Solution Manual for Experience

Communication 1st Edition by Child

Pearson Nelson ISBN 007803700X
9780078037009
Go to download the full and correct content document:
https://testbankpack.com/download/solution-manual-for-experience-communication-1
st-edition-by-child-pearson-nelson-isbn-007803700x-9780078037009/
More products digital (pdf, epub, mobi) instant
download maybe you interests ...

Test Bank for Experience Communication 1st Edition by

Child Pearson Nelson ISBN 007803700X 9780078037009

https://testbankpack.com/download/test-bank-for-experience-
communication-1st-edition-by-child-pearson-nelson-
isbn-007803700x-9780078037009/

Solution Manual for iSpeak 2013 Public Speaking for

Contemporary Life 5th Edition Nelson Titsworth Pearson
0078036887 9780078036880

https://testbankpack.com/download/solution-manual-for-
ispeak-2013-public-speaking-for-contemporary-life-5th-edition-
nelson-0078036887-9780078036880/

Solution Manual for Dynamic Child 1st Edition by Manis

ISBN 0134495861 9780134495866

https://testbankpack.com/download/solution-manual-for-dynamic-
child-1st-edition-by-manis-isbn-0134495861-9780134495866/

Solution Manual for CHILD 2013 1st Edition by Martorell

ISBN 0078035511 9780078035517

https://testbankpack.com/download/solution-manual-for-
child-2013-1st-edition-by-martorell-
isbn-0078035511-9780078035517/
Test Bank for Dynamic Child 1st Edition by Manis ISBN
0134495861 9780134495866

https://testbankpack.com/download/test-bank-for-dynamic-
child-1st-edition-by-manis-isbn-0134495861-9780134495866/

Test Bank for CHILD 2013 1st Edition by Martorell ISBN

0078035511 9780078035517

https://testbankpack.com/download/test-bank-for-child-2013-1st-
edition-by-martorell-isbn-0078035511-9780078035517/

Solution Manual for Contemporary Communication Systems

1st Edition by Mesiya ISBN 0073380369 9780073380360

https://testbankpack.com/download/solution-manual-for-
contemporary-communication-systems-1st-edition-by-mesiya-
isbn-0073380369-9780073380360/

Test Bank for Experience Sociology 1st Edition by

Croteau Hoynes ISBN 0073193534 9780073193533

https://testbankpack.com/download/test-bank-for-experience-
sociology-1st-edition-by-croteau-hoynes-
isbn-0073193534-9780073193533/

Solution Manual for Experience Music 4th Edition by

Charlton ISBN 0078025222 9780078025228

https://testbankpack.com/download/solution-manual-for-experience-
music-4th-edition-by-charlton-isbn-0078025222-9780078025228/
Solution Manual for Experience Communication 1st
Edition by Child Pearson Nelson
ISBN 007803700X 9780078037009
Full link download:
Test Bank:
https://testbankpack.com/p/test-bank-for-experience-communication-1st-
edition-by-child-pearson-nelson-isbn-007803700x-9780078037009/

Solution Manual:
https://testbankpack.com/p/solution-manual-for-experience-
communication-1st-edition-by-child-pearson-nelson-isbn-007803700x-
9780078037009/

Chapter 1: Communication, Perception, and Your Life

Chapter Objectives and Integrator Guide

After reading and thinking about this chapter, students should be able to:

Objective 2. Define communication and explain the roles

that meaning and context play in it.

1. List the benefits of Key Terms: Communication and context.

studying communication.
3. Name and describe the components of
communication.

Key Terms: Source, receiver, message, channel,

feedback, code, encoding, decoding, and noise.
4. Name and describe the
three modes of
communication.
Resources
In the Text:
Page Reference: pages 3-4 Study
Question 1 (p. 18)
IM Resources:
Discussion Starter 1: Exemplifying
Effective Communication
Activity 1.1: This Person Is Unique
Activity 1.2: W hat Will this
Course Do For You? Activity
1.3: Communication Skills in
Job Ads
In the Text:
Page Reference: pages 4-5 Study
Question 2 (p. 18)
IM Resources:
Discussion Starter 2:
Communication is a
Process Activity 1.3:
Communication Skills in Job Ads
In the Text:
P age Reference: pages 6-9
Challenge Yourself: W hy do I need to
take a communication course when I
have been communicating all my life?
(p. 7) Communicating Globally: Codes
carry meaning, even in names.
Study Question 3 (p. 18)
IM Resources:
Discussion St arter 3: Channels of
Communication
Activity 1.4: The Big Picture
In the Text:
Page Reference: pages 9-11
Figure 1.1: The Action Model of Communication
Figure 1.2: The Interaction Model of Communication
Figure 1.3: The Transaction Model of Communication
5. Describe the process of perception and its
impact on communication.
Key Terms: Selection, organization, interpretation, active
perception, and subjective perception.
6. Explain the factors that affect and shape
people’s perceptions.
Key Terms: Perceptual constancy and role.
IM Resources:
Discussion Starter 4: Models of Communication
Activity 1.5: Modeling Communication
Activity 1.6: Understanding Different Models of Communication
In the Text:
Page Reference: pages 11-12
Study Question 4 (p. 18)
IM Resources:
Discussion Starter 5: Perception and Communication
Activity 1.7: Forming Impressions
Activity 1.8: First Impressions
In the Text:
Page Reference: pages 12-14
Study Question 5 (p. 18)
IM Resources:
Discussion Starter 6: Breakups and Changing Perceptions
Activity 1.9 : The Perception Test
Activity 1.10: Fast Thinking
7. Explain how and why errors in perception
occur.

8. Describe the ways in which
self-image and identity
management affect
communication.
Key Terms: Intrapersonal
communication and
identity management.
Activity 1.11: Perception of Persons
Activity 1.12: Describe What You See
Activity 1.13: Selective Attention
Activity 1.14: Selective Retention
Additional Resources:
In the Text:
Page Reference: pages 14-15
Skill Builder: Learn to Check your Perceptions.
Study Question 6 (p. 18)
IM Resources:
Discussion Starter 7: W hen to Verify Perceptions
Activity 1.15: Stereotypical Thinking
Mini Prezi: Perception Checking (http://tinyurl.com/ozgc7cv)
In the Text:
Page Reference: pages 15-17
Considering Media: Lean to Manage your Self-Presentation
Online (p. 17)
Study Question 7 (p. 18)
IM Resources:
Discussion Starter 8: Intrapersonal Communication
Activity 1.16: Values Auction
Activity 1.17: Ten Statements
Activity 1.18: How Do You Behave W hen …
Activity 1.19: Oink Like a Pig
Activity 1.20: In This Situation I Am …
Activity 1.21: Be True to Yourself
Chapter 1 test bank questions and PowerPoint slides available
from McGraw Hill website:
(http://www.mhhe.com/experiencecommunication)
Chapter 1 Prezi (http://tinyurl.com/expcommch1)
Chapter Outline

I. Why Study Communication?

Studying communication can…
A. Improve the way others see you.
B. Make you more sensitive in your relationships.
C. Teach you important thinking skills.
D. Help you learn how to resolve conflicts at home, work, and on the street.
E. Boost your confidence by helping you learn how to communicate in
pairs, groups, and large audience contexts.
F. Encourage you to expand your comfort zone in communicating with
others.
G. Help you succeed professionally.

II. What is Communication?

Communication is the process of using messages to generate meanings.
Important considerations related to understanding include keeping in mind:
A. Communication is a process there are several factors and components
that can impact the outcome of establishing shared meaning.
B. Communication is concerned with establishing and generating shared
meaning.
C. Communication is impacted by how people interpret messages differently.
D. Communication occurs in a context, or a set of circumstances or a
situation.

III. Components of Communication

A. People: communication involves both senders and receivers of
information.
B. The Message: the verbal and nonverbal expression of the idea, through
or feeling that is communicated between senders and receivers of information.
C. The Channel: the means by which a message moves from the source
to the receiver of a message.
D. Feedback: the receiver’s verbal and nonverbal response to the
source’s message.
 E. Code: a systematic arrangement of symbols used to create meanings in
the minds of another person or persons. Codes can be both verbal and nonverbal.
F. Encoding and Decoding:
i. Encoding is the process of translating an idea or a thought
into words.
ii. Decoding is the process of assigning meaning to an
encoded message.
G. Noise: any interference in the encoding and decoding process that
reduces the clarity of a message.

IV. Three Models of Communication

A. The action model of communication: a one-way (or linear) process in
which a source encodes a message through a channel for a receiver to decode or
interpret.
B. The interaction model of communication: This model includes
everything from the action model but has two distinctions:
i. This model views communication as a two-way process between
senders and receivers of messages.
ii. This model recognizes the importance of feedback and context in
communicating with others.
C. The transactional model of communication:
i. This model does not distinguish between the source and the
receiver and does not see communication as a series of
messages
that get sent back and forth.
ii. This model sees communication as an ongoing conversation in
which messages are sent in both directions simultaneously.

V. Perception Affects Communication

A. What is Perception? Perception is the process of using the senses to
acquire information about the surrounding environment or situation. There
are three stages to perceptions:
i. Selection: which involves the decisions we make to focus on some
stimuli – sights, sounds, smells, and other sensations – and
neglect others.
 ii. Organization: means grouping stimuli into meaningful units. Stimuli
can be organized in a variety of ways and we sometimes fill in
details about people because they share features of proximity or
similarity with others things in our minds.
1. Proximity: perceiving distinct objects as related because of
their physical closeness.
2. Similarity: grouping objects together because they share
the same attributes.
iii. Interpretation: involves assigning meaning to organized stimuli.

B. What Occurs in Perception? We interact with people according to the

different perspectives and attributes that we assign them. In general
perceptions are shaped through both active and subjective processes.
i. Active perceptions: are formed when the mind engages in
selection, organization, and interpretation for new experiences
and phenomenon encountered.
ii. Subjective perceptions: are formed when we attribute meaning to
stimuli according to an inner state or mood that is likely to change.
For example, when you have bad headache your perceptions of
everything else around you can be temporarily colored.

VI. Differences in Perceptions

A. Physiological Features: the physiological features that differentiate people,
including sex, height, weight, body type, and acuity of the senses, impact
the perceptions that we form about others and how we interact with them.
B. Past Experiences: Our perspectives and experiences in the world color
the perceptions that we form.
i. Perceptual constancy: means that it is difficult to modify our
perceptions of events if past experiences have led us to see
things in a particular way.
ii. Someone who goes through a bad divorce may choose never to
remarry. You might seek help from law enforcement if a previous
relational partner of yours spent his career in policing.
 C. Roles: The roles that we attribute to others (or the functions that people fulfill
in diverse social contexts) impact the perceptions we form and how we
communicate with others.
D. Present Feelings: What we are going through and how we feel at any
particular time affects the perceptions.

VII. Errors in Perception

Many types of perceptual errors exist. The most common errors are based in
stereotypes. Perception checking can help reduce the errors in perception
formation.
A. Stereotypes: occur when we make a hasty generalization about a group
based on a judgment about an individual from a group.
B. Perception Checking: is the process of describing, interpreting, and verifying
our perceptions with others to ensure we understanding people and their
messages more accurately.
i. Describe the observed behavior to the other person (including both
the verbal and nonverbal cues).
ii. Suggestion plausible interpretations of the observed behaviors or
features.
iii. Seek verification or rebuttal of your interpretations by asking for
clarification, explanation, or amplification from the other person.

VIII. Self-Image and Communication

How you see yourself impacts the way you communicate with others.
A. Viewing communication as a dialogical process means seeing our interactions
as a conversation, discussion or negotiation with both the self and others.
B. Intrapersonal communication: is the kind of discussion and decision making that
occurs within your own mind. We often rehearse in our minds how we
would like to interact with others before such discussion proceeds. C. Self-
presentation involves how we present ourselves to others. People
engage in both high and low levels of identity management when
interacting with others.
i. Someone who engages in high levels of identity management consciously
controls a lot of what they communicate beforehand by considering how
different information might be interpreted by others.
 ii. Someone who engages in low levels of identity management engages in
more acting before thinking and doesn’t always consider how what they do
may be perceived differently by unique groups of people.

Discussion Starters

1. Exemplifying Effective Communication: Review these seven areas of benefit to

studying communication. Identify someone in your life who practices or embodies
effective communication skill in one of the listed areas of benefit. Share with the class
what insights about communication you have observed from this individual.

2. Communication Is a Process: Your textbook defines communication as the

process of establishing shared meaning that depends upon proper interpretation of
messages occurring in a context. Sometimes we fail to establish shared meaning or
mutual understanding with someone when sharing perspectives that are important to
us. Think of a time that someone has misinterpreted or misunderstood something
you said. How has your continued interaction with them over time helped them to
understand more clearly your point of view?

3. Channels of Communication: Consider a time when someone has interacted with you
and perhaps chose the wrong channel for what they wanted to say to you. For example,
has someone ever gotten upset with you through e-mail or text messages and you
found yourself more defensive or read more into their messages than what they
intended? Share situations where the channel of interaction was a part of the reason
why communication broke down. Are their certain messages that are either more suited
or less suited to certain channels of interaction?

4. Models of Communication: One prominent feature embedded within the

transactional model communication is the simultaneously sending and receiving both
verbal and nonverbal messages. Sometimes people use more indirect and
nonverbal means of communicating versus direct and verbal means of conveying
messages. Share a time you misunderstood a message based on how you were
interpreting verbal and nonverbal messages. Why is it difficult to simultaneously
decode direct and indirect, verbal and nonverbal, messages as you interact with
others?
5. Perception and Communication: Consider a first date that you have gone on that
was both successful and unsuccessful. How did the selection of the venue for the
date, the clothing of your date, and everything in the environment contribute to the
perceptions that you took away when communicating on the date that led to a
second date and the date that did not? Consider your favorite clothing store, how
does the store environment, the music, the smells in the store, and the sales clerks
all contribute to the perceptions that you attach to it and how you interact with your
friends about shopping there?

6. Breakups and Changing Perceptions: How do you deal with break ups? Can you
easily shift your perceptions and interactions with someone that you have been
romantic with from relational partner to friend? Or, do you find you have difficulty
adjusting your perceptions? Are you comfortable with your friends going out with
someone you have dated? Or, do you prefer they do not date someone you have a
history with overall? What do your answers to these questions reveal about the
difficulty or ease in changing your perceptions about someone?

7. When to Verify Perceptions: Consider a recent time when someone upset you. Do
you verifying perceptions with this person could have possibly led to increased
understanding of one another? What are some circumstances and situations where
you would be committed to trying to correctly understand and work with someone
else’s perceptions of you? Are there times that you would not attempt to explain how
you felt about something that someone said and then verify if your perceptions of
their behavior were accurate?

8. Intrapersonal Communication: Are there times when you have interacted with
someone and you can clearly tell that something they are telling you has clearly
been rehearsed in their mind? When can more internal rehearsal be both helpful to
how you will interact with someone or potentially harmful to the relationship? How
can people both pay attention to their own intrapersonal communication and
dialogue and yet still be authentic and in the moment when interacting with others?

Activities

ACTIVITY 1.1 THIS PERSON IS UNIQUE

Purpose: Students should be able to name all the members of the class and identify
the unique characteristics of at least half of the class.

Procedure: Divide the students into groups of four or five. Tell the students that their
task is to become acquainted. In their conversations, they should try to discover
something that makes each person unique. After about fifteen minutes, have each
student introduce another, until everyone has been introduced. Each introduction
should tell as much about the other individual as possible, especially what makes that
person unique. You may want to take time during the introduction to ensure that a
unique characteristic is indeed unique. For example, a person may claim that being
married makes another unique, but if others in the class are also married, then the
introducer should be challenged to find something else that is unique about the person
being introduced.

Debriefing: After everyone has been introduced, test the students’ ability to remember
the names of their classmates. Point to each individual and have the class call out his or
her name. This activity’s primary value is for the students to become acquainted and
thus establish rapport. It also can be used as a foundation for a discussion of
selfconcept in the latter part of the chapter.
ACTIVITY 1.2 WHAT WILL THIS COURSE DO FOR YOU?

Purpose: To encourage students to think about the positive gains they can make in a
class where they will be required to give graded public speeches.

Procedure: In a graded or un-graded written assignment have students between class

meetings write down at least five advantages this course could bring to them personally,
professionally, or academically. Have students share and compare their lists with a peer
and then generate a list on the board about the person, professional, and academic
benefits of the class.

Debriefing: The act of stating in class the best things the course can do for the
students is a positive and even energizing activity that moves the class away from
perhaps being simply a required or feared course in which students have to give
speeches with consideration of the practical advantages of the course throughout their
lives.
ACTIVITY 1.3 COMMUNICATION SKILLS IN JOB ADS

Purpose: To help students see the demand for communication skills training as a
professional skill in demand among employers and how completing an introduction to
human communication course can be a stepping stone to advanced career
development.

Procedure: Save the classified ads or the job advertisements section of your local
newspaper for a few days. You might also try to get ahold of the classified ads section
of the paper from a nearby regional or national paper. You can also use online
classified ads from places like craigslist. Put your students into groups of 4-5 and then
give them a few advertisements to look at. Ask the students to highlight anytime they
see terms that reflect communication skills training, such as communication, teamwork,
customer service, people skills, networking, collaboration, cooperation, interactive,
dynamic leadership, or people-oriented terms. You can also have students classify or
note what they observe in the advertisements about different contexts that employers
want communication skill and expertise in such as public/mediated, small group,
interpersonal, or organizational. Have a class discussion about how common do
employers use terminology in job advertisements that reflect the need for workers with
communication skill and expertise in a range of contexts.

Debriefing: The process of looking at actual job advertisements helps student to see in
a very explicit and practical way how communication skills training is an important area
and also a very marketable area of study. Students also see how learning more about
the different contexts in which communication occurs can translate into different
possible career opportunities.
Activity 1.4 THE BIG PICTURE

Purpose: Students should be able to observe and understand essential components in

communication; and witness illustrations of people, the message, the channel,
feedback, code, encoding and decoding, and noise.

Procedure: Divide the class into small groups of three to five students. Assign each
group one or two components for which students will be responsible. Allow ample time
for the students to familiarize themselves with the information. Show a current sitcom or
drama taped from television. As the show progresses, students should note any of the
concepts/ideas that are detailed in the chapter. At the conclusion of the show, students
should be prepared to discuss relevant information and how the film depicted this
information.

As students prepare to share their insights about the components of communication

with the class they should comment on the term or concept that the film illustrated, and
provide specific dialogue that addresses the term or concept. The instructor should
ensure the accuracy of interpretation throughout the discussion.

Debriefing: While many types of shows are appropriate for this activity, sitcoms and
dramas are short enough to be viewed as part of one class period and also tend to have
plots emphasizing topics relevant to communication (e.g., miscommunication, ethical
lapses, ambiguity, and conflict). This activity serves as an overview of the components
and provides students with a visual representation of concepts. This activity can also be
used as an end-of-term synthesis assignment where students write essays analyzing a
television show or movie.
Activity 1.5 MODELING COMMUNICATION

Purpose: Students should be able to identify several types and models of

communication; to discuss the relationships among these models of communication;
and to list some of the similarities and differences among intrapersonal, interpersonal,
and public communication.

Procedure: Assign all of the students the task of creating a model of communication.
Provide some examples to get them started. At the next meeting, divide the students
into groups of four or five and instruct them to pool their ideas and to develop one
model for their group. Have each group present its model of communication to the
class.

After each group presents their model to the class, have the class identify the
similarities and differences among the models. Discussion should focus on the variables
in the models: their nature, their specificity, and the relationship among them. In
addition to discussing the models, the students should discuss the process by which
they prepared and presented the models. The students should describe the differences
and similarities of working on the models alone (intrapersonal communication), in their
group (interpersonal communication), and in presenting the models to the class (public
communication). They should focus their attention on the confidence they have in their
ideas, the amount of information that was generated, their methods of decision making,
and the way in which they created messages within each context.
Debriefing: This activity is a good introduction to the rest of the course because it
focuses attention on the communication process, on the variables that affect
communication, and on the major contexts of communication the students will be
examining during the course.
Activity 1.6 UNDERSTANDING DIFFERENT MODELS OF COMMUNICATION

Objective: Students should be able to understand the differences in the action, interaction,
and transaction models of communication presented in the book.

Procedure: Bring to class several racquet balls. You can have one pair of students
demonstrate the differences between the models of communication at the front of the
class. If you bring enough racquet balls you can get everyone up and moving around a
little bit in the process.

Have the students demonstrate the action model of communication by having one
student take the ball and throw it to the other student to catch. Tell the students that the
ball signifies the message and throwing it demonstrates the channel of communication.
Tell the student throwing the ball that they can send that message (or ball) over
whenever they want but that the receiver can’t ask any follow up questions or say
anything in return. Then after they demonstrate the model ask students to tell you the
ways that this model is incomplete and fails to explain how we actually interact with
people.

Then, tell students that our modeling process became more complex and we started to
incorporate two-way interaction, reflected in the interaction model of communication. To
demonstrate the interactive model you can have the person throw the ball to the other
person and then have the other person return the ball back to them by throwing it back.
Then, ask students to critique and talk about what they notice in the model. While this
model depicts a two-way process it is still very linear and doesn’t acknowledge that we
simultaneously send and receive multiple messages at the same time, both verbal and
nonverbal, which leads to the final model, the transaction model of communication.

For the final model you have two other people join into the game. You have the same
two people throw the ball back and forth but then you have a second person sending
a ball to each person at the same time to demonstrate the simultaneous sending and
receiving of messages.
Debriefing: This activity is good at attaching a visual game to the models of
communication presented in the book. While seeing each model depicted in front of
them, students are able to more critically analyze some of the strengths and
weaknesses associated with each way that communication scholars have tried to model
the process of communicating and establishing shared meaning.
Activity 1.7 FORMING IMPRESSIONS

Objective: Students should be able to identify at least one person in the class who
shares some characteristic with them; to determine what characteristics are unique to
themselves; and to discuss the effect of similarities and differences on communication.

Procedure: Have each student fold a piece of paper so that it is divided horizontally into
three fairly even sections; then have them fold the paper again so that it is divided
vertically into three fairly even sections. The folds should divide the paper into nine
sections. Ask the students to write down a characteristic about themselves in each of
the nine sections. Students may write down their religious affiliation, party affiliation,
membership groups, dislikes, likes, subject major, hobbies, class year, age, marital
status, the general area of the country from which they come, or the sports in which
they participate. After they have written down these characteristics about themselves,
they should get up and move around the room and try to find at least one other person
who shares one of the characteristics. When they have found a person who shares a
characteristic, that person should sign the square in which the characteristic is written.
Students should attempt to have all nine of the squares signed by at least one person.
(They can have more than one person sign each square.) When a student has all nine
squares signed, he or she should sit down. After about one-third of the students sit
down, discuss the exercise.

Engage the class to consider what characteristics were selected by those persons who sat
down; that is, had their papers completely signed. Why were they able to identify common
characteristics? Were they focusing on the others in the classroom, making observations,
and drawing inferences about similar characteristics? Were the people who did not get all
nine squares signed surprised? Which of their characteristics did no one else have in
common with them? Did they focus on themselves or on others when they wrote down
their nine characteristics? Why is it important that we focus on common experiences and
characteristics when we are communicating with others? Have the students identify
particular characteristics that affect communication directly.
Debriefing: This activity is a good introduction to the course because it allows students
to become informally introduced to each other, and it underlines the basic definition of
communication, which is to ―make common.‖ Students begin to see the relationship
between their ―commonness‖ and their ability to communicate with others.
Activity 1.8 FIRST IMPRESSIONS

Objective: Students should be able to name at least four or five other persons in the
class; to identify the variables that affect their perceptions of others; and to discuss the
effect of first impressions on their communications with others.

Procedure: Divide the students into groups of four or five. This exercise works better if
both sexes are represented in each group. Give a copy of the first impressions
worksheet to each student and ask the students to complete the form according to the
instructions that follow. The activity can be repeated, if time permits, by dividing the
class into different small groups.

After handing out the worksheet discuss how we often base very distinct impressions
about another person’s personality, status, interests, and demographic characteristics
on our initial perceptions of the other person’s appearance and behavior. For this
exercise, you are to record your impressions of the other members of your group by
filling in the information about each member of the group, including yourself. The eighth,
ninth, tenth, and eleventh items are scales. On the first of these, liberal– conservative
for example, a rating of 1 would mean that you perceive the person as very liberal; a
rating of 5, very conservative; and a rating of 3, average. As you answer each question,
try to discover the reasons for your rating. When everyone in your group has completed
the form, discuss your perceptions of each other. One way is to take turns disclosing
the information you recorded about yourself; then have the others tell you their
perceptions of you. This is not a quiz; it is an exercise to help the students become
acquainted with some of their classmates.

After the students in each group have discussed their responses to the questionnaire,
lead a class discussion about the accuracy of the impressions and the basis on which
they were formed. Was there general agreement about individuals? Why did differences
occur? What were the discrepancies between the perceptions students had of
themselves and the ways they impressed others in their groups? Why?

Debriefing: This activity develops a foundation for studying the self, perception,
nonverbal behavior, and stereotypes. It also serves to acquaint the students with each
 other, to familiarize them with working in groups, and to establish an atmosphere for the
future small-group exercises. You might also want to ask the students to fill out an
unsigned questionnaire focusing on you, which would not only prove interesting but
might also help you to establish better rapport with the students.
First Impressions Worksheet

Self Others
Name (initials only)

Age

Class year: (a) freshman or sophomore;

(b) junior or senior; (c) graduate

student Major subjects

Marital status: (a) single; (b) married;

(c) separated, divorced, or widowed

Home town: (a) city; (b) town; (c) farm

Residence: (a) dormitory house; (b) sorority

or fraternity house; (c) off campus

Liberal 1 2 3 4 5 Conservative

Outgoing 1 2 3 4 5 Shy

Partier 1 2 3 4 5 Studier

Athletic 1 2 3 4 5 Not athletic

What kind of animal is t his person?

Where would this person go for fun?

What kind of music would this person like?

Activity 1.9 THE PERCEPTION TEST

Objective: Students should be able to identify the perceptual processes involved in

each problem; to describe the different ways in which people interpret the same stimuli;
and to state the reasons for the different interpretations.

Procedure: Distribute a copy of the ―Perception Test‖ that appears on the following
pages to each of the students, and tell them to try to solve the problems individually.
After approximately ten minutes, let the students work in pairs or groups of three.
Encourage them to try all of the problems, rather than concentrate on the most difficult
ones.

Debriefing: When everyone has had a reasonable chance to solve the problems, ask
the students to explain their answers to each question. The students should also
identify the perceptual processes involved in each problem. (The correct answers are
provided after the handout.)
 Perception Test

1. t n m n i b s n y s i e o o d d e e a i f s t y a l c s w s o e s n e
u n e e i e k i a r o e h h h
s a e f e h t t t t

Do these symbols have any meaning for you? Write the sentence that they form.

2. What is the relationship between the pairs of lines below?

3. Read and write out the following phrases:

 Paris Snake Busy
in the in the as a
the spring the grass a beaver

4. Polk is pronounced with the l silent. Folk is pronounced like coke, a

silent l. The white of an egg is pronounced:

5. Join all nine dots with four straight lines. Do not lift your pencil from the paper or retrace
any lines.

6. A man has a window that measures 12" x 12" but does not let in enough light. So he saws
around the window and has a window that measures 12" x 12" but lets in exactly twice as much
light. What did he do?

7 . Write the word proof on the lines below:

8. A man has drowned in the middle of a lake, which is almost twenty feet deep, and is lying at

the bottom of the lake. He did not swim there; nor was he carried. How did he get to the middle

of the lake and drown?

 Answers to Perception Test

1. Start at the bottom right-hand corner and read vertically from the bottom to the top: ―This is the way
the sentence should read if anyone is to make sense of it.‖ Concepts: Past experiences and
perceptual constancy have taught us to read from left to right and top to bottom. Furthermore, we do
not expect words to be broken at the ends of lines.

2. Any interpretation is acceptable: the pairs of lines are parallel, their length differs, they are
perpendicular to the horizontal line, etc. Concepts: Perception is creative; interpretation of stimuli
differs; similarity and proximity influence perception.

3. Each sentence contains a repetition, so that they read: ―Paris in the the spring,‖ ―Snake in the the
grass,‖ and ―Busy as a a beaver.‖ Concepts: selective attention and closure.

4. White or albumin. Concepts: Perception is affected by context and perceptual constancy.

5. The key to this problem is to regard the figure as nine dots rather than a square. Concept: closure.

6. The original window was a right-angle triangle with 12-inch sides. He sawed around the window to
make a square exactly twice as large as the original triangle. Concepts: perceptual constancy,
past experiences, and selective attention.

7. Possible solutions are below. Any method of writing proof is acceptable. Concepts: People interpret
stimuli differently, perception is creative, and attention to words is selective.
8. The man walked to the middle when the
lake was frozen. He drowned when the
ice broke. Concepts:
perceptual constancy of the meaning of words and selective retention (i.e., that lakes are liquid).

Activity 1.10 FAST THINKING

Objective: Students should be able to realize that individual differences in perception

exist due to different factors—physiological, past experiences, present feelings, or
circumstances.

Procedure: This brief activity is best used as an introduction to perceptual differences.

Indicate to students that they are to write down what word, words, or phrases immediately
come to mind when one of the following simple terms is mentioned.

List of terms: black, moon, contemporary, literate, poor, white, queen, guardian, New
Jersey, drugs, red, buns, sport, dog.

Student discussion should focus on the immediate framework of perception by which

most individuals operate. Class interaction should progress from simple illustration of
perceptual differences to the sources of those perceptual differences. Why are there
some words that conjure up perceptual fields that are similar across individuals? Why
do dramatic differences exist?

Debriefing: This activity illustrates the concept of perceptual constancy. In addition, the
students should be better able to understand the activities of selection, organization,
and interpretation that constitute the process of perception.
Activity 1.11 PERCEPTION OF PERSONS
Objective: Students should be able to identify factors by which we categorize others in
forming first impressions; to discuss the accuracy of our perceptions of others; and to
discuss the degree to which people’s perceptions of another person agree.

Procedure: This is a relatively threatening assignment for some, and it is necessary

that it be performed by groups of students. Divide the students into groups of three or
four. Have each group observe a different person outside the classroom. Ask each
group to decide on the personality, demographic characteristics, and interests of the
person being observed. The students should also determine what factors, behaviors, or
other observations influenced their perception and classification of that person. After the
group has achieved consensus, the group members should introduce themselves to the
observed person to verify their perceptions.

The students should bring the results of their experiment to the next class meeting and
discuss which cues seemed to be most important in their perception of others, the
accuracy of their observations, and the amount of agreement within the group about the
characteristics of others.

Debriefing: This activity illustrates the process of perceiving others; can be used to
relate selectivity, organization, and interpretation to our perception of personal; gives
students a chance to identify their stereotypes; and leads into the influence of nonverbal
behavior on our interactions.
Activity 1.12

DESCRIBE WHAT YOU SEE

Objective: Students should be able to observe and understand that people

have different perceptions of one another and the impact these differences have
on interpersonal relationships.

Procedure: Circulate the adjective list below to students and divide the class into
groups of three students. First, students should circle adjectives that best describe
themselves. Then they put their classmates’ initials next to adjectives that best
describe the classmates. The groups should share perceptions. Have the class
compare similarities and differences and their causes.

Adjectives: conservative, friendly, outgoing, controversial, skeptical, eclectic,

easygoing, nervous, affluent, intelligent, apprehensive, eager, risky, confident, jovial,
flirtatious, stylish, precise, shrewd.

After the activity, ask student what effect do these differences in perception, both of self
and others, have on our communication in interpersonal relationships? Class
discussion should center on how interpersonal relationships are contingent on the
perceptions of another. Emphasis should be placed on the value of appreciating
individual differences in the development of interpersonal relationships.

Debriefing: This activity underscores the importance of recognizing interpersonal

qualities of another person and realizing that these qualities often play a vital role
in accurately perceiving another individual.
Activity 1.13 SELECTIVE ATTENTION

Objective: Students should be able to identify ways in which selective attention helps
to create order in our perception of stimuli and explain how selective attention affects
our perception of others.

Procedure: After a discussion of how perception involves all five senses, have the
students focus on one sense at a time and describe what they perceive. Start with
sight. Indicate how we can see large objects, whole objects, and minute parts of
objects. Then have the students close their eyes and focus on hearing. They should
identify the noises that they had not noticed previously. For the senses of touch, taste,
and smell, have the students shut their eyes as you describe different sensations for
them to experience. For example, for touch: Have them feel their shoes on their feet,
the pressure of their belts on their stomachs, the tickle of their hair on their ears and
neck. For taste: Can they taste their toothpaste? Food? Drink? For smell: Can they
detect aftershave lotion? Perfume? Deodorant?

After identifying a reasonable number of perceptions, discuss the factors that

determine which stimuli we tend to focus on—for example, information that fulfills our
needs, startling stimuli, familiar cues, and unusual stimuli.

Debriefing: This activity illustrates the nature of selective attention, can be used to
introduce factors that affect individual perception, and relates well to factors that
affect active listening.
SELECTIVE RETENTION

Objective: Students should be able to define selective retention and identify the factors
that affect it.

Procedure: Instruct the students to number a piece of paper from one to ten. Tell them
that you will write ten words on the board. They will then be given two seconds to study
the words, after which time they will write down as many of the words as they can
Activity 1.14

remember. Have them close their eyes while you write the following ten three-letter
words on the board.

big
dog cup sex fig
lap tub ran car boy

Have the students look at the words for two seconds. Then erase the words. When
everyone has written down the remembered words, count by a show of hands how
many remembered each word. The most remembered will probably be dog, lap, boy,
and sex; and almost everyone will remember sex. As a variation, use the following
list of words and nonsense syllables:

tlk ntp ykf pgrn Irw mbc aeq sex

kkk ptq

After completing this activity you can discuss why the students remembered some
words and not the others. Why was sex easy to remember? The discussion should
identify sequence, unusual characteristics, and expectations as factors that affect
selective retention. In the variation, sex and kkk are remembered best because of their
familiarity and because of the differences between those letters and the nonsense
syllables that compose the rest of the list.

Debriefing: This activity illustrates selective attention and retention and may also be
used to illustrate the arbitrary nature of symbols. That is, why do some symbols have
more impact than others? Why do some symbols convey meaning, while others do
not?
Activity 1.15
STEREOTYPICAL THINKING

Objective: Students should be able to understand how their perception

process operates in stereotyping others.

Procedure: Divide the class into two groups. Distribute the following list of individuals
and situations to students. Have students determine and role-play how two (or more)
individuals respond to the same situation.

Situations : fixing a flat tire; washing an infant; choosing a movie; rescuing a cat from
a tree; planning a vacation. Individuals/roles: priest, wrestler, teacher, mail carrier, rap
artist, florist, international student, construction worker.

The class should then discuss why the particular communication episodes occurred
and if any stereotyping underscores their perception of the situation. Why do
individuals stereotype? Are there any advantages to stereotyping? What are possible
implications of stereotyping those with whom we have no affiliation? Cite examples as
necessary.

Debriefing: This activity indicates that our perception of others is often based on our
ability and willingness to stereotype. Further, our interactions in our future
relationships are often determined by the stereotyping we do.
Activity 1.16

VALUES AUCTION

Objective: Students should be able to identify the values and objectives that
contribute to their self-images and self-esteem; and to discuss the importance of
commitment to their personal goals.

Procedure: Each student is to receive an amount of ―money‖ equivalent to the number

of months the student can expect to live. The formula is as follows: 72 years, minus the
student’s age, minus 3 if the student drinks heavily, plus 3 if the student is a woman.
Multiply the final result by 12. This final figure is the amount of money the student has
for bidding in the value auction. When all the students have figured out their money,
pass out the list of ―auction items‖ that follows. The student who bids the highest for
each item possesses that item and subtracts the value of the bid from his or her
monetary holdings. When students use up their money or cannot afford to bid, they
drop out of the auction.

The list may be lengthened or shortened to meet time requirements, but a balance
should be maintained between long- and short-range goals and between material
and nonmaterial values. Keep a master list of items on the board so that all can see
it, indicating who bought each item and the price paid for each item.

Auction Items
1. Receive straight ―A‖s for the rest of my college career.
2. Receive $500,000 tax-free.
3. Enjoy good health for the next forty-five years.
4. Find inner peace.
5. Have a better personality.
6. Have a successful marriage or relationship.
7. Make a significant contribution to the betterment of humanity.
8. Renew an old friendship.
9. Ensure that my parents will be financially secure for the rest of their lives.
10. Never procrastinate.
11. Travel to any place of my choice, all expenses paid.
12. Have a brand-new car of the make and model I choose.
 13. Be free to do whatever I want, whenever I want.
14. Receive an A in this class.
15. Have a date with a famous person of my choice. (Students must say who it is
when bidding.)

The class should summarize the results of the auction by identifying the characteristics
of the items that brought the most money, the items that produced the most spirited
bidding, and the items that no one seemed to want. They should distinguish between
short- and long-range goals, personal gain and the welfare of others, and personal
growth and material possessions. Ask the students to categorize their own values on
the basis of their bids. They should relate these goals and values to their self-concepts.
Specifically, how much of their lives were they willing to devote to the goals they
desired? Did the bidding reflect a realistic amount of effort for attainment of the goals?
Have they begun devoting time and energy to achieving their goals?

Debriefing: This activity is designed to make the students aware of their goals, the
relative importance of their values, and how their values relate to the values of others.
The discussion should also indicate to the students that goals must be worked for and
that they should start working to attain their goals immediately. Every day they waste
reduces their chances (the amount of money) of achieving the goal. The comparison of
value systems also establishes a basis on which to examine competition and conflict in
interpersonal communication. In chapter 10, there is further examination of the
importance of identifying values and accepting the values of others without evaluation.
Activity 1.17 TEN STATEMENTS

Objective: Students should be able to identify positive and negative aspects of their
self-images; to describe the relationship between self-image and self-esteem; and to
discuss the factors that influence the development of self-image and self-esteem.

Procedure: After a brief discussion in which you define self-image and self-esteem,
have the students write ten words or phrases that describe themselves. When they are
finished, ask for examples of the words and phrases they have written. Without labeling
the categories, write the words or phrases on the board in three columns: physical
characteristics, personality traits, and roles or relationships. When you have a
representative sample for each group, have the students discuss the elements common
to each column and ask them to identify each of the categories.

Then ask the students to write up to ten positive statements about themselves, listing
things of which they are proud. Give them two minutes to complete their lists. Then ask
them to write up to ten negative statements about themselves, listing things of which
they are not proud or that they would like to change. Again, allow two minutes. The
students should compare the number of items on each list and announce their results.
Have them also count the number of statements of both the positive and negative lists
that fit into the three categories of self-esteem listed on the chalkboard. Again, the
students should announce their results to the class.

In most cases, the first list of ten positive statements describing a student’s self-image
consists mostly of personality traits and roles, with few descriptions of physical
characteristics. The negative list, however, usually contains more statements about the
student’s physical and personality traits and a few statements about roles. The students
probably also will notice that they are able to make more negative than positive
statements about themselves in two minutes.

The discussion among the class should focus on the reasons for the results that were
obtained. The factors that affect the students ’ self-esteem probably include:
1. A superficial understanding of who they are; for example, they have not given
a great deal of thought to describing themselves to others.
2. Their self-concepts are formed through their interactions with others, and others
tend to describe them in terms of their personality.
 3. They tend to focus more on their negative aspects than on their positive aspects;
for example, it is socially more acceptable to describe ourselves negatively than it is to
brag.

Debriefing: This activity illustrates the components of self-concept. The students should
become more aware of their own self-images and self-esteem, as well as of the factors
that affect the formation and maintenance of self-concept.

Activity 1.18 HOW DO YOU BEHAVE WHEN . . .

Objective: Students should be able to describe their own behavior in relation to

different levels of self-esteem; to explain the influence of self-esteem on emotions and
behavior; and to discuss the role of verbal and nonverbal behavior in the expression of
emotions.

Procedure: Distribute the ―How Do You Behave When . . .‖ questionnaire that follows
to the students. They should complete the form individually and then discuss their
answers in groups of four or five.

How Do Yo u B e h a ve W hen…
Describe as specifically as you can the effect on (1) your language, (2) your facial
expression, (3) your posture and gestures, and (4) the way you dress when you are:

Nervous Carefree Cautious Friendly

Angry Bored Afraid Hostile
Disappointed Happy Sad Lonely
Affectionate Jealous Bold Tired

The students should focus on the similarities between their answers and the answers of
the others in their group. They should also try to determine what behavior is most
affected by emotion. In other words, what behavior best indicates or betrays that they
are emotional? Conversely, the students should realize what behavior of others best
indicates others’ emotional states. Most students indicate that facial expressions are
primarily indicative of their emotions in many situations.
A class discussion of the relationship between emotions and self-esteem should follow.
The students should discover that a person’s self-esteem is closely related to the
emotions that are most often experienced and that the ways in which we express
emotion are influenced by our self-acceptance.

Debriefing: This activity demonstrates the influence of self-esteem on emotions and,

consequently, on behavior. The activity focuses on verbal and nonverbal behavior
Activity 1.19 OINK LIKE A PIG

Objective: Students should be able to explain the relationship between self-concept and
behavior; to identify the effect of their self-concepts on their behavior; and to compare
their perception of risky behavior with the perceptions of the other students.

Procedure: Distribute the ―Oink Like a Pig‖ form that follows to each student. Have the
students work on it individually.

Oink Like a Pig

Assume that you are to perform each of the following tasks or activities in front of the class.
Number each of the tasks in descending order according to the degree of embarrassment
or discomfort it would cause you. Start with the most comfortable and make it 1; the
second, 2; and so on. Do not use the same number more than once.

A. Oink like a pig.

B. Walk on your hands.
C. Walk while balancing a book on your head.
D. Write ―I love you‖ on the board ten times.
E. Sing a song.
F. Dance.
G. Stand with your back to a person of the opposite sex and hold hands.
H. Crow like a rooster.
I. Talk nonstop for one minute.

When the class is finished, make a class ranking for each item and list the totals on the
board. Ask if anyone will volunteer to perform any of the activities. This can be a little
risky, and you may prefer to call on some relatively uninhibited student. If no one
volunteers, ask the class to perform some of the activities in unison. For example, the
entire class may oink like a pig, or everyone may sing a song.

The class should try to ascertain similarities in the activities that were ranked as most
comfortable or most embarrassing. Important factors such as risk, self-esteem,
selfconsciousness, supportiveness expected of peers, and peer pressure should be
discussed in relation to willingness to perform the tasks. If some of the students
performed some of the activities, ask if they felt as uncomfortable or as comfortable as
they had predicted. An important aspect of the discussion is to determine why the
students are unwilling to behave in unusual or unconventional ways. The students
should realize the extent to which their behavior is constrained by their self-concepts
and their concern about the reactions of others.

Debriefing: This activity illustrates the constraints imposed on our behavior by our
predictions of others’ reactions. Since self-concept is largely determined by our
perception of others’ attitudes toward us, this activity can be used to illustrate the
development and maintenance of self -esteem and self-image. Activity 1.20
IN THIS SITUATION I AM . . .

Objective: Students should be able to specify their personal self-images and selfesteem
in various situations; to discuss the relationship between their self-image and their self-
esteem in various situations; and to explain the concept of process as it relates to self-
concept.

Procedure: Have each student individually complete the ―In This Situation I Am . . .‖
form on the following page. After each student has completed the form, divide the
students into groups of four or five to discuss the responses. The groups should clarify
any answer or description that is unclear. As the students share their responses, have
them note any similar reactions to the situations. The students should also ascertain the
reasons for each of the responses.

The discussion of this activity with the class should focus on the relationship between
the students’ self-concept and behavior in a specific situation. The students usually
notice a wide divergence of responses to the same situations. They also notice their own
differing responses to different situations. The conclusion usually reached is that self-
concepts differ in different situations and that this difference affects behavior. Behavior is
also determined by social norms and peer pressure.
To illustrate the changing nature of the self even more dramatically, have the students
compare their current responses to responses they might have given last year or five
years ago. Self-concept varies not only with the situation, but also with time. The
students should realize that their self-concepts are not static and can be changed. They
should recognize the importance of identifying the situational exigencies that determine
the appropriateness of behavior. They should also realize that they must be able to
select behavior that is most appropriate for them and still be accepting of others whose
behavior may be different because of different self-concepts.

Debriefing: This activity illustrates the interdependence of situational factors,

selfconcept, and behavior. The process nature of self-concept is examined. Students
realize that people react differently to situations because of their self-concepts. The
activity also illustrates the acceptance of others and the factors that affect understanding
of others (chapter 2). You may want to explore specific interpersonal contexts and public
speaking situations as examples of situations that interact with our self-concepts.
 In This Situation I Am …

For each of the situations listed below, identify your self-image and self-esteem by
answering the corresponding questions. It may be helpful to think of a specific
experience that illustrates each of the situations. For example, for ―Party with Friends,‖
think of a party you recently attended.

My Behavior Family Dinner Blind Date Funeral Party with

Friends

Roles I played

I physically felt . . .

I emotionally felt . . .

People noticed my . . .

I was conscious of
my . . .

I was: (yes or no)

confident

secure

calm
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
 Chapter II.
At that time horses were used as a mode of conveyance so much
more than carriages, that almost every gentlewoman had her own
steed, and Miss Cochrane, being a skilful rider, was possessed of a
well-managed palfrey, on whose speed and other qualities she had
been accustomed to depend. On the morning after she had bid her
father farewell, long ere the inhabitants of Edinburgh were astir, she
found herself many miles on the road to the Borders. She had taken
care to attire herself in a manner which corresponded with the
design of passing herself off for a young serving-woman journeying
on a borrowed horse to the house of her mother in a distant part of
the country; and by only resting at solitary cottages, where she
generally found the family out at work, save perhaps an old woman
or some children, she had the good fortune, on the second day after
leaving Edinburgh, to reach in safety the abode of her old nurse, who
lived on the English side of the Tweed, four miles beyond the town of
Berwick. In this woman she knew she could place implicit
confidence, and to her, therefore, revealed her secret. She was
resolved, she said, to make an attempt to save her father’s life, by
stopping the postman, an equestrian like herself, and forcing him to
deliver up his bags, in which she expected to find the fatal warrant.
Singular as such a determination may appear in a delicate young
woman, especially if we consider that she was aware of the arms
always carried by the man to whose charge the mail was committed,
it is nevertheless an undoubted fact that such was her resolve. In
pursuance of this design, she had brought with her a brace of small
pistols, together with a horseman’s cloak tied up in a bundle, and
hung on the crutch of her saddle; and now borrowed from her nurse
the attire of her foster-brother, which, as he was a slight-made lad,
fitted her reasonably well.
At that period, all those appliances which at this day accelerate the
progress of the traveller were unknown, and the mail from London,
which now arrives in about ten hours, took eight days in reaching the
Scottish capital. Miss Cochrane thus calculated on a delay of sixteen
or seventeen days in the execution of her father’s sentence—a space
of time which she deemed amply sufficient to give a fair trial to the
treaty set on foot for his liberation. She had, by means which it is
unnecessary here to detail, possessed herself of the most minute
information with regard to the places at which the postmen rested on
their journey, one of which was a small public-house, kept by a
widow woman, on the outskirts of the little town of Belford. There
the man who received the bag at Durham was accustomed to arrive
about six o’clock in the morning, and take a few hours’ repose before
proceeding farther on his journey.[19] In pursuance of the plan laid
down by Miss Cochrane, she arrived at this inn about an hour after
the man had composed himself to sleep, in the hope of being able, by
the exercise of her wit and dexterity, to ease him of his charge.
19. Lest it should appear at issue with probability that the postman should
thus “take his ease at his inn,” it may be mentioned, as a fact defying all question,
that this official, at a period much later, used sometimes to dismount on a muir,
near the place here mentioned, and partake of a game at quoits, or other sports
which might be proceeding by the wayside.
Having put her horse into the stable, which was a duty that
devolved on the guests at this little change-house, from its mistress
having no ostler, she entered the only apartment which the house
afforded, and demanded refreshment.
“Sit down at the end of that table,” said the old woman, “for the
best I have to give you is there already; and be pleased, my bonnie
man, to make as little noise as ye can, for there’s ane asleep in that
bed that I like ill to disturb.”
Miss Cochrane promised fairly; and after attempting to eat some of
the viands, which were the remains of the sleeping man’s meal, she
asked for some cold water.
“What!” said the old dame, as she handed it to her; “ye are a water-
drinker, are ye? It’s but an ill custom for a change-house.”
“I am aware of that,” replied her guest; “and therefore, when in a
public-house, I always pay for it the price of the stronger potation,
which I cannot take.”
“Indeed!—well, that is but just,” said the landlady; “and I think the
more of you for such reasonable conduct.”
“Is the well where you get this water near at hand?” said the young
lady; “for if you will take the trouble to bring me some from it, as this
is rather warm, it shall be considered in the lawing.”
“It is a good bit off,” responded the landlady; “but I cannot refuse
to fetch some for such a civil, discreet lad, and will be as quick as I
can; but, for any sake, take care and don’t meddle with these pistols,”
she continued, pointing to a pair of pistols on the table, “for they are
loaded, and I am always terrified for them.”
Saying this, she disappeared; and Miss Cochrane, who would have
contrived some other errand for her, had the well been near, no
sooner saw the door shut, than she passed, with trembling eagerness,
and a cautious but rapid step, to the place where the man lay soundly
sleeping, in one of those close wooden bedsteads common in the
houses of the poor, the door of which was left half open to admit the
air, and which she opened still wider, in the hope of seeing the mail-
bag, and being able to seize upon it. But what was her dismay when
she beheld only a part of the integument which contained what she
would have sacrificed her life a thousand times to obtain, just
peeping out from below the shaggy head and brawny shoulders of its
keeper, who lay in such a position upon it as to give not the smallest
hope of its extraction without his being aroused from his nap.
A few bitter moments of observation served to convince her that
possession of this treasure must be obtained in some other way; and,
again closing the door of the bed, she approached the pistols, and
having taken them from the holsters, she as quickly as possible drew
the loading, which having secreted, she then returned them to their
cases, and resumed her seat at the foot of the table. She had barely
time to recover from the agitation into which the fear of the man’s
awakening during her recent occupation had thrown her, when the
old woman returned with the water; and having taken a draught, of
which she stood much in need, she settled her account much to her
landlady’s content, by paying for the water the price of a pot of beer.
Having then carelessly asked and ascertained how much longer the
other guest was likely to continue his sleep, she left the house, and
mounting her horse, set off at a trot, in a different direction from that
in which she had arrived.
Making a compass of two or three miles, she once more fell into
the high road between Belford and Berwick, where she walked her
horse gently on, awaiting the coming up of the postman. Though all
her faculties were now absorbed in one aim, and the thought of her
father’s deliverance still reigned supreme in her mind, yet she could
not help occasionally figuring to herself the possibility of her
tampering with the pistols being discovered, and their loading
replaced, in which case it was more than likely that her life would be
the forfeit of the act she meditated. A woman’s fears would still
intrude, notwithstanding all her heroism, and the glorious issue
which promised to attend the success of her enterprise. When she at
length saw and heard the postman advancing behind her, the strong
necessity of the case gave her renewed courage; and it was with
perfect coolness that, on his coming close up, she civilly saluted him,
put her horse into the same pace with his, and rode on for some way
in his company. He was a strong, thick-set fellow, with a good-
humoured countenance, which did not seem to Miss Cochrane, as
she looked anxiously upon it, to savour much of hardy daring. He
rode with the mail-bags (for there were two—one containing the
letters direct from London, and the other those taken up at the
different post-offices on the road) strapped firmly to his saddle in
front, close to the holsters. After riding a short distance together,
Miss Cochrane deemed it time, as they were nearly half-way between
Belford and Berwick, to commence her operations. She therefore
rode nearly close to her companion, and said, in a tone of
determination,—
“Friend, I have taken a fancy for those mail-bags of yours, and I
must have them; therefore, take my advice, and deliver them up
quietly, for I am provided for all hazards. I am mounted, as you see,
on a fleet steed; I carry firearms; and, moreover, am allied with those
who are stronger, though not bolder than myself. You see yonder
wood,” she continued, pointing to one at the distance of about a mile,
with an accent and air which was meant to carry intimidation with it;
“again, I say, take my advice; give me the bags, and speed back the
road you came for the present, nor dare to approach that wood for at
least two or three hours to come.”
There was in such language from a stripling something so
surprising that the man looked on Miss Cochrane for an instant in
silent and unfeigned amazement.
“If you mean, my young master,” said he, as soon as he found his
tongue, “to make yourself merry at my expense, you are welcome. I
am no sour churl to take offence at the idle words of a foolish boy.
But if,” he said, taking one of the pistols from the holster, and
turning its muzzle towards her, “ye are mad enough to harbour one
serious thought of such a matter, I am ready for you. But, methinks,
my lad, you seem at an age when robbing a garden or an old woman’s
fruit-stall would befit you better, if you must turn thief, than taking
his Majesty’s mails upon his own highway, from such a stout man as
I am. Be thankful, however, that you have met with one who will not
shed blood if he can help it, and sheer off before you provoke me to
fire.”
“Nay,” said his young antagonist, “I am not fonder of bloodshed
than you are; but if you will not be persuaded, what can I do? for I
have told you a truth, that mail I must and will have. So now
choose,” she continued, as she drew one of the small pistols from
under her cloak, and deliberately cocking it, presented it in his face.
“Then your blood be upon your own head,” said the fellow, as he
raised his hand, and fired his pistol, which, however, only flashed in
the pan. Dashing this weapon to the ground, he lost not a moment in
pulling out the other, which he also aimed at his assailant, and fired
with the same result. In a transport of rage and disappointment, the
man sprung from his horse, and made an attempt to seize her; but by
an adroit use of her spurs she eluded his grasp, and placed herself
out of his reach. Meanwhile his horse had moved forward some
yards, and to see and seize the advantage presented by this
circumstance was one and the same to the heroic girl, who, darting
towards it, caught the bridle, and having led her prize off about a
hundred yards, stopped while she called to the thunderstruck
postman to remind him of her advice about the wood. She then put
both horses to their speed, and on turning to look at the man she had
robbed, had the pleasure of perceiving that her mysterious threat
had taken effect, and he was now pursuing his way back to Belford.
Miss Cochrane speedily entered the wood to which she had
alluded, and tying the strange horse to a tree, out of all observation
from the road, proceeded to unfasten the straps of the mail. By
means of a sharp penknife, which set at defiance the appended locks,
she was soon mistress of the contents, and with an eager hand broke
open the Government dispatches, which were unerringly pointed out
to her by their address to the council in Edinburgh, and their
imposing weight and broad seals of office. Here she found not only
the warrant for her father’s death, but also many other sentences
inflicting different degrees of punishment on various delinquents.
These, however, it may be readily supposed, she did not then stop to
examine; she contented herself with tearing them into small
fragments, and placing them carefully in her bosom.
The intrepid girl now mounted her steed, and rode off, leaving all
the private papers as she had found them, imagining—what
eventually proved the case—that they would be discovered ere long,
from the hints she had thrown out about the wood, and thus reach
their proper places of destination. She now made all haste to reach
the cottage of her nurse, where, having not only committed to the
flames the fragments of the dreaded warrant, but also the other
obnoxious papers, she quickly resumed her female garments, and
was again, after this manly and daring action, the simple and
unassuming Miss Grizel Cochrane. Leaving the cloak and pistols
behind her, to be concealed by her nurse, she again mounted her
horse, and directed her flight towards Edinburgh, and by avoiding as
much as possible the high road, and resting at sequestered cottages,
as she had done before (and that only twice for a couple of hours
each time), she reached town early in the morning of the next day.
It must now suffice to say that the time gained by the heroic act
above related was productive of the end for which it was undertaken,
and that Sir John Cochrane was pardoned, at the instigation of the
king’s favourite counsellor, who interceded for him in consequence
of receiving a bribe of five thousand pounds from the Earl of
Dundonald. Of the feelings which on this occasion filled the heart of
his courageous and devoted daughter, we cannot speak in adequate
terms; and it is perhaps best at any rate to leave them to the
imagination of the reader. The state of the times was not such for
several years as to make it prudent that her adventure should be
publicly known; but after the Revolution, when the country was at
length relieved from persecution and danger, and every man was at
liberty to speak of the trials he had undergone, and the expedients by
which he had mastered them, her heroism was neither unknown nor
unapproved. Miss Cochrane afterwards married Mr Ker of Moriston,
in the county of Berwick; and there can be little doubt that she
proved equally affectionate and amiable as a wife, as she had already
been dutiful and devoted as a daughter.—Chambers’s Edinburgh
Journal.
 THE FATAL PRAYER.

The village of Gourock is situated on the shore of a fine bay, about

two miles from the town of Greenock. I was taken with the
pleasantness of its situation, when one day viewing it at a little
distance on the Greenock road, and sat down on the dyke by the
roadside to enjoy the prospect at my leisure.
Presently an elderly man, of a grave aspect and a maritime
appearance, passing slowly along the road, came and sat down near
the same place. I guessed him to be one of the better class of
fishermen, who had purchased, with the toil of his youth and his
manhood, a little breathing-time to look about him in the evening of
his days, ere the coming of night. After the usual salutations, we fell
into discourse together, and I found him to be a man who had looked
well about him in his pilgrimage, and reasoned on things and
feelings—not living as the brutes that perish. After a pause in the
conversation, he remarked, to my thinking, in a disjointed manner—
“Is it not strange, sir, that the thoughts that sometimes come into
the brain of a man sleeping or waking—like a wind that blows across
his bosom, coming he knows not whence, and going he knows not
whither—leave behind them an impression and a feeling, and
become the springs of human action, and mingle in the thread of
human destiny?”
“Strange, indeed,” said I. “What you say has more than once
occurred to me; but being unable to reason satisfactorily on the
subject, I set down altogether such ideas as having no better
foundation than the fears and superstitions of the ignorant. But it
seems to me that your remark, though of a general nature, must have
been made in mental reference to some particular thing; and I would
fain crave to know what it is.”
 “You are right,” said he; “I was thinking at the moment of
something which has sat, for some days past, like a millstone on my
mind: and I will tell it to you with pleasure.”
So I edged myself closer to him on the stones, that I might hear the
better; and without more ado he began to discourse as follows:
“About six months ago, a wedding took place in the village, and a
more comely and amiable couple never came together. Mr Douglas,
though the son of a poor man, had been an officer in the army,—an
ensign, I believe,—and when his regiment was disbanded, he came to
live here on his half-pay, and whatever little else he might have.
Jeanie Stuart at the time was staying with an uncle, one of our own
folk, her parents having both been taken away from her; and she
made up, as far as she could, for her board, by going in the summer
season to sew in the families that come from the great towns for the
sea-bathing. So gentle she was, and so calm in her deportment, and
so fair to look on withal, that even these nobility of the loom and the
sugar-hogshead thought it no dishonour to have her among them;
and unconsciously, as it were, they treated her just as if she had been
of the same human mould with themselves.
“Well, they soon got acquainted,—our Jeanie and Mr Douglas,—
and drew kindly together; and the end of it was they were married.
They lived in a house there, just beyond the point that you may see
forms the opposite angle of the bay, not far from a place called
Kempock; and Mr Douglas just employed himself, like any of us, in
fishing and daundering about, and mending his nets, and such like.
Jeanie was the happy woman now, for she had aye a mind above the
commonality; and, I am bold to say, thought her stay long enough
among these would-be gentry, where she sat many a wearisome day
for no use, and would fain have retired from their foolishness into
the strength and greenness of her own soul. But now she had a
companion and an equal, and indeed a superior; for Mr Douglas had
seen the world, and had read both books and men, and could wile
away the time in discoursing of what he had seen and heard tell of in
foreign lands, among strange people and unknown tongues. And
Jeanie listened, and listened, and thought her husband the first of
mankind. She clung to him as the honeysuckle clings to the tree: his
pleasure was her pleasure—his sorrow was her sorrow—his bare
word was her law.
 “One day, about two weeks ago, she appeared dull and dispirited,
and complained of a slight headache; on which Mr Douglas advised
her to go to bed and rest herself awhile; which she said she would do;
and having some business in the village he went out. On coming
back, however, in the forenoon, he found her just in the same spot,
leaning her head on her hand; but she told him she was better, and
that it was nothing at all. He then began to get his nets ready, saying
he was going out with some lads of the village to the deep-sea fishing,
and would be back the next day. She looked at him, but said nothing;
long and strangely she looked, as if wondering what he was doing,
and not understanding anything that was going on. But finally when
he came to kiss her and bid her good-bye, she threw her arms round
him, and when he would have gone she held him fast, and her bosom
heaved as if her heart would break; but still she said nothing.
“‘What can be the matter with you, Jeanie?’ said Mr Douglas.
“‘Stay with me to-day,’ said she at last; ‘depart not this night, just
this one night—it is not much to ask—to-morrow you may go where
you please, and I will not be your hindrance a moment.’
“But Mr Douglas was vexed at such folly, and she could answer
nothing to his questions, except that a thought had come into her
head, and she could not help it. So he was resolved to go, and kissing
her fondly, he threw his nets on his shoulders and went away.
“For some minutes after his departure Jeanie did not move from
the spot, but stood looking at the door whence he had gone out, and
then began to tremble all over like the leaf of a tree. At length,
coming to herself with a start, she knelt down, and throwing back her
hair from her forehead, turned her face up towards heaven, and
prayed with a loud voice to the Almighty, that she ‘might have her
husband in her arms that night.’ For some moments she remained
motionless and silent in the same attitude, till at length a sort of
brightness, resembling a calm smile, passed over her countenance
like a gleam of sunshine on the smooth sea, and bending her head
low and reverently, she rose up. She then went as usual about her
household affairs, and appeared not anything discomposed, but as
tranquil and happy as if nothing had happened.
“Now the weather was fine and calm in the morning, but towards
the afternoon it came on to blow; and indeed the air had been so
sultry all day, that the seafarers might easily tell there would be a
racket of the elements before long. As the wind, however, had been
rather contrary, it was supposed that the boats could not have got far
enough out to be in the mischief, but would put back when they saw
the signs in the sky. But in the meantime the wind increased, till
towards night it blew as hard a gale as we have seen in these parts for
a long time. The ships out there, at the Tail of the Bank, were driven
from their moorings, and two of them stranded on their beam ends
on the other side; every stick and stitch on the sea made for any port
they could find; and as the night came on in darkness and thunder, it
was a scene that might cow even hearts that had been brought up on
the water as if it was their proper element, and been familiar with the
voice of the tempest from their young days. There was a sad
lamenting and murmuring then, among the women folk especially—
them that were kith or kin to the lads on the sea; and they went to
one another’s houses in the midst of the storm and the rain, and put
in their pale faces through the darkness, as if searching for hope and
comfort, and drawing close to one another like a flock of frightened
sheep in their fellowship of grief and fear. But there was one who
stirred not from her house, and who felt no terror at the shrieking of
the night-storm, and sought for no comfort in the countenance of
man—and that was the wife of Mr Douglas. She sometimes, indeed,
listened to the howling of the sea that came by fits on her ear like the
voice of the water-kelpie, and starting would lay down her work for a
moment; but then she remembered the prayer she had prayed to
Him who holds the reins of the tempest in His hands, and who says
to the roaring waters, ‘Be still,’ and they are still—and the glorious
balm she had felt to sink into her heart at that moment of high and
holy communion, even like the dew of heaven on a parched land. So
her soul was comforted, and she said to herself, ‘God is not a man
that He can lie;’ and she rested on His assurance as on a rock, and
laughed to scorn the tremblings of her woman’s bosom. For why?
The anchor of her hope was in heaven, and what earthly storm was
so mighty as to remove it? Then she got up, and put the room in
order, and placed her husband’s slippers to air at the fireside; and
stirred up the fuel, and drew in the arm-chair for her weary and
storm-beaten mariner. Then would she listen at the door, and look
out into the night for his coming; but she could hear no sound save
the voice of the waters, and the roar of the tempest, as it rushed
along the deep. She re-entered the house, and walked to and fro in
the room with a restless step, but an unblenched cheek.
“At last the neighbours came to her house, knowing that her
husband was one of those who had gone out that day, and told her
that they were going to walk down towards the Clough, even in the
mirk hour, to try if they could not hear some news of the boats. So
she went with them, and we all walked together along the road—
women and men, it might be, some twenty or thirty of us. But it was
remarked, that though she came not hurriedly nor in fear, yet she
had not even thrown her cloak on her shoulders, to defend her from
the night air, but came forth with her head uncovered, and in her
usual raiment of white, like a bride to the altar. As we passed along, it
must have been a strange sight to see so many pale faces by the red
glare of the torches they carried, and to hear so many human
wailings filling up the pauses of the storm; but at the head of our
melancholy procession there was a calm heart and a firm step, and
they were Jeanie’s. Sometimes, indeed, she would look back, as some
cry of womanish foreboding from behind would smite on her ear,
and strange thoughts would crowd into her mind; and once she was
heard to mutter—if her prayer had but saved her husband to bind
some other innocent victim to the mysterious altar of wrath! And she
stopped for a moment, as if in anguish at the wild imagination.
“But now as we drew nearer the rocks where the lighthouse is
built, sounds were heard distinctly on the shore, and we waved the
torches in the air, and gave a great shout, which was answered by
known voices—for they were some of our own people—and our
journey was at an end. A number of us then went on before, and
groped our way among the rocks as well as we could in the darkness;
but a woful tale met our ear; for one of the boats had been shattered
to pieces while endeavouring to land there, and when he went down
they were just dragging the body of a comrade, stiff and stark, from
the sea. When the women behind heard of this, there was a terrible
cry of dismay, for no one knew but it might be her own husband, son,
or brother; and some who carried lights dropped them from fear, and
others held them trembling to have the terrors of their hearts
confirmed.
“There was one, however, who stood calm and unmoved by the
side of the dead body. She spoke some words of holy comfort to the
women, and they were silent at her voice. She then stepped lightly
forward, and took a torch from the trembling hand that held it, and
bent down with it beside the corpse. As the light fell one moment on
her own fair face, it showed no signs of womanish feeling at the sight
and touch of mortality; a bright and lovely bloom glowed on her
cheek, and a heavenly lustre beamed in her eye; and as she knelt
there, her white garments and long dark hair floating far on the
storm, there was that in her look which drew the gaze even of that
terrified group from the object of their doubt and dread. The next
moment the light fell on the face of the dead—the torch dropped
from her hand, and she fell upon the body of her husband! Her
prayer was granted. She held her husband in her arms that night,
and although no struggles of parting life were heard or seen, she died
on his breast.”
When the fisherman had concluded his story—and after some
observations were made by us both, touching the mysterious
warning, joined with a grateful acknowledgment that the stroke of
death might be as often dealt in mercy as in wrath—we shook hands;
and asking one another’s names, as it might so fortune that we
should once more, in the course of our earthly pilgrimage, be within
call of one another, the old man and I parted, going each his several
way.—Literary Melange.
GLENMANNOW, THE STRONG HERDSMAN.

By William Bennet.

Duke James of Queensberry, like others of our nobility and gentry,

resided during a part of the year in London; and on one of his visits
to the metropolis, he and a party of friends happened to have a
match at discus, or, as it is more commonly called, “putting the
stone.” Several adepts happened to be of the party, who boasted
much of their superior strength and adroitness, and after making one
of their best throws, offered to stake a large sum that not one of their
companions knew of or could find a person to match it.
“The throw is certainly a good one,” said the Duke of Queensberry;
“yet I think it were easy to find many champions of sufficient muscle
to show us a much better. I myself have a homely unpractised
herdsman in Scotland, on whose head I will stake the sum you
mention, that he shall throw the quoit fully two yards over the best of
you.”
“Done! produce your man!” was the reply of all; and the duke
accordingly lost no time in dispatching a letter to one of his servants
at Drumlanrig, ordering him to set out immediately on its receipt for
Glenmannow, and to come with honest John M‘Call to London
without delay.
The duke’s letter with Glenmannow was not less absolute than the
order of an emperor. He wondered, but never thought of demurring;
and without any further preparation than clothing himself in his
Sunday’s suit, and giving Mally his wife a few charges about looking
to the hill in his absence, he assumed his large staff, and departed
with the servant for “Lunnun.”
 On his arrival, the duke informed him of the purpose for which he
had been sent, and desired that on the day, and at the hour
appointed, he should make his appearance along with one of his
servants, who knew perfectly the back streets and by-lanes of
London, and who, after he should have decided the bet, would
conduct him immediately in safety from the ground, as it was not
improbable that his appearance and performance might attract a
crowd and lead to unpleasant consequences. When the day arrived,
the party assembled and proceeded to the ground, where, to the
duke’s surprise, though not to his terror, his crafty opponents chose a
spot directly in front of a high wall, and at such a distance that the
best of their party should pitch the quoit exactly to the foot of it; so
that their antagonist, to make good the duke’s boast of “two yards
over them,” should be obliged to exceed them those two yards in
height, instead of straight forward distance. This implied such an
effort as amounted in their minds to a physical impossibility; and as
the duke, from having neglected to specify the particular nature of
the ground, could not legally object to this advantage, they looked
upon the victory as already their own.
The quoit chosen was a large ball of lead, and already had the
champion of the party tossed it to the wall, and demanded of the
duke to produce the man appointed to take it up. His grace’s servant,
who fully comprehended the instructions given to him, entered at
this crisis with the ‘buirdly’ and, to them, uncouth Glenmannow. His
appearance attracted no small notice, and even merriment; but the
imperturbable object of it regarded the whole scene with the
indifference peculiar to his character; and, with his mind fixed only
upon the great end for which he was there, requested to be shown the
quoit, and the spots from which and to where it had been thrown.
This demand was soon complied with, and while he assumed his
station, with the quoit in his hand, the duke whispered in his ear the
deception which had been practised, and urged him to exert his
whole force in order to render it unavailing.
“Will you throw off your coat? It will give you more freedom,” said
his Grace in conclusion.
“My coat! Na, na; nae coats aff wi’ me for this silly affair,” replied
he. “I thocht it had been some terrible I throw or ither that thae
chaps had made, when I was ca’ed for a’ the way to Lunnun to see to
gang ayont them; but if this be a’, I wadna hae meaned ye to hae
done’t yoursel.” Then poising the ball for a little in his hand, and
viewing it with an air of contempt, “There!” said he, tossing it
carelessly from him into the air, “he that likes may gang and fetch it
back.”
The ball, as if shot from the mouth of a cannon, flew on in a
straight line completely over the wall, and alighted on the roof of a
house at some distance beyond it. Its weight and velocity forced it
through the tiles, and with a crash which immediately caused the
house to be evacuated by its inmates, it penetrated also the garret
floor, and rolled upon that of the next storey. An instantaneous
hubbub ensued,—the party staring at each other in silence, and the
crowd swearing it was the devil! but the servant knew his duty, and
in a twinkling Glenmannow was no longer amongst them.
His Grace, after paying for the damage done to the house,
conducted the whole party to his residence, there to discharge their
forfeit, and to gaze upon the prodigy by whom they were vanquished.
Glenmannow was well rewarded for his trouble and loss of time in
journeying to London; and, over and above the immediate bounty of
his Grace, he returned to his honest Mally with a discharge for one
year’s rent of the farm in his pocket.
One summer, during his Grace’s residence at Drumlanrig, his
friend the Duke of Buccleuch, who was at that time colonel of a
regiment of fencibles, happened to be passing between Dumfries and
Sanquhar with a company of his grenadiers; and having made
Thornhill a station for the night, he went and billeted himself upon
his Grace of Queensberry, by whom he was received with a hearty
welcome. The two friends deeming one night’s intercourse too short,
and Buccleuch’s marching orders not being peremptory in regard to
time, it was agreed between them that they should spend the two
succeeding days together, and that the soldiers, during that period,
should be distributed among the tenantry around the castle.
Buccleuch, though a personal stranger to Glenmannow, was no
stranger to his fame; and it was contrived between them, that a few
of the grenadiers should be dispatched to beat up his quarters, and
endeavour to force themselves upon him as his guests. Six of the
stoutest were accordingly selected for this purpose, and after being
told the character of the person to whom they were sent, and the joke
which was intended to follow it, they received a formal billet, and set
out for their destination. Their orders were to enter the house in a
seemingly rough manner, to find fault with everything, to quarrel
with Glenmannow, and endeavour, if possible, to overpower and
bind him; but not on any account to injure either his person or
effects in even the slightest degree. The soldiers, their commander
knew, were arch fellows, and would acquit themselves in the true
spirit of their instructions.
In those days few roads, excepting footpaths,—and those
frequently too indistinctly marked to be traced by a stranger,—
existed in the interior parts of the country. The soldiers, therefore,
experienced no small difficulty in marshalling their way around the
slope of the huge Cairnkinnow, in evading bogs and brakes, leaping
burns and march dykes, and in traversing all the heights and hollows
which lay between them and their secluded bourne. But the toils of
their journey were more than compensated by the pleasures of it, for
the pilgrim must possess little of either fancy or feeling, who could
wander without delight amid the wild scenery of that mountainous
district. When the top of Glenquhargen is reached, and the bottom of
the Glen of Scaur is beheld far, far beneath your feet; when the little
river, which gives to the glen its name, is seen, descending from the
hills, like an infant commencing the journey of life, into the long level
holm which spreads its bosom to receive it; when, after descending,
the eyes are cast around on its amphitheatre of Alpine hills, arrayed
in “the brightness of green,” and on the clouds that slumber, or the
mists that curl along their summits; and when the head is thrown
backward to contemplate the rocky peak of Glenquhargen, with the
hawk, the gled, and the raven whirling, screaming, and croaking
around it, that individual were dull and despicable indeed whose
spirit would not fly forth and mingle, and identify itself, as it were,
with the grand and the beautiful around him.
In a truly picturesque situation, on the side of one of the most
northern of those hills, the soldiers beheld the house of
Glenmannow. It was a low, thatchroofed building, with a peat-stack
leaning against one gable, and what might well be denominated a
hut, which served for barn, byre, and stable, attached to the other;
while a short way farther up the hill stood a round bucht, in which,
upon occasion, the sturdy tenant was in the habit of penning his
flock. A more modern structure has now been reared in the
immediate vicinity of Glenmannow’s domicile; yet in the beginning
of the present century some vestiges of the ancient one were still
remaining.
It was nearly noon when the party arrived in the “door-step;” yet at
that late hour they found Mally busied in making a quantity of milk
porridge for her own and her husband’s breakfast, who had not yet
returned from his morning visit to the hill. The appearance of
soldiers in so sequestered a spot was to her a matter of scarcely less
surprise than was that of the Spaniards to the simple Indians, on
their first landing upon the shores of the New World. Soldiers, too,
are generally objects of terror in such places, where their names are
associated in the minds of the peasantry only with ideas of
oppression and of slaughter; and at the period referred to, this
feeling was in much greater force than at present. Poor Mally
endeavoured as much as possible to conceal her fears and
embarrassment, and with all the politeness she was mistress of,
desired the party to be seated. Her artifice, however, was far from
equalling their penetration: they soon remarked her timorous side—
glances and hesitating manner, as she walked backward and forward
through the house; and they therefore resolved to divert themselves a
little by working upon her prejudices.
“That bayonet of mine,” said one of the fellows, “will never be as
clear again, I am afraid. The blood of that old herd, whom we did
away with as we came, sticks confoundedly to it.”
Mally was at this moment dishing the porridge in two goans, one
for herself and another for John, and on hearing this horrible
annunciation, she made a dead pause, and letting go the foot of the
pot, suffered it to fall to its perpendicular with a bang which forced
the cleps out of her hand, and precipitated the whole, with a large
quantity of undished porridge, to the floor.
“If we do any more such tricks to-day,” continued another wag, “I
shall wipe mine well before the blood dries upon it, and then it will
not rust as yours has done.”
Mally, regardless of the porridge she had spilt, now stepped with
cautious, but quick and trembling steps to the door. Before she had
reached the threshold—
 “Come,” cried the soldier who had thus spoken, “let us taste this
food which the mistress has been preparing. Good woman, return
and give us spoons. No flinching! We won’t harm you, unless you
provoke us to it. Why do you hesitate? Are you unwilling to part with
your victuals? By my faith! the walk we have had this morning has
given us such appetites, that if you are not active, we shall have a
slice off yourself!”
“O mercy!” cried Mally, staring wildly, “hae patience a wee, an I’se
gie ye ocht that’s in the house; but dinna meddle wi’ that goanfu’ o’
porridge, I beseech ye. They’re our John’s; and if he comes frae the
hill, and finds them suppet, he’ll brain some o’ ye, as sure as I’m
livin’.”
She then made for the cupboard, and began to draw from thence
bread, butter, and cheese; but the rogues, on hearing that John was
so partial to his porridge, deemed this opportunity of arousing his ire
too favourable to be lost, and they therefore insisted on being
accommodated with spoons in order to “scart the coggie.” Mally was
obliged reluctantly to hand each a spoon from the wicker-creel which
hung in the corner, and the six fellows were just in the act of
devouring the contents of the goan, when honest Glenmannow made
his appearance.
“What’s a’ this?” were his first words, on entering and perceiving
such a bevy of red-coats.
“Why, honest man, we have got a billet upon you,” said one of
them.
“A billet! Wha frae?”
“From the Duke of Queensberry, with whom our colonel, the Duke
of Buccleuch, is stopping at present. We are just arrived; it was a
deuced long walk; we were very hungry, and are just making free
with your breakfast, until something better be prepared for us.”
“Ye’re makin’ mair free than welcome, I doubt, my lads. I hae nae
objection, since our juke has sent ye, to gie ye a nicht’s quarters, an’
to let ye live on the best we can afford; but I think ye micht hae haen
mair mense than to fa’ on my parritch that way, like a wheen collies.”
“Like what? Hold your peace, sir,” thundered the whole at once.
“We are upon the king’s service, and have a right to what we please,
wherever we are billeted.”
 “For a’ sakes, John, let them alane!” cried Mally, who saw the
tempest that was gathering on her husband’s brow. “We hae plenty o’
meal in the house, and canna be mickle the waur o’ what they’ll tak
for ae day an’ nicht. Ye’se get something else to your breakfast
directly.” Then she went close to his side, and whispered into his ear
the fearful conversation she had heard. Glenmannow, though he
never knew what it was to fear, was of a disposition too quiet and
mild not to be easily pacified, and the soldiers saw with regret his
looks beginning to brighten under the influence of Mally’s eloquence.
“Egad! there’s a fine calf before the window,” cried one of them,
whom a new thought had opportunely struck; “Tom, go out and put a
ball through it. We shall have a fine roast of veal, if this old lady
knows how to manage it.”
“Ye’ll hae a fine roast deevil!” roared Glenmannow, now provoked
beyond sufferance; “I’ll gie ye” ——
“Down, down with him!” cried the whole party at once, springing
up, and endeavouring to surround him. But in this they resembled a
posse of mastiffs attacking some lordly bull, which the enraged
animal shakes from his sides and tramples in the dust. In one instant
Glenmannow’s plaid was flung from him upon the bed; his staff also,
which was too long for use at such close quarters, was relinquished,
and seizing by the collar and thigh the first of the fellows who
attacked him, he used him against the others, both as a weapon and
shield, with such fury and effect, that they were all glad to provide for
their safety by an instant retreat. Fortunately for them, the door
chanced to be open, so that they reached the bent with comparatively
little injury. But the poor fellow who was trussed in Glenmannow’s
grasp, and dashed against this and the other of them with such
violence, had his body beaten almost to a mummy, and kept howling
and calling for mercy in a most lamentable manner. By
Glenmannow, however, he was totally unheard, until, on rushing to
the door, his eye chanced to fall upon one of his own cars placed on
end, and leaning against the side of the house. Tossing the soldier
from him upon the grass, he immediately seized this rude vehicle,
and, wrenching from it a limb, cast the huge weapon upon his
shoulder, and bounded off in pursuit of his enemies.
By this time the soldiers had gained a hundred yards in advance,
and were stretching away like greyhounds toward the summit of