244 REMINISCENCES OF 



stopped the draught and became water. Meantime 

 the men from the farm had arrived ; they tore down 

 the lath and plaster and put it out, but the house 

 was full of smoke. A feeble voice was heard from 

 the top of the stairs : "Is there any salt in the house ? 

 I am told salt is a very good thing to put out a fire ! " 

 and the head of Miss Emily Johnstone, with a most 

 becoming night-cap, appeared over the top of the 

 stairs. I received about £\2 compensation from 

 the insurance company. 



David Williamson hunted with us a good deal 

 that season and stayed with us at Charleton and 

 Pitfirrane. He was a first-rate horseman and a 

 gallant chap across country. He describes his ride 

 home in the following letter : — 



" Lawers House, Crieff, 



" \']th, April, 1861. 



" My Dear Thomson, — 



" As I have been thinking of you and your 

 hounds all day, I must indulge myself in giving you 

 an account of a part of your country that I do not 

 think you have ever seen ; and at the risk of being 

 considered an egotistical ruffian, I will describe my 

 ride home last Saturday. 



"After leaving the hunting-field for season 1861, 

 I hung my head and felt like a schoolboy going back 

 to school. I soon gained the turnpike road that led 

 to the Rumbling Bridge and gates of Muckhart. 

 The road was so hot and disagreeable, that on 

 meeting a truthful-looking face I asked him to point 

 out the position (on the other side of the Ochill 



