Page:A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland - Johnson (1775).djvu/343

 of sober men, inquiring by what power the hand tosses a stone, or why the stone, when it is tossed, falls to the ground!

Of the ancestors of, who thus lies hid in his unfrequented Island, I have found memorials in all places where they could be expected.

Inquiring after the reliques of former manners, I found that in, and, I think, no where else, is continued the payment of the ; a fine in old times due to the Laird at the marriage of a virgin. The original of this claim, as of our tenure of, is variously delivered. It is pleasant to find ancient customs in old families. This payment, like others, was, for want of money, made anciently in the produce of the land. was used to demand a sheep, for which he now takes a crown, by that inattention to the uncertain proportion be-