130 PROCEEDINGS OF THE 



II. — Journal of the Winter of 1878-79. 



The first real indication of winter we had was on the 27th of 

 November, 1878, when, during the night, a heavy fall of snow 

 covered a large portion of Scotland, and, being accompanied in 

 some places by wind, drifts took place even at this early stage of 

 the proceedings of this memorable winter of 1878-79. A drift on 

 the Finfcry Road, between Todholes Farm and Fintry (Stirling- 

 shire), was between four and five feet deep, and impassable to 

 horses. One cart-horse breasted it, but, as described to me, "her 

 fore-legs jist gaed frae her, wi' her breest agin' the snaw." This 

 was on the 28th of November. 



A sharp frost then set in, and continued without intermission 

 until the last day of the year 1878. By this time a vast accumula- 

 tion of ice had formed, and on the Carron river (Stirlingshire) I 

 measured virgin ice nine inches thick on the still reaches the dav 

 before the thaw began, on the 30th of December; and I was 

 assured of its being twelve inches thick in other places. The 

 Forth was frozen over above Stirling Bridge, and carts crossed it. 



The exceeding stillness of the frosty air at the commencement 

 of the storm must have been noticed by many as indicating the 

 severity of the frost. Walking along the river-side on the look-out 

 for Ducks, the bed of the river was almost hidden from my 

 view by the thick incrustation of frozen snow upon the alders 

 and willows. 



A rapid thaw then began, and by the third day the river ice 

 was broken up, and for the most part floated away; but large 

 masses of pure blue ice were scattered along the margins of the 

 rivers, left high and dry by the subsiding floods. T measured 

 manv of these blocks, and found the ice from six to ten inches 

 thick, which, allowing for the effects of the thaw, may be said to 

 represent a greater thickness. These blocks afterwards lay there 



regarded as the harbingers of a hard winter, as, indeed, they have proved 

 to be." 



And again: — "Extraordinary Capture of Sea Birds. — The Cornish- 

 man narrates an unprecedented and accidental take of birds. On the St. 

 Ives fishing-boat Davis hauling in her nets on Friday morning, in addition 

 to about 100 mackerel there were 400 Gulls, Kittiwakes, and 'Murrs' in 

 the meshes. One hundred were alive and were liberated, 300 were dead 

 and were taken to Penzance, where they sold for 2s. 6d." 



This last occurred towards the end of the storm, and may or may not 

 have been directly connected with the severe weather. 



