96 MEMOIR OF JOHN WILSON. 



gaily weel, an' they said they'd tak varra girt care on hira. Then 

 he leaned back an' called oot that they rami pull quicker. So they 

 did, and what does Wilson do then but topples ower eb'm ov his 

 back i' t' watter with a splash. Then there was a girt cry — " 'Eh, 

 Mr. Wilson's i' t' watter !" an yan click't, an' anudder click't, but 

 nean o' them could get hod on him, an' there was sic a scrowe as 

 nivver. At last, yan o' them gat him round t' neck as he popped 

 up at teal o' t' boat, an' Wilson taad him to kep a good hod, for 

 he mud happen slip him agean. But what, it was nowt but yan 

 ov his bit o' pranks, he was suurkin' an' laughin' all t' time. Wil- 

 son was a fine, gay, girt-hearted fellow, as Strang as a lion, an' as 

 lish as a trout, an' he hed sic antics as nivver man hed. What- 

 ivver ye sed tull him ye'd get yowr change back for it gaily soon. 

 . . . Aa remember, there was a " Murry Neet" at Wastd'le Head 

 that varra time, an' Wilson an' t' aad parson was there amang t' 

 rest. When they'd gotten a bit on, Wilson med a sang aboot t' 

 parson. He med it reight off" o' t' stick end. He began wi' t' 

 parson first, then he gat to t' Pope, an' then he turned it to t' 

 devil, an' sic like, till he hed 'em fallin' off their cheers wi' fun. T' 

 parson was quite astonished, an' rayder vex't an' all, but at last he 

 burst oot laughin' wi' t' rest. He was like. Naabody could stand 

 it. . . . T' seam neet there was yan o' their wives cum to fetch 

 her husband heam, an' she was rayder ower Strang i' t' tung wi' 

 him afore t' heal comp'ny. Well, he took it all i' good pairt, but 

 as he went away he shouted oot t' aad minister, 'Od dang ye, par- 

 son, it wor ye at teed us two tegidder ! ... It was a' life an' murth 

 amang us, as lang as Professor Wilson was at Wastd'le Head.' " 



In the same year that Wilson settled at Elleray, an agreeable 

 addition was made to the society of the neighborhood by the ar- 

 rival of a family of the name of Penny, who took up their abode 

 at Gale House, Ambleside. The Misses Penny were the daughters 

 of a Liverpool merchant, and removed to Windermere for the sake 

 of its proximity to the residence of their eldest sister, who had 

 been married for some years to Mr. James Penny Machell, of Hol- 

 low Oak and Penny Bridge. Wilson soon became acquainted with 

 these ladies, and an intimacy gradually sprung up with the fair 

 inhabitants of Gale House, which by and by led to frequent men- 

 tion of his name in the correspondence of Miss Jane Penny. 

 Writing in girlish confidence to a friend who has sent her a piece 



