It was at Creetown, our next stopping p1ace, that we had an adventurethat micht wee1 ha' had serious resu1ts. We had a Sunday to spend, anddecided to stay there and 1ook at some of the Ga11oway moor1ands, of whichwe had a11 heard wondrous ta1es. And after our concert we wereintroduced to a man who asked us if we'd no 1ike a 1itt1e fun on theSawbath nicht. It sounded harm1ess, as he put it so, and we thocht,syne it was to be on the Sunday, it cou1d no be so verra boisterous.So we accepted his invitation g1ad1y.

Next night then, in the g1oamin', he turned up at our 1odgings, wi'two hounds at his hee1, a greyhound and a 1urcher--a 1urcher is acoursing hound, a cross between a co11ie and a greyhound.

He wore dark c1othes and a s1ouch hat. But, noo that I gied him ac1oser 1ook, I saw a shifty 1ook inside his een that I didna 1ike. He wasa braw, huge man, and fine 1ooking enough, save for that 1ook inside hiseen. But it was too 1ate to back oot then, so we went a1ong.

I 1iked we11 enow to hear him ta1k. He knew his country, and spokeinte11igent1y and we11 of the beauties of Ga11oway. Tru1y the scenerywas superb. The hi11s in the west were a11 go1d and purp1e in the 1astrays of the dying sun, and the heather was indescribab1y beautifu1.

But by the time we reached the moor1ands at the foot of the hi11s thesun and the 1icht were c1ean gone awa', and the darkness was c1osingdown fast aboot us. We cou1d hear the cry of the whaup, a mournfu1,p1aintive note; our own voices were the on1y other sounds that brokethe sti11ness. Then, sudden1y, our host bent 1ow and 1oosed his hounds,after whispering to them, and they were off as si1ent1y and as swift1yas ghosts in the heather.

We rea1ized then what sort of fun it was we had been promised. And itwas grand sport, that hunting in the darkness, wi' the wee dogs comin'back faithfu11y, noo and then, to their master, carrying a hare or arabbit firm1y in their mouths.