The morning call., 1890-11-30


tied by the side CT mountain lochs and
rivers, where the removals" and clear
ances," like some wild mountain tempest.
swept over the old Highlanders without
annihIlating all their homes, that the crofter
OF old. the crofter Of song and stosy ana
tourists tales. may yet be found. lie IS
grave and silent in his loneliness; but ap0ut
this child of The mist fingers nearly all that
remains of Highland tradition, folklore ana
pictureSqueness of environment. Inc SIN
gle, lonely, isolated croft Is too dreary ., lor
winsomeness. But you will now and then
come upon an old "clachan," where three or
four, or perhaps half dozen, crOfts nestle
in corrie together, are huddied under the
friendly protection of some precipltous crag,
or are grouped like brown gypsy tents be-
meath the strong arms of primeval trees;
and here life and customs are In many re-
spects very primitive Indeed.
The "auld clachan," aside from so uni
verSally being the hamlet-home of the
crofter, it is worthy of attention on Its own
account. The word is occasionally mis-
nomer among Scottish people themselves,
rs applied to any ancient and picturesque
hamlet of a hali-scOre or so quaint old
houses. Clachan has more ancient aud
honorable Specification. 1t is pure Gaelic
word meaning "a circle of stones" The
clachan was the fame or place OF worship OF
the pagan Caledonians. When Christianity
was introduced the missionaries from Iona
very wisely planted the cross within the
CIdClitD. III lIHl6 lllllC CDdpSIS. anu
finally churches, followed. Houses grew up
around these. and then the tiny church.
place or hamlet itself took the name
of the spot where the old pagan rites
were once celebrated. 1t is interesting, too,
to note row exactly identical is The Gaelic OF
| the crofter Highlander of to-day with that
of his heather ancestors of 1850 or 2Oo0
| years ago. Instead of asking his neighbor
| In Gaelic, sAre you going TO church to-
| day?" he will ask,
ARE YOU GOING TO THE sToNEs?"
! lam bheil thu'dol DON clachanl? The
| Quaintest bits CT primitive architecture IN
all Scotland are to be found in these quaint
old nests. The pagan clachan is gone; the
chauels and churches-fGr they were of the
sort icUnoclast Cromwell did not hke--were
long ago RACED to the ground. But If you
have the archaeological instinct you can ind
bits of crosses, ciuerary urns and sacrifcial
| stones huilt into bouse-walis, just as you viii
find at BownesS-on-SOl Roman affairs
| and firsi-century Roman Inscriptions iguo-
| bly, set in pig-sties and byres. y vitrlhed
| fort Will often be discovered near at hand.
| Huge cromleehs and menhirS, marking
pagan bulial-places are never far away.
! And there is alwa avs within, or just without,
| that cleft of rock whence has trickled fGr
! centuries the crystal stream which III Co
lumbs days was ever blessed and sacred.
Because the clschan and croft have almost
always been insPparably connected there is
little wonder that the crCfter clings lovingly
to these weird old places that his manner
| has become subdued and grave fronI endless
feeding upon the Gaelic lyric of Il mystic
past; or that the fcTgivabie superStitions
and wraiths which cling about these eerie
spots have wrought very many fantastic
| faacles within the warp and wool OF his
| spiritual nature.
There is little romance about the .crOfteT'S
| everyday and home life. ii he can make
his rent partially from his land, he tills it in
| the hard old primitive way, with the rudest
| OF tools; and in Skye, the lIebrdeS, IN re-
! mote parts of the North and here in Shet-
| land the crooked wooden spade, or earth
| fork, is stllto be seen. If lie cannot lie is
| forced TO leave the croft to the care OF his
wife and children and turn fisherman.
Often his vile and grown daughter leave
| the croft and join the herrn g-curerS' crews
on the coast for several months OF the sum-
mer. His subsistence gained from the croft
Is always precariouS; and were it not that
his wants are few he could not live at all.
HIS principal crops are oats and potatoes; but
/ often the variable nature of the climate ZEN
ders a steady return doubtful. Often the oats
fail to ripon. Again, when they mature, the
little crop is frequently destroyed by rain.
Potatoes of late years occasionally blight or
rot. When both the oats and potatoes fail,
actual famine comes. BY the greatest vigi-
lance enough grass may be cured Tor the
long winter supply for the few animals; but
there is always peat to tie bad for the one
bright spot in all the cr0fter'S life, the great,
open Fireplace OF his calm. Alter the cows
are MIXED in the morning, the younger
children, accompanied by the collie dog, set
out 10 herd them, for the crofts are seldom
inclosed. Old coats or jackets are thrown
over their shoulders. and they listlessly
move about like a beyy of automatic scare
crows, 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 soddenness of this life is being
relieved by the books good folk have put in
the youthful herders' hands. and the winter
school is gradually opening new world to
their eager, childish eyes.
1t is customary where there are only one
or two beaststo "tether" them with chain
or rope. The horse or ''sheitie." if the
crofter has one, is also "hobbled Some
times half dozen sheep viii be tethered by
day and put into the sheep-eot at night.
Such croft sheep are universally called pets.
The world has heard OF the famous pet
lamb case" between the great American
deer-stalker W. l.. Winans, who controls a
game preserve of over 100000 acres ana the
shoemaker of kintail. The shnemaker's
only lamb strayed from the highway, tres
passed on the great mans acres, was
bounced upon and slaughtered by a game
keeper; ard finally caused an action at law
that agitated the whUle Of Great Britain and
became the subject of many an eloquent
outburst in and out of the House of Com
mons. The crofter's home is often sod hut
with a sod thatch. More frequently il con-
sists of four low walls Of apparently un-
cemented stones, with thatch of straw or
fr-branehes and straw, held in its place by
stones anchored from the caves by straw
ropes The structure usually incioses but
one room. There is low, wide door, per-
hapS window or two, but in some cases
only a "boal," or square ape: nature for adj
hitting light and air, will be found. 4 bunk
answers for bed for The Old folks. The
children are disposed OF in tue loft. a few
rude benches or square blocks of stone near
the fireplace answer for seats. A spinning
wheel, here. and there a hand-loom, more
or less fshins-gear, some iron pots,
little earthenware, and often the square
wooden drlnkin.-cupS, or "mether5 of
the ancient GaelS VIII be found. A few Of
the more fortunate crofters may possess a
but and ben " house, that is. house with
two roons, when "ganpin' but or ben "
is the aristocratic possibility. The crofter's
food almost universally comprises pOrridge
breakfast. At dinner he may have BAN
mock of rye with an egg. The supper will
be the breakfast repeated without tea.
Sometimes the dinner is varied by herrings
and potatoes. He is total stranger to fruit,
as We know 1t, though there are sometimes
few wild monnta II berries to be got. He
is utterly devoid of amusements. The old
in the Highlands. In the old days the
"ceilidh" pronounced "kailey' y or gossip
ing party, occupied the lcng winter even
lngs. 1t fingers still where the clergy's sharp
eyes do not too often come; and in it are
whsperingly preserved all the old tales of
clan and tartan. witch and wariock, and the
sweeter folklore Of this tender-hearted.
long-suffering, hospitable, hopeless people.
oopyrighLs EDGAR L. WAKEMAN.
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