No. XXXIII

From MR. RAMSAY,

To DR. BLACKLOCK.

Ocherlyre, 27th October, 1787.

DEAR SIR,

I RECEIVED yours by Mr. Burns, and give you many thanks for giving me an opportunity of conversing with a man of his calibre. He will, I doubt not, let you know what passed between us on the subject of my hints, to which I have made additions in a letter I sent him t'other day to your care.

*

You may tell Mr. Burns, when you see him,

that

never having written a line which, dying, they would wish to blot. In particular, I wish you to keep clear of the thorny walks of satire, which makes a man an hundred enemies for one friend, and is doubly dangerous when one is supposed to extend the slips and weaknesses of individuals to their sect or party. About modes of faith, serious and excellent men have always differed; and there are certain curious questions, which may afford scope to men of metaphysical heads, but seldom mend the heart or temper. Whilst these points are beyond human ken, it is sufficient that all our sects concur in their views of morals. You will forgive me for these hints.

Well! what think you of good Lady Clackmannan ?* It is a pity she is so deaf, and speaks so indistinctly. Her house is a specimen of the mansions of our gentry of the last age, when hospitality and elevation of mind were conspicuous amidst plain fare and plain furniture. I shall be glad to hear from you at times, if it were no more than to shew that you take the effusions of an obscure man like me in

good

*Mrs. Bruce of Clackmannan.

E.

good part. I beg my best respects to Dr. and Mrs. Blacklock.*

And am, Sir,

Your most obedient humble servant,

J. RAMSAY.

* TALE OF OMERON CAMERON.

IN one of the wars betwixt the Crown of Scotland and the Lords of the Isles, Alexander Stewart, Earl of Mar, (a distinguished character in the fifteenth century) and Donald Stewart, Earl of Caithness, had the command of the royal army. They marched into Lochaber, with a view of attacking a body of M'Donalds, commanded by Donald Balloch, and posted upon an arm of the sea which intersects that country. Having timely intelligence of their approach, the insurgents got off percipitately to the opposite shore in their curraghs, or boats covered with skins. The king's troops encamped in full security; but the M'Donalds, returning about midnight, surprised them, killed the Earl of Caithness, and destroyed or dispersed the whole army.

The Earl of Mar escaped in the dark, without any attendants, and made for the more hilly part of the coun try. In the course of his flight he came to the house of a poor man, whose name was Omeron Cameron. The landlord welcomed his guest with the utmost kindness;

66

but, as there was no meat in the house, he told his wife he would directly kill Maol Odhar,* to feed the stranger. "Kill our only cow!" said she, our own and our little children's principal support!" More attentive, however, to the present call for hospitality, than to the remonstrances of his wife, or the future exigencies of his family, he killed the cow. The best and tenderest parts were immediately roasted before the fire, and plenty of innirich, or Highland soup, prepared to conclude their meal. The whole family and their guest ate heartily, and the evening was spent, as usual, in telling tales and singing songs beside a cheerful fire. Bed-time came; Omeron brushed the hearth, spread the cow-hide upon it, and desired the stranger to lie down. The Earl wrapped his plaid about him, and slept soundly on the hide, whilst the family betook themselves to rest in a corner of the same room.

66

Next morning they had a plentiful breakfast, and at his departure his guest asked Cameron, if he knew whom he had entertained? "You may probably," answered he, "be one of the King's officers; but whoever you are, you came here in distress, and here it was my duty to pro"tect you. To what my cottage afforded, you was most "welcome."--"Your guest, then," replied the other, "is "the Earl of Mar: and if hereafter you fall into any mis"fortune, fail not to come to the castle of Kildrummie."

"My blessing be with you! noble stranger," said Omeron; "if I am ever in distress, you shall soon see me."

The royal army was soon after re-assembled; and the insurgents, finding themselves unable to make head against

it,

Maol odhar, i. e. the brown humble cow.

it, dispersed. The M'Donalds, however, got notice that Omeron had been the Earl's host, and forced him to fly the country. He came with his wife and children to the gate of Kildrummie castle, and required admittance with a confidence which hardly corresponded with his habit and appearance. The porter told him rudely, his lordship was at dinner, and must not be disturbed. He became noisy and importunate: at last his name was announced. Upon hearing that it was Omeron Cameron, the Earl started from his seat, and is said to have exclaimed in a sort of poetical stanza, "I was a night in his house, "and fared most plentifully; but naked of clothes was

my bed. Omeron from Breugach is an excellent fel"low." He was introduced into the great hall, and received with the welcome he deserved. Upon hearing how he had been treated, the Earl gave him a four merk

near the castle; and it is said there are still in the country a number of Camerons descended of this Highland Eumæus.

No.