162 NIGHT SCENES AND REFLECTIONS. 



The distance between the cottage and the Laird's 

 was under two miles ; I soon therefore parted from my 

 companion, and reached home, having enjoyed the 

 evening very much. 



The novelty of the thing had afforded entertainment, 

 and I was much pleased with the picture of Highland 

 life and manners which it presented. The primitive 

 simplicity, and yet the absence of all boorish coarse- 

 ness, the innate good - breeding and propriety of 

 manner, were to me a matter of agreeable surprise. 

 The occasional bursts of animation, and wild gestures 

 of the young men, only displayed to me glimpses of 

 that spirit, which has made the Scotch nation what it 

 is, and swollen the page of Britain's history with the 

 deeds of her northern sons. 



