Kings & rulers > More leaves from the journal of a life in the Highlands from 1862 to 1882

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Monaltrie Burn which comes down close to the farm¬
house and below Mrs. Patterson’s shop, passing under
a little bridge and running into the Dee. This bum
is generally very low and small, but had risen to a
great height—the Dee itself being tremendously high
—not a stone to be seen. The little child fell in
while the eldest was fishing; the other jumped in
after him, trying to save his little brother; and before
any one could come out to save them (though the
screams of Abercrombie’s children, who were with
them, were heard) they were carried away and swept
by the violence of the current into the Dee, and car¬
ried along. Too dreadful! It seems, from what I
heard coming back, that the poor mother was away
from home, having gone to see her own mother who
was dying, and that she purposely kept this eldest boy
back from school to watch the little one.
We drove back and up to Mrs. Grant’s, where we
took tea, and then walked up along the riverside, and
heard that nothing had been found and that the boat
had gone back; but as we approached nearer to the
■castle we saw people on the banks and rocks with
sticks searching: amongst them was the poor father—
a sad and piteous sight—crying and looking so anxi¬
ously for his poor child’s body.
Wednesday, June 12.
Drove up to the Busk to warn Mrs. William Brown
never to let dear little Albert run about alone, or near
to the burn, of the danger of which she was quite
aware. She said her husband, William, had started
,off early at three this morning. Some people went
More Leaves. 9