SCOTCH FIR. 325 



fallen; they saw their younger brethren sink before the 

 blows of the wood-cutter, and lost in them those natural 

 guardians which broke the force of the wind when assailing 

 their aged trunks ; but the friendly trees were down, and 

 the wind came in his might and power, howling over the 

 denuded tract ; and those who looked towards the old pine- 

 wood, next morning, saw that its noblest trees had fallen. 



Adversity is said occasionally to strengthen the human 

 character, to call forth hidden qualities, and to make men 

 act. So it is with us : our bleak dwelling-places render 

 us superior in texture and enduring qualities to such as 

 grow more rapidly, perhaps even more luxuriantly, in the 

 English lowlands. Pliny remarked this, when speaking of 

 the pines of Italy : he said that timber which grew in moist 

 and sheltered places was less compact and durable than 

 such as grew on hills. Homer, also, assigns for the same 

 reason a spear to Agamemnon formed from a pine that 

 had braved the fury of the tempest. 



Our tribe, therefore, are seen in all their magnificent 



