The Road to Dumbiedykes 



tomed place. True, they are some- 

 what worn. They surely need rebind- 

 ing, but I like them best just as they 

 are. I am perfectly well aware that 

 in setting down these facts I am in the 

 eyes of the younger generation writing 

 myself into a day that has long since 

 passed. Nobody buys Scott nowa- 

 days, they tell me. But when I con- 

 template contemporary fiction I am 

 quite content to be so catalogued, for 

 Ivanhoe and Quentin Durward, Amy 

 Robsart and Jeanie Deans, Richard- 

 of-the-Lion-Heart and the Sultan Sala- 

 din, Meg Merillies and Lorna of the 

 Fitful Head, Prince Charlie and Rob 

 Roy, and all the rest of that incom- 

 parable company are as near and dear 

 to me still, after the lapse of many years, 

 as when the world to me was young. 



Many things have happened since 

 that day of the long ago when I ex- 

 changed my hard-earned cash for this 

 precious set of Scott. Books, pictures, 

 souvenirs and gifts, mainly valuable 



[30] 



