Literature.

Those who are interested m the theory touching- the Buddhist origin of the stone circles and pillars throughout Britain , so similar to those which Mr . Atkinson met with in Central Asia , will be glad to read ofthe stones of Stennis , " after Stonehenge , the most remarkable primitive lapidaryerections in Britain . " We pass over the topographical to the legendary details connected with them : —

The Orcadians formerly regarded them with feelings of awe mingled with religion : for it appears that couples who had no particular reverence for the marriage ceremony as performed in church , considered themselves married by simply shaking hands through one of the upright stones . This was the famous Onicl Stone . It stood about 150 yards north of the Stennis circle . Lieut . Thomas states that he conversed with a man who hacl seen the stoneand who informed him that the hole was about five feet from

, the ground . He added that to the period of the destruction of the stone by a farmer , it was always customary for the peasantry to leave some offering on visiting it , such as a piece of bread , or cheese , or a rag . It was also believed that a child passed through the hole when young would never shake with palsy in old age . The marriage ceremony , according to an account published in the third volume of the Transactions of the Scottish Society of A . nti < p ' . aries ,

was in this wise : — " When the parties had agreed to marry , they repaired to the Temple of the JHoon , where the woman , in presence of the man , fell clown on her knees and prayed the gocl Woden ( for such was the name of the god whom they addressed on this occasion ) that lie would enable her to perform all the promises and obligations she had made and was to make to the young man present ; after ivhieh they both went to the Temple of the Sun ,

where the man prayed in like manner before the woman . Then they went to the Stone of Odin , and the man being on the one side and the woman on the other , they took hold of each other ' s right hand through the hole in it , and there swore to be constant ancl faithful to each other . " But it ivould seem that they couicl not have held this ceremony very binding , for local historians add that couples who ivere united at the stones of Stennis and became tired of each other went to the kirk , ancl parting in the centre , one went out at the north door , the other at the south , and they then considered themselves free .

From the stones of old to house and home in the Sutherlandshire of to-day : — If Scourie had a few trees it would be extremely picturesque . Even without these important adjuncts to scenery , you will admit that it possesses many charms . A little to the north of the bay is the small island of Handa , girt with majestic dill ' s , the favourite breeding rocks of thousands of sea birds . It is onlwithin a few

y years that Handa has ceased to be inhabited . Some dozen families lived on the island , subjects of a queen , who was always the oldest woman of the community . The village of Scourie is one of the neatest in Sutherland ; ancl you are surprised to see so large and apparently thriving a population in so sterile a district , for the arable ground may be compared to thin veins running through extensively rocky areas . The landlord of the inn seemed very proud

of a little patch of oats adjoining the inn , to which he drew inattention . I could not help thinking with what contempt a Lincolnshire farmer , accustomed to his fat fields , would look upon Sutherland rock farms . One is reminded of the reported reply of an Englishman who was expected to praise a Highland estate . " By ¦ , " -said lie , ] " I have an apple-tree in Herefordshire that I would not swop for your entire propert ! " I left Scourie at eiht

y g the following morning , with the intention of sleeping at the inn near the ferry of Kyle Skou , but matters fell out otherwise . Having walked three miles along- an excellent road , winding bv many a tortuous flexure , among huge rocks and by the side o ' f small lakes , 1 tame to Badeonl , a fishing hamlet at the head of a bay studded with islands . Here a consuming- thirst seized me , and failing to find fresh water , I asked a girl who was herding cows on

the hill side ivhether she could direct me to a sprimr . " Come with me , " was her reply , " ancl I will give you a drink . " " she led me into a house , and showing- me into a snug parlour , desired me to sit down while she went in search of some milk . I ' rescntlv she returned with a jug- of delicious milk and a glass , Anxious to know to whom 1 was indebted for the refreshing drana-bt , she informed me that I was iu the Doctor ' s house , of " which she had the care while the owner was from home , and that she was quite sure he would be pleased to hear that his milk was put to such goocl use .

At Wick he endured mighty stenches , and watched with great minuteness , in spite of them , the process of disembowelling and preserving thc herrings , which give employment to so many fishermen , and cost so many lives . At Brawl Castle , a haunted relic of the days ivhen wicked . Earls of Caithness boiled bishops in return for an

excommunication , he spent the grouse-shooting clays of tho season , and explored the neighbouring moors and cliffs . It is a significant mark of the out-of-the-way character of this district of Scotland—the region of fierce feudal quarrels , oi which the couplet says—Sinclair , Sutherland , Keith , and Clan Gunn , There never was peace when time four war

inthat there is not a tolerable map of it to be had , to help the pedestrian across its wilds . John o'Groat ' s House is a name which conveys to many nothing but the idea of an imaginary point : what there is to be seen there Mr . Weld shall tell _ —

You see I cling to the "belief that there was such a person as John o'Groat , not being willing to give up a pleasant story . Some , I know , contend that John was a Scotchman , and derived his name from his calling , which was ferrying persons across the Pentlaud Firth for fourpence , or a groat , but I side with those who believe him to have been a worthy and canny Dutchman , who settled in this land-end locality—the llernbhim of Ptolemy—at the beginning of the sixteenth century . The story runs that he hacl eight sous

, unruly whelps , ivho , very improperly having no respect for the law of primogeniture , disputed for precedency at table . Other fathers mig-lit have resorted to a little wholesome personal chastisement to correct such conduct , but- John o'Groat hit upon an expedient which answered perfectly , as it had the effect of satisfying all his ambitious children . He built an octagonal room with eight entrancesand laced therein an eiht-sided tableby which means

, p g , each of his sons entered by his oivn door , ancl no one could be said to sit at the head of the table . Well , mythical as you will perhaps pronounce this story to be , there is no doubt that John o'Groat ' s name has a world-wide fame . But it seems that just as the perturbations caused by casting a stone into still water are apparent in far distant circles long after their centre has subsided to rest , so John o'Groat's name , that has

been carried to the uttermost encis of the earth , is ignored by some persons residing close to the site of his famous house . I base this on the fact that a young man whom ive engaged to carry some cloaks to the site of John o'Groat's house , declared , much to onr astonishment , that he did not- know where it was , and yet he had lived in the neighbourhood all his life . This ignorance was the more astonishing , because lie knew well where John o'Groats buckles were to be found , said buckles being the very

pretty shells ( cyprtea arciica , or European cowry ) found on the shore close to the locality of John o'Groat's house . But though the site of this house is not known to all in the vicinity , you need no guide to And it . Following a path on the edge of the clif £ dipping occasionally into charming little bays paved with silver sand , we came to one of rather larger dimensions . At the iiead of this stood John o'Groat's house . The site is marked bfour small grassy hillocks

y , the sole vestiges of the celebrated structure . If we may judge by the album kept at the Houna Inn , pilgrims to this far north point of our island believe John o'Groat's house to be a substantial edifice . The pages ttem with expressions of disappointment , outpoured generally in bud prose and worse verse . Here is a specimen : —

' ' I went in a boat , To see John o'Groat , The place where his house doth lie ,-But when I got there The hill was bare , And the devil a stone saw I . " The lines have , however , the merit of being perfectly truthful , tor

the hillocks are destitute of a single stone , and you have to drawlargely ou your imagination to believe that any house ever stood on the spot . The result cf the Free-kirk controversy has been ro multiply " kirks " out of all portion or prudence , but it has also given rise to many fanatics , such as he tells us of as follows : —

But what is that in the distance , moving up the hall , flappingwhat look like huge wings ? Any object having life , in these wastes , excites curiosity . I hastened on , and was soon near tho mysterious figure , noe less mysterious when more closely seen . It was a tall bony man , ivith a large blue camlet cloak , lined with green baize , disposed in reefs round his shoulders ; his head gear a rustblack hat of obsolete shapebeneath which protruded

y , the edges of a dirty white night-cap ; ancl his body clothes , black cloth that had long since seen their best and brightest cloys . Strange-looking bundles , of various sizes ancl shapes , were hung about him , and seemed to incommode him as much as the wine jars inconvenienced famous John . Gilpin .