IN caelyle's countey 63 



open as possible. At least this is the case with 

 most of the older houses. Hence village houses 

 and cottages in Britain are far less private and 

 secluded than ours, and country houses far less pub- 

 lic. The only feature of Ecclefechan, besides the 

 church, that distinguishes it from the humblest 

 peasant village of a hundred years ago, is the large, 

 fine stone structure used for the public school. It 

 confers a sort of distinction upon the place, as if 

 it were in some way connected with the memory of 

 its famous son. I think I was informed that he 

 had some hand in founding it. The building in 

 which he first attended school is a low, humble 

 dwelling, that now stands behind the church, and 

 forms part of the boundary between the cemetery 

 and the Annan road. 



From our window I u.sed to watch the laborers 

 on their way to their work, the children going to 

 school, or to the pump for water, and night and 

 morning the women bringing in their cows from the 

 pasture to be milked. In the long June gloaming 

 the evening milking was not done till about nine 

 o'clock. On two occasions, the first in a brisk 

 rain, a bedraggled, forlorn, deeply-hooded, youngish 

 woman, came slowly through the street, pausing 

 here and there, and singing in wild, melancholy, 

 and not unpleasing strains. Her voice had a strange 

 piercing plaintiveness and wildness. Now and then 

 some passer-by would toss a penny at her feet. 

 The pretty Edinburgh lass, her hair redder than 

 Scotch gold, that waited upon us at the inn, went 



