Evening star., 1898-10-15
SOME SCOTCH YARNS.
ID! wisconsin Mau on m Re-
cent Visit Home

cent Visit Home.
| From the Milwaukee WIsconsf,
| Dld hear any Scotch stories whi1a T
vas gone?N repeated John Johnston this
"'orhihg- why. yes-some brand new one;
| some old ones reset, several taken as m.
scotch people often do, from what il an
cent history, and Just rs funny in spite Of
that or because Of it. And some I heard
happen, so to speak. my self"
Mr. Johnston's summer in Aberleenshire
mas been fruitful Of some very funny Incl
cents on the railway trains and off ana
ne tells them with that rare Scotch flavor
Oh accent and intonatIon about which one
never tires Of taking. Some of his new
stories bring with them the very pictures
OF the old Scotch housewives from whom
they came.
iEere Is no special part Of the country"
Sdld MT. Johnston. in which the stories orig
| mated. They seem to come from au ays.
Hcouand, And they seem to be appreciated
everywhere, too.
When / crossed the border from Eng
iaho 10 scotland he said, Il listened for
| "A good specimen of the Scottish diaiact A.
Ciis season Ii is customary, even on the
hnest day, for flying showers to pass over
the country, drenching everything followed
IN rev minutes by bright sunshine dry
ing everything up again in a very short
llme. That rain stopped for a few min
utes at Lockerbie. which is James A. Rry-
uen native place when l heard one aud
wine say to anither: Janet, it's gay bit
shCorle. Gu, ay,' says Janet but it's
nae what ye wud ca a weetin' rain"
illustrative of the loyalty OF the Scottish
peasant women for the life and ways of
tfelr nsherfolk. Mr. Johnston tells this:
During the summer the north theast coast
or Scotland is full Of fsherfolk-rnen and
women-from the Highlands. who come TO
get work at the great herring harvests
fhnr .er1 and +ta
residents do not always speak well OF
them In riding on the train from Auchna-
gait to Aberdeen one morning my friend
and L were speaking about isherfolk We
were saying nothing derogatory of them.
but an old woman the car evidently
thought 50, for by and by she broke forth
saying: Indeed. ye forget that when our
Savior had to choose His apostles He
passed by all ither occupations and chose
them from the fisherfolk
Il went to the old United PRESBYTERIAN
Kirk said Mr.. Johnston. ''at Savoch, about
a mile from our farm, and l was reminded
OF good story about the minister some
sixty years ago. His name was the Rev.
David Cav, and he was very diminutiye
standing only about five feet two inches.
he led to the altar a strapping, handsome
lass some five or six inches taller than he
and her name was Grace Wilson. The sun
day after the wedding he got neighbor-
ing minister to preach Cor him. so that
he could sit with his bride on the first
Sunday. The minister was a good deal of
a wag, so Mr.. Cav made him promise
faithfully that he would rot allude in his
sermon to himself his bride or the fact
OF the marriage. So he promised that in
his sermon he would make no aliusion OF
that kind whatever. but Mr. Cav nearly
sank through the floor when the text was
given out, Ephesians iii, 8: Unto me- who
am less than the least of all saints, is this
Grace given
Another story Mr.. Johnston tells is
youched for he says by every appreciative
Scotsman who tells it, and so 1t must be.
1t is this:
In Braemar there lived a good old
Scotch father whose portion Of worldly
goods was a fair one, except that they in
cluded scolding wife. She was noted all
up and down the shire for her sharp tongue,
and her husband, best of all, was pre-
pared to judge for this. one day she died.
to all appearances. Preparations were
made for the funeral, and indeed it had
progressed so far as the carrying out of the
coffin, when in the narrow passage the we'll
meaning, but awkward, pallbearers jostled
against it, and 1t was hit smartly upon
the casing of the door The next minute
the scolding and only partly departed wife
had come to life and sat up in her cere-
ments What she said is not recorded, but
few years after that she died again. and
this time they were fairly sure that they
were dealing with the real thing. But when
they bore her down the hall again the be-
reaved husband called out in q shrill and
anxious treble:
"'Ca cannyi Ca cannyr (Go carefully.
1t was there that she cam roun' last time,