NIMROD'S NORTHERN TOUR. 405 



by several of my Scotch friends, and particularly by two of his noble 

 brethren of the craft — brother huntsmen — namely, Lords Kintore and 

 Elcho, I was pretty well at my ease, when his servants ushered me into 

 his presence. A hearty shake of the hand and a welcome that could not 

 be mistaken, operated as balm poured into my soul, and by the time the 

 first bottle of 1815 claret was finished after dinner — his lordship and 

 myself being tete-a-tete — I felt myself quite at home. But it is the 

 characteristic of persons of high blood, and accompanying good feelings, 

 to place their guests at their ease. 



Lord Kelburne has two countries — the one, the home country, in 

 Renfrewshire ; the other in Ayrshire, which is, I believe, by far the best 

 of the two. Of the latter, however, I only speak from what I heard, not 

 having had an opportunity of seeing it; but in a letter I received from a 

 friend, the following season, describing a run he saw over it, he spoke of 

 it as being nearly as good as any he ever rode over in his life, and he has 

 seen many good ones. That it abounds in pasture, I learn from what I 

 read of it, and few persons have not heard of Barbara Gilmour and her 

 cheese* ; by the production of which, in the first instance, one of the 

 Scottish historians says, " she performed a more valuable service to the 

 world than Alexander the Great, or Julius Caesar, accomplished by all 

 their sanguinary labours." 



Lord Kelburne's two countries, united, make only what would be called, 

 in the south, one short one, because his seasons are short, owing to the 

 backwardness of the harvest in that part of Scotland, which prevents his 

 beginning hunting until the kennel doors of his brother sportsmen, in 

 England, exhibit a fair share of noses. The average of stoppage, from 



* Called the " Dunlop Cheese." 



