In the morning I walked out, and saw a ship, the Margaret of Clyde, pass
by with a number of emigrants on board. It was a melancholy sight. After
breakfast, we went to see what was called a subterraneous house, about a
mile off. It was upon the side of a rising ground. It was discovered by
a fox's having taken up his abode in it, and in chasing him, they dug
into it. It was very narrow and low, and seemed about forty feet in
length. Near it, we found the foundations of several small huts, built
of stone. Mr. M'Queen, who is always for making every thing as ancient
as possible, boasted that it was the dwelling of some of the first
inhabitants of the island, and observed, what a curiosity it was to find
here a specimen of the houses of the _Aborigines_, which he believed
could be found no where else; and it was plain that they lived without
fire. Dr. Johnson remarked, that they who made this were not in the
rudest state; for that it was more difficult to make _it_ than to build
a house; therefore certainly those who made it were in possession of
houses, and had this only as a hiding-place. It appeared to me, that the
vestiges of houses, just by it, confirmed Dr. Johnson's opinion.
From an old tower, near this place, is an extensive view of
Loch-Braccadil, and, at a distance, of the isles of Barra and South
Uist; and on the land-side, the _Cuillin_, a prodigious range of
mountains, capped with rocky pinnacles in a strange variety of shapes.
They resemble the mountains near Corté in Corsica, of which there is a
very good print. They make part of a great range for deer, which, though
entirely devoid of trees, is in these countries called a _forest_.
In the afternoon, Ulinish carried us in his boat to an island possessed
by him, where we saw an immense cave, much more deserving the title of
_antrum immane_[648] than that of the Sybil described by Virgil, which I
likewise have visited. It is one hundred and eighty feet long, about
thirty feet broad, and at least thirty feet high. This cave, we were
told, had a remarkable echo; but we found none[649]. They said it was
owing to the great rains having made it damp. Such are the excuses by
which the exaggeration of Highland narratives is palliated. There is a
plentiful garden at Ulinish, (a great rarity in Sky,) and several trees;
and near the house is a hill, which has an Erse name, signifying, _'the
hill of strife'_, where, Mr. M'Queen informed us, justice was of old
administered. It is like the _mons placiti_ of Scone, or those hills
which are called _laws_[650], such as Kelly _law_, North Berwick _law_,
and several others. It is singular that this spot should happen now to
be the sheriff's residence.
We had a very cheerful evening, and Dr. Johnson talked a good deal on
the subject of literature. Speaking of the noble family of Boyle, he
said, that all the Lord Orrerys, till the present, had been writers.
The first wrote several plays[651]; the second[652] was Bentley's
antagonist; the third[653] wrote the _Life of Swift_, and several other
things; his son Hamilton wrote some papers in the _Adventurer_ and
_World_. He told us, he was well acquainted with Swift's Lord Orrery. He
said, he was a feebleminded man; that, on the publication of Dr.
Delany's _Remarks_ on his book, he was so much alarmed that he was
afraid to read them. Dr. Johnson comforted him, by telling him they were
both in the right; that Delany had seen most of the good side of
Swift,--Lord Orrery most of the bad. M'Leod asked, if it was not wrong
in Orrery to expose the defects of a man with whom he lived in intimacy.
JOHNSON. 'Why no, Sir, after the man is dead; for then it is done
historically[654].' He added, 'If Lord Orrery had been rich, he would
have been a very liberal patron. His conversation was like his writings,
neat and elegant, but without strength. He grasped at more than his
abilities could reach; tried to pass for a better talker, a better
writer, and a better thinker than he was[655]. There was a quarrel
between him and his father, in which his father was to blame; because it
arose from the son's not allowing his wife to keep company with his
father's mistress. The old lord shewed his resentment in his
will[656],--leaving his library from his son, and assigning, as his
reason, that he could not make use of it.'
I mentioned the affectation of Orrery, in ending all his letters on the
_Life of Swift_ in studied varieties of phrase[657], and never in the
common mode of _'I am'_, &c., an observation which I remember to have
been made several years ago by old Mr. Sheridan. This species of
affectation in writing, as a foreign lady of distinguished talents once
remarked to me, is almost peculiar to the English. I took up a volume of
Dryden, containing the CONQUEST of GRANADA, and several other plays, of
which all the dedications had such studied conclusions. Dr. Johnson
said, such conclusions were more elegant, and in addressing persons of
high rank, (as when Dryden dedicated to the Duke of York[658],) they
were likewise more respectful. I agreed that _there_ it was much better:
it was making his escape from the Royal presence with a genteel sudden
timidity, in place of having the resolution to stand still, and make a
formal bow.
Lord Orrery's unkind treatment of his son in his will, led us to talk of
the dispositions a man should have when dying. I said, I did not see why
a man should act differently with respect to those of whom he thought
ill when in health, merely because he was dying. JOHNSON. 'I should not
scruple to speak against a party, when dying; but should not do it
against an individual. It is told of Sixtus Quintus, that on his
death-bed, in the intervals of his last pangs, he signed
death-warrants[659].' Mr. M'Queen said, he should not do so; he would
have more tenderness of heart. JOHNSON. 'I believe I should not either;
but Mr. M'Queen and I are cowards[660]. It would not be from tenderness
of heart; for the heart is as tender when a man is in health as when he
is sick, though his resolution may be stronger[661]. Sixtus Quintus was
a sovereign as well as a priest; and, if the criminals deserved death,
he was doing his duty to the last. You would not think a judge died ill,
who should be carried off by an apoplectick fit while pronouncing
sentence of death. Consider a class of men whose business it is to
distribute death:--soldiers, who die scattering bullets. Nobody thinks
they die ill on that account.'
Talking of Biography, he said, he did not think that the life of any
literary man in England had been well written[662]. Beside the common
incidents of life, it should tell us his studies, his mode of living,
the means by which he attained to excellence, and his opinion of his own
works. He told us, he had sent Derrick to Dryden's relations, to gather
materials for his Life[663]; and he believed Derrick[664] had got all
that he himself should have got; but it was nothing. He added, he had a
kindness for Derrick, and was sorry he was dead.
His notion as to the poems published by Mr. M'Pherson, as the works of
Ossian, was not shaken here. Mr. M'Queen always evaded the point of
authenticity, saying only that Mr. M'Pherson's pieces fell far short of
those he knew in Erse, which were said to be Ossian's. JOHNSON. 'I hope
they do. I am not disputing that you may have poetry of great merit; but
that M'Pherson's is not a translation from ancient poetry. You do not
believe it. I say before you, you do not believe it, though you are very
willing that the world should believe it.' Mr. M'Queen made no answer
to this[665]. Dr. Johnson proceeded. 'I look upon M'Pherson's _Fingal_
to be as gross an imposition as ever the world was troubled with. Had it
been really an ancient work, a true specimen how men thought at that
time, it would have been a curiosity of the first rate. As a modern
production, it is nothing.' He said, he could never get the meaning of
an _Erse_ song explained to him[666]. They told him, the chorus was
generally unmeaning. 'I take it, (said he,) Erse songs are like a song
which I remember: it was composed in Queen Elizabeth's time, on the Earl
of Essex: and the burthen was
"Radaratoo, radarate, radara tadara tandore."'
'But surely,' said Mr. M'Queen, 'there were words to it, which had
meaning.' JOHNSON. 'Why, yes, Sir; I recollect a stanza, and you shall
have it:--
"O! then bespoke the prentices all,
Living in London, both proper and tall,
For Essex's sake they would fight all.
Radaratoo, radarate, radara, tadara, tandore[667]."'
When Mr. M'Queen began again to expatiate on the beauty of Ossian's
poetry, Dr. Johnson entered into no farther controversy, but, with a
pleasant smile, only cried, 'Ay, ay; _Radaratoo radarate'_.