and goats were kept, the former for their wool for domestic use and for their mutton; the goats for their flesh and milk; but cattle were the only article of commerce, and the care of these was the principal occupation of life. The stock of cattle on a good farm in Skye is described as consisting of 50 cows, 40 yearlings or stirks, 35 heifers, two years old, 30 heifers, three years old, and 20 heifers fit for breeding; and from this stock Pennant says the owner could sell only 20 cows at 45s. each, and make butter and cheese enough for domestic use, but none to sell-the cows not yielding more than three English quarts at a meal. But, besides this stock, there would be sheep and goats, and Pennant must have been misinformed as to the number sold; for, besides old cows, there must have been oxen to sell at some age or other. The rent of such a farm, he says, was formerly sixteen pounds, but, at the time he wrote, it had been raised to fifty pounds. And, in considering the quantity of dairy produce, we must keep in mind that on such a farm 20 servants were employed, and these and their families had to be fed, and one considerable element in their food was milk in various forms.

Beyond the hill pasture attached to each farm, and which did not usually exceed a few hundred acres, there extended the great mountain ranges, the bogs, and high glens. These were either wastes, or appropriated by the King, the Chiefs, and the great nobles as hunting grounds-for there are some great tracts, such as the forests of Mar and of Athole, the Black Mount, Ben-Alder, and others, which have been appropriated to sport from the earliest times of which we have any record-but when they were not so appropriated, these wastes were vast commons, over which the people of whole communities grazed in common, and cut turf and peats. To these wastes, in the Summer, the whole community migrated with the cattle, and remained there while the grass lasted. This annual migration was one of the most beautiful and joyous features of that old times. The people went out in a procession with their cattle and other domestic animals, headed by pipers. They lived in temporary huts of turf and branches, moving as the necessities of the stock required, and leading a free and joyous life. The men occupied in the care of the stock, and in fishing and shooting to help to provide themselves with food; the

women in the work of the dairy, in knitting and spinning, and the whole joining in the evening in song and dance.

The cattle were usually disposed of in the Autumn, and were purchased by drovers, and driven by them in herds to the South of Scotland and England, and sold to grazers. The occupation of a drover was not then considered beneath a gentleman of good family, or even of estate. In an older time, we know that Rob Roy began life as a drover, and I have come across various pieces of evidence that gentlemen of estate often engaged in the occupation of purchasing cattle and taking them to the Southern markets. Sometimes the factor on large and remote estates became the purchaser of the cattle of the tenantry, and in some cases, no doubt, insisted on getting them at very low prices, but this was rare. As a rule, these sales and purchases were conducted with good feeling and confidence on both sides. The cattle were taken generally by the same person-the drover of the district -for a course of years, no price being fixed at the time of delivery, the understanding being that the price to be paid was to be according to the markets; and, with the prices paid or the bills granted by the drovers, rents and all other pecuniary obligations were discharged.

Of money, in the shape of coin or bank notes, there was very little indeed in the country. Dr. Johnson and Boswell, during their famous tour in the Hebrides, had great difficulty in getting a £30 bill on Edinburgh cashed; and, in the remote parts, there were no shops, and for supplies of all foreign productions the natives were dependant on pedlars, or, if they lived on the coast, on passing vessels and on wrecks.

(To be continued.)

SMUGGLING IN THE HIGHLANDS.

BY JOHN MACDONALD, SUPERVISOR.

(Continued.)

THAT claret was the favourite drink among the better classes to the end of last century is remarkably corroborated by Burns's song of "The Whistle "

"The dinner being over the claret they ply,

And every new cork is a new spring of joy."

The competitors having drunk six bottles of claret each, Glenriddle, "a high-ruling elder, left the foul business to folks less divine." Maxwelton and Craigdarroch continued the contest and drank one or two bottles more, Craigdarroch winning the whistle. Burns is said to have drunk a bottle of rum and one of brandy during the contest. There is a Highland story which would make a good companion to the foregoing Lowland picture. The time is much later, perhaps sixty years ago, and the beverage whisky. The laird of Milnain, near Alness, visited his neighbour the laird of Nonikiln. Time wore on, and the visit was prolonged until late at night. At last the sugar got down, and toddy is not very palatable without sugar. In those days no shop was nearer than Tain or Dingwall, and it was too late to send anywhere for a supply. Convivialities were threatened with an abrupt termination when a happy thought found its way into Nonikiln's befogged brain. He had bee-hives in the garden, and honey was an excellent substitute for sugar. A skep was fetched in, the bees were robbed, and the toddy bowl was replenished. The operation was repeated until the bees, revived by the warmth of the room, showed signs of activity, and stung their spoilers into sobriety. Dr. Aird, Creich, I understand, relates this story with great gusto.

There can be no doubt that till the latter part of last century, wine, ale, rum, and brandy were more used than whisky. Ian Lom, who died about 1710, in his song, "Moch 's mi 'g eirigh 'sa

Mhaduinn," mentions "gucagan fion," but makes no reference to whisky. Lord Lovat having occasion to entertain 24 guests at Beaufort in 1739, writes-"I have ordered John Forbes to send in horses for all Lachlan Macintosh's wine, and for six dozen of the Spanish wine."-(Transactions, Vol. XII). Colonel Stewart of Garth writing about 1820, says "Till within the last 30 years, whisky was less used in the Highlands than rum and brandy, which were smuggled from the West Coast. It was not till the beginning, or rather towards the middle of last century that spirits of any kind were so much drank as ale, which was then the universal beverage. Every account and tradition go to prove that ale was the principal drink among the country people, and French wines and brandy among the gentry. Mr. Stewart of Crossmount, who lived till his 104th year, informed me that in his youth strong frothing ale from the cask was the common beverage. It was drunk from a circular shallow cup with two handles. Those of the gentry were of silver, and those used by the common people were of variegated woods. Small cups were used for spirits. Whisky house is a term unknown in Gaelic. A public-house is called Tigh-Leanna, i.e., ale-house. In addition to the authority of Mr. Stewart, I have that of men of perfect veracity and great intelligence regarding everything connected with their native country. In the early part of their recollections, and, in the time of their fathers, the whisky drank in the Highlands of Perthshire was brought principally from the Lowlands. A ballad composed on an ancestor of mine in the reign of Charles I., describes the laird's jovial and hospitable manner, and, along with other feats, his drinking a brewing of ale at one sitting. In this song whisky is never mentioned, nor is it in any case, except in the modern ballads and songs."

Here is a verse of it :

Fear Druim-a'-charaidh,

Gur toigh leis an leann; 'S dh'oladh e 'n togail M'an togadh e 'cheann.

All the evidence that can be gathered goes to show that the manufacture and use of whisky must have been very limited until the latter part of last century. This is clearly shown by the small

quantities charged with Excise duty. On Christmas day, 1660, Excise duty was first laid on whisky in this country, the duty in Scotland being 2d., 3d., and 4d. per gallon, according to the materials from which the spirits were made. No record exists of the amount of duty paid until 1707, when it amounted only to £1810 15s. 11d., representing about 100,000 gallons, the population being 990,000. No record of the quantity charged exists until 1724, when duty was 3d. and 6d. In that year 145,602 gallons were charged, the duty amounting to £3504 12s. 1od., the population being little over one million. Last year the population was 3,866,521, the gallons of whisky charged 6,629,306, and the duty £3,314,680 10s. Since 1724, 160 years ago, the population of Scotland has increased nearly four times, the quantity of spirits charged for home consumption forty-five times, and the amount of duty over nine hundred and forty-seven times. In proportion to population, the people of Scotland are now drinking eleven times as much whisky as they did 160 years ago, so that our forefathers must have been much more temperate than we are, must have drunk more foreign wines and spirits or ale, or must have very extensively evaded the Excise duty.

Although much of the whisky manufactured at this time must have been distilled on a small scale within the homes in which it was consumed, there is early mention of public distilleries. In 1690 reference is made to the "Ancient Brewary of Aquavity,” on the land of Ferintosh, and there is no reason to doubt that Ferintosh was the seat of a distillery before the levying of the Excise duty in 1660. The yearly Excise of the lands of Ferintosh was farmed to Forbes of Culloden in 1690, for 400 merks, about £22, and the history of the privilege is interesting. As in later times Forbes of Culloden sided with the Revolution party, and was of considerable service in the struggle which led to the deposition of James II., he was consequently unpopular with the "Highland Rebels," as the Jacobites were termed by the loyalists, and, during his absence in Holland, his estate in Ferintosh, with its "Ancient Brewary of Aquavity," was laid waste in October, 1689, by a body of 700 or 800 men, sent by the Earl of Buchan and General Cannon, whereby he and his tenants suffered much loss. In compensation for the losses thus sustained, an