EEMINISCENCES OF THE LEWS. 121 



ness it is — or is supposed to be — to keep order 

 in his particular district, prevent lawlessness, 

 heather-burning and pulling, egg-stealing, and 

 all petty crimes of the sort I have been de- 

 scribing. Now the ground officer of this dis- 

 trict was a respectable farmer and a soi-disant 

 particular friend of mine, and I applied to him 

 — with what success may be imagined, when 

 I found out that he himself gave his own 

 shepherds directions to go and smash a new 

 padlock I had put on the boat-chain, and carry 

 my boat and oars off miles away, for the pur- 

 pose of moving some sheep. There they left 

 it, and it was days before we ever got our boat 

 again. Depend upon it, there are other places 

 besides Galway where the Queen's writ doesn't 

 run. There was also no more determined 

 and successful goose-egg taker than this said 

 ground officer. He reminded me of an old 

 story I heard at Eaith in years gone by, of a 

 man driving from Brunt Island to Kirkcaldy, 

 finding the whole road obstructed by quantities 

 of straw, heaps of stones, and all manner of 

 impediments. Among these was a most evil- 

 looking and disreputably-clad man, who abused 

 the traveller horribly for making his way 

 through as best he could. This object accom- 

 plished, he turned on his abuser, and assured 



