In Scotland a peasant woman had a child a few weeks old, which was
seized by one of the golden eagles, the largest in the country, and
borne away in its talons to its lofty eyrie on one of the most
inaccessible cliffs of Scotland's bleak hills; the mother, perceiving
her loss, hurried in alarm to its rescue, and the peasantry among whom
the alarm spread, rushed out to her aid; they all came to the foot of
the tremendous precipice; the peasants were anxious to risk their lives
in order to recover the little infant; but how was the crag to be
reached? One peasant tried to climb, but was obliged to return; another
tried and came down injured; a third tried, and one after another
failed, till a universal feeling of despair and deep sorrow fell upon
the crowd as they gazed upon the eyrie where the infant lay. At last a
woman was seen, climbing first one part and then another, getting over
one rock and then another, and while every heart trembled with alarm, to
the amazement of all, they saw her reach the loftiest crag, and clasp
the infant rejoicingly in her bosom. This heroic female began to descend
the perilous steep with her child; moving from point to point; and while
everyone thought that her next step would precipitate her and dash her
to pieces, they saw her at length reach the ground with the child safe
in her arms. Who was this female? Why did she succeed when others
failed? It was The Mother of The Child.
--_Cumming._
1402