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184 RAMBLES NORTHWARD.
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
We Will Take At Random Some Fifty People...
Inverness ; and the extreme north coast of Scotland , with its mingled grandeur and beauty of scenery , is terra incognita to tlie
world at _larg-e . The little town of Melvich stands on a bold cliff , from whose
heights we looked over a sunset scene of surpassing loveliness . - To our rihtin the far distancepencilled gray against the evening sky ,
lay the g bold , promontories of , the Orkney Isles , "while at the foot of the ba 3 _^ -indented coast on which we stood , the sea , with its surface
calm and unbroken , save by the unwieldy gambols of large shoals of porpoises , stretched miles and miles away , reflecting on its bosoin .
the opal-tinted sky above , over which a young moon shed its crystalpure Down light the . cliff we strolledor rather scrambled , escorted "by our
droll little host ; who , Lent upon , d _' oing the honors of the place to hi © lady guests , considerably impeded our progress , if he did not
endanger our limbs , by the necessity we "were under of steadying his stepsand of occasionally arresting- his downward progress , as , in
patent , leather slippers , very unsuited to the occasion , he stumb Led and shuffled and slipped along , talking and laughing all the time ,
full of anecdote and fun , carried quite _beyond himself by the novelty of our visitorit might bean additional " quaich" of whisky I
Be this as it , may , , never was , little man so amusing ; his quaint oldfashioned courtesythe imperturbable good humour with which he
sustained his numerous , falls , and picked himself up to insist upon supporting , aye , and even lifting us over dangerous places , though
either of us could have stowed him away in our pocket without inconvenience , was irresistibly droll . A vast amount of information
the little man possessed too ; a native of Hoss-shire , he had been for some years a stage-coach driverand had picked up all sorts of
curious anecdotes and histories , any , or all of which were entirely at our service as he escorted us by beach and cliff to the small harbour ,
where the rotigh yet kindly fishermen were busy preparing for the approaching herring season , while , seated about in groups , the wives
and children were enjoying the beautiful evening and the neighbourly gossiptheir fingers plying meanwhile the busy needles . It
was a simple , primitive scene , and our little host , chatting now in Gaelic to his fisher friends and now in . excellent English to
ourselves , acted as an interpreter between us , and fussed and fidgeted about with a wonderful activity considering his short rotund
person . On our way "back to the hotel , he led us across a potato field to a high point overlooking a lovely little bay , nestled in among
the perpendicular cliffs , that we might see , as he said , the evening take of lobstersthat particular bay being celebrated for the
abun-, dance and excellent quality of its shell-fish . Bidding us stay where we were , our diminutive little friend plunged down the steep
declivity , and in a few seconds stood alongside a boat he had hailed from the summit , spread out his little red pocket-handkerchief ,
tlirust lobsters and crabs into it , tied the four corners together , and
184 Rambles Northward.
184 RAMBLES NORTHWARD .
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Citation
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English Woman’s Journal (1858-1864), Nov. 1, 1859, page 184, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ewj/issues/ewj_01111859/page/40/
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