Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1898-07-26

And the glory just Of living when your eyes
smile too,
New York Pres.
IN THE LAND OF THE elUeBELL
AND HEATHER.
NO. L.
| From the Democrats Foreign Correspondent
ABERDEEN, SCOTLAND.
at may not be, h cannot be,
That such gem was made for me,
Rut oh, GIN Il had been my lot,
| A palace, not Highland cot.
That bonnie simple gem had thro,n
Bright lustrc round n jewelcd crown,
For oh the sweetest Lass Co me,
Is Annie o the Banks o. Dee"
Old Scotch Song.
Sitting here In the twilight. our eyes
look from the window on that beautiful
winding river, the Dee. And surely
may not that figure wandering on its
banks be another Annie o. the Banks o
Dee? It Ia easy at any rate 10 weave
some sort Of romance Sround her, for
we are indeed In the land OF all lands 10
give color and romance TO even such n
| little incident Of every day life ss n
maiden wandering solitary By the river
side; but you shall supply the love-story
well nigh exhausted.
Aberdeen Is called the "grsnite city
because OF Its extensive traffic In very
superior article OF granite. All the
houses are built OF this grayish-white
stone, giving the city the appearance at
a distance OF gigantic rock with craRs
and peaks, which are It's s,eeples aud
towers. Its antiquities are an old church
built Ia the time Of Gregory the Great, n
Scottish monarch who died In the year
s92. The house 6t Broad Street is where
Lord Byron lived when boy. The
BRIG Of Balgowrie" celebrated by him
In Don Juan is about mile awsy.
The valley OF the Dee, or Deeside az II
Is POLITICALLY called, has long been n
favorite resort for tourists because OF
the wildncss aud grandeur OF Its scenery.
On the highway to Braemar Ia a farm
house where Byron lived, crude as the
rocks where his infancy grew" and yon-
der Is old I.ochusgar, with its perennial
SHOWS, "the most sublime and pictur-
esque of our Caledonisn Alps" whose
beauty inspired him to many sublime
lyric.
A great part Of the whole surface OF
Aberdeenshire Ia under natural wood,
and some of the immense oak trees bear
such unmistaksble signs OF age ss to
proclsim them TO have witnessed the
rites Of the Druids-ancient priests OF
H. tr,has ~ Scotland Tho aa Z
WAS their sacred tree. Their great
remedy was the mistletoe, a parasitic
plant growing from the branches OF the
oak. IL flowers In winter when all else
Is dead, and thus presented to them an
emblem Of immortality. They never cut
IL except on the sixth day Of the moons
age. A Druid In white robes severed u
from the tree with golden sickle, and
other Druids held q white cloak spread
To receive it as IL fell, for IL was supposed
that its virtues would be lost II II touch
ed the ground.
These mountain forests abound In
wild game and here herds the red deer
and tomorrow We will be saying
my hearts in the Highlands,
! NJ heart IL not here.
Ny hearts In the Highlands
| Chasing the deer
| and indeed IL will be safe TO predict that
we shall in memory for long be repeat.
ing,
Chasing the Wild deer and following the roe.
| NY hearts In the Highlands wherever go"
IL our construction were on the princi-
pie Of the sportsman, We could almost
listen for the cry OF the huntsmsn, the
/ Joyous bark Of the foxhounds, the notes
| OF the pipers and the clang Of the horses
hooi. but sll, all Is silence, and nc
sound save OF murmuring breeze comes
from the heart OF this great forest, pulls
ing and beating and throbbing with a
life almost human, for indeed, OF all
inanimate OH Cts on earth most like q
human being Is a tree.
To US who love Nature, the man who
cuts down a tree cuts into our hearts
From my attic window In the land be.
yOnd the sea, for years there stood a
stately tree on the hill. When the eyes
looked out upon the morning, the first
Object sought was this majestic tree,
standing alone-in summer enjoying its
green feathers and In winter It's bare
branches yet more beautiful, outlined
against the sky. But one hesrt-bresk'
ing day, a man and an AK appeared. i,
was useless to say, "WoOdmsn, spare
that tree" At every stroke Of the exc
cutioner the life-blOod lowed. Now s
stately mansion rears itself over the spo'
where once flourished my beautiful tree,
and I can think Of nothing but gor-
geous msusoleum erected over the grave
of friend.
At Abernathy, just outside tine city, II
one of the few round towers that Scot
land has preserved. IL is fine speci
men "a feet high. These ancient towers
of which Ireland can boast a goodly
number, are so old that 1t Is not certain
ly known for what purpose they were
constructed, but presumably for pur
poses Of defence-dsting from before th'
time that Scotland's written history Cal
be read, which began in the year S4-bu
its unwritten history can be read frOu
mattel rails found on the waste moors, ant
in the ancient cairns, or burial mounds
II is not known ut what period Scot
land first became q human habitation
but presumably, shortly after Ireland
which claims great antiquity. While II
Dublin short time ago, the writer wa
told by the librarian Of the Dublin His
torical Society, Mr.. Mes weeny, that the!
had there documents and manuscript
which gave unmistakable proof that tn
island was inhabited shortly after tn
. deluge, and that even the names OF SOM
Of the inhabitants ut the present tim
could be traced back to Noah!
Many OF the ancient dwellings hxv
been found hereabOuts-mere pits In tn
earth rooted over with sticks and stones
The stone axes and other implement
brought to light after countless ages
tell the story as plainly as printe'
! book, and bear mute evidence that thei
owners were savages. The arrows
} drinking cups Of sun-dried clay, an
rude clay urns, found In the buria
/ mounds, are evidence that the people o
] these long-forgotten ages had the sam
2 idea Of = future life as our own Re
Indian, whose belief In Great Spiri
| and Happy Hunting Grounds might pu
. to shame some OF the civilized religion
. Of the present day.
The town Of Forfar is just beyond tn
hill and boasts Of having been roys
! residence In the time Of good King Dur
} can, q thousand years ago, who Wit
z Malcolm, his son, were the Duncan an
) Malcolm Of Shakespeare's Mac0eth-an
' wonder IL the Castle of Glsmis wherein
D part OF that famous tragedy was enacted
: but Banquo's Ghost failed TO materializ
: this time. Every one knows the stor
3 so grandly told by the great dramatis'
y bat 1t differs slightly from the facts
history.