part of his fortune to her and her children; and actually would have married her, had he not, by accident, discovered that it was doubtful whether the children were his or Macg-r's. She was married, though Green is alive, to this Macg-r, when I saw her; but though the dinner, wines, &c. were excellent, and I received much attention and some information from them, yet, had I known their history when she and her husband invited me to dine with them, I would not have accepted the invitation.

In Glasgow too, the other year, a boy that had been twice or thrice in prison for stealing, coming into a mercer's shop, picked something from the counter, and was going away. The master of the shop seeing this, and recollecting him, immediately took up a pair of scissars from the counter, cropped his ears, and desired him to put these in his pocket.

ORKNEY ISLANDS.

Having crossed the Pentland Firth, or the nar row sea between the main land and the Orkneys, I travelled on as fast as ferries would permit, till I came to Kirkwall, in order to see their fair, or yearly market, which continues for eight days, and may be termed the carnival of these islands. And here I found myself highly entertained, as almost every body from the other islands was here. I saw, as it were; the whole people and riches of the islands at once. Indeed, this season is their grand festival,

They were all in their holiday clothes; and I con. fess, even in London, I scarcely ever saw so much money afloat. In one place I saw nearly two thousand pounds sterling given and received, being all in hundred pound parcels, in the course of a few minutes. There were here booksellers, pedlars, grocers, wholesale and retail dealers, from Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen, &c. &c. Being acquainted with the Rev. Mr. Allison, minister of St. Andrews and Deerness, I made his house, at his request, my head-quarters. It was amusing to see the medley of busy faces at Kirkwall upon this occasion. The samples of fish, butter, cheese, feathers, grain, quills, &c. &c. and draughts on Edinburgh, Leith, Glasgow, but particularly London, were giving and receiving every where; besides a vast quantity of gold and silver in circulation. Here were to be seen as fashionable and as welldressed people as any in the capital of the kingdom: for, it seems, there are dolls or figures both of men and women, as big as a child, sent here frequently from London, that the milliners, mantuamakers, and tailors, may see the newest fashions of gowns, head-dresses, coats, breeches, hats, &c. &c. As I was looking at the miniature figure of a man, made of stuffed shambeau leather, pointing out the reigning fashion at London the week before, the man having it there on sale, told me its price was only half a guinea, imagining, I suppose, that I meant to buy it for the use and inspection of my tailor.

The island of Pomona, or Mainland, in which

Kirkwall is situate, and where this fair, or market, is held, is about thirty-two miles long, and in some places nine broad. It has some excellent harbours, to which ships run in distress, and nine parish churches,

I should suppose that this country, notwithstanding the mirth, happiness, and bustle I saw, must be cold and dreary in winter, as there is scarcely any wood to heautify the country, or keep it warm, and almost all their fuel is imported from England, which, notwithstanding that a late tax is taken off, considering freight, &c. &c. must be at an expense the generality of the people cannot afford,

I found my friend, Mr. Allison, the clergyman, lived very comfortably. He had a tolerably good house, consisting of eight apartments, besides a kitchen, cellars, and out-houses. He had a large garden, well stocked with fruit-trees and kitchen stuffs, and this, with his glebe, which indeed cost him a hundred guineas in enclosing, in a great measure supports his family. He has besides about a hundred guineas of stipend ycarly. It is a shame (though Mr. Allison never does) that the clergy in the Shetland and Orkney Islands should so of ten wink at their churches being the repositories of smuggled goods, chiefly foreign spirits. The apostle Paul exhorts his converts not to be filled with wine, wherein is excess, but to be filled with the spirit. The people in the Orkney and Shetland Islands, perhaps, misinterpret this text.

As I saw many of the people of the Shetland Islands at the market at Kirkwall, particularly from Mainland, which is the largest of them, being

nearly sixty miles long and twenty broad, and of which Lerwick is the capital, I did not go to see them. The manners, customs, and language of these islanders are nearly the same as in the Orkneys, only their countenances are darker, and seemingly more weatherbeaten.

my

There being an elegant ball one evening at Kirkwall, during the market week, I went to see it; and must say, that though I have seen assemblies at Edinburgh, London, Bath, &c. yet I scarcely ever saw more mirth, innocence, elegant dancing, or more handsome and elegantly dressed ladies in life; and I have reason to conclude, that had any of the English squires and dashing beaux been there, they would have thought so; but though the better sort of people in the Orkneys seem to live comfortably, yet I am afraid, that, as happens in many other places, the common people do not. Indeed, in the market, some of them, though seemingly happy, exhibited strong marks of poverty; and I was sorry to see these poor people so much imposed upon by those who visit them. If I mistake not, almost all the goods in the market were either old and not fresh, or they were what is termed bad or unmarketable goods.

I was much pleased to find here a number of weavers, &c. employed by the Glasgow manufacturers, and two Miss Sinclairs employing near a hundred girls, from six to twenty years of age, in the manufacture of plait and straw hats. The straw is bought from the farmers in England, cut in certain lengths, and after being milled and dressed, is plaited; and, as is done in Caithness and

into bonnets.

many other places, sewed and made up of various shapes and colours, for the London market and home consumption, Leghorn and other hats having almost entirely given place to this species of manufacture. I saw no shoes made of plaited straw here, though I observed them at Bedford, in England; and some of the dashing ladies on the south side of the Tweed are beginning to use this elegant

ware.

Having been invited to witness a marriage during my stay in the Orkneys, I was peculiarly pleased with the address of the clergyman to the young people who had entered the pale of matrimony, saying to the young husband, "You, having presented this woman with a ring, which is emblematical of eternity; and, as you have given her that, which has no end, so, by this action, you signify that your love shall have no end. And remember that you, the woman, by accepting the ring, which, though you turn it round a thousand times, you will not come to the end of it, promise that your love, affection, and obedience, to that man, who gave you it, shall be perpetual." Among the Egyptian hieroglyphics, eternity was represented by a fish with its tail in its mouth; so I am of opinion, with the good clergyman of the Orkneys, that there is more meant by the giving and receiving a ring than is generally supposed.

Every one knows that the Orkney and Shetland Islands formerly belonged to the kingdom of Denmark and Norway, and that they passed under the Sovereignty of Scotland only in the fifteenth century. It is not many years since the Norse lan