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the Atlantic into some of the ports on the western shore of the island, and is gradually spreading itself through the country. The trees on which the nests have been most frequently observed, are the gooseberry and currant, and an instance of it has been met with on the common elder, to which insects in general are averse. This species is smaller than the common wasp, but it is much less voracious, and less easily irritated.

Sir W. Clarges, Bart. has constructed a life boat on an improved principle, the leading features of which are, that she will not upset, sink, or be water-logged; that she affords cabin room, and is like a man of war's Jaunch, well built for rowing, the oars not on a curve, but nearly in a right line and low to the water, of which - she draws little. The description of this boat is as follows:-her length is thirty feet, her breadth ten, her depth three feet six inches. The space between her timbers is fitted up with pine wood; this is done with a view to prevent the water lodging there: the pine wood is well caulked and paid; she is buoyed up by eight metal cases, four on each side; these are -water tight, and independent of each other. They will serve to buoy up six tons, but all the buoyant parts of the boat, taken collectively, will buoy up ten tons. The cases are securely decked over, and boarded at the sides with pine; there is a scuttle to each case, to put goods in; the edges are lined with baize; and over each scut tle, in the case, is one of wood of a larger size, the margin of which is lined in the same manner to exclude the water between the cases are Norwegian balks, bolted to the bottom, fastened to each other by iron clamps, and decked over. The depth of her keel is nine inches below the garboard streak, the dead rising is four inches; her keel is narrow at the under part, and wide above for the purpose of giving the timber a good bed, which

will support the bolts, in case a necessity should arise to encounter sandbanks. In sailing over a bar, or in places where the water is shallow, the rudder will with ease draw up even with the keel, and when in deep water, it will let down easily, and with equal facility, a foot below it, in consequence of which advantage the boat is found to steer remarkably well.The forecastle of the boat forms a cabin ten feet wide, six feet long, and four feet deep, into which women, children, and disabled persons may be put; it is amply supplied with air, by means of two copper ventilators; it is furnished besides with two grapnels, very proper to be thrown out on board a wreck, to ride by; the grapnel ropes will assist the sufferers to remove and escape from the wreck to the boat.She is likewise equipped with masts and sails, and is as manageable with them as any boat of her dimensions can possibly be in a tempest, however, she must be dismasted and rowed by fourteen men, with oars sixteen feet long, double banked; the men are all fastened to the thwarts by ropes, and cannot be washed from their seats. In his observations on this boat, Sir William says, "having stated the leading features of my boat, I

need not dwell on a few secondary points, which, however, it would be improper not to mention these are, her being provided with small ropes or lines fastened to hooks on the gunwale, and each having a piece of cork painted red at the extremity: intended not only for persons who fall overboard, or swim from a wreck, to see and catch hold of, but to tow those for whom there may not be room in the boat; and her having a very powerful rudder. The copper cases, tho' affording additional security to those who chuse to be at the expence, are no more a necessary point of my plan, than coppering her bottom. The wood work alone, if well executed and properly attended to, may be

kept

kept quite air tight. If the assistance of cork were to be called in, it appears to me that it might be better applied than in the other boats, by filling the cases with cork jackets, to take to a crowded wreck; in going off to which the cases would not be wanted for any other purpose, and the jackets would not be an incumbrance. Every one must be aware of the importance of the side cabins or cases, for stowing valuable goods, from a richly laden vessel. A boat of this kind, but somewhat smaller dimensions, would be exceedingly useful to ships on voyages of discovery; and indeed to any large vessels; as it would not only answer for wooding and watering, but is peculiarly adapted for excursions up rivers or small inlets of the sea, or exploring clusters of islands. As a pleasure boat, she answers extremely well; and with respect to her safety, I can say that I have sailed in her from Brighton, round the Cornish coast to Conway, in North Wales, without any accident, though we experienced some very dreadful weather on the voyage."

To the various instances of spontaneous combustion, which are probably much more numerous than could be supposed, is to be added the following: The ship Albion, Capt. James Robertson, was burned in December 1807, at Whampoa in China, under these circumstances: On the morning of the 4th, the company's treasure left Canton, and Capt. Robertson proceeded down the river with a quantity of money belonging to the owners, but did not reach the ship till about six in the evening. In going over the gangway, he observed to the officers employed in receiving the treasure, of which upwards of a million and a half of dollars had been taken on board, that there was a strong smell of fire. He went below, to discover if possible whence it proceeded, and finding the people at work in the main hatchway, inquired whether they perceived any

smell of fire, to which they replied in the negative. The captain then went to the fore hatchway, uncovered it, and removed the hatches, when the flame burst forth with great fury as high as the main stay. He ordered the hatches to be put on again, and used every endeavour to extinguish the flames, but without effect. At 3 A.M. on the 5th, the ebb tide having made, she went over on her broad-side. The decks by this time were so much heated, as to oblige the people to quit her.

At four P.M. she was completely burned to the water's edge. Such was the fury of the flames, that the treasure between decks was run into masses of from two to ten thousand dollars weight. Suspicion of misconduct or carlessness at first fell upon the people; but it was afterwards ascertained that the loss of the Albion was occasioned by some paper umbrellas, received on board as cargo, packed up, but not thoroughly dry, having spontaneously caught fire in the hold.

SCOTTISH REVIEW.

Caledonia; or an Account, Historical and Topographic, of North Britain. By George Chalmers, F.R.S. & S.A. Vol. I.

(Concluded from Oct. last, p. 764.)

WE

E cannot observe, without some consternation, that although we have now devoted two articles to the consideration of Mr Chalmers's work, yet so long have we been detained by the importance and variety of its contents, that we have scarcely completed half the volume. We must therefore endeavour to quicken our pace, in order to complete this before the appearance of the second volume, which we understand may be shortly expected.

In the next chapter Mr Chalmers treats of an interesting subject; the introduction of Christianity into Scot

land.

-

land. There is reason to believe, that the parts of North Britain which were not subjected to the Roman power, received some rays of its light so early as the third century. The conversion of romanized Scotland, or Valentia, was first undertaken by St Ninian, at the beginning of the fifth century. This venerable person was born in this country he received his ecclesiastical education abroad, and, on his return, undertook the conversion of his native country. He appears to have been held in considerable honour, and even raised to the dignity of Bishop of Valentia. Although the progress of conversion was retarded by wars and disturbances, yet he had many successors who gradually diffused the light of the Gospel. These holy men seem to have been subjected to severe privations, and to have had little to support them in their task, besides the consciousness of well-doing. They were often obliged, by the turbulence and indocility of their flocks, to seek shelter in caves, many of which, throughout Great Britain and Ireland, derive their names from the residence of some celebrated saint. Hence the epithet Kil, or Cil, which, in the British and Irish languages, signifies cave, is attached to so many names of parishes. A cave near Glasserton, in Wigtonshire, afforded a retreat to the worthy Ninian. At St Andrews, the residence of St Rule and of St Andrew, several such caves are found, one of which is evidently artificial.

The

fame of all former apostles, however, was eclipsed by that of Columba, an Irish ecclesiastic, who came over about the beginning of the fifth century, and established a convent in the island of Hy, afterwards Iona. He undertook also, and accomplished, the arduous task of converting the northern Picts. The religion which he and his followers propagated seems to have been on the primitive model. At the beginning of the eighth century they were

converted by the Northumbrians, ta' the rites of the Romish church.

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In the year 893, begins the third period of Mr Chalmers, which he entitles, the Scottish period. The Picts, distracted by a long period of civil wars, were more and more weakened, while the Scots continually gained ground, till at length Kenneth effected their complete subjugation, and united the whole kingdom under the Scottish dominion. After this, the name of Scotland was gradually extended over the whole of the united territory. This ruling people gradually wrested Cumberland and Galloway from the British, and from another tribe of Irish settlers; the Orkneys and Hebrides from the Scandinavians; Lothian and Berwickshire from the Northumbrians or Saxons. Of the steps by which these conquests were effected, and the state of these different districts, Mr C. gives a detailed and satisfactory account.

Mr Chalmers then proceeds to collect, with great industry, the slender details of the civil history during this age. He adheres in general, to the order of succession given in Innes's Critical Essay, with, however, a few slight variations. The following account of the history of Macbeth will probably interest our readers, who may thus compare the splendid fictions of the poet with the solid matter of fact, elaborated by the antiquary.

MACBETH,

tre," in his firmer gripe. About the Immediately, seized "the barren sceplineage and station, of this celebrated personage, whose misdeeds have been dramatized, writers have written variously, as their purposes were either narrative, or dramatic. The fabulous Boece was the first, who said, that Mac beth's father was thane of Angus, and married Doada, the second daughter of Malcolm II. Buchanan, without inquiry, adopted the fables of Boece. Holinshed followed Boece, as to the station of Macbeth ; and Shakespeare repeated

peated the echoes of Holinshed. The more veracious Wyntown, calls Macbeth, the thane of Crumbachty, which is the Gaelic name of Cromarty: And in the well known story of the weird sisters, the chronicler makes the first witch hail Macbeth, thane of Crumbachty; the second, thane of Moray; and the third hails him king. These intimations lead directly up to the several fictions of Boece, Holinshed, and Shakespeare. Macbeth was, by birth, the thane of Ross, by marriage with the Lady Gruoch, the thane of Moray, and, by his crimes, the king of Scots. Finley, as we may learn from Tortæus, was maormor, or, as the Norwegian historian calls him, jarl of Ross, who, at the commencement of the eleventh century, carried on a vigorous war, in defence of his country, against the incursions of that powerful vikingr, Sigurd, the earl of Orkney, and Caithness. With his dominions, the district of Finley was contiguous, while the country of Angus lay, southward, at a great distance. Finley lost his life, about the year 1020, in some hostile conflict with Malcom II. This fact alone evinces, that Finley would scarcely have fought with his wife's father, if he had been the husband of Doada. The Lady Gruoch, when driven from her castle, by the cruel fate of her husband, the maormor of Moray, naturally fled, with her infant son, Lulach, into the neighbouring country of Ross, which was then ruled by Macbeth, who mar. ried her, during the reign of Duncan. We have now seen distinctly, that Macbeth was maormor of Ross, the son of Finlegh, and the grandson of Rory, or Roderick; and that he was the husband of Gruoch, who was the daughter of Boedhe, and the grand-daughter of Kenneth IV. Macbeth thus united in himself all the power, which was possessed by the partizans of Kenneth IV., all the influence of the Lady Gruoch, and of her son Lulach, together with the authority of maormor of Ross, but not of Angus. With all these powers, in superaddition to his own character, for address and vigour, Macbeth became su.. perior to Duncan, and the partizans of his family. Macbeth had to avenge the wrongs of his wife; and to resent, for himself, the death of his father. The superiority of Macbeth, and the weakness of Duncan, were felt, when the unFeb. 1808.

happy king expiated the crimes of his fafhers, by "his most sacrilegious murder." And, Macbeth hastily marched to Scone, where he was inaugurated, as the king of Scuts, supported by the clans of Moray and Ross, and applauded by the shouts of the partizans of Kenneth IV. If Macbeth had been, in fact, as fiction has supposed, the son of the second daughter of Malcolm, his title to the throne would have been preferable to the right of Duncan's son, according to the Scottish constitution, from the earliest epoch of the monarchy. Whatever defect there may have been, in his title, to the sullied sceptre of his unhappy predecessor, he seems to have been studious to supply, by a vigorous, and beneficent, administration. He even practised the hospitality, which gives shelter to the fugitive. During his reign, plenty is said to have abounded; justice was administered; the chieftains, who would have raised disturbances, were either overawed by his power, or repressed by his valour, Yet, injury busied herself, in plotting vengeance. Crinan, the abbot of Dunkeld, who, as the father of Duncan, and the grandfather of his sons, must have been now well-stricken in years, put himself at the head of the friends of Duncan, and made a gallant, but unsuccessful attempt, to restore them to their rights. Yet, the odious crime, by which Macbeth acquired his authority, seems to have haunted his most prosperous moments. He tried, by distributing money at Rome, by lar gesses to the clergy, and by charity to the poor, to obtain relief from "the affliction of those terrible dreams, that did shake him nightly." Macbeth, and the Lady Gruoch, his wife, gave the lands of Kirkness, and also the manor of Bolgy, to the culdees of Lochleven. Yet, the friendship of the pope, and the sup port of the clergy, did not ensure Macbeth a quiet reign. His rigour increas ed with his sense of insecurity. The injuries of Macduff, the Maormor of Fife, constantly prompted the son of Duncan to attempt the redress of all their wrongs. With the approbation, perhaps, by the command, of Edward, the Confessor, Siward, the potent earl of Northumberland, and the relation of Malcolm, conducted a numerous army into Scotland, during the year 1054 The Northumbrians, led by Siward, and

his

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Siward returned into Northumberland, and died, at York, in 1055.Meantime, Macbeth continued his bloody contest with Malcolm. And, this uncommon character was, at length, slain, at Lumphanan, on the 5th of December 1056, by the injured hand of Macduff. P. 406. Of the real fate of Lady Macbeth, history, tradition, and fable, are silent.—

the government feudal. The coun-
try was divided indeed into a number
of small districts, ruled by powerful
and almost independent chiefs: but
these neither paid to the Sovereign
the same forms of allegiance, nor were
bound to each other by the same ties,
as in feudal governments.
They
were unacquainted too with those na-
tional assemblies, which were familiar
to the other kingdoms of Europe.

Under the head of Manners, Mr C.
states that the Scots, during this pe-
riod, were strangers to the use of
coined
that cattle were their
money;
only medium of exchange, and that
all their fines were imposed in cattle.
He gives some curious particulars re-

Shakespeare, indeed, informs us, that lating to the war cries used in this period. He says,

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"the fiend-like queen, by self and violent hands, took off her life, as 'tis "thought." Tradition, with remains, seem to evince, that a son of Macbeth fell, with his father, in the same engagement; and was favoured, with a similar memorial. The name of Macbeth was long popular in Scotland. The Scottish people saw, with indignant eyes, foreign mercenaries interpose, in their domestic affairs. Men of great consequence considered themselves as dignified, by the name of "this dead butcher." Whatever asperity of reproach, the poet indulged, to gratify the populace of the theatre, the plenty of the reign of Macbeth, his justice, his vigour, his hospitality, were long remembered in Scotland. As a legislator, perhaps, he is entitled to less praise; as Macbeth's laws, which are detailed by Roece, are obvious forgeries, though they be admitted into the Concilia Britanniæ. P. 412.

Having thus traced all that can now be collected relative to the civil history of this period, Mr C. proceeds to take an elaborate and curious survey of its religion, laws, government, manners and learning. Throughout the whole he contends, that every thing is Celtic, not Saxon; the Brehon law was still the law of the land,

and what is now called the common law had no existence, but has been subsequently imported. Neither was

Among the people of North-Britain, the war cry was called sometimes the Slughorn, and often the Slagan; yet generally the name of the place, where the clan were to meet, on the approach of danger, was the word of alarm. The chief of the Mackenzies had, for his Slughorn, Tulloch ard, or the high hill.

The chief of the numerous clan of the Grants had, for his war cry, Craig-elachie, or rock of alarm. The chief of the Macphersons had Craig-ubbe, or the black rock, for his Slughorn. The chief of the Macdonalds had, for his Slughorn, Craigan Fhithich, the rock of the raven. The chief of the Macfarlanes had, for his Slughorn, Loch Sley, a place, in the district of Arrochar, at the head of Loch-Lomond. The chief of the Macgregors had, for his Slughorn Ard Challich, The chief of the Buchanans had, for his Slughorn, Clareinch, an islet in Loch Lomond, where he anciently resided. Mercer of Aldie had, for his Slughorn, The Gritpool.

During the progress of manners, districts appear to have acquired the war cry, as well as the chieftains. The war-cry of Braemar, in Aberdeenshire, is Cairn-na-cuimhne, the cairn of remembrance. Even now, after so many customs have been buried in oblivion, if this

cry be raised, within that district, in any fair, or assembly of people, all the men collect, for the purpose of protecting the injured individuals. The district of Glenlivet has, also, for its war-cry, Bo

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