Transactions. 63 



answered — " From the house of mourning." At the laird of 

 Abbotshaugh's burial, the company appeared so rosy and merry 

 in the kirkyard that some English dragoons quartered at Falkirk 

 said one to another — " Jolly dogs ! a Scots funeral is merrier than 

 an English wedding." 



In the beginning of last century ale was the common beverage 

 of all classes. The " scourging of a nine-gallon tree " was then a 

 common feat among lads of mettle. It consisted in drawing the 

 spigot of a barrel of ale, and never quitting it night and day till 

 it was drunk out. But for many centuries French wines were a 

 favourite drink of the Scots. When James Howell was in Scot- 

 land about 1639 the chopin of French wine was sold in Edinburgh 

 for fourpence, and it was a heinous offence to adulterate or even 

 mix it. At an earlier period it was ordained by Parliament 

 " that nae person within the realm tak upon hand for the time 

 to cum to mix wine or beer ttnder the pain of death." Up to th^ 

 Revolution claret was still fourpence sterling the chopin. But, 

 owing to the duties imposed on wine from time to time, port and 

 sherry gradually took its place. This gave occasion to the 

 epigram attributed to the author of " Douglas," commencing — 



' ' Firm and erect the Caledonian stood, 

 Prime was his mutton and his claret good. " 



But, compelled by the fiat of the English Ministry to substitute 



port for the wholesome claret — 



" He quaffed the poison, and his spirit died." 



Claret must, however, have continued to be imported pretty far 



down ill the century. I have heard my father describe how, in 



his boyhood (about 1785, probably), on the arrival of a French 



ship, wine-laden, the people would flock down to Leith with all 



sorts of vessels, and bring them up filled with good claret, at a 



moderate price ; and he added that there was always a barrel, 



with the head out, on deck, with a pannikin floating in it, out of 



which anybody might drink. 



The dress of the gentry in these times was always plain and 



frugal, but on great occasions they spared no expense. Even 



somewhat late in the century it was etiquette, not only when 



they married, but also upon paying their addresses, to get laced 



clothes and laced saddle furniture. In the first part of the 



century it was the custom of persons of figure, whether young or 



old, to wear tie wigs in dress and jack-boots. These last were 



