NIMROD'S NORTHERN TOUR. 51 



The Earl of Eglinton, who stands next on my list of the sojourners at 



Dunse, rented for the season, the beautiful cottage at the head of the lake 



in Dunse-park, the residence of Mrs. Hay's mother; and had for his 



guest Lord Archibald Seymour, and also occasionally Mr. Charles Lamb, 



his lordship's half-brother. Lord Eglinton's start in life (for he is only in 



his twenty-fourth year) has been a good one. He has entered with 



spirit into the sports and amusements of the country, which of itself 



makes a young nobleman popular ; but when united, as in his case, with 



amiable and unassuming manners, and an evident wish that others should 



participate in the bountiful fortune he is heir to, has rendered him one 



of the most popular young men in Scotland. I was told, before I came 



to his country, and by one who is an excellent judge, that I should find 



him " a promising young one, and very fond ont,'' (i. e. of fox-hunting,) 



and such, truly, did I find him, to the very extent and spirit of the letter. 



He is a very hard rider, (not so well mounted, by the bye, as I would be, 



were I Earl of Eglinton ; but Rome was not built in a day,) and 



very fond of racing, and of the practical part of it also, for he has often 



ridden his own horses and won on them, when the weight would allow; 



but his lordship approaches to the " welter," and an earl's table with a 



French cook, is a bad school for wasting. His friend Lord Archibald 



Seymour is equally fond of hounds; indeed, I should rather say more 



so than his noble friend is, never missing a day with them, ho^v great 



soever the distance, or how rough soever the morning ; and, what is a 



sure and infallible sign of it, on not the best of cattle. Likewise, as 



birds of a feather flock together, there is in this young nobleman, a 



similarly unassuming demeanour, which, after all, is the surest sign of 



high birth. It is with men as with horses, 'tis the cocktail that 



throws up his head and kicks, but is generally found wanting at 



the pinch. 



II 2 



