Country Life
EMPTY SCOTLAND.
It is a strange effect of civilization that many of the loveliest places in the land go backwards rather than forwards, relapse to a more primitive state, and what was once valuable becomes almost worthless—" and all except their sun is set." A Byron might say this more truly of some of the Western Islands of Britain than, of Greece. This has been apparent for many years ; but in some regards is enhanced at the moment by the diminution of travellers and sportsmen, due to the economic depression. A generation ago in Skye, the isle of mist, you could see the relics of walls and such devices built years before across angles of the Lochs for the catching of fish. These were perishing and the boats of the fishermen had also vanished. The fishermen themselves had oozed away to gayer and more prosperous places, leaving their profession to dwindle to nothing in the hands of less virile persons who had stayed at home. • • • •
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