water, so anxious were they to make what haste they could before the
night should be worse. I now saw what I never saw before, a prodigious
sea, with immense billows coming upon a vessel, so as that it seemed
hardly possible to escape. There was something grandly horrible in the
sight. I am glad I have seen it once. Amidst all these terrifying
circumstances, I endeavoured to compose my mind. It was not easy to do
it; for all the stories that I had heard of the dangerous sailing among
the Hebrides, which is proverbial[767], came full upon my recollection.
When I thought of those who were dearest to me, and would suffer
severely, should I be lost, I upbraided myself, as not having a
sufficient cause for putting myself in such danger. Piety afforded me
comfort; yet I was disturbed by the objections that have been made
against a particular providence, and by the arguments of those who
maintain that it is in vain to hope that the petitions of an individual,
or even of congregations, can have any influence with the Deity;
objections which have been often made, and which Dr. Hawkesworth has
lately revived, in his Preface to the _Voyages to the South Seas_[768];
but Dr. Ogden's excellent doctrine on the efficacy of intercession
prevailed.
It was half an hour after eleven before we set ourselves in the course
for Col. As I saw them all busy doing something, I asked Col, with much
earnestness, what I could do. He, with a happy readiness, put into my
hand a rope, which was fixed to the top of one of the masts, and told me
to hold it till he bade me pull. If I had considered the matter, I might
have seen that this could not be of the least service; but his object
was to keep me out of the way of those who were busy working the vessel,
and at the same time to divert my fear, by employing me, and making me
think that I was of use. Thus did I stand firm to my post, while the
wind and rain beat upon me, always expecting a call to pull my rope.
The man with one eye steered; old M'Donald, and Col and his servant, lay
upon the fore-castle, looking sharp out for the harbour. It was
necessary to carry much _cloth_, as they termed it, that is to say, much
sail, in order to keep the vessel off the shore of Col. This made
violent plunging in a rough sea. At last they spied the harbour of
Lochiern, and Col cried, 'Thank GOD, we are safe!' We ran up till we
were opposite to it, and soon afterwards we got into it, and
cast anchor.
Dr. Johnson had all this time been quiet and unconcerned. He had lain
down on one of the beds, and having got free from sickness, was
satisfied. The truth is, he knew nothing of the danger we were in[769]
but, fearless and unconcerned, might have said, in the words which he
has chosen for the motto to his _Rambler_,
'Quo me cunque rapit tempestas, deferor hospes.[770]'
Once, during the doubtful consultations, he asked whither we were going;
and upon being told that it was not certain whether to Mull or Col, he
cried, 'Col for my money!' I now went down, with Col and Mr. Simpson, to
visit him. He was lying in philosophick tranquillity with a greyhound of
Col's at his back, keeping him warm. Col is quite the _Juvenis qui
gaudet canibus_[771]. He had, when we left Talisker, two greyhounds,
two terriers, a pointer, and a large Newfoundland water-dog. He lost one
of his terriers by the road, but had still five dogs with him. I was
very ill, and very desirous to get to shore. When I was told that we
could not land that night, as the storm had now increased, I looked so
miserably, as Col afterwards informed me, that what Shakspeare has made
the Frenchman say of the English soldiers, when scantily dieted,
_'Piteous they will look, like drowned mice!'_[772] might, I believe,
have been well applied to me. There was in the harbour, before us, a
Campbelltown vessel, the Betty, Kenneth Morrison master, taking in
kelp, and bound for Ireland. We sent our boat to beg beds for two
gentlemen, and that the master would send his boat, which was larger
than ours. He accordingly did so, and Col and I were accommodated in his
vessel till the morning.
MONDAY, OCTOBER 4.
About eight o'clock we went in the boat to Mr. Simpson's vessel, and
took in Dr. Johnson. He was quite well, though he had tasted nothing but
a dish of tea since Saturday night. On our expressing some surprise at
this, he said, that, 'when he lodged in the Temple, and had no regular
system of life, he had fasted for two days at a time, during which he
had gone about visiting, though not at the hours of dinner or supper;
that he had drunk tea, but eaten no bread; that this was no intentional
fasting, but happened just in the course of a literary life.'[773]
There was a little miserable publick-house close upon the shore, to
which we should have gone, had we landed last night: but this morning
Col resolved to take us directly to the house of Captain Lauchlan
M'Lean, a descendant of his family, who had acquired a fortune in the
East-Indies, and taken a farm in Col[774]. We had about an English mile
to go to it. Col and Joseph, and some others, ran to some little horses,
called here _Shelties_, that were running wild on a heath, and catched
one of them. We had a saddle with us, which was clapped upon it, and a
straw halter was put on its head. Dr. Johnson was then mounted, and
Joseph very slowly and gravely led the horse. I said to Dr. Johnson, 'I
wish, Sir, _the Club_ saw you in this attitude.[775]'
It was a very heavy rain, and I was wet to the skin. Captain M'Lean had
but a poor temporary house, or rather hut; however, it was a very good
haven to us. There was a blazing peat-fire, and Mrs. M'Lean, daughter of
the minister of the parish, got us tea. I felt still the motion of the
sea. Dr. Johnson said, it was not in imagination, but a continuation of
motion on the fluids, like that of the sea itself after the storm
is over.
There were some books on the board which served as a chimney-piece. Dr.
Johnson took up Burnet's _History of his own Times_[776]. He said, 'The
first part of it is one of the most entertaining books in the English
language; it is quite dramatick: while he went about every where, saw
every where, and heard every where. By the first part, I mean so far as
it appears that Burnet himself was actually engaged in what he has told;
and this may be easily distinguished.' Captain M'Lean censured Burnet,
for his high praise of Lauderdale in a dedication[777], when he shews
him in his history to have been so bad a man. JOHNSON. 'I do not myself
think that a man should say in a dedication what he could not say in a
history. However, allowance should be made; for there is a great
difference. The known style of a dedication is flattery: it professes
to flatter. There is the same difference between what a man says in a
dedication, and what he says in a history, as between a lawyer's
pleading a cause, and reporting it.'
The day passed away pleasantly enough. The wind became fair for Mull in
the evening, and Mr. Simpson resolved to sail next morning: but having
been thrown into the island of Col we were unwilling to leave it
unexamined, especially as we considered that the Campbelltown vessel
would sail for Mull in a day or two, and therefore we determined
to stay.
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 5.
I rose, and wrote my _Journal_ till about nine; and then went to Dr.
Johnson, who sat up in bed and talked and laughed. I said, it was
curious to look back ten years, to the time when we first thought of
visiting the Hebrides[778]. How distant and improbable the scheme then
appeared! Yet here we were actually among them. 'Sir, (said he,) people
may come to do any thing almost, by talking of it. I really believe, I
could talk myself into building a house upon island Isa[779], though I
should probably never come back again to see it. I could easily persuade
Reynolds to do it; and there would be no great sin in persuading him to
do it. Sir, he would reason thus: "What will it cost me to be there once
in two or three summers? Why, perhaps, five hundred pounds; and what is
that, in comparison of having a fine retreat, to which a man can go, or
to which he can send a friend?" He would never find out that he may have
this within twenty miles of London. Then I would tell him, that he may
marry one of the Miss M'Leods, a lady of great family. Sir, it is
surprising how people will go to a distance for what they may have at
home. I knew a lady who came up from Lincolnshire to Knightsbridge with
one of her daughters, and gave five guineas a week for a lodging and a
warm bath; that is, mere warm water. _That_, you know, could not be had
in _Lincolnshire_! She said, it was made either too hot or too
cold there.'
After breakfast, Dr. Johnson and I, and Joseph, mounted horses, and Col
and the Captain walked with us about a short mile across the island. We
paid a visit to the Reverend Mr. Hector M'Lean. His parish consists of
the islands of Col and Tyr-yi. He was about seventy-seven years of age,
a decent ecclesiastick, dressed in a full suit of black clothes, and a
black wig. He appeared like a Dutch pastor, or one of the assembly of
divines at Westminster. Dr. Johnson observed to me afterwards, 'that he
was a fine old man, and was as well-dressed, and had as much dignity in
his appearance as the dean of a cathedral.' We were told, that he had a
valuable library, though but poor accommodation for it, being obliged to
keep his books in large chests. It was curious to see him and Dr.
Johnson together. Neither of them heard very distinctly; so each of them
talked in his own way, and at the same time. Mr. M'Lean said, he had a
confutation of Bayle, by Leibnitz. JOHNSON. 'A confutation of Bayle,
Sir! What part of Bayle do you mean? The greatest part of his writings
is not confutable: it is historical and critical.' Mr. M'Lean said, 'the
irreligious part;' and proceeded to talk of Leibnitz's controversy with
Clarke, calling Leibnitz a great man. JOHNSON. 'Why, Sir, Leibnitz
persisted in affirming that Newton called space _sensorium numinis_,
notwithstanding he was corrected, and desired to observe that Newton's
words were QUASI _sensorium numinis_[780]. No, Sir; Leibnitz was as
paltry a fellow as I know. Out of respect to Queen Caroline, who
patronised him, Clarke treated him too well.[781]' During the time
that Dr. Johnson was thus going on, the old minister was standing with
his back to the fire, cresting up erect, pulling down the front of his
periwig, and talking what a great man Leibnitz was. To give an idea of
the scene, would require a page with two columns; but it ought rather to
be represented by two good players. The old gentleman said, Clarke was
very wicked, for going so much into the Arian system[782]. 'I will not
say he was wicked, said Dr. Johnson; he might be mistaken.' M'LEAN. 'He
was wicked, to shut his eyes against the Scriptures; and worthy men in
England have since confuted him to all intents and purposes.' JOHNSON.
'I know not _who_ has confuted him to _all intents and purposes_.' Here
again there was a double talking, each continuing to maintain his own
argument, without hearing exactly what the other said.
I regretted that Dr. Johnson did not practice the art of accommodating
himself to different sorts of people. Had he been softer with this
venerable old man, we might have had more conversation; but his forcible
spirit, and impetuosity of manner, may be said to spare neither sex nor
age. I have seen even Mrs. Thrale stunned; but I have often maintained,
that it is better he should retain his own manner[783]. Pliability of
address I conceive to be inconsistent with that majestick power of mind
which he possesses, and which produces such noble effects. A lofty oak
will not bend like a supple willow.
He told me afterwards, he liked firmness in an old man, and was pleased
to see Mr. M'Lean so orthodox. 'At his age, it is too late for a man to
be asking himself questions as to his belief[784].' We rode to the
northern part of the island, where we saw the ruins of a church or
chapel[785]. We then proceeded to a place called Grissipol, or the
rough Pool.
At Grissipol we found a good farm house, belonging to the Laird of Col,
and possessed by Mr. M'Sweyn. On the beach here there is a singular
variety of curious stones. I picked up one very like a small cucumber.
By the by, Dr. Johnson told me, that Gay's line in _The Beggars Opera_,
'As men should serve a cucumber[786],' &c. has no waggish meaning, with
reference to men flinging away cucumbers as too _cooling_, which some
have thought; for it has been a common saying of physicians in England,
that a cucumber should be well sliced, and dressed with pepper and
vinegar, and then thrown out, as good for nothing. Mr. M'Sweyn's
predecessors had been in Sky from a very remote period, upon the estate
belonging to M'Leod; probably before M'Leod had it The name is certainly
Norwegian, from _Sueno_, King of Norway. The present Mr. M'Sweyn left
Sky upon the late M'Leod's raising his rents. He then got this farm
from Col.
He appeared to be near fourscore; but looked as fresh, and was as strong
as a man of fifty. His son Hugh looked older; and, as Dr. Johnson
observed, had more the manners of an old man than he. I had often heard
of such instances, but never saw one before. Mrs. M'Sweyn was a decent
old gentlewoman. She was dressed in tartan, and could speak nothing but
Erse. She said, she taught Sir James M'Donald Erse, and would teach me
soon. I could now sing a verse of the song _Hatyin foam'eri_[787], made
in honour of Allan, the famous Captain of Clanranald, who fell at
Sherrif-muir[788]; whose servant, who lay on the field watching his
master's dead body, being asked next day who that was, answered, 'He was
a man yesterday.'
We were entertained here with a primitive heartiness. Whiskey was served
round in a shell, according to the ancient Highland custom. Dr. Johnson
would not partake of it; but, being desirous to do honour to the modes
'of other times,' drank some water out of the shell.
In the forenoon Dr. Johnson said, 'it would require great resignation to
live in one of these islands.' BOSWELL. 'I don't know, Sir; I have felt
myself at times in a state of almost mere physical existence, satisfied
to eat, drink, and sleep, and walk about, and enjoy my own thoughts; and
I can figure a continuation of this.' JOHNSON. 'Ay, Sir; but if you were
shut up here, your own thoughts would torment you. You would think of
Edinburgh or London, and that you could not be there.'
We set out after dinner for _Breacacha_, the family seat of the Laird of
Col, accompanied by the young laird, who had now got a horse, and by the
younger Mr. M'Sweyn, whose wife had gone thither before us, to prepare
every thing for our reception, the laird and his family being absent at
Aberdeen. It is called _Breacacha_, or the Spotted Field, because in
summer it is enamelled with clover and daisies, as young Col told me. We
passed by a place where there is a very large stone, I may call it a
_rock_;--'a vast weight for Ajax[789].' The tradition is, that a giant
threw such another stone at his mistress, up to the top of a hill, at a
small distance; and that she in return, threw this mass down to
him[790]. It was all in sport.
'Malo me petit lasciva puella[791].'
As we advanced, we came to a large extent of plain ground. I had not
seen such a place for a long time. Col and I took a gallop upon it by
way of race. It was very refreshing to me, after having been so long
taking short steps in hilly countries. It was like stretching a man's
legs after being cramped in a short bed. We also passed close by a large
extent of sand-hills, near two miles square. Dr. Johnson said, 'he never
had the image before. It was horrible, if barrenness and danger could be
so.' I heard him, after we were in the house of _Breacacha_, repeating
to himself, as he walked about the room,
'And smother'd in the dusty whirlwind, dies[792].'
Probably he had been thinking of the whole of the simile in _Cato_, of
which that is the concluding line; the sandy desart had struck him so
strongly. The sand has of late been blown over a good deal of meadow,
and the people of the island say, that their fathers remembered much of
the space which is now covered with sand, to have been under
tillage[793]. Col's house is situated on a bay called _Breacacha_ Bay.
We found here a neat new-built gentleman's house, better than any we had
been in since we were at Lord Errol's. Dr. Johnson relished it much at
first, but soon remarked to me, that 'there was nothing becoming a Chief
about it: it was a mere tradesman's box[794].' He seemed quite at home,
and no longer found any difficulty in using the Highland address; for as
soon as we arrived, he said, with a spirited familiarity, 'Now, _Col_,
if you could get us a dish of tea.' Dr. Johnson and I had each an
excellent bed-chamber. We had a dispute which of us had the best
curtains. His were rather the best, being of linen; but I insisted that
my bed had the best posts, which was undeniable. 'Well, (said he,) if
you _have_ the best _posts_, we will have you tied to them and whipped.'
I mention this slight circumstance, only to shew how ready he is, even
in mere trifles, to get the better of his antagonist, by placing him in
a ludicrous view. I have known him sometimes use the same art, when hard
pressed in serious disputation. Goldsmith, I remember, to retaliate for
many a severe defeat which he has suffered from him, applied to him a
lively saying in one of Cibber's comedies, which puts this part of his
character in a strong light.--'There is no arguing with Johnson; for,
_if his pistol misses fire, he knocks you down with the butt end of
it_[795].'
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 6.
After a sufficiency of sleep, we assembled at breakfast. We were just as
if in barracks. Every body was master. We went and viewed the old castle
of Col, which is not far from the present house, near the shore, and
founded on a rock. It has never been a large feudal residence, and has
nothing about it that requires a particular description. Like other old
inconvenient buildings of the same age, it exemplified Gray's
picturesque lines,
'Huge[796] windows that exclude the light,
And passages that lead to nothing.'
It may however be worth mentioning, that on the second story we saw a
vault, which was, and still is, the family prison. There was a woman put
into it by the laird, for theft, within these ten years; and any
offender would be confined there yet; for, from the necessity of the
thing, as the island is remote from any power established by law, the
laird must exercise his jurisdiction to a certain degree.
We were shewn, in a corner of this vault, a hole, into which Col said
greater criminals used to be put. It was now filled up with rubbish of
different kinds. He said, it was of a great depth, 'Ay, (said Dr.
Johnson, smiling,) all such places, that _are filled up_, were of a
great depth.' He is very quick in shewing that he does not give credit
to careless or exaggerated accounts of things. After seeing the castle,
we looked at a small hut near it. It is called _Teigh Franchich, i.e._
the Frenchman's House. Col could not tell us the history of it. A poor
man with a wife and children now lived in it. We went into it, and Dr.
Johnson gave them some charity. There was but one bed for all the
family, and the hut was very smoky. When he came out, he said to me,
_'Et hoc secundum sententiam philosophorum est esse beatus_[797].'
BOSWELL. 'The philosophers, when they placed happiness in a cottage,
supposed cleanliness and no smoke.' JOHNSON. 'Sir, they did not think
about either.'
We walked a little in the laird's garden, in which endeavours have been
used to rear some trees; but, as soon as they got above the surrounding
wall, they died. Dr. Johnson recommended sowing the seeds of hardy
trees, instead of planting.
Col and I rode out this morning, and viewed a part of the island. In the
course of our ride, we saw a turnip-field, which he had hoed with his
own hands. He first introduced this kind of husbandry into the Western
islands[798]. We also looked at an appearance of lead, which seemed very
promising. It has been long known; for I found letters to the late
laird, from Sir John Areskine and Sir Alexander Murray, respecting it.
After dinner came Mr. M'Lean, of Corneck, brother to Isle of Muck, who
is a cadet of the family of Col. He possesses the two ends of Col, which
belong to the Duke of Argyll. Corneck had lately taken a lease of them
at a very advanced rent, rather than let the Campbells get a footing in
the island, one of whom had offered nearly as much as he. Dr. Johnson
well observed, that, 'landlords err much when they calculate merely
what their land _may_ yield. The rent must be in a proportionate ratio
of what the land may yield, and of the power of the tenant to make it
yield. A tenant cannot make by his land, but according to the corn and
cattle which he has. Suppose you should give him twice as much land as
he has, it does him no good, unless he gets also more stock. It is clear
then, that the Highland landlords, who let their substantial tenants
leave them, are infatuated; for the poor small tenants cannot give them
good rents, from the very nature of things. They have not the means of
raising more from their farms[799].' Corneck, Dr. Johnson said, was the
most distinct man that he had met with in these isles: he did not shut
his eyes, or put his fingers in his ears, which he seemed to think was a
good deal the mode with most of the people whom we have seen of late.
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 7.
Captain M'Lean joined us this morning at breakfast. There came on a
dreadful storm of wind and rain, which continued all day, and rather
increased at night. The wind was directly against our getting to Mull.
We were in a strange state of abstraction from the world: we could
neither hear from our friends, nor write to them. Col had brought Daille
_on the Fathers_[800], Lucas _on Happiness_[801], and More's
_Dialogues_[802], from the Reverend Mr. M'Lean's, and Burnet's _History
of his own Times_, from Captain M'Lean's; and he had of his own some
books of farming, and Gregory's _Geometry_[803]. Dr. Johnson read a good
deal of Burnet, and of Gregory, and I observed he made some geometrical
notes in the end of his pocket-book. I read a little of Young's _Six
Weeks' Tour through the Southern Counties_; and Ovid's _Epistles_, which
I had bought at Inverness, and which helped to solace many a weary hour.
We were to have gone with Dr. Johnson this morning to see the mine; but
were prevented by the storm. While it was raging, he said, 'We may be
glad we are not _damnati ad metalla_.'
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 8.
Dr. Johnson appeared to-day very weary of our present confined
situation. He said, 'I want to be on the main land, and go on with
existence. This is a waste of life.'
I shall here insert, without regard to chronology, some of his
