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" « much the h ! how Ava. 23, 1851.] *»»...
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Notes'ol«' Tkavkl And Talk. Nt)W«Khtl«;-...
little conceit of their " education , why , I suppose ie must excuse it . Englishmen have also their cWeit ; and so « let that pass . The sturdy independence of some , and the natural cheerfulness of the many , among the Scotch , make one wonder that this irksome bondage is borne so long Ihe rise , of the Free Kirk , " too , they say , has tightened the general bondage ; for the new sect vies with the old insetting the example of strictness . I heard that some parties had been summoned before the authorities in Arbroath , and fined , for walking out on the Sunday ! Perhaps it is to be denied that such instances should increase—even till they attempt to nail up people ' s doors and windows on the Sunday . May the Scotch have enough of it ! say I—till they end it . _
And now , having said my say about the dark side , iet me have done with it , and turn to the bright one . Did I enjoy Scotland ? O yes , most superlatively I lbund warm hearts and a fervent welcome which made me forget the Sunday bondage ; and the scenery »_ it was so glorious that I am trying to repicture it in my mind every day , and shall feel restless till I see it again . The first leisure day I could seize I got into a steam-packet and went down the Clyde , and then by rail to Loch Lomond . A small steamer plies from one end of the lake to the other . It was a radiant evening—the sky so deeply blue and the sun so bright that the dullest scenery
might have pleased ; but here it was so gorgeousthat pomp of sun and sky , and lake and mountainsthat , in plain mother Englis . li ( for fine Words are of no use here ) , I felt as if emotion would choke me , and hid my face from the glances of gentles , lest they should gaze at me for a sentimental fool . I got on shore at the little inn called " Rowerdrennan "—a very choice spot—and found two young Scotch working-men , recently married , who , with their brides , were purposing to climb Ben Lomond , to see the sun rise next morning . Like all Scotchmen , they had to consider aboot it before they fully made up their minds . I told them I would go even if I went alone . This served to summon their wills to a
decision ; and it was arranged that we were to be called at one o ' clock , and commence the journey half an hour after , under the direction of one of the " guides , " kept at the inn . Every body said whisky would be needed to give us strength to reach the summit of the mountain ; and my companions took it liberally on the way , and gave the " guide , " a poor Irishman , a very fair portion at sundry times . There was such an abundant supply of water , however , as we went along that I declined taking the spirit either in going up of coming down , nor did I feel that I needed it . The Scotch lasses displayed wonderful vigour , and got over the difficulties of the ascents as nimbly as any of us . At the last ppring , I left Pat and the lads and lasses to their whisky and water , and dashed on to win the top first . Ah ,
the sly rogue Phoebus ! he had just risen when I won the peak ; so that I did not Bee him rise , but only risen ; and there he was with his huge crimson face barred with black clouds , resting his chin on the horizon . Presently his undress was laid aside , and he put on his robes of glorious gold , and then—by the Titans !—but it was grand , " beyond compare , ' to see how he lighted up the giant peaks of Ben Lcdi , and Ben Mawr , and Ben Eigh , and Ben Voirlich , and lien Lawers , and a hundred lesser peaks ; and how he drove away the mists and laid bare the broad , glittering bosom of Loch Lomond , with its hundred islets , and gave us a glimpse of Loch Long , and tinted up Loch Katrine , and showed us the Lake of Monteiih , and the interminable lowlands of the east ! The cold became eo intense in a few
minutes ( especially as I was wet through with perspiration ) , that 1 was drinking in that draught of . magnificence with the thought that I must lose it immediately , and never have it again , —when one of my companions , who had conic up , repeated the saying of a rough , strong-headed peasant , who had Been the name Bight with one of his friends" Eh , inon Jock , are not the works o' the Almighty deevilish r" That was . such a stroke of real poetry as made me despair of ever saying aught equal to it about the view from the top of Ben Lomond at sunrise ; and ho ho more . 1 left the lads and lasses and descended , shiveiing with cold ; for although it was the 28 th of June , it was but half-past three in the morning , and we were many hundred feet above the level of the sea . Pat was soon after me , and
gave unmistakable signs of having taken too deep and frequents draughts at the whibky bottle . He was sure that I was a jintlemiui , and would give him half-u-crown ! an English jintlcmun , — and the English jintleinen always gave the most ! He had smull wages -very small wages ; and he took anything that the jinthnieii pleased to give him ! But he vvab huh : thai 1 wuh a rale jintlenuui , and would give him half-a crown !—and ko on , till down he fell in the mud . l'ive times he fell , before wo reached tho bottom ; but ho Avould not hear of my suspicion that he had taken too much whisky . " Oeh , no , yer honour" ! said he , " it ' s the want o' bleep , and tho mnall wages , yer honour ! I ' m bine ye' 11 give me t half-u-crown I " Let me not forget one most rupturoua bit of scenery
that I saw in Scotland ; for I saw so much on the grand scale , that minuter beauties might easily be forgotten for the moment . The " Glen ' of Campsie should be seen by every lover of the picturesque : the winding stream , the magnificent giant beeches , the grand waterfall , are worth walking fifty miles ; to see ! By the way , the only new wild vegetable that I found in Scotland grows in that romantic glenthe wild leek , or onion ; it scents the air perceptibly . I have heard that it is found in England ; but never found it here myself . Just as it was in Ulster , I found the ' wild flowers all over Scotland were the same as those of my boyhood ; and looked in vain , with this exception , for a new flower . Even in the neighbourhood of Aberdeen , 500 miles from London , I found none but old acquaintances .
Talking of Aberdeen—what a grand street is its « Union-street "—long , wide , and regularly built , and all the houses of granite ! It is unique . The inhabitants may well be proud of it . To speak truth , I was not more happy in any part of Scotland than in Aberdeen . The town itself— " the granite city , " as they call it—is a very noble one ; but the earnest , intelligent , and kindly working-men by whom I was surrounded , and the interesting character of the four meetings I held there , rendered my brief stay of five days as memorable to me as some five weeks of other parts of my life .
The rich cultivation , interspersed with transcendent natural scenery , all the way from Glasgow to Aberdeen ( passing by Stirling , Perth , Dundee , Dumblane , & c . —all most beautifully situated ) , and , again , from Aberdeen to Dundee , render the journey , even by railway , one continued feast to the eye and the mind . Dundee , itself , is an ill-built town , although the site is in the midst of natural beauty . Of all the rivers of Scotland , the Tay is the broadest , and most imposing ; and the "Law , " or high hill above the town , affords a very noble panorama . In the cemetery reposes my friend , poor Willie Thom . I went and stood upon his lowly grave ; and , as I looked around ,
I felt that if poor Willie , now his suffering is o ' er , could be conscious of where he lies , he would be glad . It is , indeed , a beautiful spot : flowers bloom on the rich sward , the princely Tay stretches his broad arm on one side , and swelling hills encircle the prospect on the other : it is just where a poet ' s grave should be—and a very lowly headstone records that a " Poet" lies there ; but they have misspelt the name : "it is Thorns , " inBtead of Thom ; and the stone is so mean and email , that it compels you to remember poor \ yillie ' s poverty and suffering , even if you would forget all ! "*
I found many highly intelligent and . 'kindly men in Dundee ; but , to my great surprise , a , considerable number of them were arguers for the foolish doctrine of physical force . , 1 had not expected to find such people in " educated" Scotland ; and , in one protracted conversation , after my public talk was over , we had such a sturdy debate as 1 shall not soon forget . I so far forgot my philosophy as to be really angry with rny friends . Zeal against their error impelled me in to error . I rely on their good feeling to excuse me . If ever we meet again , and they have not then forsaken their old-fashioned doctrine , we will try to
fight out the battle with a little more calmness . At Edinburgh I fell into an equal and similar error . I must say ho ; for I should not be easy if I did not keep " my heart on the outside of my waistcoat . " I really quarrelled with a-company of teetotallersreal friends , and noble young fellows though they Avere . But they seemed , ns I thought , intolerant , and inclined to dictate that I should practise what I knew I could not practise without losing my strength and capacity for constant labour . It is not the first time that 1 have been met in this way , and the recurrence of dictation—or what I think is
dictationrenders such treatment increasingly grievous . Yet I cannot justify my loss of temper ; and when one of those young men met me the next evening , and , Avith » n expressive look , said , " You ought to have been the meekest ! " the rebuke was felt so keenly , that 1 Avas heartily humbled . Erom Dundee ( across the r £ ny and through the finely cultivated and minerally rich county of EifV ) , 1 went to Dunferinlinc . Again I was welcomed and surrounded by kind hearts und intelligent minds ; Hiid the " lions" of the place served to swell the list of remarkable historic Mights- I had witnessed in Scotland . Prom Glasgow ( in addition to my Loch Lomond trip ) , 1 had found one day ' s leisure to go to
" Auld Ayr , " the cottage in which Burns was born , Kirk Alloway , and the Brig o'Uoon . From Paisley , in company with the Poet Mitchell ( the companion of Tannahill ) and several other friends , I had passed to Eldcrblie , to see " Wallace ' s oak , " and the house in which ( it is said ) the hero was born ; and now , at Dunfermline , 1 was in the Abbey where " Kobert the Bruce " is entombed , and among the stately and picturesquo ruins of the fuvouiitc palace of many of the Scottish Kinytt . In tho house , too , of Mr . Ptiion , the Swedenborgiaii minister , I saw the richest collection of antiquities , chiefly from the pulaces of Dunfcrmluie , Stirling , Scone , Holyrood , & c . ~ that 1 have * -y « et > » »» the possession of an untitled person . Mr . Putou ' tt kindl y readineuB in showing his collection renders tho treat the greater .
Edinburgh ! how eager I felt for the first sight of it ! But disappointment fell upon me at first . It had been misrepresented to me . Its houses were not of the charcter that they had been described to have r so tall and regular that you might stretch a straight rod over them , and touch all their tops ! Pooh ! nobody had told me of the unparalleled romance of its site—of its monuments , and their striking situations—of the Scott monument ( the most peerless thing in Britain ) ; of the really Athenian air of the " Caltonhill ; " of the majesty of the grand rock , " Arthur ' s
seat ; " of the frowning but fine effect of the old castle on its mount ! It is the finest city in Britain , so far as I have seen ( and I have now seen every large town , except Dublin and Cork , Plymouth and Devonport ) ; but it is the magical effect of its situation , and not the superior buildings in its streets and squares , which give it the palm . For excellence of streets and squares Glasgow is equal to it , and I should almost say superior ; but no city in the three kingdoms possesses a site so grandly romantic , —so rich in elevations , and the advantage they give to the architect for displaying his work , as Edinburgh .
Thought is more free from fetters , I think , in the capital than in any other part of Scotland . Not that the " unco guid" are much disposed to relax their iron rule in Edinburgh any more than in Aberdeen , Dundee , or Glasgow ; but the number of English visitors , chiefly of the holiday classes , renders it almost impossible to preserve the " Scottish Sabbath " with such Seville orange-purity in Edinburgh as in Glasgow ; and these visitors , too , mingling with the
Kirk people , but not being of their peculiar persuasion , must create a more liberal atmosphere in the drawingrooms of the rich and middle classes on the week days . For working-men , it seems to me , that there is a great work to do in Edinburgh , and fine opportunity for doing it . They have intelligence , the number that I saw—and they only need union , discretion , and perseverance to perform a great liberalising deed . _
Of course I saw everything that I could see while in Edinburgh— not omitting " palace" of Holyrood . What a pity it is that the very old lady should die Avho shows you over Queen Mary ' s rooms , and points you out her bed and the stains of David Itizzio ' s blood ; her stories and her ancient self axe so wonderfully in keeping ! I told her so ; and she received it all in earnest , smiled most graciously , dropped mo so court-like and grand a curtsey , and said , with a toss of the head as lofty as that of a counte & s , that she was very much obliged to me ! If the old lady does die , they ought to pull down those miserable gloomy room 8 she shows , and make an end of the savage mockery altogether . with
I had two hours' delig htful conversation Mr . de Quincy , at Lasswade , and was as deeply impressed with his intellectual power in talking , as I waft with his writing when , in my boyhood , I read his " Confessions of an English Opium Eater , " in th & loveable old London Magazine . InDalkeilh and Lass wade I stayed too brief a time ; to be able to make much observation ; and our meetings at the former place were anything but good —all organization having been neglected for a long time . The two remaining towns I visited in Scotland , Galashiels , and Hawick , presented a very different state of things . The meetings were , in Giuashiela especially , well-attended , and tho listeners eager and intelligent . I was now in the
neighbourhood of all Scott ' s mighty enchantments —• went to gaze at Abbotsford—made a pedestrian journey to Melrose Abbey ( what marvellously perfect and minute carvery ! I have seen nothing equal to it , except that of one chapel in Ely cathedral)—and to Dryburgh Abbey , where the mighty magician lies . That was a day to be often recalled , so long as I live . O the beauty of all that Tweed land , over which Scott eo often rode ! The romantic river , those " cleft" Eildon hills , " Norham ' s castled steep , "and all the spots refilling the mind with the riches of his verse and prose , —how eagerly I strained to have the last glimpse of it all as the train went tearing along its way and at last bore me once more to the edgo of the German ocean , and gave me a night of old
Berwick ! Much as I had thought of returning to England , I was surprised that 1 felt sad , when all that glorious scenery was passed , mid the common-place landscape was restored to me ; but it was England , and bo I soon was in good humour with it . I cannot close this already wearisome ntory without saying , that on my return from visiting Kirk Alloway , and the cottage of Burns , I called on his remaining sister , Mrs . Begg , a highly intelligent
woman of eighty , who gave me some information of an important character , as 1 deem it to be . Her daughter , Isabella , was present while I had tho short conversation with her . I told her that I entertained strong doubts of the truth of nmny things which were said about her illustrious brother , and 1 wished to have the hem fit of her own personal knowledge respecting him . Sim replied that Bho would have pleasure in giving mo all the mtormation in her power . I told her that u person in Ulaagow had declared to me , tho other day , that ho beliovod all the account ** of her brother a irregular
" « Much The H ! How Ava. 23, 1851.] *»»...
Ava . 23 , 1851 . ] *»» " *««»»*? *« _
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Aug. 23, 1851, page 7, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_23081851/page/7/
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