TAKING A RIDE IN THURSO, SCOTLAND
See this dear, shaggy little donkey; doesn’t he look full of mischief? Many a happy drive these children have over the roads about Thurso, in Scotland. They are on their way now to the village store. This looks like a very pleasant road, with its long stretches of field and meadow.
From Thurso are sent out cattle and sheep and grain, so you see it is a farming country around there. Do you know where Thurso is? Look on your map of Scotland and you will find it, away up in the very northern part on the sea-coast. Like many places near the water it is very rocky, and many paving stones come from there.
Scotland is an interesting place; the scenery is beautiful, and there are many wonderful old castles famous in history. Perhaps you have read the stories written by Sir Walter Scott about some of them. His home was in Scotland, and Robert Burns lived there, too. Have you read any of Burns’s poems?
In olden times the northern part of Scotland was owned by the Highlanders, who lived by raising sheep and cattle, and by hunting. They were divided into clans, or large families of relatives, and were very loyal to one another. Many stirring tales are told of these old times; probably you will read them some time. Now most of the large estates in the Highlands are owned by English or American people, who spend a short time there every year in shooting and fishing.
Young Citizens of Thurso, Scotland, on the Way to the Village Store
From Stereograph, copyright by Underwood & Underwood, New York