244 JOHN DUNCAN, WEAVER AND BOTANIST. 



ready reference and for protection from damp. When he 

 read aloud at any time, no speaking was allowed or 

 indulged in, for John liked to be listened to ; and who does 

 not in such circumstances ? When bed-time came, and 

 he had to cross the road and climb the ladder to his crow's 

 nest, he used to carry in his arms, as a kindly companion, 

 a large single-lugged stone jar an old " grey-beard " still 

 preserved, originally intended for something stronger than 

 the hot water with which it had been filled by his friends, 

 to make his cold couch more comfortable in the winter 

 nights : so that John slept with a " pig." * 



As some sort of return for all this kindness, John never 

 failed, when he went to Aberdeen, to bring home some- 

 thing for little Leezie, a sweet wee lassie, then the sun- 

 shine of the cottage, now a bright, good-looking woman. 

 Chief amongst these gifts for the palate was that irresistible 

 attraction to all youngsters, black-sugar, or " sugar ailie " 

 as it is called in Scotland, varied sometimes with candy and 

 barley sugar. He also brought more enduring toys to 

 play with, which then somehow lasted longer than now. 

 A pretty birdie and a white glass duck were both long 

 extant, but are now gone. A small tin basin, one of John's 

 gifts, is still played with by another child that runs about 

 the same clay floor. Leezie has still blankets woven by 

 Duncan's hand, and the bed he slept on in " the philosopher " 

 was sewed by her kindly fingers. 



* Pig is common Scotch for a bit of crockery, derived, it would 

 seem, from the Gaelic. 



