and pledge their worthy master. They next drink "long life and happy days to their loyal subjects,' and are afterwards placed on an elevated seat, previously prepared, and called the throne. After the enthronement, the schoolmaster gives each scholar a glass of punch and a biscuit, and they all drink "long life, and a prosperous and happy reign to their most gracious sovereigns," at the same time making obeisance with their best bows. As long as the whisky holds out, these testimonials of loyalty and attachment are repeated. The young ones get full of mirth and glee, and, after receiving their master's thanks for their kindness, they are finally dismissed with merry hearts, to relate their adventures at home.[1]
It is a custom with many old country people in Scotland to prognosticate the weather of the coming season according to this master prognostication:—
If Can'lemas is fair and clear,
There'll be twa winters in the year.
Of the truth of this distich they have no doubt. Should Candlemas day pass over without a shower of rain, or a fall of snow, their spirits droop: they conclude upon severe weather before spring is over, and they reckon upon heavy snow storms before the following Christmas;—if such is the case, ruin is inevitable! On the contrary, if Candlemas day is showery and tempestuous, they anticipate a fine summer,
- ↑ It may be necessary to inform the reader that this was the practice of a former age, and is now entirely abolished.
