rifle for the first time, had it not been for the outcry which
your father made at my proposal, in the full ardour of his zeal
for King George, the Hanover succession, and the Presbyterian
faith. I wish I had stood out, since I have gained so little
upon his good opinion by submission. All his impressions
concerning the Highlanders are taken from the recollections of
the Forty-five, when he retreated from the West Port with his
brother volunteers, each to the fortalice of his own separate
dwelling, so soon as they heard the Adventurer was arrived with
his clans as near them as Kirkliston. The flight of Falkirk--
PARMA NON BENE SELECTA--in which I think your sire had his share
with the undaunted western regiment, does not seem to have
improved his taste for the company of the Highlanders; (quaere,
Alan, dost thou derive the courage thou makest such boast of from
an hereditary source?) and stories of Rob Roy Macgregor, and
Sergeant Alan Mhor Cameron, have served to paint them in still
more sable colours to his imagination. [Of Rob Roy we have had
more than enough. Alan Cameron, commonly called Sergeant Mhor, a
freebooter of the same period, was equally remarkable for
strength, courage, and generosity.]

Now, from all I can understand, these ideas, as applied to the
present state of the country, are absolutely chimerical. The
Pretender is no more remembered in the Highlands than if the poor
gentleman were gathered to his hundred and eight fathers, whose
portraits adorn the ancient walls of Holyrood; the broadswords
have passed into other hands; the targets are used to cover the
butter churns; and the race has sunk, or is fast sinking, from
ruffling bullies into tame cheaters. Indeed, it was partly my
conviction that there is little to be seen in the north, which,