24 NIMROZTS NORTHERN TOUR. 



have been a prince of hunters, for it appears he gave 4. 73. for 

 a hound bitch and her seven whelps, an enormous price in those 

 days. Indeed, if my memory serves me, he is called i the king 

 of hunters ; in the romance of Sir Tristrem, in which the science 

 of hunting is dwelt upon with a minuteness that shows how 

 highly it ranked among the accomplishments of a brave and 

 gentle knight." 



Now here finishes this loose reverie, the object of which is 

 merely to show that I entered the country with a favourable im- 

 pression of what I should find it, although when a man's mind 

 has been humanized, as mine has been, by an intercourse with 

 the world, local prejudices affect it but little. Certainly, the 

 primitive idea one forms of Scotland is, an assemblage of woods> 

 mountains, rivers, and lakes, " montesque, amnesque, lacusque/ 7 ' 

 as Ovid said of another country ; but when I looked out of the- 

 window of the yellow post-chaise, I saw a country, between Ber- 

 wick and Dunse, that looked very much like hunting. 



As may be supposed, the first thing I did on my arrival at 

 Dunse was to have a peep at the two horses the " would-be Til- 

 bury" had sent me, and at the servant that accompanied them, 

 and who was to fill the double capacity of groom and valet. The 

 latter turned out what he appeared to be, a steady good servant : 

 but I was greatly disappointed in the horses. They were two 

 undersized powerless brutes, not deserving the name or charac- 

 ter of hunters, but coming under the denomination of Irish gar- 

 rons, which they in reality were. "Ah, Mr. King," said I to my- 

 self for that is the owner's name " if you send your customers 

 such horses as these at ten pounds a month each, and all ex- 

 penses to be paid by the hirer, your game will soon be played." 

 My next step was to inquire where I was to be myself put up, 

 for, although the horses were at the Black Bull, that house was 

 full ; when I found apartments had been taken for me at the 

 White Swan, and of which, although, like all other White 

 Swans, nothing out of the common way I had no reason to 

 complain. Moreover, the landlord is a sportsman, and that, like 

 charity, covers many sins. However, on my departure, I gave 

 mine host of each house a hint which it is not necessary to men- 

 tion here, but which must be attended to against another hunting 

 season ; and it was promised such should be the case. 



As the town of Dunse has been called the " Melton Mowbray 

 of the North," a short description of it may be required. Were 

 I to give it by word of mouth, I should say " it is not a bad sort 

 of a dull-looking country town," looking perhaps duller than- 

 common in the cut-throat month of November. Although it 

 takes its name from the Celtic word Dun, a hill, it stands on 



