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diff --git a/old/56157-8.txt b/old/56157-8.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 026cfac..0000000 --- a/old/56157-8.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,14323 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Nether Lochaber, by Alexander Stewart - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - - - -Title: Nether Lochaber - The Natural History, Legends, and Folk-lore of the West Highlands - -Author: Alexander Stewart - -Release Date: December 10, 2017 [EBook #56157] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NETHER LOCHABER *** - - - - -Produced by Jeroen Hellingman and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net/ for Project -Gutenberg (This file was produced from images generously -made available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) - - - - - - - - - - NETHER LOCHABER: - - THE NATURAL HISTORY, - LEGENDS, AND FOLK-LORE - OF THE WEST HIGHLANDS. - - - BY - The Rev. ALEXANDER STEWART, F.S.A. Scot.; - - MINISTER OF THE PARISH OF BALLACHULISH AND ARDGOUR. - - - EDINBURGH: - WILLIAM PATERSON. - MDCCCLXXXIII. - - - - - - - - - EDINBURGH: BURNESS AND COMPANY, PRINTERS TO HER MAJESTY. - - - - - - - - - TO - DONALD CAMPBELL, Esq., M.D., - OF - CRAIGRANNOCH, BALLACHULISH, - IN PLEASANT RECOLLECTION OF HAPPY HOURS AT ONICH AND CRAIGRANNOCH, - AND - OF MANY A DELIGHTFUL MIDSUMMER RAMBLE, - THIS VOLUME IS INSCRIBED - WITH MUCH AFFECTIONATE REGARD BY HIS FRIEND - THE AUTHOR. - - - - - - - - -PREFATORY NOTE. - - -The contents of this volume made their first appearance in the shape -of a series of papers from "Nether Lochaber" in the Inverness Courier, -a well-known Northern Journal, long and ably conducted by the late -Dr. Robert Carruthers. They are now presented to the public in book -form, in the hope that they may meet with a friendly welcome from -a still larger constituency than gave them kindly greeting in their -original shape, as from fortnight to fortnight they appeared. - -At one time it was the Author's intention to rewrite and rearrange -all, or almost all, these papers, adding, altering, or expunging as -might be considered best. On second thoughts, however--second thoughts, -besides, approved of by many literary and scientific friends, in whose -judgment and good taste the Author has the utmost confidence--it was -resolved to let them retain very much the form in which they first -attracted attention, in the belief that any good that could result -from a rewriting and reconstructing of them would be dearly purchased -if it interfered, as it was almost certain to interfere, with their -prima cura directness of phrase and freshness of local colouring. - -In a volume dealing so largely with the Folk-Lore of the West Highlands -and Hebrides, there are necessarily many Gaelic rhymes and phrases -which at the first blink may tend to startle and repel the southern -reader. These Gaelic quotations, however, the Author has taken care -to translate into fairly equivalent English, so that even in this -regard it is to be hoped the volume may prove equally acceptable to -the Saxon, who is ignorant of the language of the mountains, as to -the Celt, who knows and loves it as his mother tongue. - - -Nether Lochaber, - -June 1883. - - - - - - - - -CONTENTS. - - -CHAPTER I. - - PAGE - - Primroses and Daisies in early March--"The Posie"--Burns--"The - Ancient Mariner"--William Tennant, Author of "Anster - Fair"--Hebridean Epithalamium--A Bard's Blessing--A - Translation--Macleod of Berneray, 1 - -CHAPTER II. - - Autumnal Tints--Solomon and the Queen of Sheba--Sortes - Sacræ--Sortes Virgilianæ--Charles the First and Lord - Falkland--Virgilius the Magician--Thomas of Ercildoune, 8 - -CHAPTER III. - - An old Gaelic MS.--"The Bewitched Bachelor Unbewitched"--Fairy - Lore--Lacteal Libations on Fairy Knowes, 18 - -CHAPTER IV. - - Transit of Mercury--Improperly called an "Eclipse" of--November - Meteors--Mr. Huggins--Spectrum Analyses of Cometary - Light--Translation of a St. Kilda Song, 23 - -CHAPTER V. - - Bird Music--The Skylark's Song--Imitation of, by a French - Poet--Alasdair Macdonald--Scott, 29 - -CHAPTER VI. - - Severe Drought--The Drive by Coach from Fort-William to - Kingussie--Breakfast at Moy--Where did Scott find Dominie Sampson's - "Pro-di-gi-ous!"?--Professor Blackie's Poem on Glencoe, 33 - -CHAPTER VII. - - O the Barren, Barren Shore--Brilliant Auroral Display--Intense - Cold--Birds--Glanders--Scribblings on the Back of One Pound - Notes, 39 - -CHAPTER VIII. - - A Wet February--A Good Time coming--Sir Walter Scott--Mr - Gladstone--Death of Sir David Brewster, 44 - -CHAPTER IX. - - Long-Line Fishing--Scarcity of Fish--Their Fecundity--Large - Specimen of the Raia Chagrinea--The Wolf Fish--The Devil Fish, 50 - -CHAPTER X. - - Birds--Contest between a Heron and an Eel, 54 - -CHAPTER XI. - - Sea-Fishing--Loch and Stream Fishing--"Brindled - Worms"--Rush-Lights--Buckie-Shell Lamps--The Weasel killing a - Hare--Killing a Fallow Deer Fawn, 58 - -CHAPTER XII. - - Extraordinary aspect of the Sun--Sunset from - Rokeby--Mr. Glaisher--"Demoiselle" or Numidian Crane at - Deerness--The Snowy Owl in Sutherlandshire--Does the Fieldfare - breed in Scotland?--The Woodcock, 66 - -CHAPTER XIII. - - Extraordinary Heat and Drought--Plentifulness of Fungi--Cows fond - of Mushrooms--Shoals of Whales--A rippling breeze, and a Sail on - Loch Leven, 70 - -CHAPTER XIV. - - Herrings--Chimæra Monstrosa--Cure for Ringworm--Cold Tea Leaves for - inflamed and blood-shot Eyes--An old Incantation for the cure of - Sore Eyes--A curious Dirk Sheath--A Tannery of Human Skins, 73 - -CHAPTER XV. - - The Ring-Dove--A Pet Ring-Dove--Its Death--Shenstone--The - Belone Vulgaris or Gar-Fish--A Rat and a Kilmarnock - Night-cap--Extraordinary Roebuck's Head at Ardgour, 79 - -CHAPTER XVI. - - The "Annus Mirabilis" of Dryden--1870 a more wonderful Year - in its way than 1666--Winter--Number of Killed and Wounded - in the Franco-Prussian War--Battles of Langside, Tippermuir, - Cappel--Carrier Pigeons--The Velocity with which Birds fly, 86 - -CHAPTER XVII. - - Signs of a severe Winter--The Little Auk or Auklet--The - Gadwall--Falcons being trained by the Prussians to intercept - the Paris Carrier Pigeons--Ballooning--The King of Prussia's - Piety--John Forster--Solar Eclipse of 22d December 1870--The - Government and the Eclipse--Large Solar Spots--Visible to the - naked eye--Rev. Dr. Cumming--November Meteors, 94 - -CHAPTER XVIII. - - November Rains: 1500 tons per Imperial Acre!--Rainfall in Skye--An - old Gaelic Apologue--The Drover and his Minister--Grand Stag's - Head--Scott as a Poet--Mr. Gladstone and Scott--An old Lullaby - from the Gaelic, 99 - -CHAPTER XIX. - - Winter--Auroral Displays in the West Highlands always indicative - of a coming Storm--Corvus Corax--Wonderful Ravens--Edgar Allan - Poe, 106 - -CHAPTER XX. - - Along the Shore after Birds--An Otter in pursuit of a Fish--Tame - Otter at Bridge of Tilt: Employed in Fishing--His hatred of - all sorts of Birds--"The Otter and Fox," a translation from the - Gaelic, 114 - -CHAPTER XXI. - - Storms--An "inch" of Rain--Atherina Presbyter--Lophius - Piscatorius--Mr. Mortimer Collins' misquotation from the Times, 121 - -CHAPTER XXII. - - Aurora Borealis--Unfavourable weather for Birds about - St. Valentine's Day--The Water-Vole in the Rhi--In the Eden in - Fifeshire--In the Black Water, Kinloch Leven--Does it feed - on Salmon Fry and Ova?--The Kingfisher--Character of the - Water-Vole--Note about the Hedgehog, 127 - -CHAPTER XXIII. - - March--The Story of a Spanish Dollar--The Spanish Armada--The - "Florida"--Faire-Chlaidh, or Watching of the Graveyard--Molehill - Earth for Flowers, 133 - -CHAPTER XXIV. - - The Beauty of the West Highland Seaboard--Dr. Aiton of - Dolphinton--Dr. Norman Macleod--Specimen of Turtle-Dove (Columba - Turtur) shot in Ardgour--The belief on the Continent of its - value as a Household Pet--Bechstein--Male Birds dropping Eggs in - confinement, 140 - -CHAPTER XXV. - - Thunderstorm--Potato Field in Bloom--The Hazel Tree--Hazel - Nuts--Potato Shaws for Cattle--Ferns for Bedding - Cattle--Marmion--Scott, 144 - -CHAPTER XXVI. - - Harvest--Scythe and Sickle v. Reaping Machines--Potatoes--Garibaldi - and Potatoes at Caprera--Fishing--Platessa Gemmatus, or Diamond - Plaice--Mushrooms--The Poetry of Fairy Rings--Harvest-Home, 150 - -CHAPTER XXVII. - - The disappearance of the glories of Autumn, and the advent - of Winter--Innovations and Innovators--New Version of the - Scriptures--The Milkmaid and her Fairy Lover, translated from - the Gaelic, 159 - -CHAPTER XXVIII. - - Wild Birds' Nests in early April--Rook stealing Eggs frightened - and almost captured--The Domestic Cock--What he was, and what he - is--Sadly demoralised by intermixture with "Cochin-Chinas" and - "Bramahpootras," 165 - -CHAPTER XXIX. - - The Vernal Equinox--Beauty of Loch Leven--Astronomical Notes--How - an old Woman supposed to possess the Evil Eye escaped a cruel - death, 172 - -CHAPTER XXX. - - Midges and other Bloodsuckers--The Tsetse of South Africa--The - Abyssinian Zimb--Livingstone--Adders and Grass Snakes--Lucan's - Pharsalia--Celsus--Legend of St. John ante Portam Latinam, 178 - -CHAPTER XXXI. - - The Leafing of the Oak and Ash--Splendid Stags' Heads--Edmund - Waller--Old Silver-Plate buried for preservation in the - '45--Mimicry in Birds--An accomplished Goldfinch, 185 - -CHAPTER XXXII. - - Potato Culture--Sensibility of the Potato Shaw to Weather - changes--The Carline Thistle--Burns--The true Carduus - Scotticus--The old Dog-Rhyme, 192 - -CHAPTER XXXIII. - - A non-"Laughing" Summer--Rheumatic Pains--Old Gaelic Incantation - for Cattle Ailments, 199 - -CHAPTER XXXIV. - - Early sowing recommended--Vitality of - Superstitions--Capnomancy--Hazel Nuts: Frequent References to - in Gaelic Poetry--How best to get at the full flavour of a ripe - Hazel Nut, 204 - -CHAPTER XXXV. - - Strength of Insects--Necrophorus Vespillo, or - Burying-Beetle--Foetid smell of--How Willie Grimmond earned an - Honest Penny in Glencoe, 210 - -CHAPTER XXXVI. - - Seaweed as a Fertiliser--Homer, Horace, Virgil--November - Meteors--Gaelic Folk-Lore--A Curfew Prayer--A Bed Blessing--A - Cattle Blessing--Rhyme to be said in driving Cattle to - Pasture--"Luath," Cuchullin's Dog--Notes from the Outer - Hebrides, 217 - -CHAPTER XXXVII. - - The Delights of Beltane Tide--Bishop Gawin Douglas--His - Translation of the Æneid--The Fat of Deer--"Light and Shade" - from the Gaelic--Mackworth Praed--Discovery of an old Flint - Manufactory in the Moss of Ballachulish, 225 - -CHAPTER XXXVIII. - - Warm showery Summer disagreeable for the Tourist, but pastorally - and agriculturally favourable--Xiphias Gladius, or Sword-Fish, - cast ashore during a Mid-summer Gale--Garibaldi dining on Potatoes - and Sword-Fish steaks at Caprera--The General's Drink--Medicinal - virtues of an Onion--Nettle Broth--Translation of a New Zealand - Maori Song, 233 - -CHAPTER XXXIX. - - Mountains--The Lochaber Axe, Ancient and Modern, 238 - -CHAPTER XL. - - Sea-Fowl--Weather Prognostics--Goosander (Mergus Merganser, - Linn.)--Gales of Wind--January Primroses--Lachlan Gorach, the Mull - "Natural"--A Dancing Rhyme, 244 - -CHAPTER XLI. - - Plague of Thistles in Australia and New Zealand--How to deal - with them--Cnicus Acaulis, Great Milk Thistle, or Stemless - Thistle--Fierce Fight between two Seals, "Nelson" and - "Villeneuve," 250 - -CHAPTER XLII. - - Wounds from Stags' Antlers exceedingly dangerous--The old Fingalian - Ballads--Number of Dogs kept for the Chase--Dr. Smith's "Ancient - Lays" of modern manufacture--The Spotted Crake (Crex Prozana) - at Inverness--Its Habits, 258 - -CHAPTER XLIII. - - Whelks and Periwinkles--An Ossianic Reading--The Sea-shore - after a Storm--The Rejectamenta of the deep--An amusing - Story of a Shore-Searcher--Severity of Winter--Wild-Birds' - Levee--Woodcock--Snipe--Blue Jay, 264 - -CHAPTER XLIV. - - A "Blessed Thaw" after a Severe Frost--Longevity in Lochaber--A - ready "Saline draught"--A probatum est Recipe for Catarrh and - Colds--Egg-shell Superstition--Curious old Gaelic Poem, 272 - -CHAPTER XLV. - - "Albert," a famous Labrador Dog--As a Water Dog--His - intelligence--Takes to Sheep-Stealing--Death! 278 - -CHAPTER XLVI. - - An old Fingalian Hero--His keenness of Sight and sharpness of - Ear--Foresters and Keepers--Foxhunters--Donald MacDonald--His - Dogs--Sandy MacArthur the Mole-catcher, 286 - -CHAPTER XLVII. - - Autumnal Night--Meteors--The Spanish Mackerel--Professor Blackie's - Translations from the Gaelic--The "Translations" of the Gaelic - Society of Inverness, 293 - -CHAPTER XLVIII. - - Crops--Potato Slug--Fern Slug--Brackens: How thoroughly to - extirpate them--The Merlin, Falcon, and Tringa, 299 - -CHAPTER XLIX. - - The Hedgehog an Egg and Bird Eater?--Bird-catching--"Old - Cowie"--Mackenzie--Lanius Excubitor--The Butcher-Bird or - Shrike--Tea-Drinking and Sobriety, 305 - -CHAPTER L. - - Superstition amongst the People--Difficulty of dealing - with it--Examples of Superstitions still prevalent in the - Highlands--Cock-crowing at untimely hours--Itching of the - Nose--Ringing in the Ears--The "Dead-Bell"--Sir Walter - Scott--Hogg--Mickle, 313 - -CHAPTER LI. - - Welcome Rain in May--Plague of Mice in Upper Teviotdale--Arvicola - Agrestis--Field-Mice in Ardgour--How exterminated--A Singing - Mouse--Farmers' Mistakes--Mackenzie the Bird-catcher, 319 - -CHAPTER LII. - - Tourist Grumblers; how to deal with them--Sea Fishing--Superstition - about a Gull--Josephus--Story of Mosollam and the Augur, 327 - -CHAPTER LIII. - - Heat in Mid-August--Early Planting and Sowing--Over-ripening of - Crops--Medusæ--Stinging Jelly-Fish--The amount of solid matter - in Jelly-Fish, 334 - -CHAPTER LIV. - - Approach of Winter--Contentedness of the People--Poets and - Wild-Bird Song--Differences in the Colouring and Markings of - Birds' Eggs--Late Nest-building--Anecdote of Provost Robertson - of Dingwall, Mr. Gladstone's Grandfather, 341 - -CHAPTER LV. - - Spring--Hood's Parody of Thomson's Invocation--The excellence - of Nettle-Top Soup--Cock-crowing--Birds'-nesting--Professor - Geikie--Curious Story of an old Pipe-Tune, 348 - -CHAPTER LVI. - - Rain in Lochaber--An Apple Tree in bloom by Candle-light--Mackenzie - the Bird-catcher--A Badenoch "Wise Woman" spitting in a Child's - Face to preserve it from the Fairies, 355 - -CHAPTER LVII. - - Caught in a Squall on Loch Leven--Potatoes and Herrings: How - to cook them--A day in Glen Nevis--A visit to Uaimh Shomhairle, - or Samuel's Cave--The Cave-Men, 361 - -CHAPTER LVIII. - - Showers in Harvest Time--Magnificent Sunset--Night sometimes - seeming not to descend but to ascend--Death of M. Leverrier--The - Discovery of Neptune--Pigeon cooing at Midnight--The Owl at - Noon--Cage-Birds singing at Night, 370 - -CHAPTER LIX. - - October Storms--Cablegram Predictions--Indications of - coming Storms--Geordie Braid, the St. Andrews and Newport - Coach-driver--The Naturalist in Winter--Drowned Hedgehogs: Spines - become soft and gelatinous--Lophius Piscatorius--Disproportion - between head and body in the Devil-Fish a puzzle--An Itinerant - Fiddler, 379 - -CHAPTER LX. - - A Trip to Glasgow--Kelvin Grove Museum--Highland Association--A - run to Rothesay--Rothesay Aquarium, 387 - -CHAPTER LXI. - - Overland from Ballachulish to Oban on a "Pet Day" in - February--Story of Clach Ruric--Castle Stalker: an old - Stronghold of the Stewarts of Appin--James IV.--Charles - II.--Magpies--Dun-Mac-Uisneachan, 394 - -CHAPTER LXII. - - Nest-building--Cunningham's objection to Burns' Song, "O were - my Love yon Lilac fair"--Birds and the Lilac Tree--Rivalries of - Birds--Birds and the Poets--The Nightingale, 402 - -CHAPTER LXIII. - - March Dust--Moons of Mars--Planetoids--Occultation of Alpha - Leonis--Zodiacal Light--Snow Bunting--Old Gaelic Ballad of - "Deirdri:" Its Topography, 410 - - - - - - - - -NETHER LOCHABER. - - -CHAPTER I. - - Primroses and Daisies in early March--"The Posie"--Burns--"The - Ancient Mariner"--William Tennant, Author of Anster Fair--Hebridean - Epithalamium--A Bard's Blessing--A Translation--Macleod of - Berneray. - - -The weather [March 1868] with us here still continues wonderfully -genial and mild: taken all in all, the season may be noted as in this -respect perhaps without precedent in our meteorological annals. The -sun, with nearly eight degrees of southern declination, is not yet -half-way through Pisces; we are still three weeks from the vernal -equinox, and yet on our table before us, as we write these lines, -there is as pretty a posy of wild-flowers as you could wish to see, -consisting of daisies, primroses, and other modest beauties, the -"firstlings of the year," culled from bank and brae at a date when -in ordinary seasons the country, snow-covered or ice-bound, is but -a bleak and barren waste. Older and wiser people than ourselves -confidently predict "a winter in mid-spring" as yet in store for us; -but meliora speramus, we had rather believe that to one of the mildest -winters on record will succeed a genial spring, a splendid summer, -and an abundant harvest. In any case, as somebody said of Scaliger -and Clavius, Mallem cum Scaligero errare quam cum Clavio rectè sapere: -I had rather, that is, be a partaker in the errors of Scaliger, than -a sharer in all the wisdom of Clavius. Even so, we had rather err -with the optimists than be ranked with the pessimists, even when their -predictions turn out the truest. In our forenoon ramble on Friday last -did we not find a merle's nest in the close and well-guarded embrace -of an old thorn root, with its pretty treasure of four brown-spotted, -greyish-green eggs? and with our wild-flower bouquet before us, -are we not better employed in crooning one of Burns' sweetest lyrics -than in predicting evil, even if we were certain that our prediction -should become true?--said lyric being that entitled The Posie, which, -dear reader, if you do not know it already, you should incontinently -get by heart. Here is a verse or two:-- - - - "Oh, luve will venture in where it daurna weel be seen; - Oh, luve will venture in, where wisdom ance has been; - But I will down yon river rove, amang the wood sae green-- - And a' to pu' a posie to my ain dear May. - - "The primrose I will pu', the firstling o' the year, - And I will pu' the pink, the emblem o' my dear; - For she's the pink o' womankind, and blooms without a peer-- - And a' to be a posie to my ain dear May. - - "The lily it is pure, and the lily it is fair, - And in her lovely bosom I'll place the lily there; - The daisy's for simplicity and unaffected air-- - And a' to be a posie to my ain dear May. - - "The hawthorn I will pu', wi' its locks o' siller grey, - Where, like an aged man, it stands at break o' day; - But the songster's nest within the bush I winna tak away-- - And a' to be a posie to my ain dear May." - - -Mark that line in italics, and ponder its exquisite tenderness. How it -must have irradiated, like a sudden flood of sunshine over a mountain -landscape, the poet's heart as he penned it! Here you have the germ -of the doctrine afterwards more broadly taught by Coleridge in the -well-known lines of the Ancient Mariner:-- - - - "Farewell, farewell, but this I tell - To thee, thou Wedding Guest, - He prayeth well, who loveth well - Both man, and bird, and beast. - He prayeth best, who loveth best - All things, both great and small; - For the dear God who loveth us, - He made and loveth all." - - -We love The Posie of Burns for its own sake, but we love it all -the more, perhaps, because our attention was first directed to its -sweet simplicity and tender beauty by one of our earliest and kindest -friends, himself a poet of no mean order, the late Professor William -Tennant, author of Anster Fair, in all its fantastical gaiety and -homely mirth the most original poem, perhaps, to be found in the -literature of our country. - -A gentleman who resides at present in Cheltenham, a cadet of one of -the oldest and most respectable families on the West Coast, and himself -the head of a house not unknown in Highland story, has been so good as -to send us a short Gaelic poem in manuscript, with a request that we -should give an English version of it. With this request we very readily -comply, such a task being to us a labour of love; the poem itself, -besides, being very beautiful, and the history of its composition -extremely interesting, as throwing some light on the manners and -customs of the olden times. The following prefatory note from the -MS. itself sufficiently explains the origin of this quaint and curious -Hebridean Epithalamium:--"It was the custom in the West Highlands of -Scotland in the olden time to meet the bride coming forth from her -chamber with her maidens on the morning after her marriage, and to -salute her with a poetical blessing called Beannachadh Bàird. On the -occasion of the marriage of the Rev. Donald Macleod of Durinish, in the -Isle of Skye, this practice having then got very much into desuetude, -and none being found prepared to salute his bride agreeably to it, -he himself came forward and received her with the following beautiful -address." We present our readers with the original lines verbatim et -literatim, precisely as they stand in the MS., only omitting two lines -that are partly illegible from their falling into the sharp foldings -of the sheet. The sense and tenor of these lines, however, we have -ventured to guess at and to incorporate with our English version:-- - - - Beannachadh Bàird. - - Mìle fàilte dhuit le 'd bhrèid, - Fad' a rè gu'n robh thu slàn, - Moran laithean dhuit as sìth, - Le d' mhaitheas as le d' nì 'bhith fàs. - A chulaidh cheiteas a chaidh suas. - 'S tric a thairin buaidh air mnaoi-- - Bithse gu suilceach, ceiteach, - O thionnseain thu fhein 'san treubh. - An tùs do choiruith 's tu òg, - An tùs gach lò iarr Righ nan Dùl; - Cha'n' eagal nach dean e gu ceart - Gach dearbh-bheachd a bhios 'nad rùn, - Bithsa fialuidh--ach bith glic. - Bith misneachail--ach bith stolt. - Na bith brith'nach, 's na bith balbh, - Na bith mear na marbh 's tu òg; - Bith gleidhteach air do dhea ainm, - Ach na bith duinte 's na bith fuar; - Na labhair fòs air neach gu olc, - 'S ged labhras ort, na taisbean fuath. - Na bith gearannach fo chrois, - Falbh socair le cupan làn; - Chaoidh dh' an olc na tabhair spèis-- - As le 'd bhrèid ort, mìle fàilt! - - -Whether with the sense of the above we have succeeded in catching -anything of its quaint beauty and tenderness in the following lines, -is for the reader to judge:-- - - - A Bard's Blessing. - - Comely and kerchief'd, blooming, fresh and fair, - All hail and welcome! joy and peace be thine; - Of happiness and health a bounteous share - Be shower'd upon thee from the hand divine. - Wearing the matron's coif, thou seem'st to be - Even lovelier now than erst, when fancy-free, - Thou in thy beauty's strength did'st steal my heart from me. - - Though young in years thou 'rt now a wedded wife; - O seek His guidance who can guide aright. - With aid from Him, the rugged path of life - May still be trod with pleasure and delight; - For He who made us bids us not forego - A single, sinless pleasure in this world of woe. - - Be open-hearted, but be eident too, - Be strong and full of courage, but be staid; - Aught like unseemly folly still eschew-- - Be faultless wife as thou wast faultless maid! - Guard against hasty speech and temper violent, - And knowing when to speak, know also to be silent. - - Guard thy good name and mine from smallest stain; - In manner still be kindly, frank, and free; - If thou 'rt reviled, revile not thou again; - In hour of trial calm and patient be; - And when thy cup is full, walk humbly still, - A careless, proud, rash step the blissful cup may spill! - - With this bard's blessing on thy wedded morn, - All at thy bridal chamber-door we greet thee; - May every joy of truth and goodness born - Through all thy life-long journey crowd to meet thee; - And may the God of Peace now richly shed - A blessing on thy kerchief-cinctured head! - - -The word breid in the original, which we have rendered kerchief -and coif, was in the olden times the peculiar head-dress of married -females, while virgins wore their braided locks uncovered, a simple -ribbon to bind the hair, and occasionally a sprig of heather or modest -flower by way of ornament, being the only head-dress that could with -propriety be worn by a maiden in the good old anti-chignon days of -our grandmothers. The Highland maiden's narrow ribbon for binding -the hair was in the south of Scotland called a snood, probably from -the old English snod--"neat, handsome"--a word still in use in the -English border counties. In the south, even more pointedly than in -the north, the emblematical character of the maiden ribbon or snood -was recognised. It was only when a maiden became an honest, lawful -wife that the coif--also called curch and toy--could be worn with -propriety. If a damsel was so unfortunate as to lose pretentions -to the name of maiden, without acquiring a right to that of matron, -she was neither permitted to wear that emblem of virgin purity, the -snood, nor advanced to the graver dignity of the coif or curch. In -old Scottish songs there occur many sly allusions to such misfortunes, -as in the original words of the popular tune of "Ower the muir amang -the heather"-- - - - "Down amang the broom, the broom, - Down among the broom, my dearie, - The lassie lost her silken snood, - That gart her greet till she was wearie." - - -And in a verse of a curious old ballad that we took down some years -ago from the recitation of a grey-headed Paisley weaver-- - - - "And did ye say ye lo'ed me weel? - Then, kind sir, ye maun marrie me; - For that I maunna wear my snood - Aft brings the saut tear to my ee." - - -The reverend author of the above lines was probably born about the -year 1700, or perhaps ten or twenty years earlier, for we find -that he died a man well advanced in years in 1760. In the Scots -Magazine of that year there is the following notice of Mr Macleod's -death:--"Jan. 12th.--At Durinish, in the Isle of Skye, the Rev. Donald -Macleod, minister of that parish, a gentleman, says our correspondent, -who adorned his profession, not so much by a literary merit, of which -he possessed a considerable share, as by a consistent practice of the -most useful and excellent virtues. To do good was the ruling passion -of his heart; in composing differences, in diffusing the spirit of -peace and friendship, in relieving the distressed, in promoting the -happiness of the widow and orphan, his zeal was almost unexampled, -his activity unmeasured, his success remarkable. It is almost -unnecessary to add that he lived with a most amiable character, -and died universally regretted." - -A somewhat curious circumstance is the following:--One of the -Rev. Mr. Macleod's daughters was married to Macleod of Berneray, she -being that gentleman's third wife. Berneray was at the date of this -third marriage seventy-five years of age, notwithstanding which he -became by this lady the father of nine children. He lived a hale and -hearty old man till he was upwards of ninety. He was reckoned in his -day a splendid specimen of the stalwart, sterling, straight-forward, -and chivalrous Highland gentleman, "all of the olden time." - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER II. - - Autumnal Tints--Solomon and the Queen of Sheba--Sortes - Sacræ--Sortes Virgilianæ--Charles the First and Lord - Falkland--Virgilius the Magician--Thomas of Ercildoune. - - -With occasional gales of wind and blustering showers [October 1868], -that, from their chilliness and snellness, you suspect to be sleet, -although you don't like as yet exactly to say so--meteorological -phenomena, however, in no way strange or unusual on the back of the -autumnal equinox--the weather with us here continues delightfully -bright and breezy, and the country looks beautiful. Field and -upland are still as freshly green as at midsummer, while the deep, -rich russet hues and golden tints of the declining year, gleaming -in the fitful sunlight, and intermingling their glories with the -still beautifully fresh and unspotted foliage of our hardier trees -and shrubs; with the ripe, ruddy bloom of the heather empurpling the -moorland and the hill, and a perfect sea of "brackens brown" mantling -the mountain side, and fringing, in loving companionship with the -birch, the alder, and the hazel, the torrent's brink, as it leaps -in foam from rock to rock and dashes downwards with its wild music -to the sea,--all this, with a thousand indescribable accessories, -scarcely perceptible indeed in the general effect, but all bearing -their fitting part in the delightful whole, presents at this season, -and never more markedly than this year, a scene that you never tire -of gazing at, and declaring again and again, and with all your heart, -to be "beautiful exceedingly." As you gaze on such a scene as this, -you feel that no painter could paint it; that there is a something -in it all too subtile and spiritual to be transferred to canvas by -any art whatever. An imitation, indeed, of all that is palpable and -tangible about it you may get, and it may be very beautiful perhaps, -and a triumph of art in a way; but, even as you gaze in admiration, -ready to grant the artist all the praise that is his due, are you -not apt, remembering the scene as nature has it, to - - - "Start, for soul is wanting there?" - - -But we must not be misunderstood. Painters and painting we love, -and have always loved, and should be sorry, indeed, to be considered -as in any way dead or indifferent to the power and beauty of the -art. Painting, after all, however, and especially landscape painting, -is but an imitative art, and the longer we live, and the more we are -brought face to face with nature, the more shall we feel that there is -a charm, an attractiveness, and a loveliness about her all her own--a -something that you feel but cannot describe, that the artist as he -gazes feels too, and strives to grasp and instil into his picture, -but cannot charm into interminglement with his colours, "charm he -never so wisely." Viewed æsthetically, nature in sooth consists not of -matter only, but of matter and spirit, and therein is the secret of her -surpassing power over us. You may subtly imitate and reproduce exact -representations of her more prominent features and general outlines, -and the painter, according as he is more or less gifted with the -poetic mens divina, may infuse a moral meaning into his work, and a -subtile beauty entirely independent of the mere manipulation of his -subject--be it landscape, seascape, or cloudscape--and his work may -impart instruction as well as pleasure and delight; but, granting -all this, there shall still be something awanting even in the finest -pictures, that something which we have ventured to call spirit--the -spirit that pervades and permeates nature in all her works, that is -her life, that may be "spiritually discerned" in her, but cannot be -transferred to canvas. - -In the collection of Jewish traditions known as the Talmud there -is a very pretty story of Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, that will -serve to illustrate our meaning better than the longest dissertation -could be. It is to the following effect:--Attracted by his wealth, and -wisdom, and power--the fame whereof had gone forth into all lands--the -Queen of Sheba, the Beautiful, paid a visit to Solomon, the Wise, -at his own court, that she might there admire the splendour of his -throne and be instructed of his wisdom. Charmed with the courtesy and -gallantry of the accomplished King, delighted with the magnificence -and splendour of his court, and amazed at his surpassing wisdom, -which, indeed, exceeded all that she had heard reported of it, the -Queen still thought that Solomon could be outwitted, and she resolved -to have the glory of puzzling and outwitting one so wise. To this -end she one day presented herself before the King, bearing in one of -her hands a wreath of natural flowers, the most beautiful she could -gather, and in the other a similar wreath of artificial flowers, -the most beautiful and like unto natural flowers that the cunning -of herself and her handmaidens could fashion. Of the two wreaths -the hues were of the brightest, and the flowers of the one wreath -were as if they had been pulled off the same stalks that bore the -flowers of the other. "Tell me now, O King," said the Queen as she -stood at some distance from the throne whereon the monarch sate, -"Tell me now, O King, which of these wreaths I hold in my hands is -fashioned of artificial flowers, for one of them is so fashioned; -and which of them of natural flowers, that grew from out the earth, -and imbibed their beauty and their brightness from the sun, for of -such of a truth is one of them formed?" And, lo, the King was perplexed -and sorely troubled, for he wist not what answer to make, seeing that -the two wreaths were as like one to another as twin sisters at their -mother's breast, or twin lilies on the same stalk. And the courtiers -of the King, and his princes, and his servants, were sorely grieved -that the sagacity of the King should be at fault, and his superhuman -wisdom at last fail. But, lo, the spirit of wisdom came upon the -King in his perplexity. Observing some bees clustering outside, -he ordered the window to be opened, and soon the bees came swarming -into the court, and after hovering for a moment about the one wreath, -they straightway left it and settled upon the other, which observing, -"That," said the King, "that, and not the other, is the wreath of -the flowers that grew from out the earth and in the sun, and were -not fashioned with hands." And the Queen was mightily surprised at -the exceeding wisdom of the King, and did obeisance unto Solomon, -laying the wreaths of flowers upon the steps of the ivory throne that -was overlaid with gold, and of which there was not the like made in -any kingdom. And the courtiers, and the princes, and the servants of -the King clapped their hands and cried, "O King! live for ever." If we -are wise and judge aright, we shall always, like the bees of Solomon, -be attracted by nature rather than by art, however beautiful. Our -doctrine was never, perhaps, so briefly and pithily enforced as by -the Macedonian conqueror on a certain occasion. A courtier one day -asked him to listen to him how well he could, whistling, imitate -the notes of the nightingale. Alexander declined the proffered -musical entertainment with the contemptuous remark, "I have heard -the nightingale herself." No wonder that the would-be melodist slunk -away abashed; and such be the fate of all mere echoers and imitators -when at any time they claim more than is their due, or would have us -appraise their pinchbeck at the value of sterling gold. There is an -amount of truth, and a hidden meaning and beauty, in Byron's lines, -that he was himself perhaps unconscious of in the ribald mood of the -moment, when, alluding to the statuary's art, he exclaimed-- - - - "I've seen much finer women, ripe and real, - Than all the nonsense of their stone ideal." - - -It is astonishing how difficult of thorough eradication are certain -superstitions, if once established amongst a people. Once let the -popular mind become inoculated with error in this shape, and although -times may change and the manners of the people may alter, though a -new tongue even shall have succeeded the language in which the error -was imbibed, and knowledge have spread and civilisation have steadily -progressed, yet there the superstition still lurks, frightened it -may be at the outward light, and, owl-like, ashamed to appear in -the brightness of the blessed sunshine of unclouded truth, but ever -ready, nevertheless, under favourable circumstances, to manifest -itself, and assert its sway over its votaries, like certain fabled -mediæval philters and potions that when administered are said to have -lurked for years and years in the human system, till, under certain -conditions, their subtle properties were called into active operation, -and the desired effect was produced. A short time ago we spent an -evening in the company of a gentleman from the south of Scotland, a -distinguished antiquary and archæologist, and of wonderful skill in -everything connected with the folk-lore of Scotland, whether of the -past or present. In the course of conversation, "over the walnuts and -the wine," our friend surprised us not a little by informing us that -even at this day, in certain parts of the south-western districts of -Scotland, the Sortes Sacræ are frequently resorted to by the people -when they are in doubt or perplexity about anything of sufficient -importance in their opinion to warrant their having recourse to this -ancient mode of divination. The Sortes Sacræ are founded upon the more -ancient Sortes Virgilianæ--Virgilian Lots, a method of divination which -had at least the merit of being extremely simple, and not necessarily -occupying much of the votary's time. What may be called the literary -oracle, as distinguished from vocal oracles, was consulted in this -wise: The operator having before him a copy of Virgil--the sortes were -generally confined to the Æneid--opened the volume ad aperturam libri, -anywhere, at random, when the first passage that accidentally struck -the eye was carefully read and pondered with as little reference as -possible to its immediate context, and a meaning extracted from it -which was supposed to indicate the issue of the event in hand, and -which was to be considered inevitable and irrevocable as the fates -had so decreed. A man with the knowledge thus obtained could not by -any precaution or change of conduct avert the impending doom, good or -evil; he could only put his house in order, and so arrange matters the -best way he could; that if evil came it might be borne with dignity -and patience; if good, that it might be enjoyed with moderation and -devout gratitude to the gods. It is said that at the outbreak of the -troubles that culminated in the Commonwealth, Charles I. and Lord -Falkland found themselves on a certain day in the Bodleian Library -at Oxford, when the latter jocularly proposed that they should inform -themselves of their future fortunes by means of the Sortes Virgiliæ; -and certainly, read by the light of after events, it must be confessed -that the passages stumbled upon seem singularly ominous of the fate -that overtook both. The passage read by the Martyr King was from the -fourth book of the Æneid, and is as follows:-- - - - "At bello audacis populi vexatus et armis, - Finibus extorris, complexu avulsus Iuli, - Auxilium imploret, videatque, indigna suorum - Funera: nec, cum se sub leges pacis iniquæ - Tradiderit, regno aut optata luce fruatur, - Sed cadat ante diem, mediaque inhumatus arena." - - -Which Dryden, if with rather too much amplification, still very -beautifully translates thus:-- - - - "Yet let a race untamed and haughty foes - His peaceful entrance with dire arms oppose, - Oppress'd with numbers in th' unequal field, - His men discouraged and himself expell'd: - Let him for succour sue from place to place, - Torn from his subjects and his son's embrace. - First let him see his friends in battle slain, - And their untimely fate lament in vain; - And when at length the cruel wars shall cease, - On hard conditions may he buy his peace. - Nor let him then enjoy supreme command, - But fall untimely by some hostile hand, - And lie unburied on the barren sand." - - -Lord Falkland's eye fell on the following lines in the eleventh book:-- - - - "Non hæc, O Palla, dederas promissa parenti. - Cautius ut sævo velles te credere Marti! - Haud ignarus eram, quantum nova gloria in armis, - Et predulce decus primo certamine posset. - Primitiæ juvenis miseræ! bellique propinqui - Dura rudimenta! et nulli exaudita Deorum - Vota, precesque meæ!" - - ---which the same translator has rendered as follows:-- - - - "O Pallas, thou hast failed thy plighted word, - To fight with caution, not to tempt the sword; - I warn'd thee, but in vain, for well I knew - What perils youthful ardour would pursue; - That boiling blood would carry thee too far, - Young as thou wert to dangers, raw to war; - O curs'd essay of arms, disastrous doom, - Prelude of bloody fields and fights to come, - Hard elements of unauspicious war, - Vain vows to heaven and unavailing care." - - -How the most pious man of his age, and one of the best kings that -ever adorned a throne, suffered death at the hands of his rebellious -subjects is well known. Poor Lord Falkland--a young nobleman of the -most estimable character; a poet and man of letters, so fond of books -that he used to say that "he pitied unlearned gentlemen in a rainy -day"--fell gallantly fighting for the royal cause in the battle of -Newbury, before he had yet completed his thirty-fourth year. It is -curious to find the eminent poet Abraham Cowley, a good man too--of -whom at his death Charles II. was heard to say that "Mr. Cowley had -not left a better man behind in England,"--it is curious, we say, to -find him on a certain occasion seriously referring to the Virgilian -Lots, and, what is more, avowing his firm belief in them! During -the Commonwealth, Cowley was in Paris, where he acted as secretary -to the Earl of St. Albans (then Lord Jermyn), and had a good deal to -do with the negotiations that eventually led to the Restoration. In -one of his letters, speaking of the Scotch treaty then in agitation, -he says--seriously, observe, and in an official document--"The Scotch -treaty is the only thing now in which we are vitally concerned. I am -one of the last hopers, and yet cannot now abstain from believing -that an agreement will be made; all people upon the place incline -to that union. The Scotch will moderate something of the rigour of -their demands; the mutual necessity of an accord is visible, the king -is persuaded of it. And, to tell you the truth (which I take to be -an argument above all the rest), Virgil has told the same thing to -that purpose." He had evidently consulted the Virgilian Lots, and a -passage presenting itself that could somehow be twisted so as to point -to a favourable issue to the Scotch business in hand, he accepts the -oracle, and in all seriousness announces his belief in it! When we -find a man of refinement and culture and high moral character like -Cowley crediting such nonsense, can we much wonder at the lengths to -which fanaticism and superstition carried people in those unhappy -times? To understand why Virgil, of all the ancient poets, Roman -or Greek, was selected as the oracle in this mode of divination, -we must remember that the Mantuan bard had the credit amongst his -countrymen of having been a sorcerer or necromancer and prophet as -well as a poet, something like the British Merlin, or our own Thomas -the Rhymer and Michael Scott, only more famous, perhaps. "Would the -reader suppose, for example, that the theory of volcanic action is -all a myth, and that it is to the magic of Virgil, and to nothing -else, that the south of Italy is indebted for all the earthquakes and -subterranean convulsions that have afflicted it for centuries? Yet so -it is, if we are to credit all the stories of "Virgilius the Magician" -that were current during the Middle Ages. The celebrated Benedictine -monk, Bernard de Montfaucon, author of Antiquité Expliquée one of -the most learned and curious works in existence, repeats the story -as it was told and credited in the Dark Ages. The following is from -an old translation, quoted by Scott in his notes to the Lay of the -Last Minstrel, in illustration of the magical spells attributed to -the Ladye of Branksome Tower. Virgil it seems, among other things, -was famous for his gallantries. On one occasion he fell in love with -and carried away the daughter of a certain "Soldan," and the story -proceeds:--"Than he thoughte in his mynde how he myghte marye hyr, and -thoughte in his mynde to founde in the middes of the see a fayer towne, -with great landes belongynge to it; and so he did by his cunnynge, -and called it Napells (Naples). And the foundacyon of it was of egges, -and in that town of Napells he made a tower with iiii. corners, and in -the toppe he set an apell upon an yron yarde, and no man culde pull -away that apell without he brake it; and thoroughe that yren set he -a bolte, and in that bolte set he an egge, and he henge the apell by -the stauke upon a cheyne, and so hangeth it still. And when the egge -styrreth so should the town of Napells quake; and when the egge brake, -then shulde the town sinke. When he made an ende, he lette calls it -Napells." Thomas of "Ercildoune," and he of "Balivearie," and the two -Merlins,--for there were two of them, the Merlin of the Arthurian -legends, and Merdwynn Wylet, or Merlin the Wild, who seems to have -been a Scotchman, and whose grave is still pointed out beneath an aged -thorn-tree at Drumelzier in Tweeddale,--these were accounted great -magicians and "pretty fellows in their day;" but what were they to -Virgilius the earthquaker, who at least attained to such an enviable -state of independence, that he is represented as frequently playing -at pitch and toss with the "devyl," and cheating and outwitting that -crafty potentate as if he were the veriest greenhorn! The Sortes Sacræ -were just the Sortes Virgilianæ, with this difference, that in the -former case, instead of a copy of Virgil, the New Testament was used -in the process of divination. The oracle is consulted in this case, -according to our information, by the introduction at random of the -wards end of a key (some allusion probably to the Apostolic keys) -between the leaves of the closed volume, which is then opened at that -place, and from the first verse that arrests the eye the desired -knowledge is extracted. On inquiry, we find that this superstition -was still occasionally practised in the Highlands of Scotland some -fifty years ago, though we would fain hope and believe that it -is now unknown. It is curious that it should still be frequently -resorted to in the south-western districts. It seems to have been a -very general as well as a very ancient mode of divination. Hoffman, -in his Lexicon Universale, &c., informs us that it was practised by -the Jewish Rabbins with their sacred books, as well as by the Pagans -from very early times, and was common amongst the Christians of the -Middle Ages. We are informed by a gentleman, who spent many years -in the East, that the Mahometans frequently resort to this method of -divination, taking the Koran as their oracle. - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER III. - - An old Gaelic MS.--"The Bewitched Bachelor Unbewitched"--Fairy - Lore--Lacteal Libations on Fairy Knowes. - - -In looking over some old papers the other day [October 1868] -we stumbled on some sheets of Gaelic MS. that had lain neglected -for years, and every existence of which, indeed, we had well-nigh -forgotten. One of these sheets contained the original of the following -lines. It is in many respects a curious composition, written in a -sort of rhythmical alliterative prose rather than in verse, somewhat -in the manner of the conversational parts of the Gaelic Sgeulachdan -or fireside tales of the olden time. Its tone throughout is gay and -lively, with an occasional admixture of humour and double entendre that -is very amusing, while its allusions to the manners and customs and -superstitious observances of a past age render it, to our thinking, -extremely interesting. The sheet in our possession is only a copy, -the original, taken down from oral recitation, we believe, being in a -MS. collection of Gaelic poems and tales by Rev. Mr. M'Donald, at one -time minister of the parish of Fortingall, in Perthshire. Having only -internal evidence to judge from, it is impossible with any confidence -to assign even an approximate date to such a production as this, -but we are probably not far wrong in placing it as early at least -as the middle or close of the last century. It bears no title in the -original; we may call it-- - - - The Bewitched Bachelor Unbewitched. - - The gudeman mumbled and grumbled full sore - Over the butter-kits, all through the dairy: - Over cheese, over butter, and milk-pails, he swore - "'Tis the work, I'll be bound, of some foul witch or fairy. - - How can I ever be happy or rich, - If robbed and tormented by fairy and witch," - Quoth he; and lo, with a sudden turn - He stumbled and spilt the cream-full churn! - - He went to his mother (she dwelt in the cot - Amid the hazels down by the linn: - Full well the wild birds loved that spot, - And taught its echoes their merry din)-- - He went to his mother, that Bachelor gruff: - He was mild with her, though with others rough. - - "Mother," quoth he, "I have not now - One-half the butter or cheese, I trow, - That loaded my dairy shelves when you - Had charge of my household and dairy too: - Tell me mother, what shall I do? - I vow and declare that some fairy or witch - Is robbing me still and doing me ill--I shall never be rich." - - "My son," the mother mild replied, - "See that you pay the fairies their due; - A tribute due should ne'er be denied-- - Others don't grudge it, and why should you? - Nor thrive their flocks nor kine, I ween, - Who scorn or neglect the shian green." - - "But, mother, the witch that lives down i' the glen?" - "A widow, my son, with a fatherless oe, - Who has seen much sorrow and years of woe; - Give her as heretofore, my son, - Of your curds and whey, and let her alone. - And oh, my son, if you would be rich, - And free from dread of fairy and witch. - And happy and well-to-do through life-- - Go get thee, my son, a winsome wife!" - - The bachelor hied him home full soon-- - He sent to the widow, far down in the glen, - A kebbuck of cheese as round as the moon, - Of oaten cakes he sent her ten, - With a kindly message, "Come when you may - For curds and whey in the good old way." - He sent her withal, 'tis right you should know, - A braw new kilt for her fatherless oe. - - And ever he saw that his maidens paid - To the fairies their due on the Fairy Knowe, - Till the emerald sward was under the tread - As velvet soft, and all aglow - With wild flowers, such as fairies cull, - Weaving their garlands and wreaths for the dance when the moon - is full! - - And lo! at last he took him a wife, - A comely and winsome dame, I trow, - Who shed a sunshine over his life, - And silvered the wrinkles upon his brow. - 'Twas well with the kine, and well with the dairy, - Nor dreaded he ought from witch or fairy; - (He had one of his own--she was hight Wee Mary!) - And often they went to the cot by the linn, - Where mavis and merle made merry din. - - -The English reader will probably require to be informed that oe--the -Gaelic ogha--signifies a grandchild, while shian (Gaelic sithean) is a -fairy knoll. To show what a power fairies were at one time in the land, -and how wide-spread was the belief in them, we have only to consider -that there is perhaps not a hamlet or township in the Highlands or -Hebrides without its shian or green fairy knoll so called. Within -half a mile of our own residence, for example, there is a Sithean -Beag and a Sithean Mor, a Greater and Lesser Fairy Knoll; there is, -besides, a Glacan-t' Shithein, the Fairy Knoll Glade, Tobar-an-t' -Shithein, the Fairy Knoll Well; and a deep chasm, through which -a mountain torrent plunges darkling, called Leum-an-t' Shithiche, -the Fairy's Leap, with which there is probably connected some very -wonderful story, although we have been unsuccessful hitherto in -meeting with any one able or willing to repeat it. The truth is, -that a belief in fairies and fairyland, or faery--faint, no doubt, -and ill-defined now-a-days--still lingers ghost-like, the shadow of its -more substantial former living self, in our straths and glens; and, in -accordance with the old superstition, it is considered that the "good -people" should only be spoken of on rare and unavoidable occasions, -and then only in serious and respectable terms. Hence it is that you -always find old people reluctant to impart such fairy lore as may -be known to them, though garrulous enough on all other subjects; and -hence, also, it happens that in our old Sgeulachdan--the Arabian Nights -Entertainments of our Celtic forefathers--although you find giants, -and dwarfs, and misbegotten beings of every imaginable shape and size; -animals, too, that can speak and reason and lend their superhuman -aid to prince and peasant in extremity, as well as genii, kelpies, -and spirits of flood and fell, you rarely if ever meet with one of -the "good folks," or fairies proper, introduced upon the scene. The -people thoroughly believed in them, believed that they had a veritable -existence, and although invisible to mortal eye, that they might be at -your elbow at any moment; that they disliked being spoken of at all -as a rule, and that a disrespectful word about them especially would -inevitably be followed by some signal punishment, or "mischance," as -it was more cautiously termed in the South--all this they believed, -and therefore they held it wisest to speak of fairies, good folks -though they were, as seldom as possible. The allusion to paying-- - - - "The fairies their due on the fairy knowe," - - -has reference to the custom, common enough on the western mainland -and in some of the Hebrides some fifty years ago, and not altogether -unknown perhaps even at the present day, of each maiden's pouring -from her cumanbleoghain, or milking-pail, evening and morning, on -the fairy knowe a little of the new-drawn milk from the cow, by way -of propitiating the favour of the good people, and as a tribute the -wisest, it was deemed, and most acceptable that could be rendered, and -sooner or later sure to be repaid a thousand-fold. The consequence was -that these fairy knolls were clothed with a richer and more beautiful -verdure than any other spot, howe or knowe, in the country, and the -lacteal riches imbibed by the soil through this custom is even now -visible in the vivid emerald green of a shian or fairy knoll whenever -it is pointed out to you. This custom of pouring lacteal libations -to the fairies on a particular spot deemed sacred to them, was known -and practised at some of the summer shielings in Lochaber within the -memory of the people now living. - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER IV. - - Transit of Mercury--Improperly called an "Eclipse" of--November - Meteors--Mr. Huggins--Spectrum Analyses of Cometary - Light--Translation of a St. Kilda Song. - - -We were early astir on the morning of the 5th November [1868]; -with little thought, be sure, of Guy Fawkes or the Gunpowder Plot, -intent only on witnessing, if we might be so fortunate, the transit -of Mercury over the solar disc. The phenomenon in question we have -seen referred to as an "eclipse" of Mercury, which it certainly was -not. A celestial body is properly said to be eclipsed when, by the -interposition of another and a nearer orb, it is temporarily hid from -view. A star or planet so hidden by the body of the moon, for instance, -is said to be "occulted." The sun is truly said to be eclipsed when -the new moon at a particular conjunction steps in between us and him, -and temporarily intercepts his beams. What again, for convenience sake, -is called an eclipse of the moon, is really not an eclipse at all, -so far at least as the terrestrial spectator is concerned; it would -be more strictly correct to call it simply a lunar obscuration. The -temporary appearance of Venus and Mercury as circular and sharply -defined black spots on the solar disc, has hitherto always, and very -properly, been called in the language of astronomers a "transit" -of the particular planet by name, such as the "transit of Venus," or -the "transit of Mercury;" and there is no reason to change the term, -for it is expressive and true, which the word eclipse, applied to -such a conjunction, certainly is not. - -Be it called what it may, however--eclipse or transit--we were -disappointed in not getting a glimpse of the phenomenon in question on -the present occasion. Although duly at our post from before sunrise -till the minute calculated for the last contact of the planet with -the solar disc, we were unable to obtain anything more than the -most momentary blink even of the larger orb, and, of course, the -detection of the black button-like disc of the planet itself, in such -circumstances, was altogether out of the question. The disappointment, -however, was less annoying to us in this instance from the fact -that we had already been privileged to witness all the phases of a -similar conjunction from first to last on the 12th November 1861. The -next visible transit of Mercury does not take place till the 6th of -May 1878--ten years hence. There are several other transits during -the present century, invisible in our country, however, and on the -continent of Europe; but which will probably afford much delight to -many an eager watcher over the length and breadth of the South American -continent, and generally over the islands of the Pacific Ocean. - -Nor, with us here at least, was the night of the 13-14th instant any -way more favourable for observation than the dull beclouded morning -of the 5th itself. The night was calm and rainless, to be sure, but -a heavy impenetrable mass of dark grey clouds, so low as to envelop -all the mountain summits around, obscured the vault from horizon to -horizon, from sunset to sunrise, so that not a single meteor could -be seen by the keenest eye, even if above that pall of cloud the -display had been the most brilliant and splendid conceivable. From -the fact, however, that in several places widely distant from -each other, from which we have had communications on the subject, -and where the sky was abundantly clear and unclouded throughout, -no unusual display of meteors was seen, the probability is that we -have on this occasion missed them in our country, either because -they came into contact with our atmosphere in the daytime, when, of -course, they would be invisible, or more likely because our contact -this year with the meteorolithic annulus was of the slightest, and -at a segment thereof where the meteoric bodies are least numerous, -and thus we must patiently wait till we again dash through it at its -densest before we can hope for such a magnificent meteor shower as -astonished and delighted us all in 1866. Only at Oxford, as far as our -country is concerned, was there anything like a meteor shower on the -present occasion, and even there the display seems to have been too -faint and uninteresting to have attracted much attention. Intelligence -has reached our country from New York, however, that over that city, -and over the States generally, the meteoric display of the morning -of the 14th was very splendid indeed, though, owing to the morning -being further advanced before it commenced, less of it was seen by the -people at large than on some previous occasions. The weather with our -Transatlantic cousins seems to have been all that could be desired, -as it is stated that "astronomers and others were able to make very -complete observations." The worst thing about our insular position -with respect to matters astronomical is the extreme uncertainty with -which anything like continuous observation can be conducted. The -chances always are twenty to one that in Great Britain, at any -given hour in any given place, the weather should be such as to -render an observation of a celestial phenomenon impossible, or at -the least partial and unsatisfactory. One thing, at least, is now -pretty certain--that annually, and at a date that falls somewhere -between sunset of the 13th and sunrise of the 14th November, we may -confidently look for greater or less displays of these meteoric bodies, -the only thing likely to interfere with the interesting pyrotechnic -exhibition being an unfavourable state of the weather at a moment -when we are most concerned that the sky shall be clear and cloudless. - -Mr. Huggins, whose researches with the spectroscope have already made -his name famous, has recently communicated a most interesting paper -to the Royal Society, giving an account of the spectrum analyses of -one of the smaller and commoner class of comets that was visible for a -short time in the month of June last. Avoiding technical details, which -might be uninteresting to some of our readers, we may simply mention -that on testing the nucleus of this comet with the spectroscope, -Mr. Huggins found that it was resolved into three broad "bands," -precisely similar to the results obtained on examining with the -same wonderful instrument such carbon as follows the transmission of -electric sparks through olefiant gas. The conclusion arrived at by -Mr. Huggins is, that the nucleus of the comet in question consisted -solely of volatilised carbon. This paper of Mr. Huggins is altogether -a most interesting one, and we may have something more to say about -it on a future occasion. - -The following is a translation--somewhat freely rendered--of an old -Irst or St. Kilda song, the solitary island home of a score or two -of hardy inhabitants, and by all accounts a happy and hospitable race -too, who cling with an unquenchable love to their lonely rock, as if -it were a perfect paradise, ocean-girt and storm-beaten though it be-- - - - "Placed far amid the melancholy main." - - -Except another specimen given in a small collection of Gaelic songs, -edited by the late Rev. Mr. M'Callum of Arisaig, the original of -the following is the only St. Kilda song that we have met with. Our -copy was procured in this way: Some years ago we were dining on board -H.M. Revenue cruiser "Harriet," Captain M'Allister. Going ashore on -a fine moonlight night, one of the seamen who rowed our boat sang -the song, which we had no hesitation in at once declaring to be of -St. Kilda origin, which the man admitted was the case, he having -picked it up many years before from an old woman who had spent some -time on the island. Of the air, we can only remember that it was a -wild, irregular sort of chant, very different from the soft low airs -to which our mainland songs are for the most part sung, with the -refrain or burden (represented by our Alexandrines in each stanza) -given in a shrill falsetto that was somewhat disagreeable to the ear, -although abundantly appropriate, probably, in the circumstances in -which the song was composed, and when sung amid all the surroundings -of the scene depicted. - - - The St. Kilda Maid's Song. - - Over the rocks, steadily, steadily; - Down to the clefts with a shout and a shove, O; - Warily tend the rope, shifting it readily, - Eagerly, actively, watch from above, O. - Brave, O brave, my lover true, he's worth a maiden's love: - (And the sea below is still as deep as the sky is high above!) - - Sweet 'tis to sleep on a well feathered pillow, - Sweet from the embers the fulmar's red egg, O; - Bounteous our store from the rock and the billow; - Fish and birds in good store, we need never to beg, O; - Brave, O brave, my lover true, he's worth a maiden's love: - (And the sea below is still as deep as the sky is high above!) - - Hark to the fulmar and guillemot screaming: - Hark to the kittiwake, puffin, and gull, O: - See the white wings of solan goose gleaming; - Steadily, men! on the rope gently pull, O. - Brave, O brave, my lover true, he's worth a maiden's love: - (And the sea below is still as deep as the sky is high above!) - - Deftly my love can hook ling and conger, - The grey-fish and hake, with the net and the creel, O; - Far from our island be plague and be hunger; - And sweet our last sleep in the quiet of the Kiel, O. - Brave, O brave, my lover true, he's worth a maiden's love: - (And the sea below is still as deep as the sky is high above!) - - Pull on the rope, men, pull it up steadily: - (There's a storm on the deep, see the scart claps his wings, O); - Cunningly guide the rope, shifting it readily; - Welcome my true love, and all that he brings, O! - Now God be praised, my lover's safe, he's worth a maiden's love: - (And the sea below is still as deep as the sky is high above!) - - -Our song needs but little elucidation. The reader who knows that the -wealth of the St. Kildians mainly consists of the feathers and eggs -of wild-fowl, to procure which they are obliged to hang suspended -from ropes over the most dreadful precipices, in the clefts and -along the otherwise inaccessible ledges of which the sea-fowl breed, -will have no difficulty in understanding the general drift of the -island maid's very spirited and very earnest song. It is, perhaps, -unnecessary to say that as ling, conger, hake, and grey-fish are -certain kinds of sea fish, so fulmar, guillemot, kittiwake, puffin, -and scart are certain kinds of web-footed sea-fowl. - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER V. - - Bird Music--The Skylark's Song--Imitation of, by a French - Poet--Alasdair Macdonald--Scott. - - -Conscious at last that pouting and inordinate weeping became him not, -and that, being constantly on the "rampage," like Mrs. Joe Gargery, -was hardly consistent with his place in the calendar, April [1869] -betimes resolved to "tak a thocht and mend," and now, like Richard, -is himself again--all sunshine and smiles. The rain-gauge, to be sure, -with stern impartiality, will still show an occasional "inch," or parts -of an inch, if you are very particular in your inquiries, when examined -of a morning, but its readings now at least are in no way appalling, -for they represent the warm and genial rainfall of April showers, -that, after all, are as necessary on the west coast at this moment, -and as refreshing to the soil, as the orthodox cup of mulled port of -an evening was believed to be to the weary traveller in the good old -days of stage-coaches and post-chaises. The country, at all events, -is looking very beautiful just now, everything so green and glad, -so fresh and fair, and full of promise of a yet gladder, and gayer, -and brighter day at hand, when the swallow, twittering, shall dart, -a glossy meteor, in the sunlight, and the cuckoo shall challenge -the truant schoolboy to repeat its well-known notes, correctly if -he can. Now is the time to hear our native song-birds at their best, -warbling their sweetest strains, and to decide, once for all, if it be -possible, which you like best; the loud, clear, silvery tinkle of the -seed-shelling finch's rich and rapid song; the liquid and mellifluous -warblings of the soft-billed tribes; or the soul-entrancing, round, -rich, flute-like piping of the throstle, song-thrush, and merle. How -it may fare with the reader who tries to decide the point we cannot -say. For our own part, no decision that we could ever arrive at could -keep its legs for two days together. No sooner did we decide that the -skylark and its congeners had the best of it, than the goldfinch, with -a score of lively cousins to aid and abet, challenged the verdict, and -forced us to acknowledge his exquisite mastery in song--an admission -made, however, only to be retracted again almost as soon as made, -for in our walk on the evening of that self-same day did we not stand, -and for the life of us couldn't help standing--breathless, and hushed, -and still--to listen to the merle and song-thrush from the neighbouring -copse pouring forth the indescribable riches of their God-taught -vespers as the sun went down; and did we not, then and there, vow, -in utter forgetfulness of finch and skylark, that no music of earth -could for a moment compare, in execution and compass, in distinctness, -and cheeriness, and purity of note, with these matchless twilight -strains? The truth is that no music is equal to bird-music--wild-bird -music, that is--in its season, and amid all its natural surroundings; -and the probability is that we shall give the preference at any -time to the melody of one bird over that of another, not on any -well-defined principles of choice or selection in the matter, but -simply in accordance with our own prevailing mood and temperament -of the moment. Such, at least, has been our own experience; but the -reader has every opportunity at this season of studying the question -for himself and deciding. Except that of the nightingale, perhaps the -music of no bird has attracted so much attention by its beauty and -suggestiveness as the merry trill of the skylark's ascending song. The -poets of every country in which it is to be found have vied with each -other in their praises of the only bird that sings as he soars, and -soars as he sings, scaling on quivering pinions the aerial terraces -of heaven, until he can scarcely be discerned, a music-showering -speck against the background of the blue profound! The other day -we fell in with some curious verses by the French poet Du Bartas, -in which he strives, and not altogether unsuccessfully, to imitate -the merry trill and rhythm of the skylark's song:-- - - - "La gentille aloüette, avec son tire-lire, - Tire-lire, à lire, et tire-liran tire; - Vers la voute du ciel, puis son vol vers ce lieu, - Vire et desire dire adieu Dieu, adieu Dieu!" - - -The last line, if rapidly repeated with the proper beat and -intonation, will be found a really very successful imitation of -the concluding notes of the lark's well-known song. Many of our -readers will remember that the North Uist bard, Ian Mac Codrum, -in his Smeorach Chlann-Domhnuill, manages very happily to imitate -the smeorach or song-thrush's notes in the burden or chorus; while -Alexander Macdonald--Mac Mhaighstir Alasdair--very naturally falls, -like the French poet, into an imitation of the wild-bird music of the -woods and groves in a stanza that may be quoted not inappropriately -at this season:-- - - - "Cha bhi crèutair fo chupan nan spèur - 'N sin nach tiunndaidh ri'n speuràd 's ri'n dreach, - 'S gun toir Phoebus le buadhan a bhlàis - Anam-fas daibh a's caileachdan ceart, - Ni iad ais-eiridh choitcheann on uaigh - Far na mhiotaich am fuachd iad a steach, - 'S their iad--guileag-doro-hidola-hann - Dh-fhalbh an geamhra's tha'n samhradh air teachd!" - - -The lines of Du Bartas have little meaning in themselves, and -are untranslatable, being simply an attempt on the poet's part, -in some odd moment of hilarity and abandon, to embody the notes of -the skylark's song in something like articulate verse. The general -sense of Macdonald's lines describing the irrepressible inclination -of all living creatures to be jubilant and joyous at the return of -spring, cannot better be rendered than in the first part of Scott's -introductory stanza to the second canto of the Lady of the Lake, only -that the return of spring in the one case, instead of the return of -morn in the other, prompts to the outburst of gladness and song:-- - - - "At morn the black-cock trims his jetty wing, - 'Tis morning prompts the linnet's blithest lay, - All Nature's children feel the matin spring - Of life reviving, with reviving day; - And while yon little bark glides down the bay, - Wafting the stranger on his way again, - Morn's genial influence roused a minstrel grey, - And sweetly o'er the lake was heard thy strain, - Mixed with the sounding harp, O white-hair'd Allan-bane!" - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER VI. - - Severe Drought--The Drive by Coach from Fort-William to - Kingussie--Breakfast at Moy--Where did Scott find Dominie Sampson's - "Pro-di-gi-ous!"?--Professor Blackie's Poem on Glencoe. - - -That the people of Lochaber and the Western Isles should be rejoicing -in the advent of heavy rains [August 1869], and seriously glad at the -reappearance of clouds in the heavens and mists upon the mountain -tops, may seem odd enough to those who know anything of our usual -meteorological characteristics; yet true it is, and of a verity that -so it is, for here, as elsewhere, the heat was for many consecutive -weeks intense, and the parching drought and fierce glare of a summer's -sun from a constantly unclouded sky well nigh unbearable by man or -beast, whether in the sheltered valley, where for days and days no -breath of air shook the tiniest leaflet or ruffled the surface of the -sullen tarn, or on the upland moor, where, if breath of air there was, -it was hot and stifling as the breath of a furnace. Were it not for -the occasional sea breezes, that sometimes of an evening swept over -the almost pulseless deep, and copious falls of blessed night-dews, -we should have been badly off indeed. But, as matters have turned out, -we have much reason to be thankful, for if our crops are not quite so -heavy as in average years, they are at least of excellent quality, -and being ripe sooner than usual, we have a chance of getting them -secured in a condition that will add immensely to their value. So -thorough and persistent was the drought even with us, that springs -failed that never before were known to refuse their waters to the -thirsty; and water-courses that heretofore, even in the driest years, -still presented shady pools connected by purling rivulets, were for -weeks together arid and waterless as the course of an ancient lava -stream. As you wandered among the hills you could set your fusee -alight on a stone in a torrent bed over which in ordinary summers -rolls a volume of foaming waters. The demand for beer wherever you -went was in these circumstances something wonderful; and at times, -on the arrival of coach or steamer with its load of panting tourists, -the bawling from husky throats for a supply--an instant and copious -supply--of the delicious liquid was sufficiently amusing. One of -the happiest illustrations of the proverbial close treading of the -ridiculous on the heels of the sublime, and the wafer-like thinness -of the partition that divides the sentimental from the absurd, was -Dr. Johnson's celebrated parody on the quasi-sentimental style of -poetry so much in vogue in his latter years--and sooth to say too much -in vogue in our day as well--a style as unlike the school of Pope as -you can well imagine, and the very antipodes of the sturdily masculine -and didactic strains which Johnson, an intellectual giant--for there -were giants in these days--alone accounted true poetry:-- - - - "Hermit hoar, in solemn cell, - Wearing out life's evening grey, - Smite thy bosom, sage, and tell - What is bliss? and which the way? - - "Thus I spoke; and speaking sighed; - Scarce repressed the starting tear; - When the smiling sage replied,-- - 'Come, my lad, and drink some beer!'" - - -And very well hit off, you will confess; an arrow shot from an Ulysses' -bow at the puling whimperers of a namby-pamby sentimentalism that they -miscalled poetry; but if we dared for the nonce to take these lines in -a more serious and literal sense than their author intended, we should -say that in such hot and parching weather as we have recently had, and -are still having, there is more "bliss" in a good draught of "Allsopp" -or "Bass" than is dreamt of in the philosophy of the sentimentalists, -and thousands upon thousands of this season's tourists are ready, -we'll be bound, to homologate this statement. - -It was Dr. Johnson, too, if we remember well, who spoke loudly and -dogmatically, as was his wont, of the delightful feeling that one -has in being rapidly whirled along a good road in a post-chaise; -and remembering the unsteadiness of the "Rambler" on his pins, and -his unwieldy corporation, one can readily understand that he found -the means of locomotion referred to the easiest and most enjoyable -possible. Our own experience of post-chaises has, sooth to say, been -somewhat of the slightest, but in lieu thereof we would recommend -a well-appointed public coach, with sound, well-cared-for horses, -a steady and obliging driver and guard, good roads under foot, and a -bright sky above all; and such a conveyance we on a recent occasion -found the mail-coach between Fort-William and Kingussie to be; and -such a driver and guard, the two in one, is the renowned "Davie Jack," -who knows his work, and does it too, in a style that reminds one of the -old "Defiance" in its palmiest days; while the weather, if anything, -was too fine, too bright and cloudless--the best fault it could have, -however, since it is impossible that the weather on any particular -day should be faultless, any more than that any human being should be -perfect. Nothing, indeed, can be finer than the drive through Lochaber -and Badenoch to Kingussie, except perhaps the drive back again. With -mountain scenery on all hands, unsurpassed even in the Highlands for -wild, and savage, and solitary grandeur; with foaming torrents dashing -down the steeps, torrents that at a distance and at this season look -like so many threads of purest silver constantly being absorbed and -inwefted with the river, that, with a voice more hushed, and a quieter, -kindlier step, still gladdens and fertilises the valley as it seeks -the sea; with loch and river scenery the most attractive and lovely; -and all, in short, that you can reasonably look for of the grand or -beautiful from the sea coast to the central Highlands. With all this, -and the redoubted "Davie" to handle the ribbons, as only "Davie" can -handle them--said "Davie" the while as full of anecdote, and joke, -and local tradition as an egg is full of meat--with all this we say, -and much more that might be mentioned, the man who cannot enjoy -such a journey at this season is little to be envied; for, be his -other qualities and qualifications what they may, his non-enjoyment -of such a drive clearly proves one of two things,--either he is -physically unwell, and out of sorts, and had better stay at home; or, -æsthetically, he has no eye for, and no appreciation of, some of the -most splendid scenery in the Highlands, and in that case is less to -be blamed than pitied. Even in winter we should say that this was the -readiest, as well as the most pleasant, line of intercommunication -between the north-western Highlands and the south. It were, finally, -unpardonable in us, who enjoyed it so much, not to mention the very -excellent breakfast on the up-journey, and the equally excellent and -substantial "tea," or tea-dinner rather, on returning, to be had in -the shepherd's house at Moy. It may seem unromantic and prosaic to -say so, but it is a fact nevertheless, that one's appreciation of the -sublime and beautiful--let Mr. Edmund Burke say what he likes--is not -a little enhanced by a due supply of creature comforts pari passû. If -one cannot carry the comforts of home about with him, any more than -honest Bailie Nicol Jarvie could carry about with him the comforts -of the "Sautmarket," it is no small matter to meet with good cheer -off a snow-white cloth, with the attentions of a smart, intelligent -serving girl, in odd and out-of-the-way places, where you least expect -it. Altogether, a trip by the Fort-William and Kingussie mail-coach -during the present fine weather is very enjoyable indeed--superior, -upon the whole, we should say, to the "Rambler's" post-chaise, not -forgetting that the latter is a solitary and somewhat surly sort of -business, whereas in the former you have the chance of pleasant and -agreeable companionship, in addition to its other attractions. - -For one to make a discovery, and to think that oneself has made a -discovery, are two widely different things. We readily acknowledge -the distinction. That we have made a discovery we shall not venture -to affirm, but we think we have. Our discovery, if discovery it be, -is this, that Sir Walter Scott is indebted for Dominie Sampson's -"prodigious!" to Boswell's Life of Johnson. Who can think of the -worthy, kind-hearted, most unsophisticated, and withal most learned, -albeit life-long kirkless parson, without instantly recalling his -favourite exclamation of "Pro-di-gi-ous?" We stumbled on our discovery -in this wise:--A few evenings ago we were reading the third volume of a -very fine edition of Boswell's "Johnson," kindly placed at our disposal -by Lady Riddell of Strontian--and a good edition of a good book is no -small matter to one so far removed from libraries as we are--when we -came to a page that described Johnson's meeting with a gentleman who -had been his companion at Pembroke College, Oxford, some fifty years -previously. Mr. Edwards, for that was the gentleman's name, and Boswell -accompanied Johnson home, where, in course of conversation, Mr. Edwards -said, addressing Johnson, "Sir, I remember you would not let us say -prodigious at college. For even then, sir (turning to Boswell), he was -delicate in language, and we all feared him." Now, can any one doubt -that it was having his attention particularly called to the word in -this passage that made Scott first ponder the absurdity of using a word -of such volume and import on every trifling occasion, and caused him, -possibly at a long subsequent date (for Scott's memory, as we know, -was prodigiously retentive--there the word, you will observe, is pat -and appropriate enough--prodigiously retentive, we say, of words, -phrases, and odd turns of expression)--to put it so frequently as -an exclamation of unspeakable, indescribable import into the mouth -of honest Sampson, whom you can no more help laughing at, at times, -than you can loving him with all your heart always? The matter, after -all, may seem a trifle, and it is a trifle, but such trifles are dear -to the lovers of literature. Were Boswell in the flesh subsequent to -the publication of Guy Mannering, and had his attention drawn to such -a matter, slight as it seems, what a delightful chapter of gossip -he could write about it, with fresh reminiscences of his long and -intimate intercourse with his "illustrious friend," for whom till his -dying day he cherished so much veneration and awe, ever-more mingled -with most pardonable pride that he knew him as no one else knew him, -and loved him as no one else loved him, or perhaps could love him. - -We have just been reading our friend Professor Blackie's poem on -"Glencoe." The manner in which he "goes at" his subject, to use a -sporting phrase, the life, and vigour, and swing, and fervour of -the whole, is most refreshing in these days of poetical (save the -mark!) namby-pambyisms, and eminently characteristic of the learned -Professor when at his best. Here you have him, like a knight of the -Middle Ages, high in his stirrups, with lance in rest, "Dh'aindeoin -co theireadh e!" blazing on his shield, and who shall dare to stop -his fierce career against the perpetrators of the foulest deed -on record? Less polished and less artistic than Aytoun's "Widow of -Glencoe," it is, nevertheless, the better poem, on such a subject, of -the two. Its very ruggedness and stern headlong force are its chief -charm, they best befit the theme. Blackie is terribly in earnest; -with Aytoun you cannot help feeling it was a mere matter of sentiment -and no more. - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER VII. - - O the Barren, Barren Shore--Brilliant Auroral Display--Intense - Cold--Birds--Glanders--Scribblings on the Back of One Pound Notes. - - -During a week's pleasant and gentle thaw [February 1870], we had -hoped that the worst of winter was come and gone; but to our no small -disappointment the genial interregnum has been followed by another -heavy fall of snow, and a wonderfully keen and biting frost, which, -borne on the wings of a surly nor'easter, has again bound up the earth -as if with fetters of iron. Under such circumstances the sea-coast, -we take it, presents the most dreary and desolate-looking winter -picture imaginable; far more so, to our thinking, than either moss, -or moorland, or mountain range. There is a something inexpressibly -dismal and dowie in the black crape-like belt of sea beach which -divides a landscape deeply clad with snow and frost-bound, from the -dull and leaden coloured deep beyond; the dashing of the waves of -said deep upon the shore, uttering the while a sadly funereal and -dirge-like moan. If our inland friends, in view of the wintry waste -around them, take up the cry of "O the dreary, dreary moorland"--we, -dwellers by the sea coast, have the best possible right to finish -the Tennysonian line by exclaiming "O the barren, barren shore." It -must, by the way, have been on some fair summer eve that the Crown -officials first thought of depriving landowners of the sea-shore -privileges hitherto enjoyed by them; had it been in winter, the idea, -it strikes us, would have withered in the bud; they would have fled -the very sight of the dark and dreary "foreshore," and wisely confined -themselves to the shelter of their Woods and Forests! - -It is worthy of record that the present severe snow-storm was -ushered in by a very splendid and in many respects peculiar auroral -display. Shortly after dark on Friday evening, a faint auroral film, -over which an occasional streamer flashed impetuously, over-spread -the northern heavens. All this, however, soon died away, and the -north assumed a cold, clear, frosty aspect. Between seven and eight -o'clock many meteors, some of them of great brilliancy and beauty, -were observed to cross and recross the zenith and its neighbourhood in -all directions. Towards the latter hour, however, these ceased, and -all of a sudden, in a very few seconds at most, the whole celestial -hemisphere from E.N.E. to W.S.W.--from horizon to horizon--appeared -completely spanned by a magnificent auroral arch, eight degrees -in breadth; like a glorious bridge of a single semi-circular span, -with its edges or parapets of a deep blood-red colour, and its centre -part or roadway of frosted silver; the rest of the heavens, in all -directions, being the while of an inky blue, and cold and cloudless, -without the slightest appearance of anything like streamers to be -seen anywhere. Some idea of the brilliancy of this auroral arch may -be formed from the fact that such bright stars as Arcturus, Castor -and Pollux, Aldebaran, Mars, and others, which lay along its path, -became quite dim, and when located near the centre and brightest part -of the stream, almost invisible. Even Venus, which once or twice was -overlapped for a few minutes by the arch's margin only, lost all its -lustre and sheen, and had a burdened anxious aspect, as if the forehead -and "face divine" of a mighty intelligence laboured under the shade -of deep and profound thought. For upwards of an hour did this splendid -auroral arch continue to span the heavens from horizon to horizon, and -undergoing little or no change, until its final disappearance, by what -seemed a process of gradual contraction into itself and towards its -terminus in the east-north-east, whence it started. Such was the very -singular meteoric phenomena by which a severe snow-storm and an amount -of cold almost unparalleled in its intensity was ushered in on the -western sea-board of Scotland in February of the year of grace 1870. - -And how fares it with our feathered favourites, the wild birds, in -these hard times? Fertile as they are in resources, and indefatigable -in providing for the wants of the passing hour, all their little -shifts must frequently prove inadequate to the supply of their daily -wants in such trying times as these. St. Valentine's day has come -and gone, but neither in copse, nor hedgerow, nor ivy-mantled wall, -find we as yet any traces of nidification, nor has the love-prompted -warble, in past years so loud and incessant at this season, been yet -heard around us. The robin only cheeps; the sparrow simply chirps; -the linnet merely twitters; and even the "gay chaffinch" can only give -us a disconsolate "fink, fink," in place of his well-known glad burst -of choicest and cheeriest song. The mellow chaunt of the merle and -song-thrush delights not yet the ear from copse or brake at early morn -or evening-tide. The intense and piercing cold, which, on the wings -of the northern blast, sweeps over the land as we write, and as it -moans, and sighs, and wildly shrieks by starts in its progress over -the deep, causes the lone sea-bird to utter its eeriest and wildest -cry, has succeeded in freezing, not only the rivulet and the pool, -but has actually bound up the voice of gladness and every source -of joyful utterance in all our feathered friends as well. But "nil -desperandum," better times are coming. Fields will yet be green, -trees will yet be leafy, rivers unbound from icy fetters will yet -dance merrily in the sun, and laugh with all their ripples, as they -hasten seawards; and then "again shall flowers appear on the earth; -the time of the singing of birds shall have come, and the voice of -the turtle be heard in our land." - -Are glanders incurable? is a very ugly, but doubtless a very -important question, which is being at present keenly discussed in -the columns of several metropolitan journals. By glanders is meant, -not the equine disease in the equine subject properly so called, -and which comes so frequently under the treatment of the veterinary -surgeon, but the same frightful disease when introduced either by -accident or design into the human system. Is it curable? This is -the question, and the general impression seems to be, that when it -once fairly lays hold of the human system, it is, like hydrophobia, -quite and utterly incurable. We do not pretend to know anything of the -subject, and we allude to it merely to say that we well recollect of -hearing, on undoubted authority, of a patient who was actually cured -of glanders, caught, if we remember rightly, from eating some beans -found in a manger in which a horse having the disease had recently been -feeding. All the circumstances connected with the case and cure were -related in our hearing by the late Dr. John Reid, Professor of Anatomy -in the University of St. Andrews, one evening that we dined at his -house during our attendance at the University. It is now some eighteen -or twenty years ago, and we were then too young and thoughtless to -give that attention to the subject which it deserved. We recollect, -however, that the case was said to have occurred in Edinburgh, and to -have been treated in the infirmary of that city, and that the patient, -on his recovery, having been found shrewd, intelligent, and steady, -was afterwards appointed one of the janitors of that institution. There -must be some medical gentleman still in Edinburgh able to speak to a -case of such importance; and amongst others present on the occasion -that we heard Professor Reid refer to it, were, if we rightly remember, -Principal Sir David Brewster and Professor Martin, now of Aberdeen, and -at that time Mathematical Master in the Madras College of St. Andrews. - -The other evening a one pound note, which a lady friend of ours -had just received by post, was handed to us, with a request that we -should try and decipher some writing which was observed on the back -of it. After some little trouble, we were a good deal amused to find -that the writing in question really consisted of the following lines:-- - - - "I am a note of the British Linen; - I've long been kept by L. Mackinnon; - Where'er you go you'll find them willing - To give for me just twenty shilling.--L. M'K." - - -We have no idea who this poetical L. Mackinnon is or was, but it is -pretty evident, we think, that both he and the British Linen Company's -Bank note had very excellent opinions of themselves. It was Lady Louisa -Stewart, if we rightly recollect, who sent Sir Walter Scott a copy of -the following lines, which she discovered on the back of a battered -bank note which had come into her possession. It will be observed that -they are in all respects immeasurably superior to Mr. L. Mackinnon's:-- - - - "Farewell, my note, and wheresoe'er ye wend, - Shun gaudy scenes, and be the poor man's friend; - You've left a poor one; go to one as poor, - And drive despair and hunger from his door." - - -Let cynics growl and snarl as they list, some people HAVE hearts, -and the author of the above lines, be sure, had a right warm and -kindly one. - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER VIII. - - A Wet February--A Good Time Coming--Sir Walter - Scott--Mr. Gladstone--Death of Sir David Brewster. - - -One swallow doesn't make a summer, says the proverb, and unless -one fine day (the 19th) makes a spring, we haven't for the last -six weeks [February 1870] and more had a single hour of a character -to be disassociated from one of the wettest and wildest winters on -record. No sooner has one storm died away, less from any voluntary -cessation on its part than from sheer exhaustion of its forces, than, -after a slushy, sludgy interregnum of brief duration, it has been -succeeded in every instance by another and another still of equal -or greater violence and fury, so that of quiet or calm we have known -little, and of sun or moon or stars we have seen hardly the briefest -glimpse since Old New Year's Day. When Foote, the incomparable comedian -(Johnson said of him that "the dog was irresistible"), after acquiring -and dissipating several fortunes, was at last lucky enough to be able -to set up his carriage in a more dashing style than ever, he selected -as his motto, and emblematical of his career, the words Iterum, -Iterum, Iterumque! (Again, and Again, and Again!) It has struck us -that if the Meteorological Society were to apply to the Herald's -College for a crest and armorial bearings to be displayed on the -title-page of their volume of "Transactions" for the first quarter -of the current year, we, should they do us the honour to consult us, -would suggest a cloud-cumulus, rain-surcharged, proper on the shield, -with Aquarius and the "watery" Hyades as supporters; Eolus ordering -"a fresh hand to the bellows" as a crest, and the Iterum, Iterum, -Iterumque of Foote's chariot as a motto of singular appropriateness -and meaning. How delighted, by the way, must our amphibious friend -Mr. Symons be in the midst of all this rainfall! His crest again -should be a man's head on a fish's body in an overflowed meadow, -natant, and his supporters an anemometer and rain-gauge proper! It is -needless to say that anything like spring work is with us not only in -a very backward state, but has hardly been commenced. Before the end -of February we had our own corn seed and potatoes in the ground last -year. If we get them down this year any time during the next month, -it will be earlier than the weather at the date of the present writing -promises. Our ornithological studies extend over a greater number of -years than we care at this moment very accurately to count; but never -have we known our wild-birds so listless and loveless on Shrovetide Eve -as they are this season. Except an occasional carol from the wren, who -has a soul as big as that of his namesake Sir Christopher, who built -the dome of St. Paul's (the wren also, by the way, is a dome-builder), -and an irregular strophe at rare intervals from the redbreast, our -woods are songless, and of nidification there is not a sign. Meliora -sperare, nevertheless, is sound philosophy. Let us hope for better -things: He is faithful that promised that while the earth remaineth, -seed-time and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and -day and night, shall not cease. Scott has few finer passages than the -following, which we are fond of repeating in such a season as this. It -occurs in his epistle to William Stewart Rose, introductory to the -first canto of Marmion, and, though very beautiful, is seldom quoted:-- - - - "No longer Autumn's glowing red - Upon our Forest hills is shed; - No more, beneath the evening beam, - Fair Tweed reflects their purple gleam; - Away hath passed the heather bell - That bloomed so rich on Needpath fell; - Sallow his brow, and russet bare - Are now the sister-heights of Yair. - The sheep, before the pinching heaven, - To sheltered dale and down are driven, - Where yet some faded herbage pines - And yet a watery sunbeam shines: - In meek despondency they eye - The wither'd sward and wintry sky, - And far beneath their summer hill - Stray sadly by Glenkinnon's rill: - The shepherd shifts his mantle's fold, - And wraps him closer from the cold; - His dogs no merry circles wheel, - But, shivering, follow at his heel; - A cowering glance they often cast, - As deeper moans the gathering blast. - "My imps, though hardy, bold, and wild, - As best befits the mountain child, - Feel the sad influence of the hour, - And wail the daisy's vanished flower; - Their summer gambols tell, and mourn, - And anxious ask--Will spring return, - And birds and lambs again be gay, - And blossoms clothe the hawthorn spray? - "Yes, prattlers, yes. The daisy's flower - Again shall paint your summer bower; - Again the hawthorn shall supply - The garlands you delight to tie; - The lambs upon the lea shall bound, - The wild birds carol to the round; - And while you frolic light as they, - Too short shall seem the summer day." - - -On her rich roll of worthies, Scotland has but few names of whom -she has more reason to be proud than that of Walter Scott. If we -had even said not one, an objector might perhaps find the assertion -more difficult to disprove than he wots of. Nor has the star of his -marvellous power and influence for good set or been extinguished; it -has only been clouded for a season by the intervention of exhalations -of the "earth, earthy"--exhalations that the growth of a healthier -and holier taste is already dissipating, and the Wizard's star shall -reappear in undiminished lustre, and young and old will clap their -hands and rejoice in its purity and power. Some years ago arose a -school of poetry that flared and flickered for a season, and found -admirers on the same mysterious principle, we suppose, that Antoinetta -Bourignon and Joanna Southcott found followers. It was happily styled -the "spasmodic" school; and it died and disappeared--the best thing it -could do. A new school has succeeded, that may be called the sensuous, -and, we had almost said, the lascivious, and with a strong tendency -to the reproduction in modern guise of all that was worst and best -in the ancient Greek drama. Of this school, Mr. Swinburne is, facile -princeps, the chief. It also will last but for a season, and will -die and disappear ignominiously, as did its predecessor. There is -yet another school, that has existed for some time longer--full of -missyism, sentimentalism, and languid goodyism--"too good for banning, -too bad for a blessing." It also is slowly dwindling, and dwining, -and dying, and must soon expire, leaving people hardly any better -or worse than it found them. And so with the novels of the day, -with their "sensations," their seductions, murders, and unspeakable -horrors, worse than were mingled in the bubbling cauldron of the -witches in Macbeth: their day is doomed; for purer taste, banished -but for a moment, must reappear--is already reappearing--and people, -awakening as if from a dream, will once again consent to quench their -thirst at healthier fountains, and to wander in less questionable -bye-paths. The poetry and novels of Scott will then resume their -attraction and reassert their influence and power; and whithersoever -he leads, no parent need be ashamed to follow, or feel obliged in the -interests of morality to forbid and forego the companionship of wife -or children through scenes where there is everything to delight and -nothing to offend. It is well that in the world of poetry and fiction, -as in social and political affairs, the maxim holds true that-- - - - "Res nolunt diu male administrari." - - -Of Mr. Gladstone, the politician, there are many more enthusiastic -admirers than ourselves, though we would not willingly be supposed to -yield to any one in our ardent admiration of his ripe scholarship and -unrivalled eloquence; but we shall think better of him while we live, -and have a kindlier and warmer interest in all he says and does, -on account of his recent eulogium on the character and writings of -Sir Walter Scott. - -And who can speak of Scott, or think of Abbotsford and Melrose and -the classic Tweed at the present moment, without also thinking of -Allerly and Sir David Brewster, one of the greatest men of science -that Scotland has ever produced; and greater far, as sometimes happens -in such cases, out of it than in it, for during full forty years, -wherever, throughout the habitable parts of the earth, science had -lit her lamp and could count her votaries, however humble, there -the name of David Brewster was familiar as a household word, and his -discoveries known and applauded. He was the first really distinguished -man of letters and science we ever knew, and it was while writing one -of the earlier chapters of this work, on a subject in which he felt -the keenest interest, and in connection with which we had occasion -to mention his name, that the grand old man, venerable in honours -and in years, was breathing his last, with a Christian resignation -to the Divine will, and a Christian's joyful faith in the Divine -mercy and goodness. Passing through the valley of death, he feared -no evil, for his Lord and Saviour sustained his steps. Through the -first Lady Brewster (née Macpherson), to whom we had the honour of -being known before we had yet seen her distinguished husband, we -were fortunate enough to be admitted, at the very beginning of our -curriculum at college, to a degree of familiarity with the Principal -of our University, that our relative positions would not otherwise have -warranted, and which we have the satisfaction to remember we had sense -enough to value highly and to be proud of even at that early age. It -was by his practised hand that the instrument was adjusted through -which we had our first view of two of the most beautiful sights that -the telescope reveals to us--Jupiter with his belts and retinue of -attendant moons, and Saturn with his rings; and very patient and -good-natured and kindly were his replies to our eager questionings -with regard to the nature of the wonders then first opened to our -gaze. Sir David, if forced into it, could fight, and never turned -his back on an assailant. If you hit him, he hit again, and he always -hit severely; but he was, notwithstanding, a man of kindest heart and -most amiable disposition, and it would be difficult to meet with any -one more cheerful or courteous or pleasant within the circle of his -own family and in his daily intercourse with his acquaintances and -friends. Requiescat in pace: he was in truth a great man. Not often -does it happen that in the same country, and within so short a time -of each other, two such stars so large and lustrous as Faraday and -Brewster have disappeared from the firmament of science. A century may -elapse ere the thrones they have left vacant shall again be adequately -filled. There is something extremely beautiful and affecting in one -of Sir David Brewster's last utterances upon earth. On the morning -of his death, Sir James Simpson, standing by his bedside, remarked -that it had been given to him to show forth much of God's great and -marvellous works; and the dying philosopher solemnly and quietly -replied, "Yes, I have found them to be great and marvellous, and I -have found and felt them to be His." - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER IX. - - Long-Line Fishing--Scarcity of Fish--Their Fecundity--Large - Specimen of the Raia Chagrinea--The Wolf-Fish--The Devil-Fish. - - -For several years past [March 1870] the spring fishing with "long -lines" in our western lochs has been so unsuccessful as to be hardly -worth the while engaging in it. At our very doors, where with the -hand-line during the summer and autumn months, some ten or twelve -years ago, we could almost always depend on a large basketful of -the finest rock cod, gurnard, haddock, and flounder, as the result -of a couple of hours fishing, more recently very few, and sometimes -none at all, could be caught, with the cunningest exercise of all -the patience and piscatorial skill at our command, while in winter -and spring the long-line fishing of grey cod, skate, and ling, and -eel has been equally disappointing. Why it should be so no one would -venture to say; the utmost you could get out of the oldest fisherman -on the coast was an admission of the fact, with a shake of the head -and a shrug of the shoulders, that if so disposed you could very -readily interpret into the line, albeit unknown to him, that-- - - - "'Twas true 'twas pity, pity 'twas 'twas true," - - -a cautious reticence on the point that was altogether praiseworthy, -for really and truly nobody did know or could say anything satisfactory -in explanation of the mystery. Was it owing to the multiplication of -the number of steamers, screw and paddle, constantly coming and going, -and like Tennyson's "years" at their unamiable meeting, "roaring and -blowing," keeping the waters in perpetual turmoil, and scaring the -fish from their usual haunts? Such an hypothesis could be seriously -entertained for a moment only to be rejected. Could it be owing to -any cyclical meteorological changes, or to anything anomalous in the -order of the seasons? Admitting that something of this kind has been -going on for some time, and is still going on, it was readily seen, -nevertheless, that it was all too inappreciable and remote to have -had the result complained of--to cause that in the waters of "the -great deep" which it had failed to effect in any noticeable way on -the dry land. Or, was it that the fish themselves, by reason of their -numberless enemies, afloat and ashore, were actually diminishing in -numbers, and so necessarily becoming scarcer from year to year? No one, -however, knowing anything of the economy of the fish in question, -could for a moment entertain such an idea. The fecundity of these -fish is something incredible. We once had the roe of a female cod, -that weighed (the fish) six lbs., first boiled hard, and then divided -with tolerable exactness into so many ounces, and counting the number -of eggs in one ounce, and multiplying by the number of ounces in the -entire roe, we found, at a rough calculation, that in that single -fish, of no great size, there were upwards of a million and a half -of eggs--each egg destined to become a fish, and, barring accidents, -to attain to the average age and size of its kind. But however we -may try to account for the scarcity of these fish in our lochs for -several years back, it is an agreeable duty to have to record that -during the past winter and spring there has been a marked improvement -alike in the quantity and quality of the fish caught all along the -western seaboard. Not only have the common fish of our own coasts -been taken in considerable numbers, but several kinds of fish formerly -known only as occasional visitors to our shores have this season been -plentiful in all our lochs, and have well repaid the diligence of their -captors. The long-nosed skate, for example, formerly a rare fish with -us, has this season been common. It is known to ichthyologists as the -Raia chagrinea, and is not only excellent eating, but from its enormous -liver supplies a large quantity of very fine oil, that burns with a -clearer and steadier light than that of any other fish with which we -are acquainted. We are convinced, by the way, that, used medicinally, -it would be found equally efficacious with cod liver oil in all cases -where the latter is recommended, whilst its rather agreeable taste and -flavour would render it a tolerably palatable dose in its purest and -strongest state, which cod oil never becomes, manufacture, and decoct, -and clarify it as you may. A very fine specimen of the Chagrinea -was caught here about ten days ago. It was cut up and disembowelled -before we saw it, but we should guess that its weight when taken off -the hook could not have been less than 70 lbs. All the skates are ugly -brutes, and the long-nosed Chagrinea is at once perhaps the ugliest -and the best of its tribe. Some people don't eat skate, nor can we -say that we are partial to it ourselves, though we once heard a noted -gourmand declare that the "wing of a skate was equal to a shoulder of -a salmon." We should, for our own part, rather have the salmon. While -in Oban about a month ago, an extremely fierce-looking and ugly fish, -the name and character whereof not a little puzzled its captors, was -brought for our inspection. Luckily for our credit as a naturalist, -we had previously seen more than one specimen of the same fish with -the St. Andrews fishermen, it being by no means a rare visitor to -the eastern and north-eastern shores of Scotland. It was the wolf or -cat-fish, closely related to the family of the Gobies (Gobioidæ), -the Anarrhicas lupus of ichthyologists. The head of this curious -and most repulsive-looking fish has some peculiar markings, which, -with the fierce glaring eyes and their position in the face, and the -formidable array of long, sharp-pointed, recurved teeth, give it much -of the expression of an enraged cat, and hence doubtless its common -name. For the same reasons, and on account probably of its character as -a fierce, relentless tyrant among more amiable and less powerful fish, -it is known among the Channel Islands and along the coasts of England -as the wolf-fish. The only fish at all approaching it in ugliness and -repulsiveness of features is the better-known angler or fishing-frog -(Lophius piscatorius), which also, by the way, is not so common of -late years on our western coasts as it used to be. - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER X. - - Birds--Contest between a Heron and an Eel. - - -With the exception of a slight drizzle on Saturday the last ten days -have been wonderfully fine for the season [February 1870]. Seldom, -indeed, have we been so near realising the "ethereal mildness" of -Thomson's "Spring" so early in the year. And, in sooth, it was high -time that some such pleasant change in the weather should take place, -for no living wight can remember anything so incessant and persistent -as were the rain and the storm of the previous six weeks. - - - "When frost and snow come both together, - Then sit by the fire and save shoe leather," - - -quoth Jonathan Swift, the honest Dean of St. Patrick's, being evidently -no curler, and more given to satire than to snow-balling; but really -for the six weeks above specified nothing less than the direst -necessity could tempt one to any other pastime than the prudential -and prosaic one recommended in the couplet. Grant him but license to -grumble, however, and man can endure, and that scathlessly, much more -than he wots of. And how easily is he after all restored to equanimity -and even cheerfulness! Here we are already, placid and pleased, -enjoying the fine weather; the cold and the wet and the boisterous -gales of January and December altogether forgotten, or, if remembered, -remembered only to give zest to the bright and sunshiny present. And -never, we believe, were song-birds in such free and full song on -St. Valentine's day. Morning and evening (the interval, you must know, -dear reader, is as yet passed in tender dalliance and nest-building), -from copse and woodland, ring out the richest strains of our native -warblers, thrush, redbreast, blackbird, throstle, white-throat, wren -(whom the Germans, on account of his indomitable pluck and pre-eminence -as a songster, term the kingbird), and a score of other "musical -celebrities," vie with each other in the richness and the melody of -their incomparable song. Within a month, should the weather continue -favourable as at present, most of our wild-birds will have finished -their nests, and commenced the labours of incubation. We trust that -our readers will do all they can this season to prevent children and -others from what is called "birds'-nesting," one of the most cruel -pastimes to which any one could turn himself. All good men, and most -great ones, have been remarkable for their attachment to animals, -both domesticated and wild, and particularly to song-birds. Listen to -Virgil's passing allusion to the subject in his Georgics, a magnificent -poem, of itself sufficient to immortalise the name of any one man:-- - - - "Qualis populea moerens Philomela, sub umbra," &c., - - -thus rendered into English:-- - - - "Lo, Philomela from the umbrageous wood, - In strains melodious mourns her tender brood, - Snatch'd from the nest by some rude ploughman's hand, - On some lone bough the warbler takes her stand; - The live-long night she mourns the cruel wrong, - And hill and dale resound the plaintive song." - - -And hear our own matchless "ploughman bard," in one of his sweetest -lyrics, The Posie:-- - - - "The hawthorn I will pu', wi' its locks o' siller grey, - Where, like an aged man, it stands at break o' day, - But the songster's nest within the bush I winna tak away-- - And a' to be a posie to my ain dear May." - - -Verily, dear reader, he who wrote that verse, despite the pious -murmurings of the rigidly righteous, and the cold shudderings of -religious fanaticism at his shortcomings, must have been a man of -largest heart and widest sympathies; and, properly understood, there -is much truth, and no irreverence, in his own finding, that even - - - "The light which led astray - Was light from heaven." - - -We were much amused the other day at seeing a heron, a long-necked, -long-legged bird, doubtless familiar to the reader, for once in -a "fix." We say "for once," for it is a most sagacious bird and -thoroughly master of its own particular rôle, which, it is needless -to say, is principally fish-catching. We were amusing ourselves on -the sea-shore during low-water, watching the habits of periwinkles, -hermit-crabs, star-fish, &c., when we observed a heron at some hundred -yards distance, leaping about, wriggling its body, and performing -other strange and unheron-like antics, as if it had suddenly gone -mad. Knowing the staid and sober habits of the bird in general, -we at once came to the conclusion that something extraordinary "was -up," and determined, if possible, to discover what it was. Making a -slight détour to avoid alarming him--for it was a he, a very handsome, -full-crested male--we easily managed to creep within fifty yards or -so of him, and the cause of his excitement and unwonted posturings -became at once apparent. He had caught an eel (a great dainty with the -heron family) of about two feet in length, and of girth like a stout -walking-stick, notwithstanding which, however, Mr. Heron would soon -have satisfactorily dined upon it, had he not made a slight mistake in -the mode of striking his prey. The eel was held in the heron's bill at -a point only some three or four inches from the extremity of its tail, -the greater part of its body and its head being thus left at liberty -to twist, and wriggle, and wallop about ad libitum. To swallow the -eel in this position the heron knew was impossible, and to let it go, -even for an instant, for the purpose of getting a better "grip" of -his slippery customer was altogether out of the question. The heron -was standing on the very margin of the sea, into which the eel, -if for a moment at liberty, would have shot like an arrow. It was -too large to be tossed into the air and recaught in its descent, as -herons frequently do with other fish; and in short the heron was at -his wit's end, and wist not what to say or do. To make matters worse, -the eel was wriggling and twisting about its captor's legs, breechless -and exposed legs be it observed, and might, for all we or the heron -knew, take one of them at any time between its teeth, and sharp and -cruel, as probably the heron knew, are an eel's teeth when any part -of an enemy has the misfortune to get between them. Apprehensive, -doubtless, of some such danger, the heron danced and shuffled about, -lifting now one leg and now another, as if he had been practising a -new and somewhat complicated hornpipe. He would at one time leap a -foot or two to one side, and immediately after spring into the air -as many inches, attempting the while to strike his prey against the -stones, but always failing in doing this effectually, owing to want of -sufficient "purchase" and the insecurity of his hold. Having watched -this novel combat for some time, we made a rush to the scene of action, -hoping to succeed in surprising, perhaps, both the spoiler and his -prey. We were disappointed. The heron instantly took wing, carrying -the eel for some instance in his sharp-edged and powerful bill, but -finally dropping it into the sea, doubtless confessing to himself, -as he indignantly winged his flight to another fishing ground, that -once in his life at least he had caught a Tartar. - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER XI. - - Sea-Fishing--Loch and Stream Fishing--"Brindled - Worms"--Rush-Lights--Buckie-Shell Lamps--The Weasel killing a - Hare--Killing a Fallow Deer Fawn. - - -Though by no means everything that we could wish it, the weather of -the last fortnight [July 1870] was a decided improvement on that of -the preceding, and people have managed to get their hay secured in -tolerably good condition after all. No appearance of the much-dreaded -potato blight as yet; pity that it should show its unwished-for -face this year at all, for a finer crop never lay ripening in the -ground. Something has been done in herring fishing, and there is some -prospect of our having enough for local consumption at all events, -and perhaps a little over, which is no small matter in those dear -times. Other kinds of fish are plentiful, and, with sufficient leisure -for the pastime, there is hardly anything of the kind more enjoyable -in fine weather than an afternoon's or early morning's fishing with -rod or hand-line. You never, besides, see the country so well as on -these occasions, or so thoroughly understand the full force of the -poet's beautiful line, that in such scenes - - - "'Tis distance lends enchantment to the view." - - -Any number of trout, too--few of them, however, of any size--may be -caught at present in our inland lochs and mountain streams, and a -dish of these speckled beauties, fresh from the basket, is a very -good thing indeed, though the grilse and salmon eater may turn up -his nose in contempt and derision of such "small deer." Let him; we -shall be always prepared to take over his share along with our own! A -curious request was made to us a short time ago by a well-known book -"deliverer," who frequently passes this way, one of the keenest and -most successful fishers on lake or river we ever knew, and a very quiet -decent man to boot. "Will you allow me, sir, to put down some worms -in your place?" "To put down what?" we exclaimed in surprise. "Worms, -sir, brindled worms for fishing with, when the rivers are swollen after -heavy rains." We begged to have a look at the worms, and they proved -to be a variety of the common earthworm that we had never seen before, -the difference consisting in their being rather smaller in size than -the common earthworm, and prettily speckled and streaked all over -their length, whence, doubtless, their name of brindled worms. A lot -had been sent to him from Alyth, in Perthshire, very cunningly done -up in a bunch of damp moss; and, having a few left over after a week's -most successful fishing, he wished to deposit them in this, a central -part of his peregrinations, that they might multiply and be recoverable -at any time he wanted them. Holding one by the middle, between index -finger and thumb, in a manner that would have delighted the heart of -old Izaak Walton, the worm wriggling and twisting the while with all -the liveliness of an eel in similar circumstances, "There, sir," he -exclaimed, looking at the lively "brindled" as if he loved it, "there, -sir, is a bonny ane! no troot that ever swam could resist having a dash -at that in a brown and swollen stream." In answer to our questions, -he told us that the brindled colour of the worm had, he thought, a -good deal to do with the trout's liking for it, but, in his opinion, -the brisk and lively motions of the worm upon the hook was the main -attraction. The thing was so manifestly alive and active, and likely -to escape, if not caught at once, that the trout made a rush at it, -with his eyes shut, so to speak, and only discovered how thoroughly -he had been done, when, hooked and landed, he lay flopping helplessly -about on the green grass by the burn side. Getting piscator a spade, -he searched about for a suitable spot, and buried his worms beneath -the turf as tenderly as if he were laying babies asleep in their -cradles. "There now, sir," he remarked, as he finished his colonising, -"they will breed fast, and soon be plentiful enough hereabouts, and -they will destroy the common earthworm till not one can be found." So -that you see we had an interesting lesson on bait angling and the -natural history of earthworms very unexpectedly from a very unexpected -quarter. We still watch with interest if the assertion turns out to -be true, that the brindled worm exterminates the common earthworm, -notwithstanding their close relationship. Such a thing we know is -quite possible, a notable case in point being the extermination of -the old well-known black rat by the more modern coloniser, the brown. - -The amount of viva você information that one can pick up, not by going -actually to look for it, but in the most casual and incidental manner, -from all sorts of people with whom one may be brought in contact, -is simply extraordinary. Some, to be sure, will have nothing to -tell; they are as Dead Sea fruit, full of mere ashes, that never -had sap or substance for good to themselves or anybody else. Others, -again, may know much, but they are cautious and reserved, and never -venture beyond the most superficial and commonplace chit-chat; but the -great mass of people, if you approach them courteously and frankly, -will be found communicative enough, and if you go deftly about it, -you seldom work long in such mines without bringing some ore to the -surface. A day or two ago, for instance, we were sitting on a rock by -the roadside on the opposite shore of Appin, having rowed ashore from -our fishing ground to have a smoke and a drink of sparkling water -from one of the many rivulets that, like so many silver threads in -some rich embroidery, twist and twine with a glad music of their own -adown the green slopes of Benavere. An old man passing along the way, -with a bundle of rushes under his arm, saluted us with the quiet and -undemonstrative courtesy so characteristic of his class all over the -Highlands. We invited him to sit down beside us, and at once he sat -down and entered into conversation with us about the weather, crops, -fishing, and other such obvious matters as are seldom overlooked during -the first five minutes of a roadside crack at this season. By-and-by -we asked him about the bundle of rushes. There were too few of them -to be of any use as thatch, and we observed that they were not of the -kind generally used in basket-making--a common amusement for the idle -hours of shepherds, herdboys, and others in the past generation, who -made very pretty rush baskets for carrying eggs, butter, and other such -light goods to the nearest shop, and bringing back the tea, sugar, &c., -usually taken in exchange. What were his rushes for then? He gathered -them, he told us, from time to time, always selecting the largest and -best, for the sake of their pith, which served as wick for his lamp; -and he showed us the process of extracting the pith on the spot. He -first split the rush longitudinally, by running his thumb-nail along -its length, and then pressing his thumb transversely against the pith, -he ran it along until the whole beautifully soft and white substance -was gathered into a bundle free of its skin, the pith still remaining -unbroken by the deftness of the process, and easily extended at will to -its original length. This pith is inserted in the same manner as wick -in the lamp, and answers its purpose admirably. We recollect seeing -the thing before, but it is many years since, and we had thought that -cotton had everywhere, even in the remotest parts of the Highlands, -long since superseded the primitive rush pith as wick for lamps. "All -the people about me," said the old man, "now use paraffin lamps and -cotton wicks, but although perhaps I could afford these as well as -they can, I prefer the good old rush-light of my boyhood. I remember," -he continued, "when all the people in our hamlet gave a day's work -to the tenant of the adjoining farm for leave to gather rushes for -their lamps in the proper season. Fish oil of our own manufacture was -always used, and you will perhaps be surprised to hear, sir, that the -lamp was often a "buckie shell." "A buckie shell!" we exclaimed, "how -did you manage to fix it properly? You probably glued its keel to a -piece of wood or something of that kind?" "No, sir," was the response, -"we did not fix it at all. It was suspended from a cromag or hook of -wood or iron projecting from the wall near the fire-place by a string, -one end of which was firmly tied round the hollow dividing the whorl -at the smaller end of the shell, and the other round the furrow at -its larger circumference near the lip. The loop of the string was -then thrown over the hook, and thus suspended, the shell was filled -with oil and a rush pith inserted as wick, and it made a very good -lamp indeed, at once economical and serviceable. I recollect," said -the old man with a smile, "that my father, God rest him! who was a -very economical man, and hated everything like extravagance or waste, -allowed us just a shellful of oil for the winter's night. When that -much was spent, we had to tell our tales, sing our songs, and go on -with the work we might have in hand by such light as was afforded by -the blazing peat-fire, or let it alone till the next evening, just as -we pleased." Our friend concluded by declaring in very emphatic phrase -that "the people now are less industrious than they were then; have -more money in their hands, but use it less wisely; are less truthful, -less honest, less to be depended upon in every way than were the -people of his boyhood and their immediate predecessors." "Laudator -temporis acti," but there is some truth in it. You should have heard -how grandly and with what an air of dignity the old fellow spoke that -concluding sentence in the most beautiful and rhythmical Gaelic. The -buckie shell referred to above is the Buccinum undatum, or common -whelk, constantly to be met with on almost every shore. It is to be -understood, we suppose, that the larger specimens only would be used -as lamps in the manner described by our venerable friend. - -Of British quadrupeds--perhaps of all existing quadrupeds--the -pluckiest, and, according to its size and weight, by far the strongest, -is the common weasel (Mustela vulgaris). The other day a man in our -neighbourhood brought us a common brown hare, large and in excellent -condition, that had been hunted and killed by a weasel in a very -extraordinary manner. In the evening the man was going up a green glade -on the wooded hill-side in search of his cows, when he heard what he -took to be the screaming of a child on the other side of a small hazel -copse which he was passing at the moment. Supposing it to be a child -searching for cows like himself, that had fallen and hurt itself, -or that had perhaps been attacked by some stirk or quey, angry at -being disturbed in a favourite bit of grazing ground, he ran forward, -and hearing the screaming repeated, was astonished to find that it -proceeded from a hare that toilsomely and with staggering steps was -struggling up the steep. On closer inspection, about which there was -no difficulty, for by this time the poor hare was, in race-course -phrase, about "pumped out," and could barely stagger along, he was -more than astonished to observe that a weasel was extended couchant -along the hare's back, with his muzzle deeply sunk into the vertebræ -of his victim's neck, a position from which no exertion on the hare's -part could possibly dislodge him. Picking up a stone, the man rushed -forward and threw it with all his might, not so much at the hare as -at its lithe and blood-thirsty rider. The hare, however, was hit, and -fell, and with a gasp or two was dead; less from the blow than from -the terrible injuries inflicted by the weasel's teeth, from which, -under any circumstances, it was impossible that the poor animal could -have recovered. Before the man and a dog which accompanied him could -get at the wary weasel, it had with proverbial agility made good -its escape. On examining the hare, we found that it was in truth -dreadfully wounded, the ruthless Mustela having manifestly gone to -work in a very scientific manner, the little red-eyed wretch's motto -being "Thorough!" Once fairly on the back of his victim, he anchored -himself firmly by his teeth right in the centre of the nape of the -neck, just where the head is articulated to the cervical vertebræ; -and as no exertion of the hare could shake him off, he leisurely -dug down, drinking the blood and eating as he dug, until the poor -hare, faint and exhausted, could only stagger about in response to -each cruel dig of the dental spurs of its terrible rider. That a -creature so diminutive--weighing only about as many ounces as a hare -weighs pounds--should be able thus to mount and master an animal -so much bigger than itself, seems extraordinary, and is only to be -accounted for by a lithe agility in the assailant, to be met with -in no other creature perhaps, coupled with indomitable courage and -instinctive blood-thirstiness. We recollect some years ago that an -old man, a James Cameron, belonging to Achintore, near Fort-William, -was savagely assaulted by a colony of weasels, and very severely -wounded before he could get rid of his assailants. He was employed -by a neighbour to remove a cairn of small stones from a grass field, -in which it had long been an eyesore, from the centre of which cairn, -when he had wheeled away several barrows-full, six or seven weasels -rushed out and attacked him. So sudden and unexpected was the attack, -that before he could do anything to defend himself, his hands and -chin and cheeks--for they instinctively flew at his throat, which -was luckily guarded by the thick folds of a homespun cravat--were -severely bitten. One or two he killed by taking them in his hands, -dashing them to the ground, and trampling them under his feet; but the -others stuck to him with the pertinacity and viciousness of angry bees, -and it was only by running into a house that was at hand, for aid and -protection, that they ceased their attack and left him. Happening to -be in Fort-William that day, we recollect examining the man's wounds, -and getting the story of the weasel assault from his own lips. We -remember remarking how astonishingly deep and formidable were the -wounds, to be made by the comparatively small teeth, short though -sharp, of the weasel; and what was worse, they festered again and -again, and gave the man much pain and trouble ere they fully healed -up and disappeared. An old gamekeeper tells us that he once saw a -fallow deer fawn, upwards of six weeks old, killed by a weasel in one -of the Callart parks precisely as this hare was killed, and a fawn at -that age will weigh three times as much as a brown hare in ordinary -condition. In common with most people, we have rather a dislike to -the weasel, though one cannot but view with respect the courage and -pluck that carry him safely through such exploits as these. - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER XII. - - Extraordinary aspect of the Sun--Sunset from - Rokeby--Mr. Glaisher--"Demoiselle" or Numidian Crane at - Deerness--The Snowy Owl in Sutherlandshire--Does the Fieldfare - breed in Scotland?--The Woodcock. - - -We have just had a week of the finest weather imaginable, dry, bright -and breezy, and with uninterrupted sunshine. The greater part of our -hay crop has, in consequence, been secured in splendid condition, -without a drop of rain, in fact--a piece of rare good fortune in -Lochaber. We do not know if the extraordinary aspect of the sun at -its rising and setting on Monday, the 13th instant [June 1870], was -noticed elsewhere by any of our readers. On the morning of the day in -question it presented a strangely mottled, yellowish copper-coloured -disc, so singularly unusual as to induce an old seaman, nearly -eighty years of age, in our neighbourhood, to call our attention -to the circumstance. In the evening a little before its setting, -it assumed a lurid blood-red colour, which was very remarkable, -and forcibly reminded us at the moment of Scott's lines in Rokeby-- - - - "No pale gradations quench his ray, - No twilight dews his wrath allay; - With disc like battle-target red, - He rushes to his burning bed, - Dyes the wide wave with bloody light, - Then sinks at once--and all is night." - - -We were unanimous in predicting an immediate and violent storm of wind -and rain, but the next morning came in bright, breezy, and cloudless, -and such it has continued ever since. Such phenomena, and the nature -of the weather following them, are always worth recording. Virgil, -in his first Georgic instructs the husbandman to confide in those -indications of the weather afforded by the aspect of the sun, for the -rather curious reason, however, that the obscuration of the solar orb -gave faithful warning of the impending fate of Cæsar! A very striking -instance of a form of sophism, well known to the logician, in which an -accidental circumstance is assumed as sufficient to establish efficient -connection. On the morning of Wednesday last we had a smart touch of -frost here in exposed situations--a strange and anomalous phenomenon -in the dog-days truly! But when we remember that Mr. Glaisher (who -for purely scientific purposes has put his life into greater peril -than any other living man), in his recent aerial ascent met with a -regular snow-storm at the elevation of only about one mile above the -earth's surface, we shall not wonder so much, perhaps, that a frost -current should, under certain circumstances, occasionally penetrate -earthwards even in the dog-days. We should have stated above that -on the 13th we carefully examined the solar disc with an excellent -four-feet telescope belonging to Ardgour, when it presented only two -"spots" or maculæ, and neither of these of remarkable size or form, -situated close together on the orb's south-western limb. - -We are glad to observe that the "Demoiselle" or Numidian crane -recently shot at Deerness has been preserved, and is to fall into -careful keeping. Its feeding on oats, however, is very extraordinary, -and only to be accounted for by the supposition that its natural -food was so scarce, in a locality so unlike its own sunny clime, -that it was fain to fill its crop with the readiest possible edible -that presented itself. The snowy owl, a specimen of which is stated -to have been recently shot in Sutherland, is by no means a rare -visitor in Britain. A pair, male and female, in full plumage, were -shot on the links of St. Andrews, by Captain Dempster, of the Indian -Army, in the winter of 1847, and are now, we believe, to be seen in -the University museum of that city. They have been known to breed -in Shetland, but never, so far as we are aware, on the mainland, -or anywhere, indeed, farther south than 59° or 60° of latitude. Is -the specimen in Mr. M'Leay's possession male or female? What is the -colour of its plumage--pure white, or slightly barred and mottled -with brown? These are important questions, and every account of such -rare visitors should be as minute in such particulars as possible. The -snowy owl, like the Arctic fox, hare, ermine, &c, is supposed to change -its plumage with the season, the immaculate white of its winter dress -being exchanged for a summer garb of mixed, spotted, and barred brown -and white. It is highly important that such a point as this should be -decided. The scientific name given it--Surna nyctea--is incorrect. It -is probably a misprint for Strix nyctea, so styled by Linnæus, and -after him continued as most appropriate by succeeding naturalists -without exception. In Sweden, where it breeds and is very common, -it is said to feed principally upon hares, hence Buffon calls it La -Chouette Harfang, the latter word being the Swedish for the white or -Alpine hare. It was the French naturalists, also, who first gave the -name Demoiselle to the Numidian crane, its symmetry of form, tasteful -disposition of plumage, and elegance of deportment, in their opinion, -fully justifying the complimentary appellation. Its economy was first -carefully studied, and a correct description of it given, about the -beginning of the present century by the naturalists who accompanied -the French expedition to Egypt under Napoleon, who, whatever his -faults were, was at least neither indifferent to, nor neglectful of, -the interests of the arts and sciences. Does the fieldfare breed in -Scotland? We are afraid the reply must still be in the negative. We -have little doubt that the bird seen by Mr. Fraser of Hamilton was the -missel-thrush, and that the nest and egg in his possession belong to -the same bird, that is, the Turdus vixivorus, and not to its congener -the Turdus pilaris. We are led to this opinion by the fact that the -female missel-thrush is very like the fieldfare in plumage, and not -very noticeably different in size. The nest referred to by Mr. Fraser -was, he says, situated in the fork of a tree, about fourteen feet from -the ground, exactly about the height the throstle generally fixes upon -for its nest, whereas, according to our best authorities, the fieldfare -builds at the top, or very near "the top of the tallest pines." We give -but little weight to the shape and markings of the egg as described, -for it frequently happens that the eggs of different birds, even -of the same species, differ in a very remarkable manner. The hint, -however, that the fieldfare may sometimes breed in Scotland is worth -attending to, and we have marked it down for future inquiry and -investigation. It was for long a question of fierce debate whether -or not the well-known woodcock bred in this country. The matter has, -however, been of late years completely set at rest by the researches of -naturalists, clearly bringing out the fact that it not only breeds in -Scotland, but that such an event, instead of being rare, is, on the -contrary, of comparatively frequent occurrence. This very season, -about the middle of May, one of Ardgour's keepers brought us the -wings of a young woodcock, with the quill feathers still pulpy and -soft, which, of the original bird, was all he could secure from the -clutches of a hawk that was breakfasting on the dainty morsel in -the woods of Coirrechadrachan. We also understand that at least two -woodcock's nests, with eggs in them, were known to some parties in -this neighbourhood at the beginning of the season. It is, therefore, -possible that the fieldfare may yet be proved to breed in Scotland, -but the evidence for the establishment of such a fact must be much -stronger than that brought forward by Mr. Fraser. - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER XIII. - - Extraordinary Heat and Drought--Plentifulness of Fungi--Cows fond - of Mushrooms--Shoals of Whales--A rippling Breeze, and a Sail on - Loch Leven. - - -If of late we had to admit--somewhat reluctantly be it confessed--that -it was "wet, very wet," even for Lochaber, we have it in our power -now at length [1st August 1870] to strike a different key-note, -and to say that it is dry, very dry; bright, very bright; hot, very -hot,--so dry, bright, and hot, in fact, that one might as well be on -the banks of the Nile or Niger as on the shores of Loch Leven, were -it not for a delightful sea breeze that never fails to come to cheer -and gladden us evening and morning; and then you may fancy--that is, -if you can swim, dear reader--the unspeakable delight of a headlong -plunge into the cool and sparkling waters of the advancing tide! The -heat is in truth something extraordinary, and if it weren't that you -felt yourself fast retrograding into the same condition, it would be an -amusing study to watch a certain class of people, generally the most -staid and stiff and correct possible, who, as a rule, would rather -die than violate the least of the proprieties, now going about in a -semi-nude state, as if they had just escaped from a lunatic asylum, -panting the while as if they were in the last stage of asthma, and -streaming with perspiration as if they had resolutely made up their -minds to melt away and dissolve like untimely snowballs. - -Crops everywhere are splendid, and, after all the rain of the earlier -part of the season, which gave them growth, this is just the weather -that suits them in their present stage, strengthening and consolidating -their tissues, and bringing them to a rapid and healthy maturity. The -meadow hay crop is unusually heavy everywhere. We saw a field belonging -to Mr. Maclean of Ardgour in the act of being cut the other day, and -we never saw anything finer or heavier fall before a scythe. This is -precisely the weather for securing such a heavy swathe in good order, -although one cannot but feel for the poor scythesman, who, brown as -an Indian and bathed in sweat, wields his glittering weapon under a -burning, blazing sun, such as at a pinch might serve the turn of our -cousins of Jamaica or Demerara. Some idea of the extraordinary heat -and drought of the past week may be gathered from the fact that it -was frequently found possible to stack or carry into the barn in one -day the hay that had only been cut on the day previous--something -hitherto unheard-of, we should say, in Lochaber, or, indeed, in any -part of the Highlands. - -We cannot recollect having ever before seen all kinds of fungi so -plentiful as they are throughout Lochaber this season. You meet -mushrooms of all sizes and of all shapes, both edible and poisonous; -while fairy rings are so common that you may encounter one or more of -them in every bit of old pasture and in every greenwood glade. One -of these rings we had the curiosity to measure a few days ago, -and we found its diameter to be precisely fifteen feet, giving it -a circumference of upwards of fifty feet, as nearly as possible a a -perfect circle, the emerald outline, studded with its peculiar pretty -white, button-like Agaraci, amid the lighter green of the surrounding -herbage, as distinct and easily traceable, even at several hundred -yards distance, as ever was halo round the moon. We noticed that a cow, -happening to come the way while we were examining another of these -fairy rings, ate them all with evident relish, browsing so steadily -along and around, that when she completed the circle she had not left -a single one. We hope that they agreed with her, though we should not -like to have joined in the repast, for we have a salutary horror of -the whole mushroom tribe. The so-called edible mushroom is said to be -delicious when properly cooked: should it ever in any form be a dish -on a table at which we are seated, we promise to give our share of it, -totus, teres atque rotundus, whole and unimpaired, to the first that -will accept it. To the present intense heat, coming so suddenly on -the back of long-continued rains, is probably due the extraordinary -abundance of all kinds of fungi. - -The shoal of whales at present disporting themselves in Lochiel, -intending probably, tourist fashion, to visit Inverness by-and-by, -via the Caledonian Canal, if they can only arrange it with the -authorities, did us the honour to visit Loch Leven, spending an -entire day with us, evidently very much to their own satisfaction, -if one might judge from their lively somersaultings and incessant -gambollings. These whales--a shoal of some five or six hundred, -we should say--were a very interesting sight as they gambolled about -within a hundred yards of us, blowing loudly the while and lashing the -sea with foam, until you might have heard the hurly-burly from the top -of the highest mountain in the neighbourhood. They were of all sizes, -from full growth, and old age perhaps, down to veriest babyhood. In the -shoal, two kinds of whale were mingled together in apparent amity and -good-fellowship: the common bottlenose (Baloenoptera acuto-rostrata of -La Cèpede--the highest authority on cetaceous animals), measuring some -twenty or twenty-five feet in length, and the broad-nosed or rorqual -whale (Baloena musculus, Linn.; B. rorqual, La Cèpede), from fifty to -sixty feet in length, and appearing beside a bottlenose, as they came -to the surface to breathe, like a Clydesdale horse beside a Shetland -pony. It will be strange if our friends at Fort-William do not manage -to bag some of them ere they repass the narrows at Corran Ferry. - -The heat is oppressive within doors; but Loch Leven, we observe, is -darkening under a rippling breeze from the south-east, and we are off -for a sail in our tidy, little craft, that, with lugsail sheeted home, -will go to windward of anything of equal size on the coast. - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER XIV. - - Herrings--Chimæra Monstrosa--Cure for Ringworm--Cold Tea Leaves - for inflamed and blood-shot Eyes--An old Incantation for the cure - of Sore Eyes--A curious Dirk Sheath--A Tannery of Human Skins. - - -However unproductive the herring fishing season may be quoad herrings, -and this has so far been the worst of a series of bad seasons -[September 1870], it rarely fails to provide more or less grist for our -mill in the shape of some rarity in marine life worth chronicling. A -very ugly and repulsive-looking fish, extremely rare too, was sent us -recently for identification. It was caught in Sallachan Bay, in our -neighbourhood, having become entangled in the corner of a drift net -which the fishermen were hauling into their boat in the grey morning, -after a long, wearisome, and profitless night's labours. We had seen -the fish before, though not often, and had therefore no hesitation -in recognising it as the Chimæra monstrosa--a scientific name, by -the way in which its lack of beauty is plainly enough indicated--a -cartilaginous fish, two feet in length, and of somewhat elongated and -hake-like form. The general colour is a dull leaden white, mottled -on the under parts with small spots of rusty brown. On examining -the contents of the stomach, they were found to consist of some very -small herring fry, along with partly digested fragments of the adult -fish, whence it may be concluded that the Chimæra's favourite prey, -when they can be had, is herring; a conclusion at which we might also -easily arrive from the fact that it is seldom or never met with on -our shores, except when herring are more or less plentiful. At one -time the Chimæra must have been a less rare fish than it is now, for -it has a Gaelic name, "Buachaille-an-Sgadain," the Herring Herd or -Herdsman. It was probably comparatively common in the good old times, -when even our more inland western lochs swarmed annually with herring -shoals, and so large was the capture, that the salt to cure them, -on which there was a considerable duty at the time, was frequently -retailed over a vessel's side at a shilling the lippy. The late -Colonel Maclean of Ardgour, who attained a great age, with intellect -clear and unimpaired, and who was most particular and exact in all -his statistics, has repeatedly assured us that, in his younger days, -say a hundred years ago, fifty thousand pounds worth of herring used -to be captured annually in Lochiel alone. We don't suppose that for -many years past herring to the value of a tenth of that sum have been -caught in all the lochs between the Mull of Cantyre and the Point -of Ardnamurchan. - -The reader probably knows what ringworm is--a fungoid eruption on -the skin, not uncommon in the spring and early summer in children -and young people of plethoric habits. There is a very wide-spread -belief over the West Highlands and in the Hebrides that ringworm -can be readily cured by rubbing it over and around once or twice -with a gold-ring--a woman's marriage ring, if it can be had, being -always preferred. In our younger days we recollect seeing the cure -applied on more than one occasion, whether with the desired result, -or ineffectually, we do not know--we probably little thought in those -days of kilts, cammanachd, and barley bannocks, of inquiring. For -many years we had neither seen nor heard anything either of the -disease or of its popular cure, until, by the merest accident, it -came under our notice a few days ago. Riding home one evening last -week, we observed two little girls and a sturdy long-legged haflin -lad sitting patiently in front of a cottage, the door of which was -shut and locked. The youngsters, rather better dressed than usual, -had come from a considerable distance, and we wondered what they could -be doing there. On mentioning the matter next day, we had the story in -full as follows:--The three were suffering from ringworm. The owner of -the cottage has a marriage ring of wonderful efficacy in curing this -epidermic distemper. They had come from one of the inland glens to be -operated upon, but the possessor of the ring was away in Glasgow, and -only returned home by steamer late that evening. When she did arrive, -the young people were duly manipulated and ring-rubbed secundum artem; -and in four and twenty hours thereafter we were gravely assured -they were quite healed. Any gold ring is usually employed, but the -particular ring referred to in this case is much sought after on such -occasions, because, as our informant said, it is of "guinea gold," -by which we suppose very pure gold, with the least possible alloy, -is meant; and because it is the property of a widow who was married -to one husband more than fifty years. A belief in the virtue of gold -rings in cures of ringworm is, as we have said, very wide-spread and -honestly held by many. Whether, in common phrase, there is "anything -in it," or the whole affair is sheer nonsense, we shall not take it -upon us to decide. We merely submit a common and curious article -of popular belief for the consideration of our grave and learned -dermatologists and the faculty at large. One thing is certain,--the -owner of the marvellous ring makes no vulgar profit by her frequent -use of it in such cases. She is in comfortable circumstances, and -the whole affair, as far as she is concerned, is a mere labour of love. - -Another popular cure, which for the first time came under our -notice recently, and which in many cases is really efficacious, as -we have heard averred by those who have been benefited by its use, -is the application of a poultice of cold tea leaves to an inflamed -or blood-shot eye. A handful of the leaves is taken from the pot, and -placed between two folds of thin cotton or muslin, and applied to the -eye at bed-time, kept in its place, of course, by a handkerchief or -other band tied round the head. In cases of weak or inflamed eyes from -any cause, this is reckoned, in this and the surrounding districts, -"the sovereignest thing on earth." And one can quite understand how -tea leaves, at once cooling and astringent, employed in this way, -may benefit a hot and inflamed eye. It is a simple application at -all events, and always at hand; and when more pretentious remedies -are not readily attainable, one would be unwisely prejudiced, if not -actually foolish, to suffer long without giving it a fair trial. - -A less simple and less readily available cure for sore eyes is the -following in old Gaelic verse:-- - - - Leigheas Sul. - - Luidh Challum-Chille agus spèir, - Meannt agus tri-bhilead corr, - Bainne atharla nach do rug laodh; - Bruich iad a's càirich air brèid, - S'cuir sid rid' shùil aig tra-nèin, - Air an Athair, am Mac agus Spiorad nan gràs, - 'S air Ostal na seirce; bi'dh do shùilean slàn - Mu'n eirich a gheallach 's mu'n till an làn. - - -In English, literally-- - - - (Take of) St. Columba's wort and dandelion, - (Of) mint and a perfect plant of marsh trefoil, - (Take of) milk from the udder of a quey - (That is heavy with calf, but that has not actually calved), - Boil, and spread the mixture on a cloth; - Put it to your eyes at noon-tide, - In the name of Father, Son, and the Spirit of Grace, - And in the name of (John) the Apostle of Love, and your eyes - shall be well - Before the next rising of the moon, before the turning of next - flood-tide. - - -We were recently shown a great curiosity--a dirk sheath said to be -made of human skin. Its history, as related to us by the owner, is as -follows:--In the summer of 1746, about two months after the battle of -Culloden, a detachment of Saighdearan Dearge, red (coated) soldiers, -or Government troops, was passing through Lochaber and Appin on its -way to Inveraray, the men amusing themselves, and enlivening the tedium -of the march, by burning and plundering as they had opportunity. When -passing through the Strath of Appin, a young woman was observed in -a field, busily engaged in the evening milking her cow. A sergeant -or corporal of the band leaped over the wall into the field, and -putting his musket to his shoulder, shot the cow dead upon the spot; -after which gallant exploit he began the most brutal ill-treatment -of the woman. She, however, defended herself with great courage, and -as she retreated towards the shore, she picked up a stone, which she -hurled at her persecutor with such good aim that it struck him full -on the forehead, stretching him for the moment senseless upon the -grass. She then fled towards a boat that was afloat on the beach, and -leaping in, rapidly rowed towards Eilean-bhaile-na-gobhar, an island -at a considerable distance from the mainland, where she was safe -from further annoyance. The tradition is so minute and precise that -the heroine's name is given as Silas-Nic-Cholla, or Julia MacColl; -and our informant declared himself to be her great-grandson. The -sergeant, stunned and bleeding, was picked up by his comrades, -and carried to the place of halt for the night, near Tigh-an Ribbi, -where, before morning, he died of his wound. His body was buried in -the old churchyard of Airds, but was not allowed to rest there. On -the disappearance of the soldiers from the district, the body was -exhumed by the people, and cast into the sea; not, however, before a -brother of Silas-Nic-Cholla flayed the right arm from the shoulder -to the elbow, and of the skin thus flayed was made a dirk sheath, -and this sheath we saw and handled with no little curiosity a week or -two ago. The sheath is of a dark brown colour, limp and soft, with no -ornament except a small virle of brass at the point, and a thin edging -of the same metal round the orifice, on which is inscribed the date -"1747," and the initials "D. M. C." There is no reason, we suppose, -to doubt the genuineness of the article, though we hardly expected -to find human skin--if it be human skin--of such thickness. It may, -however, be partly the result of the tanning process which it probably -underwent, and of time. In connection with this strange relic of a -past age may be stated the extraordinary fact--incredible, indeed, -if it were not thoroughly authenticated--that during the horrors of -the French Revolution there was a tannery of human skins for many -months in operation at Meudon. The raw material, so to speak, of -this strange manufacture, was the skins of the scores and hundreds -that were daily guillotined. It is asserted that "it made excellent -wash-leather." Montgaillard, a prominent character of the period, who -had the curiosity to visit the works, and saw the tanning process in -full operation, makes the following curious observation:--"The skin -of the men was superior in toughness and quality to shamoy; that of -the women good for almost nothing, so soft in texture, and easily -torn, like rotten linen!" We have had some rebellious revolutions, -civil wars, and all the rest of it in Great Britain and Ireland, -with their attendant iniquities, bad enough in all conscience, but -the French may fairly boast of having beat us; a tannery of human -skins is a venture and enterprise that no one has been pushing and -patriotic enough yet to undertake amongst us, even when axe and -gallows wrought their hardest in days happily long since passed away. - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER XV. - - The Ring-Dove--A Pet Ring-Dove--Its Death--Shenstone--The - Belone Vulgaris or Gar-Fish--A Rat and a Kilmarnock - Night-Cap--Extraordinary Roebuck's Head at Ardgour. - - -The weather [October 1870] with us here on the West Coast continues -wonderfully mild and open for the latter end of October. Were it not, -indeed, for an occasional sprinkling of snow along the mountain summits -of an early morning, and finding as you wander about the pathways -everywhere bestrewn with fallen leaves, we might find some difficulty -in persuading ourselves, in weather so bright and summer-like, that -the season was at all so far advanced as it really is, that 1870, -with its immediate predecessor--the anni mirabiles of the century--had -already so nearly run its allotted course. A striking proof of the -exceptional mildness of the weather since mid-August is the fact that -a young wood-pigeon or ring-dove (Columba palumbus), not yet nearly -full fledged, was brought to us a few days ago from a nest in the -woods of Coirrechadrachan. We have kept it with the view of rearing -it as a pet, though the chances are all against us, the produce of -such late incubations having always less robustness and vitality about -them than birds hatched in spring or early summer. There is a little -difficulty, as a rule, in rearing the ring-dove, and getting it to -become even troublesomely tame, until it purrs and kur-doo's about -your feet, and rubs himself against you with all the familiarity and -empressement of a kitten begging for its morning allowance of milk. It -is, however, exceedingly quarrelsome and pugnacious among other pets, -and so jealous of any attention bestowed on any one but itself, that -it will pout and sulk for half a day if it considers itself injured -in this respect; and yet so little grateful is it for any amount -of kindness you may show it, that when full-grown it will take the -first opportunity that offers to escape into its native wild woods, -never more to look near you. One that we reared from the nest several -years ago had one very amusing habit. Every morning after being -fed he would watch the nursery door, which opened off the kitchen, -until he got it ajar, when he would leap upon the dressing-table and -spend a couple of hours in admiring himself in the looking-glass, -preening his feathers and strutting about and kur-dooing to his alter -ego with the most beauish, self-satisfied air imaginable, the poor -bird being evidently under the impression that his own reflection -was a Mademoiselle Ring-dove of irresistible attractions, and whom -he persuaded himself he was on these occasions busily courting in -the manner most approved of amongst the most fashionable circles of -ring-dovedom. His death was a singular one. A large Aylesbury duck, -with whom he used to have constant quarrels, he being invariably -in fault and always the aggressor, got a hold of him one day near -her ducking pond, and in a scuffle, which the ring-dove himself had -causelessly provoked, dragged him into the water, and beat him with -her wings until he was, like Ophelia, "drown'd, drown'd." - -We never see these very handsome wild birds, or hear their soft -melodious cooing of summer eve from the neighbouring woods, but we -think of Shenstone's beautiful lines-- - - - "I have found out a gift for my fair: - I have found where the wood-pigeons breed; - But let me that plunder forbear, - She will say 'twas a barbarous deed: - For he ne'er could be true, she averr'd, - Who could rob a poor bird of its young; - And I lov'd her the more when I heard - Such tenderness fall from her tongue. - - "I have heard her with sweetness unfold - How that pity was due to a dove; - That it ever attended the bold, - And she called it the Sister of Love. - But her words such a pleasure convey, - So much I her accents adore, - Let her speak, and whatever she say, - Methinks I should love her the more." - - -In the same poem--the Pastoral Ballad--occurs this exquisite verse:-- - - - "When forced the fair nymph to forego, - What anguish I felt at my heart! - Yet I thought--but it might not be so-- - 'Twas with pain she saw me depart. - She gazed as I slowly withdrew; - My path I could hardly discern: - So sweetly she bade me adieu, - I thought that she bade me return." - - -But alas, and woe the while! William Shenstone of the Leasowes, with -his many tuneful contemporaries, are forgotten, or at least unread, by -the present generation, and the poetasters of our day claim Parnassus, -its Castalian spring and Temple of Apollo, for their own! All we -can is that in rê poetica the taste of an age tolerant of such an -usurpation is little to be commended. - -A gentleman in the opposite district of Appin sent us a message a -few days ago begging us to go and have a look at what he termed -a rarissimus piscis, a most rare fish that had been caught in a -scringe net along with a lot of sethe and mackerel. In complying -with such messages we can seldom be charged with dilatoriness, -as most of our friends will bear witness. Nor was it otherwise in -this case; Cha be'n ruith ach an leùm, as the Highlanders say--it -was not a run but a rush, with a leap and a bound--when they would -emphatically characterise a person's conduct in going about anything -with extraordinary alacrity. The fish in question we found to be -an old acquaintance of ours, though so rare on the west coast that -we never saw or heard of it before during a twenty years' residence -in the country, and constantly, too, on the out-look for everything -in the shape and semblance of a rara avis, whether encased in fur, -feather, or scales. It was the gar-fish of British zoologists, -known in ichthyological nomenclature as the Belone vulgaris of the -family Scomberesocidæ, having the body, which is covered with minute -scales, elongated to a degree almost conger-like. It is frequently -captured on the east coast, sometimes intermingling with mackerel and -haddock shoals in considerable numbers. We have seen it in the Perth, -Dundee, and Edinburgh fish markets; never, as we have said, on the -west coast. It is said to be excellent eating when in proper season, -although there is a prejudice against its use amongst the fishermen -themselves; and it is a remarkable fact, by the way, that some of -the finest fish in the sea--most in esteem, at all events, with the -fish-eating public--are frequently rejected by their professional -captors for their own eating in favour of what we should call the -coarser and inferior kinds. For a long time we thought this was -entirely a matter of economy, those that brought the largest price -in the market being sold, and the inferior sorts kept for their own -consumption. Subsequently we had abundant opportunities of finding -out that it was far otherwise. An east coast fisherman will give the -preference at any time, for his own eating that is, to a flounder, -however flabby and flaccid, over a whiting or plaice; he will eat the -hake rather than the finest cod or haddock, and considers the wing of -a skate, dried in the smoke until it is of the colour of the darkest -mahogany, with a bouquet the very opposite, be sure, of the ottar of -roses, a tit-bit with which, in his estimation, neither sea-trout, -mackerel, nor turbot can for a moment bear comparison. Fishermen, too, -we have observed with some surprise, seldom eat their fish fresh; -they prefer it salted--salted, moreover, as a rule to a degree that -to other people would render it almost uneatable. For the prejudice -against the gar-fish there is, however, some excuse. In popular -superstition, "lang-nebbed" things have always been in bad odour; -and the gar-fish's snout is greatly elongated, so much so that it -bears no small resemblance to a curlew's bill, giving it a wicked, -vicious look, that its structure otherwise, however, belies; for -it is altogether incapable of hurting anything bigger than the -very small fry and marine insects on which it feeds. The prejudice -against the gar-fish is no doubt to be accounted for in part by the -curious fact that its bones are of a dirty green colour, strange -and perhaps disagreeable to an eye accustomed to the ivory-like -whiteness of the osseous structure of most other fishes that are -brought to table. We have seen specimens of the gar-fish captured by -the St. Andrews fishermen that exceeded three feet in length: the fish -more immediately referred to only measured nineteen inches. Our friend -has since written us a note to say that on being shown to a gentleman, -"professing to know something of ichthyology," he declared it to be -a specimen of the pipe-fish, which is just about as correct as if a -man said that a pelican was a parrot, or a pig was a giraffe. - -In one particular, at least, we resemble Dr. Samuel Johnson. We -have never during our whole lifetime once worn a nightcap. "I -had the custom by chance," replied the "Rambler," with a growl -at Boswell's inquisitiveness on the subject, "and perhaps no man, -sir, shall ever know whether it is best to sleep with or without a -nightcap." But if we don't wear a nightcap, some of our neighbours -do, and to one of these useful articles of nocturnal toilette befell -the following adventure a short time ago. One of our neighbours, a -fine old Highlander, still straight as a pine tree, and strong and -stalwart withal, though already past the grand climacteric, having -had occasion to be in the south in the early summer, bought himself a -speck and span new nightcap, which, neatly folded up along with some -braws for the gudewife, formed a parcel of which, you may be sure, -he was exceedingly careful on the return journey, constantly "keeping -his eye on it" all the way from the Broomielaw to Ballachulish Pier, -and watching over its safety as anxiously as if it contained the wealth -of the Rothschilds in Bank of England notes, or the title-deeds of -an earldom. When at last produced at home, and displayed before the -admiring gaze of a select few in every imaginable angle of light, it -was really a very fine nightcap, a sort of ribbed magenta-coloured -"Kilmarnock," with a tassel at top, in which were intermingled all -the hues of the rainbow, such a splendid tassel as was never before -seen in Lochaber: Cardinal Antonelli might have been proud of it -as a pendant to his hat. Having at last been sufficiently admired, -the nightcap was duly put to its proper use, and was found to answer -its purpose perfectly; but one night, while yet the gay Kilmarnock -retained almost all its pristine bloom, lo! it was amissing at bedtime -from its usual place of honour on the corner of its owner's pillow, -greatly to his annoyance you may believe, and not a little to the -surprise and consternation of his amiable bedfellow. Then, and for -weeks afterwards, all search for the missing nightcap was but so -much fruitless labour; nothing could be seen or heard of it, and it -was finally agreed on all hands that it must have been stolen by some -person whose honesty became weak as water in view of the Kilmarnock's -rare magenta colour and gay pendulous tassel. And the nightcap in very -truth was stolen, though the thief was probably actuated less by the -brilliancy of its colours than the cozy feel of its soft and silken -texture. Some time in mid-autumn the mystery was cleared up in this -wise. The nightcap owner was one day engaged in redding up his barn -preparatory to the ingathering of his crops, when a large rat bolted -from between his feet, and, scuttling across the floor, disappeared, -rat fashion, in a hole in the divot wall. A spade was instantly got, -and the hole dug about until its innermost recess was reached, in -which was found a gigantic dam rat with a litter of a dozen or more -young ones. These were all of them of course straightway despatched, -and the cozy nest of moss, dried grass, and nibbled straw scattered -about, when lo! as its foundation appeared the long missing bonnet de -nuit, the incomparable Kilmarnock, without a rent or tear, and its -colours as bright almost, and its tassel bobbing as coquettishly as -when first displayed on the points of the shopman's distended fingers -over the counter in the Cowcaddens. There was great rejoicing over the -reappearance of the nightcap, which is now again prized as highly and -watched over as carefully as if it were the nightcap of Fortunatus; -and the owner, a wag and humorist in a quiet way, as are most of -our old Highlanders, has composed a song on the subject (Oran do m' -Churrachd-oidhche), which, after some coaxing, we got him to repeat -to us some days ago. It pleased us immensely, and made us laugh until -our sides were sore. For the benefit of our readers we may dash off -a translation of it some evening or other when we are "i' the vein." - -Going to call at Ardgour House one day last week, and taking a short -cut through the woods, we came across the keeper just as he had shot -a roebuck, the largest we think we ever saw, and with the finest -head. The horns were something extraordinary, both as to size and -shape, so much so, indeed, that although we have in our day met with -many fine ones, we never saw anything for a moment to be compared -with these. We have, for instance, a roebuck's head of our own, -kindly given us some years ago by Lochiel, the horns on which are -allowed to be uncommonly good ones; but we find that they are nearly -two inches shorter in the beam, and less by nearly a whole inch in -circumference of root of antler at its junction with the skull than -those of the specimen shot in Ardgour on Tuesday. - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER XVI. - - The "Annus Mirabilis" of Dryden--1870 a more wonderful Year - in its way than 1666--Winter--Number of Killed and Wounded - in the Franco-Prussian War--Battles of Langside, Tippermuir, - Cappel--Carrier Pigeons--The Velocity with which Birds fly. - - -One of Dryden's best poems, and in many respects one of the most -curious poems in the language, is the Annus Mirabilis, an effusion -of historical panegyric, which, after the lapse of two centuries, no -one can read unmoved or undelighted, so beautifully is it written, -so masterly is the versification, and so vividly are its events -portrayed. The year commemorated is 1666, and the "wonders" that -entitled it to such pre-eminence were the naval war with the Dutch -and Danes and the great fire in London. If 1666, however, was an annus -mirabilis, surely 1870 is an annus mirabilior, a more wonderful year -still, nay, an annus mirabilissimus, if you like, for you shall go -back in our annals very far indeed--much farther, if you try it, than -at the outset you might think at all necessary--before you meet its -match. Just consider, first of all, the great Franco-Prussian war, -with its countless hosts of slain; with its sieges of Strasbourg, -Metz, and Paris, not to mention strongholds of less importance; -its capitulation of Sedan and captive Emperor; the Empire ruined, -and a Republic in its place, with all that may yet happen ere peace is -proclaimed and the Germans have recrossed the Rhine. Think, again, of -the promulgation of the doctrine of Papal Infallibility, so speedily, -and let us say unexpectedly, followed by the capture of Rome and -the dethronement of this very infallible Pope as a temporal Prince, -by the Catholic (proh pudor!) King of Italy. At home, a daughter of -the Queen, with the royal consent and concurrence, marries one of -that Queen's subjects, for we suppose we may regard the matter as -a fait accompli, an event so unheard-of and unusual that we must -go back for an exact parallel for more than two hundred years, -when the Duke of York, afterwards James II., "a man of many woes," -married the Lady Anne Hyde, daughter of Lord Chancellor Clarendon, -whose history of the Rebellion is one of the most interesting, and, -on account of its inimitable portraiture, one of the most valuable -works of its kind in the English language. If to all this be added such -events as the loss of the "Captain," built and armed on a principle, -the ultimate adoption or rejection of which will so materially affect -the navy of the future; the revision of the Authorised Version of the -Scriptures; and many other matters, both at home and abroad, that will -readily occur to the reader, this may be regarded as a very wonderful -year indeed. Occupying the centre, as it were, of all these events, -we are too near them at present to appraise either their magnitude -or importance at their legitimate value. Not the man at the base of -a lofty tower, but he who stands at some distance from it can take -its proportions aright, and we may depend upon it that the reader -of the history of our period a hundred years hence will turn to the -page that records the events of 1870 as at once the most interesting -and important in the annals of many centuries. Reverting for a moment -to the Annus Mirabilis of Dryden, it is but fair to acknowledge that -they seem to have had one wonder to boast of in 1666 that we cannot -claim for 1870, to this date at least; the wonder in question being -two blazing comets in the nocturnal sky. Describing the English fleet -advancing to attack the enemy at night, the poet, with a boldness of -hyperbole for which he is always remarkable, says-- - - - "To see that fleet upon the ocean move, - Angels drew down the curtains of the skies; - And Heaven, as if there wanted lights above, - For tapers, made two glaring comets rise!" - - -But if we have no comets to boast of in 1870, let not the reader -forget that the 14th November is nigh at hand, and that he who gets up -betimes on the morning of that day, and watches till the daybreak, will -assuredly witness a sight more startling, and grand and "glaring" than -Dryden's comets, wonderful and startling as they doubtless were. We -must be permitted one other extract from this extraordinary poem. It -describes the state of the contending fleets and the feelings of their -respective crews on their withdrawing for a time from an engagement -that resulted in something like what at the present day we should -call a drawn battle:-- - - - "The night comes on, we eager to pursue - The combat still, and they ashamed to leave - Till the last streaks of dying day withdrew, - And doubtful moonlight did our rage deceive. - - "In th' English fleet each ship resounds with joy, - And loud applause of their great leader's fame; - In fiery dreams the Dutch they still destroy, - And, slumbering, smile at the imagin'd flame. - - "Not so the Holland fleet, who, tired and done, - Stretch'd on their decks, like weary oxen lie; - Faint sweats all down their mighty members run - (Vast hulks which little souls but ill supply). - - "In dreams they fearful precipices tread, - Or, shipwreck'd, labour to some distant shore; - Or in dark churches walk among the dead; - They wake with horror, and dare sleep no more." - - -We do not know whether the reader will agree with us, but we look upon -these verses as wonderfully fine, and upon the Annus Mirabilis as, -of its class, amongst the finest, if not the very finest, poem in -the language. - -Even from a meteorological point of view, this year, in our part of -the country at least, has had not a little of the mirabilis about -it. Byron, we know, awoke one morning and found himself famous, and -we awoke one morning last week and found ourselves in mid-winter, -albeit the previous day had been mild, and calm, and sunny, and -bright as if it were Whitsuntide, rather than the Eve of St. Luke the -Evangelist. Since then we have had incessant storms, shifting about -and sometimes blowing from every point of the compass within the -four-and-twenty hours, with such deluges of rain as Lochaber alone -can supply in season, or sometimes, entre nous, out of season as -well. The mountain summits are, at the moment we write, covered with -a lamb's-wool-like coating of virgin snow, and the air has become -so chill and raw that we were fain some days ago to don our winter -habiliments for the season. We have no right or reason to complain, -however; a finer summer and autumn were never known in the Highlands, -and since winter must come some time or other, it is better that it -should come in season. The fourth week of October is not a bit too -early for snow, and sleet, and storms, so that when we hear the -winds howling over ferry and firth, and the waves breaking with -sullen roar upon the vexed strand, and listen to the rattle and -the dash of rain and sleet upon the window panes, we shall, first -taking care that the shutters are properly closed and the curtains -drawn, just draw our arm-chair a little nearer the fire, which our -"lassie," you may be sure, has trimmed betimes, like Horace's boy, -large reponens peats and coals thereon, and then, with the Courier, -Scotsman, or Standard on our knee, or a stray copy of the Saturday -Review or Spectator, which some distant friend has kindly sent us, -or some fresh volume from Ardgour's library, the worst we shall say -will be in the words of poor old Lear, "Blow wind, and crack your -cheeks! rage! blow!" blessing God the while that if our lot be a -humbler one, it is also a happier one than the poor old king's. - -A good deal has been written about the enormous numbers of killed -and wounded in the present Franco-Prussian war, the fact being -nevertheless, as we learn on competent authority, that notwithstanding -the improvements made of late years in arms of precision, there were, -considering the numbers engaged, quite as many men disabled as in the -good old days of "Brown Bess" in the wars of the first Napoleon and in -our battles in India. Mr. Hill Burton, in one of his recently published -volumes of the History of Scotland, and an admirable and very impartial -history it is, tells us that in the battle of Langside, an historical -combat on the issue of which so much in the after history of England -and Scotland depended, 10,000 men were engaged for three-quarters of -an hour, with a loss to the Queen's party of 300 hors de combat, while -the victors only lost one man! A very extraordinary fact certainly; but -a more wonderful fact still, and neither Mr. Burton nor his reviewers -seem to be aware of it, is that of the battle of Tippermuir, fought -in 1644, between the Covenanters and the famous Marquis of Montrose, -in which Montrose was victorious without the loss of a single man on -his own side, although of the Covenanters between four and five hundred -were killed in the battle and pursuit. Another curious thing connected -with the battle of Tippermuir was this: a body of Highlanders, keen -enough for the fray, were without arms of any kind, when Montrose, -pointing to the stones that thickly strewed the field, advised them -to try these to begin with, and they did, appropriating the arms -of their enemies as they fell, and using them with such effect that -the battle proper was over in less than half an hour. The only other -battle that we can recollect in which such primitive weapons as stones -were employed by the combatants was that of Cappel, fought in 1531, -between the Protestants of Zurich and the Catholics of the neighbouring -cantons. It was in this battle that the celebrated reformer Zwingle, -or Zwinglius, met his death. He was first of all knocked down by a -stone that, fiercely hurled, struck him on the head, and then, with -the exclamation, "Die, obstinate heretic," the sword of Fockinger of -Unterwalden pierced his throat, and the reformer was no more. - -The reader has, of course, seen in the papers how beleaguered Paris -keeps up communication with Belgium and the provinces, by means of -balloons and carrier pigeons. Of balloons and ballooning we have no -practical experience; of carrier pigeons we do know something, the bird -being as well-known to us as is a robin redbreast to a gardener. We -kept them for some time, but were obliged to get quit of them on -account of their ineradicable propensity to purloin our neighbours' -turnip seed from the drill immediately after being sown and before -they got time to sprout. All pigeons have this habit, but the carrier -worse and more persistently than any other. The speed and power of -wing appertaining to the carrier pigeon is extraordinary, and if not -well attested would be deemed incredible. We remember, for instance, -that at the Christmas of 1845, when a student at the University of -St. Andrews (best as well as oldest university in Scotland, gainsay -it who may!) we spent our holidays at Kirkmichael, a pleasant little -village in the Highlands of Perthshire. On leaving St. Andrews we took -with us a carrier pigeon, a magnificent bird. On the 1st of January -1846, at the hour of noon precisely, we gave this bird, with a bit -of narrow blue ribbon tied under his wing, his liberty on the bridge -of Kirkmichael. When let out of his basket he instantly soared up in -a sort of spiral flight, ascending and ascending cork-screw fashion -until he seemed to the eye no bigger than a wren, then straight -and swift as an arrow from a bow he urged his flight southwards, -and became lost to view. On returning to St. Andrews, we found that -our bird had reached his dovecot, eagerly watched and waited for -by his owner, as the College bells were chiming one o'clock on the -same day, so that it must have done the distance, about fifty-four -miles as the crow flies, in about one hour, or very nearly at the -rate of a mile a minute. Now, it must be remembered that this was -the bird's ordinary flight. He doubtless sought his distant home in -what one might call a brisk and business-like manner, nor swerved, -we may be sure, an inch from his course, nor loitered by the way. He -was going well--very well, if you like--throughout, but not going -his best. The probability is that under extraordinary pressure, with -a falcon in chase, for instance, the same bird could and would have -gone twice as fast, or at a rate of something more than a hundred -miles an hour. If the reader likes to experiment in this direction, -he can easily try it with the common domestic pigeon, as we have done -more than once. Years ago we recollect a brother of ours taking, at -our suggestion, a common black and white pigeon from the dovecot here -to Oban, where, at a preconcerted hour on a day agreed upon, he set it -at liberty. The bird took nearly two hours to do the distance, some -twenty-three or twenty-four miles as the crow flies; but it probably -lingered some time by the way to feed, as, instead of being well fed, -which should always be strictly attended to, it received no food -at all on the morning of its liberation at Oban. The house-pigeon, -however, is useless except for comparatively short distances, and -even then is never to be much depended upon. His extreme domesticity -predisposes him to pay a visit to every dovecot on the route, and to -fraternise with every flock of brother pigeons he may happen to fall in -with. His peculiar mode of flight, besides, and his extreme timidity, -mark him out as an easy and desirable prey for any keen-eyed hawk or -falcon that may be at the moment impransus, as Johnson in his early -days once signed a note in London--dinnerless. The common pigeon, -too, wings his flight at a comparatively low altitude, and becomes an -easy shot to any one with a gun ready to hand when it passes by. Not -so the true carrier pigeon, which flies at a great height, far out -of range of needle-gun or artillery--out of range of human sight, -in fact; so that it is never in danger of being brought to grief, -as was poor Gambetta in his balloon when passing above the Prussian -lines the other day. The velocity with which some birds fly is almost -incredible. A hungry falcon, with his blood up and in eager pursuit -of his quarry, will fly at the rate of 150 miles an hour, and keep -it up too until his object is attained; and the tremendous impetus -of the bird at such a speed accounts for the dreadful wounds that -a falcon inflicts when it strikes its prey, sometimes ripping up -a grouse, or blackcock, or mallard, from vent to breastbone, as if -it had been done by the keen edge of a butcher's cleaver. A goshawk -(Falco palumbarius) belonging to Henry of Navarre--the Henri Quatre -of after days--having its royal owner's name engraved on its golden -varvels, made its escape from Fontainebleau in 1574, and was caught -in Malta within four-and-twenty hours afterwards--a distance of 1400 -miles, or at the rate of sixty miles an hour, supposing him to have -been on the wing the whole time. But a hawk never flies by night, -so that, on a fair computation, the bird's speed in winging the -enormous distance must have been at the rate of at least 100 miles an -hour. We have calculated that a snipe, thoroughly alarmed, and going -its best, can fly at the rate of a mile a minute, and there are other -well-known birds equally fleet of wing. Nor must it be supposed that -the velocity of birds is a mere "flash-in-the-pan," so to speak--a -"spurt," as it were--which could not be kept up. The long-sustained -flights of migratory birds proves the contrary--that birds are not -only inconceivably fleet, but, to use a racing term, that they can -stay as well. Of our more familiar birds, we should say that the -common wild duck of our meres flies with greater velocity than any -other bird with which the reader is likely to be well acquainted. - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER XVII. - - Signs of a severe Winter--The Little Auk or Auklet--The - Gadwall--Falcons being trained by the Prussians to intercept - the Paris Carrier Pigeons--Ballooning--The King of Prussia's - Piety--John Forster--Solar Eclipse of 22d December 1870--The - Government and the Eclipse--Large Solar Spots--Visible to the - naked eye--Rev. Dr. Cumming--November Meteors. - - -It must have been in view of some such scene [November 1870] as the -early morning presents to the eye at present that Horace began his -celebrated ode to Augustus-- - - - "Jam satis terris nivis, atque diræ - Grandinis misit Pater"-- - - -Enough, enough of snow and direful hail! Or if you prefer the wintry -scene in the ninth Ode-- - - - "Vides, ut alta stet nive candidum - Soracte, nec jam sustineant onus - Sylvæ laborantes: gelûque - Flumina constiterint acuto?" - - -Which our countryman Theodore Martin thus renders-- - - - "Look out, my Thaliarchus, round! - Soracte's crest is white with snow, - The drooping branches sweep the ground, - And, fast in icy fetters bound, - The streams have ceased to flow." - - -The snow-clad Soracte itself could not wear a colder or wintrier aspect -than does our own Ben Nevis at this moment. We have, in truth, had a -great deal of sleet and snow and rattling hail showers of late, with -bitterly cold winds and frost enough to induce one to don his warmest -habiliments when venturing abroad, and thoroughly to appreciate the -comforts of a bright and blazing fire within doors. Winter, in short, -has fairly set in; and we must just battle with its inclemencies -as best we may until a more genial season has come round. And an -unusually inclement and severe winter is this likely to prove. Our -lochs and estuaries are swarming with Arctic sea-fowl, that already -venture quite close to the shore, and seek their food in the most -sheltered bays, a sure sign that much cold weather, with heavy -gales from the north and north-west, cannot be far away. Among these -web-footed visitors from the far north we have observed two that are -extremely rare on our part of the west coast, even in the severest -winters. One of these is the ratch or auklet (Alca alle, Linn.), -a very pretty little black and white diver, the smallest bird of -the genus with which we are acquainted, a little more rotund in form -and of a robuster frame than the well-known dipper of our streams, -but otherwise very like it. Another is the gadwall (Anas strepera), -a species of duck very rare in our north-western waters--a very -pretty little duck, with a remarkably loud and harsh voice, so loud -that on a calm frosty day it reaches you over a sea surface distance -of several miles. We have only identified the latter at a distance -by the aid of a powerful binocular. It is not a difficult bird to -recognise, however, on account of its distinct markings, and we are -as confident that we have repeatedly seen it during the present month -as if we had it in our cabinet. And talking of birds, what does the -reader think the Prussians are up to now? Annoyed at the ballooning and -pigeon-carrying by means of which beleaguered Paris manages to keep up -communication with the outer world, the Germans are training falcons -to be employed in coursing and capturing such carrier pigeons as may -be observed passing over their outposts and siege works. Such at least -is one item in the last batch of news notes from Versailles. If the -Prussians really mean this, all we can say is that it is "a fine idea, -but impracticable," as Hannibal said of Maharbal's suggestion to push -on to the capture of the Capitol after the battle of Cannæ. In the -first place it is allowed on all hands that a few months at most, -probably a few weeks, must decide the fate of Paris one way or -other, while a hawk, to be employed as proposed, requires years of -carefullest training ere it can be depended upon as an aerial cruiser -in any way subject to human control, nor, even if it were otherwise, -could a sufficient number of falcons for the purpose be procured in -Europe or elsewhere. Such an attempt at an aerial blockade must prove -a failure. Even from a well-trained hawk, under the most favourable -circumstances, a carrier pigeon ought to be able in nine cases out of -ten to make good its escape by reason of the velocity and altitude -of its flight. Depend upon it that in all time to come ballooning -and pigeon carrying will be employed by a besieged city, as Paris -employs them now; and while gas can be had to inflate a balloon, and -a carrier-pigeon is available, there is nothing that a besieging force -can do to prevent the constant voyaging of such aerial messengers. One -result of this war will be that carrier pigeons will be bred in larger -numbers, and more highly valued than ever--carrier pigeon dovecots in -each city at the public expense--while aerial navigation by means of -balloons, having lost much of its terrors, will more and more become -a common and every-day mode of locomotion. There is an "Aeronautical -Society" in England, which boasts the names of many distinguished men -on its roll of members, but which, nevertheless, couldn't in twenty -years have done so much for aerial navigation as the Franco-Prussian -war has done in little more than a month. Most people, by the way, -have been disgusted with the King of Prussia's repeated appeals for -Divine aid and pretended recognition of Divine guidance, while wading -at the head of his forces knee-deep in a mare magnum of bloodshed and -carnage from the Rhine to the Seine. One anecdote, apropos of a king's -pretended piety and close alliance with the Divine powers in all his -undertakings, we have not seen quoted. It is this: some person once -calling on John Forster, took occasion to remark that the Emperor -Alexander (of Russia) was a very pious man. "Very pious, indeed," -observed Forster, with tremendous sarcasm, "Very pious, indeed; -I am credibly informed that he said grace ere he swallowed Poland!" - -Preparations on a large scale are being made on the Continent and in -America for observing the great solar eclipse of the 22d December, -with a care and precision never known in the examination of a similar -phenomenon. Never before, indeed, could a solar eclipse be observed -and analysed in its every phase as this one will be. Aided by the -spectroscope, polariscope, photometer, and photograph, with the most -powerful telescopes, and meteorological and magnetic instruments of -the utmost delicacy and exactness, it will be strange, indeed, if -our knowledge of the chemistry and constitution of the great central -orb is not very largely increased on this occasion. In our country -the eclipse will be a partial one only. At the moment of maximum -obscuration, supposing the sun to consist of twelve digits, about nine -digits, or three-fourths of the disc, will be occulted. According to -Edinburgh mean time the eclipse will begin at 10 h. 54 m. morning; -maximum observation, 0 h. 8 m. afternoon; and of eclipse, 1 h. 22 -m. afternoon. A glass of very moderate powers is sufficient for -observing such partial eclipses. Partial though this eclipse is, -however, no phenomenon of the kind of equal magnitude will be seen -again in our country till August 1887, when the eclipse will be very -nearly, though not quite, total. - -Never, perhaps, has the solar disc been so constantly and so largely -crowded with maculæ, or "spots," as during the present year. Some of -these spots have recently been very large. On the 9th of the present -month, for instance, there was an immense circular spot as nearly -as possible on the centre of the solar disc, like a bull's-eye in a -bright target of living light, which a little before sunset was plainly -visible to the naked eye. It was the evening of the Fort-William market -day, and we drew the attention of several people returning from the -fair to the unusual phenomenon. One jolly old fellow, who had probably -been largely patronising the "tents" on the market stance throughout -the day, would insist upon it that he saw, not one big spot on the sun, -but two or more--and perhaps he did. A few days previously a perfect -stream of maculæ of all sizes might easily be observed along the solar -equator, looking for all the world as if a flock of ravens were at -the moment passing, in struggling order within the telescope's field -of view, between us and the sun. At the moment we write these lines, -there is a very large spot half-way between the solar centre and -its western limb, that towards sunset, if the sky is clear, might, -we think, be discerned by the unaided eye. Auroral displays, too, -still continue to render our nights, though at present moonless, -and frequently cloudy withal, bright and cheerful by their broad and -mysterious effulgence. - -The November meteors of the present year seem to have made little -or no display anywhere. Here it was wet and cloudy, so that we could -not have seen them even if the sky was ablaze with them. - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER XVIII. - - November Rains: 1500 tons per Imperial Acre!--Rainfall in Skye--An - old Gaelic Apologue--The Drover and his Minister--Grand Stag's - Head--Scott as a Poet--Mr. Gladstone and Scott--An old Lullaby - from the Gaelic. - - -With the exception of two, or at most three, tolerably fine days at -the beginning of the month, December [1870] has been hardly less -rainy and generally disagreeable than November itself, and this, -although in November a fall of 18 inches--1500 tons of rain water -to the imperial acre--was duly registered. A recent communication -from Skye went to show that in the matter of rainfall that island is -far ahead, not only of Lochaber, but of every other station in the -kingdom--a pluvial pre-eminence which we had really thought belonged -to ourselves, but which, claimed for Skye on the impartial authority -of the rain-gauge, we give up ungrudgingly, simply exclaiming with -Meliboeus in the Virgilian eclogue-- - - - "Non equidem invideo, miror magis." - (In sooth I feel not envy, but surprise.) - - -"With such a rainfall as is claimed for Skye, one only wonders how it -is that the inhabitants of the island seem not to suffer a whit because -of it. As a rule, they are a robust and remarkably long-lived people; -and, what is even more surprising, they are exceedingly good-humoured -and cheerful--the pleasantest people in the world to meet with, -whether at home or abroad. There is an old Gaelic apologue current in -Lochaber, which may perhaps have some bearing on the point:--"It was -long, long ago that, in the grey dawn of an intensely cold January -morning, after a wild night of drift and snow, the heathcock of Ben -Nevis clapped his wings, and, in a loud, prolonged, interrogative crow, -addressed his first cousin by the father's side, the heathcock of Ben -Cruachan--'How do you feel yourself this morning, dear heathcock of -Cruachan?' 'So, so,' with a feeble attempt at wing-clapping, responded -the heathcock of Cruachan; 'So, so; miserable enough, believe me, -after such a night as last night was. And if I am thus miserable -down here, it only puzzles me to understand how you can at all endure -it, and live up there on Ben Nevis.' 'Thanks, my dear fellow,' with -a second vigorous clapping of his wings, quoth the Ben Nevis bird; -'Thanks, my dear fellow, for your kind and cousinly solicitude for my -welfare. Know this, however, that, bad as it doubtless is up here on -Ben Nevis, I am made to it.'" We can only suppose that our friends in -Skye bear this prodigious rainfall with such philosophic equanimity -and impunity because, like the heathcock of Ben Nevis, they are -"made to it." The first time we heard this apologue was many years -ago, in the cabin of one of the Messrs. Hutcheson's steamers. A -rubicund visaged drover--a fine-looking man, of burly frame and -Atlantean shoulders--had just swallowed quite half-a-tumblerful of -potent and unadulterated "Talisker" at a gulp rather than a draught, -when his parish clergyman, who happened to be reclining on a sofa -at the opposite side of the cabin, got up and expostulated with -his parishioner for drinking ardent spirits in such a way as that; -prophesying that unless he stopped it very quickly it would kill him, -and only wondering that it had not killed him long ago. The drover, -who was not aware until then that his minister was on board, and a -witness to his potations, respectfully took off his broad bonnet, and, -with a bow, begged to repeat the apologue, which he did, ore rotundo, -in the most beautiful Gaelic; the application being so manifestly apt -and pertinent to his particular case that we all burst out a laughing, -the venerable clergyman--now, alas, no more!--enjoying it as much as -any one that the tables had been so cleverly turned upon him. Fables -apart, however, the fact of the matter seems to be simply this, that -the humidity of the climate along our western sea-board, and amongst -the Hebrides, is in nowise inimical to robust health or longevity. It -is of course disagreeable enough at times, and frequently a sad -drawback on our agricultural prosperity; but a minute examination -of the vital statistics of the Western Highlands and Islands would -probably go far to show that our superabundance of rain is rather -favourable to health and long life than otherwise. Ach bi'dh sin -mar a chithear da, a beautiful Gaelic phrase literally. But be that -particular matter as it may seem to it,--what would most please us at -this moment would be a month or more of the good old-fashioned winters -of our boyhood, when everything was blanketed for weeks together -in soft and virgin snow, and the earth was at times so braced and -bound with frost that under the rapid tread and multitudinous rush -of all the village schoolboys at play, it rang again like a hollow -globe of iron! It is now, alas, dribble and drip, and splash, slop, -and slush from year's end to year's end. - -We are indebted to our excellent friend Mr. Snowie, of Inverness, -for a very curious and valuable stag's head, admirably stuffed, -which reached us the other day by steamer. It is a splendid trophy, -a veritable Cabar-Féidh, which the Chief of the Mackenzies himself, -when the clan was at its proudest, might be glad to have to adorn the -entrance-hall of Brahan Castle. The antlers are of immense girth and -spread; one, except for the brow tine, what is called a cabar-slat; -the other with two tines, each of them almost big enough for an antler -of itself. We have seen many grand and curious heads in our day, both -cabar-slats and multicornute; but this, which is properly neither the -one nor the other, is, from its size and peculiar style of antlers, -a trophy to be singled out and admired in a collection of the best -heads of the kingdom. It faces us as we write from the opposite -wall of our study, and constantly reminds us of Scott's magnificent -description of the stag that led Fitzjames and his attendants such a -merry dance in the Lady of the Lake. We must be pardoned for quoting -a passage with which every one is familiar:-- - - - "As Chief, who hears his warder call, - 'To arms! the foemen storm the wall,' - The antler'd monarch of the waste - Sprang from his heathery couch in haste. - But, ere his fleet career he took, - The dew-drops from his flanks he shook; - Like crested leader proud and high, - Toss'd his beam'd frontlet to the sky; - A moment gazed adown the dale, - A moment snuff'd the tainted gale, - A moment listened to the cry, - That thicken'd as the chase drew nigh; - Then, as the foremost foes appeared, - With one brave bound the copse he clear'd - And, stretching forward free and far, - Sought the wild heaths of Uam-Var." - - -And yet some stupid people will ask if Scott was a poet! Even -Landseer never painted anything finer or truer to the life than that -word-painting of Scott's. Every one admits that Homer was a poet: well, -then, search the Iliad, point out anything better, or anything, entre -nous, quite as good, and when you have found it, please let us know, -and we promise to reperuse the passage, with every attention and care, -in the original of Homer himself, as well as in the translations of -Pope, Cowper, and Blackie; and if you are right and we are wrong, -we shall not hesitate to confess it, and humbly cry peccavi. Meantime -we shall continue steadfast in our belief that Scott is a poet, and -not only a poet, but a poet of the highest order; more "Homeric," -too, than any other poet you can name, either of the present or -past century; and that Mr. Gladstone has had the good sense and -penetration to discover this, and the courage to avow it, is one, -and not the least, of many things which make us have a liking for -that distinguished statesman and scholar. - -A lady, to whom we are indebted for numberless obligations of a like -nature, has sent us a copy of an old Gaelic lullaby or baby-song, -the composition of which must clearly be referred to the days when -cattle-lifting forays and spuilzies of every description were in high -fashion and favour with the gentlemen of the north-- - - - "When tooming faulds, or sweeping of a glen, - Had still been held the deed of gallant men." - - -It is in many respects so curious that we venture on a translation -of it. Attached to it is a very pretty air, low and soft and subdued -as a lullaby air should be, though consisting but of a single part, -as was always the case with such compositions, unlike ordinary songs, -which generally had two parts, and admitted of endless variations, -according to the taste and vocal capabilities of the singer. It is -proper to state that our version is not intended to be sung to the -original air, for which the measure we have selected is unsuitable. Our -only object has been to convey to the English reader the general sense, -with something of the spirit and manner, of the original. - - - A Lullaby. - - "Hush thee, my baby-boy, hush thee to sleep, - Soft in my bosom laid, why should'st thou weep; - Hush thee, my pretty babe, why should'st thou fear, - Well can thy father wield broadsword and spear. - - "Lullaby, lullaby, hush thee to rest, - Snug in my arms as a bird in its nest; - Sweet be thy slumbers, boy, dreaming the while - A dream that shall dimple thy cheek with a smile. - - "Helpless and weak as thou 'rt now on my knee, - My eaglet shall yet spread his wings and be free-- - Free on the mountain side, free in the glen, - Strong-handed, swift-footed, a man among men! - - "Then shall my dalt' bring his muim' a good store - Of game from the mountain and fish from the shore; - Cattle, and sheep, and goats--graze where they may-- - My dalta will find ere the dawn of the day. - - "Thy father and uncles, with target and sword, - Will back each bold venture by ferry and ford; - From thy hand I shall yet drain a beaker of wine, - And the toast shall be--Health and the lowing of kine! - - "Then rest thee, my foster-son, sleep and be still, - The first star of night twinkles bright on the hill; - My brave boy is sleeping--kind angels watch o'er him, - And safe to the light of the morning restore him. - Lullaby, lullaby, what should he fear, - Well can his father wield broadsword and spear!" - - -To the proper understanding of this curious composition, a few words -of comment and elucidation may be necessary. The lullaby must be -understood as sung by a foster-mother to her foster-son, the Gaelic -words from which the exigencies of verse oblige us to retain in our -paraphrase. In lulling her charge to sleep, the foster-mother fondly -anticipates the time when the boy on her knee shall have become a -full-grown and perfect man; her beau-ideal of a perfect man, observe, -being that, like the heroes of ancient song, he should be brawny -limbed, strong of hand, and swift of foot, able and willing at all -risks to seize and appropriate his neighbour's goods, especially his -cattle, whenever necessity--an empty larder--or honour urged him to the -adventure. The coolness with which the old lady commits her foster-son -to the immediate care and guardianship of the heavenly powers, in -the self-same breath in which she hopes and believes that he will, -when he becomes a man, prove an active and expert thief--a stealer of -beeves from the pastures of neighbouring tribes, in utter defiance of -the decalogue--is ludicrous in the extreme. To understand it aright, -we must recollect that in former times it was accounted not only lawful -but honourable among hostile tribes to commit depredations on one -another; and as hostility among the clans was the rule rather than the -exception, every species of depredation was practised,--cattle-lifting -raids, however, being accounted the most honourable of all, and in -the conduct of which the best gentlemen of the clan might without -a blush take an active part. The "lowing of kine," geùmnaich bhà, -occurring in this lullaby, was an old toast of the cattle-lifting -times, that the late Dr. Macfarlane of Arrochar told us, he himself had -often heard when a young man at baptismal feasts and bridals on Loch -Lomond side. The secret of it is this: The geùmnaich, or "lowing," -implied that the cattle were strangers to the glen, whilst those -that belonged to the glen itself, and were the bona fide property of -the clan, if such there were, were quiet and staid and well-behaved, -as decent cattle should be. The cattle "stolen or strayed," as the -advertisements have it, "lowed," and were troublesome; while those -born and bred in the glen were content to graze in peace, and to "low" -only when they deemed it absolutely necessary. "The lowing of kine," -therefore, was a toast that meant neither more nor less than success -to the cattle-lifting trade! As ancient Pistol says-- - - - "'Convey,' the wise it call. 'Steal!' foh, a fico for the phrase." - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER XIX. - - Winter--Auroral Displays in the West Highlands always indicative - of a coming Storm--Corvus Corax--Wonderful Ravens--Edgar Allan Poe. - - -Snow continues to accumulate on the mountain summits [December 1870], -which all around, from Ben Nevis to Ben Cruachan, and from the peaks -of Glen-Arkaig to Benmore in Mull, now present so many Sierra Nevadas, -while you are conscious at last, and to an extent that admits of no -possible mistake on the subject, that the wind, which, whether it blows -adown the glen or across the sea, has a chill and penetrating edge to -it, is neither the breeze of autumn nor the zephyr of summer, but the -breath of winter itself--the hoary-headed and icicle-bearded season, -that, with all its drawbacks, has its uses in the general economy -as well as its gentler confrères in the annual. With the exception -of one or two pet days, the weather of the past fortnight has been -stormy and wild, with heavy falls of rain on the lowlands, and sleet -and snow among the mountains. In no one season since we first became -a student of the heavens, now more than a quarter of a century ago, -have we had so many splendid exhibitions of aurora borealis as the last -three weeks have presented us with in a series of tableaux vivants, -which, while they charmed and delighted the intelligent observer, -made the vulgar gape in astonishment and alarm. In every instance -these auroral displays have invariably been followed within twelve -hours by heavy gales of wind and much rain, and so constantly have -we noticed this sequence throughout the observations of many years, -that there is perhaps no meteorological prediction on which we should -be disposed to venture with so much confidence and boldness as that -within twelve or fifteen hours of a bright auroral display there -shall be a storm, and that that storm shall be of heavy rain or sleet, -as well as of high wind. We speak principally of the West Highlands, -but we have no doubt that observation would prove the phenomena to -be the same throughout the kingdom. If we were in command of a ship -at sea, we should consider ourselves quite as justified in making all -necessary preparations for a coming storm on the back of a brilliant -aurora, as we should on observing a sudden fall in the barometer, the -only difference being that the "merry dancers" give you longer notice -of the approaching gale than does the mercury. The latter exclaims, -"Look out!" and if you don't look out, and that instantly, calling -all hands and making everything snug, you come to grief, while time -enough generally elapses after the auroral warning, to enable you -to prepare at leisure for the coming storm, and, if it catch you -napping, the fault is all your own. The recent auroral displays seem -to have been very general over the whole of Europe, and are said to -have been unusually brilliant in Canada and the Northern States of -America. A more than ordinarily severe and protracted winter may be -expected after all these aerial perturbations, which, when a French -savant remarked the other day to a compatriot, "Tant pis," replied the -chassepot-bearing mobile, with the invariable shoulder shrug and grin, -"Tant pis pour Messieurs les Prussiens!"--thinking, no doubt, of the -disastrous retreat from Moscow, and hoping to see it repeated in a -different direction at no distant day. Except the wren and redbreast, -whose pluck is indomitable, and who are never altogether out of voice, -our singing birds are now songless and silent, or if they do utter a -note, it is but a cheep and a chirp, not a song, another sign that our -winter is to be regarded as having fairly set in. We notice, besides, -that some of our winter visitors from Arctic seas have made their -appearance along our shores, while we observe that the rook and grey -crow have already begun to frequent the beach at low water in search -of what may be picked up in the way of a meal, a sure sign that they -also look upon it as already come, and that their food in more inland -parts has disappeared until a kindlier season has come round. - -A very large raven (Corvus corax), the biggest specimen of this bird -we have ever seen, was trapped at the head of Glencreran a few days -ago by a bird-catcher that annually pays the West Highlands a visit at -this season. It was a female, as fat and plump as a Michaelmas goose, -and weighed within an ounce or two of four pounds. The plumage, as -might be expected in a bird of such high condition, was perfect, -with the exception of two of the upper alar feathers, which were -perfectly white, an abnormality, however, that only rendered the -specimen all the more interesting. The raven is the craftiest and -shyest of birds, never venturing within shot of fowling-piece or rifle, -and more difficult than any other bird, perhaps, to be outwitted or -circumvented in any way. With all his craft and caution, however, -the raven is, when occasion calls, one of the most courageous and -boldest of birds. At the time of nidification, for instance, the -male will fearlessly attack the largest falcon and drive him from -what he considers his own proper territory, nor will he shun the -combat, as we have often observed, even with the osprey or bald -buzzard when they met in mid-air on their predatory excursions, -and a sufficient casus belli has been found or feigned by either -belligerent. We remember seeing an encounter of this kind several -years ago, which continued nearly an hour, and was a very pretty and -interesting sight, the combatants performing the most beautiful aerial -evolutions as they charged, and parried, and soared, and swooped in -fierce and determined conflict. We noticed that the raven frequently -uttered his hoarse and threatening croak, as if to intimidate his -opponent, while the osprey fought in perfect silence. The combat -finally resulted in a drawn battle, the belligerents separating as -if by mutual consent, and slowly winging their flight in opposite -directions. The probability is that the raven's pugnacity was excited -on this occasion (March 1863) by the osprey's cruising about, however -unwittingly, in the vicinity of the precipice in a cleft of which the -female raven was at the time brooding on her nest. At such a time the -raven will boldly attack the passing eagle, and harass and annoy it -until the eagle, pestered and teased by the assault, rather than in -any way alarmed, with great good nature evacuates the territory which -the raven claims as its own. The raven has from the earliest ages -been accounted a bird of evil omen, and an object of superstitious -dread and awe, and allusions to the bird in this connection are to -be met with in the literature of most countries, the raven being as -cosmopolitan as man himself. Its croak, so disagreeable, and dismal, -and hoarse, and startling; its colour, a funereal black; its habitat, -the lonely and demon-haunted mountain peaks, giddy precipices, and -dreary solitudes; its lamb-slaying and carrion-eating propensities; -its shy and suspicious manner, as if he knew that he had done evil and -was apprehensive of well-merited punishment--all combine to render him -in the first instance a noticeable and remarkable bird, and one sure -to be selected for frequent reference in the days of bird divination, -a superstition of which traces may probably be found in the early -history of every country, and thus it would readily be raised to the -"bad eminence" of a bird of evilest omen-- - - - "The hateful messenger of heavy things, - Of death and dolour telling." - - -The Moor of Venice says-- - - - "It comes o'er my memory, - As doth the raven o'er the infected house, - Boding to all." - - -And you remember Macbeth, and cannot fail to catch the allusion-- - - - "The raven himself is hoarse, - That croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan - Under my battlements." - - -During his tour in the Highlands with Dr. Johnson, Boswell writes -a highly characteristic letter to David Garrick, and, describing -their visit to Macbeth's Castle, says--"The situation of the old -castle corresponds exactly to Shakspeare's description. While we were -there to-day, it happened oddly that a raven perched upon one of the -chimney tops and croaked. Then I, in my turn, repeated 'The raven -himself,' &c." Now, if a raven in truth did so perch, all we can say -is that it was a very curious place for a raven to be, or ravens, -within a hundred years, must have very much changed their habits -and nature. The explanation probably is that it was a tame raven, -or a rook perhaps, or, likeliest of all, that it was a common jackdaw -(Corvus monedula), a pert, impudent, and garrulous little gentleman -in black--no bigger than a dovecot pigeon--that Mr. Boswell mistook -(proh pudor!) for the grave, stately, and sagacious raven, who is as -much bigger, and weightier, and wiser than his loquacious cousin the -daw, as Samuel Johnson was bigger, and weightier, and wiser than his -travelling companion, James Boswell. It is curious to meet with the -following on the authority of no less renowned a personage than the -valorous and puissant knight Don Quixote de la Mancha, the flower of -chivalry. "Have you not read, sir," proceeds the knight, "the annals -and histories of England, wherein are recorded the famous exploits -of King Arthur, whom in our Castilian tongue we perpetually called -King Artus, of whom there exists an ancient tradition, universally -received over the whole kingdom of Great Britain, that he did not die, -but that by magic art he was transformed into a raven, for which reason -it cannot be proved that from that time to this any Englishman hath -killed a raven." - -We have just called the raven our "friend," nor are we at all ashamed -so to designate a bird whom we have known long, and regarding whom, -if other people speak nothing but evil, we at least can speak a great -deal that is good. There is a well-known proverb to the effect that a -certain potentate of sable hue is not so black as he is painted, nor -is the raven. First of all, he is an apt scholar, and a bird generally -of much sagacity, of long memory, and ready wit. It is on record that -on one occasion when the Emperor Augustus was returning victorious -from a battlefield, a tame raven that had received his lesson, and -remembered it to the letter, alighted on the conqueror's chariot, -and saluted him in these words--Ave Cæsar, Victor, Imperator! The -Emperor was pleased, as he well might be, and ordered the raven a -handsome pension for life. Bechstein, who probably knew more about -the habits and economy of ravens, especially in their tame state, -than any other ornithologist before his day or since, vouches for -the facility with which they may be taught to speak, and for their -sagacity and docility generally. He tells the following amusing -story:--"A very clever raven was kept at a nobleman's residence in -the district of Mannsfeldt. Among other things he could say, 'Well, -who are you?' very strongly and distinctly. One day, as he was walking -about among the grass in the garden, he observed a setter dog which -remained near him, and kept constantly walking after him. Not liking -to be thus watched and followed, the raven turned rapidly round and -sternly exclaimed, 'Well, who are you?' The dog was alarmed at this, -hung his tail, and ran hastily away, and not until he had gained -a considerable distance did he turn round and howl." The raven, -besides, is a thorough anti-Mormonite, and wouldn't live in Utah for -the world. If he visits the polygamist colony at all, it is always -under protest against the institutions of that delectable land, -and to be ready to pick the bones of the first many-wived "elder" -he may catch in articulo mortis. Rather should the raven be elected -to a seat upon the bench of bishops, for he is ever careful to fulfil -the apostolic injunction to be the husband but of one wife; and until -accident or old age deprives him of her, he is the model and pattern -of faithful and affectionate husbands, never violating his conjugal -vows, not even to the extent of the most innocent of flirtations -or the most Platonic of intimacies with a neighbouring raveness, -even though she should be younger, and sleeker, and glossier than -his own. The raven, in short, when he pairs, which he does at the -earliest moment permitted by the laws of ravendom, pairs for life, -and while his first choice is spared to him he will no more think of -paying court to another, be her charms what they may, than he will -of dying of hunger while there is a bone to pick, a tender lamb, or -braxied sheep within a circuit of a hundred miles of his eyrie, in the -most inaccessible cleft of yonder beetling precipice. We might now say -something if we liked of the raven's usefulness in the general economy -as a hard-working and indefatigable inspector of nuisances, and how -putrid animal matter of every description disappears, as if by magic, -wherever he is known and appreciated; but this is a utilitarian age, -and as we hate utilitarianism, we are content merely to hint that -the raven deserves special regard as a sanitary reformer. We prefer -insisting on the fact that the raven is a gentleman of very ancient -descent, being able, in the clearest manner, to trace his pedigree -in unbroken line up to the days of "Captain" Noah himself, as Byron -irreverently styles the patriarch. When any one in our day becomes -distinguished and attracts our special regard, we instantly set to work -to trace his descent, and although he himself can hardly tell who was -his grandfather, we are never satisfied until we have, by hook and by -crook, traced his ancestry to the Ragman Roll or the Norman Conquest, -and, having thus ennobled him to our own entire satisfaction, we cease -not to pet and praise him until he is dead, and then the newspapers -swarm with obituary notices of the distinguished man who has just -departed, and a monument, erected by public subscription, concludes -the farce. The raven's ancestor was unquestionably with Noah in the -ark, and although he has incurred some odium in connection with the -assuaging of the waters, we confess we cannot well tell why, for all -that the ancient, and beautiful, and simple narrative says of him -is this: "And he sent forth a raven, which went forth to and fro, -until the waters were dried up from off the earth." On the point -of ancestry, in short, there is no bird that has a better right to -hold up his head than the raven. And just consider: wasn't Dickens' -stuffed raven "Grip" sold the other day for a hundred and twenty -guineas! although if his portrait in the Graphic is to be depended -on, he never was a handsome specimen of the family, or if he was, -then the man who stuffed and "set him up" should have received a -flogging for his pains. Should the reader wish to know more about our -friend Corvus corax, we can confidently recommend him to make the -acquaintance, the intimate acquaintance if he can, of "The Raven" -to be met with in the works of Edgar Allan Poe, the most weird and -wonderful raven that has ever yet appeared in song or story. - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER XX. - - Along the Shore after Birds--An Otter in pursuit of a Fish--Tame - Otter at Bridge of Tilt: Employed in Fishing--His hatred of all - sorts of Birds--"The Otter and Fox," a translation from the Gaelic. - - -November closed with a week of the most delightful weather one -could wish for at this season [December 1870], cold, but crisp and -clear; nor has December thus far shown any tendency to exceptional -"rampaging" either, though come it must, if we are not much mistaken, -and in a style we fear that will cause it to be remembered. Woodcocks, -fieldfares, redwing thrushes, snow buntings, and starlings are at -this moment more plentiful than we ever saw them before; while -Arctic sea-fowl in great numbers crowd our creeks and bays, and -immense flocks of grallatores, curlews, gedwits, purrs, dunlins, -and oyster-catchers, may be seen all along our shores diligently -attending the sea margin as the tide recedes, or with weird and wild -scream urging their eccentric flights from an exhausted sandbank in -indefatigable search of "fresh fields and pastures new." Creeping among -the rocks on the back of Cuilchenna Point, a quiet, sequestered shore, -seldom visited by anybody but ourselves at this season, one evening -last week, watching a pair of web-feet that we finally decided to -be smews, a species of merganser, we were unexpectedly treated to an -exhibition of aquatic feats that we had never before seen equalled, -and that we thought no animal, biped or quadruped, could accomplish in -an element not properly its own. Squatted on the beach behind two huge -boulders, a narrow opening between which enabled us to look seawards, -and to see without being seen, we were watching the elegant smews as -they preened themselves, floating gracefully the while, without the -movement of a web, on the calm surface of the cold, clear sea, when -right before us, and within less than a dozen fathoms of the shore, -a dark object suddenly dashed to the surface with a flop and a splash, -and as suddenly disappeared. We took it to be a seal in pursuit of -some fish, as is his wont; but on its reappearance a minute or so -afterwards, we were delighted to see that it was not a seal, but a -large otter hard at work in chase of some favourite fish for supper; -and small blame to him for that same, for if one might judge from his -exertions in the pursuit, he was dreadfully hungry and thoroughly -in earnest, not yet having dined, perhaps, nor even broken his -fast since the preceding evening, for your otter (Lutra vulgaris) -is for the most part an evening and nocturnal feeder. Nothing could -exceed the elegance and ease with which the otter performed the most -extraordinary and complicated evolutions in pursuit of his prey, -his long, lithe body, pliant and supple as an eel's, twisting and -twining in every direction as the fish darted hither and thither, or -swept in rapid circles in its efforts to escape. Its tail, we noticed, -seemed to act not merely as a rudder in aid of its owner's incessant -perisaltations, but to be in constant motion like a propeller, as if to -assist the broad and muscular web feet in every act of natation. For -ten minutes or more, perhaps, did the chase continue, the fish, that -seemed to be either a haddock or sea-trout of some three or four -pounds weight, occasionally leaping bodily out of the water in its -efforts to escape from the unfriendly attentions of its stern pursuer, -the said pursuer, like a staunch hound, doubling as the fish doubled, -circling as it circled, and diving as it dived, with a persistency -and perseverance that it was impossible to elude, until at last, -fairly beaten in his own element, the fish was captured in a pool of -shallow water, whither it had darted in its terror and bewilderment, -the otter instantly pouncing upon it and seizing it in his mouth, -as you have seen a terrier deal with a rat. At this moment we rushed -from our concealment with a shout, hoping to frighten the otter and -get hold of the fish, but Monsieur Lutra was too quick for us. With -the fish in his mouth he plunged into the sea, and in a second had -disappeared among some boulders that would probably have afforded him -a secure asylum, even if we had a pack of otter hounds to aid in our -attempt at the dislodgment of a gentleman so cunning. - -With the common otter of our inland rivers and lakes we have been more -or less familiar since our school-boy days; but we cannot recollect -having ever seen a marine otter until this occasion. Our naturalists -seem to be very generally agreed that the sea otter and that of -our rivers and fresh-water lakes are one and the same animal,--an -opinion from which we are not at this moment prepared to dissent, -though the animal referred to above seemed to us to be larger in -size, blacker in colour, with more prominent ears, and a bigger, -bushier tail than any specimen, living or dead, that had hitherto -come under our notice. Certain peculiarities, however, of form and -colouring in the individual are frequently attributable to accidental -circumstances. We remember seeing a very fine dog otter many years ago, -that its owner had succeeded in rendering comparatively tame, and of -some use in the capture of fish for its master's table, as well as for -its own sustenance. The animal belonged to the innkeeper at Bridge -of Tilt, in Athole, and was usually kept chained in an empty stall -in the stable. It was very good-natured and docile, and evinced its -satisfaction on being stroked with the hand and patted by a curious -purring, sort of half whine half bark, altogether unlike the utterance -of any other animal with which we are acquainted. We saw it presented -with a dish of milk, which it readily lapped up, using its tongue -by way of spoon, as a dog does under similar circumstances. With -a collar round its neck, to which a long rope was attached, it was -frequently taken to the river, where it never failed to catch fish, -first driving them, after the manner of a collie with a flock of -sheep, into the nearest pool in which there was a considerable depth -of water, when he pounced upon them with the agility of a wild cat, -and seldom failed to secure two or three of the best and biggest fish -in the shoal ere they could manage to escape. We were assured, however, -that the best place to see the otter at work was not the river, but -one of the moorland lochs, in the depths of which he was perfectly -at home. Here he exhibited the most astonishing feats of agility in -pursuit of his prey; his activity and matchless swimming powers being -backed by a pertinacity and cunning that left neither trout nor pike -much chance of escape. Having marked out and selected the fish to be -captured, it was observed that he stuck to it with the staunchness of -a well-trained hound through all its doublings and windings, as if for -the moment the loch contained none but it, until he had fairly run it -down; the capture generally taking place among the reeds that bordered -the margin of the mere, into which the fish always rushed on becoming -sensible that its adversary was not to be eluded in open water. If -left to himself, it was remarked that the otter was somewhat dainty -and fastidious of taste, rarely eating more of a captured fish than -a little at the back of the head and about the pectoral fins, when, -after a short rest, he was ready to start in pursuit of another. If -this be the habit of otters in their wild state--as there is reason to -believe it is--one can fancy how terribly destructive to fish they must -be, killing ten times more than they actually eat, and these, too, the -best and biggest fish they can meet with in their depredations. Even -a single pair of otters, with a family to rear, must be a terrible -scourge on any river they may select to honour with their attentions -for a season; nor is the marine otter, we may be sure--such as we -saw the other day--less destructive when he takes up his residence in -the vicinity of salmon fishings. Whatever the price of salmon in the -market, depend upon it that the otter's larder is always well supplied. - -The semi-domesticated otter above referred to, after leading a not -unuseful life for a year or two under the careful and always kindly -superintendence of its intelligent owner, managed at last somehow to -break its chain and escape, and was never more seen or heard of. The -only other curious thing about this animal that we can recollect -was his deadly aversion to every feathered creature that came near -him. Whether goose or duck, barn-door fowl or pigeon, he seemed to -detest them all, and would readily, and with every sign of anger, -kill such as he could get hold of, not to eat them, observe, for -that he was never known to do, but just because he disliked them. To -all other animals he could be easily reconciled, and was on good -and even friendly terms with all the dogs, cats, and pigs about the -place, particularly manifesting his love for his stable companions, -the horses, by whining in his strange fashion and straining on his -chain to the utmost, as if he would fain welcome them with a caress, -when after a day's work in the fields they returned to the stable of -an evening. We are not aware that, except milk, which it would readily -lap and seemed to enjoy, this otter was ever known to touch anything in -the shape of food except its natural fish diet. In the old Sgeulachdan, -or fireside tales of the ancient Highlanders, we frequently meet with -the "dun otter" or dobhran donn, as one of the dramatis personæ. He -is generally introduced to us under an amiable character, rescuing -neglected merit from obscurity, relieving distressed damsels, or -succouring the widow and orphans with bountiful supplies of silvery -fish from the tarn amongst the mountains, or the eddying pool beneath -the cascade in the glen. The amiable and friendly otter sometimes -turns out to be an enchanted prince, who, timeously released from -the spell that has doomed him to amphibious habits and quadrupedal -form, assumes his proper shape, and marries the always virtuous and -beautiful, though frequently humble, heroine of the tale. In the -Hebrides to this day the otter is looked upon with some degree of -superstitious reverence, and a bit of otter skin worn by way of charm -is regarded as an antidote against infection in fever and small-pox, -a preservative from death by drowning, and of singular efficacy in -bringing the labours of parturition to a happy issue. A mole on a -person's skin, whatever its place or proportions, is in the Hebrides -never reckoned a deformity. It is regarded rather as a "beauty spot" -than otherwise, and believed to betoken a long life and good luck to -the fortunate possessor. In the West Highlands and Hebrides such a -mark on the skin is called a ball-dobhrain, an otter mark or otter -spot, and is no more accounted a blemish or deformity than was the -mole on the right lip of Dulcinea del Toboso by Don Quixote, though -it looked "like a whisker, and had seven or eight red hairs in it -above a span long!" In some places a piece of otter skin placed on -the head under a woman's coif, and worn inside a man's blue bonnet, -is supposed to relieve the headache and prevent baldness, while -gentle friction along the affected part with the furry side of a -bit of otter skin is esteemed of sovereign efficacy in erysipelas or -"rose." The following is a somewhat free rendering from the Gaelic -of a fable occurring in an old Sgeulachd, with which many of our west -coast readers at least must be acquainted. The moral is obvious. - - - The Otter and Fox. - - The otter had caught in the pool below - A silvery salmon so full of roe, - And clambering bore it over the rocks, - When who should he meet but his cousin the fox. - "Friend," quoth the wily fox, "pray go - And bring me a fish from the pool below-- - I've not tasted fish for a year or mo'. - Leave here thy salmon; go, haste thee back, - We'll dine together and have our crack; - Believe me, dear otter, that over one's food - The face of a friend is always good." - - The otter tumbled into the stream - Where the floating foam was white as cream; - He sought and searched in each cranny and hole, - But not a fish could he find in the pool. - "Well," quoth the otter, "I'll hasten back - To my cousin the fox, and we'll have our crack - Over the salmon I left above; - One fish will go far that is eaten in love; - 'Tis large, and fat, and full of roe, - And, fairly divided, will serve for two." - - Clambering over the rocks in haste - The otter returned to join his guest; - But guess his surprise when he reached the spot; - Where the fox had been--the fox was not, - And nought of the salmon that could be seen - But some silvery scales where the salmon had been! - The otter but said, "'Tis my belief - My cousin the fox should be hanged for a thief; - He'll never again make me his tool, - For myself alone I'll haunt the pool." - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER XXI. - - Storms--An "inch" of Rain--Atherina Presbyter--Lophius - Piscatorius--Mr. Mortimer Collins' misquotation from the Times. - - -A finer winter [January 1871] never was known all over the West -Highlands and Hebrides. Some tempestuousness is to be looked for -at this season, and some tempestuousness we have had, but of actual -winter rigour and cold we have hardly had a trace. Only twice during -the winter have we had any frost, and even then it was but slight -and of short duration. On several occasions, however, we have had -such terrible rainfalls as are only known perhaps within sight of the -mountain peaks of Jura and Mull and Morven. On the 19th of January, -and again on the 23d, the rainfall within a given time was heavier -than anything known even with us for many years past. In about sixteen -hours on the 19th, 4·19 inches fell, and quite as much, if not more, -on the 23d. Now, does the reader know what an inch of rain means? It -means a gallon of water spread evenly over a surface of something like -two square feet, or, to put it in a more striking and intelligible -form, it means a fall of a hundred tons upon an acre of land; so that -in sixteen hours on the 19th upwards of four hundred tons of rain -fell on every acre of land for miles and miles around us. It will -be confessed that thus the country was for once at least well soaked -and saturated. All our rivers and mountain torrents were, of course, -in full flood, and throughout the night, when it had calmed down a -little, the "noise of many waters," as you lay awake on your pillow -and listened, made wild and eerie music enough, to which the fitting -bass was the boom of the storm-driven rollers as they broke in sullen -thunder along the shore. We had occasion to be across Corran Ferry on -the wettest of these days, bad as it was, and, in spite of waterproofs -and haps of most approved texture and form, we returned in the evening -so soaked and drenched and droukit, to use an expressive Scotticism, -that we might as well have been for half an hour up to our chin, -over head and ears for that matter of it, in the deepest pool of -the Rhi. When changing our clothes in our own room after getting -home, we managed to raise a quiet laugh with ourselves over it all, -by the recollection of the music and words of a favourite Scotch -reel not altogether inapplicable to our then condition. The reel in -question is a well-known one, though we forget at present its proper -distinctive name. It is, we think, one of Neil Gow's. A gudewife, -presumably of Amazonian heart, and also of Amazonian proportions, -makes her husband wince and quail, and conduct himself with becoming -amiability and decorum, as she sings-- - - - "Mur 'bi'dh agam ach trudair bodaich, - Bhogain anns an allt e; - Mur 'bi'dh agam ach trudair bodaich, - Bhogain anns an allt e; - Bhogain agus bhogain agus bhogain th'ar a cheann e, - 'S mur 'bi'dh a glan 'nuair bhidh e tioram, - Bhogain 'rithisd ann e!" - - -Not very easily turned into English, but this is something like it-- - - - "If my gudeman were cross and dour, - I'd dip him in the burn, O! - If my gudeman were cross and sour, - I'd dip him in the burn, O; - I'd dip the dear o'er head and ears until he'd grane and girn, O, - And till he promised better things, he'd get the tother turn, O." - - -While stripping, it struck us that we were quite as wet on the occasion -in question, as if for our sins we had undergone all the "dipping" -threatened by the gudewife in the old reel; and the idea put us into -good humour until tea and other fireside comforts made us forget -all the pelting of the pitiless storm. How the remainder of winter -and early spring may turn out meteorologically, it is impossible to -forecast with any confidence, but meantime our old people, in their -own opinion, at least, weatherwise and shrewd quoad hoc, are gravely -shaking their heads over what they deem an unusual dearth of frost -and snow in mid-winter. - -Our West Coast storms, if in one sense sometimes disagreeable enough, -rarely fail, however, to bring us a good thing in the shape of hundreds -of tons of drift-ware, which, gathered and spread on the land, is -found to be a valuable fertiliser. It is a labour, besides, which -falls to be done in a season when there is little else to occupy the -people's time, and saves an immense deal of trouble when the spring -comes round, for the land is ready for the plough and the immediate -reception of the seed, whatever the crop--thus saving at once the -manure heap for purposes in which farmyard manure is indispensable, -and all the trouble of long cartage afield. In collecting his -share of a huge swathe of this drift-ware the other day, one of our -neighbours found a dead fish, quite fresh and unmutilated, which -being new to him, though a fisherman and sea-shore man all his life, -he thought might be interesting to us. He accordingly brought it to -us, and to us also it was new, and as such, of course, exceedingly -interesting. We puzzled long over it ere we satisfied ourselves that -we had determined its identity. It was a small fish, some six inches -in length, and of smelt-like shape and form and colouring, but it -was not a smelt. After some little trouble, we finally decided that -it was a species of atherine (Atherina) belonging to the Mugilidæ or -mullet family. Our particular specimen was the Atherina presbyter, -a not uncommon visitor on some of the south of England shores, but so -rare in our seas that, as we have already said, we never saw a specimen -before. We are told that the atherine is very good eating, and we can -quite believe it, for it is a pretty, delicate-looking little fish, -that, nicely fried until properly crimp and brown, ought to taste -well. A much commoner fish, but interesting in this instance for the -great size of the specimen, was an angler, fishing-frog, or sea-devil -(Lophius piscatorius), which was cast ashore near Corran Ferry last -week. This was the largest individual of the species--the ugliest, -perhaps, of all fishes--that we ever saw. It measured five feet seven -inches from snout to tip of tail, and weighed fifty-three pounds. It -was poor and fleshless, and had died seemingly of sheer inanition or -atrophy; had it been in full condition, it would have weighed a third -more. Its terrible mouth, with its formidable array of sharp recurved -teeth, was enough to scare a friend that accompanied us to a distance, -though we assured him that the brute was dead and harmless. On opening -out its jaws to a fair extent--that is, as far as we thought the animal -itself would open them easily if need were, we placed a large turnip -from a pit that was conveniently at hand, a turnip nearly as large as -a man's head, easily within the horrid cavern. We would willingly have -taken this specimen home with us, for the purpose of preserving the -skeleton, but we had no conveyance with us, and any idea of carrying -it was out of the question. It had, besides, evidently lain some -time on the beach, and its odour on moving it in the least was, the -reader may believe, the very antipodes of Eau de Cologne or ottar of -roses. We contented ourselves therefore with slitting open its stomach -with our pocket-knife, and found it, as we expected, perfectly empty, -containing nothing in the shape of food, except the tips of two claws -and small bits of the carapace of a not uncommon species of crab, -the velvet fiddler (Portunas puber). The Highlanders of the west coast -and Hebrides call the angler Mac Làmhaich, properly Mac Làthaich--the -son (that is, inhabitant) of the mud or ooze; a very expressive and -appropriate name for it, for it is essentially a mud fish, in which, -half buried and perdu, it hides and watches, tiger-like, for its -prey. The naturalist meets with many things to puzzle him, and it has -always puzzled us to account for the large size of this animal's head -and mouth, altogether disproportioned to the size of the rest of the -body. No matter how insatiable the cravings of the brute's maw--to -use a Miltonic word--no matter how gluttonous soever of appetite, the -head and mouth, and number and size of teeth, do seem unnecessarily -formidable, monstrous indeed, for any conceivable work that they -can be called upon to perform; and yet there is unquestionably good -reason for it all, if we could only find it out. It may interest some -of our readers to know that the sea-devil belongs, ichthyologically, -to the Acanthopterygious family of fishes. Acanthopterygious! what a -staggerer to any one except a learned ichthyologist at a Spelling Bee. - -Mr. Mortimer Collins and others are recently down, somewhat -hypercritically we can't help thinking, on Mr. Tennyson's occasional -natural history references throughout his poems. The fun is -that in almost every instance in which fault is found with him, -Mr. Tennyson is right and his critics wrong! Here is one example of -this hypercriticism in which Mr. Mortimer Collins is fairly hoist -with his own petard. Mr. Tennyson writes-- - - - "In spring a fuller crimson comes upon the robin's breast." - - -Upon which Mr. Collins comments--"As a fact, that fuller crimson comes -in autumn, as all know who watch the half-shy, half-familiar bird-- - - - "That ever in the haunch of winter sings." - - -Here Mr. Mortimer Collins is partly right and largely wrong, -while Mr. Tennyson is altogether right. It is true that our native -song-birds, moulting in autumn or early winter, assume at this season a -thicker, warmer, fresher plumage after all the wear and tear consequent -on the labours of nidification, incubation, and love-making throughout -the spring and summer; but it is equally true that it is only in -spring, as Mr. Tennyson correctly asserts, that our wild birds assume -their gaudiest and gayest attire, every colour and shade of colour -in the individual bird's feathering there and then only being at its -best and brightest. And when we remember that spring is the season of -love and incipient song, we should be very much surprised, and with -good reason, if the fact were otherwise. So far as our recollection -serves us, Mr. Mortimer Collins, or any one else, will find it rather -difficult to catch Mr. Tennyson tripping in the direction indicated. We -should say that the Poet Laureate was rather remarkable than otherwise -for his fidelity to nature and truth in all his local colouring. - -Some time ago, by the way, we had occasion to call attention to the -exceeding frequency of misquotation in our current literature, and -in quarters, too, where one would least expect it. Here is a curious -and very unpardonable instance, all things considered. In a review -of the South Kensington Handbooks, in the Times of the 18th January, -a sentence opens thus--"It is well-known that weary lies the head that -wears a crown." Every one will see that the manifest intention here is -to quote from the monologue of the poor harassed and sleepless King -in Shakespeare's Henry IV. (part second), one of the finest things -that even Shakespeare ever wrote, and we had thought too well-known -by every one with any pretensions to literature to be misquoted. The -concluding lines are these:-- - - - "Can'st thou, O partial sleep, give thy repose - To the wet sea-boy in an hour so rude; - And in the calmest and most stillest night, - With all appliances and means to boot, - Deny it to a king? Then, happy, low, lie down: - Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown." - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER XXII. - - Aurora Borealis--Unfavourable weather for Birds about - St. Valentine's Day--The Water-Vole in the Rhi--In the Eden in - Fifeshire--In the Black Water, Kinloch Leven--Does it feed - on Salmon Fry and Ova?--The Kingfisher--Character of the - Water-Vole--Note about the Hedgehog. - - -A brilliant display of aurora borealis on the early morning of the 8th -[February 1871] led us to conclude that a change of weather was not -far distant; and before sunset of that same day the wind had gone -round from east by south to south-west, and a drizzling rain, with -a very much milder temperature than we had known for three months, -told us that, for the present at least, King Frost had agreed -to suspension of hostilities. Since then it has been mostly wet, -with occasional hailstone showers, and turbulent withal, if not -actually stormy. The revictualling of Paris under the terms of the -capitulation and armistice was not a more sensible relief to the -starving inhabitants than was the recent thaw to our wild birds on -sea and shore. The moment they became convinced that it was no sham, -but a real, veritable thaw, they revived amazingly. Shaking off the -torpidity in which cold and want had so pitilessly bound them, they -took heart, and bustled about in search of such food as might now -be procured by diligent seeking in copse and hedgerow, by pool and -stream. An occasional strophe, sadly inconsecutive and discordant, -may now again be heard when the sun shines out and the storm has -lulled, from some of our hardier warblers, and we have observed that -in some instances rooks have begun to pair; but our bird-world, upon -the whole, is far from what it should be at this date; more taken up, -like vanquished France, with the thought of the mere necessities of -life and the reestablishment of their exhausted energies, than with -love or music, or the gaiety and abandon so characteristic in ordinary -seasons of our feathered friends on the back of St. Valentine's -Day. The meridian sun, however, is now steadily climbing zenithwards, -and the day perceptibly lengthening apace, so that our wild birds, -rapidly gathering strength, and daily improving in tone and tune, may, -after all, arrive at their day of jollity and joyousness sooner than -we anticipated. We captured a beautiful Scarlet Emperor butterfly -a few days ago, as brisk and lively as possible, on a window pane -in Ardvulin Cottage, Ardgour. How beautiful, by the way, and how -suggestive of spring and vernal delights in a land of plenitude -and peace, is the following from the Song of Solomon:--"For, lo, -the winter is past, the rain is over and gone; the flowers appear on -the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice -of the turtle is heard in our land; the fig-tree putteth forth her -green figs, and the vines with the tender grapes give a good smell." - -Another animal besides the hedgehog has of recent years made its -appearance in Lochaber, though previously unknown, so far as we are -aware, anywhere in the West Highlands. The animal in question is -the water-rat, water-vole, or British beaver. The last is, perhaps, -its most appropriate name, for the animal is neither kith nor kin to -the rat, while very much in its economy and habits, as well as in its -corporeal structure, particularly its dentition, allies it not remotely -to the beaver tribe. In size, the water-vole is more robust in body and -larger in every way than the common rat, with a more silken pile, and -a bigger and brighter eye. It frequents the banks of streams and ponds, -feeding on the more delicate aquatic plants, and on the bark and tender -shoots of the willow, alder, and such other shrubs as love to grow - - - "The quiet waters by." - - -That such an animal inhabited Lochaber was accidentally revealed to us -two years ago, and so unmistakeably that there was no room for doubt -or hesitation in the matter. We were returning from Fort-William on a -beautiful summer afternoon, walking by the hill route through Lundavra, -when having already accomplished more than half the distance at our -best pace, we sat down to rest and solace ourselves with a pipe--not -the Arcadian musical instrument, observe, but the more prosaic article -anathematised in the royal Counterblast--by the side of a canal-like -reach in the River Rhi, as it slowly winds through Glenshelloch, when -our attention was drawn to a splash in the water at a short distance -above us, to which, however, we gave but little heed, taking it for -the lively flop of a half-pound trout engaged in fly-catching for -supper. Another and a louder splash, however, aroused our curiosity, -and induced us to creep cautiously in the direction whence the sound -proceeded, and there, sure enough, disporting themselves round a -gnarled alder stump that projected into the stream from the water-line -on the opposite bank, were a pair of water-voles, full-grown, and brisk -and lively as ever we had seen them in our younger days in the upper -reaches of the beautiful Eden in Fifeshire, a favourite habitat. After -watching their gambols for some time, we threw a pebble into the pool, -when they instantly dived and disappeared, only to emerge in a few -seconds near a large boulder further up the stream, behind which, -and cunningly concealed beneath the overhanging bank, was their hole, -into which they popped as readily as does an alarmed mouse into a wall -crevice. As they dived and pursued their subaqueous flight in the -direction of their hole, the eye could follow their every movement, -for the water was as clear as crystal. Keeping very near the bottom, -it seemed as if they progressed partly by swimming and partly by -running along the gravel, at any rate with amazing celerity and -ease. We noticed that about their necks and shoulders their pile -appeared as if adorned with numberless tiny pearls--air bubbles, in -fact--that adhered to their fur, and that, frequently shifting the -position like quicksilver drops, as the animals moved, had a very -pretty effect. Since that time the water-vole has been repeatedly -seen about the lower reaches of the same river, between the Inchree -Falls and the highway. It has also been seen in some parts of the -Blackwater above Kinlochleven. Ardent disciples of Izaak Walton and -others interested in the preservation of trout and salmon hold the -water-vole in great dislike, under the belief that it feeds largely -on fry and ova. The accusation we believe to be unfounded, as much so -as the egg-eating charge against the hedgehog. We shall not attempt -to prove a negative, the onus probandi of their averments logically -resting with the accusers; but we will say that we have known the -water-vole for many years, and at one time had every opportunity -of studying its habits, and we never had cause to entertain the -slightest suspicion that it was anything else than a vegetable -feeder. We recollect once questioning old John Robertson of Perth, -than whom a better fisher, whether on lake or stream, never cast -a fly or impaled a worm, about the water-vole's alleged liking for -fish-spawn and fry. His reply was in these words, "I dinna believe it, -sir; I have fished in maist feck o' the rivers, burns, and lochs in -Perth, Fife, and Kinross, and other counties forbye, and the fish -were just as plentiful where the splash o' the gleb (a local name -for the water-vole) was heard a'maist at every cast o' the line, -as where none could be seen for days together." We know, besides, -that the late Professor John Reid of St. Andrews, one of the most -distinguished comparative anatomists of his day, and who had dissected -many of them, was of opinion that the water-vole was a vegetable feeder -and nothing else, he having never been able to detect anything to lead -him to the conclusion that it fed on fish or their spawn. Suspicion -of the water-vole's being addicted to the malpractices in question -was first of all grounded on the fact that fish-bones were frequently -found along the banks of the streams he inhabited, and sometimes about -the entrance of, and even in, the hole which was his habitat and home; -and on this evidence alone the water-vole soon got into very bad repute -indeed. As to the finding occasionally of fish bones along a water-vole -inhabited stream, although the fact is indisputable, it really goes -for nothing, suspicious as it looks, for similar relics of defunct -trouts and troutlets may be seen any day on the margin of streams -where a water-vole was never yet known to exist. The real culprits -in such cases are the otter, the common rat (a great fish-eater in -shallow streams and almost as expert a swimmer as the vole itself, -only that it cannot dive so well), the heron, king-fisher, and -grey crow, all of whom are fond of fish, either as an article of -constant diet, or as an occasional make-shift in default of more -legitimate fare. As to the fish bones to be sometimes met with in -the water-vole's holes, the dusky-coated and white-vested dipper and -the beautiful plumaged king-fisher are alone to blame. The castings, -indeed, of a single pair of king-fishers would of itself suffice to -account for all the fish bones one meets with by the banks of ponds -and streams, for the beautiful Alcedo is a voracious fish-devourer, -and his hole going backwards and upwards some three or four feet -into the bank, invariably a perfect charnel-house of bleached fish -bones of minnows and troutlets. The number of small fish that a pair -of king-fishers, with their young, dispose of in a single season -must amount to many thousands, and as the larger bones at least are -always cast or regurgitated, their presence may always be taken as a -sure indication that the spot has recently been the haunt of the most -beautifully coloured of British birds. When the bones of larger fish, -however, are met with, the blame, if blame there be, must be shifted -from the king-fisher to the shoulders of one or other or all of the -animals above mentioned. It is only fair that the spirit of our laws, -which accounts a man innocent until he is proved guilty, should be -extended to beasts and birds as well. In this view of the matter the -water-vole has good reason of complaint that it has been over hastily -and unwarrantably condemned on insufficient evidence, without even -the form of a fair and impartial trial. Unlike Ritson, the antiquary -and balladist, who, although he was a strict vegetarian in diet, -holding all manner of animal food in utter abhorrence, and writing a -volume on the subject, was yet as cross-grained and as irascible as a -wasp, the water-vole, like a true vegetarian, is quiet and unobtrusive -even to timidity, leading an inoffensive life, and in his play hours, -which--in proof of his good sense, let us remark--are very numerous, -as frolicsome and sportive as a kitten. He will show fight, it is -true, if attacked in his hole or otherwise brought to bay, and his -bite, whether on the nose of an over-venturesome terrier, or the hand -that would rashly seize him, is very severe and difficult to heal; -but it is only doing him the merest justice that those who know him -should bear witness that in general character and disposition he is -the most peaceable and harmless of animals. - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER XXIII. - - March--The Story of a Spanish Dollar--The Spanish Armada--The - "Florida"--Faire-Chlaidh, or Watching of the Graveyard--Molehill - Earth for Flowers. - - -A fall of snow on Monday, followed by keen frost during three -consecutive nights, rendered the past week [March 1871], as to mere -cold at least, the most wintry of the season; but with a bright sun -circling at mid-March altitude, the frost had no time to penetrate -the soil to any depth, and spring work has been steadily pushed on, -with hardly any retardation. In the upland glens, however, the frost -was for some days intense, and had it continued much longer, weakly -sheep must have suffered severely. But solvitur hiems, the frost is -gone; the weather is now again open, and mild and spring-like, and -our wild birds--scores of them within a stone's cast of our window -as we write--only seem all the more jubilant because of the past -week's temporary dip of temperature to the freezing-point. "Speed -the plough"--one of our very best Scotch reels, by the way--should -now be the cry, at once earnest and cheery, of every one connected -with arable land, for what says the old Gaelic proverb-- - - - "Am fear nach cuir 'sa Mhàrt, - 'Sanmoch a bhuaineas e." - - -He that sows not in March shall have a late ingathering. - -A coin was sent us for identification a few days ago, the history of -which strikes us as interesting. We had no difficulty in determining -it to be a silver Spanish dollar of the time of Philip II. It is -much corroded and worn, but the following letters of the original -inscription are distinctly legible:--Ph. II., D.G. Hisp: et Ind: -Rex. 1585. On the reverse disc is what seems to have been intended -for the prow of a ship between two palm trees. The owner of this coin -tells us that it came into his possession in the following manner:--A -brother of his, who owned and commanded a coasting schooner about -fifty years ago, chancing to be becalmed while passing through the -Sound of Mull, thought it best to come to anchor for the night. Next -morning, when getting under weigh, the anchor, as it came to the -bows, was found to have brought up a large mass of tangle. While -clearing this away, the edge of the coin was observed sticking out -from among a lot of sand and shingle attached to the tangle roots, -and having been secured and handed to the Captain, he ever after -kept it in his purse as a "luckpenny," on which he set a high value, -and all the more so, perhaps, that it happened to be found on the -morning of Easter Sunday, a fact that to him, as a good Catholic, had -a significance and meaning that the rest of the crew took no account -of. Be this as it may, he was from that day an exceedingly prosperous -and lucky man in all his undertakings, and till the day of his death -he carried the coin about him wherever he went, as a "luckpenny" -and talisman of extraordinary virtue. The present owner, too, sets -a very high value on this numismatic talisman, which, he declares, -hardly anything would induce him to part with. During the ten years -that it has been in his possession, he assures us that he has been -prosperous and successful as he never was before, with never a moment's -illness; and although too sensible and shrewd a man actually to assert -that the coin has anything to do with it, it is a fact that he very -seriously looks upon his Spanish dollar as a sort of "lee-penny," -giving its possessor a fair chance of an amount of health and wealth, -that without it he might struggle for in vain. This nonsense apart, -however, the question remains, What business had a Spanish dollar -in the bottom of the Sound of Mull? How came it there? Our theory is -that the coin originally belonged to some one connected with the great -"Invincible Armada" of 1588. It is a well-known historical fact that, -after the defeat of the Armada, the already shattered and discomfited -fleet, in attempting to return to Spain by sailing round Scotland -and Ireland, was overtaken by a dreadful storm, in which many of the -ships were wrecked. One ship, named the "Florida," ran for shelter -into the Sound of Mull, and while at anchor off Tobermory harbour, -was captured and destroyed by a body of Mull and Morvern men, under -the command of Maclean of Duart. This fact is sufficiently attested -by a remission, under the Privy Seal, to that chief for his share in -the somewhat questionable transaction, bearing date the 20th March -1589. The "Florida" was destroyed by being blown up, with all her -armament and stores, and many of her crew--a treacherous and cruel -act, for Scotland at least was then at peace with Spain--and it is -probable that the Spanish dollar so recently examined by us reached -the bottom of the Sound on that occasion, and there remained till -fished up in the curious manner above related, upwards of two centuries -afterwards. Some of the timbers of the submerged "Florida" have from -time to time been brought to the surface, and a casket formed out of -part of her windlass was presented by Sir Walter Scott to George IV., -during his visit to Scotland in 1822. - -An unsuccessful attempt, by means of divers, was made in 1740 to -recover some of a large amount of treasure said to have been sunk -in her; but some very beautiful brass guns were brought up, one of -which is still to be seen at the Castle of Dunstaffnage, near Oban, -and another, we believe, at Inveraray. These were last made to speak -loud and lustily, not against a Queen of England, as was their original -errand to our shores, but in honour of the marriage of the daughter -of a Queen of Great Britain with the son of a Scottish Duke, who now -owns the lands which belonged to the Macleans, by whom the "Florida," -carrying those very guns, was destroyed. Thus does "the whirligig -of time bring about its revenges." Some years ago we were shown by a -gentleman in Glasgow a large ebony-stocked pistol, beautifully carved -and inlaid with mother-of-pearl and silver, which was said to have -been secured from the wreck of the "Florida." We recollect that the -corroded state of the barrel and lock abundantly satisfied us at the -time that, whether it had belonged to the "Florida" or not, it had at -all events long lain in water, and more probably, from the peculiar -form of corrosion, in salt water than in fresh. As to the dollar, -we have only further to state that its owner now thinks more of it -than ever: our suggestion as to its very probable connection with the -Spanish Armada having largely enhanced its value in his estimation. Its -mere intrinsic value as a bit of silver would, we think, be fully -and fairly appraised at something like twenty pence sterling. - -We were the other day accidentally brought into contact with a -curious superstition, which, although not peculiar to this district, -but common, we believe, over all the Highlands, was yet quite new -to us. We were sailing past the beautiful island of St. Mungo, in -Loch Leven, the burial-place for many centuries of the people of -Nether Lochaber and Glencoe, when the following conversation took -place between ourselves and an old man who managed the sails while we -steered. It was all in Gaelic, of course, but we give the substance -in English:--"You were at the funeral on the island the other day, -sir?" interrogatively observed our companion. "I was, indeed," we -replied. "John ----," he continued, naming the deceased, "was a very -decent man." "He was a fine old Highlander, shrewd and intelligent," -we replied, "and, what is more, I believe a very good man." "Donald -----," naming a person we both knew, "is very ill, and not likely -to last long." "I saw him to-day," we observed, "and I fear that -what you say is true: he cannot last long." "Well, sir, it will be -a good thing for John ---- (the person recently buried); his term of -watching will be a short one." "I do not understand what you mean," -we observed, with some curiosity. "The man is dead and buried; what -watching should he have to do?" "Why, sir, don't you know that the -spirit of the last person buried in the island has to keep watch and -ward over the graves till the spirit of the next person buried takes -his place?" "I really did not know that," we replied. "Is it a common -opinion that such is the case, and do you believe it yourself?" "Well, -sir, it is generally believed by the people; and having always heard -that it was so, I cannot well help believing it too. The spirit whose -watch it is, is present there day and night. Some people have seen -them: my mother, God rest her! once pointed out to me, when I was -a little boy, an appearance, as of a flame of light on the island, -slowly moving backwards and forwards, and she assured me it was the -watching spirit going his rounds." "What particular object has the -spirit in watching?" we asked. "Well, I don't exactly know," was -the answer. "He just takes a sort of general charge of the Island -of the Dead, until his successor arrives." We have since found that -a belief in this superstition is common among the old people. The -spirit or ghost is supposed to be to a certain extent unhappy, and -impatient of relief while in the discharge of this office, and thus, -it is considered, that the sooner after a funeral there is occasion -again for the opening of a grave, the better it is for the spirit of -the last person interred, who then, and not till then, passes finally -and fully to his rest. - -We have to warn such of our readers as dwell by the sea, and all -"who go down to the sea in ships, and see His wonders in the deep," -that unusually high tides may be expected in connection with the -new moon of the 18th. The highest tide, however, is not likely to -be exactly coincident with the change of the moon, but at the time -of the second or third flood thereafter. Along our Scottish coasts -the tidal wave will probably be highest on the morning of the 20th, -so that this notice may yet be sufficiently timeous. Much, however, -will depend on the state of wind and weather, as to the height the -tide may attain at any particular place. In any case, it can do no -harm to be prepared. - -To such of our readers as may be engaged in the rearing and tending of -flowers at this season we very willingly communicate a hint that may -be found useful. And it is this. In filling flower-pots or window-sill -boxes, there is frequently considerable difficulty in procuring soil -that will be at once sufficiently rich, free of weed seeds, and finely -pulverised. The despised and sadly persecuted mole provides the very -thing wanted, and in little round heaps, waiting only to be gathered, -commonly called molehills. For flowers, whether in pots or borders, -there is nothing so good as molehill earth. The rationale of the -thing is, as is well-known to every one in the least acquainted with -the natural history of the interesting velvet-coated subterranean -tunnelists, that they live on worms and insect larvæ. These are -always found in the best soil, which is hurled to the surface in round -heaps by the industrious little animal while in pursuit of his prey, -and in so pulverised a state, and so free of weed seeds, as to be -above all others the soil most suitable for all manner of ordinary -floriculture. With such soil we have grown the purest dahlias and -wallflowers we ever saw anywhere. The old Royalist toast, "To the -little gentleman in the black velvet coat!" was in sly allusion to -the death of a high personage from injuries received by his horse -stumbling over an insignificant molehill, and whose name by the -way is disagreeably connected with a dark deed done heretofore in -Glencoe, whose wild gorge and frowning precipices are in view as we -write. But if any of our readers will feel cause of gratitude to the -mole on the hint above given, as they bend over a moss rose or dahlia -which has grown in soil so procured, why, we shall be glad for all -our sakes. For our reader's, in that he or she has been gratified -in such a delightful and holy taste as flower culture; for our own, -that the secret was ours to divulge; and for the mole's sake, poor -persecuted fellow, for he sadly needs a friend. - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER XXIV. - - The Beauty of the West Highland Seaboard--Dr. Aiton of - Dolphinton--Dr. Norman Macleod--Specimen of Turtle-Dove (Columba - Turtur) shot in Ardgour--The belief on the Continent of its - value as a Household Pet--Bechstein--Male Birds dropping Eggs - in confinement. - - -If somewhat over-showery for the comfort of tourists, whose season -[June 1871] may now be said to have fairly commenced, the weather -with us on the west coast is at least all that the agriculturist and -sheepowner could wish it to be, for pasture everywhere is rich and -abundant to a degree that has rarely been known even here, while crops -of all kinds never perhaps presented a healthier or more luxuriant -growth. The truth is that a certain amount of rainfall, and that -amount a large one, is absolutely necessary for the wellbeing of our -crops in the West Highlands, and the longer we live the more do we -feel the truth and force of the saying of a shrewd old gentleman, -at his own dinner table many years ago, to the effect that he had -always observed that the season in which there was some difficulty -in getting peats secured in good condition was invariably the best -for Lochaber and the neighbouring districts from a pastoral and -agricultural point of view. This is particularly observable this -year, for while you cannot as yet see a stack of this season's peats -anywhere, the country is clothed in richer, greener verdure, the woods -are leaner, and crops of every description more luxuriant than we can -recollect to have been the case for at least a dozen years past. If -anybody wishes to see the West Highlands in all their magnificence and -beauty, now is the season, for, go where you may, turn whithersoever -you will, wander forth at any hour and in any direction, you cannot -fail to be charmed with the infinite variety of pictures that present -themselves for your admiration, pictures which, while they only charm -and enchant the ordinary beholder, delight at once and distress the -artist--delight him by their marvellous beauties, but distress him -not the less, because he cannot with all his cunning transfer these -beauties in their entirety to canvas. An American gentleman whom we -met the other day candidly confessed that, although he had gone over -most of his native land, and made the tour of Continental Europe and -the East, he had not in all his travels seen anything more beautiful -than the shores of Loch Linnhe, Loch Leven, and Lochiel at sunset on -a fine evening in June. The late Dr. Aiton of Dolphinton told us on -his return from Palestine that he had seen nothing at all to equal -Loch Linnhe on a summer's evening. In all the breadth of his native -Doric, which he always employed in familiar conversation, he declared -there was "naething in a' the Archipelago till touch't," and we have -heard Dr. Norman Macleod on his return from India express himself -very much to the same effect. The Queen says in her Journal that -"the scenery in Loch Linnhe is magnificent--such beautiful mountains." - -A specimen of a very rare bird, shot by the keeper in Ardgour Garden -a few days ago, has been kindly sent to us by Mr. Maclean. It turns -out to be a male in beautiful plumage of the turtle-dove (Columba -turtur, Linn.; La tourterelle of Buffon), a bird rarely seen anywhere -in Scotland, and which, except in this instance, has never, so far as -we are aware, been met with in the West Highlands. We remember seeing -a young bird, a female in immature plumage, that was said to have been -shot somewhere near Falkland Palace in the summer of 1847, from which -it was reasonably concluded that a pair of these beautiful birds had -in that year at least nidified and reared their young somewhere in -the Howe of Fife. Except in the case of the specimen now before us, -we are not aware that it has ever been met with anywhere in the -north or north-western counties. The turtle is, as we have said, -an exceedingly beautiful and handsome bird, the breast of a delicate -vinaceous tint, and a black patch on either side of the neck, each -feather of which is tipped with a crescent of pure white, giving it a -very elegant and striking appearance. It is less bulky and less rotund -in form than the common dove, its shape more nearly resembling that -of the blue jay or throstle cock, which latter it also about equals -in size. We have never seen this bird in confinement, but it is said -to exhibit a remarkable degree of tenderness and sagacity, whether -as a cage or chamber bird. On the Continent it is kept not only for -its tameness and beauty, but because it is a common belief among the -people that it attracts to itself bad humours, and is to a family -in the matter of diseases what a lightning-rod is to a building in a -thunderstorm. Bechstein, a shrewd and intelligent man, seems to think -that the belief in question, absurd as it may appear to us, is not -so ill-founded after all, for he says quietly, "Thus much at least is -certain, that during the illness of men it readily becomes sickly." The -explanation probably is that, being a tender and delicate bird, the -odour and effluvia attendant on certain human ailments affects it as -described. Other birds are occasionally similarly affected; thus, when -our own children were laid up with a very bad kind of scarlatina, our -cage-birds, gold and green finches, were out of sorts for some time, -drooping and dejected and unable to sing as usual, though the month -was April, when they should have been in all respects at their best -and in full and free song. You may be sure, by the way, that we were -not a little pleased with a paragraph which appeared the other day -about the male cockatoo that dropped the egg, very much, no doubt, -to the astonishment of his amiable mistress. When some years ago we -ventured to assert that males of various birds, notably the common -domestic cock, sometimes dropped an egg, the thing was scouted as -ridiculous, and from Dan to Beersheba, from London to John O'Groat's, -the cry was that it couldn't be, that it was impossible; one writer -going so far in his scepticism as plainly to declare that "he would -as soon believe that a bull had given birth to a calf." Much was the -chaffing that we had to endure in connection with the subject, and -our most intimate friends could hardly believe that we were serious -in it at all. And yet we were perfectly in earnest; we had known the -thing happen repeatedly, and since then a very fine cock goldfinch -of our own, one of the best singers, too, we have ever heard, laid an -egg in his cage which is still in our possession, and several of our -correspondents having had their attention directed to the subject, -have assured themselves that, not only is the thing possible, but -in the case of the domestic cock at least, and of many cage-birds, -of rather common occurrence. It is a very odd and curious thing, -no doubt, and difficult of explanation, but there are thousands -of undisputed facts in natural history in the same category, the -existence of which is beyond all question, though the how, and why, -and wherefore is a mystery. - -From our window, as we write these lines, we can see quite a fleet -of herring boats sailing up Loch Linnhe on their return from the -fishing stations at Barra, Lochmaddy, and the Lewis--a very pretty -sight--not less than two hundred or more boats under full sail, -stretching in one long line from Corran Ferry to the Sound of Mull, -looking at this distance for all the world like the notes in a line -of complicated printed music. - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER XXV. - - Thunderstorm--Potato Field in Bloom--The Hazel Tree--Hazel - Nuts--Potato Shaws for Cattle--Ferns for Bedding - Cattle--Marmion--Scott. - - -With an occasional fine day [August 1871], the past fortnight must, -we fear, be characterised as having been upon the whole wet--very -wet, a stranger would say--and not a little stormy withal. We had -a tremendous thunderstorm early on Sunday morning, with the most -magnificent display of forked lightning that we have ever seen, while -the very earth seemed to quake and tremble under the crash of peal -upon peal of thunder, so near and loud at times as to be absolutely -terrible. It is no wonder that the soundest sleepers were awakened -from their midnight slumbers by the hurly-burly. We ourselves got up -for a time, and sat at our window, watching the lightning that darted -incessantly among the mountain summits with startling vividness, -revealing their serrated peaks at times through the very heart of the -thunder-cloud as distinctly as if it were clearest noonday. Rain, too, -fell the while in torrents, that instantly filled river and mountain -stream to overflowing; and as the storm passed away, and we retired -to rest in the grey, uncertain twilight of the early dawn, we were -lulled into a sleep, that lasted well nigh until noon, by the weird -and wild music of "the noise of many waters." We thought, as we sat -alone in the midst of that magnificent storm, of him (was it John -Foster?) who, on a similar occasion, turned round to his companion -and remarked, in a tone of deep solemnity, "It is a fine night; the -Lord is abroad!" Crops, though generally further from maturity than is -usual at this date, continue to grow rapidly, and everywhere present -a strong and healthy appearance,--"a guarantee," as newspaper editors -say, "of their good faith" and honest intentions in the direction of -a bounteous yield when cometh the season of ingathering. Potatoes -are now in full flower; and a very pretty sight, if you deign to -look at it with an unprejudiced eye, is a potato field in blossom -at this season. If the incomparable esculent were not cultivated -for its utility and value as an article of food, it would still -deserve a place in our gardens for its elegance and beauty simply as -a flower. Nothing but its commonness causes its beauty as a flowering -plant to be so constantly overlooked. We are in the midst of our hay -season, and we are only anxious about good weather for securing it in -tolerable order. Eight consecutive days of dry, breezy weather would -be of incalculable value to us at this moment. Anything will grow, -and grow luxuriantly, on the West Coast: our difficulties only begin -with the season of ripening and after preservation. If there be any -truth in the old Scottish saying, that "a year of nuts will also be -a year of corn," then may the grain-growers of the West Highlands at -least already congratulate themselves, for we have seldom seen the -hazel boughs so laden with nut clusters; and a prettier sight than a -hazel wood so laden, either now or when decked in its autumnal robes, -it would be difficult to conceive. It is, besides, a fragrant, cleanly -wood, through which you can at any time dash fearlessly and at will, -all the better of your contact with the leaves, branches, and nut -clusters, when you have reached the open beyond. There is not a leaf -in the woods so thoroughly clean, so fragrant when you have crushed it -in your hand, so soft and pleasant to the touch in its every stage, -as the leaf fresh plucked from the hazel bough. And apropos of hazel -nuts, a gentlemen from the south of England, at present resident in -our neighbourhood, told us something the other day that we did not -know before. "In our part of England," observed our friend, "the -hazel is common, and grows to a larger size, has more pretentions -to the name of tree, in fact, than here with you; and our nuts, I -should say, must be larger, juicier, and in all respects better than -yours." (A "soft impeachment," at which, for the honour of Nether -Lochaber, we took the liberty of gravely shaking our head in token -of dissent). "We seldom, however," he went on, "can get a ripe hazel -nut in autumn, the reason being that in many places they are gathered -while yet in a half-formed and green state. You look surprised, but -the reason is this: the husk of the green, unripe hazel nut is rich, -as you must be aware, in a bitterly sharp and astringent acid, that -must have often made your teeth water when you have essayed to crack -a nut in a state of immaturity. This acid, then, you must know, is -valuable as a mordant (a technical term) in the printing and dyeing of -cotton and other fabrics, and it commands a high price in the market -accordingly. It is a maxim in commerce that demand creates supply; -and the consequence is, that every year in the month of July, when -the nuts are at their greenest, and the acid in their husks at its -acridest, women and children plunder the woods of their hazel nut -clusters, which are sold to the manufacturers, who, by a process of -crushing by machinery, and washing and maceration, extract all the -acid, to be employed, as I have already mentioned, in cotton printing -and dye works." So far in substance, if not in ipsissimis verbis, -our friend. All we could reply was that we should be sorry indeed -to see our own bonny hazel woods similarly despoiled. Another thing -told us by this friend somewhat surprised us. He observed our servant -girl carrying a bundle of potato "shaws" into the byre, and asked -us what they were for. On our replying that these were the shaws of -the potatoes taken up for dinner, and that they were thrown before -the cows, and devoured by them with avidity on their return from -their hill pasture in the evening, he earnestly advised us never to -do so again; that in England it was never done, because it was found -that potato shaws given to milch cows not only lessened the quantity -of milk yielded, but actually vitiated the milk itself, giving it -a disagreeable taste, and making it decidedly unwholesome. All we -could answer was that we had known potato shaws given to milch cows -all over the Highlands since ever we could remember, and that we had -never known or heard any of the evils stated to result from the use -of them. What says the reader? It is true, no doubt, that the potato -belongs botanically to a family of plants many of whom are highly -poisonous--such as the common deadly nightshade of our lanes and -roadsides, for example--and it is averred that, although the tuber -of the potato is healthy and nutritious when cooked, it is a poison -in its raw state, and that its stem, leaves, flower, and "apple" -are all more or less poisonous; and yet we have known boys, while -the blight was yet unheard of, and when potatoes were more prolific -of apples or plums than they have ever been since, eat the large, -soft, full, ripe apples with relish, and they never suffered the -slightest inconvenience in consequence that ever we heard of. As a -boy we have often ate them ourselves, and very saccharine, juicy, -and pleasant flavoured we recollect they were, not at all unlike the -purple plum of our gardens in taste and flavour, and hardly inferior -to it as a pleasant succulent bonne bouche. Cattle, as we know, will -greedily eat the fresh shaws, as they will a decidedly poisonous plant, -the hemlock (Celticè, Iteotha); and it is a well-known fact that in -severe cases of scurvy on board ships that have to go long voyages a -feast of raw potatoes is an immediate and certain cure; so that after -all it would seem that if the potato is originally a poisonous plant, -cultivation has eradicated all, or almost all, traces of the evil. As -to the deleterious effects of the shaws on the milk of cattle we have -our doubts, our amiable and learned friend above mentioned to the -contrary notwithstanding. And while on such subjects let us record a -piece of information received from an old woman in our neighbourhood -a few days ago. We were cutting some green ferns on the hillside, -when the old lady in question, who happened to pass the way at the -time, stood to have a crack with us about the weather and crops and -things in general, said crack concluding somewhat as follows:--"You -are cutting ferns, sir," said the old lady, "what are you to make of -them if you please, sir?" "They are for bedding," we replied, "bedding -for the cows and pony." "Well, sir," she rejoined, "there is no harm -in bedding the pony with them; they will do him no evil; but take an -old woman's advice, and don't put them under your cows." "Why so," we -asked in astonishment. "What can be cleaner, fresher, fragranter for -bedding, whether for horse or cow, than these nice green ferns? Just -look how beautiful and soft they are." "Still, sir," she persisted, -"you must not place them under your cows, particularly your milch -cows; if you do, their udders will assuredly fester, and they will -go wrong in their milk. I have known it happen often, and no sensible -person in the country ever does such a thing now-a-days. Ferns cut in -autumn when brown and ripe make excellent bedding for milch cows as -for all other cattle, but July cut ferns, green, juicy, and unripe, -should never be used for bedding milch cows. I do not pretend to tell -you why they should produce the evils I have mentioned, but I do know -that if I had fifty cows I had rather have them without bedding at all -than put such green, fresh ferns as those under them." We stood for the -moment aghast at this piece of information, which was perfectly new to -us, and from the positive and decided tone of the old lady, a shrewd -intelligent woman of her class, we felt that there must be something -in it. On inquiry we have since found that the old lady's belief in the -evil of ferns--green, unripe ferns, that is--as bedding for milch cows, -is common among the people of this part of the West Highlands. Whether -the whole affair is a mere superstition, the fern having always been -accounted a sacred plant in the Highlands, or whether there is really -some foundation in fact for the belief that a bedding of green ferns -causes the udders of cows to swell and fester as is alleged, we are -not at this moment prepared to say; perhaps some of our readers may be -able to throw light on the subject. It is just possible that green-cut -ferns, when pressed by the recumbent animal, may exude an acrid juice -that, coming in contact with the tender udder, may be absorbed with -the effects alleged. Meantime we doubt it. One thing we know is this, -that cattle are fond of lying down among growing ferns in their every -stage, and that both roe and red deer frequently make their lair among -growing ferns at this season. Do you remember, by the way, Scott's -magnificent description in Marmion of a fern-couched deer roused from -his midnight lair by the awful tolling of the passing-bell over the -living entombment of poor Constance in the monastery of Lindisfarne?-- - - - "Slow o'er the midnight wave it swung, - Northumbrian rocks in answer rung; - To Warkworth cell the echoes roll'd, - His beads the wakeful hermit told. - The Bamborough peasant raised his head, - But slept ere half a prayer he said; - So far was heard the mighty knell, - The stag sprung up on Cheviot Fell, - Spread his broad nostril to the wind, - Listed before, aside, behind, - Then couch'd him down beside the hind, - And quaked among the mountain fern, - To hear that sound so dull and stern." - - -Than the whole of the trial and doom of poor Constance, who "loved -not wisely but too well," in the second canto of Marmion, even Scott -never wrote anything more solemn or terrible. - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER XXVI. - - Harvest--Scythe and Sickle v. Reaping Machines--Potatoes--Garibaldi - and Potatoes at Caprera--Fishing--Platessa Gemmatus, or Diamond - Plaice--Mushrooms--The Poetry of Fairy Rings--Harvest-Home. - - -With such fine weather as we enjoy at present, September [1871] is one -of the pleasantest months of the year. Harvest operations are now in -full swing, and the redbreast--having moulted, and proudly conscious -of the splendour of his scarlet vest--has already begun his autumnal -song--more delectable now and more appreciated, because now, with the -exception of an occasional voluntary from the wren, he only sings, -whereas his vernal strains are lost in their amalgamation with the full -chorus of a thousand performers. It is pleasant now, as you saunter -or ride along, to listen to the merry laughter of the reapers afield, -and to their song, as, morê majorum, it floats in chorus on the gale: -pleasant, too, to us at least, and far from unmusical, the frequent -sound of the whetting of scythe and sickle in every direction--the -bloodless weapons--as they are deftly handled in the process, -glancing brightly in the sunlight! Reaping "machines" and "steam" -ploughs may be very good things in their way, but we are not ashamed -to confess that we are glad that, as yet at least, we know nothing -of them in the West Highlands. The utilitarian must be content if we -admit all their value and importance from his point of view, while at -the same time we yet assert that wherever they appear all the poetry -of agriculture incontinently becomes plain prose--Sic transit gloria -Cereris. Very excellent, at all events, are our crops this season, -and very excellently are they being harvested. A good deal has already -been secured in barn and stackyard, and in such condition, too, as -is but rarely possible under the weeping skies of the west coast. The -weather is still so favourable that our people are working with a will, -and making every exertion to have their harvesting concluded while -it lasts. Potatoes still continue sound and untainted, although an -occasional spottiness of the leaf in some fields shows that our old -enemy the "blight" has not yet forgot the time of his coming. The -crop is now, however, about ripe, and may be considered very much -out of danger for the season. In our last, we had a good deal to say -about this invaluable root, and how it should be brought to table; -and to show that such a subject-matter is not quite so infra dig. as -some of our readers might suppose, listen to what the Times says of -Garibaldi's doings at Caprera. After recounting the General's failures -in connection with his orchard, the acclimation of the silk-worm, &c., -the Times proceeds:--"Garibaldi, however, points with exultation to -his potato fields. No species of the favourite root is neglected, and -there is no treat he so heartily enjoys as a dish of his own potatoes, -baked with his own hand under embers, in the open air--a treat which -calls up reminiscences of his camp life on the Tonale or the Stelvis, -or of his pioneer's experience in the backwoods of the Mississippi -or the Plate." We wonder if this "hero in an unheroic age," who yet -disdains not to exult in his potato fields, or to cook his delicious -"earth apples," as the French so happily term them, in the embers -with his own hand--we wonder if he eats his fish with his fingers? We -could lay a wager that he does; that in eating his ember-roasted -potatoes in the open air, with some broiled tunny, let us suppose, -as a fitting accompaniment--(the Thynnus vulgaris, in highest esteem -with the ancients as with the moderns, abundant about Caprera and -all the shores of Provençe, Sardinia, and Sicily, and than which, -indeed, there is hardly any better fish)--we could lay a wager, -we say, that in eating his potatoes and fish al fresco he discards -the use of knife and fork utterly, eating his fish with his fingers, -and using the running brook beside him as a convenient finger-glass. - -There is a lull at present in our herring fishing, rather because, -however, of the paramount claims of harvest operations on the attention -of our people just now, than from any dearth of the fish in our -lochs. In a week or ten days, when all or most of the corn has been -cut, the fishing will be resumed, and it is hoped with success. In -an old Fingalian tale it is very beautifully said--"Rejoice, O my -son, in the gifts of the sea; for they enrich you without making -any one else the poorer." A rather rare fish in our western waters -was caught a few days ago by our excellent neighbour, J. P. Grant, -Esq., who occupies Cuilchenna House this season. Mr. Grant was good -enough to send this odd fish for our inspection, and we determined -it to be a species of plaice (Platessa)--and the handsomest of the -family--the Platessa gemmatus of ichthyologists, commonly called -the diamond or diamond-spotted plaice. This very handsome fish is -quite as good on the table as it is beautiful when fresh from its -native element. Another fish, rare on the west coast, was captured -by ourselves with the rod while mackerel fishing last week. It was -a specimen of the sapphirine gurnard (Trigla hirundo), one of the -family of "hard-cheeked" fishes, of which the common red or cuckoo -gurnard (Trigla cuculus) is a familiar example. A peculiarity in -all the family is the abnormal development of the pectoral fins, -so large in one species as to enable it to fly bird-like for short -distances in the air. All our readers must have heard and read of -the flying-fish (Trigla volitans), even if they have never seen -it. It is of the gurnard family--a very near relation, indeed, of -our common gurnard. All the "hard-cheeked" fishes, without exception, -are excellent eating. Our sapphirine gurnard was delicious. - -We do not know whether any of our readers has observed it to be the -case elsewhere, but in this and the neighbouring districts we have -again and again remarked how very plentiful all kinds of mushrooms--the -whole family of Agarici--are this season. Never have we seen so -many beautiful "fairy rings," many of them almost mathematically -perfect circles. Although they are always interesting and beautiful, -you cannot help being a little startled, and feeling a shade of awe -mingling with your curiosity and admiration, as you suddenly come -upon one of these emerald rings in burnside meadow or upland glade, -and contrast the vivid green and well-defined periphery of the charmed -circle with the general every-day colour of the surrounding verdure. We -are not surprised--on the contrary, we can perfectly understand--how -in the good old times, ere yet the schoolmaster was abroad, or science -had become a popular plaything, people--and, doubtless, very honest, -decent people too--attributed those inexplicable emerald circles to -supernatural agency; if, indeed, anything connected with the "good -folks" or "men of peace" could properly be called super-natural -in times when a belief in fairies, and every sort of fairy freak -and frolic, was deemed the most correct and natural thing in the -world. Didn't these circles, it was argued, appear in the course of a -single night? In the sequestered woodland glade, nor herd nor milkmaid -could see anything odd or unusual as the sun went down, and, lo! next -morning, as they drove their flocks afield, there was the mysterious -circle, round as the halo about the wintry moon. Was not the colour, -too, of these circles green, and not only green, but a deeper, -richer, and more vivid green than natural verdure is ever seen to -be? and whose work, therefore, could it be but that of the fairies, -whose own favourite, peculiar colour was green, that no mere mortal -durst wear but at his peril, and who, it was well known, delighted -to dance hand-in-hand in merry circles round, footing it featly, as -the owl flittered ghost-like by the scene, all by the silvery light -of the moon, until the dawn of day. As Tom D'Urfey has it-- - - - "O how they skipped it, - Capered and tripped it, - Under the greenwood tree!" - - -The popular belief in the origin of these bright green circles, that -they were caused by fairy feet in many a midnight merry-go-round, -is frequently alluded to in the poetry alike of Celt and Saxon. Thus -a fairy song of the time of Charles the First begins-- - - - "We dance on hills above the wind, - And leave our footsteps there behind, - Which shall to after ages last, - When all our dancing days are past." - - -The reader will probably remember Queen Mab's very quaint and beautiful -song in Percy's Reliques of English Poetry:-- - - - "Come, follow, follow me, - You fairy elves that be: - Which circle on the green, - Come follow Mab your queen. - Hand in hand let's dance around, - For this place is fairy ground. - - "Upon a mushroom's head - Our table-cloth we spread; - A grain of rye or wheat, - Is manchet which we eat: - Pearly drops of dew we drink, - In acorn cups fill'd to the brink. - - "The grasshopper, gnat, and fly, - Serve for our minstrelsy: - Grace said, we dance a while, - And so the time beguile; - And if the moon doth hide her head, - The glow-worm lights us home to bed. - - "On tops of dewy grass - So nimbly do we pass, - The young and tender stalk - Ne'er bends when we do walk; - Yet in the morning may be seen - Where we the night before have been." - - -Another poet says-- - - - "O'er the dewy green, - By the glow-worm's light, - Dance the elves of night, - Unheard, unseen. - Yet where their midnight pranks have been, - The circled turf will betray to-morrow." - - -Nor was the superstition unknown to Shakspeare; was there anything -unknown to him? Listen:-- - - - "And nightly meadow-fairies, look you sing, - Like to the Garter's compass, in a ring; - The expressure that it bears, green let it be, - More fertile-fresh than all the field to see; - And, Honi soit qui mal y pense, write - In emerald tufts, flowers, purple, blue, and white: - Like sapphire, pearl, and rich embroidery, - Buckled below fair knighthood's bending knee! - Fairies use flowers for their charactery." - - -And if we know better now-a-days than to believe these green circles -to be fairy rings, we also know better than to give the slightest -credence to certain authors of our own day who have gravely asserted -that they are caused by electricity. We prefer the fairy agency theory, -as the more poetical and picturesque of the two, for, as to the truth -of either, why, the one is every whit as true as the other. Fairy -rings, as we continue for convenience sake to call them, are, in truth, -caused by a species of mushroom (Agaricus pratensis), the sporule dust -or seed of which, having fallen on a spot suitable for its growth, -instantly germinates, and constantly propagating itself by sending out -a net-work of innumerable filaments and threads, forms the rich green -rings so common everywhere this season. On the outer edge of this ring, -and sometimes also, though more rarely, on the inner edge, grows the -perfect plant, the fruit, the mushroom proper itself; and if some of -our modern wiseacres had only had half an eye in their heads and the -least particle of gumption, they could easily have gone to the fields -and seen all this for themselves, instead of lazily theorising on the -origin of the apparent mystery in their dressing-gowns and slippers -by the fireside, and sagely ascribing the whole to the agency of -electricity! There was a time, you may remember, when it was the -fashion to ascribe everything that people didn't readily understand -to electricity--very convenient certainly, but if you pushed these -savans a little, and asked them what this electricity itself was, -they were incontinently dumb, or, if they talked, they were bound to -talk nonsense. We can forgive, and even admire, the fairy dance theory, -for it is full of poetry and beauty, and in an age when people seldom -troubled themselves to trace natural phenomena to their source, it was, -upon the whole, a rather happy conjecture; if it was not the actual -vrai, it had of vraisemblance about it enough to recommend it to the -acceptance of the multitude. Grant but the existence of fairies, -and the rest was easy of belief. The "electricity" theory, on the -contrary, was unpardonable: it was not only false in fact, but it had -nothing whatever about it to recommend it either to one's faith or -fancy. Hardly more excusable than the electricity theorists themselves -are those authors who tell us that the West received the first hint of -the existence of fairies from the East at the time of the Crusades, -and that almost all our fairy lore is traceable to the same source; -the fact being, nevertheless, that Celt and Saxon, Scandinavian and -Goth, Lap and Fin, had their "duergar," their "elfen," without number, -such as dun-elfen, berg-elfen, munt-elfen, feld-elfen, wudu-elfen, -sae-elfen, and waeter-elfen--elves, or spirits, of downs, hills, and -mountains, of the fields, of the woods, of the sea, and of the rivers, -streams, and solitary pools--fairies, in short, and a complete fairy -mythology, long centuries before Peter the Hermit was born, or Frank -and Moslem dreamt of making the Holy Sepulchre a casus belli. It is a -curious fact in connection with fairy lore, and we have not seen it -noticed elsewhere, that although these anomalous beings are always -credited with much capriciousness, and are constantly described as -sensitive in the extreme to anything like slight or insult, keenly -vindictive in their dispositions and easily irritated, they are never -represented as encompassing the death of human beings. They tease, -terrify, and torment in a thousand ways where they take a dislike, -but they never kill. Their power is described as great, but it is also -limited--the issues of life and death are beyond their reach. In the -fairy song (temp. Charles I.) first quoted, there are two amusing -verses indicating such pranks as fairies could play on mortals, -if mortals offended them. Thus concludes Queen Mab her song:-- - - - "Next turned to mites in cheese, forsooth, - We get into some hollow tooth; - Wherein, as in a Christmas hall, - We frisk and dance, the devil and all! - - "Then we change our wily features, - Into yet far smaller creatures, - And dance in joints of gouty toes, - To painful tunes of groans and woes."-- - - -A pathology of toothache and gout that we recommend to the attention -of the faculty. The fairy ring agaric is one of the British species of -mushroom that may be eaten with safety. For our own part we abominate -the whole tribe. Our table may be scantier at times than we could -wish, but it will be scantier far than a kind Providence has ever -yet permitted it to be before we shall think of dining or supping on -funguses. Chacun à son goût, however, and if anybody wants mushrooms in -abundance, now is the time, and Nether Lochaber is the place for them. - -The new moon that comes in this morning (the 6th) will be the harvest -moon of the year. It is full on the 20th, and for a few evenings before -and after will be very beautiful, and well worth attention. If you -can command telescopic aid on the occasion, so much the better, but -even without it, it were strange if we could not view with admiration -and delight the silver orb that probably at some such conjunction -as that of the 20th, when walking in her brightness and her beauty, -tempted the patriarch of old to kiss his hand in acknowledgment of -her excellency, and bow before her in adoration. - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER XXVII. - - The disappearance of the glories of Autumn, and the advent - of Winter--Innovations and Innovators--New Version of the - Scriptures--The Milkmaid and her Fairy Lover, translated from - the Gaelic. - - -Ichabod! the glory is departed [November 1871]. The gorgeous autumnal -hues, which were so beautiful when we penned our last, have already -passed away. In the first fierce breath of winter the trees have -shed their golden glories, while the few remaining leaves that still -cling trembling to branch and bough, shrivelled up and blackened at -their edges, present only that pallid, corpse-like hue that betokens -approaching dissolution, making you sad and thoughtful as you gaze, -and reminding you that everywhere, on all hands, last while it may, -the end of all life is death. It is a sad lesson for the moment, -doubtless, but a useful one; and even at its worst, when the thought -bears heaviest upon us, the cloud presents its silver lining, and -a gleam of gladness bursts upon the soul, in the recollection that -as sure as all things are subject to decay and death, so sure are -decay and death themselves but the vassals of a brighter life and -more excellent glory. In one of our Scripture Paraphrases there is a -very beautiful reference to the decay of nature at this season, and -to the hope that gladdens us amidst all the desolation of the scene:-- - - - "All nature dies, and lives again: - The flow'r that paints the field, - The trees that crown the mountain's brow, - And boughs and blossoms yield, - - "Resign the honours of their form - At Winter's stormy blast, - And leave the naked leafless plain - A desolated waste. - - "Yet soon reviving plants and flow'rs - Anew shall deck the plain; - The woods shall hear the voice of Spring, - And flourish green again!" - - -We have no patience with your innovators, whether in matters of -Church or State. We do not deny, indeed, that certain innovations may -be sometimes permissible, even if not absolutely necessary, that by -their adoption things may be done more decently and in order; nor do -we object even to a radical change in a given direction, when such a -change has by common consent become imperative. We believe, in fact, -in development and progress; only let that progress and development -be slow and sure, that they may be lasting; gradual, that they may -be graceful, and fall easily into their place, without unnecessary -jostling or disturbance of the established order of things. Festina -lente--hasten slowly--was the motto of the learned Erasmus, and -quoad hoc it is ours also; and, if you care to know it, is our creed -in affairs political and ecclesiastical. Some people, however, -seem born to be innovators and nothing else, and the innovator, -pure et simple, is surely a pest. He seems to have been born never -to know peace himself, and never, as much as in him lies, to permit -others a moment's rest or peace, or quiet either. Your thoroughbred, -full-blooded innovator always reminds us of our first housekeeper--a -very good woman in her way, too, but who had a perfect craze for -shifting and reshifting, adjusting and readjusting, as well as dusting -and redusting every article of furniture throughout the house, at -all sorts of unseasonable hours, and when to ordinary mortals such -labour seemed utterly uncalled for. When we were at home she went -"at it" in out-of-the-way closets and bedrooms as much and as often -as the immediate calls of the moment permitted. But when she got -us away from home for a day or two, how she did enjoy it! How she -did luxuriate in the power to innovate "at her own sweet will"--the -quotation, by the way, is rather inapt, for her temper was somewhat -of the sourest. Sometimes when we came back after a day or two's -absence, we could hardly believe it to be the same house, so great -was the change in the place and position of everything. At last the -thing became unbearable. One evening, on our return from a walk, -we found our writing-table, at which we had been employed during -the day, carefully placed in the darkest corner of the room, with -its drawers, containing letters, paper, pens, &c., jammed up hard -and fast against the wall, while books and manuscripts were most -artistically arranged in pyramidal form, the ink-bottle representing -the graceful entablature on the top of a book-case, where it must have -cost her no small pains, and a great deal of stretching on tip-toe, -even with the aid of a chair, to place them. The thing was too absurd -for any one to be really angry; but we pretended to be so, and at -last peace was proclaimed, under a sort of compromise that she should -arrange and readjust all the rest of the house at her pleasure, as -often and as radically as she chose, but that that particular room, -having been put to rights to our mutual satisfaction once for all, -must in all time coming be let alone. This treaty being duly ratified, -was upon the whole faithfully observed by the contracting parties. The -mischief, however, with your thoroughbred innovator is that you can -never completely satisfy him, his appetite for change is insatiable, -he will make no compromise with you. Grant him all he asks to-day, -and as sure as to-morrow comes, he is at it anew. If you gave him the -whole world, and his own way everywhere and in everything, he would -be in worse plight than the conqueror who wept because there were no -more worlds to subdue, and fret himself to death that there were no -more changes for him to effect. The probability is that, rather than -be idle, he would, in hunting phrase, "hark back" upon his old track, -and diligently undo all he had spent his life in doing, and without -much regard to the consequences. - -We have been led into these remarks by the recollection, when quoting -the above verses of the Eighth Paraphrase, that there are at this -moment some people busily bestirring themselves in the matter of -a new translation of the Scriptures, to supersede the authorised -version now in use. Now, we most solemnly protest against all this, -as a most rash proposal, ill-advised, and utterly uncalled for. At -present we object very much on the same principle that we should -object to a painting by one of the old masters being cleansed and -retouched by a modern R.A., however eminent in his own person, or -on the same principle that we should feel tempted to kick the ladder -from under the feet of a man we should detect white-washing a stately -pile of the olden time, under the plea, forsooth, that in obliterating -weather stains, and freely applying putty and paint, he was thereby -improving, renovating, and beautifying the whole fabric. That there -are verbal inaccuracies in our authorised version of the Scriptures -is on all hands admitted; let these be rectified, if people please, -and let the corrections so made, under adequate authority, appear in -the form of marginal notes opposite the passage amended, but let the -body of The Book stand as it is--intact. The edifice, as it exists, -is too grand, and stately, and beautiful, and hallowed, not to suffer -under the proposed remodelling, even in the most competent hands. - -But to turn to a different theme. The following is a translation from -the Gaelic, as literal as we could make it, with anything like due -regard to the spirit and manner of the original. It is a fairy song, -if song it can be called, from the manuscript volume referred to in -a former communication. Fairy tales, both in prose and verse, were -common with our Celtic forefathers, and, if we only examine them with -sufficient care, we shall find that, underlying all their quaintness, -there is always to be found a substratum of sound and healthy moral. It -bears no title in the original, but we may call it-- - - - The Milkmaid and her Fairy Lover. - - Gaily the milkmaid came tripping along; - The echoes so loved her, they joined in her song; - The hare and the wild-roe that browsed in the glade, - The bird on the bough swinging high over-head-- - They saw and they heard, but they feared not--they KNEW the - milkmaid. - - Abundant her tresses, bright golden their hue; - And soft as a dove's was her eye in its blue; - Elastic her footstep, and lightsome and free - As a fawn's when in gladness it skips o'er the lea-- - Of the old and the young the delight, and the pride of Glentallon - was she. - - In secret she met with the Hunter in Green, - Beside the lone fountain of Coirre-na-Sheen; - A gallant more gay ne'er did maiden behold, - His manner so gentle, his bearing so bold; - By his side freely dangled, and well could he wind it, a bugle - of gold! - - Full fondly he kissed her--she thought it no sin, - Though she knew not his name, nor his kith, nor his kin; - They plighted their troth by the fount's bubbling stream, - Where oft, it is said, when frail mortals but dream, - The fairies hold revel, and trippingly dance in the moon's - mellow beam. - - On the Eve of St. Agnes the maiden confessed, - As was proper she should, all her sins to the priest; - When she left him, the blush in her check mantled high; - There was care in her step, and a tear in her eye. - Yet pure was the maiden and spotless, I ween, as a star in the - blue of the sky. - - Next day, by the fountain of Coirre-na-Sheen, - The milkmaid again met the Hunter in Green. - As he kissed her she quietly slipped under his vest - A relic she long had worn next to her breast-- - 'Twas a relic in sooth the most sacred--a Cross that the holy - St. Colomb had blessed. - - And lo! in the place of the Hunter in Green - ('Twas all by the fountain of Coirre-na-Sheen), - A brown, withered twig, so elf twisted and dry, - Was all--'twas amazing--the maid could espy! - While the Cross, with a bright burning light round its edges, - beside it did lie. - - And the maid grasped the Cross, which devoutly she kissed, - And hid it again in the snow of her breast; - Homewards she turned her with pensive steps slowly, - But her heart was at peace--meek, submissive, and lowly, - As maid and as mother (the Cross at her breast) she passed a - life holy. - - Often still wake the echoes of Coirre-na-Sheen, - At the blast of thy bugle, O Hunter in Green! - Go get thee a mate from the green fairy knowe-- - A cross-bearing maid dare not wed such as thou: - Let fairy wed fey, and let mortal wed mortal. Come, Annabel, - stir up the fire till it blaze in a lowe! - - -The moral of the fairy song is instantly apparent. A young lady--miss -or milkmaid--is not to hold clandestine appointments with any young -gentleman, however lovable and attractive, until at least she knows -who and what he is, whence he cometh and whither he goeth. Having met -and loved, however, she is instantly to consult those who are older -and wiser than herself, and, under their friendly care and direction, -she is to be sure that, on her own part and on that of her lover, all -shall be pure and holy. The touch at the end is admirable. We must -suppose a mother telling the story, herself and sons and daughters -sitting round the fire, which, in the absorbing interest of the tale, -has been for the time neglected. "Annabel," addressed at the close, we -must fancy to be the eldest daughter, just entering upon womanhood. The -whole moral of the story, flung obliquely at her head in the command -to stir the fire and make it blaze, is exquisite, and we can fancy -the gentle "Annabel" quietly smiling to herself the while--she also -having a secret--as she cheerily obeys the maternal mandate. - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER XXVIII. - - Wild Birds' Nests in early April--Rook stealing Eggs frightened - and almost captured--The Domestic Cock--What he was, and what he - is--Sadly demoralised by intermixture with "Cochin-Chinas" and - "Bramahpootras." - - -After a month's cold, clear weather, with dry, parching, northerly -winds--the finest heather-burning season that ever was seen--a -considerable rainfall during the past week has been welcomed as a boon -rather than otherwise, and the country around is all the greener and -gladder because of it [April 1872.] During an afternoon's ramble on -Saturday we found a redbreast's nest, a blackbird's, and a chaffinch's, -all with their full complement of eggs in them; while the nests of -several other species, some completed and some still abuilding, were -to be found by diligent searching in almost every likely locality. For -many years past there has been no such favourable season for wild -birds. An amusing scene a day or two ago was the following:--One of -our hens, disregarding the companionship of the rest, and desirous of -more freedom of action, in a matter so important, than the hen-house -could supply, took to laying her eggs in a hole she had scratched -out under an old hazel root in a neighbouring copse. Complaints were -by-and-by brought into the house that although this hen regularly -dropped her quotidian egg in the spot selected, it was found that, -unless immediately taken away from her, the egg was sure to be sucked -by some sly thief who doubtless enjoyed such a delicacy at this season -amazingly, and all the more so, we daresay, that his pilferings had -hitherto passed undetected, despite the strictest vigilance on the -part of those more immediately interested. It was very annoying, as -you may believe, morning after morning to find the fresh and pearly -shell at the nest's side, its contents abstracted through a gaping -hole in its bulge, instead of the snowy treasure, totus, teres atque -rotundus, as it should be. Appealed to for such assistance as we could -render in detecting and punishing the culprit, whoever he might be, -we began by setting a trap for ground vermin, properly baited, and as -cunningly as possible placed, but without result. Determined, however, -to discover the petty larcenist, if possible, we took advantage of -an idle forenoon last week to sit and watch the nest from a distance, -our object in the first instance being to find out who the depredator -really was; we could afterwards and at our leisure take such steps as -we might deem advisable for his capture. Selecting a convenient spot -whence we could see without being seen, and provided with a powerful -binocular, we watched and waited with the most exemplary diligence -and patience, and were rewarded, after some time, by discovering the -culprit to be neither rat, stoat, nor weasel, nor other quadrupedal -marauder, but a common crow, or rook rather--Corvus frugilegus, Linnæus -calls him, though Corvus omnivorus would be nearer the mark--a large -old male bird, as he afterwards proved to be, who had doubtless in -his day sucked many an egg and sacked many a homestead of its callow -fledglings. We first observed him alighting on the branch of a large -ash tree, whence he had a full view of the nest, and there he sat with -much patience, preening his feathers, and uttering an occasional craa, -as if to encourage the hen in her labours. No sooner did the latter, -having deposited her egg, leave the nest with the usual cackle of -self-congratulation, than Monsieur Corvus glided from his perch, -and in a twinkling, by the dexterous use of head and bill, had the -egg rolled out on the grass by the nest's side. Turning it round and -round, and rolling it over and over, stepping back at times as if the -better to contemplate its pearly whiteness and handsome proportions, -and already in imagination rolling the sweet morsel under his tongue, -he finally stepped forward, and with his pick-axe-like bill delivered -a stroke at the egg's bigger end, which made a sufficiently large -hole for him to suck away at comfortably. And how he did seem to enjoy -it! Removing his bill now and again as if to draw breath, and looking -up and around with an air of innocence and self-satisfaction that was -exceedingly comical. Meanwhile, so intent was Corvus on his egg-flip, -that we managed to creep quite close to the scene unperceived by -him, resolved to give him a good fright at least, if we could do no -more. We took advantage of a moment when he had his head buried in -the egg up to the eyes to start to our feet, uttering at the instant -a favourite shout of ours in such circumstances--a sort of war-whoop, -a legacy, we suppose, from our Fingalian ancestors--and the happiness -of Corvus, sucking his egg in such fancied security, vanished like -a dream. With a prolonged cra-a-a he made a sudden dig into the egg -in his fright, his bill passing clean through it, and spreading his -wings he fluttered upwards, the egg sticking over his bill and eyes -like a mask, and preventing him from seeing anything, and causing him -to perform the most ridiculous evolutions ever exhibited perhaps by a -bird on wing. Fluttering along obliquely, with many a dolorous cra-a, -he came to the ground like a collapsed balloon in a neighbouring field, -where we hoped to capture him, but just as we ran up to him he managed -to shake the egg from his head, and in an instant was up and away and -out of sight at a rate that must have brought him to Culloden Moor -within the hour if he stopped not by the way. A bird rarely fails to -profit by experience, least of all a crow, and we have no hesitation -in saying that the particular rook in question will remember his -egg-shell mask and our unearthly war whoop till his dying hour. - -And while on such subjects, let us ask the reader by the way if he has -noticed that cocks don't crow now-a-days as they used to do? We refer -of course to the common barndoor fowl--Gallus domesticus, the domestic -cock. He, we assert, does not now-a-days crow with the same regularity -and timeousness, nor with the clear, clarion notes with which he did - - - "Salutation to the morn," - - -say a score of years ago. This may seem a startling assertion, but any -one who deigns to turn his attention to the subject will find that it -is true. The cock-crowing and wing-clapping of the House of Commons -when in the humour is no doubt highly creditable to that august -assembly. (It was Boswell, if we recollect well, who imitated the -lowing of a cow to admiration, and was naturally very proud of so rare -an accomplishment.) But the march of civilisation, and cross-breeding, -which you may call "internationalism" if you like, have been the ruin -of our cocks, so far as crowing is concerned. They may weigh more than -they did a score of years ago, and present a plumper form on the table, -but their crowing is gone: at the best it is but a harsh, spasmodic, -unmusical half-scream half-wheeze, altogether unlike the loud and -lusty, the clear, ringing notes of the cock-crowing of our boyhood -days. Our cocks are no longer chanticleers, but chantiqueers. If you -have occasion to sit up at night, or to start on a journey betwixt -midnight and morning, the cock no longer lends you any countenance or -aid in the matter--he sleeps on his perch in utter oblivion of the -passing hours, and as heedless of the "watches of the night" as the -brooding hen in the coop beneath him. The day may dawn, and the sun -may flood the mountain peaks with light, glad and golden, without a -note of welcome or recognition on the part of the bird that, from the -earliest ages until recent years, was known as the herald of the dawn, -and deservedly held in high honour and esteem as the vigilant sentinel -of the homestead throughout the midnight and early morning hours. Any -convivial "Willie" whom it so pleases may now brew his "peck o' maut," -if the Inland Revenue will let him, and sit down to enjoy it with -his boon companions into all the hours of the night and morning, -unwarned of the flight of time by anything like a cock-crow. The -moon may fill her silver horn, and shine bright as aforetime, "to -wile them hame," and the day may "daw," but the cock's "crawing" -will no longer convey its notes of warning and expostulation. If the -bird crows at all, it is sometime throughout the day, generally, -we have noticed, in the afternoon, when nobody thanks him for it, -and then in notes so discordant as to make your teeth water, as if -you had suddenly bitten deep into an unripe apple, with the chance -of a headache for the rest of the evening. The last time we heard -a cock crow in the good old fashion was in an out-of-the-way corner -of Arisaig, some three years ago. Being a stranger in the place, and -having to sleep on a "shake-down" on the floor of our room, our sleep -was less sound than usual, but throughout the night we were cheered by -the companionship of a cock that was roosting in an out-house not far -from our window. Shortly after midnight he announced the first watch -of the night as ended, and afterwards at intervals, of as nearly as -possible two hours, his clear, clarion notes, repeated two or three -times, startled the stillness of the glen, until at last the rising -sun invited him to the labours of the day, and called us to boot and -saddle. Nor is the degeneracy and demoralisation of the modern domestic -cock less apparent in another direction. Surrounded by his harem, he -used to be considered the beau-ideal by common consent of all that is -gallant, and courteous, and brave. With proud step and stately bearing -he led his dames about, finding for them the sunniest spots wherein to -bask and dust themselves when the day was at its height. He diligently -searched for, and rarely failed to find, the particular corner wherein -food was most abundant, scratching with might and main that the ladies -of his court might have as little unnecessary trouble as possible, -rarely eating anything himself until they had first of all picked the -best and biggest share; and if he came across any dainty titbit that -his followers had overlooked, he took it up in his bill, and by certain -peculiar notes reserved for such occasions, called them around him, -dropping the toothsome morsel with strict impartiality at his feet, -to be picked up by the first to respond to his summons. Now all this is -changed. They may sun and dust themselves when and where they please, -or not at all, for all he cares. Instead of being the active leader -and gallant protector in feeding excursions, he is content to be no -more than as any other of the band, exhibiting the utmost selfishness -and greed in gobbling up the first grain-pickle or earthworm that -comes in the way, nor is he, proh pudor! ashamed even to cuff and -drive away his decidedly better halves, when the mean wretch has, -by accident rather than by any diligence of his own, fallen on a good -scratching-place. Neither do you find in the cock of the present day -the pugnacity and pluck, the indomitable courage and love of warfare, -once so characteristic of the genus, from the tiniest bantam to the -lordliest gamecock, that would rather die than cry quarter or show -the white feather to an opponent. We don't suppose that the reader, -any more than ourselves, has seen a cock-fight for years; not from any -elevation of morals, we submit, in Monsieur Gallus, or increase at -all of amiability, but from sheer poltroonery and want of pluck. He -will still bully about among his hens, and fight with them, and we -have seen some of them turn upon him and give him a good drubbing, -as he deserved; but a fair stand-up fight with another cock--oh no, -we never mention it!--he has still the spurs, but no longer the heart -for it. When afield at the head of his following; if the shadow of a -suspicious bird on wing, as likely to be a crow as a gled or hawk, -or other bird of prey, passes along, instead of the old warning -note to his wives, with preparation on his own part to receive the -enemy à l'outrance, be he who he may, he is the first himself, in -Yankee phrase, to skedaddle and make tracks for a place of security -and shelter, leaving his hens to their fate. Our bill of indictment -contra gallum, the reader may say, is a heavy one, but it is in the -main very true, as any one who chooses may satisfy himself when he -has the opportunity. How, then, do we account for it? Well, it is very -difficult satisfactorily to account for it in any way. We are inclined -to the belief that the demoralisation of our domestic cock is to be -traced to the introduction into our country of such splay-footed, -loutish, awkward fowls as the "Cochin China," "Bramahpootra" et hoc -omne genus, whose brains seem to have subsided into the feathers on -their feet, and whose only good quality is their size, and even that -is dearly purchased, we suspect, when the immense feeding they require -is taken into account. These fowls have spread everywhere, so that, -except in some out-of-the-way localities, a cock or hen of the old -native breed, of blood pure and uncontaminated by foreign intermixture, -is very rarely to be met with, while cross-breeds and mongrels of -every shape and size are abundant in all directions. Whatever the -good qualities of these latter in other respects, courage, gallantry, -and pluck are not of the number. Just inquire into the subject for -yourself, good reader, and you will find that, neither physically, -intellectually, nor morally is the cock of the present day to be -compared for a moment with the gallant, handsome, proud-stepping -biped of your boyhood. - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER XXIX. - - The Vernal Equinox--Beauty of Loch Leven--Astronomical Notes--How - an old Woman supposed to possess the Evil Eye escaped a cruel - death. - - -The vernal equinox has come and gone, unaccompanied this year -[April 1872], as it was unheralded and unannounced, by anything -like the storms that from the earliest times have been observed to -be attendant on the sun's crossing the equator. It is by no means -certain, however, that these storms may not even now be a-brewing, -to make themselves yet felt in all their fierceness, for we have -noticed in recent years particularly that what are called the -"equinoctial gales" quite as frequently follow, as accompany or -precede, the exact equality of day and night. We have just had a -fortnight of genuine March weather--clear, cold days, and frosty -nights--the air snell and biting, to be sure, and keen of edge, as -might be expected on the uplands; but in places sheltered from the -east and north it is delightfully bright and sunny, the incessant -song of birds, the hum of wild bees, and the gay fluttering of early -butterflies, making one think of Whitsuntide rather than All Fools' -Day; the twittering of swallows and the cheery notes of the cuckoo -alone are wanting to make the illusion perfect, and these, unless -the weather should undergo some extraordinary and unexpected change, -must certainly soon be heard, much earlier this year, we should think, -than usual. We are particularly favoured in this respect along the -northern shores of Loch Leven. Here, to quote Burns-- - - - "Simmer first unfaulds her robe, and here the langest tarry;" - - -and as we wander afield we often apply the words of Horace to our -own little spot, as from some neighbouring height we view it cozily -nestling in the sunlight-- - - - Ille terrarum mihi præter omnes - Angulus ridet; - - -which may be rendered-- - - - Whate'er the beauties others boast, - This spot of ground delights me most. - - -Or, as we prefer putting it in our own case-- - - - Of brighter skies and sunnier climes let others boast and jabber, - Give me the sunny, southern shores of mountain-girt Lochaber! - - -Or yet again, if you will have it still more literally in Gaelic-- - - - 'S anns' leam na spot eil' fo 'a ghréin, - M' oisinneag bheag, ghrianach féin. - - -During the present clear, cold spring nights the starry heavens are -very beautiful. Jupiter, just below Castor and Pollux, is at his -brightest, and very favourably situated for observation, his cloudy -belts and bright diamond-point-like satellites being visible in an -instrument of very moderate powers. If between nine and ten o'clock the -reader will turn to the north-east, he will find a constellation pretty -high up in the heavens, and consisting of five or six principal stars, -none of them, however, of the first magnitude, opening towards the -pole star in the form of a widely spread-out W. This constellation -will be an object of more than usual interest during the present -year. It is Cassiopeia, or The Lady in her Chair, the scene of a -very startling and strange phenomenon in 1572, which, it has been -asserted with some confidence, is not at all unlikely to be repeated -in 1872. In 1572 a new star of great splendour appeared in Cassiopeia, -occupying a place that had hitherto been blank. It was first observed -on the 6th August, by Schuler, of Wittemburg, shortly after which it -arrested the attention of the celebrated Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe, -who watched its rapid increase of brilliancy night after night with -the liveliest interest. Its magnitude at last rivalled, if it did not -even exceed, that of Jupiter, with an effulgence equally bright and -vivid. After shining with great splendour some time, and attracting -the earnest gaze of the most distinguished astronomers of the period, -its brilliancy began steadily to decline, changing its colour in a very -remarkable manner as it became fainter and fainter, until finally it -became invisible in March 1574, and has never been seen since. Sir John -Herschel and other astronomers have suggested that its reappearance in -1872 is by no means an improbable event; and towards no constellation -in the northern heavens, in consequence, will the observer's eye be -so constantly turned throughout the present year as to Cassiopeia. The -reappearance of such a star would be certain to give rise to the most -startling theories. With the spectroscope in our possession, however, -and the marvellous telescopic power at our command now-a-days, we could -not fail to arrive at more intimate terms with such a stranger than -was possible in the days of Tycho Brahe. The interest and excitement -in the astronomical world in connection with the sudden burst of -splendour in the star in Corona a year or two ago was very great, -but would be still greater in the event of the reappearance of the -long absent stranger in Cassiopeia. In the one case it was only a -remarkable increase of light and lustre in the star already existent -and visible; but the reappearance of a new orb in a spot blank and -starless in the most powerful telescopes for three hundred years, would -be almost equal to the sudden creation of a new sun. Here, by the way, -good reader, if you are ambitious, is a chance for fame. Be but the -first to detect the reappearance of this remarkable star-stranger, -and your immortality into all time shall be more secure than if you -wrote an epic to rival the Iliad, or a tragedy equal to Hamlet or -Othello. The name and memory of George Palitch, the amateur peasant -astronomer, who was so fortunate as to obtain the earliest glimpse of -Halley's Comet on its first return to perihelion after its periodicity -had been so boldly, and as some thought so rashly asserted, is more -secure in that connection than if, either as king or conqueror, -he had all the honours of the most imperishable brass or marble. - -A hundred years ago or more, when Highlanders were more superstitious -than they are now, or when, to be more correct, they took less pains to -conceal their superstitious beliefs than at the present day, a certain -hamlet in a remote part of the country was sadly troubled by an "evil -eye," whose unhallowed powers wrought "mickle woe," to the manifest -loss and discomfort of the good people around. The cows no longer -yielded their lacteal treasures in the desired abundance, nor did the -calves grow and thrive, as calves in good keeping should. Churns, -however shaken and jolted, refused to turn out their hebdomadal -pot of butter; or if, after much weary labour, they did reluctantly -yield any, it was found to be pale and rancid as unsalted suet in the -dog-days. Stirks and other young "beasts," though the rents depended -on them, sickened and dwined and died, without apparent reason; -and even children, hitherto in rude and ruddy health enough, were -frequently prostrated by sudden and unaccountable illnesses. That an -"evil eye" of more than ordinary virulence and power was at work was -at last conceded even by the most sceptical as to such influences, -and suspicion straightway fell upon a lone old woman, who lived in -a hut on the outskirts of the township. Originally a stranger to -the district, and of a taciturn and retiring disposition, she had -long been looked upon with suspicion and dislike, and now a number -of young men resolved to be revenged on her as the secret author of -all that was amiss in the hamlet. At a late hour one dark night they -proceeded to the poor old woman's hut, with the intention of setting -fire to the roof and burning it about her ears, not caring very much -either even if the "evil-eyed witch" herself, as they called her, -should be buried under the burning rafters of her cottage. As the -young men noiselessly surrounded the hut, they found that the old -woman was just about retiring for the night, and as some of them -stood at her window, and looked and listened, they could see her, -by the light of a bog pine fire, kneel at her bedside, and after a -little they heard her repeat the following prayer:-- - - - "Tha 'n la nis air falbh ùainn, - Tha 'n oidhche 'tighinn orm dlùth; - 'S ni mise luidhe gu dion - Fo dhubhar sgiath mo rùin. - O gach cunnart 's o gach bàs, - 'S o gach nàmhaid th'aig Mac Dhe, - O nàdur dhaoine borba, - 'S o choirbteachd mo nàduir fèin, - Gabhaidh mis' a nis armachd Dhe, - Gun bhi reubta no brisd', - 'Sge b'oil leis an t'sàtan 's le phàirt - Bi'dh mis' air mo gheàrd a nis." - - -Which, literally rendered into English, will read thus:-- - - - "The day has now departed from us; - Dark night gathers around, - And I will lay me safely down (to sleep) - Under shadow of my Beloved One's wing. - Against all dangers, and death in every form, - Against each enemy of God's good Son, - Against the anger of the turbulent people, - And against the corruption of my own nature, - I will take unto me the armour of God-- - That shall protect me from all assaults: - And in spite of Satan and all his following, - I shall be well and surely guarded." - - -The old woman's confidence in the Divine protection was not misplaced; -the heart of youth is generous, and the beauty and solemnity of the -scene carried it captive. The young men felt that one who could thus, -on retiring to rest, commend herself to God and God's Son, could not -be the "evil" old woman they had thought her. Awed and impressed, -silently and on tip-toe, they departed for their homes, leaving the -old woman in peace. By-and-by things went well again with the cattle of -the hamlet, sickness disappeared from the district, and the old woman -continued to live the same quiet, unobtrusive life a few years longer, -and was as much respected and loved latterly, the story says, as she -was at one time hated and feared. Nor did she ever know of the young -men's midnight visit to her hut on an errand so happily frustrated. - -The following are a couple of very excellent "toimhseachan" that were -sent us a few days ago. Finding the correct solutions will afford -some amusement to our Gaelic readers during the first idle half-hour-- - - - Chi mi, chi mi thar an eas, - Fear cruaidh, colgarra glas, - Cirb do léine sios mu leis, - 'S ceum an cirinnaich fo choïs. - - A mhuc a mharbh mi 'n uiridh - Bha uirceanan aice am bliadhna. - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER XXX. - - Midges and other Bloodsuckers--The Tsetse of South Africa--The - Abyssinia Zimb--Livingstone--Adders and Grass Snakes--Lucan's - Pharsalia--Celsus--Legend of St. John ante Portam Latinam. - - -Along the west coast the weather is now [May 1872] as mild and May-like -as you could wish; the swallow twitters gaily in the sunlight, and -when he ceases his zig-zag flight for a moment to rest on chimney-top -or house-ridge, he sings a gladsome song, low and faint indeed, and -frequently lost on that account in the general chorus, but exceedingly -sweet and musical, as you will find if you give it the attention it -merits; while in the distance you hear the cheery notes of the cuckoo, -wild and startling as yet, as they burst suddenly upon the ear from -out the woodland glade or from the old rowan tree that finds root -room, you wonder how, in yonder crevice in the rock above the foaming -waterfall, but soon to become familiar as the season advances, and -pressed upon your notice whether you will or no, and at all sorts of -impossible times and places, by the truant schoolboy's oft-repeated, -though rarely successful, attempts at imitation. For the first week -in May the temperature is unusually high, and we do not recollect -ever before having seen insect life so plentiful so early in the -season. Midges, gadflies, and other bloodsuckers are already astir -in their thousands, their taste for their favourite fluid keen and -unabated, as they fail not abundantly to manifest by an activity that -one cannot help admiring, even while wishing that it could possibly be -directed to a more legitimate and less personally annoying end. But -"'tis their nature to," as the hymn-book says, and we must grin and -bear it, protecting ourselves from their assaults as best we may, -thankful the while that the evil is no worse. Our winged pests are -innocence itself compared with their congeners in other lands. Our -midge, for instance, is to the mosquito as the dog-fish is to the -shark, as the domestic cat is to the tiger; while our gadflies and -Æstri, though sufficiently annoying to our cattle at certain seasons, -are to be regarded as absolutely harmless if we compare them with the -venomous Zimb of Abyssinia, or the still deadlier Tsetse of Southern -Africa. The Abyssinian insect, by the way--the Zimb--is probably -the Zebub of the Hebrew Scriptures, the estimation in which it was -held from the earliest ages being clearly enough indicated by its -place in the word Beelzebub, "the prince of devils." Livingstone's -account of the Tsetse is one of the most interesting chapters in his -Travels. Shall the intrepid explorer be restored to us? We are afraid -not. It is only too probable that, as Scott said of his protegé and -friend, the author of the Scenes of Infancy-- - - - "A distant and a deadly shore - Has Leyden's cold remains!" - - -The districts of Ardgour and Sunart have always had an unenviable -notoriety for the great numbers of adders and grass snakes to be -found in them, the reptiles frequently attaining to a size unknown, -we believe, anywhere else in the West Highlands. Within the last -two or three years we have noticed that they are rapidly becoming -numerous in Lochaber, much more so than they used to be, though the -general opinion, in which we heartily concur, is that we were getting -on very well without them. During an ornithological ramble among the -hills a few days ago, we knelt to drink at a fountain that we fell in -with, welling up cool and sparkling beside a large moss-covered drift -boulder among the heather, when we were not a little startled by the -presence of no less than three adders that lay coiled together in a -sort of Gordian knot on a patch of green moss close by the fountain's -brink. The day was hot and dry, and they had probably come there -to drink and bathe; but we were very thirsty, having just smoked a -pipe on the top of the hill, and there being no appearance of water -anywhere else for miles around, and knowing, besides, that there -could be really no danger, even if the vipers had been ten times -larger and more venomous than they were, we drank a long draught of -the pure sweet water, and then proceeded with the stick in our hand to -attack the enemy, and soon had the satisfaction of knocking them into -wriggling, writhing bits, and crushing their heads under our heel. Our -assault was so sudden and unexpected that they had no time to show -fight; otherwise an adder, when his blood is up and thoroughly on -his guard, is an ugly customer to attack with no better weapon than a -walking-stick, and nothing can be imagined more deadly, wicked-looking, -and savage than such an animal, as with erected crest and flashing eye -he steadies himself in act to strike. It is curious that the poison -of these reptiles, though certain death if commingled in sufficient -quantity with the blood through an abrasion or wound, is perfectly -innocuous if taken into the stomach--a fact, by the way, that has been -known from very early times. On taking our drink, for instance, from -yonder viper-guarded fountain, we recollected that Lucan had something -on a somewhat similar circumstance in his Pharsalia. Describing Cato -and his soldiers coming to a fountain of water in the desert, and -how horrified they were to find innumerable serpents of the deadliest -kind--asps and dipsades--disporting themselves in and around the pool, -he has the following fine passage, the finest indeed in the poem, -which we took care to turn up when we reached home:-- - - - "Jam spissior ignis, - Et plaga, quam nullam superi mortalibus ultra, - A medio fecere die calcatur, et unda - Rarior; inventus mediis fons unus arenis - Largus aquæ; sed quem serpentum turbat tenebat - Vix capiente loco; stabant in margine siccæ - Aspides, in mediis sitiebant Dipsades undis. - Ductor, ut aspexit perituros fonte relicto - Alloquitur: Vana specie conterrite leti - Ne dubita miles tutos haurire liquores; - Noxia serpentum est admisto sanguine pestis; - Morsu virus habent et fatum dente minantur; - Pocula morte carent. Dixit dubuumque venenum - Hausit." - - -Which has been elegantly rendered into English as follows:-- - - - "And now with fiercer heat the desert glows, - And mid-day sun-darts aggravate their woes; - When, lo! a spring amid the sandy plain - Shows its clear mouth to cheer the fainting train; - But round the guarded brink in thick array, - Dire aspics roll'd their congregated way, - And thirsting in the midst the deadly dipsas lay. - Black horror seized their veins, and at the view - Back from the fount the troops recoiling flew; - When, wise above the crowd, by cares unquell'd, - Their trusted leader thus their dread dispell'd-- - 'Let not vain terrors thus your minds enslave, - Nor dream the serpent brood can taint the wave; - Urged by the fatal fang their poison kills, - But mixes harmless with the bubbling rills.' - Dauntless he spoke, and, bending as he stood, - Drank with cool courage the suspected flood." - - -Celsus, an older writer still, and styled the "Roman Hippocrates," -tells us in his great work, De Medicinâ, that the poison of serpents -may be safely enough sucked by the mouth from the wound, warning the -operator, however, to be careful that the lips and palate are free from -any cut or excoriation by which the venom might find its way into the -blood, in which case it might be just as dangerous as if introduced -into the circulation by the fang itself. It should be stated that the -grass or ringed snake spoken of above is not in the least poisonous, -though ugly enough to look at, and ready enough to assume a threatening -attitude if rudely disturbed. Nor, by the way, is the date of the -present writing inappropriate to the discussion of such a subject, as -we have at this moment discovered by the merest accident. The 6th of -May you will find is a Saint's day in the Calendar, being dedicated -to St. John ante Portam Latinam, the legend connected with which -is as follows:--The Beloved Disciple, after preaching the Gospel in -various parts of the world, was in his old age taken to Rome by the -Emperor Domitian, and because he refused to renounce the religion -of Christ, was put into a cauldron of boiling oil before the Latin -Gate--Porta Latina--which, however, did him no more harm than did -Nebuchadnezzar's fiery furnace to Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego; -on the contrary, John came out of the cauldron rejuvenated, younger, -fairer, and more beautiful than before. Afterwards a cup of deadliest -poison was given him to drink, but as he was putting it to his lips, -the poison, assuming the appropriate shape of a venomous serpent, -glided from the cup, leaving the draught harmless and pure. He was -finally banished to Patmos, where he wrote the Apocalypse. - -Old Fingalian rhymes and proverbs having reference to dogs and the -hunting of the stag, as it was then pursued, are very common in -the Highlands, and show how devoted to the chase were our Celtic -ancestors. Our neighbour, the Rev. Mr. Clerk of Kilmallie, in his -splendid edition of Ossian, gives some of these old rhymes in his -very interesting and learned notes on Fingal. The following was -sent us a short time ago, and as it has never appeared in print, we -present it to the reader with a liberal translation. We are always -glad to be able to rescue from oblivion even the smallest shred of -the folk-lore of the olden time. The story goes that this rhyme was -first of all taught by a fairy to a gay young hunter "of the period," -under the following circumstances:--Once upon a time, a sprightly, -green-robed fairy, a sort of princess in her way, fell in love with -a young Fingalian hunter, who had frequent occasion, on his way to -and from the chase, to pass the shian or green knoll in which the -fairy band of the glen had taken up their abode. The fairy and her -hunter lover had frequent opportunities of meeting in secret, until -some evil-disposed sister fairy divulged Brianag's--for that was the -fairy's name--imprudent and unfairy-like conduct to the powerful fairy -prince Aërlunn, who was himself over head and ears in love with the -beautiful Brianag, though she gave him no encouragement at all; on -the contrary, she flatly told him that, great and powerful as he was, -she did not love him in the least, and would have nothing to do with -him. On hearing how things were going on, Aërlunn was very jealous and -very angry, just as a mortal might be under similar circumstances, and -he issued an edict, as Prince of the Fairies of that glen, by which, -after reflecting severely on the unfairy-like conduct of Brianag and -others of the band, he prohibited Brianag from leaving the shian on -any pretence whatever, except for the one hour before midnight on the -night when the moon completed her first quarter--perfect liberty to -do as they like during this one hour in the month is every fairy's -birthright, and no power can deprive them of it. He would have done -something very dreadful to Brianag's lover, only the latter was -protected from any evil a fairy enemy could do to him by a talisman -of extraordinary value, which his uncle, a priest of the Druids, -had given him, and which he always carried on his person. Brianag -and her lover were thus able to meet for one hour in every month, -despite the opposition of the angry Aërlunn, whose jealousy became at -last so insupportable, that he resolved to shift his court and people -from that glen to another at a great distance. To this arrangement, -much as she regretted it, as it separated herself and her lover, -Brianag dare not object. It is a prerogative appertaining to the -Princes of Fairyland that they can shift their court at will, when -and whither they please. The fairy palace thus forsaken is still -to be seen in Glen Etive, and has ever since been called An Sithean -Samhach--the Quiet or Deserted Fairy Knoll. On parting with her lover -at their last interview, Brianag presented him with a silver horn, -whose blast could be heard, loud and clear, over the Seven Hills and -across the Seven Glens; and knowing that it was his ambition to excel -all others in the chase, she instructed him as to the best kind of -dog to have and hunt withal as follows:-- - - - Cuilean bus-dubh, buidhe, - Ceud mhac na saidhe, - Air àrach air meog 's air bainne ghabhar, - Cha deach' air sliabh air nach beireadh. - - -Which may stand in English thus:-- - - - Get a yellow brindled dog, - First-born of his dam's first litter, - With a muzzle black as jet, - Reared on whey and milk of goats; - No stag in forest can escape him. - - -Those who rear deer-hounds, et juvenes qui gaudent canibus, might do -worse than experiment a little according to the fairy's receipt; we -shouldn't wonder at all if a splendid dog was the result, for these -old rhymes are rarely devoid of reason. There is no reason at all -events why such a dog might not turn out well. - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER XXXI. - - The Leafing of the Oak and Ash--Splendid Stags' Heads--Edmund - Waller--Old Silver-Plate buried for preservation in the - '45--Mimicry in Birds--An accomplished Goldfinch. - - -While mild and May-like enough in the valleys and along the coast line, -the weather [May 1872] is reported as having more of March than May -about it on the uplands, owing to the prevalence of north-easterly -winds, that are at once exceedingly piercing and unseasonably snell. It -is pleasant at the same time to have to report that, so far, crops of -all kinds look extremely well, and have seldom been seen so forward -in mid-May. Potatoes have been distinguishable from field's end to -field's end in regular drills for ten days past, and in some instances -are already undergoing their first weeding and hoeing. Oats show a -strong, healthy braird, and nothing but a deficiency of moisture in -its present stage can prevent ryegrass from being the best crop that -has been known in the West Highlands for many years. Much, however, -will depend on the nature of the weather for the next fortnight: those -who should know best say that the country would be all the better -of more or less rain on every day for the remainder of the month, -and we daresay they are right. The lambing season has hitherto been a -highly favourable one, though the drought and the keen-edged easterly -winds are beginning to be complained of by shepherds in charge of -upland hirsels. As we write, however, there is appearance of rain, -which cannot fail to be attended by a change of wind to a more genial -airt, and it is hoped it may fall abundantly. The summer, by the way, -is likely to be a hot and dry one, if there be any truth in the popular -belief that when the oak takes precedence of the ash in presenting its -rich green foliage to the light, a cloudless, rainless summer is sure -to follow. We observe that everywhere the oak is now in leaf, while -the ash is yet budless and bare to its topmost bough, manifesting -an unwonted dulness and drowsiness for mid-May, as if it was loth, -even at the call of summer, to be roused from its hybernal repose. - -We are indebted to the monks of the middle ages for the introduction -into our country, and successful cultivation, of some of our choicest -fruits and most beautiful flowers; nor is it any wonder that in -times when herbalism and the culling of simples was universally -practised and believed in, numberless shrubs and plants of real or -supposed efficacy in the cure of particular ailments should also be -imported and assiduously cultivated by the same benefactors. In some -cases, however, the supposed plants of virtue then introduced have -in our day turned out to be no better than noisome weeds, extremely -difficult of eradication, and one of these--how it found its way into -this district it would be difficulty to say--is becoming a perfect -pest in some parts of Lochaber. We refer to the plant commonly known -as Bishopweed, Goatweed, or Herb Gerard, which the botanists have -honoured by the high-sounding name Ægropodium podagraria. Gout, as -its botanical name implies, was the disease in which this rank and -foul-smelling weed was supposed to be of extraordinary virtue, and -for anything we know to the contrary, it may still possess all the -virtues at one time so confidently ascribed to it; but then you see -gout is altogether unknown in Lochaber--we are too poor, and perforce -live too soberly, to be visited by such aristocratic ailments--and -what business therefore this weed has to grow and spread amongst us, -and become unto us a nuisance and a plague, we cannot imagine: not -knowing the disease, we could get on very well without the unsavoury -antidote. Bishopweed, if allowed free growth in suitable soil, will -quickly cover the ground, to the destruction of everything else, -its innumerable stalks, crowned with pinnated ash-like leaves, -attaining to the height of a foot or more. When a single plant once -gets root-hold in pasture land, it spreads with amazing rapidity, -damaging and crowding out the grass in all directions, so that whenever -and wherever it appears its utter and thorough extirpation, whatever -the labour and cost, should be insisted upon with the least possible -delay. When plucked by the hand the plant emits a foetid, sickening -smell, all trace of which is only effaced from the fingers by a very -thorough washing indeed. We have observed that neither horse, nor ox, -nor sheep will of choice touch it, though its being in many places -called goatweed would seem to indicate that it is no more rejected -by that animal than many other acrid and poisonous plants and herbs -which our other ruminants will not touch even if starving. Of all the -ground pests with which we are acquainted, bishopweed is the worst, -and we warn our readers, if ever they meet with it in any neglected -corner of garden or field, to show it no mercy at all, for it is of -an unmerciful nature itself, killing every blade of grass it comes -in contact with, and choking unto the death every other vegetable -that it can surmount and master. - -The finest stag's head and antlers that we have ever seen form a -trophy in the possession of our neighbour, Mr. Bill, Kilmalieu, the -magnificent "monarch of the waste" that bore them having fallen to -that gentleman's own rifle in Glengour two or three years ago. The -other day, however, we were shown a set of larger horns, though not -quite so handsome perhaps, or so faultless in spread and curve, -and unfortunately imperfect from the loss of one of the tines, -which was picked up by a shepherd in the Black Mount Forest many -years ago. The size of beam throughout was something extraordinary, -and one could not help regretting that it had not the head and neck -attached, that it might be set up in the style for which the good city -of Inverness has of recent years become so famous. Such a trophy of -the chase, complete in all its parts, would have deserved the place -of honour amid a thousand such trophies in the noblest hall in the -kingdom. As we handled these antlers, and poised them at arm's length -with admiration, the thought suddenly struck us that Edmund Waller, -the poet, must have had some such magnificent trophy before him when -he burst into the following apostrophe, in which a well-known fact -in the natural history of the animal is so happily interwoven with -the old mythological legend:-- - - - "O fertile head! which every year - Could such a crop of wonder bear! - The teeming earth did never bring - So soon so hard, so huge a thing: - Which, might it never have been cast, - Each year's growth added to the last, - These lofty branches had supplied, - The earth's bold sons' prodigious pride; - Heaven with these engines had been scal'd - When mountains heaped on mountains failed." - - -Lines, by the way, that would form a most happy and appropriate -inscription for any really fine trophy of this kind. - -Calling upon the Misses Macdonald of Achtriachtan the other day at -Fort-William, we were shown some very fine old silver-plate, having -a history of its own, to the recital of which we listened with no -small interest. After the battle of Culloden, a party of "red-coat" -soldiers entered Lochaber, and employed themselves in pillaging and -plundering in all directions. Hearing that visitors so unwelcome -were in the neighbourhood, Mrs. Cameron of Glenevis, a lady of great -spirit and decision of character, had all her silver-plate, china, -and other valuables buried deep in the ground outside the garden wall, -after which she removed, with her children and personal attendants, -to a spacious cave called Uaimh Shomhairle (Samuel's Cave), far up -the glen, in the south-western shoulder of Ben Nevis. Meanwhile the -soldiers visited Glenevis House, but, disappointed at not finding -the valuables they looked for in such a residence, they burned and -plundered the glen without mercy, the terrified inhabitants taking -to the mountains, only too glad to escape with their lives, while -their homesteads were in flames, and their cattle either driven away -or slaughtered on the spot. Lady Glenevis was at last discovered in -her cave by a party of soldiers, who had somehow heard of her place -of retreat, and had to undergo much rude treatment at their hands, -because, in defiance of all their threats, she refused to tell where -the valuables of which they were in search had been hidden away. As -they were about to leave the cave, one of the soldiers, observing -that she had something bulky in her breast, of which she seemed very -careful, and over which her plaid, fastened with a silver brooch, -was carefully drawn, made a snatch at the trinket, and, when the -lady resisted, drew his sword and made a thrust, which cut open the -plaid at its point of fastening, wounding her infant son at the same -moment in the neck; for the hidden treasure in her bosom, though the -soldier doubtless thought it might turn out to be something of more -marketable value, was a child only a few months old. The soldiers at -last departed, carrying with them the brooch and plaid as the only -trophies of their victory over the defenceless lady of the cave. The -wounded child recovered, though he bore the mark of the sword-thrust -to his dying day. He lived to be laird of Glenevis, was father of the -late much-respected Mrs. Macdonald of Achtriachtan, and grandfather of -the ladies above mentioned. We remember hearing our friend, the late -Dr. Macintyre of Kilmonivaig, repeating some very fine Gaelic lines to -a waterfall, something in the style of Southey's address to Lodore, -which he said was by the Mrs. Cameron of Glenevis above mentioned, -and composed by her while in hiding in the cave. When quieter times -came round, the buried valuables were of course exhumed, and were -found to be none the worse of their temporary interment. - -Most birds are endowed with considerable powers of mimicry, the -exercise of which, under favourable circumstances, seems, we have -observed, to afford them great delight. The bird most celebrated in -this respect is, perhaps, the mocking-thrush of America, the singularly -expressive and appropriate name of which, among the Mexican aborigines, -is Cencontlatlolli, which means four hundred tongues or languages, -conferred upon it in honour and acknowledgment of the fact that, -with a rich and varied song of its own, it correctly imitates all -other songs and sounds as well. Though we have nothing equal to the -four-hundred-tongued wonder of America, many of our native British -birds are in truth excellent mimics, particularly after they have -been some time in confinement, the tedium and irksomeness of their -imprisonment being probably alleviated by a constant exercise of their -gifts in this way, until individuals sometimes attain to a mastery in -the art that is perfectly astonishing. Amongst our pets at present is a -goldfinch cock, a very fine bird, still perfect at all points, though -he must be at least a dozen years old, during ten of which he has -been in our possession as a favourite cage-bird. He is a magnificent -singer, and the wisest little fellow in the world; you only wonder, -indeed, how such a rich flood of song, clear and long sustained, can -issue from such a tiny throat, and how such a little scarlet-capped -head can contain so much intelligence and sagacity. "Cowie"--for so -he is called, after the bird-catcher from whom we purchased him--is -above all things an extraordinary mimic. We have never, indeed, -known any bird to equal him in this respect. The chirping of the -sparrow in the hedge opposite the window at which usually hangs his -cage; the twittering of swallows, as they flit past on their zigzag -insect cruise; the fink, fink of the lively chaffinch; the chirr -of the ox-eye tit; the bell-like jingle of the blackbird scolding -a prowling cat; the lugubrious notes of the corn bunting's evening -plaint; the love-cheep of the lesser white-throat; and the quick -rasping utterances of the excited wren, into whose proper territories -a rival has dared to intrude;--these are each and all imitated by our -little pet with marvellous exactness of note, emphasis, and tone. The -querulous cheeping of a chicken that has met with some little accident, -or for the moment lost sight of its mother, he mimics to the life; -and he will on such occasions stand on tip-toe, stretch his neck to -the utmost, or cling parrot-like to the topmost wire of his cage, in -order to catch a glimpse of the victim of his ridicule. When tired -of this, the commoner and coarser part of his art, he will burst -suddenly into song, which he will continue sometimes for an hour on -end, introducing voluntaries and variations without number, in which -you can readily distinguish longer or shorter strophes from the songs -of almost all the birds he has ever had a chance of hearing. Any one, -indeed, thoroughly familiar with bird-music could easily name the -principal songsters in the district immediately around us solely -from the singing of our talented little polyglot, so faultless is -his imitation of the songs as well as "conversational utterances," -so to speak, of all such birds as he is in the habit of hearing and -seeing from his cage at the frequently open window. You may be sure -that "Cowie" is an immense favourite with us all, and that his weight -in diamonds would hardly induce us to part with him. - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER XXXII. - - Potato Culture--Sensibility of the Potato Shaw to Weather - changes--The Carline Thistle--Burns--The true Carduus - Scotticus--The old Dog-Rhyme. - - -Of no place in existence, perhaps, is the old adage, in its most -literal sense, truer than of Lochaber, that "it never rains but -it pours" [June 1872]. When we last wrote rain was much needed; -no mid-March could be dustier or colder than was our mid-May; -rain, rain was the cry on all hands; the birds, as they alighted -on the branches or flew overhead, cheeped it querulously; the ducks -quacked it energetically; the hens cackled and gaped for it; while -the cattle afield lowed for it in a manner the meaning of which there -was no mistaking; and at last the change of weather, so universally -wished for, came--came first of all in the shape of hail, the dira -grando of Horace, the downright pea-size genuine article, which -left the hills around as white as if, in questionable taste, they -had whitewashed themselves for the season. Hail! fellow, well met, -was the natural and appropriate greeting. Then came sleet, a milder -form of the same visitation, not very pleasant, perhaps, but we were -grateful; then with the wind from the west, soft and pleasant as the -breath of a child, came warm, genial summer rain; the tiniest blade -of grass felt the benign influence, and, in the beautiful language -of oriental imagery, "the mountains and the hills broke forth before -us into singing, and the trees and fields clapped their hands." It -is now mild and beautiful exceedingly, with just enough of rain from -time to time to keep everything fresh and green, and at full stretch -of growth, so that crops of all kinds are everywhere making the most -satisfactory progress; and although the unseasonable hail and intense -cold of ten days ago was very trying to the young potato plants in -exposed situations, we are glad to say that no serious damage has -resulted, the change from cold to milder weather having been very -gradual. The damage in such cases always depends on the suddenness, -or the contrary, of the transition from a low to a high temperature; -a night of frost, followed by a hot sun next day, being most dangerous -to vegetable life, while frost, followed by rain and cloud, and so -on gradually to heat and sunshine again, rarely does any more harm -than merely to give a slight check to what might otherwise prove an -unhealthy rapidity of growth. In the same way it is found that in -the case of animals generally, and in man particularly, it is not the -actual and immediate amount of cold undergone at any time that kills -or maims, but the too sudden transition from a very low temperature -to a comparatively high one. It is probably well enough known to the -reader that very many of our flowers and plants are hygrometric, some -of them very sensitively so. By hygrometric we mean that they spread -out or expand their parts when the sun is bright and the weather is -dry, while they contract or close them on the approach of moisture -and cloud. We would at present draw attention to the fact that the -potato plant, in its earlier stages of growth, is very sensitive in -this respect, more so in some years than in others perhaps, according -as the plants have come up, strong and vigorous and healthy, or the -reverse; for we think our observations during many years warrant us -in saying that the more vigorous and healthier the plant, the more -sensitive will it be found to weather changes--its very sensitiveness -in this respect, observe, helping forward its growth and preserving its -vitality, by enabling it to avail itself of every favourable influence, -just as it enables it to protect itself against such influences as -are unfavourable or adverse. We were particularly struck with this -hygrometric sensitiveness in the potato plant a day or two ago. We -have an early planted field, more forward, perhaps, than anything -else of the kind in the West Highlands, over which we took a friend -who happened to call upon us. It was about mid-day, with a bright, -hot sun overhead, and our friend agreed with us that he had never -seen potatoes that had come up more regularly, or that looked more -healthy and vigorous at the same stage of growth, the fully expanded -plants already showing leaves broad and beautiful as those of a hazel -tree in June. In an hour or two afterwards we had occasion to pass -the same field, and the change in the appearance of the plants was -extraordinary. They seemed to have actually grown a couple of inches -since mid-day, and our friend exclaimed, "Well, your potatoes are -wonderful! look at them now." And we did look, not so much, however, -at the potato field as our friend did; we looked upwards and saw that -clouds were rapidly forming in the west, one black, finger-like stripe -of which had already nearly mounted to the zenith, and looking at that -and at our potato field, we assured our friend that a heavy fall of -rain, with possibly a gale of wind, was at hand. Our companion was -astonished; the sun was yet shining brightly, and the greater part -of the heavens was clear and cloudless; but within little more than -an hour afterwards the rain fell in torrents, and a smart gale from -the south-west was blowing. Our potatoes, however, had foreseen it -all; were sensible of its approach, while our friend and ourselves -thought ourselves in the midst of fine weather that might, perhaps, -last unbroken for days; and what struck our companion as a sudden -and mysterious addition to the height of the plants was merely the -effect of their having gathered themselves together--contracted all -their parts into the least possible compass--thus assuming an upright -pyramidal form, as best enabling them to withstand the assaults of the -approaching storm. Plants of less health and vigour would, according -to our theory, have shown the same sensitiveness in the circumstances, -but in a manner not so immediate, and to a degree less marked and -striking. Our companion of that day, who got a thorough drouking, -as we say in Scotland, on his way home that afternoon, writes us with -some humour that "as he has always had a great regard for potatoes on -the table, both mashed and 'balled,' in their 'jackets,' so in future -will he, in acknowledgment of their infallibility in the matter of -weather changes, view them with respect even in the field." It should -be stated, by the way, that this hygrometrical property in the potato -plant rapidly diminishes in sensitiveness as the haulm increases in -height and strength, as if it felt that when approaching its full -growth it could afford very much to disregard such weather changes -as are incident to the mid-summer season; but the reader who has the -opportunity may verify all we have said upon the subject for himself. - -Another plant still more remarkable for hygrometric properties -is the common carline, or carlen thistle, the Carlina vulgaris of -botanists. It is common enough in some districts of Scotland, though -those who do not know it already need not be in the least ambitious of -the honour of its acquaintance, unless indeed from a purely scientific -point of view, for the carline, wherever it appears, is almost always -the infallible sign of a poor soil, miserably farmed. The species -receives its name of Carlina from an old story that Charlemagne -introduced it into Europe on account of some valuable medicinal -qualities attributed to it; its virtues in this respect having been -revealed, it was said, to Carolus Magnus by an angel in a vision of the -night during the prevalence of a deadly plague. Certain preparations -of its roots and leaves were for centuries afterwards held of great -virtue in such internal complaints as demanded violent purgatives for -their removal; and to this day it is, we believe, held in great repute -by herbalists for the cure of vertigo, headache, and other cerebral -diseases. As a weather prognosticator, it is perhaps unequalled by -any other British plant, the sensitiveness of its involucral scales to -the slightest weather changes being so extraordinary as to have from -very early times attracted the attention and aroused the wonderment -of those unacquainted with the fact that similar properties, in a -greater or less degree, are common to all plants and flowers--to the -whole vegetable kingdom indeed. The carline has a stem of some eight -or ten inches in height, and bears many pretty purple flowerets set -in the midst of straw-coloured rays. The carline's sensitiveness -to weather changes continues long after it has been cut or pulled, -provided the heads have not been much hurt or bruised in the process; -on the same principle, we suppose, that some animals are known to -manifest unmistakeable signs of muscular irritability long after they -are otherwise, as we should say, to all intents and purposes dead. We -have generally met with the carline thistle among sickly-growing oats, -on poor, thin soil, and sometimes among other luxuriant weeds in a -neglected potato field. It is amusing, by the way, sometimes to see -bonnet-badges and pictorial representations of what you are supposed to -believe is the Scottish thistle, evidently copied to the life from one -of the carline family! which are but pigmies in stature and absolutely -harmless in the matter of prickliness compared with the grand stately -fellow bristling with prickles strong as darning needles, and sharp -and venomous as the sting of a bee, with "Nemo me impune lacessit" in -the very look of him--the true national emblem! You remember Burns' -reference to it in a very fine stanza that has been often quoted, -that indeed everybody has by heart-- - - - "Even then, a wish (I mind its power)-- - A wish that to my latest hour - Shall strongly heave my breast-- - That I for poor auld Scotland's sake - Some usefu' plan or book could make, - Or sing a sang at least. - - The rough burr-thistle, spreading wide - Amang the bearded bear, - I turn'd the weeder-clips aside, - And spared the symbol dear: - No nation, no station, - My envy e'er could raise; - A Scot still, but blot still, - I knew nae higher praise." - - --(Epistle to the Guidwife of Wauchope House.) - - -The true Carduus Scotticus is not fond of cultivated land, but is -a tremendous fellow when he gets hold of a waste outlying corner to -himself, sometimes attaining a height of four or five, or even six -feet, with a stem as thick as your wrist, and prickles--no, spikes -is the word--with spikes, then, as formidable as the bayonets of a -kilted regiment going into action. - -An anonymous lady correspondent in London sent us a manuscript sheet of -paper of the last century, containing a very old dog-rhyme. "The paper -has been in our family as long as I can remember, and I have heard my -grandfather repeat the lines often before we left the Highlands fifty -years ago. The Ronald Mac Ronald Vic John mentioned in the rhyme was, -I believe, one of the Glencoe family, a celebrated hunter of deer -in his day. He was killed, as I have heard my grandfather relate, -at the battle of Philiphaugh. It was the fairy dog-rhyme in one of -your recent letters that brought to my mind that such a thing was in -my possession." Owing to the faded state of the writing, and a very -peculiar orthography, we had some difficulty in deciphering the lines; -but, modernising the spelling a little, the following we believe to -be an accurate transcript:-- - - - An cù 'bh'aig Raonull-mac-Raonuil-'ic-Iain, - Bheiradh e sithionn a beinn: - Ceann leathan eadar 'dha shuil, ach biorach 's bus dubh air - gu shroin. - Uchd gearrain, seang-leasrach; 's bha fhionnadh - Mar fhrioghan tuirc nimheil nan còs. - Donn mar àirneag bha shuil; speir luthannach lùbta, - 'S faobhar a chnamh mar ghein. - An cù sud 'bh'aig Raonull-mac-Raonuil-'ic-Iain, - 'S tric thug e sithionn a beinn. - - -Which, rendered as literally as possible, many stand thus in English-- - - - Ronald-son of Ronald-son of John's good dog, - He could bring venison from the mountain. - He was broad between the eyes; otherwise sharp and black-muzzled - to the tip of his nose. - With a horse-like chest, he was small flanked, and his pile - Was like the bristles of the den frequenting boar. - Brown as a sole was his eye; - Supple-jointed (was he), with houghs bent as a bow; - All his bones felt sharp and hard as the edge of a wedge. - Such was Ranald Mac Ranald vic John's good dog, - That often brought venison from the mountain. - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER XXXIII. - - A non-"Laughing" Summer--Rheumatic Pains--Old Gaelic Incantation - for Cattle Ailments. - - -The best thing, perhaps, that can be said of our summer up to this -date [July 1872], is that it has, upon the whole, been amiable and -summer-like; has, after the manner of a love-lorn maiden, wept much -and often smiled, although, until within the last day or two, it has -never actually laughed. You loved it, and couldn't help yourself, -but your love wanted warmth and fervour, just because of its want of -jocundity and joyousness. Even in our climate, summer is not summer by -the mere reading of the thermometer, however sensitive and delicate its -mercurial indications; one wants brilliant sunshine, with cloudless, -or almost cloudless skies, to make up a summer as a summer proper -ought to be. The poets of the East and South always speak of summer -and summer scenes as "laughing," while in more northern and less -favoured lands your poet is content to describe otherwise exactly -similar scenes and situations as simply "smiling," "gentle," "sweet," -"quiet," and so forth, so that an acute critic, by attending to this -alone, could tell, were other proofs entirely wanting, whether a poet -was born under northern skies, or lived and loved, soared and sang, -in sunnier and more southern climes. Horace has-- - - - --"mihi angulus ridet." - - -His "corner," observe, does not merely smile; it "laughs" under the -bright blue Italian sky. Lucretius has-- - - - --"tibi rident æquora ponti;" - - -which Creech and Dryden, bards of a colder clime, have rendered -"smiles," but which literally and truly is honest, open, joyous -"laughter" in the southern bard. Metaetasio has-- - - - "A te fioriscono - Gli erbosi prati; - E i flutti ridono - Nel mar placati." - - -"Ridono," observe--laughter again--like his earlier countrymen, -Horace and Lucretius. Our British poets rarely venture to make spring -or summer do more than smile; they are afraid of the laughter of the -south, as being quoad hoc an over-bold hyperbole. We can only quote -at this moment two instances in which the laughter of more favoured -lands is boldly introduced. John Langhorne, a poet and miscellaneous -writer of the last century, author of the Fables of Flora, very -beautifully says-- - - - "Where Tweed's soft banks in liberal beauty lie, - And Flora laughs beneath an azure sky." - - -And Chaucer, the father of English poetry, has the following:-- - - - "The busy larkë, messager of daye, - Salueth in hire song the morwe gray; - And fyry Phebus ryseth up so brighte, - That al the orient laugheth of the light."-- - - -Very finely modernised by Dryden thus:-- - - - "The morning lark, messenger of day, - Saluted in her song the morning grey; - And soon the sun arose with beams so bright - That all the horizon laughed to see the joyous sight." - - -Our summer, then, thus far, has not been a "laughing," but, at the -best, a merely smiling summer. There has been but little actual -sunshine, rarely such a thing as a blue, unclouded sky; but, if we -do not err, if the wish be not altogether father to the thought, a -splendid autumn, glad and golden--summer and autumn in one, like the -companion scenes in a stereoscope, in close and kindly combination--is -in store for us. Even as it is, the country is very beautiful, and the -rains of the west, if superabundant, are at least perfectly harmless -to any one in ordinary health, no matter how often you get drenched -through and through, as the saying is, provided always you do not idly -saunter or sit down for any length of time in wet clothes; neglect this -precaution, however, and you may look out for an attack of rheumatism, -and the taste of pains to which the tortures of the rack were but -a joke--pains as fiery and intense as those threatened against the -foul-mouthed Caliban in the Tempest. You recollect what Prospero says-- - - - "Hag-seed hence! - Fetch us in fuel; and be quick, thou wert best - To answer other business. Shrug'st thou, malice? - If thou neglect'st, or dost unwillingly - What I command, I'll rack thee with old cramps; - Fill all thy bones with aches; make thee roar - That beasts shall tremble at thy din!" - - -Get wet, then, as often and as much as you like, in the West Highlands, -but don't sit down or idle about in wet clothes, is a friend's advice; -otherwise, you will soon have a pretty correct idea of the nature -of the cramps and aches of which even the brutal Caliban had such a -horror that he exclaims:-- - - - "No, 'pray thee!-- - I must obey: his art is of such power, - It would control my dam's god, Setebos, - And make a vassal of him." - - -Supplementary to our last paper on the spells and incantations of the -Highlands, the following has been sent to us by our kind correspondent, -Mr. Carmichael, of the Inland Revenue, Island of Uist, a gentleman -of whom highly honourable mention is made in Mr. Campbell's West -Highland Tales, and in some of the notes to the Rev. Dr. Clerk's -Ossian. Mr. Carmichael is more conversant, perhaps, than anybody -else with the antiquities and folk-lore of the Outer Hebrides. The -incantation that follows was taken down by Mr. Carmichael from the -recitation of "an honest, unsophisticated old Banarach, or dairymaid, -in North Uist, who is even yet occasionally consulted about sickly -cows":-- - - - Rann Leigheas Galar Cruidh. - - Crìosd' 'us Ostail 'us Eoin - An triuir sin is binne gloir - A dh-èirich a dheanada na h-òra, - Roimh dhorus na Cathrach, - No air glún deas De Mhic. - Air na mnathan múr-shuileach, - Air na feara geur shuileach, - 'Sair na saighdean sitheadach; - Dithis a lasachadh alt agus ga 'na adhachadh - Agus triuir a chuireas mi 'an urra rin sin, - An t-Athair, 'sar Mac 'san Sprorad Naomh, - Ceithir ghalara fichead 'an aoraibh duine 's beathaich, - Dia ga sgriobanh, Dia ga sguabadh, - As t-fhail, as t-fheoil, 'sad 'chnàimh 'sad 'smuais; - 'Smar a thog Crìosd' meas air bharra gach crann, - Gum b'ann a thogas Edhiotsa - Gach sùil, gach gnù 'sgach farmad, - On 'là u dingh gu latha deireannach do shaoghail. Amen. - - -In English-- - - - A Healing Incantation for Diseases in Cattle. - - Christ and His Apostle and John, - These three of most excellent glory, - That ascended to make supplication - Through the gateway of the city, - Fast by the right knee of God's own Son. - As regards evil-eyed women; - As regards blighting-eyed men; - As regards swift-speeding elf-arrows; - Two to strengthen and renovate the joints, - And three to back (these two) as sureties-- - The Father, the Son, the Holy Ghost. - To four-and-twenty diseases are the reins of man and beast - (subject); - God utterly extirpate, sweep away, and eradicate them - From out thy blood and flesh, thy bones and marrow, - And as Christ uplifted its proper foliage - To the extremities of the branches on each tree-top, - So may He uplift from off and out of thee - Each (evil) eye, each frowning look, malice and envy-- - From this day forth to the world's last day. Amen. - - -"It is not always an easy task," writes our correspondent, "to -write from the dictation of partially deaf and toothless old women," -and we perfectly agree with him. "Ostail," in the first line of the -above spell, we take to be an insular form of Abstol, voc.--Abstoil -or Abstail--the Apostle par excellence, namely, Paul. Mr. Carmichael -appends the following elucidatory note:--"This òra or spell can be -used for either man or beast, and is guaranteed to effect a cure -in any case! In the case of a four-footed animal a worsted thread -is tied round the tail, and the òra or incantation repeated. The -"snàthaile" (snàthainn, a thread), as this charm is called, undergoes -much mysterious spitting, handling, and incantation by the woman from -whom it is got. The rann or spell is muttered over it at the time of -"consecration." Usually two threads (dà shnathaile) are given, and if -the first is not quite successful, the second is sure to be effectual!" - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER XXXIV. - - Early sowing recommended--Vitality of - Superstitions--Capnomancy--Hazel Nuts: Frequent References to - in Gaelic Poetry--How best to get at the full flavour of a ripe - Hazel Nut. - - -A fortnight's incessant rain [September 1872]--rain descending -at times in solid sheets--not only wets the ground and puddles -the roads, but makes one's very brains feel soft and sloppy -and mashed-turnip-wise. You take up a book only to lay it down -again. You fill your pipe and set it alight, but with less than -half a dozen whiffs you are more than satiated. The weed has lost -its flavour. You sit down to write "doggedly," as Johnson says, -but with all your doggedness the pen totters over the sheet with -pace uncertain and listless, as if even he felt disinclined for the -task, and the sentences, like a squad of raw recruits, refuse to -fall gracefully into their places, and stumble against each other in -ludicrous confusion, to the consternation and grief of the most patient -of drill-sergeants. You will not, perhaps, believe it, but it is true, -nevertheless, that so persistent, penetrating, and inter-penetrating -has been the last fortnight's rain, that in nineteen cases out of -twenty a lucifer match, "vesuvian," or fusee will obstinately refuse -to ignite by any other process than putting it into actual contact -with fire, and in that case, why, a slip of paper is just as easily -dealt with, as well as more efficacious for your purpose. Hay and corn -luckily stand a good deal of rain without being completely spoiled, -but we are afraid to estimate the amount of damage that another week's -wet weather will cause over the West Highlands. All our own hay and -corn has been snugly housed more than three weeks ago. Why shouldn't -everybody sow in February or early March as we do, and have their -ingathering in August, generally our best and driest month? In a -climate so treacherous and inconstant as ours is, it is the greatest -folly in the world to run the smallest risk that you can possibly -avoid. We have been preaching this particular doctrine for a dozen -years past, and it has had some effect in our immediate neighbourhood; -but it is sad to see the country at large at this moment--corn and -hay rotting in the fields, that might, with ordinary prudence and a -little effort, be long ere now snug and safe under "thack and rape." - -The more one inquires the truer does he find the dictum of a -philosopher of the last century to be, that "the superstitions, -as well as the languages, of all lands and ages are linked together -by mysterious bonds, which neither time nor distance seem able to -destroy." In our immediate neighbourhood an instance of a very old -superstition was brought under our notice a few days ago, such as, -with all our knowledge of such matters, we had hitherto never dreamt -of as existing in the Western Highlands. A man went to market at a -considerable distance to sell a good strong two-year-old colt. He did -not return on the day his wife expected him, and she became uneasy, -not so much for the well-being of her laggard liege lord and master--he -had often gone the same errand before, and had always returned safe -and sound, even if a little later than his better half had a right to -expect--but as to whether he had sold the colt, and if for anything -like the price settled between the twain as being his fair price -before he left home. She put on a large fire on her hearth, placing, -when it had reached a certain stage of ignition, a bundle of green -alder boughs atop. When the whole was fully ablaze, she went outside -and watched the direction of the smoke issuing from her chimney. The -smoke was carried in an easterly direction, a lucky quarter, and she -returned to the house and told her daughter that, whatever had come -over the father--and she threatened to tell him a bit of her mind -as to his doings on his return--the colt at least had been sold, and -well sold, for the alder smoke had gone in the best and luckiest of -all directions, towards the east, in the direction of the rising sun; -and she had never known the omen fail. The curious thing is that within -an hour or so on that very evening the man returned, and counted into -his wife's lap two pounds and four shillings sterling over and above -the expected price of the colt, as agreed upon at home. The only other -curious thing that we could gather in connection with the superstition -is that the alder branches must be cut specially for the occasion, and -by a virgin. It was so in this case; and we are gravely assured that, -if it had been otherwise, the ascending smoke would either have drifted -hither and thither without a purpose, unsteadily, or have uselessly -intermingled with that of the neighbouring cottages. The superstition, -you must know, is a very old one; the Greeks and Romans practised -it, and from them it spread widely over the European Continent. In -books on magic and divination it is called Capnomancy, derived, as -our friend Professor Blackie could tell you better than anybody else, -from the Greek Capnos, smoke, and manteia, divination, witchcraft. The -ancients paid attention principally to the smoke of sacrifices, as well -as to the briskness with which the fire burned. If the smoke ascended -in a straight columnar body zenithwards, it was a favourable omen; -if it was violently blown aside, or fell back over the altar and the -sacrificers, it was of evil augury. Our Highland dame's notion of its -taking an easterly course, towards the direction of the breaking day, -of the dawn, and the morning sun, seems to us full of a rough and rude -poetry such as you frequently meet with in carefully examining into the -details of even the grossest superstitions. Having had occasion to be -of some little service to the priestess in this rare act of divination, -we had the whole from her own lips, though she was averse at first, -as is generally the case when a clergyman is the inquirer, to entering -upon the subject at all. How these practices root themselves among -a people, defying eradication, is very extraordinary. - -Did you ever, reader, crack a nut? Not the aristocratic walnut or -filbert over your wine, but the far superior, rich, ripe hazel nut -in its season from off the hazel bough, when the bright autumnal sun -was overhead, and the autumnal breeze stirred the leaves around you, -their multitudinous murmur resembling the far-heard music of the -restless sea. A ripe hazel nut is good anywhere, but best of all when -gathered by your own hand in its native wild wood from the overhanging -branch, whence the beautiful cluster nods at you as if soliciting -your attention, now and again, as you approach to pull it, seeming -to delight in playing a game of bo-peep with you among the leaves, -like as you have seen the Pleiades at times when, though the night -be clear, many blanket-like clouds are chasing each other in wild -career athwart the starry blue. Throughout the whole range of poetry, -the hazel nut, though often mentioned, has never perhaps had so much -justice done to it as by the Gaelic bard Duncan Bàn Macintyre. In -his Coire-Cheathaich, one of his finest poems, he says:-- - - - Bha cus ra' fhaotainn de chnothan caoine, - 'S cha b' iad na cacohagan aotrom gann, - Ach bagailt mhaola, bu taine plaoisge, - 'Toirt brigh á laoghan na' maoth-shlat fann: - 'S rath nan caochan 'na dhosaibh caorainn, - 'S na phreasaibh caola, làn chraobh a's mhearg; - Na gallain ùra, 's na faillein dhlùtha, - 'S am barrach dùinte mu chùl nan crann. - - -Ewen Maclachlan, commonly styled "of Aberdeen," because he taught the -Grammar School there, and there died, but who was, in truth, a Lochaber -man--nay, a Nether Lochaber man, born and bred, and whose ashes rest -in Killevaodain of Ardgour, without, we are ashamed to confess it, -"One gray stone to mark his grave;" he, born at Tarrachalltuinn--the -Height of Hazel Trees--in our parish, knew something of hazel nuts, -and thus happily describes them in their season:-- - - - 'S glan fàile nan cno gaganach, - Air ard-Shlios nan cròc bad-dhuilleach; - 'S trom fàsor am por bagailteach, - Air bharr nam fad-gheug sòlasach; - Theid brìgh nam fiuran slat-mheurach, - 'An cridhe nam ùr-chnap blasadach; - Gur brisg-gheal sùgh a chagannaich, - Do neach a chaguas dòrlach dhin. - - 'S clann bheag a ghnà le'm pocannan, - A streup ri h-ard nan dos-chrannabh, - A bhuain nan cluaran mog-mheurach, - Gu lùgh'or, docoir, luath-lamhach; - 'Nuair dh'fhaoisgear as na mogail iad, - 'S a bhristear plaoisg nan cochall diu, - Gur caoin am maoth-bhlas fortanach - Bhios air an fhros neo-bhruaileanach. - - -Our nuts are unusually plentiful this year, and of a size and flavour -that we do not recollect ever to have seen equalled. They are now -at that stage of ripeness when they are most delicious to the taste, -and one may indulge in any amount of them with perfect safety. Most -people are fond of nuts, but if the reader wants to enjoy the full -flavour, to get out of a nut all that is in it, let him take the -following recipe:--"First of all, let the nut be cracked, if possible, -between your own molars, for these are, after all, the first and -most natural and best of all nut-crackers, better quoad hoc than -an instrument of the purest silver or steel; and there is besides, -remember, something pleasant to the palate in the feel and flavour -even of an uncracked nut. Having cracked your nut, then--and fairly -placed between the grinders, a really good nut is not difficult to -crack, the worst nuts being always the most difficult to deal with, -for the more insignificant the kernel the thicker and dourer the -shell--having cracked your nut and extracted the kernel, whole if -possible, introduce it into your mouth, not per se, by itself, as -is commonly done, but with a small fragment of the shell,--a bit -of pin's head size will do. Proceed now to masticate the delicious -morsel, and confess that there is a delicacy and flavour about a hazel -nut that you knew not how to extract in full, although in your day -you had cracked your bushels of them, until you were taught it from -Nether Lochaber. The philosophy of the thing is that the particle of -shell introduced with the kernel causes the act of mastication to be -performed more thoroughly than it otherwise would be, setting free -the full flavour and aroma--all, in short, that a nut has to give. - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER XXXV. - - Strength of Insects--Necrophoris Vespillo, or - Burying-Beetle--Foetid smell of--How Willie Grimmond earned an - Honest Penny in Glencoe. - - -The strength of insects, proportionably to their weight and size, -was probably the first characteristic in the minor world to arrest -the attention and call forth the admiration of entomologists; and soon -afterwards, we may believe, the ingenuity, patience, and perseverance -displayed by these pigmies in dealing with any self-imposed piece of -labour, must have made the intelligent observer feel and acknowledge, -even if he could not repeat and had never heard of the mad-wise -Hamlet's dictum, that-- - - - "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, - Than are dreamt of in your philosophy." - - -Take an example of something wonderful in insect life, as it chanced -to come under our notice a few days ago [September 1872]. We were -raking hay--raking hay, too, after others had raked the same ground -shortly before us, for we are most particular that, both for the look -of the thing, as well as for the profit, not a wisp, not a strawlet -shall be left upon the ground--when, as we raked, we came across a -dead mole. No rare or wonderful thing, the reader may exclaim, but -rare enough when you come to think of it, and wonderful enough, too, -to attract the attention of any one even less observant of natural -history than Nether Lochaber. Lying on its side was the mole, already -half-hidden by the swiftly growing aftermath. Touching it with the -corner of our rake, and moving it slightly, we got a glimpse of a -yellow-banded beetle busy underneath; and at once understanding what -was going on, we called our bairns, a couple of girls and a boy, who -were raking and laughing a la Madame de Sévigné in the field beside -us, to give them a lesson on entomology; and as our lesson was fresh -and to the point, and interesting, though we say it ourselves, and -rather out of the common track of entomological experience, we give -it to the reader, that he may know and believe, and reverently ponder, -a truth that has never been so well expressed as by St. Augustine, the -sturdy, old, bellicose Bishop of Hippo, who of all the Fathers had the -most sensitive nose for the out-ferreting of a heretic, and who, when -he got hold of one, treated him very much as a Scotch terrier does a -rat--but who could say and do good things notwithstanding. Deus magnus -in magnis, maximus in minimis. God is great, that is, in great things, -but greatest of all in least things. The mole, as we have said, was -lying on his side on a grassy patch of fast-growing aftermath, and our -glimpse of the beetle beneath showed us that it was the Necrophorus -vespillo, or burying-beetle, rare anywhere in Britain, and so rare -in Lochaber and the west coast, that this was only the third or -fourth instance in which we had met with it. It is a black beetle, -rather more than an inch in length, with two bright orange-coloured -bands across the back, and more active in all its movements than any -of its congeners. There were just two beetles, observe--a pair, male -and female--engaged upon the mole, and the "mole" of Adrianus, when -a-building, showed not more labour and not half the mechanical skill -or indomitable perseverance on the part of its constructors exhibited -by these tiny but thoroughly skilled excavators in the case of their -mole. "You see that mole," we said to our attentive audience, leaning -upon our rake for the moment, as if it were a sceptre of prerogative -and power, as in truth it was. "It is almost as big as an ordinary -sized rat--bigger, you will confess, than three full-grown mice. It -has only been dead, say, a dozen of hours; his sleek and still glossy -coat proves it. This pair of beetles, then, a single pair remember, -have discovered him by an instinct and sense of smell which must be -wonderfully delicate and keen. They are now, as you may see, busy -digging under and around him, and after breakfast to-morrow morning we -shall come and see the result." "Suppose, papa," said one of the girls, -with a demure look, though with a merry twinkle in her eye the while, -"Suppose, sir, that this afternoon a passing kestrel or owl should -pick up our mole and make a meal of him, what then could we see in -the morning?" "What you suggest is, no doubt, possible enough," was -our rejoinder, "but we believe the mole will be here to-morrow morning -all the same, provided you take example from the animal's proverbial -wakefulness, and are up and have breakfast ready for us all in good -time." Meantime, that they might know it again, should they ever come -across it, we took up the male beetle, distinguishing the sex from -his being somewhat smaller and rather more active than his mate, on -the palm of our left hand, and with the fingers of the right turned -him on his back to show him properly, the delicate markings of his -abdomen, his muscular thorax and cas-chrom shaped antennæ. We soon -wished we had not done it; it was a thoughtless proceeding on our part, -and we should have known better. We nearly fainted, and our children -started back in horror and alarm at the foul and foetid smell of the -carrion-eating Vespillo. It was horrible; never in all our experience -were our olfactory nerves so offended. A pot of stale assafoetida from -a druggist's shop, all the proverbial many dozen stinks of Cologne in -combination, would have been a joke to it, a bouquet of roses compared -with our Vespillo. It made us quite sick and ill for the moment; but -we had the presence of mind to lay down our malodorous beetle beside -his beloved mole ere we followed our audience, who were by this time -scampering in all directions across the field, with their fingers -tightly compressing their nostrils, and vowing that they would have no -more to do with dead moles or burying-beetles, be they ever so brightly -banded or interesting from papa's point of view. A message now came -forth that tea was ready; but no tea could we drink, nor bread could -we handle, on account of the horrible smell that still adhered to our -fingers and palm. Washing with soap and water had no effect upon it, -for it seemed to have instantly and thoroughly penetrated and permeated -skin, flesh, and muscle, and to have reached and lodged in the very -bone itself, whence it refused to be extirpated. It was only late -at night, sitting by a briny rock-pool, and using the viscous clay -of the beach after the manner of soap, that we managed to get quit -of the foul odour; and even after a final washing with hot water -and scented soap, as we retired for the night, we still persuaded -ourselves that the loathsome smell had not altogether departed. All -the carrion beetles, without exception, and most of the ground beetles -proper, have always more or less of a disagreeable, sickening smell -about them, but in this respect the burying-beetle is worse than all -the rest put together; seeming to have centered in his own person a -combination of the essences of all possible stenches in their worst and -foulest form. In the case of the Vespillo, it is to be noted that the -foetid smell, though always there, and easily perceptible, is bearable -enough while the animal is quiescent and undisturbed, and you do not -approach it too closely. Tease it, however, in any way; touch it with -the point of a switch, or take it up, as we foolishly did, in your -hand, and the stench, emitted probably in self-defence, as in the -case of the skunk and polecat, is of all others the most abominable -in itself, and the most difficult to get rid of. Next morning, then, -on visiting the mole, as proposed, we found it completely buried, -with at least half an inch depth of earth neatly shovelled over it, -with a slight ridge in the centre, and sloping sides, showing that -the Vespillones are practised grave-diggers. Averse to disturbing -a work that had cost the tiny excavators so much labour, we only -removed the earth sufficiently to bring a small patch of the mole's -fur to view, in proof to those accompanying us that the animal had -really been buried by the beetles, as we had said it would be. A -full-grown elephant buried by a pair of field mice would hardly be a -more wonderful labour. The rationale and raison d'être of the whole -labour thus carried out with so much diligence and engineering skill -is this: the carrion of the dead mole, mouse, or bird thus operated -upon, serves in the first instance partly as food for the beetles -themselves (and they richly deserve a feast, such as it is, in reward -for their arduous labours), after which the female lays her eggs in -the fast-rotting carcase, and it is then left as the doubtless savoury -banquet of the larvæ, while the parent pair cruise about in search -of another dead bird or quadruped of the proper size, whereupon to -bestow similar attentions. It is principally owing to the labours of -these beetles that it happens that although you may see a dead mole, -mouse, or bird lying in the corner of a field to-day, you shall look -for it in vain next morning elsewhere than in a beetle-dug grave, -as in the above instance. That a single pair of these comparatively -small insects should be able to perform such a gigantic task in so -short a time is, in truth, very wonderful, and must seem incredible -to any one unacquainted with the habits and economy of the order. - -There are doubtless many odd and curious ways of earning even an -honest livelihood in this world, but the oddest, and to us, while -uninitiated, the most puzzling we have met with for a long time, was -the following:--On a fine day lately, we took our boat to the mouth -of the Coe, and were leisurely proceeding up the far-famed glen, -when we saw, a little before us, a diminutive but still active old -man, whom, from his peculiar style of dress, we had no difficulty -in recognising as a peripatetic vendor of ballads, letter-paper, -steel pens, and other knick-knacks, who frequently pays us a visit in -Lochaber, and with whom, in lieu of better company, we have had many a -far from uninteresting roadside crack. As, with a longer and livelier -stride than his, we were rapidly overtaking him, we noticed that he -frequently stopped and picked up something, now from the middle of -the road, now from the footpath at the side, and occasionally from -the grass beyond, which something he instantly deposited in a sort -of canvas side-pouch, or wallet slung at his side. "Well, Willie," -we exclaimed, as we came up with him, "what in the world are you -doing in the glen to-day, and where's your pack? I wish to have a -look at your bundle of ballads?" "Weel, sir," was Willie's response, -"my pack is laid by at Duror just now; my present wark"--here he made -a dart at something on the grass that looked to us uncommonly like a -big black beetle, and transferred it to his wallet,--"my present wark," -he went on to say, "pays far better, and is mair pleasant, besides, in -this dreadfu' hot weather." "But what is your present work, Willie?" we -inquired, "what are you so industriously picking up along the road and -transferring to your wallet? Snails? beetles? what?" "No mony snails, -or beetles either, sir," said Willie, with more entomological good -sense than we gave him credit for, "abroad in such hot and dry weather -as this is. I'm no very fond of telling what I am doing to everybody; -and when I see anybody coming, I generally sit down and let them pass; -but I saw you coming, sir, and I kent ye brawly, and didn't mind. And -now I'll show ye what I'm gathering." With this he put his hand in his -capacious pouch, and took out a handful of cigar and cheroot stumps, -of all shapes and sizes. Some had been "smoked out," that is, till only -an inch or so remained; others were only half smoked, and a few had -only afforded the smoker a whiff or two, when, from a disinclination to -smoke any further, or, perhaps, from some defect in the cigar itself, -it was thrown away as of no further use. Of these cigar stumps "Willie" -had at that moment nearly a pound weight in his wallet, the result -of his forenoon's labours. We daresay we looked, as we really were, -very much puzzled, which, Willie observing, he politely asked us for -a light for his pipe, and invited us to sit on a ledge of rock by -the roadside, and he would "tell us a' aboot it." Our pipes alight, -we sat down accordingly, and Willie proceeds as follows:--"Weel, sir, -I doubt if ever there was such a number of strangers--tourists, as -they ca' them--day after day in Glencoe as there are this year. And -a' the gentlemen that goes up the glen smoke, and I have seen some -of the ladies--forrenders, I suspect--smoking too, the mair shame to -them. They a' maistly smoke cigars, and they throw them from them when -they're done with them; sometimes only a short stump, and sometimes -almost a hail ane, as I have shown ye; and I pick them up and sell -them in Greenock or Glasgow for three ha'pence or tuppence the ounce, -and that's a' aboot it." "But what," we inquired, "do they make of -them in Glasgow?" "Weel, sir," he replied, "I believe some of them, -the cleanest, langest, and best bits, are unrolled, and made up anew -into cigars, and the shorter and dirtier stumps are dried and broken -down to mix with other tobacco, in making the mixtures called 'bird's -eye,' 'shag,' exetry, exetry." We ordered Willie a glass of beer -at Clachaig, and went on our way with a bit of curious information, -till that particular date undreamt of in all our philosophy. - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER XXXVI. - - Seaweed as a Fertiliser--Homer, Horace, Virgil--November - Meteors--Gaelic Folk-Lore--A Curfew Prayer--A Bed Blessing--A - Cattle Blessing--Rhyme to be said in driving Cattle to - Pasture--"Luath," Cuchullin's Dog--Notes from the Outer Hebrides. - - -From a utilitarian point of view, at least, the ancients seem -to have looked upon the sea and all its products--exclusive, of -course, of its myriad inhabitants of finny tribes--as absolutely -worthless. Homer in the Iliad constantly speaks of the sea as -"unfertile," alòs atrugétoio,--literally, the ocean where no harvest -can be gathered; and Horace in one of his satires says that a man -may be possessed of all the virtues, and all the accomplishments, -&c. to boot, but if yet sine rê--without means, moneyless, or to use, -perhaps, the best equivalent that our language can afford, without -substance--he shall be accounted "vilior algâ," viler than seaweed, -or, as we should say, viler than the dust on which he treads. Even -Virgil in the Georgics has no good word for the sea as in any sense, -directly or indirectly, subservient to husbandry, or an ally to the -tiller of the ground. Had these master-poets of Greece and Rome, -gentle reader, lived with us here in Nether Lochaber, in the seventh -decade of the nineteenth century, they would have thought and said -differently. Homer would have probably selected a more appropriate -epithet than that constantly employed by him; Horace would have -cast about for some other fitting dissyllable as a substitute for -"algâ;" and Virgil would have written, as he alone could write, a -score or two of unexceptionable hexameters in praise of seaweed as -an excellent manure and fertiliser of the soil. "It is an ill wind," -quoth the proverb, "that blows nobody good;" and disastrous in many -a place as was the dreadful storm of the first week of this month -[November 1872], here along the western seaboard it only blew us -good, in the very tangible and tangly shape of thousands of tons of -drift-ware, that, laid on the soil in fair abundance just now, prepares -it without any more trouble for the reception of seed, when, ushered -in by the vernal equinox, the jocund, jolly spring comes round. For -the last fortnight, wherever you wandered about the coast, you found -the people in every direction--men, women, and children--busy as busy -could be gathering and carting afield this really valuable product -of the sea--Homer and Horace to the contrary notwithstanding. We draw -attention to the subject at present by reason of its timeousness, and -because within recent years we have had it made clear to us beyond all -cavil, and in the most practical manner possible, that for potatoes -at least there is no manure for a moment to be compared with a heavy -blanketing of drift-ware laid on the ground in early winter. On our -own land this year a field of potatoes thus treated was a third at -least better than another of equal size manured from the farmyard -"heap" in the usual orthodox manner. The soil, observe, was the same, -the seed the same, the date of planting the same--the only difference -being in the manure. In the experience of such of our neighbours, too, -as have tried it, the result has been precisely the same. The salts and -other essential ingredients of seaware seem to be really antagonistic -to the spread of "blight" among the tubers; and we would strongly -advise as many of our readers as have the opportunity to experiment -for themselves in the direction indicated during the present winter and -spring, and we are ready to wager our good porcupine-shafted "Pickwick" -steel pen against the vilest crow-quill, that, on the ingathering of -the crop this time twelve months, our advice, in nineteen cases out -of twenty, will have been found to be a sound and good one. - -Since the cessation of the terrible gales of the early part of -the month, the weather has been bright, bracing, and breezy, -with occasional snow showers along the uplands, that have already -converted the many mountain ridges around each into a veritable Sierra -Nevada. On the nights of the 13-14th and 14-15th we sat up till a late, -or rather an early hour, keenly on the watch for a meteoric display, -in railway nomenclature, then due, but which, up to the date of the -present writing, has not yet put in an appearance. Meteors there were, -but they were the mere phosphorescent streaks rarely looked for in -vain by the student of the heavens on a fairly cloudless night at -this season. The lunar eclipse of the early morning of the 15th was -well seen, the beautiful orb, like a shield of burnished silver, -riding serene in the unclouded blue; but the obscuration was too -partial to be in any way interesting or striking to any one who had -gazed on the phenomenon in its grander phases as often as we have done. - -To our good friend Mr. Carmichael of South Uist we are indebted for -the following contributions to our stock of ancient Celtic folk-lore, -a subject much neglected, but of very great interest notwithstanding:-- - - - Urnuigh Smalaidh Teine. - - A prayer to be said at covering up the fire at bedtime. - - (Taken down from the recitation of a man living at Iocar of Uist.) - - - Smàlaidh mise an teine; - Mar a smàlas Mac Moire. - Gu'm bu slàn an tigh 's an teine, - Gu'm bu slàn do 'n chuideachd uile. - Co sid air an làr? - Peadair agus Pàl, - Co air a bhith's an aire 'nochd? - Air Moire geal 's air a Mac. - Beul De a dh'innseas, - Aingeal geal a lann'ras, - Aingeal 'an dorus gach taighe - Gu solus gael a maireach. - - -Which may be rendered into English as follows:-- - - - I will cover up the fire aright, - Even as directed by the Virgin's own Son. - Safe be the house, and safe the fire, - And safe from harm be all the indwellers. - Who is that that I see on the floor? - Even Peter himself and Paul. - Upon whom shall this night's vigil rest? - Upon the blameless Virgin Mother and her Son. - God's mouth has spoken it. - A white-robed angel shall gleam in the darkness, - An angel (to keep watch and ward) at the door of each house - Till the return of the morrow's blessed light. - - -Having thus duly covered up the fire, and committed the house and -its inhabitants to the Divine protection during the watches of the -night, the following "Bed Blessing" was repeated by each as the people -retired to rest:-- - - - Altachadh Leapa'. - - Laidhidh mise 'nochd - Le Moire's le 'Mac, - Le mathair mo Righ, - 'Ni mo dhion 'o dhroch-bheairt, - Cha laidh mise leis an olc, - 'S cha laidh an t'olc leam; - Ach laidhidh mi le Dia, - 'S laidhidh Dia ma' rium. - Lamh dheas Dhe fo'm cheann, - Crois nan naoi aingeal leam. - 'O mhullach mo chinn - Gu craican mo bhonn. - Guidheam Peadair, guidheam Pòl, - Guidheam Moir-Oigh' 'sa Mac. - Guidheam an da ostal deug, - Gun mise 'dhol eug le'n cead. - 'Dhia 'sa Mhoire na gloire. - 'S a Mhic na oighe cubhraidh - Cumabh mise o na piantan dorcha, - 'S Micheal geal' an cò'ail m'anama. - - -Which, fairly translated into English, will stand thus:-- - - - A Blessing to be said at Bedtime. - - This night I will lay me down to sleep - In the companionship of the Virgin and her Son, - Even with the mother of my King, - Who protects me from all evil. - I will not lie down to sleep with evil, - Nor shall evil lie down to sleep with me; - But I shall sleep with God. - And with me shall God lie down. - His good right arm be under my head; - The cross of the Nine Angels be about me, - From the top of my head - Even to the soles of my feet. - I supplicate Peter, I supplicate Paul, - I supplicate Mary the Virgin and her Son, - And I supplicate the twelve Apostles, - That evil befall me not this night, with their consent. - Good and ever glorious Mary, - And Thou, Son of the sweet-savoured Virgin, - Protect me this night from all the pains of darkness! - And thou, Michael, ever beneficent, be about for the safe keeping - of my soul! - - -Apart from the appropriateness and almost absolute faultlessness -of the rhythm and language in which they are couched, nothing -about these old Hebridean "Blessings" seems to us so beautiful and -striking as the nearness with which they bring Heaven and its active, -ceaseless beneficence, to the very firesides and commonest affairs -of men. Nothing is too small or insignificant to be placed, not in -a general way observe, but in the most literal particular sense, -under the Divine guardianship. With these old people, in their -ocean-girt and storm-swept islands, God was not merely the creator, -but the ever present, ever near father, protector, and friend, -while to them His angels were in very truth "ministering spirits, -sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation"--not -merely in spiritual matters, we are to remark, but in all the affairs -of common, every-day life. Since the days of the ancient Hebrews, -nowhere shall we find so firm and fixed a belief in a direct and -constant intercourse and communion for good between Heaven and Earth. - -The following "Blessing," to be said over cattle when being led to -pasture of a morning, is exceedingly interesting:-- - - - Rann Buachailleachd. - - Siubhal beinne, siubhal coille, - Sinbhal gu rèidh fada, farsuinn, - Banachag Phadruig ma 'n casan, - 'S gu faic mise slàn a rithisd sith. - An seun a chuir Moire mu 'buar, - Moch 'us anmoch 'sa tigh'n bhuaidh', - Ga'n gleidheadh o pholl, o eabar. - O fheithe, o adh'rcean a cheile, - O liana' na Craige-Ruaidhe, - 'S o Luaths na Féinne. - Banachag Phadruig ma'r casan, - Gu'm bu slàn a thig sibh dhachaidh. - - -In English thus-- - - - A Rhyme to be said in driving Cattle to Pasture. - - Wandering o'er uplands, wandering through woods, - Hither and far away wander ye still, - St. Patrick's own milkmaid attend your steps - Till safe I see you return to me again. - The charm that Mary made to her cattle, - Early and late, going and coming from pasture, - Still keep you safe from quagmire and marsh, - From pitfalls and from each other's horns, - From the sudden swelling (of the torrent about) the Red Rock - And from Luath of the Fingalians. - St. Patrick's milkmaid attend your feet, - Safe and scaithless come ye home again. - - -The reference to "Luath," Cuchullin's matchless dog, so celebrated -in the Ossianic poems and old Fingalian tales, is curious. The ghosts -of the Fingalian heroes, existing in a sort of middle state--not yet -exactly saved nor wholly lost--with those of their famous dogs, were -believed to visit at times the scenes of their former exploits for the -sake of the hunting, in which they so much delighted, and a cow or -other animal, running about excitedly and wildly, and, to all human -investigation, causelessly, was supposed to be the work of a passing -Fingalian hunting party, invisible to mortal eyes, Luath, unmatched -in spirit-land as upon earth, still leading the chase as of old. On -the lines about St. Patrick's dairymaid or milkmaid Mr. Carmichael -has the following note, which will be read with interest, and which -we give in his own words:-- - - - "'Banachag Phadriug mu'r casan.' - (St. Patrick's dairymaid be around your feet.) - - -Banachag is the Hebridean form of the Banarach of the mainland, and -Banachogach or Banacach is the Hebridean term for the smallpox. You -will observe the close resemblance between the Gaelic word for -a dairymaid and that for the smallpox. I think the explanation is -obvious. Dairymaids were wont to get the cow-pox, and people confounded -the cow-pox with the smallpox. Hence, in the Highlands old people will -tell you that effects of the cow-pox were known long before Jenner's -celebrated discovery. Hence, also, you will rarely meet with a woman -in the Highlands disfigured from the effects of smallpox. Not so the -men, however. In England, again, in the rural parishes, the case is -reversed. There you will see women pox-marked, but seldom men. The -reason I take it to be is this:--In the Highlands it is the woman who -milk the cattle, and in doing so they get the cow-pox off the cows -in milking them. A Highlander would consider it unmanly to milk a -cow. I have never seen or heard of one who could or would do this, -except a young man in Lismore. Three or four young men, brothers, -had a small farm among them. Their mother died and their two sisters -married, and probably remembering Calum-Cille's celebrated saying-- - - - 'Far am bi bò bith'dh bean, - S' far am bi bean bithidh buaireadh.' - (Where there is a cow there will be a woman, - And where there is a woman there will be mischief.) - - -They resolved to do without a woman in their house at all; and they -succeeded for a time, but not for long, for-- - - - 'Man, the hermit, sighed, till woman smiled.' - - -One of them ultimately brought home a wife, who soon became a cause -of discord and ill-will among the previously happy and affectionate -brothers. But this is digressing. In England it is the men who -milk the cows. Most men in rural parishes can milk, and but few -women. Consequently in the agricultural districts of England you -hardly ever see an elderly man disfigured by the smallpox, but you -can see many women so disfigured. These suggestions are simply the -results of my own observations in England and in the Highlands. They -may be to the purpose or not, I don't know." - -We think they are to the purpose, and we are very much obliged to our -correspondent for his many interesting contributions from the Outer -Hebrides to our stock of "auld-world" folk-lore. - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER XXXVII. - - The Delights of Beltane Tide--Bishop Gawin Douglas--His - Translation of the Æneid--The Fat of Deer--"Light and Shade" - from the Gaelic--Mackworth Praed--Discovery of an old Flint - Manufactory in the Moss of Ballachulish. - - -In the poetry and proverbs of our country you constantly meet with -references which go to prove that alternations of sunshine and -shower [April 1873] have for ages been held to be the meteorological -characteristics of an April day throughout the British Islands, -and most of all, perhaps, in Scotland. To go no further, you will -remember Scott's concluding lines in Rokeby-- - - - "Time and Tide had thus their sway, - Yielding, like an April day, - Smiling noon for sullen morrow, - Years of joy for hours of sorrow." - - -This, however, has been the driest April known in the West Highlands -for at least a score of years past. Hardly any rain has fallen during -the month, and with a bright sun overhead, and drying north-easterly -winds, rivers and streams have seldom been at a lower ebb even in -midsummer, while in some places you hear complaints of an absolute -scarcity of water even for ordinary household purposes--a very rare -thing, indeed, in the West Highlands at this season of the year, -or for that matter of it at any season. There was, however, such a -superabundance of moisture in the ground, from the heavy rains of the -past winter, that vegetation has as yet suffered little or nothing -from the drought, and the country is beautiful exceedingly in all -its greenery of leaf and gaiety of expanding blossom and bursting -bud. Our wild-birds never had a finer nesting season, and they are -now literally as merry as the day is long, for with the first flush -of dawn in the east they begin their rich and varied song, which, with -a short interval of quiescence and repose about mid-day, is continued -without interruption until long after the sun has set and the earlier -stars are already twinkling through the twilight gloom. April will -be succeeded by the "merry month of May," which, with the exception -of two, or at most three, cold days, with frost at night, about the -10th, is pretty sure to be an unusually fine month even for May. It -was an article of belief in the hygienic code of the old Highlanders, -and which you come across occasionally even at the present day, that -the invalid, suffering under no matter what form of internal ailment, -upon whom the sun of May once fairly shed its light, was pretty sure -of a renewed lease of life until at least the next autumnal equinox, -and how fine, by the way, and lightsome and cheery withal, Bishop -Gawin Douglas' apostrophe (circa 1512):-- - - - "Welcum the lord of licht, and lamp of day, - Welcum fosterare of tender herbis grene, - Welcum quickener of flurest flouris schene, - Welcum supporte of every rute and vane, - Welcum comfort of all kind frute and grane, - Welcum the birdis beild upon the brier, - Welcum maister and ruler of the yeare, - Welcum weilfare of husbands at the plewis, - Welcum repairer of woddis, treis, and bewis, - Welcum depainter of the blomyt medis, - Welcum the lyf of every thing that spedis, - Welcum storare of all kind bestial, - Welcum be thy bricht beams gladand all!" - - -(Prologue to "xii. Buke of Eneados of Virgill.") - - -The Æneid has been often translated into English, both in prose and -verse, since the days of Gawin Douglas, but we doubt if the Mantuan -bard has ever been more happily rendered than by the good Bishop of -Dunkeld. The following is his rendering of perhaps the best known -and perhaps the most frequently quoted passage in Virgil:-- - - - "Facilis descensus Averni, - Noctes atque dies patet atri janua Ditis; - Sed revocare gradum, superasque evadere ad auras - Hoc opus, hic labor est," &c. - - "It is richt facill and sith gate, I thè tell, - For to descend and pass on doun to hell: - The black yettis of Pluto and that dirk way, - Standis evir open and patent nycht and day: - But therefra to return agane on hicht, - And bere aboue recouir this airis light, - That is difficill werk, there labour lyis; - Full fewe there bene quhom heich aboue the skyis, - Thare ardent vertew has rasit and upheit, - Or yet quhame squale Jupiter deifyit, - Thay quhilkis bene gendrit of goddis may thidder attane. - All the midway is wilderness vnplane, - Or wilsum forrest; and the laithly flude - Cocytus with his dresy bosom vnrude - Flowis enuiron rounde about that place." - - -Warton (History of English Poetry) says of Bishop Douglas' Æneid, -that "it is executed with equal spirit and fidelity, and is a proof -that the Lowland Scotch and English languages were then nearly the -same." We may state that Douglas' Æneid, irrespective of its many -and great intrinsic merits, is especially interesting, as being the -first translation of a Roman classic into the English language either -in verse or prose. We have quoted above an old Highland belief in the -exceeding efficacy, even in the most serious ailments, of the kindly -beams of a May-day sun. Another belief of theirs was this-- - - - "Geir fèidh air a ghabhail 'n ad bhroinn, 's air a shuathadh ri d' - dhruim 's ri d' thaobh-- - Am fear nach leighis sid, cha'n 'eil leagheas ann." - - -That is--the fat of deer applied internally and externally, the -invalid whose sickness that does not heal, why, then, there is no -healing for him. The old Highlanders, you see, knew the value of deer: -they hadn't a good word to say of sheep. - -A few days ago we went into a cottage where a woman was sitting -spinning, and singing a song we had not heard for many years, though we -recollect hearing it frequently sung in boyhood. The soft and plaintive -air was an old favourite, and her style of singing pleasing. With a -very sweet voice and much feeling, she sang it all on requesting her to -do so; and after tea in the evening we threw the verses into English, -as follows. It is, however, rather an imitation than a translation. The -original, which is probably known to many of our readers, beginning-- - - - "Tha'n oidhche dorcha, dubh, gun reult - Tha aibh's na speur fo ghruaman," &c. - - -is old; how old we know not. Nor have we any clue to the name of the -author, or more probably authoress. Of the authors, indeed, of many -of our very finest Gaelic songs may be said what was said of the old -nameless border-bard, that they-- - - - "Nameless as the race from whence they sprung, - Saved other names and left their own unsung." - - -The song in Gaelic has no particular title. It is known by the two -first lines quoted above, just as we say, "Of a' the airts the wind -can blaw," and "Ye banks and braes o' bonnie Doon." In default of -anything better, our English version may perhaps appropriately enough -be entitled-- - - - Light and Shade. - - Dark and dreary is the world to me, - No sun, no moon, no star; - Vainly I struggle on my midnight sea, - No beacon gleams afar; - A wilderness of winter, frost and snow, - Sad and alone I hang my head in woe. - - 'Tis vain to strive against the will of fate - (No sun, no moon, no star); - Where I had looked for love, I found but hate - (No beacon gleams afar); - I gave my heart, my all, to one who cares - Now nought for me--no one my sorrow shares. - - Cares not my love though I were dead and gone - (No sun, no moon, no star!) - God help me, I am weak and all alone - (No beacon shines afar): - I dare not reveal my grief, I dare not tell; - The fire that burns my heart no tears can quell. - - Traveller that passest o'er hill - (May thy night have its star!) - Acquaint my love that you have left me ill, - And seen my bleeding scar; - 'Twere better to have killed than maimed me thus-- - A bird with broken wing in the lone wilderness. - - I once was happy, and how bright was then - Sun, moon, and every star! - Spotless and pure I laughed along the glen; - When, swift to mar - This happiness and peace, the spoiler came - And left me all bereft--the child of shame. - - And yet I do not hate him, woe is me - (No sun, no moon, no star!) - But shun him, O ye maidens frank and free! - 'Twere better far - That you were lifeless laid in the cold tomb, - In all your virgin pride and beauty's bloom. - - But God is good, and He will mercy have; - (How bright the morning star!) - Even the weary-laden find a grave-- - (The beacon shines afar!) - Bless, Father of our Lord so meek and mild, - An erring mother and a helpless child. - - -The moral of our song is obvious, though you will observe the story is -told with all possible delicacy and good taste, a characteristic, by -the way, of our best Gaelic poetry. The reader may easily understand -that, sung in proper time and place, and with proper feeling, such -a song is calculated to have a good effect, and convey a healthy -lesson in its own indirect way, when a sermon or moral exhortation, -however well meant, would be altogether out of the question. There -is much sound sense in Mackworth Praed's Chaunt of the Brazen Head, -the first verse of which is this-- - - - "I think, whatever mortals crave - With impotent endeavour, - A wreath--a rank--a throne--a grave-- - The world goes round for ever; - I think that life is not too long, - And, therefore, I determine, - That many people read a song, - Who will not read a sermon." - - -At a bridal, baptism, or other merry-making, such a song as the above -is calculated to do more good than the most laboured, well-meant, -and goody-goody sermon that ever was preached. As we rode away from -yonder cottage door, the woman resuming her task, and chanting a gay -and lively air in accompaniment, we were reminded of a verse quite -apropos to the occasion:-- - - - "Verse sweetens toil, however rude the sound: - All at her work the village maiden sings; - Nor while she turns the giddy wheel around, - Revolves the sad vicissitude of things." - - -And we also thought of the simple and beautiful epitaph on the tomb -of a nameless Roman matron:-- - - - "Domum mansit, lanam fecit," - - -which old Robertson of Strowan has so admirably rendered into our -Scottish Doric:-- - - - She keepit weel the house, and birlt at the wheel! - - -A discovery of considerable archæological interest has recently been -made by some people employed in trenching the moss of Ballachulish -in our neighbourhood. At a depth of ten feet in the "drift" subsoil, -underlying six or seven feet of moss, only removed within recent years -in the ordinary course of peat-cutting, was found the remains of what, -in the far past, must have been a flint instrument manufactory on -a large scale. Within an area of twenty or thirty square yards was -disclosed several cartloads of flint chippings, manifestly broken -off in the manufacture of flint instruments, for we have been able -to secure several arrow heads, two roughly finished chisels, and -a hammer head of curious shape, with a hole in the centre, which -must have cost the maker no small amount of time and trouble in the -manipulation. What renders this "find" more interesting is the fact -that the material must have been brought to the place of manufacture -from a considerable distance, flint being of rare occurrence anywhere -in Nether Lochaber. Underlying such a depth of solid moss and drift, -such a discovery necessarily carries us back to a race of men who -lived in a very remote period indeed; how remote, even geology is -as yet unable absolutely to say. We were unfortunately from home -at the time the discovery was made, and were thus prevented from -examining the whole in sitû. This much, however, is certain, that -under a diluvial bed of drift, gravel, and sand of upwards of two -feet in thickness, underlying a thickness of at least six feet of -solid moss, a flint instrument manufactory is found, the work of -a people who lived before the deposit of that drift and the growth -of that moss. How many thousands and thousands of years ago lived -that flint-working race, who, in view of the extreme slowness of -geological changes, can say? We know that in the celebrated case of -the discovery of flint weapons at Abbeville and elsewhere in France -the remains of extinct species of elephant, rhinoceros, and other -mammals were found at an immense depth in the drift alongside of -flint instruments unquestionably fashioned by human hands. Whether -our Ballachulish discovery is to be held as a connecting link with -a people of an antiquity as remote as those of Abbeville, it would -be rash positively to assert; but the flint workers, some remains of -whose labours have, as we have stated, been recently brought to light -in our neighbourhood, must have lived at a period when the face of -the country was geologically very different from what it is now; and -remembering how slowly as a rule geological changes are brought about, -we shall probably be still within the mark, if approximately we fix -the era of the earliest flint workers at something like ten thousand -years ago, and in the case of Abbeville, Continental archæologists -have had no hesitation in suggesting a still remoter antiquity. - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER XXXVIII. - - Warm showery Summer, disagreeable for the Tourist, but pastorally - and agriculturally favourable--Xiphias Gladius, or Sword-Fish, - cast ashore during a Midsummer Gale--Garibaldi dining on Potatoes - and Sword-Fish steaks at Caprera--The General's Drink--Medicinal - virtues of an Onion--Nettle Broth--Translation of a New Zealand - Maori Song. - - -"Rather showery, sir," exclaims the pleasure-seeking butterfly tourist -as he stands at his hotel window, or settles himself as comfortably -as may be on the box-seat of the coach in the morning. "Not a bit of -it, sir," responds the sturdy agriculturist or well-to-do drover; -"not a bit of it, sir, the finest growing weather we could have: -cattle and sheep getting into condition famously!" [July 1873]. In -such a case it is best to avoid declaring positively for either -party. In medio tutissimus ibis. Both are right from their individual -standpoint; that of the agriculturist and drover being the utilitarian -and anti-poetic, while the sentimental tourist, bent on sight-seeing -and recreation, very pardonably grumbles that instead of clear skies -and refreshing breezes he is as often as not enveloped in mist and -small rain. In any case the country is at present most beautiful, -and despite the grumblings of a few, who foolishly expect to have "a' -the comforts of the Sautmarket" about them whithersoever they wander, -such batches of tourists as we forgather with from time to time are -in raptures with our glens, and bens, and lochs, and richly wooded -shores, as well they may. And never before in the West Highlands -were all the conveniences for "touristing" with ease and comfort, -and all reasonable despatch, so perfect and so varied. - -A tolerably perfect, though not very large specimen of the sword-fish, -the Xiphias gladius of ichthyologists, was cast ashore in our -neighbourhood during an unusually heavy midsummer gale from the -south-west last week. The length of the elongated snout, commonly -called the sword or dagger, was two feet seven inches, a really -formidable weapon, with which it has been known, whether willingly -or unwillingly it would be difficult to say, to perforate the bottom -timbers of the stoutest ships, the sword in such cases luckily breaking -off as a rule, and thus becoming an immediate as well as an efficient -plug or stop-gap to the perforation. It is a more frequent visitor to -our shores than our natural history books would lead one to believe, -hardly a summer passing but you hear of one or more being caught -or cast ashore somewhere. This is the fourth specimen that within -twenty years has come under our personal inspection here on the west -coast. The largest and finest we ever saw was captured by a well-known -Fort-William fisherman, Iack Crùbach, or Lame Jack. If we well -remember, we think he told us that somebody gave him a sovereign for -it. Its flesh is said to be excellent eating, while its liver affords -an oil equal to eel oil in transparency, and of marvellous virtue, -it is said, as a medicament. The favourite habitats of the sword-fish -are the Sicilian and the Italian shores of the Mediterranean, where, -at certain seasons of the year, it is caught in great numbers, -the average weight being quite a hundred, and sometimes two hundred -pounds or more. We have it in our Common-Place Book that Major Healy, -of the yacht "Wildbird," informed us in Fort-William (August 1869) -that he had just returned from the Mediterranean; had called on -Garibaldi at Caprera, and dined with him on potatoes and sword-fish -steaks, which the gallant Major pronounced excellent. We may state, as -something curious, that while the Major at said dinner had his choice -of very good wines, with lots of capital bottled "Bass" from England, -the General himself drank a funny decoction composed of Marsala and -water--half-and-half--in which a large onion, sliced lemon-wise, -had been steeping for the whole previous night--a drink which the -Major tasted, and in very emphatic phrase declared to be "beastly," -but which he shrewdly guessed had something to do with the General's -rheumatism and gout. Any of our readers having a tendency thitherwards -might do worse than take the hint. There may be something in it, -for we recollect, when a little boy in Morven, that an onion was -somehow considered a panpharmacon, a perfect panacea--good for any -and every ailment. That the mediæval herbalist, like the mediæval -alchemist, was often a quack is very likely. In many instances he -could hardly be otherwise when his profession was in such repute; but -it is a question if our revulsion has not gone too far; if our modern -medicinists do not rather much overlook, too contemptuously ignore, -the inherent virtues, as to human ailments, of roots and herbs and -"flowers of the field." An old lady in our neighbourhood, shrewd -and intelligent beyond most of her class, told us not long ago as -she was cutting nettles by the roadside, as an evening bonne bouche -for her cow, that Stewart of Invernahyle, Sir Walter Scott's friend, -made it a point every spring to have nettle broth or soup on three -consecutive days about the season of the vernal equinox, which he -religiously believed acted as a safe and efficient diuretic for the -remainder of the year. From Mairi Bhàn, Invernahyle's sister, the - - - "Mhairi Bhàn gur barrail thu" - - -of Macintyre's well-known song, are descended at least two -Presbyterian clergymen, though the Invernahyles themselves were -strongly Episcopalian--ourselves, namely, and the Rev. Mr. Cameron, -Free Church minister of Ardersier. And the writing of the word -"Episcopalian" above reminds us of the fact that the titular dignity -of the Bishopric of Argyll and the Isles is at present vacant. The -late Bishop, Dr. Ewing, with whom we had the honour of being on most -intimate and friendly terms, was an unostentatiously pious, thoroughly -good, and really very able man, whom nine-tenths of the clergy of his -own Church would not or could not understand. Thank God that in the -enumeration of the good men whom we have known, the fingers of both -hands do not suffice; and of the really good men whom we have been -privileged to know and honour with affectionate regard was the late -Bishop Ewing. - -Some months ago we wrote to an old college chum, now farming in -New Zealand, advising him, as some occupation for his idle hours, -to pick up and send us such scraps of songs and poems as he might -find among the Maori race around him. No uncivilised people that -we had read or heard of seemed to us, in many respects, so like our -ancient Highlanders--the Fingalians, so called, of our older ballad -poetry--and we thought that so much of their poetry and folk-lore as -could be gathered could not fail to be interesting. Our correspondent -says:--"The Maoris, as you so shrewdly guessed, have a good deal -of poetry among them; short songs, however, for the most part, -and rhymed proverbs, and "wisdom words," as they call them, very -much like the Welsh "Triads," for they generally teach some three -particular doctrines, or state historically some three particular -facts. A few weeks ago I got an old man who came this way to sing me -some aboriginal songs, and the one that most struck my fancy I now -send to you. It is perfectly literal, for I know the native language -well, and as you are fond of rhyming, you may put it into verse if -you like. I can only send a true translation, line for line. - - - Maori Song.--(Translation.) - - Fish in the pool? No fish in the pool; - And the women are sad because of it. - The men, too, are sad; but to-morrow - The fish will be big, and fat, and many. - - I heard the bird singing a pleasant song. - He sang of food; he also sang of love. - The name of this bird is known to me, - But I will not tell it till we meet under the moon. - - The stranger, with his face so ugly and pale, - Has come from far over the sea. - He loves us, he says; but a Maori maid - Will not listen to his love. - - The mountains and vales of our own land - Are pleasant to see and live among. - And the sun at his setting is very red-- - Red with love to the Maori; angry at the stranger. - - My father lived here long ago; - He lived here, and here also lived the paraipa (a kind of bird). - The paraipa is not here, and my father is dead: - Woe is me, I wander among strangers. - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER XXXIX. - - Mountains--The Lochaber Axe, Ancient and Modern. - - -"With occasional gales, by no means out of place or untimeous at this -date [October 1873], with the sun already in its retrogression, almost -half-way back through Scorpio, the weather is upon the whole mild and -more autumn-like than was any portion of autumn proper itself. Winter, -as yet, has hardly descended lower than the highest summits of our -mountain ranges, and how beautiful in the golden after-glow, even at -this season, are these same mountain peaks, impending over us like -so many living presences! Tutelary divinities we sometimes fancy -them, interested in all that belongs to the dwellers at their feet, -with living hearts under their rocky ribs, loving us even as we love -them, if we only knew it, and speaking to us in their own solemn and -mysterious language, as at midnight, in our communings with the stars, -we are startled now and again by the weird, inexplicable sighs and -sounds, and deep-toned murmurings that seem to rise from glen and -corry and frowning gorge--sounds of much meaning, doubtless, if one -only knew the language, and could respond, as the sea seems to do, -in the palpitation of its heaving waves, and the boom of its billows -upon the beach. Pantheism and atheism are the very antithesis and -antipodes of each other--errors both, just as blind credulity is -the antithesis of stubborn unbelief--but, if forced to decide in -favour of either, give us pantheism for choice, as the more poetical, -at least, and pardonable error of the two; for the recognition of a -Divine intelligence pervading and dwelling lovingly in all things is -surely preferable to the cold and bloodless anti-creed that professes -to have searched the universe for a God, but failed to find Him. For -our own part, we have dwelt so long among the mountains, and within -sight and sound of the sea, that we have learned to love them with a -strange, undefinable affection, such as one bestows only on what is -at once weird and mysterious, as well as intelligent and potent, and, -upon the whole, beneficent and friendly. So impressed are we with this -feeling at times, that we fear that, however weighty the advantages -otherwise, a city life for us would now be irksome and unenjoyable, -and anything like a lengthened sojourn in a mountainless land, far -from the sight of ocean waves, well-nigh unendurable. There is some -meaning, however wild and improbable it may seem at first sight, -in the theory that accounts for the Egyptian pyramids as erected by -a nomade people, who finally settled along the valley of the Nile, -in remembrance of the mountains of their native land, and to serve -instead of these mountains in making the astronomical observations -for which the ancient Assyrians and Chaldeans were so famous. Be these -things as they may, we dearly love the mountains by which our humble -home is surrounded, whether basking in jubilant sunshine or wrapt -in sorrowing cloud, whether robed in midsummer green, in autumnal -purple, in brown and gold, or snow-covered and ice-bound to their -base; what time the day is shortest, and the sun, almost shorn of -his beams, shines but faint and far down at its farthest point of -southern declination. It is recorded of Queen Mary, of sanguinary, -or rather igneous memory, that so affected was she by the loss of -Calais, that had been in the possession of England since the victory -at Cressy under the gallant Edward III., upwards of two hundred years -previously, that she declared in her last moments that, if her body -was opened after death, the name of the lost city would be found -written upon her heart; probably the nearest approach to anything -like poetry to be found in any word or act of her dark and bigoted and -wholly unhappy life. If such things were possible--and the ancients, -at least, believed they were--we should be apt to say the same in our -own case of the mountain ranges and sea views around us, with which -we have held such intimate fellowship for upwards of twenty years. - -If one asked us where he could get coals, we should without hesitation -be disposed, were it but to keep the well-known proverb in countenance, -to direct him to Newcastle-on-Tyne. If he consulted us as to where -he could best procure a serviceable and trustworthy sword-blade -of finest workmanship and highest value, we should probably direct -him to Damascus or Toledo. If slings and slingers, we should send -him to the Balearic Isles; if bows and arrows, and how to use them -with perfectest dexterity, to the Parthians; and in so advising the -anxious inquirer for coals, or the warlike weapons in question, we -should probably be disposed to feel that we had advised him wisely -and well. And suppose one wanted a "Lochaber axe," where would he -most naturally look for it but in Lochaber? And yet, in all Lochaber -there is probably at this moment not a single specimen of a weapon -at one time so common and so peculiar to the district as to have -been called after it. The Secretary of the Royal Institution of -a seaport city of England wrote us lately, begging us to procure -for them a Lochaber axe, to be placed in a collection of shafted -weapons in their museum. He wrote as if he thought there need be no -difficulty about the matter; living as we do in Lochaber, he seemed -to think that we could lay our hands upon such a weapon as easily -as upon a tuft of heather or a twig of birch. We were, of course, -obliged to write him in reply that neither in Lochaber proper, nor, -so far as we knew, in any of the neighbouring districts, was there to -be found a single specimen of the formidable weapon in question. There -should be a good many Lochaber axes in the country however, though -not in Lochaber. We wonder if such a thing as a "Jeddart staff" -could be had to-day in its proper locality? We recollect that during -Her Majesty's first visit to Scotland in 1842, when she was received -by such a splendid gathering of the Clans at Dunkeld, there was a -company of a hundred men, commanded by the Honourable Captain James -Murray, brother of Lord Glenlyon, the biggest men that could be got in -Athole and the surrounding districts, all armed with Lochaber axes, -and a very fine sight they were as they poised and swung about their -ponderous and terrible weapons. We were then but a boy at school, -just entering upon our teens, but the appearance of these kilted -giants, with their dreadful battle-axes, is as fresh and vivid as if, -since that bright and beautiful September noon, hardly thirty days -had elapsed, instead of upwards of thirty years. We doubt, however, -if the Lochaber axe, so called, as seen at Dunkeld on the occasion -referred to, and as usually shown in our collections of weapons, is at -all a true representative of the ancient arm so formidable in many a -dour conflict in the hands of the Camerons, Macmartins, Macmillans, -and Macphees of Lochielside, Glenarkaig, and Glenlochy, and of the -Macdonalds of the Braes, and Mackenzies of Lochlevenside. The weapon -as now shown is decidedly too big, too ponderous and unwieldy ever to -have been used in actual fight. Only a Clan Samson or Clan Goliath, -and all of them of ancestral stature and strength, could hope to -wield such an arm in the heat and hurry of conflict with anything -like dexterity and ease. Like the immense two-handed "Wallace" style -of sword that is sometimes shown to you as having been the favourite -weapon of some celebrated warrior of the middle ages and subsequent -centuries, but which it is simply impossible that any mere man could -ever have wielded with effect in actual fight, the modern Lochaber -axe is too gigantic for use, and must have been manufactured, a big -pattern of a lesser weapon, merely for parade and show. That a weapon -of the kind, however, once existed, and was a favourite arm with the -men of Lochaber, is unquestionable, and a truly formidable weapon it -must have been. With a crescent axe face to cut with, it had a hook at -the back by which horsemen could be caught hold of and dragged from -their saddles, to be despatched at leisure as they lay helpless upon -the ground. The shaft was necessarily of considerable length, about -six feet, of ash or other tough wood, and of no greater girth than -a common hay-fork handle. The shaft of the modern weapon, however, -is between seven and eight feet long, and of a girth that an ordinary -hand does not suffice to grasp. The axe proper, too, or head of the arm -usually shown as a Lochaber axe, is nearly twice the weight of that -of the older and more business-like weapon. An Indian tomahawk with -a six-foot shaft, or a mediæval knight's battle-axe with a six-foot -handle, such as that with which the Bruce cleft the skull of Henry de -Boune at Bannockburn, would probably be nearer to the pattern of the -original Lochaber axe than the ridiculously big and cumbrous modern -article. You remember the scene in Scott's Lord of the Isles-- - - - "Of Hereford's high blood he came, - A race renown'd for knightly fame. - He burn'd before his Monarch's eye, - To do some deed of chivalry. - He spurr'd his steel, he couched his lance, - And darted on the Bruce at once. - - "As motionless as rocks, that bide - The wrath of the advancing tide, - The Bruce stood fast. Each breast beat high, - And dazzled was each gazing eye. - The heart had hardly time to think, - The eyelid scarce had time to wink, - While on the King, like flash of flame, - Spurr'd to full speed the warhorse came! - The partridge may the falcon mock, - If that slight palfrey stand the shock; - But, swerving from the knight's career, - Just as they met, Bruce shunn'd the spear. - - Onward the baffled warrior bore - His course--but soon his course was o'er! - High in his stirrups stood the King, - And gave his battle-axe the swing. - Right on De Boune, the whiles he pass'd, - Fell that stern dint--the first--the last! - Such strength upon the blow was put, - The helmet crush'd like hazel nut; - The axe shaft, with its brazen clasp, - Was shiver'd to the gauntlet grasp. - Springs from the blow the startled horse, - Drops to the plain the lifeless corse. - First of that fatal field, how soon, - How sudden fell the fierce De Boune!" - - -A real Lochaber axe-head we have seen, never the complete weapon -properly shafted, though surely real and genuine specimens of the -old and famous war-arm must be found in some of our museums. At what -period the Lochaber axe ceased to be carried as a battle-arm by the -Highlanders it is impossible to say; probably soon after the general -introduction of fire-arms into the northern half of the kingdom, -for it was certainly not used in the '45, nor, so far as we know, -in the '15, nor even in the wars of Montrose; so that for upwards of -two hundred years at least it has not been used in actual combat. - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER XL. - - Sea-Fowl--Weather Prognostics--Goosander (Mergus Merganser, - Linn.)--Gales of Wind--January Primroses--Lachlan Gorach, the Mull - "Natural"--A Dancing Rhyme. - - -When a prophet's vaticinations are verified by the event, the world -rarely fails to be reminded of it; when it is otherwise, however; -when the vaticinations turn out to be the very reverse of true, -people are rarely ever troubled with a note on the matter, least of -all on the part of the disappointed vaticinator himself. The fact -is that everything like vaticination had better, as a rule, be let -alone; sooner or later, and in nine cases out of ten, or oftener, -the prophet never fails to come to grief. So convinced, for our own -part, are we of this, that while reserving our right to vaticinate -and predict as much and as recklessly as anybody else, when it so -pleased us, yet, as a matter of fact, we never do venture further -into the treacherous territories of vaticination than the mere -outskirts, so to speak, of what may well be called the debateable -land of weather prognostics; and even there we tread as gingerly and -cautiously as if at this moment we were on the banks of the Prah, in -constant dread of a lurking ambuscade of fierce and fetish-valorous -Ashantees. Our weather prophecies from time to time have often, -as the courteous reader may remember, been fully justified by the -event; but if the whole truth is to be told, we fear we must confess -that they have almost as frequently turned out to be wrong, and it -is not every weather prophet who will confess so much. It requires -a larger share of magnanimity than the reader is perhaps aware of, -to be able to confess one's errors with anything like complaisance, -even in such a matter as weather prognostics, and we therefore trust -that the following confession will be valued as it ought. Some time -ago the number of Arctic sea-fowl in our creeks and bays, and the near -approach of a rather early fall of snow to the sea line, justified us, -as we thought, in predicting an early and severe winter, meaning by -"severe"--for we scorn to be disingenuous in the matter--that it -was likely to be excessively cold as well as unusually stormy. The -experience of upwards of twenty years, during which we have been a -keen and close student of meteorological phenomena and wild-bird life, -seemed to us to warrant the conclusion at which we had arrived. But -how at mid-winter stands the fact? Why, thus: that up to this date -[January 1874], it has been, upon the whole, the "openest" and mildest -season for at least a quarter of a century! How, then, about your -Arctic sea-birds? the reader may exclaim, and we can only answer -that their presence so early and in such numbers is to be accounted -for by the almost incessant gales that have been sweeping over the -Atlantic and northern seas, with such disastrous effects, for nearly -two months past. Feeling the first blast of the approaching tempest, -and assured of its prolonged continuance by a marvellous instinct, -further and more correctly prescient of such matters than man, with -all his boasted science, they fled to the shelter of our, to them -in such cases, Friendly Islands; for an Arctic web-foot dreads an -unusual severity of hyperborean storms, long continued, quite as much -as it dreads an excessive intensity of hyperborean cold, and for the -same reason--both equally interfere with the allotted comforts of its -economy and due supply of food. The winter, besides, is not yet past; -whistling before one is fairly out of the wood is proverbially foolish, -and there is, after all, time enough yet betwixt this and the vernal -equinox for the advent of any amount of cold, so that there is still -a chance for our wild-bird friends and ourselves standing higher in -the reader's estimation as weather prophets, ere the winter is ended, -than we do at present. Our web-foot visitors from the far north, at -all events, are still with us, and in large numbers, and a very pretty -sight a flock of them is as you quietly approach them congregated in -some sheltered bay, and with a good binocular watch their graceful -motions, now disporting themselves and chasing each other in many -a merry round over the surface of the water; now, as if by common -consent and in obedience to some, to you inaudible, word of command, -they seem to leap rather than dive into the blue depths beneath -them, until not one is to be seen, then as suddenly reappearing, -again to chase each other, and disport and dive, as if they knew you -were looking at them, and admired and loved them, and would as soon -cut off your finger as think of levelling a murder-dealing weapon at -creatures so beautiful and harmless. - -A bird generally rare in our inland waters is this year quite common -on all our shores. We refer to the goosander (Mergus merganser, -Linn.), one of the handsomest and most interesting of sea-fowl. Of the -Merganser family the goosander is the largest, and the whole order -is remarkable for their serrated mandibles, the nearest approach to -anything like teeth to be met with among birds, and admirably adapted -for retaining firm hold, when seized, of their slippery prey, which -mainly consists of eels, lampreys, &c., in dealing with which "kittle -cattle" in deep water an ordinary unarmed duck-bill would be a very -inefficient weapon. Once in the firm grip of the Merganser's serrated -bill, however, the chance of such comparatively small fish as it can -alone feed upon must be very small indeed. We saw a very fine male -specimen a few days ago, which a young man had shot, believing it to -be a "wild duck," as he termed it, and necessarily good for eating. We -told him that he had been guilty of a piece of very unnecessary and -indefensible cruelty, for that the bird in his hand was in truth a -Merganser, and no more fit to be eaten than a ten-year-old herring -gull or an octogenarian guillemot. He looked at us with a smile, -in which we thought we detected a considerable shade of incredulity, -and we do believe that the thought passed through his mind at that -moment that we only spoke so disparagingly of the bird because we -wanted to get hold of it ourselves, either by its being given to us -as a present, or for the smallest possible money payment, and then -what a jolly feed we should have at the expense of his ornithological -ignorance and juvenile simplicity! Perhaps we do him injustice; but, -at all events, he carried the bird away with him, observing that he -"would try it at any rate." We met his sister a day or two afterwards, -and on inquiring if they had cooked the "wild duck," and how they -liked it, we confess that it was with an inward chuckle of intense -satisfaction that we listened as she told us that, after having duly -boiled and cooked it secundum artem, until it ought to have been good -and tender, it turned out to be so rank, and fishy, and tough, that no -one could eat a morsel of it, and it had to be thrown into the dinner -refuse basket as worthless! These birds, though necessarily hardy, and -able to outlive a vast amount of cold and storm, are exceedingly fond -of still water, rarely resting or fishing when there is any surface -disturbance beyond a slight ripple; and hence it is that you so seldom -meet with them elsewhere than in the most sheltered bays, creeks, -and estuaries, where the water is least liable to the surface turmoil -and commotion of a storm. The finest stuffed specimen of the Merganser -we ever saw is at Achnacarry Castle, Lochiel's seat in Lochaber. - -We have said above that the winter has thus far been almost -unprecedentedly open and mild, by which we mean only that the -temperature throughout has been unusually high, not, by any means, -that it has been calm. The very contrary is the case. It has been -one continued storm, with an occasional breathing time, so to speak, -of a fine day at rare intervals, for upwards of eight consecutive -weeks. But the storms have, as to temperature, been rather the -storms of early summer or autumn, than the boisterously cold and burly -shriekings of the lone winter "Storm King," as we used to know and fear -him. The reader will best understand what we mean, when we say that, -notwithstanding the storminess, anemometrically, of the season, not -a single snowflake has fallen in the lowlands of Nether Lochaber this -winter, except a little which fell last night, but of which there are -no traces again this morning; nor, except twice, and then only for an -hour or so, has the thermometer touched the freezing-point. We much -doubt if the thickness of a sixpenny piece of ice could be gathered -at any one moment from pool or puddle in our district of Lochaber -during the present winter. The consequence is, that in all our gardens -flowers are at this moment in bloom that perhaps were never known -to be in bloom at the same date before. Our privet and elder hedges -bear quite a close green vesture of young leaves; the columbine has -already reached an April altitude of growth, and a woman who happened -to walk from Fort-William early last week brought us a small bouquet -of primroses that she had picked up while passing through the woods of -Coirrechaorachan, as beautiful and perfect as if it were in truth the -proper season of these favourite flowers, instead of the last days of -the first month of the year. We shouldn't wonder, however, if we have -to pay for it all yet, ere the truant schoolboy again begins to imitate -the cuckoo's note, or "the voice of the turtle is heard in our land." - -There is at this moment sitting in our kitchen a poor, half-witted -natural, "Lachlan Gorach," from Mull, whose conversation is always -garnished with "Davie Gelletly"-like snatches of quaint song. Sometimes -the rhyme is in English, and sometimes in Gaelic, and frequently -has no connection whatever with what may be the immediate subject -of conversation. On going up to have a crack with him a few moments -ago--for poor Lachlan is, in a way, a great favourite of ours--he -returned our friendly greeting of "Well, how are you, Lachlan?" with -a hearty shake of the hand, and a bow that, for close proximity of -forehead to the ground and duration, might have graced the court of -Louis the Fourteenth, and immediately on regaining the erect position, -struck, to an air that was probably original, into the following verse, -which we took down on the spot:-- - - - "First the heel and then the toe, - That's the way the polka goes; - First the toe and then the heel, - That's the way to dance a reel; - Quick about and then away, - Lightly dance the glad Strathspey. - Jump a jump, and jump it big, - That's the way to dance a jig; - Slowly, smiling as in France, - Follow through the country dance. - And we'll meet Johnny Cope in the morning." - - -It was very amusing. Where he picked up the uncouth rhyme we do not -know, and it was bootless to inquire. Having ordered him some dinner, -we bade him good-bye, when we caught hold of the following verse of -Lachlan's favourite ditties as we disappeared:-- - - - "Kilt your coaties, bonnie lassie, - As you wade the burnie through; - Or your mother will be angry - If you wet your coaties now." - - -Poor Lachlan, always cheerful and perfectly harmless, is a welcome -guest at every fireside throughout the many districts which he -periodically peregrinates. We may have something more to say of -himself and his quaint scraps of songs on a future occasion. - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER XLI. - - Plague of Thistles in Australia and New Zealand--How to deal - with them--Cnicus Acaulis, Great Milk Thistle, or Stemless - Thistle--Fierce Fight between two Seals, "Nelson" and "Villeneuve." - - -It is true to a proverb that one may have too much even of a good -It is true to a proverb that one may have too much even of a good -thing. It was the most natural thing in the world, for instance, that -our countrymen should have introduced the thistle, the national emblem, -into the fertile plains and straths of Australia and New Zealand, -to remind them of home, and to speak to them, even at the Antipodes, -of memories and traditions that patriotism will in nowise "willingly -let die." The inevitable result of such introduction, however, was -not foreseen, or rather was never thought of. A correspondent in the -province of Otago, in a very pleasant letter by last mail [August -1874] informs us that the "symbol dear" of Burns has so flourished -and spread over large tracts of land in New Zealand as to be already -an intolerable nuisance; so much so, that legislative enactments are -being passed, in view, if possible, to its total extirpation. "You -may think I exaggerate," says our friend, "but I positively do not, -when I tell you that in the course of a fifty miles ride the other day -I saw whole paddocks containing many hundred acres of splendid land -quite overrun with thistles, so close, and thick, and formidable, -that neither man nor horse could force a way through them. And such -thistles, too! I measured several that were quite eight feet in height, -and as thick in the stem as my wrist, with spikes on them as large -as horse-shoe nails, and as sharp-pointed as the sharpest needle. The -proprietor of one of the paddocks thus overgrown with thistles swore -at them awfully--and most unpatriotically, too, you will say, for he -was a Scotchman--when I spoke to him on the subject. I assure you it -is a very serious matter, for unless the obnoxious weed is somehow got -rid of, many places will soon be uninhabitable, and, as you can easily -understand, the evil is daily and rapidly becoming worse. The thistles -are at present ripe, with large heads like cauliflowers, and when a -smart breeze is blowing, where they are plentiful, the air is filled -with thistle-down like a heavy snow-storm. If you, who know so many -things, could only suggest some effectual way of ridding ourselves -of this pest, you would be doing us a very real service." At home, -too, thistles, if not more plentiful, are at least of larger growth -than usual. In a corner of our own garden, for instance, there is -still growing at the present moment a splendid fellow, nearly six -feet in height, to which we pay a daily visit in admiration of its -lusty growth, and the rich emerald green of its imbricated involucral -leaves. We have purposely preserved it unhurt till now, as something of -a curiosity, but in a day or two it must be cut down, for the seeds -are fast ripening, and it were unwise, if not actually criminal, -to allow them to escape on downy wings only to fall and germinate -after their kind, a very nuisance, elsewhere. Most herbaceous plants -will bleed to death if cut down two years running, just as they have -about attained half their growth; and we can only suggest to our New -Zealand friends that they should treat their thistle fields after a -similar fashion. Let them be mowed down when about half, or rather -more than half-grown, with the scythe for two consecutive seasons, -and we believe the roots will infallibly die and disappear. We -have known bracken, ragwort, and burr-dock, &c. very effectively -disposed of in this way, and have some confidence that thistles, -too, might be thoroughly eradicated by a similar process of vital -wounding at the hastiest stage of growth. From our correspondent's -description of them, we should say that the New Zealand thistles, so -loudly complained of, are of the same species as that in our garden, -the Carduus marianus of botanists, or Great Milk Thistle, a biennial -common over all Europe, but nowhere so plentiful as in Scotland, -whence it is probable that it is so frequently pointed to by poets, -painters, and patriots as the Scotch Thistle, though its claims to -the high honour of being the actual and real national emblem are -somewhat questionable. The tradition in the south and south-west, -where the true story, if ever there was a true story in the matter, -is most likely to have rooted itself in its perfectest form, is to the -effect that, during an invasion of the Norsemen, the Danes advancing -against the Scots on a dark night, one of their barefooted scouts, -when prowling about the Scottish encampment, chanced to tread on a -thistle, the sharp prickles of which piercing his foot, caused him -to utter a loud imprecation, which reaching the ears of the Scots, -hitherto lying in fancied security, warned them that the enemy was at -hand, and enabled them, instantly standing to their arms, to take their -foes at such disadvantage that the fierce Norsemen were totally routed -and driven to their ships with immense slaughter. The thistle that -thus opportunely prevented the Scots being taken unawares is still -pointed out, not, however, as being any of the large, formidable, -long-stemmed varieties, but the stemless thistle that spreads out -its leaves and spikes quite close to the ground, common enough in old -pastures and waste grass lands. The stemless thistle is botanically -known as the Cnicus acaulis, and lowly and unpretending as it may -seem at first sight, there is, we make bold to assert, no species -of thistle so well entitled to bear and boast the grand old legend, -Nemo me impune lacessit. Its spines are as fine, and quite as tough -and piercing withal, as the finest cambric needle; impossible, too, -of extraction, once it has fairly penetrated the flesh, except by -a surgical operation; and we have a shrewd suspicion that it is to -some extent poisonous, for, from the moment one pierces the flesh -till its expulsion by suppuration of the part, the pain is keen and -excruciating beyond conception. Barefooted Dane, Saxon, or Celt, -unexpectedly treading on a nearly ripe and full-formed Cnicus, might -well be excused an oath, however lusty and loud, in acknowledgment -and hearty execration of such an impediment. We can say something -of a Cnicus spike wound from personal experience. Several years ago, -when we were younger and lighter than we are to-day, we were vaulting -over a wall that divided an infield of corn from an outfield of old -pasture. Safely over, but alighting awkwardly, we slipped forward and -fell, instinctively stretching out our hands to secure ourselves as -we came almost headlong to the ground. The fall was nothing, but one -of our hands had, as ill-luck would have it, alighted, with all our -weight upon it, in the very bosom of a full-armed, irate Cnicus. The -palm of the hand somehow escaped, but one of the prickles entered our -wrist, and the pain was at once intense--stinging, sharp, and burning, -as if the spike was the point of a red-hot needle from the fire. It -could not be extracted, for it could not be seen; and there was nothing -for it but patience and such local applications as might best aid the -inevitable suppuration by which alone, after fourteen days' acute pain, -relief was finally obtained. Upon the whole, then, and keeping the -barefooted Danish scout tradition in view, we are disposed to consider -the stemless Cnicus as the true national emblem. If there be any doubt, -the honour, at all events, must be left between itself and the burly, -big-stemmed Marianus. Of a certainty, in any case, the cotton thistle -(Onopordon acanthium), though frequently spoken of by horticulturists -and amateur gardeners as the Scotch thistle, cannot be the species -indicated, for this last is not properly a Scotch plant at all, -it being rarely, if ever, found growing wild anywhere north of the -Tweed, though comparatively common in England. The first public and -properly authenticated mention of the thistle as the national badge -is, we believe, in an inventory of the jewels and wardrobe effects of -James III., about the year 1467. Whether there was an "ancient" Order -of the Thistle seems doubtful; what is commonly called the revival -of the order dates from the reign of James the Seventh of Scotland, -Second of England, in 1687. - -A more natural and less apocryphal combat than the recent dwarf and -bulldog business at Hanley is the following. Be not alarmed; ours is -simply a brief account of a fight, fierce and furious enough to be -sure, but very natural--for of the Phocidæ, we suppose, as of the -"bears and lions" in the well-known hymn, it may be predicted that -"'tis their nature to"--a fight, then, between a pair of dog-seals in -the bay under our house a few evenings ago. In nothing else are the -results of the Gun Tax Act so pleasantly manifest as in the increased, -and still increasing, confidence and friendly relations now so happily -established between seals and sea-birds of every kind and the sea-side -naturalist, as, throwing books and papers for the time aside, he -takes his evening walk abroad within sight and sound of the setting -sunlit sea, that gently murmurs the while, as if for very gladness, -in response to the rosy smile of the departing god. Ever since the -beginning of summer, a large dog-seal, recognisable as such by his -immense, square, bulldog-like head and fierce hirsute beard, has -made our beautiful Onich Bay his favourite evening fishing-ground, -until we have come to know him perfectly; no difficult matter either, -for he has a curious grey patch, larger than one's hand, on his left -cheek, and, unlike most seals, sinks, not log-like, when he disappears -under water, but almost always with a lively "header," in which the -whole back, arched and shining, is brought to view, as if for our -special delectation, as we sit and watch his graceful motions with -a glass powerful enough to detect the wary and intelligent glance of -his beautiful dark-brown eye, and count, if need were, every separate -bristle in his moustache. He is a big and powerful animal, and when -in our bay doubtless accounts himself lord of all he surveys, for, -of the hundreds of seals in Loch Leven, he alone constantly frequents -this particular semi-oval, sandy-bottomed inlet, his size and strength -probably ensuring it to him as a sort of reserve, in which woe unto -the interloping poacher caught sight of flagrante delicto by the -bright eye of "Lord Nelson," as we have long since called him, and -all the people about call him, for he is now known to everybody in the -hamlet, and frequently spoken about with all the interest attached to -a wild animal, actually suspicious and shy, but perfectly harmless, -when, with a confidence extremely rare in animals of its kind, -it approaches human habitations. On the afternoon of Friday last, -"Nelson" was fishing, as usual, in our bay, which at the time was -mirror-smooth and calm as calm could be. We had watched him for some -time through our glass, and seen him come to the surface more than -once, and dispose of a flounder in his usual quiet and leisurely -way, when, somewhat to our surprise, we caught sight of another -seal, seemingly as large as "Nelson" himself, and about a hundred -yards from him; and at the same moment his "lordship" evidently saw -him too! There could be no mistake about it, for he, first raising -himself half-way out of the water, and gazing excitedly around, with a -splendid header and a very significant flourish of his hind flippers, -instantly dived; the stranger seal also, who probably knew what was -coming, diving immediately afterwards. What happened below is only -known to such subaqueous spectators as might be about at the moment; -we can only bear witness to what followed, and that was, that in -about two minutes there was wild splashing and violent commotion of -the waters near the spot at which the stranger seal had disappeared, -from the centre of which turmoil the two seals soon emerged, fighting -in fierce grip like a pair of enraged bulldogs. For several minutes -this wild combat continued; Greek had met Greek; the belligerents -hugging each other, bear-like, with their anterior flippers, and -tearing at each other's heads and throats with their terrible fangs, -for the canine teeth of seals are exceedingly formidable, and their -strength of jaw enormous. All this time they wrestled and rolled -over and over each other in deadly and desperate encounter, the sea -for yards around them one sheet of boiling, hissing foam, here and -there streaked with blood, as we could plainly discern by the aid of -the glass, for we had, in the meantime, advanced to the very margin -of the sea, and were standing within some thirty yards of them. In -the wild hurly-burly of the conflict, it was impossible to see or -say whether "Nelson" or "Villeneuve" was winning--for by the latter -name had our son, who was along with us, already dubbed the stranger -seal, as, with true boy-like interest and eagerness, he watched the -fight. Had there been any betting on the event, we, knowing "Nelson," -and believing in his prowess--for it was impossible to be impartial -in such a case--would probably have laid two to one freely on our -favourite; remembering, too, the pithy Gaelic adage, "'S laidir cù air -a dhùnan fein:" Strong is the dog that has his own home knoll for a -battle-field! As it was, the battle was fought out and finished under -water, so that we were not privileged to see the last of it. After -a final fierce worry, in which the combatants reared their bodies -more than half-way out of the water, and much surface splashing and -somersaulting, the belligerents, as if by common consent, disappeared, -still fighting, however, as the hundreds of bursting bubbles that for -a time kept coming to the surface clearly testified. In about a couple -of minutes the stranger seal came to the surface, swimming rapidly -seawards; he had evidently had enough of it; and shortly afterwards, -"Nelson," known at once by the grey patch on his cheek, reappeared in -the centre of the bay, quietly floating about, as if thoroughly tired -of the tussle, and shaking his head dog-fashion now and again, from -which we gathered that "Villeneuve," though beaten, had left his mark -upon the victor, and the victor was in this wise very significantly -acknowledging the fact. It is worthy of remark, that throughout the -whole of this curious fight, though from first to last it was as fierce -and furious as anything of the kind could be, not a sound was uttered -by either combatant, except an occasional heavy, sigh-like breathing, -which was probably involuntary, and merely the natural result of -unwonted physical exertion. And yet seals are by no means dumb, for -their curious bleatings--we can find no better word for it--in the -breeding season, must be known to every sea-side naturalist. "Nelson," -the reader will perhaps be glad to hear, is all right again, and, as -yet, sole admiral of our bay, in which at this moment, as we write, -he is busy fishing for supper. - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER XLII. - - Wounds from Stags' Antlers exceedingly dangerous--The old Fingalian - Ballads--Number of Dogs kept for the Chase--Dr. Smith's "Ancient - Lays" of modern manufacture--The Spotted Crake (Crex Prozana) - at Inverness--Its Habits. - - -It is not generally known, we believe, that a wound from a stag's -antlers, however slight--the merest scratch or abrasion of the skin, -if only blood is drawn--is exceedingly dangerous. A short time ago -[December 1874], on ascending from the cabin of a steamer, we went -forward in order to enjoy an uninterrupted smoke in the fresh breeze -that swept across the vessel, when we noticed a fine-looking young -man, closely wrapped up in cape and plaid seated, in the shelter of -the capstan, as if the breeze, to him at least, was, if anything, -too brisk and keen. Glancing at him once and again, we observed -that he was pale and sickly looking; and concluding from his dress -and caste of features that he must be a Highlander, we went over to -him and addressed him in Gaelic. It turned out that although we did -not know him, he knew something of us, and we were soon on friendly -terms. He told us he was going to Glasgow to consult the doctors -about a stag's horn wound in the thigh that was daily, in spite of -all the salves, ointments, and healing applications that he and all -the "wise" people of his glen could think of, getting worse instead -of better. About two months ago he was helping to take a stag off -a hill pony's back, when, by some accident, the sharp point of one -of the tines penetrated the thigh for a short distance, and then, -by the force of the falling weight of the head, rasped downwards for -about an inch and a half, leaving an ugly, ragged gash, though of no -great depth. He thought but little of it, he told us, having often -had more serious wounds before, though not from a stag's horn, that -gave hardly any trouble, and soon healed of themselves--of the first -intention, as the surgeons have it. How it may fare with him among -the Glasgow doctors we do not know: well, poor fellow, we sincerely -hope, though we shouldn't wonder if the wound continued to trouble -him all his life long. The subject of stag-horn wounds having thus -been brought before us in a way that could not fail to interest us, -we took the matter to avizandum, as the sheriffs say; and, in dearth -of anything better at this dull season, we present our readers with -the result of our inquiries in every direction whence there was the -least chance of enlightenment. Dogs wounded by stags' horns usually -die from mortification or gangrene of the wound; and even if the wound -heals, and they recover, it is only in an unsatisfactory sort of way, -for they are almost always afterwards paralytic in the wounded limb, -or they are epileptic. An old forester, who knows more about deer and -deerhounds than anybody else we ever met, tells us that in very few -instances has he ever known a dog that has actually bled at the touch -of a stag's horn, recover in such wise as to be fairly serviceable -again. With the least drop of blood in such cases, they seem to -lose all their courage. Another man, a shepherd near us, says that -a very fine collie dog of his was once severely wounded by a stag in -Glenarkaig, on Lochiel's estate, and that although the wound healed -satisfactorily enough, and to the eye of an ordinary observer there -was nothing the matter with the dog, it was, in fact, ever afterwards -perfectly useless. "Chaidh e gòrach, le'r cead." A good dog before, -"he became perfectly stupid, sir!" said the man. The above-mentioned -forester says that the poisonous character of stag-horn wounds is well -known to every one in the least acquainted with deer-stalking, as the -sport was followed in the good old ante-breech-loading rifle days, -when explosive bullets were yet unknown; and that rough contact with -the tines of the animal, whether living or dead, was, in his younger -days, avoided as one would avoid the tooth of a rabid dog or a viper's -fang. A stag antler's wound, he avers, is dangerous at all times, -but most so in the end of autumn--the rutting season--or, as he put -it, "an àm dhaibh 'bhi dol 'san damhair," when they take to their -"wallowing pools." Curiously enough, and by the merest accident, we -have fallen in with the following proverbial distich from an old volume -on Venerie, or Hunting of the Buck, published in London in 1622:-- - - - "If thou art hurt by boar's tooth, the leech thy life may save; - If thou art hurt by buck's horn, 'twill bring thee to thy grave." - - -So that the venom of a stag's horn wound seems to have been quite as -well known two hundred years ago as it is now; better, indeed, for -those who followed the chase in the olden time were more liable to -such hurts than is possible in the case of the modern deer-stalker, -when the aid of dogs and the "gillie's" knife to give the coup de -grace to the "stag at bay," are matters of comparatively little -moment. It was a much more serious and risky affair in the days of -the old "flint"-bearing musket. There was a paragraph a short time -ago about a serious attack by a stag on some men in the island of -Raasay. It would be interesting to know whether blood was drawn on -the occasion, and if so, how the wounds have healed. - -Hardly anything in our old Ossianic ballads, of which we have such -an interesting and ably edited collection in Mr. J. F. Campbell of -Islay's Leabhar-na-Feinne, is so curious as the great number of dogs -employed by the Fingalians in their huntings,--that is, if we are to -read the ballads with anything like literalness. Fifty, a hundred, -two hundred, and even five hundred dogs are spoken about as freely -as a modern sportsman speaks of couples. In one ballad, for instance, -recovered by ourselves, ten men, one of them the balladist himself, the -last remnant of the Fingalian host, are represented as going to hunt -in the "Glen of Mist," attended by fifty dogs a piece, or five hundred -in all--surely an unnecessary, if not an impossible number. In these -ballads, besides, you find frequent reference to scarcity of food, -and the shifts the "heroes" were often put to, to provide for the -barest wants of the passing day; and yet, if such an army of dogs was -necessary, it also had to be fed, which one conceives must have been -a matter of some difficulty, when the heroes themselves were, as the -ballads inform us, frequently reduced to the necessity of splitting -"marrow bones," when all the flesh that covered them had already been -used up. The whole question of the natural history of these old ballads -is well worth more attention than has yet been bestowed on it. Some -day or other we shall devote a special chapter to it. Meantime, let -us merely say that we decided many years ago against the authenticity -and genuineness of one at least of Dr. Smith's so-called Ancient Lays, -because of the incorrectness of a reference to the natural history -of a well-known bird, the common pigeon. Here are the lines in Gaul -which first made us shake our head in dubiety over the genuineness -of the composition-- - - - "Mar cholum an carraig na h-Ulacha, - 'S i solar dhearca da h-àl beag, - 'S a' pilltinn gu tric, gun am blasad i fein, - Tra dh'eireas an t-seabhag 'na smuainte." - - As a dove on the rock of Ulla, - That gathereth berries for her young; - Oft she returns, nor tastes herself the food, - When rises the hawk within her thoughts. - - -On which passage we would first of all remark that pigeons are not -berry eaters, and even if they were, they would not carry them to -their young in such wise as the poet clearly implies. A pigeon itself -eats the food meant for its young, and only after undergoing a certain -process of maceration and digestion in the parent's crop, is it again -regurgitated in form suitable for the young. In genuine Gaelic poetry, -the natural history is in a very remarkable manner almost invariably -correct. Here it was not, and we recollect tossing the volume aside, -and remarking that while much of Gaul might certainly be "ancient," -quite as much was modern, and that, wittingly or unwittingly, Dr. Smith -had been dealing in patch-work. Dr. Smith cites a parallel passage -to the above from Thomson's Spring-- - - - "Away they fly, - Affectionate, and, undesiring, bear - The most delicious morsel to their young." - - -But the context shows that Thomson is not referring to doves, but to -Turdi and warblers that build - - - "Among the roots - Of hazel pendent o'er the plaintive stream." - - -And these do feed their callow young as represented in the poem, -though the Columbidæ certainly do not. - -We observe that Mr. T. B. Snowie, of Inverness, has recently been so -fortunate as to secure a specimen of the spotted crake or Crex porzana, -a very rare bird indeed, of which we never saw a living specimen. It -seems, however, to be a more regular visitor to our shores than is -imagined, specimens having from time to time been met with in almost -all parts of Scotland. Our friend Mr. Robert Gray, in his excellent -volume on The Birds of the West of Scotland and the Outer Hebrides, -writes of the spotted crake as follows:--"So far as I have observed, -the spotted crake is a very uncommon species in the western counties; -it is, however, more numerously distributed throughout the eastern -counties, extending from Orkney to Berwickshire. In Aberdeen and Forfar -shires, according to Macgillivray, it can scarcely be called very -rare. 'In Scotland,' says Mr. More in the Ibis, 'the nest has been -found only in Perth, Aberdeen, and at Loch Spynie, in Elgin; but as -birds have been repeatedly taken in the breeding season in Banffshire, -Fife, East Lothian, and Berwick, it is not unreasonable to infer that -the species nest in these counties also. In the west of Scotland, -the spotted crake has been taken in Wigtonshire, Renfrewshire, and -Argyllshire; but I have no authentic instance of its occurrence north -of the last-named district. In its habits this bird closely resembles -its congener the water-rail, and, like it, is not easily flushed from -its haunts. Although a migratory species, the spotted crake appears -to come early, specimens being occasionally taken about the beginning -of April; as a rule, it also lingers much later than other migratory -birds, stray examples having been shot in November, December, and even -January, so that it is absent not more than two or three months. It -may, indeed, be yet found to be, in some of the southern districts, -permanently resident. From its shy and unobtrusive habits, and its -life of seclusion and silence in marshy places, from which it but -rarely issues, it is much less frequently seen than birds which try -to escape by flight when disturbed. Rather than take wing, it will -thrust itself, when molested, into any hole or tuft of grass, and -remain concealed until quiet is restored; and on this account the -comparative numbers of the species cannot readily be ascertained.'" - -The bird is, however, unquestionably a rara avis, a rarissima avis -even, in the north of Scotland, and to have seen the bird as Mr. Snowie -was privileged to see and handle it, we should cheerfully have walked -ten miles, were it the coldest day in mid-winter. - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER XLIII. - - Whelks and Periwinkles--An Ossianic Reading--The Sea-shore - after a Storm--The Rejectamenta of the Deep--An amusing - Story of a Shore-Searcher--Severity of Winter--Wild-Birds' - Levee--Woodcock--Snipe--Blue Jay. - - -It has been our habit for many years [January 1875] to take our -morning walk along our beautiful sea-beach, one of the coziest and -prettiest silver-sanded bays on the West Coast, descending now and -again, when the tide is at ebb, to search for objects of interest in -marine animal and vegetable life, in every likely spot along what -Ossian calls "tràigh na faoch,"--the periwinkled shore. Our friend -and neighbour Dr. Clerk, by the way, in his admirable edition of the -great Celtic bard, renders it "the shore of whelks," and in a note -gives us to understand that he thinks the expression so unpoetical, -infra dig., and every way inappropriate, as almost to warrant its -rejection as a corruption of the text. As a conjectural emendation, -he suggests "tràigh na faobh," the shore of spoils, as probably the -true reading. Faoch, however, is not the whelk, but the periwinkle or -wilk. The whelk is the Buccinum undatum, the cnogag or cnocag of the -Gaels of the Western seaboard and Hebrides. The wilk or periwinkle -is the faoch or faochag; and to it and not to the whelk the passage -clearly refers. The whelk or cnogag rarely allows itself to be left -behind on the beach by the receding waters, even in spring tides, -when ebbs are at their lowest. The periwinkle, on the contrary, -sticks, regardless of the receding waves, to its place or stone or -algae stem and frond, until the ebbing waters have returned, as return -he knows full well they shall; so that at any time after half ebb, -a suitable shore, rich in algæ, presents a most interesting sight, -every stone and smallest bit of sea-weed covered with millions of -periwinkles at all stages of growth. It is to a scene of this kind -that the poet refers, and very happily we think: "the periwinkled -shore" is a thousand times better than the "barren, barren shore" -of Tennyson. No one objects to "daisied mead" or "daisied lea," and -"periwinkled shore," as we have seen it, and as hundreds, we make -no doubt, of our readers have also seen it, is, to our thinking, -every whit as poetical, and in no sense inconsistent even with -epic dignity. Wilks having within recent years become an article -of considerable marketable value, being carefully gathered on every -beach, the "periwinkled shore" of Ossian is, of course, a rarer sight -now-a-days than it used to be. Nearly as plentiful on our shores as -the common periwinkle itself is its first cousin, the Purpura lapillus -of conchologists, or yellow periwinkle, one of those creatures that -furnished the famous purple dye of the ancients. It has a bitter, -astringent taste, and is in consequence not eaten like its congener, -the wilk. We have said that our favourite morning walk is invariably, -if we can accomplish it, along the sea-beach; and hardly a day passes -but we can show something interesting and new, picked up in these our -littoral perambulations. After a storm particularly, we endeavour, -whatever our other engagements, to devote an hour at least to a ramble -along the shore, and it is rarely we return empty-handed: some curious -waif or other, cast up by the storm, seldom fails to be forthcoming as -the reward of our matutinal diligence. After a severe gale one morning -last week, we found a dead kittiwake, but perfectly plump and fresh, -lying on the top of a mass of drift tangle. The bird itself was no -great rarity, for the kittiwake (Larus rissa, Linn.), a very pretty -little gull, is common on all our shores, even in winter. The curious -thing was that, on taking up the bird in our hand, we found that one -of its feet was firmly held in the vice-like grasp of a large mussel, -the mussel in its turn being anchored by its byssus to a tangle root -(Laminaria digitata) of immense size. The poor kittiwake had evidently -been fairly trapped: the case was clear. Walking along the beach -at low-water, in search of food, it must have stepped inadvertently -and unwittingly into the jaws, so to speak, of the open, or rather -half-open, mussel, which, in resentment of the intrusion, instantly -closing with a steel trap-like snap, held the poor bird firm and -fast. There was no chance or hope of escape, and the unfortunate -little gull, thus anchored to the bottom, was miserably drowned by the -advancing tide. Its body would, to a certain extent, act as a float or -buoy to the mussel and tangle root, which, thus loosened, the storm -would readily dislodge, and cast up on the beach, even as we found -it. Web-feet of all kinds are, of course, as liable to death in all -its forms, natural and accidental, as any other animals, but we dare to -say that in any accurate return of the vital statistics of sea-birds, -death by drowning, Ophelia-like, would be found about the rarest. In -more ways than one, therefore, was our dead kittiwake a curiosity of -no every-day occurrence, though, in nineteen cases out of twenty, the -passer-by would probably be content to kick it aside as a dead gull, -and no more, if, indeed, he condescended to notice it at all. We were -lately told an amusing story about a Fort-William man who lived some -fifty years ago, and was in his day a great shore-searcher after -storms, incited thereto, not exactly in the interests of science, -but by more mundane and prosaic considerations. Summer and winter, -all the year round, he searched the shores (Bhi'dh e g'iarraidh nan -cladaichan, was the phrase) of Achintore and Drumarbin after every -gale of wind, wandering ghost-like in the grey dawn by the margin -of the sea, and diligently picking up every conceivable article -of flotsam and jetsam that came in his way. In all this there was -perhaps nothing to object to; but this mild specimen of a Cornish -wrecker had the habit of appropriating, without compunction, such -oars, thwarts, baling-dishes, and other articles of boat gearing -as came in his way, even though he knew that they belonged to his -neighbours, and had only been carried away from their proper places -by an unusually high tide or a gale of wind. This was a breach of the -etiquette and good-neighbourhood prevailing among boatmen that could -not be tolerated. A Drumarbin man, therefore, who had lost some oars -in a storm, and suspected that the Fort-William shore-searcher had -found and kept them, determined on reprisal, and in hope of curing -him of such shabby peculations, to give him a good fright, which -could be done the more easily, as the shore-searcher was a nervous, -timid creature, brimful of belief in apparitions, ghosts, and ghost -stories of the wildest and most improbable character. Getting up one -morning after a storm, the Drumarbin man put on a pair of new shoes, -and slipping to the shore, unobserved by the wrecker, whom he could see -wandering along the beach, as was his custom, in the grey day-break, -he lay down at length on the shingle, and covered his head and body -down to his ankles with the drift-ware that had been cast up by the -storm. All he left exposed was his feet, on which we have said there -was a pair of good substantial new shoes. Meanwhile the "wrecker" was -advancing along the beach, carefully searching about, and stooping from -time to time, oyster-catcher or curlew-wise, in order to pick up such -waifs and strays as he fancied worth the while. At last he reached -the recumbent and sea-ware-covered Drumarbin man. The shoes at once -caught his eye, and as he gazed wistfully on what he considered the -most fortunate and valuable jetsam that had fallen to his luck for a -long time, he was heard to soliloquise,--"A drowned man! Poor fellow; -but he has good shoes on, and as he can have no more use for them, -I may as well take them now as anybody else later in the day." No -sooner said than done. Throwing down his bundle of gatherings, he -pulled the shoes evenly and steadily off the supposed "body's" feet, -and was moving away with them, when a smothered sepulchral voice from -under the sea-ware struck his ear--an ear painfully acute under the -circumstances,--"Gabh mo chomhairl' 's fàg na brògan sin!" "Take -my advice, and leave these shoes alone!" At the same time he saw -the mass of drift-weed heaving and moving. Dropping the shoes as if -they had suddenly become each a mass of red-hot iron in his hand, -he started off with a yell that frightened the sea-birds all the way -to Camus-na-Gall, and ran a terrible race without once halting or -looking over his shoulder, till, penitent and breathless, he reached -his own fireside. He was completely cured of shore-wandering, for, -as our informant told us, he soon after sickened and took to his bed, -from which he never rose again. Told in excellent Gaelic, and with a -large admixture of the serio-comic quiet humour so characteristic of -an old Highlander, the story made us laugh heartily; and not the less -so that it was told in sly reference to our own frequent sea-shore -perambulations. - -It is many years since our wild birds have had to encounter a winter -of such unmitigated severity as the present. Dead rooks, blackbirds, -chaffinches, and hedge sparrows are only too common in copse, hedgerow, -and open field, stiffened and starved all of them, nothing but the -bones, skin, and feathers remaining as you take them up and handle -them, so that one only wonders how it is they did not drop and die -long before reaching such a sad state of utter fleshlessness and -emaciation. A whole month, however, of intense frost, making every one -exposed to its direct influence, even for a moment, put their fingers -to their mouths with a "poor Tom's a-cold" attitude and grin--of -intense frost, in which the earth became hard and resonant as iron, -clearly accounts for it all. Some idea of the keenness of the frost at -times may be gathered from the following facts:--On Friday afternoon -we had occasion to go to look if our boat on the beach was all right, -for the darkening heavens threatened an immediate storm, a not uncommon -end to such rare meteorological phenomena as long continued frosts -on the West Coast. Sitting on the end of a log of wood that lay on -the beach, a little above high-water mark, was a rook or crow, which, -as we approached, attempted to fly away, but could not. It stretched -itself, and strained, and flapped its wings frantically as we drew -near, but there it was, tethered firm and fast, manifestly unable to -budge an inch, unless it carried the immense log bodily along with -it. We wondered for a moment what in the world could be the matter, -for we could not recollect ever seeing a rook, of all our birds the -most knowing, perhaps, and self-possessed, act so absurdly. Running -forward and laying hold of the bird, we had a ready solution of the -mystery in the fact that the poor, struggling creature's feet were -firmly frozen to the log--more firmly than the best bird-lime or -glue could have held them. Thawing the frozen feet with some little -trouble by the warmth of our hand, we had the pleasure of setting the -poor bird at liberty. He--for it was a male--did not certainly weigh -more, as we poised him in our hand, than six or seven ounces, though -the ordinary weight of a rook in fair condition is nearly a couple of -pounds. Even within doors the frost was unusually intense. In a small -room off our own kitchen--and in the latter there is, of course, -always a fire, and generally a large fire, burning--the night's -milk was frequently found frozen into a hard and solid mass in the -morning; so thoroughly frozen that the servant girl could, by tilting -up the vessel and smartly tapping its bottom get the solid contents -of frozen milk into her hand, and carry it, for the amusement of the -youngsters, about the house, from one room to another, as if it were -a Dunlop cheese. Such a frost we have not had on the West Coast for -at least a score of years. Our wild-bird levee of a morning is a -most interesting scene--the most pleasant episode, perhaps, in the -necessarily dull routine of a winter's day in the country. On these -occasions we can depend on the presence of such birds as redbreasts, -wrens, finches of all kinds, the lively and ubiquitous chaffinch, -however, being most numerous; coral-billed blackbirds, shy at -first, but easily made familiar and friendly enough; ox-eye tits, -very pretty birds, but nervous and fidgety always; house and hedge -sparrows, with a self-assertion and impudence that is most amusing, -and a bold familiarity that would always place them in the front rank -of bread-crumb recipients, if the redbreasts, seldom otherwise than -quarrelsome and testy, did not drive them back. Most of those birds, -when they found an open door or window, would boldly venture into -the house, and eagerly pick up the bread crumbs from off the floor -or table, undisturbed by anything one said or did, provided only you -refrained from any attempt to lay hold of them; in that case they -were off and out instantly, and in a manifest pet at your rudeness and -inhospitality, shy to trust you again until the matter was forgotten, -or perhaps only overlooked perforce of the inexorable logic of intense -cold and gnawing hunger. All the birds that we have handled for more -than a month past were but the merest skin and bone, emaciated to a -degree altogether unknown in less severe winters. Curiously enough, -however, we had a brace of woodcocks a few days ago which were as -plump and fat as one could wish them; and some brace of snipe, shot -in the neighbourhood of Inverness, kindly sent to us as a Christmas -present, were in excellent condition, and good in every way. Why -these long-billed, sucking birds should be fat, when all other birds -are unnaturally lean, is to be accounted for by the fact that the -intense frost drives the worms and minute animals which constitute -their food into the open "eyes" and rivulets, which never freeze, -like sheep in a fank; and thus the woodcock and snipe have their food -with rather less trouble in frost than in more open weather. Some ten -days ago, a very fine specimen of the jay (Corvus glandarius, Linn.; -the Scriachan-Coille of the Gael) was sent us. This is one of our -handsomest birds, and we are glad to say that it has within recent -years become comparatively common in Lochaber. Like its congener the -magpie, it is looked upon with considerable suspicion as an enemy to -game; eating up, it is alleged, grouse, and partridge, and pheasant -eggs as a favourite bonne bouche, and even devouring the newly hatched -young. It is a shy and solitary bird, even where it is common, and we -do not know its habits and economy sufficiently to entitle us, much as -we are inclined, to enter on its defence under such an indictment; -but, from all we have been enabled to gather on the subject, we -should meantime be disposed to record the tertium quid verdict of -"Not proven." - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER XLIV. - - A "Blessed Thaw" after a Severe Frost--Longevity in Lochaber--A - ready "Saline draught--A probatum est Recipe for Catarrh and - Colds--Egg-shell Superstition--Curious old Gaelic Poem. - - -How intense was the recent frost [January 1875], and how hyperborean -all our surroundings, may be judged of from the fact that on coming out -of church yesterday, one of our people, a greyheaded, pious old man, -spoke of the happy change to open weather and "westlan' breezes" very -solemnly as "the blessed thaw"--an t'aiteamh beannaichte. Before any -one else north or south of the Tweed made any reference to the coming -winter, our readers may remember that we did, and that we inculcated -on every one the wisdom of keeping themselves warm and comfortable, by -means of good fires and otherwise, as the best way of being jolly in -the best and truest sense of that much misapprehended and frequently -misapplied term. It was, in truth, a trying season; but sensibly and -thickly clad in many a fold of honest home-spun cùrain, or plaiding, -our people for the most part got over it without any very serious -ailments. Influenzas, catarrhs, and colds in every form were of course -common, and, for a time, one was met on every side by an uncomfortable -and sometimes disagreeable amount of coughing, expectoration, -sniftering, sneezing, and nose-blowing; but now all this has almost -or altogether passed away, and people are again going about as usual, -clad no otherwise than ordinarily, and as becometh the inhabitants -of a temperate zone: plaids, comforters, double-ply mittens, and -"bosom-friends," having been laid aside as unnecessary incumbrances in -weather that is now actually warm and spring-like, as compared with -that dreadful month or six weeks of Baffin's Bay-like temperature, -that, when it got fairly at you, and off your guard, seemed capable of -making the very blood freeze in one's veins, even as it froze the water -in our subterranean and best guarded lead pipes. Nothing, perhaps, -could more pointedly illustrate the healthy vigour and vitality of -our people generally than the fact that, although we have amongst us -many who have arrived at extreme old age, and some who have been more -or less valetudinarian for years, there has not been a single death -in the district--a district which, as we look around us, contains -some two or three thousand inhabitants--since the beginning of last -December; a fact which, considering the inclemency of the weather, -and the high death-rate everywhere else, is something surely worthy -chronicling. We are probably correct in believing that the worst at -least of winter is already past, but much cold and stormy weather -may be still in store for us, and as colds and coughs may return, -we beg to make friendly offer of the following probatum est recipe, -quite a popular cure in this part of the country for every form of -winter influenza. Cure or no cure, the recipe has at all events the -merit of being extremely simple, and to thousands of our readers very -readily available at any time. Take a pint--say a tumblerful--of sea -water that has been heated to the boiling-point, without having been -allowed actually to boil. Sprinkle over it some pepper, rather more -plentifully than you do in your soup; drink this as hot as you can -bear it as you step into bed at night. Next day your cold and cough -will have disappeared like an unpleasant dream. You may be weak, -but you will, upon the whole, be well! We cannot personally vouch -for the efficacy of this draught, but we find that many people here -invariably resort to it as a ready and popular cure for their colds, -and they speak highly of its virtues, and, contrary to what one would -expect, of its comparative pleasantness and palatability as well. A -sensible old man whom we questioned on the subject a few days ago, -and a firm believer in the efficacy of this "saline" draught, told -us in confidence that the rationale of the thing consisted in the -fact that it immediately acted as a powerful sudorific; and that to -this, he thought, was to be attributed the thoroughness as well as the -rapidity of the cure. Probably he was right. It is a simple, cheap, and -readily available remedy at all events, and dwellers by the sea-side -might do worse than give it a trial at a pinch, when more orthodox -remedies have failed, or are not ready to hand. One grand thing about -it is the certainty that, if it does no good, it cannot possibly do -harm. Another old man in our neighbourhood, still hale and active, -though in his eighty-fourth year, told us lately that he never took -a dose, not a ha'penny's worth, of medicine, druggist's or doctor's -stuff in his life. "Whenever I felt out of sorts," he continued, -"I just went down to the sea and drank a good large draught of salt -water; that was always my medicine, and it never once failed to do me -good." So that there may be more virtue in sea water as a curative -agent in bronchial and stomachic ailments than the world generally -wots. And if so, how consoling the thought that this druggist's shop -is never shut; the supply is exhaustless, and no charge! - -A curious bit of popular superstition is the following, which a -gentleman in a neighbouring district was good enough to bring recently -under our notice. After breakfast, at which, among other good things, -we had some excellent fresh eggs, he suggested that we should go into -the kitchen to smoke, "and watch," he said, "what my housekeeper will -do with the empty egg-shells as the breakfast things are brought -up from the parlour." We went and stood and watched accordingly, -and this is what we saw, chatting with our host the while, that the -housekeeper might not suspect that we took any particular interest -in her doings. We noticed that when the girl came into the kitchen -and laid the tray upon the table, the housekeeper, a staid and -respectable-looking woman, well advanced in years, walked over and -took the egg-shells--there were four or five of them--and, placing -them one after another into an egg-cup, she took a small knife, and -passed it with a smart tap through the bottoms or hitherto unbroken -ends of the lot, and then turned away to some other employment. This -was all, for our host immediately suggested that we should visit the -stables. We were a good deal puzzled, having seen so little, where -we expected to have seen a great deal, and that little so seemingly -without meaning and purposeless. When we got to the stables, our host -asked if we understood the meaning of the old lady's manner of dealing -with the egg-shells. We confessed our profound ignorance, having never -seen--never, at least, seen so as seriously to notice--anything of this -kind before. "My housekeeper, you must know," continued our friend, -"is a most excellent woman, but much given to little superstitious -observances and harmless giosragan. She will not allow a single -egg-shell to go out of her sight without first making a hole through -it, knocking out its bottom in short, in case, as she has more than -once seriously told me, a witch should get hold of it and use it -as a boat, in which to set to sea in order to raise violent storms, -in which the ablest seamanship could not possibly save hundreds of -vessels from being miserably wrecked!" "You may smile," he went on, -"for it is supremely absurd, to be sure, that an otherwise sensible -woman should give credence to such nonsense; but, after all, if you -make inquiry, you will find that the superstition in question is quite -a common one. Few middle-aged women, brought up in the Highlands, -but will act as you saw my housekeeper act with the empty egg-shells, -knocking a hole through their unbroken ends before throwing them aside, -or frequently even more effectually providing against the possibility -of their being used as witched life-boats, by crushing the whole -shell into a crumpled mass bodily in the hand." We haven't as yet had -many opportunities of making inquiry into the matter, but from all we -can gather from some old women in our neighbourhood, we believe empty -egg-shells are, or perhaps we should say were, frequently treated after -the fashion stated, and for the reason assigned. Some of our readers -in the north-west Highlands and Hebrides may perhaps know something -more about a very odd and curious superstition to be met with in the -latter half of the nineteenth century. For obvious reasons, it is a -superstition more likely to be prevalent among islanders and dwellers -by the sea-shore than in the more inland parts of the country. - -The following fragment of a curious old poem we picked up about -ten days ago from the recitation of Alexander Maclachlan, shepherd, -Dalness. It is unfortunately but a fragment, as we have said, but -we give it here in the hope that some of our friends of the Gaelic -Society, or of our many readers throughout the Hebrides, may be able -to supply more or less of the remainder. Maclachlan heard the entire -poem from a Glenetive forester, a very old man, some years ago, but -this man is now unfortunately dead, and the reciter could not direct us -to any one likely to be able to repeat the poem at length. Perhaps our -friend Mr. J. F. Campbell of Islay, so indefatigable and marvellously -successful in his search after Celtic song and story, "all of the olden -time," may have met with it in a more or less complete form; if so, -he would very much oblige us all in the north by giving us a version -of it and its history, as far as he knows it. We may state that it does -not appear in Leabhar-na-Feinne, which we have searched for it, though -unquestionably a production of considerable antiquity. Maclachlan -told us that the old forester, in reciting it, called it Conaltradh -nan Ian, or The Parliament of Birds. The following were evidently the -opening lines of the poem, and likeliest to be remembered by one who -only heard it repeated once or twice:-- - - - Conaltradh nan Ian--(Fragment). - - "Nuair 'bha Gaelig aig na h'eoin, - 'Sa 'thuigeadh iad glòir nan dàn, - Bu tric an comhradh anns a choill - Air iomad pong, ma's fhior na Bàird. - Thainig piàid luath na gleadhraich, - 'S shuidh i air grod mheur còsach fearna, - Ma choinneamh cò'chaig a ghuib chruinn, - 'Sa caog-shuil dhonn na ceann mar àirnaig. - 'N so dh'èirich a phiaid gu grad, - 'S thubhairt i 's i 's tailceadh a bonn, - 'An tusa sin a'd mheall air stop - Nuair a bhi's do cheod-cheann trom? - Am bi do theanga 'ghnath fo ghlais - 'S tu gun luaidh air reach na ùi, - 'S tu cho duinte ri cloich bhric - 'Bhi's air meall a chnaip gun bhri." - - "Bu treis dhaibh mar so a còmhstri, - Gearradh, 'bearradh glòir a cheile, - Ach gus an d'leum a nois an glas-eun; - 'S rinn esan gach cùis a rèiteach, - 'S crog a phiaid air a ceann - 'S dh-fhag e i gu fuar, fann, - 'N sin bh'èirich firèun nan gléus - A shinbhlas an spèur ga luath." - - [Cætera desunt.] - - -This curious poem seems to have been throughout of a dramatic -form. Maclachlan says that, as he heard it repeated, almost all our -better known wild-birds were introduced, and had appropriate speeches -and parts assigned to them. He particularly referred to a very funny -speech by the wren, who finally quarrels with the wagtail, by whom -he had been insulted, and gives him a good licking. The end of it -all is that the eagle is unanimously elected king of birds, with -the glas-eun or falcon-kite as his lieutenant. The throstle cock is -elected bard of birds, and the dipper admiral and commander-in-chief -of the wild-bird fleet. Any one recovering the whole poem would be -conferring no small boon on Gaelic literature. - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER XLV. - - "Albert," a famous Labrador Dog--As a Water-Dog--His - intelligence--Takes to Sheep-stealing--Death! - - -In a recent number of Land and Water, Mr. Frank Buckland, in -writing about the Ophiophagus elaps, a serpent-eating serpent -lately introduced into the Zoological Gardens, London, with all the -honours due to a visitor so choice and curious in its diet, remarks -that "the saying that 'Dog will not eat dog' is proverbial amongst -us." North of the Tweed, neither in Gaelic nor in guid braid Scotch, -is any such proverb known. The nearest approach to it that we can -think of at this moment [April 1875] is the saying that "Hawks winna -pick oot hawks' een," and this is applied in a sense very different -from that suggested by Mr. Buckland's proverb, if such a proverb -exists. At all events the saying that dog will not eat dog is not -true; dog will eat dog, ravenously and greedily enough, when he is -hungry and gets the chance. Notwithstanding his domestication and -long acquaintance with the usages of civilised life, the dog is, -under certain circumstances, as thorough a cannibal and savage as -ever was Fiji islander in the days when that worthy Polynesian would -give the best finger of his right hand for a prime haunch of full-fed -and fat "missionary." Out of many instances that had come under our -own observation of cannibalism in dogs, take the following, all the -circumstances connected with which, although it is somewhat of an old -story now, are for many reasons as fresh in our recollection as if -they had occurred but yesterday. When we came to Lochaber, upwards -of twenty years ago (Eheu! fugaces labuntur anni), we had a large -Labrador dog, a present, when a three-months-old pup, from one of the -best and kindliest men we have ever known, the late Rev. Dr. Macnair, -of the Abbey Church, Paisley. He grew to be a magnificent animal, the -largest and most powerful dog, perhaps, ever seen in the Highlands, and -as sagacious and good-tempered as he was big and bold and strong. The -late Mr. Campbell of Monzie, an excellent judge of dogs, used to say -that he was the finest dog he ever saw, and made it a point every -year to call once or twice during the shooting season purposely to -have "a friendly talk," as he termed it, with "Albert," for such was -our canny Goliath's name. As a water-dog, he was simply perfect, -as amphibious almost as a seal. Any stone that you took in your -hand and threw into twelve, fifteen, or even twenty feet of water, -he instantly dashed after, and took from the bottom, and laid at your -feet, seldom making a mistake, though how he was able to select from -a stony bottom the very stone that had been handled and thrown in by -you was then, and is still, a puzzle to us: not by scent, one would -think, for all traces of contact with the hand must surely have been -lost in passing through such a depth of salt water. He probably was -able to recognise the proper stone partly from its colour and shape, -and from its being in a less saturated state, and less in contact with -the bottom than were those that always lay there. On one occasion we -had left our boat on the beach, neglecting to tie the painter, as we -intended returning immediately. Something came in the way, however, -that occupied us longer than we expected, and on returning to the -shore, our boat was off and away, drifting before a land breeze that -had already carried it quite a quarter of a mile from the beach. There -was no other boat at hand in which to overtake the runaway, and to -go round by the ferry, to meet it on the opposite side of the loch, -was a longer walk than one cared about just then, and the boat, -besides, was likely to be considerably damaged if it reached the -rocks on the other side, as the chances were it would, before we could -arrive. While thus in a state of anxiety and indecision, our eye fell -upon "Albert," then our constant companion, afloat and ashore. "Albert, -old fellow," we remarked, "the boat, you see, is adrift; what's to -be done?" With a grand, deep bass bark in response, he dashed into -the water, and ere we could well understand it all, he was a hundred -yards away, swimming hastily and rapidly in the direction of the -truant yawl. We could only sit down on a rock to watch and wait the -upshot of the adventure. Soon overtaking the runaway boat, "Albert" -swam once or twice round it, and then observing that the painter was -dragging in the water over the bow, he seized the rope in his mouth, -and strongly and steadily towed the boat towards us, against a stiff -breeze and a considerable ripple of a sea, until he reached the beach, -and dropped the painter on the shingle at our feet, and with a jolly, -self-approving bark, in response to our words of hearty welcome, that -made the mountain echoes ring again, he shook a perfect shower-bath -of brine from his shaggy coat, and scampered away along the sands to -dry himself. He was manifestly proud, as he well ought to be, of an -exploit so timeously and sagaciously performed, and so, be sure, were -we. "Albert's" readiness to take to the water was, on one occasion at -least, attended by rather awkward circumstances. One beautiful summer -afternoon, a young Oxford friend and ourselves were in the same boat, -with "Albert," as usual, for a companion. It was too calm for sailing, -and we were too lazy to row, so we allowed the boat to drift about at -"its own sweet will," while we lounged on the thwarts and read the -papers, of special interest then on account of the Crimean war. We -were half a mile from land, and our friend by-and-by suggested that -a swim in the invitingly cool, clear sea would be a good thing before -returning home to dinner. As he was an excellent swimmer, with whom, -for a small wager, we had the day before done a considerable distance, -we readily agreed. We had long known, however, how difficult it is to -get into a buoyant, floating boat of such a comparatively small size -as ours was, without any purchase to aid but such as is afforded by the -unstable water, and it was arranged that he should have his dip first, -and when he was tired of it, and we had helped him on board, that we -should have a plunge in our turn. "Albert," who had not been consulted -in our arrangement, was stretched the while at length, half or wholly -asleep, along the bottom of the boat. When he had stripped, our young -friend stood up in the bow, with one foot on the foremost thwart and -the other on the gunwale, and with a loud shout took a splendid header -into the cool, green depths, disappearing like an arrow, with a clean, -clear cut, that hardly left a ripple on the surface. "Albert," who -clearly thought it an accident, and that the young man's life was -in danger, with one brave bound, and before we could prevent him, -was instantly over the side, and, diving after the swimmer, met him -as he was returning to the surface, and laid hold of him awkwardly, -though with the best intention, by the fleshy part of the left arm -near the shoulder. When they appeared on the surface, the swimmer, -who had manifestly lost all his self-possession, struggled violently -to free himself from the dog, and would certainly have been drowned by -his own struggles and the very exertions intended by the noble animal -to save his life, if we had not quickly rowed the boat alongside, -and taking our friend very unceremoniously by his "Hyperion curls," -dragged him on board, panting and sputtering as only the half-drowned -and wholly frightened can pant and sputter in such circumstances. On -examination, his arm was found to be less hurt by the dog's teeth -than we expected it to be; a firm and friendly grip with such kindly -intentions as actuated the honest would-be rescuer being a very -different thing from a bite and worry in good earnest. His back and -shoulders, however, were seriously scratched in livid lash-like weals -by the dog's nails, while they were hugging each other and struggling -in the water. "Albert" was of course very little if at all to blame -in the adventure, and his only punishment--if what indeed was to him -always a delight could be called a punishment--was that, refusing -to take him back into the boat, he was obliged to swim a full half -mile to the beach; which, however, he easily reached before us. Our -friend felt sore and uncomfortable for a day or two, but was soon all -right again; and both he and we had got a lesson which we were not -likely to forget in a hurry, that a powerful dog, no matter how well -meaning and kindly his intentions, is rather a dangerous companion -to a swimmer in puris naturalibus in deep water. - -But what has all this, it may be asked, to do with Mr. Frank Buckland -and his proverb that "Dog will not eat dog"? A little patience, -as is your wont, courteous reader, and we shall come to the point -without much more ado. When "Albert" was about four years old, -and as powerful, and perfect, and pleasant a dog as ever growled in -anger or barked with glee, it began to be rumoured abroad that he was -fast falling into bad habits--whether from following evil example, or -instinctively and proprio motû, was never determined. He was accused, -in fact, of sheep-worrying, and of course we couldn't and wouldn't -believe a bit of it. Other dogs might be guilty of such vulgar -misconduct; in the case of our dog the thing was impossible. Wasn't -he regularly and well fed? Didn't he sleep every night at our own -bedroom door? All this, of course, we said, and urged, and argued, -and furthermore we urged a fact which seemed to us to be conclusive of -our dog's innocence of the great misdemeanour laid to his charge--we -had sheep of our own, and there were sheep belonging to others in -our immediate neighbourhood, and with none of these, we pointed out, -had our dog ever been known to make or meddle in any way further than -by an occasional deep bow-wow! which, though it sometimes made them -scamper, was uttered more in rollicking fun and merry make-believe -than in anything like anger or earnest. Precisely so, answered a host -of crook-carrying shepherds from farms five, seven, ten miles away: -"Your dog is too knowing to kill sheep at your own doors; he goes to a -considerable distance on his raids, the better to escape detection, -slipping away at night or early in the morning unknown to you, -and returning as innocent-seeming as the last sheep he has worried, -before you appear in your breakfast parlour!" It was not alleged that -he had ever been caught in the act, or actually seen eating forbidden -mutton or lamb, minus the "mint sauce;" but more than one shepherd -averred that he had more than once been seen wandering at improper -hours on hill-sides, where he had no good right or reason to be, -on which occasions, too, he exhibited the stealthy, prowling pace, -and all the hang-dog looks and other signs of an evil-doer. Half -afraid that it was too true, but irritated by their strenuousness of -assertion, and defiant to the last, "Catch him, then!" we exclaimed, -"shoot him, kill him, if he is harming you; but I am not going to put -away or kill my dog--and such a dog, too! worth the best hirsel in -your charge!--simply to please you." And thus the matter rested for a -time, but not for long. Early one Monday morning, about a fortnight -afterwards, our good neighbour Mr. Linton, of the farm of Coruanan, -seven or eight miles away, drove up to our door in his gig, and asked -to see us. After the usual civilities, "Your big dog is killing my -sheep, Mr. S.!" was the charge, straightforward and unqualified. We -argued, of course, that it couldn't be, &c., as above, but Mr. Linton -soon brought the matter to a very practical issue. "What is the value -of your dog?" We couldn't say; he was very valuable, a great favourite, -and we declined to put a price upon him. "Well," continued Mr. Linton, -"say that he is worth £5, or £10, or £20. I charge him with killing -two of my sheep this very morning. I have my gun here in the gig: let -me shoot him, and if I don't find and show you wool and mutton-flesh -taken from his stomach, I will gladly pay over the dog's price; if I -show you what I am certain I can show, his still undigested morning -meal of mutton-flesh and wool, we are quits. That's surely fair!" And -there was no denying that it was perfectly fair, but we declined, -nevertheless, bringing the matter to the arbitrament suggested. We -parted good friends, however, for we promised that whether he was to -be shot or drowned, or sent out of the country, the dog would never -again be allowed a chance of killing another sheep in Lochaber, -and our friend Mr. Linton is, we are glad to say, still in life to -bear testimony to the fact that we were as good as our word. On due -consideration of the case in all its aspects, we decided that it -was best, in the interest of peace and good neighbourhood, to have -the dog shot forthwith, and shot he was accordingly within an hour -of the interview above described. We directed the executioner of -the sad sentence to open him, that we might examine the contents of -the stomach, and sure enough, intermixed with wool enough to stuff -a small cushion, it was found to contain many pounds of recently -killed and undigested mutton. It was clear that some at least of the -many grave charges against him were true. Anxious to preserve the -skin for stuffing, the eviscerated body was placed in the fork of -an apple tree in the garden, until we could procure the services of -some one expert in flaying to do the job handsomely. Next morning, -on going into the garden to have a look at all that remained of poor -"Albert," what was our astonishment and horror at finding the corpus -vile--vile, indeed, at last!--dragged from the tree to the ground, -and almost entirely devoured by some half-dozen jackal looking curs, -that were having what was manifestly to them a jolly banquet on the -remains of the gallant animal whose single bark when in lusty life -was sufficient to scatter a whole score of such sorry mongrels, as if -each had a firebrand at his tail. Except a few ragged shreds of skin -and the larger bones, they had devoured every particle of him; and -so much for Mr. Frank Buckland and his proverb that "Dog will not eat -dog." Won't he just, when he has the chance! Nor is this by any means -the only instance of canine cannibalism that might be adduced from our -common-place book in disproof of any proverb or saying whatever to the -contrary. Poor "Albert!" we are ashamed to confess how much grieved -we were for his death, his ovicidal tendencies notwithstanding. His -upper jaw, showing a development of dentition of which a Bengal tiger -need not have been ashamed, is the only relic of our gallant dog now -remaining to us; and on the ex pede Herculem principle, we point to -that with a melancholy satisfaction in telling how big and brave, -afloat and ashore, was our matchless Labrador. - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER XLVI. - - An old Fingalian Hero--His keenness of Sight and sharpness of - Ear-- Foresters and Keepers--Foxhunters--Donald MacDonald--His - Dogs--Sandy MacArthur the Mole-catcher. - - -The hero of one of our most popular old Fingalian tales is described as -very marvellously gifted. In order to secure the hand of a beautiful -Scandinavian princess, whose locks are as the beams of the setting -sun, about the time the summer sea is flecked and barred with gold, -and with whom he has long been in love, he has to undertake the most -strange and startling adventures; and not the least important of his -qualifications for combating the frequent difficulties of his position -is a preternatural acuteness of eye and ear, of sight and hearing. His -keenness of sight, for instance, is indicated by his being able to -count the beats of the swallow's wings in all the gyrations of its -flight over the summer grove; and as for his acuteness of ear, enough -is said when the veracious chronicler does not hesitate to assert that -his hero could hear the grass grow? We, in our unheroic and degenerate -day, cannot boast of anything like this. We are content to know that -the swallow skims the pool with a swiftness due to a motion of wing -too rapid to be detected in its separate beats by the acutest eye, -and that the grass does grow, and at times with marvellous rapidity, -albeit the stir and tumult of its upward rush is inaudible to human -ears. But if we cannot hear the grass grow, we can safely aver that -in such exceptionally splendid seasons as this [July 1875], and -without fear of being charged with any very culpable exaggeration, -we can see it grow, not only from day to day, but almost literally -from hour to hour--so rapid, so marked, and visibly perceptible is -the progress towards a large and lusty maturity of grass and grain -and every green herb of the field. Anything, indeed, to equal the -sturdy vigour and upward rush of vegetation during the month of June -last past we never did see before, and had it not come immediately -under our own observation, we could hardly have believed it possible -anywhere outside the tropics. The harvest must necessarily be a late -one, though not quite so late as it was at one time feared must be -the case. If we say that the season of ingathering will be later than -usual by ten days, or a fortnight at the most, we are probably not -far from the mark. But, late or early, it is sure to be an exceedingly -abundant harvest, there being at present all over the West Highlands -every promise of very heavy returns, the heaviest, perhaps, that, -under any circumstances whatever, the land could safely bear, with -the hope of an eventually fully ripe and lusty maturity. - -Readers of our Nether Lochaber papers will in nowise be surprised to -hear that we have all our lifetime made it a point to cultivate the -confidence and friendly goodwill of keepers, foresters, and their -followers, wherever we chanced to meet with them; nor would it be -proper to suppress our grateful acknowledgment of the fact that to -them we have been largely indebted in all our zoological studies for -a long quarter of a century. We look upon foresters and gamekeepers -as at the head of their profession, what the French call "princes of -the game," and we have ever found them exceedingly courteous and kind, -highly intelligent almost without exception, and not merely willing but -well pleased to be examined, and cross-examined when occasion calls, -on anything and everything appertaining to, or at all connected with, -their office. With their humbler brethren of the craft, too, we have -long been thoroughly en rapport; these humbler brethren being the -fox-hunters, mole-catchers, and vermin-killers generally, by whatever -name or designation known from the Moray Firth, to the Clyde. Most -readers of poetry will remember how Pope, in one of his finest poems -(Prologue to the Satires), apostrophises his friend Dr. Arbuthnot as - - - "Friend to my life! which did not you prolong, - The world had wanted many an idle song." - - -And if one dared to parody any couplet from a poem so beautiful, we -should be disposed to address the first fox-hunter or mole-catcher of -our numerous acquaintances among them who are deacons of their craft, -we chanced to meet, in some such words as these-- - - - "Friend to my mill! which did not you supply - With frequent grist, I'd wither, wane, and die." - - -A few days ago the Ardgour fox-hunter, Donald Macdonald by name, a -Moidart man, and an excellent specimen of his class, called upon us -with his quarterly budget of news from glen and upland, from hill and -scaur, and den and corrie; and a wonderful season in his particular -line he vows it has been. Since the middle of April last he has killed -and bagged no fewer than fifty-one foxes all told, besides a number, -both young and old, that were worried to the death by his terriers -in the deepest recesses of their saobhies or dens, whence, when the -turmoil of battle had ceased, and his dogs had emerged bearing very -visible marks of the deadly conflict within, it was impossible to dig -them out. All these foxes were got on the borders of three conterminous -farms--Aryhuelan (Dr. Simpson's), Conaglen and Inverscaddle (the Earl -of Morton's), and Glennahuirich (Mr. Milligan's). Donald, who has been -a fox-hunter for upwards of thirty years, never before knew foxes so -numerous, and this not in one or more favourite haunts within a given -district, but generally over the country. He couldn't himself in any -way satisfactorily account for the fox fecundity of 1874-75, and we -could only regret that we were unable to enlighten him in the least, -for he avowedly came for enlightenment on a subject that was very -naturally exceedingly interesting to him. We were obliged to confess -that the matter was as much a puzzle to us as to himself, but promised -to think it over. Account for it as we may, it is in truth a fact -that has attracted attention everywhere, that not for many years, -if indeed ever before, have foxes been so numerous all over the -Highlands. In the three adjoining districts of Badenoch, Lochaber, -and Ardgour, the last including a part of Sunart, we are assured -that no less a number than two hundred and forty-three foxes have -been killed or captured since mid-April, besides, as already stated, -a considerable number worried in the recesses of their big rock dens -which could not be actually "bagged" or charged for after the fashion -of the craft by brush or pad, though there was no doubt at all of their -having succumbed after, in each case, a more or less desperate battle, -to the assaults of their terrier assailants. And here, good reader, you -must permit us, en parenthese, a slight disgression, not altogether, we -hope, uninteresting. We wonder if in the great family of dogs anywhere -throughout the world there is anything to equal in hardihood, pluck, -and all endurance the Highland fox-hunter's canine following? They are -invariably a rough and ragged lot enough, and seemingly at sixes and -sevens as to anything like assortment; no two of them exactly alike in -colour, size, or breed; and they are usually low in stature, though -of considerable bone and well developed muscle what there is of it; -but be what they may in these respects, when you fall in with one of -our fox-hunter's packs, six, seven, eight, or a dozen in number, as -the case may be, be sure you have before you the gamest, varmintest -little beggars to tackle otter, fox, or badger that the whole world -can show. Our visitor of the other day had only one little fellow -of his pack along with him. "What's his name, Donald?" we asked, -pointing to his wiry follower, that we could easily see was, from the -ink-black tip of his nose to the extremity of his tail, a "varmint" -of the first order. "What do you call him?" "Speach," he replied, and -speach, our non-Gaelic readers must be told, means a wasp or hornet, -and, even like a wasp, we knew that that little fellow with his dander -up in the labyrinthine recesses of a fox's den or a badger's garaidh, -would fight against any odds until he was torn into ribbons, and on -each and every occasion would prove himself - - - "Impiger, iracundus, inexorabilis, acer," - - -which old Robertson of Struan admirably rendered into our native Doric, -without the loss of a particle of meaning or force-- - - - "A fiery ettercap, a fractious chiel, - As het as ginger, and as stieve as steel!" - - -"And is 'Speach' good, then, Donald?" we inquired. "Yes, sir," was the -reply, "a very good little dog. He is but small, you see, and light; -the smallest, indeed, at present in my pack, but he will take hold -of fox or badger or otter at the readiest spot that offers, and, -having once got hold, will never let go again while his antagonist -is in life; at every dig only burying his muzzle deeper into his -opponent." We quite agreed with him that a dog that did that must be -good indeed; and we are perfectly satisfied that he did not in the -least exaggerate the indomitable pluck and never-say-die tenacity of -his tiny favourite. Two very good things remain to be said in praise of -our Highland fox-hunters' dogs. They are never known to bite, and very -rarely even to bark at human beings; and no fox-hunter's dog was ever -known to be affected with hydrophobia or canine madness. The exemption -from canine madness may, perhaps, be largely due to their open air -and natural mode of life, but it is difficult to understand why they -should be so entirely free from any propensity to bite or otherwise -annoy a human being, a vice common enough to dogs of unexceptionable -character and breeding otherwise, and from which even the highly -intelligent and much-lauded collie is by no means so free as his many -admirers seem to suppose. Even a collie is always prepared to bark, -and oftentimes to bite on very little provocation, or no provocation -at all. The fox-hunter's terrier, whether he is pure or a nondescript -cross, very rarely indeed barks at a stranger, and never under any -circumstances offers to bite. We question if there is a human being -to-day in life who can honestly assert that he has ever been bitten -by a fox-hunter's dog. With Macdonald we had a long and interesting -crack, in the course of which we touched on some matters of sufficient -importance to be introduced to the reader on a future occasion. - -We had also a visit some little time ago from Sandy Macarthur, a -well-known mole-catcher in Lochaber and the neighbouring districts; -a very intelligent and civil man, whose only fault is that when -you have collared him there is no spontaneity in his crack. Even -when you have got firm hold enough of him, you have to extract his -frequently very valuable information from him by a process akin to -that which an ingenious and learned counsel employs in the case of a -recalcitrant and unwilling witness at an important jury trial. Sandy, -however, is a good fellow all the same, slow but sure; and his -quiet unobtrusiveness and reticence is perhaps to be attributed to -the exigencies of his profession; a "rattling, roaring Willie" of a -mole-catcher, with, to use a Gaelic phrase, his tongue constantly -on his shoulder, would probably prove but an unsuccessful hunter -of the velvet-coated quick-eared, and timid subterranean family of -the Mac Talpa. Sandy, on the contrary, goes to work in dead silence -and a-tiptoe, and bags his mole as quietly as an angler baskets his -trout from out the glassy pool, over which, if but his shadow moved, -he would angle long in vain. Sandy assures us that moles are to be -found this season where they were never seen before, and where he was -at first a good deal puzzled to account for their appearance. On a full -consideration of the case Macarthur's theory is briefly to this effect: -Moles are mainly underground dwellers, and even their travelling and -migrating from place to place are done subterraneously. If, however, -they find themselves, as in the Highlands they must frequently do, -in a district or part of district separated from other parts in -which they have never been by rocky spurs and ridges, they will not -venture over these latter unless they carry sufficient earth to hide -their tunnelling, which, it is needless to say, they frequently do -not. The mole in such a case remains insulated, a prisoner, so to -speak, within his present domain. Last winter and spring, however, -according to Sandy's theory, the snow lay so deep and lay so long, -that the moles took advantage of the fact, and making their tunnels -under the snow, where it lay on spur and ridge, just as if it had been -so much superincumbent soil, they easily got into fresh fields and -pastures new. In this way alone can Sandy account for the appearance -of moles this summer in places into which hitherto they had no means of -ready access; and he may be right, though it is a point in the natural -history of the Talpa well deserving further investigation. Sandy -further avers that moles sometimes swim across rivers, fresh-water -lakes, and even arms of the sea in their migrations; and this is just -possible, though we took the liberty of expressing ourselves slightly -incredulous. Sandy, however, ought to know; he has spent the best part -of a life already approaching its grand climacteric in the careful and -close and constant study of, as one may say, a single animal--to wit, -the mole--and it is always hazardous gravely to doubt or contradict -the deliberately expressed opinion of such a man on a matter strictly -within his proper province. All the same we still venture to question -the assertion that the mole ever voluntarily enters water deep enough -to swim in, or ever dims the velvety sheen of its glossy pile even -by such a luxury as a voluntary bath in the shallows, till we have -some stronger proof for it than has yet been adduced. - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER XLVII. - - Autumnal Night--Meteors--The Spanish Mackerel--Professor Blackie's - Translations from the Gaelic--The "Translations" of the Gaelic - Society of Inverness. - - - "On the Rialto, every night at twelve, - I take my evening's walk of meditation." - - -So says the love-sick knight in Venice Preserved. We have never, much -as we should like it, had an opportunity of enjoying a Rialto midnight -meditation ramble. There is poetry and romance in the very thought of -it; but we know something more poetical and in every way better still, -namely, a midnight meditative stroll along our own beautiful silvery -sanded beach, what time the sea is so calm that its breathings are low -and soft as the respirations of a child whose sleep is undisturbed -save by angel-whispered dreams; the cloudless sky above, with its -waning moon and thousands of sparkling stars, each star a living -intelligence; its sparkling speech, and no sound to disturb the solemn -silence, except now and again the wakeful sea-bird's eerie scream, -and the voice of many waters, as the mountain torrents leap adown -their channels to the sea, a voice so mellowed by the distance that -it becomes solemn and musical as the fast-falling concluding notes -of a grand organ hymn--the Pentecostal "Veni, Creator Spiritus, -for example. During the fine weather of this exceptionally fine -season [August 1875] we have rarely gone to bed before midnight, -more frequently, indeed, long after, and our last thing at night -has been a sea-shore stroll, a half or quarter hour so thoroughly -enjoyable that we have come to miss it sadly, if by adverse weather, -absence from home, or any other cause, we are obliged to forego it. In -addition to all the other attractions of a midnight sea-side stroll in -such weather as the tropics themselves might be proud of, the reader -must remember that August is one of our meteor months--the second -week particularly being remarkable for the number and brilliancy of -the Perseides, so called from their seeming mainly to radiate from -the direction of the constellation Perseus. Never was there a finer -season to observe them than this; and although they have, perhaps, -been less numerous than usual, the brilliancy of many of them was so -remarkable, and their paths throughout so easily followed, that their -very infrequency only added to the eagerness and interest with which -one watched and waited for them. The finest display of the season was -from midnight on to nearly two A.M. on the night of the 11th and 12th, -in which time we counted thirty-three noticeable meteors--of which -seven were what might be called first-class meteors of a nucleus -brilliancy equal to or exceeding that of first magnitude stars, -with broad, bright, well-defined trains, that wholly or in part, in -three or four instances, remained in sight, mapping out the meteor's -trajectory for several seconds after the disappearance or extinction -of the parent orb or meteor proper itself. Mr. W. B. Symington, -who was among the Hebrides at the time on a yachting cruise, writes -on the subject as follows:--"Notwithstanding your injunction to be -on the qui vive as to the August meteors, I am sorry to say that -I forgot all about it on the nights of the 9th and 10th, although -the weather was beautifully clear. On the 11th, 12th, and 13th, -however, the sailing-master and myself were sharply on the look-out, -and our watchfulness was rewarded by the sight of some really very -splendid examples. There were on each night scores and scores of the -more common, lesser, and fainter meteors, but our attention was of -course principally directed to the more brilliant ones. Of these -latter we had, during about an hour and a quarter's observation, -four very fine ones, with long bright tails, on the 11th; nine on -the 12th; and one magnificent fellow, that lighted up the deck, -sails, and rigging of the yacht with a strange greenish glare, on -the 13th. This last was at 11.5 P.M. One of the men said that before -daybreak on the 12th there were some very large and bright meteors. As -far as my observations went, the course of these meteors seemed to -be mainly to the west and south-west, although two at least of the -larger ones rushed in a directly opposite path, namely, to east and -north-east. As I am likely to be at sea in November, though in a very -different kind of craft, I will endeavour to give you a more careful -and satisfactory account of the meteor display of that month. I may -tell you that one of the men caught a scad of large size, the biggest, -I believe, I ever saw. It weighed nearly four pounds. I thought it not -bad eating, though the rest of them in the cabin said it was coarse -and tasteless. It was caught by a long line and herring baited hook, -that was allowed to drag after the ship in a breeze that gave us at -the time a speed of at least eight knots an hour." - -The fish referred to by our correspondent is also called the Spanish -mackerel, it being very common on some parts of the Spanish coast. It -belongs to the order Scomberidæ, and is a cousin of our own better -known mackerel proper, though a considerably larger fish, and not -nearly so good for the table as its beautiful congener. The Spanish -differs from the mackerel proper in one very remarkable particular; -it has an air bladder which the true mackerel of our shores has not, -and yet the latter is one of the readiest and swiftest swimmers, -and at all depths, of any fish in the sea. The fact is that the real -use of the air bladder in the economy of fish still continues an -unresolved and seemingly an unresolvable puzzle. - -Lovers of living, healthy poetry--healthy as the mountain breeze, -and free and sparkling as the mountain stream, and more especially -our Celtic friends who have been taught to honour and reverence -the "kilted" muse--will be glad to know that Professor Blackie -has in preparation the materials of what cannot fail to prove a -very interesting volume, consisting of translations of some of the -most admired compositions of our modern Gaelic bards. Macintyre's -Ben. Dorain, Alasdair Macdonald's Berliun, with many of such lesser -popular lyrics, as Am Breacan Wallach, Failte na Mor-Thir, A Bhanarach -Dhoun a Cruidh, &c., will thus appear for the first time in a becoming -Saxon garb; not--to use the milliner's phrase--too tight a fit, -observe, but natural and easy, though "made to measure," and we venture -to predict that our English readers, who as yet know them not at all, -and our Gaelic friends, who know them well and have long known them, -will alike be pleased with the results of the learned Professor's -gallant raid into bard-land. The Professor has been visiting us -here lately, and we can honestly say that such specimens of his -work as he was good enough to read to us--and there are few better -readers than Professor Blackie--seemed to us admirably done. His -version of Ben. Dorain particularly, which we had an opportunity of -hearing twice, and of which we can thus speak most positively, is -thoroughly well done; so well, so faithfully, and with such spirit -and verve as must delight not only the ordinary reader, but the very -"ghost" of the original author--Macintyre himself--if, like the -Ossianic departed heroes, he is permitted to know and appreciate -sublunary affairs from out the bosom of "his cloud." The Professor -translates these Gaelic poems into English verse just as, in our -opinion, they should be translated; not too literally, but with all -necessary freedom and elbow room, and yet so literally that any one -knowing the English version may rest assured that he knows also the -original quite as intimately and correctly as it is possible in the -circumstances for any mere outsider to know it. Johnson, in his Life -of Dryden, referring to the latter's version of the Æneid, &c., has a -paragraph which is worth quoting in this connection:--"When languages -are formed upon different principles, it is impossible that the same -modes of expression should always be elegant in both. While they -run on together, the closest translation may be considered the best; -but when they divaricate, each must take its natural course. Where -correspondence cannot be obtained, it is necessary to be content -with something equivalent. 'Translation, therefore,' says Dryden, -'is not so loose as paraphrase, nor so close as metaphrase.'" With all -this we entirely concur, more especially when such widely different -languages as the English and Gaelic have to be dealt with. We do not -know that Professor Blackie ever read the paragraph quoted, or, even -if he did read it, that he now remembers it; but to his translations -from the Gaelic, to so much of them, at all events, as were submitted -to our notice, Dryden's dictum is entirely applicable--they are not -so loose as paraphrase, nor so close as metaphrase. They strike a -golden mean very difficult of attainment in such efforts; and on -the appearance of the volume itself, we shall be disappointed if -nine-tenths at least of the many readers it is sure to command do -not entirely agree with us. But nous verrons, if we live we shall see. - -The Transactions of the Gaelic Society of Inverness for 1873-4 and -1874-5, have reached us. The Secretary's paper on "Coinneach Odhar," -the Brahan seer, is most interesting, containing as it does the best -account that we have met with of that uncanny Ross-shire worthy. That -he was an impostor, and a vulgar impostor too, there can be no doubt; -but the story of a man--clever, shrewd rascal as he was--in whom the -people so thoroughly believed, is worth the telling, and Mr. Mackenzie -tells it very well. He should, we think, give us, if possible, -a second paper, containing the many other wonderful vaticinations -attributed to his hero, who seems to have latterly been too clever -by half; for he who could foresee the misfortunes of others--the -death even of a cow--couldn't evidently foresee the well-merited fate -that awaited himself; for he was hanged, and we have no doubt at all -that he richly deserved that species of exaltation. What Thomas the -Rhymer--him of Ercildoune--was in the south of Scotland at a much -earlier period, this Coinneach Odhar, comparing small things with -great, seems to have been in the North-West Highlands during the -latter half of the seventeenth century. "True Thomas," however, was -a gentleman and a scholar; whereas Coinneach was, of course, utterly -illiterate, conducting his scheme of imposture solely by the aid of -natural talents, which must have been considerable, and a large and -ever-ready stock of impudence and cunning, nicely calculated to impose -upon the vulgar. He made his grand mistake when he flew at such high -game as Lady Seaforth and her domestic affairs. She was too clever, -too intelligent and well-educated to be imposed upon. She ordered -him to be hanged, a doom to which many were led at that period -who probably less richly deserved it than such a prying, meddling, -mischief-maker as was Kenneth the Seer. - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER XLVIII. - - Crops--Potato Slug--Fern Slug--Brackens: How thoroughly to - extirpate them--The Merlin--Falcon and Tringa. - - -We have had a full fortnight of magnificent summer weather [August -1875], a bright sun over-head from morning till night, with brisk -breezes, a leanachd na gréine, following the sun; that is, beginning -in the morning at east, and gradually wearing round pari passû with -the solar march, till at sunset it is north-west, and so on round -and round the compass day after day, a phenomenon usually attendant -upon the very finest weather in our northern latitudes. Under these -circumstances it will not surprise those who care for such matters -to hear that our hay crop, about which we were in such anxiety, -has been secured in splendid condition, in such condition, indeed, -as we can rarely boast of in the West Highlands. Our meadow hay crop, -too, is this year unusually heavy, and already, in obedience to the -adage which teaches that it is well and wise to make one's hay while -the sun shines, we are all busy getting it cut down and secured, -although the old, orthodox season is not yet for a fortnight to -come--about old Lammastide. Oats with us here are generally a light -crop, but it will as such be easier to secure in good condition than -a heavier crop would be, and, upon the whole, may thus turn out quite -as profitable. Potatoes are not so heavy haulmed as usual, but in -other respects they promise well, and there is no appearance of our -old enemy the "blight." We hear, however, a good deal of complaint in -some districts on account of the prevalence this year of yellow shaw, -or bar-buidhe as our Highlanders term it, the work of a small grey -slug that attacks the main-stem shaw just at its point of junction -with the soil, and eating and tunnelling it through and through until -the leaves first assume a yellow and withered appearance, and the -whole shaw finally falls down paralysed, and practically useless and -inoperative as to its proper functions, though not actually rotten -or dead, as in the case of the "blight." Many such shaws in a field -give it an unsightly appearance, but beyond this there is no great -harm done after all, for as the slug seldom begins its work until the -plant is large and well forward, the tubers underground, though they -may be of smaller size than their neighbours that have escaped the -slug's attentions, are yet sound and wholesome food enough either for -man or beast. We have observed that this particular slug, or a closely -allied species, is also much given to feeding on the stem of the common -fern or bracken, dealing with it just as it does with the potato shaw, -though, to be sure, it finds the fern a rather harder nut to crack; -for the brave bracken, with its firmer contexture of stem, refuses -to bend its head to the ground, no matter the number or direction -of the slug's insidious tunnellings and perforations. If you glance -at a fern clump as you ride along the road or climb the mountain -steep, the yellow, withered fronds of an occasional plant, here and -there painfully conspicuous amid the rich, dark, emerald green of -its healthy companions, tell you where the grey slug--and a nasty, -slimy little wretch it is--is busy at its evil work, drinking up, -like consumption among the human race, the very heart's blood, so to -speak, of the fairest and finest plants it can find. We have found -in our own experience that the best protection of the potato from -its ravages is to give the ground a sprinkling of lime just as the -plants are appearing above ground, about the end of April or beginning -of May. For the early varieties usually planted in our gardens, a -sprinkling of soot is less unsightly and equally efficacious with lime. - -And speaking of the bracken, let us observe that, while it is a -magnificent and beautiful plant, it is, like everything else of -beauty, most beautiful in its proper place. Meet it on mountain slope, -in copsewood covert, or greenwood glade, and you cannot admire it -sufficiently. In the end of autumn, particularly when its graceful -fronds have assumed a certain indescribable tinge of mingled brown -and ruby and gold, a bracken covert is beyond measure lovely. At such -a stage, and in the warm and mellow light of the setting September -sun, it is to ourselves all that an ocean of broom in flower was to -the great Linnæus. If, however, you live in the near neighbourhood -of brackens, you will find that it is apt to creep down from its -proper wild and upland habitat, and to encroach unduly upon your -old grass lands, wherever it can get an undisturbed footing. If you -consult books on the subject, they will tell you that if you cut them -down for a season or two running before they ripen, they will die -away and disappear. With our large, soft-stemmed herbaceous plants, -this method of eradication is sometimes effectual enough; with the -bracken, as we know to our cost, it avails nothing. The roots are so -curiously ramified and intertwined that they will live on and put -forth a new growth year after year, no matter how constantly and -closely you cut and crop them. We gave up trying a plan so futile, -and only hit upon the right way of dealing with them by the merest -accident. Walking along the edge of one of our old grass parks about -mid-June some few years ago, we wished to get hold of a switch or -something similar, wherewith to drive a fractious pony on before us -to the park gate. There was no switch just then at hand, and, without -thinking of it, we bent down, and with both hands pulled steadily and -straight upwards at one of the largest of a luxuriant bracken patch -that skirted the path beside us. To our surprise the plant came up -easily and from the very root, or we should rather say with the very -root attached, long, dark-brown, and something cigar-like in shape -and size. That particular plant, a slight examination satisfied us, -was fairly or literally and for ever eradicated, extirpated. When you -get hold of plant and root, you get all; no other plant can grow in its -stead; no plant, at all events, can honestly call it progenitor. The -thing now was clear; we knew what we had to do, and how simple it -was! One afternoon soon afterwards we called all our people into -that field along with us. In all such cases best lead yourself, -if you would have the thing done right. We pulled a bracken or two -straight up and steadily in their presence, and showed them how it -was extracted, even as a practised dentist, "deacon of his craft," -deals with an offending tooth--root and all complete. They then -set to work along with us, and in an hour or so we had the whole -field cleared of ferns--quite a large cart-load of them--each plant -with its black root attached, all of which were afterwards found -useful as bedding for the pony, and the largest and least broken for -thatch. In that field no brackens have since shown themselves. So, if -you are troubled with ferns, the proper way is not to cut them down, -for they will grow again, but to deal with them as we did, and they -will trouble you no more. There is some trouble about it, no doubt, -though far less than you would suppose, and then, you see, we really -know nothing at this moment worth the having to be had without trouble; -so take the trouble and the good together, and be wise. - -In your sea-shore wanderings, good reader, you must many a time and -oft have witnessed the graceful flight of the tern or sea-swallow, -the handsomest bird, perhaps, that ever saw its own image reflected in -the glassy surface of a waveless sea; and you must have noticed its -sudden dart and dip, now and again, after its prey into the bosom of -the green, unbroken waves. This, of course, you have seen and admired -a thousand times. But have you ever seen the merlin or merlin falcon -(Falco æsalon), perform the same feat? No! Well, we did a few evenings -ago; albeit the momentary immersion in the briny blue was probably, -nay certainly, what the merlin would have avoided if it could. It -happened in this wise: We were engaged on the beach painting our -boat--there are few things but we can put our hand to with more or -less success, always barring shooting, of our deficiency in which we -recently made full and honest confession--when we suddenly heard that -curious and indescribable half-scream, half-cheep, so well-known to -the ornithologist, and which tells him so plainly that the utterer -is a bird--usually a small bird--in dire distress, in constant fear -and danger of its life. Looking round, we saw a merlin in hot chase -of a sandpiper (Tringa hypoleucus), pursuer and pursued circling and -wheeling in their arrow-like flight over the bent some hundred yards -from the margin of the sea. Were it not for the manifest distress of -the poor sandpiper, evidenced by its frequent scream, as if invoking -all the kindly powers of heaven and earth to its aid, we should have -considered it a most beautiful and interesting sight. The merlin was -evidently hungry and in earnest, and we made no doubt at all, for -there was no possible way that we could aid it, that the sandpiper -was distined to be the fiery little falcon's evening meal. But Diis -aliter visum--the gods had otherwise ordered it. All of a sudden -it seemed to occur to the Tringa that if there was the slightest -chance of escape for it, it must be in closer relationship with its -favourite and familiar element, the sea; and to the sea accordingly in -one rapid dart the poor bird betook itself. The merlin, as if aware -that there was now at least a possibility that its prey might after -all escape its clutches, made a magnificent dash after, and just as -the sandpiper was over the sea, reached it, and pounced to strike, -but missed; by the smallest fraction of a single second, a sharp -zig-zag in the Tringa's flight kept it clear of the stroke, and the -merlin, by the force and impetus of its flight, plunged head over -ears into the sea, whence, with draggled plumage and brine-blinded -eyes, it arose with difficulty, and betook itself to a rock ledge -at hand to preen and dry itself, with no other consolation in its -disappointment, probably, than a sotto voce merlin-wise muttering of -the adage, "Better luck next time." The sandpiper, it is needless -to say, was soon a mile away, winging its terrified flight to the -opposite Appin shore. We were glad that the sandpiper had escaped, -that the merlin was disappointed. It is always pleasant to see an -evil-doer baulked in the accomplishment of his evil intentions. And -yet we don't know either. We have called the merlin an evil-doer: -are we entitled so to call him? Was he not as much entitled, could -he have secured it, to have that Tringa for his evening meal, as -we the delicious red rock cod that in an hour or two afterwards we -enjoyed so heartily to our own supper? Let the reader think it over, -and answer the question to himself at his leisure. - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER XLIX. - - The Hedgehog an Egg and Bird Eater?--Bird-catching--"Old - Cowie"--Mackenzie--Lanius Excubitor--The Butcher-Bird or - Shrike--Tea drinking and Sobriety. - - -Audi alteram partem is a sensible maxim, so reasonable in itself, -and mild and deprecatory of tone, that it rarely fails to commend -itself to our sense of right and candour; for if we would arrive -at a right conclusion on any matter in dispute, we must learn to -listen without prejudice to both sides of a question. We can only -hold our own convictions wisely and well, by knowing all that can -be said in antagonism and per contra. The following letter from a -correspondent in London, who writes under the pseudonym of "Observer," -tells rather in favour of those who entertain grave suspicions as to -the morality and harmlessness of our prickly friend the hedgehog, -and, of course, against Mr. Frank Buckland and ourselves. We are -honest enough, however, to give "Observer's" communication in full, -meanwhile merely remarking that, obliged as we are to our correspondent -for his attention, and really interesting note, we are by no means -convinced that the hedgehog is either oviphagous or a bird-killer and -bird-eater. At this date [February 1876], and with all our knowledge -of the animal, we fear that nothing less than the catching of him -in the very act would convince us, any number of uncompromising -and hard-hearted gamekeepers, with "Observer" to back them, to the -contrary notwithstanding. - -"While perusing your interesting article on the hedgehog, some -slight personal experiences of this animal recurred to my mind, and -I therefore thought it might be as well to communicate them to you, -to show that, according to my limited experience, the hedgehog is not -quite such a harmless and innocent creature as you endeavour to make -him, and further, that your practical experiments with the hungry -animals and the eggs are not sufficiently satisfactory to establish -and set at rest once and for ever the hedgehog's innocency. To be -brief: two or three summers ago, while living in the Highlands of -Scotland, and within one hundred and fifty miles of the Highland -capital, about ten o'clock on a beautiful Sunday evening in the -month of June, and shortly after a most genial shower of rain had -fallen to refreshen the young crops, my attention was attracted by -the most alarming and violent cackling of a hen that had just begun -to incubate on two or three addled eggs, or 'nest eggs' as they are -called. Wondering what would be the cause of this noisy demonstration -on the part of the hen, and thinking that probably a thief might be -at hand, I at once repaired to where the hen was. I could see no one -about, but there the hen was, as noisy as ever, looking towards her -nest, advancing apparently to charge some unseen enemy, and then -suddenly making a retrograde movement in the most frantic manner, -without attacking her enemy. On stooping down and peeping into the -corner where the nest was (for by this time it was almost dark), I -observed a round dark object in comfortable possession of the nest; -this was a hedgehog. If I remember well, one of the eggs was broken, -and there was very little of the contents left. This, I am almost -sure, was the case, though I would hardly go so far as to swear to -it at this distance of time. Probably in these circumstances you -will say, 'Then, if you can't actually swear to it, your information -deserves no attention.' However, bear with me a little longer. On -another occasion, on a similar fine evening, about the same hour, -and about four weeks after the above, I heard another hen, which, -with a brood of some eight or ten fine young chickens, had taken up -its night quarters quite near the scene of the first row, making a like -noise. Thinking a cat might be about, and therefore must be the enemy -now, I went up to see what was doing. There the hen was, standing a -short distance from the nest, with only two chickens by her side; the -others could not be seen. On going nearer the nest, there was another -hedgehog in quiet possession. Below him in the nest were one or two -dead chickens; their little heads were crushed quite flat and wet, -as if some animal had been trying to chew the heads. Outside the nest -were two more dead chickens, their heads being in the same flat and -wet condition. The chickens were about a week old, and, so far as I -can recollect, there was no other disfigurement. In the morning two -more live chickens turned up, and the poor hen had to be content with -a reduced brood of four or five instead of eight or ten. The hedgehog -had been sentenced to a violent death, but, fortunately for himself, -made his escape while search was being made for any of the surviving -chickens. During the next summer a duck had laid a number of eggs--more -than a dozen--in a quiet secluded spot at the root of a birch tree, -and which were not discovered by human eye until they were rather -far on in a state of incubation to be fit for use; so the duck was -allowed to keep her eggs in order to hatch them. One night, about 11 -or 11.30 P.M., some of the inmates of the house were disturbed by the -duck coming to one of the doors, making a great noise, and would not -leave. So, to save further annoyance, the servant rose and locked -up poor duck with the other ducks. In the morning the prisoner was -released, and allowed to go to resume possession of the nest, which, -on examination, was found undisturbed, except that two or three of the -eggs were amissing; but this was thought nothing of, and allowed to -pass unnoticed. However, a few nights after this occurrence, the duck -repeated her visit to the house, was in a greatly disturbed state, -and would on no account whatever be pacified; so, as the night was -dark, a light was procured, and the writer, along with a friend, -went to the nest, and found a hedgehog sitting on the eggs. Some of -them were broken, and the nest in a great mess. Outside there was -an empty shell, and a large round hole in it. On this occasion the -hedgehog had to pay the extreme penalty. Mentioning these things -to the people about, the writer was informed that it was understood -generally that hedgehogs destroyed eggs, but it had never been known -to them that they attacked young chickens. However, they had never -given the matter any attention. Perhaps these facts I have related -may be of some use to you in making further inquiries about the -hedgehog. At any rate, you may rely on the truth of my statements, -as they are no hearsay stories, but facts that took place before my -own eyes. Query--Granted that the hedgehog does not eat eggs, then -what was he doing in possession of these three different nests? How -were the eggs broken? What animal killed the chickens, if it was not -the hedgehog? Perhaps a weasel would have done it, but in that case, -would the weasel not have inflicted some serious wound about the -throat, and which would have left some bloody marks?" - -Of some half-dozen bird-catchers, or bird-fanciers, as they prefer -calling themselves, that visit the West Highlands professionally -from time to time, our favourite is Mackenzie, a north countryman, -we believe, as one indeed might readily guess from his surname, -and well enough known, we daresay, in and about Inverness, where -during our last visit we noticed with pleasure--for it is a good -sign of a people--that birds in cages were exceedingly common. "Old -Cowie," another of the fraternity, is a respectable man, with -more knowledge, perhaps, of things in general than any of his -brethren that have chanced to come our way; but for a knowledge -of our native wild-birds, their favourite haunts, food, song, and -individual habits--idiosyncrasies--for a knowledge, we say, precise -and accurate to the most astonishing degree on all those matters, you -may trust Mackenzie, for he is far and away at the head of his class, -positively unrivalled by any one else that we ever met with. Of the -ornithology of books, of ornithology as a science, with its systems, -classifications, genera, and species, he knows nothing, of course, but -he knows every bird you can refer to under some favourite provincial -cognomen, and he knows it so thoroughly that no one could possibly -know it better. It is true that he knows little or nothing but birds, -but he knows them so well (the birds of Scotland), so intimately, from -constant intercourse with them in their native haunts and homes, that -a "crack" with him about them, when once you get him fairly started, -is no ordinary treat to any one so interested in all that concerns -our wild-birds as we are, and have been for well-nigh a quarter of -a century. Remembering that bird-catching is a sort of profession or -trade, by which a livelihood, however precarious, is encompassed, an -affair of demand and supply, with the usual prosaic result of pounds, -shillings, and pence--or rather of shillings and pence without the -pounds, these last seldom tickling the palms or troubling the purses -of the order--one would expect to find the bird-catcher a dull, -mechanical rogue, a mere bird-trapper and bird-seller in the dearest -market, with no more of poetry or sentiment about him than about a -white-aproned poulterer. This, however, is far from being the case, -at least not always nor even frequently, for Mackenzie, "Old Cowie," -and others that we could name, really and truly love birds for their -own sakes, without a thought frequently of their market value, and you -can gather as you converse with them from their frequent references -to the delights as well as the désagréments of their profession, -that they are by no means either unconscious of or indifferent to the -poetry of birds and bird life in their native haunts, whether on moor -or mountain side, by solitary tarn or stream, in copse and wildwood, -amid the wildernesses of inland mountains or by the margin of the -sea. We never knew any one so correctly and minutely conversant with -the language of birds as Mackenzie is. By the language of birds, we -do not mean their song, for song is no more the ordinary speech of -birds, though most people think it is, than it is the ordinary speech -of men. Mackenzie, it is true, can imitate the songs of our different -species of warblers with great taste and exactness, but when we say -that he is conversant with the language of birds, we mean not their -song, but their little notes, abrupt chirpings, and faint whisperings, -indicative to the initiated of the particular thought or motif at the -moment predominant in the feathered breast, whether love or terror, -or mere apprehension of danger, or envy, or rivalry, or combativeness, -or notes of warning, or call of invitation to its kind--all these, -and for every separate species, Mackenzie imitates with such consummate -skill, exactness, and dexterity, that he not only deceives an ordinary -listener when off his guard--he has more than once deceived us, though -familiar with birds and bird-notes all our life--but he deceives the -very birds themselves, as we have often witnessed with no little -admiration and delight. That much of this imitatory work is done -ventriloquistically renders it all the more effective, as well as -more difficult of attainment by others of the fraternity ambitious of -catching and cultivating on their own behalf so desirable a gift. This -knowledge of bird language is, of course, of great value to him as -a bird-catcher, and accounts for his success at seasons seemingly -the most inopportune, and in localities the most unlikely, that an -ordinary bird-catcher would probably search in vain for a single -specimen of goldfinch or aberdevine, linnet or redpole, or anything -else in the shape of a valuable song-bird. In passing and repassing -our place, this wonderful bird-man, as our servant girl styles him, -always calls with such bird news and rare specimens as he thinks -most likely to interest us. The other day he came in a state of great -excitement to inform us that just as he had got several siskins on his -limed twigs, a bird--not a hawk of any kind, he was certain--dashed -out of a copse at hand, pounced upon one of the siskins, and bore -it off and away before his very eyes, ere he could do anything--so -sudden and unexpected was the attack--to prevent it! Momentary as -was his glimpse of it, however, Mackenzie's quick and practised -eye enabled him to take in the marauder's predominant colouring, -its shape and size, and mode of flight; and on describing these to -us, we at once exclaimed, a butcher-bird--a shrike! The description -could apply to no other British bird-killer that we could think of; -and that we were right we have no more doubt than if we had the culprit -already in our cabinet. Mackenzie was in a rage. "You are right, sir; -it must have been a butcher-bird, for now I recollect having once seen -a specimen in Ayrshire. I'm bound, however, to lay salt on yon chap's -tail before I am done with him; and you, sir, shall have him, dead or -living. I swear it by all my illustrious ancestors, the Mackenzies of -Kintail!" he exclaimed, with a melodramatic air that was very amusing; -and shouldering his cages and other paraphernalia of his craft, he -departed with a touch of his cap and a bow that showed that amongst -birds he had learned good manners and politeness to an extent that -as a navvy or hired labourer he would probably be all his lifetime -very much a stranger. He has not returned to us as yet, so we suppose -he is still in pursuit, detective-wise, of the shrike; and it had -better look out, for Mackenzie is just the man to succeed sooner or -later in laying salt upon its tail, as threatened. The butcher-bird, -or shrike, is the Lanius excubitor of Linnæus, an exceeding rare bird -in the West Highlands--in Scotland, indeed--so rare that we never -saw a living bird of the order, only stuffed or otherwise preserved -cabinet specimens. It preys on small birds, mice, insects, &c., -which it does not tear up from under its feet like the hawk tribe, -but fixes it on a thorn-prickle, or in the fork of a small branch, -and then tears it to pieces with its bill, which is very strong, and -toothed and hooked at the point. When Mackenzie catches the offender -he is now in search of, we shall have something more to say about -the butcher-bird, if butcher-bird it proves to be. - -We have noticed, by the way, that all bird-catchers--all at least -with whom we have had any acquaintance--are prodigious tea-drinkers, -not sipping the grateful beverage from cups, observe, but literally -drinking it in bowls'-full. They have assured us that they find it -the best thing they can take, not merely as a refresher, but as a long -sustaining element in their dietary throughout their many wanderings by -flood and field. And like all large tea-drinkers, bird-catchers are a -very sober class of men; that they should be so is indeed a necessity -of their craft, for a knock-kneed, shaky-handed, blear-eyed, nerveless -bird-catcher would be as unfit for the successful prosecution of the -labours incident to his profession, as would a similar physical wreck -be for the successful manipulation of his tools in the more minute -and delicate departments of mathematical instrument making. - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER L. - - Superstition amongst the People--Difficulty of dealing - with it--Examples of Superstitions still prevalent in the - Highlands--Cock-crowing at untimely hours--Itching of the - Nose--Ringing in the Ears--The "Dead-Bell"--Sir Walter - Scott--Hogg--Mickle. - - -We live in an age of intense literary and intellectual activity; the -tendency of the highest culture of our time [March 1876], however, -it is complained, being towards materialism and scepticism, the -latter either in the form of indifferentism or absolute negation. The -great mass of our people, however--the uneducated or only partially -educated--stand at the other extreme; for whilst it is complained that -those of the highest culture believe too little, or don't believe at -all, the common people, it is averred, believe too much. And it is -perfectly true that the latter are indeed superstitious to an extent -of which the mere outsider can have no adequate conception; and yet, -philosophically pondered, there can be no difficulty, we think, -in arriving at the conclusion that of the two evils over-belief -is better than its opposite; that it is better, upon the whole, -to believe too much than too little. A man with any form of creed, -even if it be false, may be led in time to believe aright, whereas -the case of the utterly creedless man is well-nigh hopeless. For -our own part, therefore, we do not look upon the superstitions of -our people with such horror and alarm as many well-meaning persons, -clerical or lay, feel or feign when brought in contact with an evil -which, let the philosophers say what they will, has its good as well -as its bad side. We greatly doubt if, under present circumstances, and -in their present stage of civilisation, the inhabitants of Scotland -generally, and of the Highlands, with which we are best acquainted, -in particular, would be at all so religious and devout a people as -they are confessedly allowed to be, were it not for the substratum -of superstition that underlies their better founded beliefs and -religious aspirations. Constantly en rapport with the supernatural -and the unseen, they are more disposed than they might otherwise be -to believe in and shape the conduct of their daily lives in accordance -with the doctrine of a future world, with its rewards and punishments, -feeling and acknowledging in a very remarkable manner, even through -the medium of their superstitions--if erroneous, yet not always -degrading--the full force and meaning of what the apostle speaks of in -a general way as "the powers of the world to come." An interesting -paper might be written in support of the theory here indicated, -a theory that to some may seem a paradox, but meanwhile it must lie -over for some more fitting occasion. Such a task requires time; for of -all the delicate tasks that the philosophic mind can concern itself -with, the most delicate is the endeavour to discover and recognise -the spirit of good things in things evil, and of reason in things -unreasonable. Meanwhile, it is the truth, account for it as we may, -that notwithstanding the multiplication of ministers and churches, -schoolmasters and school boards, "Increase of Episcopate" Bill, and all -the rest of it, there is still a lively undercurrent of superstition -amongst our people, do what you can to stamp it out or otherwise; -and that those who believe in it most implicitly are by no means -the worst people either. An example of a very common superstition -is the following:--A few evenings ago, at an accidental gathering -of some half-dozen families in a house in our neighbourhood, the -subjoined conversation took place with regard to a recent death in the -parish. Mrs. B.--"I suppose you have all heard of the death of X. L., -poor fellow. It was reported he was better yesterday, but I knew last -night that I should hear of a death some time to-day, and knowing of -no one else at present unwell, I decided that it must be X. L.'s death -that was foretold me." Mrs. C.--"Foretold you! how?" Mrs. B.--"Why, -thus: long after dark last night, as I was busy getting the children's -supper, the cock, that had gone to roost as usual, suddenly stood -up on his perch, and crowed a long and loud crow that startled us -all; and I made Katie say the Lord's Prayer, for I knew that a cock -crowing at an hour so untimeous meant a death in our neighbourhood, -and nothing else. On inquiry, I find that X. L. died just about that -time." Mrs. D.--"I knew it too, that there was to be a death in our -neighbourhood. My nose itched so much all last evening, and the itching -was on the left nostril side, and I was certain that it was to be the -death of a male that I should hear of. I had not, however, heard that -X. L. was so very poorly." Mrs. F.--"While at breakfast this morning, -I could hardly eat anything, so loud and persistent was the ringing -in my ears. It was just like the tolling of the church bell." Now, -the reader must remember that these were highly respectable women, -of some education, and in every way of good repute; and yet they had -no idea at all that there was anything silly or wrong about their -superstition, of which they made no secret, and which was reported to -us immediately afterwards by one who was present. Now, we ask, if one -was present and heard it all, how could he best deal with the believer -in this superstition, a superstition so wide-spread that it may be said -to be universal. Any attempt at getting angry and driving it out of -them by the mere force and weight of your superior enlightenment would -be a false move, sure to be attended by no good results. Laughing at -the whole affair might perhaps be a more successful way of dealing -with the nonsense, but in neither way would you be likely to make -them look at the matter from your particular light and point of -view. Admitting that it was rank superstition and sheer nonsense, -there was this one good thing attending it; it led to much moralising -on the shortness and uncertainty of human life, and the unabidingness -generally of all sublunary things; and the superstition was perhaps -more effectual in this direction than would be the most carefully -composed sermon. But the philosophic aspect of the case apart, let -us inquire why the facts mentioned should be held as premonitory of -death. The crowing of the cock has probably some connection with the -denial of St. Peter, and in it, too, may perhaps be traced a faint -remnant of the bird divination of the ancients. As to the itching -of the nose, we confess our inability to say anything satisfactory, -beyond the fact that in old times anything unusual and difficult to -be reasonably accounted for in man's physical economy, as well as -in his mental, was at once attributed to a supernatural cause. Of -this the ringing in the ears, as well as the itching in the nose, -must be held to be an example. The well-known ringing in the ears -does come with extraordinary suddenness, as we have all experienced, -and when it comes makes the most staid philosopher look foolish and -out of sorts for the moment. Its connection with death is perhaps to -be traced to the passing bell of early and mediæval times, and to the -tolling of bells at funerals even in our own day. Sir Walter Scott, -who knew the peasantry of Scotland so well, and sympathised so much -even with their superstitions, has a happy reference to the death-bell -in a passage in Marmion:-- - - - "For soon Lord Marmion raised his head, - And, smiling, to Fitz-Eustace said-- - 'Is it not strange, that, as ye sung, - Seem'd in mine ear a death-peal rung, - Such as in nunneries they toll - For some departing sister's soul? - Say, what may this portend?' - Then first the Palmer silence broke - (The livelong day he had not spoke), - 'The death of a dear friend.'" - - -On this passage there is an interesting note very apropos to our -subject:--"Among other omens to which faithful credit is given among -the Scottish peasantry is what is called the 'dead-bell,' explained by -my friend James Hogg to be that tinkling in the ears which the country -people regard as the secret intelligence of some friend's decease." He -tells a story to the purpose in the "Mountain Bard," p. 26-- - - - "O lady, 'tis dark, an' I heard the dead-bell, - An' I darena gae younder for gowd nor fee." - - -"By the dead-bell," says Hogg, "is meant a tinkling in the ears, -which our peasantry in the country regard as a secret intelligence -of some friend's decease. Thus this natural occurrence strikes many -with superstitious awe. This reminds me of a trifling anecdote which -I will relate as an instance. Our two servant girls agreed to go an -errand of their own one night after supper, to a considerable distance, -from which I strove to persuade them, but could not prevail. So, after -going to the apartment in which I slept, I took a drinking-glass, -and coming close to the back of the door, made two or three sweeps -round the lips of the glass with my fingers, which caused a loud, -shrill sound. I then overheard the following dialogue:--B.--"Ah, -mercy! the dead-bell went through my head just now with such a knell -as I never heard." C.--"I heard it too." B.--"Did you indeed? That -is remarkable. I never knew of two hearing it at the same time -before." C.--"We will not go to Midgehope to-night." B.--"No! I -wouldn't go for all the world! I warrant it is my poor brother, Wat; -who knows what these wild Irishes may have done to him?" Tinkling, -however, which both Scott and Hogg use, is not the word. It is more -of a ringing, so clear and loud at times, that we once heard a little -girl say "there was a bell in her head." Our authorities above confess -that it is called the "dead-bell" amongst the peasantry, and by bell -they mean not a tinkling but a loud and very pronounced sound, as if -of solid metal striking hollow metal, and causing the bell-sound with -which we are all so familiar. Mickle, in his fine ballad Cumnor Hall, -has a reference to the same superstition:-- - - - "The death-bell thrice was heard to ring, - An aerial voice was heard to call, - And thrice the raven flapp'd its wing - Around the towers of Cumnor Hall." - - -To sneer at such beliefs, and pooh-pooh them superciliously and -from a philosophical stand-point, is easy; it has been tried -with but little satisfactory result. The true philosopher will -be more and more disposed, the more he deals with such matters, -and the closer he examines them, to fall back on Hamlet's dictum, -"That there are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of -in our philosophy." So ineradicable is superstition of this sort, -that you may battle with it long enough--we have battled with it for -years--and find it at last by no means the weaker of your assaults, -no matter how cautiously and circuitously you select to deal with it. - -After an unusually mild and open season, we have just had a taste of -downright winter in the bitterly cold gales and drifting snow-storms of -the last few days. Our weatherwise old folks are of course delighted -that winter in proper dress and form has come at long last; better -late than never, is the cry, and a bright and warm spring in due -course is confidently predicted. - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER LI. - - Welcome Rain in May--Plague of Mice in Upper Teviotdale--Arvicola - Agrestis--Field-Mice in Ardgour--How exterminated--A Singing - Mouse--Farmers' Mistakes--Mackenzie the Bird-Catcher. - - -After rather more than six consecutive weeks of weather so hot and dry -and parching [May 1876], that we were all rapidly becoming hide-bound, -brown-skinned, and sapless as so many Egyptian mummies, the rain -came at last; came, too, not deluge-wise, and with a splash and a -roar as is generally the case after such long-continued droughts, -but calmly and softly as falls the dew of sleep on infant eyelids, -and without a breath of accompanying wind. The earth, long agape -with thirst, drank it in greedily, and vegetable and animal life -alike rejoiced in the grateful quiet as well as in the copiousness -of the blessed rainfall. You should have heard how, when the first -drop began to fall, our wild-birds welcomed it. All at once, in wood, -and copse, and hedgerow, they burst out into loud and gladsome song; -nor did they cease when the rainfall was heaviest, as they usually do, -but kept it up far into the night, the merle and song-thrush now and -again breaking out afresh as if they couldn't sufficiently express -their joy, even after we had retired to rest, and well pleased lay -listening to the music of the raindrops as they fell plashing and -pattering from the eaves. Even our least accomplished songsters took -their share in this concert, and if they did not, simply because -they could not, sing as well as their more gifted companions, they -made at least, as the Ancient Mariner has it, a pleasant "jargoning," -therein, dear reader, teaching us all this lesson, that if our gifts -prevent us from playing any great or prominent part in the orchestra -of life, we are yet all the same to perform the parts assigned us as -best we may, and always cheerily and with a will. Next morning again -was calm and mild and beautiful as a summer morning could be, while -the country already looked so fresh and green and lovely that one -could hardly believe that such a marvellous change had taken place -in the course of a single night; so potent, in such circumstances, -is the kindly touch of the Rain King's-magic wand. - -The plague of mice in Upper Teviotdale is a very serious matter indeed, -and the most energetic steps should at once be taken in order to -check and, if possible, stamp out the evil. These little rodents -multiply with incredible rapidity, and if they are to be fought -à l'outrance and conquered, the sooner the campaign is opened, -and the more vigorously it is conducted, the easier and speedier -will be the victory. The short-tailed field-mouse is fortunately a -rare animal in the Highlands, though we have occasionally met with -it in the districts of Lorne, Lochaber, and Badenoch. We have also -seen it on the lands of Drumfin, near Tobermory, in the island of -Mull. Once seen, it is easily recognised again. Its colour, instead -of being of the ordinary "mouse" shade of grey or brown, is red, -or reddish; its head is more bullet-like and rounder, and its snout -blunter than in any of its congeners; and its tail ends abruptly, -giving that appendage a docked and stumpy look, as if by accident or -design one-third of its proper length had been cut off in early life; -and hence its common designation of short-tailed field-mouse. Every one -who has tried to capture a common domestic mouse with the bare hand, -knows to his cost how quickly and sharply it can bite; but the little -field-mouse never once attempts to bite the hand that holds it. If -pounced upon while running about in the rough bent grass in which it -usually shelters, it no sooner feels itself fairly enclosed in your -hand than it seems to become paralysed through sheer excess of terror, -and you may handle it for a time and turn it about in all directions -as if it were a stuffed specimen, without its once offering to escape -or defend itself in any way. If, however, you let it slip from your -hand to the ground, it is at once off and away, and, search for it -as you may, you are never likely to see it again. For its size the -Arvicola agrestis is a very powerful little animal, particularly -strong in the neck, shoulder, and fore-arm, a provision whereby it -is enabled to dig and burrow its way underground when necessary, with -all the ease and rapidity almost of the mole itself. It is very fond -of water, which it drinks often and greedily, and hence it is that -it is never found at any great distance from a plentiful supply of -its favourite beverage. One that a lady friend of ours kept for some -months in a cage, drank, more or less, she assures us, during every -half-hour of the day, and if its supply at any time happened to fail -by any neglect or oversight of its mistress, the thirsty little toper -squeaked querulously and nibbled angrily at the bars and wood-work -of its cage until its water-dish was replenished. When it had drank -enough, it frequently stepped into the dish, and frisked about in such -a manner as to wet its breast and lower parts of its body thoroughly, -when it would retire to a corner of its cage in which was a little -raised platform, and, sitting up on its quarters, squirrel-wise, -rub and cleanse its head and face with both paws in a very comical -manner. It was fed on succulent grasses and lettuce leaves and endive -from the garden, of which latter it was very fond. It also ate bread -steeped in milk, and apples, both raw and boiled. It finally met the -fate of most cage pets; the cat got at it and killed it. We have only -heard of one instance in which the Arvicola became so numerous in the -West Highlands as to become a pest that was only got rid of with great -trouble and no little expense. This was on the estate of Ardgour, in -our own parish. About seventy years ago, the late Colonel Maclean, -grandfather of the present proprietor, planted the greater part of -the woods that now make the place so beautiful--at this moment one -of the loveliest spots in all the Highlands. Shortly after the young -trees were planted, the field-mouse made its appearance, and in a -few months so rapidly increased its numbers, that they were on all -hands declared a nuisance that must be got rid of at any cost. Their -favourite food in this instance seemed to be the tender rootlets -and bark of the smaller trees, thousands of which straightway -shrivelled up and died away owing to the little rodent's unkindly -attentions. Colonel Maclean, who was eminently a man of action, -vowed that such a state of things was beyond all bearing, and must -be put a stop to at all hazards. With a host of willing workers, -he straightway set about what for a time appeared a hopeless task, -employing every conceivable means that wit or ingenuity could devise -in order to check, and if possible stamp out the mouse plague. Having -heard of a plan adopted under similar circumstances in the Dean and -New Forests in England, holes and trenches were dug in all directions, -and pitfalls ingeniously constructed, in which very soon scores of -the marauders were caught and killed every morning. The cats in every -house in the hamlet, purposely kept for the time on short commons at -home, were locked out at night and allowed to cater for themselves; -and they fell upon the rodents tooth and nail, doing such execution -that they soon became sleek and fat as cats were never known in -Ardgour before or since. At convenient spots large fires were kindled, -on which cauldrons of water were boiled, kettles of which, as hot -as hot could be, were poured into such burrows as showed signs of -habitation, with a view to scalding the inmates to death. This was -generally done in the early morning, to make sure of finding the enemy -at home, for the field-mouse, like most of the rodents, is mainly a -nocturnal feeder. The keepers had orders for the time to cease annoying -vermin--so-called--of any kind, the result being that in a short time -stoats, weasels, ravens, grey crows, hawks, and owls abounded, and -these, you may believe, did yeoman service in the campaign; they were -the cavalry that swept off the scattered fugitives. By such active -measures the enemy was exterminated in a single season, and never -again, so far as we know, showed face on Loch-Linnhe-side. It was -Colonel Maclean's opinion that the mice were imported; that the first -pair, or more, perhaps, were brought from the south in the straw and -moss and matting in which the roots of the more valuable and delicate -plants and trees were packed. From the above our Teviotdale friends -may perhaps gather some wrinkles that may be of use to them in their -efforts to relieve themselves from their field-mouse invasion. - -And writing of the field-mouse reminds us that amongst our own domestic -mice there is at present what is generally, if somewhat erroneously, -called a "singing mouse." About a fortnight ago it attracted the -attention of a young lady, who heard it at midnight, and thought at -the time it was the twittering of some bird at her bedroom window. It -was afterwards heard by others, and finally by ourselves, as we sat up -late one night writing. That it was not a bird we were certain, and -guessing the truth--for years ago we had become acquainted with the -notes--we watched and waited until the "jargoning" seemed to proceed -from a closed press immediately behind our chair, which we gently -opened, and had a glimpse of the performer, who vanished, of course, -but soon again began its voluntary, or involuntary rather, behind the -wainscoting in another corner of the room. It was, in short, a "singing -mouse;" an involuntary music, however, with which the poor mouse would -gladly dispense if it could. Birds, as we know, are sometimes incited -to song by sheer rivalry and rage; sometimes by poignant sorrow for -the loss of a mate, or the despoliation of a nest of its treasure of -eggs or callow young; but as a rule a bird sings from pure joyousness -of heart and exhilaration of spirits. When a mouse "sings" it is owing -to a laryngeal disease, a sort of fungoid growth in the throat, which -obstructs the breathing, causing the animal to emit the notes which -have been foolishly called "singing," and which, the clearer and more -bird-like they become, only in truth indicate the more advanced stages -of a malady which invariably ends in death. Our attention was first -directed to this matter by a distinguished comparative anatomist, -the late Professor John Reid of St. Andrews, whose curiosity as a -naturalist was unbounded, only equalled by the untiring patience -and care and caution with which, step by step, he wrought out his -conclusions. It is difficult to describe the "singing" of a mouse thus -affected to those who have not heard it for themselves. It may be said -to be in the main a half-whistle half-wheeze, now and again interrupted -by some rapid clicking notes of a somewhat metallic ring, as if a small -bit of stick was being smartly and rapidly, but very lightly, struck -on the very extremity of the treble string of a guitar or violin. Our -"singing mouse," in whom, poor thing, we were all much interested, -has not been heard for a night or two; it has probably gone the way -all mice, as well as men, must go when respiration becomes impossible. - -An amusing paragraph is at present going the round of the papers -about a farmer who, having ordered a hogshead of nitrate of soda for -agricultural purposes, got hold somehow of a hogshead of sugar instead, -which latter, in ignorance of its quality, he sowed broadcast over his -land. Now, at length aware of the mistake, he is said to be waiting -and watching with much curiosity as to how the saccharine crystals -turn out as fertilisers. The story, which may be true enough, reminds -us of an amusing mistake of a somewhat similar nature into which one -of the crofters in our neighbourhood very innocently fell some years -ago. He had attended the Fort-William June market, and amongst other -things brought home with him, on his return in the evening, two small -parcels, one containing one pound of turnip seed, the other the same -quantity red clover seed. Next morning he was up bright and early, -and as an exercise that might perhaps help to drive away a headache, -not uncommon on such occasions, he resolved, the day being favourable, -to sow his turnip and clover seeds. He commenced, and, very unwittingly -you may believe, sowed the turnip seed broadcast among the barley -braird, and the red clover seed in the drills prepared for the -turnips! The blunder was only discovered several days afterwards, -when the seeds began to sprout after their kind, and matters were -rectified as the case best allowed; but poor Donald never heard the -last of the joke, which, when followed beyond certain limits, used -to make him exceedingly angry. - -Mackenzie the bird-catcher, facile princeps the king and head of his -order, called upon us to-day, and made us a present of the bonniest -little redpole we ever set eyes upon. Its colouring is exquisitely -beautiful, differing from the usual plumage of the species in having -several little snow-white spots irregularly sprinkled over the coverts -of either wing, and its neck and breast of a mingled shade of pink -and crimson of exceeding richness, that makes it far and away the -handsomest bird of the order we ever saw. At first we took it for a -foreign bird, or a bird that had been artificially painted in order to -deceive us, and it was only on handling and thoroughly examining him -that we became convinced that the bird was a genuine, though curiously -coloured, specimen of its species, and that we had it before us just -as it was captured some days ago in Glentarbet, near Strontian. Of all -our cage-birds, the redpole (Fringalla linaria, Linn.) is perhaps the -soonest reconciled to loss of liberty and prolonged captivity. Our -little pet, whose cage hangs almost within arm's length of us as we -write, seems perfectly happy, and is already singing with all his -might, a goldfinch in another cage beside him busily scolding him all -the time for having the impudence to sing so well, or sing at all, in -interruption of his own louder and clearer notes. Cage-birds properly -treated are a great amusement, and, if you pay them due attention, -evince in a very short time a degree of intelligence so remarkable -that you only wonder, philosophising craniologically, how so much of -it can find lodging-room within their little heads. - -Mackenzie is commissioned to go to Norway and Sweden this summer in -search of a lot of crossbills, grossbeaks, and other birds, for a -wealthy gentleman in the south, who is a great bird-fancier. Let him -only once get to their habitat, and Mackenzie is just the man to lay -salt on the tail of any bird that flies. - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER LII. - - Tourist Grumblers; how to deal with them--Sea Fishing--Superstition - about a Gull--Josephus--Story of Mosollam and the Augur. - - -With a bright sun overhead, at noon as nearly vertical as it can -ever be in our latitudes, and a steady, kindly warmth, and no lack -now of genial showers, our West Highlands are now [June 1876] -beautiful exceedingly, almost at the height and heyday of their -summer loveliness, while crops of all kinds are at their present -stage all that we could wish them. Tourists in considerable numbers -are already on the move; and coaches and steamers alike are beginning -to carry daily increasing crowds of passengers, so delighted with the -attention paid them, and the elegance and comfort of their surroundings -whether afloat or ashore, that a crack with them, as you chance to -forgather of an evening, is always pleasant, for the essentials of -a pleasant conversation are there to begin with; they are pleased, -and you are glad that it is so; the rest is all smooth sailing. You -meet an occasional grumbler of course; a wretch, miserable himself, -and anxious to make every one else miserable also. An extraordinary -curiosity, in truth, is your thorough grumbler. The faculty would -probably explain it all away by a reference to dyspepsia or some -serious derangement of liver. From frequent and close study, however, -of a not uninteresting phenomenon, we are rather inclined to think -otherwise. In the genuine grumbler the disposition to look at things -obliquely, and from a false or foreshortened point of view, seems -ingrained in and interwoven with his very nature. In everything he says -and does you detect a perverseness of disposition and a thrawnness -of temper that you cannot believe to be temporary or accidental, but -a veritable part and portion of the man's being from the first. The -old dictum about the poet, which after all is only true in a sense, -is true of the grumbler absolutely. Grumblerus nascitur, non fit; he -was born a grumbler, and if you put his mother in the witness box, -and she chose to entertain you with reminiscences of his infancy, -her testimony, we venture to say, would go to show that he kicked -and screamed at existence and all the surroundings of his nursery at -the earliest moment possible for such an exhibition, and that this -disposition to hit out right and left indiscriminately at every one and -everything, grew with his growth and strengthened with his strength, -till in fulness of time he became the thoroughbred grumbler who sat -opposite you at the table d'hôte a week ago, or rode with you atop -of the coach yesterday. With spur on heel, and once fairly in the -stirrups, your grumbler is ready to tilt, in dearth of anything more -substantial, at his own shadow. Any attempt to mollify him, however -well-meant and carefully worded, only makes him worse. Do what you -can, he remains a grumbler still--implacable, unappeasable. As we -generally meet with him here, his grievances for the most part are as -to the steamer or coach by which he has travelled, and the food that -he has had to eat. Try to put him right according to your view of it, -and you are sure to catch it hot and heavy for your interference in -a matter which he declares concerns him alone, and yet with which he -has been pestering everybody that would for a moment listen to him all -the way from Oban to Staffa, or from Ballachulish to Tyndrum. Give -a man of this kind the softest cushion in the coziest corner of -Cleopatra's barge; the box seat in the victor's own chariot in a -triumphal procession; a first and full supply of all the delicacies -at the table of Apicius of De rê Culinaria fame, and he would still -be the same fault-finder and grumbler. One way of shutting up the -inveterate grumbler, very effectual in most cases, is to fool him to -the top of his bent--to give him line, in the piscatorial sense. If -he complains that his seat on the coach is hard and the rails behind -hurt his spine, assure him at once, in a confidential sort of way, -that you believe the axle is horribly twisted, and is as likely as -not to snap in twain just about half-way down the next incline. If he -complains of the dust, give it as your candid opinion that the Road -Trustees should be heavily fined for not allaying the nuisance by a -properly arranged water-cart service all over the Black Mount. If he -complains that the steamer trembles in all her timbers, and the steam, -as it escapes at the calling-places, makes a horrible noise, agree -with him at once, hinting that an explosion of the boiler is by no -means an unlikely event through the carelessness of the coal-begrimed -stoker, who is just then cooling himself at an open air-hole, and -wiping his brow with a wisp of tow. If at dinner he abuses the soup, -ask him how it could possibly be good, seeing that the water whereof -it is made was taken a week ago, by means of a tarry bucket, from -the third lock of the Crinan Canal? Does he abuse his salmon? Shake -your head sadly, and point with your fork towards the round of beef, -hinting that at this season cattle sometimes die a natural death, and -then their carcasses are to be had for a third of the market price -of good beef. Go with him and beyond him in this sort of way for a -little, and he will soon see that you are only poking your fun at him, -and the chances are that he will cease troubling you at all events -with his complaints for the rest of the day. After all, however, -it is but justice to observe that even your inveterate grumbler is -not infrequently a much more amiable person than he seems; kind, too, -after a fashion, and amazingly liberal when a proper occasion offers. - -Fish are now becoming plentiful along our shores, and with a little -trouble in selecting a very early or a very late hour, and watching -the state of the tides, they may be caught in considerable numbers -with rod and line; and irrespective of their value as an article of -food, the pastime is by no means contemptible even as a matter of -sport, though, sooth to say, many people live within sight of the -sea for years, and know little or nothing of the amusement that may -be had so readily and cheaply in this way. Those caught at present -are principally whitings, lythes, and seths, or coal-fish, with an -occasional sea-bream. This last is reckoned a somewhat coarse fish, -but it is by no means bad eating when properly cooked and served, -and you recollect as you eat that the price of mutton is something -like a shilling the pound, and frequently not to be had even at that. - -More prone, perhaps, to superstition in every form than their more -inland brethren, our maritime population have quite a number of freits, -forms, fancies, and superstitious observances, most of them only -silly and harmless enough, in connection with all their sea-fishing -adventures, whether with rod, net, or line. A few evenings ago, as a -party of four, douce and decent men enough, were preparing to launch -their boat to go a-fishing, we chanced to pass along the beach, -joining them, as has long been our habit in such circumstances, -for a few minutes' conversation. Suddenly, as we were speaking, -a large black-backed gull (Larus marinus) wheeled towards us out of -a flock that were lazily circling about at a considerable distance -seawards. Right towards us, as if on some express and special errand, -came the gull, one of the largest and most beautiful of sea-birds, -until he was within less than fifty yards of us, when by a change of -poise, and a scarcely perceptible movement of wing, he slowly swept -round our heads, screaming the while as only a black-backed gull can -scream--a wild and eerie note that may be heard for a league. The -gull's business, whatever it might be, was so manifestly connected -with one or all of us, or with the boat, perhaps, round which we -were standing on the beach, that it could not but attract attention -and provoke comment from the most unobservant. After circling some -half-dozen times round and round and right above our heads, the bird, -with one loud parting scream--and yet scream is not the word either; -the Gaelic guileag is nearer it--and with an upward oblique sweep, so -beautifully easy and effortless that it seemed the result of a simple -act of volition rather than a grand pas in volitation, flew away to -join his companions, who were now heard clamouring over a coal-fish -goil or boil, as the Highlanders call the ebullition of the surface -play of a shoal of sea-fish. The men looked at each other and at us -meaningly; and at last out it came. "Small chance," said one of them, -"have we of anything like a good fishing this evening: better for -us to stay at home." "Why so?" we quietly inquired. "Well, sir," -was the response, "I never knew a gull act in that sort of way but it -meant bad luck in fishing, and the non-accomplishment of one's errand -afloat, whatever it might be." The rest agreed with the speaker, but we -persuaded them, after some trouble, to proceed to their fishing-ground, -to give it a trial at least; and when, at a much later hour, they -returned, we were on the beach to meet them, and found that after -all they had made an excellent fishing. There and then we sat down -beside them as they were dividing their fish into equal shares, and -told them the following story from Josephus, Against Apion. Quoting -from Hecatæus, the great Jewish historian proceeds:--"As I was myself -going to the Red Sea, there followed us a man, whose name was Mosollam; -he was one of the Jewish horsemen who conducted us. He was a person -of great courage, of a strong body, and by all allowed to be the most -skilful archer that was either among the Greeks or barbarians. Now, -this man, as people were in great numbers passing along the road, -and a certain augur was observing an augury by a bird, and requiring -them all to stand still, inquired what they staid for. Hereupon the -augur showed him the bird from whence he told his augury, and told him -that if the bird staid where he was, they ought all to stand still; -but that if he got up and flew onward, they must go forward; but that -if he flew backward, they must retire again. Mosollam made no reply, -but drew his bow and shot at the bird, and hit him and killed him; and -as the augur and some others were very angry, and wished imprecations -upon him, he answered them thus:--'Why are you so mad as to take this -most unhappy bird into your hands? for how can this bird give us any -true information concerning our march, which could not foresee how -to save himself? For had he been able to foreknow what was future, -he would not have come to this place, but would have been afraid lest -Mosollam the Jew would shoot him as he has done, and kill him.'" The -men, who had listened most attentively, smiled as we concluded, and -agreed that Mosollam must have been a very sensible man; and vowed -that for the future they would attach no more meaning or importance -to a circling, screaming gull, than to the chirping of a wren in the -elder bushes at the cottage doors. And what after all, the reader -may ask, brought the black-backed gull circling and screaming over -your heads? Well, from its great and immense spread of wing, it was -probably the leader and guardian of its own particular flock, and as -such thought it his duty to reconnoitre in person, in case the five -men about the boat on the beach should have sinister intentions as -to him or his. His scream or guileag was just his way of telegraphing -the results of his observations to his distant companions; or he may -have been scolding us in his own manner for our manifest intention -of leaving the land, and invading what he considered his own proper -element and territory, the sea. A more prosaic explanation, if it -please you better, is perhaps to be found in the fact that the boat -was internally largely incrusted with fish scales, and smelt strongly -of fish, and that that, to one of his sensitive olfactory nerves, was -the only or main attraction, the rest being mere idle curiosity, from -which birds are no more exempt than men. One thing only is certain, -if difficult to be accounted for, and that is, that individual gulls -frequently act as this gull acted when a boat is about to put off from -the shore in the fishing season, which being occasionally connected, -as must sometimes happen, however accidentally, with an unsuccessful -fishing adventure, gave rise to the silly superstition which, by -the aid of Flavius Josephus, we were able in this instance at least -successfully to combat. - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER LIII. - - Heat in Mid-August--Early Planting and Sowing--Over-ripening of - Crops--Medusæ--Stinging Jelly-Fish--The amount of solid matter - in Jelly-Fish. - - -The unprecedented heat of mid-August lasted with us here precisely -a fortnight [September 1876]. Beginning on the 10th, it continued -with little intermission or mitigation till the 24th, when the wind -suddenly chopped round to the south-west, our rainy quarter; the sky -assumed the threatening aspect, an ugly interminglement of black and -dark grey, with which we are only too familiar, and rain began to fall -with that dour, persistent pattering, and aimless horizontal drift, -which sufficed to convince the most careless and unobservant student -of our West Highlands meteorology that it was neither a thunder-plump -nor a mere passing shower, but a determined and regular "set-in" of -probably some days, or, it might be, of some weeks' duration. The -last ten days have accordingly been more or less wet, and as the -corn over the country generally is about ripe for scythe and sickle, -many an anxious eye is cast heavenwards with wistfullest glance, -morning, noon, and night, in hopes of a change of wind and a return -to fair weather. We are about tired of advocating the advantages of -early sowing to our friends of the West Highlands. We are content -with once again stating the fact that, having sown early, our own -corn was cut in ripe and good condition on the 17th August, and -safely housed without having once been touched by a single drop of -rain. A single armful of such well-preserved provender is worth a -whole back-burden of the washed-out and sapless stuff that usually -goes by the name of "wintering" and "winter keep" in this and the -neighbouring districts. It is proper to say, however, that, though -so difficult to move to an earlier date in corn-sowing, our people -here have of recent years been more amenable to good advice in the -matter of potato culture. This year a large breadth of potatoes -was planted in March and early April, and the consequence is that -these are now nearly ripe, and of the best quality, stronger too, -and in every way better able to resist the attacks of blight--absit -omen!--should it unfortunately come their way, as we hope it won't; -while the still green and half-ripe tubers of later plantings would -probably suffer largely under a similar visitation. Not even when -it is quite ready for the sickle do people generally cut their corn -timeously. Too often it is allowed to ripen overmuch, till the straw -is over-dry and sapless, besides the inevitable loss of grain in the -stooking and subsequent ingathering. It is very much the same with -hay. As a rule, it is left too long uncut, by which its quality is -sadly deteriorated. Nor is this mistake in haymaking peculiar to -the west coast, but much too common over all the country. Even in -Morayshire and about Inverness the hay crop is, as a rule, allowed -to ripen over-much. If it were cut ten days or a fortnight earlier -it would weigh more, smell sweeter, be more nutritious, and better -every way than under the present system, which allows it not merely -to ripen, but to more than ripen, to wither up and lose most of its -sap and seed before it is cut and secured. It may, perhaps, be laid -down as an axiom that root crops cannot be allowed to ripen over-much; -cereals and grasses most certainly may. - -Cavill's recent attempt to swim the Channel, in rivalry of Captain -Webb's feat, was a failure, and had medical aid not been so opportunely -at hand when the swimmer, comatose and unconscious, was lifted out -of the water by his friends in the attendant lugger, the venture, -noteworthy, though unsuccessful, for its pluck and daring, would -probably have resulted in something far more serious than mere -failure. In accounting for his non-success, and his state of extreme -exhaustion when taken out of the water, Cavill largely blames the -jelly-fish or sea-blubber, through perfect shoals of which he had -once and again to force his way; and although he wore a thin jersey, -which must have been some protection, enough of the bare skin was -exposed to contact with the cold, clammy, slimy Medusæ, to make him -exceedingly nervous and generally uncomfortable throughout a full third -of the distance covered. The number of these Medusæ to be met with at -certain seasons all along the British shores is enormous; and towards -the close of summer and early autumn they are more abundant, perhaps, -in our western lochs than anywhere else. Looking over the boat's side -on a fine day, we have seen them in our own Loch Leven in incalculable -numbers, thick as autumnal leaves in Vallambrosa, or the stars in the -Milky Way--of all shapes and sizes too, swimming about aimlessly by -a slow but constant contraction and expansion, regular as the beat -of a pendulum, of their umbrella-like bodies, fringed like a lady's -parasol, with a close edging of thread-like cilia, and frequently -having long, pendulous tentaculæ attached to their under surface, -giving the healthy animal, when busy in its proper element, a very -curious appearance. Though the jelly-fish is in constant motion--in -perpetual motion, so to speak, for it never rests, that ever we could -discover, either by night or day--its progress in the sea is rather -due to the set of the wind and the tide-drift than its own exertions, -its incessant labours of contraction and expansion being performed -not so much for the purpose of shifting its place in the water, as -for the purpose of grasping and sucking in at each contraction such -microscopic organisms as form its food. It is true that in a calm and -tideless sea its motions cause it to be carried in the direction of -the contracting beat an inch or thereby at a time, but this progress -is clearly accidental and unintentional, so far as it is concerned, -the great object of the incessant contraction and expansion being, as -we have said, not so much change of place as the capture and insuction -of its ordinary food. The Medusæ swim at all depths in the sea, but -as a rule they seem to prefer feeding within a fathom or two of the -surface, particularly if the sun is bright and the sea is perfectly -calm. The mouth of the Medusa is in the centre of the under concave -surface, and the animal's modus operandi in sweeping in its food -towards this orifice is not difficult to understand. Stretch out your -right hand, with its back or knuckle surface uppermost. First expand -the hand and fingers to their full extent, then contract so as almost, -but not quite, to close the hand, not quickly, but very firmly and -decidedly. Continue in this way opening out and closing the hand and -fingers, not quite so fast as a second's beating pendulum oscillates, -and you have the perfect analogue, or more properly the homologue, -of the Medusa's action. If you can fancy an orifice or mouth in the -centre of your palm, and your fingers to be the fringe surrounding -the jelly-fish disc, and if you perform the action indicated in a -tub or pool of water, into which a little flour or fine oatmeal has -been thrown to represent the animalculæ forming the Medusa's food, -so much the better: you will at once understand how the animalculæ -and food particles are swept and sucked in by the current created -towards the animal's mouth, or gastric cavity, as it might be more -properly termed. When one or more of these animals comes in contact -with a swimmer's skin, the sensation is anything but agreeable, a -feeling of indescribable loathing and horror being engendered by the -touch of the cold, gelatinous mass, that you are yet conscious is not -dead matter, but an animated pulsating organism. But though contact -with the ordinary Medusa is bad enough, there is another species -of jelly-fish not uncommon in British waters at certain seasons, -accidental contact with which is a very serious matter indeed. These -are known to naturalists as Acalephæ, from a Greek word signifying -a nettle. They are not so numerous on our shores as the true Medusa, -but they grow to a much larger size, some of them measuring eighteen, -twenty, or even twenty-four inches across the disc, and thick and heavy -in proportion, large enough, when fresh from the sea, to fill a tub -of considerable size. If one of these wretches comes in contact with -the human skin, it is found to sting like a nettle, only much more -severely, and hence its scientific name. A swimmer stung by contact -with an acaleph feels not only the cruel smarting of the nettle-like -and burning stinging, but he is in a few minutes frequently overcome -by a feeling of languor and sickness, that lasts for a considerable -time, and is sometimes only relieved by a violent fit of vomiting, -just as if he was a sufferer for the moment under the influence of -a powerful emetic. We have more than once been stung by an acaleph, -and can speak feelingly on the subject. Only last season a boy on -the opposite coast of Appin was, while bathing, so severely stung -by one or more acalephs that he was for some days confined to bed, -seriously ill, and under medical treatment. This power of stinging -seems to be a wise provision in the economy of the animal, for the -purpose of rendering helpless and numbing its prey, to make them easier -of capture and subsequent deglutition, just as the Mysotis, or electric -eel, with like purpose puts to a very important and practical use its -electro-battery shocks. The true acaleph may generally be distinguished -from the more harmless jelly-fish by having a good deal of colour in -its tissues, being striated with red, pink, and pale green, which -gives it a very beautiful appearance as under the bright sunlight -it floats about, contracting and expanding with the regularity of -a pendulum beat, near the surface of the calm, unruffled sea. The -amount of solid matter in a jelly-fish of any kind, however large, -is amazingly small. Within a thin, filmy skin, they are entirely made -up of water, with a few threads spider-net-wise running through it to -keep it in shape, like the ropes on which was stretched the immense -velarium of an ancient amphitheatre. After a summer storm we have seen -the sea-beach covered with a considerable wall of jelly-fish that had -been cast ashore, a yard in breadth, perhaps, and a couple of feet in -height; and before the evening of the next day, during which the sun -shone out hot and clear, the whole had melted away like so much snow, -leaving only a thin film of gelatinous matter, which, if gathered -together in a single heap, wouldn't have filled our venerable but still -useful "Clachnacuddin" hat. There is a good story told of a farmer, -somewhere from the altitudes of Druimuachdar, who took some land by -the sea, not a hundred yards from our own neighbourhood. One morning -he saw the beach covered with a deep ring of jelly-fish as above, -and being an eident body, he got his horses and carts in order, and -commenced to cart them afield, in the belief that they could not but -prove excellent manure for the land. After working at the job nearly -half a day, a naturalist, who chanced to pass the way, astonished the -farmer not a little by assuring him that some hogsheads of sea-water, -and a single pocket-handkerchief full of manure from the nearest -dung-heap, would fitly and fully represent all that he had on his -land in the fifty odd carts of jelly-fish that had cost him so much -labour! The story goes on to say that that particular farmer looked -askance at jelly-fish ever afterwards, and didn't care much to have -their natural history discussed in his presence at kirk or market, -at bridal or funeral, all his life long. The fact is, that a mass of -jelly-fish sufficient to load the "Great Eastern" wouldn't probably -yield a peat creelful of solid serviceable matter for any purpose -or purposes whatever. The jelly-fish is known to the Gaels of the -Hebrides and West Coast by a curious name--Sgeith an Róin for the -smaller ones, that is, the seal's vomit, and for the larger ones, -Sgeith na Muicamara, the whale's vomit, in the absurd belief that -they were the vomits respectively of the uncanny Sealchs, of whom -the Highlander had always a superstitious dread, and of the largest -of marine monsters, after they had gorged themselves to repletion on -a shoal of extra-oleaginous herring or mackerel. These names for the -jelly-fish are doubtless absurd enough, and yet, in defence of the -good old Gaelic name-givers, let us observe that they are not a whit -more absurd than the Caprimulgus (goat-sucker) of Linnæus as applied -to the night-jar, or the Frugilegus (corn-gatherer) of the same high -authority as applied to the common rook. - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER LIV. - - Approach of Winter--Contentedness of the People--Poets and - Wild-Bird Song--Differences in the Colouring and Markings of - Birds' Eggs--Late Nest-Building--Anecdote of Provost Robertson - of Dingwall, Mr. Gladstone's Grandfather. - - -The meteorological vaticinations of our weather-wise octogenarian -neighbours have met with abundant and speedy verification in the -storms and heavy rains of the past ten days [October 1876]. For the -month of October, however, the weather continues wonderfully mild; -even with wind and rain the temperature is higher than it usually -is at this date; an occasional fine day, besides, encouraging us in -the hope that winter proper, winter with its thousand discomforts, -its snow and sleet, its cold and cheerlessness and gloom, may be -checked in his advance for some weeks to come, by the uncompromising -attitude of an autumn so lusty of life and bright of eye, but, -despite an occasional overclouding of countenance, it seems yet but -only little past its prime. Agriculturally the season is being wound -up satisfactorily enough; crops have, upon the whole, been secured in -very fair condition, and although the herring fishing in our lochs -as elsewhere has proved a failure, our people are prepared to meet -the coming winter in comparative abundance, and with a cheerfulness -calculated to disarm the gloomy season of more than half its -terrors. The poet has philosophically observed that man - - - "Wants but little here below, - Nor wants that little long"-- - - -where "wants," you will observe, has to be read in a restricted and -peculiar sense: the plain prose of it being, that for all his essential -needs man requires but little, that merely to live a little suffices, -and that, on account of the shortness and certainty of human life, even -that "little" is soon dispensed with--is no longer required. Granted, -O Poet! but not the less true is it that during man's allotted time -the "little," however small, is indispensable all the same, and any -sensible diminution or curtailment of his "little" will make a man, -however abstemious and sober of life, just as miserable as his fellow -who has to bewail the diminution, not of his "little," but of his -abundance. Nothing pleases us in our people here more than their -constant cheerfulness in the enjoyment of their "little." They would -doubtless take more if they could get it, and rejoice exceedingly if -their "little" could be converted into an abundance; but meantime they -have the good sense to be contented, and even happy with what they -have, and that, too, to a degree that no one perhaps less intimate -with them than we are could believe possible in the circumstances. - -Our "Indian summer," that seems still to linger, as if loth to -leave us to the tender mercies of a winter that is likely to prove -unusually inclement, has been a season of unwonted jubilation to our -wild-birds; for, guided by an instinct that is a monitor sufficiently -to be depended upon in ordinary circumstances, they had already, -each after his kind, prepared themselves, not for equinoctial -warmth and sunshine, but for equinoctial storms. All the more, -then, from its very unexpectedness, did they feel bound to rejoice -in the incalculable blessing of twenty free days of midsummer warmth -and calm at a time when, in the usual course of events, the tempest -should have been howling through the woods and careering over moss and -moorland, they the while glad to cower for shelter and safety in such -crevices and corners as might be best suited to their purpose. At -and after the autumnal equinox, in ordinary seasons, the only one -of our native wild-birds that sings, or attempts to sing, a fairly -finished song, is the redbreast; though, to be sure, the wren also -sometimes strikes up an occasional voluntary when we least expect it; -the lively Lilliputian in his song, as in everything else, being a -creature of unbridled impulse, guided solely by the whim and caprice -of the moment, as if in utter contempt and disregard of the method and -order by which other birds are fain to regulate the conduct of their -lives. Not the redbreast alone, however, backed by the intermittent -melodies of the wren, who, Sims Reeves-like, only sings when the -humour seizes him, obstinately silent when you would expect him -to sing, and as obstinately singing when you would expect him to -be silent; but the blackbird also, and chaffinch, the corn bunting -and goldfinch, have been of late delighting us with their music, in -volume and compass and exquisite finish hardly inferior, though so -out of season, to their most successful performances in spring and -early summer, which, be it noted, is the season for wild-bird song -at its best. Our poets, as if by tacit arrangement and preconcert, -do all in their power to impress us with the notion that June is not -only the month of flower and leaf, but the great bird music month as -well, a mistake partly owing, no doubt, to their ignorance of bird -life, but mainly, we suspect, arising from the fact that "June" and -"tune" are such pat and perfect rhymes, that the poet dealing with -summer glories and summer joys never fails to pounce upon them for -instant use, without a thought of their inappropriateness, so far -at least as bird music is concerned. It is true that with reference -to bird song our poets are also liberal enough with their "May" and -"lay," which, as nearer to the mark, is somewhat better. Better still, -however, would be April, if our poets would be correct, to which we -might perhaps suggest "trill" as a rhyme; not a good rhyme to be sure, -even if "April" could be decently placed at the end of a line (as in -the old "valentines") without being misaccented; but we ornithologists -could forgive the halting rhyme and barbarous accent for the sake of -the correctness of the "colouring" otherwise. The truth is that our -best wild-bird music time may be set down as properly belonging to the -eight weeks between the 15th March and the 15th May. Let our poets, -then, look out for and find appropriate rhymes for "March," "April," -and "May." It is their business and not ours; but for any sake, in -dealing with wild-bird music and summer joys, let them beware of the -fatal facility of the rhymes of "June" and "tune." Poets and poetry -apart, however, it was extremely interesting to watch the conduct of -our wild-birds during our late "Indian summer." For the first few days -they fluttered about and chirped interrogatively amongst themselves, as -if in a state of doubt and indecision, if not of actual bewilderment, -evidently puzzled what to say to it, but, upon the whole, of opinion -that it was too good to last. Last, however, it did, longer than -either they or we thought at all likely, and before the end of the -week the chirping had developed into actual song, and the fluttering -into a business-like activity, as if they had fully thought it over, -and had decided that it was best, proverb wise, to be making some -hay while the sun shone. Our attention was first of all attracted -by a pair of house sparrows passing and repassing our study window, -now with a stray feather, now with a bit of straw in their bills, -with which they disappeared in a clump of ivy high up on a corner of -the garden wall. On climbing by the aid of a small ladder to inquire -what they were about, we found that they were repairing a nest, -in which they had already reared a brood this season, and which the -youngsters, in their unfledged and awkward babyhood, had considerably -damaged and generally knocked out of shape--"into a cocked hat," in -fact, as they say across the Atlantic. With a care and painstaking, -however, which our "featherless biped" architects, in executing their -repairs on our stone and lime habitations would do well to imitate, -the sparrows in a surprisingly short time got their house in order, -and in a few days thereafter we found a couple of eggs in it. These -eggs we took away, for it would only be cruel to allow a brood to -be hatched at this season, only to starve and die before they could -possibly be strong enough of wing to shift for themselves. And here, -in connection with these same sparrow eggs, let us record a fact -that seems to have hitherto escaped the notice of our oologists -(egg-students), even the most lynx-eyed and observant of them, -and it is this: that in the case of such of our wild-birds as breed -more than once in a single season, the eggs of the second laying, -and of the third, if third laying there is--of all eggs, in short, -dropped after the first laying--are, as a rule, either entirely free -from spots, or, if they have the spots, they are so faint as to -be scarcely distinguishable. In the case of the sparrow eggs, for -example, taken from the nest as just related, they were perfectly -spotless, pearl-white and clean as they could be. Even under a -lens of considerable power they presented hardly a trace of spot or -colouring in any form. And yet take an egg from a sparrow's nest in -early spring--from the first laying that is--and you will invariably -find it to be spotted or blotched with a perfect constellation, so -to speak, round its larger end of greyish and dusky brown dots and -markings. On due examination, we suspect it will be found to be the -same in the case of all our "spotted" egg layers; and to this fact, -that has been so unaccountably overlooked hitherto, is to be mainly -attributed, we make no doubt, the many dissensions and disagreements -that so frequently have set our best, and otherwise good-natured, -oologists by the ears. In another particular, too, the eggs of later -laying differ from those of the first--in the thickness, namely, of -the shell; that of the later laying being thinner and more fragile in -the handling. On account of their fragility, indeed, it is extremely -difficult to blow without damaging an egg of this kind, taken from -one of our smaller bird's nests towards the close of the season. All -which, the faintness of colouring in or total absence of the spots, -with the thinness, transparency, and general fragility of the shell, -is doubtless due to an impaired vitality, quoad hoc, consequent upon -the prodigality of energy thrown into the loves and labours of rearing -the first or spring brood. - -On this occasion, too, a pair of blackbirds began a nest de novo, -either despising the labours of mere repairing, or having no old -nest, perhaps, to repair. The blackbirds, however, wiser than the -sparrows, left off before a third--the lower flat, so to speak--of -their building was finished; as if they had duly thought it all over -again, and had wisely concluded that it was better to wait till spring, -it being manifestly too late to finish a nest and attempt to rear a -brood any more this season. We fully expected to see the redbreast, -and wren perhaps, also attempt the rearing of an "Indian summer" -brood; and had they tried, they might, perhaps, have succeeded, -for both birds in such circumstances select cozy corners about open -sheds and out-houses, where they are pretty safe from the assaults -of the weather, and can always find suitable food in more or less -abundance. So far as we could see, however, they never once thought -of anything like love-making or nidification, contenting themselves -with thoroughly enjoying the calm and sunshine while it lasted, as -was abundantly, and, so far as we were concerned, very delightfully -evidenced by the frequency of their loud and lightsome song. - -A recent paragraph in the newspapers about Provost Robertson of -Dingwall, whose daughter was Mr. Gladstone's mother, reminds us of an -anecdote which was told us some years ago by the late Mrs. Morrison of -Salachan, in Ardgour, an old lady whose reminiscences of the people -of the Hebrides and mainland of Ross-shire, about the beginning of -the present century, were extremely interesting. Provost Robertson -of Dingwall--Mr. Gladstone's grandfather by the mother's side--on -one occasion paid a visit to London, for the first, and, we believe, -the only time in his life. His friends in the metropolis put him under -the charge of a gentleman, a far-away cousin of his own, who undertook -to show him all the wonders of the great city, and look after him -generally. The worthy Provost was thoroughly Scotch, and dressed after -a somewhat outré fashion, à la Dingwall of the period. Walking one day -along one of the streets of London, a little in advance of his guide, -the worshipful Provost's appearance and tout ensemble attracted the -attention of some half-dozen street arab boys, who, always ready for -a "lark," desired no better pastime for the present than to chaff -and poke their fun at the Chief Magistrate of one of Scotland's -most distinguished northern burghs. The Provost, indignant at the -impudence and rudeness of the young rascals, at last turned round, and, -shaking his silver-headed cane at the offending gamins, exclaimed, -in tones loud enough to be heard by his guide, who was almost choked -with laughter at the scene, "Ah, you young vagabonds; if I had you -in Dingwall, wouldn't I make you pay for your davayrshon!" The term -"diversion" was then used, both in English and Gaelic, all over the -Highlands, as indeed it still is to some extent, in the sense of -fun with a backbone of mischief to it; rough horse-play, in fact, -accompanied by what is now-a-days commonly called chaff. - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER LV. - - Spring--Hood's Parody of Thomson's Invocation--The excellence - of Nettle-Top Soup--Cock-crowing--Birds'-nesting--Professor - Geikie--Curious Story of an old Pipe-Tune. - - -This is the 1st of May [1877], sacred in the ecclesiastical calendar to -St. Philip and St. James the Apostles. In ordinary speech we may now -call it summer, we suppose, and it is to be hoped that it may prove -summer indeed, not in name merely, or astronomically, but veritably, -that is, meteorologically as well; such a summer as delighted our -boyhood with its bright sun and cloudless skies, or with such clouds -only as served to modify and temper a brilliancy and heat that might -otherwise have been excessive; the earth verdant and flower-bespangled -under foot and around, the very floods and trees of the forest, in -the grand hyperbole of Scripture, "clapping their hands for joy:" -the singing of birds the while, jubilant and joyous, in copse and -wild-wood, its fitting bass, the murmur of innumerable bees; while the -fluttering of splendidly coloured butterflies, as they danced along -in many a lawless zig-zag and merry-go-round, constantly verified -and bore witness to the beauty of the Roman poet's famous line, -which may be rendered-- - - - "Lo! fluttering past, flowers swimming in liquid air!" - - -However the summer may turn out, of the spring at least but little -good--speaking of course meteorologically--can be said. It was, -quoad hoc, an imposture, and nothing else, and always reminding us -of Hood's wicked parody on the opening lines of Thomson's big and -bow-wow invocation to the season:-- - - - "'Come, gentle Spring, ethereal mildness, come!' - O, Thomson, void of sense as well as reason; - Why in our ears such arrant nonsense drum? - There's no such season!" - - -To housewives in rural districts we offer a "wrinkle" that may be -found of use at the present season, when most vegetable gardens may -be ransacked in vain for delicacies that shall be common enough at -a later period. While rambling through the district a few days ago, -we chanced to drop in upon a widow lady and daughter, who occupy a -nice little cottage. They were going to sit down to an early dinner, -and although we were not very hungry, and could have fasted till -a later hour, not merely without inconvenience, but from choice, -yet on their earnest invitation we sat down along with them. The -fare consisted of soup and a boiled fowl, the latter fat, tender, -and good as a fowl should always be, and the soup was simply -delicious. A green vegetable of some kind floating thickly in it, -gave it a relish and gout that was very remarkable, and we asked what -it was. "Nettle-tops, sir," was the answer, and had we not been told, -it is probable that we should have guessed and blundered long ere -we could hit upon it. But not only can nettle-tops be thus utilised -as an admirable condiment in soup at this season, but they may also -be served up asparagus-wise, and, to our taste, are every whit as -good. In this latter form we have eaten them often, and, as Johnson -said, after swallowing several platefuls of Scotch broth, in reply -to Boswell's observation--"You never ate it before?" "No, sir, but -I don't care how soon I eat it again." And so say we invariably when -we have finished a dish of nettle-top asparagus. After our nettle-top -soup it occurred to us that there might be more truth in Goldsmith's -remark about the French than he was perhaps aware of, for he meant -it as satire, that they can roast a sirloin if they only had beef, -and prepare "ten different dishes from nettle-tops." - -We had occasion to be up and about very early this morning, not, -however, for the purpose of washing our face in May dew, although -the morning was very beautiful, and the dew lay plentiful enough, -and pearl-like on grass and birchen bough, but in order to go on what -some may think an even sillier errand, to wit, a birds'-nesting. For -this sort of thing the earlier the hour the better at this season, -and as we mounted the coppiced slopes which we proposed searching, -the sun was beginning to gild the loftiest peaks of Glencoe with -purple and amber and gold, and all the cocks in the hamlet, as if at -a preconcerted signal, were cheerily greeting the rising god, or if -their thoughts were more mundane and prosaic, as perhaps they were, -you may interpret the crowing of each individual chanticleer as some -one else did before you in some such lines as these-- - - - "The cock rose in the morning; - He called his favourite hen, - With a cockle-do-doo, and a how-d'ye-do, - And how-d'ye-do again." - - -In the economy of birds, the most important labours are those of -nest-building and incubation; and owing to the wintriness of the -spring, we were quite prepared this morning to find matters in -a decidedly backward state throughout the length and breadth of -bird-land, wherever we might wander. We were not, however, prepared -to find things in anything like the sad plight in which we actually -found them; for in no district of the remotest Highlands, we venture -to say, are the agricultural labours proper to man at this season so -backward as are their own proper labours this year amongst our native -wild-birds. Usually at this date nine-tenths of our birds have already -completed the labours of nidification, and with some species even -incubation is far advanced, if not actually completed. The results -of our morning's ornithological ramble may be very briefly stated. Of -thirteen nests discovered, four only contained eggs, and even of these -four only one had its proper complement, that of a song-thrush, namely, -which contained five bonny blue eggs, spotted with black at the larger -end, a number rarely, if ever, exceeded. In a merle or blackbird's nest -there were only two eggs, instead of the usual complement of four or -five. A chaffinch's nest had only one egg, whereas four is the proper -number; while in the nest of a greenfinch, there was also only one -egg instead of five, and that one, from certain signs known only to -the initiated, we decided had only been laid yesterday, or even early -this morning--perhaps shortly before our visit. Of the remaining nests, -a few were fairly completed, and ready for their egg treasures at any -time, but the greater number were only partially finished, and in their -unfinished state had suffered so much from sleet and wind and rain, -that we much doubt if their builders will have anything more to do -with them, for it is a curious fact, that with such rare exceptions -as only serve to accentuate and emphasise the rule, all birds prefer -building a new nest from the very foundation to occupying an old one, -or making the slightest repairs on one that has met with any serious -injury. And this, too, you will please observe--a bird never improves -in his architecture and never declines. He builds to-day neither -better nor worse than did his ancestors a thousand or five thousand -years ago. The sense or instinct that taught him to build of certain -materials and of a certain form, long before Homer was born or Troy -was besieged, is the same sense or instinct still. Nothing added; -nothing subtracted. From all we have seen, we should say that the -annual addition to bird life in our country will be considerably -smaller than the average. Even first broods will be so late that -second hatching is out of the question. Bird-song, however, will -last longer into the summer, and begin again earlier in autumn than -in ordinary seasons. - -On a dull day last week we were routed out of our study by a visit -from Professor Geikie, who, accompanied by some half-dozen others, was -geologising in the districts of Appin and Lochaber. In such a place as -this, it was impossible but that they should find much to interest them -geologically and otherwise; and we were glad to hear them all say that -they were much delighted with their wanderings. An occasional invasion -of this kind, sometimes, too, when you least expect it, never fails to -do one good. It makes you, nolens volens, shake yourself clear, as best -you may, of the accumulated cobwebs of months, and you return to your -ordinary work not a little invigorated and refreshed by having had an -opportunity of comparing notes, rubbing shoulders, and even crossing -blades--in all friendship of course--with foemen worthy of your steel. - -A lady correspondent writes us from London as follows:--"I was much -pleased with your reference to the old pipe tune. The music I have -long known, but the origin and history of the piece was unknown to -me, nor had I ever heard any of the words attached to it. I agree -with you that all such scraps of information should be collected and -preserved, adding so largely as they do to the interest with which -we Highlanders must always regard our national melodies. I need not, -of course, ask you if you know the very fine pipe tune 'Macrimmon's -Lament,' Cha till mi tuilleadh. When I was a girl in the Hebrides--I -am afraid to say how many years ago--I often heard the following -story associated with this tune. In the island of Mull there is a -large cave which in popular belief reaches right across the island -from the east shore to the west. This cave, in the old times, was -inhabited, so ran the tradition, by a colony of wolves and other wild -animals. No man in consequence had ever the courage to explore its dark -labyrinthine windings. At a wedding party assembled in a hamlet in the -neighbourhood of the cave, its vastness and many dangers became the -subject of conversation. All agreed that no human being could possibly -pass through it and live. The piper of the district was a very brave -man as well as an admirable piper, and in an evil hour for himself, as -it proved, he offered for some slight wager to traverse the cave from -side to side of the island, with a pine torch stuck in the front of his -bonnet to give him light, and playing the pipes all the time. The piper -thereupon entered the cave, playing a lively march, while most of the -wedding guests followed above, led in the proper course by the music, -which could be heard faintly from below. More than half the cave was -traversed, when suddenly the music changed from a brisk march to a -doleful lament. This lament, duly interpreted, told the people above -that things were becoming uncomfortable with the piper; first, that -the pine torch was almost burnt out, and again that his breath was -failing him, while the boldest of the wolves slowly retired before -him, only kept at bay by the flickering of the torch and the sound -of the pipes, but ready to spring upon and devour him the instant -the torch should be extinguished and the music of the pipes should -cease. It was then that the doomed piper played Cha till mi tuilleadh' -so mournfully--'I will return no more!' And this too-- - - - 'Mo dhìth, mo dhìth, gun trì lamhan; - Dà làmh 's a phiob, 's làmh 's a chlaidheamh.' - - ('Alas, and my great want, that I have not three hands, - Two for (playing) the pipes, and one to wield my sword.') - - -If he had only a third hand he thought he could manage to kill the -wolves that were every instant becoming bolder, as if they knew he -must fall into their jaws at last. The last notes caught by the people -above were known to mean-- - - - ''Si ghall' uaine 'shàraich mi, - 'Si ghalla' uaine 'shàraich mi!' - - ('It is the green bitch wolf that most harasses me!') - - -And then the music ceased, and they knew that the poor piper had been -torn to pieces by the wolves. Such is something like the story I used -to hear in connection with the big cave in Mull and the well-known -lament, more than fifty years ago." - -The cave referred to is on the estate of Lochbuy. So far as it has -been explored, its length is over 500 feet, with a breadth of some 25 -feet, and a height of 40. It is proper to say that the people of Skye -claim the whole story as belonging to their island. The piper was a -Macrimmon; the cave is pointed out near Dunvegan, and the story of -the wolves and the piper's sad fate is just as likely to be true of -the one island as of the other. Our own opinion is, that so far as -there is any truth in the story, it must be located in Skye rather -than in Mull, although our friends in the latter island will perhaps -be angry with us for saying so. - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER LVI. - - Rain in Lochaber--An Apple Tree in bloom by Candle-light--Mackenzie - the Bird-Catcher--A Badenoch "Wise Woman" spitting in a Child's - Face to preserve it from the Fairies! - - -"It never rains but it pours," and nowhere is the familiar adage -in its utmost literalness truer than in Lochaber. During a long -protracted drought of nearly a couple of months' duration [June -1877], we were constantly calling for rain; and no wonder, for the -earth was hard and hide-bound as an Egyptian mummy; sheep and cattle -finding little more to gather on the parched uplands than if they -were nibbling at the bulge of an ironclad laid up in ordinary. For -full five and twenty years--so far back, eheu and alas! do our own -individual meteorological records extend--we have had no May month so -persistently ungenial and cold; nor, when one comes to think of it, -is it much matter of surprise, for we have just been reading that -in the North Atlantic, within a few hundred leagues of the British -shores, and up to the very margin of the Gulf Stream, a ship recently -arrived in port had to fight her way through quite a continent of -drift ice, with occasional icebergs "from two to three hundred feet -in height." With such grim, hyperborean neighbours on the one hand, -and a keen-edged east wind on the other, it was impossible that it -should be otherwise than cold and uncomfortable all round. On the 26th, -however, came the long-looked-for change, the wind came slowly round -to S.S.W., rain began to fall, and the effect was magical. There -was instantly a blanket-like kindliness and a balminess in the air -that was delicious. The birds, that a little before could only chirp -dolorously, burst out into loud and jubilant song, the cattle lowed -in their pastures, wild-flowers seemed to laugh with quiet delight, -and the very boom of the big waves as they broke on the beach had a -pleasant music in it. It has continued to rain more or less ever since, -so that with regard to mere personal comfort one is ready to cry "Hold, -enough!" but so far as the interests of agriculture and pasturage -are concerned, not a drop too much has fallen. The fact is that, -frequent as is the complaint about what people are pleased to speak -about as our superabundant rainfall, we require it all. We question -if a diminution of our annual rainfall by a third, say, or even by -a fifth of its amount, would, from a practical and utilitarian point -of view, be any improvement, but the reverse. A shrewd south country -shepherd, with whom we had a long crack on Saturday, was right when, -speaking of the rain, he remarked that "it would be a puir country -for sheep at ony rate, if we had much less o't frae year's end -to year's end." How ill the drought of April and May agreed with -us here may be understood from the fact that there was an unusual -amount of sickness amongst the people; while the leanness of sheep -and kine bore sad and emphatic witness to the scarcity of succulent -pasture, and the general backwardness of the season is to this moment -noticeable from our window as we write, for neither the lilac nor the -hawthorn is yet in bloom, nor are potatoes, even the earliest planted, -any more than just becoming discernible in regular drills. We should -say that vegetation is generally quite a fortnight later than usual, -and only an exceptionally fine summer and early autumn can bring -about a fairly seasonable harvest-time. Dum spiro, spero, however, -is a good maxim, and we shall hope that, even if harvest is late, the -ingathering may be all the more pleasant and abundant. The drought, -however, and persistent east wind, it is but fair to confess, were -rather favourable than otherwise to the fruit trees of all kinds in -garden and orchard. Bud and blossom were, to use a military term, held -in check until after the middle of May, thus escaping the night frosts -usual in the early part of the month. All sorts of fruit trees and -berry bushes are consequently only now in full bloom, and a large fruit -crop may very confidently be looked for, though it may be a little -later than usual in attaining to perfect ripeness. Did you ever, by -the way, good reader, look at an apple tree in full blossom on a calm, -dewy night by candle-light? Recently we had occasion to go into our -garden towards midnight in search of a bird that had escaped from his -cage during the day. Coming under a large apple tree in full bloom, -we held up the open lantern in our hand and peered a-tiptoe among -the branches in hopes of getting a sight of the foolish runaway. Him -we did not find then, but the apple tree, bending under its weight of -blossoms "dew besprent," was the most beautiful thing we ever saw, and -we called everybody about the place to come and look at it, and they -all agreed that the sight was as beautiful as it was new to them. If -you have an opportunity try it for yourself, and you will thank us -all your life long for calling your attention to a thing of beauty, -which the poet is not wrong in assuring you "is a joy for ever." - -We didn't get our bird in the apple tree, but we were in great good -luck notwithstanding, for who chanced to come the way next morning -but Mackenzie the bird-catcher, who soon discovered the runaway's -whereabouts in a neighbouring copse, and whistled him back to hand -as easily as a shepherd whistles back his truant collie. It is a -goldfinch, a magnificent singer, whom we have long had as a cage-bird; -and being unaccustomed to liberty, it was all the easier enticing him -back to his cage, although we much doubt if any man in the kingdom -could have done it so immediately and with such unfaltering confidence -in his own power to do it as Mackenzie, who knows wild-bird music -better than any one else we ever met, and can imitate it in its every -twist and turn, chirp or cheep or chant, so deftly and unmistakeably as -to deceive the birds themselves, each after his kind, the severest test -to which such an accomplishment could be put. If there be any truth in -the old doctrine of metempsychosis, Mackenzie, having shaken off the -"mortal coil" of his present form, is pretty sure to reappear as a -rock-linnet, redpole, or goldfinch. Like an honest man, who knows and -acknowledges the value and force of an Act of Parliament, he hadn't -on this occasion much to show us, but what he had was in part at least -interesting, and captured in early spring. One curiosity was a linnet -with one wing pure white, which he would insist upon was a different -species from the ordinary linnet, because he had caught so many with a -sinister or dexter, one or other, wing white or variegated. We fought -a hard battle in trying to convince him that it was a mere accidental -bit of colouring, due probably to some hurt received in its downy -days, or at all events before its first moult; and made it no more a -different species than an accidental hurt, which causes a man to go -lame, makes him anything else than a specimen of homo sapiens all the -same. Arguing, however, with men of Mackenzie's stamp is rather uphill -work. He listened, to be sure, with a politeness and attention which -seems to us to be inseparable from the character of the true practical -naturalist, and seemed to give acquiescence in all we asserted, but -we shouldn't wonder a bit if he remained of his own opinion still. A -rather rare bird was a specimen, in excellent condition and feather, -of the grey crow, at one time quite a common bird along the shores -of the West Highlands, but owing to the incessant war waged against -them by shepherds, gamekeepers, and vermin-trappers, now become so -rare that we stopped our pony to have a good look at a pair that we -saw the other day near Strontian, at the head of Loch Sunart. If you -want a specimen of any British bird, just commission Mackenzie to get -it for you. He will only bring you a specimen that is perfect of its -kind, and if you only give him time he will succeed in getting it, -even if he walked a thousand miles in the pursuit. - -With reference to our explanation of the term study applied to a small -plateau, a well-known spot at the top of Glencoe, a correspondent -writes as follows:--"You do not seem to be aware that study is the -word in common use in Lowland Scotland for an anvil as well as amongst -the unlisping Celts. I wonder you forgot Burns' well-known lines-- - - - 'Nae mercy, then, for airn or steel; - The brawnie, bainie, ploughman chiel, - Brings hard owrehip, wi' sturdy wheel - The strong forehammer, - Till block and studdie ring and reel - Wi' dinsome clamour.'" - - -We are much obliged to our friendly correspondent. The quotation -proves that the Lowland Scotch as well as the Highlanders have a -difficulty with the lisping sound of th, preferring the simpler and -more natural sound of d. - -A gentleman from Badenoch greatly amused us the other day by his -account of a certain superstitious observance on the part of a "wise -woman" in his neighbourhood. The gentleman's wife was sitting with -her baby, only a few weeks old, in her lap. It was of course a marvel -of a baby; for bigness and beauty the finest baby, like all babies, -that ever was seen, and of which its parents were naturally and very -excusably as proud as proud could be. The "wise woman" of the place had -called to see the child, and congratulated the parents on their good -luck. The crone got a chair opposite to that occupied by the happy -mother, while the father looked on and smiled with becoming dignity -and pride. As the old woman was looking at the child, it chanced to -yawn, bored probably by the amount of attention paid to it, and getting -sleepy. As it yawned, the old woman got up from the chair, and walking -over to the "infant phenomenon," coolly and deliberately spat in its -face! The mother was horrified; the father in a rage asked what the -deuce she meant by spitting in his son's face? The old lady quietly -answered that the yawn was owing to an evil influence at that moment -at work with the child, and her spitting in its face was the readiest -and most effectual way of saving it from one or more of the mischievous -tricks which ill-natured fairies are so fond of playing off on babies -that are "beautiful exceedingly," and more especially when they are -overmuch petted and bepraised by their parents and friends. The "wise -woman" was at once liberally supplied with the refreshments usual -on such occasions, and as soon as possible dismissed, care being -taken the while not to offend her, which might have been a serious -matter for baby and all concerned. It is not a little curious that -although in all countries to spit at one is expressive of the utmost -detestation and contempt, yet in the superstitions of the Lowlands -of Scotland, as well as in the Highlands, to spit on a person or -thing, under certain conditions and circumstances, is supposed to be -counteractive of evil influences, and therefore a highly commendable -act. We have seen a woman spit on the nets in a boat as it left the -shore, to ensure a successful fishing; and when hand-line fishing, -a man who has had little luck and is getting impatient, as he baits -his hook afresh, spits on it before dropping it again into the sea, -in the belief that good luck attends the act. An old woman who has -just bound up a bruised or broken limb, whether of man or beast, -will sometimes finish the operation by spitting on the bandage. In -the superstitions of most countries, such involuntary and apparently -causeless acts as sneezing and yawning are attributed to supernatural -agencies, and spitting at the sneezer or yawner is still sometimes -practised as a counter-charm by the oldest and most learned professors -of such lore, an older superstition probably than the more common -practice of invoking the Divine blessing on the subjects in such -cases. Questionable, therefore, and rude as at first sight seemed -the act, we assured our Badenoch friend that the "wise woman," in -acting as she did, meant his bairn no evil or disrespect at all, -but the very contrary. - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER LVII. - - Caught in a Squall on Loch Leven--Potatoes and Herrings: How - to cook them--A day in Glen Nevis--A visit to Uaimh Shomhairle, - or Samuel's Cave--The Cave-Men. - - -The reader may remember that we concluded our last with a hopeful and -jubilant note, believing that really fine weather--a long track of -it, perhaps--was just at hand. We much regret having to say that our -meteorological vaticinations proved utterly incorrect. It still rains -[July 1877], not constantly, indeed, but with sufficient persistence -to make everybody miserable, and to reduce our hopes of a good harvest -almost to zero. Yesterday, for example, we had occasion to cross the -Loch in our boat. It was a nice bright day enough at starting, with a -fresh breeze from N.W., which carried us along at racing pace. All of -a sudden the heavens became black and threatening; a terrible squall -almost capsized us ere we had time to sing out to our companion to let -go "everything by the run." He did, fortunately, let go just in time, -and grasping an oar ourselves, and calling on him to take another, -we had her head turned to the wind and waves as quietly but as quickly -as possible. Thus we held her, just like a horse by the reins, while -the squall lasted, and cunningly took advantage of its drift to get to -the Appin shore. We managed to reach it, but in very sorry plight, as -you shall hear. With the squall had come rain, literally the heaviest -we ever saw, which drenched us to the skin; every drop big enough to -fill as it fell the largest of thimbles, and driven by the squall, -remember, it fell with the force of a spent bullet. As "drookit" and -drenched we landed, and crawled with all the miserable, and woebegone, -and shambling gait of the really and thoroughly through-and-through -wet, you would have laughed in the teeth of all the rain had you -only met us; and we much doubt if any one who did not know us would -just then have been disposed to appraise ourselves and our whole -belongings at the value of a much bigger coin of the realm than a -shabby florin. And this is just the sort of weather it continues to -be. You cannot depend upon it for an hour. It is sunshine and blue -above just for five minutes; it is all of a sudden gloomy and black -as Erebus, and raining so multitudinously that you are fain to draw -the skirts of your coat anyhow over your head and run for the nearest -shelter. When we are to have better weather let the meteorologists, -who ought to know, say. - -There is an old and frequent proverb, though rarely heard now-a-days, -to the effect that "there goes reason to the roasting of eggs," -the meaning of which, as we apprehend it, is that the smallest -culinary operation is of importance, and should be gone about with -judgment and care. If the proverb, however, in its actual words, -as a mere popular saw, is very much forgotten, it is a good sign of -our time that its spirit at least is in this our own day claiming -no little attention, as the establishment of "cookery classes," and -the praiseworthy attempts to disseminate culinary lore amongst the -people, abundantly testify. It has been said that the man who makes -two blades of grass to grow where only one blade grew before is a -benefactor to his species, and equally so, would we venture to assert, -is he a benefactor to the human race who shows how any single article -of food, usually cooked and served in an unsatisfactory and tasteless -fashion, may, with no extra expense and little extra trouble, be made -palatable and savoury. The other day, landing from our boat, we went -into a cottar's house close by the sea, in a neighbouring district, -just as the gudewife was preparing the family dinner. A pot of new -potatoes was boiling on the fire, and as she knew that it would take -us still some time to get home, she very good-naturedly invited us -to wait a little and take a share with herself and her husband of the -dinner about to be served, a bit of hospitality as frankly accepted as -it was kindly offered. Looking now and again into the boiling potato -pot, and listening with inclined ear to the sound, actually musical -in such a case, of its boil and bubbling, she was ready at the proper -instant to snatch it off the fire, and, carrying it to a corner of the -kitchen, she poured off the water, and immediately re-hung it over -the fire again, shortening the chain by which it was suspended by a -link or two, that the fire might not, now that it was waterless, have -too much effect upon it. She then got some half-dozen fresh herrings, -caught early that morning--herrings large, and beautiful, and silvery -scaled as a salmon--and drying them nicely with a cloth, she placed -them flat-wise side by side on the top of the potatoes in the pot, -the lid of which she was careful to make fit tightly by means of a -coarse kitchen towel, which served at once to cover the contents, and -to cause the lid to fit so tightly that all the steam was effectually -retained. For the time being, in short, the pot by this ready expedient -may be said to have been hermetically sealed. During a quarter of -an hour, perhaps, and while the gentleman and ourselves carried on -a lively conversation, the wife kept an attentive eye on the pot, -never once lifting the lid, however, but from time to time raising or -lowering a link of the chain as in her judgment was necessary. All -being ready at last, she took the pot off the fire, and set it on a -low stool in the middle of the floor. She then lifted the lid and -the cloth, and the room was instantly filled with a savoury steam -that made one's mouth water merely to inhale it. Occupying each a -low chair, we were invited to fall to, to eat without knife, or fork, -or trencher, just with our fingers out of the pot as it stood. It was -a little startling, but only for a moment. After a word of grace we -dipped our hand into the pot, and took out a potato hot and mealy, -and with the other we took a nip out of the silvery flank of the -herring nearest us. It was a mouthful for a king, sir! We have in our -day a thousand times dined well and heartily both at home and abroad, -but we greatly question if we ever enjoyed a dinner half so much as -that. The savouriness of that potato and herring feast will haunt -us till our dying day. What struck us was simply this: A new potato -and fresh herring as usually served is something terribly insipid; -as we got it that day it was a meal for an emperor. We actually felt -inclined to lick our fingers after every mouthful, than which surely -there could be no higher praise of any food whatever. Let such of our -readers as have the opportunity just try a potato and herring cooked in -the manner stated, eating it digitally, with their own proper fingers, -and they will thank us, if they are honest, for bringing so savoury -and delicious a dish to their knowledge. - -One of the finest glens in all the West Highlands is Glen Nevis, -which, opening out in the direction of the old Castle of Inverlochy, -extends eastwards and inland, the valley gradually narrowing into -glen and gorge as you proceed, for nine or ten miles, presenting at -every turn and standpoint throughout its many windings a succession -of the most striking and beautiful pictures imaginable, so striking -and startling at times, and new at least in some of their details, -that a genuine lover of mountain scenery wishes that he could devote -an entire day to every separate mile of its extent, rather than have to -hurry through it all in something like half a dozen hours, which is the -way the thing is usually done. It is like being dragged, as happened to -us once, by a nervous and impatient lady friend of ours, at a sort of -half trot through a picture gallery, where, if you had your own way, -you would gladly lounge and linger till the custodier of the place, -perhaps, came respectfully to hint that the afternoon was far advanced, -and that shutting-up time was at hand. With the entrance to Glen Nevis, -as far as the mansion-house, we had long been familiar, and once at -least we had a bird's-eye glance into the glen proper itself, from -the summit of Dundearduil, which we had approached from the south in -order to examine its curious and still inexplicable vitrifications. It -was not, however, till Friday last, that we had an opportunity of -thoroughly exploring the glen through all its windings, and coming -with little difficulty to the conclusion already expressed, that of -all our West Highland glens, it is, perhaps, the most beautiful and -(Glencoe always apart) the most deserving of a thorough and leisurely -examination. We were fortunate in having hit upon a highly favourable -day--not too bright, for glaring sunshine and unclouded brightness -amongst mountain scenery is a great mistake--and no less fortunate in -our companions, each one of them blessed with eyes that, open, could -really see, and hearts that, duly appealed to, could truly feel; who -knew full well what they had come to do, and from first to last did -it admirably. Barely, we should say, has the noble glen exposed its -stern grandeur and innumerable beauties under favourable skies, to the -glad and earnest gaze of more intelligently appreciative spectators; -and more rarely still, perhaps, have the splendid falls of the Nevis -borne burden to peals of honester or merrier laughter than we indulged -in as over the well-plenished luncheon basket we fortified ourselves -for the ascent of the upper gorges,--a somewhat "stiff" climb, but -neither really difficult nor dangerous. When we say that at Glen Nevis -House our party was joined by Mr. Macpherson--fear a ghlinne e féin, -the goodman of the glen himself, as the Highlanders say--who kindly -accompanied us throughout, and to whom every foot of the glen was -as familiar as the floor of his own dining-room, many of our readers -will understand how really pleasant and enjoyable, coeteris paribus, -must have been our upland wanderings on that delightful day. - -We have no intention of entering on anything like a minute -or photographic description of Glen Nevis, for which, indeed, -half-a-dozen Nether Lochaber columns would hardly suffice; we can -only hurriedly glance at what most instantly and indelibly struck -us in the day's excursion. First of all, we were all struck by the -exceeding pellucidity and crystal clearness of the waters of the -Nevis. Nowhere else did we ever see a mountain stream so beautifully -transparent. Standing on the brink of any selected pool, many feet -in depth, you distinguished the smallest pea-sized pebble, its veins, -scratches, and striations, as distinctly as if you had it on the palm -of your hand, under a lens, and within less than a foot focus of -your eyeball! And all this remarkable pellucidity, observe, not in -one particular pool, or in any one particular stretch of the river, -but throughout all its beautiful windings. Another remarkable feature -of the glen is the manner in which its natural birch woods grow. They -occupy a pretty broad belt almost half-way up the mountains, leaving a -still broader belt between themselves and the river banks comparatively -bare and treeless. In all the other Highland glens with which we -have any acquaintance, whatever of wood there is always begins, -as seems most natural, at the river banks, where it is thickest and -most luxuriant, growing away and upwards on either side to a greater -or less altitude, according to the nature of the soil and the shelter -to be had from the prevailing winds. And speaking of winds, this is -the place to observe that of all our glens Glen Nevis is perhaps the -stormiest, the wind in a gale not blowing steadily, but in fitful -gusts and whirlwind-wise, striking in from the corries right and -left, and meeting in the centre with a force and fury unimaginable by -non-residenters. How do you know, the reader may ask, for it was calm -and quiet enough during your visit on Friday? True, and yet we failed -not to notice a very striking proof of the storminess at times of Glen -Nevis notwithstanding. As you pass the forester's house at Auchreoch, -lift up your eyes, and please observe how carefully, how thoroughly, -closely, compactly, and painstakingly it is thatched; and observe -further and over all a network of wire as thick and strong as that -used in our overland telegraphy, and to the end of each wire as it -almost reaches the ground in front and at the back of the house, -please notice suspended a large stone, water-worn boulders from the -river below, each of a hundredweight or more, and you will not fail, -we think, to understand how we so confidently decided that Glen Nevis -at times must be an exceedingly stormy place. If you assert that -other Highland glens may be quite as stormy in the season of storms, -we shall not contradict you; what we do say is this, that never did a -house-roof speak to us so eloquently of furious and frequent storm and -whirlwind as did the roof of that house at Auchreoch, and a very good -house it is, and a very pretty place to the bargain. A little beyond -Auchreoch, and to the left of the path, there is a bit of wild and -rugged rock scenery well worth attention. Here and there, over the -face of what seems the hard impenetrable rock, many trees grow and -flourish as if through the very heart of the granite. The explanation -of course is, that the rock which seems so homogeneous and solid at -a distance is in reality fissured and fractured in all directions, -and that in these fissures the trees find soil and food enough to -sustain a wonderfully luxuriant growth and opulence of foliage for -such a situation. About a mile further up the glen, we separated from -our companions for a while, we having determined to cross the Nevis -at this point in order to visit Uaimh Shomhairle, or Samuel's Cave, -the entrance to which was pointed out to us by Mr. Macpherson in -the face of the opposite steep. To get across the river we had to -strip until in a state of almost puris naturalibus, and even then it -was somewhat dangerous, a single false step might have been attended -by very serious consequences. With a little circumspection and care, -however, we got safely over, and half-dressed and barefooted we climbed -the rock like a chamois, and in less than ten minutes we were standing -at the mouth of the celebrated cave. Samuel's Cave is in fact two -caves, the outer and smaller one, with a broad portal that admits -abundant light and air, forming a sort of vestibule or antechamber -to the inner cave. Provided with one or two old newspapers and some -wax vestas, we improvised a couple of rude torches which we carried -with us as we crept through a narrow opening by which alone access -is obtained into the inner antrum. Lighting one of these torches, -which answered our purpose quite well enough, we explored the cave at -leisure, closely scrutinising the walls and roof as high as we could -reach, in the hope of perhaps finding some scratch or sculptures, -however rude, to prove that the place had been inhabited in the times -of the "cave-men." Nothing of the kind, however, was discernible. The -cave in its every part is exceedingly damp and cold, with green, slimy -roof and walls, where not even the hardiest wild beast of mountain or -forest would think of taking up its abode, far less any human being -with the faintest notion of the value of warmth and comfort. There -are scores of lesser caves and fissures in the rocks around where -one would elect to live by reason of their dryness, in preference -to the big and pretentious Samuel's Cave, which, as a mere cave, -is perhaps interesting enough, and not unworthy of a visit; otherwise -it is a "sell," in exploring which no one can spend more than the -shortest five minutes to any good purpose. In the times of civil -wars and clan feuds it is conceivable that one or more outlawed and -"broken" men might find the outer cave a secure and not altogether -unpleasant place of shelter to pass a night in where no better might -be. As a place also to hide one's more valuable goods and chattels in -an emergency, the cave may at times have had its value and use. It -never, depend upon it, was inhabited for any length of time by -any human being. A week of it would kill the stoutest, robustest -savage that ever trod the Caledonian wilds. An additional proof, if -additional proofs are wanting, that Samuel's Cave can never have been -"inhabited" in any proper sense of that term, or even much frequented -for any purpose whatever, is to be found in the fact that there is -not a vestige of a path either from the river bank below or from the -hill above leading towards it. Had it at any time been much in use -for any purpose, there must have been a path leading to it either -from above or from below, and some traces at least, however faint, -of such a path, must still exist. We searched and searched, above and -below, and round and round, and no trace or vestige at all of such -a path could we find. Go, good reader, and see the cave by all means -when you have the opportunity; it is a fair enough cave as caves go; -but take our word for it that the attempt to invest the vast dark, -damp, slimy antrum with any archæological interest is the greatest -delusion in the world. - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER LVIII. - - Showers in Harvest Time--Magnificent Sunset--Night sometimes - seeming not to descend but to ascend--Death of M. Leverrier--The - Discovery of Neptune--Pigeon cooing at Midnight--The Owl at - Noon--Cage-Birds singing at Night. - - -The weather continues wonderfully fine for the season [October 1877], -and with the exception of the potato-lifting, all our harvest labours -are at length concluded. The ingathering has upon the whole been -highly satisfactory, far more so than any one could have had the -courage to predict up to the very advent of this our autumnal summer, -which has already lasted just thirty days, uninterruptedly sunny -and dry, without any more serious break than a mere passing shower, -which invariably did more good than harm. More good? the reader -exclaims interrogatively, how can a shower do good, how can it be -otherwise than harmful in harvest time? Patience, courteous reader, -and we shall explain. It is a case of something of this kind. You are -driving along the road; the horse in the shafts before you is upon -the whole a steady-going and willing animal enough, but you have let -him have it just his own way for the last half hour, and dreaming, -perhaps, of fresh fields and pastures green, he has for the moment -forgotten your existence, and begins to lag. His usual pace of a good -eight miles an hour is now hardly over five, and what in such a case -shall you do? You drop the lash gently across his flank, as light and -gently as falls the angler's cast on the waveless pool; you are too -much of a Christian and a gentlemen--the terms are or ought to be -synonymous--to do otherwise until it is absolutely necessary. Your -horse forgets his dream; becomes instantly alive to the work before -him; gathers himself together, and with a responsive toss of his head -and a lively play of ears, goes along at rather more than his average -speed until the next stage is reached; knowing full well that the -hand that laid on that serpent-like lash so tenderly, can lay it on in -very different fashion, hot and heavy enough when occasion calls. Or, -dropping metaphor, let us state the matter plainly, thus:--Here in -Lochaber, and we suppose it is just the same over all the Highlands, -when really fine weather comes, we are for the first few days up and -doing, busy enough. But as one fine day succeeds another, we are very -ready to fall into the error that after all it is best to take things -leisurely. Where's the need, we ask ourselves, for so much hurry and -bustle? The fine weather has lasted a week; it may last a month, -is indeed likely so to last; it is no more like rain to-day than -it was yesterday; and thus we lapse, often unconsciously, perhaps, -into a spirit of dilatoriness and procrastination, out of which only -a lowering sky, and a shower that for all we know may become a flood, -can fairly rouse us. You slept long, for instance, this morning; -you dawdled over your porridge and milk at breakfast time, and it -is now noonday. But see! the heavens yonder in the north-west are -suddenly overcast; an ominous gloom creeps over the Outer Hebrides; -a few drops of rain have already fallen, one on the back of your left -hand, on which placing the index finger of your right, you can find -that it is wet, that it is rain; a second on your cheek with a soft, -tepid thud; and a third right into your open, uplifted eye, and you -straightway start into activity and life. All hands on deck! is the -cry. You rush into the field amongst the stooks; you bustle about -cheerily, and calling all hands into your service, for idlers are now -out of place, you cart and carry away as fast as you can into your -barn or stack-yard, and by sunset, so expeditiously have you worked, -that the field from head-rig to head-rig is but bare and stookless -stubble. It was after all but a passing shower; the gloom has given -place to cloudless blue; you have been cheated, so to speak. But what -matters it? Your crop is safely stacked or housed, and were it not for -the passing shower and temporary mid-day gloom, your stooks were still -afield, running a risk there was no reason they should run; and so, -good reader, you will understand how a slight shower in the season of -ingathering may not always be an evil, but a very good thing indeed; -and only a few such passing, labour-inciting showers have we known -here for a whole month, and that is much to say when the month is to -be counted from mid-September to mid-October. - -And, O gentle reader, we only wish you were with us here to see for -yourself, propriis oculis, for no pen can describe it, one or more -of the many magnificent sunsets we have had in the course of this -same bypast month of fine weather. The sunsets of the equinoctial -seasons, both vernal and autumnal, are almost always beautiful, -more particularly those of the autumnal equinox; but never before, -we think, have we seen them so startling, gloriously beautiful, so -gorgeously magnificent, as on several occasions lately. A few evenings -ago, as we were busy in our study, a young lady burst in upon us in -a state of great excitement, begging us to throw aside our pen for a -little, and come out to see the exceeding glory of the setting sun. We -readily complied of course, and taking the young lady by the hand we -made a race of it till we reached our "coigne of vantage," a grassy -green knoll, a favourite standpoint when any celestial phenomenon -of importance to the W. or S.W. of us is to be observed. The scene, -in truth, was indescribably beautiful, and we stood in speechless -admiration, not unmingled with awe, in sight of the most glorious -sunset our eyes ever beheld. Before us lay the whole expanse of the -Linnhe Loch, shimmering as if gently aboil in a flood of pale golden -light. Beyond, rose what seemed the one vast unbroken range of the -mountains of Ardgour, Kingerloch, and Morven, bathed in a rich dark -purple hue, that for the moment so thoroughly obliterated every trace -of their native ruggedness, that our companion prettily observed, -"Haven't you the idea, sir, as I have, that if one were only near -enough these beautiful mountains to pat them lovingly with the hand, -they would feel to the touch soft and warm as a roll of velvet?" a -thought, unconsciously perhaps, tinged with poetry, though the -woman pure and simple comes out very unmistakeably in the reference -to the "roll of velvet." In the far background, thirty miles away, -rose the glory and pride of Mull (Blackie's favourite island of all -the Hebrides), the huge mountains of Benmore and Ben-na-Bairnich, -their base and middle zones ink-black, their shoulders dark orange, -here and there curiously streaked with threads of pearly light, their -summits and sloping ridges fringed with living fire. Above, the whole -western heavens was full of vast continents, peninsulas, isthmuses, -and islands of cloud, all afire at their edges, with firths, ferries, -and Mediterraneans of liquid gold between. As the full-orbed sun, fiery -and red, slowly sank to the horizon, the clouds were rent asunder as -if by the very excellency of the glory that beat upon them; some of -them assuming fantastic shapes, in which a lively imagination had no -difficulty in tracing striking resemblances to the hugest animals of -our own and past ages, a monster saurian in sharply defined silhouette, -being so marvellously outlined that our fair companion sketched it on -the spot, as a memento of a sunset that neither of us is likely ever -to forget. As the sun's lower limb seemed just to touch and rest an -instant on the highest peak of the Kingerloch range, a large mass -of cloud immediately above him rapidly assumed a columnar shape, -perpendicular to the plane of the horizon, and, as the splendid orb -dipped and disappeared, this huge "pillar of cloud" became a perfect -Ionic column, sharply outlined, and admirably correct in all its -proportions from base to entablature, and all aglow with living fire; -shaft and pediment with richest crimson; frieze and architrave and -cornice with the glow of molten mettle at "white heat" as it issues -from a blast furnace. There was, truth to say, something terrible -about the scene, a wild and weird combination of the sublime and -beautiful such as Edmund Burke never beheld even in his dreams. It was -impossible, in the presence of the "terrible majesty" of that glory, -to avoid thinking of the awfulness that must appertain to a scene of -which all of us shall one day be spectators, when the "elements shall -melt with fervent heat," and the "earth also, and the works that are -therein," shall be consumed with fire. The succeeding afterglow of -that same evening was singularly beautiful. The mountains of Appin and -Glencoe were for a time bathed from their summits to their shoulders -in the richest purple and gold, making them look so soft and warm, -that for the moment their actual ruggedness was utterly forgotten, and -one felt towards them a far stronger and tenderer sentiment than mere -admiration. And very curiously, as we gazed, did the night immediately -succeed the afterglow, for of twilight there was none--there rarely -is indeed in autumn, as the old Highlanders were too observant not -to notice, for what saith the old and well-known rhyme?-- - - - "Mar chlorich a ruith le gleann, - Tha feasgar fann, fogharaidh." - - -The meaning of which is, that no longer lasts the autumnal twilight -than it takes a stone to roll adown the mountain steep into the glen -below. We generally speak of the night's descending; we say the falling -night, the darkness fell, &c., as if the darkness came down from above, -and sometimes, doubtless, it does seem so to fall--to descend like a -curtain. On this occasion, however, and frequently, we have noticed, -in the autumnal season, the night did not seem so much to descend -as to ascend, like an exhalation from out the entrails of the earth; -the blackness of gorge and corrie and glen slowly creeping upwards, -banishing the gold and purple as it ascended, just as you have seen -the earth's shadow in an eclipse of the moon obliterate the silvery -radiance of the lunar disc--finally reaching ridge and summit and -loftiest peak, and lo, it was night, the ruddy orb of Mars over the now -ink-black top of Buachaille-Etive putting the fact beyond all question; -and, while our fair companion went for a stroll along the beach, gaily -singing a merry roundelay as became her innocence and her years, we -retired in a mood of mind that, while it was pleasant upon the whole, -had yet a tinge of sadness about it, to our study and our books. - -France has recently lost one of her greatest men by the death of -M. Leverrier, her distinguished astronomer, the most distinguished -astronomer, it is not too much to say, of the present century. Many, -indeed, achieved greater triumphs with the telescope, for with the -telescope Leverrier did comparatively little; it was as a mathematical -astronomer that he was unrivalled. He came first prominently into -notice while still a young man, with his cometary investigations, and -his researches into the motions of the planet Mercury, constructing -tables by which transits of the latter can be predicted with such -absolute correctness that the mean error never exceeds sixteen -seconds of time. But it is with the discovery of the planet Neptune -that Leverrier's name is imperishably associated. The case briefly -stated was this:--It was found, after a time, that the planet Uranus, -discovered by Sir William Herschel, did not actually follow the orbit -which theory had assigned to it. It had a mysterious trick of leaving -the computed track, and describing a greater orbit, if the law of -gravitation was to hold good, than the tables founded on that law -warranted. Astronomers were puzzled to account for the vagaries of an -orbit that, according to their theory, ought to be well-behaved, and -staid and steady-going as any other member of the solar system. What -could the perturbations of Uranus mean? was the question asked; and -at the suggestion of his friend the distinguished Arago, Leverrier -undertook to answer it, and in due time did answer it in such wise -as filled the world with astonishment and admiration. Resolutely -grasping with his task, Leverrier laboured long and laboured hard to -resolve the mystery, and as a first step with this result, that the -problem was utterly unresolvable on any other conceivable theory or -conjecture than that another planet, albeit unknown to astronomers, -and hitherto as unsuspected as it was unseen, existed exterior to -Uranus, and that it was to the attraction or disturbing influence of -this hitherto undreamt-of orb that the perturbations and mysterious -vagaries of Uranus could alone be ascribed. A memoir stating the -conclusion arrived at, and all the calculations leading towards it, -was read before the Royal Academy of Sciences in June 1846, and the -young and daring astronomer straightway resumed his labours, of which -the aim was now to determine the elements of the orbit of the unknown -planet, in the existence of which he now believed as firmly as in -that of the visibly perturbed orb Uranus itself. The astronomical -world shook its head dubiously, and waited. Did such a planet really -exist, and if it did, could this daring Frenchman find it? M. Leverrier -meantime laboured on, and finally mastering every difficulty, he gave -the computed plans of orbit, the mass and natural position of his -constructed world, if in truth, that is, such a world existed. This -was in a second memoir to the Academy of Sciences on the last day -of August 1846. Towards the end of the following month (September -1846), Leverrier wrote to M. Galle, of Berlin, requesting him to -level the powerful telescope under his charge at a particular point -of the heavens, and there, in effect, said the wonderful Frenchman, -you will find the cause of the perturbations of Uranus, a new and -distant world, hitherto undreamt of and unseen by mortal eye, but -existing all the same. M. Galle, on the first favourable opportunity, -directed his telescope as requested, and there, within less than a -single degree of its computed place, and flinging back its light from -the enormous distance of more than three billions of miles, was the -planet of Leverrier's analysis, with a diameter, magnitude, and orbit -all as calculated and predicted. It was a glorious triumph, the most -wonderful achievement in the annals of a science where all is wonder. - -Publicly and privately has this query been put to us--Is it -unusual to hear a pigeon cooing at midnight, and the owl hooting in -bright noonday? We answer very unhesitatingly that it is unusual, -so unusual in the case of the owl at least, that in a quarter of -a century's familiar and friendly intercourse with our wild-birds -under all possible circumstances, we have never heard an owl hoot -except "darkling," as Milton has it, that is, from out the darkness -or sombre shade. Even at night, if the moon is shining bright, it -never hoots from a spot on which the moonbeams fall in full flood; -it selects the deepest shadow even in faint moonlight when uttering -its eerie notes. It will hoot in twilight, and it will hoot when -the heavens are bright ablaze with the most brilliant coruscations -of the aurora, but never, so far as our experience has extended, -does it hoot in honest daylight or even in moonlight, except when, -as we have said, it is itself in deep shade. We have kept pets of all -our native species of owls, and most interesting pets they make, and -though, when angry or in any way out of sorts, it will utter a ready -hiss, ending in a curious rasping guttural, we have never known it to -hoot except in the darkness of night, and, more rarely, in the dim, -uncertain light of evening or morning twilight. The cooing of a pigeon -at midnight, while it may be said to be unusual, is yet a thing that, -under certain circumstances, may be heard at any time. Many birds, -captives in cage or aviary, frequently sing short and incomplete -strophes of their special song in the warm stillness of summer nights, -evidently in their dreams. Others, in their natural state of freedom, -about the time of the longest day, when there is hardly any night -in our latitudes, may be heard singing, generally unconnectedly, -and in a faint, uncertain key. The pigeon will coo at any time when -brooding, if rudely disturbed in any way, just as a brooding hen will -purr and scold if you annoy her or her nest at any hour of the day or -night. The cooing of a pigeon, therefore, at midnight is nothing very -wonderful. The hooting of an owl at noonday, however, is surprising, -and a thing which, although we live in a district where owls are -plentiful, is altogether unknown in our experience. - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER LIX. - - October Storms--Cablegram Predictions--Indications of - coming Storms--Geordie Braid, the St. Andrews and Newport - Coach-driver--The Naturalist in Winter--Drowned Hedgehogs: Spines - become soft and gelatinous--Lophius Piscatorius--Disproportion - between head and body in the Devil-Fish a puzzle--An Itinerant - Fiddler. - - -The storms of the latter days of October [November 1877] were -exceedingly severe along our western seaboard, and terribly so, as -more than one correspondent assures us, amongst the Hebrides. It is -worth noting with what marvellous punctuality these Trans-atlantically -telegraphed storms reach our shores. They are "up to time," with -all the precision almost of our best appointed mail trains; quite as -punctual, at all events, to their predicted time on several occasions -lately as our ocean mail-carrying steam ships to their appointed dates -of arrival. This last October storm, for example, was telegraphed as -being due on our British shores on or about Saturday, the 27th, and -so correct, considering all the difficulties of such meteorological -vaticinations, was the prediction, that the storm actually reached us -here on the evening of the 26th, increasing in intensity throughout -the night and until mid-day of the 27th, the very day fixed upon, -when it blew with all the force of a hurricane, and the rain fell in -torrents, accompanied, too--that none of the essentials of a great -storm might be wanting--by vivid lightning, and thunder peals loud -enough to make the deafest hear, or at all events feel, for it is no -exaggeration to say that the very ground seemed at times to thrill -responsive to the aërial concussion. The 26th had dawned bright and -clear, and so continued throughout the day; one of those "pet days," -in short, not uncommon at this season,--the sea, too, calm and glassy -as a mirror. In the afternoon, however, we were called out from the -tea-table to look at a phenomenon which had already attracted the -attention of some of our more observant neighbours, and about which -they wanted our opinion, as they had some thoughts of going a herring -fishing. The phenomenon in question was this: Not a breath of air -was stirring, Loch Linnhe was unruffled by the slightest zephyr, and -yet a heavy surge quite suddenly began to break along the beach with -a sudden boom that was remarkable in such a calm. A somewhat similar -phenomenon, lasting but for a short time, however, is observed in our -lochs when, on a calm summer evening, one of the Messrs. Hutcheson's -paddle steamers--the "Chevalier," for instance--passes at full speed -close in shore. What could this swell and surge, troubling a loch -otherwise calm as a mill-pond, mean? You might have safely carried -a lighted candle exposed and lanternless along the beach on which -that heavy swell with hollow boom was breaking--breaking in great -green waves that showed not a bell or fleck of foam on their crests -until they thundered on the shingle. It was, in a word, a phenomenon -for which there was no apparent adequate cause. The sea, had it been -in keeping with all its visible surroundings, should have been calm -and still; on the contrary, it was restless and perturbed, and there -lay the mystery. Even had we recollected nothing of the telegraphed -storm, it was easy of solution, and our instant interlocutor, as -the law courts have it, was this: "A storm in the Atlantic, my good -friends. Calm as it is here, there is a storm, and a wild one, depend -upon it, outside yonder island of Mull, for all it basks so peacefully -in the golden sunset. Nothing else can adequately account for such -a swell on our calm inland waters on an evening so summer-like and -warm; and when I tell you that a storm likely to reach our shores -to-morrow has been telegraphed from America several days since, I -conclude that it is that very storm fast approaching us that causes -this swell upon our shore. It must be just at hand; so haul up your -boats high and dry; take down your nets from the drying-poles, and -put them in a place of safety. Stay thankfully at home, and let the -herring fishing stand over till the predicted gales have come and -gone. Many a gallant fellow at this moment afloat would be glad to -have his foot like you on terra firma: a chas air talamh tioram were -the words,--his foot on dry land." With some such remarks as these, -we sent the men home, still wondering, however; and within a couple of -hours the storm was upon us with a loud prolonged shriek, that showed -how thoroughly in earnest it was. Timeously warned, no danger was -done in our district, and we are now unanimous in speaking with the -utmost respect of the Atlantic cable in connection with storm warnings -from the Western Continent. These telegraphic warnings from America, -by the way, of coming storms are of the utmost importance and value, -more particularly to the western shores of the British Islands. We -have no doubt at all that on the western seaboard of Scotland alone -many valuable lives were saved, as well as much valuable property, -by the submarine cable notice that put us all on our guard with -reference to the gale that raged on the 27th of October, and for -several days subsequently. We wonder if from Britain or the Continent -any of the terrible easterly storms of last winter were telegraphed -to America--timeously and purposely telegraphed, that is--so as to -be of benefit to our Transatlantic cousins, as their recent telegrams -have been to us. We fear not. But now at least it is surely a matter -of the merest courtesy and cousinly goodwill that we be prepared and -ready to send them betimes telegraphic messages of all our easterly -storms, in return for similar favours on their part in respect to -those that are westerly. - -Reading over the foregoing paragraph, which the reader may see was -written currente calamo--at a gallop, as it were, and without a check, -as the foxhunter says--we find that we have used the often-quoted Latin -phrase terra firma; words which rarely fail to make us smile in their -connection with an anecdote current in St. Andrews in our early college -days. It was to this effect: The driver of a two-horse coach that ran -at that time between St. Andrews and Newport was a George Braid, a -respectable old man, familiarly known to everybody, and notably to the -University students, as "Geordie," a liberty with his Christian name -which Mr. Braid in nowise resented, for he was intelligent and shrewd, -and knew that he was thus spoken of and addressed out of goodwill -and kindly regard rather than otherwise. Frequently patronised on his -route by learned professors and lively students, Geordie had picked -up many big words and learned phrases, which he was fond of using in -his family, and, as the Catechism says, amongst his "inferiors and -equals." In connection with frequent storm and shipwreck on the wild -east coast, it was the most natural thing in the world that Geordie -should often have heard from the lips of some of his learned "fare" -the words terra firma, with which he associated a general idea of -protection, comfort, and safety. One terrible night of snow and storm, -having driven a large coachful from Newport to the city, Geordie, when -he had duly seen to his cattle, and paid a short visit to the bar of -the "Cross Keys" hostelry, wended his way by the West Port to his home, -which lay beyond the old city walls. His wife, a brisk and eident bit -body, had a roaring fire and a cheery welcome for her goodman on his -entrance, while his children gathered round him to help him off with -caps, coats, leggings, and all the other belongings of the outer man of -a driver in the good old coaching days. Reduced at last to something -like his natural dimensions, Geordie, having sufficiently rubbed his -purple hands before the fire, looked benignantly around and exclaimed, -"Ah! Meg, my woman, you and the bairns hae muckle cause to be thankful -to your Maker that ye hae terra firma abune your heads this night! Its -just awfu' out yonder by the Guard Brig and Strathtyrum." We have met -with not a few in our day with a strange craze for using words and -phrases of which they evidently knew as little of the real meaning -and proper application as honest Geordie Braid with his terra firma. - -The new moon of the 5th, aided by a wind that at times almost amounted -to a gale, gave us along the western seaboard three very high tides -in succession; that of the afternoon of the 6th, however, being the -highest. The naturalist who is fairly diligent on such occasions -is pretty sure to meet with more or less interesting matter for -thoughtful study; nor, so far as our own experience extends, need -the entries in one's note-book, even for what is called the "dead" -season of mid-winter, be fewer in number, or less interesting or -instructive than those of the pages devoted to the summer season -itself. We have known naturalists whose note-books presented little -but a dreary succession of blank pages for the winter half-year, -and who thought it odd that we should be surprised at it. It has been -said that the laws of disease are as beautiful as those of health, and -that peace has its victories as well as war, and we have no hesitation -in saying that to the true naturalist the winter season, if fairly -and diligently encountered, is in its way just as interesting as -the summer, and that the observer who has all his wits about him, -and who goes to work with a will, may have his "victories" even in -the season of the winter solstice--victories as important in their -way and gratifying as are those of midsummer itself, when the days -are at their longest, when summer seas are calm and summer woods are -green. In the course of half an hour's ramble on the beach the other -day, we fell in with some curious waifs, each of which might be made -the text of an interesting monograph. Three drowned hedgehogs, for -example, was a somewhat startling "find" to turn up in a swathe of -seaware that the advancing tide was slowly rolling up the shingle. One -was full-grown, a female; the other two, both males, were but half or -three parts grown. What brought them there? was the natural question; -for a hedgehog, dead or living, on the sea-shore under high-water mark, -is as odd and out-of-place an object as would be a mackerel far up the -hills amongst the heather. The following is probably a satisfactory -enough explanation of the mystery:--Hedgehogs, which twenty years ago -were quite unknown in Lochaber, are now plentiful. A pair, captured -on Lord Abinger's lands at Torlundy, were sent to us some dozen or -fifteen years ago as a great curiosity; and in this district then -they were a curiosity, so much so, that we can recollect that during -the time they remained in our possession as exceedingly tame and most -interesting pets, people from all parts of the country used to come -in order to have a close look at the black-snouted, spine-armoured -hedge pigs, as Shakespeare calls them, the graineag or repulsive -one of the midland Highlanders of Athole and Strathspey, where the -animal has always been plentiful. They have now become so common in -this district that a hedgehog is no more accounted a rarity than is -a stoat or a weasel. Hedgehogs are fond of making their cozy nests -of moss, grass fibres, and fallen leaves, near the roots of trees and -bushes growing on the banks of rivers and mountain streams. These last -have of late been frequently swollen beyond their usual bounds by the -heavy rains; and in a spate of this kind poor Mrs. Hedgehog and her -youngsters were caught napping, and carried away by the torrent to -the sea, and ultimately cast ashore by the wind and waves, where we -found them in their winding-sheet of slimy sea-wrack, and for a moment -wondered how it came to pass that they lay there, like poor Ophelia, -"drown'd, drown'd." One remarkable circumstance connected with these -drowned hedgehogs was this: we found to our surprise that we could -handle them with impunity; their spines, so formidable in the living -animal, being quite soft and gelatinous to their very tips. This is -by no means the case with the spines of such hedgehogs as are killed -by trap, or otherwise on land. In this latter case the spines retain -their point and prickliness, as in the living animal, till in the -process of decay they separate from their sockets in the skin, and -drop in brittle, broken fragments to the ground. A question, then, for -future investigation is this,--Do the spines of all drowned hedgehogs -lose their prickliness and point, and become soft and gelatinous? If -so, has fresh water alone this effect, or is it necessary that the -animal should be some time immersed in salt water? - -Within a short distance of the drowned hedgehogs, lay a large -angler or fishing-frog, the Lophius piscatorius of ichthyologists, -and a frequent waif on our shores after a gale. It had evidently been -caught by the storm in shallow water, and been beaten to death by the -weight and force of the waves, for it was in excellent condition, -and there was nothing to indicate death in any other way. Why in -this fish such a huge head, with its formidable array of recurved -teeth, and such a cavernous, capacious gullet, should be joined to a -body comparatively so diminutive, is a puzzle that has never yet been -satisfactorily solved; nor can we ourselves, up to this present moment, -advance even a plausible conjecture in explanation of an anomaly that -must have attracted the attention of thousands. The disproportion -between the immense head and the small and slender body is as great -as if you erected a porch lofty and wide enough to serve as the main -entrance to a cathedral, and vestibule to correspond, in order to -enter a dwelling consisting after all but of a single bedroom. Or, -to put it in another way, it is as if you built a large mill, with -the most powerful machinery possible, in order to grind sufficient -meal for the daily consumption of a single dyspeptic customer. The -fishing-frog, has, we believe, been of late successfully introduced -into more than one of our many aquaria, but we are not aware that any -satisfactory explanation of the difficulty which we are considering -has as yet been arrived at. A full and sufficient explanation, however, -you may be sure there must be, if we only know enough of the animal's -economy to get at it. - -But we must stop; for hark! an itinerant fiddler has this moment -struck up "Bob of Fettercairn" just in front of our study window. He -plays admirably too, lovingly caressing the polished base of his -instrument--his bread-winner, poor fellow--with his wan and withered -cheek, and wielding a powerful, yet light and delicate, bow-hand; -and we must go and have a crack with him. Nor must you sneer at us -for so doing, gracious reader. The arrival even of a peripatetic, -out-at-elbows fiddler is an event of some importance in such a place -as this on a cold, grey November afternoon. We shall order him a big -bowl of tea, with something to eat, satisfied that if in so doing we -are not entertaining an angel unawares (though there is no reason that -we know of why an angel should not appear in peripatetic fiddler guise, -as well as in any other form), we are at all events entertaining one -who by his appearance manifestly needs something warm and comfortable, -and a little rest by a cheerful fireside at this season, not forgetting -the while that he is a capital fiddler--of some intelligence, too, -and full of capital stories we warrant him. Depend upon it that Homer, -who was after all but an inspired gaberlunzie, has many a time and oft -appeared in quite as sorry a plight, and with as little externally to -recommend him as this same itinerant fiddler; and think how proud and -glad you and we should be to have a chance of entertaining the blind -old Chian, wandering ballad-singer as he was! You must, therefore, -let us have our way with this poor old man, who, by the way, in not -blind, but, on the contrary, has a good large dark brown eye of his -own, so common, we have noticed, in people musically inclined, that -it may be called the musical eye; and if he is all we take him for, -and he and we got on well together, you may perhaps hear of him again. - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER LX. - - A Trip to Glasgow--Kelvin Grove Museum--Highland Association--A - run to Rothesay--Rothesay Aquarium. - - -Favoured by the most splendid Christmas weather [January 1878], -piercingly cold, indeed, but beautifully bright and clear, a run -from Lochaber to Clydesdale on an agreeable errand is exceedingly -enjoyable. Our first day in Glasgow was devoted to the Kelvin -Grove Museum, which we had now an opportunity, for the first time, -of examining thoroughly and at leisure, and with which, as the -reader may believe, we were very much delighted. On handing our -card to Mr. Paton, the curator, we were received by himself and his -assistant, Mr. Campbell--the latter, of course, a Highlander--in -the friendliest manner; and a couple of hours were very pleasantly -and profitably spent in examining a really curious and valuable -collection, so admirably catalogued and arranged, that we believe -we saw and minutely studied everything to be seen as leisurely and -satisfactorily as was possible in the time at our disposal. Our friend -Mr. Snowie, of Inverness, had written us before leaving home that he -was sending some contributions to the museum, of which he begged us -to undertake the formal delivery, and see properly placed; and this -of course we had much pleasure in doing. These contributions are a -valuable acquisition to the museum, and are as follows:--(1.) Hoopoe -(Upupa epops, Linn.), a female, in fine plumage, and admirably set -up. This bird was captured by the boys at the Inverness Reformatory -School, and dying, notwithstanding it received all the attention -and kindly care that could be bestowed upon it, it passed into -Mr. Snowie's hands. (2.) Wild cat, stuffed, an excellent specimen, -with very prominent markings, trapped at Fasnakyle, on The Chisholm's -estate. (3.) A white blackbird, and an albino bunting, both shot -by Mr. T. B. Snowie near Inverness. (4.) Snipe and other marsh-bird -skins, shot by the same. (5.) Two small hares preserved in a bottle; -taken out of an unusually large-sized female shot at Dochfour in -September 1875; a very interesting preparation. (6.) Head of otter, -trapped on the River Peffer in 1876. (7.) Owl (Strix flammea, Linn.), -shot in October 1877 by Mr. T. B. Snowie. (8.) Egg of golden eagle; -this last, perhaps, the most welcome gift of all, as eagles' eggs -are now become so rare as readily to command prices ranging from £5 -to £10 each. Attached to the museum proper there is a fresh-water -aquarium. In one of the tanks, in which several fine pike are -"interned," we noticed that one of the largest, who advanced to the -front of the tank, in order to examine as closely as possible a slip -of paper which we were trailing along the glass by way of bait, had -his muzzle, more particularly the anterior part of the upper jaw, -seriously disfigured by a fungoid growth of jelly-like appearance; -and calling the curator's attention to the fact, we made the remark -that the poor pike seemed too seriously diseased to live long. We -were surprised when told that the fish was none the worse for his -fungoid moustache; that it had been long in that way, and that all -that was needed was an occasional cleansing of the muzzle, as you -would wipe away a clot of jelly that had accidentally fallen on your -knife-handle at dessert, and the fish then seemed all right enough -until it grew again to such a size as to be an inconvenience. - -Leaving the museum, we had but barely sufficient time for dress and -dinner before proceeding to take the chair at the Gathering of the -Clans in the City Hall, and a very splendid and enthusiastic gathering -it was. From floor to ceiling the huge building was crammed, and as -we took our seat and bowed in acknowledgment of the truly Highland -welcome that greeted us in the shape of round upon round of loud and -lusty cheers, we could not help feeling a little nervous and out of -sorts in realising the fact that we were for the moment "the observed -of all observers," and, by the kind partiality of the Highlanders -of Glasgow, made to occupy a position of which any one might well be -proud. We were soon at our ease, however, and found no difficulty in -discharging our duties in connection with a meeting which was from -first to last, and in all its belongings, a great success. The dancing -was excellent; the singing could hardly have been better; while the -pipe music was of itself well worth going a much longer distance to -hear than that which separates Nether Lochaber from the City Hall of -Glasgow. No other living man, perhaps, can play reels and strathspeys -as Donald Macphee can play them; and we do not think we ever heard -anything more admirably played than was Malcolm Macpherson's port -mòr or piobaireachd proper, Fhuair mi pòg's laimh mo righ, composed -at Holyrood in 1745 by Ewen Macdhomhnuil Bhuidhe, a Macmillan from -Glendessary and piper to Lochiel, on seeing his chief kiss Charles -Edward's hand at a levee held in the palace of his ancestors by -that Prince a day or two after the victory at Gladsmuir. Macpherson -played this piobaireachd so exquisitely that some of us felt our -eyes grow moist, and were in no wise ashamed of it, long ere he -had reached the difficult but beautifully managed fingering of the -concluding urlar. We have always had a warm regard for James Boswell, -Johnson's biographer, for this amongst other reasons, that, on his -own confession, music frequently affected him as it affected many of -us on this occasion. "Sir," growled Johnson, "I should never hear it -if it made me such a fool." But then a man, however great, cannot be -everything; and Johnson was not only not a Scotchman, but the very -antipodes of a Scotchman--he was an Englishman, proud and prejudiced, -and deaf and dead as a stone to the charms of music, whether vocal or -instrumental. When at Sleat, in Skye, many years afterwards, he made -the confession that "he knew a drum from a trumpet, and a bagpipe from -a guitar, which was about the extent of his knowledge of music." We -parted with our friends of the Highland Association on the best terms; -they were good-natured enough to say that they were pleased with us; -we certainly had every reason to be pleased with them. - -We were astir betimes next morning, in order to fulfil an engagement -undertaken at the request of some naturalist friends in London--a -visit, namely, to the Aquarium at Rothesay, an admirably conducted -institution, one of the best in the kingdom. We expected to see a -great deal that could not well fail to interest us, and we did see a -great deal that pleased us very much indeed; the best proof of which -is that after several hours' wandering from tank to tank, it was with -a sigh of regret that our attention was called to the fact that it -was already time for us to put up our note-book and find our way as -quickly as possible to the pier, if we would overtake the Mountaineer -for Greenock, in order to reach Glasgow again that evening. Of all -the tanks, that which we lingered longest before, perhaps, was that -set apart for sea anemones, of which the collection is exceedingly -curious and interesting. All the specimens seemed perfectly healthy -and well-to-do, though, owing to the fact that the afternoon had now -become wet and dull, they were disinclined to display their beauties -in full. In another of the tanks, of which the most distinguished -inhabitant is a conger eel of a large size, we were much amused -with the conduct of a seven or eight pound cod, that seemed as if he -would willingly have spoken to us if he could. As soon as he became -aware of our presence, he came sailing out of a dark recess behind -a rocky promontory--a sort of Mull of Kintyre in miniature--which -is his usual howf, and advancing straight to the front of the tank, -put his nose to the glass, wagging his tail, and staring at us with -an expression of countenance so queer and comical, that it made us -laugh outright. "Well, Nether Lochaber, my boy," he seemed inclined -to say, "how are you? This is all very fine, but on the word of a -cod, believe me that I'd far rather be cruising about the shores -and shallows of Loch Linnhe, down yonder in your own neighbourhood, -than be confined here from year's end to year's end, to be stared at -by a lot of people who may pretend some interest in me from a purely -scientific point of view, but who, between ourselves, if the truth -were known, never see me but they straightway think of how I should -be boiled and served with sauce. Only the other day, for instance, a -lady visitor from Glasgow asked one of the attendants what he thought -might be my weight, and if he was of opinion that a cod out of an -aquarium tank would be quite as good eating as one direct from the -sea? When I hear talk of that kind, it hurts my feelings, I can tell -you." All this, and a great deal more, we fancied the cod would have -said if he could; and as we tapped the glass at his nose and bade him -a friendly good-bye, we almost persuaded ourselves that he responded -with a knowing wink, as with a single sweep of his tail he put about -and joined the conger in a brisk constitutional round and athwart the -tank--a tank so crystal clear, and clean and comfortable, as indeed -are all the tanks, that the inmates, abundantly and regularly fed, -ought to be happy enough, were it not that, like Sterne's starling, -they probably find the great drawback on their happiness in the fact -that after all they are prisoners, that they can't get out. We were -much delighted with the seal-house and its lively and intelligent -occupants. The shape of a seal's head is sufficient to convince -the most careless observer that it must contain a great deal of -brains; while its full and lively eye bespeaks a high and active -order of intelligence. Those at present in the Rothesay Aquarium, -three in number, are most interesting animals, and almost as tame as -lapdogs. It so happened that we entered their house at a time when they -were exceedingly active and lively, for they were well aware that a -large basket, which had just been carried to the side of their tank, -contained fresh fish of some kind or other for their dinner; and they -raced and leaped about in eager expectation of the treat, for they -were evidently hungry--always a good sign of an aquarium inmate. The -fish consisted of small flounders; and the agility and graceful ease -of the motions of these seals, as they dived and dashed after a fish, -which, while they were begging dog-like before us at one end of the -tank, we suddenly tossed to the other end, was so admirable that we -continued a long time to play at a sort of pitch-and-toss game that -was quite as agreeable to them as it could possibly be interesting to -us. We only ceased our part of the performance when we thought that -for the time they must have had enough, the seal being probably as -liable to indigestion as the result of a surfeit as is any other -animal. When, however, they found that they had nothing more to -expect from us, they showed their intelligence and nous by at once -commencing to climb out of their tank, at the very spot, too, where -it was easiest of accomplishment, on the side on which they knew -the fish-basket was placed. What could they now be after? was the -question we asked ourselves. One after another they got out and waddled -along the pavement, awkwardly indeed, but as quickly as they could, -past us, keeping their big and beautiful eyes steadily fixed on ours, -till they reached the basket, and in a moment each had seized a fish, -with which he instantly tumbled heels-over-head into the tank again -at the point nearest him, evidently afraid that we might try and -intercept him, and deprive him of a bonne bouche, which all of them -seemed perfectly well somehow to understand they had no right to take -in such reiving fashion. We noticed that when we threw a fish into -the tank, and one of them got hold of it, the other two endeavoured -to snatch it from him, and for the moment there was a wild tumult and -tumble, in which the water was lashed into foam. In this, however, -as far as we could judge, there was no manifestation of anything like -anger, or the slightest attempt to hurt or injure each other. It -was more like the rough and tumble play of children after a ball, -or something of that sort, which all may strongly desire to possess, -but which only one can have for the moment. - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER LXI. - - Overland from Balluchulish to Oban on a 'Pet Day' in - February--Story of Clach Ruric--Castle Stalker: an Old - Stronghold of the Stewarts of Appin--James IV.--Charles - II.--Magpies--Dun-Mac-Uisneachan. - - -With all their tendency, in their every reference to the past, -to become laudatores temporis acti, the sturdy upholders of the -superiority of all that was, in comparison with anything and everything -that is, our weather-wise octogenarian friends here are all agreed that -so summer-like a February [1878] month they never knew before. It is -true that in making this admission they shake their heads sapiently, -and hint that no good can come of such an unnatural commingling of -the times and seasons. It will be well, they add, if before cuckoo day -(mun d'thig latha na cuaig) we haven't to pay for it all in the shape -of storm and cold at a time when these are as unseasonable and out -of place as is summer calm and summer sunshine now. It was amusing -to see these honest old croakers selecting the coziest nooks air chùl -gaoithe's air aodain gréine, as the Fingalian tale has it,--that is, -at the back of the wind and in the face of the sun--and thoroughly -enjoying the calm and sunshine at the very moment that they would -impress upon us the unnaturalness and unseasonableness of it all. The -first fortnight of February was, indeed, wonderfully fine; from the -beginning of the month up to the evening of St. Valentine's Day, more -like the close of April or early May than anything usually looked -for while the sun is still in Aquarius. Driving overland to Oban on -the 11th, and, by the ferries of Ballachulish, Shian, and Connel, -a very beautiful drive it is, hardly to be equalled elsewhere even -in the West Highlands; the day was so bright, and calm, and clear, -that while mavis and merle, and hedge-accenter and chaffinch greeted -us from copse and hedgerow with their rich and mellow song, the driver, -sitting beside us, couldn't help observing as we passed by Appin House, -"Na 'n robh chuag again a nis, bha 'n samhradh fhein ann!" "If we had -but the cuckoo now, it would be summer its very self!" On the beach, -a little above high-water mark, just under Appin House, and within an -easy stone's cast of the public road, there is an immense spherical -boulder of granite, to which there is attached a curious old story, -which invests with additional interest an object deserving enough of -attention for its own sake--for the sake, that is, of its huge size -and almost perfect spherical form, this latter peculiarity, in the -huge solid mass, making it the most remarkable thing of the kind on -the mainland, at least of the West Highlands. The story of the Appin -House boulder, or Clach Ruric as it is called, is, dropping minor -and unessential details, to the following effect:--Long, long ago -a Prince of Lochlin or Scandinavia, with a formidable fleet of war -galleys, made a descent upon the Hebrides, killing and plundering -everywhere with a ruthlessness known only, even in those days of -rude lawlessness, to the Vikings of the north. Having thoroughly -devastated the islands, Ruric--for such was the Prince's name--steered -for the mainland of Morven, and took up his residence in the castle -of Mearnaig, in Glensanda. In this stronghold, the ruins of which -still exist, he resolved to pass the winter, with the intention of -over-running and plundering the adjoining districts in the spring, -and afterwards sailing homewards in the calm of summer seas, for his -galleys were so deeply laden with booty that he feared to encounter -the turbulence of the North Sea at any other season. In the early -spring the cruel Northman was betimes astir, killing and plundering -with but little opposition throughout the districts of Kingerloch, -Sunart, and Ardgour, to the head of Lochiel. While of his numerous -fleet a single galley showed more than a foot and a span (troidh agus -rèis were the words of the narrator) of gunwale unsubmerged, Ruric was -unsatisfied, and to complete his ill-gotten freight he resolved on the -plunder of the opposite district of Appin, the smoke of whose dwellings -could be seen, and the lowing of whose numerous herds could be heard -(when the summer morning was still and the Linnhe Loch was calm) by -the pirate prince from the battlements of the castle of Mearnaig. One -morning Ruric anchored his galleys in the Sound of Shuna, and landing, -erected his tents on the green knoll now occupied by Appin House. With -this spot as his head-quarters, it was his intention to plunder -the district north and south of him at his leisure, believing that -he would meet with as little opposition here as he had already met -with elsewhere. The inhabitants of Appin, however, were partly on -their guard, and determined to resist, and if possible chastise, the -invader. And first conveying their old men, women, and children, with -their flocks and herds, into the fastnesses of the upland glens, they -resolved to watch the movements of the Norsemen, ready to fall upon -them whenever a favourable opportunity should offer. That same night, -as some cattle herds, acting as scouts, were on the hill immediately -above the tents of the invaders, one of them directed the attention -of his companions to a huge granite boulder with so slight a hold of -the hill crest, that, with some little labour, it might be let loose -at any time--a terrible messenger of wrath--amongst the tents of the -enemy below, whose shouts of laughter at that moment, and snatches -of rude song, proved that they had feasted plentifully and had no -apprehension of immediate death or danger in any form. After much -labour, the herdsmen managed so to dig about and undermine and loosen -the boulder in its bed on the hill-face, that, on a given signal, -their united strength sufficed to tilt it headlong over the steep, -leaping and thundering on its terrible path. The largest trees in -its course snapped before the boulder like reeds: when it came into -momentary contact with a rock, the sparks flew heavenward as if -from an exploded meteor! In a dozen of bounds it reached the tents -of the Norsemen, crushing, mangling, grinding into pulp or powder (a -pronnadh agus a bruanadh, are the Gaelic words) everything it touched, -and finally stopping where it now stands, to be long regarded by the -people of the district with a feeling akin to superstitious awe, and -to be known by the name of Clach Ruric. In the morning, the Norsemen -could only know by the mangled fragments of their bodies that their -Prince, with his two sons, and many of those next to him in power, -had met with a terrible death. Before the Appin men could gather in -sufficient force to attack them, the Norsemen unmoored their galleys, -chanting the death-song of their chief as they unmoored, and set sail -for Lochlin, never more to trouble the mainland of the West Highlands -with their invasions. The venerable seanachie from whom we picked up -this tradition, added that Castle Coefin, or Cyffin, in Lismore, is -so called after a Danish prince of that name, who also was connected -with Ruric's expedition, though in what manner he was unable to say. - -Not far from Clach Ruric, on an island rock in the entrance to the -Sound of Shuna, are the ruins of another castle, of a later date, -however, and more recent interest than can be attached to the many -strongholds of the Viking period perched on the rocks and promontories -of this part of the West Highlands. This is Castle Stalker, or, in the -language of the district itself, Caisteal-an-Stalcaire, the Castle of -the Falconer or Fowler. The small rock-island on which it is built is -Sgeir-an-Sgairbh (the sea-rock, or skerry of the cormorant), from very -early times the gathering cry at once and rendezvous of the Stewarts -of Appin in all their maritime expeditions. Castle Stalker dates from -about the beginning of the reign of James IV., for whose convenience -and accommodation, when, as frequently happened, he extended his -hunting expeditions to this district, it was built. Stewart of Appin, -who was a great favourite with the king, was appointed hereditary -keeper, and the castle continued in the possession of the family until, -about the year 1645, the Mac Ian Stewart of that date, in a moment of -drunken folly, made it over to his wily neighbour, Donald Campbell of -the Airds, receiving in return the handsome and adequate equivalent -of an eight-oared birlinn, or small wherry! Stewart, when sober, would -have gladly cancelled so manifestly one-sided a barter-bargain at any -sacrifice, but Campbell, having got possession, kept it; while the -disgraceful transaction so stung the pride of the Stewarts that they -practically deposed the Baothaire (the silly one), as they nicknamed -the chief, from his chieftainship, by unanimously electing his cousins -of Invernahyle and Ardsheal to be their leaders in the subsequent -wars of Montrose. For a short time during Montrose's ascendancy in -the Highlands, and for a longer period towards the close of the reign -of Charles II., Castle Stalker was again in the possession of the -Stewarts; but at the Revolution the Campbells had it all their own way; -they repossessed themselves of the castle, and it has remained theirs -ever since. About forty years ago a gentleman of the family of Ailein -'Ic Rob of Appin, who had amassed a considerable fortune in the West -Indies, offered the then proprietor a large sum for the bare rock -and ruins of Castle Stalker, but the offer was refused. - -From the wooded knoll to the left, as we entered the village -of Portnacroish, we heard some notes that, harsh as they were, -delighted us, for we had not heard them for many years; and the -reader will perhaps smile when we confess delight in association -with what was neither more nor less than the chattering of a pair -of magpies! Knowing that it must be magpie chattering and nothing -else, though the lively confabulators were for the moment invisible, -we got out of our conveyance, and on reaching an open glade we got -sight of a pair of these beautiful birds perched on the topmost -bough of an old ash tree; and so busy were they in the discussion -of what must have been a matter of grave and immediate importance, -that the usually shy and wary birds did not notice our approach till -we were quite close upon them, when, with a scream of alarm and an -indignant flirt of their tails, they glided in graceful curve, rather -than flew, over the tree tops and disappeared. So rare has the magpie -become in Lochaber and the immediately surrounding districts, that -a sight of a pair of these handsome and sagacious birds delighted -us exceedingly. We had little difficulty in concluding that their -lively chattering on that bright and beautiful morning was about no -less important a matter than the propriety of at once putting their -house in order and setting about the labours of incubation. If there -were any truth in popular superstition, that particular day ought to -have afterwards turned out a disagreeable one to us; for had we not -seen two magpies together, and what is more, did we not go out of our -way to see them, when we might have easily passed on unseen of them, -as they were invisible to us? In the south of Scotland the old pyet -rhyme is something like this-- - - - "One's joy, - Two's grief, - Three a wedding, - Four death." - - -In the old sgeulachd the Gaelic rhyme is of similar import-- - - - "Chunnaic mi pioghaid a's dh-éirich leam; - Chunnaic mi dhà 'sgum b'iargain iad; - Chunnaic mi tri a's b'aighearach mi; - Ach ceithir ri'm linn chan iarrainn iad." - - -In our own case, on that particular occasion, the superstition -could not have been more completely falsified by the event, for, -maugre the magpies, our trip to Oban was in its every circumstance as -agreeable and pleasant as it could well be. What a pity it is that -these beautiful birds, whose favourite residence, too, if they were -only permitted to live in peace, is the immediate vicinity of human -dwellings, should be of such evil repute that gamekeepers everywhere -consider themselves justified in accomplishing their utter destruction -by every means in their power. Their utter destruction we have said; -and it is only as to their total extirpation that we would venture on -a word of expostulation with gamekeepers and their employers. It is -true that the magpie is an enemy to winged game, being a cunning and -persistent nest-robber, an adroiter sucker of eggs than the proverbial -"grandmother" herself. That the gamekeeper should therefore dislike -them is the most natural thing in the world, and that, in gamekeeper's -own phrase, they should "be kept down" is proper enough. But we -cannot agree that it is necessary that the bird should be utterly -destroyed. Here and there on a wide estate an occasional pair of -magpies might surely be tolerated for the sake of their beauty and -amusingly lively manners, and on the divine principle of "live and -let live." For our own part, in approaching a gentleman's residence, -the sight of a pair of these birds flitting about "the old ancestral -elms" always intensifies our respect for the place and the owner. - -Crossing Loch Creran, by the Ferry of Shian, we are in -Benderloch--classic ground, and archæologically the most interesting -spot, perhaps, in all the West Highlands. "Everything here is -beautiful," says Dr. Macculloch. "The distance between the ferries -of Shian and Connel is but five miles; but it is a day's journey for -a wise man." About half-way is Dùn-Mac-Uisneachain (the Fort of the -Son of Uisneach), one of the most interesting of our vitrified forts, -quâ such, and supposed to be the Beregonium of Hector Boethius, and -the site of the still older Selma, the "Hall of Swords" of Ossianic -song. That it was a place of importance long before the time of -the Dalriad Scots seems very certain; and, leaving Macpherson's -"Ossian" altogether out of the question, there occur in the old -Fingalian ballads, and tales of the Féinne, about the antiquity -of which there has never been dispute; numberless local references -which seem in a very remarkable manner to point to this spot as the -principal stronghold in Scotland (for they were of Ireland also) of -the Fingalians at one period, and that the most important, perhaps, -in their history. Within a short distance of Dun-Mac-Uisneachain, -and commanding it, is a steep, rocky eminence of considerable -height, called Dunvallary or Dunvallanry, the etymology of which -may be Dùn-bhail'-n-righ, the Fortified Place of the King's Town; -or Dùn-bhail' n 'fhrìth, the Fort of the Town on the verge of the -Hunting Forest. Stretching away towards Connel and Loch Etive is the -wide moorland flat of Achnacree, which, with its numerous cairns, -Druidical circles, monoliths, and other relics of the olden time, may -very well be the ancient "plains of Lora;" Lora itself, frequently -mentioned in Ossianic poetry, and meaning Luath shruth, the loud, -swift current, par excellence, meeting us face to face, so to speak, -in the turbulently impetuous rapids of Connel. - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER LXII. - - Nest-building--Cunningham's Objection to Burns' Song, "O were - my Love yon Lilac fair"--Birds and the Lilac-Tree--Rivalries of - Birds--Birds and the Poets--The Nightingale. - - -A finer February month from first to last was never known in the West -Highlands. With an amount of sunshine that April might be glad of, -it was mild and open throughout; the sort of weather, in short, -that Thomson must have been dreaming about, when he invoked the -season of bursting bud and wildflower as "Gentle Spring, ethereal -mildness." March [1878], too, has come in, not lion-like, as the -meteorological proverb would have it, but "like a lamb," as it is -hoped it may continue and end. Everybody is now astir, and "speed the -plough" is the order of the day, as well, indeed, it may, for the bud -has already opened into leaf, and primroses are plentiful--so plentiful -that they may be gathered in handfuls from the hazel copse and woodland -glade. As for our wild-bird friends, they are in ecstasies with it all, -everywhere in full and fluent song, and making love with an ardour and -directness of purpose that rarely fails of its reward. Nest-building, -the most important and serious labour of their lives, but a labour of -love all the same, is being rapidly proceeded with, the God-taught -architects knowing not only to labour, but how best to labour, -frequently resting a space to refresh themselves with song:-- - - - "Song sweetens toil, however rude the sound, - All at her work the village maiden sings; - Nor while she turns the giddy wheel around, - Revolves the sad vicissitudes of things." - - -And while speaking of birds, this is, perhaps, the proper place to -refer to a paragraph that appeared recently:-- - -"The Lilac Tree and Birds.--Burns has a song, 'Oh, were my love yon -lilac fair,' &c. Cunningham has remarked that Burns had made an unhappy -selection of a tree for sheltering his little bird; for the feathered -songsters are found to avoid the lilac when in flower, owing to its -peculiar smell. We confess we are not skilled enough in natural history -to attest the accuracy of Cunningham's assertion."--Paterson's Burns, -vol. iii. - - -Fully to appreciate Cunningham's objection, it is proper that we quote -the song in full; but before doing so, it may be observed that it is -founded on an older version, of which the best lines are retained, -as is the case with not a few of Burns' finest love-songs. Writing -to George Thomson in the summer of 1793, the poet says-- - -"Do you know the following beautiful little fragment in Witherspoon's -Collection of Scots Songs?-- - - - "'Oh, gin my love were yon red rose, - That grows upon the castle wa.'" - - -"This thought is inexpressibly beautiful, and quite, so far as I -know, original. It is too short for a song, else I would forswear you -altogether, unless you give it a place. I have often tried to make -a stanza to it, but in vain. After balancing myself for a musing -five minutes on the hind legs of my elbow-chair, I produced the -following. The verses are far inferior to the original, I frankly -confess; but if worthy of insertion at all, they might be first in -place; as every poet who knows anything of his trade will husband -his last thought for a concluding stroke:-- - - - "Oh, were my love yon lilac fair, - Wi' purple blossoms to the spring; - And I a bird to shelter there, - When wearied on my little wing. - - How I wad mourn when it was torn - By autumn wild, and winter rude! - But I wad sing on wanton wing - When youthfu' May its bloom renew'd. - - Oh, gin my love were yon red rose, - That grows upon the castle wa', - And I mysel' a drap o' dew, - Into her bonnie breast to fa'! - - Oh! there, beyond expression blest, - I'd feast on beauty a' the night; - Seal'd on her silk-saft faulds to rest, - Till fleyed awa' by Phoebus' light." - - -Cunningham's ornithological objection to the song we believe to be -well founded; and it is not a little to his credit, as proving what -a close and clear observer of the habits of our song-birds he must -have been, that he was the first, so far as we know, to notice, -how reluctant they are to have anything to do with the lilac while -in flower, though at other seasons they perch upon it as freely as -upon other shrubs. We are not as sure, however, that our song-birds -object to the lilac because of anything disagreeable to them in the -perfume of its flowers. Except in the case of some of the Raptores, -birds as a rule are neither acute nor delicate of smell, our little -song-birds least of all perhaps. We rather think the reason of -their dislike to it is to be found, partly at least, if not wholly, -in the fact that while it is in flower, its bark, particularly along -the smaller branches and twigs, is covered with a slimy secretion or -exudation at once viscid and acrid; and if there is one thing more -than another which our wild-birds unanimously and with all their hearts -detest, it is to have their legs or toes come in contact with anything -glutinous or "sticky." Every bird-fancier knows how uncomfortable and -generally miserable is a bird just upon being taken off a limed twig; -not, observe, because he is a captive--thoughts of that may trouble -him afterwards--but immediately and in the first instance because -of the bird-lime about his toes. The first thing, therefore, that -the bird-catcher does is to cleanse the captive's feet and toes by -rubbing them gently between his finger and thumb with fine sand, and -afterwards washing them with water; an operation no sooner performed -and the bird restored to its cage, than it evinces its satisfaction -at being relieved from its state of intolerable discomfort in many -little ways that cannot well escape the notice of even the most -unobservant. We have known a newly captured chaffinch, placed in a -cage directly on being taken off the limed twig, and inadvertently -left uncared for till the evening, peck its toes until red flesh -appeared, in his attempts to rid them of the bird-lime attached to -them. But whether the song-bird's dislike to the lilac when in flower -be owing to its perfume or to the disagreeably glutinous exudations -of its bark in early summer, or to both combined, it is simply the -fact that such an aversion exists; and Allan Cunningham's objection -to the lilac in this connection is perfectly well founded. And even -if this particular objection had not been well founded, it would -have been better, we think, if Burns had selected some one or other -of our native flowering shrubs, such as the hawthorn, for example, -rather than a comparatively rare exotic like the lilac--rare now, -and rarer still a hundred years ago. If those who give any heed at all -to these matters will only consider the question, they will be ready, -we think, to confess that they never yet knew an instance of a bird's -nest in a lilac tree. About our own place here, where the lilac grows -to a large size, and flowers splendidly, we ourselves have never known -or heard of such a thing. Within the shelter of every other tree and -shrub of any consequence about the place, we have known our song-bird -friends to build at some time or other--never once in the lilac, nor, -it may be added, in the fuchsia, which in the warm shelter of this -genial spot grows to the dimensions of a tree, all the year round -too, without the slightest petting or special protection of any kind, -as hardy and self-reliantly as its companion hawthorns, hollies, and -hazels. The fuchsia is probably avoided for the same reason as the -lilac. It also exudes in spring and early summer a viscid secretion -almost as "sticky" and disagreeable, if you run your hand along a twig, -as that of the lilac itself; and, as we have already said, anything -of this kind is an utter abomination to the Insessores or perchers, -who are as particular about their feet and toes as ever was dainty -and delicate belle about the state of her hands and fingers. - -Such of our readers as care about these things, and have the -opportunity, may very profitably and pleasantly give an occasional -half-hour to the doings of our song-birds at this season. Their little -love quarrels and rivalries are very amusing. All this forenoon a pair -of cock chaffinches have been bickering and quarrelling after their -fashion along the hedgerows and amongst the trees immediately opposite -our study window. The casus belli is of course a female, handsome -and coy, and fully conscious, you may believe, of her own value, -who keeps flitting about at a little distance, proud and pleased, -doubtless, to be the object of rivalry between a pair of such gay and -lively chaffinch beaux. Varium et mutabile, she has evidently great -difficulty in making up her mind as to which of the suitors she shall -select; her state of indecision being probably akin to that of the -renowned Captain Macheath in the Beggar's Opera:-- - - - "How happy could I be with either, - Were t'other dear charmer away! - But while you thus tease me together, - To neither a word will I say." - - -The rival birds are in their gayest spring plumage; and when tired -of mere vulgar scolding and abuse, they try to sing each other down; -and then it is that they are well worth not merely the listening to, -but the looking at. Directly opposite the gean-tree near the top of -which the lady chaffinch sits preening her feathers, and occasionally -uttering a twink-twink of self-admiration, is an aged hawthorn, -on which the rivals select to hold their tournament of song; and -the energy and heart with which a bird sings in such a case must be -seen and quietly studied to be fully appreciated. Swaying lightly -each on his own bough, the rivals begin to sing as if their very -lives depended upon it; their throats swollen almost to bursting; -the feathers on their polls erected into a crest, and their whole -bodies tremulous to the very tips of the quill feathers of their wings, -as they pour forth a torrent of song so rapid, clear, and loud, that -all the other birds in the neighbourhood are for the moment silent, -as if they had purposely ceased their own aimless melodies to listen -to the impassioned strains of the competitors in the thorn. Of human -eloquence, Quintilian says, "Pectus, id est quod disertum facit"--the -heart (and not the brain) is that which makes a man eloquent; and even -more than of eloquence, with all the might of its "winged words," is -the same thing true of song. To be all it ought to be, and be at its -best, it must well up a living stream from the hot, impassioned heart; -not from the marble fountain of mere intellect, which, if always clear, -is not the less always cold. If ever song came, in Quintilian's phrase, -direct a pectore--from the heart, it is the song at this moment of -the rival competitors in yonder thorn. It is only when one has seen -and studied a bird singing after this fashion that the full force -and meaning of a line in Gray's Ode to Spring can be understood and -appreciated. Under the lens of a cold, critical analysis, the line -is sheer nonsense; in sight of the bird itself, as at this moment, -singing with all his might, heart and soul in every note, its truth -and beauty are at once apparent. The line is this-- - - - "The Attic warbler pours her throat, - Responsive to the cuckoo's note." - - -Had not the poet seen, and closely and intelligently observed, a bird -in the act of loud and excited song, he would never have ventured -on an assertion that at first sight seems so curiously extravagant, -that a warbler "pours her throat." It is to be observed, however, -that the really beautiful and expressive phrase is not original, but -second-hand as regards Gray. He borrows it from Pope, in whose Essay -on Man (Ep. iii.), published ten or a dozen years before Grays ode, -occurs this line-- - - - "Is it for thee the linnet pours his throat?" - - -But it is a pity to separate the line from its context, and as the -passage is not too well known, we may be pardoned for quoting it:-- - - - "Has God, thou fool! worked solely for thy good, - Thy joy, thy pastime, thy attire, thy food? - Who for thy table feeds the wanton fawn, - For him as kindly spread the flowery lawn; - Is it for thee the lark ascends and sings? - Joy tunes his voice, joy elevates his wings. - Is it for thee the linnet pours his throat? - Loves of his own, and raptures swell the note. - The bounding steed you pompously bestride - Shares with his lord the pleasure and the pride. - Is thine alone the seed that strews the plain? - The birds of heaven shall vindicate their grain. - Thine the full harvest of the golden year? - Part pays, and justly, the deserving steer: - The hog, that ploughs not, nor obeys thy call, - Lives on the labours of this Lord of all." - - -It will be seen that Gray makes his nightingale--his "Attic -warbler"--feminine, "pours her throat," while Pope, more correctly, -makes his linnet songster a mate, "pours his throat;" and Pope who, -indeed, from his habits of life, must have known more about birds than -Gray, is right, for it is the males of song-birds that sing, and not -the females. Milton makes the same mistake as Gray, and adds to the -blunder by saying that the nightingale sings "the summer long," which -it does not. It is curious that our English poets should so frequently -err, as Gray did, in attributing the melodies of song-birds to the -females instead of to the males. The explanation, we suppose, is that, -as amongst ourselves women as a rule are more musically inclined, and -usually have sweeter voices than men, even so the poets, knowing no -better, rashly conclude that the rule must hold good amongst song-birds -also. The very contrary, however, is the fact. It is the male bird -that always sings; the female attempts at song being extremely rare, -and when attempted always a failure, never for a moment to be compared -with the rich and long-sustained melodies of the male. Of all our -song-birds, the most frequently mentioned by the poets is, of course, -the nightingale, and almost invariably they make it a "she" instead of -a "he." One of the finest passages in English poetry is a reference to -the nightingale in The Lover's Melancholy of the dramatist John Ford -(d. 1639). We are fond of reciting this passage when "i' the vein" -for such things, but we always take the liberty of changing the -"she," "hers," and "her" of Ford, into the "he," "his," and "him" -of ornithological fact. - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER LXIII. - - March Dust--Moons of Mars--Planetoids--Occultation of Alpha - Leonis--Zodiacal Light--Snow Bunting--Old Gaelic Ballad of - "Deirdri:" Its Topography. - - -If for the first few days March [1878] seemed inclined to emulate -the peaceful calm and sunshine of its predecessor, it very suddenly -assumed a more warlike aspect; a change came over the spirit of its -dream; it became boisterous and rude; snow, and sleet, and rain, and -storm battling in wild comminglement. It still continued what is called -"open" weather, however; there was no frost, no razor-edged and biting -winds, and vegetation was rather temporarily checked than seriously -hurt or hindered. After this wild burst, in vindication, it is to -be presumed, of the month's right to be called after the bellicose -Mars, things slowly but steadily improved, and the weather is now -such as permits us to get on with our spring work uninterruptedly and -pleasantly enough. We have not yet, however, had a sufficiency of the -"March dust," so proverbially invaluable at seed-time; and nowhere -perhaps so invaluable, so absolutely essential indeed, in its proper -season, as in the West Highlands. The day, however, is now lengthening -apace, and with a bright warm sun overhead, and brisk north-easterly -breezes, we shall doubtless soon have dust enough and to spare. - -Our reference to Mars the war-god, reminds us that Mars the planet, -with whose fiery effulgence every one is familiar, has recently -had an accession of dignity such as the old-world star-gazers never -dreamt of in connection with the ruddy orb. It is found to have at -least two attendant moons, small, and so exceedingly difficult of -detection even by the aid of the best instruments, that it is only -under the most favourable circumstances that they can be observed. It -is more than suspected that a third, and even a fourth satellite, -exists, and the planet will in consequence be subjected to the -closest possible scrutiny at all the observatories at home and -abroad for some time to come, in order to determine with certainty -the number of its attendant moons, and whether they be two or more, -to decide their sidereal revolutions, their diameters, masses, -and inclinations of orbits. By reason of his retinue of satellites, -Mars is now exalted to equal dignity with Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, -and Neptune; and by the discovery another point is scored in favour of -the nebular hypothesists. It was on the night of the 1st January 1801 -that the first of the planetoids, Ceres, was discovered by Piazzi of -Palermo. Next year Olbers of Bremen discovered the second planetoid, -Pallas, and so constant and searching has been the scrutiny to -which the planetoidal zone, situated between the orbits of Mars and -Jupiter, has been subjected, that the number of these minor worlds -is now no less than 182, the last three in the series, Nos. 180, -181, and 182, having been discovered since the beginning of February -last. Of these three, two were discovered by French observers; the -third by Professor Peters of Hamilton College, U.S., America. This -last, however, is suspected to be only a rediscovery, so to speak; -to be identical with Antigone, discovered five years ago by the same -indefatigable observer. If this be so, the asteroidal series amounts -at present date to 181. In favour of the ingenious hypothesis that -accounted for the existence of these minor orbs by suggesting that -they might be the fragments of a large disrupted world--of a large -planet rent asunder by some terrible internal convulsion--a great deal -could be said while the number of fragments was under half a dozen -or even double that number, but when the fleet of orblets began to -be counted by the score, the disrupted world theory was dropped as -no longer tenable in the circumstances. The hypothesis of Olbers, -however--for it originated with the discoverer of Pallas--led to a -great deal of curious research that resulted in no little gain to -astronomical science; and if it had to be given up as insufficient -in the case of a planetoidal zone, it left us a legacy that may yet -be turned to good account, that such a catastrophe, namely, as the -disruption of a planetary world into fragments that in the shape of -minor orbs would continue to revolve in orbits coincident with that -of the parent globe, is not only possible, but, under certain easily -enough conceivable circumstances, a probable enough occurrence. - -Occultations by the moon of planets and first magnitude stars are -always interesting phenomena, and for many years we have rarely -missed observing such conjunctions as they became due, even if -the hour was otherwise inconvenient, if only the weather chanced -to be favourable. Last week there were two occultations, which for -particular reasons we were very anxious to observe, and as the weather -was clear and bright we had but little fear of disappointment. The -stars to be occulted were Alpha and Delta Leonis, the one on the -night of the 16th, the other on the night succeeding. Alpha Leonis -is of the first magnitude, distinguished, like some others of its -class, from the mere alphabetical order of stars by its proper name -of Regulus. Up to within a quarter of an hour of the computed moment -of occultation or disappearance of the star behind the moon's disc, -the sky was clear; and as we stood at our post everything promised -a highly satisfactory and successful observation; but alas, as the -moon and star, in nautical phrase, were close aboard each other, -a huge bank of cloud, driven by a north-westerly breeze, swept over -the scene, effectually occulting moon and stars alike from the most -penetrating gaze. It was provoking enough, but there was no help -for it. An observer in our climate must make up his mind to frequent -disappointments of this kind. We were still in hopes that although the -immersion was thus hidden from us we might be more fortunate in the -case of the emersion--the reappearance, that is--of the star on the -moon's western limb. But it was no use. Two or three times, indeed, -the moon shone forth for a minute or two together from through an old -cathedral porch-like rent in the intervening wall of cloud, but only to -be again obscured; and thus it continued so tantalisingly promising, -that we stood to our post until a glance at the clock showed that -the moment of emersion was already past, and it was useless waiting -or watching any longer. The great object in closely watching these -occultations is to observe, with all possible certainty, if there -is any distortion or momentary projection on the moon's disc of the -planet or star occulted at the instant of immersion and emersion, -in order to decide if the moon has an atmosphere or not. We have seen -enough, we think, from our own observations during the last five and -twenty years, to lead us to the conclusion that such distortion and -projection is occasionally to be seen, and that therefore, contrary to -the general belief of astronomers, a lunar atmosphere very probably -exists, though it may be of greatly less weight and density than -our own. Looking over our astronomical note-book, we find that the -winter just past--let us hope that at this date we may so speak of -it--was remarkable for two things--the almost total absence, namely, -of auroral displays, and the exceeding brilliancy of the zodiacal -light. We have only two recorded instances of the occurrence of -the aurora borealis, both in December, and both but partial, faint, -and ill-defined. The zodiacal light, on the contrary, was remarkably -bright and noticeable on almost every evening in February and early -March, its apex reaching up to and beyond the Pleiades, and with an -outline clear and sharply defined as ever was sheaf of the brightest -auroral light. So noticeable was it on several occasions, that all -the people of the hamlet began to speak about it, and inquire what -it could mean, for its perfect quiescence, its appearance night after -night in the same quarter of the heavens, and the absence of anything -like accompanying storms or aerial disturbance, satisfied even them -that it was not the fir-chlis or "merry-dancers" as they used to know -them. Let us assure our Celtic readers that an attempt on our part to -explain the nature of the zodiacal light in Gaelic was no easy task; -and if the truth were known, we fear our prelection quoad hoc was a -sad failure. - -We have received the following note from "A Constant Reader:"-- - - -"Nether Lochaber. - -"Sir--Would you kindly let us know, through the columns of the -Inverness Courier, the proper name of the accompanying little bird, -and what part of this country it is properly a native of. It is never -seen in Ross-shire but during very heavy snow, and then they fly about -in large flocks, and disappear again as soon as the snow is gone.--I -am, yours respectfully, - -"A Constant Reader." - - -Neatly packed in a couple of lucifer match-boxes ingeniously conjoined, -the bird reached us, and the locale of its being shot or captured we -can only approximately indicate by the fact that the package bore the -post-mark "Garve." There was no difficulty in at once recognising -the bird as the snow-fleck or snow bunting, the Emberiza nivalis -of Linnæus, a common enough bird in early winter over the whole of -Scotland. Although it has been known to breed in Scotland, a few -being found all the year round along the summits of the Grampians, -and other mountain ranges to the north and north-west, it is probably -a bird of considerably higher latitudes than ours; visiting our shores -as a migrant in October or November, according as the winter is early -and severe or otherwise, and leaving us again in March or April. It -is a hardy little bird, of plain and rather sombre plumage, prettiest -in the act of flight, when the white on the edges and tips of the -tail-feathers, and quills, and secondaries, comes out in pretty bars, -contrasting pleasantly with the dark and chestnut brown, which may -be said to be the prevailing colour. The snow-fleck has hardly any -song beyond a tremulous twittering, and a few call-notes so loud and -shrill that in the strange and solemn calm that sometimes precedes a -snow-storm, they may be heard at a great distance. Our correspondent -should have stated where, when, and how the bird was got, a knowledge -of such matters vastly enhancing the interest and value of a specimen, -especially if it has any claims to be accounted a rara avis. - -We are indebted to our excellent Celtic friend, Mr. William Mackay, -Inverness, for a copy of his exceedingly interesting monograph on -The Glen and Castle of Urquhart, one of the most interesting spots -in the Highlands. Mr. Mackay attempts to make Glen Urquhart classic -ground by associating the story of Dearduil and Clann-Uisneachean, -as related in the mediæval Gaelic ballads, with the locality, by -pointing out that there is a Dun Dearduil in the neighbourhood--a -place so called after the hapless heroine of the ballad story. But in -the old and unquestionably authentic ballads her name is not Dearduil -but Deirdri; Deirdir and Daordir. Dearduil is a much later form of -the name, not older, Mr. J. F. Campbell hints, than the Darthula of -"Ossian" Macpherson. But there are other Dun Dearduils besides that -referred to by Mr. Mackay; one, for instance, near us in Glenevis; -and it is to be observed that all the places so called are vitrified -forts. An old man in our neighbourhood, one of our best seannachies, -always speaks of the Glenevis vitrified fort as Dun Dearsail -or Dearsuil, and this is probably the correct form of the term, -closely connecting it with dears and dearsadh, to shine, a shining; -to beam and be effulgently aglow like flame of fire. Remembering -that all the places so called present more or less marked traces -of vitrifaction, in the formation of which fire and flame, on a -large scale, must have been the chief and most remarkable agents, -the name comes to have a fitting and appropriate enough meeting, -without the necessity of taking in the name of Deirdri or Dearduil -at all. Mr. Mackay next gives a translation of a couple of quatrains -from the oldest known version of the Clann-Uisneachan ballad; that, -namely, of the vellum manuscript in the Advocates' Library, bearing -the date 1238, and quoted in the Highland Society's Report on Ossian:-- - - - "Beloved land, that eastern land, - Alba, with its lakes; - Oh, that I might not depart from it; - But I go with Naois. - Glen Urchain, O Glen Urchain, - It was the straight glen of smooth ridges: - Not more joyful was a man of his age - Than Naois in Glen Urchain." - - -Mr. Mackay will have it, of course, that this "Glen-Urchain" is his -Glen Urquhart. The Gaelic name of Urquhart, however, is invariably a -trisyllable; but this apart, the Glen-Urchain of Mr. Mackay has no -existence in the ballad from which he professes to translate. The -quatrain stands thus in the original:-- - - - "Mo chen Glen Urchaidh, - Ba hedh in Glen direach dromchain; - Uallcha feara aoisi - Ma Naise an Glend Urchaidh." - - -It is Glen Urchaidh, observe, not Urchain; the Glenurchay -of Argyllshire, in short, not the Glen Urquhart or Urchadan of -Inverness-shire. This is further proved by the context, the immediately -preceding and succeeding stanzas, which speak of Glen Mason and -Glendaruel in Cowal; of Duntroon; of Innisstrynich on Loch Awe; of Eite -or Etive, &c. In so far, in short, as this story of Clann-Uisneachan of -Ireland has to do with Scotland, we find it connected with Argyllshire, -where indeed we should most naturally look for it; and chiefly with -Glen Etive and Loch Etive, where we have Dun-Mhac-Uisneachan; Grianan -Dheirdir; Caoille Naois; Eilean Uisneachan, &c. &c. In Argyllshire, -too, it was that the Clann-Uisneachan ballads were preserved till -discovered and taken down from oral recitation by the collectors. And -if Dun-Dearduil and "Glen-Urchain" must be given up as having no -connection with the ballads in question, so would it seem to follow -that some other etymology than any connection with the name of Naois, -must be found for Loch Ness, Inverness, &c. - - - - - - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Nether Lochaber, by Alexander Stewart - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NETHER LOCHABER *** - -***** This file should be named 56157-8.txt or 56157-8.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/6/1/5/56157/ - -Produced by Jeroen Hellingman and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net/ for Project -Gutenberg (This file was produced from images generously -made available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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