ached. They had
but one bairn, a fine boy, who was the delight o' his father's heart,
and I hae heard it said by they who kenn'd them at the time, that a
bonnier or mair winsome hoy could'na hae been found in the city, than
wee Geordie Stuart. Time gied on till Geordie was near twelve year aul',
when it began to be talked o' among Mr. Stuart's friends that he was
becoming owre fond o' drink. How the habit was first formed naebody
could tell; but certain it was, that during the past year he had been
often seen the war o' drink. His wife, puir body, admonished an'
entreated him to break awa' frae the sinfu' habit, and he often, when
moved by her tears, made resolutions o' amendment, which were broken
maist as soon as made; an' it was during a longer season o' sobriety
than was usual wi' him, that his wife thinkin' if he was once awa' frae
the great city he would be less in the way o' temptation, persuaded him
to leave Glasgow an' remove to the sma' village o' Mill-Burn, a little
way frae the farm which my father rented.

"I well mind, said my father, o' the time when they first cam' among us,
an' how kin' was a' the neebors, to his pale sad-lookin' wife and the
bonny light-hearted Geordie, who was owre young at the time, to realize
to its fu' extent the sad habit into which his father had fa'n. When Mr.
Stuart first came to our village he again took up his aul' habits o'
industry, an' for a long time would'na taste drink ava; but when the
excitement o' the sudden change had worn off, his aul' likin' for strong
drink cam' back wi' fu' force, an' he, puir weak man, had'na the
strength o' mind to withstand it. He soon became even war than before;
his money was a' gane, he did'na work, so what was there but poverty for
his wife an' child. But it is useless for me to linger o'er the sad
story. When they had lived at Mill-Burn a little better than a twelve
month; his wife died, the neebors said o' a broken heart. A wee while
afore her death she ca'd Davy to her bed-side, an' once mair talked lang
an' earnestly to him o' the evil habit which had gotten sic a hold o'
him, an' begged him for the sake o' their dear Geordie, who; she
reminded him, would soon be left without a mither to care for him, to
make still anither effort to free himself frae the deadly habit. I
believe Davy was sincere when he promised the dyin' woman that he wad
gie up drink. Wi' a' his faults, he had tenderly loved his wife, an' I
hae nae doubt fully intend