They wandered on, content with idleness and a fine day. Mr. Mackenzie
was talking with some little loudness, so that Lavender might hear, of
Mr. John Stuart Mill, and was anxious to convey to Ted Ingram that a
wise man, who is responsible for the well-being of his fellow creatures,
will study all sides of all questions, however dangerous. Sheila was
doing her best to entertain the stranger, and he, in a dream of his own,
was listening to the information she gave him. How much of it did he
carry away? He was told that the gray goose built its nest in the rushes
at the edge of lakes; Sheila knew several nests in Borva. Sheila also
caught the young of the wild duck when the mother was guiding them down
the hill-rivulets to the sea. She had tamed many of them, catching them
thus before they could fly. The names of most of the mountains about
here ended in _bhal_, which was a Gaelic corruption of the Norse
_fiall_, a mountain. There were many Norse names all through the Lewis,
but more particularly towards the Butt. The termination _bost_, for
example, at the end of many words, meant an inhabited place, but she
fancied _bost_ was Danish. And did Mr. Lavender know of the legend
connected with the air of _Cha till, cha till mi tuille?_
Lavender started as from a trance, with an impression that he had been
desperately rude. He was about to say that the gray gosling in the
legend could not speak Scandinavian, when he was interrupted by Mr.
Mackenzie turning and asking him if he knew from what ports the English
smacks hailed that came up hither to the cod and the ling fishing for a
couple of months in the autumn. The young man said he did not know.
There were many fishermen at Brighton. And when the King of Borva turned
to Ingram, to see why he was shouting with laughter, Sheila suddenly
announced to the party that before them lay the great Bay of Uig.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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