There is no tree for either shelter
or timber. The oak and the thorn is equally a stranger, and the
whole country is extended in uniform nakedness, except that in the
road between Kirkaldy and Cowpar, I passed for a few yards between
two hedges. A tree might be a show in Scotland as a horse in
Venice. At St. Andrews Mr. Boswell found only one, and recommended
it to my notice; I told him that it was rough and low, or looked as
if I thought so. This, said he, is nothing to another a few miles
off. I was still less delighted to hear that another tree was not
to be seen nearer. Nay, said a gentleman that stood by, I know but
of this and that tree in the county.
The Lowlands of Scotland had once undoubtedly an equal portion of
woods with other countries. Forests are every where gradually
diminished, as architecture and cultivation prevail by the increase
of people and the introduction of arts. But I believe few regions
have been denuded like this, where many centuries must have passed
in waste without the least thought of future supply. Davies
observes in his account of Ireland, that no Irishman had ever
planted an orchard. For that negligence some excuse might be drawn
from an unsettled state of life, and the instability of property;
but in Scotland possession has long been secure, and inheritance
regular, yet it may be doubted whether before the Union any man
between Edinburgh and England had ever set a tree.
Of this improvidence no other account can be given than that it
probably began in times of tumult, and continued because it had
begun. Established custom is not easily broken, till some great
event shakes the whole system of things, and life seems to
recommence upon new principles. That before the Union the Scots
had little trade and little money, is no valid apology; for
plantation is the least expensive of all methods of improvement.
To drop a seed into the ground can cost nothing, and the trouble is
not great of protecting the young plant, till it is out of danger;
though it must be allowed to have some difficulty in places like
these, where they have neither wood for palisades, nor thorns for
hedges.
Our way was over the Firth of Tay, where, though the water was not
wide, we paid four shillings for ferrying the chaise. In Scotland
the necessaries of life are easily procured, but superfluities and
elegancies are of the same price at least as in England, and
therefore may be considered as much dearer.
We stopped a while at Dundee, where I remember nothing remarkable,
and mounting our chaise again, came about the close of the day to
Aberbrothick.
The monastery of Aberbrothick is of great renown in the history of
Scotland. Its ruins afford ample testimony of its ancient
magnificence: Its extent might, I suppose, easily be found by
following the walls among the grass and weeds, and its height is
known by some parts yet standing. The arch of one of the gates is
entire, and of another only so far dilapidated as to diversify the
appearance. A square apartment of great loftiness is yet standing;
its use I could not conjecture, as its elevation was very
disproportionate to its area. Two corner towers, particularly
attracted our attention. Mr. Boswell, whose inquisitiveness is
seconded by great activity, scrambled in at a high window, but
found the stairs within broken, and could not reach the top. Of
the other tower we were told that the inhabitants sometimes climbed
it, but we did not immediately discern the entrance, and as the
night was gathering upon us, thought proper to desist. Men skilled
in architecture might do what we did not attempt: They might
probably form an exact ground-plot of this venerable edifice. They
may from some parts yet standing conjecture its general form, and
perhaps by comparing it with other buildings of the same kind and
the same age, attain an idea very near to truth. I should scarcely
have regretted my journey, had it afforded nothing more than the
sight of Aberbrothick.
MONTROSE
Leaving these fragments of magnificence, we travelled on to
Montrose, which we surveyed in the morning, and found it well
built, airy, and clean. The townhouse is a handsome fabrick with a
portico. We then went to view the English chapel, and found a
small church, clean to a degree unknown in any other part of
Scotland, with commodious galleries, and what was yet less
expected, with an organ.
At our inn we did not find a reception such as we thought
proportionate to the commercial opulence of the place; but Mr.
Boswell desired me to observe that the innkeeper was an Englishman,
and I then defended him as well as I could.
When I had proceeded thus far, I had opportunities of observing
what I had never heard, that there are many beggars in Scotland.
In Edinburgh the proportion is, I think, not less than in London,
and in the smaller places it is far greater than in English towns
of the same extent. It must, however, be allowed that they are not
importunate, nor clamorous. They solicit silently, or very
modestly, and therefore though their behaviour may strike with more
force the heart of a stranger, they are certainly in danger of
missing the attention of their countrymen. Novelty has always some
power, an unaccustomed mode of begging excites an unaccustomed
degree of pity. But the force of novelty is by its own nature soon
at an end; the efficacy of outcry and perseverance is permanent and
certain.
The road from Montrose exhibited a continuation of the same
appearances.
