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LETTER XIII.

Inverness, July.

INVERNESS stands at the foot of a magnificent amphitheatre of hills, so picturesque and diversified in shape, as to form one of the finest natural landscapes it is possible to imagine. The town is bounded on one side by the Moray Firth, which separates the county of Ross from that of Inverness, and the Ness river unites with the sea at one extremity, and at the other, with Loch Ness, rendered very grand in its appearance, by the wild mountainous scenery which rises on all sides.

Inverness is the capital of the Highlands, and considered the only town, north of Aberdeen, of importance. It is large and populous; but the idea I had formed of noble streets, and elegant houses, greatly

disappointed me, on a near approach. Like several of the Scotch towns, which owe all their beauty to situation, the charm is lost on entering, from the old and irregular appearance of many of the houses, to which a handsome one often unites :* and the quantity of fish hung over the doors of the ordinary dwellings, for the purpose of drying, is very disgusting in warm weather. The squalid dirty aspect of the children, take from all the engaging attraction of infancy. Civilization in the lower class seems here to be almost a century behind, as far as regards necessary comfort; this is the more extraordinary, as there is such a striking superiority of refinement, in language, and courtesy of manner, in the

"One thing I observed, of almost all the towns that I saw at a distance, which was, that they seemed to be very large, and made a handsome appearance; but when I passed through them, there appeared a meanness; and all the outskirts, which served to inerease the extent of them at a distance were nothing but the ruins of small houses."

Letters from the North of Scotland, Anno 1726.

inhabitants of Inverness, which extends to the humblest individual. English is here universally spoken, and in a state of purity and correctness, which renders it perfectly beautiful. It gives a softness to the manners, extremely graceful, which, united with the Highland urbanity of character, at once win upon a stranger.

Dr. Johnson notices, in his Tour, the language of Inverness, which, he says, has long been considered particularly elegant. The Gaelic used, I am told, by all the ordinary people, is very comprehensive and powerful. It seems, to my ear, to have great affinity to the Welch.

The Castle, formerly situated on the east end of Inverness, belonging to the Thanes of Cawdor, was the one, where, according to Shakespear, King Duncan was murdered, by Macbeth;* but on Mal

* From several records connected with the history of Macbeth, it appears that King Duncan was murdered at Glames Castle, not Inverness. But, according to Lord Hales' Annals, the tragical scene

colm Kenmore succeeding the usurper, he is said to have razed the castle to the ground, and removed the town to the spot where it now stands. A new castle was built on the site of the old town, finally destroyed in the year 1745.

The ruins of the old Castle of Inverness remained till about twelve years ago, when they were entirely removed, by the direction of His Grace, the Duke of Gordon, who is the hereditary keeper.

When Queen Mary came hither with her brother, the Earl of Murray, and suite, with an intention to inhabit the Castle, the Earl of Huntley, ancestor of the Duke of Gordon, and governor of the Castle, gave orders, that if the Earl* accompanied the Queen to the north, the Castle was not to be opened to her Majesty; and on

was near Elgin; and he is supposed to be interred in the cathedral.

*The fair, or bonny Earl of Murray, as he is commonly called, was supposed to be murdered, on account of a jealousy James the Sixth entertained, of a passion the queen had for him; at least such

their arrival they were refused admittance. This excited such indignation in the inhabitants of Inverness, for the insult offered their sovereign, that a house was erected in an incredibly short space of time, for her reception. The house stands near the bridge, and is at present inhabited.

The handsome stone bridge, built in the year 1688, owes its foundation to a singular circumstance. When Provost Duff filled the civic chair, in passing over the wooden bridge thrown across the Ness, it suddenly gave way, and he was precipited into the river, on one of the planks, which floated him down in safety to Cromwell's Fort, a distance of half a mile. The following day he commenced a subscription for a more substantial bridge, to which the

was the popular opinion, as appears from an old ballad on the occasion:

"He was a brave gallant,

And he play'd upon the gluve;
And the bonny Earl of Murray,
Oh! he was the Queene's love."

PENNANT.

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