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brooks here. JOHNSON. 'If Percy is like one of the brooks here, Birchwas like the river Thames. Birch excelled Percy in that, as much asPercy excels Goldsmith.' I mentioned Lord Hailes as a man of anecdote.He was not pleased with him, for publishing only such memorials andletters as were unfavourable for the Stuart family[702]. 'If, (said he,)a man fairly warns you, "I am to give all the ill; do you find thegood;" he may: but if the object which he professes be to give a view ofa reign, let him tell all the truth. I would tell truth of the twoGeorges, or of that scoundrel, King William[703]. Granger's_Biographical History_[704] is full of curious anecdote, but might havebeen better done. The dog is a Whig. I do not like much to see a Whig inany dress; but I hate to see a Whig in a parson's gown[705].'SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 25.It was resolved that we should set out, in order to return to Slate, tobe in readiness to take boat whenever there should be a fair wind. Dr.Johnson remained in his chamber writing a letter, and it was long beforewe could get him into motion. He did not come to breakfast, but had itsent to him. When he had finished his letter, it was twelve o'clock, andwe should have set out at ten. When I went up to him, he said to me, 'Doyou remember a song which begins,"Every island is a prison[706]Strongly guarded by the sea;Kings and princes, for that reason,Prisoners are, as well as we?"'I suppose he had been thinking of our confined situation[707]. He wouldfain have gone in a boat from hence, instead of riding back to Slate. Ascheme for it was proposed. He said, 'We'll not be driven tamely fromit:'-but it proved impracticable.We took leave of M'Leod and Talisker, from whom we parted with regret.Talisker, having been bred to physick, had a tincture of scholarship inhis conversation, which pleased Dr. Johnson, and he had some very goodbooks; and being a colonel in the Dutch service, he and his lady, inconsequence of having lived abroad, had introduced the ease andpoliteness of the continent into this rude region.Young Col was now our leader. Mr. M'Queen was to accompany us half a daymore. We stopped at a little hut, where we saw an old woman grindingwith the _quern_, the ancient Highland instrument, which it is said wasused by the Romans, but which, being very slow in its operation, isalmost entirely gone into disuse.The walls of the cottages in Sky, instead of being one compacted massof stones, are often formed by two exterior surfaces of stone, filled upwith earth in the middle, which makes them very warm. The roof isgenerally bad. They are thatched, sometimes with straw, sometimes withheath, sometimes with fern. The thatch is secured by ropes of straw, orof heath; and, to fix the ropes, there is a stone tied to the end ofeach. These stones hang round the bottom of the roof, and make it looklike a lady's hair in papers; but I should think that, when there iswind, they would come down, and knock people on the head.We dined at the inn at Sconser, where I had the pleasure to find aletter from my wife. Here we parted from our learned companion, Mr.Donald M'Queen. Dr. Johnson took leave of him very affectionately,saying, 'Dear Sir, do not forget me!' We settled, that he should writean account of the Isle of Sky, which Dr. Johnson promised to revise. Hesaid, Mr. M'Queen should tell all that he could; distinguishing what hehimself knew, what was traditional, and what conjectural.We sent our horses round a point of land, that we might shun some verybad road; and resolved to go forward by sea. It was seven o'clock whenwe got into our boat. We had many showers, and it soon grew pretty dark.Dr. Johnson sat silent and patient. Once he said, as he looked on theblack coast of Sky,-black, as being composed of rocks seen in thedusk,--'This is very solemn.' Our boatmen were rude singers, and seemedso like wild Indians, that a very little imagination was necessary togive one an impression of being upon an American river. We landed at_Strolimus_, from whence we got a guide to walk before us, for twomiles, to _Corrichatachin_. Not being able to procure a horse for ourbaggage, I took one portmanteau before me, and Joseph another. We hadbut a single star to light us on our way. It was about eleven when wearrived. We were most hospitably received by the master and mistress,who were just going to bed, but, with unaffected ready kindness, made agood fire, and at twelve o'clock at night had supper on the table.James Macdonald, of _Knockow_, Kingsburgh's brother, whom we had seen atKingsburgh, was there. He shewed me a bond granted by the late Sir JamesMacdonald, to old Kingsburgh, the preamble of which does so much honourto the feelings of that much-lamented gentleman, that I thought it worthtranscribing. It was as follows:--'I, Sir James Macdonald, of Macdonald, Baronet, now, after arriving atmy perfect age, from the friendship I bear to Alexander Macdonald ofKingsburgh, and in return for the long and faithful services done andperformed by him to my deceased father, and to myself during myminority, when he was one of my Tutors and Curators; being resolved, nowthat the said Alexander Macdonald is advanced in years, to contribute myendeavours for making his old age placid and comfortable,'--therefore he grants him an annuity of fifty pounds sterling.Dr. Johnson went to bed soon. When one bowl of punch was finished, Irose, and was near the door, in my way up stairs to bed; butCorrichatachin said, it was the first time Col had been in his house,and he should have his bowl;-and would not I join in drinking it? Theheartiness of my honest landlord, and the desire of doing social honourto our very obliging conductor, induced me to sit down again. Col's bowlwas finished; and by that time we were well warmed. A third bowl wassoon made, and that too was finished. We were cordial, and merry to ahigh degree; but of what passed I have no recollection, with anyaccuracy. I remember calling _Corrichatachin_ by the familiarappellation of _Corri_, which his friends do. A fourth bowl was made, bywhich time Col, and young M'Kinnon, Corrichatachin's son, slipped awayto bed. I continued a little with Corri and Knockow; but at last I leftthem. It was near five in the morning when I got to bed.SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 26I awaked at noon, with a severe head-ach. I was much vexed that I shouldhave been guilty of such a riot, and afraid of a reproof from Dr.Johnson. I thought it very inconsistent with that conduct which I oughtto maintain, while the companion of the Rambler. About one he came intomy room, and accosted me, 'What, drunk yet?' His tone of voice was notthat of severe upbraiding; so I was relieved a little. 'Sir, (said I,)they kept me up.' He answered, 'No, you kept them up, you drunkendog:'-This he said with good-humoured _English_ pleasantry. Soonafterwards, Corrichatachin, Col, and other friends assembled round mybed. Corri had a brandy-bottle and glass with him, and insisted I shouldtake a dram. 'Ay, said Dr. Johnson, fill him drunk again. Do it in themorning, that we may laugh at him all day. It is a poor thing for afellow to get drunk at night, and sculk to bed, and let his friends haveno sport.' Finding him thus jocular, I became quite easy; and when Ioffered to get up, he very good naturedly said, 'You need be in no suchhurry now[708].' I took my host's advice, and drank some brandy, which Ifound an effectual cure for my head-ach. When I rose, I went into Dr.Johnson's room, and taking up Mrs. M'Kinnon's Prayer-book, I opened itat the twentieth Sunday after Trinity, in the epistle for which I read,'And be not drunk with wine, wherein there is excess[709].' Some wouldhave taken this as a divine interposition.Mrs. M'Kinnon told us at dinner, that old Kingsburgh, her father, wasexamined at Mugstot, by General Campbell, as to the particulars of thedress of the person who had come to his house in woman's clothes alongwith Miss Flora M'Donald; as the General had received intelligence ofthat disguise. The particulars were taken down in writing, that it mightbe seen how far they agreed with the dress of the _Irish girl_ who wentwith Miss Flora from the Long Island. Kingsburgh, she said, had but onesong, which he always sung when he was merry over a glass. She dictatedthe words to me, which are foolish enough:--'Green sleeves[710] and pudding pies,Tell me where my mistress lies,And I'll be with her before she rise,Fiddle and aw' together.May our affairs abroad succeed,And may our king come home with speed,And all pretenders shake for dread,And let _his_ health go round.To all our injured friends in need,This side and beyond the Tweed!--Let all pretenders shake for dread,And let _his_ health go round.Green sleeves,' &c.While the examination was going on, the present Talisker, who was thereas one of M'Leod's militia, could not resist the pleasantry of askingKingsburgh, in allusion to his only song, 'Had she _green sleeves_?'Kingsburgh gave him no answer. Lady Margaret M'Donald was very angry atTalisker for joking on such a serious occasion, as Kingsburgh was reallyin danger of his life. Mrs. M'Kinnon added that Lady Margaret was quiteadored in Sky. That when she travelled through the island, the peopleran in crowds before her, and took the stones off the road, lest herhorse should stumble and she be hurt[711]. Her husband, Sir Alexander,is also remembered with great regard. We were told that every week ahogshead of claret was drunk at his table.This was another day of wind and rain; but good cheer and good societyhelped to beguile the time. I felt myself comfortable enough in theafternoon. I then thought that my last night's riot was no more thansuch a social excess as may happen without much moral blame; andrecollected that some physicians maintained, that a fever produced by itwas, upon the whole, good for health: so different are our reflectionson the same subject, at different periods; and such the excuses withwhich we palliate what we know to be wrong.MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 27.Mr. Donald M'Leod, our original guide, who had parted from us atDunvegan, joined us again to-day. The weather was still so bad that wecould not travel. I found a closet here, with a good many books, besidethose that were lying about. Dr. Johnson told me, he found a library inhis room at Talisker; and observed, that it was one of the remarkablethings of Sky, that there were so many books in it.Though we had here great abundance of provisions, it is remarkable thatCorrichatachin has literally no garden: not even a turnip, a carrot, ora cabbage. After dinner, we talked of the crooked spade used in Sky,already described, and they maintained that it was better than the usualgarden-spade, and that there was an art in tossing it, by which thosewho were accustomed to it could work very easily with it. 'Nay, (saidDr. Johnson,) it may be useful in land where there are many stones toraise; but it certainly is not a good instrument for digging good land.A man may toss it, to be sure; but he will toss a light spade muchbetter: its weight makes it an incumbrance. A man _may_ dig any landwith it; but he has no occasion for such a weight in digging good land.You may take a field piece to shoot sparrows; but all the sparrows youcan bring home will not be worth the charge.' He was quite social andeasy amongst them; and, though he drank no fermented liquor, toastedHighland beauties with great readiness. His conviviality engaged them somuch, that they seemed eager to shew their attention to him, and viedwith each other in crying out, with a strong Celtick pronunciation,'Toctor Shonson, Toctor Shonson, your health!'This evening one of our married ladies, a lively pretty little woman,good-humouredly sat down upon Dr. Johnson's knee, and, being encouragedby some of the company, put her hands round his neck, and kissed him.'Do it again, (said he,) and let us see who will tire first.' He kepther on his knee some time, while he and she drank tea. He was now like a_buck_[712] indeed. All the company were much entertained to find him soeasy and pleasant. To me it was highly comick, to see the gravephilosopher,--the Rambler,-toying with a Highland beauty[713]!--But whatcould he do? He must have been surly, and weak too, had he not behavedas he did. He would have been laughed at, and not more respected, thoughless loved.He read to-night, to himself, as he sat in company, a great deal of myJournal, and said to me, 'The more I read of this, I think the morehighly of you.' The gentlemen sat a long time at their punch, after heand I had retired to our chambers. The manner in which they wereattended struck me as singular:--The bell being broken, a smart lad layon a table in the corner of the room, ready to spring up and bring thekettle, whenever it was wanted. They continued drinking, and singingErse songs, till near five in the morning, when they all came into myroom, where some of them had beds. Unluckily for me, they found a bottleof punch in a corner, which they drank; and Corrichatachin went foranother, which they also drank. They made many apologies for disturbingme. I told them, that, having been kept awake by their mirth, I had oncethoughts of getting up, and joining them again. Honest Corrichatachinsaid, 'To have had you done so, I would have given a cow.'TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28.The weather was worse than yesterday. I felt as if imprisoned. Dr.Johnson said, it was irksome to be detained thus: yet he seemed to haveless uneasiness, or more patience, than I had. What made our situationworse here was, that we had no rooms that we could command; for the goodpeople had no notion that a man could have any occasion but for a meresleeping-place; so, during the day, the bed chambers were common to allthe house. Servants eat in Dr. Johnson's; and mine was a kind of generalrendezvous of all under the roof, children and dogs not excepted. As thegentlemen occupied the parlour, the ladies had no place to sit in,during the day, but Dr. Johnson's room. I had always some quiet time forwriting in it, before he was up; and, by degrees, I accustomed theladies to let me sit in it after breakfast, at my _Journal_, withoutminding me.Dr. Johnson was this morning for going to see as many islands as wecould; not recollecting the uncertainty of the season, which mightdetain us in one place for many weeks. He said to me, 'I have more thespirit of adventure than you.' For my part, I was anxious to get toMull, from whence we might almost any day reach the main land.Dr. Johnson mentioned, that the few ancient Irish gentlemen yetremaining have the highest pride of family; that Mr. Sandford, a friendof his, whose mother was Irish, told him, that O'Hara (who was trueIrish, both by father and mother) and he, and Mr. Ponsonby, son to theEarl of Besborough, the greatest man of the three, but of an Englishfamily, went to see one of those ancient Irish, and that hedistinguished them thus: 'O'Hara, you are welcome! Mr. Sandford, yourmother's son is welcome! Mr. Ponsonby, you may sit down.'He talked both of threshing and thatching. He said, it was verydifficult to determine how to agree with a thresher. 'If you pay him bythe day's wages, he will thresh no more than he pleases; though to besure, the negligence of a thresher is more easily detected than that ofmost labourers, because he must always make a sound while he works. Ifyou pay him by the piece, by the quantity of grain which he produces, hewill thresh only while the grain comes freely, and, though he leaves agood deal in the ear, it is not worth while to thresh the straw overagain; nor can you fix him to do it sufficiently, because it is sodifficult to prove how much less a man threshes than he ought to do.Here then is a dilemma: but, for my part, I would engage him by the day:I would rather trust his idleness than his fraud.' He said, a roofthatched with Lincolnshire reeds would last seventy years, as he wasinformed when in that county; and that he told this in London to a greatthatcher, who said, he believed it might be true. Such are the painsthat Dr. Johnson takes to get the best information on everysubject[714].He proceeded:--'It is difficult for a farmer in England to findday-labourers, because the lowest manufacturers can always get more thana day-labourer. It is of no consequence how high the wages ofmanufacturers are; but it would be of very bad consequence to raise thewages of those who procure the immediate necessaries of life, for thatwould raise the price of provisions. Here then is a problem forpoliticians. It is not reasonable that the most useful body of menshould be the worst paid; yet it does not appear how it can be orderedotherwise. It were to be wished, that a mode for its being otherwisewere found out. In the mean time, it is better to give temporaryassistance by charitable contributions to poor labourers, at times whenprovisions are high, than to raise their wages; because, if wages areonce raised, they will never get down again[715].'Happily the weather cleared up between one and two o'clock, and we gotready to depart; but our kind host and hostess would not let us gowithout taking a _snatch_, as they called it; which was in truth a verygood dinner. While the punch went round, Dr. Johnson kept a closewhispering conference with Mrs. M'Kinnon, which, however, was loudenough to let us hear that the subject of it was the particulars ofPrince Charles's escape. The company were entertained and pleased toobserve it. Upon that subject, there was something congenial between thesoul of Dr. Samuel Johnson, and that of an isle of Sky farmer's wife. Itis curious to see people, how far so ever removed from each other in thegeneral system of their lives, come close together on a particular pointwhich is common to each. We were merry with Corrichatachin, on Dr.Johnson's whispering with his wife. She, perceiving this, humourouslycried, 'I am in love with him. What is it to live and not to love?' Uponher saying something, which I did not hear, or cannot recollect, heseized her hand eagerly, and kissed it.As we were going, the Scottish phrase of '_honest man_!' which is anexpression of kindness and regard, was again and again applied by thecompany to Dr. Johnson. I was also treated with much civility; and Imust take some merit from my assiduous attention to him, and from mycontriving that he shall be easy wherever he goes, that he shall not beasked twice to eat or drink any thing (which always disgusts him), thathe shall be provided with water at his meals, and many such littlethings, which, if not attended to, would fret him. I also may be allowedto claim some merit in leading the conversation: I do not mean leading,as in an orchestra, by playing the first fiddle; but leading as one doesin examining a witness--starting topics, and making him pursue them. Heappears to me like a great mill, into which a subject is thrown to beground. It requires, indeed, fertile minds to furnish materials for thismill. I regret whenever I see it unemployed; but sometimes I feel myselfquite barren, and have nothing to throw in. I know not if this mill be agood figure; though Pope makes his mind a mill for turning verses[716].We set out about four. Young Corrichatachin went with us. We had a fineevening, and arrived in good time at _Ostig_, the residence of Mr.Martin M'Pherson, minister of Slate. It is a pretty good house, built byhis father, upon a farm near the church. We were received here with muchkindness by Mr. and Mrs. M'Pherson, and his sister, Miss M'Pherson, whopleased Dr. Johnson much, by singing Erse songs, and playing on theguittar. He afterwards sent her a present of his _Rasselas_. In hisbed-chamber was a press stored with books, Greek, Latin, French, andEnglish, most of which had belonged to the father of our host, thelearned Dr. M'Pherson; who, though his _Dissertations_ have beenmentioned in a former page[717] as unsatisfactory, was a man ofdistinguished talents. Dr. Johnson looked at a Latin paraphrase of thesong of Moses, written by him, and published in the _Scots Magazine_ for1747, and said, 'It does him honour; he has a good deal of Latin, andgood Latin.' Dr. M'Pherson published also in the same magazine, June1739, an original Latin ode, which he wrote from the isle of Barra,where he was minister for some years. It is very poetical, and exhibitsa striking proof how much all things depend upon comparison: for Barra,it seems, appeared to him so much worse than Sky, his _natalesolum_[718], that he languished for its 'blessed mountains,' and thoughthimself buried alive amongst barbarians where he was. My readers willprobably not be displeased to have a specimen of this ode:--'Hei mihi! quantos patior dolores,Dum procul specto juga ter beata;Dum ferae Barrae steriles arenasSolus oberro.'Ingemo, indignor, crucior, quod interBarbaros Thulen lateam colentes;Torpeo languens, morior sepultus,Carcere coeco.'After wishing for wings to fly over to his dear country, which was inhis view, from what he calls _Thule_, as being the most western isle ofScotland, except St. Kilda; after describing the pleasures of society,and the miseries of solitude, he at last, with becoming propriety, hasrecourse to the only sure relief of thinking men,--_Sursumcorda_[719]--the hope of a better world, disposes his mind toresignation:--'Interim fiat, tua, rex, voluntas:Erigor sursum quoties subit spesCerta migrandi Solymam supernam,Numinis aulam.'He concludes in a noble strain of orthodox piety:--'Vita tum demum vocitanda vita est.Tum licet gratos socios habere,Seraphim et sanctos TRIADEM verendamConcelebrantes.'