A Tour Through the Whole Island of Great Britain III

A TOUR THROUGH THE WHOLE ISLAND OF GREAT BRITAIN III

last mention’d castle has been a very magnificent structure, though now, like its owner, in a state of ruin and decay.

The River Nid here parts the two counties of Galloway and Dumfries shire; and there is a gate in the middle of the bridge which is the limit between them: And this neighbourhood of Galloway, which is a great and rich province, promotes the trade of Dumfries very much.

We could not pass Dumfries without going out of the way upwards of a day, to see the castle of Drumlanrig, the fine palace of the Duke of Queensberry, which stands at twelve miles distance, upon the same river; the vale on either side the river is pleasant, and tolerably good: But when these rapid rivers overflow their banks, they do not, like Nile, or even like the Thames, and other southern streams, fatten and enrich the soil; on the contrary, they lodge so much sand and splinters of stone upon the surface of the earth, and among the roots of the grass, that spoils and beggars the soil; and the water is hurried on with such force also, as that in a good light soil it washes the best part of the earth away with it, leaving the sand and stones behind it.

Drumlanrig, like Chatsworth in Darbyshire, is like a fine picture in a dirty grotto, or like an equestrian statue set up in a barn; ’tis environ’d with mountains, and that of the wildest and most hideous aspect in all the south of Scotland; as particularly that of Enterkin, the frightfullest pass, and most dangerous that I met with, between that and Penmenmuir in North Wales; but of that in its place.

We were not so surpriz’d with the height of the mountains, and the barrenness of the country beyond them, as we were

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with the humour of the people, who are not in this part, by many degrees, so populous, or so polish’d, as in the other parts of Scotland. But that which was more surprising than all the rcst, was to see a palace so glorious, gardens so fine, and every thing so truly magnificent, and all in a wild, mountainous country, the like we had not seen before; where, in a word, we saw the peak of Darby restor’d, (viz.) the finest palace in all that part of Britain, erected under the mountains, full of lead-mines, and quarries of freestone, and where nothing, but what was desolate and dismal, could be expected, especially if you come to it by the said pass of Enterkin, or by the mountains of Cumock and Carrick, more to the north west of the place. This was certainly a foil to the buildings, and sets them off with all possible advantage; upon which the same hand which before gave us the lines upon the waters of Buxton-Bath, being in the company, bestow’d the following upon Drumlanrig Castle.

Just thus, with horrid desart hills embrac’d, Was Paradise on Euphra’s border plac’d. The God of Harmony to grace the view, And make the illustrations just and true, Strong contraries presented to the eye, And circled beauty in deformity.

The happy discord entertains the sight,

And as these shew more black, that shews more bright.

As you come to the palace from the road of Edinburgh, which is by the said pass of Enterkin, you come first to the River Nid, which is just there both broad and exceeding deep, over

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which there is a stately stone-bridge, built by the noble founder of the castle, I mean the first Duke of Queensberry, who built the house. The building is four-square, with roundels in the inner angles of the court, in every one of which is a staircase, and a kind of a tower on the top. This way of building, ’tis confess’d, does not seem so modern as the rest of the building; but as ’tis not seen in the front, ’tis well enough.

The house stands on the top of a rising ground, which, at its first building, lay with a steep and uncouth descent to the river, and which made the lookers-on wonder what the duke meant to build in such a disproportion’d place: But he best understood d his own design; for the house “once laid out, all that unequal descent is so beautifully levell’d and lay’d out in slopes and terrasses, that nothing can be better design’d, or, indeed, better perform’d than the gardens are, which take up the whole south and west sides of the house; and, when the whole design will be done, the rest will be more easy, the ground being a plain the other way, and the park and avenues compleatly planted with trees.

At the extent of the gardens there are pavillions and banquetting-houses, exactly answering to one another, and the greens trimm’d, spaliers and hedges are in perfection.

The inside is answerable to the outside, the apartments finely plac’d and richly furnish’d: And the gallery may well be call’d a gallery of beauties, itself’s a beauty. And being fill’d from end to end, the whole length of one side of the building, with the family-pieces of the duke’s ancestors, most of them at full length, and in their robes of state, or of office, as their history directed. William, the first raiser of the fam-

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ily, was only a knight and laird of Drumlanrig, who was sent ambassador to England, to ransome King James I. at that time detain’d in England. He was afterwards kill’d on the side of the French, in the great battle of Agincourt, fighting against Henry V. King of England, 1427. They were first ennobled for the real merit of their services, in the person of the first Lord of Drumlanrig, Ann. 1640. And King Charles I. made the then Lord of Drumlanrig Earl of Queensberry; a title taken from Queensberry Hill, a high, round hill, in a particular lordship of the estate, and in view of the house. After the Restoration, the grandson of the earl was created marquess and duke by King Charles II.

This was the person who built the noble palace I am speaking of, who, every way, merited the honours which the prince rather loaded him with, than bestow’d on him: He lyes buried in the parish church of Disdier or Didier, with a fine monument over him; but not like that lately erected for his son the late duke.

This last mention’d duke would require a history rather than a bare mention, in a work of this kind: But I have forbid myself entring far into the characters of persons and families; and therefore, tho’ I think myself bound to honour the merit of so great a person, I shall sum it up all in this; that as I had the honour to be known to his Grace, so I had the opportunity to see and read by his permission, several letters written to him by the late King William, with his own hand, and several more by Queen Anne, written also by her Majesty’s own hand; with such expressions of their satisfaction in his fidelity and affection to their Majesties’ service, his ability and extraordi-

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nary judgment in the affairs entrusted to him; his knowledge of, and zeal for the true interest of his country, and their dependance upon his councils and conduct, that no minister of state in Europe could desire greater testimonies of his services, or a better character from his sovereign, and this from differing princes, and at the distance of several years from one another, and, to be sure, without any manner of corresponding one with the other.

That this noble person was Lord Commissioner at the time of the Union, sat in the throne at the last parliament of Scotland, and touch’d with the scepter the Act of Parliament, which put an end to parliaments for ever in that part of Great Britain, will always be matter of history to the end of time; whether the Scots will remember it to the advantage of the duke’s character, in their opinion, that must be as their several opinions guide them.

This duke’s monument, curiously done in marble at full length, is also plac’d in the same church at Disdier, where he is buried with his dutchess, a daughter of the house of Burlington in England.

But I dwell too long here. While I was at Drumlanrig, being desir’d by the late duke to make some observations on his Grace’s estate there, which is very great, in order to some English improvement, I, in particular, view’d some of the hills to the north of the castle, and having a Darbyshire gentleman with us, who was thoroughly acquainted with those things, we discover’d in several places evident tokens of lead-mines, such as in Darbyshire, and in Somersetshire, are said never to fail; and to confirm our opinions in it, we took up several

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small pieces of oar in the gulls and holes, which the rains had made in the sides of the mountains, and also of a plain sparr, such as is not found any where without the oar: But the duke’s death put an end to these enquiries, as also to several other improvements then in view.

Here we were surpriz’d with a sight, which is not now so frequent in Scotland as it has been formerly, I mean one of their field meetings, where one Mr. John Hepburn, an old Cameronian, preach’d to an auditory of near 7,000 people, all sitting in rows on the steep side of a green hill, and the preacher in a little pulpit made under a tent at the foot of the hill; he held his auditory, with not above an intermission of half an hour, almost seven hours; and many of the poor people had come fifteen or sixteen miles to hear him, and had all the way to go home again on foot. I shall say nothing to it, for my business is not to make remarks on such things; only this I may add, that if there was an equal zeal to this in our part of the world, and for that worship which we acknowledge to be true, and of a sacred institution, our churches would be more throng’d, and our ale-houses and fields less throng’d on the sabbath-day than they are now. But that also by the way.

From Drumlanrig I took a turn to see the famous pass of Enterkin, or Introkin Hill: It is, indeed, not easy to describe, but by telling you that it ascends through a winding bottom for near half a mile, and a stranger sees nothing terrible, but vast high mountains on either hand, tho’ all green, and with sheep feeding on them to the very top; when, on a suddain, turning short to the left, and crossing a rill of water in the bottom, you mount the side of one of those hills, while, as you go

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on, the bottom in which that water runs down from between the hills, keeping its level on your right, begins to look very deep, till at length it is a precipice horrible and terrifying; on the left the hill rises almost perpendicular, like a wall; till being come about half way, you have a steep, unpassable height on the left, and a monstrous calm or ditch on your right; deep, almost as the monument is high, and the path, or way, just broad enough for you to lead your horse on it, and, if his foot slips, you have nothing to do but let go the bridle, least he pulls you with him, and then you will have the satisfaction of seeing him dash’d to pieces, and lye at the bottom with his four shoes uppermost. I pass’d twice this hill after this, but the weather was good, and the way dry, which made it safe; but one of our company was so frighted with it, that in a kind of an extasy, when he got to the bottom, he look’d back, and swore heartily that he would never come that way again.

Indeed, there were several things this last time we pass’d it, which render’d it more frightful to a stranger: One was, that there had been, a few days before, a suddain frost, with a great deal of snow; and though, a little before the snow, I pass’d it, and there was nothing to be seen; yet then I look’d down the frightful precipice, and saw no less than five horses in several places, lying at the bottom with their skins off, which had, by the slipperiness of the snow, lost their feet, and fallen irrecoverably to the bottom, where the mountaineers, who make light of the place, had found means to come at them, and get their hides off.

But that which is most remarkable of this place is yet behind, (viz.) that noted story of the Whigs in the old persecut-

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ing times, in King Charles IId’s time, and which I must give you a short account of, for I have not room for the whole history.

A troop of dragoons had been sent, by order of their commanding officer, to disturb a field-meeting, such a one as I just now describ’d. These meetings were strictly forbidden at that time and the minister, if taken, was punish’d with death, without mercy: The poor people of this country being all what they then call’d Cameronians and Whigs, (for here, by the way, the word Whig began first to be known) I say, the people being zealous in their way, would, and did hold their field-meetings, notwithstanding all the prohibitions the court could make; upon which the Government quarter’d the dragoons upon them, with orders, on all such occasions, to disperse them, and what prisoners they took they were to carry to Edinburgh, especially their ministers. Accordingly, at this time, there was an extraordinary meeting of many thousand people, and the dragoons march’d to disturb them.

As the whole country were their friends, the dragoons could not stir, but immediately notice would be taken, and the alarm given: The people at the meeting had always some stout fellows arm’d with fire-arms, to prevent a surprize, and they had so now, enough to have beaten off the dragoons, if they had attack’d them, but as they did not covet fighting and blood, otherwise than on necessity for their own defence, and that they had now timely notice given them, they chose to break up and disperse, and they were really dispers’d, when the dragoons came to the place.

However, the dragoons resolving not to lose their labour, pursued the straggling people, and ill used some of them, took

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others prisoners, and, among the rest, very unhappily surpriz’d their minister, which was a booty to them; and, as soon as they had him, they march’d off directly to carry him to Edinburgh, where he might depend upon being hang’d.

The poor people, terribly alarm’d at the loss of their minister; for no people in the world love their ministers like them; the cries of the one part animating and exasperating the other part, and a small body of those who were the guard before, but chose peaceably to separate, rather than dispute it with the dragoons, resolv’d to rescue their minister, whatever it cost.

They knew the dragoons would carry him to Edinburgh, and they knew, that to do so, they must necessarily go thro’ this narrow pass of Interken: They were but thirteen men on foot; but being nimble fellows, and knowing the private ways perfectly well, they reach’d the top of the hill long before the dragoons; eight of them therefore plac’d themselves in the head of the narrow way, where the dragoons were coming on one by one, or at most two by two, and very softly, you may believe, by the nature of the place.

The other five sliding down from the top of the hill, on the left of the pass, plac’d themselves, as they found to their advantage, being resolv’d to speak with the troop as they came by. It was a thick mist, as is often upon those hills, (indeed seldom otherwise) so that the dragoons could not discover them, till they were within hearing, nor then, so as to know how many they were.

When the dragoons came up within hearing, one of the five boldly calls to the commander by his name, and bids him halt with his troop, and advance no farther at his peril; the captain

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calls out again, who are you? and what would you have? They answer’d, deliver our minister; the captain damn’d them a little, and march’d on: The Cameronian called to him again with a threatning air-Will you deliver our minister? at which he reply’d as loud-No, you dog, and if you were to be damn’d; at which the man fir’d immediately, and shot him thro’ the heart, so that he fell from his horse, and never spoke a word, and the frighted horse, fluttering a little at the fall of his rider, fell down the precipice, and there was an end both of horse and man together.

At that very moment the eight men, at the head of the pass, shew’d themselves, though at a distance, and gave a shout, which put the whole body into a pannick fear; for had they fir’d, and the horses been put into the least confusion, half of them would have been down the precipice immediately. In short, the lieutenant that commanded next, being wiser than his captain, gave them better words, and desir’d them to forbear firing for a minute or two; and after a very short conference with his men (for they had no more officers to call a council of war with) resolv’d upon a parley, in which, upon their promising to march off and leave the pass free, they deliver’d their minister, and they carry’d him off; and glad the dragoons were of their deliverance; for, indeed, if they had been 500 instead of 50, the thirteen men might have destroy’d them all; nay, the more they had been, the more certain would have been their destruction.

But I must go back to Dumfries again, for this was but an excursion from thence, as I observ’d there: I resolv’d, before I quitted the west coast, to see all that was worth seeing on that

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