school-history was, unfortunately, too often a glum compendium of
insignificant detail, told without breadth of view or fire of
restorative imagination.

In the history of Scotland, most of what is worth knowing may be most
enjoyably learned from the pages of Sir Walter. Hardly any epoch of
Caledonian annals, hardly any county in the land has escaped the
treatment of his masterly hand. From the Borders to the rain-lashed
Shetlands (the _Pirate_ deals with gusty Thule), from Perth to Morven,
the great wizard has made his country known to all lands. In his stories
the past faithfully reproduces itself, and we are impressed, instructed,
and amused.

THE OLD CLASSICAL DOMINIE.

It is a pleasure to think that a few of the old school of Scotch
dominies, who date from before the 1872 Act, are still to the fore, and
still engaged in teaching. They have all fixity of tenure, and so enjoy
the privilege of criticising, as adversely as they like, the degeneracy
of modern educational developments. These "_old parochials_," as they
are called, are men of good scholarship, well versed in Horace and
Virgil, and generally fond of snuff and Latin quotations.

The Act of 1872 did a great deal for elementary education, but very
little indeed to encourage that type of higher instruction, which was
the glory of the old parish school. Ian Maclaren and other writers have
given pleasant sketches of country schoolmasters who were strong in the
ancient tongues, and who sent their pupils straight to the benches of
the University. I believe such men as "Domsey" were quite common in this
country. Porteous, whom I knew, was one of these. Porteous was a
philologist second to none in these realms, and was on intimate terms of
acquaintanceship with the famous Veitch, who gave such a _redding up_ to
the Greek verbs. It was very amusing to hear the complete way in which
Porteous could silence some imperial young examining professor on the
weighty subject of classical derivation. The latter would appeal to some
such authority as Curtius, whereupon Porteous would unlock the desk in
which lay the tawse, and taking therefrom a copy of the invoked Curtius,
open it at the root in question, and display the page all marked with
pencil corrections and emendations. In support of his views, would come
such a torrent of erudition from half a score of Classical, Sanscrit,
Gothic, and Anglo-Saxon rills, that the young professor would feel "like
one of sense forlo