time all the conversation was about the small
chance which the dog had to find the ewe, for it was agreed on all
hands that she must long ago have mixed with the rest of the sheep on
the farm. How that was, no man will ever be able to decide. John,
however, still persisted in waiting until his dog came back, either
with the ewe or without her. At last the trusty animal brought the
individual lost sheep to our very feet, which the man took on his
back, and went on his way rejoicing."

The care the shepherds of the north of England take in preserving a
pure breed of these dogs is very great, and the value set upon them is
proportionably high. Nor must the shepherds themselves be passed over
without notice. They are a shrewd, sagacious set of men, many of them
by no means uneducated, as is the case generally with the peasantry in
the north of England. Indeed, it is from this class that many scholars
and mathematicians have done so much credit, and I may add honour, to
the counties of Cumberland and Westmoreland. An anecdote is related of
a shepherd, who was found by a gentleman attending his flock, and
reading a volume of Milton. "What are you reading?" asked the
gentleman. "Why," replied the shepherd, "I am reading an odd sort of a
poet; he would fain rhyme, but does not quite know how to set about
it."

The valleys, or glens, which intersect the Grampian mountains, are
chiefly inhabited by shepherds. The pastures over which each flock is
permitted to range extend many miles in every direction. The shepherd
never has a view of his whole flock at once, except when they are
collected for sale or shearing. His occupation is to make daily
excursions to the different extremities of his pastures in succession,
and to turn back, by means of his dog, any stragglers that may be
approaching the boundaries of his neighbours. In one of these
excursions, a shepherd happened to carry along with him one of his
children, about three years old. This is a usual practice among the
Highlanders, who accustom their children from their earliest infancy
to endure the rigours of the climate. After traversing his pasture for
some time, attended by his dog, the shepherd found himself under the
necessity of ascending a summit at some distance, in order to have a
more extensive view of his range. As the ascent was too fatiguing for
the child, he left him on a small plain at the bottom, with strict
injunctions not to stir from it till his return. S