r bed, and carried her off in safety.
Having done this, the queen and her ladies gained the ditch, and
crouched down in it, while the cannon played furiously over their
heads.[73]

THE CLEVER DOG THAT BELONGED TO THE HUNTERS OF POLMOOD.

The estate of Polmood, in Peeblesshire, was the subject of extraordinary
litigation, and a volume of considerable bulk is devoted to its history.
This work contains much curious evidence from aged country folks in the
western parts of the country. Mr Chambers[74] tells us that in the
history "reminiscences concerning a wonderfully clever dog are put
forward as links in the line of propinquity." The deponent has heard his
father say that Robert Hunter had a remarkable dog called "Algiers;" and
that, when Robert lived at Woodend, he used to tie a napkin round the
dog's neck with money in it, and send him for snuff to Lammington, which
is about three miles from Woodend, and that the dog executed his
message faithfully, and prevented everybody from laying hold of or
stopping him. Another venerable deponent, aged eighty-nine, had heard
his mother tell many stories about a dog belonging to Uncle Robert,
which went by the name of "Algiers;" that they used to cut a fleece off
him every year sufficient to make a pair of stockings; and that Uncle
Robert used to tie a purse round his neck, with money in it, and the dog
then swam the Tweed, and brought back tobacco from the Crook! And a
third declares that "Algiers" could be sent to Edinburgh with a letter,
and bring back a letter to his master.

THE IRISH CLERGYMAN AND THE DOGS.

Mr Fitzpatrick, in his anecdotal memoirs of Archbishop Whately, tells a
story of an eccentric Irish parson. This person, when preaching, was
interrupted in his homily by two dogs, which began to fight in church.
He descended the pulpit, and endeavoured to separate them. On returning
to his place, the clergyman, who was rather an absent man, asked the
clerk, "Where was I a while ago?"--"Wasn't yer Riverence appaising the
dogs?" responded the other.[75]

WASHINGTON IRVING AND THE DOG.

Patrick Fraser Tytler, author of "The History of Scotland," in a letter
to his wife in 1830, says--"At Lady Morton's, one evening, I met with
Washington Irving. I had heard him described as a very silent man, who
was always observing others, but seldom opened his lips. Instead of
which, his tongue never lay still; and he gets out more wee wordies in a
minute than any ordinary con