The Sun.
London, England, 1827-03-09 00:00:00

FALL OF SNOW IN SCOTLAND.

Since our last paper issued from the press, a change so unex-
pected has occu din the weather, that in a measure supersedes
every other topi , At a period when we were looking daily for
the genial show ,4of spring, winter has returned with a severity
unexampled sin, the memorable storm of 1823. On Friday last
a strong pierci c gale from the north, bringing along with it
showers of sleet gave presage of the impending change. Early
on Saturday sia, began to fall, at first in minute' flakes, but
gradually thick ing till it assumed the appearance of what our
farmers call a ' feeding storm." Before evening the streets were
so choked with r 1W as to be almost impassable. The snow continued
to fall, without intermission, till Sunday noon, when the clouds
cleared away. / -this period, the snow wreaths, in several of the
streets, were dri d nearly as 'high as the balustrades of the areas.
Few people we! visible ot.l of doors throughout the day—indeed
the avalanches omentarily falling from the roofs of the houses
rendered it p. lous to venture abroad. To increase the mono-
tonous aspect o the city, all the public clocks had stopped during
the night, the now drifted on their dials having arrested the
pointers.
Travelling f ,of course, been completely interrupted. The
Carlisle mail u • the only one which arrived near the regular hour
on Sunday. e north mail did not arrive till two o'clock yes-
terday morning ; and the London mail, of the same evening, came
in only yesterd afternoon at one o'clock.
The guard the London and Edinburgh van came to town
on Sunday afte oon from Haddington, on fo.•:, with the bills.—
He reported tl - the east road, from Haddington to Edinburgh
is completely b cked up. The Union coach was stopped on
Saturday night within a mile of Tranent, and some of the passen-
gers (two gent men, a lady, and a child), were obliged to remain
in the coach a.; night. All the mails were dispatched from the
post-office on rseback.
In the cow of yesterday a thaw commenced, attended with
a hurricane fr n the south, which blew for several hours with
extraordinary Jlence.
So great a t entity of snow has not fallen in so short a period
since the moot of February 1799.—Edinburgl: Observer.

THE STORM.

(. ridged from the Dumfries Courier.)

Dumfries, this moment, is like a city besieged. The ene-
my is the eler nts, and we are literally cut off from all commu-
nication with se world around. us. In front of every house en-
trenchments ; thrown up, and if we were exposed, as of old, to
hostile inroad our townsmen might fight with excellent effect be-
hind rampart.. of nature's building. In the course of Sunday, not
a single ecwielt, arrived at, or departed from, the King's Arms Inn,
a circunastaii.:o almost unprecedented. Of the Glasgow coaches
due on Satun i, we are still without any account. Even the guards
have not got rward, and more than one family who were expect-
ing arrivals, re frightening themselves with the, idea that their
friends may 1 re been arrested at the middle of a stage, and sub-
jected to a b iliac on .a moor. The guard and coachman of the
Edinburgh r d departed on horseback on Sunday morning, but
after travelli' six miles, they found the snow drifted, and the
wreaths so 1 tnidahle, that it was impossible to pilot their way
through. A Amisfield the drift was level with the house-tops—
and in these rcumstauces they were constrained to return to this
town. Fro; Edinburgh we hare had no arrival since Saturday,
and the Lor in mail due on Sunday, was retarded nearly a whole
day. The I trd reports that he never saw the roads in such a
state before. The Galloway mail, due on Sunday at seven o'clock
a.-9. did not rrive till after midnight. The guard and coachman
rode all the ry from Glenluce, a distance of nearly seventy miles,
and were so vercome with fatigue and cold, that they could
scarcely ar ulate a single word: Hay and straw were never
scarcer, and e are afraid many sheep must have perished amidst
the dreadful orm of Saturday last. On that day it snowed from
morning till ight, and towards evening, when the wind rose, the
drift became ,•uly appalling. Five young gentlemen from Dum-
fries, who h been dining wish a friend, who resides a mile out
of town, at npted to return at eleven o'clock p.m. ; but before
they had wa d above a quarter of a mile, plunging at every step
up to the kt s, they were so fatigued and blinded with the drift,
that they oft • fain to take shelter ia a cot-house by the way-
side, and bi• sac the whole night round the feeble blaze of a
peat-fire. heir bivouac was extremely ludicrous. The occu-
pant of the welling was so extremely civil, that he arose and
heaped peats on the fire; but the night was so cold, and the
chimney so. ?acious, that the sleet within mingled as it was with
diluted soot, 'oon became as annoying as the sleet without. Still
our friends •ew closer and closer; and with hoots off, handker-
chiefs on it dace of night-caps, and blankets wrapped around
their shouli s, they bore a strong resemblance to a knot of old
crones Este ng to a tremendous ghost story. Their principal
complaint v that they had no whisky, although some assert
they had gr plenty before, but as a substitute, they made an in-
road on tilt potato binn, and roasted divers Irish Johns on the
smouldering nd half-consumed peats.
Monday ight, .10 o'clock.—Since writing the above, a very
rapid thaw :s commenced. The rain is now heavy and the
wind high, ad we anticipate a most tremendous flood. The
streets are .• eadful, and the roads in the country must be still
worse. T guard of the Galloway mail arrived on horseback,
about seven o'clock, and the Lockerby post, on foot, about.the
same hour. The latter brought nothing but Lockerby, Ecclefe-
chan, and I hmaben letters. Two London mails are still due,
and it is cr. .!ctured that the post that received them at Carlisle
is detained ruewhere in the neighbourhood of Gretna. WI :en
the runner ft Lockerby, two or three mails were due from Glas-
gow and ( lisle. . The man with the mail-gig, who left this
town on S. adav, only got the length of the toll-bar ; there he
dismounted, and proceeded to Roucan on the back of his steed, but
for hours h found it impossible to proceed a step farther. How
he got to ockerby we do not know; but he arrived there on
Sunday nig having travelled at the rate of a mile pea hour !
Tuesday .orning 1 o'clock.—Two London and two Glasgow
mails, with 'arious side posts, are still due in D,urnfiles. We
have just rt t a private letter from Lockerby, which states among
other thing " that.the.guards of coaches found it impossible to
arrive even a horseback. Over many a mile of road the snow is
from five t 10 feet deep. It is likely that the Dumfries road
will be ope d to-day, (Monday) or at all events to-morrow.
" The 'th of snow on the roads is greater than has been
known for e last 30 years, and perhaps, in quantity, the fall has
never been .ceeded since naiary, 1814.

Tuesday corning; L' .—Our Paper is about to be put
press ; and to confess the truth, we see no use in delaying our
publication longer. Two London mails are still due, and it is im-
possible to say when they will arrive. A few hours ago the
houses wer dropping and the streets running, but at present the
sky is very .tear ; and so far as we can judge, the weather at pre-
sent inclin to frost.