474 RAMBLES OF A GEOLOGIST. 



sembled at the Helgafels. * * * I answered him in nearly 

 the same strain ; for the spirit of the ancient Scalds of our 

 race was upon me ; and, far from fearing the phantom with 

 whom I sat cooped within so narrow a space, I felt the im- 

 pulse of that high courage which thrust the ancient champions 

 and Druidesses upon contests with the invisible world, when 

 they thought that the earth no longer contained enemies 

 worthy to be subdued by them. * * * The Demon 

 scowled at me as if at once incensed and overawed ; and then, 

 coiling himself up in a thick and sulphurous vapour, he dis- 

 appeared from his place. I did not till that moment feel the 

 influence of fright, but then it seized me. I rushed into the 

 open air, where the tempest had passed away, and all was 

 pure and serene." Shall I dare confess, that I could fain 

 have passed some stormy night all alone in this solitary cell, 

 were it but to enjoy the luxury of listening, amid the dark- 

 ness, to the dashing rain and the roar of the wind high among 

 the cliffs, or to detect the brushing sound of hasty footsteps 

 in the wild rustle of the heath, or the moan of unhappy spirits 

 in the low roar of the distant sea. Or, mayhap, again to bor- 

 row from the poet, as midnight was passing into morning, 



" To ponder o'er some mystic lay, 

 Till the wild tale had all its sway ; 

 And in the bittern's distant shriek 

 I heard uneai'thly voices speak, 

 Or thought the wizard priest was come 

 To claim again his ancient home ! 

 And bade my busy fancy range 

 To frame him fitting shape and strange ; 

 Till from the dream my brow I cleared, 

 And smil'd to think that I had feared." 



The Dwarfie Stone has been a good deal undervalued by 

 some writers, such as the historian of Orkney, Mr Barry; and, 

 considered simply as a work of art or labour, it certainly does 

 not stand high. When tracing, as I lay a-bed, the marks of 

 the tool, which, in the harder portions of the stone, are still 



