In the spring of 1914 Prof. and Mrs Geikie went to stay at Appin. A friend of the family, a keen entomologist, was to have been of the party, but was at the last unable to come. From Appin Prof. Geikie sent her a series of verses to console her for the disappointment, which was not, he says, really a disappointment, for a heavy storm had destroyed all insect life in her customary collecting-grounds. A few of the lines may be quoted:—
O come nae mair to Appin, lass!
Here things are at an unco’ pass!
A tempest rages o’er the land,
Uprootin’ trees on every hand;
Cauld rains and sleet in torrents fa’—
The hills are hidden, ane and a’;
Naething but waves and clouds we find,
Naething we hear but screechin’ wind.
Ahint the dykes, wi’ heads downcast,