1152 



STATISTICS OF AGRICULTURE. 



Part IV. 



The vrinciple (^ pi-oviding for the lower doss of tenants ly the 

 establishmerU of Jislieries was thus derived. It had long been 

 known, that the coast of Sutherland abounded with many 

 different kinds of fish, not only sufficient for the consumption 

 of the country, but affording also a supply, to any extent, for 

 more distant markets, or for exportation when cured and 

 salted. Besides the regular and continual supply of white fish, 

 with whichSthe shores thus 

 abound, the coast of Suther- 

 land is annually visited by 

 one of those vcist shoals of 

 herrings which frequent the 

 coast of Scotland. It seemed 

 as if it had been pointed out 

 by nature, that the system 

 for this remote district, in 

 order that it might bear its 

 suitable importance in con- 

 tributing its share to the 

 general stock of the country, 

 was, to convert the moiui- 

 tainous districts into sheep- 

 walks, and to remove the 

 inhabitants to the coast, 

 or to the valleys near the 

 sea. Several sea-ports were 

 improved by the construc- 

 tion of piers {fig. 818 a. ) 

 and breakwaters (b) ; and 

 the plan of a town being 

 formed, the inn, church, 

 post-office, market-place, , 

 and other public buildings, 

 were erected by Lord Suth- 

 erland, and the most libe- 

 ral encouragement given by 

 loans of money, grants of 

 land at little or no feu duty, &c. to fishers, manufacturers, 

 tradesmen, &c. both on a large and small scale, to come and 



settle there. Such is the policy of Lord Stafford's opera- 

 tions, in which he has expended, and continues to ex- 

 pend, independently of the cost of improvements on the 

 mansion (fig. 819.) and park of Dunrobin, immense sums. 

 Happily the success has equalled the most sanguine ex- 

 pectations; but for the very interesting details of execu- 

 tion, our limits oblige us to refer to the^work of Loch, which" 



819 



7071. INVERNESS-SHIRK Upwards of 7,000,000 of by far the most mountainous region in 

 Scotland. It reaches from sea to sea on the main-land, and comprehends many islands, which are scat- 

 tered far and wide. The hills and moors were formerly covered with fir woods, the remains of which are 

 dug up in all the moors in abundance. The climate is rainy, mild on the west coast, but less so on the 

 east The soil of the vales is loamy or gravelly. The principal economical minerals are granite, lime- 

 stone, and slate, but lead, iron, marble, &c. have been found in different places. The county is remarkable 

 for its native fir woods, and for that stupendous national work, the Caledonian Canal, now nearly com- 

 pleted. Improvements were first commenced about Inverness by Cromwell's soldiers. (Robertson's tie- 

 neral View, 1810.) 



1. Properti/, 



In few hands : largest, Lord Macdonald, of the Isle of Stye, 

 the only nobleman who resides in the county. The mountain 

 farms are large, and, as in similar cases, reckoned by miles, or 

 by the number of sheep they are supposed to carry. 



2. Gardens and Orchards 



To be found in a few places; and some old pear trees, planted 

 by the monks, are still in a bearing state at Beauly, and one or 

 two other places. There is an excellent fruit and forest tree 

 nursery at Inverness. 



3. Woods and Plantations. 



The Scotch pine, for the most part, took possession of the 

 south side of the valley, and made choice of a northern ex- 

 posure ; the birch, the hazel, and the oak, occupied the warm- 

 est side of every district, while the alder and a few ashes 

 ran along the streams. Not only the continental parts had 

 this natural mantle, but the islands of this country appear, 

 from the fragments of trees found in the mosses, to have been 

 at some remote period, mostly, if not wholly, under forests. 

 The only remains of growing wood at present in the islands, 

 are at Portree and Slate, in Skye, and a little in the island of 

 Kaasa. 



Trees were burned or felled to make room for men, by en- 

 larging the pasturage of cattle, and affording fresh svirface for 

 com. At present the Scotch pine covers more surface in this 

 county, than all the other kinds of trees taken together ; and 

 the natural pine woods of Inverness-shire exceed the quantity of 

 this wood growing naturally in all the rest of Britain. In 

 Strathspey alone, it is reported, upon authority which cannot be 

 called into question, that fifteen thousand acres of ground are 

 covered with natural firs. On the south sides of Locharkaig, of 

 Glengarry, of Glenmoriston, Strathglas, Glenstrafaras, and at 

 the head of Lochsheil, as mentioned above, the bounds of 

 country under this wood are reckoned by miles, not by acres. 

 The oak woods of this county are not so large, nor so well taken 

 care of, as they are in Perthshire. 



There are extensive birch woods, the timber of which is used 

 for fencing and the coarser articles of husbandry, and the bark 

 for tanning. 



4. Live Stock. 



Cattle are of the Skye or Kyloe breed, usually, however, 

 known as the Highland breed, and already described. (6120.) 

 The cows yield only half the quantity oF.milk of the breeds of the 

 low counties ; generally from two to two and a half gallons ; 

 but it is rich, and productive of butter of excellent flavor. The 

 diseases of Highland cattle are few. The manner of disposing 

 of cattle is as follows : When the drovers, from the south and 

 interior of Scotland, make their appearance in the Highlands, 

 which always happens during the latter end of April, or the be- 

 ginning of May, they give intimation at the churches, that 

 upon a particular day, and in a central place of the district, 

 they are ready to purchase cattle from any who offer them for 

 sale. The drovers are of two descriptions : either those who 

 buy by commission for persons of capital, who, being diffident 

 of their own skill, or averse from fatigue, choose to remam at 

 home ; or those who purchase cattle on their own account. 

 Much address is used on both sides, to feel the pulse of the mar- 

 ket at these parochial meetings, before the pnce of the season 



be mutually settled ; and it may happen, that many such small 

 trysts or meetings take place in different parts of the Highlands, 

 before the price be finally determined. The anxiety on both 

 sides is sometimes so great, that the cattle are given away upon 

 a conditional contract, that if the price rises within a limited 

 time, the seller will receive so much more ; but if the lean cat- 

 tle fall in value, the drover will get a reduction. 



Sheep are extensively reared, and generally of the Linton or 

 Lammermuir black faced sort. The Cheviots are also very pre- 

 valent. 



Horses either the native pony, or improved breeds from the 

 low countries farther south. 



Roes are frequent In a wild state in all the woody and warm 

 glens. 



5. Political Economt/. 



Roads and bridges have been going forward at the expense of 

 Government, ever since 1745, and earlier, and the Caledonian 

 Canal is well known for its magnitude and the excellence of its 

 execution. There are various fisheries on the lakes and coasts ; 

 but few manufactures. 



As one of the oMadesto improvemenl,corrm\on to this and the 

 other Highland counties, and indeed to every county, the re- 

 porter mentions the stubbornness of thecommon people, in ad- 

 hering obstinately to old and slovenly habits, is no inconsider- 

 able obstacle. As men rise in years, the reluctance to make 

 any uncommon exertions, and particularly to introduce a 

 change into any thing, which relates to their personal accom- 

 modation, gradually grows upon them. Having been long ac- 

 customed to a certmn course of employment, of gratification, of 

 lodging, of dress, and of food, they resist strenuously the re- 

 linquishment of any of these habits ; they move on in the cur- 

 rent of human life mechanically, like a wheel, without any ap- 

 parent alteration in their motion, unless it be accomplished by 

 some external force ; and if left to themselves, they never 

 change their course. This propensity to remain the same 

 men, and to retain the same customs, is more unconquerable 

 among the illiterate and ignorant, than among the learned or 

 enlightened part of mankind. By means of society, of conver- 

 sation, and of reading, the latter acquire an enlargement of the 

 mind, to which the former are strangers ; and if they be accus- 

 tomed to reflect on what they hear and see, they are always 

 more open to conviction. When that mulishness of the vulgar, 

 which is the child of ignorance, takes fast hold of the mind, it 

 becomes so obstinate, that it can seldom or never be removed. 

 Its universality would lead to the opinion, that it is an original 

 principle in the human frame , but its progressive influence, 

 which increaseth with age, and the apology which the vulgar 

 urge in their own defence, that their fathers did such 

 things before them, would imply that it is the effect of 

 imitation. 



We cannot, however, hesitate for a moment in pronouncing, 

 that the general prosperity of the world is more promoted by 

 the steadiness of the vulgar, even when it amounts to obsti- 

 nacy, than it would by fickleness, and a desire of change. The 

 very existence of order, the continuance of established govern- 

 ment, the enjoyment of the comforts of society, the sweet en- 

 dearments of friendship, the exercise of the religious principle, 

 and many of the highest blessings of life, flow from the reluct- 

 ance agamst innovation, which, with such inveteracy, resists 

 new modes of cultivation in the management of soil. 



