Note 186 — PART III.[181]
Reading edition
The coarse language here used is in no way an exaggerated account of what may have actually occurred at the period with which the author is dealing. Great laxity of morals and of speech prevailed; but vice, it must also be stated, came more to the surface than now. The people were uncultivated, and did not seek to cast a veil of prudery over their failings, however much these were to be reprobated. Swearing was then considered fashionable among the ladies of England: what could be expected from the peasantry of Scotland?