Brown, a medical young
gentleman
from Dunbar, a
fellow whose face and manners are open and engaging.
fellow whose face and manners are open and engaging.
Robert Burns-
"
Which I should conjecture to be part of a song prior to the affair of
Williamson.
* * * * *
BOB O' DUMBLANE.
RAMSAY, as usual, has modernized this song. The original,
which I learned on the spot, from my old hostess in the principal inn
there, is--
"Lassie, lend me your braw hemp heckle,
And I'll lend you my thripplin-kame;
My heckle is broken, it canna be gotten,
And we'll gae dance the bob o' Dumblane.
Twa gaed to the wood, to the wood, to the wood.
Twa gaed to the wood--three came hame;
An' it be na weel bobbit, weel bobbit, weel bobbit
An' it be na weel bobbit, we'll bob it again. "
I insert this song to introduce the following anecdote, which I have
heard well authenticated. In the evening of the day of the battle of
Dumblane, (Sheriff Muir,) when the action was over, a Scots officer in
Argyll's army, observed to His Grace, that he was afraid the rebels
would give out to the world that _they_ had gotten the victory. --"Weel,
weel," returned his Grace, alluding to the foregoing ballad, "if they
think it be nae weel bobbit, we'll bob it again. "
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 293: _Fan_, when--the dialect of Angus. ]
* * * * *
THE BORDER TOUR.
Left Edinburgh (May 6, 1787)--Lammermuir-hills miserably dreary, but
at times very picturesque. Lanton-edge, a glorious view of the
Merse--Reach Berrywell--old Mr. Ainslie an uncommon character;--his
hobbies, agriculture, natural philosophy, and politics. --In the first
he is unexceptionably the clearest-headed, best-informed man I ever
met with; in the other two, very intelligent:--As a man of business he
has uncommon merit, and by fairly deserving it has made a very decent
independence. Mrs. Ainslie, an excellent, sensible, cheerful, amiable
old woman--Miss Ainslie--her person a little _embonpoint_, but
handsome; her face, particularly her eyes, full of sweetness and good
humour--she unites three qualities rarely to be found together; keen,
solid penetration; sly, witty observation and remark; and the
gentlest, most unaffected female modesty--Douglas, a clever, fine,
promising young fellow. --The family-meeting with their brother; my
_compagnon de voyage_, very charming; particularly the sister. The
whole family remarkably attached to their menials--Mrs. A. full of
stories of the sagacity and sense of the little girl in the
kitchen. --Mr. A. high in the praises of an African, his
house-servant--all his people old in his service--Douglas's old nurse
came to Berrywell yesterday to remind them of its being his birthday.
A Mr. Dudgeon, a poet at times,[294] a worthy remarkable
character--natural penetration, a great deal of information, some
genius, and extreme modesty.
_Sunday. _--Went to church at Dunse[295]--Dr. Howmaker a man of strong
lungs and pretty judicious remark; but ill skilled in propriety, and
altogether unconscious of his want of it.
_Monday. _--Coldstream--went over to England--Cornhill--glorious river
Tweed--clear and majestic--fine bridge. Dine at Coldstream with Mr.
Ainslie and Mr. Foreman--beat Mr. F---- in a dispute about Voltaire. Tea
at Lenel House with Mr. Brydone--Mr. Brydone a most excellent heart,
kind, joyous, and benevolent; but a good deal of the French
indiscriminate complaisance--from his situation past and present, an
admirer of everything that bears a splendid title, or that possesses a
large estate--Mrs. Brydone a most elegant woman in her person and
manners; the tones of her voice remarkably sweet--my reception extremely
flattering--sleep at Coldstream.
_Tuesday. _--Breakfast at Kelso--charming situation of Kelso--fine
bridge over the Tweed--enchanting views and prospects on both sides of
the river, particularly the Scotch side; introduced to Mr. Scott of
the Royal Bank--an excellent, modest fellow--fine situation of
it--ruins of Roxburgh Castle--a holly-bush, growing where James II. of
Scotland was accidentally killed by the bursting of a cannon. A small
old religious ruin, and a fine old garden planted by the religious,
rooted out and destroyed by an English hottentot, a _maitre d'hotel_
of the duke's, a Mr. Cole--climate and soil of Berwickshire, and even
Roxburghshire, superior to Ayrshire--bad roads. Turnip and sheep
husbandry, their great improvements--Mr. M'Dowal, at Caverton Mill, a
friend of Mr. Ainslie's, with whom I dined to-day, sold his sheep, ewe
and lamb together, at two guineas a piece--wash their sheep before
shearing--seven or eight pounds of washen wool in a fleece--low
markets, consequently low rents--fine lands not above sixteen
shillings a Scotch acre--magnificence of farmers and farm-houses--come
up Teviot and up Jed to Jedburgh to lie, and so wish myself a good
night.
_Wednesday. _--Breakfast with Mr. ---- in Jedburgh--a squabble between
Mrs. ----, a crazed, talkative slattern, and a sister of hers, an old
maid, respecting a relief minister--Miss gives Madam the lie; and
Madam, by way of revenge, upbraids her that she laid snares to
entangle the said minister, then a widower, in the net of
matrimony--go about two miles out of Jedburgh to a roup of parks--meet
a polite, soldier-like gentleman, a Captain Rutherford, who had been
many years through the wilds of America, a prisoner among the
Indians--charming, romantic situation of Jedburgh, with gardens,
orchards, &c. , intermingled among the houses--fine old ruins--a once
magnificent cathedral, and strong castle. All the towns here have the
appearance of old, rude grandeur, but the people extremely idle--Jed a
fine romantic little river.
Dine with Capt. Rutherford--the Captain a polite fellow, fond of money
in his farming way; showed a particular respect to my bardship--his
lady exactly a proper matrimonial second part for him. Miss Rutherford
a beautiful girl, but too far gone woman to expose so much of a fine
swelling bosom--her face very fine.
Return to Jedburgh--walk up Jed with some ladies to be shown Love-lane
and Blackburn, two fairy scenes. Introduced to Mr. Potts, writer, a
very clever fellow; and Mr. Somerville, the clergyman of the place, a
man and a gentleman, but sadly addicted to punning. --The walking party
of ladies, Mrs. ---- and Miss ---- her sister, before mentioned. --N. B.
These two appear still more comfortably ugly and stupid, and bore me
most shockingly. Two Miss ----, tolerably agreeable. Miss Hope, a
tolerably pretty girl, fond of laughing and fun. Miss Lindsay, a
good-humoured, amiable girl; rather short _et embonpoint_, but
handsome, and extremely graceful--beautiful hazel eyes, full of
spirit, and sparkling with delicious moisture--an engaging face--_un
tout ensemble_ that speaks her of the first order of female minds--her
sister, a bonnie, strappan, rosy, sonsie lass. Shake myself loose,
after several unsuccessful efforts, of Mrs. ---- and Miss ----, and
somehow or other, get hold of Miss Lindsay's arm. My heart is thawed
into melting pleasure after being so long frozen up in the Greenland
bay of indifference, amid the noise and nonsense of Edinburgh. Miss
seems very well pleased with my bardship's distinguishing her, and
after some slight qualms, which I could easily mark, she sets the
titter round at defiance, and kindly allows me to keep my hold; and
when parted by the ceremony of my introduction to Mr. Somerville, she
met me half, to resume my situation. --Nota Bene--The poet within a
point and a half of being d--mnably in love--I am afraid my bosom is
still nearly as much tinder as ever.
The old cross-grained, whiggish, ugly, slanderous Miss ----, with all
the poisonous spleen of a disappointed, ancient maid, stops me very
unseasonably to ease her bursting breast, by falling abusively foul
on the Miss Lindsays, particularly on my Dulcinea;--I hardly refrain
from cursing her to her face for daring to mouth her calumnious
slander on one of the finest pieces of the workmanship of Almighty
Excellence! Sup at Mr. ----'s; vexed that the Miss Lindsays are not of
the supper-party, as they only are wanting. Mrs. ---- and Miss ----still
improve infernally on my hands.
Set out next morning for Wauchope, the seat of my correspondent, Mrs.
Scott--breakfast by the way with Dr. Elliot, an agreeable,
good-hearted, climate-beaten old veteran, in the medical line; now
retired to a romantic, but rather moorish place, on the banks of the
Roole--he accompanies us almost to Wauchope--we traverse the country
to the top of Bochester, the scene of an old encampment, and Woolee
Hill.
Wauchope--Mr. Scott exactly the figure and face commonly given to
Sancho Panca--very shrewd in his farming matters, and not unfrequently
stumbles on what may be called a strong thing rather than a good
thing. Mrs. Scott all the sense, taste, intrepidity of face, and bold,
critical decision, which usually distinguish female authors. --Sup with
Mr. Potts--agreeable party. --Breakfast next morning with Mr.
Somerville--the _bruit_ of Miss Lindsay and my bardship, by means of
the invention and malice of Miss ----. Mr. Somerville sends to Dr.
Lindsay, begging him and family to breakfast if convenient, but at all
events to send Miss Lindsay; accordingly Miss Lindsay only comes. --I
find Miss Lindsay would soon play the devil with me--I met with some
little flattering attentions from her. Mrs. Somerville an excellent,
motherly, agreeable woman, and a fine family. --Mr. Ainslie, and Mrs.
S----, junrs. , with Mr. ----, Miss Lindsay, and myself, go to see
_Esther_, a very remarkable woman for reciting poetry of all kinds,
and sometimes making Scotch doggerel herself--she can repeat by heart
almost everything she has ever read, particularly Pope's Homer from
end to end--has studied Euclid by herself, and in short, is a woman of
very extraordinary abilities. --On conversing with her I find her fully
equal to the character given of her. [296]--She is very much flattered
that I send for her, and that she sees a poet who has _put out a
book_, as she says. --She is, among other things, a great florist--and
is rather past the meridian of once celebrated beauty.
I walk in _Esther's_ garden with Miss Lindsay, and after some little
chit-chat of the tender kind, I presented her with a proof print of my
Nob, which she accepted with something more tinder than gratitude. She
told me many little stories which Miss ---- had retailed concerning her
and me, with prolonging pleasure--God bless her! Was waited on by the
magistrates, and presented with the freedom of the burgh.
Took farewell of Jedburgh, with some melancholy, disagreeable
sensations. --Jed, pure be thy crystal streams, and hallowed thy sylvan
banks! Sweet Isabella Lindsay, may peace dwell in thy bosom,
uninterrupted, except by the tumultuous throbbings of rapturous love!
That love-kindling eye must beam on another, not on me; that graceful
form must bless another's arms; not mine!
Kelso. Dine with the farmers' club--all gentlemen, talking of high
matters--each of them keeps a hunter from thirty to fifty pounds
value, and attends the fox-huntings in the country--go out with Mr.
Ker, one of the club, and a friend of Mr. Ainslie's, to lie--Mr. Ker a
most gentlemanly, clever, handsome fellow, a widower with some fine
children--his mind and manner astonishingly like my dear old friend
Robert Muir, in Kilmarnock--everything in Mr. Ker's most elegant--he
offers to accompany me in my English tour. Dine with Sir Alexander
Don--a pretty clever fellow, but far from being a match for his divine
lady. --A very wet day * * *--Sleep at Stodrig again; and set out for
Melrose--visit Dryburgh, a fine old ruined abbey--still bad
weather--cross Leader, and come up Tweed to Melrose--dine there, and
visit that far-famed, glorious ruin--come to Selkirk, up Ettrick; the
whole country hereabout, both on Tweed and Ettrick, remarkably stony.
_Monday. _--Come to Inverleithing, a famous shaw, and in the vicinity
of the palace of Traquair, where having dined, and drank some
Galloway-whey, I hero remain till to-morrow--saw Elibanks and
Elibraes, on the other side of the Tweed.
_Tuesday. _--Drank tea yesternight at Pirn, with Mr.
Horseburgh. --Breakfasted to-day with Mr. Ballantyne of
Hollowlee--Proposal for a four-horse team to consist of Mr. Scott of
Wauchope, Fittieland: Logan of Logan, Fittiefurr: Ballantyne of
Hollowlee, Forewynd: Horsburgh of Horsburgh. --Dine at a country inn,
kept by a miller, in Earlston, the birth-place and residence of the
celebrated Thomas a Rhymer--saw the ruins of his castle--come to
Berrywell.
_Wednesday. _--Dine at Dunse with the farmers' club-company--impossible
to do them justice--Rev. Mr. Smith a famous punster, and Mr. Meikle a
celebrated mechanic, and inventor of the threshing-mills.
_Thursday_, breakfast at Berrywell, and walk into Dunse to see a
famous knife made by a cutler there, and to be presented to an Italian
prince. --A pleasant ride with my friend Mr. Robert Ainslie, and his
sister, to Mr. Thomson's, a man who has newly commenced farmer, and
has married a Miss Patty Grieve, formerly a flame of Mr. Robert
Ainslie's. --Company--Miss Jacky Grieve, an amiable sister of Mrs.
Thomson's, and Mr. Hood, an honest, worthy, facetious farmer, in the
neighbourhood.
_Friday. _--Ride to Berwick--An idle town, rudely picturesque. --Meet
Lord Errol in walking round the walls. --His lordship's flattering
notice of me. --Dine with Mr. Clunzie, merchant--nothing particular in
company or conversation--Come up a bold shore, and over a wild country
to Eyemouth--sup and sleep at Mr. Grieve's.
_Saturday. _--Spend the day at Mr. Grieve's--made a royal arch mason of
St. Abb's Lodge,[297]--Mr. William Grieve, the oldest brother, a joyous,
warm-hearted, jolly, clever fellow--takes a hearty glass, and sings a
good song. --Mr. Robert, his brother, and partner in trade, a good
fellow, but says little. Take a sail after dinner. Fishing of all
kinds pays tithes at Eyemouth.
_Sunday. _--A Mr. Robinson, brewer at Ednam, sets out with us to
Dunbar.
The Miss Grieves very good girls. --My bardship's heart got a brush
from Miss Betsey.
Mr. William Grieve's attachment to the family-circle, so fond, that
when he is out, which by the bye is often the case, he cannot go to
bed till he see if all his sisters are sleeping well ---- Pass the
famous Abbey of Coldingham, and Pease-bridge. --Call at Mr. Sheriff's
where Mr. A. and I dine. --Mr. S. talkative and conceited. I talk of
love to Nancy the whole evening, while her brother escorts home some
companions like himself. --Sir James Hall of Dunglass, having heard of
my being in the neighbourhood, comes to Mr. Sheriff's to
breakfast--takes me to see his fine scenery on the stream of
Dunglass--Dunglass the most romantic, sweet place I over saw--Sir
James and his lady a pleasant happy couple. --He points out a walk for
which he has an uncommon respect, as it was made by an aunt of his, to
whom he owes much.
Miss ---- will accompany me to Dunbar, by way of making a parade of me as a
sweetheart of hers, among her relations. She mounts an old cart-horse, as
huge and as lean as a house; a rusty old side-saddle without girth, or
stirrup, but fastened on with an old pillion-girth--herself as fine as
hands could make her, in cream-coloured riding clothes, hat and feather,
&c. --I, ashamed of my situation, ride like the devil, and almost shake her
to pieces on old Jolly--get rid of her by refusing to call at her uncle's
with her.
Past through the most glorious corn-country I ever saw, till I reach
Dunbar, a neat little town. --Dine with Provost Fall, an eminent
merchant, and most respectable character, but undescribable, as he
exhibits no marked traits. Mrs. Fall, a genius in painting; fully more
clever in the fine arts and sciences than my friend Lady Wauchope,
without her consummate assurance of her own abilities. --Call with Mr.
Robinson (who, by the bye, I find to be a worthy, much respected man,
very modest; warm, social heart, which with less good sense than his
would be perhaps with the children of prim precision and pride, rather
inimical to that respect which is man's due from man) with him I call
on Miss Clarke, a maiden in the Scotch phrase, "_Guid enough, but no
brent new_:" a clever woman, with tolerable pretensions to remark and
wit; while time had blown the blushing bud of bashful modesty into the
flower of easy confidence. She wanted to see what sort of _raree show_
an author was; and to let him know, that though Dunbar was but a
little town, yet it was not destitute of people of parts.
Breakfast next morning at Skateraw, at Mr. Lee's, a farmer of great
note. --Mr. Lee, an excellent, hospitable, social fellow, rather
oldish; warm-hearted and chatty--a most judicious, sensible farmer.
Mr. Lee detains me till next morning. --Company at dinner. --My Rev.
acquaintance Dr. Bowmaker, a reverend, rattling old fellow. --Two sea
lieutenants; a cousin of the landlord's, a fellow whose looks are of
that kind which deceived me in a gentleman at Kelso, and has often
deceived me: a goodly handsome figure and face, which incline one to
give them credit for parts which they have not. Mr. Clarke, a much
cleverer fellow, but whose looks a little cloudy, and his appearance
rather ungainly, with an every-day observer may prejudice the opinion
against him. --Dr.
Brown, a medical young gentleman from Dunbar, a
fellow whose face and manners are open and engaging. --Leave Skateraw
for Dunse next day, along with collector ----, a lad of slender
abilities and bashfully diffident to an extreme.
Found Miss Ainslie, the amiable, the sensible, the good-humoured, the
sweet Miss Ainslie, all alone at Berrywell. --Heavenly powers, who know
the weakness of human hearts, support mine! What happiness must I see
only to remind me that I cannot enjoy it!
Lammer-muir Hills, from East Lothian to Dunse, very wild. --Dine with
the farmer's club at Kelso. Sir John Hume and Mr. Lumsden there, but
nothing worth remembrance when the following circumstance is
considered--I walk into Dunse before dinner, and out to Berrywell in
the evening with Miss Ainslie--how well-bred, how frank, how good she
is! Charming Rachael! may thy bosom never be wrung by the evils of
this life of sorrows, or by the villany of this world's sons!
_Thursday. _--Mr. Ker and I set out to dine at Mr. Hood's on our way to
England.
I am taken extremely ill with strong feverish symptoms, and take a
servant of Mr. Hood's to watch me all night--embittering remorse
scares my fancy at the gloomy forebodings of death. --I am determined
to live for the future in such a manner as not to be scared at the
approach of death--I am sure I could meet him with indifference, but
for "The something beyond the grave. "--Mr. Hood agrees to accompany us
to England if we will wait till Sunday.
_Friday. _--I go with Mr. Hood to see a roup of an unfortunate farmer's
stock--rigid economy, and decent industry, do you preserve me from
being the principal _dramatis persona_ in such a scene of horror.
Meet my good old friend Mr. Ainslie, who calls on Mr. Hood in the
evening to take farewell of my bardship. This day I feel myself warm
with sentiments of gratitude to the Great Preserver of men, who has
kindly restored me to health and strength once more.
A pleasant walk with my young friend Douglas Ainslie, a sweet, modest,
clever young fellow.
_Sunday_, 27_th May. _--Cross Tweed, and traverse the moors through a
wild country till I reach Alnwick--Alnwick Castle a seat of the Duke
of Northumberland, furnished in a most princely manner. --A Mr. Wilkin,
agent of His Grace's, shows us the house and policies. Mr. Wilkin, a
discreet, sensible, ingenious man.
_Monday. _--Come, still through by-ways, to Warkworth, where we
dine. --Hermitage and old castle. Warkworth situated very picturesque,
with Coquet Island, a small rocky spot, the seat of an old monastery,
facing it a little in the sea; and the small but romantic river
Coquet, running through it. --Sleep at Morpeth, a pleasant enough
little town, and on next day to Newcastle. --Meet with a very
agreeable, sensible fellow, a Mr. Chattox, who shows us a great many
civilities, and who dines and sups with us.
_Wednesday. _--Left Newcastle early in the morning, and rode over a
fine country to Hexham to breakfast--from Hexham to Wardrue, the
celebrated Spa, where we slept.
_Thursday_--Reach Longtown to dine, and part there with my good
friends Messrs. Hood and Ker--A hiring day in Longtown--I am
uncommonly happy to see so many young folks enjoying life. --I come to
Carlisle. --(Meet a strange enough romantic adventure by the way, in
falling in with a girl and her married sister--the girl, after some
overtures of gallantry on my side, sees me a little cut with the
bottle, and offers to take me in for a Gretna-Green affair. --I, not
being such a gull, as she imagines, make an appointment with her, by
way of _vive la bagatelle_, to hold a conference on it when we reach
town. --I meet her in town and give her a brush of caressing, and a
bottle of cider; but finding herself _un peu trompe_ in her man she
sheers off. ) Next day I meet my good friend, Mr. Mitchell, and walk
with him round the town and its environs, and through his
printing-works, &c. --four or five hundred people employed, many of
them women and children. --Dine with Mr. Mitchell, and leave
Carlisle. --Come by the coast to Annan. --Overtaken on the way by a
curious old fish of a shoemaker, and miner, from Cumberland mines.
[_Here the manuscript abruptly terminates. _]
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 294: The author of that fine song, "The Maid that tends the
Goats. "]
[Footnote 295: "During the discourse Burns produced a neat impromptu,
conveying an elegant compliment to Miss Ainslie. Dr. B. had selected a
text of Scripture that contained a heavy denunciation against
obstinate sinners. In the course of the sermon Burns observed the
young lady turning over the leaves of her Bible, with much
earnestness, in search of the text. He took out a slip of paper, and
with a pencil wrote the following lines on it, which he immediately
presented to her.
"Fair maid, you need not take the hint,
Nor idle texts pursue:--
'Twas _guilty sinners_ that he meant,--
Not _angels_ such as you. "
Cromek. ]
[Footnote 296: "This extraordinary woman then moved in a very humble
walk of life:--the wife of a common working gardener. She is still
living, and, if I am rightly informed, her time is principally occupied
in her attentions to a little day-school, which not being sufficient for
her subsistence, she is obliged to solicit the charily of her benevolent
neighbours. 'Ah, who would love the lyre! '"--CROMEK. ]
[Footnote 297: The entry made on this occasion in the Lodge-books of St
Abb's is honorable to
"The brethren of the mystic level. "
"_Eyemouth_, 19_th May_, 1787.
"At a general encampment held this day, the following brethren were
made royal arch masons, viz. Robert Burns, from the Lodge of St.
James's, Tarbolton, Ayrshire, and Robert Ainslie, from the Lodge of
St. Luke's, Edinburgh by James Carmichael, Wm. Grieve, Daniel Dow,
John Clay, Robert Grieve, &c. &c. Robert Ainslie paid one guinea
admission dues; but on account of R. Burns's remarkable poetical
genius, the encampment unanimously agreed to admit him gratis, and
considered themselves honoured by having a man of such shining
abilities for one of their companions. "
Extracted from the Minute Book of the Lodge by THOMAS
BOWBILL]
* * * * *
THE HIGHLAND TOUR.
25_th August_, 1787.
I leave Edinburgh for a northern tour, in company with my good friend
Mr. Nicol, whose originality of humour promises me much
entertainment. --Linlithgow--a fertile improved country--West Lothian.
The more elegance and luxury among the farmers, I always observe in
equal proportion, the rudeness and stupidity of the peasantry. This
remark I have made all over the Lothians, Merse, Roxburgh, &c. For
this, among other reasons, I think that a man of romantic taste, a
"Man of Feeling," will be better pleased with the poverty, but
intelligent minds of the peasantry in Ayrshire (peasantry they are all
below the justice of peace) than the opulence of a club of Merse
farmers, when at the same time, he considers the vandalism of their
plough-folks, &c. I carry this idea so far, that an unenclosed, half
improven country is to me actually more agreeable, and gives me more
pleasure as a prospect, than a country cultivated like a garden. --Soil
about Linlithgow light and thin. --The town carries the appearance of
rude, decayed grandeur--charmingly rural, retired situation. The old
royal palace a tolerably fine, but melancholy ruin--sweetly situated
on a small elevation, by the brink of a loch. Shown the room where the
beautiful, injured Mary Queen of Scots was born--a pretty good old
Gothic church. The infamous stool of repentance standing, in the old
Romish way, on a lofty situation.
What a poor pimping business is a Presbyterian place of worship;
dirty, narrow, and squalid; stuck in a corner of old popish grandeur
such as Linlithgow, and much more, Melrose! Ceremony and show, if
judiciously thrown in, absolutely necessary for the bulk of mankind,
both in religious and civil matters. --Dine. --Go to my friend
Smith's at Avon printfield--find nobody but Mrs. Miller, an agreeable,
sensible, modest, good body; as useful, but not so ornamental as
Fielding's Miss Western--not rigidly polite _a la Francais_, but easy,
hospitable, and housewifely.
An old lady from Paisley, a Mrs. Lawson, whom I promised to call for
in Paisley--like old lady W----, and still more like Mrs. C----, her
conversation is pregnant with strong sense and just remark, but like
them, a certain air of self-importance and a _duresse_ in the eye,
seem to indicate, as the Ayrshire wife observed of her cow, that "she
had a mind o' her ain. "
Pleasant view of Dunfermline and the rest of the fertile coast of
Fife, as we go down to that dirty, ugly place, Borrowstones--see a
horse-race and call on a friend of Mr. Nicol's, a Bailie Cowan, of
whom I know too little to attempt his portrait--Come through the rich
carse of Falkirk to pass the night. Falkirk nothing remarkable except
the tomb of Sir John the Graham, over which, in the succession of
time, four stones have been placed. --Camelon, the ancient metropolis
of the Picts, now a small village in the neighbourhood of
Falkirk. --Cross the grand canal to Carron. --Come past Larbert and
admire a fine monument of cast-iron erected by Mr. Bruce, the African
traveller, to his wife.
Pass Dunipace, a place laid out with fine taste--a charming
amphitheatre bounded by Denny village, and pleasant seats down the way
to Dunnipace. --The Carron running down the bosom of the whole makes it
one of the most charming little prospects I have seen.
Dine at Auchinbowie--Mr. Monro an excellent, worthy old man--Miss
Monro an amiable, sensible, sweet young woman, much resembling Mrs.
Grierson. Come to Bannockburn--Shown the old house where James III.
finished so tragically his unfortunate life. The field of
Bannockburn--the hole where glorious Bruce set his standard. Here no
Scot can pass uninterested. --I fancy to myself that I see my gallant,
heroic countrymen coming o'er the hill and down upon the plunderers of
their country, the murderers of their fathers; noble revenge, and just
hate, glowing in every vein, striding more and more eagerly as they
approach the oppressive, insulting, blood-thirsty foe! I see them meet
in gloriously triumphant congratulation on the victorious field,
exulting in their heroic royal leader, and rescued liberty and
independence! Come to Stirling. --_Monday_ go to Harvieston. Go to see
Caudron linn, and Rumbling brig, and Diel's mill. Return in the
evening. Supper--Messrs. Doig, the schoolmaster; Bell; and Captain
Forrester of the castle--Doig a queerish figure, and something of a
pedant--Bell a joyous fellow, who sings a good song. --Forrester a
merry, swearing kind of man, with a dash of the sodger.
_Tuesday Morning. _--Breakfast with Captain Forrester--Ochel
Hills--Devon River--Forth and Tieth--Allan River--Strathallan, a fine
country, but little improved--Cross Earn to Crieff--Dine and go to
Arbruchil--cold reception at Arbruchil--a most romantically pleasant
ride up Earn, by Auchtertyre and Comrie to Arbruchil--Sup at Crieff.
_Wednesday Morning. _--Leave Crieff--Glen Amond--Amond river--Ossian's
grave--Loch Fruoch--Glenquaich--Landlord and landlady remarkable
characters--Taymouth described in rhyme--Meet the Hon. Charles
Townshend.
_Thursday. _--Come down Tay to Dunkeld--Glenlyon House--Lyon
River--Druid's Temple--three circles of stones--the outer-most
sunk--the second has thirteen stones remaining--the innermost has
eight--two large detached ones like a gate, to the south-east--Say
prayers in it--Pass Taybridge--Aberfeldy--described in rhyme--Castle
Menzies--Inver--Dr. Stewart--sup.
_Friday. _--Walk with Mrs. Stewart and Beard to Birnam top--fine
prospect down Tay--Craigieburn hills--Hermitage on the Branwater, with
a picture of Ossian--Breakfast with Dr. Stewart--Neil Gow[298] plays--a
short, stout-built, honest Highland figure, with his grayish hair shed
on his honest social brow--an interesting face, marking strong sense,
kind openheartedness, mixed with unmistrusting simplicity--visit his
house--Marget Gow.
Ride up Tummel River to Blair--Fascally a beautiful romantic
nest--wild grandeur of the pass of Gilliecrankie--visit the gallant
Lord Dundee's stone.
Blair--Sup with the Duchess--easy and happy from the manners of the
family--confirmed in my good opinion of my friend Walker.
_Saturday. _--Visit the scenes round Blair--fine, but spoiled with bad
taste--Tilt and Gairie rivers--Falls on the Tilt--Heather seat--Ride
in company with Sir William Murray and Mr. Walker, to Loch
Tummel--meanderings of the Rannach, which runs through quondam Struan
Robertson's estate from Loch Rannach to Loch Tummel--Dine at
Blair--Company--General Murray--Captain Murray, an honest tar--Sir
William Murray, an honest, worthy man, but tormented with the
hypochondria--Mrs. Graham, _belle et aimable_--Miss Catchcart--Mrs.
Murray, a painter--Mrs. King--Duchess and fine family, the Marquis,
Lords James, Edward, and Robert--Ladies Charlotte, Emilia, and
children dance--Sup--Mr. Graham of Fintray.
Come up the Garrie--Falls of
Bruar--Daldecairoch--Dalwhinnie--Dine--Snow on the hills 17 feet
deep--No corn from Loch-Gairie to Dalwhinnie--Cross the Spey, and come
down the stream to Pitnin--Straths rich--_les environs_
picturesque--Craigow hill--Ruthven of Badenoch--Barracks--wild and
magnificent--Rothemurche on the other side, and Glenmore--Grant of
Rothemurche's poetry--told me by the Duke of Gordon--Strathspey, rich
and romantic--Breakfast at Aviemore, a wild spot--dine at Sir James
Grant's--Lady Grant, a sweet, pleasant body--come through mist and
darkness to Dulsie, to lie.
_Tuesday. _--Findhorn river--rocky banks--come on to Castle Cawdor,
where Macbeth murdered King Duncan--saw the bed in which King Duncan
was stabbed--dine at Kilravock--Mrs. Rose, sen. , a true chieftain's
wife--Fort George--Inverness.
_Wednesday. _--Loch Ness--Braes of Ness--General's hut--Falls of
Fyers--Urquhart Castle and Strath.
_Thursday. _--Come over Culloden Muir--reflections on the field of
battle--breakfast at Kilravock--old Mrs. Rose, sterling sense, warm
heart, strong passions, and honest pride, all in an uncommon
degree--Mrs. Rose, jun. , a little milder than the mother--this perhaps
owing to her being younger--Mr. Grant, minister at Calder, resembles
Mr. Scott at Inverleithing--Mrs. Rose and Mrs. Grant accompany us to
Kildrummie--two young ladies--Miss Rose, who sung two Gaelic songs,
beautiful and lovely--Miss Sophia Brodie, most agreeable and
amiable--both of them gentle, mild; the sweetest creatures on earth,
and happiness be with them! --Dine at Nairn--fall in with a pleasant
enough gentleman, Dr. Stewart, who had been long abroad with his
father in the forty-five; and Mr. Falconer, a spare, irascible,
warm-hearted Norland, and a nonjuror--Brodie-house to lie.
_Friday_--Forres--famous stone at Forres--Mr. Brodie tells me that the
muir where Shakspeare lays Macbeth's witch-meeting is still
haunted--that the country folks won't pass it by night.
* * * * *
Venerable ruins of Elgin Abbey--A grander effect at first glance than
Melrose, but not near so beautiful--Cross Spey to Fochabers--fine
palace, worthy of the generous proprietor--Dine--company, Duke and
Duchess, Ladies Charlotte and Magdeline, Col. Abercrombie, and Lady,
Mr. Gordon and Mr. ----, a clergyman, a venerable, aged figure--the
Duke makes me happier than ever great man did--noble, princely; yet
mild, condescending, and affable; gay and kind--the Duchess witty and
sensible--God bless them!
Come to Cullen to lie--hitherto the country is sadly poor and
unimproven.
Come to Aberdeen--meet with Mr. Chalmers, printer, a facetious
fellow--Mr. Ross a fine fellow, like Professor Tytler,--Mr. Marshal one
of the _poetae minores_--Mr. Sheriffs, author of "Jamie and Bess," a
little decrepid body with some abilities--Bishop Skinner, a nonjuror,
son of the author of "Tullochgorum," a man whose mild, venerable manner
is the most marked of any in so young a man--Professor Gordon, a
good-natured, jolly-looking professor--Aberdeen, a lazy town--near
Stonhive, the coast a good deal romantic--meet my relations--Robert
Burns, writer, in Stonhive, one of those who love fun, a gill, and a
punning joke, and have not a bad heart--his wife a sweet hospitable
body, without any affectation of what is called town-breeding.
_Tuesday. _--Breakfast with Mr. Burns--lie at Lawrence Kirk--Album
library--Mrs. ---- a jolly, frank, sensible, love-inspiring widow--Howe
of the Mearns, a rich, cultivated, but still unenclosed country.
_Wednesday. _--Cross North Esk river and a rich country to Craigow.
* * * * *
Go to Montrose, that finely-situated handsome town--breakfast at Muthie,
and sail along that wild rocky coast, and see the famous caverns,
particularly the Gariepot--land and dine at Arbroath--stately ruins of
Arbroath Abbey--come to Dundee through a fertile country--Dundee a
low-lying, but pleasant town--old Steeple--Tayfrith--Broughty Castle, a
finely situated ruin, jutting into the Tay.
_Friday. _--Breakfast with the Miss Scotts--Miss Bess Scott like Mrs.
Greenfield--my bardship almost in love with her--come through the rich
harvests and fine hedge-rows of the Carse of Gowrie, along the
romantic margin of the Grampian hills, to Perth--fine, fruitful,
hilly, woody country round Perth.
_Saturday Morning. _--Leave Perth--come up Strathearn to
Endermay--fine, fruitful, cultivated Strath--the scene of "Bessy Bell,
and Mary Gray," near Perth--fine scenery on the banks of the May--Mrs.
Belcher, gawcie, frank, affable, fond of rural sports, hunting,
&c. --Lie at Kinross--reflections in a fit of the colic.
_Sunday. _--Pass through a cold, barren country to
Queensferry--dine--cross the ferry and on to Edinburgh.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 298: Another northern bard has sketched this eminent
musician--
"The blythe Strathspey springs up, reminding some
Of nights when Gow's old arm, (nor old the tale,)
Unceasing, save when reeking cans went round,
Made heart and heel leap light as bounding roe.
Alas! no more shall we behold that look
So venerable, yet so blent with mirth,
And festive joy sedate; that ancient garb
Unvaried,--tartan hose, and bonnet blue!
No more shall Beauty's partial eye draw forth
The full intoxication of his strain.
Mellifluous, strong, exuberantly rich!
No more, amid the pauses of the dance,
Shall he repeat those measures, that in days
Of other years, could soothe a falling prince,
And light his visage with a transient smile
Of melancholy joy,--like autumn sun
Gilding a sear tree with a passing beam!
Which I should conjecture to be part of a song prior to the affair of
Williamson.
* * * * *
BOB O' DUMBLANE.
RAMSAY, as usual, has modernized this song. The original,
which I learned on the spot, from my old hostess in the principal inn
there, is--
"Lassie, lend me your braw hemp heckle,
And I'll lend you my thripplin-kame;
My heckle is broken, it canna be gotten,
And we'll gae dance the bob o' Dumblane.
Twa gaed to the wood, to the wood, to the wood.
Twa gaed to the wood--three came hame;
An' it be na weel bobbit, weel bobbit, weel bobbit
An' it be na weel bobbit, we'll bob it again. "
I insert this song to introduce the following anecdote, which I have
heard well authenticated. In the evening of the day of the battle of
Dumblane, (Sheriff Muir,) when the action was over, a Scots officer in
Argyll's army, observed to His Grace, that he was afraid the rebels
would give out to the world that _they_ had gotten the victory. --"Weel,
weel," returned his Grace, alluding to the foregoing ballad, "if they
think it be nae weel bobbit, we'll bob it again. "
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 293: _Fan_, when--the dialect of Angus. ]
* * * * *
THE BORDER TOUR.
Left Edinburgh (May 6, 1787)--Lammermuir-hills miserably dreary, but
at times very picturesque. Lanton-edge, a glorious view of the
Merse--Reach Berrywell--old Mr. Ainslie an uncommon character;--his
hobbies, agriculture, natural philosophy, and politics. --In the first
he is unexceptionably the clearest-headed, best-informed man I ever
met with; in the other two, very intelligent:--As a man of business he
has uncommon merit, and by fairly deserving it has made a very decent
independence. Mrs. Ainslie, an excellent, sensible, cheerful, amiable
old woman--Miss Ainslie--her person a little _embonpoint_, but
handsome; her face, particularly her eyes, full of sweetness and good
humour--she unites three qualities rarely to be found together; keen,
solid penetration; sly, witty observation and remark; and the
gentlest, most unaffected female modesty--Douglas, a clever, fine,
promising young fellow. --The family-meeting with their brother; my
_compagnon de voyage_, very charming; particularly the sister. The
whole family remarkably attached to their menials--Mrs. A. full of
stories of the sagacity and sense of the little girl in the
kitchen. --Mr. A. high in the praises of an African, his
house-servant--all his people old in his service--Douglas's old nurse
came to Berrywell yesterday to remind them of its being his birthday.
A Mr. Dudgeon, a poet at times,[294] a worthy remarkable
character--natural penetration, a great deal of information, some
genius, and extreme modesty.
_Sunday. _--Went to church at Dunse[295]--Dr. Howmaker a man of strong
lungs and pretty judicious remark; but ill skilled in propriety, and
altogether unconscious of his want of it.
_Monday. _--Coldstream--went over to England--Cornhill--glorious river
Tweed--clear and majestic--fine bridge. Dine at Coldstream with Mr.
Ainslie and Mr. Foreman--beat Mr. F---- in a dispute about Voltaire. Tea
at Lenel House with Mr. Brydone--Mr. Brydone a most excellent heart,
kind, joyous, and benevolent; but a good deal of the French
indiscriminate complaisance--from his situation past and present, an
admirer of everything that bears a splendid title, or that possesses a
large estate--Mrs. Brydone a most elegant woman in her person and
manners; the tones of her voice remarkably sweet--my reception extremely
flattering--sleep at Coldstream.
_Tuesday. _--Breakfast at Kelso--charming situation of Kelso--fine
bridge over the Tweed--enchanting views and prospects on both sides of
the river, particularly the Scotch side; introduced to Mr. Scott of
the Royal Bank--an excellent, modest fellow--fine situation of
it--ruins of Roxburgh Castle--a holly-bush, growing where James II. of
Scotland was accidentally killed by the bursting of a cannon. A small
old religious ruin, and a fine old garden planted by the religious,
rooted out and destroyed by an English hottentot, a _maitre d'hotel_
of the duke's, a Mr. Cole--climate and soil of Berwickshire, and even
Roxburghshire, superior to Ayrshire--bad roads. Turnip and sheep
husbandry, their great improvements--Mr. M'Dowal, at Caverton Mill, a
friend of Mr. Ainslie's, with whom I dined to-day, sold his sheep, ewe
and lamb together, at two guineas a piece--wash their sheep before
shearing--seven or eight pounds of washen wool in a fleece--low
markets, consequently low rents--fine lands not above sixteen
shillings a Scotch acre--magnificence of farmers and farm-houses--come
up Teviot and up Jed to Jedburgh to lie, and so wish myself a good
night.
_Wednesday. _--Breakfast with Mr. ---- in Jedburgh--a squabble between
Mrs. ----, a crazed, talkative slattern, and a sister of hers, an old
maid, respecting a relief minister--Miss gives Madam the lie; and
Madam, by way of revenge, upbraids her that she laid snares to
entangle the said minister, then a widower, in the net of
matrimony--go about two miles out of Jedburgh to a roup of parks--meet
a polite, soldier-like gentleman, a Captain Rutherford, who had been
many years through the wilds of America, a prisoner among the
Indians--charming, romantic situation of Jedburgh, with gardens,
orchards, &c. , intermingled among the houses--fine old ruins--a once
magnificent cathedral, and strong castle. All the towns here have the
appearance of old, rude grandeur, but the people extremely idle--Jed a
fine romantic little river.
Dine with Capt. Rutherford--the Captain a polite fellow, fond of money
in his farming way; showed a particular respect to my bardship--his
lady exactly a proper matrimonial second part for him. Miss Rutherford
a beautiful girl, but too far gone woman to expose so much of a fine
swelling bosom--her face very fine.
Return to Jedburgh--walk up Jed with some ladies to be shown Love-lane
and Blackburn, two fairy scenes. Introduced to Mr. Potts, writer, a
very clever fellow; and Mr. Somerville, the clergyman of the place, a
man and a gentleman, but sadly addicted to punning. --The walking party
of ladies, Mrs. ---- and Miss ---- her sister, before mentioned. --N. B.
These two appear still more comfortably ugly and stupid, and bore me
most shockingly. Two Miss ----, tolerably agreeable. Miss Hope, a
tolerably pretty girl, fond of laughing and fun. Miss Lindsay, a
good-humoured, amiable girl; rather short _et embonpoint_, but
handsome, and extremely graceful--beautiful hazel eyes, full of
spirit, and sparkling with delicious moisture--an engaging face--_un
tout ensemble_ that speaks her of the first order of female minds--her
sister, a bonnie, strappan, rosy, sonsie lass. Shake myself loose,
after several unsuccessful efforts, of Mrs. ---- and Miss ----, and
somehow or other, get hold of Miss Lindsay's arm. My heart is thawed
into melting pleasure after being so long frozen up in the Greenland
bay of indifference, amid the noise and nonsense of Edinburgh. Miss
seems very well pleased with my bardship's distinguishing her, and
after some slight qualms, which I could easily mark, she sets the
titter round at defiance, and kindly allows me to keep my hold; and
when parted by the ceremony of my introduction to Mr. Somerville, she
met me half, to resume my situation. --Nota Bene--The poet within a
point and a half of being d--mnably in love--I am afraid my bosom is
still nearly as much tinder as ever.
The old cross-grained, whiggish, ugly, slanderous Miss ----, with all
the poisonous spleen of a disappointed, ancient maid, stops me very
unseasonably to ease her bursting breast, by falling abusively foul
on the Miss Lindsays, particularly on my Dulcinea;--I hardly refrain
from cursing her to her face for daring to mouth her calumnious
slander on one of the finest pieces of the workmanship of Almighty
Excellence! Sup at Mr. ----'s; vexed that the Miss Lindsays are not of
the supper-party, as they only are wanting. Mrs. ---- and Miss ----still
improve infernally on my hands.
Set out next morning for Wauchope, the seat of my correspondent, Mrs.
Scott--breakfast by the way with Dr. Elliot, an agreeable,
good-hearted, climate-beaten old veteran, in the medical line; now
retired to a romantic, but rather moorish place, on the banks of the
Roole--he accompanies us almost to Wauchope--we traverse the country
to the top of Bochester, the scene of an old encampment, and Woolee
Hill.
Wauchope--Mr. Scott exactly the figure and face commonly given to
Sancho Panca--very shrewd in his farming matters, and not unfrequently
stumbles on what may be called a strong thing rather than a good
thing. Mrs. Scott all the sense, taste, intrepidity of face, and bold,
critical decision, which usually distinguish female authors. --Sup with
Mr. Potts--agreeable party. --Breakfast next morning with Mr.
Somerville--the _bruit_ of Miss Lindsay and my bardship, by means of
the invention and malice of Miss ----. Mr. Somerville sends to Dr.
Lindsay, begging him and family to breakfast if convenient, but at all
events to send Miss Lindsay; accordingly Miss Lindsay only comes. --I
find Miss Lindsay would soon play the devil with me--I met with some
little flattering attentions from her. Mrs. Somerville an excellent,
motherly, agreeable woman, and a fine family. --Mr. Ainslie, and Mrs.
S----, junrs. , with Mr. ----, Miss Lindsay, and myself, go to see
_Esther_, a very remarkable woman for reciting poetry of all kinds,
and sometimes making Scotch doggerel herself--she can repeat by heart
almost everything she has ever read, particularly Pope's Homer from
end to end--has studied Euclid by herself, and in short, is a woman of
very extraordinary abilities. --On conversing with her I find her fully
equal to the character given of her. [296]--She is very much flattered
that I send for her, and that she sees a poet who has _put out a
book_, as she says. --She is, among other things, a great florist--and
is rather past the meridian of once celebrated beauty.
I walk in _Esther's_ garden with Miss Lindsay, and after some little
chit-chat of the tender kind, I presented her with a proof print of my
Nob, which she accepted with something more tinder than gratitude. She
told me many little stories which Miss ---- had retailed concerning her
and me, with prolonging pleasure--God bless her! Was waited on by the
magistrates, and presented with the freedom of the burgh.
Took farewell of Jedburgh, with some melancholy, disagreeable
sensations. --Jed, pure be thy crystal streams, and hallowed thy sylvan
banks! Sweet Isabella Lindsay, may peace dwell in thy bosom,
uninterrupted, except by the tumultuous throbbings of rapturous love!
That love-kindling eye must beam on another, not on me; that graceful
form must bless another's arms; not mine!
Kelso. Dine with the farmers' club--all gentlemen, talking of high
matters--each of them keeps a hunter from thirty to fifty pounds
value, and attends the fox-huntings in the country--go out with Mr.
Ker, one of the club, and a friend of Mr. Ainslie's, to lie--Mr. Ker a
most gentlemanly, clever, handsome fellow, a widower with some fine
children--his mind and manner astonishingly like my dear old friend
Robert Muir, in Kilmarnock--everything in Mr. Ker's most elegant--he
offers to accompany me in my English tour. Dine with Sir Alexander
Don--a pretty clever fellow, but far from being a match for his divine
lady. --A very wet day * * *--Sleep at Stodrig again; and set out for
Melrose--visit Dryburgh, a fine old ruined abbey--still bad
weather--cross Leader, and come up Tweed to Melrose--dine there, and
visit that far-famed, glorious ruin--come to Selkirk, up Ettrick; the
whole country hereabout, both on Tweed and Ettrick, remarkably stony.
_Monday. _--Come to Inverleithing, a famous shaw, and in the vicinity
of the palace of Traquair, where having dined, and drank some
Galloway-whey, I hero remain till to-morrow--saw Elibanks and
Elibraes, on the other side of the Tweed.
_Tuesday. _--Drank tea yesternight at Pirn, with Mr.
Horseburgh. --Breakfasted to-day with Mr. Ballantyne of
Hollowlee--Proposal for a four-horse team to consist of Mr. Scott of
Wauchope, Fittieland: Logan of Logan, Fittiefurr: Ballantyne of
Hollowlee, Forewynd: Horsburgh of Horsburgh. --Dine at a country inn,
kept by a miller, in Earlston, the birth-place and residence of the
celebrated Thomas a Rhymer--saw the ruins of his castle--come to
Berrywell.
_Wednesday. _--Dine at Dunse with the farmers' club-company--impossible
to do them justice--Rev. Mr. Smith a famous punster, and Mr. Meikle a
celebrated mechanic, and inventor of the threshing-mills.
_Thursday_, breakfast at Berrywell, and walk into Dunse to see a
famous knife made by a cutler there, and to be presented to an Italian
prince. --A pleasant ride with my friend Mr. Robert Ainslie, and his
sister, to Mr. Thomson's, a man who has newly commenced farmer, and
has married a Miss Patty Grieve, formerly a flame of Mr. Robert
Ainslie's. --Company--Miss Jacky Grieve, an amiable sister of Mrs.
Thomson's, and Mr. Hood, an honest, worthy, facetious farmer, in the
neighbourhood.
_Friday. _--Ride to Berwick--An idle town, rudely picturesque. --Meet
Lord Errol in walking round the walls. --His lordship's flattering
notice of me. --Dine with Mr. Clunzie, merchant--nothing particular in
company or conversation--Come up a bold shore, and over a wild country
to Eyemouth--sup and sleep at Mr. Grieve's.
_Saturday. _--Spend the day at Mr. Grieve's--made a royal arch mason of
St. Abb's Lodge,[297]--Mr. William Grieve, the oldest brother, a joyous,
warm-hearted, jolly, clever fellow--takes a hearty glass, and sings a
good song. --Mr. Robert, his brother, and partner in trade, a good
fellow, but says little. Take a sail after dinner. Fishing of all
kinds pays tithes at Eyemouth.
_Sunday. _--A Mr. Robinson, brewer at Ednam, sets out with us to
Dunbar.
The Miss Grieves very good girls. --My bardship's heart got a brush
from Miss Betsey.
Mr. William Grieve's attachment to the family-circle, so fond, that
when he is out, which by the bye is often the case, he cannot go to
bed till he see if all his sisters are sleeping well ---- Pass the
famous Abbey of Coldingham, and Pease-bridge. --Call at Mr. Sheriff's
where Mr. A. and I dine. --Mr. S. talkative and conceited. I talk of
love to Nancy the whole evening, while her brother escorts home some
companions like himself. --Sir James Hall of Dunglass, having heard of
my being in the neighbourhood, comes to Mr. Sheriff's to
breakfast--takes me to see his fine scenery on the stream of
Dunglass--Dunglass the most romantic, sweet place I over saw--Sir
James and his lady a pleasant happy couple. --He points out a walk for
which he has an uncommon respect, as it was made by an aunt of his, to
whom he owes much.
Miss ---- will accompany me to Dunbar, by way of making a parade of me as a
sweetheart of hers, among her relations. She mounts an old cart-horse, as
huge and as lean as a house; a rusty old side-saddle without girth, or
stirrup, but fastened on with an old pillion-girth--herself as fine as
hands could make her, in cream-coloured riding clothes, hat and feather,
&c. --I, ashamed of my situation, ride like the devil, and almost shake her
to pieces on old Jolly--get rid of her by refusing to call at her uncle's
with her.
Past through the most glorious corn-country I ever saw, till I reach
Dunbar, a neat little town. --Dine with Provost Fall, an eminent
merchant, and most respectable character, but undescribable, as he
exhibits no marked traits. Mrs. Fall, a genius in painting; fully more
clever in the fine arts and sciences than my friend Lady Wauchope,
without her consummate assurance of her own abilities. --Call with Mr.
Robinson (who, by the bye, I find to be a worthy, much respected man,
very modest; warm, social heart, which with less good sense than his
would be perhaps with the children of prim precision and pride, rather
inimical to that respect which is man's due from man) with him I call
on Miss Clarke, a maiden in the Scotch phrase, "_Guid enough, but no
brent new_:" a clever woman, with tolerable pretensions to remark and
wit; while time had blown the blushing bud of bashful modesty into the
flower of easy confidence. She wanted to see what sort of _raree show_
an author was; and to let him know, that though Dunbar was but a
little town, yet it was not destitute of people of parts.
Breakfast next morning at Skateraw, at Mr. Lee's, a farmer of great
note. --Mr. Lee, an excellent, hospitable, social fellow, rather
oldish; warm-hearted and chatty--a most judicious, sensible farmer.
Mr. Lee detains me till next morning. --Company at dinner. --My Rev.
acquaintance Dr. Bowmaker, a reverend, rattling old fellow. --Two sea
lieutenants; a cousin of the landlord's, a fellow whose looks are of
that kind which deceived me in a gentleman at Kelso, and has often
deceived me: a goodly handsome figure and face, which incline one to
give them credit for parts which they have not. Mr. Clarke, a much
cleverer fellow, but whose looks a little cloudy, and his appearance
rather ungainly, with an every-day observer may prejudice the opinion
against him. --Dr.
Brown, a medical young gentleman from Dunbar, a
fellow whose face and manners are open and engaging. --Leave Skateraw
for Dunse next day, along with collector ----, a lad of slender
abilities and bashfully diffident to an extreme.
Found Miss Ainslie, the amiable, the sensible, the good-humoured, the
sweet Miss Ainslie, all alone at Berrywell. --Heavenly powers, who know
the weakness of human hearts, support mine! What happiness must I see
only to remind me that I cannot enjoy it!
Lammer-muir Hills, from East Lothian to Dunse, very wild. --Dine with
the farmer's club at Kelso. Sir John Hume and Mr. Lumsden there, but
nothing worth remembrance when the following circumstance is
considered--I walk into Dunse before dinner, and out to Berrywell in
the evening with Miss Ainslie--how well-bred, how frank, how good she
is! Charming Rachael! may thy bosom never be wrung by the evils of
this life of sorrows, or by the villany of this world's sons!
_Thursday. _--Mr. Ker and I set out to dine at Mr. Hood's on our way to
England.
I am taken extremely ill with strong feverish symptoms, and take a
servant of Mr. Hood's to watch me all night--embittering remorse
scares my fancy at the gloomy forebodings of death. --I am determined
to live for the future in such a manner as not to be scared at the
approach of death--I am sure I could meet him with indifference, but
for "The something beyond the grave. "--Mr. Hood agrees to accompany us
to England if we will wait till Sunday.
_Friday. _--I go with Mr. Hood to see a roup of an unfortunate farmer's
stock--rigid economy, and decent industry, do you preserve me from
being the principal _dramatis persona_ in such a scene of horror.
Meet my good old friend Mr. Ainslie, who calls on Mr. Hood in the
evening to take farewell of my bardship. This day I feel myself warm
with sentiments of gratitude to the Great Preserver of men, who has
kindly restored me to health and strength once more.
A pleasant walk with my young friend Douglas Ainslie, a sweet, modest,
clever young fellow.
_Sunday_, 27_th May. _--Cross Tweed, and traverse the moors through a
wild country till I reach Alnwick--Alnwick Castle a seat of the Duke
of Northumberland, furnished in a most princely manner. --A Mr. Wilkin,
agent of His Grace's, shows us the house and policies. Mr. Wilkin, a
discreet, sensible, ingenious man.
_Monday. _--Come, still through by-ways, to Warkworth, where we
dine. --Hermitage and old castle. Warkworth situated very picturesque,
with Coquet Island, a small rocky spot, the seat of an old monastery,
facing it a little in the sea; and the small but romantic river
Coquet, running through it. --Sleep at Morpeth, a pleasant enough
little town, and on next day to Newcastle. --Meet with a very
agreeable, sensible fellow, a Mr. Chattox, who shows us a great many
civilities, and who dines and sups with us.
_Wednesday. _--Left Newcastle early in the morning, and rode over a
fine country to Hexham to breakfast--from Hexham to Wardrue, the
celebrated Spa, where we slept.
_Thursday_--Reach Longtown to dine, and part there with my good
friends Messrs. Hood and Ker--A hiring day in Longtown--I am
uncommonly happy to see so many young folks enjoying life. --I come to
Carlisle. --(Meet a strange enough romantic adventure by the way, in
falling in with a girl and her married sister--the girl, after some
overtures of gallantry on my side, sees me a little cut with the
bottle, and offers to take me in for a Gretna-Green affair. --I, not
being such a gull, as she imagines, make an appointment with her, by
way of _vive la bagatelle_, to hold a conference on it when we reach
town. --I meet her in town and give her a brush of caressing, and a
bottle of cider; but finding herself _un peu trompe_ in her man she
sheers off. ) Next day I meet my good friend, Mr. Mitchell, and walk
with him round the town and its environs, and through his
printing-works, &c. --four or five hundred people employed, many of
them women and children. --Dine with Mr. Mitchell, and leave
Carlisle. --Come by the coast to Annan. --Overtaken on the way by a
curious old fish of a shoemaker, and miner, from Cumberland mines.
[_Here the manuscript abruptly terminates. _]
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 294: The author of that fine song, "The Maid that tends the
Goats. "]
[Footnote 295: "During the discourse Burns produced a neat impromptu,
conveying an elegant compliment to Miss Ainslie. Dr. B. had selected a
text of Scripture that contained a heavy denunciation against
obstinate sinners. In the course of the sermon Burns observed the
young lady turning over the leaves of her Bible, with much
earnestness, in search of the text. He took out a slip of paper, and
with a pencil wrote the following lines on it, which he immediately
presented to her.
"Fair maid, you need not take the hint,
Nor idle texts pursue:--
'Twas _guilty sinners_ that he meant,--
Not _angels_ such as you. "
Cromek. ]
[Footnote 296: "This extraordinary woman then moved in a very humble
walk of life:--the wife of a common working gardener. She is still
living, and, if I am rightly informed, her time is principally occupied
in her attentions to a little day-school, which not being sufficient for
her subsistence, she is obliged to solicit the charily of her benevolent
neighbours. 'Ah, who would love the lyre! '"--CROMEK. ]
[Footnote 297: The entry made on this occasion in the Lodge-books of St
Abb's is honorable to
"The brethren of the mystic level. "
"_Eyemouth_, 19_th May_, 1787.
"At a general encampment held this day, the following brethren were
made royal arch masons, viz. Robert Burns, from the Lodge of St.
James's, Tarbolton, Ayrshire, and Robert Ainslie, from the Lodge of
St. Luke's, Edinburgh by James Carmichael, Wm. Grieve, Daniel Dow,
John Clay, Robert Grieve, &c. &c. Robert Ainslie paid one guinea
admission dues; but on account of R. Burns's remarkable poetical
genius, the encampment unanimously agreed to admit him gratis, and
considered themselves honoured by having a man of such shining
abilities for one of their companions. "
Extracted from the Minute Book of the Lodge by THOMAS
BOWBILL]
* * * * *
THE HIGHLAND TOUR.
25_th August_, 1787.
I leave Edinburgh for a northern tour, in company with my good friend
Mr. Nicol, whose originality of humour promises me much
entertainment. --Linlithgow--a fertile improved country--West Lothian.
The more elegance and luxury among the farmers, I always observe in
equal proportion, the rudeness and stupidity of the peasantry. This
remark I have made all over the Lothians, Merse, Roxburgh, &c. For
this, among other reasons, I think that a man of romantic taste, a
"Man of Feeling," will be better pleased with the poverty, but
intelligent minds of the peasantry in Ayrshire (peasantry they are all
below the justice of peace) than the opulence of a club of Merse
farmers, when at the same time, he considers the vandalism of their
plough-folks, &c. I carry this idea so far, that an unenclosed, half
improven country is to me actually more agreeable, and gives me more
pleasure as a prospect, than a country cultivated like a garden. --Soil
about Linlithgow light and thin. --The town carries the appearance of
rude, decayed grandeur--charmingly rural, retired situation. The old
royal palace a tolerably fine, but melancholy ruin--sweetly situated
on a small elevation, by the brink of a loch. Shown the room where the
beautiful, injured Mary Queen of Scots was born--a pretty good old
Gothic church. The infamous stool of repentance standing, in the old
Romish way, on a lofty situation.
What a poor pimping business is a Presbyterian place of worship;
dirty, narrow, and squalid; stuck in a corner of old popish grandeur
such as Linlithgow, and much more, Melrose! Ceremony and show, if
judiciously thrown in, absolutely necessary for the bulk of mankind,
both in religious and civil matters. --Dine. --Go to my friend
Smith's at Avon printfield--find nobody but Mrs. Miller, an agreeable,
sensible, modest, good body; as useful, but not so ornamental as
Fielding's Miss Western--not rigidly polite _a la Francais_, but easy,
hospitable, and housewifely.
An old lady from Paisley, a Mrs. Lawson, whom I promised to call for
in Paisley--like old lady W----, and still more like Mrs. C----, her
conversation is pregnant with strong sense and just remark, but like
them, a certain air of self-importance and a _duresse_ in the eye,
seem to indicate, as the Ayrshire wife observed of her cow, that "she
had a mind o' her ain. "
Pleasant view of Dunfermline and the rest of the fertile coast of
Fife, as we go down to that dirty, ugly place, Borrowstones--see a
horse-race and call on a friend of Mr. Nicol's, a Bailie Cowan, of
whom I know too little to attempt his portrait--Come through the rich
carse of Falkirk to pass the night. Falkirk nothing remarkable except
the tomb of Sir John the Graham, over which, in the succession of
time, four stones have been placed. --Camelon, the ancient metropolis
of the Picts, now a small village in the neighbourhood of
Falkirk. --Cross the grand canal to Carron. --Come past Larbert and
admire a fine monument of cast-iron erected by Mr. Bruce, the African
traveller, to his wife.
Pass Dunipace, a place laid out with fine taste--a charming
amphitheatre bounded by Denny village, and pleasant seats down the way
to Dunnipace. --The Carron running down the bosom of the whole makes it
one of the most charming little prospects I have seen.
Dine at Auchinbowie--Mr. Monro an excellent, worthy old man--Miss
Monro an amiable, sensible, sweet young woman, much resembling Mrs.
Grierson. Come to Bannockburn--Shown the old house where James III.
finished so tragically his unfortunate life. The field of
Bannockburn--the hole where glorious Bruce set his standard. Here no
Scot can pass uninterested. --I fancy to myself that I see my gallant,
heroic countrymen coming o'er the hill and down upon the plunderers of
their country, the murderers of their fathers; noble revenge, and just
hate, glowing in every vein, striding more and more eagerly as they
approach the oppressive, insulting, blood-thirsty foe! I see them meet
in gloriously triumphant congratulation on the victorious field,
exulting in their heroic royal leader, and rescued liberty and
independence! Come to Stirling. --_Monday_ go to Harvieston. Go to see
Caudron linn, and Rumbling brig, and Diel's mill. Return in the
evening. Supper--Messrs. Doig, the schoolmaster; Bell; and Captain
Forrester of the castle--Doig a queerish figure, and something of a
pedant--Bell a joyous fellow, who sings a good song. --Forrester a
merry, swearing kind of man, with a dash of the sodger.
_Tuesday Morning. _--Breakfast with Captain Forrester--Ochel
Hills--Devon River--Forth and Tieth--Allan River--Strathallan, a fine
country, but little improved--Cross Earn to Crieff--Dine and go to
Arbruchil--cold reception at Arbruchil--a most romantically pleasant
ride up Earn, by Auchtertyre and Comrie to Arbruchil--Sup at Crieff.
_Wednesday Morning. _--Leave Crieff--Glen Amond--Amond river--Ossian's
grave--Loch Fruoch--Glenquaich--Landlord and landlady remarkable
characters--Taymouth described in rhyme--Meet the Hon. Charles
Townshend.
_Thursday. _--Come down Tay to Dunkeld--Glenlyon House--Lyon
River--Druid's Temple--three circles of stones--the outer-most
sunk--the second has thirteen stones remaining--the innermost has
eight--two large detached ones like a gate, to the south-east--Say
prayers in it--Pass Taybridge--Aberfeldy--described in rhyme--Castle
Menzies--Inver--Dr. Stewart--sup.
_Friday. _--Walk with Mrs. Stewart and Beard to Birnam top--fine
prospect down Tay--Craigieburn hills--Hermitage on the Branwater, with
a picture of Ossian--Breakfast with Dr. Stewart--Neil Gow[298] plays--a
short, stout-built, honest Highland figure, with his grayish hair shed
on his honest social brow--an interesting face, marking strong sense,
kind openheartedness, mixed with unmistrusting simplicity--visit his
house--Marget Gow.
Ride up Tummel River to Blair--Fascally a beautiful romantic
nest--wild grandeur of the pass of Gilliecrankie--visit the gallant
Lord Dundee's stone.
Blair--Sup with the Duchess--easy and happy from the manners of the
family--confirmed in my good opinion of my friend Walker.
_Saturday. _--Visit the scenes round Blair--fine, but spoiled with bad
taste--Tilt and Gairie rivers--Falls on the Tilt--Heather seat--Ride
in company with Sir William Murray and Mr. Walker, to Loch
Tummel--meanderings of the Rannach, which runs through quondam Struan
Robertson's estate from Loch Rannach to Loch Tummel--Dine at
Blair--Company--General Murray--Captain Murray, an honest tar--Sir
William Murray, an honest, worthy man, but tormented with the
hypochondria--Mrs. Graham, _belle et aimable_--Miss Catchcart--Mrs.
Murray, a painter--Mrs. King--Duchess and fine family, the Marquis,
Lords James, Edward, and Robert--Ladies Charlotte, Emilia, and
children dance--Sup--Mr. Graham of Fintray.
Come up the Garrie--Falls of
Bruar--Daldecairoch--Dalwhinnie--Dine--Snow on the hills 17 feet
deep--No corn from Loch-Gairie to Dalwhinnie--Cross the Spey, and come
down the stream to Pitnin--Straths rich--_les environs_
picturesque--Craigow hill--Ruthven of Badenoch--Barracks--wild and
magnificent--Rothemurche on the other side, and Glenmore--Grant of
Rothemurche's poetry--told me by the Duke of Gordon--Strathspey, rich
and romantic--Breakfast at Aviemore, a wild spot--dine at Sir James
Grant's--Lady Grant, a sweet, pleasant body--come through mist and
darkness to Dulsie, to lie.
_Tuesday. _--Findhorn river--rocky banks--come on to Castle Cawdor,
where Macbeth murdered King Duncan--saw the bed in which King Duncan
was stabbed--dine at Kilravock--Mrs. Rose, sen. , a true chieftain's
wife--Fort George--Inverness.
_Wednesday. _--Loch Ness--Braes of Ness--General's hut--Falls of
Fyers--Urquhart Castle and Strath.
_Thursday. _--Come over Culloden Muir--reflections on the field of
battle--breakfast at Kilravock--old Mrs. Rose, sterling sense, warm
heart, strong passions, and honest pride, all in an uncommon
degree--Mrs. Rose, jun. , a little milder than the mother--this perhaps
owing to her being younger--Mr. Grant, minister at Calder, resembles
Mr. Scott at Inverleithing--Mrs. Rose and Mrs. Grant accompany us to
Kildrummie--two young ladies--Miss Rose, who sung two Gaelic songs,
beautiful and lovely--Miss Sophia Brodie, most agreeable and
amiable--both of them gentle, mild; the sweetest creatures on earth,
and happiness be with them! --Dine at Nairn--fall in with a pleasant
enough gentleman, Dr. Stewart, who had been long abroad with his
father in the forty-five; and Mr. Falconer, a spare, irascible,
warm-hearted Norland, and a nonjuror--Brodie-house to lie.
_Friday_--Forres--famous stone at Forres--Mr. Brodie tells me that the
muir where Shakspeare lays Macbeth's witch-meeting is still
haunted--that the country folks won't pass it by night.
* * * * *
Venerable ruins of Elgin Abbey--A grander effect at first glance than
Melrose, but not near so beautiful--Cross Spey to Fochabers--fine
palace, worthy of the generous proprietor--Dine--company, Duke and
Duchess, Ladies Charlotte and Magdeline, Col. Abercrombie, and Lady,
Mr. Gordon and Mr. ----, a clergyman, a venerable, aged figure--the
Duke makes me happier than ever great man did--noble, princely; yet
mild, condescending, and affable; gay and kind--the Duchess witty and
sensible--God bless them!
Come to Cullen to lie--hitherto the country is sadly poor and
unimproven.
Come to Aberdeen--meet with Mr. Chalmers, printer, a facetious
fellow--Mr. Ross a fine fellow, like Professor Tytler,--Mr. Marshal one
of the _poetae minores_--Mr. Sheriffs, author of "Jamie and Bess," a
little decrepid body with some abilities--Bishop Skinner, a nonjuror,
son of the author of "Tullochgorum," a man whose mild, venerable manner
is the most marked of any in so young a man--Professor Gordon, a
good-natured, jolly-looking professor--Aberdeen, a lazy town--near
Stonhive, the coast a good deal romantic--meet my relations--Robert
Burns, writer, in Stonhive, one of those who love fun, a gill, and a
punning joke, and have not a bad heart--his wife a sweet hospitable
body, without any affectation of what is called town-breeding.
_Tuesday. _--Breakfast with Mr. Burns--lie at Lawrence Kirk--Album
library--Mrs. ---- a jolly, frank, sensible, love-inspiring widow--Howe
of the Mearns, a rich, cultivated, but still unenclosed country.
_Wednesday. _--Cross North Esk river and a rich country to Craigow.
* * * * *
Go to Montrose, that finely-situated handsome town--breakfast at Muthie,
and sail along that wild rocky coast, and see the famous caverns,
particularly the Gariepot--land and dine at Arbroath--stately ruins of
Arbroath Abbey--come to Dundee through a fertile country--Dundee a
low-lying, but pleasant town--old Steeple--Tayfrith--Broughty Castle, a
finely situated ruin, jutting into the Tay.
_Friday. _--Breakfast with the Miss Scotts--Miss Bess Scott like Mrs.
Greenfield--my bardship almost in love with her--come through the rich
harvests and fine hedge-rows of the Carse of Gowrie, along the
romantic margin of the Grampian hills, to Perth--fine, fruitful,
hilly, woody country round Perth.
_Saturday Morning. _--Leave Perth--come up Strathearn to
Endermay--fine, fruitful, cultivated Strath--the scene of "Bessy Bell,
and Mary Gray," near Perth--fine scenery on the banks of the May--Mrs.
Belcher, gawcie, frank, affable, fond of rural sports, hunting,
&c. --Lie at Kinross--reflections in a fit of the colic.
_Sunday. _--Pass through a cold, barren country to
Queensferry--dine--cross the ferry and on to Edinburgh.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 298: Another northern bard has sketched this eminent
musician--
"The blythe Strathspey springs up, reminding some
Of nights when Gow's old arm, (nor old the tale,)
Unceasing, save when reeking cans went round,
Made heart and heel leap light as bounding roe.
Alas! no more shall we behold that look
So venerable, yet so blent with mirth,
And festive joy sedate; that ancient garb
Unvaried,--tartan hose, and bonnet blue!
No more shall Beauty's partial eye draw forth
The full intoxication of his strain.
Mellifluous, strong, exuberantly rich!
No more, amid the pauses of the dance,
Shall he repeat those measures, that in days
Of other years, could soothe a falling prince,
And light his visage with a transient smile
Of melancholy joy,--like autumn sun
Gilding a sear tree with a passing beam!
