it gives an opportunity for a more close investi- 
 gation, and to such as are not possessed of the 
 Doctor's book, it will, in a great measure, supply 
 its place. 
 
 That the reader may not be disappointed, I 
 must tell him beforehand, that he is not to expect, 
 in the following sheets, what Dr. Johnson calls 
 ' ornamental splendours.' Impartiality of obser- 
 vation shall be more attended to than elegance of 
 diction ; and if I appear sometimes severe, the 
 Doctor shall have no reason to say I am unjust. 
 He is to be tried all along by his own evidence ; 
 
270 
 
 REMARKS ON 
 
 and, therefore, he cannot complain, if, ' out of his 
 own mouth, he is condemned.' 
 
 Dr. Johnson informs us, that he set out from 
 Edinburgh, upon his intended peregrination, the 
 18th of August, 1773. This must undoubtedly 
 appear an uncommon season of the year for an old 
 . frail inhabitant of l^ondon to undertake a journey 
 to the Hebrides, if he proposed the tour should 
 prove agreeable to himself, or amusing to the 
 public. Most other travellers make choice of the 
 summer months, when the countries through which 
 they pass are seen to most advantage ; and as the 
 Doctor acknowledges he had been hitherto but 
 little out of the metropolis, one should think he 
 would have w ished to have made the most of his 
 journey. But it was not beauties the Doctor went 
 to find out in Scotland, but defects ; and for the 
 northern situation of the Hebrides, the advanced 
 time of the year suited his pm'pose best. 
 
 He passes over the city of Edinburgh almost 
 w^ithout notice ; though surely its magnificent 
 castle, its palace, and many stately buildings, 
 both pubUc and private, were not unworthy of 
 a slight touch, at least, from the Doctor's pen- 
 cil. Little, therefore, is to be expected from a 
 man who would turn his back on the capital with 
 a supercihous silence. But, indeed, he is com- 
 monly very sparing of his remarks where there is 
 
JOHNSON'S JOHRNEY. 
 
 271 
 
 any thing that merits attention ; though we find 
 he has always enough to say where none but him- 
 self could find matter of observation. 
 
 In page 2, his account of the island of Inch 
 Keith is trifling and contradictory. He represents 
 it as a barren rock where there formerly was a 
 fort ; and yet he tells us again, that it was never 
 intended for a place of strength, and that a * herd 
 of cows grazes annually upon it in the summer.' 
 But a fort without strength is surely something 
 new, and grazing for cattle a most uncommon 
 mark. of barrenness. 
 
 Before the Doctor dismisses this wonderful 
 spot,— which he has made something and nothing 
 all in a breath, — he amuses himself with thinkincr 
 * on the different appearance that it would have 
 made, if it had been placed at the same distance 
 from London ;' and then he adds, with an air of 
 exultation, « with what emulation of price a few 
 rocky acres would have been purchased, and with 
 what expensive industry they would have been 
 cultivated and adorned.' 
 
 The censure implied in the above passage is 
 obvious ; but, to give it effect, the Doctor ought 
 first to determine whether Inch Keith is not still 
 a royal property. Should that be found to be the 
 case, no « emulation of price' could purchase it ; 
 and consequently the citizens of Edinburgh are 
 
272 
 
 REMARKS ON 
 
 not to be blamed for not cultivating and adorning 
 what they cannot make their own. 
 
 But this consideration set apart, let me ask 
 the Doctor, Whether the Londoners have shown 
 themselves so very deserving of the ranting com- 
 pliment he pays them ? If I am not misinformed, 
 there are, at this present moment, even in the very 
 heart of the cities of London and Westminster, 
 many extensive spots of ground, which exhibit at 
 once the most miserable marks of desolation, and 
 proofs of neglect. Instead of being cultivated and 
 adorned, these are represented as dangerous to the 
 passenger, and loathsome to the view. What then 
 are we to think of this boasted emvilation to pur- 
 chase, this industry to improve ? Is it very credi- 
 ble, that a people should go such expensive lengths 
 for an agreeable situation without their walls, who 
 permit the vilest sinks of filth and corruption to 
 incommode and disgrace their streets ? 
 
 The Doctor says, he discovered no woods in 
 his way towards Cupar. This may be true, as 
 the Doctor's optics, I am told, are none of the best. 
 But surely the fine extensive plantations of the 
 Earl of Leven's estate, and not very distant from 
 the public road, could not well have escaped the 
 notice of any other passenger. He then tells us, 
 ' that a tree is as great a curiosity in Scotland, as 
 a horse at Venice.' — 1 cannot decide upon the 
 
JOHNSON'S JOURNEY. 
 
 273 
 
 merits of this assertion, as I am not acquainted with 
 the numbers of the Venetian cavaky. But, what- 
 ever the Doctor may insinuate about the present 
 scarcity of trees in Scotland, we are much deceived 
 by fame, if a very near ancestor of his, who was a 
 native of that country, did not find to his cost, 
 that a tree was not quite such a rarity in his days. 
 
 It is allowed, indeed, he might pass through 
 some parts of Scotland, where there are not many 
 trees ; as, I believe, is the case in England, and 
 most other countries. But as he is so very careful 
 in describing the nakedness of the country where 
 trees were not, he ought to have had the candour 
 likewise to inform us where they were. 
 
 Such, however, as are desirous of satisfaction 
 on this head, may consult Mr. Pennant's Tour, 
 and they will find a very different account of the 
 matter from that given by the Doctor. That 
 gentleman found abundance of woods, and even 
 trees, in different parts of the country, if those 
 of twelve and fifteen feet in circumference may 
 deserve that name. But he travelled with his 
 judgment unbiassed, and his eyes open ; two cir- 
 cumstances in which he differed very materially 
 from Dr. Johnson, and which, rather somewhat 
 unluckily for the latter, has occasioned such a fre- 
 quent difference in their accounts. 
 
 As the Doctor arrived at St. Andrew's at two 
 
274 
 
 llEMARKS ON 
 
 in the morning, it is pleasant enough to hear him 
 say, ' Though we were yet in the most populous 
 part of Scotland, and at so small a distance from 
 the capital, we met few passengers.' — Few people, 
 I believe, would complain of this circumstance, at 
 the same hours, and at so small a distance from 
 the English capital. But it is pretty evident, that 
 the Doctor meant nothing less than a compliment 
 to the Scots, for the security with which he per- 
 formed this nocturnal expedition. 
 
 But the night is the usual season for rest ; and 
 that being considered, it effectually takes the sting 
 from the above silly remark. What man in his 
 senses would expect to find crowded roads at mid- 
 night ? Or what man of common honesty would 
 be bold enough to assert, that there were few or 
 no trees in Fife, because forsooth they were not 
 to be seen in the dark ? 
 
 He says, page 5, that there is hardly so much 
 of the cathedral of St. Andrew's remaining as to 
 « exhibit, even to an artist, a sufficient specimen 
 of the architecture.' I am at a loss to know what 
 he means by a * sufficient specimen,' if a great part 
 of one of the side walls, with a spire at each end, 
 and the main enjtry entire, are not sufficient for 
 the purpose he mentions : for all these still remain 
 in spite of ' Knox's reformation,' as he sarcasti- 
 cally expresses it. 
 
JOHNSON'S JOURNEY. 
 
 275 
 
 In 1543, a bill was passed in the parliament of 
 Scotland, granting leave to the people to read the 
 Scriptures in the vulgar tongues; and this bill 
 was notified to the public, by a proclamation from 
 the regent. He even went so far as to desire Sir 
 Ralph Sadler, the English ambassador, to send for 
 English bibles from London. As this deed, there- 
 fore, had the sanction of the regent and parlia- 
 ment, let the world judge of the candour of the 
 man who calls it ' Knox's reformation.' 
 
 Page 5. He mentions the miserable but just 
 fate of cardinal Beatoun, in such a manner as 
 might make it be thought to have proceeded from 
 the religious animosities of those times; for he 
 says, that ' he was murdered by the ruffians of re- 
 formation.' But it is well known to such as ai^e 
 conversant in the history of that period, that it 
 was not for his religion that this pest of society 
 was brought to an untimely end. His number- 
 less cruelties and oppressions had raised him many 
 enemies among all ranks of people ; and in parti- 
 cular there was an old quarrel between him and 
 Norman Lesly, son to the Earl of Bothes, who 
 was the principal agent in ridding the world of a 
 monster, who ought rather to have fallen by the 
 hand of public justice. 
 
 But while our author condemns this act with 
 so much malignant acrimony, he takes care, with 
 
276 
 
 REMARKS ON 
 
 his usual candour, to conceal from his reader the 
 more to be lamented fate of the amiable Wish- 
 art ; who but a few days before, and that for con- 
 science' sake alone, was condemned to the flames, 
 and suffered accordingly, by one of the many 
 barbarous decrees of the Doctor's favourite cardi- 
 nal, though there was an express order from the 
 regent to the contrary. If this was not murder 
 with a vengeance, I should be glad to know its 
 proper name. But as it was perpetrated under 
 the sanction of a popish judicatory, the Doctor 
 may, perhaps, soften persecution into justice, and 
 roundly affirm that the devoted Wishart deserved 
 no mercy, for the unpardonable crime, according 
 to him, of being one of the * ruffians of reforma- 
 tion.' He seems, indeed, to have a good deal of 
 the old leaven in his composition ; and whatever 
 may be his notions of civil liberty, he shows him- 
 self, upon most occasions, to be no great friend to 
 that of conscience. 
 
 In page 6, he asserts, that all the civilization 
 introduced into Scotland, is entirely owing to our 
 trade and intercourse with England. It is but 
 too common with English writers to speak con- 
 temptuously of other countries, and arrogate very 
 largely to their ov/n; and what with national 
 vanity on the one hand, and national prejudice 
 on the other, tiie Doctor has, in this instance, 
 
JOHNSON'S JOURNEY. 
 
 277 
 
 either suftered himself to be betrayed into a most 
 gross and wilful misrepresentation, or he discovers 
 an amazing ignorance of the history of Europe. 
 This miracle of knowledge did not know, or is 
 willing to forget, that, long before the period he 
 alludes to, we had an intercourse of many centu- 
 ries with France; a nation as polite, at least, as 
 England, and, perhaps, full as ready to do justice 
 to the characters of their neighbours. 
 
 Our first league with France was in the reign 
 of Charlemagne, in 790, signed by that monarch, 
 and afterwards by our king Achaius, at Inver- 
 lochy. Charles the Great was so fond of en- 
 nobling France, not only by arms but by arts, 
 that he sent for learned men from Scotland, says 
 Buchanan, to read philosophy, in Greek and La- 
 tin, at Paris. He himself had for his preceptor, 
 Johannes Scotus, or Albinus, a man eminent for 
 learning. 
 
 Many other Scots went over about that time, 
 to instruct the inhabitants about the Rhine in the 
 doctrines of Christianity; which they did with 
 such success, that the people built monasteries in 
 many places. The Germans paid such a respect 
 to their memories, that, even in Buchanan's time, 
 Scotchmen were made governors of those monas- 
 teries. 
 
 From the time of Achaius to the Union, our 
 
2178 
 
 REMARKS ON 
 
 alliance with France continued. A complete 
 catalogue of all those treaties, with an English 
 translation, was published in 1751; to which I 
 refer the Doctor, to convince him, that we had 
 some importance as a nation, before we had any 
 connexion with his country. There he will see 
 the uncommon privileges we enjoyed in France ; 
 that we were entrusted with the highest offices, 
 civil, military, and ecclesiastical; that we were 
 complimented with all the rights and franchises 
 of native subjects, which we possess to this day; 
 and that we were distinguished by the singular 
 honour of acting as lifeguards to the French kings ; 
 a trust, one would think, not to be conferred on 
 such savages and barbarians as the Doctor would 
 make us. 
 
 Our merchants Hkewise enjoyed the most un- 
 common privileges and immunities in France; 
 and many of our nobility and gentlemen obtained 
 extensive estates in that kingdom, as rewards for 
 their signal services to the state, which the poste- 
 rity of most of them inherit to this day. 
 
 There cannot, I think, be a more convincing 
 proof of the entire confidence which the French 
 reposed in the honour and fidelity of the Scots, 
 than their making choice of them for guarding 
 the persons of their sovereigns. After Lewis the 
 Twelfth had set forth, in terms the most honour- 
 
JOHNSON'S JOURNEY. 
 
 279 
 
 able to our nation, the services which the Scots 
 had performed for Charles the Seventh, in expel- 
 ling the English out of France, and reducing the 
 kingdom to his obedience, he adds, — " Since which 
 reduction, and for the service the Scots rendered 
 to Charles the Seventh, upon that occasion, and 
 for the great loyalty and virtue which he found 
 in them, he selected two hundred of them for the 
 guard of his person, of whom he made a hundred 
 men at arms, and a hundred lifeguards : and the 
 hundred men at arms are the hundred lances of 
 our ancient ordinances ; and the lifeguard men are 
 those of our guard, who still are near and about 
 our person." 
 
 With respect to the fideUty of the Scots in this 
 honourable station, let us hear the testimony of 
 Claud Seysil, Master of Requests to the same 
 Lewis the Twelfth, and afterwards Archbishop of 
 Turin, in the history of that prince ; where, speak- 
 ing of Scotland, he says, — " The French have so 
 ancient a friendship and alliance with the Scots, 
 that, of four hundred men appointed for the king's 
 lifeguard, there are a hundred of the said nation 
 who are the nearest to his person, and, in the night, 
 keep the keys of the apartment where he sleeps. 
 There are, moreover, a hundred complete lances, 
 and two hundred yeomen of the said nation, be- 
 sides several that are dispersed through the com- 
 
REMARKS ON 
 
 panies : and for so long a time as they have served 
 in France, never hath there been one of them found, 
 that hath committed, or done any fault, against the 
 kings or their state; and they make use of them as 
 of their own subjects." 
 
 The ancient rights and privileges of the Scottish 
 lifeguards are very honourable. Here follows a 
 description of the functions and precedence be- 
 longing to their company, and especially to the 
 twenty-four first guards ; to whom the first gens- 
 d'armes of France being added, they make up the 
 number of twenty-five, commonly called gardes 
 de manclie, (sleeve guards,) who were all Scotch 
 by nation. The author of the ancient alliance 
 says, — " Two of them assist at mass, sermon, ves- 
 pers, and ordinary meals. On high holidays, at 
 the ceremony of the royal touch, the erection of 
 Knights of the King's Order, the reception of 
 extraordinary ambassadors, and the pubHc entries 
 of cities, there must be six of their number next 
 to the king's person, three on each side of his ma- 
 jesty : and the body of the king must be carried 
 by these only, wheresoever ceremony requires; 
 and his effigy must be attended by them. They 
 have the keeping of the keys of the king's lodging 
 at night, the keeping of the choir of the chapel, 
 the keeping of the boats when the king passes 
 the rivers; and they have the honour of bearing 
 
JOHNSON'S JOURNEY. 
 
 281 
 
 the white silk fringe in their arms, which, in 
 France, is the coronal colour. The keys of all 
 the cities where tlie king makes his entry are 
 given to their captain, in waiting, or out of wait- 
 ing. He has the privilege, in waiting, or out of 
 waiting, at ceremonies, such as coronations, mar- 
 riages, and funerals of the kings, and at the bap- 
 tisms and marriages of their children, to take duty 
 upon him. The coronation robe belongs to him : 
 and this company, by the death or change of a 
 captain, never changes its rank, as do the three 
 others." 
 
 It would be easy to produce the most honour- 
 able testimonies of our national character, from 
 the writers of all the states of any note in Europe, 
 our nearest neighbours excepted. But this much 
 may suffice to convince the most partial and cre- 
 dulous of Doctor Johnson's readers, that, when 
 we began to have ' trade and intercourse with 
 England,' our manners could not stand in much 
 need of any cultivation from that quarter. It 
 will be allowed, I beheve, that the English, like 
 most other nations, are indebted for their own 
 chief improvements to the French. It would, 
 therefore, be ridiculous to suppose, that we, who 
 had access to the original so long before themselves, 
 should have occasion, at last, to borrow from the 
 
 2 N 
 
282 
 
 REMARKS ON 
 
 copy, and thus to acquire the little polish he allows 
 us, at second-hand only. 
 
 Page 7. When speaking of the university of 
 St. Andrew's, the Doctor says, ' that the univer- 
 sities in Scotland are mouldering into dust.' This 
 remark is the more extraordinary, as a great part 
 of St. Salvator's college was built from the foun- 
 dation not above twenty years ago. It can hardly 
 be believed, therefore, that such a visible tendency 
 to decay could already have taken place, though, 
 instead of solid stone, the building had been con- 
 structed of such brittle materials as Enghsh bricks. 
 
 He next complains, with more virulence than 
 justice, of the neglected state of the chapel of St. 
 Leonard's college. But as that college has been, 
 with great propriety, dissolved, a strict attention 
 to its chapel, which is no longer wanted for reli- 
 gious purposes, does not appear necessary. The 
 chapel of St. Salvator's, however, which, within 
 these few years, has been very neatly repaired, 
 and that at a considerable expense, has entirely 
 escaped the Doctor's notice. Not a word of this ; 
 otherwise, as it now supplies the place of the other, 
 the dilapidation would have been accounted for, 
 and this heinous charge of sacrilege shown to be 
 unjust. To be consistent, therefore, it was neces- 
 sary to be silent. And the Doctor's tender regard 
 
JOHNSON'S JOURNEY. 283 
 
 to decorum, in this instance, illustrates a beautiful 
 observation of his own, in the page I have last 
 quoted, when he says, * Where there is yet shame, 
 there may in time be virtue.' 
 
 The hbrary of St. Andrew's is the next object 
 of his remarks, which, he tells us, ' is not very 
 spacious.' This, however, is a vague and indefi- 
 nite way of speaking, to which the Doctor is rather 
 too frequ ently addicted. General terms convey no 
 distinct ideas ; and, if he wished to be understood, 
 he should have given the several dimensions, that 
 the public might judge for themselves. For my 
 own part, I am at a loss to know what he means 
 by * very spacious.' It is not, indeed, so spacious 
 as St. Paul's; but it is sufficiently large and ele- 
 gant, as a repository of books, for any literary 
 society in the kingdom. 
 
 He informs us, that the gentleman by whom it 
 was shown, hoped to mortify his English vanity, 
 by telling him, that they had no such library in 
 England. This observation, I confess, was need- 
 less ; and, perhaps, unjust. But, be that as it may, 
 the Doctor seems determined to have his revenge, 
 by saying something to disparage it. 
 
 Nothing can be more uncandid and erroneous, 
 than the account he gives of the rates at which 
 the different classes of students may pass their 
 
284 
 
 REMARKS ON 
 
 session, or term, at St. Andrew's. His calculation, 
 in general, falls short of the necessary expenses, 
 by more than one half Formerly, perhaps, the 
 sums he hientions might have been nearly suffi- 
 cient ; but it is well known, that, of late years, the 
 expense of an academical education in Scotland, as 
 is probably the case in England too, has increased 
 very considerably. 
 
 When a man attempts to inform the public in 
 any thing, he should take some care to be first 
 well informed himself. But our traveller, on most 
 occasions, seems not to be very nice in that respect. 
 Minute inquiries might either be troublesome, or 
 not suit his purpose; and, therefore, to cut the 
 matter short, and come easily at his point, he often 
 makes a confident assertion stand for authority. 
 
 The Doctor, at length, takes leave of St. An- 
 drew's; though not, to do him justice, without 
 making decent mention of the kindness of the 
 professors. But even that, he says, * did not con- 
 tribute to abate the uneasy remembrance of a 
 university declining, a college aUenated, and a 
 church profaned and hastening to the ground.' 
 From these circumstances lie is led into a train 
 of reveries, which he concludes in these pathetic 
 words : ' Had the university been destroyed two 
 centuries ago, we should not have regretted it; 
 
JOHNSON'S JOURNEY. 
 
 285 
 
 but to see it pining in decay and struggling for 
 life, fills the mind with mournful images and in- 
 effectual wishes.' 
 
 This Ls certainly fine language; and a proof, 
 no doubt, of fine feelings. I heartily sympathize 
 with his generous distress, especially as there is no 
 remedy but ineffectual wishes ! But I must tell 
 the good man, for his comfort, that the matter is 
 not quite so bad as his too lively imagination re- 
 presents it ; and that the * mournful images ' which 
 fill his mind, are the mere vagaries of a distempered 
 fancy. His readers, therefore, need not be too 
 deeply impressed with the calamities he speaks of ; 
 as it is not the first time, I am told, that the Doc- 
 tor has amused the public with a False Alarm. 
 
 But to follow our traveller a little more closely 
 on this subject. What he calls ' a university de- 
 clining,' must certainly refer to the college of St. 
 Leonard; for I have mentioned a little above, that 
 the college of St. Salvator had undergone a tho- 
 rough repair within these last twenty years. As 
 this, then, is what ought, in propriety, to be now 
 caDed the university, the other being dissolved; 
 and as he acknowledges the abilities of the profes- 
 sors; the most partial, I think, must see the folly, 
 as well as the falsehood of this assertion. But had 
 those walls, which he describes as ' pining in decay,' 
 and the other universities in Scotland, of which he 
 
286 
 
 REMARKS ON 
 
 gives not a much better account, produced as few 
 eminent men, as some other universities that might 
 be named, the Doctor's antipathy to this country 
 had not, perhaps, been so great; nor would he, 
 probably, have taken the trouble of examining our 
 seminaries of learning upon the spot. 
 
 As to his ' aUenated college,' he saves me the 
 trouble of saying much on that head, by confessing, 
 page 7, that * the dissolution of St. Leonard's col- 
 lege was doubtless necessary.' If this be so, why 
 complain of the measure ? To be necessary and 
 yet a reproach, seems rather somewhat incompa- 
 tible, and presents us with a combination of terms, 
 for which, perhaps, we can find no synonymous 
 authority, unless in the Doctor's Dictionary. 
 
 We come now, along with the Doctor, to the 
 melancholy task of viewing ' a church profaned 
 and hastening to the ground.' This church is no 
 other than the old chapel of the annexed, not the 
 alienated, college of St. Leonard. Its having been 
 formerly consecrated by the Romish rites, may 
 give some little fillip to the Doctor's zeal ; but in 
 what manner it has been profaned of late years, 
 unless he means by the Presbyterian religion, I 
 am unable to conjecture. Since the dissolution 
 of the seminary to which it belonged, it has ceased 
 to be occupied as a place of worship. I see no 
 profanation, therefore, in applying it to any other 
 
JOHNSON'S JOURNEY. 
 
 287 
 
 useful purpose; as no degree of sanctity can surely 
 remain in the walls. The Scots, at least, do not 
 carry their veneration for such relics so far as the 
 Doctor did in the island of lona, as we shall see 
 in its proper place; a circumstance which is no 
 bad index to his religious creed. 
 
 Page 11. He represents ' the whole country 
 as extending in uniform nakedness, except that 
 in the road between Kirkcaldy and Cupar,' he 
 ^ passed for a few yards between two hedges.' 
 Here I could venture to lay a hundred to one, 
 that our doughty traveller mistook two extensive 
 parks for two small hedges ; from whence we may 
 form an idea of the unconscionable length of the 
 Doctor's yard. This notable gentleman came to 
 Scotland without eyes to see the objects that lay 
 in his way ; and therefore to follow him through 
 the account he gives of his journey with too much 
 confidence, would be literally trusting to a Mind 
 guide. 
 
 He passes very rapidly through the town of 
 Dundee, for fear, I suppose, of being obliged to 
 take notice of its increasing trade. Besides a vari- 
 ety of other extensive and profitable manufactures, 
 the dying of linen yarn is brought to a greater 
 degree of perfection in that place, than any where 
 else in Great Britain. As this is a very curious 
 art, and employs some thousands of people, one 
 
288 
 
 REMARKS ON 
 
 would think it as deserving of notice, as many 
 other things that attracted the Doctor's attention. 
 
 To see commerce flourish, industry rewarded, 
 and the poor have bread, are objects which would 
 have given pleasure to a benevolent mind; and 
 they would have been related with rapture. But 
 England had not yet made any great progress in 
 this branch ; and the Doctor did not choose to 
 acknowledge, that his countrymen were in any 
 thing outdone by the Scots. I profess, I mean 
 nothing local in this remark. But, as the Doctor 
 is so very ready to speak out, when the balance is 
 on the other side, I think it but justice to claim 
 that share of comparative merit, Avhich his silence 
 has here denied us. 
 
 His next stage was Aberbrothick, to which he 
 pays a very unusual compliment, on account of its 
 ancient and magnificent, but now decayed monas- 
 tery; for he tells us, in page 14, that he ' should 
 scarcely have regretted' his * journey, had it af- 
 forded nothing more than the sight of Aberbro- 
 thick.' 
 
 I know not with what degree of pleasure the 
 Doctor surveyed the ruins of this venerable pile ; 
 but his abrupt description of it cannot convey 
 much to the reader, nor induce any other stranger 
 to travel so far for the same sight. He endeavours 
 to account for this deficiency, by pleading the ap- 
 
JOHNSON'S JOURNEY. 
 
 Q89 
 
 proach of night, which obhged them to desist from 
 their researches. Had there been no other day to 
 succeed that night, this indeed might be some ex- 
 cuse; but it affords none for not returning next 
 morning, to have a more complete view of an 
 object, which he owns had captivated his fancy 
 so much. 
 
 There was no occasion, however, to call in the 
 assistance of the night to conceal from his readers, 
 a scene which did some credit to the country. The 
 Doctor, while in Scotland, never saw more than 
 he was wiUing to communicate. He touches very 
 slightly, or not at all, on such objects as might ex- 
 cite the curiosity of the inquisitive ; but the most 
 trifling handle for obloquy is greedily laid hold of, 
 and tediously displayed. 
 
 Page 14. At Montrose, he complains much 
 of the behaviour of the innkeeper. But, happily 
 for this nation, he found out that his host was an 
 Englishman, otherwise " every mother's son of us" 
 would have been reprobated for his sake. 
 
 While at this place, he observes, that our beg- 
 gars ' solicit silently, or very modestly.' Here, one 
 would naturally expect, he had found something 
 to speak well of ; but not so with the Doctor. He 
 begins a harangue on the merits of the begging 
 trade, and concludes in favour of clamour and 
 perseverance. When a man will not allow the 
 
290 
 
 REMARKS ON 
 
 silent modesty of a Scotch beggar to escape the 
 lash, it is enough to show that he is determined 
 not to be pleased. 
 
 I intended to have made a remark on what I 
 thought an impropriety in our traveller's language, 
 when he says that * the hedges near Montrose are 
 of stone.' But I shall leave the thorn of correction 
 for the abler hand of Lexiphanes ; a name which 
 the Doctor may long remember, for a former com- 
 plete trimming of his Vocabulary. 
 
 In his way from JVIontrose, he observes, that 
 * the fields are so generally ploughed, that it is hard 
 to imagine where grass is found for the horses that 
 till them.' Alas ! what shall poor Scotland do to 
 please the good Doctor ? In one place he finds too 
 little tillage, in another too much. Not long ago, 
 he told us, * that the whole country was extended 
 in uniform nakedness but here he seems to forget 
 himself, and says, ' the harvest, which was almost 
 ripe, appeared very plentiful.' A country covered 
 with a plentiful crop, cannot certainly be called 
 naked. But let the reader account for such ca- 
 prices, and reconcile such contradictions, if he can. 
 
 He insinuates, page 16, that there are no robbers 
 in Scotland. But, as he seldom bestows with the 
 one hand, without taking away with the other, he 
 concludes his observation by adding, ' for where 
 there are so few travellers, why should there be 
 
JOHNSON'S JOURNEY. 
 
 291 
 
 robbers?' If he means any thing by this, it must 
 be, that the poverty with which he every where 
 brands the Scotch nation, makes the poorer sort 
 honest. This is one good consequence from a 
 misfortune at least ; but the conclusion will by no 
 means follow. Riches and poverty are relative all 
 the world over ; and consequently, where there is 
 but little wealth, the wants of the most indigent, 
 will be as effectually relieved by depredations on 
 their neighbours, as in more opulent countries. 
 In spite of the Doctor's sophistry, therefore, a 
 pretended want of inducements to rapine, fails to 
 account here for the want of the practice. The 
 safety with which, as he confesses, he pursued his 
 journey, both by night and by day, called for a 
 more generous interpretation. It is principle a- 
 lone, and neither the penury or paucity of its in- 
 habitants, that exempts the traveller in Scotland 
 from the terrors of the pistol and dagger. 
 
 This communicative gentleman, among other 
 curious anecdotes, informs us, that he seldom found 
 in Scotland any method of keeping their windows 
 open, when there was occasion for admitting fresh 
 air, but by holding them up with the hand, unless 
 now and then among good contrivers, there be a 
 nail which one iViight stick into a hole to keep 
 them from falling. The misfortune is, whatever 
 the Doctor meets with but once, if it suits his 
 
292 
 
 REMARKS ON 
 
 purpose, he will make universal. That he might 
 'meet with some instances of what he mentions, I 
 will not dispute ; nor in remote corners, nor even 
 elsewhere when the puUies may happen to be out 
 of order, do I think it a bad shift ; and if our neigh- 
 bours of the South have not a nail, or some such 
 expedient, in the like circumstances, they are not 
 what he calls good contrivers. 
 
 For once, however, he seems to feel a conscious 
 blush for the futility of his censures; and we find 
 him have the good grace to offer an apology for 
 abasing himself so far, as to mention such trifles 
 as nails to support windows, by alleging, * that 
 the great outlines or characteristics of a nation are 
 to be marked out not in palaces, or among the 
 learned, but among the bulk of the people.' This 
 is certainly a just observation, in which I hear- 
 tily agree with him ; and had he begun to mark 
 out these outlines or characteristics a httle nearer 
 home, he might, perhaps, have found fewer no- 
 velties on this side of the Tweed. 
 
 Page 31. He observes, « a Scotch army was 
 very cheaply kept' after the time of the Reforma- 
 tion. 1 know not, indeed, how cheap those armies 
 might have been to their friends; but the history 
 of England can vouch that they often proved very 
 dear to their enemies. To be particular on this 
 liead would be invidious; nor shall the Doctor's 
 
JOHNSON'S JOURNEY. 
 
 293 
 
 malevolence provoke me to draw aside the veil 
 which a happy union between the two kingdoms 
 has long since, among men of sense and modera- 
 tion, thrown over past transactions. 
 
 In reflecting upon the ruinous state of our 
 cathedrals, he faces about for once, and tells the 
 English likewise, that their ' cathedrals are moul- 
 dering by unregarded dilapidation.' Here his own 
 countrymen excla' u against his want of candour, 
 and clearly convict him of a most audacious mis- 
 representation, by pointing out several large sums 
 which have been lately expended on the repara- 
 tion of some of their churches. 
 
 We have reason to complain of him in almost 
 every page ; and the present instance of his insin- 
 cerity must satisfy others that we have not always 
 had fair play. In traducing the Scots, he might 
 hope, as the scene lies at a distance, to exercise 
 the common, though not very honourable, privi- 
 lege of a traveller, without fear of discovery. But 
 what shall the world think of a man who, regard- 
 less of the infamy, ventures to trespass ^ here de- 
 tection is unavoidable ? A sense of shame and a 
 regard to truth generally go together ; and when 
 a man has lost the one, he seldom retains the 
 other. 
 
 He says, page 33, that the first orchard and 
 plantation of oak he saw in Scotland was at 
 
294 
 
 REMAUKS ON 
 
 Fochabers, though it is well known there were 
 several of both kinds in his way, had he been 
 disposed to observe them. But where the Doc- 
 tor could not get a good dinner, a circumstance 
 which is generally thought to have an uncommon 
 influence on his narrations, he seldom found any 
 agreeable objects. At any rate it does not seem 
 a very judicious situation for orchards, to place 
 them so near the road, that a person who hardly 
 sees his finger-length before him should be able 
 to descry them. 
 
 At Forres, Dr. Johnson found * nothing worthy 
 of particular remark.' Mr. Pennant, however, was 
 a little more fortunate here, as well as every where 
 else. " Near Forres," says that gentleman, " on 
 the road side, is a vast column three feet ten inches 
 broad, and one foot three inches thick ; the height 
 above the ground is twenty-three feet ; below, as is 
 said, twelve or fifteen feet. On one side are num- 
 bers of rude figures of animals and armed men, with 
 colours flying : some of the men seemed bound like 
 captives. On the opposite side was a cross includ- 
 ed in a circle, and raised a little above the surface 
 of the same. This is called King Sueno's Stone, 
 and seems to be, as Mr. Gordon conjectures, erec- 
 ted by the Scots, in memory of the final retreat of 
 the Danes." This monument of Scotch triumph 
 over the Danes, who had put England under the 
 
JOHNSON'S JOURNEY. 
 
 295 
 
 yoke, Dr. Johnson did not see, or he did not choose 
 to record an event so much to their honour. 
 
 Before he left Forres, he might have found 
 something worthy of remark in contemplating the 
 ruins of the old castle, which stood at the west end 
 of the town, and was formerly a place of great ex- 
 tent and strength. He might likewise have en- 
 tertained himself agreeably by taking a view, from 
 the town, of the fertile plain below, which stretches 
 for many miles towards the sea, as well as to the 
 East and West; and where he could have seen 
 gentlemen's seats, with hedges, trees, and every 
 other mark of cultivation, scattered before him in 
 the most delightful profusion. But the Doctor 
 mentions none of those things, as it was not his 
 intention to give his reader the least favourable 
 idea of the grandeur of our ancestors, or the in- 
 dustry of the present times. 
 
 Not far from this town, in his way to Nairn, 
 he had an opportunity of seeing the castle of Tar- 
 naway, an ancient and noble seat of the Earls of 
 Murray. Here he would have found, what he 
 pretends so often to have looked for in vain, parks, 
 plantations, and natural woods in . abundance ; 
 which, with other beauties of nature and art, 
 might sufficiently compensate for the trouble of 
 a short peep as he went along; it would not have 
 taken him much out of his way, and he would 
 
296 
 
 REMARKS ON 
 
 have made a shift to visit a popish church, or even 
 the ruins of one, at a greater distance. 
 
 Of Fort George, which he owns to be the most 
 regular in the island, he mentions little else than 
 the good entertainment he received at the gover- 
 nor's table. His pretence for not giving a more 
 particular account of this important place is, be- 
 cause he could not * delineate it scientifically,' as 
 he phrases it. But the true reason was, that he 
 did not wish his countrymen to know that there 
 was any thing in the North of so superior a na- 
 ture, and so well worth their seeing. Had Fort 
 George, instead of what it is, been the meanest 
 and most irregular in the island, the good Doctor 
 would have found other language to delineate it, 
 if he could not be scientifically exact ; or, in other 
 words, where science failed, sarcasm would have 
 done the rest. 
 
 Page 35. One can hardly forbear smiling to 
 hear him talk of Scotland being conquered by 
 Cromwell. But a man must have little know- 
 ledge of facts, or still less honesty, who can gravely 
 advance such an opinion ; as it is well known to 
 every person who is in the least acquainted with 
 history, that Scotland has never been conquered. 
 The country has been often invaded, and its armies 
 have been sometimes defeated, but it never yet 
 has submitted to a foreign yoke. 
 
JOHNSON'S JOURNEY. 
 
 297 
 
 To reduce Scotland was an attempt thr.t defied 
 the whole power of the Roman empire, even at 
 the height of its glory. The Danes, who made 
 so easy a conquest of England, acquired nothing 
 but death and graves in Scotland; and the united 
 fraud, force, and perseverence of Edward the First, 
 and some of his successors, though always assisted 
 by a powerful faction in the country, could never 
 subdue the spirit of a people who were determined 
 to be free, and disdained the control of a usurper. 
 
 But in order to clear up this matter a little, it 
 is necessary to stop the Doctor for a while, in his 
 journey and conquests, and desire him, by way of 
 prelude, to look back, and see what antiquity says 
 on the subject. 
 
 In the year 55 before Christ, when Julius Caesar 
 invaded Britain, it is known he was repulsed with 
 considerable loss. Afterwards, in the year 165, it 
 appears from history, that the Caledonians cut the 
 Romans to pieces; while the English historians, 
 however ready on most occasions to do ample jus- 
 tice to their country, do not pretend to say, that 
 South Britain, at that era, made any stand against 
 that warlike people. 
 
 Ammianus Marcellinus owns that the North 
 Britons killed Fullofaudes, a Roman general, and 
 Nectarides, count of the maritime coast. Theo- 
 dosius, one of the most renowned generals of the 
 
 S p 
 
298 
 
 REMARKS ON 
 
 times, was then sent with a powerful army agamst 
 them, and relieved the city of London, then under 
 dreadful apprehensions from the North Britons. 
 
 After repeated attempts of the Romans to con- 
 quer the Caledonians, the emperor Severus went 
 himself in person against them, in the year 208, 
 with the strength of the whole empire ; and though 
 he had the assistance of South Britain, and of part 
 of the South of Scotland, then Roman provinces, 
 he was contented at last, after a loss of more than 
 seventy thousand * men in one campaign, to treat 
 with them and the jVIeates, f and erect a new wall 
 to stop their incursions. 
 
 Twenty years after the death of Severus, the 
 Caledonians were considered as such formidable 
 enemies, that Dio tells us, in his account of the 
 disposition of the Roman legions, about the year 
 230, that the Romans kept two legions on the 
 borders against the unconquered Britons ; where- 
 as one legion was sufficient to keep all the rest of 
 Britain in subjection, i 
 
 • Stillingfleet, an English writer, acknowledges on the authority 
 of Tacitus, that the Romans lost seventy thousand men in one year, 
 %hting against the North Britons. 
 
 t The ancient name of the people in that part of Scotland whiclt 
 lies on the south of the river Clyde. 
 
 1: Lib. Iv. 564^ 
 
JOHNSON'S JOURNEY. 
 
 299 
 
 This is the account which the most candid and 
 unexceptionable of the Roman historians gives of 
 this matter. From hence, therefore, it appears, 
 that the Romans, even at a time when they were 
 masters of the known world, and had attained to 
 their highest pitch of grandeur, were sometimes 
 obliged to compound matters v/ith the Caledoni- 
 ans, and at last utterly to abandon all thoughts 
 of conquering a people whom they generously 
 confessed to be the most warhke they had ever 
 encountered. 
 
 Here, I must own, I cannot help being in some 
 pain for the poor Doctor's situation, as he must 
 surely strain hard to swallow this harsh pill ; and 
 yet, disagreeable as it is, down it must go, since 
 this is not a story founded upon ' Scotch narration.' 
 
 But further, it will readily occur to the intel- 
 ligent reader, that the inroads of the Romans, as 
 well as those of Edward the First, hardly reached, 
 and never went beyond Druim-alba; so that at 
 the worst, supposing all the tract to the southward 
 to have been completely conquered, instead of be- 
 ing only overrun sometimes, the greatest part of 
 the country must still have retained its liberty. 
 
 I am sensible, that with some a common answer 
 to all this is, " That the conquest of Scotland was 
 not worth while." Should Doctor Johnson choose 
 to retreat under the same cover, let him inform us, 
 
soo 
 
 REMARKS ON 
 
 if he can, why so sensible a people as the Romans 
 should persevere so long, and be so very obstinate 
 in their last effort, as to sacrifice seventy thousand 
 men in the pursuit of so contemptible an object? 
 And why Edward the First of England, among 
 whose failings folly has never been reckoned the 
 chief, should have employed almost his whole life, 
 and wasted so much blood and treasure, on the 
 same unprofitable attempt ? From hence, I think, 
 it does not seem very probable, that such an acqui- 
 sition was formerly deemed a matter of so little 
 consequence; whatever may now be the opinion 
 of a wiser posterity. It must be confessed, how- 
 ever, that the answer is a convenient one; it is 
 like cutting the Gordian knot, which could not 
 be untied. 
 
 As to the conquest so ridiculously ascribed to 
 Cromwell, little need be said to such as are ac- 
 quainted with the circumstances of those times. 
 A powerful party of the Scots had early opposed 
 the impolitic measures of the king, and they were 
 the first to appear in the field against him ; though 
 from different motives, they had embarked in the 
 same enterprise with Cromwell, and consequently 
 there could be no ground of quarrel between them. 
 When, therefore, that regicide went afterwards to 
 the North, it was not to conquer a whole kingdom, 
 but only to curb a party that still continued to act 
 
JOHNSON'S JOURNEY. 
 
 301 
 
 for the royal cause ; and even in that he was assisted 
 by many of their own countrymen, who were san- 
 guine enemies to the House of Stuart. Had he 
 gone with more ambitious views, and against a 
 united people, his expedition might have ended, 
 like many others from the same quarter, in a man- 
 ner which Dr. Johnson would not choose to relate. 
 
 None surely can be weak enough to believe 
 that Cromwell could do more in a few weeks, than 
 the most renowned commanders had been able to 
 achieve in as many centuries. The whole glory of 
 this conquest, therefore, must belong to the Doctor 
 alone. AVhat could not be done in the field, he has 
 accomplished in his closet, and shamed the sword 
 of the soldier with one dash of his pen. 
 
 The Doctor next proceeds to enumerate the 
 many and great advantages which we derived from 
 the loss of our freedom. He says, page 36, Crom- 
 well * civilized them by conquest, and introduced 
 by useful violence the arts of peace :' and then, as 
 the sum total of these valuable arts, he adds very 
 gravely, that he ' was told at Aberdeen, that the 
 people learned from Cromwell's soldiers to make 
 shoes and to plant kail.' 
 
 These to be sure were two very good things, 
 as they administered at once both to our external 
 and internal wants; but that our traveller should 
 be told so at Aberdeen, seems rather a little sus- 
 
302 
 
 REMARKS ON 
 
 picious. That has long been a city of extensive 
 trade and frequent intercourse with the continent 
 of Europe : it cannot be supposed, therefore, that 
 tlie people were strangers to the making of shoes 
 at that period ; unless we can suppose at the same 
 time, that no such thing as shoes were then in use 
 any where else ; and that Cromwell's soldiers were 
 afterwards dispersed among all nations, as so many 
 missionary cobblers, to instruct the people in that 
 useful art of peace. 
 
 But let the Doctor's credibility stand or fall by 
 his own testimony. He acknowledges, page 37, 
 that the Scots are ingenious and inquisitive ; that 
 they had early attained the liberal arts; and ex- 
 celled in ornamental knowledge. Is it consistent 
 with such a description then, that a manual art for 
 supplying so essential a conveniency of life, should 
 be totally unknown to them ? Even among a ru- 
 der people, the feelings of nature would certainly 
 suggest expedients, however imperfect, to guard 
 against the rigours of particular seasons and cli- 
 mates. 
 
 We come next to consider the probability of 
 what relates to the article of kail. Dr. Johnson 
 would no doubt insinuate, that kail and other 
 garden vegetables had abounded in England long 
 before they were cultivated in Scotland ; but if he 
 consults Anderson's History of the Rise and Pro- 
 
JOHNSON'S JOURNEY. 
 
 gress of Commerce, he will find that our southern 
 neighbours have so little to boast of in this parti- 
 cular, that in 1509 there was not ^ sallad in all 
 England, and that cabbages, carrots, turnips, and 
 other plants and roots, were imported from the 
 Netherlands. The whole country could not fur- 
 nish a single sallad, &c. for Henry the Eighth's 
 queen, till gardeners and different sorts of plants 
 were brought from foreign countries. 
 
 Let this be compared with what we read in a 
 history of Scotland by John Leslie, popish bishop 
 of Ross, who flourished in the year 1560, and 
 dedicated his book to the pope. In the second 
 edition of this work, printed at Rome in 1675, 
 the Doctor will find, that in the bishop's time, 
 Glasgow was a market famous not only for wine, 
 &c., but that it likewise abounded in orchards 
 and garden herbs. ^ And again, that Murray was 
 famous for all sorts of corn, and likewise for or- 
 chards, &c. f It is not very likely then, that a 
 country which abounded in these things should 
 want so ordinary an article as common kail. 
 
 From hence it appears, as bishop Leslie wrote 
 
 * Page 11. Glasguam celeberrimum emporium vini, aquse vitae, 
 Brogat, &c. &c. See. pomifcris hortis et hortensibus herbis abundans. 
 
 t Page 26. Moravia omni frumenti genere, pomiferis hortis, &c. 
 delectat. 
 
304 
 
 REMARKS ON 
 
 about a century before Cromwell went to Scot- 
 land, that Dr. Johnson's account of this matter 
 cannot be just. And indeed I am apt to think, 
 if he had any information at all, it was a mere 
 trick of some wag, who diverted himself with his 
 English vanity, and now laughs at his weakness 
 for recording a Canterbury tale. 
 
 After concluding his history of kail, the Doctor 
 gives a specimen of his abilities as a philosopher. 
 ' How they lived without kail,' says he, * it is not 
 easy to guess ; they cultivate hardly any other 
 plant for common tables, and when they had not 
 kail they probably had nothing.' What force of 
 reasoning! How beautiful, how just the conclu- 
 sion ! The fable of the Cameleon needs no longer 
 give surprise. Air is something to live upon ; but 
 this miracle of English erudition has found out, 
 that a whole nation of people can live for ages 
 upon nothing. All great discoveries, to be sure, 
 have been reserved for that favourite spot of hea- 
 ven, called England. But Dr. Johnson's nothing 
 surpasses every thing! 
 
 In the last quoted page, he acknowledges, that 
 « literature, soon after its revival, found its way to 
 Scotland, and from the middle of the sixteenth 
 century, almost to the middle of the seventeenth, 
 the politer studies were very diligently pursued.' 
 The force of truth seems, for once, to have unsealed 
 
Johnson's journey. 
 
 305 
 
 the Doctor's eyelids. But the apparent candour 
 of this confession is effaced by his concealing, that 
 the Scots had likewise their share of the sciences 
 before the subversion of learning. Such of them 
 as were known in Europe at the time, were cul- 
 tivated at lona, Oronsa, and other places, so early 
 as the fifth and sixth centuries. Collum Cille, or 
 St. Columba, came to lona about the year 565, 
 and of his age the forty-third ; which was a hun- 
 dred and thirty-five years after the building of that 
 abbey by Fergus the Second. 
 
 King Edwin, of Saxon race, first embraced 
 Christianity only in 627; whereas it had prevailed 
 in Scotland since 1 65. Oswald, king of Northum- 
 berland, sent for learned men to Scotland in 634. 
 St. Aidan was consecrated bishop of Northumber- 
 land in 635. Finan, from lona, succeeded him in 
 652. Colman succeeded Finan in 661 j but retired 
 to Scotland again in 664, when the dispute about 
 Easter and the Tonsure was decided in the synod 
 against him. 
 
 In the reign of Malduinus, who succeeded to 
 the crown of Scotland in 668, Buchanan says, " the 
 Scottish monks propagated the doctrines of Christ 
 over almost all England, and had so instructed 
 the English youth, that now they seemed able of 
 themselves to preach the gospel in a proper man- 
 
306 
 
 REMARKS ON 
 
 ner to their countrymen ; but their envy against 
 their masters grew in proportion to their learning ; 
 and their prejudice in this respect went so far, that 
 the Scottish monks were obUged to return to their 
 own country. Though this contumely cut off, at 
 that time, the concord between the two nations, 
 the modesty of those who had received the insult, 
 kept both kingdoms from an open war." 
 
 From this event, the violence on one side, and 
 moderation on the other, the reader can easily trace 
 out the ancient characteristic of the two nations ; 
 and if we may judge from that good temper with 
 which the Scots have, of late years, borne the in- 
 vectives of their southern neighbours, the same 
 traits of national character will still appear uni- 
 formly to distinguish both. The indecent scur- 
 rilities of a Churchill, a Wilkes, and others, and 
 more latterly, the coarser attacks of a Johnson, 
 have not hitherto met with any other mark of 
 resentment than a silent contempt. 
 
 In the bishop of Ross's book * we may see, that 
 about the year 273, there flourished among the 
 Scots, Amphibalus, Modacus, and many other men 
 
 * Floruere circa hsec tempora (A. D. 273) apud Scotos Amphiba- 
 lus, Modacus, &c. &c. multique alii viri, doctrina et religione insigne.=;. 
 Dei cultores (Culdei nostra lingua vulgari dirti). Page 115. 
 
JOHNSON'S JOURNEY. 
 
 307 
 
 eminent for their learning and religion, who were 
 worshippers of God, and called, in our common 
 language, viz. the Gaelic, Culdich (or Culdees). 
 
 We may observe from the famous passage in 
 Tertullian, wrote about A. D. 209, that there were 
 already believers in Christ, even in those parts of 
 the island which the Romans bad not been able 
 to subdue. * 
 
 Before the end of the fourth century the 
 Christian religion was spread from one end of the 
 province of Valencia to the other ; a space com- 
 prehending the South-west part of Scotland, from 
 the Solway Frith to Dumbarton. St. Ninian was 
 born of Christian parents in what was afterwards 
 called Galloway, and formed the one extremity of 
 this province ; and in the other, near Dumbarton, 
 St. Patrick was also born of Christian parents, and 
 in a place wholly peopled by Christians. And 
 those two saints became, by themselves and their 
 disciples, the first apostles of the Picts and Scots, 
 both in Scotland and in Ireland. Last of all, the 
 Saxons of the north of England were also conver- 
 ted by St. Aidan, as already mentioned, in the 
 seventh century. 
 
 These few hints relative to the rise and progress 
 
 * Britannorum inaccessa loca, Christo vero subclita. Tertullian. 
 contra Judaeos, cap. 7. 
 
308 
 
 REMARKS ON 
 
 of civilization in general, and of Christianity in 
 particular, in both kingdoms, will, it is to be hoped, 
 pull down one story at least of the Doctor's height, 
 and satisfy the public that the odds, in point of 
 time, is greatly in favour of Scotland. 
 
 Page 37. He says, the Scots must be for ever 
 content to owe to the English all their elegance 
 and culture. Had the Doctor been here giving 
 an account of any other nation in Europe, I make 
 no doubt but he would likewise have found some 
 opportunity of making a similar claim in favour 
 of old England. Our good neighbours have been 
 always pretty remarkable for the modest virtue of 
 self-applause, and considering their own country, 
 at all times and in all things, as the true standard 
 of all perfection. 
 
 What has been already said, concerning our 
 early connexion with France, may be a sufficient 
 answer to the absurdity and arrogance of this as- 
 sertion. It is with an ill grace, indeed, that the 
 English pretend to be a model of taste for others : 
 they themselves are daily copying from the Gallic 
 school; and though they have been long under 
 tutorage, the world have not yet conceived any 
 high opinion of their elegance and culture. In 
 spite of discipline, there is still a roughness in their 
 manners which has rendered them proverbial. 
 
 But th^ frequent repetition of the above remark. 
 
JOHNSON*S JOURNEY. 
 
 309 
 
 to be found in the Doctor's performance, renders 
 it necessary to have recourse to a few facts, for 
 setting that matter in a proper light: and, there- 
 fore, I must recal his attention to some circum- 
 stances relating to the state of the two kingdoms, 
 long before any friendly intercourse between them 
 could give us an opportunity of receiving those 
 boasted improvements. 
 
 In the year 1234, straw was used for the king's 
 bed in England. In 1300, wine was sold in Eng- 
 land, only by apothecaries, as a cordial. But it 
 was then quite otherways in Scotland, because of 
 our extensive trade, in proportion to the commerce 
 of those days, with France and Spain; and till I 
 adverted to this circumstance, it often surprised 
 me to find frequent mention made, in many of 
 our ancient Gaelic poems, of the drinking of wine 
 and burning of wax in the habitations of our chief- 
 tains. In 1340, the parliamentary grants to the 
 king of England were only in kind ; and thirty 
 thousand sacks of wool was this year's grant. In 
 1505, the first shilling was coined in England. In 
 1561, Queen Elizabeth wore the first pair of knit- 
 ted silk stockings that ever were in that country. 
 In 1543, pins were first made in England ; anrt 
 before that time the ladies used skewers. 
 
 To all this let me oppose, but particularly to 
 the skewers of the English ladies, the account 
 
310 
 
 REMARKS ON 
 
 which the bishop of Ross gives of the dress of the 
 women among the ancient Scots. We siiall there 
 find, " that they were clothed with purple and 
 embroidery of most exquisite workmanship, with 
 bracelets and necklaces on their arms and necks, 
 so as to make a most graceful appearance." * Nor 
 needs it be matter of surprise how the Scots had 
 opportunities of procuring such ornaments, since 
 the same author shows they had, at that time, a 
 considerable trade with France and Spain, from 
 Inverlochy, near Fort Wilham. f 
 
 After this view of the matter, it is difficult to 
 say, whetlier we are to accuse Dr. Johnson of ig- 
 norance, or insincerity, in what he has so boldly, 
 but with so little appearance of justice, asserted. 
 It is certain, had he been in the least acquainted 
 with the history of his own country, he might 
 easily have seen, that the English have been a 
 little too tardy in their own improvements, to 
 
 * Mulierum habitus apud illos (scil. priscos Scotos) decentissimus 
 erat. Nam talari tunicae, arte phrvgia ut plurirnum confectae, amplas 
 chlamydes atque illas quidem polymitas, superinduerunt. Illarum 
 brachia armillis, et colla monilibus elegantius ornata, maximam habent 
 decoris speciem. Page 55. 
 
 Ad Louchaeae ostia sita olim erat opulentissima civitas Inverio- 
 thaea appellata, ad quam Galli, Hispaiiique, commercii causa frequen- 
 tius trajecerant. Hsec postea a Norvegis, Danisque eversa, et nunquam 
 a nobis deinceps, quae nostra est iguavia, instauratur. Page 23. 
 
JOHNSON'S JOURNEY. 
 
 311 
 
 support them in any decent claim of having civi- 
 lized their neighbours. 
 
 But notwithstanding all that can be said to the 
 contrary, the Doctor seems determined, right or 
 wrong, to maintain his position. He therefore 
 goes on, and tells us again very roundly, that till 
 the union made the Scots acquainted with English 
 manners, ' their tables were coarse as the feasts of 
 Eskimeaux, and their houses filthy as the cottages 
 of Hottentots.' There is an expression among 
 lawyers, " That what proves too much, proves no- 
 thing." It is just so with my worthy friend the 
 Doctor, in this place: he has laid on his filth so 
 very thick, that I am of opinion it will fall off by 
 its own weight. 
 
 But in the name of wonder, who could expect 
 such a remark to drop from the pen of a man on 
 whom the witty Lord Chesterfield, many years 
 ago, bestowed the appellation of Hottentot ?* His 
 lordship was allowed not only to be a good judge 
 of character, but likewise to have a good hand at 
 drawing a likeness. It was, therefore, unlucky in 
 our Author to come blundering out with an ex- 
 pression which must call to our remembrance this 
 
 • When talking of our Author, the Earl of Chesterfield said. That 
 he could never consider Dr. Johnson in any other point of view than 
 as a more respectable kind of Hottentot. 
 
312 
 
 REMARKS ON 
 
 striking specimen of the noble artist's skilL For 
 I will be bold to affirm, that no man has ever yet 
 seen Dr. Johnson in the act of feeding, or beheld 
 the inside of his cell in Fleet-street, but would 
 think the feasts of Eskimeaux or the cottages of 
 Hottentots injured by a comparison. 
 
 But supposing the Doctor's charge to hold good 
 in very distant times, let me ask him whether 
 England and every other country under the sun 
 has not had its ages of ignorance and barbarity ? 
 If this solemn pedant will deign to look back, he 
 will find many things in the history of his own 
 country which ought to convince him that civili- 
 zation did not begin very early there, nor advance 
 with a quick pace. I am always sorry when I am 
 obliged to trace out anecdotes of this kind; but 
 his ill manners and want of candour render it ne- 
 cessary. 
 
 Alfred the Great, who died in the year 900, com- 
 plained, " that from the Humber to the Thames 
 there was not a priest that vinderstood the Liturgy 
 in his mother-tongue; and that from the Thames 
 to the sea there was not one that could translate 
 the easiest piece of Latin. This universal igno- 
 rance, and the little relish the English had for 
 arts and sciences, made the King invite learned 
 and ingenious foreigners." In 1167 King Henry 
 the Second sends to Ireland, and causes build a 
 
JOHNSON'S JOURNEY. 
 
 313 
 
 palace of wattles in Dublin, after the manner of 
 the country, wherein he keeps his Christmas. It 
 was not till 1209 that London began to be go- 
 verned by a Mayor; and so near our own times 
 as the year 1246, most of the houses in that capi- 
 tal were thatched with straw, the windows were 
 without glass, and all the fires stood to the wall 
 without chimneys. In the year 1300, and after- 
 wards, almost all the houses in England were built 
 of wood, &c. 
 
 Such facts as these are the surest tests of the 
 progress of civilization in any country, as they 
 show the taste and manners of the inhabitants at 
 different periods of time. If the Doctor doubts 
 their authenticity, he will find them confirmed by 
 Rapin and other historians. 
 
 As our traveller gives us only his own authority 
 for what he says of Scotland at the time of the 
 union, a testimony which the reader, by this time, 
 cannot think altogether unexceptionable; let us 
 now see what others have reported of the state of 
 civilization among us long before that period. 
 
 When Margaret, daughter of Henry the Se- 
 venth of England, became the Queen of our James 
 the Fourth, she was attended to the Scotch court 
 by many of the first nobility of both sexes ; and 
 yet the English historians of those days allow, that 
 they were fully equalled, or even excelled, by the 
 
 21 R 
 
REMARKS ON 
 
 Scotch nobility, in politeness of manners, the 
 number of their jewels, and the richness of their 
 dress; and particularly, that the entertainments 
 they received at the houses of ovir great people 
 did not yield to any thing they had ever seen. 
 
 In 1546, Contarini was the Pope's legate in 
 Scotland; and upon his return to the continent, 
 he celebrated the Scotch nation as a polite and 
 hospitable people. He bore this testimony to 
 their merit, though he could not succeed in the 
 object of his embassy ; which was, to support the 
 Komish religion, then fast declining in that king- 
 dom, on account of the intolerable cruelties of 
 Cardinal Beatoun. But this prelate, very unlike 
 to Dr. Johnson, could not permit his prejudices 
 as an ambassador to warp his veracity as a man. 
 
 The Queen of James the Fifth, though a 
 princess of so civilized a nation as France, ac- 
 knowledged, That the court and inhabitants of 
 Scotland were the most polite and civilized she 
 had ever seen, and the palace of Linlithgow the 
 most magnificent. 
 
 As a further specimen of our tables, let us take 
 the Earl of Athole's feast to James the Fifth, as 
 related by Lindsay the historian. 
 
 " Syne (then) the next summer the Eang past 
 to the Highland to hunt in Athole, and took with 
 him his mother, Margaret Queen of Scotland, and 
 
JOHNSON'S JOURNEY. 
 
 315 
 
 - an Embassador of the Pope's, who was in Scotland 
 for the time. The Earl of Athole, hearing of the 
 King's coming, made great provision in all things 
 pertaining to a prince, that he was as well served 
 and eased, with all things necessary to his estate, 
 as he had been in his own palace of Edinburgh. 
 For I heard say, this noble Earl gart (caused) make 
 a curious palace to the King, to his mother, and to 
 the Embassador, where they were so honourably 
 eased and lodged as they had been in England, 
 France, Italy, or Spain, concerning the time, and 
 equivalent for their hunting and pastime ; which 
 was builded in the midst of a fair meadow, a fair 
 palace of green timber, wind with green birks, 
 that were green both under and above; which 
 was fashioned in four quarters, and in every quar- 
 ter and nuik thereof a great round, as it had been 
 a block-house, which was lofted and gested the 
 space of three house height; the floors laid with 
 green scarets and spreats, medwarts and flowers, 
 that no man knew whereon he zeid, but as he 
 had been in a garden. Further, there were two 
 great rounds in ilk side of the gate, and a great 
 portculleis of tree, falling down with the manner 
 of a barrace, with a drawbridge, and a great stank 
 of water of sixteen foot deep, and thirty foot of 
 breadth. And also this palace within was hung 
 with fine tapestry and aiTasses of silk, and lighted 
 
316 
 
 REMARKS ON 
 
 with fine glass windows in all airths (directions) ; 
 that tliis place was as pleasantly decored with all 
 necessaries pertaining to a prince, as it had been 
 his own palace-royal at honrie. Further, this Earl 
 gart make such provision for the King, and his 
 mother, and the Embassador, that they had all 
 liianner of meats, drinks and delicates that were 
 to be gotten at that time, in all Scotland, either 
 in burgh or land ; that is to say, all kind of drink, 
 as ale, beer, wine both white and claret, malvery, 
 muskadel, hippocras and aqua vitae. Further, 
 there was of meats, white-bread, main-bread, and 
 ginge-bread, with fleshes, beef, mutton, lamb, veal, 
 venison, goose, grice, capon, coney, cran, swan, 
 partridge, plover, duck, drake, brisse-cock, and 
 pawnies, black-cock and muir-fowl cappercaillies : 
 and also the stanks that were round about the 
 palace were full of all delicate fishes, as salmonds, 
 trouts, pearches, pikes, eels, and all other kind of 
 delicate fishes that could be gotten in fresh wa- 
 ters; and all ready for the banket. Syne were 
 there proper stewards, cunning baxters, excellent 
 cooks and potengars, with confections and drugs 
 for their deserts : and the halls and chambers were 
 prepared with costly bedding, vessel and napery, 
 according for a king ; so that he wanted none of 
 his orders more than he had been at home in his 
 own palace. The King remained in this wilder- 
 
JOHNSON'S JOURNEY. 
 
 317 
 
 ness, at the hunting, the space of three days and 
 three nights, and his company, as I have shown. 
 1 heard men say, it cost the Earl of Athole, every 
 day, in expenses a thousand pounds. 
 
 " The Embassador of the I'ope, seeing this 
 great banquet and triumph which was made in 
 the wilderness, where there was no town near by 
 twenty miles, thought it a great marvel, that such 
 a thing should be in Scotland, considering that it 
 was named the end of the world by other coun- 
 tries ; and that there should be such honesty and 
 policy in it, especially in the Highland, where 
 there was so much wood and wilderness. But 
 most of all, this Embassador marvelled to see, 
 when the King departed, and all his men took 
 their leave, the Highlandmen set all this fair 
 place on a fire, that the King and the Embassa- 
 dor might see it. Then the Embassador said to 
 the King, * I marvel, Sir, that you should thole 
 (suffer) yon fair place to be burnt, that your Grace 
 has been so well lodged in.' Then the King an- 
 swered the Embassador, and said, ' It is the use 
 of our Highlandmen, though they be never so 
 well lodged, to burn their lodging when they 
 depart.' " See Lindsay's History of Scotland, p. 
 266, &c. 
 
 From these circumstances it may appear, should 
 the Journey to the Hebrides survive its author, 
 
318 
 
 REMARKS ON 
 
 how miserably deceived they must be, who, in 
 future times, shall take the Doctor's account of 
 Scotland for truth. When, therefore, he boasts 
 of the advantages which, in these respects, the 
 Scots have derived from the union, he ought to 
 have assigned a cause, why we were less refined 
 in the beginning of the eighteenth century, than 
 our forefathers have been proved to have been 
 some centuries before. Either, then, he is unac- 
 quainted with our ancient manners, or he grossly 
 misrepresents our modern character. His igno- 
 rance, therefore, or his malice, whichever the Doc- 
 tor shall think the most eligible, can only account 
 for the presumption of his assertions. 
 
 But were we to admit, with our traveller, that 
 the English have taught us how to procure any 
 of the good things of this life, it might fairly be 
 said, that they have likewise taught us the art of 
 spending them. We daily see more of a clumsy 
 affectation, tasteless extravagance, and giddy dis- 
 sipation, which many of our countrymen carry 
 home with them from the south side of the Tweed, 
 than of polite improvements, or useful inventions. 
 If these are the advantages which Dr. Johnson 
 means to charge against us in favour of the Eng- 
 lish, as the precious effects of the union, he has an 
 undoubted right to persist in his claim, and we 
 are ready to acknowledge ourselves their debtors. 
 
JOHNSON'S JOURNEY. 
 
 319 
 
 At the same time, we do not mean to disclaim 
 all advantages from the union, but only to show, 
 that they are not of that kind which Dr. Johnson 
 insinuates. Considered in a political light, it was 
 certainly a wise and salutary measure for both 
 kingdoms; but, even in that view, the English 
 are the principal gainers. The Doctor cannot well 
 deny this position, if he but recollects, that the 
 English were tlie first to propose the union, and 
 that it was at length carried with difficulty in Scot- 
 land. They call themselves a generous people; 
 but we cannot suppose them to be so very extra- 
 vagantly so, as to take so much pains in pressing 
 a measure, from which we were to reap the chief 
 advantages. If this really was the case, they had 
 surely a much greater love and affection for their 
 fellow-subjects of the North in the reign of Queen 
 Anne, than, I am afraid, they possess for them in 
 the reign of George the Third, if we are to judge 
 of the whole nation from the sample given us by 
 Dr. Johnson, who is reckoned one of their wisest 
 and best men. 
 
 Page 38 brings our traveller to a road upon 
 which ' no wheel had ever rolled.' There can ap- 
 pear nothing extraordinary in this remark, unless 
 the good Doctor had asserted, at the same time^ 
 that every by-road in England was fit for a car- 
 riage. We have already seen, that in 1300 all the 
 
320 
 
 KEMATIKS ON 
 
 houses in England were built of wood; and long- 
 after that period it was accounted a sort of luxury 
 to ride in a two-wheeled cart. Besides, if we 
 may credit even English historians, their favourite 
 Queen Elizabeth had no other mode of travelling, 
 than by riding behind one of her domestics ; whicK 
 evidently shows, that the rolling of wheels has not 
 been so very long known, or generally practised, 
 even in England itself But further, I am credibly 
 informed, that within these forty years, a time, I 
 presume, within the Doctor's remembrance, most 
 of the roads within twenty miles of London were 
 hardly fit for riding, much less for carriages. Who 
 then but our traveller could remark, that, in the 
 remote and unfrequented parts of the mountains 
 of Scotland, there were not regular post roads? 
 
 In page 39 he finds out, that ' civility seems 
 part of the national character of Highlanders.' If 
 ever Dr. Johnson has his good-humoured inter- 
 vals, this compliment certainly escaped him in 
 one of them. But how are we to reconcile this 
 with the epithets of rude, barbarous, gross, savage, 
 &c., which, in other parts of his work, he so libe- 
 rally bestows on the whole nation? If the decent 
 behaviour of common horse-hirers, to use a Scot- 
 tish expression, who attended him in his journey, 
 extorted this confession from him, we cannot well 
 suppose, that he found the better sort of people 
 
JOHNSON'S JOURNEY. 
 
 321 
 
 deficient in agreeable qualifications. Either, then, 
 the Doctor means something by the civility of his 
 horse-hirers, which is not understood by others, or 
 his national epithets can have no foundation in 
 truth. We should, therefore, be glad to hear him 
 give some consistent explanation of these particu- 
 lars ; as the civility of a rude and barbarous, or, in 
 other words, of an uncivilized people, conveys an 
 uncommon sort of idea. For my part, I have 
 looked into his own Dictionary, and could not 
 find, even in that perverter of the English lan- 
 guage, any definition of the above terms that can 
 make them hang together. 
 
 When riding along the side of Loch Ness, a 
 ray of good-humour seems to have stolen into the 
 Doctor's mind. For a while we find him pleased 
 with the goodness of the road, and the cheerfulness 
 of the day ; but this sudden gleam, like sunshine 
 before a storm, was of short duration. His natural 
 gloominess soon returns; and his restless caprice 
 finds a thousand faults. At that season of the 
 year no mortal, but himself, could have quarrelled 
 with the objects around him. If ever the wild 
 magnificence of nature could please, that day's 
 journey furnished ample matter of entertainment. 
 Even his own description of the scene through 
 which he passed, in spite of all his endeavours to 
 the contrary, conveys enough to the mind of the 
 
 2 >s 
 
322 
 
 REMARKS ON 
 
 reader to make him regret that he has not a more 
 perfect view. 
 
 He gives, here and there, a peep of some beau- 
 ties which he saw; but unluckily, as on most other 
 occasions, he seems less willing to exhibit these at 
 full length, than to point out a rock ' sometimes 
 towering in horrid nakedness.' 
 
 From the banks of Loch Ness the Doctor turns 
 his observation to its waters. He had been told 
 at Fort Augustus, that it continues open in the 
 hardest winters, though another lake not far from 
 it is covered with ice. This being an exception 
 from the common course of things, he seems much 
 disposed to doubt the fact ; for he will not suffer 
 nature to sport with her own laws in Scotland, 
 except in producing deformities. Then, indeed, 
 she may play as many wild pranks as she thinks 
 proper; and she pleases him the better, the more, 
 like himself, she becomes a Rambler. 
 
 As there could be np motive to deceive him in 
 a matter of so little consequence to the country, 
 as the freezing or not freezing of Loch Ness, it is 
 strange he should expose his own weakness, by 
 taking so much pains to render it doubtful. He 
 disputes this trivial fact with a solemnity truly 
 ridiculous. At length, however, finding himself 
 unable to give any decent colour to his objections, 
 he endeavours to account for so singular a pheno- 
 
JOHNSON'S JOURNEY. 
 
 323 
 
 menon; though still with this cautious proviso, 
 « if it be true.' But this he does in a manner so 
 very unphilosophieal, as clearly shows, either that 
 natural inquiries have not made a great part of the 
 Doctor's studies, or that his genius is not much 
 adapted to such nice researches. Every man has 
 his peculiar gift from nature; and to compile vo- 
 cabularies, or compound hard words, seems to be 
 the task which she has allotted for our traveller. 
 He ought therefore to confine himself to his pro- 
 per province, remembering the maxim, Ne sutor 
 ultra crepidam. 
 
 In Glenmollison, the Doctor seems surprised, 
 that the innkeeper's daughter showed no sort of 
 embarrassment in his presence. So, indeed, are 
 most others who have read that passage, as she 
 certainly had never seen " his like " before. But 
 the little gipsy, it seems, was not to be moved by 
 the elegance of his figure, the softness of his ad- 
 dress, or the splendour of his reputation. She was 
 saucy enough to appear perfect mistress of herself, 
 without betraying the least mark of diffidence, 
 confusion, or the melting power of love. 
 
 At this place he takes care to refresh our me- 
 mory with his bounty to the soldiers, whom he 
 passed on the road, and who came to the same inn 
 to spend the evening. One would be tempted to 
 think, that acts of generosity are but rare things 
 
324 
 
 REMARKS ON 
 
 with the Doctor, when he dwells so ostentatiously 
 on this trifling piece of liberality. 
 
 In page 56, he discovers what seems to have 
 been one of his motives for undertaking his jour- 
 ney, namely, an inclination to dissuade all such 
 strangers as would be directed by him from ever 
 visiting Scotland, as being altogether unworthy 
 of the attention of the curious. In proof of this 
 he says, that * uniformity of barrenness can afford 
 very little amusement to the traveller; that it is 
 easy to sit at home and conceive rocks, and heathy 
 and waterfalls ; and that these journeys are useless 
 labours, which neither impregnate the imagination 
 nor enlarge the understanding.' 
 
 If rocks, heath, and waterfalls constitute uni- 
 formity, I should be glad to learn from the Doctor 
 wherein variety consists? As to his reasoning in 
 the above passage, he saves me the trouble of a re- 
 futation, by having immediately after refuted him- 
 self After the easy mode of information which 
 he had proposed, viz. by sitting at home and con- 
 ceiving what he pleased, who would expect to hear 
 him, in the same page, express himself as foUows? 
 But * these ideas are always incomplete,' and, ' till 
 we have compared them with realities, we do not 
 know them to be just. As we see more, we become 
 possessed of more certainties, and consequently 
 gain more principles of reasoning, and found a 
 
JOHNSON'S JOURNEY. 
 
 325 
 
 wider basis of analogy. Regions mountainous and 
 wild, thinly inhabited, and little cultivated, make 
 a great part of the earth, and he that has never seen 
 them must live unacquainted with much of the 
 face of nature, and wdth one of the great scenes of 
 human existence.' Let the reader now judge of 
 the consistency between this language and what 
 he had before asserted, ' that these journeys are 
 useless labours, which neither impregnate the ima- 
 gination nor enlarge the understanding.' 
 
 We have oftener than once seen the Doctor in 
 the same awkward situation, saying and unsaying 
 in the same breath. Who but himself would not 
 have drawn his pen through the former lines, after 
 adding the latter ? But he seems to be above can- 
 celling any thing he has once set down ; otherwise 
 he is too indolent to give himself the trouble of 
 correction. 
 
 After endeavouring to impress the mind of his 
 reader with the wildness of the hills of GlenmoUi- 
 son, he seems afraid of having said too much, and 
 making the country appear too remarkable, even 
 by allowing it to be so very mountainous. He 
 therefore instantly sweeps away this negative com- 
 pliment by asking, ' Yet what are these hillocks 
 to the ridges of Taurus, or these spots of wilderness 
 to the deserts of America?' This churlish author 
 will not allow us to excel even in wildness. 
 
326 
 
 REMARKS ON 
 
 It was in these hills, while sitting on a bank 
 to let the horses rest, about the middle of the day, 
 that the Doctor tells us he * first conceived the 
 thought of his narration.' Should we pay his ve- 
 racity the compliment of believing this to be true, 
 we must certainly allow him to be endowed with 
 a retentive memory. There are so many minutiee 
 in the preceding part of his narration, that it is 
 surprising they could occur without the assistance 
 of some previous memorandums; and yet we can 
 see no reason for his being at that trouble before 
 he had conceived the thought of making use of 
 them. 
 
 Speaking still of the same spot, he says, * We 
 were in this place at ease and by choice, and had 
 no evils to suffer or to fear.' If this was really 
 so, how can he say afterwards, page 65, that the 
 Highlanders live by theft and robbery? It was 
 certainly very bold in the Doctor to fear nothing, 
 in the midst of their wildest mountains, if the 
 character he gives the inhabitants be just. But, 
 indeed, it is not easy for any reader, who is unac- 
 quainted with the country, to form any consistent 
 idea of the people from Dr. Johnson's vague and 
 contradictory accounts of them. 
 
 Page 65 he says, that ' thirty years ago, no herd 
 had ever been conducted through the mountains, 
 without paying tribute in the night to some of the 
 
JOHNSON'S JOURNEY. 
 
 327 
 
 clans/ This, however, is a gross misrepresenta- 
 tion. There are many people still living, who 
 drove hundreds of cattle through the mountains 
 long before that period, and never once paid the 
 tribute he mentions. Here, therefore, we may 
 retort upon himself the substance of a sage obser- 
 vation, which, in page 41, he applies to the High- 
 landers concerning the freezing of Loch Ness ; and 
 that is, that accuracy of narration is not very com- 
 mon with him, and that he is seldom so rigidly 
 philosophical as not to represent as constant, what 
 is sometimes only casual. 
 
 He acknowledges, page 66, that the different 
 clans were ' unconnected with the general sys- 
 tem, and accustomed to reverence only their own 
 lords.' If this really was so, their quarrels witli 
 their neighbours, and the mutual injuries result- 
 ing from them, are to be explained on the same 
 liberal principles as those which daily happen be- 
 tween the most independent states. The rule of 
 morality is the same in both cases ; and injury 
 always justifies retaliation, whether we speak of 
 the Highland clans, or of larger communities. 
 
 Under the same head, in speaking of the power 
 of the chiefs, he says, ' those who had thus the 
 dispensation of law, were by consequence them- 
 selves lawless. Their vassals had no shelter from 
 outrages and oppressions; but were condemned 
 
S2S 
 
 REMARKS ON 
 
 to endure, without resistance, the caprices of wan- 
 tonness, and the rage of cruelty.' Here the Doctor 
 betrays his total ignorance of the ancient law of 
 chieftainry. The chiefs, or dispensers of laws, as 
 he calls them, knew their own interest much better 
 than ever to think of adopting the Doctor's tyran- 
 nical plan. They were under a necessity of acting 
 in a much more humane and mild manner towards 
 their clans, or people, as they knew that their own 
 security and importance depended on their attach- 
 ment; and that, without that, their power and 
 influence would be nothing. Even he himself 
 confesses, page 130, that ' the laird was the father 
 of his clan.' I leave it to himself to reconcile so 
 glaring a contradiction, and to convince the world, 
 if he can, that a cruel oppressor and a kind father 
 are one and the same thing. 
 
 In page 72 he mentions an old anecdote, which, 
 he says, he was told at Sir Alexander Macdonald's 
 table, and which relates to a very barbarous effect 
 of the feuds between two of the clans, if in reality 
 such an event ever existed ; though, at the same 
 time, we are not to suppose that the same 'spirit 
 of revenge, in those remote and less polished times, 
 was pecuUar to the Highlands. But be that as it 
 may, he takes occasion to make the following re- 
 mark : * Narrations like this,' says he, * however 
 uncertain, deserve the notice of a traveller, because 
 
JOHNSON'S JOURNEY. 
 
 329 
 
 they are the only records of a nation that has no 
 historians, and afford the most genuine represen- 
 tation of the life and character of the ancient 
 Highlanders.' 
 
 Here it is observable, that the Doctor admits 
 the testimony of Highlanders, because, in his o- 
 pinion, it makes against their country. But had 
 the matter been in their favour, he would neither 
 have recorded nor believed it. 
 
 It may, perhaps, be true, that Highlanders in 
 general have been too negligent in committing 
 to writing what related to their country. In re- 
 mote ages, they trusted too much to their bards 
 and senachies, as other nations then did. What 
 they wrote at lona and elsewhere, on that and 
 other subjects, was destroyed by various accidents. 
 Historians affirm, that lona suffered six different 
 devastations in the tenth century alone. What 
 escaped those ravages was carried away either by 
 that generous friend to learning and the Scots 
 nation, Edward the First, in the same spirit of 
 meekness in which he butchered the Welsh bards, 
 or afterwards by Oliver Cromwell, and other scour- 
 ges and destroyers of antiquities, who wanted to 
 abolish every monument of the ancient indepen- 
 dence of this nation ; or, lastly, by our own priests 
 at the time of the Reformation. 
 
 Every thing relating to the Highlands, in 
 2 T 
 
330 
 
 HE MARKS ON 
 
 particular, has met with many discouragements of 
 late yeai's. This, no doubt, has occasioned many 
 other valuable vouchers to be buried in an oblivion, 
 from which, in all probability, we shall never be 
 able to recover them. 
 
 The Doctor is egregiously mistaken when he 
 says that the Highlanders have no particular his- 
 torians. It seems he has never heard of Macaulay, 
 the two Macphersons, Martin, the Dean of the 
 Isles, kc. It is to the historical and other supe- 
 rior merits of some of these gentlemen, that their 
 country is indebted for so much of the Doctor's 
 ^ critical regard. Had they never written so well, 
 he had never been so scurrilous. Hinc illce lack- 
 rymce ! Buchanan too was a Highlander ; as was 
 likewise St. Ninian, who was born in Galloway, 
 then a Highland country; and St. Patrick was 
 born near Dumbarton. 
 
 His observations in the two following pages 
 are of so extraordinary a nature, and furnish such 
 unequivocal proofs of his rancour and malevolence, 
 that I shall give them at full length. 
 
 Pages 73, 74. ' My inquiries about brogues 
 gave me an early specimen of Highland informa- 
 tion. One day I was told, that to make brogues 
 was a domestic art, which every man practised for 
 himself, and that a pair of brogues was the work 
 of an hour. I supposed that the husband made 
 
JOHNSON'S JOURNEY. 
 
 331 
 
 brogues as the wife made an apron, till next day 
 it was told me, that a brogue-maker was a trade> 
 and that a pair would cost half-a-erown. It will 
 easily occur that these representations may both 
 be true, and that, in some places, men may buy 
 them, and in others make them for themselves ; 
 but I had both the accounts in the same house 
 within two days. 
 
 « Many of my subsequent inquiries upon more 
 interesting topics ended in the like uncertainty. 
 He that travels in the Highlands may easily satu- 
 rate his soul with intelligence, if he will acquiesce 
 in the first account. The Highlander gives to 
 every question an answer so prompt and peremp- 
 tory, that scepticism itself is dared into silence, 
 and the mind sinks before the bold reporter in 
 unresisting credulity ; but if a second question is 
 ventured, it breaks the enchantment; for it is 
 immediately discovered, that what was told so 
 confidently was told at hazard, and that such 
 fearlessness of assertion was either the sport of 
 negligence, or the refuge of ignorance. 
 
 ' If individuals are thus at variance with them- 
 selves, it can be no wonder that the accounts of 
 different men are contradictory. The traditions of 
 an ignorant and savage people have been for ages 
 negligently heard, and unskilfully related. Dis- 
 tant events must have been mingled together, and 
 
332 
 
 REMARKS ON 
 
 the actions of one man given to another. These, 
 however, are deficiencies in story, for which no 
 man is now to be censured. It were enough, if 
 what there is yet opportunity of examining were 
 accurately inspected, and justly represented ; but 
 such is the laxity of Highland conversation, that 
 the inquirer is kept in continual suspense, and by 
 a kind of intellectual retrogradation, knows less 
 as he hears more.' 
 
 In this learned harangue on the important sub- 
 ject of brogue-making, the Doctor makes a double 
 discovery. First, he shows, that two different ac- 
 counts may be given of the same thing, and yet 
 both may be true. In the next place, he proves, 
 after making this acknowledgment, that the sub- 
 sequent part of his criticism has no object; and, 
 consequently, that it is as nugatory in itself as his 
 conclusions are false and improbable. To make 
 a silly story about the art of brogue-making the 
 test of national candour and sincerity, is too ridi- 
 culous for any pen but that of Dr. Johnson. 
 
 It is true, in order to account, in some measure, 
 for his going beyond his last, he tells us, that many 
 of his subsequent inquiries upon more interesting 
 topics ended in the like uncertainty. It were well 
 if he had mentioned what these interesting topics 
 were, to whom his inquiries were addressed, and 
 what answers he received. A knowledge of these 
 
JOHNSON'S JOURNEY. 3SS 
 
 circumstances would enable us to decide more 
 certainly on the merits of his succeeding remarks. 
 The Doctor, less anxious, perhaps, to ' saturate 
 his soul with intelUgence,' than to satiate his pre- 
 judices against Scotland with the means of m.isre- 
 presentation, might have adopted such a mode of 
 inquiry as would best answer his purpose. 
 
 He might, for instance, question one of his 
 brogue-makers concerning some nice point of 
 antiquity, to which the poor fellow could make 
 but a very imperfect answer. The next tailor he 
 met witli might vary, in some circumstances, 
 from the former; and a third person, not better 
 informed than either of them, might differ a little 
 from both. What then? Is there any thing 
 surprising or uncommon in all this? Or can 
 such a variation in the accounts of illiterate me- 
 chanics justify the Doctor's general inference, 
 That there can be no reliance vipon Highland 
 narration ? 
 
 Should there remain the least doubt upon this 
 head, let me suppose, for argument's sake, that I 
 am making a similar tour through some parts of 
 England. In the course of my travels, I see the 
 ruins of some old abbey, or, as the Doctor would 
 more elegantly express it, the ' dilapidated re- 
 mains of ancient sanctity.' I wish to know some- 
 thing of its history, and accost the first labourer 
 
334 
 
 REMARKS ON 
 
 I find in the neighbouring fields to obtain infor- 
 mation: he gives me, very honestly, no doubt, 
 some confused scraps of what he had heard con- 
 cerning it ; but his story is full of perplexity, and 
 several parts of it differ considerably from others. 
 I then inquire of one after another, but with little 
 better success. At length, tired with the defi- 
 ciencies and contradictions of former accounts, I 
 apply to the squire and parson of the parish ; 
 hoping, from men of their more enlarged notions, 
 to have my curiosity fully satisfied. Their tales 
 are more plausible, but still defective, and differ, 
 in several particulars, from each other. I find 
 myself, therefore, obliged to sit down in the dark, 
 and go in search of other objects of curiosity 
 somewhere else. But, wherever I go, I often 
 meet with the same disappointments. 
 
 That this might sometimes be the fate of a 
 traveller in England, or, indeed, in any other 
 country, none, I believe, will pretend to doubt. 
 Were I, therefore, inclined to revenge my frus- 
 trated inquiries, by making use of the Doctor's 
 illiberal pencil, it would be easy to delineate the 
 English character in the same unfavourable co- 
 lours. I am sure, in doing so, I should do the 
 people of that country much injustice; but I 
 should have exactly the same reasons for charg- 
 ing them, in the lump, with ignorance and a dis- 
 
JOHNSON'S JOURNEY. 
 
 regard to truth. Because every man I met with 
 could not answer every question I cliose to put 
 to him, I might pronounce them all a nation of 
 blockheads. And because different men differed 
 a little sometimes in their relations of facts, I 
 might say, with the same peremptory assurance 
 as hath been said by our author above, that ' such 
 is the laxity of Enghsh ' conversation, that the 
 inquirer is kept in continual suspense, and by a 
 kind of intellectual retrogradation, knows less as 
 he hears more.' 
 
 Besides, it deserves to be considered, that ma- 
 ny of those whom the Doctor thought proper to 
 interrogate, might not have English enough to un- 
 derstand his questions, or return distinct answers ; 
 that others might not be competent judges of the 
 subjects proposed to them, and consequently 
 might give defective or erroneous accounts, from 
 a too forward zeal to oblige a stranger as far as 
 they were able; and, likewise, that, even among 
 the higher and more intelligent ranks of people, 
 it was weak and absurd to expect a uniformity of 
 narration. Men, according to their opportunities, 
 derive their knowledge from different sources. 
 Authors themselves are not always agreed in their 
 communications upon the same topics. We can- 
 not therefore suppose that their readers will think 
 alike. 
 
3S6 
 
 RJEMARKS ON 
 
 A judicious author would have attended to 
 these things, to avoid the imputation of malice 
 or folly to himself. When a man attempts to 
 traduce a whole people, he ought to stand upon 
 firm ground. But here, amidst a number of bold 
 assertions, there is not a single fact produced, 
 which will not apply to any spot on the face of 
 the earth, as well as to the Highlands of Scotland. 
 By endeavouring to prove too much, therefore, 
 the Doctor proves nothing; as such indiscrimi- 
 nate abuse can never obtain credit, even with the 
 most credulous. The excess of his rancour has 
 effectually defeated its own purpose; and he is 
 literally in the situation of those reptiles, which, 
 as naturalists tell us, are sometimes poisoned by 
 their own stings. 
 
 As the Doctor acknowledges he was every 
 where hospitably received by the Highlanders, 
 let the world judge of the man, by this sample 
 of his gratitude for their civilities. To search for 
 information among the lower orders of the people, 
 to tamper with their simplicity, to lie in wait for 
 their answers, and catch at every trifling incohe- 
 rence in their discourse, was, beyond description, 
 mean and ungenerous. But to do all this with 
 the insidious purpose of retailing their crude o- 
 pinions to the public, as the standard of all High- 
 land learning and science, is a species of literary 
 
JOHNSON'S JOURNEY. 
 
 337 
 
 assassination, with which the world was not ac- 
 quainted before the Doctor published his Jour- 
 ney. 
 
 There is one excuse, however, for this part of 
 our author's conduct, and that is, that it was un- 
 avoidable. He had one favourite purpose to 
 serve, of which I shall take notice in its proper 
 place; and to pave the way for that, it was ne- 
 cessary to discredit all Highland narration. When 
 the Doctor has an object in view, nothing must 
 stand in his way ; he goes on with giant strides. 
 Probability, truth, and decorum, must yield to 
 his stubborn resolution, and all be sacrificed to his 
 insolence, caprice or disgust. When his preju- 
 dices operate, we look in vain for those restraints, 
 either from shame or virtue, which regulate the 
 writings of others. He can be absurd without a 
 blush, and unjust without remorse. 
 
 Before I dismiss this article, I will just take 
 notice of, what one would least expect, an inaccu- 
 racy in the Doctor's language. In the passage 
 last quoted, he says he was told, ' that a brogue- 
 maker was a trade.' He certainly meant to have 
 said, that brogue-making was a trade. This, 
 however, is but a trifling slip of his pen, and the 
 mere eftect of inadvertency ; nor do I mention it 
 with any design to make it an object of criticism. 
 
 ^ u 
 
3SS REMARKS ON 
 
 I wish the same innocent carelessness could be 
 pleaded for more material mistakes. 
 
 Page 75, in speaking of the garb act, he says, 
 * the same poverty that made it then difficult for 
 them to change their clothing, hinders them now 
 from changing it again.' The truth is, however, 
 that an attachment to their ancient garb made 
 the first change disagreeable, and not willingly 
 complied with ; and a second change, at the time 
 alluded to, was still prevented by a British act of 
 parliament, which the Doctor seems willing to 
 overlook, that he might have an opportunity, ac- 
 cording to his usual candour, of assigning a more 
 favourable reason of his own. 
 
 Page 76, he says, ' the summer can do little 
 more than feed itself, and winter comes with its 
 cold and its scarcity upon families very slenderly 
 provided.' As the Doctor never spent a winter 
 in the Hebrides, it is somewhat extraordinary, 
 how he should pretend to know so much of the 
 distresses of that season. But those who have 
 passed what he calls ' the dark months ' in those 
 parts, could tell a very different tale. A particu- 
 lar provision must be made for the winter every 
 where ; and that, together with what the summer 
 can spare, and which greatly exceeds what the 
 Doctor would insinuate, makes the short days. 
 
JOHNSON'S JOURNEY. 
 
 339 
 
 in the Hebrides, as comfortable as any part of the 
 year. 
 
 In page 77 he proceeds to observe, ' It is in- 
 credible how soon the account of any event is 
 propagated in these narrow countries by the love 
 of talk, which much leisure produces, and the re- 
 lief given to the mind in the penury of insular 
 conversation by a new topic. The arrival of stran- 
 gers at a place so rarely visited, excites rumour, 
 and quickens curiosity. I know not whether we ^ 
 touched at any corner, where fame had not already 
 prepared us a reception.' Here it is to be observed, 
 that the hospitality and civility which have been 
 universally allowed to predominate among High- 
 landers, since the first accounts we have had of 
 them, are excluded from any share in their desire 
 of seeing strangers. He says, curiosity was their 
 chief motive. This may pass well enough with 
 the superficial; but with more observant readers 
 it will not do, as he unluckily tells us, in page 158, 
 that the same people are totally void of curiosity. 
 
 Page 79, he says, in ' the islands, there are no 
 houses where travellers are entertained for money.' 
 This, I suppose, he would reckon no great disap- 
 pointment. He had occasion to expend but very 
 little money in Scotland; and that little he always 
 mentions with regret. But did he inquire for inns 
 
840 
 
 REMATIKS ON 
 
 at Broad-ford, Port Re, or Dunvegan? I appre- 
 hend not. He knew he might have found them 
 there; and so he did not choose to hazard the 
 Question, as he wished to have an apology for 
 living in a more private and less expensive man- 
 ner. With his usual inconsistency, however, he 
 acknowledges, in page 99, that he dined at a pub- 
 lic-house. 
 
 Page 85, he tells us, that the * military ardour' 
 of the Highlanders * is extinguished.' I should 
 be glad to know upon what the Doctor founds 
 this assertion. The contrary is so universally 
 acknowledged, that few of his own countrymen, 
 I believe, will allow it to be just. The last war 
 bears ample testimony to their valour, and proves 
 that they still retain the spirit of their ancestors. 
 The successes of that glorious period have been 
 ascribed, in a great measure, to their bravery. 
 Prince Ferdinand has distinguished them by pub- 
 lic thanks in the field. Every other General under 
 whom they served has been lavish in encomiums 
 on their courage, and the uncommon intrepidity 
 of their behaviour. The British innate itself has 
 recorded their praises. And in particular the 
 panegyric of Mr. Pitt, spoken in the House of 
 Commons a little before he was created Earl of 
 Chatham, is a monument to their military fame. 
 
JOHNSON'S JOURNEY. 
 
 341 
 
 which defies the impudent but feeble attacks of a 
 pedant's envy and malice. 
 
 In the same page he says, ' Of what they ' 
 (the Highlanders) « had before the late conquest 
 of their country, there remain only their language 
 and their poverty.' What he here dignifies with 
 the name of conquest, is the defeat of a few rebels 
 at Culloden. Because a handful of malecontents, 
 who had taken up arms, were routed and dispersed, 
 is the Doctor hardy enough to call that a national 
 conquest ? The general loyalty of the Scotch at 
 that time, rendered a general conquest as unneces- 
 sary as a general resistance would have rendered it 
 impracticable. But this is much of a piece with 
 his Cromwellian conquest, which has been already 
 disproved. It is truly pitiable to find a man of his 
 years, and reputed erudition, so blinded by preju- 
 dice, as gravely to advance for facts what the most 
 illiterate cannot believe, and every schoolboy could 
 confute. 
 
 He takes every opportunity to inculcate the 
 poverty of the Scotch. This seems to be a rich 
 topic to him ; and, without it, I know not how 
 he could have eked out his work. It is so often 
 obtruded upon the reader, and that too when he 
 would least expect it, that one must naturally 
 think there was a want of other matter. When, 
 therefore, he labours most to prove their poverty 
 
342 
 
 REMARKS ON 
 
 as a people, he infallibly proves his own as an au- 
 thor, at the same time. 
 
 He introduces this subject very unnecessarily, 
 as usual, in the last quotation. I shall just contrast 
 what he says there with some other passages from 
 himself, and leave the reader to draw his own in- 
 ference. At the beginning of page 81, he says, 
 * he that shall complain of his fare in the Hebrides, 
 has improved his delicacy more than his manhood.' 
 In page S2, the breakfast is ' a meal in which the 
 Scots, whether of the lowlands or mountains, must 
 be confessed to excel us. The tea and coffee are 
 accompanied not only with butter, but with honey, 
 conserves, and marmalades. If an epicure could 
 remove by a wish, in quest of sensual gratifications, 
 wherever he had supped, he would breakfast in 
 Scotland.' Page 83, ' A dinner in the Western 
 Islands differs very little from a dinner in Eng- 
 land.' 
 
 Here we have the most undoubted proofs not 
 only of plenty, but of elegance. What now is 
 become of that poverty into which the Doctor 
 had so unmercifully plunged us but a little ago ? 
 His charity has at length prevailed ; and the same 
 hand that had sunk us so low, has raised us at 
 once to affluence. When a man is so much at 
 variance with himself, the least we can say is, that 
 his testimony can have but little effect. But, as 
 
JOHNSON'S JOURNEY. 
 
 34$ 
 
 1 have promised, I will not take up time in point- 
 ing out inconsistencies, which cannot escape the 
 most careless observer. 
 
 Page 85, he says, * a longer journey than to the 
 Higlilands must be taken by him whose curiosity 
 pants for savage virtues and barbarous grandeur.' 
 As the Doctor, in many places before, had so li- 
 berally bestowed the epithets rude, savage, and 
 barbarous upon the Highlanders, one would think, 
 from the softening strain of this passage, that our 
 traveller, after a more intimate acquaintance with 
 them, had found reason to alter his style, and con- 
 sequently that there would be a truce with scur- 
 rihties for the future. But many of the following 
 pages will show, that there is no such reformation 
 in the Doctor's language. This is but a short 
 suspension, not an entire cessation, of obloquy and 
 abuse. He only elevates a little, to make the fall 
 the greater; and his compliments, like the tears 
 of the crocodile, are but a deceitful prelude to an 
 approaching sacrifice. 
 
 Page 100, our traveller comes to Dun vegan, 
 where, he says, he was agreeably entertained by 
 Lady Macleod, who had resided many years in 
 England, and * knew all the arts of southern ele- 
 gance, and all the modes of English economy.' 
 This manner of accounting for the goodness of 
 his reception is, at best, but a bad compliment to 
 
REMARKS ON 
 
 that lady, as old England is made to run away 
 with more than half the praise. 
 
 But there is something as nationally invidious 
 in the above remark, as it is indelicate to Lady 
 Macleod. It certainly is intended to insinuate, 
 that he had found the bulk of our Scotch-bred 
 ladies deficient in point of accomplishments. If 
 he did not mean this much, I should be glad to 
 know what he meant by so improper an intro- 
 duction of a long residence in England, to set off* 
 Lady Macleod's character. Had he already forgot 
 the ladies of Raasay, whom he had left but a day 
 or two before, and whom he often mentions in a 
 manner that seems to render a residence in Eng- 
 land nowise necessary for attaining all the arts of 
 elegance, and the modes of a perfect economy? 
 But his own words will make the best comment 
 upon this subject. In finishing his description 
 of Raasay, he says, page 98, ' Such a seat of hos- 
 pitality, amidst the winds and waters, fills the ima- 
 gination with a delightful contrariety of images. 
 Without is the rough ocean and the rocky land, 
 the beating billows and the howling storm : within 
 is plenty and elegance, beauty and gaiety, the song 
 and the dance.' 
 
 Page 102, 'a Highland laird,' he says, * made 
 a trial of his wife for a certain time, and if she did 
 not please him, he was then at liberty to send her 
 
JOHNSON'S JOURNEY. 345 
 
 away.' As there never was a law in Scotland 
 authorising such a custom, the Doctor should 
 have told us where he had made this wonderful 
 discovery. He gives one instance, indeed, of a 
 gentleman sending back his wife to her friends; 
 and most other countries, I believe, could furnish 
 many; but the bad consequences of the feud oc- 
 casioned, on this account, between the two diffe- 
 rent clans, even as related by himself, is sufficient 
 to prove, that the practice could never have been 
 common. There is such an unfortunate contra-- 
 riety in most of the Doctor's narratives, that he 
 generally furnishes an antidote against the poison 
 which he means to communicate. 
 
 Page 102, he talks of people ' lying dead by 
 families as they stood.' Lying as they stood is a 
 mode of expression which none but a Lexicogra- 
 pher, who can give to words what meaning he 
 pleases, would venture to put upon paper. It 
 would appear, from this accurate phrase, as if the 
 Doctor intended to enrich the English language 
 by supplies from the Irish establishment. 
 
 From an anxiety to annihilate, if possible, 
 every vestige of antiquity in the Highlands, he 
 is at much pains, in pages 106, 107, 108, to ex- 
 plain away a dun, or Danish fort, of which there 
 are many in the country, into a fence for securing 
 cattle from thieves. This attempt is the more 
 
 2 X 
 
346 
 
 REMARKS ON 
 
 chimerical and absurd, as it cannot be conceived 
 how so small an area, though much larger than he 
 makes it, could contain such a number of cattle as 
 would compensate the trouble of rearing it ; and 
 which, according to his own account of the matter, 
 must have been very great. 
 
 The dimensions of this building, as stated by 
 Dr. Johnson, are very erroneous. He says the 
 area is but forty-two feet in diameter, and the 
 height of the wall only about nine; but the fact 
 is, that the former is seventy-two feet, and the 
 latter about fifteen and upwards. So small a 
 space, at best, could not have answered the pur- 
 pose assigned to it by the Doctor ; but, according 
 to his own measure, it would have been altogether 
 useless. In those pastoral times, it could not con- 
 tain the cattle of a single individual, who was of 
 consequence enough to raise such a fabric; much 
 less could it afford shelter for the stock of a whole 
 clan, or a country. 
 
 The height is another argument against the 
 Doctor's hypothesis. Even the nine feet, which 
 he allows, were by far too much for a mere fence 
 from thieves ; as the half of that would have been 
 fully sufficient. He is apt enough, at other times, 
 to accuse the Highlanders of laziness and poverty. 
 How, then, will he be able to account for so great 
 a superfluity of labour and expense, when, instead 
 
JOHNSON'S JOURNEY. 
 
 347 
 
 of nine feet, the height is, at least, fifteen ? A 
 direct answer to this question must puzzle even 
 Dr. Johnson; and it would certainly put any- 
 other man, in the same situation, to something 
 more than a difficulty — it would put him to the 
 blush. 
 
 ' The walls,' he says, * are very thick.' This 
 likewise is against him, as a moderate degree of 
 thickness would have been sufficient to resist the 
 sudden incursions of freebooters. They never car- 
 ried any levelling instruments, and they generally 
 remained too short a time to overcome the strength 
 of very thick walls by manual force alone. 
 
 Another, and perhaps not the least forcible 
 objection to our author's idea, is, that he tells 
 us, ' within the great circle were several smaller 
 rounds of wall, which formed distinct apartments.' 
 Ingenuity itself must be at a loss to conceive how 
 such a contrivance as this could have been devised 
 for the more convenient stowage of cattle. But 
 Dr. Johnson saves his reader the trouble of think- 
 ing long about the matter, and solves the difficulty 
 by saying, that these interior apartments, ' were 
 probably the shelters of the keepers.' This, I 
 think, settles the point at once. For, if the whole 
 of the great circle is subdivided into a number of 
 smaller chambers, which were occupied by the 
 keepers, it is evident there could be no room for 
 
348 
 
 REMARKS ON 
 
 the cattle. The Doctor has with one stroke of 
 his pen overturned his own system, and clearly 
 proved against himself, that the duns, or towers, 
 so frequent in the islands, were intended as shel- 
 ters for men, and not for beasts. 
 
 Had he acquiesced in the natural account of 
 this matter, which, he says, was given him by Mr. 
 Macqueen, it would have saved him all the trou- 
 ble of framing an opinion of his own, as well as 
 the ridicule of being at length obliged to abandon 
 it as untenable. 
 
 The antiquity of those buildings cannot be ex- 
 actly known ; but it is highly probable that they 
 are of Danish origin. They might have been used 
 partly as fortresses, and partly as signal-houses, 
 from which the gok-man, which in the Danish 
 language signifies a signal-man, generally gave 
 the alarm, and announced the approach of stran- 
 gers either by sea or land. 
 
 Page 113, he says, the seas are commonly too 
 rough in winter for nets, or boats, so that the in- 
 habitants cannot fish. This assertion seems the 
 more extraordinary, as he had said before, page 
 103, that while he was in the Hebrides, though 
 the wind was extremely turbulent, he had never 
 seen very high billows. Here, however, he had 
 a hypothesis to support. He wanted to have ano- 
 ther stroke at the poverty of the inhabitants ; and 
 
JOHNSON'S JOURNEY. 
 
 349 
 
 therefore he found it necessary to make the sea 
 stormy, that by depriving them of fish he might 
 create a famine, as he flatly says, that other provi- 
 sion fails at that season. When the good Doctor 
 has a point of this nature to carry, he laughs at 
 the restrictions of consistency and common sense. 
 
 Page 117, we find the Doctor at Ostig in Skye, 
 where he was hospitably entertained for some days 
 by Mr. Martin Macpherson, minister of Slate, and 
 son to the late reverend and learned Dr. John 
 Macpherson, formerly minister of the same parish. 
 
 As our traveller was now upon the spot where 
 Dr. Macpherson had so long resided, and where 
 he had so successfully employed his talents as a 
 writer, one might naturally expect that he would 
 have taken some opportunity of mentioning so 
 distinguished a character with respect. By such 
 a tribute to the memory of the father, he would 
 have repaid the hospitality of the son in the most 
 agreeable manner; while, at the same time, by 
 doing justice to another's merit, he would have 
 given a generous proof of his own candour and 
 impartiality. 
 
 But, instead of that, the Doctor chooses to be 
 silent ; and we hear not a single word of Dr. Mac- 
 pherson or his writings. This must certainly be 
 owing to one or other of these causes, or to both ; 
 either to the jealousy of a little mind, which is 
 
350 
 
 REMARKS ON 
 
 incapable of conferring praise ; or to our traveller's 
 unwillingness to inform the public, that an author 
 of such eminent abilities was a native of the High- 
 lands. 
 
 Among other things. Dr. Macpherson had 
 written professedly, and in a masterly manner, 
 on the antiquities of his country : not from that 
 tradition, which Dr. Johnson explodes, but, to 
 use one of our traveller's expressions, from the 
 * uncontaminated fountains of Greek and Roman 
 literature.' Where tradition completed the figure, 
 of which the ancients drew the outlines. Dr. Mac- 
 pherson paid it that attention which it claims from 
 writers whose object is truth; where it differed 
 from incontestible authorities, he rejected it with 
 proper contempt. 
 
 But it was not convenient for Dr. Johnson's 
 plan to mention even the name of a native of the 
 Highlands, whose knowledge as a scholar, and 
 elegance as an author, reflected so much honour 
 on his country. As our dogmatical journalist 
 wished to draw a veil over the history of our 
 country, as well as over the genius of our coun- 
 trymen, it would have been a species of literary 
 suicide to have taken any notice of a writer whose 
 industry and talents have placed the existence and 
 truth of both beyond dispute. The directing his 
 readers to Dr. Macpherson's works, would infalli- 
 
JOHNSON'S JOURNEY. 
 
 351 
 
 bly pull down the fabulous fabric which Dr. John- 
 son intended to raise; and we must, therefore, 
 commend his prudence, whilst we exclude him 
 from every pretence to candour. 
 
 Let me, therefore, tell the Doctor, that he 
 would have done much greater justice to the pub- 
 lic, as well as to Scotland, if, instead of trusting 
 to his own ingenuity in many things, he had re- 
 lated the opinions of Dr. Macpherson and others. 
 A few anecdotes from those authors would have 
 been full as valuable to the purchasers of his book, 
 as telHng them, that, one day, Mr. Boswell bor- 
 rowed a boy's fishing-rod and caught a cuddy; 
 with a thousand other impertinent trifles of the 
 same nature. 
 
 Page 10,2, in speaking of minerals, he says, 
 ^ Common ores would be here of no great value; 
 for what requires to be separated by fire, must, if 
 it were found, be carried aw^ay in its mineral state, 
 here being no fuel for the smelting-house or forge.' 
 If this be true, how happens it that several Eng- 
 lish companies come to different parts of the West 
 coast for charcoal, and bring ore all the way from 
 England to be there smelted? Besides, it is well 
 known that there is pitcoal in Mull; and, I am 
 told, it is likewise to be had in one or more of the 
 other islands. 
 
 Immediately after, he adds, ' Perhaps, by dili- 
 
352 
 
 REMARKS ON 
 
 gent search in this world of stone, some valuable 
 species of marble might be discovered. But nei- 
 ther philosophical curiosity, nor commercial indus- 
 try, have yet fixed their abode here.' Had our 
 doughty itinerant himself carried any reasonable 
 share of * philosophical curiosity ' along with him, 
 he might have observed abundance of white mar- 
 ble near Coriatachan, where he acknowledges he 
 had been twice. 
 
 Page 123, he says, ' the cattle go from the is- 
 lands very lean, and are not offered to the butcher 
 till they have been long fatted in English pastures.* 
 The cattle that are sent from the islands are not 
 generally so very lean when they set out, but they 
 naturally become so before they are driven six or 
 seven hundred miles. Were the fattest bullocks 
 in England to travel in the same manner to the 
 islands, they would probably not be very fit for 
 being offered to the butcher when they arrived 
 there. If the Doctor doubts the fact, let him 
 drive a live stock before him, when he sets out 
 on his next journey, and I will be answerable for 
 the consequence. 
 
 Page 136. ' The inhabitants,' says he, ^ were 
 for a long time, perhaps, not unhappy ; but their 
 content was a muddy mixture of pride and igno- 
 rance, an indifference for pleasures which they did 
 not know, a blind veneration for their chiefs, and 
 
JOHNSON'S JOURNEY. 
 
 353 
 
 a strong conviction of their own importance.' It 
 may with more truth be said, that this observation 
 is a muddy mixture of a still less honourable pride 
 and more contemptible ignorance; a total indiffe- 
 rence for truth, if the contrary can but serve the 
 turn ; a blind prejudice against the whole Scottish 
 nation ; and a strong conviction in the author's 
 own mind, that he has here, as on many other 
 occasions, most infamously and grossly misrepre- 
 sented them. 
 
 As to our pride, he says in the same page, 
 Their pride has been crushed by the heavy hand 
 of a vindictive conqueror.' This is another retro- 
 spect to the year 1745. If ever the saying, that 
 " Old men are twice cliildren," was verified by ex- 
 ample, it is certainly on the present occasion. The 
 peevish veteran has once taken into his head to 
 say, that the Scotch were then conquered, and he 
 must be allowed to say so still, or there can be no 
 peace with him. He therefore diverts himself with 
 sounding the horn of victory, as an overgrown lub- 
 berly boy would be pleased with the noise of his 
 rattle, or the blowing of his whistle. 
 
 I have already endeavoured to place this matter 
 in its proper light. I shall now borrow a little of 
 the Doctor's own assistance to strengthen my ar- 
 guments. Page 137, he says, ' To disarm part of 
 the Highlands, could give no reasonable occasion 
 
 2 y 
 
354 
 
 REMARKS ON 
 
 of complaint. Every government must be allowed 
 the power of taking away the weapon that is lifted 
 against it. But the loyal clans murmured, with 
 some appearance of justice, that, after having de- 
 fended the king, they were forbidden for the future 
 to defend themselves; and that the sword should be 
 forfeited, which had been legally employed. Their 
 ease is undoubtedly hard,' &c. 
 
 Whoever reads this passage will require little 
 further proof, that the idea of a national conquest 
 is most absurd, and that the Doctor himself has 
 furnished a decisive argument against it. After 
 this concession, could any one expect to hear him 
 say in the very same page, * But the law, which 
 followed the victory of Culloden, found the whole 
 nation dejected and intimidated?' He tells us in 
 one place, that there were loyal clans, and that 
 they defended the king. What occasion then had 
 the whole nation to be dejected and intimidated, 
 unless we can suppose that near two millions of 
 people, who were innocent, were to be involved 
 in the guilt of a few thousands? Such barefaced 
 contradictions are an answer to themselves. 
 
 But let me tell the Doctor, that without the 
 assistance of the loyal clans he mentions, the vic- 
 tory of Culloden had never been heard of Had 
 he known, or rather adverted to this, I am per- 
 suaded he would have been at less pains to cele- 
 
JOHNSON'S JOURNEY. 
 
 S55 
 
 brate an event, wherein the Scotch themselves 
 had more than an equal share. 
 
 The rebellion of 1745 was only a partial in- 
 surrection of a few discontented chiefs and their 
 followers. Neither were those gentlemen the 
 heads of the most numerous clans; nor did the 
 whole of their respective tribes attend them to 
 the field. Only nine parishes in the Highlands 
 contributed a part of their inhabitants towards 
 furnishing the rebel army. It would seem, how- 
 ever, that Dr. Johnson's fears, and probably the 
 fears of those about him at that time, had magni- 
 fied the danger to a very high degree; and that 
 may be one reason for his exalting the suppression 
 of an inconsiderable tumult into a splendid vic- 
 tory. If the Doctor is not ashamed to confess 
 his own panic, he ought not, for decency's sake, 
 to have exposed that of his country. 
 
 That the insurgents met with little encourage- 
 ment in Scotland, is evident. Their whole number 
 amounted hardly to seven thousand ; and of these 
 about two thousand were EngHsh. That a much 
 greater proportion of our southern neighbours did 
 not repair to the same standard, was by no means 
 owing to their possessing a greater share of loyalty. 
 The disaffection of most of their leading men, and 
 the measures they had concerted, are well known : 
 
356 
 
 llEMARKS ON 
 
 they only waited for some favourable moment to 
 declare their intentions; in which, it must be 
 allowed, they showed themselves much more pru- 
 dent, if less resolute, than the Scotch. 
 
 He goes on to discuss what he had asserted in 
 page 136, as above quoted. Having crushed our 
 pride ' by the heavy hand of a vindictive conque- 
 ror,' in the manner we have seen, he comes next to 
 expose rather than to commiserate our ignorance. 
 
 Page 137, he says, ' Their ignorance grows 
 every day less, but their knowledge is yet of little 
 other use than to show them their wants.' As to 
 the first part of this pompous apophthegm, that 
 our * ignoranc-e grows every day less,' I shall only 
 observe, that if the same thing cannot be said of 
 our friends the English, they must be a much 
 duller people than I ever took them for. In re- 
 gard to the second, he gives our knowledge its 
 proper use. When people find out their wants, 
 they will soon fall vipon means to supply them. 
 From the parade which accompanies this piece of 
 inteUigence, one would be apt, at first sight, to 
 expect a great deal from it ; but, when we examine 
 it more nari'owly, we shall find it only informs us, 
 that as our knowledge becomes greater, our igno- 
 rance grows less. 
 
 But to be a little more serious with the Doctor. 
 
JOHNSON'S JOURNEY. 
 
 357 
 
 let me ask him, in what that ignorance consisted, 
 which is so miraculously growing less, by our 
 learning to know more? 
 
 He seems to connect it with what he calls * an 
 indifference for pleasures which we did not know.' 
 Does he mean the fashionable pleasures of the 
 English metropolis? If he does, he has, at last, 
 paid us no small compliment. To make frequent 
 vows at the shrine of the voluptuous goddess, is 
 no great sign of the wisdom of any people. The 
 puny size and meagre form which mark out her 
 votaries, afford no great temptation to follow their 
 example. 
 
 I would gladly hope, however, that Dr. Johnson 
 is not a serious advocate for intemperate pleasures ; 
 as it would give me a much worse opinion of his 
 morals, at least, than I would wish to entertain. 
 Though he has been a Rambler in his younger 
 days, he would certainly cut a bad figure as an 
 old rake. To say no worse, it would be ridicu- 
 lous in the extreme to see such an aggregate of un- 
 fashioned matter " tottering, with paralytic stride, 
 after sensual gratifications, and awkwardly assum- 
 ing the light airs of modern libertinism." 
 
 I have already given several proofs that the 
 Scotch were not behind their neighbours, either 
 in useful or ornamental improvements, many cen- 
 turies ago. I will now mention some other cir- 
 
REMARKS ON 
 
 eumstances, to show that the Doctor's charge of 
 what he calls ignorance cannot apply to those 
 times. To give his assertion weight, therefore, 
 he ought to have told us when this national mis- 
 fortune commenced, and wherein it now consists; 
 for it must appear somewhat unaccountable, that 
 the Scotch, who had once their full proportion of 
 the improvements commonly known in Europe, 
 should have made a retrograde motion, while other 
 nations have been in a progressive state. 
 
 As to the state of learning among us, we have 
 already seen Jiow that matter stood in very early 
 times. In particular, it has appeared from his- 
 tory, that St. Aidan and others were sent from 
 Scotland, in the seventh century, to instruct some 
 of the Doctor's countrymen in the first principles 
 of Christianity. In succeeding times it must be 
 allowed, that learning had considerably dechned 
 among our ancestors; but, even in that respect, 
 the Scotch had only their share of the same Gothic 
 cloud which, for a season, darkened the face of all 
 Europe. This misfortune was owing every where 
 to the Roman Catholic clergy, with whom it was 
 an established maxim, that " Ignorance was the 
 mother of Devotion." In mentioning the effect, 
 therefore, the Doctor should have assigned the 
 cause; but as that could not be done without a 
 just censure on his favourite sect, he chooses to 
 
JOHNSON'S JOURNEY. 
 
 359 
 
 leave it behind the curtain. He takes such fre- 
 quent opportunities of extolling the piety of 
 monks, priests, and cardinals, that the dullest of 
 his readers may easily discover his attachment to 
 their tenets. 
 
 In regard to such arts and manufactures as 
 were then commonly known over Europe, there 
 are many proofs to show, that they were anciently 
 cultivated, not only in Scotland at large, but even 
 in the Hebrides, in as great perfection as any where 
 else. As to the islands in particular, I might ven- 
 ture to assert, that some ingenious arts, which were 
 well understood by our forefathers, are now in a 
 great measure lost, from that change in our modes 
 of life which time and circumstances have intro- 
 duced. This may appear a paradox to the Doctor, 
 and perhaps to some others ; but I should find no 
 difficulty in proving it to be true, if such a discus- 
 sion should appear to be necessary. 
 
 That a knowledge of the several arts must have 
 been very generally disseminated over the High- 
 lands, there can be no reason to doubt. It is well 
 known that our kings resided often in that part of 
 their dominions, as at Dunstaffnage, Dunmacsni- 
 chain or Berigonium, Inverlochy, Inverness, and 
 Logirate, &c. It is natural, therefore, to suppose, 
 that they had at all those places a number of artists 
 
860 
 
 KEMARKS ON 
 
 of all kinds, becoming their state and quality ; and 
 likewise, that the skill and knowledge of these men 
 must necessarily be communicated to others. Se- 
 veral of the castles and magnificent palaces wherein 
 the kings resided are still to be seen, though our 
 traveller seems to have been determined to take no 
 notice of them. 
 
 But though no king of Scotland had ever re- 
 sided in the Highlands, our several chieftains lived 
 in all the state of independent princes. Like the 
 feudal lords of all other countries, they were often 
 at variance with some of their neighbours; and 
 that rendered it absolutely necessary, that they 
 should be provided with the means of every spe- 
 cies of accommodation, either for peace or war, 
 within their own territories. This is another un- 
 deniable proof, that a very large proportion of the 
 Highlanders must have been well skilled in the 
 different arts. 
 
 There are yet many monuments of ancient ma- 
 sonry among us, of different kinds, which greatly 
 excel any thing of that nature in modern times. 
 The curious hieroglyphics on some of our tombs 
 deserved particular notice, though Dr. Johnson 
 passes over them in silence. Among other things, 
 the huge masses of stone set up in druidical circles, 
 particularly those supported upon other stones for 
 
JOHNSON'S JOURNEY. 
 
 361 
 
 druidical altars, and the obelisks erected in com- 
 memoration of battles, are demonstrable proofs of 
 our knowledge of mechanics. 
 
 Many monuments of this kind are still to be 
 seen, not only upon the continent or mtiinland of 
 Scotland, but likewise in the islands ; though ma- 
 ny others, within the memory of some people still 
 living, have been destroyed to make way for the 
 plough, or by other accidents. In particular, at 
 Inverliver on the side of Lochete, at Glencetlen 
 in Glenete, in different parts in Isla, and at Cal- 
 lanis and Barvas in the island of Lewis, there are 
 masses of such enormous size and weight, as could 
 not be raised by any number of men that could 
 stand round them. Clachan-an-Truiseil near Bar- 
 vas, particularly, is from two to two and a half 
 feet thick, six feet broad, and from seventeen to 
 eighteen feet above ground. As the stone stands 
 in a peat-moss, or bog, there can be no less than a 
 third part of it under ground; and it is probable 
 there may be more. There are no stones or quarry 
 of the same kind nearer to it than the seaside, from 
 which it stands about half a mile, on the ascent of 
 a steep hill, and having a deep bog between. 
 
 In the island called from O'Chormaic, on the 
 coast of Knapdale, and I think on the north-east 
 side, there is a small commodious harbour, a great 
 part of which is surrounded with a wall or quay, 
 
 2 z 
 
362 
 
 REMARKS ON 
 
 extremely well built; and the foundation of it is 
 so deep, that it cannot be seen even at low water. 
 What is remarkable of this is, that it is so old that 
 no one pretends to know, even by tradition, when 
 or by whom it was built. 
 
 The Fletchers of Glenlyon, in Perthshire, were 
 the most famous arrow-makers of their time, so 
 long as that weapon continued to be used. 
 
 The smelting and working of iron was well 
 understood, and constantly practised, over all the 
 Highlands and islands for time immemorial. In- 
 stead of improving in that art, we have fallen off 
 exceedingly of late years, and at present make 
 little or none. Tradition bears, that they made 
 it in the blomary way ; that is, by laying it under 
 the hammers, in order to make it malleable with 
 the same heat that melted it in the furnace. 
 
 There is still in the Highlands a clan of the 
 name of Macnuithear, who are descended from 
 those founders, and have from thence derived their 
 surname. I am likewise well informed, that there 
 is in Glenurchy, in Argyleshire, a family of the 
 name of Macnab, who have lived in the same place, 
 and have been a race of smiths, from father to son, 
 for more, perhaps, than three hundred years past; 
 and who, in consequence of the father having in- 
 structed the son, have carried down so much of 
 their ancient art, that they excel all others in the 
 
JOHNSON'S JOURNEY. 
 
 863 
 
 country, in the way of their profession ; even those 
 taught in the south of Scotland, as well as in Eng- 
 land, not excepted. A tinker or smith of the name 
 of Macfeadearan, a tribe now almost extinct, was 
 the most famous of his time for making arrow- 
 heads. 
 
 It is certain that Macdonald was formerly pos- 
 sessed of most of the western isles, as well as of 
 several large districts upon the continent or main- 
 land. He had many places of residence, such as 
 Ardtorinish, &c. ; but the most common one was 
 in an island in Lochfinlagan in Isla. Near this 
 place, and not far from Port Askaic on the sound 
 of Isla, lived the smith Maccregie, (that is, the son 
 of the rock,) and his posterity for a great length 
 of time. There is still pointed out, by the inha- 
 bitants, the rock out of which he dug his iron ore. 
 Near the rock is a large solid stone, of a very hard 
 consistency, on which he knapped his ore; and, 
 at a little distance, there is a cascade on a rivulet, 
 where stood his mill for polishing, or otherwise 
 preparing the iron which he had manufactured. 
 Here he and his descendents made complete suits 
 of armour, according to the fashion of the times ; 
 such as helmets, swords, coats of mail, &c. The 
 Isla hilt for the broadsword is well known, and so 
 famous as to have become proverbial. 
 
 As to our navigation, there is reason to believe 
 
S64 
 
 REMARKS ON 
 
 that it bore a near proportion to that of our neigh- 
 bours: sea-engagements with birUns were very 
 common in the Highlands till of late. Lymphad, 
 or galley, was the same with longh-fhad (long- 
 ship), or birlin. 
 
 There was a ship of war built in Scotland, in 
 the minority of James the Fourth, the equal of 
 which had never been built in Britain, nor seen 
 upon the seas in those times. Its dimensions I 
 am not just now able to ascertain ; but they have 
 been accurately described by several of our histo- 
 rians, whom I have not at present an opportunity 
 of consulting. * 
 
 • " In the same yeir (1511) the king buildit a great schipe called 
 the Micheall, quhilk was ane verrie monstruous great schip ; for this 
 schip tuik so meikle timber, that schoe wasted all the woodis in Fj'fe 
 except Falkland wood, by the timber that cam out of Norway. For 
 many of the schipwrightis in Scotland wrought at hir, and wrichtis 
 of vther countries had thair devyse at hir; and all Avrought bussilie 
 the space of ane yeir at hir. This schip was twelfF scoir footis lenth; 
 threttie sax foott within the wallis: schoe was ten foot thik within 
 the wallis of cutted risles of oak, so that no cannon could doe at hir: 
 shoe cumbred all Scotland to gett hir to the sea: and when shoe was 
 committed to the sea, and vnder saill, she was counted to the king 
 to fourtie tliousand pund of expensis, by hir ordouris and cannones 
 quhilkis shoe bair. Shoe had thrie hunder marineris to goveme 
 hir; sixscoir guneris to vse her artaillarie, and ane thousand men of 
 warre, by captanes, skipperis, and quarter maisteris. Quhen this schip 
 past to the sea, and was lying in the road, the king caused shott ane 
 camion at hir, to essay hir if shoe was wight, bot the cannon deired 
 
JOHNSON'S JOURNEY. 
 
 365 
 
 In 1490, Andrew Wood, with two Scotch ships, 
 took five ships belonging to the EngUsh, though 
 much superior to his own in size. With the same 
 two ships he afterwards took three EngHsh ships, 
 the best that could be picked out of Henry the 
 Eighth's whole fleet, and equipped for the purpose. 
 They were commanded by Stephen Bull, as admi- 
 ral, the only man in England that could be found 
 to undertake the expedition; and they had the 
 further advantage of being clean out of the dock, 
 while Wood had been some time upon a cruise 
 on the coast of Holland, and totally ignorant of 
 the trap that was intended for him on his return. 
 
 From this the Doctor may perceive, that we 
 could and did cope with the formidable fleets of 
 England, and even obtained signal advantages 
 over them, at a time long prior to that in which 
 he continues to represent us as a nation of igno- 
 rant savages and barbarians. 
 
 hir not. And if any man beleives that this schip was not as we have 
 schowin, latt him pas to the place of Tullibardyne, quhair he will find 
 the breadth and lenth of hir sett with hawthorne: as for my author 
 was Captane Andro Wood, principall captane of hir, and Robert Bar- 
 tane, who was maister skipper. This schip lay still in the road, and 
 the king tuik great pleasour everie day to cum doun and sie her, and 
 would dyne and sup in hir sundrie tymes, and be showing his lordis 
 hir ordour and munitioun." Lindsay's Chronicles of Scotland, vol. i. 
 P- 256. Editor. 
 
S66 
 
 REMARKS ON 
 
 With respect to carpentry, or joiner's work, 
 we have still many specimens, in oak, of very high 
 antiquity, which greatly excel any thing that is 
 done by modern artists. 
 
 Our shields, or targets, likewise, consisting of 
 wood, leather, and often a plate of steel, with re- 
 gularly placed and polished brass studs, which 
 sometimes formed different figures and represen- 
 tations of things, prove, beyond a doubt, that we 
 had people very early who could work with dex- 
 terity in a variety of materials. 
 
 Many more instances might be given, but those 
 above, I flatter myself, will be sufficient to convince 
 the Doctor, though perhaps he may not confess it, 
 that such arts as were known to other nations, were 
 not at any period of time unknown in Scotland. 
 The English are but too apt to claim a superiority, 
 in most things, over all their neighbours ; but we 
 know perfectly well, that they can boast but of few 
 inventions, and that they are not over remarkable 
 for making quick improvements on the inventions 
 of others. But I wish not, by any means, to launch 
 into general reflections, for the indiscretion of Dr. 
 Johnson and a few others. 
 
 We are fully satisfied ourselves, and so, we hope, 
 are others, that it is not our ignorance or want of 
 genius that has brought such a deluge of falsehood 
 and abuse upon us from our worthy traveller. It 
 
JOHNSON'S JOURNEY. 
 
 367 
 
 is something else, which he himself thinks the 
 reverse of these, that has provoked so much aspe- 
 rity; and we hope we shall always continue to 
 furnish him with the same reasons for jealousy 
 and detraction. We wish not that Dr. Johnson 
 should ever speak of us in a different style. As 
 his pride and envy know no bounds, he is seldom 
 obliging where others would confer applause. His 
 censure, therefore, implies a claim to merit. 
 
 In a long string of quaint axioms, he tells us, 
 page 140, ' that the martial character cannot pre- 
 vail in a whole people, but by the diminution of 
 all other virtues.' By this, he endeavours to rob 
 the Highlanders of every thing that is valuable, 
 but their bravery. He could devise no means to 
 deprive them of that, and therefore he was resolved 
 to leave them no other qualification. But, in aim- 
 ing this thrust at the Scotch, he seems not aware 
 what a deep wound he gives to old England at the 
 same time. His own countrymen will not easily 
 give up their claim to the martial character ; and 
 yet, I believe, they would not choose to confirm 
 the Doctor's reasoning, by renouncing their pre- 
 tensions to all other virtues. The French, Ger- 
 mans, and Swiss, are all allowed to possess the 
 martial character; but their politeness, humanity, 
 and other virtues, cannot be called in question. A- 
 mong individuals, it has commonly been observed, 
 
368 
 
 ItEMARKS ON 
 
 that the most cowardly were always the most cruel 
 and barbarous. I thought likewise that the same 
 maxim had been established in regard to nations ; 
 and I must think so still, till something stronger 
 has appeared against it than has been advanced by 
 Dr. Johnson. When a man is at variance with 
 the common sense of mankind, his opinions may, 
 at first, surprise a little by their novelty ; but the 
 surprise excited by impudent singularity is soon 
 followed by contempt. 
 
 In the same page he says, * Every provoca- 
 tion was revenged with blood, and no man that 
 ventured into a numerous company, by whatever 
 occasion brought together, was sure of returning 
 without a wound.' What the Doctor says here 
 is, so far, very right. No man certainly could be 
 sure of any thing that was to happen, without the 
 gift of prescience; but there was a much greater 
 probability of a man returning safe, in the case he 
 states, than that an inhabitant of London, after 
 going to bed, shall not have his house robbed, or 
 his throat cut, before next morning. 
 
 Different interests, as happened in all other 
 countries, under the feudal institution, made dif- 
 ferent clans sometimes interfere with one another. 
 The same causes, I believe, are attended with si- 
 milar effects in most parts of England, even in this 
 refined age. There are few contested elections, I 
 
JOHNSON'S JOURNEY. 
 
 d69 
 
 am told, without producing tumult, disorder, dan- 
 ger, and sometimes death. In regard to those of 
 the same clan, at the time alluded to, they not only 
 lived peaceably together, but likewise in the most 
 friendly manner; and generally with less design 
 upon each other than, I am afraid, is to be found 
 among some people who consider themselves as 
 much more civilized. Were the Doctor's repre- 
 sentation of the country just, it must certainly 
 have been long since depopulated. 
 
 Page 141, he says, ' The power of deciding 
 controversies, and of punishing offences, as some 
 such power there must always be, was entrusted 
 to the lairds of the country, to those whom the 
 people considered as their natural judges. It can- 
 not be supposed that a rugged proprietor of the 
 rocks, unprincipled and unenlightened, was a nice 
 resolver of entangled claims, or very exact in pro- 
 portioning punishment to offences.' To make 
 good his point, the Doctor here takes something 
 for granted. 
 
 Why should he suppose the lairds to be un- 
 principled, though some of them might happen, 
 now and then, to be somewhat unenlightened in 
 the intricate points of law? In matters of equity, 
 which were the only questions that could come 
 before them, and these by a reference from both 
 the parties, a man of a good understanding and 
 
 3 A 
 
370 
 
 REMARKS ON 
 
 solid sense might not make a bad arbiter; and 
 Highlanders in general have not been reckoned 
 deficient in a reasonable share of sagacity. Those 
 whom the Doctor calls * nice resolvers of entan- 
 gled claims,' are often as great confounders of plain 
 cases. 
 
 But the Doctor's observations on the mode of 
 distributing justice among the Highlanders must 
 fall to the ground, as they are not founded upon 
 matter of fact. The chiefs never sat as judges, 
 either in civil or criminal cases. The constitution 
 of the Highlands, if the expression may be used, 
 was exactly the same with that of all other coun- 
 tries, where the feudal system of government pre- 
 vailed. The chief, as proprietor of the land, nomi- 
 nated a judge to decide upon differences between 
 his tenants. In matters of property, there lay an 
 appeal to the King's courts in a regular gradation. 
 
 In criminal cases, though the culprit was tried 
 in the district where the crime was committed, a 
 jury was summoned from the whole county, and 
 formed in the same just and unexceptionable man- 
 ner as is practised at present by the High Court 
 of Justiciary in Scotland. The jurymen did not 
 consist, as I am informed they frequently do in 
 the Doctor's country, of low and unenlightened 
 tradesmen and mechanics. On the contrary, they 
 were men of landed property in the county, all 
 
JOHNSON'S JOURNEY. 
 
 371 
 
 gentlemen of consequence and consideration, who 
 had a character to lose by any deviation from the 
 established maxims of justice ; of which, as they 
 are imprinted on the human mind, the bulk of 
 mankind are judges in every country. The num- 
 ber of the jurymen, likewise, was always greater 
 in Scotland than in England; which was an addi- 
 tional security for justice. 
 
 The Doctor makes some amends for what 
 he had so rashly asserted, in the next paragraph. 
 < When the chiefs,' adds he, ' were men of know- 
 ledge and virtue, the convenience of a domestic 
 judicature was great. No long journeys were 
 necessary, nor artificial delays could be practised ; 
 the character, the alliances, and interests of the 
 litigants, were known to the court, and all false 
 pretences were easily detected. The sentence, 
 when it was past, could not be evaded ; the pow- 
 er of the laird superseded formalities, and justice 
 could not be defeated by interest or stratagem.' 
 Here he speaks with more decency, though he is 
 still wrong in the principle. 
 
 Page 143. * The roads are secure in those 
 places through which, forty years ago, no travel- 
 ler could pass without a convoy.' To borrow a 
 little of his own polite language, it may justly be 
 said hete, that the Doctor is either ' unprincipled ' 
 or ' unenlightened.' His information, if he had 
 
372 
 
 KEMARKS ON 
 
 any, was certainly very bad; and if he speaks at 
 hazard, the infamy of his misrepresentation is ap- 
 parent. 
 
 I am sorry when the Doctor obliges me to 
 draw comparisons between the two kingdoms; 
 but I must inform him, that the Highlanders ne- 
 ver lurked on the public roads to disturb ordinary 
 travellers, like the banditti who at present infest 
 all the roads in England. A robbery or murder 
 was always a rare thing in the Highlands. Even 
 in the rudest times our ancestors disdained such 
 practices ; it is not therefore probable, that thei 
 present generation should be less civilized than 
 their forefathers. 
 
 Whatever hostilities they committed, it was 
 always openly and avowedly; and only by way 
 of reprisal on those with whom they were at en- 
 mity. The most polite nations in Europe take 
 still the same advantages, when in a state of war 
 with their neighbours. When therefore two clans 
 were at variance, it might happen, indeed, that 
 those belonging to either of them might some- 
 times find it convenient to travel in larger parties 
 than usual for security, especially if their route 
 led them near the territories of the other. 
 
 If the Doctor's convoy was not of this sort, I 
 am at a loss to find it out. I never heard of any 
 other; and even the necessity of that did not come 
 
JOHNSON'S JOURNEY. 
 
 373 
 
 so far down as he states it. In any other case, a 
 single traveller might pass from one end of the 
 country to the other unmolested, and with much 
 less danger of insult or depredation than even in 
 Fleet-street, where, I am told, the pure Dr. John- 
 son has not disdained to fix his abode. 
 
 In the very next sentence of the same page, 
 he says, * All trials of right by the sword are for- 
 gotten.' This mode of deciding points of right, 
 would, I confess, have been a reproach to our fore- 
 fathers, had it been only in use among them. But 
 as. the same kind of appeal prevailed in England, 
 and other European countries, at the same time, 
 it is rather somewhat little in this great man to 
 exhibit that custom now, as a characteristic of the 
 ancient Highlanders. 
 
 Page 150, he observes, * England has for several 
 years been filled with the achievements of seventy 
 thousand Highlanders employed in America. I 
 have heard from an English officer, not much in- 
 clined to favour them, that their behaviour deserved 
 a very high degree of military praise ; but their 
 number has been much exaggerated. One of the 
 ministers told me, that seventy thousand men could 
 not have been found in all the Highlands, and that 
 more than twelve thousand never took the field.' 
 The number said to have been employed in Ame- 
 rica, if the Doctor ever heard such a report, was 
 
374 
 
 REMARKS OX 
 
 certainly much exaggerated. No more than about 
 five thousand were employed on the American 
 service ; and those were only the Royal Highlan- 
 ders, with Frazer's and Montgomery's regiments. 
 The former consisted of two battalions of eleven 
 hundred each ; and each of the latter had fourteen 
 hundred men. They did not act in a body to- 
 gether; every corps had a separate destination. 
 
 Though there were not seventy thousand 
 Highlanders employed in America, nor indeed 
 in the whole service, there were certainly more 
 than that number of men raised in Scotland, 
 during the course of the last war; but a large 
 proportion of these were Lowlanders; and they, 
 likewise, did much honour to the British arms, 
 as well as to their native country. The Doctor, 
 however, makes the Scotch levies all Highlan- 
 ders, and sends the whole seventy thousand to 
 America, as he could not allow the achievements 
 of which he had heard to five thousand only. 
 This furnishes an equal proof of his admiration 
 and envy. 
 
 As the Doctor is never long of one mind, he 
 soon veers about, and reduces his seventy thou- 
 sand to twelve. He says he was told by one of 
 the ministers, that seventy thousand men could 
 not be found in all the Highlands, and that more 
 than twelve thousand never took the field. 
 
JOHNSON'S JOURNEY. 
 
 375 
 
 The Doctor, on more occasions than one, seems 
 to have been much indebted to the Scotch clergy 
 for intelligence; at least, he often adduces them as 
 vouchers for what he says. It is remarkable, how- 
 ever, that when he makes use of their testimony 
 for any thing that derogates from the importance 
 of the country, he always conceals their names. 
 This has a very suspicious look, as we have no 
 direction for investigating the fact ; and none of 
 those gentlemen can find himself responsible to 
 refute an anonymous charge. 
 
 I will allow the Doctor, if he pleases, that se- 
 venty thousand men could not easily be found in 
 the Highlands, to enter the service all at one time ; 
 and, I believe, it might even distress old England 
 itself to furnish an equal number of efficient re- 
 cruits on a sudden emergency. But I will deny 
 that no more than twelve thousand Highlanders 
 were employed in our different armies, in the 
 course of the last war ; and I will be bold to aver, 
 that no minister ever gave him the information 
 he pretends. There is not a minister in Scotland, 
 much less in the Highlands, but knows the contra- 
 ry. There were, at one time, fifteen battalions of 
 Highlanders, distinguished by their native dress; 
 which may be reckoned at sixteen thousand men 
 at least : for if two or three of those corps, and I 
 am sure there were no more, fell a little short of 
 
376 
 
 REMARKS ON 
 
 their full complement of a thousand each, all the 
 rest had a surplus much more than sufficient to 
 make up the deficiency. 
 
 In this there can be no deception. Whoever 
 has curiosity enough, may have recourse to the 
 War-office for a confirmation of the fact. Besides, 
 it is certain, that many more than the number I 
 have just now mentioned, were dispersed through 
 other regiments, without any external distinction 
 as Highlanders. We had constantly recruiting 
 parties among us, and they seldom beat up with- 
 out finding volunteers. 
 
 Hence we find that our author is not more 
 lucky in the stories which he palms upon others, 
 than in the fidelity of his own observations ; but 
 he does not always deal in anonymous authority. 
 He professedly places some things to Mr. Boswell's 
 account, which I am sorry to see. Had I ^erefore 
 an opportunity of meeting that gentleman, I would 
 certainly ask him, whether his fellow-traveller. Dr. 
 Samuel Johnson, had not taken improper liberties 
 with his name ? and if he avowed the facts, I would 
 not hesitate to tell him, that, if he had not igno- 
 rance for an excuse, he had shown little regard to 
 candour. 
 
 As to the English officer, who professed him- 
 self not much inclined to favour the Highlanders, 
 but owned that their behaviour deserved a very 
 
JOHNSON'S JOURNEY. 
 
 377 
 
 high degree of military praise, the Doctor has 
 done him a kindness in suppressing his name. If 
 known, he could hardly have accounted to the 
 world for so strange an antipathy; and though 
 concealed, if he has lived to see the ' Journey to 
 the Hebrides,' and recollects himself in the above 
 passage, he must feel somewhat awkwardly in his 
 own mind. To avow a dislike, and to acknow- 
 ledge a claim to praise at the same time, exceeds 
 even the usual extravagance of English prejudice. 
 
 Page 153, he says, ' The traveller who comes 
 hither from more opulent countries, to speculate 
 upon the remains of pastoral life, will not much 
 wonder that a common Highlander has no strong 
 adherence to his native soil.' The attachment of 
 Scotchmen in general, and of Highlanders in par- 
 ticular, to their native country, has always been 
 remarkable, even to a degree of enthusiasm ; which 
 certainly would not have been the case, were that 
 country as destitute of comfortable enjoyments as 
 the Doctor often represents it. He is here con- 
 futed by the general voice of his own countrymen, 
 who daily upbraid the Scotch for their national 
 adherence. His assertion, therefore, must lose cre- 
 dit on both hands. The Highlander will spurn 
 the malignant insinuation with contempt; and no 
 Englishman will believe it. 
 
 But as Dr. Johnson will prove the most un- 
 3 B 
 
REMARKS ON 
 
 exceptionable evidence against himself', I sliall to 
 this passage oppose another from his own work. 
 When he was leaving Anoch in Glenmollison, 
 where he had stayed a night, and was so much 
 captivated with the genteel appearance and beha- 
 viour of his landlord's daughter, he tells us, that 
 their host, when they left his house in the morn- 
 ing, walked by them a great way, and entertained 
 them with conversation both on his own condition 
 and that of the country. * From him,' continues 
 he, page 52, 'we first heard of the general dissa- 
 tisfaction (the raising of the rents) which is now 
 driving the Highlanders into the other hemisphere; 
 and when I asked him whether they would stay at 
 home, if they were well treated, he answered with 
 indignation, that no man wilHngly left his native 
 country.' This, I presume, will be deemed a suf- 
 ficient comment upon the preceding quotation. 
 
 It is not the first time we have seen the Doc- 
 tor's narrations at cross purposes with each other. 
 We can account for his misrepresentations from 
 his prejudices; his contradictions, however, will 
 require a different solution. A badness of heart 
 may induce a man to calumniate others ; but there 
 is a degree of insanity in exposing one's own shame. 
 
 Page 158. We have here another of our tra- 
 veller's inconsistencies. « The general conversation 
 of the islanders,' says he, ' has nothing particular. 
 
JOHNSON'S JOURNEY". 
 
 879 
 
 I did not meet with the inquisitiveness of which 
 I have read, and suspect the judgment to have been 
 rashly made.' How will this be reconciled with 
 what he has said before in page 77, where he de- 
 scribes the same people as full of curiosity and of 
 the love of talk ? 
 
 But the case is so very different from what the 
 Doctor alleges in this place, that the inquisitive- 
 ness of the common people in the Highlands has 
 been generally thought to border upon a good-na- 
 tured kind of officiousness. I do not mention this 
 as a circumstance very much to be applauded ; but 
 it is harmless at least, and shows that the Doctor 
 has formed a wrong estimate of that part of their 
 character, if he states the matter as he really found 
 it. Many of them, however, for want of his lan- 
 guage, might be unable to express their curiosity, 
 let it be ever so great. 
 
 As to the better sort, they were always very 
 delicate in their inquiries, as the Doctor's answers 
 were generally rude and unmannerly. While in 
 the Hebrides, he was for the most part so sulky 
 and ill-humoured, that even their assiduities to 
 please him seemed to give offence. It may natu- 
 rally be supposed, therefore, that a people always 
 remarkable for their politeness to strangers, would 
 be very shy in obtruding any thing that might 
 prove disagreeable to their guest. When the 
 
380 
 
 KE MARKS ON 
 
 Doctor was in a mood for conversation, they heard 
 him with attention, and answered his questions 
 with civihty ; but, with all that curiosity and love 
 of talk, which he has allowed them in another 
 place, they seldom ventured to solicit him for any 
 information in return. The natural roughness of 
 his manners was sometimes so excessive, that he 
 even treated the ladies with disrespect ; and nothing 
 but a regard to the laws of hospitality prevented 
 the gentlemen often from showing marks of their 
 displeasure. 
 
 Page 159. ' There are now parochial schools, 
 to which the lord of every manor pays a certain 
 stipend. Here the children are taught to read ; 
 but by the rule of their institution, they teach 
 only English, so that the natives read a language 
 which they may never use or understand.' The 
 Doctor undertakes to give too much information 
 for the short stay he made in the Hebrides. The 
 time could not allow a proper investigation of so 
 many particulars, were he more disposed to be 
 faithful in his accounts; and therefore it is no 
 wonder that we so often find him mistaken. 
 
 Here he evidently confounds the parochial with 
 the charity schools. The former are provided with 
 salaries in the manner he mentions ; but the latter 
 are supported by royal bounty. There has not 
 been a parish in Scotland for some centuries with- 
 
JOHNSON'S JOURNEY. 
 
 381 
 
 out a parochial school ; and every thing within the 
 compass of the master's knowledge, who is always 
 a man of university education, is regularly taught. 
 There is no prohibition against teaching any thing, 
 not even the Gaelic, so much the Doctor's abhor- 
 rence, excepted ; though, at the same time, that is 
 not a branch of education in those seminaries. 
 
 The charity schools are of much later institu- 
 tion ; and, being intended originally for the poorer 
 sort, the children pay no fees. The same quahfi- 
 cations are not requisite in the masters of these. 
 They chiefly teach English, writing, and arithme- 
 tic; though several of them teach book-keeping 
 likewise in so great perfection as to fit the youth 
 under their care for the counting-house. By their 
 first institution, it is true, they were prohibited to 
 teach the Gaelic; but the impropriety of that pro- 
 hibition struck the managers so forcibly afterwards, 
 that in their next instructions they altered that 
 clause, and gave orders for teaching it. 
 
 In the same page he says, that in Skye * the 
 scholars are birds of passage, who live at school 
 only in the summer; for in winter provisions 
 cannot be made for any considerable number in 
 one place. This periodical dispersion impresses 
 strongly the scarcity of these countries.' It may 
 with more justice be said, that this account of the 
 matter impresses much more strongly the author's 
 
382 
 
 llEMARKS ON 
 
 uniform intention of misrepresenting facts. The 
 very reverse of what he here says is true; for the 
 schools over all the Highlands are much more 
 frequented in winter than in summer. I have 
 already had occasion to mention, that the winter 
 is far from being a season of scarcity in the He- 
 brides ; as the people, by that kind of providence 
 which is common to all mankind, prepare for it 
 in due time. Nor is the absence of several of the 
 scholars in summer owing to the illiberal cause 
 assigned by Dr. Johnson, as affecting the winter. 
 The children of the less opulent sort of people, 
 who are fit for domestic services, are more wanted 
 in that season at home. 
 
 Page 160. The islanders, says he, have no 
 ' reason to complain of insufficient pastors ; for I 
 saw not one in the islands, whom I had reason to 
 think either deficient in learning, or irregular in 
 life; but found several with whom I could not 
 converse without wishing, as my respect increased, 
 that they had not been presbyterians.' A few lines 
 after he goes on, ' The ministers in the islands had 
 attained such knowledge as may justly be admired 
 in men, who have no motive to study but gene- 
 rous curiosity, or what is still better, desire of use- 
 fulness ; with such politeness as so narrow a circle 
 of converse could not have supplied, but to minds 
 naturally disposed to elegance.' 
 
JOHNSON'S JOURNEY. 
 
 383 
 
 Some regard to truth and candour has prevailed 
 for once. But notwithstanding these generous 
 effusions, for which some acknowledgments are 
 due to the Doctor, let me ask him, how this ac- 
 count of the Highland clergy, for their learning 
 and politeness, accords with what he says in page 
 250, of our Scotch education? Speaking there of 
 the universities of Scotland, he declares, that men 
 bred in them obtain only * a mediocrity of know- 
 ledge between learning and ignorance.' As none 
 of those gentlemen were bred any where else, it 
 will readily occur to the reader, that such opposite 
 accounts of the Highland ministers and the Scotch 
 colleges cannot be both true. He will therefore 
 judge for himself which to reject. 
 
 But whatever respect Dr. Johnson had for the 
 ministers as men, he seems to have no charity for 
 them as presbyterians. His confession on that 
 head may serve as a key to many other things, 
 and shows that much justice and impartiality is 
 not to be expected from a man who is not ashamed 
 to own such prejudices. The compliment to the 
 ministers, therefore, ends in a satire upon himself 
 
 In page 161, he says, he « met with prejudices 
 sufficiently malignant' among the presbyterians, 
 * but they were prejvidices of ignorance.' As he 
 does not specify the nature of those prejudices, no 
 reply can be made. His disposition, I believe, was 
 
S84 
 
 REMARKS ON 
 
 sufficiently malignant to have pointed them out, 
 had there been any that could have served his 
 purpose. By being particular, a man assumes an 
 air of truth at least ; but a general assertion will 
 not do, at this time of day, from Dr. Johnson. 
 We have already seen too much laxity in his ob- 
 serv^ations to give him credit for more than he is 
 able to render probable, if not to prove. Eut 
 while the Doctor talks of malignant prejudices 
 among the presbyterians, as being the effects of 
 ignorance, let me ci\dlly ask him, if he must not 
 be suspected of ignorance, to what more dignified 
 cause we are to impute those malignant prejudices 
 of his own, which have disgraced almost every 
 page of his work ? 
 
 Page 162. ' There is in Scotland, as among 
 ourselves, a restless suspicion of popish machina- 
 tions, and a clamour of numerous converts to the 
 Romish religion. The report is, I believe, in both 
 parts of the island equally false. The Romish 
 religion is professed only in Egg and Canna, two 
 small islands, into which the Reformation never 
 made its way. If any missionaries are busy in 
 the Highlands, their zeal entitles them to respect, 
 even from those who cannot think favourably of 
 their doctrine.' 
 
 We have here a fresh and very striking instance 
 of the Doctor's attachment to the Romish religion. 
 
JOHNSON'S JOURNEY. 
 
 385 
 
 He affects to disbelieve the reports of numerous 
 converts being made, lest people should take the 
 alarm, and put a stop to the practice; and he con- 
 cludes the passage with a very curious argument 
 in favour of toleration. No one, I believe, will 
 doubt his respect for popish missionaries ; but how 
 their zeal, in propagating their tenets, should en- 
 title them to respect from those who disapprove 
 of them, is something beyond my comprehension. 
 
 In confining the Romish religion in the High- 
 lands to Egg and Canna only, he must be either 
 ignorant or insincere. It is somewhat surprising, 
 indeed, that a man, who, as he terms it himself, 
 came purposely « to speculate upon the country,' 
 should return so very ill-informed in a matter of 
 so much consequence. Had he taken a little more 
 pains, he must have heard, that there were many 
 of the Romish religion in Strath-glass, Brae-mar, 
 Lochaber, and Glengary ; and that the inhabitants 
 of Cnoideart, Muideart, Arasaig, Morthair, South 
 Uist, and Barra, in all a vast extent of country, 
 are Roman Catholics almost to a man. 
 
 This is a more just state of the fact than what 
 has been given by the Doctor. He will not, I 
 suppose, be displeased to hear it; and I am sorry 
 I cannot help giving him the further pleasure of 
 assuring him, that the Romish religion has been 
 
 3 c 
 
S86 
 
 REMARKS ON 
 
 considerably upon the growing hand in all the 
 three kingdoms for several years past. 
 
 Page 163, he says, ' The ancient spirit that 
 appealed only to the sword, is yet among them' 
 (the Highlanders). This surely must appear a 
 bold assertion, after telling us before, in page 85, 
 That the military ardour of the Highlanders was 
 extinguished, and still more directly, in page 143, 
 that « all trials of right by the sword are forgotten.' 
 When the Doctor has a turn to serve, he throws 
 out at random whatever suits him best ; and when 
 another purpose requires a different account of the 
 very same matter, he is not over scrupulous about 
 altering his detail. The poor Highlanders must 
 be moulded into all shapes, to conform with his 
 views. At one time, we see them an abject and 
 dispirited race of men ; at another, they swagger 
 in all the savage pride of their * ancient ferocity/ 
 
 When we meet with such gross and palpable 
 contradictions, it would be a mild construction 
 only to suppose that the Doctor sometimes for- 
 gets what he has said before. This is as far as 
 charity can go. But the writer who needs our 
 charity is in a more contemptible situation than 
 the wretch who lives by it. 
 
 In page 165, our traveller comes to examine 
 the question of the Second Sight ; and it is truly 
 
JOHNSON'S JOURNEY. 
 
 38T 
 
 surprising to see with what a credulous weakness 
 he endeavours to defend so visionary an opinion. 
 Other things, which are believed by every man 
 in the country, which are probable in themselves, 
 and are supported by all the evidence that a rea- 
 sonable man could expect, the Doctor often rejects; 
 but this point, absurd in itself, uncountenanced 
 by any decent authority, and to which only a few 
 of the most ignorant vulgar give the least faith, 
 he maintains with a zeal which shows him to be 
 ashamed of nothing but thinking like other men. 
 
 In attempting to define the Second Sight, he 
 seems to be much at a loss. In page 165, he calls 
 it a faculty, « for power,' he says, * it cannot be 
 called ;' and yet, in page 168, he veers about again, 
 and calls the Second Sight of the Hebrides a power. 
 
 If there is any real distinction between a facul- 
 ty and a power, it would appear, from this varia- 
 tion of language, that the Doctor has not been 
 able to find it out. 
 
 His reasonings upon the subject, for they can- 
 not be called arguments, may amuse some readers, 
 biit they can convince none. They are too obscure 
 to be understood by the illiterate, and they want 
 strength to impress men of knowledge. But 
 though our peregrinator has not been ashamed 
 to exhibit his own superstitious credulity, it is a 
 daring piece of insolence to introduce the names 
 
388 
 
 llEMARKS ON 
 
 of a Bacon and a Bayle to give credit to such ri- 
 diculous nonsense. 
 
 Such a faculty or power, or whatever the Doc- 
 tor pleases to call it, must always have depended, 
 if ever it existed, upon some superior agency, and 
 consequently must have been excited at particular 
 times for some good purposes. We can see no 
 adequate reason, therefore, for the Second Sight 
 being local ; and still less, if possible, for its being 
 confined to the lower ranks of people. To have 
 answered the intention of such a gift, it ought to 
 have been general, — ^in China, and at the Land's 
 End, as well as in the Hebrides, — and conferred 
 upon the rich and the learned, as well as upon the 
 poor and the ignorant. 
 
 In support of the Second Sight, Dr. Johnson 
 uses only two particular arguments, if they deserve 
 that name, which seem worthy of any notice. In 
 page 168, he says, * where w^e are unable to decide 
 by antecedent reason, we must be content to yield 
 to the force of testimony.' This, in general, is cer- 
 tainly a very just observation, and worthy of a 
 better subject. Had the Doctor always appHed 
 it in cases where a rational testimony was to be 
 obtained, he would have been entitled to that claim 
 to candour which he has so often forfeited. 
 
 His next plea is as follows : in the same page 
 he says, * By pretension to Second Sight, no profit 
 
JOHNSON'S JOURNEY. 
 
 389 
 
 was ever sought or gained. It is an involuntary 
 affection, in which neither hope nor fear are known 
 to have any part. Those who profess to feel it do 
 not boast of it as a privilege, nor are considered 
 by others as advantageously distinguished. They 
 have no temptation to feign; and their hearers 
 have no motive to encourage the imposture.' 
 
 Here the Doctor is evidently under a very gross 
 mistake. Whatever he may think, if he really 
 writes as he thinks, it is a well known fact, that 
 those who have pretended to the Second Sight 
 always considered it as a peculiar distinction, of 
 which they were not a little vain; and it is no 
 less true, that such as were weak enough to pay 
 any regard to their pretensions were always afraid 
 of offending, and desirous of pleasing them, as be- 
 lieving they had a communication with a superior 
 order of beings. Whether the artful might not 
 find here a temptation for imposture, I shall leave 
 the reader to judge. 
 
 If this faculty, power, or affection, had ever 
 any existence, except in the presumption of the 
 designing or the imagination of the credulous, it 
 is now visibly upon the decline, without any loss 
 to the country ; and it is to be hoped a few years 
 more will extinguish the very memory of so great 
 a reproach to the human understanding. In pro- 
 portion as the light of knowledge has dawned upon 
 
S90 
 
 REMARKS ON 
 
 mankind, their eagerness for wonders and belief in 
 supernatural endowments have gradually abated. 
 We may, therefore, naturally expect that the Se- 
 cond Sight of the Hebrides, will soon share the 
 same fate with the late witchcrafts of old England. 
 
 The Doctor says, that one of the ministers told 
 him that he came to Skye with a resolution not 
 to believe the Second Sight; a declaration which 
 he shows a willingness to censure, as implying an 
 unreasonable 'degree of incredulity. But as our 
 traveller seems to have gone to Skye with a reso- 
 lution to believe nothing else, we shall leave the 
 merits of his credulity in this case, and incredulity 
 in all others, with the impartial public. 
 
 I shall now dismiss this subject, as unworthy 
 of any further discussion, and permit Dr. Johnson, 
 with all his pretensions to philosophy, to beheve 
 the Second Sight as long as he pleases. It is a 
 harmless delusion, and can hurt nobody. Some 
 minds have a stronger propensity to superstition 
 than others; and there is the less reason to be 
 surprised at this instance of it in the Doctor, that 
 I am told he was one of those wise men who sat 
 up whole nights, some years ago, repeating pater- 
 nosters and other exorcisms, amidst a group of 
 old women, to conjure the Cock-lane ghost. 
 
 Our traveller next proceeds to other observa- 
 tions. In page 170, he says, ' As there subsists 
 
JOHNSON'S JC^URNEY. 391 
 
 no longer in the islands much of that peculiar 
 and discriminative form of life, of which the idea 
 had delighted our imagination, we were willing 
 to listen to such accounts of past times as would 
 be given us. But we soon found what memori- 
 als were to be expected from an illiterate people, 
 whose whole time is a series of distress ; where 
 every morning is labouring with expedients for 
 the evening; and where all mental pains or plea- 
 sure arose from the dread of winter, the expecta- 
 tion of the spring, the caprices of their chiefs, and 
 the. motions of the neighbouring clans; where 
 there was neither shame from ignorance, nor pride 
 in knowledge; neither curiosity to inquire, nor 
 vanity to communicate.' 
 
 Were this representation of the islanders true, 
 it is certainly a very dismal one. But it is always 
 some consolation to the miserable, to find others 
 in no better a situation than themselves. Let us 
 compare this account with what he gives us, a 
 little before, of the human race in general. In 
 page 166, he says, ' Good seems to have the same 
 proportion in those visionary scenes, as it obtains 
 in real life : almost all remarkable events have evil 
 for their basis, and are either miseries incurred, or 
 miseries escaped. Our sense is so much stronger 
 of what we suffer, than of what we enjoy, that the 
 ideas of pain predominate in almost every mind. 
 
392 
 
 REMARKS ON 
 
 What is recollection but a revival of vexations, or 
 history, but a record of wars, treasons, and calami- 
 ties? Death, which is considered as the greatest 
 evil, happens to all. The greatest good, be it what 
 it will, is the lot but of a part.* 
 
 Here is exhibited a picture of human life more 
 ghastly than the Gorgon's head, and sufficient to 
 chill every breast with horror. We may natural- 
 ly consider the Doctor, while he wrote in this 
 manner, to have been actuated by a deep fit of 
 melancholy and despair ; and what he says of the 
 islanders so soon afterwards, seems to have been 
 dictated under the remains of the same gloomy 
 paroxysm. Those who find an exact representa- 
 tion of their own state in the general portrait of 
 misery here given, can have no reason to contem- 
 plate the inhabitants of the islands as distinguished 
 by peculiar calamities. But such as can perceive 
 no similitude of themselves in that frightful group, 
 (and it is to be hoped there are many,) will be 
 naturally disposed to make some allowance for an 
 extraordinary dash of colouring in the Doctor's 
 account of the Hebrides. 
 
 Though the matter might be suffered to rest 
 here, it may be worth while to examine the rhap- 
 sody of our traveller, concerning the islanders, 
 somewhat more minutely. I shall therefore beg 
 the Doctor's leave to analyse that remarkable pa- 
 
JOHNSON'S JOURNEY. 
 
 393 
 
 ragraph ; that by contrasting its several parts se- 
 parately, with what he has advanced on other oc- 
 casions, we may the better determine what de- 
 gree of credit he can claim from the public. As 
 he is to be weighed in his own balance, he will 
 have himself only to blame, if * he is found 
 wanting.' 
 
 ' We soon found what memorials were to be 
 expected from an illiterate people.' His panegy- 
 ric on the learning and politeness of the Highland 
 clergy has been already observed : in page 79, he 
 acknowledges that he never was in any house 
 of the islands, where he did not find books in 
 more languages than one; adding, in the same 
 page, that * literature is not neglected by the 
 higher rank of the Hebridians : and, from what 
 he says of the innkeeper at Anoch, and others of 
 the same class, it is evident that he often found 
 an unexpected degree of education in the inter- 
 mediate spheres of life. 
 
 With what confidence then can Dr. Johnson 
 talk of an illiterate people ? So indiscriminate a 
 charge is certainly intended to be understood as 
 general ; but if there is any truth in himself, it 
 cannot appear to be just. He has admitted learn- 
 ing among the islanders, where a man of sense 
 and candour would expect to find it any where 
 else ; and to insinuate that it goes no further, if 
 
 3 B 
 
394 
 
 REMARKS ON 
 
 that really be his 'meaning, is but giving a fresh 
 proof of his own absurdity. He has, therefore, 
 no other alternative. He must either stand con- 
 victed of insincerity in his accounts of the higher 
 and middle ranks of men, or he must confine the 
 appellation of illiterate to the very lowest of the 
 people. If he chooses the latter, he can derive 
 no great credit from the remark he makes ; as it 
 appears from his own words, that it was among 
 this order only that he sought for what he calls 
 memorials. 
 
 In that case, it is no great wonder if he was 
 often disappointed. But that can be deemed no 
 peculiar reproach to the inferior inhabitants of 
 the islands, till the Doctor proves that every 
 Cottager in England is a man of letters, and ca- 
 pable of satisfying the curiosity of a traveller in 
 the nicest points of inquiry. 
 
 ' Every morning is labouring with expedients 
 for the evening.' This is a proof of their industry 
 at least, in contradiction to that laziness and 
 aversion to labour, with which the Doctor so 
 often upbraids them in other places. That the 
 time present should labour for the future can ap- 
 pear nothing remarkable, as we generally find it 
 to be the great business of life in every country 
 whatever. We, therefore, can see nothing here to 
 find fault with, unless it be that Dr. Johnson was 
 
JOHNSON'S JOURNEY. 
 
 395 
 
 cUigry because those savages and barbarians, as he 
 frequently calls them, were as wise and provident 
 as their neighbours. 
 
 * All mental pains or pleasure arise from the 
 di*ead of winter, the expectation of the spring, 
 the caprices of their chiefs, and the motions of 
 the neighbouring clans.' 
 
 There has been occasion to show, more than 
 once, that the winter is not so very dreadful a 
 season in the Hebrides, as our traveller represents 
 it. I shall therefore refer this part of the argu- 
 ment to the reader's recollection of what has been 
 already said. 
 
 As to the evils to be apprehended from the 
 caprices of the chiefs, the Doctor himself is kind 
 enough, as on most other occasions, to help me 
 out with an answer. He takes frequent oppor- 
 tunities to observe, that the patriarchal authority 
 of the chiefs is, in a great measure, abolished ; but 
 I shall only take notice of what he says in pages 
 136 and 143. 
 
 In the former of these he tells us, that the 
 • chiefs being now deprived of their jurisdiction, 
 have already lost much of their influence ;' and 
 that they are in a fair way of being soon divested 
 of the little that remains. Whether this be true 
 or not, is of little consequence in the present 
 question ; it is sufficient to show that the Doctor 
 
396 
 
 KEMARKS ON 
 
 is inconsistent with himself.— In the last men- 
 tioned page, after comparing the present with 
 ancient times, he says, that now, however, there 
 is « happily an end to all fear or hope from maHce 
 or from favour and a little after, that ' the mean 
 are in as little danger from the powerful, as in 
 other places.' 
 
 If the Doctor has not been mistaken in these 
 observations, I would ask him, on what founda- 
 tion he now builds the caprices of the chiefs ? 
 
 The motions of the neighbouring clans ceased 
 with the jurisdictions and other prerogatives of 
 the chiefs. The Doctor is sufficiently sensible of 
 this change, and is at abundant pains, in other 
 places, to show by what means it was effected ; 
 though, in his usual way, having a particular 
 purpose to answer at this time, he is resolved to 
 keep up the old custom. 
 
 A passage or two from himself will discover, 
 whether he has always given reason to believe 
 that there is now any cause of dread from the 
 motions of the neighbouring clans. In page 137, 
 he says, ' the chief has lost his formidable retinue ; 
 and the Highlander walks his heath unarmed 
 and defenceless, with the peaceable submission of 
 a French peasant, or English cottager.' In page 
 238, he observes, that the insular chieftains have 
 quitted the castles that sheltered their ancestors. 
 
JOHNSON'S JOUllNEY. 
 
 397 
 
 and generally live near them, in mansions not very 
 spacious or splendid : ' yet/ says he, ' they ' (the 
 modern houses) * bear testimony to the progress 
 of arts and civility, as they show that rapine and 
 surprise are no longer dreaded.' 
 
 Can there be a greater variance than between 
 these two passages and what our author insinuates 
 in regard to the neighbouring clans? Or can 
 any thing be more clearly demonstrative of Dr. 
 Johnson's partial, vague, and contradictory mode 
 of writing ? 
 
 ' There is neither shame from ignorance, nor 
 pride from knowledge.' Unless the Doctor has a 
 mind to retract what he formerly allowed in fa- 
 vour of the clergy, gentry, and middle rank of 
 people, this observation can only regard the low- 
 est class of the inhabitants ; and we have already 
 seen with how little reason or justice they can be- 
 come the objects of such critical animadversion. 
 It is not their natural character to be thought ig- 
 norant of such things as commonly belong to 
 then- state and situation in life ; and few, I believe, 
 of the same rank in other countries, extend their 
 knowledge much beyond those bounds. 
 
 Had the Doctor and they been able to con- 
 verse freely in the same language, he would have 
 discovered in them a degree of acuteness, sagacity, 
 and intelligence, not very common perhaps in the 
 
398 
 
 EEMARKS ON 
 
 S£^ine station of life ; and which, I am persuaded, 
 he would have had no great inclination to relate. 
 That much, with a knowledge of their own do- 
 mestic operations and concerns, is all that could 
 be expected from them; and it ought to have 
 exempted them from so scurrilous an attack. A 
 comprehensive view of the present state of the 
 country, or a minute acquaintance with the his- 
 tory of former times, was not to be obtained in 
 huts and cottages. Their ignorance of such mat- 
 ters must necessarily be great, and their know- 
 ledge but little. There can, therefore, be no 
 reason for shame from the one, nor for pride from 
 the other. 
 
 ' Neither curiosity to inquire, nor vanity to 
 communicate.' In different parts of his work, he 
 gives a very different account of their curiosity. 
 In particular, in page 77, he represents them as 
 much addicted to curiosity, a love of talk, and a 
 fondness for new topics of conversation. But the 
 Doctor has a peculiar knack at making them 
 what he pleases, and unmaking them again, as 
 different purposes may require. 
 
 If they have really so little desire to commu- 
 nicate, as is here asserted, I should be glad to 
 know how he came by those numerous anecdotes 
 in his Journey to the Hebrides, relating to the 
 ancient friendships, feuds, intermarriages, military 
 
JOHNSON'S JOURNEY 
 
 ^99 
 
 alliances, and other transactions, of many of the 
 insular chiefs. He often insists that we have no 
 written vouchers for these things, nor any other 
 authority than what is founded on tradition alone. 
 If this be true, I can see no other channel through 
 which he could have received his intelligence, than 
 by communication from the inhabitants. 
 
 Either then, contrary to what the Doctor has 
 asserted elsewhere, there must be records to fur- 
 nish such materials ; or, contrary to what he as- 
 serts in this place, the people must have had some 
 little vanity, or desire, at least, to communicate. 
 -I maintain the affirmative of both ; but both can- 
 not be as the Doctor says, unless, indeed, we can 
 suppose him to have obtained a retrospective 
 view of things, by means of his favourite faculty 
 of the Second Sight. 
 
 Besides this general argument, which I thyik 
 is conclusive, the Doctor himself furnishes a va- 
 riety of instances to prove a communicative dis- 
 position in the Highlanders. Of these I shall 
 select only a few. 
 
 The old woman whose hut he entered, by the 
 side of Loch Ness, seems to have been sufficiently 
 communicative ; for he tells us, page 44, that ' she 
 was willing enough to display her whole system 
 of economy.' This much surely, is all the infor- 
 mation that could be expected from her. The 
 
400 REMARKS ON 
 
 Doctor, in his turn, seems as willing to describe 
 as she was willing to display; and it must be 
 confessed that he has acquitted himself in that 
 part with great dexterity. The minuteness of 
 trifling detail and the garrulity peculiar to an old 
 woman are so happily hit off, that one would 
 think it natural for our traveller to exhibit that 
 character. Were such a representation wanted 
 in a scenic entertainment, Dr. Johnson promises 
 fair to give general satisfaction. His landlord at 
 Anoch, likewise, seems to have had no great aver- 
 sion to a pretty free communication; and the 
 Doctor acknowledges his being indebted to him 
 for many particulars, which he was desirous to 
 know, relating to that part of the country. But - 
 the most direct instance against the Doctor's as- 
 sertion we have in page 167. He there tells us, 
 that their desire of information was keen, their 
 inquiry frequent, and that every body was com- 
 municative. 
 
 Enough, I presume has been said upon these 
 heads for the conviction of the reader, and too 
 much, perhaps, for his patience ; but as the attack 
 was complicated, it was necessary the defence 
 against each part should be particular. 
 
 In the above passage, the whole artillery of 
 Dr. Johnson's malice is brought to the field at 
 once. Before, he generally levelled but one en- 
 
JOHNSON'S JOURNEY. 
 
 401 
 
 gine at a time ; namely, either the pride, the 
 poverty, or the ignorance of the country. But 
 here he plays them off all together ; and that they 
 might not fail of the intended execution, he has 
 taken care to succour them with a fresh recruit of 
 calumny. 
 
 As usual he asserts with a boldness that bids 
 defiance to contradiction; but an insolent and 
 peremptory manner, the pomp of an inflated dic- 
 tion, and the gingle of a quaint and laboured an- 
 tithesis, are left to supply the place of argument 
 and proof. By such a parade, no doubt, he hoped 
 to do much ; but we have seen how little he has 
 been able to effect. The weapons which he aimed 
 with so much care have been flung in vain. His 
 own testimony has blunted the point of every 
 shaft. 
 
 We can therefore only say, that if Dr. John- 
 son's praises be well founded, his censures must 
 be destitute of truth. It is impossible v/e can 
 give our assent to contraries at one and the same 
 time. But whichever we may choose to believe, 
 our author stands in that mortifying kind of pre- 
 dicament, that he can be trusted no further than 
 he agrees with other writers. 
 
 This description in caricature, which the Doc- 
 tor gives of the islanders in general, seems so 
 much the more inexplicable, that he speaks fa- 
 
 3 E 
 
REMARKS ON 
 
 vourably of every individual whom he had occa- 
 sion to know or converse with. 
 
 The behaviour even of the lower class of 
 people, on every occasion, seemed to please him. 
 The two horse-hirers, who attended him from 
 Inverness to the ferry-passage for Skye, acquitted 
 themselves so much to his satisfaction, for their 
 fidelity, care, and alertness, that he recommends 
 them at parting to any future travellers. When 
 travelling from place to place, in the different 
 islands which he visited, the men who were oc- 
 casionally employed either as guides, or to walk 
 by his horse through rough grounds, have all ob- 
 tained their share of his praise, for their care, at- 
 tention, and civil behaviour. The rowers of 
 boats, or mariners of vessels, in passing from one 
 island to another, he allows to be dexterous and 
 obliging. Every hut he enters gives him striking 
 specimens of hospitality, and the kind and liberal 
 disposition of the inhabitants. Wherever there 
 is a house, he says, the traveller finds a welcome. 
 And, in short, it was the good behaviour of the 
 lower class of people that drew from him that re- 
 markable observation in page 39, that ' civility 
 seems part of the national character of High- 
 landers.' 
 
 As to the better sort, again, he may be said to 
 be even lavish of praise. His encomiums are as 
 
JOHNSON'S JOURNEY. 
 
 403 
 
 frequent as there were families he visited, or per- 
 sons he conversed with. A few instances of this 
 kind will be sufficient. 
 
 At the laird of Mackinnon's in Skye, the com- 
 pany was numerous and genteel, and so very 
 agreeable to the Doctor, that their conversation 
 sufficiently compensated the interruption given 
 to his journey by the badness of the weather. 
 At Raasay, he was enchanted by every species of 
 elegance. At Dun vegan, the seat of the laird of 
 Macleod, he had tasted lotus, and was in danger 
 of forgetting that he was ever to depart. The 
 amiable manners, and many other virtues, of the 
 young laird of Col, are frequently and liberally 
 displayed. At Dr. Maclean's, a physician in 
 Mull, he found very kind and good entertain- 
 ment, and very pleasing conversation. At Inch 
 Kenneth, the residence of Sir Allan Maclean, he 
 says he could have been easily persuaded to a 
 longer stay ; but life could not be always passed 
 in delight. And, of Mr. Maclean, a minister in 
 Mull, at whose house he stayed a night, our tra- 
 veller says, that the elegance of his conversation, 
 and strength of judgment, would make him con- 
 spicuous in places of greater celebrity. 
 
 After hearing Dr. Johnson give such testimo- 
 nies as these, in favour of the Highlanders, could 
 any one believe, that in the passage I have last 
 
404 
 
 REMARKS OX 
 
 quoted from his work, he was speaking of the 
 same people ? Individually, he allows them to 
 be entitled to commendation; but collectively, 
 he loads them with slander and abuse. Though 
 every man is civil, the whole taken together make 
 a nation of savages and barbarians. Though he 
 saw plenty and elegance every where, the country 
 is pining in poverty, and destitute of every com- 
 fort of life. And though he gives so many in- 
 stances of an uncommon share of learning and 
 knowledge being pretty widely diffused among 
 them, he pronounces them, in the bulk, to be an 
 illiterate and ignorant people. 
 
 This surely is a very extraordinary way of 
 drawing conclusions. To prove its absurdity, 
 would be to prove a self-evident proposition. As 
 well might Dr. Johnson pretend to tell us, that if 
 a number of pieces of pure gold were to be fused 
 together in a furnace, the product would turn out 
 a mass or aggregate of a baser metal. 
 
 Page 170, he observes, that in the houses of 
 the chiefs were preserved what accounts remained 
 of past ages. * But the chiefs,' says he, ' were 
 sometimes ignorant and careless, and sometimes 
 kept busy by turbulence and contention; and 
 one generation of ignorance effaces the whole se- 
 ries of unwritten history. Books are faithful re- 
 positories, which may be a while neglected or 
 
JOHNSON'S JOURNEY. 
 
 405 
 
 forgotten ; but when they are opened again, will 
 again impart their instruction: memory, once 
 interrupted, is not to be recalled. Written 
 learning is a fixed luminary, which, after the 
 cloud that had hidden has passed away, is again 
 bright in its proper station. Tradition is but a 
 meteor, which, if once it falls, cannot be rekin- 
 dled.' 
 
 Here the Doctor is making his approaches 
 very fast, and is now almost on the point of 
 springing the mine which he has been so long in 
 digging. In this place he prepares his reader, by 
 an artful insinuation, for what he means to assert 
 boldly afterwards. To invalidate the credit of 
 Highland antiquities seems to have been the great 
 object of his journey. As the Doctor hates the 
 trouble of much inquiry, and to accomplish this 
 end in the most easy and compendious manner, 
 he finds it necessary first to suppose that we had 
 no written accounts of past ages, and then, but 
 without any 'proof, to convert that supposition 
 into a matter of fact. 
 
 I am as ready as Dr. Johnson to acknowledge 
 the superiority of books over mere tradition, when 
 they are written with candour and care. But 
 even books themselves are not always to be 
 trusted. There are false books as well as false 
 traditions; and the Journey to the Hebrides, I 
 
406 
 
 REMARKS ON 
 
 am afraid, is one of those books which will not be 
 thought to deserve the name of a faithful reposi- 
 tory. As to the circumstance of our writings, 
 I shall speak to that point in its place ; and doubt 
 not but the good Doctor will appear to as much 
 disadvantage in that part of his story, as he has 
 already done in many other cases. 
 
 Let us suppose, however, in the mean time, 
 were it only for argument's sake, that, some cen- 
 turies ago, there were few or no written autho- 
 rities among us ; what would be the consequence ? 
 Not surely that general one which Dr. Johnson 
 so unlogically affirms, namely, that ' one genera- 
 tion of ignorance effaces the whole series of un- 
 written histoiy.' One or more chiefs, at a parti- 
 cular time, might, as he says, be careless, not very 
 knowing, or kept busy by turbulence and con- 
 tention; but I see no reason to conclude from 
 thence, that the whole of the chiefs, and all the 
 generation of men then living, should be so too. 
 Unless, therefore, contrary to all probability, we 
 are to suppose this much, our traveller's inference 
 cannot follow, and his argument amounts to no- 
 thing. For if there could not be a whole gene- 
 ration of ignorance at once, the whole series of 
 unwritten history could not be effaced. 
 
 At the same time, I am not inclined to lay 
 more stress upon mere vague tradition than other 
 
JOHNSON'S JOURNEY. 
 
 407 
 
 men. I am certain I would trust it as little as 
 the scrupulous Doctor himself, and perhaps even 
 a little less than he would, when it might seem to 
 lean to a favourable purpose. In defending the 
 vulgar doctrine of the Second Sight, he had no 
 better foundation to rest upon ; and yet he finds 
 no difficulty in telling us upon that head, that 
 when we are unable to decide by other reasons, 
 we must be content to yield to the force of such 
 testimony. 
 
 Tradition, however, in the liberal sense of the 
 word, has in all ages been deemed of some weight ; 
 and the best writers have often appealed to it, not 
 only when other evidence has been wanting, but 
 likewise as an auxiliary proof. The tradition re- 
 garded by the Highlanders, in matters of any 
 consequence, was of that nature which could not 
 easily deceive them. It was so closely interwoven 
 with the custom and constitution of the country, 
 that it could not be separated from them ; and it 
 was handed down from one generation to another, 
 not by bards and senachies only, but by the ge- 
 neral voice and consent of a whole nation. 
 
 It was not of that vague and uncertain nature 
 which Dr. Johnson represents it to be; nor of 
 that weak and unmanly kind, which he himself 
 has admitted, on particular occasions, as sufficient. 
 But one thing is perfectly evident, that when 
 
408 
 
 REMARKS ON 
 
 tradition is for the country, the Doctor rejects it ; 
 and when it operates on the other side he ad- 
 mits it as proof. Such a partial mode of repre- 
 sentation speaks for itself. 
 
 That the Highlanders were not so liable to be 
 imposed upon by the flattering compositions and 
 tales of their bards and senachies, as our traveller 
 would insinuate, is beyond all dispute. Besides 
 those who were employed in those professions, 
 there were multitudes in the country who spent 
 most of their leisure hours in hearing, recording, 
 and rehearsing the achievements of their ancestors 
 and countrymen. Among these, there were many 
 who composed poems in a strain equal to the 
 bards themselves ; and such private persons were 
 always a check upon the bards and senachies by 
 profession, to prevent their deviating from the 
 truth. 
 
 Though the bards and senachies are no longer 
 retained as formerly, this custom in the country 
 is not yet discontinued. I myself, as well as 
 thousands still alive, have seen and heard instan- 
 ces of what I have just now mentioned. Had the 
 Doctor chosen it, he might likewise have been a 
 witness to such recitals, notwithstanding the cur- 
 sory view he took of the country. He acknow- 
 ledges, however, that he had seen some who re- 
 membered the practice. This much from him is 
 
Johnson's journey. 
 
 409 
 
 pretty well ; though, by putting the matter a lit- 
 tle further back, it shows a visible design to nar- 
 row the real truth. 
 
 But though the Doctor's curiosity did not 
 lead him this far, he might very easily, had he 
 been a little more inquisitive, have heard much 
 more concerning this matter than he has thought 
 fit to communicate. It is not to be supposed 
 that the Highlanders would have concealed any 
 thing of what they knew, though he sometimes 
 insinuates as much, had he but known how to 
 make his inquiries agreeable. 
 
 But the misfortune was, that the Doctor was 
 commonly deficient in that respect. His first 
 question was generally rude, and the second a 
 downright insult. This surely was not the most 
 likely way to encourage intelligence. Yet there 
 is still more reason to believe, from the general 
 tenor of his work, either that he chose to avoid 
 knowing what might be in favour of the country, 
 or to misrepresent or suppress it when known, 
 than that he should be refused information, had 
 he been capable of asking it like a gentleman. 
 
 No other traveller but himself has attempted 
 to tax the inhabitants of this country with a dis- 
 position to conceal the truth. I could cite seve- 
 ral instances from his own tour to prove the 
 contrary. In particular, the stories which he re- 
 
 3 F 
 
410 
 
 REMARKS ON 
 
 lates of the kirk of CuUoden, and of the cave ijn 
 the island of Egg, are manifestly against the 
 country. Is it credible, therefore, that they should 
 be less ready to communicate faithfully what 
 might be in its favour ? But as the Doctor gives 
 these, and such like anecdotes, without the least 
 expression of diffidence, it would seem that he 
 never believed he was told the truth, but when he 
 was told something to the prejudice of Scotland. 
 
 Page 171. 'It seems to be universally sup- 
 posed,' says he, ' that much of the local history 
 was preserved by the bards, of whom one is said 
 to have been retained by every great family.' 
 He then tells us, that he made several inquiries 
 after these bards, and received such answers as, 
 for a while, made him pleased with his increase 
 of knowledge ; but, alas ! he adds immediately 
 after, that he was only pleased. As he had not 
 then learned how to estimate the narration of a 
 Highlander. 
 
 This sage remark at the end of his paragraph 
 is owing to the same important cause, as a similar 
 observation formerly about the business of brogue- 
 making; namely, some inconsiderable variation 
 in the subsequent accounts he received. At one 
 time he was told that a great family had a bard 
 and a senachie, who were the poet and historian 
 of the house : and an old gentleman said, that 
 
JOHNSON'S JOUHNEY. 
 
 411 
 
 he remembered one of each. But unluckily, an- 
 other conversation informed him, that the same 
 man was both bard and senachie ; and this varia- 
 tion discouraged the accurate and consistent Dr. 
 Johnson. 
 
 It is the more surprising to hear him express 
 any discouragement in this case, that he imme- 
 diately after gives so easy and natural a solution 
 of the difficulty himself, if it may be thought de- 
 serving of that name. He says very properly, as 
 he said before concerning the two different ac- 
 counts of brogue-making, that the practice might 
 be different in different times, or at the same 
 time in different families. This most certainly 
 was the true state of the matter ; and this plain 
 account of it removes the stumblingblock at 
 once. 
 
 I will venture to assert, from my own perso- 
 nal knowledge of some people, from whom the 
 Doctor received a great part of his intelligence, 
 that the affair was explained to him in this very 
 manner upon the spot. I will still go further ; 
 I have authority to say so. It is, therefore, 
 worse than childish in our author to continue still 
 to express his distrust, on account of a circum- 
 stance so clearly reconcilable both to reason and 
 truth, and for which he himself has furnished a 
 solid and satisfactory explanation. 
 
412 
 
 REMARKS ON 
 
 To discover doubts in such plain cases, is a 
 mark of weakness ; but to lay hold of them as a 
 handle for general calumny, if a man is not a 
 downright idiot, is wicked to the last degree. 
 Such trivial variations are not only common, 
 but even unavoidable, in the discourse of different 
 persons, all the world over ; and if that could be 
 reckoned a valid objection, we find likewise from 
 experience, that the writings of the most approved 
 authors are liable to the same condemnation. 
 
 We have often seen our traveller driven to 
 pitiful shifts to criminate the country ; but, like 
 many others, the present one happily proves only 
 his own rancour and disingenuity, not the insin- 
 cerity of Scotch or Highland narration. 
 
 But to follow out this matter a little further, 
 as the Doctor builds so much upon it afterwards, 
 let me seriously ask him, if he really found so 
 much improbabiUty in the above narrations, as to 
 make him the complete infidel he pretends ? If 
 he did, he is truly a man " of little faith ;" of 
 much less, indeed, than I should have expected 
 from the conjurer of the Cock-lane ghost, or the 
 champion of the Second Sight. 
 
 Was the Doctor weak enough to believe, that 
 the world would deem it a sufficient argument 
 to overturn any fact, that one part of its history 
 was related by one person, and another part by 
 
JOHNSON'S JOURNEY. 413 
 
 another? Yet, by his own confession, this is 
 clearly the case in the present point of dispute. 
 In England, I presume, and in every other coun- 
 try whatever, a man might receive, from different 
 people, different parts of information concerning 
 the same thing. That, however, could be no 
 just ground for charging the inhabitants with 
 imposition. 
 
 In such a case, I believe, the Doctor would be 
 ready enough to acquit the English, and perhaps 
 any other nation but the Scotch. If this be so, it 
 only proves, that he was so ridiculously extrava- 
 gant as to expect more from the Highlanders than 
 from any other people. But how could he ima- 
 gine that every man he met with, even the most 
 illiterate in other respects, should be a complete 
 master of the whole history and antiquities of his 
 country ? None but a snarling cynic would find 
 fault with a deficiency of this kind ; and no man 
 of a moderate degree of experience in common 
 life would expect such absolute precision, even 
 from the most knowing of the better sort them- 
 selves. 
 
 But let me interrogate my good friend the 
 Doctor a little further. Did he never read in 
 one historian any particular that was omitted by 
 another ? Did he ever read any two historians 
 who were exactly the same ? And, if they were 
 
414 
 
 KEMARKS ON 
 
 exactly the Same in all points, would he call their 
 works difterent histories ? Does he think it im- 
 possible, that any two writers, having each the 
 strictest regard to truth, should disagree in some 
 points of narration relating to the same fact? 
 And, if they should so disagree, does he think 
 that would be a sufficient cause for rejecting their 
 authority, and impeaching their veracity, in all 
 other cases whatever ? 
 
 If the Doctor answers these queries in a man- 
 ner that is consistent with the common sense of 
 mankind, he must drop his objections to the ac- 
 counts which he received of the brogue-makers 
 and senachies ; unless he intends to maintain, that 
 tradition ought to be more certain and infallible 
 than his ' faithful repository' of wTitten history. 
 
 If any thing more should be wanting to con- 
 vince Dr. Johnson of the inconclusiveness of his 
 reasoning, let me entreat his leave to state a simi- 
 lar case ; for, as the bards and senachies were of 
 the domestic order of people, I shall confine my- 
 self to that line. 
 
 Let us suppose, then, that a traveller in Eng- 
 land is told, that, in one house, there is both a 
 cook-maid and a chambermaid, but that, in an- 
 other house, the same person acted in these two 
 different capacities. This is exactly a parallel in- 
 stance with that under consideration ; and none 
 
JOHNSON'S JOURNEY. 
 
 415 
 
 will doubt, I presume, but there are many ex- 
 amples of both kinds on the south side of the 
 Tweed. Where then would be the inconsistency 
 in these different accounts ? Or would it be 
 reasonable to infer, from such a difference in the 
 economy of different families, either that the in- 
 teUigence must be false, or that the existence of 
 such female occupations was rendered doubtful ? 
 And yet one or other of these must follow, if the 
 Doctor's conclusions concerning the bards and 
 senachies are allowed to be just. 
 
 I could have illustrated this subject from the 
 various professions of the party-coloured gentry : 
 but I chose to exemplify in the female line, 
 as the Doctor, I am told, is more than commonly 
 attached to the sex, for a man of his advanced 
 years. I shall leave him, therefore, to settle the 
 rr.atter with Kate and Moll, as well as he is able ; 
 and doubt not, but the " pristine reminiscence of 
 juvenile jucundity" will induce him, for their 
 sakes at least, to renounce an argument which 
 would infallibly deprive the poor wenches of their 
 places. Should he provoke them by his obstina- 
 cy, I am in some pain for the consequences. The 
 Doctor's " mode of ratiocination," I am afraid, 
 could not long hold out against the more simple 
 but weighty arguments of the spit and mop- 
 staff: 
 
416 
 
 BEMARKS ON 
 
 There appears nothing in the accounts con- 
 cerning the bards and senachies which so much 
 discouraged the Doctor, that can either call in 
 question the belief of their own existence, or 
 throw the least doubt on the histories of the fami- 
 lies in which they resided. In most great houses 
 there was one of each ; while, in some others, 
 there was a bard Only. In the latter case, how- 
 ever, the accuracy of the family history could be 
 but little affected ; as the bard, whose business it 
 was to repeat the genealogies of the chiefs, and to 
 sing the achievements of their ancestors, must be 
 no inconsiderable senachie, or antiquarian, in or- 
 der to be qualified for those purposes. 
 
 The bards and senachies were not only 
 supposed, as Dr. Johnson expresses himself, ^ to 
 preserve the local history,' but they actually did 
 preserve it ; and they were not only ' said to have 
 been retained by every great family,' but they 
 really were retained. The truth of this does not 
 rest upon tradition alone. The charters of many 
 great families bear witness concerning them ; and 
 they are likewise mentioned by many eminent 
 writers. Both these, as being written authority, 
 must almost persuade the unbelieving Doctor 
 himself to renounce his infidelity. 
 
 Mr. Innes, who, in general, is no great fi-iend 
 to the bards, tells us, that in the thirteenth cen- 
 
JOHNSON'S JOURNEY. 
 
 417 
 
 tury, at the coronation of Alexander the Third, 
 a Highland bard pronounced an oration on the 
 genealogy of the kings of Scotland. As this hap- 
 pened in the year 1249, before the destruction of 
 so many of our records by Edward the First of 
 England, and in the presence of the three estates of 
 the kingdom, assembled on that occasion, we may 
 naturally suppose the bards and senachies of those 
 times to have been pretty accurate in their ac- 
 counts ; otherwise, it must have been difficult to 
 find one who would venture to undertake such a 
 task. At so public a solemnity there must have 
 been many present who could have contradicted 
 him, if he erred in his narration ; and amidst the 
 multitude of written testimonies then existing, 
 he was sure of being detected, supposing none of 
 his auditors had been able to correct him. 
 
 The same author allows, in page 237, that this 
 genealogy was one of the most accurate perfor- 
 mances of the kind which had ever existed. 
 
 The same circumstance is mentioned by all 
 Fordun's continuators, and likewise by Major. 
 
 Ammianus Marcellinus, book xv. page 51, 
 says, " The bards sung the remarkable achieve- 
 ments of their heroes, in verse, to the sweet me- 
 lody of their harps." 
 
 Valesius, who pretends to write notes on this 
 author, betrays a gross ignorance of his meaning, 
 
 3 G 
 
418 
 
 REMARKS ON 
 
 as well as of the profession or employment of the 
 bards, when he says in page 93, ' that the bards 
 were a species of parasites or buffoons, who di- 
 verted the soldiers at their banquets with their 
 jests and mimical gestures.' This is a most false 
 and ridiculous account of the matter, and entirely 
 explains away the meaning of his author; for 
 Ammianus Marcellinus says no such thing. Be- 
 sides, it is well known that they had others who 
 acted in the capacity he mentions ; that is, jesters, 
 who Ukewise constituted a part of their domestics, 
 as well as the bards. 
 
 In page 171, the Doctor says, that ' an old 
 gentleman told ' him ' that he remembered one 
 of each,' namely a bard and a senachie. There was 
 no occasion to make the gentleman very old to 
 remember this much, as will soon be made ap- 
 pear. But Dr. Johnson does not choose to stop 
 here ; for, in the very next page, he sets every 
 evidence for the existence of either bards or se- 
 nachies, beyond all memory whatever. His 
 words are, ' I was told by a gentleman, who is 
 generally acknowledged the greatest master of 
 Hebridian antiquities, that there had indeed once 
 been both bards and senachies ; and that senachie 
 signified the man of talk, or of conversation ; but 
 that neither bard nor senachie had existed for 
 some centuries.' 
 
JOHNSON'S JOURNEY. 
 
 419 
 
 Here the testimony of the old gentleman, who 
 said that he had seen both a bard and a senachie, 
 is entirely set aside, by the contrary testimony of 
 another gentleman, who, as Dr. Johnson says, 
 told him, that none of either had existed for some 
 centuries. I am rather apt to suspect the accu- 
 racy of the Doctor's representation, concerning 
 this latter gentleman. Almost every man in the 
 Highlands knows the contrary to be true ; and if 
 any one told him what he asserts, we may doubt 
 his title to the character of an antiquarian. But 
 the Doctor, with his usual caution, conceals his 
 author's name ; which certainly was prudent, as 
 by this means the hazard of a personal refutation 
 is avoided. 
 
 It was well judged in the Doctor, however, to 
 make his gentleman so great a master of Hebri- 
 dian antiquities. By this policy he secures a 
 better title to be believed ; and immediately after, 
 he makes his own use of what he pretends to 
 have received from such undoubted authority. 
 ' Whenever the practice of recitation was dis- 
 used,' says he, ' the works, whether poetical or 
 historical, perished with the authors ; for in those 
 times nothing had been written in the Erse lan- 
 guage.' 
 
 There has been occasion to observe, oftener 
 than once, that it was the great object of the 
 
420 
 
 REMARKS ON 
 
 Doctor's Journey, to find out some pretence or 
 other for denying the authenticity of the ancient 
 compositions in the Gaelic language; and now 
 that design begins to unfold itself beyond a pos- 
 sibility of doubt. To effect his purpose, he takes 
 a short but very ingenious method. He finds it 
 only necessary to say, that no bards have existed 
 for some centuries ; that, as nothing was then 
 written in the Gaelic language, their works must 
 have perished with themselves ; and consequently, 
 that every thing now attributed to them, by their 
 modern countrymen, must be false and spurious. 
 
 As the Doctor gives no authority for the 
 facts, from which he draws this inference, he 
 might as well have remained at home, as he 
 says upon another occasion, and have fancied to 
 himself all that he pretends to have heard on this 
 subject. His bare word, without leaving Fleet- 
 street, would have been just as good as his bare 
 word after returning from the Hebrides. A 
 journey, however, was undertaken ; though there 
 is every reason to believe, that it was not so much 
 with a view to obtain information, as to give a 
 degree of sanction to what he had before resolved 
 to assert. 
 
 But though there had really been no bards or 
 ^nachies for such a length of time, and though 
 the Gaelic had really been an unwritten language. 
 
JOHNSON'S JOURNEY. 
 
 421 
 
 there is no reason for supposing that all the an- 
 cient compositions perished immediately with 
 their authors. I have already shown, that the 
 practice of recitation was not formerly confined 
 to the bards and senachies alone, and that it is 
 not altogether disused even in our own times. 
 It must therefore follow, that many of their 
 works would still be preserved by this means on- 
 ly, even after the bards and senachies, by profes- 
 sion, might cease to exist. 
 
 There is no necessity, however, for trusting to 
 this, argument alone, I may hereafter take an op- 
 portunity of showing, that the Gaelic has not al- 
 ways been an uncultivated language ; which will 
 weaken one part of the foundation on which Dr. 
 Johnson builds. In the mean time, I shall pro- 
 duce some facts to evince, that the domestic offi- 
 ces in question existed much later than he is 
 willing to allow; and that, I presume, will go 
 nigh to sap the remaining part of his fabric. 
 
 It is not necessary, nor will I pretend exactly 
 to say, when the office of senachie, as distinct 
 from that of bard, fell into disuse. By this I 
 mean only the senachie by profession ; for as to 
 senachies from choice, and for the amusement of 
 themselves and friends, they have always existed ; 
 and there are several, and those not contemptible 
 ones, both of the better and lower sort of people 
 
422 
 
 REMARKS ON 
 
 still living in the country. It will be enough to 
 show, from well-known facts, that the regular 
 profession of bard, who occasionally likewise offi- 
 ciated as senachie, has not been so long out of 
 fashion. 
 
 The Macewens had free lands in Lorn in Ar- 
 gyleshire, for acting as bards to the family of Ar- 
 gyle, to that of Breadalbane, and likewise to Sir 
 John Macdougal of Dunolly, in 1572. The two 
 last of the race were Airne and his son Neil. 
 
 I have now before me an Elegy upon the 
 death of Sir Duncan Dow Campbell of Glenurchy, 
 composed by Neil Macewen. The date, which 
 is 1630, is in the body of the poem. How long 
 he lived after this, I cannot take upon me to 
 say ; but as there is much of the history and ge- 
 nealogy of the family interwoven with the per- 
 formance, he must certainly have been both bard 
 and senachie. 
 
 John Macodrum in North Uist, who is still 
 alive, and not a very old man, had a yearly al- 
 lowance from the late Sir James Macdonald of 
 Slate, which, I believe, may be still continued by 
 the present Lord Macdonald. I have, in my 
 possession, many of his compositions, which are 
 far from being destitute of merit. 
 
 I have likewise, in my hands, some poems, 
 composed by one bard Mathonach ; in one of 
 
JOHNSON'S JOURNEY. 
 
 423 
 
 which he acknowledges to have received gold 
 from the earl of Seaforth, at parting on board the 
 ship that was to carry his benefactor out of the 
 kingdom, after the battle of Sheriffmuir, in the 
 year 1715. Another of his poems is in praise of 
 Lord Lovat, who made him a present of a gun. 
 Whether he was retained in the official quality 
 of bard, by either of those noblemen, I cannot 
 pretend to determine. 
 
 Many of my readers know, that one of the 
 most remarkable bards of modern times, was 
 John Macdonald, descended of the family of 
 Keppoch in Lochaber. He was commonly cal- 
 led John Lom; and sometimes John Mantacli 
 or Mabach, from an impediment in his speech. 
 He composed as many poems as would fill a 
 pretty large volume. A great number of them 
 are still extant, and many of them are in my pos- 
 session. Most of his compositions have great 
 merit. 
 
 He lived from the reign of Charles the First to 
 the time of king William . But what may startle 
 Dr. Johnson not a little, Charles the Second settled 
 a yearly pension upon him, for officiating as his 
 bard. As many of his poems mention the chief 
 transactions of the times, as well as the names of 
 the princes, chiefs, and nobility, whose achieve- 
 ments he sung, they carry their dates in their 
 
424 
 
 REMARKS ON 
 
 bosoms, and fix the era in which they were com- 
 posed. He lived to an extreme old age, so that 
 there are still a few people of very advanced years 
 who remember to have seen him. 
 
 But to come more closely to the point. I wish 
 the Doctor may preserve his temper and patience 
 when I inform him, that Neil Macvurich, de- 
 scended of the famous race of Macvurichs, bards 
 and senachies to the Clanronald family, is still 
 alive, and enjoys free lands from Allan Macdo- 
 nald of Clanronald, as his bard and senachie. 
 This man writes the Celtic or Gaelic character, 
 which was taught him by his predecessors, but 
 he understands no other language or character 
 whatever. 
 
 This piece of intelligence must equally sur- 
 prise and gall our traveller ; but, as the thing is 
 true, there is no help for it. There is no fact 
 whatever more certain or better known ; and it 
 could be attested by the most reputable people 
 in that part of the kingdom, if the evidence of 
 ' Highland narration,' which the Doctor has so 
 often reprobated, could be admitted as satisfacto- 
 ry. But what is still more, he might easily, 
 while in the country, have had the last and best 
 proof of what is here asserted, even ocular de- 
 monstration. He might have seen the bard 
 Macvurich, and others, with his own eyes ; and 
 
JOHNSON'S JOURNEY. 
 
 425 
 
 he might likewise have had the same unerring 
 testimony for the existence of many manuscripts 
 in the Gaelic language, for several centuries back. 
 
 This mode of information, however, the Doc- 
 tor always avoided. It would not have answered 
 the purpose with which he had set out. His 
 plan was laid; and he never wished to see or 
 hear any thing that could induce him to alter it. 
 As, therefore, he was determined to write in the 
 very manner he has done, he has this one claim 
 to virtue at least, that he did not choose to write 
 against conviction. 
 
 These instances are but a few of many that 
 might be given ; but, I flatter myself, they will 
 prove sufficient to satisfy the public, if not even 
 Dr. Johnson himself, that his Hebridian antiqua- 
 rian, if such there was, has grossly misinformed 
 him ; and consequently, that the ingenious syllo- 
 gism, which he has formed upon that informa- 
 tion, however agreeable to mode and figure, is 
 not agreeable to truth. 
 
 Unless the Doctor would have every testimo- 
 ny rejected but his own, I hope I have given 
 reasons for believing, that there have been always 
 regular bards and senachies in the country, and 
 that there are still some of both ; that the prac- 
 tice of recitation has not yet ceased, and that the 
 Gaelic has not been an unwritten language ; and 
 
 3 H 
 
426 REMARKS Ol^ ^ 
 
 of course, that the Doctor's conclusion, from the 
 opposite premises, does not necessarily follow, 
 namely, that * the works of the ancient bards 
 and senachies, whether poetical or historical, pe- 
 rished with the authors.' 
 
 In addition to what has been said, I can assure 
 the reader, that many poems of the bards I have 
 already mentioned, as well as of several others, 
 are in my own possession ; and that many other 
 gentlemen, in different parts of the Highlands, 
 have likewise large collections, among which 
 there are productions of very old dates. These 
 are always open to the inspection of curiosity, 
 when a stranger signifies a desire to see them ; 
 and a considerable number of them have been 
 lately published, in a moderate volume, for the 
 satisfaction of such as may not have an opportu- 
 nity of visiting the country, and seeing the origi- 
 nals. 
 
 In regard to our historical works of any long 
 standing, I have already mentioned, that they 
 suffered greatly by the ravages of Edward the 
 First, and of Cromwell. The Doctor still con- 
 tinues to reproach us with the want of them, 
 though he knows by what means there is such a 
 deficiency in our national annals ; and that the 
 unhappy divisions among ourselves, at those two 
 periods, gave an easy opportunity to those inve- 
 
JOHNSON'S JOURNEY. 
 
 42T 
 
 terate enemies to the antiquities of Scotland, to 
 destroy some part of our records, and carry off 
 another. 
 
 As it now appears, that many of our senachies 
 were also bards, it may naturally be supposed, 
 that much of our ancient history was in verse. 
 The same practice obtained in all other nations, 
 in the early ages, and in the like circumstances. 
 Accordingly, many of our poems consist of de- 
 scriptions of battles, deaths of heroes, and concise 
 narratives of other historical facts. 
 
 Page 172, he says, ' Whether the man of talk 
 was a historian, whose office was to tell truth, or 
 a story-teller, like those which were in the last 
 century, and perhaps are now among the Irish, 
 whose trade was only to amuse, it now would be 
 vain to inquire.' It would be far from vain to 
 make this inquiry, were it necessary ; but the 
 matter has been already cleared up. The case is 
 sufficiently plain ; but the Doctor generally cre- 
 ates doubts where there are none, and puzzles his 
 reader with difficulties of his own making. 
 
 In the same page, he proceeds, ' probably the 
 laureat of a clan was always the son of the last 
 laureat. The history of the race could no other- 
 wise be communicated, or retained; but what 
 genius could be expected in a poet by inheri- 
 tance?' Though the Doctor speaks doubtfully 
 
428 
 
 REMARKS ON 
 
 of this fact, he concludes with a triumphant 
 query, in the same confident manner as if he had 
 proved it. 
 
 I shall grant him, indeed, that genius, any 
 more than other endowments, cannot be expected 
 to go by inheritance ; and I should as little think 
 it necessary for the son of the last laureat, as he 
 wittily calls the Highland bard, to be a poet, as for 
 the son of our pompous journalist to be a pedant. 
 Sons may often possess qualities very opposite to 
 those of their fathers. A mere blockhead has 
 sometimes, no doubt, been the son of a very good 
 bard; and there can be no reason why the off- 
 spring of even a Dr. Johnson, though w ithout a 
 title by inheritance, should not hereafter be dis- 
 tinguished for truth, candour, good breeding, and 
 other virtues. 
 
 If the son of the last bard had a genius equal 
 to the office, there is no doubt, but among a 
 friendly and generous people, it would be reck- 
 oned an act of justice to prefer him to another; 
 but if he was found deficient in that respect, it is 
 evident from the practice of the country, that 
 he could not succeed. There were regular schools 
 for the education of bards, called, in the Gaelic 
 language, Scoil Bhairdeachd, in which the youth, 
 or candidates for the profession, underwent a long 
 course of discipline ; and, after all this prepara- 
 
JOHNSON'S JOURNEY. 
 
 429 
 
 tion, such as were found incapable were always 
 rejected. From this it would seem, that those 
 who had the superintendency of those schools 
 paid a strict regard to the judicious rule of the 
 ancients, Nascimur poetce. But more of this 
 hereafter. 
 
 In page 173 he still goes on. ' The nation 
 was w^holly illiterate. Neither bards nor sena- 
 chies could write or read.' I wish the Doctor 
 had fixed the period to which he alludes; but 
 that, like all other points accompanied with a 
 charge, he prudently leaves undetermined. But 
 let him choose what time he pleases, it will be 
 easy to show the fallacy and unprincipled pre- 
 sumption of these assertions. 
 
 The early introduction of learning into Scot- 
 land is acknowledged by all the histories of Eu- 
 rope. In the first ages of Christianity, for our 
 traveller, I suppose, does not carry his observa- 
 tions back to the times of the Druids, our learning, 
 no doubt, was chiefly confined to the priesthood. 
 But what then? Will the Doctor pretend to 
 say, that the case was then different in any other 
 country ? If he will not, I should be glad to 
 know wherein the force of his first assertion con- 
 sists. While We had priests only, the nation 
 could not be ' wholly illiterate ' at any period of 
 time. 
 
430 , REMARKS ON 
 
 Many instances have been already mentioned 
 to prove the progress of literature among us, be- 
 fore the universal gloom of Gothic desolation ; 
 and the Doctor himself acknowledges, in page 
 37, that soon after its revival it found its way to 
 Scotland. Where then will he fix the period for 
 justifying his present assertion ? If there is 
 truth in history, if there is truth in Dr. Johnson 
 himself, what he now says must appear to be un« 
 just ; and that the Scotch nation was not illite- 
 rate at any time, or in any sense of the word, 
 while other nations could pretend to have been 
 more enlightened. 
 
 Being thus driven from his post, our author 
 has no refuge but in ignorance or wilful misrepre- 
 sentation. To a man of the least dignity of 
 mind, or sense of honour, either must be intolera- 
 ble. But let him take which station he pleases, 
 he will find himself disappointed in both. He 
 forfeits every pretension to wisdom or to virtue; 
 whether he prefers the weak shelter of the fool^ 
 or the more obstinate retreat of the knave. 
 
 It is always with reluctance I have recourse to 
 any asperity of language ; but the insolence and 
 injustice of Dr. Johnson demand some severity. 
 When a man dares to traduce a nation with so 
 much indecent freedom, it would be false delicacy, 
 indeed, not to treat him, in his turn, with all that 
 
JOHNSON'S JOURNEY. 431 
 
 » 
 
 contempt that is consistent with truth. Opposed 
 to a whole people, an individual sinks into no- 
 thing ; and, if he forgets the superior respect that 
 is due to the many, he necessarily divests himself 
 of all title to complaisance. 
 
 As to his next assertion, that ' neither bards 
 nor senachies could write or read,' I would ask 
 him what he means ? If it is that the ancient 
 bards and senachies could not write or read Eng- 
 lish, I will not dispute the point. That lan- 
 guage was as foreign to the old Celtic or Scotch 
 bards and senachies, as it is to the French or Ita- 
 lian poets and historians at this day. Will the 
 Doctor call the latter ignorant, because they nei- 
 ther write nor read the language of his country ? 
 If he will not, the absurdity of his insinuation 
 against the former is too evident to require an 
 answer on that account. 
 
 But as he told us before, and repeats it after- 
 wards, that nothing had been written formerly 
 in what he calls the Erse, his meaning more pro- 
 bably is, that our bards and senachies could nei- 
 ther write nor read any language whatever. If 
 this really be so, the answer is short and easy, 
 and I will tell him, without any ceremony, that 
 the allegation is false and untrue. 
 
 As to the Doctor's Erse, it has a filthy sound, 
 and I must reject it, as never being a word of 
 
432 uemauks on 
 
 ours. It is only a barbarous term introduced by 
 strangers, and seems to be a corruption of Irish. 
 The Caledonians always called their native lan- 
 guage Gaelic ; and they never knew it by any 
 other name. 
 
 If we go back to so early a period as the in- 
 stitution of the monasteries or abbacies of I, or 
 lona, Oronsay, and Ardchattan, &c., it is not to 
 be doubted, but the use of letters was known in 
 those seminaries, as well as in other places of the 
 like kind in Europe. Were there no positive 
 proofs of the fact now existing, it would be ab- 
 surd to the last degree to deny it. Our monks 
 must have understood the learned languages; 
 and they must likewise have wrote them. 
 
 This much being granted, or rather self-evi- 
 dent, I can see no reason to prevent them from 
 writing in their own language, more than the re- 
 ligious in all other countries. The Gaelic was 
 the language in which they usually conversed ; 
 it was that into which it behoved the learned 
 ones to be translated ; and I well know it is the 
 language by which my own lessons or exercises 
 at school have been often explained to me, before 
 I had acquired English enough to understand 
 them otherwise. I shall proceed, however, to 
 more positive proofs. 
 
 Of what has been written at lona, I have heard. 
 
JOHNSON'S JOURNEY. 
 
 433 
 
 in particular, of a translation of St. Augustine 
 De Civitate Dei, and a Treatise in Physic, which 
 is very old. The former was in the possession of 
 the late Mr. Archibald Lambie, minister of Kill- 
 martine in Argyleshire ; and the latter was pre- 
 served in the Advocates' Hbrary at Edinburgh, 
 where, no doubt, it is still to be seen. 
 
 Two brothers of the name of Bethune were 
 famous for the profession of physic, in the islands 
 of Islay and Mull ; and they were designed, from 
 the places of their residence, * Olla Ilich and 01- 
 la MulicL They were both educated in Spain, 
 and were well versed in the Greek and Latin 
 languages; but they did not understand one 
 word of English. 
 
 Olla Ilich lived in the reign of James the Sixth, 
 and held free lands of his Majesty, as one of his 
 physicians. He wrote a Treatise in Physic, in 
 the Gaelic character, with quotations from Hippo- 
 crates. This manuscript was seen at Edinburgh 
 some years ago, by a gentleman of my acquain- 
 tance, in the possession of Dr. William Macfar- 
 lane. 
 
 One Dr. O'Connachar of Lorn, in Argyleshire, 
 
 • Olla signifies a doctor or professor in any science, particularly 
 in physic. 
 
 3 I 
 
434 
 
 REMARKS ON 
 
 wrote all his prescriptions in Gaelic; and his 
 manuscript has been seen by many gentlemen 
 still alive in that country. 
 
 There are, at present, two very old manuscripts 
 in the possession of a gentleman in Argyleshire. 
 One of them contains the Adventures of Smerbie 
 More, one of the predecessors of the family of 
 Argyle ; who, as appears from the genealogy of 
 that family, lived in the fifth century. The Doc- 
 tor, perhaps, will not be much pleased to hear, 
 that the other contains the History of Clanuis- 
 neachain, or the sons of Usnoch, a fragment in 
 Fingal. 
 
 The same gentleman is likewise possessed of 
 Prosnachadh Catha Chlann DomhnuiD, * at the 
 battle of Harlaw in 1411, composed by Lachlan 
 More Macvurich, the bard. This performance is 
 in exact alphabetical order, like the Doctor's fa- 
 mous Dictionary. It contains four epithets upon 
 every letter of the alphabet, beginning with the 
 first letter, and ending with the last. Every 
 epithet upon the same letter begins with that 
 letter; which proves to a demonstration, that 
 some of the bards at least, were not unacquainted 
 with letters in that age. 
 
 * A speech to cheer up the Macdonalds, when beginning the 
 battle. 
 
JOHNSON'S JOURNEY. 
 
 435 
 
 In the body of the genealogy of the Maevu- 
 rieh bards, this piece is mentioned, as the produc- 
 tion of the beforenamed Lachlan More. Since 
 I began these Remarks, the poem has been pub- 
 lished by Mr. Macdonald in his collection, where 
 it may be seen by the curious. 
 
 So far were the bards from neglecting learning, 
 that, as 1 have already observed, they had poeti- 
 cal schools (Scoil Bhairdeachd) regularly estab- 
 lished at Inverness, in Skye, and other places. 
 In these they went through certain exercises, or 
 pieces of trials, which were prescribed to them. 
 Such as did not acquit themselves to the satisfac- 
 tion of the proper judges, were rejected, as un- 
 qualified for the office ; and this often happened, 
 after many years study and preparation. 
 
 Their subject, or thesis, was often proposed to 
 them without any previous warning.* It was 
 generally a sentence, though, sometimes, but a 
 single word; and, at other times, it was alto- 
 gether unintelligible, like the Barbara, celarent, 
 Darii, ferio, &c. in logic. Of this last sort was 
 
 • Bishop Leslie observes, page 54, that, *' illis (pueris) exempla 
 illustrium virorum, ad quorum se imitationem fingerent, rythmi cu- 
 jusdam et carminis concentu, ad voluptatem illustrata proponere." 
 
436 
 
 REMARKS ON 
 
 the subject which James the Sixth gave to some 
 poets, as a trial of skill in their profession * 
 
 I can assert from as good authority as Dr. 
 Johnson can pretend to, that, during even the 
 later periods, some of the Macvurich (or Macpher- 
 son) race of bards kept an academy in Skye, where 
 they taught the Greek and Latin languages, as 
 well as the Gaelic art of poetry. 
 
 If any ingenuous sense yet remains with the 
 Doctor, he must necessarily feel sore at this ac- 
 count of the Scotch bards. Ignominy and dis- 
 appointment stare him, at once, in the face. His 
 impudent assertions are disproved, and his darling 
 purpose defeated. He must therefore be doubly 
 
 * SUBJECT. 
 
 Snamhaid an Lach is an Fhaoilin 
 Da chois chapail chaoilin chorr. 
 
 ANSWER. 
 
 fhuaras Deoch a Laimh Ri Alba, 
 A Cup Airgid agus Oir ; 
 An Aite nach do shaoil mi t hetin 
 'S da chois chapail chaoilin chorr. 
 
 The poet who performed best was to get one cupfull of wine from 
 the king's own hand, and another cupfull of gold as his reward. 
 
JOHNSON'S JOURNEY. 
 
 437 
 
 stung, if he is capable of shame from falsehood, 
 gr of chagrin for the failure of his project. 
 
 But this forgery of our traveller, in asserting 
 that the bards were so very illiterate, seems the 
 more extraordinary, as he acknowledges that there 
 were regular schools or colleges in Skye, and 
 other places, for the education of pipers. His 
 admitting this fact gives additional strength to 
 what has been advanced concerning the acade- 
 mies of the bards ; as it is not very likely, that a 
 people, who were so attentive to an inferior art, 
 should neglect the cultivation of genius, for a 
 more important profession. It must be confessed, 
 however, that the schools of the bards began to 
 be considerably upon the decline, within these 
 last two centuries. Whether their not meeting 
 with the usual encouragement was owing to their 
 presuming too much on their own importance, to 
 the introduction of new customs, or to their pro- 
 fession not appearing so necessary after the revi- 
 val of letters, it is not material to inquire : nor 
 need we be more surprised, that the race of bards 
 is now almost extinct, than that we hear no lon- 
 ger of the harpers, scialachies (tale-tellers), and 
 jesters of former times, or that even the bagpipe 
 itself is approaching to the eve of its last groans. 
 Our great people, like those of other nations, 
 have found out new modes of amusement and 
 
438 
 
 REMARKS ON 
 
 expense, which probably, in their turn, will soon 
 give way to others. 
 
 Upon the decay of their own seminaries at 
 home, the bards went to Irish schools of the same 
 kind ; the consequence of which was, that they 
 contracted much of the Irish poetical style, and a 
 fondness for talking the Irish dialect of the Celtic 
 language. 
 
 Many of our own countrymen, who were ig- 
 norant of this fact, have mistaken some of the 
 writings and compositions of those Irish bred 
 bards, for real Irish. Among the performances 
 of this kind now extant, there are several which 
 we would not hesitate to conclude to be true 
 Irish, if we had not the most convincing proofs to 
 the contrary. 
 
 We have a striking instance of this in the 
 Elegy on Sir Duncan Dow Campbell, which has 
 been mentioned above, and was composed by the 
 bard Macewen in 1630. This poem is, in many 
 places, altogether unintelligible to most Highlan- 
 ders ; though other productions of a much earlier 
 date, as being composed in the Albion dialect of 
 the Celtic, are perfectly understood. In particu- 
 lar, there is a manuscript poem by Maclean's 
 bard, in praise of Colin earl of Argyle, in 1529, a 
 complete century before the Elegy, which is en- 
 tirely free from the obscurities to be found in 
 
JOHNSON'S JOURNEY. 
 
 439 
 
 that performance. But Macewen was one of 
 those bards who resided some time in Ireland. 
 His poem is in the Gaelic character, and in his 
 own hand- writing ; and it is still preserved, a- 
 mong the papers of the family of Breadalbane, at 
 Taymouth. 
 
 Besides adopting much of the poetical lan- 
 guage of Ireland, the bards who went to that 
 country for education wrote many things in imi- 
 tation of Irish pieces. This has given occasion 
 to that people to claim, as their own, various 
 compositions, which were in reality the produc- 
 tions of Scotch bards. 
 
 Though I flatter myself, by this time, that 
 the arrogant assertions of Dr. Johnson will ap- 
 pear sufficiently refuted, and consequently, that 
 the conclusions he so confidently draws from them 
 must fall harmless to the ground; yet I shall 
 subjoin a few observations more, which seem to 
 offer themselves properly in this place. 
 
 It will not be denied, I believe, that our reli- 
 gious societies must have been possessed of lear- 
 ning. That they were so in an eminent degree, 
 appears from their being in so great request 
 among other nations ; for that of lona, in parti- 
 cular, sent professors to Cologne, Louvain, Paris, 
 and other places. Is it therefore probable, that, 
 while they were employed in instructing fo- 
 
440 
 
 REMAllKS ON 
 
 reigners, their own countrymen alone should re- 
 main uninformed ? Such a supposition is too vio- 
 lent for common sense. 
 
 As a proof that learning was much cultivated 
 among us, all the abbots, priors, and monks, of 
 those seminaries, were real Highlanders. The 
 Doctor might have been satisfied of this, from 
 observing the names of Macphingon (Mackinnon) 
 and Mackenzie, on the tomb-stones of two of the 
 abbots of lona; and the name of Macdougall, 
 prior of Ardchattan, upon his tomb-stone at that 
 place. 
 
 The same observation will hold, with regard 
 to our nunneries. In that of lona one of the ab- 
 besses is designed, upon her tomb, in the patro- 
 nymic manner, according to the custom of the 
 country. The inscription both in Latin and in 
 Gaelic is, 
 
 DOMINA ANNA DONALDI TERLETI FILIA. 
 ANN NI MHIC DHONUILL MHIC THEARLAICH. 
 
 In English, it means, Ann the daughter of Do- 
 nald the son of Charles. 
 
 At Oronsay, and other places, the case was 
 exactly the same. If therefore our religious se- 
 minaries, which were not a few, were filled with 
 natives of the country, the nation cannot, in any 
 
JOHNSON'S JOURNEY. 
 
 441 
 
 justice, be said to have been illiterate; though, 
 contrary to all probability, literature had been 
 confined to those societies alone. We likewise 
 find, that there were monumental inscriptions, in 
 the Gaelic language, in very early periods of time. 
 I see no reason then, if the Highlanders could cut 
 out their language upon marble or stone, why they 
 might not be able to write it upon parchment or 
 paper. 
 
 Among other things, I might add, that as many 
 of our kings, with their whole courts, resided often 
 in the Highlands, it is to be presumed, whatever 
 was known any where else, must have been known 
 there also. 
 
 Before the time of King Malcolm Cean More, 
 as may be judged from his very name, no other 
 language but the Gaelic was spoken in Scotland. 
 It was in compliment to Margaret, the queen of 
 that monarch, and the eldest sister of Edgar, that 
 the English language was first introduced even at 
 court. This happened in 1068-9 ; and, from that 
 era, we may date, at least in the southern parts of 
 the kingdom, the gradual decline of the Celtic, 
 once the delight of all the courts of Europe. 
 
 It continued long, after this, to maintain its 
 ground in the Highlands ; but even there, at last, 
 it began to be neglected to such a degree, that, 
 
 3 K 
 
442 
 
 REMARKS ON 
 
 but for the uncommon beauties of its poetical com- 
 positions, it would scarcely have existed, except 
 amongst the vulgar alone. But, of late years, the 
 better taste of a few has directed the attention of 
 others to its superior excellence; and now again 
 it begins, as it were, to recover new life. 
 
 Nothing can more effectually illustrate the co- 
 piousness and energy of the Gaelic language than 
 this, that several of tlie poems, which have been 
 lately published, and are now so much admired 
 by the learned, were the extempore effusions of 
 some men, who were not otherwise very learned 
 themselves. But if, as Dr. Johnson expresses 
 himself, they were strangers to the ' splendours 
 of ornamental erudition,' they were equally so to 
 that constraint, which is occasioned by the unna- 
 tural fetters of modern criticism. Genius pre- 
 vailed over art ; and they have found the power 
 to please, without any guide but nature. 
 
 To what has been already said on these heads, I 
 shall now beg leave to add the authority of Bishop 
 Leslie ; which most people, I presume, will deem 
 fully as good in this case, as that of our intelligent 
 and candid traveller. In page 157, that learned 
 prelate says, " that Eugenius the Seventh, in the 
 year 699, took care to have many learned men 
 assembled together from all parts of his dominions. 
 
JOHNSON'S JOURNEY. 
 
 443 
 
 and to be supported at his expense, who were to 
 record not only the transactions or exploits of the 
 Scots, but likewise those of all other nations." 
 
 It may appear from hence, that the senachies, 
 or historians of those ^arly times, were not an illi- 
 terate set of men, who could neither write nor read. 
 When they became afterwards so very ignorant as 
 the Doctor says, is incumbent upon him to point 
 out ; and before he urges that ignorance as a re- 
 proach, if he really can make it appear, he ought 
 likewise to prove, that their southern neighbours, 
 at least, were more knowing at the same time. 
 
 I shall next borrow an argument from Dr. John- 
 son's Journey, to confute himself Through the 
 whole course of this work, his own contradictions 
 have served me in much stead ; and I take this 
 opportunity of acknowledging my obligations, as 
 the present assistance is none of the least consi- 
 derable. 
 
 What he says, in speaking of lona in particular, 
 seems very inconsistent with what he has so lately 
 advanced concerning the total ignorance of the 
 country. As the passage is remarkable, I shall 
 transcribe it for the sake of those who may not 
 be possessed of his book. 
 
 * We were now,' says he, page 230, * treading 
 that illustrious island, which was once the lumi- 
 nary of the Caledonian regions, whence savage 
 
444 
 
 REMARKS ON 
 
 clans and roving barbarians derived the benefits 
 of knowledge, and the blessings of rehgion. To 
 abstract the mind from all local emotion would 
 be impossible, if it were endeavoured, and would 
 be foolish, if it were possible. Whatever with- 
 draws us from the power of our senses ; v/hatever 
 makes the past, the distant, or the future predomi- 
 nate over the present, advances us in the dignity 
 of thinking beings. Far from me and from my 
 friends be such frigid philosophy, as may conduct 
 us indifferent and unmoved over any ground which 
 has been dignified by wisdom, bravery, or virtue ! 
 That man is little to be envied, whose patriotism 
 would not gain force upon the plain of Marathon, 
 or whose piety would not grow warmer among 
 the ruins of lona.' 
 
 In these transports of a not unlaudable enthu- 
 siasm, the celebrity of lona, as an ancient seat of 
 learning, is very strongly impressed. That title 
 to fame must, indeed, be allov/ed to be just, which 
 could extort such glowing strokes of eulogy from 
 the pen of Dr. Johnson ; whose testimony, when 
 favourable to Scotland, no one can have reason to 
 suspect. 
 
 It will naturally occur to every reader, that 
 institutions of this sort, and lona was but one of 
 many, cannot afford proofs of an ignorant, rude, 
 or barbarous people. The Doctor, by way of emi- 
 
JOHNSON'S JOURNEY. 
 
 445 
 
 nence, calls this the luminary of the Caledonian 
 regions ; and to show that he does not dignify it 
 with that appellation in vain, he says it was a 
 source of knowledge and religion to the inhabi- 
 tants of the country. It is true, he talks, as usual, 
 of savage clans and roving barbarians. But as 
 this may be the effect of a habit, which he cannot 
 easily lay aside, and by which, perhaps, he means 
 no great harm, I shall take no further notice of it 
 at present, than only to observe, that such rough 
 epithets do not seem to be very happily chosen 
 for the disciples of his revered lona ; a seminary, 
 which he extols so much for its wisdom and vir- 
 tue. 
 
 Without wrangling about words, therefore, it 
 is enough for my purpose, that he has allowed 
 the Highlanders to have derived knowledge from 
 lona ; and for his own purpose, I am afraid, that 
 concession will rather be a little too much. He 
 will find it no easy matter to persuade the public, 
 that a nation can be * wholly illiterate' and instruct- 
 ed in knowledge at the same time. There is a 
 manifest repugnance between these two ; and they 
 never can be reconciled, unless, contrary to the 
 usual interpretation of the word, it will appear, 
 from the Doctor's Dictionary, that knowledge is 
 but another term for ignorance. 
 
 This inconsistency in the Doctor's manner of 
 
446 
 
 KEMARKS ON 
 
 writing, exceeds those marvellous variations in 
 the different accounts of brogue -making, which 
 staggered our conscientious traveller so much, as 
 to make him question the veracity of ' Highland 
 narration.' The reader will be able to judge, by 
 this time, to which of the parties such a stigma 
 most properly belongs. Should he think of 
 transferring it to the Doctor, I am only afraid he 
 may create some embarrassment to himself Hav- 
 ing abeady seen so many of his contradictions, 
 he must find him so branded all over, that he will 
 hardly know where to stamp a new mark of dis- 
 grace. 
 
 I know not what degree of force the Doctor's 
 patriotism might gain upon the plain of Marathon ; 
 but if we are to judge of his piety from his re- 
 gard to truth, it seems not to have grown re- 
 markably warm among the ruins of lona. Ac- 
 cording to his own decision, therefore, he is a 
 man ' little to be envied.' 
 
 Having, as he thinks, though without other 
 proof than his bare assertion, established the non- 
 existence of literature among us, he proceeds to 
 apply that negative doctrine to our genealogies. 
 
 Page 173, he says, the recital of genealogies 
 * has never subsisted within time of memory, nor 
 was much credit due to such rehearsers, who might 
 obtrude fictitious pedigrees, either to please their 
 
JOHNSON'S JOURNEY. 447 
 
 masters, or to hide the deficiency of their own 
 memories. Where the chiefs of the Highlands 
 have found the histories of their descent is difficult 
 to tell ; for no Erse genealogy was ever written.* 
 What our author means by what he calls 
 ' within time of memory,' I am at a loss to know. 
 If he means the memory of man, in its enlarged 
 sense, he evidently contradicts himself in the 
 preceding part of the same paragraph, where he 
 says, that such recitals were anciently made when 
 the heir of the family came to manly age. If he 
 means the memory of any man now living, that 
 would be but a trifling consideration, had it not 
 even been abeady proved that the practice still 
 continues. 
 
 As to the rehearsers of genealogies obtruding 
 fictitious pedigrees on their masters, the High- 
 landers in general were too attentive to that 
 branch of their antiquities, and too well versed in 
 what related to their own descent and connexions 
 in the country, to admit easily of such an impo- 
 sition ; though there had been no other means of 
 preventing it, than by rehearsal only. But it will 
 immediately appear, that they had other securities 
 for accuracy in that point. 
 
 When the Doctor tells us that < no Erse ge- 
 nealogy was ever written,' he ought to have told 
 us likewise upon what authority he founds so pe- 
 
448 
 
 REMARKS ON 
 
 remptory an assertion. Contrary to a similar 
 falsehood of his, it has been already proved, that 
 many other things had been written in the Gaelic 
 language. It is not, therefore, likely, that a peo- 
 ple so tenacious of their ancestry should leave the 
 histories of their descent unrecorded. But to 
 presumptive, I shall add positive proof 
 
 I have just now in my possession very com- 
 plete genealogical accounts of six different fami- 
 lies, viz. that of the royal house of Stuart, the 
 family of Argyle, Macdonald, Macian of Glen- 
 co, Macneil of Barra, and the bard Macvurich. 
 They are all written in the Gaelic language and 
 character ; and as a proof that they have subsisted 
 for a considerable length of time, it may be pro- 
 per to inform the Doctor, that the last person 
 mentioned in the second of these genealogies is 
 Archibald earl of Argyle, who succeeded his fa- 
 ther in 1661. 
 
 I could appeal to many others of very ancient 
 dates ; but this much will be sufficient as an an- 
 swer to our traveller's equally modest and well- 
 founded assertion, that * no Erse genealogy was 
 ever written.' I shall not, therefore, trouble the 
 public with a catalogue which appears unneces- 
 sary. There is enough to satisfy the candid ; and 
 nothing, I know, will convince the captious. 
 But should any one be still disposed to pay less 
 
JOHNSON'S JOURNEY. 
 
 449 
 
 regard to my private testimony, than to that of 
 Dr. Johnson, he may be completely satisfied by 
 applying in any manner he pleases, to the heads 
 of the families I have mentioned, or to any gen* 
 tleman or clergyman in the country at large. 
 
 It will not, I hope, appear now so very ' diffi- 
 cult to tell, where the chiefs of the Highlands 
 have found the histories of their descent.' But 
 though nothing of this kind had been anciently 
 written in Gaelic, a man of less penetration than 
 the Doctor might easily have conceived, that the 
 genealogies of our great families would naturally 
 be preserved by the same means, to which the 
 families of other countries owe the knowledge of 
 their ancestry ; that is, by charters of lands, con- 
 tracts of marriage, and such other deeds of a pub- 
 lic or private nature as were always recorded 
 every where, and connected the chain of family 
 succession. 
 
 Page 173. « Thus hopeless,' says he, ' are all 
 attempts to find any traces of Highland learning. 
 Nor are their primitive customs and ancient man- 
 ner of life otherwise than very faintly and uncer- 
 tainly remembered by the present race.' 
 
 After what has been advanced, * thus hopeless ' 
 too, I trust are all his malignant and impotent 
 attempts to destroy either the reality or credit 
 of Highland learning. The traces of it are not 
 
 3 I. 
 
450 
 
 REMARKS ON 
 
 SO obscure as not to have been easily found, had 
 such a research made any part of his business. 
 But he never inquired about any monument of 
 our antiquities, among such as were the ablest to 
 inform him. He dreaded to hear disagreeable 
 truths from the better sort ; and therefore he 
 either made no inquiries at all, or contented him- 
 self with the intelligence of the vulgar. 
 
 As to what he says about the ' primitive cus- 
 toms and ancient manner of life,' his observation 
 is too vague and indefinite, in point of time, to 
 admit of an answer, if it otherwise deserved one. 
 Are the customs and manners of remote times 
 otherwise than very faintly and uncertainly re- 
 membered by the present race of English ? I be- 
 lieve it would puzzle the omnipotent genius of 
 the Doctor himself, to give satisfactory accounts 
 of those matters at any period before the Nor- 
 man conquest of his country, or even for some 
 centuries afterwards. There is a folly in the sub- 
 ject of this remark which challenges our contempt 
 more than a serious reply. If it proves any thing, 
 it is the meanness and malignity of the author's 
 own mind ; for it shows, that there is nothing 
 either so absurd or trivial but he lays hold of, to 
 form a ground of calumny against the Scotch. 
 
 In page 174, he says, * To the servants and 
 dependants that were not domestics, (and, if an 
 
JOHNSON'S JOURNEY. 
 
 451 
 
 estimate be made from the capacity of any of their 
 old houses which I have seen, their domestics could 
 have been but few,) were appropriated certain por- 
 tions of land for their support. Macdonald has a 
 piece of ground yet, called the bards' or senachies' 
 field; 
 
 It is evident in this place, that the Doctor es- 
 timates the number of the domestics by a very 
 false rule. What now is to be seen of the old 
 houses is generally the principal part only, and 
 sometimes but a portion even of that. Around 
 the castle, which was always reserved for the chiefs 
 own family, and some of their most particular 
 friends, there were several smaller buildings for 
 the accommodation of such other branches of the 
 clan as might occasionally happen to be there; 
 and on the outside of all these, were the lodging 
 houses of the domestics. 
 
 The traces of those exterior buildings are still 
 visible in many places ; particularly in the neigh- 
 bourhood of Lochfinlagan, at Dunivaig in Islay, 
 and at Ardtorinish in Morven. They were like- 
 wise, no doubt, to be seen where the Doctor pre- 
 tends to have made his observations; but he chose 
 to suppress that circumstance, that he might take 
 occasion to diminish the grandeur of our ancient 
 chieftains, in the number of their domestics ; which 
 
452 
 
 REMARKS ON 
 
 was certainly much greater than in the present 
 times. 
 
 His mentioning a piece of ground, belonging 
 to Macdonald, which is still called the bards' or 
 senachies' field, furnishes an argument against him- 
 self He said some time ago, that neither bard 
 nor senachie had existed for several centuries ; and 
 he has said lately, that primitive customs were but 
 faintly and uncertainly remembered by the present 
 race of Highlanders. Now, with all due submis- 
 sion to the Doctor, I must beg leave to observe, 
 that, take it which way he will, the one of these 
 assertions must refute the other. If the former be 
 true, the name of the field gives one clear instance 
 of their remembering a primitive custom ; but if 
 the Doctor chooses to abide by the latter, it neces- 
 sarily brings the existence of bards and senachies 
 nearer to our own times, than he had formerly 
 admitted. 
 
 In page 177, Dr. Johnson enters into a kind 
 of disquisition concerning the Erse, the vulgar 
 appellation of the Gaelic language. Though he 
 acknowledges that he understands nothing of it, 
 he pronounces it, upon an authority worse, I sup- 
 pose, than that of his horse-hirers, * the rude speech 
 of a barbarous people.' To persons as ignorant 
 of the language, and as prejudiced as the Doctor 
 
JOHNSON'S JOURNEY. 
 
 453 
 
 appears to be, this bold assertion may pass for 
 matter of fact. But those who know the Erse or 
 GaeHc critically, know that our traveller has as 
 much misrepresented our language as he has done 
 our manners. 
 
 I have a slight knowledge, at least, of some an- 
 cient languages ; I understand a few living tongues ; 
 and I can aver for truth, before the world, that the 
 Gaelic is as copious as the Greek, and not less sui- 
 table to poetry than the modern Italian. Things 
 of foreign or of late invention, may not, probably, 
 have obtained names in the Gaelic language ; but 
 every object of nature, and every instrument of 
 the common and general arts, has many vocables 
 to express it ; such as suit all the elegant variations 
 that either the poet or orator may choose to make. 
 
 To prove the copiousness of our tongue, it is 
 sufficient to assure the public, that we have a po- 
 etical dialect, as well as one suitable to prose only, 
 that the one never encroaches on the other ; and 
 yet that both are perfectly understood by the most 
 illiterate, or, if the Doctor rather choose the word, 
 the most unenlightened Highlanders. 
 
 The chief defect in the Gaelic tongue proceeds 
 from that, which is reckoned the greatest beauty 
 in other languages. It has too many vowels and 
 diphthongs, which, though suitable to poetry, ren- 
 ders the pronunciation less distinct and marked 
 
454 
 
 REMARKS ON 
 
 than happens in less harmonious and consequently 
 more barbarous tongues. Some ignorant writers 
 of the Gaelic have of late, it is true, bristled over 
 their compositions with too many consonants ; but 
 these are generally quiescent in the beginning and 
 end of words, and are preserved only to mark the 
 etymon. 
 
 * Of the Erse language,' says he, ' as I under- 
 stand nothing, I cannot say more than I have been 
 told. It is the rude speech of a barbarous people, 
 who had few thoughts to express, and were con- 
 tent, as they conceived grossly, to be grossly un- 
 derstood.' If the Doctor was ever told what he 
 has here asserted, it must have been by some person 
 as ignorant of the language as he professes himself 
 to be, and consequently such authority can carry 
 no weight. That a Highlander, who could be the 
 only judge of the matter, should have passed so 
 unfavourable a verdict on his own language and 
 countrymen, as to call the one a rude speech, and 
 the other a barbarous people, is improbable to the 
 last degree. We must suppose, therefore, that our 
 traveller was never told so, or that his informer was 
 an ignorant and presumptuous blockhead. 
 
 It will not easily be believed, that the Gaelic, 
 which was the language of the Celtic nations, can 
 be so very rude a speech as the Doctor represents 
 it ; or that a powerful people, who extended their 
 
JOHNSON'^ JOURNEY. 455 
 
 dominion over all the countries between Cape Fi- 
 nisterre and the mouth of the river Oby, could be 
 so very barbarous, and have so few thoughts to 
 express. Conquest generally civilizes either the 
 victors or the vanquished. It is of no consequence 
 to inquire, what were the manners of our Celtic 
 ancestors before they left their native homes. One 
 thing is evident, that, after mingling with other 
 nations, there appears no reason why their Scotch 
 descendants should be more barbarous than their 
 other tribes. 
 
 In every country, the public as well as private 
 business of a people must be transacted in their 
 native language; and that, by degrees, will im- 
 prove it into elegance. I know of no instance to 
 the contrary, except in England after the Norman 
 conquest ; where, for many centuries, the inhabi- 
 tants were obliged to learn the language, and to 
 be governed by the laws of their French invaders. 
 Many of their legal forms and phrases, as well as 
 of their national customs, are still French. In 
 particular, the ceremony of passing bills in parlia- 
 ment is the same with that which was introduced 
 by their foreign lords ; and the nightly toll of the 
 curfew is an everlasting but mournful monument 
 of Norman despotism and English subjugation. 
 
 These circumstances, no doubt, contributed 
 greatly to retard the improvement of the English 
 
456 
 
 REMARKS ON 
 
 language; and accordingly we find, that it was 
 long thought, as Dr. Johnson expresses it, but a 
 ' rude speech ' even by the natives themselves ; for 
 their best authors, till of very late, wrote always 
 in Latin. 
 
 The Gaelic was formerly the general language 
 of all Europe. In Scotland it was long the com- 
 mon language, not only of the whole country, but 
 likewise of the court. All the pleadings in the 
 courts of justice, as well as in parliament, were 
 anciently in Gaelic ; and we have undoubted tes- 
 timonies, that even so very lately as in the parlia- 
 ment held at Ardchattan in Argyleshire, in the 
 reign of the great Robert Bruce, it was the lan- 
 guage in which all their debates were carried on. 
 
 It cannot surely appear, from these circumstan- 
 ces, that the Gaelic was formerly an uncultivated 
 tongue. If it has not received much improvement 
 of late years, I am certain it has lost little of what 
 it had. It is still the language of a large tract of 
 country ; and there are many who write it with 
 elegance and correctness. 
 
 This, I think, is as little an evidence of the 
 Erse or Gaelic being at present a ' rude speech,' 
 as the Doctor's frequent encomiums on individuals 
 are proofs of a * barbarous people.' 
 
 But as it was a custom with the Greek and Ro- 
 man authors to call every thing rude and barbarous 
 
JOHNSON'S JOURNEY. 
 
 457 
 
 which did not belong to themselves, our traveller, 
 perhaps, may think himself entitled to take an e- 
 qual liberty with whatever is not English. If the 
 greatest admirers of the ancients, however, cannot 
 altogether acquit them of illiberality in that mode 
 of speaking, how shall we be able to find an excuse 
 for Dr. Johnson in aspiring to the same privilege? 
 The great inferiority of his pretensions heightens 
 the offence ; and what was only blameable in them, 
 becomes in him a ridiculous and unpardonable pre- 
 sumption. 
 
 * After what has been lately talked,' continues 
 he in the same page, ' of Highland bards, and 
 Highland genius, many will startle when they are 
 told, that the Erse never was a written language ; 
 that there is not in the world an Erse manuscript 
 a hundred years old ; and that the sounds of the 
 Highlanders were never expressed by letters, till 
 some little books of piety were translated, and a 
 metrical version of the psalms was made by the 
 synod of Argyle.' 
 
 As we have nothing here but repetitions of for- 
 mer assertions, the whole of this passage might be 
 dismissed, as having been refuted in other places. 
 But I shall add a few things more, in confirmation 
 of what has been already said. 
 
 That not only poems of considerable length, 
 but likewise genealogies of families, and treatises 
 
 3 M 
 
458 
 
 REMARKS ON 
 
 on different subjects, have been anciently written 
 in the Gaelic, has been proved by a variety of in- 
 stances. Let me now produce an additional testi- 
 mony from Mr. Innes. In page 603 of his Inquiry, 
 he mentions a chronicle of a few of our kings, from 
 Kenneth Macalpine to Kenneth the Third, son to 
 Malcolm the First ; and he says, that the original 
 chronicle or history, from which that piece was 
 extracted, seems evidently to have been written in 
 the Gaelic language, and that some time too before 
 the year 1291. He has preserved, in his Appen- 
 dix, the Latin chronicle, which is a copy of the 
 original. 
 
 Besides the manuscripts already taken notice 
 of, I could mention many more, were it necessary, 
 in this place, to trouble the reader with a longer 
 list ; and other gentlemen are acquainted with a 
 still greater number than has come within my 
 knowledge. Those that yet remain, afford more 
 than a presumptive proof, that there once must 
 have been more. I have already pointed out the 
 means, by which most of them were either de- 
 stroyed or carried away ; and even of such as are 
 preserved, many, no doubt, are Httle heard of, by 
 having fallen into hands that are ignorant of their 
 contents. 
 
 From the many accidents, therefore, to which 
 old manuscripts are liable, it would be an unfair 
 
JOHNSON'S JOURNEY. 459 
 
 way of reasoning to say, that because they are not 
 always to be seen, or because every one is not 
 acquainted with them, they never had existed ; 
 and yet this is the very ground upon which Dr. 
 Johnson proceeds. If the first person he chanced 
 to interrogate did not say that he had seen the 
 Gaehc original of this or that particular subject, he 
 inquired no further, but immediately set it down 
 as a fact, that no body else had ever seen it, and 
 that no such manuscript had ever existed. 
 
 At other times when he met with more Intel- 
 ligent people, who offered to direct him to old 
 manuscripts, he would not suffer himself to be 
 convinced that any such things existed ; and if 
 they continued to assert the fact, he generally 
 broke out into an unmannerly rage, declaring, 
 with great vehemence, that if there were any 
 manuscripts in the Highlands, they could not be 
 Gaelic, but must certainly be Irish. 
 
 Thus does Dr. Johnson attempt to disprove 
 all traces of Highland learning, by a twofold kind 
 of method; by resting satisfied, in his inquiry, 
 with the answers of the ignorant ; and rejecting 
 the assistance of such as were better able to inform 
 him. 
 
 His second assertion says, « that there is not in 
 the' world an Erse manuscript a hundred years 
 old.' This is sufficiently refuted by the dates I 
 
460 
 
 EEMAllKS ON 
 
 have already mentioned, none of which are later 
 than the year 1630; which of itself alone, were 
 there none of a higher antiquity, is enough to put 
 our author to silence, if not to shame. 
 
 Among the old manuscripts of considerable 
 length, I took notice particularly of two. One 
 gives the history of Smerbie More, one of the 
 ancestors of the Duke of Argyle, who lived in 
 the fifth century, according to a manuscript ge- 
 nealogy of that illustrious family ; and the other 
 contains the history of the sons of Usnoth. They 
 are both in the Gaelic language and character, 
 and are so very old as to be difficult to be read. 
 They are in the possession of Mr. Macintyre of 
 Glenoe, near Bun aw in Argyleshire. 
 
 But as the Doctor may think it too great a 
 trouble to travel again to the Highlands for a sight 
 of old manuscripts, I shall put him upon a way of 
 being satisfied nearer liome. If he will but call 
 some morning on John Mackenzie, Esq., of the 
 Temple, Secretary to the Highland Society at the 
 Shakspeare, Covent-Garden, he will find in Lon- 
 don more volumes in the Gaelic language and 
 character than perhaps he will be pleased to look 
 at, after what he has said. They are written on 
 vellum in a very elegant manner; and they all 
 bear very high marks of antiquity. None of them 
 are of so modern an origin as that mentioned by 
 
JOHNSON'S JOURNEY. \ 461 
 
 the Doctor. Some have been written more than 
 five hundred years ago ; and others are so very- 
 old, that their dates can only be guessed at, from 
 the subjects of which they treat. 
 
 Among these are two volumes which are very 
 remarkable. The one is a large folio manuscript, 
 called An Duanaireadh Ruadh, or the Red Rhy^ 
 mer, which was given by Mr. Macdonald of Glen- 
 ealladel in Muideart to Mr. Macdonald of Kyles 
 in Cnoideart, who gave it to Mr. Macpherson. 
 It contains a variety of subjects, such as some of 
 Ossian's Poems, Highland Tales, &c. The other 
 is called An Leabhar Dearg, or the Red Book, 
 which was given to Mr. Macpherson by the bard 
 Macvurich. This was reckoned one of the most 
 valuable manuscripts in the bard's possession. 
 
 Since I began these Remarks, I have been in- 
 formed by Mr. Macdonald, the publisher of the 
 Gaelic poetry, that his uncle, Mr. Lachlan Mac- 
 donald in South Uist, was well acquainted with 
 the last of these manuscripts; and as that gentle- 
 man is a great master of the Gaelic language and 
 character, his opinion concerning its antiquity, 
 from the character and other circumstances, is the 
 more to be relied upon. 
 
 To finish this head at present, let me next in- 
 form the Doctor, that the bard Macvurich alone 
 is in possession of a greater number of Gaelic ma- 
 
462 
 
 REMARKS ON 
 
 nuscripts than the Doctor perhaps would choose 
 to read in any language. At the earnest and re- 
 peated request of Mr. Macdonald, the publisher 
 just mentioned, the bard has been at last prevailed 
 upon to open his repositories, and to permit a 
 part of them to be carried to Edinburgh, for the 
 satisfaction of the curious, and the conviction of 
 the incredulous. I myself have seen more than a 
 thousand pages of what has been thus obtained, 
 as have hundreds besides ; and Mr. Macdonald 
 assures me, that what he has got leave to carry 
 away, bears but a very small proportion to what 
 still remains with the bard. 
 
 It seems almost unnecessary to mention that 
 all those manuscripts are in the Gaelic language 
 and character. Some of them have suffered 
 greatly by bad keeping ; but many more by the 
 ravages of time. The character of several is al- 
 lowed by all, who have seen the manuscripts, to 
 be the most beautiful they had ever beheld. 
 
 From all this, let the public judge of the truth 
 of the Doctor's third assertion in the last cited 
 paragraph, ' that the sounds of the Highlanders 
 were never expressed by letters, till some little 
 books of piety were translated, and a metrical ver- 
 sion of the Psalms was made by the synod of 
 Argyle.' 
 
 Had he made the proper inquiries, he would 
 
JOHNSON'S JOURNEY. 
 
 463 
 
 have found that Mr. Robert Kirk, minister of 
 Balquidder in Perthshire, had wrote a metrical 
 version of the Psalms prior to that of the synod 
 of Argyle. The same gentleman likewise wrote 
 a Gaelic Vocabulary, which is mentioned, I think 
 in Lhuyd's ArchaBologia Britannica; and from 
 which I have some extracts. But long before 
 all this, there was published a Gaelic Treatise on 
 Religion by Bishop Carsewell of Argyle. 
 
 More instances might be given ; but these, or 
 any one of them indeed, must as effectually de- 
 stroy the veracity of the Doctor's assertion, as if 
 a hundred had been produced. 
 
 Though it has already appeared that much 
 has been written in the Gaelic, and there has, no 
 doubt, been much more than we are now able 
 to discover, I am ready to admit that an equal 
 proportion has not been printed in that language, 
 as in most others. That, however, is easily ac- 
 counted for. Before publishing in vernacular lan- 
 guages was much used in Europe, the Royal House 
 of Scotland had succeeded to the crown of Eng- 
 land. That event naturally induced men either 
 of ambition or genius to repair to the seat of go- 
 vernment, and rendered a more general cultivation 
 of the English language necessary. As, therefore, 
 every person of any note in the Highlands un- 
 derstood the English perfectly, there could be no 
 
464 
 
 REMARKS ON 
 
 great encouragement for many publications in 
 another language, which the poorer sort only had 
 occasion to purchase. Besides, as I observed be- 
 fore, it was thought at one time good policy to 
 suppress the Gaelic, though afterwards it has ap- 
 peared to be a very bad one. 
 
 In the same page, our author proceeds, * Who- 
 ever, therefore, now writes in this language, spells 
 according tb his own perception of the sound, 
 and his own idea of the power of the letters. The 
 AVelsh and the Irish are cultivated tongues. The 
 Welsh, two hundred years ago, insulted their 
 English neighbours for the instability of their 
 orthography ; while tKe Erse merely floated in 
 the breath of the people, and could therefore re- 
 ceive little improvement.' 
 
 Nothing can be more false than what is here 
 said of the uncertainty of Gaelic orthography. 
 It has a regular and established standard, as is well 
 known to many gentlemen of taste, candour and 
 curiosity, who, though not natives of the High- 
 lands, have been at much pains to become ac- 
 quainted with our language. I shall only appeal 
 to two respectable evidences, namely, General 
 Sir Adolphus Oughton and Sir James Foulis. 
 These gentlemen will give a very different ac- 
 count of the matter from that which is exhibited 
 by Dr. Johnson; and yet they cannot be sus- 
 
JOHNSON'S JOURNEY. 
 
 465 
 
 pected of any national partiality for the Gaelic, 
 as Sir Adolphus is an Englishman, and Sir James 
 a South-country Scot. 
 
 This much, together with the proofs already 
 given of so many manuscripts, treatises, and books 
 in the Gaelic language, is sufficient to show what 
 truth is in the Doctor's assertion, that our lan- 
 guage has merely floated in the breath of the 
 people. It would be unnecessary, therefore, to 
 enlarge upon this branch of his doctrine. 
 
 In allowing the Welsh and Irish to be culti- 
 vated tongues, our author seems not aware that 
 he is paying an indirect compliment to the Gae- 
 lic at the same time. The Welsh has ever been 
 acknowledged to be a dialect of the Celtic or 
 Gaelic; and Mr. Lhuyd, a learned and worthy 
 Welshman, who travelled over all the Highlands, 
 says, in a letter of his to Mr. Rowland, author 
 of Mona Antiqua, and published towards the 
 end of that work, that " about two-thirds of the 
 Scots Gaelic is the same with the Welsh." As 
 to the Irish, it is well known to every proper 
 judge to have a still greater affinity to our lan- 
 guage ; for the Albion and Irish Gaelic differ not 
 perhaps so much from each other as any two dia- 
 lects of the Greek. 
 
 But without meaning to derogate from the 
 Welsh and Irish languages, I should be glad to 
 
 3 N 
 
466 
 
 REMARKS ON 
 
 hear the Doctor explain in what particular sense 
 he calls them cultivated tongues. If it is only be- 
 cause they form the common speech of their re- 
 spective countries, the Gaelic, in that respect, 
 stands upon an equal footing. I have heard of 
 no memorable histories, no systems of philosophy 
 or politics, which have been published in either 
 of those languages. There are Welsh and Irish 
 translations of the Bible, and perhaps of some 
 other small tracts, such as the Doctor calls * Uttle 
 books of piety ;' and printing, I believe, has not 
 yet been carried much further in any of them. 
 As therefore the Gaelic enjoys all these advanta- 
 ges at least, it seems to have equal pretensions to 
 stability. 
 
 Page 178. * That the bards could not read 
 more than the rest of their countrymen, it is rea- 
 sonable to suppose ; because, if they had read, they 
 could probably have written ; and how high their 
 compositions may reasonably be rated, an inquirer 
 may best judge by considering what stores of 
 imagery, what principles of ratiocination, what 
 comprehension of knowledge, and what delicacy 
 of elocution he has known any man attain who 
 cannot read.' 
 
 Here the Doctor seems determined to go to 
 the root of the matter at once. It was necessary 
 for his design to make the bards appear incapa- 
 
JOHNSON'S JOURNEY. 
 
 467 
 
 ble of recording their own compositions, by as- 
 serting that they could neither read nor write ; 
 but as that alone would do but half his business, 
 he resolves to go a little further. Among his 
 readers there might be some saucy folks, who 
 might take upon them to doubt that the bards 
 could always be so very illiterate, if there was 
 any learning in the country. The least suspicion 
 of this kind would have marred the whole plot ; 
 and therefore it became absolutely indispensable, 
 with the next dash of his pen, to make the rest 
 of their countrymen as ignorant as he had made 
 the bards themselves. As this needs no further 
 comment, I shall leave the Doctor, with all the 
 benefit he can derive from pleading the law of 
 necessity, to receive the verdict of the public. 
 
 As it has so often appeared that bards could 
 both read and write, the pompous jargon, which 
 closes the above quotation, cannot apply to them, 
 and consequently is only so much ink spilt. But, 
 though the inference deduced therefrom by no 
 means affects the bards, there is a fallacy in the 
 reasoning, which deserves to be noticed. 
 
 I am as ready to admit the general advantages 
 which result from books, as our book-compiling 
 journalist himself ; but I cannot agree with him 
 in thinking, that the exercise of the mental pow- 
 ers depends entirely upon their assistance. True 
 
468 
 
 REMARKS ON 
 
 genius springs from nature ; it is her gift alone : 
 it may be improved by reading, but never can 
 be supplied. Every age and country has fur- 
 nished instances of men, who, by dint of natural 
 talents alone, have acquired a distinction, which 
 others could never attain with their loads of 
 learned lumber. Even the wilds of America 
 have produced orators ; and poets have flourished 
 beneath arctic skies. In the harangues of the 
 Indian, there have been discovered ' principles of 
 ratiocination,' and a ' delicacy of elocution,' that 
 would not disgrace a Cicero ; and, in the free ef- 
 fusions of the Scandinavian muse, there are often 
 ' stores of imagery,' which would equally enrich 
 and adorn the most laboured compositions of Dr. 
 Johnson. 
 
 In page 179, our traveller proceeds: * the 
 bard,' says he, ' was a barbarian among barbarians, 
 who, knowing nothing himself, lived with others 
 that knew no more.' To know but little is a 
 misfortune ; but to know nothing is the full mea- 
 sure of misery complete. 
 
 At what time the whole country was in this 
 forlorn state of combined ignorance and barbarity, 
 is not very easy to tell. If it was before the es- 
 tablishment of lona, which he extols so much for 
 learning and virtue, the Doctor, I am afraid, 
 speaks from conjecture; for the period is so very 
 
JOHNSON'S JOURNEY. 
 
 469 
 
 distant, that he could ascertain but little of the 
 true condition of our ancestors before that time. 
 But if it was afterwards, let me ask him, what 
 becomes now of those ' benefits of knowledge,' 
 and those * blessings of religion,' which he allows 
 the clans, in page 230, to have derived from that 
 luminary of the Caledonian regions ? That sure- 
 ly was an unprofitable knowledge, which left the 
 people ignorant ; and that a feeble religion, under 
 which they still remained barbarians. 
 
 In the same page, he mentions an illiterate 
 poet lately in the islands, who, among other things, 
 had composed a dialogue, of which he heard a part 
 translated by a young lady in Mull, and thought 
 it had more meaning than he expected from a 
 man totally uneducated. Though this is but a 
 faint way of acknowledging the merits of the 
 dialogue, the anecdote furnishes one strong ob- 
 jection to his late doctrine, concerning the total 
 incapacity of men who could not read. He 
 seems sensible of this ; and, to evade the force of 
 it, he endeavours to account for the fact by telling 
 us, that this man ' had some opportunities of 
 knowledge ; he lived among a learned people.' 
 
 This, however, is only changing his object 
 with removing the difficulty ; for, as through the 
 whole of his Journey, contradiction follows the 
 Doctor like a shadow, in attempting to avoid one 
 
470 REMARKS ON 
 
 absurdity, he here falls plump into another. To de- 
 rogate from the native genius of one poor poet, he 
 now makes the whole islanders a learned people ; 
 though, at other times, to give the greater weight 
 to his own misrepresentations, he mentions them 
 in a different language. In particular, we can- 
 not have forgot how he characterizes them in page 
 170. He there says, they are an illiterate people ; 
 that they have neither shame from ignorance, 
 nor pride in knowledge ; neither curiosity to in- 
 quire, nor vanity to communicate. 
 
 He next tells us, that there is an antipathy be- 
 tween our language and literature ; and that ' no 
 man that has learned only Erse is, at this time, able 
 to read.' This antipathy, I believe, exists no where 
 but in the Doctor's brain ; and it has been al- 
 ready shown, that many who had * learned only 
 Erse' have, at all times, been able both to read 
 and write. Such people correspond regularly in 
 the Gaelic language. 
 
 His remarks upon the different dialects of the 
 Gaelic seem hardly to merit notice. If that cir- 
 cumstance be a defect, it has been the fate of all 
 languages, even the most polished. The Greek 
 had many dialects ; and, I believe, there is not a 
 province in France, or a county in England, at 
 this day, that has not many words and modes of 
 pronunciation which are not well understood in 
 
JOHNSON'S' JOUUNEY. 
 
 m 
 
 others. The inconvenieney, however, has the 
 same remedy in the Gaelic as in other languages; 
 there is a written diction, which pervades all dia- 
 lects, and is understood in every island. 
 
 In page 180, he says, * In an unwritten speech, 
 nothing that is not very short is transmitted from 
 one generation to another. Few have opportu- 
 nities of hearing a long composition often enough 
 to learn it, or have inclination to repeat it so of- 
 ten as is necessary to retain it ; and what is once 
 forgotten is lost for ever.' 
 
 Having already given so many proofs that 
 the Gaelic is not * an unwritten speech,' I might 
 save myself the trouble of any particular remarks 
 upon this passage ; but as there is something spe- 
 cious in the argument, which might impose upon 
 unwary readers, a few collateral observations may 
 not be improper. 
 
 Though nothing had ever been written in the 
 Gaelic, the manners and customs of the High* 
 landers were peculiarly adapted for preserving 
 the various productions in their language. The 
 constant practice of recitation, which is not yet 
 altogether disused, gave them * opportunities of 
 hearing a long composition often enough to learn 
 it ;' and their desire to amuse themselves in the 
 solitudes of hunting, or a pastoral Hfe, as well as 
 to bear their part in social entertainments, gave 
 
472 
 
 REMAtlKS ON 
 
 thein ' inclination to repeat it ' as often as was ne- 
 cessary to retain it. 
 
 In this manner did the inhabitants of every 
 village and valley supply to themselves the want 
 of the more fashionable amusements of towns and 
 cities, and wear off the winter evenings alternate- 
 ly in each other's houses ; and in this manner 
 have many things, ' not very short,' partly writ- 
 ten and partly not written, been ' transmitted 
 from one generation to another.' 
 
 By these means, there was no great danger of 
 any thing being so far forgotten as to be « lost for 
 ever ;' for if any one person should forget a parti- 
 cular part, there were always thousands who re- 
 membered the whole. Besides, in poetical com- 
 positions, it is well known that the memory is 
 greatly assisted by the cadence and rhyme ; and 
 as to such pieces of any length as we have in 
 prose, they are the more easily retained, as they 
 generally consist of a variety of episodes, depend- 
 ing on each other, and highly adapted to capti- 
 vate the fancy. 
 
 Among the latter kind are our tales, which 
 are, for the most part, of considerable length, and 
 bear a great resemblance to the Arabian Nights 
 Entertainments. One of those, in particular, is 
 long enough to furnish subject of amusement for 
 several nights running. It is called Scialachd 
 
JOHNSON'S 'JOURNEY. 473 
 
 Choise Ce, or Cian O Cathan's Tale ; and though 
 scialachies, or tellers of tales by profession, are 
 not now retained by our great families, as former- 
 ly, there are many still living, who can repeat it 
 from end to end, very accurately. 
 
 This cannot appear improbable to those who 
 consider, how much the memory is strengthened 
 and improved by frequent use. When duly and 
 constantly exercised, it is capable of surprising 
 exertions ; and we have sometimes read of instan- 
 ces, which amount even to prodigies. 
 
 I myself once knew a man, who, I am certain, 
 could repeat no less than fifteen thousand lines ; 
 and there is now living one Poet Macintyre, who 
 can repeat several thousands. This man is alto- 
 gether illiterate, though not a despicable poet. 
 Besides remembering many of the compositions 
 of others, and likewise of his own not yet pub- 
 lished, he lately dictated, from memory, as many 
 songs composed by himself, as fill a small volume 
 of one hundred and sixty-two pages, and amount 
 to upwards of four thousand lines. 
 
 There is no doubt, but, in ages when the 
 Highlanders had fewer avocations than at pre- 
 sent, there have been instances of memory among 
 them as far superior to those now mentioned, as 
 they are to that of Dr. Johnson ; whose weakness 
 of retention seems to be so great, that he often 
 
 3 o 
 
474 
 
 REMARKS ON 
 
 forgets in the nfext page what he has advanced in 
 the preceding. 
 
 But, if more seems necessary, I must request 
 the Doctor to call to mind what was said in an- 
 swer to his attack upon the poems of Ossian, by 
 W. Cambrensis, in the St. James's Chronicle of 
 the 23d of March, 1775. " I presume," says that 
 gentleman, " the Doctor must remember boys at 
 school, who would repeat one or all the Eclogues, 
 or a Georgic of Virgil. I can with truth aver, 
 and what many will affirm, that there are several 
 persons in Wales, who can repeat the transactions 
 (however fabulous) of Arthur and his Mil-wyr, 
 i. e. his thousand heroes, which are as long as the 
 poems of Ossian." A little after, he adds, « We 
 have still extant in the same manner, i. e. handed 
 down by tradition, some of the poems of Taliesyn 
 pen Byrdd, i. e. the Chief of Bards, or Poets, in the 
 Welsh language, and they not inferior to modern 
 poetry of high estimation. Taliesyn flourished in 
 the year 500." 
 
 The practice of committing much to memory 
 seems to be very old, and probably was borrowed 
 from the Druids, who, as we are assured by au- 
 thors of credit, were obliged to get twenty thou- 
 sand lines by heart, before they were judged fit 
 to exercise their office; for it was an established 
 maxim among them, never to commit any of their 
 
JOHNSON'S JOURNEY. 
 
 475 
 
 religious tenets to writing. I hope the Doctor 
 will not consider it as an affront, that I have ta- 
 ken the liberty to mention a historical fact, which 
 a man of his profound erudition might be supposed 
 to know. 
 
 In the same page, he goes on : ' I believe there 
 cannot be recovered, in the whole Erse language, 
 five hundred lines of which there is any evidence 
 to prove them a hundred years old. Yet I hear 
 that the father of Ossian boasts of two chests more 
 of ancient poetry, which he suppresses, because 
 they are too good for the English.' 
 
 I shall make no other answer to the first part 
 of this passage, than by referring the reader to the 
 numerous manuscripts, volumes and dates, which 
 have been already mentioned. As to the anecdote 
 relative to Mr. Macpherson, whom our traveller 
 sarcastically terms the Father of Ossian, I am glad 
 to have it in my power to expose its falsehood, by 
 the most direct and unequivocal proof 
 
 Though I had found so many reasons to doubt 
 the credit of Dr. Johnson's bare assertion, and 
 though the general character of the gentleman 
 he accuses, rendered it highly improbable that he 
 could have expressed himself in terms so incon- 
 sistent with moderation, if not with prudence and 
 good sense, yet I was desirous, in a point so very 
 delicate, to have something positive to produce. 
 
476 
 
 REMARKS ON 
 
 As I had not the pleasure of Mr. Macpherson's 
 acquaintance, I requested the favour of one of his 
 friends, to whom I am known, to desire him to 
 give a true state of the matter. He was obliging 
 enough to comply ; and Mr. Macpherson's answer 
 was nearly in these words : 
 
 « Dr. Johnson has either been deceived himself, 
 or he wittingly deceives others. That I might 
 have said in company, that there still remained 
 many poems in my hands untranslated, is not im- 
 probable, as the fact is true ; but that I should have 
 accompanied that assertion with a sarcasm on the 
 English nation is impossible ; as I have all along 
 most thoroughly despised and detested those nar- 
 row principles, which suggest national reflections 
 to illiberal minds. I have lived in England long; 
 I have met with public favour ; I have experien- 
 ced private friendship ; and, I trust, I shall not, 
 like some others, speak disrespectfully of the bulk 
 of a nation, by whom, as individuals, 1 have been 
 uniformly treated with civility, and from whom I 
 have often received favours. As I never courted 
 the friendship, nor was ambitious of the company, 
 of Dr. Johnson, he cannot authenticate the asser- 
 tion from his own knowledge ; and if he received 
 the anecdote from others, they either flattered his 
 prejudices, or imposed upon his weakness." 
 
 In the same page he gives such an account of 
 
JOHNSON'S JOURNEY. 477 
 
 Highland narration, as plainly discovers v/hat sort 
 of people he interrogated. In one place, he says, 
 * the inhabitants knowing the ignorance of all stran- 
 gers in their language and antiquities, perhaps are 
 not very scrupulous adherents to truth.' Soon af- 
 ter, he adds, * They have inquired and considered 
 little, and do not always feel their own ignorance. 
 They are not much accustomed to be interrogated 
 by others, and seem never to have thought upon 
 interrogating themselves.' 
 
 After what we have heard the Doctor say be- 
 fore, in favour of the clergy and better sort of 
 people, it is evident he can here mean only the 
 vulgar. What, then, are we to think of a man 
 who could be weak enough to expect accurate 
 intelligence from that class of the inhabitants, and 
 afterwards be so very disingenuous as to charac- 
 terize the whole country from their measure of 
 knowledge? Their answers, I allow, could not 
 always be satisfactory and just ; but yet, though 
 such poor people could have little else than the 
 received traditions of the country to assist them, 
 it is simply impossible they should always be in 
 the wrong. It was when their answers came near- 
 est to the truth, that they were most offensive to 
 Dr. Johnson. A genuine account of the facts did 
 not suit his purpose, and therefore it became ne- 
 cessary to disparage the testimony he received. To 
 
478 
 
 REMARKS ON 
 
 eff'ect this, a double charge of ignorance and deceit, 
 in the inhabitants, is made use of, though any one 
 of them would have been sufficient. But it has 
 been all along the peculiar misfortune of our tra- 
 veller to overact his part ; so that by endeavouring 
 to be too secure, he has often defeated his own 
 views. 
 
 To corroborate the above remarks, the Doctor 
 calls in the testimony of his friend and fellow-tra- 
 veller. ' Mr. Boswell,' continues he, * was very 
 diligent in his inquiries ; and the result of his in- 
 vestigations was, that the answer to the second 
 question was commonly such as nulhfied the an- 
 swer to the first. 
 
 Though Mr. James Boswell was the jidus A- 
 chaies of our " Peregrinator," his attendance and 
 services are seldom " commemorated " in the work 
 now under consideration. The last time he was 
 mentioned, we found him employed in the notable 
 exploit of catching a cuddy ; now he is brought in 
 by the head and shoulders, as an evidence against 
 Highland narration. This sullen silence of our au- 
 thor, relative to his friend, is but a scurvy kind of 
 behaviour towards a man, who evidently wished, 
 that his jolly-boat might be carried down in tow, 
 along the tide of time, by this first-rate man of 
 letters. 
 
 Mr. Boswell, it seems, has made several attempts 
 
JOHNSON'S JOURNEY. 479 
 
 to place his own statue in one of the niches iij the 
 temple of Fame. He, too, like our traveller, wrote 
 " A Journey." In a violent episode in his work, 
 he has introduced his learned friend in the cha- 
 racter of a legislator among the wilds of Corsica. 
 The ridicule of making a man, who has not the 
 least command over his own cynical passions, the 
 " fabricator of a system of polity to an infant state," 
 is too glaring to require any comment. But Mr. 
 Boswell had no other way of paying a compliment 
 to his friend. 
 
 The return made by this friend is the bringing 
 Mr. Boswell as a kind of Old-Bailey evidence a- 
 gainst his native country. Did those, who know 
 Mr. Boswell best, sit as jurymen, his " corrobora- 
 tive testimony " would have little weight in de- 
 ciding the cause. Though he neither speaks nor 
 writes English, he was totally unacquainted with 
 what Dr. Johnson calls the Erse language ; and the 
 Doctor might as well have taken his own opinion 
 upon the subject, as have called in the aid of one 
 equally ignorant with himself 
 
 Mr. Boswell, however, was a suitable second for 
 a man who had resolved to combat every thing 
 that might tend to throw any credit upon Scot- 
 land. Having failed in his own endeavours to 
 make a figure in letters, he had, it seems, resolved 
 to sacrifice every thing to the prejudices of the 
 
480 
 
 REMAUKS ON 
 
 literary Moloch whom he worshipped ; with a vain 
 hope that he might acquire, as it were by reflec- 
 tion, that ray of reputation which his own opaque 
 genius had denied. These observations may ap- 
 pear severe ; but few, I am told, who are acquain- 
 ted with Mr. Boswell, will say they are misplaced. 
 Having, for my own part, seen his works, I have 
 no ambition to know the man. 
 
 Page 181. ' We were a while told,' says the 
 Doctor, * that they had an old translation of the 
 scriptures; and told it till it would appear obsti- 
 nacy to inquire again. Yet by continued accumu- 
 lation of questions we found, that the translation 
 meant, if any meaning there were, was nothing 
 else than the Irish Bible.' 
 
 When the Doctor acknowledges that he was 
 so repeatedly told of an old translation of the scrip- 
 tures in the Gaelic language, and at the same time 
 avows his own obstinacy in disbelieving the fact, 
 he gives a striking proof how difficult it was to con- 
 vince him of any thing in favour of the country. 
 A stubborn incredulity in such circumstances, and 
 a resolution not to be persuaded, is one and the 
 same thing. If he was to reject all testimony, I 
 would beg leave to ask him, in what manner he 
 could propose to be satisfied ? He could not surely 
 be absurd enough to imagine, that every person, 
 who mentioned the existence of such a manuscript 
 
JOHNSON'S JOURNEY. 
 
 481 
 
 translation, should be able to prove his assertion, 
 by producing a copy. It was a work of too grea 
 length and labour to be looked for in private hands. 
 
 That there was such a translation, is beyond all 
 doubt. It was lately in the library of Archibald 
 Duke of Argyle ; and it is still, no doubt, in the 
 possession of his successors. It was never printed, 
 for reasons already observed . Before the two king- 
 doms fell under the sway of one sovereign, there 
 was little printed any where in vernacular tongues. 
 After that period, a kind of policy was adopted, 
 though since found to be a bad one, for refusing 
 any public encouragement to the Gaelic language, 
 that the lower sort of people in the Highlands 
 might be under a necessity of learning the Eng- 
 lish. The intention was, to abolish the chief na- 
 tional distinction between the inhabitants of both 
 kingdoms, and assimilate them more to each other, 
 by a uniformity of speech. This, for a long time, 
 prevented any publication of consequence from 
 appearing in our language. But the error has 
 been at length discovered ; and now the Gaelic, 
 by degrees, has begun to find employment for the 
 press. 
 
 With regard to the other portions of scripture, 
 I shall refer the Doctor to Mr. Pennant's Tour in 
 1769. In page 134 of the Appendix, he will find, 
 that " Gilbert Murray archdeacon, afterwards bi- 
 
 3 p 
 
REMARKS ON 
 
 shop of Murray, translated the Psalms and Gospels 
 into the Irish language and Scots Gaelic, in the 
 twelfth century." He may here observe, that the 
 Irish language and the Scots Gaelic are used as 
 synonymous terms. This, I have already taken 
 notice, is a very improper way of speaking ; but 
 as it has been sometimes a practice, on account of 
 the very inconsiderable difference between these 
 two dialects of the ancient Celtic, to express the 
 one by the other, it is sufficient to destroy the ef- 
 fect intended by our traveller, from the authority 
 of Martin, in the following passage. 
 
 * We heard,' he goes on, ' of manuscripts that 
 were, or that had been, in the hands of somebody's 
 father, or grandfather ; but at last we had no rea- 
 son to believe they were other than Irish. Martin 
 mentions Irish, but never any Erse manuscripts, 
 to be found in the islands in his time.' 
 
 The Doctor repeats the same thing so often, 
 that, in following him through the progress of his 
 Journey, I find myself likewise led into tautolo- 
 gies, for which I must beg the reader's indulgence. 
 
 Had he inquired of the proper people, he would 
 not have heard such a vague account of manu- 
 scripts, as that they only * were, or had been in 
 the hands of somebody's father, or grandfather.* 
 He would have met with gentlemen, who could 
 have shown him there were manuscripts in their 
 
JOHNSON'S JOURNEY. 
 
 483 
 
 own hands ; and that they had been transmitted 
 in their families, through the hands of a long series 
 of forefathers. But the laugh, which the Doctor 
 means to excite, by this mode of expression, is lost 
 in the improbability of the fact which he relates. 
 We behold, therefore, the harmless but pitiful trick 
 of an old man, who hopes, but without effect, to 
 cheat his reader into the belief of a fiction, by an 
 attempt to put him first in good humour. 
 
 Though the manuscripts I have already men- 
 tioned are sufficient to establish the antiquity, as 
 well as the great diversity of writing in the Gaelic 
 language, I shall here add a few observations more ; 
 and hope it will be the last time I shall have occa- 
 sion to resume any discussion on the same subject. 
 
 There are still many other manuscripts in the 
 Highlands, both in verse and prose, which are of 
 great antiquity, and of which I shall take notice 
 only of a few. 
 
 Among the former, in particular, are a poem 
 called Coachac na Srona, and the Aged Bard's 
 Wish, both of which have been lately published. 
 These, with a variety of others, seem to go as far 
 back as the ages of hunting ; for they contain not 
 the smallest allusion to agriculture, or any of the 
 modern arts of life. Among other circumstances 
 of a very ancient nature, some of t^em make fre- 
 quent mention of a species of deer, which has been 
 
484 
 
 REMARKS ON 
 
 extinct in the Highlands for some centuries ; and 
 of which we know nothing now but from these po- 
 ems, and from their huge heads and horns, which 
 are often dug up in our bogs and mosses. Many- 
 will understand, that the creature I mean is the 
 Lon ; which w^as probably a species of the elk or 
 moose deer. 
 
 But to relieve our peregrinator, at once, from 
 his " wild goose chase " after manuscripts, of which 
 he could only learn that they formerly had been in 
 somebody's hands, 1 will refer him to two gentle- 
 men, who v/ill give him a more positive informa- 
 tion. Dr. Alexander Campbell in Argyleshire, 
 will, among other things, make him acquainted 
 with a very old manuscript in Gaelic character, 
 which makes a large volume of a quarto size ; and 
 which, with a variety of other subjects, gives a 
 particular account of the feuds which had formerly 
 subsisted between the families of Fion (or Fingal) 
 and Gaul. 
 
 Dr. Campbell is, in every other view, a very 
 respectable character; and his great age, being 
 now upwards of eighty years, has enabled him, in 
 particular, to acquire a very extensive knowledge 
 of the antiquities of his country. He was told by 
 his father, the celebrated Mr. Colin Campbell, mi- 
 nister of Ardchattan, a man eminent for learning 
 in general, and for mathematical and antiquarian 
 
JOHNSON'S JOURNEY. 
 
 4^5 
 
 knowledge in particular, that the greatest part of 
 the books of value belonging to lona, in the latter 
 centuries, were carried to Doway in French Flan- 
 ders; where the Scots had a seminary, which still 
 continues. Here the curious will, no doubt, find 
 something worth the trouble of inquiry. 
 
 The other gentleman I intend to mention, and 
 who, after the many testimonies already produced, 
 shall be the last authority I will advance on the 
 subject of Gaelic manuscripts, is Mr. Maclachlan 
 of Kilbride. He has been esteemed, and very de- 
 servedly, one of the greatest antiquarians, of his 
 time, in the Highlands ; and our traveller will find 
 in his family a variety of Gaelic manuscripts and 
 fragments, which have been transmitted, fi:om fa- 
 ther to son, for many generations. 
 
 As for the antiquity of learning and writing 
 in general, in Scotland, it is universally acknow- 
 ledged by all nations; and notwithstanding the 
 many misfortunes which have befallen the works 
 of our learned men, there still remain convincing 
 proofs, that we had our full proportion of them in 
 former times. I shall but slightly touch upon a 
 few particulars. 
 
 The Doctor wiU startle, perhaps, when he is 
 told, that Gildas was born at Dumbarton, which is 
 still the capital of a Highland county. Cumineus 
 and Adamnanus were abbots of lona ; and besides 
 
486 
 
 REMARKS ON 
 
 the Life of St. Columba, they wrote other his- 
 torical treatises. They flourished above eleven 
 hundi-ed years ago ; and their writings that re- 
 main are sustained as genuine by all the learned in 
 Europe. They wrote before the Saxon historian 
 Bede. Could we recover more of what has been 
 anciently written at lona, there is good authority 
 for believing, that we should find the lives, deaths, 
 and chief actions of their kings, who, before the 
 union of the Scottish and Pictish kingdoms, used 
 to be crowned and buried there, recorded by those 
 and other religionists of that renowned seminary. 
 
 An author of the twelfth century mentions 
 Scots records, as then reckoned ancient. He was 
 contemporary with Andrew bishop of Caithness, 
 who died in 1185, and is quoted by Camden. This 
 writer, in a description of Albany, the ancient name 
 of Scotland, speaks of our histories to this effect. 
 *« We read," says he, « in the histories and chro- 
 nicles of the ancient Britons, and in the ancient 
 achievements and annals of the Scots and Picts," 
 &c. This, I presume, will satisfy the most scru- 
 pulous, that writings, which could be called ancient 
 by an author of the twelfth age, must have been 
 of no short standing. 
 
 In the last cited page, ' I suppose,' says our 
 traveller, * my opinion of the poems of Ossian is 
 already discovered.' Indeed ! There is no need, 
 
JOHNSON'S JOURNEY. 
 
 487 
 
 surely, for a very uncommon degree of penetration 
 to make this discovery. The cloven foot has ap- 
 peared long ago ; and a man must be very dull, 
 who could not perceive which way it pointed. 
 To render the authenticity of those poems sus- 
 picious, was the great object of his Journey ; and 
 to facilitate the execution of that project, has he 
 toiled so much beforehand in discrediting High- 
 land learning and narration. How far he has 
 succeeded in the preparatory part, the public will 
 judge from what has gone before ; with what effect 
 he makes a more direct attack upon the poems 
 themselves, will appear from what follows. 
 
 I shall only premise, that I will not here, as 
 on other occasions, quote the particular objections 
 of our traveller, and answer them one by one ; 
 but continue the thread of observation, without 
 any interruption, and with as little personal ap- 
 plication as possible. The malignity of a few 
 others, the prejudices of several, and the weakness 
 of many have suggested similar objections to the 
 authenticity of Ossian's poems, which have lately 
 come to my hands. I «hall therefore endeavour 
 to obviate the whole upon the same general 
 ground. 
 
 The concurrent testimony of a whole people, 
 and the evidence of many respectable individuals. 
 
488 
 
 REMARKS ON 
 
 laid before the public by that elegant writer and 
 respectable clergyman, Dr. Blair, have been found 
 incapable, it seems, to satisfy the minds of men, 
 who are unwilling to give credit to any thing 
 calculated to reflect honour on the ancestors of 
 the Scotch nation. To persuade such men of the 
 truth of any fact, which they are resolved not to 
 believe, is beyond my wish, as well as my expec- 
 tation. But as many candid and well-meaning 
 persons have been seduced into an error, by the 
 bold assertions of the prejudiced and incredulous, 
 I shall examine, in a succinct manner, the objec- 
 tions on which they found their want of faith. 
 
 Some derive an objection to the authenticity 
 of Ossian's poems, from an alleged supercilious- 
 ness in Mr. Macpherson, in refusing satisfaction 
 on that head, to every writer, with or without a 
 name, who chooses to demand that satisfaction, 
 at the bar of the public. Though I am told that 
 superciliousness is no part of Mr. Macpherson's 
 character, I think he has a right to assume it on 
 such occasions. To answer the queries of the pre- 
 judiced would have no effect; and there can be 
 no end to solving the difficulties started by the 
 ignorant. The most loud and clamorous are 
 generally those who are least entitled to satisfac- 
 tion ; and were Mr. Macpherson to descend into 
 
JOHNSON'S JOURNEY. 489 
 
 a controversy, upon a mere matter of fact, he 
 would, in a manner, leave truth to the decision 
 of sophistry. 
 
 Mr. Macpherson has done all that could, or 
 ought to be expected. He has never refused the 
 examination or perusal of his manuscripts to per- 
 sons of taste and knowledge in the Celtic language. 
 These are the best, if not the only judges of the 
 subject ; and as these are perfectly satisfied as to 
 the authenticity of the poems, Mr. Macpherson 
 has a right to be totally indifferent to the incre- 
 dulity of others. 
 
 To extend the opportunity of judging for them- 
 selves, to such as are conversant in the language 
 of the ancient Scots, and yet have no opportunity 
 of examining Mr. Macpherson's originals, he has 
 published the seventh book of Temora. He went 
 further. He published proposals for printing all 
 the poems by subscription ; but, as no subscribers 
 appeared, he justly took it as the sense of the 
 public, that the authenticity, as being a matter of 
 such general notoriety, was absolutely and deci- 
 sively admitted. 
 
 The specimen, which the translator has pub- 
 lished, carries to my mind, and, I trust, I have 
 some right to form a judgment on such subjects, 
 a thorough conviction, that the seventh book of 
 Temora is not of Mr. Macpherson's composition. 
 
 3q 
 
490 
 
 REMARKS ON 
 
 If it had been of his own composition, how could 
 he mistake the meaning of a passage in it, as it 
 is evident he has done ? To every Highlander, 
 to every man of candour in any country, this is 
 a decisive proof of the authenticity of the poems. 
 Neither the bold assertions of the prejudiced, nor 
 all the sophistry of criticism, can persuade the 
 world, that any man can mistake the meaning of 
 what he has written himself 
 
 But though the poems of Ossian bear every 
 internal mark of originality, though they convey 
 no ideas, exhibit no ornaments, contain no senti- 
 ments, which are not peculiarly Celtic, according 
 to the accounts we have received of Celtic man- 
 ners from the ancients, we, the natives of the 
 Highlands, and we certainly must be allowed to 
 be the best judges of the matter, do not found 
 their authenticity on internal proofs. Every 
 man of inquiry, every person of the least taste 
 for the poetry, or turn for the antiquities of his 
 country, has heard often repeated some part or 
 other of the poems published by Mr. JNIacpher- 
 son. Hundreds still alive have heard portions of 
 them recited, long before Mr. Macpherson was 
 born ; so that he cannot possibly be deemed the 
 author of compositions, which existed before he 
 had any existence himself. 
 
 It is true, there is no man now living, and 
 
JOHNSON'S JOITENE Y. 491- 
 
 perhaps there never has existed any one person, 
 who either can or could repeat the whole of the 
 poems of Ossian. It is enough, that the whole 
 has been repeated, in detached pieces, through 
 the Highlands and isles. Mr. Macpherson's great 
 merit has been the collecting the disjecta membra 
 poetce ; and his fitting the parts so well together, 
 as to form a complete figure. Even the perfect 
 symmetry of that figure has been produced, as 
 an argument against its antiquity. But arguments 
 are lost, and facts are thrown away, upon men, 
 who have predetermined to resist conviction it- 
 self 
 
 In vain has it been alleged, that the age of 
 hunting, in which the Fingalians are said to have 
 lived, cannot be supposed to have cultivated po- 
 etry. This objection is started by men, who are 
 more acquainted with books than human nature. 
 But had they even consulted their books, they 
 might have received a complete answer to their 
 objection. The Scandinavians, who lived in a 
 country almost as unfit for pasture as for the 
 plough, excelled in the beautiful and sublime of 
 poetry. Their war songs, their funeral elegies, 
 their love sonnets, convey more exalted ideas of 
 magnanimity, melancholy, and tenderness, than 
 the most laboured compositions of Greece and 
 Rome, on the same subjects. The allusions are 
 
492 
 
 REMARKS ON 
 
 few and simple ; but they are calculated to impress 
 the mind with that " glow of feeling," which 
 springs only from genuine poetry. 
 
 Are the Indians of America any more than . 
 mere hunters ? Yet who can deny them a claim 
 to the possession of poetry ? Their whole lan- 
 guage seems to be, as it were, infected with poe- 
 tical metaphor. Their orations at their Congres- 
 ses, upon matters of business, are all in the 
 poetical style. They resemble more the speeches 
 in the Iliad, than those dry syllogistical disquisi- 
 tions, which have banished all the beautiful sim- 
 plicity of eloquence from modem public assem- 
 blies. 
 
 Besides, is there any person acquainted with 
 the natives of the Highlands, who does not know, 
 that such persons as are most addicted to hunting, 
 are most given to poetry ? One of the best songs 
 preserved in Macdonald's collection of Gaelic 
 poems, is altogether on the subject of hunting, 
 and the date of its composition is so old, that 
 it lies beyond the reach of tradition itself. The 
 solitary life of a hunter is peculiarly adapted to 
 that melancholy, but spirited and magnificent 
 turn of thought, which distinguishes our ancient 
 poetry. 
 
 But it is not necessary to consider the Finga- 
 lians as mere hunters. We frequently find in 
 
JOHNSON'S JOURNEY. 499 
 
 Ossian's poems allusions to flocks and herds ; and 
 a pastoral life has been universally allowed to 
 have been peculiarly favourable to the muse. I 
 could never see, for my own part, any reason for 
 supposing that agriculture itself was unknown in 
 the days of Ossian, though it is not mentioned in 
 his poems. With a contempt for every thing but 
 the honour acquired by the sword, he perhaps 
 considered the plough as too mean an instrument 
 to be alluded to in compositions chiefly intended 
 to animate the soul to war. 
 
 The dignified sentiments, the exalted manners, 
 the humanity, moderation, generosity, gallantry, 
 and tenderness for the fair sex, which are so con- 
 spicuous in the poems of Ossian, have been 
 brought as arguments against their authenticity. 
 These objections, however, proceed either from 
 an ignorance of history, a want of knowledge of 
 human nature, or those confined notions con- 
 cerning the character of ages and nations, which 
 are too often entertained in certain universities. 
 With the literature of Greece and Rome, they 
 imbibe such an exalted idea of classic character, as 
 induces them to consign to ignorance and barba- 
 rism, all antiquity beyond the pales of the Greek 
 and Roman empires. 
 
 But had they consulted the history of other 
 nations, they might find that the want of refine- 
 
494 
 
 REMARKS ON 
 
 ment, which is called barbarism, does not abso- 
 lutely prove the want of noble and generous 
 qualities of the mind. The powers of the soul 
 are in every country the same. Why then 
 should not the Celtic Druid be as capable of im- 
 pressing useful instruction on the followers of his 
 religion, as the barefooted Selli,* who sacrificed to 
 Jupiter on the cold top of Dodona ? Or, by what 
 prescription has the neighbourhood of the Hel- 
 lespont a right to sentiments more exalted than 
 those of the chieftain who inhabits the coast of 
 the Vergivian ocean ? Have not many nations, 
 who have been called barbarians, excelled the 
 Romans in valour, and in that most exalted of all 
 virtues, a sincere love for their country ? 
 
 Have not even the Canadians of North Ame- 
 rica, with fewer opportunities of improvement 
 than the Fingalians, been found to possess almost 
 all the virtues celebrated in the poems of Ossian ?f 
 Why, therefore, should we deny to the ancient 
 Caledonians what we cannot refuse to the modern 
 neighbours of the Eskimeaux. 
 
 • The Selli were certainly as unpolished as any Druid, in the most 
 barbarous and sequestered parts of the Highlands and Scottish isles. 
 
 Iliad xvi. v. 234, 235. 
 
 f Abbe de Raynal, torn. iv. 
 
JOHNSON'S JOURNEY. 4^5 
 
 The truth is, that the resemblance at least, of 
 all the vktues contained in the poems of Ossian, 
 and which are probably exaggerated in the usual 
 manner of poetry, still remains in the Highlands 
 of Scotland. The valour of the Highlanders is 
 allowed by their greatest enemies ; and the most 
 prejudiced cannot accuse them of cruelty. Battle 
 seems always to have been more their object than 
 the rewards of victory. In the social virtues, the 
 lowest Highlander is not, even in this age, deficient. 
 He is civil, attentive, and hospitable to strangers, 
 in a degree unknown in any other country ; and 
 as to matrimonial fidelity and attachment, and 
 delicacy towards women, the Highlanders are 
 exceeded by none ; I mean such of them as have 
 not improved their manners into a neglect of tri- 
 vial virtues, by a frequent intercourse with Dr. 
 Johnson's countrymen. 
 
 In ancient times, the Highlanders had much 
 better opportunities to learn exalted sentiments, 
 if such must be learned, than in later ages. The 
 most prejudiced of our opponents will allow, that 
 refinement is in every country, in a certalin de- 
 gree, an inseparable appendage of a court. In the 
 days of Fingal, and for many ages after him, the 
 Highlands were the seat of government. After 
 the extinction, or rather the conquest of the Picts, 
 the kings of the Scots fixed their residence in the 
 
496 
 
 REMARKS ON 
 
 low country. When the southern parts of Scot- 
 land were wrested from the Saxons and Danes, 
 an extension of territory and the danger of a 
 southern enemy carried the seat of government 
 still further from the Highlanders. This circum- 
 stance had certainly its weight in depriving the 
 posterity of the Fingalians of some part of that 
 exalted character, which distinguished their an- 
 cestors. But their retaining still so many of the 
 virtues celebrated by Ossian, is certainly a good 
 argument, that those virtues might have existed 
 in their perfection, in more favourable times. 
 
 But there is little occasion for speculative 
 reasoning on a matter which is so well established 
 by fact. A whole people give their testimony 
 to the existence of the poems of Ossian ; and gen- 
 tlemen of the first reputation for veracity, and a 
 capacity to judge of the subject, have long ago 
 permitted their names to be given to the public, 
 as vouchers for many parts of the collection pub- 
 lished by Mr. Macpherson. Many more are 
 ready to join their testimony to that already 
 given to the world. The truth is, that even the 
 defending a matter of such notoriety, is the most 
 plausible argument that the prejudiced could 
 have brought against the authenticity of the 
 poems. 
 
 To put the matter beyond the contradiction 
 
JOHNSON'S JOURNEY. 
 
 497 
 
 of the prejudiced, and the unbelief of the most 
 incredulous, I am glad to be able to inform the 
 public, that the whole of the poems of Ossian are 
 speedily to be printed in the original Gaelic. In 
 vain will it be said by Dr. Johnson and others, 
 who have manifestly resolved not to believe the 
 authenticity of the poems, that the same man, who 
 could invent them in English, might clothe them 
 in a Celtic dress. To this I answer, that it would 
 be impossible for any person, let his talents be ever 
 so great, to impose a translation for an original, on 
 any critic in the Gaelic language. 
 
 Dr. Johnson will certainly permit me to ask 
 him, Whether any of his countrymen could imi- 
 tate the language of the age of Chaucer, so as to 
 pass his own work for a composition of those times ? 
 Dr. Johnson's critical knowledge of the English 
 language would spurn the idea ; but I will venture 
 to assure the Doctor, that we have, among us, se- 
 veral persons as conversant in the old Gaelic, as he 
 himself is in the tongue of the ancient Saxons. 
 
 In the arrangement of the whole work, and 
 even in the improvement of particular passages, 
 the public are perhaps indebted to the taste and 
 judgment of Mr. Macpherson. Being perfectly 
 master of all the traditions relative to the Finga- 
 lian times, he has, no doubt, availed himself of 
 that advantage, in placing the poems in their most 
 
 3 R 
 
498 
 
 REMARKS ON 
 
 natural order ; and in restoring the scattered mem- 
 bers of such pieces, as he found floating on tradition 
 only, to their original stations. As he collected 
 some parts of the poems from what Dr. Johnson 
 would call the « recitation of the aged," in different 
 parts of the country, he was certainly excusable in 
 taking the " best readings in all the editions," if the 
 expression may be used. 
 
 Thus far we will admit, that Mr. Macpherson 
 is the author of the poems. But more we will 
 neither grant to him, nor to Dr. Johnson; who 
 seems not to be aware of the compliment he pays 
 to a writer, who, by meriting his envy, has excited 
 his malevolence. 
 
 It has upon the whole appeared, that the know- 
 ledge of letters was introduced into the Highlands 
 and Hebrides, in as early a period of time as into 
 any of the neighbouring countries. That one of 
 the first uses made of those letters was the record- 
 ing of works of genius, as well as public events. 
 That, as a collateral security for handing down 
 the compositions of the poet, as well as the facts 
 related by the historian, there were bards and se- 
 hachies, educated in academies, and retained after- 
 wards by the principal families in the Highlands 
 and isles. That those bards and senachies were 
 not an illiterate race of men, apt to corrupt poetry 
 and mistake facts. That both of them could, and 
 
JOHNSON'S JOURNEY. 
 
 499 
 
 actually did, write the Gaelic language, without 
 receiving their knowledge of letters through the 
 medium of any other tongue. That the bards and 
 senachies were so far from becoming extinct some 
 centuries ago, that a few of them still exist. That, 
 besides the regular and retained bards and sena- 
 chies, there were many other persons, who execu- 
 ted the duties of their offices, through a particular 
 turn of genius, or an attachment to the antiquities 
 and poetry of their country. That of these seve- 
 ral still exist; and many more were existing a few 
 years ago. That the business of the established 
 bards and senachies, as well as of those who fol- 
 lowed the professions of both through pleasure, 
 was to transmit poetry and history to posterity, 
 sometimes by writing, but oftener by oral tradi- 
 tion. That the poems of Ossian have been handed 
 down by these means, from age to age, to the pre- 
 sent times. That, in old times, no doubt of their 
 authenticity was ever entertained; and that there 
 are still existing many hundreds, nay, many thou- 
 sands, who are ready to attest their coming down 
 to them, from antiquity, with all the proofs neces- 
 sary to establish an indubitable fact. 
 
 The Doctor concludes his observations on the 
 poems of Ossian, by passing two very severe reflec- 
 tions; the one of a personal, the other of a national 
 
500 
 
 REMARKS ON 
 
 kind. As what he says is pretty remarkable, I shall 
 give it in his own words. 
 
 Page 183. 'I have yet,' says he, * supposed no 
 imposture but in the publisher;' and, a little after, 
 he adds, * The Scots have something to plead for 
 their easy reception of an improbable fiction : they 
 are seduced by their fondness for their supposed 
 ancestors. A Scotchman must be a very sturdy 
 moralist, who does not love Scotland better than 
 truth ; he will always love it better than inquiry : 
 and if falsehood flatters his vanity, will not be very 
 diligent to detect it.' 
 
 As an imposture is the last thing of which a 
 gentleman can be supposed guilty, it is the last 
 thing with which he ought to be charged. To 
 bring forward such an accusation, therefore, with- 
 out proof to establish it, is a ruffian mode of im- 
 peachment, which seems to have been reserved 
 for Dr. Johnson. There is nothing in his Jour- 
 ney to the Hebrides to support so gross a ca- 
 lumny, unless we admit his own bare assertions 
 for arguments ; and the publisher, if by the pub- 
 lisher he means Mr. Macpherson, is certainly as 
 incapable of an imposture, as the Doctor is of 
 candour or good manners. 
 
 The indelicacy of such language is obvious. 
 A gentleman would not have expressed himself* 
 
JOHNSON'S JOURNEY. 
 
 501 
 
 in that manner, for his own sake ; a man of pru- 
 dence would not have done it, for fear of giving 
 just offence to Mr. Macpherson. But the Doctor 
 seems to have been careless about the reputation 
 of the first of those characters ; and the malignity 
 of his disposition seems to have made him over- 
 look the foresight generally annexed to the se- 
 cond. Though he was bold in his assertions, 
 however, I do not find he has been equally cour- 
 ageous in their defence. His mere allegation on 
 a subject which he could not possibly understand, 
 was unworthy of the notice of the gentleman ac- 
 cused ; but the language, in which he expressed 
 his doubts, deserved chastisement. To prevent 
 this, he had age and infirmities to plead ; but not 
 content with that security, which, I dare venture 
 to say, was sufiicient, he declared, when ques- 
 tioned, that he would call the laws of his country 
 to his aid. Men, who make a breach upon the 
 laws of good manners, have but a scurvy claim 
 to the protection of any other laws. 
 
 Nor will our traveller come better off with the 
 public, in his more general assault. No man, 
 whose opinion is worth the regarding, will give 
 credit to so indiscriminate a calumny : the Doc- 
 tor, therefore, has exhibited this specimen of his 
 rancour to no other purpose, than either to gra- 
 tify the prejudiced, or to impose upon the weak 
 
502 
 
 REMARKS ON 
 
 and credulous. If any thing can be inferred from 
 what he says, it is only this, that he himself is 
 not so very sturdy a moralist as to love truth so 
 much as he hates Scotland. 
 
 Soon after this, he tells us, that he left Skye 
 to visit some other islands. But as his observa- 
 tions, through that part of his Journey, present 
 nothing new, I shall not follow him in his pro- 
 gress ; and the reader, I believe, as well as myself, 
 will have no objection to be relieved, from his 
 long attendance on so uncouth a companion. 
 We shall leave him, therefore, to rail, in the old 
 way, at the poverty, ignorance, and barbarity of 
 the inhabitants; while, with a peculiar consis- 
 tency, he acknowledges plenty, intelligence, and 
 politeness, every where. Neither shall we dis- 
 turb his meditations among the ruins of lona; 
 but permit him to tread that once hallowed spot 
 with reverential awe, and demonstrate the true 
 spirit of his faith, by mourning over the ' dilapi- 
 dated monuments of ancient sanctity.' 
 
 When he tells us, page 250, that men bred in 
 the universities of Scotland obtain only a medi- 
 ocrity of knowledge between learning and igno- 
 rance, he contradicts his own attestations to the 
 contrary in a thousand different places. I for- 
 merly compared this passage with his eulogiums 
 on the Highland clergy ; I must now contrast it 
 
JOHNSON'S JOURNEY. 
 
 503 
 
 with what he mentions in two or three pages 
 after. * We now,' says he, * returned to Edin- 
 burgh, where I passed some days with men of 
 learning, whose names want no advancement 
 from my commemoration.' It was somewhat 
 careless in the Doctor, to say no worse, to hold 
 so very different a language in page 252!, while 
 the censure passed on our universities, but so 
 little before, must be recent in the reader's me- 
 mory. But a regard to the trifling forms of con- 
 sistency seems never to have been an object of his 
 attention. 
 
 It happens luckily, however, that the reputa- 
 tion of the Scots for learning rests upon a better 
 foundation than the opinion of Dr. Johnson. 
 The testimony of the world is in their favour; 
 and, against that, his praise or censure can have 
 but little weight. The three learned professions 
 bear witness to their knowledge and talents. In 
 physic they stand unrivalled ; and in the pulpit 
 and at the bar, they have no superiors. 
 
 But besides professional merit, the Scots have 
 long occupied every other department of litera- 
 ture; and they have distinguished themselves in 
 each. The province of history is, in a manner, 
 yielded up to them ; they have added largely to 
 the various stores of philosophy and the mathe- 
 matics ; and, in criticism and the Belles Lettres, 
 
504 REMARKS ON JOHNSON'S JOURNEY. 
 
 they have discovered abilities, and acquired ap- 
 plause. Though they seldom descend to the lu- 
 dicrous, yet they have not wanted writers, who 
 have made some figure in that walk. If the 
 Doctor doubts the fact, I shall refer him, for in- 
 formation, to the author of Lexiphanes. 
 
 I shall now take my final leave of Dr. John- 
 son. That he set out with an intention to tra- 
 duce the Scots nation, is evident ; and the account 
 he gives of his Journey shows, with what a stub- 
 born malignity he persevered in that purpose. 
 Every line is marked with prejudice; and every 
 sentence teems with the most illiberal invectives. 
 If he has met with some correction, in the course 
 of this examination, it is no more than he ought 
 to have expected; unless he feels in his own 
 mind, what his pride perhaps will not allow him 
 to acknowledge, that misrepresentation and abuse 
 merit no passion superior to contempt. 
 
 ftLASGow; prmtcU 6^ anti for H. Chapman, mdcccxvii. 
 
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