INTRODUCTION. xv 



and mists, sunshine and pleasant showers ! Fresh eggs, new 

 milk, excellent ham, capital Scotch " poiTidge," with bread, 

 butter, and tea, constituted our breakfast, after which we 

 marched in a body to the Falls of Bracklin, guided by a rosy- 

 cheeked Highland lassie, stopping now and then by the way 

 to pick up a wild flower, a blue bell, a "go wan," or a dog-rose, 

 or to listen to the magpies and titmice. Pretty high we have 

 climbed to a piece of moorland, where, no doubt, had we dogs 

 and guns, with privilege to shoot, we might maim perhaps a 

 grouse, perhaps a black-cock. But list ! The roar of the cata- 

 ract comes faintly on the ear ; there is the very stream which, 

 descending turbulently into the ravine, hurries to join the river 

 below. Descend that narrow rocky pass with care, and trip 

 lightly along that crazy bridge, wind to the right, reach the 

 jutting angle of that rock, and now gaze upon the scene ! I 

 have looked at hundreds of streamlets in America equally tur- 

 bulent, but I doubt if, after all, I have seen one so curiously 

 confined within its rocky shores, or so abrupt in its various 

 jets. Clusters of the bright-red berries of the mountain ash 

 hung over the rocks, which were crusted with lichens ; and, 

 as I looked around on that sequestered spot, I thought what a 

 secure retreat it might afford on occasions to some of the wild 

 Celts of the olden times, who lived at variance with their 

 Saxon neighbours in the valley below. I felt as if I were 

 amongst them, enjoying the pleasure of living in the wilds, and 

 then bethought me of the many similar spots yet belonging to 

 our own Sons of the Forest. 



Returning towards Callender, and emerging from the wood, 

 we were surprised to see some hundreds of cows, all belonging 

 to the village below, grazing on what might well be called the 



