190 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES,
and again ‘made his obeisance. “Well, old boy,’’ said the latter, with his
wonted good humour, how did you fare at the hall P” ‘‘ Very so so, indeed,”
replied Hnntly ; “ nothing but cold beef, sour bread, and stale beer.” (‘ You
must truly be a saucy scoundrel!” exclaimed the gentleman, nettled by the
arrogant reply. “ Not exactly that,” continued Huntly, “ but I have never been
accustomed to such low fare.” Irritated beyond endurance by the provokingly
cool impudence of the supposed mendicant, the gentleman threatened to have
him caged, and actually called some of the domestics to lay hands upon him,
when, like the Gudeman 0’ Ballangiech (in one of his nocturnal adventures), he
doffed his
“ Duddie clouts-his meally bags an’ a’”’
and stood forward in his own proper person, to the utter amazement of the
bystanders, and the conviction of his defeated friend, whose wrath was quickly
changed to merriment.
No. LXXIX.
SIR JAMES MONTGOMERY OF STANHOPE
AND
DAVID STUART MONCRIEF, ESQ. OF MOREDUN,
HIS MAJESTY’S BARONS OF EXCHEQUER.
LORD CHIEF-BARON MONTGOMERY, who is represented by the figure
on the left, was the second and youngest son of William Montgomery, Esq. of
Macbiehill,’ Tweeddale, and was born in 1721.
Sir James, being educated for the law, became a member of the faculty of
advocates soon after he had attained his majority. His talents were by no
means of the highest order ; yet, by judicious mental cultivation-by throwing
aside all ingenious subtleties, and boldly grasping at the solid practical view of
every question, he in time acquired the character of a sound lawyer.
In 1748, when the Scottish heritable jurisdictions were finally abolished, Sir
This gentleman was a devoted agriculturist at a period when that useful branch of knowledge
was too little attended to in this country. He had the merit of introducing an early species of peas
and of oats, which were named after his estate of Macbiehill ; but the latter has for these last forty
years been more generally known as the “red-oat.” So early 89 1745, he cultivated potatoes, to
the extent of several acres annually ; but the land so cultivated was uniformly sown down with bear
and artificial grasses. He sold his potatoes by the Tweeddale oat-firlot streaked, at sixteen shillings
per boll, an amazingly high sum at that period.
