rs of that time as leading an ideal
life, unvexed by discord, war, or ambition, labouring in the summer for
the needs of winter, worshipping Christ, visited only once a year by a
priest from Orkney, who came over to baptize the children born within the
last twelve months, and was remunerated by a tenth of the catch of fish.
He speaks of the men of Orkney as a very lively, robust, and open-hearted
crew, furnished with heads strong enough to defy drunkenness, even after
swallowing draughts of the most potent wine. The land swarms with birds,
and the sheep bring forth two or even three lambs at a time. The horses
are a mean breed, and resemble asses both as to their size and their
patience. Some one told him of a fish, often seen round about the islands,
as big or even bigger than a horse, with a hide of marvellous toughness,
and useful for the abundance of oil yielded by its carcase. He attributes
the bodily strength of these northerners to the absence of four
deleterious influences--drunkenness, care, heat, and dry air. Cardan seems
to have been astonished at the wealth of precious stones he found in
Scotland--dark blue stones, diamonds, and carbuncles[129]--"maxime juxta
academiam Glaguensis oppidi in Gludisdalia regione," and he casts about to
explain how it is that England produces nothing of the kind, but only
silver and lead. He solves the question by laying down an axiom that the
harder the environment, the harder the stone produced. The mountains of
Scotland are both higher and presumably harder than those of England,
hence the carbuncles.

He was evidently fascinated with the wealth of local legend and story
which haunted the misty regions he visited. In dealing with demons and
familiar spirits he cites the authority of Merlin, "whose fame is still
great in England," and tells a story of a young woman living in the
country of Mar.[130] This damsel was of noble family and very fair in
person, but she displayed a great unwillingness to enter the marriage
state. One day it was discovered that she was pregnant, and when the
parents went to make inquisition for the seducer, the girl confessed that,
both by day and night, a young man of surpassing beauty used to come and
lie with her. Who he was and whence he came she knew not. They, though
they gave little credit to her words, were informed by her handmaid, some
three days afterwards, that the young man was once more with her;
wherefore, having broken open the door, th