A SCOTTISH PICTURE

Evening Star, Issue 17926, 23 March 1922, Page 4

A SCOTTISH PICTURE

THE KILPATRICK HILLS REVISITED. [Contributed.] We took tho car to Renfrew, and thou set, out westward to Erskine Ferry. Old In chin nan Church was passed eu route, and about three miles of uninteresting country followed. That part showed us flat agricultural fields with every evidence of Industry, but, alone of poetic value. After some desultory conversation due -‘to the humdrum environment—beans on the one side and potatoes on the other—wo struck a country blacksmith’s “ smiddy," and tho -ding-clang ol tho anvil struck a i’cviving chord. Wo had a few words of tho hail-fellow-well-met variety, and the smith helped us to reduce the contents of a bottle mysteriously found in one of the pockets of the company. This proved to be the beginning of our enjoyment. Right after this wo entered a tincly-wooded countryside. On our right tho Kilpatrick Hills, just over tho Clyde, smiled in all their own becoming way. They seemed to say “Come over and commune with me. I’ve got some of tho loveliest glens over you saw. Scramble up my nges-old sides ,and I won’t send you away disappointed. At tho fit o’ tho braes you’ll find the weel-thookit farmhouses and the douty -fruitin' fields. An orchard hero and an old quarry there. Thao daurk patches yo see aro ma brackens; but dinna despise them for their lousiness. Mony a storm they’ve wathered when you've teen safe in bed, and yet they smiled as they strauchend their shouthers in tho morning sun. Ma wee tender maidenhair ferns canna stauu sich buffets, and I’ve aiblins tae gie them a cosier neuk, a sole bielrl in the glens. There’s a big rock aboon ye; it’s been facing Erskine way for centuries -beyond coont. • It wis theer before ever man or beast was roonabout, But later on (a year or twa ago) folic shapit like you cam’ aboot the place, and the’re been rinnin aboot ever since. The wee timorous rabbit that used to nibble his full and gang tae bed kind of easy-minded, had his enemies; but, Lord, what hae you folk din tae ’ira? ‘He’s as scared’s a rabbit’ has become a proverb. You’re awin’ gutsy folk, you humans. But that’s gist a word in the bygaun. “Como a-lang wi me tae this wee glen. Sec that rowan bangin’ its graceful held, its gnarly brown trunk wi’ its white splashes, its scolloped leaves, and its bonny blabs o’ red rowans. Is that no’ a picture? Did yo .notice the primroses there as yo passed ? Thao wee bunches o’ yellow beauty? Smiling tae heaven as Koh-i----noor frao the guts o’ the earth never shone. What’s this, dae yo say? Oh, that’s a forget-me-not; bonny, isn’t it? Ah, mony a story o’ love and tragedy has centred roon that. Noo come alang and I’ll show ye perpetual motion. Ye dinna believe in it? Well, of course, ye dinna believe in things yo canna dae.; but wlhit youir .purr brains canna compass Nature (and that’s God) can duo. Ever since time began (and Eternity wis before that) motion wis the law. Wo dinna ken what brought into being the great universe, but wo know life, action, movement was the dominating, tho only, factor in existence.

‘‘That brings ns tae a question, Who was what? Week your ain sense will tell yo that it wis God. Tho personality of God is only kent tae us as a loving Father, a just and a righteous person. We’ll never ken hoo guid He wis, hoo lovin’, boo forgivin He wis, till we seo Him face tao face, not through a glass darkly. Come alang here. See that waterin' cornin’ owor the linn? It’s jist the flying clouds that gave tribute tae the auld Kilpatrick Hills as they passed. The heaven-washed rain cam beltin’ wi -a singin’ slash on the hillitap an’ left its watery tribute to the moss and heather. Noo, sit yo doon a meenit or twa and keep a calm sough. Ye human bipods always cause alarm amang the timorous glen craturs. See that rabbit nosin’ oot o’ the heather? Seo that water wagtail coming tae flirt and drink ■at ■ the pool? That blackbird has taken up ,its evening sang again, and the cuckoo chimes his elusive call across the Ml 3-” . , c And so went on another enjoyable afternoon and evening, until wo returned in fine spirits to aid'd Gleska.