OLD SCOTTISH VILLAGE LIFE.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 6, Issue 266, 13 April 1917, Page 2 (Supplement)

OLD SCOTTISH VILLAGE LIFE.

IJEPREHEXSIBLE as they undoubt- ■*•* edly are, thero are some forn_i6 of law-breaking, says a writer in the Weekly Scotsman, with which the unregenerate man is fain to acknowledge a certain sneaking sympathy smuggling, for example, tome kinds of poaching, and, in certain circumstances, shebeening. They are, all of tlicm, very wrong and indefensible if ono conies to think seriously; but, at tho time, they are forms of misdoing into which the -sporting to some extent enters, and which demand a considerable amount of both courage and ingenuity if they are to lie carried on successfully. Though actuated by no generous motive, tho shebeener at least takes heavy risks, and takes them with his eyes open. A sophist might seek to defend him on the ground that hi.? misdeeds injure no ono but that impersonal entity, the State. That lino of argument is, however, demonstrably false. And, whatever else might bo said in tho same sense by a clever and unscrupulous attorney, nothing is further from the writer's thoughti than to countenance shebeenmg. All he proposes to do is to narrato two or throe incidents connected with this once so widely spread practice, which servo to illustrate old Scottish rural life; s'nee it seems to him that the expedients resorted to on tiio one side, and the ruses brought to bear to circumvent them on tha other, partake not a little of the naturo of comedy. TOLL-HOUSE SHEBEENS.

It is well known that, before the abolition of toll-bars, in the ye.ir 1883, a largo number of tho toll-housekeepers of Scotland did good business as unlicensed retailers of excisable liquors. Indeed, tho shebeening of to-day is a drop in tho bucket to that of those days. Its profits were large, and often it was conducted with perfect openness, tho polico winking at tho practice, whilst themselves patronising the shebeens. Convictions, in any case, were not easy to obtain. Cadgers' carts were employed to distribute the supplies, and, though the amount of beer or spirits of which it was lawful to bo in possession was strictly limited, there was no difficulty about finding obliging neighbours to take chargo of the.sur-plus-until it was required. Informers were the dangers most to be dreaded by the Biiebeener, and so long as these officious busybodies could l>o held in (heck he made money hand over hand. Indeed, I reoaill one case, where a licensed house being about to becomo vacant a noted shebeenor of the neighbourhood entertained the idea of applying for it. Ho was allowed to examine tho books of the retiring publican, and having dono so at once decided against making the change, on the ground that ho did 'better where ho was. And so long as this could be said, an occasional conviction, though visited by a heavy fine, might >be faced with equanimity. "JOVIAL JANE" OUTWITS THE POLICE.

Ono of the best known of local tollhouse shebeeners was a woman whoso rcputaton as an unlicensed retailer had won her tho nickname of "Jovial Jenny." Jenny's large-hearted nature and genial manners were as a relish to the liquors she supplied, and no doubt +horo are many who can r<M?»H h<m friendly salutation addressed to visitors to the toll-house —"I kent yer fit!" Liko other agreeable hostesses, Jenny would seem to havo stooped at times to pohto insincerity, for it is scarcely likely that her ear can have recognised the footsteps of her various clients. For these wero numerous, and numerous also wero the convivial hours spent under Jenny's remote and solitary but by no means cheerless roof. Of Jenny's success in outwitting tho polico not a few stories are to'.d. On one occasion a constablo who was unknown to her, and wished to entrap her. presented himself at her door in mulfti, and obtained admission to tho house. Ho endeavoured to induce her to servo him with whisky, but Jane was on her guard. She asked him where he came from, heiing answered from Kelso, went on to ask his trade. Tho policeman, whose father and brother wero shoemakers, replied that ho was one. " Let me see your hands," pursued Jenny, and. on the man exhibiting his palms, "Those hands ne'er drew a lingo! (rosine thread)," exclaimed she, and, scenting mischief, sent her visitor drinkless on Irs way. Neither Sherlock Holmes nor his great original, Joseph 8011, need have disdained her inductive reasoning. For i cobbler's fingers, liko a joiner'.* thumbs, oar.y the imprint of his calling. AQUA PURA.

After a considerable interval, a second policeman, who was likewise a stranger to Jenny, resolved to try if he could not do better than Irs comrade. Having tflothed himself in well-worn moleskins, liberally 'bespattered with red day, ho fixed "a parcel across his back beneath Ins coat, to give him round shoulders, and taking a mattock in h'.r, hand.,.gassed h'mself off as a drainer. But. in the act of entering tho shebeen, ho met his own brother reeling out, wiping his mouth \p - U« hand. "Losh me!" h'ccupM the ho.her, "why, what on earth's up now:" He was not so drunk, however, but t. it ;i wink from the policeman silenced bin, and, after th : s bad beginning things went letter. Employing h'.s powers of persuasion, the pretended drainer induced Ins hostess to let him have a bottle of whisky, for which he paid thrco '■hillings down. A day or two later .leiiny was summoned to attend tho Court on a i harge of illicit trading. She appeared, and pled not guilty. " Do I undnytand you deny that you sold tho man tins bott'e!'"' quostonod the Sheriff, indicating the bottle, winch had remained intact. " I sold linn the bottle right enough, my lord," replied douco .leiinv, in her best manner. "Well, it's a whisky bottle, is it not: pursued bis lordship, pointing to Kinalian's- well known I ihel. '' Certainly it's ii wiisky bottle," was Jho answer, and there Jeiinv paused. The Court was vol! filled, and. knoWjng that she had tho sympathy of the public, she was-, so to speak, playing to the gallery. Then she completed her sentence, " lint there was '>o whisky in it." At a sign from tho .Indite, the clerk drew tho trrk andsolemnlv put the bottle to his lips. It was probably the lir-t tune that such .-in act had been performed in ;i Court of .»ust ice. A shade of disappointment crrsssrd his features, and, turning to the Sheriff, be .-hook Ins bead. The Sheriff bowed. Jane was disim-sod, and l.'ft trie Court amid tho plaud'ts of her friends. The bottle she had so'd to Ihe disguised police oflicer |,aj held nothing stronger than water. It, was a palpable hit for the shebeening interest, and tiio enterprising poTieemm received ft bad mark in the Chief-Constable's private register a;

SHEEBEEN AND SHEBEENERS.

THE COMEDY OF ILLICIT DRINKING.

ono whose zeal outran his discretion. Jonny's trado became brisker than over. DEAF MI. In order to obtain a warrant to search y, suspected house, tho police had to bring evidence, either reflecting on tho inmate, or establishing tho existence of suspicious traffic. It happened that a smart young constable had lus attention attracted to a certa'n pleasantly situated but solitary cottage bv tho following two unusual features. In the first place, tho windows being liLled with iozeugft-siiaped panes of the oldfashioned pattern, lio noticed that tv o or three of these panes were always awanting, and that their places were lilled with paper, of which tho colour varied from day to day. Secondly, an ash sappl'ng at least 8 fe:t in lengwi stood supported against the gable-end of tho cottage. Why these daily changes m the window papers, ho asked himself, and for what purpose this rod? And, being unablo to answer his own questions, he determined to keep a watch 011 callers at tho cottage, wh'ich I must mention had for sole inhabitant an old woman ii_amcd Jemima, who was almost stone deaf. After •waiting for darkness, tho policeman and a comrade hid themselves among tho bushes 01 tho garden, as might be dono by a sniper of to-day. Nor was their labour thrown away, for tho calers at the cottage proved to be numerous, and included some rough characters who had been " burning tho water," as well as a jolly party of anglers, whoso movements, owing to tuo water in tho'r wading-trousers, could bo followed by tho ear. Finally, two visitors who had been seen to leave tho houso ,wero cither mean or simple enough to acknowledge having got whisky there. There being now no longer any difficulty about obtaining a searchwarrant tho place was ransacked by the police, who brought to light a fair quantity of whisky, together with a largo number of bottles which had been emptied at a splore the night bofore. So that had tho police been one night earlier, their l>ooty would havo been much greater. Tho shebeener was had up and fined; but after deducting tho fino from tho sum of her takings, thcro was still a tidy balance in her favour. And it then camo out that, owing to her deafness making her insensible to any ordinary summons, it had got to be understood in the neighbourhood that anyone requiring liquor lato at night had but to insert tho ashpalo through 011 of the paper window stoppings and stir up tho old lady where sho lay in her bed. And, as her infirmity would still prevent her hearing what wan said to her, a code had been arranged according to which the motion of draining a glass should signify whisky, and that of drawing a cork, beer. Both Deaf Mi" and "Jovial Jenny" aro 110 more; but I havo no doubt that their heirs, whoever those may be, have cause to bless their memory. TIBBY PAGAN*..

A famous femalo sliebeencr of an earher date than these was Tubby Pagan, wlio died jn 1821, and has left a namo as authoress of a version of the lino song of "Ca' the Yowes to tho Know its." T.ibby is said to have been dttformed and singularly nil-favoured, but noted for her pungent wit as well as for talent as a singer. In some respects a female counterpart of David ltitchie, tne original of Scott's- Black Dwarf, she earned on her unlicensed trado in a hovel near Muarkirk, in Ayrshire, where, during the shooting seasons of those freer and less pampered times, we are told that gentlemen of note would often meet to hear her sing and taste her drams. If tho use of shebeens was over justifiable, it was in tho case df drovers, who had great distances to travel with their sheep, often through very wild and illfound districts, and who were all tho better, as I venture to think, for a glass of beer or a dram of whisky alitor a long day's trudging in all weathers. 1 have myself been witness of the fine times .which these gentry enjoyed, with song and toast and cheery company, in such solitary and, of course, unlicensed houses as for instance, the Whitterhope Bar, near Limekdnedge, where as much strong liquor as was wanted could always be procured, and whore, let mo add, disorder arising from excess was, I believe, a thing unknown. For tho character of shepherds when on duty is generally staid, nnd those who drank at night on these occasions were aware that they had an early start and a hard day's work before them on the morrow. But whilst allowing them tho fullest credit for keeping cool heads, I must Hi .justice add that their powers of consumption were remarkable. For an allowance df strong drink which would have hud a townsman under the table was to them no more than a more tongue-loosener. In shebeens presided over by females the usual practice was to servo the whisky hi a t< a-pot, with a view to saving appearances m the event of a visit by the police. But the landlords of the lonely toll-houses despised all such precautious, and I havo counted as many as a dozen bottle on their tables at one tme,, with 'banknotes from tho drovers' iwell-lined pockets lying ready to pay for them. A SALUTARY FRIGHT.

There is less to lie siii 1 for the ordinary farm servant who frequented sneliwiifj, and I rot all one such who got a fright through doing so which kept him straight for many years. He was s ploughman, young and simple, and had 1): i'ii very strictly brought up; hut, inking away from homo upon a visit, ho allowed himself to bo led by his companions of tho moment into entering a shebeen. It was night, and, as in the case of "Deaf Jemin.'i," tho sheherner had to bo roused from l>ed to serve tho company. They were very jollv together tor a while, but presently tho older hands slunk off one after the other, till only the young ploughman and his mate remained behind. They thought it high time to l>e moving; and so it was, for even as they lett tho liousn a bluebottle bru.shcd past them on h's wav in. Realms ng their great danger, they took to tluir heels. and after running till they were breathless, slipped over the hod so, and lay quaking while rapid footsteps passed up the road. Then they thought they were safe, and, for still pro iter seeuritv, ilie young ploughman, acting on impulse, set off and walked straight home. But he had been identified and traced. so that, just when ho thought that all da.nger was past, ho received a summons to tho Sheriff Court. The ease was a bad one, being the retailer s second offence. On him, therefore, a fm.i of 115 was impo-ed, whilst the youngster was dismissed with a caution, so thoroughly sickened with ehehcens that, ho has not entered one since.