My Boyhood and Youth 



to vacation days and thought them slow in 

 coming. Old Mungo Siddons gave us a lot of 

 gooseberries or currants and wished us a happy 

 time. Some sort of special closing-exercises 

 singing, recitations, etc. celebrated the great 

 day, but I remember only the berries, freedom 

 from school work, and opportunities for run- 

 away rambles in the fields and along the wave- 

 beaten seashore. ^ 



An exciting time came when at the age of 

 seven or eight years I left the auld Davel Brae 

 school for the grammar school. Of course I 

 had a terribk lot of fighting to do, because a 

 new scholar had to meet every one of his age 

 who dared to challenge him, this being the 

 common introduction to a new school. It was 

 very strenuous for the first month or so, estab- 

 lishing my fighting rank, taking up new studies, 

 especially Latin and French, getting acquainted 

 with new classmates and the master and his 

 rules. In the first few Latin and French lessons 

 the new teacher, Mr. Lyon, blandly smiled at 

 our comical blunders, but pedagogical weather 

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