106 MEMOIR OF ALFEED SMEE. [CHAP. X. 



THE WIDOW AND THE BABBITS. 

 To ELIZABETH MARY, WHO HAS VISITED MANY HAPPY YALLEYS AND 



OBSERVED THE ILL EFFECTS OF EXCESSIVE RABBIT PRESERVA- 

 TION, THIS STORY is DEDICATED BY HER FATHER. 



The story opens thus : 



In the North of Scotland there is a very beautiful valley. A 

 foaming river runs through it, where abundance of trout disport them- 

 selves in the sun and rise to every little fly which settles upon the water. 

 When rain falls, the river swells and overflows its banks; but amidst 

 the roar of the water, the salmon rush up the torrent from the sea, 

 and thus a delicious food is afforded to the fishermen. These catch 

 them with an artificial fly, and not only supply the people of the district 

 with fish, but exchange them for other luxuries with the inhabitants of 

 Edinburgh and London, who have neither trout nor salmon in their rivers. 

 The whole valley was formerly filled with villages, the people of which 

 tended their flocks and herds, and cultivated their fields. The inhabitants 

 were good and kind to each other, and aimed at promoting the happiness 

 of all. As the land was good, and Providence was bountiful in bestowing 

 the fruits of the earth, everyone was thankful for the gifts he received, 

 and rejoiced in the lovely scenes which he daily saw, from the time the 

 sun rose in the morning till it gave f orth its heat in mid-day, and set in 

 the west in the evening ; when the villagers, after they had uttered their 

 praises for the blessings already received, and had prayed for a con- 

 tinuance of their joys in the future, retired to rest. 



The valley is surrounded by high hills to the west, so that no man 

 has ever been able to pass. It has rugged hills to the north, which almost 

 constitute a wall, and to the south there are also hills, leaving only one 

 narrow entrance for foreigners to come in, or for the inhabitants to go out. 

 It was, therefore, always called " The Happy and Secluded Valley of the 

 North." 



About 1000 years ago, more or less, for the learned have never been 

 able to decide the exact time ; some say it was in the year 770, others in 

 790 ; but the most reliable, from documents existing in the great library of 

 Kamskatka, consider that it was in the year 772, a foreigner named Lord 

 Gryndum came with numerous retainers, and took possession of this 

 happy valley, and built himself a great castle. The villagers, always 

 happy and living in peace with each other, were never accustomed to 

 resist ; and, in fact, they never had either an army or policeman to protect 

 them, and so the villagers suffered the foreign Laird to take possession of 

 their valley and charge them rents for their lands. Not contented with 

 this, he soon after took their hunting-grounds from them, where they were 

 wont to kill game, especially deer, white hares, and grouse for their winter's 

 use ; and the Laird liking himself to kill fish (as he had nothing else to do 

 but fish, shoot, and hunt) ordered his retainers to drive the villagers from 

 the river, and prevent them catching a single salmon, or even killing a 

 trout. He was not even satisfied then, and his aggressive disposition 

 caused him to bring some rabbits from England, which he forbade to be 

 killed under the pain of a severe fine, or even of imprisonment. The 



