Produced by Chuck Greif, ellinora and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries) THE GENTLE PERSUASION SKETCHES _of_ SCOTTISH LIFE BY ALAN GRAY BULMAN BROS. LIMITED WINNIPEG: MANITOBA 1918 I dedicate these simple sketches of Scottish life to the beloved memory of the “little lady,” who for forty years was the inspiration of my life. When God called her to the rest of Paradise, those who knew and loved her said--and they said truly--“A Mother in Israel” has been taken from us. Requiescat in pace et perpetua lux luceat ei! Alan Gray CONTENTS PAGE I. THE COLONEL’S FUNERAL 5 II. THE “MONASTERY” 13 III. THE AULD AUMRIE 23 IV. THE PARTING OF THE WAYS 33 V. CROSSING THE RUBICON 39 VI. SETTLING DOWN 47 VII. DRUMSCONDIE 55 VIII. AN AULD-FARRANT LADDIE 63 IX. BOYCOTTED 71 X. THE AULD PROVOST 77 XI. THE MAJOR 85 XII. THE BURNIN’ O’ THE KIRK 93 THE GENTLE PERSUASION I. The Colonel’s Funeral Many years have come and gone since I, Alan Gray, bade farewell to bonny Glenconan, in which I spent the happy days of my childhood; during these years I have feasted my eyes on some of the loveliest scenery in the Empire; my lot has been a most varied one, bringing me in contact with all sorts and conditions of men; yet in spite of these things I have never forgotten, and never can forget, the quiet sylvan beauty of my native glen, or the quaint old-world characters, who then lived in it, all now, alas, gone over to the great majority.