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Southern Cross, Volume 1, Issue 30, 28 October 1893, Page 10

Contributor.

SCOTLAND EB-YISITED. MR W. H. MATHIESON’S IMPRESSIONS. GLASGOW—No. 1. “ Auld Glesca’s turned fair upside doon— Sic awfu’ changes a’ aroon ! It’s like to turn a chappie’s croon, An’ gar him stare ! Thej’Ve railways in below the toon, Yet makin’ xnair ! ” Glasgow as a commercialandraanufacturing centre is only second to London, from which it is 405| miles distant. It has OVER ONE HUNDRED MILES OF STREETS, Closely built on —in fact for its size there are more houses and what naturally follows, more people, in the square mile than in any other city I visited, not excepting the modern B.riy’cn itself. I had the pleasure of urr introduction to Mr- George McGregor, the editor of a very able work on the History of Glasgow, and in the course of a most pleasant halfhour’s talk, he gave me a short sketch of the causes that led up to the Reformation, in which Glasgow took a leading part. I had only a hazy notion of the cause of the Reformation before, and was therefore glad to get my information from such a distinguished source. The Reformation took place in 1560, because of the licentious ways of the clergy, and also owing to the greed of the nobles, many of whom considered themselves heirs to the fat church lands. The church, first of all then, was modified episcopacy. It varied up and down between Presbyterianism and Episcopacy until the Revolution in 1688, when Presbyterianism was finally established and still remains the popular religion of the country. It was during the internecine troubles between Episcopacy andPresby terianisnr that the covenanting disturbances began. When the Union of the Crowns took place in 1705, Glasgow suffered severely as a manufacturingcentre through the competition of English merchants ; but at this time her merchants speedily entered into trade with the American colonies, and became famous as TOBACCO LORDS. The American War of Independence struck almost a fatal blow to her trade, but the altered state of things made her business men turn their attention to general business, and the development of the enormous coal and iron resources of their own district. This inaugurated a prosperity that has continued, and is likely to continue, for a long time to come. Glasgow untrl lately supplied New Zealand with large quantities of merchandise, but with the establishment of direct steamships to our shores, the trade was transferred to Liverpool and London, and her merchants therefore lost an opportunity to continue a profitable connection with us. This, in view of her short distance from London, seems at first sight most peculiar, but the only explanation 1 can give is that the goods usually shipped to the colonies were of a bulky nature, and the railway freights were prohibitive, and at the time of the transformation of the tx-ade New Zealand was commercially under a cloud, and several of the “Glesca eallants” had burned their lingers most severely in the whisky business, and therefore concluded to let well alone The fact remains that, from whatever cause, there is very little business doing now between the two countries. As I said in my last letter, I took

the night train to Glasgow, and got there a few minutes before midnight. As I was tired with the events of the da}', I went to bed, for which, by the bye, I had to pay 4s, and 3d extra was added in the morning for cleaning my boots. This is about the usual rate for a single bed at one of the railway hotels, and 2s to 4s per meal in England or Scotland. Well, as I knew I had a long day before me, I did not get away from the hotel before eight o’clock on a beautiful summer morning. The dull, heavy smoke that hung LIKE A PALL over everything made the sun look as though seen through smoked glass. The first thing unusual I noticed in the crowded streets was the large number of women walking about bare-headed, and many I met bare-legged as well. The next noteworthy objects were the beautiful Clydesdale draught horses drawing the brewers’ vans. They were without exception the finest horses seen on my trip round the world. The next thing to catch my eye (shades of my departed ancestors !) was an American go-cart, showing that the IRREPRESSIBLE YANKEE had even penetrated to the very heart of Scotland. Next, I noticed that the people were well-dressed and the shops were very substantiallooking and their goods nicely displayed, the drapers’ shops especially. The policeman was not so much in evidence as in London, the people seeming to vie with each other in giving information. 0 o My usual good fortune did not desert me here, as the first gentlemanly old man I accosted proved to be Mr Alex, Cross, ironmonger. When I told him I had not been in the city for 33 years he immediately volunteered to show me the person to whom 1 had a letter of introduction, and in going along the streets he pointed out to me the room that MARY QUEEN OP SCOTS slept in on the eve of that unfortunate battle in 'which she lost whatever chance she had of regaining the crown, and which is so graphically described by the poet in the verses which contain these lines :—• “ She stayed her steed upon a hill— She saw them marching by.” Mr Cross also took me down an old close, and pointed out the stable where bonnie Prince Charlie put his horse up when in Glasgow. My guide then took me to where the old cross had stood at the Trongate for centuries. It had been taken down to make room for the underground railway, and in mentioning this fact my old friend remarked, with a merry twinkle in his eye —“ The old cross is gone, and I am the only Gross left.” He had been in business in this locality nearly half-a-century, and long may he remain a living monument of this ancient city! We then looked up Mr Lindsay, ironmonger, a brother of the Lev. Mr Geo. Lindsay, of St. Paul’s Presbyterian Church, Invercargill, who gave me a cordial SCOTTISH WELCOME. His son, who had been away for over twelve months travelling in New Zealand for the benefit of his health, was a fellow-passenger Plome with me, and Mr Lindsay and I soon got quite friendly. I was taken to his home and introduced to his wife and family. (to be continued.) TO THE EDITOR. Sir, — I cannot compliment you on the poetry devoted to myself which you recently published. Perhaps I should feel flattered when I am compared to Solomon, but the butter is laid on rather thick to be palatable. I enclose you a piece of what I venture to call poetry. It is not original, but has never been published in New Zealand, and I believe it will please your readers. Reference is made in the last verse to a “ true lover.” This relates to a melancholy story, the hero of which was a handsome peasant lad, who refused to yield to the importunities of the lady of the manor, who played the part of a Scottish Potiphar’s wife, and wreaked her vengeance through her husband, who had the innocent youth (a martyr to conscience) torn to pieces by wild horses. —Yours, etc., W. 11. Matuiesox.