His predecessors have always been remarkable for their muscular power. Colonel Barclay, the first of Ury, was upwards of six feet in height; and his sword, which still remains, is too heavy to be wielded “in these degenerate days.” Many popular stories are told of the feats of strength performed by his great-grandfather; and the late Mr. Barclay of Ury, it is well known, was uncommonly powerful. The name BARCLAY is of Celtic origin, and implies great strength[19]. Capt. Barclay’s partiality to the exercise of walking, induces him to prefer it to any other mode of travelling; and, except when hunting, he is seldom on horseback. While he carried on the improvements of his estate, as a practical farmer, by retaining in his own possession, and cultivating considerable tracts of land, he frequently had occasion to go to the Highlands of Scotland, for the purpose of purchasing STOCK; and in these expeditions he always travelled on foot. He was generally accompanied by a Mr. Molyson, who is one of those respectable tenants who occupy his estate. Mr. Molyson is very much skilled in every thing relative to the value of land, and agricultural industry, and was bred to the profession of a farmer by the late Mr. Barclay of Ury. He is a man of large stature, and stands six feet three inches. He is strongly, but proportionally and handsomely made, and is a noted pedestrian[20]. Previously to Capt. Barclay’s undertaking his astonishing performance of one thousand miles in one thousand successive hours, he wished an experiment tried on the same plan; and Mr. Molyson, for a small wager, walked one hundred and ninety-two miles in as many successive hours. Mr. Molyson easily accomplished the undertaking, and it was his opinion that he could go on for six months. But it has been now fully ascertained, by the failure of some of the best pedestrians in England[21], that in attempting the BARCLAY MATCH, little inconveniency is felt for the first fortnight. It is from the fifteenth to the twentieth day that the pedestrian begins to feel the arduousness of the undertaking, which gradually increases as he advances. And although Mr. Molyson was fresh and in high spirits at the close of the eight days, it is yet probable, that if he had continued much longer, he would have experienced the same difficulties that others have done.