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NOTES AND SKETCHES

ILLUSTRATIVE OF

NORTHERN RURAL LIFE

IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.

AND SKETCHES

ILLUSTRATIVE OF

NORTHERN RURAL LIFE

EIGHTEENTH CENTUEY

BY THE AUTHOR OF

JOHNNY GIBB OF GUSHETN

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EDINBURGH
DAVID DOUGLAS

1877

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PRINTED AT THE FREE PRESS OFFICE,

PREFACE.

THE NOTES AND SKETCHES of which the present small
volume consists have not been written upon any systematic
plan. The nucleus of the whole was a paper read several
years ago before an audience of decent country folks, who,
it was thought, might listen with some interest to matters
connected with the social and industrial life of those who
had preceded them, and lived under conditions as to occu-
pation and the daily round of duty, corresponding as nearly
as might be with their own. The object in view then met
with at least the'amount of success that had been expected ;
and the paper with variations — or rather, perhaps, part of it
with additions — was, at intervals, repeated to other similar
audiences. And thus the essay grew in bulk. The style is
admittedly not altogether that which would have been
adopted had publication been in view at the outset, the
paper having been shaped mainly to suit the original pur-
pose for which the materials were gathered. The sources
of information were various, and are generally indicated
in the text. Of the books chiefly consulted a list has been
given in the Appendix (1) in preference to an excessive
multiplication of foot notes. And it occasionally happens

VI PREFACE.

that a statement made, or an opinion expressed, is the
result of a comparison of two or more authorities rather
than the unqualified averment of a single individual.

In acknowledging his obligations to several friends who
have supplied information on particular points, the author
feels it right to say that he has been specially indebted to
Mr. Alexander Cruickshank, M.A., whose unwearied in-
dustry in the collection of facts and statistics is not more
marked than his unselfish readiness to make his stores of
knowledge available to others.

The sketch of a twelve oxen plough, which forms the
frontispiece, is from the skilful and accurate pencil of Mr.
Andrew Gibb, F.S.A., Scot. ; and was taken from the
specimen in Marischal College Buildings mentioned at
page 33. The beam remained entire at date of drawing ;
the stilts, &c , had to be somewhat helped out from the
parts of them still extant, and a certain measure of tra-
ditional knowledge. And as the plough is drawn to scale,
readers interested in such matters, and who care to do so,
will be able to compare its size and the proportion of parts
with those of the improved plough of the present time.

ABERDEEN, April, 1877.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER. PAGE.

I. INTRODUCTORY — STAGNATION OF AGRICULTURE DURING

THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY, 1

II. TOPOGRAPHICAL AND SOCIAL, 7

III. RURAL OCCUPATION— OLD LAND MEASURES, . . 13

IV. CULTIVATION OF THE SOIL, 1700-1800, ... 19

V. FIRST IMPROVERS —AN EARLY AGRICULTURAL ESSAY, . 24

VI. IMPLEMENTS OF THE FARM — THE TWAL OWSEN PLOUGH, 32
VII. RESULTS OF CULTIVATION— PERIODS OF FAMINE, . 41

VIII. THE BAD HARVEST OF 1782 — EFFECTS IN TOWN AND

COUNTY OF ABERDEEN, 48

IX. LIVE STOCK — EARLY IMPROVERS — HIGHLAND REIVERS, 60

X. LIVE STOCK— CATTLE DEALING AND DROVING, . . 68

XI. COUNTRY FAIRS — THEIR ORIGIN AND CHARACTER, . 77

XII. ROADS AND ROAD-MAKING— STATUTE ' LABOUR— FIRST

TURNPIKES, 83

XIII. IMPROVED LOCOMOTION — THE EDINBURGH FLY —

SCORGIE'S CARAVAN, 92

XIV. EARLY AGRICULTURAL IMPROVERS IN ABERDEEN AND

KINCARDINESHIRES, 101

XV. CHARLES RACKET OF INVERAMSAY, . . . .108
XVI. AN AGRICULTURAL TOUR— ANDREW WIGHT, SURVEYOR—

DR. JAMES ANDERSON, 116

XVII. DOMESTIC LIFE AND SOCIAL HABITS — DRESS — FOOD —

DRINK 127

XVIII. DOMESTIC INDUSTRIES AND OUT-DOOR LABOUR, . . 134

Vlll CONTENTS.

CHAPTER. PAGE.

XIX. THE MILL AND THE MILLER — THIRLAGE— FETCHING

HOME THE MILLSTONE— MULTURES, . . . .146
XX. CRAFTSMEN, ITINERANT AND OTHER— JOCK YOUNG

AND TIB DOO, 154

XXI. VAGRANT LIFE— FLETCHER OF SALTOUN's OPINIONS-
TIBBIE CAMPBELL, 162

XXII. POPULAR AMUSEMENTS— COCK-FIGHTING— FOOT-BALL—

WAD-SHOOTING, 172

XXIII. SMUGGLING, LOWLAND AND HIGHLAND — PHILIP KEN-

NEDY THE SMUGGLER — MALCOLM GILLESPIE THE
GAUGER, 182

XXIV. THE PROPHET OF BETHELNIE — STATE OF MEDICAL

PRACTICE— SUPERSTITIOUS BELIEFS, ... . .192

XXV. THE KIRK-SESSION AND ITS DUTIES — LAYING A GHOST —

TIBBIE MORTIMER AND GEORDIE WATT, ... 200
XXVI. IN CONCLUSION — SUMMARY, SOCIAL, MORAL, AND

RELIGIOUS, 208

APPENDIX, . .215

NOTES AND SKETCHES,

ILLUSTRATIVE OF

NOETHEEN EUEAL LIFE IN THE
EIGHTEENTH CENTUEY.

INTRODUCTORY GENERAL STAGNATION OF AGRICULTURE

DURING THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURT.

IN the annals of Scottish agriculture, and specially of
agriculture as it concerned that limited district in the
north-eastern part of Scotland to which the jottings
that follow will be chiefly confined, the eighteenth
century was, throughout almost its whole course, a
period of remarkable stagnation. It opened inaus-
piciously, in so far as the close of the preceding century
had been marked by a series of very ungenial seasons,
which brought with them disastrously deficient harvests,
and want of food, amounting in many parts to absolute
famine. The method of tillage, too, had seen no im-
provement from time immemorial ; and as a natural
consequence of this, the land, even in ordinary seasons,
had in many cases come to yield not more, but less than
it had yielded in the time that had gone before. The
system pursued was one of exhaustion, and the cultivated
part of the soil was to a large extent getting quite worn
out. The native cattle were small, ill-grown animals ;
and they were correspondingly ill fed.

The spirit of enterprise was not yet abroad. For the

first thirty years of the century, that is from 1700 to

1730, "the medium price of lands sold in the county

of Aberdeen did not," we are told, " exceed sixteen

2

2 Notes and Sketches.

years' purchase of the then low rents." It was not
always that the lairds could find tenants willing to
" keep in the rigs " at a merely nominal rent, until
resort was had to the practice of stocking farms as
occasion required on " steelbow," a technical term, the
signification of which was that the landlord provided
a " stocking " of cattle, corn, and implements, and the
tenant became hound to return to him articles equal in
quantity and quality at the end of his lease, if he could
not free himself sooner. A man, if he were so minded,
might readily obtain a "tack " on very easy terms, so
far as a money or other payment was concerned \ and
that tack to last not for his own lifetime only, but for
the period of one or two lives thereafter of such persons
as he chose to name.

And small in amount as the money payments to
rental were, they were not always, nor indeed generally,
made off the produce of the land. It was chiefly
through the manufacture of home-spun cloths, and the
knitting of stockings for exportation that money came
into the hands of the smaller tenants, sub-tenants, and
cottar folks ; and it was chiefly through them that it
reached both the principal tenant and the proprietor,
other sources of revenue hardly existing for either, in so
far as local industry was concerned.

The roads they had were roads only by courtesy.
Wheeled vehicles were scarcely known, and would have
been but little serviceable if they had been more
plentiful. The best frequented lines of road were not
much else than mere tracks, that had taken their form
from the hoof-marks of the cattle that traversed them ;
a few stones being sometimes roughly thrown into the
bottom of a soft bit, forming a kind of rude causeway,
sometimes not. And thus came the story of a certain
man and his mare. As he plodded along, driving
the animal before him, with the pack saddle on her
back, the wary beast boggled at a particular part in the
road, where she had " laired " on a previous occasion,

Introductory. 3

and fairly refused to go on. But the mare had over-
looked the fact that it was now in the drought of
summer, whereas it had formerly been raw winter.
And her master, failing to persuade her that it was safe
to hold on her way, exclaimed " Wae- worth ye, beastie ;
yer memory's a hantle better than your jeedgment."

The people dwelt almost of necessity much amongst
themselves, living in a simple, homely style, on the
produce of their own cultivation. Observant strangers,
in speaking of diversities in manners, and style of
speech, among the common people, professed to note
specific differences, if not between the inhabitants of
one parish and the inhabitants of another, certainly
between those of one district and those of other districts
in the same shire ; and it might be, in some instances,
not half-a-dozen miles apart. The state of matters was
not unfavourable to the growth of certain virtues, such
as neighbourliness, social sympathy, and the like. And
along with these there was almost necessarily contract-
edness of view and lack of the spirit of progress. It
was equally natural that there should exist a consider-
able tinge of superstitious feeling, manifesting itself in
such forms as the prevailing beliefs in fairies, ghosts,
witches, and water kelpies, as well as in a sort of
character who seems to have held a midway place
between the fully developed warlock, who had his
commission directly from the Prince of Darkness, and
the seer, or person originally gifted, more or less, with
superhuman power which enabled him to cope with
certain bodily ailments and various other of the ills
that afflict humanity.

Among the peasantry generally, as indeed amongst
other classes of society during the same period, religious
feeling was in a rather dormant state. The prevailing
sentiment was pretty much that which, at a later era,
came to be described by the term " moderate," under-
stood in its worst sense. The " Seceder," when, in due
time, lie became an existing entity, here and there, was

4 Notes and Sketches.

ordinarily regarded, and described as a pestilent fanatic
simply ; the " Missionary who in his turn was held in
similar repute, did not come on the scene till a later
date. It is not very easy, and might not be altogether
wise, to pronounce an explicit judgment on the social
morality of the period, comparatively viewed. In the
north-eastern part of Scotland the great religious move-
ments that accompanied and followed the Reformation,
down to the Revolution of 1688, did not pervade the
commonalty to the same extent, nor stir their feelings to a
like depth, as in districts further southward. How far
this may have been significant of, or have tended to
promote, obtuseness of moral feeling in a comparatively
rude state of society, we do not profess to say. But in
so far as local records lead us, there does not at any rate
appear to be much ground to believe that the social
morality of the eighteenth century was in many of its
phases of a higher or purer type than that of the
century that has followed it.

By the middle of the eighteenth century, and even a
little before it, the subject of improvement in agricul-
ture had engaged the attention of men of intelligence ;
chiefly men of some position, who, while they had a
direct interest in the subject as landed proprietors, were
in several cases also actively engaged in professional life
or in commerce. Some of these to advanced theorising
added successful practice in such matters as turnip
cultivation and the establishment of a rotation of crops ;
and notably also in the planting of timber trees. But
it took long time till their example, in the matter of
improved husbandry, was generally followed by the
tenants, who were, as a rule, equally devoid of means
and of the spirit of enterprise. Prejudice in favour of
the old system and against the new was strong, too ;
and in some cases manifested itself in direct attempts to
obstruct or defeat efforts toward improvement. Nor
need we be altogether surprised at this. The time had
not long gone by, when the highest agricultural wisdom

Introductory. 5

merely sought to conserve the experience of the past as
a creed for the present, and a guide in the future.

And the changes mooted must have seemed exceed-
ingly revolutionary. It was not at an early date in the
century, hut towards the latter part of it — somewhere
between the years 1770 and 1780 — that a decent woman
in the district of Garioch, in Aberdeenshire, found her-
self left a widow, with two sons coming toward man's
estate. The family had cultivated the same farm for
several generations, perfectly contented with their lot.
It was a good farm ; but under a constant succession of
cereal crops, with no variation except from oats to here
every third or fourth crop, even good " intoon" land
did not improve ; and now the elder son and heir to
the "tack" — like a headstrong young man, and disregard-
ing the example of his seniors — would follow the new
fashion of husbandry, which some of the neighbouring
lairds had begun to practise. His mother was sadly
distressed at the idea ; but what availed it that she had
the sympathy of her younger and more timorous son if
the other would have his way ; his latest extravagance
was the determination to apply lime-shells as a quicken-
ing manure to the exhausted and inert " rigs." The
perplexed widow could only send for a neighbour
farmer of acknowledged sagacity and prudence to de-
cide what ought to be done. The neighbour came,
duly took note of what was going on, and, seeing the
hopelessness of the case, proceeded to discharge his
office of counsellor faithfully ; and of course, very
adversely to the youthful improver, winding up with
this deliverance — " Weel, 'oman, I dinna believe that
that loon '11 halt till he herry ye oot at the door, an'
syne gae to the sodgers." The result of this " finding"
was that the hot-headed young man threw up his birth-
right and was paid off with the sum of £30 sterling, his
cannier brother assuming the office of farmer in his
stead. The wilful young man did not go to the soldiers,
it may be said, but betook himself to the county town

6 Notes and Sketches.

for the purpose of acquiring as perfectly as he could
the handicraft of the blacksmith, then in a rather
primitive state in country districts. And having fairly
mastered his business at a somewhat mature stage of
his life, he set up his " smiddy," building his fire
wholly of coals in place of home-made charcoal, and
otherwise prosecuting his calling in accordance with his
own advanced notions : although it was not he, but his
son, w7ho followed in succession to him in the same
business, whose services came to be in repute in the
first quarter of the present century as the only black-
smith over a wide district who understood, and could,
with his own hand, fit up all the iron work of the
thrashing mill and winnowing machine, then coming
into general use, and if need were of the " meal mill" as
well.

Generally, the latent energies of the people, which
in the early part of the eighteenth century had been
starved down by the meagre style in which physical
life was sustained on the one hand, and the discourage-
ment to enterprise found in the existence of heritable
jurisdictions and the repressive fiscal system of the
time on the other, had been only partially stirred at its
close. Old customs ; old habits of life, thought, and
speech ; antiquated implements, and obsolete modes of
operation still kept their place with a wonderful
tenacity ; and the march of improvement, clogged as it
was by sundry extraneous impediments, the weight of
which we have difficulty under our greatly altered con-
ditions in realising, was yet but slow and halting.

C H A P T £ E II.

TOPOGRAPHICAL AND SOCIAL ABERDEENSHIEE POLL

BOOK A PICTURE FROM IT HEATHER AND DUB

BUILDINGS — AN OLD FASHIONED HAMLET.

FOR the purpose of arriving at a reasonably distinct
notion of our country districts in their general features
a century or a century and a-half ago, we shall do
well to bear in mind that, along with the prevailing
paucity of passable roads and absence of bridges on
the larger streams, much of the surface of the land
remained in its natural state. Cultivation was more
picturesque than systematic in its developments ; bogs,
" mosses," and marshes continued undrained, covering
in the aggregate a greater extent of the superficies of
the country than it is easy now to realise. Natural
forest grew in some places now bare enough of trees,
but thousands of acres of the most valuable timber-land
planted in the latter half of the eighteenth century
had, prior to that date, produced little but stunted
heather and clumps of broom.

If we go on to inquire how the rural population were
distributed and how they were occupied, the contrast
between the life of the people then, and what it has
become since, is found to very marked. There is
perhaps no county in Scotland in which materials fitted
to illustrate this point are more abundant than in Aber-
deenshire. By the aid of the Poll Boole* alone, and a

* The " List of Polable Persons within the shire of Aberdeen,"
printed by the gentlemen of the county in 1842, with the sanction
of the Spalding Club, and under the editorial care of Dr. John
Stuart, from MS. in the possession of General Gordon of Cairness,
is almost unique in its way. In the year 1693, and again in 1695,
a poll-tax was imposed by the Government of the time on all adults,
for the purpose of paying off arrears due to the army, &c. The
tax consisted of 6s. Scots per head, on each grown-up person, male

8 Notes and Sketches.

certain measure of local knowledge, the attentive topo-
graphic student might readily call up to the mind's eye
quite a distinct picture of any given locality. He
would be able not only to form an estimate, very nearly
correct, of the actual population of any particular parish
180 years ago; but could also ascertain how that
population was employed, and how it was located — the
forms of occupation corresponding to a great extent
with those which had obtained for some hundreds of
years, as we shall afterwards see. He would find the
Poll List for the parish headed by the laird and his
family and servants ; then, apart from them, the tenants
and sub-tenants, with generally a group, more or less
numerous, under some principal tenant, of cottars and
their wives, of " grassrnen" and they? wives ; and
occasionally a " lone" woman or two in a " mailt house."
Such was the more specifically farm establishment in
which the relation of the various members of the small
community to each other were readily intelligible. At
the next place we have the hamlet. Here were congre-
gated sundry minor farmers, along with the weaver or
"wabster," and the tailor and smith, each of whom
usually had his croft or piece of land to till, and his
" lair" in the moss to furnish him with fuel. The two
latter, important enough functionaries in their re-
spective spheres, do not figure so frequently in the Poll
Lists as we, with our modern notions, might expect.
The people were not given to variety in " changeable
suits of apparel" to the like extent that their descendants
are. The common male dress consisted chiefly of coarse

and female, and 6s. additional if the man had a trade, such as that
of a tailor or smith. And if he had property he had to pay a
fortieth part of its value ; while if he chose to call himself a
"gentleman," his poll was £3 Scots. Pretty stiff all this no
doubt, considering the value of money at the time ; and so appa-
rently thought those immediately concerned, for it was with great
difficulty they could be got to pay the poll-tax. The Poll Book
gives complete lists of the adult persons in each parish. Compre-
hensive as was the poll-tax of 1696, it produced in Aberdeenshire
only the sum of £28,148 7s. Id. Scots, or £2,345 13s. 7d. sterling.

Topographical and Social. 9

woollen, home-spun, and home tailored, with a scanty
supply of linen, and thus comparatively little professional
tailoring was needed. As for the blacksmith, with
scarcely a particle of iron in the plough or any other
farm implement, and no horse shoeing to speak of —
even where he was capable of doing it, which was not
always the case — he could meet the wants of a very
wide district. It was necessary, indeed, that he should
do so ere he could find employment ; and, in some
cases, the smith had his " sucken" bound to attend his
smiddy just as the miller, who had his place on every
laird's land, had his " bun' sucken" up to a much later
date — the minister of a Highland parish, indeed, states
that by an " immemorial assessment," the smiths in his
region were paid in meal by the farmers, they being in
some cases also entitled to " the head of every cow
slaughtered in the parish." At the hamlet, too, we should
find the "chapman" or " pack-merchant," a very im-
portant member of the trading community in those days ;
who could indeed have commanded a good deal more of
ready cash, in most cases, than the ordinary class of
farmers could. The " stocks" of individual chapmen
are valued in the Poll Lists, in some cases, at as high
a figure as 500 merks ; and in a few instances at even
more than that ; and taking into account the relative
value of money, 500 merks then was probably quite as
large a capital, relatively, as many dealers in soft
goods can boast of now who exhibit their wares by
the medium of a grand shop front, in place of undoing
the pack on the old kitchen "deece." In addition to
the classes named, the " herd" figures pretty regularly
in the lists. He was not seldom a grown-up person of
the male sex; perhaps some one who had been lamed
of a hand or arm, or who was of more or less de-
ficient intellect. And his mode of living was apt to be
dependant and precarious ; " herd in summer, but begs
his meat in winter," and "herd on charity, his winter
maintenance being gratis," are definitions of this official
that repeatedly occur. In any case the " herd" was an

10 Notes and Sketches.

indispensable functionary. And we now and then find
in the lists such people as the " tinkler," the " homer,"
the "pewterer," and more rarely the "pyper;" designa-
tions which sufficiently explain the occupations of those
who bore them.

Let us attempt to sketch the general features in the
outward aspect of one of these hamlets, or " clachans," as
they were called in the Highlands. The site of the ham-
let had at first been determined, perhaps, by the presence
of a gushing spring of " caller " water, or the vicinity
of some " wimplin burnie ;" or by the fertility of the soil
at that particular spot ; for men did not then ordinarily
resort to such artificial means as the use of the suction
pump to supply them with one of the essentials of life,
nor did they contemplate setting themselves deliberately
down to reclaim barren moors and hillsides for the
sake of the other. They rather chose those situations
where it was likeliest that bread would be given them
without extra toil, and where their water would be sure
so long as perennial fountains, fed in hills and heights,
should seek the gladsome daylight where undulating
hollows and rifts in earth's surface allowed it. It
thus came to pass that the hamlet, in respect of site,
had frequently a fair share cf the elements of natural
beauty ; and in time, these came usually to be en-
hanced by the presence of some goodly trees clustering
about the place.

The walls of the straw-thatched cottages or huts
were composed, in the upper part at least, of " feal " or
turf; or it might be " heather and dub," or mud and
straw. The roofing " cupples," firmly embedded in the
walls at bottom, were fastened with wooden pins
a-top to a short cross bar, the roof-tree extending from
end to end of the house over this bar, and between the
points of the cupple legs. Stout binders, formed of
saplings sawn up the middle, were placed horizontally
down the rib of the roof, and over these again trans-
versely the " watlin," consisting of smaller sticks split

Topographical and Social. 11

with a wedge. The "watlin," which, with the
cupple legs and binders, was quite visible from the
interior, carried the " divots," and these latter the
" thack," ordinarily fastened on with " strae rapes."
Each house consisted of a " but " and a " ben," with
little variation in the character or extent of accom-
modation embraced.

In certain districts the style of building described
was known as " Auchenhalrig," from its having been
first used at a place of that name in Morayshire. Of
the Auchenhalrig walls and the mode of constructing
them, a detailed description informs us that : — " This
work is built of small stones and mud, or clay, mixed
with straw. The proportions of these materials required
to make a rood of thirty-six square yards are . . .
about thirty cart loads of stones, ten cart loads of clay
or mud, and twenty-four stones weight of good fresh
straw." The straw and mud being properly worked
together, " twenty-two inches are sufficient thickness
for a wall of seven feet high — if higher, they should be
two feet thick — carried up perpendicularly the same as
other walls, and care should be taken never to build
more than two or three feet in height in any one part
in the same day ; if raised more, the wall is apt to
swell, for which there is no remedy but to pull it down
and rebuild." These walls were " equal to the weight of
any roof commonly put on mason work," and would,
" when properly built, and kept well under thatch, last
for more than a century."

Here then, in our hamlet, we have a number, varying
from four or five to a dozen, of these homely yet toler-
ably comfortable houses, with their walls of rude
" concrete" — some with their adjuncts of barn and byre
—planted down in a miscellaneous sort of way, as if they
had dropt from the clouds, or been scattered broadcast
over the knoll by Titanic hands. A winding road, or
track rather, partly fenced in by round-headed " feal
dykes," not in the best state of repair, leads up to the

12 Notes and Sketches.

hamlet. This road expands into " the toon loan," and
loses itself somewhere about the " head of the toon " at
this end ; most likely it loses itself at the other end
among " the rigs outbye ;" or, at farthest, about the
margin of the "moss," where peats, or more likely
" sods " only, are dug as fuel for the community. About
the place we find here and there an exceedingly rustic
sort of garden. In these " yards," which occur in no
regular order — are so placed, in fact, that a stranger
could hardly guess from the position of any one of
them to which of the indwellers it belonged — may be
found, besides certain useful vegetables, as " kail,"
green or red, and " syboes," a few old fashioned herbs
and flowers. Some clusters of rich -scented honeysuckle,
a plant of hardy southernwood, peppermint, and worm-
wood ; with, mayhap, also a slip or two of " smeird
docken," the sovereign virtues of whose smooth green
leaves, in respect of sore fingers or broken shins, com-
mend it to careful consideration. And, as already
indicated, in almost every case we find trees about the
hamlet. A few ashes about the loan head, some rough
scrubby elder (or ' ' bourtree ") bushes about the corners
of the gardens, and, it may be, a plane-tree enriching
the scene with its mass of • dark-green foliage. Then,
in some favoured corner there is the rowan tree, or
possibly a pair of these growing side by side like twin
sisters with their arms interlaced. They have yielded
many a slip for crosses to put above the byre-door, on
Kood even, to fend the bestial from " uncanny fowk."
For, as we know,

Rowan tree and red thread,
Keep the witches fae their speed.

Such, in a general way, was the outward aspect of
the hamlet and its surroundings.

CHAPTER III.

RURAL OCCUPATION — OLD LAND MEASURES — THE PLOUGH-
GATE AND DAVOCH — EARLY LAND LAWS EMANCIPATION

OF THE NATIVI OR SERFS REMAINS OF EARLY OCCUPA-
TION IN SEVENTEENTH AND EIGHTEENTH CENTURIES.

IN early notices of agricultural matters, we now and
again stumble upon such expressions relative to the
measurements of land as " oxgate," " ploughgate,"
" forty-shilling land," and somewhat more rarely,
" davoch." By the learned industry of Mr. Cosmo
Innes, it has been settled " beyond reasonable doubt,"
that an oxgate meant 1 3 acres. A ploughgate consisted
of 104 acres — it and the forty-shilling land being
equivalents — and the davoch was " as much as four
ploughs could till in a year."* There was, too, the
" husband land," which consisted of 26 acres, being the
extent of land held by a single husbandman. Each
husbandman furnished two oxen to the common plough,
and, with the four pairs thus supplied, the ploughgate,
which was a joint occupancy, was tilled. This principle
of joint holdings, which found its extreme development
in the "run rig" system, where two tenants cultivated
alternate ridges on the same field, was well fitted to breed
difficulties in the practical business of cultivation ; and
so the overlords had rules of " good neighbourhood "
established, under which the several tenants were bound
to perform their respective shares of the farm labour at
the sight of " birley men " chosen by themselves.

* Strathbogie was of old divided into forty-eight davochs, each
containing as much as four ploughs could till in a year. (Antiq.
Shires, vol. IV.) Hence the phrase " the aucht-an'-forty dauch."

14 Notes and Sketches.

There are examples as early as the 1 3th century * of
a land tenure, and regulations of the kind just indicated.
It has been truly enough said that the Church in those
early times was the great cultivator of the land as well
as the great improver of the arts. While the rude
unlettered barons devoted much of their energies to
breaking each other's skulls and despoiling each other's
possessions, the monks, so long as they continued to be
men of moral lives and simple tastes, promoted husbandry
to very good purpose, both as actual cultivators and as
good and merciful landlords. The complete agri-
cultural economy under and in connection with the
monastery would consist, first, of the grange or farm-
stead, where were gathered the cattle, implements, stores,
and so on, required in the cultivation of the land ; as
well as the serfs, or carles, who did the actual work,
and their families. The whole would be overlooked by
a lay brother, who rendered his accounts to the cellarer
of the monastery. Outside the grange there dwelt the
" cottars," each with a little bit of land, for which he
paid some money rent, with certain services in seedtime
and harvest. Beyond these again lived the " husband-
men," of whom we have heard, who paid each half a-
merk in money rent, with a variety of personal services,
including four days' reaping in harvest of the man, his
wife, and all their children ; carrying home a certain
quantity of peats yearly at the fitting season, and so
forth.

The agriculture of the fourteenth and fifteenth
centuries was prosecuted with more success and intelli-
gence, all things considered, than we are apt to imagine.
Various enactments of the Scottish Parliament in the
fifteenth century indicate an enlightened and earnest
regard for the interests of the cultivator. Leases in
some sort date from the fourteenth century ; and we
find an Act of James II. (1449) conferring a. tenant

* Rental of Monastery of Kelso, 1200.— Legal Antiq.

Rural Occupation. 15

right adapted to the time in a single comprehensive
sentence, thus — " For the safety and favour of the puir
pepil that labouris the grunde, that all tenants having
tacks for a term of years shall enjoy their tacks to the
ish of their terms, suppose the lords sell or analy their
lands." Another statute of James I. (1424), titled " Of
bigging of ruikes in trees," in respect that the said
ruikes " does" great " skaith upon comes," provides
for a penalty upon those who fail to despatch the young
birds before they have flown from their nests. And
there was a statute of the same monarch binding every
man " tillan with a pleuch of aucht oxen" to sow a
certain quantity of wheat, pease, and beans yearly. Mr.
Innes points out, as an interesting and creditable fact
in the history of the social life of the rural population,
that the amelioration of the condition of the nativi or
serfs belonging to the land was accomplished voluntarily
during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. "From
the thirteenth century, when the serfs must have
formed a large proportion of the population ; when
gifts of serfs and sales of serfs, and claims of runaway
slaves, are of as frequent occurrence as any transactions
connected with land — between that century and the
end of the fifteenth, hereditary slavery had ceased among
us without any legislative act." From the beginning of
the sixteenth century, the serf, formerly an important
adjunct of the glebe, has disappeared, and we have a
free agricultural class ; a rather remarkable result,
certainly, to be wrought out naturally and without the
intervention of Parliament.

During the sixteenth, seventeenth, and greater part
of the eighteenth century, we can trace the general
features of the old rural economy. Lord Forbes's rental,
of date 1532, quoted by Mr. Innes, shows the land
divided into ploughs, each of eight ox:en : the plough-
gate being "sometimes let to four tenants, each of
whom contributed the work of his pair of oxen to the
common plough. These joint tenants were bound to

16 Notes and Sketches.

keep good neighbourhood" in the way already explained
in carrying on the common tillage operations. Again,
in the rental of the Bishopric of Aberdeen (date 1511),
under the conditions of sub-letting on the lands of
Fetternear, " a crofter was bound to build one rood of
the fold for every cow which he had in the town of his
master. The tenants were answerable for the conduct
of their crofters in the grazing of their cows and in other
things that belonged to good neighbourhood." Prob-
ably, as time went on, arid the Church lands had passed
to other owners, the prevailing regulations were neither
better systematised nor more regularly enforced, but
rather the opposite. The mode in which the Church
lands were dealt with at the Keforniation did not reflect
credit on those more immediately concerned. John
Knox, in his History, speaks of some of the " nobilitie"
who " had greadelie gripped to the possessionis of the
Kirk," and done other selfish deeds despite the rebukes
of the preachers ; and in point of fact a number of the
ostensible lay adherents of the Eeformation, upon con-
veyances from the prelates, or in their office as " com-
mendators," unscrupulously seized the temporalities of
the Church, and, with equal indecency, turned out the
old occupants of the land as they saw fit in order that
they might fill their places with a subservient following
of their own friends and dependants. These were
hardly the men to encourage and foster honest industry
in any shape ; and for a time the peaceable and in-
dustrious cultivators of the soil, in many cases, suffered
not a little injustice and oppression at their hands.
Still, in its main features, the agricultural economy of
the country seems to have undergone but little change
for a very long period. At the earliest date to which
we have referred, the different grades in the rural com-
munity had recognition ; and their relations to each
other, from the landowning class of ecclesiastics, barons,
or lairds, and principal occupiers, to the humble cottar,
who mainly represented labour, were distinctly under-

Rural Occupation. 17

stood. And so it continued to be up to a time less
than a hundred years ago. It was, indeed, left to the
enlightened nineteenth century to adopt the principle of
segregating classes ; to foster a policy that allowed the
tenant occupier to grasp his holding, and too often in
selfishly seeking to extend its boundaries, rid himself
of all trammels of "good neighbourhood" by pushing
the manual tiller of the soil off the manor altogether,
even as a cottar occupier.

In the records of a Garioch Kirk-Session, under date
1720, I find an incidental illustration of the rural
economy then in operation. Certain neighbours
were "delated" to appear before the Session for "breach
and prophanation of the Sabbath, by beating and blood-
ing on ane other." A principal in the " scandal," on
being interrogated, declared that " he had neither beat
nor bled any person ;" but that the two sons of his
neighbour, who was " possessor of one of the ploughs
of Twadam, had that Sabbath morning singled by their
father's cattle from the cattle of the other three ploughs,
and brought them from the common fold, thorow the
midest of his corns, to feed them in places where no
cattle were wont to graze ; and that all the cattle of
the other three ploughs had broke the fold to come
after them ;" whereupon he interposed. Thus far the
two sides substantially agreed. A divergence of
testimony occurred concerning the precise intentions of
the first narrator in the scuffle that ensued between
him and one of the young men for possession of a
cudgel carried by the latter, he averring that his single
object was to " turn the cattle from among his corns,"
while the two brothers, who had severely pommelled
their assailant, asserted that it was to " strick" his
opponent " withal." A couple of independent witnesses
deponed to the facts, but declined to give an opinion
on the merits, whereon the session found them all
guilty, and appointed them to be publicly rebuked.

The noticeable point here is the four ploughs working
3

18 Nates and Sketches.

jointly, as we find them at any time during the four
hundred and fifty years preceding 1 720, and presumably
also the common pasture, with the common fold, wherein
each husbandman put his cattle along with cattle belong-
ing to the others, each occupier having however his own
arable rigs.

Up to a considerably later date the practice of " run
rig" cultivation was pursued more or less ; and for its
smooth working " good neighbourhood" must certainly
have been essential. It was a curious system, and gave
scope for queer, and at times amusing results. A good
story enough was wont to be told some sixty odd years
ago, of two neighbours on a farm in the lower part of
Aberdeenshire — Eastertown and Westertown let us say.
Their " hyeucks" had "kempit" side by side through the
hairst till only one run-rig field was left to " shear." It
was gloamin, and the harvest moon beginning to peep
over the eastern hills when Wastie descried a form,
which he judged to be that of his pawky neighbour
Eastie, passing along the head-rig on the skyline, and
stooping down at every dozen paces. "Ay, an' ye
wud like to hae klyock first," thought "Wastie to him-
self as he quietly followed the trail to find that Eastie
was with great pains sticking up " a bit knablick stane"
at the top of every second rig, the rigs so marked being
of course those that belonged to himself. With equal
care he lifted each of these marks and transferred it to
the next alternate rig, and then slipped leisurely home
to bed to await the result next morning. It was
precisely as Wastie had anticipated. At the hour
appointed, Eastie's " hyeucks" had gone out to take
" klyock" by the light of the moon, and so have the
pleasure of accomplishing a stolen march on Wastie.
They had duly shorn their " stent ;" only that through
the small piece of dexterous manipulation of the way
marks just mentioned, daylight revealed the fact that
it was Wastie who had got " klyock" — not Eastie !

CHAPTEE IV.

CULTIVATION OF THE SOIL, 1700 — 1800 — ORDINARY
MODES OF CROPPING AND THE RESULTS.

AN English tourist who visited Scotland in 1702,
speaks thus of the general aspect of the country at that
date : — " The surface was generally unenclosed ; oats
and barley the chief grain products ; wheat little culti-
vated ; little hay made for winter, the horses then feed-
ing chiefly on straw and oats." " The people of the
Lowlands partly depended on the Highlands for cattle
to eat, and the Highlanders, in turn, carried back
corn^ of which their own country did not grow a suffi-
ciency."

In even the best cultivated parts of the south of
Scotland, " the arable land ran in narrow slips," with
" stony wastes between, like the moraines of a glacier."
" The scanty manure was conveyed to the field by
manual labour ; and the unpleasant scene has often
been attested by English travellers, of the crofter's
wife carrying the unseemly burden on her back."
" The hay meadow was a marsh where rank natural
grasses grew, mixed with rushes and other aquatic
plants ; and the sour wet ground not only remained
undrained, but was deemed peculiarly valuable from
the abundance with which it yielded this coarse
fodder."* It has been averred that "nine-tenths of

* The natural meadows of this country may be all comprehended
under the denomination of swamps and morasses, of which there
are specimens in almost every farm. Formerly these produced
the only hay in the country, and they are still, almost exclusively,
applied to the same purpose. It was from hay of this kind that

20 Notes and Sketches.

the corn produced in the country was raised within
five miles of the coast." This may probably be
accepted as rather a loose statement, yet cultivation
was mainly confined to the lands that lay along the
courses of rivers and streams, while in the interior
wide areas of unbroken waste land prevailed exten-
sively. It was not till near the end of last century that
blackfaced sheep were introduced into the Highlands.
The only use previously made of the hill pasture,
apart from feeding wild animals, was to feed the small
black cattle sent thither during the summer months.

A precise and detailed account of the modes of
tillage practised in the north of Scotland toward the
close of the seventeenth century occurs in a letter
written by Alexander Garden of Troup, and the date
of which is 1683.* Mr. Garden, in describing the
usual course of husbandry, says — " The husbandman
keeps in some of his ground constantly under corne
and bear, dunging it every thrie years, and, for his
pains, if he reap the fourth corne he is satisfied." That
is to say, if he has four returns of the seed sown he is
satisfied. This, Mr. Garden informs us, was the
" intown." " Our outfields," he says, " when they
have been grass four or five years, are plowed up, and
letting them lie a summer thus ploughed, we plow
them over again, and sow them the next spring ; and
in our best outfields if we reap the fourth or fifth corn
the first year we are satisfied. Yea, the third is very
well thought off." Then he tells us that they took at
least three corn crops in succession off the outfield,
and if the cattle had been folded upon it before being

the Duke of Cumberland's cavalry were supplied in 1746, when in
Aberdeen, on his march to the north, in pursuit of the rebel army.
Even this miserable forage was not obtained without much labour ;
part of it being furnished from the swamps among the woods of
Fetteresso, at the distance of 16 miles, by, at that time, a very bad
road. — General View of the Agriculture of Kincardineshire ; by
George Robertson. 1807.
* Spalding Club Collections in the shires of Aberdeen and Banff.

Cultivation of the Soil. 21

broken up it was considered fit to carry another crop
before it required to lie in grass again. The laying
out in grass consisted, of course, of merely letting the
land alone without ploughing or sowing in a corn crop,
till the surface grew green ~4vith whatever species of
weeds were indigenous to the soil. A specific descrip-
tion, applicable to a somewhat later date, sets forth
that when the " outfields" would no longer pay for
seed and labour, " they were then allowed to remain
in a state of absolute sterility, producing little else
than thistles and other weeds, till, after having been
rested in this state for some years, the farmer thought
proper to bring them again under cultivation, when,
from the mode of management before described, a
few scanty crops were obtained."

Before adverting to individual views of agricultural
improvement, as held by persons taking a prominent
interest in the subject, a brief glance at the general
state of cultivation during the century may be taken.
And it is a curious illustration of the slow rate of pro-
gress in those days to find that when the close of the
eighteenth century was almost come, though not a
few energetic improvers had arisen and set a better
example, exactly the same modes of tillage were in
almost universal use over a great part of the country,
as at the beginning of that century. Of this we have
abundant evidence in the pages of the Old Statistical
Account of Scotland, begun to be published in 1791,
and actually completed in 1798, in twenty volumes,
through the heroic perseverance of Sir John Sinclair,
by whom it was originated, and its publication super-
intended, the reports for the several parishes being
drawn up chiefly by the ministers. The detailed
testimony of one of these witnesses may be accepted
as nearly sufficient ; and we take the statement of the
minister of Alford, in Aberdeenshire, who is very
definite and copious. Writing in 1795, he says : —
" The infield or intown lands are constantly in white

22 Notes and Sketches.

crops, unless where the farm has very little or very
bad pasture, and then, perhaps, a ridge or two is left
untilled, to throw up the weeds which ages have
nourished in it to maintain the farmer's cattle. One
third of it is manured regularly with all the dung of
one year's gathering ; and thus, in three years, all the
infield on a farm has been once dunged." This, it
will be observed, is precisely the practice that was
followed a hundred years earlier, as detailed by the
Laird of Troup. The writer goes on to state that
" the infield land is generally an excellent soil, full of
manure, but stocked with destructive weeds, of which
wild oats and knot-grass are among the worst. The
average produce in tolerable seasons will not," he says,
" exceed from 4 to 5 bolls per acre." In regard to the
management of outfield land, the " most proper way,"
we are told, was to have it divided into eleven parts
which were folded upon in succession. The cropping
is thus described : — " In spring oats are sown, and as
soon as the crop is off the ground, it is again ploughed
for a second, and so on until it has borne five succes-
sive crops of oats ; and then it is left five years lea to
throw up whatever poor grass such worn out soil will
produce. The first two years the grass is as bad as
possible, and though during the other three it thickens,
yet, even at the best, it gives but a scanty bite to the
cattle." As to the grain produce of the outfields, it
is said " the first three crops are nearly alike, and will
rarely run beyond four bolls per acre on an average ;
and for the last two years they dwindl^f down to
betwixt two and three, and often less. The produce
of the untoathed fields is much inferior in quantity as
well as quality ; and, indeed, the return from faughs
in grain will seldom defray the expense of labour and
seed ; and the farmers are tempted to plough them
though it is to their own loss, merely for the sake of
the small quantity of straw which they yield."

Another of the' Old Statistical writers speaking of

Cultivation of the Soil. 23

outfield tillage, says, after the land had grown the
sixth grain crop in succession, " it was seldom before
the fourth year that it got a green surface." The
minister of Birse speaks of some portions of the
ground having been cropped continuously, with an
occasional dunging, without having been allowed " any
rest for a century." The minister of a Buchan parish
says : — " A rotation of crops is not yet established in
this district. While the heritor only plows where he
cannot get grass to grow any longer, the tenant some-
times plows as long as corn of any kind will grow."
Another minister, who had made some inquiry on the
subject, got this statement from one farmer — " On my
farm there was a field of four acres which, for twenty-
five years during my residence there, yielded alternately
full crops of grain, viz., beans, peas, and oats, without
any manure. I have reason to think my predecessor
for five or seven years employed it in the same
manner." This rare field always grew a conspicuously
rich crop however ; but " another farmer candidly told
me," says the writer, " that from twelve bolls of oats
which he sowed last crop, there was only produced
twenty bolls ; and of crop 1793 he had not three returns."
Samples of fields which had grown ten, fifteen, or
twenty grain crops in succession with little or no
manuring were not confined to a single district, nor
to a single county ; for we hear of them in Banff and
Kincardineshires, as well as in Aberdeenshire, toward
the close of the century. It was in the first named
county, and in the parish of Alvah, that fields to which
lime had been applied, were reckoned fit to yield from
twelve to nineteen crops of oats in succession. And it
was to Kincardineshire the old school farmer belonged,
who, on being complimented on the good appearance of
his crop, said — " It's nae marvel, for it's only the auch-
teent crap sin' it gat gweedin' (dunging)." In some
of the old leases, it was formally stipulated that " there
shall not be more thanjfae crops of oats in succession."

CHAPTER V.

FIRST IMPROVERS—A SMALL SOCIETY OF FARMERS
IN BUCHAN— AN EARLY AGRICULTURAL ESSAY.

IT is believed the very first person to introduce
agricultural improvements effectively into the north
of Scotland was an English lady — Elizabeth Mordaunt
—who was married to the eldest son of the Duke of
Gordon in 1706, the year before the Union. She was
a daughter of the Earl of Peterborough, himself a
great improver, and she brought down to the Duke of
Gordon's estates " English ploughs, with men to work
them, and who were acquainted with fallowing — here-
tofore utterly unknown in Scotland." She taught
the Morayshire people how to make hay, and set them
the example of planting moors and sowing foreign
grasses. About ten years later the Earl of Haddington
began to plant extensively, and introduced other im-
provements, including sowing clover and other grass
seeds. Nearly contemporaneous with him was Sir
Archibald Grant, second baronet of Monymusk, who
writes— " Soon after the Union, husbandry and manu-
factures were in low esteem. Turnips raised in fields
for cattle by the Earl of Rothes, and very few others,
were wondered at. Wheat was almost confined to
East Lothian. Enclosures were few and planting
very little ; no repair of roads, all bad, and very few
wheel carriages."

On July 13th, in the year 1723, there was instituted
" the Society of Improvers in the Knowledge of
Agriculture in Scotland." Its membership included
42 peers and 260 commoners, of whom 4 peers and

First Improvers. 25

25 commoners belonged to Aberdeenshire. This
society, which assumed the character of a national
institution, published its transactions occasionally
for the information of its members. Only seven
years later a local society was established, which
embraced in its membership a good many names
of note, such as those of Alexander Lord Pitsligo,
the Hon. Alexander Fraser of Strichen, one of
the senators of the College of Justice ; Sir James
Elphinstone of Logic ; James Ferguson of Pitfour ;
Alexander Garden of Troup ; James Gordon of Ellon ;
Ernest Lesley of Balquhain ; George Skene of Skene ;
and William Urquhart of Meldrum. The title they
appear to have assumed was that of " A small Society
of Farmers in Buchan," and an Essay published by
them in 1735, which presents in good set terms their
notions concerning the main points of practical husban-
dry, is somewhat of a curiosity in its way, were it only
for the graphic picture it gives of the difficulties the
farmer had to struggle with in keeping down weeds
when he had not the advantage of green crops to clean
the land, but grew cereals year after year. The
Essay extends to ten separate Articles, treating of the
different crops, and the appropriate cultivation; and
varieties of soil, each article being subdivided into
several Rules. In their modest preface the authors
say that the essay " contains nothing purely specula-
tive, but a plain and genuine relation of our practice,
as we have learned from tradition, and our own
repeated experience, put into method to ease our
memories, and for the instruction of beginners."

These worthy men were thus content scrupulously
to adhere to the modes of farming they had learnt by
" tradition" ; and in place of hunting after novelty
or change in the way of alleged improvement, they only
sought to stereotype established practice, and put on
record well-proved methods for their own convenience
and the behoof of posterity. The land, they go on to

26 Notes and Sketches.

say, was divided, in the common course of husbandry,
into "bear land, bear root, and awal bear root."
They first give rules for the ploughing of the bear
land ; a "break" followed by a " clean furrow ;" the
latter, which covered in the dung, being given as late as
possible — at the end of April or beginning of May
— in order to prevent that growth which " infallibly
disheartens the field for corn, when it gets footing by
ploughing bear land early." The "growth" here
spoken of, in other words,' the weeds in the land,
formed evidently a serious matter of consideration.
And thus, while the farmer is advised to sow immedi-
ately after the last furrow, he is also advised to let
the newly-sown field lie at first half harrowed, and then
cross-harrow it when the seed has begun to take root ;
for, say the essayists, when the weeds — " yarrs,
skellachs, gules, and others" — begin to spring, "it
will be fit to crush them with the harrow." "After
the brier blade falls, the corn makes no progress till
the stock be formed ; the weeds taking advantage of
this delay, advance with incredible celerity, and
unless they be crushed at this juncture they soon
overtop the brier, and maintain their victory till they
render the corn both thin and feeble ; but a judicious
management of the harrow will set back the weeds
and give the brier, which in that season naturally
grows up very quickly, the advantage over them, and
having again recovered the former loss, it will preserve
its distance to the end."

Harrowing down weeds among the briard, then, is
strongly recommended ; and " because they cannot
be suppressed at once, they ought to be torn up as oft
as they appear until the brier begin to recover after
stocking." No method yet tried had proved so
effectual with the weeds as this of tearing them up
with iron-tined harrows ; " and," say the essayists,
" if any one apprehends loss by the harrowing his
brier, we do assure him that that scruple is contrary

First Improvers. 27

to experience, several of our own number having
followed the above directions with great success."

Thus far of harrowing down weeds among the
springing corn. But even the free use of the harrow
among the briard was not quite enough at all times.
Of course it was when it came to the awal, or second
crop after bear, that the contest between the crop and
the weeds for possession of the ground became most
serious. And then, evidently, it not unfrequently
assumed the form of something very like a life-and-
death struggle ; became a question, in short, whether
the weeds, with which the land was so densely
stocked, or the corn was to be the predominant crop.
The roots of the weeds " being turned deeper down in
ploughing" formed one reason why the bear-root crop
" sometimes escapes their clutches. But if they miss
the one, the other, to wit, the awal, is sure to feel the
weight of their revenge." Our essayists, in speaking
of the management of the awal crop, repeat their
advice about the use of the harrow among the briard
in order to check the weeds ; and after observing that
" it will be fit to harrow down the weeds about the
time of stocking," they add, " and if, after all, the
weeds happen to prevail, it may be eaten up with
beasts betwixt the beginning and middle of May." A
truly sage advice it may be said ; yet, it was given in
all sincerity. For it was the case that the knot-grass
and other weeds were often so deeply rooted as to
" baffle the harrow, however carefully applied." So
say our authorities. And that being the case, " it is
very reasonably advised to eat both weeds and briard
up with beasts, to bring them upon one level." And
this being done, the chances were, we are assured,
that the grain would in all probability " soon overtop
the weeds."

The essayists give specific directions how this rather
nice agricultural operation might be best performed.
" The animals that are fittest to be employed in this

28 Notes, and Sketches.

affair," say they, " are young nolt, because they cut
cleverly, without disturbing the root, whereas old or
ill-toothed beasts very often pull up the brier by the
roots. Horses and sheep are not so fit to be put upon
this expedition, unless they be carefully kept or
tethered upon the field ; for, although their teeth be
sharp, yet we evidently observe them to eat the corn
and leave the grass untouched, which is directly con-
trary to the design ; and this their aversion is probably
raised from the roughness of grass in respect of the
smooth and sweet blade of corn." " This experiment,"
it is added, " will no doubt much offend the timorous
and unthinking part of mankind ; however, it hath
often proven very beneficial both for keeping back
the weeds and preventing the lying of corns before
they be full."

But even after the awal crop had, by the friendly
aid of the harrow and the young nolt's teeth, battled
through the initiatory stages, and come off victorious
over " yarrs," " skellachs," " sorrel," and all their
aiders and abettors, it had yet another enemy to con-
tend with — viz., the wild oats, which, while they did
comparatively little harm among the two former crops,
in the awal, we are told, " do very notable mischief to
their neighbour corn ; for the wild grows up much
faster, and ripens much sooner than the tame, and
thereby exhausts the nutriment thereof. This never
misses to render it both weak and thin, and therefore
'tis well worth the owner's pains to endeavour by all
means to prevent this imminent danger of his corns,
which will in a great measure be done by cropping
the wild oats how soon they come out of the hose,
who appear always about eight days before the tame.
Thus is Providence so kind as to tack that to their
nature which is the mean of their own destruction.
Any one that is careful may perform this work, with
the hook in one hand, and grasp the crops with the
other, which will be good entertainment for cows ; or,

First Improvers. 29

if he hath no mind to take the trouble to preserve
them, let him fix a sharp-toothed hook in the end of
a small pole or hazel rod, and strike them down there-
with, which is more expeditious, though less profit-
able." But there was a possibility that all these rules
— rules which, their authors quietly insinuate, reason
and experience alike recommend — might fail of the
desired end ; and such contingency was not left out
of view. For, it is added, " If a field be so backward
that it does not answer by following the foregoing
rules, it will be fit to lay it down in grass until it con-
tract a body, which will take five years to ly."

It were scarcely profitable to follow the essayists
through the detailed rules for tillage applicable to in-
field and out-field, and the method of toth-folding, and
so on. For the bear crop we note that " Ebb tilling
is recommended to retain the dung as near the seed
as possible, and the remainder of the mold is to ly in
the meantime to contract a body." For the first crop
after bear, " Let it be ploughed with competent sap
both deep and tight" — the " two good reasons" for the
deep furrow being " to bury the grass roots," and
" that the rested mold which lay idle underneath last
year may appear to act its part." Indeed, the Society,
in the case of out-field, at least, seem to have had some
vague kind of notion that each succeeding furrow
should go a little deeper than the one given the pre-
vious year, till, as they say, " the pan" were reached.
The " fauch" is justly declared to be " in all respects
inferior to dung, seeing it adds no benefit to the soil
for the future, but only extorts, as it were,- by vio-
lence whatever productive qualities Providence has
bestowed upon it." And then they lay down one or
two general principles which we may carry along with
us ; thus : — " If we look into the common way of
managing husbandry, especially in those parts where
nature has been less liberal of her favours, we will
have just reason to reprove the inadvertancy of some

30 Notes and Sketches.

in bestowing their labour without any prospect of an
adequate return, and condemn the inhuman practice
of others for wounding so unmercifully the sides of
our common mother earth, without ever offering any
medicine. There is no excuse can be made to
alleviate the severity of this censure, except it be the
prevailing humour of landlords in exacting what they
possibly can of their dependants, and they, as the
phrase is, must put at the rigs. However, it were
a far more equal way for masters to allow their fellow-
creatures a reasonable subsistence, their lands, in the
meantime being improven, as well as greater justice
done to their own children, to succeed to a thriving
tenantry and well-managed ground. This would be a
sure way to raise a more plentiful fortune, and
transmit their memory with more honour to posterity,
than the heaping up a store of money by those means
that have such an affinity to extortion, and seldom
enrich the third heir."

One fancies that in these latter sentiments he hears
the voice of some nineteenth century radical, rather
than that of the aristocratic members of the small
society of Buchan farmers of a hundred and forty
years ago.

We take a step onward and listen to the advice
obtained in a particular case by an ardent improver.
About the year 1757, Sir Archibald Grant had ad-
dressed a set of queries to the hon. the " Society of
Improvers in the Knowledge of Agriculture in Scot-
land," concerning the most advantageous way of
managing a field of sixteen acres, said to be " of good
black soil," " abundantly dry, or can easily be made
so." It had produced clover and ryegrass for three
years, but could not be longer pastured. The advice
Sir Archibald receives for the treatment of the field —
and it is- given in the month of January — is to plough
with all convenient speed, " that it may have got
three furs betwixt and the latter end of April or

First Improvers. 31

beginning of May." Pease were then to be sown, the
object being to manure the field, and when they came
to be in full bloom, they were to be pressed flat to
the ground with a roller, or in absence of such an
implement, with harrows thrown upon their backs, or
" an old door may be used." The land was then to be
twice ploughed, and sown out with twelve pounds of
clover and two bushels of ryegrass seeds to an acre.

CHAPTEK VI.

IMPLEMENTS OF THE FARM — THE TWAL OWSEN
PLOUGH — THE SOAM AND TEAM — WOODEN HARROWS
AND FIR TETHERS — CURRACHS — THE BOBBIN
JOHN.

IN exhibiting the advanced state of Scottish agri-
culture at the present day, as compared with the
agriculture of last century, one could scarcely find a
readier or more effective method of illustration than
that of contrasting the implements of the farm then
and now. Alongside the two horse swing plough,
fashioned of iron, and marked by accurate proportion
of parts, and absolutely artistic finish in the workman-
ship, we should have to place the large uncouth wooden
implement, devised for the draught of eight, ten, or
twelve oxen ; with " beam " so disproportionately long,
and " stilts " so relatively short, that collision with
some big " earth-fast " stone in the opening furrow,
really threatened, at times, to throw the hapless plough-
man's heels, if not against the seven stars — as a local
Munchausen averred, had once happened at the cost
of nearly obliterating one of their number from the
firmament — certainly, to an elevation, at least equal to
that of his head. Against the steam threshing
machine, with its complete dressing apparatus, there
would stand the primitive flail ; and the equally
primitive hand riddle and " wecht," for use in winnowing
the corn between the open barn doors by the natural
wind of heaven ; and so on through the remaining
implements of the farm.

Implements of the Farm. 33

Concerning the twelve oxen plough, Dr. James
Anderson, (of whom some particulars are given further
on) says : — " The plough itself is beyond description
bad ; and it is of so little consequence to perpetuate
the memory of what can never be imitated elsewhere,
that I shall omit the description of it. I shall only
observe that it makes rather a triangular rut in the
ground than a furrow, leaving the soil for the most
part equally fast on both sides of it, so that if all the
loosened earth were stripped from a plowed field, it
would remain nearly in this form AAAAA only, it would
sometimes happen that a gap would be made in these
protuberances." Yet, rude as the plough was and im-
perfect its equipments, under the steady persevering
pull of the team of great sinewy oxen of six or seven
years old, so long as it could be kept in the ground, it
made a large if unshapely furrow, turning over or
pushing aside a mass of soft earth, and clearing away
obstacles, such as " earth fast" stones that stood in
the way, aye and until the soam broke or other part
of the gearing gave way.

The plough wright, when his services were needed,
went to the farm, and if he was an early riser, and his
wood looked out beforehand, would contrive to build
a plough in sufficient time for the ploughman and
"gaudman" to take their team a-field. The imple-
ment he had to construct was hardly more elaborate,
though it may be safely believed a good deal clumsier,
than that which had been used by the Israelites when
they dwelt in the Land of Canaan. And certainly it
was much inferior in design and material to the plough
of the ancient Romans, described by Pliny, as in use
in his time. The tools the plough-wright used were
a saw, an axe, an adze, and a large forming iron and
wimble. The only parts made of iron were the
coulter and " sock ; " and the " cheek-rack" or bridle
(if such there were). The mould board was of
wood, and the frame was kept together chiefly by
4

34 Notes cmd Sketches.

sturdy wooden pins. An expert wright could make
three ploughs in a day, working diligently ; and he
was paid eightpence to a shilling for each. For
wood and workmanship, the plough seldom cost above
four shillings ; and the iron furnishings did not exceed
that amount, so that the total outlay for a completed
implement was under ten shillings.

It was not till the century was pretty well advanced,
that iron-tined harrows came to be commonly used.
The tines or teeth, as well as the frame work, were of
wood : and while oxen were used for the plough, the
harrowing was done by horses, as were the carriages
needed in connection with the farm. When improv-
ing lairds endeavoured to reform the style of the
ploughs, and the method of ploughing, they were met
by two obstacles. One was " want of experience
among country servants in the management of horses ;"
the other the fact that the wrights and smiths, in
place of adequately imitating the improved ploughs
put before them — as those of James Small, the father
of the swing plough, on the basis of which others
have improved so much — invariably continued to
bring them nearer and nearer to their own defective
models. And it was with a view to overcome such
obstacles that in some cases, along with Small's
ploughs, expert ploughmen were also brought from
East Lothian to Aberdeenshire, to set an example in
working them.

The extinction as an operative agency of the old
plough, with its team of ten or twelve oxen, was quite
gradual. In 1770, it was still in all but universal
use ; twenty years thereafter it had to a certain extent
given place to a better fashioned implement and a
lighter team, the first modifications of the team being
to four pairs of oxen and one pair of horses pulling
together, the horses being next to the plough ; then to
two pairs of horses in a team, and so on. In Cromar, the
Garioch, and other districts of Aberdeenshire, the

Implements of the Farm. 35

" twal owsen" plough was pretty common so late as
1792 ; and in exceptional cases it was in use a few
years after the commencement of the present century.
The late Dr. Cruickshank, of Marischal College, Aber-
deen, remembered seeing such a plough at work in the
parish of Culsalmond, so late as the autumn of 1807 ;
and it did not go finally out of use in this part of the
country till about 1815 or 1816.

A specimen of this cumbrous implement used after
1784, by Mr. Stephen, tenant of Millden, Belhelvie,
was exhibited at the Aberdeen Show of the Highland
Society in 1858, when its uncouth appearance made it
an object of great interest and curiosity to those of
the living generation of farmers and ploughmen who
were present to inspect it. It was thereafter pre-
sented to the authorities of Marischal College by its
possessor, Mr. Craighead, presumably for preservation
in the Museum. No particular care would seem to
have been bestowed on the interesting relic (the only
remaining specimen of this particular kind of plough
so far as we are aware), until sometime ago it was
found to be literally crumbling into dust, and past all
hope of staying the progress of decay.

The draught equipment was as primitive as the
plough itself. The "soam" already spoken of — an
iron chain, fastened to the cheek-rack, or to a simple
staple fixed in the beam on the right hand side some
distance from the point — ran along between the pairs
of oxen all the way to the "fore yoke."* A yoke lay
across the necks of each pair of oxen ; and a " bow,"
consisting of a piece of ash, birch, or willow, bent to
the proper shape, surrounded every separate ox's neck.
The points of the bows were stuck upward through

* The names of the six pairs of oxen as fully given in Dr. Pratt's
Buchan, with illustrative diagram, were — foremost pair, on wyner,
and wyner ; second do. on-steer draught, and steer-draught ; 3d do.
fore-throck on land and fore-throck in fur ; 4th do. mid-throck on
land and mid-throck in fur ; 5th do. hind-throck on land, and hind-
throck in fur ; 6th pair, fit on land, and fit in fur.

36 Nates and Sketches.

the yoke, and securely pinned in that position. A
" brecham," or pad of dried " sprots," rushes, straw,
or strips " tyave" of moss fir roots, intervened between
the neck of the ox and the bow, to prevent friction in
the draught. The more important animals in the team
were the "fit owsen" and the "wyners." Connected
with the yoke of the former pair, which, of course,
were nearest the plough, was a short series of
elongated links, or staffs, for raising or lowering the
"soam" according as more or less "yird" was required by
the ploughman. And a " fit o' Ian'" ox was not con-
sidered fully trained in his function till he had learnt
to lower his neck when the ploughman cried " jouk,"
at such times as he wanted the plough to go a little
deeper for the moment. The wyners again occupied
an important position, in so far as the turning of the
unwieldy team on a moderate width of end-rig
depended on their easing the draught off gradually
and featly. And then, as the young oxen were
always trained in the steer draught immediately behind '
them, it depended chiefly upon the trustworthiness of
the veteran wyners that these juniors should be kept
steady, and prevented running into untimeous and
uncanny escapades, even to the extent of breaking
their harness at times, and scampering off from the
draught altogether.

A tolerably vivid idea of the harnessing and draught
equipments of the time will be obtained, when it is
kept in mind that, apart from the plough soam, there
was no iron chain ordinarily in use. The " theets,"
or traces, used in harrowing, were made either of
dried " sprots" or rushes, or of twisted fir roots —
hempen rope being a little-known commodity. Thin
" splits" of fir taken off logs that had been dug up in
mosses and twisted into a sort of rope, because they
stood wet well without rotting, were " preferred above
all others for tethering horses in the field," as well as
for draught purposes. " These ropes of a proper

Implements of the Farm. 37

length," we are told, were " sold ready made under
the name of fir tethers " ; and, it is added, " when no
longer fit to be used as a tether, they are employed as
candle fir." For tethering purposes there was also
the home made hair rope, the materials of which were
supplied from the tails of the cattle.

It is not to be supposed that either the fir or " rash en"
traces were capable of sustaining very great tension ;
and they were the less severely tried from the fact that
the horses were small, potbellied, ill-fed, and conse-
quently rather pithless animals. One is not so sure
about even the soam, by which the whole eight, ten, or
twelve oxen hung on. At any rate the story told of
a certain smith, would seem to indicate that his
notion of the strain which the welded links
ought to be capable of bearing, had not been very
enlarged. He had just mended a break in the soam
from the Mains farm, and the " herd loon " took his
way home therewith from the smiddy. Tired of other
modes of conveying his rather onerous burden, the
herd took to dragging it after him, when, unluckily
the soam snapped again. On being told of this fresh
disaster, and discovering the ordeal to which the soam
had been subjected by the herd, the smith exclaimed
— " Sorra set ye laddie, fat need ye 'a trail' t it !"

The style of work accomplished by the great wooden
plough has been already spoken of. The furrow
opened was large and uncouth; and in their wide
way of talking, the old fellows spoke of the plough-
man occasionally turning down a refractory bit, which
the rude mould board had failed to lay over " wi' the
tap o's shooder." The " rigs" they made were crooked
like an elongated S ; and from the practice of " feer-
ing" always in the crown of the rig and " gathering "
to the same point, the tendency was to pile up the
ploughed land in a series of long narrow mounds.
And thus it was that when the principle of straight
furrows, and level rigs began to have place, the laird

38 Notes mid Sketches.

of Eothney, in Insch, endeavoured to persuade his
ploughman to adopt the new mode, only to find him
impervious to reasoning and obstinately determined on
adhering to his old practice. At this the laird lost
temper and turned away with the exclamation, " Augh
min ! It's been some confoun'it idiot like you 't's
cairn't up the hill o' Dunnydeer there !"

The ordinary carriages of the farm were accom-
plished by means of "currachs" or creels of wicker work
— hung from a " crook saddle " — one on each side of the
horse. Dung was carried from the farmyard in these,
and in harvest they bore home the sheaves to the
stackyard. In loading it was needful to fill the two
currachs simultaneously to keep them balanced. When
one man filled more promptly than his fellow of any
heavy material, he gained an advantage in depressing
his own creel and correspondingly elevating that on
the other side of the horse. Hence the phrase
" coupin' the creels " upon one, came to be a sort of
" byeword," which has hardly yet died out in certain
localities. When corn or meal had to be taken to or
from the mill, or conveyed away for sale, a sack or
" lade " was put across each horse's back, and the
animals followed one another in single file, the " hal-
ter tow " of the second horse tied to the tail of the
first ; and so on : a mode of transport that was still
in use in the remoter parts of Aberdeen and BanfFshires
at the end of last century, as many as a dozen horses
being occasionally to be seen following in single file,
each bearing its lade. It was not that wheeled con-
veyances were utterly unknown. Carts and wheel-
barrows too had been invented long before. But the
cart was a clumsy vehicle indeed. It was made en-
tirely of wood, including the axle-tree. As in the case
of the plough, no plane was used to smoothe the sur-
face of the wood in any part. In the " tumbling cart,"
in place of the wheels turning round on the axle, the
axle-tree itself turned round. There were no iron

Implements of the Farm. 39

bushes in the naves of the wheels, and as no grease
was used the movement of the cart was apt to be ac-
companied by a noise more shrill than pleasant.

But the state of the roads, or rather the absence of
" roads before they were made" did not favour wheeled
conveyances. Up to fully the date of " the Forty-five"
one or two carts in a parish would seem to have been
all that existed. Toward the close of the century they had
become much more abundant over the country, though,
as just indicated, the currach still held its place to a mo-
derate extent. The minister of New Deer (Old Stat.
Ac.) says "when the present incumbent was settled, in
1737, there was not a cart but his own in the parish ;
nor were there roads which could be travelled in many
places. Then, and for many years after, there was but
one carrier who went weekly to Aberdeen with a horse
and packets ; sometimes he even went with nothing
but a back creel, and brought what merchandise and
provision were at the time necessary. Now (1793),
there is sufficient employment for three or four carriers,
who go each with a cart and two horses." Similar
statements are made by various others. Two-wheeled
carts became common in most lowland districts during
the last quarter of the eighteenth century.

Of the primitive character of the farm implements
generally, near the close of the eighteenth century,
an incidental illustration may be given from the pages
of a witness already cited. Dr. James Anderson, who
was a keen improver and reformer of old things gen-
erally, credits his patron, Mr. Udny of Udny, with a
useful invention in implements. That gentleman, who
filled the office of a commissioner of excise, was an
earnest agricultural improver. He was an early and
successful cultivator of the turnip, and his invention
was an improved sower — cost eightpence to a shilling.
It was a perforated tin box with a wooden handle —
neither more nor less than a " Bobbin' John," which
was carried along in the hand over the drill top and

40 Notes and Sketches.

shaken to throw out the seed. Its capabilities as a
sower are strongly lauded by Dr. Anderson, by whom
it is averred that many hundreds of persons who could
neither have purchased nor used a fine apparatus, had,
by the possession of it, been induced to enter keenly
into the cultivation of turnips. And he held that,
" To induce such persons to go forward on a small
scale is an object of much greater consequence than to
have kings and princes, and the great men of the earth,
displaying with a pompous parade a complicated ap-
paratus which would prove the ruin of a poor man to
attempt to purchase." And so, when the century was
near its close, an implement like the ordinary turnip
sower for horse haulage, had evidently been regarded,
even by men of advanced ideas, as rather an elaborate
piece of mechanism.

C H A P T E R ^V 1 1.

RESULTS OF CULTIVATION — PERIODS OF FAMINE — KING

WILLIAM'S DEAR YEARS — PICTURES OF THE TIME BY
PATRICK WALKER AND FLETCHER OF SALTOUN —
EFFECTS OF FAMINE IN THE NORTH — LANDS DESO-
LATED.

WHEN we keep fully in view the prevailing system of
tillage and the implements with which the work was
accomplished, it is not difficult to understand how the
results in the way of produce must often enough have
been sufficiently poor to be some way short of satis-
factory to the tiller. The difficulty rather is to under-
stand how the soil in certain cases could have been
kept under tillage on any terms. We have already
seen something of the struggle that went on between
the arable farmer and the indigenous "growth " that
sought to re-assert its right to the possession of the
soil ; and it was undoubtedly creditable to the sheer
hardihood of our forefathers that they did not oftener
than actually happened give way before the perversity
of those less fertile parts of the stubborn glebe that
yet owned their full share of the effects of the pri-
meval curse, and allow the land to run again into a
state of nature. In ordinary times the products of
cultivation in the form of crops raised and reaped for
the sustenance of man and beast were frequently but
meagre. It is, however, when we look at what we
find recorded regarding seasons of dearth, or absolute
famine, from failure of the crops, or their destruction
through inclement weather, that we most readily obtain
a distinct picture of the harder conditions of life in

42 Notes and Sketches.

what has been occasionally spoken of as " the good
old times."

The concluding seven years of the seventeenth cen-
tury (1693-1700) were years of dearth over the greater
part of Scotland, though some of the northern dis-
tricts suffered earlier and more severely than many
other parts of the country. The pinch of famine had
begun to be felt in various parts of Aberdeenshire and
Banffshire, in 1693, while it was not till 1695 that
the crop in certain of the southern and western coun-
ties was " stricken in one night " by an easterly fog,
" and gat little more good of the ground." These
were "King William's dear years." In accordance
with the fiscal system of the time, an Act had been
passed in 1672 forbidding the importation of meal
while the price in Scotland remained below a certain
rate. And an order of Council had actually been
issued for " staving " grain, unlawfully brought from
Carrickfergus in two vessels in 1695 ; the vessels them-
selves to be handed over to the person — Sir Duncan
Campbell of Auchinbreck — who had seized them on
their way to a Scottish port. But now, when one
season after another was only threatening the " mis-
giving and blasting of the present crop to the increase
of that distress whereby the kingdom is already
afflicted," it was found expedient to allow the impor-
tation of meal from Ireland. And not only so, for in
1698 exportation of grain was strictly prohibited;
and various emphatic edicts were issued against
"forestalling" and "regrating." A solemn fast was
ordered on 9th March, 1699 — as fasts had been
appointed in some of the previous years — on account
of " the lamentable stroke of dearth and scarcity ;"
while " King William, his kindness is not to be for-
gotten," offered all who would transport victual to
Scotland, that they might do it custom free, and have
twenty pence off each boll."

The pictures we have of the sufferings endured at

Results of Cultivation. 43

this time are very lamentable. It was represented in
Edinburgh in 1696, that if extraneous supplies of
victual were not speedily received in Aberdeenshire
" a good part of that and the next county [Banff] will
undoubtedly starve." This was in July, and George
Fergusson, a generous baillie of Oldmeldrum, and a
member of a family long well known in that region,
with Alexander Smith, writer in Edinburgh, proposed
to purchase 1000 or 1200 bolls of corn and bear, to
sell to the people at a price to be fixed by the autho-
rities, they having no desire of profit, " but allenarly
the keeping of the poor in the said shire from starving."
They wished their cargo protected from the risk of
French privateers on its way to Aberdeen ; and the
Privy Council agreed to recommend their petition to
that effect to the Lords of the Treasury.

" These manifold unheard-of judgments, " says
Patrick Walker, the Packman, " continued seven years,
not always alike, but the seasons, summer and winter,
so cold and barren, and the wonted heat of the sun so
much withholden, that it was discernible upon the
cattle, flying fowls and insects decaying, that seldom a
fly or cleg was to be seen • our harvests not in the
ordinary months ; many shearing in November and
December ; yea, some in January and February ;
many contracting their deaths, and losing the use of
their feet and hands shearing and working in frost
and snow ; and, after all, some of it standing still and
rotting upon the ground, and much of it for little use
either to man or beast, and which had no taste or
colour of meal."

" Meal became so scarce," adds Patrick, " that it was
sold at two shillings a peck ; and many could not get it.
It was not then with many, 'Where will we get siller?'
but ' Where shall we get meal for siller V" " Deaths
and burials were so many and common that the living
were wearied with the burying of the dead. I have
seen corpses drawn on sleds. Many got neither coffin

44 Notes and Sketches.

nor winding-sheet. I was one of four who carried the
corpse of a young woman a mile of way, and when we
came to the grave an honest poor man came and said
— ' You must go and help to bury my son ; he has
lain dead these two days ; otherwise I shall be obliged
to bury him in my own yard.' Many . . . did
eat, but were neither satisfied nor nourished ; and
some of them said to me that they could mind nothing
but meat, and were nothing better by it, and that they
were utterly unconcerned about their souls, whether
they went to heaven or hell. The nearer and sorer
these plagues seized, the sadder were their effects,
that took away all natural and relative affections — so
that husbands had no sympathy for their wives, nor
wives for their husbands : parents for their children,
nor children for their parents." " These and other
things" made the worthy man " doubt if ever any of
Adam's race were in a more deplorable condition ;"
but "the crowning plague of all" was 'that, though
many were cast down, few were humbled ; there was
" great murmuring, but little mourning •" " the great
part turned more gospel-proof and judgment-proof."

The picture given in part, applies to the south-west
of Scotland. It is singularly like that supplied by
several writers of the state of things at the same
period in some parts of the county of Aberdeen.
Concerning the district, of which Turriff forms the
centre, the misery of the people was very great —
" One Thomson, wadsetter, of Hairmoss, driven from
his home by want, was found dead near the shore
with a piece of raw flesh in his mouth." Of sixteen
families that resided on the farm of Littertie, thirteen
were extinguished. On the estate of Greens, three
families (the proprietor's included) only, survived. A
number of farms, being entirely desolated, were con-
verted into a sheep walk by the Erroll family, to whom
they belonged. "The inhabitants of the parish in
general," it is added, " were diminished by death to

Results of Cultivation. 45

one-half, or, as some affirm, to one fourth." " Until
the year 1709 many farms were waste." The minister
of Keith-hall parish, in writing of this time, says,
" many died ; in particular, ten Highlanders in a
neighbouring parish, that of Kemnay, so that the
Kirk-Session got a bier made to carry them to the
grave, not being able to afford coffins for such a
number." And we read of other parts of the county
being " almost depopulated" by those years of famine.
In illustrating the moral effects of the prevailing
physical misery ; a writer already quoted says, " when
the means of saving the living and of burying the
dead began to fail, natural affection was in a great
measure suspended. A fellow, George Allan, having
carried his deceased father upon his back halfway
from his home to the churchyard, threw down the
corpse at the door of a farmer, with these words, * I
can carry my father no farther. For God's sake bury
his body ; but, if you choose not to take that trouble,
you may place it, if you please, on the dyke of your
kailyard as a guard against the sheep.' "

It may be observed, in connection with the state of
matters indicated rather than described, that while in
those seven years there were some seasons " not
altogether unfriendly to vegetation," and while the
failure of the crops was only partial in its range, yet
so miserable were the means of communication from
want of roads, as well as want of wheeled vehicles,
that, though the inhabitants of some districts of Aber-
deenshire were comparatively well off, those in other
districts were, at the very same time dying of absolute
starvation. The minister of Turriff says of the in-
habitants of his parish, that most of them, " reduced
to misery, had neither money to purchase nor horses
to carry" victual from the Formartine and Buchan
district, where, we are told, " seed and bread
abounded."

Andrew Fletcher of Saltoun, in describing the misery

46 Notes and Sketches.

of " the ill years," states that, in 1698, in addition to those
" very meanly provided for by the Church boxes," there
were in Scotland " two hundred thousand people begging
from door to door." He says the number had perhaps
been doubled by "the present distress," which it is likely
was quite true, though his gross estimate is probably
higher than the actual number. Of the general aspect
of things, Fletcher says it was fitted to stir the mind
with the two powerful emotions of terror and compas-
sion— " because from unwholesome food diseases are so
multiplied among the poor people, that if some course
be not taken, this famine may very probably be followed
by a plague." And what man was there, if he had any
compassion, who would not grudge himself " every
nice bit, and every delicate morsel he puts in his mouth,
when he considers that so many are already dead, and
so many at that minute struggling with death, not for
want of bread but of grains," which he was credibly
informed had been used by some families in the pre-
ceding year. The least unnecessary expenditure on
household things or personal finery must, he adds,
" reproach us with our barbarity, so long as people born
with natural endowments, perhaps not inferior to our
own, and fellow-citizens, perish for want of things ab-
solutely necessary to life."

It throws a curious light on the legislation of the
time to find that, in 1701, only a year or two after
this terrible suffering from actual famine, a Govern-
ment commission was issued commanding that all
loads of grain which might be brought from Ireland
into the west of Scotland should be staved and sunk.

The next most remarkable year of scarcity was
1740. A great frost, with " deep and untimely snow,"
occurred in early spring. The principal rivers in
Scotland were frozen over, water mills stopped, and
ships frozen in in some of the harbours. Loch Lomond
was frozen over from Luss to Buchanan, so as to bear
men and cattle. The Forth was frozen over above

Results of Cultivation. 47

Alloa, and there was a crust of ice even at Queens-
ferry. The Thames in that year was covered with ice
as far down as Billingsgate, and a fair was held on the
ice. A bad summer followed. The inclemency of the
season brought about failure in the crop and distress
on the common people, leading to bread riots in Edin-
burgh and Leith — the populace attacking certain
mills, granaries, and meal shops — and the necessity of
" large contributions" " from the rich to keep the poor
alive." At this time day-labourers and others in
Aberdeenshire, " stout men," thankfully accepted
" twopence each per day in full for their work."

A natural consequence of these years of famine was
to throw agriculture backward by utterly impoverishing
a large proportion of those of the tenant farmer
class who had managed to escape extermination.
The civil wars of the previous century had been very
adverse to agriculture in Scotland ; and now, in 1700,
at the close of the " seven ill years," the landowners
were fain to bribe tenants of substance with a yoke of
oxen, or other part of the farm furnishings, to extend
their holdings by leasing one or more adjoining farms
that had become vacant. Sometimes they obtained
tenants in sufficient number ; sometimes not. And
in the latter case arable areas, here and there, went
again into a state of nature ; to remain so for an
indefinite time, as testified by traces of " baulk " and
" burrel " rigs in various places not under the plough
within living recollection ; nor indeed in exceptional
instances until this day. And of so little value was
land in Aberdeenshire at the period under notice,
that there were instances of " considerable tracts of
corn lands being so totally abandoned as to be allowed
to pass from one proprietor to another merely by a pre-
scriptive title of occupancy for upwards of forty years
without a challenge."

CHAPTEE VIII.

THE BAD HARVEST OF 1782 THE ACTION TAKEN BY THE

TOWN AND COUNTY OF ABERDEEN TO MEET THE FAMINE.

IN 1782, the harvest was unusually late, even for a
time when from imperfect cultivation and similar causes
the normal period of ripening of crops was apt to be put
well into the autumn. The season had been a very
backward one throughout ; and the harvest of that year
in Aberdeenshire is said to have been the worst on
record. The summer was so cold and rainy that
most of the oat crop was only beginning to shoot in
the end of August. Early and severe frosts came
soon after, the first in the middle of September which
damaged some part of the grain then in the milky
stage, so as to render it unfit for seed. And again we
read, that on the night of the 5th of October, " when
growing oats and barley were still generally green"
" a frost, armed almost with the vigour of a Green-
land climate, desolated in one night the hope of the
husbandman." At the end of October, when but
little of the crop had been cut, a snowstorm of extra-
ordinary severity for the season ensued. Snow lay a
foot deep in many places, and the storm continued for a
fortnight. After it had passed away, the crop, still green
but now past hope of proper ripening, was cut as it
best could be in the continued cold and wet, though
portions remained uncut at 28th November. Hardly
any of the crop was got carried to the stackyard in
the usual way, but was first put up on the fields in
small " huicks," which could not be finally " led"

The Bad Harvest of 1782. 49

home till December, when two weeks of dry " open"
weather occurred. Of the crop generally, the state-
ment is made that while — " the fields yielded not one-
third of an ordinary crop," the oatmeal, " dark in colour,
was acid and disagreeable to the taste." Neither pota-
toes nor turnips had yet come so prominently into use
as they were destined to do : but potatoes where grown
were damaged by the frost, and turnips were a very poor
crop. Even the produce of the garden was, we are told,
" destitute of its usual nourishment."

And the famine was not local in the narrow sense.
Owing to the high price to which grain had risen in the
month of November, the Scotch ports, generally, were
by that time opened for importation of corn upon pay-
ing the low duties. Sir William Forbes and his fellow-
bankers offered the Lord Provost of Edinburgh to ad-
vance .£2000 free of interest for six months, his lord-
ship and the Town Council having it in view " to pro-
cure a supply of corn for the advantage of the poorer
sort of the community," and they having it " much at
heart" " to facilitate so very useful a plan." The Lord
Advocate, in whose mind " very serious apprehensions
had arose relative to the supply of provisions for the
lower class of the inhabitants of Scotland for the ensu-
ing year," had previously written to the Provost sug-
gesting the propriety of people contributing according
to their means in order to keep the markets " from ris-
ing to any immoderate height." The Lord Advocate is
persuaded the Lord Provost and his brethren will take
the requisite steps in the matter ; and as his excuse for
troubling him, requests that in case he should be absent
from Scotland when any plan is in agitation, his lord-
ship " would dispose of him to the extent of £100 "
for promoting the same.

At the meeting of Aberdeen Town Council held
on 8th November, the Provost represented that " the
state and condition of the country was universally al-
lowed to be alarming ; and that, notwithstanding the
5

50 Notes and Sketches.

advanced season of the year, a very large part of the
crop was in many parts still uncut down, and conse-
quently in imminent hazard." At same time, there was
" but a very small quantity of meal in town for supply
of the inhabitants." The chief magistrate further stated
that his Monthly Committee had thought it right to
confer with some of the principal traders as to a speedy
supply of meal, and a subscription had been set on foot
"with considerable success." What further happened
was, that the Council voted a donation of three hundred
guineas out of the town's funds to aid the citizens' sub-
scription. A " proper person," Eobert Gibbons to wit,
was next appointed to proceed southward to purchase
grain or meal to the extent of 1000 bolls, to be got
through British or foreign ports ; only it was the deter-
mination of the general meeting by which the appoint-
ment was made " that the encouragement to be given
for importing grain be confined to grain imported for
the sole purpose of being converted into meal."

This was in November, and as stated early in that
month. By and by matters were getting more serious,
and the pinch of actual famine seemed likely to be felt
with some severity. On the last day of December,
1782, the famishing country people " could get no
meal in Aberdeen, as the citizens were afraid of a famine,
and a poor man in the district of Garioch could find
none in the country the day after." In November oat-
meal sold at thirteen pence to fifteen pence a peck ; at
the market held on the first Friday of January, 1783, it
rose to "the enormous price of twenty pence per peck."
In that month the Aberdeen Bank and the Bank of
Scotland offered each an advance of £3000 for twelve
months, free of interest, " for the relief of the poor in
both the new and old town," which advances were ac-
cepted, and no doubt largely used, as we find that by the
beginning of the month of March £900 had been "given
off by the magistrates" to importers of grain, and a com-
mittee of nineteen, who had been appointed for " man-

The Bad Harvest of 1782. 51

aging and conducting the business of the subscription,"
were authorised to intromit with the balance yet remain-
ing.

So early as 29th October, the Commissioners of Supply
for the County of Aberdeen had met and taken into
consideration the alarming state of the country from
" the almost certain appearance of scarcity," and
the likelihood of dearth before next harvest. And
being persuaded that meal of all sorts would not only
be very dear, but in many parts of the country hardly
to be got at any price, it was agreed that in the circum-
stances it would be a great injury to the poor " to give
the smallest encouragement to any practice that might
make their bread still scarcer and dearer." The com-
missioners accordingly declared formally that they were
" resolved to punish in the most exemplary manner all
persons who should be convicted of privately and
illegally distilling spirits from grain ;" and they hoped
the officers of Excise would exert themselves in dis-
covering all transgressors of that class.

Circular letters were soon after sent out to the parish
ministers, asking them to give in reports on the state
and condition of the crop, " how soon the corns are got
in, "a method that was followed in some of the neigh-
bouring counties as well. At another meeting held on
6th December, it was found that answers had been re-
ceived from very few of the ministers, owing, it may
be, to the fact that at that date the crop in many cases
had not been got in.

On the 23rd day of December, 1782, a meeting of
the proprietors and principal inhabitants of Aberdeen-
shire was held, the Sheriff of the county, Mr.
Robert Turner, being put in the chair. The expressed
object of the meeting was " to take under consideration
not only the present state of the country and the crop of
this year, but also to consider of what may be done for
the ensuing year, especially regarding the capital article
of seed." The facts stated by individuals at this meet-

52 Notes and Sketches.

ing from their own knowledge were, we are assured, " of
a nature too singular to be allowed to fall into oblivion.
At that time it appeared that great quantities of corn in
many parts of the country were still to cut down.
Some gentlemen who lived in the best parts of the
county gave it as their opinion that a boll of the best
oats might give about half a boll of meal." But others,
" especially in the higher parts of the county" were of
opinion that " it would require three bolls of the best
oats to give one boll of meal ; and many instances were
produced where it had not yielded one-fourth of that
proportion. From about thirty trials in the lands of
Mounie, which is one of the earliest places in the Garioch,
it was found to require three bolls of oats to give one
boll of meal on an average."

It was computed, in short, that from, lateness, bad
weather, destruction by rooks, heating, and other casual-
ties, one-fourth of the crop was lost before it could be
got in, and that between waste and actual deficiency
little more than one-fifth of the usual quantity could
be used for meal.

The computation made was, that while in an ordinary
year each 100 bolls of grain grown might be reckoned
in this way : — 25 bolls for seed, and 75 bolls for as
many bolls of meal ; each hundred bolls of crop 1782,
must be reckoned thus — 30 bolls for seed and 25 bolls
for waste, leaving 45 bolls, which would average only
18 J bolls of meal. The inhabitants of the county were
computed at 131,000, and the calculated allowance of
oatmeal to these was 300,000 bolls. " It was admitted
that the county used to supply its whole inhabitants
with corn in an ordinary year, and no more, as it ap-
peared from the Custom-house books, that the exports
and imports, including transportation coastwise in both
cises, were nearly equal on an average of years."
Instead of 300,000 bolls, the data submitted showed
only 79,000, say 80,000 bolls, making a .deficiency of
220,000 bolls. The crops in the southern parts of the

The Bad Harvest of 1782. 53

island had not suffered nearly so much; and hence
flour imported from England became comparatively so
plentiful in Aberdeen as to be cheaper than oatmeal ;
one result of which was that the Governors of Robert
Gordon's Hospital ordered coarse flour to be used in that
Institution instead of oatmeal.

To meet a deficiency of the character indicated was no
slight matter. A somewhat sanguine narrator of the oc-
currences of the time (Dr James Anderson) speaks of the
" unanimous resolution" of the meeting of proprietors
and principal inhabitants, that "all ranks" should abstain
from malting bear. The usual annual yield of that
grain, we are told, was estimated at 80,000 bolls. Half
of this, it was thought, could be made into meal, yield-
ing say 60,000 bolls. The estimated " saving in con-
sequence of scarcity" (in other words, the depth of the
hunger bite) was put at 35,000 bolls ; accelerating next
harvest by early sowing, " and mealing it as soon as
possible," might, it was thought, be equal to 25,000 bolls;
and, as the past harvest, by its lateness, had shortened
the period of waiting, a favourable season, with very
prompt resort to early potatoes, might give another gain
of a month, or say 25,000 bolls. This would leave the
actual deficiency in the meal supply of the county at
75,000 bolls. And this estimate, it is added, was
pretty near the actual state of the case. The total
importation was about 80,000 bolls.

The sentiments of the County Meeting found osten-
sible expression in a minute remarkable for its unusual
length and the copiousness of its style.* It sets forth that
in order to prevent the inhabitants from experiencing a
total want of food before another crop can be brought
to maturity, it is a matter of necessity " that every
individual shall observe the most frugal economy in
regard to piovisions; that the smallest article which

* If a guess might be hazarded on the point, the internal evidence
would seem to indicate that this minute had been drafted by Dr,
James Anderson,

54 Notes and Sketches.

can be employed as the food of man be not on any
occasion applied to other uses, or lost through neglect
or inattention." And in the way of practical enforce-
ment, it is argued that " with this view, all dogs, unless
those of great use and value, should be instantly put to
death. At a time like the present, when the whole
produce of the country is not sufficient to sustain the
life of the inhabitants themselves, it must," says the
minute, " be deemed a heinous crime to suffer any part
of that food to be consumed by vile animals. Those
who must have useful dogs, and those of higher rank
who can afford to keep dogs of value, ought to procure
from abroad as much grain at least as would serve to
sustain them till a new crop can be brought to market.
Persons in lower circumstances who, regardless of the
duties they owe to themselves and society, persist in
keeping these animals, should be accounted enemies of
mankind. They cannot in justice lay claim to the
sympathising benevolence of their fellow-creatures, and
their dogs ought to be destroyed by order of the civil
magistrates and Justices of the Peace."

For the like reasons it was thought right that no
corn that could be converted into meal should be given
to horses. " Good hay and straw, with whins, where
these can be had, will sustain, during the winter season,
horses which are moderately worked. And in regard
to chaise horses, which at present too much abound, it
is believed the necessity of the times will greatly
diminish their employment ; and it is hoped that those
who, through disease or otherwise, are under the
necessity of employing them, will permit them to be so
gently driven as not to hurt them, though greatly
stinted in their usual allowance of corn." It was
strongly urged that people should refuse to sell for
horse corn what was fit to be made into oatmeal. Inn-
keepers might get a supply from abroad ; and it
behoved them to devise the means of so obtaining it.

One of the numerous " resolves," and which bears on

The Bad Harvest of 1782. 55

the question of malting bear, already spoken of, seems
rather in the nature of a simple recommendation. It
runs thus : — " To show an example of moderation in
the use of the necessaries of life to those of inferior
degree, it will be highly commendable, in all gentlemen
and others, not only to give over entirely for a time the
use of home-made spirits, but also, in as far as health
permits, to abstain from the use of malt liquors of every
kind that shall be brewed from grain in this country,
and also prohibit their servants from using it as drink,
permitting no malt liquor in their families but merely
as kitchen (that is as a nourishing and palatable addition)
to bread or other dry food where milk cannot be had ;
and in that case to allow no more at each meal than
shall appear to be indispensably necessary." Following
on this other provident and precautionary measures
were suggested. Gentlemen were recommended to
make exact survey of " all the corns" on their respective
estates, to ascertain what stacks contained stuff in a
state sufficient for seed, and have these "marked off
and appropriated to that purpose alone ;" to promote
the sowing of bear in place of oats as coming earlier to
harvest ; and, in particular, that a subscription should
be opened to import early potatoes for seed, " especially
the early Henley," which, it seems came two months
sooner to maturity than the other varieties. And as
early Dutch turnips came "into eating in May and
June," these would be found highly useful. More-
over, " the meal of the present crop, on account of its
bad quality, will, with too much certainty, subject those
who must live entirely upon it to various disorders ;
and nothing it has been said, proves more efficacious to
remove this species of disorder than turnip." To all
this is added the recommendation that, to render next
crop as abundant as might be, farmers should prepare
only the best of their land for sowing — (proprietors sanc-
tioning departure from the usual rules of husbandry) — dis-
regarding " that which would yield but a poor return."

56 Notes and Sketches.

The general conclusion of the meeting was expressed
in this wise — " But when all this shall be done there
will still remain a frightful deficiency, which must in
one way or another be made up, or many of the poor
will inevitably perish for want." It was agreed to pe-
tition Government to give a bounty on importation of
grain; and other measures of purely local application were
adopted, including that of printing and circulating the
resolutions of the meeting, a step that appears to have
so far re-opened the question ; for at a meeting of Com-
missioners of Supply in January 31, 1783, with Sir
William Forbes as preses, Mr. Turner of Menie had
the question put formally — " Whether or not the resolu-
tions of the said meeting, which had been printed and
dispersed, were not hurtful both to the town and county
of Aberdeen, and the fears of want therein exaggerated]"
A majority of votes decided the question in the affir-
mative ; but in order that the sense of the county might
be more fully ascertained, an adjourned meeting " of
landed gentlemen and freeholders " was held on 1 4th
February ; and they agreed " that the dread of so fatal
a want, as had been formerly suggested, was groundless,
but were sensible that the crop had proved remarkably
deficient, and therefore made no doubt that this would
become an object of most serious consideration and at-
tention to every gentleman in the county."

Beyond question there was famine in the land ; and
there is abundant evidence that but for extraneous sup-
plies, death from want would have been far from an
uncommon experience. The estimate of crop, as we
have seen, gave less than a third of the crop of an or-
dinary year in quantity ; and in an ordinary year they
grew only enough to meet their own wants — precisely
what the generation of a hundred years earlier had done.
And the quality of such crop as they had was bad, being
greatly lack ing in wholesomeness and nourishment. Well
might it be that, as put by one of the local chroniclers,
a man evidently exercised in the construction of sen-

The Bad Rawest of 1782. 57

tences — " Temperance stern but friendly established her
reign on the solid base of necessity." But the pressure
of dearth went much deeper than this ; and but for the
importation of bread stuffs already spoken of, and which
took the shape, to a considerable extent, of grants by
Government of oatmeal and peasemeal, or rather of pease
to be ground into meal, there is no reason to doubt the
statement that "numbers would have perished."

Neither of the two adjoining counties seems to have
suffered quite so severely. The parish reports asked for
and obtained by the Commissioners of Supply for Banff-
shire in the late autumn of 1782, led them to conclude
that " the condition of the crop was not so bad as was
apprehended." In Kincardineshire a portion of the
cereal crop was wheat, which gave better results compa-
ratively than the oat crop ; and the farmers ground it
in the ordinary corn mills, using it for porridge, while
they made cakes of the oatmeal and bearmeal.

In country districts the distribution of these grants
of meal was a duty that fell to the Kirk-sessions, who,
as a rule, did their part with a creditable amount of
shrewdness and humane feeling. Here, in brief, are
the arrangements in a large parish in a central Aber-
deenshire Presbytery, and which may be taken as typical
of the county parishes generally. On Wednesday. 8th
January, 1783, a fast was observed according to the Pres-
bytery's appointment, and the occasion no doubt carried
with it more of a practical aspect than " fasts" frequently
do. On April 13th, the Session, " considering the de-
plorable situation of the parish through the dearth and
scarcity of meal, and being well informed that even
they who cannot properly be ranked amongst the poor,
find very great difficulty in getting meal even when they
have money to pay for it," resolved " to bespeak fourty
bolls of pease on their own account." They held a bond
of a principal heritor for a certain amount, and, he being
out of the country at the time, " the interest could not
be uplifted till his return ;" but several " generous and

58 Notes and Sketches.

charitable " individuals made offer of sums without in-
terest to pay for the pease purchased; and others "cheer-
fully promised " their assistance in fetching the pur-
chase home. The price of the pease was <£! 2s (ster-
ling) per boll ; and as the carts told off to convey the
" fourty bolls " numbered fourteen double and three
single carts, the separate loads would not be very large
even for a twenty mile journey. The quantity of pease-
meal yielded was " not fully sixty bolls," and as the
cost, including milling and drying, was <£44 16s. 8d.,
the Session found they could not sell their peasemeal
under Is. per peck. What happened next was that,
under supervision of the elders, appointed to the duty
in turn, over forty bolls were sold, and four bolls given
away gratis early in May. It was not till July that five
bolls of meal were got from. " the Royal bounty ;" and
between that and the beginning of November it seems
to have been a continued struggle with want. One or
two further doles were got from the Government grant ;
while the Session, in addition to distributing the re-
mainder of their own purchase, bought a further supply
of oatmeal when harvest had come to distribute among
poor people who, from the long distress, were unable to
supply themselves even after the price had fallen.

The " ill years 1782-3" had the effect of ruining many
farmers in Aberdeenshire, and some landlords as well ;
and a good deal of emigration to America followed.
And while a further result was to stimulate improve-
ment by the introduction of earlier and better varieties
of grain, and greater attention to green crops, the neces-
sities of the time greatly promoted the granting of long
leases during the immediately succeeding years. Pre-
viously the leases given had been of varying length,
seven, nine, twelve, fifteen, or nineteen years being
terms occasionally granted indifferently by the same
proprietor. The prevailing poverty on both sides made
it an object now to secure substantial tenants ; and thus,
when a man, possessed of a few hundred pounds

The Bad Harvest of 1782. 59

came in the way, he was encouraged in the idea of
permanency of occupation by the offer of a lease not
merely for his lifetime, but for the period of one or two
lives in succession after his own, he naming his suc-
cessors. Some of these leases granted soon after 1782
had not finally expired in 1860.

CHAPTER IX.

LIVE STOCK — EARLY IMPROVERS — ROB ROY AS A
CATTLE DEALER — HIGHLAND REIVERS — THE BLACK
WATCH — VALUE OF CATTLE PLUNDERED.

" THE places in this country which produce sheep and
black cattle have no provision for them in winter
during the snows, having neither hay nor straw, nor
any enclosure to shelter them on the grass from the
cold easterly winds in the spring ; so that the beasts
are in a dying condition, and the grass consumed by
those destructive winds, till the warm weather, about
the middle of June, come to the relief of both."
These words were written of date 1698, and they pre-
sent a vivid and graphic, as well as, in the main, a
truthful sketch of the conditions under which the
live stock of the country existed about the close of the
seventeenth and beginning of the eighteenth century.
At that time the native breeds of both cattle and
sheep were poor in character and poorly kept. Im-
provement in the rearing of neat stock seems to have
begun in the south-western corner of the land. Sir
David D unbar of Baldoon, in Galloway, the very
tragic story of whose wooing and wedding furnished
Sir Walter Scott with the central incidents in "The
Bride of Lammermoor," and who was himself killed
in 1682, was "an active improver of the wretched
rural economy of his day." And amongst other things,
he formed a famous park, two and a-half miles in
length and one and a-half in breadth, which could
"keep in it summer and winter a thousand bestial."
Part of these, we are told, he bought from the country,

Live Stock 61

and part were of his own breed, " for he hath nearly
two hundred milch kine, which, for the most part,
have calves yearly." Sir David sold yearly to drovers,
or sent to St. Faith's and other fairs in England, about
eighteen or twenty score of bestial. " Those of his
own breed," the chronicler adds, " at four years old
are very large ; yea, so large that in August or
September, 1682, nine and fifty of that sort, which
would have yielded between £5 and £6 sterling the
piece, were seized upon in England for Irish cattle ;
and because the person to whom they were intrusted
had not witnesses there ready at the precise hour to
swear that they were seen calved in Scotland, they
were, by sentence of Sir J. L. and some others, who
knew well enough that they were bred in Scotland,
knocked on the head and killed."

This extract throws a somewhat curious light on
both the cattle trade and the political economy of
the time. Whether the Baldoon cattle were the
ancestors of the native " Galloways" of the present
day, we know not ; possibly they were. But it does
seem rather odd that a set of English magistrates (as
presumably Sir J. L. and his friends had been) should
seize upon a number of them and have them killed
upon the mere suspicion, or pretence rather, of their
being Irish cattle. The oifence, even though it had
been proved, would not seem a very grievous one,
there having apparently been no dread of contagious
cattle diseases then. But not only did Ireland possess
a superior breed of cattle at that time ; it was also
against the law to import them into Scotland. We
find Sir David Dunbar's successor at Baldoon petition-
ing the Privy Council for permission to import from
Ireland " six score young cows of the largest breed,"
for making up his stock in the park of Baldoon ; he
" giving security that he would import no more, and
employ these for no other end."

Various others followed the example set at Baldoon,

62 Notes and Sketches.

and a considerable trade in droving cattle from
Galloway and other parts of Scotland to England
seems to have sprung up. Sir George Campbell of
Cessnock, in Ayrshire, had also a park " furnished
with ' ane great brood of cattle' and a superior brood
of horses, both from Ireland," and he, too, asks
permission to import from the Green Isle.

The Union between England and Scotland, which
took place in 1707, gave a stimulus to various
branches of manufactures and trade, and among
other things to the trade in cattle, which then began
to be sent southward in greater numbers and from
further distances off than before ; the profits derived
leading certain gentlemen, members of families who
considered commerce in any shape rather below them,
to become cattle-dealers. Amongst these was the
Hon. Patrick Ogilvie, brother of Lord Seafield.
Seafield, as Chancellor of Scotland, had taken an active
part in bringing about the Union, a measure very
unpopular at the' time north of the Border. And
accordingly, on the Chancellor remonstrating with
his brother, on his undignified business of cattle
dealer, the latter drily replied, "Better sell nowte
than sell nations."

In a sketch given of a great cattle fair at Crieff,
in 1723, it is said there were at least 30,000 cattle
sold there, most of them to English drovers, who paid
down above 30,000 guineas in ready money to the
Highlanders; " a sum they had never seen before."
The Highlanders, it is added, " hired themselves out
for a shilling a day, to drive the cattle to England,
and to return home at their own charges." The con-
nection of the Highlanders with the cattle business
was not always quite so accommodating or creditable
as this. Yet it is somewhat curious to find that the
famous Rob Roy Macgregor, cattle lifter and outlaw,
began his career as a legitimate cattle dealer, buying
cattle in this very Crieff market and other fairs, and

Live Stock 63

droving them to England. The first public notice
we have of him was his being advertised as a fraudulent
bankrupt, who, having been " intrusted by several
noblemen and gentlemen with considerable sums for
buying cows for them in the Highlands, has treacher-
ously gone off with the money to the value of £1000
sterling, which he carries along with him." The real
explanation was understood to be that Eob had been
placed in serious pecuniary difficulties by the defalca-
tions of a subordinate agent or partner, and to avoid
the penalty of a harsh law, desired to keep out of the
way for the time. But the Buke of Montrose, who
had advanced money, as a sort of sleeping partner
with Macgregor, having got Rob's wife and family
turned out of his poor property of Inversnaid, Rob
took to the rough country round Ben Lomond as his
retreat, assumed the outlaw's life, and took sweet re-
venge by pouncing down as occasion served upon the
Duke's Lowland farms, and making booty of meal and
cattle ; and on one occasion of his factor, along with
the rents he was engaged in collecting.

But Rob Roy was not the originator of the practice
of cattle lifting, any more than he was the last that
lived by it. A contemporary description of the
Highlanders of this time, and which is more forcible
than complimentary, speaks of them as " a people who
are all gentlemen, only because they will not work ;
and who, in everything, are more contemptible than
the vilest slaves, except that they always carry arms,
because, for the most part, they live upon robbery."
And truly the Highlander's habits gave not a little
countenance to the accusation. Long before Rob
Roy's day, the unceremonious Celts were wont to come
down in force upon the Lowlands, and carry off
" spreaths" of cattle and other goods. We read of
such expeditions as that made in 1689, by a dozen
wild Lochaber men, who had come down to the heart
of Aberdeenshire — more than one hundred miles — and

64 Notes and Sketches.

" lifted" six score black cattle. They were pursued
by a body of nearly 50 horsemen, well mounted, and
armed, and each carrying bags of meal and other pro-
visions, both for their own support, and to offer in
ransom for the cattle, if peaceful negotiations could be
carried through. On through the hills, over marshes,
rocks, and heather, the spirited horsemen followed,
under their leader ; and guided by a herd boy whom
they encountered, they traced the robbers by Loch
Erricht side into the heart of their own country. At
nightfall, they came upon them at Dalunchart, en-
camped and busily engaged roasting a portion of the
flesh of one of the cattle they had stolen. They
offered, after some parley, to give each of the free-
booters a bag of meal and a pair of shoes in ransom
for the cattle. The Highlanders treated such an offer
for cattle driven so far and with so much trouble with
contempt ; the herd was gathered in, and the fight
began in deep earnest, the result being that the Loch-
aber men were all shot down, killed or wounded,
except three, who escaped unhurt to tell the tale ; and
the cattle were, of course, recovered.

In 1691 a certain Hugh Thaine, messenger, makes
declaration that he is unable to go " the length of
Edinburgh" from Elgin " by reason of sickness and
inabilitie of bodie," from " the hard usage" he had met
in Strathspey, in the wood of Abernethy. And he
" supplicats" the Privy Council or other judges to
" apoynt some way for redressing and punishing the
abusses committed against the law and Government"
upon his person and those in his company. Some
Strathspey Highlanders had lifted cattle belong-
ing to Sir Robert Gordon of Gordonstone, and Hugh,
in his official capacity, had been sent to cite the Laird
of Grant, as answerable for his clan : when he and
three men who accompanied him " were seized upon
be a pearty of armed men, who most maisterfullie and
violently struck ine with ther gunues, gave me a stobbe

Live Stock 65

with a durke in my shoulder, and a stroak with my
owen sword; robbed me of my money, my linens, some
cloathes, my sword, and provisions." They also took
Hugh's letters, bound him and his company, and
" allways" threatened him with " present death" for
executing " the foresaid letters." They offered his
life to any one of the company who would hang the
rest ; and finally, having secured them with " horse
roaps," left them in the wood, where they lay on the
ground " in cold, hunger, and great miserie for four
days and three nights." Such was the treatment of
which cattle lifters deemed the myrmidons of the law
fit subjects.

The thefts and depredations committed upon some
lands by Rob Roy and his followers are said to have
been equal to the rents of those lands. The practice of
cattle lifting had indeed come to be a well-systeniatised
business, and the freebooting Highlanders had their
own code of honour in conducting it. When cattle
were stolen, one means of recovery used was to send an
emissary into the region where the thief was supposed
to be, and offer a reward for his discovery. This re-
ward was looked on with great abhorrence. With the
high-minded Highlander, who scrupled not to rob his
Lowland neighbour's byres and his girnal, tascal money,
as he called it, was the " unclean thing," and he and
his fellows would solemnly swear over their drawn dirks
that they would never defile their consciences by taking
any such reward from the vile " Lallander." " Black
mail " was exacted with very peculiar coolness. When
a district was almost ruined by the depredations of a
band of thieves, their leader or some friend of his would
generously propose that for a certain annual payment he
would protect it from plunder. There was no help but
comply, as those who refused were made special victims ;
and it occasionally happened that some of the thieves
themselves, living within the district, were hypocritical
enough to pay black mail to keep up appearances.
0

66 Notes and Sketches.

In the reign of William III., there had been an armed
watch established, and severe measures taken to put
down this system. But for a time this had been given
up, and in 1724 Government established six companies
of native soldiery, consisting of 480 men of the clans
believed to be loyal, to prevent these cattle robberies
and suppress the disgraceful impost. The men were
dressed in plain dark-coloured tartan : and hence were
called the Reicudan Dhu or Black Watch. And such
was the -origin of a regiment since then highly distin-
guished in many a well-fought field — the gallant 42nd
Highlanders. They were formed into a regular regiment
in 1735 for foreign service; and a consequence of the
removal of the companies from their special posts as the
Black Watch was the revival of the old practice of cattle
lifting, which had been pretty effectually kept down by
them. The caterans in 1743 came down again into
Badenoch, into JSTairnshire, and Banffshire, " harrying"
as they could, and not scrupling even to kill those who
resisted the driving off of their cattle. And in the fol-
lowing year Macpherson of Cluny had to raise a body
of armed retainers, and take active measures to put
down the determined incursions of the Highland rob-
bers. Down to 1 745, though the Highlanders may have
confined their raids to nearer home, there does not seem
to have been much abatement of the practice of cattle
lifting. Mr. Graham of Gartmore, writing about the
close of the Rebellion, says : — " It may be safely affirmed
that the horses, cows, sheep, and goats yearly stolen in
that country [the Highlands generally] are in value
equal to .£5000, and that the expenses lost in the fruit-
less endeavours to recover them will not be less than
X2000 ; that the extraordinary expense of keeping
herds and servants to look more narrowly after cattle
on account of stealing, otherwise not necessary, is
<£! 0,000. There is paid in black mail or watch money,
openly or privately, .£5000 ; and there is a yearly loss
by under-stocking the grounds, by reason of thefts, of

Live Stock. 67

at least .£15,000, which is altogether a loss to land-
lords and farmers in the Highlands of .£37,000
a-year."

If Mr. Graham's statement can be accepted as even
approximately correct, the business of cattle lifting had
clearly been of considerable extent. At that date the
animals stolen would not have exceeded £3 in average
value, so that sixteen hundred at least must have been
stolen annually. Only in certain cases the Highlanders
apparently regarded reiving in the light of a serious
duty. Captain Burt speaks of their holding the
doctrine that they had a right to plunder their Low-
land neighbours, particularly the Moray lairds, on the
ground that their ancestors once owned the lands of
these same neighbours. A letter addressed by the laird
of Lochiel to the laird of Grant, the terms of which
follow, bears out this view, and at same time shows
that these forays were sometimes dangerous to both the
aggressors and their victims : —

RESPD. AND LOWING COUSIN. — My heartly commendations
being mentioned to you. I have received your letter concerning
this misfortunate accident that never fell out the like between
our houses the like before in no man's days; but praised be God,
I am innocent of the same, and my friends, both in respect that
they went not in your bounds, but to Murray lands, where all
men taken their prey nor knew not that Moynes was ane Graunt,
but thought he was ane Murrayman, and if they knew him they
would not stor his land more than the rest of your bounds in
Strathspey, and, sir, I have gotten such a loss of my friends,
which I hope you shall consider, for I have aught dead already
and I have 12 or 13 under cure quhilk I know not who shall die
or who shall live of the saming ; so, sir, whosoever has gotten the
greatest loss I am content that the same shall be referred to the
sight of friends that loveth us both alike, and there is such a
trouble here amongst us that we cannot look to the same, for the
pi-esent tyme, until I witt who shall live of my men that is under
cure. So not further troubling you at this tyme, sir, you shall
not be offended at my friend's innocence, so I rest you.

ALEXANDER CAM. of Lochyle.

Glenlacharkeg, 18 October, 1645.

CHAPTEE X.

LIVE STOCK— REARING IMPROVED ANIMALS — CATTLE
DEALING AND DROVING.

THE great cattle fair of Crieff, so flourishing in 1723,
like other institutions, had its time, and then ceased to
be what it had once been. When stricter notions began
to prevail regarding improved lands and rights of pro-
perty therein, the Highlanders could not, as hitherto,
get their cattle driven thither on the principle of free
grazing all the way from their native glens — (or at any
rate from the point at which they came outside the
Highland border) — and market " custom," too, had
begun to be exacted on the cattle offered for sale. So
they found it more advantageous to make their rendez-
vous at Falkirk ; and Crieff came to be a horse market
chiefly. In the latter half of the eighteenth century,
the Falkirk Trysts, where the southern dealers in cattle
met the dealers from the northward, had grown to a
position of great importance, owing, no doubt, to the
fact that the locality was at once accessible from both
the Highlands and the Lowlands, and convenient for the
dealers who bought cattle to " drove " southward. To-
ward the close of the century, it was estimated that
between 20,000 and 30,000 black cattle were offered
for sale at each October Tryst; and that the cattle
brought up to the three Trysts that occurred during the
year would number about 60,000.

It was only after the eighteenth century was fully
half gone that any considerable trade in cattle existed
north of the Tay. Berwickshire, the Lothians, and

Live Stock. 69

Fifeshire on the east coast, with Perthshire and the
adjoining counties to the westward, had been chiefly
concerned in that business at an earlier date. Farmers
in the north-eastern counties — Angus, Kincardine,
Aberdeen, and Banff — got oxen for the plough from
the Lothians, and later from the county of Fife ; the
cattle they reared of their own native breed being too
" sober" for the yoke. They bought them of the dealers
when young ; that is, when three years old, or there-
by ; kept them as draught cattle for the next eight or
nine years, and then re-sold them to the same class of
traders at the best price obtainable ; though it would
frequently happen, we are told, that these venerable
oxen had to be parted with " at a great discount." But
now that the Lothian farmers had begun to find it more
to their advantage to grow wheat and other grain rather
than breed live stock, the rearing of cattle became of
more account with the northern Scottish farmer. In the
first place, he must have oxen to enable him to plough
his land ; and he would by and by come to take his due
part in rearing cattle for the dealer to drove southward.
Some of the proprietors made spirited efforts to im-
prove the cattle and rear stronger animals by obtaining
bulls from Falkland in Fife, where a superior breed,
originally from south the Tweed, existed. Other varie-
ties were imported directly from England, but with no
great success it would seem. The complaint was that
there was no food to support these large-sized and some-
what delicate animals. And, indeed, until cultiva-
tion of the turnip became general (which it did in the
latter part of the eighteenth century, especially during
the last decade), it is rather difficult to realise the
miserable style in which even the small black cattle
were maintained, especially during the " wintering,"
when the staple of their sustenance, at its best, was oat
straw, with what they could pick up by roaming over
the fields. By early spring the poor animals had got
into sadly reduced condition, and if severe weather

70 Notes and Sketches. .

continued far into the season, it was not always that the
farmer could bring his whole stock to the grass in life,
through lack of nutritive provender. And even when
spring had fully come, the pasture on the cultivated
land, furnished by the growth of indigenous grasses,
was wretchedly poor. In the Cromar and some other
districts of Aberdeen shire, the practice was to send the
larger cattle away about the end of May to graze in the
Highland glens at many miles distance, and they were
brought home again about the end of August. The
cost of grazing was 2s. or 3s. a-head for the summer.
In the pastoral region of Cabrach, in Banffshire and
Aberdeenshire, where the tenants traded in cattle as
they could, they bought in sheep in early spring, and
cattle a little later, to graze ; and sold them off again
about August. The cost of grazing black cattle about
1790 was 2s. a-head on hill pasture, and 5s. a-head on
" infield " grass for the summer ; not high rates ; but
then at three years of age and upward these same cattle
ranged only from £3 to £7 a-head in value.

About 1750, when ten or twelve oxen were univer-
sally used in each plough in Aberdeenshire, " the
greater part of the draught oxen came from the
Lothians." Twenty years later they came from Fife-
shire, but not in so great proportion ; and the number
reared by farmers themselves gradually increased till the
disastrous year 1782, which, if it ruined many farmers,
had also the effect of stimulating those who escaped
ruin in the direction of improved modes. After that date,
turnip cultivation, as already indicated, became more
general ; the plough teams were curtailed, and the oxen
that composed them were almost exclusively reared at
home. It is curious, however, to note the enormous
proportion which the work oxen bore to other stock, so
late as the date of the Old Statistical Eeport even.
Thus, one minister of an Aberdeenshire parish, who had
been at the trouble to take the bovine statistics of his
diocese, as indeed a good many others did, informs us

Live Stock 71

that there were in it 953 cattle ; and of these no less
than 346 were oxen for the plough, the number of
ploughs in the parish being 65.

In connection with what has been said about the in-
troduction of improved breeds of cattle, it has to be
noted that the business of sheep farming was no whit
more advanced than that of stock raising. Considerable
numbers of one or two native breeds of very small size
(there was a whitefaced and a blackfaced variety) were
reared in the Lowlands. They were fed on the rougher
and less fertile pieces of land, and were valued chiefly
for their wool, which was fine, though the fleece would
weigh only from 20 to 28 ozs. It was not till the pa-
triotic Sir John Sinclair formed the British Wool Society
in 1791, that the larger Cheviot variety or " long hill
sheep of the East Border " was generally introduced and
naturalised in the northern parts of Scotland.

In or about the year 1764 "a few dealers from Gallo-
way and the west of Scotland " seem to have begun a sort
of regular business of " droving " cattle to England. A
more or less intermittent " trade " of the kind had ap-
parently gone on for many years previous to that time.
And some of these Scotch cattle, after sale in English
fairs, and fattening on English pastures, would find
their way to the London market ; though the wants of
the Navy in the matter of salt beef appear to have been
at this time, and for long after, regarded as the main
source of demand. In 1 763 " salted beef was purchased
at the average of one penny per pound." It rose in
price next year ; but the year after, viz., 1765, the price
of black cattle fell so suddenly and badly that " the
dealers in Aberdeenshire universally stopped payments."
In 1766, " cattle dealers came from England, in the
end of June and July, to purchase live stock for the
English market " (previously they had been content
to wait till they were " droved " over the Border to
them). The fact indicated a rising demand ; which was
but temporary, however, for " a second and sudden fall

72 Notes and Sketches.

of the price of black cattle towards the end of 1767,
again damped the spirits of the farmers and ruined all
the cattle dealers." Prices declined till 1770, when
they had reached the low level that prevailed before the
influence of the southern market had been felt. From
that date, with occasional fluctuations — and aided by
the demands of the Navy, pretty generally on a war
footing in those days — prices kept higher till the short-
lived peace of October, 1801, brought " a temporary fall
of 25 per cent, in the price of cattle;" and thus, " for the
third time" in the reign of His Majesty King George III.,
most of the unhappy cattle-dealers were " ruined." * By
that time the price of a well-grown ox of three to four
years old had risen to as high as <£20, which was much
more than double the price when droving southward
began ; though it must not be forgot that the cattle had
much improved in quality and size. In the report to
the Board of Agriculture for the county of Kincardine,
we read that, " about the year 1740, the largest ox in
the county at that time, weighing from 25 to 30 stones,
could have been bought for twenty shillings, or at most
a guinea;" which is less than a shilling a stone — the
stone of that period being equal to about 17*4 of the
present imperial Ibs. They rose gradually in price till
about the year 1764, when " cattle of that size, and as
full-fed as the country could make them, brought from
£3 to <£4, or from 2s. to 2s. 8d. the stone. From this
period, cattle, being somewhat better fed, not only in-
creased in size, but were improved in condition. And
from the increased demand for butcher meat, combined

* In his interesting book on "Cattle and Cattle Breeders," in
which the process of dealing, as practised in the earlier part of the
present century, is graphically described, Mr. M'Combie, M. P., tells
a story of George Williamson, the senior member of a well-known
family of local cattle dealers, known as the "Stately" Williamsons,
and the peace of 1815 :— "He was passing through Perth with a
large drove of cattle. The Bells were ringing a merry peal for the
peace. St. John's Wells said it was a sorrowful peal to him, for
it cost him £4000."

Live Stock. 73

with the gradual decline in the value of money, the
price of meat in the market, by the year 1792, enabled
the graziers to give at the rate of 6s. 8d. the stone."
After the use of turnips had become general, " every
succeeding generation " of cattle increased in size, and
the statement of Messrs. Williamson was that in their
time (say 1810) by the introduction of the turnip hus-
bandry, the native breed, from better keeping, had come
to weigh at least double its former weight. Up to this
date, and indeed for a long while after, the ordinary
farmer did not regard the fattening of cattle as a thing
much in his way. He aimed rather at rearing what
stock he could, to be sold in " fresh keeping condition"
to the butcher or other person who chose to " feed " for
the shambles, a state of matters now very completely
changed.

According to the estimate of Sir John Sinclair, about
100,000 head of cattle were sent to England yearly from
Scotland toward the close of the eighteenth century,
and of these a considerable number were from far north
districts. About 3000 were taken to the southern mar-
kets by drovers " who droved them by land " all the
way from the county of Caithness, arid probably 80001
to 9000 were " droved " yearly from Aberdeenshire.

Of the Highlander's way of turning out his cattle-
we have the following description (dated about
1730) : — " About the latter end of August or the
beginning of September the cattle are brought into
good order by their summer feed, and the beef is ex-
tremely sweet and succulent, which, I suppose, is owing
in good part to their being reduced to such poverty in
the spring, and made up again with new flesh. Now
the drovers collect their herds and drive them to fairs
and markets on the borders of the Lowlands, and some-
times to the north of England ; and in their passage
they pay a certain tribute proportionable to the number
of cattle, to the owner of the territory they pass
through, which is in lieu of all reckonings for grazing."'

74 Notes and Sketches.

The writer goes on to say that he had often from a
distance seen great numbers of cattle driven along the
sides of the mountains, but only once had been near at
hand, when in a time of rain a drove of cattle were
being taken over a wide river across which the drovers
were ferried by a boat. " The cows were about fifty
in number and took the water like spaniels ; and when
they were in their drivers made a hideous cry to urge
them forwards ; this they told me they did to keep the
foremost of them from turning about, for in that case
the rest would do the like, and then they would be in
danger, especially the weakest of them, to be driven
away and drowned by the torrent. I thought it a very
odd sight to see so many noses and eyes just above
water, and nothing of them more to be seen, for they
had no horns, and upon the land they appeared like so
many large Lincolnshire calves."

In the Lowlands the local business in cattle in each
district was transacted at a few annual fairs— Lawrence
Fair in the Garioch and Aikey Fair in Buchan were
early established " trysts" in Aberdeenshire, And as
the fairs were wide apart, in point of locality, and came
but once in the season, the gathering of cattle at them
was always large. If less wild and romantic than the
cattle traffic in the Highlands, it was still a picturesque
style of things as they gathered out here and there from
upland glens ; the master, plaided and bonneted, riding
his hairy pony, and one or two assistants equally
hairy and hardy, tramping on afoot for many miles, and
keeping the small drove of shaggy Highlanders jogging
leisurely along, and picking up a livelihood by the
way ; while the dwellers in the Lowlands came " their
gate," from the haughs and braesides, with groups of
black "hummlies," diversified by an occasional
41 bran'it" or " rigget" stirk ; or it might be a few horned
beasts not indisposed to butt, and be otherwise
domineering amongst their fellows. The roads were
not very exactly defined, and fences were little known ;

Live Stock. 75

so that the cattle had moderately free access to pasture
by the wayside, and occasionally to such cultivated
crops as might happen to be within reach. Bridges
were few and far between. Where burns and rivers
had to be crossed, the cattle forded them, how deep or
broad soever, and so did their drivers ; and when
"spates" were on a "mishanter" would sometimes
happen of a more or less serious kind. When the
market was over, and the "drove" of eight, ten, or
fifteen score made up for the journey, after the same
fashion, to the dealer's pasturage ; or better still for their
long and leisurely travel of days and weeks to Falkirk
or Hallow Fair, it was a sight to see. The " drove,"
as it moved along, would stretch to nearly a mile in
length, with here and there a rough " cowte" of a drover
stalking away among the beasts stick in hand, and his
wallet slung over his shoulder. And truly the " tops-
man," who had the responsibility of looking after and
guiding the whole to their destination needed no mean
powers of generalship to do his work safely and well.

Up to the date of the Eebellion of 1745 cattle sent
to the southern markets from the counties of Aberdeen
and Banff were driven across the Eastern Grampians by
tracks marked out from time immemorial by the conti-
nuous tread of man and beast. The chief of these pri-
mitive highways were the most easily accessible and least
steep of the natural ravines among the hills ; and gener-
ally these — from Tomintoul, by Corgarff, Crathie, and
Braemar, to the Spital of Glenshee, Blairgowrie, and
Perth ; from Ballater, by the Spital of Muick, to Clova,
and Kirriemuir ; from Aboyne, by the Tanar, and
Mount Keen, to Lochlee, and down by the Esk to
Brechin ; from Kincardine O'Neil or Banchory-Ternan,
across the Cairn o' Mount, to Fettercairn, and Brechin ;
from Durris, by the Crine Corse to Drumlithie, and the
Howe o' the Mearns ; from Aberdeen, by the Tollohill,
and Causey Port, to Stonehaven. These primitive
highways rose to elevations of from four hundred feet

76 Notes and Sketches.

to two thousand feet above sea level. In the post-
Rebellion period, road-making was more systematically
pursued ; and where formally constructed highways
were laid out, the drover naturally followed the line of
these, though the metalled surface was trying to the
hoofs of his travel-worn charge. " Droving" cattle
southward from the north and north-eastern counties
continued to prevail for fully the first quarter of the
present century ; and was gradually superseded by
winter fattening of cattle for transmission, first by
steamboat and latterly by railway direct to the London
market.

CHAPTEE XL

COUNTRY FAIRS THEIR ORIGIN AND CHARACTER

AIKEY FAIR.

THE old country fairs had apparently been an institu-
tion established by the Monks of the middle ages, with
a view to facilitate the transaction of general business.
And hence the fair came usually to be held on a saint's
day. In degenerate times, indeed, it was frequently
held on a Sunday. And at one time the fair was re-
garded quite as much in the light of a rendezvous for
indulgence in such rude games and wrestlings as are
celebrated in "Chirst's Kirk o' the Green" — a poem with
an appreciably northern smack about it, by whomso-
ever written — as in that of a resort for the transaction
of serious business. Hence such expressions as "Play
Feersday" (Thursday), when the fair happened to be
held on that day of the week, or " Play Friday," if it
happened to be on a Friday ; the dominating idea Jieing
amusement. The practice common in last century, of
having fairs announced outside the kirk door after
service on Sundays, with a comprehensive summary
given by the " crier " of the more attractive articles
likely to be found thereat, gave rise to the " byeword,"
that such and such a thing that seemed likely to
become notoriously public was " like a cried fair."

An almost invariable accompaniment of certain of
the fairs was the occurrence of party fights, or personal
encounters between rustic athletes fond of testing
their physical prowess. These encounters, which ordi-
narily took place about the close of the fair, were suffi-

78 Notes and Sketches.

ciently brutal in character, the combatants often merci-
lessly belabouring each other with cudgels. In no quarter
perhaps were they so formidable or so systematically
kept up as in the district of Cromar, where the
periodical onsets between "the rough tykes of Tarland,"
and "theLeochel men" seem to have been as regular in
their occurrence as the fairs in which the two parishes
were interested ; the fight being understood always to
end in one or other of the sides being driven off the
field vanquished.

At the last century fair, the business transacted was
of an exceedingly miscellaneous kind. Live stock was
by no means the most important feature. All sorts of
household furnishings — including chairs, stools, wooden
ladles, " caups," and barrels and brewing "bowies,"
rough wicker " creels," and such like, were exhibited in
quantity by the wrights and coopers and other artificers,
so as the more strictly agricultural class might supply
their needs in such matters. Even ploughs and harrows
were taken to the fair for sale. On the other hand,
those who tilled the soil had the wool of their small
stocks of native sheep spun into yarn at home, and then
converted into webs of " fingrams" by the weaver, to be
taken to the fair and offered to such as would buy ;
their customers, to a large extent, were itinerant
"merchants," who picked up the fingrams at the annual
fairs in Aberdeenshire, and then found a market for
them in other parts of Scotland, or by getting them
exported abroad. And after the decline of the trade in
fingrams, when spinning worsted and knitting stockings
for " the factory merchant," mainly engaged the atten-
tion of women in the country, dealers in soft goods in.
Aberdeen and the other county towns, found it worth
while to shut shop for a day or two on the occurrence
of some of the principal annual fairs, in order that they
might cultivate business by exhibiting prints and other
fabrics there alongside the stocks of the regular pack-
men.

Country Fairs. 7&

Seventy or eighty years ago Aikey Fair, which is
still held annually on Aikey Brae, in the parish of Old
Deer, in Buchan, was the largest fair in the JSTorth of
Scotland. A legendary account of its origin is to the
effect that a packman of unknown antiquity, Aul' Aikey
by name, in crossing the river Ugie, on stepping stones,
a mile west of the ancient " Abbey of Deir, " dropped
his pack. On fishing it out of the water, then slightly
flooded, he proceeded some three hundred yards farther
on to what is now known as Aikey Brae, which was
then, as it still is, covered with short grass and heath.
Here he spread out his goods to dry. The contents of
the pack consisted of prints and woollens, some of them
being of gaudy colours. A good many people passed
during the day, and being attracted by his stock bought
up all the articles in it. Aul' Aikey was charmed with
the success which followed what he had regarded as a
calamity — the accidental soaking of his pack. Apolo-
gising to his purchasers for the meagerness of his stock
he promised to show them something better worth look-
ing at if they would meet him next year at the same
time and place. He kept his word, while the report of
his gains brought others with goods for sale to the same
place, and so traffic gradually increased year by year
till Aikey Brae, from its central position, became a
general mart for the large and populous district of
Buchan.

Doubtless the story of the packman is fully as pic-
turesque as credible. But be that as it may, the hill-
side called Aikey Brae, where Aikey Fair is held
yearly on the Wednesday after the 19th of July, slopes
to the north down to the Ugie, while between the
market stance and the river runs eastward from New
Maud Junction, the Peterhead branch of the Buchan
and Formartine Railway. The Brae affords an exten-
sive view of the country to the west, north, and east,
including the fine grounds of Pitfour, with the moul-
dering ruins of the Abbey of Deir nestling amid the

SO Notes and Sketches.

orchard gardens of the same seat, the grounds of Aden,
and half-a-dozen miles to the north, the highest ground
in Buchan — Mormond Hill — with the noted figure of
a white horse occupying an acre of the surface of the
south slope of the hill, the space within the outline of
the animal being covered with white quartzose stones.

When their great annual fair approached the dwel-
lers in Buchan, eastward and westward, began to
bestir themselves in preparation for the most import-
ant gathering of the year. On the day preceding the
fair cattle were to be seen converging from all sides
to fields within easy reach of the stance. Dealers and
others from a distance came, all on horseback. Thus
at the ford of the Ebrie, near Arnage, some eight miles
off, as many as a hundred horsemen would pass on the
evening before the fair. They rode not unfrequently
at full gallop. Bets on the comparative merits of their
horses sometimes gave rise to racing in this sort ; but
there was, in addition, the prevalent notion that it
involved a sort of slur to allow your neighbour to pass
you on the road to the fair. On the day of the fair
fifty or sixty acres of Aikey Brae were covered with
human beings, cattle, horses, and various kinds of
merchandise.

Aikey Fair day was regarded as the great summer
holiday ; and both old and young flocked to it. In-
deed, it was the boast to have seen so many fairs.
" Old Cairnadaillie," who died at the age of ninety-
six, affirmed that he had been at ninety-one successive
fairs at Aikey Brae, having been first carried there
in his mother's arms. As many as 10,000 persons
are said to have been sometimes present, all attired
in their Sunday best. The men appeared in the
old-fashioned, home-spun, woven, and tailored coat
and vest, with big pockets and big buttons, knee
breeches and hose, all made of the wool of sheep
reared at home. They wore shoes with large
buckles ; and some of the rustic dandies came dressed

Country Fairs. 81

in white trousers and vest. The women also were in
their " braws," and those of the fair sex who could
afford it appeared in white. They generally wore high-
crowned gipsy mutches. Then, as now, in matters of
dress, the common folk trode on the heels of the
gentry. The latter made a point of attending the fair,
and several carriages might always be seen at it. The
traffic at Aikey Fair, as at other annual fairs of the
period, included cattle, horses, sheep, merchandise,
and chap-book literature of no very pretentious cha-
racter. There was always a wonderful supply of
" carvy " and coriander sweeties wherewith the lads
might treat the lasses. The shows and amusements at
the fair were of a very simple kind. The pipers from
the country around assembled, and often a dance would
be improvised on the green-sward. As time wore on
there appeared the " slicht o' han' men" to divide the
attention of the idle and curious.

Cattle and horses chiefly were the animals exposed
for sale at the fair, very few sheep being reared in the
districts around it. Most of the cattle sold in the fair
were driven south by Savock of Deer, Tarves, Inverurie,
Echt, Banchory, the Cairn o' Month, &c., to be fat-
tened on the rich pastures of England. Seventy years
ago as many as 6000 beasts are said to have passed
through Tarves in a continuous drove, a mile long, on
their way south on the day after the fair. In 1836,
however, only 2200 cattle were counted on this road
on the same day, while at the present day not over 250
in all appear in the fair, though in 1876 as many as
600 horses were shown.

The merchandise sold in Aikey Fair about 1800
consisted chiefly of webs of sacking, bed-tick, a variety
of prints often of gaudy colours, cottons in the shape
of moleskins and corduroys, of which the outer gar-
ments of working men were then mostly made ; wool
and yarn were also sold in large quantities. On the
day before the fair there used to be a large wholesale

82 Notes and Sketches.

business done in woollen cloths among merchants and
others. About the period indicated there were, as
now, tents in the fair for supplying refreshments.
Such a thing as whisky for sale was unknown, the
liquor being confined to home-brewed ale, which was
much drunk, though it was rare to see any one tipsy.

CHAPTER XII.

ROADS AND ROAD-MAKING STATUTE LABOUR — MILITARY

ROADS FIRST TURNPIKES.

IN no department of social economics has progress been
more signally manifested within the comparatively
recent past than in the department of roads and means
of locomotion. It has been said, and truly enough >
that the past half-century, or thereby, has witnessed a
greater advance in the facilities for rapid locomotion
than all the intervening centuries back to the era of the
Pharaohs had witnessed. It is just the difference be-
tween the speed of the horse going by " posts," as was
done in the days of Ahasuerus, king of Medo-Persia,
and the speed of the express train in the days of Vic-
toria, Queen of Great Britain. At the former date,
they could no doubt keep up to at least eight miles an
hour on a long journey ; and when George Stephenson
practically tested his "Socket" engine in A. D. 1829,
little if anything more had been accomplished in the
way of accelerated speed ; and as George had occasion
to know it was not deemed credible that the speed
mentioned could be safely increased to twelve miles an
hour. During all the years that have elapsed since the
present century began, however, the country has been
traversed, to a moderate extent at least, by fairly
passable roads. Over a large part of the eighteenth
century it was very different. Passable roads were
scarcely known ; and the bulk of traffic of the heavier
sort that went on (as well as mere personal touring)
was almost incredibly small. Think of " the whole
intercourse between Edinburgh and Glasgow" being

84. Notes and Sketches.

carried on by means of "ten or twelve pack horses
going and returning once a week," as we are told was
the case, so late as about 1760 !

It was not till 1810 that that " most eminent of road
surveyors," Mr. Loudon Macadam, succeeded in getting
public attention called to his improved system of road-
making, by first securing the support of the Board of
Agriculture through its President, Sir John Sinclair,
and in virtue of that support obtaining the approval of
a Parliamentary committee. And it was several years
after till macadamised roads came into anything like
general use. Before Macadam there was General
Wade ; but apart from the military roads constructed
under his direction, and up to fully the date when these
were " made," " the communication by land" in Scot-
land was " along paths which necessity had traced out,
that were marked only by the footsteps of the beasts
that travelled along them, unless it was in a few bad
passes through bogs that could not be avoided, where a
rough and narrow causeway of stones badly laid
together afforded at least a solid footing to the beasts,
though a very disagreeable and dangerous path to those
who were obliged to use it." Such is the description
of a writer, speaking of what came almost within his
own personal recollection.

In the county of Aberdeen, Sir Archibald Grant of
Monymusk, who began his operations as an agricultural
improver about 1716, was among the first to move on
the subject of road-making, as of many other improve-
ments. In describing the condition of his paternal
estate at the date mentioned, he says : — " At that time
there was not one acre upon the whole esteat enclosed,
nor any timber upon it, but a few elm, cycamore, and
ash about a small kitchen garden adjoining to the house,
and some straggling trees at some of the farm yards,
with a small cops wood, not inclosed and dwarfish and
broused by sheep and cattle. All the farms ill-disposed
and mixed,, different persons having alternated ridges,

Roads and Road-making. 85

not one wheel carriage on the esteat nor indeed any
one road that would allow it." " In 1720 I could not
in chariote get my wife from Aberdeen to TVfonymusk,"
wrote Sir Archibald. Macadam had yet to come, and the
causeways had evidently been neglected. The question
of road reform was just about to be taken up in earnest,
however, and for probably the first time on any com-
prehensive plan. In that very year, 1720, after due
advertisement " att the several paroch churches," the
Aberdeenshire county gentlemen " met, and having
read the Act of Parliament of 1719, relative to the
Highways and Bridges, they unanimously agreed ' That
the whole Highways and Bridges, within the said
county, should be repaired, amended, and built with all
convenient diligence.'" And, to defray the charges
that would ensue, they agreed to stent themselves at the
rate of 10s. Scots on each ,£100 of valued rent ; a scale
of rating which continued in force for many years
thereafter. The Commissioners appear to have approved
of persons in each parish as " overseers," to look after
the roads ; but something more definite was needed ;
and in 1721 Alexander Jaffray of Kingswells was ap-
pointed " General Surveyor of all the highways, cause-
ways, and bridges within the countie, who is to ryde
and run the same, and make report what bridges or
causeways may be necessary to be built or repaired
within the county." His salary was 200 merks, with
" half-a-crown of ryding charges for each day he has
served, or shall serve the shire, anent the reparation of
the said highways." The expenditure for riding charges
was afterwards limited to «£3 sterling a-year. It was
the Surveyor's duty in reporting on the bridges and
causeways, to state the cases which "could not be suffi-
ciently wrought by the labouring men in the respective
parishes," and where consequently the services of masons
and other artificers were required.*

*For statement relative to Early Aberdeenshire Roads, Post
Towns, &c., see Appendix (2).

86 Notes and Sketches.

This state of matters, substantially, continued for a
number of years with a moderate amount of success.

A description that would apply to the state of the
country a very little before the date at which Duke
William of Cumberland passed through Aberdeen and
Banffshire, to fight the rebels at Culloden, is to this
effect — " There was no road in the county of Aberdeen
on which wheels of any kind could be dragged ; weighty
burdens of every kind were of course carried on horse-
back." And when the county gentlemen had begun
to form roads in the different districts, their engineering
and constructive skill was not of the highest, any more
than the labour they could command was efficient or
heartily given. The Commissioners of Supply were
empowered by statute (1719), to call upon every house-
holder to give six days' work in the year toward the
making and maintenance of the roads. And when
they had decided to exact the " statute labour " more
rigorously, which they did soon after road reform had
been taken up as a practical question, they would employ
the precentor to read out a notice on Sunday from the
"lateran" immediately before the benediction; or engage
the bellman to utter a " scry" as the kirk " scailt,"
whereby the people were asked to " take notice" that
their services were needed at such a place on such a
day, to work under orders of this or the other J.P.
at road-making. But the people did not see why the
roads that were good enough for their fathers should
not be good enough for them • and they hated and
scamped the statute labour, so that the man's six days
frequently came to yield little more than one good day's
work ; a circumstance which ultimately led to the in-
voluntary labour being generally "commuted," for a
modified money payment. In commuting, they
reckoned the man's labour at 3d. a-day. Thus, his six
days' statutory work would amount to eighteenpence.
And that was the sum at which they ordinarily let him
off. As ninepence was paid for a road labourer with

Roads and Road-making. 87

some " can " in him, and a little heart to the business,
two days' work was thus secured ; so that the sum
exacted would seem to have been fairly equivalent to
the services that had been given.

How averse the people were to performing their
statute labour, and how little alive to the importance of
good roads, is curiously illustrated by such facts as that,
while warrant was granted to " poynd deficients con-
form to law," at least as early as 1739 no amendment
seems to have taken place in their conduct up to 1755,
when it was agreed that each Aberdeenshire parish
should repair its own roads " as ane expedient to try if
the roads will be repaired without commuting the
labourer's money, and charge each man in each parish a
sixpence in place of the labour they are obliged to give
by law." The schoolmasters were instructed to make
out lists of all the persons in their parishes liable to
statute labour (nearly all the male population between
fifteen and seventy years of age, except the ministers
and themselves). The precentors were " ordered" not
only to announce the statute labour days from the
" lateran," but to certify the County Clerk where no
application had been made to them on the subject, fail-
ing which, they would be " prosecuted forthwith as
contemners of the law." The ministers were "entreated
to prompt all concerned to forward so good a work that
they may be the agreeable instruments of preventing
the disagreeable necessity of imposing or incurring the
several penalties."

The highways made by statute labour were of this
sort — " though the principal roads have been in general
lined out so as to mark their direction, and some stones
and other obstructions removed out of the way and
bogs filled up, yet the roads still continue to be in such
a miserable state that unless it be for a few months in
summer it is impossible to drive a carriage upon them
with more than half an ordinary load." " What has
contributed to this evil," we are again told, " is that

88 Notes and Sketches.

when the roads began to be formed gentlemen were
not sufficiently attentive to carry them in the most
proper direction ; they generally followed as nearly as
they could the old course of the road ; and as bogs had
been originally the most dreaded obstructions, to avoid
these, the roads had been in general carried along the
high grounds where they could be come at ; so that in
many cases they were carried a considerable way about
to shun a vale and get up a hill. After wheels began
to be employed, it was found that the pulls going uphill
were very inconvenient, to avoid which it has been
necessary, in many instances, to abandon a road that
had been smoothed at a considerable expense, and to
make a new one in a more proper direction."

This description applies to the Aberdeenshire roads
of the second half of the eighteenth century. These
roads which were simply narrow, unmetalled tracks,
with ditches cut along the sides, the hollows filled, and
large stones removed, but rarely causewayed, speedily
became a muddy slough when the weather was wet.
And as early as 1741 we find the recommendation
to try a layer of " small stones and chingle" (a rough
approach to macadamising) " in time coming" on some
of the roads. Six inches depth of this had to be
applied, and the fact duly certified before " the usual
allowance" would be made to those who were charged
with the maintenance of the road.

Directly after the Rebellion of 1745 Government
roads and bridges for wheeled vehicles began to be
systematically engineered and constructed, the roads
having a hard bottom of stones. The first two lines of
modern road across the Eastern Grampians were made
by the military. These are the road from Brechin by
Fettercairn, the Cairn o' Mount, and Potarch Bridge, to
Alford, Clatt, and Huntly, made about 1746 ; and the
road (named after General Wade) from the Spital of Glen-
shee, by Castleton of Braemar, Crathie, Gaynshiel,
Corgarlf, and Tomintoul, to the Spey near Grantown,

;

Roads and Road-making. 89

finished in 1754. Such roads as these, made "by
soldiers, had a sort of special recognition as the King's
Highways.

The ordinary roads continued still to be of a very
primitive sort. In June, 1751, at the Aberdeen
County Meeting, " Meldrum" produced a letter " from
my lady Dowager of Forbes, representing that the
public road 'twixt Inverury and Castle Forbes is quite
impassible in sevrall parts thereof, particularly that
part 'twixt Pittodery's dykes and Overhall, which is
dangerous to pass, especially with wheel carriages :
and that lately her ladyship's chaise had stuck there
and broke the graith : and therefore craving the com-
missioners to allow her a share of the highway money
for helping the road, and power to call out the country
people to give their-assistance : which being con-
sidered, the meeting thought the request of my lady
Forbes just and reasonable," and ordered accordingly.
In 1756, an Act was passed by the Aberdeenshire
Commissioners for making all public highways "20
foot in breadth, and where broader they are to be
kept so." Several counties, it is said, had resolved that
the roads should be at least twenty feet in width " over
and above the ditches on either side," which were to
be five feet. Many of the roads and highways in this
shire, it is added, "are represented as being very
narrow, and will not permit wheel carriages to pass by
one another, or even loaded horses with curracks and
creels." The roads were directed to be raised in the
middle so as water might run off them, or otherwise
they would be reported to the Lords of Justiciary " as
disagreeable to law, and the parishes they belonged
to would have to make them over again." Tenants
who had arable land adjacent to public roads, were
enjoined to make " head rigs next to the highway,"
and to cease the abuse that prevailed of ploughing
across the roads.

The date of the oldest Scotch Turnpike Act is 1750,

90 Notes and Sketches.

but it was not till close on the end of the century
that the system came north of the Dee.

In October 1769, the question of turnpikes came up
for the first time at the Aberdeen County Meeting, in
consequence of a scheme being " presently in agitation
among gentlemen of the neighbouring county of
Kincardine, for an application to Parliament to have
turnpike roads in that county." The meeting declared
" they were not presently ripe to give their opinion
upon the expediency and consequences of the plan pro-
posed." Before the year was out, however, they
unanimously resolved to oppose the introduction of
turnpikes into Kincardine county, unless the road
'twixt the Bridge of Dee and Stonehaven were kept
free of tolls : the town of Aberdeen which had been
equally moved on the subject," having made offer to
maintain the road in question by calling out the
statute labour. This question of turnpikes was the
subject of much discussion a quarter of a century
later, a draft Turnpike and Commutation Eoad Bill
being at last ordered to be printed in 1794. This
Bill, which provided for the levying of a money pay-
ment in lieu of statute labour became an Act of Parlia-
ment in 1795. The turnpike system came into
operation in Aberdeenshire three years after, by the
construction of the Deeside Turnpike, in 1798. This
was followed by the Ellon and Peterhead turnpike in
1799. Most of the other roads of this class in the
county were made during the first twenty-four years
of the present century.

The current ideas on the subject of roads when im-
provement in that direction began, were somewhat
conflicting. The minister of a West Highland parish
says, a consequence of the formation of General Wade's
Highland Roads and Bridges, was, " that the mind
expanded by degrees to embrace within its grasp people
of other denominations, and to weaken that prejudice
which it conceived in favour of an individual and a

Roads and Road-making. 91

particular clan." But then the cost of forming and
maintaining these did not come so directly home to
the community. With roads of the turnpike and
" commutation " class it was different. In some quar-
ters it was averred that nobody entertained a doubt
of the advantage of a turnpike " since, at least, three
times as much weight can be drawn in a carriage as
was sufficient to load it before they were made." Still
the engineering of those who lined them out, was not
always perfect ; even the turnpikes were too often
" conducted over the summit of every eminence in
their course, when with a little judgment and atten-
tion a direction might have been found equally near
and incomparably more easy and convenient/' And
some could boast that "there are no turnpikes in
these parts, and none are wanted;" others main-
tained that it was a mistake to commute the statute
labour into a money payment. If they had divided
the districts properly, and made each small community
make and mend their own particular roads, they
argued, it would have brought the matter so closely
home to their practical feelings that, in place, of
slothful and slovenly labour, they would have been
incited to give something more than measure, seeing
themselves and no other would have the main if not
the exclusive benefit of it. The experience of the
county of Aberdeen, under the experiment of 1755,.
would, however, seem to teach a contrary lesson.

CHAPTEE XIII.

IMPROVED LOCOMOTION — THE EARLY MAILS AND POST-
BOYS— THE EDINBURGH FLY — SCORGIE'S CARAVAN —
THE ABERDEENSHIRE CANAL.

ON the 8tli day of May, 1765, when the Magistrates
of Aberdeen went forth in state to meet the Justiciary
Lords coming to the town on circuit, they, for the
first time, rode in chaises in place of riding on horse-
back, as they had always been wont to do before. In
the previous year a lady had managed to ride in a
chaise from Aberdeen to Finzean, over a very indiffer-
ent road ; and the fact was reckoned sufficiently not-
able to be recorded in her diary. In going over the
Cairn o' Mount she took to horseback, and passed along
what she describes as a well-made road. Up to the
close of the eighteenth century, riding on horseback
was the ordinary mode of performing a journey, a lady,
when she travelled, frequently sitting behind a gentle-
man on the same horse. And the Aberdeen shop-
keepers would talk of being treated by the " English
riders, " which simply meant the equestrian bagmen,
who visited them periodically in the way of business.
Up to about the middle of the eighteenth century,
the mail occupied three days in its journey from Edin-
burgh to Aberdeen. It came through Fife, crossing
the ferries on the Forth and Tay; the messenger pass-
ing his first night out at Dundee, and his second at
Montrose. About 1750 an improved system was
adopted, post-boys being provided to carry the mails
stage by stage on fresh horses, to all the principal towns

Improved Locomotion. 93

of Scotland, while foot-runners went on the less im-
portant routes. In October, 1755, a regular post was
established thrice a week between Aberdeen and Inver-
ness, the time consumed in the journey by the post-
boys being twenty-four hours. Eight or ten years
later the London mail reached Aberdeen on the sixth
day after leaving the metropolis.

The establishment of public conveyances for passen-
gers was a separate matter from the carriage of the
mails. It was not till 1758, when the population of
Glasgow had risen to about thirty-five thousand, that
a conveyance drawn by four horses, and accomplishing
the journey in twelve hours, including stoppage for
dinner, was successfully established between that city
and Edinburgh. There was no other stage coach on
that important line of road for thirty years thereafter,
nor did any acceleration in speed take place during
that time.

At their April meeting of 1789, the Aberdeen county
gentlemen had before them a letter from the Post
Office, relative to " putting the public roads and bridges
thereon, by which the mail coach is to pass, in a proper
state of repair." With a view to forward the matter
as much as lay in their power, they appointed their
Clerk to transmit a copy of the letter to the districts
of Aberdeen, Garioch, and Turriff, with an earnest
recommendation to attend to the contents of it, and
" apply the whole statute labour within their bounds,
for this year, towards repairing the public roads
through which the mail coach is to pass ; and also to
cause erect mile stones on the public road betwixt
Aberdeen and Banff." The equestrian posts went
along by Oldmeldrum to Banff. Foot-runners carried
the bags from Oldmeldrum to Old Rain, and Huntly,
and from Fochabers to Keith. At this time it was
calculated that there would be 17,912 men in the
county liable for statute labour, and 1000 horses and
carts that might be called out.

94 Notes and Sketches.

The business of facilitating mail arrangements was
not quickly disposed of, for in 1794 the county had
represented to it the great inconvenience suffered over
all the north of Scotland by detention of the north
mail at Edinburgh " for near ten hours," with the result
of its arriving at Aberdeen at night. The demand
made on behalf of town and county was, that the
mails be sent on from Edinburgh " within three hours
of arrival there." Two years after, the complaint still
was that all the north mails lay at Edinburgh from five
or six in the morning till one or two in the afternoon
— a delay equal to two and a-half days in the week,
or " a space of time equal to four months and ten days
in the year " during which the mails " lay dormant "
at Edinburgh. In October, 1796, it was intimated
that the Postmaster-General had agreed to run a mail
coach from Edinburgh to Montrose " on and from 5th
April next," and that the coach " would be forwarded
to Aberdeen how soon the turnpike road was com-
pleted from Montrose." It does not appear that this
promise was carried out so fully as had been expected,
for in May, 1797, there was a proposal for the ill-used
northern counties to unite in an application to Parlia-
ment on the subject. But at last, in July 1798, a mail
coach, drawn by four horses, commenced to run through
between Edinburgh and Aberdeen, performing the
journey in about twenty-one hours. The time required
previously by the post-boys was thirty-five or thirty-
six hours.

The "Aberdeen and Edinburgh Fly" and the
" Strathmore Diligence " were two of the earliest
stage conveyances southward from Aberdeen, and
which supplied the wants of the travelling public in
the latter years of the last and first years of the pre-
sent century — the smartly equipped " Defiance " came
later. The very full particulars printed oh the ticket
of each passenger by the Fly may be given. They
are taken from a ticket endorsed on the reverse side,

Improved Locomotion. 95

"A gentleman, to Edinburgh. Monday, 12th Nov.,
1781. Paid, £2 Os. Od. A. G., Clerk":—

THE ABERDEEN AND EDINBURGH FLY, BY STONEHAVEN,
LAURENCEKIRK, BRECHIN, &c.

SETS out from Mr. SMITH'S NEW INN, Aberdeen, every Monday,
Wednesday, and Friday, at 4 o'clock in the morning : arrives at Edin-
burgh next day to dinner ; and from Mr. ROBERTSON'S BLACK BULL
INN, Edinburgh, every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, at 9 o'clock in
the morning ; arrives at Aberdeen next evening. The passengers both
ways lyat Mr. JOHN CAMPBELL'S, Innkeeper, Perth, the first night, from
whence the above Fly sets out every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, at
5 o'clock in the morning, and arrives at Edinburgh same day to dinner ; and
for Aberdeen every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, same hour, and
arrives at night.

Tickets between Edinburgh and Perth 11s. ; ditto between Perth and
Aberdeen, 29s. ; — uptakes on the road to pay 4d. per mile, each allowed 14
Ib. of luggage ; all above to pay 2d. halfpenny per Ib. for the whole distance,
or in proportion to the miles they go.

Passengers at Edinburgh for Aberdeen must apply before 12 o'clock the
proceeding days of the Fly's setting out, as, after that hour, seats will be
given out to Perth, &c. if applied for.

Tickets for Edinburgh must be taken out at Aberdeen, before 3 in the
Afternoon, of the day before the setting out of the Fly, as after that time,
tickets will be given out for any intermediate distance.

Good convenience for boxes, parcels, &c. which will be regularly entered,
and delivered on arrival. Carriage of goods the whole distance, 2d. half-
penny per Ib. ; small parcels [7 Ib. or under], to pay Is. 6d. each. The pro-
prietors will not be accountable for valuable papers, cash, jewels, or plate,
and those that send goods must observe to pack them sufficient to undergo
the friction of the carriage, otherwise they cannot answer for damages.

N. B. The Flies for Newcastle and London set out from the Black Bull
every day, as usual, and from the George and Blue Boar, Holburn, London,
for Edinburgh ; likewise a Diligence for Glasgow, &c. and from Mr. Dunbar's,
innkeeper, Glasgow, every day, for Edinburgh.

§§§ It is intreated of the passengers not to allow the Drivers to take up
foot-travellers between stages.

The Strathmore Diligence ran 'twixt Aberdeen and
Perth every week day. One prominent advantage of
travelling by it, too, was that passengers for Edinburgh
and Glasgow had "the benefit of a night's rest at
Perth," and were " forwarded next morning by coaches"
which left that place daily for the two cities named.

The first serious effort to establish a public con-
veyance to northward of Aberdeen seems to have
been made soon after the construction of the Inverurie

96 Notes and Sketches.

turnpike, by an enterprising citizen named Alexander
Scorgie. Post horses and post chaises had hitherto
been the recognised means of locomotion on long
journeys. The plodding craftsman of the hamlet,
smith, or tailor — or the pack merchant — did not
boggle at a tramp of twenty to thirty miles on foot
to " the toon " when necessary ; and for " gentlemen "
who could afford to travel in a different style, country
innkeepers had begun to let it be known that they
could " accommodate," in more or less, those of them
who might be disposed to make their hostelries a
stage, and who happened to need horses or " a steady
driver." Mr. Scorgie's idea was a bolder one. He
started a passenger " Caravan " to travel on stated
days 'twixt George Street, Aberdeen, and the house
of John Norris, tailor, West Wynd, Huntly. The
Caravan was a covered conveyance. In its original
form it stood on two wheels, and was drawn by one
horse. The covering was of painted canvas ; and four
passengers might find accommodation inside, their
faces looking forward. Outside, the driver sat on a
flat board at one side in front, with accommodation
for a passenger on the opposite end of the board.

In September, 1807, after he had run to and from
Huntly for a while, successfully it would seem, Mr.
Scorgie announced that " for the more general con-
venience of the public," he found it necessary to
extend his journey as far as Keith ; and he would go
thither accordingly from Aberdeen every Monday,
Wednesday, and Friday, returning on the intervening
days. At Keith, saddle horses and gigs were pro-
vided for the conveyance of passengers going to
Fochabers, Elgin, and Forres, "where places may be
taken for Scorgie's Caravan going to Aberdeen." The
public are further informed that, in his anxiety to
give every satisfaction, Mr. Scorgie had "an entire
new and commodious Caravan in preparation," which,
adopting his own description, was "upon an improved

Improved Locomotion. 97

principle calculated for greater ease to the passengers
than is to be found in any other such vehicle." And
he flatters himself that the new Caravan would "prove
little inferior to a post chaise for convenience and
pleasant riding — being adorned in the front and sides
with full glass windows, and elegantly padded in the
inside ; and full room for six inside passengers and
two outside." In short, "no expense" had been
spared to render the improved Caravan such as to
merit the approbation of those who might honour its
proprietor with their favours. In closing his announce-
ment, Mr. Scorgie assures "ladies and gentlemen wish-
ing to send youth of either sex " to any of the places
visited by the Caravan, that they might "depend upon
his most tender care and attention in conveying them
in safety to the places directed."

This improved Caravan could boast of four wheels,
and was drawn by two horses driven tandem. It was
specified to give full room inside for six passengers, but
would accommodate eight at a pinch. In addition to
being padded inside, the Caravan was done up out-
side in bold black and yellow colours, with regular
" dicky" and space for a passenger on the box seat.
The " insides " gained admittance to their seats by a
door behind ; and when, as would occasionally happen,
the proprietor-driver — a rather fussy little man, as the
rustics deemed him, with a cap and big " peak " to
protect him in all weathers — had no passengers, or but
few, he too would take his seat inside, and contrive
to steer his team through an opening in front. The
pace of the vehicle was a slow trot, hardly exceeding
five miles an hour on an average. But the roads were
none of the best; and in the earlier days of the Caravan,
at any rate, the hours of arrival and departure were
by no means rigidly adhered to. For in addition to
waiting any reasonable space of time at starting for
an expected "fare," Mr. Scorgie, on being apprised
that a possible passenger, willing to pay the hire,
8

98 Notes and Sketches.

might be got by diverging a few miles from his
wonted route, did not scruple to make the necessary
detour, correspondingly lengthening both the journey
and the time occupied by it.

Whether, and how far, the increased exertions of
the proprietor of the only original Caravan in providing
an improved service, may have been stimulated by
threatened opposition would be a curious inquiry.
Only a week after the announcement of Scorgie's
extended operations, Alexander George, a " chaise
letter " in Huntly, and lessee it is believed of the
Gordon Arms Inn there, announced that he, too, had
commenced running a caravan between Aberdeen and
Huntly. He also ran on alternate days, but so as the
caravans must have crossed, in place of maintaining a
side by side competition. The Huntly chaise letter stated
that his conveyance was "fitted up in such a manner as
to afford every comfort and convenience to passengers,
and inferior to no vehicle of the kind travelling in this
part of the country ;" and he charged the moderate
fare of " seven shillings the whole way, and any inter-
mediate distance in proportion."

The rival Caravan men had been justly regarded as
postal celebrities ; and the name of each lived up to
probably quite the average " immortality" secured to
men whose deeds have made them locally famous.
The tradition even yet remains of how the Marquis of
Huntly, afterwards " Duke George" (of Gordon),
wanting to reach Pitmachie on a day of smart snow-
storm, would trust to nobody but Alexander George
to post him through the wild and dreary Glens of
Foudland. George acted post-boy to his Grace ac-
cordingly ; and on the return journey, having stopped
at Bainshole, a small hostelry in the Glens, for refresh-
ment, the Duke was surprised to find a pair of fresh
horses turned out, wherewith to resume his journey
without loss of time. " Please your lordship, this is
my stick o' help," said the enterprising chaise letter

Improved Locomotion. 99

in response to the Duke's admiring exclamation at
witnessing arrangements so much in advance of the
period. The story conies to us also from living lips,
of how on a very stormy day, when Scorgie had reached
Pitmachie, long a well known coaching stage, some
one put to him the question, " Foo 11 ye win through
the Glens in sic a nicht ? " The proprietor of the
Caravan showed his mettle in the reply, "I'll gae
throu in coorse." And the saying became crystallised
into a local " bye word" — "I'll dee't in coorse; as
Carrie, gaed throu the Glens."

It was not till 1811 that regular mail coaches were
established between Aberdeen and Inverness.

In the month of June, 1805, when the Inverurie
turnpike had been in use five years, an alternative
medium of communication between Aberdeen and that
royal burgh was established by the opening of the
Aberdeenshire Canal, which, at the time of its con-
struction, was reckoned rather a stupendous work.*
On the opening day the committee of management
" embarked" at the Inverurie bason (named Port-Elphin-
stone in honour of a leading promoter) in a barge
"handsomely decorated." They carried a gun at the
prow of the barge to signal their approach to the
delighted crowds who had assembled at different points
to witness the accomplished triumph of inland naviga-
tion. And their gaily decked vessel, " The Countess
of Kintore," with its living freight, having completed
the voyage of fifteen miles in seven and a half hours,
was, amid general jubilation, safely moored at the bason
at Aberdeen Quay. Two miles an hour or thereby
might do for heavy goods ; but it was clear that a speed
considerably less than the normal walking pace was in-
adequate for passenger traffic ; and thus, in the summer
of 1807, we find a passage boat " covered and neatly
fitted up for the purpose of conveying passengers and

* For statement relative to Aberdeenshire Canal, 'see Appendix; (3).

100 Notes and Sketches.

light goods " set agoing. It returned to Aberdeen the
same day as it left, but did not at first ply every day.
The fare was two shillings to Inverurie, and twopence
per mile for intermediate distances.

CHAPTEE XIV.

EARLY AGRICULTURAL IMPROVERS— SIR ARCHIBALD
GRANT OF MONYMUSK — IMPROVERS IN THE MEARNS
— BARCLAY OF URY.

ALTHOUGH the Society of Improvers in the Know-
ledge of Agriculture had, as already stated, been formed
in 1723, and individuals among the proprietary class
had soon after that date made creditable efforts to-
wards improvement in farming, it was not till fully
the middle of the century that any movement of much
consequence took place in that direction in any of the
north-eastern counties of Scotland ; nor, indeed, over
a wider area. From the Union downward, to 1745,
Scotland "experienced a state of extraordinary langour
and debility. Her trade was inconsiderable, her agri-
culture in the most wretched state of neglect, and her
manufactures nothing. Her people were oppressed,
abject, and dispirited ; her nobles poor, proud, and
haughty, even to a proverb, and there seemed to be
no hope of ever seeing a spirit of active industry
excited in this nation." Dr. Anderson, whose words
these are, seems to think that the abolition of heritable
jurisdictions, after the date of the last Rebellion, re-
moved the main obstacle to improvement.

The first experiment in Scotland in cultivating pota-
toes in the field was made at Kilsyth, in 1739. An
entire half acre was planted, and many persons came
from great distances to see the extraordinary novelty.
But it was not till about 1760 that the potato was ge-
nerally cultivated, even in gardens ; and, for twenty

- 102 Notes and Sketches.

years thereafter, it was not greatly in use as an article
of food in the North of Scotland. The turnip, which
had received earlier attention in Norfolk, seems to have
been introduced into Aberdeenshire about the year
1750. One of the Old Statistical writers says, " Mr.
Burnett of Kemnay is said to have been the first farmer
in the county of Aberdeen who raised turnips in the
fields ;" but he gives no date. The first time turnips
were seen in Kincardineshire was about 1754; and
ten years thereafter, in 1764, they were still so great
a rarity — half an acre being deemed a large plot — that
they were sold, by the few who grew them in small
quantities, at the rate of a penny the stone weight as
kitchen vegetables.

Imported grass seeds had been sown in but very few
cases earlier than 1750. It was only about that date
that they began to be kept for sale in a few shops in
Aberdeen. Previously hay had been little known to
the farmer, and, where known at all, chiefly in the
form of indigenous meadow grass, dried more or less
skilfully, and not too succulent at its best. The stall
food of the poor pot-bellied " garrons " (horses) con-
sisted, to no inconsiderable extent, of dried thistles —
a plant mistakenly understood to be the special prero-
gative of the ass !

The name of Sir Archibald Grant of Monymusk, in
Aberdeenshire, has been already mentioned. In all
schemes of improvement he was prominent, and one
special part of his operations was planting wood.
Dr. Anderson says Sir Archibald assured him " that
he alone had planted during his own lifetime upwards
of 48,000,000 of trees, and he lived several years after
that, and sent me word about two months after I saw
him that he had in that time planted 200,000 more."
Dr. Anderson expresses his belief that " no other
man ever existed on the globe who had planted so
many trees." The Earl of Fife and General Gordon
of Fyvie planted largely, General Gordon as many

Early Agricultural Improvers. 103

as 3,000,000 trees in a single enclosure. James
Farquharson of Invercauld, in the years from 1750 to
1806, is said to have planted 16,000,000 firs and
2,000,000 larches on his property in Braemar, through
which he constructed more than twenty miles of roads.
Toward the close of the eighteenth century, the culti-
vation of timber trees seems to have become an object
of very general attention, as testified by the statement
(in 1794) of the writer just cited, that "there is scarcely
a private gentleman in Aberdeenshire who owns an
estate of £500 or £600 'a year who has not planted
many hundred thousand trees."

The Earl of Findlater, who, for several years before
his death in 1776, resided constantly at Cullen House,
was the first to attempt improvements in agriculture
and manufactures in Banffshire. He brought an over-
seer from England, and cultivated a farm near Banff
in a way then quite new to the district. He introduced
turnip husbandry, and granted long leases to his ten-
ants on condition that they should enclose the lands
within a certain period, sow grass seeds, and adopt
summer fallowing, to a certain extent, within the first
five years of their final occupancy. As early as 1752
he established a bleachfield at Deskford -, and at a later
period a manufactory of linen and damask cloth at
Cullen, both of which enterprises fell into decay when
household spinning ceased.

Mr. George Eobertson, in his General View of the
Agriculture of Kincardineshire (1807) states that about
the year 1760 " there arose in this county a constel-
lation of cultivators, which dispelling the mist that till
then obscured the horizon of agricultural science, threw
out all at once such a splendid light over the labours
of husbandry as has not been exceeded, and perhaps
hardly equalled even, to the present day." The detailed
statements given by Mr. Eobertson bear out his elo-
quent figure very well. And one phase of the new move-
ment here too seems to have been " a strong bias for

104 Notes and Sketches.

planting," inasmuch as during the last quarter of the
century, probably 10,000 acres, previously bare and
bleak enough, had been planted in forest trees.

In the case of a great many proprietors and tenants,
too, in the Mearns, the spirit of general improvement
seems to have moved strongly. Beginning at the north
side we are told, for example, that there was not a
more " haggard or uncultivated spot " in the whole
country than the estate of Glassel. There were not
over 30 acres of it " into which a plough could have
entered." In the course of some years, 150 Scots acres
had been improved, the enormous quantities of stones
taken off the surface serving to form " consumption "
dykes, from 12 to 16 feet thick, and many hundred
yards in length. The remaining 400 acres of unre-
claimed land were planted, and all this was carried
out by the proprietor, Mr. Baxter, sending instruc-
tions personally down from London. The estate of
Durris was held on lease by Mr. John Innes, Sheriff
Substitute, who carried out very extensive improve-
ments towards the close of the century. He made,
at his own cost, a road " equal to any turnpike, "
running through the property from east to west,
seven miles in length, besides promoting forma-
tion of the turnpike to Stonehaven and making
other necessary roads. He erected a number of
improved farm-steadings and cottages, and reclaimed
at great cost 451 Scots acres, sub-dividing and fencing
it, besides enclosing other 2500 acres. He planted
740 acres of muir ground, and built about 50 miles of
stone dykes ; and all this in seven years, the result
being to increase the rental from £1000 to £2500,
with the prospect of its soon reaching £3000. Then
we have such instances as that of Alexander Walker,
tenant of the farm of Auquhiries, who not only laid
out and cultivated his farm in a style far in advance
of his time, but planted forest trees on the barren
knolls and waste corners to such an extent, that in

Early Agricultural Improvers. 105

1796, when the lease expired, " the value of the wood
which was then paid to his heirs amounted to ,£500."

Mr. Silver of Netherley, an old West India planter,
who died in 1791 at the age of eighty-two, trenched
and drained 150 Scots acres, some of it at a cost of
.£50 an acre. He imported lime for manure to the
reclaimed land, which for some years, for lack of roads
and wheeled vehicles, was brought six miles from
Stonehaven "in sacks and creels on horses' backs."
Mr. Graham of Morphie, was the first to introduce
" broad clover," which he cultivated with success, the
result being " a vast acquisition to the night food of
the horses, in a country where they had been accus-
tomed to be fed with thistles only, from the corn
fields, or with the coarsest of aquatic herbage from the
different swamps." He cultivated turnips too in drills
as early as 1760, and had both very superior cattle
and horses ; some of his oxen weighing 80 and even
90 stones, while before 1775 he refused .£80 for a
pair of horses. And the beautiful property of the
Burn is described as "an estate that may be almost
literally said to have been a creation by the late Lord
Adam Gordon," who built "The Burn House" in
1791.

Probably the most remarkable improvers in the
Mearns were the Barclays of Ury. Mr. Barclay, who
succeeded to the estates in 1760, and who was not
indeed the first, any more than he was the last, im-
prover of the name, comes chiefly under our notice.*
At the time that he succeeded to the estate it consisted
largely of marsh and unreclaimed moorland. " The
part cultivated was badly laid out in small farms, very
insufficiently tilled. The mansion was but scantily
sheltered with wood, while there was not a single tree

* The title of "Father of the Shorthorns" was wont to be
applied to the last Barclay of Ury by his brother farmers in the
north, who possibly were not aware that their "forbears" had
dubbed the previous Barclay " the Father of Farming."

106 Notes and Sketches.

on any other part of the estate." To facilitate his
operations, Mr. Barclay took a number of the farms
into his own hands as he could get them, and " in the
course of about thirty years improved most thoroughly
900 acres of arable land," 300 of which had been
altogether marsh or heath j and he planted from 900
to 1000 acres with wood. The cost of these improve-
ments must have been very great, as much as £40 an
acre being laid out on some fields in trenching, drain-
ing, removing stones, and other operations. And it
is expressly stated that his outlay for lime-shells alone
exceeded £6000.

Mr. Barclay was an athletic man, and come of an
athletic race. His predecessor, David Barclay, of
Mathers, who had been an officer under Gustavus
Adolphus, afterwards became a convert to Quakerism.
On retiring to his estate, he wished to have his land
well cultivated — a point that gave him some trouble,
owing to the prejudices of the peasantry. And it is
related of him that, finding a certain ploughman
obstinately disobedient to his instructions, on one
occasion he addressed him thus : — " Thou knowest,
friend, that I feed and pay thee to do my work in a
proper manner, but thou art wise in thine own eyes,
and regardest not the admonitions of thy employer.
I have hitherto spoken to thee in a style thou under-
standest not; for verily thou art of a perverse spirit.
I wish to correct thy errors for my own sake and for
thine ; and thereforel/ms tell thee," (coming over his
head with a blow which brought him to the ground).
" Though the weapon was carnal," adds the narrator
of the story, " this was the demonstration of power,
and had the desired effect ; the ploughman became
tractable and quiet as a lamb." The last century
Barclay of whom we have been speaking adhered to
the family belief in this respect. Of him Mr. Robert-
son says, that while employing " only the people of the
country that were bred on his own lands or in the

Early Agricultural Improvers. 107

vicinity" (he had himself acquired his agricultural
knowledge in Norfolk), "his discipline was severe,
but it was very correct. He would admit of no slovenly
practice — no slighting of the work. Nor did he require
anything of his people, but what he could do himself,
for while he delivered out his directions in the most
clear and distinct manner, he could with his own
hand show them the true mode of peformance. He
could even enforce his authority with something more
effective than verbal injunctions ; for it is said that the
clownish obstinacy of his people was not unfrequently
corrected by manual discipline. I have, indeed, met
with different people that confess (and even in some
measure glory in it) that they had the knowledge of
their work beat into them by Mr. Barclay. This strict
government had the happiest consequences, for not a
little of the general dexterity in the Kincardineshire
labourers is still to be traced to the original system of
their education, established by Mr. Barclay of Ury. To
have been in the service of Mr. Barclay always was,
and still is, a great recommendation to any servant."

Sir William Nicolson of Glenbervie was the first
person in the Mearns who raised hay from sown grass,
about the year 1730, the seeds he used being the best
he could select amongst the natural meadow hay.
These he sowed among oats of the third or fourth crop
from ley ; and the result was so far superior to the
ordinary mode of allowing the soil to replenish itself
with wild herbage as to excite the astonishment of his
neighbours. For in the Mearns, as elsewhere, the only
hay obtained up to that time had been from the
natural grasses that grew in the swamps and marshy
spots to be found on almost every farm. It was not
till about 1760 indeed that clover came to be much
known in this country; and it was ten years later still
before sown grasses began to be commonly cultivated.

CHAPTER XV.

CHARLES RACKET OF INVERAMSAY — A LOCAL SCENE
IN THE FORTY-FIVE — HACKET AS AN IMPROVER.

DURING the closing days of September 1745 the
good town of Aberdeen was put in a sad stir by reason
of a certain irruption then made. Prince Charles
Stewart had landed on the west coast, had advanced
to Edinburgh, had fought and won the battle of
Prestonpans. And now, on the 25th day of the
month named, the very day, as it fell out, of the Town
Council election, when, according to use and wont,
the old Council had elected the new, and they had not
yet got the length of electing the Provost, John
Hamilton, in Strathbogie, entered the town in a hostile
manner, " drums beating and colours flying," with " a
band of armed men, both horse and foot," at his back.
The rebel forces were paraded at the Market Place
and Cross. Meanwhile the valiant councillors had
promptly taken to flight, and John Hamilton had it
all his own way. He sent in quest of " James Morri-
son, Esq., present Provost," and his messengers not
finding that gentleman at home, a second party was
sent with orders to burn his house if he did not
appear. What effect this threat may have had is not
apparent ; but the Provost was at last found, and
carried down prisoner to the town-house. They next
set him up upon the Cross in the company of a couple
of Baillies and certain of the councillors, where he had
to listen to a disloyal Sheriff-substitute reading the
Pretender's manifestoes. " Thereafter they caused

Charles Racket of Inveramsay. 109

wine to be brought to the Cross, where they openly
and avowedly drank the Pretender's health, and several
other treasonable and rebellious healths." They even
" endeavoured, by force, to make the said Provost
drink their healths," " which he refusing, they poured
the wine down his breast."

After John Hamilton came Lord Lewis Gordon,
who, by and by, in his assumed title of Governor of
Aberdeen, issued an order, in Prince Charlie's name,
for the collection of the King's cess. In the Diary of
Rev. John Bisset, one of the ministers of St. Nicholas,
under date February 3, 1746, is this entry : — " This
day the drum went warning all yet deficient in paying
their cess, in the name of Lord Lewis Gordon to repair
with payment to the quarters of one Hacket, em-
powered to gather it up, under the pain of military
execution." The Town's Collector, Mr. Dirom, being,
it would seem, of loyal temper, and somewhat advanced
in years, excused himself on the score of physical
frailty, but recommended his clerk, Charles Hacket,
as a person likely to be found suitable for the business.
Charlie Hacket was an active young fellow, and being
a red hot Jacobite to boot, he collected the cess accord-
ingly with all due zeal, as indicated by the Rev. John
Bisset, which served to bring him into trouble by and
by, when Culloden had been fought and the Pre-
tender's hopes shattered for ever. In those days
Charlie Hacket, to use his own phrase, got familiar
with the practice of " sleepin' in his beets." He
skulked about where he best might, his hiding place
for a while being, it was said, at the further side of
the meal-girnal belonging to a Garioch laird of like
leanings with himself, but uncommitted by any overt
act.

Better times came, however, and Charlie Hacket
having married Miss Smith, heiress of the pleasant
estate of Inveramsay (anciently Poolwall) in the
Garioch, became life-renter of that property, and by

110 Notes and Sketches.

and by got to be well known as a zealous and suc-
cessful agricultural improver.* And it is in this
phase of his character that we have to look at him.

That Laird Hacket of Inveramsay was decidedly in
advance of his time in his general notions of agricul-
ture, the traditions of the place, and even the outward
aspect of the home farm which he cultivated, testified
long after his day. He had been at pains to lay out
the land in well-arranged fields, which he duly en-
closed with fences, planting rows of ash and other
hardwood trees, where he thought it suitable and
necessary for shelter or ornament. And the more elderly
natives of the generation following that to which he
belonged had ever so many stories about Laird Hacket.
He was a Jacobite, as has been said, as well as an
ardent farmer, possessing in full measure the Jacobite
habit of swearing ; and so there came the long-lived
local bye-word — " Like Laird Hacket : that bann't a'
the ouk an del't dockens on Sunday." He had a
portrait of the Pretender over the fire-place in his
sitting room, which he would gaze upon and apos-
troph^se, not always with perfect placidity, when he
thought of his own sufferings as a Royalist. Yet when
he went to chapel, being a faithful adherent of the
Episcopal faith, as prayer for the reigning sovereign
was offered up, his response would be an audible
groan in place of the orthodox Amen. At times, it is
said, his feelings found vent in even a more emphatic
form of expression.

Let us sketch the personal appearance of this last

* Among the local rebels taken prisoner in December, 1745, was
Mr. Smith, Junior, of Inveramsay ; and in the list of excepted
persons against whom an ignoramus verdict was returned in 1748
was David Smith of Inveramsay.

The obituary notice of Mr. John Smith, Senior, which appeared
on October 30, 1750, ran thus :— " Last week, died at Inveramsay,
aged near 100, John Smith of Inveramsay ; a gentleman who thro'
the various scenes of a long life, in all its different stations, had
the deserved character of an upright, honest man." His decease
allowed Hacket to succeed to the life-rent of the estate.

Charles Hacket of Inver (unsay. Ill

century laird. A small, compactly-built man, with
brownish-coloured coat, and worsted knee breeches,
knitted — as were also the stockings that encased his
sturdy and somewhat " bowed " lower limbs — by his
own wife. On his head, when in the sort of undress
that served for every-day home use, he wore a worsted
nightcap, or Kilmarnock cowl, underneath which
glowed his reddish visage and sharp twinkling eyes.
Such was the man, who, " docken " spade in hand,
strode about commanding everybody right and left,
and astonishing his jog-trot neighbours by the novelty
of his proceedings as an agriculturist.

He sowed turnips first about 1750, and in those
days people came from the next parish, when harvest
was over, to buy them by the pound and stone weight
from his farm grieve, to be used as a dainty dish at
the " clyack " supper and other fit occasions. He
sowed at first broadcast, a practice which, although
given up earlier in some localities, prevailed pretty
commonly in Aberdeenshire down to the close of the
century, and even a little later. And he believed in the
broadcast method for the time, though not impervious
to argument on the subject. When drilling began to
be advocated, Hacket saw fit to forego the old practice
for a season in favour of it. The crop disappointed
his expectations, however, and in hot ire he exclaimed,
" Deil drill me aff-o' the earth if ever I drill again."
Yet he did drill again, not once but frequently, having
seen reason to change his opinion, while the arch
enemy took no immediate advantage of his rash utter-
ance.

Racket's tenants, as was common in those days,
were bound to give certain personal services to their
landlord ; and these services included a day at turnip
hoeing. In order to compel the workers to keep
their eyes sufficiently near the ground to admit of the
plants being clearly seen, the regulation length of the
hoe handle was fixed at two feet and a half; and

112 Notes and Sketches.

when the laird saw a hoer standing too erect to suit
his ideas, he would march up to him and demand his
implement to have the handle curtailed. Certain
sturdy fellows, who claimed the right to use the form
of handle that was satisfactory to themselves, promptly
resisted any such interference, at which the laird
would explode in great wrath. He had no help but
submit, however, for, with all his energy and
vehemence, he possessed not the physical strength of
such men as Barclay of Ury, and therefore was not in
a position to follow his method of training — In those
days they one and all believed in the maxim, " Kiss a
carle an' clap a carle, that 's the way to tine a carle.
Knock a carle an' ding a carle, that 's the way to win
a carle."

But it was not in independent turnip hoers alone
that Laird Hacket encountered the " stalk o' carl
hemp." It was told how, on a "forcy" leading day
in harvest, he had gone to the stackyard, where a
" rick " was in process of building. It was well on
toward the " easin'," when Saunders, his grieve, who
was a-top of it, for some reason good and sufficient to
him, desired the " forker " to slacken his hand. The
laird, who, in his own impetuous way, had been
urging all speed for fear of broken weather, peremp-
torily ordered the man to go on. He was obeyed,
and * the sheaves were pitched up with redoubled
force. By and bye there was an ominous growl of
remonstrance from the top of the stack, which had no
result but a renewal of the laird's order with increased
emphasis ; next there appeared over the edge of the
sheaves a pair of very sturdy legs, the owner of which
evidently meditated a sudden descent to terra firma,
whatever else. No further hint was waited for.
With a just appreciation of Saunders's temper when
roused, the "cornyard" was forthwith cleared of human
occupants— the laird, who led in flight, followed by
the forker, losing his stick as he doubled through

Charles Hacket of Inveramsay. 113

between the bars of the " yett," and staying not for
an instant to pick it up again.

One operation in improved husbandry, which was
disliked and despised by the natives, was that of en-
closing. Of old time cattle had roved hither and
thither much at their will, and the idea that they
should be restricted in so doing was reckoned very
intolerable. Improvers generally had a good deal to
do in contending against this feeling which, in some
cases, led to fences being wilfully thrown down, and
newly planted trees pulled up. And as Racket's tem-
per was none of the calmest, he was apt to get greatly
irritated at the idea of any thing in the nature of a
trespass upon his lands. On one occasion he had ob-
served the cattle belonging to the miller on the neigh-
bouring estate straying over a fine haugh upon the
lands of Inveramsay, and he set off in hot haste to
impound them for the damage done. Not so fast,
however. The miller's herd had probably been taking
a quiet snooze by the dykeside when his charge strayed
over the burn, but by the time Laird Hacket had
reached the lower end of the haugh, he was wide
awake, as the laird speedily found. For he had scarcely
begun to move off the beasts, which he was prepared
to treat as his lawful captives, when the herd, a stout,
half-grown fellow, as herds in those days were, came
scouring along with an armful of stones, with which
he forthwith commenced a vigorous assault on the
enemy, who was glad to make " his feet his freens," as
he had done after Culloden ; ingloriously quitting his
prey, and returning homeward even more quickly than
he had come, while the incensed herd followed him a
good way along the brae with a furious fusilade of
stones.

At another time, when passing near the outskirts of
his property, Mr. Hacket met Saunders Nicol quietly
driving home some half-dozen sheep which had evi-
dently been straying on the laird's land, where they
9

114 Notes and Sketches.

had been feeding for half the day, or, it might be,
nearer the whole of it. Hacket flared up at the idea
of such a trespass on his " bounds, " and, in the parley
that ensued, lifted his stick, with the exclamation,
"I'll hazel ye, sir!" uttered in his fiercest tones. " Anr
ye hazel me the nicht, ye maybe winna hazel anither
the morn !" answered Saunders, coolly jogging on with
his ewes, and leaving the laird, who, no doubt wisely,
deemed discretion the better part of valour, to digest
his wrath at leisure.

Such was this improving Garioch laird, and such
the relations in which he stood toward those amongst
whom he lived. But with all his oddities, Hacket, as
an improver, achieved good results himself, and gave
a distinct impetus to agriculture in his locality. The
writer of the Old Statistical Account of the Parish of
Chapel of Garioch, in which Inveramsay is situated,
while crediting him with having first introduced " the
culture of turnips and sown grass " in that parish, adds,
that his example in farming had been followed by many
in the neighbourhood. " The crop of one field upon
the Mains of Inveramsay, which before Mr. Hacket's
improvements was sold for 30s., is now," he says,
" reckoned worth £60 sterling ; and the rest of the
farm is improved in the same proportion." He retained
his reputation as a capable business man throughout,
and one of the records we find of him is in the famine
year 1783.* The kirk-session had met to consider the
necessities of the parish on account of the dearth, and
having resolved to purchase a quantity of peasemeal,

* There are one or two later entries. In 1790 the mortcloth is
required for Mrs. Hacket. In 1792 a certain female appears before
the session, and a letter is read from Charles Hacket acknowledg-
ing himself the father of her illegitimate child. He offers to pay
what fine they thought right to inflict, if they would allow the case
to be dismissed " sessionary " — that is, without any public appear-
ance before the congregation. £3 being paid " to the poor, the
case is dismissed accordingly. "We must not forget that Hacket,
who thus negotiated with the Presbyterian Kirk-session, was him-
self a staunch Episcopalian.

Charles Racket of Inveramsay. 115

they entrusted to him the duty of negotiating for the
same — a duty he seems, from the session minute, to
have discharged both well and promptly, his " activity"
in the matter being specially mentioned.

CHAPTEE XVI.

AN AGRICULTURAL TOUR SURVEY OF ANNEXED ESTATES

BY ANDREW WIGHT THE SURVEYOR'S OPINION OF

IMPROVEMENTS IN ABERDEENSHIRE DR. JAS. ANDER-
SON A LADY IMPROVER — POVERTY OF TENANTS

INNS OF THE PERIOD.

IN the year 1773 the Commissioners on the Annexed
Estates in Scotland gave a commission to Mr. Andrew
Wight, farmer at Ormiston, in East Lothian, to visit
and report upon the condition of the estates put under
their management. The Commissioners regarded the
chief motive of their appointment as being " to civilise
the people of those estates, and, by kind treatment,
to make them good subjects." Having, as they
believed, fully accomplished that object, they were
disposed to attempt a " farther reformation, viz., to
lead on gradually the tenants to improve their hus-
bandry, which has hitherto been at a very low ebb."
Hence the determination to send out a competent Sur-
veyor, with detailed instructions concerning the points
on which he was to report. East Lothian was then
the headquarters of advanced agriculture, and in their
choice of Mr. Wight, the Commissioners seem to have
been fortunate in securing the services of a man of a
naturally shrewd and observant cast of mind, and who
was fully abreast of the agricultural intelligence of his
time. So well were the Commissioners pleased with his
two first surveys, which were confined to the annexed
estates, that, in the interest of agricultural improve-
ment generally, they gave him a wider commission,

An Agricultural Tour. 117

under which he visited different parts of Scotland,
from the Border counties to the extreme north, and
including parts of the counties of Aberdeen, Kin-
cardine, Banff, Moray, and on to Sutherland and
Caithness ; his labours extending at intervals over ten
or eleven years.

The Commissioners felt the time to be fortunately
critical for such a survey — " While the bulk of our
farmers are creeping in the beaten path of miserable
husbandry, without knowing better, or even wishing
to know better, several men of genius, shaking off the
fetters of custom, have traced out new paths for them-
selves, and have been successful, even beyond expecta-
tion. But their success has hitherto produced few
imitators : so far from it, that among their slovenly
neighbours they are reckoned giddy-headed projec-
tors." A comparison of the new mode of agriculture
with the old could not fail, it was thought, to incite the
old school farmers to follow the example of the im-
provers; especially in view of the great profits made
by them ; for, " if this motive prevail not, it is not
easy to say what can prevail." " Fifty years ago a
survey of this kind would have been of no avail ;
because our practice, cramped by custom, was the same
everywhere ; and there was nothing to be learned.
Fifty years hence the knowledge and practice of
husbandry will probably be spread everywhere, and
nothing will remain to be learned." The Commis-
sioners reasoned soundly concerning the expediency
of their course ; and as we have already seen, they
were not altogether singular in their mistaken anti-
cipation of the time when " nothing will remain to be
learned" in agriculture.

We shall not follow Mr. Wight in his agricultural
details ; nor indeed follow him closely at all ; but
simply endeavour to obtain from him a few glimpses
of the rural life of the time as it presented itself to
the eye of an intelligent stranger. On his third survey,

118 Notes and Sketches.

he visited the county of Kincardine, of which he says
— " I am sorry to observe that agriculture in this
county makes little figure, except among a few
patriotic gentlemen." Various of the more prominent
of these he had visited, but time did not admit of his
coming on to Aberdeen. And a considerable while
after he records, at second-hand, a particular impres-
sion concerning the husbandry of three local counties,
viz., the observation that had been made by a gentle-
man, when travelling through Angus, Mearns, and
Aberdeenshire — " Many enclosures he saw fenced
with dry stones, some new, some decayed, and some
tumbling down ; but not a gap made up, nor the
slightest reparation on any of them. This surprised
him. To be at the expense of building fences, and
yet never to think of keeping them in repair, appeared
unaccountable. But at last he discovered the cause •
for, upon looking back he remembered that in every
one of these enclosures there was corn as well as
grass." In point of fact, "inclosing," as known to
the farmers of the time, was simply a delusion and a
snare. It did not partition off the pastures from the
cereal and other crops, and consequently herding was
just as much needed as if no enclosures existed.

Aberdeenshire was visited in the autumn of 1779 ;
and the natural advantages in respect of recently-made
roads and harbours for export and import of com-
modities are remarked upon, together with the recent
"amazing" increase of manufactures, trade, and popula-
tion. In the towns of New and Old Aberdeen, and
various suburbs 'twixt the bridges over the rivers Dee
and Don, there was good warrant for saying there
were at least twenty-five thousand people, old and
young. A few particulars concerning the trade of
the town are given, and the Surveyor, who elsewhere
indicates his lack of confidence in the villainous raw
whisky of the time, takes delight in mentioning " a
considerable brewery for making porter, erected chiefly

An Agricultural Tour. 119

with a patriotic view. This brewery was erected to
.give vent to their own bere and barley, and to save great
sums remitted annually to London for porter. This
brewery meets with great encouragement, and it is
the great boast of the citizens that they can now rejoice
over their own porter, instead of bringing it from
London." So much for Aberdeen porter and patriotism
.a hundred years ago.

The social state of the inhabitants, urban and rural,
is statistically given in a few compendious sentences
— "The inhabitants are sober and industrious; and
the following particulars will show that wages and
provisions are moderate : — The wages paid to labourers
in remote parts are from 5d. to 7d. per day ; at Aber-
deen, 9d. in winter and 12d. in summer. The women
are so well employed in knitting stockings as scarce
to undertake field work, even at 6d. Beef gives 2|d.
.a-pound, and mutton 3d. — Dutch weight. In the
spring, beef and mutton rise to 3Jd., 4d., and 4Jd. per
lb., there being little or no early grass in the county.
A pound of butter, of 28 oz., can be had for 7d., and
•cheese, poultry, and meal in proportion. They have
indeed no coal but what is imported. Peats they
have in plenty ; but they are too remote from many
places to be a cheap firing."

About this date the more prominent citizens seem
to have taken strongly to farming. Even the skilful
East-Lothian Surveyor declares that " there is perhaps
no place in the world where a spirit for husbandry
has made such a figure as about Aberdeen. A corner
between the rivers Dee and Don has for many years
been cultivated in the most skilful manner by a mix-
ture of the garden and field crops, one year cabbage,
next year barley ; one year turnip or potatoes, next
year oats, and so alternately, a mode of cropping un-
known anywhere else in Scotland." Outside this
•corner a dry, barren, stony muir prevailed. To think
of profitable improvement of the same might appear

120 Notes and Sketches.

in vain. But " men of all ranks here are struck with
the enthusiasm of farming," and citizens, who had
amassed a little cash otherwise, were prone to bestow
it in the pursuit of husbandry for its own sake, or,
perhaps, in the desire to have country villas ; and
thus they attacked the stubborn glebe regardless of
expenditures as high as from £20 to £25 an acre (quite
equal to double the amount now), the result, in 1779,
being that the reclaimed lands, " to the distance of
three or four miles, carry as rich crops as are to be
seen anywhere in Britain." Adam Duff, the late
Provost, had feued 150 acres, as stony and barren
as any in the neighbourhood, at 3s. per acre of feu-duty,
and at a cost of £25 an acre, converted it into excellent
arable land. Mr. Angus, late bookseller, and Mr.
Mossman, advocate, are also mentioned as skilful and
successful improvers of the barren, stony waste ; and
the estate of " Robslaw," which within not many years
had risen in rental from £100 to £600, is referred to
in evidence of the growing taste for suburban posses-
sions. Generally — " Were a traveller in his wander-
ings to come upon any farmer in the neigbourhood of
Aberdeen commencing his improvements upon this
stony barren muir, he would, without the least hesita-
tion, pronounce the poor man to be crazy. Anyone
would think so with respect to the first improver ;
but now the certainty of success makes it a rational
system for gain, and spreads the improvement of that
muir wider and wider every day. At present, as far
as one can cast his eye round Aberdeen, there is not a
vestige of the muir remaining."

Passing out by Grandholm, Mr. Wight finds Mi\
Paton engaged in reclaiming a muir of great extent,
and little better than that about Aberdeen, except that
the stones upon it are less numerous. He is at work
with a strong plough, which makes a furrow from four-
teen to eighteen inches deep, and is drawn by " no
fewer than ten good oxen. " Mr. Paton's apology for

An Agricultural Tour. 121

such a number, " is, not that they are absolutely ne-
cessary for so deep a furrow, but that they relieve one
another, by taking up the draught by turns." The
Surveyor ridicules this idea, and avers that, but for
the prepossession of custom, Mr. Paton would not be
capable of reasoning that way. " To leave oxen to
pull or not, according to their own discretion, would
be a very imperfect way of relieving one another. I
have often seen ten oxen in a plough, in the counties
of Aberdeen and Banff ; but I never once saw them
pulling all together. One or other of them are seen
hanging on the yoke, keeping back the draught in-
stead of advancing it." The improvements carried on
at Udny, by Mr. Udny, attract prominent notice. The
land around Udny House had originally been even
rougher than that round the town of Aberdeen ; yet
now, at great expense, and " with unremitting per-
severance," it was so improved, that no vestige re-
mained of what it had originally been ; nothing was
to be seen but neat enclosures, thriving hedges, and
commodious offices ; presenting such a picture as made
the traveller loath to prosecute his further journey
over the many barren, out-lying acres. A favourable
rotation of cropping had been established ; Mr. Udny
was " famous for a breed of horses, full blood, on both
sides." Mr. Wight admired his " English bull, Short-
horn," and declared his cows, some of which were from
England, some from Berwickshire, and some the very
best of his own country breed, to be good.

At this point the Surveyor was destined to en-
counter a keen disappointment. It was common for
spirited improvers of the landlord class — and the
improvers of the time were generally of that class —
to bring men from the Lothians as overseers or chief
ploughmen ; and they not unfrequently helped them
to settle ultimately in farms of their own. Mr. Udny
went a step farther. In his zeal for agricultural im-
provement he had prevailed upon Mr. James Anderson,

122 Notes and Sketches.

" a young gentleman of a good stock, and addicted to
husbandry," to leave his home at Hermiston, near
Edinburgh, and settle upon the farm of Monkshill,
formed out of several smaller farms, and extending
to 1130 acres. He gave him a lease of 63 years, with
power to assign or sublet ; the rent, running from
Is. 7d. to 2s. 4d. per acre, to increase progressively
after ten years, until it doubled. " I hastened there,
greedy to receive instruction from a gentleman who
makes a figure by his publications ; but I was much
disappointed in finding neither him nor his overseer at
home. All I saw was a field of turnip, one of oats,
and one of barley, all in good order." So writes the
tourist Surveyor.

Concerning the famous tenant of Monkshill, it may
here be said that he was a man of liberal education ; he
had studied chemistry at Edinburgh, under Dr. Cullen,
and, in 1780, received the degree of LL.D., at Aber-
deen. Twelve years before he had married Miss Seton,
of Mounie, by whom he had thirteen children. He
was a contributor to the first edition of the Encyclo-
paedia Britannica, and wrote the first report on the
Agriculture of Aberdeenshire, published in 1794, Ardent
in temperament, independent in his style of thought,
and very outspoken, he took the keenest possible in-
terest in the agriculture and social life of the region ; his
ideas, to which he never hesitated to give vent in one
form or another, being not unfrequently in direct con-
flict with the established order of things, a circumstance
which seems in no way to have disturbed his equani-
mity, marred his good humour, or cooled his enthu-
siasm. He was the originator, conductor, and chief
contributor to a well-known weekly publication called
" The Bee, " carried on for several years, and in which
agricultural, scientific, and other questions were dis-
cussed ; and his separate publications, which include a
great variety of subjects, from the construction of Chim-
neys to the nature and formation of Peat Moss, form

An Agricultural Tour. 123

altogether a very long list. Dr. Anderson died at West-
ham, near London, in 1808.

Passing on from Monkshill where, as we know from
other sources, the farming was of the most advanced •
sort, our tourist went by Ellon, where, though the soil
was good, he could not admire the husbandry. At
Auchmacoy the improving proprietor had taken to fenc-
ing by means of hedges and ditches, in lieu of earth
dykes, which were destroyed by the horned cattle
thrusting- their horns into them and tossing the mate-
rial about ; and it is a rather curious circumstance that,
though horned cattle are mentioned repeatedly after-
wards, not a single allusion is made to the black polled
breed, of which Buchan is said to be the native region.

But, by universal consent, the person who took the
first place for knowledge of farming in Buchan was a
lady — Miss Fraser of Inverallochy — who had the entire
management of the farm of Knockhall, leased from
Mr. Udny, by her brother resident in London. This
farm was all fenced with stone dykes and thorn
hedges, with intervening strips of plantation. The
stone fences are declared to be " incomparably good,"
while the highly-cultivated state of every field dis-
covered " not only industry, but a superior genius.
Drilled turnip, bear with grass seeds, thriving exceed-
ingly, fine pasturage, the best sort of cows and young
steers, in short, everything in perfection. I met a
wain, deeply loaded with sea-shells, drawn by four
fine bullocks. They were trained to draw in harness,
and I was charmed to see them take all the turns of
the road like the best-trained horses. In short, this
lady is a miracle for farming. Her genius must be
uncommon to excel so eminently in a vocation that
Nature seems to have confined to the male sex." This
opinion is fairly borne out by a written statement
obtained from Miss Fraser, in which she discusses
various practical points with much shrewdness and in-
telligence, urging in particular the economy effected

124 Notes and Sketches.

by using oxen for draught purposes in place of horses,
alike in the plough and for farm carriages. They did
the work, at least as well, and in the end were fit for
the butcher's purpose, which horses were not.

Farther on, toward the Fraserburgh coast, a picture
of the poverty prevailing among a considerable part of
the smaller tenants is given. "Their poverty, their
weak horses, and small ill-constructed carts" are spoken
of ; " their mean crops," it is said, " yield little fodder ;
their horses, cows, and winterers are starved." "I have
met many samples of the picture I have drawn. I
have seen a long train of small carts, the bottom and
sides done with spars for lightness, with ropes twisted
about the spars for holding in peats or shells, as much
as a feeble horse is able to drag along, and a man for
every cart. Reflecting on the burdens of sand carried
by women on their backs to Edinburgh, three or four
miles, I am certain that the load of the cart was less
than what was carried by a woman."

Coming to the pith of our Surveyor's general remarks,
we find it stated of Aberdeen shire, as a whole, that
— " This county is populous, and is turning more so
daily. The people are sober and industrious, at the
same time sufficiently docile. Wages for men ser-
vants are moderate ; for women they are much higher
than in the Lothians, owing to the extensive manu-
factory of stockings at Aberdeen, which has taught
all of them to knit ; and so industrious they are, that,
in travelling the high road, they knit as busily as at
home. The horned cattle, in general, are of a good
kind, but ill managed. . . . The poverty of the
pasture here is the bane of improvement, as likewise
the number of cattle that are kept. . . . The
native breed of sheep is diminutive, and no wonder ;
for the custom is to tether them ; and yet I could
observe no grass till I alighted and put on my spec-
tacles." And then he condemns the general practice
of tethering horses. And not without cause, as other

An Agricultural Tour. 125

authorities inform us that the poor animals were fre-
quently kept upon the bare roadside on the miserable
"foggage," their stall feeding being chiefly thistles
gathered amongst the growing corn.

Not dissimilar in their general scope are Mr. Wight's
observations upon the agriculture of Banffshire and the
adjoining counties. Concerning the town of Banff he
tells us that it possessed an extensive manufacture of
thread for stockings, and that the thread manufactured
was sent to Nottingham from Banff in waggons, and
even then could be afforded at a cheaper rate than the
thread made in Nottingham. The yearly returns, at
first but small, had risen, it is said, to between forty
and fifty thousand pounds sterling. The yarns, chiefly
made from Dutch flax, and which gave employment in
spinning to upwards of four thousand women in all, in
Banff, Elgin, Forres, and intervening towns, amounted
to about 150,000 spindles annually.

Mr. Wight does not appear to have considered it
within his remit to offer remarks in detail upon the
.state of the roads, a circumstance rather to be regretted ;
and accounted for perhaps by the fact that he seems to
have journeyed on horseback in place of attempting to
drive in a wheeled conveyance. Once and again he
adverts to the want of sufficient accommodation, or
sufficient attendance at the inns where he had to put
up. At Fochabers, where, after two hours waiting, he
was at last supplied with " a half-boiled dish of hodge-
podge," his candour compels him to mention the cir-
cumstance, "for the sake of travellers, that they may not
be detained by the stupidity of a landlady and daughters,
whose sole care seemed to be adorning and dressing their
own persons in place of attending to dressing of victuals
for the accommodation of travellers." And of Invertirie
it is recorded that " although the town is one of the
royal burghs in Scotland, yet the best public-house in
it has but one decent room, and that on the ground
floor, which serves for dining-room and bed chamber

126 Notes and Sketches.

too. The traveller would feel himself well put up with
the master and mistress of the inn, provided the house
were but decently fitted up for accommodating travellers,
when the number is more than one."

CHAPTEE XVII.

DOMESTIC LIFE AND SOCIAL HABITS — DKESS — FOOD

DRINK AND DRINKING CUSTOMS.

UNDER the date of October, 1730, the compiler of the
Domestic Annals says : — " We are now arrived at a
time which seems to mark very decidedly a transition
in Scotland from poverty to growing wealth, from the
Puritanic manners of the seventeenth century to the
semi-licence and ease of the eighteenth, and conse-
quently from restricted to expanded views." This
statement is no doubt true in a general sense, though
one rather hesitates to accept without considerable
abatement Mr. Chambers's averments concerning the
severe theological creed and dismally morose habits of
"all respectable persons" in Scotland previous to 1730.
There is some temptation even to say that there must
have been a dash of conscious if not intentional carica-
ture in the picture given — " Amongst the upper classes,
the head of the family," we are told, " was for the most
part an awful personage, who sat in a special chair by
the fireside, and at the head of the table, with his hat
on ; often served at meals with special dishes, which no
one else, not even guests, partook of. In all the arrange-
ments of the house his convenience and tastes were
primarily studied. His children approached him with
fear, and never spoke with any freedom before him.
At meals the lady of the house helped everyone as she
herself might choose. The dishes were at once ill-cooked
and ill-served. It was thought unmeet for man that he
should be nice about food. Nicety and love of rich

128 Notes and Sketches.

feeding were understood to be hateful peculiarities of
the English, and unworthy of the people who had been
so much more favoured by God in a knowledge of
matters of higher concern. There was, nevertheless," it
is added, " a great amount of hospitality." How the
virtue of hospitality could possibly be exercised under
the depressing influence of such morose and gloomy
hosts is not quiet apparent. And, despite any reliable
evidence yet produced to the contrary, we are convinced
that Puritanic theology, even where it was most
generally influential, was never in our history effective
in suppressing the features of humanity to the extent
indicated, except it might be in the case of a rather
limited number of fanatics ; whose example would not
seem to have been by any means slavishly imitated by
the great body of the people.

Up to about the time mentioned the almost universal
dress of middle-class gentlemen was " hodden grey ;"
though we are told that as early as 1731 " hoops were
constantly worn " by the ladies, " four and a-half yards
wide," and which " required much silk to cover them."
An ungallant local writer, twenty years later, speaks of
the ladies at a public ball wearing " hoops of immense
deformity." The heads " were all dressed in laces from
Flanders ;" but though " the price of these was high,
two suits would serve for life ; they were not renewed
but at marriage or some great event." An English
gentleman who visited Scotland at the beginning of
the century, states that about 1702 he found the Low-
landers " dressed much like his own countrymen, ex-
cepting that the men generally wore bonnets instead of
hats, and plaids instead of cloaks; the women, too,
wearing plaids when abroad or at church." Women of
the humbler class generally went barefoot, " especially
in summer." The children of people of the better sort,
"lay and clergy," were likewise generally without shoes
and stockings. This description would apply very
fairly to the state of matters a hundred years later.

Social Life and Domestic Habits. 129

After the Union with England in 1707, amid a good
deal of grumbling over that event, the consumption of
" fleshes and wheat bread" sensibly increased with the
growth of trade among the better-to-do of town popula-
tions. In the rural districts there was little improve-
ment in that way for a long while after. And change
was by no means universally welcomed when it came.
It is amusing to note the vehemence with which many
of the writers in the Old Statistical Account (A.D. 1782-
94) bewail the degeneracy creeping in through extra-
vagance in dress and luxury in respect of food, and so
on. The minister of a Banffshire parish asserts that
" a very great change as to diet and dress has taken
place during the forty years last past." Prior to that era
" neither tea kettle nor tea could be found but in two
families " in his parish. " Two hats only appeared at
church ; a lady adorned herself with the plaid, and a
gentleman was not ashamed of homespun clothing. But
now most families drink tea once, many twice, a-day.
The ploughman appears at church and market with his
hat, linen, and good broad cloth, and it may be taken
for granted that the country belles will exert themselves
to outshine the country beaux." Another writer tells us
that "about fifty or sixty years ago there were not
above seven tea kettles, as many hand bellows, and as
many watches in Forfar; now tea kettles and hand
bellows are the necessary furniture of the poorest house
in the parish, and almost the meanest menial servant
must have his watch." A third, who is even more
explicit, says : — " The dress of all the country people
in the district (central Aberdeenshire) was some years
ago, both for men and women, of cloth made of
their own sheep wool, Kilmarnock or Dundee bonnets,
and shoes of leather tanned by themselves. Then
every servant lad and maid had a quey or steer,
sometimes two, and a score or two of sheep, to
enable them to marry and begin the world with. Now
every servant lad almost must have his Sunday coat of
10

130 Notes and Sketches.

English broadcloth, a vest and breeches of Manchester
cotton, a high-crowned hat, and watch in his pocket.
The servant maids are dressed in poplins, muslins, lawns,
and ribbons. And both sexes have little else than finery
to enter the world with, which occasions marriage to be
delayed longer than formerly, and often brings distress
along with it."

Of the usual dietary of the common people during
last century, a writer of the time gives a concise and
comprehensive account in the interrogatory form. If
one wished to know how they lived, it might, he says,
be indicated thus : — " Have you got your pottage 1 —
that is, your breakfast. Have you got your sowens ? —
i.e., your dinner. Have you got your brose ? — i.e., your
supper." The use of tea had become pretty common in
the upper ranks from about 1720. It was gradually
creeping in amongst the "commonality," but was strongly
denounced by many as not only extravagant, but also
calculated to make the people effeminate and weakly.
Even the good Lord President Forbes of Culloden had
his doubts, and wished for a law to restrain people
under a certain income in the use of the leaf. During
1744 there was a sort of general movement over Scot-
land to put it down, and towns and parishes passed re-
solutions to that effect. The tenants of one Ayrshire
laird, whose findings were put upon record, declared,
with an air of high superiority, that it was needless for
them to enter into any formal bond against the use of
tea, which, say they, " would be but an improper diet
to qualify us for the more robust and manly parts of
our business ; and therefore we shall only give our tes-
timony against it, and leave the enjoyment of it alto-
gether to those who can afford to be weak, indolent,
and useless."

So, with only their porridge, their sowens, and their
kail — (whether common greens or the not too delicate
" red kail," which had latterly become the exclusive
perquisite of the bovine race, and seem now to be much

Social Life and Domestic Habits. 131

neglected as an article of cultivation) — supplemented at
exigent times by a dish, of nettletops or " mugworts,"
it is not to be supposed that the food of the common
people was over luxurious. Their favourite drink was
home-brewed ale, which they manufactured to pretty
good purpose, the proportion of malt used being probably
quite as liberal as is the case now in certain instances.
And concurrently with lamentations over the introduc-
tion of tea, we have strong laudations of the superior
virtues of home-brewed ale. One Edinburgh physician,
who denounces those "baneful articles, tea and whisky,"
as tending to " corruption of morals and debility of
constitution among the poor," says expressly that their
introduction " is one bad effect of the present practice
of debasing and vitiating malt liquor. Formerly," he
adds, " when that liquor was the only beverage in use,
excesses from it did not affect the constitution, as it
contained a good deal of nourishment. But now, since
it has been debased, it is entirely given up."

It sounds a little odd to us, who have been accus-
tomed to regard whisky as specially the national liquor,
to be reminded that about the close of the seventeenth
century French claret was the usual drink among the
gentry and well-to-do classes, and twopenny ale among
the common people. While brandy and whisky were
comparatively rare, claret was to be found " in every
public-house of any note except in the heart of the
Highlands, and sometimes even there." And great
quantities of it were drunk in many of the hostelries,
as also in the houses of private gentlemen. In Arniston
House, the country residence of President Dundas, the
annual consumpt of claret about 1750 is stated to have
been sixteen hogsheads ; while it was the practice of
John Forbes of Culloden, " Bumper John," as he was
called, " to prize off the top of each successive cask of
claret, and place it in the corner of the hall to be
emptied out in pail-fuls."

The drinking habits of the time were indeed of a

132 Notes and Sketches.

somewhat outrageous kind. Many hospitable gentle-
men made it their practice at the social board to see all
their guests, if not literally under the table, at least in a
condition to require assistance to bed before breaking
up for the evening. And it was wonderful how even
the common people " boosed" and got glorious on their
" tippeny" when what seemed fit occasion, public or
private, offered.* On this question of fitness the
notions that prevailed were certainly not over strict
amongst any of the classes of society. Nothing, for
example, strikes us as more incongruous or ill-timed
than the excesses that were wont so generally to prevail
in connection with the solemnities of death and the
grave. In his book on " Social Life in Former Days,"
Captain Dunbar gives a letter from a Mr. William
Forbes, excusing himself from attending a funeral at
Elgin. The date is 1742, and the writer says, "I told
you that I could not doe myself the honour to witness
the interment of your worthy father. This is to tell
you that I have been drinking this whole day with our
Magistrates and Town Council (God bless them), and
am just now almost unfitt for your conversation, and
therefor choose to goe home rather than expose myself ;
which I hope you will approve off." Mr. Forbes had
either been an unduly sensitive man, or the " spate" in
which he had indulged with the Magistrates must have
left him in a very queer state; for in his day, and 'even
a good deal later, it was not very uncommon to find
that the major part of a funeral company had got more
or less tipsy before they "lifted." Instances have been
known of the " bearers" staggering so badly from the
effect of their libations as nearly to pull the coffin they
carried in pieces; and such tales have been told as that of

* Captain Burt says the price of the ale he got acquainted with
was twopence for a Scots pint. The liquor was disagreeable to
those not used to it, the malt which was dried with peat, turf, or
furze, giving it ft taste of the fuel. " "When the natives drink
plentifully of it," he adds, "they interlace it with brandy or
usky."

Social Life and Domestic Habits. 133

a funeral company at starting being unable to determine
which was the proper route to the grave-yard ; or even
that they would "tak road" in utter forgetfulness of
the melancholy burden they should have carried with
them, but did not. A story is told in connection with
the death of Sir Alexander Ogilvy, Lord Forglen, one
of the Judges of the Court of Session in 1727, which
shows how cordial was the belief in deep draughts as
an antidote to grief. Dr. Clerk, his medical man, had
called on the day he died. The doctor was let in by
David Reid, Lord Forglen's clerk. On his asking how
his patient was, David solemnly replied, " I houp he's
weel," which meant, of course, that all was over. The
doctor was conducted into a room, where he was shown
two dozen of wine under the table, and other doctors
coming in, David made them all sit down while he told
them his deceased master's last words, at same time
pushing the bottle about briskly. After the company
had taken a glass or two, they rose to depart, but David
detained them. " No, no, gentlemen ; not so. It was
the express will o' the dead that I should fill ye a' fou,
and I maun fulfil the will o' the dead." All the time
the tears were streaming down his cheeks. "And
indeed," said the doctor afterwards in telling the story,
" he did fulfil the will o' the dead, for before the end o'
't there was nae ane o' us a' able to bite his ain
thoomb."

CHAPTEE XVIII.

DOMESTIC INDUSTRIES AND OUT-DOOR LABOUR THE

TRADE IN PLAIDING AND FINGRAMS — SPINNING AND
KNITTING — A SPINNING MISTRESS— REGULATION OF THE

TRADE SCHOOL EDUCATION THE FARMER'S EVENING

FIRESIDE THE FLAILMAN.

IN the latter part of the seventeenth century the home
manufacture of plaiding, fingrams, and stockings was a
very important industry. Both spinning and weaving
of wool and lint were carried on, not in large factories,
but as domestic employments, pursued all over the
country in their own houses by those who had no other
occupation, as well as by the members of the farmer's and
cottar's families. In a letter of date 1 680 ; and attributed
to the Countess of Erroll of that time, it is said " the
women of this country are mostly employed spinning
and working of stockings and making of plaiden webs,
which the Aberdeen merchants carry over the sea ; and
it is this which bringeth money to the commons ; other
ways of getting it they have not." Very similar is
the language of Baillie Alexander Skene of Newtile,*
writing five years later. He enumerates plaiding,
fingrams, and stockings among " the natural products
of our land "; and maintains that with due attention to
keep the market by an honestly produced article, which
condition it appears was not fulfilled latterly, the whole
wool grown in Scotland could be wrought by " the
commons of the nation," working at " such times as

* Memorials for the Government of the Royal Burghs in Scot-
land, 1685.

Domestic Industries and Out-door Labour. 135

their other country work permits," at rates that defied
competition by those who set up a " particular manu-
facture." In proof of this latter point, he relates how
— in view of the large sums of money brought into the
kingdom by the plaiding trade, especially through the
Aberdeen merchants, who got their wool chiefly from
the south of Scotland, and then sold it out in " smalls"
to the country people — a " substantious merchant in
Edinburgh called Mr. Barnes," conceived the idea that
having the wool at first hand he could, by employing
people expressly to manufacture for him, sell in the
market of Holland at a greater profit than the Aberdeen
merchants with their roundabout mode of manufacture.
But having made " about ten sea packs of plaiding,
which might be reckoned worth twenty thousand
pounds," he perceived that the Aberdeen men were
selling their plaiding in Holland " at as low a rate
as his stood himself at home "; whereupon he " fell a
wondering " as to the reason of this. Having put the
case to Alexander Farquhar, an Aberdeen merchant of
his acquaintance, the " substantious " Edinburgh trader
was informed " that the people that wrought their plaid-
ing had not by farr such entertainment as his servants
had, and that they drank oftener clear spring water
than ale ; and therefore they had their plaiding much
cheaper than his ; whereupon he quickly gave over
his manufacture." Baillie Skene adds that notwith-
standing the " sober rate" at which the commons lived
they were " so set at work upon the account of their
advantage in the north parts of Scotland, that in former
years the product of their labours hath brought into
this kingdom yearly upwards of an hundreth thousand
rex dollars for many years together ; without this the
nobility and gentry in thir parts could not get their
money rents well paid." Surprisingly high prices had
been given ; for our present authority speaks of a
certain George Pyper, who to prevent decay in the trade
and stimulate improvement in the style of knitting

136 Notes and Sketches.

stockings, had encouraged the country people by giving
them a little money or some linen at times, so " that
from five groats the pair he caused them work at
such a fynness that he hath given twenty shillings
sterling and upward for the pair." Mr. Pyper flourished
a little after the middle of the seventeenth century, and
about 1676 had as many as four hundred people spin-
ning and knitting for him.

In a memorial to the Trustees for the Improvement
of Manufactures, of date 1728, the local importance of
the question is urged "as it will not be denyed, but
there is a greater quantity of coarse wool, commonly
called tarred wool, manufactured in the shire of Aber-
deen, and the manufactures thereof exported yearly
from the port of Aberdeen than from all Scotland
besides." There was also a considerable quantity of
linen cloth made and sold yearly; and thus "the
gentlemen of the county of Aberdeen, whose rents are
for the most part paid by the produce of their manu-
factures, have a very great concern that they should be
improven."

Substantially the same style of domestic industry
continued throughout the eighteenth century, as is seen
from the statements of various of the Old Statistical
writers. The minister of Kincardine O'Neil says of
his parish, " 600 women are employed in spinning
and knitting of woollen stockings, at which they earn
from 2s. to 2s. 6d. a- week." Of the women of Strath-
don we are told that "they are in general capital
spinners, and they bring a great deal of money into the
parish." The statist for the parish of Rayne calculates
that the knitting of stockings — at which all the women
and some of the boys, and old men even, of his parish
were employed — yielded about £400 sterling ; and, he
says, if it were not for the results of the knitting " the
rents of the crofts could not be paid." *The minister of
Glenmuick says, with some emphasis, " while I accuse
the men of indolence, I should do great injustice to the

Domestic Industries and Out-door Labour. 137

women if I did [not] exempt them from the charge, by
whose industry and diligence their families are in a
great measure supported." Those exemplary women of
Glenmuick, it appears, spun flax for the Aberdeen manu-
facturers, as well as made blue homespun cloth and
tartan webs of their own wool, and which they sold at
2s. and 2s. 6d. an ell.

The statements of various writers show that the
stocking manufacture was of much local importance all
through the eighteenth century. James Rae of White-
haven, a volunteer under the Duke of Cumberland in
1745, in his History of the Rebellion, says of Aberdeen
trade, " the manufacture here is chiefly stockings, all
round the adjacent country ; and every morning the
women bring in loads to sell about the town to mer-
chants, who have them scoured for exportation to
London, Hamburg, and Holland. They are generally
all white from the makers, and knit most plainly;
some are ribbed, and a great many with squares, which
greatly please the Dutch. They make stockings here
in common from one shilling a-pair to one guinea and
a half, and some are so fine as to sell for five guineas
the pair." And similarly, Mr. Francis Douglas, speaking
of the rather sterile seacoast district in the north part of
Kincardineshire, where one could see "numbers of poor
huts and starved cattle," says, " being within a few
miles of Aberdeen, the females have constant employ-
ment in knitting stockings to the manufacturers. By
their unremitting labour in this branch they earn money
to pay their rents." The extent of the knitting industry
must have been great. Douglas says, " the manufac-
ture was supposed to amount to from a hundred and
ten to a hundred and twenty thousand pounds sterling
annually ; two-thirds of which are reckoned to be paid
for spinning and knitting ; the other third goes to
pay the. materials, and afford a profit to the manu-
facturers." The wool was still, it may be said, im-
ported from the south; and in 1778 it was stated

138 Notes and Sketches.

on credible authority, " that in the currency of a
year wool shipped at the port of London for Aber-
deen was insured to the value of ,£40,000." Few
women, according to Douglas, could earn " above
eighteenpence a-week by spinning and knitting stock-
ings;" but, as we have seen, some of them did earn con-
siderably more. He adds, that at a former time" worsted
stockings had been worked in the country upon very
fine brass wires, which sold as high as three or four
pounds sterling a-pair. A pair of these, however, was
almost constant work for a woman for six months ; and
thus valuable chiefly " as a mark of great patience and
ingenuity in the worker." These, one would be dis-
posed to believe, must have been the stockings for
which George Pyper gave his highest premium.

In domestic spinning the rock and spindle were the
only available instruments during the first quarter of
the century. With these a woman could produce only
about three and a-half hears (each heer consisting of 240
threads or rounds of the reel) a-day. When the rock
and spindle came to be superseded by the spinning-
wheel, a woman could spin twelve heers a-day.

The spinning of the thread was done in the farmers'
families, and the yarn was taken to the weaver to be
wrought into webs. To be able to spin well was, of
course, an important accomplishment; and thus in
1741, Elizabeth Thorn, " spinning mistress" in Aber-
deen, desires to make known her readiness to teach
women to spin "with both hands." On her applica-
tion, the County Clerk was authorized to sign her
advertisement to that effect. Eight years thereafter, in
1749, a "further encouragement" was given to this
lady, by the county gentlemen agreeing to draw the
attention of the Magistrates to the spinning school,
and recommending that people both in town and
country should take the benefit of it. In 1751 a
competition for prizes in the matter of brown linen
cloth and linen yarn took place, under the auspices

Domestic Industries and Out-door Labour. 139

of Isobel Swan, a spinning mistress in Putachieside,
Aberdeen.

Long before these laudable efforts had been put forth
the very prosperity of the trade, apparently, through
the strong export demand, had led to systematic attempts
being made to deteriorate the manufacture. So early
as the tenth year of Queen Anne, an Act was passed to
prevent " diverse abuses and deceits " in making linen
cloth, and for regulating the length, breadth, and equal
sorting of the yarn. A subsequent statute of George
II., applied directly to "serges, plaidings, and fingrams,"
and " knit stockings." What we gather from various
" advertisements " issued by the Justices of Peace and
Deans of Guild of Aberdeen, is, that many of the spinners
and weavers contravened the statutes "by making serges
and fingrams of unequal wool and yarn ; and by work-
ing the same unequally, having three or four elns of
the first end of each piece considerable better than the
rest of the piece :" also that "they continued to draw
and overstretch the same after they are wrought, whereby
the cloth is much prejudged, and by shrinking after it
is bought, the buyers become losers ;" and they made
them of "unequal and irregular lengths," and too narrow
in the breadth. Their perverse ingenuity had even got
the length of thickening the cloth with batter, "whereby
the faults and thinness of the work cannot be so well
perceived." The practice with stockings had evidently
been none better: and so the statute of George II.,
which provides under penalties that all serges and fing-
rams should be " of equal work and fineness from one
end of the piece to the other," the narrow fingrams to
be twenty-eight inches in width, and the broad thirty-
eight inches ; also provided that " all stockings that
shall be made in Scotland shall be wrought and
made of three threads, and of one sort of wool and
worsted, and of equal work and fineness through-
out, free of left loops, hanging hairs, and of burnt,
cutted, or mended holes, and of such shapes and sizes

140 Notes and Sketches.

respectively as the patterns, which shall be marked by
the several Deans of Guild of the chief burghs of the
respective counties ; " all according to dimensions spe-
cified in detail in the Act. Authorised stampers, whose
function it was to put the official stamp on all market-
able webs and bundles of stockings, were appointed for
each district ; but though these gentlemen had to take
the oath de fideli, and " find bail " on their admission
to office, they seem not to have been universally free
from the suspicion of allowing doubtful goods to pass
occasionally ; and then marking the stamp so faintly
that it did not show legibly, as it ought, the initial letters
of the parish from whence they came. And so detection
of the offenders, who were liable to a pecuniary mulct,
was rendered very difficult or altogether impossible. It
was even charged against them that they did not do the
measuring in the manner laid down to them, and, in
some cases, marked a greater number of yards on a web
than it contained. Legislation, imperial and local, failed
to check the prevailing evil practices effectually, till
at length the Aberdeenshire manufacture of fingrams
got so " insufferably bad " that the Dutch market was
irrecoverably lost, the Hollanders declining to buy them
at any price.

The growth of flax to furnish lint for manufacture
into family linen at least, was a branch of the agricul-
ture of the time, but not a permanent one. Flax-
growing was not much known before the middle of
the century, and by the end of it it was again on the
decline. About 1780 to 1790 as much as 400 to 500
acres were annually occupied with this plant — generally
sown in small patches — in the county of Aberdeen.*
Twenty years thereafter, by the introduction of the
cotton manufacture, the breadth in flax had diminished
to not above 100 acres; but in Angus and Mearns the

* The Old Statistical writer for the parish of Cairney naively
says — " The manufacture of linen has introduced a certain cleanli-
ness all over the country. It has almost banished the itch."

Domestic Industries and Out-door Labour. 141

plant was grown more extensively; the area in flax
in the Mearns, so late as 1807, being 236 acres. The
spinning of flax afforded much employment to women
in the Buchan and Strathbogie districts of Aberdeen-
shire about 1780; and at that date a good spinner
could earn sixpence, and in some cases sevenpence
a-day at her wheel, which seems to have been the
maximum wage ever attained at this particular in-
dustry. Between spinning and knitting worsted, and
spinning flax, the time of the Aberdeenshire women
may be supposed to have been pretty fully occupied.
It was so as matter of fact — occupied, one may venture
to think, in a very suitable fashion. And so we have
a tourist at the opening of the present century recording
it as what appeared surprising to him that " he did not
perceive a single female employed in field labour " in
Aberdeenshire ; such labour being " executed by men,"
contrary to the practice of the southern counties,
" where work of that kind was performed by girls and
boys," while the men worked the horses in the summer
months. Other writers tell of the barbarous way in
which the women in certain regions were made to do
the roughest out-door labour as occasion required.
Especially was this the case in certain Highland and
half -Highland parts, where the inert lord of the creation
would lie on his hip and complacently look on while
his wife did the most menial and fatiguing labour on
the croft, even to the extent, as has been already said,
of carrying the contents of the scanty dunghill a-field
on her back !

But in the north-eastern section of Scotland there
was little to complain of either as to fitness in the distri-
bution of labour as between the sexes, or the amount
that each was expected to accomplish. In the years
of childhood a certain measure of schooling was deemed
needful. With girls it hardly went beyond giving
them the capability of reading in a moderate degree ;
not always so far. Writing was regarded more in the

142 Notes and Sketches.

light of an elegant accomplishment, hardly as a thing
practically useful for the female sex, and some who
looked at the matter in the light of principle excused
themselves from bestowing it on their daughters under
the plea that " niony ane's deen ill wi' vreet." As it
concerned the male sex, the school population, in the
shape of sturdy well-grown boys, were simply expected
to tramp up leisurely day by day during the winter
months, each with his peat under his arm, to keep the
school fire going, and without anything further in the
way of prepared tasks than a question in the Shorter
Catechism. The ordinary curriculum was not com-
plicated with other branches, as English Grammar
and Geography; as, indeed, the attainments of the
dominie himself did not always admit of his handling
these in any formal or exact manner. Up to at least the
end of last century, the only reading books in use in the
parish schools were the Bible and Shorter Catechism.
The pupils read in succession the Catechism, and the
Proverbs ; then the rest of the Bible, and it was reck-
oned a great feat to read fluently those parts which were
full of proper names that were difficult to pronounce.
The schoolmaster rarely if ever thought of question-
ing his pupils on the subject matter of their lessons, or
of explaining to them the meaning of what they read.
Under this moderate intellectual discipline, a youth
got leisure to grow to his full stature, or at any rate to
reach the age of eighteen or nineteen before any heavier
task was imposed upon him than that of herding the
cattle of his father, or, if a cottar's son, those of some
neighbouring farmer. Of course the total absence of
enclosures made the occupation of cattle herd an essen-
tial and generally diffused one. We find the statement
made in 1750, that the herds in the Synod of Aberdeen
at that date were at least "five thousand in number."

Then when young men had got past the school and
herd-boy period, the labour imposed was not very con-
tinuous or systematic. In summer, with no green crops,

Domestic Industries and Out-door Labour.

such as turnips, to care for, and nothing in the shape
of improvement to carry out, once the "fauld dyke"
had been erected, which was done by the joint labour
of the tenants of the plough-gate or hamlet, there was
little to do except to see to the drying and carrying
home of the peats and turves for winter fuel ; and that
in many cases occupied a large portion of the farmer's
time during summer. When shearing came, of course
all were busy enough, and really hard work it was.
The period of harvest was much more protracted then
than now, and it was no unusual thing for the shearing to
extend over six weeks or so. As was right and proper,
they made harvest a time of cheerfulness and mirth ;
and we read of a farmer in the Mearns who, to make
his " hyeucks" go on lightly and pleasantly, " kept a
piper to play to them all the time of harvest, and gave
him his harvest fee." It was no doubt done on the
same principle that the "gaudman" was expected to
whistle a voluntary, or psalm tune, to the oxen he
drove in the plough, as well as to give them sharper
admonition as required with his " gaud" — leading us to
the origin of a pithy variation of the proverb, Much cry
for little wool — " Muckle whistlin for little red Ian'."*
A graphic and realistic sketch of the scene about the
farmer's fireside of a winter evening, when the young
women of the neighbouring farm houses had met, as the
custom was to meet in the several houses in turn, to
pursue their knitting in friendly rivalry, while the
goodwife ordered the house or "span a thread," and
tha men, in addition to caring for their cattle, took up
such odd jobs of a light sort as could be fitly done for
personal use or the benefit of the establishment, is given
by a local rhymer who nourished early in the present
century. He speaks presumably of his own time, but
even then " the old order," had not been materially
changed.* We have first the farmer plunging round

* Fruits of Time Parings, by W. Beattie, Aberdeen, 1813 ; re-
published 1873.

144 Notes and Sketches.

about byres and barn against the " endrift styth" in the
growing gloamin darkness.

For fear the poor dumb brutes sud smore,
He staps wi' strae ilk navus bore,

An' ilka crevice darns.
Syne aifter he has deen his best,
The sheep sought hame, an' a' at rest,
He bouns him to the house,
An' sits him doon upo' the bink,
An' plaits a theet, or mends a mink,

To sair an aifter use.

And then the scene when the " shankers" are gathered
by the fireside : —

The littleanes play at seek an' hide /

Ahint the kists an' tables ;
The farmer sits anent the licht,
An' reads a piece o' Wallace Wicht,
Or maybe ^Esop's Fables.

An' little Pate sits i' the neuk,
An' but-a-hoose dare hardly luik,

But haud an' snuff the fir ;
An' fan the farmer tines the line,
He says, " Yer light casts little shine —

Haud in the candle, sir !"

The gaudman sits an' toasts his nose,
Or awkwardly heel-caps his hose,

Or maks yoke-sticks o' rodden ;
Auld Luckydaddy win's at brutches,
An' granny tells them tales o' witches,

Until the kail be sodden.

And so on till the " brose is suppit," and they take to
bed trusting to be roused betimes next morning for flail
and plough by the waukrife goodman.

In autumn the " twal-owsen" plough was set agoing,
•when the services of the ploughman and gaudman came
into active request; and about farms of considerable
extent there was in addition the barnman. In winter
it was his business every day and all day long to ply

Domestic Industries and Out-door Labour. 145

" the thresher's weary flingin' tree." Here we have
an outline sketch of a professional flailman or barnman.
— A gaunt, sinewy fellow, six feet in height, minus
coat, waist-coat, and neckerchief, with his shirt collar
loose ; his towsy head bare, and barefooted too, as he
shuffled to and fro in the floor and pelted away at the
loosened sheaves he had strewn over it from end to end.
He was paid by the boll ; and when in the humour for
a regular set-to, would thresh out the almost incred-
ible quantity of six bolls in a day. We need not
suppose that he was over nice in threshing clean.
Quantity was his aim, and too great nicety did not
tend to promote that object ; while he might justly
hold, as indeed he avowed his belief, that the cattle
would be " nane the waur o' a wisp wi' a fyou o' the
berries on't." In the case of smaller farms the thresh-
ing was done of a winter morning by the farmer and
his " man" getting up early for a " spell" at it together.
Before the degenerate era of clocks and watches, which
were rare in country houses down to quite the end of
the eighteenth century, the proper time to get up to
thresh was a matter of guess work ; and we have heard
of a decent Garioch quaker who had erred on the safe
side by leaving his bed about midnight and rousing
his servant man. They threshed on and on, and were
getting tired, and even hungry. The man had gone
and looked over the barn door repeatedly for tokens of
morning light; and at last he turned round with the
pettish exclamation, " I've seen as muckle as it never
come daylicht;" whereon the matter-of-fact quaker
quietly asked, " Whaur wast thou, friend, when thou
saw that V

11

CHAPTEK XIX.

THE MILL AND THE MILLER THIRLAGE FETCHING HOME

THE MILLSTONE MULTURES THE MILLER'S TYRANNY

SEARCH FOR A MILLWRIGHT THE OLD SYSTEM

FALLING OBSOLETE.

AMONG the *' parts, pertinents, and privileges " granted
under a baronial charter in the feudal times, perhaps one
of the oldest adjuncts of a barony, was the mill. One
mill at least, and not unfrequently several, were erected
in each barony or lairdship, all the lands of the barony
or lairdship being astricted or " thirled " thereto, form-
ing the mill " sucken. " The tenants were bound to
have their com ground at the mill to which they
were thirled, which, in some cases, was not the
nearest mill to their farms. Indeed, instances were
known of a man having to pass not one, but two mills
before he .reached the one at which it was permissible for
him to have his com ground. But he had no choice in
the matter. Each person in the sucken had to pay mill
multures, and to perform certain services, such as assist-
ing to bring home a new millstone when required, or
aiding in the more frequent operation of clearing out
the mill lead.

The process of fetching home the millstone must, in
certain cases, have been a peculiarly formidable one.
Indeed, a local " byeword," which had a sort of linger-
ing currency, though without any very pointed appli-
cation, within quite recent times, would seem to have
had its origin in, and be enused as a vivid illustration
of, that idea. " As gweed to ye tak a rnillstane oot o'

The Mill and the Miller. 147

Pennan," they said, when a man had a task before him
difficult enough to bid defiance to his unaided strength.
Pennan, in Aberdour parish, was the site of the quarry
which furnished millstones for the greater part of Aber-
deenshire and Banffshire.* And in the time when there
were neither properly made roads nor wheeled vehicles
capable of bearing so heavy a load, it is not difficult to
believe that the bringing home of a millstone from a dis-
tance of perhaps half-a-dozen miles or more, was an onerous
business. The mode adopted was simply that of trund-
ling it on its edge all the way, by the most direct route
available. They got a long and stout stick, which was
called " the spar," put through the eye of the millstone,
and firmly wedged there. The spar projected from two
to three feet on one side, and perhaps fifteen feet, or
more, on the other, the long lever being used to keep
the stone on its edge, the other in the way of guidance
as the stone moved onward. Over the millstone was
fixed a rough wooden frame. Four, or perhaps six
horses, were yoked to the front of this frame, which
had a steering tree attached behind, while its con-
struction admitted of the spar turning round like the
axle of the " tumbling " cart. One experienced man
steered ; another kept by the short end of the spar ;
while the general body of the suckeners managed the
long end, or held on behind by ropes attached to the
frame, to prevent the millstone running off on the down-
ward gradients. Despite every precaution, it would
occasionally get too much way on a declivity and over-
power all concerned, creating dire confusion ; or by some
unhappy chance it would have its equilibrium so dis-
turbed as to get suddenly upset on the short end of the
spar, throwing the hapless suckeners, who hung grimly
on at the other end hither and thither, or tilting them
up in the air. These experiences were neither pleasant
nor safe ; and hence came the common saying, " Mony

* The millstone found here is a coarse sandstone, or conglomerate
of the Old Red Sandstone formation.

148 Notes and Sketches.

ane's gotten an amshach at the spar." A not unfrequent
source of danger, too, in connection with the mill, was
found in the tendency of the indifferently set millstone
to fly in pieces when grinding, maiming, or even killing
the miller, if he happened to be in the way.

The mill services and the exactions made in the shape
of multure and " knaveship," as part of the tax in kind
was called, seem to have caused the miller to be univer-
sally detested. Of both the existing system and the men
by whom it was carried on, Dr. James Anderson gives a
description that is more expressive than complimentary.
In speaking of the state of matters in Aberdeenshire in his
own time, he says the tenants, in some cases, paid the
seventeenth peck in thirlage. Then they paid " multure,
or the price of grinding, which/' says he, " is often the
thirty-second peck. They pay also to the miller a
lick of good ivill, or a bannock, which tenants have some-
times allowed to be measured ; and there are instances
where another unmeasured lick has crept in. Even the
seeds sifted from the bannock are sometimes paid. When
all these items are added together, they amount at some
mills to a twelfth or eleventh part of the whole corn
carried to the mill." But even this was not all. The cog
with which the shealing was measured was allowed to
be "made or mended," according to the fancy of the mul-
turer ; and so its size was as likely to be wrong as right ;
and if wrong, the error would probably not be to the dis-
advantage of the miller. Then the tenant was bound
to grind not only the meal to be used in his own family
at the mill to which he was thirled, but also " all the
other grain reared on his farm, seed only excepted ; or to
pay the full multure for every ounce of it that shall
be sold elsewhere or otherwise disposed of ; even horse
corn and wheat which they cannot manufacture, as well
as bear, are not excepted. The millers even insist for
payment of the multure for the corn that might have
grown on fields laid down to grass, which in the usual
rotation of crops in the county ought otherwise to have

The Mill and the Miller. 149

been in corn." And, " besides this heavy tax, " adds
Dr. Anderson, " the tenants are in general obliged to
clear out and repair the mill lead, which is often half-a-
mile in length, and the edges of it, for the most part,
serve as a road to the miller's cattle."*

Then he goes on to complain of the little trouble the
miller gave himself in the way of attending to his duties.
But why should the miller trouble himself about meet-
ing the wants or wishes of his customers ! They were
bound to come to him ; but he was not bound to put
himself to inconvenience or disturb his cherished habits
to please them. Neither did he. He was in a position
to treat them after the manner of the churl if he was so
minded; and occasionally, it seems manifest, he was.
But not always, for the miller could at times be sociable
as well as other people. It was told of a certain miller
in the Garioch, that in doing a " melder " on one occa-
sion, he " set on " the mill ; not a very powerful one,
in the matter of grinding, it would seem; and then,
the alehouse being conveniently near, went away with
a crony to " slocken " his drought. There they sat for
some considerable time, and there the mill " hottered "
away by itself. And not quite by itself either, for the
worthies had left a couple of dogs about the place;
and, the mill door being open, the two sagacious tykes
went in, and, sitting down contentedly by the spout,
licked up the meal with their tongues as fast as it was
manufactured.

Of course, the farmer was expected to have his own
kiln, or "killogie" as it was termed, and to dry his grain
for himself before he troubled the miller about it. Dr.
Anderson, in prosecution of his loud complaint, goes on
to say that the millers did not give themselves the
trouble to get winnowing machines " till of late " (he is
writing in 1794), "that the tenants in seme cases have
purchased them ; and, for permitting them to be turned

* For sample of contract between mill superior and suckeners
see Appendix (4).

150 Notes and Sketches.

by the machinery of the mill, they must pay another
multure, or carry their shealing out of doors to he win-
no wed by the wind. In short," he adds, " what with
want of water at one time and want of wind at another,
I have known instances of three persons being obliged
to go to the distance of three miles to the mill three
or four times over, and be employed nearly a whole
week for the grinding of half a dozen bolls of meal."
Weary work enough, surely, but Dr. Anderson has
scarcely reached his climax even yet. After declaring
that " there is not in this island such a compleat re-
main of feudal despotism as in the practice respecting
mills in Aberdeenshire," he adds that " the millers, in
many cases, exercise their power with the most wanton
insolence, these men being too often supported by all
the weight of the landlord's influence, so that I have
myself seen poor farmers, by vexation and despair,
reduced to tears to supplicate what they ought to have
commanded from him."

In 1757, the season being one of scarcity, the Aber-
deenshire county gentlemen appointed a committee " to
consider the state of the victual and what improvements
might be made upon corn mills and the manufacture
of grain to make it yield more and of better quality."
They had had it represented to them that John Wright,
a soldier in Captain Wood's regiment, " presently lying
in North Britain," was a man of skill and experience
in the making and improvement of the machinery of
corn mills, and would be inclined to settle in the north
country; and the committee were recommended to apply
to Lord George Beauclerk, commander of the Forces in
Scotland, to know if he would oblige them by giving
Wright his discharge, on a sufficient man being fur-
nished as his substitute ; or at least give him a long
furlough with a view to his contributing to the im-
provement of the mills. The facts enable us to realise
somewhat distinctly how utterly destitute of mechanical
skill the county must have been when it was deemed

The Mill and the Miller. 151

an object to get hold of a stranger soldier to lead
them toward improvement.

An idea of the limited power of the mills of the time
may be gathered from statistics of their actual numbers
within particular areas. Thus, in the large central parish
of Fyvie, in Aberdeenshire, there were in the latter
part of the last century thirteen corn mills, in each of
which there was a " fanner turned by the machinery of
the mill," enabling the work to go on in all weathers, and
not leaving the winnowing dependant upon the natural
currents of the air of heaven. In the neighbouring
parish of Auchterless there were seven mills; while
King-Edward parish boasted of ten corn mills, with
two lint mills and two waulk mills.

The origin of the thirlage system was natural enough.
When the quern driven by hand came to be reckoned
rather behind the time, the mill, such as it was, was
looked upon as "a masterpiece of machinery."* When a
mill was set agoing it was deemed needful therefore
that the laird and the miller should have assurance of
its being supported, and their own enterprise in
its establishment and working adequately rewarded.
Hence were the tenants and crofters bound to cast aside
their family querns, go to the public mill of their
sucken, and pay the statutory multures. The abstracted
multures were a fruitful source of litigation until an
Act was passed in the reign of George III. (39 George
III. cap. 55) authorising their conversion into money
payments. Subsequent to the date of that Act the
ground of complaint lay chiefly against the principle
of thirlage, which in certain cases was not readily over-
turned.

A curious commentary on the utterly obsolete

* As early as 1284, the Scottish Legislature tried to supersede
the quern by the water mill, the use if it being prohibited except
in the case of storm or where there was a lack of mills of the new
description. Querns were, however, largely used in Scotland down
to the end of the last century.

152 Notes and Sketches.

character of the old molendinary system is found in
the case of the mills "belonging to the burgh of Aber-
deen. A charter of Charles I., granted in 1638, and
confirmed by a subsequent charter, sets forth that as
" the said burgh is becoming a populous city, famous
for humanity and renown," and as His Majesty "is
sollicitous that the said burgh should daily flourish,"
therefore he grants "all and sundry the common mills"
of the said burgh to the Magistrates and Council, "with
the multures and sequels of the said mills, and of all
grain growing upon all and sundry the crofts, acres,
and lands of the community of our said burgh, and
within the freedom and territory thereof, and of all
grain pertaining and belonging to the burgesses and
inhabitants of our said burgh tholing fire and water
within the same." Doubtless the royal grant had been
in its time a privilege worth having, and it seems to have
been jealously guarded. We find, for example, that on
4th August, 1726, the Council ordained that all querns or
iron hand mills " sett up " or to be sett up within the
city for grinding malt or any other grain " be seized,
demolished, and broken down to pieces;" the object,
no doubt, being the protection of the business of the
town's mills. And for very long after this the mills
had no more formidable rivals than those connected
with the various county lairdships, to which the
tenants generally continued to be thirled during a con-
siderable part of the first half of the present century.
But it had latterly come to be the case that there was
scarcely a single mill within the limits of the burgh of
Aberdeen kept up in a state of complete efficiency.
They had become antiquated and unfit to meet the
demands of the time, while several mills that had been
erected a short distance beyond the burgh boundaries
were doing a thriving and profitable trade ; simply
because their owners saw it to be to their interest to
adapt them to modern necessities. And so, a few years
ago, the Burgh Corporation, notwithstanding its chartered

The Mill and the Miller. 153

monopoly, found that the best thing it could do was to
sell the motive power of two of its mills — the water by
which they were driven — to certain manufacturers ;
and then sell the ancient fabrics of the mills them-
selves, one of which had by that time stood gaunt and
silent for several years for want of a tenant.

CHAPTEE XX.

CEAFTSMEN ITINERANT CRAFTSMEN AND TRADERS

COAL AND PEAT — THE SMITH THE WRIGHT THE

TAILOR THE PACKMAN THE HORNER JOCK YOUNG,

AND TIB DOO.

VARIOUS facts, stated in the preceding pages, serve to
show the comparatively backward condition, not only
of agriculture, but of the mechanical arts as well, during
the greater part of the eighteenth century. Other illus-
trations of a similar kind might be given. But in place
of dealing with particular details of that sort, it may
serve the end equally well to glance at the subject from
a different point of view. Few things can be clearer
than that the capability of readily forging iron, and
bringing it into use for the purposes of industrial life
within a community, is essential to real progress under
the conditions of modern civilisation. Without that, all
kinds of mechanism must remain comparatively rude,
and the results achieved thereby be correspondingly in-
considerable. ISTow, in the business of forging iron to
purpose, the aid of coal as a potent fuel lias been found
of the utmost consequence. And during a great part
of the eighteenth century very little coal, indeed, was
used in those districts of Scotland that were dependant
on other parts for a supply. We get an idea of the
quantity in an indirect way. At the Union in 1707,
the Scottish Commissioners opposed the exaction of a
duty on coal ; yet till far through the century a duty
of 3s. 8d. a ton continued to be levied on all coal
" carried coastwise " to any part of Britain. It was

Craftsmen. 155

only by carriage coastwise, of course, that any such
heavy article as coal could be conveyed a moderate
distance. Want of roads and of wheeled vehicles made
long land carriages impracticable. In 1775, a House of
Commons Committee had the duty entrusted to them
of inquiring into the state of the fisheries on the west
and northern coasts of Scotland. They seem to have
entered on their remit in a comprehensive spirit, dealing
with the fiscal condition generally of the districts under
their notice. And the account they give of the state
of the revenue in the nine northern counties, including
Argyle, Inverness, and Moray, on to Shetland, could
not have been encouraging in the eyes of those in charge
of the Exchequer. The average yield of the taxes
levied for ten years had been £5073 12s., and the
cost of collection, £5167 19s., leaving a deficit on
the debtor side of the Treasury account of .£94 7s.
In speaking of the coal duty, the Committee say — " It
appears from accounts laid on your table that the whole
nett duty collected on coal over all Scotland does not
exceed £3000 a-year ;" which they sensibly enough
remark, " furnishes the most convincing proof to your
Committee that the present duties are too high, and
operate more as a prohibition on the article than as
a benefit to the revenue." At 3s. 8d. a ton the net
revenue from coal carried coastwise to every port of
Scotland that lay outside the coal regions — probably
three-fourths of the whole area at last — would represent
a supply of less than 18,000 tons. As illustrating the
absolutely insignificant character of this supply in the
light of present-day requirements, it need only be stated
that at the one port of Aberdeen the yearly import of
coal " coastwise " now is much beyond 200,000 tons,
while many thousand tons are imported by railway.

About the date just spoken of, the sum paid annually
by the inhabitants of Aberdeen for peat as fuel was as
much as £3000, frequently it was £4000; a greater
sum than appears to have been realised off the coal

156 Notes and Sketches.

duty from the whole of Scotland. And as dried peat
probably did not cost much more per ton than the
amount of the duty on that weight of coal, the yearly
consumpt by town's folks must have been very consider-
able. In the country districts the article coal was practi-
cally unknown. About 1785, it was recorded as a thing
worth making a note of that " some of the gentry burn
coals in their houses." But even then coal had not
come into general use with the ordinary blacksmith;
and without coal the smith was not good for much.
To fit up a machine of any sort where wheels and
pinions and a "journal" on which they might run
came into use was quite beyond him. It taxed the
powers of his peat and charcoal fire and his rude
" studdie " sufficiently to furnish forth the plough and
plough " graith," of the style already described, and, if
a moderately skilful man, to put a pair of shoes on the
fore-hoofs of the farmers' horses to wear while the peats
were driving, and then to be taken off and laid aside
for renewed use when the like season of work came
round again.*

The wright did his part without calling iron very
prominently into use. He could "knit the cupples"
and set up the whole roof timbers of a house, mainly,

* From the " Brieff e Narrative" of Gilbert Blakhal we learn
incidentally that country blacksmiths could, in some cases, do the
farrier's office readily enough in the middle of the seventeenth
century. In the Autumn of 1641 the worthy priest, travelling with
his " Mass cloathes" concealed in his valise, put up at a hostelrie
on Moor of Rhynie to feed his horse ; and there had his coolness
and courage put to the test by the rude captain of a local company
of " soldiers, all drunk as beastes," who vainly endeavoured to
bully the father into telling him who he was. He passed over the
hills of Cushnie, " as wyld a piece of ground as is in all Brittaine,"
to Deeside ; when his horse, which had been stung in the breast
by an adder by and bye, got so lame on the off fore-foot that he
could not put it to the ground. ' ' I did make remove the shoe
of that foote at the Churche of Birs," says the Father, "to sie what
did hurt his foote. The smith did not discover anything, nather
in his foote or legge, and therefor set on the shoe again, and so I
did sometimes lead him, and sometymes ryde upon him to Aber-
deine, wher the ministers were holding their General Assembly."

Craftsmen. 157

or indeed wholly, by the aid of stout wooden pins
driven into wimble holes. Even when slates came into
use as a roofing material, they were attached to the
"sarking" not by iron nails but by hardwood pins.
And in the construction of a box bed, or the hanging
and fixing of a door, the resort to iron was wonderfully
minimised. In the case of the barn implements, in-
cluding flail and thrashing floor, it could be dispensed
with altogether. The ingenious business of wheel-
wright, in which the turning-lathe was called into use,
did not necessitate resort to iron work to any noticeable
extent. And the cooper or mugger, who manufactured
wooden cogs, caups, and ladles, articles of very essential
use in the domestic life of the time, was still less in-
debted to it as a material.

Apart from the smith and wright, the two other
indispensable craftsmen were the shoemaker and the
tailor ; and of these the tailor was the most important.
During summer a good part of the population did not
much trouble themselves about shoes ; or if they did,
were content with brogues of untanned leather, fashioned
by themselves. But clothing of some sort for the main
part of the body was a necessity at all seasons, and a
" stan' o' shapit claes" could not be had without the
tailor, who pursued his craft after the peripatetic mode,
travelling from house to house, and fashioning suits for
the goodman and his grown up sons off the blue or grey
woollen web, spun by the women of the household, and
woven by the weaver driving his loom in the " mid-
house" or other section of his dwelling, to the order of
his customers.

A far from unimportant member of the community
was the chapman, or " pack merchant," who supplied
the wants of the people in so far as cloth and other
articles not of home manufacture were needed. With
his pack slung over his shoulder, and a big pack it often
was, and his ellwand in his hand, the chapman travelled
on his round day by day. He was known to his con-

158 Notes and Sketches.

stituency, who gave him a ready welcome, and, with
the due amount of deliberation and haggling, bought
such things as they required. They were respectable
men and industrious the chapmen, and at times suc-
ceeded, as has been already hinted, in realising sur-
prisingly large sums of money comparatively. Here is the
obituary notice of an Aberdeenshire chapman, who de-
parted this life in January, 1751 : — " Last week died,
of a short illness, "William Urquhart, a well-known
travelling chapman, who, without noise or hurry, with-
out horse or packs, without fraud or dishonesty,
acquired about .£500 sterling, most of which was found
in his pockets in bank notes and good bills at his death
— a singular instance, " adds the chapman's biographer,
" of the good effects of sobriety and frugality." . William
Urquhart's case had no doubt been a remarkable one in
some particulars, though by no means without parallel
in the matter of pecuniary results. The chapman,
tramping away on his rounds day by day ; and attend-
ing the yearly fairs in his district to open out his pack
into a " stand" for the day — the cooper and mugger
taking places alongside of him with their wares-^occa-
sionally worked his way to the possession of a well-
furnished " chop f the toon ;" and where his ambition
did not lead him that way, he frequently amassed what
was to him a comfortable competency. An inferior
branch was the sale of chapbooks ; -a species of popular
literature well enough known so long ago as the time
of Swift, who names among the productions of " writers
of and for Grub Street" various chap books, such as
"The Wise Men of Gotham," which, along with Dougal
Graham's "Witty Exploits of Mr. George Buchanan, the
King of Scots Fool," and much else of a similar character,
found circulation through the medium of itinerants of
no great standing, socially or otherwise, who perambu-
lated the rural districts and visited fairs and markets,
vending their penny chap books and halfpenny ballads,
until long after the close of the eighteenth century.

Craftsmen. 159

A craftsman who found place somewhere between
the classes who really earned their bread by the sweat
of their brows and the class who were utterly given
over to sorning and vagabondage, was the horner —
nearly allied to the "tinkler," whose office was to
" clout the cauldron." The horner supplied the com-
munity with spoons ; and the essential implement of
his craft was the wooden " caums," wherein the. horn
—cut up and partly dressed — after being reduced to
a state of greater pliability by heating, was moulded
into the form of a " cutty." The horner was of course
a peripatetic ; and as he tramped about, he easily
carried his kit of tools and a moderate supply of horns
in a rough wallet slung over his shoulder. He was
not particular about his workshop. It might be in the
open air, by a convenient dykeside ; or, if the weather
was bad, in the barn or other outhouse belonging to-
some friendly person who did not begrudge him quar-
ters for a night or two. The crafts of " tinkler" and
horner were followed generation after generation by
certain families of " cairds," habit and repute. One
of these families, of the name of Young, furnished a
noted thief and prison breaker, who, for the offence
of mortally stabbing a fellow caird, ultimately termi-
nated his career on the gallows. A younger and less
notorious scion presents himself as a good type of the
vagabond horner : a wandering, homeless being, alien
to the comforts and hating the restraints of civilised
life, ignorant and totally unlettered, yet not without
a certain technical knowledge of his own, and a certain
untutored mannerliness of address. Such was Jock
Young, secundus, the horner, who nourished in the early
years of the present century. Among his extra-pro-
fessional accomplishments, Jock was a deft and willing
dancer, and, when fit occasion offered, would foot up the
Ghillie Callum or Highland Fling to his " ain sowff,"
for the delectation of his friends and patrons. Like
every true and pure-bred caird, Jock dearly loved

160 Notes and Sketches.

whisky, and when he got elevated with liquor was apt
to be talkative, and a little too demonstrative perhaps.
At all other times his bearing towards those among
whom he was known was respectful and unobtrusive.
When victuals were needed or quarters had to be asked
he would lie off about the " loan " foot till his wife
or other female of the party had done the necessary
pleadings, and then quietly lift and go elsewhere, if
need were ; or retire to the barn, where his straw
couch was to be for the night, not presuming to in-
trude himself into the farmer's dwelling unless asked.
Jock's partner was Tib Doo ; and as Jock loved
whisky so did Tib ; and through that very love, it is
to be feared, came to a caird's end. It was at a
favourite haunt in the Garioch. Jock had gone else-
where temporarily ; on business, no doubt ; and it
might be that there had been a tiff between him and
Tib. Anyhow, Tib, learning that there was to be a
wedding next day at Lochie's, was wondrously loth to
leave. But, while she might have the barn at will,
there was not a single wisp of straw for a bed. Tib
would borrow a " winlin " for herself she said ; and
so she did ; and next day, of course, saw her at the
wedding, partaking freely of the " brakins " at the
close of the wedding feast. Likely she had not been
able, by the end, to stir further than to creep into
Lochie's barn somehow and unnoticed ; and there, by
next morning, poor Tib Doo lay stark dead ! The
kindly neighbours did the last services for herascouthily
andChristianly as they might. She was decently buried
by the west gable of the auld " White Kirk," of which
hath it not been prophesied by " true Thomas " that
it shall yet fall on a Pasch Sunday ! And all this
was over some days ere her husband Jock came tramp-
ing round with his wallet and his horns, and wistfully
asking tidings of Tib, towards whom his yearnings
had begun to go forth again. On learning her fate,
his grief burst forth in a way that had not been ex-

Craftsmen. 161

pected. Because Jock Young could drink and swear
and quarrel, they had thought that the emotional feel-
ing within the rough bosom was incapable of any other
form of expression ; but, when Jock had been told the
site of the grave ; when, as the parish choir, who had
met for their weekly practising, between the gloamin'
an' the light, sang —

Guide me, oh ! them great Jehovah,
Pilgrim through this barren land —

the poor homer was seen casting himself with wildly
despairing moans and lamentations above the spot by
the White Kirk, where the remains of Tib Doo lay, it
was not wonderful if the more susceptible of them
should start at the gleam of intense realism cast athwart
the familiar words. Nor would it have been in the
spirit of Christian charity either to deny to the hapless
half-civilised wanderer a word of respectful sympathy ;
or to hold him incapable of genuine human affection,
as well as some dim longing after the spiritual life.

12

CHAPTEK XXI.

VAGRANT LIFE FLETCHER OF SALTOUN's OPINIONS THE

"EGIPTIANS" AND THEIR HABITS — COMMON VAGRANTS
CAIRDS THE YQUNGS — TIBBIE CAMPBELL.

THE prevalence of vagrants of divers sorts formed a
distinctive feature in the social life of the nation for a
very long period. In his " Second Discourse on the
Affairs of Scotland" (A.D. 1698), Andrew Fletcher of
Saltoun gives a very forcible picture of the state of
matters in this respect, as known to him. At the date
of his writing, the occurrence of three bad harvests in
succession had no doubt made things worse ; yet, says
Fletcher, "In all times there have been about one
hundred thousand of those vagabonds who had lived
without any regard or subjection either to the laws of
the land or even those of God and Nature. JSTo magis-
trate could ever be informed, or discover, which way
one in a hundred of these wretches died, or that ever
they were baptized. Many murders have been dis-
covered among them ; and they are not only a most un-
speakable oppression to poor tenants — who, if they give
not bread or some kind of provision to perhaps forty
such villains in one day, are sure to be insulted by
them — but they rob many poor people who live in
houses distant from any neighbourhood. In years of
plenty many thousands of them meet together in the
mountains, where they feast and riot for many days ;
and at country weddings, markets, burials, and the like
public occasions, they are to be seen — both men and
women — perpetually drunk, cursing, blaspheming, and
fighting together." Perhaps this sketch by the sincere

Pa-grant Life. 163

and ardent patriot may be strongly enough outlined ;
the numhers would certainly seem to be overstated ;
but doubtless the actual reality had been sufficiently
bad. Fletcher had the courage of his opinions, and he
believed in thorough-going remedies. Therefore, found-
ing upon the example of the "wise antients," such as the
Greeks, he tells us he would have had all these lawless
wandering people assigned in perpetual servitude to the
owners of the soil and others. He did not doubt of his
proposal being met " not only with all the misconstruc-
tion and obloquy, but all the disdain, fury, and outcries
of which either ignorant magistrates or proud, lazy, and
miserable people are capable." But they must pardon
him if he told them that he regarded " not names but
things." The slaves of the ancients were assured in
" clothes, diet, and lodging," and by their means many
useful public works were accomplished. "The original
of that multitude of beggars which now oppress the
world" he found to have proceeded from Churchmen,
who, without warrant of Scripture, and in the teeth of
Paul's injunction, that in whatever condition of life a
man was called to the Christian faith he was to remain
content, even if a slave, had recommended nothing
more strongly to masters, in order to the salvation of
their souls, than freeing those of their slaves who would
embrace the Christian faith ; a course which soon led
to many disorders in the East, and ultimately to that
" great mischief, under which, to the undoing of the
poor, all the nations of Europe have ever since groaned."
Why, then, not adopt the remedy that would both
better the vagabonds of the country socially themselves,
and render them productive industrially in the interest
of the general community 1 Those vagrant tribes lived
a life as miserable as it could well be for themselves ; and
they were the responsible agents of " such outrageous
disorders that it were better for the nation," says
Fletcher, " they were sold to thegallies or West Indies
than that they should continue any longer to be a

164 Notes and Sketches.

burden and a curse upon us." He further hints that,
" for example and terror, three or four hundred of the
most notorious of those villains whom we call jockies
might be presented by the Government to the State -of
Venice, to serve in the gallies against the common
enemy of Christendom." A robust style of treatment
truly ; yet in Fletcher's scheme there was after all a germ
of the remedial idea ; and as much could hardly be said
of the prevailing notions among the local Magistrates of
the time, which extended no further than simply to
have sturdy beggars, " both old and young, men and
women," and such like people warned off their respec-
tive territories, " under pain of scourging."

For a full century after Fletcher's time, vagrancy, if
somewhat mitigated in character, was not greatly re-
duced in respect of numbers ; and the scene described
as taking place in Poosie Nancy's continued to be
enacted, with variations, in many a similar howff : —

Ae nicbt at e'en a merry core

O' randie gangrel bodies
In Poosie Nancy's held the splore,
To drink their orra duddies.
Wi' quaffin', an' laughin',

They rantit an' they sang ;
Wi' jumpin', an' thumpin',
The vera girdle rang.

The " Process against the Egiptians," tried and con-
demned to death at Banff, in 1700, affords certain
authentic glimpses of the style of life described by
Fletcher. Of the four accused persons who all were
sent to the gibbet, one has obtained a certain kind of
immortality, James M'Pherson, said to have been
the son of a highland gentleman by a gipsy mother,
who is traditionally credited with his share of the ideal
freebooter's chivalrous generosity, as also a measure of
skill in handling the violin ; and thus we are told —

He played a spring an' danced it roun'
Aneth the gallows tree ;

Vagmnl Life. 165

winding up by breaking the fiddle over his knee be-
cause none of the bystanders would accept as a gift
the instrument for which its owner had no further
use. The charges found relevant against the gang of
whom MTherson was one, were those of being
" knowne habit and repute to be Egiptians and waga-
bonds, and keeping the mercats in their ordinarie
manner of thieving and purse cutting, or guilty of the
crimes of thift, masterfull bangstrie and oppressione."
The depositions of the witnesses serve to inform us
that the " Egiptians " (gipsies), were wont to appear
in the country markets, notably St. Rufus Fair, Keith,
to the number, occasionally, of six or eight together,
armed, to the terror of his Majesty's peaceably dis-
posed lieges, assaulting such as they chose, and setting
on their women, who spoke an unknown tongue for
the occasion to cut purses ; that at other times they
would get temporary housing on some doubtful form
of tenancy, stealing "kail" and "peats" from the
neighbours quite freely, and almost openly ; while occa-
sionally a sheep would disappear, the theft of which
they would deny, but rather than have too strict inqui-
sition made, especially if backed by adequate powers,
would agree to pay the price of it ; and that a more
common mode of finding quarters was to take posses-
sion, without leave asked or given, of somebody's kiln-
barn, and then refuse to be dispossessed until it suited
them to remove. While thus located, they "some tymes
stayed a fourtnight or even a month," threatening re-
prisals on such as chose to meddle with them ; and if
they needed a "fire weshel," or such like, for use, they
would take it at their own hand. They also not un-
frequently extorted considerable sums of money in the
most barefaced fashion. The charge of one witness
against M'Pherson was, that he " came into his house
and spilt his ale, and stobbed the bed seeking the de-
ponent," he being forced to flee for safety and obtain
a purchased protection from my lord Seafield. From

166 Notes and Sketches.

another we have the information that M'Pherson was
" one night " at his house along with others of his
class, and " drank with the rest, and danced all night;"
a sufficiently characteristic glimpse of gipsy life on its
social side.

Various writers near the close of the eighteenth cen-
tury describe Scotland as sadly over-run by vagrants,
including, in some cases, Irish people, who, it seems,
came over under pretence of visiting their relatives ; "a
duty," says one narrator caustically, " to which, it must
be allowed, they are particularly attentive." The Old
Statistical writer for the parish of Kinnettles, in Forfar-
shire, speaks thus of his locality : — " We have bands
of sturdy beggars, male and female — or, as they are
usually called, tinkers — whose insolence, idleness, and
dishonesty are an affront to the police of our country.
These persons are ready for prey of all kinds : every-
thing that can supply them with provisions or bring
them money is their spoil, if it can be obtained with
any appearance of safety. They file off in small parties,
and have their places of rendezvous, where they choose
to billet themselves for at least one day ; nor do they
fail generally to make good their quarters, as the farmer
is afraid to refuse to answer their demands, or to com-
plain of the oppression under which he labours."

It had been a practice of long standing for the Aber-
deen Baillies to have evil-doers, including notour
vagrants, " banischit the toun ; " and they had occa-
sionally the distinction of an official drumming out as
far as the Bow Brig.* "Their honours the Baillies
were always humane enough," says a local chronicler,
" to send their vagrants all south, and for which com-
pliment the authorities in the south no doubt considered

* The Bow Brig spanned the Denburn at Aberdeen between the
Green and Windmillbrae, about the precise point where there is
now a latticed iron foot bridge over the line of the Great North
Railway. The Brig was at the southwest side of the town : the
spot it occupied is now, as near as may be, in the centre of the ex-
tended city.

Vagrant Life. 167

themselves particularly obliged to their brethren in
Aberdeen." On this particular point, another Forfar-
shire minister (Kescobie) gives a statement of fact and
an opinion : — " Perth," he says, " usually furnishes out
a pretty large quota ; but there is no place sends forth
such legions of these itinerants as Aberdeen, meaning
the county as well as the town of that name. The
county is extensive, fertile, and populous ; the town
commercial and opulent. What harm would there be
in giving Aberdeen a hint that it would be both credit-
able and recommendable in them to take measures, as
they ought, to provide for their own poor at home,
rather than set them off, like a flight of locusts, to prey
upon their neighbours, who are under no local obliga-
tion to receive or relieve them." But if Aberdeen and
Aberdeenshire sent off hordes of vagrants to the annoy-
ance of other places, a sufficiency of the same class were
still left at home apparently. The Old Statist for Peter-
culter parish, for example, says : — " This country is
often infested with vagrants of various descriptions,
who by threats or otherwise, compel people to give
them money and the best vivres their houses afford.
They likewise pick up poultry, apparel, and what they
can lay hold of. Their exactions are oppressive, their
numbers often formidable, and it hurts the feelings of
the humane to see so many young people trained up to
the same pernicious courses."

The vagrant class embraced two distinct sections.
There was the mere beggar, of the higher or lower
degree, and there was the thorough-paced " caird." The
male caird, to the extent of his industrial inclination,
assumed the profession of "tinkler" homer, or such
like, as already indicated, leaving the details of ordinary
foraging largely to his female companions. And then
in the business of "sorning," pure and simple, there
were degrees. Apart from the privileged bede, or blue
gown men, known to certain localities in Scotland,
there was a more generally diffused class of beggars,

168 Notes and Sketches.

with a remnant of respectability more or less, about
them, carrying multitudinous meal pocks and other
receptacles, and pretty sure of an " awmous," or night
quarters where asked. Then there was the inferior herd
of beggars — creatures who would whine and invoke
numberless blessings on your head when they appealed
to your feelings of pity, on the ground of infirmities or
afflictions real or feigned, and on finding the appeal
to be in vain, would turn and curse you to your face
with amazing goodwill and volubility.

As a sorner, the true caird differed considerably from
either of the two classes of "peer fowk." He knew he
had no pretensions to the standing of the one, and he
scorned to demean himself to the level of the other. The
pronounced caird hardly deemed it necessary to approach
you with a whine ; an unshrinking and. it might be,
insolent demand suited his temper better ; and the
remark applies not to the male caird alone. When a
marriage, a funeral, or other "occasion" occurred, at
which meat and drink would be supplied in quantity, the
cairds seldom failed to get wind of it, and as seldom to
put in appearance with the express object of sharing in
the good things going. It was no easy matter to satisfy a
horde of some twenty, thirty, or more of these rapacious
and lawless beings in the way of either meat or drink ;
and not unfrequently people who wished to save
themselves from the insolent and endless onsets of
the whole crew, made a compact with some guiding
spirit, who undertook, on being provided with so
much as a general booty and something in the shape
of a personal consideration, to keep the whole body in
order. One of the last of the class of unmitigated
Aberdeenshire cairds, of caird descent, and herself a
" survival" from a past generation, was Lizzie Eraser,
who died not very many years ago ; a woman of mas-
culine proportions, with a voice of such grating rough-
ness as was well fitted to startle the listener on find-
ing it owned by one clad in female habiliments. Lizzie

Vagrant Life. 169

had been a wife in her day too, and had for her
husband Moses Young, brother of Jock Young the
horner, already mentioned, and himself an old soldier,

A son of Mars,
Who had been in [certain] wars,

yet withal a quiet undemonstrative caird, who loved
to loiter by the water-side, pursuing the contemplative
man's recreation. When in the zenith of her bodily
prowess, this woman, in virtue of her great muscular
strength, and reckless, outrageous temper, was an
acknowledged queen among her class. And if Lizzie
Fraser happened to be one of the motley throng of
cairds that had assembled at some festive gathering, the
task of keeping order was not unfrequently entrusted
to her. Of course, she expected a sufficient reward —
as she would not scruple to say — for her trouble ;
either that, or facilities for stealing, which served the
end equally well, though in a different way. And
other conditions being settled to her mind, she was by
no means slack in exercising her authority after a
fashion to be understood, even by the least tutored
caird intellect. Her method was to supply herself
with a proper cudgel, and, when incipient rebellion
against her sovereign rule manifested itself, she did
not hesitate in applying it with a practised skill and
vigour that made the offender, whether man or woman,
think twice before risking a second infliction.

A female caird who preceded Lizzie in point of time,
and who could boast of possessing a different and per-
haps higher kind of influence, was Tibbie Campbell.
She was acknowledged, amongst her tribe, not only
as a ruling power, but also as a sort of high priestess
and sorceress or witch. And, her " skeel" found re-
cognition outside caird circles too. The " twal owsen"
team at Mill of Garden, for example, had got some
glamour cast over them. And before the ploughman
and gaudman could get them " streekit" in the

170 Notes and Sketches.

draught, they would run wildly, bellowing here and
there, shaking the yokes off their necks, and even strain-
ing the soam itself. The thing had gone on day by
day, and there seemed no remeid, till the well-to-do
tenant of the farm, in his perplexity, bethought him
of sending Willie Nicol, his youngest servant lad, to
seek the aid of Tibbie Campbell, as a weird woman.
After due inquiry, Willie found her at breakfast al
fresco among a promiscuous group of her own people ;
and with some trouble he obtained an audience.

"An' fat's yer erran' here, laddie?" sharply de-
manded Tibbie Campbell.

Willie Nicol, as duly instructed, replied in his own
phraseology that his master, Mr. Tait, sent his best re-
spects to Mrs. Campbell, and would really take it as a
great favour if she would come to Mill of Carden with-
out loss of time, to examine the bewitched oxen, and
prescribe a cure.

" Ou ! Jock Tait," said the Caird Queen, with a
sneering laugh ; and, she added, in a figure as coarse
as occurred to her at the moment, that she " kent
him" when he was in a state of dependant infancy.
After some farther parley and cross-questioning, the
messenger was dismissed with the assurance — "I
canna gae wi' ye the day, man. I'm jist gaen awa'
till anither pairt to mairry a pair ; but tell ye Jock
Tait that if I'm as lang oot o' heyven as the morn's
mornin', I'se be wi' 'im." On the morrow morning
Tibbie was still an inhabitant of this world, and suffi-
ciently sober after the marriage, to perform her pro-
mised journey to Mill of Carden. She was immediately
taken to inspect the oxen, and, according to the
narration of Willie Nicol, at once laid her hand upon
one of them, with the exclamation — " This is the De'il
amo' them a' !" And sure enough "that was the ane
that aye begood the starshie !" So said Willie, and
Willie in his grey old age, as in his green "youtheid,"
dearly loved the marvellous. It might be unkind to

Vagrant Life. 171

endeavour at this distance of time to injure Willie's
credit, by suggesting that Tibbie Campbell had per-
haps been shrewd enough to fix on the wildest-look-
ing ox by the mere use of her eyesight and powers of
observation ; perhaps, by leading questions had picked
it out of Willie Nicol himself, or even his master, Jock
Tait ; or that, perhaps, it was a mere fancy on the
part of the superstitious ploughmen to believe the ox
thus pointed at to be more guilty than his other
brethren of the yoke. At all events, having secured
confidence thus far, Tibbie would have little difficulty
in getting her employer to put faith in such remedies
as she might be pleased to prescribe for the glamoured
oxen.

CHAPTEE XXII.

POPULAR AMUSEMENTS COCK-FIGHTING — JOHN GRUB

AND HIS SCHOLARS YULE SPORTS FOOT-BALL THE

MONYMUSK BA'lN' WAD SHOOTING.

IT may with some truth be alleged that, as a nation,
we have never exhibited a very pronounced aptitude
for fitting and successful sports ; yet did our forefathers
devote some share of their time to amusements of a
public character. One of these, that obtained a sort
of recognition which we should think very queer, was
cock-fighting. A certain Mr. William Machrie, of
Edinburgh, claimed to have been the means of intro-
ducing this sport — which he calls an " innocent and
royal recreation " — into the capital about the be-
ginning of the century. This gentleman considered
cock-fighting superior to horse-racing, and such like.
The very qualities of the bird, he said, recommended
him — -viz., "his Spanish gait, his Florentine policy,
and his Scottish valour in overcoming, and generosity
in using, his vanquished adversary." The ancients,
he said, called the cock " an astronomer ;" and he had
been " an early preacher of repentance, even convinc-
ing Peter, the first Pope, of his Holiness's fallibility."
In short, cock-fighting was superior to almost any
other species of sport in Mr. Machrie's estimation;
and his view of the matter seems to have found a re-
markable degree of acceptance, inasmuch as the sport
of cock-fighting became an established pastime annually
practised at Pastern's Even (Shrovetide) for the delec-

Popular Amusements. 173

tation of the ingenuous youth in attendance at the
parish schools.

When the annual holiday of Eastern's Even was at
hand, each schoolboy was encouraged to bring up a
cock to have his warlike prowess tested. The school-
master presided at this elevating sport, in which, in-
deed, he had a very particular interest. For the car-
cases of the cocks that fell in battle, as well as those
of the " fugies, " or discreet birds, that acted on the
maxim —

He who fights and runs away
May live to fight another day,

became his property. The slender revenues of the
dominie were, in some cases, augmented in no incon-
siderable proportion in this way. In special instances,
indeed, the yearly " cock-fight dues " are stated to have
been equal to a quarter's fees for the school ; which,
after all, did not represent a large sum, if we take the
statement of a Country Schoolmaster, who ventilates
the grievances of his class in 1792. He gives as par-
ticulars of income — Statutory salary, £5 lls. IJd. ;
fees, £7 ; session-clerk fees and emoluments, £2 ; in
all, £14: lls. IJd. — somewhat under lid. per day.
Many schools, says this writer, were not worth so
much, and at least four-fifths of the schools in the
northern part of the kingdom did not much exceed
the calculation he had made.

This subject of cock-fighting finds incidental treat-
ment in an obscure little book published in 1794.* A
pretty full Preface and Dedication inform us that Mr.

* Its title is ORATIONS ON VARIOUS SELECT SUBJECTS. By Mr. John
Grub, late Schoolmaster of the parish of Wemyss, in Fifeshire, as
Performed by his Scholars after the usual Examination on Harvest
Vacation days, and on Shrove Tuesdays in place of cock-fighting.
These orations for the use of Grammar Schools on the above days are
published by Mr. Robert Wilson, of Sylvania, near Dunferinline.
Edinburgh : Printed for the Editor. 1794.

174 Notes and Sketches.

John Grub, born at or near Aberdeen, and who had
got a University education there, was chosen school-
master of Wemyss, in Fifeshire, in 1748. He lived
only seven years thereafter, but, in course of that time
had by his attainments and ability as a teacher, raised
his school to " a very great character." One of his
methods, adopted with a view to improve the minds
of his pupils "in moral virtues, and to refine their
manners," was to make the boys on certain days, in-
cluding Shrove Tuesday, deliver short orations, which
they had committed to memory, in presence of their
parents. To use the words of the editor, who had
himself been one of Mr. Grub's boarders, each of the
elder scholars in turn " mounted the schoolmaster's
desk, after making a low bow to the company, and
audibly and distinctly delivered an oration from their
memory, and, after another bow to the company, re-
turned to their seats — all highly to the praise of the
scholars and admiration of the company." Three
orations, out of a large number on diverse subjects,
are devoted expressly to the question of cock-fighting,
in the way of argument and reply. The first speaker
opens with a simple denunciation of cock-fighting.
And though it has from " time immemorial " been " a
custom to make one day in the year remarkable for
the inhuman practice of bringing many of the noblest
of the feathered creation to a lingering and cruel
death," he ventures to make a " motion " " to have
our yearly cock-fight entirely laid aside, or at least
metamorphosed into some diversion more useful and
entertaining to youth." The motion, he knows, will
be a " little unpopular" in that part of the country, but
the sport is " too bloody and cruel," and ought not to
be countenanced "by public and established instructors
of youth." The second speaker declares the motion to
be " something more than unpopular " — it would be
" pernicious if complied with ;" and the three grounds
on which he would encourage the yearly cock-fight

Popitlcvr Amusements. 175

are : — " 1, It is an old custom of this school and so
should be observed ; 2, It raises a noble ambition in a
youth when he sees his cock fight well, and so great
an aversion to cowardice when his cock does not fight
well, that he is ready to fight himself upon the
slightest affront offered; 3, 1 am surprised to hear any
one of our number propose anything that would hurt
the income of the master." With him this weighs
more than any other consideration, and must be his
excuse for contradicting his "learned friend's motion."
The reply is that custom can never be a good reason
for perpetuating an erroneous practice. When a
man's sagacity and penetration enable him to discover
error, he should " make no scruple to step out of the
paths of his forefathers." " As cocks are not trained
at school, they have," says he, " no title to show their
parts there ; " it is below " a sprightly youth" to value
himself upon his cock's parts, and " as for a blockhead,
though his cock were victor over twenty, he is a block-
head still." Were it in " military discipline" the boys
were to be trained, one might encourage the sport, but
even then the preferable mode would be to " set the
boys a fighting themselves ;" and lastly, it is argued,
were the Shrove Tuesday combat to be in the various
parts of learning, and the boys the sole combatants,
premiums could be given to the victors "in their
several degrees and classes ;" tickets of admittance on
that day could be bought of the master, and each
pupil delivering an oration could make him " some
compliment." — " This, sir," adds the orator, " in my
opinion, would be a more noble and more useful diver-
sion than the other ; and parents would pay as gener-
ously for their sons who meet with applause as
formerly they did for their cocks."

Such were the sentiments of an instructor of youth
who seems to have been a good half century in advance
of his time on the question of cock-fighting. The
general feeling of the country did not begin to revolt

176 ' Notes and Sketches.

from the sport, on the ground of its barbarity, till long
after ; as indeed the tendency of feeling on questions
of sport in all times is apt to lie rather the opposite
way, due, no doubt, to the fact that participation more
or less in the nature of the wild beast is a somewhat
general attribute of humanity.

Cock-fighting continued to be a school sport in the
north-east of Scotland, in some cases, well into the
present century. In 1818, the boys at one of the
schools in Fetteresso parish, in Kincardineshire, who
still had their periodical cock-fight, looked down with
a sort of contempt on the boys of another school in
the same parish where the practice did not then exist.
" Ye haena a cock fecht at your skweel, min," one
boy would say to another in reference to this state
of matters, and implying that something was wanting
in the regular routine of a fully efficient and properly
equipped educational institution. In the neighbour-
ing parish of Drumlithie, cock-fights were held ten
years later than the date mentioned.

With the annual cock-fight went the annual contest
at foot-ball. It also took place at Eastern's Even, or,
less commonly, at Yule. The author of " Tullochgorum,"
in his juvenile poem, "The Monymusk Ba'in',"* fixes it
at the latter festival. Three entire days were abstracted
from the routine of daily labour, and religiously de-
voted to Yule observances. The requisite " fordel
strae" for the cattle had been carefully provided
before-hand, so as no flail need be lifted during Yule.
In a Presbyterian community there was no formal
religious service of a public sort ; and thus there
was abundant time for the " ba'in','' or any other re-
creation that might find favour, " sowens" and general
feasting, of course, obtaining their own share of atten-

* The poem in question, which is marked by a good deal of
graphic force, is modelled very closely after "Christ's Kirk o'
Green," the names of various of the characters, even, being im-
ported from that poem.

Popular Amusements. 177

tion. Of the general characteristics of the "ba'in',"
a graphic summary is given by Skinner in his opening
stanza : —

Has ne'er in a' this countra been

Sic shouderin' an' sic fa'in',
As happen't but few ouks sinsyne

Here at the Christmas ba'in'.
At evenin' syne the fallows keen

Drank till the neist day's dawin',
Sae snell that some tint baith their een,

An' coudna pay their lawin'
Till the neist day.

The heroes of the field were those who could fear-
lessly head the " hurry burry," grappling all and
sundry, right and left, and amid the general scrimmage
of " routs an' raps fae man to man " gi'ein at any rate
as good as they got in the way of cuts across the shins,
and " clammy-houits " over the cranium, or strokes
" alang the chafts." It was a feat worth mentioning
to make a man's " harnpan " ring, or lay an opposing
player sprawling on his ])ack with the suggestion of
damage to some one or other of his limbs. As the
struggling mass of players swayed hither and thither,
now up now down, those of the feebler sort got drifted
away from the vortex fairly out of wind, and per-
haps not altogether scatheless in person or apparel.
And clearly victory was to be hoped for quite as much
from the reckless exercise of muscular strength as
from agility and skill in hitting the ball, which finally,
by " a weel-wil'd-wap " from Sawney's foot, is " yowff't"
in o'er the park, " a space an' mair " from the Kirk-
yard, the recognised field for the parish ba'in', and where
it has been going on all the while in the lively fashion
indicated. The incidental humours of the scene are
in entire harmony with the general ongoings, and few
mere spectators, even, are allowed to escape without
mishap more or less. The " insett dominie, " a " young
13

178 Nates and Sketches.

mess John," who was " neither saint nor sinner," can-
not come on the scene for a moment, till

A brattlin' band unhappily

Drave by him wi' a binner,
An' heels o'er goudie coupit he,

An' rave his guid horn penner
In bits that day,

And when the meek parish clerk comes up the church-
yard, his " claithing fu' fine " is too strong a tempta-
tion. By a special act of wickedness he is speedily
" beft " over backward,

Just whaur their feet the dubs had glaur'd,
An' barken'd them like brine,

calling into use the services of ostensibly sympathising
onlookers with their " whittles " to " scrape his hat "
and otherwise make his raiment decent again.

" The Christmas Ba'in' " was written by Skinner
when under seventeen years of age, which fixes its
date as being about 1737. From the minuteness of
the details, and the number of individual characters
named, the picture given may be accepted as in the
main somewhat closely realistic. The freedom and
zest with which kicks and blows were given out
amongst the leading players looks rather startling.
But then what use to possess muscular strength, and
not let it be known 1 The feeling on this point was
very pronounced ; and it sometimes found practical
manifestation in what would seem unlikely modes. To
determine which of two men was the stronger, was
often a nice question — Here now are a couple of brawny
fellows of the class and type described who have never
yet been able to decide that particular point ; and they
have met of a winter evening in the house of their
mutual friend the weaver. What better chance than
settle it now 1 The weaver, a " sober bodie " whom
either of them could have put hors de combat by a single
blow of his fist, had no help but accept the situation.

Popular Amusements. 179

To put him out of harm's way, and make him useful
according to his capacity, he was set up on the top of
the " boun' bed, " with a blazing " fir " in his hand,
to give light for the operations about to commence on
the floor below him. And there the two set on in
their fierce if unskilled wrestle, which, being equally
matched, they kept up with the most unflinching de-
termination till so completely exhausted that the un-
boastful weaver declared they were " like twa burs'n
cocks — I cud 'a rappit their heids thegither mysel'. "
It was one of these two again who went to Lowrin'
Fair in search of amusement ; and in passing an un-
known Highlandman, after deliberately surveying the
stranger from head to foot, dealt the unsuspecting
Celt a heavy blow on the face, a hand to hand combat
instantly ensuing without a word spoken on either
side. The reason given for this unusual mode of salut-
ing a man he had never seen before, was that the
Highlandman " was a gey stout-like chiel ; " whose
appearance gave the prospect of a good fight, wanting
which Lowrin' Fair would have been dull to the High-
landman's assailant.

" Wad " shooting was another Yule sport of later
origin, " the wad " being a prize of some sort laid in
pledge. The pieces they shot with were in no sense
arms of precision. So little of that indeed, that the man
who owned, or could command the use of a rifle, became
disqualified as a competitor. What good in shooting
against a man who, if he took his aim well, could count
on hitting within a foot or so of the bull's-eye 1 The
sturdy, single barrelled flint-lock musket, which had
seen service at Fontenoy or elsewhere in its time, and
was now used for the miscellaneous discharge of pellets,
from swan-shot downward, against the pests of the
farm, was common enough ; and quite as good for
" wad sheetin' " as the lighter fowling-pieces of the
rough and rusty class owned by others of the marks-
men. Neither one nor the other would drive a ball

180 Notes mid Sketches.

so certainly to its mark as to destroy the pleasing
hope of luck, or chance, doing a turn for the individual
competitor over and beyond what he could expect as
the result of his best skill. The prize to be shot for
would be some useful article, ranging from an eight-
day clock to a shoulder of beef, or a wooden plough.
The marksman cast his own bullets of molten lead in
a cambs, which might or might not have been made
to suit the bore of his piece ; in like manner he
measured out the charge of powder from his horn, by
rule of thumb ; and, as exact results in shooting were
hardly to be looked for in the circumstances, neither
was perfect comfort to the shooter always secured.
When he had paid his sixpence, and spread his bonnet
on the top of the yard dyke before him to get a true
and stable " reest, " the eager competitor would lay
himself along, and with all earnestness take a
deliberate, and, if it might be, correct aim. Such
trifles as windage and adjustment of elevation to
distance troubled him not. He simply kept his eye
as hopefully on the centre of the target as he could.
Probably the possibility of an unusually ugly " putt "
from his piece helped to excite his nervous feeling a
little, but shoot he would at all risks, and gain the wad
if he could. The target was only a hundred yards off,
and its dimensions by no means scanty — most likely it
was an old barn door with a few alternated rings of black
and white paint put on about the centre ; and it seemed
very possible to lodge the ball somewhere amongst
these rings. Crack goes the shot at last, but with a
rent and unsatisfactory sound, and an unpleasant
upward jerk of the muzzle of the marksman's gun !
No ! The bull's-eye is untouched ; not even the barn
door itself has been hit, as is definitely certified when
the two or three lads who act as volunteer markers
have run in from their posts full fifty yards off on
either side — a distance that must be maintained in
consideration of the wildly erratic course taken by

Popular Amusements. 181

many of the balls. Another and another shoots with
pretty similar results ; and though an occasional man
may grudge the dead loss of the sixpence he has paid
for the right to shoot, and talk as if something must
be out of joint because he has got no nearer the centre,
yet they know it is all in a good cause and they will
" go in " for another " chance." And, clearly enough,
if the shooting were more exact or certain the thing
would be over in an hour or less ; whereas they can
spend a whole day upon it with no likelihood of more
than one or two marksmen getting close to the bull's
eye ; as in point of fact, was a common result of the
Wad Sheetin', which nevertheless afforded quite as
much interest and enjoyment while it lasted as does
the best rifle competition of the present day ; in addi-
tion to furnishing an engrossing subject of talk in the
hamlet and farmhouse in the days that went before
and after the great contest.

CHAPTEE XXIII.

SMUGGLING FOREIGN CONTRABAND — LOWLAND AND

HIGHLAND SMUGGLING PHILIP KENNEDY THE

SMUGGLER — MALCOLM GILLESPIE THE GAUGER.

DURING the second half of the last century, and some-
what more than the first quarter of the present one,
smuggling, in various forms, prevailed extensively.
In the earlier time it was confined mainly to sea-
board districts. Kegs of gin from Holland and other
foreign goods were landed contraband at many con-
venient creeks and baylets along an extended line of
coast. The statement has been made, that there was
scarcely a family along the coast, from Don to Spey,
who were not more or less implicated in this parti-
cular system of "free trade." Some of the landed
proprietors even quietly countenanced the practice,
and participated in its gains; and all the more readily if
their sympathies happened to lie with the Jacobites.
In that case, so far from disgrace, there was actual
merit in the contraband operations ; it was not de-
priving the King of his due, but simply avoiding the
exactions of an unrighteous usurper. Along the
coast, from Stonehaven to Peterhead, the business of
smuggling foreign goods was pursued systematically
and perseveringly. On parts of the Buchan coast, it
had evidently engrossed the exertions of a large part
of the population. They acted under leaders, and
had their own cant watchwords, aliases and soubriquets;
and there was an oath of secrecy administered all
round among those who took an active part. In

Smuggling. 183

addition to the available natural caves, artificial places
of concealment, " capable of containing from sixty to
two or three hundred tubs of gin," were constructed
where necessary, by digging deep down into the soft
earth or sand, and forming a pit with bricks or planks
of wood. These pits, which were covered over to
the depth of several feet, in order to be safe from the
searchings of the excisemen, were exactly measured
off, from some conspicuous point, so that the precise
spot could be ascertained, and the pit opened, as re-
quired, even on the darkest night.

When one of the smuggling luggers had arrived off
the coast, the skipper would run pretty close in shore,
during daylight, and exhibit preconcerted signals to
some of those on the outlook in the neighbourhood.
Satisfied that his movements were understood, he then
hauled off again, and stood out to sea in an indefinite sort
of way. Meanwhile, the news spread for miles around.
A primitive system of telegraphing, sufficiently intelli-
gible to the initiated, had been established ; as, for
example, by spreading a plaid or blanket out, as if to
dry, on the top of the peat stack. Messages, in cant
phraseology, were sent from hamlet to hamlet, by
children, if need were, there being no risk of their
indiscreetly communicating what outsiders would not
understand, even when they heard it. And then,
by night-fall, there was a silent but rapid and
watchful muster about the point where the signalling
lugger was expected to approach; and, in all probability,
a busy night followed at the landing, and concealment
of her freight, in the safety of which all those taking
part were, to a greater or less extent, directly con-
cerned. The time when coast smuggling seems to
have been carried on most extensively, was in the
years between 1660 and 1680; the profits attending
the successful prosecution of the business tempting
many to engage in it. It was by and by seen, how-
ever, by those who had a stake in the country, and

184 Notes and Sketches,

especially "by the landed proprietors — even those not
disinclined quietly to enjoy a drop of Hollands, duty-
free — that the questionable gain effected was pur-
chased at an enormous loss, in diverting the attention
of the people from the cultivation of the land and Other
honest industrial pursuits, and teaching the male part
of them at least dissipated and reckless habits. And,
though during the last ten or fifteen years of the
century coast smuggling still continued, it had
got considerably discredited amongst all the more
respectable classes of the community ; and, under that
feeling, and the increased efforts of the excise, was
getting more limited in extent. With inland smuggling
the case was entirely different. It was only through
the increase in the duties on malt liquors, made not
many years before the close of the century, that
the temptation to the private manufacture of malt
and distillation of whisky first occurred ; and the
practice, by and by, became very general, alike in
the Lowlands and Highlands. Among the Lowland
peasantry, male and female alike engaged in it, there
being no more persistent devotees of "the worm" than
some of the " sma' goodwives" who had got into the
habit of " rinnin' a drap," and getting it quietly
marketed as they best could. There was nothing dis-
reputable in the practice in the public opinion of
their neighbourhoods ; and nothing disgraceful in
being caught by the gangers. Such a mishap might,
indeed, be inconvenient ; but then the awards of their
honours, the Justices, were not of formidable severity.
They would at times sit a whole day adjudicating
cases of private malting or distillation, and, in the
course of the entire sitting, impose no higher penalty
than half-a-crown or so upon any one of the dozen
or score of delinquents arraigned before them. It
would be quite the exception where a culprit of a
superior class came up, as happened at a certain
Court of Justices, at which my Lord Kintore pre-

Smuggling. 185

sided. Amongst the offenders cited by the Excise,
was Robert Fraser, of "Folia," who was fairly entitled,
as he would probably have claimed, had the title then
been common, to be recognised as a gentleman-farmer.
At any rate, it was Robert's weakness to wish to be
considered very wealthy ; and of this some one had
given the Preses of the meeting of Justices a hint.
When the tenant of Folia was called for sentence, his
Lordship, accordingly, with a sly insinuation, and doubt-
less anticipating a very different style of reply, re-
marked— " Mr. Fraser, I understand you are very
rich 1 " " Vastly so, my Lord," replied the undaunted
tenant of Folia, promptly and gravely. " Well then,
you are fined five pounds !" "Five pounds — My Lord,
I'd rather pay fifty pounds than stand here a whole
day among a parcel o' poor things !"

In the case of the Highlanders, smuggling was
conducted with perhaps fully as much system and
perseverance as anywhere; at anyrate, the whisky
the Highlanders made seems to have had a more
distinctive reputation than that made in the Low-
lands. It may well be doubted if either the one
whisky or the other would be much relished by
connoisseurs of the present time ; certainly much of
the smuggled Lowland whisky was very detestable
stuff. At any rate, when the Highlander went abroad
to seek a market for the results of his private distilla-
tion, it was to the Lowland towns that he came,
either singly, or more commonly in a company
joined together, and sharing the perils of the way in
common ; the string of shaggy ponies carrying the
kegs of whisky, and the smugglers keeping a due out-
look against being trepanned by the detested gangers.

And while there were many amusing episodes in
connection with smuggling, first and last, there was
not a little rough and demoralising work, especially
when a set of stout smugglers encountered an equally
stout and better armed posse of gaugers. To outwit

186 Notes and Sketches.

the commonplace gauger in the ordinary run of
business was a feat to which the female, as well as the
male, smuggler was frequently found adequate. And
in the case of the masculine contraveners of the law,
the exciseman was deemed a fit subject for rough hand-
ling as occasion offered. To tie his legs together,
fasten his hands forcibly behind his back, and leave
him lying helpless on the lone hillside was not
deemed much out of place by any means. One of
the most tragic smuggling incidents locally recorded
is that of the death of Philip Kennedy, at Ward of
Cruden, in 1798, the circumstances connected with
which are powerfully reproduced in Guy Mannering.
A smuggling lugger had been in process of landing
her cargo, part of which was being conveyed inland
at night in carts. The gaugers had, however, got
notice, and three of them, fully armed, lay in wait
near the Kirk of Slains. The smugglers had taken
the precaution of sending several of their number on
in advance to see that the way was clear. One of
these who first encountered the excisemen was Ken-
nedy, and being a man of fearless courage, as well as
powerful physique, he seized and threw down two of
them, calling to his companions to secure the third.
But so far from doing their part, they fled, and taking
shelter amongst the bushes to watch events, left him
to his fate. Kennedy held on to his two prostrate
foes with grim determination, when the third, with
surely needless barbarity, drew his sword and cut him
repeatedly about the head. The smuggler, even then,
refused to relax his grasp, and was still able to keep
down the two excisemen. It was moonlight, and the
savage gauger who was still free, was then observed
by some of the cowards lying perdu in the adjacent
bushes, to hold his sword above his head as if to make
certain that he was using the edge, when next instant,
with a sweeping and relentless stroke, the smuggler's
skull was laid open with a frightful gash. With the

Smuggling. 187

blood streaming in torrents from his wounds, the poor
fellow got to his feet and staggered on to Kirkton of
Slains, distant nearly a quarter of a mile, where he
expired in the course of a few minutes, his last words
being, " If a' had been as true as I was, the goods wud
'a been safe, an' I wudna hae been bleedin' to death."
His age was but thirty-eight. The men who were the
cause of his death were tried on a charge of murder,
but were acquitted.

At the Aberdeen Circuit Court of Justiciary, in
September, 1827, my Lords Pitmilly and Alloway tried
a somewhat notorious culprit, in the person of Malcolm
Gillespie, officer of excise, whom the jury found guilty
of forgery, and who was sentenced to be hanged ; a
sentence which was duly carried out, on the ensuing
1 6th of November. During the period of his incarce-
ration, Gillespie had employed part of his time in writ-
ing an account of his experiences as an excise officer,
during nearly twenty-eight years. His story is
marked perhaps by a little of the braggadocia spirit,
but enough is known independently, to enable us to
shape the story to about its proper dimensions, and
obtain a reliable glimpse or two of the actual state of
matters. Malcolm Gillespie, who was a native of
Dunblane, and apparently of respectable parentage,
had entertained the wish to serve in the army, but
was disappointed in getting into active service through
the declinature of his relatives to buy him a commis-
sion— a matter probably to be regretted, as the man
most clearly had in him qualities that would have
been of value where hard fighting was going on.
After a short experience as a recruiting agent, he
turned his energies in another direction by joining
the Excise. Gillespie's service was at first on the
coast, and latterly inland. When stationed at the
fishing village of Collieston, on the Buchan coast, in
1801, he states that upwards of 1000 ankers of foreign
spirits were landed in that region every month. He

188 Notes and Sketches.

continued at Collieston till 1807, when, at his own
request, he was appointed to Stonehaven, the in-
spiring motive being zeal against the contrabandists.
He had broken up their trade at Collieston, and they
yet flourished at Stonehaven. A five years' residence
there sufficed to make him " a complete terror to
these depredators," and to reduce their nefarious
traffic to limited dimensions ; and accordingly, in
1812, again on his own application, he was removed
inland to the Skene Eide, where he might intercept
the Highlanders on their way to the Aberdeen market.
The experiences of Gillespie, while in this situation,
where he remained up to the date of his trial, seem
to have been much according to his taste. The " first
engagement worthy of notice " occurred, he tells us,
on a certain night, when, in the attempt to intercept
a cart of whisky, single-handed, the four " notorious
delinquents " in charge of it fell upon him with
bludgeons, mauling him unmercifully. To prevent
the possibility of his prize — which turned out to be
eighty gallons of whisky — escaping him, he pulled
out a loaded pistol, and wounded the horse. And he
takes credit to himself for so commanding his temper
as to resist the temptation to subject one or more of
his assailants to similar treatment. With the assist-
ance of people who had been alarmed by the report of
the pistol, a full victory was gained, and the two prin-
cipals in the assault in due course stood their trial,
and received sentences of several months' imprison-
ment. A few similar encounters convinced Gillespie of
the utility of a properly-trained dog to accompany him
in his nightly excursions ; and he accordingly procured
one " of the bull kind ; " from a famed breed. Under
proper training, the dog by and by learnt to seize the
Highlanders' horses " one by one, " till, by tumbling
them, or making them " dance about," the kegs they
carried were spilt off their backs : the dog's owner and
the smugglers, meanwhile, carrying on the struggle for

Smuggling. 189

the mastery, with bludgeons, or still more dangerous
weapons. And we speedily find the dog so employed
during an engagement, in which " a deal of bloodshed
occurred on both sides." But indeed the dog got so
perfect at his work, that when any of the horses were
running past him, that had no load on their backs, he
paid no attention to them ; and when he seized any
of them it was always by the nose, which he would
never quit, " until the goods were either thrown off,"
or in possession of his master. The ultimate fate of
this valuable animal — to the great grief of the zealous
gauger — was to be killed by a shot " promiscuously "
fired in a preliminary skirmish that occurred on a
certain night while he stood by, muzzled, waiting his
part in the play.

Gillespie had in his pay no fewer than five assist-
ants, men who doubtless possessed qualities fitting
them for his purposes, but of whose moral character
even he does not seem disposed to give us any strong
warranty. And in his various encounters he ordi-
narily had the support of more or fewer of his men.
Meeting a couple of smuggling carts in the woods of
Drum, with a " strong hardened desperado, named
Hay," employed to go along as a protecting bully, a
severe engagement ensued, during which one of the
excise force got three balls lodged in his groin, by
the accidental discharge of his own pistol ; Hay's
cheek was nearly severed from his face, by a stroke
from a sabre wielded by Gillespie himself, and another
smuggler got an arm broken, which terminated the
fight. On another occasion, in an encounter with
ten or twelve Highlanders, near Kintore, Gillespie
got thrown down, with three or four fellows above
him, " beating him in a most unmerciful manner."
The sabre was twisted out of his hand, and, while he
was still kept down, a stroke from the weapon laid
open his chin to a great extent. He then discharged
his pistol at the smuggler, the ball lodging in his

190 Notes and Sketches.

thigh ; a second shot in the shoulder was necessary
to drive him off finally, and in the meantime Gillespie
had saved himself from strangulation by getting
another assailant's thumb diverted from his windpipe
into his mouth, where he bit it so savagely and tena-
ciously that the smuggler, in his wild struggles to get
free, greatly aided him in once more regaining his feet.
One of the greatest fights recorded occurred on a
January night in 1824, near Inverurie, as he lay in
wait for a formidable gang of Highlanders who were
coming down with a large quantity of aqua, which
they had publicly declared their determination to
accompany to Aberdeen, despite the officers of excise,
of whom they were prepared to make short work.
He came suddenly on the cavalcade of ten carts,
with twenty-five to thirty men, while his party were
scattered, and only one assistant with him. " This
formidable group were very indifferent to his threats,
and looked upon him with his assistant in a scornful
way, and were proceeding onwards, when he imme-
diately fired and killed a horse. The next shot he had
occasion to discharge went through the shoulder of
a robust delinquent, while in the very act of bring-
ing down upon Mr. G.'s head a large bludgeon, which
would undoubtedly have felled him to the ground, if
the ball had not taken proper effect. The whole gang
were now upon Mr. G., but by this time the rest of his
party had assembled through the firing, when a terrible
conflict ensued. Bloody heads, hats rolling on the road,
the reports of alternate firing and other noise, resembled
more the battle of Waterloo than the interception of a
band of lawless desperadoes ; — but in the end they
were obliged to lay down their arms, and submit to the
laws of their country. Mr. G. and his party were all
and each of them much debilitated by severe wounds
and bruises, and loss of blood ; but the greater part
of the smugglers were in a much worse situation. It
was fortunate," adds the narrator, " that no lives were

Smuggling. 191

lost on this memorable occasion;" but he does not
doubt that he himself would carry some of the wounds
he then received to his grave.

In summing up his story, which, he says, gives but
a faint outline of a few of the many severe en-
counters in which he had been engaged, Gillespie in-
forms us that he had received "no less than forty-two
wounds on different parts of his body, and all in-
flicted by these extraordinary characters." The drift
of his narrative is to make out that he was triumph-
antly successful in his object on all occasions. But
without going quite so far as to accept that view
without qualification, he was, beyond doubt, a fellow
governed by a determined will and a sort of coarse
reckless courage; and animated by an unflagging
zeal in a line of duty that accorded with his tastes.
Into his character and connections otherwise we need
not enquire too curiously; only there is evidence to
show that the rough and dangerous, if unscrupulous,
service he rendered was not unappreciated by the
legitimate traders of the district. And the facts that
are beyond dispute concerning the transactions in
which he was engaged, and the seizures he made *
illustrate, in a somewhat vivid fashion, both the
extent and character of the smuggling that prevailed
up to fifty years ago.

* For Abstract of Gillespie's Seizures, see Appendix (5).

CHAPTEE XXIV.

THE PROPHET OF BETHELNIE STATE OF MEDICAL

PRACTICES — DR. ADAM DONALD — HIS HISTORY AND
CLAIMS CRITICALLY VIEWED — SUPERSTITIOUS BELIEF
IN WITCHES AND OCCULT SKILL.

IN the early part of the eighteenth century, as indeed
was the case till near its close, the learned professions
— apart always from the office of the ministry — held
but dubious footing in country districts. The school-
master, as has been already remarked, was a person of
no great consideration in point of erudition or other-
wise. In the Aberdeenshire Poll Book he is never rated
as a " gentleman"; and they did not deem it worth
while to exact anything more of poll money from
him than was paid by an ordinary cottar. Here and
there — sometimes in rather out of the way places — a
man qualified to act as a "notar publict" was set down;
but for the matter of fifty miles along the main route
northward from Aberdeen, only a single individual with
the technical qualification of a doctor of medicine pre-
sents himself at that date.* Sixty years later, so
meagre were the means of medical instruction that an
Elgin doctor thought it worth his while to inform the
people of Aberdeen that any gentleman " desirous of
breeding a son to medicine," provided the lad had
made sufficient progress in Latin, Greek, and Mathe-
matics, might through his services have him initiated
in Pharmacy, Chemistry, the Materia Medica, Anatomy,

* Mr. James Milne, doctor of medicine, Inverurie.

The Prophet of Bethelnie. 193

and Surgery, on reasonable terms, and in such a way
as would " render his future studies easy and agree-
able." And for lack of independently established practi-
tioners with the requisite skill, it became a common
practice with kirk-sessions to get a midwife trained
for the parish at their charge.

Yet the needs of humanity are in all ages the same.
And hence the emergence of men, and women too,
claiming to possess a skill which, if not of the schools,
nor altogether so exact or definite as a more inquisitive
age would have demanded, was on the whole accepted
as adequate to the varied exigencies for which it was
sought. Science was not then in the ascendant ; faith
spread its wings unhampered by doubts about the
existence of the supernatural, and critical methods
had hardly yet found place. One of the most not-
able of this class of persons of whom I have seen any
reliable record was " Doctor " Adam Donald, known
as " the Prophet of Bethelnie." Adam, whose fame
was widely spread during a period of some thirty
years from about the middle of the century, was born
in 1703, and died in 1780. Dr. James Anderson*
published an account of the prophet ten years after
his death ; and he had the kindness to accompany it
with a fairly well executed woodcut portrait of him.
Apparently Adam knew for what purpose the picture
was taken, as he desired a certain sentiment to be in-
scribed below it. And the woodcut enables us to
know that he had been a goggle-eyed man, with a
double chin, long hair, and a short neck, whose
characteristic attitude seems to have been that of
standing with his feet apart, his arms hanging loosely
by his sides, and his hands placed back to back in
front tff him, the helpless look of the long crooked
fingers suggesting the notion that his wrists have been
at least partially dislocated. His dress is a Kilmar-

* The Bee, Vol. VI. 1791.
H

194 Notes and Sketches.

nock cap, a long square-tailed coat, with heavy flaps
and spreading collar, a waistcoat of corresponding
expanse, knee breeches, and shoes with buckles.

Dr. Anderson, who, it must be said, does not seem
to have looked upon the prophet with any excess of
respect, expressly says that Adam had " remarked
with what a superstitious veneration the ignorant
people around him contemplated that uncouth figure
he inherited from nature, and shrewdly availed him-
self of this propensity for obtaining a subsistence
through life." To this end he " affected an uncommon
reservedness of manner ; pretended to be extremely
studious, spoke little, and what he said was uttered
in half sentences with awkward gesticulations and an
uncouth tone of voice, to excite consternation and elude
detection." Rather a remorseless analysis of the ele-
ments of the prophet's influence it must be allowed.

In those days the fairies played queer antics ; nor
was the quiet region of Bethelnie exempt from their
operations. And thus it was that when Adam Donald's
mother gave birth to a fine boy the " gweed neibours"
whipt the child away to Elfland, and left the poor cottar
and his wife a mere changeling in his place — a sallow
mis-shapen unthriven creature. How then could Adam
Donald be like other bairns mentally or physically ?
The defects of his ill-compacted body prevented him
gaining a livelihood by hard physical labour ; and he
thus amongst other things took to amusing himself in
his earlier years with such books as chance enabled
him to obtain ; " and though he could scarcely read
the English language, yet he carefully picked up books
in all languages that fell in his way." Dr. Anderson
says he had in his possession books bought at the sale
of the prophet's effects after his death in French, Latin,
Greek, Italian, and Spanish. " He delighted chiefly
in large books that contained plates of any sort ; and
Gerard's large Herbal, with wooden cuts, might be
said to be his constant vade mecum, which was dis-

The Prophet of Bethelnie. 195

played with much parade on the table, or the shelf,
among other books of a like portly appearance, to all
his visitors."

Bethelnie, erstwhile the seat of the parish church
(now of Meldrum), and dowered with the legend of
the pious Percock, who warded off the plague by creep-
ing round the parish on his bare knees, and planting a
tree to mark the spot where his self-sacrificing labour
began and ended, was still fortunate in the possession
of a church crumbling to ruin, and a picturesque and
finely situated churchyard. This latter spot it was
the practice of the prophet to visit all alone at suitably
eerie hours. How could it be doubted that his purpose
was to hold converse with departed spirits, and to be
by them " informed of many things that no mortal
knowledge could reach 1"

The prophetic fame of Adam Donald grew, as it
needs must, in the circumstances, until people came
from far and near to consult him ; and ultimately
" scarcely anything was deemed beyond the reach of
his knowledge." " When articles of dress or furniture
were amissing he was consulted ; and his answers were
so general and cautiously worded, that though they
could scarcely be at all understood at the time, yet
when any of the things lost were accidentally found
at a future period the people were easily able to per-
ceive that his mysterious answer plainly indicated
where the goods had been if they had had the inge-
nuity to expound it." We must not forget that this
latter sentiment is merely the personal opinion of the
sceptical Dr. Anderson, speaking against

The 'sponsible voice o' a haill countra side !

In his capacity of physician — he was, of course, a
skilled cow doctor as well—" Dr." Adam Donald was
" chiefly consulted in cases of lingering disorders that
were supposed to owe their origin to witchcraft or
some supernatural agency of this sort." " In these

196 Notes and Sketches.

cases he invariably prescribed the application of cer-
tain simple unguents of his own manufacture to par-
ticular parts of the body, accompanied with particu-
lar ceremonies, which he described with all the minute-
ness he could, employing the most learned terms he
could pick up to denote the most common things, so
that, not being understood, the persons who consulted
him invariably concluded when the cure did not suc-
ceed, that they had failed in some essential particular ;
and when the cure was effected he obtained full credit."
Very evidently Adam Donald had not been lacking in
some of the qualities on which various others, since
his day, have sought to build a reputation for skill
and profundity !

From distances of ten, twenty, aye thirty miles, they
came to consult him, either as necromancer or phy-
sician. Sunday brought the greatest pressure of busi-
ness, and on that day duly, for many years, the pro-
phet's house was always crowded with visitors of various
sorts. His professional fees were not extravagant,
never exceeding sixpence where no medicines were
given, and a shilling was said to have been the highest
fee he was ever known to obtain. On this scale of
charges, however, he contrived to maintain himself
comfortably ; and on the faith of his lucrative calling,
when pretty far advanced in life, " he prevailed," we
are assured, " on one of the handsomest girls in that
neighbourhood to marry him."

That the prophet of Bethelnie was a man of superior
talent in any way, Dr. Anderson declines to admit.
Despite the prudence with which he conducted his
operations, his mental power seemed to be below the
ordinary standard. True, he had the art of conceal-
ing his defects by never vainly attempting to display
his knowledge where detection seemed probable, but
his general reserve " seems to have proceeded from his
want of ideas ; and he was more indebted to his singular
appearance than anything else for his celebrity." While

The Prophet of Bethelnie. 197

he " was able to impose upon those at a distance by
the appearance of much wisdom he found it more dif-
ficult to do so with regard to his own family." His wife,
" whose superior judgment supplied the defects of his,"
from motives of prudence took care to keep the secret,
but his daughter did not scruple to cheat the seer
openly, mulcting him of part of his professionally
earned sixpences under his very nose to buy fine clothes,
and then openly laughing at him among her compa-
nions. " He never," says Dr. Anderson, " had any
friend with whom he kept up a cordial intercourse ; he
left no sort of writings behind him ; nor have I ever
heard of a single sentence of his that was worth
repeating ; unless it be the four lines of poetry which
he desired the painter to put at the bottom of his
picture : —

Time doth all things devour ;
And time doth all things waste,
And we waste time,
And so are we at last."

Of imitators of the prophet, or rather of practi-
tioners, more or less renowned, of the same class,
there was no great lack up to a considerably later
time. The indispensable qualification was possession
of a certain amount of low cunning ; and ugliness,
or oddity of personal appearance, was undoubtedly
an advantage. Hence the readiness with which
queer-looking old women were accepted as witches,
and credited with the power of performing various
cantrips. Superstitious belief in the supernatural,
and an easy credulity regarding physical phenomena
were the common endowment of the mass of the
population, so that whoever chose to attempt the role
of warlock or " skeely man/' would find the path open
and easy ; and once entered thereon it might be hard
to say in some cases whether the witch-doctor made
most progress in deceiving others or deceiving himself.
Certain it was that a good many of them came to have

193 Notes and Sketches.

a'firm, if somewhat vague and inarticulate belief in
their own powers. As time went on, the business
tended to get less reputable and more directly rascally,
inasmuch as the progress of general enlightenment
both served to show the pretensions of its profes-
sors in a more contemptible light, and forced them
to resort to extended and often very palpable subter-
fuges in order to keep up their credit with those still
willing to be duped by them. And these, beyond
question, were a class wonderfully tenacious of exist-
ence. Belief in witchcraft generally, and in the
existence and can of the fairies, held wide sway
among the country population till the close of the
century ; and, indeed, for a good while after. The
merry little folks with their green coats were the
" gweed neibours," who seldom did serious harm,
except when they played the sort of " plisky " per-
formed in substituting an uncouth changeling for the
infant son of the Bethelnie cottar. They would do
many a good service when the humour was on them ;
and happy was he who, when some sturdy male fairy
took a bout at thrashing in his barn floor of an early
winter morning, could creep quietly up behind, and,
getting hold of the flail souple, " catch the speed!"
Such cantrips as an old wife converting herself into the
form of a hare, and hirpling about from "toon" to
" toon " at uncanny hours ; or in other guises " trailin'
the rape" to deprive a neighbour's cow of its milk-giving
powers, transferring them to some other cow, or inani-
mate object even, for her own behoof, were regarded as
serious contingencies, against which protection was
needed. And, of course, it could be had from a class
of operators who sprang into existence, partly from the
necessities of the case, and partly from their own tastes
and turn of mind. The more pleasing superstition,
which had respect to wonder-moving tales of Elfland
and its inhabitants, got gradually attenuated, and died
out with the wooden plough and the small oats ; the

!

The Prophet of Betlielnie. 199

grosser and less ethereal one lingered much longer;
and, indeed, in regions where primitive ideas are
allowed to have some footing, the notion that certain
occult powers, derived from an evil source, might be
exercised on man or beast by people of sinister ante-
cedents and reputation is hardly more than extinct even

yet

CHAPTER XXV.

THE KIRK-SESSION AND ITS DUTIES — A GHOST LAID —
TIBBIE MORTIMER AND GEORDIE WATT.

THE oversight exercised by the Kirk- Session, and the
extent to which it felt bound to interfere for the regu-
lation of morals and promotion of the material interests
of the parishioners, were not a little remarkable. If
the Session might not still go the length of " dealing "
with women of rank and position, as had been done a
century earlier, worrying them effectually because they
failed to appear duly at church, and were " suspect"
of being " obstinate papists " and the like, they had,
at any rate, little difficulty in getting an ordinary laird
to submit to discipline ; to pay the wonted fine for his
incontinence, and probably a good round sum in addi-
tion for behoof of the poor — if on that footing he
might obtain the privilege of taking his rebuke in
private, and not in presence of the congregation, a con-
cession not very infrequently made latterly. There
were not wanting instances, moreover, of persons of
the Episcopal persuasion coming voluntarily forward,
and, for the quieting of their own consciences, pre-
sumably, entreating discipline to be exercised upon
them. And while the sway of the Session received
something like universal acknowledgment, the variety
of things in which it intermeddled was great. Censure
would be threatened, or, if need were, passed upon " dis-
haunters of ordinances," upon women who indulged in
idle "claik" about the kirk door on Sunday, or used
their tongues in vulgar and scandalous u fly ting " at

The Kirk-Session and its Duties. 201

other seasons, and so on. Special Acts were formulated
to meet special evils; as that of vagrancy, when warning
would be given that " contraveners " who chose to
entertain improper people, who could not produce
satisfactory " testificats " would be dealt with as
" scandalous persons " themselves ; and such occasions
as penny bridals had to be legislated upon by Synod,
Presbytery, and Session, with a view to restrain the
undue jollities to which they led ; or otherwise sup-
press the institution altogether.

When moral lapses of the kind with which Kirk-
Sessions have all along been but too familiar had to be
dealt with, the discipline was proportioned to the gravity
of the offence. A money penalty of four to six pounds
Scots, equal to as many shillings sterling, was the
current pecuniary mulct, and the "public appearances"
of the defaulters for rebuke might be few or many,
according to circumstances. For single offences that
bore no special aggravation once or twice was deemed
sufficient, if the parties " carried " themselves properly.
In more complicated cases the Session studied the
effects ; and where due tokens of penitence seemed
wanting, or merely in the incipient stage, they, like
faithful men, could only exhort the defaulters to " con-
tinue the profession of their repentance" in a becoming
spirit, they freely according them ample opportunity
for so doing. And the end desired was often not
attained very soon. Concerning a woman who was a
"trelapser" in a country parish in 1720, we find this
brief entry in the Session minute : — " Compeared in
sacco. pro 7mo., and was rebuked ; " that is, she
appeared for the seventh Sunday in sackcloth. On
her eighth appearance she is " examined coram, and,
appearing to be weighted with a sense of her sin," the
Session " gave it as their advice that absolution should
be allowed her upon her next appearance. She payed
four lib. penalty," and was then handed over to the
Presbytery for final absolution. The case is an illus-

202 Notes and Sketches.

trative one, and such cases were by no means of excep-
tional occurrence.

In some instances the boundary line between the
ecclesiastical and civil jurisdictions was curiously tra-
versed. When a case of infanticide had occurred, and
the deed had been discovered by the dead body of the
murdered bairn being got, the Kirk-Session would
occasionally set itself to find out who the unnatural
mother was. The mode adopted was to order all the
" free" or unmarried women to " compear" at the kirk;
and there, for the honour of the parish, individually to
satisfy a jury of midwives that none of them had given
birth to the defunct infant, with certification that any
" free woman " who chose to disobey the order would
be held as taking guilt to herself. Reversing the
maxim of law which says that every person shall be
held innocent till proved guilty, the Session boldly
announced the principle of holding those guilty who
did not adopt the prescribed means to prove their
innocence. And then in return for the Session thus,
in its own way, taking up what was clearly the duty
of the Civil Court, the Civil Court reciprocated at
times by recognising the function of the Session in
what would seem a rather odd fashion. At the Aber-
deen Quarter Sessions in May, 1750, Adam Lind, in
Tarves, pleads guilty to giving insulting and abusive
language to a county Justice of the Peace at a private
Session. He is sent to jail for fourteen days, and fined
£5 ; and also " to appear first Sunday after his libera-
tion within the Kirk of Tarves immediately after divine
service, and in presence of the congregation convened
for the time, make acknowledgment of his insulting
the said Justice, and to procure a report and certifi-
cate under the hand of the Session-clerk and two
elders, of his having made such acknowledgment."
Expenses were given against him too, and .£10 de-
manded in security of performance.

The Session interested itself in such matters as the

The Kirl-Session and its Duties. 203

building of bridges, which, properly enough, it re-
cognised as " a pious work," and would readily order
a collection to be made to help on an undertaking of
that kind. And if a farmer got his " steading " burnt
down, not only the Session of his own parish, but those
of other surrounding parishes would agree to render
him aid in the same way. But indeed there was no
interest, temporal or spiritual, in which the Session
might not intermeddle. An illustration of this of
a rather peculiar sort is found in the records of
the Kirk-Session of Chapel of Garioch. It was in
the autumn of 1737, about the time when John
Skinner, as a youthful tutor at Monymusk House, in
the neighbouring parish of that name, was inditing
his " Christmas Ba'in." The well-to-do tenant in the
pleasant farm of Bridgend, on the banks of the Ury,
who had been among the first to build a pew for him-
self in the parish kirk in 1718, had died leaving a
family of seven sons, still alive, for two of whom he
had been able to provide separate farms, leaving the
rest together in family at Bridgend. His widow had
followed him to the grave in the bygone spring, and
now it was noised through the parish that her ghost
had been seen ; and indeed was causing no little terror
about Bridgend. The Session being convened on a
certain date, the minister, Mr. Gilbert Gerard, reported
that he had something to lay before them concerning
the " said pretended spirit." His statement, in sub-
stance, was that he, as minister of the parish, had
been asked by George Watt from Bridgend, to come
and "converse with the spirit, who, ever since about
three or four weeks after the death of his mother in
the preceding February, had frequently appeared and
spoken to him and his brothers without the windows
of the rooms where they lay, to their great terror and
amazement." On being " posed" as to its identity by
George Watt and his brothers, the ghost, with a super-
abundance of sanctions, "solemnly averred and swore"

204 Notes and Sketches.

that " it was a good spirit; yea, the very spirit of their
glorified mother," sent from heaven to "reveal several
things to them for their temporal and eternal good,
which they were to behove and do at their highest
peril." But while the spirit — " which spoke always
with a shrill and heavenly voice," making the beds
and house where they lay to " shake and tremble
again " — " gave them very good instructions and
counsels," and even told them "the very secrets
of their hearts," the main burden it had been charged
to deliver was " that it was the will of the great God
that Geordie Watt should marry Tibbie Mortimer (who
then was the only woman-servant in that family), be-
cause that Tibbie was now in a gracious state, and had
been predestinated to glory from all eternity."

This somewhat incongruous revelation had first
been made to George Watt when he was lying in
bed all alone; whereupon George, like a prudent
man, objected, as he alleged, to a marriage so un-
equal in point of worldly circumstances, and so
contrary to his inclination, until it should be made
clear to him and others that what he was desired
to do really was the will of God. The accommo-
dating spirit undertook to satisfy him on that point ;
and the seven brothers having, according to com-
pact settled beforehand, duly assembled in the same
room, the ghost appeared at the window and re-
peated its commission, with the portentous threat that
" unless Geordie Watt should marry Tibbie Mortimer,
he and all his brothers, and all things belonging to
them, should certainly be consumed with fire from
heaven ! " Geordie himself at least having, in addition,
nothing to look for thereafter but everlasting punish-
ment. By all this, and similar revelations and threats
oft repeated, George Watt had, as he averred, got so
" frightened and straitened " that he felt impelled to
come to the minister, who, in following out George's
request, had gone toBridgend on the previous Thursday

The Kirk-Session and its Duties. 205

evening, taking with him a member of the Session and
his own servant. His first care was to pray with the
family of seven sons, and the next to take what pre-
cautions he could with a view to prevent being imposed
upon, and, if possible, to unravel the matter. After
some hours waiting, a voice was heard at a little window
of the bedroom in which Geordie Watt slept, " pro-
nouncing with a very wild and vehement tone " that
its owner was come in the name of the Trinity to speak
to them all — "to men, minister, and all, ' Speak, George
Watt, speak, men and minister ! Come here and I will
discourse you all,' " said the irrepressible ghost. On
hearing the " bold and blasphemous expressions" used,
the company were in "the greatest consternation ;"
all but the wide-awake parson, who started to his feet
and ran outside, making his way to the corner of the
house nearest to where the ghost seemed to be. " The
appearance which first presented to his view, " says
the Session minute, " was about the bulk of ane ordi-
nary woman, covered with white clean linnen head and
arms down to the middle of the body before, and some-
what farther behind. Then, willing to unravel the
matter whatever the event should be, he made such a
trial of the apparition as he thought agreeable to the
principles of the Christian revelation and true philo-
sophy ; and by its resistance to the end of a small rod
which he had in his hand, he soon found it to be a
material substance. And immediately the pretended
spirit took itself to its heels, and he running after it a
few paces, caught it by the neck, and his servant
coming up at the same time on the other side, caught
it by the arm. The apparition was brought flat to the
ground, and then, being charged as a base imposter to
speak, it was silent till he pulled the white vail from
its face, whereupon (it being a bright moonshine), he
clearly saw that it was the above-named Isobel Mor-
timer."

Alas, poor Tibbie ! What a collapse of her skilfully-

206 Notes and Sketches.

devised plot ! She was remorselessly led into the " fire-
house " in presence of the seven brothers Watt, where
the minister held forth to her " at some length " on " the
blasphemy, devilish tricks, and mischievous pranks" of
which she had been guilty ; when, sad to say, in place
of becoming penitence, Tibbie " discovered " such a
" surprising boldness and impudence, obdurateness, and
obstinacy," that the minister was restrained from hand-
ing her over to the civil magistrate only by the entreaty
of the family, whose servant she had been for a con-
siderable time. He contented himself, however, with
seeing her " inarch off, bag and baggage, before he left
that place."

What the Session did was to pass a set of formal re-
solutions, wherein they found that " this vile, base, and
impudent woman " had gone on " in a course of horrid
blasphemy ;" had " prescribed charms and suspicious
things," disturbing that " sober and orderly family" by
her imposture, frightening them " to the great prejudice
of their health, yea, to the endangering of their lives ;"
doing what she could to set the brothers by the ears,
and moreover, venting as revelations from God " most
false, malicious, and black calumnies against several
persons of an untainted character and reputation." In
regard the case of " this wicked wretch" was " altogether
very complex and of a singular nature," the Session re-
served it as it stood for the advice of the Presbytery.

The lapse of a little time seems to have shed new
light on the matter, and brought the demure Geordie
Watt into the foreground in another guise. Some ten
months thereafter it was recorded that Isobel Mortimer
had been before the Presbytery, and by them convicted
" of the sin and scandal of fornication with George Watt
in Bridgend, as also of acting the part of a ghost and
blaspheming the holy name of God." She was ordered
to appear in sackcloth before the congregation ; and
threatened at first to be contumacious ; but by and
by promised to satisfy discipline, and entered on the

The Kirk-Sessim and its Duties. 207

profession of her repentance by appearing " in sacco "
for the first time on 3rd December, 1738. Meanwhile
there had been strenuous dealing with Geordie Watt.
On account of " the several presumptions that lay against
him of his being in less or more conscious of, or having
a hand in ye abominable part yt Isa. Mortimer acted,"
Geordie had also been ordered to appear before the con-
gregation in sackcloth ; but he protested against the
award, vowing that " he would never satisfy in sack-
cloth for yt which he knew nothing about." He was
willing to "satisfy" in the ordinary way for what we sup-
pose we may, in his case at least, call the major charge.
Geordie, who had not been altogether a simpleton evi-
dently, offered to pay 100 merks for behoof of the poor,
on condition of being liberated from the sackcloth ; and
as the Session had got into the way of listening favour-
ably to such proposals by defaulters of substance, his
bribe obtained him that indulgence. He simply ap-
peared three Sundays " in his own seat," and paid the
statutory penalty of four pounds Scots. As for poor
Tibbie Mortimer, she, in fulfilment of the Presbyterial
order, had no choice but don the sackcloth and sit in
public four Sundays at Chapel of Garioch. She was
then called in " and exhorted to continue the profes-
sion of her repentance " at Monymusk, which probably
had been her native parish. So long after as March,
1740, she is again remitted to the Chapel Session " to
do with her as they shall see cause," and " as they
were of opinion yt her oftener appearing there could
be of little edification," they agreed that she should
be dismissed " after sitting one Sabbath more in sack-
cloth and paying one guinea for the use of the poor."
Next month she appeared and paid 12 Ib. 12 sh. penalty,
and was absolved.

CHAPTEE XXVI.

IN CONCLUSION SUMMARY OF THE SOCIAL, MORAL, AND

RELIGIOUS STATE OF THE PEOPLE.

AN impartial survey of the life to which these illustra-
tions refer, is fitted to suggest various reflections more
or less to the purpose. On its material side, as com-
pared with the life of the present day, it was poor ; and
that poverty permeated the " commonality" more or less
in all its sections. In the measure of absolute wealth
owned by the comparatively well-to-do amongst the
rural population, the thousands of to-day may almost
literally be said to have been represented by hundreds
in the time at which we have glanced ; and the
hundreds by tens. And though the relative value of
money has very much decreased, the social conveniences
and comforts enjoyed, or that could be commanded, by
even the " bein" householder of the eighteenth century,
were meagre indeed in comparison with those in which
a large part of the population now participate without
difficulty, and as a matter of course.

The condition of the labouring population at any
given period affords a reliable index to the general
civilisation and social well-being of the community of
which they form an indispensable part. And although
the separation of classes was not by any means so dis-
tinctly marked seventy or a hundred years ago as now —
the farmer and his helps, male and female, ordinarily
eating their meals at the same table, while the weaver,
the smith, and the tailor, could meet either class on a
common footing — yet was it the case that those whose

In Conclusion. 209

lot it was to earn a livelihood by the labour of their
hands were alike indifferently housed, and meagrely fed
at all times. Before the progress of agricultural im-
provement had so far mended matters, they also suffered
severely from un sanatory natural conditions, such as the
abounding marsh vapours that rose from stagnant un-
drained swamps, and crept about many of their
habitations. Ague was a common complaint in
many parts of Scotland during a considerable portion
of the past century; indeed, it was so common in some
districts among the peasantry, in spring and autumn
particularly, that farmers occasionally found it difficult
to get through the ordinary operations of the season for
want of labourers. And when a special piece of work
had to be executed it was not unusual, we are told, "to
order six labourers instead of four, from the probability
that some of them, before the work could be finished,
would be rendered unfit for labour by an attack of this
disorder. Indeed, in several parishes," it is added,
" the inhabitants, with very few exceptions, had an
annual attack." And when Sir John Sinclair wrote
one of his later papers early in the present century, he
deemed the fact that ague had become less common, and
had been entirely banished from a number of districts,
" so highly honourable to agriculture," that he says he
could not mention it without " a high degree of pride
and pleasure." Malignant fevers too ravaged country
localities now and again, with a severity unknown to
the living generation, elder or younger, at times almost
literally decimating the population of a parish. And
of course small-pox, when it came, had its way un-
checked; killing not a few, leaving its indelible impress
on many a countenance, and often producing blindness,
where the attack was not fatal.

Touching the religious and moral aspects of the ques-
tion, it were perhaps easier than it is desirable, or quite
wise, to make sweeping statements on the one side or
the other. Where the sense of religions obligation was
15

$10 Notes and Sketches.

really felt the theological opinions of the time were no
doubt severe, and the prevailing notions concerning
Christian liberty narrow and restricted. It does not,
however, betoken any great depth of insight, nor is
it indicative of a true and adequate comprehension
of facts in their due relations or a really cosmo-
politan philosophy, to misapprehend totally the dis-
tinction between earnest piety of even the gloomier
sort, and simple fanaticism or pure hypocrisy. In the
regions to which we have had reference, and during the
time under notice, an actively religious spirit was
certainly not a prominent feature. With considerable
show of reason it might be said the very reverse was
the case. The dominant Presbyterianism managed
parish affairs creditably ; supplied a reasonable propor-
tion of passable sermons, prevailingly of the type of
theology known as " Moderate," as contra-distinguished
from "Evangelical/' weekly; carried on the stated diets
of catechising, yearly, and took oversight of the schools ;
its ministry yielding a man here and there destined to
eminence more or less, as occasionally, too a brother
with pronouncedly erratic tendencies, who ruled his
diocese after his own queer fashion, and left his corres-
ponding moral impress upon a generation of parishioners
when he had disappeared from the scene. Episco-
palians, who, in due course " suffered" for their non-
jurant principles, did not bulk largely ; neither did
the followers of the first or second Secession. The
feelings of contempt and aversion with which Seceders
were regarded were very general ; as one can readily
understand from occasional references made to them
by contemporary writers. A sufficiently pointed ex-
ample of the estimation in which they were held
by the landowning class is furnished by the articles
and conditions of tack for his lands, registered in the
Sheriff Court books of Aberdeenshire, in February, 1 781 ,
by Alexander Eraser, of Strichen. In the second Article,
in which are specified the various offences for which

I

In Conclusion. 211

tenants shall be held to have forfeited their tacks, such
as their becoming bankrupt or the like, it is inter alia
specified — " or, eighthly shall knowingly or wilfully
take into their service, or harbour, or set ground to
any Seceders or thieves, vagabonds or beggars, or any
other person who has not sufficient testimonials of their
former good and honest behaviour, to the satisfaction
of the said Alexander Eraser, or his foresaids, or to
such as are suspected to harbour any of the above-men-
tioned." We may possibly look upon the laird of
Strichen, himself a Roman Catholic, as somewhat ex-
treme in his intolerance, yet putting it in a mildly
negative form, one cannot, at anyrate, regard such
facts as that Seceders were very limited in number,
and that they were held in general contempt, as furnish-
ing evidence of any deep or wide-spread interest in
religious questions. Thus far, at least, we may safely go.
The question of the comparative'morality of the people
may be handled with all requisite freedom, even should
it be at the risk of challenge on some points. The idea
that degeneracy, in point of morals, has crept in amongst
our rural population within the past half century or so,
and that if a greatly higher standard was not uniformly
maintained in the time immediately preceding, a sort
of Arcadian innocence and simplicity prevailed very
generally at least, finds acceptance with some who pro-
fess to have knowledge of the subject. Unhappily the
records of the time do not seem to bear out such ideas
in the very least. In their everyday life rude royster-
ing, drinking, quarrelling, and fighting were the too
frequent recreations of the common people a hundred
years ago. Even then there were complaints that the
people were not what they had been in the previous
times of fancied guilelessness and primitive virtue. Only
they did not gather up and tabulate the details of crime
as is now done, and in so far as mere personal outbreaks
went, if the offenders escaped the notice of the Kirk
Session, the Civil Court would hardly interfere unless

212 Notes and Sketches.

the fray had been so savage as to involve actual loss
of life or very serious damage " to lith or limb." The
character of those whose position placed them above the
common people was not always indeed regarded as en-
titling them to be spoken of with unqualified respect.
The writer of a letter of date 1750, discussing the agricul-
ture of the time, gives his opinion of Aberdeensliire
landlords, and the relations between them and their
tenants in these words — " The landed gentlemen, many
of them, look upon religion as below them, morality as
an unnecessary incumbrance, economy as sordid, and
their tenants as a species of animals, made to be abused
and oppressed — to labour and spend their strength to
maintain their luxury and riot." Like enough the
writer desired to put in his tints strongly, but what nine-
teenth century Radical has ever denounced the terri-
torial shortcomings of his time in more unsparing terms 1
Nor even in relation to the sore subject of bastardy
did the people of last century in the north-east of Scot-
land hold a greatly more favourable position than their
descendants do. Possibly the actual percentage of
illegitimate births may have been somewhat less. We
have no available statistics of a comprehensive sort to
compare with the Registrar's figures of the present time.
But the Kirk-Session records serve the end in a rough,
yet reasonably reliable way. And a careful scrutiny uf
some of these records does not encourage the belief that
even the proportional number of bastards to population
was always very appreciably less — the number of aggra-
vated and specially bad cases that needed severe deal-
ing, and where the Session had to call in the aid of the
Presbytery, was certainly as great or greater than now.
Any inquiry bearing on the causes of a high rate of
bastardy in these districts would lead us into irrelevant
and probably fruitless discussion of a vexed question.
But of one thing we may hold ourselves assured — that
at no period known to history was the proportion of
bastard births other than considerable. Starting on

In Conclusion. 213

that basis and keeping clearly in view that so it has
been all through, we can at least more readily under-
stand how the result of a traditional and inherited
moral sentiment all too deadened and dormant, should
serve to take the edge off the feeling of shame and blunt
the sense of honour in the sex amongst whom chastity
is properly deemed the crown of all the virtues. Born
into and nurtured from childhood in a pervasive social
atmosphere of this sort it becomes readily intelligible
how women whose characters otherwise one would be
sorry to impugn in the least barely realise it as any
permanent stain on their womanhood to have been the
mother of a bastard. And here, doubtless, we touch
the most formidable phase of a species of immorality
that has gained for the common people of these regions
an unenviable notoriety. We need not contrast it with
the measure of the like vice as it exists among the
classes where purity in one sex is demanded and valued ;
and, indeed, such contrast or comparison cannot be
made. Only this much may be said with truth that
while the women who sadly fail in virgin modesty
ordinarily prove true and faithful wives when married,
even the men who join with them in wedlock do also
as a rule act with conjugal fidelity thereafter. With
them the vice as it exists is gross and open ; we see it
in its full extent, and may know its limits ; and in this
way the common people of the rural community probably
suffer some considerable injustice when their sins in this
respect are sought to be contrasted with those of certain
other classes more highly civilised it may be, and enjoy-
ing far greater social advantages.

Generally viewed then the life of last century, in so
far as it has come under our notice, cannot be regarded
as strongly typical of the " good old times." Confining
our retrospect to that period we should certainly be
compelled to say —

Those times were never

Airy visions sat for the picture.

214 Notes and Sketches.

Along with abounding poverty of means and resources,
we find that industry was stagnant, and unprogressive,
and that the ordinary rural life of the time was strongly
tinctured with superstition, or simply in the state of
uninquiring indifference as regards its spiritual beliefs.
It had nevertheless its own features of attraction, as
contrasted with the life that has followed it. There
was a sense of quiet leisureliness about the manner
in which each man held his position and transacted
the business of his daily life; an absence of hurry
and headlong competition, and a feeling of neigh -
bourliness and hospitality amongst the constituent
membership of each small community that did much
to make life not merely tolerable, but rationally enjoy-
able. The changes that have occurred in these respects,
we may warrantably say, have not all been in the
nature of an unqualified social gain.

APPENDIX.

1. — LIST OF BOOKS REFERRED TO.

Domestic Annals of Scotland from the Reformation to the
Revolution. By Robert Chambers. 3 vols. 1859.

Lectures on Scotch Legal Antiquities. By Cosmo Innes. 1872.

Spalding Club Publications —

List of Tollable Persons within the Shire of Aberdeen in

1696.

Collections for History of the Shires of Aberdeen and Banff.
Miscellanies, &c.

The Statistical Account of Scotland, drawn up from the com-
munications of the Ministers of the different Parishes. By Sir
John Sinclair, Bart. 21 vols. 1782-94.

Memorials for the Government of the Royal Burghs in Scot-
land. By Baillie Alexander Skene of Newtile. 1685.

General View of the Agriculture and Rural Economy of the
County of Aberdeen, with Observations on the means of its Im-
provement, drawn up for the consideration of the Board of Agri-
culture and Internal Improvement. By James Anderson, LL.D,
1794.

The Bee ; or Literary Weekly Intelligencer. By James
-Anderson, LL.D. 17 vols. 1791-3.

General View of the Agriculture of Aberdeenshire, drawn up
under the direction of the Board of Agriculture. By George-
Skene Keith, D.D., Minister of Keith-hall and Kinkell. 1811.

General View of the Agriculture of Kincardineshire or tha
Mearns. By George Robertson, landsurveyor. 1807.

General View of the Agriculture of the County of Banff. By
David Souter, farmer. 1812.

The Political Works of Andrew Fletcher, Esq. of Saltoun.
Glasgow, 1749.

Letters from a Gentleman in the North of Scotland (Captain
Burt), to his friend in London. 1726-30.

A True Method of Treating Light Hazely Ground ; or an exact
relation of the practice of. farmers in Buchan : containing Rulea

216 Note-s and Sketches.

for Infields, Outfields, Haughs and Laighs. By a small Society
of Farmers in Buchan. Edinburgh, 1735.

A General Description of the East Coast of Scotland, from
Edinburgh to Cullen. By Francis Douglas. 1827.

Present State of Husbandry in Scotland, extracted from Reports
made to the Commissioners of Annexed Estates (by Mr. Andrew
Wight), and published by their authority. Edinburgh. 1778.

Memoirs of the Life and Works of the late Right Honourable
Sir John Sinclair, Bart. By his Son, the Rev. John Sinclair,
M.A., Pembroke College, Oxford. 2 vols. 1837.

Buchan. By Rev. J. B. Pratt, LL.D., Cruden.

An Echo of the Olden Time, from the North ofScotland. By
Rev. Walter Gregor, M.A.

2. — EAKLY ABEKDEENSHIRE ROADS AND POST TOWNS.

In June, 1739, a meeting of the Commissioners of Supply waa
held, and the minute bears inter alia : —

" As to the Kintoir road recommend to the town of Aberdeen
the management thereof, so far as their freedorne goes ; and
recommend to Dr. Gordon ; Auchmull ; Stonywood, younger ;
Invercauld, and the factors of Caskieben and Craig, or any two
of them to take upon them the management and direction of the
Kintoir road from the place where the freedome of Aberdeen
ends, untill it comes to the head of the Hill of Tyrebagger ; and
recommend to the Earle of Kintoir's factor and the Magistrates
of Kintoir to take the management and direction of the said road
from the head of the Hill of Tyrebagger to the town of Inverury ;
and recommends to the Magistrates of Inverury to carry on said
road through the whole of their freedome ; and recommends to
the laird of Pittodery ; John Tnnes of Tillyfour, and John Leslie
of Afforsk, to carry on said road from Inverury to the west corner
of the park dykes of Pittodery ; and recommends to Overhall ;
Westhall ; Premnay ; Dunnydeer ; and the laird of Law, or any
two of them to carry 011 said road up through the Garioch. And
as to the branch of the Inverury road which leads to Strathbogie,
the Commissioners recommend to Inveramsay ; Coldwalls ; Three-
field ; Gight ; Shellagreen, and Rothney, or any two of them to
take upon them the management and direction of the said branch
from Inverury to Strathbogie, and particularly orders a cassey to
be made at Leggatsden ; and appoints Inveramsay to deburse the
charges thereof, and to be repay ed at the next generall meeting."

In constructing roads, what they did was simply to level out
the site where the ground was hard and firm : and lay a cause-
way of rough stones in the low-lying and soft parts that could
not otherwise be got over. The Legatsden Causeway

A lang mile frae Harlaw,

.Appendix.

217

where a burn came down the Den and a hamlet stood, was a case
in point.

Statute labour unwillingly given, and amateur overseership
made but a poor business of it, arrange it as the county would.
And in April 1759 " all the plans hitherto proposed having
proved inefficient," eight separate Road Districts were formed in
the county, corresponding with the eight Presbyteries. And here
we may as well give the Districts, valued rental and rating as
they stood in 1770.

Names of
Presbyteries or
Districts.

Total valued rent
of each Presbytery
Scots.

Proportion of
Highway Money
to each District

Scots.

Proportion in
sterling.

Deer,

£40,233 17 4

£188 8 6

£15 14 12

Ellon

39 191 2 6

183 11 0

15 5 11

Garioch,
Turriff

34,238 12 10
27 835 13 8

159 16 0
129 15 0

13 6 4
10 16 3

Aberdeen,
Kincardine,
Alford,
Strathbogie,

26,160 5 0
32,271 13 6
22,292 18 10
11,224 11 9

121 14 0
149 4 0
103 7 0
52 11 0

10 2 10
12 8 8
8 12 3
477

£233,448 15 5

£1088 6 6

£90 13 10

The sum of £90 odds as Highway money for the whole county
was not a large sum.

The turnpike from Stonehaven to Aberdeen was made in 1797 ;
and that from Stonehaven by Durris to Banchory-Ternan in 1800.

In appendix to a report prepared in 1863 for the Aberdeen -
shire Committee on Road Reform, by the late Mr. George
Marquis, accountant, a list of the turnpike roads in the county of
Aberdeen, in the order in which they were opened, and the
number opened iri each decade after 1790, and other particulars,
are given. The following figures are from Mr. Marquis's state-
ment : —

Year Length.

Name of Road. when opened. M. F. Y.

Deeside, 1798 13 4 0

Ellon, Peterhead, and Fraserburgh, 1799 52 4 0

Carry forward, 66 0 0

218

Notes and Sketches.

Year Length.

Name of Road. when opened. M. F. Y.

Brought Forward, 66 0 0

Inverury, ... 1800 15 4 0

Turriff, 1802 20 6 0

Charleston, 1802 16 6 120

Gardensinill, , 1803 13 2 0

Oldmeldrum, ... 1803 14 1 14

Skene, 1803 17 4 0

Huntly, 1804 22 0 0

Newburgh, 1804 11 1 209

Fyvie, 1806 7 6 73

Echt and Midmar, 1807 13 2 97

Longside, 1807 12 0 0

164 2 73

Alford, 1810 840

NewPitsligo, 1810 740

Cortiebrae, 1813 12 0 0

Boyndlie, 1816 10 5 3

38 5 3

Bridge of Dee, 1821 140

Buchan, 1821 13 0 0'

Tarland, 1822 11 0 202

Insch and West Foudland, ... 1823 14 0 0

Rhyme, 1825 10 4 1

Raemoir and Lumphanan, ... 1825 17 1 22

Donside, 1826 19 7 117

Kintore and Alford, 1826 11 2 117

Udny 1828 11 5 20

110 2 10

Kennethmont, 1833 9 1 71

Corgarff, 1833 6 1 84

Sheelagreen, ... 1835 11 4 83

Strichen, 1837 7 7 197

Inverury and Forgue, 1839 22 1 70

57 0 65

Strichen and Fraserburgh, ... 1849 7 7 102J

Kemnay, 1855 3 3 167i

Total length of Turnpike, ... 447 4201

Appendix. 219

The total amount of original subscriptions for the foregoing
447 miles of road was £108,857 19s. 3|d., but this did not suffice
for their construction ; preferable subscriptions, or borrowed
monies, were needed in all but six or seven cases ; and, adding
these amounts, the total sums raised for construction of turnpike
roads in Aberdeenshire amounted to £176,678. The total debt
upon the various trusts (only two roads, the Inverury and Bridge
of Dee being free of such burden) was no less than £409,433
9s. 3d. ; and in 1863, the estimated value of this large amount of
debt was, at twenty years' purchase, only £39,521 9s. 6d., the
revenue being in many cases seriously affected by the opening of
railway lines. The average cost of construction (calculating by
the amounts raised) was £394 per mile.

About 1787-8 there were only eight post towns in Aberdeen-
shire, viz., Ellon, Peterhead, Fraserburgh, Kintore, Old Kain,
Old Meldrum, Turriff, and Huntly. After the establishment of
the mail coach to Aberdeen, Post Offices were opened at
Banchory-Ternan, Kincardine O'Neil, Aboyne, Tullich, Tarland,
Strathdon, Braemar, Old Deer, Mintlaw, Strichen, New Pitsligo,
Keith-hall, Monymusk, Skene, Alford, and Rhynie.

3. — THE ABERDEENSHIRE CANAL.

The Aberdeenshire Canal, the total length of which, from the
river Don to the Shorelands of Aberdeen, was nearly eighteen
and one-fourth miles, was designed by Telford. It reached the
summit level, 1 6 8 feet above low- water mark, at Stoneywood. There
were on it seventeen canal locks, five aqueduct bridges over con-
siderable streams of water, and fifty-six accommodation bridges.
By the first Act, obtained in 1796, the Company were authorized
to raise £20,000, in £50 shares. The Corporation of Aberdeen
subscribed £1000 ; James D. H. Elphinstone, £1000 ; and the
Earl of Kintore, £1000. A few other county gentlemen sub-
scribed to half that amount, and others in less sums ; but only
£17,715 in all was realised. A second Act was obtained in 1801,
under which a farther sum of £11,421 10s. was raised. The diffi-
culty of completing the undertaking was, however, found to be
very formidable. The monies subscribed under the second Act (and
which were placed as preference shares), proved quite inadequate,
and a further mortgage loan of £10,000 was raised upon the
credit of revenue. At the close of 1808, the total expenditure
had been £43,895 18s. lOd. ; the super- expenditure above capital,
at that date, being £17,259 8s. 10d., and the original design had
not then been completed by formation of a lock and basin con-
necting the canal with the tide-way at Aberdeen Harbour. The
canal was opened for navigation, in the beginning of June, 1805;
but again completely stopped in a few days, on account of no.

220 Notes and Sketches.

fewer than fourteen of the locks having failed, through insuffi-
ciency of the mason work. Before this was completely got over,
the season of 1806 even was partially interfered with. Next
season, 1807, a revenue of £339 2s. lid. was drawn, and in
season 1808, £706 12s. lid., irrespective of rent for the passenger
fly-boats. The average revenue does not seem to have much
increased for fully twenty years. In 1834, it had risen to £1141 ;
in 1844, to £1619 ; and in 1853, when the canal was superseded
by the Great North of Scotland Railway, the revenue was £3062.

4. — CONTRACT BETWEEN MILL SUPERIOE AND SUCKENERS.

In a contract between a mill superior and certain burghal and
other suckeners, of date 1790, the parties, under a penalty on
either side of £100 sterling, bind and oblige themselves as

follow : — " Primo, the said hereby becomes bound at all times

to keep a sufficient qualified miller at the foresaid mill for the
service of the sucken, and to be at all times ready to discharge
his duty as a millart at the said mill, particularly to carry the
clean shilling from the shilling hill to the said mill. Secundo,

On the other part, the said for themselves and their successors,

&c., hereby become bound to continue thirled and astricted to

the said mill of , in all time coming, and to grind their hail

corn, including pease, of the growth of their said lands at the said
mill, and to pay the 25th peck to the tacksman of the said mill
therefor, in name of insucken multure, and a peck of each six
bolls of shilling, in name of knaveship, and no more ; as also to
grind all their malt at the said mill, and to pay the 25th peck, in
name of multure and knaveship therefor ; and further to pay the
25th peck for all grain of whatsover kind of the growth of their
said lands, that shall be sold by them or any of them without the
bounds of the said sucken. They also further become bound to
grind all grain of whatsoever kind at the said mill which they
shall purchase and bring within the bounds of the foresaid thir-
lage, and which they shall have occasion to manufacture, and to
pay the usual outsucken dues therefor, being the 48th peck, be-
sides the usual knaveship. It being in all cases understood that
the dust and shilling seeds is to be at the disposal of the suck-
eners. Tertio, The said become further bound, as said is, to

bigg and uphold their just proportions of the mill house and mill
damms, and to cast the water gang or lead, and trail or carry
stone, yeird, and tree for upholding of the said mill, mill water,
and mill house, as oft as the same shall be necessary, and that
they be required so to do. The tacksman of the said mill being
always obliged and subjected to furnish the timber upon his own
expenses, and to cart and win the yeird for upholding of the said
mill, mill water, and mill house upon the most commodious part

Appendix. 221

adjacent to the said mill without the corn grounds. And further,
it is agreed upon betwixt the said parties that in case the millart
to be employed at the foresaid mill shall be complained upon as
not sufficient for grinding of the corn or discharging the other
parts of his duty thereat, and the same being tried in a Court to

be holden by , with the advice and concurrence of the said

[superior], and the said millart being convicted thereon shall be
fined to double the skaith which any of the inhabitants within
the sucken shall happen to suffer through his default, and shall
be removed at the term of Whitsunday thereafter, and another
sufficient millart placed in his stead."

5. — MALCOLM GILLESPIE'S BOOTY.

At the close of his Memoir, Malcolm Gillespie appended an
abstract of his seizures during his career as an exciseman ; and
which, being made up officially, is probably correct. It will be
more intelligible if it is borne in mind that his period of service
was divided thus — Collieston, 1801-1807 ; Stonehaven, 1807-1812 ;
Skene, 1812-1827. The abstract is as follows :—

Foreign Seizures while stationed at —

Seized. Destroyed.

Colliston, . . 10,000 gals. 15 horses, 15 carts, . . 1000 gals.

Stonehaven, . 4,000 gals. 18 horses, 13 carts, , . 800 gals.
Skene, ... 291 gals.

Other places, . 100 gals. 4 horses, 2 carts, . . 25 gals.

British Seizures made while stationed at —

Colliston, . . . 300 gals. 7 horses, 4 carts.
Stonehaven, . . 500 gals. 17 horses, 12 carts.
Skene, .... 3,759 gals. 92 horses, 33 carts.
Other Places, . . 1,000 gals. 12 horses, 3 carts.

British Seizures destroyed while stationed at —
Colliston, ... 17 stills, 20 gals, aqua, 900 gals. wash.

Stonehaven, . . 20 stills, 100 gals, aqua, 1,000 gals. wash.
Skene, .... 330 stills, 500 gals, aqua, 60,000 gals. wash.
Other places, . . 40 stills, 150 gals, aqua, 500 gals. wash.

Seized since date of last Seizure referred to in the Memoir,
from May 9 to May 19, 1826—

206 gals, aqua, and 3 carts.

PRINTED AT THE FREE PRESS OFFICE, ABERDESX.

The following Books are now ready or pre-
paring for Publication : —

I.

ON POETIC INTERPRETATION OF NATURE. By Principal
SHAIRP, St. Andrews.

[In May.

II.

In the Press, in One Volume, Polio.

SOLIMAN THE MAGNIFICENT, AND THE TURKS IN THE
SIXTEENTH CENTURY. By Sir WILLIAM STIRLING
MAXWELL, Bart., K.T. and M.P. Illustrated by numerous
Facsimiles of rare contemporary Drawings and Portraits.

III.

In Crown 8vo. Price, 7s. 6d.

LETTERS OF THOMAS ERSKINE OF LINLATHEN, FROM
1800-1840. Edited by WILLIAM HANNA, D.D., LL.D.

[Now Ready.

IY.

In One Volume, Crown 8vo., 6s.

THE LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE OF THE SCOTTISH
HIGHLANDS. By JOHN STUART BLACKIE, Professor of
Greek in the University of Edinburgh.
" The way to a mother's heart is through her children ; the way to a

people's heart is through its language." — Jean Paul Richter.

[Now Ready.
V.

In One Volume, Extra Fcap. Svo., 2s. 6d.

SELF-CULTURE: INTELLECTUAL, PHYSICAL, AND
MORAL, A VADE MECUM FOR YOUNG MEN. By

JOHN STUART BLACKIE, Professor of Greek in the University
of Edinburgh. Tenth Edition.

[Now Ready.
VI.

In One Volume, Crown 8vo., 6s.
SERMONS. By the Rev. JOHN KER, D.D. Eleventh Edition.

[Noio Ready.

VII.

In One Vol. 8vo. with Maps, 15s.

CELTIC SCOTLAND : A HISTORY OF ANCIENT ALBAN.
By WILLIAM F. SKENE. Vol. I.— History and Ethnology.

[Now Ready.
VIII.

In One Volume, Demy 8vo. with Maps.

THE CELTIC CHURCH. By WILLIAM F. SKENE, LL.D. Form-
ing the Second Volume of " Celtic Scotland, a History of
Ancient Alban."

IX.

In One Vol., Crown 8vo., 5s.

BOWEN'S DAILY MEDITATIONS, WITH AN INTRODUC-
TORY NOTICE. By Rev. WILLIAM HANNA, D.D., LL.D.
A New Edition,

[Now Ready.
X.

In the Press, in One Volume Ex. Fcap. 8vo., 6s.

HORJE SUBSECIVJE. By JOHN BROWN, M.D. A New Edition,
with a Portrait by James Faed.

XI.

Dedicated by Special Permission to Her Majesty the Queen. Now
Ready, in Two Volumes, 4to, with 1(5 Full-Page Illustrations, Six Guineas.

RECORDS OF THE COINAGE OF SCOTLAND, FROM THE
EARLIEST PERIOD TO THE UNION. Collected by R.
W. COCHRAN PATRICK, of Woodside.

"The most handsome and complete Work of the kind which has ever
appeared in this country."— Numismatic Chronicle, Pt. IV. , 1876.
Only Two Hundred and Fifty Copies Printed.

[Now Ready.
XII.
In the Press, in One Volume, Demy 8vo.

TALES FROM THE NORSE. By Sir GEORGE WEEBE DASENT,
D.C.L. Third Edition, with Introduction and Appendix.

XIII.

In the Press, in One Volume, Fcap. 8vo.
JOHNNY GIBB OF GUSHETNEUK. Fourth Edition.

EDINBURGH :

DAVID DOUGLAS, 9 CASTLE STREET.

9 CASTLE STREET,
EDINBURGH, May 1877.

LIST OF BOOKS

PUBLISHED BY DAVID DOUGLAS.

BLACKIB- Lyrical Poems.

By JOHN STUART BLACKIE, Professor of Greek in the University
of Edinburgh. Crown 8vo, cloth, 7s. 6d.

BLACKIB— The Language and Literature of the
Scottish Highlands. In 1 vol. crown 8vo, 6s.

"The way to a mother's heart is through her children; the way to a
people's heart is through its language." — Jean Paul Richter.
' "Ein Buch, das ich auch deutschen Lesern, und zwar in einem betrSchtlich
weitem Umfange, nicht angelegentlich genug empfehlen kann. . . . Eingehend
wird von den Wurzeln und ihrem Verhaltnisz innerhalb der groszen Sprachen-
familie, von Vocalen und Consonanten insbesondere, von der Regeln der Wort-
und Satzbildung gehandelt, wobei viele sprachliche Alterthumer und einige
Ueberreste an den Tag kommen, welche in den englisch-schottischen Dialekten
fortleben. . . . Mit F. A. Wolfs lebendiger Auffassung vom Ursprunge der
• homerischen Epen vor der Seele weisz er die echten lyrischen Schopfungen der
Vorzeit mit ihrem Ansatz zu epischer Fassung zu erkennen und greift aus den
Resten des wahren Ossian einige kostliche Perlen heraus, wie sie zu Anfang
des 16. Jahrhunderts der Dechant Macgregor von Lismore aufzeichnete. . . .
Das letzte Capitel enthalt eine Reihe anziehender Beispiele gaelischer Dichtung
aus den letzten hundert Jahren. . . . Auch iiber die kiimmerlich gedeihende
Prosa werden lehrreiche Angaben hinzugefugt. "— Dr. Reinhold Pauli.

BLACKIB— Four Phases of Morals : Socrates, Aris-
totle, Christianity, and Utilitarianism. Lectures delivered
before the Royal Institution, London. Fcap. 8vo, second edi-
tion, 5s.

2 BOOKS PUBLISHED BY DAVID DOUGLAS.

BLACKIB— Songs of Religion and Life.
Fcap. 8vo, 6s.

"The poems in this volume may be regarded as a Second Edition of the
second part of my 'Lays and Legends of Ancient Greece,' which has long
been out of print, along with other Poems not hitherto published, and a
few from a volume of ' Lyrical Poems ' previously published, all having one
common object, viz., 'the cultivation of religious reverence without sectarian
dogmatism, and of poetical sentiment tending not so much to arouse the
imagination or to take the fancy, as to purify the passions and to regulate
the conduct of life.' "—Preface.

BLACKIB— On Self-Culture : Intellectual, Physical,
and Moral. A Vade-Mecum for Young Men and Students.
Tenth edition. Fcap. 8vo, 2s. 6d.

" Every parent should put it into the hands of his son." — Scotsman.

" Students in all countries would do well to take as their vade-mecum a little
book on self-culture by the eminent Professor of Greek in the University of
Edinburgh." — Medical Press and Circular.

" An invaluable manual to be put into the hands of students and young
men."— Era.

"Written in that lucid and nervous prose of which he is a master."—
Spectator.

BLACKIB— On Greek Pronunciation.
Demy 8vo, 3s. 6d.

BLACKIE— On Beauty.
Crown 8vo, cloth, 8s. 6d.

BLACKIB— Musa Burschicosa.

A Book of Songs for Students and University Men. Fcap. 8vo,
2s. 6d.

BLACKIE— "War Songs of the Germans.

Feap. 8vo, price 2s. 6d. cloth ; 2s. paper.

BLACKIE— Political Tracts.

No. 1. GOVERNMENT. No. 2. EDUCATION. Price Is. each.

BLACKIB— Homer and the Iliad.

In three Parts. 4 vols. demy 8vo, price 42s.

BOOKS PUBLISHED BY DAVID DOUGLAS. 3

BOWBN— Daily Meditations by Rev. G. Bowen of
Bombay. With Introductory Notice by Rev. W. HANNA, D.D.,
Author of " The Last Day of our Lord's Passion." Third
edition, small 4to, cloth, price 5s. ; or limp roan, red edges,
price 7s. 6d.

" Among such books we shall scarcely find another which exhibits the same
freshness and vividness of idea, the same fervour of faith, the same intensity
of devotion. ... I count it a privilege to introduce in this country a book so
fitted to attract and to benefit."— Extract from Preface.

" These meditations are the production of a missionary whose mental history
is very remarkable. . . . His conversion to a religious life is undoubtedly one
of the most remarkable on record. They are all distinguished by a tone of true
piety, and are wholly free from a sectarian or controversial bias." — Morning
Post.

BROWN— John Leech and other Papers.

By JOHN BROWN, M.D., F.R.S.E. Crown 8vo. [In the Press.

BROWN— Locke and Sydenham, and other Papers.

Extra fcap. 8vo, 7s. 6d.

BROWN— Horse Subsecivae.

Ninth edition. Extra fcap. 8vo, 7s. 6d.

BROWN— Letter to the Rev. John Cairns, D.D.
Second edition. Crown 8vo, sewed, 2s.

BROWN— Arthur H. Hallam ;

Extracted from "Horae Subsecivae," Fcap. sewed, 2s. ; cloth,
2s. 6d.

BROWN— Rab and his Friends ;

Extracted from " Horae Subsecivae." Forty-ninth thousand.
Fcap. sewed, 6d.

BROWN— Rab and his Friends.

Cheap Illustrated edition. Square 12mo, ornamental wrapper, Is.

4 BOOKS PUBLISHED BY DAVID DOUGLAS.

BROWN— Rab and his Friends.

With lUustrations by Sir George Harvey, R.S.A., Sir J. Noel
Paton, R.S.A., and J. B. New edition. Demy quarto, cloth, 6s.

BROWN— Marjorie Fleming: A Sketch.
Fifteenth thousand. Fcap. sewed, 6d.

BROWN— Our Dogs ;

Extracted from "Horse Subsecivae." Nineteenth thousand.
Fcap. sewed, 6d.

BROWN-" With Brains, Sir;"

Extracted from "Horse Subsecivse." Fcap. sewed, 6d.

BROWN— Minchmoor.

Fcap. sewed, 6d.

BROWN— Jeems the Doorkeeper : A Lay Sermon.
6d.

BROWN— The Enterkin.
6d.

CAMPBELL— My Indian Journal,

Containing descriptions of the principal Field Sports of India,
with Notes on the Natural History and Habits of the Wild
Animals of the Country. By Colonel WALTER CAMPBELL,
Author of "The Old Forest Ranger." 8vo, with lUustrations,
16s.

GUMMING— Wild Men and Wild Beasts. Adven-
tures in Camp and Jungle. By Lieut. -Colonel GORDON CUMMING.
— With Illustrations by Lieut. -Col. BAIGRIE and others. Se<xmd
edition. Demy 4to, price 24s.

Also, a cheaper edition, with Lithographic Illustrations.
8vo, 12s.

BOOKS PUBLISHED BY DAVID DOUGLAS. 5

CHALMERS— Life and Works of Rev. Thomas
Chalmers, D.D., LL.D.

MEMOIRS OF THE REV. THOMAS CHALMERS. By Rev. W.
HANNA, D.D., LL.D. Cheap edition. 2 vols. crown 8vo,
cloth, 12s.

DAILY SCRIPTURE READINGS. Cheap edition. 2 vols. crown
8vo, 10s.

ASTRONOMICAL DISCOURSES, Is.

COMMERCIAL DISCOURSES, Is.

SELECT WORKS, in 12 vols., crown 8vo, cloth, per vol., 6s.

LECTURES ON THE ROMANS. 2 volg.

SERMONS. 2 vols.

NATURAL THEOLOGY, LECTURES ON BUTLER'S ANALOGY, ETC. 1 voL

CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES, LECTURES ON PALEY'S EVIDENCES, ETC. 1 vol.

INSTITUTES OF THEOLOGY. 2 vols.

POLITICAL ECONOMY, WITH COGNATE ESSAYS. 1 voL

POLITY OF A NATION. 1 vol.

CHURCH AND COLLEGE ESTABLISHMENTS. 1 vol.

MORAL PHILOSOPHY, INTRODUCTORY ESSAYS, INDEX, ETC. 1 vol.

CHIENB— Lectures on Surgical Anatomy.

By JOHN CHIENE, Assistant-Surgeon, Royal Infirmary, Edin-
burgh. In 1 vol. 8vo. With numerous Illustrations drawn on
Stone by BERJEAU. [In the Press.

CONSTABLE— Archibald Constable and his Literary
Correspondents : a Memorial. By his Son, THOMAS CONSTABLE.
3 vols. 8vo, 36s., with Portrait.

" The cream of a generation of interesting men and women now gone from
among us— these are the subjects of this important memoir. "—Saturday Review.

"These three volumes are decidedly additions to our knowledge of that
great and brilliant epoch in the history of letters to which they refer." —
Standard.

6 BOOKS PUBLISHED BY DAVID DOUGLAS.

"He (Mr. Constable) was a genius in the publishing world The

creator of the Scottish publishing trade."— Times.

" These three volumes are of a singular and lasting interest. " — Nonconformist.

" The third volume (Sir Walter Scott) of this elaborate and interesting history
is almost an independent work." — Athenceum.

"We heartily commend this book to the notice of all readers." — Guardian-.

DASENT— Tales from the Norse.

By Sir GEORGE WEBBE DASENT, D.C.L. Third edition, with
Introduction and Appendix. In 1 vol. demy 8vo. [In the Press.

DUN— Veterinary Medicines ; their Actions and
Uses. By FINLAY DUN. Fourth edition, revised and enlarged.
8vo, 12s.

DUNBAR— Social Life in Former Days ;

Chiefly in the Province of Moray. Illustrated by Letters and
Family Papers. By E. DUNBAR DUNBAR, late Captain 21st
Fusiliers. 2 vols. demy 8vo, 19s. 6d.

ERSKINE— Letters of Thomas Erskine of Lin-
lathen, from 1800 till 1840. Edited by WILLIAM HANNA, D.D.,
Author of the "Memoirs of Dr. Chalmers," etc. In 1 vol.
crown 8vo, 7s. 6d. {Now ready.

" Here is one who speaks out of the fulness of a large living human heart ;
whose words will awaken an echo in the hearts of many burdened with the
cares of time, perplexed with the movements of the spirit of our time, who
•will speak to their deepest needs, and lead them to a haven of rest."— Dai ly
Review.

" It does one good to come in contact with so saintly a man, and Dr. Hanna
has certainly conferred a benefit on the Church at large by editing this
volume." — Edinburgh Courant.

" ' How high must that peak have been which caught the light so early '
were the words with which a writer in the Contemporary Review, in sketching
the life of Thomas Erskine, shortly after his death, characterised his position,
his spirit, and his influence." — Nonconformist.

BOOKS PUBLISHED BY DAVID DOUGLAS.

" It is impossible by brief quotation to communicate the beautiful spirit
which the letters breathe, but we may indicate what Dr. Hanna has so well
done to make the letters answer as nearly as practicable the purposes of a
biography. We take leave of the volume with a hearty commendation of the
purity of spirit it is fitted to impart." — Banff shire Journal.

BRSKINB— The Unconditional Freeness of the
Gospel. New edition revised. Crown 8vo, 3s. 6d.

ERSKINB— An Essay on Faith.
Fourth edition. 12mo, 3s.

ERSKINE— The Spiritual Order, and other Papers

selected from the MSS. of the late THOMAS ERSKINE of Lin-
lathen. Second edition. Crown 8vo, cloth, 5s.

"It will for a few have a value which others will not the least understand.
But all must recognise in it the utterance of a spirit profoundly penetrated
with the sense of brotherhood, and with the claims of common humanity." —
Spectator.

" Very deserving of study."— Times.

FINLAY— Essay to which was awarded the First
Mackenzie Prize for the best Essay on the best means of Im-
proving the Relations between Capital and Labour. By JAMES
FAIRBAIRN FISXAY, M.A. DemySvo, Is.

FLETCHER— Autobiography of Mrs. Fletcher (of

Edinburgh), with Letters and other Family Memorials. Edited
by her Daughter. Second edition. Crown 8vo, 7s. 6d.

" This is a delightful book. It contains an illustrative record of a singularly
noble, true, pure, prolonged, and happy life. The story is recounted with a
candour, vivacity, and grace \vhich are very charming. "—Daily Review.

FORBES— The Deepening of the Spiritual Life.

By A. P. FORBES, D.C.L., Bishop of Brechin. Fifth edition.
ISmo, cloth, price Is. 6d. ; or paper covers, Is. ; calf, red edges,
3s. 6d.

8 BOOKS PUBLISHED BY DAVID DOUGLAS.

FORBES— Kalendars of Scottish Saints, with Per-
sonal Notices of those of Alba, etc. By ALEXANDER PENROSE
FORBES, D.C.L., Bishop of Brechin. 1 vol. 4to, price £3, 3s.
A few copies for sale on large paper, £5, 15s. 6d.

"A truly valuable contribution to the archaeology of Scotland."— Guardian.

"We must not forget to thank the author for the great amount of informa-
tion he has put together, and for the labour he has bestowed on a work which
can never be remunerative. " — Saturday Review.

"His laborious and very interesting work on the early Saints of Alba,
Laudonia, and Strathclyde."— Quarterly Review.

G-AIRDNER— On Medicine and Medical Education.
By W. T. GAIRDNER, Professor of the Practice of Medicine in
the University of Glasgow. Three Lectures, with Notes and an
Appendix. 8vo, 3s. 6d.

GAIRDNER— Clinical and Pathological Notes on
Pericarditis. By W. T. GAIRDNER, Professor of the Practice of
Medicine in the University of Glasgow. 8vo, sewed, Is.

GIBSON, C. P.— Cheerfulness.

By CHARLES P. GIBSON. In 1 vol. fcap., 3s. 6d.

"It depicts, in very graphic and glowing terms, much of the scenery of
this northern district of England, and is therefore sure to be prized very
highly by those Northumbrians into whose hands it may happen to fall.
Apart, however, from its local interest, it has peculiar merits of its own,
and no one can read it without feeling that his own spirit has been en-
livened and elevated by so doing. Its pictures remind us very forcibly of
those of Thomson, Cowper, and Burns. In fact, since Thomson wrote his
'Seasons,' no poem has appeared in this country that so graphically and
beautifully describes the pursuits of rural industry. ' His Muse,' writes Dr.
John Cairns of Berwick, 'at home amidst every glimpse of rural beauty and
sweetness, gilds the living processes of husbandry and sheep-tending rather
than the raids and sieges of other days, and turns away from the death-scenes
of romance to pour the blessed light of a pure and loving sympathy over the
humble abodes scattered all up and down the lovely borderland.' These
words truthfully describe the nature of the poem."— Newcastle Daily Journal.

BOOKS PUBLISHED BY DAVID DOUGLAS.

GORDON— The Home Life of Sir David Brewster.

By his Daughter, Mrs. GORDON. Second edition. Crown 8vo, 6s.

" With his own countrymen it is sure of a welcome, and to the savants of
Europe, and of the New World, it will have a real and special interest of its
own."— Pall Mall Gazette.

GORDON-Workers.

Fourth thousand. Fcap. 8vo, limp cloth, Is.

GORDON— Work; or, Plenty to do and How to do it.

Thirty-fifth thousand. Fcap. 8vo, cloth, 2s. 6d.

GORDON— Little Millie and her Pour Places.

Cheap Edition. Fifty-fifth thousand. Limp cloth, Is.

GORDON— Sunbeams in the Cottage; or, What

Women may do. A Narrative chiefly addressed to the Work-
ing Classes. Cheap edition. Forty-fourth thousand. Limp
doth, Is.

GORDON— Prevention ; or, An Appeal to Economy

and Common Sense. 8vo, 6d.

GORDON— The Word and the World.

Twelfth edition. Price 2d.

GORDON— Leaves of Healing for the Sick and
Sorrowful. Fcap. 4to, cloth, 3s. 6d. Cheap edition, limp
cloth, 2s.

GORDON— The Motherless Boy ;

With an Illustration by Sir J. NOEL PATON, R.S.A. Cheap
edition, limp cloth, Is.

"Alike in manner and matter calculated to attract youthful attention, and
to attract it by the best of all means — sympathy." — Scotsman.

10 BOOKS PUBLISHED BY DAVID DOUGLAS.

GRAHAM—1' Mystifications."

By Miss STIRLING GRAHAM. Fourth edition. Edited by
JOHN BROWN, M.D. With Portrait of "Lady Pitlyal." Fcap.
8vo, 3s. 6d.

HANNA— The Life of our Lord.

By the Rev. WILLIAM HANNA, D.D., LL.D. 6 vols., hand-
somely bound in cloth extra, gilt edges, 30s.

Separate vols., cloth extra, gilt edges, 5s. each.

1. THE EARLIER YEARS OF OUR LORD. Eighth thousand.

2. THE MINISTRY IN GALILEE. Third edition.

3. THE CLOSE OF THE MINISTRY. Sixth thousand.

4. THE PASSION WEEK. Fifth thousand.

5. THE LAST DAY OF OUR LORD'S PASSION. Forty-seventh

thousand.

6. THE FORTY DAYS AFTER THE RESURRECTION. Ninth

thousand.

HANNA— The Resurrection of the Dead.

By WILLIAM HANNA, D.D., LL.D., author of "The Last Day
of our Lord's Passion," etc. Second edition. One vol. fcap.
8vo, 5s.

JOHNNY GIBB of Gushetneuk, in the Parish of

Pyketillim : with Glimpses of the Parish Politics about A.D.
1843. Fourth edition, with a Glossary. 12mo. [In the Press.

" It is a grand addition to our pure Scottish dialect ; ... it is not merely
a capital specimen of genuine Scottish northern dialect ; but it is a capital
specimen of pawky characteristic Scottish humour. It is full of good hard
Scottish dry fun."— Dean Ramsay.

Notes and Sketches Illustrative of Northern Rural
Life in the Eighteenth Century, by the Author of " Johnny
Gibb of Gushetneuk." In 1 vol fcap. 8vo, 2s.

BOOKS PUBLISHED BY DAVID DOUGLAS. 1 1

KBR— Sermons by the Rev. John Ker, D.D., Glas-
gow. Eleventh edition. Crown 8vo, 6s.

" This is a very remarkable volume of sermons. "We have not seen a volume
of sermons for many a day which will so thoroughly repay both purchase and
perusal and re-perusal. And not the least merit of these sermons is, that they
are eminently suggestive." — Contemporary Review.

"The sermons before us are indeed of no common order ; among a host of
competitors they occupy a high class — we were about to say the highest class
— whether viewed in point of composition, or thought, or treatment. " — British
and Foreign Evangelical Review.

LAING— Lindores Abbey, and the Burgh of New-
burgh: their History and Annals. By ALEXANDER LAING,
F.S.A. Scot. 1 vol. small 4to. With Index, and thirteen Full-
page and ten Woodcut Illustrations, 21s.

" This is a charming volume in every respect." — Notes and Queries.

" The prominent characteristics of the work are its exhaustiveness and the
thoroughly philosophic spirit in which it is written." — Scotsman.

"It will repay attentive and minute study on the part even of those who
may be well acquainted with the subject with which it deals. Any one who
peruses it will gain no imperfect idea of the whole past history of religion and
civilisation in this country." — Fifeshire Journal.

" The real value of the volume is certainly not indicated by its title. Lin-
dores Abbey and Newburgh are but the centre around which are clustered
masses of historical, antiquarian, and genealogical lore." — Dundee Advertiser.

"The contents of the volume are full of interest, do the utmost credit to
the author, and give it a strong claim to a pla«e on the shelves of all who have
a taste for reading in the line of his researches." — Daily Review.

" Out of scattered ancient records, both literary and sculptured stones, the
author has produced a most interesting and instructive work." — Dundee
Courier.

"It merits a place beside the standard historical works on our country."—
Perthshire Advertiser.

"The author treats in several very interesting chapters on the subject of
witchcraft, industrial pursuits, and old customs and folk-lore." — Courant.

" We have the pleasant duty of giving unqualified commendation of the
author's valuable work." — Perth Constitutional.

" It is a most valuable contribution to Scottish history." — Ayr Advertiser.

"The thanks of all who are interested in Scottish antiquities and history
are due to the author. "—Spectator.

12 BOOKS PUBLISHED BY DAVID DOUGLAS.

MACLAGAN— The Hill Ports, Stone Circles, and
other Structural Remains of Ancient Scotland. By C. MAC-
LAGAN, Lady Associate of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland.
With Plans and lUustrations. 1 vol. fol., 31s. 6d.

" We need not enlarge on the few inconsequential speculations which rigid
archaeologists may find in the present volume. We desire rather to commend
it to their careful study, fully assured that not only they, but also the general
reader, will be edified by its perusal." — Scotsman.

MACK AY— Memoir of Sir James Dalrymple, First
Viscount Stair, President of the Court of Session in Scotland,
and Author of ' ' The Institutions of the Law of Scotland. " A
Study in the History of Scotland and Scotch Law during the
Seventeenth Century. By JE. J. G. MACKAY, Advocate. 8vo. 12s.

MACPHERSON— Omnipotence belongs only to the
Beloved. By Mrs. BREWSTER MACPHERSON. 1 vol., extra
fcap., 3s. 6d.

MAXWELL— Soliman the Magnificent, and the
Turks in the Sixteenth Century. By Sir WILLIAM STIRLING
MAXWELL, Bart., K.T. and M.P. Illustrated by numerous
Facsimiles of rare contemporary Drawings and Portraits.
In 1 vol. folio. [In the Press.

MILN — Researches and Excavations at Carnac
(Morbihan), the Bossenno, and Mont St. Michel. By JAMES
MILN. In 1 vol. royal 8vo, with Maps, Plans, and numerous
Illustrations in Wood-Engraving and Chromo- Lithography.

PATRICK, R. W. COCHRAN-Records of the Coin-
age of Scotland, from the earliest period to the Union. Col-
lected by R. W. COCHRAN PATRICK of Woodside. Only Two
Hundred and Fifty Copies printed. Now ready, in 2 vols. 4to,
with 16 Full-page Illustrations, Six Guineas.

" The future Historians of Scotland will be very fortunate if many parts of
their materials are so carefully worked up for them and set before them in so
complete and taking a form." — Athenceum.

BOOKS PUBLISHED BY DAVID DOUGLAS. 13

" When we say that these two volumes contain more than 770 records, of
which more than 550 have never been printed before, and that they are illus-
trated by a series of Plates, by the autotype process, of the coins themselves,
the reader may judge for himself of the learning, as well as the pains, bestowed
on them both by the Author and the Publisher." — Times.

" The most handsome and complete Work of the kind which hag ever
been published in this country."— Numismatic Chronicle, Ft. IV., 1876.

Popular Genealogists ;

Or, The Art of Pedigree-making. Crown 8vo, 4s.

RENTON, W.— Oils and Water Colours.
By WILLIAM RENTON. 1 vol. fcap. 5s.

" The book is obviously for the Artist and the Poet, and for every one who
shares with them a true love and zeal for nature's beauties." — Scotsman.

"To have observed such a delicate bit of colouring as this, and to have
written so good a sonnet in the ' strict style,' as that we have quoted, shows
that our author has no common powers either as an observer or a writer. "
— Liverpool Albion.

"To those minds that really hold this joy in beauty, Mr. Kenton's book
will undoubtedly give delight."— Northern Ensign.

ROBERTSON— Historical Essays in connection
with the Land and the Church, etc. By E. WILLIAM ROBEBT-
SON, Author of "Scotland under her Early Kings." In 1 vol.
8vo, 10s. 6d.

ROBERTSON— Scotland under her Early Kings.
A History of the Kingdom to the close of the 13th century.
By E. WILLIAM ROBERTSON. In 2 vols. 8vo, cloth, 36s.

" Mr. Robertson's labours are of that valuable kind where an intelligent
and thorough sifting of original authorities is brought to bear upon a portion
of history handed over hitherto, in a pre-eminent degree, to a specially
mendacious set of Mediaeval Chroniclers, and (not so long ago) to a speciaUy
polemical and uncritical class of modern Historians. He belongs to the school
of Innes and Skene and Joseph Robertson, and has established a fair right to
be classed with the Reeves and Todds of Irish historical antiquarianism, and
the Sharpes, and Kembles, and Hardys in England."-- Guardian.

1 1 BOOKS PUBLISHED BY DAVID DOUGLAS.

SHAIRP— Studies in Poetry and Philosophy.

By J. C. SHAIRP, LL.D., Principal of the United College of
St. Salvator and St. Leonard, St. Andrews. Second Edition.
1 vol. fcap. 8vo, 6s.

SHAIRP— On the Poetic Interpretation of Nature.
By J. C. SHAIRP, LL.D., Principal of the United College of St.
Salvator and St. Leonard, St. Andrews. In 1 vol. crown 8vo.

[In the Press.

SHAIRP— Wordsworth's Tour in Scotland in 1803,

in company with his Sister and S. T. Coleridge ; being the
Journal of Miss WORDSWORTH, now for the first time made
public. Edited by PRINCIPAL SHAIRP, LL.D. Second Edition,
1 vol. crown 8vo, 6s.

" If there were no other record of her than those brief extracts from her
Journal during the Highland Tour, which stand at the head of several of her
brother's poems, these alone would prove her possessed of a large portion of
his genius." — North British Review.

SKBNB— The Pour Ancient Books of Wales,

Containing the Cymric Poems attributed to the Bards of the
Sixth Century. By WILLIAM F. SKENE. With Maps and
Facsimiles. 2 vols. 8vo, 36s.

"Mr. Skene's book will, as a matter of course and necessity, find its place
on the tables of all Celtic antiquarians and scholars."— Archceologia Canibrensis.

SKENB— The Coronation Stone.

By WILLIAM F. SKENE. Small 4to. With Illustrations in
Photography and Zincography. 6s.

SKBNE— Celtic Scotland.

A History of Ancient Alban. By WILLIAM F. SKENE. Vol. I.
Book 1, History and Ethnology. Illustrated with Maps. 15s.

" It is a book of solid and good work, and which ought to be thankfully
welcomed by all who are engaged in any minute study of the early history of
Britain."— Pall Mall Gazette.

"This volume is the first instalment of a work which will bring the early
history of Scotland out of the clouds and mists of artificially constructed

300KS PUBLISHED BY DAVID DOUGLAS. 15

systems of history, exaggerated tradition, and legendary fiction, and into a
real, if still somewhat dim, historic light."— Edinburgh Courant.

"Da ist es denn in der That ein Fortschritt, wenn ein Gelehrter, der sich
die schwierigen, aber unerlaszlichen Sprachkenntnisse erworben und seit
Jahren mit Sichtung der vertrauenswerthen Ueberlieferung von den Trugge-
bilden, welche alles Keltische so leicht bedecken, befaszt hat, die bedeutende
Aufgabe in die Hand nimmt nach stronger Methode die wirklichen Thatsachen
jener Anfangsjahrhunderte hinzustellen. Er hat sich griindlich mit der
einheimischen Literatur von Wales und Trland bekannt gemacht und steht
durch Kenntnisz des Deutschen in verbindung mit den Fortschritten der

sprachvergleichenden Wissenschaft iiberhaupt Ungemein lehrreich

mit Hiilfe einiger Kartchen, deren wissenschaftliche Begriindung wohl
verdient von der neuen Ausgabe des Historischen Atlas von Spruner-Menke
fiir die britannische Abtheilung ernstlich in Betracht gezogen zu werden, ist
Alles, was ein so genauer Kenner seiner Heimath, wie Skene es ist, hinsicht-
lich der physikalischen und ganz besonders der geschichtliehen, Geographic

derselben beibringt Linguistik, Ethnographic, Topographic und

Kritik der historischen Quellen greifen fur diese wichtige Epoche des
Uebergangs wirkungsvoll in einander, wie es meines Wissens bisher in
keinem anderen Werke geschehn ist."— Gdttingische gelehrte Anzeigen.—
Dr. R. PAULI.

SKENB— Celtic Scotland.

A History of Ancient Alban. Vol. II. Book 2, Church and
Culture. In 8vo. With Maps, 15s.

SKENE— Celtic Scotland.

A History of Ancient Alban. Vol. III. Book 3, Land and
People. [In preparation.

SMALL— Scottish Woodwork of the Sixteenth and
Seventeenth Centuries. Measured, Drawn, and Lithographed
by J. W. SMALL, Architect. In one folio volume with 100
Plates. [In the Press.

SMYTH— Life and Work at the Great Pyramid.
With a Discussion of the Facts ascertained. By C. PIAZZI
SMYTH, F.R.SS.L. and E., Astronomer-Royal for Scotland.
3 vols. demy 8vo, 56s.

16 BOOKS PUBLISHED BY DAVID DOUGLAS.

SMYTH— An Equal-Surface Projection for Maps of

the World, and its Application to certain Anthropological
Questions. By C. PIAZZI SMYTH, F.R.SS.L. andE., Astronomer-
Eoyal for Scotland. 8vo, 3s.

SOUTHBSK— Britain's Art Paradise ; or, Notes bn
some Pictures in the Royal Academy, 1871. By the EARL OF
SOUTHESK. 8vo, sewed, Is.

SOUTHESK — Saskatchewan and the Rocky

Mountains. Diary and Narrative of Travel, Sport, and Adven-
ture, during a Journey through part of the Hudson's Bay
Company's Territories, in 1859 and 1860. By the EARL OF
SOUTHESK, K.T., F.R.G.S. 1 voL demy 8vo, with Illustrations
on Wood by WHYMPER, 18s.

SOUTHESK— Herminius.

A Romance. By I. E. S. Fcap. 8vo, 6s.

STRACHAN-What is Play?

A Physiological Inquiry. Its bearing upon Education and
Training. By JOHN STRACHAN, M.D., Jun. In 1 vol. fcap.

Reasoning at every step he treads,

Man yet mistakes his way,
While meaner things, whom Nature leads,

Are seldom known to stray.

WILSON- Reminiscences of Old Edinburgh.

By DANIEL WILSON, LL.D., F.E.S.E., Professor of History and
English Literature in University College, Toronto, Author of
' ' Prehistoric Annals of Scotland, " etc. etc. 2 vols. post 8vo.

DA
812

Alexander, William

Notes and sketches
illustrative of northern
rural life

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CARDS OR SLIPS FROM THIS POCKET

UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO LIBRARY