Scotland/Scots > Reminiscences of a Highland parish

CHURCHYARDS AND FUNERALS.
T HE Highland churchyard is a spot which
seldom betrays any other traces of human
art or care than those simple headstones which
mark its green graves. In very few instances is
it enclosed ; its graves generally mingle with the
mountain pasture and blooming heather, and afford
shelter to the sheep and lamb from the blast of
winter and the heat of summer. But although not
consecrated by holy prayer and religious ceremony,
these are, nevertheless, holy spots in the hearts
and memories of the peasantry, who never pass
them without a subdued look, which betokens a
feeling of respect for the silent sleepers. To deck
a father's or mother's grave, would be, in the esti-