oarse woollen stockings, gabbling Erse as
fast as their tongues could move, and looked as if uncertain what to do:
at last, with great diffidence, they offered them to me, adding, as
before, that I had never worn 'the like of them.' When we entered the
house we had been not a little glad to see a fowl stewing in
barley-broth; and now when the wettest of our clothes were stripped off,
began again to recollect that we were hungry, and asked if we could have
dinner. 'Oh yes, ye may get that,' the elder replied, pointing to the
pan on the fire.

Conceive what a busy house it was--all our wet clothes to be dried,
dinner prepared and set out for us four strangers, and a second cooking
for the family; add to this, two rough 'callans,' as they called them,
boys about eight years old, were playing beside us; the poor baby was
fretful all the while; the old woman sang doleful Erse songs, rocking it
in its cradle the more violently the more it cried; then there were a
dozen cookings of porridge, and it could never be fed without the
assistance of all three. The hut was after the Highland fashion, but
without anything beautiful except its situation; the floor was rough, and
wet with the rain that came in at the door, so that the lasses' bare feet
were as wet as if they had been walking through street puddles, in
passing from one room to another; the windows were open, as at the other
hut; but the kitchen had a bed in it, and was much smaller, and the shape
of the house was like that of a common English cottage, without its
comfort; yet there was no appearance of poverty--indeed, quite the
contrary. The peep out of the open door-place across the lake made some
amends for the want of the long roof and elegant rafters of our boatman's
cottage, and all the while the waterfall, which we could not see, was
roaring at the end of the hut, which seemed to serve as a sounding-board
for its noise, so that it was not unlike sitting in a house where a mill
is going. The dashing of the waves against the shore could not be
distinguished; yet in spite of my knowledge of this I could not help
fancying that the tumult and storm came from the lake, and went out
several times to see if it was possible to row over in safety.

After long waiting we grew impatient for our dinner; at last the pan was
taken off, and carried into the other room; but we had to wait at least
another half hour before the ceremony of dishing up was completed; yet
with all