St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1904-03-09

attach such a great value to those old
Huguenot hymns. They seem to lack in
almost everything that Psalmody ought
| to have, but they have in them a history.
They are national, not merely religious.
They are full of the spirit of the great
strife between the French Huguenots and
| their Catholic neighbors. They breathe
the spirit of heroic faith, of suffering,
| danger, disaster, and trials, and sup
pose when a Frenchman hears them, it
| brings to his mind all that glorious
| history by which the Huguenots have
gained their religion.
| Now it is just so with the Scotch
Psalms. They are the national ritual of
| the Scotch people. Coming over on the
| steamer on one occasion, l overheard
| conversation between two Scotch wo-
men, of whom one had been living in
| Canada for many years. and the other
was Just coming out. "Do you have the
Aud Kirk there?" so, yes, we have the
| Auld Kirk" "Do you have the Psalms
and ALP" ooh, yes There was
pathos about that to me. That woman
had been brought up on the Bible and
| the Psalms and the Scotch Psalms were
| just as much a part of her religious life
| as the Bible.
| Now to pass on, if have time to say
| few words about the wit and humor of
| the Scotch people. When we describe the
humor of the Scotch people, we use such
| words as dry" sharp" "pungent, J"
and "sly." have studied a good deal
| on what it means when one says the
| humor is dry. / do not know but as
| this is a dry town, you can explain it to
| me. I 90 not know but it rs a figure
| taken in the same way as the word
| is used when we speak of dry wines.
| Wine is dry which has not much sugar
| in it; do not know but that is what
we mean when we say wit is dry.
| 1t has not much sweetness in it: not
that it is sour. No, it isn't sour, but it
isn't sugary. That, certainly is true. l
| think, of Scotch humor.
/ am. afraid I may tell one or two
| old stories, but I have some that are
not old.
The contempt of the Scotch for sham
| is well brought out in the story of the
| man who used religious expressions at
every opportunity and said, he would
come eff he was spared" and the hos
tess said, "Well, if you are dead, we
| won't expect YOU" And the story of
| the man who inquired, 'Am | on the
right road to Stirling?" well, where
| are YOU from?" "Well, don't know that
| that is any concern of yours where l am
from.'' Neither is it any concern of
mine where are We going"
| The old story put into Scotch OF the
| minister who was called to another field
and said he had call from God, and re-
| ceived the answer. SAY, but he might
have called and called, but We wu'dna'
haze heard if the stipend hadn't been
bigger A Scotchman was invited by
| neighbor, great man, a Lord. to call on
him and was told that his day was Tues
| day. 81 know of but one Lord as has
day O. his ain, and God forgive me, I
| don't keep that, and I'll be hanged if I
| keep yours"
| The great violence of feeling of the
! Tacobite division aud parties and times
| has recently been called to our attention
| in connection with King Edward VII,
| who when he visits any of his subjects, is
| allowed finger bowl the table, but no
one else is allowed one. In the Jacobite
| times when it was the custom to drink in
| every possible way toast to the Pre-
| tender, to the other king, one way of
| doing it was to hold glass over the fin
| ger bowl. "The King, God bless him,
holding the glass over the finger bowl.
| That meant 1.-THE King over the water"
And so finger bowls were prohibited.
| Here is the story of bright Scotch
| woman who vowed she would drink the
| Kings health on public occasion. I
| must remind you that the Pretender was
James the Third of England and the
! Eighth of Scotland. When the time
came this bright Highlander lifted up
her glass. "The King, God bless him.
| The tongue no man can tame. James
the Third and Eighth" Of course. you
know the old custom gives the chapter
and verse of scripture quotation.
| Now word about Scotch hospitality.
| In connection with that | want to tell
| what I think is very sweet story in my
own experience. My father was a
L. he
message by me to his old friends, if
| should find them. I found an old man
| who remembered my father, man in
| humble lite, and he askedlm me to come in
and dine with him. l told him l had
| already engaged myself for dinner. "But
We maun break bread in ma hous." So
he called little grandchild, and she set
little table, put white cloth on it, a
loaf of bread uncut, bowl of milk, and
a knife. "Now ye may eat little or
muckle, but for your feyther's sake, We
maun break bread in my hous."' From
what I know of Scotch people,
that is one of their characteristics; hum
bic as they are, you must always break
bread with them. The faults of the
Scotch are perhaps in the same direction.
their conviviality. I had the pleasure of
dining with Scotch minister, who was
at that time the moderator of the Cen
eIdl Assembly vi LuS OuuICu
of Scotland, and after he had asked
blessing. he turned to me and said,
There is Burgundy and there is sherry
and there is port and there is claret.
Take your choice" laying his hand on
the decanters, ''but, as for me, l will
stick to the Aud Kirk, meaning whiskey.
And l visited my fathers old school
master, keeping the same school that he
was keeping when my father was a
pupil. This was in the evening about
O'Clock. He had his refreshments, too,
and he sent a child down cellar to get
some whiskey. and poured out glass,
and asked me to drink it. ''But I can't
drink it, "But for your feyther's sake,
We maun drink it, Well, to please him
tried to swallow it and choked. ooh, it
is as mild as milk, and tell your feyther
when ye get home that his old school
master said that he must drink a drap
every night before he goes to bed it will