nine o'clock at night
At length it occurred to him , that he might as well ride to Arniston in the cool of the evening . The horses were directed to he put in the stable , but not to be unsaddled . Dinner was ordered , the law was laid aside for a time , and the bottle circulated very freely . At nine o'clock at night , after he bad been honouring Bacchus for so many hours , the Lord Advocate ordered his horses to be unsaddled , -- paper , pen , and ink were brought -- he began to dictate the appeal case -- and continued at his task till four o'clock the next morning . By next day 's post , the solicitor sent the case to London , a chef-d'oeuvre of its kind ; and in which , my informant assured me , it was not necessary on revisal to correct five words . I am not , therefore , conscious of having overstepped accuracy in describing the manner in which Scottish lawyers of the old time occasionally united the worship of Bacchus with that of Themis . My informant was Alexander Keith , Esq. , grandfather to my friend , the present Sir Alexander Keith of Ravelstone , and apprentice at the time to the writer who conducted the cause .