New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-08-08
MRS. HUNTER OF ST. ANDREW
STORIES OF THE WIT AND SARCASM
OF A SCOTCH LADY OF THE
OLDEN TIME.
From Good Words.

FROM GOOD WORDS
Regarding most Of the noteworthy citizens of.
and visitors to- St Andrews. between her girl
hood and old age, Mrs. Hunter had tales to tell,
and had formed opinions that did not err on the
side Of flattery and not often on the side or
unctuous charity. OF her pricks and shafts OF
ridicule every conspicuous hypocre in St An
drews afraid. She and Christopher North's
daughter Mrs Terrier (after 1916, were
nameless terror to all sorts of gentcel, affected
pretenders. But the everlasting Guarrels. es-
pecially the college quarrels Ct st. Andrews, had
taught her to be cautious in what she said and
how she said it. Her sarcastic shots were gen
orally fired at tangent. and If the skin they
struck was thick enough they were apt TO escape
the attention of the person chiefly interested,
and that person was not infrequenty a creature
belonging to the order of small deer that no cpl
gram could save from annhation Therefore
many of her sayings that were worth remember
ing have passed to the irrecoverable Most OF
the remembered stories have about them an
aroma of her ecclesiastical parentage ana euuca-
ton An old friend once intimate, long stran-
ger called upon her without warning OF any
kind and saluted. "Losh keep me, Mar
garet Berry, have not seen you for forty years.
This must be the resurrection To a curlousIy
inqusitive stranger DESTROYS Of knowing now
many children she had, she answered. "Weel
am like the woman in Scripture. out or Whoh
came seven devils" Another Scripture charac-
ter 10 which she could discover casual resem-
blance in St. Andrews was Balaams ass Though
able to move about on her feet till the last fe"
days of bodily decay. she sometimes sought the
benefits of fresh air in a Bath chair. which was
wheeled for her by a caddie who was gettlnB
rather stiff for the links, but still retained the
caddie propensity of talking to whoever was
ready even if unwilling to hear him. The caddle
when tired wheeling. stopped pretty often ana
bored her with his cOpious discourse During one
stoppage up came friend and after the usual
preliminaries to health and weather, she aD-
rupuy desired information Tell me- was II
once or twice Balaams ass spoke to the pro
phet?" Getting the answer. which she did not
need. she said turning her thumb to the caddie
behind, Mine is never dune!
Free Kirk elder related by marriage. an
obging but hollow noisy, ostentatlous kind OF
man, called on her during one OF her Illnesses
after she had passed the three-score and ten ana
recovery was thought doubtful. He was admit
ted to her bedroom and proposed to pray for
her. She gave a languid assent. Her hearing
continued good to the last, but the elder was
slightly deaf and had been accustomed to hold
forth at prayer meetings. After he was fairly
started in his devotions he began to shout in
tones suitable for an open air meeting at the
Martyrs Monument the Witch Lake. The
noise had Weakened her up in more ways than
one and when he had finished She in her
usual pungent style, said to her maid, Docs r
think the Lords dear? He did not thlnk II
necessary to come back to pray for her
one time when her husband was i'll and so car
ried in his mind that he thought himself dying,
he though generally an undemCn"'rative man,
babe his household undemonst. tive Fare
we'll" winding up with the declaration. I'VE SHAH
all meet in heaven tonight" to which proposal
she answered. "Wecl, Jamie, I'm willing. only
YOU need ma be sac pertikler ABBOTT the time"
When her own death had become imminent she
was quite serene and accompanying, tod an
erusiyclv demonstrative relative who was weep
ing over her "There's drap at your nose, man..
talked iocuarly Of her funeral, and among other
things said it would be a fine ploy Tor con-
meet ion that she named, and who was alleged 10
be fonder Of attending funerals than doing use
full work
She was sometimes troubled by inqus!tvc gen
feel gossips wanting to see her children, anu they
were not always ready or fit for presentation To
strict critics one day when a few callers were
sDccially urgent to see the latest baby, and II
was not convenient to produce the genuine aru-
clo enc sent out the nurse TO borrow Il baby, the
noighboring bakers, which was Of suitable age.
If if was tidy. The bakers baby was obtained
and produced. and gave great satisfaction IL
,voc dcclarcd to be nice and pretty and very
like IFS father" Such little bits of comedy may
nossiblv have occurred in the house of IA -. ID
before this century had reached its teens