indeed
we saw no appearance of ill-health in their countenances; but it is not
common for people working in lead mines to be healthy; and I have since
heard that it is _not_ a healthy place. However this may be, they are
unwilling to allow it; for the landlady the next morning, when I said to
her 'You have a cold climate,' replied, 'Ay, but it is _varra halesome_.'
We inquired of the man respecting the large mansion; he told us that it
was built, as we might see, in the form of an H, and belonged to the
Hopetouns, and they took their title from thence, {20} and that part of
it was used as a chapel. We went close to it, and were a good deal
amused with the building itself, standing forth in bold contradiction of
the story which I daresay every man of Leadhills tells, and every man
believes, that it is in the shape of an H; it is but half an H, and one
must be very accommodating to allow it even so much, for the legs are far
too short.

We visited the burying-ground, a plot of land not very small, crowded
with graves, and upright grave-stones, overlooking the village and the
dell. It was now the closing in of evening. Women and children were
gathering in the linen for the night, which was bleaching by the
burn-side;--the graves overgrown with grass, such as, by industrious
culture, had been raised up about the houses; but there were bunches of
heather here and there, and with the blue-bells that grew among the grass
the small plot of ground had a beautiful and wild appearance.

William left me, and I went to a shop to purchase some thread; the woman
had none that suited me; but she would send a '_wee_ lad' to the other
shop. In the meantime I sat with the mother, and was much pleased with
her manner and conversation. She had an excellent fire, and her cottage,
though very small, looked comfortable and cleanly; but remember I saw it
only by firelight. She confirmed what the man had told us of the quiet
manner in which they lived; and indeed her house and fireside seemed to
need nothing to make it a cheerful happy spot, but health and good
humour. There was a bookishness, a certain formality in this woman's
language, which was very remarkable. She had a dark complexion, dark
eyes, and wore a very white cap, much over her face, which gave her the
look of a French woman, and indeed afterwards the women on the roads
frequently reminded us of French women, partly from the extremely white
caps of the elder women, and