56 FAMOUS SCOTS 



Laggan, whose once well-known Letters from the Moun- 

 tains have yielded in popularity to her song of Highland 

 Laddie y which commemorates the departure in 1799 of 

 the Marquis of Huntly with Sir Ralph Abercromby. 

 By none of them, however, was he more noticed than 

 by Miss Dunbar of Boath, who occupies in his early cor- 

 respondence the place taken in the letters of Burns by 

 Mrs. Dunlop. During his visits to this excellent lady 

 he explored the curious sand-dunes of Culbin which 

 still arrest the attention of the geologist and traveller 

 in his rambles by the Findhorn. By Miss Dunbar he 

 was pressed to embark on literature, while Mrs. Grant 

 was of the opinion that he might follow the example of 

 Allan Cunningham, who was engaged in the studio 

 of Chantrey. But such patronage was in his case no 

 less wisely exercised than admitted, nor was his the 

 nature to be in any way spoiled by it ; his self-reliant 

 disposition suffered no such baneful effects as were felt 

 by the much weaker nature of Thorn of Inverurie, the 

 one lyrical utterance of Aberdeenshire, or by Burns 

 in the excitement of his Edinburgh season. He even 

 became a town councillor, though he admits that his 

 masterly inactivity was such as led him to absent him- 

 self pretty wholly from the duties, whose onerous nature 

 may be inferred when the most important business 

 before the council was, on one occasion, clubbing 

 together a penny each to pay a ninepenny postage in 

 the complete absence of town funds. 



Into his life at this period a new vision was introduced 



