"Tush," said he, taking me by the arm, retire into this corner, and I will tell you.

"let us

She

"The lady with the large green ostrich feather was lately a dashing Irish widow. The squire, her husband, nearly opposite to her, dressed in scarlet, was taken in by her. Her brother-in-law, a baronet, in whose house she lived, represented her to the squire, who was then in the army, as a lady not only of high accomplishments and respectable connections, but also of a large fortune, and swore to the truth of what he said. The squire was enchanted, and married her without delay. He, however, found that his widow had scarcely any thing but a handsome external appearance. When he brought her to his estate in Scotland she seemed never happy, as was unluckily the case with himself, except when the house was full of company, or she was abroad in quest of amusement. advised her husband, though he had not money to spare, to scoop out about two acres of land before the house to make an artificial lake, the water being also partly dammed up by an expensive wall, as also to build barges, and have watermen in uniform, with painted oars, like those on the Thames on a lord-mayor's day. When all this was done, the barges, the oars, the watermen, the uniforms, &c. &c. prepared, as also a splendid company invited, and an elegant dinner prepared, behold a flood came, destroyed the dam head, carried off the boats, and left, as formerly, only a small pond, which the ducks and geese immediately took possession of, though their numbers had become much fewer, and that they were almost reduced to

nothing, in consequence of the late continual feasting. The estate, which has been since sold, and brought fifty thousand pounds, is found scarcely enough to pay the debts of this young and extravagant pair. Fortunately they have got another estate.

With regard to the lady who has the red feather: having been married, though she had not a shilling, to an old English squire, who died soon after he married her, she enjoys a jointure of eight hundred pounds a year. Soon after his death, she

went to Bath on the look out, as was natural. Her husband, who is nearly opposite to her, having returned from seeing an uncle at Rome, and almost without a shilling in his pocket, went to Bath to try his fortune; and although then near forty, and she not much above twenty years of age, in consequence of a tolerable talent for mimickry, and singing some scraps of Italian and French songs, he had prepared for this occasion, he picked up this young and handsome widow. I must not omit to mention also, that he has a son and daughter by a former wife. Having persuaded her to sell her annuity, here they are, and what is to come of them I know not.

As to the old stout gentleman you see hobbling through the dance, he is a Scotch baronet, who, having spent the most of his patrimonial estate, went to Bath on the ruins of it, in quest of a fortune, where he remained many years, but did not succeed. When young, he refused an handsome lady there worth thirty thousand pounds, hoping to obtain one worth more. When a little older, he had almost agreed with one who had twenty thousand,

but a younger candidate for the lady's affections from Ireland succeeded in carrying her off. The remains of his own fortune being at length completely gone, he lived there on the bounty of a friend, and was at length so reduced, that he would have married any woman whatever, if she had had even a hundred or two a year; but being now old, he has left Bath, lost hopes, and, to prevent him being a burthen on his friends, they have got him appointed an officer in the militia.

As to the young couple you see at the foot of the dance, their history is astonishing. The man married about a dozen years ago, being then a journeyman mechanic, and had not a shilling in his pocket, and the clothes on his back unpaid. He has succeeded in life, however, as a shopkeeper and merchant; and now that he is rich, and has become a man of landed property, he, his wife, his eldest son and daughter, having all gone together to the dancing school to learn to dance, made some improvement, and been applauded at dancingschool balls, here they are: and, on account of the nimbleness of their feet, &c. I have no doubt but they will find attention paid to them.

That beautiful young lady you see with the elegant turban is Miss G. of P. Her father, a baronet, succeeded to a handsome estate, being heir of entail. As the baronet had a son, a fine promising lad, he sold his paternal estate, which this young lady might have inherited, and which brought near ten thousand pounds, to build an elegant house, and otherwise improve his newly-acquired entailed property; but alas! after this ten thousand pounds

was nearly expended in draining, enclosing, and otherwise improving the surface of this estate, her father and brother died; and, by the laws of entail, the estate, with her money scattered on the surface of it, has gone to the heir-at-law, an old man, without any children, and who is scarcely any other way connected with her father's family than all the Hottentots and the sons of Adam are.

Now this ball and these anecdotes are not introduced here with any great precision, according to what may be called local or geographical order, the natural band of connection in tours or travels. A violation of this law I doubt not but my reader will, for obvious reasons, in the present instance

excuse.

And now having arrived at the banks of the Spey, where I formerly passed seven years, in the course which I made many excursions to different places, I shall proceed to describe or relate some matters of fact, without troubling my reader in every instance with the circumstance of time, or the particular spots from whence I set out to another..

KEITH.

In my way to Huntley Lodge, an old castle and hunting seat, belonging to the duke of Gordon, and which, in feudal times, was taken by his grace's ancestors from the Cummins, vi et armis, I halted at New Keith, an inland thriving village, nearly in the middle of Bamffshire, where the bleaching business is carried on to a considerable extent, and linens

of various fabrics are manufactured and sent off for the London market. This village, which is large, regular, and well built, owes its prosperity to the liberal and enlarged views, and fostering genius of the late, and great James, earl of Findlater. It was erected by his lordship in 1750, upon a barren moor, and feued out in lots. There is a wonderful charm in perpetual possession. It now contains about fifteen hundred souls.

While here, I saw a number of people collected in the streets, as if some accident had happened. Upon inquiry, I found it was occasioned by a woman having gone three different times to doctor Dougall, to have a tooth drawn; and as often run out of his house, her tooth-ach going away whenever she saw him come with his instruments to pull it out. Though an extremely good hearted man, and always glad when he had it in his power to do good, he was so irritated, when he saw her running out a fourth time, that, holloing after her, and ordering her to be stopped, he followed her into the street; and, having, as it was dry, laid her down, there pulled out the tooth, and left her, with half a crown, to a person to take care of her.

At the inn here, I fell in with a genteel looking young man, seemingly a good deal dejected. This young man, who was from the north of England, having seen, at a boarding school in Yorkshire, a young lady, from the West Indies, said to have a handsome fortune, though a little tinged with the colour of the Africans, married her; and took home to his house also a younger sister, whose education was also finished, as the money paid to the boarding