History and traditions of the land of the Lindsays in Angus and Mearns

GLENESK — NEW KIRKYAED. 75
tion. To a benign and conciliatory disposition he added those
of charity and benevolence ; and, when the wanderings of the
disciples of Edie Ochiltree were rather encouraged than prohi-
bited, his house was a well known and welcome resting place
" to all the vagrant train," being situate at the south side of the
great highland pass by Mount Keen to Deeside. Perhaps no
minister ever approached closer to the beautiful description which
Goldsmith has left of his father than the late Mr. Inglis ; and,
although he enjoyed, in reality, more than " forty pounds a-
year," it is questionable, when his many charities are taken into
account, whether he had much more to defray the expenses of
a large family ; but, alike with the hero of that inimitable poem —
" Remote from towns he run his godly race,
Nor e'er had chang'd, nor wish'd to change, his place.
Unskilful he to fawn, or seek for power,
By doctrines fashion'd to the varying hour :
Far other aims his heart had learn'd to prize,
More bent to raise the wretched than to rise."
Nor was it alone the homeless wanderer, or " ruined spend-
thrift," who had their claims so often and so liberally allowed by
Mr. Inglis, whose kindness gave so largely and generally, that
his manse has been likened more to an inn than to a private resid-
ence. He used to tell an amusing story of a gentleman who had
come over the hill one day on horseback, when several pleasure
parties were hi the glen. The vehicles were, as usual, ensconsed
around the manse, and the minister was amusing himself alone
in the garden. Believing it to be a bona fide inn, and Mr. Inglis
the landlord, the traveller leapt from his nag, and called on his
reverence to stable it up! No sooner said than done ; Mr. Inglis,
who was as fond of a joke as he was generous of heart, led the
animal to the stable ; and the rider having seen his horse " all
right," entered the house and called for a dram. The minister,
still acting as " mine host," brought the glass and big-bellied
bottle, and good humonredly supplied the demand ; nor was it
until the hour of his departure, when the bill was sought, that the
stranger discovered his mistake, when his surprise may be better
conceived than expressed ! Many similar traits are told of the
hospitality of this worthy man, who died in January 1837, and,