this midden-stead, and Mungo had been fighting about it a' that day in the Shirra-court; and John and he were on opposite sides. So, says John, I suppose ye're here as Procurator for Mrs Frood, to take infeftment of the midden-stead; I'm sure there's nae want o' symbols about ye; and I dare say Jenny 'll no grudge you taking pouchfu's o' them hame wi' ye.' But about this same John Herbertson; ye see, there has been nae lawyer in this town entitled to open his mouth i' the Shirracourt since John Crawford died, though Jeskir Wilson, our TownClerk, is a kind o' half-bred; but the silly doited thing has made himsel' useless wi' snuff and whisky. So John has just the management, in a manner, o' ilka dispute that tak's place among us, and pits into the Drumdrouth writers' heads what they're to say; and thae chaps, ye may be sure, are a' glad to court the acquaintance o' John. I've heard that Willie Fleck, at the townhead, has gat hold o' some law-buiks, and set himsel' up in opposition to John; but though Willie has got eneugh to say, he's no that sicker, but just flighty awee; and they say that his word disna' gang sae far as John's wi' our Bailies, nor yet wi' the Shirra." After some chit-chat with Mrs Jardine, of no manner of consequence to the reader, I proceeded up stairs, when I found Mr Heaviland striding impatiently across the room, in expectation of my return to breakfast. His eyes were a little bloodshot, but, in all other respects, he appeared bold and vigorous as a lion; and his performance at breakfast satisfied me that his health was in noways impaired by his indulgence of the preceding evening. Indeed, I much doubt whether two individuals ever engaged a more substantial breakfast than we did that morning; for, in addition to the usual items, we had kipper, and ham, and honey, and marmalade, of the last of which Mr Heaviland ate most abundantly. In addition to that stomachic, he indulged himself with a glass of mountain dew, poured into his last cup, and prevailed upon me to follow his example. This libation, he explained to me, was for the purpose of fortifying his constitution against the miasma of the surrounding country, as well as to indulge a habit he had early acquired when abroad. In conversing together, I communicated to Mr Heaviland some of the few remarks which I had made in the course of my morning's ramble. He listened attentively, and observed, that there was one subject of inquiry connected with Dubslacks, which I had not had time to investigate; namely, the character of its inhabitants. "It may appear strange to you," continued he," that I should make choice of this secluded Burgh as my place of residence. The truth is, that I have come to imbibe a partiality for Scotland; and though Dubslacks presents not the most perfect sample of Scottish scenery, nor of Scottish manners, there are, to a person of my habits, certain attractions about it which render it less disagreeable; besides, I have higher motives for residing here, which I may explain to you hereafter. Here have I been these eight months; and you may believe that by this time I have acquired some little knowledge of the natives. They are, (as you will have observed,) in outward show, a grave, meditative, lanternjawed set of people. In the imperturbable listlessness of their manner, they seem as if abstracted from all sublunary concerns; and from their spare bodies, which one would suppose to be macerated by the most painful vigils and obstinate fasts, they look altogether not unlike a college of religious ascetics. But there is that in their gait which proclaims their consciousness of being the denizens of one of the most ancient Burghs of Scotland,-the seat of a fortress, once the greatest stronghold upon the southern march, and the descendants of the feudal retainers of the illustrious Bruce, whose patrimonial possessions lay in the immediate neighbourhood. Their pride, which, under other circumstances, would be noble, is positively ridiculous when allied with the most squalid poverty. It is supported partly by ancient recollections, and partly by the fact, that almost every man of the least consideration in the Burgh has been a participator of civic honours. Hence it often happens, that the blacksmith who shoes your horse, or the publican who serves you with a dram, or the weaver whom you may observe seated at his monotonous toil, in the midst of filth, with a cutty in his mouth, carries about with him the honourable agnomen of Bailie. The most flourishing corporation in the kingdom is not more prolific of honours, nor are they any where more impartially distributed, which arises from their being scarcely any perceptible distinc tion of rank among the people. For example, a wight who practises as a Sheriff's officer, struts about Procutor Fiscal of the Burgh. It happen ed at the time when the revolutionary frenzy was at its height, that a bluff English traveller was driving his gig into the town, when he encountered, about the outskirts, an obstruction in the shape of a peat cart, which was drawn across the road in invidiam of all other vehicles. After remonstrating in vain with its owner, a venerable-looking person, habited in a coarse light-blue duffle, and his legs well cased with that thick viscous mud, which is emphatically called glaur, he threatened to complain of his conduct to the Mayor of the place. The man, who happened to be Sir Provost himself, undauntedly replied, in a tone not unlike the expiring notes of a bagpipe, Ye may gang and tell the Mair to kiss my clapping his hand, at the same time, upon the only fleshy part of his person. The Englishman, in whose imagination a Lord Mayor was the greatest of earthly potentates, was shocked beyond measure by the irreverent expression; and mistaking the honest man's pirnie-cap for a bonnet rouge, persuaded himself that Jacobinism was actually triumphant within the walls of the Burgh; in which belief he turned about his machine, and made a rapid detour to the place of his desti nation. "It is not to be supposed that the inhabitants of Dubslacks have escaped the pernicious influence of Burgh politics. In truth, and sorry I am to say it, Dubslacks is preeminently rotten,so much so, that the viciousness of the system has corroded away the entire stamina of the moral constitution of its inhabitants. But for the baneful privilege which they possess, secluded as they are, geographically, from the great world, they might be a virtuous, industrious, and respectable community. But their privilege is the great chain which connects them with that world, and in a way which periodically affords them an opportu nity of the most sensual indulgence, and of practising, with advantage, every species of craft, dissimulation, and low jugglery, which have thus become with them fixed and indelible habits. The inhabitant of the parched banks of the Nile does not wait with more impatience for the rise of that mighty river, than do the Dubslacks burgesses the summoning of a new parliament. Then commences the whole degrading routine of electioneering manoeuvres, junketing, caballing, promise-making and promise-breaking, &c., in all which every man or woman in the Burgh is more or less participant. It is the custom for a candidate, besides having a professional chargé-d'affaires upon the spot, to delegate some veteran toper to drag his voters into, and maintain them in a state of passive insensibility. It is only on such occasions that the good people of Dubslacks enjoy bacchanalian luxuries in their highest perfection. Like the Boa Constrictor, when the eating fit is upon him, they gorge themselves with a load which is to serve them for a long and indefinite period; they become red in the gills, pursy and plump; and from their brows drops of sweat, resembling beads of amber, are exuded the same as from a Moffat haggis. But, in a few days, they begin to droop; and, ere a month is past, they are resolved into their primitive ghastly and attenuated forms. The high excitement which they have undergone is succeeded by hallucination, or stupor; in which state they dose away their days in an atmosphere compounded of tobacco smoke and the fumes of the coarsest and most deleterious whisky. Time rolls unconsciously over their heads; and it is uncertain whether any of them, during this period, could assign to a particular day its precise station in the calendar. It happened once, upon a third of June, that the two bells of the Burgh were set a-ringing by the worthy beadle, who happened at that time to be just so far recovered from the effects of some sweet oblivious antidote" as to have an indistinct recollection of the important duties confided to him. As nothing less than a concert was intended by this high functionary for the entertainment of his constituents, he found it necessary to call in the aid of a trusty crony, who happened to be the Esculapius of the BurghDr Black, a gentleman who is distinguished from his patients by a formidable queue, which descends to his rump. A merry peal was soon struck up, to the inexpressible delight of the citizens, who exulted in the proud thought that they had actually a plurality of bells. It was announced to them, that that was the natal day of his majesty, and the dulcet sounds from the steeple were held by all to be demonstrative of the fact. The beadle and the doctor pulled; the boys shouted; the dogs, from natural dispathy, yelled. But, in the midst of this portentous din, the truth was unexpectedly revealed to them by some "good-natured" stranger, that they were a day too early in their demonstrations of loyalty. The beadle and his colleague, to drown their chagrin, had again recourse to the oblivious antidote, and next day passed off sub silentio. "The gravity of the people, in short, is the outward sign of the most consummate hypocrisy; they are lazy, because, instead of trusting to honest industry for a decent support, they become the dependents of some little great man, whose favours, which come" few and far between," are as selfishly bestowed as they are paltry and pitiful; and they are profligate, because they are lazy. Their moral condition realizes to the fullest extent what your Lord Kaimes, in one of his excellent tracts, has predicated of the people of your small Royal Burghs, whom he represents as depraved and brutified in the extreme, by their wretched system of government. An optimist, however, would say with Mr Wyndham, that these are the strains through which the representation of the people in Parliament is "well refined," even to etherial purity; and being myself an optimist in wishes, if not in principle, I am willing to believe that the member for Dubslacks has left behind him all that was earthly and feculent about him with his worthy constituents." The reader will recognise, in this description by Mr Heaviland, a cynical turn of thinking; which certainly was one of that gentleman's characteristics, heightened in many instances, I am inclined to suppose, by some Trans-Atlantic prejudices which he had imbibed in his travels. The reader will therefore regard his description as, in some measure, a caricature, which I here exhibit merely as a specimen of the extraordinary mind of the artist. Mr Heaviland and I spent the forenoon in loitering about, and conversing on a diversity of topics. After dinner, we were visited by Captain Macfergus, who looked woefully bleached, and had enough to do in maintaining the habitual simper of complacency upon his countenance. When pressed to "take a hair of the dog that bit him," he complied, after a faint shew of reluctance, and afterwards chaunted the song of "Why, soldiers, why— Why should we be melancholy ?" She has nae faut, if sic we ca't, After waiting in vain for some congratulation upon the great happiness which was in wait for him, the Captain took his leave, expressing by his countenance the sentiment which was so honestly uttered by Falstaff," you see how we men of merit are sought after." Chapter III. THE sun blazed with a scorching brightness as, one morning, I awoke from my slumbers, and a thick mist was exhaled from the breast of the loch, and lazily rested upon it in huge undulations. Above, the air was of crystalline purity, save where, from the cottage-chimney, a small volume of smoke arose, which slowly expanded and flickered before it disappeared in the lustre of the firmament. The grasshopper chirped with more than common animation, and the rays of the sun shot with such intensity as to produce the phenomenon of the mirage upon the east side of the long stone dykes which intersected the country. These certain presages of good weather determined me to make an excursion to the ancient castle of Dubslacks, the more especially as Mr Heaviland that day was bent upon a fishing excursion, in which I did not chuse to accompany him. So, strolling down the loch, at its farther extremity I reached the remains of the castle, which is now little more than a tumulus of stones, surrounded by trees of a most venerable growth. After fatiguing myself with laborious attempts to trace, amidst the massive ruins, the original architecture of the building, I seated myself upon a stone, and commenced ruminating upon its ancient grandeur as contrasted with the melancholy desolation which now reigned within its precincts. While thus engaged, the figure of John Herbertson suddenly emerged from behind a clump of trees, slowly directing his steps along a rude footpath which conducted through the ruins. A stranger might have supposed him to be the Genius of the place, so well did his timeworn, but dignified serenity of appearance, harmonize with it. For myself, understanding John to be a solitary animal, who never roamed abroad but upon enterprizes of great pith and moment," I was at first startled upon seeing him; but, resolved not to let the precious opportunity escape, I contrived to cross his path as he advanced upon me, and, affecting an extreme ignorance, "Pray," I said, in a tone of humility, "can you inform me of the precise date of this ancient building?" John condescended to halt, and, after a keen and rather suspicious survey of my person, replied," Sae far as ever I heard, there are nae writs or evidents extant to throw any light upon that subject. But ancient history informs us, that it was the residence of the Bruce family, wha acquired a' the lands about, by ane o' them marrying Agnes Annand, the only daughter and heiress of the umquhile laird. Agnes's gudeman was an Englishman, and a graceless loon he was, for he fought after that against the kintra that fan' him in (Scoticè, provided him with) baith a wife and an estate. And the family continued English for a generation or twa; but I trow there was Scottish bluid eneugh in their veins when Robert succeeded to his rights. It was in this castle that Robert first drew the breath o' life, and whar' he first rested his foot when he escaped frae the court o' the English tyrant; though I've often wondered how he fand his way here in the dead o' winter, and the green covered wi' snaw,-for I'm sure, wi' a' the money that's been wared upon the roads here about, there's nae travelling noo at that dreary season, for either beast or body." "King Robert," I remarked, "must have had a strong partiality for Dubslacks, as it lay upon the very borders of his patrimonial possessions." "On the borders, do ye say?" replied John; aye, in the very heart o' them. It was he wha first erected it into a Burgh, and made grants to the burgesses of meikle land round about; there was nae a better-endowed Burgh in a' Scotland than Dubslacks at ae time; but a bonny hand they ha'e made o't. King Robert, I trow, if he had a thousand fau'ts, (and I never heard that he was wyted for aught, excepting, by some pernickety folks, for slaying that ne'er-do-weel Cummin, as he held by the horns of the altar,) was open-handed eneugh. He set tled a' the lands to the south there, that thae clauchins are biggit on, upon some o' his best sodgers; and their descendants haud them to this day by a very odd sort of tenure, whilk is known in rae ither part of Scotland. Their rights are na feudal; and it is for that reason they dinna require sasine; but when ane succeeds to anither, either as heir, or by a conveyance, a' that he has to do is to get his name entered in the buiks o' Lord Stormyhill, wha has the dominium directum of the lands, and, in certain respects, may be ca'd the laird o' them,-for ye maun understand they're only tenants; but as they pay just ane elusory duty, and there's nae ish in their tacks, they're kent in law-buiks by the name o' 'friendly tenants.'” I was much delighted with the excessive communicativeness of the old man, and ventured to insinuate a compliment upon the extensiveness of his knowledge; the only return he made to which was, to set himself on a stone directly opposite to my old seat, which I again resumed. "The folks o' thae clauchins," continued John," ha'e mony a queer custom amang them; indeed, if I may use scripture language on sic an unworthy subject, they are a peculiar people. Whether they ha'e ony o' the right fighting spirit o' their forebears amang them, I'll no tak' it upon me to say, but weel I wat they're aye bickering amang themselves about their bit grundsteads. They're never happy when out o' the law; and a' the siller they can claut toge ther finds its way o'er Errick-stane to nurse their pleys, whilk ha'e lang been a bye-word to the Lords of Session." I could not help smiling at this sage reproof of a propensity which John himself was so instrumental in cherishing; and observed, that, in former times, people would have taken a more expeditious way of ending their disputes. "Atweel that's true," John replied; " and bonnie times they war', when the law neither afforded a man a living, nor wa'd maintain him in ane, against the oppressions o' ithers. Folks did a' by the strong hand i' thae days, there was nought than but stouthrief and killing amang them; and what did the pit and gallows' privilege o' the Barons signify in keeping the peace, unless it was to hang up honest men wha cam' on the lands o' thae haughty lords, to reclaim their ain? Ae year the Maxwells were burning the Laird o' Johnston's house about his lady's lugs ;then the Maxwells and the Crichtons had a bruilzie on the sands o' Drumdrouth, when no ane o' the Sanquhar folks, that was there, escaped wi' his life;-the Crichtons and the Johnstons had a turn-out, and a' about a horse ;-and then the Maxwells and the Johnstons wad try their strength on Dryfe Sands, whar' Lord Maxwell lost his life;-after that, young Lord Maxwell wa'd lay in wait and slay the Laird o' Johnston, and for that was obliged to tak' refuge in Ireland. Thae were wearifu' times, as I've aften said, whan the Johnstons and the Jardines ruled the roast in this part o' the kintra. What kind o' folks they war' ye may judge frae the auld bracard that has come doon to us The Johnstons and the Jardines, great rogues a'. Bonnie times, indeed, when the King had to tak' out lawburrows against the Laird o' Johnston and the Laird o' Applegarth, just as, in thae peaceable times, ae scolding wife gangs before a Bailie, and swears the peace against anither! What wa'd the like o' thae great men ha'e said, had they seen Charlie Hood, or any other sic devil's gyte, coming to their door wi' a charge horning? My certy! the wand o' peace wa'd ha'e been a puir protection against pit and gallows. But noo the maist rampageous amang them maun knuckle to the arm o the law. There was Sir John Irving,-wha sae proud and overbearing as he? Yet the maist he could do, whan a messenger cam' to his door, was to fill him fou, to keep him frae poinding his hirsel. Sir John was ane o' thae stubborn loons that wa'd never pay debt without ha'ing the King's express command for it; and e'en managed to mak' a boast o' his misfortunes. Every charge o' horning that he got he stack up in ane o' the best rooms o' his house, until at last the wa's war' fairly covered wi' them; and then the menseless body wa'd shaw a' his |