AN interesting account is given by Morrison, in his Itinerary, published in 1596, of the mode of travelling in Scotland. "In Scotland," says he," a horse may be hired for two-pence the first day, and eight-pence the day until he be brought home; and the horse letters used to send a footman to bring back the horse. They have no such inns as are in England, but in all places some houses are known where passengers may have meat and lodging, but they have no arms or signs hung out; and for the horses they are commonly set up in stables in some lane, not in the same house where the passenger lies; and if any one is acquainted with a townsman will go freely to his house, for most of them will entertain a stranger for his money. A horseman shall pay, of oates and straw, for hay is scarce in those parts, some eight-pence, day and night, and he shall pay no less in summer for grasse, whereof they have no great store. Himself, at a common table, shall pay sixpence for his supper or dinner, and shall have

Extract from Morrison.

25

his bed free; and if he will eat alone in his chamber, he may have meat at a reasonable rate. Some twenty or thirty years ago the first use of coaches came into Scotland, yet they are rare even at Edinburgh at this day. Since the kingdoms of England and Scotland are united, many Scots by the King's favour have been promoted both in dignities and estate, and the use of coaches became more frequent, yet nothing so common as in England. But the use of horse litters hath been very ancient in Scotland for sick men and women of quality.".

In those days travellers, no doubt, like ourselves, depended on their own energies, and waited not for chamber-maids to call them waiters to attend them-and ostlers to make ready their carriages; it was fortunate for us that our motions depended not on any of these auxiliaries, for whilst they were yet indulging in sleep we departed at our appointed time, leaving the remuneration of our host to some future adjustment. Our rising anticipated that of the sun. It surely cannot be denied that his glorious diurnal re-appearance is the most interesting moment of rational existence.Gratitude and delight seem imprinted on the face of nature, and appear to be felt and shared by man. The smile of morning is calculated to

26

Burnt Clay as a Manure.

lighten the sorrow of the heaviest heart. How richly does the surrounding scenery, and the unfolding day, repay the early riser. Can any one who has felt what the rising sun inspires, and reflects on the vast, the immeasurable good which his presence bestows, be either surprised or offended at those untaught human beings who, in grateful adoration, deify and idolize the sun?

Two miles on the road to Dumfries I was gratified by the appearance of Mr. Church's farm at Hitchell. The crops were luxuriant, among which was a weighty one of turnips raised from ashes. The wheat was ready for harvesting, the carrots were promising, the fences good, and the general management justifies the reputation Mr. Church has obtained of being an excellent farmer. Mr. Wallace, whose farm is near Kirkudbright, received a cup from the Highland Society for raising turnips with a dressing of burnt clay. He is of opinion that spreading these ashes over the surface is as good a practice as depositing them under it: he used only thirty single horse cart-loads per acre; I should not be disposed to hazard a less quantity than fifty.

Much pains are bestowed on beautifying the

Want of Cleanliness.

27

exterior of the cottages with white-washing. It certainly gives them a cleanly appearance without, which naturally induces an idea of comfort within a transient glance, however, which I now and then caught of the interior of these dwellings, gave me reason to apprehend they would afford little comfort, at least, to an English cottager, who could deny himself the luxury of living in constant smoke.

If cleanliness be a criterion, among others, by which the judgment may be directed as to the degree of civilization to which a people may have attained; it is much to be feared that neither the personal appearance of individuals, nor the domestic arrangements of Scottish families of the lower classes, would entitle them to a distinguished place in the scale of civilization.

Increased attention to personal comforts is among the first efforts towards civilization-necessity seems the only apology for the neglect of indispensable cleanliness. The inhabitants of North Britain have not this excuse. It is a singular incongruity that a nation so pre-eminent for acquired knowledge and orderly conduct should appear to be wanting in those feelings which teach the appreciation of cleanliness. The contrast between the laborers on the op

28 Cause and Progress of Cleanliness.

posite side of the Frith is quite astonishing, I have no clue by which the reasoning of each, on this subject, would tend to an illustration.

To attempt a solution of this difficulty, which I have never yet heard satisfactorily explained, I conceive we must have reference to consequences arising out of the habits of former times, when in Scotland and Ireland the property was exclusively vested in the lords of the soil, with few distinctions in the orders of society; industry augmented the grandeur and resources of those, already opulent, whilst it afforded but a scanty pittance to those, by the sweat of whose brows the augmentation was obtained. More than one hundred years after the union of the two kingdoms, the state of the people was here but little improved.

What alterations had taken place were almost exclusively confined to the nobles and superior classes, who, in former days, maintained a state of too great distance and authority to allow such an intimate approach of their inferiors as would induce the imitation of any of their refinements.

A perpetual passage on the hardest rock will form a beaten path, while the casual footsteps