Page:A Companion and Useful Guide to the Beauties of Scotland.djvu/367

Rh and shelty, to turn about and retrace my steps; but I did not enter King's House till after dark, and in the rain, which came on soon after I came out of Glen Coe. King's House was full of people, and I made my way to my sty through columns of smoke. This sty was a square room, of about eight feet, with one window and a chimney in it, and a small bedstead nailed in the angle behind the door. Throughout Scotland you will not see a casement, such as are in cottages in England; but the houses have universally sash windows:—be upon your guard when you approach a window in that country, or you may get your hand mashed, or a finger taken off, by the sudden fall of the sash, to which there are no pullies or lines. I speak feelingly on this matter, for at King's House the window was to me very troublesome. The usual prop in Scotland for the sashes is a poker, or hearth broom.

My maid, for her bed, had a shake-down upon chairs: as for me, my eighteen miles carting had made me quite ready for repose. I soon eat my bit of supper, half choked with smoke, and in danger of getting cold by an open window, the damp from the rain pouring in, and my petticoats tucked to my knees for fear of the dirt,