XV 

 AUGUST IN SCOTLAND 



A'SUST is Scotland's month, as Septem- 

 ber is, perhaps, that of England. In 

 one the grouse reigns, in the other 

 the partridge. In August, Scotland 

 appears as the joy of nations. The bustle, the 

 portmanteaux, the fishing-baskets, the shooting- 

 bags, all are so cheery, so hopeful, so virile. 

 They who have been in the midst of it look for- 

 ward eagerly, and backward with a sigh of 

 regret. The story of August is the idyll of 

 Scotland. 



Natives feel all the charm without the freshness 

 of novelty. They refrain from ecstasies because 

 of a quiet sense of possession. Just as those 

 who live in the sunshine are content to bask. 

 Dwellers on the coast are not constantly snuffing 

 up the sea-breeze. Children of the hills smile 

 pleasantly on the eagerness of the climbers. 



In August the breath of autumn is felt first, 

 cool, but not cold. The sun shines through a 

 soft silver, and lies golden on the golden harvest 

 fields. In a sea of haze, cumulus masses float up 



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