of great and immediate increase to the army, and the great towns had to be resorted to, and regiments were filled up without regard to nationality. Following on this came the short service system, with the disappearance of the pension, and somehow not only were the Highlands neglected as a recruiting ground, but the conditions of service appear to have become unsuitable, and to a very great extent Highland Regiments were so only in name and dress. This is very greatly to be regretted, for nowhere does the Highlander appear to greater advantage than as a soldier, and it is to be hoped that, with the increased permission for long service, and the quartering of a Highland Regiment permanently in the Highland Capital, the old spirit may revive, and that Highland Regiments may become so in reality both as regards officers and men. I have not said anything about the services of the Highland Regiments, for this does not fall within my present subject, but if any proof is wanted that the Highland people of the time of which we are treating, or of an earlier time, were not rude and uncivilized, and were in no sense degraded by poverty, but were, on the contrary, a sober, God-fearing, intelligent, and moral race, in a much higher degree than persons of the same class in other parts of the country, we have only to turn to the records of the conduct of the Highland Regiments, particularly those first raised, in camp and quarters. They were not only brave in the field, but in peace they were orderly, sober, amenable to discipline, thus exhibiting the highest qualities of men and of soldiers.

The large number of men who served in the army naturally produced a large number of retired military men, who settled in their native land. It became much the fashion with them to take farms, and these men naturally gave a tone to the society of their time, and contributed to keep up that honourable tone of feeling and high and gentleman-like bearing which had distinguished the Highlanders of the old time.

Such are briefly some of the causes and their effects which marked this period of time in the Highlands. But even at the close of this period, much of the old spirit and the old state of society still remained. All over the Highlands many of the old tacksmen families remained, and even when new men had come

they were rapidly assimilated, and adopted the old habits of free and cordial hospitality which had distinguished the good old time. The causes I have indicated were still at work, but they had not produced their full effects, and it is since the close of this period that the great changes have taken place; that the race of long descended gentlemen-tacksmen has been swept entirely away. I believe there are not now half-a-dozen considerable farmers in the Highlands and Islands who hold the farms which their ancestors held over one hundred and fifty years ago. I only really know of one. To show the magnitude of the change, I will just quote one sentence :-When the late Cluny brought home his bride in 1832 -and we have lost them both only within the last eighteen months he was met at Dalwhinnie by upwards of sixty mounted gentlemen of his clan. Where are these or their descendants

now? An echo answers where? They are certainly not in Badenoch.

SMUGGLING IN THE HIGHLANDS.
[BY JOHN MACDONALD, SUPERVISOR.]

(Continued.)

I AM surprised to find so little reference to whisky and smuggling in our modern Gaelic poetry and literature. There is no reference in earlier writings. In fact, both are more indebted to Burns for their popularity than to any of our Highland writers. Dugald Buchanan (1716-1768) has a reference to drinking in his celebrated "Claigeann." Rob Donn (1724-1812) has “Oran a Bhotuil," and "Oran a Bhranndaidh." Allan Dall (1750-1829) has "Oran do'n Mhisg," Uilleam Ross (1762-1790) has “Moladh an Uisge-Bheatha," and Mac-na-Bracha; and Fear Strath mhathasaidh has "Comunn an uisge-Bheatha." But their songs are not very brilliant, and cannot be compared with Burns' poems on the same subject. Highland whisky and smuggling do not appear to hold a befitting place in Highland song and literature.

We have seen that the manufacture and consumption of whisky on an extensive scale in the Highlands is comparatively recent. So far as can be ascertained, the quantity was not large even 100 years ago. Since the beginning of the 17th century the Highland people were in the habit of distilling in their homes for their own private use, and no doubt to this practice is due to a great extent the prevalence of illicit distillation among them at one time. As late as 1859 every household was allowed to have a bushel of malt for making ale, and cottagers are to be again exempted from the brewing licence recently imposed upon them. Such a privilege as the Ferintosh exemption must have exercised an evil influence among the people. They must have looked upon illicit distillation as a very venial offence when Government would grant permission to manufacture whisky practically duty free. As a rule, spirits were distilled from the produce of their own lands, and the people being simple and illiterate, ignorant alike of the necessity for a national Exchequer, and of the ways and means taken by Parliament to raise revenue, they could not readily and clearly see the justice of levying a tax upon their whisky. They draw a sharp distinction between offences created

by English statute and violations of the laws of God. The law which made distillation illegal came to them in a foreign garb. Highlanders had no great love or respect for the English Govern

ment.

If the Scottish Parliament could pass an Act to destroy all pewits' eggs, because the birds migrated South, where they arrived plump and fat, and afforded sport and food for the English, it need not cause surprise if Highlanders had not forgotten Glencoe, Culloden, Butcher Cumberland, the tyrannical laws to suppress the clans, and the "outlandish race that filleth the Stuart's throne."

While a highly sentimental people, like the Highlanders, were in some degree influenced by these and similar considerations, the extent of illicit distillation depended in a great measure on the amount of duty, and the nature of the Excise regulations. The smuggler's gain was in direct proportion to the amount of the spirit duty; the higher the duty the greater the gain and the stronger the temptation. We have seen how the authorities of the time, regardless of the feelings and the habits of the people, and of the nature and capabilities of the Highlands, imposed restrictions which were injudicious, vexatious, and injurious; which not only rendered it impracticable for the legal distiller to engage profitably in honest business, but actually encouraged the illicit distiller. We have seen how, particularly under the operation of the still licence, the legal distiller, in his endeavours to increase production, sacrificed the quality of his spirits, until the illicit distiller commanded the market by supplying whisky superior in quality and flavour. To this fact, more than to anything else, is due the popular prejudice which has existed, and still exists in some quarters, in favour of smuggled whisky. There can be no doubt that while the still licence was in force from 1787 to 1814, and perhaps for some years later, the smugglers' whisky was superior in quality and flavour to that produced by the licensed distiller. But this holds true no longer; indeed, the circumstances are actually reversed. The Highland distiller has now the best appliances, uses the best materials, employs skill and experience, exercises the greatest possible care, and further, matures his spirit in bond-whisky being highly deleterious unless it is matured by age. On the other hand the smuggler uses rude imperfect utensils, very often inferior materials, works by

rule of thumb, under every disadvantage and inconvenience, and is always in a state of terror and hurry, which is incompatible with good work and the best results. He begins by purchasing inferior barley, which, as a rule, is imperfectly malted. He brews without more idea of proper heats than dipping his finger or seeing his face in the water, and the quantity of water used is regulated by the size and number of his vessels. His setting heat is decided by another dip of the finger, and supposing he has yeast of good quality, and may by accident add the proper quantity, the fermentation of his worts depends on the weather, as he cannot regulate the temperature in his temporary bothy, although he often uses sacks and blankets, and may during the night kindle a fire. But the most fatal defect in the smuggler's appliances is the construction of his still. Ordinary stills have head elevations from 12 to 18 feet, which serves for purposes of rectification, as the fusel oils and other essential oils and acids fall back into the still, while the alcoholic vapour, which is more volatile, passes over to the worm, where it becomes condensed. The smuggler's still has no head elevation, the stillhead being as flat as an old blue bonnet, and consequently the essential oils and acids pass over the alcohol into the worm, however carefully distillation may be carried on. These essential oils and acids can only be eliminated, neutralised, or destroyed by storing the spirits some time in wood, but the smuggler, as a rule, sends his spirits out new in jars and bottles, so that the smuggled whisky, if taken in considerable quantities, is actually poisonous. Ask anyone who has had a good spree on new smuggled whisky, how he felt next morning. Again, ordinary stills have rousers to prevent the wash sticking to the bottom of the pot and burning. The smuggler has no such appliance in connection with his still, the consequence being that his spirits frequently have a singed, smoky flavour. The evils of a defective construction are increased a hundred-fold, when, as is frequently the case, the still is made of tin, and the worm of tin or lead. When spirits and acids come in contact with such surfaces, a portion of the metal is dissolved, and poisonous metalic salts are produced, which must be injurious to the drinker. Paraffin casks are frequently used in brewing, and it will be readily understood that however carefully