A south-country man would certainly have laughed ; but this old gentleman -LRB- I call him so because of his manners , for his clothes were dropping off his back -RRB- heard me all through with nothing but gravity and pity . When I had done , he took me by the hand , led me into his hut -LRB- it was no better -RRB- and presented me before his wife , as if she had been the Queen and I a duke . The good woman set oat-bread before me and a cold grouse , patting my shoulder and smiling to me all the time , for she had no English ; and the old gentleman -LRB- not to be behind -RRB- brewed me a strong punch out of their country spirit . All the while I was eating , and after that when I was drinking the punch , I could scarce come to believe in my good fortune ; and the house , though it was thick with the peat-smoke and as full of holes as a colander , seemed like a palace . The punch threw me in a strong sweat and a deep slumber ; the good people let me lie ; and it was near noon of the next day before I took the road , my throat already easier and my spirits quite restored by good fare and good news . The old gentleman , although I pressed him hard , would take no money , and gave me an old bonnet for my head ; though I am free to own I was no sooner out of view of the house than I very jealously washed this gift of his in a wayside fountain . Thought I to myself : `` If these are the wild Highlanders , I could wish my own folk wilder . '' I not only started late , but I must have wandered nearly half the time . True , I met plenty of people , grubbing in little miserable fields that would not keep a cat , or herding little kine about the bigness of asses . The Highland dress being forbidden by law since the rebellion , and the people condemned to the Lowland habit , which they much disliked , it was strange to see the variety of their array . Some went bare , only for a hanging cloak or great-coat , and carried their trousers on their backs like a useless burthen : some had made an imitation of the tartan with little parti-coloured stripes patched together like an old wife 's quilt ; others , again , still wore the Highland philabeg , but by putting a few stitches between the legs transformed it into a pair of trousers like a Dutchman 's . All those makeshifts were condemned and punished , for the law was harshly applied , in hopes to break up the clan spirit ; but in that out-of-the-way , sea-bound isle , there were few to make remarks and fewer to tell tales . They seemed in great poverty ; which was no doubt natural , now that rapine was put down , and the chiefs kept no longer an open house ; and the roads -LRB- even such a wandering , country by-track as the one I followed -RRB- were infested with beggars . And here again I marked a difference from my own part of the country . For our Lowland beggars -- even the gownsmen themselves , who beg by patent -- had a louting , flattering way with them , and if you gave them a plaek and asked change , would very civilly return you a boddle . But these Highland beggars stood on their dignity , asked alms only to buy snuff -LRB- by their account -RRB- and would give no change . To be sure , this was no concern of mine , except in so far as it entertained me by the way . What was much more to the purpose , few had any English , and these few -LRB- unless they were of the brotherhood of beggars -RRB- not very anxious to place it at my service . I knew Torosay to be my destination , and repeated the name to them and pointed ; but instead of simply pointing in reply , they would give me a screed of the Gaelic that set me foolish ; so it was small wonder if I went out of my road as often as I stayed in it . At last , about eight at night , and already very weary , I came to a lone house , where I asked admittance , and was refused , until I bethought me of the power of money in so poor a country , and held up one of my guineas in my finger and thumb .
Thereupon , the man of the house , who had hitherto pretended to have no English , and driven me from his door by signals , suddenly began to speak as clearly as was needful , and agreed for five shillings to give me a night 's lodging and guide me the next day to XXXXX .
English Highlanders Queen Torosay colander louting night oat-bread philabeg screed