Scotland/Scots > Reminiscences of a Highland parish

212
A HIGHLAND PARISH.
jerks for breath, when mentioning a man of his
“res—pect—a—bil—i—ty.” Before night, a match
was made up between Duncan and Peggy : she
declaring that it was done to save the credit of
her family, though it was not yesterday that she
had learned to esteem Mr Stewart; he declaring
that he saw clearly the hand of Providence in the
whole transaction—that Mary was too young and
too inexperienced for him, and that the more he
knew her, the less he liked her. The hand of
Providence was not less visible when it conveyed
a dowry of ^"50 from Peggy’s uncle with his niece.
The parties were “ proclaimed ” in church on the
following Sunday and married on Monday—and
so both the credit of the family and the dinner
were saved.
But what of Mary ? She was married to the
shepherd, after explanations and a “ scene ” which,
as I am not writing fiction but truth, I cannot
describe, the details not having come to me among
the traditions of “ the parish.”
Donald enlisted as a soldier in some Highland
regiment, and his faithful Mary accompanied him
to the Peninsula. How, as a married man, He