From 8-year old Hilda’s diary:
Miss Cashen asked us if we knew what Scotland was famous for. Wesley said that he knew, that they were famous for stingy people. Miss Cashen was angry and said that they were not stingy, they were thrifty and there is a big difference. She said that the soil in Scotland is hard and rocky and the weather is nearly always nasty and they don’t have a lot of tender grass to give the cows and that the cows can’t give quantities of milk and all is in short supply. The people have to work hard for every single thing and therefore they know how important it is not to spend their money for silly things like candy and toys. She asked if there was a single child in the room who ever earned their money. I raised my hand and said that I had and I told them about how I caught the fleas and bugs and told them how I was going to buy my own Christmas presents with the money I earned. Wesley said that he gets twenty-five cents a week for watering the garden and Will says that he gets twenty-five cents a week for keeping everyone’s shoes polished and Antoinette said that she doesn’t get a salary but that she gets five cents every time she runs an errand. Miss Cashen said that she must apologize to us because we were much more industrious than she imagined.
Then she said that she wanted to tell us more about Scotland. Margaret said that she knew a lot about Scotland and she told us that the people wore plaid skirts and other plaid clothes and that they ate scones which were delicious cakes served with thick cream and jam and that Robert Louis Stevenson was born in Scotland. Miss Cashen said that she was so pleased that Margaret remembered about Robert Louis Stevenson, and then she scowled at Wesley and said why didn’t he think of him instead of stingy people. She told us that there was another Robert who wrote beautiful poetry who also came from Scotland and his name is Robert Burns. She said that there is a beautiful poem about a field mouse and she knew that we would all love it very much. Would we like her to read it to us? We all said, “Please, please,” so she did and it was truly a beautiful poem…
Robert Burns tells the mouse he is sorry that he disturbed her nest, he did it accidentally, he didn’t mean to. It sounds as if he is really petting and kissing the poor little mouse. It makes you want to cry.
I guess Ireland is also nice and that is where we went next, but we didn’t stay there very long because school was dismissed early. All we learned about it is that the Irish people believe in fairies. An Irish fairy is called a leprechaun. They also have a wonderful saint and his name is St. Patrick and he is famous because he killed a lot of snakes. The Irish people have a funny way of talking, more like singing the language and they dance to the tune of a Jig. I saw some children dance it when I went to Lizzie’s church party. The Irish people have red hair, not all of them, but a lot of them and the red-haired people have bad tempers. They all love the color green and they wear it often and the four-leaf clover is their good luck charm. They call their country “The Emerald Isle” because it is so fresh and green and beautiful.
Click on the link to hear the poem “To A Mouse” read by Sir William "Billy" Connolly.