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Chapter 1, Good Scoochers, Chapter 2, Near Drowning

• John Muir was born in Scotland on April 21, 1838.

• Muir was an adventurous child, participating in many risky activities and games, which he refers to as "scootchers." One of his favorite play areas was Old Dunbar Castle.

• Most Scottish children believed in ghosts at this time, and a servant girl told John and the other children the ghost of the physician who once owned the Muir's house still haunted it.

• After being tucked into bed, the children played a "scootcher" by going into the ghost room.

• Another scootcher involved climbing the roof.
• Chapter 2 begins in 1849.

• Daniel Muir, John's tyrannical father, is introduced. Daniel took the family into the Wisconsin wilderness to Fountain Lake.

• He employed his eight children (sons and daughters) to work seventeen hours a day, growing wheat and corn that was then sold to support missionaries.

• Recreation was alien to Daniel...

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