The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1890-10-19
Special to THE SUNDAY CALL.

I ! Western Isles through the Caledon-
\ 7 ian Canal, with its noble reaches OF
lakes bordered by cloud kissed
Z mountains where monarch Ben
Nevis scowls through the swiring mists; il
by the eastern coast where the German
Ocean thundeTs against granite headlands
and mighty preeiI ices, and no sound save
the roaring of the tempest or the shrielking
Of sea fowl is ever heard; or whether you
tramp across fair PeTthshire and Inverness
shire over the fine highway, where modern
civilization has utilized the old Roman roads,
and in your 15O-mie pilgrimage from Edn-
burgh you have learned to love highland
scenes in Il way that gives you faint notl on
of the passionate devotion OF the old clans-
men for the glenS and StrathS in which they
were given birth; however you may haXs
come, by the time you have begun to realize
familiarity and acqualnt lance with the
ROYAL burg of Inverness, its bewitching en-
virOns, and especially with the most charac-
terIstc Of Its people and the grave. silent
folk who swarm here from the businesses Of
the north, a curious sense Of interest,
almost reaching the pleaSuraole thrill OF dis
cOyeTy, possesses you.
Inverness is the metropolis of the High
lands. AOu realize You are III Scotland, yet
when you recall your surroundings, when
you compare habit, custom, manner, dialect,
motive and even your own feelings and attl-
tGde resulting from a strangers contact
lth strangers, YOU fee that you have come
to a new and distinct land. While every
human north of the English border is
scotch" as the term goes, to the last drop
ul blood III his veins, aud all possess quail
Ties typical of endless devotion 10 Il ike
national pride and feeling, perhaps when
You lave come here and found such radical
difference between these folk and any you
have hitherto known in Scotland you begin
HI.4t flraa nor, all
man be found in Scotland. Is lie IN GlaS-
gov, with his hard commercial ways, his
driving, restless, endless activities, unsur-
passed by the mad mouey-makers Of New
York or Chicago? Is he in Edinburgh, with
his PHILOSOPHERS, theOlogieS, missionaries,
EenealUgies and
OFTEN HIS THREADBARE POVERTIES?
Is he among the Border wales with his bar
harJuS dialects and lethargic, sodden con-
tent? Is lie in the Western Isles, starving
l8f the time in deSOlate claChGnS, the VIC
TIM OF poor crops, eviction, commissions
and the slave OF eaSt-shOre fisher smack
men? Or is he of Inverness, Beauty, Elgin,
Wick and ThurSo, in the Mystic North, the
true Scotch Of ScOtchmen, though lie has no
dialect speaks Gaelic more eXquisitely than
q Dublin professor and reels off book En-
glsh" in greater purity than professor at
oxford or a Boston booksellers clerk?
This excellence Of speech in the far north
memuer that all printed examples of broad
Scotch in dialectlc anecdotes have been at
tTibuted by their manufacturers to Scottish
Hgulanders. The fact is that the nearer
You come to the English border, on the one
side or the Scottish border on the other the
more do both Scottish and English folk hurl
angular chunks of Dorc provinciaIisms at
You until you slcken with the effort ut intel
.IEent comprehension. These bordererS have
the greatest pride in their rich broad
brian" Both are simply rich jargon.
From Carlisle through the north
Of England to Berwick or weed,
and back through KelsO, Jedburgh, kes-
wick, Amman and Dumfries, in Scotland, in
ordinary course of travel you will find more
people whom you cannot readily understand
than IN all the rest Of Scotland; and yOu
will in the same way discover more folk,
from the most learned Established or Free
Church minister down to the most Ignorant
gIllie or humble crOfter, who speak the Eng
lish tongue dramatically, with precision
and directness, and with pleasing modula-
lion and infection, north of the Grampian
Hills than in Glasgow and Edinburgh COM
bIued.
\ Highland sheep-herder over on the
sides Of grim old Ben Muichdhui, who had
never seen a dozen books in his life, said to
me in connection with his lonely life and vo-
cation: ." am not alone when | have these
sheep with me, l can see so far from my
SAeeliEg,' This was not only suggestively
poetic, but II was expressed In excellent En-
glIsh, and give his exact words. a fisher
man taking salmon near the mouth Of the
Ness, told me pleasantly: I'VE have not
been very fortunate this year with salmon,
but have always noticed that when salmon
are scarce oatmeal is plentiful" An old
blacksmith, at a little forge near CarnOch,
SAID: "Were | not too old to take the jour
ney, l should ike to still enjoy the advan-
tagts your country offers workman"
TIE PIER-KEEPER AT DRUMNADRoCHIT
Informed me: The steamers on the canal
are very punCtual in their arrivals" An
Inverness policeman, of whom / had made
inquiry regarding arrival and departure Of
B-auly coaches, responded: 81 am sorry |
cannot tell you. If you will wait a moment
/ viii ascertain for you at the Highland Rail
way-station Office" A ragged lad, hawking
Lsu with a donkey and cart, of whom |
asked the value Of his diminutive outfit,
promptly replied: 81 think, sir, as good
one could be got for five pounds, though |
would not Ike to take that for them" My
landlady, very ordinary sort Of woman,
always asks: Which would you prefer,
sir, an infusion of tea or a brewing Of COT
fee?" The humblest shOp-keeper will say:
I" cannot supply the article to-day, SIR"
OF = am sorry l have not the article you
wish"
l have set these expressions down lit
SLdiIA' Ne IO"HesJ IN strain or YeDnel
speaks With surprising correctness and
asTeeability. Straightforward 81 do not
know" takes the place of 50 dinna ken :"
Please come in, or Il am glad to see
you, supplants Coon AVA" and honest
Yes, sir" will not give way to the Low
iand-accepted, peaSant-English pronuncia-
ton OF 80, aye" have noticed the same
phenomenon Of unpolluted English in an
other region where both English and Gaelic
are spoken, at old Galway, in the west
Of Ireland. Galway is the laughing-stock
Of the brogue-Slathering dilletanti of Dub
I'm, and the Highlanders are ever the butt
OF hypercrtical Edinburgh. Yet both the
men Of Connaught and the descendants of
tie openly feared, secretely despised High
land clans are immeasurably the superlors
OF either Dublin or Edinburgh folk in the
construction OF cOlloquial expression and
IN delivery Of speech itself. Some attribute
TINS perfection OF speech, in both districts
10 the remote and TO some extent continu-
Gus translation OF language from the old
Erse into English, preventing a corrupted
spoken language from imitation, and tend
ing 10 secure and preserve unLainled the
pure English Of literature.
If this royal old capital of the Highlands
were not pleasing TO you from the purity Of
tongue, the attitude of citizen to stranger,
and, its people, certain fine grain OF dig
nifty that is never brusqueness, reserve that
IS never selfshness, and yet genial eonsid-
'idl4Vu tHdl never UetdJs, IL IL pOSotSSeS,
the contemplate affability of alert venality,
you could not help falling completely in
love with the romance of It's history, the
beauty of the city itself and the antiquarian
interest and scenic grandeur of Its environ
lnent. Your fancy can travel a long way
back here al ancient Inverness, for it was
the original metropolis OF all the Picts. Co.
lumbia.
sCOTLAND's GREAT APOSTLE,
Came here in the sixth century and con-
yeIt1d Drudeus, King of the Picts. William |
the Lion granted it four charters. and these |
brave old documents are still authority for |
ihe freedom of the city. Indeed, until the |
INVASION OF Scotland by Edward |, Inver- !
ness was undoubtedly the seat, or frequent |
resort, Of all Scottish Kings, whose presence |
was required IN protecting the ancient cap |
ltal from the incursions of the Danes and |
northern Vikings, or for quelling the insur- |
Ieciiohs OF reDellious northern chiefs. Mac !
Detn Oh ohakespearean fame, the maormer |
OF great man" OF Ross. became also that OF
Aloray, including Inverness, by marriage. and |
was once master OF the original castle of In
verness on the Crown" at the mouth of
tie Ness, which place is regarded by some