versity of
Edinburgh. _Time_, says Sophocles, _is a god who performs difficult
things with ease_.

Mention of Harlaw suggests a comic tale told to the credit of the
Provost of Inverness. That gentleman, on being threatened with a
predatory visit from Donald in 1400, took the remarkable plan of sending
an ample supply of Inverness whisky into the Celtic camp. The men of
Lewis and Skye tackled the liquid bounty with great glee, and soon were
in a state of maudlin intoxication. The wily Provost meanwhile collected
a force and attacked Donald's men, who (as they magnified the attacking
host to _double its real numbers_) were easily scared and routed. At
Harlaw, eleven years later, the Provost of Aberdeen, evidently a man who
lacked the resource of the chief magistrate of Inverness, was killed,
and 500 men with him.

LOCHABER REIVERS.

The predatory habits of the Highlanders gave great trouble to the
Aberdeenshire farmers _for fully three hundred years after Harlaw_. In
1689 a dozen wild Lochaber men came right down into the heart of
Aberdeenshire and lifted six score of black cattle. The fate of the
marauders is thus described by the author of _Johnny Gibb_:--

"They were pursued by a body of nearly 50 horsemen, well mounted and
armed, and each carrying bags of meal and other provisions, both for
their own support, and to offer in ransom for the cattle, if peaceful
negotiations could be carried through. On through the hills, over
marshes, rocks, and heather, the spirited horsemen followed, under
their leader; and guided by a herd-boy whom they encountered, they
traced the robbers by Loch Ericht side into the heart of their own
country. At nightfall, they came upon them at Dalunchart, encamped and
busily engaged roasting a portion of the flesh of one of the cattle they
had stolen. They offered, after some parley, to give each of the
freebooters a bag of meal and a pair of shoes in ransom for the cattle.
The Highlanders treated such an offer for cattle driven so far and with
so much trouble with contempt; the herd was gathered in, and the fight
began in deep earnest, the result being that the Lochaber men were all
shot down, killed or wounded, except three, who escaped unhurt to tell
the tale; and the cattle were, of course, recovered."

REAY AND TWICKENHAM.

Perhaps the least attractive of the Scotch counties, in respect of
scenery, is Caithness. The North-going train enters it a little after
Helmsdale, and from