*

was awakened by a call from his customer, who came to pay his account. After the business was settled, his neighbour said, "You are now paid; I would not for my best cow that I should sleep while you wanted your money after your term of payment, and that I should be the last in the country in your debt." Unfortunately, new regulations, new views of Highland statistics, and the novel practice of letting land to the highest bidder, regardless of the fidelity and punctual payment of old occupiers, have a melancholy change. Few of the late moral population now remain, and that few are mostly reduced to the condition of cottars and day-labourers. The person who now occupies the shop, a son of the former possessor, must not only keep strict accounts, but give short credits, and calculate on an annual reduction of his profits by bad payments; and he is in little danger of being deprived of his morning slumbers by debtors anxious to pay, and ashamed of being in debt. This is now too common to be a reproach, and is one of the many concomitants of modern improvements and civilization, as they have been forced on and practised in the Highlands.

Q. Page 98.

IN the Highlands, where so many of the same name live in the same district or glen, some denomination for distinguishing individuals beyond that of the generic name is indispensable. In the late Sutherland Fencible Regiment there were 17 William Mackays in Captain Sackville Sutherland's company, and 104 in the regiment. When the 2d battalion of the 78th Highlanders was raised in 1804, an ensign from Ross-shire brought 18 men of his own name, of Macrae, as part of his complement of 20, for an ensigncy. On the estates of many noblemen and gentlemen, the number of their own surnames is often beyond all proportion greater than any others. On a part of the estate of Menzies, running four miles along one side of a valley, on the banks of the Tay, there are 502 of his name, descended of that family. Many similar instances are still to be met with where gentlemen have retained their ancient tenantry. In Athole, an extensive district of Perthshire, there were, not many years ago, 36 landholders of the name of Stewart: there are still 23 ; and in Athole, Strathearn, and Monteith, there are nearly 4,000 people of that name. Ira such communities, the want of some distinguishing appellation would lead to confusion. These distinctions were generally made as fol.. lows: In the case of a chief by using singly, and by way of distinction, the denomination of the son of the first founder, or most renowned man of the family; as, for example, the Duke of Argyle, who is styled Mac Caillain Mor, † the son of the great Colin; Mac Connel Dri, the son of Donald the Black, the name of the chiefs of the Camerons. Under this head there was another distinction. Chieftains, Cean Tays, or great branches of a clan or family, were distinguished as the sons of the first founder. Such as Breadalbane, a great branch of the clan Campbell; Mac Caillain Macconachie, the son of Colin the son of Duncan. Laids

* My longest horned cow, was the literal Gaelic expression. Long and wellshaped horns are considered as marks of health and strength.

Although Mor is great, the word does not always mean great power, or superior talent. It was more frequently given to men of large size, or portly per

sons.

The people seldom call Lord Breadalbane by his patronymic, but not so the Duke of Argyle, Lord Seaforth, Lord Macdonald, and many others. Riding a few years ago through the Duke of Argyle's parks at Inveraray, I observed some

or landholders were named from their estates, as Stewart of Grandtully, Stewart of Garth, and so on, all others being distinguished by some personal mark which might be either an accidental defect, any natural advantage, or any singularity of colour, figure, or features. The second Marquis of Atholl was known by the name of Ian a Bheal Mor, John with the large mouth; John the first Duke of Atholl being blind of an eye; Ian Cam; the first Earl of Breadalbane having a pale countenance, Ian Glas; the second Earl, Ian Bachach, from his being lame. If a man had no personal mark, or patrimonial distinction, he was known by adding the name of his father, as the son of John. This perhaps ran back for three or four generations. However absurd a long string of names may appear in English, it is not so in Gaelic, from the facility of compounding words in that language.

R. Page 99.

THERE are four different spellings of this name. Stewart, Steuart, Stuart, and Steward. The ancient and original name, as spelt by the royal family, is Stewart, taken from the office of Lord High Steward of Scotland, which was hereditary in the family nearly two centuries before the succession of Robert II. to the throne. The original spelling of Stewart continued for several reigns after this succession, till the increased communication between France and Scotland induced so many noblemen, gentlemen, and soldiers, to enter the French army. James Stewart, Earl of Buchan, Constable of France, carried with him on one occasion 7,000 men, as auxiliaries in the war with England. The Lords of Darnley and Aubigny were frequent visitors in France, and held extensive military commands and possessions there, and following the idiom of the French language, the W being unknown, several began to use the U, and spelt the name Stuard or Stuart. Mary Queen of Scots being educated in France, on her subsequent marriage with the Dauphin, and out of compliment to her husband's language, likewise adopted that mode of spelling, as did her brother the Earl of Murray, and the families of Traquair, Bute, Castlemilk, and several others, which, from whim or accident, changed their names. How much accident influenced this change of name is evident from the circumstance, that Lord Galloway retains the old spelling of Stewart, while Lord Blantyre and other families of the same descent, as Castle nilk, spell Stuart; Allanton, Steuart; Allanbank, a branch of Allanton, Stuart; Coltness, also a branch of Allanton, Stewart and while Tra quair is Stuart, Grandtully, of the same descent and family, is Stewart. The Earl of Murray, before his promotion to that title, when Prior of St Andrews, and previous to the return of Queen Mary from France, spelt his name Stewart, as we find by the following document, signed by him and the Earl of Argyle, and Ruthven Earl of Gowrie, authorizing the Lairds of Airntully and Kinvaid to destroy all images and relics of the Catholic religion in the Cathedral of Dunkeld.

"To our traist friends the Lairds of Airntully and Kinvaid. "TRAIST friends, after most hearty commendation, we pray you fail not

young blood horses grazing. A woman happening to pass at the time, I asked her in Gaelic to whom the horses belonged. "To whom should they belong," she answered sharply, “ To whom should they belong but to Mac Caillain ?" seemingly quite indignant that I should suppose that any man could possess any thing there but Mac Caillain Mor.

to pass incontinent to the Kirk of Dunkeilden, and tak doon the hail images thereof, and bring them forth to the kirk yaird and burn them openly. And sicklyke cast doon the alters and purge the kirk of all kind of idolatyry. And this ze fail not to do, as ze will do us singular impleasure, and so committeth you to the protection of God.

"From Edinburgh the XII of August 1560.

“Argyle.

"James Stewart.
"William Ruthven.

"Fail not, but ze tak guid heyd that neither the desks, windocks, nor duires, be any way hurt or broken, eyther glassin wark or iron wark."

S. Page 102.

It is a generally received opinion, that the Highlanders are ignorant and uneducated. It is no doubt true, that, previous to the present reign, many could not read, or understand what they read in English, and that there were few books in their own language; but they had their bards and senachies, who taught them in the manner already mentioned. But the middle and higher orders of society were as well educated as the youth of any part of the united kingdom. The gentlemen farmers and tacksmen were certainly better classical scholars than men holding the same occupation, and rank in society, in the south. These observations must be confined to the period which has elapsed since the reign of Charles II as the prior notices are not in a connected series. But, to judge from insulated circumstances, the education of the gentry, and the better order of farmers of an earlier period was not deficient. Of this, the celebrated George Buchanan, the son of a sinall Highland farmer, was a remarkable instance. On reference to old family charters and papers, it will be found, that the signatures to the former, from and after the year 1500, show a correctness of writing not to be seen in modern times, and not to be acquired without much time and experience. Aware that it might be said that these signatures were written by the notaries and others who drew out these charters, I have compared the signatures of the same persons to different instruments at considerable intervals, and signed in different places, sometimes as principals, at others as witnesses, and I have found them always similar, or in the same hand. Of this I have seen many instances in my own family, as well as in several others. A fair hand is certainly no proof of a classical education; but it is a proof of care having been bestowed on a branch of education which was not then so necessary as it is now, when epistolary communication is so much more frequent. In those days, when there was no public conveyance, and when distant events did not occupy so much of the attention of men, there was not the same inducement to correspond. It may therefore be concluded that they to whose instruction in writing so much attention had been paid, would not be neglected in other branches of education. The fragments of manuscripts and private correspondence which have been preserved in families give evidence of classical attainments, and prove also, that this was not confined to one sex. The following is an instance. There is a manuscript volume preserved in the family of Stewart of Urrard, of 260 pages, consisting of poems, songs, and short tracts, in the Scotch language, written, as is stated on the first page, by Margaret Robertson, daughter of George Robertson of Fascally, and wife of Alexander Stewart of Bons

keid, dated 1643. It is written in a beautiful hand, and with such correctness, that it might be sent to the press.

There were eminent grammar schools in Inverness, Fortrose or Channonry, Dunkeld, &c. The grammar school of Perth was celebrated for ages. From these different seminaries, young men were sent to Aberdeen and St Andrews, and many to Leyden and Douay. The armies of Sweden, Holland, and France, gave employment to the younger sons of the gentry, who were educated abroad; many of these returned with a competent knowledge of modern languages, added to their classical education, often speaking Latin with more purity than Scotch, which these Highlanders sometimes learned after leaving their native homes, where nothing but Gaelic was spoken. The race of Bradwardine is not long extinct. In my own time, several veterans might have sat for the picture, so admirably drawn in Waverley of that most honourable, brave, learned, and kind-hearted personage, the Baron of Bradwardine. These gentlemen returned from the continent, full of warlike Latin, French phrases, and inveterate broad Scotch, (learned, as I have said, by the Highlanders abroad.) One, I believe, of the last of thèse, Colonel Alexander Robertson, of the Scotch Brigade, uncle of the present Strowan, I well remember. * I also knew several tacksmen of 'good learning, who could quote and scan the classics with much ease and rapidity; while the sons of these men are now little better than clowns, knowing nothing beyond English reading and the common rules of arithmetic. When the Hessian troops were quartered in Athole in 1745, the commanding officers, who were accomplished gentle

* Another of the Bradwardine character is still remembered by the Highlanders, with a degree of admiration bordering on enthusiasm. This was John Stewart of the family of Kincardine, in Strathspey, known in the country by the name of John Roy Stewart, an accomplished gentleman, an elegant scholar, a good poet, a brave soldier, and an ablé officer. He composed with equal facility in English, Latin, and Gaelic ; but it was by his songs, epigrams, and descriptive pieces in the latter language, that he attracted the admiration of his countrymen. He was an active leader in the Rebellion of 1745, and during "his hiding" of many months, he had more leisure to indulge his taste for poetry and song. The country traditions are full of his descriptive pieces, eulogies, and laments on friends, or in allusion to the events of that unfortunate period. He had been long in the service of France and Portugal, and had risen to the rank of colonel. He was in Scotland in 1745, and commanded a regiment composed of the tenants of his family, and a considerable number of the followers of Sir George Stewart of Grandtully, who had been placed under him. With these, amounting in all to 400 men, he joined the rebel army, and proved one of its ablest partizans. Had the rebel commanders benefited by his judg ment and military talents, that deplorable contest would probably have been lengthened, and much additional misery inflicted on the country. Colonel Stewart recommended opposing the passage of the Duke of Cumberland's army across the Spey. Had this advice been acted upon, allowing for the expeditious movements of the rebels, many men must have been lost in forcing the passage of that rapid river. He also opposed fighting on Culloden Moor, which, with a level and hard surface, was well calculated for the cavalry and artillery of the royal army. When this advice was rejected, he proposed to attack before the army was formed in order of battle; this also was disregarded, and the attack delayed till the royal army was formed in two lines. It is said that the Irish officers attached to the rebel army, dreading a lengthened campaign in the mountains, opposed retiring farther north, seeing that, in such a field as Culloden, one-third of the Highlanders being absent, and those present, two days without food, and after a long and harassing night-march to Nairn and back, with an intention of surprising the Duke's army, (as at Preston,) the contest would soon be decided, and their lives safe from the laws, whatever was the result. The point was fortunately brought to an issue, and mucli calamity, the consequence of a lengthened civil war, saved to the country.

men, found Latin a ready means of communication at every inn. At Dunkeld, Inver, Blair Athole, Taybridge, &c. every landlord spoke that language, and I have been informed, by eye-witnesses, of the pleasure expressed by a colonel of the Hessian cavalry, when he halted at the inn in Dunkeld, the landlord of which addressed and welcomed him in Latin, the only language they mutually understood. I knew four of these respectable innkeepers, who, like many other valuable classes in the Highlands, have disappeared. Perhaps the landlords of Dunkeld, Blair Athole, or indeed any other Highland inn, will not, even in this educated age, agreeably surprise, or make themselves more acceptable to their customers by addressing them in Latin.

But it was in the remotest district of the kingdom, the Isle of Skye, and other islands, that classical education was most general. There the learning of the gentry was quite singular. Few of them went abroad, and except the two great lairds, Macdonald and Macleod, few of them were proprietors. I believe it is rather unique for the gentry of a remote corner to learn Latin merely to talk to each other; yet so it was in Skye. remarked that, for a considerable period, the clergymen of the sixteen parishes of Skye and Harris were men of good families, great learning, and consequent influence; their example, therefore, might diffuse and preserve this classical taste. Owing to the same cause, the Isle of Skye

It was

songs are sometimes filled with allusions to the heathen deities. While the younger sons of Highland gentlemen were educated for the church, law, or physic, the elder could not be neglected. The elder brothers of Sir George Mackenzie, Lord Advocate to Charles II. and of Duncan Forbes of Culloden, Advocate to George II. could not have been uneducated.

But various causes have contributed to a change of manners, and to remove numbers of the ancient race, and have put an end to all university education, except in a few cases, and where young men are intended for the learned professions; consequently the last generation did not give their children the same education which they themselves had received. Thus we see young men sent into the army and other professions with an education not extending beyond reading and arithmetic, and with manners as unformed and unlike the former race of gentlemen farmers in their general appearance and character, as in their education. Hence, many have been led to observe, that the youth of the second order of Highland gentry have more degenerated, and are more changed in every respect than the Highland peasantry. Many causes have tended to accelerate this change; one of which is, that three-fourths of the old respectable race of gentlemen tacksmen have disappeared, and been supplanted by men totally different in manners, birth, and education. Persons travelling through the Highlands will observe what description of persons the present tacksmen are. The character upheld by the officers of the Highland regiments in the Seven Years' War, and in that with America, show what sort of men the ancient race were. One half of the officers of those corps were

*The average annual salary of the parish schoolmaster was L. 7, 10s. that is, L. 5 the lowest and L. 10 the highest, with school fees, which were equally low, Latin being taught for half a crown the quarter, and English and writing for one shilling. When the Lord President Hope was Lord Advocate, he brought a bill into Parliament to increase the salaries of this useful body of men. The bill was passed, and no schoolmaster can now have less than L. 10 salary, the maximum being L, 25. The opposition Mr Hope met with showed that the value of educating the people was not properly appreciated by those who were to pay the schoolmasters, for even with the increased emoluments, no man of talents will remain a parish schoolmaster except from necessity.