ound time to
come to the meeting and propose a vote of thanks to the donor of the
library. Everyone listened intently to him as he stood there in his
professional frock-coat,--a thin, wiry, twinkling-eyed gentleman. "If
the donor by any chance," said he, looking at me, "should ever sail up
Loch Sunart in his yacht, and land among the people of Salen, to whom
his books have given such pleasure, I should advise him not to stand too
near the edge of the pier, for fear some of the grateful natives might
push him over into the loch, _in order to have the pleasure of saving
his life!_" This unexpected sally convulsed the audience, and gave a gay
and rollicking touch to the speeches that came after. Mr. M'Gregor, a
farmer from Resipol, broad and brawny, rose to make a few remarks. The
schoolhouse was very hot and close, but he disdained to throw off the
thick and ample Highland cloak which he had on, and which he had worn
all day at the Oban Cattle Show, and on the deck of the boat that had
brought him thence. Mr. M'Gregor had been much struck by my remarks on
the knights of King Arthur, and their custom of sitting at the Round
Table, to avoid questions of precedence. He spoke to this effect: "I do
not wish the lecturer to go back to Paisley under the impression that
Salen is not a very bye-ordinary and consequential place. We have a
fleet of yachts out there, the like of which is not to be seen _between
this and Manch-oo-ria_. We have a blacksmith that can preach and quote
Scripture as well as any D.D. in the land; my friend the grocer over
there, will give you such bargains as you could never get in
Sauchie-_hall_ Street; and we have a choir here that might give the
angels singing-lessons. I am a very modest man, but I would like to say
just a word about this Round Table business. The lecturer says the Table
was round so that every knight might be at the head of it. That's the
theory, but what's the fact? I'll tell you. _One of King Arthur's
knights was an ancestor of mine, and his name was M'Greegor._[12] Now,
wherever M'Greegor sat, that was always considered the head of the
table." This contribution to Arthurian criticism was delivered with such
force, faith, and genial glee, that no one, considering the powerful
muscles of the speaker, was disposed to question it. (Mr. M'Gregor's
eulogy of Salen did not comprise a reference to the local hotel, which
is conducted on the Gothenburg system. It is comfortable and snug, but
no