[75] So called from the brown barrel. At one time all gun barrels were not only bright, but burnished—the date of the abolition of which, is fixed by the following—_Morning Post_, October 3, 1808: “The system of cropping the hair of the soldiers is on the point of being followed up by the adoption of a plan which will, no doubt, give equal satisfaction to the whole army: we mean the abolition of that absurd practice of polishing the arms, which, in some regiments, has been carried to such an excess as materially to injure the piece, and render it totally unfit for use in half the time estimated for fair wear in usual service. Fire-locks upon a new principle, with brown locks and barrels, have been already issued to the light companies of several regiments, and the Board of Ordnance have received orders to complete the issue to the remainder of the army, with all the expedition possible; in consequence of which, a requisition has been made of the gunsmiths in the several regiments to repair, without loss of time, to the Royal Manufactory of Arms at Lewisham.” [76] Dalswinton is in county Dumfries, and the estate was about 5,000 acres, formerly belonging to the Comyns, but it came into the possession of Patrick Miller, Esq., who built a fine mansion on the site of the old castle. He was a man well up to his time, for here, in 1788, he launched, on a lake, the first steamboat ever attempted. [77] Mrs. Clarke is saying: “Ye Captains and ye Colonels, ye parsons wanting place, Advice I’ll give you gratis, and think upon your case, If there’s any possibility, for you I’ll raise the dust, But then you must excuse me, if I serve myself the first.” [78] Commonly known as Colonel Wardell, or Wardle. His real military rank was Major, in which capacity he served in Sir W. W. Wynne’s regiment during the rebellion in Ireland. [79] The italics are mine.—J. A. [80] The _Times_, February 22, 1805. [81] These days amounted to 80 or 90 in the year. End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Dawn of the XIXth Century in England, by John Ashton