Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1890-11-23

lowed. Houses grew up around theae,
and then the tiny church place or ham
let itself took the name of the spot
where the old pagan rites were once
| celebrated. 1t is interesting too, to note
how exactly identical is the Gaelic of the
crofter Highlander of to-day with that
of his he then ancestors of 1900 or 2000
years ago. Instead OF asking his
neighbor in Gaelic, care you 60
ing to church to-day?' he will
ask, "Are you going to the stones?'
Gam bhpii thu dol dom clachan)f The
quaintest bits of primitive architecture
in all Scotland ere to be found in these
quaint old nests. The pagan clachan is
gone; the chaDels and churches-fOr they
were of the sort iconoclast Cromwell did
not like-were long ago RACED TO the
ground. But il you lave the arch@oiog-
zeal instinct you can find bits Of crosses,
cinerary urns and sacriticial stones built
into house-wailj, just as you will find st
Bow nesS-on- SOlway, Roman affairs and
frst-century Roman inscriptions ignobly
set in pig-stys and byres. A vitrified
fort will often he discovered near at
hand. Huge comiechs and menhirs,
marking pagan burial places, are never
far away. And there is always within,
or just without that cleft of rock whence
has tricklei for centuries the crystal
stream which in Columb's days was ever
blessed aud sacred; Because the clachan
and croft have almost always been in
separately connected, there is little
wonder that the crofter cliugs
lovingly to the weird old places;
that his manner has become sub
dued and grave from endless feeding
upon the Gaelic lyrics of a mystic past;
or that the forgivable superstltlons and
wraiths which cling about these eeris
spots have wrought very many fantastic
fancies within the warp and wool of his
spiritual nature.
There Is little romance about the croft
ter's everyday and home life. If he
can make his rent partially from his
land. be tills il in the hard old primitive
way. with the rudest of tools; aud IN
Skye, the Hebrides, in remote parts of
the North, and here in Shetland, the
crooked wooden spade, or earth-fork, is
still to be seen. If he cannot, he Is
forced to leave the croft to the care of
his wife and children, and turn fisher
man. Often his wife and grown daugh-
ter leave the croft and JOIN the berrIng-
curer's crews on the coast, for several
months of the summer. His subsistence
gained from the croft IL always precar-
ious; and were 1t not that his wants are
few, he could not live at oil. His prin-
cipal crops are oats and potatoes; but
the variable nature OF The Innate rem
ders steady return doubtful. Often
the oats fail to ripen. Again, when they
mature, tine little crop is frequently de-
stroyed by rain. Potato of late years
occasionally blight or rot. When both
the oats and potatoes fail
ACTUAL FAMINE COMES.
By the greatest vigilance enough grass
may be cured for the long winter supply
for the few animals; but there Is always
peat to be had for the one bright spot in
all the crofter's life, the great, open
fire. place of his cabin. After the cows
are MIXED in the morning the Younger
children, accompanied by the collie dog,
set out to herd them, for the crofts are
seldom inclosed. Old coats or jackets
ars thrown over their shoulders, and
they listlessly move about like a bevy Of
automatic scarecrows, keeping the cattle
or sheep within bounds the whole day
long. Dreary, lonesome business this,
in the old days or in these days; but of
late some Of the soddsnness OF this life 10
being relieved by the books good folk
have put in the youthful herders' hands;
and the winter school 10 gradually open.