ST. mart's loch — TIBBIE SHIELS. 107 



more familiar one into their mouths — is now 75 years 

 of age, but she is still active and attentive, and most 

 motherly in her ways to her visitors. Under her roof all 

 the best fishers ami many of the finest wits of Scotland 

 have at times disported themselves, and in the mouths 

 of the collocutors of the Nodes Ambrosiance her name 

 was a frequent one. And, if you ask her, Tibbie will 

 tell you stories of James Hogg and Professor Wilson, 

 and others of her favourites. " For I ser't wi' Mr. 

 Hogg, ye ken, fifty years syne, owre-by at Ettrick 

 House ; and whan he leeved at Altreeve he was often 

 often up here, sittin on that very sait there, carryin' 

 on his fun wi' the Professor. An' oh but the Professor 

 and a' the family has been kind till us, and brocht us 

 intil muckle public notice, an' puttin' us forrit in a 

 way that we couldna weel hae expeckit."* Long may 

 she live to welcome her guests from all the points of 

 the compass ! — for she is a part of the scene, and the 

 removal of Tibbie would be almost like the diying up 

 of the Loch o' the Lowes. 



* The scene of one of the Ixodes is laid at Tibbie's, and the 

 Shepherd, ISTorth, and Tickler, in turn compare her cottage to 

 a -wren's nest, an ant-hill, and a beehive : — 



"Shepherd. A wren's nest's round and theekit Avi' moss — 

 sae is Tibbie's ; a wren's nest has a wee bit canny hole in the 

 side 't for the birdies to hap in and out o', aiblins wi' a bit 

 hangin' leaf to hide and fend by way o' door — and sae has 

 Tibbie's ; a wren's nest 's aye dry on the inside, though drappin' 

 on the out Avi' dew or rain— and sae is Tibbie's; a Avren's nest's 

 for ordinar biggit in a retired spat, yet within hearin' o' the 

 hum o' men, as weel 's o' water, be it linn or lake — and sae is 

 Tibbie's ; a wren's nest 's no easy fun', yet when you happen to 

 keek on 't, you wunner hoo you never saw the happy housie 

 afore— and sae is 't wi' Tibbie's ; therefore, sirs, for sic reasons, 



