his request was granting; while precious Mr. Presbyter grimaces, prays, or howls, the monster rabble veils; but, as soon as text is taken, blue-bonnet takes place again, and this pulpit-prater is esteemed more than God's ambassador, having the holy spirit at his beck to prompt him every word he speaks, yet not three sentences of sense together, such blasphemy as I blush to mention.

Their christenings, as all other things, are without form, only water poured on the infant, and such words used as Sir John's Mephistophilus supplies him with, and so the child commences Christian, as good (or better) than the best of them. Some think marriage an unnecessary thing amongst them, it being more generous and usual amongst them to take one another's words: however, it is thus performed. The young couple, being attended with tagrag and bobtail, gang to kirk, where Mr. Scruple, like a good casuist, controverts the point in hand to them, and schools Mr. Bridegroom in his lesson; then directs his discourse to Mrs. Bride, who, being the weaker vessel, ought to have the more pains taken with her; he chalks out the way she is to walk in, in all its particulars, and joins their hands, and then let them fall to in God's name. Home they go with loud ravishing bag-pipes, and dance about the green, till they part by couples to repetition, and so put the rules in practice; and perhaps Sir Roger follows Mrs. Bride to her apartment, to satisfy her doubts, where he uses such pungent and pressing arguments, as she never forgets as long as she lives.

When any one dies, the bell-man goes about ringing their passing-bell, and acquaints the people therewith, in form following: 'Beloved brouthrin and susters, I let yau to wot that thir is an fauthful broothir lawtli departed awt of this prisant varld, awt thi plesuir of Aulmoughti Good (and then he veils his bonnet) his naum is Volli Voodcock thrid son to Jimmoy Voodcock a cordinger; he ligs aut thi sext door vethin thi Nord Gawt, close on thi nawthwr Rawnd, and I wod yaw gang to hus burying on Thrusdau before twa a cloak, &c. The time appointed for his burying being come, the bell-man calls the company together, and he is carried to the burying-place, and thrown into the grave, as dog Lyon was, and there is an end of Wolli. Few people are here buried in their kirks, except of their nobility, but in the kirk garths, or in a burying-place on purpose, called the Hoof, at the further end of the town, like our quakers, inclosed with a wall, so that it serves not only as a burying-place, but an exchange to meet in: Perhaps in one part of it their courts of judicature are kept; in another are butts to shoot at for recreation. All agree that a woman's tongue is the last member she moves; but the Latin proverb, Mulieri ne credas, &c. seems to prove it after death. I am sure the pride of this people never leaves them, but follows them to their long homes (1 was about to have said to the devil) for the meanest man must have a grave-stone full fraught with his own praises, though he was the vilest miscreant on earth; and miserable Memento mori's, both in English and Latin, nay Greek too, if they can find a Greek word

for Cordinger, the calling he was of; and all this in such miserable Scotch orthography, that it is hard to distinguish one language from another.

The castles of defence in this country are almost impregnable, only to be taken by treachery or long siege, their water failing them soonest. They are built upon high and almost inaccessible rocks, only one forced passage up to them, so that a few menmay easily defend them. Indeed all the gentlemen's houses are strong castles, they being so treacherous one to another, that they are forced to defend themselves in strong-holds. They are commonly built upon some single rock in the sea, or some high precipice near the Mid-land, with many towers, and strong iron grates before their windows (the lower part whereof is only a wooden shutter, and the upper part glass) so that they look more like prisons than houses of reception. Some few houses there are of late erection, that are built in a better form, with good walks and gardens about them, but their fruit rarely comes to any perfection. The houses of the commonalty are very mean, mud-wall and thatch the best; but the poorer sort live in such miserable hutts as never eye beheld, it is no difficulty to piss over them; men, women, and children, pig all together in a poor mouse-hole of mud, heath, and such-like matter. In some parts where turf is plentiful, they build up little cabbins thereof, with arched roofs of turf, without a stick of timber in it; when the house is dry enough to burn, it serves them for fuel, and they remove to another. The habit of the people is very different, according to the qualities, or the places they live in, as low-land or high-land men. The low-land gentry go well enough habited, but the poorer sort go (almost) naked, only an old cloke, or a part of their bed, cloaths thrown over them. The highlanders wear slashed doublets, commonly without breeches, only a plad tied about their wasts, &c. thrown over one shoulder, with short stockings to the garteringplace, their knees and part of their thighs being naked; others have breeches and stockings all of a piece of plad-ware, close to their thighs; in one side of their girdle sticks a durk or skean, about a foot or half a yard long, very sharp, and the back of it filed into divers notches, wherein they put poison; on the other side, a brace, at least, of brass pistols; nor is this honour sufficient, if they can purchase more, they must have a long swinging sword.

The women are commonly two-handed tools, strong-posted tim, ber. They dislike Englishmen, because they have no legs, or, like themselves, posts to walk on. The meaner go barefoot and barehead, with two black eldocks on either side their faces; some of them have scarce any cloaths at all, save part of their bed-clothes pinned about their shoulders, and their children have nothing else on them but a little blanket. Those women, that can purchase plads, need not bestow much upon other clothes, these cover-sluts being sufficient. Those of the best sort, that are very well ha, bited in their modish silks, yet must wear a plad over all for the credit of their country.

VOL. VII.

The people are proud, arrogant, vainglorious boasters, bloody, barbarous, and inhuman butchers. Cousenage and theft is in perfection amongst them, and they are perfect English haters; they shew their pride in exalting themselves, and depressing their neighbours. When the palace at Edinburgh is finished, they expect his majesty will leave his rotten house at Whitehall, and live splendidly amongst his nown countrymen the Scots; for they say, that Englishmen are very much beholden to them, that we have their king amongst us. The nobility and gentry lord it over their poor tenants, and use them worse than gally-slaves; they are all bound to serve them, men, women, and children. The first fruits are always the landlord's due; he is the man that must first board all the young married women within his lairdship, and their sons are all his slaves, so that any mean laird will have six or ten, or more followers. Besides, those of his own name, that are inferior to him, must all attend him (as he himself must do his superior, of the same name, and all of them attend the chief); if he receives a stranger, all this train must be at his beck, armed as aforesaid. If you drink with them in a tavern, you must have all this rubbish with you; and, if you offend the laird, his durk shall soon be sheathed in your belly, and, after his, every one of his followers, or they shall suffer themselves that refuse it, that so they may be all alike guilty of the murder. Every laird of note, hath a gibbet near his house, and has power to condemn and hang any of his vassals; so they dare not oppose him in any thing, but must submit to his commands, let them be never so unjust and tyrannical. There are too many testimonies of their cruelty amongst themselves in their own chronicles. Forty of their kings have been barbarously murdered by them, and half as many more have either made away themselves, for fear of their torturing of them, or have died miserably in strait imprisonment. What strange butcheries have been committed in their feuds, some of which are in agitation at this day, viz. Argyle with the Macclanes, and Mac Donnels about Mula island, which has cost already much blood, and is likely will cost much more before it will be decided. Their spirits are so mean, that they rarely rob, but take away life first; lying in ambuscade, they send a brace of bullets, on ambassy, through the traveller's body; and, to make sure work, they sheath their durks in his lifeless trunk; perhaps, to take off their fire-edges, as new knives are stuck in a bag-pudding. If an highlander be injured, those of his own name must defend him, and will certainly have satisfaction from the offenders. A late instance whereof was at Inverness, a considerable town, where one of the Macdonnels was slain, but, shortly, the chief of the name came down against the town with fifteen-hundred of his own name, aud threatened to fire the town, but the inhabitants compounded with them for twothousand pounds.

Their cruelty descends to their beasts, it being a custom, in some places, to feast upon a living cow; they tie in the middle of them, near a great fire, and then cut collops of this poor living

beast, and broil them on the fire, till they have mangled her all to pieces; nay, sometimes they will only cut off as much as will satisfy their present appetites, and let her go, till their greedy stomachs calls for a new supply; such horrible cruelty, as can scarce be paralleled in the whole world! Their theft is so well known, that it needs no proving; they are forced to keep watch over all they have, to secure it; their cattle are watched day and night, or otherwise they would be overgrown by morning. In the highlands, they do it publickly before the face of the sun; if one man has two cows, and another wants, he shall soon supply himself from his neighbour, who can find no remedy for it. The gentry keep an armory in their own houses, furnished with several sorts of fire-arms, pikes, and halberds, with which they arm their fol❤ lowers, to secure themselves from the rapine of their neighbourhood, The lowland language may be well enough understood by an En, glishman, but the highlanders have a peculiar lingua to themselves, which they call Erst, unknown to most of the lowland men, except only in those places that border on them, where they can speak both: Yet, these people are so currish, that, if a stranger inquire the way in English, they will certainly answer in Erst, and find no other language than what is forced from them with a cudgel. If Cornelius Agrippa had travelled Scotland, sure cookery had not been found in his vanity of sciences; such is their singular skill in this art, that they may defy the world to rival them. King James's treat for the devil, that is, a poll of ling, a joll of sturgeon, and a pig, with a pipe of tobacco for digestion, had been very complete, if the ordering thereof had been assigned to a cook of this country, who can suit every dish, with its proper hogoe, and bring corruption to your table, only to mind men of mortality. Their meat is carrion when it is killed, but, after it has been a fortnight a perfuming with the aromatick air, strained through the clammy trunks of flesh-flies, then it passes the trial of fire under the care of one of those exquisite artists, and is dished up in a sea of sweet Scotch butter, and so covered and served hot up to the table. O how happy is he that is placed next to it, with a privilege to uncover it, and receive the hot steams of this dainty dish, almost sufficient to cure all distempers. It will be needless to instance, in particulars so plain and evident to all that have travelled through the country, that they may certainly bear away the bell from all their neighbouring nations, or, indeed, from the whole world. Their nobility and gentry have tables plentifully enough furnished, but few or none of them have their meat better ordered. To put one's head into their kitchen-doors, is little less than destructive; to enter hell alive, where the black fairies are busied in mangling dead carcases, and the fire and brimstone, or rather stew and stink, is ready to suffocate you; and ́ yet, which is strange, these things are agreeable to the humours of the people. The poorer sort live of haddock, whiting, and sowre milk, which is cried up and down their streets,whea buyes sawer milk,' and upon the stinking fragments that are left at their laird's