The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1895-12-12
! The ENGLISH fARS1u.
BY s. A. Crockett.

"Na," said Muckle Rob, as he led
the way from the quoting green,
where he had stopped the game, ma,
L dinpa baud wi the Papishes-nor
vet wi the Englishers. And wadna
advise ony one O. We to say that I
do. But that's nae reason for you to
disturb the lads bit serbice wi your
sweerln' an the jingling o your
Quoits!"
The miner folk Of Lochhnny were
not specially inclined to religion at
any time. AS Muckle Rob would have
said, no men in Scotland had a clearer
sense Of what was the right and CHI
various thing to do.
But the new English priest" with
his daily services and early commun-
ION, his incense pot and acOlyte, his
Friday for confession and his out
spoken contempt for their own quiet,
steady-going Presbyterian ministers,
WAS certainly more than a little hard
60 bear There had indeed been for
a hong time ''Catholic Chaypel' cow
ering back among outhouses in a quiet
corner of the villege. But as Muckle
Rob said, "Frae oot-an'oot Papishes,
We kennel what to eXpec'. So he
hooked for nae betterr
1t was, therefore considered as, at
the worst, a sort Of half-deserved jest
that the Lockfinny Quoting club
should have started four of it's young
est and noisiest Kinks on a vacant
piece of ground just outside the new
enclosure of the Englishers. Eustace
Challoner, priest of the mission
Church Of St. Ethelreda the Less,
celebrated evensong at the hour when
the game was apt to be briskest
And the gravity of the choir boys and
even the acolyte (who for many rea-
sons had bad time of 1t outside,
til the parson made him his gar
dener and bell-ringer), was liable to
DE upset by the jcsts of Wull Sproat,
the champion of the village. While
the solemnity Of the observances was
not improved by the Language" OF
the ''shankers" who were sinking the
shaft of a new pit. The settled min
ers looked down a little upon these
shanSers as wild asses, who are here
so-lay and away to another job to-
morrow. But they make "big money"
end expected the license Of a cavalry
Colonel as to language.
The Rev. Eustace had indeed pro-
tested first mildly and then veh-
mently, over the wire fence. But
Tam Galletly and Pate Miller, young
and ill-set looms both of them, had
stood at the ringend, and, as the vii
1age, put it. had set up a. manner O.
lip an back-talk to the man in the
white sark." The village did not in
deed entirely approve. 1t considered
That there was nae need for the like
% that But no active measures of
prevention were taken, till Muckle
Rob came home. 1t was currently re-
ported that Rob could lick any two
men in the village with one hand tied
behind his back. 1t is not clear that
this particular wager Of battle was
ever brought to an issue; but the fact
that with his two hands normally
free, Rob could handle a large pro-
portion of the male population of the
village to their damage, was sufficient
to give the weight Of full bench of
Judges to his slightest utterances.
Muckle Rob had been away on a
visit to a place Gin the Lowdons"
where there was a good job, and had
just returned at the end of his con-
tract with full pockets and an air of
prosperity which in any other person
~would have been considered exceed
Ing]y offensive.
When any of the inhabitants went
upon jaunt, it always took q day
TO accustom them to Lochfinny upon
their return, so Rob took the time out
In tour of inspection. He heard
that Andrew Grieye was lying up
again, and sending out his wife to
do washing. So he called on Andrew
and sWore by the powers above and
below, that he would break every
bone in his body if he was not found
working on the ''face" by the first
shift tomorrow. Andrew complained
of pain in the sma' of his back.
"The pain will be in the braid O.
your back, gin ye are no forrit wi
your tools as soon as the lave o. us
the MORN" said Rob, as he sloucLed
out with elbows very wide of his
sides, in the position in which he held
them when he was making ready for
a fight.
Toward shutdown Rob, in his COM
prehensive survey of Lochfnny, ar
Elved at the new quoting green, He