I
like best, though, to think of the Glamis of my young days, when
the ancient stone-built passages and halls, that have seen so many
generations pass through them and disappear, rang with perpetual
youthful laughter, or echoed beautifully finished part-singing;
when nimble young feet twinkled, and kilts whirled to the skirl of
the pipes under the vaulted roof of the nine-hundred-year-old
crypt; when the whole place was vibrant with joyous young life,
and the stately, grey-bearded owner of the historic castle, and of
many broad acres in Strathmore besides, found his greatest
pleasure in seeing how happy his children and his guests could be
under his roof.
CHAPTER IX
Canada--The beginnings of the C.P.R.--Attitude of British
Columbia--The C.P.R. completed--Quebec--A swim at Niagara--Other
mighty waterfalls--Ottawa and Rideau Hall--Effects of dry climate--
Personal electricity--Every man his own dynamo--Attraction of
Ottawa--Curling--The "roaring game"--Skating--An ice-palace--A
ball on skates--Difficulties of translating the Bible into Eskimo--
The building of the snow hut--The snow hut in use--Sir John
Macdonald--Some personal traits--The Canadian Parliament
buildings--Monsieur l'Orateur--A quaint oration--The "Pages'
Parliament"--An all-night sitting--The "Arctic Cremorne"--A
curious Lisbon custom--The Balkan "souvenir-hunters"--Personal
inspection of Canadian convents--Some incidents--The unwelcome
novice--The Montreal Carnival--The Ice-castle--The Skating
Carnival--A stupendous toboggan slide--The pioneer of "ski" in
Canada--The old-fashioned raquettes--A Canadian Spring--Wonder of
the Dominion.
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