ii8o4. Fieiu of ile Situaiiou of Farmeys^ ^c. 391 



is, that the practice of family woiOiip is mofl general nmongil 

 thofe farmers, who, as about Bathgate and in Carnvviith Muir, 

 {till perfcvere in tlic ule of the bonnet — of its primitive colour 

 mu\ magnituile. 



To be fure, grace before meat of fuch length as I have fomc- 

 thnes heard it, and as it gtnerally was in the time of Erafmus in 

 the i6tli century, when, after grace, fome perfon who had a 

 good voice read tliilin^tly a chapter out of St Paul's Epiflles, or 

 out of Solomon's Proverbs i— -this, I fay, would be rath.cr incon- 

 venient, and fubmiited to with great impatience, now-a-days when 

 we are fond of wann vi<Sl:uals. But I moll cordially join Mr 

 Wilberforce, where, in his excellent Prn^tcal Fieiu of Chnfiati- 

 ityy lie regrets the decay of family worfliip ; and think with him, 

 that a confiderate mind cannot have a more pleafmg image pre- 

 fented to it, than that of a couple, happy in each other, and in 

 the pledges of their mutual love, uniting with their more imme- 

 diate dependants, in an a£l: of grateful adoration to the Author of 

 all their mercies. 



Farmers in Eaft Lothian are pofTeiTed of capital and Ikill be- 

 yond thofe of tenants in mod: counties of either England or Scot- 

 land ; and the Heady application of thefc to the culture of a foil 

 tolerably fertile (of v.diich they are by their leafcs in the fulled 

 pofleffion), and in a good climate, enables them to pay rents un- 

 heard of elfe where, and even there till within thefe few years. 

 I defire to be rightly underftood : I mean not to fay, their ability 

 to pay fuch rents ariies folely from fupeiior ikill and capital ; be- 

 ing fenfible that the increafed price of the grain they raifc, the 

 union of corn and grafs farming, the cultivation of turnip:, and 

 improvements upon every article bi machinery they employ, muft 

 be allowed tp come in for a confiderable Ihare. Yet, when I 

 think of the great remits in kind, paid in former times, I am al- 

 moft difpofed to believe, that the heavy additional expence at- 

 tending ail his operations would be fuihcient to counterbalance 

 the higher price, and whatever additional quantity of grain im- 

 provements in his art may enable the farmer to bring to market. 



The ellate of Dirleton paid formerly a very heavy rent in 

 kind j and, during the late fcarcity, I frequently heard Mr Nif- 

 bet fay, that he was receiving kls from his tenants than their 

 predecelFors paid an hundred years ago, Cr;)igielaw was long 

 rented at 28 chalders of barley : it now pays about 800 guineas, 

 or 30I. per chalder, or il. 175. 6d. per boll of bailey of the old 

 rent. The old farm of Weil Barns confided of 360 acres, and 

 paid 36 chalders of vi£lual, little more than fix fi riots per acre; 

 wheat, barley, oats, and peas, in equal qu mtiiies- One third 

 part of it was let within thefe three months at 5 1, per acre, 



C c 3 which 



*■ 



