The Sun.
London, England, 1841-09-03 00:00:00

THE ROYAL CASTLES OF SCOT-

LAND.

(From Tytler's History of Scotland.)
On the Borders were the Castles of Jedburgh, Rox-
burgh, and Berwick ; those of Dumfries, Kirkcudbright,
Wigtown, Ayr, Tarbet, Dumbarton, and Stirling, formed
a semicircle of fortresses which commanded th impor-
tant districts of Annandale, Galloway, Carrick, Kyle,
Lanark, and the country round Stirling, containing the
passes into the Highlands. Between Stirling, Perth,
and the Tay, there was no royal castle, till we reach
Dundee, where Brian Fitz Alan commanded • after which
the castles of Forfar, Kincardine, and Aberdeen, pro-
tected and kept under the counties of Perth, Angus, Kin-
cardine, and Aberdeen; and travelling still farther north,
we find the castles of Cromarty or Crumbarthyn, Ding-
wall, Inverness, Nairn, Fonts, Elgin, and Banff,
which, when well garrisoned, were deemed suffi-
cient to maintain the Royal authority in those remote
and unsettled districts. Such were the Royal Castles of
Scotland previous to the war of liberty ; but it was the
policy of Bruce, as we have seen, to raze the fortresses
of the kingdom, wherever they fell under his power ;
whilst, on the other hand, Edward, in his various cam-
paigns, found it necessary to follow the same plan which
had been so successful in Wales, and either to construct
additional fortresses, for the purpose of overawing the
country, or to strengthen, by new fortifications, such
baronial castles as he imagined best situated for his de-
sign. In this manner the architecture of the strong
Norman Castles, which had already been partially intro-
duced by the Scoto-Norman Barons, was more effectually
taught by their formidable enemy to the Scots, who pro-
fited by lessons, and turned it against himself.
It not unfrequently happened that the siege of a ba-
ronial castle detained the whole English army for weeks,
and even, months, before it ; and although feebly gar-
risoned, the single strength of its walls resisted and
sometimes defied the efforts of Edward's strongest ma-
chines and most skilful engineers. To enumerate or
to point out the situation of the baronial castles which
at this early period formed the residences of the feudal
nobility and their vipsals, would be almost impos-
sible. They raised their formidable towers in every
part of the kingdom, on its coasts and in its islands,
on its peninsulas and in its lakes, upon the banks
of its rivers and on the crests f its mountains ;
and many of those inhabited by the higher nobi-
lity rivalled, and in their strength and extent
sometimes surpassed, the fortresses belonging to
the King. In the year 1309, when the military talents
of Bruce had wrested from England nearly the whole of
the Royal castles, we find Edward the second writing
earnestly to his principal officers in Scotland, directing
them to maintain their ground to the last extremity
against the enemy ; and it is singular that, with the ex-
ception of Edinburgh, Stirling, Dumfries, and Jedburgh,
the posts which they held, and which are enumerated in
his order, are all of them private baronial castles, whose
proprietors had either been compelled by superior force,
or induced by selfish considerations, to embrace the
English interest.
In his letters are mentioned the castle of Kirkintulloch
between Dumbarton and Stirling ; Dalswinton in Gallo-
way, a principal seat of the Comyns ; Caerlaverock, be-
longing to the Maxwells ; 'l'hriove Castle, also in Gallo-
way; Lochmaben in Annandale, the seat of the Bruces ;
Bute], the property of the Steward ; Dnnbay, a castle of
great strength and extent, one of the keys of the king-
dom, by which the Earls of March commanded so much
influence in an age of war and invasion ; Dirleton, also
of great extent, and possessed by the Norman race of the
De Vaux ; Selkirk, at that time in the hands of Aymer
de Valence, Earl of Pembroke ;.and Bothwell, a castle at
various times the property of the Olifards, Morays, and
Douglases. Innumerable other castles and smaller
strengths, from the seats of the highest Earls, whose
power was almost kingly, down to the single towers of
the retainer or vassal, with their low iron-ribbed door,
and loop-holed windows, were scattered over every dis-
triet in Scotland ; and, even in the present day, the
traveller cannot explore the most unfrequented scenes,
and the remotest glens of the country, without meeting
some grey relic of other days, reminding him that the
chain of feudal despotism had there planted one of its
thousand links, and around which there often linger those
fine traditions, which fiction has lent her romantic colours
to history.
In the vicinity of these strongholds, in which the
Scottish Barons of the thirteenth and fourteenth centu-
ries held their residence, there was cleared from wood as
much ground as was necessary for the support of that
numerous train of'vassals and retainers, which formed
what was termed the " following" of their Lord, and
who were supported in a style of rude and abundant
hospitality. The produce of his fields and forests, his
huge herds of swine, his flocks and cattle, his granaries
and breweries, his mills and malting-houses, his dove-
cots, gardens, orchards, and " infield and outfield" wealth
all lent their riches to maintain those formidable bands
of warlike knights and vassals, who were ready on
every summons to surround the banner of their Lord.
Around these castles, also, were placed the rude habita-
tions and cottages belonging to the servants and inferior
dependants of the baron, to his armourers, tailors,
wrights, masons, falconers, forest-keepers, and many
others, who ministered to his necessities, his comforts, or
his pleasures. It happened too, not unfrequently, that,
ambitious of the security which the vicinity of a feudal
castle ensured, the free farmers or opulent tradesmen of
those remote times requested permission to build their
habitations and booths near its walls, which, for payment
of a small rent, was willingly allowed; and to this prac-
tice we perhaps owe the origin of towns and royal
burghs in Scotland.

MONOPOLY is the conversion of tuunt into
meum by a legal act of simple unmixed injustice. It is
essentially privative. It confers nothing—it only takes
away. It gives no right—it merely places right in abey-
ance. It would be well if this feature of it were tho-
roughly understood. Too commonly it is regarded as
somewhat given to a few, which in fairness should be
given to all. It is nothing of the sort. It is a some-
what which all possess of natural right taken away from
the mass, that the right left in the hands of a few may
have a factitious value. It is not a crop raised on a
certain spot while all the rest of the field is left bare, but
a crop previously existing mowed down in all parts of
the field except a little circle capriciously marked out.
Monopoly is defined " the exclusive right of selling a
thing ;" but the right to sell that which is mine—in other
words to exchange it for that which is yours,
both parties consenting—is possessed antecedently to
government; and, to render it exclusive, either my right
or your's must be taken away. The power which creates
monopoly must do so by practising injustice. There is
no way to privilege but over the mangled remains of
right. The whole spirit, the direct precepts, and, we
may add, the early practice of Christianity are dead
against monopoly. "Do unto others as you would they
should unto you," and " Look not every man on his own
things, but every man on the things of other s," constitute
a two-edged sword which cuts asunder all exclusive pre-
tensions. And if in the morning purity of the church,
men voluntarily held all things in common, and no man
called aught that he possessed his own, one can hardly
see how the same system could sanction the destruction
of a common right with a view to individual advantage.
—Non-conformist.
PRICES OF FOOD AT HriNiE AND ABROAD.
—The price of white wheaten bread of the first quality
at Paris, on Saturday last, was 66 centimes the loaf of
2 kilogrammes, which is less than 54d. the loaf of 41bs.
English weight ; and the price of bread of the first qua-
lity in London being 10d. the loaf of 41bs., it follows that
bread is 81 9-11ths per cent. dearer in London than in
Paris. The highest quotation of wheat of the first qua-
lity on the same day was 33f. the 14 hectolitre, which
is equal to 50s. 3d. the quarter. In London, on Mon-
day, the highest quotation for the best wheat was 80s. a
quarter ; consequently, wheat was 58 4-6ths per cent.
dearer in London than in Paris, and a man could have
bought in Paris for five shillings as much wheat as
would have cost him eight shillings in London.
The highest quotation of flour of the first quality was
61f. the 159 kilogrammes, which answers to 38s. 4d. the
sack of 2801bs. English weight, and the highest quota-
tion of flour of the first quality in London being 655.
the sack, it follows that flour is about 71 per cent. dearer
in London than in Paris, and that, with 19s. 2d. a man
would be able to purchase as much flour in Paris as he
would have to pay 1/. 12s. 6d. for in London. In other
parts of France the prices were, for the most part,
somewhat lower than in Paris. At Bayonne the best
quality of wheat was quoted at 21f. the hectolitre, which
is equal to 41s. Id. a quarter, English measure. At
Dole, the highest quotation of wheat was 231. 50c. the
hectolitre ; at Lille, 30f. 87c. the 14 hectolitre ; and at
Elbeuf, 41f. 50c. for the double hectolitre, which is equal
to 475. 6d. a quarter, English measure. It follows that
wheat is 67 7-19ths per cent. dearer in London than at
Elbeuf, where a man may buy for lls. lOid. as much
wheat as would cost him 30s. in London.

A NEW PROCESS FOR PURIFYING THE WATERS sup-
plied to the metropolis, as described by its author, T.
Clark, professor of Chemistry in the University of Aber-
deen, consists mainly in adding quick lime to the water,
which separates the chalk from it, and chalk,.in one
shape or another, is the principal substance which con-
taminates the water. By Mr. Clark's process the water
is rendered much softer, and a considerable quantity of
soap may be saved. It prevents the water from furring the
vessels in which it is boiled, which, as all housewives
know, is a great injury to kettles, boilers, and cocks, a
perpetual source of expense, and is sometimes the cause
of boilers bursting. The fur stops up the feeding pipe,
and the boiler bursts in consequence. Mr. Clark's pro-
cess, for which he has a patent, is specious, and if it
answers, it will be equally advantageous to himself and
the public.

AN AUTHENTIC JOE MILLER.—As if to re-
deem the habitual dullness of Joe Miller, one solitary
joke of his stands on respectable authority. Joe,
sit-
ting at the window of the Sun Tavern, in Clare-street,
while a fish-woman was crying, " Buy my soles ! buy
my maids !" exclaimed, " Ali ! you wicked old creature ;
you are not content to sell your own soul, but you must
sell your maid's too."—Bentley's Miscellany.
ELECTION.—Mr. Wilberforce is mostly boarded
and lodged at Matthew Thompson's, Esq. The Tories of !
the town are making the utmost exertions for their man
and a very strict canvass has been inside on his behalf.
Blue flags are waving in various parts of the town. The
election day is, however, a good distance yet. According
to Wordsworth's Law of Elections it cannot take place
before the 10th of September. The Yellow Committee
are paying off the bills of expenses incurred last election.
Mr. Busfield's canvass, we have been strongly assured on
good authority, has been extremely sucessful, and if
men's promises are to be relied upon he will be returned.
We remember, however, with sorrow, that the Yellows
last election showed themselves very indifferent calcu-
lators. Mr. Busfield has not yet personally addressed
the inhabitants. Mr. Wilberforce has spoken publicly
at no place in Bradford besides the once at the Odd