CHANGES IN THE PROPRIETARY. 489 



Lewis, where he resided for two or three months of the 

 year, Seaforth devoted himself to the welfare of his 

 tenantry, and was ably seconded in his efforts by his wife. 

 The last Earl of Seaforth had done much to improve the 

 town of Stornoway by encouraging building operations, 

 and by 1786, the importance of the town had so increased 

 that "no place between the Mull of Cantire and Cape 

 Wrath contained half its number of inhabitants." But 

 Francis, Lord Seaforth, pursued a more comprehensive 

 scheme of reform. He effected improvements in agri- 

 culture, the fisheries,* and kelp burning ; constructed 

 roads at great expense ; t encouraged education ; erected 

 public buildings in Stornoway; and established a standard 

 of comfort which had never before been reached. 



But it was by his successful efforts to raise recruits for 

 the army that Seaforth acquired a national reputation. 

 In 1787,116 offered to raise a regiment from his own estates 

 for the service of the King, and in 1793, after various 

 discouragements, and on the outbreak of the war with 

 France, was empowered, as Lieutenant-Colonel Com- 

 mandant, to embody a battalion in accordance with his 

 wish. He issued a patriotic notice} which was posted 

 through the Counties of Ross and Cromarty and the 

 Island of Lewis, calling upon " all lads of true Highland 

 blood " to enlist " for a stroke at the Monsieurs." Recruits 

 were obtainable in most cases without difficulty, and in 

 four months after the letter of service was granted, the 

 battalion was inspected at Fort George, and passed by 

 Lieutenant-General Sir Hector Munro. But this notable 

 success did not satisfy the Lieut-Colonel Commandant 

 of the 78th. He offered, in October, 1793, to ra ^ se a 



* He was a director of the British Society, formed in 1786 for extending 

 the fisheries and improving the sea-coasts of the kingdom. 



t He made roads from Stornoway to Barvas and to the Point district, as 

 well as in the neighbourhood of the town, and pressed the Government to 

 construct a road from Stornoway to Loch Roag, the cost of which was 

 estimated at ;5,OOO ; half of this sum, and any surplus over the estimate, he 

 j offered to pay himself. He afterwards commenced this road, but did not live 

 to finish it. 



+ A copy of this notice appears in Keltic's History of the Highland Regi- 

 mtnts, Vol. II., p. 662. 



