s7o Scotland. 



be of Milesian extraction. Their stockings are likewise of tartan, 

 tied below the knee with tartan garters formed into tassels. The 

 poorer people wear upon their feet brogues made of untanned or un- 

 dressed leather; for their heads a blue flat cap is used, called a bon- 

 net, of a particular woollen manufacture. From the belt of the pheli- 

 beg hung generally their knives and a dagger, which they call a dirk, 

 and an iron pistol, sometimes of fine workmanship, and curiously in- 

 laid with silver. The introduction of the broad sword of Andrea Fer- 

 rara, a Spaniard (which was always part of the Highland dress) seems 

 to be no earlier than the reign of James III, who invited that excel- 

 lent workman to Scotland. A large leathern purse, richly adorned 

 with silver, hanging before, was always part of a Highland chieftain's 

 dress. 



The dress of the highland women consisted of a petticoat and jerkin, 

 with strait sleeves, trimmed or not trimmed according to the quality 

 of the wearer. Over this they wore a plaid, which they either held 

 close under their chins with the hand, or fastened with a buckle of a 

 particular fashion. On the head they wore a kerchief of fine linen of 

 different forms. The womens' plaid has been but lately disused in 

 Scotland by the ladies, who wore it in a graceful manner, the drapery 

 falling towards the feet in large folds. A curious virtuoso may find a 

 strong resemblance between the variegated and fimbriated draperies of 

 the Scots, and those of the Tuscans (who were unquestionably of 

 Celtic original) as they are to be seen in the monuments of antiquity. 



The attachment of the Highlanders to this dress rendered it a bond 

 of union, which often proved dangerous to the government. Many 

 efforts had been made by the legislature, after the rebellion in 1715, 

 to disarm them, and oblige them to conform to the Low-country 

 dresses. The disarming scheme was the most successful ; for when 

 the rebellion in 1745 broke out, the common people had scarcely any 

 other arms than those which they took from the king's troops. Their 

 overthrow at Culloden rendered it no difficult matter for the legisla- 

 ture to force them into a total change of their dress. Its conveniency, 

 however, for the purposes of the field, is so great, that the Highland 

 regiments still retain it. Even the common people have of late 

 resumed the use of it ; and, for its lightness and the freedom it gives 

 to the body, many of the Highland gentlemen wear it in the summer 

 time. The dress of the higher and middle ranks of the Low-country 

 differs little or nothing from the English ; but many of the peasantry 

 still retain the bonnet, for the cheapness and lightness of the wear. 



Cities, chief towns, and edifices.. ..Edinburgh, the capital of 

 Scotland, naturally claims the first place under this head. The castle, 

 before the use of artillery, was deemed to be impregnable. It was 

 probably built by the Saxon king Edwin, whose territory reached to 

 the Firth of Forth, and who gave his name to Edinburgh, as it certainly 

 did not fall into the hands of the Scots till the reign of Indulphus, who 

 lived in the year 953. The town was built for the benefit of protection 

 from the castle ; and a more inconvenient situation for a capital can 

 scarcely be conceived ; the high-street, which is on the ridge of a hill, 

 lying east and west ; and the lanes running down its sides north and 

 south. In former times the town was surrounded by water, excepting 

 towards the east ; so that, when the French landed in Scotland during 

 the regency of Mary of Guise, they gave it the name of Lislebourg. 

 This situation suggested the idea of building very lofty houses, 

 divided into stories^ each of which contains a suite of rooins, generally 



