amongst his new friends, and in time became their chief and had eight
sons, and on one festive occasion, when they all came to see him,
they quarrelled as to which should have precedence at his table, so
John told them that the next time they came he would have matters so
arranged as to avoid that kind of thing in the future. He therefore
built an entirely new house with eight sides to it and a door in
each, and made a table inside of the same octagonal shape, so that
when they came to see him again each of them could enter by his own
door and sit at his own head of the table.

In reply to our questions the shepherd said he thought this event
happened about 350 years ago, but the house had long since disappeared,
and only the site of the foundations which he had shown us previously
now remained. He also said that heaps of ladies and gentlemen came there
to picnic on the site, and he had seen them take even small stones away;
but though he had lived there for fifty years, he had never seen John o'
Groat's any different from what it was now. We asked him why John did
not return to Holland, and he said it was because he had a letter from
the king. We thanked the shepherd for his story, and, having suitably
rewarded him, bade him farewell and hurried off to bed in the fading
light of our rapidly diminishing candle.


_Sunday, September 17th._

The strict observance of the Sabbath Day in Scotland was to us a most
pleasing feature in Scottish life, and one to which we had been
accustomed from early childhood, so we had no desire to depart from it
now. We were, therefore, very pleased when Mr. and Mrs. Mackenzie
invited us to accompany them to the Free Kirk service, and, as half-past