Page:A Companion and Useful Guide to the Beauties of Scotland.djvu/320

302 deal of earth and small stones, amongst which, the crystal in question was found; and was then called the Stone of the Standard, or Collous, in the Galic language, which name it still retains.

The common language spoken in Rannoch, and throughout the Highlands, is the Galic, or Erse; though most of the inhabitants speak some English; for, except at the small town of Trinefour, between Dalnacardoch and Rannoch, I never, during the course of my peregrination in the Highlands, found any difficulty in getting myself understood.—The iron hook which keeps down the pole of the carriage having been forgotten, Allen did not mention it till we were near Trinefour; we concluded, however, the smith there would set us to rights; but behold, the smith was not at home, and his wife could not understand what we wanted, nor we what she said. I could ask her in Galic where her husband was, but, alas! I could not understand her answer. After bawling to each other a considerable time, and making signs to no effect, until we were tired, we both burst out with laughing; and then went on as well as we could, without the iron hook.

With much pain I turned my back upon the