Ross a fine fellow, like
Professor
Tytler,--Mr.
Robert Burns
Scott at Inverleithing--Mrs.
Rose and Mrs.
Grant accompany us to
Kildrummie--two young ladies--Miss Rose, who sung two Gaelic songs,
beautiful and lovely--Miss Sophia Brodie, most agreeable and
amiable--both of them gentle, mild; the sweetest creatures on earth,
and happiness be with them! --Dine at Nairn--fall in with a pleasant
enough gentleman, Dr. Stewart, who had been long abroad with his
father in the forty-five; and Mr. Falconer, a spare, irascible,
warm-hearted Norland, and a nonjuror--Brodie-house to lie.
_Friday_--Forres--famous stone at Forres--Mr. Brodie tells me that the
muir where Shakspeare lays Macbeth's witch-meeting is still
haunted--that the country folks won't pass it by night.
* * * * *
Venerable ruins of Elgin Abbey--A grander effect at first glance than
Melrose, but not near so beautiful--Cross Spey to Fochabers--fine
palace, worthy of the generous proprietor--Dine--company, Duke and
Duchess, Ladies Charlotte and Magdeline, Col. Abercrombie, and Lady,
Mr. Gordon and Mr. ----, a clergyman, a venerable, aged figure--the
Duke makes me happier than ever great man did--noble, princely; yet
mild, condescending, and affable; gay and kind--the Duchess witty and
sensible--God bless them!
Come to Cullen to lie--hitherto the country is sadly poor and
unimproven.
Come to Aberdeen--meet with Mr. Chalmers, printer, a facetious
fellow--Mr.
Ross a fine fellow, like Professor Tytler,--Mr. Marshal one
of the _poetae minores_--Mr. Sheriffs, author of "Jamie and Bess," a
little decrepid body with some abilities--Bishop Skinner, a nonjuror,
son of the author of "Tullochgorum," a man whose mild, venerable manner
is the most marked of any in so young a man--Professor Gordon, a
good-natured, jolly-looking professor--Aberdeen, a lazy town--near
Stonhive, the coast a good deal romantic--meet my relations--Robert
Burns, writer, in Stonhive, one of those who love fun, a gill, and a
punning joke, and have not a bad heart--his wife a sweet hospitable
body, without any affectation of what is called town-breeding.
_Tuesday. _--Breakfast with Mr. Burns--lie at Lawrence Kirk--Album
library--Mrs. ---- a jolly, frank, sensible, love-inspiring widow--Howe
of the Mearns, a rich, cultivated, but still unenclosed country.
_Wednesday. _--Cross North Esk river and a rich country to Craigow.
* * * * *
Go to Montrose, that finely-situated handsome town--breakfast at Muthie,
and sail along that wild rocky coast, and see the famous caverns,
particularly the Gariepot--land and dine at Arbroath--stately ruins of
Arbroath Abbey--come to Dundee through a fertile country--Dundee a
low-lying, but pleasant town--old Steeple--Tayfrith--Broughty Castle, a
finely situated ruin, jutting into the Tay.
_Friday. _--Breakfast with the Miss Scotts--Miss Bess Scott like Mrs.
Greenfield--my bardship almost in love with her--come through the rich
harvests and fine hedge-rows of the Carse of Gowrie, along the
romantic margin of the Grampian hills, to Perth--fine, fruitful,
hilly, woody country round Perth.
_Saturday Morning. _--Leave Perth--come up Strathearn to
Endermay--fine, fruitful, cultivated Strath--the scene of "Bessy Bell,
and Mary Gray," near Perth--fine scenery on the banks of the May--Mrs.
Belcher, gawcie, frank, affable, fond of rural sports, hunting,
&c.
Kildrummie--two young ladies--Miss Rose, who sung two Gaelic songs,
beautiful and lovely--Miss Sophia Brodie, most agreeable and
amiable--both of them gentle, mild; the sweetest creatures on earth,
and happiness be with them! --Dine at Nairn--fall in with a pleasant
enough gentleman, Dr. Stewart, who had been long abroad with his
father in the forty-five; and Mr. Falconer, a spare, irascible,
warm-hearted Norland, and a nonjuror--Brodie-house to lie.
_Friday_--Forres--famous stone at Forres--Mr. Brodie tells me that the
muir where Shakspeare lays Macbeth's witch-meeting is still
haunted--that the country folks won't pass it by night.
* * * * *
Venerable ruins of Elgin Abbey--A grander effect at first glance than
Melrose, but not near so beautiful--Cross Spey to Fochabers--fine
palace, worthy of the generous proprietor--Dine--company, Duke and
Duchess, Ladies Charlotte and Magdeline, Col. Abercrombie, and Lady,
Mr. Gordon and Mr. ----, a clergyman, a venerable, aged figure--the
Duke makes me happier than ever great man did--noble, princely; yet
mild, condescending, and affable; gay and kind--the Duchess witty and
sensible--God bless them!
Come to Cullen to lie--hitherto the country is sadly poor and
unimproven.
Come to Aberdeen--meet with Mr. Chalmers, printer, a facetious
fellow--Mr.
Ross a fine fellow, like Professor Tytler,--Mr. Marshal one
of the _poetae minores_--Mr. Sheriffs, author of "Jamie and Bess," a
little decrepid body with some abilities--Bishop Skinner, a nonjuror,
son of the author of "Tullochgorum," a man whose mild, venerable manner
is the most marked of any in so young a man--Professor Gordon, a
good-natured, jolly-looking professor--Aberdeen, a lazy town--near
Stonhive, the coast a good deal romantic--meet my relations--Robert
Burns, writer, in Stonhive, one of those who love fun, a gill, and a
punning joke, and have not a bad heart--his wife a sweet hospitable
body, without any affectation of what is called town-breeding.
_Tuesday. _--Breakfast with Mr. Burns--lie at Lawrence Kirk--Album
library--Mrs. ---- a jolly, frank, sensible, love-inspiring widow--Howe
of the Mearns, a rich, cultivated, but still unenclosed country.
_Wednesday. _--Cross North Esk river and a rich country to Craigow.
* * * * *
Go to Montrose, that finely-situated handsome town--breakfast at Muthie,
and sail along that wild rocky coast, and see the famous caverns,
particularly the Gariepot--land and dine at Arbroath--stately ruins of
Arbroath Abbey--come to Dundee through a fertile country--Dundee a
low-lying, but pleasant town--old Steeple--Tayfrith--Broughty Castle, a
finely situated ruin, jutting into the Tay.
_Friday. _--Breakfast with the Miss Scotts--Miss Bess Scott like Mrs.
Greenfield--my bardship almost in love with her--come through the rich
harvests and fine hedge-rows of the Carse of Gowrie, along the
romantic margin of the Grampian hills, to Perth--fine, fruitful,
hilly, woody country round Perth.
_Saturday Morning. _--Leave Perth--come up Strathearn to
Endermay--fine, fruitful, cultivated Strath--the scene of "Bessy Bell,
and Mary Gray," near Perth--fine scenery on the banks of the May--Mrs.
Belcher, gawcie, frank, affable, fond of rural sports, hunting,
&c.
