216 A HUNDEED YEARS 



through the cunningly concealed roof of such a cave 

 into a heap of malt, within fifty yards of the present 

 high-road above Riverford. 



" Once in the Dingwall court a criminal came before us 

 Justices accused by two cutter-men of being caught 

 making malt. On the way to Wyvis by a country road, 

 the cutter policemen observed a grain or two of barley, 

 then some more, and at length a continuous stream of 

 grain, which had evidently dropped from a hole in a 

 sack carried in a cart or on a horse. In due time the 

 grains ceased opposite to a steep heather-clad hillock 

 close to the road. A poke from their wicked iron- 

 pointed sticks showed that the heather belonged to a 

 pile of blocks of turf nicely arranged, and when these 

 were pulled down, lo and behold ! there was the door 

 to a hillock cave in which malt was being nicely made. 

 In the absence of the maltster one of the cutter-men 

 got into the cave, while his comrade built up the turf 

 neatly again as if no one had touched it, and then hid 

 himself behind a heather knoll ready to pounce out when 

 required. 



" Soon after this the maltster came up the road, 

 stopped at the hillock, pulled down the turf and got in, 

 all but his feet. In a second these were flourishing in 

 the air, while fearful shouts came from the cave, and in 

 a minute out came the maltster, coatless, and away he ran 

 down the road like mad, while his opponent emerged from 

 the cave with the coat in his hand. He and his comrade 

 ran after the maltster, and caught him in his house. 

 One can easily imagine the maltster's thoughts when, 

 sure that all was safe as usual, he was grappled by two 

 hands the moment his head was in the cave. He 



