They had nearly finished supper by this time; but ere they had the decks cleared for action, there was a formal ceremony to be gone through. The host produced his _quaich_—a small cup of horn, with a handle on each side; and likewise a bottle of whisky; and as one guest after another took hold of the quaich with the thumb and forefinger of each hand, the innkeeper filled the small cup with whisky, which had then to be drank to some more or less appropriate toast. These were in Gaelic for the most part—’_To the goodman of the inn_’; ’_To the young girls that are kind, and old wives that keep a clean house_’; ’_Good health; and good luck in finding things washed ashore_,’ and so forth—and when it came to Mr. Hodson’s turn, he would have a try at the Gaelic too. ’I think I can wrestle with it, if you give me an easy one,’ he remarked, as he took the quaich between his fingers and held it till it was filled. ’Oh no, sir, do not trouble about the Gaelic,’ said his pretty neighbour Jeannie—blushing very much, for there was comparative silence at the time. ’But I want to have my turn. If it’s anything a white man can do, I can do it.’ ’Say _air do shlàinte_—that is, your good health,’ said Jeannie, blushing more furiously than ever. He carefully balanced the cup in his hands, gravely turned towards his hostess, bowed to her, repeated the magic words with a very fair accent indeed, and drained off the whisky—amid the general applause; though none of them suspected that the swallowing of the whisky was to him a much more severe task than the pronunciation of the Gaelic. And then it came to Ronald’s turn. ’Oh no, Mr. Murray,’ said the slim-waisted Nelly, who had recovered from her confusion, and whose eyes were now as full of mischief as ever, ’do not ask Ronald to say anything in the Gaelic; he is ashamed to hear himself speak. It is six years and more he has been trying to say "a young calf," and he cannot do it yet.’ ’And besides, he’s thinking of the lass he left behind in the Lothians,’ said her neighbour. ’And they’re all black-haired girls there,’ continued the fair-haired Nelly. ’Ronald, drink "_mo nighean dubh_."’ He fixed his eyes on her steadily, and said: ’_Tir nam beann, nan gleann, s’nan gaisgeach;_[#] and may all the saucy jades in Sutherland find a husband to keep them in order ere the year be out.’ [#] The land of hills and glens and heroes.