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dictive conqueror, whose severities have been followed by laws, which, though they cannot be called cruel, have produced much discontent, because they operate on the surface of life, and make every eye bear witness to subjection. If the policy of the disarming act appears somewhat problematical, what must we think of the subsequent measure of 1747, to compel the Highlanders to lay aside their national dress? It is impossible to read this latter act, without considering it rather as an ignorant wantonness of power, than the proceeding of a wise and a beneficent legislature. be compelled to wear a new dress has always been found painful." So the Highlanders found, and it certainly was not consistent with the boasted freedom of our country, to inflict on a whole people the severest punishment, short of death, for wearing a particular dress. Had the whole race been decimated, more violent grief, indignation and shame, could not have been excited among them, than by being de. prived of this long inherited costume. This was an encroachment on the feelings of a people, whose ancient and manly garb had been worn from a period reaching back beyond all history or even tradition. †

*

• Dr Johnson's Journey to the Highlands.

+ Some opinion may be formed of the importance which Government attached to the garb by the tenor of the following oath, administered in 1747 and 1748 in Fort William and other places where the people were assembled for the purpose; those who refused to take it being treated as rebels: "I. A. B., do swear, and as I shall answer to God at the great day of judgment, I have not, nor shall have, in my possession any gun, sword, pistol, or arm whatsoever, and never use tartan, plaid, or any part of the Highland garb; and if I do so, may I be cursed in my undertakings, family, and property, may I never see my wife and children, father, mother, or relations,-may I be killed in battle as a coward, and lie without Christian burial in a strange land, far from the graves of my forefathers and kindred; may all this come across me if I break my oath." The framers of this oath understood the character of the Highlanders. The abolition of the feudal power of the chiefs, and the disarming act, had little influence on the character of the people in comparison of the grief, indignation, and disaffection occasioned by the loss of their garb.

The obstinacy with which the law was resisted, proceeded no less from their attachment to their proscribed garb, than from the irksomeness of the dress forced upon them. Habituated to the free use of their limbs, the Highlanders could ill brook the confinement and restraint of the Lowland dress, and many were the little devices which they adopted to retain their ancient garb, without incurring the penalties of the act, devices which were calculated rather to excite a smile, than to rouse the vengeance of persecution. Instead of the prohibited tartan kilt, some wore pieces of a blue, green, or red thin cloth, or coarse camblet, wrapped round the waist, and hanging down to the knees like the fealdag.

After being debarred the use of swords, they seldom went without a stick, and, as a substitute for the dirk, they carried a short knife stuck in a side pocket of the breeches, or inserted between the garter and the leg, by those who ventured to wear the hose. The tight breeches were particularly obnoxious. Some who were fearful of offending, or wished to render obedience to the law, which had not specified on what part of the body the breeches were to be

* The fealdag was the same as the philibeg, only not plaited. The mode of sewing the gilt into plaits or folds, in the same manner as the plaid, is said to have been introduced by an Englishman of the name of Parkinson, early in the last century, which has given rise to an opinion entertained by many, that the kilt is modern, and was never known till that period. This opinion is founded on a memorandum left by a gentleman whose name is not mentioned, and published in the EDINBURGH MAGAZINE. Without knowing of the correctness of this statement, it may, with as much reason, be supposed, that breeches were never worn till the present cut and manner of wearing them came into fashion. As the Highlanders had sufficient ingenuity to think of plaiting the plaid, it is likely they would be equally ingenious in forming the kilt; and as it is improbable that an active light-footed people would go about on all occasions, whether in the house or in the field, encumbered with twelve yards of plaid, (to say nothing of the expepce of such a quantity,) I am less willing to coincide in the modern opinion, founded on such a slight unauthenticated notice, than in the universal belief of the people, that the philebeg has been part of their garb, as far back as tradition reaches.

worn, satisfied themselves with having in their possession this article of legal and loyal dress, which, either as the sig nal of their submission, or more probably to suit their own convenience when on journeys, they often suspended over their shoulders upon their sticks; others, who were either more wary, or less submissive, sewed up the centre of the kilt, with a few stitches between the thighs, which gave it something of the form of the trowsers worn by Dutch skippers. At first these evasions of the act were visited with considerable severity, but at length the officers of the law seem to have acquiesced in the interpretation put by the Highlanders upon the prohibition of the act. This appears from the trial of a man of the name of M'Alpin, or Drummond Macgregor, from Breadalbane, who was acquitted, on his proving that the kilt had been stitched up in the middle. * This trial took place in 1757, and was the first instance of relaxation in enforcing the law of 1747. †

The change produced in the Highlands, by the disarming and proscribing acts, was accelerated by the measures of government for the abolition of hereditary jurisdictions, and the consequent overthrow of the authority of the chiefs. This was the last act of government, which had any influence upon the Highland character. Subsequent changes

This very strong attachment to a habit which they thought graceful and convenient, is not singular among an ancient race, proud of their independence, long unbroken descent, manners, and customs. It is in every one's memory, that a dangerous mutiny was produced at Vellore, in the East Indies, by insisting on an alteration in the dress of the native troops, in the adjustment of their turbans, and in the cut of their whiskers. There was, perhaps, a religious feeling mixed with this opposition, yet whiskers and turbans seem of less importance than a whole garb, such as that the use of which the Highlanders were prohibited.

Although the severity of this "ignorant wantonness of power” began to be relaxed in 1757, it was not till the year 1782 that this act, so ungenerous in itself, so unnecessary, and so galling, was repealed. In the session of that year, the present Duke of Montrose, then a member of the House of Commons, brought in a bill to repeal all penalties and restrictions on the Celtic garb. It passed without a dissenting voice.

are to be traced to causes, which owe their existence chiefly to the views and speculations of private individuals. Into the order of these causes, and their practical operations and effects, I shall now proceed to inquire.

PART II

PRESENT STATE, AND CHANGES OF CHARACTER AND
MANNERS.

SECTION I.

Influence of political and economical arrangements-Change in the character of the clans—Introduction of fanaticism in religion.

It will be perceived that the preceding Sketch of the customs, manners, and character of the inhabitants of the Highlands of Scotland refers rather to past than present times. A great, and, in some respects, a lamentable change has been produced; and the original of the picture which I have attempted to draw is suffering daily obliterations, and is, in fact, rapidly disappearing. Much of the romance and chivalry of the Highland character is gone. The voice of the bard has long been silent, and poetry, tradition, and song, are vanishing away. To adopt the words of Mrs Grant, "The generous and characteristic spirit, the warm affection to his family, the fond attachment to his clan, the love of story and song, the contempt of danger and luxury, the mystic superstition equally awful and tender, the inviolable fidelity to every engagement, the ardent love of his native heaths and mountains," will soon be no longer found to

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