II.

'Ye should hae tauld me this at first;

I'd hae come o' my ain accord,

An' saved ye a' this weary wark,

So gie's a hoist on board, brave boys,'

With, &c.

12.

Then they hauled him in aboard the boat,
In a creel they did him pack,

An' they sent him aff to Manse o' Deer
On Betty Simpson's back, brave boys,
With, &c."

The literature of the nineteenth century has lost nothing by the disappearance of the rest, but their preservation would have been, by those of us still above ground, much valued as a record of some "winged words," much happy laughter, and delightful intercourse.

Apropos of such a company as I have tried to describe, I have often thought it a pity that the leaders of fashion in dinner-giving, whose means and hospitality are above suspicion, have not set an example of limiting to eight or ten the size of a dinner-party. With that number bonâ-fide social intercourse is possible, with twice that number practically impossible. Which of us has not felt, over and over again, that the

LARGE DINNER-PARTIES.

227

If

typical urban assemblage, in which upwards of twenty sit down to dinner, though a convenient way of paying off debts, is really a travesty of society, if by society is meant social intercourse? Even when the guests are well chosen in respect of tastes, intimacy, and general characteristics, the number is unwieldy. Oftener than not we feel that we have dined not with our host and hostess but with our right and left-hand neighbours, to whom we may or may not have been introduced, and with whom we may or may not have much in common. the conditions of introduction and community of tastes are satisfied the result is enjoyable, but our real dinner companions are still only those on our right and left hands. A conversation cannot be conveniently bawled out across the table, nor can we with comfort or civility crane our necks up and down its length in order to talk with possibly dear but distant friends. Then, as to studious elaboration of courses in respect of both number and quality, there are probably few who have not felt that a reduction in the number would have been quite satisfactory and much better for us. After spending in this way an hour and a half or so in refusing or consenting to have injury

done to our digestion the ladies leave the room, and the gentlemen have a cigarette or two over a glass of wine. The drawing-room is reached in time to hear, it may be, a song or some piano-playing. Then follow "good-night" and a shaking of hands with the host and hostess, with whom we have probably exchanged only a few commonplace remarks, ending with "What a delightful evening we have spent!"

If this is a tolerably fair account of a typical big dinner - party, can it be said that either host or guest is to be congratulated on the result?

It is my duty to confess humbly that in this matter I am neither better nor worse than my "Video meliora proboque, deteriora

neighbours.

sequor."

AN OLD SOLDIER.

229

CHAPTER XX.

"WATCHIE "ADVICE ON MARRIAGE-PARODY OF TENNYSON'S "BROOK"-BROWNLOW NORTH-A LONG QUOTATION

SPURGEON-A TRIMMING PREACHER-AN AWKWARD ELDER.

ON one of my visits to Banffshire I made the acquaintance of a very interesting man, Mr Wernham, factor to the Laird of Troup, and correspondent for a school on the property. I spent the night with him, and in the course of a long talk got from him a sketch of his life simply and effectively told. He had been a soldier, and received his first impulse towards a military career from seeing the Scots Greys ride through his native town, Reading, on their way to Waterloo. He enlisted as a private at the age of eighteen with a determination to get promotion. In ten weeks he got his first step. Before long others followed, due to a combination of good behaviour and good luck, till, within little more than a year, he was on the

Duke of York's list recommended for a commission. I was struck by the shrewdness of his remarks about the secret of success in general, and in the army in particular. He attributed his own success largely to his accidentally hearing two of his superior officers making some remarks in his favour, which gave a spur and fixity of purpose to the ambition with which he had chosen a soldier's life. In course of time he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant ridingmaster. He had by this time got a wife and family, and, finding his pay inadequate for their maintenance without a pretty severe struggle, he quitted the service and accepted the factorship of Troup. Mrs Wernham was not less interesting than her husband. She had a rare collection of Scotch stories, which she told with admirable taste and skill. One of them I venture to reproduce.

A watchmaker in Banffshire, called, for short, "Watchie," was too much given to tippling, and shortened his life thereby. His wife after two years of widowhood was offered marriage by one of her neighbours, John Steenson, and accepted him. The night before her marriage a friend called to congratulate her, and found her crying.