The verses here mentioned to Dr. John Brown (the admired author of
_Rab and his Friends_) were meant as a reply to a letter of
congratulation on the _Inland Voyage_ received from him the year
before. They are printed in _Underwoods_.
_Hotel Belvedere, Davos, December 21, 1880._
MY DEAR PEOPLE,--I do not understand these reproaches. The letters come
between seven and nine in the evening; and every one about the books was
answered that same night, and the answer left Davos by seven o'clock
next morning. Perhaps the snow delayed them; if so, 'tis a good hint to
you not to be uneasy at apparent silences. There is no hurry about my
father's notes; I shall not be writing anything till I get home again, I
believe. Only I want to be able to keep reading _ad hoc_ all winter, as
it seems about all I shall be fit for. About John Brown, I have been
breaking my heart to finish a Scotch poem to him. Some of it is not
really bad, but the rest will not come, and I mean to get it right
before I do anything else.
The bazaar is over, L160 gained, and everybody's health lost:
altogether, I never had a more uncomfortable time; apply to Fanny for
further details of the discomfort.
We have our Wogg in somewhat better trim now, and vastly better
spirits. The weather has been bad--for Davos, but indeed it is a
wonderful climate. It never feels cold; yesterday, with a little, chill,
small, northerly draught, for the first time, it was pinching. Usually,
it may freeze, or snow, or do what it pleases, you feel it not, or
hardly any.
Thanks for your notes; that fishery question will come in, as you
notice, in the Highland Book, as well as under the Union; it is very
important. I hear no word of Hugh Miller's _Evictions_; I count on that.
What you say about the old and new Statistical is odd. It seems to me
very much as if I were gingerly embarking on a _History of Modern
Scotland_. Probably Tulloch will never carry it out. And, you see, once
I have studied and written these two vols., _The Transformation of the
Scottish Highlands_ and _Scotland and the Union_, I shall have a good
ground to go upon. The effect on my mind of what I have read has been to
awaken a livelier sympathy for the Irish; although they never had the
remarkable virtues, I fear they have suffered many of the injustices, of
the Scottish Highlanders. Ruedi has seen me this morning; he says the
disease is at a standstill, and I am to profit by it to take more
exercise. Altogether, he seemed quite hopeful and pleased.--I am your
ever affectionate son,