248 NETHER LOCHABER. 



consecutive weeks. But the storms have, as to temperature, been 

 rather the storms of early summer or autumn, than the boisterously 

 cold and burly shriekings of the lone winter " Storm King," as we 

 used to know and fear him. The reader wUl best understand 

 what we mean, when we say that, notwithstanding the storminess, 

 anemometrically, of the season, not a single snowflake has fallen in 

 the lowlands of Nether Lochaber this winter, except a little which 

 fell last night, but of which there are no traces again this morning ; 

 nor, except twice, and then only for an hour or so, has the thermo- 

 meter touched the freezing-point. We much doubt if the thickness 

 of a sixpenny piece of ice could be gathered at any one moment from ' 

 pool or puddle in our district of Lochaber during the present 

 winter. The consequence is, that in all our gardens flowers are at 

 this moment in bloom that perhaps were never knovm to be in 

 bloom at the same date before. Our privet and elder hedges bear 

 quite a close green vesture of young leaves ; the columbine has 

 already reached an April altitude of growth, and a woman who 

 happened to walk from Fort-William early last week brought us 

 a small bouquet of primroses that she had picked up while passing 

 through the woods of Coirrechaorachan, as beautiful and perfect as 

 if it were in truth the proper season of these favourite flowers, 

 instead of the last days of the first month of the year. We shouldn't 

 wonder, however, if we have to pay for it all yet, ere the truant 

 schoolboy again begins to imitate the cuckoo's note, or " the voice 

 of the turtle is heard in our land." 



There is at this moment sitting in our kitchen a poor, half- 

 witted natural, " Lachlan Goraoh," from Mull, whose conversa- 

 tion is always garnished with " Davie GeUetly "-Hke snatches of 

 quaint song. Sometimes the rhyme is in English, and sometimes 

 in Gaelic, and frequently has no connection whatever with what 

 may be the immediate subject of conversation. On going up to 

 have a crack with him a few moments ago — for poor Lachlan is, 



