In Scotland weather depends on the wind. When the wind
bloWs from the south or west, or alternatively from the north or east, you get rain. Once grasp that elementary fact and you will know ,what to expect. None the less (and I am bound to admit that the downpour which greeted the first fortnight of my recent sojourn in the Highlands was said to have been pre- ceded by a drought), and in spite of my violent dislike of the term Scotophile, I unhesitatingly subscribe myself one; and every time I go to Scotland I come away Scotophilior—to use a term which succeeds in being even more repellent and etymo- logically indefensible than Scotophile. I like Scotland better than England. I like the scenery better. I like the people better. I like the food better. I like kilts. I like the Cale- donian accent. Dr. Johnson was all wrong in his prejudices, though even he, when a Scottish lady sat on his knee and kissed him, had the grace to say " Do it again; let us see which 'of us will get tired first "; so should I in like case. I like re- reading Stevenson's Kidnapped and going over the ground of the Appin murder, or revisiting even a motor-coach-ridden Glencoe and then reading again John Buchan's masterly reconstruction of what must surely rank among the thr or four most dastardly crimes in history. To neutralise this tribute, for the beverage that is held to be the glory of Scotland I have not a word to say. Nasty stuff.
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