IT WAS ANE O the aulder Baxter laddies at the Falls that had the first sling aboot Linmill, and sune efter my cuisin Jockie made ane, and syne Bob and I followed. Ye cut a forkit ash stick oot ο ane ο the hedges, syne trimmed it and made a notch roun the end ο ilka fork. In the notch ye rowed a string to haud a bit ο guttie to ilka fork end, and gin ye tied it ticht eneuch the guttie couldna slip. Syne atween the twa bits ο guttie ye tied a bit ο leather, lang eneuch and souple eneuch to fold ower a chuckie. And gin ye held the stick in ae haund, and the leather wi the chuckie in the ither, and poued the leather back till the guttie wad streitch nae faurer, and syne lat it gang, the chuckie gaed awa like a bullet.
As sune as Bob and I had gotten slings we followed Jockie and the Baxters doun to Carlin, to gie them a try oot.
Carlin lay doun the watter frae Stanebyres Linn aboot hauf a mile, whaur the banks wident oot, and Clyde itsell was braid, wi a flat shore baith on the Nemphlar side and on oor ain. It gat its name fraw a big rock aboot hauf wey across, caaed the Carlin Stane, that my daddie said a mermaid had sat on, kaimin her yella hair. He had read it in an auld book ο ballads.
Afore we gat the slings oor ploy aye at Carlin was to skite across Clyde, and to dae that weill ye needit wee, thin, flat, roun stanes the shape ο a bawbee, but bigger. The idea was to let flee in sic a wey that the stane didna turn when it hit the watter, but cam aff it level, and bade level till it hit the watter again, and sae on till it won to the ither side. I ance did it in twenty-three skites, but guid stanes for the job were gey ill to fin.
Efter we had gotten oor slings, though, we didna hae to look for flat stanes, for the ploy then was to sling roun chuckies at seagulls, and the Carlin shore had roun chuckies galore. The seagulls aye seemed to flee aboot the same heicht, and that was juist aboot the heicht ye could send a chuckie, and they flew up and doun the watter as if they were comin or gaun atween the far awa sea and the hills aboot Tintock; though young Tam Baxter said they had bye ordinar sicht, and frae up in the lift whaur they were fleein they were watchin for fish, and if they saw ony wad dive doun gin there was naebody watchin and catch them; and though I had whiles seen a seagull risin aff a stane in the watter, neir ance had I seen ane catch a fish, though I thocht he micht be richt for aa that.
Nou the ploy we had was to watch for a seagull fleein up or doun the watter, and whan it was richt ower oor heids to let flee wi a chuckie, and gin yer chuckie was juist the richt wecht for yer guttie, and the richt size for the fold in yer leather, and if ye poued it back juist the richt length, and didna foul it in the fork ο yer stick on its wey awa, it had a chance ο gaun heich eneuch to hit the seagull.
Maist ο us, efter a bit ο practice, could gar a chuckie flee heigh eneuch, but nane ο us eir hit a seagull. It was fashious athegither, but they were that gleg that nae maitter how quait ye were, or hou hard ye tried to hide yer sell aneth the fullyery ο the birks, they aye saw yer chuckie on its wey up, and juist whan it was on the peynt ο hit tin them, and ye were shair they were for it, they wad jouk to ae side and flee on.
It was like the bats we used to let flee at, at the Linmill closs mou yett, whan it was growin daurk, and they were flitterin roun the rufes efter flees. Gin ye rowed yer stane in a white hankie they wad see it and gang straucht for it, and ye wad think ye had gotten them, but at the very last meenit they aye joukit to ae side.
There it was, then, the same wi the seagulls. I hae seen me spend a haill efternune doun at Carlin, frae denner-time till tea-time, and tuim a guernsey-fou ο chuckies six times ower, withoot rufflin a seagull’s feather.
There seemed juist naething ye could hit, and I grew desperate, and ae day efter I had left Jockie and Bob at the Falls road-end and was comin up the Linmill drive by the front gairden hedge, I saw a wheen wee birds joukin aboot amang the fullyery ο the greengage tree, and I thocht I wad hae a try at hittin them.
I had a chuckie or twa in my pooch that I had brocht frae Carlin wi me, for on oor wey hame by the Falls walk we used to gang on tryin for seagulls, slingin the stanes awa oot ower the taps ο the beeches that grew oot ο the steep bank ablow us. We neir hit onything that wey aither, save ance whan Jockie nearly brained Tam Baxter at the fishin; but it was aye practice.
Onywey, whan I saw the wee birds in the greengage tree I took a chuckie frae my pooch, ane ο the smaaest ο them, and grippit it ticht in my sling leather, and creepit forrit to the hedge.
The birds I had seen were awa, but bye and bye a wee cock shuilfie hoppit alang a brainch, and syne held on to the trunk and pickit awa at something in the bark, and I liftit my sling and aimed, and poued the guttie back, and lat flee. I hit it, for I saw a flutter ο feathers, and some floatin to the grun, and ablow them there was a steer amang the weeds. I ran for the front gairden yett and won through, and syne ower to the fute ο the greengage, and lookit aboot.
At first I could see nocht, syne there was a bit steer in the weeds again, and I markit the place, and pairtit them, and fand the wee shuilfie.
It was still warm, but its een were ticht shut, and it didna move.
I held it for a while, hopin it wad move, but it didna.
It was deid.
I stertit to greit, syne thocht that if onyane cam bye they wad speir what was wrang, and I wad hae to tell them, and I didna want to, for I felt ashamed, sae I dichtit my een, and hid the shuilfie at the fute ο the greengage, and lookit roun for a lowse divot.
Whan I had fund a big divot lowse eneuch to lift I made a hallie for the shuilfie, and laid it in, and turnt the divot back ower on it, and buried it. Syne I wonert what to dae wi my sling.
Gin it had been winter there wad hae been a fire in the byre beyler-hoose, but there were nae neeps bey It for the kye in simmer, sae I couldna burn it there; and I didna daur pit it in the kitchen fire, or my grannie wad speir what I was daein that for, and her efter giein me sixpence for the guttie; and there was nae ither fire at that time, for the strawberries werena juist ripe, and the Donegals hadna come yet to bide in the barn and beyl tea on the cairt-shed stove.
Then I had an idea. On the green at the front gairden yett, fornent the hoose front door, there was an auld stane troch, and aside it some muckle stane flags, that covert an auld tuim waal. There were chinks atween some ο the flags, and through them ye could see black space, and we whiles played at pittin chuckies through the chinks to hear them hittin the sides ο the waal on their wey doun to the bottom.
I fand a chink big eneuch, and drappit my sling through it, and I heard it hit the waal sides twice, and syne heard nae mair.
Whan Jockie and Bob askit what I had dune wi my sling I said I had lost it, and I didna gang wi them to Carlin, but played aa my lane, till ae day my minnie cam oot ο the hoose front door whan I was sittin kind ο dowie by the front gairden yett, and askit wad I gang doun to the waal orchard, and help her pou some grosets.
I didna like pouin grosets, for they scartit yer haunds till the bluid ran, but the anes in the waal orchard were the first ο the year, and sweet as hinnie, sae I said I wad gang, and took her haund.
We hadna gotten richt through the waal yett ablow the Clyde road when my minnie tichtent her grip.
‘Look,’ she said.
She peyntit to the fute ο the hedge atween the Linmill grun and Tam Baxter’s, and syne gaed forrit, and sat doun on her hunkers.
I did the same.
It was a wee nest ο moss and feathers, and ither things forbye, for ye could mak oot bits ο wool, and horse hairs; and it had five wee scuddies in it, bare and blin ilka ane ο them, but aa gowpin wide wi their beaks for meat.
‘Come awa back and let their mither feed them,’ said my minnie. ‘Listen to her. She kens we’re lookin at the nest, and she’s distressed. Come awa back or she’ll desert them.’
We hurried doun the pad to the turn at the waal, whaur we thocht we could watch withoot her seein us.
The auld bird gaed on chackerin, though, alang the hedge frae the nests and wadna gang near it, syne anither cam alang, wi a wee green caterpillar in its beak, and was makin for the nest, when it drapt it, and flew alang the hedge wi the ither, chackerin tae.
‘That’s the faither,’ said my minnie.
It was a shuilfie, a cock like the ane I had killed wi my sling.
‘Daes the faither help to feed the scuddies tae?’ I askit.
‘Oh ay,’ said my minnie.
‘Wad the scuddies sterve wi nae faither to help the mither to feed them?’
‘I dinna ken. They wad gang gey hungry, I dout, for I haena ance yet seen a scuddie that wasna gowpin aye for meat like it was juist at its last gasp. Ye wad think they juist couldna get eneuch.’
The twa shuilfies were creepin nearer us nou, still chackerin.
‘Minnie, I think we’re fashin them. Could we no juist gang richt oot o sicht and pou the grosets?’
‘Ay,’ said my minnie, ‘it wad be better, I daursay.’
Whan we were at the grosets I keepit thinkin ο the shuilfie I had killed. Wad there be a nest in the front gairden, mebbe, wi scuddies in it hungry, because I had killed their daddie?
‘Rab?’ said my minnie.
‘Ay?’
‘Dinna tell ony ο the ither laddies aboot that nest I showed ye. Some ο them micht tak the scuddies oot, and hurt them. I’m no sayin they wad ettle ony hairm, but they micht haud them ower ticht and squeeze them, or mebbe keep them oot ower lang and chill them. Sae dinna say ocht.’
‘Na,’ I said, fair chockin, for I had a gey job to keep frae greitin, I can tell ye, and I nearly telt my minnie the haill story there and then, but I couldna think to brek her very hairt.
Bye and bye we feenished pouin the grosets, and walkit back to the hoose, and as sune as we won to the front door I left her, and gaed straucht to the front gairden, and lay juist inside the yett and watchit, and in the end I saw what I was lookin for, a hen shuilfie aye gaun into the hedge no faur frae the greengage tree. And I lay low and watchit ilka day, and neir saw mair nor the ae bird gang into that bit ο the hedge, and ance when she flew oot ο the front gairden athegither I had a quick look in the hedge and saw the nest, and there were scuddies in it, mebbe fower or five, but I couldna be shair, for I didna want the hen to fin me there whan she cam back, and mebbe desert them, sae I didna daur risk a guid look. But I did keep an ee on it frae my hidie-hole inside the yett, amang some black curran busses, and aa seemed to be gaun weill wi it, for nae dugs or cats gaed near it, and the hen keepit thrang, and though I whiles wished I could think ο some wey ο helpin her to gether meat, and couldna, I had nae dout that afore lang aa her scuddies wad be fleein.
But the day cam whan my curiosity gat the better ο me again. The hen had gane richt oot the front gairden and ower the hoose rufe, sae I creepit ower to the nest for a bit keek inside, and there were the scuddies, aa stertin to feather, and gowpin for meat like gluttons.
There seemed to be juist three ο them, and though I hadna managed a richt coont the first time I had seen them, I had thocht there were mair.
They were gey restless, raxin up wi their beaks that faur whiles that they fell back down ower their wilkies, and had to struggle ower on to their feet again, wi the ithers on tap ο them, sae I coontit them again to make shair.
There were three and nae mair.
I was thinkin it was time I was hidin again when I gat a glent ο something no juist as it sud be in the hedge ablow the nest, and when I took a richt look my wame turnt.
Aboot a fute ablow the nest, catchit by ae fute in the thorns, and hingin heid doun wi its legs apairt, was a wee scuddie, deid. And it had been deid for a while, puir thing, for it hadna stertit to feather, like the leivin anes abune it, and it was turning black.
I tried to tell mysell that it had mebbe been ower greedy for meat, and had leaned ower faur oot whan it heard its minnie comin, and tummlet that wey, but it was mebbe mair likely, and this I couldna deny, that the hen hadna been able to feed mair nor three, and had cowpit it oot. For my minnie had telt me ance that willie-waggies whiles cowpit their ain scuddies oot, gin a gowk laid an egg in their nest. It took them aa their time to feed the young gowk, she said, and they dinna think it worthwhile to feed their ain scuddies, for they were sae wee aside the young gowk that they thocht they were backward.
Onywey, there it was, a wee deid scuddie hingin heid doun in the thorns aboot a fute ablow the nest, that micht hae been leivin gin I hadna killed its daddie. And mebbe there were ithers. Ae ither onywey. For I was shair nou that there had been five the first time I had lookit.
I didna gang on lookin, though. The ae deid scuddie was eneuch.