lar sagacity whither he directs, a few wandering sheep : -a circumstance which cannot fail to mark strongly the desolate appearance of the country to the observant stranger; and strikingly characteristic of the great evil complained of throughout the present performance.

2

But to encounter poverty and woe.-P. 7.

IT is hardly to be conceived with what indifference Highland Chieftains of the present day see the last of their people take their departure for America; never to return to the spot dear to them by those ties which bind the high and the low, the rich and the poor, to their native country. A solitary instance, however, to the contrary of this strange apathy, on the part of certain proprietors of land, has lately come to my knowledge, which, as forming an exception, is worthy of being noted; were it for no other reason than merely to shew, that some may feel a temporary stirring of conscience, when perhaps too late, for deeds done under impressions of self-interest, prudence, or extreme necessity.

Among the very latest emigrations from the middle districts of the Grampians, were the wretched remains of a certain clan, which from motives of delicacy I forbear to name. The unfortunate emigrants particularly alluded to had been legally warned to remove from the possessions they had inherited from their forefathers, and a few shepherds introduced in their stead, at the usual term of entering on store-farms-when the alternative of wan dering about the country without employment, or emigrating to a foreign land, presented. Seduced, poor things,

with the hope of bettering their condition, they chose to join their relations in America: and accordingly, having hired a vessel for that purpose, they were on the eve of departure, when their Chieftain presented himself with his hat in hand, and tears in his eyes, entreating them to return; and that he would provide them in possessions agreeable to their wishes, in any part of his paternal inheritance they might pitch on-save only those they had just been turned out of. But the refractory emigrants would not listen to their common benefactor and guardian of their ancient rights, and privileges !—they returned his loving kindness with taunts, sneers, and reproaches! He at length left them to pursue their hazardous enterprize; consoling himself with the idea that he had done all in his power to prevent them from putting their rash design into execution: feeling at the same time the inward satisfaction that, being thus rid of a set of indolent, poor creatures, though connected with them by the courtesy of clanship, his income had increased from nine hundred to six thousand a year, which he now enjoys with little trouble to himself in collecting, and much real comfort in spending :-circumstances which must greatly overbalance, or completely stifle any intrusive qualms that might occasionally haunt his moments of serious reflection, for having been the cause of banishing from their native country so many wretched families, whom he himself was bound in duty to protect, agreeable to ancient usage of that portion of our island, in which peculiar manners and customs prevail.

3

Within the cultur'd in-field's ancient bound.-P. 8. PRETTY distinct traces are still observable on the sides of many hills near the banks of a mountain-rivulet, of in-field and out-field, (terms immediately to be explained, as relative to the former state of rural economy among the Gael) but the larach or site of the huts and houses (a groupe of which formed a hamlet, village, or baile) are seldom to be seen, as these have not only been suffered to fall into ruin, but even the stones have been removed in most places, in order to let the grass grow; which generally is of a rank and succulent quality, and springs earlier in the season than that on the more elevated plats of pasture. The division of in-field and outfield, is of very remote origin in North Britain. At what time it was introduced into the districts of the Grampians, I am unable with precision to ascertain. As hunting and fishing were not only the amusements, but also the chief employs of the ancient inhabitants; it is but reasonable to conclude, that agriculture was but little regarded among men, indolent from habit, and active only when war or the chace excited their thirst of distinction, or administered to their immediate wants. Be this as it may, certain it is that husbandry was practised universally throughout the mountainous parts of Scotland, as well as the western islands, many hundred years ago; and the division of in-field and out-field, run-rig, rrig-and-ren- . net, or rig-and-balk, was very generally adopted in the social arrangement of rural affairs. As the territory of a Clan (consisting of several lesser tribes, or branches of the same community) was occupied in a manner pecu

liar to the distribution of lands among hills, narrow vallies, or insulated situations, which from the ruggedness of the particular spot, or sterility of the soil, admitted but of very limited improvement in the mode of culture,hence their little Sabine farms yielded but small returns for their labour, which was more or less operose as the nature of the territory or district of country was barren or fertile. Now, as the Tighearna, CEAN-FINICH, or Chief, had under his patriarchal protection, chieftains, and heads of families, and those again still more subordinate adherents of still lower condition, besides mere labourers or herdsmen, the possessions were of consequence subdivided conformable to this order; and accordingly we find that the Laird, Lord, or Tighearna, had his place of residence on a bold projecting rock hanging over a seaarm, or on an islet in a lake; or at the confluence of a river, to which several mountain-streams are tributary; along the banks of which, among the windings of the narrow glens, the houses and huts of the subordinate chieftains, heads of families, lesser branches, poorer relatives, and menial dependents, had their in-field and out-field possessions; of which traces are still observable where those subdivisions of arable lands took place. Now the farms consisted of three divisions, viz. in-field, outfield, and hill-pasture. The infield was so called from the circumstance of its being that division of the arable ground which was inclosed with either a turf, or stone wall, and was kept in constant tillage. The out-field, was that division immediately adjoining the former, which was but occasionally ploughed; and, after it afforded a few successive crops, was suffered to acquire a sward spontaneously;

after which it was again tilled, and a few more scanty crops reaped, till it was completely exhausted. This mode of agriculture requires no comment. The third division, namely hill-pasture, will furnish subject-matter for a future note, and shall be explained in course. Those two divisions were subdivided into what is termed runrig, rig-and-rennet, or rig-and-balk, a wretched relic of feudal times, when the conflict of the clans raged throughout the Grampians and western isles. In order that each individual should have an interest in common to stimulate him in the defence of the cause, his possessions lay dispersed here and there among those of his neighbours. And the one rig (ridge) running in a direction (generally curveliar) to that of another, with interstices, consisting of stones heaped up that were gathered year after year when labouring the ground, which was called the balk; or, if free from stones, those interstices served for pasture, on which the calves were tethered during Summer and Autumn; and also, (particularly on the borders,) those interstices being always clear of any corn-crop, whenever a marauding party made their appearance, the alarm was given; and each male capable of defending his property rán up the rig to oppose them hand to hand.

4

Where stood the smithy, where the hamlet's mill.-P. 8. The smithy and the mill are usually the places of rural gossip in almost every part of civilized Europe. Among a people devoted to warfare and toils of the chace, the profession of smith was honourable as necessary. Hence we find in many parts of the north the calling or craft of