372 MEMOIR OF JOHN WILSON. 



and might lose his life. Auld poosies* cuff sair \vi' their fore-paws, 

 and theirs is a wicked bite. But the outlandish wolfiness in Rover 

 brak forth in extremity, and he cam rushing out o' the syver wi' her 

 in his mouth, shaking her savagely, as if she had been but a ratton, 

 and I had to choke him off. Forbye thrappling her, he had bit intil 

 the jugular; and she had lost sae meikle bluid, that you hae eaten 

 her the noo roasted, instead o' her made intil soup." 



Rover was a colley from the beautiful pastures of Westmoreland ; 

 he had succeeded Brontef in the Professor's affections. He had all 

 the sagacity of his species ; he was generally admired, but strictly 

 speaking he was not beautiful, as the Shepherd remarked that he 

 had " a cross o' some outlandish blood" in his veins ; he, however, 

 walked with a stately, defiant air, and was very " leesh ;" his coat 

 was black and glossy, it gleamed in the light ; a white ring sur- 

 rounded his neck, and melted away into the depths of his muscular 

 chest ; he was very loving and affectionate, and as we children told 

 him every thing that was going on, these communications quickly 

 opened his mind, and Rover increased so much the more in intelli- 

 gence. We never doubted in his humanity, and treated him ac- 

 cordingly ; animation of spirit and activity of body combined to 

 give him a more than usual share of enjoyment. Rover's com- 

 panion in dog-life was Fang the terrier. Poor Fang was one of the 

 victims in Hawthornden garden ; but at Thirlstane he, like Rover, 

 and like us all, old and young, enjoyed himself vastly. Poor Rover 

 fell sick in the spring of the following year, and struggled for many 

 days with dumb madness. I remember that shortly before the 

 poor creature died, longing for the sympathy of his master's kind 

 voice, he crawled up stairs to a room next the drawing-room ; my 

 father stood beside him, trying to soothe and comfort the poor ani- 

 mal. A very few minutes before death closed his fast-glazing eye, 

 the Professor said : " Rover, my poor fellow, give me your paw." 

 The dying animal made an effort to reach his master's hand ; and 

 so thus parted my father with his favorite, as one man taking fare- 

 well of another. My father loved " both man, and bird, and beast ;" 

 he could turn at any moment from the hardest work, with playful 

 tenderness, to some household pet, or any object colored by home 

 affection. J 



* Hares. t A favorite dog of my father's, of whom more anon. 



% It is worth observing how close in description two students of dog-life have approached each 



