The circumstance whiCh more especially character izes the climate of the eastern coast, is the frequency of fogs arising from the German Sea; and these, as has been already suggested, are occasioned by the greater degree of heat which takes place in that narrow ocean, compared with the Atlantic. A copious evaporation is the consequence, which, under the appellation of eastern hears, overspreads the adjacent coasts, pro ceeding westward, till they are interrupted by the high mountains which occupy the middle region of Scot land. The easterly winds which convey these exhala tions, and which prevail chiefly in spring, and in the beginning of summer, are, at the same time, cold and piercing. They had passed over a wide continent, which had been covered during many previous months with snow, and have not had time to acquire warmth, from the narrow sea which they had passed over in their course.
These exhalations, accompanied by winds from the east or north-east prevail more or less along the whole eastern coast. The climate of the eastern coast of Scotland, however, more especially towards the south, is salubrious; and less rain falls, unquestionably, than on the west coast, or even in the midland region. Agues, which formerly prevailed on the eastern coast, from the combined influence of exhalations arising from the sea, and from ill cultivated and ill drained grounds, are now less frequent." 4. Results of Meteorological Registers kept in Scotland.
Having thus followed Dr. Graham in his general observations on the climate of Scotland, we shall pro ceed to lay before our readers an abstract of some of the principal meteorological observations that have been made in Scotland. These we shall arrange under the following heads.
1. Observations made with the rain gage, and on the proportion of fair and rainy days in the year.
2. Observations made with the barometer.
3. Observations on the temperature of springs.
4. Observations on the temperature of the atmos phere.
5. Observations on Winds.
1. Observations made with the Rain Gage, and on the proportion of Fair and Rainy Days in the Year.
The following table shows the quantity of rain which fell at Kinfauns Castle, in Lat. 56.1°, from 1813 to 1825 inclusive, 20 feet above the sea: The following table shows the result of three rain gages placed at different heights and observed at Kin fauns Castle.
The inhabitants of Scotland speak three different languages, the English, the Scotch, and the Gaelic.
The English language, whose origin we have already noticed in our article ENGLAND, is spoken by all well educated persons in every part of the kingdom. It is used in all written deeds, and in all works in prose. The Scotch language, which is used by all the lower class in the lowlands, and even by many old persons of the higher ranks, is still employed in our national poet ry. The Gaelic language is spoken in every part of the Highlands; but almost all the I lighlanders are acquaint ed with English, which is taught in all their schools.
The Scotch language, or that which is spoken in the lowlands of Scotland, has generally been regarded as a corrupt dialect of the English, or of the Anglo Saxon; and those who have maintained this opinion, have not scrupled to fix upon some era at which it was imported from the south. Our eminent antiqua rian, Dr. Jamieson,* however, who at first entertained this opinion, was led to investigate the subject with much attention, and the result of this investigation was, that the language of the lowlands of Scotland is as much a separate language as the English, and that its basis, like that of the English, is Teutonic, with a strong mixture of Gaelic and French. In order to establish this opinion, Dr. Jamieson contends that the Picts were a Teutonic race, who invaded Scot land about the same time that England was overrun by the Anglo-Saxons. They conquered and colonized, he conceives, the whole of the low country; while the Gaelic population, like the Welsh, sought for refuge amid the fastnesses of their mountains. Besides the evidence in favour of this opinion, drawn directly from history, Dr. Jamieson considers it as no incon siderable proof, that the northern parts of Scotland were immediately peopled from the north of Eu rope by a Gothic race, that otherwise no satisfactory account can be given of the introduction of the Vul gar language. And he corroborates these views by facts connected with the history of the Orkney islands, and by arguments deduced from the architecture and customs of Scotland.
Considering the Scotch language, therefore, as se parate from all others, it merits a degree of attention, to which, as a corrupt dialect of the English, it could never have been entitled; and we have no doubt that our readers will be gratified with the following inge nious observations upon it, which were published anonymously by one of the principal contributors to this work.