HISTORY OF THE 



may, I have been informed, through various re- 

 fpeftable channels, be extended to any degree,* 

 and alfo the deep water fifnery, to the diftance of 



twenty 



* Among the many obligatiops Scotland owes to the learned and 

 humane Thomas Pennant, efq. may be reckoned his Simulating 

 afpirit of enquiry into fuch works of nature and art, as tend to 

 illuftrate the hiitory of that country, and to affift the antiquary in. 

 his mvefligations. Of the numerous correfjpondents who thus 

 embarked in the laudable dclign of communicating their obfer- 

 Vations through the channel of Mr. Pennant's publications, was, 

 the Rev. Mr. Cordiner, miniiter of the Englim chapel at Banff; 

 and that gentleman, encouraged by the refpecl paid to his com- 

 munications and drawings, publiihed, iri 1780, a moft enter- 

 taining work, entitled, Antiquities and Scenery of the North of 

 Scotland, in a Series of Letters to Thomas Pennant, Efq. The 

 favourable reception of this volume by the public, prompted the 

 author to circulate propofals, for publishing in numbers, V'ie c ws of 

 Remarkabk Ruins, 'and Romantic Profpe Els in the North of Scotland. 

 I had received fo much fatisfadtion in perilling the former work, 

 that on feeing the iirft number of the latter, I transmitted fome ot 

 iervations to the author, which I thought might be ufeful to hii 

 in the progrefs of his work. His anfwer came to my ham 

 while I was drawing up the above account of the eaitern fifheries, 

 and as he had .perufed what I had formerly published ou thefe 

 iubjefts, he favoured me with the following intereiling and feaibii- 

 able intelligence. 



" In the Murray Firth, herrings, at times, make their appear- 

 ance in fuch plenty, as might become a valuable acquiiition to 

 the coaft, could the fifhermen afford to have nets in readinefs 

 againit the periods of their arrival ; and, had they knowledge of 

 the methods of aic.ertaining, more accurately, their being on the 

 coaft, it is probable we iliould find it more frequently the cafe 

 than it is at prefent apprehended. In fome feafons, off Troup- 

 head, about fix miles eail from this, the fhoals of herrings havfe 

 been found fo crowded, that the fifher- boys, by putting feveral hooks 

 back to back, and finking them with a bit of lead, in pulling 

 them up through the moal of herrings, feldom failed to bring up 

 numbers. What a treafure would a herring net have been to 

 them ! 



44 There was another thing xvhichlpropofed to the board of truf- 

 tees, and which they were inclined to favour, had they not been 

 abridged of their power and finances, by the reparation of the 

 forfeited eftates. In examining the progrefs of manufacturers in 

 this and the neighbouring counties, I found that their perfection 

 in the weaving of clamalk or figured linen, was greatly retarded 

 by their total ignorance of the principles of drawing, and want 

 of taile for elegance of defign. At the fame time the tradefmen 



were 



