Indignant at such an aspersion, he wrote a letter, directed to his maligners, vindicating himself sharply from it, which he showed to his grandfather, John Skinner of Langside, for his approval.

The old gentleman objected to it as too lengthy, and proposed the following pithy substitute:-- "'Had Skinner been of carnal mind, As strangely ye suppose, Or had he even been fond of swine, He'd ne'er have left Montrose.'" But there is an anecdote of John Skinner which should endear his memory to every generous and loving heart.

On one occasion he was passing a small dissenting place of worship at the time when the congregation were engaged in singing: on passing the door--old-fashioned Scottish Episcopalian as he was--he reverently took off his hat.

His companion said to him, "What! do you feel so much sympathy with this Anti Burgher congregation ?" "No," said Mr.Skinner, "but I respect and love any of my fellow-Christians who are engaged in singing to the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ." Well done, old Tullochgorum! thy name shall be loved and honoured by every true liberal-minded Scotsman.
Yes! Mr.Skinner's experience of the goodness of God and of the power of grace, had led him to the conviction that the earnest song of praise, that comes from the heart of the sincere believer in Christ, can go up to Heaven from the humblest earthly house of prayer, and be received before the throne of grace as acceptably as the high and solemn service of the lofty cathedral, "Where, from the long-drawn aisle and fretted vault, The pealing anthem swells the note of praise." We must firmly believe that, obsolete as the dialect of Scotland may become, and its words and expressions a matter of tradition and of reminiscence with many, still there are Scottish lines, and broad Scottish lines, which can never cease to hold their place in the affections and the admiration of innumerable hearts whom they have charmed.

Can the choice and popular Scottish verses, endeared to us by so many kindly associations of the past, and by so many beauties and poetical graces of their own, ever lose their attractions for a Scottish heart?
The charm of such strains can never die.
I think one subsidiary cause for permanency in the popularity still belonging to particular Scottish _songs_ has proceeded from their association with Scottish _music_.