HEATHER BEDS. 



storming the sacred edifice, they set fire to its Heather 

 roof and burned to death the miserable inmates. This 

 was more particularly the crime of the Campbells, but 

 Drummond was brought to trial for it, and being 

 pronounced guilty, he was executed in 1511. 



A story is told that in ancient days a woman 

 was fined so many marks by her kirk session for a 

 misdemeanor of which she had been convicted. One 

 of the stern old pillars of the church did not agree 

 with the sentence, giving vent to his views as follows : 

 "The jade'll never pay ye; she's nae guilty o' payin' 

 ony ane ; gar (make) her pu' a few birns o' fine swack 

 Heather to make the kirk water-ticht." 



A Heather thatch is most durable; in fact, it is 

 reckoned to last a lifetime. 



Heather Beds 



Of this, auld Scotia's hardy mountaineers, 

 Their rustic couches form; and there enjoy 

 Sleep, which, beneath his velvet canopy, 

 Luxurious idleness implores in vain. 



Charlotte Smith 



A Highland practice, that of sleeping on Heather 

 nicely put together on the ground with the green tops 

 uppermost, was reckoned very conducive to health. 



In thus using the Heather as a bed, the High- 

 lander was following the custom of the ancient Greek. 

 Ruskin tells us in his "Prosperina" that "neither the 

 Ericae nor Aurora? bear useful fruits. The Ericas 



