Scotland/Scots > Reminiscences of a Highland parish

PASSING AWAY.
129
Did parish, about his father, and his youth. And
thus it happened that on the very last evening of
his life he was peculiarly cheerful, as he told some
stories of that long past; and among others a char¬
acteristic anecdote of old Rory. How naturally
did the prayer of thanksgiving then succeed the
memories of those times of peace and early happi¬
ness!
That night, his first and last love—the “ better
half,” verily, of his earthly life, was awakened
from her anxious slumbers near him, by his com¬
plaint of pain. But she had no time to rouse the
household ere he, putting his arms round her neck,
and breathing the words “ My darling” in her ear,
fell asleep. He had for more than twenty-five
years ministered to an immense congregation of
Highlanders in Glasgow; and his public funeral
was remarkable, not chiefly for the numbers who
attended it, or the crowds which followed it—for
these things are common in such ceremonies—but
for the sympathy and sorrow manifested by the
feeble and tottering Highland men and women,
very many of whom were from the old parish, and
who, bathed in tears, struggled to keep up with