In the midst of a fina) uproarious reel there will be a loyd knocking at the door betokening the "'first foot"? who will get a royal welcome, but he'must be a man, and dark at that, and not come empty-handed so that good luck will on the house all the year. The party will break up because he will go off taking all the young folk with him and they will be first, footing till daylight.
Another year will begin and the old folk will wonder how we are getting on in this far away China of ours; and we will know that another year has gone towards the time when we shall surely see them all_again.
"From the lone shieling, on the misty islands, Mountains divide us. and a waste of seas, But still our hearts are true, our hearts are Highland, And we in dreams, behold the R. Mel.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.