342 A FARMERS YEAR 



more or less enclosed and improved, upon which wander some of 

 the Laird's herd of beautiful Ayrshire cows and a noble herd it 

 is numbering 250 or more. Here also oats stand in stooks, and 

 beyond them appears a field of magnificent swedes. Nowhere 

 have I seen the swede thrive as it does in the damp, moist climate 

 of Coll : the bulbs are splendid, and the leaves so tall and thick 

 that it is a labour to walk through them. Another striking feature 

 of the place is the great flocks of starlings that Boswell noted, 

 which still frequent the island. 



And so at last we come to the hospitable house that pleased 

 Dr. Johnson so much when first he found shelter in it, although 

 afterwards, when he grew bored, he described it ' as a mere trades- 

 man's box with nothing becoming a chief about it.' The Doctor's 

 and Boswell's bedchambers are, I believe, practically unaltered 

 since their day, and in the former hangs the sage's portrait. Once 

 I slept in it, but on this occasion Bozzy's chamber fell to my lot. 

 It is recorded in the book that these twain disputed fiercely about 

 those rooms, arguing as to which of them boasted the best curtains. 

 Johnson's were proved to be the superior, being woven of linen 

 thread, and giving up the curtains Boswell pointed out that his bed- 

 posts were the finest. Thereon the Doctor retaliated, * Well, if you 

 have the best/0.r&, we will have you tied to them and whipped.' 



This does not seem a good specimen of the Johnsonian wit, 

 or at least I cannot see its point. Boswell quotes it as illustrative 

 of his hero's power of placing his adversary ' in a ludicrous view.' 

 To my mind it is not the victim of the joke who is ludicrous. 



After dinner we conversed about farming in Coll. There is no 

 doubt as to the considerable capacities of the island, which is well 

 suited to cattle and sheep, produces good hay where the land is 

 improved, very fair crops of oats, and, as I have said, magnificent 

 swedes and white turnips. Thirty, or even twenty years ago, when 

 it was more highly farmed than it is now, it used to be a prosperous 

 place. To-day, however, the blight of agricultural depression lies 

 as heavy upon it as it does upon the Eastern Counties. Thus the 

 cheeses that it produces can barely hold their own in the Scotch 



