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Part II
Present State, and
Change of Character and Manners
SECTION I.
Influence of Political and
Economical Arrangements—Change in the Character of the Clans—Introduction
of Fanaticism in Religion.
It will be perceived that
the preceding Sketch of the customs, manners, and character of the
inhabitants of the Highlands of Scotland refers rather to past than
present times. A great, and, in some respects, a lamentable change, has
been produced; and the original of the picture which I have attempted to
draw is suffering daily obliterations, and is, in fact, rapidly
disappearing. Much of the romance and chivalry of the Highland character
is gone. The voice of the bard has long been silent; poetry, tradition,
and song, are vanishing away. To adopt the words of Mrs Grant, "The
generous and characteristic spirit, the warm affection to his family, the
fond attachment to his clan, the love of story and song, the contempt of
danger and luxury, the mystic superstition equally awful and tender, the
inviolable fidelity to every engagement, the ardent love of his native
heaths and mountains," will soon be no longer found to exist among
the Highlanders, unless the change of character which is now in rapid
progress be checked.
Of this change there was no symptom previous to the year 1745, and
scarcely a faint indication till towards the year 1770. The Union, which
has had the happiest effect in contributing to the prosperity of both
kingdoms, seemed at first, and indeed for many years afterwards, to
paralyze the energies, and break the spirit of Scotchmen. The people in
general imagined, that, by the removal of their court and parliament, they
had lost their independence. The subsequent decrease of trade contributed
to exasperate and to increase their aversion to the measure; and from this
period, the country seems to have remained stationary, if not to have
retrograded, till about the commencement of the late reign, when a spirit
of improvement, both in agriculture and commerce, and a more extensive
intercourse with the world, infused new life and vigour into the general
mass of the population.
While this was the effect of the Union in the
southern and lowland parts of Scotland, its operation upon the north was
much slower and more imperceptible. There the inhabitants retained their
ancient pursuits, prejudices, language, and dress; with all the
peculiarities of their original character. But a new era was soon to
commence. The primary cause, both in time and importance, which
contributed to produce a remarkable change in the Highlands, was the
legislative measures adopted subsequent to the year 1745. This cause,
however, had so little influence, that, as I have already noticed, its
operation was for many years imperceptible; yet an impulse was given
which, in the progress of events, and through the co-operation of many
collateral and subordinate causes, has effected a revolution, which could
not have been fully anticipated, or indeed thought possible in so short a
period of time. This change appears in the character and condition of the
Highlanders, and is indicated, not only in their manners and persons, but
in the very aspect of their country. It has reduced to a state of nature,
lands that had long been subjected to the plough, and which had afforded
the means of support to a moral, happy, and contented population; it has
converted whole glens and districts, once the abode of a brave, vigorous,
and independent race of men, into scenes of desolation; it has torn up
families which seemed rooted, like Alpine plants, in the soil of their
elevated region, and which, from their habits and principles, appeared to
be its original possessors, as well as its natural occupiers,—and forced
them thence, pennyless and unskilful, to seek a refuge in manufacturing
towns, or, in a state of helpless despair, to betake themselves to the
wilds of a far distant land. The spirit of speculation has invaded those
mountains which no foreign enemy could penetrate, and expelled a brave
people whom no warlike intruder could subdue.
I shall now briefly advert to the
circumstances which have led to the system of managing Highland estates,
recently adopted by many proprietors, adding a few observations on the
manner in which it has been carried into effect, and on its certain or
probable consequences, as these affect the permanent prosperity of the
landlord, improve or deteriorate the character and condition of the
people, and influence their loyalty to the king, respect for the laws, and
attachment to the higher orders.
A striking feature in the revolutionized
Highland character is, the comparative indifference of the people towards
chiefs and landlords. Formerly, their respect and attachment to their
chiefs formed one of the most remarkable traits in their character; and
such, indeed, were their reverence and affection for their patriarchal
superiors, that, to swear by the hand of their chief, was a confirmation
of an averment; and "May my chief have the ascendant," was a common
expression of surprise.
[Martin says, "The islanders have a great
respect for their chiefs and heads of tribes, and they conclude grace
after every meal, with a petition to God for their welfare and prosperity.
Neither will they, as far as in them lies, suffer them to sink under any
misfortune, but, in case of decay of estate, make a voluntary contribution
in their behalf, as a common duty to support the credit of their
families."] It is
remarkable how little this kindly disposition of the people was, for many
years after the abolition of the hereditary jurisdictions, influenced or
impaired by an act which deprived the chiefs of their power, and released
the clans from all compulsive obedience to these patriarchal rulers.
Notwithstanding this, they still performed their services as before, and
admitted the arbitration of their chiefs, when they had no more power or
authority over them, than gentlemen of landed property in England or
Ireland possess over their tenants.
When a chief, his son, or friends, wished to
raise a regiment, company, or smaller number of men, to entitle him to the
notice of government, the appeal was seldom made in vain. The same
attachment was even displayed towards those whose estates were confiscated
to government, and who, as outlaws from their country, became the objects
of that mixture of compassion and respect which generous minds accord to
the victims of principle. The rights of their chiefs and landlords, in
these unhappy circumstances, they regarded as unalienable, unless
forfeited by some vice or folly. The victims of law were not merely
respected as chiefs, but revered as martyrs, and those to whom self-denial
was at all times familiar, became more rigidly abstemious in their habits,
that they might, with one hand, pay the rent of the forfeited land to the
Crown, [See Appendix, W.] and with the other supply the necessities of
their exiled chiefs; while the young men, the sons of their faithful and
generous tenantry, were ready with their personal services to forward the
welfare, and procure military rank and commissions for the sons of the
unfortunate individuals who had lost their estates. [It will be seen in
the Appendix, that, in many cases, the tenants on the forfeited estates
remitted to their attainted landlords, when in exile, the rents which they
formerly paid them, government, at the same time, receiving the full rents
of the new leases. This generosity was exhibited on many other occasions,
when the objects of their affection and respect required assistance. In
the year 1757, Colonel Fraser, the son of Lord Lovat, without an acre of
land, found himself, in a few weeks, at the head of nearly 800 men from
his father's estate, (then forfeited,) and the estates of the gentlemen of
the clan. About the same period, and previously, numerous detachments of
young men were sent to the Scotch Brigade in Holland, to procure
commissions for the gentlemen who had lost their fortunes. In the year
1777, Lord Macleod, eldest son of the Earl of Cromarty, (attainted in
1746), found his influence as effective as when his family were in full
possession of their estate and honours. By the support of the Mackenzies,
and other gentlemen of his clan, 900 Highlanders were embodied under his
command, although he was personally unknown to the greater part of them,
having been thirty years in exile. Besides these 900, there were 870
Highlanders raised for his regiment in different parts of the North. (The
following is one of many existing proofs of permanent respect and
attachment, testified by the Highlanders to their landlords. A gentleman
possessing a considerable Highland property, and descended from a warlike
and honourable line of ancestors, long held in respect by the Highlanders,
fell into difficulties some years ago. In this state, he was the more
sensible of his misfortune as his estate was very improvable. In fact, he
attempted some improvements, but employed more labourers than he could
easily afford to pay. But, notwithstanding the prospect of irregular
payments, such was the attachment of the people to the representative of a
respectable house, that they were ready at his call, and often left the
employment of others, who paid regularly, to carry on his operations. To
this may be added a circumstance, which will appear the more marked, to
such as understand the character of the Highlanders, and know how deeply
they feel any neglect in returning civility on the part of their
superiors. If a gentleman pass a countryman without returning his salute,
it furnishes matter of observation to a whole district. The gentleman now
in question, educated in the South, and ignorant of the language and
character of the people, and of their peculiar way of thinking, paid so
little regard to their feelings, that although a countryman pulled off his
bonnet almost as soon as he appeared in sight, the respectful salute
generally passed unnoticed: yet this was overlooked in remembrance of his
family, in the same manner that generous minds extend to the children the
gratitude due to the parents.) In the year 1776, the late Lochiel was a
lieutenant in the 30th regiment, having returned from France after his
father's death, and obtained a commission. This lieutenancy was his only
fortune after the forfeiture of his estate. The followers of his father's
family raised 120 men to obtain for him a company in the 71st regiment.
Macpherson of Cluny, also without a shilling, raised 140 men, for which he
was appointed major to the 71st, and thus secured an independency till his
family estate was restored in 1783. It is unnecessary to give more
instances of this disposition, which formed so distinguished a trait in
the character of the Highlanders of the last generation.]
It cannot be doubted, that, by condescension
and kindness, this feeling might have been perpetuated, and that the
Highland proprietors, without sacrificing any real advantage, would have
found in the voluntary attachment of their tenants, a grateful substitute
for the loyal obedience of their clans. [See Article Macleod's
Highlanders, Second Volume.] Amid the gradual changes and improvements of
the age, might not the recollections and most approved virtues and traits
of chivalrous times have been retained, along with something of the poetry
of the Highland character in the country of Ossian? And if unable to vie
with their Southern neighbours in luxury or splendour, might not gentlemen
have possessed in their mountains a more honourable distinction,—that of
commanding respect without the aid of wealth, by making a grateful people
happy, and thus uniting true dignity with humanity? This many gentlemen
have accomplished, and in the full enjoyment of the confidence, fidelity,
and gratitude of a happy and prosperous' tenantry, are now supporting a
manly and honourable independence, while others have descended from their
enviable eminence for an immediate or prospective addition to their
rent-rolls,—an addition which the short respite or delay, so necessary in
all improvements and considerable changes, would have enabled their
ancient adherents to have contributed. [Most of the evils which press upon
the present age, and which lately desolated Europe, have arisen from the
very cause, which has produced such' violent changes among the mountains
of Scotland; namely, an impatience to obtain too soon, and without due
preparation, the advantages that were contemplated, and, from an attempt
to accomplish at once, what no human power can effect without the slow but
certain aid of time. As an instance of the result of the modern method of
management, in hurrying on improvements, without regard to the sacrifice
of the happiness of others, contrasted with the effects of improving with
moderation and as time and circumstances admitted, I shall state the
results of the opposite lines of conduct followed by two Highland
proprietors. One of
these gentlemen obtained possession of his father's estate, and employed
an agent to arrange the farms on a new plan. The first principle was to
consider his lands as an article of commerce, to be disposed of to the
highest bidder. The old tenants were accordingly removed. New ones
offered, and rents, great beyond all precedent, were promised. Two rents
were paid; the third was deficient nearly one half, and the fourth failed
entirely, or was paid by the sale of the tenant's stock. Fresh tenants
were then to be procured. This was not so easy, as no abatement was to be
given: hence, a considerable proportion of the estate remained in the
proprietor's hands. After the second year, however, the whole farms were
again let, but another failure succeeded. The same process was again gone
through, and with similar results, to the great discredit of the farms, as
few would again attempt to settle, without a great reduction of rent,
where so many had failed. But, in all those difficulties, there was no
diminution in the landlord's expenses. Indeed, they were greatly extended
by fresh speculations and dreams of increased income. Without detailing
the whole process, I shall only add, that his creditors have done with the
estate what he did with the farms—offered it to the highest bidder.
The other gentleman acted differently. When he
succeeded his father, he raised his rents according to the increased value
of produce. This continuing to rise, he showed his people, that as a boll
of grain, a cow or sheep, obtained one or two hundred per cent. higher
price than formerly, it was but just that they should pay rent in
proportion. In this they cheerfully acquiesced, while they followed his
directions and example in improving their land. He has not removed a
tenant. In cases where he thought them too crowded, he, on the decease of
a tenant, made a division of his land amongst the others. This was the
only alteration as far as regarded the removal of the ancient inhabitants,
who are contented and prosperous, paying adequate rents so regularly to
their landlord, that he has now saved money sufficient to purchase a lot
of his neighbour's estate; and he has also the happiness of believing,
that no emissary sowing the seeds of sedition against the king and
government, or of disaffection to the established church, will find
countenance, or meet with hearers or converts among his tenantry, whose
easy circumstances render them loyal, and proof against all the arts of
the turbulent and factious, whether directed against the king, the church,
or their immediate superiors.]
By many proprietors, no
more attention has been shown to the feelings of the descendants of their
fathers' clansmen, than if the connection between the families of the
superiors and the tenantry had commenced but yesterday. By others, again,
the people have been preserved entire, the consequence of which has been,
that they have lost nothing of their moral habits, retain much of the
honourable feelings of former times, and are improving in industry and
agricultural knowledge; these kind and considerate landlords, having
commenced with the improvement of the people as the best and most
permanent foundation for the improvement of their lands, instead of
following the new system, which seems to consider the population of a glen
or district in the same light as the flocks that range the hills, to be
kept in their habitations so long as they are thought profitable, and when
it is believed that they have ceased to be so, to be ejected to make room
for strangers. [See Appendix, X.] But those whose families and
predecessors had remained for ages, on a particular spot, considered
themselves entitled to be preferred to strangers, when they offered
equally high rents for their lands. Men of supposed skill and capital
were, however, invited to bid against them; and these, by flattering
representations of their own ability to improve the property, and by
holding out the prejudices, indolence, and poverty of the old tenantry, as
rendering them incapable of carrying on improvements, or paying adequate
rents, frequently obtained the preference. In many cases even secret
offers have been called for, and received, the highest constituting the
best claim; [Nothing, in the policy pursued in the management of Highland
estates, has been more productive of evil than this custom, introduced
along with the new improvements, of letting farms by secret offers. It has
generated jealousy, hatred, and distrust, setting brother against brother,
friend against friend ; and, wherever it has prevailed on large estates,
has raised such a ferment in the country as will require years to allay.
Sir George Mackenzie, in his Report of the County of Ross, with reference
to this manner of letting farms, thus feelingly expresses himself: "No
exaggerated picture of distress can be drawn to convey to the feeling mind
the horrible consequences of such conduct as has been mentioned, towards a
numerous tenantry. Whatever difference of opinion may exist respecting the
necessity of reducing the numbers of occupiers of land in the Highlands,
there can exist but one on conduct such as has been described,—that it is
cruelly unjust and dishonourable, especially if, as too often happens, the
old tenants are falsely informed of offers having been made. Such a
deception is so mean, that its having been ever practised, is enough to
bring indelible disgrace on us all." Certainly such proceedings must be
repugnant to every honourable and enlightened mind. But the disgrace
attaches only to those who practise such infamous deceptions. There are
many honourable men in the Highlands, who wish for nothing but a fair and
honest value for their lands, and would as soon take the money out of
their tenants' pockets as act in this manner.] and notwithstanding the
examples exhibited by those true patriots, who, by giving time and
encouragement, showed at once the capability of their lands and of their
tenants, yet, to one of these strangers, or to one of their own richer or
more speculating countrymen, were surrendered the lands of a whole valley,
peopled, perhaps, by a hundred families. An indifference, if not an
aversion, to the families of the landlords who acted in this manner, has
too frequently been the natural result; and, in many places, the Highland
proprietors, from being the objects of greater veneration with the people
than those of any other part of the kingdom, perhaps of Europe, have
entirely lost their affections and fidelity. But while many have thus
forfeited that honourable influence, (and what influence can be more
honourable than that which springs from gratitude and a voluntary
affectionate obedience?) which their predecessors enjoyed to such a
degree, that to this day the most affectionate blessings are poured out on
their memory, as often as their names are mentioned; the system which has
so materially contributed to this change, has not been followed by
advantages in any way proportionate to the loss. On the contrary, the
result has, in too many cases been, bankruptcy among tenants, diminution
of honourable principles, and irregularity in the payment of rents, which,
instead of improving, have embarrassed the condition of the landlord.
In some cases, these proceedings have been met
by resistance on the part of the tenants, and occasioned serious tumults.
[The leading circumstances of one of these tumults will be seen in the
account of the military services of the 42d regiment. In the year 1792, a
numerous body of tenantry, in the county of Ross, were removed on account
of what was called an improved plan, in the advantages of which the people
were to have no share. Their welfare, as in too many cases in the
Highlands, formed no part of this plan. They were all ejected from their
farms. It was some years before the result could be fully estimated, so
far as regarded the welfare of the landlords. The ruin of the old
occupiers was immediate. To the proprietors the same result, though more
slowly produced, seems equally certain. In one district, improved in this
merciless manner, the estates of five ancient families, who, for several
centuries, had supported an honourable and respected name, are all ill
possession of one individual, who, early in the late war, amassed a large
fortune in a public department abroad. The original tenants were first
dispossessed, and the lairds soon followed. May I not hazard a
supposition, that, if these gentlemen had permitted their people to
remain, and if they had followed the example of their ancestors, who
preserved their estates for two, three, and four hundred years, they too
might have kept possession, and bequeathed them to their posterity? The
new proprietor has made great and extensive improvements. It is said, that
he has laid out thirty thousand pounds on two of these estates. Some very
judicious men think, that if the numerous old hardy and vigorous occupiers
had been retained, and encouraged by the application of one-third of this
sum, such effectual assistance, with their abstemious habits and personal
labour, would have enabled them to execute the same improvements, and to
pay as high rents as the present occupiers. To be sure their houses would
have been small, and their establishments mean in comparison of those of
the present tenants; but, to balance the mean appearance of their houses,
they would have cost the landlord little beyond a small supply of wood. We
should then have seen these districts peopled by a high-spirited
independent peasantry, instead of miserable day-labourers and cottars, who
are now dependent on the great farmer for their employment and daily
bread, and who, sensible of their dependence, must cringe to those by
offending whom, they would deprive themselves of the means of subsistence.
When no tie of mutual attachment exists, as in former days, the modern one
is easily broken. A look that may be construed into insolence is a
sufficient cause of dismissal. Can we expect high-spirited chivalrous
soldiers, preferring death to defeat and disgrace, from such a population,
and such habits as these?]
In most instances, however,
the latter have submitted with patient resignation to their lot; and, by
their manner of bearing this treatment, showed how little they deserved
it. But their character has changed with their situations. The evil is
extending, and the tenants of kind and patriotic landlords seem to be,
in no small degree, affected by the gloom and despondency of those who
complain of harsh treatment, and who, neglected and repulsed by their
natural protectors, while their feelings and attachment were still
strong, have, in too many instances, sought consolation in the doctrines
of ignorant and fanatical spiritual guides, capable of producing no
solid or beneficial impression on the ardent minds of those to whom
their harangues and exhortations are generally addressed. The natural
enthusiasm of the Highland character has, in many instances, been
converted into a gloomy and morose fanaticism. Traditional history and
native poetry, which reminded them of other times, are neglected.
Theological disputes, of interminable duration, now occupy much of the
time formerly devoted to poetical recitals, and social meetings. These
circumstances have blunted their romantic feelings, and lessened their
taste for the works of imagination. "Among the causes," says Dr Smith,
"which make our ancient poems vanish so rapidly, poverty and the iron
rod should in most places have a large share. From the baneful shades of
these murderers of the Muse, the light of the song must fast retire. No
other reason need be
asked why the present Highlanders neglect so much the songs of their
fathers. Once the humble but happy vassal sat at his ease at the foot of
his gray rock, or green tree. Few were his wants, and fewer still his
cares, for he beheld his herds sporting round him on his then unmeasured
mountains. He hummed the careless song, and tuned the harp of joy, while
his soul in silence blessed his chieftain. Now I was going to draw the
comparison,—Sed Cynthius aurem vellit, et admonuit." [See Report of the
County of Argyle, drawn up for the Board of Agriculture.]
In the same manner, and from the same cause,
their taste for music, dancing, and all kinds of social amusement, has
been chilled. Their evening meetings are now seldom held, and when they do
occur, instead of being enlivened with the tale, the poem, or the song,
they are too frequently exasperated with political or religious
discussions, or with complaints against their superiors, and the
established clergy, which have altogether exerted a baneful instead of a
salutary influence on their general manners, as well as on that natural
civility, which, in the last age, never permitted a Highlander to pass any
person of respectable appearance without a salute, or some civil
observation, whereas at present, so great is the change of manners, that
instead of the cordial greetings of former times, a Highlander will
frequently pass his immediate superior without the slightest notice. Even
the aspect of the Highlander, his air, and his carriage, have undergone a
marked change. [The difference in the personal appearance of the people is
remarkable, and forms an interesting subject for a philosophic inquiry.
The causes of the change in character and manners are evident, but those
which have affected personal appearance are not equally clear. Persons who
remember the remains of the chivalrous race, whose character I have
attempted to delineate, will not now discover any of those martial
patriarchal figures, remarkable for an erect independent air, an ease of
manners, and fluency of language and expression, rarely to be found among
any peasantry. Even in my own time I remember many, such as I now
describe, who, with kindly dispositions and warm attachment to my family
and forefathers, never failed, when I met them, to remind me of their
honourable character and name. In the districts where these persons lived,
we now see only plain homespun folks. To what can this change be
attributed? .Not surely to the "progress of improvement"-— seeing that
their personal appearance is as much deteriorated as their condition. Many
observe, and with great reason, that the tacksmen and second order of
gentry are more changed than the lower orders, and are every way different
from the gentlemen tacksmen of former times.] Formerly the bonnet was worn
with a gentle inclination over the left or right eyebrow, and the plaid
was thrown over the left shoulder (the right arm being exposed, and at
full liberty) with a careless air, giving an appearance of ease not
distant from grace, while the philibeg gave a freedom to the limbs, and
showed them to advantage. At present, as the Highland dress is almost
exclusively confined to the lower orders, a degree of vulgarity is
attached to it, which makes it unfashionable in the eyes of young men, who
awkwardly imitate the gentry, and their Southern neighbours, and in their
slouched hats and misshapen pantaloons offer a most unseemly contrast to
the airy garb and martial appearance of their forefathers.
Along the line of the Grampians, the Gaelic
has nearly kept its ground, and is, to this day, spoken in the same
districts to which it was limited, after it had ceased to be the
prevailing language of Scotland seven hundred years ago. But, although it
is universally spoken in common discourse, the Gaelic of the counties of
Dumbarton, Stirling, and Perth, and, in short, of all the Highlands
bordering on the Lowlands, is corrupted by a considerable admixture of
English words, ill chosen and ill applied. The chief causes of this
corruption are the practice, universal in schools, of teaching children to
read English, the more general intercourse with the South, which has
lately prevailed, and the introduction of many articles of refinement and
luxury, unknown when the Gaelic was in its original purity. Successful
attempts have recently been made to methodize the structure of the
language, to digest the rules of its composition, and, alongst with the
collection of ancient works, to give the means of reading and
understanding them by a grammar and dictionary. But if the process
continues, which has for some time been going forward, the Gaelic, it is
to be feared, will gradually become a dead language. In the remote glens
and mountains it might have been preserved for ages, as an interesting
monument of a most ancient and original language, retaining its peculiar
modes and forms of expression unaffected by the progress of time, the
great innovator in other spoken languages: but the system of modern
Highland improvement, marked by an aversion, inveterate as it seems
unaccountable and causeless, to the ancient inhabitants, their customs,
language, and garb, is now extending to the most distant corri and glen,
and will probably root out the language of the country, together with a
great proportion of the people who speak it. [Many of the common people
begin to despise their native language, as they see gentlemen endeavouring
to prevent their children from acquiring the knowledge of the Gaelic,
which has been spoken in their native country for a time beyond the reach
of record and even tradition. In order that their children may not hear
spoken the language of their forefathers, from a dread of their acquiring
the accent, they employ Lowland servants, forgetting that people who know
not a word of the Gaelic, invariably catch the accent, merely from the ear
being accustomed to the sound. Landlords are thus deprived of the power of
holding that free and confidential communication with their tenants, which
is necessary to acquire a knowledge of their character, dispositions, and
talents; and being compelled to trust to interpreters, they are led into
much misconception in regard to their tenants, and these again into
frequent misapprehension and prejudiced notions of the character and turn
of thinking of their landlord.]
I have already mentioned, that the
Highlanders, though Presbyterians, did not, in former times, rigidly
adhere to the tenets of that church. For several ages after the
Re-formation, they evinced a strong predilection to the Episcopalian form
of worship. In many parishes, the Presbyterian clergy were not established
till the reigns of George I and II.; but whether of the Church of England
or of Scotland, the people retained a portion of their ancient
superstitions. With these superstitions was blended a strong sentiment of
piety, which made them regular attendants on divine worship and the
ordinances of religion, at the expense of much bodily fatigue and personal
inconvenience. [In the parish where I passed my early years, the people
travelled six, seven, and twelve miles to church, and returned the same
evening every Sunday in summer, and frequently in winter. A chapel of ease
and an assistant clergyman are now established, and the people have not to
travel so far. I do not give this as a singular instance; the case was the
same in all extensive parishes, and continues to be so where no chapel of
ease is established.] Guided by the sublime and simple truths of
Christianity, they were strangers to the very existence of the sects that
have branched off from the national church. In this respect, their
character and habits have undergone a considerable alteration since they
began to be visited by itinerant missionaries, and since the gloom spread
over their minds has tended to depress their spirit. The missionaries,
indeed, after having ventured within the barrier of the Grampians, found a
harvest which they little expected, and amongst the ignorant and unhappy,
made numerous proselytes to their opinions. These converts losing, by
their recent civilization—as the changes which have taken place in their
opinions are called— a great portion of their belief in fairies, ghosts,
and the second sight, though retaining their appetite for strong
impressions, have readily supplied the void with the visions and
inspirations of the "new light," [Thus have been extirpated the innocent,
attractive, and often sublime superstitions of the
Highlanders—superstitions which inculcated no relentless intolerance, nor
impiously dealt out perdition and Divine wrath against rival
sects—superstitions which taught men to believe, that a dishonourable act
attached disgrace to a whole kindred and district, and that murder,
treachery, oppression. and all kinds of wickedness, would not only be
punished in the person of the transgressor himself, but would be visited
on future generations. When the Highlander imagined that he saw the ghost
of his father frowning upon him from the skirts of the passing clouds, or
that he heard his voice in the howlings of the midnight tempest, or when
he found his imagination awed by the recital of fairy tales of ghosts, and
visions of the second sight, his heart was subdued; and when he believed
that his misdeeds would be visited on his succeeding generations, who
would also be rewarded and prosper in consequence of his good actions, he
would either be powerfully restrained or encouraged. When so much—perhaps
too much—has been done to destroy these feelings, it were well that some
pains were taken to substitute good principles in their room. But I fear
that many of the new teachers think more of implicit faith in their own
particular doctrines, than of good works in their disciples ; and that
morals are in general left to the teaching and control of the laws. I
trust I shall not be thought too partial to the ancient and innocent
superstitions of my countrymen, if I wish that the restraints on vice were
more numerous than the laws afford; and confess my belief, that the fear
of a ghost is as honourable and legitimate a check as the fear of the
gallows, and the thoughts of bringing dishonour on a man's country, name
and kindred, fully as respectable as the fear of Bridewell, Botany Bay, or
the executioner's whip.] and, in this mystic lore, have shown themselves
such adepts, as even to astonish their new instructors. Indeed, the latter
have, in many cases, been far outdone by the wild enthusiasm and romantic
fancy of those disciples whose minds they had first agitated. The ardour
of the Highland character remains; it has only taken another and more
dangerous direction, and, when driven from poetical recitals,
superstitious traditions, and chivalrous adventures, has found a vent in
religious ravings, and in contests with rival sects. These enthusiastic
notions are observed to be most fervent amongst young women. A few years
ago, an unfortunate girl in Breadalbane became so bewildered in her
imagination by the picture drawn of the punishment of unbelievers, that
she destroyed herself in a fit of desperation; a rare, and, till lately,
the only instance of this crime in the Highlands.
The powerful and gloomy impressions which the
doctrines of some of these teachers have made, are evidently owing to an
alteration in the state of their proselytes, whose strong feelings,
irritated by many causes, seek refuge and consolation in powerful
emotions. It is well known, that no itinerant preacher ever gained a
footing among the Highlanders, till recent changes in their situation and
circumstance paved the way for fanaticism. Some of these new teachers are
no doubt, zealous and conscientious men, but others again are rash,
illiterate, ignorant of human nature, and vulgar very incapable of filling
the situation they have assumed and peculiarly unqualified for the
instruction of a people, sensitive and imaginative, devout in their habits
of thinking, and blameless in their general conduct. The same force o
language and terrors of denunciation, which are barely adequate to produce
compunction in the mind of the reckless and godless reprobate, are
sufficient to plunge in utter despondency, a tender conscience, and a mind
accustomed to regard the doctrines of religion with deep and mysterious
awe. Some of these religious reformers, as they wish to be considered,
intermix their spiritual instructions with reflections on the incapacity
and negligence of the clergymen of the established church, and on the
conduct of landlords, whom they compare to the taskmasters of Egypt: And
it is an important fact, that, wherever the people are rendered contented
and happy in their external circumstances, by the judicious and humane
treatment of their landlords, and wherever they are satisfied with the
parish minister in the discharge of his pastoral duties, no itinerant
preacher has ever been able to obtain a footing, and the people retain
much of their original manners, devoutly and regularly attending the
parish church. [The inhabitants of a border strath (Strathbrane in the
parish of Little Dunkeld, the property of Sir George Stewart of Grandtully,
Bart.), in the Highlands of Perthshire were, about thirty years ago,
considered the most degenerate and worst principled race in the country.
Less regular in their attendance on church, litigious, almost the only
smugglers in the country, horse-dealers (or horse-coupers, as they are
called in Scotland), and, as was said, giving employment to more than one
lawyer in the neighbouring town of Dunkeld; these people have, for many
years, been blessed with a humane and indulgent landlord, and a
conscientious, able, and zealous clergyman, (the late Dr Irvine.) The
consequences have been striking and instructive. While the population in
many other parts of the country are deteriorated in character, these are
improving in morals, industry, and prosperity. Regular in their attendance
on church, they have lost their litigious disposition, the minister having
ever been zealous and successful in deciding and composing their
differences. They are clearing and improving their lands, paying their
rents regularly, and are little addicted to smuggling. Itinerant preachers
have in vain attempted to show themselves in this populous thriving
district, which contains 875 inhabitants, who support themselves in this
exemplary manner; on farms, too, the smallness of which might seem
incredible to those statistical economists who reason on theory and are
ignorant of the country, the capability of the natives, or their exertions
when thus kindly treated by a patriotic landlord.]
While these seem to be the effects of religion
and external circumstances combined, the differences and mutual
recriminations which have taken place between the established church and
the sects which have branched off from it, are apparently tending to the
most deplorable results in the Highlands, where the gospel, as explained
by their clergy, was formerly believed with the most implicit faith; but
now, that they see new preachers come among them, and hear the doctrines
and lessons of the regular clergy derided, and described as unchristian
and unsound, and that, as sometimes happens, the parish minister retorts
on the intruders, they know not what or whom to believe, and there are
many instances of the doubt thus thrown on religious doctrines, ending in
loss of all respect for, or belief in, any religion whatever. [Of these
lamentable consequences of ignorant zeal, and unchristian disputations,
there are many instances; and many persons whom I knew to have been once
of religious habits, regular and exemplary in their attendance at church,
were some years ago induced to quit the established clergyman, and to
follow the dissenters; but soon leaving them also, and apparently
dissatisfied with both churches, they have given up all attendance on
Divine Service, and renounced even the semblance of religion.]
Yet though many Highlanders are thus changed,
and have lost much of their taste for the poetry and romantic amusements
of their ancestors, though their attachment to superiors has decayed, and
the kindness, urbanity, and respect with which all strangers were treated,
have considerably abated,—notwithstanding all these, and several other
changes for the worse, they still retain the inestimable virtues of
integrity and charity; [It is a principle among the Highlanders never to
allow poor and distressed persons to apply in vain, or to pass their door
without affording them some charitable assistance. This disposition is so
well known, that the country bordering on the Lowlands is overwhelmed with
shoals of beggars; an evil which has increased since the societies for the
suppression of mendicity were established in the South. This is a heavy
charge on the benevolence of the people, and calls for the prompt
interference of the landlords. If they would establish checks in the great
passes and entrances into the country, to stop those sturdy beggars and
strangers, who are so numerous, while the native beggars are so few, the
people would easily support their own poor without any assistance
whatever. Travelling
some years ago through a high and distant glen, I saw a poor man, with a
wife and four children, resting themselves by the road-side. Perceiving,
by their appearance, that they were not of the country, I inquired whence
they came. The man answered, from West Lothian. I expressed my surprise
how he would leave so fine and fertile a country, and come to these wild
glens. "In that fine country," answered the man, "they give me the cheek
of the door, and hound the constables after me; in this poor country, as
you, Sir, call it, they give me and my little ones the fire-side, with a
share of what they have."] their morality is sufficiently proved by the
records of the courts of justice; [See Appendix.] their liberality to the
poor, and the independent spirit of the poor themselves, are likewise
sufficiently evinced by the trifling and almost nominal amount of the
public funds for their relief; and their conduct in the field, and their
general qualities of firmness, spirit, and courage, will appear in the
subsequent annals. |
