HEATHER BEDS. 



the dr'ft was blown plentifully in upon It ; and I was 

 surprised in the morning to find the mountains white 

 with a new fall of snow; it was a midsummer treat I 

 little looked for. The wind coming down from the 

 hills, still bearing the sleet along, made the air in- 

 tensely cold and piercing as in the dead of winter." 



The Gaels traveling to any country rejected the 

 feather beds and bedding of their hosts, wrapped 

 themselves in their own garments and slept on the 

 ground, careful indeed lest that barbarous effeminacy, 

 as they termed it, should corrupt their native and in- 

 bred hardiness. The Heather bed was certainly well 

 adapted for the camp both from the expedition with 

 which it could be prepared and the excellent materials. 

 Sir John Dalrymple remarks that this mode of pre- 

 paring the beds was "an art which, as the beds were 

 both soft and dry, preserved their health in the field, 

 when other soldiers lost theirs." 



In the novel of "Rob Roy" (Chap. 20) is given 

 a description of the Heath bed. * * * "I re- 

 marked that Rob Roy's attention had extended itself 

 to providing us a better bed than we had enjoyed the 

 night before. Two of the least fragile of the bed- 

 steads which stood by the wall of the hut had been 

 stuffed with heath, then in full flower, so artfully 

 arranged that the flowers being uppermost afforded 

 a mattress at once elastic and fragrant. Qoaks and 

 such bedding as could be collected stretched over the 

 vegetable couch made it both soft and warm." 



Scott also refers to this kind of bed in "The Lady 

 of the Lake": 



7i 



