172 FIELD AND FERN. 



himself. There is an infant badger stuffed on tlie 

 staircase, and an otter of 25lbs. on the landing. The 

 spotted skins of some sixteen puppies by the otter 

 hound Pibroch, from Dowager, of the Duke^s breed- 

 ing, constitute a colony of mats. You wipe your 

 feet at the bottom of the stairs on all that is now 

 mortal of the black-and-tan Merryman, Avho made 

 merry with w^ater-rats when there was sterner work 

 to do, and was put down as a trifler not w orthy of 

 his salt. Billy and Bobby are the only dogs which 

 enjoy bed and board in the house. They dress each 

 other^s wounds most devotedl}^, after a hard morn- 

 ing's work, and share the doctor's bed. Their pre- 

 sence is his only soporific. He takes his rest with these 

 martial retainers at his back and legs, and dreams 

 of the glories of the Jed and Teviot, and the covered 

 drains on the Ale. During the past winter he has 

 used up most of his spare minutes after nightfall in 

 designing and building a drag, which is drawn by 

 Bobiu and a thorough-bred. The iron part is a 

 blacksmith's handiwork, but the wood and the paint- 

 ing — claret picked out with red — are strictly his own. 

 It is on four wheels, and built for twelve couple. 

 The driving-box is placed on two tiers, one for 

 hounds, and another for terriers, and there is plenty 

 of scope for hounds beneath the seats of the car 

 behind. 



The Doctor's best affections have always been, not 

 so much with the clan Grant, as with his Dandie 

 Dinmonts, and his back-yard is quite a Charlieshope. 



