SANDA. GENERAL DESCRIPTION. 441 



those who have witnessed the affectionate attention with 

 which, in the latter country, the graves are preserved 

 and adorned with flowers ; a practice not unknown to 

 ancient nations. Even the enclosed mausolea of the 

 higher and more opulent families, often bear the same 

 marks of neglect ; being frequently dilapidated and 

 overrun with weeds, the doors destroyed, and the in- 

 scriptions defaced by the tread of cattle. The whole 

 is indeed in unison with the negligent and repulsive 

 manner in which the funeral is usually conducted ; the 

 ceremonial, if ceremonial it can be called, producing, in 

 those who have never before witnessed it, a strong im- 

 pression of the levity with which the death of a friend 

 appears to be contemplated ; and the feeling, however 

 unfounded, that with this act, every thing is here esteemed 

 to be terminated. The frequent expense, and its mis- 

 application, are no less offensive ; that which ought 

 to excite far other reflections being too often the ex- 

 cuse for a riotous festival. The present practice must 

 perhaps, however, be considered as the consequence 

 of innovation. The respect still paid to the cairn 

 and the monumental stone, evince the habit that once 

 existed among the ancient Celts ; and the care with 

 which these memorials were formerly constructed, proves 

 that the Highlanders have not always been deficient 

 in those feelings which, if they cannot benefit the dead, 

 are not useless to the living. At present, while the 

 body is thrown into the ground and forgotten, the 

 nettle and dock supply the place of the rose, the area 

 is unenclosed, or, if once enclosed, the walls are in 

 ruins, the ancient tombs are destroyed, and indiscriminate 

 neglect surrounds every thing. This effect of excessive 

 reformation, if, in the Highlands, the present negligent 

 practice has originated in that cause, is now counteracted in 

 the Lowlands by the recovery of feelings more natural; and, 

 although defective in those religious rites of which the 



