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"A' gaed up tae the Manse last nicht," concluded Drumsheugh, "and telt the minister hoo the doctor focht aucht oors for Saunders' life, an' won, and ye never saw a man sae carried. He walkit up and doon the room a' the time, and every other meenut he blew his nose like a trumpet. "'I've a cold in my head to-night, Drumsheugh, says he; 'never mind me."
It is all in the key of “Ye Banks and Braes o’ Bonnie Doon,” and that would be an appropriate key for a requiem over the grave of George Eliot. All her writings are now before the world, and are accessible to all. They have taken their place, and will keep their place, high among the writings of those of our age who have made that age illustrious in the history of the English tongue.
"Not a bit o' paperin' doon anywhere juist two three rooms colour-washed, as yo' med do 'em at t' workhouse. An' that big hole in t' dinin'-room ceilin', juist as 'twas and such shabby sticks o' things upstairs an' down as I nivver see! I'll have a good sight better when I get married, I know!" Contempt ran sharply through the girl's tone. As she ceased speaking a step was heard in the corridor.
Without any preliminary it ran: "A sairgeant-pilot, feelin' sair, A spitefu' thing may do, An' so I come to you once mair That I may say an' true As you looked doon on me ane day, Now I look doon on you! "You, fra your height of pride an' clan Heard your high spirit ca', An' so you scorned the common man I saw yeer sweet face fa'; But, losh! I'm just that mighty high I can't see you at a'!"
He's sae used to luikin' up, he's forgotten to luik doon. He bauds his lan' frae a higher than the laird, or the yerl himsel'!" The mother was silent.
Its closing words ran thus: "I send ye this picture o' masel' and the ane o' the man I loved sae weel. No ither picture have I had taken, nor ither shall there be. It was taken for yir faither before the gloamin' settled doon on you and me, ma laddie. It was taken for him, as was every breath I drew, for I loved him wi' every ane.
"Faith na, a hantle o' braw folk hae leeved in James's Court in their time. I mind o' the Leddy Partan an' Mistress Girnigo, the king's jeweller's wife haein' a fair even-doon fecht a' aboot wha was to hae the pick o' the hooses on the stair. Winifred, ma lassie, come here an' sit doon!
Oh, dear, but it's a hard lot we hae to suffer!" and she sobbed in silence, while her husband stroked her pale, thin, toil-worn hands that hid her weeping eyes. "Wheesht, lassie!" he said brokenly. "Dinna you break doon noo, for you hae been the mainstay o' us a', when we wad hae lost heart often.
But," she hurried on, as if eager to obliterate the scoring impression of her late words "that she's been sayin' 't, there can be no mainner o' doot. I saw her mysel' rinnin' aboot the toon, frae ane till anither, wi' her lang hair doon the lang back o' her, an' fleein' i' the win', like a body dementit. The only question is, whether or no she believes 't hersel'."
On such occasions Mysie's mother would remonstrate with him, reminding him with wifely wisdom of his family responsibilities; but under all her admonishings Matthew's only reply was: As I gaed doon the water side, There I met my bonnie lad, An' he rowed me sweetly in his plaid, An' ca'd me his dearie, O!
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