The magazines, Scotch and English, would have nothing to say to me--I think I tried them all with "The Courting of T'nowhead's Bell," but it never found shelter until it got within book-covers.

In time, however, I found another paper, the _British Weekly_, with an editor as bold as my first (or shall we say he suffered from the same infirmity ?).

He revived my drooping hopes, and I was again able to turn to the only kind of literary work I now seemed to have much interest in.

He let me sign my articles, which was a big step for me and led to my having requests for work from elsewhere, but always the invitations said "not Scotch--the public will not read dialect." By this time I had put together from these two sources and from my drawerful of rejected stories this book of "Auld Licht Idylls," and in its collected form it again went the rounds.

I offered it to certain firms as a gift, but they would not have it even at that.