`` it is some time since i was last in britain , but i was tolerably familiar with the court of session , then , '' nodding across the square at parliament house , where the court met : scotland 's highest civil court , and a notorious pit of broken hopes , endless dragging suits , and wrangling over technicalities and estates ; presently deserted by all its solicitors , judges , and suitors alike , and only a scattering of harried papers blown up against temeraire 's side like white patches , relics of old settlements .