ABERDEEN TO STONEHAVEN. 189 



bullets. After his retirement from the army, he 

 married, and spent fifty years of his quiet, blameless 

 life between his two estates of Kingcausie and Bal- 

 muto. One writes who knew him well : " In a care- 

 less time he was not ashamed of his religion, and not 

 a few have borne testimony how in earlier years he 

 helped to wean them from the follies of the world, 

 and led them to better things." 



Only 250 out of 1,800 acres of Kingcausie were 

 arable when he came into residence; but "the bar- 

 ren, barren muir" had to yield, and hardly a hundred 

 remained not under plough or plantation, when his 

 hand was stayed, and he went to his rest. A lofty 

 Greek cross, which is a well-known beacon to the 

 mariner between Aberdeen and Stonehaven, has been 

 built to his memory by his widow, on the very boun- 

 dary line where the corn and turnips steal coyly up 

 to the edge of the waste. Of a truth, BoswelFs 

 staff stands where he fell. His nephew, Mr. Archer 

 Fortescue, now farms Kingcausie ; but the heather 

 acres have not been encroached on, and this last rem- 

 nant has its especial use as a change of pasture for 

 the hoggs, and a run of a few hours on it during the 

 day while they are folded on turnips has a capital 

 anti-foot-rot effect. 



The Highland Society gave him a medal for his 

 success in reclaiming waste land, and never did man 

 set about his work more thoroughly. Some of the 

 deep bog and moss he drained at six to nine feet, then 

 filled it with stones to within three feet of the sur- 



