P r o d u c e .
F r u it s .
D y e s .
Q u a d r u p e d s
AN D BIRDS.
In 1607 Jura was included in the lordlhip of Cantyre, by chanter]
dated the laft o f May, then granted to Archibald Earl of Argil
.. The . produce is. about three or four hundred head of cattlej
fold annually at 3 I. each, to graziers who come for them. Abo®
a hundred horfes are alfo fold annually : here are a few fheepj
with fleeces of moft excellent finenefs, and numbers o f goats. M
good feafons fufficient bear and oats’ are raifed as will maintain M
inhabitants: but they fometimes want, I fuppofe from the convaj
fion of their grain into whifky. But the chief food o f the cotntnoj
people is potatoes and fiih. and. Ihell fifh. It is to be feared that]
their competence of bread is very fmall. Bear produces four or fid
fold ; oats three fold.
Fern aihes bring in about a-hundred pounds a year : about tmj
hundred tuns o f kelp is burnt annually,, and fold.from three pounds
ten to four pounds per tun.
Sloes are the only fruits of the iiland.. An acid.for punch is mads]
of the berries o f the mountain aih : and a kind of fpirit, is.aliol
tilled from them..
Necefiity hath inftru&ed the inhabitants in the ufe o f native dyes.!
Thus thejuice of the tops o f heath boiled fupplies them with a yellow
; the roots of the white water lily with a dark brown. Thofej
o f the yellow water iris with a black: and. the Galium verm,
qf the iflanders with, a very fine red,, not inferior, to that iron]
Madder.
The quadrupeds of Jura are about a hundred flags. Some wild!
cats, otters, floats,.rats and feals. The feathered game, b la c k cocksJ
grous, ptarmigans, and ihipes. The flags muft here have beenente
more numerous, for the original name o f the iiland was Deiry, or^m
B efjy eert fo called by the Norwegians from the abundance of thofe
Soble animals.
I The women are very prolific, and very often bear twins. The
Inhabitants live to a great age, and are liable to very few d.ftempers.
L ie n of ninety work ; and there is now living a woman o f eighty
„ho can run down a iheep. The account given by Martin o f GiUour
L c-Crain, was confirmed to me. His age exceeded that of either
Wsnkins or Par: for he kept a hundred and eighty chriftmafies
In his own ho ufe, and died in .the reign of Charles I. Among
l ie modern inftances of longevity I forgot to mention John Ar-
mour, of Campbeltown, aged one hundred and four, who was a cock-
(wain in our navy, at the time of the peace of Utrecht.-, and within
Ihefe three years was flout enough to go out a {hooting.
I This pariih is fuppofed to' be the largeft in Great Britain; and the
¡duty the moft troublefome and dangerous:. it confifts o f Jura, Co*
I nfay,Oranfay, Skarba| and-feveral little iiles divided by narrow and
■dangerous founds ; forming a length of not lefs than fixty miles-;
Ifupplied by only one minifter and an affiftant.
I Some fuperftitions are obferved here to this time- The old wo-
Inen, when-they undertake any cure; mumble certain rhythmical
incantations ; and, like the antients, endeavour decantare dolorem.
■They preferve a flick o f the wicken tree, or mountain aih, as a.
Iproteition againft. elves.,
I I had fome obfcure account here of. a worm, that in a lefs per-
jnicious degree, b e a r s - fom e refemblance. to the Furia infemalis o f
limnjus, which in the v a f t bogs of Kemi drops on the inhabitants,
I eats into the fleih and occafions a moft excruciating death. The
Faun, Suec* No* 2070*
L o n g e v i t y .
S u p e r s t i t i o n s .