Towns > Stirling > 1897, 1903, 1906, 1909 - Cook and Wylie's Stirling Directory > 1897

"a good fame is bettee than a good pace."
arranging the ballet of Gustave
historically, with the assistance of
one of his assassins, is a very lively
one, and, we must add, exceedingly
French.
25.— In the north they have their
Yule log, or Yuletide log, which is a
huge log burning in the chimney
corner, whilst the Yule cakes are
baked on a " girdle," (a kind of fry-
ing-pan) over the Are ; little lads
and maidens assemble nightly at
some neighbouring friends to hear
the goblin story, and join in " for-
tune-telling," or some game. There
is a part of an old song which runs
thus:
"Now all our neighbours' chimneys
smoke,
And Christmas logs are burning;
Their ovens they with baked meate
choke,
And all their spits are turning."
28— Of all men Macaulay was a
man singularly free from vices. No
man ever went through the heat of
an election and had less laid to his
charge. His character was simple,
and guileless, and generous. He
was one of those human beings so
seldom to be met with, that are
most loved by those who knew them
best. Of the low games of intrigue
and double-dealing he knew no-
thing.
He had his temper, but it seldom
got the better of him. He had his
passions, but, so far as known, they
never overcame him. He knew the
value of money, but he was the
most open-handed of men. In all
his ways he walked with singular
straightness, and his mind was ever
transparent as the purest crystal.
It is not too much to say that it was
the honesty and genuineness of the
man which cost him his seat for
Edinburgh in 1847.
He never loved animals, and had
a special aversion to dogs. But
children were his delight. He
never wearied playing with them,
and that no game might be hindered
on his account, he was ever ready
to act the part of robber, tiger, or
donkey.
THE MONTHS OF OUR
ANCESTORS.
December, which stood first, was
styled " Mid-winter monath."
January was " Aefter-yula," or
after Christmas.
February " Sol-monath," from the
returning sun.
March, " Bhedo, or Bhede monath," 1
rough, or rugged month.
April. " Easter monath," from a
favourite Saxon goddess, whose name
we still preserve.
May was Trimilchi," from the cows
being then milked thrice in the day.
June, " Sere monath," dry month.
July, " Meed monath," the meads
being then in their bloom.
August was " Weod monath," from
the luxuriance of weeds.
September, " Hcerfest monath."
October they called " Winter fyl-
leth," from winter approaching with
the full moon of that month.
And lastly, November was styled
" Blot monath," from the blood of the
cattle slain that month, and stored for
winter provision.
Verstegan names the months some-
what differently.
caine suddenly face to face with a big Egyptian officer,
revolver in one hand, sword in the other. He fired and hit
me on the right hand ; but the bullet glanced off a ring I wore,
and I rushed at him with the bayonet. He warded off my
first thrust and my second ; I then feinted, he swung his
sword round for the parry, and had not time to recover it
before the bayonet was in him. A pull on a blue seal hanging
from his tunic brought to light a silver watch, which I still
keep as a remembrance of him.
After the Battle.— The sights of the battlefield were grue-
some, now one looked at them in cold blood. The artil-
lery had wrought fearful havoc. I remember one heap of
twenty-four corpses, some blown absolutely into fragments,
others headless, others with limbs lopped off. Some of the
dead Egyptians were roasting slowly as they lay; their
clothing had been ignited and was still smouldering. A man
of the Rifles came along, drew his pipe from his pocket, and
lit it at one of those bodies, remarking, somewhat brutally, it
struck me, "By , I never thought I should live to use a
dead Egyptian for a light to my pipe 1 " In the outer, trench
our dead and wounded lay more thickly than those of the
enemy ; but in the inner trenches and on the spaces between,
RULES FOR OBSERVING THE BAROMETER.
1. Generally the rising of the mercury indicates the approach
of fair weather; the falling of it shows the approach of foul
weather.
2. In sultry weather the fall of the mercury indicates coming
thunder; in winter, tlie rise of the mercury indicates frost ; in
frost, its fall indicates thaw and its rise indicates snow.
3. Whatever change of weather suddenly follows a change in
the barometer may be expected to last but a short time. Thus, if
fair weather follows immediately the rise of the mercury , there
will be very little of it; and, in the same way, if foul weather
follows the fall of the mercury, it will last but a short time.
4. If fair weather continue for several days, during which the
mercury continually falls, a long continuance of foul weath<r
will probably ensue; and again, if foul weather continue for
several days, while the mercury continually rises, a long suc-
cession of fair weather will probably succeed.
6. A fluctuating and unsettled state in the mercurial column
indicates changeable weather.
for one man of ours there were certainly ten Egyptians. In
the redoubts the black gunners lay dead or wounded almost
to a man ; for they had been fastened to the guns and to each
other by small chains attached to ankle-fetters, so as to leave
them free to work the guns but hindering them from running
away.
Wounded Egyptians. — The first wounded man I attended to
was an Egyptian, whose moans were piteous, and on examina-
tion I found him severely wounded in the belly. I poured
some eau-de-Cologne down his throat, and used my own
surgical bandage to bind up his wound so as to keep the flies
from it. Then I lit a cigarette, put it in his mouth, placed
more beside him, and gave him a drink of water. He kissed
my hand, and muttered something about " Allah." I had not
left him far, when I heard the crack of a rifle and a bullet
whizzed by my ear. Looking round I saw the smoke of the
shot drifting away from where my wounded man lay, and
noticed that he was quietly taking aim at me again. He had
time to fire a second shot, which also missed me, before I
reached him, and I had no compunction in driving the life out
of him with my bayonet, remarking to myself as I took the
weapon out of him for the last time, " You won't come that
game any more, you ungrateful brute 1 " Many such instances
of this treacherous hate occurred. I myself had to wipe out
four more wounded Egyptians whom I caught in the act of
firing at our men as they passed. To run the bayonet into a
man who is down one feels to be hardly the thing, and it was
done reluctantly ; but in such cases as I have described it waa
a clear act of compulsory duty.