CAWDOR CASTLE.-LORD LOVAT.

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of Cawdor," mention is found in the records of Nairnshire as early as the year 1295; but there is no doubt that they held possessions here long prior to that date. They were hereditary sheriffs, or constables of the royal fortress of Nairn, where they chiefly resided; and to this day, the constabulary garden in that town, partly surrounded by the old castle wall, is still the property of the Cawdor family.

Immediately opposite to the outer gate opening to the lawn, is seen a hawthorn tree; another stood some years since in the old garden; and a third, still rooted in the earth, is shown in the dungeon of the tower, extending its stem to the arched ceiling. Tradition, in reference to this, relates that the founder was led, either by a dream, or the counsel of a wizard, to build this castle at the third hawthorn tree, where an ass, laden with a chest of gold, should stop.* In allusion to this, prosperity to the family of Cawdor is metaphorically expressed in the well-known toast-" Freshness to its hawthorn-tree!"

"Spread the board and brim the bowl!

And thus let every patriot soul

Drink the gladdening 'toast' with glee

'HEALTH TO CAWDOR'S HAWTHORN-TREE!" &c.

The bed and chamber in which, according to family legends, Macbeth perpetrated the bloody deed, were usually shown to strangers, till a fire, which broke out a few years ago in the great tower, destroyed every vestige of them; and nothing but the stone-vaulted roof could have saved the whole building from destruction. It was between the ceiling and roof of another part of this castle that Lord Lovat was concealed for a short time after the battle of Culloden; but, finding it was becoming the abode of too many of his enemies, he let himself down from the battlements by a rope, and escaped to Morar, on the west coast, where he was taken prisoner. The scenery around Cawdor Castle is of the richest and most. picturesque description. In the park are several of the largest oaks, sycamores, elms, limes, ash, and pine trees, in the north of Scotland. One of these, an ash, measures twenty-three feet in circumference, at a foot from the ground. The garden, also, presents a fine specimen of an ancient yew-tree; and the adjoining woods and rocks abound in many interesting plants, and especially in ferns, among which the splendid Scolopendrium vulgare occurs in great luxuriance.†

• A German tradition, as the reader may perhaps remember, gives a similar origin to an ancient fastness in the Black forest, Wirtemberg.-See the Author's "German Courts."

employment had not yet been introduced. Thus some of the evils of a crowded population, without employment, began to be felt. But, independently of this natural course of events, the circumstances of the people were powerfully influenced in consequence of the improvements of the more southern counties having driven into the mountains of Sutherland those who could not, or who would not, apply themselves to the more regular and industrious habits of society, which such alterations rendered necessary. Many also, who, by the commission of less grave offences, had rendered themselves obnoxious to the laws-especially those of the revenue-found a safe refuge in the remote and less accessible portions of the Sutherland and Reay estates, where they induced the tacksmen to receive them as sub-tenants, by undertaking to pay rents which never could be realized out of the funds of honest industry. The evils of such a system were enormous. The introduction of such men, brought up in lawless pursuits, among the old, well-doing, and moral cottagers of the estate, deprived the latter of many of the comforts they had hitherto enjoyed, and diminished the means for the payment of their rent, while the amount exacted by the tacksmen remained the same, so that their condition was reduced, and they were in many instances forced to adopt the same means of realizing it as the fugitive settlers. The Duke of Sutherland's great object was to put an effectual end to this system, and to make all who lived upon these estates immediate tenants of the landlord, so that the managers should become acquainted with the wants of all, and that the poorest tenant on the property might have a direct appeal to himself and to the Duchess. His next object was to stimulate their industry, and rouse their dormant energies, expecting thereby to raise their character, and give them a desire of independence. In this he succeeded in a degree far beyond his own expectations, or the anticipation of those who were most active in carrying his benevolent intentions into effect. This, however, was attended with many difficulties; for there were too many interests to be interfered with, too many prejudices to be overcome, not to produce considerable complaints, and some opposition. Such was sure to be the case, and such actually happened. The Duke of Sutherland, however, was not to be shaken in his purpose. He had considered the subject in every aspect; he had prepared the people for the change by a timely notice of two years; he had abandoned his rents during the period of such change, and he had furnished the timber required for their new houses. Having satisfied himself, therefore, that he had provided not only sufficiently, but liberally, for every one whose possession he disturbed—substituting a lot better suited as a lasting provision for the poor man's family, and under the peculiar circumstances of the country much better calculated to reward