10 HAPPY HUNTING-GROUNDS 



It was one of the pleasures of a Sunday at Millden 

 to stroll to the kennels, and see the whole pack re- 

 leased to race over the adjoining heather, when each 

 and all of them would drop at their (trainer's sign, 

 however fast they might be galloping in the enjoyment 

 of their liberty. 



Here let me digress for a moment to pay my 

 tribute of regard and esteem to my lost friend. 

 Biographers have not done justice to the rare and 

 sympathetic kindness, transparent sincerity, and 

 strong sense of humour he veiled under a somewhat 

 stiff and reserved manner. Religion was a part of his 

 life, but he feared no person but his God. Shy by 

 nature, he revealed his true self best in his home, sur- 

 rounded by his family circle and friends. There was 

 no trace of condescension or patronage in the delight- 

 ful freedom with which the great statesman, judge, 

 and advocate, chatted to such fledgling barristers as 

 Edward Ross and myself, and I always felt natural 

 and at my ease in conversation with him. He had a 

 most retentive memory, and illustrations and quota- 

 tions from his favourite Scott were often on his lips. 

 Now, after the lapse of half a century, I seem to hear 

 him now prophesying a sturdy and spirited resistance 

 in some political or legal battle which he happened to 

 be discussing, in the spirited words the poet puts into 

 the mouth of Marmion 



" Many a banner will be torn 

 And many a knight to earth be borne, 

 And many a sheaf of arrows spent, 

 Ere Scotland's king shall cross the Trent." 



His household servants, keepers, and gillies all 

 worshipped him, for he seemed to enter into their feel- 



