Luckily for these unfortunate forgottens, New Year is approaching, a time when, despite the intuitions of the calendar, our thoughts often turn to the past.

In a message to NR staff on August 14, Haines said: "It's not just Scotland impacted by extreme wet weather. This week we have seen, and will continue to see, heavy rain fall. This has caused washouts and landslips across the length and breadth of Great Britain.

Near this cavern there was a hut for absolute magnetic observations, and on a small hill above, on which was a flag-staff, were the meteorological instruments.

He himself had scratted in the thin dust of evangelical tracts.