I Found Some Books On A Shelf,
Among Which Were A Volume Or More Of Prideaux's Connection.
This I mentioned as something unexpected, and perceived that I did
not please him.
I praised the propriety of his language, and was
answered that I need not wonder, for he had learned it by grammar.
By subsequent opportunities of observation, I found that my host's
diction had nothing peculiar. Those Highlanders that can speak
English, commonly speak it well, with few of the words, and little
of the tone by which a Scotchman is distinguished. Their language
seems to have been learned in the army or the navy, or by some
communication with those who could give them good examples of
accent and pronunciation. By their Lowland neighbours they would
not willingly be taught; for they have long considered them as a
mean and degenerate race. These prejudices are wearing fast away;
but so much of them still remains, that when I asked a very learned
minister in the islands, which they considered as their most savage
clans: 'Those,' said he, 'that live next the Lowlands.'
As we came hither early in the day, we had time sufficient to
survey the place. The house was built like other huts of loose
stones, but the part in which we dined and slept was lined with
turf and wattled with twigs, which kept the earth from falling.
Near it was a garden of turnips and a field of potatoes. It stands
in a glen, or valley, pleasantly watered by a winding river.
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