He did not come to breakfast, but had it
sent to him. When he had finished his letter, it was twelve o'clock, and
we should have set out at ten. When I went up to him, he said to me, 'Do
you remember a song which begins,
"Every island is a prison[706]
Strongly guarded by the sea;
Kings and princes, for that reason,
Prisoners are, as well as we?"'
I suppose he had been thinking of our confined situation[707]. He would
fain have gone in a boat from hence, instead of riding back to Slate. A
scheme for it was proposed. He said, 'We'll not be driven tamely from
it:'-but it proved impracticable.
We took leave of M'Leod and Talisker, from whom we parted with regret.
Talisker, having been bred to physick, had a tincture of scholarship in
his conversation, which pleased Dr. Johnson, and he had some very good
books; and being a colonel in the Dutch service, he and his lady, in
consequence of having lived abroad, had introduced the ease and
politeness of the continent into this rude region.
Young Col was now our leader. Mr. M'Queen was to accompany us half a day
more. We stopped at a little hut, where we saw an old woman grinding
with the _quern_, the ancient Highland instrument, which it is said was
used by the Romans, but which, being very slow in its operation, is
almost entirely gone into disuse.
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