An Agricultural Tour. 125 



authorities inform us that the poor animals were fre- 

 quently kept upon the bare roadside on the miserable 

 "foggage," their stall feeding being chiefly thistles 

 gathered amongst the growing corn. 



Not dissimilar in their general scope are Mr. Wight's 

 observations upon the agriculture of Banffshire and the 

 adjoining counties. Concerning the town of Banff he 

 tells us that it possessed an extensive manufacture of 

 thread for stockings, and that the thread manufactured 

 was sent to Nottingham from Banff in waggons, and 

 even then could be afforded at a cheaper rate than the 

 thread made in Nottingham. The yearly returns, at 

 first but small, had risen, it is said, to between forty 

 and fifty thousand pounds sterling. The yarns, chiefly 

 made from Dutch flax, and which gave employment in 

 spinning to upwards of four thousand women in all, in 

 Banff, Elgin, Forres, and intervening towns, amounted 

 to about 150,000 spindles annually. 



Mr. Wight does not appear to have considered it 

 within his remit to offer remarks in detail upon the 

 .state of the roads, a circumstance rather to be regretted ; 

 and accounted for perhaps by the fact that he seems to 

 have journeyed on horseback in place of attempting to 

 drive in a wheeled conveyance. Once and again he 

 adverts to the want of sufficient accommodation, or 

 sufficient attendance at the inns where he had to put 

 up. At Fochabers, where, after two hours waiting, he 

 was at last supplied with " a half-boiled dish of hodge- 

 podge," his candour compels him to mention the cir- 

 cumstance, "for the sake of travellers, that they may not 

 be detained by the stupidity of a landlady and daughters, 

 whose sole care seemed to be adorning and dressing their 

 own persons in place of attending to dressing of victuals 

 for the accommodation of travellers." And of Invertirie 

 it is recorded that " although the town is one of the 

 royal burghs in Scotland, yet the best public-house in 

 it has but one decent room, and that on the ground 

 floor, which serves for dining-room and bed chamber 



