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    t € the # » kUa& a ? tjte 5 fai ^/ - ^ ecteo » - ing them to fona o »« of the most remarkable eUriosities of AttW Sfeekie Yet , liowetfep disagreeable their clattering might seem to the inhabitaats of the peaceful plain , we are credibly informed , that the people who lived in tiu West B * hv became fierfeqfcly habituated to the noise , aad felt no inconvenience whatever from its

    ceaseless operation upon their ears ; nay , rather experienced inconvenience from its ces 3 ation , aad only felt annoyed when any periods of Fesf arriarM and stopped it . It was for this reason that they became remarkable above all the rest of the people in , Edinburgh * for

    risings eacly oa Sunday mornings which , in certain contiguous parts of the town , is rather a singular virtue . The truth was , that the people could not re&t in their beds after five o ' clock , for wmt of the c ^ stom ^ ry noise which commenced at that hour on work day 8 . It is alea affirmed ] , th ^ t when the natives of the West Bow removed to

    another part of t ^ e town , beyond the reach of these dulcet sounds , which so long had giveil music to their moming dreams , sleep was entirely out of the question for some weeks , till they got habituated to the ? quiescence of their new neighbourhood . An old gentleman once told us , Umt having occasion to lodge for a short time in the West Bow , lie found t&e tatees&ant

    clanking extremely disfcgrefcatbJe , and at last entered into a paction with some of the workmen in his immediate neighbourhood , who promised to let him . have another hour of quiet sleep in the i » ornings > for the consideration of some such matter as

    halfa-crown to drink an Saturday night . The next day happening ( out of his knowledge ) to be some species of Saint Mbnday , his apnoyers did not work at all ; but such was the force of a liahit acquired evea in thnee or four days , that our friend awoke

    precisely at the mona § nt when the ham * mera used to commence ; and he was glad to get his bargain cancelled as soon as possible , for . fear of another Baori ^ ing ^ want of diaturb ^ nce . — -Such a dispersion hp . s taken place in this modern Babel , within the last few years , thut there are now ( 1824 ) only two titt-pjate workers in the whole Bqw \

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    2 . Lord Hames English Inscription i for Smollett . Dr . Anderson , in his Life of Smollett , speaking of the pillar erected to flie novelists memory at Bonhill , says , at p > 137 * € * J&x& j ^ am es him - sidf , pr , Mppre ii ^ forjfns us ,, wrote aji inscription in Eogfek for ^ this |^ Uiar , of wliiqli tl ^ e late Lieutenant-Colou € l Smollett shewed i » m a ; but tUe t # tjn tdufe ' . w ^^ -jj ^ iM&i fl TUoQgh the f ? M 2 t s ^ pas to hs indisputable , ^ yfe t it js remarkable , th ^ t Lord Kames > neither

    at taat time ^ nor aay future peripcl , ever mentioned this English inscription to his fiiea 4 anft niejgliboiir ^ Sir . Ramsay , o ^ peU ^ tyre . ' - ~ Bra > y ^ il also mentions in ith " Jpuraal /^ that Lord Kainea proposed su $ * an inseiaption , and that uponits being spoken of

    to Johnson J , the idea of any thine : but a to ohnson , the idea of any thing but a Latia one ^ t ^ wit ^ t jje le » cograg ^ er ^ s contempt . No mention is made , however , of Lord Kames having written an English inscription , and indeed the fact that he did so , has never been more tHan conjectiired by ti ^ e public .

    We can now bring tjie truth to light , by prQducing * a copy <> f tlie actual iascriptioii , taken verbatim from the ori g inal in Lord Kajne ^ b ^ p ( l- ^ rit | iig , now in the possession of » relative of the nQvelist , who is quite cample of

    appreciating so curious und valuable a document . " No circumstance ^ trivial in the history of en > inejU men ! : B ^ h ^ ld , Passenger 1 the birthrpiace of Tob ^ s Smojllett , who by nature was destined to banish spleep > : and prortibte cheerfulness , sweet balm of iifia ! His

    grave , alas ! is in a < U $ tant couiitry > * How dismally opposite is a * i Alexander or a Lpuis , men destined by nature for depressing ; the spirits of their fellow-creatures , and ; for desolating the eartji !

    " ihis Pillar , erected by Jajwirs Smoijlj ^ tt ^ of Bonjiin ^ isi not for his cousin , who possesses a inqrenoWe Monument of his literary productions , but for thee , O Traveller ! If literar y

    fame be thy ruling passion * eiwulation will enliven thy geaius : Imidulge the hope of a Monumental Pilla ^ and , by ardent application , than mayat come to merit the splendid ; reward . ' *

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    Chambers's Traditions of Edinburgh . 585

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    vol . xx , 4 f

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Oct. 2, 1825, page 585, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2541/page/9/