that he had to be sent for, at the request of the family, and taken
home. He kept the household so stirred up with his stories, recitations
and continual ebullitions, which so fairly entranced his Grannie and
Grandpa and the cousins, that the whole household economy was
disordered. They lost their sleep, for "Jamie" held them spellbound
night after night with his wonderful performances. The shy and
contemplative youngster who had tramped among the hills, reciting the
stirring ballads of the border, had found an admiring tho astonished
audience at last, and had let loose upon them.

To the circle at home he was naturally shy and reserved, but to his
Grannie, Grandpa, and Cousins, free from parental restraint, he could
freely deliver his soul. His mind was stored with the legends of his
country, its romance and poetry, and, strong Covenanters as were the
Watts for generations, tales of the Martyrs were not wanting. The
heather was on fire within Jamie's breast. But where got you all that
_perferidum Scotorum_, my wee mannie--that store of precious nutriment
that is to become part of yourself and remain in the core of your being
to the end, hallowing and elevating your life with ever-increasing
power? Not at the grammar school we trow. No school but one can instil
that, where rules the one best teacher you will ever know, genius though
you be--the school kept at your mother's knee. Such mothers as Watt had
are the appointed trainers of genius, and make men good and great, if
the needed spark be there to enkindle: "Kings they make gods, and meaner
subjects kings."

We have another story of Watt's childhood that proclaims the coming man.
Precocious children are said rarely to develop far in later years, but
Watt was pre-eminently a precocious child, and of this several proofs
are related. A friend looking at the child of six said to his father,
"You ought to send your boy to a public school, and not allow him to
trifle away his time at home." "Look how he is occupied before you
condemn him," said the father. He was trying to solve a problem in
geometry. His mother had taught him drawing, and with this he was
captivated. A few toys were given him, which were constantly in use.
Often he took them to pieces, and out of the parts sometimes constructed
new ones, a source of great delight. In this way he employed and amused
himself in the many long days during which he was confined to the house
by ill health.

It is at this st