-fearin'
set o' laads, an' they were just comin' oot o' the kirk--'od they yokit
upon him, an' a'most killed him!" Mr. M., to whom their zeal seemed
scarcely sufficiently well directed to merit his approbation, then asked
Donald whether it had been drunkenness that induced the depravity of his
former neighbours? "Weel, weel, sir," said Donald, with some hesitation,
"_may_-be; I'll no say but it micht." "Depend upon it," said Mr. M.,
"it's a bad thing whisky." "Weel, weel, sir," replied Donald, "I'll no
say but it _may_;" adding in a very decided tone--"speeciallie
_baad_ whusky!"

I do not know any anecdote which illustrates in a more striking and
natural manner the strong feeling which exists in the Scottish mind on
this subject. At a certain time, the hares in the neighbourhood of a
Scottish burgh had, from the inclemency of the season or from some other
cause, become emboldened more than usual to approach the dwelling-places
of men; so much so that on one Sunday morning a hare was seen skipping
along the street as the people were going to church. An old man, spying
puss in this unusual position, significantly remarked, "Ay, yon beast
kens weel it is the Sabbath-day;" taking it for granted that no one in
the place would be found audacious enough to hurt the animal on
a Sunday.

Lady Macneil supplies an excellent pendant to Miss Stewart's story about
the jack going on the Sunday. Her henwife had got some Dorking fowls,
and on Lady M. asking if they were laying many eggs, she replied, with
great earnestness, "Indeed my leddy, they lay every day, no' excepting
the blessed Sabbath."

There were, however, old persons at that time who were not quite so
orthodox on the point of Sabbath observance; and of these a lady
residing in Dumfries was known often to employ her wet Sundays in
arranging her wardrobe. "Preserve us!" she said on one occasion,
"anither gude Sunday! I dinna ken whan I'll get thae drawers redd up."

In connection with the awful subject of death and all its concomitants,
it has been often remarked that the older generation of Scottish people
used to view the circumstances belonging to the decease of their nearest
and dearest friends with a coolness which does not at first sight seem
consistent with their deep and sincere religious impressions. Amongst
the peasantry this was sometimes manifested in an extraordinary and
startling manner. I do not believe that those persons had less affection
for their frie