Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-10-18

hustled the bride until the window paues
ratified, for the one first rubbing her left
shoulder against brides Lett shoulder will
first be married; with laughter and Jest and
many a SALLY at the captured parson. we all
partook of the wedding dinner, done to q
turn. and all the more graciously served as
the lsndlady got two prices or at least two
plates of it; nv friend surely got sovereign
for his enforced clerical labors-and 1, with
the good fortune ever favoring those who
rescue lovelorn iolk from plight and dis
tress, was, in turn, perforce made to come to
the glorious North with nv home in a sweet
old manse where 1 could see, for so long as
NV ancv willed, life as it truly is in the
verv heart of the remotest Highlands of Scot
land.
1t was strange, weird eoaehload Of folk,
speaking in a strange, weird tongue, and we
rolled rapidly along through strange,
weird country. Every soul of the dozen or
more within the wagoaette, but mysel ,
spoke the Gaelic tongue, and not a word
was spoken during the entire journey in
English, save when / was addressed. 1t
WIS an immediate revelation Of a condition
of things in the Highlands which even in
telliCeut ScotchmeE il the large lowland
cities are uuacqUainted with, or affect to De
ignorant OF. From every source OF book,
newspaper anu oral information outside the
Highlands, YOU gain the impression that
the Gaelic language is dead; that perhaps
somewhere among the peat and mists of in
accessible peaks in Donegal and Connaught
In ireland, or of Sutherland, Ross Skye
ard the Hehrides, in Scotland, there are a
few old men and women who have retained
a few words o. language once common to
the Cymric Celts; indeed that the Gaelic
language, with the crumbling remains of
the glorious antiquities Of ireland and Scot
land, are hut the fabrics of zealots' dreams.
THE ORIGINAL GAELIC.
But if you will come far enough you will
fud this language in all its original rich
ness, purity and power, and will be
astounded to know that every soul in many
districts in Ireland, and, geographically, in
the larger portion OF Scotland, speak 1t
every waking hour of their lives precisely
as their ioreiatherS spoke it for unknown
cycles of years before them.
"Oh, yes" explained my friend, eve are
sll Gaelic still, north of Perthshire and
berdeeE-shire, and in all the outlying
islands, And then modestly, and as
though there might be something of the
lingering old Jacobitic sedition in it: 81
preach TO my people in Gaelic every other
Sunday"
And do they all understand il?
~ understand III They will tell you that
Adam spoke Gaelic; that the Scripture can
be alone properly expounded in Gaelic; my
English sermons are given to empty benches;
the Gaelic SUNDAYS bring hearers from 20
nj les away; and every iace is a picture of
radiant devotion and joy-even to the last
one Of their brave collie dogSi'
Bless them for loyalty to their traditions
and language, it must be so; Tor below anu
behind us there came g roar of song that
echoed wildly through the g,ens and passes
They had worn out the thread-bare gossip OF
Strathglas>, and, as all without exception
had had the cookies OF their hearts warmed
a little this day bv ga cinder in their
glasses" as the HIghianders affectionatelv
term drop OF peat whisky, moodiness and
silence, after "the ceilidh" or gossiping was
exhausted were succeeded by imDetuous
song. "Coire Cheathaich" was the name OF
the first one they sang and the very title,
from coire, Kettle ana cheathaich, steany,
vapOry, or THE Misty Dell" as applied to
a loved Highland valley or hollow, is illus
t-ative OF the exquisitely poetic significance
OF words in all Gaelic original.
A RELIGIOUS DISPUTE.
1T viii be my turn sooup' said my friend
in whisper and with grimace of resigna- |
ton.
Your turn?''
|
shortly, and then everv one, women and all,
Will begin such doctrinal exposition and |
catechism as, could you hear it in English,
YOU would regard as little else than assault. |
Oh, yes, every one of NV flock, and indeed |
zll HIghlanderS, love 10 get their minister |
outside the kirk, and harry him a little.
All SCotehmen are born disuutantr. Add |
a little Of the right kind Of flme to their
zeal and they are masters Of polemics. One
glass makes one Of my people a doctrinal
enthusiast; two sets him to expounding
most difficult theologic problem; and, 1 |
sometimes think, with another he would |
stop On his way into heaven and engage St.
Peter himself"
But far up the strath our horses were
changed at little elachan. Then here and
there, where iootpaths turned to the heights
above or the valley beneath, peasant doc
trinaries one by one descended and dis
appeared with departing shot OF scriptural
ferocity, harder and iercer than all the
granite cragS above us. The shadows crept
in and were marshaled in dark phatauxes
in the strsth-bed far down there, thousands
o feet below. The river, now broad and
CLASSY, now foaming torrent, and again a
ieathery waterfall, only disclosed its course
in sound. Hints of great hunting lodges.
like castles, were revealed by ghostIv tur-
rets sharply cut against the leaden skv
above the darkening trees, or by tremen-
dous gates before great avenues of syca-
mores, or hy liveried servitors standing at
the roadside to catch the mail pouches flung
10 them rs we ratified by. And finally, five
little taNen heads, apparition-like, bobbing
beside the coach, and Growing and shouting |
to the ''pappy" beside me, told me we were
at last in the heart of grand Strathglass;
and that the great square pile behind the
isrches, rom which the welcoming lamp
and fire light shone, was the sweet old Manse |
Of T snakyle. where, or little, Yankee
pilgrim was to find a hospitabe Highland
home. EDGAR L. WAKEMAN