42 Notes and Sketches. 



what has been occasionally spoken of as " the good 

 old times." 



The concluding seven years of the seventeenth cen- 

 tury (1693-1700) were years of dearth over the greater 

 part of Scotland, though some of the northern dis- 

 tricts suffered earlier and more severely than many 

 other parts of the country. The pinch of famine had 

 begun to be felt in various parts of Aberdeenshire and 

 Banffshire, in 1693, while it was not till 1695 that 

 the crop in certain of the southern and western coun- 

 ties was " stricken in one night " by an easterly fog, 

 " and gat little more good of the ground." These 

 were "King William's dear years." In accordance 

 with the fiscal system of the time, an Act had been 

 passed in 1672 forbidding the importation of meal 

 while the price in Scotland remained below a certain 

 rate. And an order of Council had actually been 

 issued for " staving " grain, unlawfully brought from 

 Carrickfergus in two vessels in 1695 ; the vessels them- 

 selves to be handed over to the person Sir Duncan 

 Campbell of Auchinbreck who had seized them on 

 their way to a Scottish port. But now, when one 

 season after another was only threatening the " mis- 

 giving and blasting of the present crop to the increase 

 of that distress whereby the kingdom is already 

 afflicted," it was found expedient to allow the impor- 

 tation of meal from Ireland. And not only so, for in 

 1698 exportation of grain was strictly prohibited; 

 and various emphatic edicts were issued against 

 "forestalling" and "regrating." A solemn fast was 

 ordered on 9th March, 1699 as fasts had been 

 appointed in some of the previous years on account 

 of " the lamentable stroke of dearth and scarcity ;" 

 while " King William, his kindness is not to be for- 

 gotten," offered all who would transport victual to 

 Scotland, that they might do it custom free, and have 

 twenty pence off each boll." 



The pictures we have of the sufferings endured at 



