A Guide to the Beauties of Scotland.
Table of Contents ?
A GUIDE
Table of Contents
TO THE
BEAUTIES OF SCOTLAND.
Table of Contents
?
?
A
GUIDE, &c.
Table of Contents Provide yourself with a strong roomy carriage, and have the springs well corded; have also a stop-pole and strong chain to the chaise. Take with you linch-pins, and four shackles, which hold up the braces of the body of the carriage; a turn-screw, fit for fastening the nuts belonging to the shackles; a hammer, and some straps.
For the inside of the carriage, get a light flat box, the corners must be taken off, next the doors, for the more conveniently getting in and out. This box should hang on the front of the chaise, instead of the pocket, and be as large as the whole front, and as deep as the size of the carriage will admit: the side next the travellers should fall down by hinges, at the height of their knees, to form a table on their laps; the part of the box below the hinges should be divided into holes for wine bottles, to stand upright in. The part above the bottles, to hold tea, sugar, bread, ?and meat; a tumbler glass, knife and fork, and salt-cellar, with two or three napkins: the box to have a very good lock. I would also advise to betaken, bed-linen, and half a dozen towels at least, a blanket; thin quilt, and two pillows; these articles will set a traveller quite at ease, with respect to accommodation; the blanket and quilt will be very seldom wanted; however, when they are, it is very pleasant to have such conveniences in one's power.
If a traveller would like to save a great deal of money, and render a servant more useful than on horseback, put a seat for him behind the carriage.
Let two strong hooks be screwed on the body of the chaise, and a standing piece of iron from each hind spring, and a bar of iron across, to support the perpendicular pieces. The canvas or leather seat may, with straps, be so fastened to the hooks in the body of the carriage, and the upright irons, as to make it a very comfortable easy seat; and the servant being thus a part of the equipage, is always at hand for use, either in opening gates, or in case of accidents; besides, he never can be left behind at the inns where you stop, or elsewhere, which is for ever the case when a servant is on horseback: he is hardly ever with you, ?when you most want him; and often comes galloping after you, at the risk of his own neck, and to the great detriment of the poor post-horse. You will say, perhaps,-if the servant be stuck to our backs, how inconvenient! not to be able to send on for horses. If you travel for pleasure, you need not be in such haste; and besides, how few men are able to ride a hundred or more miles a day, for two or three days together? also, when you get into countries where you are obliged to take your horses wherever you go, there can be no sending on for fresh horses. But the most solid reason with many for adopting this mode of conveyance for a man-servant is, the very considerable sum of money it saves. To me, the convenience is not to be described, as by my man's being at all times at hand, he was ready to discover if any thing was amiss, and to assist in setting it to rights.
In a journey of near two thousand miles, my carriage was only once near being down, and would certainly have been so, had the servant been any where but on the seat behind. He felt and saw the shackle belonging to one of the hind springs break, and instantly called to the postillion. Had the carriage not stopped immediately, I do not ?know what might have happened; but as it was, a new shackle was taken out of the pocket of the chaise, and it was set upright again in a very short time: which, in my mind, afforded a strong proof of the utility of carrying a set of shackles, and having the servant on the chaise. This accident happened on the road near Loch Awe, far from assistance of any kind, and in torrents of rain.
Thus much for the first set off. I will now run over the ground I travelled in 1796, and I will begin my Guideship, equipped as above, from my own house; and you will soon reach the first post in the great North road.
With my maid by my side, and my man on the seat behind the carriage, I set off, May the 28th, 1796. Mr. Edes, of Stratton-street, Piccadilly, provided me with a good pair of horses; and a very civil man he is: those who have occasion for post-horses will do well for themselves if they employ him.
I mean in this Guide to convey you a long journey; give you the distances; and tell you what I think of the inns; where you may, and where you cannot, have a chance of sleeping.
Before I proceed, I will however inform you, that I think I have seen Scotland, and its natural ?beauties, more completely than any other individual. I was alone, nor did I limit myself as to time. I took great pains to see every thing worth seeing; and perhaps had better opportunities, than most other travellers, of exploring almost every famous glen, mountain pass, and cataract, by having a great many good and kind friends and relations by marriage, in Perthshire, and other parts of the Highlands; whose hospitality and kindness are stampt upon my heart, and will not be forgotten by my pen, when I describe the country. At present I will keep to my Guideship only.
Until I get out of England, I shall only mention the distances; unless I should have occasion to name an inn not fit to sleep at. In all probability you have travelled much of the road in England before, therefore you may wish to get on, as I did, as fast as you can. But in Scotland it may be new to you; I will therefore notice what you may see in your way, or at least mention what I saw with pleasure; also the inns most convenient to sleep at, with their distances from each other; and I will endeavour to point out a route that will give you an opportunity of seeing most of the natural beauties of the ?Highlands, &c. It will be a zig-zag route, but it will be much to the purpose, if you really wish to see Scotland, and not merely to say you have made the tour of that country.
To Waltham Cross, 19 miles.
Ware, 9 miles.
Buntingford, 10 miles.
Arrington, 13 miles.
Huntingdon, 15 miles.
Stilton, 12 miles.
Stamford, 14 miles,
Coltsworth, 13 miles; where Sir Isaac Newton was born.
Grantham, 8 miles.
Newark, 14 miles.
Tuxford, 14 miles.
Bawtry, 15 miles.
Doncaster, 9 miles.
Ferrybridge, 15 miles.
Weatherby, 16 miles.
Boroughbridge, 12 miles.
Leeming, 12 miles; Oak-tree a very bad inn; there is another, a very good one.
Catterick-bridge, 11 miles; where there is a very good inn. Do not stop at Catterick town, it is only an alehouse.
?To Greeta-bridge, 14 miles; the George inn very good.
To Brough, 18 miles; the inn very bad indeed.
To Crackenthorpe, 10 miles.
To Penrith, 12 miles; the Crown, an excellent inn.
To Carlisle, 18 miles; the Bush, a good inn.
Between Penrith and Carlisle, do not fail seeing the Nunnery, a beautiful romantic place. A mile before you enter Penrith, by the Brough road, observe as you cross the rivers there, King Arthur's famous Round Table. The views about that spot are all fine.
To Long-town, 10 miles; a very good inn.
To Langholm, 14 miles; the inn too bad to sleep at.
Admire the banks of the river Esk; and stay long enough to see the beauties of Langholm, and the Duke of Buccleugh's lodge, by which the Esk runs; and the Ewes river joins it near the bridge.
To Hawick, 22 miles; observe the road all the way, it is beautifully romantic. At Mosspole, the half-way house, no horses are kept, nor can you get any thing there, for those in your ?chaise, except a little meal and water. Close by Mosspole, you meet with the source of the river Ewes, which you were near all the way from Langholm, where, as I have before said, it unites with the Esk. Within a quarter of a mile from Mosspole, you join the Tiviot river near its source, and follow it to Hawick; where it is joined by the Slettrick water. You must contrive to be at Langholm early in the day, it being a long and tedious stage from thence to Hawick; I was eight hours in travelling it. At Hawick you must sleep, as there is no place between that and Edinburgh where you can possibly pass a night with any degree of comfort. I would advise you, even to get early to Hawick, lest other travellers should be there before you: there is but one sitting room at Hawick, and only one tolerable bed chamber, with two beds in it.
To Selkirk, 11 miles.
The inn is too bad, either to eat or sleep at; but horses good.
To Bankhouse, 15 miles. The inn very middling.
On leaving Selkirk, you cross the Ettrick water, running to the Tweed. Somewhat above the bridge by which you cross the Ettrick, the ?Yarrow water falls into it. The Yarrow has its source from Loch of the Lows, and St. Mary's lake, and runs by the town of Yarrow. When you come within sight of the Tweed, which you will do at the turn of the road from the Ettrick water, observe the extreme beauties of that part of Tweedale,...
