Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1896-09-06


| ter place In the hale yaird. Ihen nc
showed me the improvements maze by
the successive occupants OF the maiise'
One had put caves on the kirk sip'e7'
Another had built a fine new entrances
gate. Another had cleared out the Ola
stove, (which. when II was working Weh
raised the temperature one degree ABOVE
freezing point" Another had dug well
Everyone seemed TO have left his marx
upon the premises. These events were
duly narrated as belonging 10 the dif-
ferent pastorates, much as the great
events OF history might be chronicled as
having happened in the reign Oh queen
Elizabeth or OF King James l.
From the church door this historian
elder showed me some features OF the
place not mentioned by Ian Maclaren' tne
slate quarry, almost at the very summit
OF the hills whittier the men trudse eacn
morning in the gray dawn; the .bpiseopai
College OF Glenalmond, standing on
wooded height on the further side Of the
Almond. and connected with Drumtochty
by a slender wooden bridge and the mud
diest OF PATHS and the Secession XIX,
which is racy Of the soil. and has exerted
much influence over the weather-Deateh
fathers of the glen.
The elder having received the oversight
OF me from the minister. thought II part
Of his duty to convoy me on my pigtlm-
age, and, at my request, he introduced
me 10 the interiors OF cottage ana
farmhouse. The cottage was bare, but
clean, bright with a wooden IRE burning
briskly on a low whitened hearth;
dresser, with rows OF plates and cups ana
other crockery stood against the wall an
eight-day clock licked loudly beside H.
while near the fee was box bed Win
red pine doors shutting II of from com
mon gaze. The elder introduced me WIN
fine courtesy TO the bent widow, who, In
her old age lived here alone.
She told me that she had come
with her father from the North
nearly seventy years ago, when
she was only a lassie. and that she had
lived here ever since. She had sat
under" all the ten ministers Of Logic
almond, and remembered one Of the ordl-
nations taking place in the open air on
the lea-rig. In answer TO a question about
Mr. Watson. she began 10 sing the praises
of his preaching; but" she added, as II
she felt the grievance rather keenly, put
he didna bide lang WI us" She told me
that friend had lent her 1.-THE Bonnie
Brier Bush" and she thought it real like
the thing" but she observed that II he
was going TO write about the folks there
he "micht haze pit them in by their ain
names" Then she added the better criti-
csm that you would never think from
reading the book that there had been any
''bairns" in the glen, except maybe that
greedy laddie OF Mr.. Hopps's.
The farmhouse TO which the elder led
me was not far from the road, and as
we crossed the "close" or square between
the house and the farm offices we were
met by a chorus of barking dogs, and by
| their owner. the farmer. He was not
much beyond middle age. but already
limped a little from the rheumatic pains
| that seize so remorselesly the careless,
| hardy men Of the misty North. He
dragged my guide and myself away TO
the stable to see a new horse that he had
| purchased and then he led US TO the
house, in at the back door. through the
kitchen, to the room beyond the passage
In passing the kitchen window l noticed
lying toether from last nights reading
one Of Surgeons sermons, the Dundee
Advertiser, and The Confession or
Faith" In the room were four shelves
| of varied literature, such as THE His
tory Of the Reformation" Veterinary
| Science" some volumes of Carlyle, Alex
Smiths Poems" Robertson Smiths "Old
| Testament in the Jewish Church" Mil
ton" 1.-THE Children OF Abbotsmuir
Manse," Annals OF the Disruption"
When / observed Ian Maclaren's books
| among them ] easily drew the farmer into
| conversation about the characters. He
| told me that some Of the Drumtochty
| characters never belonged TO bogtelmond,
and that most OF them were 'gey mixed
up" They had never had a doctor like
| Doctor Mcclure, although there were some
touches taken from an old worthy Of their
own, who had known the constitution or
| every man in the glen. There had once
! been a student not unlike George Howe,
who had died in the midst Of his fame,
| and n professor in New Zealand had gone
| forth from one Of the humblest farms
near the moor, but he was proud TO say
that as brilliant students and professors
| had gone out from many country home
| In Scotland. He knew that there were
| folks like jamie Soutar, who felt the
shame greatest when they were discover
ed doing any kindness. and who would
rather take the darkest night 70 go on
some errand Of mercy than be suspected
| by their neighbors OF doing It, He re-
membered Posty WELL with his head Ike
| the pictures OF Huxley. and his tremen-
| dous arguments in their old Debating So
| ciety AS for Archie Moncur and Donald
/ Menzies, they were once his best irlehus'
When l mentioned the name Of Burnorae
he moved uneasily. and his eye glinted
with fire. "Ayl there was more than one
Burnbrae in the glen as true as he had
ever been. and some that were roupit
out. never got their sticks and their cat
| tie put in again"
When we came forth from the farm-
| house I returned my warmest thanks 10
nv guide for all his kindness. anc then
| vent on alone to the old House Of Logic,
| the 'Tochty Lodge" OF Kate Carnegie
I was amazed at the grandeur Of the
beech-trees, and delighted with the snow
drops which covered in great profusion
| the slopes towards the river. The house
| itself stands on n lofty wooded height,
| and commands extensive views of river
| and hill An old dame showed the hiding
Mace of the Duke OF Perth, when
| weary TO death he had fled hither for
| refuge after the battle Of Culioden. She
| directed me also to a path that leads
down the riverside through woodland
scenery to the graves OF Bessie Bell and
Mary Gray. but had only time to go
short distance 10 a point where, through
an arch OF lofty beeches. l had mag
nifcent view of the whole upper valley
| of the Almond.
The short winter day was already
| shedding fast, so that ere had retraced
my steps and found my way to the kirk
ward the light had almost failed. but In
| the dimness the place looked the more
pathetic. with its simple stones and long,
rough grass. here and there broken by
the dark earth OF a new-made grave.
| Reside the kirk-yard wall some ewes