challenged him. "Brother, (said Graham, pleasantly,) prepare for death, and confess yourself, and then you shall sup in paradise." 66 And so it fell out, (says Fordun,) for Graham transfixed him with his spear, and left him dead on the field." This story is related as much as possible in the style of Fordun. He appears not to have felt any horror at a scene where brave men, without either national animosity, or personal cause of offence, lavished their lives in savage amuse ments. ANCIENT POOR FAMILIES. At Inch-Ewan, in Bredalbane, a family of the name of Macnab occupied the same farm, from father to son, for nearly four centuries, till within these few years the last occupier resigned. A race of the name of Stewart, in Glentinglas, in Monteith, has for several centuries possessed the same farms, and from the character and disposition of the present noble proprietor, it is probable, without some extraordinary cause, this community will not be disturbed. It would be endless to give instances of the great number of years during which the same families possessed their farms, in a succession as regular and unbroken as that of the landlords. The family of Macintyre possessed the farm of Glenoe, in Nether Lorn, from about the year 1300, down till 1810. They were originally foresters of Stewart Lord Lorn, and were continued in their possession and employments, after the succession of the Glenorchy and Breadalbane families to this estate, by a marriage with a co-heiress of the last Lord Lorn of the Stewart family, in the year 1435. THE BLACKSMITH AND TREASURE. The earl of Traquair, on the day of the battle of Philiphaugh, was advancing with a large sum of money for the payment of Montrose's forces, attended by a blacksmith, one of his retainers. As they crossed Minch Moor they were alarmed by firing, which the earl conceived to be Montrose exercising his forces, but which his attendant, from the constancy and irregularity of the noise, affirmed to be the tumult of an engagement. As they came below Broadmeadows, upon Yarrow, they met their fugitive friends, hotly pursued by the parliamentary troopers. The earl of course turned and fled also; but his horse, jaded with the weight of dollars which he carried, refused to take the hill, so that the earl was fain to exchange with his attendant, leaving him with the breathless horse, and a bag of silver, to shift for himself, which he is supposed to have done very effectually. Some of the dragoons, attracted by the horse and trappings, gave chase to the smith, who fled up the Yariow; but finding himself, as he said, encumbered with the treasure, and unwilling that it should be taken, he flung it into a well, or pond, above Hangingshaw. Many wells were afterwards searched in vain; but it is the general belief, that the smith, if ever he hid the money, knew too well how to anticipate the scrutiny. There is, however, a pond which some peasants began to drain, not long ago, in hopes of finding the golden prize, but were prevented, as they pretended, by supernatural interference. CATHEDRAL OF ELGIN, "Monday, the 28th of December, Mr. Gilbert Ross, minister at Elgin, accompanied with the young laird of Innes, the laird of Brodie, and some others, without authority, brake down the timber partition wall dividing the kirk of Elgin frae the quire, whilk had stood ever since the Reformation, near seven-score years, or above. On the west side was painted, in excellent colours, illuminated with stars of bright gold, the crucifixion of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. This piece was so excellently done that the colours never faded, but kept haill and sound as at the beginning, notwithstanding this college, or channery kirk, wanted the roof since the Reformation, and no haill windous therein to save the same from storm, snow, sleet, or wet, whilk myself saw: And marvellous to consider, on the other side of this wall, towards the east, was drawn the Day of Judgment; but, make it fall on even ground, and not again into all is thrown to the ground. It was said the minis- some other crevice; for it must be observed, that ter caused to bring home to his house the imber the down is very frequently broken, and interthereof, and burn the same for serving his kitchen spersed with such crevices, and in the winter seaand other uses; but each night the fire went out son, in some places, with pools of water. To wherein it was burnt, and could not be kept in to strike the ball with the proper instrument, ackindle the morning fire, as use is, whereat the cording to its position, to measure the force apservants marvelled; and thereupon the minister plied according to the distance to which the bal: left off, and forbore to bring in or burn any more is to be driven, requires great skill and address. of that timber in his house. This was remarked And here, on the whole, rather than driving it a and spoke through Elgin, and credibly reported long way, when it lies fair, by the application of to myself. A great boldness, without warrant of the utmost strength, the excellency of the golfthe king, to destroy churches at that rate, yet it player consists. The whole course for golfing, was done by order of the Assembly."-Spalding. winding through the plain, is nearly three miles; so that the golfers who traverse the whole, forwards and backwards, walk over a space of six miles. But many of the golfers are content with a shorter course, and return on their steps, playing back all the way at any of the other holes or stages. GOLF. SONS OR DAUGHTERS. This somewhat resembles the game of cricket, but is not near so violent. Small holes are dug at different intervals from a quarter to about half a mile each. The contest with the players is, who shall drive the ball, with an instrument they call a club, into the hole at the fewest strokes. The ball is made of the sole leather commonly About the year thretty sax, a company differed used for shoes, stuffed with feathers. The club is" Whether it was better for a man to hae sons or a shaft about four feet long, fixed obliquely in a small head of hard wood, into which some lead for increasing its weight. There are four or five different kinds of clubs, corresponding to the position of the ball, or the nature of the ground on which it lies, even hollow, declining, or perhaps a rut. When it happens to be in a rut, the club made use of has an iron head. is run, daughters?" They con'da 'gree but disputed it pro and con. At last one of them said to Graham of Kinross, (wha had na yoked wi' them in the argument,) "Laird, what's your opinion?" Quo he "I hae had three lads and three lassies; I watna whilk o' them I liked best, sae lang as they suckit their mother; but de'il hae my share o' the callants when they cam to suck their father!" ANCIENT YEW TREE. The gentlemen golfers are dressed in the old Scottish dress, as well as the archers, and are attended by a servant to carry their clubs. On observing how the ball lies, the first question is, Within the church-yard of Fortingel, Perthwhat kind of club is to be used for striking it. shire, the ruins of an enormous yew-tree still If it lies advantageously, on a level surface, the remain. The stem is now separated in two parts; object is to strike it fairly, with great force, in the principal, although a mere shell, the centre the proper direction, and to send it as far as pos-being entirely decayed, measures thirty-two feet sible, leaving, of course, the surface or spot on in circumference. Colonel Campbell, of Glenlyon, which it may fall to chance. If it lies in a diffi-used to say, that when he was a boy, (about the cult position, as in broken ground, the point year 1725,) the parts now separated were united, aimed at is not only to drive it out of this, but to when the whole stem measured fifty-six feet is particular description. One, still called Wallace's Cave, tradition tells us, was the hiding-hole of that patriot. Another equally trifling, but which bears evident marks of the chisel, is said to have been the abode of a hermit in former times, but must have been a miserable habitation, hardly affording room to lie down in. Considerable veins of the spatum ponderosum run through these rocks; but no other mineral has hitherto been traced in this dreary deu of foxes, badgers, and wild birds. It is somewhat singular how the Mouss, instead of following its direct course, by Baronald-house, where the ground is lower and unobstructed by rocks, should have penetrated the hill of Cartlane, and formed a bed through solid rock. It seems presumable that this vast chasm has originally been formed by some earthquake, which, rending the rocks, allowed the water to pass that way." CURE FOR A COLD. John Campbell Forrester, of Harries, (says Mr. Martin,) makes use of this singular remedy for a cold. He walks into the sea up to the middle, with his clothes on, and immediately after goes to bed in his wet clothes, and then laying the bed clothes over him, procures a sweat, which removes the distemper; and this, he told me, is his only remedy for all manner of colds. ROCK NEAR ST. KILDA. "About two leagues and a half to the north of St. Kilda is the rock Stack-Ly, two hundred paces in circumference, and of a great height, being a perfect triangle, turning to a point at the top; it is visible above twenty leagues distant in a fair day, and appears blue. There is no grass or earth to cover it, and it is perfectly white with Solan geese sitting on and about it. One would think it next to impossible to climb this rock, which I expressed, being very close by it; but the inhabitants assured me it was practicable, and, to convince me of the truth of it, they bid me look up near the top, where I perceived a stone pyramid house, which the inhabitants built for lodging themselves in it in August, at which time the season proves inconstant there. This obliges the inhabitants, in point of prudence, to send a competent number of them, to whose share the lots fall. These are to land in this rock some days before the time at which the Solan geese use to take wing; and if they neglect this piece of fore sight, one windy day may disappoint them of five, six, or seven thousand Solan geese. This rock affording no less yearly; and they are so very numerous here, that they cannot be divided with respect to their lands as elsewhere. Therefore this is the reason why they send here by lots, and those who are sent act for the public interest; and when they have knocked on the head all that may be reached, they then carry them to a sharp point, called the casting-point, from whence they throw them into the sea (the height being such that they dare not throw them in but near the boat), until the boatman cry enough, lest the sea, which has a strong current there, should carry them off, as it does sometimes, if too many are thrown down at once, and so, by degrees, getting all in, they return home, and after their arrival, every man has his share proportionable to his lanis, and what remains below the number ten, is due to the officer, as a branch of his yearly salary. In this rock the Solan geese are allowed to hatch their first eggs; but it is not so in the other rocks of the island, and that for this reason, that, if all were allowed to hatch at the same time, the loss of the product in one rock would, at the same time, prove the loss of all the rest, since all would take wing almost at once. We made particular inquiry after the number of Solan geese consumed by each family the year before we came here, and it amounted to twentytwo thousand six hundred in the whole island, which, they said, was less than they ordinarily did, a great many being lost by the badness of the season, and the great current into which they must be thrown when they take them, the rock being of such an extraordinary height, that they cannot reach the boat. There is one boat sixteen and, among other matters, had made a division of all the lands in the district, when this field, and some acres of pasture, fell to his share. His master told him he was happy to find him so well provided for, and asked what part of the estate they had allotted to him. " Oh, as to you, Sir, and the other lairds, (replied the man,) it was resolved that they should have nothing to do with the land, and that none of the old lairds and pro-immediately drew his sword, and demanded satisprietors were to have any. They and their families had had these lands long enough; their old hotions were not fit for the new times, therefore they must all quit and make way for the new system, and new order of things; but as you have been always so good to me, I will propose, at the next meeting, that a portion be left you. GENERAL RESTITUTION. misfortune to be taken prisoner, and was hanged at Inverness, without any distinction, among the other deserters. Whilst the body of Forbes was still suspended from the gibbet, a brutal and vulgar English officer plunged his sword into his body, and swore that all his countrymen were traitors and rebels, like himself. A Scots officer who heard the impertinence of this Englishman, faction for the insult done to his country; and whilst they fought all the officers took part in the quarrel, and swords were drawn in every direction. The soldiers at the same time beat to armis, drew up along the streets, the Scots on one side, and the English on the other, and were about to begin a very warm combat, with fixed bayonets. The duke of Cumberland happened to be out of town; information was immediately conveyed to Donald McGregor, a notorious sheep-lifter, him, and he hastened to the scene of action before (alias, sheep-stealer,) in the north Highlands, this warfare had made much progress. He adbeing at last overtaken by the grim tyrant of the dressed himself immediately to the Scots, whom human race, was visited by the minister of the he endeavoured to mollify by the high compliparish, whose appearance, however, was by no ments he paid them. He told them that whenever means agreeable to Donald. The holy man warmly he had the honour of commanding them, he had exhorted the dying Highlander to reflect upon the always experienced their fidelity and attachment long and black catalogue of his sins, before it to his family, as well as their courage and exemwas too late, otherwise he would have a tremen-plary conduct; and he succeeded at length in dous account to give at the great day of retribu- appeasing them. tion, when all the crimes he had committed in this world would appear in dreadful array, as evidence of his guilt. "Och! Sir, (cries the dying man,) and will a' the sheeps, the cows, and ilka thing Donald has helped hersell to, be there? Then let ilka shentleman tak' her nain, and Donald will be an honest man again." QUARREL AFTER THE BATTLE OF CULLODEN. An accident which took place at Inverness some days after the battle of Culloden, might have proved very advantageous to the Highlanders if the Prince had joined them at Ruthven. A young gentleman of the name of Forbes, related to lord Forbes, and a cadet in an English regiment, having abandoned his colours to join the Prince, had the A GOOD FACTOR. During fifty-five years in which the late Mr. Campbell of Achalader had the charge of Lord Breadalbane's estates, there was no instance of tenants going to law. Their disputes were referred to the amicable decision of the noble proprietor, and his deputy; and as the confidence of the pedple in the honour and probity of both was untimited, no man ever dreamt of an appeal from their decision. Admitting even that their judgment might occasionally be erroneous, the advantages of these prompt and final decisions, to a very numerous tenantry, with many causes of difference arising from the mixed and minute posses sions, were incalculable. DR. KING'S ACCOUNT OF THE PRETENDER. seems to have been taken of his education. He had not made the belles-lettres, or any of the finer sidering his preceptors, and the noble opportunities he must have had in that nursery of all the elegant and liberal arts and sciences. But I was still more astonished when I found him unacquainted with the history and constitution of England, in which he ought to have been very early instructed. I never heard him express any noble or benevolent sentiments, the certain in In 1750 (says Dr. King.) I received a note from my lady Primrose, who desired to see me imme-arts, his study, which surprised me much, condiately. As soon as I waited on her, she led me into her dressing-room, and presented me to the pretender. If I was surprised to find him there, I was still more astonished when he acquainted me with the motives which had induced him to hazard a journey to England at this juncture. The impatience of his friends, who were in exile, had formed a scheme which was impracticable; but although it had been feasible as they had repre-dications of a great soul and a good heart-or sented it to him, yet no preparation had been discover any sorrow or compassion for the mismade, nor was any thing ready to carry it into fortunes of so many worthy men who had suffered execution. He was soon convinced he had been in his cause. But the most odious part of his deceived, and therefore, after a stay in London of character was his love of money-a vice which five days only, he returned to the place from I do not remember to have been imputed by our whence he came. As I had some long conversa- historians to any of his ancestors, and is the certions with him here, and for some years after held tain index of a base and little mind. I know it a constant correspondence with him, not indeed may be urged in its vindication, that a prince in by letters but by messengers, who were occasion- exile ought to be an economist; and so he ought, ally dispatched to him, and as during this inter- but nevertheless his purse should be always open, course I informed myself of all particulars relating as long as there is any thing in it, to relieve the to him, and of his whole conduct, both in public necessities of his friends and adherents. King and private life, I am perhaps as well qualified as Charles II. during his banishment, would have any man in England to draw a just character of shared the last pistole in his pocket with his little him; and impose this task on myself, not only family. But I have known this gentleman with for the information of posterity, but for the sake two thousand louis-d'ors in his strong box, preof many worthy gentlemen whom I shall leave tend he was in great distress, and borrow money behind me, who are at present attached to his from a lady in Paris, who was not in affluent cirname, and who have formed their ideas of him cumstances. His most faithful servants, who had from public report, but more particularly from closely attended him in all his difficulties, were those great actions which he performed in Scot-ill rewarded. Two Frenchmen, who had left land. As to his person, he was tall and well every thing to follow his fortune who had been made, but stooped a little, owing to the great sent as couriers through half Europe, and execufatigue he underwent in his northern expedition.ted their commissions with great punctuality and He had a handsome face, and good eyes (I think exactness, were suddenly discharged, without any his busts, which about this time were commonly faults imputed to them, or any recompence for sold in London, are more like him than any of his their past service. To this spirit of avarice may pictures which I have yet seen;) but in a polite be added his insolent manner of treating his imcompany he would not pass for a genteel man.mediate dependents, very unbecoming a great He had a quick apprehension, and spoke French, prince, and a sure prognostic of what might be Italian, and English, the last with a little of a expected from him if he acquired sovereign pow. foreign accent; as to the rest, very little career. Sir John Harrington and Colonel Coring, |