When I had first come to the Hebrides Morag, my landlady had advised me always to take a rope - in case. Over and over I had proved its usefulness. I mnight need it to catch a calf or a can of paraffin from the grocer; to tie a bundle of driftwood I had collected, or a sack of peat; to secure a boat; make a temporary repair to a sagging fence or a halter for a horse.