far alone, but had frequent opportunities of walking
there and gathering ferns, foxgloves, and primroses, which grew on the
mossy banks of a little stream that ran into the sea. The bed of this
stream or burn was thickly covered with the freshwater mussel, which I
knew often contained pearls, but I did not like to kill the creatures to
get the pearls.

One day my father, who was a keen sportsman, having gone to fish for red
trout at the mouth of this stream, found a young whale, or grampus,
stranded in the shallow water. He immediately ran back to the town, got
boats, captured the whale, and landed it in the harbour, where I went
with the rest of the crowd to see the _muckle fish_.

There was always a good deal of shipbuilding carried on in the harbour,
generally coasting vessels or colliers. We, of course, went to see them
launched, which was a pretty sight.

* * * * *

When the bad weather began I did not know what to do with myself.
Fortunately we had a small collection of books, among which I found
Shakespeare, and read it at every moment I could spare from my domestic
duties. These occupied a great part of my time; besides, I had to _shew_
(sew) my sampler, working the alphabet from A to Z, as well as the ten
numbers, on canvas.

My mother did not prevent me from reading, but my aunt Janet, who came
to live in Burntisland after her father's death, greatly disapproved of
my conduct. She was an old maid who could be very agreeable and witty,
but she had all the prejudices of the time with regard to women's
duties, and said to my mother, "I wonder you let Mary waste her time in
reading, she never _shews_ (sews) more than if she were a man."
Whereupon I was sent to the village school to learn plain needlework. I
do not remember how long it was after this that an old lady sent some
very fine linen to be made into shirts for her brother, and desired that
one should be made entirely by me. This shirt was so well worked that I
was relieved from attending the school, but the house linen was given
into my charge to make and to mend. We had a large stock, much of it
very beautiful, for the Scotch ladies at that time were very proud of
their napery, but they no longer sent it to Holland to be bleached, as
had once been the custom. We grew flax, and our maids spun it. The
coarser yarn was woven in Burntisland, and bleached upon the links; the
finer was sent to Dunfermline, where there was a manufacto