3-804. Vuzu cf the Situation of Fanners ^ ^e.' 401 



the porrcfTion of pcrfons wliofe occonomy was never called in 

 qnedion. 



Their cellars arc well ftoretl, thougli here, but only here, I 

 muft confels the advantage, with regard to both kind and qualitv, 

 to have been greatly on the fide of d;iys that are gone. Where 

 ran we now find fuch claret as Blanerne and I once drank at a 

 farmer's near Dunfe, with whom my old friend carried me to 

 dinner ? or that whicli Sir Francir. Kinloch * fireiu /'rem his dark 

 retreat of many years* — under W****** f-i****''*'s bed, wliom he 

 occafionally vifited at H*****. Thefe I imagine to have been pro- 

 duced only to particular guefts, and by no means the liquor tliey 

 ordinarily entertained their friends with; at lead not fince the 

 time it was retailed in Edhiburgh at 8d. the pint-ftoupful. In- 

 deed, till of late, it was not common for farmers to entertain with 

 port wine, or to buy more than half a dozen at a time, and that 

 only when the wife lay in. Nay, I have known a farmer worth 

 thoufinds, \vith dilhculty prevailed on bv his friends to fend for 

 a fin^de bottle of Iherry when he found himfelf fick. The late 

 additions to the price make the expence a very ferious confidera- 

 tion •, and the practice is rather lofing ground before the habit 

 was fo long eftabliflied as to make t!;e privation of it painful. It 

 is, however, rather upon the increafe in Bt^ivvickfliire, where the 

 tenants are perhaps more expenfive, or Icfs prudent, or both* 

 The common liquor after dinner was excclletit rum or brandy 

 punch, which has now, in almofl every family, given place to 

 humble whilky tody in great abundance, thougli the wine decan- 

 ters are Hill prefented, and a fev/ glailes of that taken at firil. I 

 have often heard Sir John Halket tell, that when he lived at Gofs- 

 ford, he bought a hogfliead of claret from Mr Hay in Craigielaw 

 for JoL, or about 8d. a bottle. I am informed, that a good 

 guide can ftill lead to a friend who produces occafionallv a bottle 

 of good fair vi?i de Bourdeaiix. 



That charming two-penny^ too, which I think of with plea- 

 Aire at this moment, and for which, in the Torrid Zone, I have 

 often fjghed in vain, lives only in the memory of its friends. 

 Thanks to the pufillanimity of our forefathers, who fo tamely 

 fubmitted to the extenfion of the Excife laws to this country. 

 Had the general fpirit of the nation equalled that of the folks 

 at Glafgow, or of the Edinburgh brewers, we fhould ftill be 

 enjoying our favourite beverage. 



There arc few of thofe borrowings now-a-days, that I well 

 remember. How often have I feen loavts of bread, bowls of 

 fugar, and cupfuls of tea fent for upon the fpur, when a gueft 

 unexpe£ledly popped in, and knives and forks and filver fpoon» 

 )L.Q deck out the table upon a regular invitation, I blufhed deep 



whea 



