CHAPTER VIII. 



GREAT CUMBRAE CHANGE OF PLANS MARRIAGE. 



IT will not have been forgotten that, to support the 

 expenses of a long college career, Robertson had 

 become assistant in the establishment of a dyer. 

 Here as elsewhere he seems soon to have found 

 himself on a footing of familiarity and confidence- 

 Mr. Douglas and his family often went to the seaside, 

 many delightful points of which are so easily 

 accessible from Glasgow. One very pleasant spot in 

 the Firth of Clyde is the island of Great Cumbrae, 

 not unknown to fame for the cathedral and theological 

 college, built at great expense by the late Earl of 

 Glasgow, but now for some reason left in melancholy 

 disuse. On the southern shore of this island is 

 situated the favoured watering-place, Millport, with 

 which Mr. Robertson's scientific pursuits and many 

 happy days and years of his life have been connected. 

 This is how his acquaintance with it began. It was 

 to Millport that Mr. Douglas often resorted with his 

 daughters, and David, when not engaged to visit his 

 mother, was not unfrequently invited to go with 

 them. 



What with helping boys in their lessons, steeping 



