MR BATHGATE ON "OLD TIMES IN SCOTLAND."

Tuapeka Times, Volume VII, Issue 367, 24 June 1874, Page 5

MR BATHGATE ON "OLD TIMES IN SCOTLAND."

On June 16th Mr Bathgatk gave a lecture on the above-named subject, in the Congregational Church, which was listened to with great attention. The following abstract will prove interesting : — The lecturer proposed to limit himself to a few observations on the manners and habits of our grandfathers— say of the people who lived in. Scotland in the early part of the present Century. Simple in their habits, exclusive in their privileges, and tenacious p.f their rights, the burgesses in " finished towns " lived on in a state of sturdy independence, their only amusement being a day's fishing in the season, a curling match in the winter time, and a bowl of whisky toddy in the evening, when discussing the affairs of the nation and the latest news of Bonaparte with the " Councillors," and when the Provost vindicated the. dignity of his position by an extra half-mutuhkin to the bowl at his own expense. The Corporations were all composed of freemen, whose callings could only be. followed by those who had inherited or acquired the freedom of .the burgh at the cost of heavy fees, and the chances of improvement were accordingly very small. The ••Hammermen" formed the most powerful of these bodies, being composed of all the trades which wielded a hammer— smiths, carpenters, coopers, glaziers, masons, and the like. In the Royal burgh where I spent my boyhood and a large portion of my riper yearsPeebles, on the Tweed — we were trained up in the belief that there was no place like it. Early in this century one of our magnates had paid a visit to France, of which he i-aid, " Ou, Paris is a fine place. Its' a' vera weel, but for real pleasure gVe me Peebles." The Pro voß l, in his way, bad considerable power. There were no written warrants needed in those days. & word to the Town officer consigned the -culprit to durance vile. It rarely happened that tha bailies were men of eduoation. I have seen the Provost .presiding at an examination of the Grammar School with the Homer wrong side up ; and it was boldly said by the Chief Magistrate of Lochmaben, - when admonished by the Town Clerk that he was reading a letter upside down. "What 1" said he, "am I fit to be Provost of Lochmaben. and canua read a letter at ony end ?" They were rich, because their wants were few. The artificial wants of modern society were unknown. The invitation Waa given to " Come yereel* at time;" and after a boiled egg, or dish of minced collops, varied sonae1 imes in seaports by oysters, or boiled partans (crabs), they were happy for an hour or two over a jag of ale, or a bowl of whisky toddy, and the toast, song, and proverb went merrily round in pleasing atternative. Mothers answered their ohildren, er scolded , them, or advised them in proverbs, which were for generations the standard literature of the Scotch. Pithy and sententious, expressing much in few words, they were suited to the genius of the people. It is a fine compliment paid to a good woman to say, "She's better than she's bonny," or to a pretty woman, "A benny bride's soon busket." Many a time I have had to take the oath as a boy, " As sure's death " A. lesson of contentment is given by the proverb — "It is better to sup wi' a cutty than want a apqne,." ,The allusion was to horn spoons, made and sold at fairs by travelling homers or tinkers ; chiefly used at meal times, except at tables of the wealthy. The idea of a change during a meal was unknown. It is related of an honest tenant-farmer, when dining for the first time at the laird's table, that he said to the servant, on his putting down a dessert spoon when he had been helped to pudding. " Tak it awa, my man ; my mou's as big for pudding as ib is for kail." There were giants in those days. The lays of Scottish poets nursed in Bufti times are eternal ; a quiet parlor in a Scottish burgh gave birth to "jThe Wealth of Nations" —still the text-book of the student of political economy. A little room in a Scottih seaport burgh was the training place of i halmers, the divine. A border town gave us our f ngineers, Telford and Rennie. Sir John Moore was'a Glasgow laddie ; and the Malcolms, and many a gallant soldier, to whose genius and ab lity the Empire was indebted, sprang from the ranks of the humble -Scottish people. In Geology, Chemistry, and Natural Philosophy our 1 Scottish Professors led the way ; and you 1 have in Sir David Monro the descendant of three generations of Professors of Anatomy in Edinburgh University; If there be any parents hearing me, of Scottish origin, let them teach their ohildren the old traditions of their homes, which will make them ready for every exertion on behalf of their adopted ! land, and fitted, when the - day comes, 1 to maintain against • attacks - from without or distension from within, in times of trial or of peril, their freedom and independence. The horrors of the first French Revolution caused the Government of the day _to become at once strong and timid. Liberty of thought and Bpeech was counted treasonable licence and sedition. The Bench was harsh and arbitrary. Lord Braxfield used to say, " Let them bring me prisoners, ■ and I'll find them law." He once said to a culprit who was eloquently defending himself, ". Ye're a clever ehiel, mon, but ye wad be none the waur o' a hanging." The item old Judge had some grim humor in him, as it-is said of him when Ms butler gave up his place because his lordship's wife was always scolding him — " Lord," he exclaimed, ". ye' ve little to complain o'; ye may Toe thankfu' ye're no married to her." Another of the Judges, Eskgrove. was so affected with republican terrors, that in his eyes to destroy, a soldier's uaiforn was a seripus aggravation of the crime of murder. The late Lord Cockburn heard him, in condemning a tailor to death for murdering a soldier by stabbing him, aggravate the offence thus — " and not only did you murder him, whereby he was bereaved of his life, but you did thrust, or push, or pierce, or project, or propell the lethell weapon thro' the band of his' regimen-tal breeches, which were His Majeg-ty V All this tyranny could

not take plaoe without welling its way down through every rank of society.' Fathers treated their children and servants unmercifully. Children were ssnt to school to be flogged. A mother would bring her feon to the burgh school and say to the master, "I've brought ye oor Jock, mind ye lick him weel." Cock fighting, dog-fighting, throwing stones at old horses, spangheaving young birds, were favorite recreations Boxing matches, or ' "a fecht," in the way of a duel, were of i?aily occurrence, and at times deadly' bickers or battles with stones and slings took place between rival schools or opposite sides of streets, at which serious accidents sometimes too^ place. An intense fear of Bonapa-te pervaded every class, accompanied with a stern determination to do their i duty in the way of resistance. Peebleshire, with a population one-half that of Dunedin, turned out 1,200 men under arms. From 1803 till 1814 Edinburgh <as a complete camp. Side-arms and uniform peeped from behind the gowa at the bar, and even on the bench ; and parade and review fornsed the staple of conversation. There was no telegraph in those days to give instant warning, but beacon- fires were bnilt on the high hilltops, and watchers sat ready to set them in a blaze. In ' 1804 the watcher at Home Castle, deceived by an accidental fire in Northumberland, lighted his beacon. The signal of war was manfully answered. The civic volunteers, the country ,, corps, well armed and completely appointed with baggage and provisions, and the Selkirk Yeomanry mustered, the latter reaching thirty miles distant te Dalkeith in a few hours. It may be said that at this time tbe whole of Scotland was an armed camp, thoroughly in earnest. Those who could not enter the ranks themselves, contributed to the general expenses. An old maiden lady at Montrose refused to subscribe to a proposed fund for organising a volunteer oorpa in that town. "Indeed,' 1 when asked to give something, sb,6 said, " I'll dae nae sic thing ; I ne'er oeuld raise a man for mysell, and I'm no gaen to raise men for King George ' At the time of the threatened invasion, the Laird of Logan was taunted with the want of a loyal spirit at Cumnock, in Ayrshire, ten or twelve miles from the coast, thereoot being a single volunteer in the place. • ' What sort of people are you at Cumnock ?" said an Ayr gentlemen, "you have not a single volunteer." "Never ye heed," said the Laird, very quietly, "if the French land at Ayr, there will soon be plenty of voiunters up at Cumnock." *~The peace in 1814 brought the disbandment of the different corps ; but in 1819, the alarm created in Glasgow by the Radicals, as they were called in their attempts at political changes, led anew to the enrolment of the volunteers in various places. Uuder the command of Samuel Hunter, editor of the ' Glasgow Herald,' a regiment of 1,000 fine young fellows was raised under the name of the "Glasgow Sharpshooters." 'I he Volunteers were never severely tried, if I except a troop of Yeomanry, which, with a troqp of the 7th Hussars, followed the Radicals to Bonnymuir, near Stirling. About fifty had proceeded thither expecting large reinforcements from England. On heing .asked to surrender, they answered with a shout of defiance, and stood in the front rank in which they had formed, armed with pikes, pistols, and guns. The whole party were .dispersed or taken prisoners, and the ringleaders— Baird and Hardie— were tried and hanged at Stirling, and their heads afterwards struck off, according to the old punishment for treason. This, I think, was the last instance of such barbarity in Scotland.

The sudden failure' of the war-demand fw a vast variety of articles was no.t compensated by the recovery of any peace market. forfiia n or domestic ; and thousands of artisans were thrown out of employment and reduced to a state of extreme want. Their sufferings were augmented by a rapid rise in the price of cum, the consequence of a general failure in the harvests of Europe, and conspiracy, rick burning, and seditious meetings followed. The Government of the day was blamed for ail-that happened,, an.d there were loud demands for Parliamentary reform. In Scotland, snob, a, reform was urgently needed, [n the burghs the members were returned by delegates appointed by the Town Councils. Some burghs generally were associated together, and a delegate from each met at the returning burgh and returned the candidate. It is now believed that both the Government and the people were deceived by designing men,' wh.o turned the Bufferings of the working qlas,sas to their own advantage, and encjourqged sedition that they might mend tb,eir own fortune by giving exaggerated, information to the Government. There were no newspapers, in the modern acceptation of the word. or want of news, events of a ve> y ancient date had interest. In Peebles, 'lam Fleck, a "flichty chield," as he was considered, added tq hit* gains by going about in the evenings and reading a chapter at the humble firesides out of an old copy of Joseph us. "Weel, Tarn, what's the news the nicht ;" the old grandfather, seated in bis wooden arm-chair, would a.a.k.* *' Bad news, bad news," replied Tarn, '• Titus has begun to beseige Jerusalem. Its gaun to be a terrible business." William Chambers narrates his being present at such a Beance, and how the family was kept in an agony 'for a week by the horrors of the seige, until thefioal sack of the. city wrought them up into a perfect paroxysm of terror. The want of newspapers was partially supplied by the gathering of the aon regationa in the kirkyard previous to and after divine servicß, when a good deal of gossip and busi ness took place. A lady hi. :ng a servant girl stipulated lor her return home on Sunday immediately after service. "Then I canna engjdge wi' you, mem," she replied ; '• for 'deed I wadna' gie the crack i' the kir-k-yard for a' the sermon." In a h\ter time a rough subject residing in Galloway being taken to task fox absenting himself from Church, remarked: — "There's n»e need to gang to kirk noo', for everybody gets a newspaper." The lecturer then gave a history of the life of William Chambers, the founder of 'Chambers'* Journal.' Then, having referred to the hard work and long hours of labor^ of our forefathers, he proceeded as follows : — After William resolved to call no man master, he took a small shop in Leith Ward at a yearly rent of LlO. After from three to four years existence in the Walk, higher ventures were made, and in the spring ef 1823 William removed to a good shop in Broughton street. Robert had advanced to India" Place. - They now rose rapidly. Robert's early effort, the publication of "The Traditions of Edinburgh," at- j tracted great attention, but the great hit was the projection of ' Chamber's Journal' in 1832, by William. Robert, seeing its success, left the editorship of the • Edinburgh Advertiser and joined his brother in the world-re-nowned firm of W. and R. Chambers. They had then a shop in N. Hanover street. Considerable mechanical difficulty was expel rienced in supplying the demand. John .Johnstone, a fine old man, the husband of authoress of " Clan Albyn," was the printer. Relays e'f men workingathand presses in various parts of ihe city could not overtake the work. Sets of stereotype plates were at length sent weekly to London, and after three years the circulation rose to 60,000. They finally established themselves in spacious premises in High street, where, with twelve printing machines at work, and a complete staff of able literary assistants, a whole Host of printers, engravers, binders, storeotypers, and other laborers, they issued to, $he world a ' daily stream of 50,000 sheets in various departments of literature —

In the conduct of that' business) tl» brothers laid down three rules, which were inflexibly maintained : never to take credit ; never, to give a bill ; and never to discount One.

It is with regret that one sees the old distinctive peculiarities passing away. Sailways, the telegraph, the cheap" Press," the development of arts and manufactures— are fast assimilatingthe dialects of Britain into' one. The old Doric is vanishing into oblivion. In the beginning of the century a boy at school would scarcely understand pure English. The leading principles of theScotch law, founded on the Roman civil law, are the same as the old French and the Continental countries. The public prosecutor of France— Frocureur de Roi —is found , in the Scottish Procurator- Fiscal, and the Dean of Faculty has his analogies in France. In Scotland we seldom hear of a leg of mutton, but a gigot. The water-jug is a caraff, carafe ; gooseberries, groserts, großeille ; partridges, pertrickt, perd.ix ; large plate, ashet, amette ; dour, obstinate, dore; douce, mild, doux; dorty, sulky, dourere; vizzy, to aim at, 'viser; 'aumrie, press, almorie',' and many others. .The special holidays of the people are fast fading away. The English Christmas and Boxing Day are superseding the kindly hospitalities of Hogmanay, New Year's Day, and Handsel Monday. Hogmanay was the last day of the year, when the chitaren used to go from door to door crying out — Hogmanay, trollalay. . Give of your white bread and none of your grey. The whisky bottle, " The 1 First Fit," are all now of the past. Many a rankling sore was healed in families, and many a friendship cemented by the interchange' of courtesy on New Year's Day. At one time, tbe New Year's Day in large towns was attended with rioting and disorder, so that it was unsafe to walk the streets. In 1812, a police offier was killed in Edinburgh in such a brawl, and three fine young men were hanged for the crime on one gallows. This awful event created a great sensation, and led to the establishment of Sunday Schools in various parts of the City. An Edinburgh mob was always troublesome. You all know the story of the Porteous mob, and I recollect so late as 1831, just before the Reform Bill passed, when the last election by the Town Council took place, Lord Provost Allan, on retiring from the Council,: was, with difficulty, saved being thrown over the North Bridge by the timely arrival of troop of dragoons. Peace to those old times. We need not forget, while in the land of our adoption, our national dishes. A good haggis should still be a standard dish on St. Andrew's Day. A singit sheep's head is worthy of some attention— and about a sheep's .head pie a sensible person observed, there is a great deal of "confused eating." [The lee : turer compared northern with, southern cookery, giving preference to the former, apparently in a truly national spirit.}' Many, curious social habits qttght be alluded to, and before. I qlosq, I must allude to the hard drinking , whioh prevailed: Lords ef Session mounted the Bench in, a doubtful state, and even .clergymen went home in early morning after a long carouse. One of Lord Newton's, cslerks declared the best paper his master ever wrote was after he had imbibed six bottles of claret. When he wag Mr Hay, one of his clients called a.t four o'clock to see him. He was surprised to find him at dinner, and said, to. the; servant he understood five to be Mr Say's dinner-hour. " Oh but, Sir^'- said the man, . "it is his yesterday's dinner they're at." , Last century , ladies, even, were not afraid of an oyster supper with rather strong stimulants : and i* is related of L©»<l M«i-»ai«», une Duchess of Gordon, and several other, persons of distinction, that so late as eighty years ago they made up an oyeter^oellar party in Edinburgh by way of a f radio, and ieviv«d the well-known entertainment of their youth. A writer in tb,e 'Edinburgh Magazine,' in 1817, states that in those o]d i^oies " though it was a disgrace for ladies to be seen- drunk, yet it was, none to be a little intoxicated in good company." Taverns were universally frequented. " A cauld cock and a feather" was- the metaphorical mode of calling for a glass of brandy and a bunch of raisins for a noontide dram. At night everyone repaired to his"- club. The Cape olub was a famous tradesman's plaoe ef meeting. The Poker Club was celebrated. There was the Hosy Club, so named from the equivoke on Pyehouse. A gUI of toddy -and a pie were the nightly debauch, and the members separated punctually at ten. The Spendthrift Club took its name from the extravagance of the evening's reckoning, which invariably amounted to fonrpence halfpenny— being 2d for supper, and half a bottle ef ale and a dram, which cost 2£d There were the Dirty Olub, the Black Wigs, the Odd Eellows (whe wrote their names upside dawnX the Bonnet Hands, the Town Market Club, . and many others which, survival taronghout the , firsts qqa^ej: ef this century. The drinking at funerals was very de p, and Lord Brougham relates a ito<*y of his grandfather's funeral orgies which was so protracted that the coffin was lost, and in 1846 he saw the lead coffin, on the vault being opened, battered aud bulged from being tumbled down the seep banks of the Lamont. It was on this occasion the Ouke of Norfolk gave the toast — " Friends and neighbors, before I give you the toast of the day — the memory of the deceased —I ask you to drink to the health of the family physician, Dr Harrison, the founder of the feast. " Tne epoch which was marked with such quaint features, can boast of the establishment of the 'Edinburgh Review,, ' by a band of iiteratji whose names are -famous — Jeffrey, fclorner, Murray, Thomson, Brougham, and Sydney Smith- Perhaps no periodical has ever had greater influence in bringing about social changes. When it started, in 1802, Parliamentary representation in Scotland had scarcely aa existence— the Catholics were unemancipated, the Test Act unrepealed, men were hung for stealing a "ew shillings in a dwelling house, no counsel allowed to a prisoner accused of a capital offence, the horrors of the slave trade-tole-rated, the prevailing tendencies of the. age jobbery and corruption. The promoters lived to see,< the bread oast upon tne waters return after many days, and their noble efforts to purify the political atmosphere cro.wned with success. Amid all that may appear to us as singularities, there. was, in the gieat mass of the people, especially in some rural districts), a deep earnest feelI ing of religion. . ".The voice- qf Psalms" might be heard pealing heavenward from the wayside cot in the gloamin' ef a calm summer evening. The " Cottar's Saturday Night " is not exaggerated. The middle and humbler ranks cling to the, Presbyterianism they inherited from the heroes of the Reformation and the Covenant. ', The Haldanes did much to promote independency in the beginning of the century, and the Wesloyans have not been slack in their labors. But those denominations have not taken, deep root. The simple, earnest for.ra.of the Scottish worship, ,- with, the pugged, literature of Sternhold aud Hopkins, were, well adapted to the spiritual wants of the, people. It is refreshing to me to' look back to the fading visions of the. past. ' If I can wish! a good wish to this fair land, worthy of heing apostrophised in the langu-age-addressed te tike mother, country — ' Land of the mountain and the floodLand of brown heath and shaggy wood-*- , it is that her children, reared in a finer climate, and in more favorable eircumstan- es than their grandfathers, may excel in the fervor of their genius, the exalted character of their patriotitm, their attachment to learn-

[iog and religion] their love of honor and in. dependence, the glorious roll of their .hon.or.ed countrymen, who, in'every walk of life, 'and in every part ef the world, lure sfaed lustre on the .name of a Soatsman. ]