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250 EAMBLES 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.
•*— The Road From Melvich To Tongue Skir...
beast already described . The afternoon closed in dark and drizzling , and the heavy cloudsfor the first time since we had entered Scotland ,
. , gathered on the mountains and soon concealed the greater portion of them from view . Right glad were we when at last " the little
inn of Durin" came in sight , whose cordial hospitalities were already known to my friendand which since known to myself are
, among the pleasantest recollections of our rambles northward . Durness is a small fishing hamlet , whose resources , like those of
niany other places on these coasts of Scotland , are altogether undeveloped . The inhabitants are a hardy thrifty racesimple in habits
, and tastes , content with their humble cabins , peat fires , oatmeal , milk and fish , and proud in the possession of a large wrapping cloak of
stout dark cloth , the sign of well-being both with men and women . A pretty sight it is to see them wending their way on the Sabbath
morning to church or chapel , the women with snow-white mutch or cap , over which is drawn the hood of the cloth cloak , the men in
Scotch bonnets , the aged among them wearing beneath a white cotton night-cap drawn close over the ears . A Christian and
neighbourly custom exists in several parts of these thinly populated northern districts ; as age and its infirmities creep on , and certain
old men of the scattered congregations find themselves unequal to the often long walk to and from church , they assemble in the
houses of each other , when one among them officiates as minister , a white neckerchief distinguishing him from his fellows . A simple
kindly people are they , and the excellent landlady of the " little inn , " a clever , active , kind-hearted woman holds a high place in
their affection and esteem , as indeed she does in the affection and esteem of all who know her .
A native of Tain , in Ross- shire , she came upon her marriage to the inn at Durin , where she has lived ever since , bringing up two
sons and placing them out in the world , her husband having died early . Comparatively few strangers find their way so far north ; the
inn is small , but most thoroughly comfortable , and the visitors are not so many that they are treated en masse as so much money , as
in the large railway and company hotels , where the convenience and comfort of the individual are ignored , and he must take what he
can get , incivility and all , and "be thankful for it . No , " the little inn at Durin" is the traveller ' s home , and , from the moment its
hospitable hostess bids you welcome at its porch , your personal wants , and even your personal idiosyncracies , are studied and cared
for , for Mrs . Ross is a shrewd , character-reading woman , full of genial sympathy , and if there be any kindness in your own nature , it
must rise and kindle to hers , a fact which finds exemplification in the following anecdote .
A few years ago , during the bad winter weather , and towards the evening * of a cold gloomy day , _wlxen all in those parts whose duties
Mrs did . Ross keep and them her lassie abroad were were "busy safel ing y themselves housed for in the prep nig arations ht , and
250 Eambles Northward.
250 EAMBLES NORTHWARD .
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Citation
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English Woman’s Journal (1858-1864), Dec. 1, 1859, page 250, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ewj/issues/ewj_01121859/page/34/
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