CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH 11 



a plan of his own, though in the result he had sometimes 

 to confess that he had been mistaken. He was fond of 

 reading and among his favourite books were Alice in 

 Wonderland, Hans Andersen's Fairy Stories, and later 

 the books usually enjoyed by boys about lighthouses, 

 fire-brigades, and other practical things. He had a 

 strong love of animals and always had a favourite dog. 

 From his earliest days he had considerable aptitude for 

 music, and at a preparatory school he attended he was 

 the quickest among the little pupils to learn reading 

 music. In later years he was a pupil of Dr. A. L. 

 Peace, organist of Glasgow Cathedral. He also became 

 an accomplished " whistler/' and could accompany him- 

 self on the piano. This accomplishment, it may be 

 added, often gave pleasure to his friends in later life. It 

 was delightful to hear a florid air like Bishop's " Should 

 he upbraid," with all the runs and trills given with 

 perfect clearness and accuracy. His powers as a lin- 

 guist were remarkable and the readiness with which he 

 acquired a new language served him very notably 

 throughout life and on many public occasions attracted 

 admiration. He used jokingly to say that the only 

 language of which the pronunciation had baffled him 

 was Gaelic. His natural inclination for new languages 

 and the method early adopted for their acquisition is 

 illustrated by the reminiscences of Mr. M. M. Pattison 

 Muir. He says : 



"I can scarcely remember the time when I did not know 

 Ramsay. Looking hack nearly sixty years, I see a small boy 



