It is the sign of a contented old age in country places, where there is little matter for gossip and no street sights.

Housework becomes an art; and at evening, when the cottage interior shines and twinkles in the glow of the fire, the housewife folds her hands and contemplates her finished picture; the snow and the wind may do their worst, she has made herself a pleasant corner in the world.
The city might be a thousand miles away, and yet it was from close by that Mr.Bough painted the distant view of Edinburgh which has been engraved for this collection; and you have only to look at the etching, {118} to see how near it is at hand.

But hills and hill people are not easily sophisticated; and if you walk out here on a summer Sunday, it is as like as not the shepherd may set his dogs upon you.

But keep an unmoved countenance; they look formidable at the charge, but their hearts are in the right place, and they will only bark and sprawl about you on the grass, unmindful of their master's excitations.
Kirk Yetton forms the north-eastern angle of the range; thence, the Pentlands trend off to south and west.

From the summit you look over a great expanse of champaign sloping to the sea, and behold a large variety of distant hills.