Letter from James Hay Beattie to James Dun Letter from James Hay Beattie, Gordon Castle, to James Dun, telling him that he had received his letter; saying he is in good health and James Beattie has recovered from his cough but still suffering from rheumatism. Letter mentions rat bites and James Hay's shooting of rats and young crows with his gun: "The Ratbites are much fewer now than they were when you was here; and they indeed hardly ever to be seen, except sometimes in a fine evening. I have only killed two of them all the time I have been here, although I am provided with an excellent Gun, and am very assiduous in searching for them. It is now the season of the young Crows; I have shot a great many of them with my Gun. I have shot two with the air gun, which shoots with such exactness, that it is hardly possible for a tolerably good shooter to miss a Crow with it in the top of the highest trees here, although the bullet it shoots is not much longer than a Pea". James Hay writes about his studies and says he mostly shoots, walks and sometimes draws. Also letter talks about James Hay's intended trip to Aberdeen; defending his grandfather's garden from the sparrows and asks about the Peacock and his 'old freinds [sic] the cats'. James Hay writes that his grandfather desired him to send verses, epigrams, epitaphs or anecdotes; and James Hay transcribes an Epigram, which is in Italian, French, Latin, English & 'abroad Scotch' and from the 'Window of an Inn': "In questa casa trovarete Tout ce que l'on y peut fouhaiter Vinum, panem, pisces, carnes, Coaches, Chaises, Horses, Harness, Coal and candle, wife and bairnies" James Hay provides a translation of the Italian line, which he received from his father: "In this house you will find". 14 May 1783