Man dreads the tomb, but dreads oblivion more; He fears, when death has loosed the load of years, His name shall cease to sound in mortal ears, And, in the dusty darkness, all be o'er. Some o'er the scrolls of ample science pore, Tome after tome the nimble authors write, And gain a meed of glory: soon the night Comes: the author with his laurel disappears, The painting fades, the marble busts decay, The kingly structures fall in ruin down, Devouring Time consumes the artist's prize, The centuries like lightning pass away, Or hurrying billows: emperor and clown Sink with the myriads in impartial clay. [38] Suggested by a French poem of Monsieur Desessarts, entitled _Se Survivre_. XXIV. NO PLACE LIKE HOME. Where'er these wandering footsteps lead me to, Peak-dominated glen, hill where the sheep Graze in the sun, mountains that ever keep A solemn guard o'er lakes profound and blue, Or undulating tracts of treeless view; No matter if the rain and whirlwind sweep The landscape, or the gladdening sunshine peep Through muffled vapours that the winds undo; Let it be night speckled with myriad fires, Clear dawn, hot noon, or cool of dying day; Be it in cities with their chiming spires, Or country fields with fragrant ricks of hay; Ever the voices of my hearth I hear, And muse on those to me for ever dear. INDEX (Chiefly of Proper Names). Aberdeen, 217 Acharacle, 21, 66 Achnasheen, 11 Ainsworth, Mr., 69 Ajax, 89 Aliens, 53 Alness, 75 Altnacealgach, 38 Anacreon, 181 Anglers, 36 Anecdotes of Commercials, 255-277 Appin, 311 Ardeonaig, 78 Ardersier, 42 Argyll, Duke of, 25 Arnisdale, 190 Arnold, 130 Arpafeelie, 158 Asquith, Mr., 15 Auldearn, 75 Avebury, Lord, 198 Bagpipes, 66 Bain, Professor, 55 Ballads, 99 Banff theorist, 107 Barrie, Mr., 66 Battle of Brunanburh, 131 Beauly, 75 Ben Eay, 22 Ben-na-Ceallich, 28 Bennachie, 329 Ben Screel, 191 Ben Slioch, 22 Beowulf, 131, 246 Beveridge, Dr., 301 Biggar, 98 Biblia abiblia, 109 Blackie, Professor, 19, 56 Books, second-hand, 112 Borders, 96, 99 Boswell, 306, 313 Brahan Seer, 291 Bressay, 221, 229, 230, 233 Broadford, 28, 55 Browning, 306 Buchanan, 61 Bullers of Buchan, 220 Burgess, Mr., 227 Burke, 68 Burns, 82, 144, 308 Burton, 209 Caithness father, a, 254 Captains, 24 Catholics, 153-155 Chairmen, 85 Chartists, 54 Coll, 26, 69 Columbus, 88 Commercials (Chap. VI.), 255-277 Competing School-subjects, 215 Congested Districts Board, 34 Connaught, H.R.H. Duke of, 42 Connington, 119 Corelli, Miss Marie, 44 Cowper, 118 Craignish, 168-9 Crofters' cottages, 29-30 Cromarty, 12 Cullen, 47 Cunningsburgh, 239 Dancing, 21 Dandie Dinmont, 99 Defoe, 112 Depopulation, 71, 189 Dingwall, 44 Dixon, Mr., 76, 278 Doctors, 35 Dodger, an artful, 173 Dominies, insular, 180-1 Dowden, Professor, 124 Drimnin, 167 Dryden, 118