43 



CHAP. II. 



" As he came down by Merriemas, 



And in the benty line, 

 There has he espied a deer lying 

 Aneath a bush of ling." 



Minstrelsy of the Border. 



"Ix's just the skrcek o'day, yer honour, and time ye war 

 out o' bed." 



" Rather farther on, I'm thinking, Peter ; so take away 

 the rifles, balls and all ; get the men together, and make 

 good speed over the moor : I see by the course of the 

 clouds, which I have been watching from my bed, that 

 the wind is in the right airt, and as the weather is warm, 

 the deer will be far out on the tops of the hills ; so we 

 will leave Blair as soon as possible, breakfast at the lodge 

 as usual, and go round the north of Ben Derig, that we 

 may take all the ground, and not lose a chance. I expect 

 to find a friend at Bruar Lodge, who was to come across 

 the moors from the Badenoch country ; and he slept there 

 last night, if he did not miss the track, which you know 

 is but a wild one. So order the pony to the door at four 

 o'clock, and take care I do not pass you at Auld Heclan, 

 as I did the day we killed the great deer ; and I say, 

 Peter, do not forget the whiskey. 



" Na, na, I aye tak tent o' that. Did ye ever knaw 

 me lave it ahent ? " 



