HABITS AND LIFE. 225 
by making additional purchases of property in the parish. 
“Mr. Gillespie remained ihrousir Tide a basbeloe His 
establishment at Spylaw was of the simplest description. It 
is said that he invariably sat at the same table with his serv- 
ants, indulging in familiar conversation, and entering with 
much spirit into their amusements. Newspapers were not 
so widely circulated at that period as they are now, and on 
the return of any of his,domestics from the city, which one 
of them daily visited, he listened with great attention to the 
‘news, and enjoyed with much zest the narration of any 
jocular incident that had occurred. Mr. Gillespie had a 
penchant for animals, and their wants were carefully attended 
to. His poultry, equally with his horses, could have testified 
to the judicious attention which he bestowed upon them. A 
story is told of the familiarity ' between the laird and his 
riding horse, which was well-fed and full of spirit. 
“The animal frequently indulged in a little restive curvet- 
ting with its master, especially when the latter was about to 
get into the saddle. ‘Come, come,’ he would. say, on such 
occasions, addressing the animal in his usual quiet way, 
‘hae dune, noo, for ye’ll no like if I come across your lugs 
(ears) wi’ the stick.’ 
“ Even in his old age Mr. Gillespie regularly superintende 
the operations in the mill, which was situated in the rear'of 
his house. On these occasions he was wrapped in an old 
blanket ingrained with snuff. Though he kept a carriage-he 
very seldom used it, until shortly before his death, when 
increasing infirmities caused him occasionally to take a drive. 
It was of this carriage, plain and neat in its design, with 
nothing on its panel but the initials ‘J. G.’ that the witty 
Henry Erskine proposed the couplet— 
“Who would have thought it 
That noses had bought it ? 
as an appropriate motto. In those days snuff was much more 
extensively used than at i and Mr. Gillespie was in 
the habit of gratuitously filling the ‘mulls’ of many of the 
Edinburgh characters of the last century. Colinton appears 
to have been a great snuff-making centre. About thirty 
years ago there were five snuff mills in_ operation in the 
parish, the produce of which was sold in Edinburgh. Even 
now a considerable quantity of snuff is made in the district, 
chiefly by grinders to the trade. 
Murray, alluding to the popularity of the custom in 
15 
