f for Alnwick on Friday afternoon, stayed there all night, and
saw the castle next morning. It is a fine old place, but at present is
undergoing repairs--a Scottish king was killed before its walls in the
old time. At about twelve I started for Edinburgh. The place is
wonderfully altered since I was here, and I don't think for the better.
There is a Runic stone on the castle brae which I am going to copy. It
was not there in my time.
If you write direct to me at the Post Office, Inverness. I am thinking
of going to Glasgow to-morrow, from which place I shall start for
Inverness by one of the packets which go thither by the North-West and
the Caledonian Canal. I hope that you and Hen are well and comfortable.
Pray eat plenty of grapes and partridges. We had upon the whole a
pleasant passage from Yarmouth; we lived plainly but well, and I was not
at all ill--the captain seemed a kind, honest creature.
Remember me kindly to Mrs. Turnour and Mrs. Clarke, and God bless you and
Hen.
GEORGE BORROW.
LETTER VI.
INVERNESS,
_Sunday_ [_September_ 26_th_, 1858].
DEAR CARRETA,
This is the third letter which I have written to you. Whether you have
received the other two, or will receive this, I am doubtful. I have been
several times to the post office, but we found no letter from you, though
I expected to find one awaiting me when I arrived. I wrote last on
Friday. I merely want to know once how you are, and if all is well I
shall move onward. It is of not much use staying here.
After I had written to you on Friday I crossed by the ferry over the
Firth and walked to Beauly, and from thence to Beaufort or Castle Downie.
At Beauly I saw the gate of the pit where old Fraser used to put the
people whom he owed money to--it is in the old ruined cathedral, and at
Beaufort saw the ruins of the house where he was born. Lord Lovat lives
in the house close by. There is now a claimant to the title, a
descendant of old Fraser's elder brother who committed a murder in the
year 1690, and on that account fled to South Wales. The present family
are rather uneasy, and so are their friends, of whom they have a great
number, for though they are flaming Papists they are very free of their
money. I have told several of their cousins that the claimant has not
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