1820.] Fragment of the Mad Banker. In case you should be in want of a few of Wastle's verses, I send you a fragment of one of his cantos, which I found in his drawer this morning, but the beginning of it is a-wanting, having been torn off. I heard him read it all over, but I remember nothing of the exordium, except that it was awfully severe upon poor Mr Terrot. That young lad is very rash, and knows nothing whatever of what he is meddling with, but you should spare him for this time. There was also a dedication to Tickler, which went on thus: "Oh, Timothy! we true old Bachelors Should dedicate our strains to one another: While this bright flame up one's own chimney roars, I cannot recollect the rest of it, but as usual, I was treated with slender ceremony. He has been, as I have hinted, abusing poor "Common-place Terrot," as he calls him,-and then off he goes with this beginning of the fragment. Some verses, you will observe, are quite illegible in this sad scrawl of the old And, oh! to think of all the feasts we've had XIX. A genuine German Freyherr, or Herr Graf, moustache, Such as one saw about old Blucher's staff, All over cross, and star, and grin, and gash, XX. To see him laced like some fine velvet cushion, There's few Hussars or Lancers in the land, Intense flirtation! serious, deep, and true, XXII. But as for the flirtation of our vapouring ing, And hears the silliness they sigh and singMust fear they are as far removed from thinking Of serious loving, as of serious drinking. XXIII. Ill may romance accord with modern garb Will soon, so hampered, lose his pristine fire, Who that was at our last musical festival can have forgotten Mr Schmidt? They seem to have been written when the Persian Ambassador was in Edinburgh. The fashionable Upholsterer of the North. You will see from than the Shepherd. evening, our old song. this, that the Laird is not going to be married any more We still sing in chorus (Tickler, Wastle, and I), every WHEN shrovetide falls in Easter week, And Christmas sees the swallow's wing: When Lawyers nought but truth will speak, And Whigs in private toast the king: When songs and plays are quite put down, And sermons by all men preferred; And indigo dies breeches brownOh! then my love and I'll be married. When usury's never paid to Jews: I wish, from my soul, you were here, to join your fine bass in the stave, and to taste the best hock ever the Laird had in his cellar, of which he gives us a long-necked bottle or two every day. You never licked your lips over the like. He got it from Mr Thomas Hamilton, the famous Glasgow wine-merchant, by way of particular favour, and he says it is more than a hundred years old. There never was the match of it on Yarrow before. Grieve and Laidlaw were pretty well when I heard from them.-Ever your affectionate Contributor, JAMES HOGG. ANNALS OF PETERHEAD. We love Peterhead. We recollect passing a few days there very pleasantly a good many years ago, and indeed shall never forget the surpassing dinners that we enjoyed at its incomparable ordinary. Every place within fifty miles of Aberdeen is pleasant to us, for the sake of that double-bodied town, and the cunning, yet kindly toned pronunciation of its inhabitants. We beg leave, therefore, to return our best thanks to Mr Buchan for his presentation copy of the "Annals;" and to assure him of corned-beef and greens, and a jug of toddy, at Ambrose's, on his first visit to the city of Blackwood's Magazine. Mr Burhan has really made a very amusing book of it; and there are some circumstances attending his little publication, which we think must interest in his favour all good-natured, statistical, and antiquarian readers. These are very modestly mentioned in his preface. He has not had the benefit of much education-and he is not rich in this world's gear. Besides—but let our worthy annalist speak for himself. "I have also laboured under other dif ficulties than those above stated, which I have studied to surmount; and many of the pieces contained in these pages, are not arranged according to the plan I had in view, having collected much of the information at different periods after I had begun printing. Having none who could assist me, I was obliged to be author, caseman, pressman, &c.; and many of the following pages never were in MS. being actually composed while printing them. It is therefore hoped, those experience, will not be blind to the trouble whose judgment is matured by reason and of such an undertaking, under so unpropitious circumstances, and will allow, that imperfectly as the subjects are handled, I deserve the clemency of an impartial public. But, if they have otherways determined, 1 shall console myself with the following lines, written originally in French by the king of Prussia." As we are not now reviewing the works of the king of Prussia, we omit his majesty's verses, and turn to Mr Buchan's prose. We shall not insult our readers by telling them where Peterhead stands. "Peterhead is a clean and neat little town;-the streets are open, straight, and in general clean and dry, and give a free Annals of Peterhead, from its Foundation to the present Time; including an Account of the Rise, Progress, Improvements, Shipping, Manufactures, Commerce, Trade, Wells, Baths, &c. of the Town: Also, a Sketch of the Character of the Inhabitants, their Civil and Ecclesiastical State: An Excursion to the Bullers of Buchan, Slains Castle, &c. with their Description-the Scenery of the country round-Remarks on Dr Johnson's Tour to the Hebrides, &c. Biographical Notices of men of learning and genius, among whom are, George Earl Marischal, founder of Peterhead, and Marischal College, Aberdeen; with a number of Curious Articles hitherto unpublished; with Plates, Engraved by the Author; by P. Buchan, author of the Recreation of Leisure Hours, &c. Peterhead, Printed at the Auchwedden-press, by the Author; Sold by him, the Book sellers in Peterhead, and the principal Booksellers in Scotland. 1819. 1 since they generally go where the Al is We cannot mention all the good Annals of Peterhead. "Peterhead has been much resorted to We believe Mr Buchan has here said no more than Peterhead deservesand well may he exclaim, beholding its present splendour, were a person now to rise from the dead, who had Of these there are two in the town, both of which deserve the highest praise, and one in the neighbourhood that has long been established in one of the halls of the late Earl Marischal's castle of Inverugie, of which honourable mention is made by the porter and ale drinkers, both at home and abroad;-and these should be no bad judges, "Peterhead Butter has also attained some celebrity among purchasers, and it is a full proof of its superiority, that it is admired by those who are in the daily practice of using it. The author of the present work has frequently seen in the High-street, and other places of Edinburgh, these words in conspicuous characters, "Real Peterhead Butter," with samples of it in their windows;-in Its baths are even better than its butter; and we can safely recommend them to our invalids-for even the readers of this Magazine cannot always be in good health and spirits. Peterhead has now the most complete set of Baths of any town on the coast of Scotland, owing to the spirited exertions of my worthy friend, Mr James Arbuthnot, jun. who has, at an unprecedented expense, cut out of the solid rock, one of the following dimensions, viz. 90 feet by 30, and capable of holding any necessary depth of water. The bottom is covered with sand, and quite level. It possesses all the advantages of the open sea, without the danger attending bathing in unfrequented places; and is filled every tide with pure sea water, by a valve, which opens and shuts when required. For the convenience of those frequenting this bath, there is built on its margin a house, in which they undress and dress, and it is sheltered from the gazing eye of a prying public, by a mound of rock twenty feet high. "There is another bath which was form ed in 1799 by the Keith mason society, for the accommodation of those drinking the mineral water. Its dimensions are 40 feet by 20, and it is now set apart solely for the use of the gentlemen. "There are twelve warm baths, with, perhaps, the best set of apparatus to be found in Britain; by means of which the patient may be accommodated with the steam or vapour, hot air, projecting, and shower baths, at any degree of warmth that may be found most proper to alleviate pain or disease." on There is a very interesting chapter "Education and State of Learning" in Peterhead, from which we regret that we cannot afford quotation. But a town so near the colleges of Aberdeen, may well be distinguished for the erudition of its inhabitants. Yet there is no rule so general as to be without its exceptions. "In every place of trade, there must be a few of inferior talents and principles, but of these there are few here; yet it would be doing the public injustice to say there are none of so illiberal minds as to envy their neighbours' prosperity, and the superior talents of those who do not associate with them. Although I do not say Peterhead is more infested with these characters than its neighbours, still it has its share of them." The good people of Peterhead are all protestants, "either followers of John Calvin the Frenchman, or James Arminius the Dutchman, but I believe that there are many who, should you ask them to which party they belong, whether Calvinists or Arminians, would be at a loss for an answer. They scarcely ever heard of the tenets of these church-champions, and therefore they do not become proselytes either in faith or practice." In politics they are all well-affected to the government, and have the good of their country at heart; so it is scarcely necessary to add, that they do not read the Scotsman. "They seldom read opposition newspapers, with a view to profit by them, (what sensible Aberdonian would?) and disputes about politics, like religion, are rare.' There are several inns at Peterhead, which are neither "shabby, noisy, crowded, nor uncomfortable," and the Ship-tavern "is situated in the Broad Street, and is famed for keeping the best London porter. What is called the club meets here once a week; a party of gentlemen that convene every Friday night, who play cards and take supper." We believe that of this club Odoherty is an honorary member. We have a very short chapter on the booksellers and stationers of Peterhead, to which we anxiously turned. About fifty years ago there were no bibliopoles there. One Mr William Farquhar, a sort of poet,-the Allan Ramsay of Peterhead,-was the first circulating librarian-but the brethren of the trade have since grown both in numbers and in grace, and their shops contain a valuable collection of theology, the works of Rutherford, Fisher, Erskine, Knox, Willison, &c. So says Mr Buchan, "literature, as well as shipping, is now upon the increase." We must insert the following wellmerited compliment to our good friend, Mr Alex. Sangster. "The Booksellers in Peterhead do not speculate much in publishing; they trust more to the judgment of their grave neigh bours in the South, and are pleased with their selections. I do not mean to augur from this, that the Booksellers here have VOL. VI. not equal discernment to those in the South, but rather that they are more dilatory in running the risk, as they have less field to work upon: however, there are no rules without exceptions, and we find Mr Alex. Sangster, the senior bookseller, often break through the present, as he is both friendly to the interest of the trade, and to authors, among the most liberal-minded in his line." Literature being in this flourishing condition at Peterhead, printing too is advancing under a press of sail-so is engraving. There are five embellishments to this volume, which, though somewhat rude, deserve commendation. The first is a sort of panoramic view of Peterhead, in which a cock on the point of a steeple cuts a famous figure, and is almost heard to crow,-its harbours-groves of masts-vessels at anchor-wherries going before the wind and jolly tars with arms a-kimbo, and manifest quids in their cheeks.The second presents us with a Greenlandman among the ice, part of whose crew are hoisting on deck huge fragments from a whale that is lying along-side, and blurting brine all the while through his nostrils, and part shooting at a white bear, who is sitting very unconcernedly on his posteriors, with his organization lowering towards the sons of Peterhead, as if he had bargained to sit out a certain number of shots, on condition of receiving, in return, a certain portion of blubber. The third is a sombre and solitary view of Slain's Castle, darkened by a flight of crows or other waterfowl. The fourth is a plan of the Bullers of Buchan, which have very much the appearance of being made of gingerbread. And the fifth is a view of Raven's Craig, that impressive old ruin on the south-side of the river Ugie, from the chief gate-way of which Mr Buchan has represented a most impressive old gentleman advancing with a huge staff in his hand, and who is intended, we presume, to gain credit for being an ancient Pict, or Pecht, folks of whom one frequently reads in the history of Scotland, but whose existence has always seemed to us very problematical. Of the printing of his book and its engravings, Mr Buchan thus speaks: "Printing was first established in Peterhead as a regular business, on the 24th day of March 1816, by a young man, who had long witnessed, with feeling regret, the inconvenience his native town laboured under, 3 D |
