came into my throat; and I trempled more than effer for fear of the noise. And I struggled; but the koff would come into my throat; and then thinks I, Alister, Gott's will be done ; and the noise of the koff frightened me; and at the same time I tropped the bottle on the stones with the fright, and the noise of it never will I forget the noise of it. And at the same moment the great head of the beast it will turn round; and I could stand up no more; I fell on my knees, and I tried to find the prayer, but it would not come into my head—ay, ay, Miss Sheila, I can remember at this moment the ahfu eyes of the beast as he looked at me, and I said to myself, Alister, you will see Borva no more, and you will go out to the feshen no more, and you will drink a glass no more with the lads come home from the Caithness feshen.

Then, as the Lord's will be done, the stranche beast he turned his head again, and I sah him go down over the stones, and there waz a great noise of his going over the stones, and I waz just az frightened as if he had come down the road, and my whole body it shook like a reed in the wind. And then, when he had got to the watter, I heard a great splash, and the ahfu beast he threw himself in, and the watter was splashed white apout him, and he went out from the shore, and the last that I sah of the terrable crayture waz the great head of him going down into the loch.

Ay, the last of him that I sah: for there and then, Miss Sheila, I fell back in the road, just like one that will be dead; for it waz more as mortal man could stand, the sight of that terrable beast. It is ferra glad I am there waz no cart coming along the shore that night; for I waz lying like a dead man in the road, and the night it waz verra dark mirover. Ay, and the fright waz not away from me when I cam to my senses again; and that waz near to the break of day; and I waz verra cold and wat, for there waz being a good dale of rain in the night. But when I cam

and there waz no whiskey left in the bottle, which waz proken all into small pieces, and I said, "O Lord, help me to rin away from this water, or the stranche beast may come out again." And then it waz I set out to rin, though I waz verra stiff with the cold and wat, and I ran neither up the shores of the loch nor down the shores of the loch, but away from the watter as hard az I could rin, and ofer the moss-land and up to the hulls. It waz ferra bad trafelling, for there waz a great dale of rain fallin in the night, and there waz a great dale of watter in the soft ground, and many waz the time I will go down up to my waist in the holes. But I will tell you this, Honoured Madam, that when a man haz sich a fright on him, it is not any sort of moss-watter will keep him from rinnin; and every time I will stand to get my breath again, I will think I will hear that terrable beast behind me, and it is no shame I hef that I will be so frightened, for there waz no man alife will hef seen sich a beast as that before.

And now I will tell you another stranche thing, Miss Sheila, that I hef said no word of to any one all this time, for I waz knowing verra well they would not belief all the story of that terrable night. And it is this, that when I waz rinnin hard away from the loch, just as if the ahfu beast waz behind me, the fright waz in my head, and in my eyes, and in my ears, and all around me I sah and heard such stranche things as no mortal man will see and hear before. It waz in the black of the night, Miss Sheila, before the morning cam in, and it waz not one stranche beast, but a hundred and a thousand that waz all around me, and I heard them on the heather, and in the peat-holes, and on the rocks, and I sah them rinnin this way and that by the side of me, and every moment they waz coming closer to me. It waz a terrable terrable night, and I waz thinkin of a prayer, but no prayer at all at all would come into my head, and I said to myself, "Alister, it is the tevvle himself will be keeping the prayers out of your head, and it is this

and ever. There waz some that waz green, and some that waz brown, and the whole of them they had eyes like the fire itself; and many is the time I will chump away from them, and then I will fall into the holes of the moss, and they will laugh at me, and I will hear them in the darkness of the night. And sometimes I sah them chump from the one hole to the other, and sometimes they were for fleein through the air, and the sound of them waz an ahfu thing to hear, and me without one prayer in my head. Where did I rin to? Ay, Gott knows where I will rin to that terrable night, till there waz no more breath left in my body, and I waz sayin to myself, "Alister, if the tevvle will hef you this night, it is no help there is for it, and you will see Borva no more, and Styornowa no more, and Uig no more, and you will never again drink a glass with the lads of the Nighean-dubh."

I waz writen all this to you, Miss Sheila, for it is the whole story I will want to tell you; but I will not tell the whole story to the people at Borva, for there are many foolish people at Borva, that will tell lies about any one. And now I know what it waz, all the stranche craytures I sah when I waz rinnin ofer the moss- -it waz only the fright in my head after I sah that terrable beast. For when I sah a grey light come into the sky, "Alister," sez 1 to myself, "you must turn round and look at the tevvles that are by you ;" and I will tell you, Miss Sheila, that verra soon there waz none of them there at all; and I will stand still and look round, and there waz nothing alife that I could see except myself, and me not much alife whatever. But I said to myself, "Alister, the sight of the ahfu beast at the shore will turn your head, and mek you like a madman; and the stranche craytures you sah on the moss, there waz no sich thing mirover; and it is no more thought of them you must hef." And I said to myself, "Alister, you must clear your head of the fright, and you will say not a word to any one about these strange craytures you sah

neighbours about the black horse, for it is a shame that no one will know of that terrable peast; but you will not tell them about the stranche craytures that waz on the moss, for they will be only the fright in your head." But I will tell the whole story to you, Miss Sheila; for you waz writen to Alister Lewis that I will tell you the whole story; and this is the whole story, as sure as death.

And when the grey of the morning waz cam in, I waz safe away from Loch Suainabhal; and a man is glad to hef his life; but apart from being alife, it waz little I had to be thankful for; and when the grey of the mornin waz cam in, I will be near greetin to look at myself, for there waz a grate dale of blood about me, for I had fallen on the side of my head on the bottle in the road, and there waz blood all about my head, and my neck, and my arm, and up to the waist I waz black with the dirt of the moss-land, and I think I could hef wrung a tub full of watter out of my clothes. Gott knows I am speaking the truth, Miss Sheila, when I will tell you I would hef giffen a shellinay, or a shellin and a sexponce, for a glass of whiskey on that mornin; for I wazna verra sure where I waz, and the watter waz lying deep in the soft land. But sez I to myself, "Alister, you are verra well away whatever from Loch Suainabhal now, and the stranche beast he will not come out in the daytime; and now you must mek your way back to Dugald MacKillop's farm." And it waz near to echt o'clock, Miss Sheila, when I will find my way back to Dugald MacKillop's farm.

And when I waz going near to the house, I sez to myself, "Alister, do you think you will go now and tell them what you hef seen about the black horse, or will you keep it to yourself, and wait, and tell the minister at Uig? for the men about the house, now they hef been trinking, and they are not as sober az you, and they will mek a joke of it, and will not belief any of it whatever." Well, I waz not verra sure, but I went up by the byre, and I sah one

me, she cried out, "Gott pless me, Alister-nan-Each! where hef you been this night? and it is like a madman that you are ;" and I sez to her, "Mairi, my lass, if I waz not a sober man, as you know, I would not belief myself what I hef seen this night; and it is enough to hef made any man a madman what I hef seen this night." And she will say to me, "Alister, before you go into the house, I will bring you a pail of watter, and you will wash the blood from your face, and the dirt from your clothes ;" and I will say to her, "Mairi, you are a verra goot lass, and you will mek a good wife to Colin MacAlpin when he comes back from Glasgow. Colin MacAlpin," I will say to her "is a verra good lad, and he is not a liar, like his Uncle John the Piper; and he does not go about the island telling foolish lies like him." That waz what I will say about John the Piper, Miss Sheila.

And when I will be going up to the house, there waz a great sound of noise, and one or two singing, and the candles inside as if it waz still the middle of the night, and I knew that these foolish men were trinking, and still trinking, and making a verra fine piece of laughing about the marrach of Dugald MacKillop and the young lass from Skye. And I went into the house, and Aleck Cameron he cries out to me, "Gott pless me, Alister-nan-Each! and hef you not gone on to Uig, when you waz having a bottle of Lagavulin whiskey with you all the way?" And I sez to him, "Aleck Cameron, it is a verra wise man you are, but you will know not any more of Lagavulin whiskey as the children about the house; and I hef seen a strancher thing than Lagavulin whiskey, and that is a great black beast that was on the shores of Loch Suainabhal, and you nor no other man ever sah such a thing; and it is the story of that black beast I will tell you now, if you will gife me a glass of whiskey, for it is the worst night I hef had since ever I will be born." Ay, Miss Sheila,

you hef told us this day, and you will go and tell the minister of it, and Mr. Mackenzie of Borva, and you will hear what they say about it, for there is no one in all the island waz hearing of such a thing before, and it will not be safe for any one to go along by Loch Suainabhal until the truth of it is found out, and who will find out the truth of it like the minister, and Mr. Mackenzie of Borva, that hef been away to many stranche places, and gone further away az Oban, and Greenock-ay, and away to London, too, where the Queen lifes and Sir James himself; and it was a great thing for you to see, Alister, and you will be known to all the island that you hef seen sich a strange thing."

And then I will say to them, "Well, it is time now I waz getting home to Borva, and Gott knows when I will be back at Loch Suainabhal any more, but if you will come along by the shores of the loch, I will show you the place where I sah the beast, and you will know that it is true that I sah the beast." There waz one or two were for staying at home until the word was sent to the minister; but the others of them they had a goot tram, and they said,

Alister, if you will be for going by Loch Suainabhal, we will go with you by Loch Suainabhal, and we will tek the gun that Dugald MacKillop's father got out of the wreck of the French smack, and if there will be any more sign of the big horse, we will fire the gun, and he will run into the watter again, but first of all, Alister, you will tek a glass." And I said to them, “Yes, that is verra well said; and we will tek the gun; but it is not for any more whiskey I am, for I am a sober man, and there is no telling what foolish lies they may hef about any one, for there is ofer in Borva that foolish man John the Piper, and every one in the island, and Miss Sheila, too, will know that he is the greatest one for trinking and for the telling of foolish lies of all the people in the whole island of Lews."

well tied to the stock; but I said to him, "It is verra well for you, Aleck Cameron, to be brafe now, but you waz glad to get back to the farm last night." And he is a verra quarlsome man, Miss Sheila; and he will say before them all, "Alister-nan-Each, I cam back to the house pekass you waz trunk, and I sah no black horse in Loch Suainabhal or out of Loch Suainabhal, and you will do yourself a mischief if you say such things about me, Alister-nan-Each." And I will tell you this, Miss Sheila, that it waz the foolish speech of this man, Aleck Cameron, that gafe the hint to John the Piper to mek a lying story about it. There is no one more sober as me in the whole island, as you know, Miss Sheila; and as for the trink, it waz only a glass we had at a young lass's marrach; and as for Aleck Cameron and his lies, did not every one see that he could not walk in the middle of the road with the gun ofer his shoulter, but he waz going this way and that, until he fell into the watter by the side of the road, and Dugald MacKillop himself would be for tekking the gun from him, bekass he waz so trunken a man. I hef no patience with a man that will be going about telling lies, whether it is Aleck Cameron or John the Piper.

Well, we waz going down the road, and there as sure as death waz the bits of the bottle that I let slip when the terrable beast turned his head, and it waz many a time we looked at the watter and along the shore, and Peter MacCombie, who is a verra frightened man, keeping to the back of us, for fear of the terrable peast. There waz no sign of him, no, for such stranche cratures, I hef been told, do not like the taylight, but only the afternoon or the evening; and I said to Dugald MacKillop, "Dugald, there is the verra place where he waz lying." And Dugald said, "You hef seen a stranche thing, Alister-nanEach; and I hope no other man will see the like of it again, for it is not good to see such stranche craytures, and if I waz you, Alister, it is the

Now, Miss Sheila, that is the whole story of the black beast that I sab, and I waz saying to Alister Lewis, the schoolmaster, "Mr. Lewis, I am not good at the writen, but if it teks me two weeks or a whole week to write the letter, I will tell the story to Miss Sheila, and she will know nct to belief the foolish lies of John the Piper." And he will say to me, "Alister, if you will be writen the letter, you will not say anything of Miss Sheila, but you will call Miss Sheila Mrs. Laffenter, for she is marriet now, as you know, and a verra fine lady in London ;" and I will say to him, “Mr. Lewis, you are the schoolmaster, and a verra cleffer young man, but the old way is the good way, and Miss Sheila when she waz in Borva waz as fine a lady as she is now, and as fine a lady as there is any in London, and she will not mind the old way of speaking of her among the people that knew her manys the day before the London people knew her, when she waz a young lass in her father's house." And if there is any fault in it, Honoured Madam, it waz no harm I had in my head when I waz writen to you; and if there is any fault in it, I will ask your pardon beforehands, and I am verra sorry for it if there will be any offence.

And I am, Honoured Madam, Your most humble servant to command, ALISTER-NAN-EACH,

but his own name is Alister Maclean.

P.S.-I waz not telling you, Honoured Madam, of the lies that John the Piper will be speaking about me, for they are verra foolish and of no consequence mirover. But if you will hear of them, you will know, Honoured Madam, that there is no truth in them, but only foolishness, for there is no one in all the island as sober az me, and what I hef seen I hef seen with my own eyes whatever, and there is no one that knows me will pay any heed to the foolish nonsense of John the Piper, that was trunk no further ago than the yesterday's mornin.

Nor long since in this Magazine I gave a sketch of the theatre in France as it was during the latter half of the seventeenth century. I attempted then to state what the different theatres in Paris were, and to show how they had risen into their existing state, and also to point out how Molière, the real father of French comedy, learnt from the Italian actors then in Paris that action must ever be the principal element on the stage. The object of the present paper is to convey an idea as to the working of the theatres, and the material condition of the actors. I will venture to repeat very concisely a few facts before given.

During the first fifteen years of the reign of Louis XIV. there were two French theatres in Paris, the Hôtel de Bourgogne and the Théâtre du Marais. The former was the principal theatre of the town; the actors there enjoyed an annual pension of 12,000 livres from the king, and their official title was La Troupe royale. The Théâtre du Marais seems to have had no official title given to it, and also no pension. In 1658 Molière established himself and his troupe in Paris, and this new body of actors were at first allowed to call themselves La Troupe de Monsieur, frère unique du Roi, and afterwards in 1665, La Troupe du Roi. From this latter date the king gave them a pension of 6,000 livres annually, which in March 1670 was raised to 7,000 livres. Molière and his troupe at first had been allowed to play at the Hôtel du Petit Bourbon, but he was made to leave the place in 1659, as it was intended to pull the building down. He then went to the

1 (1) Curiosités Théâtrales. Par V. Fournel. Paris, 1859.

(2) Le Théâtre Français sous Louis XIV. Par Eugène Despois. Paris, Hachette, 1874. (3) La Comédie Française: Histoire Administrative (1658-1757). Par Jules Bonnas

Théâtre du Palais Royal, where he remained until his death. These three theatres, the Hôtel de Bourgogne, with the Troupe Royale, the Théâtre du Marais, and the Palais Royal with the Troupe du Roi, or, as the last was just as often called, the Troupe de Molière, continued to exist until Molière's death in 1673. Then, by order of the king, La Troupe du Roi was fused with the Théâtre du Marais. The new company went to the Hôtel Guénégaud, a newly built theatre in the rue Guénégaud, and became known as La Troupe Guénégaud. The pension of 7,000 livres which Louis had allowed to Molière's company was withdrawn after Molière's death. Seven years later, in 1680, the king thought fit that there should only be one company of French actors in Paris; and he caused a second fusion to be made between the actors of the Hôtel de Bourgogne and those of the Hôtel Guénégaud. From this time dates the official title of the Comédie Française -a title which the principal theatre in Paris has borne down to this day. During all this time there had been a company of Italian actors in Paris; but it is not our business to be concerned with them now. And there were also other small theatres-the Théâtres de la Foire-but having spoken of them once, I will not revert to them.

We have little information, except of a fragmentary kind, respecting the internal arrangements of the Hôtel de Bourgogne and the Théâtre du Marais, for neither theatre kept any register or record of its doings. Such knowledge as we have has been laboriously collected from various sources, and it is only within the last few years that it has been made generally known. With regard to Molière's theatre we are somewhat more fortunate. La Grange joined Molière's troupe in April, 1659, and