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diff --git a/12483-h/12483-h.htm b/12483-h/12483-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ad5c473 --- /dev/null +++ b/12483-h/12483-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,15593 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<html> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8"> +<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Reminiscences of Scottish Life and Character, by Edward Bannerman Ramsay, et al</title> +<style type="text/css"> + <!-- + P { margin-top: .75em; + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; } + blockquote {text-align: justify; + margin-left: 15%; + margin-right: 15%;} + .loc {text-align: right; + margin-right: 20%} + .poem {margin-left:15%; margin-right:15%; text-align: left;} + .poem .stanza {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;} + .poem p {margin: 0; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem p.i1 {margin-left: 1em;} + .poem p.i2 {margin-left: 2em;} + .poem p.i3 {margin-left: 3em;} + .poem p.i4 {margin-left: 4em;} + .poem p.i5 {margin-left: 5em;} + .poem p.i6 {margin-left: 6em;} + .poem p.i7 {margin-left: 7em;} + .poem p.i8 {margin-left: 8em;} + .poem p.i9 {margin-left: 9em;} + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; } + HR { width: 33%; } + hr.full { width: 100%; + height: 5px; } + a:link {color:blue; + text-decoration:none} + link {color:blue; + text-decoration:none} + a:visited {color:blue; + text-decoration:none} + a:hover {color:red} + pre {font-size: 9pt;} + --> +</style> +</head> +<body> +<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 12483 ***</div> +<h1>The Project Gutenberg eBook, Reminiscences of Scottish Life and Character, +by Edward Bannerman Ramsay, et al</h1> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr class="full" noshade> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h1>REMINISCENCES</h1> +<h4>OF</h4> +<h1>SCOTTISH LIFE & CHARACTER</h1> +<br> +<h4>BY THE LATE E. B. RAMSAY, LL.D., F.R.S.E.</h4> +<h5>DEAN OF EDINBURGH</h5> +<br> +<h4><i>TWENTY-SECOND EDITION, ENLARGED,<br> +WITH THE AUTHOR'S LATEST CORRECTIONS AND ADDITIONS</i></h4> +<br> +<h3>AND A MEMOIR OF DEAN RAMSAY BY COSMO INNES</h3> +<br> +<h5>1874</h5> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CONTENTS.</h2> +<br> +<center><a href="#MEMOIR_OF_DEAN_RAMSAY.">MEMOIR OF DEAN +RAMSAY</a><br> +<br> +<a href="#PREFACE">PREFACE TO TWENTY-SECOND EDITION</a><br> +<br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_THE_FIRST.">CHAPTER I.<br> +INTRODUCTORY</a><br> +<br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_THE_SECOND.">CHAPTER II.<br> +SCOTTISH RELIGIOUS FEELINGS AND OBSERVANCES</a><br> +<br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_THE_THIRD.">CHAPTER III.<br> +ON OLD SCOTTISH CONVIVIALITY</a><br> +<br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_THE_FOURTH.">CHAPTER IV.<br> +ON THE OLD SCOTTISH DOMESTIC SERVANT</a><br> +<br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_THE_FIFTH.">CHAPTER V.<br> +SCOTTISH JUDGES</a><br> +<br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_THE_SIXTH.">CHAPTER VI.<br> +ON HUMOUR PROCEEDING FROM SCOTTISH EXPRESSIONS,<br> +INCLUDING SCOTTISH PROVERBS</a><br> +<br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_THE_SEVENTH.">CHAPTER VII.<br> +ON SCOTTISH STORIES OF WIT AND HUMOUR</a><br> +<br> +<a href="#CONCLUSION.">CONCLUSION</a><br> +<br> +<a href="#INDEX.">INDEX</a></center> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="MEMOIR_OF_DEAN_RAMSAY."></a>MEMOIR OF DEAN +RAMSAY.</h2> +<h3>I.</h3> +<br> +<p>The friends of Dean Ramsay desiring a memorial of his life, his +friendly publishers, and his nearest relatives, have asked me to +undertake the work, and placed in my hands some materials giving +authentic facts and dates, and illustrating the Dean's own views on +the leading events of his life.</p> +<p>I feel myself excluded from dealing with one important part of +such a life, for I could not take upon me to speak with confidence +or authority upon church doctrines or church government. On the +other hand, for the <i>man</i> I have that full sympathy which I +suppose ought to exist between the writer and the subject of the +biography.</p> +<p>We were very old friends, natives of the same district, bred +among a people peculiar in manners and language, a people abounding +in a racy humour, differing from what prevails in most parts of +Scotland--a peculiarity which it was the joy of the Dean to bring +before his countrymen in his <i>Reminiscences</i>; and although he +and I were not kindred of blood, his relatives and friends were +very much mine, and my uncles and aunts were also his.</p> +<p>Edward Bannerman Burnett, known in after life as Edward Ramsay, +and Dean of Edinburgh, was born at Aberdeen on the last day of +January 1793. His father, Alexander, second son of Sir Thomas +Burnett, Baronet, of Leys, was an advocate, and sheriff of +Kincardineshire, where the family estates lay. The sheriff was of +delicate constitution, and travelled in the south of Europe for his +health, until obliged to fly from the French Revolution; and at +Aberdeen, the first place where he and his wife stopped, Edward was +born. The Dean's mother was Elizabeth, the elder daughter of Sir +Alexander Bannerman of Elsick, and she and her sister Mary, +afterwards Mrs. Russell, were co-heirs of his estates in the pretty +valley of the Feugh, including the whole parish of Strachan, of +which the southern part, looking over into the <i>How</i> of the +Mearns, was Mrs. Burnett's portion; the northern, with the +beautiful bank of Dee where Blackhall stands, falling to Mrs. +Russell. Both sisters were eminently handsome. I have a tradition +of the young ladies, when they first came from their York school to +Edinburgh, being followed and gazed at by passengers in the +streets, for their beauty; and there are many still living in +Edinburgh who long after gazed with admiration on the fine old +lady, the Dean's mother, bending over her embroidery frame in her +window in Darnaway Street.</p> +<p>Alexander Burnett and his wife Elizabeth Bannerman had a large +family. Edward, the fourth son, when very young, was taken by his +grand-uncle, Sir Alexander Ramsay, and sent to school near his own +house at Harlsey in Yorkshire. Edward's first school, to which he +was sent in 1801, made a remarkable impression upon the Dean's +memory. "I believe," he says, "at that period (the very beginning +of the century) it was about the most retired village in England +not of a mountainous district. No turnpike road went through the +parish. It lay in the line of no thoroughfare. The only inhabitants +of education were the clergyman, a man of great simplicity of +character, who had never been at the University, and my +great-uncle, of above fourscore, and a recluse. The people were +uneducated to an extent now unusual. Nearly all the letters of the +village were written by my uncle's gardener, a Scotchman, who, +having the degree of education usual with his countrymen of the +profession, and who being very good natured, had abundant +occupation for his evenings, and being, moreover, a prudent man, +and <i>safe</i>, became the depository of nine-tenths of the family +secrets of the inhabitants. Being thus ignorant generally, and few +of them ever having been twenty miles from the place, I may +consider the parish fifty years behind the rest of the world when I +went there, so that it now furnishes recollection of rural people, +of manners and intelligence, dating back a hundred years from the +present time. It was indeed a very primitive race; and it is +curious to recall the many indications afforded in that obscure +village of unmitigated ignorance. With all this were found in full +exercise also the more violent and vindictive passions of our +nature. They might have the simplicity, but not the virtues, of +Arcadia.... There were some old English customs of an interesting +nature which lingered in the parish. For example, the old habit of +bowing to the altar was retained by the rustics on entering church, +and bowing respectfully to the clergyman in his place. A copy of +the Scriptures was in the vestry <i>chained</i> to the desk on +which it lay, and where it had evidently been since that mode of +introducing the Bible was practised in the time of Edward VI. The +passing bell was always sounded on notice of the death of a +parishioner, and sounded at any hour, night or day, immediately on +the event happening. One striking custom prevailed at funerals. The +coffin was borne through the village to the churchyard by six or +eight bearers of the same age and sex as the deceased. Thus young +maidens in white carried the remains of the girl with whom they had +lately sported. Boys took their playfellow and companion to the +churchyard. The young married woman was borne by matrons; the men +of middle age did the same office for their contemporary.... The +worship of the little church was, as may be supposed, extremely +simple, and yet even there innovation and refinement had appeared +in the musical department. The old men who used to execute the +psalmody, with the clerk at their head, had been superseded. A +teacher of singing had been engaged, and a choir, consisting of +maidens, boys and men, executed various sacred pieces with the +assistance of a bassoon and violin. I recollect in the church a +practice which would have shocked the strict rubricians of the +present day. Whenever banns of marriage were proclaimed, +immediately after the words 'This is the first, second, or third +time of asking,' the old clerk shouted out, 'God speed them weel.' +In nothing was the primitive and simple character of the people +more remarkable than in the social position of the clergy amongst +them. The livings were all small, so that there was no temptation +for ecclesiastics of birth and high position in society to come +there. The clergy were in many cases clergy only on Sundays, and +for Sunday duty. The rest of the week they were like their people; +engaged in agriculture or horse-breeding, they lived with their +servants, and were scarcely raised above the position of farmers. +To show the primitive manners of many clergymen, I may mention the +case of an usher in my school, who was also curate. He enjoyed the +euphonious name of Caleb Longbottom. I recollect his dialect--pure +Yorkshire; his coat a black one only on Sunday, as I suppose he was +on week days wearing out his old blue coat which he had before +going into orders. Lord Macaulay has been charged that in +describing the humble social condition of the clergy in the reign +of Charles II., he has greatly exaggerated their want of refinement +and knowledge of the world; but really, from my recollection of my +friend Mr. Longbottom and others at the time I speak of, in the +reign of George III., I cannot think he has overdrawn the picture. +Suppose this incident at a table in our own time:--My uncle lived +in what is called in Yorkshire the Hall; and being principal +proprietor in the parish, he was in fact the squire or great man. +The clergy always dined at the hall after evening service, and I +recollect the first day the new curate dined. The awkwardness and +shyness of the poor man were striking, even to the eyes of a +thoughtless schoolboy. He summoned courage to call for beer, and, +according to the old custom, deemed it necessary to drink the +health of all present before he put the glass to his lips. He +addressed first the old gentleman, then the vicar, then myself, and +finally, with equal solemnity, drank to the servants in +attendance--the old butler and coachman, who were waiting upon the +company<a name="FNanchor1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1">[1]</a>."</p> +<p>I value these reminiscences of his Yorkshire school, written +long after, because I think them very curious; and they show how +early Edward Ramsay had his eyes open to characteristic features of +the people.</p> +<p>Ramsay's grand-uncle, the old Sir Alexander Ramsay, died in +1806, neglecting to make the provision which he had intended for +his grand-nephew, but leaving his estates to his nephew, Edward's +father, who then gave up his sheriffship (in which he was succeeded +by Adam Gillies), and being a Whig and of Whig family, accepted a +baronetcy from Mr. Fox, and made Fasque his home for the short +remainder of his life.</p> +<p>The future Dean was not fortunate in schools. On his father's +succeeding to the family estates he quitted Harlsey indeed, but +only to move to Durham, which left no more pleasant memories in his +mind than the other, although there he learned to blow the flute, +and indulge his strong musical taste. He writes of Durham school +that it had fallen off terribly, from the increasing infirmities of +the head master, and Ramsay was anxious to leave it, when that move +came naturally by the death of his father<a name= +"FNanchor2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2">[2]</a>. Writing in his +journal some time afterwards, he says, "What was I to do? I was +determined to go into the Church, and must go to college. How was +the intermediate period to be spent?" His first private tutor was +the Rev. J.H. Browne, at Kegworth in Leicestershire, afterwards +Archdeacon of Ely. "Here," says Edward, "I did learn something both +of books and of the world. Browne was a scholar, and my +fellow-students were gentlemen and knew something of life." He next +lived for a time with Mr. Joynes, a clergyman, at Sandwich in Kent, +and went from thence, in October 1811, to Cambridge.</p> +<p>He entered as a pensioner at St. John's, and although professing +to be a reading man, he was not eminently satisfied with the +effects of the society into which he fell upon his habits and +accomplishments. "Not," he says, "that I had not really good +associates, but somehow it seems not to have been the best and such +as I might have had." Another defect was his not having a skilful +and effective private tutor at a time when he felt that he stood +specially in need of one. "I could not form my reading habits +alone, and I had not sufficient help. I did enough, however, to +show I was not an ass. I got a scholarship. I was twice in goodish +places in the first class. I had a name for flute-playing;" and +then, ending this retrospect, which he wrote with some disgust, he +tells how he left Cambridge in his third year, going out B.A. with +no contest for honours. His college vacations were spent either in +London with college friends, or with a reading party under +Wilkinson, the tutor, at Redcar. In gathering up his recollections, +he says he saw a good deal of society: one summer was very musical; +of another which he spent at home he enumerates his +occupations--"botany," "music," "Deeside." Through all, his study +was theology, but in "small doses" he says. His brother Marmaduke +joined him on the Christmas holiday of 1816, when they worked +together at the cryptogamics, and then went up to Cambridge +together--Edward to renew his theological studies with the help of +the formal lectures at the University. He spent the remainder of +that season at Bath with friends and relatives. He speaks of the +Bath society, its gaiety, theatricals, music--some rich clergymen +giving good dinners, and brother Marmaduke coming for his long +vacation to a farm-house two miles from Bath, "where we had some +good botanical fun. Can it be that the finding a new plant put us +in a state of ecstasy? How we treasured up specimens! How we +gloried in our collections! But it has all passed away; no chord is +touched." To some, who think of the Dean as the reverend, pious, +grave, even melancholy man, these youthful reminiscences may appear +unnatural, even unworthy. I must own that there breaks out now and +then in his journal something which shows that he himself was not +satisfied with many of these juvenile memoranda, as if they showed +unfitting occupation and education of a young clergyman. But that +was not their real nature. Those small studies and accomplishments +took the place in his early training which the cricket-match or the +boat-race now take in the school time of Young England. The Dean +speaks somewhat contemptuously--"Here I got a smattering of +astronomy," and again of his studies of cryptogamics and botany; +but he nevertheless felt the full benefit of such accomplishments. +His music, his passion for rural and especially Highland scenery, +the enjoyments of society, the love of seeing others happy, the +joining of happiness with goodness, made the Dean what he was in +after life, and enabled him to take that position amongst his +countrymen which a purely theological upbringing would not have +done.</p> +<p>But now our young cleric was to put away childish things, and to +take upon him the duty of his high calling. He was ordained at +Wells, and officiated for the first time as curate of Rodden, near +Frome, Somerset, on Christmas day 1816.</p> +<p>Rodden is a very small village, of one or two farms and some +labourers' cottages, nestling round the little church, with a few, +very few, outlying houses or farms. It lies among meadows on each +side of the rivulet which runs through the village. One of the +outlying houses is "Styles Hill," inhabited by one family of the +Sheppards, all of whom soon became dear friends of the Dean. +Another was the "Pear-tree" Cottage, an uninteresting red brick +house, where Mr. Rogers provided a residence for the young curate. +The incumbent of the parish, when Ramsay went there, was the Rev. +John Methwen Rogers of Berkley, who was non-resident. The duties of +Rodden were too small to employ his whole time, and in the +following year (1817) Ramsay became curate also of Buckland Dinham, +the rector of which was non-resident and lived at a distance, so +that the curate had the sole charge of the parish. In his work at +Buckland, Ramsay took great delight, and soon won the hearts of his +people, although many of them were Wesleyan Methodists of the old +type<a name="FNanchor3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3">[3]</a>. But it +was not only amongst the peasantry that Ramsay was beloved. All the +upper and middle classes in his own little parishes, and through +the whole valley, regarded him with strong esteem and affection, +and amongst them were persons whose character, and even whose +little peculiarities of language, he caught and remembered. One of +these, a retired Captain Balne, although he failed in prevailing on +the young clergyman to take a glass of grog, his own favourite cure +for all ailments, was pleased when the curate came to take a dish +of tea with him and his gentle wife. Once, when Ramsay was ill, the +grief in the parish was universal; but he used to say that the +greatest proof of attachment was given by Captain Balne, who +happened to be enjoying his dinner when the news of his friend's +illness reached him, upon which he laid down his knife and fork, +and declared he could not take another mouthful. Captain Balne had +a peculiar phraseology. One phrase, in particular, was, "If I may +be allowed the language," which came readily on all occasions. If +he was asked "How is Mrs. Balne to-day?" the Captain would reply, +"She is quite well, I thank you, Mr. Ramsay, if I may be allowed +the language;" or ask him, "Have you a good crop of apples this +year?" "Pretty middling, sir, if I may be allowed the language." +The constant recurrence of the phrase struck Mr. Ramsay, who quoted +it long after in his letters to his Frome friends--"I am glad to +say my congregation at St John's continues good--if I may be +allowed the language."</p> +<p>Buckland is a larger village than Rodden, containing nearly 500 +inhabitants. The two places are five miles apart. Buckland is on +the brow and slope of a steep hill, the church being on the summit, +and the irregular street descending from it on the Frome side, with +many cottages scattered about among orchards and meadows. So the +curate of Buckland, living at the Pear-tree Cottage in Rodden, +required a pony for locomotion, which he showed with some pride to +his neighbours on first buying it. It was an iron-gray, and a +sedate clerical pony enough, to which he gave the name of +Rumplestiltskin, after one of Grimm's popular stories; and whenever +he spoke of him or to him, he gave him his name at full length. The +country and some of the places round Buckland are very interesting. +On the west is one of the entrances to Vallis, a grassy valley +bordered by limestone rocks, and trees and copse, with a +trout-stream winding through it. There, when the labours of the day +were done, the Sheppards and he would spend a summer afternoon +sketching and botanising, whilst tea was prepared at a neighbouring +farm.</p> +<p>Vallis opened into several other vales, and on the heights above +were the picturesque villages of Elm and Skells, and the ruined +nunnery and massive old castle, the old seat of Delameres, renowned +for a defence in the Cromwellian wars. Mr. Ramsay proposed in jest +to fit up the castle as a dwelling, and bring all his friends to +live there. Another time he was for fitting it up as a museum. It +would make, he said, a splendid place for a <i>hortus siccus</i>--a +"great ornament to our ponds and ditches<a name= +"FNanchor4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4">[4]</a>." The writer of these +trifles excuses herself for collecting them, because she knew the +value which is attached to the least of the sayings and doings of a +departed friend; but we are assured, that even in those Arcadian +regions life was not always holiday. There was some serious work. +The curate took great pains on the future interests as well as the +characters of his little flock.</p> +<p>In one family he acted the part of the truest of friends--gently +reproving the little ones when they deserved it, and ready to amuse +when it was the time for amusement--sometimes taking them to Bath +for the day, and making them very happy, bestowing at the same time +great pains on their instruction--sometimes practising music with +them, and accompanying their sonatas on his incomparable +flute--recommending to the governess a higher style of music, +leading them on gradually to the works of Beethoven and Mozart. By +and by he gave them instructions in architecture; taught them, as +he said, all that he had learned from Rickman. His teaching was +minutely technical. He would assemble his class in a little morning +room, with books before them, and a case of mathematical +instruments, pens and pencils. His pupils wrote what he saw fit to +dictate, and he taught them how to use the compasses. Next came +botany, which was not a new study to his pupils. There his brothers +assisted him. They made a joint <i>hortus siccus</i> under his +instruction. Edwin contributed many specimens from Scotland, and +Marmaduke made a little collection of mosses. But they had to thank +the curate for yet higher and better instruction. His younger +pupils were not excluded from the most earnest conversations +between him and Mr. Algar, Mr. John Sheppard, and some friends of +the neighbouring gentlemen and clergy. In these conversations books +were read and criticised, theological and other subjects, including +some politics, were discussed. Ramsay was quizzed for Whiggish +tendencies. The mistress of the house usually joined and set them +right in politics, for she had been brought up in Plymouth during +the French war, and had learned the old-fashioned Tory doctrine, +and to think any other politics sinful. But all those high subjects +of politics and religion were discussed with fitting respect; for +that society--young and old--had a deep sense of religion, and the +parents encouraged the younger members to visit and instruct the +workmen and their families who were employed in the large cloth +manufactories of the Sheppards; so that it came to pass that every +man, woman, and child was taught or helped to teach others, for in +those days very few of the working-people, at least in that part of +England, could read at all. A lending library was attached to the +mills. A large Sunday school was formed, chiefly for the children +of the workpeople, and additional services were undertaken by the +curate--a second sermon on Sundays besides one on Thursday +evenings, where the families of the neighbourhood attended, and as +many of the servants as could be spared. There, be sure, was no big +talk on the primary obligation of orthodoxy, no attempts to +proselytise. But all classes of that primitive people valued his +preaching, and farmers and their labourers, the workmen of the +factories, as well as their masters, took advantage of it. His +brothers often visited him, and joined heartily in his pursuits +whether gay or serious. It was delightful to see the three brothers +so happy in each other's society, and helping on a worthy common +object. Marmaduke, the Cambridge man, would talk astronomy, and +William, the sailor, afterwards Admiral Ramsay, brought down a fine +telescope, and himself gave them their first lesson in practical +astronomy, handing over the instrument when he left to his brother +the curate, that he might continue the instruction.</p> +<p>During all these years of useful, cheerful, happy employment at +Frome, Edward Ramsay never forgot the land of his forefathers and +of his own youth. He sometimes visited Bath and London to hear +Edward Irving preach, to see Kean act, to stare at old books and +prints in the shop windows, to revel in the beauties of Kew +Gardens; but every summer he found time for a visit to Scotland, +and spent his holiday with boyish delight amongst the scenes and +friends of his childhood.</p> +<p>It was on one of those visits to Scotland, in the autumn of +1822, whilst Mr. Ramsay was spending his holidays among his friends +on Deeside, that the managers of St. Paul's Chapel, Aberdeen, +offered him the place of second minister to that congregation, +along with Mr. Cordiner. He was much gratified, and would gladly +have accepted the appointment. He liked the place--his native town; +thought highly of the respectability of the congregation; but there +was one objection, which to him was insuperable. The congregation +had for some time been Episcopal only in name, and it went against +Mr. Ramsay's conscience to minister in a church calling itself +Episcopal, but without the communion or discipline of a bishop. He +explained to the managers his objection, and thought for a time it +might be overcome by a union with the Scotch Episcopal churches in +the diocese. He had yet to learn the strength, of the Scotch +prejudice against bishops; perhaps to learn that the more shadowy +the grounds of dispute, so much the more keenly are ecclesiastical +squabbles fought. Worthy Bishop Skinner would have been glad to +have Ramsay a fellow-labourer in his city upon whatever conditions. +Yet he could not contradict his younger friend's honest and +temperate adherence to his principles and to Episcopacy. The +correspondence all round, which I have before me, is quite +decorous; but after Ramsay had stated his objection, and that it +was insuperable, the managers wrote to him, 1st October 1822, that +"a unanimous election would follow if he accepted the situation +under the present establishment." It would have been easy to divide +the congregation, but this did not suit Ramsay's feelings or +nature, and he courteously bowed to the decision of the managers, +and returned to Frome, where his income from both curacies was +£100 a year,--a poverty the more irksome to a man of culture +and refined tastes.</p> +<p>Not long after (still, I think in 1823), the Journal +records--"Mrs. Forbes, my aunt, had just come into her accession of +fortune, and presented me with £5000. A man may live many +days in this world, and not meet the like gift in a like kindly +spirit<a name="FNanchor5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5">[5]</a>."</p> +<p>Of the year 1823 the Journal remarks very severe winter. +"Marmaduke and Edwin with me at the Pear-tree<a name= +"FNanchor6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6">[6]</a>; a delightful tour in +South Wales with the Sheppards and other friends most agreeable and +good-humoured,--botany, sketching, talk, and fun. Life has few +things to offer more enjoyable than such tours. I have found in +them the happiest hours in my life." And then follows the wail for +so "many of them departed; so many dear good friends; all +different, but all excellent!"</p> +<p>Marmaduke having gone as tutor to Lord Lansdowne's eldest son, +Edward was more free to consider an offer from Edinburgh, and +ultimately accepted the curacy of St. George's in York Place, under +Mr. Shannon. He preached his two last sermons at Rodden and +Buckland on Christmas day 1823.</p> +<blockquote>FOOTNOTES:</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor1">[1]</a> +<i>Reminiscences</i> (Second Series, 1861). +Introduction.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor2">[2]</a> +May 10, 1810.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor3">[3]</a> +Some account of his dealings among the Methodists may be found in +the <i>Sunday Magazine</i>, January 1865, edited by the Rev. Dr. +Guthrie. The paper is titled "Reminiscences of a West of England +Curacy."</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor4">[4]</a> +This was a favourite quotation of Ramsay's, who was amused with the +remark of Withering's or Woodward's botany, repeated in his letters +for long after:--"The organ at St. John's gives universal +satisfaction--a great ornament to our ponds and +ditches."</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor5">[5]</a> +Mrs. Forbes, the sister and aunt of so many Burnetts and Ramsays, +lived the latter part of her life at Banchory Lodge, in the middle +of that "Deeside" country, where the future Dean spent many of his +happy holidays, and learned much of the peculiar ways of that +peculiar people. There were no two ladies in Scotland more esteemed +and beloved than the Dean's aunts on both sides--Mrs. Russell, his +aunt and mine, living in widowhood at Blackhall, and Mrs. Forbes at +Banchory Lodge, three miles apart, on the opposite banks of Dee. +Mrs. Forbes died 1st February 1838.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor6">[6]</a> +His dwelling near Frome.</blockquote> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2>II.</h2> +<br> +<p>The Dean was passionately fond of Deeside. Let me indulge myself +in looking back upon that district such as he knew it, such as I +remember it sixty years ago.</p> +<p>The natural features of Deeside are not changed. The noble river +pours down its brown flood as of old, hurrying from its wooded +rocky highlands. On the prettiest part of its bank stands Crathes, +the finest of Aberdeenshire castles, the immemorial seat of the +Burnetts, where Edward Ramsay, himself a Burnett, was received with +all the love of kindred, as well as the hearty respect for his +sacred profession. I daresay Crathes was not to him quite what I +remember it. But we were of different professions and habits. I +will say nothing of the chief sport of Dee, its salmon-fishing. +However fascinating, the rod is a silent companion, and wants the +jovial merriment, shout and halloo, that give life and cheerfulness +to the sport of the hunter. My recollection of Deeside is in its +autumn decking, and shows me old Sir Robert and my lady, two gentle +daughters and four tall stalwart sons--they might have sat for a +group of Osbaldistones to the great painter Walter Scott. I will +not describe the interior of the old house, partly because it was +changing, and every change appeared to me for the worse; but no one +would forget the old hall, where Kneller's picture of Bishop +Burnett still looks down on his modern cousins and their +hospitality. It was a frank and cordial hospitality, of which the +genial old bishop would have approved. The viands were homely +almost to affectation. Every day saw on that board a noble joint of +boiled beef, not to the exclusion of lighter kickshaws; but the +beef was indispensable, just as the <i>bouilli</i> still is in some +provinces of France. Claret was there in plenty--too plentiful +perhaps; but surely the "braw drink" was well bestowed, for with it +came the droll story, the playful attack and ready retort, the +cheerful laugh--always good humour. A dinner at Crathes was what +the then baronet, old Sir Robert, would call the "best of good +company."</p> +<p>Another part of the house I well remember--the place, half +gun-room, half servant's hall--where we prepared for sport in the +morning, and brought the day's bag home at night. Prominent figures +there were two brothers Stevenson, Willie and Jamie, known for +twenty miles round as the "fox-hunters," known to us, after the +southern sporting slang had been brought among us by our neighbour +Captain Barclay, as "Pad-the-hoof" and "Flash-the-muzzle<a name= +"FNanchor7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7">[7]</a>" The fox-hunting was +on foot, but let no mounted hunter sneer. The haunts of the game +were continuous woods and bogs, hard to ride and from which no fox +could be forced to break. "Pad-the-hoof" looked no ignoble +sportsman as he cheered his great slow-hounds through the thicket, +and his halloo rang from the wood of Trustach to the craigs of +Ashintillie. Both were armed, but "Flash" took less charge of the +hounds than seeing to death the fox, the enemy of all, including +the roe, which recent plantations had raised into an enemy. I must +say nothing on foot or wing came amiss to Flash-the-muzzle's gun. +Hares and rabbits, not then the pest of the country, swelled our +bag. We had a moderate number of black game, and the fox-hunters +were somewhat astonished to find that we of the gentry set much +store by woodcock, which bulked so little in the day's sport. The +fox-hunter brothers had the run of the servants' hall at Crathes, +and they were said to have consumed fabulous numbers of kitchen +pokers, which required to be heated red-hot to give the jugs of ale +of their evening draught the right temperature and flavour. That +was a free-living community. The gentlemen of the house were too +much gentlemen to stand upon their dignity, and all, from the +baronet downwards, had the thorough appreciation of Deeside humour. +It was there that the Dean learned his stories of "Boatie" and +other worthies of the river-side. Boatie himself was Abernethy, the +ferryman of Dee below Blackhall; he hauled his boat across the +river by a rope made fast at both ends. Once, in a heavy water, the +rope gave way, and Boatie in his little craft was whirled down the +raging river and got ashore with much difficulty. It was after +this, when boasting of his valiant exertions, that Mrs. Russell put +him in mind of the gratitude he owed to Providence for his escape, +and was answered as the Dean himself tells us in his +<i>Reminiscences</i>. Another of the water-side worthies, "Saunders +Paul," was nominally the keeper of the public-house at Invercannie, +where the water of Cannie falls into Dee. It was the alehouse of +the country, but frequented much more by the gentry than by the +commons. It was there that Mr. Maule in his young days, not yet +Lord Panmure, led the riots and drank his claret, while Saunders +capped him glass for glass with whisky and kept the company in a +roar with Deeside stories. Old Saunders--I remember him like +yesterday--was not a mere drunken sot or a Boniface of the +hostelry. He had lived a long lifetime among men who did not care +to be toadied, and there was a freedom and ready wit in the old man +that pleased everybody who was worth pleasing. Above all, there was +the Deeside humour which made his stories popular, and brought them +to the ear of our Dean.</p> +<p>That was the left side--the Crathes bank of Dee. Across the +river was the somewhat dilapidated fortalice of Tilquhillie, the +seat of an ancient and decayed branch of the Douglases. The last +laird who dwelt there lived in the traditions of Deeside as own +brother to the Laird of Ellangowan in Scott's romance. Ramsay has +put him well on canvas. Who does not remember his dying +instructions to his son and his grieve?--"Be ye aye stickin' in a +tree, Johnny; it will be growin' when ye are sleepin'!" while he +cautions the grieve, "Now mind that black park; it never gied me +onything, ne'er gie onything to it."</p> +<p>In the days when the Dean knew that Water-side the fortalice was +uninhabited, and I think not habitable for gentlefolks; but down on +the haugh below, and close to the river in a pretty garden-cottage, +dwelt the old Lady Tilquhillie, with her son the sheriff of the +county, George Douglas, whom a few Edinburgh men may yet remember +as the man of wit and pleasure about town, the <i>beau</i> of the +Parliament House--at home a kind hospitable gentleman, looking down +a little upon the rough humours that pleased his neighbours. The +old lady--I think she was a Dutch woman, or from the Cape of Good +Hope--and her old servant, Sandy M'Canch, furnished the Dean with +many a bit of Deeside life and humour; and are they not written in +the <i>Reminiscences!</i></p> +<p>Higher up the river were two houses where the Dean was much +beloved--Banchory Lodge, his uncle General Burnett's, where also +lived his dear aunt, the widowed Mrs. Forbes; and Blackhall, where, +in the time I have in my mind, lived his aunt, Mrs. Russell, the +widow of my uncle Francis Russell, a woman of many sorrows, but +whose sweet voice and silver laugh brought joy into the house even +amidst sickness and sorrow<a name="FNanchor8"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_8">[8]</a>. She had not the Deeside language, but she +and her sister Lady Ramsay, Yorkshire women, and educated in the +city of York, helped to give the Dean that curious northern English +talk which he mixed pleasantly with the language of Angus and +Mearns that he loved so well; and he inherited from the Bannermans +the sweet voice, so valuable an inheritance to a preacher.</p> +<p>I have gone over less than a dozen miles of the valley of the +Dee, which was the Dean's Deeside. I think the manners and popular +thought, as well as the language of that little district, were +peculiar, and fitted to catch the attention of an eager student of +human nature and character. Deeside, in its wider acceptance, of +course includes the great city at its mouth, and the picturesque +mountains of Mar near the source of the river, where the Queen has +now set her mark of favour on the land. I beg to distinguish +Deeside--the Dean's Deeside--lying between these. The city of +Aberdeen, with its trade and manufacture and wealth, with its +University and schools, and some tradition of the antique +metropolis, has established, as she had good right, habits and +language of her own, not to be mistaken, but almost confined to her +own walls. On the other hand, the mountains of Mar, where lie the +springs of the Dee, where tower Lochnagar and Benmacdhui, are +inhabited by a race of shepherds and hunters, speaking a different +language, differing in manners from the Dean's friends, who dwelt +from the Hill of Fair to Ashintillie, where hardly a Gaelic name +occurs among the peasantry.</p> +<p>The little cluster of mansions which I have mentioned lies, I +think, wholly within the parish of Banchory-Ternan. Following the +river down from that parish, the next place of any importance is +the old manor-house of Durris, some half-dozen miles lower, and on +the right bank of the river. It is a place of some interest to +lawyers for having given rise to one of the leading cases on the +law of entail, which settled points that had formerly been +doubtful, all in favour of the strict entail. The victim in that +case, ejected by the heir of entail, was John Innes, who had sold +his property in Moray to invest the produce in the great barony of +Durris. The new tenant, believing himself almost proprietor, built +a comfortable house under the walls of the old castle, and in that +house was born the writer of these notes. I do not feel myself +severed by any disgusts from the country of my youth where I spent +my best years, or at least the years of most enjoyment. It was then +a wild moor, with some natural beauty, a picturesque den leading +from the house to the noble river, wooded with native birch and +scrubby oak, with some tall larches and magnificent +horse-chestnuts, and even a few immemorial Spanish chestnuts +planted by the old Peterboroughs, now all gone. Along that river +bank were some of the broadest haughs with which I am acquainted, +and some of the best salmon streams, then woods and sheep pastures +and a dozen miles of heather hills--up to Cairn-monearn and +Kerloach--giving the best grouse-shooting in the country. It is in +truth a charming water-side even in the eyes of a critical old man, +or of a tourist in search of the picturesque; but for a boy who +lived there, shot, and fished there, while all the houses round +were the dwellings of cousins and friends, while game was not yet +let for hire, it was a place to win that boy's heart, and I loved +it very heartily. We were the nearest neighbours on one side of +that cluster of residences of the Burnetts and Douglases and +Russells which I have tried to describe. We were all very good +friends, and thus the Dean and I were early acquainted.</p> +<p>I have said little of the Dean's ancestors, merely named the +Burnetts and Bannermans. Indeed I would guard against loading my +memoir of the Dean with anything like mere pedigree. I take no +interest in his ancestry, except in so far as they may have given a +character--so far as he may have inherited his personal qualities +from them. I will not dwell then upon Alexander de Burnard, who had +his charter from Robert the Bruce of the Deeside lands which his +descendants still hold, nor even on the first Lairds of Leys. When +the Reformation blazed over Scotland, the Baron of Leys and his +kindred favoured and led the party that supported the new faith; +but, even in that iconoclastic age, two of them are found +protesting against the destruction of religious places at Aberdeen. +One, Gilbert Burnett (he was grand-uncle of the Bishop of Sarum), +enjoyed considerable reputation abroad for certain philosophical +writings. He was Professor of Philosophy, first at Basle and +afterwards at Montauban, and a general synod of the French +Protestants desired that his works should be printed at the expense +of the synod. These <i>Dissertationes Ethicæ</i> were +accordingly published at Leyden in 1649; but his death prevented +his other writings from being published. Two brothers of the same +generation, Thomas and Duncan, settled in England as physicians, +and seem to have been men of literary eminence. Pedigrees of both +are to be found in the Herald's Visitations of Essex and Norfolk. +Duncan, Thomas, and Gilbert, are all noticed by Sir Thomas +Middleton among the "Learned Men and Writers of Aberdeen;" and +Duncan is noted as a holy, good, and learned man. In the stirring +times of the Covenants, Sir Thomas Burnett of Leys, Baronet, though +an adherent of the Huntlys, embraced the Covenant from +conscientious motives against his political instincts and +associations. And ever afterwards we find him firm in the +principles of the Covenant, yet advising peaceful and moderate +counsels; and when Montrose, after his conversion to the royal +cause, passed through Aberdeenshire, harrying the lands of the +leading Covenanters, he supped one day at Crathes, excepted and +protected Sir Thomas Burnett and his son-in-law, Sir William Forbes +of Monymusk, in the general denunciation of the Puritans. We find +Sir Thomas repeatedly a commissioner for visiting the University of +Aberdeen, and in his later years he endowed three bursaries at +King's College, his own <i>alma mater</i>. Jamesone has painted him +with a thoughtful and refined, but earnest and manly face. The +baronet's brother, James Burnett of Craigmyle, was of the same +character. No less earnest and staunch than his brother in his +adherence to his principles--he ever figures as a peace-maker and +enemy of bloodshed. He is described by the parson of Rothiemay, an +unsuspected testimony, as a "gentleman of great wisdom, and one who +favoured the King though he dwelt among the Covenanters, and was +loved and respected by all." Is it not plain that the temperance +and moderation descended in the blood of the Burnetts?</p> +<p>Thomas Burnett of Kemnay, grandson of Craigmyle, is known in a +sphere where few Scotsmen had entered. He was a courtier of that +remarkable little court of the Electress Sophia of Hanover, where +he became the friend of the philosopher Leibnitz, correspondent of +the poet Dryden, and his letters are full of curious gossip on the +most various subjects--theology, philosophy, literature, including +poetry and the small talk of the day. He was greatly employed and +trusted by the Electress Sophia. His son George was noted as an +agriculturist, and his grandson, Alexander Burnett of Kemnay (by a +daughter of Sir Alexander Burnett of Leys), was long British +Secretary of embassy at Berlin, and attended Frederick the Great in +the campaigns of the Seven Years' War; remaining at the Prussian +Court as Chargé d'Affaires after Sir Andrew Mitchell's +death.</p> +<p>James, third son of Craigmyle the Covenanter, married a daughter +of the family of Irvine of Monboddo, a scion of the house of Drum, +and having so acquired that barony, he transmitted it to his +descendants, of whom the most famous was his great-grandson, James +Burnett, Lord Monboddo, a Judge of the Court of Session, an eminent +lawyer, and a man of rare accomplishments, with some whimsical +peculiarities. In a treatise on the origin and progress of +language, he was the first seriously to assert the descent of +mankind from the monkey, and that the human race were originally +furnished with tails! That and a hundred other whimsies were mixed +up with a great deal of learning then very rare, and with a +philosophy that dealt in free and daring speculation, of which the +world was not yet worthy.</p> +<p>The first baronet of Leys, besides his brother James of +Craigmyle, had yet another brother, Robert Burnett of Crimond, an +eminent advocate, very learned, and of high moral and religious +principle. Though his wife was a sister of Johnstone of Warriston, +he himself, unlike his two brothers, was an opponent of the +Covenant, for which he went into exile until the Restoration, when +he was made a Judge of the Court of Session as Lord Crimond. He had +three sons by the Warriston lady. His eldest, Sir Thomas Burnett, +was physician to royalty from Charles II to Queen Anne. The third +was Gilbert, Bishop of Salisbury, of whom it is not my intention to +give any detailed account. His brilliant talents and great +influence made him many friends, and even more enemies. History is +beginning to do justice to his character without concealing his +weaknesses. He seems to have been more honest than was the fashion +in his time.</p> +<p>Such is the little gathering of family history, for the accuracy +of which I am chiefly indebted to my kind friend the Lord +Lyon--himself a Burnett. Perhaps I should apologise for saying even +the little I have said of the Dean's pedigree; but while I press +into my service the country of his birth and breeding, and the +local peculiarities amongst which his life was spent, as possibly +having some influence on his character, I could not resist the wish +to show another element, drawn from his ancestry, that went to the +forming of that character. Was not our Dean a worthy representative +of Puritan leaders who refused to go into the violence of the +Covenant--of the Bishop of unreproached life, who read the +Thirty-nine Articles with an unconcealed desire to include +conscientious Dissenters--of many peaceful gentlemen on the banks +of the Dee, who mixed a happy playful humour with a catholic +reverence for that Christianity which he could recognise in other +sects, though preferring his own?</p> +<blockquote>FOOTNOTES:</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor7">[7]</a> +The present generation of Burnetts think that those slang names +were invented by Barclay, but I knew him well, and venture to doubt +his humorous powers. In the midst of "sporting" and violent +excitement he was serious in talk, as became the descendant of the +old Quakers.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor8">[8]</a> +Mrs. Russell had lost her two sons by a strange fatality--both were +drowned, the elder, Lockhart, while skating at Bath, about 1805-6, +James, the younger, in crossing the river Dee in a boat rowed by +himself in 1827.</blockquote> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2>III.</h2> +<br> +<p>Edward Ramsay left Somersetshire amidst the general regrets of +his parishioners and neighbours, and entered on his Edinburgh +career 1st January 1824. The journal which I am now using has not +hitherto spoken much of the differing opinions of his brother +clergymen, although there is sometimes a clergyman noted as "very +low," and elsewhere, one branded as a "concealed Papist." But in +Edinburgh--it is vain to conceal it--every profession must be +broken into parties. He found Edinburgh, or rather I should say the +Episcopal Church in Edinburgh, then theologically divided between +the Evangelicals, headed by the Rev. Edward Craig and the +old-fashioned Churchmen, the rather moral school, of which Mr. +Alison was the distinguished ornament. Mr. Ramsay went to St. +George's Chapel, York Place, as Mr. Shannon's curate, in the +beginning of 1824, and remained doing that duty for two and a half +years. He then went to St. Paul's, Carrubber's Close, where he +laboured for a year.</p> +<p>In 1825 Ramsay "toiled on" with sermons and wrote a series on +the Articles. "A great improvement," he says, "must have taken +place in Edinburgh, for unquestionably the sermons I then got +credit for we should all think little of now<a name= +"FNanchor9"></a><a href="#Footnote_9">[9]</a>." In 1826 he left Mr. +Shannon's chapel, and took the single charge of the quaint old +chapel of St. Paul's, Carrubber's Close. Amongst the events +recorded of the year was the acquaintance he made by officiating at +the funeral of Lady Scott, Sir Walter's wife. In 1827 he mentions a +change, "a considerable move to me, which, under God, has been a +good one." He closed with an offer of the curacy of St. John's, +under Bishop Sandford, when he was thirty-seven years of age. In +spring he was ill, and went to visit his old place and friends in +Somerset.--"Interesting, very: received at my old curacy of +Buckland with much joy, and on the whole enjoyed my visit." At +Whitsunday 1827 he came home to enter on St. John's with Bishop +Sandford, being thus half of 1827 in Carrubber's Close and half in +St. John's. I was in Edinburgh then, and can well remember what +general favour accompanied Mr. Ramsay in church and society. +Perhaps he was not prepared for the vehemence of church dissensions +among us. I do not think there was at that time so bitter war +between churchmen of the same profession in England, but the +Episcopal Church, of whatever section, had made great progress then +in Scotland. Its fine liturgy, and more decorous ceremonial, had +attracted some. Many of the heads of country families round +Edinburgh have been educated in England, and many of them have +married in England--both circumstances tending to keep up their +attachment to the Episcopal Church; and in their houses the +scholarly, accomplished, agreeable clergyman of the Episcopal +Church was a welcome guest, as well as an adviser and influential +friend.</p> +<p>In summer of 1827 the journal tells us his brother Marmaduke +paid him a visit. "We read some Italian--I got a notion of +Dante."</p> +<p>At the commencement of 1829 he enters in his journal--"This was +a most important year indeed, the year of my marriage; and what +event has been to me so joyful, so full of interesting +recollections?" He tells that in the summer a visitor came to +Scotland--a friend of Lady Dalhousie, and recommended by her to +Lady Robert Kerr, at whose house they met. The lady was Isabella +Cochrane, of the well-known Canadian family; writing in 1844 he +says--"Fifteen years of close acquaintance with that lady have +taught me the best commentary upon the Scripture declaration that a +'virtuous woman is a crown to her husband.' I need not say more +than that I believe I owe mainly to her (under Providence) my +comfort, success and position here. But let this suffice. None but +myself can know my full obligations." Next year begins--"As 1829 +gave me a wife, 1830 gave me a church, for on the 14th January +Bishop Sandford died, and the whole charge was offered to me, which +I undertook for three years without a curate--i.e. without a +man-curate, for a most effective assistant I had in dearest +Isabella, who wrote to my dictation many a weary hour."</p> +<p>Except a little parcel of letters touching the negotiation with +Bishop Skinner, and the Aberdeen congregation in 1822, I find no +letters of Ramsay till he wrote to one of the dear old friends at +Frome announcing a visit with his wife.</p> +<br> +<center>Mr. RAMSAY to Miss STUART SHEPPARD, Fromefield,<br> +Frome, Somerset.</center> +<p class="loc">7 Albany Court,<br> +London, 9th June [1831].</p> +<blockquote>My dear Stuart, I have been in such a whirl and such a +turmoil since I came here that I have hardly had time to collect my +scattered thoughts to write you a line. I have seen much and heard +much, but shall not attempt to give you any account <i>now</i>, as +I hope (please God) we shall meet ere long. Mrs. Ramsay's +brother-in-law, the Bishop of Nova Scotia, is here--he preached the +annual sermon for the anniversary meeting of the Charity Children +in St. Paul's. I went as his chaplain, but of this more hereafter. +He has been very urgent upon us to protract our stay here through +all next week, but I have resisted his importunities, as I am +really desirous of taking as much time as I can at Frome. We +accordingly fix Tuesday for leaving London. We stay that day at +Windsor with a friend, come to Winchester, Romsey, Salisbury, on +Wednesday, and on Thursday the 16th, I hope to see you all in +health and comfort. Dear Stuart, I shall be happy, really happy, to +be amongst you once more. It is to me like coming <i>home</i>. Do +not wait dinner or make any arrangements, because our hour of +arrival is uncertain. We may be detained till the evening seeing +sights. Mrs. E.B.R. eats nothing (literally), and I daresay your +common dinner may furnish <i>me</i> with a meal. Mrs. Ramsay +desires kindest love; she is not looking well, and I hope, after +the racket here, she will improve upon Frome quiet. God bless +you.--Your affectionate</blockquote> +<br> +<p class="loc">E.B.R.</p> +<blockquote>Marked--"First visit to F.F. with wife, June +9,1831."</blockquote> +<br> +<br> +<center>Mr. RAMSAY to Miss STUART SHEPPARD, Fromefield.</center> +<p class="loc">Woburn, Friday night, 1st July [1831].</p> +<blockquote>We are sure that our very dear friends at Fromefield +will be interested in hearing of our progress and welfare, and as +we have a few extra minutes this morning, we are determined to +devote them to a party now living in the hearts of <i>all</i> the +wanderers with whom they so lately and so grievously parted: the +<i>weather</i> even <i>sympathised</i> on Tuesday evening, and all +the comfort we had was in talking over individually the whole +Fromefield concern. My brother, who is <i>slow</i> in making +friends, and shy of strangers, softened into tender friendship +under the influence of such kindness, and vows that if he had such +friends he would travel annually from Edinburgh to see them. He has +put one sprig of verbena from Stuart in one pocket, another sprig +from Jane in another pocket, and a piece of painted glass from +Elizabeth in another pocket. How lucky it is that his dress should +be so abundantly supplied with the accommodation of so many +receptacles for reminiscences! Our next grief after leaving you was +the not seeing Cousin John! We were sadly disappointed. We did not +get into Clifton till near ten; the rain would prevent his coming +to meet us, and the next morning we very provokingly missed each +other, though Mr. Ramsay consoled himself with writing a note. How +much I hope and trust that we are all to meet next year! We were +delighted with our drive from Chepstow to Ross--the Wye scenery is +exquisitely beautiful; we exhausted ourselves and our epithets in +exclamations, and the day seemed made for the magnificent view from +the Wynd Cliff, and then we came to Tintern Abbey! How often we +wished for our Chedder party--how often we talked over the pleasure +we would have in admiring all this beauty with them, and how often, +like spoiled children, we wondered why all this enjoyment should +not have accompanied us to Monmouth! but good-night, my very dear +friends--I shall leave the letter in better hands for finishing, I +am so sleepy!!<br> +<br> +[Mr. Ramsay]--We have seen many things of which the ingenious and +very learned Dr. Woodward would say that they were "great ornaments +to our ponds and ditches." But of this enough, and more than +enough. Allow me to take this opportunity of expressing my +satisfaction at finding how completely Mrs. E.B.R enters into the +friendship which has so long existed between <i>us</i>, and at +seeing how fully prepared she is to appreciate your kindness to +myself and her; in short, to find that she loves you all now, as if +she had known you as long as I have. May we never lose sight of +these feelings! We saw Oxford to-day--a good thing, but in detail +not equal to Cambridge--in general effect far superior. Gloster +pleased me: the tower and cloisters surpassingly fine. People do +not roar enough about the steeple of St. Mary's, Oxford--it is +<i>the finest</i> in England, superior I think to that of +Salisbury. Are you aware that there is a modern church at Oxford in +the pure Norman style? My visit to Frome has given me (except in +parting) unmixed satisfaction. I cannot say how much I have been +gratified, and with what pleasure I look forward to a renewal. I +must to bed, my eyes cannot discern the place to write in, and I am +sleepy. Adieu, dearest friends, one and all at the Field of Frome, +the Hill of Styles, the cottage of Keyford, etc. I rejoice to think +that my good friend <i>Kay</i> is safe. Good-night! Woburn looks +well--"a great ornament," etc.<br> +<br> +Marked by Mrs. Clerk--"Written on their way from F.F.--first +visit."</blockquote> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<center>Mr. RAMSAY to Miss BYARD, Fromefield, Frome,<br> +Somerset.</center> +<p class="loc">Edinburgh, Dec. 17, 1831,</p> +<blockquote>My dearest Friend, They have told me that you are not +well, and neither time nor distance can take away the feeling of +regard and friendship with which I sympathise with all that occurs +to you. I confess myself that I was some time since disposed to +look on all things around me with an anxious aspect; but I am +beginning to see in <i>all events</i> but a part of that +dispensation which is so gloriously distinguished as the work of +<i>love</i>, and I think that public calamity or private sorrow, +sickness, pain, weariness and weakness, <i>may</i> all be +translated into the same language, and may be arranged as synonyms +of the same word. Yes! piety, goodness, the favour and approbation +of God, are all marked out by sorrow and infirmity here. Why else +did the blessed Jesus tabernacle here below--a man of sorrows? and +why else was he acquainted with grief? It might make a Christian +almost drink his cup of sickness and pain with <i>greediness</i> +when he remembers that he is tasting the same cup as that of which +his Lord drank, and he might hail with rapture the outstretched arm +of death and suffering as about to place on his head the diadem of +eternal glory. I am not to flatter you--you need it not, you ask it +not; but, my friend, you must feel and know that you have been +walking with God, walking <i>humbly</i>, doing good, neither +trusting to false presumptions nor to your own merits. Christ has +been <i>your</i> master, to Him you have looked, and, blessed be +God! He will never, never forsake those who trust to Him,--those +who are good to others for his sake,--those who seek redemption +through Him. Where, O ye years that are past, have you gone? You +have carried to the throne of grace many an act of contrition, many +a devout prayer, many a good deed, many an offering of faith, from +the friend to whom I now write. Bring back, ye moments that are to +come and which shall be granted to her in this world, rich +consolations, promises of pardon, assurances of favour, all +spiritual blessings! Dear Miss Byard, may all these be yours in +full abundance. May God the Father bless you, through the Eternal +Spirit, for Christ's sake! This is the sincere and earnest prayer +of your affectionate and faithful friend,</blockquote> +<br> +<p class="loc">E.B.R.</p> +<br> +<br> +<blockquote>In this I am joined by Isabella.<br> +<br> +Marked--"It arrived just after her death."</blockquote> +<p>In his journal Mr. Ramsay speaks of Bishop Sandford with a very +grateful recollection. To him he owed his preferment, and a "more +agreeable charge could not well be had." He characterises him as a +man of elegant mind and accurate scholarship, of deep piety and +sincere faith. I think it is with some regret that he adds, the +"state of the Church is much changed since his episcopate."</p> +<p>His dear brother Marmaduke died in the summer of 1831, and the +Dean, who is no exaggerator of his feelings, remarks--"This is one +of the sorrows for which language is inadequate. Such a mind, such +taste, abilities, and accomplishments!" Edward Ramsay felt that +nothing could make up for the loss of his brother, but he had +comfort in thinking how much his brother's mind had been wakened to +religious inquiries. His simple notes in his journal are sometimes +worth preserving. "July 6, 1833, was the finest day I ever +remember." He passed it in the Highlands with Professor Forbes, +Skenes, and other delightful friends. On the 28th he left for the +Duke of Sutherland's funeral; afterwards he repaired to Leamington +and Dr. Jephson, whose skill he soon found reason to admire. On +leaving Leamington he thanks God that he has gained in health, and +learnt also wisdom in regard to the "management of myself, and +certainly in diet." It is not necessary to record the little tours +with his wife, which now happened almost every season, either to +Deeside or the Highlands or his old haunts in Somerset. On July 2, +1836, I find it recorded that he went with a party to hear Dr. +Chalmers at the Dean Church, and returned all in great delight. He +made a long journey that year to hear the great organ at +Birmingham, and came home by many cathedrals, and yet "glad to get +home."</p> +<p>In 1838 he notes, after a Highland journey, the "Synod was this +year for altering the canons," He notes a "white-stone visit to the +Stranges, Ross-end Castle, with the Bells. Alas! how many things +and people are gone."</p> +<p>In 1839 "Lady Dalhousie, my admired friend, came to stay with +us. She came January 19, and on the 22d died in the drawing-room in +an instant! It was an awful visitation, and never to be +forgotten."</p> +<p>The following letter, written immediately after the calamity, is +from the Marquis of Dalhousie, from various circumstances an object +of great affection to the Dean, who consented to take charge of his +daughters when he went as Governor-General to India, bestowing on +them the care and anxious watchfulness which the young ladies +returned with hearty affection:--</p> +<br> +<br> +<center>The MARQUIS OF DALHOUSIE to DEAN RAMSAY.</center> +<p class="loc">Dalhousie Castle, 25th January 1839.</p> +<blockquote>My dear Mr. Ramsay--I have sent John in, partly because +I am anxious that you should let me know how Mrs. Ramsay is to-day, +and partly because I cannot rest till another evening without +endeavouring to express to you some portion of the very, very deep +gratitude which I feel for all your kindness--for the kindness of +your every act and word, and--I am just as confident--of your every +thought towards us all in this sad time. <i>God knows how truly I +feel it</i>: and with that one expression I stop; for it makes me +sick to think how slow and how coldly words come to clothe the +feeling which I wish to convey to you. Believe only this, that to +my own dying day I never can forget your goodness. Believe this +too--that since it has pleased Almighty God that my poor mother's +eyes should not he closed under my roof, and by my hand, I would +not have wished any other place for her departure than among +friends so kindly, loving, and so well loved.<br> +<br> +God bless you and repay it to you, prays your ever grateful and +affectionate friend,</blockquote> +<br> +<p class="loc">DALHOUSIE.</p> +<blockquote>Rev. E. B. Ramsay.</blockquote> +<br> +<p>February 27, 1839.--"My uncle General Burnett died; another limb +of the older generation gone; a good and kind man; a man of the +world, and not a clever one. Latterly he showed a considerable +desire to know more about religion. Went with J. Sandilands to be +present at the formation of a branch of the Church Society at +Glasgow--made a regular speech!" On September 4th he writes--"The +first day of meeting of the general committee for business of the +Scottish Episcopal Church Society. I gave a large dinner. Much have +I worked for this society, and done better things than give +dinners. By the by William Ramsay [his brother the admiral] made a +capital speech." On March 5, 1841, it is noted, Bishop Walker +died--"a good man. His mind cast in a limited mould of strong +prejudices; but a fair man, strictly honest in all his ways. He was +not fitted to unravel difficulties in his episcopate, and scarcely +suited to these times. He had been a furious opponent of the old +evangelicals. A constant and kind friend to me. May his memory be +honoured. Bishop Terrot elected bishop. I am very grateful to think +that in all this business I can look with satisfaction upon +everything that has been done by me."</p> +<p>From this time Mr. Ramsay's thoughts were very much taken up +with the Episcopal Church Society, and he records in his journal +most of its meetings, and the English friends who came across the +Borders to help them. He mentions also a Scotch Presbyterian +churchman who became convinced of the apostolical authority of +episcopacy--"an excellent man." Then a visit of Mr. ----, "an +accomplished and able man, somewhat strong of the popish leaven." +That was in 1842, and on the margin is written--"Gone over to the +Church of Rome, 1845." He mentions also the "stupid business at +Portobello and squabbles," and his going down to make peace. On +September 4th we have some things which seemed important at their +time--the Queen's visit to Scotland. He says, "It was a stirring +subject for old Scotland." "This day, 4th Sept., I read prayers and +preached before her Majesty, and also dined and sat near Prince +Albert and the Queen. In the evening presented to the Queen and +Prince Albert, and introduced to Sir Robert Peel." Then comes the +cry--"All vanity of vanities!" At the end of this month the Bishop +of London--"very agreeable"--was in Edinburgh, and the Dean +accompanied him to Glenalmond, to see the proposed site for Trinity +College. In 1843 he mentions the death of a friend, who, he feared, +died an infidel: "However, I have no wish to proclaim his errors. +To me he was ever kind and considerate. Let us leave judgment to +Him who cannot err." In June of that year he paid a visit to +England, spent Sunday at Leeds, and was much interested with Dr. +Hook and his church. "I have considerable dubitation as to the +expediency of making the services of our parish churches choral." +He went on to London and Oxford, where it was long vacation, but he +met with great kindness from the heads of University College and +Exeter. "Magdalene is faultless."</p> +<p>After mentioning some visitors in March 1844, he +writes--"Dickens's Christmas Carol really a treat, a thoroughly +wholesome book." On the 8th April he was present at the lunch given +to the children of the Episcopal poor in the Old Town. "This, I +trust, is the commencement of a scheme to bring some actually poor +into our church. I made a speech, and, to my astonishment, rather a +good one." After a pretty long tour in the south of England he +comes home in August 1844, and notes a letter from the Bishop of +London, containing the offer of the Bishopric of New Brunswick, in +a handsome and gratifying manner. "I think I was right to refuse. +May God forgive me if it was an improper shrinking from duty." +October 14, 1844: "I have now brought up this record of my life's +transactions to the present time, and my purpose is, in future +journalising, to take the leading points, to notice subjects only, +painful, joyful, or difficult. All my thoughts since the offer of +the New Brunswick mitre have confirmed the correctness of my +judgment." October 17, 1844: "I am trying to repeat the experiment +of last week, and write my sermon over again. I see clearly that in +such work we cannot take too much pains: dinner at Lord Medwyn's +to-day--very pleasant--rather an exception this to dinners: how +dull the routine! October 22: succeeded in my resolution of +rewriting the whole of my sermon, and found the advantage; in fact, +nothing in the way of public speaking can be done without a +thorough preparation. How high parties are running! It has a sad +effect on my mind; but my refuge must be in keeping off controversy +and adhering to edifying and practical subjects." In the same month +he records the death of a dear friend, whom he visited on his +deathbed. "Nothing," he says, "could be more satisfactory than his +state of mind;" the Dean lost a kind Christian, attached and +delightful friend. "I was glad to be able to answer his scruples +and fears about being an object of Christ's mercy and pardon." +December 11, 1844, he lost his mother--"simple-minded," he says, +"as a child. Oh! what a break of the family circle! It seems as if +the last link which bound us together were broken, and a point +vanished round which we could always rally. I went with Lauderdale +to see the poor remains, so attenuated, and yet the countenance +like itself, still beautiful, and fine features." The funeral made +the Dean very sad. She was followed to the grave by two sons, a +son-in-law, two grandsons and distant cousins. Mr. Alison read the +service, and she was buried beside her old friend of fifty +years--poor Mrs. Macdonald.</p> +<p>1844: "Christmas day morning, Communion 78, in all 404; the +church so full. I preached an old but a good sermon." He has a +Christmas dinner of a few friends, but not much Christmas spirit, +he says. In 1845, January 12, the journal notices--"I preached my +liturgy sermon, and apparently with much success." Some of his +congregation had spoken of it as worthy to be printed. He saw a +good deal of company in his own house, whom I do not think it +necessary to particularise, though they were generally of +distinction for talent or rank, or both together. He heard C. +Kemble read Henry VIII., which "I did much enjoy. Will. Shakspeare +when most known is most admired." On 19th January he preached a +sermon, but his note upon it is not like the last. "I liked it, but +it did not seem to take as I had expected. Have been much +meditating this week on many matters, Church especially: find +myself unsettled, I fear, but I think I have the remedy, which is +to keep my attention fixed rather on practical than on speculative +points. We cannot agree on the one; on the other we may, and good +men do." March 2, 1845: "I confess that the Romanising tendencies +so openly avowed in the Church of England alarm me. The question +occurs, Is not this a necessary, or at least a natural tendency of +High Churchism?" Speaking of meetings of his Synod, he says "it is +wretched work, which ended, indeed, in doing nothing." One member +had spoken with much bitterness, which he says, "thank God, I do +not feel." 3d April 1845: "We are in a nice mess about this Old +Town business. Two different communion offices in one day in the +same chapel. Is it possible that this could ever have been +contemplated by the canon? I do fear the extreme and Romanising +party, and they hurt us here. The Scotch office is supposed to +identify us with them, and certainly the comments upon it make it +speak a language very different from the English."</p> +<p>June 19.--"Left home in the 'Engineer' coach at seven, travelled +through to London without stop, and arrived there at one o'clock: +wonderful the shortening of this journey; went with a party to +Handel's Athalia at Exeter Hall; tired, fagged, and sleepy as I +was, I yet felt deeply the power of the mighty master in this his +mighty work. Yes, Handel is the greatest musician the world ever +saw."</p> +<p>July 18, 1845.--"Returned to London: did little more there: +arrived in Edinburgh for Mr. Sandiland's marriage, a great stretch +of friendship in me, for it has discomposed all our summer plans." +On 15th August there is an entry too characteristic to be +omitted:--"Have been thinking a great deal about the state of +matters at present, and the sort of demeanour I should exhibit to +the world. I should be very cautious--hardly give an opinion if +conflicting statements, and certainly not gossip about +them--certainly not speak harshly or severely of any. Keep my own +course, work hard, and endeavour to conciliate; rather lean to high +than low side." November 10, 1845: "at a meeting to hear Dr. +Simpson, Mr. Macfarlane, and Norman Macleod give an account of +their mission to North America: interesting. Macleod a real clever +fellow."</p> +<p>26th November 1845.--"The consecration of Dalkeith Chapel: we +went out and stayed the day; all good and well managed: Sermon +preached by Rev. E. B. R: approved: three bishops, twenty clergy. +It is really a fine thing for a man to have done; a beautiful +chapel; hope it won't be extreme."</p> +<p>Dec. 2.--"Warden to College appointed; looks like business!"</p> +<p>Dec. 7.--"Heard astonishing news--William appointed to the +'Terrible, the largest steam man-of-war in the service--in the +world."</p> +<p>Dec. 14, 1845.--"Sermon on Christ the True Light. Collection for +Scottish Episcopal Church Society, £151."</p> +<p>15th March 1846.--"Sermon, 'Am I your enemy because I tell you +the truth?' Here a sad blank, for I have been very ill, and out of +chapel two Sundays, and could not go to confirmation, and all sorts +of horrors. I have communed a good deal with myself, and I have +made up my mind to a conduct and demeanour in Church matters almost +neutral. I positively will not again mix myself up in any way with +party, or even take part. I will confine myself to St. John's and +its duties. This is my <i>line</i>--hear what every one has to say, +and keep a quiet, conciliatory, and even tenor. It is more striking +the more I think of the different way in which different minds are +affected by religious truth." ...</p> +<p>April 16.--"Synod meeting and Society. I took the moderate and +conciliatory side. Did right this time."</p> +<p>April 29.--"Preached the Casuistry sermon. Mrs. R. made it A +20."</p> +<p>June 1.--"Busy preparing for journey;" he leaves home for his +summer holiday "with rather less spirit and expectation of +enjoyment than usual."</p> +<p>Mr. Ramsay was appointed Dean of the Diocese of Edinburgh by +Bishop Terrot in 1846, after having previously declined, as we saw, +the dignity of the Bishopric of New Brunswick, offered him by Sir +Robert Peel. He afterwards refused the Bishopric of Glasgow in +1847, and the Coadjutor-Bishopric of Edinburgh in 1862.</p> +<p>And now is the beginning of constantly recurring complaints of +depression--low spirits, a "cloud upon my spirits; headache, even +pain and violent pain." He was disappointed at not getting to see +the "Terrible;" was low and depressed. "Went to Bath. Delighted +with Torquay; interested at Exeter; the service there the very +best. Is cathedral service more than a solemn concert?" Then he +went by Beaminster to see his nephew Alexander and his family. He +stayed a short time at Crewkerne with his niece Mrs. Sparks. +"Church a fine one: To Frome: This visit full of interest. How kind +and good! The only drawback is parting. We spent a week at Frome, +and did enjoy it much. Much kindness, heartiness I should say, +intelligence, and real goodness. Changes I found, and saw how time +had told on many a face and frame. My dear companion was much +pleased and interested in our visit.... July 16.--Left Frome, and +sorrowed at parting. Saw Sydney Herbert's gorgeous church at +Wilton. Too much! With the exterior of Salisbury not at all +disappointed; with the interior a little. Arrived at Farnborough by +eight o'clock, and a most cordial welcome we had from all the +inmates of its pretty rectory. Went back to London on Friday, and +returned to Farnborough Saturday, and spent Sunday. July 19.--Was +glad for Isabella to have an opportunity of seeing a Sunday in a +country place in England. I preached twice, and we were interested. +Aug. 4.--Came to York. Glorious! Chapter-house restored by Mr. +Bell."</p> +<p>January 1, 1851.--"Having preached on Sunday last regarding +improvement and good resolutions, I would now do the same for +myself. I have made some resolutions in my own mind, chiefly +regarding the control and regulation of temper, irritability, +forbearance, more composed and calm temperament, order, diligence, +dispatch of work, etc." On January 6th there is a Ragged School +meeting--"a long and tiresome meeting; the Duke of A---- speaks +well; Guthrie amusing; Fox Maule good; Candlish clever--very."</p> +<p>On his birthday in 1853 he writes: "I have just made two +resolves--first, never to give way to temper, fret, ill-humour, +party spirit, or prejudice; second, to work my best in what I may +have still to do."</p> +<p>There is a great deal more of the journal, but one or two +additional extracts will show sufficiently the nature of the man, +his devotion to his sacred duty, his gentleness, and love of peace. +The High Churchman may think him unduly careless about forms and +ceremonies; but, loving him very well, I yet wish to represent the +Dean as he really was. Above all things full of charity, loving +religion as he understood the religion of the Gospel, and not much +concerned, not really deeply concerned, about the shape and dress +in which it presented itself. He held, however, that the Protestant +Episcopal Church, as established in England, as disestablished in +Scotland, for he never would separate them, was in all its +belongings the most desirable, its service the most decent.</p> +<p>1858 was a sad year for the Dean. Mrs. Ramsay had been very ill, +and sinking in strength and spirit visibly, till, on the 23d July +the afflicted husband makes this entry:--"It pleased God to visit +me with the deep and terrible affliction of taking away my friend, +companion, and adviser of twenty-nine years." It was a heavy blow, +and for a time it seemed to paralyse the Dean. This journal, never +regular, becomes from this time quite broken.</p> +<p>Looking back from this point, which to the Dean seemed the end +of happiness, he could acknowledge how duty supplied the place of +pleasure. He was grateful also for many mercies. In one respect he +was singularly fortunate. His Bishop and he, I may say during all +the time he served in St. John's, were cordially of the same way of +thinking. Bishop Terrot was indeed a very different man from +himself, but in the relations of Bishop and Dean they were very +happy. The Dean wrote a little memoir of Bishop Terrot, which he +published in the <i>Scottish Guardian</i> (May 15, 1872), where he +prints the remarkable letter from the Bishop to himself, answering +the question why he declined communion with Mr. Drummond, and +ending with the sentence--"These are matters of <i>ecclesiastical +police</i> which each local church has a right to manage in its own +way, subject to the law of the Catholic Church, i.e. the Bible." +The Dean then bore testimony that he had always found his Bishop an +interesting companion, a kind friend, a faithful and judicious +adviser, and he speaks highly, and surely not too highly, of his +great intellectual powers, as well as of his moral qualities. I am +myself a very hearty admirer of Bishop Terrot, and I think it not +out of place to add something to our knowledge of him, by printing +a few letters which concern him and his family.</p> +<br> +<br> +<center>COLONEL TERROT to DEAN RAMSAY.--Without date, but of the +year 1872.</center> +<blockquote>Very Rev. and dear Sir--There is one little incorrect +deduction in your kind memoir, or at least a deduction which may be +made from what you say of my father deriving his intellect from his +mother---that my grandfather was inferior in such respects. From +deep feeling and devotion to his memory, my grandmother never spoke +of her husband to us, but from others I have heard that he was a +bright, handsome and talented young man, who, with the very +imperfect education given at that time to officers in the army, and +employed in active service in America at the age of fourteen, was +yet distinguished for ability, especially in mathematics and +engineering matters, so that he was employed by those in command of +the siege, and was actually riding with the engineer who was in +charge of the sieging operations when a cannon-ball struck and +killed him. He was in an English infantry regiment, and not in the +Indian service, except that the regiment was serving in India at +the time. He met my grandmother in the ship which took them to +India. She was going to a maternal uncle, Colonel Hughes, who was +considerably displeased on her announcing at Madras that she was +engaged to a poor young officer who had offered to her during the +voyage. But the young couple being determined, he gave his consent, +and continued kind to his niece, and my father was born in his +house, and at his father's request called Hughes after him. My +grandfather was twenty-five and his bride eighteen at their +marriage, and she was a widow before she was twenty, from which +time till she died at eighty-five she was a widow indeed, making +her son the chief object of her life, living in and for him.<br> +<br> +His uncle William, whom he succeeded at Haddington, was never +married, and was exceedingly attached to my father. He was a +singular man; in his early days very gay and handsome, and living +in some matters, I know not what, so incorrectly, that on offering +himself for holy orders, the then Bishop of Durham wrote to him +mentioning something he had heard, and telling him if it was true +he was not fitly prepared for taking orders. My uncle acknowledged +the accusation as far as it was true, and thanked the Bishop for +his letter, and abstained from coming forward at that time, but +took the admonition so to heart that it led to an entire conversion +of heart and life. He then came forward in a very different state +to receive ordination, and was through his whole life a most +zealous and devoted man, a friend of Milner and Wilberforce. An old +lady, Mrs. Logan of Seafield, told me that once when Mrs. Siddons +was acting, uncle William walked twenty miles to see her and +persuade her not to go, and, whether by arguments or eloquence, he +succeeded. Though kind and gentle he was a strong Calvinist, and by +his zeal and energy in preaching such doctrines, injured himself in +a worldly point of view. He was always poor, and often gave away +all the little he had, and lived from hand to mouth. He was very +much admired and beloved by ladies, which perhaps prevented his +marrying. He was very happy and useful among the sailors, and died +at his sister's, Mrs. Jackson, at Woolwich. She, as Elizabeth +Terrot, had been a beauty, and was to the last a fine, happy, +spirited, contented and joking old lady, very fond of my father, to +whom she left all she had. She was bright, unselfish and amusing, +even on her deathbed incapable of despondency or gloom.<br> +<br> +Excuse my troubling you with these details; and believe me to be +truly grateful for your graceful tribute to our dear father. I send +a few lines for your private eye, written by my sister Mary, +expressing what she felt on last seeing him, and it expresses, too, +exactly what I felt that last Good Friday as he sat in that chair +in which he had so long suffered. I never saw him there again, With +deep respect, gratefully yours,</blockquote> +<br> +<p class="loc">S.A. TERROT.</p> +<br> +<br> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>LINES by MISS MARY TERROT, now MRS. MALCOLM.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p class="i9"><b>I.</b></p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p class="i2">Sad, silent, broken down, longing for rest,</p> +<p class="i2">His noble head bent meekly on his breast,</p> +<p class="i2">Bent to the bitter storm that o'er it swept;</p> +<p class="i3">I looked my last, and surely, then I thought,</p> +<p class="i3">Surely the conflict's o'er, the battle's fought;</p> +<p class="i2">To see him thus, the Saviour might have wept.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"><br> +<p class="i9"><b>II.</b></p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p class="i2">His rest was near--his everlasting rest;</p> +<p class="i2">No more I saw him weary and oppressed.</p> +<p class="i2"><i>There</i> in the majesty of death he lay</p> +<p class="i3">For ever comforted: I could not weep;</p> +<p class="i3">He slept, dear father! his last blessed sleep,</p> +<p class="i2">Bright in the dawn of the eternal day.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"><br> +<p class="i9"><b>III.</b></p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p class="i2">And thou, whose hand <i>his</i>, groping, sought at +last,</p> +<p class="i2">The faithful hand that he might hold it fast!</p> +<p class="i2">Once more, when parting on the eternal shore,</p> +<p class="i3">It may be, when thy heart and hand shall fail,</p> +<p class="i3">Entering the shadows of death's awful vale</p> +<p class="i2">His hand shall grasp thine, groping then no more.</p> +</div> +</div> +<br> +<br> +<center>DEAN STANLEY to DEAN RAMSAY.</center> +<blockquote>My dear Dean--Many thanks for your very interesting +memoir of Bishop Terrot. His remark about <i>humdrum</i> and +<i>humbug</i> is worthy of the best days of Sydney Smith, and so is +a hit about table-turning<a name="FNanchor10"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_10">[10]</a>. I once heard him preach, and still +remember with pleasure the unexpected delight it gave to my dear +mother and myself. We did not know in the least what was coming, +either from the man or the text, and it was excellent.--Yours +sincerely,</blockquote> +<p class="loc">A.P. STANLEY.</p> +<blockquote>Deanery, Westminster, 1872.</blockquote> +<br> +<br> +<center>Right Hon. W.E. GLADSTONE to DEAN RAMSAY.</center> +<p class="loc">Hawarden, May 26, 1872</p> +<blockquote>My dear Friend--I have read with much interest your +graceful and kindly memoir of Bishop Terrot, which you were so good +as to send me.<br> +<br> +He had always appeared to me as a very real and notable, and +therefore interesting man, though for some reason not apparent a +man <i>manqué</i>, a man who ought to have been more notable +than he was. I quite understand and follow you in placing him with, +or rather in the class of, Whately and Paley, but he fell short of +the robust activity of the first, and of that wonderful clearness +of the other, which is actual brightness.<br> +<br> +Your account of the question of Lordship is to me new and +interesting. I have never called the Scottish Bishops by that +title. I should be content to follow the stream, but then we must +deal equally, and there is the case of the Anglo-Roman bishop to +meet, especially now that the Ecclesiastical Titles Bill has been +repealed; but only on Friday I addressed one of the very best among +them "Right Rev. Bishop M----."<br> +<br> +You will, I am sure, allow me the license of private judgment in +the two expositions about the church in p. 5. You praise both, but +the second the more highly. To me the first seems excellent, and +the second, strange to say, wanting in his usual clearness and +consecutiveness. For having in head (1) most truly said that Christ +"instituted a society <i>and</i> revealed a doctrine," he then +proceeds as if he had quite forgotten the first half of the +proposition, and conceived of the society only as (so to speak) +embedded in the doctrine. Also, I complain of his depriving you of +the character of [Greek: iegeus], which indeed I am rather inclined +to claim for myself, as "He hath made us kings and priests" +([Greek: hiegeis]).<br> +<br> +I hope you are gradually maturing the idea of your promised summer +expedition to the south, and that before long I shall hear from you +on the subject of it.<br> +<br> +Will you remember me kindly to Miss Cochrane, and believe me, ever +affectionately yours,</blockquote> +<br> +<p class="loc">W.E. GLADSTONE.</p> +<br> +<p>The Dean was greatly affected by a terrible calamity, which +happened in his house in Ainslie Place, where, in June of 1866, his +niece Lucy Cochrane, one of his family, was burnt to death; out of +many letters of condolence which he received at the time, I have +only space to insert three--one from the Rev. Dr. Hannah, then head +of Glenalmond College, an accomplished scholar, to whom our Dean +was much attached, and upon whom he drew very freely in any +questions of more recondite scholarship, another from the Rev. +D.T.K. Drummond, and the third from the Premier:--</p> +<br> +<br> +<center>Rev. Dr. J. HANNAH to DEAN RAMSAY.</center> +<p class="loc">Trinity College, Glenalmond, N.B.<br> +June 15, 1866.</p> +<blockquote>Dear Mr. Dean--I <i>must</i> write one line, though I +know you will be overwhelmed with letters, to say how deeply +distressed and shocked we are at the news in this morning's paper, +and how profoundly we sympathize with you under this fearful +affliction. I thought instantly of Mr. Keble's lovely poem in the +Lyra Innocentium:--<br> +<br> +<blockquote>"Sweet maiden, for so calm a life,<br> +Too bitter seemed thine end."</blockquote> +And it applies closely, I am sure, in the consolations it suggests; +that<br> +<br> +<blockquote>"He who willed her tender frame<br> +Should rear the martyr's robe of flame,"</blockquote> +has prepared for her a garland in Heaven,<br> +<br> +<blockquote>"Tinged faintly with such golden light<br> +As crowns His martyr train."</blockquote> +But if blessed for her, it will be a sore trial for the survivors. +We feel so keenly for her poor sisters, who seem to have to bear +the brunt of so many sorrows. May God support them and you! So +prays in hearty sympathy, yours ever sincerely,</blockquote> +<br> +<p class="loc">J. HANNAH.</p> +<br> +<br> +<center>Rev. D.T.K. DRUMMOND to DEAN RAMSAY.</center> +<p class="loc">St. Fillans, Crieff, 16th June.</p> +<blockquote>My dear Friend--This morning's paper brought us the +sad, sad intelligence of the frightful calamity which has befallen +your household.<br> +<br> +My heart aches when I think of the overwhelming sorrow this great +affliction must bring to your kind and loving heart. Long +friendship and unbroken esteem must be my apology for intruding on +you at this early stage of your bereavement. I cannot but express +my deep and heart-felt sympathy with you in it, and my earnest +prayer that God the Holy Spirit may sanctify and comfort by his own +grace and presence all on whom this great sorrow has fallen.<br> +<br> +In the expression of this sympathy my dear wife cordially unites +with yours most affectionately and truly,</blockquote> +<br> +<p class="loc">D.T.K. DRUMMOND.</p> +<br> +<br> +<center>Right Hon. W.E. GLADSTONE to DEAN RAMSAY.</center> +<p class="loc">11 Carlton H. Terrace,<br> +June 16, 1866.</p> +<blockquote>My dear Dean Ramsay--I cannot refrain from writing to +you a word of sympathy under the grievous calamity with which your +peaceful and united household has in the providence of God been +visited. I have only heard of it in a very partial account to-day; +but I deeply lament alike the extinction of a young and promising +life, the loss your affectionate heart has sustained, and the +circumstances of horror with which it has been accompanied. I need +not say how this concern extends to your brother the Admiral also. +I shall hope to hear of you through some common friend. I cannot +ask you to write, but beg you to believe me always affectionately +yours,</blockquote> +<br> +<p class="loc">W.E. GLADSTONE.</p> +<p>Very few of the Dean's own letters have been preserved, but the +following will show him as a correspondent:--</p> +<br> +<br> +<center>DEAN RAMSAY to Dr. ALEXANDER.</center> +<p class="loc">23 Ainslie Place, Feb. 3, 1865</p> +<blockquote>Dear Dr. Lindsay Alexander--I am not aware of having an +undue predominance of modesty in my nature, but really I have been +surprised, I may truly say much amazed, at the dedication of the +volume which I received this evening. Need I add that, on more +calmly considering the matter, I am deeply gratified. From Dr. +Lindsay Alexander such a compliment can be no ordinary +gratification. "Laudari a laudatis" has always been a distinction +coveted by those who value the opinion of the wise and good.<br> +<br> +I thank you most cordially for the delicacy with which you refer to +the "most stedfast adherence to conviction" of one who has long +been convinced that no differences in matter of polity or forms of +worship ought to violate that "unity of spirit," or sever that +"bond of peace," in which we should ever seek to join all those +whom we believe sincerely to hold the truth as it is in Jesus.--I +am always, with sincere regard, yours truly and +obliged,</blockquote> +<br> +<p class="loc">E.B. RAMSAY.</p> +<br> +<br> +<center>DEAN RAMSAY to Mrs. CLERK, Kingston Deverell.</center> +<p class="loc">23 Ainslie Place,<br> +Edinburgh, March 14, 1865.</p> +<blockquote>Dearest Stuart--I take great blame and sorrow to myself +for having left your kind letter to me on my birthday so long +unanswered. It was indeed a charming letter, and how it took me +back to the days of "Auld lang Syne!" They were happy days, and +good days, and the savour of them is pleasant. Do you know (you +don't know) next Christmas day is forty-two years since I left +Frome, and forty-nine years since I went to Frome? Well! they were +enjoyable days, and rational days, and kind-hearted days. What +jokes we used to have! O dear! How many are gone whom we loved and +honoured! I often think of my appearing at Frome, falling like a +stranger from the clouds, and finding myself taken to all your +hearts, and made like one of yourselves. Do you know Mrs. Watkins +is alive and clever, and that I constantly correspond with her? You +recollect little Mary Watkins at Berkely. She is now a grandmother +and has three or four grandchildren!--ay, time passes on. It does. +I have had a favoured course in Scotland; I have been thirty-seven +years in St. John's, and met only with kindness and respect. I have +done much for my church, and that is acknowledged by every one. My +Catechism is in a tenth edition--my Scottish Book in an eleventh; +3000 copies were sold the first week of the cheap or people's +edition. I meet with much attention from all denominations. A very +able man here, Dr. Lindsay Alexander, an Indpendent, has just +dedicated a book (a good one) to Dean Ramsay, with a flattering +dedication. But I don't expect to hold on <i>much</i> longer. I +feel changed, and at times not equal to much exertion. It was a +terrible change for me to lose my companion of twenty-nine years, +and I have never, of course, recovered that loss. It is a great +point for a person like me to have three nieces, quite devoted to +care of me and to make me happy: cheerful, animated, and +intelligent, pretty also--one of them an excellent musician, and +<i>organist</i> to our amateur choir for week days in the chapel. +By the by we have a glorious organ. How I have gone on about my +miserable self--quite egotistical. "If I may be allowed the +language" (the late Capt. Balne). But I thought you would like it. +Good-bye. Love to Malcolm <i>Kenmore</i>. When do your boys come? +Your ever loving and affectionate old friend,</blockquote> +<br> +<p class="loc">E.B. RAMSAY.</p> +<br> +<br> +<center>DEAN RAMSAY to Mrs. CLERK.</center> +<p class="loc">23 Ainslie Place, Edinburgh, 12th Feb. 1868.</p> +<blockquote>Many thanks for writing about our beloved Bessie, my +very dear Stuart. She is indeed much endeared to all the friends, +and I am a friend of more than 50 years! God's will be done. We +have come to that age when we must know our time is becoming very +uncertain.<br> +<br> +There is only one thing, dearest Stuart, that I <i>can</i> say--my +best wishes, best affections, best prayers, are with her who now +lies on a sick bed. <i>She</i> has not to begin the inquiry into +the love and support of a gracious Redeemer. She may say, "I know +that my Redeemer liveth."<br> +<br> +May God be merciful and gracious to support you all on this deeply +interesting occasion, is the earnest prayer of your affectionate +old friend,</blockquote> +<br> +<p class="loc">E.B. RAMSAY.</p> +<br> +<br> +<center>DEAN RAMSAY to Mrs. CLEKK.</center> +<p class="loc">23 Ainslie Place, Edinburgh, 3d June 1870.</p> +<blockquote>My dear Stuart--I had such a kind letter from you some +time ago, about visiting you, and I did not answer it--wrong, very! +and I am sorry I put it off. Should I come to England this summer I +should look on it as a <i>last</i> visit, and would make an effort +to see old Frome again. Do you know it is fifty-four years since I +first appeared at Rodden!<br> +<br> +I preach still, and my voice and articulation don't fail; but +otherwise I am changed, and walk I cannot at all. St. John's goes +on as usual--nice people, many, and all are very kind. We have +lately had the interior renewed, and some changes in the +arrangement, which are great improvement. It is much admired, "a +great ornament to our ponds and ditches,"--Dr. Woodward. However, +dear Stuart, I have not yet said distinctly enough what I meant to +say at the beginning--that should I come south I would make an +effort to come to K. Deverell.<br> +<br> +Miss Walker has left fully £200,000 to our church. I am at +present (as Dean) the only Episcopal trustee, with four official +trustees--all Presbyterians.<br> +<br> +The Bishops seem the most <i>go-ahead</i> people in the church just +now. New sectioning and revision of Scripture, translation, all +come from them: both of much importance. I wish they could get rid +of the so-called Athanasian Creed. I cannot bear it. Nothing on +earth could ever induce me to repeat the first part and the last +part. Love to yourself, husband, and all yours.--Your +affectionate</blockquote> +<br> +<p class="loc">E.B. RAMSAY.</p> +<br> +<br> +<center>DEAN STANLEY to DEAN RAMSAY.</center> +<p class="loc">Broomhall, Dunfermline,<br> +7th August 1870.</p> +<blockquote>My dear and venerable Brother Dean--It was very +ungrateful of me not to have thanked you before for your most kind +vindication of my act in Westminster Abbey. I had read your letter +with the greatest pleasure, and must now thank you for letting me +have a separate copy of it. I certainly have no reason to be +dissatisfied with my defenders. All the bishops who have spoken on +the subject (with the single exception of the Bishop of Winchester) +have approved the step--so I believe have a vast majority of +English churchmen.<br> +<br> +How any one could expect that I should make a distinction between +confirmed and unconfirmed communicants, which would render any +administration in the abbey impossible, or that I should +distinguish between the different shades of orthodoxy in the +different nonconformist communions, I cannot conceive. I am sure +that I acted as a good churchman. I humbly hope that I acted as He +who first instituted the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper would have +wished.<br> +<br> +You are very kind to have taken so much interest in my essays, and +what you say of the Athanasian Creed is deeply instructive. You +will be glad to hear--what will become public in a few days--that +of the 29 Royal Commissioners, 18 at least--including the +Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishops of St. David's and +Carlisle and the two Regius Professors of Divinity--have declared +themselves against continuing the use of it.<br> +<br> +I found your note here when we arrived last night to assist at the +coming of age of young Lord Elgin. We were obliged to pass rapidly +through Edinburgh, in order to reach this by nightfall. In case I +am able to come over this week to Edinburgh, should I find you at +home, and at what hour?<br> +<br> +It would probably be on Thursday that I could most easily +come.--Yours sincerely,</blockquote> +<br> +<p class="loc">A.P. STANLEY.</p> +<center>DEAN RAMSAY to Rev. MALCOLM CLERK,<br> +Kingston Deverell, Warminster, Wilts.</center> +<p class="loc">23 Ainslie Place, Edin., Sept. 5 [1872].</p> +<blockquote>My dear Malcolm Clerk--Many thanks for your remarks +touching the Athanasian Creed. I agree quite, and am satisfied we +gain nothing by retaining it, and lose much. You ask if I could +help to get facsimiles; I am not likely--not in my line I fear. +Should anything turn up I will look after it. One of the +propositions to which unlimited faith must be given, is drawn from +an analogy, which expresses the most obscure of all questions in +physics--i.e. the union of mind and matter, the what constitutes +one mortal being--all very well to use in explanation or +illustration, but as a positive article of faith in itself, +monstrous. Then the Filioque to be insisted on as eternal death to +deny!<br> +<br> +People hold such views. A writer in the <i>Guardian</i> (Mr. +Poyntz) maintains that God looks with more favour upon a man living +in SIN than upon one who has seceded ever so small from orthodoxy. +Something must be done, were it only to stop the perpetual, as we +call it in Scottish phrase, <i>blethering</i>!<br> +<br> +I am always glad to hear of your boys. My love to Stuart, and same +to thyself.--Thine affectionate fourscore old friend,</blockquote> +<br> +<p class="loc">E.B. RAMSAY.</p> +<br> +<br> +<p>I am preparing a twenty-second edition of <i>Reminiscences</i>. +Who would have thought it? No man.</p> +<p>I have not hitherto made any mention of the Dean's most popular +book, the <i>Reminiscences</i>. I cannot write but with respect of +a work in which he was very much interested, and where he showed +his knowledge of his countrymen so well. As a critic, I must say +that his style is peculiarly unepigrammatic; and yet what collector +of epigrams or epigrammatic stories has ever done what the Dean has +done for Scotland? It seems as if the wilful excluding of point was +acceptable, otherwise how to explain the popularity of that book? +All over the world, wherever Scotch men and Scotch language have +made their way--and that embraces wide regions--the stories of the +<i>Reminiscences</i>, and Dean Ramsay's name as its author, are +known and loved as much as the most popular author of this +generation. In accounting for the marvellous success of the little +book, it should not be forgotten that the anecdotes are not only +true to nature, but actually true, and that the author loved +enthusiastically Scotland, and everything Scotch. But while there +were so many things to endear it to the peasantry of Scotland, it +was not admired by them alone. I insert a few letters to show what +impression it made on those whom one would expect to find critical, +if not jealous. Dickens, the king of story-tellers; Dr. Guthrie, +the most picturesque of preachers; Bishop Wordsworth, Dean Stanley, +themselves masters of style--how eagerly they received the simple +stories of Scotland told without ornament.</p> +<br> +<br> +<center>BISHOP WORDSWORTH to DEAN RAMSAY.</center> +<p class="loc">The Feu House, Perth, January 12, 1872.</p> +<blockquote>My dear Dean--Your kind, welcome and most elegant +present reached me yesterday--in bed; to which, and to my sofa, I +have been confined for some days by a severe attack of brow ague; +and being thus disabled for more serious employment, I allowed my +thoughts to run upon the lines which you will find over leaf. +Please to accept them as being <i>well intended</i>; though (like +many other good intentions) I am afraid they give only too true +evidence of the source from which they come--viz., <i>disordered +head.</i>--Yours very sincerely,</blockquote> +<br> +<p class="loc">C. WORDSWORTH,<br> +<i>Bp. of St. Andrews</i>.</p> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p class="i3">Ad virum venerabilem, optimum, dilectissimum, +EDVARDUM</p> +<p class="i5">B. RAMSAY, S.T.P., Edinburgi Decanum, accepto</p> +<p class="i5">ejus libro cui titulus <i>Reminiscences</i>, etc.; +vicesimum</p> +<p class="i5">jam lautiusque et amplius edito.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p class="i5">Editio accessit vicesima! plaudite quiequid</p> +<p class="i6">Scotia festivi fert lepidique ferax!</p> +<p class="i5">Non vixit frustra qui frontem utcunque severam,</p> +<p class="i6">Noverit innocuis explicuisse jocis:</p> +<p class="i5">Non frustra vixit qui tot monumenta priorum</p> +<p class="i6">Salsa pia vetuit sedulitate mori:</p> +<p class="i5">Non frustra vixit qui quali nos sit amore</p> +<p class="i6">Vivendum, exemplo præcipiensque docet:</p> +<p class="i5">Nec merces te indigna manet: juvenesque senesque</p> +<p class="i6">Gaudebunt nomen concelebrare tuum;</p> +<p class="i5">Condiet appositum dum fercula nostra salinum,</p> +<p class="i6">Præbebitque suas mensa secunda nuces;</p> +<p class="i5">Dum stantis rhedæ aurigam tua pagina +fallet,</p> +<p class="i6">Contentum in sella tædia longa pati!</p> +<p class="i5">Quid, quod et ipsa sibi devinctum Scotia nutrix</p> +<p class="i6">Te perget gremio grata fovere senem;</p> +<p class="i5">Officiumque pium simili pietate rependens,</p> +<p class="i6">Sæcula nulla sinet non<a name= +"FNanchor11"></a><a href="#Footnote_11">[11]</a> meminisse Tui.</p> +</div> +</div> +<br> +<blockquote>The TRANSLATION is from the pen of DEAN +STANLEY:--</blockquote> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p class="i5">Hail, Twentieth Edition! From Orkney to Tweed,</p> +<p class="i6">Let the wits of all Scotland come running to +read.</p> +<p class="i5">Not in vain hath he lived, who by innocent mirth</p> +<p class="i6">Hath lightened the frowns and the furrows of +earth:</p> +<p class="i5">Not in vain hath he <i>lived</i>, who will never let +<i>die</i></p> +<p class="i6">The humours of good times for ever gone by:</p> +<p class="i5">Not in vain hath he <i>lived</i>, who hath laboured +to give</p> +<p class="i6">In himself the best proof how by love we may +<i>live</i>.</p> +<p class="i5">Rejoice, our dear Dean, thy reward to behold</p> +<p class="i6">In united rejoicing of young and of old;</p> +<p class="i5">Remembered, so long as our boards shall not lack</p> +<p class="i6">A bright grain of salt or a hard nut to crack;</p> +<p class="i5">So long as the cabman aloft on his seat,</p> +<p class="i6">Broods deep o'er thy page as he waits in the +street!</p> +<p class="i5">Yea, Scotland herself, with affectionate care,</p> +<p class="i6">Shall nurse an old age so beloved and so rare;</p> +<p class="i5">And still gratefully seek in her heart to +enshrine</p> +<p class="i6">One more <i>Reminiscence</i>, and that shall be +Thine.</p> +</div> +</div> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<center>From the DEAN of WESTMINSTER.</center> +<p class="loc">The Deanery, Westminster,<br> +February 3, 1872.</p> +<blockquote>My dear elder (I cannot say eldest so long as the Dean +of Winchester lives) Brother--I am very glad that you are pleased +with my attempt to render into English the Bishop's beautiful +Latinity....<br> +<br> +Accept our best wishes for many happy returns of the day just +past.--Yours sincerely,</blockquote> +<br> +<p class="loc">A.P. STANLEY.</p> +<br> +<p>On the publication of the Twentieth Edition of the +<i>Reminiscences</i>, Professor Blackie addressed to the Dean the +following sonnets:--</p> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p class="i9">I.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p class="i1">Hail! wreathed in smiles, thou genial book! and +hail</p> +<p class="i1">Who wove thy web of bright and various hue,</p> +<p class="i1">The wise old man, who gleaned the social tale</p> +<p class="i1">And thoughtful jest and roguish whim, that grew</p> +<p class="i1">Freely on Scotland's soil when Scotland knew</p> +<p class="i1">To be herself, nor lusted to assume</p> +<p class="i1">Smooth English ways--that they might live and +bloom</p> +<p class="i1">With freshness, ever old and ever new</p> +<p class="i1">In human hearts. Thrice happy he who knows</p> +<p class="i1">With sportive light the cloudy thought to clear,</p> +<p class="i1">And round his head the playful halo throws</p> +<p class="i1">That plucks the terror from the front severe:</p> +<p class="i1">Such grace was thine, and such thy gracious part,</p> +<p>Thou wise old Scottish man of large and loving heart.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"><br> +<p class="i9">II.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p class="i1">The twentieth edition! I have looked</p> +<p class="i1">Long for my second--but it not appears;</p> +<p class="i1">Yet not the less I joy that thou hast brooked</p> +<p class="i1">Rich fruit of fair fame, and of mellow years,</p> +<p class="i1">Thou wise old man, within whose saintly veins</p> +<p class="i1">No drop of gall infects life's genial tide,</p> +<p class="i1">Whose many-chambered human heart contains</p> +<p class="i1">No room for hatred and no home for pride.</p> +<p class="i1">Happy who give with stretch of equal love</p> +<p class="i1">This hand to Heaven and that to lowly earth,</p> +<p class="i1">Wise there to worship with great souls above</p> +<p class="i1">As here to sport with children in their mirth;</p> +<p class="i1">Who own one God with kindly-reverent eyes</p> +<p>In flowers that prink the earth, and stars that gem the +skies.</p> +</div> +</div> +<br> +<p class="loc">JOHN STUART BLACKIE.</p> +<br> +<br> +<center>CHARLES DICKENS to DEAN RAMSAY.</center> +<p class="loc">Gad's Hill Place, Higham, by Rochester, Kent,<br> +Tuesday, 29th May 1866.</p> +<blockquote>My dear Sir--I am but now in the receipt of your kind +letter, and its accompanying book. If I had returned home sooner, I +should sooner have thanked you for both.<br> +<br> +I cannot adequately express to you the gratification I have derived +from your assurance that I have given you pleasure. In describing +yourself as a stranger of whom I know nothing, you do me wrong +however. The book I am now proud to possess as a mark of your +goodwill and remembrance has for some time been too well known to +me to admit of the possibility of my regarding its writer in any +other light than as a friend in the spirit; while the writer of the +introductory page marked viii. in the edition of last year<a name= +"FNanchor12"></a><a href="#Footnote_12">[12]</a> had commanded my +highest respect as a public benefactor and a brave soul.<br> +<br> +I thank you, my dear Sir, most cordially, and I shall always prize +the words you have inscribed in this delightful volume, very, very +highly.--Yours faithfully and obliged,</blockquote> +<br> +<p class="loc">CHARLES DICKENS.</p> +<br> +<br> +<center>Dr. GUTHRIE to DEAN RAMSAY.</center> +<p class="loc">1 Salisbury Road,<br> +30th October 1872.</p> +<blockquote>My dear Mr. Dean--My honoured and beloved friend, I +have received many sweet, tender, and Christian letters touching my +late serious illness, but among them all none I value more, or +almost so much, as your own.<br> +<br> +May the Lord bless you for the solace and happiness it gave to me +and mine! How perfect the harmony in our views as to the petty +distinctions around which--sad and shame to think of it--such +fierce controversies have raged! I thank God that I, like yourself, +have never attached much importance to these externals, and have +had the fortune to be regarded as rather loose on such matters. We +have just, by God's grace, anticipated the views and aspects they +present on a deathbed.<br> +<br> +I must tell you how you helped us to pass many a weary, restless +hour. After the Bible had been read to me in a low monotone--when I +was seeking sleep and could not find it--a volume of my published +sermons was tried, and sometimes very successfully, as a soporific. +I was familiar with them, and yet they presented as much novelty as +to divert my mind from my troubles. And what if this failed? then +came the <i>Reminiscences</i> to entertain me, and while away the +long hours when all hope of getting sleep's sweet oblivion was +given up!<br> +<br> +So your book was one of my many mercies. But oh, how great in such +a time the unspeakable mercy of a full, free, present salvation! In +Wesley's words<br> +<br> +<blockquote>"I the chief of sinners am,<br> +But Jesus died for me."</blockquote> +I have had a bit of a back-throw, but if you could come between +three and four on Friday, I would rejoice to see you.--Ever yours, +with the greatest esteem,</blockquote> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<p class="loc">THOMAS GUTHRIE.</p> +<br> +<br> +<center>Miss STIRLING GRAHAM to DEAN RAMSAY.</center> +<p class="loc">Duntrune, 8th January 1872.</p> +<blockquote>My dear Mr. Dean--I thank you very much for the gift of +your new edition of "Scottish Reminiscences," and most especially +for the last few pages on Christian union and liberality, which I +have read with delight.<br> +<br> +I beg also to thank you for the flattering and acceptable +<i>testimonial</i> you have bestowed on myself.--Your most +respectful and grateful friend,</blockquote> +<br> +<p class="loc">CLEMENTINA STIRLING GRAHAM.</p> +<br> +<br> +<center>Rev. Dr. HANNA to DEAN RAMSAY.</center> +<p class="loc">16 Magdala Crescent, 11th January 1872.</p> +<blockquote>Dear Dean Ramsay--I have been touched exceedingly by +your kindness in sending me a copy of the twentieth edition of the +<i>Reminiscences</i>.<br> +<br> +It was a happy thought of Mr. Douglas to present it to the public +in such a handsome form--the one in which it will take its place in +every good library in the country.<br> +<br> +I am especially delighted with the last twenty pages of this +edition. Very few had such a right to speak about the strange +commotion created by the act of the two English Bishops, and the +manner in which they tried to lay the storm, and still fewer could +have done it with such effect.<br> +<br> +One fruit of your work is sure to abide. As long as Scotland lasts, +<i>your</i> name will "be associated with gentle and happy +<i>Reminiscences of Scottish Life and Character</i>."<br> +<br> +Mrs. Hanna joins me in affectionate regard.--With highest respect +and esteem, I ever am, yours very truly,</blockquote> +<br> +<p class="loc">WM. HANNA.</p> +<br> +<br> +<center>DEAN RAMSAY to Rev. Dr. L. ALEXANDER.</center> +<p class="loc">23 Ainslie Place, Edinburgh.<br> +January 29, 1872.</p> +<blockquote>My clear Dr. Alexander--Since I had the pleasure of +your most agreeable visit, and its accompanying conversation, I +have been very unwell and hardly left the house. You mentioned the +reference made by Dean Stanley (?) to the story of the semi-idiot +boy and his receiving the communion with such heart-felt reality. I +forgot to mention that, summer before last, two American gentlemen +were announced, who talked very pleasantly before I found who they +were--one a Baptist minister at Boston, and the other a professor +in a college. I did not know why they had called at all until the +minister <i>let on</i> that he did not like to be in Edinburgh +without waiting upon the author of <i>Reminiscences</i>, as the +book had much interested him in Scottish life, language and +character, before he had been a visitor on the Scottish shores. +"But chiefly," he added, "I wished to tell you that the day before +I sailed I preached in a large store to above two thousand people; +that from your book I had to them brought forward the anecdote of +the simpleton lad's deep feeling in seeing the '<i>pretty man</i>' +in the communion, and of his being found dead next morning." To +which he added, in strong American tones, "I pledge <i>myself</i> +to you, sir, there was not a dry eye in the whole assembly."<br> +<br> +It is a feature of modern times how anecdotes, sayings, +expressions, etc., pass amongst the human race. I have received +from Sir Thomas Biddulph an expression of the Queen's pleasure at +finding pure <i>Scottish</i> anecdotes have been so popular in +England. How fond she is of Scotland!--With much esteem, I am very +truly yours,</blockquote> +<br> +<p class="loc">E.B. RAMSAY.</p> +<br> +<br> +<p>The Dean was an enthusiastic admirer of Dr. Chalmers, and on the +evening of March 4, 1849, he read a memoir of the life and labours +of Chalmers at a meeting of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. That +memoir, although it had been to a great extent anticipated by Rev. +Dr. Hanna's fine and copious memoir of his father-in-law, was +printed in the Society Transactions, and afterwards went through +several editions when issued in a separate volume.</p> +<br> +<br> +<center>LORD MEDWTN to DEAN RAMSAY.</center> +<p class="loc">Ainslie Place, Thursday morning</p> +<blockquote>My dear Mr. Ramsay--I beg to thank you most truly for +your very acceptable gift so kindly sent to me yesterday evening. I +had heard with the greatest satisfaction of the admirable sketch +you had read to the Royal Society of the public character of the +latest of our Scottish worthies--a very remarkable man in many +respects; one whose name must ever stand in the foremost rank of +Christian philanthropists; all whose great and various talents and +acquirements being devoted with untiring energy to the one great +object--the temporal and eternal benefit of mankind. What I also +greatly admired about him was that all the great adulation he met +with never affected his simple-mindedness; his humility was +remarkable. There was the same absence of conceit or assumption of +any kind which also greatly distinguished his great cotemporary, +our friend Walter Scott; in truth, both were too far elevated above +other men to seek any adventitious distinction. I wish our country +could show more men like Chalmers to hold up to imitation, or if +too exalted to be imitated, yet still to be proud of; and that they +were fortunate enough to have admirers such as you, capable of +recording their worth in an <i>éloge</i>, such as the public +has the satisfaction of receiving at your hands. Again I beg to +thank you for your kind remembrance of me on the present +occasion.--Believe me, my dear Sir, yours very truly,</blockquote> +<br> +<p class="loc">J.H. FORBES.</p> +<br> +<br> +<center>Dr. CANDLISH to DEAN RAMSAY.</center> +<p class="loc">4 S. Charlotte Street, Tuesday, 6th March.</p> +<blockquote>My dear Sir--I cannot deny myself the pleasure of +expressing to you the deep interest and delight with which I +listened to your discourse last night, so worthy, in every view, of +the subject, the occasion, and the audience. And while I thank you +most sincerely for so cordial and genial a tribute to the memory of +the greatest of modern Scotsmen, I venture to express my hope that +we may be favoured with an earlier and wider publication of it than +the Transactions of the Royal Society will afford.--Pray excuse +this intrusion, and believe me, yours very truly,</blockquote> +<br> +<p class="loc">ROB. S. CANDLISH.</p> +<blockquote>Dean Ramsay.</blockquote> +<br> +<br> +<p>I will indulge myself only with one phrase from the Dean's +memoir of Dr. Chalmers:--"Chalmers's greatest delight was to +contrive plans and schemes for raising degraded human nature in the +scale of moral living. The favourite object of his contemplation +was human nature attaining the highest perfection of which it is +capable, and especially as that perfection was manifested in +saintly individuals, in characters of great acquirements, adorned +with the graces of Christian piety. His greatest sorrow was to +contemplate masses of mankind hopelessly bound to vice and misery +by chains of passion, ignorance, and prejudice. As no one more +firmly believed in the power of Christianity to regenerate a fallen +race, as faith and experience both conspired to assure him that the +only effectual deliverance for the sinful and degraded was to be +wrought by Christian education, and by the active agency of +Christian instruction penetrating into the haunts of vice and the +abodes of misery, these acquisitions he strove to secure for all +his beloved countrymen; for these he laboured, and for these he was +willing to spend and to be spent."</p> +<p>That high yet just character not only shows Dean Ramsay's +appreciation of Chalmers, but seems to show that he had already set +him up as the model which he himself was to follow. At any rate, he +attempted to stir up the public mind to give some worthy +testimonial to the greatest of modern Scotsmen. A few letters +connected with this subject I have put together. I did not think it +necessary to collect more, since the object has been attained under +difficulties of time and distance which might have quelled a less +enthusiastic admirer. It is pleasant to notice the general consent +with which we agree that no one else was so fitted to recommend the +Chalmers memorial as Dean Ramsay.</p> +<p>It was to do honour to my own little book that I ventured, +without asking leave, to print the few lines which follow, from the +great French writer, the high minister of State, the patron of +historical letters for half-a-century in France, the Protestant +Guizot.</p> +<br> +<br> +<center>M. GUIZOT to the DEAN.</center> +<p class="loc">Paris, ce 7 Février 1870,<br> +10 Rue Billault.</p> +<blockquote>Sir--Je m'associerai avec un vrai et sérieux +plaisir à l'érection d'une statue en l'honneur du Dr. +Chalmers. Il n'y a point de théologien ni de moraliste +Chrétien à qui je porte une plus haute estime. Sur +quelques unes des grandes questions qu' il a traitées, je ne +partage pas ses opinions; mais j'honore et j'admire +l'élévation, la vigueur de sa pensé, et la +beauté morale de son génie. Je vous prie, Monsieur, +de me compter parmi les hommes qui se féliciteront de +pouvoir lui rendre un solennel hommage, et je vous remercie d'avoir +pensé à moi dans ce dessein.<br> +<br> +Reçevez l'assurance de mes sentiments les plus +distingués.</blockquote> +<br> +<p class="loc">GUIZOT.</p> +<br> +<center>Mr. E.B. Ramsay, Dean, etc.,<br> +23 Ainslie Place, Edinburgh, North Britain.</center> +<br> +<br> +<p>Some of Mr. Gladstone's letters, already printed, show that they +were not the beginning of the correspondence between him and the +Dean. The accident which made them acquainted will be mentioned +afterwards (p. lxxxi.)</p> +<br> +<br> +<center>Right Hon. W.E. GLADSTONE to DEAN RAMSAY.</center> +<p class="loc">Hawarden Castle, Chester, Jan. 3, 1870.</p> +<blockquote>My dear Dean Ramsay--I send you my rather shabby +contribution of £10 to the Chalmers' Memorial. I wish it were +more, but I am rather specially pressed at this time; and I think I +refused Robert Bruce altogether not long ago.<br> +<br> +I quite understand the feeling of the Scotch aristocracy, but I +should have thought Lothian would be apart from, as well as above +it.<br> +<br> +But the number of subscriptions is the main thing, and very many +they ought to be if Scotland is Scotland still. He was one of +Nature's nobles. It is impossible even to dream that a base or +unworthy thought ever found harbour for a moment in his mind.<br> +<br> +Is it not extraordinary to see this rain of Bishoprics upon +<i>my</i> head? Nor (I think) is it over; the next twelvemonth +(wherever I may be at the end of it) will, I think, probably +produce three more.<br> +<br> +Bishop Temple is a fine fellow, and I hope all will now go well. +For Manchester (this is secret) I hope to have Mr. Fraser of +Clifton--a very notable man, in the first rank of knowledge and +experience on the question of education. Many pressed him for +Salisbury.<br> +<br> +I can truly say that every Bishop who has been appointed has been +chosen simply as the best man to be had.<br> +<br> +Ah! when will you spend that month here, which I shall never cease +to long for?--Ever affectionately yours,</blockquote> +<br> +<p class="loc">W.E. GLADSTONE.</p> +<br> +<br> +<center>Rev. Dr. CANDLISH to DEAN RAMSAY.</center> +<p class="loc">52 Melville Street, 7th Dec. 1870.</p> +<blockquote>Dear Dean Ramsay--I should have acknowledged yours of +the 1st sooner. I cannot say that I regret the conclusion to which +you have come, though. I would have done my best to help on the +larger movement.... I very willingly acquiesce in the wisdom of +your resolution to accept the position, for it is one which you may +well accept with satisfaction and thankfulness. You have +accomplished what I doubt if any other man could have even ventured +to propose, at so late a period after Dr. Chalmers' death. It will +be a historical fact, made palpable to succeeding ages, that you +have wiped off a discredit from Scotland's church and nation, by +securing a suitable memorial of one of her most distinguished sons, +in the most conspicuous position the Metropolis could assign to it. +It will be for us of the Free Church to recognise in our archives +the high compliment paid to our illustrious leader and chief in the +great movement of the Disruption by one of other ecclesiastical +convictions and leanings. But we must always do that under the +feeling that it is not in that character that you know Chalmers; +but in the far broader aspect in which you have so happily +celebrated him as a Christian philanthropist, a patriot, and a +divine.<br> +<br> +I conclude with earnest congratulations on the complete success, as +I regard it, of your generous proposal; and I am yours very +truly,</blockquote> +<br> +<p class="loc">ROB. S. CANDLISH.</p> +<br> +<br> +<center>Rev. Dr. DUFF to DEAN RAMSAY.</center> +<p class="loc">The Grange, 29th June.</p> +<blockquote>Very Rev. and dear Sir--Many thanks for your kind note +with its enclosures.<br> +<br> +From my sad experience in such matters, I am not at all surprised +at the meagre number of replies to your printed circular.<br> +<br> +When I first learnt from the newspaper of the meeting held in your +house, and of Dr. Guthrie's proposal, I had a strong impression +that the latter was on far too extensive a scale--but remained +silent, being only anxious, in a quiet way, to do what I could in +promoting the general design.<br> +<br> +Having had much to do during the last forty years with the raising +of funds for all manner of objects, in different lands, I have come +to know something of men's tempers and dispositions in such cases, +and under peculiar circumstances and conditions. I therefore never +expected the £20,000 scheme to succeed; unless, indeed, it +were headed by a dozen or so at £1000, or at least £500 +each--a liberality not to be expected for such an object at this +time of day.<br> +<br> +Your present plan, therefore, I think a wise one--viz., to +constitute yourselves into "a statue committee," for the successful +carrying out of your own original and very practicable +design,--handing over any surplus funds which may remain to any +other committee or body willing to prosecute the larger +professorship or lectureship scheme.--I remain, very Rev. and dear +Sir, yours very sincerely,</blockquote> +<br> +<p class="loc">ALEXANDER DUFF.</p> +<br> +<br> +<p>I am indebted for the following letters to the Rev. Dr. Lindsay +Alexander. If I wrote only for Scotsmen, it would be unnecessary to +speak of Dr. Alexander as holding a place which he seems to me, +ignorant as I am of Church disputes, to owe to his own high +personal merit, and the independence which makes him free to think +and to write as scarcely any clergyman fettered with the supposed +claims of sect or denomination feels himself at liberty to do. As +our Dean got older we find him drawing more kindly to those whose +Christianity was shown in other guise than in sectarian precision +with some spice of persecution.</p> +<br> +<br> +<p class="loc">23 Ainslie Place, Feb. 28, 1866.</p> +<blockquote>I have found, as others have, the "Biblical Commentary" +a very useful companion in sermon-writing. It gives you the +Scripture parallel passages bodily, and saves the trouble of +turning backwards and forwards to find the marginal references and +to examine their relevancy. The work is published by Bagster, and +he generally, I believe, gets his work pretty well done, and, so +far as I can judge, it is judiciously selected, generally at +least.<br> +<br> +Now, dear Dr. Alexander, if you would accept of the copy of this +work which I have sent, and accept it from me, and if it should +prove a useful companion in your homiletical labours, I should feel +much gratified. Perhaps it may be a remembrance amongst your books, +when years have passed away, of one in his grave who had a sincere +regard for you, and who now signs himself, yours very +faithfully,</blockquote> +<br> +<p class="loc">E.B. RAMSAY.</p> +<br> +<br> +<center>23 Ainslie Place, Jan. 11, 1866.</center> +<blockquote>My dear Dr. Alexander--You will not suppose me to be an +advocate for the donkeyism of vestment ritual. But I wish you not +to have unfavourable impressions as regard <i>our</i> concern with +such matters. We have a canon declaratory on vestments, asserting +the ordinary surplice, gown, hood, and stole. It is stupidly +worded, but the meaning is obvious. I was vexed from your +experience to hear of such foolish proceedings at Bridge of Allan, +contrary to canon and to common sense.... The <i>green</i> part of +the dress which caused your wonder, naturally enough, is not a +freak of new vestments, but is a foolish way which the Glenalmond +students have adopted of wearing the <i>hood</i>, which our Bishops +(not without diversity of opinion) had granted for those who had +been educated at our College. It is a hood lined with <i>green</i> +(Scottish thistle colour), and they have a way of wearing it in a +manner which brings the coloured part in front. Pray, pray, don't +think of answering this; it is merely to correct an unfavourable +impression in one whose favourable opinion I much desiderate. I +cannot tell you the pleasure I had in your visit on Tuesday.--With +sincere regard, yours always,</blockquote> +<br> +<p class="loc">E.B. RAMSAY.</p> +<br> +<br> +<p class="loc">23 Ainslie Place, June 8, 1866.</p> +<blockquote>Dear Dr. Alexander--I forgot to mention a circumstance +connected with my story of to-day. I have had a communicant +thereanent with Dr. Robert Lee. The good Dr., although fond of +introducing Episcopalian practices, which cause great indignation +amongst some of his brethren, does not wish it to be understood +that he has the least tendency to become an Episcopalian himself. +In short, he hinted to me himself that were such an idea to become +prevalent it would materially weaken his influence with many +followers. "It is to improve my own church, not to join yours," +were his words, or to that effect. In carrying out this idea he has +a hit in his "Reformation of the Church of Scotland" against +Episcopalians, and in the first edition he brings up Dean Ramsay +and the unfortunate statement he had made, as a melancholy proof +how hopeless were even the most specious of the Scottish Episcopal +Church on the subject of toleration. I told him that so far as that +statement went it proved nothing, that it had been wrung from me in +an unguarded moment, and that I had for fourteen years borne +unequivocal testimony to views which were opposite to that +statement. He received the explanation most kindly, and offered to +do anything I wished, but we both at length agreed that the best +plan would be simply to omit it in the second edition, which was +preparing and has since come out. It was omitted.<br> +<br> +I am, dear Dr. Alexander, with true regard, ever yours most +sincerely,</blockquote> +<br> +<p class="loc">E.B. RAMSAY.</p> +<br> +<br> +<p class="loc">23 Ainslie Place, August 26, 1867.</p> +<blockquote>Dear Dr. Alexander--I have lately returned to +Edinburgh, having paid a visit to my own country on Deeside. On +Saturday I drove down to Musselburgh, and had an express object in +calling upon you to ask how you were. But I found I had been wrong +directed to Pinkie Burn, and that to accomplish my visit, I must +have made a <i>détour</i> which would have detained me too +long. I had an engagement waiting me, and I found my strength +pretty well exhausted. I wish, however, to notify my +<i>intention</i> of a visit. I have had a very severe illness since +we met, and have not regained my former position, and do not think +I ever shall. I was very, very close upon the gate we must all +pass, and I believe a few hours longer of the fever's continuance +would have closed the scene. I don't think I dread to meet death. I +have so largely experienced the goodness of God through (now) a +long life, and I feel so deeply, and I trust so humbly, the power +of his grace and mercy in Christ, that, I can calmly contemplate +the approach of the last hour. But I confess I do shrink from +encountering an undefined period of bodily and mental imbecility; +of being helpless, useless, a burden. I have been so distressed to +see all this come upon our bishop, Dr. Terrot; the once clear, +acute, <i>sharp</i>, and ready man. Oh, it is to my mind the most +terrible affliction of our poor nature. I have known lately an +unusual number of such cases before me, and I hope I am not +unreasonably apprehensive as to what may come. I hope your family +all are well, and that you are fully up to your work in all its +forms.--I am, believe me, with much regard, very sincerely +yours,</blockquote> +<br> +<p class="loc">E.B. RAMSAY.</p> +<br> +<br> +<p class="loc">Without date.</p> +<blockquote>My dear Dr. Alexander--I feel deeply obliged by your +kind gift to Bishop Whipple. His simple heart will be gratified +much. I am so vexed at having mislaid two letters from him. I +should have liked you to see and to know the bishop by seeing and +reading them. They are <i>models</i> of simple, loving, Christian +feeling. He went to Minnesota as to a new rough state just added to +the United States. He took five clergymen. He has now above thirty +and a college (for which he asked the books). He is beloved by all, +and loves all. The Red Indians worship him. He is so considerate of +them. They suffer from bad teeth, and on some occasions he has +drawn 150 teeth before a prayer-meeting in the woods, from Indians +who were suffering pain....<br> +<br> +I will take care Bishop Whipple shall know of your goodness. I am +so vexed I can't find his letters.</blockquote> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<p class="loc">23 Ainslie Place, Edinburgh,<br> +November 26, 1871.</p> +<blockquote>Dear Dr. Alexander--You will be sorry to hear that my +brother, Sir William, is <i>very</i> ill. This morning we had given +up all idea of his rallying, but since that he has shown symptoms +of a more favourable character. His state is still a very +precarious one, and I fear much we must make up our minds to lose +him. God's will be done! We are sure he is prepared for his change. +He has long been a sincere believer in the great work and offices +of the Lord Jesus, and he has followed up his profession of belief +by liberal and judicious expenditure on benevolent objects.<br> +<br> +I have heard of your being in London at the Revision, and you may +probably be there now. But when you return to Edinburgh, the +Admiral would be most glad to see you when able to call in Ainslie +Place. Sir William is three years younger than I, but he has had a +more trying life. His death (should such be God's will) must be a +great blank for me. But for me it cannot be a long one.--Hoping you +are well, I am, with much regard, most sincerely +yours,</blockquote> +<br> +<p class="loc">E.B. RAMSAY.</p> +<br> +<br> +<p>Very soon after the date of this letter Admiral William Ramsay +died, who had lived with his brother the Dean in the most +affectionate friendship for many years. Their duties and interests +were identical. William Ramsay was known as the promoter of every +scheme of benevolence in Edinburgh.</p> +<br> +<br> +<center>Right Hon. W.E. GLADSTONE to DEAN RAMSAY.</center> +<p class="loc">Hawarden, December 7, 1871.</p> +<blockquote>My dear Dean Ramsay--It is with much grief that we have +seen the announcement of the heavy loss you have sustained in the +death of your brother. It was a beautiful union, which is now for +the time dissolved. One has been taken, and the other left. The +stronger frame has been broken, the weaker one still abides the +buffetings of the sea of life. And I feel a very strong conviction, +even at this sad moment, and with your advancing age, that the +balance of your mind and character will remain unshaken through +your habitual and entire acceptance of the will of God. I write +then only to express my sincere regard for the dead, strong +sympathy with the living. Such as it is, and knowing it to be pure, +I offer it; would it were more worthy, and would that I, let me +rather say--for my wife enters into all these feelings--that we +were able in any way at this especial time to minister to your +comfort.<br> +<br> +I fear the stroke must have come rather suddenly, but no +dispensation could, I think, in the sense really dangerous, be +sudden to you.<br> +<br> +Accept, my dear Dean, our affectionate wishes, and be assured we +enter into the many prayers which will ascend on your behalf. Your +devoted niece will sorely feel this, but it will be to her a new +incentive in the performance of those loving duties to which she +has so willingly devoted her heart and mind.--Believe me always +your affectionate friend,</blockquote> +<br> +<p class="loc">W.E. GLADSTONE.</p> +<br> +<br> +<center>Rev. D.T.K. DRUMMOND to DEAN RAMSAY.</center> +<p class="loc">Montpelier, Thursday.</p> +<blockquote>My dear Friend--I did not like to intrude on you in the +very freshness of your home sorrow. But you know how much I loved +and respected your brother, and how truly and heartily I sympathise +with you. There were few in Edinburgh so much beloved as Sir +William, and it will be long indeed ere the memory of his goodness +shall pass away. Such men in the quiet, private, and unassuming +walk, are often much more missed and more extensively lamented than +men who have been more in the eye of the public, and during their +life have had much of public observation and favour. It is trying +for us who are far on in the pilgrimage to see one and another of +our brothers and sisters pass away before us. I have seen +<i>ten</i> go before me, and am the only one left; and yet it seems +as if the old feeling of their leaving us is being exchanged for +the brighter and happier consciousness that they are coming to meet +us, or at least that the gathering band are BEFORE us, and looking +our way, expecting the time when we too shall pass through the +veil, leaning on the arm of the Beloved. I earnestly pray, my dear +friend, for the Master's loving help and comfort to you from +henceforth even for ever.<br> +I cannot close this without, in a sentence, expressing my very +great delight in reading your words regarding brotherly +intercommunion among members of Churches who hold the same Truth, +love the same Lord, and are bound to the same "better land." I do +rejoice with all my heart that you have given utterance to the +sentiments so carefully and admirably expressed by you. I go heart +and soul with you in the large and liberal and Christ-like spirit +of the views you propound; and feel with you that all such +brotherly esteem and hearty and candid co-operation only makes me +love my own church better, because such love is unmixed with the +exclusiveness which sees nothing good save in the Communion to +which we ourselves belong.<br> +<br> +Thank you most heartily for what you have written.--Ever very +affectionately yours,</blockquote> +<br> +<p class="loc">D.T.K. DRUMMOND.</p> +<br> +<br> +<p>When the Ramsays were under the necessity of selling most of +their property in the Mearns, the purchaser of Fasque was Mr. +Gladstone, not yet a baronet; and, what does not always happen, the +families of the buyer and the seller continued good friends, and +Sir John, the great merchant, by his advice and perhaps other help, +assisted some of the young Ramsays, who had still to push their way +to fortune. I believe William, afterwards Admiral, was guided by +him in the investment and management of a little money, which +prospered, notwithstanding his innumerable bounties to the poor. +The Dean also was obliged to Sir John Gladstone, but only for +kindness and hospitalities.</p> +<p>On the Ramsays going to London in the summer of 1845, the +journal records what nice rooms they had, and how happy they were +at Mr. Gladstone's, where they saw a good deal of their host--"a +man who at eighty-one possesses the bodily and mental vigour of the +prime of life." The Dean was struck with the old man's abilities. +"Mr. Gladstone would have been successful in any undertaking or any +pursuits--a man fitted to grapple with the highest subjects."</p> +<p>From that period much intercourse took place between the Premier +and our Dean. There are mutual visits between Hawarden and +Edinburgh, and I find a good deal of correspondence between them; +at least I find the letters on one side. The Dean preserved Mr. +Gladstone's letters, but the counterparts are probably not +preserved. One-sided as they are, the little packet in my hand, of +letters from the great Statesman to the rural clergyman is not +without interest. The correspondence has been friendly, frank and +confidential, the writers often differing in immaterial things, but +showing the same liberality in "Church and State;" so that we are +not surprised to find, when the time came, that of the friends, the +churchman approved of Irish disestablishment as heartily as the +layman who was its author.</p> +<br> +<br> +<center>Right Hon. W.E. GLADSTONE to DEAN RAMSAY.</center> +<p class="loc">10 Downing Street, Whitehall,<br> +Jan. 20, 1869.</p> +<blockquote>My dear Dean Ramsay--I need not tell you I am no fit +judge of your brother's claims, but I shall send your letter +privately to the First Lord, who, I am sure, will give it an +impartial and friendly consideration.<br> +<br> +Pray remember me to the Admiral, and be assured it will give me +sincere pleasure if your wish on his behalf can be gratified.<br> +<br> +I write from Hawarden, but almost <i>en route</i> for London, and +the arduous work before us.<br> +<br> +My mind is cheerful, and even sanguine about it.<br> +<br> +I wish I had some chance or hope of seeing you, and I remain +affectionately yours,</blockquote> +<br> +<p class="loc">W.E. GLADSTONE.</p> +<br> +<br> +<blockquote>The Bishop of Salisbury has been for days at the point +of death. He is decidedly better, but cannot recover. Let him have +a place in your prayers.</blockquote> +<br> +<p class="loc">Windsor Castle, June 24, 1871.</p> +<blockquote>My dear Dean Ramsay--The attraction of the Scott +Centenary to Edinburgh is strong, and your affectionate invitation +makes it stronger still. I do not despair of being free, and if +free, I mean to use my freedom, so as to profit by both. At the +same time the delays and obstructions to business have been so +formidable that I must not as yet presume to forecast the time when +I may be able to escape from London, and therefore I fear I must +draw upon your indulgence to allow me some delay. The session may +last far into August, but the stars may be more propitious.<br> +<br> +We are all grumbling at an unusually cold year, and the progress of +vegetation seems to be suspended, but I trust no serious harm is +yet done; as Louis Napoleon said, <i>tout peut se retablir</i>.<br> +<br> +It would indeed be delightful could I negotiate for a right to +bring you back with me on coming southwards.<br> +<br> +So glad to hear a good account of your health and appearance from +our Lord Advocate; a clever chiel, is he not?--Ever affectionately +yours,</blockquote> +<br> +<p class="loc">W.E. GLADSTONE.</p> +<br> +<center>My wife sends her kind love.</center> +<br> +<br> +<p class="loc">10 Downing Street, Whitehall,<br> +July 25, 1871.</p> +<blockquote>My dear Friend--From day to day my hopes of attending +the Scott Centenary have been declining, and I regret much to say +that they are now virtually dead. The extraordinary obstructions +which have been offered to public business during the present +session have now, as you will see, brought us to such a pass that +some suggest an adjournment from August to some period in the +autumn, to enable us to get through what we have in hand. Whether +we do this, or whether we finish off at once, it is now, I fear, +practically certain that there is no chance of my being free to +leave town at the time of the Centenary.<br> +<br> +We paid Tennyson a visit from last Saturday to Tuesday. He is a +sincere and ardent admirer of Scott, and heartily wishes well to +anything which is likely to keep him before the minds of the +on-coming generation.<br> +<br> +His Sussex abode is beautiful, 600 feet above the sea, with a +splendid view. He seems to be very happy in his family.<br> +<br> +With regard to the Emperor of Brazil, I think any application made +to him would come best from those officially connected with the +celebration. At any rate, I fear it would be obtrusive on my part +to mix in it, as I have no special relation with him, though he has +made a most pleasing impression on me.<br> +<br> +I now expect to go to Balmoral in the middle of September, and +should much wish to know whether I might visit you on my way north +or south.--Always affectionately yours,</blockquote> +<br> +<p class="loc">W.E. GLADSTONE.</p> +<br> +<br> +<p class="loc">10 Downing Street, Whitehall,<br> +August 8, 1871.</p> +<blockquote>My dear Dean Ramsay--Do what you like with the +inclosed. It is written at the last moment, and because you asked +for it, by a man who was nine hours in the House yesterday, and has +to be there nine to-day, besides a fair share of a day's work +outside it to boot.<br> +<br> +I hope you received a subscription from Royal Bounty which I sent +for Archibald's family. I can give five pounds myself also.--Ever +your affectionate friend,</blockquote> +<br> +<p class="loc">W.E. GLADSTONE.</p> +<br> +<br> +<p class="loc">11 Carlton House Terrace, S.W.,<br> +August 8, 1871.</p> +<blockquote>My dear Dean Ramsay---I wish I could convey to you +adequately the regret with which I find myself cut off from any +possibility of joining in the tribute to be paid to-morrow to the +memory of the first among the sons of Scotland. He was the idol of +my boyhood, and though I well know that my admiration is worth +little, it has never varied.<br> +<br> +In his case the feeling is towards the man as much as towards his +works. Did we not possess a line from his pen, his life would stand +as a true epic.<br> +<br> +I will not say I think him as strong in his modern politics as in +some other points, but I find my general estimate of the great and +heroic whole affected only in the slightest degree by this point of +qualified misgiving.<br> +<br> +If he is out of fashion with some parts of some classes, it is +their misfortune, not his. He is above fluctuations of time, for +his place is in the Band of the Immortals.<br> +<br> +The end of my letter shall be better worth your having than the +beginning. A fortnight ago I visited Tennyson, and found him +possessed with all the sentiments about Scott which your +celebration is meant to foster.--I remain in haste, affectionately +yours.</blockquote> +<br> +<p class="loc">W.E. GLADSTONE.</p> +<br> +<br> +<p class="loc">Hawarden Castle, Chester,<br> +January 12, 1872.</p> +<blockquote>My dear Dean Ramsay--I was at once obliged, gratified, +and comforted by your letter. This has been a great storm, but it +has not rooted you up, and He whom you live to serve, evidently has +yet more service for you to do. Those remaining in the world cannot +be wife or brother to you, but how many there are who would if they +could, and who will be all they can!<br> +<br> +The testimonies you send me are full of touching interest.<br> +<br> +My wife has received to-day the beautiful present of the new +edition of your book. She will enjoy it immensely. I hope to send +you, when I get to London, a little work called the "Mirror of +Monks." Let not the title alarm you. It is in the manner of +à Kempis, and is original, as well as excellent and lofty. I +have had much Scotch reading. The "Life of Dr. Lee;" Macdonald's +"Love, Law, and Theology;" last, not least, Lady Nairne. I am +equally struck with her life, and her singularly beautiful songs, +and this though she was Tory and Puritan; I am opposed to both. Her +character brings into view a problem common to all times, but also +I suppose special to this. I take it that if there is a religious +body upon earth that fully and absolutely deserves the character of +schismatical, it is your Drummond secession. Yet not only is this +noble and holy woman in it, but even my own narrow experience has +supplied me with other types of singular excellence and elevation +within its pale; and the considerations hereby suggested are of +immensely wide application.<br> +<br> +I trust that your Walker Cathedral will be thoroughly good, and +that your Bishop's book is prospering.<br> +<br> +You will be glad to hear that the solemn thanksgiving at St. Paul's +may be regarded as decided on, to my great satisfaction.<br> +<br> +If you will let me have particulars of any case such as you +describe, I will most readily see what can be done; and now +farewell, my dear friend.--Always affectionately +yours,</blockquote> +<br> +<p class="loc">W.E. GLADSTONE.</p> +<br> +<br> +<p>If not quite so popular as some of the Dean's other +correspondents, he whose letter I bring forward here stood as high +as any man in the estimation of the better and most thinking +classes of Scotsmen.</p> +<p>Thomas Erskine of Linlathen, though no clergyman, had his mind +more constantly full of divine thoughts than most priests; though +no technical scholar perhaps, he kept up his Greek to read Plato, +and did not think that his enjoyment of the works of high reach in +classical times unfitted him for Bible studies, which were the +chief object of his existence.</p> +<br> +<br> +<center>THOMAS ERSKINE to DEAN RAMSAY.</center> +<p class="loc">127 George Street, 19th Oct. 1869.</p> +<blockquote>Dear Dean--I return you many thanks for that kind +letter. Neither you nor I can now be far from death--that commonest +of all events, and yet the most unknown. The majority of those with +whom you and I have been acquainted, have passed through it, but +their experience does not help us except by calling us to prepare +for it. <i>One</i> man indeed--the Head and Lord of men--has risen +from the dead, thereby declaring death overcome, and inviting us +all to share in his victory. And yet we feel that the victory over +death cannot deliver us from fear, unless there be also a victory +over that which makes death terrible--a victory over him that hath +the power of death, that is the devil, or prince and principle of +sin. And our Lord has achieved this also, for he put away sin <i>by +the sacrifice of himself</i>; but this sacrifice can only really +profit us when it is reproduced in us--when we, as branches of the +true Vine, live by the sap of the root, which sap is <i>filial +trust</i>, the only principle which can sacrifice <i>self</i>, +because the only principle which can enable us to commit ourselves +<i>unreservedly</i> into the hands of God for guidance and for +disposal. We are thus <i>put right</i> by <i>trust, justified</i> +or <i>put right</i> by faith in the loving fatherly righteous +purpose of God towards us.<br> +<br> +Dear George Dundas's death has taken from me my chief social +support in Edinburgh. I was fourteen years his senior, but I had +known and loved him from his childhood. Our mothers were sisters, +and thus we had the same family ties and traditions. I think of him +now in connection with that verse, "to those who by patient +continuance in well-doing," etc.<br> +<br> +And now farewell. Let us seek to live by the faith of the Son of +God--his filial trust I suppose, which I so much need.--Ever truly +and gratefully yours,</blockquote> +<br> +<p class="loc">T. ERSKINE.</p> +<hr style="width: 25%;"> +<p>The three following letters hardly help on the story of the +Dean's life, but I could not pass them when they came into my +hands.</p> +<p>The writer is Adam Sedgwick, the well-known Cambridge Professor +and Philosopher. In another capacity he was still better known. He +was tutor and vice-master of Trinity, and in his time an outside +stranger of any education, even a half-educated Scot, dropping into +Cambridge society, found a reception to be remembered. Take for +choice one of their peculiar festivals--Trinity Sunday comes to my +mind--the stranger partook of the splendid feast in that princely +hall of Trinity, where the massive college plate was arrayed and +the old college customs of welcome used, not from affectation, but +kindly reverence. When the dinner was over, the large party of +Doctors and Fellows, with hundreds of the noble youth of England, +all in surplice, moved to the chapel, all joining with reverence in +the august service of the church, and later, they and their guests, +or as many as could be held, crossed to the Combination Room, where +Sedgwick filled the chair, and led the conversation, not to glorify +himself, not to display his own powers, which were great, but to +let his guests know among whom they were placed--philosophers, +first men of science, first scholars, leaders in all kinds of +learning, meeting in a noble equality, proud to meet under his +presidency--<i>that</i> I take to be the highest triumph of +civilised hospitality. At the time of these letters the philosopher +is old, but vigorous in mind, and even gay at the age of +eighty-eight.</p> +<p>The death of Bishop Terrot called forth the following letter +from the venerable Professor:--</p> +<hr style="width: 25%;"> +<center>PROFESSOR SEDGWICK to the Rev. Mr. MALCOLM.</center> +<p class="loc">Trinity College, Cambridge, May 1, 1872.</p> +<blockquote>Dear Mr. Malcolm--I had been previously informed of the +death of my dear old friend, the Bishop of Edinburgh, but I am very +grateful to you for thinking so kindly of me, and for communicating +particulars about which I was not acquainted previously. Accept my +expressions of true-hearted sympathy, and pray impart them to the +surviving members of dear Bishop Terrot's family. He was an old, an +honoured and beloved friend; God laid upon his old age an unusual +load of the labours and sorrows of humanity, but they are over now, +and he has reached his haven of shelter from external sorrow and +his true and enduring home of joy and peace, in the presence of his +Maker and Redeemer. I am very infirm, and am affected by an +internal malady, which, through the past winter, has confined me to +my college rooms, but I have to thank my Maker for thousands of +little comforts to mind and body, by which I am hourly surrounded, +and for His long-suffering in extending my probation till I have +entered on my 88th year. My eyes are dim-sighted and irritable, so +that I generally dictate my letters; now, however, I am using my +own pen to express my thanks to you, in this time of your sorrow +for the loss of one so nearly and dearly connected with your +clerical life. My memory is not much shaken, except in recalling +names not very familiar to me, and I think (with the painful +exception I have alluded to) that my constitutional health is +sound. When my friends call upon me, my deafness generally compels +me to use an ear-trumpet, and I yesterday took it to our college +walks, to try if I could catch the notes of the singing birds, +which were piping all round me. But, alas! I could not hear the +notes of the singing birds, though I did catch the harsher and +louder notes of the rooks, which have their nests in some college +grounds.<br> +<br> +May the remaining years of your life be cheered and animated by +good abiding Christian hope.--I remain very faithfully +yours,</blockquote> +<br> +<p class="loc">ADAM SEDGWICK.</p> +<hr style="width: 25%;"> +<center>PROFESSOR SEDGWICK to DEAN RAMSAY.</center> +<p class="loc">Trinity College, Cambridge,<br> +29th May 1872.</p> +<blockquote>My dear Dean--I this morning received your kind +presentation copy of your Reminiscences, which I shall highly value +for its own sake, and as your gift. I read little now because my +eyes are both dim-sighted and very irritable; but your book will +just suit me, as it is not a continuous tale, but a succession of +tales, each of which is perfect in itself, and I hope to read it +bit by bit without worrying my enfeebled powers of sight.<br> +<br> +I meant to have thanked you in an autograph, but there has been a +sudden change in the atmosphere, which is dark, heavy and wet, and +when there is a defect of light I am almost constrained to dictate +my letters to my <i>factotum</i>.<br> +<br> +I am delighted, too, with the single sheet containing verses +addressed to yourself. The first copy by Bishop Wordsworth appears +to me quite admirable from the beauty and simplicity of his Latin; +and the other copies are good in their way.<br> +<br> +I dare say you have seen the short verses he wrote on the death of +his first wife. They are of Roman brevity and of exquisite +tenderness.<br> +<br> +One of the very pleasant days of my life was spent in a visit to +the small country living of Mr. Dawes of Downing, afterwards Dean +of Hereford. Your late brother was one of the happy party. We +returned together to Cambridge at a rattling pace, and I am not +sure that I ever saw his face afterwards, for very soon he had a +bilious attack which induced him to seek health in his native +country, and, alas! he sought it in vain, for he sickened and died, +to the deep sorrow of all his friends.--I remain, my dear Dean, +very truly and gratefully yours,</blockquote> +<br> +<p class="loc">A. SEDGWICK.</p> +<hr style="width: 25%;"> +<center>PROFESSOR SEDGWICK to Rev. Mr. MALCOLM.</center> +<p class="loc">Trinity College, Cambridge,<br> +January 18, 1873.</p> +<blockquote>My dear Mr. Malcolm--The infirmity of my sight compels +me to dictate this letter to one who often writes for me. Such a +bright day as this, and while the sun is shining, I could see the +traces of my pen upon a sheet of paper; but the act of writing +greatly fatigues me, and I dictate nearly all my letters.<br> +<br> +I very much value your melancholy memorial of my late dear and +honoured friend, the late Bishop Terrot. Though the photo +represents our late friend the bishop with his features shrouded in +the cold fixity of death, yet it does bring back the original to +the memory of those who knew him well, and I am greatly obliged to +you for this memorial of one who has gone from our sight for ever, +so far as this world is concerned. It was very kind of you to +remember the photo.<br> +<br> +I did not know Bishop Cotterell intimately, but I have met him many +times, and I think you very happy in obtaining the services of a +man of such experience, talent, and zeal, in the good cause of +Christian truth.<br> +<br> +I am now a very feeble, infirm, old man, toiling in the last +quarter of my 88th year. I ought to be thankful that my mind, +though feeble, remains entire: my memory is often defective, but I +have been enabled, though with great labour to myself, and with +many interruptions, to dictate a preface to a catalogue published +by the university of the older fossils of our collection. They have +kindly printed and given to me some extra copies of my preface, one +of which I will forward to you by the book-post.<br> +<br> +I know it can have no interest to you, excepting, perhaps, a few +paragraphs in the conclusion of only two or three pages.--I remain, +my dear Mr. Malcolm, very faithfully and gratefully +yours,</blockquote> +<br> +<p class="loc">A. SEDGWICK.</p> +<br> +<br> +<p>I have printed already more than one letter from the Rev. D.T.K. +Drummond, from admiration of their intrinsic merit, and because I +wish here to collect proofs that no diversity of Church rites or +Church policy could separate our Dean from brethren whom he +regarded perhaps as erroneous, but recognised as teaching and +leading by the same principles of freedom, which he himself revered +and followed.</p> +<br> +<br> +<center>Rev. D.T.K. DRUMMOND to DEAN RAMSAY.</center> +<p class="loc">Montpelier, Saturday.</p> +<blockquote>My dear Friend--Very many thanks for your most touching +note, and for the extract from your book you so kindly sent me. The +more I look into it the more I like it, and thank God for the +testimony you so unequivocally and fearlessly hear to the +<i>unity</i> of the True Church of Christ of any age, however much +the great army he made up of various sections, of diverse uniforms, +and with special duties to perform.....<br> +<br> +Again thanking you very warmly, and earnestly praying for all the +precious consolations of the Great Head of the Church to be largely +vouchsafed to you, believe me to be always most affectionately +yours,</blockquote> +<br> +<p class="loc">D. T. K. DRUMMOND.</p> +<hr style="width: 25%;"> +<p>The subject of the following letter cannot be overlooked by a +biographer of Dean Ramsay:--</p> +<br> +<br> +<center>Rev. Dr. CANDLISH to DEAN RAMSAY.</center> +<p class="loc">52 Melville Street, 18th March 1872.</p> +<blockquote>My dear Dean Ramsay--I have just read with most +profound thankfulness and admiration your noble Christian letter in +this day's <i>Scotsman</i>. I cannot deny myself the gratification +of expressing my feelings to you in this feeble acknowledgment. You +have done a signal service to the cause of our Blessed Lord and +common Master. I am too infirm to write more fully all that is in +my heart. You will pardon all defects, and believe me, yours very +truly,</blockquote> +<br> +<p class="loc">ROB. S. CANDLISH.</p> +<br> +<br> +<p>The letter referred to by the distinguished divine arose out of +what is known in the Scottish Episcopal Church as the <i>cause +celèbre</i> of the Bishop of Glasgow against the Bishop of +Argyll.</p> +<p>The Rev. Dr. Caird, of the University of Glasgow, having invited +the Bishop of Argyll to preach to a mixed Episcopalian and +Presbyterian congregation, using his Church's liturgy, from the +University pulpit of Glasgow, the Bishop of Glasgow interposed to +prevent it.</p> +<p>The interference of the Bishop of Glasgow with his brother +prelate of Argyll called forth a letter from Dean Ramsay, which +appeared in the <i>Scottish Guardian</i> on 15th March 1872, and in +the <i>Scotsman</i> three days later. In it the Dean in fact +asserts a religious sympathy towards those who differ from him, +comprehensive enough to include all his Protestant countrymen.</p> +<p>"In an address to the Bishop of Glasgow, signed by sixty-two +clergymen, it is stated that the service contemplated in the chapel +of the University of Glasgow would be a 'lax proceeding, and +fraught with great injury to the highest interests of the Church,' +Accordingly the Bishop of Glasgow prohibited the service, to guard +the Church from complicity in a measure which he considered +subversive of her position in this country.' In other words," says +Dean Ramsay, "we are called upon to believe that, as members of the +Scottish Episcopal Church, it is our bounden duty to withhold every +appearance of any religious sympathy with our Presbyterian +fellow-countrymen and fellow-Christians. I now solemnly declare for +myself that, had I come to the conclusion that such was the +teaching of our Church, and such the views to which I was +bound--viz. that her object was thus to sever man from man, and to +maintain that the service proposed at Glasgow was really 'fraught +with great injury to the highest interests of my Church,' because +it would promote union and peace--the sun should not again set till +I had given up all official connection with a Church of which the +foundations and the principles would be so different from the +landmarks and leading manifestations of our holy faith itself. Were +the principles and conduct laid down in this address and in the +answer to it fairly carried out, I cannot see any other result than +the members of our Church considering the whole of Scotland which +is external to our communion as a land of infidels, with whom we +can have no spiritual connection, and whom, indeed, we could hardly +recognise as a Christian people."</p> +<p>The Dean's letter is chiefly remarkable as showing that age had +not frozen his charity. It called forth many letters like that of +Dr. Candlish, and one from the little Somersetshire society which +he loved so well.</p> +<br> +<br> +<center>JOHN SHEPPARD, Esq., Frome, to DEAN RAMSAY.</center> +<p class="loc">The Cottage, Frome, 21st March 1872.</p> +<blockquote>Very dear and reverend Sir--I have to thank you for the +<i>Scottish Guardian</i> which you have kindly sent me. I regret +the divisions which appear to have arisen in your church. Whatever +comes from your pen has special interest for me; and I am glad to +see it (as it always has been) pleading the cause of Christian +charity. It appears to me that the welfare of your church would +have been promoted by acceding to the invitation,<br> +<br> +I think I have mentioned to you that we had lately a visit from +good Archdeacon Sandford, which we much enjoyed. We learn with +sorrow that since attendance at the Convocation and a stay at +Lambeth Palace, he has been suffering great weakness and +exhaustion, and been confined to his bed for a month. He is now +slowly recovering; but we fear his exertions have been beyond his +strength, and that his life must be very precarious.<br> +<br> +I hope your health is not more seriously impaired; but we must be +looking more and more, dear sir, towards the home which pain and +strife cannot enter.<br> +<br> +My beloved Susan is very zealous as the animals' friend, and birds +of many sorts welcome and solicit her as their patroness. She +desires to be most kindly remembered to you, with, my dear Dean, +your attached old friend,</blockquote> +<br> +<p class="loc">JOHN SHEPPARD.</p> +<blockquote><i>P.S.</i>--Susan instructs me to say for her that, +"since reading your letter to the <i>Guardian</i>, she loves you +more than ever, if possible." My words are cool in comparison with +hers; and this is a curious message for an ancient husband to +convey.<br> +<br> +She thinks we have not thanked you for the Bishop's Latin verses +and the translations of them. If we have not, it is not because our +"<i>reminiscences</i>" of you are faint or few.</blockquote> +<br> +<p>I wish to preserve a note of a dear old friend of my own, whose +talents, perhaps I might say whose genius, was only shrouded by his +modesty. I know that the Dean felt how gratifying it was to find +among his congregation men of such accomplishment, such +scholarship, as George Moir and George Dundas, and it is something +to show that they responded very heartily to that feeling.</p> +<br> +<br> +<center>GEORGE MOIR to DEAN RAMSAY.</center> +<p class="loc">Monday morning, 14 Charlotte Square.</p> +<blockquote>My dear Dean--My condition renders it frequently +impossible to attend church, from the difficulty I have in +remaining for any length of time. But I have been able to be +present the last two Sundays, and I cannot refrain from saying with +how much pleasure I listened yesterday to your discourse on +charity. It was not unworthy of the beautiful passage which formed +its ground-work; clear, consecutive, eloquent, and with a moral +application of which I wish we may all avail ourselves.<br> +<br> +Long may you continue to advise and instruct those who are <i>to +come after me</i>.<br> +<br> +I was delighted to see you looking so well, and to notice the look +of vigour with which the discourse was delivered. Believe me ever +most truly yours,</blockquote> +<br> +<p class="loc">GEO. MOIR.</p> +<br> +<br> +<p>In 1866 the Dean had delivered two lectures upon "Preachers and +Preaching," but which were afterwards published in a volume called +<i>Pulpit Table-Talk</i>. That is the subject of the following +letter from a great master of the art:--</p> +<br> +<br> +<center>Dr. GUTHRIE to DEAN RAMSAY.</center> +<p class="loc">Inchgrundle, Tarfside, by Brechin,<br> +31st August 1868.</p> +<blockquote>My dear Mr. Dean--Your Pulpit Table-Talk has been sent +here to gratify, delight, and edify me. A most entertaining book; +and full of wise and admirable sentiments. All ministers and +preachers should read and digest it. Age seems to have no more +dulling effect on you than it had on Sir David Brewster, who +retained, after he had turned the threescore and ten, all the +greenery, foliage, and flowers of youth--presenting at once the +freshness of Spring, and the flowers of Summer, and the precious +fruits of Autumn.<br> +<br> +May your bow long abide in strength! and the evening of your days +be calm and peaceful, bright with the sure and certain hope of that +better world, where, I hope, we shall meet to be for ever with the +Lord! With the greatest respect and affectionate regards, yours +ever,</blockquote> +<br> +<p class="loc">THOMAS GUTHRIE.</p> +<br> +<br> +<p>I cannot fix the date of the following anecdote, nor does the +date much matter:--Some years ago a child, the son of the U.P. +minister of Dunblane, was so dangerously ill, that a neighbouring +lady, the wife of the Episcopal clergyman, who was much interested +in the little boy, asked her husband if it might be permitted to +beg the prayers of the congregation for his recovery. The clergyman +readily assented; and when the facts came to the knowledge of Dean +Ramsay, and that it was a suggestion of a dear friend of his, he +sent the lady a copy of his <i>Reminiscences</i>, with a letter to +her husband, in which he says--"I was greatly charmed with your +account of prayers offered up for poor little Blair. Tell your Mary +I love her more than ever. It has quite affected me, her proposing +it." The husband is the Rev. Mr. Malcolm; the lady his wife, +daughter of the Dean's dear friend, Bishop Terrot.</p> +<p>But the end was approaching. In December 1872 it was noticed +with sorrow that for the first time since the commencement of the +Church Society (1838), of which Ramsay was really the founder, the +Dean was absent from the annual meeting of the general committee. +Soon it became known that his illness was more than a mere passing +attack. During its continuance the deepest interest was manifested +in every quarter. Each day, and "almost from hour to hour, the +latest tidings were eagerly sought for. In many churches and in +many families besides those of our communion, prayers were offered +for his recovery. And when at last it became known that he had +indeed passed away from this life, it was felt that we had lost not +only a venerable Father of the Church, but one whose name, familiar +as a household word, was always associated with kindly loving +thoughts and deeds--one who was deservedly welcome wherever he +went, and whose influence was always towards peace and goodwill." +The Rev. Mr. Montgomery, our present Dean of Edinburgh, whose words +I quote, truly says that "he was a Churchman by conviction, but was +ever ready to meet, and, where occasion offered, to act with others +upon the basis of a common humanity and common Christianity."</p> +<blockquote>FOOTNOTES:</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_9"></a><a href="#FNanchor9">[9]</a> +The margin seems to show that this page of the journal was not +written till 1843.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_10"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor10">[10]</a> The Bishop said that the two impediments to +profitable or amusing conversation were <i>humdrum</i> and +<i>humbug</i>.<br> +<br> +On another occasion, the Bishop having expressed his doubt of the +truth of spirit-rapping, table-turning, etc., and being pressed +with the appeal, "Surely you must admit these are indications of +Satanic agency," quietly answered, "It may be so, but it must be a +mark of Satan being in a state of dotage!"</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_11"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor11">[11]</a> Alluditur ad titulum libri +<i>Reminiscences</i>, etc.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_12"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor12">[12]</a> Here is the passage referred to by Mr. +Dickens:--"There are persons who do not sympathise with my great +desire to preserve and to disseminate these specimens of Scottish +humour; indeed, I have reasons to suspect that some have been +disposed to consider the time and attention which I have given to +the subject as ill-bestowed, or at any rate, as somewhat unsuitable +to one of my advanced age and sacred profession. If any persons do +really think so, all I can say is, I do not agree with them. +National peculiarities must ever form an interesting and improving +study, inasmuch as it is a study of human nature; and the anecdotes +of this volume all tend to illustrate features of the Scottish +mind, which, as moral and religious traits of character, are deeply +interesting. I am convinced that every one, whether clergyman or +layman, who contributes to the innocent enjoyment of human life, +has joined in a good work, inasmuch as he has diminished the +inducement to <i>vicious</i> indulgence. God knows there is enough +of sin and of sorrow in the world to make sad the heart of every +Christian man. No one, I think, need be ashamed of his endeavours +to cheer the darker hours of his fellow-travellers' steps through +life, or to beguile the hearts of the weary and the heavy laden, if +only for a time, into cheerful and amusing trains of thought. So +far as my experience of life goes, I have never found that the +cause of morality and religion was promoted by sternly checking the +tendencies of our nature to relaxation and amusement. If mankind be +too ready to enter upon pleasures which are dangerous or +questionable, it is the part of wisdom and of prudence to supply +them with sources of interest, the enjoyment of which are innocent +and permissible."</blockquote> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2>APPENDIX.</h2> +<hr style="width: 25%;"> +<p>When this Memoir was only begun I was anxious to say something +of the Dean's musical powers; and, not venturing to speak of music +myself, I asked the Dean's sister Lady Burnett to supply my +deficiency. In reply I had the following letter:--</p> +<br> +<br> +<center>22d February 1873.</center> +<blockquote>... As a flute-player the Dean attained a proficiency +rarely seen in an amateur, and used frequently to play the very +difficult flute-obligatos of some of Handel's songs, which are +considered a hard task even for professionals. Besides playing the +flute he was thoroughly conversant with the mechanism of the organ, +and had some knowledge of the violoncello, though he never gave +much time to the study of that instrument. But perhaps the most +interesting point in this part of the character of my brother was +his ardent love for Handel's music. There was not a song or chorus +of the great master that he was not acquainted with, and in his +younger days he used to sing the bass music from the Messiah and +other Oratorios with great taste and skill--his voice, a fine +mellow baritone, being well suited to these songs. You may remember +his lectures on Handel delivered at the Philosophical Institution +some years ago, and how enthusiastic he was when describing the +manifold beauties of his favourite composer, and how interested and +eager he became when the choir sang the music he knew and loved so +well....<br> +<br> +I wrote this on Saturday evening when sitting alone, thinking of +the great loss I had sustained; the variety there was in Edward's +character; how accomplished he was; what knowledge he had on many +subjects; his fine taste, his gentleness and Christian piety; and +then his strong sense of humour and fun; how amusing he was, and +such droll things broke out every now and then! even to the very +last so genial and social, and altogether such a man that we "ne'er +shall look upon his like again."--Yours very +sincerely,</blockquote> +<br> +<p class="loc">LAUDERDALE BURNETT.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2>REMINISCENCES.</h2> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="PREFACE"></a>PREFACE</h2> +<h2>TO</h2> +<h2>TWENTY-SECOND EDITION.</h2> +<br> +<p>In preparing another duodecimo edition of the "Reminiscences of +Scottish Life and Character," I gladly avail myself of the +opportunity afforded me of reproducing some of the materials which +had been added to the octavo edition, especially that part at page +322, etc., which advocated a modified interchange of pulpits +between Episcopalian and Presbyterian clergymen; to add also some +excellent Scottish stories which had been sent to me by kind +friends. I am desirous also of repeating the correction of an error +into which we had fallen in copying the account of a toast in the +Highland form, which had been kindly contributed by the respected +minister of Moulin, in the octavo edition at page 70. To Lowland +conceptions, the whole proceeding has somewhat the appearance of a +respectable company at once becoming insane; still it ought to be +correct, and the printer had, by mistake, inserted a word that has +no existence in the Gaelic language. The text reads--</p> +<blockquote>"Lud ris! Lud ris! You again! you again!"</blockquote> +<p>It should be</p> +<blockquote>Sud ris! Sud ris! Yon again! yon again!</blockquote> +<p>that is--"you cheer again."</p> +<p>The demand for a twenty-second edition of a volume of "Scottish +Reminiscences" embracing subjects which are necessarily of a +limited and local character--a demand which has taken place during +the course of little more than fifteen years since its first +publication--proves, I think, the correctness of the idea upon +which it was first undertaken--viz. that it should depict a phase +of national manners which was fast passing away, and thus, in +however humble a department, contribute something to the materials +of history, by exhibiting social customs and habits of thought +which at a particular era were characteristic of a race. It may +perhaps be very fairly said that the Reminiscences came out at a +time specially suitable to rescue these features of national life +and character from oblivion. They had <i>begun</i> to fade away, +and many had, to the present generation, become obsolete.</p> +<p>To those who have not given their attention to the subject for +the elucidation of which this volume has been written, I would +present two specimens of the sort of materials from which they may +expect to find these Reminiscences are compiled. They are chosen to +indicate a style of life and manners now fast fading away, and are +taken from a period which lies within the scope of our own +recollections. Now, a subject like this can only be illustrated by +a copious application of anecdotes which must show the features of +the past. And let me premise that I make use of anecdotes not for +the purpose of telling a good story, but solely in the way of +<i>illustration</i>. I am quite certain that there was an +originality, a dry and humorous mode of viewing persons and events, +quite <i>peculiar</i> to the older Scottish characters. And I am +equally certain, that their peculiar humour can only be exhibited +in examples. From the late Mr. Erskine of Linlathan I received the +following:--Mr. Erskine recollected an old housekeeper at Airth, +who belonged to this class of character. A speech of this Mrs. +Henderson was preserved in the family as having been made by her at +the time of the execution of Louis XVI. in 1793. She was noticing +the violent emotion exhibited by Mr. Bruce of Kinnaird, the +Abyssinian traveller, at the sad event which had just taken place, +and added, in the following quaint and caustic terms, "There's +Kinnaird greeting as if there was nae a saunt on earth but himsel' +and the king o' France." How utterly unlike anything that would be +said on such an occasion by an English person in the same position +in life!</p> +<p>For the same purpose, let me introduce a characteristic little +Scottish scene, which my cousin, the late Sir Thomas Burnett of +Leys, used to describe with great humour. Sir Thomas had a tenant +on his estate, a very shrewd clever man, whom he was sometimes in +the habit of consulting about country matters. On one occasion he +came over to Crathes Castle, and asked to see Sir Thomas. He was +accordingly ushered in, accompanied by a young man of very simple +appearance, who gazed about the room in a stupid vacant manner. The +old man began by saying that he understood there was a farm on the +estate to be let, and that he knew a very fine young man whom he +wished to recommend as tenant. He said he had plenty of +<i>siller</i>, and had studied farming on the most approved +principles--sheep-farming in the Highlands, cattle-farming in the +Lowlands, and so forth, and, in short, was a model farmer. When he +had finished his statement, Sir Thomas, looking very significantly +at his companion, addressed the old man (as he was usually +addressed in the county by the name of his farm)--"Well, Drummy, +and is this your friend whom you propose for the farm?" to which +Drummy replied, "Oh fie, na. Hout! that is a kind o' a <i>Feel</i>, +a friend (<i>i.e.</i> a relation) o' the wife's, and I just brought +him ower wi' me to show him the place."</p> +<p>The question of change in the "life and character" of a people, +during the period embraced in the reminiscences of an aged +individual, must always be a subject for deep and serious +consideration. In the case of Scotland, such changes comprise much +that is interesting and amusing. But they also contain much matter +for serious thought and reflection to the lovers of their country. +In preparing the present edition of these Reminiscences, I have +marked out many further changes, and have marked them from a deep +feeling of interest in the moral and religious improvement of my +country. To my readers I say that I hope we have all learned to +view such changes under a more serious national aspect than a mere +question of amusement or speculation. The Christian, when he looks +around him on society, must observe many things which, as a +patriot, he wishes might be permanent, and he marks many things +which, as a patriot, he wishes were obliterated. What he desires +should be enduring in his countrymen is, that abiding attributes of +Scottish character should be associated amongst all men with truth +and virtue--with honour and kindly feelings--with temperance and +self-denial--with divine faith and love--with generosity and +benevolence. On the other hand, he desires that what may become +questions of tradition, and, in regard to his own land, +REMINISCENCES of Scottish life, shall be--cowardice and folly, +deceit and fraud, the low and selfish motives to action which make +men traitors to their God and hateful to their fellow-men.</p> +<p>It would be worse than affectation--it would be ingratitude--to +disclaim being deeply impressed by the favourable reception which +has for so long a time been given to these Reminiscences at home, +in India, in America, and in all countries where Scotchmen are to +be found.</p> +<p>It is not the least of the enjoyments which I have had in +compiling these pages, to hear of the kind sympathy which they have +called forth in other minds, and often in the minds of strangers; +and it would be difficult for me to describe the pleasure I have +received when told by a friend that this work had cheered him in +the hour of depression or of sickness--that even for a few moments +it may have beguiled the weight of corroding care and worldly +anxiety. I have been desirous of saying a word in favour of old +Scottish life; and with some minds, perhaps, the book may have +promoted a more kindly feeling towards hearts and heads of bygone +days. And certainly I can now truly say, that my highest reward--my +greatest honour and gratification--would spring from the feeling +that it might become a standard volume in Scottish cottage +libraries, and that by the firesides of Scotland these pages might +become as Household Words.</p> +<blockquote>EDINBURGH, 23 AINSLIE PLACE. <i>St. Andrew's +Day</i><a name="FNanchor13"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_13">[13]</a></blockquote> +<blockquote>FOOTNOTES:</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_13"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor13">[13]</a> These words, "St. Andrew's Day," were +deleted by the Dean; and though he lived till the 27th December, he +did not touch the proof-sheets after the 19th November +1872.</blockquote> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h1>REMINISCENCES</h1> +<h4>OF</h4> +<h1>SCOTTISH LIFE AND CHARACTER.</h1> +<hr style="width: 25%;"> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_THE_FIRST."></a>CHAPTER THE FIRST.</h2> +<h3>INTRODUCTORY.</h3> +<br> +<p>I wish my readers always to bear in mind that these +Reminiscences are meant to bear upon the changes which would +include just such a revolution as that referred to at page 15 in +the bonnet practice of Laurencekirk. There is no pretension to any +researches of <i>antiquarian</i> character; they are in fact +Reminiscences which come almost within personal recognition. A kind +friend gave me anecdotes of the past in her hundredth year. In +early life I was myself consigned to the care of my grand-uncle, +Sir Alexander Ramsay, residing in Yorkshire, and he was born in +1715; so that I can go pretty far back on my own experience, and +have thus become cognisant of many changes which might be expected +as a consequence of such experience.</p> +<p>I cannot imagine a better illustration of the sort of change in +the domestic relations of life that has taken place in something +like the time we speak of, than is shown in the following anecdote, +which was kindly communicated to me by Professor MacGregor of the +Free Church. I have pleasure in giving it in the Professor's own +words:--"I happened one day to be at Panmure Castle when Lord +Panmure (now Dalhousie) was giving a treat to a school, and was +presented by the Monikie Free Church Deacons' Court with a Bible on +occasion of his having cleared them finally of debt on their +buildings. Afterwards his Lordship took me into the library, where, +among other treasures, we found a handsome folio <i>Prayer Book</i> +presented to his ancestor Mr. Maule of Kelly by the Episcopalian +minister of the district, on occasion of his having, by Mr. Maule's +help, been brought out of jail. The coincidence and contrast were +curiously interesting."</p> +<p>For persons to take at various intervals a retrospective view of +life, and of the characters they have met with, seems to be a +natural feeling of human nature; and every one is disposed at times +to recall to memory many circumstances and many individuals which +suggest abundant subjects for reflection. We thus find +recollections of scenes in which we have been joyous and happy. We +think of others with which we only associate thoughts of sorrow and +of sadness. Amongst these varied emotions we find subjects for +reminiscences, of which we would bury the feelings in our own +hearts as being too sacred for communication with others. Then, +again, there are many things of the past concerning which we +delight to take counsel with friends and contemporaries. Some +persons are disposed to go beyond these personal communications +with friends, and having through life been accustomed to write down +memoranda of their own feelings, have published them to the world. +Many interesting works have thus been contributed to our literature +by writers who have sent forth volumes in the form of <i>Memoirs of +their Own Times, Personal Recollections, Remarks upon Past +Scenes</i>, etc. etc. It is not within the scope of this work to +examine these, nor can I specify the many communications I have +from different persons, both at home and in our colonial +possessions; in fact, the references in many cases have been lost +or mislaid. But I must acknowledge, however briefly, my obligations +to Dr. Carruthers, Inverness, and to Dr. Cook, Haddington, who have +favoured me with valuable contributions.</p> +<p>Now, when we come to examine the general question of memoirs +connected with contemporary history, no work is better known in +connection with this department of Scottish literature than the +<i>History of his Own Times</i>, by my distinguished relative, Dr. +Gilbert Burnett, Bishop of Salisbury. Bishop Burnett's father, Lord +Crimond, was third son of my father's family, the Burnetts of Leys, +in Kincardineshire. There is now at Crathes Castle, the family +seat, a magnificent full-length portrait of the Bishop in his +robes, as Prelate of the Garter, by Sir Godfrey Kneller. It was +presented by himself to the head of his family. But, as one great +object of the Bishop's history was to laud and magnify the personal +character and public acts of William of Orange, his friend and +patron, and as William was held in special abhorrence by the +Jacobite party in Scotland, the Bishop holds a prominent, and, with +many, a very odious position in Scottish Reminiscences; in fact, he +drew upon himself and upon his memory the determined hatred and +unrelenting hostility of adherents to the Stuart cause. They never +failed to abuse him on all occasions, and I recollect old ladies in +Montrose, devoted to the exiled Prince, with whom the epithet +usually applied to the Prelate was that of "Leein' Gibby<a name= +"FNanchor14"></a><a href="#Footnote_14">[14]</a>."</p> +<p>Such language has happily become a "Reminiscence." Few would be +found now to apply such an epithet to the author of the <i>History +of his Own Times</i>, and certainly it would not be applied on the +ground of the Jacobite principles to which he was opposed. But a +curious additional proof of this hostility of Scottish Jacobites to +the memory of Burnett has lately come to light. In a box of +political papers lately found at Brechin Castle, belonging to the +Panmure branch of the family, who, in '15, were forfeited on the +ground of their Jacobite opinions and adherence to the cause of +Charles Edward, there has been found a severe and bitter supposed +<i>epitaph</i> for Bishop Burnett. By the kindness of the Earl of +Dalhousie I was permitted to see this epitaph, and, if I chose, to +print it in this edition. I am, however, unwilling to stain my +pages with such an ungenerous and, indeed, I may say, so scurrilous +a representation of the character of one who, in the just opinion +of our Lyon King-at-Arms, himself a Burnett of the Kemnay branch, +has characterised the Bishop of Salisbury as "true and honest, and +far beyond the standard of his times as a Clergyman and as a +Bishop." But the epitaph found in these Panmure papers shows +clearly the prejudices of the age in which it was written, and in +fact only embodies something of that spirit and of those opinions +which we have known as still lingering in our own +Reminiscences.</p> +<p>If it were not on my part a degree of presumption, I might be +inclined to consider myself in this volume a fellow-labourer with +the late accomplished and able Mr. Robert Chambers. In a very +limited sphere it takes a portion of the same field of +illustration. I should consider myself to have done well if I shall +direct any of my readers to his able volumes. Whosoever wishes to +know what this country really was in times past, and to learn, with +a precision beyond what is supplied by the narratives of history, +the details of the ordinary current of our social, civil, and +national life, must carefully study the <i>Domestic Annals of +Scotland</i>. Never before were a nation's domestic features so +thoroughly portrayed. Of those features the specimens of quaint +Scottish humour still remembered are unlike anything else, but they +are fast becoming obsolete, and my motive for this publication has +been an endeavour to preserve marks of the past which would of +themselves soon become obliterated, and to supply the rising +generation with pictures of social life, faded and indistinct to +their eyes, but the strong lines of which an older race still +remember. By thus coming forward at a favourable moment, no doubt +many beautiful specimens of SCOTTISH MINSTRELSY have in this manner +been preserved from oblivion by the timely exertions of Bishop +Percy, Ritson, Walter Scott, and others. Lord Macaulay, in his +preface to <i>The Lays of Ancient Rome</i>, shows very powerfully +the tendency in all that lingers in the memory to become obsolete, +and he does not hesitate to say that "Sir Walter Scott was but +<i>just in time</i> to save the precious relics of the minstrelsy +of the Border."</p> +<p>It is quite evident that those who have in Scotland come to an +advanced age, must have found some things to have been really +changed about them, and that on them great alterations have already +taken place. There are some, however, which yet may be in a +transition state; and others in which, although changes are +threatened, still it cannot be said that the changes are begum I +have been led to a consideration of impending alterations as likely +to take place, by the recent appearance of two very remarkable and +very interesting papers on subjects closely connected with great +social Scottish questions, where a revolution of opinion may be +expected. These are two articles in <i>Recess Studies</i> (1870), a +volume edited by our distinguished Principal, Sir Alexander Grant. +One essay is by Sir Alexander himself, upon the "Endowed Hospitals +of Scotland;" the other by the Rev. Dr. Wallace of the Greyfriars, +upon "Church Tendencies in Scotland." It would be quite irrelevant +for me to enlarge here upon the merits of those articles. No one +could study them attentively without being impressed with the +ability and power displayed in them by the authors, their grasp of +the subjects, and their fair impartial judgment upon the various +questions which come under their notice.</p> +<p>From these able disquisitions, and from other prognostics, it is +quite evident that sounder principles of political economy and +accurate experience of human life show that much of the old +Scottish hospital system was quite wrong and must be changed. +Changes are certainly going on, which seem to indicate that the +very hard Presbyterian views of some points connected with Church +matters are in transition. I have elsewhere spoken of a past +sabbatarian strictness, and I have lately received an account of a +strictness in observing the national fast-day, or day appointed for +preparation in celebrating Holy Communion, which has in some +measure passed away. The anecdote adduced the example of two +drovers who were going on very quietly together. They had to pass +through a district whereof one was a parishioner, and during their +progress through it the one whistled with all his might, the other +screwed up his mouth without emitting a single sound. When they +came to a burn, the silent one, on then crossing the stream, gave a +skip, and began whistling with all his might, exclaiming with great +triumph to his companion, "I'm beyond the parish of Forfar now, and +I'll whistle as muckle as I like." It happened to be the Forfar +parish fast-day. But a still stricter observance was shown by a +native of Kirkcaldy, who, when asked by his companion drover in the +south of Scotland "why he didna whistle," quietly answered, "I +canna, man; it's our fast-day in Kirkcaldy." I have an instance of +a very grim assertion of extreme sabbatarian zeal. A maid-servant +had come to a new place, and on her mistress quietly asking her on +Sunday evening to wash up some dishes, she indignantly replied, +"Mem, I hae dune mony sins, and hae mony sins to answer for; but, +thank God, I hae never been sae far left to mysell as to wash up +dishes on the Sabbath day."</p> +<p>I hope it will not for a moment be supposed we would willingly +throw any ridicule or discouragement on the Scottish national +tendencies on the subject, or that we are not proud of Scotland's +example of a sacred observance of the fourth commandment in the +letter and the spirit. We refer now to injudicious extremes, such, +indeed, as our Lord condemned, and which seem a fair subject for +notice amongst Scottish peculiarities. But the philosophy of the +question is curious. Scotland has ever made her boast of the +simplest form of worship, and a worship free from ceremonial, more +even than the Church of England, which is received as, in doctrine +and ritual, the Church of the Reformation. In some respects, +therefore, may you truly say the only standing recognised +observance in the ceremonial part of Presbyterian worship is the +Sabbath day--an observance which has been pushed in times past even +beyond the extreme of a spirit of Judaism, as if the sabbatical +ceremonial were made a substitute for all other ceremony. In this, +as well as in other matters which we have pointed out, what changes +have taken place, what changes are going on! It may be difficult to +assign precise causes for such changes having taken place among us, +and that during the lifetime of individuals now living to remember +them. It has been a period for many changes in manners, habits, and +forms of language, such as we have endeavoured to mark in this +volume. The fact of such changes is indisputable, and sometimes it +is difficult not only to assign the causes for them, but even to +describe in what the changes themselves consist. They are gradual, +and almost imperceptible. Scottish people lose their Scotchness; +they leave home, and return without those expressions and +intonations, and even peculiarity of voice and manner, which used +to distinguish us from Southern neighbours. In all this, I fear, we +lose our originality. It has not passed away, but with every +generation becomes less like the real type.</p> +<p>I would introduce here a specimen of the precise sort of changes +to which I would refer, as an example of the reminiscences intended +to be introduced into these pages. We have in earlier editions +given an account of the pains taken by Lord Gardenstone to extend +and improve his rising village of Laurencekirk; amongst other +devices he had brought down, as settlers, a variety of artificers +and workmen from England. With these he had introduced a +<i>hatter</i> from Newcastle; but on taking him to church next day +after his arrival, the poor man saw that he might decamp without +loss of time, as he could not expect much success in his calling at +Laurencekirk; in fact, he found Lord Gardenstone's and his own the +only hats in the kirk--the men all wore then the flat Lowland +bonnet. But how quickly times change! My excellent friend, Mr. +Gibbon of Johnstone, Lord Gardenstone's own place, which is near +Laurencekirk, tells me that at the present time <i>one</i> solitary +Lowland bonnet lingers in the parish.</p> +<p>Hats are said to have been first brought into Inverness by +Duncan Forbes of Culloden, the Lord President, who died in 1747. +Forbes is reported to have presented the provost and bailies with +cocked hats, which they wore only on Sundays and council days. +About 1760 a certain Deacon Young began daily to wear a hat, and +the country people crowding round him, the Deacon used humorously +to say, "What do you see about me, sirs? am I not a mortal man like +yourselves?" The broad blue bonnets I speak of long continued to be +worn in the Highland capital, and are still occasionally to be seen +there, though generally superseded by the Glengarry bonnet and +ordinary hat. It is a minor change, but a very decided one.</p> +<p>The changes which have taken place, and which give rise to such +"Reminiscences," are very numerous, and meet us at every turn in +society. Take, for example, the case of our Highland chieftains. We +may still retain the appellation, and talk of the chiefs of +Clanranald, of Glengarry, etc. But how different is a chieftain of +the present day, even from some of those of whom Sir Walter Scott +wrote as existing so late as 1715 or 1745! Dr. Gregory (of immortal +<i>mixture</i> memory) used to tell a story of an old Highland +chieftain, intended to show how such Celtic potentates were, even +in his day, still inclined to hold themselves superior to all the +usual considerations which affected ordinary mortals. The doctor, +after due examination, had, in his usual decided and blunt manner, +pronounced the liver of a Highlander to be at fault, and to be the +cause of his ill-health. His patient, who could not but consider +this as taking a great liberty with a Highland chieftain, roared +out--"And what the devil is it to you whether I have a liver or +not?" But there is the case of dignity in Lowland Lairds as well as +clan-headship in Highland Chiefs. In proof of this, I need only +point to a practice still lingering amongst us of calling landed +proprietors, not as Mr. So-and-so, but by the names of their +estates. I recollect, in my early days, a number of our proprietors +were always so designated. Thus, it was not as Mr. Carnegie, Mr. +Douglas, Mr. Irvine, etc., but as Craigo, Tillwhilly, Drum, +etc.</p> +<p>An amusing application of such a territorial denominative system +to the locality of London was narrated to me by a friend who +witnessed it. A Scottish gentleman, who had never been in the +metropolis, arrived fresh from the Highlands, and met a small party +at the house of a London friend. A person was present of most +agreeable manners, who delighted the Scotsman exceedingly. He heard +the company frequently referring to this gentleman's residence in +Piccadilly, to his house in Piccadilly, and so on. When addressed +by the gentleman, he commenced his reply, anxious to pay him all +due respect--"Indeed, Piccadilly," etc. He supposed Piccadilly must +be his own territorial locality. Another instance of mistake, +arising out of Scottish ignorance of London ways, was made by a +North Briton on his first visit to the great city. He arrived at a +hotel in Fleet Street, where many of the country coaches then put +up. On the following morning he supposed that such a crowd as he +encountered could only proceed from some "occasion," and must pass +off in due time. Accordingly, a friend from Scotland found him +standing in a doorway, as if waiting for some one. His countryman +asked him what made him stand there. To which he answered--"Ou, I +was just stan'ing till the kirk had scaled." The ordinary +appearance of his native borough made the crowd of Fleet Street +suggest to him the idea of a church crowd passing out to their +several homes, called in Scotland a "kirk scaling." A London street +object called forth a similar simple remark from a Scotsman. He had +come to London on his way to India, and for a few days had time to +amuse himself by sight-seeing before his departure. He had been +much struck with the appearance of the mounted sentinels at the +Horse Guards, Whitehall, and bore them in remembrance during his +Eastern sojourn. On his return, after a period of thirty years, on +passing the Horse Guards, he looked up to one, and seeing him, as +he thought, unchanged as to horse, position, and accoutrements, he +exclaimed--"Od, freend, ye hae had a lang spell on't sin' I left," +supposing him to be the identical sentinel he had seen before he +sailed.</p> +<p>It is interesting to preserve national peculiarities which are +thus passing away from us. One great pleasure I have had in their +collection, and that is the numerous and sympathetic communications +I have received from Scotsmen, I may literally say from Scotsmen +<i>in all quarters of the world</i>; sometimes communicating very +good examples of Scottish humour, and always expressing their great +pleasure in reading, when in distant lands and foreign scenes, +anecdotes which reminded them of Scotland, and of their ain days of +"auld langsyne."</p> +<p>There is no mistaking the national attachment so strong in the +Scottish character. Men return after long absence, in this respect, +unchanged; whilst absent, Scotsmen <i>never</i> forget their +Scottish home. In all varieties of lands and climates their hearts +ever turn towards the "land o' cakes and brither Scots." Scottish +festivals are kept with Scottish feeling on "Greenland's icy +mountains" or "India's coral strand." I received an amusing account +of an ebullition of this patriotic feeling from my late noble +friend the Marquis of Lothian, who met with it when travelling in +India. He happened to arrive at a station upon the eve of St. +Andrew's Day, and received an invitation to join a Scottish dinner +party in commemoration of old Scotland. There was a great deal of +Scottish enthusiasm. There were <i>seven</i> sheep-heads (singed) +down the table; and Lord Lothian told me that after dinner he sang +with great applause "The Laird o' Cockpen."</p> +<p>Another anecdote arising out of Scotsmen meeting in distant +lands, is rather of a more serious character, and used to be told +with exquisite humour by the late lamented Dr. Norman Macleod. A +settler in Australia, who for a long time had heard nothing of his +Scottish kith and kin, was delighted at the arrival of a countryman +direct from his own part of the country. When he met with him, the +following conversation took place between them:--<i>Q</i>. "Ye ken +my fouk, friend; can ye tell me gin my faather's alive?" +<i>A</i>.--"Hout, na; he's deed." <i>Q</i>.--"Deed! What did he dee +o'? was it fever?" <i>A</i>.--"Na, it wasna fever." <i>Q</i>.--"Was +it cholera?" <i>A</i>.--"Na." The question being pressed, the +stranger drily said, "Sheep," and then he accompanied the ominous +word by delicately and significantly pointing to the jugular under +his ear. The man had been hanged for sheep-stealing!</p> +<p>It must always be amusing for Scotsmen to meet in distant lands, +and there to play off on each other the same dry, quaint humour +which delighted them in their native land, and in their early days +at home. An illustration of this remark has been communicated by a +kind correspondent at Glasgow. Mrs. Hume, a true Scot, sends me the +following dialogue, accompanied by a very clever etching of the +parties, from the Melbourne <i>Punch</i>, August 17, 1871, headed +"Too Poor,--<i>Night of Waverley Concert</i>."</p> +<p><i>Southron</i>.--You here, Mac! you ought to have been at the +concert, you know. Aren't you one of the 'Scots wha hae?'</p> +<p><i>Mac</i>.--Indeed no. I'm are o' the Scots wha hae na, or I +wadna be here the nicht.</p> +<p>He would not have stayed at home if he had been one of the +"Scots wha hae."</p> +<p>I am assured that the genuineness of the following anecdote is +unquestionable, as my informant received it from the person to whom +it occurred. A popular Anglican Nonconformist minister was residing +with a family in Glasgow while on a visit to that city, whither he +had gone on a deputation from the Wesleyan Missionary Society. +After dinner, in reply to an invitation to partake of some fine +fruit, he mentioned to the family a curious circumstance concerning +himself--viz. that he had never in his life tasted an apple, pear, +grape, or indeed any kind of green fruit. This fact seemed to evoke +considerable surprise from the company, but a cautious Scotsman, of +a practical, matter-of-fact turn of mind, who had listened with +much unconcern, drily remarked, "It's a peety but ye had been in +Paradise, and there micht na hae been ony faa." I have spoken +elsewhere of the cool matter-of-fact manner in which the awful +questions connected with the funerals of friends are often +approached by Scottish people, without the least intention or +purpose of being irreverent or unfeeling. By the kindness of Mr. +Lyon, I am enabled to give an authentic anecdote of a curious +character, illustrative of this habit of mind, and I cannot do +better than give it in his own words:--"An old tenant of my late +father, George Lyon of Wester Ogil, many years ago, when on his +deathbed, and his end near at hand, his wife thus addressed him: +'Willie, Willie, as lang as ye can speak, tell us are ye for your +burial-baps round or <i>square</i>?' Willie having responded to +this inquiry, was next asked if the <i>murners</i> were to have +<i>glooes</i> (gloves) or mittens, the former being articles with +fingers, the latter having only a thumb-piece; and Willie, having +also answered this question, was allowed to depart in peace."</p> +<p>There could not be a better example of this familiar handling, +without meaning offence, than one which has just been sent to me by +a kind correspondent. I give her own words. "Happening to call on a +poor neighbour, I asked after the children of a person who lived +close by." She replied, "They're no hame yet; gaed awa to the +English kirk to get <i>a clap</i> o' <i>the heid</i>. It was the +day of <i>confirmation</i> for St. Paul's. This definition of the +'outward and visible sign' would look rather odd in the catechism. +But the poor woman said it from no disrespect; it was merely her +way of answering my question." But remarks on serious subjects +often go to deeper views of religious matters than might be +expected from the position of the parties and the terms made use +of.</p> +<p>Of the wise and shrewd judgment of the Scottish character, as +bearing upon religious pretensions, I have an apt example from my +friend Dr. Norman Macleod. During one of the late revivals in +Scotland, a small farmer went about preaching with much fluency and +zeal the doctrine of a "full assurance" of faith, and expressed his +belief of it for himself in such extravagant terms as few men would +venture upon who were humble and cautious against presumption. The +"preacher," being personally rather remarkable as a man of greedy +and selfish views in life, excited some suspicion in the breast of +an old sagacious countryman, a neighbour of Dr. Macleod, who asked +him what <i>he</i> thought of John as a preacher, and of his +doctrine. Scratching his head, as if in some doubt, he replied, +"I'm no verra sure o' Jock. I never ken't a man <i>sae sure o' +Heaven, and sae sweert to be gaing tae't</i>." He showed his +sagacity, for John was soon after in prison for theft.</p> +<p>Another story gives a good idea of the Scottish matter-of-fact +view of things being brought to bear upon a religious question +without meaning to be profane or irreverent. Dr. Macleod was on a +Highland loch when a storm came on which threatened serious +consequences. The doctor, a large powerful man, was accompanied by +a clerical friend of diminutive size and small appearance, who +began to speak seriously to the boatmen of their danger, and +proposed that all present should join in prayer. "Na, na," said the +chief boatman; "let the <i>little</i> ane gang to pray, but first +the big ane maun tak an oar." Illustrative of the same spirit was +the reply of a Scotsman of the genuine old school, "Boatie" of +Deeside, of whom I have more to say, to a relative of mine. He had +been nearly lost in a squall, and saved after great exertion, and +was told by my aunt that he should be grateful to providence for +his safety. The man, not meaning to be at all ungrateful, but +viewing his preservation in the purely hard matter-of-fact light, +quietly answered, "Weel, weel, Mrs. Russell; Providence here or +Providence there, an I hadna worked sair mysell I had been +drouned."</p> +<p>Old Mr. Downie, the parish minister of Banchory, was noted, in +my earliest days, for his quiet pithy remarks on men and things, as +they came before him. His reply to his son, of whose social +position he had no very exalted opinion, was of this class. Young +Downie had come to visit his father from the West Indies, and told +him that on his return he was to be married to a lady whose high +qualities and position he spoke of in extravagant terms. He assured +his father that she was "quite young, was very rich, and very +beautiful." "Aweel, Jemmy," said the old man, very quietly and very +slily, "I'm thinking there maun be some <i>faut</i>." Of the dry +sarcasm we have a good example in the quiet utterance of a good +Scottish phrase by an elder of a Free Kirk lately formed. The +minister was an eloquent man, and had attracted one of the +town-council, who, it was known, hardly ever entered the door of a +church, and now came on motives of curiosity. He was talking very +grand to some of the congregation: "Upon my word, your minister is +a very eloquent man. Indeed, he will quite convert me." One of the +elders, taking the word in a higher sense than the speaker +intended, quietly replied, "Indeed, Bailie, there's <i>muckle +need</i>."</p> +<p>A kind correspondent sends me an illustration of this quaint +matter-of-fact view of a question as affecting the sentiments or +the feelings. He tells me he knew an old lady who was a stout large +woman, and who with this state of body had many ailments, which she +bore cheerfully and patiently. When asked one day by a friend, "How +she was keeping," she replied, "Ou, just middling; there's <i>ower +muckle o' me</i> to be a' weel at ae time." No Englishwoman would +have given such an answer. The same class of character is very +strongly marked in a story which was told by Mr. Thomas Constable, +who has a keen appreciation of a good Scottish story, and tells it +inimitably. He used to visit an old lady who was much attenuated by +long illness, and on going up stairs one tremendously hot +afternoon, the daughter was driving away the flies, which were very +troublesome, and was saying, "Thae flies will eat up a' that +remains o' my puir mither." The old lady opened her eyes, and the +last words she spoke were, "What's left o' me's guid eneuch for +them."</p> +<p>The spirit of caution and wariness by which the Scottish +character is supposed to be distinguished has given rise to many of +these national anecdotes.</p> +<p>Certainly this cautious spirit thus pervaded the opinions of the +Scottish architect who was called upon to erect a building in +England upon the long-lease system, so common with Anglican +proprietors, but quite new to our Scottish friend. When he found +the proposal was to build upon the tenure of 999 years, he quietly +suggested, "Culd ye no mak it a <i>thousand</i>? 999 years'll be +slippin' awa'."</p> +<p>But of all the cautious and careful answers we ever heard of was +one given by a carpenter to an old lady in Glasgow, for whom he was +working, and the anecdote is well authenticated. She had offered +him a dram, and asked him whether he would have it then or wait +till his work was done--"Indeed, mem," he said, "there's been sic a +power o' sudden deaths lately that I'll just tak it now." He would +guard against contingency and secure his dram.</p> +<p>The following is a good specimen of the same humour:--A minister +had been preaching against covetousness and the love of money, and +had frequently repeated how "love of money was the root of all +evil" Two old bodies walking home from church--one said, "An' wasna +the minister strang upo' the money?" "Nae doubt," said the other, +rather hesitatingly; and added, "ay, but it's grand to hae the wee +bit siller in your haund when ye gang an errand."</p> +<p>I have still another specimen of this national, cool, and +deliberative view of a question, which seems characteristic of the +temperament of our good countrymen. Some time back, when it was not +uncommon for challenges to be given and accepted for insults, or +supposed insults, an English gentleman was entertaining a party at +Inverness with an account of the wonders he had seen and the deeds +he had performed in India, from whence he had lately arrived. He +enlarged particularly upon the size of the tigers he had met with +at different times in his travels, and by way of corroborating his +statements, assured the company that he had shot one himself +considerably above forty feet long. A Scottish gentleman present, +who thought that these narratives rather exceeded a traveller's +allowed privileges, coolly said that no doubt those were very +remarkable tigers; but that he could assure the gentleman there +were in that northern part of the country some wonderful animals, +and, as an example, he cited the existence of a skate-fish captured +off Thurso, which exceeded half-an-acre in extent. The Englishman +saw this was intended as a sarcasm against his own story, so he +left the room in indignation, and sent his friend, according to the +old plan, to demand satisfaction or an apology from the gentleman, +who had, he thought, insulted him. The narrator of the skate story +coolly replied, "Weel, sir, gin yer freend will tak' a few feet aff +the length o' his tiger, we'll see what can be dune about the +breadth o' the skate." He was too cautious to commit himself to a +rash or decided course of conduct. When the tiger was shortened, he +would take into consideration a reduction of superficial area in +his skate.</p> +<p>A kind correspondent has sent me about as good a specimen of dry +Scottish quiet humour as I know. A certain Aberdeenshire laird, who +kept a very good poultry-yard, could not command a fresh egg for +his breakfast, and felt much aggrieved by the want. One day, +however, he met his grieve's wife with a nice basket, and very +suspiciously going towards the market; on passing and speaking a +word, he was enabled to discover that her basket was full of +beautiful white eggs. Next time he talked with his grieve, he said +to him, "James, I like you very well, and I think you serve me +faithfully, but I cannot say I admire your wife." To which the cool +reply was, "Oh, 'deed, sir, I'm no surprised at that, for I dinna +muckle admire her mysel'."</p> +<p>An answer very much resembling this, and as much to the point, +was that of a gudewife on Deeside, whose daughter had just been +married and had left her for her new home. A lady asked the mother +very kindly about her daughter, and said she hoped she liked her +new home and new relations. "Ou, my lady, she likes the parish weel +eneuch, but she doesna think muckle o' her <i>man</i>!"</p> +<p>The natives of Aberdeenshire are distinguished for the two +qualities of being very acute in their remarks and very peculiar in +their language. Any one may still gain a thorough knowledge of +Aberdeen dialect and see capital examples of Aberdeen humour. I +have been supplied with a remarkable example of this combination of +Aberdeen shrewdness with Aberdeen dialect. In the course of the +week after the Sunday on which several elders of an Aberdeen parish +had been set apart for parochial offices, a knot of the +parishioners had assembled at what was in all parishes a great +place of resort for idle gossiping--the smiddy or blacksmith's +workshop. The qualifications of the new elders were severely +criticised. One of the speakers emphatically laid down that the +minister should not have been satisfied, and had in fact made a +most unfortunate choice. He was thus answered by another parish +oracle--perhaps the schoolmaster, perhaps a weaver:--"Fat better +culd the man dee nir he's dune?--he bud tae big's dyke wi' the feal +at fit o't." He meant there was no choice of material--he could +only take what offered.</p> +<p>By the kindness of Dr. Begg, I have a most amusing anecdote to +illustrate how deeply long-tried associations were mixed up with +the habits of life in the older generation. A junior minister +having to assist at a church in a remote part of Aberdeenshire, the +parochial minister (one of the old school) promised his young +friend a good glass of whisky-toddy after all was over, adding +slily and very significantly, "and gude <i>smuggled</i> whusky." +His Southron guest thought it incumbent to say, "Ah, minister, +that's wrong, is it not? you know it is contrary to Act of +Parliament." The old Aberdonian could not so easily give up his +fine whisky to what he considered an unjust interference; so he +quietly said, "Oh, Acts o' Parliament lose their breath before they +get to Aberdeenshire."</p> +<p>There is something very amusing in the idea of what may be +called the "fitness of things," in regard to snuff-taking, which +occurred to an honest Highlander, a genuine lover of sneeshin. At +the door of the Blair-Athole Hotel he observed standing a +magnificent man in full tartans, and noticed with much admiration +the wide dimensions of his nostrils in a fine upturned nose. He +accosted him, and, as his most complimentary act, offered him his +mull for a pinch. The stranger drew up, and rather haughtily said: +"I never take snuff." "Oh," said the other, "that's a peety, for +there's grand <i>accommodation</i><a name="FNanchor15"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_15">[15]</a>!"</p> +<p>I don't know a better example of the sly sarcasm than the +following answer of a Scottish servant to the violent command of +his enraged master. A well-known coarse and abusive Scottish law +functionary, when driving out of his grounds, was shaken by his +carriage coming in contact with a large stone at the gate. He was +very angry, and ordered the gatekeeper to have it removed before +his return. On driving home, however, he encountered another severe +shock by the wheels coming in contact with the very same stone, +which remained in the very same place. Still more irritated than +before, in his usual coarse language he called the gatekeeper, and +roared out: "You rascal, if you don't send that beastly stone to +h---, I'll break your head." "Well," said the man quietly, and as +if he had received an order which he had to execute, and without +meaning anything irreverent, "aiblins gin it were sent to heevan +<i>it wad be mair out o' your Lordship's way</i>."</p> +<p>I think about as cool a Scottish "aside" as I know, was that of +the old dealer who, when exhorting his son to practise honesty in +his dealings, on the ground of its being the "best policy," quietly +added, "I <i>hae tried baith</i>"</p> +<p>In this work frequent mention is made of a class of old +<i>ladies</i>, generally residing in small towns, who retained till +within the memory of many now living the special characteristics I +have referred to. Owing to local connection, I have brought forward +those chiefly who lived in Montrose and the neighbourhood. But the +race is extinct; you might as well look for hoops and farthingales +in society as for such characters now. You can scarcely imagine an +old lady, however quaint, now making use of some of the expressions +recorded in the text, or saying, for the purpose of breaking up a +party of which she was tired, from holding bad cards, "We'll stop +now, bairns; I'm no enterteened;" or urging more haste in going to +church on the plea, "Come awa, or I'll be ower late for the 'wicked +man'"--her mode of expressing the commencement of the service.</p> +<p>Nothing could better illustrate the quiet pawky style for which +our countrymen have been distinguished, than the old story of the +piper and the wolves. A Scottish piper was passing through a deep +forest. In the evening he sat down to take his supper. He had +hardly begun, when a number of hungry wolves, prowling about for +food, collected round him. In self-defence, the poor man began to +throw pieces of his victuals to them, which they greedily devoured. +When he had disposed of all, in a fit of despair he took his pipes +and began to play. The unusual sound terrified the wolves, which, +one and all, took to their heels and scampered off in every +direction: on observing which, Sandy quietly remarked, "Od, an I'd +kenned ye liket the pipes sae weel, I'd a gien ye a spring +<i>afore</i> supper."</p> +<p>This imperturbable mode of looking at the events of life is +illustrated by perhaps the <i>most</i> cautious answer on record, +of the Scotsman who, being asked if he could play the fiddle, +warily answered, "He couldna say, for he had never tried." But take +other cases. For example: One tremendously hot day, during the old +stage-coach system, I was going down to Portobello, when the +coachman drew up to take in a gentleman who had hailed him on the +road. He was evidently an Englishman--a fat man, and in a perfect +state of "thaw and dissolution" from the heat and dust. He wiped +himself, and exclaimed, as a remark addressed to the company +generally, "D----d hot it is." No one said anything for a time, +till a man in the corner slily remarked, "I dinna doubt, sir, but +it may." The cautiousness against committing himself unreservedly +to any proposition, however plausible, was quite delicious.</p> +<p>A more determined objection to giving a categorical answer +occurred, as I have been assured, in regard to a more profound +question. A party travelling on a railway got into deep discussion +on theological questions. Like Milton's spirits in Pandemonium, +they had</p> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p class="i9">"Reason'd high</p> +<p>Of providence, fore-knowledge, will, and fate--</p> +<p>Fix'd fate, free-will, fore-knowledge absolute;</p> +<p>And found no end, in wand'ring mazes lost."</p> +</div> +</div> +<p>A plain Scotsman present seemed much interested in these +matters, and having expressed himself as not satisfied with the +explanations which had been elicited in the course of discussion on +a particular point regarding predestination, one of the party said +to him that he had observed a minister, whom they all knew, in the +adjoining compartment, and that when the train stopped at the next +station a few minutes, he could go and ask <i>his</i> opinion. The +good man accordingly availed himself of the opportunity to get hold +of the minister, and lay their difficulty before him. He returned +in time to resume his own place, and when they had started again, +the gentleman who had advised him, finding him not much disposed to +voluntary communication, asked if he had seen the minister. "O ay," +he said, "he had seen him." "And did you propose the question to +him?" "O ay." "And what did he say?" "Oh, he just said he didna +ken; and what was mair he didna <i>care!</i>"</p> +<p>I have received the four following admirable anecdotes, +illustrative of dry Scottish pawky humour, from an esteemed +minister of the Scottish Church, the Rev. W. Mearns of Kinneff. I +now record them nearly in the same words as his own kind +communication. The anecdotes are as follow:--An aged minister of +the old school, Mr. Patrick Stewart, one Sunday took to the pulpit +a sermon without observing that the first leaf or two were so worn +and eaten away that he couldn't decipher or announce the text. He +was not a man, however, to be embarrassed or taken aback by a +matter of this sort, but at once intimated the state of matters to +the congregation,--"My brethren, I canna tell ye the text, for the +mice hae eaten it; but we'll just begin whaur the mice left aff, +and when I come to it I'll let you ken."</p> +<p>In the year 1843, shortly after the Disruption, a parish +minister had left the manse and removed to about a mile's distance. +His pony got loose one day, and galloped down the road in the +direction of the old glebe. The minister's man in charge ran after +the pony in a great fuss, and when passing a large farm-steading on +the way, cried out to the farmer, who was sauntering about, but did +not know what had taken place--"Oh, sir, did <i>ye</i> see the +minister's shault?" "No, no," was the answer,--"but what's +happened?" "Ou, sir, fat do ye think? the minister's shault's +<i>got lowse</i> frae his tether, an' I'm frichtened he's ta'en the +road doun to the auld glebe." "Weel-a-wicht!"--was the shrewd +clever rejoinder of the farmer, who was a keen supporter of the old +parish church, "I wad <i>na</i> wonder at <i>that</i>. An' I'se +warrant, gin the minister was gettin' <i>lowse</i> frae <i>his</i> +tether, he wad jist tak the same road."</p> +<p>An old clerical friend upon Speyside, a confirmed bachelor, on +going up to the pulpit one Sunday to preach, found, after giving +out the psalm, that he had forgotten his sermon. I do not know what +his objections were to his leaving the pulpit, and going to the +manse for his sermon, but he preferred sending his old confidential +housekeeper for it. He accordingly stood up in the pulpit, stopped +the singing which had commenced, and thus accosted his faithful +domestic:--"Annie; I say, Annie, <i>we've</i> committed a mistak +the day. Ye maun jist gang your waa's hame, and ye'll get my sermon +oot o' my breek-pouch, an' we'll sing to the praise o' the Lord +till ye come back again." Annie, of course, at once executed her +important mission, and brought the sermon out of "the breek-pouch," +and the service, so far as we heard, was completed without further +interruption.</p> +<p>My dear friend, the late Rev. Dr. John Hunter, told me an +anecdote very characteristic of the unimaginative matter-of-fact +Scottish view of matters. One of the ministers of Edinburgh, a man +of dry humour, had a daughter who had for some time passed the +period of youth and of beauty. She had become an Episcopalian, an +event which the Doctor accepted with much good-nature, and he was +asking her one day if she did not intend to be confirmed. "Well," +she said, "I don't know. I understand Mr. Craig always kisses the +candidates whom he prepares, and I could not stand that." "Indeed, +Jeanie," said the Doctor slily, "gin Edward Craig <i>were</i> to +gie ye a kiss, I dinna think ye would be muckle the waur."</p> +<p>Many anecdotes characteristic of the Scottish peasant often turn +upon words and ideas connected with Holy Scripture. This is not to +be considered as in any sense profane or irreverent; but it arises +from the Bible being to the peasantry of an older generation their +library--their only book. We have constant indications of this +almost exclusive familiarity with Scripture ideas. At the late +ceremonial in the north, when the Archbishop of Canterbury laid the +foundation of a Bishop's Church at Inverness, a number of persons, +amid the general interest and kindly feeling displayed by the +inhabitants, were viewing the procession from a hill as it passed +along. When the clergy, to the number of sixty, came on, an old +woman, who was watching the whole scene with some jealousy, +exclaimed, at sight of the surplices, "There they go, the +<i>whited</i> sepulchres!" I received another anecdote illustrative +of the same remark from an esteemed minister of the Free Church: I +mean of the hold which Scripture expressions have upon the minds of +our Scottish peasantry. One of his flock was a sick nervous woman, +who hardly ever left the house. But one fine afternoon, when she +was left alone, she fancied she would like to get a little air in +the field adjoining the house. Accordingly she put on a bonnet and +wrapped herself in a huge red shawl. Creeping along the dyke-side, +some cattle were attracted towards her, and first one and then +another gathered round, and she took shelter in the ditch till she +was relieved by some one coming up to her rescue. She afterwards +described her feelings to her minister in strong language, adding, +"And eh, sir! when I lay by the dyke, and the beasts round a' +glowerin' at me, I thocht what Dauvid maun hae felt when he +said--'Many bulls have compassed me; strong bulls of Bashan have +beset me round.'"</p> +<p>With the plainness and pungency of the old-fashioned Scottish +language there was sometimes a coarseness of expression, which, +although commonly repeated in the Scottish drawing-room of last +century, could not now be tolerated. An example of a very plain and +downright address of a laird has been recorded in the annals of +"Forfarshire Lairdship." He had married one of the Misses Guthrie, +who had a strong feeling towards the Presbyterian faith in which +she had been brought up, although her husband was one of the +zealous old school of Episcopalians. The young wife had invited her +old friend, the parish minister, to tea, and had given him a +splendid "<i>four hours."</i> Ere the table was cleared the laird +came in unexpectedly, and thus expressed his indignation, not very +delicately, at what he considered an unwarrantable exercise of +hospitality at his cost:--"Helen Guthrie, ye'll no think to save +yer ain saul at the expense of my meal-girnel!"</p> +<p>The answer of an old woman under examination by the minister to +the question from the Shorter Catechism--"What are the +<i>decrees</i> of God?" could not have been surpassed by the +General Assembly of the Kirk, or even the Synod of Dort--"Indeed, +sir, He kens that best Himsell." We have an answer analogous to +that, though not so pungent, in a catechumen of the late Dr. +Johnston of Leith. She answered his own question, patting him on +the shoulder--"'Deed, just tell it yersell, <i>bonny</i> doctor (he +was a very handsome man); naebody can tell it better."</p> +<p>To pass from the answers of "persons come to years of +discretion"--I have elsewhere given examples of peculiar traits of +character set forth in the answers of mere <i>children</i>, and no +doubt a most amusing collection might be made of very juvenile +"Scottish Reminiscences." One of these is now a very old story, and +has long been current amongst us:--A little boy who attended a +day-school in the neighbourhood, when he came home in the evening +was always asked how he stood in his own class. The invariable +answer made was, "I'm second dux," which means in Scottish +academical language second from the top of the class. As his habits +of application at home did not quite bear out the claim to so +distinguished a position at school, one of the family ventured to +ask what was the number in the class to which he was attached. +After some hesitation he was obliged to admit: "Ou, there's jist me +and <i>anither</i> lass." It was a very <i>practical</i> answer of +the little girl, when asked the meaning of "darkness," as it +occurred in Scripture reading--"Ou, just steek your een." On the +question, What was the "pestilence that walketh in darkness"? being +put to a class, a little boy answered, after consideration--"Ou, +it's just <i>bugs</i>." I did not anticipate when in a former +edition I introduced this answer, which I received from my nephew +Sir Alexander Ramsay, that it would call forth a comment so +interesting as one which I have received from Dr. Barber of +Ulverston. He sends me an extract from Matthew's <i>Translation of +the Bible</i>, which he received from Rev. L.R. Ayre, who possesses +a copy of date 1553, from which it appears that Psalm xci. 5 was +thus translated by Matthew, who adopted his translation from +Coverdale and Tyndale:--"So that thou shalt not need to be afrayed +for any bugge by nyght, nor for the arrow that flyeth by +day<a name="FNanchor16"></a><a href="#Footnote_16">[16]</a>." Dr. +Barber ingeniously remarks--"Is it possible the little boy's mother +had one of these old Bibles, or is it merely a coincidence?"</p> +<p>The innocent and unsophisticated answers of children on serious +subjects are often very amusing. Many examples are recorded, and +one I have received seems much to the point, and derives a good +deal of its point from the Scottish turn of the expressions. An +elder of the kirk having found a little boy and his sister playing +marbles on Sunday, put his reproof in this form, not a judicious +one for a child:--"Boy, do ye know where children go to who play +marbles on Sabbath-day?" "Ay," said the boy, "they gang doun' to +the field by the water below the brig." "No," roared out the elder, +"they go to hell, and are burned." The little fellow, really +shocked, called to his sister, "Come awa', Jeanie, here's a man +swearing awfully."</p> +<p>A Scotch story like that of the little boy, of which the humour +consisted in the dry application of the terms in a sense different +from what was intended by the speaker, was sent to me, but has got +spoilt by passing through the press. It must be Scotch, or at +least, is composed of Scottish materials--the Shorter Catechism and +the bagpipes. A piper was plying his trade in the streets, and a +strict elder of the kirk, desirous to remind him that it was a +somewhat idle and profitless occupation, went up to him and +proposed solemnly the first question of the Shorter Catechism, +"What is the chief end of man?" The good piper, thinking only of +his own business, and supposing that the question had reference to +some pipe melody, innocently answered, "Na, I dinna ken the tune, +but if ye'll whistle it I'll try and play it for ye."</p> +<p>I have said before, and I would repeat the remark again and +again, that the object of this work is <i>not</i> to string +together mere funny stories, or to collect amusing anecdotes. We +have seen such collections, in which many of the anecdotes are mere +Joe Millers translated into Scotch. The purport of these pages has +been throughout to illustrate Scottish life and character, by +bringing forward those modes and forms of expression by which alone +our national peculiarities can be familiarly illustrated and +explained. Besides Scottish replies and expressions which are most +characteristic--and in fact unique for dry humour, for quaint and +exquisite wit--I have often referred to a consideration of dialect +and proverbs. There can be no doubt there is a force and beauty in +our Scottish <i>phraseology</i>, as well as a quaint humour, +considered merely <i>as</i> phraseology, peculiar to itself. I have +spoken of the phrase "Auld langsyne," and of other words, which may +be compared in their Anglican and Scottish form. Take the familiar +term common to many singing-birds. The English word linnet does +not, to my mind, convey so much of simple beauty and of pastoral +ideas as belong to our Scottish word LINTIE.</p> +<p>I recollect hearing the Rev. Dr. Norman Macleod give a most +interesting account of his visit to Canada. In the course of his +eloquent narrative he mentioned a conversation he had with a +Scottish emigrant, who in general terms spoke favourably and +gratefully of his position in his adopted country. But he could not +help making this exception when he thought of the "banks and braes +o' bonny Doon"--"But oh, sir," he said, "there are nae +<i>linties</i> i' the wuds." How touching the words in his own +dialect! The North American woods, although full of birds of +beautiful plumage, it is well known have no singing-birds.</p> +<p>A worthy Scottish Episcopal minister one day met a townsman, a +breeder and dealer in singing-birds. The man told him he had just +had a child born in his family, and asked him if he would baptize +it. He thought the minister could not resist the offer of a bird. +"Eh, Maister Shaw," he said, "if ye'll jist do it, I hae a fine +lintie the noo, and if ye'll do it, I'll gie ye the lintie." He +quite thought that this would settle the matter!</p> +<p>By these remarks I mean to express the feeling that the word +<i>lintie</i> conveys to my mind more of tenderness and endearment +towards the little songster than linnet. And this leads me to a +remark (which I do not remember to have met with) that Scottish +dialects are peculiarly rich in such terms of endearment, more so +than the pure Anglican. Without at all pretending to exhaust the +subject, I may cite the following as examples of the class of terms +I speak of. Take the names for parents--"Daddie" and "Minnie;" +names for children, "My wee bit lady" or "laddie," "My wee bit +lamb;" of a general nature, "My ain kind dearie." "Dawtie," +especially used to young people, described by Jamieson a darling or +favourite, one who is <i>dawted</i>--<i>i.e.</i> fondled or +caressed. My "joe" expresses affection with familiarity, evidently +derived from <i>joy</i>, an easy transition--as "My joe, Janet;" +"John Anderson, my joe, John." Of this character is Burns's address +to a wife, "My winsome"--<i>i.e.</i> charming, engaging--"wee +thing;" also to a wife, "My winsome marrow"--the latter word +signifying a dear companion, one of a pair closely allied to each +other; also the address of Rob the Ranter to Maggie Lauder, "My +bonnie bird." Now, we would remark, upon this abundant nomenclature +of kindly expressions in the Scottish dialect, that it assumes an +interesting position as taken in connection with the Scottish Life +and <i>Character</i>, and as a set-off against a frequent short and +<i>grumpy</i> manner. It indicates how often there must be a +current of tenderness and affection in the Scottish heart, which is +so frequently represented to be, like its climate, "stern and +wild." There could not be such <i>terms</i> were the feelings they +express unknown. I believe it often happens that in the Scottish +character there is a vein of deep and kindly feeling lying hid +under a short, and hard and somewhat stern manner. Hence has arisen +the Scottish saying which is applicable to such cases--"His girn's +waur than his bite:" his disposition is of a softer nature than his +words and manner would often lead you to suppose.</p> +<p>There are two admirable articles in <i>Blackwood's Magazine,</i> +in the numbers for November and December 1870, upon this subject. +The writer abundantly vindicates the point and humour of the +Scottish tongue. Who can resist, for example, the epithet applied +by Meg Merrilies to an unsuccessful probationer for admission to +the ministry:--"a sticket stibbler"? Take the sufficiency of Holy +Scripture as a pledge for any one's salvation:--"There's eneuch +between the brods o' the Testament to save the biggest sinner i' +the warld." I heard an old Scottish Episcopalian thus pithily +describe the hasty and irreverent manner of a young +Englishman:--"He ribbled aff the prayers like a man at the heid o' +a regiment." A large family of young children has been termed "a +great sma' family." It was a delicious dry rejoinder to the +question--"Are you Mr. So-and-so?" "It's a' that's o' me" +(<i>i.e.</i> to be had for him.) I have heard an old Scottish +gentleman direct his servant to mend the fire by saying, "I think, +Dauvid, we wadna be the waur o' some coals."</p> +<p>There is a pure Scottish term, which I have always thought more +expressive than any English word of ideas connected with manners in +society--I mean the word to blether, or blethering, or blethers. +Jamieson defines it to "talk nonsense." But it expresses far +more--it expresses powerfully, to Scottish people, a person at once +shallow, chattering, conceited, tiresome, voluble.</p> +<p>There is a delicious servantgirlism, often expressed in an +answer given at the door to an inquirer: "Is your master at home, +or mistress?" as the case may be. The problem is to save the direct +falsehood, and yet evade the visit; so the answer is--"Ay, he or +she is at hame; but he's no <i>in</i>"</p> +<p>The transition from Scottish <i>expressions</i> to Scottish +Poetry is easy and natural. In fact, the most interesting feature +now belonging to Scottish life and social habits is, to a certain +extent, becoming with many a matter of reminiscence of <i>Poetry in +the Scottish dialect</i>, as being the most permanent and the most +familiar feature of Scottish characteristics. It is becoming a +matter of history, in so far as we find that it has for some time +ceased to be cultivated with much ardour, or to attract much +popularity. In fact, since the time of Burns, it has been losing +its hold on the public mind. It is a remarkable fact that neither +Scott nor Wilson, both admirers of Burns, both copious writers of +poetry themselves, both also so distinguished as writers of +Scottish <i>prose</i>, should have written any poetry strictly in +the form of pure Scottish dialect. "Jock o' Hazeldean" I hardly +admit to be an exception. It is not Scottish. If, indeed, Sir +Walter wrote the scrap of the beautiful ballad in the +"Antiquary"--</p> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>"Now haud your tongue, baith wife and carle,</p> +<p class="i1">And listen, great and sma',</p> +<p>And I will sing of Glenallan's Earl,</p> +<p class="i1">That fought at the red Harlaw"--</p> +</div> +</div> +<p>one cannot but regret that he had not written more of the same. +Campbell, a poet and a Scotsman, has not attempted it. In short, we +do not find poetry in the Scottish dialect at all <i>kept up</i> in +Scotland. It is every year becoming more a matter of research and +reminiscence. Nothing new is added to the old stock, and indeed it +is surprising to see the ignorance and want of interest displayed +by many young persons in this department of literature. How few +read the works of Allan Ramsay, once so popular, and still so full +of pastoral imagery! There are occasionally new editions of the +<i>Gentle Shepherd</i>, but I suspect for a limited class of +readers. I am assured the boys of the High School, Academy, etc., +do not care even for Burns. As poetry in the Scottish dialect is +thus slipping away from the public Scottish mind, I thought it very +suitable to a work of this character to supply a list of modern +<i>Scottish dialect writers</i>. This I am able to provide by the +kindness of our distinguished antiquary, Mr. David Laing--the +fulness and correctness of whose acquirements are only equalled by +his readiness and courtesy in communicating his information to +others:--</p> +<br> +<p>SCOTTISH POETS OF THE LAST CENTURY.</p> +<p>ALLAN RAMSAY. B. 1686. D. 1757. His <i>Gentle Shepherd</i>, +completed in 1725, and his <i>Collected Poems</i> in 1721-1728.</p> +<p>It cannot be said there was any want of successors, however +obscure, following in the same track. Those chiefly deserving of +notice were--</p> +<p>ALEXANDER Ross of Lochlee. B. 1700. D. 1783. <i>The Fortunate +Shepherdess</i>.</p> +<p>ROBERT FERGUSSON. B. 1750. D. 1774. <i>Leith Races, Caller +Oysters</i>, etc.</p> +<p>REV. JOHN SKINNER. B. 1721. D. 1807. <i>Tullochgorum</i>.</p> +<p>ROBERT BURNS. B. 1759. D. 1796.</p> +<p>ALEXANDER, FOURTH DUKE OF GORDON. B. 1743. D. 1827. <i>Cauld +Kail in Aberdeen</i>.</p> +<p>ALEXANDER WILSON of Paisley, who latterly distinguished himself +as an American ornithologist. B. 1766. D. 1813. <i>Watty and +Meg</i>.</p> +<p>HECTOR MACNEILL. B. 1746. D. 1818. <i>Will and Jean</i>.</p> +<p>ROBERT TANNAHILL. B. 1774. D. 1810. <i>Songs</i>.</p> +<p>JAMES HOGG. B. 1772. D. 1835.</p> +<p>ALLAN CUNNINGHAM. B. 1784. D. 1842.</p> +<br> +<p>To this list we must add the names of Lady Nairne and Lady Anne +Lindsay. To the former we are indebted for "The Land o' the Leal," +"The Laird o' Cockpen," and "The Auld Hoose;" to the latter for +"Auld Robin Gray:" and our wonder is, how those who could write so +charmingly should have written so little.</p> +<p>I have no intention of discussing the general question of +Scottish poetry--of defending or eulogising, or of apologising for +anything belonging to it. There are songs in broad Scottish dialect +of which the beauty and the power will never be lost. Words of +Burns, Allan Ramsay, and Lady Nairne, must ever speak to hearts +that are true to nature. I am desirous of bringing before my +readers at this time the name of a Scottish poet, which, though in +Mr. Laing's list, I fear is become rather a reminiscence. It is +fifty years since his poetical pieces were published in a collected +form. I am desirous of giving a special notice of a true-hearted +Scotsman, and a genuine Scottish poet, under both characters. I +look with a tender regard to the memory of the Rev. JOHN SKINNER of +Langside. He has written little in quantity, but it is all +charming. He was a good Christian minister. He was a man of +learning--a man of liberal and generous feeling. In addition to all +this, he has upon me the claim of having been a Scottish +Episcopalian divine, and I am always rejoiced to see among learned +men of our church sympathies with liberalism, besides what is +patristic and theological. John Skinner's name and family are much +mixed up with our church. 'Tullochgorum' was father of Primus John +Skinner, and grandfather of Primus W. Skinner and of the Rev. John +Skinner of Forfar. The youngest brother of Tullochgorum was James +Skinner, W.S., who died at ninety-one, and was grandfather of W. +Skinner, W.S., Edinburgh. The Rev. J. Skinner was born in Birse, a +wild part of Aberdeenshire, 1721. His father was parochial +schoolmaster at Gight for nearly fifty years. He worked hard under +the care of his father, who was a good Latin scholar. He gained a +bursary at Aberdeen, where he studied. When he left college he +became schoolmaster at Monymusk, where he wrote some pieces that +attracted attention, and Sir Archibald Grant took him into the +house, and allowed him the full use of a very fine library. He made +good use of this opportunity, and indeed became a fair scholar and +theologian. Skinner had been brought up a Presbyterian, but at +Monymusk found reasons for changing his views. In June 1740 he +became tutor to the only son of Mrs. Sinclair in Shetland. +Returning to Aberdeenshire in 1741, he completed his studies for +the ministry, was ordained by Bishop Dunbar, and in 1742 became +pastor of Langside. He worked for this little congregation for +nearly sixty-five years, and they were happy and united under his +pastoral charge. One very interesting incident took place during +his ministry, which bears upon our general question of +reminiscences and changes. John Skinner was in his own person an +example of that persecution for political opinion referred to in +Professor Macgregor's account of the large prayer-book in the +library at Panmure. After the '45, Episcopalians were treated with +suspicion and severity. The severe laws passed against Jacobites +were put in force, and poor Skinner fined.</p> +<p>However, better and more peaceful times came round, and all that +John Skinner had undergone did not sour his temper or make him +severe or misanthropical. As a pastor he seems to have had tact, as +well as good temper, in the management of his flock, if we may +judge from the following anecdote:--Talking with an obstinate +self-confident farmer, when the conversation happened to turn on +the subject of the motion of the earth, the farmer would not be +convinced that the earth moved at all. "Hoot, minister," the man +roared out; "d'ye see the earth never gaes oot o' the pairt, and it +maun be that the sun gaes round: we a' ken he rises i' the east and +sets i' the west." Then, as if to silence all argument, he added +triumphantly, "As if the sun didna gae round the earth, when it is +said in Scripture that the Lord commanded the sun to stand still!" +Mr. Skinner, finding it was no use to argue further, quietly +answered, "Ay, it's vera true; the sun was commanded to stand +still, and there he stands still, for Joshua never tauld him to tak +the road again." I have said John Skinner wrote little Scottish +poetry, but what he wrote was rarely good. His prose works extended +over three volumes when they were collected by his son, the Bishop +of Aberdeen, but we have no concern with them. His poetical pieces, +by which his name will never die in Scotland, are the "Reel of +Tullochgorum" and the "Ewie with the Crooked Horn," charming +Scottish songs,--one the perfection of the lively, the other of the +pathetic. It is quite enough to say of "Tullochgorum" (by which the +old man is now always designated), what was said of it by Robert +Burns, as "the first of songs," and as the best Scotch song +Scotland ever saw.</p> +<p>I have brought in the following anecdote, exactly as it appeared +in the <i>Scotsman</i> of October 4, 1859, because it introduces +his name.</p> +<p>"The late Rev. John Skinner, author of 'Annals of Scottish +Episcopacy,' was his grandson. He was first appointed to a charge +in Montrose, from whence he was removed to Banff, and ultimately to +Forfar. After he had left Montrose, it reached his ears that an +ill-natured insinuation was circulating there that he had been +induced to leave this town by the temptation of a better income and +of fat pork, which, it would appear, was plentiful in the locality +of his new incumbency. Indignant at such an aspersion, he wrote a +letter, directed to his maligners, vindicating himself sharply from +it, which he showed to his grandfather, John Skinner of Langside, +for his approval. The old gentleman objected to it as too lengthy, +and proposed the following pithy substitute:--</p> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>"'Had Skinner been of carnal mind,</p> +<p class="i2">As strangely ye suppose,</p> +<p class="i1">Or had he even been fond of swine,</p> +<p class="i2">He'd ne'er have left Montrose.'"</p> +</div> +</div> +<p>But there is an anecdote of John Skinner which should endear his +memory to every generous and loving heart. On one occasion he was +passing a small dissenting place of worship at the time when the +congregation were engaged in singing: on passing the +door--old-fashioned Scottish Episcopalian as he was--he reverently +took off his hat. His companion said to him, "What! do you feel so +much sympathy with this Anti Burgher congregation?" "No," said Mr. +Skinner, "but I respect and love any of my fellow-Christians who +are engaged in singing to the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ." Well +done, old Tullochgorum! thy name shall be loved and honoured by +every true liberal-minded Scotsman.</p> +<p>Yes! Mr. Skinner's experience of the goodness of God and of the +power of grace, had led him to the conviction that the earnest song +of praise, that comes from the heart of the sincere believer in +Christ, can go up to Heaven from the humblest earthly house of +prayer, and be received before the throne of grace as acceptably as +the high and solemn service of the lofty cathedral,</p> +<blockquote>"Where, from the long-drawn aisle and fretted +vault,<br> +The pealing anthem swells the note of praise."</blockquote> +<p>We must firmly believe that, obsolete as the dialect of Scotland +may become, and its words and expressions a matter of tradition and +of reminiscence with many, still there are Scottish lines, and +broad Scottish lines, which can never cease to hold their place in +the affections and the admiration of innumerable hearts whom they +have charmed. Can the choice and popular Scottish verses, endeared +to us by so many kindly associations of the past, and by so many +beauties and poetical graces of their own, ever lose their +attractions for a Scottish heart? The charm of such strains can +never die.</p> +<p>I think one subsidiary cause for permanency in the popularity +still belonging to particular Scottish <i>songs</i> has proceeded +from their association with Scottish <i>music</i>. The melodies of +Scotland can never die. In the best of these compositions there is +a pathos and a feeling which must preserve them, however simple in +their construction, from being vulgar or commonplace. Mendelssohn +did not disdain taking Scottish airs as themes for the exercise of +his profound science and his exquisite taste. It must, I think, be +admitted that singing of Scottish songs in the perfection of their +style--at once pathetic, graceful, and characteristic--is not so +often met with as to remove all apprehension that ere long they may +become matters only of reminiscence. Many accomplished musicians +often neglect entirely the cultivation of their native melodies, +under the idea of their being inconsistent with the elegance and +science of high-class music. They commit a mistake. When +judiciously and tastefully performed, it is a charming style of +music, and will always give pleasure to the intelligent hearer. I +have heard two young friends, who have attained great skill in +scientific and elaborate compositions, execute the simple song of +"Low down in the Broom," with an effect I shall not easily forget. +Who that has heard the Countess of Essex, when Miss Stephens, sing +"Auld Robin Gray," can ever lose the impression of her +heart-touching notes? In the case of "Auld Robin Gray," the song +composed by Lady Anne Lindsay, although very beautiful in itself, +has been, I think, a good deal indebted to the air for its great +and continued popularity. The history of that tender and +appropriate melody is somewhat curious, and not generally known. +The author was <i>not</i> a Scotsman. It was composed by the Rev. +Mr. Leves, rector of Wrington in Somersetshire, either early in +this century or just at the close of the last. Mr. Leves was fond +of music, and composed several songs, but none ever gained any +notice except his "Auld Robin Gray," the popularity of which has +been marvellous. I knew the family when I lived in Somersetshire, +and had met them in Bath. Mr. Leves composed the air for his +daughter, Miss Bessy Leves, who was a pretty girl and a pretty +singer.</p> +<p>I cannot but deeply regret to think that I should in these pages +have any ground for classing Scottish poetry and Scottish airs +amongst "Reminiscences." It is a department of literature where, of +course, there must be <i>selection</i>, but I am convinced it will +repay a careful cultivation. I would recommend, as a copious and +judicious selection of Scottish <i>tunes</i>, "The Scottish +Minstrel," by R.A. Smith (Purdie, Edinburgh). There are the +<i>words</i>, also, of a vast number of Scottish songs, but the +account of their <i>authorship</i> is very defective. Then, again, +for the fine Scottish ballads of an older period, we have two +admirable collections--one by Mr. R. Chambers, and one by the late +Professor Aytoun. For Scottish dialect songs of the more modern +type, a copious collection will be found (exclusive of Burns and +Allan Earn say) in small volumes published by David Robertson, +Glasgow, at intervals from 1832 to 1853, under the title of +<i>Whistlebinkie</i>.</p> +<p>But there are more than lines of Scottish poetry which may +become matter of reminiscence, and more than Scottish song melodies +which may be forgotten. There are strains of Scottish PSALMODY of +which it would be more sad to think that <i>they</i> possibly may +have lost their charm and their hold with Scottish people. That +such psalmody, of a peculiar Scottish class and character, +<i>has</i> existed, no one can doubt who has knowledge or +recollection of past days. In glens and retired passes, where those +who fled from persecution met together--on the moors and heaths, +where men suffering for their faith took refuge--in the humble +worship of the cottar's fireside--were airs of sacred Scottish +melody, which were well calculated to fan the heavenward flame +which was kindled in lays of the "sweet Psalmist of Israel." These +psalm-tunes are in their way as peculiar as the song-tunes we have +referred to. Nothing can be more touching than the description by +Burns of the domestic psalmody of his father's cottage. Mr. E. +Chambers, in his <i>Life of Burns</i>, informs us that the poet, +during his father's infirmity and after his death, had himself +sometimes conducted family worship. Happy days, ere he had +encountered the temptations of a world in which he had too often +fallen before the solicitations of guilty passion! and then, +beautifully does he describe the characteristic features of this +portion of the cottars worship. How solemnly he enumerates the +psalm-tunes usually made use of on such occasions, and +discriminates the character of each:--</p> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>"They chant their artless notes in simple guise;</p> +<p class="i1">They tune their hearts, by far the noblest aim:</p> +<p>Perhaps DUNDEE'S wild warbling measures rise,</p> +<p class="i1">Or plaintive MARTYRS, worthy of the name,</p> +<p class="i1">Or noble ELGIN beets <a name= +"FNanchor17"></a><a href="#Footnote_17">[17]</a>the heavenward flame."</p> +</div> +</div> +<p>He was not, alas! always disposed in after life to reverence +these sacred melodies as he had done in his youthful days. In his +poem of "The Holy Fair," he less reverently adduces mention of +these sacred airs:--</p> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>"Now turn the Psalms o' David ower,</p> +<p class="i1">And lilt wi' holy clangour.</p> +<p>O' double verse come gie us four,</p> +<p class="i1">An' skirl up the Bangor."</p> +</div> +</div> +<p>These tunes seem to have been strictly and exclusively national. +In proof of such psalmody being quite national, I have been told +that many of these tunes were composed by artisans, such as +builders, joiners, blacksmiths, etc.</p> +<p>Several of the psalm-tunes more peculiar to Scotland are no +doubt of an early date. In Ravenscroft's <i>Psalms</i>, published +with the music in four parts in 1621, he gives the names of seven +as purely Scottish--<i>King's, Duke's, Abbey, Dunfermline, Dundee, +Glasgow, Martyrs.</i> I was used to hear such psalmody in my early +days in the parish church of Fettercairn, where we always attended +during summer. It had all the simple characteristics described by +Burns, and there was a heartiness and energy too in the +congregation when, as he expresses it, they used to "skirl up the +Bangor," of which the effects still hang in my recollection. At +that time there prevailed the curious custom, when some of the +psalms were sung, of reading out a single line, and when that was +sung another line was read, and so throughout<a name= +"FNanchor18"></a><a href="#Footnote_18">[18]</a>. Thus, on singing +the 50th psalm, the first line sounded thus:--"<i>Our God shall +come, and shall no more;"</i> when that was sung, there came the +next startling announcement--"<i>Be silent, but speak out."</i> A +rather unfortunate <i>juxtaposition</i> was suggested through this +custom, which we are assured really happened in the church of +Irvine. The precentor, after having given out the first line, and +having observed some members of the family from the castle +struggling to get through the crowd on a sacramental occasion, +cried out, "Let the noble family of Eglinton pass," and then added +the line which followed the one he had just given out rather +mal-apropos--"<i>Nor stand in sinners' way</i>." One peculiarity I +remember, which was, closing the strain sometimes by an interval +less than a semitone; instead of the half-note preceding the close +or key-note, they used to take the <i>quarter-note,</i> the effect +of which had a peculiar gurgling sound, but I never heard it +elsewhere. It may be said these Scottish tunes were unscientific, +and their performance rude. It may be so, but the effect was +striking, as I recall it through the vista of threescore years and +ten. Great advances, no doubt, have been made in Scotland in +congregational psalmody; organs have in some instances been +adopted; choirs have been organised with great effort by +choirmasters of musical taste and skill. But I hope the spirit of +PIETY, which in past times once accompanied the old Scottish psalm, +whether sung in the church or at home, has not departed with the +music. Its better emotions are not, I hope, to become a +"Reminiscence."</p> +<p>There was no doubt sometimes a degree of noise in the psalmody +more than was consistent with good taste, but this often proceeded +from the earnestness of those who joined. I recollect at Banchory +an honest fellow who sang so loud that he annoyed his +fellow-worshippers, and the minister even rebuked him for +"skirling" so loud. James was not quite patient under these hints, +and declared to some of his friends that he was resolved to sing to +the praise of God, as he said, "gin I should crack the waas o' the +houss."</p> +<p>Going from sacred tunes to sacred words, a good many changes +have taken place in the little history of our own psalmody and +hymnology. When I first came to Edinburgh, for psalms we made use +of the mild and vapid new version of Tate and Brady;--for hymns, +almost each congregation had its own selection--and there were +hymn-books of Dundee, Perth, Glasgow, etc. The Established Church +used the old rough psalter, with paraphrases by Logan, etc., and a +few hymns added by authority of the General Assembly. There seems +to be a pretty general tendency in the Episcopal Church to adopt at +present the extensive collection called "Hymns Ancient and Modern," +containing 386 pieces. Copies of the words alone are to be procured +for one penny, and the whole, with tunes attached, to be procured +for 1<i>s</i>. 6<i>d</i>. The Hymns Ancient and Modern are not set +forth with any Ecclesiastical sanction. It is supposed, however, +that there will be a Hymnal published by the Church of England on +authority, and if so, our Church will be likely to adopt it. The +Established Church Hymnal Committee have lately sanctioned a very +interesting collection of 200 pieces. The compilation has been made +with liberality of feeling as well as with good taste. There are +several of Neale's translations from mediaeval hymns, several from +John Keble, and the whole concludes with the Te Deum taken +literally from the Prayer-Book.</p> +<p>This mention of Scottish Psalmody and Scottish Hymnology, +whether for private or for public worship, naturally brings us to a +very important division of our subject; I mean the general question +of reminiscences of Scottish religious feelings and observances; +and first in regard to Scottish clergy.</p> +<p>My esteemed friend, Lord Neaves, who, it is well known, combines +with his great legal knowledge and high literary acquirements a +keen sense of the humorous, has sometimes pleasantly complained of +my drawing so many of my specimens of Scottish humour from sayings +and doings of Scottish ministers. They were a shrewd and observant +race. They lived amongst their own people from year to year, and +understood the Scottish type of character. Their retired habits and +familiar intercourse with their parishioners gave rise to many +quaint and racy communications. They were excellent men, well +suited to their pastoral work, and did much good amongst their +congregations; for it should be always remembered that a national +church requires a sympathy and resemblance between the pastors and +the flocks. Both will be found to change together. Nothing could be +further from my mind in recording these stories, than the idea of +casting ridicule upon such an order of men. My own feelings as a +Scotsman, with all their ancestral associations, lead me to cherish +their memory with pride and deep interest, I may appeal also to the +fact that many contributions to this volume are voluntary offerings +from distinguished clergymen of the Church of Scotland, as well as +of the Free Church and of other Presbyterian communities. Indeed, +no persons enjoy these stories more than ministers themselves. I +recollect many years ago travelling to Perth in the old stage-coach +days, and enjoying the society of a Scottish clergyman, who was a +most amusing companion, and full of stories, the quaint humour of +which accorded with his own disposition. When we had come through +Glen Farg, my companion pointed out that we were in the parish of +Dron. With much humour he introduced an anecdote of a brother +minister not of a brilliant order of mind, who had terminated in +this place a course of appointments in the Church, the names of +which, at least, were of an ominous character for a person of +unimaginative temperament. The worthy man had been brought up at +the school of <i>Dunse</i>; had been made assistant at <i>Dull</i>, +a parish near Aberfeldy, in the Presbytery of Weem; and had here +ended his days and his clerical career as minister of +<i>Dron</i>.</p> +<p>There can be no doubt that the older school of national clergy +supply many of our most amusing anecdotes; and our pages would +suffer deplorably were all the anecdotes taken away which turn upon +their peculiarities of dialect and demeanour. I think it will be +found, however, that upon no class of society has there been a +greater change during the last hundred years than on the Scottish +clergy as a body. This, indeed, might, from many circumstances, +have been expected. The improved facilities for locomotion have had +effect upon the retirement and isolation of distant country +parishes, the more liberal and extended course of study at Scottish +colleges, the cheaper and wider diffusion of books on general +literature, of magazines, newspapers, and reviews. Perhaps, too, we +may add that candidates for the ministry now more generally +originate from the higher educated classes of society. But honour +to the memory of Scottish ministers of the days that are gone!</p> +<p>The Scottish clergy, from having mixed so little with life, were +often, no doubt, men of simple habits and of very childlike +notions. The opinions and feelings which they expressed were often +of a cast, which, amongst persons of more experience, would appear +to be not always quite consistent with the clerical character. In +them it arose from their having nothing <i>conventional</i> about +them. Thus I have heard of an old bachelor clergyman whose landlady +declared he used to express an opinion of his dinner by the grace +which he made to follow. When he had had a good dinner which +pleased him, and a good glass of beer with it, he poured forth the +grace, "For the riches of thy bounty and its blessings we offer our +thanks." When he had had poor fare and poor beer, his grace was, +"The least of these thy mercies."</p> +<p>Many examples of the dry, quaint humour of the class occur in +these pages, but there could not be a finer specimen than the +instance recorded in the "Annals of the Parish" of the account +given by the minister of his own ordination. The ministers were all +assembled for the occasion; prayers had been offered, discourses +delivered, and the time for the actual ordination had come. The +form is for the candidate to kneel down and receive his sacred +office by the imposition of hands, <i>i.e.</i> the laying on of +hands by the whole Presbytery. As the attendance of ministers was +large, a number of hands were stretched forth, more than could +quite conveniently come up to the candidate. An old minister, of +the quiet jocose turn of mind we speak of, finding himself thus +kept at a little distance, stretched out his walking staff and put +it on the young man's head, with the quiet remark, "That will do! +Timmer to timmer"--timber to timber.</p> +<p>Their style of preaching, too was, no doubt often plain and +homely. They had not the graces of elocution or elegance of +diction. But many were faithful in their office, and preached +Christ as the poor man's friend and the Saviour of the lowly and +the suffering. I have known Scottish ministers of the old school +get into a careless indifferent state of ministration; I have also +known the hoary head of many a Scottish minister go down to the +grave a crown of glory, in his day and generation more honoured +than many which had been adorned by a mitre.</p> +<blockquote>FOOTNOTES:</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_14"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor14">[14]</a> Lying Gilbert.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_15"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor15">[15]</a> This anecdote has been illustrated, as taken +from these pages, by a very clever sketch of the Highlander and his +admirer, in a curious publication at Liverpool called <i>The +Tobacco Plant</i>, and devoted to the interests of smoking and +snuffing.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_16"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor16">[16]</a> The truth is, in old English usage "bug" +signifies a spectre or anything that is frightful. Thus in Henry +VI., 3d Part, act v. sc. ii.--"For Warwick was a <i>bug</i> that +feared us all."</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_17"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor17">[17]</a> Adds fuel to fire.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_18"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor18">[18]</a> As far as I am aware the only place in which +it is practised at present (July 1872), is in the Free Church, +Brodick, Arran.</blockquote> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_THE_SECOND."></a>CHAPTER THE SECOND.</h2> +<h3>SCOTTISH RELIGIOUS FEELINGS AND OBSERVANCES.</h3> +<br> +<p>Passing from these remarks on the Scottish Clergy of a past day, +I would treat the more extensive subject of RELIGIOUS FEELINGS and +RELIGIOUS OBSERVANCES generally with the caution and deference due +to such a question, and I would distinctly premise that there is in +my mind no intention of entering, in this volume, upon those great +questions which are connected with certain church movements amongst +us, or with national peculiarities of faith and discipline. It is +impossible, however, to overlook entirely the fact of a gradual +relaxation, which has gone on for some years, of the sterner +features of the Calvinistic school of theology--at any rate, of +keeping its theoretic peculiarities more in the background. What we +have to notice in these pages are changes in the feelings with +regard to religion and religious observances, which have appeared +upon the <i>exterior</i> of society--the changes which belong to +outward habits rather than to internal feelings. Of such changes +many have taken place within my own experience. Scotland has ever +borne the character of a moral and religious country; and the mass +of the people are a more church-going race than the masses of +English population. I am not at all prepared to say that in the +middle and lower ranks of life our countrymen have undergone much +change in regard to religious observances. But there can be no +question that amongst the upper classes there are manifestations +connected with religion now, which some years ago were not thought +of. The attendence of <i>men</i> on public worship is of itself an +example of the change we speak of. I am afraid that when Walter +Scott described Monkbarns as being with difficulty "hounded out" to +hear the sermons of good Mr. Blattergowl, he wrote from a knowledge +of the habits of church-going then generally prevalent among +Scottish lairds. The late Bishop Sandford told me that when he +first came to Edinburgh--I suppose fifty years ago--few gentlemen +attended church--very few indeed were seen at the communion--so +much so that it was a matter of conversation when a male +communicant, not an aged man, was observed at the table for the +first time. Sydney Smith, when preaching in Edinburgh some forty +years ago, seeing how almost exclusively congregations were made up +of ladies, took for his text the verse from the Psalms, "Oh that +men would therefore praise the Lord!" and with that touch of the +facetious which marked everything he did, laid the emphasis on the +word "men." Looking round the congregation and saying, "Oh that +<i>men</i> would therefore praise the Lord!" implying that he used +the word, not to describe the human species generally, but the male +individuals as distinguished from the female portion. In regard to +attendance by young men, both at church and communion, a marked +change has taken place in my own experience. In fact, there is an +attention excited towards church subjects, which, thirty years ago, +would have been hardly credited. Nor is it only in connection with +churches and church services that these changes have been brought +forth, but an interest has been raised on the subject from Bible +societies, missionary associations at home and abroad, schools and +reformatory institutions, most of which, as regard active +operation, have grown up during fifty years.</p> +<p>Nor should I omit to mention, what I trust may be considered as +a change belonging to religious feeling--viz., that conversation +is now conducted without that accompaniment of those absurd and +unmeaning oaths which were once considered an essential +embellishment of polite discourse. I distinctly recollect an +elderly gentleman, when describing the opinion of a refined and +polished female upon a particular point, putting into her mouth an +unmistakable round oath as the natural language in which people's +sentiments and opinions would be ordinarily conveyed. This is a +change wrought in men's feelings, which all must hail with great +pleasure. Putting out of sight for a moment the sin of such a +practice, and the bad influence it must have had upon all emotions +of reverence for the name and attributes of the Divine Being, and +the natural effect of profane swearing, to "harden a' within," we +might marvel at the utter folly and incongruity of making swearing +accompany every expression of anger or surprise, or of using oaths +as mere expletives in common discourse. A quaint anecdote, +descriptive of such senseless ebullition, I have from a friend who +mentioned the names of parties concerned:--A late Duke of Athole +had invited a well-known character, a writer of Perth, to come up +and meet him at Dunkeld for the transaction of some business. The +Duke mentioned the day and hour when he should receive the man of +law, who accordingly came punctually at the appointed time and +place. But the Duke had forgotten the appointment, and gone to the +hill, from which he could not return for some hours. A Highlander +present described the Perth writer's indignation, and his mode of +showing it by a most elaborate course of swearing. "But whom did he +swear at?" was the inquiry made of the narrator, who replied, "Oh, +he didna sweer at ony thing particular, but juist stude in ta +middle of ta road and swoor at lairge." I have from a friend also +an anecdote which shows how entirely at one period the practice of +swearing had become familiar even to female ears when mixed up with +the intercourse of social life. A sister had been speaking of her +brother as much addicted to this habit--"Oor John sweers awfu', and +we try to correct him; but," she added in a candid and apologetic +tone, "nae doubt it <i>is</i> a great set aff to conversation." +There was something of rather an <i>admiring</i> character in the +description of an outbreak of swearing by a Deeside body. He had +been before the meeting of Justices for some offence against the +excise laws, and had been promised some assistance and countenance +by my cousin, the laird of Finzean, who was unfortunately addicted +to the practice in question. The poor fellow had not got off so +well as he had expected, and on giving an account of what took +place to a friend, he was asked, "But did not Finzean speak for +you?" "Na," he replied, "he didna say muckle; but oh, he damned +bonny!"</p> +<p>This is the place to notice a change which has taken place in +regard to some questions of taste in the building and embellishing +of Scottish places of worship. Some years back there was a great +jealousy of ornament in connection with churches and church +services, and, in fact, all such embellishments were considered as +marks of a departure from the simplicity of old Scottish +worship,--they were distinctive of Episcopacy as opposed to the +severer modes of Presbyterianism. The late Sir William Forbes used +to give an account of a conversation, indicative of this feeling, +which he had overheard between an Edinburgh inhabitant and his +friend from the country. They were passing St. John's, which had +just been finished, and the countryman asked, "Whatna kirk was +that?" "Oh," said the townsman, "that is an English chapel," +meaning Episcopalian. "Ay," said his friend, "there'll be a walth +o' <i>images</i> there." But, if unable to sympathise with +architectural church ornament and embellishment, how much less +could they sympathise with the performance of divine service, which +included such musical accompaniments as intoning, chanting, and +anthems! On the first introduction of Tractarianism into Scotland, +the full choir service had been established in an Episcopal church, +where a noble family had adopted those views, and carried them out +regardless of expense. The lady who had been instrumental in +getting up these musical services was very anxious that a favourite +female servant of the family--a Presbyterian of the old +school--should have an opportunity of hearing them; accordingly, +she very kindly took her down to church in the carriage, and on +returning asked her what she thought of the music, etc. "Ou, it's +verra bonny, verra bonny; but oh, my lady, it's an awfu' way of +spending the Sabbath." The good woman could only look upon the +whole thing as a musical performance. The organ was a great mark of +distinction between Episcopalian and Presbyterian places of +worship. I have heard of an old lady describing an Episcopalian +clergyman, without any idea of disrespect, in these terms:--"Oh, he +is a whistle-kirk minister." From an Australian correspondent I +have an account of the difference between an Episcopal minister and +a Presbyterian minister, as remarked by an old Scottish lady of his +acquaintance. Being asked in what the difference was supposed to +consist, after some consideration she replied, "Weel, ye see, the +Presbyterian minister wears his sark under his coat, the Episcopal +minister wears his sark aboon his coat." Of late years, however, a +spirit of greater tolerance of such things has been growing up +amongst us,--a greater tolerance, I suspect, even of organs and +liturgies. In fact, we may say a new era has begun in Scotland as +to church architecture and church ornaments. The use of stained +glass in churches--forming memorial windows for the +departed<a name="FNanchor19"></a><a href="#Footnote_19">[19]</a>, a +free use of crosses as architectural ornaments, and restoration of +ancient edifices, indicate a revolution of feeling regarding this +question. Beautiful and expensive churches are rising everywhere, +in connection with various denominations. It is not long since the +building or repairing a new church, or the repairing and adapting +an old church, implied in Scotland simply a production of the +greatest possible degree of ugliness and bad taste at the least +possible expense, and certainly never included any notion of +ornament in the details. Now, large sums are expended on places of +worship, without reference to creed. First-rate architects are +employed. Fine Gothic structures are produced. The rebuilding of +the Greyfriars' Church, the restoration of South Leith Church and +of Glasgow Cathedral, the very bold experiment of adopting a style +little known amongst us, the pure Lombard, in a church for Dr. W.L. +Alexander, on George IV. Bridge, Edinburgh; the really splendid +Free Churches, St. Mary's, in Albany Street, and the Barclay +Church, Bruntsfield, and many similar cases, mark the spirit of the +times regarding the application of what is beautiful in art to the +service of religion. One might hope that changes such as these in +the feelings, tastes, and associations, would have a beneficial +effect in bringing the worshippers themselves into a more genial +spirit of forbearance with each other. A friend of mine used to +tell a story of an honest builder's views of church differences, +which was very amusing, and quaintly professional. An English +gentleman, who had arrived in a Scottish country town, was walking +about to examine the various objects which presented themselves, +and observed two rather handsome places of worship in course of +erection nearly opposite to each other. He addressed a person, who +happened to be the contractor for the chapels, and asked, "What was +the difference between these two places of worship which were +springing up so close to each other?"--meaning, of course, the +difference of the theological tenets of the two congregations. The +contractor, who thought only of architectural differences, +innocently replied, "There may be a difference of sax feet in +length, but there's no aboon a few inches in the breadth." Would +that all our religious differences could be brought within so +narrow a compass!</p> +<p>The variety of churches in a certain county of Scotland once +called forth a sly remark upon our national tendencies to religious +division and theological disputation. An English gentleman sitting +on the box, and observing the great number of places of worship in +the aforesaid borough, remarked to the coachman that there must be +a great deal of religious feeling in a town which produced so many +houses of God.</p> +<p>"Na," said the man quietly, "it's no religion, it's +<i>curstness," i.e.</i> crabbedness, insinuating that acerbity of +temper, as well as zeal, was occasionally the cause of +congregations being multiplied.</p> +<p>It might be a curious question to consider how far motives +founded on mere taste or sentiment may have operated in creating an +interest towards religion, and in making it a more prominent and +popular question than it was in the early portion of the present +century. There are in this country two causes which have combined +in producing these effects:--1st. The great disruption which took +place in the Church of Scotland no doubt called forth an attention +to the subject which stirred up the public, and made religion at +any rate a topic of deep interest for discussion and partizanship. +Men's minds were not <i>allowed</i> to remain in the torpid +condition of a past generation. 2d. The aesthetic movement in +religion, which some years since was made in England, has, of +course, had its influence in Scotland; and many who showed little +concern about religion, whilst it was merely a question of +doctrines, of precepts, and of worship, threw themselves keenly +into the contest when it became associated with ceremonial, and +music, and high art. New ecclesiastical associations have been +presented to Scottish tastes and feelings. With some minds, +attachment to the church is attachment to her Gregorian tones, +jewelled chalices, lighted candles, embroidered altar-cloths, +silver crosses, processions, copes, albs, and chasubles. But, from +whatever cause it proceeds, a great change has taken place in the +general interest excited towards ecclesiastical questions. Religion +now has numerous associations with the ordinary current of human +life. In times past it was kept more as a thing apart. There was a +false delicacy which made people shrink from encountering +appellations that were usually bestowed upon those who made a more +prominent religious profession than the world at large.</p> +<p>A great change has taken place in this respect with persons of +<i>all</i> shades of religious opinions. With an increased +attention to the <i>externals</i> of religion, we believe that in +many points the heart has been more exercised also. Take, as an +example, the practice of family prayer. Many excellent and pious +households of the former generation would not venture upon the +observance, I am afraid, because they were in dread of the sneer. +There was a foolish application of the terms "Methodist" "saints," +"over-righteous," where the practice was observed. It was to take +up a rather decided position in the neighbourhood; and I can +testify, that less than fifty years ago a family would have been +marked and talked of for a usage of which now throughout the +country the <i>exception</i> is rather the unusual circumstance. A +little anecdote from recollections in my own family will furnish a +good illustration of a state of feeling on this point now happily +unknown. In a northern town of the east coast, where the earliest +recollections of my life go back, there was usually a detachment of +a regiment, who were kindly received and welcomed to the society, +which in the winter months was very full and very gay. There was +the usual measure of dining, dancing, supping, card-playing, and +gossiping, which prevailed in country towns at the time. The +officers were of course an object of much interest to the natives, +and their habits were much discussed. A friend was staying in the +family who partook a good deal of the Athenian temperament--viz. +delight in hearing and telling some new thing. On one occasion she +burst forth in great excitement with the intelligence that "Sir +Nathaniel Duckinfield, the officer in command of the detachment, +had family prayers <i>every</i> morning!" A very near and dear +relative of mine, knowing the tendency of the lady to gossip, +pulled her up with the exclamation: "How can you repeat such +things, Miss Ogilvy? nothing in the world but the ill-natured +stories of Montrose!" The remark was made quite innocently, and +unconsciously of the bitter satire it conveyed upon the feeling of +the place. The "ill-nature" of these stories was true enough, +because ill-nature was the motive of those who raised them; not +because it is an ill-natured thing of itself to say of a family +that they have household worship, but the ill-nature consisted in +their intending to throw out a sneer and a sarcasm upon a subject +where all such reflections are unbecoming and indecorous. It is one +of the best proofs of change of habits and associations on this +matter, that the anecdote, exquisite as it is for our purpose, will +hardly be understood by many of our young friends, or, at least, +happily has lost much of its force and pungency.</p> +<p>These remarks apply perhaps more especially to the state of +religious feeling amongst the upper classes of society. Though I am +not aware of so much change in the religious habits of the Scottish +peasantry, still the elders have yielded much from the sternness of +David Deans; and upon the whole view of the question there have +been many and great changes in the Scottish people during the last +sixty years. It could hardly be otherwise, when we consider the +increased facilities of communication between the two countries--a +facility which extends to the introduction of English books upon +religious subjects. The most popular and engaging works connected +with the Church of England have now a free circulation in Scotland; +and it is impossible that such productions as the "Christian Year," +for example, and many others--whether for good or bad is not now +the question--should not produce their effects upon minds trained +in the strictest school of Calvinistic theology. I should be +disposed to <i>extend</i> the boundaries of this division, and to +include under "Religious Feelings and Religious Observances" many +anecdotes which belong perhaps rather indirectly than directly to +the subject. There is a very interesting reminiscence, and one of a +sacred character also, which I think will come very suitably under +this head. When I joined the Scottish Episcopal Church, nearly +fifty years ago, it was quite customary for members of our +communion to ask for the blessing of their Bishop, and to ask it +especially on any remarkable event in their life, as marriage, loss +of friends, leaving home, returning home, etc.; and it was the +custom amongst the old Scottish Episcopalians to give the blessing +in a peculiar form, which had become venerable from its +traditionary application by our bishops. I have myself received it +from my bishop, the late good Bishop Walker, and have heard him +pronounce it on others. But whether the custom of asking the +bishop's blessing be past or not, the form I speak of has become a +reminiscence, and I feel assured is not known even by some of our +own bishops. I shall give it to my readers as I received it from +the family of the late Bishop Walker of Edinburgh:--</p> +<blockquote>"God Almighty bless thee with his Holy Spirit;<br> +Guard thee in thy going out and coming in;<br> +Keep thee ever in his faith and fear;<br> +Free from Sin, and safe from Danger."</blockquote> +<p>I have been much pleased with a remark of my friend, the Rev. W. +Gillespie of the U.P. Church, Edinburgh, upon this subject. He +writes to me as follows:--"I read with particular interest the +paragraph on the subject of the Bishop's Blessing, for certainly +there seems to be in these days a general disbelief in the efficacy +of blessings, and a neglect or disregard of the practice. If the +spirit of God is in good men, as He certainly is, then who can +doubt the value and the efficacy of the blessing which they bestow? +I remember being blessed by a very venerable minister, John +Dempster of Denny, while kneeling in his study, shortly before I +left this country to go to China, and his prayer over me then was +surely the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man. Its effect +upon me then and ever since will never be forgotten."</p> +<p>I quite agree with Mr. Gillespie on the point, and think it not +a good sign either of our religious belief or religious feeling +that such blessings should become really a matter of reminiscence; +for if we are taught to pray for one another, and if we are taught +that the "prayer of the righteous availeth much," surely we ought +to <i>bless</i> one another, and surely the blessing of those who +are venerable in the church from their position, their age, and +their piety, may be expected to avail as an aid and incentive to +piety in those who in God's name are so blest. It has struck me +that on a subject closely allied with religious feelings a great +change has taken place in Scotland during a period of less than +fifty years--I mean the attention paid to cemeteries as +depositories of the mortal remains of those who have departed. In +my early days I never recollect seeing any efforts made for the +embellishment and adornment of our churchyards; if tolerably +secured by fences, enough had been done. The English and Welsh +practices of planting flowers, keeping the turf smooth and dressed +over the graves of friends, were quite unknown. Indeed, I suspect +such attention fifty years ago would have been thought by the +sterner Presbyterians as somewhat savouring of superstition. The +account given by Sir W. Scott, in "Guy Mannering," of an Edinburgh +burial-place, was universally applicable to Scottish +sepulchres<a name="FNanchor20"></a><a href="#Footnote_20">[20]</a>. +A very different state of matters has grown up within the last few +years. Cemeteries and churchyards are now as carefully ornamented +in Scotland as in England. Shrubs, flowers, smooth turf, and +neatly-kept gravel walks, are a pleasing accompaniment to +head-stones, crosses, and varied forms of monumental memorials, in +freestone, marble, and granite. Nay, more than these, not +unfrequently do we see an imitation of French sentiment, in wreaths +of "everlasting" placed over graves as emblems of immortality; and +in more than one of our Edinburgh cemeteries I have seen these +enclosed in glass cases to preserve them from the effects of wind +and rain.</p> +<p>In consequence of neglect, the unprotected state of churchyards +was evident from the number of stories in circulation connected +with the circumstance of timid and excited passengers going amongst +the tombs of the village. The following, amongst others, has been +communicated. The <i>locale</i> of the story is unknown, but it is +told of a weaver who, after enjoying his potations, pursued his way +home through the churchyard, his vision and walking somewhat +impaired. As he proceeded he diverged from the path, and +unexpectedly stumbled into a partially made grave. Stunned for a +while, he lay in wonder at his descent, and after some time he got +out, but he had not proceeded much farther when a similar calamity +befell him. At this second fall, he was heard, in a tone of wonder +and surprise, to utter the following exclamation, referring to what +he considered the untenanted graves: "Ay! ir ye a' up an' awa?"</p> +<p>The kindly feelings and interest of the pastoral relation always +formed a very pleasing intercourse between minister and people. I +have received from an anonymous correspondent an anecdote +illustrative of this happy connection, for which he vouches as +authentic:--</p> +<p>John Brown, Burgher minister at Whitburn (son of the +commentator, and father of the late Rev. Dr. John Brown of +Edinburgh, and grandfather of the present accomplished M.D. of the +same name, author of "Rab and his Friends," etc.), in the early +part of the century was travelling on a small sheltie<a name= +"FNanchor21"></a><a href="#Footnote_21">[21]</a> to attend the +summer sacrament at Haddington. Between Musselburgh and Tranent he +overtook one of his own people. "What are ye daein' here, Janet, +and whaur ye gaun in this warm weather?" "'Deed, sir," quo' Janet, +"I'm gaun to Haddington <i>for the occasion</i><a name= +"FNanchor22"></a><a href="#Footnote_22">[22]</a> an' expeck to hear +ye preach this efternoon." "Very weel, Janet, but whaur ye gaun tae +sleep?" "I dinna ken, sir, but Providence is aye kind, an'll +provide a bed." On Mr. Brown jogged, but kindly thought of his +humble follower; accordingly, after service in the afternoon, +before pronouncing the blessing, he said from the pulpit, "Whaur's +the auld wifie that followed me frae Whitburn?" "Here I'm, sir," +uttered a shrill voice from a back seat. "Aweel," said Mr. Brown, +"I have fand ye a bed; ye're to sleep wi' Johnnie Fife's lass."</p> +<p>There was at all times amongst the older Scottish peasantry a +bold assertion of their religious opinions, and strong expression +of their feelings. The spirit of the Covenanters lingered amongst +the aged people whom I remember, but which time has considerably +softened down. We have some recent authentic instances of this +readiness in Scotsmen to bear testimony to their principles:--</p> +<p>A friend has informed me that the late Lord Rutherfurd often +told with much interest of a rebuke which he received from a +shepherd, near Bonaly, amongst the Pentlands. He had entered into +conversation with him, and was complaining bitterly of the weather, +which prevented him enjoying his visit to the country, and said +hastily and unguardedly, "What a d--d mist!" and then expressed his +wonder how or for what purpose there should have been such a thing +created as east wind. The shepherd, a tall, grim figure, turned +sharp round upon him. "What ails ye at the mist, sir? it weets the +sod, it slockens the yowes, and"--adding with much solemnity--"it's +God's wull;" and turned away with lofty indignation. Lord +Rutherfurd used to repeat this with much candour as a fine specimen +of a rebuke from a sincere and simple mind.</p> +<p>There was something very striking in the homely, quaint, and +severe expressions on religious subjects which marked the +old-fashioned piety of persons shadowed forth in Sir Walter Scott's +Davie Deans. We may add to the rebuke of the shepherd of Bonaly, of +Lord Rutherfurd's remark about the east wind, his answer to Lord +Cockburn, the proprietor of Bonaly. He was sitting on the hill-side +with the shepherd, and observing the sheep reposing in the coldest +situation, he observed to him, "John, if I were a sheep, I would +lie on the other side of the hill." The shepherd answered, "Ay, my +lord, but if ye had been a sheep ye would hae had mair sense."</p> +<p>Of such men as this shepherd were formed the elders--a class of +men who were marked by strong features of character, and who, in +former times, bore a distinguished part in all church matters.</p> +<p>The old Scottish elder was in fact quite as different a +character from the modern elder, as the old Scottish minister was +from the modern pastor. These good men were not disposed to hide +their lights, and perhaps sometimes encroached a little upon the +office of the minister. A clergyman had been remarking to one of +his elders that he was unfortunately invited to two funerals on one +day, and that they were fixed for the same hour. "Weel, sir," +answered the elder, "if ye'll tak the tane I'll tak the +tither."</p> +<p>Some of the elders were great humorists and originals in their +way. An elder of the kirk at Muthill used to manifest his humour +and originality by his mode of collecting the alms. As he went +round with the ladle, he reminded such members of the congregation +as seemed backward in their duty, by giving them a poke with the +"brod," and making, in an audible whisper, such remarks as +these--"Wife at the braid mailin, mind the puir;" "Lass wi' the +braw plaid, mind the puir," etc., a mode of collecting which marks +rather a bygone state of things. But on no question was the old +Scottish disciplinarian, whether elder or not, more sure to raise +his testimony than on anything connected with a desecration of the +Sabbath. In this spirit was the rebuke given to an eminent +geologist, when visiting in the Highlands:--The professor was +walking on the hills one Sunday morning, and partly from the effect +of habit, and partly from not adverting to the very strict notions +of Sabbath desecration entertained in Ross-shire, had his pocket +hammer in hand, and was thoughtlessly breaking the specimens of +minerals he picked up by the way. Under these circumstances, he was +met by an old man steadily pursuing his way to his church. For some +time the patriarch observed the movements of the geologist, and at +length, going up to him, quietly said, "Sir, ye're breaking +something there forbye the stanes!"</p> +<p>The same feeling, under a more fastidious form, was exhibited to +a traveller by a Scottish peasant:--An English artist travelling +professionally through Scotland, had occasion to remain over Sunday +in a small town in the north. To while away the time, he walked out +a short way in the environs, where the picturesque ruin of a castle +met his eye. He asked a countryman who was passing to be so good as +tell him the name of the castle. The reply was somewhat +startling--"It's no the day to be speerin' sic things!"</p> +<p>A manifestation of even still greater strictness on the subject +of Sabbath desecration, I have received from a relative of the +family in which it occurred. About fifty years ago the Hon. Mrs. +Stewart lived in Heriot Row, who had a cook, Jeannie by name, a +paragon of excellence. One Sunday morning when her daughter +(afterwards Lady Elton) went into the kitchen, she was surprised to +find a new jack (recently ordered, and which was constructed on the +principle of going constantly without winding up) wholly paralysed +and useless. Miss Stewart naturally inquired what accident had +happened to the new jack, as it had stopped. The mystery was soon +solved by Jeannie indignantly exclaiming that "she was nae gaeing +to hae the fule thing clocking and rinning about in <i>her</i> +kitchen a' the blessed Sabbath day."</p> +<p>There sometimes appears to have been in our countrymen an undue +preponderance of zeal for Sabbath observance as compared with the +importance attached to <i>other</i> religious duties, and +especially as compared with the virtue of sobriety. The following +dialogue between Mr. Macnee of Glasgow, the celebrated artist, and +an old Highland acquaintance whom he had met with unexpectedly, +will illustrate the contrast between the severity of judgment +passed upon treating the Sabbath with levity and the lighter +censure attached to indulgence in whisky. Mr. Macnee begins, +"Donald, what brought you here?" "Ou, weel, sir, it was a baad +place yon; they were baad folk--but they're a God-fearin' set o' +folk here!" "Well, Donald," said Mr. M., "I'm glad to hear it." "Ou +ay, sir, 'deed are they; an' I'll gie ye an instance o't. Last +Sabbath, just as the kirk was skailin,' there was a drover chield +frae Dumfries comin' along the road whustlin,' an' lookin' <i>as +happy</i> as if it was ta middle o' ta week; weel, sir, oor laads +is a God-fearin' set o' laads, an' they were just comin' oot o' the +kirk--'od they yokit upon him, an' a'most killed him!" Mr. M., to +whom their zeal seemed scarcely sufficiently well directed to merit +his approbation, then asked Donald whether it had been drunkenness +that induced the depravity of his former neighbours? "Weel, weel, +sir," said Donald, with some hesitation, "<i>may</i>-be; I'll no +say but it micht." "Depend upon it," said Mr. M., "it's a bad thing +whisky." "Weel, weel, sir," replied Donald, "I'll no say but it +<i>may</i>;" adding in a very decided tone--"speeciallie +<i>baad</i> whusky!"</p> +<p>I do not know any anecdote which illustrates in a more striking +and natural manner the strong feeling which exists in the Scottish +mind on this subject. At a certain time, the hares in the +neighbourhood of a Scottish burgh had, from the inclemency of the +season or from some other cause, become emboldened more than usual +to approach the dwelling-places of men; so much so that on one +Sunday morning a hare was seen skipping along the street as the +people were going to church. An old man, spying puss in this +unusual position, significantly remarked, "Ay, yon beast kens weel +it is the Sabbath-day;" taking it for granted that no one in the +place would be found audacious enough to hurt the animal on a +Sunday.</p> +<p>Lady Macneil supplies an excellent pendant to Miss Stewart's +story about the jack going on the Sunday. Her henwife had got some +Dorking fowls, and on Lady M. asking if they were laying many eggs, +she replied, with great earnestness, "Indeed my leddy, they lay +every day, no' excepting the blessed Sabbath."</p> +<p>There were, however, old persons at that time who were not quite +so orthodox on the point of Sabbath observance; and of these a lady +residing in Dumfries was known often to employ her wet Sundays in +arranging her wardrobe. "Preserve us!" she said on one occasion, +"anither gude Sunday! I dinna ken whan I'll get thae drawers redd +up."</p> +<p>In connection with the awful subject of death and all its +concomitants, it has been often remarked that the older generation +of Scottish people used to view the circumstances belonging to the +decease of their nearest and dearest friends with a coolness which +does not at first sight seem consistent with their deep and sincere +religious impressions. Amongst the peasantry this was sometimes +manifested in an extraordinary and startling manner. I do not +believe that those persons had less affection for their friends +than a corresponding class in England, but they had less awe of the +concomitants of death, and approached them with more familiarity. +For example, I remember long ago at Fasque, my sister-in-law +visiting a worthy and attached old couple, of whom the husband, +Charles Duncan, who had been gardener at Fasque for above thirty +years was evidently dying. He was sitting on a common deal chair, +and on my sister proposing to send down for his use an old +arm-chair which she recollected was laid up in a garret, his wife +exclaimed against such a needless trouble: "Hout, my leddy, what +would he be duin' wi' an arm-chair? he's just deein' fast awa." I +have two anecdotes, illustrative of the same state of feeling, from +a lady of ancient Scottish family accustomed to visit her poor +dependants on the property, and to notice their ways. She was +calling at a decent cottage, and found the occupant busy carefully +ironing out some linens. The lady remarked, "Those are fine linens +you have got there, Janet." "Troth, mem," was the reply, "they're +just the gudeman's <i>deed</i> claes, and there are nane better i' +the parish." On another occasion, when visiting an excellent woman, +to condole with her on the death of her nephew, with whom she had +lived, and whose loss must have been severely felt by her, she +remarked, "What a nice white cap you have got, Margaret." "Indeed, +mem, ay, sae it is; for ye see the gude lad's winding sheet was +ower lang, and I cut aff as muckle as made twa bonny mutches" +(caps).</p> +<p>There certainly was a quaint and familiar manner in which sacred +and solemn subjects were referred to by the older Scottish race, +who did not mean to be irreverent, but who no doubt appeared so to +a more refined but not really a more religious generation.</p> +<p>It seems to me that this plainness of speech arose in part from +the <i>sincerity</i> of their belief in all the circumstances of +another condition of being. They spoke of things hereafter as +positive certainties, and viewed things invisible through the same +medium as they viewed things present. The following is illustrative +of such a state of mind, and I am assured of its perfect +authenticity and literal correctness:--"Joe M'Pherson and his wife +lived in Inverness. They had two sons, who helped their father in +his trade of a smith. They were industrious and careful, but not +successful. The old man had bought a house, leaving a large part of +the price unpaid. It was the ambition of his life to pay off that +debt, but it was too much for him, and he died in the struggle. His +sons kept on the business with the old industry, and with better +fortune. At last their old mother fell sick, and told her sons she +was dying, as in truth she was. The elder son said to her, 'Mother, +you'll soon be with my father; no doubt you'll have much to tell +him; but dinna forget this, mother, mind ye, tell him <i>the house +is freed</i>. He'll be glad to hear that.'"</p> +<p>A similar feeling is manifest in the following conversation, +which, I am assured, is authentic:--At Hawick the people used to +wear wooden clogs, which make a <i>clanking</i> noise on the +pavement. A dying old woman had some friends by her bedside, who +said to her, "Weel, Jenny, ye are gaun to heeven, an' gin you +should see oor folk, you can tell them that we're a' weel." To +which Jenny replied, "Weel, gin I should see them I'se tell them, +but you manna expect that I am to gang clank clanking through +heevan looking for your folk."</p> +<p>But of all stories of this class, I think the following deathbed +conversation between a Scottish husband and wife is about the +richest specimen of a dry Scottish matter-of-fact view of a very +serious question:--An old shoemaker in Glasgow was sitting by the +bedside of his wife, who was dying. She took him by the hand. +"Weel, John, we're gawin to part. I hae been a gude wife to you, +John." "Oh, just middling, just middling, Jenny," said John, not +disposed to commit himself. "John," says she, "ye maun promise to +bury me in the auld kirk-yard at Stra'von, beside my mither. I +couldna rest in peace among unco folk, in the dirt and smoke o' +Glasgow." "Weel, weel, Jenny, my woman," said John soothingly, +"we'll just pit you in the Gorbals <i>first</i>, and gin ye dinna +lie quiet, we'll try you sine in Stra'von."</p> +<p>The same unimaginative and matter-of-fact view of things +connected with the other world extended to a very youthful age, as +in the case of a little boy who, when told of heaven, put the +question, "An' will faather be there?" His instructress answered, +"of course, she hoped he would be there;" to which he sturdily at +once replied, "Then I'll no gang."</p> +<p>We might apply these remarks in some measure to the Scottish +pulpit ministrations of an older school, in which a minuteness of +detail and a quaintness of expression were quite common, but which +could not now be tolerated. I have two specimens of such antiquated +language, supplied by correspondents, and I am assured they are +both genuine.</p> +<p>The first is from a St. Andrews professor, who is stated to be a +great authority in such narratives.</p> +<p>In one of our northern counties, a rural district had its +harvest operations affected by continuous rains. The crops being +much laid, wind was desired in order to restore them to a condition +fit for the sickle. A minister, in his Sabbath services, expressed +their want in prayer as follows:--"O Lord, we pray thee to send us +wind; no a rantin' tantin' tearin' wind, but a noohin' (noughin?) +soughin' winnin' wind." More expressive words than these could not +be found in any language.</p> +<p>The other story relates to a portion of the Presbyterian service +on sacramental occasions, called "fencing the tables," <i>i.e.</i> +prohibiting the approach of those who were unworthy to receive.</p> +<p>This fencing of the tables was performed in the following +effective manner by an old divine, whose flock transgressed the +third commandment, not in a gross and loose manner, but in its +minor details:--"I debar all those who use such minced oaths as +faith! troth! losh! gosh! and lovanendie!"</p> +<p>These men often showed a quiet vein of humour in their prayers, +as in the case of the old minister of the Canongate, who always +prayed, previous to the meeting of the General Assembly, that the +Assembly might be so guided as "<i>no to do ony harm."</i></p> +<p>A circumstance connected with Scottish church discipline has +undergone a great change in my time--I mean the public censure from +the pulpit, in the time of divine service, of offenders previously +convicted before the minister and his kirk-session. This was +performed by the guilty person standing up before the congregation +on a raised platform, called the <i>cutty stool</i>, and receiving +a rebuke. I never saw it done, but have heard in my part of the +country of the discipline being enforced occasionally. Indeed, I +recollect an instance where the rebuke was thus administered and +received under circumstances of a touching character, and which +made it partake of the moral sublime. The daughter of the minister +had herself committed an offence against moral purity, such as +usually called forth this church censure. The minister peremptorily +refused to make her an exception to his ordinary practice. His +child stood up in the congregation, and received, from her agonised +father, a rebuke similar to that administered to other members of +his congregation for a like offence. The spirit of the age became +unfavourable to the practice. The rebuke on the cutty stool, like +the penance in a white sheet in England, went out of use, and the +circumstance is now a matter of "reminiscence." I have received +some communications on the subject, which bear upon this point; and +I subjoin the following remarks from a kind correspondent, a +clergyman, to whom I am largely indebted, as indicating the great +change which has taken place in this matter.</p> +<p>"Church discipline," he writes, "was much more vigorously +enforced in olden time than it is now. A certain couple having been +guilty of illicit intercourse, and also within the forbidden +degrees of consanguinity, appeared before the Presbytery of Lanark, +and made confession in sackcloth. They were ordered to return to +their own session, and to stand at the kirk-door, barefoot and +barelegged, from the second bell to the last, and thereafter in the +public place of repentance; and, at direction of the session, +thereafter to go through the whole kirks of the presbytery, and to +satisfy them in like manner. If such penance were now enforced for +like offences, I believe the registration books of many parishes in +Scotland would become more creditable in certain particulars than +they unfortunately are at the present time."</p> +<p>But there was a less formidable ecclesiastical censure +occasionally given by the minister from the pulpit against lesser +misdemeanours, which took place under his own eye, such as levity +of conduct or <i>sleeping</i> in church. A most amusing specimen of +such censure was once inflicted by the minister upon his own wife +for an offence not in our day visited with so heavy a penalty. The +clergyman had observed one of his flock asleep during his sermon. +He paused, and called him to order. "Jeems Robson, ye are sleepin'; +I insist on your wauking when God's word is preached to ye." "Weel, +sir, you may look at your ain seat, and ye'll see a sleeper forbye +me," answered Jeems, pointing to the clergyman's lady in the +minister's pew. "Then, Jeems," said the minister, "when ye see my +wife asleep again, haud up your hand." By and by the arm was +stretched out, and sure enough the fair lady was caught in the act. +Her husband solemnly called upon her to stand up and receive the +censure due to her offence. He thus addressed her:--"Mrs. B., +a'body kens that when I got ye for my wife, I got nae beauty; yer +frien's ken that I got nae siller; and if I dinna get God's grace, +I shall hae a puir bargain indeed."</p> +<p>The quaint and original humour of the old Scottish minister came +out occasionally in the more private services of his vocation as +well as in church. As the whole service, whether for baptisms or +marriages, is supplied by the clergyman officiating, there is more +scope for scenes between the parties present than at similar +ministrations by a prescribed form. Thus, a late minister of +Caithness, when examining a member of his flock, who was a butcher, +in reference to the baptism of his child, found him so deficient in +what he considered the needful theological knowledge, that he said +to him, "Ah, Sandy, I doubt ye're no fit to haud up the bairn." +Sandy, conceiving that reference was made not to spiritual but to +physical incapacity, answered indignantly, "Hout, minister, I could +haud him up an he were a twa-year-auld stirk<a name= +"FNanchor23"></a><a href="#Footnote_23">[23]</a>." A late humorous +old minister, near Peebles, who had strong feelings on the subject +of matrimonial happiness, thus prefaced the ceremony by an address +to the parties who came to him:--"My friends, marriage is a +blessing to a few, a curse to many, and a great uncertainty to all. +Do ye venture?" After a pause, he repeated with great emphasis, "Do +ye venture?" No objection being made to the venture, he then said, +"Let's proceed."</p> +<p>The old Scottish hearers were very particular on the subject of +their minister's preaching old sermons; and to repeat a discourse +which they could recollect was always made a subject of +animadversion by those who heard it. A beadle, who was a good deal +of a wit in his way, gave a sly hit in his pretended defence of his +minister on the question. As they were proceeding from church, the +minister observed the beadle had been laughing as if he had +triumphed over some of the parishioners with whom he had been in +conversation. On asking the cause of this, he received for answer, +"Dod, sir, they were saying ye had preached an auld sermon to-day, +but I tackled them, for I tauld them it was no an auld sermon, for +the minister had preached it no sax months syne."</p> +<p>I remember the minister of Banchory, Mr. Gregory, availed +himself of the feelings of his people on this subject for the +purpose of accomplishing a particular object. During the building +of the new church the service had to be performed in a schoolroom, +which did not nearly hold the congregation. The object was to get +part of the parish to attend in the morning, and part in the +afternoon. Mr. Gregory prevented those who had attended in the +morning from returning in the afternoon by just giving them, as he +said, "cauld kail het again."</p> +<p>It is somewhat remarkable, however, that, notwithstanding this +feeling in the matter of a repetition of old sermons, there was +amongst a large class of Scottish preachers of a former day such a +sameness of subject as really sometimes made it difficult to +distinguish the discourse of one Sunday from amongst others. These +were entirely doctrinal, and however they might commence, after the +opening or introduction hearers were certain to find the preacher +falling gradually into the old channel. The fall of man in Adam, +his restoration in Christ, justification by faith, and the terms of +the new covenant, formed the staple of each sermon, and without +which it was not in fact reckoned complete as an orthodox +exposition of Christian doctrine. Without omitting the essentials +of Christian instruction, preachers now take a wider view of +illustrating and explaining the gospel scheme of salvation and +regeneration, without constant recurrence to the elemental and +fundamental principles of the faith. From my friend Dr. Cook of +Haddington (who it is well known has a copious stock of old Scotch +traditionary anecdotes) I have an admirable illustration of this +state of things as regards pulpit instruction.</p> +<p>"Much of the preaching of the Scotch clergy," Dr. Cook observes, +"in the last century, was almost exclusively doctrinal--the fall: +the nature, the extent, and the application of the remedy. In the +hands of able men, no doubt, there might be much variety of +exposition, but with weaker or indolent men preaching extempore, or +without notes, it too often ended in a weekly repetition of what +had been already said. An old elder of mine, whose recollection +might reach back from sixty to seventy years, said to me one day, +'Now-a-days, people make a work if a minister preach the same +sermon over again in the course of two or three years. When I was a +boy, we would have wondered if old Mr. W---- had preached anything +else than what we heard the Sunday before.' My old friend used to +tell of a clergyman who had held forth on the broken covenant till +his people longed for a change. The elders waited on him to +intimate their wish. They were examined on their knowledge of the +subject, found deficient, rebuked, and dismissed, but after a +little while they returned to the charge, and the minister gave in. +Next Lord's day he read a large portion of the history of Joseph +and his brethren, as the subject of a lecture. He paraphrased it, +greatly, no doubt, to the detriment of the original, but much to +the satisfaction of his people, for it was something new. He +finished the paraphrase, 'and now,' says he, 'my friends, we shall +proceed to draw some lessons and inferences; and, <i>1st</i>, you +will observe that the sacks of Joseph's brethren were <i>ripit</i>, +and in them was found the cup; so your sacks will be ripit at the +day of judgment, and the first thing found in them will be the +broken covenant;' and having gained this advantage, the sermon went +off into the usual strain, and embodied the usual heads of +elementary dogmatic theology."</p> +<p>In connection with this topic, I have a communication from a +correspondent, who remarks--The story about the minister and his +favourite theme, "the broken covenant," reminds me of one +respecting another minister whose staple topics of discourse were +"Justification, Adoption, and Sanctification." Into every sermon he +preached, he managed, by hook or by crook, to force these three +heads, so that his general method of handling every text was not so +much <i>expositio</i> as <i>impositio</i>. He was preaching on +these words--"Is Ephraim my dear son? Is he a pleasant child?" and +he soon brought the question into the usual formula by adding, +Ephraim was a pleasant child--first, because he was a justified +child; second, because he was an adopted child; and third, because +he was a sanctified child.</p> +<p>It should be remembered, however, that the Scottish peasantry +themselves--I mean those of the older school--delighted in +expositions of <i>doctrinal</i> subjects, and in fact were +extremely jealous of any minister who departed from their high +standard of orthodox divinity, by selecting subjects which involved +discussions of strictly moral or <i>practical</i> questions. It was +condemned under the epithet of <i>legal</i> preaching; in other +words, it was supposed to preach the law as independent of the +gospel. A worthy old clergyman having, upon the occasion of a +communion Monday, taken a text of such a character, was thus +commented on by an ancient dame of the congregation, who was +previously acquainted with his style of discourse:--"If there's an +ill text in a' the Bible, that creetur's aye sure to tak it."</p> +<p>The great change--the great improvement, I would say--which has +taken place during the last half-century in the feelings and +practical relations of religion with social life is, that it has +become more diffused through all ranks and all characters. Before +that period many good sort of people were afraid of making their +religious views very prominent, and were always separated from +those who did. Persons who made a profession at all beyond the low +standard generally adopted in society were marked out as objects of +fear or of distrust. The anecdote at page 65 regarding the practice +of family prayer fully proves this. Now religious people and +religion itself are not kept aloof from the ordinary current of +men's thoughts and actions. There is no such marked line as used to +be drawn round persons who make a decided profession of religion. +Christian men and women have stepped over the line, and, without +compromising their Christian principle, are not necessarily either +morose, uncharitable, or exclusive. The effects of the old +separation were injurious to men's minds. Religion was with many +associated with puritanism, with cant, and unfitness for the world. +The difference is marked also in the style of sermons prevalent at +the two periods. There were sermons of two descriptions--viz., +sermons by "<i>moderate</i>" clergy, of a purely moral or practical +character; and sermons purely doctrinal, from those who were known +as "evangelical" ministers. Hence arose an impression, and not +unnaturally, on many minds, that an almost exclusive reference to +doctrinal subjects, and a dread of upholding the law, and of +enforcing its more minute details, were not favourable to the cause +of moral rectitude and practical holiness of life. This was hinted +in a sly way by a young member of the kirk to his father, a +minister of the severe and high Calvinistic school. Old Dr. +Lockhart of Glasgow was lamenting one day, in the presence of his +son John, the fate of a man who had been found guilty of immoral +practices, and the more so that he was one of his own elders. +"Well, father," remarked his son, "you see what you've driven him +to." In our best Scottish preaching at the present day no such +distinction is visible.</p> +<p>The same feeling came forth with much point and humour on an +occasion referred to in "Carlyle's Memoirs." In a company where +John Home and David Hume were present, much wonder was expressed +what <i>could</i> have induced a clerk belonging to Sir William +Forbes' bank to abscond, and embezzle £900. "I know what it +was," said Home to the historian; "for when he was taken there was +found in his pocket a volume of your philosophical works and +Boston's 'Fourfold State'"--a hit, 1st, at the infidel, whose +principles would have undermined Christianity; and 2d, a hit at the +Church, which he was compelled to leave on account of his having +written the tragedy of Douglas.</p> +<p>I can myself recollect an obsolete ecclesiastical custom, and +which was always practised in the church of Fettercairn during my +boyish days--viz., that of the minister bowing to the heritors in +succession who occupied the front gallery seats; and I am assured +that this bowing from the pulpit to the principal heritor or +heritors after the blessing had been pronounced was very common in +rural parishes till about forty years ago, and perhaps till a still +later period. And when heritors chanced to be pretty equally +matched, there was sometimes an unpleasant contest as to who was +entitled to the precedence in having the <i>first</i> bow. A case +of this kind once occurred in the parish of Lanark, which was +carried so far as to be laid before the Presbytery; but they, not +considering themselves "competent judges of the points of honour +and precedency among gentlemen, and to prevent all inconveniency in +these matters in the future, appointed the minister to forbear +bowing to the lairds at all from the pulpit for the time to come;" +and they also appointed four of their number "to wait upon the +gentlemen, to deal with them, for bringing them to condescend to +submit hereunto, for the success of the gospel and the peace of the +parish."</p> +<p>In connection with this subject, we may mention a ready and +complimentary reply once made by the late Reverend Dr. Wightman of +Kirkmahoe, on being rallied for his neglecting this usual act of +courtesy one Sabbath in his own church. The heritor who was +entitled to and always received this token of respect, was Mr. +Miller, proprietor of Dalswinton. One Sabbath the Dalswinton pew +contained a bevy of ladies, but no gentlemen, and the +Doctor--perhaps because he was a bachelor and felt a delicacy in +the circumstances--omitted the usual salaam in their direction. A +few days after, meeting Miss Miller, who was widely famed for her +beauty, and who afterwards became Countess of Mar, she rallied him, +in presence of her companions, for not bowing to her from the +pulpit on the previous Sunday, and requested an explanation; when +the good Doctor immediately replied--"I beg your pardon, Miss +Miller, but you surely know that angel-worship is not allowed in +the Church of Scotland;" and lifting his hat, he made a low bow, +and passed on.</p> +<p>Scottish congregations, in some parts of the country, contain an +element in their composition quite unknown in English churches. In +pastoral parts of the country, it was an established practice for +each shepherd to bring his faithful <i>collie</i> dog--at least it +was so some years ago. In a district of Sutherland, where the +population is very scanty, the congregations are made up one-half +of dogs, each human member having his canine companion. These dogs +sit out the Gaelic services and sermon with commendable patience, +till towards the end of the last psalm, when there is a universal +stretching and yawning, and all are prepared to scamper out, +barking in a most excited manner whenever the blessing is +commenced. The congregation of one of these churches determined +that the service should close in a more decorous manner, and steps +were taken to attain this object. Accordingly, when a stranger +clergyman was officiating, he found the people all sitting when he +was about to pronounce the blessing. He hesitated, and paused, +expecting them to rise, till an old shepherd, looking up to the +pulpit, said, "Say awa', sir; we're a' sittin' to cheat the +dowgs."</p> +<p>There must have been some curious specimens of Scottish humour +brought out at the examinations or catechisings by ministers of the +flock before the administrations of the communion. Thus, with +reference to human nature before the fall, a man was asked, "What +kind of man was Adam?" "Ou, just like ither fouk." The minister +insisted on having a more special description of the first man, and +pressed for more explanation. "Weel," said the catechumen, "he was +just like Joe Simson the horse-couper." "How so?" asked the +minister. "Weel, naebody got onything by him, and mony lost."</p> +<p>A lad had come for examination previous to his receiving his +first communion. The pastor, knowing that his young friend was not +very profound in his theology, and not wishing to discourage him, +or keep him from the table unless compelled to do so, began by +asking what he thought a safe question, and what would give him +confidence. So he took the Old Testament, and asked him, in +reference to the Mosaic law, how many commandments there were. +After a little thought, he put his answer in the modest form of a +supposition, and replied, cautiously, "Aiblins<a name= +"FNanchor24"></a><a href="#Footnote_24">[24]</a> a hunner." The +clergyman was vexed, and told him such ignorance was intolerable, +that he could not proceed in examination, and that the youth must +wait and learn more; so he went away. On returning home he met a +friend on his way to the manse, and on learning that he too was +going to the minister for examination, shrewdly asked him, "Weel, +what will ye say noo if the minister speers hoo mony commandments +there are?" "Say! why, I shall say ten to be sure." To which the +other rejoined, with great triumph, "Ten! Try ye him wi' ten! I +tried him wi' a hunner, and he wasna satisfeed." Another answer +from a little girl was shrewd and reflective. The question was, +"Why did the Israelites make a golden calf?" "They hadna as muckle +siller as wad mak a coo."</p> +<p>A kind correspondent has sent me, from personal knowledge, an +admirable pendant to stones of Scottish child acuteness and shrewd +observation. A young lady friend of his, resident in a part of +Ayrshire rather remote from any very satisfactory administration of +the gospel, is in the habit of collecting the children of the +neighbourhood on Sundays at the "big hoose," for religious +instruction. On one occasion the class had repeated the paraphrase +of the Lord's Prayer, which contains these lines--</p> +<blockquote>"Give us this day our daily bread, And raiment +<i>fit</i> provide."</blockquote> +<p>There being no question as to what "daily bread" was, the +teacher proceeded to ask: "What do you understand by 'raiment fit,' +or as we might say, 'fit raiment?'" For a short time the class +remained puzzled at the question; but at last one little girl sung +out "stockings and shune." The child knew that "fit," was Scotch +for feet, so her natural explanation of the phrase was equivalent +to "feet raiment," or "stockings and shune," as she termed it.</p> +<p>On the point of changes in religious feelings there comes within +the scope of these Reminiscences a character in Aberdeenshire, +which has now gone out--I mean the popular and universally +well-received Roman Catholic priest. Although we cannot say that +Scotland is a more PROTESTANT nation than it was in past days, +still religious differences, and strong prejudices, seem at the +present time to draw a more decided line of separation between the +priest and his Protestant countrymen. As examples of what is past, +I would refer to the case of a genial Romish bishop in Ross-shire. +It is well known that private stills were prevalent in the +Highlands fifty or sixty years ago, and no one thought there was +any harm in them. This good bishop, whose name I forget, was (as I +heard the late W. Mackenzie of Muirton assure a party at Dunrobin +Castle) several years previously a famous hand at brewing a good +glass of whisky, and that he distributed his mountain-dew with a +liberal and impartial hand alike to Catholic and to Protestant +friends. Of this class, I recollect, certainly forty-five years +ago, Priest Gordon, a genuine Aberdonian, and a man beloved by all, +rich and poor. He was a sort of chaplain to Menzies of Pitfodels, +and visited in all the country families round Aberdeen. I remember +once his being at Banchory Lodge, and thus apologising to my aunt +for going out of the room:--"I beg your pardon, Mrs. Forbes, for +leaving you, but I maun just gae doun to the garden and say my bit +wordies"--these "bit wordies" being in fact the portion of the +Breviary which he was bound to recite. So easily and pleasantly +were those matters then referred to.</p> +<p>The following, however, is a still richer illustration, and I am +assured it is genuine:--"Towards the end of the last century, a +worthy Roman Catholic clergyman, well known as 'Priest Matheson,' +and universally respected in the district, had charge of a mission +in Aberdeenshire, and for a long time made his journeys on a +piebald pony, the priest and his 'pyet shelty' sharing an +affectionate recognition wherever they came. On one occasion, +however, he made his appearance on a steed of a different +description, and passing near a Seceding meeting-house, he +forgathered with the minister, who, after the usual kindly +greetings, missing the familiar pony, said, 'Ou, Priest! fat's come +o' the auld Pyet? 'He's deid, minister.' 'Weel, he was an auld +faithfu' servant, and ye wad nae doot gie him the offices o' the +church?' 'Na, minister,' said his friend, not quite liking this +allusion to his priestly offices, 'I didna dee that, for ye see he +<i>turned Seceder afore he dee'd, an' I buried him like a +beast</i>.' He then rode quietly away. This worthy man, however, +could, when occasion required, rebuke with seriousness as well as +point. Always a welcome guest at the houses of both clergy and +gentry, he is said on one occasion to have met with a laird whose +hospitality he had thought it proper to decline, and on being asked +the reason for the interruption of his visits, answered, 'Ye ken, +an' I ken; but, laird, God kens!'"</p> +<p>One question connected with religious feeling, and the +manifestation of religious feeling, has become a more settled point +amongst us, since fifty years have expired. I mean the question of +attendance by clergymen on theatrical representations. Dr. Carlyle +had been prosecuted before the General Assembly in 1757 for being +present at the performance of the tragedy of Douglas, written by +his friend John Home. He was acquitted, however, and writes thus on +the subject in his Memoirs:--</p> +<p>"Although the clergy in Edinburgh and its neighbourhood had +abstained from the theatre because it gave offence, yet the more +remote clergymen, when occasionally in town, had almost universally +attended the play-house. It is remarkable that in the year 1784, +when the great actress Mrs. Siddons first appeared in Edinburgh, +during the sitting of the General Assembly, that court was obliged +to fix all its important business for the alternate days when she +did not act, as all the younger members, clergy as well as laity, +took their stations in the theatre on those days by three in the +afternoon."</p> +<p>Drs. Robertson and Blair, although they cultivated the +acquaintance of Mrs. Siddons in private, were amongst those +clergymen, referred to by Dr. Carlyle, who abstained from +attendance in the theatre; but Dr. Carlyle states that they +regretted not taking the opportunity of witnessing a display of her +talent, and of giving their sanction to the theatre as a place of +recreation. Dr. Carlyle evidently considered it a narrow-minded +intolerance and bigoted fanaticism that clergymen should be +excluded from that amusement. At a period far later than 1784, the +same opinion prevailed in some quarters. I recollect when such +indulgence on the part of clergymen was treated with much leniency, +especially for Episcopalian clergy. I do not mean to say that there +was anything like a general feeling in favour of clerical +theatrical attendance; but there can be no question of a feeling +far less strict than what exists in our own time. As I have said, +thirty-six years ago some clergymen went to the theatre; and a few +years before that, when my brothers and I were passing through +Edinburgh, in going backwards and forwards to school, at Durham, +with our tutor, a licentiate of the Established Church of Scotland, +and who afterwards attained considerable eminence in the Free +Church, we certainly went with him to the theatre there, and at +Durham very frequently. I feel quite assured, however, that no +clergyman could expect to retain the respect of his people or of +the public, of whom it was known that he frequently or habitually +attended theatrical representations. It is so understood. I had +opportunities of conversing with the late Mr. Murray of the Theatre +Royal, Edinburgh, and with Mr. Charles Kean, on the subject. Both +admitted the fact, and certainly if any men of the profession +<i>could</i> have removed the feeling from the public mind, these +were the men to have done it.</p> +<p>There is a phase of religious observances which has undergone a +great change amongst us within fifty years--I mean the services and +circumstances connected with the administration of the Holy +Communion. When these occurred in a parish they were called +"occasions," and the great interest excited by these sacramental +solemnities may be gathered from "Peter's Letters," "The Annals of +the Parish," and Burns' "Holy Fair." Such ceremonials are now +conducted, I believe, just as the ordinary church services. Some +years back they were considered a sort of preaching matches. +Ministers vied with each other in order to bear away the bell in +popularity, and hearers embraced the opportunity of exhibiting to +one another their powers of criticism on what they heard and saw. +In the parish of Urr in Galloway, on one sacramental occasion, some +of the assistants invited were eminent ministers in Edinburgh; Dr. +Scot of St. Michael's, Dumfries, was the only local one who was +asked, and he was, in his own sphere, very popular as a preacher. A +brother clergyman, complimenting him upon the honour of being so +invited, the old bald-headed divine modestly replied, "Gude bless +you, man, what can I do? They are a' han' wailed<a name= +"FNanchor25"></a><a href="#Footnote_25">[25]</a> this time; I need +never show face among them." "Ye're quite mista'en," was the +soothing encouragement; "tak' your <i>Resurrection</i> (a +well-known sermon used for such occasions by him), an I'll lay my +lug ye'll beat every clute o' them." The Doctor did as suggested, +and exerted himself to the utmost, and it appears he did not exert +himself in vain. A batch of old women, on their way home after the +conclusion of the services, were overheard discussing the merits of +the several preachers who had that day addressed them from the +tent. "Leeze me abune them a'," said one of the company, who had +waxed warm in the discussion, "for yon auld clear-headed (bald) +man, that said, 'Raphael sings an' Gabriel strikes his goolden +harp, an' a' the angels clap their wings wi' joy.' O but it was +gran', it just put me in min' o' our geese at Dunjarg when they +turn their nebs to the south an' clap their wings when they see the +rain's comin' after lang drooth."</p> +<p>There is a subject closely allied with the religious feelings of +a people, and that is the subject of their <i>superstitions</i>. To +enter upon that question, in a general view, especially in +reference to the Highlands, would not be consistent with our +present purpose, but I am induced to mention the existence of a +singular superstition regarding swine which existed some years ago +among the lower orders of the east coast of Fife. I can observe, in +my own experience, a great change to have taken place amongst +Scotch people generally on this subject. The old aversion to the +"unclean animal" still lingers in the Highlands, but seems in the +Lowland districts to have yielded to a sense of its thrift and +usefulness<a name="FNanchor26"></a><a href="#Footnote_26">[26]</a>. +The account given by my correspondent of the Fife swinophobia is as +follows:--</p> +<p>Among the many superstitious notions and customs prevalent among +the lower orders of the fishing towns on the east coast of Fife, +till very recently, that class entertained a great horror of swine, +and even at the very mention of the word. If that animal crossed +their path when about to set out on a sea voyage, they considered +it so unlucky an omen that they would not venture off. A clergyman +of one of these fishing villages having mentioned the superstition +to a clerical friend, and finding that he was rather incredulous on +the subject, in order to convince him told him he would allow him +an opportunity of testing the truth of it by allowing him to preach +for him the following day. It was arranged that his friend was to +read the chapter relating to the herd of swine into which the evil +spirits were cast. Accordingly, when the first verse was read, in +which the unclean beast was mentioned, a slight commotion was +observable among the audience, each one of them putting his or her +hand on any near piece of iron--a nail on the seat or book-board, +or to the nails on their shoes. At the repetition of the word again +and again, more commotion was visible, and the words "cauld airn" +(cold iron) the antidote to this baneful spell, were heard issuing +from various corners of the church. And finally, on his coming over +the hated word again, when the whole herd ran violently down the +bank into the sea, the alarmed parishioners, irritated beyond +bounds, rose and all left the church in a body.</p> +<p>It is some time now, however, since the Highlanders have begun +to appreciate the thrift and comfort of swine-keeping and +swine-killing. A Scottish minister had been persuaded by the laird +to keep a pig, and the gudewife had been duly instructed in the +mysteries of black puddings, pork chops, and pig's head. "Oh!" said +the minister, "nae doubt there's a hantle o' miscellawneous eating +aboot a pig."</p> +<p>Amongst a people so deeply impressed with the great truths of +religion, and so earnest in their religious profession, any persons +whose principles were known to be of an <i>infidel</i> character +would naturally be looked on with abhorrence and suspicion. There +is a story traditionary in Edinburgh regarding David Hume, which +illustrates this feeling in a very amusing manner, and which, I +have heard it said, Hume himself often narrated. The philosopher +had fallen from the path into the swamp at the back of the Castle, +the existence of which I recollect hearing of from old persons +forty years ago. He fairly stuck fast, and called to a woman who +was passing, and begged her assistance. She passed on apparently +without attending to the request; at his earnest entreaty, however, +she came where he was, and asked him, "Are na ye Hume the Atheist?" +"Well, well, no matter," said Hume; "Christian charity commands you +to do good to every one." "Christian charity here, or Christian +charity there," replied the woman, "I'll do naething for you till +ye turn a Christian yoursell'--ye maun repeat the Lord's Prayer and +the Creed, or faith I'll let ye grafel<a name= +"FNanchor27"></a><a href="#Footnote_27">[27]</a> there as I fand +ye." The historian, really afraid for his life, rehearsed the +required formulas.</p> +<p>Notwithstanding the high character borne for so many years by +our countrymen as a people, and as specially attentive to all +religious observances, still there can be no doubt that there has +sprung up amongst the inhabitants of our crowded cities, wynds, and +closes, a class of persons quite unknown in the old Scottish times. +It is a great, difficulty to get them to attend divine worship at +all, and their circumstances combine to break off all associations +with public services. Their going to church becomes a matter of +persuasion and of missionary labour.</p> +<p>A lady, who is most active in visiting the houses of these +outcasts from the means of grace, gives me an amusing instance of +self-complacency arising from performance of the duty. She was +visiting in the West Port, not far from the church established by +my illustrious friend the late Dr. Chalmers. Having asked a poor +woman if she ever attended there for divine service--"Ou ay," she +replied; "there's a man ca'd Chalmers preaches there, and I whiles +gang in and hear him, just to encourage him, puir body!"</p> +<p>From the religious opinions of a people, the transition is +natural to their political partialities. One great political change +has passed over Scotland, which none now living can be said to have +actually <i>witnessed</i>; but they remember those who were +contemporaries of the anxious scenes of '45, and many of us have +known determined and thorough Jacobites. The poetry of that +political period still remains, but we hear only as pleasant songs +those words and melodies which stirred the hearts and excited the +deep enthusiasm of a past generation. Jacobite anecdotes also are +fading from our knowledge. To many young persons they are unknown. +Of these stories illustrative of Jacobite feelings and enthusiasm, +many are of a character not fit for me to record. The good old +ladies who were violent partisans of the Stuarts had little +hesitation in referring without reserve to the future and eternal +destiny of William of Orange. One anecdote which I had from a near +relative of the family may be adduced in illustration of the +powerful hold which the cause had upon the views and consciences of +Jacobites.</p> +<p>A former Mr. Stirling of Keir had favoured the Stuart cause, and +had in fact attended a muster of forces at the Brig of Turk +previous to the '15. This symptom of a rising against the +Government occasioned some uneasiness, and the authorities were +very active in their endeavours to discover who were the leaders of +the movement. Keir was suspected. The miller of Keir was brought +forward as a witness, and swore positively that the laird was +<i>not</i> present. Now, as it was well known that he was there, +and that the miller knew it, a neighbour asked him privately, when +he came out of the witness-box, how he could on oath assert such a +falsehood. The miller replied, quite undaunted, and with a feeling +of confidence in the righteousness of his cause approaching the +sublime--"I would rather trust my soul in God's mercy than Keir's +head into their hands."</p> +<p>A correspondent has sent me an account of a curious ebullition +of Jacobite feeling and enthusiasm, now I suppose quite extinct. My +correspondent received it himself from Alexander, fourth Duke of +Gordon, and he had entered it in a commonplace-book when he heard +it, in 1826.</p> +<p>"David Tulloch, tenant in Drumbenan, under the second and third +Dukes of Gordon, had been '<i>out</i>' in the '45--or the +<i>fufteen, or both</i>--and was a great favourite of his +respective landlords. One day, having attended the young Lady Susan +Gordon (afterwards Duchess of Manchester) to the 'Chapel' at +Huntly, David, perceiving that her ladyship had neither hassock nor +carpet to protect her garments from the earthen floor, respectfully +spread his plaid for the young lady to kneel upon, and the service +proceeded; but when the prayer for the King and Royal Family was +commenced, David, <i>sans cerémonie</i>, drew, or rather +'twitched,' the plaid from under the knees of the astonished young +lady, exclaiming, <i>not</i> sotto voce, 'The deil a ane shall pray +for <i>them</i> on <i>my</i> plaid!'"</p> +<p>I have a still more pungent demonstration against praying for +the king, which a friend in Aberdeen assures me he received from +the son of the gentleman who <i>heard</i> the protest. In the +Episcopal Chapel in Aberdeen, of which Primus <i>John</i> Skinner +was incumbent, they commenced praying in the service for George +III. immediately on the death of Prince Charles Edward. On the +first Sunday of the prayer being used, this gentleman's father, +walking home with a friend whom he knew to be an old and determined +Jacobite, said to him, "What do you think of that, Mr.----?" The +reply was, "Indeed, the less we say aboot that prayer the better." +But he was pushed for "further answer as to his own views and his +own ideas on the matter," so he came out with the declaration, +"Weel, then, I say this--they may pray the kenees<a name= +"FNanchor28"></a><a href="#Footnote_28">[28]</a> aff their breeks +afore I join in that prayer."</p> +<p>The following is a characteristic Jacobite story. It must have +happened shortly after 1745, when all manner of devices were fallen +upon to display Jacobitism, without committing the safety of the +Jacobite, such as having white knots on gowns; drinking, "The king, +ye ken wha I mean;" uttering the toast "The king," with much +apparent loyalty, and passing the glass over the water-jug, +indicating the esoteric meaning of majesty <i>beyond</i> the +sea,--etc. etc.; and various toasts, which were most important +matters in those times, and were often given as tests of loyalty, +or the reverse, according to the company in which they were given. +Miss Carnegy of Craigo, well known and still remembered amongst the +old Montrose ladies as an uncompromising Jacobite, had been vowing +that she would drink King James and his son in a company of staunch +Brunswickers, and being strongly dissuaded from any such foolish +and dangerous attempt by some of her friends present, she answered +them with a text of Scripture, "The tongue no man can tame--James +<i>Third</i> and <i>Aucht</i>" and drank off her glass<a name= +"FNanchor29"></a><a href="#Footnote_29">[29]</a>!</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_THE_THIRD."></a>CHAPTER THE THIRD.</h2> +<h3>ON OLD SCOTTISH CONVIVIALITY.</h3> +<br> +<p>The next change in manners which has been effected, in the +memory of many now living, regards the habits of conviviality, or, +to speak more plainly, regards the banishment of <i>drunkenness</i> +from polite society. It is indeed a most important and blessed +change. But it is a change the full extent of which many persons +now alive can hardly estimate. Indeed, it is scarcely possible to +realise the scenes which took place seventy or eighty years back, +or even less. In many houses, when a party dined, the ladies going +away was the signal for the commencement of a system of compulsory +conviviality. No one was allowed to shirk--no daylight--no +heeltaps--was the wretched jargon in which were expressed the +propriety and the duty of seeing that the glass, when filled, must +be emptied and drained. We have heard of glasses having the bottoms +knocked off, so that no shuffling tricks might be played with them, +and that they could only be put down--empty.</p> +<p>One cannot help looking back with amazement at the infatuation +which could for a moment tolerate such a sore evil. To a man of +sober inclinations it must have been an intolerable nuisance to +join a dinner party at many houses, where he knew he should have to +witness the most disgusting excesses in others, and to fight hard +to preserve himself from a compliance with the example of those +around him.</p> +<p>The scenes of excess which occurred in the houses where deep +drinking was practised must have been most revolting to sober +persons who were unaccustomed to such conviviality; as in the case +of a drinking Angus laird, entertaining as his guest a London +merchant of formal manners and temperate habits. The poor man was +driven from the table when the drinking set in hard, and stole away +to take refuge in his bedroom. The company, however, were +determined not to let the worthy citizen off so easily, but +proceeded in a body, with the laird at their head, and invaded his +privacy by exhibiting bottles and glasses at his bedside, Losing +all patience, the wretched victim gasped out his indignation--"Sir, +your hospitality borders upon brutality." It must have had a fatal +influence also on many persons to whom drinking was most injurious, +and who were yet not strong-minded enough to resist the temptations +to excess. Poor James Boswell, who certainly required no +<i>extraordinary</i> urging to take a glass too much, is found in +his letters, which have recently come to light, laying the blame of +his excesses to "falling into a habit which still prevails in +Scotland;" and then he remarks, with censorious emphasis, on the +"drunken manners of his countrymen." This was about 1770.</p> +<p>A friend of mine, however, lately departed--Mr. Boswell of +Balmuto--showed more spirit than the Londoner, when he found +himself in a similar situation. Challenged by the host to drink, +urged and almost forced to swallow a quantity of wine against his +own inclination, he proposed a counter-challenge in the way of +eating, and made the following ludicrous and original proposal to +the company,--that two or three legs of mutton should be prepared, +and he would then contest the point of who could devour most meat; +and certainly it seems as reasonable to compel people to +<i>eat</i>, as to compel them to drink, beyond the natural cravings +of nature.</p> +<p>The situation of ladies, too, must frequently have been very +disagreeable--when, for instance, gentlemen came up stairs in a +condition most unfit for female society. Indeed they were often +compelled to fly from scenes which were most unfitting for them to +witness. They were expected to get out of the way at the proper +time, or when a hint was given them to do so. At Glasgow sixty +years ago, when the time had come for the <i>bowl</i> to be +introduced, some jovial and thirsty members of the company proposed +as a toast, "The trade of Glasgow and <i>the outward bound!</i>" +The hint was taken, and silks and satins moved off to the +drawing-room.</p> +<p>In my part of the country the traditionary stories of drinking +prowess are quite marvellous. On Deeside there flourished a certain +Saunders Paul (whom I remember an old man), an innkeeper at +Banchory. He was said to have drunk whisky, glass for glass, to the +claret of Mr. Maule and the Laird of Skene for a whole evening; and +in those days there was a traditional story of his despatching, at +one sitting, in company with a character celebrated for +conviviality--one of the men employed to float rafts of timber down +the Dee--three dozen of porter. Of this Mr. Paul it was recorded, +that on being asked if he considered porter as a wholesome +beverage, he replied, "Oh yes, if you don't take above a dozen." +Saunders Paul was, as I have said, the innkeeper at Banchory: his +friend and <i>porter</i> companion was drowned in the Dee, and when +told that the body had been found down the stream below Crathes, he +coolly remarked, "I am surprised at that, for I never kenn'd him +pass the inn before without comin' in for a glass."</p> +<p>Some relatives of mine travelling in the Highlands were amused +by observing in a small road-side public-house a party drinking, +whose apparatus for conviviality called forth the dry quaint humour +which is so thoroughly Scottish. Three drovers had met together, +and were celebrating their meeting by a liberal consumption of +whisky; the inn could only furnish one glass without a bottom, and +this the party passed on from one to another. A queer-looking pawky +chield, whenever the glass came to his turn, remarked most gravely, +"I think we wadna be the waur o' some water," taking care, however, +never to add any of the simple element, but quietly drank off his +glass.</p> +<p>There was a sort of infatuation in the supposed dignity and +manliness attached to powers of deep potation, and the fatal +effects of drinking were spoken of in a manner both reckless and +unfeeling. Thus, I have been assured that a well-known old laird of +the old school expressed himself with great indignation at the +charge brought against hard drinking that it had actually +<i>killed</i> people. "Na, na, I never knew onybody killed wi' +drinking, but I hae kenn'd some that dee'd in the training." A +positive <i>éclat</i> was attached to the accomplished and +well-trained consumer of claret or of whisky toddy, which gave an +importance and even merit to the practice of drinking, and which +had a most injurious effect. I am afraid some of the Pleydells of +the old school would have looked with the most ineffable contempt +on the degeneracy of the present generation in this respect, and +that the temperance movement would be little short of insanity in +their eyes; and this leads me to a remark.--In considering this +portion of the subject, we should bear in mind a distinction. The +change we now speak of involves more than a mere change of a custom +or practice in social life. It is a change in men's sentiments and +feelings on a certain great question of morals. Except we enter +into this distinction we cannot appreciate the extent of the change +which has really taken place in regard to intemperate habits.</p> +<p>I have an anecdote from a descendant of Principal Robertson, of +an address made to him, which showed the real importance attached +to all that concerned the system of drinking in his time. The +Principal had been invited to spend some days in a country-house, +and the minister of the parish (a jovial character) had been asked +to meet him. Before dinner he went up to Dr. Robertson and +addressed him confidentially--"Doctor, I understand ye are a +brother of my gude freend Peter Robertson of Edinburgh, therefore +I'll gie you a piece of advice,--Bend<a name= +"FNanchor30"></a><a href="#Footnote_30">[30]</a> weel to the +Madeira at dinner, for here ye'll get little o't after." I have +known persons who held that a man who could not drink must have a +degree of feebleness and imbecility of character. But as this is an +important point, I will adduce the higher authority of Lord +Cockburn, and quote from him two examples, very different certainly +in their nature, but both bearing upon the question. I refer to +what he says of Lord Hermand:--"With Hermand drinking was a virtue; +he had a sincere respect for drinking, indeed a high moral +approbation, and a serious compassion for the poor wretches who +<i>could</i> not indulge in it, and with due contempt of those who +could but did not;" and, secondly, I refer to Lord Cockburn's pages +for an anecdote which illustrates the perverted feeling I refer to, +now happily no longer existing. It relates the opinion expressed by +an old drunken writer of Selkirk (whose name is not mentioned) +regarding his anticipation of professional success for Mr. +Cranstoun, afterwards Lord Corehouse. Sir Walter Scott, William +Erskine, and Cranstoun, had dined with this Selkirk writer, and +Scott--of hardy, strong, and healthy frame--had matched the writer +himself in the matter of whisky punch. Poor Cranstoun, of refined +and delicate mental and bodily temperament, was a bad hand at such +work, and was soon off the field. On the party breaking up, the +Selkirk writer expressed his admiration of Scott, assuring him that +<i>he</i> would rise high in the profession, and adding: "I'll tell +ye what, Maister Walter, that lad Cranstoun may get to the tap o' +the bar, if he can; but tak my word for't, it's no be by +drinking."</p> +<p>There was a sort of dogged tone of apology for excess in +drinking, which marked the hold which the practice had gained on +ordinary minds. Of this we have a remarkable example in the +unwilling testimony of a witness who was examined as to the fact of +drunkenness being charged against a minister. The person examined +was beadle, or one of the church officials. He was asked, "Did you +ever see the minister the worse of drink?" "I canna say I've seen +him the waur o' drink, but nae doubt I've seen him the +<i>better</i> o't," was the evasive answer. The question, however, +was pushed further; and when he was urged to say if this state of +being "the better for drink" ever extended to a condition of +absolute helpless intoxication, the reply was: "Indeed, afore that +cam', I was blind fou mysel', and I could see nae thing."</p> +<p>A legal friend has told me of a celebrated circuit where Lord +Hermand was judge, and Clephane depute-advocate. The party got +drunk at Ayr, and so continued (although quite able for their work) +till the business was concluded at Jedburgh. Some years after, my +informant heard that this circuit had, at Jedburgh, acquired the +permanent name of the "<i>daft</i> circuit."</p> +<p>Lord Cockburn was fond of describing a circuit scene at +Stirling, in his early days at the bar, under the presidency of his +friend and connection Lord Hermand. After the circuit dinner, and +when drinking had gone on for some time, young Cockburn observed +places becoming vacant in the social circle, but no one going out +at the door. He found that the individuals had dropped down under +the table. He took the hint, and by this ruse retired from the +scene. He lay quiet till the beams of the morning sun penetrated +the apartment. The judge and some of his staunch friends coolly +walked up stairs, washed their hands and faces, came down to +breakfast, and went into court quite fresh and fit for work.</p> +<p>The feeling of importance frequently attached to powers of +drinking was formally attested by a well-known western baronet of +convivial habits and convivial memory. He was desirous of bearing +testimony to the probity, honour, and other high moral qualities of +a friend whom he wished to commend. Having fully stated these +claims to consideration and respect, he deemed it proper to notice +also his <i>convivial</i> attainments: he added accordingly, with +cautious approval on so important a point--"And he is a fair +drinker<a name="FNanchor31"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_31">[31]</a>."</p> +<p>The following anecdote is an amusing example of Scottish servant +humour and acuteness in measuring the extent of consumption by a +convivial party in Forfarshire. The party had met at a farmer's +house not far from Arbroath, to celebrate the reconciliation of two +neighbouring farmers who had long been at enmity. The host was +pressing and hospitable; the party sat late, and consumed a vast +amount of whisky toddy. The wife was penurious, and grudged the +outlay. When at last, at a morning hour, the party dispersed, the +lady, who had not slept in her anxiety, looked over the stairs and +eagerly asked the servant girl, "How many bottles of whisky have +they used, Betty?" The lass, who had not to pay for the whisky, but +had been obliged to go to the well to fetch the water for the +toddy, coolly answered, "I dinna ken, mem, but they've drucken sax +gang o' water."</p> +<p>We cannot imagine a better illustration of the general habits +that prevailed in Scottish society in regard to drinking about the +time we speak of than one which occurs in the recently-published +"Memoirs of a Banking House," that of the late Sir William Forbes, +Bart, of Pitsligo. The book comprises much that is interesting to +the family, and to Scotchmen. It contains a pregnant hint as to the +manners of polite society and business habits in those days. Of +John Coutts, one of four brothers connected with the house, Sir +William records how he was "more correct in his conduct than the +others; so much so, that Sir William <i>never but once</i> saw him +in the counting-house disguised with liquor, and incapable of +transacting business."</p> +<p>In the Highlands this sort of feeling extended to an almost +incredible extent, even so much as to obscure the moral and +religious sentiments. Of this a striking proof was afforded in a +circumstance which took place in my own church soon after I came +into it. One of our Gaelic clergy had so far forgotten himself as +to appear in the church somewhat the worse of liquor. This having +happened so often as to come to the ears of the bishop, he +suspended him from the performance of divine service. Against this +decision the people were a little disposed to rebel, because, +according to their Highland notions, "a gentleman was no the waur +for being able to tak' a gude glass o' whisky." These were the +notions of a people in whose eyes the power of swallowing whisky +conferred distinction, and with whom inability to take the fitting +quantity was a mark of a mean and futile character. Sad to tell, +the funeral rites of Highland chieftains were not supposed to have +been duly celebrated except there was an immoderate and often fatal +consumption of whisky. It has been related that at the last funeral +in the Highlands, conducted according to the traditions of the +olden times, several of the guests fell victims to the usage, and +actually died of the excesses.</p> +<p>This phase of old and happily almost obsolete Scottish +intemperance at funeral solemnities must have been peculiarly +revolting. Instances of this horrid practice being carried to a +great extent are traditionary in every part of the country. I am +assured of the truth of the following anecdote by a son of the +gentleman who acted as chief mourner on the occasion:--About +seventy years ago an old maiden lady died in Strathspey. Just +previous to her death she sent for her grand-nephew, and said to +him, "Wily, I'm deein', and as ye'll hae the charge o' a' I have, +mind now that as much whisky is to be used at my funeral as there +was at my baptism." Willy neglected to ask the old lady what the +quantity of whisky used at the baptism was, but when the day of the +funeral arrived believed her orders would be best fulfilled by +allowing each guest to drink as much as he pleased. The churchyard +where the body was to be deposited was about ten miles distant from +where the death occurred. It was a short day in November, and when +the funeral party came to the churchyard the shades of night had +considerably closed in. The grave-digger, whose patience had been +exhausted in waiting, was not in the least willing to accept of +Captain G----'s (the chief mourner) apology for delay. After +looking about him he put the anxious question, "But, Captain, +whaur's Miss Ketty?" The reply was, "In her coffin, to be sure, and +get it into the earth as fast as you can." There, however, was no +coffin; the procession had sojourned at a country inn by the +way--had rested the body on a dyke--started without it--and had to +postpone the interment until next day. My correspondent very justly +adds the remark, "What would be thought of indulgence in drinking +habits now that could lead to such a result?"</p> +<p>Many scenes of a similar incongruous character are still +traditionally connected with such occasions. Within the last thirty +years, a laird of Dundonald, a small estate in Ross-shire, died at +Inverness. There was open house for some days, and great eating and +drinking. Here the corpse commenced its progress toward its +appointed home on the coast, and people followed in multitudes to +give it a partial convoy, all of whom had to be entertained. It +took altogether a fortnight to bury poor Dundonald, and great +expense must have been incurred. This, however, is looked back to +at Inverness as the last of the real grand old Highland funerals. +Such notions of what is due to the memory of the departed have now +become unusual if not obsolete. I myself witnessed the first +decided change in this matter. I officiated at the funeral of the +late Duke of Sutherland. The procession was a mile long. +Refreshments were provided for 7000 persons; beef, bread, and beer; +but not one glass of whisky was allowed on the property that +day!</p> +<p>It may, perhaps, be said that the change we speak of is not +peculiar to Scotland; that in England the same change has been +apparent; and that drunkenness has passed away in the higher +circles, as a matter of course, as refinement and taste made an +advancement in society. This is true. But there were some features +of the question which were peculiar to Scotland, and which at one +time rendered it less probable that intemperance would give way in +the north. It seemed in some quarters to have taken deeper root +amongst us. The system of pressing, or of <i>compelling</i>, guests +to drink seemed more inveterate. Nothing can more powerfully +illustrate the deep-rooted character of intemperate habits in +families than an anecdote which was related to me, as coming from +the late Mr. Mackenzie, author of the <i>Man of Feeling</i>. He had +been involved in a regular drinking party. He was keeping as free +from the usual excesses as he was able, and as he marked companions +around him falling victims to the power of drink, he himself +dropped off under the table among the slain, as a measure of +precaution; and lying there, his attention was called to a small +pair of hands working at his throat; on asking what it was, a voice +replied, "Sir, I'm the lad that's to lowse the neckcloths." Here, +then, was a family, where, on drinking occasions, it was the +appointed duty of one of the household to attend, and, when the +guests where becoming helpless, to untie their cravats in fear of +apoplexy or suffocation<a name="FNanchor32"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_32">[32]</a>. We ought certainly to be grateful for the +change which has taken place from such a system; for this change +has made a great revolution in Scottish social life. The charm and +the romance long attached in the minds of some of our countrymen to +the whole system and concerns of hard drinking was indeed most +lamentable and absurd. At tavern suppers, where, nine times out +often, it was the express <i>object</i> of those who went to get +drunk, such stuff as "regal purple stream," "rosy wine," "quaffing +the goblet," "bright sparkling nectar," "chasing the rosy hours," +and so on, tended to keep up the delusion, and make it a monstrous +fine thing for men to sit up drinking half the night, to have +frightful headaches all next day, to make maudlin idiots of +themselves as they were going home, and to become brutes amongst +their family when they arrived. And here I may introduce the +mention of a practice connected with the convivial habits of which +we have been speaking, but which has for some time passed away, at +least from private tables--I mean the absurd system of calling for +toasts and sentiments each time the glasses were filled. During +dinner not a drop could be touched, except in conjunction with +others, and with each drinking to the health of each. But toasts +came <i>after</i> dinner. I can just remember the practice in +partial operation; and my astonishment as a mere boy, when +accidentally dining at table and hearing my mother called upon to +"give the company a gentleman," is one of my earliest +reminiscences. Lord Cockburn must have remembered them well, and I +will quote his most amusing account of the effects:--"After dinner, +and before the ladies retired, there generally began what was +called '<i>Rounds</i>' of toasts, when each gentleman named an +absent lady, and each lady an absent gentleman, separately; or one +person was required to give an absent lady, and another person was +required to match a gentleman with that lady, and the persons named +were toasted, generally, with allusions and jokes about the fitness +of the union. And, worst of all, there were 'Sentiments.' These +were short epigrammatic sentences, expressive of moral feelings and +virtues, and were thought refined and elegant productions. A faint +conception of their nauseousness may be formed from the following +examples, every one of which I have heard given a thousand times, +and which indeed I only recollect from their being favourites. The +glasses being filled, a person was asked for his or for her +sentiment, when this, or something similar, was committed:--'May +the pleasures of the evening bear the reflections of the morning;' +or, 'may the friends of our youth be the companions of our old +age;' or, 'delicate pleasures to susceptible minds;' 'may the +honest heart never feel distress;' 'may the hand of charity wipe +the tear from the eye of sorrow.' The conceited, the ready, or the +reckless, hackneyed in the art, had a knack of making new +sentiments applicable to the passing incidents with great ease. But +it was a dreadful oppression on the timid or the awkward. They used +to shudder, ladies particularly; for nobody was spared when their +turn in the <i>round</i> approached. Many a struggle and blush did +it cost; but this seemed only to excite the tyranny of the masters +of the craft; and compliance could never be avoided, except by more +torture than yielding.... It is difficult for those who have been +under a more natural system to comprehend how a sensible man, a +respectable matron, a worthy old maid, and especially a girl, could +be expected to go into company easily, on such conditions<a name= +"FNanchor33"></a><a href="#Footnote_33">[33]</a>."</p> +<p>This accompaniment of domestic drinking by a toast or +sentiment--the practice of which is now confined to public +entertainments--was then invariable in private parties, and was +supposed to enliven and promote the good fellowship of the social +circle. Thus Fergusson, in one of his poems, in describing a +dinner, says--</p> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>"The grace is said; it's nae ower lang,</p> +<p>The claret reams in bells.</p> +<p>Quo' Deacon, 'Let the toast round gang;</p> +<p>Come, here's our noble sels</p> +<p class="i2">Weel met the day.'"</p> +</div> +</div> +<p>There was a great variety of these toasts, some of them +exclusively Scottish. A correspondent has favoured me with a few +reminiscences of such incentives to inebriety.</p> +<p>The ordinary form of drinking a health was in the address, +"Here's t' ye."</p> +<p>Then such as the following were named by successive members of +the company at the call of the host:--</p> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p><i>The land o' cakes</i> (Scotland).</p> +<p><i>Mair freens and less need o' them.<br> +Thumping luck and fat weans</i>.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p><i>When we're gaun up the hill o' fortune may we ne'er meet a +freen' coming doun.<br> +May ne'er waur be amang us.<br> +May the hinges o' freendship never rust, or the wings o' luve lose +a feather.<br> +Here's to them that lo'es us, or lenns us a lift.<br> +Here's health to the sick, stilts to the lame; claise to the back, +and brose to the wame.<br> +Here's health, wealth, wit, and meal.<br> +The deil rock them in a creel that does na' wish us a' weel.<br> +Horny hands and weather-beaten haffets (cheeks).<br> +The rending o' rocks and the pu'in' doun o' auld houses</i>.</p> +</div> +</div> +<p>The above two belong to the mason craft; the first implies a +wish for plenty of work, and health to do it; the second, to erect +new buildings and clear away old ones.</p> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p><i>May the winds o' adversity ne'er blaw open our door.<br> +May poortith ne'er throw us in the dirt, or gowd into the high +saddle<a name="FNanchor34"></a><a href="#Footnote_34">[34]</a>.<br> +May the mouse ne'er leave our meal-pock wi' the tear in its +e'e.<br> +Blythe may we a' be.<br> +Ill may we never see.<br> +Breeks and brochan (brose).<br> +May we ne'er want a freend, or a drappie to gie him.<br> +Gude een to you a', an' tak your nappy.<br> +A willy-waught's a gude night cappy<a name= +"FNanchor35"></a><a href="#Footnote_35">[35]</a>.<br> +May we a' be canty an' cosy,<br> +An' ilk hae a wife in his bosy</i>.</p> +<p><i>A cosy but, and a canty ben,<br> +To couthie<a name="FNanchor36"></a><a href="#Footnote_36">[36]</a> +women and trusty men.<br> +The ingle neuk wi' routh<a name="FNanchor37"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_37">[37]</a> o' bannoch and bairns.<br> +Here's to him wha winna beguile ye.<br> +Mair sense and mair siller.<br> +Horn, corn, wool, an' yarn<a name="FNanchor38"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_38">[38]</a></i>.</p> +</div> +</div> +<p>Sometimes certain toasts were accompanied by <i>Highland</i> +honours. This was a very exciting, and to a stranger a somewhat +alarming, proceeding. I recollect my astonishment the first time I +witnessed the ceremony--the company, from sitting quietly drinking +their wine, seemed to assume the attitude of harmless maniacs, +allowed to amuse themselves. The moment the toast was given, and +proposed to be drunk with Highland honours, the gentlemen all rose, +and with one foot on their chair and another on the <i>table</i>, +they drank the toast with Gaelic shrieks, which were awful to hear, +the cheering being under the direction of a toast-master appointed +to direct the proceedings. I am indebted to the kindness of the +Rev. Duncan Campbell, the esteemed minister of Moulin, for the form +used on such occasions. Here it is in the Gaelic and the +Saxon:--</p> +<blockquote> +<table width="60%" summary=""> +<tr align="left"> +<th><i>Gaelic.</i></th> +<th><i>Translation.</i></th> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>So!</td> +<td>Prepare!</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Nish! Nish!</td> +<td>Now! Now!</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Sud ris! Sud ris!</td> +<td>Yon again! Yon again!</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Thig ris! Thig ris!</td> +<td>At it again! At it again!</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>A on uair eile!</td> +<td>Another time, or one cheer more!</td> +</tr> +</table> +</blockquote> +<p>The reader is to imagine these words uttered with yells and +vociferations, and accompanied with frantic gestures.</p> +<p>The system of giving toasts was so regularly established, that +collections of them were published to add brilliancy to the festive +board. By the kindness of the librarian, I have seen a little +volume which is in the Signet Library of Edinburgh. It is entitled, +"The Gentleman's New Bottle Companion," Edinburgh, printed in the +year MDCCLXXVII. It contains various toasts and sentiments which +the writer considered to be suitable to such occasions. Of the +taste and decency of the companies where some of them could be made +use of, the less said the better.</p> +<p>I have heard also of large traditionary collections of toasts +and sentiments, belonging to old clubs and societies, extending +back above a century, but I have not seen any of them, and I +believe my readers will think they have had quite enough.</p> +<p>The favourable reaction which has taken place in regard to the +whole system of intemperance may very fairly, in the first place, +be referred to an improved <i>moral</i> feeling. But other causes +have also assisted; and it is curious to observe how the different +changes in the modes of society bear upon one another. The +alteration in the convivial habits which we are noticing in our own +country may be partly due to alteration of hours. The old plan of +early dining favoured a system of suppers, and after supper was a +great time for convivial songs and sentiments. This of course +induced drinking to a late hour. Most drinking songs imply the +night as the season of conviviality--thus in a popular +madrigal:--</p> +<blockquote>"By the gaily circling glass<br> +We can tell how minutes pass;<br> +By the hollow cask we're told<br> +How the waning <i>night</i> grows old."</blockquote> +<p>And Burns thus marks the time:--</p> +<blockquote>"It is the moon, I ken her horn,<br> +That's blinkin' in the lift sae hie;<br> +She shines sae bright, to wyle us hame,<br> +But by my sooth she'll wait a wee."</blockquote> +<p>The young people of the present day have no idea of the state of +matters in regard to the supper system when it was the normal +condition of society. The late dining hours may make the social +circle more formal, but they have been far less favourable to +drinking propensities. After such dinners as ours are now, suppers +are clearly out of the question. One is astonished to look back and +recall the scenes to which were attached associations of hilarity, +conviviality, and enjoyment. Drinking parties were protracted +beyond the whole Sunday, having begun by a dinner on Saturday; +imbecility and prostrate helplessness were a common result of these +bright and jovial scenes; and by what perversion of language, or by +what obliquity of sentiment, the notions of pleasure could be +attached to scenes of such excess--to the nausea, the disgust of +sated appetite, and the racking headache--it is not easy to +explain. There were men of heads so hard, and of stomachs so +insensible, that, like my friend Saunders Paul, they could stand +anything in the way of drink. But to men in general, and to the +more delicate constitutions, such a life must have been a cause of +great misery. To a certain extent, and up to a certain point, wine +may be a refreshment and a wholesome stimulant; nay, it is a +medicine, and a valuable one, and as such, comes recommended on +fitting occasions by the physician. <i>Beyond</i> this point, as +sanctioned and approved by nature, the use of wine is only +degradation. Well did the sacred writer call wine, when thus taken +in excess, "a mocker." It makes all men equal, because it makes +them all idiotic. It allures them into a vicious indulgence, and +then mocks their folly, by depriving them of any sense they may +ever have possessed.</p> +<p>It has, I fear, been injurious to the cause of temperance, that +emotions of true friendship, and the outpouring of human +affections, should so frequently be connected with the obligation +that the parties should <i>get drunk together</i>. Drunkenness is +thus made to hold too close an association in men's minds with some +of the best and finest feelings of their nature.</p> +<blockquote>"Friend of my soul, this goblet sip,"</blockquote> +<p>is the constant acknowledged strain of poetical friendship: our +own Robert Burns calls upon the dear companion of his early happy +days, with whom he had "paidl't i' the burn, frae mornin' sun till +dine," and between whom "braid seas had roar'd sin auld lang syne," +to commemorate their union of heart and spirit, and to welcome +their meeting after years of separation, by each one joining his +pint-stoup, and by each taking a mutual "richt guid willie-waught," +in honour of the innocent and happy times of "auld lang syne." +David marks his recognition of friendship by tokens of a different +character--"We took sweet counsel together, and walked <i>in the +house of God</i> as friends."--Ps. lv. 14.</p> +<p>Reference has already been made to Lord Hermand's opinion of +drinking, and to the high estimation in which he held a staunch +drinker, according to the testimony of Lord Cockburn, There is a +remarkable corroboration of this opinion in a current anecdote +which is traditionary regarding the same learned judge. A case of +some great offence was tried before him, and the counsel pleaded +extenuation for his client in that he was <i>drunk</i> when he +committed the offence. "Drunk!" exclaimed Lord Hermand, in great +indignation; "if he could do such a thing when he was drunk, what +might he not have done when he was <i>sober!</i>" evidently +implying that the normal condition of human nature, and its most +hopeful one, was a condition of intoxication.</p> +<p>Of the prevalence of hard drinking in certain houses as a +system, a remarkable proof is given at page 102. The following +anecdote still further illustrates the subject, and corresponds +exactly with the story of the "loosing the cravats," which was +performed for guests in a state of helpless inebriety by one of the +household. There had been a carousing party at Castle Grant, many +years ago, and as the evening advanced towards morning two +Highlanders were in attendance to carry the guests up stairs, it +being understood that none could by any other means arrive at their +sleeping apartments. One or two of the guests, however, whether +from their abstinence or their superior strength of head, were +walking up stairs, and declined the proffered assistance. The +attendants were quite astonished, and indignantly exclaimed, "Agh, +it's sare cheenged times at Castle Grant, when shentlemens can gang +to bed on their ain feet."</p> +<p>There was a practice in many Scottish houses which favoured most +injuriously the national tendency to spirit-drinking, and that was +a foolish and inconsiderate custom of offering a glass on all +occasions as a mark of kindness or hospitality. I mention the +custom only for the purpose of offering a remonstrance. It should +never be done. Even now, I am assured, small jobs (carpenters' or +blacksmiths', or such like) are constantly remunerated in the West +Highlands of Scotland--and doubtless in many other parts of the +country--not by a pecuniary payment, but by a <i>dram</i>; if the +said dram be taken from a <i>speerit</i>-decanter out of the family +press or cupboard, the compliment is esteemed the greater, and the +offering doubly valued.</p> +<p>A very amusing dialogue between a landlord and his tenant on +this question of the dram has been sent to me. John Colquhoun, an +aged Dumbartonshire tenant, is asked by his laird on Lochlomond +side, to stay a minute till he <i>tastes</i>. "Now, John," says the +laird. "Only half a glass, Camstraddale," meekly pleads John. +"Which half?" rejoins the laird, "the upper or the lower?" John +grins, and turns off <i>both</i>--<i>the upper and lower</i> +too.</p> +<p>The upper and lower portions of the glass furnish another +drinking anecdote. A very greedy old lady employed another John +Colquhoun to cut the grass upon the lawn, and enjoined him to cut +it very close, adding, as a reason for the injunction, that one +inch at the bottom was worth two at the top. Having finished his +work much to her satisfaction, the old lady got out the +whisky-bottle and a tapering wineglass, which she filled about half +full; John suggested that it would be better to fill it up, slily +adding, "Fill it up, mem, for it's no like the gress; an inch at +the tap's worth twa at the boddom."</p> +<p>But the most whimsical anecdote connected with the subject of +drink, is one traditionary in the south of Scotland, regarding an +old Gallovidian lady disclaiming more drink under the following +circumstances:--The old generation of Galloway lairds were a +primitive and hospitable race, but their conviviality sometimes led +to awkward occurrences. In former days, when roads were bad and +wheeled vehicles almost unknown, an old laird was returning from a +supper party, with his lady mounted behind him on horseback. On +crossing the river Urr, at a ford at a point where it joins the +sea, the old lady dropped off, but was not missed till her husband +reached his door, when, of course, there was an immediate search +made. The party who were despatched in quest of her arrived just in +time to find her remonstrating with the advancing tide, which +trickled into her mouth, in these words, "No anither drap; neither +het nor cauld."</p> +<p>A lady, on one occasion, offering a dram to a porter in a rather +small glass, said, "Take it off; it will do you no harm," on which +the man, looking at the diminutive glass, observed, "Harm! Na, gin +it were poushon" (poison).</p> +<p>I would now introduce, as a perfect illustration of this portion +of our subject, two descriptions of clergymen, well known men in +their day, which are taken from Dr. Carlyle's work, already +referred to. Of Dr. Alexander Webster, a clergyman, and one of his +contemporaries, he writes thus:--"Webster, leader of the +high-flying party, had justly obtained much respect amongst the +clergy, and all ranks indeed, for having established the Widows' +Fund.... His appearance of great strictness in religion, to which +he was bred under his father, who was a very popular minister of +the Tolbooth Church, not acting in restraint of his convivial +humour, he was held to be excellent company even by those of +dissolute manners; while, being a five-bottle man, he could lay +them all under the table. This had brought on him the nickname of +Dr. Bonum Magnum in the time of faction. But never being indecently +the worse of liquor, and a love of claret, to any degree, not being +reckoned in those days a sin in Scotland, all his excesses were +pardoned."</p> +<p>Dr. Patrick Cumming, also a clergyman and a contemporary, he +describes in the following terms:--"Dr. Patrick Cumming was, at +this time (1751), at the head of the moderate interest, and had his +temper been equal to his talents, might have kept it long, for he +had both learning and sagacity, and very agreeable conversation, +<i>with a constitution able to bear the conviviality of the +times.</i>"</p> +<p>Now, of all the anecdotes and facts which I have collected, or +of all which I have ever heard to illustrate the state of Scottish +society in the past times, as regards its habits of intemperance, +this assuredly surpasses them all.--Of two well-known, +distinguished, and leading clergymen in the middle of the +eighteenth century, one who had "obtained much respect," and "had +the appearance of great strictness in religion," is described as an +enormous drinker of claret; the other, an able leader of a powerful +section in the church, is described as <i>owing</i> his influence +to his power of meeting the conviviality of the times. Suppose for +a moment a future biographer should write in this strain of eminent +divines, and should apply to distinguished members of the Scottish +Church in 1863 such description as the following:--"Dr. ---- was a +man who took a leading part in all church affairs at this time, and +was much looked up to by the evangelical section of the General +Assembly; he could always carry off without difficulty his five +bottles of claret. Dr. ---- had great influence in society, and led +the opposite party in the General Assembly, as he could take his +place in all companies, and drink on fair terms at the most +convivial tables!!" Why, this seems to us so monstrous, that we can +scarcely believe Dr. Carlyle's account of matters in his day to be +possible.</p> +<p>There is a story which illustrates, with terrible force, the +power which drinking had obtained in Scottish social life. I have +been deterred from bringing it forward, as too shocking for +production. But as the story is pretty well known, and its truth +vouched for on high authority, I venture to give it, as affording a +proof that, in those days, no consideration, not even the most +awful that affects human nature, could be made to outweigh the +claims of a determined conviviality. It may, I think, be mentioned +also, in the way of warning men generally against the hardening and +demoralising effects of habitual drunkenness. The story is +this:--At a prolonged drinking bout, one of the party remarked, +"What gars the laird of Garskadden look sae gash<a name= +"FNanchor39"></a><a href="#Footnote_39">[39]</a>?" "Ou," says his +neighbour, the laird of Kilmardinny, "deil meane him! Garskadden's +been wi' his Maker these twa hours; I saw him step awa, but I didna +like to disturb gude company<a name="FNanchor40"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_40">[40]</a>!"</p> +<p>Before closing this subject of excess in <i>drinking</i>, I may +refer to another indulgence in which our countrymen are generally +supposed to partake more largely than their neighbours:--I mean +snuff-taking. The popular southern ideas of a Scotchman and his +snuff-box are inseparable. Smoking does not appear to have been +practised more in Scotland than in England, and if Scotchmen are +sometimes intemperate in the use of snuff, it is certainly a more +innocent excess than intemperance in whisky. I recollect, amongst +the common people in the north, a mode of taking snuff which showed +a determination to make the <i>most</i> of it, and which indicated +somewhat of intemperance in the enjoyment; this was to receive it +not through a pinch between the fingers, but through a quill or +little bone ladle, which forced it up the nose. But, besides +smoking and snuffing, I have a reminiscence of a <i>third</i> use +of tobacco, which I apprehend is now quite obsolete. Some of my +readers will be surprised when I name this forgotten luxury. It was +called <i>plugging</i>, and consisted <i>(horresco referens</i>) in +poking a piece of pigtail tobacco right into the nostril. I +remember this distinctly; and now, at a distance of more than sixty +years, I recall my utter astonishment as a boy, at seeing my +grand-uncle, with whom I lived in early days, put a thin piece of +tobacco fairly up his nose. I suppose the plug acted as a continued +stimulant on the olfactory nerve, and was, in short, like taking a +perpetual pinch of snuff.</p> +<p>The inveterate snuff-taker, like the dram-drinker, felt severely +the being deprived of his accustomed stimulant, as in the following +instance:--A severe snow-storm in the Highlands, which lasted for +several weeks, having stopped all communication betwixt +neighbouring hamlets, the snuff-boxes were soon reduced to their +last pinch. Borrowing and begging from all the neighbours within +reach were first resorted to, but when these failed, all were alike +reduced to the longing which unwillingly-abstinent snuff-takers +alone know. The minister of the parish was amongst the unhappy +number; the craving was so intense that study was out of the +question, and he became quite restless. As a last resort the beadle +was despatched, through the snow, to a neighbouring glen, in the +hope of getting a supply; but he came back as unsuccessful as he +went. "What's to be dune, John?" was the minister's pathetic +inquiry. John shook his head, as much as to say that he could not +tell; but immediately thereafter started up, as if a new idea had +occurred to him. He came back in a few minutes, crying, "Hae!" The +minister, too eager to be scrutinising, took a long, deep pinch, +and then said, "Whaur did you get it?" "I soupit<a name= +"FNanchor41"></a><a href="#Footnote_41">[41]</a> the poupit," was +John's expressive reply. The minister's accumulated superfluous +Sabbath snuff now came into good use.</p> +<p>It does not appear that at this time a similar excess in +<i>eating</i> accompanied this prevalent tendency to excess in +drinking. Scottish tables were at that period plain and abundant, +but epicurism or gluttony do not seem to have been handmaids to +drunkenness. A humorous anecdote, however, of a full-eating laird, +may well accompany those which appertain to the <i>drinking</i> +lairds.--A lady in the north having watched the proceedings of a +guest, who ate long and largely, she ordered the servant to take +away, as he had at last laid down his knife and fork. To her +surprise, however, he resumed his work, and she apologised to him, +saying, "I thought, Mr. ----, you had done."</p> +<p>"Oh, so I had, mem; but I just fan' a doo in the <i>redd</i> o' +my plate." He had discovered a pigeon lurking amongst the bones and +refuse of his plate, and could not resist finishing it.</p> +<blockquote>FOOTNOTES:</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_19"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor19">[19]</a> Distinguished examples of these are to be +found in the Old Greyfriars' Church, Edinburgh, and in the +Cathedral of Glasgow; to say nothing of the beautiful specimens in +St. John's Episcopal Church, Edinburgh.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_20"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor20">[20]</a> "This was a square enclosure in the +Greyfriars' Churchyard, guarded on one side by a veteran angel +without a nose, and having only one wing, who had the merit of +having maintained his post for a century, while his comrade cherub, +who had stood sentinel on the corresponding pedestal, lay a broken +trunk, among the hemlock, burdock, and nettles, which grew in +gigantic luxuriance around the walls of the +mausoleum."</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_21"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor21">[21]</a> A Shetland pony.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_22"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor22">[22]</a> The Lord's Supper.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_23"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor23">[23]</a> Bullock.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_24"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor24">[24]</a> Perhaps.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_25"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor25">[25]</a> Carefully selected.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_26"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor26">[26]</a> I recollect an old Scottish gentleman, who +shared this horror, asking very gravely, "Were not swine forbidden +under the law, and cursed under the gospel?"</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_27"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor27">[27]</a> Lie in a grovelling attitude. See +Jamieson.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_28"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor28">[28]</a> So pronounced in Aberdeen.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_29"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor29">[29]</a> Implying that there was a James Third of +England, Eighth of Scotland.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_30"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor30">[30]</a> Old Scotch for "drink hard".</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_31"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor31">[31]</a> A friend learned in Scottish history +suggests an ingenious remark, that this might mean more than a mere +<i>full drinker</i>. To drink "fair," used to imply that the person +drank in the same proportion as the company; to drink more would be +unmannerly; to drink less might imply some unfair motive. Either +interpretation shows the importance attached to drinking and all +that concerned it.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_32"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor32">[32]</a> In Burt's <i>Letters from the North of +Scotland</i>, written about 1730, similar scenes are related as +occurring in Culloden House: as the company were disabled by drink, +two servants in waiting took up the invalids with short poles in +their chairs as they sat (if not fallen down), and carried them off +to their beds.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_33"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor33">[33]</a> Lord Cockburn's <i>Memorials of his +Time</i>, p. 37, <i>et seq</i>.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_34"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor34">[34]</a> May we never be cast down by adversity, or +unduly elevated by prosperity.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_35"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor35">[35]</a> A toast at parting or breaking up of the +party.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_36"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor36">[36]</a> Loving</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_37"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor37">[37]</a> Plenty</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_38"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor38">[38]</a> Toast for agricultural dinners</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_39"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor39">[39]</a> Ghastly.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_40"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor40">[40]</a> The scene is described and place mentioned +in Dr. Strang's account of Glasgow Clubs, p. 104, 2d +edit.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_41"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor41">[41]</a> Swept.</blockquote> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_THE_FOURTH."></a>CHAPTER THE FOURTH.</h2> +<h3>ON THE OLD SCOTTISH DOMESTIC SERVANT.</h3> +<br> +<p>I come now to a subject on which a great change has taken place +in this country during my own experience--viz. those peculiarities +of intercourse which some years back marked the connection between +masters and servants. In many Scottish houses a great familiarity +prevailed between members of the family and the domestics. For this +many reasons might have been assigned. Indeed, when we consider the +simple modes of life, which discarded the ideas of ceremony or +etiquette; the retired and uniform style of living, which afforded +few opportunities for any change in the domestic arrangements; and +when we add to these a free, unrestrained, unformal, and natural +style of intercommunion, which seems rather a national +characteristic, we need not be surprised to find in quiet Scottish +families a sort of intercourse with old domestics which can hardly +be looked for at a time when habits are so changed, and where much +of the quiet eccentricity belonging to us as a national +characteristic is almost necessarily softened down or driven out. +Many circumstances conspired to promote familiarity with old +domestics, which are now entirely changed. We take the case of a +domestic coming early into service, and passing year after year in +the same family. The servant grows up into old age and confirmed +habits when the laird is becoming a man, a husband, father of a +family. The domestic cannot forget the days when his master was a +child, riding on his back, applying to him for help in difficulties +about his fishing, his rabbits, his pony, his going to school. All +the family know how attached he is; nobody likes to speak harshly +to him. He is a privileged man. The faithful old servant of thirty, +forty, or fifty years, if with a tendency to be jealous, cross, and +interfering, becomes a great trouble. Still the relative position +was the result of good feelings. If the familiarity sometimes +became a nuisance, it was a wholesome nuisance, and relic of a +simpler time gone by. But the case of the old servant, whether +agreeable or troublesome, was often so fixed and established in the +households of past days, that there was scarce a possibility of +getting away from it. The well-known story of the answer of one of +these domestic tyrants to the irritated master, who was making an +effort to free himself from the thraldom, shows the idea +entertained, by <i>one</i> of the parties at least, of the +permanency of the tenure. I am assured by a friend that the true +edition of the story was this:--An old Mr. Erskine of Dun had one +of these retainers, under whose language and unreasonable +assumption he had long groaned. He had almost determined to bear it +no longer, when, walking out with his man, on crossing a field, the +master exclaimed, "There's a hare." Andrew looked at the place, and +coolly replied, "What a big lee, it's a cauff." The master, quite +angry now, plainly told the old domestic that they <i>must</i> +part. But the tried servant of forty years, not dreaming of the +possibility of <i>his</i> dismissal, innocently asked, "Ay, sir; +whare ye gaun? I'm sure ye're aye best at hame;" supposing that, if +there were to be any disruption, it must be the master who would +change the place. An example of a similar fixedness of tenure in an +old servant was afforded in an anecdote related of an old coachman +long in the service of a noble lady, and who gave all the trouble +and annoyance which he conceived were the privileges of his +position in the family. At last the lady fairly gave him notice to +quit, and told him he must go. The only satisfaction she got was +the quiet answer, "Na, na, my lady; I druve ye to your marriage, +and I shall stay to drive ye to your burial." Indeed, we have heard +of a still stronger assertion of his official position by one who +met an order to quit his master's service by the cool reply, "Na, +na; I'm no gangin'. If ye dinna ken whan ye've a gude servant; I +ken whan I've a gude place."</p> +<p>It is but fair, however, to give an anecdote in which the master +and the servant's position was <i>reversed</i>, in regard to a wish +for change:--An old servant of a relation of my own with an +ungovernable temper, became at last so weary of his master's +irascibility, that he declared he must leave, and gave as his +reason the fits of anger which came on, and produced such great +annoyance that he could not stand it any longer. His master, +unwilling to lose him, tried to coax him by reminding him that the +anger was soon off. "Ay," replied the other very shrewdly, "but +it's nae suner aff than it's on again." I remember well an old +servant of the old school, who had been fifty years domesticated in +a family. Indeed I well remember the celebration of the +half-century service completed. There were rich scenes with Sandy +and his mistress. Let me recall you both to memory. Let me think of +you, the kind, generous, warm-hearted mistress; a gentlewoman by +descent and by feeling; a true friend, a sincere Christian. And let +me think, too, of you, Sandy, an honest, faithful, and attached +member of the family. For you were in that house rather as a humble +friend than a servant. But out of this fifty years of attached +service there sprang a sort of domestic relation and freedom of +intercourse which would surprise people in these days. And yet +Sandy knew his place. Like Corporal Trim, who, although so familiar +and admitted to so much familiarity with my Uncle Toby, never +failed in the respectful address--never forgot to say "your +honour." At a dinner party Sandy was very active about changing his +mistress's plate, and whipped it off when he saw that she had got a +piece of rich paté upon it. His mistress, not liking such +rapid movements, and at the same time knowing that remonstrance was +in vain, exclaimed, "Hout, Sandy, I'm no dune," and dabbed her fork +into the "pattee" as it disappeared, to rescue a morsel. I remember +her praise of English mutton was a great annoyance to the Scottish +prejudices of Sandy. One day she was telling me of a triumph Sandy +had upon that subject. The smell of the joint roasting had become +very offensive through the house. The lady called out to Sandy to +have the doors closed, and added, "That must be some horrid Scotch +mutton you have got." To Sandy's delight, this was a leg of +<i>English</i> mutton his mistress had expressly chosen; and, as +she significantly told me, "Sandy never let that down upon me." On +Deeside there existed, in my recollection, besides the Saunders +Paul I have alluded to, a number of extraordinary acute and +humorous Scottish characters amongst the lower classes. The native +gentry enjoyed their humour, and hence arose a familiarity of +intercourse which called forth many amusing scenes and quaint +rejoinders. A celebrated character of this description bore the +soubriquet of "Boaty," of whom I have already spoken. He had acted +as Charon of the Dee at Banchory, and passed the boat over the +river before there was a bridge. Boaty had many curious sayings +recorded of him. When speaking of the gentry around, he +characterised them according to their occupations and activity of +habits--thus:--"As to Mr. Russell of Blackha', he just works +himsell like a paid labourer; Mr. Duncan's a' the day fish, fish; +but Sir Robert's a perfect gentleman--he does naething, naething." +Boaty was a first-rate salmon-fisher himself, and was much sought +after by amateurs who came to Banchory for the sake of the sport +afforded by the beautiful Dee. He was, perhaps, a little spoiled, +and presumed upon the indulgence and familiarity shown to him in +the way of his craft--as, for example, he was in attendance with +his boat on a sportsman who was both skilful and successful, for he +caught salmon after salmon. Between each fish catching he solaced +himself with a good pull from a flask, which he returned to his +pocket, however, without offering to let Boaty have any +participation in the refreshment. Boaty, partly a little +professionally jealous, perhaps, at the success, and partly +indignant at receiving less than his usual attention on such +occasions, and seeing no prospect of amendment, deliberately pulled +the boat to shore, shouldered the oars, rods, landing-nets, and all +the fishing apparatus which he had provided, and set off homewards. +His companion, far from considering his day's work to be over, and +keen for more sport, was amazed, and peremptorily ordered him to +come back. But all the answer made by the offended Boaty was, "Na +na; them 'at drink by themsells may just fish by themsells."</p> +<p>The charge these old domestics used to take of the interests of +the family, and the cool way in which they took upon them to +protect those interests, sometimes led to very provoking, and +sometimes to very ludicrous, exhibitions of importance. A friend +told me of a dinner scene illustrative of this sort of interference +which had happened at Airth in the last generation. Mrs. Murray, of +Abercairney, had been amongst the guests, and at dinner one of the +family noticed that she was looking for the proper spoon to help +herself with salt. The old servant, Thomas, was appealed to, that +the want might be supplied. He did not notice the appeal. It was +repeated in a more peremptory manner, "Thomas, Mrs. Murray has not +a salt-spoon!" to which he replied most emphatically, "Last time +Mrs. Murray dined here we <i>lost</i> a salt-spoon." An old servant +who took a similar charge of everything that went on in the family, +having observed that his master thought that he had drunk wine with +every lady at table, but had overlooked one, jogged his memory with +the question, "What ails ye at her wi' the green gown?"</p> +<p>In my own family I know a case of a very long service, and +where, no doubt, there was much interest and attachment; but it was +a case where the temper had not softened under the influence of +years, but had rather assumed that form of disposition which we +denominate <i>crusty</i>. My grand-uncle, Sir A. Ramsay, died in +1806, and left a domestic who had been in his service since he was +ten years of age; and being at the time of his master's death past +fifty or well on to sixty, he must have been more than forty years +a servant in the family. From the retired life my grand-uncle had +been leading, Jamie Layal had much of his own way, and, like many a +domestic so situated, he did not like to be contradicted, and, in +fact, could not bear to be found fault with. My uncle, who had +succeeded to a part of my grand-uncle's property, succeeded also to +Jamie Layal, and, from respect to his late master's memory and +Jamie's own services, he took him into his house, intending him to +act as house servant. However, this did not answer, and he was soon +kept on, more with the form than the reality of any active duty, +and took any light work that was going on about the house. In this +capacity it was his daily task to feed a flock of turkeys which +were growing up to maturity. On one occasion, my aunt having +followed him in his work, and having observed such a waste of food +that the ground was actually covered with grain which they could +not eat, and which would soon be destroyed and lost, naturally +remonstrated, and suggested a more reasonable and provident supply. +But all the answer she got from the offended Jamie was a bitter +rejoinder, "Weel, then, neist time they sall get <i>nane ava!</i>" +On another occasion a family from a distance had called whilst my +uncle and aunt were out of the house. Jamie came into the parlour +to deliver the cards, or to announce that they had called. My aunt, +somewhat vexed at not having been in the way, inquired what message +Mr. and Mrs. Innes had left, as she had expected one. "No; no +message." She returned to the charge, and asked again if they had +not told him <i>anything</i> he was to repeat. Still, "No; no +message." "But did they say nothing? Are you sure they said +nothing?" Jamie, sadly put out and offended at being thus +interrogated, at last burst forth, "They neither said ba nor bum," +and indignantly left the room, banging the door after him. A +characteristic anecdote of one of these old domestics I have from a +friend who was acquainted with the parties concerned. The old man +was standing at the sideboard and attending to the demands of a +pretty large dinner party; the calls made for various wants from +the company became so numerous and frequent that the attendant got +quite bewildered, and lost his patience and temper; at length he +gave vent to his indignation in a remonstrance addressed to the +whole company, "Cry a' thegither, that's the way to be served."</p> +<p>I have two characteristic and dry Scottish answers, traditional +in the Lothian family, supplied to me by the late excellent and +highly-gifted Marquis. A Marquis of Lothian of a former generation +observed in his walk two workmen very busy with a ladder to reach a +bell, on which they next kept up a furious ringing. He asked what +was the object of making such a din, to which the answer was, "Oh, +juist, my lord to ca' the workmen together!" "Why, how many are +there?" asked his lordship. "Ou, juist Sandy and me," was the quiet +rejoinder. The same Lord Lothian, looking about the garden, +directed his gardener's attention to a particular plum-tree, +charging him to be careful of the produce of that tree, and send +the <i>whole</i> of it in marked, as it was of a very particular +kind. "Ou," said the gardener, "I'll dae that, my lord; there's +juist twa o' them."</p> +<p>These dry answers of Newbattle servants remind us of a similar +state of communication in a Yester domestic. Lord Tweeddale was +very fond of dogs, and on leaving Yester for London he instructed +his head keeper, a quaint bodie, to give him a periodical report of +the kennel, and particulars of his favourite dogs. Among the latter +was an <i>especial</i> one, of the true Skye breed, called +"Pickle," from which soubriquet we may form a tolerable estimate of +his qualities.</p> +<p>It happened one day, in or about the year 1827, that poor +Pickle, during the absence of his master, was taken unwell; and the +watchful guardian immediately warned the Marquis of the sad fact, +and of the progress of the disease, which lasted three days--for +which he sent the three following laconic despatches:--</p> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"></div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p class="i9"><i>Yester, May 1st</i>, 18--.</p> +<p>MY LORD,</p> +<p class="i3">Pickle's no weel.</p> +<p class="i6">Your Lordship's humble servant, etc.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"></div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p class="i9"><i>Yester, May Id</i>, 18--.</p> +<p>MY LORD,</p> +<p class="i3">Pickle will no do.</p> +<p class="i6">I am your Lordship's, etc.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"></div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p class="i9"><i>Yester, May 3d</i>, 18--.</p> +<p>MY LORD,</p> +<p class="i3">Pickle's dead.</p> +<p class="i6">I am your Lordship's, etc.</p> +</div> +</div> +<p>I have heard of an old Forfarshire lady who, knowing the habits +of her old and spoilt servant, when she wished a note to be taken +without loss of time, held it open and read it over to him, saying, +"There, noo, Andrew, ye ken a' that's in't; noo dinna stop to open +it, but just send it aff." Of another servant, when sorely tried by +an unaccustomed bustle and hurry, a very amusing anecdote has been +recorded. His mistress, a woman of high rank, who had been living +in much quiet and retirement for some time, was called upon to +entertain a large party at dinner. She consulted with Nichol, her +faithful servant, and all the arrangements were made for the great +event. As the company were arriving, the lady saw Nichol running +about in great agitation, and in his shirt sleeves. She +remonstrated, and said that as the guests were coming in he must +put on his coat, "Indeed, my lady," was his excited reply, "indeed, +there's sae muckle rinnin' here and rinnin' there, that I'm just +distrackit. I hae cuist'n my coat and waistcoat, and faith I dinna +ken how lang I can thole<a name="FNanchor42"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_42">[42]</a> my breeks." There is often a ready wit in +this class of character, marked by their replies. I have the +following communicated from an ear-witness:--"Weel, Peggy," said a +man to an old family servant, "I wonder ye're aye single yet!" "Me +marry," said she, indignantly; "I wouldna gie my single life for a' +the double anes I ever saw!"</p> +<p>An old woman was exhorting a servant once about her ways. "You +serve the deevil," said she. "Me!" said the girl; "na, na, I dinna +serve the deevil; I serve ae single lady."</p> +<p>A baby was out with the nurse, who walked it up and down the +garden. "Is't a laddie or a lassie?" said the gardener. "A laddie," +said the maid. "Weel," says he, "I'm glad o' that, for there's ower +mony women in the world." "Hech, man," said Jess, "div ye no ken +there's aye maist sawn o' the best crap?"</p> +<p>The answers of servants used curiously to illustrate habits and +manners of the time,--as the economical modes of her mistress's +life were well touched by the lass who thus described her ways and +domestic habits with her household: "She's vicious upo' the wark; +but eh, she's vary mysterious o' the victualling."</p> +<p>A country habit of making the gathering of the congregation in +the churchyard previous to and after divine service an occasion for +gossip and business, which I remember well, is thoroughly described +in the following:--A lady, on hiring a servant girl in the country, +told her, as a great indulgence, that she should have the liberty +of attending the church every Sunday, but that she would be +expected to return home always immediately on the conclusion of +service. The lady, however, rather unexpectedly found a positive +objection raised against this apparently reasonable arrangement. +"Then I canna engage wi' ye, mem; for 'deed I wadna gie the crack +i' the kirk-yard for a' the sermon."</p> +<p>There is another story which shows that a greater importance +might be attached to the crack i' the kirk-yard than was done even +by the servant lass mentioned above. A rather rough subject, +residing in Galloway, used to attend church regularly, as it +appeared, for the <i>sake</i> of the crack; for on being taken to +task for his absenting himself, he remarked, "There's nae need to +gang to the kirk noo, for everybody gets a newspaper."</p> +<p>The changes that many of us have lived to witness in this kind +of intercourse between families and old servants is a part of a +still greater change--the change in that modification of the feudal +system, the attachment of clans. This, also, from transfers of +property and extinction of old families in the Highlands, as well +as from more general causes, is passing away; and it includes also +changes in the intercourse between landed proprietors and +cottagers, and abolition of harvest-homes, and such meetings. +People are now more independent of each other, and service has +become a pecuniary and not a sentimental question. The extreme +contrast of that old-fashioned Scottish intercourse of families +with their servants and dependants, of which I have given some +amusing examples, is found in the modern manufactory system. There +the service is a mere question of personal interest. One of our +first practical engineers, and one of the first engine-makers in +England, stated that he employed and paid handsomely on an average +1200 workmen; but that they held so little feeling for him as their +master, that not above half-a-dozen of the number would notice him +when passing him, either in the works or out of work hours. +Contrast this advanced state of dependants' indifference with the +familiarity of domestic intercourse we have been describing!</p> +<p>It has been suggested by my esteemed friend, Dr. W. Lindsay +Alexander, that Scottish anecdotes deal too exclusively with the +shrewd, quaint, and pawky <i>humour</i> of our countrymen, and have +not sufficiently illustrated the deep pathos and strong +loving-kindness of the "kindly Scot,"--qualities which, however +little appreciated across the Border, abound in Scottish poetry and +Scottish life. For example, to take the case before us of these old +retainers, although snappy and disagreeable to the last degree in +their replies, and often most provoking in their ways, they were +yet deeply and sincerely attached to the family where they had so +long been domesticated; and the servant who would reply to her +mistress's order to mend the fire by the short answer, "The fire's +weel eneuch," would at the same time evince much interest in all +that might assist her in sustaining the credit of her domestic +economy; as, for example, whispering in her ear at dinner, "Press +the jeelies; they winna keep;" and had the hour of real trial and +of difficulty come to the family, would have gone to the death for +them, and shared their greatest privations. Dr. Alexander gives a +very interesting example of kindness and affectionate attachment in +an old Scottish domestic of his own family, whose quaint and odd +familiarity was charming. I give it in his own words:--"When I was +a child there was an old servant at Pinkieburn, where my early days +were spent, who had been all her life, I may say, in the house--for +she came to it a child, and lived, without ever leaving it, till +she died in it, seventy-five years of age. Her feeling to her old +master, who was just two years younger than herself, was a curious +compound of the deference of a servant and the familiarity and +affection of a sister. She had known him as a boy, lad, man, and +old man, and she seemed to have a sort of notion that without her +he must be a very helpless being indeed. 'I aye keepit the hoose +for him, whether he was hame or awa',' was a frequent utterance of +hers; and she never seemed to think the intrusion even of his own +nieces, who latterly lived with him, at all legitimate. When on her +deathbed, he hobbled to her room with difficulty, having just got +over a severe attack of gout, to bid her farewell. I chanced to be +present, but was too young to remember what passed, except one +thing, which probably was rather recalled to me afterwards than +properly recollected by me. It was her last request. 'Laird,' said +she (for so she always called him, though his lairdship was of the +smallest), 'will ye tell them to bury me whaur I'll lie across at +your feet?' I have always thought this characteristic of the old +Scotch servant, and as such I send it to you."</p> +<p>And here I would introduce another story which struck me very +forcibly as illustrating the union of the qualities referred to by +Dr. Alexander. In the following narrative, how deep and tender a +feeling is expressed in a brief dry sentence! I give Mr. Scott's +language<a name="FNanchor43"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_43">[43]</a>:--"My brother and I were, during our High +School vacation, some forty years ago, very much indebted to the +kindness of a clever young carpenter employed in the machinery +workshop of New Lanark Mills, near to which we were residing during +our six weeks' holidays." It was he--Samuel Shaw, our dear +companion--who first taught us to saw, and to plane, and to turn +too; and who made us the bows and arrows in which we so much +delighted. The vacation over, and our hearts very sore, but bound +to Samuel Shaw for ever, our mother sought to place some pecuniary +recompense in his hand at parting, for all the great kindness he +had shown her boys. Samuel looked in her face, and gently moving +her hand aside, with an affectionate look cast upon us, who were +by, exclaimed, in a tone which had sorrow in it, "Noo, Mrs. Scott, +<i>ye hae spoilt a'</i>." After such an appeal, it may be supposed +no recompense, in silver or in gold, remained with Samuel Shaw.</p> +<p>On the subject of the old Scottish domestic, I have to +acknowledge a kind communication from Lord Kinloch, which I give in +his Lordship's words:--"My father had been in the counting-house of +the well-known David Dale, the founder of the Lanark Mills, and +eminent for his benevolence. Mr. Dale, who it would appear was a +short stout man, had a person in his employment named Matthew, who +was permitted that familiarity with his master which was so +characteristic of the former generation. One winter day Mr. Dale +came into the counting-house, and complained that he had fallen on +the ice. Matthew, who saw that his master was not much hurt, +grinned a sarcastic smile. 'I fell all my length,' said Mr. Dale. +'Nae great length, sir,' said Matthew. 'Indeed, Matthew, ye need +not laugh,' said Mr. Dale; 'I have hurt the sma' o' my back.' 'I +wunner whaur <i>that</i> is,' said Matthew." Indeed, specimens like +Matthew, of serving-men of the former time, have latterly been fast +going out, but I remember one or two such. A lady of my +acquaintance had one named John in her house at Portobello. I +remember how my modern ideas were offended by John's familiarity +when waiting at table. "Some more wine, John," said his mistress. +"There's some i' the bottle, mem," said John. A little after, "Mend +the fire, John." "The fire's weel eneuch, mem," replied the +impracticable John. Another "John" of my acquaintance was in the +family of Mrs. Campbell of Ardnave, mother of the Princess Polignac +and the Hon. Mrs. Archibald Macdonald. A young lady visiting in the +family asked John at dinner for a potato. John made no response. +The request was repeated; when John, putting his mouth to her ear, +said, very audibly, "There's jist twa in the dish, and they maun be +keepit for the strangers."</p> +<p>The following was sent me by a kind correspondent--a learned +Professor in India--as a sample of <i>squabbling</i> between +Scottish servants. A mistress observing something peculiar in her +maid's manner, addressed her, "Dear me, Tibbie, what are you so +snappish about, that you go knocking the things as you dust them?" +"Ou, mem, it's Jock." "Well, what has Jock been doing?" "Ou (with +an indescribable, but easily imaginable toss of the head), he was +angry at me, an' misca'd me, an' I said I was juist as the Lord had +made me, an'----" "Well, Tibbie?" "An' he said the Lord could hae +had little to dae whan he made me." The idea of Tibbie being the +work of an idle moment was one, the deliciousness of which was not +likely to be relished by the lassie.</p> +<p>The following characteristic anecdote of a Highland servant I +have received from the same correspondent. An English gentleman, +travelling in the Highlands, was rather late of coming down to +dinner. Donald was sent up stairs to intimate that all was ready. +He speedily returned, nodding significantly, as much as to say that +it was all right. "But, Donald," said the master, after some +further trial of a hungry man's patience, "are ye sure ye made the +gentleman understand?" "<i>Understand?</i>" retorted Donald (who +had peeped into the room and found the guest engaged at his +toilet), "I'se warrant ye he understands; he's <i>sharping</i> his +teeth,"--not supposing the tooth-brush could be for any other +use.</p> +<p>There have been some very amusing instances given of the +matter-of-fact obedience paid to orders by Highland retainers when +made to perform the ordinary duties of domestic servants; as when +Mr. Campbell, a Highland gentleman, visiting in a country house, +and telling Donald to bring everything out of the bedroom, found +all its movable articles--fender, fire-irons, etc.--piled up in the +lobby; so literal was the poor man's sense of obedience to orders! +And of this he gave a still more extraordinary proof during his +sojourn in Edinburgh, by a very ludicrous exploit. When the family +moved into a house there, Mrs. Campbell gave him very particular +instructions regarding visitors, explaining that they were to be +shown into the drawing-room, and no doubt used the Scotticism, +"<i>Carry</i> any ladies that call up stairs." On the arrival of +the first visitors, Donald was eager to show his strict attention +to the mistress's orders. Two ladies came together, and Donald, +seizing one in his arms, said to the other, "Bide ye there till I +come for ye," and, in spite of her struggles and remonstrances, +ushered the terrified visitor into Mrs. Campbell's presence in this +unwonted fashion.</p> +<p>Another case of <i>literal</i> obedience to orders produced a +somewhat startling form of message. A servant of an old maiden +lady, a patient of Dr. Poole, formerly of Edinburgh, was under +orders to go to the doctor every morning to report the state of her +health, how she had slept, etc., with strict injunctions +<i>always</i> to add, "with her compliments." At length, one +morning the girl brought this extraordinary message:--"Miss S----'s +compliments, and she dee'd last night at aicht o'clock!"</p> +<p>I recollect, in Montrose (that fruitful field for old Scottish +stories!), a most naïve reply from an honest lass, servant to +old Mrs. <i>Captain</i> Fullerton. A party of gentlemen had dined +with Mrs. Fullerton, and they had a turkey for dinner. Mrs. F. +proposed that one of the legs should be <i>deviled</i>, and the +gentlemen have it served up as a relish for their wine. Accordingly +one of the company skilled in the mystery prepared it with pepper, +cayenne, mustard, ketchup, etc. He gave it to Lizzy, and told her +to take it down to the kitchen, supposing, as a matter of course, +she would know that it was to be broiled, and brought back in due +time. But in a little while, when it was rung for, Lizzy very +innocently replied that she had eaten it up. As it was sent back to +the kitchen, her only idea was that it must be for herself. But on +surprise being expressed that she had eaten what was so highly +peppered and seasoned, she very quaintly answered, "Ou, I liket it +a' the better."</p> +<p>A well-known servant of the old school was John, the servant of +Pitfour, Mr. Ferguson, M.P., himself a most eccentric character, +long father of the House of Commons, and a great friend of Pitt. +John used to entertain the tenants, on Pitfour's brief visits to +his estate, with numerous anecdotes of his master and Mr. Pitt; but +he always prefaced them with something in the style of Cardinal +Wolsey's <i>Ego et rex meus</i>--with "Me, and Pitt, and Pitfour," +went somewhere, or performed some exploit. The famous Duchess of +Gordon once wrote a note to John (the name of this eccentric +valet), and said, "John, put Pitfour into the carriage on Tuesday, +and bring him up to Gordon Castle to dinner." After sufficiently +scratching his head, and considering what he should do, he showed +the letter to Pitfour, who smiled, and said drily, "Well, John, I +suppose we must go."</p> +<p>An old domestic of this class gave a capital reason to his +<i>young</i> master for his being allowed to do as he liked:--"Ye +needna find faut wi' me, Maister Jeems; <i>I hae been langer aboot +the place than yersel</i>."</p> +<p>It may seem ungracious to close this chapter with a +communication which appears to convey an unfavourable impression of +an old servant. But the truth is, real and attached domestic +service does not offer its pleasures and advantages without some +alloy of annoyance, and yet how much the solid benefits prevail +over any occasional drawbacks!</p> +<p>The late Rev. Mr. Leslie of St. Andrew-Lhanbryd, a parish in +Morayshire, in describing an old servant who had been with him +thirty years, said, "The first ten years she was an excellent +servant; the second ten she was a good mistress; but the third ten +she was a perfect tyrant."</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_THE_FIFTH."></a>CHAPTER THE FIFTH.</h2> +<h3>SCOTTISH JUDGES.</h3> +<br> +<p>There is no class of men which stands out more prominent in the +reminiscences of the last hundred years than that of our SCOTTISH +JUDGES. They form, in many instances, a type or representative of +the leading <i>peculiarities</i> of Scottish life and manners. They +are mixed up with all our affairs, social and political. There are +to be found in the annals of the bench rich examples of pure +Scottish humour, the strongest peculiarity of Scottish phraseology, +acuteness of intellect, cutting wit, eccentricity of manners, and +abundant powers of conviviality. Their successors no longer furnish +the same anecdotes of oddity or of intemperance. The Courts of the +Scottish Parliament House, without lacking the learning or the law +of those who sat there sixty years ago, lack not the refinement and +the dignity that have long distinguished the Courts of Westminster +Hall.</p> +<p>Stories still exist, traditionary in society, amongst its older +members, regarding Lords Gardenstone, Monboddo, Hermand, Newton, +Polkemmet, Braxfield, etc. But many younger persons do not know +them. It may be interesting to some of my readers to devote a few +pages to the subject, and to offer some judicial gleanings<a name= +"FNanchor44"></a><a href="#Footnote_44">[44]</a>.</p> +<p>I have two anecdotes to show that, both in social and judicial +life, a remarkable change must have taken place amongst the +"fifteen." I am assured that the following scene took place at the +<i>table</i> of Lord Polkemmet, at a dinner party in his house. +When the covers were removed, the dinner was seen to consist of +veal broth, a roast fillet of veal, veal cutlets, a florentine (an +excellent old Scottish dish composed of veal), a calf's head, +calf's foot jelly. The worthy judge could not help observing a +surprise on the countenance of his guests, and perhaps a simper on +some; so he broke out in explanation: "Ou ay, it's a cauf; when we +kill a beast we just eat up ae side, and down the tither." The +expressions he used to describe his own <i>judicial</i> +preparations for the bench were very characteristic: "Ye see I +first read a' the pleadings, and then, after lettin' them wamble in +my wame wi' the toddy twa or three days, I gie my ain +interlocutor." For a moment suppose such anecdotes to be told now +of any of our high legal functionaries. Imagine the feelings of +surprise that would be called forth were the present Justice-Clerk +to adopt such imagery in describing the process of preparing +<i>his</i> legal judgment on a difficult case in his court!</p> +<p>In regard to the wit of the Scottish <i>bar</i>.--It is a +subject which I do not pretend to illustrate. It would require a +volume for itself. One anecdote, however, I cannot resist, and I +record it as forming a striking example of the class of Scottish +humour which, with our dialect, has lost its distinctive +characteristics. John Clerk (afterwards a judge by the title of +Lord Eldin) was arguing a Scotch appeal case before the House of +Lords. His client claimed the use of a mill-stream by a +prescriptive right. Mr. Clerk spoke broad Scotch, and argued that +"the <i>watter</i> had rin that way for forty years. Indeed naebody +kenn'd how long, and why should his client now be deprived of the +watter?" etc. The chancellor, much amused at the pronunciation of +the Scottish advocate, in a rather bantering tone asked him, "Mr. +Clerk, do you spell water in Scotland with two t's?" Clerk, a +little nettled at this hit at his national tongue, answered, "Na, +my Lord, we dinna spell watter (making the word as short as he +could) wi' twa t's, but we spell mainners (making the word as long +as he could) wi' twa n's."</p> +<p>John Clerk's vernacular version of the motto of the Celtic Club +is highly characteristic of his humour and his prejudice. He had a +strong dislike to the whole Highland race, and the motto assumed by +the modern Celts, "Olim marte, nunc arte," Clerk translated +"Formerly robbers, now thieves." Quite equal to Swift's celebrated +remark on William III.'s motto--<i>Recepit, non rapuit</i>--"that +the receiver was as bad as the thief." Very dry and pithy too was +Clerk's legal <i>opinion</i> given to a claimant of the Annandale +peerage, who, when pressing the employment of some obvious +forgeries, was warned that if he persevered, nae doot he might be a +peer, but it would be a peer o' anither <i>tree!</i></p> +<p>The clever author of "Peter's Letters" gives an elaborate +description of Clerk's character whilst at the bar, and speaks of +him as "the plainest, the shrewdest, and the most sarcastic of +men." Nor could he entirely repress these peculiarities when raised +to the bench under the title of Lord Eldin.</p> +<p>His defence of a young friend, who was an advocate, and had +incurred the displeasure of the Judges, has often been repeated. +Mr. Clerk had been called upon to offer his apologies for +disrespect, or implied disrespect, in his manner of addressing the +Bench. The advocate had given great offence by expressing his +"<i>astonishment</i>" at something which had emanated from their +Lordships, implying by it his disapproval. He got Lord Eldin, who +was connected with him, to make an apology for him. But Clerk could +not resist his humorous vein by very equivocally adding, "My client +has expressed his astonishment, my Lords, at what he had met with +here; if my young friend had known this court as long as I have, he +would have been <i>astonished at nothing</i>."</p> +<p>A kind Perthshire correspondent has sent me a characteristic +anecdote, which has strong internal evidence of being genuine. When +Clerk was raised to the Bench he presented his credentials to the +Court, and, according to custom, was received by the presiding +Judge--who, on this occasion, in a somewhat sarcastic tone, +referred to the delay which had taken place in his reaching a +position for which he had so long been qualified, and to which he +must have long aspired. He hinted at the long absence of the Whig +party from political power as the cause of this delay, which +offended Clerk; and he paid it off by intimating in his pithy and +bitter tone, which he could so well assume, that it was not of so +much consequence--"Because," as he said, "ye see, my Lord, I was +not juist sae sune <i>doited</i> as some o' your Lordships."</p> +<p>The following account of his conducting a case is also highly +characteristic. Two individuals, the one a mason, the other a +carpenter, both residenters in West Portsburgh, formed a +copartnery, and commenced building houses within the boundaries of +the burgh corporation. One of the partners was a freeman, the other +not. The corporation, considering its rights invaded by a +non-freeman exercising privileges only accorded to one of their +body, brought an action in the Court of Session against the +interloper, and his partner as aiding and abetting. Mr. John Clerk, +then an advocate, was engaged for the defendants. How the cause was +decided matters little. What was really curious in the affair was +the naively droll manner in which the advocate for the defence +opened his pleading before the Lord Ordinary. "My Lord," commenced +John, in his purest Doric, at the same time pushing up his +spectacles to his brow and hitching his gown over his shoulders, "I +wad hae thocht naething o't (the action), had hooses been a new +invention, and my clients been caught ouvertly impingin' on the +patent richts o' the inventors!"</p> +<p>Of Lord Gardenstone (Francis Garden) I have many early +<i>personal</i> reminiscences, as his property of Johnstone was in +the Howe of the Mearns, not far from my early home. He was a man of +energy, and promoted improvements in the county with skill and +practical sagacity. His favourite scheme was to establish a +flourishing town upon his property, and he spared no pains or +expense in promoting the importance of his village of Laurencekirk. +He built an excellent inn, to render it a stage for posting. He +built and endowed an Episcopal chapel for the benefit of his +English immigrants, in the vestry of which he placed a most +respectable library; and he encouraged manufacturers of all kinds +to settle in the place. Amongst others, as we have seen, came the +hatter who found only three hats in the kirk. His lordship was much +taken up with his hotel or inn, and for which he provided a large +volume for receiving the written contributions of travellers who +frequented it. It was the landlady's business to present this +volume to the guests, and ask them to write in it during the +evenings whatever occurred to their memory or their imagination. In +the mornings it was a favourite amusement of Lord Gardenstone to +look it over. I recollect Sir Walter Scott being much taken with +this contrivance, and his asking me about it at Abbotsford. His son +said to him, "You should establish such a book, sir, at Melrose;" +upon which Sir W. replied, "No, Walter; I should just have to see a +great deal of abuse of myself." On his son deprecating such a +result, and on his observing my surprised look, he answered, "Well, +well, I should have to read a great deal of foolish praise, which +is much the same thing." An amusing account is given of the cause +of Lord Gardenstone withdrawing this volume from the hotel, and of +his determination to submit it no more to the tender mercies of the +passing traveller. As Professor Stuart of Aberdeen was passing an +evening at the inn, the volume was handed to him, and he wrote in +it the following lines, in the style of the prophecies of Thomas +the Rhymer:--</p> +<blockquote>"Frae sma' beginnings Rome of auld<br> +Became a great imperial city;<br> +'Twas peopled first, as we are tauld,<br> +By bankrupts, vagabonds, banditti.<br> +Quoth Thamas, Then the day may come,<br> +When Laurencekirk shall equal Rome."</blockquote> +<p>These lines so nettled Lord Gardenstone, that the volume +disappeared, and was never seen afterwards in the inn of +Laurencekirk. There is another lingering reminiscence which I +retain connected with the inn at Laurencekirk. The landlord, Mr. +Cream, was a man well known throughout all the county, and was +distinguished, in his later years, as one of the few men who +continued to wear a <i>pigtail</i>. On one occasion the late Lord +Dunmore (grandfather or great-grandfather of the present peer), who +also still wore his queue, halted for a night at Laurencekirk. On +the host leaving the room, where he had come to take orders for +supper, Lord Dunmore turned to his valet and said, "Johnstone, do I +look as like a fool in my pigtail as Billy Cream does?"--"Much +about it, my lord," was the valet's imperturbable answer. "Then," +said his lordship, "cut off mine to-morrow morning when I +dress."</p> +<p>Lord Gardenstone seemed to have had two favourite tastes: he +indulged in the love of pigs and the love of snuff. He took a young +pig as a pet, and it became quite tame, and followed him about like +a dog. At first the animal shared his bed, but when, growing up to +advanced swinehood, it became unfit for such companionship, he had +it to sleep in his room, in which he made a comfortable couch for +it of his own clothes. His snuff he kept not in a box, but in a +leathern waist-pocket made for the purpose. He took it in enormous +quantities, and used to say that if he had a dozen noses he would +feed them all. Lord Gardenstone died 1793.</p> +<p>Lord Monboddo (James Burnet, Esq. of Monboddo) is another of the +well-known members of the Scottish Bench, who combined, with many +eccentricities of opinion and habits, great learning and a most +amiable disposition. From his paternal property being in the county +of Kincardine, and Lord M. being a visitor at my father's house, +and indeed a relation or clansman, I have many early reminiscences +of stories which I have heard of the learned judge. His +speculations regarding the origin of the human race have, in times +past, excited much interest and amusement. His theory was that man +emerged from a wild and savage condition, much resembling that of +apes; that man had then a tail like other animals, but which by +progressive civilisation and the constant habit of <i>sitting</i>, +had become obsolete. This theory produced many a joke from +facetious and superficial people, who had never read any of the +arguments of the able and elaborate work, by which the ingenious +and learned author maintained his theory<a name= +"FNanchor45"></a><a href="#Footnote_45">[45]</a>. Lord Kames, a +brother judge, had his joke on it. On some occasion of their +meeting, Lord Monboddo was for giving Lord Kames the precedency. +Lord K. declined, and drew back, saying, "By no means, my lord; you +must walk first, that I may <i>see your tail</i>." I recollect Lord +Monboddo's coming to dine at Fasque caused a great excitement of +interest and curiosity. I was in the nursery, too young to take +part in the investigations; but my elder brothers were on the alert +to watch his arrival, and get a glimpse of his tail. Lord M. was +really a learned man, read Greek and Latin authors--not as a mere +exercise of classical scholarship--but because he identified +himself with their philosophical opinions, and would have revived +Greek customs and modes of life. He used to give suppers after the +manner of the ancients, and used to astonish his guests by the +ancient cookery of Spartan broth, and of <i>mulsum</i>. He was an +enthusiastical Platonist. On a visit to Oxford, he was received +with great respect by the scholars of the University, who were much +interested in meeting with one who had studied Plato as a pupil and +follower. In accordance with the old custom at learned +universities, Lord Monboddo was determined to address the Oxonians +in Latin, which he spoke with much readiness. But they could not +stand the numerous slips in prosody. Lord Monboddo shocked the ears +of the men of Eton and of Winchester by dreadful false +quantities--verse-making being, in Scotland, then quite neglected, +and a matter little thought of by the learned judge.</p> +<p>Lord Monboddo was considered an able lawyer, and on many +occasions exhibited a very clear and correct judicial discernment +of intricate cases. It was one of his peculiarities that he never +sat on the bench with his brother judges, but always at the clerk's +table. Different reasons for this practice have been given, but the +simple fact seems to have been, that he was deaf, and heard better +at the lower seat. His mode of travelling was on horseback. He +scorned carriages, on the ground of its being unmanly to "sit in a +box drawn by brutes." When he went to London he rode the whole way. +At the same period, Mr. Barclay of Ury (father of the well-known +Captain Barclay), when he represented Kincardineshire in +Parliament, always <i>walked</i> to London. He was a very powerful +man, and could walk fifty miles a day, his usual refreshment on the +road being a bottle of port wine, poured into a bowl, and drunk off +at a draught. I have heard that George III. was much interested at +these performances, and said, "I ought to be proud of my Scottish +subjects, when my judges <i>ride</i>, and my members of Parliament +<i>walk</i> to the metropolis."</p> +<p>On one occasion of his being in London, Lord Monboddo attended a +trial in the Court of King's Bench. A cry was heard that the roof +of the court-room was giving way, upon which judges, lawyers, and +people made a rush to get to the door. Lord Monboddo viewed the +scene from his corner with much composure. Being deaf and +short-sighted, he knew nothing of the cause of the tumult. The +alarm proved a false one; and on being asked why he had not +bestirred himself to escape like the rest, he coolly answered that +he supposed it was an <i>annual ceremony</i>, with which, as an +alien to the English laws, he had no concern, but which he +considered it interesting to witness as a remnant of antiquity! +Lord Monboddo died 1799.</p> +<p>Lord Rockville (the Hon. Alexander Gordon, third son of the Earl +of Aberdeen) was a judge distinguished in his day by his ability +and decorum. "He adorned the bench by the dignified manliness of +his appearance, and polished urbanity of his manners<a name= +"FNanchor46"></a><a href="#Footnote_46">[46]</a>." Like most +lawyers of his time, he took his glass freely, and a whimsical +account which he gave, before he was advanced to the bench, of his +having fallen upon his face, after making too free with the bottle, +was commonly current at the time. Upon his appearing late at a +convivial club with a most rueful expression of countenance, and on +being asked what was the matter, he exclaimed with great solemnity, +"Gentlemen, I have just met with the most extraordinary adventure +that ever occurred to a human being. As I was walking along the +Grassmarket, all of a sudden <i>the street rose up and struck me on +the face</i>." He had, however, a more serious <i>encounter</i> +with the street after he was a judge. In 1792, his foot slipped as +he was going to the Parliament House; he broke his leg, was taken +home, fevered, and died.</p> +<p>Lord Braxfield (Robert M'Queen of Braxfield) was one of the +judges of the old school, well known in his day, and might be said +to possess all the qualities united, by which the class were +remarkable. He spoke the broadest Scotch. He was a sound and +laborious lawyer. He was fond of a glass of good claret, and had a +great fund of good Scotch humour. He rose to the dignity of +Justice-Clerk, and, in consequence, presided at many important +political criminal trials about the year 1793-4, such as those of +Muir, Palmer, Skirving, Margarot, Gerrold, etc. He conducted these +trials with much ability and great firmness, occasionally, no +doubt, with more appearance of severity and personal prejudice than +is usual with the judges who in later times are called on to +preside on similar occasions. The disturbed temper of the times and +the daring spirit of the political offenders seemed, he thought, to +call for a bold and fearless front on the part of the judge, and +Braxfield was the man to show it, both on the bench and in common +life. He met, however, sometimes with a spirit as bold as his own +from the prisoners before him. When Skirving was on trial for +sedition, he thought Braxfield was threatening him, and by gesture +endeavouring to intimidate him; accordingly, he boldly addressed +the Bench:--"It is altogether unavailing for your Lordship to +menace me, for I have long learnt not to fear the face of man." I +have observed that he adhered to the <i>broadest</i> Scottish +dialect. "Hae ye ony coonsel, man?" he said to Maurice Margarot +(who, I believe, was an Englishman). "No," was the reply. "Div ye +want to hae ony appinted?" "No," replied Margarot; "I only want an +<i>interpreter</i> to make me understand what your Lordship says." +A prisoner, accused of stealing some linen garments, was one day +brought up for trial before the old judge, but was acquitted +because the prosecutor had charged him with stealing shirts, +whereas the articles stolen were found to be shifts-- female +apparel. Braxfield indignantly remarked that the Crown Counsel +should have called them by the Scottish name of <i>sarks</i>, which +applied to both sexes.</p> +<p>Braxfield had much humour, and enjoyed wit in others. He was +immensely delighted at a reply by Dr. M'Cubbin, the minister of +Bothwell. Braxfield, when Justice-Clerk, was dining at Lord +Douglas's, and observed there was only port upon the table. In his +usual off-hand brusque manner, he demanded of the noble host if +"there was nae claret i' the castle." "Yes," said Lord Douglas; +"but my butler tells me it is not good." "Let's pree't," said +Braxfield in his favourite dialect. A bottle was produced, and +declared by all present to be quite excellent. "Noo, minister," +said the old judge, addressing Dr. M'Cubbin, who was celebrated as +a wit in his day, "as a <i>fama clamosa</i> has gone forth against +this wine, I propose that you <i>absolve</i> it,"--playing upon the +terms made use of in the Scottish Church Courts. "Ay, my Lord," +said the minister, "you are first-rate authority for a case of +civil or criminal law, but you do not quite understand our Church +Court practice. We never absolve <i>till after three several +appearances</i>." The wit and the condition of absolution were +alike relished by the judge. Lord Braxfield closed a long and +useful life in 1799.</p> +<p>Of Lord Hermand we have already had occasion to speak, as in +fact his name has become in some manner identified with that +conviviality which marked almost as a characteristic the Scottish +Bench of his time. He gained, however, great distinction as a +judge, and was a capital lawyer. When at the bar, Lords Newton and +Hermand were great friends, and many were the convivial meetings +they enjoyed together. But Lord Hermand outlived all his old +last-century contemporaries, and formed with Lord Balgray what we +may consider the connecting links between the past and the present +race of Scottish lawyers.</p> +<p>Lord Kames was a keen agricultural experimentalist, and in his +<i>Gentleman Farmer</i> anticipated many modern improvements. He +was, however, occasionally too sanguine. "John," said he one day to +his old overseer, "I think we'll see the day when a man may carry +out as much chemical manure in his waistcoat pocket as will serve +for a whole field." "Weel," rejoined the other, "I am of opinion +that if your lordship were to carry out the dung in your waistcoat +pocket, ye might bring hame the crap in your greatcoat pocket."</p> +<p>We could scarcely perhaps offer a more marked difference between +habits <i>once</i> tolerated on the bench and those which now +distinguish the august seat of Senators of Justice, than by +quoting, from <i>Kay's Portraits</i>, vol. ii. p. 278, a sally of a +Lord of Session of those days, which he played off, when sitting as +judge, upon a young friend whom he was determined to frighten. "A +young counsel was addressing him on some not very important point +that had arisen in the division of a common (or commonty, according +to law phraseology), when, having made some bold averment, the +judge exclaimed, 'That's a lee, Jemmie,' 'My lord!' ejaculated the +amazed barrister. 'Ay, ay, Jemmie; I see by your face ye're +leein'.' 'Indeed, my lord, I am not.' 'Dinna tell me that; it's no +in your memorial (brief)--awa wi' you;' and, overcome with +astonishment and vexation, the discomfited barrister left the bar. +The judge thereupon chuckled with infinite delight; and beckoning +to the clerk who attended on the occasion, he said, 'Are ye no +Rabbie H----'s man?' 'Yes, my lord.' 'Wasna Jemmie----leein'?' 'Oh +no, my lord.' 'Ye're quite sure?' Oh yes.' 'Then just write out +what you want, and I'll sign it; my faith, but I made Jemmie +stare.' So the decision was dictated by the clerk, and duly signed +by the judge, who left the bench highly diverted with the fright he +had given his young friend." Such scenes enacted in court +<i>now</i> would astonish the present generation, both of lawyers +and of suitors.</p> +<p>We should not do justice to our Scottish Reminiscences of judges +and lawyers, if we omitted the once celebrated Court of Session +<i>jeu d'esprit</i> called the "Diamond Beetle Case." This +burlesque report of a judgment was written by George Cranstoun, +advocate, who afterwards sat in court as judge under the title of +Lord Corehouse. Cranstoun was one of the ablest lawyers of his +time; he was a prime scholar, and a man of most refined taste and +clear intellect. This humorous and clever production was printed in +a former edition of these Reminiscences, and in a very flattering +notice of the book which appeared in the <i>North British +Review</i>, the reviewer--himself, as is well known, a +distinguished member of the Scottish judicial bench--remarks: "We +are glad that the whole of the 'Diamond Beetle' by Cranstoun has +been given; for nothing can be more graphic, spirited, and +ludicrous, than the characteristic speeches of the learned judges +who deliver their opinions in the case of defamation." As copies of +this very clever and jocose production are not now easily obtained, +and as some of my younger readers may not have seen it, I have +reprinted it in this edition. Considered in the light of a memorial +of the bench, as it was known to a former generation, it is well +worth preserving; for, as the editor of <i>Kay's Portraits</i> well +observes, although it is a caricature, it is entirely without +rancour, or any feeling of a malevolent nature towards those whom +the author represents as giving judgment in the "Diamond Beetle" +case. And in no way could the involved phraseology of Lord +Bannatyne, the predilection for Latin quotation of Lord Meadowbank, +the brisk manner of Lord Hermand, the anti-Gallic feeling of Lord +Craig, the broad dialect of Lords Polkemmet and Balmuto, and the +hesitating manner of Lord Methven, be more admirably +caricatured.</p> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>FULL COPY OF THE FINDING OF THE COURT IN THE ONCE CELEBRATED +"DIAMOND BEETLE CASE<a name="FNanchor47"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_47">[47]</a>."</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p><i>Speeches taken at advising the Action of Defamation and +Damages,</i> ALEXANDER CUNNINGHAM, <i>Jeweller in Edinburgh, +against</i> JAMES EUSSELL, <i>Surgeon there</i>.</p> +</div> +</div> +<br> +<p>"THE LORD PRESIDENT (Sir ILAY CAMPBELL).-- Your Lordships have +the petition of Alexander Cunningham against Lord Bannatyne's +interlocutor. It is a case of defamation and damages for calling +the petitioner's <i>Diamond Beetle</i> an <i>Egyptian Louse</i>. +You have the Lord Ordinary's distinct interlocutor, on pages 29 and +30 of this petition:--'Having considered the Condescendence of the +pursuer, Answers for the defender,' and so on; 'Finds, in respect +that it is not alleged that the diamonds on the back of the Diamond +Beetle are real diamonds, or anything but shining spots, such as +are found on other Diamond Beetles, which likewise occur, though in +a smaller number, on a great number of other Beetles, somewhat +different from the Beetle libelled, and similar to which there may +be Beetles in Egypt, with shining spots on their backs, which may +be termed Lice there, and may be different not only from the common +Louse, but from the Louse mentioned by Moses as one of the plagues +of Egypt, which is admitted to be a filthy troublesome Louse, even +worse than the said Louse, which is clearly different from the +Louse libelled. But that the other Louse is the same with, or +similar to, the said Beetle, which is also the same with the other +Beetle; and although different from the said Beetle libelled, yet, +as the said Beetle is similar to the other Beetle, and the said +Louse to the other Louse libelled; and the other Louse to the other +Beetle, which is the same with, or similar to, the Beetle which +somewhat resembles the Beetle libelled; assoilzies the defender, +and finds expenses due.'</p> +<p>"Say away, my Lords.</p> +<p>"LORD MEADOWBANK.--This is a very intricate and puzzling +question, my Lord. I have formed no decided opinion; but at present +I am rather inclined to think the interlocutor is right, though not +upon the <i>ratio</i> assigned in it. It appears to me that there +are two points for consideration. <i>First</i>, whether the words +libelled amount to a <i>convicium</i> against the Beetle; and +<i>Secondly</i>, admitting the <i>convicium</i>, whether the +pursuer is entitled to found upon it in this action. Now, my Lords, +if there be a <i>convicium</i> at all, it consists in the +<i>comparatio</i> or comparison of the <i>Scaraboeus</i> or Beetle +with the Egyptian <i>Pediculus</i> or <i>Louse</i>. My first doubt +regards this point, but it is not at all founded on what the +defender alleges, that there is no such animal as an Egyptian +<i>Pediculus</i> or <i>Louse in rerum natura</i>; for though it +does not <i>actually</i> exist, it may <i>possibly</i> exist (if +not in <i>actio</i>, yet in <i>potentia</i>--if not in actuality, +yet in potentiality or capacity); and whether its existence be in +<i>esse vel posse</i>, is the same thing to this question, provided +there be <i>termini habiles</i> for ascertaining what it would be +if it did exist. But my doubt is here:--How am I to discover what +are the <i>essentia</i> of any Louse, whether Egyptian or not? It +is very easy to describe its accidents as a naturalist would do--to +say that it belongs to the tribe of <i>Aptera</i> (or, that is, a +yellow, little, greedy, filthy, despicable reptile), but we do not +learn from this what the <i>proprium</i> of the animal is in a +logical sense, and still less what its <i>differentia</i> are. Now, +without these it is impossible to judge whether there is a +<i>convicium</i> or not; for, in a case of this kind, which +<i>sequitur naturam delicti</i>, we must take them <i>meliori +sensu</i>, and presume the <i>comparatio</i> to be <i>in melioribus +tantum</i>. And here I beg that parties, and the bar in +general--[interrupted by Lord Hermand: <i>Your Lordship should +address yourself to the Chair</i>]--I say, I beg it may be +understood that I do not rest my opinion on the ground that +<i>veritas convicii excusat</i>. I am clear that although this +Beetle actually were an Egyptian Louse, it would accord no relevant +defence, provided the calling it so were a <i>convicium</i>; and +there my doubt lies.</p> +<p>"With regard to the second point, I am satisfied that the +<i>Scaraboeus</i> or Beetle itself has no <i>persona standi in +judicio</i>; and therefore the pursuer cannot insist in the name of +the <i>Scaraboeus</i>, or for his behoof. If the action lie at all, +it must be at the instance of the pursuer himself, as the <i>verus +dominus</i> of the <i>Scaraboeus</i>, for being calumniated through +the <i>convicium</i> directed primarily against the animal standing +in that relation to him. Now, abstracting from the qualification of +an actual <i>dominium</i>, which is not alleged, I have great +doubts whether a mere <i>convicium</i> is necessarily transmitted +from one object to another, through the relation of a +<i>dominium</i> subsisting between them; and if not necessarily +transmissible, we must see the principle of its actual transmission +here; and that has not yet been pointed out.</p> +<p>"LORD HERMAND.--We heard a little ago, my Lord, that there is a +difficulty in this case; but I have not been fortunate enough, for +my part, to find out where the difficulty lies. Will any man +presume to tell me that a Beetle is not a Beetle, and that a Louse +is not a Louse? I never saw the petitioner's Beetle, and what's +more I don't care whether I ever see it or not; but I suppose it's +like other Beetles, and that's enough for me.</p> +<p>"But, my Lord, I know the other reptile well. I have seen them, +I have felt them, my Lord, ever since I was a child in my mother's +arms; and my mind tells me that nothing but the deepest and +blackest malice rankling in the human breast could have suggested +this comparison, or led any man to form a thought so injurious and +insulting. But, my Lord, there's more here than all that--a great +deal more. One could have thought the defender would have gratified +his spite to the full by comparing the Beetle to a common Louse--an +animal sufficiently vile and abominable for the purpose of +defamation--[<i>Shut that door there</i>]--but he adds the epithet +<i>Egyptian</i>, and I know well what he means by that epithet. He +means, my Lord, a Louse that has been fattened on the head of a +<i>Gipsy or Tinker</i>, undisturbed by the comb or nail, and +unmolested in the enjoyment of its native filth. He means a Louse +grown to its full size, ten times larger and ten times more +abominable than those with which <i>your Lordships and I are +familiar</i>. The petitioner asks redress for the injury so +atrocious and so aggravated; and, as far as my voice goes, he shall +not ask it in vain.</p> +<p>"LORD CRAIG.--I am of the opinion last delivered. It appears to +me to be slanderous and calumnious to compare a Diamond Beetle to +the filthy and mischievous animal libelled. By an Egyptian Louse I +understand one which has been formed on the head of a native +Egyptian--a race of men who, after degenerating for many centuries, +have sunk at last into the abyss of depravity, in consequence of +having been subjugated for a time by the French. I do not find that +Turgot, or Condorcet, or the rest of the economists, ever reckoned +the combing of the head a species of productive labour; and I +conclude, therefore, that wherever French principles have been +propagated, <i>Lice</i> grow to an immoderate size, especially in a +warm climate like that of Egypt. I shall only add, that we ought to +be sensible of the blessings we enjoy under a free and happy +Constitution, where Lice and men live under the restraint of equal +laws the only equality that can exist in a well-regulated +state.</p> +<p>"LORD POLKEMMET.--It should be observed, my Lord, that what is +called a Beetle is a reptile very well known in this country. I +have seen mony are o' them in Drumshorlin Muir; it is a little +black beastie, about the size of my thoom-nail. The country-folks +ca' them Clocks; and I believe they ca' them also +Maggy-wi'-the-mony-feet; but they are not the least like any Louse +that ever I saw; so that, in my opinion, though the defender may +have made a blunder through ignorance, in comparing them, there +does not seem to have been any <i>animus injuriandi</i>; therefore +I am for refusing the petition, my Lords.</p> +<p>"LORD BALMUTO.--'Am<a name="FNanchor48"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_48">[48]</a> for refusing the petition. There's more +Lice than Beetles in Fife. They ca' them Clocks there. What they +ca' a Beetle is a thing as lang as my arm; thick at one end and +sma' at the other. I thought, when I read the petition, that the +Beetle or Bittle had been the thing that the women have when they +are washing towels or napery with--things for dadding them with; +and I see the petitioner is a jeweller till his trade; and I +thought he had are o' thae Beetles, and set it all round with +diamonds; and I thought it a foolish and extravagant idea; and I +saw no resemblance it could have to a Louse. But I find I was +mistaken, my Lord; and I find it only a Beetle-clock the petitioner +has; but my opinion's the same as it was before. I say, my Lords, +'am for refusing the petition, I say--</p> +<p>"LORD WOODHOUSELEE.--There is a case abridged in the third +volume of the <i>Dictionary of Decisions</i>, Chalmers <i>v.</i> +Douglas, in which it was found that <i>veritas convicii +excusat</i>, which may be rendered not literally, but in a free and +spirited manner, according to the most approved principles of +translation, 'the truth of calumny affords a relevant defence.' If, +therefore, it be the law of Scotland (which I am clearly of opinion +it is) that the truth of the calumny affords a relevant defence, +and if it be likewise true that the Diamond Beetle is really an +Egyptian Louse, I am inclined to conclude (though certainly the +case is attended with difficulty) that the defender ought to be +assoilzied.--<i>Refuse</i>.</p> +<p>"LORD JUSTICE-CLERK (RAE).--I am very well acquainted with the +defender in this action, and have respect for him, and esteem him +likewise. I know him to be a skilful and expert surgeon, and also a +good man; and I would do a great deal to serve him or to be of use +to him, if I had it in my power to do so. But I think on this +occasion he has spoken rashly, and I fear foolishly and improperly. +I hope he had no bad intention--I am sure he had not. But the +petitioner (for whom I have likewise a great respect, because I +knew his father, who was a very respectable baker in Edinburgh, and +supplied my family with bread, and very good bread it was, and for +which his accounts were regularly discharged), it seems, has a +Clock or a Beetle, I think it is called a Diamond Beetle, which he +is very fond of, and has a fancy for, and the defender has compared +it to a Louse, or a Bug, or a Flea, or a worse thing of that kind, +with a view to render it despicable or ridiculous, and the +petitioner so likewise, as the proprietor or owner thereof. It is +said that this is a Louse <i>in fact</i>, and that the <i>veritas +convicii excusat</i>; and mention is made of a decision in the case +of Chalmers <i>v.</i> Douglas. I have always had a great veneration +for the decisions of your Lordships; and I am sure will always +continue to have while I sit here; but that case was determined by +a very small majority, and I have heard your Lordships mention it +on various occasions, and you have always desiderated the propriety +of it, and I think have departed from it in some instances. I +remember the circumstances of the case well:--Helen Chalmers lived +in Musselburgh, and the defender, Mrs. Douglas, lived in Fisherrow; +and at that time there was much intercourse between the genteel +inhabitants of Fisherrow, and Musselburgh, and Inveresk, and +likewise Newbigging; and there were balls, or dances, or assemblies +every fortnight, or oftener, and also sometimes I believe every +week; and there were card-parties, assemblies once a fortnight, or +oftener; and the young people danced there also, and others played +at cards, and there were various refreshments, such as tea and +coffee, and butter and bread, and I believe, but I am not sure, +porter and negus, and likewise small beer. And it was at one of +these assemblies that Mrs. Douglas called Mrs. Chalmers very +improper names. And Mrs. Chalmers brought an action of defamation +before the Commissaries, and it came by advocation into this Court, +and your Lordships allowed a proof of the <i>veritas convicii</i>, +and it lasted a very long time, and in the end answered no good +purpose even to the defender herself, while it did much hurt to the +pursuer's character. I am therefore for REFUSING such a proof in +this case, and I think the petitioner in this case and his Beetle +have been slandered, and the petition ought to be seen.</p> +<p>"LORD METHVEN.--If I understand this--a--a--a--interlocutor, it +is not said that the--a--a--a--a--Egyptian Lice are Beetles, but +that they may be, or--a--a--a--a--resemble Beetles. I am therefore +for sending the process to the Ordinary to ascertain the fact, as I +think it depends upon that whether there +be--a--a--a--a--<i>convicium</i> or not. I think also the +petitioner should be ordained to--a--a--a--produce his Beetle, and +the defender an Egyptian Louse or <i>Pediculus</i>, and if he has +not one, that he should take a diligence--a--a--a--against havers +to recover Lice of various kinds; and these may be remitted to Dr. +Monro, or Mr. Playfair, or to some other naturalist, to report upon +the subject.</p> +<p>"Agreed to."</p> +<p>This is clearly a Reminiscence of a bygone state of matters in +the Court of Session. I think every reader in our day, of the once +famous Beetle case, will come to the conclusion that, making all +due allowance for the humorous embellishment of the description, +and even for some exaggeration of caricature, it describes what was +once a real state of matters, which, he will be sure, is real no +more. The day of Judges of the Balmuto-Hermand-Polkemmet class has +passed away, and is become a Scottish <i>Reminiscence</i>. Having +thus brought before my readers some Reminiscences of past times +from the Courts of Justice, let me advert to one which belongs to, +or was supposed to belong to, past days of our Scottish +universities. It is now a matter of tradition. But an idea +prevailed, whether correctly or incorrectly, some eighty or a +hundred years ago, that at northern colleges degrees were regularly +sold, and those who could pay the price obtained them, without +reference to the merits or attainments of those on whom they were +conferred. We have heard of divers jokes being passed on those who +were supposed to have received such academical honours, as well as +on those who had given them. It is said Dr Samuel Johnson joined in +this sarcastic humour. But his prejudices both against Scotland and +Scottish literature were well known. Colman, in his amusing play of +the "Heir at Law," makes his Dr. Pangloss ludicrously describe his +receiving an LL.D. degree, on the grounds of his own celebrity (as +he had never seen the college), and his paying the heads one pound +fifteen shillings and threepence three farthings as a handsome +compliment to them on receiving his diploma. Colman certainly had +studied at a northern university. But he might have gone into the +idea in fun. However this may be, an anecdote is current in the +east of Scotland, which is illustrative of this real or supposed +state of matters, to which we may indeed apply the Italian phrase +that if "non vero" it is "ben trovato." The story is this:--An East +Lothian minister, accompanied by his man, who acted as betheral of +his parish, went over to a northern university to purchase his +degree, and on their return home he gave strict charge to his man, +that as now he was invested with academical honour, he was to be +sure to say, if any one asked for the minister, "O yes, the Doctor +is at home, or the Doctor is in the study, or the Doctor is out, as +the case might be." The man at once acquiesced in the propriety of +this observance on account of his master's newly-acquired dignity. +But he quietly added, "Ay, ay, minister; an' if ony are speirs for +me, the servants maun be sure to say, Oh, the Doctor's in the +stable, or the Doctor's in the kitchen, or the Doctor's in the +garden or the field." "What do you mean, Dauvid?" exclaimed his +astonished master; "what can <i>you</i> have to do with Doctor?" +"Weel, ye see, sir," said David, looking very knowing, "when ye got +your degree, I thought that as I had saved a little money, I +couldna lay it out better, as being betheral of the church, than +tak out a degree to mysell." The story bears upon the practice, +whether a real or a supposed one; and we may fairly say that under +such principals as Shairp, Tulloch, Campbell, Barclay, who now +adorn the Scottish universities, we have a guarantee that such +reports must continue to be Reminiscence and traditional only.</p> +<blockquote>FOOTNOTES:</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_42"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor42">[42]</a> Bear.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_43"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor43">[43]</a> Rev. R. Scott of Cranwell.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_44"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor44">[44]</a> I have derived some information from a +curious book, "Kay's Portraits," 2 vols. The work is scarcely known +in England, and is becoming rare in Scotland. "Nothing can be more +valuable in the way of engraved portraits than these +representations of the distinguished men who adorned Edinburgh in +the latter part of the eighteenth +century."--<i>Chambers</i>.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_45"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor45">[45]</a> Origin and Progress of +Language.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_46"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor46">[46]</a> Douglas' Peerage, vol. i. p. +22.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_47"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor47">[47]</a> The version I have given of this amusing +burlesque was revised by the late Mr. Pagan, Cupar-Fife, and +corrected from his own manuscript copy, which he had procured from +authentic sources about forty years ago.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_48"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor48">[48]</a> His Lordship usually pronounced <i>I +am</i>--<i>Aum</i>.</blockquote> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_THE_SIXTH."></a>CHAPTER THE SIXTH.</h2> +<h3>ON HUMOUR PROCEEDING FROM SCOTTISH EXPRESSIONS,<br> +INCLUDING SCOTTISH PROVERBS.</h3> +<br> +<p>We come next to Reminiscences which are chiefly connected with +peculiarities of our Scottish LANGUAGE, whether contained in words +or in expressions. I am quite aware that the difference between the +anecdotes belonging to this division and to the last division +termed "Wit and Humour" is very indistinct, and must, in fact, in +many cases, be quite arbitrary. Much of what we enjoy most in +Scottish stories is not on account of wit properly so called, in +the speaker, but I should say rather from the odd and unexpected +view which is taken of some matter, or from the quaint and original +turn of the expression made use of, or from the simple and +matter-of-fact reference made to circumstances which are unusual. I +shall not, therefore, be careful to preserve any strict line of +separation between this division and the next. Each is conversant +with what is amusing and with what is Scotch. What we have now +chiefly to illustrate by suitable anecdotes is peculiarities of +Scottish language--its various humorous turns and odd +expressions.</p> +<p>We have now to consider stories where words and expressions, +which are peculiarly Scotch, impart the humour and the point. +Sometimes they are altogether incapable of being rendered in other +language. As, for example, a parishioner in an Ayrshire village, +meeting his pastor, who had just returned after a considerable +absence on account of ill health, congratulated him on his +convalescence, and added, anticipatory of the pleasure he would +have in hearing him again, "I'm unco yuckie to hear a blaud o' your +gab." This is an untranslatable form of saying how glad he should +be to hear his minister's voice again speaking to him the words of +salvation and of peace from the pulpit.</p> +<p>The two following are good examples of that Scottish style of +expression which has its own character. They are kindly sent by Sir +Archibald Dunbar. The first illustrates Scottish acute discernment. +A certain titled lady, well known around her country town for her +long-continued and extensive charities, which are not withheld from +those who least deserve them, had a few years since, by the +unexpected death of her brother and of his only son, become +possessor of a fine estate. The news soon spread in the +neighbourhood, and a group of old women were overheard in the +streets of Elgin discussing the fact. One of them said, "Ay, she +may prosper, for she has baith the prayers of the good and of the +bad."</p> +<p>The second anecdote is a delightful illustration of Mrs. +Hamilton's <i>Cottagers of Glenburnie</i>, and of the old-fashioned +Scottish pride in the <i>midden</i>. About twenty years ago, under +the apprehension of cholera, committees of the most influential +inhabitants of the county of Moray were formed to enforce a more +complete cleansing of its towns and villages, and to induce the +cottagers to remove their dunghills or dung-pits from too close a +proximity to their doors or windows. One determined woman, on the +outskirts of the town of Forres, no doubt with her future potato +crop in view, met the M.P. who headed one of these committees, +thus, "Noo, Major, ye may tak our lives, but ye'll no tak our +middens."</p> +<p>The truth is, many of the peculiarities which marked Scottish +society departed with the disuse of the Scottish dialect in the +upper ranks. I recollect a familiar example of this, which I may +well term a Reminiscence. At a party assembled in a county house, +the Earl of Elgin (grandfather of the present Earl) came up to the +tea-table, where Mrs. Forbes of Medwyn, one of the finest examples +of the past Scottish <i>lady</i>, was sitting, evidently much +engaged with her occupation. "You are fond of your tea, Mrs. +Forbes?" The reply was quite a characteristic one, and a pure +reminiscence of such a place and such interlocutors; "'Deed, my +Lord, I wadna gie my tea for your yerldom."</p> +<p>My aunt, the late Lady Burnett of Leys, was one of the class of +Scottish ladies I have referred to;--thoroughly a good woman and a +gentlewoman, but in dialect quite Scottish. For example, being +shocked at the sharp Aberdonian pronunciation adopted by her +children, instead of the broader Forfarshire model in which she had +been brought up, she thus adverted to their manner of calling the +<i>floor</i> of the room where they were playing: "What gars ye ca' +it '<i>fleer</i>?' canna ye ca' it '<i>flure</i>?' But I needna +speak; Sir Robert winna let me correc' your language."</p> +<p>In respect of language, no doubt, a very important change has +taken place in Scotland during the last seventy years, and which, I +believe, influences, in a greater degree than many persons would +imagine, the turn of thought and general modes and aspects of +society. In losing the old racy Scottish tongue, it seems as if +much originality of <i>character</i> was lost. I suppose at one +time the two countries of England and Scotland were considered as +almost speaking different languages, and I suppose also, that from +the period of the union of the crowns the language has been +assimilating. We see the process of assimilation going on, and ere +long amongst persons of education and birth very little difference +will be perceptible. With regard to that class, a great change has +taken place in my own time. I recollect old Scottish ladies and +gentlemen who really <i>spoke Scotch</i>. It was not, mark me, +speaking English with an accent. No; it was downright Scotch. Every +tone and every syllable was Scotch. For example, I recollect old +Miss Erskine of Dun, a fine specimen of a real lady, and daughter +of an ancient Scottish house, so speaking. Many people now would +not understand her. She was always <i>the lady</i>, notwithstanding +her dialect, and to none could the epithet vulgar be less +appropriately applied. I speak of more than forty years ago, and +yet I recollect her accost to me as well as if it were yesterday: +"I didna ken ye were i' the toun." Taking word and accents +together, an address how totally unlike what we now meet with in +society. Some of the old Scottish words which we can remember are +charming; but how strange they would sound to the ears of the +present generation! Fancy that in walking from church, and +discussing the sermon, a lady of rank should now express her +opinion of it by the description of its being, "but a hummelcorn +discourse." Many living persons can remember Angus old ladies who +would say to their nieces and daughters, "Whatna hummeldoddie o' a +mutch hae ye gotten?" meaning a flat and low-crowned cap. In +speaking of the dryness of the soil on a road in Lanarkshire, a +farmer said, "It stoors in an oor<a name="FNanchor49"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_49">[49]</a>." How would this be as tersely translated +into English? The late Duchess of Gordon sat at dinner next an +English gentleman who was carving, and who made it a boast that he +was thoroughly master of the Scottish language. Her Grace turned to +him and said, "Rax me a spaul o' that bubbly jock<a name= +"FNanchor50"></a><a href="#Footnote_50">[50]</a>." The unfortunate +man was completely <i>nonplussed</i>. A Scottish gentleman was +entertaining at his house an English cousin who professed himself +as rather knowing in the language of the north side of the Tweed. +He asked him what he supposed to be the meaning of the expression, +"ripin the ribs<a name="FNanchor51"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_51">[51]</a>." To which he readily answered, "Oh, it +describes a very fat man." I profess myself an out-and-out +Scotchman. I have strong national partialities--call them if you +will national prejudices. I cherish a great love of old Scottish +language. Some of our pure Scottish ballad poetry is unsurpassed in +any language for grace and pathos. How expressive, how beautiful +are its phrases! You can't translate them. Take an example of power +in a Scottish expression, to describe with tenderness and feeling +what is in human life. Take one of our most familiar phrases; as +thus:--We meet an old friend, we talk over bygone days, and +remember many who were dear to us both, once bright, and young, and +gay, of whom some remain, honoured, prosperous, and happy--of whom +some are under a cloud of misfortune or disgrace--some are broken +in health and spirits--some sunk into the grave; we recall old +familiar places--old companions, pleasures, and pursuits; as +Scotchmen our hearts are touched with these remembrances of</p> +<blockquote>AULD LANG SYNE.</blockquote> +<p>Match me the phrase in English. You can't translate it. The +fitness and the beauty lie in the felicity of the language. Like +many happy expressions, it is not transferable into another tongue, +just like the "simplex munditiis" of Horace, which describes the +natural grace of female elegance, or the [Greek: achaexithmon +gelasma] of Æschylus, which describes the bright sparkling of +the ocean in the sun.</p> +<p>I think the power of Scottish dialect was happily exemplified by +the late Dr. Adam, rector of the High School of Edinburgh, in his +translation of the Horatian expression "desipere in loco," which he +turned by the Scotch phrase "Weel-timed daffin';" a translation, +however, which no one but a Scotchman could appreciate. The +following humorous Scottish translation of an old Latin aphorism +has been assigned to the late Dr. Hill of St. Andrews: "<i>Qui bene +cepit dimidium facti fecit</i>" the witty Principal expressed in +Scotch, "Weel saipet (well soaped) is half shaven."</p> +<p>What mere <i>English</i> word could have expressed a distinction +so well in such a case as the following? I heard once a lady in +Edinburgh objecting to a preacher that she did not understand him. +Another lady, his great admirer, insinuated that probably he was +too "deep" for her to follow. But her ready answer was, "Na, na, +he's no just deep, but he's <i>drumly</i><a name= +"FNanchor52"></a><a href="#Footnote_52">[52]</a>"</p> +<p>We have a testimony to the value of our Scottish language from a +late illustrious Chancellor of the University of Edinburgh, the +force and authority of which no one will be disposed to question. +Lord Brougham, in speaking of improvements upon the English +language, makes these striking remarks:--</p> +<p>"The pure and classical language of Scotland must on no account +be regarded as a provincial dialect, any more than French was so +regarded in the reign of Henry V., or Italian in that of the first +Napoleon, or Greek under the Roman Empire. Nor is it to be in any +manner of way considered as a corruption of the Saxon; on the +contrary, it contains much of the old and genuine Saxon, with an +intermixture from the Northern nations, as Danes and Norse, and +some, though a small portion, from the Celtic. But in whatever way +composed, or from whatever sources arising, it is a national +language, used by the whole people in their early years, by many +learned and gifted persons throughout life, and in which are +written the laws of the Scotch, their judicial proceedings, their +ancient history; above all, their poetry.</p> +<p>"There can be no doubt that the English language would greatly +gain by being enriched with a number both of words and of phrases, +or turns of expression, now peculiar to the Scotch. It was by such +a process that the Greek became the first of tongues, as well +written as spoken....</p> +<p>"Would it not afford means of enriching and improving the +English language, if full and accurate glossaries of improved +Scotch words and phrases--those successfully used by the best +writers, both in prose and verse--were given, with distinct +explanation and reference to authorities? This has been done in +France and other countries, where some dictionaries accompany the +English, in some cases with Scotch synonyms, in others with +varieties of expression."--<i>Installation Address</i>, p. 63.</p> +<p>The Scotch, as a people, from their more guarded and composed +method of speaking, are not so liable to fall into that figure of +speech for which our Irish neighbours are celebrated--usually +called the Bull; some specimens, however, of that confusion of +thought, very like a bull, have been recorded of Scottish +interlocutors.</p> +<p>Of this the two following examples have been sent to me by a +kind friend.</p> +<p>It is related of a Scottish judge (who has supplied several +anecdotes of Scottish stories), that on going to consult a dentist, +who, as is usual, placed him in the professional chair, and told +his lordship that he must let him put his fingers into his mouth, +he exclaimed, "Na! na! ye'll aiblins <i>bite me</i>."</p> +<p>A Scottish laird, singularly enough the grandson of the learned +judge mentioned above, when going his round to canvass for the +county, at the time when the electors were chiefly confined to +resident proprietors, was asked at one house where he called if he +would not take some refreshment, hesitated, and said, "I doubt it's +treating, and may be ca'd <i>bribery</i>."</p> +<p>But a still more amusing specimen of this figure of speech was +supplied by an honest Highlander, in the days of sedan chairs. For +the benefit of my young readers I may describe the sedan chair as a +comfortable little carriage fixed to two poles, and carried by two +men, one behind and one before. A dowager lady of quality had gone +out to dinner in one of these "leathern conveniences," and whilst +she herself enjoyed the hospitality of the mansion up-stairs, her +bearers were profusely entertained downstairs, and partook of the +abundant refreshment offered to them. When my lady was to return, +and had taken her place in the sedan, her bearers raised the chair, +but she found no progress was made--she felt herself sway first to +one side, then to the other, and soon came bump upon the ground, +when Donald behind was heard shouting to Donald before (for the +bearers of sedans were always Highlanders), "Let her down, Donald, +man, <i>for she's drunk</i>."</p> +<p>I cannot help thinking that a change of national language +involves to some extent change of national character. Numerous +examples of great power in Scottish Phraseology, to express the +picturesque, the feeling, the wise, and the humorous, might be +taken from the works of Robert Burns, Ferguson, or Allan Ramsay, +and which lose their charms altogether when <i>unscottified</i>. +The speaker certainly seems to take a strength and character from +his words. We must now look for specimens of this racy and +expressive tongue in the more retired parts of the country. It is +no longer to be found in high places. It has disappeared from the +social circles of our cities. I cannot, however, omit calling my +reader's attention to a charming specimen of Scottish prose and of +Scottish humour of our own day, contained in a little book, +entitled "<i>Mystifications</i>" by Clementina Stirling Graham. The +scenes described in that volume are matters of pleasing +reminiscence, and to some of us who still remain "will recall that +blithe and winning face, sagacious and sincere, that kindly, cheery +voice, that rich and quiet laugh, that mingled sense and +sensibility, which met, and still to our happiness meet, in her +who, with all her gifts, never gratified her consciousness of these +powers so as to give pain to any human being<a name= +"FNanchor53"></a><a href="#Footnote_53">[53]</a>." These words, +written more than ten years ago, might have been penned yesterday; +and those who, like myself, have had the privilege of seeing the +authoress presiding in her beautiful mansion of Duntrune, will not +soon forget how happy, how gracious, and how young, old age may +be.</p> +<blockquote>"No fears to beat away--no strife to heal;<br> +The past unsighed for, and the future sure."</blockquote> +<p>In my early days the intercourse with the peasantry of +Forfarshire, Kincardineshire, and especially Deeside, was most +amusing--not that the things said were so much out of the common, +as that the language in which they were conveyed was picturesque, +and odd, and taking. And certainly it does appear to me that as the +language grows more uniform and conventional, less marked and +peculiar in its dialect and expressions, so does the character of +those who speak it become so. I have a rich sample of Mid-Lothian +Scotch from a young friend in the country, who describes the +conversation of an old woman on the property as amusing her by such +specimens of genuine Scottish raciness and humour. On one occasion, +for instance, the young lady had told her humble friend that she +was going to Ireland, and would have to undergo a sea voyage. +"Weel, noo, ye dinna mean that! Ance I thocht to gang across to +tither side o' the Queensferry wi' some ither folks to a fair, ye +ken; but juist whene'er I pat my fit in the boat, the boat gae +wallop, and my heart gae a loup, and I thocht I'd gang oot o' my +judgment athegither; so says I, Na, na, ye gang awa by yoursells to +tither side, and I'll bide here till sic times as ye come awa +back." When we hear our Scottish language at home, and spoken by +our own countrymen, we are not so much struck with any remarkable +effects; but it takes a far more impressive character when heard +amongst those who speak a different tongue, and when encountered in +other lands. I recollect hearing the late Sir Robert Liston +expressing this feeling in his own case. When our ambassador at +Constantinople, some Scotchmen had been recommended to him for a +purpose of private or of government business; and Sir Robert was +always ready to do a kind thing for a countryman. He found them out +in a barber's shop, waiting for being shaved in turn. One came in +rather late, and seeing he had scarcely room at the end of the +seat, addressed his countryman, "Neebour, wad ye sit a bit +<i>wast</i>?" What strong associations must have been called up, by +hearing in an eastern land such an expression in Scottish +tones.</p> +<p>We may observe here, that marking the course any person is to +take, or the direction in which any object is to be met with, by +the points of the compass, was a prevailing practice amongst the +older Scottish race. There could hardly be a more ludicrous +application of the test, than was furnished by an honest Highlander +in describing the direction which his medicine would <i>not</i> +take. Jean Gumming of Altyre, who, in common with her three +sisters, was a true soeur de charité, was one day taking her +rounds as usual, visiting the poor sick, among whom there was a +certain Donald MacQueen, who had been some time confined to his +bed. Miss Gumming, after asking him how he felt, and finding that +he was "no better," of course inquired if he had taken the medicine +which she had sent him; "Troth no, me lady," he replied. "But why +not, Donald?" she answered; "it was <i>very wrong</i>; how can you +expect to get better if you do not help yourself with the remedies +which heaven provides for you?" "<i>V</i>right or <i>V</i>rang," +said Donald, "it wadna gang <i>wast</i> in spite o' me." In all the +north country, it is always said, "I'm ganging east or west," etc., +and it happened that Donald on his sick bed was lying east and +west, his feet pointing to the latter direction, hence his reply to +indicate that he could not swallow the medicine!</p> +<p>We may fancy the amusement of the officers of a regiment in the +West Indies, at the innocent remark of a young lad who had just +joined from Scotland. On meeting at dinner, his salutation to his +Colonel was, "Anither het day, Cornal," as if "het days" were in +Barbadoes few and far between, as they were in his dear old stormy +cloudy Scotland. Or take the case of a Scottish saying, which +indicated at once the dialect and the economical habits of a hardy +and struggling race. A young Scotchman, who had been some time in +London, met his friend recently come up from the north to pursue +his fortune in the great metropolis. On discussing matters +connected with their new life in London, the more experienced +visitor remarked upon the greater <i>expenses</i> there than in the +retired Scottish town which they had left. "Ay," said the other, +sighing over the reflection, "when ye get cheenge for a saxpence +here, it's soon slippit awa'." I recollect a story of my father's +which illustrates the force of dialect, although confined to the +inflections of a single monosyllable. On riding home one evening, +he passed a cottage or small farm-house, where there was a +considerable assemblage of people, and an evident incipient +merry-making for some festive occasion. On asking one of the lasses +standing about, what it was, she answered, "Ou, it's just a wedding +o' Jock Thamson and Janet Frazer." To the question, "Is the bride +rich?" there was a plain quiet "Na." "Is she young?" a more +emphatic and decided "Naa!" but to the query, "Is she bonny?" a +most elaborate and prolonged shout of "Naaa!"</p> +<p>It has been said that the Scottish dialect is peculiarly +powerful in its use of <i>vowels</i>, and the following dialogue +between a shopman and a customer has been given as a specimen. The +conversation relates to a plaid hanging at the shop door--</p> +<p><i>Cus</i>. (inquiring the material), Oo? (wool?)</p> +<p><i>Shop</i>. Ay, oo (yes, of wool).</p> +<p><i>Cus</i>. A' oo? (all wool?)</p> +<p><i>Shop</i>. Ay, a' oo (yes, all wool).</p> +<p><i>Cus</i>. A' ae oo? (all same wool?)</p> +<p><i>Shop</i>. Ay a' ae oo (yes, all same wool).</p> +<p>An amusing anecdote of a pithy and jocular reply, comprised in +one syllable, is recorded of an eccentric legal Scottish +functionary of the last century. An advocate, of whose professional +qualifications he had formed rather a low estimate, was complaining +to him of being passed over in a recent appointment to the bench, +and expressed his sense of the injustice with which he had been +treated. He was very indignant at his claims and merit being +overlooked in their not choosing him for the new judge, adding with +much acrimony, "And I can tell you they might have got a +'waur<a name="FNanchor54"></a><a href="#Footnote_54">[54]</a>.'" To +which, as if merely coming over the complainant's language again, +the answer was a grave "Whaur<a name="FNanchor55"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_55">[55]</a>?" The merit of the impertinence was, that +it sounded as if it were merely a repetition of his friend's last +words, waur and whaur. It was as if "<i>echo</i> answered whaur?" +As I have said, the oddity and acuteness of the speaker arose from +the manner of expression, not from the thing said. In fact, the +same thing said in plain English would be mere commonplace. I +recollect being much amused with a dialogue between a late +excellent relative of mine and his man, the chief manager of a farm +which he had just taken, and, I suspect in a good measure manager +of the <i>farmer</i> as well. At any rate he committed to this +acute overseer all the practical details; and on the present +occasion had sent him to market to dispose of a cow and a pony, a +simple enough transaction, and with a simple enough result. The cow +was, brought back, the pony was sold. But the man's description of +it forms the point. "Well, John, have you sold the cow?" "Na, but I +<i>grippit</i> a chiel for the powny!" "<i>Grippit</i>" was here +most expressive. Indeed, this word has a significance hardly +expressed by any English one, and used to be very prevalent to +indicate keen and forcible tenacity of possession; thus a character +noted for avarice or sharp looking to self-interest was termed +"grippy." In mechanical contrivances, anything taking a close +adherence was called having a gude <i>grip</i>. I recollect in +boyish days, when on Deeside taking wasp-nests, an old man looking +on was sharply stung by one, and his description was, "Ane o' +them's grippit me fine." The following had an indescribable +piquancy, which arose from the <i>Scotticism</i> of the terms and +the manners. Many years ago, when accompanying a shooting party on +the Grampians, not with a gun like the rest, but with a botanical +box for collecting specimens of mountain plants, the party had got +very hot, and very tired, and very cross. On the way home, whilst +sitting down to rest, a gamekeeper sort of attendant, and a +character in his way, said, "I wish I was in the dining-room of +Fasque." Our good cousin the Rev. Mr. Wilson, minister of Farnel, +who liked well a quiet shot at the grouse, rather testily replied, +"Ye'd soon be <i>kickit</i> out o' that;" to which the other +replied, not at all daunted, "Weel, weel, then I wadna be far frae +the kitchen." A quaint and characteristic reply I recollect from +another farm-servant. My eldest brother had just been constructing +a piece of machinery which was driven by a stream of water running +through the home farmyard. There was a thrashing machine, a +winnowing machine, and circular saw for splitting trees into +paling, and other contrivances of a like kind. Observing an old +man, who had long been about the place, looking very attentively at +all that was going on, he said, "Wonderful things people can do +now, Robby!" "Ay," said Robby; "indeed, Sir Alexander, I'm thinking +gin Solomon were alive noo he'd be thocht naething o'!"</p> +<p>The two following derive their force entirely from the Scottish +turn of the expressions. Translated into English, they would lose +all point--at least, much of the point which they now have:--</p> +<p>At the sale of an antiquarian gentleman's effects in +Roxburghshire, which Sir Walter Scott happened to attend, there was +one little article, a Roman <i>patina</i>, which occasioned a good +deal of competition, and was eventually knocked down to the +distinguished baronet at a high price. Sir Walter was excessively +amused during the time of bidding to observe how much it excited +the astonishment of an old woman, who had evidently come there to +buy culinary utensils on a more economical principle. "If the +parritch-pan," she at last burst out--"If the parritch-pan gangs at +that, what will the kail-pat gang for?"</p> +<p>An ancestor of Sir Walter Scott joined the Stuart Prince in +1715, and, with his brother, was engaged in that unfortunate +adventure which ended in a skirmish and captivity at Preston. It +was the fashion of those times for all persons of the rank of +gentlemen to wear scarlet waistcoats. A ball had struck one of the +brothers, and carried part of this dress into his body, and in this +condition he was taken prisoner with a number of his companions, +and stripped, as was too often the practice in those remorseless +wars. Thus wounded, and nearly naked, having only a shirt on, and +an old sack about him, the ancestor of the great poet was sitting, +along with his brother and a hundred and fifty unfortunate +gentlemen, in a granary at Preston. The wounded man fell sick, as +the story goes, and vomited the scarlet cloth which the ball had +passed into the wound. "O man, Wattie," cried his brother, "if you +have a wardrobe in your wame, I wish you would vomit me a pair o' +breeks." But, after all, it was amongst the old ladies that the +great abundance of choice pungent Scottish expressions, such as you +certainly do not meet with in these days, was to be sought. In +their position of society, education either in England, or +education conducted by English teachers, has so spread in Scottish +families, and intercourse with the south has been so increased, +that all these colloquial peculiarities are fast disappearing. Some +of the ladies of this older school felt some indignation at the +change which they lived to see was fast going on. One of them being +asked if an individual whom she had lately seen was "Scotch," +answered with some bitterness, "I canna say; ye a' speak sae +<i>genteel</i> now that I dinna ken wha's Scotch." It was not +uncommon to find, in young persons, examples, some years ago, of an +attachment to the Scottish dialect, like that of the old lady. In +the life of P. Tytler, lately published, there is an account of his +first return to Scotland from a school in England. His family were +delighted with his appearance, manners, and general improvement; +but a sister did not share this pleasure unmixed, for being found +in tears, and the remark being made, "Is he not charming?" her +reply was, in great distress, "Oh yes, but he speaks English!"</p> +<p>The class of old Scottish ladies, marked by so many +peculiarities, generally lived in provincial towns, and never +dreamt of going from home. Many had never been in London, or had +even crossed the Tweed. But as Lord Cockburn's experience goes back +further than mine, and as he had special opportunities of being +acquainted with their characteristic peculiarities, I will quote +his animated description at page 57 of his <i>Memorials</i>. "There +was a singular race of old Scotch ladies. They were a delightful +set--strong-headed, warm-hearted, and high-spirited--merry even in +solitude; very resolute; indifferent about the modes and habits of +the modern world, and adhering to their own ways, so as to stand +out like primitive rocks above ordinary society. Their prominent +qualities of sense, humour, affection, and spirit, were embodied in +curious outsides, for they all dressed, and spoke, and did exactly +as they chose. Their language, like their habits, entirely Scotch, +but without any other vulgarity than what perfect naturalness is +sometimes mistaken for<a name="FNanchor56"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_56">[56]</a>."</p> +<p>This is a masterly description of a race now all but passed +away. I have known several of them in my early days; and amongst +them we must look for the racy Scottish peculiarities of diction +and of expression which, with them, are also nearly gone. Lord +Cockburn has given some illustrations of these peculiarities; and I +have heard others, especially connected with Jacobite partialities, +of which I say nothing, as they are in fact rather <i>strong</i> +for such a work as this. One, however, I heard lately as coming +from a Forfarshire old lady of this class, which bears upon the +point of "resolute" determination referred to in the learned +judge's description. She had been very positive in the disclaiming +of some assertion which had been attributed to her, and on being +asked if she had not written it, or something very like it, she +replied, "Na, na; I never <i>write</i> onything of consequence--I +may deny what I say, but I canna deny what I write."</p> +<p>Mrs. Baird of Newbyth, the mother of our distinguished +countryman the late General Sir David Baird, was always spoken of +as a grand specimen of the class. When the news arrived from India +of the gallant but unfortunate action of '84 against Hyder Ali, in +which her son, then Captain Baird, was engaged, it was stated that +he and other officers had been taken prisoners and chained together +two and two. The friends were careful in breaking such sad +intelligence to the mother of Captain Baird. When, however, she was +made fully to understand the position of her son and his gallant +companions, disdaining all weak and useless expressions of her own +grief, and knowing well the restless and athletic habits of her +son, all she said was, "Lord pity the chiel that's chained to our +Davie!"</p> +<p>It is only due to the memory of "our Davie," however, to add +that the "chiel" to whom he was chained, had, in writing home to +his friends, borne the highest testimony to the kindness and +consideration of Captain Baird, which he exercised towards him in +this uncomfortable alliance. General Baird was a first-rate +officer, and a fine noble character. He left home for active +service so soon (before he was fifteen) that his education had +necessarily been very imperfect. This deficiency he had always +himself through life deeply regretted. A military friend, and great +admirer of Sir David, used jocularly to tell a story of him--that +having finished the despatch which must carry home the news of his +great action, the capture of Seringapatam, as he was preparing to +sign it in great form, he deliberately took off his coat. "Why do +you take off your coat?" said his friend. To which the General +quietly answered, "Oh, it's to turn the muckle D in Dauvid."</p> +<p>The ladies of this class had certainly no affectation in +speaking of those who came under their displeasure, even when life +and death were concerned. I had an anecdote illustrative of this +characteristic in a well-known old lady of the last century, Miss +Johnstone of Westerhall. She had been extremely indignant that, on +the death of her brother, his widow had proposed to sell off the +old furniture of Westerhall. She was attached to it from old +associations, and considered the parting with it little short of +sacrilege. The event was, however, arrested by death, or, as she +describes the result, "The furniture was a' to be roupit, and we +couldna persuade her. But before the sale cam on, in God's gude +providence she just clinkit aff hersell." Of this same Miss +Johnstone another characteristic anecdote has been preserved in the +family. She came into possession of Hawkhill, near Edinburgh, and +died there. When dying, a tremendous storm of rain and thunder came +on, so as to shake the house. In her own quaint eccentric spirit, +and with no thought of profane or light allusions, she looked up, +and, listening to the storm, quietly remarked, in reference to her +departure, "Ech, sirs! what a nicht for me to be fleein' through +the air!" Of fine acute sarcasm I recollect hearing an expression +from a <i>modern</i> sample of the class, a charming character, but +only to a certain degree answering to the description of the +<i>older</i> generation. Conversation turning, and with just +indignation, on the infidel remarks which had been heard from a +certain individual, and on his irreverent treatment of Holy +Scripture, all that this lady condescended to say of him was, "Gey +impudent of him, I think."</p> +<p>A recorded reply of old Lady Perth to a French gentleman is +quaint and characteristic. They had been discussing the respective +merits of the cookery of each country. The Frenchman offended the +old Scottish peeress by some disparaging remarks on Scottish +dishes, and by highly preferring those of France. All she would +answer was, "Weel, weel, some fowk like parritch and some like +paddocks<a name="FNanchor57"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_57">[57]</a>."</p> +<p>Of this older race--the ladies who were, aged, fifty years +ago--no description could be given in bolder or stronger outline +than that which I have quoted from Lord Cockburn. I would pretend +to nothing more than giving a few further illustrative details from +my own experience, which may assist the representation by adding +some practical realities to the picture.</p> +<p>Several of them whom I knew in my early days certainly answered +to many of the terms made use of by his lordship. Their language +and expressions had a zest and peculiarity which are gone, and +which would not, I fear, do for modern life and times.</p> +<p>I have spoken of Miss Erskine of Dun, which is near Montrose. +She, however, resided in Edinburgh. But those I knew best had lived +many years in the then retired society of a country town. Some were +my own relations; and in boyish days (for they had not generally +much patience with boys) were looked up to with considerable awe as +very formidable personages. Their characters and modes of +expression in many respects remarkably corresponded with Lord +Cockburn's idea of the race. There was a dry Scottish humour which +we fear their successors do not inherit. One of these Montrose +ladies, Miss Nelly Fullerton, had many anecdotes told of her quaint +ways and sayings. Walking in the street one day, slippery from +frost, she fairly fell down. A young officer with much politeness +came forward and picked her up, earnestly asking her at the same +time, "I hope ma'am, you are no worse?" to which she very drily +answered, looking at him very steadily, "'Deed, sir, I'm just as +little the better." A few days after, she met her military +supporter in a shop. He was a fine tall youth, upwards of six feet +high, and by way of making some grateful recognition for his late +polite attention, she eyed him from head to foot, and as she was of +the opinion of the old Scotch lady who declared she "aye liked +bonny fowk," she viewed her young friend with much satisfaction, +but which she only evinced by the quaint remark, "Od, ye're a lang +lad; God gie ye grace."</p> +<p>I had from a relative or intimate friend of two sisters of this +school, well known about Glasgow, an odd account of what it seems, +from their own statement, had passed between them at a country +house, where they had attended a sale by auction. As the business +of the day went on, a dozen of silver spoons had to be disposed of; +and before they were put up for competition, they were, according +to the usual custom, handed round for inspection to the company. +When returned into the hands of the auctioneer, he found only +eleven. In great wrath, he ordered the door to be shut, that no one +might escape, and insisted on every one present being searched to +discover the delinquent. One of the sisters, in consternation, +whispered to the other, "Esther, ye hae nae gotten the spune?" to +which she replied, "Na; but I hae gotten Mrs. Siddons in my +pocket." She had been struck by a miniature of the great actress, +and had quietly pocketed it. The cautious reply of the sister was, +"Then just drop her, Esther." One of the sisterhood, a connection +of my own, had much of this dry Scottish humour. She had a lodging +in the house of a respectable grocer; and on her niece most +innocently asking, "if she was not very fond of her landlord," in +reference to the excellence of her apartments and the attention he +paid to her comfort, she demurred to the question on the score of +its propriety, by replying, "Fond of my landlord! that would be an +<i>unaccountable</i> fondness."</p> +<p>An amusing account was given of an interview and conversation +between this lady and the provost of Montrose. She had demurred at +paying some municipal tax with which she had been charged, and the +provost, anxious to prevent her getting into difficulty on the +subject, kindly called to convince her of the fairness of the +claim, and the necessity of paying it. In his explanation he +referred back to his own bachelor days when a similar payment had +been required from him. "I assure you, ma'am," he said, "when I was +in your situation I was called upon in a similar way for this tax;" +to which she replied, in quiet scorn, "In my situation! an' whan +were ye in my situation?--an' auld maid leevin' in a flat wi' an ae +lass." But the complaints of such imposts were urged in a very +humorous manner by another Montrose old lady, Miss Helen Carnegy of +Craigo; she hated paying taxes, and always pretended to +misunderstand their nature. One day, receiving a notice of such +payment signed by the provost (Thorn), she broke out: "I dinna +understand thae taxes; but I just think that when Mrs. Thorn wants +a new gown, the provost sends me a tax paper!" The good lady's +naïve rejection of the idea that she could be in any sense +"fond of her landlord," already referred to, was somewhat in unison +with a similar feeling recorded to have been expressed by the late +Mr. Wilson, the celebrated Scottish vocalist. He was taking lessons +from the late Mr. Finlay Dun, one of the most accomplished +musicians of the day. Mr. Dun had just returned from Italy, and, +impressed with admiration of the deep pathos, sentiment, and +passion of the Italian school of music, he regretted to find in his +pupil so lovely a voice and so much talent losing much of its +effect for want of feeling. Anxious, therefore, to throw into his +friend's performance something of the Italian expression, he +proposed to bring it out by this suggestion: "Now, Mr. Wilson, just +suppose that I am your lady love, and sing to me as you could +imagine yourself doing were you desirous of impressing her with +your earnestness and affection." Poor Mr. Wilson hesitated, +blushed, and, under doubt how far such a personification even in +his case was allowable, at last remonstrated, "Ay, Mr. Dun, ye +forget I'm a married man!" A case has been reported of a country +girl, however, who thought it possible there might be an excess in +such scrupulous regard to appearances. On her marriage-day, the +youth to whom she was about to be united said to her in a +triumphant tone, "Weel, Jenny, haven't I been unco ceevil?" +alluding to the fact that during their whole courtship he had never +even given her a kiss. Her quiet reply was, "Ou, ay, man; +<i>senselessly</i> ceevil."</p> +<p>One of these Montrose ladies and a sister lived together; and in +a very quiet way they were in the habit of giving little +dinner-parties, to which occasionally they invited their gentlemen +friends. However, gentlemen were not always to be had; and on one +occasion, when such a difficulty had occurred, they were talking +over the matter with a friend. The one lady seemed to consider such +an acquisition almost essential to the having a dinner at all. The +other, who did not see the same necessity, quietly adding, "But, +indeed, oor Jean thinks a man <i>perfect salvation</i>."</p> +<p>Very much of the same class of remarks was the following sly +observation of one of the sisterhood. At a well-known tea-table in +a country town in Forfarshire, the events of the day, grave and +gay, had been fully discussed by the assembled sisterhood. The +occasion was improved by an elderly spinster, as follows:--"Weel, +weel, sirs, these are solemn events--death and marriage--but ye ken +they're what we must a' come till." "Eh, Miss Jeany! ye have been +lang spared," was the arch reply of a younger member.</p> +<p>There was occasionally a pawky semi-sarcastic humour in the +replies of some of the ladies we speak of, that was quite +irresistible, of which I have from a friend a good illustration in +an anecdote well known at the time. A late well-known member of the +Scottish bar, when a youth, was somewhat of a dandy, and, I +suppose, somewhat short and sharp in his temper. He was going to +pay a visit in the country, and was making a great fuss about his +preparing and putting up his habiliments. His old aunt was much +annoyed at all this bustle, and stopped him by the somewhat +contemptuous question, "Whar's this you're gaun, Bobby, that ye mak +sic a grand wark about yer claes?" The young man lost temper, and +pettishly replied, "I'm going to the devil." "'Deed, Robby, then," +was the quiet answer, "ye needna be sae nice, he'll juist tak' ye +as ye are."</p> +<p>Ladies of this class had a quiet mode of expressing themselves +on very serious subjects, which indicated their quaint power of +description, rather than their want of feeling. Thus, of two +sisters, when one had died, it was supposed that she had injured +herself by an imprudent indulgence in strawberries and cream, of +which she had partaken in the country. A friend was condoling with +the surviving sister, and, expressing her sorrow, had added, "I had +hoped your sister was to live many years." To which her relative +replied--"Leeve! hoo could she leeve? she juist felled<a name= +"FNanchor58"></a><a href="#Footnote_58">[58]</a> hersell at Craigo +wi' straeberries and 'ream!" However, she spoke with the same +degree of coolness of her own decease. For when her friend was +comforting her in illness, by the hopes that she would, after +winter, enjoy again some of their country spring butter, she +exclaimed, without the slightest idea of being guilty of any +irreverence, "Spring butter! by that time I shall be buttering in +heaven." When really dying, and when friends were round her bed she +overheard one of them saying to another, "Her face has lost its +colour; it grows like a sheet of paper." The quaint spirit even +then broke out in the remark, "Then I'm sure it maun be +<i>broon</i> paper." A very strong-minded lady of the class, and, +in Lord Cockburn's language, "indifferent about modes and +habits<a name="FNanchor59"></a><a href="#Footnote_59">[59]</a>," +had been asking from a lady the character of a cook she was about +to hire. The lady naturally entered a little upon her moral +qualifications, and described her as a very decent woman; the +response to which was, "Oh, d--n her decency; can she make good +collops?"--an answer which would somewhat surprise a lady of Moray +Place now, if engaged in a similar discussion of a servant's +merits.</p> +<p>The Rev. Dr. Cook of Haddington supplies an excellent anecdote, +of which the point is in the dry Scottish answer: An old lady of +the Doctor's acquaintance, about seventy, sent for her medical +attendant to consult him about a sore throat, which had troubled +her for some days. Her medical man was ushered into her room, +decked out with the now prevailing fashion, a mustache and flowing +beard. The old lady, after exchanging the usual civilities, +described her complaint to the worthy son of Æsculapius. +"Well," says he, "do you know, Mrs. Macfarlane, I used to be much +affected with the very same kind of sore throat, but ever since I +allowed my mustache and beard to grow, I have never been troubled +with it." "Aweel, aweel," said the old lady drily, "that may be the +case, but ye maun prescribe some other method for me to get quit o' +the sair throat; for ye ken, doctor, I canna adopt <i>that</i> +cure."</p> +<p>Then how quaint the answer of old Mrs. Robison, widow of the +eminent professor of natural philosophy, and who entertained an +inveterate dislike to everything which she thought savoured of +<i>cant</i>. She had invited a gentleman to dinner on a particular +day, and he had accepted, with the reservation, "If I am +spared."--"Weel, weel," said Mrs. Robison; "if ye're deed, I'll no +expect ye."</p> +<p>I had two grand-aunts living at Montrose at that time--two Miss +Ramsays of Balmain. They were somewhat of the severe class---Nelly +especially, who was an object rather of awe than of affection. She +certainly had a very awful appearance to young apprehensions, from +the strangeness of her headgear. Ladies of this class Lord Cockburn +has spoken of as "having their peculiarities embodied in curious +outsides, as they dressed, spoke, and did exactly as they chose." +As a sample of such "curious outside and dress," my good aunt used +to go about the house with an immense pillow strapped over her +head--warm but formidable. These two maiden grand-aunts had invited +their niece to pay them a visit--an aunt of mine, who had made what +they considered a very imprudent marriage, and where considerable +pecuniary privations were too likely to accompany the step she had +taken. The poor niece had to bear many a taunt directed against her +improvident union, as for example:--One day she had asked for a +piece of tape for some work she had in hand as a young wife +expecting to become a mother. Miss Nelly said, with much point, +"Ay, Kitty, ye shall get a bit knittin' (<i>i.e.</i> a bit of +tape). We hae a'thing; we're no married." It was this lady who, by +an inadvertent use of a term, showed what was passing in her mind +in a way which must have been quite transparent to the bystanders. +At a supper which she was giving, she was evidently much annoyed at +the reckless and clumsy manner in which a gentleman was operating +upon a ham which was at table, cutting out great lumps, and +distributing them to the company. The lady said, in a very +querulous tone, "Oh, Mr. <i>Divot</i>, will you help Mrs. So and +So?"--divot being a provincial term for a turf or sod cut out of +the green, and the resemblance of it to the pieces carved out by +the gentleman evidently having taken possession of her imagination. +Mrs. Helen Carnegy of Craigo, already mentioned, was a thorough +specimen of this class. She lived in Montrose, and died in 1818, at +the advanced age of ninety-one. She was a Jacobite, and very +aristocratic in her feelings, but on social terms with many +burghers of Montrose, or Munross as it was called. She preserved a +very nice distinction of addresses, suited to the different +individuals in the town, according as she placed them in the scale +of her consideration. She liked a party at quadrille, and sent out +her servant every morning to invite the ladies required to make up +the game, and her directions were graduated thus:--"Nelly, ye'll +ging to Lady Carnegy's, and mak my compliments, and ask the +<i>honour</i> of her ladyship's company, and that of the Miss +Carnegys, to tea this evening; and if they canna come, ging to the +Miss Mudies, and ask the <i>pleasure</i> of their company; and if +they canna come, ye may ging to Miss Hunter and ask the +<i>favour</i> of her company and if she canna come, ging to Lucky +Spark and <i>bid her come</i>."</p> +<p>A great confusion existed in the minds of some of those +old-fashioned ladies on the subject of modern inventions and +usages. A Montrose old lady protested against the use of +steam-vessels, as counteracting the decrees of Providence in going +against wind and tide, vehemently asserting, "I would hae naething +to say to thae <i>im-pious</i> vessels." Another lady was equally +discomposed by the introduction of gas, asking, with much +earnestness, "What's to become o' the puir whales'?" deeming their +interests materially affected by this superseding of their oil. A +lady of this class, who had long lived in country retirement, +coming up to Edinburgh, was, after an absence of many years, going +along Princes Street about the time when the water-carts were +introduced for preventing the dust, and seeing one of them passing, +rushed from off the pavement to the driver, saying, "Man, ye're +<i>skailin'</i> a' the water." Such being her ignorance of modern +improvements.</p> +<p>There used to be a point and originality in expressions made use +of in regard to common matters, unlike what one finds now; for +example: A country minister had been invited, with his wife, to +dine and spend the night at the house of one of his lairds. Their +host was very proud of one of the very large beds which had just +come into fashion, and in the morning asked the lady how she had +slept in it. "Oh, vary well, sir; but, indeed, I thought I'd lost +the minister athegither."</p> +<p>Nothing, however, in my opinion, comes up to the originality and +point of the Montrose old maiden lady's most "exquisite reason" for +not subscribing to the proposed fund for organising a volunteer +corps in that town. It was at the time of expected invasion at the +beginning of the century, and some of the town magistrates called +upon her and solicited her subscription to raise men for the +service of the king--"Indeed," she answered right sturdily, "I'll +dae nae sic thing; I ne'er could raise a man <i>for mysell</i>, and +I'm no ga'in to raise men for King George."</p> +<p>Some curious stories are told of ladies of this class, as +connected with the novelties and excitement of railway travelling. +Missing their luggage, or finding that something has gone wrong +about it, often causes very terrible distress, and might be +amusing, were it not to the sufferer so severe a calamity. I was +much entertained with the earnestness of this feeling, and the +expression of it from an old Scotch lady whose box was not +forthcoming at the station where she was to stop. When urged to be +patient, her indignant exclamation was--"I can bear ony pairtings +that may be ca'ed for in God's providence; but I <i>canna stan' +pairtin' frae my claes</i>."</p> +<p>The following anecdote from the west exhibits a curious +confusion of ideas arising from the old-fashioned prejudice against +Frenchmen and their language, which existed in the last generation. +During the long French war, two old ladies in Stranraer were going +to the kirk; the one said to the other, "Was it no a wonderfu' +thing that the Breetish were aye victorious ower the French in +battle?" "Not a bit," said the other old lady; "dinna ye ken the +Breetish aye say their prayers before ga'in into battle?" The other +replied, "But canna the French say their prayers as weel?" The +reply was most characteristic, "Hoot! jabbering bodies, wha could +<i>understan'</i> them?"</p> +<p>Some of these ladies, as belonging to the old county families, +had very high notions of their own importance, and a great idea of +their difference from the burgher families of the town. I am +assured of the truth of the following naïve specimen of such +family pride:--One of the olden maiden ladies of Montrose called +one day on some ladies of one of the families in the neighbourhood, +and on being questioned as to the news of the town, said, "News! +oh, Bailie----'s eldest son is to be married." "And pray," was the +reply, "and pray, Miss ----, an' fa' ever heard o' a merchant i' +the toon o' Montrose <i>ha'in</i> an <i>eldest son</i>?" The good +lady thought that any privilege of primogeniture belonged only to +the family of <i>laird</i>.</p> +<p>It is a dangerous experiment to try passing off ungrounded +claims upon characters of this description. Many a clever sarcastic +reply is on record from Scottish ladies, directed against those who +wished to impose upon them some false sentiment. I often think of +the remark of the outspoken ancient lady, who, when told by her +pastor, of whose disinterestedness in his charge she was not quite +sure, that he "had a call from his Lord and Master to go," +replied--"'Deed, sir, the Lord micht hae ca'ed and ca'ed to ye lang +eneuch to Ouchtertoul (a very small stipend), and ye'd ne'er hae +letten on that ye heard him."</p> +<p>At the beginning of this century, when the fear of invasion was +rife, it was proposed to mount a small battery at the water-mouth +by subscription, and Miss Carnegy was waited on by a deputation +from the town-council. One of them having addressed her on the +subject, she heard him with some impatience, and when he had +finished, she said, "Are ye ane o' the toon-cooncil." He replied, +"I have that honour, ma'am." To which she rejoined, "Ye may hae +that <i>profit</i>, but honour ye hae nane;" and then to the point, +she added, "But I've been tell't that ae day's wark o' twa or three +men wad mount the cannon, and that it may be a' dune for twenty +shillings; now there's twa punds to ye." The councillor pocketed +the money and withdrew. On one occasion, as she sat in an easy +chair, having assumed the habits and privileges of age, Mr. +Mollison, the minister of the Established Kirk, called on her to +solicit for some charity. She did not like being asked for money, +and, from her Jacobite principles, she certainly did not respect +the Presbyterian Kirk. When he came in she made an inclination of +the head, and he said, "Don't get up, madam." She replied, "Get up! +I wadna rise out o' my chair for King George himsell, let abee a +whig minister."</p> +<p>This was plain speaking enough, but there is something quite +inimitable in the matter-of-factness of the following story of an +advertisement, which may tend to illustrate the Antiquary's remark +to Mrs. Macleuchar, anent the starting of a coach or fly to +Queensferry. A carrier, who plied his trade between Aberdeen and a +village considerably to the north of it, was asked by one of the +villagers, "Fan are ye gaen to the toon" (Aberdeen). To which he +replied, "I'll be in on Monanday, God willin' and weather +permitting an' on Tiseday, <i>fither or no</i>."</p> +<p>It is a curious subject the various shades of Scottish dialect +and Scottish expressions, commonly called Scotticisms. We mark in +the course of fifty years how some disappear altogether; others +become more and more rare, and of all of them we may say, I think, +that the specimens of them are to be looked for every year more in +the descending classes of society. What was common amongst peers, +judges, lairds, advocates, and people of family and education, is +now found in humbler ranks of life. There are few persons perhaps +who have been born in Scotland, and who have lived long in +Scotland, whom a nice southern ear might not detect as from the +north. But far beyond such nicer shades of distinction, there are +strong and characteristic marks of a Caledonian origin, with which +some of us have had practical acquaintance. I possess two curious, +and now, I believe, rather scarce, publications on the prevalent +Scotticisms of our speaking and writing. One is entitled +"Scotticisms designed to Correct Improprieties of Speech and +Writing," by Dr. Beattie of Aberdeen. The other is to the same +purpose, and is entitled, "Observations on the Scottish Dialect," +by the late Right Honourable Sir John Sinclair. Expressions which +were common in their days, and used by persons of all ranks, are +not known by the rising generation. Many amusing equivoques used to +be current, arising from Scotch people in England applying terms +and expressions in a manner rather surprising to southern ears. +Thus, the story was told of a public character long associated with +the affairs of Scotland, Henry Dundas (first Viscount Melville), +applying to Mr. Pitt for the loan of a horse "<i>the length</i> of +Highgate;" a very common expression in Scotland, at that time, to +signify the distance to which the ride was to extend. Mr. Pitt +good-humouredly wrote back to say that he was afraid he had not a +horse in his possession <i>quite so long</i> as Mr. Dundas had +mentioned, but he had sent the longest he had. There is a +well-known case of mystification, caused to English ears by the use +of Scottish terms, which took place in the House of Peers during +the examination of the Magistrates of Edinburgh touching the +particulars of the Porteous Mob in 1736. The Duke of Newcastle +having asked the Provost with what kind of shot the town-guard +commanded by Porteous had loaded their muskets, received the +unexpected reply, "Ou, juist sic as ane shutes dukes and sic like +fules wi'." The answer was considered as a contempt of the House of +Lords, and the poor provost would have suffered from misconception +of his patois, had not the Duke of Argyle (who must have been +exceedingly amused) explained that the worthy magistrate's +expression, when rendered into English, did not apply to Peers and +Idiots but to <i>ducks</i> and <i>water-fowl</i>. The circumstance +is referred to by Sir W. Scott in the notes to the Heart of +Mid-Lothian. A similar equivoque upon the double meaning of "Deuk" +in Scottish language supplied material for a poor woman's honest +compliment to a benevolent Scottish nobleman. John, Duke of +Roxburghe, was one day out riding, and at the gate of Floors he was +accosted by an importunate old beggar woman. He gave her +half-a-crown, which pleased her so much that she exclaimed, "Weel's +me on your <i>guse</i> face, for Duke's ower little tae ca' +ye."</p> +<p>A very curious list may be made of words used in Scotland in a +sense which would be quite unintelligible to Southerns. Such +applications are going out, but I remember them well amongst the +old-fashioned people of Angus and the Mearns quite common in +conversation. I subjoin some specimens:--</p> +<p><i>Bestial</i> signifies amongst Scottish agriculturists cattle +generally, the whole aggregate number of beasts on the farm. Again, +a Scottish farmer, when he speaks of his "hogs" or of buying +"hogs," has no reference to swine, but means young sheep, i.e. +sheep before they have lost their first fleece.</p> +<p><i>Discreet</i> does not express the idea of a prudent or +cautious person so much as of one who is not rude, but considerate +of the opinions of others. Such application of the word is said to +have been made by Dr. Chalmers to the late Henry, Bishop of Exeter. +These two eminent individuals had met for the first time at the +hospitable house of the late Mr. Murray, the publisher. On the +introduction taking place, the Bishop expressed himself so warmly +as to the pleasure it gave him to meet so distinguished and +excellent a man as Dr. Chalmers, that the Doctor, somewhat +surprised at such an unexpected ebullition from an English Church +dignitary, could only reply, "Oh, I am sure your lordship is very +'discreet<a name="FNanchor60"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_60">[60]</a>.'"</p> +<p><i>Enterteening</i> has in olden Scottish usage the sense not of +amusing, but interesting. I remember an honest Dandie Dinmont on a +visit to Bath. A lady, who had taken a kind charge of him, +accompanied him to the theatre, and in the most thrilling scene of +Kemble's acting, what is usually termed the dagger scene in +Macbeth, she turned to the farmer with a whisper, "Is not that +fine?" to which the confidential reply was, "Oh, mem, its verra +<i>enterteening!</i>" Enterteening expressing his idea of the +effect produced.</p> +<p><i>Pig</i>, in old-fashioned Scotch, was always used for a +coarse earthenware jar or vessel. In the Life of the late Patrick +Tytler, the amiable and gifted historian of Scotland, there occurs +an amusing exemplification of the utter confusion of ideas caused +by the use of Scottish phraseology. The family, when they went to +London, had taken with them an old Scottish servant who had no +notion of any terms beside her own. She came in one day greatly +disturbed at the extremely backward state of knowledge of domestic +affairs amongst the Londoners. She had been to so many shops and +could not get "a great broon pig to haud the butter in."</p> +<p>From a relative of the family I have received an account of a +still worse confusion of ideas, caused by the inquiry of a Mrs. +Chisholm of Chisholm, who died in London in 1825, at an advanced +age. She had come from the country to be with her daughter, and was +a genuine Scottish lady of the old school. She wished to purchase a +table-cloth of a cheque pattern, like the squares of a chess or +draught board. Now a draught-board used to be called (as I +remember) by old Scotch people a "dam<a name= +"FNanchor61"></a><a href="#Footnote_61">[61]</a> brod<a name= +"FNanchor62"></a><a href="#Footnote_62">[62]</a>." Accordingly, +Mrs. Chisholm entered the shop of a linen-draper, and asked to be +shown table-linen a <i>dam-brod pattern</i>. The shopman, although, +taken aback by a request, as he considered it, so strongly worded, +by a respectable old lady, brought down what he assured her was the +largest and widest made. No; that would not do. She repeated her +wish for a dam-brod pattern, and left the shop surprised at the +stupidity of the London shopman not having the pattern she asked +for.</p> +<p><i>Silly</i> has in genuine old Scottish use reference to +weakness of body only, and not of mind. Before knowing the use of +the word, I remember being much astonished at a farmer of the +Mearns telling me of the strongest-minded man in the county that he +was "uncommon silly," not insinuating any decline of mental vigour, +but only meaning that his bodily strength was giving way.</p> +<p><i>Frail</i>, in like manner, expresses infirmity of body, and +implies no charge of any laxity in moral principle; yet I have seen +English persons looking with considerable consternation when an +old-fashioned Scottish lady, speaking of a young and graceful +female, lamented her being so <i>frail</i>.</p> +<p><i>Fail</i> is another instance of different use of words. In +Scotland it used to be quite common to say of a person whose health +and strength had declined, that he had <i>failed</i>. To say this +of a person connected with mercantile business has a very serious +effect upon southern ears, as implying nothing short of bankruptcy +and ruin. I recollect many years ago at Monmouth, my dear mother +creating much consternation in the mind of the mayor, by saying of +a worthy man, the principal banker in the town, whom they both +concurred in praising, that she was "sorry to find he <i>was +failing</i>."</p> +<p><i>Honest</i> has in Scotch a peculiar application, irrespective +of any integrity of moral character. It is a kindly mode of +referring to an individual, as we would say to a stranger, "Honest +man, would you tell me the way to ----?" or as Lord Hermand, when +about to sentence a woman for stealing, began remonstratively, +"Honest woman, whatever garr'd ye steal your neighbour's tub?"</p> +<p><i>Superstitious</i>: A correspondent informs me that in some +parts of Mid-Lothian the people constantly use the word +"superstitious" for "bigoted;" thus, speaking of a very keen Free +Church person, they will say, "He is awfu' supperstitious."</p> +<p><i>Kail</i> in England simply expresses cabbage, but in Scotland +represents the chief meal of the day. Hence the old-fashioned easy +way of asking a friend to dinner was to ask him if he would take +his kail with the family. In the same usage of the word, the +Scottish proverb expresses distress and trouble in a person's +affairs, by saying that "he has got his kail through the reek." In +like manner haddock, in Kincardineshire and Aberdeenshire, used to +express the same idea, as the expression is, "Will ye tak your +haddock wi' us the day?" that fish being so plentiful and so +excellent that it was a standing dish. There is this difference, +however, in the local usage, that to say in Aberdeen, Will you take +your haddock? implies an invitation to dinner; whilst in Montrose +the same expression means an invitation to <i>supper</i>. +Differences of pronunciation also caused great confusion and +misunderstanding. Novels used to be pronounced no<i>vels</i>; envy +en<i>vy</i>; a cloak was a clock, to the surprise of an English +lady, to whom the maid said, on her leaving the house, "Mem, winna +ye tak the <i>clock</i> wi' ye?"</p> +<p>The names of children's diseases were a remarkable item in the +catalogue of Scottish words:--Thus, in 1775, Mrs. Betty Muirheid +kept a boarding-school for young ladies in the Trongate of Glasgow, +near the Tron steeple. A girl on her arrival was asked whether she +had had smallpox. "Yes, mem, I've had the sma'pox, the +nirls<a name="FNanchor63"></a><a href="#Footnote_63">[63]</a>, the +blabs<a name="FNanchor64"></a><a href="#Footnote_64">[64]</a>, the +scaw<a name="FNanchor65"></a><a href="#Footnote_65">[65]</a>, the +kinkhost<a name="FNanchor66"></a><a href="#Footnote_66">[66]</a>, +and the fever, the branks<a name="FNanchor67"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_67">[67]</a> and the worm<a name= +"FNanchor68"></a><a href="#Footnote_68">[68]</a>."</p> +<p>There is indeed a case of Scottish pronunciation which adds to +the force and copiousness of our language, by discriminating four +words, which, according to English speaking, are undistinguishable +in mere pronunciation. The words are--wright (a carpenter), to +write (with a pen), right (the reverse of wrong), rite (a +ceremony). The four are, however, distinguished in old-fashioned +Scotch pronunciation thus--1, He's a wiricht; 2, to wireete; 3, +richt; 4, rite.</p> +<p>I can remember a peculiar Scottish phrase very commonly used, +which now seems to have passed away. I mean the expression "to let +on," indicating the notice or observation of something, or of some +person.--For example, "I saw Mr. ---- at the meeting, but I never +let on that I knew he was present." A form of expression which has +been a great favourite in Scotland in my recollection has much gone +out of practice--I mean the frequent use of diminutives, generally +adopted either as terms of endearment or of contempt. Thus it was +very common to speak of a person whom you meant rather to +undervalue, as a <i>mannie</i>, a <i>boddie</i>, a <i>bit +boddie</i>, or a <i>wee bit mannie</i>. The Bailie in Rob Roy, when +he intended to represent his party as persons of no importance, +used the expression, "We are bits o' Glasgow bodies."</p> +<p>An admirable Scotch expression I recollect from one of the +Montrose ladies before referred to. Her niece was asking a great +many questions on some point concerning which her aunt had been +giving her information, and coming over and over the ground, +demanding an explanation how this had happened, and why something +else was so and so. The old lady lost her patience, and at last +burst forth: "I winna be <i>back-speired</i> noo, Pally Fullerton." +Back-speired! how much more pithy and expressive than +cross-examined! "He's not a man to ride the water on," expresses +your want of confidence and of trust in the character referred to. +Another capital expression to mark that a person has stated a point +rather under than over the truth, is, "The less I lee," as in Guy +Mannering, where the precentor exclaims to Mrs. MacCandlish, +"Aweel, gudewife, then the less I lee." We have found it a very +amusing task collecting together a number of these phrases, and +forming them into a connected epistolary composition. We may +imagine the sort of puzzle it would be to a young person of the +present day--one of what we may call the new school. We will +suppose an English young lady, or an English educated young lady, +lately married, receiving such a letter as the following from the +Scottish aunt of her husband. We may suppose it to be written by a +very old lady, who, for the last fifty years has not moved from +home, and has changed nothing of her early days. I can safely +affirm that every word of it I have either seen written in a +letter, or have heard in ordinary conversation:--</p> +<p class="loc">"<i>Montrose</i>, 1858<a name= +"FNanchor69"></a><a href="#Footnote_69">[69]</a>.</p> +<blockquote>"My Dear Niece--I am real glad to find my <i>nevy</i> +has made so good a choice as to have secured you for his wife; and +I am sure this step will add much to his comfort, and we +<i>behove</i> to rejoice at it. He will now look forward to his +evening at home, and you will be happy when you find you never +<i>want</i> him. It will be a great pleasure when you hear him in +the <i>trance</i>, and wipe his feet upon the <i>bass</i>. But +Willy is not strong, and you must look well after him. I hope you +do not let him <i>snuff</i> so much as he did. He had a sister, +poor thing, who died early. She was remarkably clever, and well +read, and most intelligent, but was always uncommonly +<i>silly</i><a name="FNanchor70"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_70">[70]</a> In the autumn of '40 she had a <i>sair +host</i>, and was aye <i>speaking through a cold</i>, and at dinner +never did more than to <i>sup a few family broth</i>. I am afraid +she did not <i>change her feet</i> when she came in from the wet +one evening. I never <i>let on</i> that I observed anything to be +wrong; but I remember asking her to come and <i>sit upon</i> the +fire. But she went out, and did not <i>take</i> the door with her. +She lingered till next spring, when she had a great +<i>income</i><a name="FNanchor71"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_71">[71]</a>, and her parents were then too poor to take +her south, and she died. I hope you will like the lassie Eppie we +have sent you. She is a <i>discreet</i> girl, and comes of a decent +family. She has a sister <i>married upon</i> a Seceding minister at +Kirkcaldy. But I hear he expects to be <i>transported</i> soon. She +was brought up in one of the <i>hospitals</i> here. Her father had +been a <i>souter</i> and a <i>pawky chiel</i> enough, but was +<i>doited</i> for many years, and her mother was <i>sair +dottled</i>. We have been greatly interested in the hospital where +Eppie was <i>educate</i>, and intended getting up a bazaar for it, +and would have asked you to help us, as we were most anxious to +raise some additional funds, when one of the Bailies died and left +it <i>feuing-stances</i> to the amount of 5000 pounds, which was +really a great <i>mortification</i>. I am not a good <i>hand of +write</i>, and therefore shall stop. I am very tired, and have been +<i>gantin</i><a name="FNanchor72"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_72">[72]</a> for this half-hour, and even in +correspondence gantin' may be <i>smittin'</i><a name= +"FNanchor73"></a><a href="#Footnote_73">[73]</a>. The +<i>kitchen</i><a name="FNanchor74"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_74">[74]</a> is just coming in, and I <i>feel</i> a +<i>smell of tea</i>, so when I get my <i>four hours,</i> that will +refresh me and set me up again.--I am, your affectionate +aunt,</blockquote> +<br> +<p class="loc">ISABEL DINGWALL."</p> +<br> +<br> +<p>This letter, then, we suppose written by a very old Forfarshire +lady to her niece in England, and perhaps the young lady who +received it might answer it in a style as strange to her aunt as +her aunt's is to her, especially if she belonged to that lively +class of our young female friends who indulge a little in +phraseology which they have imbibed from their brothers, or male +cousins, who have, perhaps for their amusement, encouraged them in +its use. The answer, then, might be something like this; and +without meaning to be severe or satirical upon our young lady +friends, I may truly say that, though I never heard from one young +lady <i>all</i> these fast terms, I have heard the most of them +separately from many:--</p> +<blockquote>"My Dear Aunty--Many thanks for your kind letter and +its enclosure. From my not knowing Scotch, I am not quite up to the +mark, and some of the expressions I don't <i>twig</i> at all. +Willie is absent for a few days, but when he returns home he will +explain it; he is quite <i>awake</i> on all such things. I am glad +you are pleased that Willie and I are now <i>spliced</i>. I am well +aware that you will hear me spoken of in some quarters as a +<i>fast</i> young lady. A man here had the impudence to say that +when he visited my husband's friends he would tell them so. I +quietly and civilly replied, 'You be blowed!' So don't believe him. +We get on famously at present. Willie comes home from the office +every afternoon at five. We generally take a walk before dinner, +and read and work if we don't go out; and I assure you we are very +<i>jolly</i>. We don't know many people here yet. It is rather a +<i>swell</i> neighbourhood; and if we can't get in with the +<i>nobs</i>, depend upon it we will never take up with any society +that is decidedly <i>snobby. I</i> daresay the girl you are sending +will be very useful to us; our present one is an awful <i>slow +coach</i>. In fact, the sending her to us was a regular <i>do</i>. +But we hope some day to sport <i>buttons</i>. My father and mother +paid us a visit last week. The <i>governor</i> is well, and, +notwithstanding years and infirmities, comes out quite a <i>jolly +old cove</i>. He is, indeed, if you will pardon the partiality of a +daughter, a regular <i>brick</i>. He says he will help us if we +can't get on, and I make no doubt will in due time <i>fork out the +tin</i>. I am busy working a cap for you, dear aunty; it is from a +pretty German pattern, and I think when finished will be quite a +<i>stunner</i>. There is a shop in Regent Street where I hire +patterns, and can get six of them for five <i>bob</i>. I then +return them without buying them, which I think a capital +<i>dodge</i>. I hope you will sport it for my sake at your first +<i>tea and turn out</i>.<br> +<br> +"I have nothing more to say particular, but am always<br> +<br> +<blockquote>"Your affectionate niece,</blockquote> +</blockquote> +<p class="loc">"ELIZA DINGWALL."</p> +<br> +<br> +<blockquote>"<i>P.S.</i>--I am trying to break Willie off his +horrid habit of taking snuff. I had rather see him take his cigar +when we are walking. You will be told, I daresay, that I sometimes +take a <i>weed</i> myself. It is not true, dear +aunty."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>Before leaving the question of change in Scottish expressions, +it may be proper to add a few words on the subject of Scottish +<i>dialects</i>--<i>i.e.</i>, on the differences which exist in +different counties or localities in the Scottish tongue itself. +These differences used to be as marked as different languages; of +course they still exist amongst the peasantry as before. The change +consists in their gradual vanishing from the conversation of the +educated and refined. The dialects with which I am most conversant +are the two which present the greatest contrast, viz. the Angus and +the Aberdeen, or the slow and broad Scotch--the quick and sharp +Scotch. Whilst the one talks of "Buuts and shoon," the other calls +the same articles "beets and sheen." With the Aberdonian "what" is +always "fat" or "fatten;" "music" is "meesic;" "brutes" are +"breets;" "What are ye duin'?" of southern Scotch, in Aberdeen +would be "Fat are ye deein'?" Fergusson, nearly a century ago, +noted this peculiarity of dialect in his poem of The Leith +Races:--</p> +<br> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>"The Buchan bodies through the beach,</p> +<p class="i1">Their bunch of Findrams cry;</p> +<p>And skirl out bauld in Norland speech,</p> +<p class="i1">Gude speldans <i>fa</i> will buy?"</p> +</div> +</div> +<br> +<p>"Findon," or "Finnan haddies," are split, smoked, and partially +dried haddocks. Fergusson, in using the word "<i>Findrams"</i>, +which is not found in our glossaries, has been thought to be in +error, but his accuracy has been verified singularly enough, within +the last few days, by a worthy octogenarian Newhaven fisherman, +bearing the characteristic name of Flucker, who remarked "that it +was a word commonly used in his youth; and, above all," he added, +"when Leith Races were held on the sands, he was like to be deeved +wi' the lang-tongued hizzies skirling out, '<i>Aell a Findram +Speldrains</i>,' and they jist ca'ed it that to get a better grip +o't wi' their tongues."</p> +<p>In Galloway, in 1684, Symson, afterwards an ousted Episcopalian +minister (of Kirkinner), notes some peculiarities in the speech of +the people in that district. "Some of the countrey people, +especially those of the elder sort, do very often omit the letter +'h' after 't' as ting for thing; tree for three; tatch for thatch; +wit for with; fait for faith; mout for mouth, etc.; and also, +contrary to some north countrey people, they oftentimes pronounce +'w' for 'v,' as serwant for servant; and so they call the months of +February, March, and April, the <i>ware</i> quarter, from +<i>ver</i><a name="FNanchor75"></a><a href="#Footnote_75">[75]</a>. +Hence their common proverb, speaking of the storms in February, +'<i>winter never comes till ware comes</i>.'" These peculiarities +of language have almost disappeared--the immense influx of Irish +emigrants during late years has exercised a perceptible influence +over the dialect of Wigtonshire.</p> +<p>When a southerner mentioned the death of a friend to a lady of +the granite city, she asked, "Fat dee'd he o'?" which being utterly +incomprehensible to the person asked, another Aberdonian lady +kindly explained the question, and put it into language which she +supposed <i>could</i> not be mistaken, as thus, "Fat did he dee +o'?" If there was this difference between the Aberdeen and the +Forfar dialect, how much greater must be that difference when +contrasted with the <i>ore rotundo</i> language of an English +southern dignitary. Such a one being present at a school +examination in Aberdeen wished to put some questions on Scripture +history himself, and asked an intelligent boy, "What was the +ultimate fate of Pharaoh?" This the boy not understanding, the +master put the same question Aberdonicé, "Jemmy, fat was the +hinner end o' Pharaoh?" which called forth the ready reply, "He was +drouned i' the Red Sea." A Forfarshire parent, dissatisfied with +his son's English pronunciation, remonstrated with him, "What for +div' ye say <i>why</i>? why canna ye say 'what for'?"</p> +<p>The power of Scottish phraseology, or rather of Scottish +<i>language</i>, could not be better displayed than in the +following Aberdonian description of London theatricals:--Mr. +Taylor, at one time well known in London as having the management +of the opera-house, had his father up from Aberdeen to visit him +and see the wonders of the capital. When the old man returned home, +his friends, anxious to know the impressions produced on his mind +by scenes and characters so different from what he had been +accustomed to at home, inquired what sort of business his son +carried on? "Ou," said he (in reference to the operatic singers and +the corps de ballet), "he just keeps a curn<a name= +"FNanchor76"></a><a href="#Footnote_76">[76]</a> o' +quainies<a name="FNanchor77"></a><a href="#Footnote_77">[77]</a> +and a wheen widdyfous<a name="FNanchor78"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_78">[78]</a>, and gars them fissle<a name= +"FNanchor79"></a><a href="#Footnote_79">[79]</a>, and loup, and mak +murgeons<a name="FNanchor80"></a><a href="#Footnote_80">[80]</a>, +to please the great fowk."</p> +<p>Another ludicrous interrogatory occurred regarding the death of +a Mr. Thomas Thomson. It appeared there were two cousins of this +name, both corpulent men. When it was announced that Mr. Thomas +Thomson was dead, an Aberdeen friend of the family asked, "Fatten +Thamas Thamson?" He was informed that it was a fat Thamas Thamson, +upon which the Aberdeen query naturally arose, "Ay, but fatten fat +Thamas Thamson?" Another illustration of the Aberdeen dialect is +thus given:--"The Pope o' Rome requires a bull to do his wark, but +the Emperor o' France made a coo dee't a'"--a cow do it all--a pun +on <i>coup d'état</i>. A young lady from Aberdeen had been +on a visit to Montrose, and was disappointed at finding there a +great lack of beaux, and balls, and concerts. This lack was not +made up to her by the invitations which she had received to dinner +parties. And she thus expressed her feelings on the subject in her +native dialect, when asked how she liked Montrose: "Indeed there's +neither men nor meesic, and fat care I for meat?" There is no male +society and no concerts, and what do I care for dinners? The +dialect and the local feelings of Aberdeen were said to have +produced some amusement in London, as displayed by the lady of the +Provost of Aberdeen when accompanying her husband going up +officially to the capital. Some persons to whom she had been +introduced recommended her going to the opera as one of the sights +worthy the attention of a stranger. The good lady, full of the +greatness of her situation as wife of the provost, and knowing the +sensation her appearance in public occasioned when in her own city, +and supposing that a little excitement would accompany her with the +London public, rather declined, under the modest plea, "Fat for +should I gang to the opera, just to creat a confeesion?" An aunt of +mine, who knew Aberdeen well, used to tell a traditionary story of +two Aberdonian ladies, who by their insinuations against each +other, finely illustrated the force of the dialect then in common +use. They had both of them been very attentive to a sick lady in +declining health, and on her death each had felt a distrust of the +perfect disinterestedness of the other's attention. This created +more than a coolness between them, and the bad feeling came out on +their passing in the street. The one insinuated her suspicions of +unfair dealing with the property of the deceased by ejaculating, as +the other passed her, "Henny pig<a name="FNanchor81"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_81">[81]</a> and green tea," to which the other +retorted, in the same spirit, "Silk coat and negligee<a name= +"FNanchor82"></a><a href="#Footnote_82">[82]</a>." Aberdonian +pronunciation produced on one occasion a curious equivoque between +the minister and a mother of a family with whom he was conversing +in a pastoral way. The minister had said, "Weel, Margaret, I hope +you're thoroughly ashamed of your <i>sins</i>" Now, in +Aberdeenshire <i>sons</i> are pronounced sins; accordingly, to the +minister's surprise, Margaret burst forth, "Ashamed o' ma sins! na, +na, I'm proud o' ma sins. Indeed, gin it werena for thae cutties o' +dauchters, I should be <i>ower</i> proud o' ma sins."</p> +<p>Any of my readers who are not much conversant with Aberdeen +dialect will find the following a good specimen:--A lady who +resided in Aberdeen, being on a visit to some friends in the +country, joined an excursion on horseback. Not being much of an +equestrian, she was mounted upon a Highland pony as being the +<i>canniest baste</i>. He, however, had a trick of standing still +in crossing a stream. A burn had to be crossed--the rest of the +party passed on, while "Paddy" remained, pretending to drink. Miss +More, in great desperation, called out to one of her +friends--"Bell, 'oman, turn back an gie me your bit fuppie, for the +breet's stannin' i' the peel wi' ma."</p> +<p>A rich specimen of Aberdeen dialect, under peculiar +circumstances, was supplied by an Aberdonian lady who had risen in +the world from selling fruit at a stall to be the wife of the Lord +Provost. Driving along in her own carriage, she ordered it to stop, +and called to her a poor woman whom she saw following her old +occupation. After some colloquy, she dismissed her very coolly, +remarking, "'Deed, freet's dear sin' I sauld freet in streets o' +Aberdeen." This anecdote of reference to a good lady's more humble +occupation than riding in her carriage may introduce a somewhat +analogous anecdote, in which a more distinguished personage than +the wife of the Provost of Aberdeen takes a prominent part. The +present Archbishop of Canterbury tells the story himself, with that +admixture of humour and of true dignity by which his Grace's manner +is so happily distinguished. The Archbishop's father in early life +lived much at Dollar, where, I believe, he had some legal and +official appointment. His sons, the Archbishop and his brother, +attended the grammar school, rather celebrated in the country; they +ran about and played like other lads, and were known as schoolboys +to the peasantry. In after days, when the Archbishop had arrived at +his present place of dignity as Primate of all England, he was +attending a great confirmation service at Croydon--the +churchwardens, clergy, mayors, etc., of the place in attendance +upon the Archbishop, and a great congregation of spectators. On +going up the centre of the church, a Dollar man, who had got into +the crowd in a side aisle, said, loud enough for the Archbishop to +hear, "There wasna muckle o' this at Dollar, my Lord."</p> +<p>I have not had leisure to pursue, as I had intended, a further +consideration of SCOTTISH DIALECT, and their differences from each +other in the north, south, east, and west of Scotland. I merely +remark now, that the dialect of one district is considered quite +barbarous, and laughed at by the inhabitants of another district +where a different form of language is adopted. I have spoken of the +essential difference between Aberdeen and Southern Scotch. An +English gentleman had been visiting the Lord Provost of Edinburgh, +and accompanied him to Aberdeen. His lordship of Edinburgh +introduced his English friend to the Provost of Aberdeen, and they +both attended a great dinner given by the latter. After grace had +been said, the Provost kindly and hospitably addressed the company, +Aberdonice--"Now, gentlemen, fah tee, fah tee." The Englishman +whispered to his friend, and asked what was meant by "fah tee, fah +tee;" to which his lordship replied--"Hout, he canna speak; he +means fau too, fau too." Thus one Scotticism was held in terror by +those who used a different Scotticism: as at Inverary, the wife of +the chief writer of the place, seeking to secure her guest from the +taint of inferior society, intimated to him, but somewhat +confidentially, that Mrs. W. (the rival writer's wife) was quite a +vulgar body, so much so as to ask any one leaving the room to +"<i>snib</i> the door," instead of bidding them, as she +triumphantly observed, "<i>sneck</i> the door."</p> +<p>Now, to every one who follows these anecdotes of a past time, it +must be obvious how much peculiarities of Scottish wit and humour +depend upon the language in which they are clothed. As I have +before remarked, much of the point depends upon the <i>broad +Scotch</i> with which they are accompanied. As a type and +representative of that phraseology, we would specially recommend a +study of our Scottish proverbs. In fact, in Scottish proverbs will +be found an epitome of the Scottish phraseology, which is peculiar +and characteristic. I think it quite clear that there are proverbs +exclusively Scottish, and as we find embodied in them traits of +Scottish character, and many peculiar forms of Scottish thought and +Scottish language, sayings of this kind, once so familiar, should +have a place in our Scottish Reminiscences. Proverbs are literally, +in many instances, becoming <i>reminiscences</i>. They now seem to +belong to that older generation whom we recollect, and who used +them in conversation freely and constantly. To strengthen an +argument or illustrate a remark by a proverb was then a common +practice in conversation. Their use, however, is now considered +vulgar, and their formal application is almost prohibited by the +rules of polite society. Lord Chesterfield denounced the practice +of quoting proverbs as a palpable violation of all polite +refinement in conversation. Notwithstanding all this, we +acknowledge having much pleasure in recalling our national +proverbial expressions. They are full of character, and we find +amongst them important truths, expressed forcibly, wisely, and +gracefully. The expression of Bacon has often been quoted--"The +genius, wit, and wisdom of a nation, are discovered by their +proverbs."</p> +<p>All nations have their proverbs, and a vast number of books have +been written on the subject. We find, accordingly, that collections +have been made of proverbs considered as belonging peculiarly to +Scotland. The collections to which I have had access are the +following:--</p> +<p>1. The fifth edition, by Balfour, of "Ray's Complete Collection +of English Proverbs," in which is a separate collection of those +which are considered Scottish Proverbs--1813. Ray professes to have +taken these from Fergusson's work mentioned below.</p> +<p>2. A Complete Collection of Scottish Proverbs, explained and +made intelligible to the English reader, by James Kelly, M.A., +published in London 1721.</p> +<p>3. Scottish Proverbs gathered together by David Fergusson, +sometime minister at Dunfermline, and put <i>ordine alphabetico</i> +when he departed this life anno 1598. Edinburgh, 1641.</p> +<p>4. A collection of Scots Proverbs, dedicated to the Tenantry of +Scotland, by Allan Ramsay. This collection is found in the edition +of his Poetical Works, 3 vols. post 8vo, Edin. 1818, but is not in +the handsome edition of 1800. London, 2 vols. 8vo.</p> +<p>5. Scottish Proverbs, collected and arranged by Andrew +Henderson, with an introductory Essay by W. Motherwell. Edin. +1832.</p> +<p>6. The Proverbial Philosophy of Scotland, an address to the +School of Arts, by William Stirling of Keir, M.P. Stirling and +Edin. 1855.</p> +<p>The collection of Ray, the great English naturalist, is well +known. The first two editions, published at Cambridge in 1670 and +1678, were by the author; subsequent editions were by other +editors.</p> +<p>The work by James Kelly professes to collect Scottish proverbs +only. It is a volume of nearly 400 pages, and contains a short +explanation or commentary attached to each, and often parallel +sayings from other languages<a name="FNanchor83"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_83">[83]</a>. Mr. Kelly bears ample testimony to the +extraordinary free use made of proverbs in his time by his +countrymen and by himself. He says that "there were current in +society upwards of 3000 proverbs, exclusively Scottish." He adds, +"The Scots are wonderfully given to this way of speaking, and, as +the consequence of that, abound with proverbs, many of which are +very expressive, quick, and home to the purpose; and, indeed, this +humour prevails universally over the whole nation, especially among +the better sort of the commonalty, none of whom will discourse with +you any considerable time but he will affirm every assertion and +observation with a Scottish proverb. To that nation I owe my birth +and education; and to that manner of speaking I was used from my +infancy, to such a degree that I became in some measure remarkable +for it." This was written in 1721, and we may see from Mr. Kelly's +account what a change has taken place in society as regards this +mode of intercourse. Our author states that he has "omitted in his +collection many popular proverbs which are very pat and +expressive," and adds as his reason, that "since it does not become +a man of manners to use them, it does not become a man of my age +and profession to write them." What was Mr. Kelly's profession or +what his age does not appear from any statements in this volume; +but, judging by many proverbs which he has <i>retained</i>, those +which consideration of years and of profession induced him to omit +must have been bad indeed, and unbecoming for <i>any</i> age or +<i>any</i> profession<a name="FNanchor84"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_84">[84]</a>. The third collection by Mr. Fergusson is +mentioned by Kelly as the only one which had been made before his +time, and that he had not met with it till he had made considerable +progress in his own collection. The book is now extremely rare, and +fetches a high price. By the great kindness of the learned +librarian, I have been permitted to see the copy belonging to the +library of the Writers to the Signet. It is the first edition, and +very rare. A quaint little thin volume, such as delights the eyes +of true bibliomaniacs, unpaged, and published at Edinburgh +1641--although on the title-page the proverbs are said to have been +collected at Mr. Fergusson's death, 1598<a name= +"FNanchor85"></a><a href="#Footnote_85">[85]</a>. There is no +preface or notice by the author, but an address from the printer, +"to the merrie, judicious, and discreet reader."</p> +<p>The proverbs, amounting to 945, are given without any comment or +explanation. Many of them are of a very antique cast of language; +indeed some would be to most persons quite unintelligible without a +lexicon.</p> +<p>The printer, in his address "to the merrie, judicious, and +discreet reader," refers in the following quaint expressions to the +author:--"Therefore manie in this realme that hath hard of David +Fergusson, sometime minister at Dunfermline, and of his quick +answers and speeches, both to great persons and others inferiours, +and hath hard of his proverbs which hee gathered together in his +time, and now we put downe according to the order of the alphabet; +and manie, of all ranks of persons, being verie desirous to have +the said proverbs, I have thought good to put them to the presse +for thy better satisfaction.... I know that there may be some that +will say and marvell that a minister should have taken pains to +gather such proverbs together; but they that knew his forme of +powerfull preaching the word, and his ordinar talking, ever almost +using proverbiall speeches, will not finde fault with this that he +hath done. And whereas there are some old Scottish words not in use +now, bear with that, because if ye alter those words, the proverb +will have no grace; and so, recommending these proverbs to thy good +use, I bid thee farewell."</p> +<p>I now subjoin a few of Fergusson's Proverbs, verbatim, which are +of a more obsolete character, and have appended explanations, of +the correctness of which, however, I am not quite confident:--</p> +<p><i>A year a nurish<a name="FNanchor86"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_86">[86]</a>, seven year a da<a name= +"FNanchor87"></a><a href="#Footnote_87">[87]</a></i>. Refers, I +presume, to fulfilling the maternal office.</p> +<p><i>Anes payit never cravit</i>. Debts once paid give no more +trouble.</p> +<p><i>All wald<a name="FNanchor88"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_88">[88]</a> have all, all wald forgie<a name= +"FNanchor89"></a><a href="#Footnote_89">[89]</a></i>. Those who +exact much should be ready to concede.</p> +<p><i>A gangang<a name="FNanchor90"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_90">[90]</a> fit<a name="FNanchor91"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_91">[91]</a> is aye<a name="FNanchor92"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_92">[92]</a> gettin (gin<a name= +"FNanchor93"></a><a href="#Footnote_93">[93]</a> it were but a +thorn),</i> or, as it sometimes runs, <i>gin it were but a broken +tae, i.e. toe</i>. A man of industry will certainly get a living; +though the proverb is often applied to those who went abroad and +got a mischief when they might safely have stayed at +home--(Kelly).</p> +<p><i>All crakes<a name="FNanchor94"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_94">[94]</a>, all bears<a name="FNanchor95"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_95">[95]</a></i>. Spoken against bullies who kept a +great hectoring, and yet, when put to it, tamely pocket an +affront--(Kelly).</p> +<p><i>Bourd<a name="FNanchor96"></a><a href="#Footnote_96">[96]</a> +not wi' bawtie<a name="FNanchor97"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_97">[97]</a> (lest he bite you</i>). Do not jest too +familiarly with your superiors (Kelly), or with dangerous +characters.</p> +<p><i>Bread's house skailed never<a name="FNanchor98"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_98">[98]</a></i> While people have bread they need not +give up housekeeping. Spoken when one has bread and wishes +something better--(Kelly).</p> +<p><i>Crabbit<a name="FNanchor99"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_99">[99]</a> was and cause had</i>. Spoken ironically of +persons put out of temper without adequate cause.</p> +<p><i>Dame, deem<a name="FNanchor100"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_100">[100]</a> warily, (ye watna<a name= +"FNanchor101"></a><a href="#Footnote_101">[101]</a> wha +wytes<a name="FNanchor102"></a><a href="#Footnote_102">[102]</a> +yersell</i>).--Spoken to remind those who pass hard censures on +others that they may themselves be censured.</p> +<p><i>Efter lang mint<a name="FNanchor103"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_103">[103]</a> never dint<a name= +"FNanchor104"></a><a href="#Footnote_104">[104]</a></i>. Spoken of +long and painful labour producing little effect. Kelly's reading is +"<i>Lang mint little dint</i>." Spoken when men threaten much and +dare not execute--(Kelly).</p> +<p><i>Fill fou<a name="FNanchor105"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_105">[105]</a> and hand<a name= +"FNanchor106"></a><a href="#Footnote_106">[106]</a> fou maks a +stark<a name="FNanchor107"></a><a href="#Footnote_107">[107]</a> +man</i>. In Border language a <i>stark</i> man was one who takes +and keeps boldly.</p> +<p><i>He that crabbs<a name="FNanchor108"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_108">[108]</a> without cause should mease<a name= +"FNanchor109"></a><a href="#Footnote_109">[109]</a> without +mends<a name="FNanchor110"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_110">[110]</a></i>. Spoken to remind those who are angry +without cause, that they should not be particular in requiring +apologies from others.</p> +<p><i>He is worth na weill that may not bide na wae</i>. He +deserves not the sweet that will not taste the sour. He does not +deserve prosperity who cannot meet adversity.</p> +<p><i>Kame<a name="FNanchor111"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_111">[111]</a> sindle<a name="FNanchor112"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_112">[112]</a> kame sair</i><a name= +"FNanchor113"></a><a href="#Footnote_113">[113]</a>. Applied to +those who forbear for a while, but when once roused can act with +severity.</p> +<p><i>Kamesters<a name="FNanchor114"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_114">[114]</a> are aye creeshie<a name= +"FNanchor115"></a><a href="#Footnote_115">[115]</a></i>. It is +usual for men to look like their trade.</p> +<p><i>Let alane maks mony lurden</i><a name= +"FNanchor116"></a><a href="#Footnote_116">[116]</a>. Want of +correction makes many a bad boy--(Kelly).</p> +<p><i>Mony tynes<a name="FNanchor117"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_117">[117]</a> the half-mark<a name= +"FNanchor118"></a><a href="#Footnote_118">[118]</a> whinger<a name= +"FNanchor119"></a><a href="#Footnote_119">[119]</a> (for the halfe +pennie whang</i>)<a name="FNanchor120"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_120">[120]</a>. Another version of penny wise and pound +foolish.</p> +<p><i>Na plie<a name="FNanchor121"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_121">[121]</a> is best</i>.</p> +<p><i>Reavers<a name="FNanchor122"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_122">[122]</a> should not be rewers</i><a name= +"FNanchor123"></a><a href="#Footnote_123">[123]</a>. Those who are +so fond of a thing as to snap at it, should not repent when they +have got it--(Kelly).</p> +<p><i>Sok and seill is best</i>. The interpretation of this proverb +is not obvious, and later writers do not appear to have adopted it +from Fergusson. It is quite clear that sok or sock is the +ploughshare. Seil is happiness, as in Kelly. "Seil comes not till +sorrow be o'er;" and in Aberdeen they say, "Seil o' your face," to +express a blessing. My reading is "the plough and happiness the +best lot." The happiest life is the healthy country one. See Robert +Burns' spirited song with the chorus:</p> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>"Up wi' my ploughman lad,</p> +<p class="i1">And hey my merry ploughman;</p> +<p>Of a' the trades that I do ken,</p> +<p class="i1">Commend me to the ploughman."</p> +</div> +</div> +<p>A somewhat different reading of this very obscure and now indeed +obsolete proverb has been suggested by an esteemed and learned +friend:--"I should say rather it meant that the ploughshare, or +country life, accompanied with good luck or fortune was best; +<i>i.e.,</i> that industry coupled with good fortune (good seasons +and the like) was the combination that was most to be desired. +<i>Soel</i>, in Anglo-Saxon, as a noun, means <i>opportunity</i>, +and then good luck, happiness, etc."</p> +<p><i>There's mae<a name="FNanchor124"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_124">[124]</a> madines<a name="FNanchor125"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_125">[125]</a> nor makines</i><a name= +"FNanchor126"></a><a href="#Footnote_126">[126]</a>. Girls are more +plentiful in the world than hares.</p> +<p><i>Ye bried<a name="FNanchor127"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_127">[127]</a> of the gouk<a name= +"FNanchor128"></a><a href="#Footnote_128">[128]</a>, ye have not a +rhyme<a name="FNanchor129"></a><a href="#Footnote_129">[129]</a> +but ane</i>. Applied to persons who tire everybody by constantly +harping on one subject.</p> +<p>The collection by Allan Ramsay is very good, and professes to +correct the errors of former collectors. I have now before me the +<i>first edition</i>, Edinburgh, 1737, with the appropriate motto +on the title-page, "That maun be true that a' men say." This +edition contains proverbs only, the number being 2464. Some +proverbs in this collection I do not find in others, and one +quality it possesses in a remarkable degree--it is very Scotch. The +language of the proverbial wisdom has the true Scottish flavour; +not only is this the case with the proverbs themselves, but the +dedication to the tenantry of Scotland, prefixed to the collection, +is written in pure Scottish dialect. From this dedication I make an +extract, which falls in with our plan of recording Scotch +reminiscences, as Allan Ramsay there states the great value set +upon proverbs in his day, and the great importance which he +attaches to them as teachers of moral wisdom, and as combining +amusement with instruction. The prose of Allan Ramsay has, too, a +spice of his poetry in its composition. His dedication is, To the +tenantry of Scotland, farmers of the dales, and storemasters of the +hills--</p> +<p>"Worthy friends--The following hoard of wise sayings and +observations of our forefathers, which have been gathering through +mony bygane ages, I have collected with great care, and restored to +their proper sense....</p> +<p>"As naething helps our happiness mair than to have the mind made +up wi' right principles, I desire you, for the thriving and +pleasure of you and yours, to use your een and lend your lugs to +these guid <i>auld saws</i>, that shine wi' wail'd sense, and will +as lang as the world wags. Gar your bairns get them by heart; let +them have a place among your family-books, and may never a +window-sole through the country be without them. On a spare hour, +when the day is clear, behind a ruck, or on the green howm, draw +the treasure frae your pouch, an' enjoy the pleasant companion. Ye +happy herds, while your hirdsell are feeding on the flowery braes, +you may eithly make yoursells master of the haleware. How usefou' +will it prove to you (wha hae sae few opportunities of common +clattering) when ye forgather wi' your friends at kirk or market, +banquet or bridal! By your proficiency you'll be able, in the +proverbial way, to keep up the saul of a conversation that is baith +blyth an usefou'."</p> +<p>Mr. Henderson's work is a compilation from those already +mentioned. It is very copious, and the introductory essay contains +some excellent remarks upon the wisdom and wit of Scottish +proverbial sayings.</p> +<p>Mr. Stirling's (now Sir W. Stirling-Maxwell's) address, like +everything he writes, indicates a minute and profound knowledge of +his subject, and is full of picturesque and just views of human +nature. He attaches much importance to the teaching conveyed in +proverbial expressions, and recommends his readers even still to +collect such proverbial expressions as may yet linger in +conversation, because, as he observes, "If it is not yet +registered, it is possible that it might have died with the tongue +from which you took it, and so have been lost for ever." "I +believe," he adds, "the number of good old saws still floating as +waifs and strays on the tide of popular talk to be much greater +than might at first appear."</p> +<p>One remark is applicable to all these collections--viz., that +out of so large a number there are many of them on which we have +little grounds for deciding that they are <i>exclusively</i> +Scottish. In fact, some are mere translations of proverbs adopted +by many nations; some of universal adoption. Thus we have--</p> +<blockquote><i>A burnt bairn fire dreads.<br> +Ae swallow makes nae simmer.<br> +Faint heart ne'er wan fair lady.<br> +Ill weeds wax weel.<br> +Mony sma's mak a muckle.<br> +O' twa ills chuse the least.<br> +Set a knave to grip a knave.<br> +Twa wits are better than ane.<br> +There's nae fule like an auld fule.<br> +Ye canna mak a silk purse o' a sow's lug.<br> +Ae bird i' the hand is worth twa fleeing.<br> +Mony cooks ne'er made gude kail</i>.</blockquote> +<br> +<p>Of numerous proverbs such as these, some may or may not be +original in the Scottish. Sir William remarks that many of the best +and oldest proverbs may be common to all people--may have occurred +to all. In our national collections, therefore, some of the +proverbs recorded may be simply translations into Scotch of what +have been long considered the property of other nations. Still, I +hope it is not a mere national partiality to say that many of the +common proverbs <i>gain</i> much by such translation from other +tongues. All that I would attempt now is, to select some of our +more popular proverbial sayings, which many of us can remember as +current amongst us, and were much used by the late generation in +society, and to add a few from the collections I have named, which +bear a very decided Scottish stamp either in turn of thought or in +turn of language.</p> +<p>I remember being much struck the first time I heard the +application of that pretty Scottish saying regarding a fair bride. +I was walking in Montrose, a day or two before her marriage, with a +young lady, a connection of mine, who merited this description, +when she was kindly accosted by an old friend, an honest fish-wife +of the town, "Weel, Miss Elizabeth, hae ye gotten a' yer claes +ready?" to which the young lady modestly answered, "Oh, Janet, my +claes are soon got ready;" and Janet replied, in the old Scotch +proverb, "Ay, weel, <i>a bonnie bride's sune buskit</i><a name= +"FNanchor130"></a><a href="#Footnote_130">[130]</a>." In the old +collection, an addition less sentimental is made to this proverb, +<i>A short horse is sune wispit</i><a name= +"FNanchor131"></a><a href="#Footnote_131">[131]</a>.</p> +<p>To encourage strenuous exertions to meet difficult +circumstances, is well expressed by <i>Setting a stout heart to a +stey brae</i>.</p> +<p>The mode of expressing that the worth of a handsome woman +outweighs even her beauty, has a very Scottish character--<i>She's +better than she's bonnie</i>. The opposite of this was expressed by +a Highlander of his own wife, when he somewhat ungrammatically said +of her, "<i>She's bonnier than she's better</i>."</p> +<p>The frequent evil to harvest operations from autumnal rains and +fogs in Scotland is well told in the saying, <i>A dry summer ne'er +made a dear peck</i>.</p> +<p>There can be no question as to country in the following, which +seems to express generally that persons may have the name and +appearance of greatness without the reality--<i>A' Stuarts are na +sib<a name="FNanchor132"></a><a href="#Footnote_132">[132]</a> to +the king</i>.</p> +<p>There is an excellent Scottish version of the common proverb, +"He that's born to be hanged will never be drowned."--<i>The water +will never warr<a name="FNanchor133"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_133">[133]</a>, the widdie, i.e.</i> never cheat the +gallows. This saying received a very naive practical application +during the anxiety and alarm of a storm. One of the passengers, a +good simple-minded minister, was sharing the alarm that was felt +around him, until spying one of his parishioners, of whose +ignominious end he had long felt persuaded, he exclaimed to +himself, "Oh, we are all safe now," and accordingly accosted the +poor man with strong assurances of the great pleasure he had in +seeing him on board.</p> +<p><i>It's ill getting the breeks aff the Highlandman</i> is a +proverb that savours very strong of a Lowland Scotch origin. Having +suffered loss at the hands of their neighbours from the hills, this +was a mode of expressing the painful truth that there was little +hope of obtaining redress from those who had no <i>means</i> at +their disposal.</p> +<p>Proverbs connected with the bagpipes I set down as legitimate +Scotch, as thus--<i>Ye are as lang in tuning your pipes as anither +wad play a spring</i><a name="FNanchor134"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_134">[134]</a>. You are as long of setting about a thing +as another would be in doing it.</p> +<p>There is a set of Scottish proverbs which we may group together +as containing one quality in common, and that in reference to the +Evil Spirit, and to his agency in the world. This is a reference +often, I fear, too lightly made; but I am not conscious of anything +deliberately profane or irreverent in the following:--</p> +<p><i>The deil's nae sae ill as he's caa'd</i>. The most of people +may be found to have some redeeming good point: applied in <i>Guy +Mannering</i> by the Deacon to Gilbert Glossin, upon his intimating +his intention to come to his shop soon for the purpose of laying in +his winter stock of groceries.</p> +<p>To the same effect, <i>It's a sin to lee on the deil</i>. Even +of the worst people, <i>truth</i> at least should be spoken.</p> +<p><i>He should hae a lang-shafted spune that sups kail wi' the +deil.</i> He should be well guarded and well protected that has to +do with cunning and unprincipled men.</p> +<p><i>Lang ere the deil dee by the dyke-side.</i> Spoken when the +improbable death of some powerful and ill-disposed person is talked +of.</p> +<p><i>Let ae deil ding anither</i>. Spoken when too bad persons are +at variance over some evil work.</p> +<p><i>The deil's bairns hae deil's luck</i>. Spoken enviously when +ill people prosper.</p> +<p><i>The deil's a busy bishop in his ain diocie</i>. Bad men are +sure to be active in promoting their own bad ends. A quaint proverb +of this class I have been told of as coming from the reminiscences +of an old lady of quality, to recommend a courteous manner to every +one: <i>It's aye gude to be ceevil, as the auld wife said when she +beckit<a name="FNanchor135"></a><a href="#Footnote_135">[135]</a> +to the deevil</i>.</p> +<p><i>Raise nae mair deils than ye are able to lay</i>. Provoke no +strifes which ye may be unable to appease.</p> +<p><i>The deil's aye gude to his ain</i>. A malicious proverb, +spoken as if those whom we disparage were deriving their success +from bad causes.</p> +<p><i>Ye wad do little for God an the deevil was dead</i>. A +sarcastic mode of telling a person that fear, rather than love or +principle, is the motive to his good conduct.</p> +<p>In the old collection already referred to is a proverb which, +although somewhat <i>personal</i>, is too good to omit. It is +doubtful how it took its origin, whether as a satire against the +decanal order in general, or against some obnoxious dean in +particular. These are the terms of it: <i>The deil an' the dean +begin wi' ae letter. When the deil has the dean the kirk will be +the better.</i></p> +<p><i>The deil's gane ower Jock Wabster</i> is a saying which I +have been accustomed to in my part of the country from early years. +It expresses generally misfortune or confusion, but I am not quite +sure of the <i>exact</i> meaning, or who is represented by "Jock +Wabster." It was a great favourite with Sir Walter Scott, who +quotes it twice in <i>Rob Roy</i>. Allan Ramsay introduces it in +the <i>Gentle Shepherd</i> to express the misery of married life +when the first dream of love has passed away:--</p> +<blockquote>"The 'Deil gaes ower Jock Wabster,' hame grows +hell,<br> +When Pate misca's ye waur than tongue can tell."</blockquote> +<p>There are two very pithy Scottish proverbial expressions for +describing the case of young women losing their chance of good +marriages by setting their aims too high. Thus an old lady, +speaking of her granddaughter having made what she considered a +poor match, described her as having "<i>lookit at the moon, and +lichtit<a name="FNanchor136"></a><a href="#Footnote_136">[136]</a> +in the midden</i>."</p> +<p>It is recorded again of a celebrated beauty, Becky Monteith, +that being asked how she had not made a good marriage, she replied, +"<i>Ye see, I wadna hae the walkers, and the riders gaed +by.</i>"</p> +<p><i>It's ill to wauken sleeping dogs.</i> It is a bad policy to +rouse dangerous and mischievous people, who are for the present +quiet.</p> +<p><i>It is nae mair ferly<a name="FNanchor137"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_137">[137]</a> to see a woman greit than to see a goose +go barefit.</i> A harsh and ungallant reference to the facility +with which the softer sex can avail themselves of tears to carry a +point.</p> +<p><i>A Scots mist will weet an Englishman to the skin.</i> A +proverb, evidently of Caledonian origin, arising from the frequent +complaints made by English visitors of the heavy mists which hang +about our hills, and which are found to annoy the southern +traveller as it were downright rain.</p> +<p><i>Keep your ain fish-guts to your ain sea-maws.</i> This was a +favourite proverb with Sir Walter Scott, when he meant to express +the policy of first considering the interests that are nearest +home. The saying savours of the fishing population of the east +cost.</p> +<p><i>A Yule feast may be done at Pasch</i>. Festivities, although +usually practised at Christmas, need not, on suitable occasions, be +confined to any season.</p> +<p><i>It's better to sup wi' a cutty than want a spune.</i> Cutty +means anything short, stumpy, and not of full growth; frequently +applied to a short-handled horn spoon. As Meg Merrilies says to the +bewildered Dominie, "If ye dinna eat instantly, by the bread and +salt, I'll put it down your throat wi' the <i>cutty spune</i>."</p> +<p>"<i>Fules mak feasts and wise men eat 'em,</i> my Lord." This +was said to a Scottish nobleman on his giving a great +entertainment, and who readily answered, "Ay, and <i>Wise men make +proverbs and fools repeat 'em.</i>"</p> +<p><i>A green Yule<a name="FNanchor138"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_138">[138]</a> and a white Pays<a name= +"FNanchor139"></a><a href="#Footnote_139">[139]</a> mak a fat +kirk-yard.</i> A very coarse proverb, but may express a general +truth as regards the effects of season on the human frame. Another +of a similar character is, <i>An air<a name= +"FNanchor140"></a><a href="#Footnote_140">[140]</a> winter maks a +sair<a name="FNanchor141"></a><a href="#Footnote_141">[141]</a> +winter</i>.</p> +<p><i>Wha will bell the cat?</i> The proverb is used in reference +to a proposal for accomplishing a difficult or dangerous task, and +alludes to the fable of the poor mice proposing to put a bell about +the cat's neck, that they might be apprised of his coming. The +historical application is well known. When the nobles of Scotland +proposed to go in a body to Stirling to take Cochrane, the +favourite of James the Third, and hang him, the Lord Gray asked, +"It is well said, but wha will bell the cat?" The Earl of Angus +accepted the challenge, and effected the object. To his dying day +he was called Archibald Bell-the-Cat.</p> +<p><i>Ye hae tint the tongue o' the trump.</i> "Trump" is a Jew's +harp. To lose the tongue of it is to lose what is essential to its +sound.</p> +<p><i>Meat and mass hinders nae man.</i> Needful food, and suitable +religious exercises, should not be spared under greatest haste.</p> +<p><i>Ye fand it whar the Highlandman fand the tangs</i> (i.e. at +the fireside). A hit at our mountain neighbours, who occasionally +took from the Lowlands--as having found--something that was never +lost.</p> +<p><i>His head will ne'er rive</i> (i.e. tear) <i>his father's +bonnet</i>. A picturesque way of expressing that the son will never +equal the influence and ability of his sire.</p> +<p><i>His bark is waur nor his bite.</i> A good-natured apology for +one who is good-hearted and rough in speech.</p> +<p><i>Do as the cow of Forfar did, tak a standing drink</i>. This +proverb relates to an occurrence which gave rise to a lawsuit and a +whimsical legal decision. A woman in Forfar, who was brewing, set +out her tub of beer to cool. A cow came by and drank it up. The +owner of the cow was sued for compensation, but the bailies of +Forfar, who tried the case, acquitted the owner of the cow, on the +ground that the farewell drink, called in the Highlands the +<i>dochan doris</i><a name="FNanchor142"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_142">[142]</a>, or stirrup-cup, taken by the guest +standing by the door, was never charged; and as the cow had taken +but a standing drink outside, it could not, according to the +Scottish usage, be chargeable. Sir Walter Scott has humorously +alluded to this circumstance in the notes to <i>Waverley</i>, but +has not mentioned it as the subject of an old Scotch proverb.</p> +<p><i>Bannocks are better nor nae kind o' bread.</i> Evidently +Scottish. Better have oatmeal cakes to eat than be in want of +wheaten loaves.</p> +<p><i>Folly is a bonny dog.</i> Meaning, I suppose, that many are +imposed upon by the false appearances and attractions of vicious +pleasures.</p> +<p><i>The e'ening brings a' hame</i> is an interesting saying, +meaning, that the evening of life, or the approach of death, +softens many of our political and religious differences. I do not +find this proverb in the older collections, but Sir William Maxwell +justly calls it "a beautiful proverb, which, lending itself to +various uses, may be taken as an expression of faith in the gradual +growth and spread of large-hearted Christian charity, the noblest +result of our happy freedom of thought and discussion." The literal +idea of the "e'ening bringing a' hame," has a high and illustrious +antiquity, as in the fragment of Sappho, [Greek: 'Espere, panta +phereis--phereis oin (or oinon) phereis aiga, phereis maeteri +paida]--which is thus paraphrased by Lord Byron in Don Juan, iii. +107:--</p> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>"O Hesperus, thou bringest all good things--</p> +<p class="i1">Home to the weary, to the hungry cheer;</p> +<p>To the young birds the parent's brooding wings,</p> +<p class="i1">The welcome stall to the o'erlaboured steer, etc.</p> +<p>Thou bring'st the child, too, to the mother's breast."</p> +</div> +</div> +<p>A similar graceful and moral saying inculcates an acknowledgment +of gratitude for the past favours which we have enjoyed when we +come to the close of the day or the close of life--</p> +<blockquote><i>Ruse<a name="FNanchor143"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_143">[143]</a> the fair day at e'en.</i></blockquote> +<p>But a very learned and esteemed friend has suggested another +reading of this proverb, in accordance with the celebrated saying +of Solon (Arist. Eth. N.I. 10): [Greek: Kata Solona chreon telos +hozan]--Do not praise the fairness of the day <i>till</i> evening; +do not call the life happy <i>till</i> you have seen the close; or, +in other matters, do not boast that all is well till you have +conducted your undertaking to a prosperous end.</p> +<p><i>Let him tak a spring on his ain fiddle.</i> Spoken of a +foolish and unreasonable person; as if to say, "We will for the +present allow him to have his own way." Bailie Nicol Jarvie quotes +the proverb with great bitterness, when he warns his opponent that +<i>his</i> time for triumph will come ere long,--"Aweel, aweel, +sir, you're welcome to a tune on your ain fiddle; but see if I +dinna gar ye dance till't afore it's dune."</p> +<p><i>The kirk is meikle, but ye may say mass in ae end o't;</i> +or, as I have received it in another form, "If we canna preach in +the kirk, we can sing mass in the quire." This intimates, where +something is alleged to be too much, that you need take no more +than what you have need for. I heard the proverb used in this sense +by Sir Walter Scott at his own table. His son had complained of +some quaighs which Sir Walter had produced for a dram after dinner, +that they were too large. His answer was, "Well, Walter, as my good +mother used to say, if the kirk is ower big, just sing mass in the +quire." Here is another reference to kirk and quire--<i>He +rives<a name="FNanchor144"></a><a href="#Footnote_144">[144]</a> +the kirk to theik<a name="FNanchor145"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_145">[145]</a> the quire</i>. Spoken of unprofitable +persons, who in the English proverb, "rob Peter to pay Paul."</p> +<p><i>The king's errand may come the cadger's gate yet.</i> A great +man may need the service of a very mean one.</p> +<p><i>The maut is aboon the meal.</i> His liquor has done more for +him than his meat. The man is drunk.</p> +<p><i>Mak a kirk and a mill o't.</i> Turn a thing to any purpose +you like; or rather, spoken sarcastically, Take it, and make the +best of it.</p> +<p><i>Like a sow playing on a trump.</i> No image could be well +more incongruous than a pig performing on a Jew's harp.</p> +<p><i>Mair by luck than gude guiding.</i> His success is due to his +fortunate circumstances, rather than to his own discretion.</p> +<p><i>He's not a man to ride the water wi'.</i> A common Scottish +saying to express you cannot trust such an one in trying times. May +have arisen from the districts where fords abounded, and the +crossing them was dangerous.</p> +<p><i>He rides on the riggin o' the kirk.</i> The rigging being the +top of the roof, the proverb used to be applied to those who +carried their zeal for church matters to the extreme point.</p> +<p><i>Leal heart never lee'd,</i> well expresses that an honest +loyal disposition will scorn, under all circumstances, to tell a +falsehood.</p> +<p>A common Scottish proverb, <i>Let that flee stick to the +wa'</i>, has an obvious meaning,--"Say nothing more on that +subject." But the derivation is not obvious<a name= +"FNanchor146"></a><a href="#Footnote_146">[146]</a>. In like +manner, the meaning of <i>He that will to Cupar maun to Cupar</i>, +is clearly that if a man is obstinate, and bent upon his own +dangerous course, he must take it. But why Cupar? and whether is it +the Cupar of Angus or the Cupar of Fife?</p> +<p><i>Kindness creeps where it canna gang</i> prettily expresses +that where love can do little, it will do that little, though it +cannot do more.</p> +<p>In my part of the country a ridiculous addition used to be made +to the common Scottish saying. <i>Mony a thing's made for the +pennie</i>, i.e. Many contrivances are thought of to get money. The +addition is, "As the old woman said when she saw a black man," +taking it for granted that he was an ingenious and curious piece of +mechanism made for profit.</p> +<p><i>Bluid is thicker than water</i> is a proverb which has a +marked Scottish aspect, as meant to vindicate those family +predilections to which, as a nation, we are supposed to be rather +strongly inclined.</p> +<p><i>There's aye water where the stirkie<a name= +"FNanchor147"></a><a href="#Footnote_147">[147]</a> drouns.</i> +Where certain effects are produced, there must be some causes at +work--a proverb used to show that a universal popular suspicion as +to an obvious effect must be laid in truth.</p> +<p><i>Better a finger aff than aye waggin</i>'. This proverb I +remember as a great favourite with many Scotch people. Better +experience the worst, than have an evil always pending.</p> +<p><i>Cadgers are aye cracking o' crook saddles</i><a name= +"FNanchor148"></a><a href="#Footnote_148">[148]</a> has a very +Scottish aspect, and signifies that professional men are very apt +to talk too much of their profession.</p> +<p>The following is purely Scotch, for in no country but Scotland +are singed sheep heads to be met with: <i>He's like a sheep head in +a pair o' tangs.</i></p> +<p><i>As sure's deeth</i>. A common Scottish proverbial expression +to signify either the truth or certainty of a fact, or to pledge +the speaker to a performance of his promise. In the latter sense an +amusing illustration of faith in the superior obligation of this +asseveration to any other, is recorded in the <i>Eglinton +Papers</i><a name="FNanchor149"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_149">[149]</a>. The Earl one day found a boy climbing up +a tree, and called him to come down. The boy declined, because, he +said, the Earl would thrash him. His Lordship pledged his honour +that he would not do so. The boy replied, "I dinna ken onything +about your honour, but if you say as sure's deeth I'll come +doun."</p> +<p>Proverbs are sometimes local in their application.</p> +<p><i>The men o' the Mearns canna do mair than they may.</i> Even +the men of Kincardineshire can only do their utmost--a proverb +intended to be highly complimentary to the powers of the men of +that county.</p> +<p><i>I'll mak Cathkin's covenant wi' you, Let abee for let +abee.</i> This is a local saying quoted often in Hamilton. The +laird of that property had--very unlike the excellent family who +have now possessed it for more than a century--been addicted to +intemperance. One of his neighbours, in order to frighten him on +his way home from his evening potations, disguised himself, on a +very wet night, and, personating the devil, claimed a title to +carry him off as his rightful property. Contrary to all +expectation, however, the laird showed fight, and was about to +commence the onslaught, when a parley was proposed, and the issue +was, "Cathkin's covenant, Let abee for let abee."</p> +<p><i>When the castle of Stirling gets a hat, the Carse of Corntown +pays for that.</i> This is a local proverbial saying; the meaning +is, that when the clouds descend so low as to envelope Stirling +Castle, a deluge of rain may be expected in the adjacent +country.</p> +<p>I will conclude this notice of our proverbial reminiscences, by +adding a cluster of Scottish proverbs, selected from an excellent +article on the general subject in the <i>North British Review</i> +of February 1858. The reviewer designates these as "broader in +their mirth, and more caustic in their tone," than the moral +proverbial expressions of the Spanish and Italian:--</p> +<blockquote><i>A blate<a name="FNanchor150"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_150">[150]</a> cat maks a proud mouse.<br> +Better a toom<a name="FNanchor151"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_151">[151]</a> house than an ill tenant.<br> +Jouk<a name="FNanchor152"></a><a href="#Footnote_152">[152]</a> and +let the jaw<a name="FNanchor153"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_153">[153]</a> gang by.<br> +Mony ane speirs the gate<a name="FNanchor154"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_154">[154]</a> he kens fu' weel.<br> +The tod<a name="FNanchor155"></a><a href="#Footnote_155">[155]</a> +ne'er sped better than when he gaed his ain errand.<br> +A wilfu' man should be unco wise.<br> +He that has a meikle nose thinks ilka ane speaks o't.<br> +He that teaches himsell has a fule for his maister.<br> +It's an ill cause that the lawyer thinks shame o'.<br> +Lippen<a name="FNanchor156"></a><a href="#Footnote_156">[156]</a> +to me, but look to yoursell.<br> +Mair whistle than woo, as the souter said when shearing the +soo.<br> +Ye gae far about seeking the nearest.<br> +Ye'll no sell your hen on a rainy day.<br> +Ye'll mend when ye grow better.<br> +Ye're nae chicken for a' your cheepin'</i><a name= +"FNanchor157"></a><a href="#Footnote_157">[157]</a>.</blockquote> +<br> +<p>I have now adduced quite sufficient specimens to convince those +who may not have given attention to the subject, how much of +wisdom, knowledge of life, and good feeling, are contained in these +aphorisms which compose the mass of our Scottish proverbial +sayings. No doubt, to many of my younger readers proverbs are +little known, and to all they are becoming more and more matters of +reminiscence. I am quite convinced that much of the old quaint and +characteristic Scottish talk which we are now endeavouring to +recall depended on a happy use of those abstracts of moral +sentiment. And this feeling will be confirmed when we call to mind +how often those of the old Scottish school of character, whose +conversation we have ourselves admired, had most largely availed +themselves of the use of its <i>proverbial</i> philosophy.</p> +<p>I have already spoken of (p. 16) a Scottish peculiarity--viz. +that of naming individuals from lands which have been possessed +long by the family, or frequently from the landed estates which +they acquire. The use of this mode of discriminating individuals in +the Highland districts is sufficiently obvious. Where the +inhabitants of a whole country-side are Campbells, or Frasers, or +Gordons, nothing could be more convenient than addressing the +individuals of each clan by the name of his estate. Indeed, some +years ago, any other designation, as Mr. Campbell, Mr. Fraser, +would have been resented as an indignity. Their consequence sprang +from their possession<a name="FNanchor158"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_158">[158]</a>. But all this is fast wearing away. The +estates of old families have often changed hands, and Highlanders +are most unwilling to give the names of old properties to new +proprietors. The custom, however, lingers amongst us, in the +northern districts especially. Farms also used to give their names +to the tenants<a name="FNanchor159"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_159">[159]</a>. I can recall an amusing instance of this +practice belonging to my early days. The oldest recollections I +have are connected with the name, the figure, the sayings and +doings, of the old cow-herd at Fasque in my father's time; his name +was Boggy, <i>i.e.</i> his ordinary appellation; his true name was +Sandy Anderson. But he was called Boggy from the circumstance of +having once held a wretched farm on Deeside named Boggendreep. He +had long left it, and been unfortunate in it, but the name never +left him,--he was Boggy to his grave. The territorial appellation +used to be reckoned complimentary, and more respectful than Mr. or +any higher title to which the individual might be entitled. I +recollect, in my brother's time, at Fasque, his showing off some of +his home stock to Mr. Williamson, the Aberdeen butcher. They came +to a fine stot, and Sir Alexander said, with some appearance of +boast, "I was offered twenty guineas for that ox." "Indeed, +Fasque," said Williamson, "ye should hae steekit your neive upo' +that."</p> +<p>Sir Walter Scott had marked in his diary a territorial greeting +of two proprietors which had amused him much. The laird of +Kilspindie had met the laird of Tannachy-Tulloch, and the following +compliments passed between them:--"Yer maist obedient hummil +servant, Tannachy-Tulloch." To which the reply was, "Yer nain man, +Kilspindie."</p> +<p>In proportion as we advance towards the Highland district this +custom of distinguishing clans or races, and marking them out +according to the district they occupied, became more apparent. +There was the Glengarry country, the Fraser country, the Gordon +country, etc. etc. These names carried also with them certain moral +features as characteristic of each division. Hence the following +anecdote:--The morning litany of an old laird of Cultoquhey, when +he took his morning draught at the cauld well, was in these +terms:--"Frae the ire o' the Drummonds, the pride o' the +Græmes, the greed o' the Campbells, and the wind o' the +Murrays, guid Lord deliver us."</p> +<p>The Duke of Athole, having learned that Cultoquhey was in the +habit of mentioning his Grace's family in such uncomplimentary +terms, invited the humorist to Dunkeld, for the purpose of giving +him a hint to desist from the reference. After dinner, the Duke +asked his guest what were the precise terms in which he was in the +habit of alluding to his powerful neighbours. Cultoquhey repeated +his liturgy without a moment's hesitation. "I recommend you," said +his Grace, looking very angry, "in future to omit my name from your +morning devotions." All he got from Cultoquhey was, "Thank ye, my +Lord Duke," taking off his glass with the utmost sangfroid.</p> +<blockquote>FOOTNOTES:</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_49"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor49">[49]</a> Stoor is, Scotticé, dust in motion, +and has no English synonym; oor is hour. Sir Walter Scott is said +to have advised an artist, in painting a battle, not to deal with +details, but to get up a good <i>stoor</i>: then put in an arm and +a sword here and there, and leave all the rest to the imagination +of the spectator.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_50"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor50">[50]</a> Reach me a leg of that turkey.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_51"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor51">[51]</a> Clearing ashes out of the bars of the +grate.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_52"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor52">[52]</a> Mentally confused. Muddy when applied to +water.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_53"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor53">[53]</a> Preface to 4th edition of +<i>Mystifications</i>, by Dr. John Brown.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_54"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor54">[54]</a> Worse.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_55"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor55">[55]</a> Where.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_56"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor56">[56]</a> Lord Cockburn's <i>Memorials</i>, p. +58.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_57"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor57">[57]</a> Frogs.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_58"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor58">[58]</a> Killed.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_59"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor59">[59]</a> Miss Jenny Methven.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_60"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor60">[60]</a> "Civil," "obliging."--Jamieson.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_61"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor61">[61]</a> <i>Dam</i>, the game of +draughts.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_62"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor62">[62]</a> <i>Brod</i>, the board.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_63"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor63">[63]</a> Measles.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_64"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor64">[64]</a> Nettle-rash.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_65"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor65">[65]</a> The itch.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_66"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor66">[66]</a> Whooping-cough.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_67"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor67">[67]</a> Mumps.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_68"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor68">[68]</a> Toothache.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_69"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor69">[69]</a> The Scotticisms are printed in +italics.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_70"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor70">[70]</a> Delicate in health.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_71"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor71">[71]</a> Ailment.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_72"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor72">[72]</a> Yawning.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_73"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor73">[73]</a> Catching.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_74"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor74">[74]</a> Tea-urn.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_75"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor75">[75]</a> <i>Ver</i>, the spring months.--<i>e.g.</i> +"This was in <i>ver</i> quhen wynter +tid."--<i>Barbour</i>.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_76"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor76">[76]</a> A number.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_77"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor77">[77]</a> Young girls.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_78"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor78">[78]</a> Gallows birds.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_79"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor79">[79]</a> whistling noises.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_80"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor80">[80]</a> Distorted gestures.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_81"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor81">[81]</a> Honey jar.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_82"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor82">[82]</a> A kind of loose gown formerly +worn.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_83"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor83">[83]</a> Amongst many acts of kindness and essential +assistance which I have received and am constantly receiving from +my friend Mr. Hugh James Rollo, I owe my introduction to this +interesting Scottish volume, now, I believe, rather +scarce.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_84"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor84">[84]</a> Kelly's book is constantly quoted by +Jamieson, and is, indeed, an excellent work for the study of good +old Scotch.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_85"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor85">[85]</a> This probably throws back the collection to +about the middle of the century.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_86"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor86">[86]</a> Nurse.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_87"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor87">[87]</a> Daw, a slut.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_88"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor88">[88]</a> Would.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_89"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor89">[89]</a> Forgive.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_90"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor90">[90]</a> Going or moving.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_91"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor91">[91]</a> Foot.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_92"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor92">[92]</a> Always.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_93"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor93">[93]</a> If.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_94"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor94">[94]</a> Boasters.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_95"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor95">[95]</a> Used as cowards(?)</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_96"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor96">[96]</a> Jest.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_97"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor97">[97]</a> A dog's name.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_98"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor98">[98]</a> To skail house, to disfurnish.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_99"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor99">[99]</a> Being angry or cross.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_100"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor100">[100]</a> Judge.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_101"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor101">[101]</a> Know not.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_102"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor102">[102]</a> Blames.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_103"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor103">[103]</a> To aim at.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_104"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor104">[104]</a> A stroke.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_105"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor105">[105]</a> Full.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_106"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor106">[106]</a> Hold.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_107"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor107">[107]</a> Potent or strong.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_108"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor108">[108]</a> Is angry.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_109"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor109">[109]</a> Settle.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_110"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor110">[110]</a> Amends.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_111"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor111">[111]</a> Comb.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_112"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor112">[112]</a> Seldom.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_113"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor113">[113]</a> Painfully.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_114"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor114">[114]</a> Wool-combers.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_115"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor115">[115]</a> Greasy.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_116"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor116">[116]</a> Worthless fellow.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_117"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor117">[117]</a> Loses.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_118"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor118">[118]</a> Sixpenny.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_119"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor119">[119]</a> A sort of dagger or hanger which seems to +have been used both at meals as a knife and in broils--<br> +<br> +<blockquote>"And <i>whingers</i> now in friendship bare,<br> + The social meal to part and share,<br> + Had found a bloody sheath."</blockquote> +--<i>Lay of the Last Minstrel</i>.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_120"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor120">[120]</a> Thong.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_121"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor121">[121]</a> No lawsuit.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_122"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor122">[122]</a> Robbers.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_123"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor123">[123]</a> Rue, to repent.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_124"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor124">[124]</a> More.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_125"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor125">[125]</a> Maidens.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_126"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor126">[126]</a> Hares.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_127"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor127">[127]</a> Take after.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_128"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor128">[128]</a> Cuckoo.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_129"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor129">[129]</a> Note.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_130"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor130">[130]</a> Attired.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_131"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor131">[131]</a> Curried.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_132"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor132">[132]</a> Related.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_133"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor133">[133]</a> Outrun.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_134"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor134">[134]</a> Tune.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_135"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor135">[135]</a> Curtsied.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_136"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor136">[136]</a> Fallen.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_137"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor137">[137]</a> Surprise.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_138"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor138">[138]</a> Christmas.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_139"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor139">[139]</a> Pasch or Easter.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_140"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor140">[140]</a> Early.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_141"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor141">[141]</a> Severe.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_142"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor142">[142]</a> The proper orthography of this expression +is deoch-an-doruis (or dorais). <i>Deoch</i>, a drink; <i>an</i>, +of the; <i>doruis</i> or <i>dorais</i>, possessive case of dorus or +doras a door.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_143"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor143">[143]</a> Praise.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_144"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor144">[144]</a> Tears.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_145"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor145">[145]</a> Thatch.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_146"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor146">[146]</a> It has been suggested, and with much +reason, that the reference is to a fly sticking on a wet or a newly +painted wall; this is corroborated by the addition in Rob Roy, +"When the dirt's dry, it will rub out," which seems to point out +the meaning and derivation of the proverb.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_147"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor147">[147]</a> A young bullock.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_148"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor148">[148]</a> Saddle for supporting +panniers.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_149"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor149">[149]</a> Vol. i. p. 134.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_150"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor150">[150]</a> Shy.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_151"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor151">[151]</a> Empty.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_152"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor152">[152]</a> Stoop down.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_153"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor153">[153]</a> Wave.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_154"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor154">[154]</a> The way.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_155"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor155">[155]</a> Fox.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_156"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor156">[156]</a> Trust to.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_157"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor157">[157]</a> Chirping.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_158"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor158">[158]</a> Even in Forfarshire, where Carnegies +abound, we had Craigo, Balnamoon, Pitarrow, etc.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_159"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor159">[159]</a> This custom is still in use in Galloway; +and "Challoch," "Eschonchan," "Tonderghie," "Balsalloch," and +"Drummorral," etc. etc., appear regularly at kirk and +market.</blockquote> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_THE_SEVENTH."></a>CHAPTER THE SEVENTH.</h2> +<h3>ON SCOTTISH STORIES OF WIT AND HUMOUR.</h3> +<br> +<p>The portion of our subject which we proposed under the head of +"Reminiscences of Scottish Stories of Wit or Humour," yet remains +to be considered. This is closely connected with the question of +Scottish dialect and expressions; indeed, on some points hardly +separable, as the wit, to a great extent, proceeds from the quaint +and picturesque modes of expressing it. But here we are met by a +difficulty. On high authority it has been declared that no such +thing as wit exists amongst us. What has no existence can have no +change. We cannot be said to have lost a quality which we never +possessed. Many of my readers are no doubt familiar with what +Sydney Smith declared on this point, and certainly on the question +of wit he must be considered an authority. He used to say (I am +almost ashamed to repeat it), "It requires a surgical operation to +get a joke well into a Scotch understanding. Their only idea of +wit, which prevails occasionally in the north, and which, under the +name of WUT, is so infinitely distressing to people of good taste, +is laughing immoderately at stated intervals." Strange language to +use of a country which has produced Smollett, Burns, Scott, Galt, +and Wilson--all remarkable for the humour diffused through their +writings! Indeed, we may fairly ask, have they equals in this +respect amongst English writers? Charles Lamb had the same notion, +or, I should rather say, the same prejudice, about Scottish people +not being accessible to wit; and he tells a story of what happened +to himself, in corroboration of the opinion. He had been asked to a +party, and one object of the invitation had been to meet a son of +Burns. When he arrived, Mr. Burns had not made his appearance, and +in the course of conversation regarding the family of the poet, +Lamb, in his lack-a-daisical kind of manner, said, "I wish it had +been the father instead of the son;" upon which four Scotsmen +present with one voice exclaimed, "That's impossible, for <i>he's +dead</i><a name="FNanchor160"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_160">[160]</a>." Now, there will be dull men and +matter-of-fact men everywhere, who do not take a joke, or enter +into a jocular allusion; but surely, as a general remark, this is +far from being a natural quality of our country. Sydney Smith and +Charles Lamb say so. But, at the risk of being considered +presumptuous, I will say I think them entirely mistaken. I should +say that there was, on the contrary, a strong <i>connection</i> +between the Scottish temperament and, call it if you like, humour, +if it is not wit. And what is the difference? My readers need not +be afraid that they are to be led through a labyrinth of +metaphysical distinctions between wit and humour. I have read Dr. +Campbell's dissertation on the difference, in his Philosophy of +Rhetoric; I have read Sydney Smith's own two lectures; but I +confess I am not much the wiser. Professors of rhetoric, no doubt, +must have such discussions; but when you wish to be amused by the +thing itself, it is somewhat disappointing to be presented with +metaphysical analysis. It is like instituting an examination of the +glass and cork of a champagne bottle, and a chemical testing of the +wine. In the very process the volatile and sparkling draught which +was to delight the palate has become like ditch water, vapid and +dead. What I mean is, that, call it wit or humour, or what you +please, there is a school of Scottish pleasantry, amusing and +characteristic beyond all other. Don't think of <i>analysing</i> +its nature, or the qualities of which it is composed; enjoy its +quaint and amusing flow of oddity and fun; as we may, for instance, +suppose it to have flowed on that eventful night so joyously +described by Burns:--</p> +<blockquote>"The souter tauld his queerest stories,<br> +The landlord's laugh was ready chorus."</blockquote> +<p>Or we may think of the delight it gave the good Mr. Balwhidder, +when he tells, in his Annals of the Parish, of some such story, +that it was a "jocosity that was just a kittle to hear." When I +speak of changes in such Scottish humour which have taken place, I +refer to a particular sort of humour, and I speak of the sort of +feeling that belongs to Scottish pleasantry,--which is sly, and +cheery, and pawky. It is undoubtedly a humour that depends a good +deal upon the vehicle in which the story is conveyed. If, as we +have said, our quaint dialect is passing away, and our national +eccentric points of character, we must expect to find much of the +peculiar humour allied with them to have passed away also. In other +departments of wit and repartee, and acute hits at men and things, +Scotsmen (whatever Sydney Smith may have said to the contrary) are +equal to their neighbours, and, so far as I know, may have gained +rather than lost. But this peculiar humour of which I now speak has +not, in our day, the scope and development which were permitted to +it by the former generation. Where the tendency exists, the +exercise of it is kept down by the usages and feelings of society. +For examples of it (in its full force at any rate) we must go back +to a race who are departed. One remark, however, has occurred to me +in regard to the specimens we have of this kind of humour--viz. +that they do not always proceed from the personal wit or cleverness +of any of the individuals concerned in them. The amusement comes +from the circumstances, from the concurrence or combination of the +ideas, and in many cases from the mere expressions which describe +the facts. The humour of the narrative is unquestionable, and yet +no one has tried to be humorous. In short, it is the +<i>Scottishness</i> that gives the zest. The same ideas differently +expounded might have no point at all. There is, for example, +something highly original in the notions of celestial mechanics +entertained by an honest Scottish Fife lass regarding the theory of +comets. Having occasion to go out after dark, and having observed +the brilliant comet then visible (1858), she ran in with breathless +haste to the house, calling on her fellow-servants to "Come oot and +see a new star that hasna got its tail cuttit aff yet!" Exquisite +astronomical speculation! Stars, like puppies, are born with tails, +and in due time have them docked. Take an example of a story where +there is no display of any one's wit or humour, and yet it is a +good story, and one can't exactly say why:--An English traveller +had gone on a fine Highland road so long, without having seen an +indication of fellow-travellers, that he became astonished at the +solitude of the country; and no doubt before the Highlands were so +much frequented as they are in our time, the roads sometimes bore a +very striking aspect of solitariness. Our traveller, at last coming +up to an old man breaking stones, asked him if there was <i>any</i> +traffic on this road--was it at <i>all</i> frequented? "Ay," he +said, coolly, "it's no ill at that; there was a cadger body +yestreen, and there's yoursell the day." No English version of the +story could have half such amusement, or have so quaint a +character. An answer even still more characteristic is recorded to +have been given by a countryman to a traveller. Being doubtful of +his way, he inquired if he were on the right road to Dunkeld. With +some of his national inquisitiveness about strangers, the +countryman asked his inquirer where he came from. Offended at the +liberty, as he considered it, he sharply reminded the man that +where he came from was nothing to him; but all the answer he got +was the quiet rejoinder, "Indeed, it's just as little to me whar +ye're gaen." A friend has told me of an answer highly +characteristic of this dry and unconcerned quality which he heard +given to a fellow-traveller. A gentleman sitting opposite to him in +the stage-coach at Berwick complained bitterly that the cushion on +which he sat was quite wet. On looking up to the roof he saw a hole +through which the rain descended copiously, and at once accounted +for the mischief. He called for the coachman, and in great wrath +reproached him with the evil under which he suffered, and pointed +to the hole which was the cause of it. All the satisfaction, +however, that he got was the quiet unmoved reply, "Ay, mony a ane +has complained o' <i>that</i> hole." Another anecdote I heard from +a gentleman who vouched for the truth, which is just a case where +the narrative has its humour not from the wit which is displayed +but from that dry matter-of-fact view of things peculiar to some of +our countrymen. The friend of my informant was walking in a street +of Perth, when, to his horror, he saw a workman fall from a roof +where he was mending slates, right upon the pavement. By +extraordinary good fortune he was not killed, and on the gentleman +going up to his assistance, and exclaiming, with much excitement, +"God bless me, are you much hurt?" all the answer he got was the +cool rejoinder, "On the contrary, sir." A similar matter-of fact +answer was made by one of the old race of Montrose humorists. He +was coming out of church, and in the press of the kirk +<i>skailing</i>, a young man thoughtlessly trod on the old +gentleman's toe, which was tender with corns. He hastened to +apologise, saying, "I am very sorry, sir; I beg your pardon." The +only acknowledgment of which was the dry answer, "And ye've as +muckle need, sir." An old man marrying a very young wife, his +friends rallied him on the inequality of their ages. "She will be +near me," he replied, "to close my een." "Weel," remarked another +of the party, "I've had twa wives, and they <i>opened my +een</i>."</p> +<p>One of the best specimens of cool Scottish matter-of-fact view +of things has been supplied by a kind correspondent, who narrates +it from his own personal recollection.</p> +<p>The back windows of the house where he was brought up looked +upon the Greyfriars Church that was burnt down. On the Sunday +morning in which that event took place, as they were all preparing +to go to church, the flames began to burst forth; the young people +screamed from the back part of the house, "A fire! A fire!" and all +was in a state of confusion and alarm. The housemaid was not at +home, it being her turn for the Sunday "out." Kitty, the cook, was +taking her place, and performing her duties. The old woman was +always very particular on the subject of her responsibility on such +occasions, and came panting and hobbling up stairs from the lower +regions, and exclaimed, "Oh, what is't, what is't?" "O Kitty, look +here, the Greyfriars Church is on fire!" "Is that a', Miss? What a +fricht ye geed me! I thought ye said the parlour fire was out."</p> +<p>In connection with the subject of Scottish <i>toasts</i> I am +supplied by a first-rate Highland authority of one of the most +graceful and crushing replies of a lady to what was intended as a +sarcastic compliment and smart saying at her expense.</p> +<p>About the beginning of the present century the then Campbell of +Combie, on Loch Awe side, in Argyleshire, was a man of +extraordinary character, and of great physical strength, and such +swiftness of foot that it is said he could "catch the best +<i>tup</i> on the hill." He also looked upon himself as a "pretty +man," though in this he was singular; also, it was more than +whispered that the laird was not remarkable for his principles of +honesty. There also lived in the same district a Miss MacNabb of +Bar-a'-Chaistril, a lady who, before she had passed the zenith of +life, had never been remarkable for her beauty--the contrary even +had passed into a proverb, while she was in her teens; but, to +counterbalance this defect in external qualities, nature had +endowed her with great benevolence, while she was renowned for her +probity. One day the Laird of Combie, who piqued himself on his +<i>bon-mots,</i> was, as frequently happened, a guest of Miss +MacNabb's, and after dinner several toasts had gone round as usual, +Combie rose with great solemnity and addressing the lady of the +house requested an especial bumper, insisting on all the guests to +fill to the brim. He then rose and said, addressing himself to Miss +MacNabb, "I propose the old Scottish toast of 'Honest men and +<i>bonnie</i> lassies,'" and bowing to the hostess, he resumed his +seat. The lady returned his bow with her usual amiable smile, and +taking up her glass, replied, "Weel, Combie, I am sure <i>we</i> +may drink that, for it will neither apply to <i>you</i> nor +<i>me</i>."</p> +<p>An amusing example of a quiet cool view of a pecuniary +transaction happened to my father whilst doing the business of the +rent-day. He was receiving sums of money from the tenants in +succession. After looking over a bundle of notes which he had just +received from one of them, a well-known character, he said in +banter, "James, the notes are not correct." To which the farmer, +who was much of a humorist, drily answered, "I dinna ken what they +may be <i>noo</i>; but they were a' richt afore ye had your fingers +in amang 'em." An English farmer would hardly have spoken thus to +his landlord. The Duke of Buccleuch told me an answer very quaintly +Scotch, given to his grandmother by a farmer of the old school. A +dinner was given to some tenantry of the vast estates of the +family, in the time of Duke Henry. His Duchess (the last descendant +of the Dukes of Montague) always appeared at table on such +occasions, and did the honours with that mixture of dignity and of +affable kindness for which she was so remarkable. Abundant +hospitality was shown to all the guests. The Duchess, having +observed one of the tenants supplied with boiled beef from a noble +round, proposed that he should add a supply of cabbage: on his +declining, the Duchess good-humouredly remarked, "Why, boiled beef +and 'greens' seem so naturally to go together, I wonder you don't +take it." To which the honest farmer objected, "Ah, but your Grace +maun alloo it's a vary <i>windy</i> vegetable," in delicate +allusion to the flatulent quality of the esculent. Similar to this +was the naïve answer of a farmer on the occasion of a +rent-day. The lady of the house asked him if he would take some +"rhubarb-tart," to which he innocently answered, "Thank ye, mem, I +dinna <i>need</i> it."</p> +<p>A Highland minister, dining with the patroness of his parish, +ventured to say, "I'll thank your leddyship for a little more of +that apple-tart;" "It's not apple-tart, it's rhubarb," replied the +lady. "Rhubarb!" repeated the other, with a look of surprise and +alarm, and immediately called out to the attendant, "Freend, I'll +thank you for a dram."</p> +<p>A characteristic <i>table</i> anecdote I can recall amongst +Deeside reminiscences. My aunt, Mrs. Forbes, had entertained an +honest Scotch farmer at Banchory Lodge; a draught of ale had been +offered to him, which he had quickly despatched. My aunt observing +that the glass had no head or effervescence, observed, that she +feared it had not been a good bottle, "Oh, vera gude, maam, it's +just some strong o' the aaple," an expression which indicates the +beer to be somewhat sharp or pungent. It turned out to have been a +bottle of <i>vinegar</i> decanted by mistake.</p> +<p>An amusing instance of an old Scottish farmer being unacquainted +with table refinements occurred at a tenant's dinner in the north. +The servant had put down beside him a dessert spoon when he had +been helped to pudding. This seemed quite superfluous to the honest +man, who exclaimed, "Tak' it awa, my man; my mou's as big for +puddin' as it is for kail."</p> +<p>Amongst the lower orders in Scotland humour is found, +occasionally, very rich in mere children, and I recollect a +remarkable illustration of this early native humour occurring in a +family in Forfarshire, where I used in former days to be very +intimate. A wretched woman, who used to traverse the country as a +beggar or tramp, left a poor, half-starved little girl by the +road-side, near the house of my friends. Always ready to assist the +unfortunate, they took charge of the child, and as she grew a +little older they began to give her some education, and taught her +to read. She soon made some progress in reading the Bible, and the +native odd humour of which we speak began soon to show itself. On +reading the passage, which began, "Then David rose," etc., the +child stopped, and looked up knowingly, to say, "I ken wha that +was," and on being asked what she could mean, she confidently said, +"That's David Rowse the pleuchman." And again, reading the passage +where the words occur, "He took Paul's girdle," the child said, +with much confidence, "I ken what he took that for," and on being +asked to explain, replied at once, "To bake 's bannocks on;" +"girdle" being in the north the name for the iron plate hung over +the fire for baking oat cakes or bannocks.</p> +<p>To a distinguished member of the Church of Scotland I am +indebted for an excellent story of quaint child humour, which he +had from the lips of an old woman who related the story of +herself:--When a girl of eight years of age she was taken by her +grandmother to church. The parish minister was not only a long +preacher, but, as the custom was, delivered two sermons on the +Sabbath day without any interval, and thus saved the parishioners +the two journeys to church. Elizabeth was sufficiently wearied +before the close of the first discourse; but when, after singing +and prayer, the good minister opened the Bible, read a second text, +and prepared to give a second sermon, the young girl, being both +tired and hungry, lost all patience, and cried out to her +grandmother, to the no small amusement of those who were so near as +to hear her, "Come awa, granny, and gang hame; this is a lang +grace, and nae meat."</p> +<p>A most amusing account of child humour used to be narrated by an +old Mr. Campbell of Jura, who told the story of his own son. It +seems the boy was much spoilt by indulgence. In fact, the parents +were scarce able to refuse him anything he demanded. He was in the +drawing-room on one occasion when dinner was announced, and on +being ordered up to the nursery he insisted on going down to dinner +with the company. His mother was for refusal, but the child +persevered, and kept saying, "If I dinna gang, I'll tell thon." His +father then, for peace sake, let him go. So he went and sat at +table by his mother. When he found every one getting soup and +himself omitted, he demanded soup, and repeated, "If I dinna get +it, I'll tell thon." Well, soup was given, and various other things +yielded to his importunities, to which he always added the usual +threat of "telling thon." At last, when it came to wine, his mother +stood firm, and positively refused, as "a bad thing for little +boys," and so on. He then became more vociferous than ever about +"telling thon;" and as still he was refused, he declared, "Now, I +will tell thon," and at last roared out, "<i>Ma new breeks were +made oot o' the auld curtains</i>!"</p> +<p>The Rev. Mr. Agnew has kindly sent me an anecdote which supplies +an example of cleverness in a Scottish boy, and which rivals, as he +observes, the smartness of the London boy, termed by <i>Punch</i> +the "Street boy." It has also a touch of quiet, sly Scottish +<i>humour</i>. A gentleman, editor of a Glasgow paper, well known +as a bon-vivant and epicure, and by no means a popular character, +was returning one day from his office, and met near his own house a +boy carrying a splendid salmon. The gentleman looked at it with +longing eyes, and addressed the boy--"Where are you taking that +salmon, my boy?" Boy--"Do you ken gin ae Mr. ---- (giving the +gentleman's name) lives hereabout?" Mr. ---- "Yes, oh yes; his +house is here just by." Boy (looking sly)--"Weel, it's no for him." +Of this same Scottish <i>boy cleverness</i>, the Rev. Mr. M'Lure of +Marykirk kindly supplies a capital specimen, in an instance which +occurred at what is called the market, at Fettercairn, where there +is always a hiring of servants. A boy was asked by a farmer if he +wished to be engaged. "Ou ay," said the youth. "Wha was your last +maister?" was the next question. "Oh, yonder him," said the boy; +and then agreeing to wait where he was standing with some other +servants till the inquirer should return from examination of the +boy's late employer. The farmer returned and accosted the boy, +"Weel, lathie, I've been speerin' about ye, an' I'm tae tak ye." +"Ou ay," was the prompt reply, "an' I've been speerin' about <i>ye +tae</i>, an' I'm nae gaen."</p> +<p>We could not have had a better specimen of the cool +self-sufficiency of these young domestics of the Scottish type than +the following:--I heard of a boy making a very cool and determined +exit from the house into which he had very lately been introduced. +He had been told that he should be dismissed if he broke any of the +china that was under his charge. On the morning of a great +dinner-party he was entrusted (rather rashly) with a great load of +plates, which he was to carry up-stairs from the kitchen to the +dining-room, and which were piled up, and rested upon his two +hands. In going up-stairs his foot slipped, and the plates were +broken to atoms. He at once went up to the drawing-room, put his +head in at the door, and shouted: "The plates are a' smashed, and +I'm awa."</p> +<p>A facetious and acute friend, who rather leans to the Sydney +Smith view of Scottish wit, declares that all our humorous stories +are about lairds, and lairds that are drunk. Of such stories there +are certainly not a few. The following is one of the best belonging +to my part of the country, and to many persons I should perhaps +apologise for introducing it at all. The story has been told of +various parties and localities, but no doubt the genuine laird was +a laird of Balnamoon (pronounced in the country Bonnymoon), and +that the locality was a wild tract of land, not far from his place, +called Munrimmon Moor. Balnamoon had been dining out in the +neighbourhood, where, by mistake, they had put down to him after +dinner cherry brandy, instead of port wine, his usual beverage. The +rich flavour and strength so pleased him that, having tasted it, he +would have nothing else. On rising from table, therefore, the laird +would be more affected by his drink than if he had taken his +ordinary allowance of port. His servant Harry or Hairy was to drive +him home in a gig, or whisky as it was called, the usual open +carriage of the time. On crossing the moor, however, whether from +greater exposure to the blast, or from the laird's unsteadiness of +head, his hat and wig came off and fell upon the ground. Harry got +out to pick them up and restore them to his master. The laird was +satisfied with the hat, but demurred at the wig. "It's no my wig, +Hairy, lad; it's no my wig," and refused to have anything to do +with it. Hairy lost his patience, and, anxious to get home, +remonstrated with his master, "Ye'd better tak it, sir, for there's +nae <i>waile</i><a name="FNanchor161"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_161">[161]</a> o' wigs on Munrimmon Moor." The humour of +the argument is exquisite, putting to the laird in his unreasonable +objection the sly insinuation that in such a locality, if he did +not take <i>this</i> wig, he was not likely to find another. Then, +what a rich expression, "waile o' wigs." In English what is it? "A +choice of perukes;" which is nothing comparable to the "waile o' +wigs." I ought to mention also an amusing sequel to the story, viz. +in what happened after the affair of the wig had been settled, and +the laird had consented to return home. When the whisky drove up to +the door, Hairy, sitting in front, told the servant who came "to +tak out the laird." No laird was to be seen; and it appeared that +he had fallen out on the moor without Hairy observing it. Of +course, they went back, and, picking him up, brought him safe home. +A neighbouring laird having called a few days after, and having +referred to the accident, Balnamoon quietly added, "Indeed, I maun +hae a lume<a name="FNanchor162"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_162">[162]</a> that'll <i>haud in</i>."</p> +<p>The laird of Balnamoon was a truly eccentric character. He +joined with his drinking propensities a great zeal for the +Episcopal church, the service of which he read to his own family +with much solemnity and earnestness of manner. Two gentlemen, one +of them a stranger to the country, having called pretty early one +Sunday morning, Balnamoon invited them to dinner, and as they +accepted the invitation, they remained and joined in the forenoon +devotional exercises conducted by Balnamoon himself. The stranger +was much impressed with the laird's performance of the service, and +during a walk which they took before dinner, mentioned to his +friend how highly he esteemed the religious deportment of their +host. The gentleman said nothing, but smiled to himself at the +scene which he anticipated was to follow. After dinner, Balnamoon +set himself, according to the custom of old hospitable Scottish +hosts, to make his guests as drunk as possible. The result was, +that the party spent the evening in a riotous debauch, and were +carried to bed by the servants at a late hour. Next day, when they +had taken leave and left the house, the gentleman who had +introduced his friend asked him what he thought of their +entertainer--"Why, really," he replied, with evident astonishment, +"sic a speat o' praying, and sic a speat o' drinking, I never knew +in the whole course o' my life."</p> +<p>Lady Dalhousie, mother, I mean, of the late distinguished +Marquis of Dalhousie, used to tell a characteristic anecdote of her +day. But here, on mention of the name Christian, Countess of +Dalhousie, may I pause a moment to recall the memory of one who was +a very remarkable person. She was for many years, to me and mine, a +sincere, and true and valuable friend. By an awful dispensation of +God's providence her death happened <i>instantaneously</i> under my +roof in 1839. Lady Dalhousie was eminently distinguished for a fund +of the most varied knowledge, for a clear and powerful judgment, +for acute observation, a kind heart, a brilliant wit. Her story was +thus:--A Scottish judge, somewhat in the predicament of the Laird +of Balnamoon, had dined at Coalstoun with her father Charles Brown, +an advocate, and son of George Brown, who sat in the Supreme Court +as a judge with the title of Lord Coalstoun. The party had been +convivial, as we know parties of the highest legal characters often +were in those days. When breaking up and going to the drawing-room, +one of them, not seeing his way very clearly, stepped out of the +dining-room window, which was open to the summer air. The ground at +Coalstoun sloping off from the house behind, the worthy judge got a +great fall, and rolled down the bank. He contrived, however, as +tipsy men generally do, to regain his legs, and was able to reach +the drawing-room. The first remark he made was an innocent +remonstrance with his friend the host, "Od, Charlie Brown, what +gars ye hae sic lang steps to your <i>front</i> door?"</p> +<p>On Deeside, where many original stories had their origin, I +recollect hearing several of an excellent and worthy, but very +simple-minded man, the Laird of Craigmyle. On one occasion, when +the beautiful and clever Jane, Duchess of Gordon, was scouring +through the country, intent upon some of those electioneering +schemes which often occupied her fertile imagination and active +energies, she came to call at Craigmyle, and having heard that the +laird was making bricks on the property, for the purpose of +building a new garden wall, with her usual tact she opened the +subject, and kindly asked, "Well, Mr. Gordon, and how do your +bricks come on?" Good Craigmyle's thoughts were much occupied with +a new leather portion of his dress, which had been lately +constructed, so, looking down on his nether garments, he said in +pure Aberdeen dialect, "Muckle obleeged to yer Grace, the breeks +war sum ticht at first, but they are deeing weel eneuch noo."</p> +<p>The last Laird of Macnab, before the clan finally broke up and +emigrated to Canada, was a well-known character in the country, and +being poor, used to ride about on a most wretched horse, which gave +occasion to many jibes at his expense. The laird was in the +constant habit of riding up from the country to attend the +Musselburgh races. A young wit, by way of playing him off on the +race-course, asked him, in a contemptuous tone, "Is that the same +horse you had last year, laird?" "Na," said the laird, brandishing +his whip in the interrogator's face in so emphatic a manner as to +preclude further questioning, "na; but it's the same <i>whup</i>." +In those days, as might be expected, people were not nice in +expressions of their dislike of persons and measures. If there be +not more charity in society than of old, there is certainly more +courtesy. I have, from a friend, an anecdote illustrative of this +remark, in regard to feelings exercised towards an unpopular laird. +In the neighbourhood of Banff, in Forfarshire, the seat of a very +ancient branch of the Ramsays, lived a proprietor who bore the +appellation of Corb, from the name of his estate. This family has +passed away, and its property merged in Banff. The laird was +intensely disliked in the neighbourhood. Sir George Ramsay was, on +the other hand, universally popular and respected. On one occasion, +Sir George, in passing a morass in his own neighbourhood, had +missed the road and fallen into a bog to an alarming depth. To his +great relief, he saw a passenger coming along the path, which was +at no great distance. He called loudly for his help, but the man +took no notice. Poor Sir George felt himself sinking, and redoubled +his cries for assistance; all at once the passenger rushed forward, +carefully extricated him from his perilous position, and politely +apologised for his first neglect of his appeal, adding, as his +reason, "Indeed, Sir George, I thought it was Corb!" evidently +meaning that <i>had</i> it been Corb, he must have taken his chance +for him.</p> +<p>In Lanarkshire there lived a sma' sma' laird named Hamilton, who +was noted for his eccentricity. On one occasion, a neighbour waited +on him, and requested his name as an accommodation to a "bit bill" +for twenty pounds at three months' date, which led to the following +characteristic and truly Scottish colloquy:--"Na, na, I canna do +that." "What for no, laird? ye hae dune the same thing for ithers." +"Ay, ay, Tammas, but there's wheels within wheels ye ken naething +about; I canna do't." "It's a sma' affair to refuse me, laird." +"Weel, ye see, Tammas, if I was to pit my name till't, ye wad get +the siller frae the bank, and when the time came round, ye wadna be +ready, and I wad hae to pay't; sae then you and me wad quarrel; sae +we may just as weel quarrel <i>the noo</i>, as lang's the siller's +in ma pouch." On one occasion, Hamilton having business with the +late Duke of Hamilton at Hamilton Palace, the Duke politely asked +him to lunch. A liveried servant waited upon them, and was most +assiduous in his attentions to the Duke and his guest. At last our +eccentric friend lost patience, and looking at the servant, +addressed him thus, "What the deil for are ye dance, dancing, about +the room that gait? can ye no draw in your chair and sit down? I'm +sure there's <i>plenty on the table for three</i>."</p> +<p>As a specimen of the old-fashioned Laird, now become a +Reminiscence, who adhered pertinaciously to old Scottish usages, +and to the old Scottish dialect, I cannot, I am sure, adduce a +better specimen than Mr. Fergusson of Pitfour, to whose servant I +have already referred. He was always called Pitfour, from the name +of his property in Aberdeenshire. He must have died fifty years +ago. He was for many years M.P. for the county of Aberdeen, and I +have reason to believe that he made the enlightened parliamentary +declaration which has been given to others: He said "he had often +heard speeches in the <i>House</i>, which had changed his opinion, +but none that had ever changed his vote." I recollect hearing of +his dining in London sixty years ago, at the house of a Scottish +friend, where there was a swell party, and Pitfour was introduced +as a great northern proprietor, and county M.P. A fashionable lady +patronised him graciously, and took great charge of him, and asked +him about his estates. Pitfour was very dry and sparing in his +communications, as for example, "What does your home farm chiefly +produce, Mr. Fergusson?" Answer, "Girss." "I beg your pardon, Mr. +Fergusson, what does your home farm produce?" All she could extract +was, "Girss."</p> +<p>Of another laird, whom I heard often spoken of in old times, an +anecdote was told strongly Scottish. Our friend had much difficulty +(as many worthy lairds have had) in meeting the claims of those two +woeful periods of the year called with us in Scotland the "tarmes." +He had been employing for some time as workman a stranger from the +south on some house repairs, of the not uncommon name in England of +Christmas. His servant early one morning called out at the laird's +door in great excitement that "Christmas had run away, and nobody +knew where he had gone." He coolly turned in his bed with the +ejaculation, "I only wish he had taken Whitsunday and Martinmas +along with him." I do not know a better illustration of quiet, +shrewd, and acute Scottish humour than the following little story, +which an esteemed correspondent mentions having heard from his +father when a boy, relating to a former Duke of Athole, who had +<i>no family of his own</i>, and whom he mentions as having +remembered very well:--He met, one morning, one of his cottars or +gardeners, whose wife he knew to be in the <i>hopeful way</i>. +Asking him "how Marget was the day," the man replied that she had +that morning given him twins. Upon which the Duke said,--"Weel, +Donald; ye ken the Almighty never sends bairns without the meat." +"That may be, your Grace," said Donald; "but whiles I think that +Providence maks a mistak in thae matters, and sends the bairns to +ae hoose and the meat to anither!" The Duke took the hint, and sent +him a cow with calf the following morning.</p> +<p>I have heard of an amusing scene between a laird, noted for his +meanness, and a wandering sort of Edie Ochiltree, a well-known +itinerant who lived by his wits and what he could pick up in his +rounds amongst the houses through the country. The laird, having +seen the beggar sit down near his gate to examine the contents of +his pock or wallet, conjectured that he had come from his house, +and so drew near to see what he had carried off. As the laird was +keenly investigating the mendicant's spoils, his quick eye detected +some bones on which there remained more meat than should have been +allowed to leave his kitchen. Accordingly he pounced upon the +bones, declaring he had been robbed, and insisted on the beggar +returning to the house and giving back the spoil. He was, however, +prepared for the attack, and sturdily defended his property, boldly +asserting, "Na, na, laird, thae are no Tod-brae banes; they are +Inch-byre banes, and nane o' your honour's"--meaning that he had +received these bones at the house of a neighbour of a more liberal +character. The beggar's professional discrimination between the +merits of the bones of the two mansions, and his pertinacious +defence of his own property, would have been most amusing to a +bystander.</p> +<p>I have, however, a reverse story, in which the beggar is quietly +silenced by the proprietor. A noble lord, some generations back, +well known for his frugal habits, had just picked up a small copper +coin in his own avenue, and had been observed by one of the +itinerating mendicant race, who, grudging the transfer of the piece +into the peer's pocket, exclaimed, "O, gie't to me, my lord;" to +which the quiet answer was, "Na, na; fin' a fardin' for yersell, +puir body."</p> +<p>There are always pointed anecdotes against houses wanting in a +liberal and hospitable expenditure in Scotland. Thus, we have heard +of a master leaving such a mansion, and taxing his servant with +being drunk, which he had too often been after other country +visits. On this occasion, however, he was innocent of the charge, +for he had not the <i>opportunity</i> to transgress. So, when his +master asserted, "Jemmy, you are drunk!" Jemmy very quietly +answered, "Indeed, sir, I wish I wur." At another mansion, +notorious for scanty fare, a gentleman was inquiring of the +gardener about a dog which some time ago he had given to the laird. +The gardener showed him a lank greyhound, on which the gentleman +said, "No, no; the dog I gave your master was a mastiff, not a +greyhound;" to which the gardener quietly answered, "Indeed, ony +dog micht sune become a greyhound by stopping here."</p> +<p>From a friend and relative, a minister of the Established Church +of Scotland, I used to hear many characteristic stories. He had a +curious vein of this sort of humour in himself, besides what he +brought out from others. One of his peculiarities was a mortal +antipathy to the whole French nation, whom he frequently abused in +no measured terms. At the same time he had great relish of a glass +of claret, which he considered the prince of all social beverages. +So he usually finished off his antigallican tirades, with the +reservation, "But the bodies brew the braw drink." He lived amongst +his own people, and knew well the habits and peculiarities of a +race gone by. He had many stories connected with the pastoral +relation between minister and people, and all such stories are +curious, not merely for their amusement, but from the illustration +they afford us of that peculiar Scottish humour which we are now +describing. He had himself, when a very young boy, before he came +up to the Edinburgh High School, been at the parochial school where +he resided, and which, like many others, at that period, had a +considerable reputation for the skill and scholarship of the +master. He used to describe school scenes rather different, I +suspect, from school scenes in our day. One boy, on coming late, +explained that the cause had been a regular pitched battle between +his parents, with the details of which he amused his +school-fellows; and he described the battle in vivid and Scottish +Homeric terms: "And eh, as they faucht, and they faucht," adding, +however, with much complacency, "but my minnie dang, she did +tho'."</p> +<p>There was a style of conversation and quaint modes of expression +between ministers and their people at that time, which, I suppose, +would seem strange to the present generation; as, for example, I +recollect a conversation between this relative and one of his +parishioners of this description.--It had been a very wet and +unpromising autumn. The minister met a certain Janet of his flock, +and accosted her very kindly. He remarked, "Bad prospect for the +har'st (harvest), Janet, this wet." <i>Janet</i>--"Indeed, sir, +I've seen as muckle as that there'll be nae har'st the year." +<i>Minister</i>--"Na, Janet, deil as muckle as that't ever you +saw."</p> +<p>As I have said, he was a clergyman of the Established Church, +and had many stories about ministers and people, arising out of his +own pastoral experience, or the experience of friends and +neighbours. He was much delighted with the not very refined rebuke +which one of his own farmers had given to a young minister who had +for some Sundays occupied his pulpit. The young man had dined with +the farmer in the afternoon when services were over, and his +appetite was so sharp, that he thought it necessary to apologise to +his host for eating so substantial a dinner.--"You see," he said, +"I am always very hungry after preaching." The old gentleman, not +much admiring the youth's pulpit ministrations, having heard this +apology two or three times, at last replied sarcastically, "Indeed, +sir, I'm no surprised at it, considering the <i>trash</i> that +comes aff your stamach in the morning."</p> +<p>What I wish to keep in view is, to distinguish anecdotes which +are amusing on account merely of the expressions used, from those +which have real wit and humour <i>combined</i>, with the purely +Scottish vehicle in which they are conveyed.</p> +<p>Of this class I could not have a better specimen to commence +with than the defence of the liturgy of his church, by John Skinner +of Langside, of whom previous mention has been made. It is witty +and clever.</p> +<p>Being present at a party (I think at Lord Forbes's), where were +also several ministers of the Establishment, the conversation over +their wine turned, among other things, on the Prayer Book. Skinner +took no part in it, till one minister remarked to him, "The great +faut I hae to your prayer-book is that ye use the Lord's Prayer sae +aften,--ye juist mak a dishclout o't." Skinner's rejoinder was, +"Verra true! Ay, man, we mak a dishclout o't, an' we wring't, an' +we wring't, an' we wring't, an' the bree<a name= +"FNanchor163"></a><a href="#Footnote_163">[163]</a> o't washes a' +the lave o' our prayers."</p> +<p>No one, I think, could deny the wit of the two following +rejoinders.</p> +<p>A ruling elder of a country parish in the west of Scotland was +well known in the district as a shrewd and ready-witted man. He +received many a visit from persons who liked a banter, or to hear a +good joke. Three young students gave him a call in order to have a +little amusement at the elder's expense. On approaching him, one of +them saluted him, "Well, Father Abraham, how are you to-day?" "You +are wrong," said the other, "this is old Father Isaac." "Tuts," +said the third, "you are both mistaken; this is old Father Jacob." +David looked at the young men, and in his own way replied, "I am +neither old Father Abraham, nor old Father Isaac, nor old Father +Jacob; but I am Saul the son of Kish, seeking his father's asses, +and lo! I've found three o' them."</p> +<p>For many years the Baptist community of Dunfermline was presided +over by brothers David Dewar and James Inglis, the latter of whom +has just recently gone to his reward. Brother David was a plain, +honest, straightforward man, who never hesitated to express his +convictions, however unpalatable they might be to others. Being +elected a member of the Prison Board, he was called upon to give +his vote in the choice of a chaplain from the licentiates of the +Established Kirk. The party who had gained the confidence of the +Board had proved rather an indifferent preacher in a charge to +which he had previously been appointed; and on David being asked to +signify his assent to the choice of the Board, he said, "Weel, I've +no objections to the man, for I understand he has preached a kirk +toom (empty) already, and if he be as successful in the jail, he'll +maybe preach it vawcant as weel."</p> +<p>From Mr. Inglis, clerk of the Court of Session, I have the +following Scottish rejoinder:--</p> +<p>"I recollect my father relating a conversation between a +Perthshire laird and one of his tenants. The laird's eldest son was +rather a simpleton. Laird says, 'I am going to send the young laird +abroad,' 'What for?' asks the tenant; answered, 'To see the world;' +tenant replies, 'But, lord-sake, laird, will no the world see +<i>him</i>?'"</p> +<p>An admirably humorous reply is recorded of a Scotch officer, +well known and esteemed in his day for mirth and humour. Captain +Innes of the Guards (usually called Jock Innes by his +contemporaries) was with others getting ready for Flushing or some +of those expeditions of the beginning of the great war. His +commanding officer (Lord Huntly, my correspondent thinks) +remonstrated about the badness of his hat, and recommended a new +one--"Na, na! bide a wee," said Jock; "where we're gain' faith +there'll soon be mair hats nor <i>heads</i>."</p> +<p>I recollect being much amused with a Scottish reference of this +kind in the heart of London. Many years ago a Scotch party had +dined at Simpson's famous beef-steak house in the Strand. On coming +away some of the party could not find their hats, and my uncle was +jocularly asking the waiter, whom he knew to be a <i>Deeside</i> +man, "Whar are our bonnets, Jeems?" To which he replied, "'Deed, I +mind the day when I had neither hat nor bonnet."</p> +<p>There is an odd and original way of putting a matter sometimes +in Scotch people, which is irresistibly comic, although by the +persons nothing comic is intended; as for example, when in 1786 +Edinburgh was illuminated on account of the recovery of George III. +from severe illness. In a house where great preparation was going +on for the occasion, by getting the candles fixed in tin sconces, +an old nurse of the family, looking on, exclaimed, "Ay, it's a braw +time for the cannel-makers when the king is sick, honest man!"</p> +<p>Scottish farmers of the old school were a shrewd and humorous +race, sometimes not indisposed to look with a little jealousy upon +their younger brethren, who, on their part, perhaps, showed their +contempt for the old-fashioned ways. I take the following example +from the columns of the <i>Peterhead Sentinel</i>, just as it +appeared--June 14, 1861:--</p> +<p>"AN ANECDOTE FOR DEAN EAMSAY.--The following characteristic and +amusing anecdote was communicated to us the other day by a +gentleman who happened to be a party to the conversation detailed +below. This gentleman was passing along a road not a hundred miles +from Peterhead one day this week. Two different farms skirt the +separate sides of the turnpike, one of which is rented by a farmer +who cultivates his land according to the most advanced system of +agriculture, and the other of which is farmed by a gentleman of the +old school. Our informant met the latter worthy at the side of the +turnpike opposite his neighbour's farm, and seeing a fine crop of +wheat upon what appeared to be [and really was] very thin and poor +land, asked, 'When was that wheat sown?' 'O I dinna ken,' replied +the gentleman of the old school, with a sort of half-indifference, +half-contempt. 'But isn't it strange that such a fine crop should +be reared on such bad land?' asked our informant. 'O, na--nae at +a'--deevil thank it; a gravesteen wad gie guid bree<a name= +"FNanchor164"></a><a href="#Footnote_164">[164]</a> gin ye gied it +plenty o' butter!'"</p> +<p>But perhaps the best anecdote illustrative of the keen +shrewdness of the Scottish farmer is related by Mr. Boyd<a name= +"FNanchor165"></a><a href="#Footnote_165">[165]</a> in one of his +charming series of papers, reprinted from <i>Fraser's Magazine</i>. +"A friend of mine, a country parson, on first going to his parish, +resolved to farm his glebe for himself. A neighbouring farmer +kindly offered the parson to plough one of his fields. The farmer +said that he would send his man John with a plough and a pair of +horses on a certain day. 'If ye're goin' about,' said the farmer to +the clergyman, 'John will be unco weel pleased if you speak to him, +and say it's a fine day, or the like o' that; but dinna,' said the +farmer, with much solemnity, 'dinna say onything to him about +ploughin' and sawin'; for John,' he added, 'is a stupid body, but +he has been ploughin' and sawin' a' his life, and he'll see in a +minute that <i>ye</i> ken naething aboot ploughin' and sawin'. And +then,' said the sagacious old farmer, with much earnestness, 'if he +comes to think that ye ken naething aboot ploughin' and sawin', +he'll think that ye ken naething aboot onything!'"</p> +<p>The following is rather an original commentary, by a layman, +upon clerical incomes:--A relative of mine going to church with a +Forfarshire farmer, one of the old school, asked him the amount of +the minister's stipend. He said, "Od, it's a gude ane--the maist +part of £300 a year." "Well," said my relative, "many of +these Scotch ministers are but poorly off." "They've eneuch, sir, +they've eneuch; if they'd mair, it would want a' their time to the +spendin' o't."</p> +<p>Scotch gamekeepers had often much dry quiet humour. I was much +amused by the answer of one of those under the following +circumstances:--An Ayrshire gentleman, who was from the first a +very bad shot, or rather no shot at all, when out on 1st of +September, having failed, time after time, in bringing down a +single bird, had at last pointed out to him by his attendant +bag-carrier a large covey, thick and close on the stubbles. "Noo, +Mr. Jeems, let drive at them, just as they are!" Mr. Jeems did let +drive, as advised, but not a feather remained to testify the shot. +All flew off, safe and sound--"Hech, sir (remarks his friend), but +ye've made thae yins <i>shift their quarters</i>."</p> +<p>The two following anecdotes of rejoinders from Scottish +guidwives, and for which I am indebted, as for many other kind +communications, to the Rev. Mr. Blair of Dunblane, appear to me as +good examples of the peculiar Scottish pithy phraseology which we +refer to, as any that I have met with.</p> +<p>An old lady from whom the "Great Unknown" had derived many an +ancient tale, was waited upon one day by the author of "Waverley." +On his endeavouring to give the authorship the go-by, the old dame +protested, "D'ye think, sir, I dinna ken my ain groats in ither +folk's kail<a name="FNanchor166"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_166">[166]</a>?"</p> +<p>A conceited packman called at a farm-house in the west of +Scotland, in order to dispose of some of his wares. The goodwife +was offended by his southern accent, and his high talk about York, +London, and other big places. "An' whaur come ye frae yersell?" was +the question of the guidwife. "Ou, I am from the Border." "The +Border--oh! I thocht that; for we aye think the <i>selvidge</i> is +the wakest bit o' the wab!"</p> +<p>The following is a good specimen of ready Scotch humorous reply, +by a master to his discontented workman, and in which he turned the +tables upon him, in his reference to Scripture. In a town of one of +the central counties a Mr. J---- carried on, about a century ago, a +very extensive business in the linen manufacture. Although +<i>strikes</i> were then unknown among the labouring classes, the +spirit from which these take their rise has no doubt at all times +existed. Among Mr. J----'s many workmen, one had given him constant +annoyance for years, from his discontented and argumentative +spirit. Insisting one day on getting something or other which his +master thought most unreasonable, and refused to give in to, he at +last submitted, with a bad grace, saying, "You're nae better than +<i>Pharaoh</i>, sir, forcin' puir folk to mak' bricks without +straw." "Well, Saunders," quietly rejoined his master, "if I'm nae +better than Pharaoh in one respect, I'll be better in another, for +<i>I'll no hinder ye going to the wilderness whenever you +choose</i>."</p> +<p>Persons who are curious in Scottish stories of wit and humour +speak much of the sayings of a certain "Laird of Logan," who was a +well-known character in the West of Scotland. This same Laird of +Logan was at a meeting of the heritors of Cumnock, where a proposal +was made to erect a new churchyard wall. He met the proposition +with the dry remark, "I never big dykes till the <i>tenants</i> +complain." Calling one day for a gill of whisky in a public-house, +the Laird was asked if he would take any water with the spirit. +"Na, na," replied he, "I would rather ye would tak the water out +o't."</p> +<p>The laird sold a horse to an Englishman, saying, "You buy him as +you see him; but he's an <i>honest</i> beast." The purchaser took +him home. In a few days he stumbled and fell, to the damage of his +own knees and his rider's head. On this the angry purchaser +remonstrated with the laird, whose reply was, "Well, sir, I told ye +he was an honest beast; many a time has he threatened to come down +with me, and I kenned he would keep his word some day."</p> +<p>At the time of the threatened invasion, the laird had been +taunted at a meeting at Ayr with want of loyal spirit at Cumnock, +as at that place no volunteer corps had been raised to meet the +coming danger; Cumnock, it should be recollected, being on a high +situation, and ten or twelve miles from the coast. "What sort of +people are you up at Cumnock?" said an Ayr gentleman; "you have not +a single volunteer!" "Never you heed," says Logan, very quietly; +"if the French land at Ayr, there will soon be plenty of volunteers +up at Cumnock."</p> +<p>A pendant to the story of candid admission on the part of the +minister, that the people might be <i>weary</i> after his sermon, +has been given on the authority of the narrator, a Fife gentleman, +ninety years of age when he told it. He had been to church at Elie, +and listening to a young and perhaps bombastic preacher, who +happened to be officiating for the Rev. Dr. Milligan, who was in +church. After service, meeting the Doctor in the passage, he +introduced the young clergyman, who, on being asked by the old man +how he did, elevated his shirt collar, and complained of fatigue, +and being very much "<i>tired</i>." "Tired, did ye say, my man?" +said the old satirist, who was slightly deaf; "Lord, man! if you're +<i>half</i> as tired as I am, I pity ye!"</p> +<p>I have been much pleased with an offering from Carluke, +containing two very pithy anecdotes. Mr. Rankin very kindly +writes:--"Your 'Reminiscences' are most refreshing. I am very +little of a story-collector, but I have recorded some of an old +schoolmaster, who was a story-teller. As a sort of payment for the +amusement I have derived from your book, I shall give one or +two."</p> +<p>He sends the two following:--</p> +<p>"Shortly after Mr. Kay had been inducted schoolmaster of Carluke +(1790), the bederal called at the school, verbally announcing, +proclamation-ways, that Mrs. So-and-So's funeral would be on +Fuirsday. 'At what hour?' asked the dominie. 'Ou, ony time atween +ten and twa.' At two o'clock of the day fixed, Mr. Kay--quite a +stranger to the customs of the district--arrived at the place, and +was astonished to find a crowd of men and lads, standing here and +there, some smoking, and all <i>arglebargling</i><a name= +"FNanchor167"></a><a href="#Footnote_167">[167]</a> as if at the +end of a fair. He was instantly, but mysteriously, approached, and +touched on the arm by a red-faced bareheaded man, who seemed to be +in authority, and was beckoned to follow. On entering the barn, +which was seated all round, he found numbers sitting, each with the +head bent down, and each with his hat between his knees--all +gravity and silence. Anon a voice was heard issuing from the far +end, and a long prayer was uttered. They had worked at this--what +was called '<i>a service</i>'--during three previous hours, one +party succeeding another, and many taking advantage of every +service, which consisted of a prayer by way of grace, a glass of +<i>white</i> wine, a glass of <i>red</i> wine, a glass of +<i>rum</i>, and a prayer by way of thanksgiving. After the long +invocation, bread and wine passed round. Silence prevailed. Most +partook of both <i>rounds</i> of wine, but when the rum came, many +nodded refusal, and by and by the nodding seemed to be universal, +and the trays passed on so much the more quickly. A sumphish +weather-beaten man, with a large flat blue bonnet on his knee, who +had nodded unwittingly, and was about to lose the last chance of a +glass of rum, raised his head, saying, amid the deep silence, 'Od, +I daursay I <i>wull</i> tak anither glass,' and in a sort of +vengeful, yet apologetic tone, added, 'The auld jaud yince cheated +me wi' a cauve' (calf)."</p> +<p>At a farmer's funeral in the country, an undertaker was in +charge of the ceremonial, and directing how it was to proceed, when +he noticed a little man giving orders, and, as he thought, rather +encroaching upon the duties and privileges of his own office. He +asked him, "And wha are ye, mi' man, that tak sae muckle on ye?" +"Oh, dinna ye ken?" said the man, under a strong sense of his own +importance, "I'm the corp's brither<a name= +"FNanchor168"></a><a href="#Footnote_168">[168]</a>?"</p> +<p>Curious scenes took place at funerals where there was, in times +gone by, an unfortunate tendency to join with such solemnities more +attention to festal entertainment than was becoming. A farmer, at +the interment of his second wife, exercised a liberal hospitality +to his friends at the inn near the church. On looking over the +bill, the master defended the charge as moderate. But he reminded +him, "Ye forget, man, that it's no ilka ane that brings a +<i>second</i> funeral to your house."</p> +<p>"Dr. Scott, minister of Carluke (1770), was a fine graceful +kindly man, always stepping about in his bag-wig and cane in hand, +with a kind and ready word to every one. He was officiating at a +bridal in his parish, where there was a goodly company, had +partaken of the good cheer, and waited till the young people were +fairly warmed in the dance. A dissenting body had sprung up in the +parish, which he tried to think was beneath him even to notice, +when he could help it, yet never seemed to feel at all keenly when +the dissenters were alluded to. One of the chief leaders of this +body was at the bridal, and felt it to be his bounden duty to call +upon the minister for his reasons for sanctioning by his presence +so sinful an enjoyment. 'Weel, minister, what think ye o' this +dancin'?' 'Why, John,' said the minister, blithely, 'I think it an +excellent exercise for young people, and, I dare say, so do you.' +'Ah, sir, I'm no sure about it; I see nae authority for't in the +Scriptures.' 'Umph, indeed, John; you cannot forget David.' 'Ah, +sir, Dauvid; gif they were a' to dance as Dauvid did, it would be a +different thing a'thegither.' 'Hoot-o-fie, hoot-o-fie, John; would +you have the young folk strip to the sark?'"</p> +<p>Reference has been made to the eccentric laird of Balnamoon, his +wig, and his "speats o' drinking and praying." A story of this +laird is recorded, which I do think is well named, by a +correspondent who communicates it, as a "quintessential phasis of +dry Scotch humour," and the explanation of which would perhaps be +thrown away upon any one who <i>needed</i> the explanation. The +story is this:--The laird riding past a high steep bank, stopped +opposite a hole in it, and said, "Hairy, I saw a brock gang in +there." "Did ye?" said Hairy; "wull ye hand my horse, sir?" +"Certainly," said the laird, and away rushed Hairy for a spade. +After digging for half-an-hour, he came back, quite done, to the +laird, who had regarded him musingly. "I canna find him, sir," said +Hairy. "'Deed," said the laird, very coolly, "I wad ha' wondered if +ye had, for it's ten years sin' I saw him gang in there."</p> +<p>Amongst many humorous colloquies between Balnamoon and his +servant, the following must have been very racy and very original. +The laird, accompanied by Hairy, after a dinner party, was riding +on his way home, through a ford, when he fell off into the water. +"Whae's that faun?" he inquired. "'Deed," quoth Hairy, "I witna an +it be na your honour."</p> +<p>There is a peculiarity connected with what we have considered +Scotch humour. It is more common for Scotsmen to associate their +own feelings with <i>national</i> events and national history than +for Englishmen. Take as illustrations the following, as being +perhaps as good as any:--The Rev. Robert Scott, a Scotsman who +forgets not Scotland in his southern vicarage, and whom I have +named before as having sent me some good reminiscences, tells me +that, at Inverary, some thirty years ago, he could not help +overhearing the conversation of some Lowland cattle-dealers in the +public room in which he was. The subject of the bravery of our navy +being started, one of the interlocutors expressed his surprise that +Nelson should have issued his signal at Trafalgar in the terms, +"<i>England expects</i>," etc. He was met with the answer (which +seemed highly satisfactory to the rest), "Ah, Nelson only said +'<i>expects</i>' of the English; he said naething of Scotland, for +he <i>kent</i> the <i>Scotch</i> would do theirs."</p> +<p>I am assured the following manifestation of national feeling +against the memory of a Scottish character actually took place +within a few years:--Williamson (the Duke of Buccleuch's huntsman) +was one afternoon riding home from hunting through Haddington; and +as he passed the old Abbey, he saw an ancient woman looking through +the iron grating in front of the burial-place of the Lauderdale +family, holding by the bars, and grinning and dancing with rage. +"Eh, gudewife," said Williamson, "what ails ye?" "It's the Duke o' +Lauderdale," cried she. "Eh, if I could win at him, I wud rax the +banes o' him."</p> +<p>To this class belongs the following complacent Scottish remark +upon Bannockburn. A splenetic Englishman said to a Scottish +countryman, something of a wag, that no man of taste would think of +remaining any time in such a country as Scotland. To which the +canny Scot replied, "Tastes differ; I'se tak ye to a place no far +frae Stirling, whaur thretty thousand o' your countrymen ha' been +for five hunder years, and they've nae thocht o' leavin' yet."</p> +<p>In a similar spirit, an honest Scotch farmer, who had sent some +sheep to compete at a great English agricultural cattle-show, and +was much disgusted at not getting a prize, consoled himself for the +disappointment, by insinuating that the judges could hardly act +quite impartially by a Scottish competitor, complacently remarking, +"It's aye been the same since Bannockburn."</p> +<p>Then, again, take the story told in Lockhart's Life of Sir +Walter Scott, of the blacksmith whom Sir Walter had formerly known +as a horse-doctor, and whom he found at a small country town south +of the Border, practising medicine with a reckless use of "laudamy +and calomy<a name="FNanchor169"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_169">[169]</a>," apologising at the same time for the +mischief he might do, by the assurance that it "<i>would be lang +before it made up for Flodden</i>." How graphically it describes +the interest felt by Scotchmen of his rank in the incidents of +their national history. A similar example has been recorded in +connection with Bannockburn. Two Englishmen visited the field of +that great battle, and a country blacksmith pointed out the +positions of the two armies, the stone on which was fixed the +Bruce's standard, etc. The gentlemen, pleased with the intelligence +of their guide, on leaving pressed his acceptance of a crown-piece. +"Na, na," replied the Scotsman, with much pride, "it has cost ye +eneuch already." Such an example of self-denial on the part of a +Scottish cicerone is, we fear, now rather a "reminiscence."</p> +<p>A north country drover had, however, a more <i>tangible</i> +opportunity of gratifying his national animosity against the +Southron, and of which he availed himself. Returning homewards, +after a somewhat unsuccessful journey, and not in very good humour +with the Englishers, when passing through Carlisle he saw a notice +stuck up, offering a reward of £50 for any one who would do a +piece of service to the community, by officiating as executioner of +the law on a noted criminal then under sentence of death. Seeing a +chance to make up for his bad market, and comforted with the +assurance that he was unknown there, he undertook the office, +executed the condemned, and got the fee. When moving off with the +money, he was twitted at as a "mean beggarly Scot," doing for money +what no <i>Englishman</i> would. With a grin and quiet glee, he +only replied, "I'll hang ye a' at the price."</p> +<p>Some Scotsmen, no doubt, have a very complacent feeling +regarding the superiority of their countrymen, and make no +hesitation in proclaiming their opinion. I have always admired the +quaint expression of such belief in a case which has recently been +reported to me. A young Englishman had taken a Scottish +shooting-ground, and enjoyed his mountain sport so much as to +imbibe a strong partiality for his northern residence and all its +accompaniments. At a German watering-place he encountered, next +year, an original character, a Scotsman of the old school, very +national, and somewhat bigoted in his nationality: he determined to +pass himself off to him as a genuine Scottish native; and, +accordingly, he talked of Scotland and haggis, and sheep's head, +and whisky; he boasted of Bannockburn, and admired Queen Mary; +looked upon Scott and Burns as superior to all English writers; and +staggered, although he did not convince, the old gentleman. On +going away he took leave of his Scottish friend, and said, "Well, +sir, next time we meet, I hope you will receive me as a real +countryman." "Weel," he said, "I'm jest thinkin', my lad, ye're nae +Scotsman; but I'll tell ye what ye are--ye're juist an +<i>impruived</i> Englishman."</p> +<p>I am afraid we must allow that Scottish people have a +<i>leetle</i> national vanity, and may be too ready sometimes to +press the claim of their country to an extravagantly assumed +pre-eminence in the annals of genius and celebrities. An extreme +case of such pretension I heard of lately, which is amusing. A +Scotsman, in reference to the distinction awarded to Sir Walter +Scott, on occasion of his centenary, had roundly asserted, "But +<i>all</i> who have been eminent men were Scotsmen." An Englishman, +offended at such assumption of national pre-eminence, asked +indignantly, "What do you say to Shakspeare?" To which the other +quietly replied, "Weel, his tawlent wad justifee the inference." +This is rich, as an example of an <i>à priori</i> argument +in favour of a man being a Scotsman.</p> +<p>We find in the conversation of old people frequent mention of a +class of beings well known in country parishes, now either become +commonplace, like the rest of the world, or removed altogether, and +shut up in poorhouses or madhouses--I mean the individuals +frequently called parochial <i>idiots</i>; but who were rather of +the order of naturals. They were eccentric, or somewhat crazy, +useless, idle creatures, who used to wander about from house to +house, and sometimes made very shrewd sarcastic remarks upon what +was going on in the parish. I heard such a person once described as +one who was "wanting in twopence of change for a shilling." They +used to take great liberty of speech regarding the conduct and +disposition of those with whom they came in contact, and many odd +sayings which emanated from them were traditionary in country +localities. I have a kindly feeling towards these imperfectly +intelligent, but often perfectly cunning beings; partly, I believe, +from recollections of early associations in boyish days with some +of those Davy Gellatleys. I have therefore preserved several +anecdotes with which I have been favoured, where their odd sayings +and indications of a degree of mental activity have been recorded. +These persons seem to have had a partiality for getting near the +pulpit in church, and their presence there was accordingly +sometimes annoying to the preacher and the congregation; as at +Maybole, when Dr. Paul, now of St. Cuthbert's, was minister in +1823, John M'Lymont, an individual of this class, had been in the +habit of standing so close to the pulpit door as to overlook the +Bible and pulpit board. When required, however, by the clergyman to +keep at a greater distance, and not <i>look in upon the +minister</i>, he got intensely angry and violent. He threatened the +minister,--"Sir, bæby (maybe) I'll come farther;" meaning to +intimate that perhaps he would, if much provoked, come into the +pulpit altogether. This, indeed, actually took place on another +occasion, and the tenure of the ministerial position was justified +by an argument of a most amusing nature. The circumstance, I am +assured, happened in a parish in the north. The clergyman, on +coming into church, found the pulpit occupied by the parish +natural. The authorities had been unable to remove him without more +violence than was seemly, and therefore waited for the minister to +dispossess Tam of the place he had assumed. "Come down, sir, +immediately!" was the peremptory and indignant call; and on Tam +being unmoved, it was repeated with still greater energy. Tam, +however, replied, looking down confidentially from his elevation, +"Na, na, minister! juist ye come up wi' me. This is a perverse +generation, and faith they need us baith." It is curious to mark +the sort of glimmering of sense, and even of discriminating +thought, displayed by persons of this class. As an example, take a +conversation held by this same John M'Lymont, with Dr. Paul, whom +he met some time after. He seemed to have recovered his good +humour, as he stopped him and said, "Sir, I would like to speer a +question at ye on a subject that's troubling me." "Well, Johnnie, +what is the question?" To which he replied, "Sir, is it lawful at +ony time to tell a lee?" The minister desired to know what Johnnie +himself thought upon the point. "Weel, sir," said he, "I'll no say +but in every case it's wrang to tell a lee; but," added he, looking +archly and giving a knowing wink, "I think there are <i>waur lees +than ithers</i>" "How, Johnnie?" and then he instantly replied, +with all the simplicity of a fool, "<i>To keep down a din, for +instance</i>. I'll no say but a man does wrang in telling a lee to +keep down a din, but I'm sure he does not do half sae muckle wrang +as a man who tells a lee to kick up a deevilment o' a din." This +opened a question not likely to occur to such a mind. Mr. Asher, +minister of Inveraven, in Morayshire, narrated to Dr. Paul a +curious example of want of intelligence combined with a power of +cunning to redress a fancied wrong, shown by a poor natural of the +parish, who had been seized with a violent inflammatory attack, and +was in great danger. The medical attendant saw it necessary to +bleed him, but he resisted, and would not submit to it. At last the +case became so hopeless that they were obliged to use force, and, +holding his hands and feet, the doctor opened a vein and drew +blood, upon which the poor creature, struggling violently, bawled +out, "O doctor, doctor! you'll kill me! you'll kill me! and depend +upon it the first thing I'll do when I get to the other world will +be to <i>report you to the board of Supervision there, and get you +dismissed</i>." A most extraordinary sensation was once produced on +a congregation by Rab Hamilton, a well-remembered crazy creature of +the west country, on the occasion of his attendance at the parish +kirk of "Auld Ayr, wham ne'er a toun surpasses," the minister of +which, in the opinion of Rab's own minister, Mr. Peebles, had a +tendency to Socinian doctrines. Miss Kirkwood, Bothwell, relates +the story from the recollection of her aunt, who was present. Rab +had put his head between some iron rails, the first intimation of +which to the congregation was a stentorian voice crying out, +"Murder! my heed'll hae to be cuttit aff! Holy minister! +congregation! Oh, my heed maun be cuttit aff. It's a judgment for +leaving my godlie Mr. Peebles at the Newton." After he had been +extricated and quieted, when asked why he put his head there, he +said, "It was juist to look on<a name="FNanchor170"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_170">[170]</a> wi' <i>anither woman</i>."</p> +<p>The following anecdote of this same Rab Hamilton from a kind +correspondent at Ayr sanctions the opinion that he must have +occasionally said such clever things as made some think him more +rogue than fool. Dr. Auld often showed him kindness, but being once +addressed by him when in a hurry and out of humour, he said, "Get +away, Rab; I have nothing for you to day." "Whaw, whew," cried Rab, +in a half howl, half whining tone, "I dinna want onything the day, +Maister Auld; I wanted to tell you an awsome dream I hae had. I +dreamt I was deed." "Weel, what then?" said Dr. Auld. "Ou, I was +carried far, far, and up, up, up, till I cam to heeven's yett, +where I chappit, and chappit, and chappit, till at last an angel +keekit out, and said 'Wha are ye?' 'A'm puir Rab Hamilton.' 'Whaur +are ye frae?' 'Frae the wicked toun o' Ayr.' 'I dinna ken ony sic +place,' said the angel. 'Oh, but A'm juist frae there,' Weel, the +angel sends for the Apostle Peter, and Peter comes wi' his key and +opens the yett, and says to me, 'Honest man, do you come frae the +auld toun o' Ayr?' 'Deed do I,' says I. 'Weel,' says Peter, 'I ken +the place, but naebody's cam frae the toun o' Ayr, no since the +year'" so and so--mentioning the year when Dr. Auld was inducted +into the parish. Dr. Auld could not resist giving him his answer, +and telling him to go about his business.</p> +<p>The pathetic complaint of one of this class, residing at a +farm-house, has often been narrated, and forms a good illustration +of idiot life and feelings. He was living in the greatest comfort, +and every want provided. But, like the rest of mankind, he had his +own trials, and his own cause for anxiety and annoyance. In this +poor fellow's case it was the <i>great turkey-cock</i> at the farm, +of which he stood so terribly in awe that he was afraid to come +within a great distance of his enemy. Some of his friends, coming +to visit him, reminded him how comfortable he was, and how grateful +he ought to be for the great care taken of him. He admitted the +truth of the remark generally, but still, like others, he had his +unknown grief which sorely beset his path in life. There was a +secret grievance which embittered his lot; and to his friend he +thus opened his heart:--"Ae, ae, but oh, I'm sair hadden doun wi' +the bubbly jock<a name="FNanchor171"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_171">[171]</a>."</p> +<p>I have received two anecdotes illustrative both of the +occasional acutenesss of mind, and of the sensitiveness of feeling +occasionally indicated by persons thus situated. A well-known +idiot, Jamie Fraser, belonging to the parish of Lunan, in +Forfarshire, quite surprised people sometimes by his replies. The +congregation of his parish church had for some time distressed the +minister by their habit of sleeping in church. He had often +endeavoured to impress them with a sense of the impropriety of such +conduct, and one day Jamie was sitting in the front gallery, wide +awake, when many were slumbering round him. The clergyman +endeavoured to draw the attention of his hearers to his discourse +by stating the fact, saying, "You see even Jamie Fraser, the idiot, +does not fall asleep, as so many of you are doing." Jamie, not +liking, perhaps, to be thus designated, coolly replied, "An I hadna +been an idiot, I micht ha' been sleepin' too." Another of these +imbeciles, belonging to Peebles, had been sitting at church for +some time listening attentively to a strong representation from the +pulpit of the guilt of deceit and falsehood in Christian +characters. He was observed to turn red, and grow very uneasy, +until at last, as if wincing under the supposed attack upon himself +personally, he roared out, "Indeed, minister, there's mair leears +in Peebles than me." As examples of this class of persons +possessing much of the dry humour of their more sane countrymen, +and of their facility to utter sly and ready-witted sayings, I have +received the two following from Mr. W. Chambers:--Daft Jock Gray, +the supposed original of David Gellatley, was one day assailed by +the minister of a south-country parish on the subject of his +idleness. "John," said the minister, rather pompously, "you are a +very idle fellow; you might surely herd a few cows." "Me hird!" +replied Jock; "I dinna ken corn frae gerss."</p> +<p>"There was a carrier named Davie Loch who was reputed to be +rather light of wits, but at the same time not without a sense of +his worldly interests. His mother, finding her end approaching, +addressed her son in the presence of a number of the neighbours. +'The house will be Davie's and the furniture too.' 'Eh, hear her,' +quoth Davie; 'sensible to the last, sensible to the last.' 'The +lyin' siller'--'Eh yes; how clear she is about everything!' 'The +lyin' siller is to be divided between my twa dauchters.' 'Steek the +bed doors, steek the bed doors<a name="FNanchor172"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_172">[172]</a>,' interposed Davie; 'she's ravin' now;' +and the old dying woman was shut up accordingly."</p> +<p>In the <i>Memorials of the Montgomeries</i>, Earls of Eglinton, +vol. i. p. 134, occurs an anecdote illustrative of the peculiar +acuteness and quaint humour which occasionally mark the sayings of +persons considered as imbeciles. There was a certain "Daft Will +Speir," who was a privileged haunter of Eglinton Castle and +grounds. He was discovered by the Earl one day taking a near cut, +and crossing a fence in the demesne. The Earl called out, "Come +back, sir, that's not the road." "Do you ken," said Will, "whaur +I'm gaun?" "No," replied his lordship. "Weel, hoo the deil do ye +ken whether this be the road or no?"</p> +<p>This same "Daft Will Speir" was passing the minister's glebe, +where haymaking was in progress. The minister asked Will if he +thought the weather would keep up, as it looked rather like rain. +"Weel," said Will, "I canna be very sure, but I'll be passin' this +way the nicht, an' I'll ca' in and tell ye." "Well, Will," said his +master one day to him, seeing that he had just finished his dinner, +"have you had a good dinner to day?" (Will had been grumbling some +time before.) "Ou, vera gude," answered Will; "but gin onybody asks +if I got a dram after't, what will I say?" This poor creature had a +high sense of duty. It appears he had been given the charge of the +coal-stores at the Earl of Eglinton's. Having on one occasion been +reprimanded for allowing the supplies to run out before further +supplies were ordered, he was ever afterwards most careful to +fulfil his duty. In course of time poor Will became "sick unto +death," and the minister came to see him. Thinking him in really a +good frame of mind, the minister asked him, in presence of the +laird and others, if there were not one <i>great</i> thought which +was ever to him the highest consolation in his hour of trouble. "Ou +ay," gasped the sufferer, "Lord be thankit, a' the bunkers are +fu'!"</p> +<p>The following anecdote is told regarding the late Lord +Dundrennan:--A half silly basket-woman passing down his avenue at +Compstone one day, he met her, and said, "My good woman, there's no +road this way." "Na, sir," she said, "I think ye're wrang there; I +think it's a most beautifu' road."</p> +<p>These poor creatures have invariably a great delight in +attending funerals. In many country places hardly a funeral ever +took place without the attendance of the parochial idiot. It seemed +almost a necessary association; and such attendance seemed to +constitute the great delight of those creatures. I have myself +witnessed again and again the sort of funeral scene portrayed by +Sir Walter Scott, who no doubt took his description from what was +common in his day:--"The funeral pomp set forth--saulies with their +batons and gumphions of tarnished white crape. Six starved horses, +themselves the very emblems of mortality, well cloaked and plumed, +lugging along the hearse with its dismal emblazonry, crept in slow +pace towards the place of interment, preceded by Jamie Duff, an +idiot, who, with weepers and cravat made of white paper, +<i>attended on every funeral</i>, and followed by six mourning +coaches filled with the company."--<i>Guy Mannering</i>.</p> +<p>The following anecdote, supplied by Mr. Blair, is an amusing +illustration both of the funeral propensity, and of the working of +a defective brain, in a half-witted carle, who used to range the +province of Galloway armed with a huge pike-staff, and who one day +met a funeral procession a few miles from Wigtown. A long train of +carriages, and farmers riding on horse-back, suggested the +propriety of his bestriding his staff, and following after the +funeral. The procession marched at a brisk pace, and on reaching +the kirk-yard style, as each rider dismounted, "Daft Jock" +descended from his wooden steed, besmeared with mire and +perspiration, exclaiming, "Hech, sirs, had it no been for the +fashion o' the thing, I micht as weel hae been on my ain feet."</p> +<p>The withdrawal of these characters from public view, and the +loss of importance which they once enjoyed in Scottish society, +seem to me inexplicable. Have they ceased to exist, or are they +removed from our sight to different scenes? The fool was, in early +times, a very important personage in most Scottish households of +any distinction. Indeed this had been so common as to be a public +nuisance.</p> +<p>It seemed that persons <i>assumed</i> the character, for we find +a Scottish Act of Parliament, dated 19th January 1449, with this +title:--"Act for the way-putting of <i>Fenyent</i> Fules," etc. +(Thomson's Acts of Parliament of Scotland, vol. i.); and it enacts +very stringent measures against such persons. They seem to have +formed a link between the helpless idiot and the boisterous madman, +sharing the eccentricity of the latter and the stupidity of the +former, generally adding, however, a good deal of the +sharp-wittedness of the <i>knave</i>. Up to the middle of the +eighteenth century this appears to have been still an appendage to +some families. I have before me a little publication with the +title, "The Life and Death of Jamie Fleeman, the Laird of Udny's +Fool. Tenth edition. Aberdeen, 1810." With portrait. Also +twenty-sixth edition, of 1829. I should suppose this account of a +family fool was a fair representation of a good specimen of the +class. He was evidently of defective intellect, but at times showed +the odd humour and quick conclusion which so often mark the +disordered brain. I can only now give two examples taken from his +history:--Having found a horse-shoe on the road, he met Mr. +Craigie, the minister of St. Fergus, and showed it to him, asking, +in pretended ignorance, what it was. "Why, Jamie," said Mr. +Craigie, good humouredly, "anybody that was not a fool would know +that it is a horse-shoe." "Ah!" said Jamie, with affected +simplicity, "what it is to be wise--to ken it's no a meer's +shoe!"</p> +<p>On another occasion, when all the country-side were hastening to +the Perth races, Jamie had cut across the fields and reached a +bridge near the town, and sat down upon the parapet. He commenced +munching away at a large portion of a leg of mutton which he had +somehow become possessed of, and of which he was amazingly proud. +The laird came riding past, and seeing Jamie sitting on the bridge, +accosted him:--"Ay, Fleeman, are ye here already?" "Ou ay," quoth +Fleeman, with an air of assumed dignity and archness not easy to +describe, while his eye glanced significantly towards the mutton, +"Ou ay, ye ken a body when he <i>has anything</i>."</p> +<p>Of witty retorts by half-witted creatures of this class, I do +not know of one more pointed than what is recorded of such a +character who used to hang about the residence of a late Lord Fife. +It would appear that some parts of his lordship's estates, were +barren, and in a very unproductive condition. Under the improved +system of agriculture and of draining, great preparations had been +made for securing a good crop in a certain field, where Lord Fife, +his factor, and others interested in the subject, were collected +together. There was much discussion, and some difference of +opinion, as to the crop with which the field had best be sown. The +idiot retainer, who had been listening unnoticed to all that was +said, at last cried out, "Saw't wi' factors, ma lord; they are sure +to thrive everywhere."</p> +<p>There was an idiot who lived long in Lauder, and seems to have +had a great resemblance to the jester of old times. He was a +staunch supporter of the Established Church. One day some one gave +him a bad shilling. On Sunday he went to the Seceders' +meeting-house, and when the ladle was taken round he put in his bad +shilling and took out elevenpence halfpenny. Afterwards he went in +high glee to the late Lord Lauderdale, calling out, "I've cheated +the Seceders the day, my lord; I've cheated the Seceders."</p> +<p>Jemmy had long harboured a dislike to the steward on the +property, which he made manifest in the following manner:--Lord +Lauderdale and Sir Anthony Maitland used to take him out shooting; +and one day Lord Maitland (he was then), on having to cross the +Leader, said, "Now, Jemmy, you shall carry me through the water," +which Jemmy duly did. The steward, who was shooting with them, +expected the same service, and accordingly said, "Now, Jemmy, you +must carry <i>me</i> over." "Vera weel," said Jemmy. He took the +steward on his back, and when he had carefully carried him half-way +across the river he paid off his grudge by dropping him quietly +into the water.</p> +<p>A daft individual used to frequent the same district, about whom +a variety of opinions were entertained,--some people thinking him +not so foolish as he sometimes seemed. On one occasion a person, +wishing to test whether he knew the value of money, held out a +sixpence and a penny, and offered him his choice. "I'll tak the wee +ane," he said, giving as his modest reason, "I'se no be greedy." At +another time, a miller laughing at him for his witlessness, he +said, "Some things I ken, and some I dinna ken." On being asked +what he knew, he said, "I ken a miller has aye a gey fat sou." "An' +what d'ye no ken?" said the miller. "Ou," he returned, "I dinna ken +wha's expense she's fed at."</p> +<p>A very amusing collision of one of those penurious lairds, +already referred to, a certain Mr. Gordon of Rothie, with a +half-daft beggar wanderer of the name of Jock Muilton, has been +recorded. The laird was very shabby, as usual, and, meeting Jock, +began to banter him on the subject of his dress:--"Ye're very +grand, Jock. Thae's fine claes ye hae gotten; whaur did ye get that +coat?" Jock told him who had given him his coat, and then, looking +slily at the laird, he inquired, as with great simplicity, "And +whaur did ye get <i>yours</i>, laird?"</p> +<p>For another admirable story of a rencontre between a penurious +laird and the parish natural I am indebted to the <i>Scotsman</i>, +June 16, 1871. Once on a time there was a Highland laird renowned +for his caution in money matters, and his precise keeping of books. +His charities were there; but that department of his bookkeeping +was not believed to be heavy. On examination, a sum of half-a-crown +was unexpectedly discovered in it; but this was accounted for in a +manner creditable to his intentions, if not to his success in +executing them. It had been given in mistake instead of a coin of a +different denomination, to "the natural" of the parish for holding +his shelty while he transacted business at the bank. A gleam in the +boy's eye drew his attention to a gleam of white as the metal +dropped into his pocket. In vain the laird assured him it was not a +good bawbee--if he would give it up he would get another--it was +"guid eneuch" for the like of him. And when the laird in his +extremity swore a great oath that unless it was given up he would +never give another halfpenny, the answer was--"Ech, laird, it wad +be lang or ye gied me saxty."</p> +<p>Another example of shrewd and ready humour in one of that class +is the following:--In this case the idiot was musical, and earned a +few stray pence by playing Scottish airs on a flute. He resided at +Stirling, and used to hang about the door of the inn to watch the +arrival and departure of travellers. A lady, who used to give him +something occasionally, was just starting, and said to Jamie that +she had only a fourpenny piece, and that he must be content with +that, for she could not stay to get more. Jamie was not satisfied, +and as the lady drove out, he expressed his feelings by playing +with all his might, "O wearie o' the <i>toom pouch</i><a name= +"FNanchor173"></a><a href="#Footnote_173">[173]</a>."</p> +<p>The spirit in Jamie Fraser before mentioned, and which had kept +him awake, shows itself in idiots occasionally by making them +restless and troublesome. One of this character had annoyed the +clergyman where he attended church by fidgeting, and by uncouth +sounds which he uttered during divine service. Accordingly, one day +before church began, he was cautioned against moving, or "making a +whisht," under the penalty of being turned out. The poor creature +sat quite still and silent, till, in a very important part of the +sermon, he felt an inclination to cough. So he shouted out, +"Minister, may a puir body like me noo gie a hoast<a name= +"FNanchor174"></a><a href="#Footnote_174">[174]</a>?"</p> +<p>I have two anecdotes of two peers, who might be said to come +under the description of half-witted. In their case the same sort +of dry Scotch humour came out under the cloak of mental disease. +The first is of a Scottish nobleman of the last century who had +been a soldier the greater part of his life, but was obliged to +come home on account of aberration of mind, superinduced by +hereditary propensity. Desirous of putting him under due restraint, +and at the same time of engaging his mind in his favourite pursuit, +his friends secured a Sergeant Briggs to be his companion, and, in +fact, keeper. To render the sergeant acceptable as a companion they +introduced him to the old earl as <i>Colonel</i> Briggs. Being +asked how he liked "the colonel," the earl showed how acute he +still was by his answer, "Oh, very well; he is a sensible man, and +a good soldier, but he <i>smells damnably of the halbert</i>."</p> +<p>The second anecdote relates also to a Scottish nobleman +labouring under aberration of mind, and is, I believe, a +traditionary one. In Scotland, some hundred years ago, madhouses +did not exist, or were on a very limited scale; and there was often +great difficulty in procuring suitable accommodation for patients +who required special treatment and seclusion from the world. The +gentleman in question had been consigned to the Canongate prison, +and his position there was far from comfortable. An old friend +called to see him, and asked how it had happened that he was placed +in so unpleasant a situation. His reply was, "Sir, it was more the +kind interest and patronage of my friends than my own merits that +have placed me here." "But have you not remonstrated or +complained?" asked his visitor. "I told them" said his lordship, +"that they were a pack of infernal villains." "Did you?" said his +friend; "that was bold language; and what did they say to that?" +"Oh," said the peer, "I took care not to tell them till they were +fairly out of the place, and weel up the Canongate."</p> +<p>In Peebles there was a crazy being of this kind called "Daft +Yedie." On one occasion he saw a gentleman, a stranger in the town, +who had a club foot. Yedie contemplated this phenomenon with some +interest, and, addressing the gentleman, said compassionately, +"It's a great pity--its spoils the boot." There is a story of one +of those half-witted creatures of a different character from the +humorous ones already recorded; I think it is exceedingly +affecting. The story is traditionary in a country district, and I +am not aware of its being ever printed.</p> +<p>A poor boy, of this class, who had evidently manifested a +tendency towards religious and devotional feelings, asked +permission from the clergyman to attend the Lord's Table and +partake of the holy communion with the other members of the +congregation (whether Episcopalian or Presbyterian I do not know). +The clergyman demurred for some time, under the impression of his +mind being incapable of a right and due understanding of the sacred +ordinance. But observing the extreme earnestness of the poor boy, +he at last gave consent, and he was allowed to come. He was much +affected, and all the way home was heard to exclaim, "Oh! I hae +seen the pretty man." This referred to his seeing the Lord Jesus +whom he had approached in the sacrament. He kept repeating the +words, and went with them on his lips to rest for the night. Not +appearing at the usual hour for breakfast, when they went to his +bedside they found him dead! The excitement had been too much--mind +and body had given way--and the half-idiot of earth awoke to the +glories and the bliss of his Redeemer's presence.</p> +<p>Analogous with the language of the <i>defective</i> intellect is +the language of the imperfectly formed intellect, and I have often +thought there was something very touching and very fresh in the +expression of feelings and notions by children. I have given +examples before, but the following is, to my taste, a charming +specimen:--A little boy had lived for some time with a very +penurious uncle, who took good care that the child's health should +not be injured by over-feeding. The uncle was one day walking out, +the child at his side, when a friend accosted him, accompanied by a +greyhound. While the elders were talking, the little fellow, never +having seen a dog so slim and slight of form, clasped the creature +round the neck with the impassioned cry, "Oh, doggie, doggie, and +div ye live wi' your uncle tae, that ye are so thin?"</p> +<p>In connection with funerals, I am indebted to the kindness of +Lord Kinloch for a characteristic anecdote of cautious Scottish +character in the west country. It was the old fashion, still +practised in some districts, to carry the coffin to the grave on +long poles, or "spokes," as they were commonly termed. There were +usually two bearers abreast on each side. On a certain occasion one +of the two said to his companion, "I'm awfu' tired wi' carryin'." +"Do you <i>carry</i>?" was the interrogatory in reply. "Yes; what +do you do?" "Oh," said the other, "I aye <i>lean</i>." His friend's +fatigue was at once accounted for.</p> +<p>I am strongly tempted to give an account of a parish functionary +in the words of a kind correspondent from Kilmarnock, although +communicated in the following very flattering terms:--"In common +with every Scottish man worthy of the name, I have been delighted +with your book, and have the ambition to add a pebble to the cairn, +and accordingly send you a <i>bellman story</i>; it has, at least, +the merit of being unprinted and unedited."</p> +<p>The incumbent of Craigie parish, in this district of Ayrshire, +had asked a Mr. Wood, tutor in the Cairnhill family, to officiate +for him on a particular Sunday. Mr. Wood, however, between the time +of being asked and the appointed day, got intimation of the +dangerous illness of his father; in the hurry of setting out to see +him, he forgot to arrange for the pulpit being filled. The bellman +of Craigie parish, by name Matthew Dinning, and at this time about +eighty years of age, was a very little "crined<a name= +"FNanchor175"></a><a href="#Footnote_175">[175]</a>" old man, and +always wore a broad Scottish blue bonnet, with a red "bob" on the +top. The parish is a small rural one, so that Matthew knew every +inhabitant in it, and had seen most of them grow up. On this +particular day, after the congregation had waited for some time, +Matthew was seen to walk very slowly up the middle of the church, +with the large Bible and psalm-book under his arm, to mount the +pulpit stair; and after taking his bonnet off, and smoothing down +his forehead with his "loof," thus addressed the audience:--</p> +<p>"My freens, there was ane Wuds tae hae preached here the day, +but he has nayther comed himsell, nor had the ceevility tae sen' us +the scart o' a pen. Ye'll bide here for ten meenonts, and gin +naebody comes forrit in that time, ye can gang awa' hame. Some say +his feyther's dead; as for that I kenna."</p> +<p>The following is another illustration of the character of the +old Scottish betheral. One of those worthies, who was parochial +grave-digger, had been missing for two days or so, and the minister +had in vain sent to discover him at most likely places. He +bethought, at last, to make inquiry at a "public" at some distance +from the village, and on entering the door he met his man in the +trance, quite fou, staggering out, supporting himself with a hand +on each wa'. To the minister's sharp rebuke and rising wrath for +his indecent and shameful behaviour, John, a wag in his way, and +emboldened by liquor, made answer, "'Deed, sir, sin' I ca'd at the +manse, I hae buried an auld wife, and I've just drucken her, hough +an' horn." Such was his candid admission of the manner in which he +had disposed of the church fees paid for the interment.</p> +<p>An encounter of wits between a laird and an elder:--A certain +laird in Fife, well known for his parsimonious habits, and who, +although his substance largely increased, did not increase his +liberality in his weekly contribution to the church collection, +which never exceeded the sum of one penny, one day by mistake +dropped into the plate at the door half-a-crown; but discovering +his error before he was seated in his pew, he hurried back, and was +about to replace the coin by his customary penny, when the elder in +attendance cried out, "Stop, laird; ye may put <i>in</i> what ye +like, but ye maun tak naething <i>oot</i>!" The laird, finding his +explanations went for nothing, at last said, "Aweel, I suppose I'll +get credit for it in heaven." "Na, na, laird," said the elder, +sarcastically; "ye'll only get credit for the <i>penny</i>."</p> +<p>The following is not a bad specimen of sly <i>piper</i> +wit:--</p> +<p>The Rev. Mr. Johnstone of Monquhitter, a very grandiloquent +pulpit orator in his day, accosting a travelling piper, well known +in the district, with the question, "Well, John, how does the wind +pay?" received from John, with a low bow, the answer, "Your +Reverence has the advantage of me."</p> +<p>Apropos to stories connected with ministers and pipers, there +cannot be a better specimen than the famous one preserved by Sir +Walter Scott, in his notes to <i>Waverley</i>, which I am tempted +to reproduce, as possibly some of my readers may have forgotten it. +The gudewife of the inn at Greenlaw had received four clerical +guests into her house, a father and three sons. The father took an +early opportunity of calling the attention of the landlady to the +subject of his visit, and, introducing himself, commenced in rather +a pompous manner--"Now, confess, Luckie Buchan, you never remember +having such a party in your house before. Here am I, a placed +minister, with my three sons, who are themselves <i>all</i> placed +ministers." The landlady, accustomed to a good deal of deference +and attention from the county families, not quite liking the high +tone assumed by the minister on the occasion, and being well aware +that all the four were reckoned very poor and uninteresting +preachers, answered rather drily, "'Deed, minister, I canna just +say that I ever had sic a party before in the hoose, except it were +in the '45, when I had a piper and his three sons--<i>a</i>' +pipers. But" (she added quietly, as if aside), "deil a spring could +they play amang them."</p> +<p>I have received from Rev. William Blair, A.M., U.P. minister at +Dunblane, many kind communications. I have made a selection, which +I now group together, and they have this character in common, that +they are all anecdotes of ministers:--</p> +<p>Rev. Walter Dunlop of Dumfries was well known for pithy and +facetious replies; he was kindly known under the appellation of our +"Watty Dunlop." On one occasion two irreverent young fellows +determined, as they said, to "taigle<a name= +"FNanchor176"></a><a href="#Footnote_176">[176]</a>" the minister. +Coming up to him in the High Street of Dumfries, they accosted him +with much solemnity--"Maister Dunlop, dae ye hear the news?" "What +news?" "Oh, the deil's deed." "Is he?" said Mr. Dunlop, "then I +maun pray for twa faitherless bairns." On another occasion Mr. +Dunlop met, with characteristic humour, an attempt to play off a +trick against him. It was known that he was to dine with a minister +whose house was close to the church, so that his return back must +be through the churchyard. Accordingly some idle and mischievous +youths waited for him in the dark night, and one of them came up to +him, dressed as a ghost, in hopes of putting him in a fright. +Watty's cool accost speedily upset the plan:--"Weel, Maister +Ghaist, is this a general rising, or are ye juist takin' a daunder +frae yer grave by yersell?" I have received from a correspondent +another specimen of Watty's acute rejoinders. Some years ago the +celebrated Edward Irving had been lecturing at Dumfries, and a man +who passed as a wag in that locality had been to hear him. He met +Watty Dunlop the following day, who said, "Weel, Willie, man, an' +what do ye think of Mr. Irving?" "Oh," said Willie, contemptuously, +"the man's crack't." Dunlop patted him on the shoulder, with a +quiet remark, "Willie, ye'll aften see a light peeping through a +crack!"</p> +<p>He was accompanying a funeral one day, when he met a man driving +a flock of geese. The wayward disposition of the bipeds at the +moment was too much for the driver's temper, and he indignantly +cried out, "Deevil choke them!" Mr. Dunlop walked a little farther +on, and passed a farm-stead, where a servant was driving out a +number of swine, and banning them with "Deevil tak them!" Upon +which, Mr. Dunlop stepped up to him, and said, "Ay, ay, my man; +your gentleman'll be wi' ye i' the noo: he's juist back the road +there a bit, choking some geese till a man."</p> +<p>Shortly after the Disruption, Dr. Cook of St. Andrews was +introduced to Mr. Dunlop, upon which occasion Mr. Dunlop said, +"Weel, sir, ye've been lang Cook, Cooking them, but ye've dished +them at last."</p> +<p>Mr. Clark of Dalreoch, whose head was vastly disproportioned to +his body, met Mr. Dunlop one day. "Weel, Mr. Clark, that's a great +head o' yours." "Indeed it is, Mr. Dunlop; I could contain yours +inside of my own." "Juist sae," quietly replied Mr. Dunlop; "I was +e'en thinkin' it was geyan <i>toom</i><a name= +"FNanchor177"></a><a href="#Footnote_177">[177]</a>."</p> +<p>Mr. Dunlop happened one day to be present in a church court of a +neighbouring presbytery. A Rev. Doctor was asked to pray, and +declined. On the meeting adjourning, Mr. Dunlop stepped up to the +Doctor, and asked how he did. The Doctor, never having been +introduced, did not reply. Mr. Dunlop withdrew, and said to his +friend, "Eh! but isna he a queer man, that Doctor, he'll neither +speak to God nor man."</p> +<p>The Rev. John Brown of Whitburn was riding out one day on an old +pony, when he was accosted by a rude youth: "I say, Mr. Broon, what +gars your horse's tail wag that way?" "Oo, juist what gars your +tongue wag; it's fashed wi' a <i>wakeness</i>."</p> +<p>About sixty years ago there were two ministers in Sanquhar of +the name of Thomson, one of whom was father of the late Dr. Andrew +Thomson of Edinburgh, the other was father of Dr. Thomson of +Balfron. The domestic in the family of the latter was rather +obtrusive with her secret devotions, sometimes kneeling on the +stairs at night, and talking loud enough to be heard. On a +communion season she was praying devoutly and exclusively for her +minister: "Remember Mr. Tamson, no him at the Green, but oor ain +Mr. Tamson."</p> +<p>Rev. Mr. Leslie of Morayshire combined the duties of justice of +peace with those of parochial clergyman. One day he was taken into +confidence by a culprit who had been caught in the act of +smuggling, and was threatened with a heavy fine. The culprit was a +staunch Seceder, and owned a small farm. Mr. Leslie, with an +old-fashioned zeal for the Established Church, said to him, "The +king will come in the cadger's road some day. Ye wadna come to the +parish kirk, though it were to save your life, wad ye? Come noo, +an' I'se mak ye a' richt!" Next Sabbath the seceding smuggler +appeared in the parish kirk, and as the paupers were receiving +parochial allowance, Mr. Leslie slipped a shilling into the +smuggler's hand. When the J.P. Court was held, Mr. Leslie was +present, when a fine was proposed to be exacted from the smuggler. +"Fine!" said Mr. Leslie; "he's mair need o' something to get duds +to his back. He's are o' my <i>poor roll</i>; I gie'd him a +shilling just last Sabbath."</p> +<p>A worthy old Seceder used to ride from Gargunnock to Bucklyvie +every Sabbath to attend the Burgher kirk. One day as he rode past +the parish kirk of Kippen, the elder at the plate accosted him, +"I'm sure, John, it's no like the thing to see you ridin' in sic a +doon-pour o' rain sae far by to thae Seceders. Ye ken the mercifu' +man is mercifu' to his beast. Could ye no step in by?" "Weel," said +John, "I wadna care sae muckle about stablin' my beast inside, but +it's anither thing mysel' gain' in."</p> +<p>The Rev. Dr. George Lawson of Selkirk acted for many years as +theological tutor to the Secession Church. One day, on entering the +Divinity Hall, he overheard a student remark that the professor's +wig was uncombed. That same student, on that very day, had occasion +to preach a sermon before the Doctor, for which he received a bit +of severe criticism, the sting of which was in its tail: "You said +my wig wasna kaimed this mornin', my lad, but I think I've redd +your head to you."</p> +<p>The Rev. John Heugh of Stirling was one day admonishing one of +his people of the sin of intemperance: "Man, John, you should never +drink except when you're dry." "Weel, sir," quoth John, "that's +what I'm aye doin', for I am never slocken'd."</p> +<p>The Rev. Mr. M---- of Bathgate came up to a street-paviour one +day, and addressed him, "Eh, John, what's this you're at?" "Oh! I'm +mending the ways o' Bathgate!" "Ah, John, I've long been trying to +mend the ways o' Bathgate, an' they're no weel yet." "Weel, Mr. M., +if you had tried my plan, and come doon to your <i>knees</i>, ye +wad maybe hae come mair speed!"</p> +<p>There once lived in Cupar a merchant whose store contained +supplies of every character and description, so that he was +commonly known by the sobriquet of Robbie A'Thing. One day a +minister, who was well known for a servile use of MS. in the +pulpit, called at the store, asking for a rope and pin to tether a +young calf in the glebe. Robbie at once informed him that he could +not furnish such articles to him. But the minister, being somewhat +importunate, said, "Oh! I thought you were named Robbie A'Thing +from the fact of your keeping all kinds of goods." "Weel a weel," +said Robbie, "I keep a'thing in my shop but calf's tether-pins and +paper sermons for ministers to read."</p> +<p>It was a somewhat whimsical advice, supported by whimsical +argument, which used to be given by an old Scottish minister to +young preachers, when they visited from home, to "sup well at the +kail, for if they were good they were worth the supping, and if not +they might be sure there was not much worth coming <i>after</i> +them."</p> +<p>A good many families in and around Dunblane rejoice in the +patronymic of Dochart. This name, which sounds somewhat Irish, is +derived from Loch Dochart, in Perthshire. The M'Gregors having been +proscribed, were subjected to severe penalties, and a group of the +clan having been hunted by their superiors, swam the stream which +issues from Loch Dochart, and in gratitude to the river they +afterwards assumed the family name of Dochart. A young lad of this +name, on being sent to Glasgow College, presented a letter from his +minister to Rev. Dr. Heugh of Glasgow. He gave his name as Dochart, +and the name in the letter was M'Gregor. "Oh," said the Doctor, "I +fear there is some mistake about your identity, the names don't +agree." "Weel, sir, that's the way they spell the name in our +country."</p> +<p>The relative whom I have mentioned as supplying so many Scottish +anecdotes had many stories of a parochial functionary whose +eccentricities have, in a great measure, given way before the +assimilating spirit of the times. I mean the old SCOTTISH BEADLE, +or betheral, as he used to be called. Some classes of men are found +to have that nameless but distinguishing characteristic of figure +and aspect which marks out particular occupations and professions +of mankind. This was so much the case in the betheral class, that +an old lady, observing a well-known judge and advocate walking +together in the street, remarked to a friend as they passed by, +"Dear me, Lucy, wha are thae twa <i>beddle-looking</i> bodies?" +They were often great originals, and, I suspect, must have been in +past times somewhat given to convivial habits, from a remark I +recollect of the late Baron Clerk Rattray, viz. that in his younger +days he had hardly ever known a perfectly sober betheral. However +this may have been, they were, as a class, remarkable for quaint +humour, and for being shrewd observers of what was going on. I have +heard of an occasion where the betheral made his wit furnish an +apology for his want of sobriety. He had been sent round the parish +by the minister to deliver notices at all the houses, of the +catechising which was to precede the preparation for receiving the +communion. On his return it was quite evident that he had partaken +too largely of refreshment since he had been on his expedition. The +minister reproached him for this improper conduct. The betheral +pleaded the pressing <i>hospitality</i> of the parishioners. The +clergyman did not admit the plea, and added, "Now, John, I go +through the parish, and you don't see me return fou, as you have +done." "Ay, minister," rejoined the betheral, with much +complacency, "but then aiblins ye're no sae popular i' the parish +as me."</p> +<p>My relative used to tell of one of these officials receiving, +with much ceremony, a brother betheral, from a neighbouring parish, +who had come with the minister thereof for the purpose of preaching +on some special occasion. After service, the betheral of the +stranger clergyman felt proud of the performance of the appointed +duty, and said in a triumphant tone to his friend, "I think oor +minister did weel; ay, he gars the stour flee oot o' the cushion." +To which the other rejoined, with a calm feeling of superiority, +"Stour oot o' the cushion! hout, our minister, sin' he cam wi' us, +has dung the guts oot o' twa Bibles." Another description I have +heard of an energetic preacher more forcible than delicate--"Eh, +oor minister had a great power o' watter, for he grat, and spat, +and swat like mischeef." An obliging anonymous correspondent has +sent me a story of a functionary of this class whose pride was +centred not so much in the performance of the minister as of the +precentor. He states that he remembers an old beadle of the church +which was called "Haddo's Hole," and sometimes the "Little Kirk," +in Edinburgh, whose son occasionally officiated as precentor. He +was not very well qualified for the duty, but the father had a high +opinion of his son's vocal powers. In those days there was always +service in the church on the Tuesday evenings; and when the father +was asked on such occasions, "Who's to preach to-night?" his +self-complacent reply used to be, "I divna ken wha's till preach, +but my son's for till precent." The following is a more correct +version of a betheral story than one which occupied this page in +the last edition. The beadle had been asked to recommend a person +for the same office, and his answer was, "If ye had wanted twa or +three bits o' elder bodies, I cud hae gotten them for ye as easily +as penny baps oot of Mr. Rowan's shop," pointing to a baker's shop +opposite to where the colloquy took place; "or even if ye had +wanted a minister, I might hae helpit ye to get ane; but as for a +gude <i>beadle</i>, that's about the maist difficult thing I ken o' +just now."</p> +<p>Perhaps the following may seem to illustrate the self-importance +of the betheral tribe. The Rev. Dr. Hugh Blair was one Sunday +absent from his pulpit, and next morning meeting his beadle in the +street he inquired how matters went in the High Church on Sabbath. +"'Deed, I dare say no very weel," was the answer; "I wasna there +ony mair than yoursell."</p> +<p>Mr. Turnbull of Dundee kindly sends me an excellent anecdote of +the "Betheral" type, which illustrates the <i>esprit de corps</i> +of the betherelian mind. The late Dr. Robertson of Glasgow had, +while in the parish of Mains, a quaint old church attendant of the +name of Walter Nicoll, commonly called "Watty Nuckle," whom he +invited to come and visit him after he had been removed to Glasgow. +Watty accordingly ventured on the (to him) terrible journey, and +was received by the Doctor with great kindness. The Doctor, amongst +other sights, took him to see the Cathedral church, and showed him +all through it, and after they were coming away the Doctor asked +Watty what he thought of it, and if it was not better than the +Mains church. Watty shook his head, and said, "Aweel, sir, you see +she's bigger; but she has nae laft, and she's sair fashed wi' thae +pillars."</p> +<p>On the same subject of beadle peculiarities, I have received +from Mrs. Mearns of Kineff Manse an exquisitely characteristic +illustration of beadle <i>professional</i> habits being made to +bear upon the tender passion:--A certain beadle had fancied the +manse housemaid, but at a loss for an opportunity to declare +himself, one day--a Sunday--when his duties were ended, he looked +sheepish, and said, "Mary, wad <i>ye</i> tak a turn, Mary?" He led +her to the churchyard, and pointing with his finger, got out, "My +fowk lie there, Mary; wad ye like to lie there?" The <i>grave</i> +hint was taken, and she became his wife, but does not yet lie +<i>there</i>.</p> +<p>Here is another good example of betheral refinement or +philosophy.--He was carefully dressing up a grave, and adjusting +the turf upon it. The clergyman, passing through the churchyard, +observed, "That's beautiful sod, Jeems." "Indeed is't, minister, +and I grudge it upon the grave o' sic a scamp."</p> +<p>This class of functionaries were very free in their remarks upon +the preaching of strangers, who used occasionally to occupy the +pulpit of their church--the city betherals speaking sometimes in a +most condescending manner of clergy from the provincial parishes. +As, for example, a betheral of one of the large churches in +Glasgow, criticising the sermon of a minister from the country who +had been preaching in the city church, characterised it as "gude +coorse country wark." A betheral of one of the churches of St. +Giles, Edinburgh, used to call on the family of Mr. Robert +Stevenson, engineer, who was one of the elders. On one occasion +they asked him what had been the text on such a night, when none of +the family had been present. The man of office, confused at the +question, and unwilling to show anything like ignorance, poured +forth, "Weel, ye see, the text last day was just entirely, +sirs--yes--the text, sirs--what was it again?--ou ay, just +entirely, ye see it was, 'What profiteth a man if he lose the +world, and gain his own soul?'" Most of such stories are usually of +an old standing. A more recent one has been told me of a betheral +of a royal burgh much decayed from former importance, and governed +by a feeble municipality of old men, who continued in office, and +in fact constituted rather the shadow than the substance of a +corporation. A clergyman from a distance having come to officiate +in the parish church, the betheral, knowing the terms on which it +was usual for the minister officiating to pray for the efficiency +of the local magistracy, quietly cautioned the clergyman before +service that, in regard to the town-council there, it would be +quite out of place for him to pray that they should be a "terror to +evil-doers," because, as he said, "the puir auld bodies could be +nae terror to onybody." A minister of Easter Anstruther, during the +last century, used to say of the magistrates of Wester Anstruther, +that "instead of being a terror to evil-doers, evil-doers were a +terror to them."</p> +<p>The "minister's man" was a functionary well known in many +parishes, and who often evinced much Scottish humour and original +character. These men were (like the betheral) great critics of +sermons, and often severe upon strangers, sometimes with a sly hit +at their own minister. One of these, David, a well-known character, +complimenting a young minister who had preached, told him, "Your +introduction, sir, is aye grand; its worth a' the rest o' the +sermon--could ye no mak it a' introduction?"</p> +<p>David's criticisms of his master's sermons were sometimes sharp +enough and shrewd. On one occasion, driving the minister home from +a neighbouring church where he had been preaching, and who, as he +thought, had acquitted himself pretty well, inquired of David what +<i>he</i> thought of it. The subject of discourse had been the +escape of the Israelites from Egypt. So David opened his +criticism--"Thocht o't, sir? deed I thocht nocht o't ava. It was a +vara imperfect discourse in ma opinion; ye did weel eneuch till ye +took them through, but where did ye leave them? just daunerin' o' +the sea-shore without a place to gang till. Had it no been for +Pharaoh they had been better on the other side, where they were +comfortably encampit, than daunerin' where ye left them. It's +painful to hear a sermon stoppit afore it's richt ended, just as it +is to hear ane streekit out lang after it's dune. That's ma opinion +o' the sermon ye gied us to-day." "Very freely given, David, very +freely given; drive on a little faster, for I think ye're daunerin' +noo yersell."</p> +<p>To another who had gone through a long course of parish official +life a gentleman one day remarked--"John, ye hae been sae lang +about the minister's hand that I dare say ye could preach a sermon +yersell now." To which John modestly replied, "O na, sir, I couldna +preach a sermon, but maybe I could draw an inference." "Well, +John," said the gentleman, humouring the quiet vanity of the +beadle, "what inference could ye draw frae this text, 'A wild ass +snuffeth up the wind at her pleasure?'" (Jer. ii. 24). "Weel, sir, +I wad draw this inference, he would snuff a lang time afore he +would fatten upon't." I had an anecdote from a friend, of a reply +from a betheral to the minister <i>in</i> church, which was quaint +and amusing from the shrewd self-importance it indicated in his own +acuteness. The clergyman had been annoyed during the course of his +sermon by the restlessness and occasional whining of a dog, which +at last began to bark outright. He looked out for the beadle, and +directed him very peremptorily, "John, carry that dog out." John, +looked up to the pulpit, and with a very knowing expression, said, +"Na, na, sir; I'se just mak him gae out on his ain four legs." I +have another story of canine misbehaviour in church. A dog was +present during the service, and in the sermon the worthy minister +was in the habit of speaking very loud, and, in fact, when he got +warmed with his subject, of shouting almost at the top of his +voice. The dog, who, in the early part, had been very quiet, became +quite excited, as is not uncommon with some dogs when hearing a +noise, and from whinging and whining, as the speaker's voice rose +loud and strong, at last began to bark and howl. The minister, +naturally much annoyed at the interruption, called upon the +betheral to put out the dog, who at once expressed his readiness to +obey the order, but could not resist the temptation to look up to +the pulpit, and to say very significantly, "Ay, ay, sir; but indeed +it was yersell began it." There is a dog story connected with +Reminiscences of Glasgow (see <i>Chambers's Journal</i>, March +1855), which is full of meaning. The bowls of rum-punch which so +remarkably characterised the Glasgow dinners of last century and +the early part of the present, it is to be feared made some of the +congregation given to somnolency on the Sundays following. The +members of the town-council often adopted Saturday for such +meetings; accordingly, the Rev. Mr. Thorn, an excellent +clergyman<a name="FNanchor178"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_178">[178]</a>, took occasion to mark this propensity +with some acerbity. A dog had been very troublesome, and disturbed +the congregation for some time, when the minister at last gave +orders to the beadle, "Take out that dog; he'd wauken a Glasgow +magistrate."</p> +<p>The parochial gravediggers had sometimes a very familiar +professional style of dealing with the solemn subjects connected +with their office. Thus I have heard of a grave-digger pointing out +a large human bone to a lady who was looking at his work, of +digging a grave, and asking her--"D'ye ken wha's bane that is, +mem?--that's Jenny Fraser's hench-bane;" adding with a serious +aspect--"a weel-baned family thae Frasers."</p> +<p>It would be impossible in these Reminiscences to omit the +well-known and often repeated anecdote connected with an eminent +divine of our own country, whose works take a high place in our +theological literature. The story to which I allude was rendered +popular throughout the kingdom some years ago, by the inimitable +mode in which it was told, or rather acted, by the late Charles +Matthews. But Matthews was wrong in the person of whom he related +the humorous address. I have assurance of the parties from a +friend, whose father, a distinguished clergyman in the Scottish +Church at the time, had accurate knowledge of the whole +circumstances. The late celebrated Dr. Macknight, a learned and +profound scholar and commentator, was nevertheless, as a preacher, +to a great degree heavy, unrelieved by fancy or imagination; an +able writer, but a dull speaker. His colleague, Dr. Henry, well +known as the author of a History of England, was, on the other +hand, a man of great humour, and could not resist a joke when the +temptation came upon him. On one occasion when coming to church, +Dr. Macknight had been caught in a shower of rain, and entered the +vestry soaked with wet. Every means were used to relieve him from +his discomfort; but as the time drew on for divine service he +became much distressed, and ejaculated over and over, "Oh, I wush +that I was dry; do you think I'm dry? do you think I'm dry eneuch +noo?" His jocose colleague could resist no longer, but, patting him +on the shoulder, comforted him with the sly assurance, "Bide a wee, +Doctor, and ye'se be <i>dry eneuch</i> when ye get into the +pu'pit."</p> +<p>Another quaint remark of the facetious doctor to his more formal +colleague has been preserved by friends of the family. Dr. Henry, +who with all his pleasantry and abilities, had himself as little +popularity in the pulpit as his coadjutor, had been remarking to +Dr. Macknight what a blessing it was that they were two colleagues +in one charge, and continued dwelling on the subject so long, that +Dr. Macknight, not quite pleased at the frequent reiteration of the +remark, said that it certainly was a great pleasure to himself, but +he did not see what great benefit it might be to the world. "Ah," +said Dr. Henry, "an it hadna been for that, there wad hae been +<i>twa</i> toom<a name="FNanchor179"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_179">[179]</a> kirks this day." Lord Cockburn tells a +characteristic anecdote of Dr. Henry's behaviour the last day of +his life. I am indebted to a gentleman, himself also a +distinguished member of the Scottish Church, for an authentic +anecdote of this learned divine, and which occurred whilst Dr. +Macknight was the minister of Maybole. One of his parishioners, a +well-known humorous blacksmith of the parish, who, no doubt, +thought that the Doctor's learned books were rather a waste of time +and labour for a country pastor, was asked if his minister was at +home. The Doctor was then busy bringing out his laborious and +valuable work, his <i>Harmony of the Four Gospels</i>. "Na, he's +gane to Edinburgh on a verra useless job." On being asked what this +useless work might be which engaged his pastor's time and +attention, he answered, "He's gane to mak four men agree wha ne'er +cast oot." The good-humoured and candid answer of a learned and +rather long-winded preacher of the old school always appeared to me +quite charming. The good man was far from being a popular preacher, +and yet he could not reduce his discourses below the hour and a +half. On being asked, as a gentle hint of their possibly needless +length, if he did not feel <i>tired</i> after preaching so long, he +replied, "Na, na, I'm no tired;" adding, however, with much +naïveté, "But, Lord, how tired the fowk whiles +are."</p> +<p>The late good kind-hearted Dr. David Dickson was fond of telling +a story of a Scottish termagant of the days before kirk-session +discipline had passed away. A couple were brought before the court, +and Janet, the wife, was charged with violent and undutiful +conduct, and with wounding her husband by throwing a three-legged +stool at his head. The minister rebuked her conduct, and pointed +out its grievous character, by explaining that just as Christ was +head of his Church, so the husband was head of the wife; and +therefore in assaulting <i>him</i>, she had in fact injured her own +body. "Weel," she replied, "it's come to a fine pass gin a wife +canna kame her ain head;" "Ay, but, Janet," rejoined the minister, +"a three-legged stool is a thief-like bane-kame to scart yer ain +head wi'!"</p> +<p>The following is a dry Scottish case, of a minister's wife +quietly "kaming her husband's head." Mr. Mair, a Scotch minister, +was rather short-tempered, and had a wife named Rebecca, whom for +brevity's sake he addressed as "Becky." He kept a diary, and among +other entries, this one was very frequent--"Becky and I had a +rippet, for which I desire to be humble." A gentleman who had been +on a visit to the minister went to Edinburgh, and told the story to +a minister and his wife there; when the lady replied "Weel, he must +have been an excellent man, Mr. Mair. My husband and I sometimes +too have 'rippets,' but catch him if he's ever humble."</p> +<p>Our object in bringing up and recording anecdotes of this kind +is to elucidate the sort of humour we refer to, and to show it as a +humour of <i>past</i> times. A modern clergyman could hardly adopt +the tone and manner of the older class of ministers--men not less +useful and beloved, on account of their odd Scottish humour, which +indeed suited their time. Could a clergyman, for instance, now come +off from the trying position in which we have heard of a northern +minister being placed, and by the same way through which he +extricated himself with much good nature and quiet sarcasm? A young +man, sitting opposite to him in the front of the gallery, had been +up late on the previous night, and had stuffed the cards with which +he had been occupied into his coat pocket. Forgetting the +circumstance, he pulled out his handkerchief, and the cards all +flew about. The minister simply looked at him, and remarked, "Eh, +man, your psalm-buik has been ill bund."</p> +<p>An admirable story of a quiet pulpit rebuke is traditionary in +Fife, and is told of Mr. Shirra, a Seceding minister of Kirkcaldy, +a man still well remembered by some of the older generation for +many excellent and some eccentric qualities. A young officer of a +volunteer corps on duty in the place, very proud of his fresh +uniform, had come to Mr. Shirra's church, and walked about as if +looking for a seat, but in fact to show off his dress, which he saw +was attracting attention from some of the less grave members of the +congregation. He came to his place, however, rather quickly, on Mr. +Shirra quietly remonstrating, "O man, will ye sit doun, and we'll +see your new breeks when the kirk's dune." This same Mr. Shirra was +well known from his quaint, and, as it were, parenthetical comments +which he introduced in his reading of Scripture; as, for example, +on reading from the 116th Psalm, "I said in my haste all men are +liars," he quietly observed, "Indeed, Dauvid, my man, an' ye had +been i' this parish ye might hae said it at your leisure."</p> +<p>There was something even still more pungent in the incidental +remark of a good man, in the course of his sermon, who had in a +country place taken to preaching out of doors in the summer +afternoons. He used to collect the people as they were taking air +by the side of a stream outside the village. On one occasion he had +unfortunately taken his place on a bank, and fixed himself on an +<i>ants' nest</i>. The active habits of those little creatures soon +made the position of the intruder upon their domain very +uncomfortable; and, afraid that his audience might observe +something of this discomfort in his manner, he apologised by the +remark--"Brethren, though I hope I have the word of God in my +mouth, I think the deil himself has gotten into my breeks."</p> +<p>There was often no doubt a sharp conflict of wits when some of +these humorist ministers came into collision with members of their +flocks who were <i>also</i> humorists. Of this nature is the +following anecdote, which I am assured is genuine:--A minister in +the north was taking to task one of his hearers who was a frequent +defaulter, and was reproaching him as a habitual absentee from +public worship. The accused vindicated himself on the plea of a +dislike to long sermons. "'Deed, man," said the reverend monitor, a +little nettled at the insinuation thrown out against himself, "if +ye dinna mend, ye may land yersell where ye'll no be troubled wi' +mony sermons either lang or short." "Weel, aiblins sae," retorted +John, "but <i>that</i> mayna be for want o' ministers."</p> +<p>An answer to another clergyman, Mr. Shireff, parochial minister +of St. Ninian's, is indicative of Scottish and really clever wit. +One of the members of his church was John Henderson or Anderson--a +very decent douce shoemaker--and who left the church and joined the +Independents, who had a meeting in Stirling. Some time afterwards, +when Mr. Shireff met John on the road, he said, "And so, John, I +understand you have become an Independent?" "'Deed, sir," replied +John, "that's true." "Oh, John," said the minister, "I'm sure you +ken that a rowin' (rolling) stane gathers nae fog" (moss). "Ay," +said John, "that's true too; but can ye tell me what guid the fog +does to the stane?" Mr. Shireff himself afterwards became a +Baptist. The wit, however, was all in favour of the minister in the +following:--</p> +<p>Dr. Gilchrist, formerly of the East Parish of Greenock, and who +died minister of the Canongate, Edinburgh, received an intimation +of one of his hearers who had been exceedingly irregular in his +attendance that he had taken seats in an Episcopal chapel. One day +soon after, he met his former parishioner, who told him candidly +that he had "changed his religion." "Indeed," said the Doctor +quietly; "how's that? I ne'er heard ye had ony." It was this same +Dr. Gilchrist who gave the well-known quiet but forcible rebuke to +a young minister whom he considered rather conceited and fond of +putting forward his own doings, and who was to officiate in the +Doctor's church. He explained to him the mode in which he usually +conducted the service, and stated that he always finished the +prayer before the sermon with the Lord's Prayer. The young minister +demurred at this, and asked if he "might not introduce any other +short prayer?" "Ou ay," was the Doctor's quiet reply, "gif ye can +gie us onything <i>better</i>."</p> +<p>There is a story current of a sharp hit at the pretensions of a +minister who required a little set down. The scene was on a Monday +by a burn near Inverness. A stranger is fishing by a burn-side one +Monday morning, when the parish minister accosts him from the other +side of the stream thus:--"Good sport?" "Not very." "I am also an +angler," but, pompously, "I am a <i>fisher of men</i>." "Are you +always successful?" "Not very." "So I guessed, as I keeked into +your creel<a name="FNanchor180"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_180">[180]</a> yesterday."</p> +<p>At Banchory, on Deeside, some of the criticisms and remarks on +sermons were very quaint and characteristic. My cousin had asked +the Leys grieve what he thought of a young man's preaching, who had +been more successful in appropriating the words than the ideas of +Dr. Chalmers. He drily answered, "Ou, Sir Thomas, just a floorish +o' the surface." But the same hearer bore this unequivocal +testimony to another preacher whom he really admired. He was asked +if he did not think the sermon long: "Na, I should nae hae thocht +it lang an' I'd been sitting on thorns."</p> +<p>I think the following is about as good a sample of what we call +Scotch "pawky" as any I know:--A countryman had lost his wife and a +favourite cow on the same day. His friends consoled him for the +loss of the wife; and being highly respectable, several hints and +offers were made towards getting another for him. "Ou ay," he at +length replied; "you're a' keen aneuch to get me anither wife, but +no yin o' ye offers to gie me anither coo."</p> +<p>The following anecdotes, collected from different contributors, +are fair samples of the quaint and original character of Scottish +ways and expressions, now becoming more and more matters of +reminiscence:--A poor man came to his minister for the purpose of +intimating his intention of being married. As he expressed, +however, some doubts on the subject, and seemed to hesitate, the +minister asked him if there were any doubts about his being +accepted. No, that was not the difficulty; but he expressed a fear +that it might not be altogether suitable, and he asked whether, if +he were once married, he could not (in case of unsuitability and +unhappiness) get <i>un</i>married. The clergyman assured him that +it was impossible; if he married, it must be for better and worse; +that he could not go back upon the step. So thus instructed he went +away. After a time he returned, and said he had made up his mind to +try the experiment, and he came and was married. Ere long he came +back very disconsolate, and declared it would not do at all; that +he was quite miserable, and begged to be unmarried. The minister +assured him that was out of the question, and urged him to put away +the notion of anything so absurd. The man insisted that the +marriage could not hold good, for the wife was "waur than the +deevil." The minister demurred, saying that it was quite +impossible. "'Deed, sir," said the poor man, "the Bible tells ye +that if ye resist the deil he flees frae ye, but if ye resist her +she flees <i>at</i> ye."</p> +<p>A faithful minister of the gospel, being one day engaged in +visiting some members of his flock, came to the door of a house +where his gentle tapping could not be heard for the noise of +contention within. After waiting a little he opened the door, and +walked in, saying, with an authoritative voice, "I should like to +know who is the head of this house." "Weel, sir," said the husband +and father, "if ye sit doun a wee, we'll maybe be able to tell ye, +for we're just trying to settle that point."</p> +<p>I have received from my kind correspondent, Rev. Mr. Hogg of +Kirkmahoe, the following most amusing account of a passage-at-arms +between a minister and "minister's man," both of them of the old +school. The minister of a parish in Dumfriesshire had a man who had +long and faithfully served at the manse. During the minister's +absence, a ploughing match came off in the district, and the man, +feeling the old spirit return with the force of former days, wished +to enter the lists, and go in for a prize, which he did, and gained +the <i>fifth</i> prize. The minister, on his return home, and +glancing at the local newspaper, saw the report of the match, and +the name of his own man in the prize-list. Being of a crusty +temper, he rang the bell in fury, and summoned John, when the +following colloquy took place:--"John, how is this? who gave you +leave to go to the ploughing-match?" "You were not at hame, sir." +"Well, you should have written to me." "I didn't think it was worth +while, sir, as we had our ain ploughing <i>forrit</i><a name= +"FNanchor181"></a><a href="#Footnote_181">[181]</a>." "That may be; +but why were you not higher in the prize-list? I'm ashamed of you, +and you ought to be ashamed of yourself for being so far behind." +John's patience had given way, and, in his haste he burst forth, +"Indeed, I'm thinking, sir, that if ye were at a <i>preaching</i> +match, and five-and-thirty in the field, ye wadna come in for +<i>onything</i>, let a-be for a fift'."</p> +<p>Stories of humorous encounters between ministers and their +hearers are numerous, and though often seasoned with dry and +caustic humour, they never indicate appearance of bitterness or +ill-feeling between the parties. As an example, a clergyman thought +his people were making rather an unconscionable objection to his +using a MS. in delivering his sermon. They urged, "What gars ye tak +up your bit papers to the pu'pit?" He replied that it was best, for +really he could not remember his sermon, and must have his papers. +"Weel, weel, minister, then dinna expect that <i>we</i> can +remember them."</p> +<p>Some of these encounters arise out of the old question of +sleeping in church. For example--"I see, James, that you tak a bit +nap in the kirk," said a minister to one of his people; "can ye no +tak a mull with you? and when you become heavy an extra pinch would +keep you up." "Maybe it wad," said James, "but pit you the sneeshin +intil your sermon, minister, and maybe that'll serve the same +purpose." As a specimen of the matter-of-fact view of religious +questions frequently recorded of older ministers, let me adduce a +well-authenticated account of a minister in a far up-hill parish in +Deeside. Returning thanks one Sabbath for the excellent harvest, he +began as usual, "O Lord, we thank thee," etc., and went on to +mention its abundance, and its safe ingathering; but, feeling +anxious to be quite candid and scrupulously truthful, added, "all +except a few sma' bitties at Birse no worth o' mentioning."</p> +<p>A Scotch preacher, a man of large stature, being sent to +officiate one Sunday at a country parish, was accommodated at +night, in the manse, in a very diminutive closet--the usual best +bedroom, appropriated to strangers, being otherwise occupied. "Is +this the bedroom?" he said, starting back in amazement. "'Deed ay, +sir, this is the prophets' chalmer." "It maun be for the +<i>minor</i> prophets, then," was the quiet reply.</p> +<p>Elders of the kirk, no doubt, frequently partook of the original +and humorous character of ministers and others, their +contemporaries; and amusing scenes must have passed, and good +Scotch sayings been said, where they were concerned. Dr. Chalmers +used to repeat one of these sayings of an elder with great delight. +The Doctor associated with the anecdote the name of Lady Glenorchy +and the church which she endowed; but I am assured that the person +was Lady Elizabeth Cunninghame, sister of Archibald, eleventh Earl +of Eglinton, and wife of Sir John Cunninghame, Bart., of +Caprington, near Kilmarnock. It seems her ladyship had, for some +reason, taken offence at the proceedings of the Caprington +parochial authorities, and a result of which was that she ceased +putting her usual liberal offering into the plate at the door. This +had gone on for some time, till one of the elders, of less +forbearing character than the others, took his turn at the plate. +Lady Elizabeth as usual passed by without a contribution, but made +a formal courtsey to the elder at the plate, and sailed up the +aisle. The good man was determined not to let her pass so easily, +so he quickly followed her, and urged the remonstrance: "Gie us +mair o' your siller and less o' your mainners, my lady Betty." My +kind correspondent, Rev. Mr. Agnew, supplies me with an amusing +pendant to this anecdote:--At a great church meeting, Dr. Chalmers +had told this story with much effect when Lord Galloway was in the +chair. After the meeting, Dr. Chalmers, and many who had been +present, dined at his lordship's hospitable table. After dinner, +when the morning meeting was discussed, Lord Galloway addressed Dr. +Chalmers on the subject of this story and, as if not quite pleased +at its being introduced, said, "Do you know, Doctor, the lady of +whom you told the story of the elder is a near relation of mine?" +Dr. Chalmers, with real or seeming simplicity, answered, "No, my +Lord, I did not; but next time I tell the story I can mention the +fact." As a pendant to the elder's disclaimer of "mainners" on the +part of a lady of rank, I may add an authentic anecdote of a very +blunt and unpolished Kincardineshire laird, expressing the same +disclaimer of mainners on the part of a servant, but in a far +rougher form of speech. He had been talking with a man who came to +offer for his service as a butler. But the laird soon found he was +far too grand a gentleman for his service, and became chafed with +his requiring so many things as conditions of coming; till, on his +dismissal, when the man was bowing and scraping to show how genteel +he could be, he lost all patience, and roared out, "Get out, ye +fule; gie us nane o' your mainners here."</p> +<p>Of an eccentric and eloquent professor and divine of a northern +Scottish university, there are numerous and extraordinary +traditionary anecdotes. I have received an account of some of these +anecdotes from the kind communication of an eminent Scottish +clergyman, who was himself in early days his frequent hearer. The +stories told of the strange observations and allusions which he +introduced into his pulpit discourses almost surpass belief. For +many reasons, they are not suitable to the nature of this +publication, still less could they be tolerated in any pulpit +administration now, although familiar with his contemporaries. The +remarkable circumstance, however, connected with these +eccentricities was, that he introduced them with the utmost +gravity, and oftentimes, after he had delivered them, pursued his +subject with great earnestness and eloquence, as if he had said +nothing uncommon. One saying of the professor, however, <i>out</i> +of the pulpit, is too good to be omitted, and may be recorded +without violation of propriety. He happened to meet at the house of +a lawyer, whom he considered rather a man of <i>sharp</i> practice, +and for whom he had no great favour, two of his own parishioners. +The lawyer jocularly and ungraciously put the question; "Doctor, +these are members of your flock; may I ask, do you look upon them +as white sheep or as black sheep?" "I don't know," answered the +professor drily, "whether they are black or white sheep, but I know +that if they are long here they are pretty sure to be fleeced."</p> +<p>It was a pungent answer given by a Free Kirk member who had +deserted his colours and returned to the old faith. A short time +after the Disruption, the Free Church minister chanced to meet him +who had then left him and returned to the Established Church. The +minister bluntly accosted him--"Ay, man, John, an' ye've left us; +what micht be your reason for that? Did ye think it wasna a guid +road we was gaun?" "Ou, I daursay it was a guid eneuch road and a +braw road; but, O minister, the tolls were unco high."</p> +<p>The following story I received from a member of the Penicuik +family:--Dr. Ritchie, who died minister of St. Andrews, Edinburgh, +was, when a young man, tutor to Sir G. Clerk and his brothers. +Whilst with them, the clergyman of the parish became unable, from +infirmity and illness, to do his duty, and Mr. Ritchie was +appointed interim assistant. He was an active young man, and during +his residence in the country had become fond of fishing, and was a +good shot. When the grouse-shooting came round, his pupils happened +to be laid up with a fever, so Mr. Ritchie had all the shooting to +himself. One day he walked over the moor so far that he became +quite weary and footsore. On returning home he went into a cottage, +where the good woman received him kindly, gave him water for his +feet, and refreshment. In the course of conversation, he told her +he was acting as assistant minister of the parish, and he explained +how far he had travelled in pursuit of game, how weary he was, and +how completely knocked up he was. "Weel, sir, I dinna doubt ye maun +be sair travelled and tired wi' your walk." And then she added, +with sly reference to his profession, "'Deed, sir, I'm thinkin' ye +micht hae travelled frae Genesis to Revelation and no been sae +forfauchten<a name="FNanchor182"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_182">[182]</a>."</p> +<p>Scotch people in general are, like this old woman, very jealous, +as might be expected, of ministers joining the sportsman to their +pastoral character. A proposal for the appointment of a minister to +a particular parish, who was known in the country as a capital +shot, called forth a rather neat Scottish <i>pun</i>, from an old +woman of the parish, who significantly observed, "'Deed, +<i>Kilpaatrick</i> would hae been a mair appropriate place for +him." <i>Paatrick</i> is Scotch for partridge.</p> +<p>I cannot do better in regard to the three following anecdotes of +the late Professor Gillespie of St. Andrews, than give them to my +readers in the words with which Dr. Lindsay Alexander kindly +communicated them to me.</p> +<p>"In the <i>Cornhill Magazine</i> for March 1860, in an article +on Student Life in Scotland, there is an anecdote of the late +Professor Gillespie of St. Andrews, which is told in such a way as +to miss the point and humour of the story. The correct version, as +I have heard it from the professor himself, is this: Having +employed the village carpenter to put a frame round a dial at the +manse of Cults, where he was a minister, he received from the man a +bill to the following effect:--'To fencing the <i>deil</i>, 5s. +6d.' 'When I paid him,' said the professor, 'I could not help +saying, John, this is rather more than I counted on; but I haven't +a word to say. I get somewhere about two hundred a year for fencing +the <i>deil</i>, and I'm afraid I don't do it half so effectually +as you've done.'"</p> +<p>"Whilst I am writing, another of the many stories of the learned +and facetious professor rises in my mind. There was a worthy old +woman at Cults whose place in church was what is commonly called +the Lateran; a kind of small gallery at the top of the pulpit +steps. She was a most regular attender, but as regularly fell +asleep during sermon, of which fault the preacher had sometimes +audible intimation. It was observed, however, that though Janet +always slept during her own pastor's discourse, she could be +attentive enough when she pleased, and especially was she alert +when some young preacher occupied the pulpit. A little piqued, +perhaps, at this, Mr. Gillespie said to her one day, 'Janet, I +think you hardly behave very respectfully to your own minister in +one respect.' 'Me, sir!' exclaimed Janet, 'I wad like to see ony +man, no tae say woman, by yoursell, say that o' me! what can you +mean, sir?' 'Weel, Janet, ye ken when I preach you're almost always +fast asleep before I've well given out my text; but when any of +these young men from St. Andrews preach for me, I see you never +sleep a wink. Now, that's what I call no using me as you should +do.' 'Hoot, sir,' was the reply, 'is that a'? I'll sune tell you +the reason o' that. When you preach, we a' ken the word o' God's +safe in your hands; but when thae young birkies tak it in haun, my +certie, but it taks us a' to look after them<a name= +"FNanchor183"></a><a href="#Footnote_183">[183]</a>.'</p> +<p>"I am tempted to subjoin another. In the Humanity Class, one +day, a youth who was rather fond of showing off his powers of +language, translated Hor. Od. iii., 3, 61, 62, somewhat thus:--'The +fortunes of Troy renascent under sorrowful omen shall be repeated +with sad catastrophe.' 'Catastrophe!' cried the professor. +'Catastrophe, Mr. ----, that's Greek. Give us it in plain English, +if you please.' Thus suddenly pulled down from his high horse, the +student effected his retreat with a rather lame and impotent +version. 'Now,' said the professor, his little sharp eyes twinkling +with fun, 'that brings to my recollection what once happened to a +friend of mine, a minister in the country. Being a scholarly man he +was sometimes betrayed into the use of words in the pulpit which +the people were not likely to understand; but being very +conscientious, he never detected himself in this, without pausing +to give the meaning of the word he had used, and sometimes his +extempore explanations of very fine words were a little like what +we have just had from Mr. ----, rather too flat and commonplace. On +one occasion he allowed this very word 'catastrophe' to drop from +him, on which he immediately added, 'that, you know, my friends, +means the <i>end</i> of a thing.' Next day, as he was riding +through his parish, some mischievous youth succeeded in fastening a +bunch of furze to his horse's tail--a trick which, had the animal +been skittish, might have exposed the worthy pastor's horsemanship +to too severe a trial, but which happily had no effect whatever on +the sober-minded and respectable quadruped which he bestrode. On, +therefore, he quietly jogged, utterly unconscious of the addition +that had been made to his horse's caudal region, until, as he was +passing some cottages, he was arrested by the shrill voice of an +old woman exclaiming, 'Heh, sir! Heh, sir! there's a whun-buss at +your horse's catawstrophe!'"</p> +<p>I have several times adverted to the subject of epigrams. A +clever impromptu of this class has been recorded as given by a +judge's lady in reply to one made by the witty Henry Erskine at a +dinner party at Lord Armadale's. When a bottle of claret was called +for, port was brought in by mistake. A second time claret was sent +for, and a second time the same mistake occurred. Henry Erskine +addressed the host in an impromptu, which was meant as a parody on +the well-known Scottish song, "My Jo, Janet"--</p> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>"Kind sir, it's for your courtesie</p> +<p class="i1">When I come here to dine, sir,</p> +<p>For the love ye bear to me,</p> +<p class="i1">Gie me the claret wine, sir."</p> +</div> +</div> +<p>To which Mrs. Honeyman retorted--</p> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>"Drink the port, the claret's dear,</p> +<p class="i1">Erskine, Erskine;</p> +<p>Yell get fou on't, never fear,</p> +<p class="i1">My jo, Erskine."</p> +</div> +</div> +<p>Some of my younger readers may not be familiar with the epigram +of John Home, author of the tragedy of "Douglas." The lines were +great favourites with Sir Walter Scott, who delighted in repeating +them. Home was very partial to claret, and could not bear port. He +was exceedingly indignant when the Government laid a tax upon +claret, having previously long connived at its introduction into +Scotland under very mitigated duties. He embodied his anger in the +following epigram:--</p> +<blockquote>"Firm and erect the Caledonian stood,<br> +Old was his mutton, and his claret good;<br> +'Let him drink port,' an English statesman cried--<br> +He drank the poison, and his spirit died."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>There is a curious story traditionary in some families connected +with the nobleman who is the subject of it, which, I am assured, is +true, and further, that it has never yet appeared in print. The +story is, therefore, a "Scottish reminiscence," and, as such, +deserves a place here. The Earl of Lauderdale was so ill as to +cause great alarm to his friends, and perplexity to his physicians. +One distressing symptom was a total absence of sleep, and the +medical men declared their opinion, that without sleep being +induced he could not recover. His son, a queer eccentric-looking +boy, who was considered not entirely right in his mind but somewhat +"<i>daft</i>" and who accordingly had had little attention paid to +his education, was sitting under the table, and cried out, "Sen' +for that preachin' man frae Livingstone, for faither aye sleeps in +the kirk." One of the doctors thought this hint worth attending to. +The experiment of "getting a minister till him" succeeded, and, +sleep coming on, he recovered. The Earl, out of gratitude for this +benefit, took more notice of his son, paid attention to his +education, and that boy became the Duke of Lauderdale, afterwards +so famous or infamous in his country's history.</p> +<p>The following very amusing anecdote, although it belongs more +properly to the division on peculiarities of Scottish phraseology, +I give in the words of a correspondent who received it from the +parties with whom it originated. About twenty years ago, he was +paying a visit to a cousin, married to a Liverpool merchant of some +standing. The husband had lately had a visit from his aged father, +who formerly followed the occupation of farming in Stirlingshire, +and who had probably never been out of Scotland before in his life. +The son, finding his father rather <i>de trop</i> in his office, +one day persuaded him to cross the ferry over the Mersey, and +inspect the harvesting, then in full operation, on the Cheshire +side. On landing, he approached a young woman reaping with the +sickle in a field of oats, when the following dialogue +ensued:--</p> +<p><i>Farmer</i>.--Lassie, are yer aits muckle bookit<a name= +"FNanchor184"></a><a href="#Footnote_184">[184]</a> th' year?</p> +<p><i>Reaper</i>.--What say'n yo?</p> +<p><i>Farmer</i>.--I was speiring gif yer aits are muckle bookit +th' year!</p> +<p><i>Reaper</i> (in amazement).--I dunnot know what yo' say'n.</p> +<p><i>Farmer</i> (in equal astonishment).--Gude--safe--us,--do ye +no understaan gude plain +English?--are--yer--aits--muckle--bookit?</p> +<p>Reaper decamps to her nearest companion, saying that was a +madman, while he shouted in great wrath, "They were naething else +than a set o' ignorant pock-puddings."</p> +<p>An English tourist visited Arran, and being a keen disciple of +Izaak Walton, was arranging to have a day's good sport. Being told +that the cleg, or horse-fly, would suit his purpose admirably for +lure, he addressed himself to Christy, the Highland +servant-girl:--"I say, my girl, can you get me some horse-flies?" +Christy looked stupid, and he repeated his question. Finding that +she did not yet comprehend him, he exclaimed, "Why, girl, did you +never see a horse-fly?" "Naa, sir," said the girl, "but A wance saw +a coo jump ower a preshipice."</p> +<p>The following anecdote is highly illustrative of the thoroughly +attached old family serving-man. A correspondent sends it as told +to him by an old schoolfellow of Sir Walter Scott's at Fraser and +Adam's class, High School:--</p> +<p>One of the lairds of Abercairnie proposed <i>to go out</i>, on +the occasion of one of the risings for the Stuarts, in the '15 or +'45--but this was not with the will of his old serving-man, who, +when Abercairnie was pulling on his boots, preparing to go, +overturned a kettle of boiling water upon his legs, so as to +disable him from joining his friends--saying, "Tak that--let them +fecht wha like; stay ye at hame and be laird o' Abercairnie."</p> +<p>A story illustrative of a union of polite courtesy with rough +and violent ebullition of temper common in the old Scottish +character, is well known in the Lothian family. William Henry, +fourth Marquis of Lothian, had for his guest at dinner an old +countess to whom he wished to show particular respect and +attention<a name="FNanchor185"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_185">[185]</a>. After a very complimentary reception, he +put on his white gloves to hand her down stairs, led her up to the +upper end of the table, bowed, and retired to his own place. This I +am assured was the usual custom with the chief lady guest by +persons who themselves remember it. After all were seated, the +Marquis addressed the lady, "Madam, may I have the honour and +happiness of helping your ladyship to some fish?" But he got no +answer, for the poor woman was deaf as a post, and did not hear +him. After a pause, but still in the most courteous accents, +"Madam, have I your ladyship's permission to send you some fish?" +Then a little quicker, "Is your Ladyship inclined to take fish?" +Very quick, and rather peremptory, "Madam, do ye choice fish?" At +last the thunder burst, to everybody's consternation, with a loud +thump on the table and stamp on the floor: "Con--found ye, will ye +have any fish?" I am afraid the exclamation might have been even of +a more pungent character.</p> +<p>A correspondent has kindly enabled me to add a reminiscence and +anecdote of a type of Scottish character now nearly extinct.--I +mean the old Scottish <i>military</i> officer of the wars of +Holland and the Low Countries. I give them in his own words:--"My +father, the late Rev. Dr. Bethune, minister of Dornoch, was on +friendly terms with a fine old soldier, the late Colonel Alexander +Sutherland of Calmaly and Braegrudy, in Sutherlandshire, who was +lieutenant-colonel of the 'Local Militia,' and who used +occasionally, in his word of command, to break out with a Gaelic +phrase to the men, much to the amusement of bystanders. He called +his charger, a high-boned not overfed animal, Cadaver--a play upon +accents, for he was a good classical scholar, and fond of quoting +the Latin poets. But he had no relish nor respect for the 'Modern +languages,' particularly for that of our French neighbours, whom he +looked upon as 'hereditary' enemies! My father and the colonel were +both politicians, as well as scholars. Reading a newspaper article +in his presence one day, my father stopped short, handing the paper +to him, and said, 'Colonel, here is a <i>French</i> quotation, +which you can translate better than I can,' 'No, sir!' said the +colonel, 'I never learnt the language of the scoundrels!!!' The +colonel was known as 'Col. Sandy Sutherland,' and the men always +called him <i>Colonel Sandy</i>. He was a splendid specimen of the +hale veteran, with a stentorian voice, and the last queue I +remember to have seen."</p> +<p>A correspondent kindly sends me from Aberdeenshire a humorous +story, very much of the same sort as that of Colonel Erskine's +servant, who considerately suggested to his master that "maybe an +aith might relieve him<a name="FNanchor186"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_186">[186]</a>." My correspondent heard the story from +the late Bishop Skinner.</p> +<p>It was among the experiences of his father, Bishop <i>John</i> +Skinner. While making some pastoral visits in the neighbourhood of +the town (Aberdeen), the Bishop took occasion to step into the +cottage of two humble parishioners, a man and his wife, who +cultivated a little croft. No one was within; but as the door was +only on the latch, the Bishop knew that the worthy couple could not +be far distant. He therefore stepped in the direction of the +outhouses, and found them both in the barn winnowing corn, in the +primitive way, with "riddles," betwixt two open doors. On the +Bishop making his appearance, the honest man ceased his winnowing +operations, and in the gladness of his heart stepped briskly +forward to welcome his pastor; but in his haste he trod upon the +rim of the riddle, which rebounded with great force against one of +his shins. The accident made him suddenly pull up; and, instead of +completing the reception, he stood vigorously rubbing the injured +limb; and, not daring in such a venerable presence to give vent to +the customary strong ejaculations, kept twisting his face into all +sorts of grimaces. As was natural, the Bishop went forward, +uttering the usual formulas of condolence and sympathy, the +patient, meanwhile, continuing his rubbings and his silent but +expressive contortions. At last Janet came to the rescue; and, +clapping the Bishop coaxingly on the back, said, "Noo, Bishop, jist +gang ye yir waas into the hoose, an' we'll follow fan he's had time +to curse a fyllie, an' I'se warran' he'll seen be weel eneuch!"</p> +<p>The following might have been added as examples of the dry +humorous manner in which our countrymen and countrywomen sometimes +treat matters with which they have to deal, even when serious +ones:--</p> +<p>An itinerant vendor of wood in Aberdeen having been asked how +his wife was, replied, "Oh, she's fine; I hae taen her tae +Banchory;" and on it being innocently remarked that the change of +air would do her good, he looked up, and, with a half smile, said, +"Hoot, she's i' the kirk-yard."</p> +<p>The well-known aversion of the Scotch to hearing <i>read</i> +sermons has often led to amusing occurrences. One pastor, in a +country district, who was much respected by his people, but who, +nevertheless, were never quite reconciled to his <i>paper</i> in +the pulpit, found himself on one occasion in an awkward +predicament, from this same paper question. One Sabbath afternoon, +having exhausted both firstly and secondly, he came to the +termination of his discourse; but, unfortunately, the manuscript +was wanting. In vain efforts to seek the missing paper, he repeated +"thirdly and lastly" <i>ad nauseam</i> to his hearers. At last one, +cooler than the others, rose, and nodding to the minister, +observed, "'Deed, sir, If I'm no mista'en, I saw 'thirdly and +lastly' fa' ower the poopit stairs;" evidently enjoying the +disappearance of so important a part of the obnoxious document.</p> +<p>This prejudice was indeed some years since in Scotland quite +inveterate. The following anecdote has been kindly sent to me from +<i>Memoirs of Charles Young,</i> lately published by his son:--</p> +<p>"I have a distinct recollection, one Sunday when I was living at +Cults, and when a stranger was officiating for Dr. Gillespie, +observing that he had not proceeded five minutes with his +'discourse,' before there was a general commotion and stampedo. The +exodus at last became so serious, that, conceiving something to be +wrong, probably a fire in the manse, I caught the infection, and +eagerly inquired of the first person I encountered in the +churchyard what was the matter, and was told, with an expression of +sovereign scorn and disgust--'Losh keep ye, young man! Hae ye eyes, +and see not? Hae ye ears, and hear not? <i>The man reads!</i>"</p> +<p>On one occasion, however, even this prejudice gave way before +the power of the most eloquent preacher that Scotland ever heard, +or perhaps that the world ever heard. A shrewd old Fife hearer of +sermons had been objecting, in the usual exaggerated language, +against reading sermons in the pulpit. A gentleman urged the case +of Dr. Chalmers, in defence of the practice. He used his paper in +preaching rigidly, and yet with what an effect he read! All the +objector could reply to this was, "Ah, but it's <i>fell</i><a name= +"FNanchor187"></a><a href="#Footnote_187">[187]</a> reading +yon."</p> +<p>The two following are from a correspondent who heard them told +by the late Dr. Barclay the anatomist, well known for his own dry +Scottish humour.</p> +<p>A country laird, at his death, left his property in equal shares +to his two sons, who continued to live very amicably together for +many years. At length one said to the other, "Tam, we're gettin' +auld now, you'll tak a wife, and when I dee you'll get my share o' +the grund." "Na, John, you're the youngest and maist active, you'll +tak a wife, and when I dee you'll get my share." "Od," says John, +"Tam, that's jist the way wi' you when there's ony <i>fash or +trouble</i>. The deevil a thing you'll do at a'."</p> +<p>A country clergyman, who was not on the most friendly terms with +one of his heritors who resided in Stirling, and who had annoyed +the minister by delay in paying him his teinds (or tithe), found it +necessary to make the laird understand that his proportion of +stipend must be paid so soon as it became due. The payment came +next term punctual to the time. When the messenger was introduced +to the minister, he asked who he was, remarking that he thought he +had seen him before. "I am the hangman of Stirling, sir." "Oh, just +so, take a seat till I write you a receipt." It was evident that +the laird had chosen this medium of communication with the minister +as an affront, and to show his spite. The minister, however, turned +the tables upon him, sending back an acknowledgment for the payment +in these terms:--"Received from Mr. ----, by the hands of the +hangman of Stirling, <i>his doer</i><a name= +"FNanchor188"></a><a href="#Footnote_188">[188]</a>, the sum of," +etc. etc.</p> +<p>The following story of pulpit criticism by a beadle used to be +told, I am assured, by the late Rev. Dr. Andrew Thomson:--</p> +<p>A clergyman in the country had a stranger preaching for him one +day, and meeting his beadle, he said to him, "Well, Saunders, how +did you like the sermon to-day?" "I watna, sir; it was rather ower +plain and simple for me. I like thae sermons best that jumbles the +joodgment and confoonds the sense. Od, sir, I never saw ane that +could come up to yoursell at that."</p> +<p>The epithet "canny" has frequently been applied to our +countrymen, not in a severe or invidious spirit, but as indicating +a due regard to personal interest and safety. In the larger edition +of Jamieson (see edition of 1840) I find there are no fewer than +eighteen meanings given of this word. The following extract from a +provincial paper, which has been sent me, will furnish a good +illustration. It is headed, the "PROPERTY QUALIFICATION," and goes +on--"Give a chartist a large estate, and a copious supply of ready +money, and you make a Conservative of him. He can then see the +other side of the moon, which he could never see before. Once, a +determined Radical in Scotland, named Davy Armstrong, left his +native village; and many years afterwards, an old fellow grumbler +met him, and commenced the old song. Davy shook his head. His +friend was astonished, and soon perceived that Davy was no longer a +grumbler, but a rank Tory. Wondering at the change, he was desirous +of knowing the reason. Davy quietly and laconically replied--'I've +a coo (cow) noo.'"</p> +<p>But even still more "canny" was the eye to the main chance in an +Aberdonian fellow-countryman, communicated in the following +pleasant terms from a Nairn correspondent:--"I have just been +reading your delightful 'Reminiscences,' which has brought to my +recollection a story I used to hear my father tell. It was thus:--A +countryman in a remote part of Aberdeenshire having got a +newly-coined sovereign in the days when such a thing was seldom +seen in his part of the country, went about showing it to his +friends and neighbours for the charge of one penny each sight. Evil +days, however, unfortunately overtook him, and he was obliged to +part with his loved coin. Soon after, a neighbour called on him, +and asked a sight of his sovereign, at the same time tendering a +penny. 'Ah, man,' says he, 'it's gane; but I'll lat ye see <i>the +cloutie it was rowt in</i> for a bawbee.'"</p> +<p>There was something very simple-minded in the manner in which a +parishioner announced his canny care for his supposed interests +when he became an elder of the kirk. The story is told of a man who +had got himself installed in the eldership, and, in consequence, +had for some time carried round the ladle for the collections. He +had accepted the office of elder because some wag had made him +believe that the remuneration was sixpence each Sunday, with a boll +of meal at New Year's Day. When the time arrived he claimed his +meal, but was told he had been hoaxed. "It may be sae wi' the +meal," he said coolly, "but I took care o' the saxpence +mysell."</p> +<p>There was a good deal both of the <i>pawky</i> and the +<i>canny</i> in the following anecdote, which I have from an +honoured lady of the south of Scotland:--"There was an old man who +always rode a donkey to his work, and tethered him while he worked +on the roads, or whatever else it might be. It was suggested to him +by my grandfather that he was suspected of putting it in to feed in +the fields at other people's expense. 'Eh, laird, I could never be +tempted to do that, for my cuddy winna eat onything but nettles and +thristles.' One day my grandfather was riding along the road, when +he saw Andrew Leslie at work, and his donkey up to the knees in one +of his clover fields, feeding luxuriously. 'Hollo, Andrew,' said +he; 'I thought you told me your cuddy would eat nothing but nettles +and thistles.' 'Ay,' said he, 'but he misbehaved the day; he nearly +kicket me ower his head, sae I pat him in there just to +<i>punish</i> him.'"</p> +<p>There is a good deal of the same sort of simple character +brought out in the two following. They were sent to me from +Golspie, and are original, as they occurred in my correspondent's +own experience. The one is a capital illustration of thrift, the +other of kind feeling for the friendless, in the Highland +character. I give the anecdotes in my correspondent's own words:--A +little boy, some twelve years of age, came to me one day with the +following message: "My mother wants a vomit from you, sir, and she +bade me say if it will not be strong enough, she will send it +back." "Oh, Mr. Begg," said a woman to me, for whom I was weighing +two grains of calomel for a child, "dinna be so mean wi' it; it is +for a poor faitherless bairn."</p> +<p>The following, from a provincial paper, contains a very amusing +recognition of a return which one of the itinerant race considered +himself conscientiously bound to make to his clerical patron for an +alms: "A beggar, while on his rounds one day this week, called on a +clergyman (within two and a half miles of the Cross of Kilmarnock), +who, obeying the biblical injunction of clothing the naked, offered +the beggar an old top-coat. It was immediately rolled up, and the +beggar, in going away with it under his arm, thoughtfully (!) +remarked, 'I'll hae tae gie ye a day's <i>hearin</i>' for this +na.'"</p> +<p>The natural and self-complacent manner in which the following +anecdote brings out in the Highlander an innate sense of the +superiority of Celtic blood is highly characteristic:--A few years +ago, when an English family were visiting in the Highlands, their +attention was directed to a child crying; on their observing to the +mother it was <i>cross</i>, she exclaimed--"Na, na, it's nae cross, +for we're baith true Hieland."</p> +<p>The late Mr. Grahame of Garsock, in Strathearn, whose grandson +now "is laird himsel," used to tell, with great <i>unction</i>, +some thirty years ago, a story of a neighbour of his own of a still +earlier generation, Drummond of Keltie, who, as it seems, had +employed an itinerant tailor instead of a metropolitan artist. On +one occasion a new pair of inexpressibles had been made for the +laird; they were so tight that, after waxing hot and red in the +attempt to try them on, he <i>let out</i> rather savagely at the +tailor, who calmly assured him, "It's the fash'n; it's jist the +fash'n." "Eh, ye haveril, is it the fashion for them <i>no to go +on</i>?"</p> +<p>An English gentleman writes to me--"We have all heard much of +Scotch caution, and I met once with an instance of it which I think +is worth recording, and which I tell as strictly original. About +1827, I fell into conversation, on board of a Stirling steamer, +with a well-dressed middle-aged man, who told me he was a soldier +of the 42d, going on leave. He began to relate the campaigns he had +gone through, and mentioned having been at the siege of St. +Sebastian.--'Ah! under Sir Thomas Graham?' 'Yes, sir; he commanded +there.' 'Well,' I said, merely by way of carrying on the +<i>crack</i>, 'and what do you think of <i>him</i>?' Instead of +answering, he scanned me several times from head to foot, and from +foot to head, and then said, in a tone of the most diplomatic +caution, 'Ye'll perhaps be of the name of Grah'm yersel, sir?' +There could hardly be a better example, either of the +circumspection of a real canny Scot, or of the lingering influence +of the old patriarchal feeling, by which 'A name, a word, makes +clansmen vassals to their lord.'"</p> +<p>Now when we linger over these old stories, we seem to live at +another period, and in such reminiscences we converse with a +generation different from our own. Changes are still going on +around us. They have been going on for some time past. The changes +are less striking as society advances, and we find fewer +alterations for us to notice. Probably each generation will have +less change to record than the generation that preceded; still +every one who is tolerably advanced in life must feel that, +comparing its beginning and its close, he has witnessed two epochs, +and that in advanced life he looks on a different world from one +which he can remember. To elucidate this fact has been my present +object, and in attempting this task I cannot but feel how trifling +and unsatisfactory my remarks must seem to many who have a more +enlarged and minute acquaintance with Scottish life and manners +than I have. But I shall be encouraged to hope for a favourable, or +at least an indulgent, sentence upon these Reminiscences, if to any +of my readers I shall have opened a fresh insight into the subject +of social changes amongst us. Many causes have their effect upon +the habits and customs of mankind, and of late years such causes +have been greatly multiplied in number and activity. In many +persons, and in some who have not altogether lost their national +partialities, there is a general tendency to merge Scottish usages +and Scottish expressions into the English forms, as being more +correct and genteel. The facilities for moving, not merely from +place to place in our own country, but from one country to another; +the spread of knowledge and information by means of periodical +publications and newspapers; and the incredibly low prices at which +literary works are produced, must have great effects. Then there is +the improved taste in art, which, together with literature, has +been taken up by young men who, fifty, sixty, seventy years ago, or +more, would have known no such sources of interest, or indeed who +would have looked upon them as unmanly and effeminate. When first +these pursuits were taken up by our Scottish young men, they +excited in the north much amazement, and, I fear, contempt, as was +evinced by a laird of the old school, who, the first time he saw a +young man at the pianoforte, asked, with evident disgust, "Can the +creature <i>sew</i> ony?" evidently putting the accomplishment of +playing the pianoforte and the accomplishment of the needle in the +same category.</p> +<p>The greater facility of producing books, prints, and other +articles which tend to the comfort and embellishment of domestic +life, must have considerable influence upon the habits and tastes +of a people. I have often thought how much effect might be traced +to the single circumstance of the cheap production of pianofortes. +An increased facility of procuring the means of acquaintance with +good works of art and literature acts both as cause and effect. A +growing and improved taste tends to stimulate the <i>production</i> +of the best works of art. These, in return, foster and advance the +power of forming a due <i>estimate</i> of art. In the higher +department of music, for example, the cheap rate not only of +<i>hearing</i> compositions of the first class, but of +<i>possessing</i> the works of the most eminent composers, must +have had influence upon thousands. The principal oratorios of +Handel may be purchased for as many shillings each as they cost +pounds years ago. Indeed, at that time the very names of those +immortal works were known only to a few who were skilled to +appreciate their high beauties. Now associations are formed for +practising and studying the choral works of the great masters.</p> +<p>We might indeed adduce many more causes which seem to produce +changes of habits, tastes, and associations, amongst our people. +For example, families do not vegetate for years in one retired spot +as they used to do; young men are encouraged to attain +accomplishments, and to have other sources of interest than the +field or the bottle. Every one knows, or may know, everything that +is going on through the whole world. There is a tendency in mankind +to lose all that is peculiar, and in nations to part with all that +distinguishes them from each other. We hear of wonderful changes in +habits and customs where change seemed impossible. In India and +Turkey even, peculiarities and prejudices are fading away under the +influence of time. Amongst ourselves, no doubt, one circumstance +tended greatly to call forth, and, as we may say, to +<i>develop</i>, the peculiar Scotch humour of which we speak--and +that was the familiarity of intercourse which took place between +persons in different positions of life. This extended even to an +occasional interchange of words between the minister and the +members of his flock during time of service. I have two anecdotes +in illustration of this fact, which I have reason to believe are +quite authentic. In the church of Banchory on Deeside, to which I +have referred, a former minister always preached without book, and +being of an absent disposition, he sometimes forgot the head of +discourse on which he was engaged, and got involved in confusion. +On one occasion, being desirous of recalling to his memory the +division of his subject, he called out to one of his elders, a +farmer on the estate of Ley, "Bush (the name of his farm), Bush, +ye're sleeping." "Na, sir, I'm no sleeping--I'm listening." "Weel, +then, what had I begun to say?" "Oh, ye were saying so and so." +This was enough, and supplied the minister with the thread of his +discourse; and he went on. The other anecdote related to the parish +of Cumbernauld, the minister of which was at the time referred to +noted for a very disjointed and rambling style of preaching, +without method or connection. His principal heritor was the Lord +Elphinstone of the time, and unfortunately the minister and the +peer were not on good terms, and always ready to annoy each other +by sharp sayings or otherwise. The minister on one occasion had +somewhat in this spirit called upon the beadle to "wauken my Lord +Elphinstone," upon which Lord Elphinstone said, "I'm no sleeping, +minister." "Indeed you were, my lord." He again disclaimed the +sleeping. So as a test the preacher asked him, "What I had been +saying last then?" "Oh, juist wauken Lord Elphinstone." "Ay, but +what did I say before that?" "Indeed," retorted Lord Elphinstone, +"I'll gie ye a guinea if ye'll tell that yersell, minister." We can +hardly imagine the <i>possibility</i> of such scenes now taking +place amongst us in church. It seems as if all men were gradually +approximating to a common type or form in their manners and views +of life; oddities are sunk, prominences are rounded off, sharp +features are polished, and all things are becoming smooth and +conventional. The remark, like the effect, is general, and extends +to other countries as well as to our own. But as we have more +recently parted with our peculiarities of dialect, oddity, and +eccentricity, it becomes the more amusing to mark <i>our</i> +participation in this change, because a period of fifty years shows +here a greater contrast than the same period would show in many +other localities.</p> +<p>I have already referred to a custom which prevailed in all the +rural parish churches, and which I remember in my early days at +Fettercairn; the custom I mean, now quite obsolete, of the +minister, after pronouncing the blessing, turning to the heritors, +who always occupied the front seats of the gallery, and making low +bows to each family. Another custom I recollect:--When the text had +been given out, it was usual for the elder branches of the +congregation to hand about their Bibles amongst the younger +members, marking the place, and calling their attention to the +passage. During service another handing about was frequent among +the seniors, and that was a circulation of the sneeshin-mull or +snuff-box. Indeed, I have heard of the same practice in an +Episcopal church, and particularly in one case of an ordination, +where the bishop took his pinch of snuff, and handed the mull to go +round amongst the clergy assembled for the solemn occasion within +the altar-rails.</p> +<p>Amongst Scottish reminiscences which do not extend beyond our +own recollections we may mention the disappearance of Trinity +Church in Edinburgh, which has taken place within the last quarter +of a century. It was founded by Mary of Gueldres, queen of James +II. of Scotland, in 1446, and liberally endowed for a provost, +prebendaries, choristers, etc. It was never completed, but the +portions built--viz., choir, transept, and central tower--were +amongst the finest specimens of later Gothic work in Scotland. The +pious founder had placed it at the east end of what was then the +North Loch. She chose her own church for the resting-place of her +remains as a sanctuary of safety and repose. A railway +parliamentary bill, however, overrides founder's intentions and +Episcopal consecrations. Where once stood the beautiful church of +the Holy Trinity, where once the "pealing organ" and the +"full-voiced choir" were daily heard "in service high and anthems +clear"--where for 400 years slept the ashes of a Scottish +Queen--now resound the noise and turmoil of a railway station.</p> +<p>But we have another example of the uncertainty of all earthly +concerns, and one which supplies a Scottish reminiscence belonging +to the last seventy years. Wilhelmina, Viscountess Glenorchy, +during her lifetime, built and endowed a church for two ministers, +who were provided with very handsome incomes. She died 17th July +1786, and was buried on the 24th July, aged 44. Her interment took +place, by her own direction, in the church she had founded, +immediately in front of the pulpit; and she fixed upon that spot as +a place of security and safety, where her mortal remains might rest +in peace till the morning of the resurrection. But alas for the +uncertainty of all earthly plans and projects for the future!--the +iron road came on its reckless course and swept the church away. +The site was required for the North British Railway, which passed +directly over the spot where Lady Glenorchy had been buried. Her +remains were accordingly disinterred 24th December 1844; and the +trustees of the church, not having yet erected a new one, deposited +the body of their foundress in the vaults beneath St. John's +Episcopal Church, and after resting there for fifteen years, they +were, in 1859, removed to the building which is now Lady +Glenorchy's Church.</p> +<p>In our reminiscences of many <i>changes</i> which have taken +place during fifty years in Scottish manners, it might form an +interesting section to record some peculiarities which +<i>remain</i>. I mean such peculiarities as yet linger amongst us, +and still mark a difference in some of our social habits from those +of England. Some Scottish usages die hard, and are found still to +supply amusement for southern visitors. To give a few examples, +persons still persist among us in calling the head of a family, or +the host, the <i>landlord</i>, although he never charged his guests +a halfpenny for the hospitality he exercises. In games, golf and +curling still continue to mark the national character--cricket was +long an exotic amongst us. In many of our educational institutions, +however, it seems now fairly to have taken root. We continue to +call our reception rooms "<i>public</i> rooms," although never used +for any but domestic purposes. Military rank is attached to ladies, +as we speak of Mrs. Lieutenant Fraser, Mrs. Captain Scott, Mrs. +Major Smith, Mrs. Colonel Campbell. On the occasion of a death, we +persist in sending circular notices to all the relatives, whether +they know of it or not--a custom which, together with men wearing +weepers at funeral solemnities, is unknown in England<a name= +"FNanchor189"></a><a href="#Footnote_189">[189]</a>. Announcing a +married lady's death under her maiden name must seem strange to +English ears--as, for example, we read of the demise of Mrs. Jane +Dickson, spouse of Thomas Morison. Scottish cookery retains its +ground, and hotch-potch, minced collops, sheep's head singed, and +occasionally haggis, are still marked peculiarities of the Scottish +table. These social differences linger amongst us. But stronger +points are worn away; eccentricities and oddities such as existed +once will not do now. One does not see why eccentricity should be +more developed in one age than in another, but we cannot avoid the +conclusion that the day for real oddities is no more. Professors of +colleges are those in whom one least expects oddity--grave and +learned characters; and yet such <i>have</i> been in former times. +We can scarcely now imagine such professors as we read of in a past +generation. Take the case of no less distinguished a person than +Adam Smith, author of the <i>Wealth of Nations,</i> who went about +the streets talking and laughing to himself in such a manner as to +make the market women think he was deranged; and he told of one +himself who ejaculated, as he passed, "Hech, sirs, and he is weel +pat on, too!" expressing surprise that a decided lunatic, who from +his dress appeared to be a gentleman, should be permitted to walk +abroad unattended. Professors still have their crotchets like other +people; but we can scarcely conceive a professor of our day coming +out like Adam Smith, and making fishwives to pass such observations +on his demeanour.</p> +<p>Peculiarities in a people's phraseology may prove more than we +are aware of, and may tend to illustrate circumstances of national +<i>history</i>. Thus many words which would be included by +Englishmen under the general term of Scotticisms, bear directly +upon the question of a past intercourse with France, and prove how +close at one time must have been the influence exercised upon +general habits in Scotland by that intercourse. Scoto-Gallic words +were quite differently situated from French words and phrases +adopted in England. With us they proceeded from a real admixture of +the two <i>peoples</i>. With us they form the ordinary common +language of the country, and that was from a distant period moulded +by French. In England, the educated and upper classes of late years +<i>adopted</i> French words and phrases. With us, some of our +French derivatives are growing obsolete as vulgar, and nearly all +are passing from fashionable society. In England, we find the +French-adopted words rather receiving accessions than going out of +use.</p> +<p>Examples of words such as we have referred to, as showing a +French influence and admixture, are familiar to many of my readers. +I recollect some of them in constant use amongst old-fashioned +Scottish people, and those terms, let it be remembered, are unknown +in England.</p> +<p>A leg of mutton was always, with old-fashioned Scotch people, a +gigot (Fr. gigot).</p> +<p>The crystal jug or decanter in which water is placed upon the +table, was a caraff (Fr. carafe).</p> +<p>Gooseberries were groserts, or grossarts (Fr. groseille).</p> +<p>Partridges were pertricks,--a word much more formed upon the +French perdrix than the English partridge.</p> +<p>The plate on which a joint or side-dish was placed upon the +table was an ashet (Fr. assiette).</p> +<p>In the old streets of Edinburgh, where the houses are very high, +and where the inhabitants all live in flats, before the +introduction of soil-pipes there was no method of disposing of the +foul water of the household, except by throwing it out of the +window into the street. This operation, dangerous to those outside, +was limited to certain hours, and the well-known cry, which +preceded the missile and warned the passenger, was gardeloo! or, as +Smollett writes it, gardy loo (Fr. garge de l'eau).</p> +<p>Anything troublesome or irksome used to be called, +Scotticè, fashions (Fr. facheux, facheuse); to fash +one's-self (Fr. se facher).</p> +<p>The small cherry, both black and red, common in gardens, is in +Scotland, never in England, termed gean (Fr. guigne), from Guigne, +in Picardy.</p> +<p>The term <i>dambrod</i>, which has already supplied materials +for a good story, arises from adopting French terms into Scottish +language, as dams were the pieces with which the game of draughts +was played (Fr. dammes). Brod is board.</p> +<p>A bedgown, or loose female upper garment, is still in many parts +of Scotland termed a jupe (Fr. jupe).</p> +<p>In Kincardineshire the ashes of a blacksmith's furnace had the +peculiar name of smiddy-coom (Fr. écume, i.e. dross).</p> +<p>Oil, in common Scotch, used always to be ule,--as the uley pot, +or uley cruse (Fr. huile).</p> +<p>Many of my readers are no doubt familiar with the notice taken +of these words by Lord Cockburn, and with the account which he +gives of these Scottish words derived from the French, probably +during the time of Queen Mary's minority, when French troops were +quartered in Scotland. I subjoin a more full list, for which I am +indebted to a correspondent, because the words still lingering +amongst us are in themselves the best REMINISCENCES of former +days.</p> +<blockquote> +<table width="80%" summary=""> +<tr align="left"> +<th>Scotch.</th> +<th>English.</th> +<th>French.</th> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Serviter</td> +<td>Napkin</td> +<td>From Serviette.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Gigot (of mutton)</td> +<td>...</td> +<td> " Gigot.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Reeforts</td> +<td>Radishes</td> +<td> " Raiforts.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Grosserts</td> +<td>Gooseberries</td> +<td> " Groseilles.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Gardyveen</td> +<td>Case for holding wine</td> +<td> " Garde-vin.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Jupe</td> +<td>Part of a woman's dress</td> +<td> " Jupe.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Bonnaille</td> +<td>A parting glass with a</td> +<td> " Bon aller.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> </td> +<td> friend going on a journey</td> +<td> </td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Gysard</td> +<td>Person in a fancy dress</td> +<td> " Guise.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Dambrod</td> +<td>Draught-board</td> +<td> " Dammes.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Pantufles</td> +<td>Slippers</td> +<td> " Pantoufles.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Haggis</td> +<td>Hashed meat</td> +<td> " Hachis.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Gou</td> +<td>Taste, smell</td> +<td> " Gout.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Hogue</td> +<td>Tainted</td> +<td> " Haut gout.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Grange</td> +<td>Granary</td> +<td> " Grange.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Mouter</td> +<td>Miller's perquisite</td> +<td> " Mouture.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Dour</td> +<td>Obstinate</td> +<td> " Dur.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Douce</td> +<td>Mild</td> +<td> " Doux.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Dorty</td> +<td>Sulky</td> +<td> " Dureté.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Braw</td> +<td>Fine</td> +<td> " Brave.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Kimmer</td> +<td>Gossip</td> +<td> " Commère.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Jalouse</td> +<td>Suspect</td> +<td> " Jalouser.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Vizzy</td> +<td>To aim at, to examine</td> +<td> " Viser.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Ruckle</td> +<td>Heap (of stones)</td> +<td> " Recueil.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Gardy-loo</td> +<td>(Notice well known in</td> +<td> " Gardez-l'eau.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> </td> +<td> Edinburgh)</td> +<td> </td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Dementit</td> +<td>Out of patience, deranged</td> +<td> " Dementir.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>On my verity</td> +<td>Assertion of truth</td> +<td> " Verité.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>By my certy</td> +<td>Assertion of truth</td> +<td> " Certes.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Aumrie</td> +<td>Cupboard</td> +<td> " Almoire, in old</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> </td> +<td> </td> +<td> +French.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Walise</td> +<td>Portmanteau</td> +<td> " Valise.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Sucker</td> +<td>Sugar</td> +<td> " Sucre</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Petticoat-tails</td> +<td>Cakes of triangular shapes</td> +<td> " Petits gatelles</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> </td> +<td> </td> +<td> + (gateaux).</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Ashet</td> +<td>Meat-dish</td> +<td> " Assiette.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Fashious</td> +<td>Troublesome</td> +<td> " Facheux.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Prush, Madame<a name="FNanchor190"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_190">[190]</a></td> +<td>Call to a cow to come</td> +<td> " Approchez,</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> </td> +<td> forward</td> +<td> + Madame</td> +</tr> +</table> +</blockquote> +<p><i>Edinburgh Street Cry:</i>--"Neeps like sucker. Whae'll buy +neeps?" (turnips).</p> +<br> +<p>I dwell the more minutely on this question of Scottish words, +from the conviction of their being so characteristic of Scottish +humour, and being so distinctive a feature of the older Scottish +race. Take away our Scottish phraseology, and we lose what is our +specific distinction from England. In these expressions, too, there +is often a tenderness and beauty as remarkable as the wit and +humour. I have already spoken of the phrase "Auld-lang-syne," and +of other expressions of sentiment, which may be compared in their +Anglican and Scotch form.</p> +<blockquote>FOOTNOTES:</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_160"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor160">[160]</a> After all, the remark may not have been so +absurd then as it appears now. Burns had not been long dead, nor +was he then so noted a character as he is now. The Scotsmen might +really have supposed a Southerner unacquainted with the <i>fact</i> +of the poet's death.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_161"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor161">[161]</a> Choice.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_162"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor162">[162]</a> A vessel.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_163"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor163">[163]</a> Juice.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_164"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor164">[164]</a> Broth.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_165"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor165">[165]</a> Rev. A.K.H. Boyd.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_166"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor166">[166]</a> I believe the lady was Mrs. Murray Keith +of Ravelston, with whom Sir Walter had in early life much +intercourse.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_167"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor167">[167]</a> Disputing or bandying words backwards and +forwards.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_168"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor168">[168]</a> In Scotland the remains of the deceased +person is called the "corp."</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_169"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor169">[169]</a> Laudanum and calomel.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_170"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor170">[170]</a> Read from the same book.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_171"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor171">[171]</a> Sorely kept under by the +turkey-cock.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_172"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor172">[172]</a> Close the doors. The old woman was lying +in a "box-bed." See <i>Life of Robert Chambers</i>, p. +12.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_173"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor173">[173]</a> Empty pocket.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_174"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor174">[174]</a> A cough.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_175"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor175">[175]</a> Shrivelled.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_176"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor176">[176]</a> Confound.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_177"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor177">[177]</a> Empty.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_178"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor178">[178]</a> It was of this minister, Mr. Thom of +Govan, that Sir Walter Scott remarked "that he had demolished all +his own chances of a Glasgow benefice, by preaching before the town +council from a text in Hosea, 'Ephraim's drink is +sour.'"</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_179"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor179">[179]</a> Empty.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_180"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor180">[180]</a> Basket for fish.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_181"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor181">[181]</a> Well advanced.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_182"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor182">[182]</a> Wearied.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_183"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor183">[183]</a> I have abundant evidence to prove that a +similar answer to that which Dr. Alexander records to have been +made to Mr. Gillespie has been given on similar occasions by +others.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_184"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor184">[184]</a> Oats heavy in bulk.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_185"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor185">[185]</a> This Marquis of Lothian was aide-de-camp +to the Duke of Cumberland at the battle of Culloden, who sullied +his character as a soldier and a nobleman by the cruelties which he +exercised on the vanquished.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_186"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor186">[186]</a> Sir H. Moncreiff's <i>Life of Dr. J. +Erskine</i>.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_187"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor187">[187]</a> Extraordinary.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_188"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor188">[188]</a> In Scotland it is usual to term the +law-agent or man of business of any person his "doer."</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_189"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor189">[189]</a> And yet, even as we write, weepers seem to +be passing into reminiscence.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_190"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor190">[190]</a> This expression was adopted apparently in +ridicule of the French applying the word "Madame" to a +cow.</blockquote> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="CONCLUSION."></a><a href= +"#CONCLUSION.">CONCLUSION.</a></h2> +<br> +<p>I am very anxious to bear in mind throughout these +Reminiscences, and to keep in view the same feeling for my +readers--viz. that such details regarding the changes which many +living have themselves noticed as taking place in our customs and +habits of society in Scotland, should always suggest the question +to the thoughtful and serious mind, Are the changes which have been +observed for <i>good</i>? Is the world a better world than that +which we can remember? On some important points changes have been +noticed in the upper classes of Scottish society, which +unquestionably <i>are</i> improvements. For example, the greater +attention paid to observance of Sunday, and to attendance upon +public worship,--the partial disappearance of profane swearing and +of excess in drinking. But then the painful questions arise, Are +such beneficial changes <i>general</i> through the whole body of +our countrymen? may not the vices and follies of one grade of +society have found a refuge in those that are of a lower class? may +not new faults have taken their place where older faults have been +abandoned? Of this we are quite sure--no lover of his country can +fail to entertain the anxious wish, that the change we noticed in +regard to drinking and swearing were universal, and that we had +some evidence of its being extended through all classes of society. +We ought certainly to feel grateful when we reflect that, in many +instances which we have noticed, the ways and customs of society +are much improved in common sense, in decency, in delicacy, and +refinement. There are certain modes of life, certain expressions, +eccentricity of conduct, coarseness of speech, books, and plays, +which were in vogue amongst us, even fifty or sixty years ago, +which would not be tolerated in society at the present time. We +cannot illustrate this in a more satisfactory manner than by +reference to the acknowledgment of a very interesting and charming +old lady, who died so lately as 1823. In 1821, Mrs. Keith of +Ravelstone, grandaunt of Sir Walter Scott, thus writes in returning +to him the work of a female novelist which she had borrowed from +him out of curiosity, and to remind her of "auld lang syne:"--"Is +it not a very odd thing that I, an old woman of eighty and upwards, +sitting alone, feel myself ashamed to read a book which, sixty +years ago, I have heard read aloud for the amusement of large +circles, consisting of the first and most creditable society in +London?" There can be no doubt that at the time referred to by Mrs. +Keith, Tristram Shandy<a name="FNanchor191"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_191">[191]</a>, Tom Jones, Humphrey Clinker, etc., were +on the drawing-room tables of ladies whose grandchildren or +great-grandchildren never saw them, or would not acknowledge it if +they <i>had</i> seen them. But authors not inferior to Sterne, +Fielding, or Smollett, are now popular, who, with Charles Dickens, +can describe scenes of human life with as much force and humour, +and yet in whose pages nothing will be found which need offend the +taste of the most refined, or shock the feelings of the most pure. +This is a change where there is also great improvement. It +indicates not merely a better moral perception in authors +themselves, but it is itself a homage to the improved spirit of the +age. We will hope that, with an improved exterior, there is +improvement in society <i>within</i>. If the feelings shrink from +what is coarse in expression, we may hope that vice has, in some +sort, lost attraction. At any rate, from what we discern around us +we hope favourably for the general improvement of mankind, and of +our own beloved country in particular. If Scotland, in parting with +her rich and racy dialect, her odd and eccentric characters, is to +lose something in quaint humour and good stories, we will hope she +may grow and strengthen in <i>better</i> things--good as those are +which she loses. However this may be, I feel quite assured that the +examples which I have now given, of Scottish expressions, Scottish +modes and habits of life, and Scottish anecdotes, which belong in a +great measure to the past, and yet which are remembered as having a +place in the present century, must carry conviction that great +changes have taken place in the Scottish social circle. There were +some things belonging to our country which we must all have desired +should be changed. There were others which we could only see +changed with regret and sorrow. The hardy and simple habits of +Scotsmen of many past generations; their industry, economy, and +integrity, which made them take so high a place in the estimation +and the confidence of the people amongst whom they dwelt in all +countries of the world; the intelligence and superior education of +her mechanics and her peasantry, combined with a strict moral and +religious demeanour, fully justified the praise of Burns when he +described the humble though sublime piety of the "Cottar's Saturday +Night," and we can well appreciate the testimony which he bore to +the hallowed power and sacred influences of the devotional +exercises of his boyhood's home, when he penned the immortal +words:--</p> +<blockquote>"From scenes like these old Scotia's grandeur +springs,<br> +That makes her loved at home, revered abroad."</blockquote> +<p>On comparing Scotland past with Scotland present, we cannot +evade the question, Are "scenes like these"--devotional domestic +scenes like these--become less frequent than they were? Do they +still hold their place by the cottar's fireside, or are they +becoming only a reminiscence of what was <i>once</i> a national +distinction? Whatever be our religious opinions, or whatever be our +views on questions of ecclesiastical polity and church order, no +Scotsman who desires the happiness and honour of his country could +avoid a deep regret at the very idea of Burns' "Cottar's Saturday +Night" having become a thing of the past; and yet we must not +shrink from inquiry into the true state of the case. I have asked +the opinions of friends both of the Established and the Free +Church, who have met my inquiries in a fair and candid spirit, and, +from the answers I have received, have come to something like the +following conclusion:--I believe such scenes as Burns' "Cottar's +Saturday Night" are still to be met with in all their freshness and +all their fervour in the dwellings of a good religious peasantry; +but in some places the cottar population <i>itself</i> has +undergone a great change. Two causes have combined to produce this +effect:--An extensive system of emigration has thinned the older +families of the soil, whilst the practice of bringing in mere +labourers has in many districts made the old family domestic +firesides less numerous. Then, alas! alas! we fear cottar MORALITY +has not been such as to keep up the practice. Reports made to both +the General Assemblies of 1871 on this question were far from being +satisfactory. Dr. Begg, too, in his striking and able pamphlet on +the "Ecclesiastical and Social Evils of Scotland," refers to +"symptoms of a nation's degeneracy which seem multiplying in +Scotland;" also to a "growing amount of heathenism and +drunkenness."</p> +<p>With such representations before us regarding a decline of +domestic morality, we cannot expect to see much increase of +domestic piety. Burns, after he had become lowered in moral +feelings by those licentious habits and scenes into which he +unfortunately fell after he had left his father's house, was not +hypocrite enough to profess the same love and interest for the +scenes of his innocent and early days. The country clergy of +Scotland have their many difficulties against which they are to +contend; and many obstacles which they have to meet. But let not +the domestic piety of the lowest cottages of the land be lost sight +of. The results of such worship are so blessed upon the inmates, +that the practice should everywhere be urged upon their flocks by +the clergy, and encouraged by all means in their power; and in that +view it would, I think, be desirable to circulate short forms of +prayer for family use. Many such have lately been published; and, +whatever difference of opinion may be entertained as to the +comparative merits of extempore or liturgical prayer for the public +worship of the church, there can be no question that in many +instances a form must be very useful, and often essential at the +commencement, at least, of cottage worship. I have known cases +where it has been declined on the plea of inability to conduct the +service.</p> +<p>There are numerous indications that, <i>on the whole</i>, a +regard for religion and religious ordinances is not losing ground +in Scotland. The great number of churches--and of handsome +churches--that are springing up, indicate, by their attendance, how +much hold the subject has upon the people. The ample funds raised +for charitable and for missionary objects give good testimony in +the cause; and, in regard to the immediate question before us, one +favourable result may be reported on this subject--the practice and +feelings of domestic piety and family worship have, at any rate, +extended in Scotland in an <i>upward</i> direction of its social +life. Beyond all doubt, we may say family worship is more frequent, +as a general practice, in houses of the rich, and also in the +houses of farmers and of superior operatives, than it was some +years ago. The Montrose anecdote about family prayers, told at page +64, could hardly have place now, and indeed many persons could not +understand the point.</p> +<p>I hope I am not blinded to the defects of my own countrymen, nor +am I determined to resist evidence of any deterioration which may +be proved. But I feel confident that Scotland still stands +pre-eminent amongst the nations for moral and religious qualities. +The nucleus of her character will bear comparison with any. We will +cherish hope for the mental tone of our countrymen being still in +the ascendant, and still imbued with those qualities that make a +moral and religious people. We have reason to know that in many +departments of business, Scottish intelligence, Scottish character, +and Scottish services, are still decidedly at a premium in the +market.</p> +<p>But now, before concluding, I am desirous of recording some +Reminiscences upon a phase of Scottish RELIGIOUS history which +involves very important consequences, and which I would not attempt +to discuss without serious consideration. Indeed I have sometimes +shrunk from the discussion at all, as leading to questions of so +delicate a nature, and as involving matters on which there are so +many differences of opinion. I refer to the state of our divisions +and alienations of spirit <i>on account</i> of religion.</p> +<p>The great Disruption, which nearly equally divided the National +Church, and which took place in 1843, is now become a matter of +<i>reminiscence</i>. Of those nearly connected with that movement, +some were relatives of my own, and many were friends. Unlike +similar religious revolutions, that which caused the Free Church of +Scotland did not turn upon any difference of opinion on matters +either of doctrine or of ecclesiastical polity. It arose entirely +from differences regarding the relation subsisting between the +Church and the State, by which the Church was established and +endowed. The great evil of all such divisions, and the real cause +for regret, lie in the injury they inflict on the cause of +Christian unity and Christian love, and the separation they too +often make between those who ought to be united in spirit, and who +have hitherto been not unfrequently actually joined for years as +companions and friends. The tone which is adopted by publications, +which are the organs of various party opinions amongst us, show how +keenly disputants, once excited, will deal with each other. The +differences consequent upon the Disruption in the Scottish Church +called forth great bitterness of spirit and much mutual +recrimination at the time. But it seems to me that there are +indications of a better spirit, and that there is more tolerance +and more forbearance on religious differences amongst Scottish +people generally. I cannot help thinking, however, that at no +period of our ecclesiastical annals was such language made use of, +and even against those of the highest place and authority in the +Church, as we have lately met with in the organs of the extreme +Anglican Church party. It is much to be regretted that earnest and +zealous men should have adopted such a style of discussing +religious differences. I cannot help thinking it is injurious to +Christian feelings of love and Christian kindness. It is really +sometimes quite appalling. From the same quarter I must expect +myself severe handling for some of these pages, should they fall +into their way. We cannot but lament, however, when we find such +language used towards each other by those who are believers in a +common Bible, and who are followers and disciples of the same lowly +Saviour, and indeed frequently members of the same Church. Bigotry +and intolerance are not confined to one side or another. They break +out often where least expected. Differences, no doubt, will always +exist on many contested subjects, but I would earnestly pray that +all SUCH differences, amongst ourselves at least, as those which +injure the forbearance and gentleness of the Christian character, +should become "Scottish Reminiscences," whether they are called +forth by the opposition subsisting between Presbyterianism and +Episcopacy, or whether they arise amongst Presbyterians or amongst +Episcopalians themselves.</p> +<p>To my apprehension Scotland has recently seen a most painful +indication of the absence of that charity which, according to St. +Paul, should "never fail" amongst a Christian people. The act of +two English Prelates officiating in one of the Established churches +has called forth a storm of indignation as loud and vehement as if +in a heathen land they had fallen down before the image of a +heathen deity, and worshipped in a heathen temple. Then the +explanation which has been given by apologists for these services +is not the least remarkable feature of the transaction. These +ministrations have been called "Mission Services," and, in so far +as I enter into the meaning of the phrase, I would solemnly and +seriously protest against its being made use of in such a case. +"<i>Mission service</i>" can only be applied to the case of a +missionary raising his voice "<i>in partibus infidelium</i>" or, to +say the least of it, in a land where no Christian church was +already planted. When I think of the piety, the Christian worth, +and high character of so many friends in the Established and other +Presbyterian churches in Scotland, I would again repeat my solemn +protestation against such religious intolerance, and again declare +my conviction, that Englishmen and Scotsmen, so far from looking +out for points of difference and grounds for separation on account +of the principles on which their Churches are established, should +endeavour to make the bonds of religious union as <i>close</i> as +possible. I can scarcely express the gratification I felt on +learning from the <i>Scotsman</i>, November 20, that such were the +sentiments called forth by this event in the mind of one of the +ablest and most distinguished Prelates of our day. In reference to +the Glengarry services, the Bishop of St. Andrews (Wordsworth) has +declared his opinion, that the "subsequent explanations of those +services seemed to mar the good work by introducing questions of +etiquette, where nothing should have been thought of but the simple +performance of Christian duty by Christian ministers for the +benefit of Christian people<a name="FNanchor192"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_192">[192]</a>."</p> +<p>Such is the judgment expressed by the honoured and learned +Bishop of St. Andrews, whose noble and patriotic exertions to draw +the Episcopalians and the Presbyterians of Scotland closer together +in bonds of religious feelings and religious worship have been +spoken of in such terms, and such words have been applied to his +labours in that cause, and to the administration generally of his +own diocese, by one of the very high English Church papers, as have +been to me a cause of deep sorrow and poignant regret.</p> +<p>As a Scotsman by descent from Presbyterians of high moral and +religious character, and as an Episcopalian by conscientious +preference, I would fain see more of harmony and of confidence +between all Scotsmen, not only as fellow-countrymen, but as +fellow-Christians. When I first joined the Episcopal Church the +Edinburgh Episcopal clergy were on most friendly terms with the +leading clergy of the Established Church. Every consideration was +shown to them by such men as Bishop Sandford, Dr. Morehead, Rev. +Archibald Alison, Rev. Mr. Shannon, and others. There was always +service in the Episcopal chapels on the National Church communion +fast-days. No opposition or dislike to Episcopalian clergymen +occupying Presbyterian pulpits was ever avowed as a great +principle. Charles Simeon of Cambridge, and others of the Churches +of England and Ireland, frequently so officiated, and it was +considered as natural and suitable. The learning and high qualities +of the Church of England's hierarchy, were, with few exceptions, +held in profound respect. Indeed, during the last hundred years, +and since the days when Episcopacy was attacked under the term of +"black prelacy," I can truly say, the Episcopal order has received +far more severe handling in Episcopal England than it has received +in Presbyterian Scotland. I must think, that in the case of two +churches where the grounds of <i>resemblance</i> are on points of +spiritual importance affecting great truths and doctrines of +salvation, and where the points of <i>difference</i> affect +questions more of government and external order than of salvation, +there ought to be on both parts the desire at least to draw as +closely as they can the bonds of Christian charity and mutual +confidence.</p> +<p>I believe it to be very painful to Scotsmen generally, whether +of the Established or the Episcopal Church, that the Presbyterian +Church of Scotland should be spoken of in such terms as have lately +been made use of. Scotsmen feel towards it as to the Church of the +country established by law, just as the Anglican Church is +established in England. They feel towards it as the Church whose +ministrations are attended by our gracious Sovereign when she +resides in the northern portion of her dominions, and in which +public thanksgiving was offered to God in the royal presence for +her Majesty's recovery. But more important still, they feel towards +it as a church of which the members are behind no other communion +in the tone and standard of their moral principle and integrity of +conduct. They feel towards it as a church which has nobly retained +her adherence to the principles of the Reformation, and which has +been spared the humiliation of exhibiting any of her clergy +nominally members of a reformed church, and, at the same time, +virtually and at heart adherents to the opinions and practices of +the Church of Rome. English people, in speaking of the Established +Church of Scotland, seem to forget how much Episcopalians are mixed +up with their Presbyterian fellow-countrymen in promoting common +charitable and religious objects. For example, take my own +experience: the administration of a very valuable charitable +institution called the Paterson and Pape Fund, is vested jointly in +the incumbent of St. John's, Edinburgh (Episcopalian), and the two +clergymen of St. Cuthbert's (Established) Church. Even in matters +affecting the interests of our own Church we may find ourselves +closely connected. Take the administration of the late Miss +Walker's will, and the carrying out her munificent bequest to our +Church, of which I am a trustee. Of the nine trustees, two are +Episcopalians residing in Scotland, one an Episcopalian residing in +England, and six are Presbyterians residing in Scotland. The +primary object of Miss Walker's settlement is to build and endow, +for divine service, a cathedral church in Edinburgh; the edifice to +cost not less than £40,000. The income arising from the +remainder of her property to be expended for the benefit of the +Scottish Episcopal Church generally. A meeting of trustees was +held, November 25, 1871, and one of the first steps unanimously +agreed upon was to appoint the Bishop-Coadjutor of Edinburgh, who +is a trustee, to be chairman of the meeting. There is no doubt or +question of mutual good feeling in the work, and that our Church +feels full and entire confidence in the fair, honourable, candid, +and courteous conduct of the trustees to whom in this case will be +committed weighty matters connected with her interests.</p> +<p>At one of the congresses of the English Church it has been said, +and well said, by Mr. B. Hope, that he and his friends of the High +Church party would join as closely as they could with the members +of the Romish Church who have taken common cause with Dr. +Dollinger, "looking more to points where they agree, and not to +points where they differ." Why should not the same rule be adopted +towards brethren who differ from ourselves so little on points that +are vital and eternal? The principle which I would apply to the +circumstances, I think, may be thus stated: I would join with +fellow-Christians in any good works or offices, either of charity +or religion, where I could do so without compromise of my own +principles. On such ground I do not see why we should not realise +the idea already suggested,--viz. that of having an interchange +between our pulpits and the pulpits of the Established and other +Presbyterian or Independent Churches. Such ministerial interchange +need not affect the question of <i>orders</i>, nor need it, in +fact, touch many other questions on which differences are +concerned.</p> +<p>Of course this should be arranged under due regulation, and with +full precaution taken that the questions discussed shall be +confined to points where there is agreement, and that points of +difference should be left quite in abeyance. Why should we, under +proper arrangements, fail to realise so graceful an exercise of +Christian charity? Why should we lose the many benefits favourable +to the advancement of Christian unity amongst us? An opportunity +for practically putting this idea into a tangible form has occurred +from the circumstance of the new chapel in the University of +Glasgow being opened for service, to be conducted by clergymen of +various churches. I gladly avail myself of the opportunity of +testifying my grateful acknowledgments for the courteous and +generous conduct of Dr. Caird, in his efforts to put forward +members of our Church to conduct the services of the College +chapel, and also of expressing my admiration of the power and +beauty of his remarks on Christian unity and on brotherly +love<a name="FNanchor193"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_193">[193]</a>.</p> +<p>This is with me no new idea; no crude experiment proposed for +the occasion. I have before me a paper which I wrote some years +since, and which I had put into the shape of "An Address to the +Bishops," to sanction such exchange of pulpits, hoping to get some +of my clerical brethren to join in the object of the address. I +feel assured much good would, under God, be the result of such +spiritual union. If congregations would only unite in exchange of +such friendly offices of religious instruction with each other, how +often would persons, now strangers, become better acquainted! I +wish the experiment could be tried, were it only to show how +prejudices would be removed; how misunderstandings would be cleared +away; how many better and kinder feelings would grow out of the +closer union on religious questions! Nay, I would go farther, and +express my full conviction, that my own Church would <i>gain</i> +rather than lose in her interests under such a system. Men would be +more disposed to listen with attention, and examine with candour +the arguments we make use of in favour of our Church views. We +should gain more of the sympathy of our countrymen who differ from +us, by a calm expostulation than by bitter invective. Beautifully +and wisely was it written by a sacred pen nearly three thousand +years ago, "A soft answer turneth away wrath."</p> +<p>I have such confidence in the excellence of my own Church, that +I believe to bring persons into closer and kinder connection with +our system would be the more likely way to gain their approval and +their favourable judgment. In nothing do we lose more of the +confidence and estimation of our fellow-countrymen than in the +feeling of our being intolerant and exclusive in our religious +opinions. It is curious people should not see that the arguments +addressed in a friendly spirit must tell more powerfully than the +arguments of one who shows his hostile feeling.</p> +<p>With these feelings on the subject, it may be easily understood +with what pleasure I read, in the <i>Edinburgh Courant</i> of +November 10th, a report of what our Primus (Bishop Eden) said, at +the entertainment which was given on the occasion of the +consecration of St. Mary's Church, Glasgow. In speaking on the +question of Union, the Primus said--</p> +<blockquote>"I think I may speak for my Episcopal brethren, when I +say that if the heads, especially of the Established Church of +Scotland--for that is the body that has most power and +influence--if a proposal were made by the leading men in that +Church, in concurrence with those who hold views similar to +themselves--a conference of the representative men of the different +Churches--to consider in a Christian spirit what our differences +are, and what are the points on which we are agreed, we would be +most happy to take part in it. Such a conference might, in the +providence of God, lead to our being drawn nearer to each other. I +believe that then the prayer which the Bishop of St. Andrews +offered up would he the earlier accomplished, namely, that the +Episcopal Churches might become Reformed, and the Reformed Churches +become Episcopal. If any proposal of this kind could be made, I +believe we would be most ready to accept any invitation to +consider whether the various Churches might not be drawn nearer to +each other." (Great applause.)</blockquote> +<br> +<p>The Coadjutor Bishop of Edinburgh in his address, after briefly +referring to some proposals that had been made for union among the +churches in South Africa, went on to say--</p> +<blockquote>"I do say, as one of the Bishops of the Scottish +Episcopal Church now, and in reference to what fell from the +Primus, that I most heartily concur in what he said, and I cannot +but feel that, without the slightest breach of the great +fundamental principles of the Church of Christ, there are many +points on which we may be at one with Christians who are not part +of our organic body.<br> +<br> +"I believe the proposal made by the Primus would have the effect of +drawing them nearer to us, and be a step forward to that +consummation which we all desire, and which our blessed Lord +prayed--with his last breath--'That we may all be one.'" (Great +applause.)</blockquote> +<br> +<p>That two honoured Fathers of our Church, our Primus and my own +Bishop, should have made use of such terms, and that their views +should have been received by <i>such</i> an audience with so much +applause, I could have offered a grateful acknowledgment upon my +knees.</p> +<p>But after all, perhaps, it may be said this is an utopian idea, +which, in the present state of religious feelings and +ecclesiastical differences, never can be realised. It were a +sufficient answer to the charge of <i>utopianism</i> brought +against such a proposal, to plead that it was no more than what was +sanctioned by the teaching of God's word. In this case it does not +seem to go beyond the requirements of holy Scripture as set forth +in St. Paul's description of charity, and in other passages which +clearly enjoin Christians to act towards each other in love, and to +cultivate, so far as they can, a spirit of mutual forbearance and +of joint action in the sacred cause of preaching the truth as it is +in Jesus. I cannot believe that, were St. Paul on earth, he would +sanction the present state of jealous separation amongst +Christians. Take such separation in connection with the beautiful +sentiment, which we read in Phil. i. 18:--"What then? +notwithstanding every way, whether in pretence, or in truth, Christ +is preached; and I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice."</p> +<p>The determination to exclude preaching that is not strictly +according to our own forms seems to me quite inconsistent with the +general teaching of Scripture, more particularly with this +apostolic declaration. But I would bring this question to a +practical issue, and we shall find enough in our own experience to +confirm the view I have taken, and to sanction the arrangement I +propose. To bring forward co-operation in the great and vitally +important work of preaching God's word, which has been already +effected between persons holding on some points opinions different +from each other, take first the case of revision of the English +translation of the Old and New Testament Scriptures, as it has been +resolved upon by the authorities of the great Anglican Communion. +They have had no difficulty in finding Nonconformist scholars and +divines whose fitness to be associated with Anglican Churchmen in +the great work of arranging and correcting an authorised version +has been admitted by all. Thus we have Nonconformists and English +and Scottish Episcopalians united in adjusting the terms of the +sacred text;--the text from which all preaching in the English +tongue shall in future derive its authority, and by which all its +teaching shall in future be guided and directed. There is +<i>already</i>, however, a closer and a more practical blending of +minds on great religious questions much differing from each other +on lesser points. In the field of religious and devotional +literature, many of our church differences are lost sight of. +Episcopalian congregations are constantly in the habit of joining +with much cordiality and earnestness in singing hymns composed by +authors nonconformists with our Church--in fact, of adopting them +into their church service. These compositions form a portion of +their worship, and are employed to illustrate and enforce their own +most earnest doctrinal views and opinions themselves. How entirely +are such compositions as the sacramental hymn, "My God, and is thy +table spread," by Doddridge; the hymn, "When I behold the wondrous +cross," by Isaac Watts, associated with our Church services! Nor +are such feelings of adoption confined to poetical compositions. +How many prose productions by non-Episcopalian authors might be +introduced for the delight and benefit of Christian congregations! +How eagerly many such compositions are read by members of our +Church! With what delight would many discourses of this class have +been listened to had they been delivered to Episcopalian +congregations! Where such hymns and such discourses are admissible, +the <i>authors</i> of them might take a part in conducting psalmody +and in occupying the pulpit for preaching to a congregation. If the +spirits of such writers as Doddridge, Watts, and Hall, have been +felt to permeate and to influence the hearts of others who have +heard or read their words of holiness and peace, we may well +suppose that God would sanction their making like impressions, in +his own house, upon the hearts of those whom they meet there face +to face. Might they not communicate personally what they +communicate through the press? For example, why should not Robert +Hall have preached his sermons on Infidelity and on the Death of +the Princess of Wales, perhaps the two most magnificent discourses +in the language, in an English Cathedral? Why should not the +beautiful astronomical discourses of Thomas Chalmers have been +delivered in St. Paul's or in St. John's, Edinburgh? For many +years, in want of better materials, the sermons of Dr. Blair were +more used in the Church of England, and more read in private, than +any similar compositions. It has been for years a growing +persuasion in my own mind that principles of Christian love and +mutual harmony are too often sacrificed to the desire of preserving +the exact and formal marks of church order, as the Bishop of St. +Andrews so happily expressed it to preserve <i>etiquette</i>. +Surely the great law of Christian love would suggest and enforce a +union at least of spirit amongst Christian believers, who cannot +join in the unity of the same organisation. Inability to join in +the same form of church polity and church order need not shut the +door to religious sympathies and religious communion, where there +are so many points of agreement and of mutual interest. The +experience of the past will tend to produce the conviction that +there has too often been in our religious disputes a strong +tendency in all Christian denominations to make the great principle +of love, which is a principle to rule in Heaven and for eternity, +actually subservient and subordinate to a system of ecclesiastical +order, which, important as it is for its own purposes and objects, +never can be more than a guide to the ministration of the Church on +earth, and an organisation which must be in its nature confined to +time.</p> +<p>Wherever or whenever this feeling may be called forth, it is a +grievous error--it is a very serious subject for our reflection, +how far such want of sympathy and of union with those who do not +belong immediately to our own church, must generate a feeling +hostile to a due reception of an important article of our faith, +termed in the Apostles' Creed the COMMUNION OF SAINTS. According to +the description given by the judicious and learned Bishop Pearson, +this communion or spiritual union belongs to all who are in New +Testament language denominated SAINTS; by which he means all who, +having been baptized in the faith, have this name by being called +and baptized. Then he states all Christian believers to have +communion and fellowship with these, whether living or dead. We +should feel towards such persons (evidently, as the good Bishop +implies, without reference to any particular church order) all +sympathy and kindness as members of the same great spiritual family +on earth, expectants of meeting in heaven in the presence of God +and of the Lamb, and of joining in the worship of saints and angels +round the throne. I have no hesitation in declaring my full +conviction that such expectations of future communion should supply +a very powerful and sacred motive for our cultivating all spiritual +union in our power with all fellow-Christians, all for whom Christ +died. It becomes a very serious subject for examination of our own +hearts, how, by <i>refusing</i> any spiritual intercourse with +Christians who are not strictly members of our own Church, we may +contravene this noble doctrine of the Communion of Saints; for does +not the bitterness with which sometimes we find all union with +certain fellow-Christians in the Church on earth chill or check the +feeling of a desire for union with the same in the Church above? +Nay, is there not matter for men's earnest thought, how far the +violent animosity displayed against the smallest approach to +anything like spiritual communion with all Christians of a +different Church from their own may chill the DESIRE itself for +"meeting in the Church above?" Can hatred to meeting on earth be in +any sense a right preliminary or preparation for desire to meet in +Heaven? Nay, more, should we not carefully guard lest the bitter +displays we see of religious hostility may even tend to bring men's +minds towards a <i>disinclination</i> to meet in Heaven, of which +the most terrible condition was thus expressed by Southey:--"Earth +could not hold us both, nor can one heaven<a name= +"FNanchor194"></a><a href="#Footnote_194">[194]</a>."</p> +<p>One mark of any particular Church being a portion of Christ's +Church on earth seems to be overlooked by some of our English +friends, and that is a mark pointed out by our Lord himself, when +he said, "By their FRUITS ye shall know them." By this announcement +I would understand that besides and beyond a profession of the +great articles of the Christian faith, I would, as a further +criterion of a Christian church, inquire if there were many of its +members who have been distinguished for their Christian piety, +Christian learning, and Christian benevolence. Is all external +communion to be interdicted with a church which has produced such +men as we might name amongst the children of our Established and +other Churches in Scotland? Look back upon half-a-century, and ask +if a similar act with that of the Archbishop of York and Bishop of +Winchester would then have created a like feeling. I can remember +well the interest and admiration called forth by the eloquence, the +philanthropy, and the moral fervour of Dr. Chalmers, amongst the +High Church school of the day too--the good Archbiship Howley, +Bishop Blomfield, Rev. Mr. Norris of Hackney, Mr. Joshua Watson, +etc. I remember, too, the perfect ovation he received in the +attendance of Archbishops, Bishops, Clergy, Peers, Princes, etc., +of the great London world, at his lectures on Establishments. We +can hardly imagine any one saying then, "This is all very well, but +the Church that produced this man is no part of the true Church of +Christ, and no English prelate or clergyman could possibly take +service in it."</p> +<p>No one, I believe, who is acquainted with my own views and +opinions on religious subjects would say that I look with +indifference on those points wherein we differ from the great body +of our fellow-countrymen. I am confident that I should not gain in +the estimation of Presbyterians themselves by showing a cold +indifference, or a lukewarm attachment, to the principles and +practice of my own Church. They would see that my own convictions +in favour of Episcopal government in the Church, and of liturgical +services in her worship, were quite compatible with the fullest +exercise of candour and forbearance towards the opinions of +others--I mean on questions not essential to salvation.</p> +<p>I believe that there are persons amongst us coming round to this +opinion, and who are ready to believe that it is quite possible for +Christians to exercise very friendly mutual relations in spiritual +matters which constitute the essential articles of a common faith, +whilst they are in practice separated on points of ecclesiastical +order and of church government. I am old, and shall not see it; but +I venture to hope that, under the Divine blessing, the day will +come when to Scotsmen it will be a matter of reminiscence that +Episcopalians, or that Presbyterians of any denomination, should +set the interests of their own communion above the exercise of that +charity that for a brother's faith "hopeth all things and believeth +all things." Zeal in promoting our own Church views, and a +determination to advance her interests and efficiency, need be no +impediment to cultivating the most friendly feelings towards those +who agree with us in matters which are essential to salvation and +who, in their differences from us, are, I am bound to believe, as +conscientious as myself. Such days will come.</p> +<p>But now, to close my remarks on national peculiarities, with +what I may term a <i>practical</i> and <i>personal</i> application. +We have in our later pages adopted a more solemn and serious view +of past reminiscences as they bear upon questions connected with a +profession of religion. It is quite suitable then to recall the +fact which applies individually to all our readers. We shall +ourselves each of us one day become subject to a "reminiscence" of +others. Indeed, the whole question at issue throughout the work +takes for granted what we must all have observed to be a very +favourite object with survivors--viz. that the characters of +various persons, as they pass away, will be always spoken of, and +freely discussed, by those who survive them. We recall the +eccentric, and we are amused with a remembrance of their +eccentricities. We admire the wise and dignified of the past. There +are some who are recollected only to be detested for their +vices--some to be pitied for their weaknesses and follies--some to +be scorned for mean and selfish conduct. But there are others whose +memory is embalmed in tears of grateful recollection. There are +those whose generosity and whose kindness, whose winning sympathy +and noble disinterested virtues are never thought upon or ever +spoken of without calling forth a blessing. Might it not, +therefore, be good for us often to ask ourselves how <i>we</i> are +likely to be spoken of when the grave has closed upon the +intercourse between us and the friends whom we leave behind? The +thought might, at any rate, be useful as an additional motive for +kind and generous conduct to each other. And then the inquiry would +come home to each one in some such form as this--"Within the circle +of my family and friends--within the hearts of those who have known +me, and were connected with me in various social relations--what +will be the estimate formed of me when I am gone? What will be the +spontaneous impression produced by looking back on bygone +intercourses in life? Will past thought of me furnish the memory of +those who survive me with recollections that will be fond and +pleasing?" In one word, let each one ask himself (I speak to +countrymen and countrywomen), "Will <i>my</i> name be associated +with gentle and happy 'REMINISCENCES OF SCOTTISH LIFE AND +CHARACTER'?"</p> +<blockquote>FOOTNOTES:</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_191"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor191">[191]</a> Sterne, in one of his letters, describes +his reading Tristram Shandy to his wife and daughter--his daughter +copying from his dictation, and Mrs. Sterne sitting by and +listening whilst she worked. In the life of Sterne, it is recorded +that he used to carry about in his pocket a volume of this same +work, and read it aloud when he went into company. Admirable +reading for the church dignitary, the prebendary of York! How well +adapted to the hours of social intercourse with friends! How fitted +for domestic seclusion with his family!</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_192"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor192">[192]</a> <i>Scottish Guardian</i>, vol. ii. No. ix. +p. 305.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_193"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor193">[193]</a> "What is Religion?" a sermon by Rev. John +Caird, D.D., Professor of Divinity in the University of Glasgow, +and one of Her Majesty's Chaplains for Scotland. See especially +concluding remarks.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_194"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor194">[194]</a> See Southey's <i>Roderick</i>, book +xxi.</blockquote> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="INDEX."></a>INDEX.</h2> +<p>'Aaple,' bottle of beer strong o'.<br> +Abercairney, Laird of, prevented from <i>going out</i> in '15.<br> +Aberdeen dialect, perfect specimens of.<br> +Aberdeen elders, opinion of.<br> +Aberdeen provost, wife of, at the opera.<br> +Aberdeen, two ladies of, mutual recrimination.<br> +'A bonnie bride's sune buskit.'<br> +Accommodation, grand, for snuff.<br> +'Acts o' Parliament lose their breath before they get to +Aberdeenshire.'<br> +Adam, Dr., Latin translation of Scottish expressions.<br> +Advice to a minister in talking to a ploughman.<br> +'A gravesteen wad gie guid bree gin ye gied it plenty o' +butter.'<br> +'A hantle o' miscellawneous eating about a pig.'<br> +Airth, housekeeper at, on king of France.<br> +Alexander, Dr. W. Lindsay.<br> +'And what the devil is it to you whether I have a liver or +not?'<br> +Anecdotes of quaint Scottish character.<br> +Angel-worship is not allowed in the Church of Scotland.<br> +Angler and the horse-fly.<br> +'Anither gude Sunday! I dinna ken whan I'll get thae drawers redd +up.'<br> +'Anither het day, Cornal.'<br> +'An inch at the tap is worth twa at the boddam.'<br> +'An I hadna been an idiot I micht hae been sleepin' too.'<br> +Annals of the parish, extracts from.<br> +Answer to stranger asking the way.<br> +Answers, dry, specimens of.<br> +'A peer o' anither tree.'<br> +Appetite, farmer's reason for minister's good appetite.<br> +Asher, minister of Inveraven, anecdote of.<br> +Athole, Duke of, and Cultoquhey.<br> +Athole, Duke of, answer of his cottar.<br> +Auction, anecdote of spoon missing.<br> +Auld lang syne, beauty of the expression.<br> +Auld, Rev. Dr., of Ayr, and Rab Hamilton.<br> +Authors, older ones indecent.<br> +'Ay, ir ye a' up an' awa?'<br> +'Ay, she may prosper, for she has baith the prayers of the good and +of the bad.'<br> +<br> +Baby, a laddie or a lassie.<br> +Baird, Mrs., of Newbyth, remark of, as to her son in India.<br> +Balnamoon, laird of, carriage to <i>haud in</i>.<br> +Balnamoon, laird of, great drinker.<br> +Balnamoon, laird of, joke with his servant.<br> +Balnamoon, laird of, refuses his wig.<br> +Balnamoon, praying and drinking at.<br> +Banes, distinction of, by a beggar.<br> +Banes, Frasers weel-baned.<br> +Bannockburn, guide to, refusing an Englishman's five shillings.<br> +Bannockburn, Scottish remark upon.<br> +Baptism, minister and member of his flock.<br> +Barclay of Ury, M. P., walk to London<br> +Bathgate, mending the ways of<br> +Beadle, equivocal compliment to minister's sermons<br> +Beadle or Betheral, character of<br> +Beast, a stumbling, at least honest<br> +'Becky and I had a rippit, for which I desire to be humble'<br> +Begg, Dr., on Scottish morality of the present day<br> +Beggar, expressing his thanks to a clerical patron<br> +Bellman of Craigie, notice from<br> +Bestial, curious use of word<br> +Betheral, a conceited one<br> +Betheral criticising a clergyman<br> +Betheral, criticism on a text<br> +Betheral, evidence of, regarding drinking<br> +Betheral, making love professionally<br> +Betheral, on a dog that was noisy<br> +Betheral, on the town bailies<br> +Betheral, Scottish, answer to minister on being drunk<br> +Betheral stories<br> +Betheral taking a dog out of church<br> +Betheral's answer to minister<br> +Betherals, conversation of two, regarding their ministers<br> +Blair, Rev. Dr. Hugh, and his beadle<br> +Blessing by Scottish Bishops, form of, become a reminiscence<br> +Blethering<br> +Boatie, character on Deeside<br> +Boatie of Deeside, and Providence<br> +Books, older ones indecent<br> +Border, <i>selvidge</i>, weakest bit of the wab<br> +Bowing to heritors<br> +Boy, anecdote of<br> +Braxfield, Lord, a man of wit<br> +Braxfield, Lord, character of, as a judge<br> +Braxfield, Lord, conducting the trial of Muir, Palmer, and +Skirving, etc.<br> +Braxfield, Lord, delighted with reply of Scotch minister<br> +Braxfield, Lord, spoke the broadest Scotch<br> +Briggs, the sergeant, dry description of, by Scottish nobleman<br> +Brougham, Lord, on Scottish dialect<br> +Brown, Rev. John, and the auld wifie<br> +Brown, Rev. John of Whitburn, answer to rude youth<br> +Bruce, Mr., of Kinnaird, and Louis XVI. of France<br> +Buccleuch, Duchess of, asking farmer to take cabbage<br> +Bull, specimen of Scottish confusion of ideas<br> +'Bulls of Bashan' applied by a lady to herself<br> +Burnett, Dr. Gilbert, Bishop of Salisbury<br> +Burnett, Sir Thomas, of Leys, and his tenant Drummy<br> +Burnett, Lady, of Leys<br> +Burns, a son of, and Charles Lamb<br> +Burns conducted family worship<br> +Burying-place, choice of<br> +Bush, conversation with minister in church<br> +Butler and Kincardineshire laird<br> +'But my minnie dang, she did though'<br> +'But oh, I'm sair hadden doun wi' the bubbly jock'<br> +'But the bodies brew the braw drink'<br> +<br> +CAMPBELL of Combie and Miss M'Nabb, anecdote of<br> +Campbell, Rev. Duncan, on Highland honours<br> +Camstraddale, the Dumbartonshire laird<br> +Canny, illustration of one of its meanings<br> +Canterbury, Archbishop of, and the Dollar man<br> +Carlyle, Dr., account of minister's drinking in last century<br> +Carlyle, Dr., prosecuted by General Assembly for attending +theatre<br> +Carnegie, Miss Helen, of Craigo, anecdotes of<br> +Carnegie, Miss, of Craigo, and James III. and VIII.<br> +Carrier, a country, description of his journeys<br> +Catastrophe, whimsical application of the word<br> +'Cauld kail het again'<br> +'Ceevil,' in courtship, may be carried too far<br> +Cemeteries, treatment of, much changed<br> +Chalmers, Dr., poor woman's reason for hearing<br> +Chambers, Robert, <i>Domestic Annals of Scotland</i>.<br> +Change of national language involves change of national +character.<br> +Changes, are they for the good of the whole community?<br> +Changes, example of, in an old Laird seeing a man at the +pianoforte.<br> +Changes fast going on around us.<br> +Changes in Scottish manners and dialect.<br> +Changes, interesting to mark.<br> +Changes taking place, here noticed.<br> +Changes taking place in religious feeling.<br> +Changes, various causes for.<br> +Chaplain of a jail, humorous reasons for his appointment.<br> +Children, curious answers of.<br> +Children, very poor, examples of acuteness.<br> +Children's diseases.<br> +Church discipline in the Presbytery of Lanark.<br> +Churches, a coachman's reason for their increase.<br> +Churches, architect's idea of difference between two.<br> +Churches, handsome structure of, more common.<br> +Church discipline, old fashioned.<br> +Church-going of late neglected in towns.<br> +Church-going, Scotchmen not famous for, fifty years ago.<br> +Churchyard, drunken weaver in.<br> +Circuit, a drunken one.<br> +Circuit, one described by Lord Cockburn.<br> +Clergy, Gaelic, not judged severely on account of drinking.<br> +Clergyman footsore in grouse-shooting.<br> +Clergyman publicly rebuking his wife.<br> +Clerk, John, address to presiding judge.<br> +Clerk, John, answer to Lord Chancellor.<br> +Clerk, John, apology for friend in Court of Session.<br> +Cockburn, Lord, and the Bonaly shepherd.<br> +Cockburn, Lord, on Scottish changes.<br> +Cockburn's <i>Memorials</i>, extracts from.<br> +Collie dogs, sagacity of.<br> +'Come awa, Jeanie; here's a man swearin' awfully.'<br> +'Come awa, granny, and gang hame; this is a lang grace and nae +meat.'<br> +'Come oot and see a new star that hasna got its tail cuttit aff +yet.'<br> +Confession of faith.<br> +Confirmation, anecdotes concerning.<br> +Constable, Thomas, anecdote of spare lady.<br> +Conviviality, old Scottish, and forced.<br> +Conviviality, Scotch, complaint of, by a London merchant.<br> +Corb, and Sir George Ramsay.<br> +Corehouse, Lord, prediction of not rising at the bar, by a Selkirk +writer.<br> +'Corp's brither' at a funeral.<br> +Cottar's Saturday night, fine picture.<br> +Country minister and his wife, large bed.<br> +Craigie, Rev. Mr., and Jamie Fleeman.<br> +Craigmyle, Laird of, and Duchess of Gordon.<br> +Cranstoun, George, Lord Corehouse.<br> +Cream, Billy, landlord of inn at Laurencekirk, and Lord +Dunmore.<br> +Cross, curious meaning attached to.<br> +'Cry a'thegither, that's the way to be served.'<br> +Cumming, Dr. Patrick, convivial clergyman.<br> +Cumming, Miss, of Altyre, and Donald MacQueen.<br> +Cumnock, volunteers of.<br> +Cultoquhey, old Laird of, morning litany.<br> +Cutty-stool, former use of.<br> +<br> +Daft person, his choice of money.<br> +Dale, David, anecdotes of his servant.<br> +Dalhousie, Lady.<br> +Dam-brod pattern table-cloth.<br> +Dancing, seceder's opinion of.<br> +Darkness, what is it?<br> +Davie, chiel that's chained to.<br> +Davy Gellatleys, many in the country.<br> +Death, circumstances of, coolly treated.<br> +Death of a sister described by old lady.<br> +Decrees of God, answer of old woman.<br> +Degrees sold at northern universities.<br> +Delicacy of recent authors compared with older.<br> +Dewar, David, Baptist minister at Dunfermline.<br> +Dialects, distinctions on Scottish.<br> +Dialect, Scottish, real examples of.<br> +Dialects, provosts, Aberdeen and Edinburgh.<br> +Diamond Beetle case.<br> +Difference between an Episcopalian and a Presbyterian minister.<br> +Diminutives, terms of endearment.<br> +Discreet, curious use of word.<br> +Diseases of children, odd names for.<br> +'Div ye no ken there's aye maist sawn o' the best crap?'<br> +Dochart, same as Macgregor.<br> +Dog story.<br> +'Doggie, doggie,' address of idiot to a greyhound.<br> +Dogs in church, anecdotes of.<br> +Donald, Highland servant.<br> +Donkey, apology of his master for putting him into a field.<br> +Downie, minister of Banchory, and son's marriage.<br> +Drams in Highlands, anecdotes of.<br> +Dream of idiot in town of Ayr, and apostle Peter.<br> +Drinking, apology for.<br> +Drinking at Balnamoon.<br> +Drinking at Castle Grant.<br> +Drinking, challenge against, by Mr. Boswell of Balmuto.<br> +Drinking parties of Saturday sometimes took in Sunday.<br> +Drinking party, 'lad employed to lowse the neckcloths.'<br> +Drinking party, quantity consumed by.<br> +Drinking reckoned an accomplishment.<br> +Drinking, supposed manliness attached to.<br> +Drovers drinking in Highlands.<br> +Drumly, happy explanation of.<br> +Drummond of Keltie, answer to itinerant tailor.<br> +Dunbar, Sir Archibald, account of a servant.<br> +Dundas, Henry, and Mr. Pitt.<br> +Dundrennan, Lord, anecdote of a silly basket-woman.<br> +Dunlop, Rev. Walter, address to Dr. Cook of St. Andrews.<br> +Dunlop, Rev. Walter, and Mr. Clarke's big head.<br> +Dunlop, Rev. Walter, man of racy humour.<br> +Dunlop, Rev. Walter, meeting flock of geese.<br> +Dunlop, Rev. Walter, on a taciturn brother.<br> +Dunlop, Rev. Walter, and mischievous youths in kirk-yard.<br> +Dunlop, Rev. Walter, answer to two young men.<br> +Dunlop, Rev. Walter, opinion of Edward Irving.<br> +Dunmore, Lord, and Billy Cream.<br> +'D'ye think I dinna ken my ain groats in ither folk's kail?'<br> +<br> +East Lothian minister and his betheral taking degrees at a northern +college.<br> +Economy, specimen of Scottish.<br> +Edinburgh and Aberdeen provosts.<br> +'E'ening brings a' hame,' expressed by Lord Byron.<br> +Eglinton, Earl of, and little boy.<br> +'Eh, man, your Psalm buik has been ill bund.'<br> +'Eh, Miss Jeany! ye have been lang spared.'<br> +Eldin, Lord (John Clerk), anecdotes of.<br> +Election, answer of minister to question.<br> +Elphinstone, Lord, and minister of Cumbernauld.<br> +Endearment, Scottish terms of.<br> +Englishman, an <i>impruived</i>.<br> +Enterteening, curious use of word.<br> +Episcopalian chapels, anecdote of Sir W. Forbes.<br> +Erskine, Colonel, servant proposes an aith for his relief.<br> +Erskine, Hon. Henry, dinner party at Lord Armadale's.<br> +Erskine, Mr., of Dun, and his old servant.<br> +Erskine of Dun, Miss.<br> +Estate giving the name to proprietor.<br> +Examinations of communicants<br> +Expressions, old Scottish, and modern slang contrasted<br> +Expressions, specimens of Scottish<br> +<br> +Factors, proposal to sow field with<br> +'Fah tee, fah tee'<br> +Fail, curious use of word<br> +Family worship now more common<br> +Family worship, remark upon<br> +Farmer and servant boy<br> +Farmer, answer of, when asked to take rhubarb tart<br> +Farmer, cool answer regarding notes<br> +Farmer on Deeside and bottle of vinegar<br> +Farmer refusing a dessert spoon<br> +Farmer, Scottish, conversation with English girl<br> +Farms, giving names to the tenants<br> +Fash as to taking a wife<br> +Fast-day, national, strictness in observing<br> +'Fat for should I gang to the opera just to creat a +confeesion?'<br> +Fencing tables, by an old minister<br> +Fencing the <i>deil</i><br> +Fergusson of Pitfour and London lady<br> +Fettercairn, custom of bowing to heritors<br> +Fife elder and penurious laird<br> +Fife, Lord, proposal to, by an idiot<br> +'Fin' a fardin' for yersell, puir body'<br> +Finzean, Laird of, swearing<br> +Fisher of men<br> +Fit raiment, explanation of, by child<br> +Fleeman, Jamie, anecdote of<br> +Fleeman, Jamie, the Laird of Udny's fool, life of, published<br> +'Floorish o' the surface,' to describe a preacher<br> +Forbes, Mrs., of Medwyn, fond of tea<br> +Forbes's banking-house, anecdotes of<br> +'Formerly robbers, now thieves'<br> +Frail, curious use of word<br> +Fraser, Jamie, address to minister in kirk<br> +Fraser, Jamie, idiot of Lunan<br> +Free Church, road of, 'tolls unco high'<br> +'Freet's dear! sin' I sauld freet in streets o' Aberdeen'<br> +French people, a clause in their favour, by a Scottish minister<br> +Fruit, abstinence from, by minister<br> +Fullerton, Miss Nelly, anecdote of<br> +Funeral, anecdote of, in Strathspey<br> +Funeral, carrying at, or leaning<br> +Funeral, extraordinary account of a Scottish, at Carluke<br> +Funeral of a laird of Dundonald<br> +Funeral, reason for a farmer taking another glass at<br> +Funeral, reason for a person being officious at<br> +Funeral, taking orders for, on deathbed<br> +Funeral, the coffin forgotten at<br> +<br> +Galloway Lady declining drink<br> +Gardenstone, Lord, and his book at the inn<br> +Gardenstone, Lord, and his pet pig<br> +Gardenstone, Lord, exertions of, for Laurencekirk<br> +Gardenstone, Lord, keeping snuff in his waistcoat pocket<br> +Gardenstone, Lord, personal reminiscences of<br> +Garskadden, Laird of, 'steppit awa' at table<br> +General Assembly, minister's prayer for<br> +George III., sickness of, advantageous to candlemakers<br> +Ghost appearing to Watty Dunlop<br> +Gilchrist, Dr., answer to young minister on Lord's Prayer<br> +Gilchrist, Dr., answer to one of his hearers, who had changed his +religion<br> +Gillespie, Professor, and village carpenter<br> +Gillespie, Rev. Mr., and old woman sleeping when he preached<br> +Glasgow Cathedral, betheral's opinion of<br> +Glasgow lady and carpenter<br> +Glasgow, toast after dinner, hint to the ladies<br> +Glenorchy, Lady, and the elder at the plate at Caprington<br> +Glenorchy, Lady, removal of her remains on account of railroad<br> +Gordon, Duchess of<br> +Gordon, Duchess of, and the laird of Craigmyle<br> +Gordon, Lady Susan, and David Tulloch<br> +Graham, Miss Clementina Stirling, <i>Mystifications</i> by<br> +Grave, making love at<br> +Gregory, Dr., story of Highland chief<br> +Grieve in Aberdeenshire, opinion of own wife<br> +Grieve, on Deeside, opinion of young man's preaching<br> +'Gude coorse country work'<br> +Gudewife on Deeside<br> +Guthrie, Helen, and her husband<br> +Guy Mannering, extract from<br> +<br> +HADDOCK, curious use of word<br> +'Halbert, smells damnably of the'<br> +Hamilton, Laird, at the palace asking the servant to sit down<br> +Hamilton, Laird, noted for eccentricity<br> +Hamilton, Laird, reasons for not signing a bill<br> +Hamilton Rab, an idiot at Ayr<br> +Hamilton, Rab, idiot, anecdotes of<br> +Hangman, Scotch drover acting as<br> +Harvest, returning thanks for good<br> +Hatter at Laurencekirk<br> +Heaven, little boy's refusal of<br> +Heaven, old woman's idea of<br> +'He bud tae big's dyke wi' the feal at fit o't'<br> +He is awfu' 'supperstitious'<br> +'He turned Seceder afore he dee'd, and I buried him like a +beast'<br> +'Hech, sirs, and he's weel pat on, too'<br> +'Henny pig and green tea'<br> +Heritor sending the hangman of Stirling to pay the minister<br> +Heritors, bowing to<br> +Hermand, Lord, great drinker, but first-rate lawyer<br> +Hermand, Lord, jokes with young advocate<br> +Hermand, Lord, opinion of drinking<br> +Highland chairman<br> +Highland chief, story of<br> +Highland gentleman, first time in London<br> +Highland honours<br> +Highland inquisitiveness<br> +Highlands kept up the custom of clans or races<br> +Hill, Dr., Latin translation of Scottish expressions<br> +His girn's waur than his bite<br> +Holy communion, several anecdotes concerning<br> +Home, John, author of Douglas, lines on port wine<br> +Home, John, remark of, to David Hume<br> +'Honest men and bonnie lassies'<br> +'Honest woman, what garr'd ye steal your neighbour's tub?'<br> +Honesty declared the best policy, why?<br> +Honeyman's, Mrs., answer to Henry Erskine's impromptu lines<br> +'Hoot! jabbering bodies, wha could understan' them?'<br> +'Horse the length of Highgate'<br> +Hospitals, changes in<br> +Hot day, cool remark on<br> +'Hout, that is a kind o' a feel'<br> +Hume, David, refused assistance except on conditions<br> +Hume, Mrs., 'Too poor'<br> +Humour of Scotch language<br> +Humour, Scottish, described in <i>Annals of the Parish</i><br> +Humour, Scottish, description of<br> +Hymns ancient and modern<br> +<br> +'I DIDNA ken ye were i' the toun'<br> +Idiot boy and penurious uncle<br> +Idiot boy, pathetic story of one receiving communion<br> +Idiot in Lauder, cheating the seceders<br> +Idiot in Peebles church<br> +Idiot, musical one at Stirling, appropriate tune<br> +Idiot of Lauder, and Lord Lauderdale's steward<br> +Idiot, pathetic complaint of, regarding bubbly jock<br> +Idiot, why not asleep in church<br> +Idiots, Act of Parliament concerning<br> +Idiots, fondness for attending funerals<br> +Idiots, parish, often very shrewd<br> +'I druve ye to your marriage, and I shall stay to drive ye to your +burial'<br> +'If there's an ill text in a' the Bible, that creetur's aye sure to +tak it.'<br> +'If you dinna ken whan ye've a gude servant, I ken whan I've a gude +place.'<br> +'I hae cuist'n my coat and waistcoat, and faith I dinna ken how +lang I can thole my breeks.'<br> +'I just fan' a doo in the <i>redd</i> o' my plate.'<br> +'I'll hang ye a' at the price.'<br> +'I maun hae a lume that'll haud in.'<br> +'I'm unco yuckie to hear a blaud o' your gab.'<br> +Inch-byre banes.<br> +'Indeed, sir, I wish I wur.'<br> +India, St. Andrew's day kept in, by Scotchmen.<br> +'I never big dykes till the tenants complain.'<br> +Innes, Jock, remark upon hats and heads.<br> +Innkeeper's bill, reason for being moderate.<br> +Interchange of words between minister and flock in church.<br> +Intercourse between classes changed.<br> +'I soopit the pu'pit.'<br> +'It's a peety but ye had been in Paradise, and there micht na hae +been ony faa'.'<br> +'It's no the day to be speerin sic things.'<br> +'I've a coo noo.'<br> +'I was just stan'ing till the kirk had skailed.'<br> +'I was not juist sae sune doited as some o' your Lordships.'<br> +'I wouldna gie my single life for a' the double anes I ever +saw.'<br> +<br> +Jacobite feeling.<br> +Jacobite lady, reason for not rising from her chair.<br> +Jacobite toasts.<br> +Jacobite's prayer for the <i>King</i>.<br> +Jamie Layal, old servant, anecdotes of.<br> +Jeems Robson, ye are sleepin'.<br> +'Jemmy, you are drunk.'<br> +Jock, daft, attending funeral at Wigtown.<br> +Jock Grey, supposed original of David Gellatley.<br> +Jock Wabster, 'deil gaes ower,' a proverb.<br> +John Brown, burgher minister, and an 'auld wifie.'<br> +John, eccentric servant, anecdotes of.<br> +Johnstone, Miss, of Westerhall, specimen of fine old Scotch +lady.<br> +Johnstone, Rev. Dr., of Leith, and old woman, on the decrees of +God.<br> +Johnstone, Rev. Mr., of Monquhitter, and travelling piper.<br> +Judges, Scottish, former peculiarities as a type.<br> +Judges, Scottish, in Kay's Portraits.<br> +<br> +Kail, curious use of word.<br> +Kames, Lord, a keen agriculturist.<br> +Kames, Lord, his joke with Lord Monboddo.<br> +'Kaming her husband's head.'<br> +Kay's Portraits.<br> +Keith, Mrs., of Ravelston, her remark to Sir W. Scott on old +books.<br> +Kilspindie, Laird of, and Tannachy Tulloch.<br> +Kindly feelings between minister and people.<br> +Kirkyard crack.<br> +Kirkyard crack superseded by newspapers.<br> +<br> +Ladies of Montrose, anecdotes of.<br> +Ladies, old, of Montrose.<br> +Lady, old maiden, of Montrose, reason for not subscribing to +volunteer fund.<br> +Lady, old, of Montrose, objections to steam vessels, and gas, and +water-carts.<br> +Lady, old Scotch, remark on loss of her box.<br> +Lady, Scottish, Lord Cockburn's account of.<br> +Lady's, old, answer to her doctor.<br> +Laird, parsimonious, and fool.<br> +Laird, parsimonious, and plate at church-door.<br> +Laird, reason against taking his son into the world.<br> +Laird reproaches his brother for not taking a wife.<br> +Laird, saving, picking up a farthing.<br> +Laird, Scottish, delighted that Christmas had run away.<br> +Lamb, Charles, saw no wit in Scotch people.<br> +Land, differences of, in produce.<br> +'Lass wi' the braw plaid, mind the puir.'<br> +Laudamy and calomy'<br> +Lauderdale, Duke of, and Williamson the huntsman<br> +Lauderdale, Earl of, recipe of his daft son to make him sleep<br> +Laurencekirk, change in<br> +Laurencekirk described in style of Thomas the Rhymer<br> +Lawson, Rev. Dr. George, of Selkirk, and the student<br> +Leein' Gibbie<br> +Leslie, Rev. Mr., and the smuggler<br> +'Let her down Donald, man, for she's drunk'<br> +'Let the little ane gang to pray, but first the big ane maun tak' +an oar'<br> +'Linties' and Scottish settler in Canada<br> +Linty offered as fee for baptism<br> +Liston, Sir Robert, and Scotchmen at Constantinople<br> +Loch, Davie, the carrier, at his mother's deathbed<br> +Lockhart, Dr., of Glasgow, and his son John<br> +Logan, Laird of, speech at meeting of heritors<br> +'Lord be thankit, a' the bunkers are fu'!'<br> +'Lord pity the chiel that's chained to our Davie'<br> +Lord's prayer, John Skinner's reason for its repetition<br> +Lothian, Lord, in India, St. Andrew's day<br> +Lothian, Marquis of, and old countess at table<br> +Lothian, Marquis of, and workmen<br> +<br> +M'Cubbin, Scotch minister, witty answer to Lord Braxfield<br> +M'Knight, Dr., 'dry eneuch in the pulpit'<br> +M'Knight, Dr., folk tired of his sermon<br> +M'Knight and Henry, twa toom kirks<br> +M'Knight, Dr., remark on his harmony of the four gospels<br> +Macleod, Rev. Dr. Norman, and Highland boatman<br> +Macleod, Rev. Dr. Norman, and revivals<br> +Macleod, Rev. Dr. Norman, anecdote of an Australian told by<br> +M'Lymont, John, the idiot, anecdotes of<br> +Macnab, Laird of, his horse and whip<br> +MacNabb, Miss, and Campbell of Combie<br> +M'Pherson, Joe, and his wife.<br> +Magistrates of Wester Anstruther, and evil-doers<br> +'Mair o' your siller and less o' your mainners, my Lady Betty'<br> +'Ma new breeks were made oot o' the auld curtains'<br> +'Man, ye're skailing a' the water'<br> +'Marriage is a blessing to a few, a curse to many, and a great +uncertainty to all'<br> +Marriage, old minister's address on<br> +Mary of Gueldres, burying-place now a railway<br> +Mastiff, where turned into a greyhound<br> +Maul, Mr., and the Laird of Skene<br> +'May a puir body like me noo gie a hoast?'<br> +'Me, and Pitt, and Pitfour'<br> +Mearns, Rev. W. of Kinneff<br> +'Mem, winna ye tak the clock wi' ye?'<br> +'Mending the ways o' Bathgate'<br> +Mice consumed minister's sermon<br> +Middens, example of attachment to<br> +Military rank attached to ladies<br> +Miligan, Dr., answer to a tired clergyman<br> +Milton quoted<br> +Minister and rhubarb tart<br> +Minister, anecdote of little boy at school<br> +Minister asking who was head of the house<br> +Minister called to a new living<br> +Minister, conversation with Janet his parishioner<br> +Minister in the north on long sermons<br> +Minister on a dog barking in church<br> +Minister preaching on the water-side attacked by ants<br> +Minister publicly censuring his daughter<br> +Minister reading his sermon<br> +Minister returning thanks for good harvest<br> +Minister, Scottish, advice to young preachers<br> +Minister, Scottish, remark to a young man, who pulled cards out of +his pocket in church<br> +Minister, stupid, education and placing,<br> +Minister, with 'great power of watter,'<br> +Minister, young, apology for good appetite after preaching,<br> +Minister's man, account of,<br> +Minister's man, criticisms of his master's sermon,<br> +Ministers, Scottish, a type of Scottish character,<br> +Minister sending for his sermon in pulpit,<br> +Minstrelsy of Scottish Border, Sir Walter Scott just in time to +save,<br> +Miss Miller (Countess of Mar) and Scottish Minister,<br> +'Miss S----'s compliments, and she dee'd last nicht at aicht +o'clock,'<br> +Monboddo, Lord, anecdote in Court of King's Bench,<br> +Monboddo, Lord, theory of primitive men having tails,<br> +Monboddo, Lord, though a judge, did not sit on the bench,<br> +Monboddo, Lord, visit at Oxford,<br> +Money, love of, discussion on,<br> +Montrose bailie's <i>eldest</i> son,<br> +Montrose, description of, by an Aberdeen lady,<br> +Montrose lady's idea of man,<br> +Montrose old ladies,<br> +Montrose, provost of, conversation with an old maid,<br> +'Mony a ane has complained o' <i>that</i> hole,'<br> +Muilton, Jock, idiot, and a penurious Laird,<br> +Munrimmon Moor, no choice of wigs on,<br> +Murray, Mrs., and the salt spoon,<br> +'My mou's as big for puddin as it is for kail,'<br> +<i>Mystifications</i>, by Miss Clementina Stirling Graham,<br> +<br> +Na, different modifications of the word,<br> +'Na, na, he's no just deep, but he's drumly,'<br> +'Na, na, ye'll aiblins bite me,'<br> +'Neebour, wad ye sit a bit <i>wast?</i>'<br> +Nelson, Lord, explanation of his order,<br> +Nichol, an old servant of Forfarshire,<br> +'No anither drap, neither het nor cauld,<br> +Nobleman, half-witted, in Canongate jail,<br> +Nobleman, mad Scottish, cautious answer of,<br> +'Noo, Major, ye may tak our lives, but ye'll no tak our +middens,'<br> +Nuckle, Watty, betheral, opinion,<br> +<br> +'Od, Charlie Brown, what gars ye hae sic lang steps to your +<i>front</i> door?'<br> +'Od, freend, ye hae had a lang spell on't sin' I left,'<br> +'Od, ye're a lang lad; God gie ye grace,'<br> +Old lady speaking of her own death,<br> +Old sermons, preaching of,<br> +Old woman, remarks of, on the usefulness of money,<br> +'On the contrary, sir,'<br> +'Ony dog micht soon become a greyhound by stopping here,'<br> +'Oor Jean thinks a man perfect salvation,'<br> +'Oor John swears awfu','<br> +Organ, mark of distinction,<br> +Organs becoming more common,<br> +'Ou, there's jist me and <i>anither</i> lass,'<br> +<br> +Papers in pulpit,<br> +Paradise and Wesleyan minister,<br> +Parishioner, coolness of, when made an elder of the kirk,<br> +Paul, Dr., his anecdotes of idiots,<br> +Paul, Saunders, of Banchory, famous for drinking,<br> +Perth, Lady, remark to a Frenchman on French cookery,<br> +Penurious laird and Fife elder,<br> +Pestilence that walketh in darkness--What is it?<br> +Phraseology, Scottish, an example of pure,<br> +Phraseology, Scottish, force of,<br> +Piccadilly,<br> +Pig, great broon,<br> +Pig, Scotch minister's account of eating one,<br> +Pinkieburn, faithful servant at,<br> +Piper and the elder,<br> +Piper and the wolves,<br> +Plugging, an odious practice,<br> +Poetry, Scottish, becoming less popular,<br> +Poetry in Scottish dialect, list of,<br> +Polkemmet, Lord, account of his judicial preparations,<br> +Polkemmet, Lord, his account of killing a calf,<br> +Pompous minister and the angler,<br> +Pony of Free Kirk minister running off to glebe,<br> +Poole, Dr., his patient's death announced,<br> +'Powny, grippit a chiel for,'<br> +Prayers before battle,<br> +Preacher, a bombastic, reproved satirically,<br> +Preacher, Scottish, and his small bedroom at manse where he +visited,<br> +Preacher, testimony to a good,<br> +Preaching old sermons,<br> +Precentor reading single line of psalm,<br> +Predestination, answer of minister about,<br> +Priest Gordon, genuine Aberdonian specimen of,<br> +Priest Matheson,<br> +Professor, a reverend, his answer to a lawyer,<br> +Pronunciation, Scottish, varieties of, make four different +meanings,<br> +Property qualification,<br> +Prophets' chalmer (the minor),<br> +Proprietors, two, meeting of, described by Sir Walter Scott,<br> +Proverbial expressions, examples of some very pithy,<br> +Proverbial Philosophy of Scotland, by William Stirling of Keir, +M.P.,<br> +Proverb, Scottish, application of, by a minister in a storm,<br> +Proverb, Scottish, expressed by Lord Byron,<br> +Proverbs becoming <i>reminiscences</i>,<br> +Proverbs, immense collection of, by Fergusson,<br> +Proverbs, Scotch, some specially applicable to the Deil,<br> +Proverbs, Scotland famous for,<br> +Proverbs, Scottish, Allan Ramsay's dedication of,<br> +Proverbs, Scottish, Andrew Henderson,<br> +Proverbs, Scottish, collections of,<br> +Proverbs, Scottish, collection of, by Allan Ramsay,<br> +Proverbs, Scottish, Kelly's collection,<br> +Proverbs, Scottish, much used in former times,<br> +Proverbs, Scottish, pretty application of,<br> +Proverbs, Scottish, specimens of, in language almost obsolete,<br> +Providence,<br> +Providence, mistake of, in regard to bairns,<br> +Provost of Edinburgh in the House of Lords in 1736,<br> +Psalmody, Scottish,<br> +Psalmody, Scottish, improvement of,<br> +Pure language of Scotland not to be regarded as a provincial +dialect,<br> +<br> +'Raiment fit,'<br> +Ramsay, Allan, dedication of his proverbs in prose,<br> +Ramsay, Sir George, of Banff, and the Laird of Corb,<br> +Ramsay, two Misses, of Balmain, anecdotes of,<br> +'Rax me a spaul o' that bubbly jock,<br> +Reason given by an old man for marrying a young woman,<br> +Recess Studies,<br> +Redd, pigeon found among,<br> +Religion, two great changes in ideas of,<br> +Religious feelings and religious observances,<br> +'Remember Mr. Tamson; no him at the Green, but oor ain Mr. +Tamson,<br> +'Reminiscences' capable of a practical application,<br> +'Reminiscences' have called forth communications from others,<br> +'Reminiscences' includes stories of wit or humour,<br> +'Reminiscences,' object and purpose of,<br> +'Reminiscences,' recall pleasant associations,<br> +'Ripin' the ribs,'<br> +Road, Highland, humorously described,<br> +Robbie A'Thing,<br> +Robby, a young dandy, and his old aunt,<br> +Robertson, Principal, advice to, by Scotch minister,<br> +Robison, Mrs., answer to gentleman coming to dinner,<br> +Rockville, Lord, character of, as a judge,<br> +Rockville, Lord, description of street, when tipsy,<br> +Ruling elder's answer to jokes of three young men,<br> +Rutherfurd, Lord, and the Bonaly shepherd,<br> +<br> +Sabbath-day, and redding up drawers.<br> +Sabbath-day, eggs ought not to be laid on.<br> +Sabbath-day known by a hare.<br> +Sabbath day, where children go who play marbles on.<br> +Sabbath desecration, geologist in the Highlands.<br> +Sabbath desecration, stopping the jack for.<br> +Sandy, fine specimen of old servant.<br> +'Sayawa', sir; we're a' sittin' to cheat the dowgs.'<br> +Scotchman, notion of things in London.<br> +Scotchman of the old school, judgment of, upon an Englishman.<br> +Scotchman on losing his wife and cow.<br> +Scotch minister and his diary regarding quarrels with wife.<br> +Scott, Dr., minister of Carluke.<br> +Scott, Dr., on his parishioners dancing.<br> +Scott, Rev. Robert, his idea of Nelson's order.<br> +Scott, Rev. R., of Cranwell, anecdote of young carpenter.<br> +Scott, Sir Walter, and the blacksmith on the battle of Flodden.<br> +Scott, Sir Walter, did not write poetry in Scottish dialect.<br> +Scott, Sir Walter, his story of sale of antiques.<br> +Scott, Sir Walter, his story of two relatives who joined the +Pretender.<br> +Scott, Sir Walter, just in time to save Minstrelsy of the +Border.<br> +Scotland, past and present.<br> +Scotticisms, expressive, pointed, and pithy.<br> +Scotticisms, remarks on, by Sir John Sinclair and Dr. Beattie.<br> +Scottish architect on English leases.<br> +Scottish boy cleverness.<br> +Scottish conviviality, old.<br> +Scottish cookery.<br> +Scottish dialect, difference between Aberdeen and Southern +Scotch.<br> +Scottish dialect, reference of, to English.<br> +Scottish dialect, specimens of.<br> +Scottish economy, specimen of, in London.<br> +Scottish elders and ministers, anecdotes of.<br> +Scottish expressions, examples of peculiar applications.<br> +Scottish expressions, illustrated by a letter to a young married +lady from an old aunt.<br> +Scottish gentleman in London.<br> +Scottish humour and Scottish wit.<br> +Scottish humour, specimen of, in a Fife lass.<br> +Scottish minstrelsy.<br> +Scottish music, charm of.<br> +Scottish peasantry, character of.<br> +Scottish peasantry, religious feelings of.<br> +Scottish peasantry, religious feelings of, changed.<br> +Scottish phraseology, articles on, in <i>Blackwood</i>.<br> +Scottish psalm-tunes, some written by operatives.<br> +Scottish shepherd and Lord Cockburn.<br> +Scottish shepherd and Lord Rutherford.<br> +Scottish songs, collections of.<br> +Scottish stories of wit and humour.<br> +Scottish verses, charm of.<br> +Scottish words of French derivation.<br> +<i>Scottishness</i> of the national humour.<br> +Seceder, an old, would not enter parish church.<br> +Secession Church, professor in, to a young student.<br> +Sedan chairs.<br> +Sermon consumed by mice.<br> +Sermons, change of character of.<br> +Servant and dog Pickle at Yester.<br> +Servant, answer of, to his irascible master.<br> +Servant, answer of, when told to go.<br> +Servant and Lord Lothian.<br> +Servant, Mrs. Murray, and the spoon.<br> +Servant of Mrs. Ferguson of Pitfour.<br> +Servant of Mrs. Fullerton of Montrose.<br> +Servant, old, reason for doing as he liked.<br> +Servant praying for her minister.<br> +Servant taxed with being drunk, his answer.<br> +Servants, domestic Scottish.<br> +'She juist felled hersel at Graigo wi' straeberries and 'ream.'<br> +'She's bonnier than she's better.'<br> +'She will be near me to close my een.'<br> +Shireff, Rev. Mr., and member of his church who had left him.<br> +Shirra, Rev. Mr., on David saying 'All men are liars.'<br> +Shot, a bad one, complimented on success.<br> +Siddons, Mrs., respected by Edinburgh clergy.<br> +Silly, curious use of the word.<br> +Singing birds, absence of, in America.<br> +Sins, Aberdeen mother proud of.<br> +'<i>Sir, baby</i> I'll come farther.'<br> +'Sit in a box drawn by brutes.'<br> +Skinner, Bishop, and Aberdeen old couple.<br> +Skinner, John, Jacobitism of.<br> +Skinner, John, of Langside, his defence of prayer-book.<br> +Skinner, Rev. John, author of several Scottish songs.<br> +Skinner, Rev. John, lines on his grandson leaving Montrose.<br> +Skinner, Rev. John, passing an Anti-burgher chapel.<br> +Sleeping in church.<br> +Sleeping in church, and snuffing.<br> +Slockin'd, never, apology for drinking.<br> +Smith, Adam, marked as most eccentric.<br> +Smith, Sydney, opinion of Scottish wit.<br> +Smuggler, case of one in church.<br> +'Sneck the door.'<br> +Snuff-box handed round in churches.<br> +Snuff, grand <i>accommodation</i> for.<br> +Snuff, pu'pit soopit for.<br> +Snuff put into the sermon.<br> +Snuff-taking.<br> +Soldier, an old, of the 42d, cautious about the name of Graham.<br> +'Some fowk like parritch, and some like paddocks.'<br> +'Some strong o' the aaple.'<br> +Songs, drinking.<br> +Sovereign, when new, a curiosity.<br> +Speat o' praying and speat o' drinking.<br> +Speir, daft Will, and Earl of Eglinton.<br> +Speir, daft Will, answer to master about his dinner.<br> +Spinster, elderly, arch reply to, by a younger member.<br> +Stipend, minister's, reasons against its being large.<br> +Stirling of Keir, evidence in favour of, by the miller of Keir.<br> +Stirling of Keir, lecture on proverbs.<br> +Stra'von, wife's desire to be buried in.<br> +Strikes, answer upon, by a master.<br> +Stewart, Rev. Patrick, sermon consumed by mice.<br> +Stone removed out of the way.<br> +Stool, a three-legged, thrown at husband by wife.<br> +Stout lady, remark of.<br> +Stranraer, old ladies on the British victories over the French.<br> +Sunday sometimes included in Saturday's drinking party.<br> +Suppers once prevalent in Scotland.<br> +Sutherland, Colonel Sandy, his dislike to the French.<br> +Swearing by Laird of Finzean.<br> +Swearing by Perth writer.<br> +Swearing common in Scotland formerly.<br> +Swine, dislike of, in Scotland.<br> +Swinophobia, reasons for.<br> +Smith, Sydney, remarks of, on <i>men</i> not at church.<br> +<br> +Tailor, apology for his clothes not fitting.<br> +'Take out that dog; he'd wauken a Glasgow magistrate.'<br> +Taylor, Mr., of London, description of his theatre by his father +from Aberdeen.<br> +Term-time offensive to Scottish lairds.<br> +Texts, remarks upon.<br> +'That's a lee, Jemmie.'<br> +Theatre, clergy used to attend, in 1784.<br> +Theatre, clerical non-attendance.<br> +'The breet's stannin' i' the peel wi ma.'<br> +'The deil a ane shall pray for <i>them</i> on <i>my</i> plaid.'<br> +The fool and the miller.<br> +'The man reads.'<br> +'Them 'at drink by themsells may just fish by themsells.'<br> +'There'll be a walth o' images there.'<br> +'There's Kinnaird greetin' as if there was nae a saunt on earth but +himself and the King o' France.<br> +'There's nae <i>wail</i> o' wigs on Munrimmon Moor,'<br> +'There's neither men nor meesie, and fat care I for meat?'<br> +'They may pray the kenees aff their breeks afore I join in that +prayer,'<br> +'They neither said ba nor bum,'<br> +'Thirdly and lastly' fell over the pulpit stairs,<br> +Thomson, Thomas, described in Aberdeen dialect,<br> +Thomson, two of the name prayed for,<br> +Thrift, examples of, in medicine,<br> +Tibbie, eccentric servant, anecdote of,<br> +Tiger and 'skate, stories of,<br> +Toasts after dinner,<br> +Toasts, collection of, in the book 'The Gentleman's New Bottle +Companion,'<br> +Toasts or sentiments, specimens of,<br> +Tourist, English, asking Scottish girl for horse-flies,<br> +Town-Council, 'profit but not honour,'<br> +Tractarianism, idea of, by an old Presbyterian,<br> +'Travel from Genesis to Revelation, and not footsore,'<br> +Traveller's story, treatment of,<br> +'Troth, mem, they're just the gudeman's <i>deed</i> claes,'<br> +Tulloch, David, Jacobite anecdote of, at prayers,<br> +Turkey leg, devilled, and servant,<br> +Tweeddale, Lord, and dog Pickle,<br> +<br> +Unbeliever described by Scotch lady,<br> +<br> +View of things, Scottish matter of fact,<br> +Vomit, if not strong enough, to be returned,<br> +<br> +Washing dishes on the Sabbath day,<br> +Waverley, old lady discovering the author of,<br> +Waverley quoted,<br> +Webster, Rev. Dr., a five-bottle man,<br> +'Weel then, neist time they sail get <i>nane ava</i>,'<br> +'We'll stop now, bairns; I'm no enterteened,'<br> +'We never absolve <i>till after three several appearances</i>,'<br> +West, going, ridiculous application of<br> +'Wha' are thae twa <i>beddle-looking</i> bodies?'<br> +'What a nicht for me to be fleein through the air,'<br> +'What ails ye at her wi' the green gown?'<br> +'What gars the laird of Garskadden look sae gash?'<br> +'What is the chief end of man?'<br> +'When ye get cheenge for a saxpence here, it's soon slippit +awa,'<br> +Whisky, limited blame of,<br> +'Whited sepulchres,' applied to clergy in surplices, Inverness,<br> +Wife, cool opinion of, by husband,<br> +Wife, rebuke of, by minister,<br> +Wife taken by her husband to Banchory,<br> +Wig of professor in Secession Church,<br> +Williamson the huntsman and Duke of Lauderdale,<br> +'Will ye tak your haddock wi' us the day?'<br> +Wilson, Scottish vocalist, modesty of,<br> +Wind, Scotch minister's prayer for,<br> +Wolves and the piper,<br> +Wool, modifications of,<br> +<br> +'Ye a' speak sae <i>genteel</i> now that I dinna ken wha's +Scotch,'<br> +Yeddie, daft, remark on a club-foot,<br> +'Ye should hae steekit your neive upo' that,'<br> +'Ye've been lang Cook, Cooking them, but ye've dished them at +last,'<br> +Young man and cards in church,<br> +'Your hospitality borders upon brutality,'</p> +<br> +<br> +<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 12483 ***</div> +</body> +</html> |