TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7.
Dr. Johnson was much pleased with his entertainment here. There were
many good books in the house: _Hector Boethius_ in Latin; Cave's _Lives
of the Fathers_; Baker's _Chronicle_; Jeremy Collier's _Church History_;
Dr. Johnson's small _Dictionary_; Craufurd's _Officers of State_, and
several more[473]:--a mezzotinto of Mrs. Brooks the actress (by some
strange chance in Sky[474]), and also a print of Macdonald of
Clanranald[475], with a Latin inscription about the cruelties after the
battle of Culloden, which will never be forgotten.
It was a very wet stormy day; we were therefore obliged to remain here,
it being impossible to cross the sea to Rasay.
I employed a part of the forenoon in writing this Journal. The rest of
it was somewhat dreary, from the gloominess of the weather, and the
uncertain state which we were in, as we could not tell but it might
clear up every hour. Nothing is more painful to the mind than a state of
suspence, especially when it depends upon the weather, concerning which
there can be so little calculation. As Dr. Johnson said of our weariness
on the Monday at Aberdeen, 'Sensation is sensation[476]:'
Corrichatachin, which was last night a hospitable house, was, in my
mind, changed to-day into a prison. After dinner I read some of Dr.
Macpherson's _Dissertations on the Ancient Caledonians_[477]. I was
disgusted by the unsatisfactory conjectures as to antiquity, before the
days of record. I was happy when tea came. Such, I take it, is the state
of those who live in the country. Meals are wished for from the cravings
of vacuity of mind, as well as from the desire of eating. I was hurt to
find even such a temporary feebleness, and that I was so far from being
that robust wise man who is sufficient for his own happiness. I felt a
kind of lethargy of indolence. I did not exert myself to get Dr. Johnson
to talk, that I might not have the labour of writing down his
conversation. He enquired here if there were any remains of the second
sight[478]. Mr. M'Pherson, Minister of Slate, said, he was _resolved_
not to believe it, because it was founded on no principle[479]. JOHNSON.
'There are many things then, which we are sure are true, that you will
not believe. What principle is there, why a loadstone attracts iron? why
an egg produces a chicken by heat? why a tree grows upwards, when the
natural tendency of all things is downwards? Sir, it depends upon the
degree of evidence that you have.' Young Mr. M'Kinnon mentioned one
M'Kenzie, who is still alive, who had often fainted in his presence, and
when he recovered, mentioned visions which had been presented to him. He
told Mr. M'Kinnon, that at such a place he should meet a funeral, and
that such and such people would be the bearers, naming four; and three
weeks afterwards he saw what M'Kenzie had predicted. The naming the very
spot in a country where a funeral comes a long way, and the very people
as bearers, when there are so many out of whom a choice may be made,
seems extraordinary. We should have sent for M'Kenzie, had we not been
informed that he could speak no English. Besides, the facts were not
related with sufficient accuracy.
Mrs. M'Kinnon, who is a daughter of old Kingsburgh, told us that her
father was one day riding in Sky, and some women, who were at work in a
field on the side of the road, said to him they had heard two _taiscks_,
(that is, two voices of persons about to die[480],) and what was
remarkable, one of them was an _English taisck_, which they never heard
before. When he returned, he at that very place met two funerals, and
one of them was that of a woman who had come from the main land, and
could speak only English. This, she remarked, made a great impression
upon her father.
How all the people here were lodged, I know not. It was partly done by
separating man and wife, and putting a number of men in one room, and of
women in another.
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8.
When I waked, the rain was much heavier than yesterday; but the wind had
abated. By breakfast, the day was better, and in a little while it was
calm and clear. I felt my spirits much elated. The propriety of the
expression, '_the sunshine of the breast_[481],' now struck me with
peculiar force; for the brilliant rays penetrated into my very soul. We
were all in better humour than before. Mrs. M'Kinnon, with unaffected
hospitality and politeness, expressed her happiness in having such
company in her house, and appeared to understand and relish Dr.
Johnson's conversation, as indeed all the company seemed to do. When I
knew she was old Kingsburgh's daughter, I did not wonder at the good
appearance which she made.
She talked as if her husband and family would emigrate, rather than be
oppressed by their landlord; and said, 'how agreeable would it be, if
these gentlemen should come in upon us when we are in America.' Somebody
observed that Sir Alexander Macdonald was always frightened at sea.
JOHNSON. '_He_ is frightened at sea; and his tenants are frightened when
he comes to land.'
We resolved to set out directly after breakfast. We had about two miles
to ride to the sea-side, and there we expected to get one of the boats
belonging to the fleet of bounty[482] herring-busses then on the coast,
or at least a good country fishing-boat. But while we were preparing to
set out, there arrived a man with the following card from the Reverend
Mr. Donald M'Queen:--
'Mr. M'Queen's compliments to Mr. Boswell, and begs leave to acquaint
him that, fearing the want of a proper boat, as much as the rain of
yesterday, might have caused a stop, he is now at Skianwden with
Macgillichallum's[483] carriage, to convey him and Dr. Johnson to Rasay,
where they will meet with a most hearty welcome, and where. Macleod,
being on a visit, now attends their motions.' 'Wednesday afternoon.'
This card was most agreeable; it was a prologue to that hospitable and
truly polite reception which we found at Rasay. In a little while
arrived Mr. Donald M'Queen himself; a decent minister, an elderly man
with his own black hair, courteous, and rather slow of speech, but
candid, sensible, and well informed, nay learned. Along with him came,
as our pilot, a gentleman whom I had a great desire to see, Mr. Malcolm
Macleod, one of the Rasay family, celebrated in the year 1745-6. He was
now sixty-two years of age, hale, and well proportioned,--with a manly
countenance, tanned by the weather, yet having a ruddiness in his
cheeks, over a great part of which his rough beard extended. His eye was
quick and lively, yet his look was not fierce, but he appeared at once
firm and good-humoured. He wore a pair of brogues[484],--Tartan hose
which came up only near to his knees, and left them bare,--a purple
camblet kilt[485],--a black waistcoat,--a short green cloth coat bound
with gold cord,--a yellowish bushy wig,--a large blue bonnet with a gold
thread button. I never saw a figure that gave a more perfect
representation of a Highland gentleman. I wished much to have a picture
of him just as he was. I found him frank and _polite_, in the true sense
of the word.
The good family at Corrichatachin said, they hoped to see us on our
return. We rode down to the shore; but Malcolm walked with
graceful agility.
We got into Rasay's _carriage_, which was a good strong open boat made
in Norway. The wind had now risen pretty high, and was against us; but
we had four stout rowers, particularly a Macleod, a robust black-haired
fellow, half naked, and bare-headed, something between a wild Indian and
an English tar. Dr. Johnson sat high, on the stern, like a magnificent
Triton. Malcolm sung an Erse song, the chorus of which was '_Hatyin foam
foam eri_', with words of his own[486]. The tune resembled '_Owr the
muir amang the heather_'. The boatmen and Mr. M'Queen chorused, and all
went well. At length Malcolm himself took an oar, and rowed vigorously.
We sailed along the coast of Scalpa, a rugged island, about four miles
in length. Dr. Johnson proposed that he and I should buy it, and found a
good school, and an episcopal church, (Malcolm[487] said, he would come
to it,) and have a printing-press, where he would print all the Erse
that could be found. Here I was strongly struck with our long
projected scheme of visiting the Hebrides being realized[488]. I called
to him, 'We are contending with seas;' which I think were the words of
one of his letters to me[489]. 'Not much,' said he; and though the wind
made the sea lash considerably upon us, he was not discomposed. After we
were out of the shelter of Scalpa, and in the sound between it and
Rasay, which extended about a league, the wind made the sea very
rough[490]. I did not like it. JOHNSON. 'This now is the Atlantick. If I
should tell at a tea table in London, that I have crossed the Atlantick
in an open boat, how they'd shudder, and what a fool they'd think me to
expose myself to such danger?' He then repeated Horace's ode,--
'Otium Divos rogat in patenti
Prensus Aegaeo----[491]'
In the confusion and hurry of this boisterous sail, Dr. Johnson's spurs,
of which Joseph had charge, were carried over-board into the sea, and
lost[492]. This was the first misfortune that had befallen us. Dr.
Johnson was a little angry at first, observing that 'there was something
wild in letting a pair of spurs be carried into the sea out of a boat;'
but then he remarked, 'that, as Janes the naturalist had said upon
losing his pocket-book, it was rather an inconvenience than a loss.' He
told us, he now recollected that he dreamt the night before, that he put
his staff into a river, and chanced to let it go, and it was carried
down the stream and lost. 'So now you see, (said he,) that I have lost
my spurs; and this story is better than many of those which we have
concerning second sight and dreams.' Mr. M'Queen said he did not believe
the second sight; that he never met with any well attested instances;
and if he should, he should impute them to chance; because all who
pretend to that quality often fail in their predictions, though they
take a great scope, and sometimes interpret literally, sometimes
figuratively, so as to suit the events. He told us, that, since he came
to be minister of the parish where he now is, the belief of witchcraft,
or charms, was very common, insomuch that he had many prosecutions
before his _session_ (the parochial ecclesiastical court) against women,
for having by these means carried off the milk from people's cows. He
disregarded them; and there is not now the least vestige of that
superstition. He preached against it; and in order to give a strong
proof to the people that there was nothing in it, he said from the
pulpit that every woman in the parish was welcome to take the milk from
his cows, provided she did not touch them[493].
Dr. Johnson asked him as to _Fingal_. He said he could repeat some
passages in the original, that he heard his grandfather had a copy of
it; but that he could not affirm that Ossian composed all that poem as
it is now published. This came pretty much to what Dr. Johnson had
maintained[494]; though he goes farther, and contends that it is no
better than such an epick poem as he could make from the song of Robin
Hood[495]; that is to say, that, except a few passages, there is nothing
truly ancient but the names and some vague traditions. Mr. M'Queen
alleged that Homer was made up of detached fragments. Dr. Johnson denied
this; observing, that it had been one work originally, and that you
could not put a book of the _Iliad_ out of its place; and he believed
the same might be said of the _Odyssey_.
The approach to Rasay was very pleasing. We saw before us a beautiful
bay, well defended by a rocky coast; a good family mansion; a fine
verdure about it,--with a considerable number of trees;--and beyond it
hills and mountains in gradation of wildness. Our boatmen sung with
great spirit. Dr. Johnson observed, that naval musick was very ancient.
As we came near the shore, the singing of our rowers was succeeded by
that of reapers, who were busy at work, and who seemed to shout as much
as to sing, while they worked with a bounding activity[496]. Just as we
landed, I observed a cross, or rather the ruins of one, upon a rock,
which had to me a pleasing vestige of religion. I perceived a large
company coming out from the house. We met them as we walked up. There
were Rasay himself; his brother Dr. Macleod; his nephew the Laird of
M'Kinnon; the Laird of Macleod; Colonel Macleod of Talisker, an officer
in the Dutch service, a very genteel man, and a faithful branch of the
family; Mr. Macleod of Muiravenside, best known by the name of Sandie
Macleod, who was long in exile on account of the part which he took in
1745; and several other persons. We were welcomed upon the green, and
conducted into the house, where we were introduced to Lady Rasay, who
was surrounded by a numerous family, consisting of three sons and ten
daughters. The Laird of Rasay is a sensible, polite, and most hospitable
gentleman. I was told that his island of Rasay, and that of Rona, (from
which the eldest son of the family has his title,) and a considerable
extent of land which he has in Sky, do not altogether yield him a very
large revenue[497]: and yet he lives in great splendour; and so far is
he from distressing his people, that, in the present rage for
emigration, not a man has left his estate. It was past six o'clock
when we arrived. Some excellent brandy was served round immediately,
according to the custom of the Highlands, where a dram is generally
taken every day. They call it a _scalch_[498]. On a side-board was
placed for us, who had come off the sea, a substantial dinner, and a
variety of wines. Then we had coffee and tea. I observed in the room
several elegantly bound books, and other marks of improved life. Soon
afterwards a fidler appeared, and a little ball began. Rasay himself
danced with as much spirit as any man, and Malcolm bounded like a roe.
Sandie Macleod, who has at times an excessive flow of spirits, and had
it now, was, in his days of absconding, known by the name of
_M'Cruslick_[499], which it seems was the designation of a kind of
wild man in the Highlands, something between Proteus and Don Quixote;
and so he was called here. He made much jovial noise. Dr. Johnson was so
delighted with this scene, that he said, 'I know not how we shall get
away.' It entertained me to observe him sitting by, while we danced,
sometimes in deep meditation,--sometimes smiling complacently,--sometimes
looking upon Hooke's _Roman History_,--and sometimes talking a
little, amidst the noise of the ball, to Mr. Donald M'Queen, who
anxiously gathered knowledge from him. He was pleased with M'Queen, and
said to me, 'This is a critical man, Sir. There must be great vigour of
mind to make him cultivate learning so much in the isle of Sky, where
he might do without it. It is wonderful how many of the new publications
he has. There must be a snatch of every opportunity.' Mr. M'Queen told
me that his brother (who is the fourth generation of the family
following each other as ministers of the parish of Snizort,) and he
joined together, and bought from time to time such books as had
reputation. Soon after we came in, a black cock and grey hen, which had
been shot, were shewn, with their feathers on, to Dr. Johnson, who had
never seen that species of bird before. We had a company of thirty at
supper; and all was good humour and gaiety, without intemperance.
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 9.
At breakfast this morning, among a profusion of other things, there were
oat-cakes, made of what is called _graddaned_ meal, that is, meal made
of grain separated from the husks, and toasted by fire, instead of being
threshed and kiln-dried. This seems to be bad management, as so much
fodder is consumed by it. Mr. M'Queen however defended it, by saying,
that it is doing the thing much quicker, as one operation effects what
is otherwise done by two. His chief reason however was, that the
servants in Sky are, according to him, a faithless pack, and steal what
they can; so that much is saved by the corn passing but once through
their hands, as at each time they pilfer some. It appears to me, that
the gradaning is a strong proof of the laziness of the Highlanders, who
will rather make fire act for them, at the expence of fodder, than
labour themselves. There was also, what I cannot help disliking at
breakfast, cheese: it is the custom over all the Highlands to have it;
and it often smells very strong, and poisons to a certain degree the
elegance of an Indian repast[500]. The day was showery; however, Rasay
and I took a walk, and had some cordial conversation. I conceived a more
than ordinary regard for this worthy gentleman. His family has possessed
this island above four hundred years[501]. It is the remains of the
estate of Macleod of Lewis, whom he represents. When we returned, Dr.
Johnson walked with us to see the old chapel. He was in fine spirits. He
said,' This is truly the patriarchal life: this is what we came to
find.' After dinner, M'Cruslick, Malcolm, and I, went out with guns,
to try if we could find any black-cock; but we had no sport, owing to a
heavy rain. I saw here what is called a Danish fort. Our evening was
passed as last night was. One of our company, I was told, had hurt
himself by too much study, particularly of infidel metaphysicians; of
which he gave a proof, on second sight being mentioned. He immediately
retailed some of the fallacious arguments of Voltaire and Hume against
miracles in general. Infidelity in a Highland gentleman appeared to me
peculiarly offensive. I was sorry for him, as he had otherwise a good
character. I told Dr. Johnson that he had studied himself into
infidelity. JOHNSON. 'Then he must study himself out of it again. That
is the way. Drinking largely will sober him again.'
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 10.
Having resolved to explore the Island of Rasay, which could be done only
on foot, I last night obtained my fellow-traveller's permission to leave
him for a day, he being unable to take so hardy a walk. Old Mr. Malcolm
M'Cleod, who had obligingly promised to accompany me, was at my bed-side
between five and six. I sprang up immediately, and he and I, attended by
two other gentlemen, traversed the country during the whole of this day.
Though we had passed over not less than four-and-twenty miles of very
rugged ground, and had a Highland dance on the top of _Dun Can_, the
highest mountain in the island, we returned in the evening not at all
fatigued, and piqued ourselves at not being outdone at the nightly ball
by our less active friends, who had remained at home.
My survey of Rasay did not furnish much which can interest my readers; I
shall therefore put into as short a compass as I can, the observations
upon it, which I find registered in my journal. It is about fifteen
English miles long, and four broad. On the south side is the laird's
family seat, situated on a pleasing low spot. The old tower of three
stories, mentioned by Martin, was taken down soon after 1746, and a
modern house supplies its place. There are very good grass-fields and
corn-lands about it, well-dressed. I observed, however, hardly any
inclosures, except a good garden plentifully stocked with vegetables,
and strawberries, raspberries, currants, &c.
On one of the rocks just where we landed, which are not high, there is
rudely carved a square, with a crucifix in the middle. Here, it is said,
the Lairds of Rasay, in old times, used to offer up their devotions. I
could not approach the spot, without a grateful recollection of the
event commemorated by this symbol.
A little from the shore, westward, is a kind of subterraneous house.
There has been a natural fissure, or separation of the rock, running
towards the sea, which has been roofed over with long stones, and above
them turf has been laid. In that place the inhabitants used to keep
their oars. There are a number of trees near the house, which grow well;
some of them of a pretty good size. They are mostly plane and ash. A
little to the west of the house is an old ruinous chapel, unroofed,
which never has been very curious. We here saw some human bones of an
uncommon size. There was a heel-bone, in particular, which Dr. Macleod
said was such, that if the foot was in proportion, it must have been
twenty-seven inches long. Dr. Johnson would not look at the bones. He
started back from them with a striking appearance of horrour[502]. Mr.
M'Queen told us it was formerly much the custom, in these isles, to have
human bones lying above ground, especially in the windows of churches.
On the south of the chapel is the family burying-place. Above the door,
on the east end of it, is a small bust or image of the Virgin Mary,
carved upon a stone which makes part of the wall. There is no church
upon the island. It is annexed to one of the parishes of Sky; and the
minister comes and preaches either in Rasay's house, or some other
house, on certain Sundays. I could not but value the family seat more,
for having even the ruins of a chapel close to it. There was something
comfortable in the thought of being so near a piece of consecrated
ground.[503] Dr. Johnson said, 'I look with reverence upon every place
that has been set apart for religion;' and he kept off his hat while he
was within the walls of the chapel[504].
The eight crosses, which Martin mentions as pyramids for deceased
ladies, stood in a semicircular line, which contained within it the
chapel. They marked out the boundaries of the sacred territory within
which an asylum was to be had. One of them, which we observed upon our
landing, made the first point of the semicircle. There are few of them
now remaining. A good way farther north, there is a row of buildings
about four feet high; they run from the shore on the east along the top
of a pretty high eminence, and so down to the shore on the west, in much
the same direction with the crosses. Rasay took them to be the marks for
the asylum; but Malcolm thought them to be false sentinels, a common
deception, of which instances occur in Martin, to make invaders imagine
an island better guarded. Mr. Donald M'Queen, justly in my opinion,
supposed the crosses which form the inner circle to be the church's
land-marks.
The south end of the island is much covered with large stones or rocky
strata. The laird has enclosed and planted part of it with firs, and he
shewed me a considerable space marked out for additional plantations.
_Dun Can_ is a mountain three computed miles from the laird's house. The
ascent to it is by consecutive risings, if that expression may be used
when vallies intervene, so that there is but a short rise at once; but
it is certainly very high above the sea. The palm of altitude is
disputed for by the people of Rasay and those of Sky; the former
contending for Dun Can, the latter for the mountains in Sky, over
against it. We went up the east side of Dun Can pretty easily. It is
mostly rocks all around, the points of which hem the summit of it.
Sailors, to whom it was a good object as they pass along, call it
Rasay's cap. Before we reached this mountain, we passed by two lakes. Of
the first, Malcolm told me a strange fabulous tradition. He said, there
was a wild beast in it, a sea horse, which came and devoured a man's
daughter; upon which the man lighted a great fire, and had a sow roasted
at it, the smell of which attracted the monster. In the fire was put a
spit. The man lay concealed behind a low wall of loose stones, and he
had an avenue formed for the monster, with two rows of large flat
stones, which extended from the fire over the summit of the hill, till
it reached the side of the loch. The monster came, and the man with the
red-hot spit destroyed it. Malcolm shewed me the little hiding-place,
and the rows of stones. He did not laugh when he told this story. I
recollect having seen in the _Scots Magazine_, several years ago, a poem
upon a similar tale, perhaps the same, translated from the Erse, or
Irish, called _Albin and the Daughter of Mey_.
There is a large tract of land, possessed as a common, in Rasay. They
have no regulations as to the number of cattle. Every man puts upon it
as many as he chooses. From Dun Can northward, till you reach the other
end of the island, there is much good natural pasture unincumbered by
