Page:Footsteps of Dr. Johnson.djvu/285

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A SUNDAY ON INCHKENNETH.
223

entitled, Insula Sancti Kennethi. Though he would not attend a Scotch church and hear Robertson preach, yet a woman's reading the English service did not shock him.

"Quid quod sacrifici versavit femina libros?
Legitimas faciunt pectora pura preces."

"A woman's hand, 'tis true, turned o'er the sacred leaves,
But prayer from hearts so pure God's sanction sure receives."

He thus prettily ends his verses:

"Quo vagor ulterius? quod ubique requiritur hic est;
Hic secura quies, hic et honestus amor."

"Why should we further roam? here what all seek we gain,
Both peace without a care, and love without a stain."

INCHKENNETH CHAPEL.
INCHKENNETH CHAPEL.

INCHKENNETH CHAPEL.

Sir Allan had chosen well his hermitage. The landing-place is on the south-eastern side of the island, in a little bay with a sandy beach, sheltered by a low point from the storms coming from the north-west, while the cold blasts from the north and the north-east are kept off by a low hill. The ground slopes up from the shore in pleasant meadow land. At the bottom of the slope, a little above the beach, Sir Allan, I conjecture, had his habitation. Here are the ruins of a farmhouse which was burnt down a few years ago. It is very likely that it occupied the same site as his cottages.