he
fight became so serious that the magistrates sent the city guard--a set
of old men with halberds and a quaint uniform--to separate them; but no
sooner did the guard appear, than both parties joined against them.

Strings of wild geese were common in autumn, and I was amused on one
occasion to see the clumsy tame fat geese which were feeding on the
Links rise in a body and try to follow the wild ones.

As the grass on the plot before our house did not form a fine even turf,
the ground was trenched and sown with good seed, but along with the
grass a vast crop of thistles and groundsel appeared, which attracted
quantities of goldfinches, and in the early mornings I have seen as many
as sixty to eighty of these beautiful birds feeding on it.

My love of birds has continued through life, for only two years ago, in
my extreme old age, I lost a pet mountain sparrow, which for eight years
was my constant companion: sitting on my shoulder, pecking at my
papers, and eating out of my mouth; and I am not ashamed to say I felt
its accidental death very much.

Before the grass came up on this plot of ground, its surface in the
evening swarmed with earthworms, which instantly shrank into their holes
on the approach of a foot. My aunt Janet, who was then with us, and
afraid even to speak of death, was horrified on seeing them, firmly
believing that she would one day be eaten by them--a very general
opinion at that time; few people being then aware that the finest mould
in our gardens and fields has passed through the entrails of the
earthworm, the vegetable juices it contains being sufficient to maintain
these harmless creatures.

My mother was very much afraid of thunder and lightning. She knew when a
storm was near from the appearance of the clouds, and prepared for it by
taking out the steel pins which fastened her cap on. She then sat on a
sofa at a distance from the fire-place, which had a very high chimney,
and read different parts of the Bible, especially the sublime
descriptions of storms in the Psalms, which made me, who sat close by
her, still more afraid. We had an excellent and beautiful pointer,
called Hero, a great favourite, who generally lived in the garden, but
at the first clap of thunder he used to rush howling indoors, and place
his face on my knee. Then my father, who laughed not a little at our
fear, would bring a glass of wine to my mother, and say, "Drink that,
Peg; it will give you courage, for we are g