them is but whalps, man." In truth, I knew nothing of the
man, except his odd humor of having only two names for
twenty dogs. But there are lines of general resemblance
among all these hill-men, which there is no missing; and
Jamie Davidson of Hyndlea certainly looks Dandie Dinmont
remarkably well. He is much flattered with the compliment,
and goes uniformly by the name among his comrades, but has
never read the book. Ailie used to read it to him, but it
set him to sleep. All this you will think funny enough. I am
afraid I am in a scrape about the song, and that of my own
making; for as it never occurred to me that there was
anything odd in my writing two or three verses for you,
which have no connection with the novel, I was at no pains
to disown them; and Campbell is just that sort of crazy
creature, with whom there is no confidence, not from want of
honor and disposition to oblige, but from his flighty
temper. The music of _Cadil gu lo_ is already printed in his
publication, and nothing can be done with him, for fear of
setting his tongue a-going. Erskine and {p.097} you may
consider whether you should barely acknowledge an obligation
to an unknown friend, or pass the matter altogether in
silence. In my opinion, my _first_ idea was preferable to
both, because I cannot see what earthly connection there is
between the song and the novel, or how acknowledging the one
is fathering the other. On the contrary, it seems to me that
acknowledgment tends to exclude the idea of farther
obligation than to the extent specified. I forgot also that
I had given a copy of the lines to Mrs. Macleod of Macleod,
from whom I had the air. But I remit the matter entirely to
you and Erskine, for there must be many points in it which I
cannot be supposed a good judge of. At any rate, don't let
it delay your publication, and believe I shall be quite
satisfied with what you think proper.

I have got from my friend Glengarry the noblest dog ever
seen on the Border since Johnnie Armstrong's time. He is
between the wolf and deer greyhound, about six feet long
from the tip of the nose to the tail, and high and strong in
proportion: he is quite gentle, and a great favorite: tell
Will Erskine he will eat off his plate without being at the
trouble to