CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH 15 



quite clear. One party put out his tongue and the 

 other threw a stone, but which did which and who 

 began hostilities, has always been doubtful. Fifty 

 years after, Sir William Kamsay, as his oldest friend 

 present, proposed the health of Sir Lauder Brunton at 

 a public dinner, and began by saying that he remem- 

 bered, as far back as he could recall anything, playing 

 and quarrelling with that " big, rough boy, Tommy 

 Brunton ! " To an audience, familiar with the delicate 

 frame, the clear cut features, and the chivalrous courtesy 

 of that beloved physician, the description was too 

 delightful, and the laughter was so hearty and so long 

 that it was with difficulty that the speaker could proceed. 

 Dr. Jolly's son became minister in Shetland, and there 

 young Ramsay spent holidays, sometimes with his 

 mother, and sometimes accompanied by a friend of his 

 own age. There he learned to swim and to manage a 

 boat in all weathers. As minister of a scattered parish 

 Mr. Jolly had to go from one island to another, and 

 though to him it must have been irksome and difficult, 

 to the boys who went with him it was a time of adven- 

 ture and delight. They used to arrive cold and drenched 

 and be welcomed at the farms and made much of. 

 Sometimes they had strange fare. Once they had cor- 

 morant, which besides being very tough had " an 

 ancient and fish-like smell." Its state was apologised 

 for, it having been buried only for a week, whereas the 

 proper period should have been a fortnight or three 

 weeks ! 



