THE HIGHLANDS. 147 



lings! In this state he left for Can-bridge, where he passed the 

 night without more than enough of refreshment. In the morning 

 he left for Inverness, and calling at the Post-Office he found many 

 letters to his address ; but not having money to pay the postage, 

 the person in charge declined trusting him! He then crossed Kes- 

 sock Ferry with only a few pence, and arrived at Dingwall about 

 midday, where I happened to be at the time, and was quite over- 

 joyed at seeing him. He was dressed in white duck trousers 

 covered with mud, and his white hat entirely so with fishing gear ! 

 " As he proceeded to my house, distant about a mile, he shortly 

 detailed his late adventure, and said he was almost famished. My first 

 work was to send to Inverness for his letters, after which we enjoyed 

 one of the most delightful evenings of my life. He kindly rested 

 himself for several days, and I accompanied him through the most 

 romantic and impassable parts of the country to Kintail, where I 

 parted with him at the house of a worthy mutual friend, George 

 Laid law. 



"In our rambles, which included some curious incidents, and 

 which occupied several days, he fished wherever a loch or stream 

 presented itself. We avoided all roads entirely, and lived with the 

 shepherds." 



Such stories as these might, to a certain extent, justify that 

 excellent old lady, Mrs. Grant of Laggan, in making the following 

 observations, when, in writing to a friend, she burst forth upon the 

 eccentricities of the young poet : — 



" Did I ever tell you of one of the said poets we have in town 

 here — indeed, one of our intimates — the most provoking creature 

 imaginable! He is young, handsome, witty; has great learning, 

 exuberant spirits, a wile and children that he doats on (circum- 

 stances one would think consolidating), and no vice that I know of 

 but, on the contrary, virtuous principles and feelings. Yet his 

 wonderful eccentricity would put anybody but his wife wild. She 

 I am convinced, was actually made on purpose for her husband, and 

 has that kind of indescribable controlling influence over him that 

 Catherine is said to have had over that wonderful savage the Czar 

 Peter. 



"Pray look at the last Edinburgh Review, and read the favorable 

 article on John Wilson's ' City of the Plague.' He is the person 

 in question." 



