August 14.—­Finished my task before breakfast.  A bad rainy day, for which I should not have cared but for my guests.  However, being good-humoured persons and gifted with taste, we got on very well, by dint of showing prints, curiosities; finally the house up stairs and down; and at length by undertaking a pilgrimage to Melrose in the rain, which pilgrimage we accomplished, but never entered the Abbey Church, having just had wetting enough to induce us, when we arrived at the gate, to “Turn again, Whittington.”

August 15.—­Wrote in the morning.  After breakfast walked with Mr. Philips, who is about to build and plan himself, and therefore seemed to enter con amore into all I had been doing, asked questions, and seemed really interested to learn what I thought myself not ill-qualified to teach.  The little feeling of superior information in such cases is extremely agreeable.  On the contrary, it is a great scrape to find you have been boring some one who did not care a d——­ about the matter, so to speak; and that you might have been as well employed in buttering a whin-stone.  Mr. and Mrs. Philips left us about twelve—­day bad.  I wrote nearly five pages of Chronicles.

August 16.—­A wet, disagreeable, sulky day, but such things may be carried to account.  I wrote upwards of seven pages, and placed myself rectus in curia with Madam Duty, who was beginning to lift up her throat against me.  Nothing remarkable except that Huntly Gordon left us.

August 17.—­Wrote my task in the morning.  After breakfast went out and cut wood with Tom and John Swanston, and hewed away with my own hand; remained on foot from eleven o’clock till past three, doing, in my opinion, a great deal of good in plantations above the house, where the firs had been permitted to predominate too much over the oak and hardwood.  The day was rough and stormy—­not the worst for working, and I could do it with a good conscience, all being well forward in the duty line.  After tea I worked a little longer.  On the whole finished four leaves and upwards—­about a printed sheet—­which is enough for one day.

August 18.—­Finished about five leaves, and then out to the wood, where I chopped away among the trees, laying the foundation for future scenery.  These woods will one day occupy a great number of hands.  Four years hence they will employ ten stout woodsmen almost every day of the year.  Henry and William Scott (Harden) came to dinner.

August 19.—­Wrote till about one, then walked for an hour or two by myself entirely; finished five pages before dinner, when we had Captain and Mrs. Hamilton and young Davidoff, who is their guest.  They remained with us all night.

August 20.—­I corrected proofs and wrote one leaf before breakfast; then went up to Selkirk to try a fellow for an assault.  The people there get rather riotous.  This is a turbulent fierce fellow.  Some of his attitudes were good during the trial.  This dissipated my attention for the day, although I was back by half-past two.  I did not work any more, so am behind in my reckoning.