Down North and Up Along 
The Presbyterian Church, large and barn- 
like, stands on the hill behind the town, and 
there is still observed the custom of repeating 
the services in Gaelic, — for the back-country 
people have not forgotten their mother-tongue ; 
in fact, many of the old people know no other. 
The difference between Sunday and other 
days at Baddeck is not observable in the in- 
creased stillness of the place, — that is not 
necessary even for Sunday, — but that one can 
then go to church. One can go to the Pres- 
byterian church and listen to a Gaelic service, 
which is what every stranger does. 
Sometimes an English service precedes the 
Gaelic, which makes the meeting rather long, 
but sometimes proceedings begin — and end — 
with a Gaelic prayer-meeting, which was the 
case the day we went. 
The congregation, composed mainly of 
elderly and unlettered back-country folk, con- 
tained few young people and fewer children. 
The leader, who was not unlettered and who 
had a fine voice, opened the meeting by reading 
in Gaelic. Then gaunt men rose and prayed, 
standing perfectly still and betraying no emo- 
tion in voice or by gesture. They spoke in 
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