modated; and in 1827, powerful vessels of the same class superseded the ancient line of sailing ships; and the whole north, in its people, agriculture, manufactures, and general commerce, received the advantage of frequent and rapid communication with the capital of the world. From that date the trade of the "road" began to decline, and after railways shall have made their influence felt, the race of "postboys" will be very select indeed.

CHAPTER IX.

COUNTRY SPORTS; THE GAME LAWS.

ALTHOUGH our position was much isolated while imperfect communication by sea and land continued, country life supplied many enjoyments. Society, too, was not so limited as in the experience of that worthy dame in the west of England, who, on being questioned about her "neighbourhood," replied,

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Well, we are all alone, you know; but I play, and Sir John is so good as to dance!" The pastimes of the field, of divers kinds, never failed us. One county had its foxhounds, hunted during two generations by heads of a noble house whose hereditary popular qualifications for the mastership are not yet beyond pleasant memories. Another possessed a pack of beagles. Every county owned many greyhounds, and coursing meetings were frequent. Farmers joyously participated in the sport, and the speed and training of their dogs gained for them many victories.

The ravages of hares counted not among their grievances in those days. There was little need of gamekeepers, and poachers in our tenants' clutches were without the hope of mercy.

We had all the usual varieties of low-country game to practise upon, besides the more invigorating pursuit of grouse and deer. Periodical pigeon matches, movable as regards locality, brought more distant neighbours together, and tested the accuracy of our shooting. Lord Kennedy, afterwards Earl of Cassilis, was, in later times, the leading artist. For many months those noble rivers, the Dee, Spey, Findhorn, and the Ness, contributed such salmon-fishing as our English neighbours could not then so readily appreciate; although, fine sportsmen as they are, they have since discovered its value, and profited abundantly by the delightful recreation it affords. And even in that season when

The full ethereal round,
Infinite worlds disclosing to the view,
Shines out intensely keen; and all one cope
Of starry glitter, glows from pole to pole,

From pole to pole the rigid influence falls

Through the still night, incessant, heavy, strong,
And seizes nature fast-

even then

While every work of man is laid at rest,

our curling ponds supplied much blithesome and

glowing exercise, attracting such numbers and variety of candidates, as to make their meetings popular beyond comparison. Curlers' fare is plain, but no other pastime is so good an appetizer; and mighty supplies of "beef and greens" disappeared with marvellous rapidity. We were eloquent over our cups upon the charms of the game, played over again our "bonspeils," and enthusiasm rose as we sang—

Then here's to the roarin' "rink," John Frost,

To the "skips" who can work and think, John Frost.

There is another eminently national game, which never ceases to be attractive, although those only whose tents have been pitched near great links on the sea-side, and by the sunny banks of the Tay, in the fair and favoured city of Perth, can hope to become experts. That is golf. Golf and learning have made the town of St. Andrews famous; and there, during the autumn months especially, hundreds flock together to luxuriate in golfing. Men from Edinburgh, devoted at other seasons to parchment and figures, living personifications of worldly wisdom and arithmetical facts, abandon all professional cares, and give to it an undivided allegiance. They are not enthusiasts merely, but monomaniacs, and seem quite as unwilling to sit down as that poor gentleman we read of somewhere, who dared not do so on account

of the brittle material of which he said an important part of his body was composed. Golfers are not always sportsmen in a more extended sense. On the contrary, many I know well, were they to join the hunting field, would enact to perfection the character of John Gilpin; or if they had the imprudence to indulge in the luxury of guns and fishing-rods, would infallibly inflict some cruel injuries on their persons. Clubs, putters, long drives and short drives (according to manner of playing), fill their thoughts by day and their dreams by night; and long-suffering wives and children during their repasts are treated to ponderous recitals of splendid "drives" by paterfamilias, and the accuracy with which, to the discomfiture of his adversary, he approached the hole, and "holed out.” But in truth the game is an interesting, manly, and invigorating one, an enemy to dyspepsy and a friend of good digestion; and if I laugh at the rabid enthusiasm of its votaries, had I ever been an artist, perhaps I should have been as eager as any of them. Our youngsters have lately borrowed "cricket" from England. They seem fully determined to adopt it, and hold out fair prospects of becoming formidable rivals. In this department of athletic exercises I could only number among my accomplishments that somewhat savage recreation called " hockey;" but it recalls many pleasant memories, and my old shins.