154 BENEFITS OF CLANSHIP. 



chieftain was brought up as foster-brother with the son 

 of one of the humblest among his father's followers. 

 Thus it came to pass that there did not exist that im- 

 measurable distance, that insuperable barrier, between 

 those of gentle blood and the low-born which obtains 

 in England. Thrown together in their daily sports 

 and occupations, taught by constant warfare mutually 

 to value each other's goodwill and services, the highest 

 and the lowest might be seen mixing freely together, 

 and even bound by the strongest ties of friendship and 

 affection. Now all this could not be without its effect; 

 and, though as English manners and English feelings 

 gain ground, a gradual change will come over the 

 features of the picture, yet this will be one of the last 

 points to fade in the dissolving view. Nor indeed 

 is the change one to be desired, for from this constant 

 and unconstrained intercourse of the different ranks 

 has arisen an inborn propriety of manner, and an easy 

 self-possession in the presence of his superiors, still 

 conspicuous in the Highlander, and which gives him a 

 decided advantage over the clownish shyness of the 

 peasantry of England. 



I remember remarking this particularly on a late 

 occasion, when in a small town in the Highlands, I 

 witnessed the population, high and low, mingling in 

 their games (which they did almost every evening) on a 

 piece of ground thrown open to them by one of the 

 first noblemen in the country, who himself joined, 

 heart and soul, in the diversions of his dependants. 

 Though no respect was wanting as he moved among 

 them, yet there was none of that open-mouthed gazing 

 or that awe -stricken awkwardness which would have 

 shown itself in an English crowd under similar circum- 

 stances. All was natural, easy, and unconstrained, 



