which the Scots did not do but in the unsettled state of an imperfect
constitution.

Those who had once uncovered the cathedrals never wished to cover them
again; and being thus made useless, they were, first neglected, and
perhaps, as the stone was wanted, afterwards demolished.

Elgin seems a place of little trade, and thinly inhabited. The episcopal
cities of Scotland, I believe, generally fell with their churches, though
some of them have since recovered by a situation convenient for commerce.
Thus Glasgow, though it has no longer an archbishop, has risen beyond its
original state by the opulence of its traders; and Aberdeen, though its
ancient stock had decayed, flourishes by a new shoot in another place.

In the chief street of Elgin, the houses jut over the lowest story, like
the old buildings of timber in London, but with greater prominence; so
that there is sometimes a walk for a considerable length under a
cloister, or portico, which is now indeed frequently broken, because the
new houses have another form, but seems to have been uniformly continued
in the old city.




FORES. CALDER. FORT GEORGE


We went forwards the same day to Fores, the town to which Macbeth was
travelling, when he met the weird sisters in his way. This to an
Englishman is classic ground. Our imaginations were heated, and our