THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN
 
 rt_.'- 
 * T-
 
 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN 
 
 A HIGHLAND PARISH 
 OF TO-DAY 
 
 BY 
 
 A RESI DEN T 
 
 WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONS 
 
 EDINBURGH AND LONDON 
 
 MDCCCLXXXI
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAP. PAGE 
 
 INTRODUCTION, .... I 
 
 I. THE CROFTERS OF A HIGHLAND PARISH 
 
 OF TO-DAY, 9 
 
 II. RELIGION OF A HIGHLAND PARISH OF 
 
 TO-DAY, . 33 
 
 III. THE POLITICS OF A HIGHLAND PARISH 
 
 OF TO-DAY, .... 66 
 
 IV. LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE IN A HIGH- 
 
 LAND PARISH OF TO-DAY, . . 85 
 
 V. MANSES AND MINISTERS IN A HIGHLAND 
 
 PARISH OF TO-DAY, . . .103 
 
 VI. HEATHFIELD HOUSE AND THE PEOPLE'S 
 
 FRIEND, . . . . .126 
 
 VII. POPULAR ENTERTAINMENTS AND AMUSE- 
 MENTS IN A HIGHLAND PARISH OF 
 TO-DAY, ..... 144
 
 VI CONTENTS. 
 
 VIII. SHOPKEEPING IN A HIGHLAND PARISH 
 
 OF TO-DAY, .... l8l 
 
 IX. THE HOME AND SURROUNDINGS OF A "BIG 
 FAIRMER " -IN A HIGHLAND PARISH OF 
 TO-DAY, ..... 2O2 
 
 X. THE USUAL VISITORS TO A HIGHLAND 
 
 PARISH, ..... 229 
 
 XI. BIG DAYS IN A HIGHLAND PARISH, . 256 
 
 XII. CONCLUSION, . . . .266
 
 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 IT is the aim of the writer of the following pages 
 to sketch a Highland parish of our own times, just 
 as it is ; and in doing this, there will be made such 
 references to the past as may enable the reader, to 
 some extent at least, to compare a Highland parish 
 of to-day with that of a past of from twenty to 
 forty years ago. 
 
 While there is little or nothing sensational to 
 chronicle, it is hoped that these sketches will not 
 be lacking in interest to such as care to glance at 
 the changes that have taken place within recent 
 years, in a part of the country long, on account 
 of its remoteness, invested with a sort of romance, 
 
 A
 
 2 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 and now largely frequented by many, not only 
 for the invigorating benefit of its bracing air, but 
 also for the richness and variety of its natural 
 scenery. 
 
 Stratheden is a fairly representative Highland 
 parish, and possesses the interesting features of 
 being at once materially influenced by the changes 
 of recent times, and of retaining a few of the special 
 characteristics of a Highland parish of other days. 
 
 Though not a sound particularly inviting to the 
 lover of harmony, the whistle of a passing railway 
 train may now be heard along with the bleating 
 of the sheep that pasture on the hillsides of Strath- 
 eden ; and those of the inhabitants who can, from 
 personal knowledge, compare the present with the 
 past of twenty years ago, reckon this fact alone as 
 a marked sign of the progress of the age, and as a 
 patent enough proof that the remoteness of the past 
 has vanished. 
 
 There are many yet living who remember a time 
 when Stratheden was essentially remote in respect 
 of the limited means of communication between it 
 and the larger world outside. A journey from 
 Stratheden to Glasgow or Edinburgh, not very 
 many years ago, occupied four days, and such a 
 journey was then thought as great an undertaking
 
 INTRODUCTION. 3 
 
 as a journey across the Atlantic is considered by 
 many in the present day. Railway trains were 
 unknown, and telegraphic communication undreamt 
 of. The mail-coach was the principal means of 
 communication ; and though it was tardy, com- 
 pared with the rapid travelling of to-day, there are 
 many and these by no means slow people not 
 ashamed to look back with a sort of fond regret on 
 the days of the mail-coach. No doubt there were 
 many bleak journeys, days and nights when drift- 
 ing snow or pelting rain had to be encountered ; 
 but, generally speaking, these uninviting experiences 
 were soon forgot, and there was a kind of pleasing 
 excitement in the halting at the stages on the way, 
 the chattings as the travellers walked up the steep 
 brae, and the rest in the cosy best room of the 
 wayside inn. Along with all this, the coaching 
 days possessed another feature which many, prob- 
 ably with a sigh, will feel as an advantage in- 
 deed. There was not, as a rule, that exhaust- 
 ing excitement which the very rapidity and haste 
 of to-day so much, and, it is to be feared, so injuri- 
 ously occasion. Time then, as now, perhaps, was 
 money ; and though people took more time or, as 
 the disciples of the modern estimate of proper tra- 
 velling may think, lost more time the older gen-
 
 4 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 eration managed to get along wonderfully well, 
 and we are not sure that money, relatively that 
 is to say, was not as plentiful as it is to-day. Be 
 this as it may, our travelling, in its means and 
 its rapidity, is widely different from that of the 
 period alluded to. London is within twenty- four 
 hours of Stratheden ; and as for Glasgow or Edin- 
 burgh, not very long ago literally far away, they 
 are to-day considered to be at the very door. The 
 whistle of a railway train several times a-day echoes 
 along the glens of Stratheden, and the telegraphic 
 wire is at hand to flash its message at any moment 
 at the bidding of the wondering inhabitants. A 
 letter posted in London on the evening of one day 
 may be read in Stratheden next evening ; and 
 now that so many sportsmen and tourists, having 
 important interests to attend to in the great metro- 
 polis and other places, frequent districts as far 
 away as Stratheden, such facilities of communica- 
 tion must be of immense value. No doubt many 
 persons, on the other hand, may luxuriate in the 
 quiet retreat afforded by places like Stratheden, 
 happy in the thought of getting away "from the 
 madding crowd," away from the anxious worry of a 
 busy life with its letters and telegrams ; but where, 
 as is sometimes the case, the interests far away
 
 INTRODUCTION. 5 
 
 must be kept in hand in the quiet Highland straths 
 and glens, the benefits of train and telegraphs 
 must be highly prized. There was a time, about 
 thirty years ago, when letters came but once a-week 
 to Stratheden, and that by a circuitous and tedious 
 route. Letters were not then so numerous as they 
 are now ; and as for newspapers, not more than 
 half-a-dozen copies came to the parish, though 
 the population was as large then as at present. At 
 this moment letters arrive thrice daily in Strath- 
 eden ; and, judging from the bulk of the postman's 
 bag as he passes along the strath, it excites a little 
 wonder to think of the large number of letters that 
 constantly come to our peaceful solitudes. The 
 increase in the number of newspapers is equally 
 remarkable. Instead of half-a-dozen copies, to-day 
 fully fourteen dozen, including weekly and daily 
 papers, regularly come to the parish, all duly sub- 
 scribed for. 
 
 The same element of change is apparent with 
 reference to the garb popularly understood to be 
 worn by the native Highlander, and with regard 
 to the language so long spoken in so many of our 
 Highland parishes indeed, the only language used 
 by the great majority of the inhabitants of a High- 
 land parish of some forty years ago. However
 
 6 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 commonly it may have been used in other days, 
 the philabeg (kilt) cannot be said to have been 
 in general use at .any period within the last fifty 
 years. Twenty years ago three - fourths of the 
 school-boys in a Highland parish were kilted loons, 
 and many of them continued to wear the kilt until 
 they were close on twenty years of age. To-day, 
 taking an average Highland public school, we look 
 in vain for even one in five wearing the ancient 
 garb a fact suggestive enough of the slender like- 
 likood of its ever again becoming the popular 
 costume. 
 
 And so with the Gaelic language. The use of it 
 too, beyond all dispute, is dying out ; and much as 
 many of us may regret it, the time cannot be far dis- 
 tant when, even in the remotest Highland parish, 
 Gaelic accents will be rare indeed. 
 
 Another marked change in a Highland parish of 
 the present day is visible in the greatly improved 
 aspect of the dwelling-houses. The houses as they 
 now are, with very few exceptions, bear little or 
 no resemblance to those of, say, forty years ago, 
 and even within the last fifteen years a some- 
 what marked change in this respect has taken 
 place. No small proportion of the homes of the 
 people have within the latter period been converted
 
 INTRODUCTION. 7 
 
 from earthen-walled, heather-thatched, imperfectly- 
 lighted, badly - ventilated habitations, into sub- 
 stantially-built, stone-walled, slated, well-lighted, 
 well -ventilated, and neat -looking cottages. No 
 doubt from beneath the sooty ceiling of the humble 
 unpretending hut of other days there frequently 
 emerged as true, good people, and as successful in 
 the larger world outside, as ever sat in spacious 
 gorgeously-furnished dwellings ; but this does not 
 alter the fact that there was room for improvement 
 in the matter of both architectural design and in- 
 ternal comfort. The thatched roof of other days, 
 composed of earth and heather, is now rapidly 
 giving way to the slated roof, though the former 
 type the earth-and-heather structure enjoys a 
 lingering existence among the crofter-fishermen on 
 the western seaboard of the counties of Ross, Suther- 
 land, and Inverness. The proprietor of Stratheden, 
 and many other Highland lairds, desirous to pro- 
 mote the comfort of the crofters, give considerable 
 material encouragement to house-improvement by 
 supplying wood and lime, the crofters themselves 
 having thus to provide slates and labour only, 
 which most of them are able, and all willing, to 
 provide. 
 
 For obvious reasons, the names employed in the
 
 8 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 following pages are fictitious, but the persons spoken 
 of, or allowed to speak for themselves, are veritable 
 persons well known to the author, and the beliefs 
 and opinions set forth are such as he has heard, 
 and hears, expressed in various Highland parishes 
 of to-day.
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE CROFTERS OF A HIGHLAND PARISH 
 OF TO-DAY. 
 
 THE Highland crofter system has for some time 
 past been receiving considerable attention. Eager 
 theorists of the sentimental order are in this, as in 
 other matters, apt to forget the plain teaching of 
 facts. This is noticeable in the case of some writers 
 in the newspapers who propound generous-looking 
 but impracticable theories for the amelioration, as 
 they call it, of the condition of the Highland crofter. 
 These persons forget that the average crofter is 
 quite satisfied with his lot. This, of course, is no 
 reason why outsiders should not consider that there 
 is little cause for the crofters being satisfied, or why 
 efforts should not be made to improve the existing 
 situation. At the same time, it is a fact worth re- 
 membering by such as recommend changes in the 
 condition of Highland crofters. It is difficult to
 
 10 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 induce the crofter to aspire to anything better 
 than his existing lot. There need be no pedantry 
 in reminding the reader that happiness is a relative 
 term, and consequently there is no reason why the 
 average crofter should not feel as happy in his own 
 way as any other sort of person. When the news 
 of the diabolical attempt on the life of the Emperor 
 of Russia in 1880 reached Stratheden, we heard a 
 Stratheden crofter say : " Whatna' meesurrable life 
 that Emperar o' Rooshia must hev. Wi' all their 
 grandar and riches and all that, some o' them big 
 people are no happy. Oorselves is happier, though 
 we're poor, and hesna' but oor wee hooses and bitties 
 o' lawnd." This style of comment is quite common, 
 and might be usefully pondered over by those who 
 mourn over the " miseries " of Highland crofters, 
 and propound theories of reform. Certain tourists, 
 knowing little or nothing of the actual condition 
 of crofters, but influenced by sentiment and afflicted 
 with a fondness for seeing themselves in print, 
 happen to come across a wretched-looking hut 
 a sorry fabric of earth and heather such as some 
 of the West Highland crofters continue to live in. 
 Thinking themselves capable of showing how the 
 supposed misery can be removed, they at once pro- 
 ceed to ventilate their generally crude schemes of
 
 CROFTERS OF A HIGHLAND PARISH. I I 
 
 reform. But the problem if problem it can be 
 really called of the crofter system cannot be 
 settled in this emotional and hasty fashion. Time 
 at least is needed for removing real drawbacks. Let 
 us now look at the general circumstances of High- 
 land crofters. 
 
 The surroundings of the crofter are not the same 
 in every district of the Highlands. One prominent 
 difference must be noticed. The crofters of the 
 eastern districts of Ross, Sutherland, and Inverness, 
 as a rule, depend entirely on the croft ; while the 
 crofters of the western seaboard of the same coun- 
 ties are crofter-fishermen, depending for a living as 
 much on the fishing as on the croft. For about 
 half of the year these crofter-fishermen are engaged 
 in fishing. Their boats are usually manned by six 
 persons five men and a boy, the latter being a sort 
 of multum in paruo institution, combining the func- 
 tions of cook, message-boy, and general servant. In 
 some instances these boats are the* property of one 
 individual, the others manning the craft being hired 
 men ; but frequently the boat is a joint-stock con- 
 cern, and the profits of the season's fishing are 
 divided, share and share alike, among the joint 
 owners. Sometimes they make a good thing of 
 it ; and it is quite common to hear of a boat's
 
 12 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 crew earning in a season one hundred and fifty 
 pounds sterling, which, though it may have to be 
 divided among five, represents a decidedly success- 
 ful fishing. Most of these crofter-fishermen are of 
 a saving turn. They fare simply chiefly on fish, 
 potatoes, milk, and meal and rarely cultivate ex- 
 pensive tastes. At the same time, we have fre- 
 quently heard shopkeepers in the districts where 
 crofter-fishermen are to be met with, say that the 
 dress fabrics ordinarily purchased by the wives and 
 daughters of these people are of a more expensive 
 kind than that commonly used by many in higher 
 positions of life. Tea is a favourite beverage in 
 most of their homes ; and within recent years there 
 has been a considerable increase in the use of the 
 " cup that cheers." The other cup, that does more 
 than cheer, is not, of course, universally despised ; 
 but these crofter -fishermen are, as a class, sober 
 people. 
 
 From about the end of September until the middle 
 of May the greater number of them are at home, 
 during which period harvesting is generally late in 
 these districts the requirements of the croft are 
 attended to. For the rest of the year they are away 
 at fishing-stations in Wick, Stornoway, Peterhead, 
 and Fraserburgh. Their winter is a comparatively
 
 CROFTERS OF A HIGHLAND PARISH. 13 
 
 idle one. Some of them prosecute the ling and cod 
 fishing ; but they don't often make this a busy or 
 prolonged work, and the principal winter work con- 
 sists in threshing a few sheaves of oats or barley 
 daily, to keep themselves in meal and their cattle 
 in fodder. Their crofts, as a rule, are not too pro- 
 ductive, but this is sometimes the fault of the crofter 
 as much as of the croft. Though some crofters are 
 too poor to expend any money in improving their 
 crofts, there are many of them who, by the exercise 
 of a little industry in the matter of drainage and 
 collecting manure, might materially improve their 
 holdings. Many of them say that if they had leases 
 instead of the year-to-year occupancy which, with 
 the exception of one or two districts, is the rule 
 among these crofter -fishermen, matters would im- 
 prove, because of the greater security of tenure. 
 Besides the fact, however, that few of them wish 
 for leases, probably fearing that increased rents 
 would follow, it is doubtful whether leases would 
 very materially alter their general circumstances. 
 They lack the feeling of entire dependence on the 
 croft, and hence the absence of a powerful motive 
 to improve it. 
 
 The croft ordinarily consists of from three to 
 seven acres of arable land, in addition to the right
 
 14 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 of pasture for some half-dozen head of cattle, a 
 dozen or more sheep, and one horse. The " rent," 
 generally speaking, is very moderate sometimes 
 under ten shillings an acre, though there are cases 
 where it may be about double that figure. Some 
 crofts can yield the annual meal requirements of 
 the crofter's family, but many fall short of this, and 
 some crofters have to buy considerable quantities of 
 meal, for which, however, their fishing profits come 
 in conveniently. 
 
 Their method of harvesting barley is peculiar. It 
 is pulled up by the root not, however, as some 
 teetotallers might suspect, with thirsty designs after 
 extracting some " barley-bree " from the uprooted 
 stalk. It is applied to quite other purposes, for 
 doing, indeed, what the " barley-bree " is credited 
 with often undoing namely, thatching their houses, 
 and making their homes comfortable. The barley- 
 straw, root and all, is placed as thatch on the dwell- 
 ing-house ; and whatever may be thought of the 
 general design of the house, the use to which this 
 barley-straw is ultimately applied shows something 
 like utilitarian leanings in the crofter build, the 
 crofter mind, we mean. Annually, as spring-time 
 comes round, this tJiatch, enriched with the smoke 
 of many peat-fires, is bodily removed and used for
 
 CROFTERS OF A HIGHLAND PARISH. 15 
 
 manuring the land, so that, after all, the barley- 
 straw arrangement by no means ends in smoke. 
 
 The sales off the croft, in the case of crofter- 
 fishermen, generally speaking, are not large. Those 
 among them that can annually sell two head of 
 cattle, representing from 4. to 8, and about three 
 bolls, or twelve bags, of potates, will reckon them- 
 selves as having had a pretty good year. A coun- 
 terbalancing circumstance, however, is the often 
 scanty return of oats and barley available for meal 
 the meal -purchases thus rendered necessary ab- 
 sorbing any profits resulting from other gains. 
 
 Some of the homes of these crofter-fishermen, as 
 seen from without, are not suggestive of comfort, 
 though on entering, in spite of the smoke, the 
 irregular earthen floor, limited space, and scanty 
 light, one is inclined to conclude that the inmates 
 are comfortable in a way, if not happy. Several 
 of the houses consist of an earthen wall, a roof of 
 earth and heather, or the barley-straw alluded to, 
 covering some half-dozen rafters these latter of 
 a glossy black, from long acquaintance with dense 
 volumes of smoke " struggling to be free." Though 
 within recent years improvements have been taking 
 place, the internal arrangements, even to-day, are in 
 some instances primitive enough beyond all dispute.
 
 1 6 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 The floor is an earthen one ; and whether because 
 of the removing tendencies of time, or of a defect 
 in the original construction, frequent hollows make 
 it irregular, and' render locomotion difficult to the 
 inexperienced. The fire is in the centre of the 
 apartment ordinarily there are only "a but and a 
 ben " and whatever other comforts may be absent, 
 there is usually sufficient warmth. Peats are plenti- 
 ful ; and as the moss is near at hand, scarcity of fire 
 ordinarily means laziness. The available space is, 
 or seems to be, limited. The windows are small 
 very small; and the ventilation is intrusted to the 
 care of a bottomless barrel, or suchlike contrivance. 
 It is only necessary, however, to remind the reader 
 of the barley-straw arrangement to conclude that 
 it is not specially desired that all the smoke should 
 find its way through this barrel. Prominent among 
 the furniture is what is locally called a dresser 
 a large square piece of wood, with shelves, resting 
 on a plain table, and placed against the wall : 
 this dresser bears a varied burden of plates, bowls, 
 teapots, cups and saucers, jugs, spoons, knives with 
 or without handles, as also a kettle, and one or two 
 pots and pans. 
 
 The crofters of Stratheden are not fishermen : they 
 depend entirely on their crofts, and their general cir-
 
 CROFTERS OF A HIGHLAND PARISH. 17 
 
 cumstances are, in several respects, quite different 
 from those of the crofter-fishermen we have been 
 speaking of. Their homes, both in architectural 
 design and internal comfort, are as a rule much 
 superior to those of the latter ; their crofts are 
 more valuable, and the style of agriculture more 
 advanced. Most of the crofters' houses in Strath- 
 eden are slated, and can boast of well - lighted, 
 roomy apartments, and grates, as well as chimneys, 
 of modern make. The croft, generally speaking, 
 consists of from four to eight acres of arable land 
 (in most cases very good land), with the right of 
 " pasture " enabling the crofter to keep a horse, half- 
 a-dozen cattle, and a few sheep. The " rents " are 
 very moderate, and the productiveness of the croft 
 in many instances is such that the occupier is often 
 able, by the sale of potatoes alone, to pay his rent, 
 and leave a surplus besides. 
 
 Iron ploughs are now common : one rarely, if 
 ever, meets with a wooden one. A common prac- 
 tice in the matter of ploughing is, the average 
 crofter having but one horse, that two neighbouring 
 crofters enter into a joint arrangement by which 
 the land of each is ploughed by the horses of both. 
 What was locally considered a vast advance in the 
 department of agriculture a ploughing- match 
 
 B
 
 1 8 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 took place in Stratheden this year (1880) ; and 
 being the first that ever was known among the 
 crofter population, it naturally attracted a great 
 deal of attention. It is quite understood that 
 ploughing-matches will now rank among the usual 
 and ordinary institutions of the parish. 
 
 The ordinary daily life of the average crofter in 
 Stratheden is essentially uneventful. His ambition 
 rarely soars beyond the monotonous routine of his 
 immediate surroundings. Except for a few weeks in 
 spring and autumn, his life is not a busy one. It is 
 not one of constant toil, though, occasionally, a case 
 may be met with where a crofter of improving 
 tendencies gets possession of a piece of waste land 
 to reclaim, and thus, for a time at least, he is busy 
 enough. Winter, with most of the crofters, is a 
 perpetual holiday. They rise late, and the principal 
 morning requirements of the croft at this season are 
 the letting out of the cattle and horses to water, and 
 the doing up of the byre and stable for the day. 
 During the day they have the oats or barley to 
 thresh, and this is the crofter's principal winter work. 
 Threshing- mills are unknown among the crofters 
 generally, and, indeed, it is only within the past 
 ten years that they have come into general use on 
 the large farms. The steady, heavy beat of the
 
 CROFTERS OF A HIGHLAND PARISH. 19 
 
 " flail " is a familiar sound in Stratheden during the 
 winter and spring. Sometimes the flail's duties are 
 light. A wet harvest diminishes the number of 
 sheaves available, and there is reason to suspect 
 that sometimes the crop returns suffer a diminu- 
 tion from defective drainage or scanty manuring, or 
 both, defects ordinarily in the power of the crofter 
 to remedy. The average Highland laird is very 
 willing to grant money for drainage at a reasonable 
 rate of interest ; and the quantity of manure avail- 
 able might in many cases be increased by the exer- 
 cise of a little care and industry during the Snd of 
 autumn, and all through the winter and early spring. 
 
 The day's instalment of threshing over and it is 
 never hard work except when in arrear the crofter 
 feels he has the remainder of the day for himself, 
 and he meditates how to spend his leisure hours. 
 One goes to the shoemaker's shop, another to the 
 tailor's, and a third wanders off to the smithy, while 
 a fourth visits the shopkeeper, or " merchant," as 
 the latter is called by many in Stratheden. The 
 subjects and manner of conversation usual on such 
 occasions are described in another part of this book. 
 
 The Stratheden crofter rarely goes far from home ; 
 and though railway excursion trips and other facil- 
 ities for cheap travelling have modified this long-
 
 20 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 prevalent feature, there are some crofters in the 
 parish, persons of sixty years or thereabouts, who 
 have never travelled more than ten miles beyond 
 Stratheden, their native parish. The younger people 
 are getting initiated into travelling ways. Several 
 natives of Stratheden, and like places, are in the 
 south in various situations, and when at home, 
 during the holiday season, their descriptions of the 
 " big places " far away excite a curiosity which 
 induces their untravelled brothers and sisters to 
 see something of the world. Fairs, or as they are 
 called in Stratheden, and in the Highlands gene- 
 rally, markets, constitute another attraction to the 
 younger crofter people ; and these institutions, espe- 
 cially those that take place only once in the year, 
 or half-yearly, are very popular. Some parents, 
 dubious as to the propriety of allowing their sons, 
 and especially their daughters, to visit " them kind 
 o' places," reply to the request of a daughter for 
 leave to go to the market with an authoritative 
 and peremptory refusal. "There's such an awful 
 lot o' all kinds of people at them markets, and 
 there's some bad people going aboot ; it's no a place 
 for young lassies at all, at all," is the reason offered 
 for the refused permission. It seems strange, how- 
 ever, that in some cases the same dislike exists to
 
 CROFTERS OF A HIGHLAND PARISH. 21 
 
 allowing the young people, especially the daughters, 
 to go to the Communion in distant parishes. Very 
 probably it is the " awful lot o' all kinds o' people " 
 at the Communion gathering that awakens misgiv- 
 ings in the parental heart, but it surely cannot be 
 thought that the other and special portion of the 
 paternal warning anent the market is applicable, 
 to any great extent, to the Communion gatherings. 
 The refusal in question is felt to be a sad depriva- 
 tion, not so much because of the market itself, or 
 even of the Communion or " Saycriemant " itself, as 
 because of the opportunity some of the fair sex 
 may thus lose of improving their prospects in the 
 matrimonial market A strict paterfamilias of the 
 class referred to must have been a little taken 
 aback by an observation once made to him by his 
 daughter. Half in fun, half in earnest, he said to 
 her : " Merran " (Marion), " am wundering you're no 
 getting a husband ; I was thinking it wull be near 
 aboot time you was getting merrit ; " to which the 
 daughter's reply was : " It's your own fault, father ; 
 how can I get married when you'll no let me to the 
 market nor to the Saycriemant in other places ? " ! 
 
 But let us return to the crofter and his surround- 
 ings. Many of the crofts march with the " big fair- 
 mer's " ground, and this fact tended to perpetuate a
 
 22 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 sort of unpleasant feeling between the " big fairmer " 
 and the crofter, more especially some fifteen or 
 twenty years ago. The latter often enough was 
 envious of the former, and the former too often 
 selfishly indifferent about the crofter. The crofter's 
 cattle, after the manner of most cattle, would occa- 
 sionally find their way to the " big fairm," and take 
 a more or less extensive feed of the pasture most 
 suited to their taste. The " big fairmer," or his shep- 
 herd or other official, would send the cattle home, 
 with a dog as convoy, and the crofter would see 
 his cattle rushing as if for dear life, at a rattling 
 break-neck rate, along the strath or down the hill- 
 side, and then well, what then but what was nat- 
 ural in the circumstances ? Why, the crofters' love 
 for the "big fairmer" would not be increased, and 
 the latter's murmurings about " these troublesome 
 crofters " would grow the louder. To-day, owing to 
 the growth of public opinion, and to the more pro- 
 saic fact of the growing use of wire-fencing, a better 
 feeling, in this respect at least, exists between the 
 farmers and crofters ; and we are glad to chron- 
 icle that Stratheden stands creditably high with re- 
 gard to cordial relations between the two classes of 
 farmers. 
 
 Speaking of crofters there are two personages to
 
 CROFTERS OF A HIGHLAND PARISH. 23 
 
 whom it is right to refer in passing we mean the 
 factor and the ground-officer. The ground-officer's 
 duties are various, such as seeing that the crofters 
 are cultivating their land in orthodox fashion ; inquir- 
 ing into disputes that may arise between neighbours 
 about marches, rights of pasture, and the like ; noti- 
 fying the date of the factor's coming to the parish 
 to collect the rents, and giving a reminder to such 
 as may have forgot the rent-day, or otherwise ne- 
 glected to pay. 
 
 The ground-officer is so far an important person- 
 age, and the factor depends a good deal for infor- 
 mation about the crofts and other matters on his 
 subordinate. It is understood that the ground- 
 officer keeps a sort of daily record of crofter events, 
 and some other matters occurring in his district, 
 which record is submitted weekly or fortnightly, as 
 the case may be, to the factor. It is said that other 
 matters than such as might be supposed to come 
 within a ground - officer's jurisdiction occasionally 
 find, or at least used to find, their way into this 
 official diary. We have been told that a few years 
 ago a ground-officer in a Highland parish, in filling 
 up his diary for a certain day, took occasion to 
 chronicle the following item of intelligence : " Met 
 the parish minister walking on the road to-day. His
 
 24 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 hat was very old-looking : he must surely have had 
 it for a long time." While admitting the sound- 
 ness of the logic with reference to the hat, it is 
 impossible to thfnk what this ground-officer might 
 have inserted in his record had the parish minister 
 met him walking elsewhere than "on the road." 
 
 The ground-officers of to-day, as a rule, are better 
 liked than were those of other days, just because, 
 for reasons which it is unnecessary here to mention, 
 the feeling between the crofters and the lairds was 
 less kindly in many cases than now, the ground- 
 officer being viewed, of course, as the laird's local 
 representative. To-day, matters are in every way 
 more satisfactory. The laird and the crofters seem 
 to understand each other better; and, though here 
 and there a grumbler a pretty loud one too may 
 be met with among the latter, for no other reason 
 than that the laird cannot please every person, any 
 more than other people can, a kindlier feeling, 
 generally speaking, prevails. The ground-officer of 
 to-day, accordingly, has more agreeable times of it, 
 though occasionally his experiences are the reverse 
 of pleasant. His position is in some respects a diffi- 
 cult one. Some crofters are too ready to think that 
 special estate enactments must be made to meet any 
 grievance that may crop up ; and when they have
 
 CROFTERS OF A HIGHLAND PARISH. 25 
 
 stated their case to the ground - officer, for sub- 
 mission to the factor, if an unfavourable verdict 
 is pronounced at headquarters, the ground - officer, 
 as the channel of communication, comes in for no 
 small share of the blame. The Stratheden ground- 
 officer, Mr David Gray, is a shrewd, intelligent man, 
 who knows his work well. He seems pretty largely 
 endowed with the valuable quality of being "quick 
 to hear and slow to speak," and ground-officers, like 
 all others, will find this habit essentially useful. 
 
 The factor within whose jurisdiction Stratheden is 
 situated is Mr David Pemberton. He knows as well 
 as any can how the crofters regard him officially 
 that few of them fondly love him, and that many 
 of them are prejudiced against him, simply because 
 he is " the factor," and, perhaps, because he cannot 
 please everybody. Mr Pemberton seems a sensible 
 man. If, sometimes, his expression is not too ami- 
 able, it is but just to remember that the worry in- 
 cident to a factor's life, the frequent and sometimes 
 unreasonable applications made to him, and the 
 perplexing amount of business often demanding his 
 attention, would go far to give a sour, if not an angry, 
 expression of countenance to persons of average 
 capacity for amiableness. Mr Pemberton is an ex- 
 cellent man of business, and a straightforward man ;
 
 26 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 and whatever some of the crofters may think of 
 him, some others in Stratheden and in neighbour- 
 ing parishes, in which he acts in the same capa- 
 city, are deeply "indebted to him for the valuable 
 assistance he affords in school board and parochial 
 board matters. He is not quite so terrible a 
 personage as certain crofter estimates might sug- 
 gest. He might perhaps cultivate the stiaviter 
 in modo a little more extensively, but it is not 
 easy. So many ask him so many favours with 
 respect to their crofts, and so many ask him so 
 many impossible favours, that having to say " No " 
 so often, he is apt to say it with a quite unneces- 
 sary bitterness and, indeed, it may be, sometimes 
 when he might have said " Yes." But he is human, 
 as perhaps even the most prejudiced of the crofters 
 will admit ; and it is proper to remember that a 
 just estimate of his manner necessitates a know- 
 ledge of his actual position, and to charitably con- 
 clude that he has his kindly feelings beneath the 
 apparent sourness of his official face. So much 
 for the crofters of a Highland parish of to-day, and 
 their general surroundings. 
 
 These crofters, as a class, are a steady, law-abid- 
 ing, and peace-loving people. Though in some 
 cases not so ingenuous or truthful as might be
 
 CROFTERS OF A HIGHLAND PARISH. 2/ 
 
 wished, such insincerity or sneakish tendency as is 
 met with, though to be deplored, possesses neither 
 the depth nor the venom that would incite to delib- 
 erate opposition to law and order. They are loyal 
 to the core, proud of their Queen and country, and 
 entertain a sincere respect for the time-honoured 
 institutions of the land. So far as their treatment 
 of each other is concerned, while the rivalries of 
 the increasing competition of to-day may render 
 displays of envious hatred and its unworthy accom- 
 paniments more common than of yore, we still think 
 there is an appropriateness in saying of the better 
 type of them that 
 
 "Nowhere beats the heart so kindly 
 As beneath the tartan plaid." 
 
 It is as difficult to forecast the future of the 
 crofter system, as it is to see the practicableness of 
 certain suggested schemes for the reform of real or 
 supposed defects in the system. Rents, generally 
 speaking, are moderate ; but on the death of a 
 crofter an increase takes place except in the case 
 of the widow of the deceased crofter. Assuming 
 which is scarcely probable, however that the in- 
 creasing process will become too great a strain on 
 the profitableness of the croft, its fate may be easily 
 foretold. If near a large farm, it would be added to
 
 28 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 the farm ; or if far removed from such a farm, and 
 forming one of a group of crofts, it would probably 
 be added to another of these crofts, which would be 
 another step in the direction of the absorption of the 
 present crofter system into one of larger holdings. 
 But judging from present appearances, and assum- 
 ing the lairds wise and generous enough to see the 
 reasonableness of enabling the crofter to feel he has 
 a home- interest in his country, and patriotic enough 
 to realise the usefulness of a prosperous crofter peas- 
 antry, it is not easy to believe such a result possible 
 in the near future. And higher interests than those 
 of the laird render it desirable that encouragement 
 be given to a well-regulated crofter system. For 
 various reasons it is the interest of the nation to pro- 
 mote it. Much as war is to be deplored, it is, of 
 course, possible that it may be unavoidable ; and 
 those that know anything of British history must be 
 well aware that on those battle-fields on which Britain 
 fought most bravely, and achieved her grandest vic- 
 tories, no small share of the credit was due to the 
 genuine loyalty, brave determination, and hardy en- 
 durance of her Highland soldiers. Waterloo and the 
 Crimea are enough to instance in proof of this re- 
 mark. If nowadays less is heard of the bravery and 
 hardihood of the Highland soldier, in listening to
 
 CROFTERS OF A HIGHLAND PARISH. 29 
 
 the details of conflicts on modern battle-fields, it is 
 not because the loyalty, the bravery, or the hardi- 
 hood has vanished, but because the assimilating 
 process so marked in recent times has so far caused 
 the individuality of the Highlander to be merged 
 in the national character, that the brave Highlander 
 is known merely as the British soldier. And whence 
 is the type of Highlander possessing such loyalty, 
 bravery, and hardihood most likely to be procured ? 
 Unquestionably from the ranks of a healthy and 
 prosperous crofter peasantry. May the day be far 
 distant when Britain's honour or indignation at 
 oppression will force her into war ! But should that 
 day come, no better soldiers could be found than 
 the type of persons referred to. It has been so of 
 yore. We need only mention Rannoch in Perth- 
 shire, Strathspey, Lochaber, Sutherland, Ross, and 
 the island of Skye, as proof of what Highlanders did 
 in other days the latter district (Skye) contributing 
 an unusually large number of soldiers of various 
 ranks towards maintaining the fame of the national 
 military greatness. 
 
 But the crofter population supplies an excellent 
 nursery for more peaceful scenes for more attrac- 
 tive spheres of life. It is well known that many of 
 them have risen to a high place in the callings of
 
 30 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 trade and commerce, while not a few have occupied 
 and are occupying highly respectable positions in 
 one or other of the learned professions. Many High- 
 land parishes might refer with pride to the success of 
 some of their crofter youths in one or other of these 
 spheres. We may here refer to a successful Strath- 
 eden crofter boy, Mr Alexander Trongray Cameron, 
 a civil engineer, who, by a diligent use of his time 
 and talents, has risen to a position of considerable 
 eminence in his profession. He is a splendid speci- 
 men of the genuinely enlightened Highlander. De- 
 termination and perseverance are prominent features 
 in the real Highland character. Mr Cameron is 
 strong in these qualities, as his very successful profes- 
 sional career amply proves. Love of country, which 
 includes that other patriotism which makes the true 
 man love his native parish, is deeply rooted in Mr 
 Cameron's heart, and no one loves Stratheden more 
 than he does. And his affection goes further than 
 the cheap regard of words alone. He helps with 
 pen and purse to promote the social, intellectual, 
 and general wellbeing of the inhabitants of his 
 native parish. He is a true Celt fond of the Gaelic 
 tongue, and very unlike those weaklings that affect 
 ignorance of, and are clearly indifferent towards, 
 a language which, though it be disappearing, no
 
 CROFTERS OF A HIGHLAND PARISH. 31 
 
 true man will be ashamed of. Besides the material 
 help he gives towards promoting education and 
 general progress in the parish of Stratheden, Mr 
 Cameron procures important situations in the south 
 for several of the more intelligent and deserving 
 youths of Stratheden. He is respected by all who 
 know him. The noble laird of Stratheden, a most 
 acute observer of character and a hater of shams, 
 greatly respects Mr Cameron, and has more than 
 once shown him special marks of appreciation of 
 his good qualities and successful career. Such is a 
 sample of what the crofter system can accomplish. 
 No doubt Mr Cameron's career has been to some 
 extent exceptionally successful, but it was in the 
 crofter atmosphere of Stratheden he breathed the 
 manly perseverance and shrewd common-sense he 
 afterwards turned to so good account. And what 
 has been done may be done again. Let a pros- 
 perous crofter peasantry be encouraged towards 
 which many think larger crofts, leases, and instruc- 
 tion in scientific land -cultivation would be very 
 helpful and many possible workers in the trades 
 and professions of the country will be met with in 
 crofter homes. And though this very reason for 
 perpetuating the system may to some appear to be 
 a sure way of causing the crofter system to fade,
 
 32 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 in reality it is far from being so. The love of the 
 old home is strong in the crofter heart, as in other 
 hearts ; and though some may leave the old place 
 for wider spheres of usefulness, it is all but certain 
 the feeling referred to will secure that some one of 
 the family, or one not far removed in the ties of 
 kindred, will wish to occupy the ancestral home 
 and croft.
 
 33 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 RELIGION OF A HIGHLAND PARISH OF TO-DAY. 
 
 BY many the religious beliefs and ways prevalent 
 among Highlanders have long been believed to be 
 largely tinged with narrowness if not with fanati- 
 cism, and to partake very largely of a gloomy hue. 
 The allegation, to some extent, may be true, but it 
 may be misleading. There is, of course, no clear 
 reason why a gloomy religion should prevail in one 
 district of the country more than in another, on 
 account of its geographical situation. No doubt 
 one cannot help thinking that the remote loneliness 
 of the mountain - girt habitations of many of the 
 Highlanders may have tended to foster gloomy if 
 not superstitious thoughts. Taking this for granted, 
 the student of the history of religious development 
 will watch with interest the results of the fact that 
 the remoteness indicated is disappearing before 
 
 C
 
 34 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 steamers, railways, and the telegraph. In connec- 
 tion with such influence as the remoteness may have 
 had, it may be worth considering whether some- 
 thing of the nature of a gloomy superstition may 
 not belong to the religion of all peoples in the 
 primitive or earlier stage of their history. Assum- 
 ing this to be the case, the remoteness of the High- 
 lands generally a remoteness which, until recently, 
 had a great influence would have helped to per- 
 petuate the primitive ways of thinking, and a gloomy 
 aspect would long colour the religious views of the 
 northern Highlanders. A wave of progress, how- 
 ever, aided in its advance by the travelling facilities 
 of to-day, has since spread over the country gen- 
 erally ; and though, perhaps, it was longer of reach- 
 ing the far north, it did come, and its enlightening 
 effects which, marvellous to relate, some people 
 were slow to welcome are daily becoming more 
 extended and appreciated. 
 
 It would be a pity, however, if it were thought 
 that anything of the nature of a fatal error be- 
 longed to the prevalent type of religion in High- 
 land parishes of other days. Indeed, to this hour, 
 and with some truth, many are ready to accord the 
 religious Highlander of, say, some forty or fifty 
 years ago, a high place for devoutness and piety.
 
 RELIGION OF A HIGHLAND PARISH. 35 
 
 " The piety of the north," "the devout Highlander," 
 "the serious Celt" are terms in frequent use in 
 some quarters with reference to the period indi- 
 cated. Nor, perhaps, can better instances of simple- 
 minded piety be found than were some of the native 
 residents of a Highland parish of that time, and such- 
 like ones as are yet to be met with. Genuinely rev- 
 erent, they live under the influence of an abiding 
 sense of the nearness of the unseen world, and each 
 step seems made as if in the presence of an all- 
 seeing One. They have their failings, of course, of 
 the head and also of the heart, but the persons re- 
 ferred to are such as one cannot but feel interested 
 in, not only because of their, generally speaking, 
 guileless ways and devout life, but also because 
 they form the diminishing few of a type of character 
 rapidly fading away. Not that the Highland char- 
 acter, religiously or otherwise, is necessarily deteri- 
 orating. It would, indeed, evidence a very feeble 
 faith in religion if it could be believed that it must 
 fade before the advance of progress and general 
 enlightenment. So far as the Highland character 
 is concerned, though some of its simpler, and per- 
 haps guileless, aspects may be disappearing, it is 
 generally believed to be growing in breadth, indus- 
 triousness, and general usefulness. Notwithstand-
 
 36 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 ing this, very many look back regretfully upon a 
 past of some forty years ago as the "good old days" 
 in the religious history of the northern Highlanders 
 and no doubt, in every Highland parish then and 
 for some time after, the type we have referred 
 to was pretty largely represented. Simple faith 
 and hopeful trust were prominent features in the 
 character of those alluded to. They knew or felt 
 little or nothing of the bitter venomous animosity 
 sectarianism is so fertile of; and though certain of 
 their views regarding the Creator may have been 
 crude, if not false, this theoretical weakness was 
 condoned by the simple hopeful way in which they 
 invariably trusted in the Supreme Being. Subse- 
 quent to the secession of '43 from the Established 
 Church of Scotland, when the great majority of the 
 northern Highlanders forsook the Church of their 
 fathers, such representatives of the type of character 
 here remarked on as were found in the ranks of the 
 opposing parties were innocent of the uncharitable- 
 ness and evil-speaking too many on both sides were 
 guilty of. 
 
 Into the question between the two Presbyterian 
 bodies composing the religious denominations of the 
 greater number of our Highland parishes we do not 
 choose to enter. Such an inquiry is foreign to our
 
 RELIGION OF A HIGHLAND PARISH. 37 
 
 purpose, and is, as a rule, profitless. After all the 
 wrangling of the past, the many unhappy squab- 
 blings at, and since, Disruption times squabblings 
 too well known in Highland parishes nothing has 
 been made clearer than that in both the Free and 
 the Established Church there are good men and 
 true, as also false men and vile. This fact, though 
 surely obvious enough, many persons of both de- 
 nominations apparently forget. 
 
 Within recent years there are two matters that 
 have occasioned no small noise and anxiety in 
 Highland parishes, as in other places the so-called 
 " Union " question, and the case of Professor Robert- 
 son Smith. The Union negotiations that is, the 
 steps taken by the Free Church (for the United 
 Presbyterian Church seemed passive in the matter) 
 towards union with the latter Church suddenly 
 collapsed about ten years ago, after having en- 
 gaged the attention of the Free Church for many 
 years previously. In the Highlands generally the 
 great majority of the clergy and laity of the Free 
 Church were opposed to the union, and the dislike 
 to entertain the idea is as strong to-day as it ever 
 was. Here and there a solitary instance was met 
 with of a Free Church clergyman in the Highlands 
 being a " unionist." Some of his anti-union brethren,
 
 38 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 and anti-union members of even his own congrega- 
 tion, often enough made the ground hot for him, 
 though scarcely s0r hot as the region to which, as we 
 have been credibly informed, certain Free Church 
 people and clergymen too, we were particularly 
 surprised to hear were wont in Disruption days to 
 relegate " Moaderats," as the Established Church 
 people were called by the native Free Church people. 
 Although the Union negotiations have broken down, 
 the bitterness of feeling occasioned has not yet dis- 
 appeared ; and very probably it would be as difficult 
 for the great majority of those who were against 
 the union to explain clearly why they were or are 
 so, as it would be for the Free Church leaders in 
 favour of union to explain why they ever initiated 
 the negotiations. The clergy and laity of the 
 Established Church in the Highlands, as a rule, 
 took little interest in the matter, though we have 
 heard several of them allege that one of the objects 
 aimed at by those favourable to union the main 
 object, indeed was the overthrow of the Established 
 Church, the endowments of which are believed to be 
 a source of much irritation to the voluntaries of the 
 Free Church. But we must not here discuss the 
 Union question. It only remains for us to add on 
 this subject, that it was generally understood that it
 
 RELIGION OF A HIGHLAND PARISH. 39 
 
 was the large and determined opposition to union 
 manifested in Highland parishes that very much led 
 to the sudden and somewhat remarkably manoeu- 
 vred step that resulted in the collapse of the Union 
 negotiations. 
 
 Scarcely had the Union question been shelved 
 when the perplexing Robertson Smith case turned 
 up. This alleged heresy occasioned, and still occa- 
 sions, much anxiety and alarm in the north gen- 
 erally ; and by at least three-fourths of the Free 
 Church population, and by not a few, as well, of 
 the " Moaderats," the young Professor is regarded 
 as a very dangerous person. A very prevalent opin- 
 ion regarding him in Highland parishes is, that 
 he wishes, so say many, "to take bits away from 
 the Bible, and no believe what Moases said." Fully 
 as hearty and prevalent, if not more so, in High- 
 land parishes, was the condemnation of Professor 
 Smith, and his views regarding " bits of the Bible," 
 as was the dislike to the proposed coalition with 
 the United Presbyterian Church ; and the judg- 
 ment of the Free Church Assembly of 1880 in 
 favour of the Professor caused much and deep 
 anxiety among Free Church people generally in 
 Highland parishes, where the decision was as little 
 expected as it was hoped for. The subsequent
 
 4O CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 and much-talked-of action of a section of the Free 
 Church has been cordially welcomed by Free 
 Church Highlanders generally, the eagerly -hoped- 
 for result being that the suspected Professor should 
 be " putten oot o' the Church." 
 
 There are two churches in Stratheden an Estab- 
 lished and a Free and the great majority of the 
 inhabitants adhere to the latter, which is the case in 
 the northern Highlands generally. The adherents 
 of the Established Church, admitting the numeri- 
 cal superiority of the Free Church, are in the habit 
 of insinuating that the more intelligent and influ- 
 ential of the residents of our Highland parishes 
 adhere to the Establishment ; and it is amusing, 
 though scarcely creditable to the good sense of 
 either party, to hear how the one side upbraids 
 the other with weakness in intelligence and influ- 
 ence, and how that other retorts with the insinua- 
 tion about numerical feebleness. Peter Ross, an 
 adherent of the Established Church in Stratheden, 
 in discussing this matter the other day with Alex- 
 ander Maclean, a neighbour, and an adherent of the 
 Free Church, said : " Ah, man, Sandy, ye hev a lot 
 o' them ; but the quaalatty, and the ones that hess 
 eddikayshan, goes to oor Church, the good ould 
 Church o' Scotland." " Och, maybe yuss, Peter,"
 
 RELIGION OF A HIGHLAND PARISH. 41 
 
 was the reply; "but look in your Bible if you'll 
 be reading it ; surely you'll be reading it and if 
 you wull, you'll see the quaalatty and some o' the 
 big rich chaps 'ull no hev much chance some day, 
 Peter. What does the Bible say aboot the rich 
 ones, and the cawmall and the needle, and going 
 in through the needle ? What wull eddikayshan and 
 quaalatty do then, Peter ? " " Be quate, Sandy ; 
 you're worse nor a cawmall yourself," vigorously 
 retorted Peter. "Surely there's no harm in quaal- 
 atty and eddikayshan ; and surely if they'll be good 
 themselves, that wull no spoil them. P'raps, Sandy, 
 you're only kind o' vexed ye hevna some o' the 
 money and the grandar o' the quaalatty in your 
 own Church. Indeed, the Free Church is ferry foand 
 o' money, and they'll be askin' of people that hessna 
 much to give ; and they're ferry soary to pairt wi' 
 it ; but they must be like their neeburs, and they'll 
 give it." 
 
 In Stratheden almost all the "big fairmers" ad- 
 here to the "Auld Kirk," but the great majority 
 of the crofters and natives attend the Free Church. 
 In using the term " natives," it is proper to ob- 
 serve that in Stratheden, as in most other High- 
 land parishes of to-day, there is a considerable 
 number of "strangers." One of the "big fairmers"
 
 42 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 is a native of one of the south-eastern counties of 
 Scotland, one is an Aberdonian, another hails from 
 the south of England, while a fourth comes from 
 Lanarkshire. Besides these there are ploughmen 
 from Banffshire, shepherds from Roxburgh anc^ 
 Northumberland, and gamekeepers from England 
 and from Aberdeenshire. A very large proportion 
 of this imported element adhere to the Church of 
 Scotland ; but it is beyond our province to inquire 
 whether all these are to be included among those 
 indicated by Peter Ross when he referred to "the 
 quaalatty and the people that hess eddikayshan." 
 
 There was a time in Stratheden, and in too many 
 Highland parishes, when the feeling between the 
 adherents of the two Churches was, to say the least, 
 not what it ought to have been. Bitter, very bitter, 
 things were said on both sides, but we leave it to 
 those that know the facts, to say on which side 
 the greater bitterness was displayed. Instances 
 too many might be given of the venomous and 
 silly things said of and to each other, by the Chris- 
 tians of that time ; but it would serve no good 
 purpose to repeat them, and far be it from us to say 
 anything that would revive memories of sayings 
 and doings that " good men and true," of whatever 
 Church, would like to forget.
 
 RELIGION OF A HIGHLAND PARISH. 43 
 
 Happily such silly nonsense as is understood to 
 have been prevalent in those days is not now, to any 
 great extent at least, heard. No doubt some rather 
 remarkable statements are even yet put forward. 
 Only a few years ago, as we were informed by a 
 Free Church clergyman, a north-Highland divine of 
 the Free Church, in addressing his congregation, 
 made reference to " the Moderates," and said : " Ah, 
 my friends, there are three kinds of people like each 
 other ; and, my friends, these three kinds of people 
 that are like each other are the Pawgans, the 
 Moderates, and the Hottentots. And what do you 
 think now, my friends, of the Moderates ? Ah ! what 
 do you think of them ? " This instance of pulpit 
 sectarianism the pulpit displays more of this un- 
 worthy feeling than the pew is mild compared 
 with what has been heard, and is chronicled partly 
 as an evidence of the absurdities into which feeble 
 narrowness drives some people. Though matters 
 are happily more promising nowadays traces of 
 the old feeling now and then appear. There was 
 too much of it noticeable at the recent school board 
 elections, and more than enough of it crops up at 
 school board and certain other public meetings. 
 
 The people of Stratheden, generally speaking, 
 attend church regularly. In the busier seasons of
 
 44 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 the year spring and harvest the attendance is 
 thinner. Many of the crofters and others are hard 
 wrought, and the distance from church in many 
 cases is great ; accordingly they elect to sleep at 
 home in preference to sleeping in church ; and this 
 is wise, for the spring and autumn " nap " might be 
 an awkwardly prolonged one. 
 
 This may be a suitable place for referring to the 
 matter of Sunday observance in a Highland parish 
 of to-day. Highlanders have long been understood 
 greatly to revere this day, and they have also 
 been credited with encouraging a narrow, and even 
 superstitious, estimate of the right observance of 
 the " Sawbath." As a rule they did and do revere 
 the day, and some of them did observe it narrowly, 
 and perhaps superstitiously, though this latter fact 
 can scarcely be considered peculiar to Highlanders. 
 Narrower views, however, are giving way to more 
 cheerful and healthier ways of thinking, though 
 even yet traces of the old feeling are discernible. 
 Some of the older people in Stratheden, think it 
 not right to laugh or go out to breathe the fresh 
 air on "Sawbath," though they can quite tolerate, 
 and even practise, uncharitable gossip, lying, and 
 scandal in their homes on the sacred day. Some 
 of this class, steeped in the chilling unhealthiness of
 
 RELIGION OF A HIGHLAND PARISH. 45 
 
 the letter-and-form sort of religion, will not allow 
 their children to have their honest laugh, or even 
 look at picture-books of the most useful kind, on 
 " Sawbath ; " but these same people will afford their 
 children on the same day an opportunity of hear- 
 ing how they (the parents) can talk enviously and 
 falsely of their neighbours, and, as is sometimes 
 the case, utter language of a kind decidedly un- 
 favourable to the moral training of the young. 
 One of the older natives of a Highland parish of 
 to-day gravely assured us in conversation not long 
 ago, that the people were "growing awful careless 
 and baad " now, because, as he proceeded to ob- 
 serve, " in my younger days you wouldna see any 
 person at all oot on Sawbath, exceptin' the people 
 going to the preachin'. The children wouldna say 
 a word nor laugh, nor go oot o' the door, nor any- 
 thing, and not a living would go near a well for 
 wattur, and it's hardly some o' the people would 
 wash themselves on Sawbath ! But ochan ! ochan ! 
 that's no the way in the day that's int now. I am 
 seeing young people, yes, and ould people, walk- 
 ing, yes, and jumping too, on the braes, and the 
 children will be oot, and people are fearful dressy 
 and grawnd on the Sawbath." Happily, more en- 
 lightened views, generally speaking, prevail in a
 
 46 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 Highland parish of to-day. The wave of progress 
 that spread over the country generally has now 
 made itself felt. The educational machinery has 
 been enlarged and improved, while travel has helped 
 to leaven the narrowness and gloom of the northern 
 Highlands with the broader, more cheerful, and 
 healthier views prevalent in more highly favoured 
 centres of intelligence and general progress. There 
 is a large and growing circulation of excellent Sun- 
 day literature, and the general result is a clearer 
 appreciation of the truth that "the Sabbath was made 
 for man, and not man for the Sabbath." 
 
 In Stratheden Gaelic and English are preached 
 regularly in the Free and Established Churches. 
 Both parsons are well up in the Gaelic language ; 
 and this is deserving of notice, because, in some 
 parishes in which Gaelic as well as English is 
 understood to be preached, the Gaelic-speaking at- 
 tainments of the clergy even are not of a high order. 
 No important interest suffers in consequence, for 
 as a rule, in no Highland parish of to-day is there 
 any but the smallest number that cannot well 
 enough follow all that it is useful to remember of 
 an English sermon ; and besides, the defects in 
 Gaelic speaking rarely, if ever, occasion any pro- 
 nounced heresy. At the same time, to those that
 
 RELIGION OF A HIGHLAND PARISH. 47 
 
 really know Gaelic, and the proper pronunciation 
 thereof, the blunders of speech thus occurring must 
 sound very ludicrous. We have heard of a case of 
 this kind taking place in a Highland parish, not 
 many years ago, where the preacher in attempting 
 to use the Gaelic equivalents for lost sinners (pea- 
 catch chaillte) used the words piocaich shaillte, these 
 latter words signifying a species of salted fish with 
 which the most of the congregation were well ac- 
 quainted ! It will be seen the reverend gentleman 
 was literally at sea; and some of our readers can 
 imagine the utter contempt such of the audience as 
 knew Gaelic well would feel for the parson's Gaelic 
 acquirements. The young people, of course, would 
 giggle, while some of the old would sigh. Another 
 equally ludicrous instance of this blundering we had 
 from no other than the reverend gentleman that 
 perpetrated the mistake. He had been alluding to 
 fault-finding in the course of his Gaelic preaching 
 one day, and in quoting the illustration of the beam 
 and the mote, said an t-saill, instead of an t-sail, 
 that is, the/tf/, instead of the beam. The difference, 
 to look at both words, does not seem great ; but, 
 to those that really know Gaelic, the difference in 
 sound is perceptible enough, and the observation 
 correspondingly grotesque.
 
 48 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 In Stratheden, as already said, Gaelic is regularly 
 preached in the Free and Established Churches. 
 Both clergymen are quite at home in the language ; 
 and whatever irrelevant or other matter they may 
 utter, there is little danger of either of them per- 
 petrating aught in the style of the ludicrous blun- 
 ders referred to. In both churches the services of 
 the Sunday begin with the Gaelic portion. In the 
 Established Church the proportion of those that 
 know Gaelic better than English is small ; while, in 
 the Free Church, the reverse is understood to be the 
 case. The Gaelic portion of the services occupies 
 more time in the Free Church than in the Estab- 
 lished Church, a practice which satisfies an idea 
 long prevalent among a certain section of High- 
 landers that sermons are nothing if not long. To 
 this day there are a few in most of our Highland 
 parishes that would view a preacher that would 
 give short sermons as not a good man as being 
 " unsound." 
 
 With reference to the relative position of the two 
 languages Gaelic and English so far as preaching 
 in Highland churches is concerned, very marked 
 changes have taken place within recent years. Some 
 twenty years ago, in almost all Highland parishes, 
 at the conclusion of the Gaelic services, a consider-
 
 RELIGION OF A HIGHLAND PARISH. 49 
 
 able number would leave, not being able to under- 
 stand an English discourse. To-day there are very 
 few parishes, indeed, of which this can be said ; and in 
 not a few cases, few, if any, leave until after the Eng- 
 lish service is over, though some that wait might be 
 found to be by no means accomplished in the English 
 language. Within the last twenty-five years there 
 were some Highland parishes in which there was 
 no English preached, so complete was the sway of 
 Gaelic. The greater number of the better educated 
 portion of the community in those days knew and 
 spoke Gaelic well ; while, if there did happen to be 
 any that knew English better than Gaelic, or that 
 knew nothing of the latter, they were favoured with 
 special services. Even to-day, a solitary instance 
 may be met with especially in the Outer Hebrides 
 of a church in which English is not regularly 
 preached. Last winter we heard an amusing story 
 bearing on this matter from a member of the Free 
 Church. At the time the incident about to be re- 
 lated happened, some three years ago, our inform- 
 ant, an intelligent young lady, had been residing in 
 a district of the Highlands where the Free Church 
 clergyman whose ministrations she usually attend- 
 ed rarely preached English. On a certain Sunday, 
 at the conclusion of the Gaelic service, the reverend 
 
 D
 
 50 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 gentleman announced that if any present wished to 
 hear an English sermon, he would be glad, on their 
 remaining after the others left, to comply with their 
 request. Our informant and another young lady 
 formed the English congregation for the day. The 
 usual preliminaries over, the preacher proceeded to 
 give a discourse mainly taken up with a violent and 
 rambling tirade against drunkenness, and quarrels of 
 the pugilistic sort ! which his fair " audience " both 
 highly respectable indignantly felt, and rightly so, 
 to be altogether out of place in the circumstances. 
 To add to the unpleasantness of the situation, the 
 preacher in the course of his remarks, roaring loudly 
 all the while in violent declamatory fashion anent 
 the evils of intemperance, observed, to the amaze- 
 ment, and indeed confusion, of his congregation, that, 
 while on a visit to a town in the south, he had him- 
 self seen a drunken man careering wildly in the street 
 in a semi-nude state ! the reverend declaimer expres- 
 sing this latter fact in language far from elegant. In 
 ordinary circumstances, of course, the audience would 
 have remained to thank the clergyman for the special 
 privilege afforded them, but the reader need hardly 
 be told they were only too glad to get away. 
 
 In addition to the Sunday services, there are in 
 most Highland parishes, and chiefly in connection
 
 RELIGION OF A HIGHLAND PARISH. $1 
 
 with the Free Church, week-day gatherings going 
 under the name of " prayer-meetings," held fort- 
 nightly, and attended by the clergyman, one or 
 more of his elders, and a few others, the audience 
 present being chiefly old women. These prayer- 
 meetings used to be pretty well attended some 
 twenty years ago, but nowadays they seem less 
 popular, and it is difficult to avoid the conclusion 
 that at no distant period they will, as a distinct 
 institution, cease to exist. Some of those that 
 attend these week-day prayer-meetings are simple- 
 minded and really pious people, representing a type 
 of religious character not so numerous now as some 
 fifty years back ; but, though the absence of the par- 
 ticular type of character we have referred to near the 
 commencement of this chapter, is becoming more 
 and more marked, the bountiful compensating re- 
 sources of the Ruler of the universe are providing 
 another type equally good, though after another 
 fashion. Accordingly, though the gatherings al- 
 luded to are not attended by a tithe of the numbers 
 that flocked to them in other days, some thirty, and 
 even fifteen, years ago, those that love the High- 
 lands, and pray for their prosperity, need not sus- 
 pect that such a change necessarily indicates any 
 religious or moral declension among the people.
 
 52 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 The religious event of the year, in a Highland 
 parish, is the Communion season, or, as some of the 
 people call it, " the Saycriemant time," which is 
 more of an event, because, except in a very few 
 cases, it takes place once a -year only. To the 
 Communion in the Established Church, which, as 
 in the Free Church, takes place but once a-year in 
 the great majority of places, very few come from 
 other parishes ; while of those that are present at 
 the Free Church Communion, large numbers are 
 from neighbouring parishes, not a few coming from 
 places twenty and even forty miles away. 
 
 A remarkable feature in the case of the Free 
 Church is the very small number of communicants 
 in proportion not merely to the number of people 
 attending the Communion, but also to the size 
 of each separate congregation. There have been 
 reasons advanced in explanation of this somewhat 
 remarkable phenomenon, but they have been chiefly 
 by interested persons, and are not edifying. In 
 point of fact, the clergy must blame themselves 
 for the paucity of communicants they now and 
 then deplore. They long preached an unattainable 
 ideal of fitness for Communion, strangely forget- 
 ting that the ordinance is a means towards piety, 
 and not an end. This manner of presenting the
 
 RELIGION OF A HIGHLAND PARISH. 53 
 
 matter was long too prevalent in both the Free and 
 Established Churches in Highland parishes, though 
 not peculiar to them, since it was a common idea 
 in very many other districts of the country. For 
 some Sundays previous to the Communion, the 
 clergy were in the habit of explaining the ordin- 
 ance, and of specifying the qualities necessary for 
 entitling persons to communicate worthily ; and 
 too often the effect of these haranguings was to 
 impart an utterly distorted estimate, and to deter 
 some sensitive but piously inclined individuals from 
 making public profession of their faith in, and love 
 to, a self-sacrificing perfect Example. On the Sun- 
 day of the Communion, in many cases, the scare 
 was complete. What is called the " fencing of the 
 tables" telling from the pulpit what persons are 
 and are not worthy communicants was gone about 
 in so unthinking a fashion as to actually frighten 
 many sensitive souls. To this day this feature 
 holds an unhappy sway. Congregations, accord- 
 ingly, numbering in each case some five or six 
 hundred people, can with difficulty command fifty 
 communicants ; and it is a specially noticeable and 
 disappointing feature, that few, if any, under forty 
 years of age sit at the Communion-table in the 
 Free Church in an average Highland parish. The
 
 54 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 most of the few that do communicate are aged, the 
 young and the greater number of the middle-aged 
 remaining content with being spectators of the 
 event. 
 
 The Communion season in a Highland parish 
 is, in its main features, very much the same as it 
 was thirty and even fifty years ago. The same 
 number of days are occupied, the same order of 
 service is employed, the same remarkable fewness 
 of communicants is noticeable ; and though it is 
 understood that the number coming from distant 
 parishes is not now quite so large, there is still 
 a considerable flocking of people from far-away 
 places. 
 
 It may be proper to observe that our remarks on 
 this subject have almost exclusive reference to the 
 Communion season in connection with the Free 
 Church. The Communion takes place in the Estab- 
 lished Church on the same day ; but there are special 
 features connected with the services in the Free 
 Church, and the latter denomination being that to 
 which the great majority of the people and espe- 
 cially the natives of the greater number of High- 
 land parishes belong, we think it better to speak 
 specially of the Communion season in the Free 
 Church. Before we do so, however, it may be well
 
 RELIGION OF A HIGHLAND PARISH. 55 
 
 to mention one or two features special to the Estab- 
 lished Church Communion season. Few go from one 
 parish to another to the Communion in the latter 
 Church. The Friday services, which we will shortly 
 allude to, are almost unknown in the Established 
 Church, though in a solitary instance what is called 
 "a prayer-meeting" may take place on that day. 
 "You have no Friday," is the rather odd way in 
 which some Free Church people remind adherents 
 of the Established Church of the absence of Friday 
 services in the latter Church. We are not aware 
 whether this lack-a-day observation is keenly felt by 
 the "Moaderats." In the Established Church, the 
 number of communicants, relatively to the size of 
 the congregation, is very much larger than is the 
 case in the Free Church. Certain people in the 
 latter denomination have a way of explaining this 
 last phenomenon by insinuating that the ideal of 
 fitness for the ordinance is not so high as it ought 
 to be among the local Established Church authorities, 
 and that the Church discipline generally is not so 
 strict as it should be. It is quite foreign to our 
 purpose to inquire into the truth or otherwise of 
 this allegation. It may be one of those strange 
 comments which persons of different Christian de- 
 nominations are so fond and fully as much in
 
 56 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 Highland parishes as in other places of making 
 regarding each other. Of course no intelligent un- 
 prejudiced observer of the community generally in 
 a Highland parish, or any other parish, we suppose, 
 will believe that there is any marked difference, 
 religious or moral, between the adherents of the 
 one Church and those of the other. 
 
 The Communion season begins on Thursday, and 
 extends over five days, closing on Monday. A 
 considerable number of strangers arrive in the place 
 of meeting on Wednesday night ; and we have heard 
 it said, that so busy are some of the residents provid- 
 ing for the wants of their friends and acquaintance 
 from a distance, that not a few of the former are 
 prevented from attending the services. Thursday, 
 the Fast -day, on the whole, is pretty strictly ob- 
 served in most Highland parishes of to-day. A 
 change, however, seems coming. The holiday prac- 
 tice, now so common in other places on the so-called 
 Fast-day, is beginning to be adopted in the High- 
 lands generally, and promises not long hence to be 
 the order of the day. 
 
 Friday, strange to say, continues to be considered 
 by many the most enjoyable day of the Communion 
 season. Whereas on the Thursday, in many cases, 
 the church can accommodate the worshippers, the
 
 RELIGION OF A HIGHLAND PARISH. 57 
 
 Friday services almost invariably take place in the 
 open air, and on this day those called "the Men" 
 have the field very much to themselves. They do 
 the greater part of the speaking, and Friday is popu- 
 larly known as "the Men's" day. These persons, 
 known in the Free Church only, are a class of people 
 believed to be more or less eminent for piety, well 
 versed in the Scriptures, and somewhat endowed 
 with the speaking gift. On Friday a portion of 
 Scripture is selected for remark, on which ordinarily 
 about eight or nine of the Men make comments, with, 
 as a rule, special reference to what are termed the 
 marks or evidences of the Christian character, and 
 more or less lengthened observations on the be- 
 liever's experiences generally. During the time the 
 Men are talking, the ministers of whom as many 
 as half-a-dozen are frequently assembled on these 
 occasions are sitting in the " tent " or wooden box 
 which constitutes the open-air pulpit for the time 
 being. One of the clergymen present is supposed 
 to preside on the Friday, opening the proceedings, 
 and, after the Men have said their say, summing up, 
 so to speak, the varied comments made, and closing 
 the proceedings ; but to all intents and purposes 
 Friday is exclusively set apart to give the Men an 
 opportunity of holding forth, the term " the Men "
 
 58 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 being employed to distinguish them from the minis- 
 ters, or usual speakers. 
 
 The Men have frequently been spoken of in some 
 quarters sneeringly, in terms that would lead one to 
 believe they are a spiritually proud, self-sufficient, 
 fanatical, ignorant, and indeed hypocritical class of 
 persons. It would be utterly unfair to apply all or 
 any of these terms to them as a class. As in every 
 other class of human beings, there will be found 
 among them some that display one or other, or even 
 more than one, of the uninviting features specified ; 
 but such sweeping denunciation of the Men as we 
 have sometimes heard, is open to the suspicion of 
 a prejudice against the Men themselves or the 
 Church to which they belong. At the same time 
 we can as little understand why, as a class, they 
 should be considered pre-eminently good, as why 
 they should be referred to in terms of sneering sus- 
 picion. There are among them, no doubt, persons 
 of a type of character not more prevalent than 
 could be wished, simple-minded Christians, most 
 eager to do what they believe to be right, and 
 more diligent in watching themselves than in trying 
 to detect faults in their neighbours. But among 
 the Men there are also individuals with heart 
 and soul very little, if at all, leavened by the
 
 RELIGION OF A HIGHLAND PARISH. 59 
 
 Gospel of light and love, and wofully void of the 
 large -heartedness of the Christianity they profess 
 and talk so much about. Among them likewise 
 may be found unthinking disciples of an unhealthy 
 mysticism persons too prone to lose sight of Gospel 
 morality in a superstitious, if not Pharisaic, desire 
 to be reckoned models of what they consider reli- 
 gious orthodoxy. Some of them are self-sufficient, 
 though it is proper to remember that the popularity 
 they enjoy constitutes a strong temptation to this 
 sort of weakness. Some of them are ignorant 
 enough but of course this cannot be said to be 
 always a crime. Some of them are hypocritical 
 but, unfortunately, this fault cannot be considered 
 peculiar to the Men. A few of them entertain 
 rather uninviting views regarding the Supreme 
 Being but it can hardly be believed that in this 
 respect the Men will be found to be alone. In 
 short, they are men as well as the Men, with the 
 ordinary characteristics of frail humanity, and, un- 
 doubtedly, to be judged of just like other people. 
 
 In the course of their Friday speaking, many 
 of the Men make considerable efforts after saying 
 smart things, and many of the audience greatly 
 relish a peculiarity now and then indulged in by 
 some of the Men, that, namely, of criticising the
 
 60 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 clergy, or, in a sort of humorously bantering way, 
 assuming the office of monitors to their clerical 
 superiors. 
 
 In the days when the contemptible sectarianism 
 so long prevalent in Highland parishes was at its 
 height, these Men were in the habit of saying very 
 extraordinary things about the " Moaderats." Had 
 the destiny of the latter been in the hands of some 
 of the Men, it is very awful to contemplate to what 
 sort of region the " Moaderats " generally would be 
 consigned. 
 
 Many Free Church people some regretfully, but 
 quite as many with indifference say that the institu- 
 tion of the Men shows unmistakable signs of breaking 
 up ; nor, indeed, is it easy to avoid the conclusion that, 
 as a distinctive class, they will not long hence be 
 unknown. Most all, indeed of the Men of to-day 
 are aged, and it does not appear that, among the 
 younger section of the Free Church community, 
 anything like a sufficient number of probable as- 
 pirants exists to fill their places ; nor will the im- 
 partial observer see reason to believe that any 
 important interest will suffer from the blank. 
 
 Of the Saturday services there is nothing special 
 to say. Then comes the Communion Sunday, or 
 Sabbath, as most Highlanders prefer to call it. The
 
 RELIGION OF A HIGHLAND PARISH. 6 1 
 
 services usually begin about an hour before mid-day, 
 and, for fully two hours up till that time, the roads 
 and footpaths leading to the place of concourse 
 are largely peopled by pedestrians, while vehicles 
 of various sorts likewise do duty for the occasion. 
 Many of the worshippers come a great distance, 
 some from places forty miles away ; and though 
 some of those present on Sunday have been staying 
 in the place during the other days, the great major- 
 ity of the Sunday audience are people that come 
 from their homes on the Sunday morning and return 
 the same day. Many are seated long before the 
 services begin. The place of meeting is usually on a 
 slope or brae, at the foot of which stands the " tent " 
 for the preacher. Though it is alleged that in the 
 Highlands generally there is something like a falling 
 off in the number attending these gatherings, the 
 attendance in several instances is yet considerable, 
 and more especially, of course, where there is the 
 attraction of a popular preacher. The services begin 
 in Gaelic the English service takes place in the 
 church with the singing of a few verses of a psalm 
 to the tune of Martyrdom or Coleshill, or some such 
 like air ; and it is very pleasant to hear the quaint 
 old music rising from the crowd, and gladdening 
 the stillness of the surrounding solitudes. Generally
 
 62 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 speaking, the aspect of the crowd is devout, and, 
 though it might be rash to take this as evidence of 
 devoutness, there are many bent heads, communi- 
 cants, especially, seeming cast down, if not gloomy. 
 Among the young people of both sexes there are 
 some not particularly devout-looking. Their atten- 
 tion seems more taken up with themselves and with 
 each other than with the preacher and the occasion 
 of the gathering ; and some, old as well as young, 
 show a restlessness, if not a levity, unfitting the 
 solemnity becoming the event. But there are de- 
 vout worshippers in the crowd, some that have 
 come at the bidding of a humble but earnest long- 
 ing to hear the grand old story of the Gospel news, 
 and to take part in a service they view with feelings 
 of genuine humility and veneration. 
 
 The Sunday services usually occupy about six 
 hours, the action sermon, as it is called, and the 
 " fencing of the tables " taking up a large portion 
 of this time ; and, after Communion, there is a con- 
 cluding address, usually of considerable length. At 
 the conclusion of the Monday services, which do not 
 call for special notice, small groups of people may 
 be seen here and there, some probably commenting 
 on what this or that preacher said, others gossiping 
 on quite other matters, while many who make the
 
 RELIGION OF A HIGHLAND PARISH. 63 
 
 Communion season the occasion of meeting rela- 
 tives and friends, are wishing each other good-bye. 
 
 We have now referred to the more important 
 features of the Communion season in a Highland 
 parish of to-day. There are various reflections sug- 
 gested by the event, such as the small number of 
 communicants, and the danger of taking the large 
 number assembled as an evidence of the prevalence 
 of an earnest religious life ; but into these and kindred 
 questions the purpose of this book does not require 
 us minutely to enter. 
 
 We might say a great deal regarding the theolo- 
 gical opinions long prevalent in the far north, but 
 we think the reader may gather from what has 
 already been said what the general character of 
 such opinions is, and how the less inviting of them 
 are beginning to give way to brighter and more 
 genial views. Some persons, imperfectly acquaint- 
 ed with the actual circumstances of the Highlands, 
 entertain a wrong estimate of the religious state 
 of these districts. As already indicated, we have 
 long been accustomed to hear of the narrowness, 
 self- righteousness, and bigotry of the Highlands; 
 but while all these features might be met with up 
 till within the last fifteen years even, in sad abun- 
 dance, and to this day unhappily may be found in
 
 64 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 some quarters, the fact cannot be said to be peculiar 
 to the Highlands. Besides, so far especially as the 
 bigotry is concerned, justice to the Highland people 
 requires us to bear in mind that, where the bigotry 
 did, and to any extent yet does exist, the spiritual 
 guides of the bigoted ones are principally to blame 
 for this unhealthy feature. 
 
 We might easily furnish the reader with highly 
 discreditable proofs of the reign of bigotry and 
 Pharisaism in the Highlands, and as easily might 
 it be shown by what section of the people such 
 bigotry was or is most generally shown, but this 
 would serve no good purpose. We prefer to chron- 
 icle the fact that such bigotry is dying out, or, at 
 least, that the growth of enlightened public opinion 
 keeps it in check. By way of antidote to the regret 
 one feels on viewing certain aspects of the ecclesias- 
 tical situation in the Highlands, during the period 
 especially from fifteen to thirty years ago, it is pleas- 
 ing to be able to know that in that period, as to-day, 
 there were Highlanders unchilled by the blight of 
 self-righteous bigotry. These latter (it is not 
 worth asking whether they were Established Church 
 or Free Church adherents) untroubled by questions 
 regarding inspiration, technically so called, lived 
 under the daily inspiration of a sense of duty to
 
 RELIGION OF A HIGHLAND PARISH. 65 
 
 God and man. They did not, like silly fanatics, 
 that even to-day may be met with, think there was 
 no room on the path to a happy hereafter for any 
 but those of their own denomination. With all the 
 boasted progress of to-day, no better wish for the 
 prosperity of religion in the Highlands can be cher- 
 ished than that the simple-minded, generous, humble, 
 and tolerant spirit that characterised the persons re- 
 ferred to, might have a wider and a growing sway in 
 Highland parishes of to-day.
 
 66 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE POLITICS OF A HIGHLAND PARISH 
 OF TO-DAY. 
 
 POLITICS rarely disturb the dream of the average 
 native resident of a Highland parish. The subject 
 is spoken of now and then by the people generally, 
 but very often this is more because of the wish to 
 be considered capable of appreciating " what the 
 papers are saying," than from any clear or earnest 
 interest in the goings on in the political world. 
 
 " Men, not measures," is practically the political 
 maxim of such as affect any interest in the matter. 
 As with many others, the man, Whig or Tory, whose 
 name is associated with cheapening tea, sugar, or 
 tobacco, or with reducing the dog-tax, is the favour- 
 ite politician. 
 
 The meaning of even the most rudimentary terms 
 in the political vocabulary would appear to be by 
 some Highlanders rather imperfectly understood.
 
 POLITICS OF A HIGHLAND PARISH. 67 
 
 An old woman in a Highland parish not very far 
 from Stratheden, it is said, once expressed her aston- 
 ishment at. the very great age apparently reached by 
 "that man Goavurmant" (Government). Not only 
 had she heard a great deal about his doings in her 
 early days, but her father used to tell her about the 
 same aged "personage" as being spoken of as far 
 back as even he could remember. There is a still 
 more remarkable instance of political ignorance 
 which has been related to us as occurring in a 
 Highland parish not fifty miles from Stratheden. 
 A few years ago the then Chancellor of the Ex- 
 chequer a peaceably-inclined man, it is necessary 
 to add, in view of what follows was on a visit to 
 the proprietor of the place, a nobleman famous for 
 his generous and splendid hospitality. On a cer- 
 tain evening during the stay of the Chancellor of 
 the Exchequer at this nobleman's Highland home, 
 a meeting of some kind or other took place in the 
 district, at which, among others, there was present 
 Peter Macgregor, a decent old man, and an elder 
 in one of the churches. At the close of the meeting, 
 and in the ordinary course of conversation, some 
 one happened to mention in Peter's hearing that the 
 Chancellor of the Exchequer was at Dunedin Castle ; 
 whereupon the elder, unlettered in the nomenclature
 
 68 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 of party or office, to the amusement of all that heard 
 him, said, " Och, dear me ! oor own proprietor, he's 
 a goot laird and a goot kind man, but, mercy me ! 
 he's an awful man, for there's no a wild beast that's 
 in't but he wull get one of them ! " Poor Peter evi- 
 dently imagined the visitor at the Castle was another 
 trophy of adventurous travel in foreign wilds. 
 
 These, of course, are exceptional instances ; but 
 so far as the average native resident of a Highland 
 parish of to-day is concerned, while the age of a 
 Government is pretty generally known, and while 
 the mention of the Chancellor of the Exchequer's 
 name does not bring up wild suggestions of a mena- 
 gerie, of clear appreciation of party distinctions, or 
 of the significance of the changes in the political 
 atmosphere, there is very little indeed. 
 
 So far, however, as can be gathered from such 
 declarations as are ventured upon, so-called Liberal 
 leanings are observable among the younger crofters, 
 farm-servants, and working class generally in Strath- 
 eden ; while among others the " old way," or as some 
 call it, the "way long ago," understood to signify 
 Conservatism, is rigidly adhered to. 
 
 The news of the dissolution of 1880 afforded 
 a special opportunity for ascertaining the political 
 leanings of at least one native resident. A day or
 
 POLITICS OF A HIGHLAND PARISH. 69 
 
 two after the news came, we met Angus Suther- 
 land, one of the native residents, a man of fifty 
 years of age and a person of some intelligence, but, 
 as the sequel will show, not specially learned in 
 matters political. " Is this Baykansfield to be put- 
 ten oot ? " was the question put to us by Angus, 
 in order to know what was doing a question fol- 
 lowed, however, by the statement, before we had 
 time to make any observation, " I don't know my- 
 self who's best to be in ; it's no for the likes o' me 
 to be speaking aboot them things, it's scholars 
 and people o' that kind it belongs till better to 
 be speaking aboot them things." Being little in- 
 clined for a political discussion, we merely made the 
 observation that a few days would tell who would 
 be " oot " or in. At this stage, however, such polit- 
 ical leanings as Angus had were beginning to 
 appear, and we began to suspect that, after the 
 manner of some people found in Lowland and High- 
 land parishes of to-day and other days, Angus was 
 assuming ignorance merely in order to hear what 
 we had to say. "Am feared," observed Angus, 
 " this Baykansfield is ower fond o' war and it's an 
 awful thing war and forbye the praisheous lives 
 that are lost, it runs away wi' an awful sicht o' 
 money ; and now them papers are saying I reads
 
 7O CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 my newspaper of coorse that it was an awful baad 
 thing o' Baykansfield to be going to fight them 
 Soloo chaps; he should have letten the black lads 
 alone. Now, Maister Mackenzie, won't you say 
 yourself that was no richt ? but I don't know my- 
 self indeed very weel, the likes o' me canna oonder- 
 stan' them things at all." It will be seen from this 
 last observation that Angus was lapsing into his 
 sounding ways, and indeed he seemed most anxious 
 to know what manner of person we were politi- 
 cally. " Well, Angus," we replied, " war is always 
 a sad business ; and, no doubt, rightly or wrongly, 
 a great many persons are of opinion that the Gov- 
 ernment of Lord Beaconsfield might have prevented 
 some of those wars in which our country has been 
 recently engaged abroad ; and you may depend 
 upon it, Angus, all that think so will do their 
 utmost to send Lord Beaconsfield and his party 
 to the right - about." " Weel, sir," was the reply 
 of Angus, "that's what I was thinking myself, al- 
 though, as I was telling ye, the likes o' me doesna 
 oonderstan' just much aboot them things ; but I put 
 no doot you'll know all aboot it; but, Maister 
 Mackenzie, is there a pairty wi' Baykansfield ? I 
 thocht there was none but himself for them wars, 
 and that this Gladstone was the other way, just com-
 
 POLITICS OF A HIGHLAND PARISH. 7 1 
 
 plete contrary like to Baykansfield." A little elu- 
 cidation now obviously became necessary, and we 
 resolved to attempt the matter, although the very 
 rudimentary political education seemingly possessed 
 by Angus was slightly discouraging. "You must 
 understand, Angus," we proceeded to observe, neces- 
 sarily using the simplest possible style of explana- 
 tion, " Beaconsfield could do nothing unless there 
 was a large number of the members of Parliament 
 of the same opinion as himself, and helping him 
 to carry out his plans. The British Parliament is 
 made up of two kinds of persons ; they call the one 
 party Liberals, and the other party Conservatives." 
 " Am a Reebural," exclaimed Angus ; " am that 
 indeed, sir, because the paper is saying I reads my 
 newspaper, of ceorse that the Reeburals, not the 
 other chaps, is the richt sort o' fellows, and that 
 they'll give the poor man, and every other body, 
 everything they'll be wanting. Och, yes, Maister 
 Mackenzie, am a Reebural, although the likes o' 
 me doesna know much aboot it ; but Gladstone's 
 my man ; he's the man for me." " Very well, 
 Angus," we replied, " you're quite right to have 
 your own opinion in the matter ; but wait a little," 
 we added, " till I explain matters further. The 
 chief man in the Government is called the Premier,
 
 72 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 or Prime Minister." " Och, dear me ! " interposed 
 Angus, with an air of anxious astonishment ; " I 
 didna know that munnistarrs was in Parliament at 
 all. My word, these munnistarrs, you'll find them 
 looking aifter all kinds o' high places and the likes 
 o' that. They should stop at hoam and be more 
 humbler and give longer sermons. Och, the mun- 
 nistarrs are no what they were in my younger days, 
 Maister Mackenzie ; am feared they're getting ower 
 prood and high kind, and they're crabbed kind 
 and that, if you'll no please them and give plenty 
 money at the collekshans." " Dear me, Angus," we 
 replied, "what is all this for? the Prime Minister 
 or Minister of the Crown is not the same as a 
 preaching minister or church minister. The real 
 meaning of minister is a servant, and, speaking of 
 the Government, the term " prime minister " means 
 that the person so named is the chief servant of the 
 Crown or of the Queen. But, Angus, I am quite 
 surprised to hear how you speak about ministers. 
 Of course they have their faults, and some of them 
 are proud enough, and some greedy enough; but 
 you speak very strongly, almost bitterly, against 
 them. I always thought you had a great regard 
 for the clergy, and that you were a very regular 
 attendant at church." "Ah, well," replied Angus,
 
 POLITICS OF A HIGHLAND PARISH. 73 
 
 " I attends church, that's my duty, Maister Mac- 
 kenzie ; but matters aboot churches are no what 
 they were in my younger days ; but oor own mun- 
 nistarr, Maister Nicolson (Angus adhered to the Free 
 Church), am thinking is a quate man, and preaches 
 longer nor some o' them, and I must say this for 
 him forbye, that he's awful against that fearful fel- 
 low is he Robert Smuss, or Robertson, or Smuss, 
 or what is he ? the fearful fellow that they're say- 
 ing wants Deuturranoamy putten oot o' the Bible ; 
 and that's a grand quaality in oor munnistarr. But, 
 och, I shouldna be speaking aboot munnistarrs. I 
 used to hear my daesant ould faither saying it 
 wasna canny to be speaking aboot munnistarrs, and 
 the likes o' me doesna know much aboot it" 
 
 At this stage of our interview with Angus Suther- 
 land we had reached the Stratheden post-office, near 
 which, as is usual on the arrival of the evening mail- 
 train from the south, there was a considerable num- 
 ber of persons including some half-dozen plough- 
 men, as many crofters, seven or eight tradesmen 
 (tailors, shoemakers, and joiners), one or two indi- 
 viduals of no occupation, and half a score of boys. 
 This varied assemblage, of course, arranged them- 
 selves into small groups for purposes of gossip. 
 But and this bears out the remarks made at the
 
 74 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 commencement of this chapter although it was now 
 some days after the announcement of the dissolution 
 of Parliament had been known in Stratheden, the 
 political situation was very little, if at all, referred 
 to by these people. There were, however, two men 
 at the post-office of Stratheden that evening who 
 affected some interest in the elections, and seemed 
 eager to speak about the matter. One of these 
 was Angus McLeod, a Stratheden crofter, a conse- 
 quential and somewhat opinionative individual ; and 
 the other was George Mackay, a mason in Strath- 
 eden, a less dogmatic person, and not so well up 
 in politics as Angus McLeod a fact which, not- 
 withstanding the readiness displayed by the latter, 
 placed George Mackay's political knowledge at a 
 decidedly low ebb. Angus considers himself a Lib- 
 eral, but George Mackay is not pronounced either 
 way. " Weel, Maister Mackenzie," observed Angus 
 McLeod, " George and me here was speaking aboot 
 them speeches in the papers them days whatna 
 tormendous long speeches they're puttin' oot just 
 now them two chaps Gladstan and Dissurally: 
 but that's no Dissurally's name now he's gotten a 
 new name it's Bickensfield, is it no, Maister Mac- 
 kenzie ? Myself is a strong Leeberral, am that 
 indeed ; am terrable for that fine chap Gladstan ;
 
 POLITICS OF A HIGHLAND PARISH. 75 
 
 am no for interfering with them Solloo fellows at 
 all, at all. It would be better to give the money 
 to help the poor man than send it for fighting them 
 black ones." Having complimented Angus on his 
 eloquence, we were going to offer a brief observation 
 of a general kind on the question of the hour, when 
 Angus, fond of hearing himself speak, and evidently 
 proud of what he considered his own superior know- 
 ledge, went on, " I canna make oot whatna side 
 my freend George here is on, Maister Mackenzie." 
 George, who, at the time in question, had been work- 
 ing at his trade at Woodfield, the residence of General 
 Howard, put in the rather remarkable observation, 
 " I'm no thinking them civeelans will keep the Par- 
 limant very richt at all. I was hearing the General 
 speaking aboot them he's a fine scholar the Gen- 
 eral, forbye being a kind man and he was saying 
 them civeelans doesna just know the ways of matters 
 very weel at all, at all ! " It will be seen George's 
 political education was decidedly neglected. Gen- 
 eral Howard, in commenting on the political situa- 
 tion in the hearing of George, would, very probably, 
 have made some allusion to civilians, in contradis- 
 tinction to persons of his own profession ; and 
 George, thinking it right any time and all times 
 to quote the General, uttered the word " civeelans "
 
 76 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 as mentioned. Angus McLeod seemed utterly con- 
 founded by this specimen of political nomenclature 
 advanced by George. Whatever else he might be 
 ignorant of, Angus knew the party names, and evi- 
 dently felt proud at his own superior information 
 side by side with George Mackay's vague observa- 
 tion about " civeelans." " Gladstan's my man," 
 exclaimed Angus ; " Bickensfield is raither foand o' 
 war, and that's no the way to spend the money the 
 poor man should get. We wull soon hev chape 
 tobawca ; and I was saying to the wife she would 
 get a cup o' the tea for almost nothing very soon, 
 for Gladstan was to be in." 
 
 The "big fairmers " of Stratheden, with one or 
 two exceptions, appear to hold pronounced Liberal 
 opinions, and Mr Malcolm Macgregor, the " big fair- 
 mer"at Burnside, happening to be an elector in a 
 neighbouring county where there was a contested 
 election in 1880, travelled some hundred miles to 
 record his vote for the Liberal candidate. Mr Gabriel 
 Langton, Meadowbank, another of the "big fairmers" 
 of Stratheden, though at one time believed to hold 
 decidedly pronounced Conservative opinions, changed 
 his political creed some time or other during the 
 agricultural depression that fell so heavily on most 
 of the farmers within the last four or five years.
 
 POLITICS OF A HIGHLAND PARISH. 77 
 
 Mr Langton suffered severely from this depression, 
 and, somehow or other, he came to associate the 
 Government of the period, the Beaconsfield Min- 
 istry, with the hardships of the time, his indigna- 
 tion at the Conservative Ministry reaching a crisis 
 during the sadly prolonged and severe snowstorm 
 of the winter of 1878-79. Notwithstanding that Mr 
 Gabriel Langton's normal style of speech is kindly, 
 and innocent of all bitterness, he, several times in 
 the course of the winter referred to, was heard to 
 utter very strong denunciations of the party in power 
 at the time. 
 
 One evening in April 1880, when the election 
 excitement was at its height, the Rev. Mr Cameron, 
 parish minister of Stratheden, Mr Malcolm Mac- 
 gregor, Mr Langton, and one or two others, in- 
 cluding ourselves, happened to meet, and naturally 
 the political doings of the hour soon became the 
 subject of conversation. Mr Langton, who, some- 
 how, thinks he makes an exceedingly clever hit 
 if he says anything of a teasing nature regard- 
 ing the clergy, observed, at an early stage of the 
 conversation, " The parsons " Mr Langton is very 
 fond of the word " parson " " winna like the turn 
 the tide has taken. Dizzy (Mr Langton liked to say 
 " Dizzy ") is getting a most terrible drubbing with
 
 78 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 these elections, and let the old fellow take it. It's 
 awful like to think of the way matters went back 
 while he was in office, and the winter before last 
 crowned everything." Mr Cameron seemed more 
 amused than anything else at Mr Langton's way of 
 putting the matter, and particularly at his appearing 
 to address him specially. The clergy of the Estab- 
 lished Church of Scotland have long been popularly 
 understood to be Conservatives, and it was on this 
 assumption that Mr Langton made special reference 
 to the " parsons." We may mention, in passing, that 
 the great majority of the Highland clergy Free 
 and Established are understood to be Conserva- 
 tive in politics. So far as the parish minister of 
 Stratheden's political sentiments can be ascertained, 
 he is what is ordinarily termed a Liberal-Conserva- 
 tive, and seems to take very good-naturedly the re- 
 monstrances of some of his acquaintance Liberals 
 and Conservatives alike who persist in advising 
 him to adopt what they call a more decided tone ; 
 but the reverend gentleman, whether from stubborn- 
 ness or indifference, or from an unalterable faith in 
 the soundness of this sort of middle path, smiles 
 at the earnest remonstrances addressed to him by 
 partisans of either side of politics, and, up to this 
 moment, so far as we can learn, he is a Liberal-Con-
 
 POLITICS OF A HIGHLAND PARISH. 79 
 
 servative. After Mr Langton's reference to the 
 " parsons' " supposed dislike to the turn the tide had 
 taken in the political world, Mr Cameron indicated 
 a wish that Mr Langton should explain why he 
 thought the parsons would not relish the altered 
 situation. " Och, you're a' Conservatives, and you're 
 afraid o' your Kirk," was the reply ; whereupon 
 Mr Malcolm Macgregor, a stanch Liberal, and an 
 equally stanch member of the Established Church 
 of Scotland, observed, " There's no fear of the 
 Church ; there's no person worth mentioning seek- 
 ing to touch the Church at this moment." Mr 
 Macgregor takes what many will be inclined to 
 think a thoroughly sensible and practical view of 
 the Church question. He deprecates mixing up 
 the matter with politics so-called, alleging that 
 there are many decided Liberals and he in- 
 stances himself with some pride and enthusiasm 
 strong supporters of the Established Church of Scot- 
 land. " It's the people? Mr Macgregor added, " that 
 will decide the Church question when it comes up ; 
 and if the majority of the people of Scotland demand 
 disestablishment which I don't think will be the 
 case in a hurry whatever Government there is, they 
 must agree to the people's wishes. Let the Church 
 continue to do good useful work, and she's sure to
 
 80 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 stand many a long day." " I think, Mr Langton," ob- 
 served the Rev. Mr Cameron, " Mr Macgregor has 
 put the matter in a very sensible light, and besides 
 heartily endorsing our friend of Burnside's views on 
 this matter, I think it unwise of s-uch as are friends 
 of the Church of Scotland to speak and act as if the 
 existence of the Church depended on the support of 
 any political party. Let the ministers and people of 
 the Established Church, by doing and giving" the 
 reverend gentleman emphasised the giving, with a 
 significant look all round " help to make the Church 
 of Scotland a continually increasing power for good, 
 and the friends of the Church need not trouble them- 
 selves about disestablishment." Whether it was that 
 Mr Langton thought his reverence was proceeding 
 to sermonise on the subject, or whether it was that 
 he was afraid it was not well enough known that 
 he had become a Liberal some time during the 
 snowstorm of '78-79, Mr Langton abruptly ob- 
 served "But you're all afraid Gladstone will be 
 at your Kirk, and pull it down." At this stage 
 Duncan Kennedy, a Stratheden " small fairmer," 
 an adherent .of the Free Church, and a some- 
 what intelligent man, who had been listening at- 
 tentively to the discussion, seemed desirous of 
 stating his views on the matter. " Am thinkin' my-
 
 POLITICS OF A HIGHLAND PARISH. 8l 
 
 seP," observed Duncan, "that the munnistarr is 
 perfectly richt aboot this dussisstawblishment ; and 
 forbye that, I waas very gled to hear Maister Mac- 
 gregor speaking the way he did. The dussisstawb- 
 lishment wunna be in oor day. Am no o' the Estawb- 
 lish Church mysel', but I wud be very sorry to see 
 the day I hope I wunna, and I wunna see the day 
 the good ould Church of oor fathers will be putten 
 doon : I don't think mysel' there's mony wants it 
 putten doon. Look among the people o' this 
 paireesh itsel', all the Free Church people in it, am 
 sure, would be doonricht against puttin' doon the 
 Estawblish Church ; and it's the same in other pair- 
 eeshes, am sure. Ah ! we wunna pairt wi' the Church 
 o' Scotland though we doesna go to it ; we goes to 
 the Church we were brocht up in, am thinking 
 that's the way wi' all of us." Duncan's observations 
 being, by universal consent, accepted as the close 
 of the comments on the Church question, Mr Angus 
 Ferguson, Braeside, a farmer in the parish, pro- 
 ceeded to offer a few comments. Some one had 
 told him farmers were soon to have better times it 
 might have been Mr Langton, who expected a great 
 deal from the return of the Liberals to power. " I 
 wunder," observed the tenant of Braeside, "what 
 will Glawdstane and them chaps do for us people 
 
 F
 
 82 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 that's dependin' on the lawnd, and so awful hadden 
 doon them times." (Angus had been long away from 
 Stratheden, and acquired a peculiar accent.) " Ye 
 see, wi' a' their talk and poaleetics and Goavurrments, 
 they canna bring doon oor rents ae bawbee ; and 
 forbye, am no shair they can haud thae Amarrican 
 fellaes frae sending sic tremendous cargoes o' meat 
 and a' kinds o' stuff to oor country and it's they 
 Amarrican lads that's keeping a' things doon i' the 
 price. Am feared nae Goavurrment can mend 
 that, freends." Mr Gabriel Langton, a convert of 
 depression times to Liberalism, as the reader will 
 remember, scarcely seemed to relish Mr Angus Fer- 
 guson's blunt way of putting matters, and, in reply 
 to Ferguson's observations, said : " Wait, Angus, and 
 you'll see all things getting into right order when 
 Gladstone and his party get into power, though 
 it's not just an awfully easy business to put right 
 what Dizzy (Gabriel would call him Dizzy) put 
 wrong." 
 
 Just as the conference was breaking up, Hugh 
 Fraser, an aged native, understood by a certain 
 class to be a "good" man, happened to be passing, 
 and, having asked one of those present what the 
 subject of conversation had been, was supplied with 
 a brief summary of the discussion. " Am no going
 
 POLITICS OF A HIGHLAND PARISH. 83 
 
 to say anything aboot Goavurrmants," observed 
 Hugh; "but perhaps if the big fairmers wouldna be 
 setting their hairts on the big sheep and the cattle 
 and the land, they would get better weather, am 
 thinkin' ; and they needna be speakin' aboot price 
 they're gettin' price enough already that's what 
 they are. Waas the Moaderat munnistarr" (Hugh 
 adhered to the Free Church) " speakin' aboot big 
 sheep and prices ? Och, indeed I needna ask that 
 am sure he was ; for they're fairmers, plenty of 
 them Moaderat munnistarrs wi' their 'glebes, and 
 some o' them hessna much more to do." (This last 
 observation was meant as a sneer at the fewness of 
 adherents of the Established Church in some High- 
 land parishes.) " Ochan, ochan ! it's the day that's 
 hit that's no easy to be thinkin' of when munnis- 
 tarrs will be speakin' aboot big sheep and prices 
 with the big fairmers." No one seemed inclined to 
 interrupt Hugh Fraser in his silly harangue. The 
 reader may be curious to know why Fraser passed 
 as a "good" man, seeing he could utter such un- 
 mitigated sillinesses as were embodied in his com- 
 ments on the conference. A perusal of the second 
 chapter of this book may enable the reader to solve 
 the problem. Happily, however, persons of Hugh's 
 way of thinking are becoming a small and rapidly
 
 84 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 diminishing class. He wound up his rambling com- 
 ments by saying, " But I needna wunder aboot 
 Moaderat munnistarrs. With my two eyes I saw 
 one o' them walkin' aboot his glebe on Saiturday, 
 and lookin' at the cattle and the fields and the gress 
 fine preparaishan for Sawbath ! "
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE IN A HIGHLAND 
 PARISH OF TO-DAY. 
 
 LOOKING at the matter from the sentimental side 
 influenced, that is to say, by our affection for the 
 language, founded on fond associations and mem- 
 ories of the days of yore we were glad to see it 
 stated recently that to-day even, in Scotland, there 
 are three hundred thousand people that speak 
 Gaelic ; though, to those that know anything of the 
 Highlands of to-day, it did not require the news- 
 paper correspondence this announcement called forth 
 to explain that it would be absurd to add the little 
 word "only" to the words "that speak Gaelic" in 
 the foregoing sentence. At this moment there are in 
 Scotland something like one hundred and seventy 
 what may be called Highland parishes places 
 where Gaelic used to be largely spoken and regu- 
 larly preached, and representing about two hundred
 
 86 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 and fifty thousand of a population ; but, taking 
 Stratheden as an instance and it is fairly repre- 
 sentative the most enthusiastic admirer of Gaelic 
 would find it difficult indeed, in all these parishes, 
 to discover one hundred and twenty-five thousand 
 that is, one-half of the aggregate population 
 that habitually use the Gaelic language. There may 
 be instances in which the proportion of Gaelic- 
 speaking ones those speaking it habitually, we 
 mean is larger, but there are at least as many 
 where it is smaller ; and, taking a public school in 
 the average Highland parish of to-day, and hearing 
 the children talking on the playground, it will be 
 found that English is the prevailing language ; nor 
 would it be easy, in the case of some Highland 
 schools, with, say, sixty scholars, to find twenty, or 
 one-third, able to speak Gaelic. This latter fact is 
 suggestive enough, and indicates more clearly than 
 many will care to think, how surely, if slowly, Gaelic 
 as a spoken language is disappearing. All honour, 
 all the same, to Professor Blackie a good man and 
 true for his laborious and persevering efforts to 
 preserve the Gaelic language by establishing a Celtic 
 Chair. Every true Highlander must appreciate 
 with a sort of affectionate respect the learned and 
 witty Professor's endeavours in this direction. But,
 
 LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE. 8/ 
 
 with all his enthusiasm, he is too wise to aim at 
 preserving Gaelic as a spoken language. Professor 
 Blackie has no such dream in his mind's eye. The 
 S.G.C.C. (Solicitor-General for the Celtic Chair), as 
 we think he called himself at one time, and C.G.S.I. 
 (Chief of the Gaelic Society of Inverness), which 
 position, and very deservedly, he occupied not long 
 ago, is no visionary. In his witty, brilliant way, 
 he is a far-seeing discerner of the signs of the 
 times, and knows as well as any, and, doubtless, 
 regrets as fondly as most, that while the Gaelic 
 language, for philological and historical purposes 
 generally, deserves to be preserved, the days of 
 Gaelic-speaking must not very long hence cease to 
 be. All honour, likewise, to the Gaelic Society of 
 Inverness, 'The Celtic Magazine/ 'The^Gael,' and 
 ' The Highlander,' for their efforts in the same direc- 
 tion. And there are others whom the admirers of the 
 Gaelic language will think of with grateful recollec- 
 tions, the " bard " of the Gaelic Society of Inverness 
 (Mary M'Kellar, an ardent and clever supporter of 
 Gaelic) ; Sheriff Nicolson of Kirkcudbright, an elo- 
 quent writer, in prose and verse, on Celtic themes ; 
 the Rev. Dr Clerk, parish minister of Kilmalie, an 
 accomplished Gaelic scholar; the Rev. Dr M'Lauch- 
 lan, Free Church minister, Edinburgh, a very able
 
 88 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 Gaelic scholar, and an eloquent writer on Celtic 
 themes generally. There are others that might be 
 mentioned equally enthusiastic in matters affect- 
 ing the welfare of the Highland people and the 
 Gaelic language, but here we must rest content with 
 enumerating a few of those that take a more pro- 
 minent part. The matter of Gaelic - speaking has 
 recently been receiving no small attention, on ac- 
 count of the remarkably successful efforts, already 
 referred to, towards founding a Celtic Chair in Scot- 
 land, and partly on account of efforts not, however, 
 quite so successful, though equally enthusiastic 
 for encouraging the teaching of Gaelic in Highland 
 schools. 
 
 The Celtic Chair proposal somewhat perplexed 
 some of the less learned in Stratheden and other 
 Highland parishes the use of the word "chair" caus- 
 ing especial wonderment. At the time the Chair 
 agitation was at its height, the matter was discussed 
 one evening in one of the Stratheden shops. " What 
 is that Chair they're speakin' aboot just now for the 
 Gaelic?" observed Hugh Mackay, a person of over 
 fifty years of age, and one of the few in the parish 
 that speak Gaelic oftener than English. " What 
 hess a chair to do with our good language ? " " Per- 
 haps," replied Donald Morison, another of the party,
 
 LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE. 89 
 
 " it's a praesant o' a chair they're going to give to 
 that cluwur great scholar Professor Blackie, because 
 he's awful good at keeping up the Gaelic." " Non- 
 sense ! " exclaimed the shopkeeper, who had been 
 reading about the matter; "the Gaelic Chair" 
 (the wider designation Celtic is not in common use) 
 " means that there's to be a professor to be teaching 
 Gaelic, like the way they'll be teaching the Greek 
 and the Layteen." " Oh, well, well," observed Don- 
 ald Morison, "am no wundering at that at all, 
 because it's a grawnd language the Gaelic, and oor 
 forefathers waas speaking it, and every person should 
 learn it. I hope they'll get a man that's very good 
 at the Gaelic to make the scholars learn it smairt 
 and right." " Who's to be making the scholars learn 
 the Gaelic?" inquired George Macrae, in common 
 with some others present, rather at sea on the 
 Chair question : " they couldna do better nor take 
 old Sandy Macgillivray at Cnoc-abartach, and put 
 him in a chair, and they'll get plenty Gaelic, and 
 very good Gaelic, and the best Gaelic, am sure. 
 I think that myself whatevvur." " All very well," 
 observed David Macdonald, an intelligent crofter 
 in the parish, "but the Gaelic is going out of 
 fashion ; indeed I think it is going to die out alto- 
 gether. It doesna pay, and that's the long and
 
 9O CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 short of it. People doesna need it for places and 
 situations and the like o' that, although it's a good 
 fine language, and many excellent people before us 
 had no language but the Gaelic." These latter obser- 
 vations of Macdonald rather displeased another crof- 
 ter present, who was somewhat of an enthusiast on the 
 side of Gaelic. " What hairum, am sure," said Hugh 
 Maclean, the enthusiast alluded to, "can the Gaelic 
 do for situations and places ? Many's the good, 
 cluvvur man in splendid situations that hess plenty 
 Gaelic, and it's no hairum to him." Macdonald was 
 not wishful to prolong the discussion, and this was 
 well. Like many others discussing the same theme, 
 the one viewed the matter from a sentimental point 
 of view, and the other from a utilitarian standpoint, 
 which, of course, rendered agreement very improb- 
 able, if not impossible. 
 
 Some thirty years ago all the inhabitants of our 
 Highland parishes, with very few exceptions, could 
 speak Gaelic. School-children could then whisper 
 to each other across the school-benches in that lan- 
 guage ; and they spoke it, and it chiefly, on the 
 playground, a fact that never seemed seriously to 
 interfere with the progress of their English educa- 
 tion. At the time indicated, Gaelic was spoken, as 
 often, at least, as English, in most Highland homes,
 
 LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE. 91 
 
 while in some families it was the language exclusive- 
 ly used. It was preached in all Highland churches, 
 and in not a few it alone was preached. All this 
 is now changed. Except in certain districts of the 
 Outer Hebrides, with solitudes unbroken by the 
 whistle of a railway train, few school-children in 
 a Highland parish of to-day whisper Gaelic across 
 the school-benches, or utter it loudly on the play- 
 ground. In some parishes where, twenty years ago, 
 three hundred persons might be found able to speak 
 Gaelic only, it will to-day be difficult to find twenty 
 unable to speak English. But the most significant 
 feature of the changed days of Gaelic is its growing 
 disuse among the rising generation a fact already 
 alluded to. Nor is it void of significance that some 
 of the older people that yet use Gaelic find it neces- 
 sary occasionally to interpolate an English word, 
 and that in some districts of the Highlands not a 
 few people to-day speak a Gaelic largely mixed 
 with English words, although, for the English words 
 so used, any one desiring to know Gaelic might easily 
 find a Gaelic equivalent. 
 
 Gaelic prospects in Stratheden share the altered 
 fortunes of the language. Some, no doubt, among 
 the older natives speak Gaelic habitually, rarely 
 speaking English though most of them can speak
 
 92 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 it but these form a rapidly diminishing number. 
 There are some in the parish one or two of the 
 " big fairmers," a shepherd or two, a gamekeeper, and 
 a gardener that have no Gaelic ; and this, in its way, 
 is an accession to the wave that goes to sweep away 
 the language as a spoken tongue. With these 
 exceptions, most of the inhabitants know Gaelic, 
 but they also know English, and their children in 
 the greater number of instances know the latter lan- 
 guage better and speak it oftener ; nor should it be 
 forgot, as being especially significant in regard to 
 this matter, that in many Highland parishes of to- 
 day there are not a few of the rising generation 
 ignorant of Gaelic. 
 
 The English spoken by the average native resi- 
 dent in a Highland parish of to-day is scarcely of 
 the kind some would wish us to believe. In the mis- 
 cellaneous columns of some provincial newspapers, 
 and in a few publications far more ambitious, there 
 are now and then specimens of English, as spoken 
 in the Highlands, ordinarily unknown to actual fact. 
 Those that supply such specimens seem to think 
 it right to speak of nossing for nothing, goot for 
 good, and like metamorphoses of look and sound, 
 as if it was the English ordinarily spoken in these 
 districts ; but such style of pronunciation in the
 
 LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE. 93 
 
 average Highland parish is to-day rare. Not that 
 the English spoken in Highland parishes is always 
 void of Gaelic flavour, but the number of those in 
 the average Highland parish of to-day that for noth- 
 ing give nossing, that avoid good and bad alike, 
 electing to say goot and paad, is comparatively 
 small, and undoubtedly diminishing. The school, 
 the railway, and the newspaper, are causing these 
 and like peculiarities of pronunciation to disappear ; 
 and if, which we are inclined to doubt, in any High- 
 land parish to-day these peculiarities have anything 
 like a marked existence, it must be because such 
 parish is not, or has not long been, sharing the 
 improving influences of the agencies specified. 
 
 And now for the kind of literature usually patron- 
 ised in the average Highland parish. Few Gaelic 
 books of any kind are read. Not only is the num- 
 ber of Gaelic books available small, but there are 
 many Gze\\c-speaking persons quite unable to read 
 Gaelic. This latter fact accounts for the linger- 
 ing custom of "reading the line" in psalm-singing 
 where Gaelic is preached. This reference to psalm- 
 singing reminds us that among a large proportion 
 of Highlanders there is a strange prejudice against 
 anything else than psalms being sung in church. 
 They virtually discard paraphrases ; and as for
 
 94 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 hymns, they would shudder at the thought of sing- 
 ing them. Some years ago a minister in a High- 
 land parish " gave out " a paraphrase in church, 
 and had scarcely done so when an old elder of the 
 congregation, greatly moved by the dreadful in- 
 novation, said, loud enough to be heard by all 
 in church, " I wonder is the psalms o' Dauvid all 
 done ? " ! 
 
 Few Gaelic books are read, we said. Those that 
 are read, as a rule, are the works of Bunyan, Baxter, 
 and Boston, comprising the well-known 'Pilgrim's 
 Progress,' Baxter's 'Saints' Rest,' and Boston's 
 ' Fourfold State,' all these translations having long 
 enjoyed considerable popularity in the Highlands. 
 Of works originally composed in Gaelic, the Hymns 
 of Dugald Buchanan and Peter Grant in the golden 
 age of Gaelic-speaking were very popular with many ; 
 but, as is true of all other Gaelic books, those that 
 to-day read them are few compared with twenty 
 years ago. ' Ossian,' of course, holds an honoured, 
 a revered place in every Highland home where there 
 is the least effort after a library ; but ' Ossian,' even, 
 is to-day rarely read in Gaelic. ' Caraid Nan Gaid- 
 heaP ('The Highlander's Friend'), a Gaelic work by 
 the Rev. Dr Macleod, an eloquent Gaelic scholar 
 and genuine Highlander, father of the late deeply
 
 LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE. 95 
 
 lamented excellent man and eloquent preacher, 
 Norman Macleod of Glasgow, has long been popular 
 in various districts of the Highlands. It includes 
 dialogues, many of them very clever and highly 
 amusing, short essays of an instructive kind, and 
 sermons betokening a clear head and large heart. 
 
 Gaelic song-books are not in large demand, and 
 it is a pretty significant fact that there are many 
 Highland parishes where a Gaelic song is to-day 
 rarely heard. Here, again, the railway, the news- 
 paper, and the spread of schools are telling power- 
 fully. Although the poetry of an ideal Highland 
 parish would not be reckoned anything like com- 
 plete without Gaelic songs, sung at even by the 
 milkmaid, and in the family circle in the long 
 winter evenings, Gaelic songs are yielding to the 
 general change. The love -songs, the martial airs, 
 and the laments that, in days of yore, spoke 
 to Highland hearts in the familiar accents of the 
 Gaelic tongue, though their sentiment will long en- 
 dure, must tend towards having an existence only 
 in the fond recollection of those that have once 
 heard them. 
 
 Besides those enumerated, there are other Gaelic 
 publications known in the Highlands, some origi- 
 nal, but most of them translations; but in respect
 
 96 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 of the limited and still diminishing reading of 
 Gaelic, these latter publications need not be spoken 
 of at any length. Some of them are religious songs, 
 many of them are of the so-called sentimental 
 order, while a few are of the martial kind, and 
 others are laments. Various of these are well 
 composed, by genuine Celts, good men and true ; 
 but even the best of such works are being read 
 by a diminishing number, a fact caused by a tide, 
 the advance of which it were vain to try to check. 
 So much for Gaelic books and Gaelic reading. Now 
 for the English element in the literature in ordinary 
 use in the average Highland parish of to-day. 
 
 A remarkable change of recent years is the now 
 large and growing use of the newspaper. Some 
 thirty years ago, though the population was then 
 as large as now, not more than half-a-dozen news- 
 papers came to Stratheden. To-day nearly thirty 
 times that number come weekly to the parish, all 
 eagerly waited for. No doubt the half - dozen of 
 other days did duty for many readers, as those that 
 got them, ordinarily the parsons, the " big fairmers," 
 and the schoolmaster, gave a reading of the paper 
 to one or more neighbours. At the same time, for 
 every newspaper reader of thirty years ago in 
 Stratheden, there are to-day at least fifteen readers.
 
 LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE. 97 
 
 The ' Inverness Courier,' lately grown into a tri- 
 weekly from being a weekly paper, was then, as 
 to-day, popular. Wisely moderate in its political 
 attitude, and in every way respectably and judici- 
 ously conducted, the ' Courier' still holds its ground, 
 and notwithstanding the growing circulation of daily 
 papers in the Highlands, by means of which much 
 of the news given in weekly, bi-weekly, or even tri- 
 weekly papers is anticipated, in very many homes 
 in Highland parishes the 'Courier' is to-day cor- 
 dially welcomed. Another paper, the ' Northern 
 Chronicle,' established apparently for the purpose of 
 advocating moderate Conservative views, has re- 
 cently appeared in Inverness. Its prudently mild 
 tone and general " get up " promise well. The 
 ' Weekly Scotsman ' and ' People's Journal,' the 
 latter also a weekly, are the papers having the 
 largest circulation in Stratheden. Some six dozen 
 of each arrive every Friday evening for regular sub- 
 scribers. The former is very popular, on account of 
 the great variety of its news, its well-arranged sum- 
 maries, and its minute detailing of events of excit- 
 ing interest. The ' People's Journal ' is also popular 
 in Stratheden, and that very much because of its 
 stories or tales, of a kind leaning towards the sen- 
 sational, but, generally speaking, with a healthy 
 
 G
 
 98 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 bettering tendency. Ploughmen and farm-servants 
 generally read the ' People's Journal.' It gives con- 
 siderable space to subjects affecting their interests, 
 and its appreciation of the general circumstances of 
 this class seems intelligent and reasonable. The 
 ' Northern Ensign,' a weekly paper, published in 
 Wick, is also read in Stratheden. It is smartly con- 
 ducted, showing great variety, but devoting special 
 attention to matters affecting the agricultural and fish- 
 ing populations. Then there is ' The Highlander/ 
 a paper started some dozen years ago in Inverness, 
 with the special view of supporting the claims of the 
 Gaelic language, and of awakening a practical inter- 
 est in matters affecting Highland crofters. Though, 
 however, its name and professed objects would lead 
 to the belief that it meets with general acceptance 
 in the Highlands, the circulation of ' The High- 
 lander ' is by no means large. The fact that, with 
 one exception, the other papers referred to were 
 established before ' The Highlander's ' day began, 
 will partly account for this ; and the special atten- 
 tion given to the Gaelic language in 'The High- 
 lander,' much though some may appreciate it, will 
 not, we suspect, increase its circulation, for reasons 
 we have already indicated when discussing the pros- 
 pects of Gaelic as a spoken language. It may be
 
 LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE. 99 
 
 added that, although the interests of the crofter re- 
 ceive special attention in ' The Highlander,' there 
 are other papers circulated in the Highlands, papers 
 of older standing than ' The Highlander,' that dis- 
 cuss this matter in its various aspects, generally 
 in a calm and unprejudiced manner, so that the 
 former cannot be said to have a monopoly of the 
 subject. 9 
 
 Such are the newspapers ordinarily read in Strath- 
 eden. Their general circulation began with the ex- 
 tension of the railway to the parish some fifteen 
 years ago. One or two of the shopkeepers receive 
 parcels of the newspapers weekly, and for an hour 
 or two after their arrival the shops are crowded with 
 persons longing to get their paper. Some in the 
 parish the two parsons, the " big fairmers," and a 
 few others get a daily paper. There is no Highland 
 " daily." Nor can this be felt to be a serious want. 
 The Scotch dailies, such as the 'Scotsman,' 'Courant/ 
 ' Review/ and ' Glasgow Herald/ may be had in the 
 greater number of Highland parishes on the evening 
 of the day of publication, and in some of them early in 
 the afternoon. Of course there are many parishes in 
 the West and North Highlands not yet thus favour- 
 ably situated; but telegraphic communication is now 
 becoming so general, that, in specially exciting times,
 
 100 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 there is a compensating element for the absence of 
 an early arrival of the daily newspaper. 
 
 Speaking of newspapers, there are others than 
 those mentioned that are circulated in certain 
 districts of the Highlands namely, two Aberdeen 
 dailies, the ' Inverness Advertiser/ the ' John O'Groat 
 Journal,' the ' Oban Times,' the ' Ross-shire Journal/ 
 'Perthshire Advertiser,' and the 'Invergordon Times;' 
 but it is not necessary here to do more than allude 
 to these. 
 
 It is a remarkable and melancholy fact that 
 books, and indeed literature in almost every form, 
 were virtually forbidden by some of the Highland 
 clergy of about forty years ago, and an even later 
 period. The reason for this is not clear, though 
 there seems to be ground for the unpleasant sus- 
 picion that the clergy, finding the ignorance of the 
 people enabled them to perpetuate their clerical 
 sway and foster general intolerance, dreaded the 
 revolution of enlightenment which reading habits 
 might bring about. Strange to say, an occasional 
 survival of the effects of this dark tyranny may even 
 to-day be met with. There is a crofter in a High- 
 land parish, not thirty miles from Stratheden, who 
 is understood to doubt the propriety of perusing 
 literature generally, and especially newspapers, on
 
 LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE. IOI 
 
 the plea that the latter are " awful worldly." The 
 reader will not be surprised to hear, marvellous 
 though the question is, that this crofter is said to 
 have lately inquired of a neighbour whether the 
 Pope belonged to the Free or the Established 
 Church ! It would be interesting to know what his 
 Holiness of the Vatican would think of this High- 
 land crofter's very limited acquaintance with ecclesi- 
 astical distinctions. 
 
 Newspapers constitute the chief reading of the 
 great bulk of the people of Stratheden, and this 
 is true of many Highland parishes. Libraries are 
 rare, because reading habits, though decidedly 
 growing, are not yet prevalent. Besides newspapers 
 some read such books as ' The Pilgrim's Progress/ 
 ' Tales of a Grandfather,' books of sacred and secu- 
 lar songs, ' The Celtic Magazine,' a very well con- 
 ducted monthly published in Inverness ; and the 
 cheap literature, in the form of novels, biographies, 
 and narratives of travel in foreign lands, is also, in 
 the average Highland parish, beginning to be largely 
 used. Of course in some Highland parishes those 
 having more or less important villages there is a 
 good library, and no small number of readers. With 
 the extended educational machinery of to-day, and 
 the additional enlightenment caused by travel, read-
 
 102 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 ing habits must grow ; and though, as in other 
 places, some in Highland parishes will have an 
 appetite for literature not elevating or in any way 
 healthy, the general result must be to promote 
 liberal-mindedness and Christian charity, qualities 
 not hitherto so prominent in certain quarters of the 
 Northern Highlands as the friends of true progress 
 could have wished.
 
 103 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 MANSES AND MINISTERS IN A HIGHLAND PARISH 
 
 OF TO-DAY. 
 
 \ . 
 
 THERE was a time, prior to the memorable Seces- 
 sion of '43, when the designation "manse" applied to 
 one house only in a Highland parish. It is not so 
 now, of course, there being to-day two houses that 
 go by the name of manse the homes of the pastors 
 of the Established and Free Church congregations 
 respectively. 
 
 We take the Established Church manse as the 
 representative habitation, giving it, as is most due, 
 the precedence belonging to age; and if we speak of 
 the reverend occupant of the more venerable abode 
 before making any observations regarding his rev- 
 erence " over the way," this is because it might tend 
 to confusion of ideas were the minister dissociated 
 from his manse. 
 
 The parish manse of Stratheden is an ancient
 
 104 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 enough fabric, and has a very past sort of look 
 about it. It has seen all this century's changes, and 
 stood the storms of twenty winters before the century 
 began. The manse and church literally stand high 
 in the parish, being set upon a hill ; and we have 
 heard the parish minister who, by the way, has no 
 Ritualistic leanings say that a friend lately teased 
 him upon his high Church surroundings. 
 
 The parish minister of Stratheden the Rev. 
 George Cameron is a comparatively young man ; 
 and while a first look gives the impression that 
 he is of a cheerful disposition " too happy like 
 for a munnistarr," as some of the older natives 
 have been heard to say a discerning unprejudiced 
 look discovers a reasonable measure of professional 
 gravity in his expression. 
 
 Mr Cameron leads an active life. Not that his pas- 
 toral duties can be called arduous ; for, as is the case 
 in many Highland parishes of to-day, the compara- 
 tive smallness of the congregation precludes this sup- 
 position. An energetic earnest man, however, will 
 always find plenty useful work to do. Mr Cameron, 
 though not eager to take a prominent part in extra- 
 professional work, is a member of the School Board 
 and of the Parochial Board of the parish. In the 
 latter he site ex qfficio ; and in almost all Highland
 
 MANSES AND MINISTERS. IO5 
 
 parishes the rural ones especially, by pretty general 
 consent it is considered right that the "paereesh 
 munnistarr" should be a member of the School 
 Board, in the deliberations of which latter body 
 Mr Cameron should be able to offer some specially 
 useful suggestions. He has himself been a school- 
 master for a considerable time, and the benefit of 
 his experience should be felt. It is worthy of 
 notice that very many of the Highland clergy of 
 both denominations have been school teachers be- 
 fore or during their university training for the min- 
 istry. In most instances "exchequer" requirements 
 explain this fact ; while in a few cases the desire to 
 be employed induces the aspirant to the sacred office 
 to take teaching in a school, or become tutor in a 
 private family, during the vacation of the summer 
 and autumn months. The Education Act of 1872 
 will go far to remove this long-prevalent feature in 
 the history of the Highland clergy. It gives little 
 or no countenance to the idea of a substitute teacher 
 during the teacher's absence at the university ; and 
 thus, doubtless, the practice alluded to will soon 
 cease to hold. 
 
 Regularity in pastoral visitation would appear to 
 be highly prized by the average Highlander ; for, 
 whether or not there is a genuine wish to see
 
 106 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 "the munnistarr" at their homes, loud and some- 
 times bitter comments are made on those of the 
 clergy that are thought to neglect the practice. 
 The older people speak more strongly, and very 
 probably with greater sincerity, on this matter. 
 The two parsons of Stratheden seem to visit fre- 
 quently. His reverence of the Auld Kirk has not 
 so much to do in this way ; and if his congregation 
 had strong faith in the virtue of frequent visiting, it 
 would be easy enough for him to meet their views 
 in this respect : not that his congregation is very 
 small, though we have heard him say he could wish 
 it larger. Many of the Established Church congre- 
 gations in the Highlands are small ; but in several 
 cases there has been an increase within recent years. 
 Useful as the two pastors of a Highland parish of 
 to-day may be in their day and generation, time was 
 when, in a more especial manner than now, the min- 
 ister was "guide, philosopher, and friend" to his flock. 
 As a rule, " a man he was to all the country dear : " 
 and if the stipend was not at quite so slender a 
 figure as " forty pounds a-year," the frequent calls on 
 the minister's purse, and the generous giving prac- 
 tised by many, left often enough but a very atten- 
 uated balance on the right side at the year's end. 
 Some forty years ago the minister often gave legal
 
 MANSES AND MINISTERS. IO/ 
 
 advice, not seldom medical prescriptions, to his 
 people, and thus lightened the sheriff's duties and 
 curtailed the doctor's bills. No doubt, even to-day, 
 instances of this extra-professional work may be met 
 with, especially in the matter of medical prescrip- 
 tions. But doctors are becoming more numerous 
 in the Highlands ; and as for the legal advice, the 
 people seem fonder of going to "see the Shurra 
 aboot it," and this latter dignitary now hears not a 
 few of a certain kind of causes in which, in other 
 days, the minister attempted, and often with success, 
 to act the part of peacemaker. In short, the rela- 
 tion between the minister and people in a Highland 
 parish of to-day is neither so close nor so firm as 
 it was some forty or fifty years ago, and especially 
 before the Secession of '43. Reasons for the change 
 will probably occur to the reader. 
 
 As a rule, the staff of domestics in the parish 
 manse of to-day is not quite so large as was the 
 case some fifty or even twenty years ago. In those 
 days the manse kitchen was a largely peopled place. 
 In addition to the ordinary servants there was the 
 old woman who presided at the spinning-wheel, a 
 very important personage in the days when woollen 
 manufactories were unknown in the Highlands. She 
 was a great favourite with the young people of
 
 108 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 the manse, by whom she was in some cases familiar- 
 ly called " Granny Spinning." She could spin more 
 than one kind of yarn, and had many stories the 
 little ones liked to hear. She often combined the 
 management of the poultry with spinning, and was 
 indeed willing to make herself generally useful. 
 There is now no room for this follower of other 
 days. Her chief occupation is gone : homespun 
 fabrics are daily becoming more unfashionable. 
 Woollen manufactories are being established in 
 Highland parishes there is one in Stratheden and 
 Granny Spinning's winter work can now be over- 
 taken at the mills in a few hours. Hence this re- 
 tainer of a Highland manse will soon be known to 
 history alone. 
 
 There is another retainer of other days now com- 
 paratively unknown. We refer to those half-witted, 
 harmless persons taken into manses from charitable 
 motives, and who were ordinarily employed in herd- 
 ing cattle, running messages, and helping generally 
 about the manse or glebe. It would seem to the 
 regret of many kind-hearted ones by no means foes 
 of progress as if most of these persons nowadays 
 found their way to poorhouses and other parochial 
 institutions as people needing supervision. 
 
 " The minister's man," of course, still endures.
 
 . MANSES AND MINISTERS. 109 
 
 He is a permanent institution, and a person of very 
 considerable self-importance. The parson, generally 
 speaking, is not particularly strong in the knowledge 
 of farming ; and when this is the case, where there 
 is a suitable man, the glebe management is intrusted 
 to the latter, the sense of responsibility thus im- 
 parted giving an air of self-importance to the man's 
 general bearing. Then he is, as a rule, the kirk 
 officer, which likewise helps to make him a person 
 of consideration. The Stratheden parish minister's 
 man is somewhat of a character. James Morison 
 this is the man's name is a little man with an air 
 not little. He seems fond of hearing himself talk ; 
 but as he is fond of working, James is a very dili- 
 gent workman, often first done with spring and 
 harvest work in the parish, his propensity for talk- 
 ing is overlooked by those most interested. James 
 is kirk officer in the parish church, and discharges 
 his duties with commendable precision. From cer- 
 tain observations we have heard, it appears that 
 some of his Sunday duties entail a considerable 
 facial strain on James. The normal aspect of his 
 physiognomy is not one suggestive of gravity, or 
 one that speaks of placidity ; but it is well known 
 that James on the Sunday, while acting beadle, and 
 especially while gathering " the collection " with the
 
 HO CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 ladle, looks a very model of calm gravity and official 
 propriety. 
 
 There is another of the manse staff that deserves 
 a passing notice Thomas Macleod, a party of some 
 thirty years of age, and somewhat of an original 
 character. When quite a boy he came to the manse 
 in the capacity of herd, and was subsequently pro- 
 moted to the post of general farm-servant. Being 
 " a quate lad," and a faithful servant, Thomas, in 
 respect of his originality, has been much " made of," 
 a consequence of which is that a certain familiarity 
 in addressing superiors falls to be enumerated among 
 his peculiarities. Referring at family worship one 
 evening not many weeks ago to the pool of Siloam, 
 his reverence was somewhat amused, if not startled, 
 by hearing Thomas abruptly volunteer the observa- 
 tion, " There's a well like that in oor place," the 
 reference being to a well in Thomas's native parish 
 supposed to possess miraculous powers of healing. 
 
 Thomas is one of the now rapidly diminishing 
 number that are more at home in Gaelic than in 
 English, notwithstanding that he affects a preference 
 for the latter. An instance of this preference for 
 English-speaking, and, at the same time, of his wish 
 to be thought clever, Thomas, like many others, is 
 very vain in this respect, is worth repeating. We
 
 MANSES AND MINISTERS. Ill 
 
 had the facts from the parish minister of Stratheden. 
 The minister and a brother clergyman were one day 
 not long ago driving from the manse to the railway 
 station. Thomas accompanied them in the capacity 
 of driver. Mr Cameron, finding the train would very 
 soon be due at Stratheden, by way of a hint to 
 Thomas as to the driving rate desirable, remarked, 
 " I hope we have time enough." Thomas, who, it 
 seems, thought the reverend gentlemen might have 
 left the manse a little sooner, gravely replied, " Indeet 
 am no sure aboot it. ' Time wull no wait for tide nor 
 for no man'!" Both parsons were nigh convulsed 
 with laughter at poor Thomas's rendering of the 
 well-known proverb ; but it may be the latter inter- 
 preted the laughter as a compliment to his clever- 
 ness and correct quotation. 
 
 The Reverend Norman Nicolson, Free Church 
 Minister of Stratheden, like his brother of the Auld 
 Kirk, is a comparatively young man. Otherwise, so 
 far as appearance goes, they seem unlike each other. 
 The Free Kirk parson, to look at him, seems sombre, 
 gloomy even, while his reverence of the Established 
 Church would appear to be cast in a livelier, happier 
 mould. We have heard, however, some that know 
 Mr Nicolson say that at home he is not particularly, 
 if at all, sombre, that there he seems cheerful ; and
 
 112 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 we ourselves it is our privilege to number the rev- 
 erend gentleman among our acquaintance have 
 more than once seen that he can enjoy a joke, and 
 even tell what some of his people would call a 
 worldly story. The austere look that at times 
 seems to grow on Mr Nicolson's countenance is 
 not, however, unfavourable to his popularity with 
 a certain section of his people. In referring to the 
 facial contrast the two parsons present, one of the 
 older natives, an adherent of the Free Church, com- 
 menting on some jocular remark the "Moaderat mun- 
 nistarr " made to a neighbour he met on the road 
 lately, said, " Och, munnistarrs shouldna be making 
 people laugh ; it's no for laughing they're int. Look 
 at the soalam face Messtur Neeculsan hess ; try wull 
 he be laughing." The older native residents reckon 
 a cheerful face as incompatible with clerical sanctity, 
 and who knows but Mr Nicolson and some others 
 are aware of this who knows, indeed, but the fact 
 has some sort of influence upon them in the matter 
 of the regulating of their facial aspect ? 
 
 The Rev. Norman Nicolson is believed by many 
 to be what is called a diligent pastor, visiting his 
 flock regularly, and endeavouring to provide what 
 he considers suitable pabulum for Sunday instruction. 
 His brother of the Established Church is likewise,
 
 MANSES AND MINISTERS. 
 
 to all appearance, entitled to be called a diligent 
 pastor, though, so far as diligence in pulpit pre- 
 paration is concerned, it is not so easy to compare 
 the two parsons. Assuming that both are endowed 
 with even an ordinary amount of brain-power, the 
 Sunday duties cannot necessitate any considerable 
 effort. For merely learned discourses, or for sermons 
 demanding sustained thoughtful attention, the aver- 
 age resident is not greedy. In fact, among the older 
 natives generally, anything savouring of research 
 or independent thinking would not be appreciated. 
 The sort of criticism, indeed, one hears now and 
 then made on preaching and preachers is slightly 
 peculiar. If the preacher think it necessary for clear- 
 ness to make a few historical allusions to persons 
 and places, many will say, " There was too much 
 husstary there the day." Length and loudness seem 
 to have a charm for not a few; and by a certain 
 section of the Free Church community a hit at the 
 " Moaderats " is reckoned admirable spicing in a 
 sermon. A few years ago we attended the services 
 in a certain Free Church, and the preacher dis- 
 coursed in Gaelic for two hours, the Gaelic service 
 alone there was more to follow in English occu- 
 pying three and a half hours ! To this day we feel 
 inclined to yawn at even the recollection of the 
 
 H
 
 114 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 weariness of these long and long-remembered three 
 and a half hours. Not so, however, with many that 
 were there. As the audience dispersed, we over- 
 heard several speaking admiringly of the "grawnd 
 long sairman we got the day. Some munnistarrs is 
 too short wi' their sairmans in the day that's int." 
 " Ah, he's a splendid preacher yon ! " is another fre- 
 quent comment ; " you could hear him fearful far 
 away ! " 
 
 The intoned or "sing-song" style of preaching, 
 practised chiefly by the older ministers of the Free 
 Church, is popular with many, and we have heard 
 some Free Church clergymen do it in a way rather 
 pleasing to the ear. There was a sonorous, and 
 soporific element in it which tended to place the 
 hearer beyond the reach of the feeble and vague 
 utterances often thus conveyed. 
 
 As to the matter of some of the discourses thus 
 delivered, it is unnecessary to say much. Very often 
 they are beyond the reach of ordinary criticism. 
 An incident lately came under our notice, which 
 may indicate the quality of the discourses of at 
 least one disciple of the sing-song school, one of 
 the very few the Established Church can boast of. 
 The Communion was being observed in a Highland 
 parish, and a clergyman from a neighbouring parish,
 
 MANSES AND MINISTERS. 11$ 
 
 a person strong in the gift of intonation, was offici- 
 ating. Another minister from a distance was present, 
 and this latter, being unavoidably detained, did not 
 arrive at the church until the preacher had pro- 
 ceeded some length with his discourse. Naturally 
 desirous to know the text, he indicated his wish to 
 the pastor of the church a shrewd, clever man, not 
 of the sing-song order who was sitting beside him. 
 The latter simply handed the stranger a Bible, at 
 the same time whispering, "Open anywhere! it's all 
 the same ! " Many impartial observers are of this 
 reverend gentleman's opinion, that discourses thus 
 delivered are remarkable chiefly for the extent of 
 ground they go over. 
 
 Mr Nicolson, the Free Church minister of Strath- 
 eden, is known more as a lengthy preacher than as 
 one given to loudness or intonation, though by no 
 means despising the two latter qualifications. Al- 
 though, however, some of the younger Free Church 
 clergymen think it right to imitate the style of cer- 
 tain Highland divines of other days, many of whom 
 are celebrated among impartial people for the 
 length, loudness, and narrowness of their preaching, 
 a healthier sentiment is beginning to make its pres- 
 ence felt in a growing " sweet reasonableness." 
 
 The Rev. Norman Nicolson, it is said, speaks oc-
 
 Il6 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 casionally against the " Moaderats " in the course 
 of his ordinary pulpit ministrations. It pleases 
 some people, the older ones especially, and that in 
 itself is a very important matter. This practice was 
 much in vogue at, and long after, the Secession of '43, 
 but, while always a foolish practice, must to most 
 people sound terribly out of date at this time of day. 
 Such weak displays are happily much rarer now 
 than thirty, or even fifteen, years ago, but they must 
 become rarer still as enlightenment spreads. Pulpit 
 attacks of this sort may be convenient when the 
 preacher has nothing else to say, and the orthodox 
 time has not been made up, and they may be re- 
 sorted to in the effort to satisfy a certain local esti- 
 mate of Christian charity; but, fortunately, forces are 
 marching along that must tend to sweep away the 
 silly, if not cowardly, practice. All Highland Free 
 Church clergymen, happily, are not alike in this 
 respect. Some of them earnest, thoughtful men, 
 who have breathed a healthier, brighter, religious 
 atmosphere, and who undoubtedly practise a man- 
 lier, more useful preaching are sorry enough for the 
 feeble and vulgar intolerance of certain of their 
 brethren. 
 
 The Free Church minister of Stratheden is a 
 member of the Parochial and School Boards ; and
 
 MANSES AND MINISTERS. 1 17 
 
 representing, as the Free Church does, so large a 
 proportion of the people, it is proper that its min- 
 isters should have a voice in such business. The 
 Established Church clergy in most Highland parishes 
 are also members of these Boards ; and though ordi- 
 narily the latter minister to a minority of the rate- 
 payers, not a few of these ratepayers are sensible 
 enough to look at the Auld Kirk parson's qualifica- 
 tions for office apart altogether from the ecclesiastical 
 question, within which limits people of greater pre- 
 tensions to culture and wisdom unfortunately too 
 often refuse to confine themselves. We are glad to 
 understand that the Rev. George Cameron, parish 
 minister, and the Rev. Norman Nicolson, Free 
 Church minister of Stratheden, get along with a 
 pleasing measure of harmony at the meetings of 
 these Boards. It is said that some little sectarian 
 displays do occur, and we have also heard it stated 
 who, as a rule, the aggressor is ; but, as it is just 
 possible this latter allegation may come from a pre- 
 judiced source, we do not lay too much stress upon 
 it. When the qualifications of candidates for a 
 vacant school in the parish are being considered, 
 we have heard people who ought to know say 
 that the clerical School Board members manifest 
 a readiness to be influenced by sectarian considera-
 
 Il8 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 tions, and this gives rise to a little feeling. But 
 of the clergy even, people should not expect too 
 much. 
 
 We referred to the comparative harmony apparent- 
 ly subsisting between the two parsons of Stratheden. 
 It is strange, sad indeed, that such a fact should 
 require to be specially noted. But so it is. In too 
 many Highland parishes these brethren do not dwell 
 in unity, though preaching brotherly love and kind- 
 ness. We know of a parish not fifty miles from 
 Stratheden where the Free Church minister will not 
 speak to his " brother " of the Established Church 
 will not even return the compliment of the common 
 courtesy of bowing, with which the Auld Kirk parson 
 salutes his brother of the Free Church. No one seems 
 to know the reason. The Free Kirk parson is said by 
 many to be a good man, and the " Moaderat munnis- 
 tarr" in question is also believed, by Free Church 
 people, as well as by members of his own congre- 
 gation, to be a very estimable character. Why 
 will the Free Church parson not speak, not even 
 bow, to his brother ? Some say it is envy, some- 
 thing regarding the " steepand," as the people call it, 
 and the " poseeshan (position) o' the Moaderat mun- 
 nistarr ; " but surely there must be more than that 
 in it. One day last autumn, these two clergymen,
 
 MANSES AND MINISTERS. 1 19 
 
 going in opposite directions, happened to be cross- 
 ing a bridge. They must meet. Here was a ter- 
 rible dilemma for his reverence of the Free Church. 
 Fortunately, as the latter no doubt believed, a means 
 of escape appeared. A ship lay fastened to a pier 
 close to the bridge, had lain there indeed for many 
 weeks previously. The Free Church clergyman 
 knew the name of that ship very well, but to let 
 his fellow Christian of the other denomination pass, 
 he turned his back to the latter and bent down as if 
 eager to know the name of the ship ! and thus the 
 terror passed. A member of the Free Church in 
 the district witnessed the scene, and understood it. 
 Meeting the Established Church minister a few 
 minutes after the Free Church minister's devout 
 bend, the witness referred to said, " Oh, dear me ! 
 yon work was awful ! " 
 
 Many instances of this contemptible sort of feel- 
 ing might be given, but it is not a pleasant theme, 
 and we pass from it in the hope and belief that such 
 weak and cowardly displays will, not long hence, be 
 swamped in the grand results of time. The younger 
 clergy of the Free Church arc not so prone to such 
 displays of feeling, although, for fear of offending 
 certain of the older and more bigoted ones among 
 their people, they cannot well afford, as some of
 
 I2O CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 themselves say, to fraternise much with their breth- 
 ren " over the way." 
 
 We referred to the commendable regularity with 
 which the Free Church minister of Stratheden visits 
 his flock. Certain persons, adherents of the other de- 
 nomination very probably, allege that the frequency 
 and regularity of Free Kirk pastoral visits are greatly 
 prompted by the hope that the visit may result in 
 increased contributions to the Sustentation Fund. 
 Without inquiring as to how much, if any, unchari- 
 tableness there is. in the insinuation, it should be 
 noted that the efforts and success of the Free Church, 
 in this matter of the Sustentation Fund, deserve all 
 praise ; and many persons are of opinion that not a 
 few Established Church people might well imitate 
 the habit of giving it has called forth. We suspect, 
 however, the cheerful giving to the said fund, so far 
 at least as Highland parishes are concerned, is not 
 so prevalent as some would wish it to be believed. 
 
 It would further appear there is no authoritative 
 law against receiving a contribution to this fund 
 from others than Free Church people. If there 
 be, we know of a case where it was disregarded in a 
 sheepish sort of way. A farmer, an adherent of the 
 Established Church, was buying sheep some three 
 or four years ago from another farmer, who be-
 
 MANSES AND MINISTERS. 121 
 
 longed to the Free Church, in the same parish. The 
 seller demanded sixpence a-head more than the pur- 
 chaser would give, and they could not, or would not, 
 strike a bargain. Ultimately a happy thought seized 
 the Free Church party the seller and he said to the 
 purchaser, "Well, well, will you do this? if you'll not 
 give me that sixpence" meaning sixpence a-head, 
 which would come to about thirty shillings " give 
 me a pound-note for the Sustentation Fund, and the 
 sheep are yours ! " The Established Church dealer 
 consented. He wanted the sheep, and it was so 
 far a gain about ten shillings assuming the seller 
 would hold out, and he gave the pound-note to the 
 Sustentation Fund ! The collector for the district 
 annually thereafter called at the house of the Estab- 
 lished Church party for his contribution to the fund, 
 and never, we understand, went in vain. 
 
 We hinted that the manse is not to-day so great a 
 centre of influence as of yore. This change, so far, 
 was inevitable, seeing the Secession of '43 divided 
 the people. There are cases, of course, where both 
 manses in a Highland parish of to-day exercise a 
 very considerable influence for good. There are not 
 a few Highland manses in which intellect and art 
 are well represented ; and we know of some manses, 
 of both denominations, where "the feast of reason
 
 122 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 and the flow of soul " make their brightening, better- 
 ing influences felt. The success of many "sons of 
 the manse" of a Highland parish in one or other of 
 the learned professions, as well as in other depart- 
 ments of life, is a tribute to the excellence of the 
 atmosphere breathed in early days ; and in many 
 Highland parishes of to-day, the daughters of the 
 manse will be found equal at least in the usual ac- 
 complishments to some that make greater preten- 
 sions, and superior to many that have had greater 
 advantages of a financial kind. 
 
 Sometimes, however, it will happen that the wife 
 of the manse, or even the daughter, and where 
 neither wife nor daughter is, the sister of the min- 
 ister, may be of a disposition not calculated to 
 strengthen the kindly feeling that should exist be- 
 tween pastor and people. She may be, and now and 
 then is, a gossip, and this tends to bring about certain 
 unpleasantnesses. Such a one soon gathers local 
 news of various kinds, at times neither edifying nor 
 even reliable. She makes the acquaintance of cer- 
 tain of her own sex, who frequent the manse with 
 stories. The minister cannot help hearing some of 
 these. He may even wish to hear them. Nay, he 
 may be sanctioning, if not enjoining, this method 
 of hearing the local news, and he may even make
 
 MANSES AND MINISTERS. 123 
 
 certain rumours thus circulated the subject of com- 
 ment on the Sunday, a result not always favour- 
 able to the growth of pure and undefiled religion in 
 his congregation. 
 
 We are glad, however, to think such cases do not 
 form the rule, though undoubtedly they exist. In 
 certain high places connected with one of the two 
 denominations ordinarily represented in a Highland 
 parish of to-day, there was, not long ago, a melan- 
 choly complaint uttered as to the qualifications of 
 certain aspirants to the office of the holy ministry 
 in the denomination in question. The complaint 
 was followed by the expression of the hope that 
 representatives of a better class would become more 
 numerous. It should, of course, be no disparage- 
 ment to a man that he is of poor parentage and 
 limited means ; and, indeed, many a humble cot- 
 tage has contributed to the Church, and other pro- 
 fessions, men that would be an honour to any home. 
 At the same time, while gossips and busybodies are 
 found among every class, it cannot be doubted that 
 in proportion as the supply of clergymen is more 
 drawn from among the liberally-brought-up class, 
 the entanglements and unpleasantness occasioned 
 by taking gossip to the manse will become less 
 frequent.
 
 124 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 There was a time when the average native resident 
 was afraid to " say anything aboot the munnistarr." 
 It was not considered "canny," the parson being 
 believed to be either beyond criticism, or one whom 
 it was best to let alone. This superstitious belief is 
 dying out. To-day no one in the parish is more 
 freely commented on than the minister, every one 
 seeming to have a right to say what he should be 
 and do, and even say. His preaching, his outgoings 
 and incomings generally, his style and manner of 
 dress even, are subjected to pretty free, and some- 
 times unkind, if not unjust, criticism. 
 
 And yet to this day there linger traces of the 
 undiscerning reverence of other days. Whatever 
 weakness of temper or other uninviting peculiarity 
 the minister may display, by some it is readily 
 condoned with the observation, " Och, but he's a 
 good quate man, and a very good man for all that ! " 
 A crofter's daughter in Stratheden, a sensible-look- 
 ing young woman, rather amused us one day last 
 winter by relating an incident illustrative of the sort 
 of reverence alluded to. She was working with some 
 others in the harvest-field on a certain day, and 
 Angus M'Intosh, a lay preacher, and considered a 
 good man, happened to be passing. Angus was pre- 
 pared to address people on religious subjects on all
 
 MANSES AND MINISTERS. 12$ 
 
 occasions, and sometimes did so, it is said, unseason- 
 ably. On the occasion specified he expressed a wish 
 to address these harvest workers, of which our in- 
 formant was one. In the course of his address rain 
 began to fall, and fell heavily ; but this apparently 
 sensible and intelligent young woman, in all serious- 
 ness, told us that, while the audience were nearly 
 drenched with rain, not a drop fell on the lecturer's 
 uncovered and equally unsheltered head ! and she 
 gravely added, " Indeed, it's likely the Lord put the 
 rain past him ! " While we cannot help, to some ex- 
 tent, appreciating the capacity for reverence this sort 
 of feeling indicates, it cannot be supposed unpromis- 
 ing to find that such faith in the privileges of even 
 "good" men is now exceeding rare. In the average 
 Highland parish of to-day, the bulk of the people of 
 both denominations, in consequence of the progress 
 of general enlightenment, are more inclined for, and 
 capable of, reasonable and independent criticism of 
 men and opinions. While we are glad to believe that 
 the feeling of reverence for what is sacred will con- 
 tinue to find as congenial a soil in Highland parishes 
 as anywhere else, no wise friend of the Highland 
 people will regret that such unthinking reverence as 
 is illustrated by the incident just related, is being 
 rapidly relegated to the region of exploded fancies.
 
 126 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 HEATHFIELD HOUSE AND THE PEOPLE'S FRIEND. 
 
 HEATHFIELD is picturesquely situated among the 
 majestic hills of Blackburn, in an upland district of 
 Stratheden, and all around there reigns the calm 
 repose of a grand solitude. The present tenant 
 of Heathfield House and farm is the Honourable 
 Arthur M'Alpine, heir of a noble Scottish house 
 memorably and brilliantly associated with not a 
 few of the more famous events of British history. 
 Though seemingly a somewhat romantic choice, 
 Arthur at a very early age adopted the profession 
 of a farmer, and right well does he know his pro- 
 fession and attend to its requirements. It would 
 not, perhaps, be difficult, among the nobility and 
 various others of the wealthier classes of the coun- 
 try, to find some parents and friends who would 
 rejoice and with good cause if some of the sons
 
 HEATHFIELD HOUSE. I2/ 
 
 of the home would, like Arthur M'Alpine, turn 
 their attention to useful work, such as farming, 
 and thus not only learn the dignity of labour, 
 but fall into the way of cultivating a healthful phy- 
 sical and moral life. Be this as it may, Arthur 
 M'Alpine is a farmer from choice very early 
 choice, too, as has been said ; and he himself 
 likes to tell how some of his relatives teasingly 
 call him the Gentle Shepherd, sheep-farming being 
 the department to which he specially devotes his 
 attention. 
 
 Arthur loves work for its own sake, and his life 
 is one of constant useful activity. He is too genu- 
 ine, too sensible, to be ashamed to do any work that 
 may turn up in the usual requirements of his profes- 
 sion ; and though he works with his shepherds, they 
 never forget his position nor does he himself. They 
 invariably, as do all others that know him, accord 
 him that respect which they feel to be due to him 
 for his noble qualities of head and heart, as well as 
 for his rank. He, though, as is right, knowing his 
 position, and the respect due thereto, is happily no 
 empty boaster of nobility, and looks on his fellow- 
 creatures as brother men having their feelings and 
 their rights. 
 
 Though enthusiastic in his devotion to his calling
 
 128 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 carefully directing its minutest details, and lend- 
 ing a helping hand in the carrying out of the 
 manual portion of the work Arthur finds time for 
 taking a share in the direction of parochial affairs 
 generally. At first, when he came to reside in 
 Stratheden, some six or seven years ago, he seemed 
 disinclined to take any part in matters outside his 
 farm. This, however, was not owing to any dislike 
 to giving time and counsel in such matters for 
 indeed it seems to be his very nature to be doing 
 good but to a modest shrinking from putting him- 
 self forward, as if he merely wished to make him- 
 self officious. As chairman of the School Board, 
 his shrewd practical way of looking at matters is 
 of great value ; and his excellent business habits 
 and large-hearted intelligent interest in the best 1 
 welfare of the community, justly entitle him to the 
 high opinion entertained of him as a leader in mat- 
 ters affecting the management and prosperity of the 
 parish. 
 
 The style of Arthur's immediate surroundings at 
 Heathfield House is in keeping with the man. No 
 vain display is visible no feeble strivings after mere 
 costly grandeur for its own sake. Everything in 
 furniture and other household belongings is plain, 
 yet elegant and rich. Usefulness and reasonable
 
 HEATHFIELD HOUSE. 1 29 
 
 comfort have evidently been the objects aimed at 
 in the general get-up of Arthur M'Alpine's home. 
 Prominent among the wall decorations at Heathfield 
 House are relics of Arthur's travels in foreign lands. 
 He has travelled more than most men of his age 
 Arthur is not yet thirty and his foreign reminis- 
 cences are often intensely interesting. 
 
 To spend an evening with Arthur M'Alpine in 
 his sanctum at Heathfield House is a veritable 
 treat. His smoking-room, in which we have been 
 privileged to spend many a happy hour, is a cosy 
 cabin, and the mere look of it readily makes one 
 feel at home more especially after a look at mine 
 host's kindly face. Though much alone at home, 
 his busy life affording but spare leisure for com- 
 pany, M'Alpine always entertains, and certainly 
 seems entertained by, a large company of ye 
 haters of the feline tribe shudder not ! cats of 
 various sizes, ages, and colours. Whether it is, 
 as a clerical friend, with a deplorable weakness 
 for punning, puts it, that Arthur M'Alpine enter- 
 tains so many cats because he is fond of mews-\c ; 
 or whether it is that, like all of us, he has his 
 peculiar fancy, which takes this shape, it is not 
 necessary to inquire ; certain it is the cats are 
 there. Happening to be at Heathfield one even- 
 
 I
 
 130 . CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 ing lately, we observed three of these mezvs-ica.1 
 quadrupeds as the parson referred to would say 
 in the smoking-room : one, a big, fat, and at-home- 
 looking animal, purring contentedly on the floor; 
 while the other two were indulging in a wrestling 
 exercise, indicative of possibilities, if not probabili- 
 ties, of positive warfare. Taking occasion to remark 
 that he was well provided with cats, Arthur replied 
 with a smile that these were only a few of them ; 
 and shortly afterwards lo and behold ! cat after 
 cat came gradually dropping in through an opening 
 in one of the windows, an arrangement specially 
 designed by Arthur, until, wonderful to relate, no 
 fewer than thirteen cats occupied the floor! Some 
 were purring in a reclining posture, some wrestling, 
 some administering old to young, or big to little 
 something of the nature of a castigation for some 
 supposed or actual error, and one here and there 
 indulged in an exercise of playfulness on its own 
 account. The reason for this rather unusually large 
 collection of cats seems to be that their play, with 
 its manifold manceuvrings, its sly glances, its sudden 
 pouncings, and its amusing collapses and disappoint- 
 ments, affords positive amusement and delight to 
 mine host of Heathfield House. 
 
 Notwithstanding this fondness for large gather-
 
 HEATHFIELD HOUSE. 131 
 
 ings, Arthur is not particularly fond of company. 
 No one, however, likes better to meet a few select 
 friends occasionally, and in such a situation Arthur 
 3VT Alpine undoubtedly shines. His one great aim, 
 evidently, is to make his visitors happy to make 
 them feel at home. Though by profession a farmer, 
 he is quite up in other subjects ; and, with great 
 tact and good sense, he directs the conversation 
 by turns into such channels as will suit the profes- 
 sion, or elicit the opinions, of the several individuals 
 of the company. 
 
 Arthur is quite a master in the art of teasing. 
 He is so pointed with it, anfl yet so generous, so 
 gentlemanly, in short, that even those against whom 
 his banter may be directed cannot but enjoy it. 
 A few weeks ago we happened to be one of a 
 few spending an evening at Arthur's hospitable 
 home. Mr George Maxwell Hay, a young gentle- 
 man from the south of Scotland a representative 
 of a good old Scottish family, and a friend of 
 Arthur's was one of the company. He was 
 staying at Heathfield, having come there for the 
 purpose of getting some insight into sheep-farm- 
 ing, and certainly in no better hands could he 
 have been placed than in those of Arthur. The 
 Rev. Mr Cameron, parish minister of Stratheden,
 
 132 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 was also one of the party. Somehow the parson 
 and Hay got into a conversation about the now 
 pretty venerable question of " the antiquity of 
 the Gaelic language." The conversation was gradu- 
 ally assuming something of an argumentative turn, 
 and M'Alpine by this time was anxious to learn 
 what it was all about, not but that the reverend 
 gentleman and young Hay v/ere conducting the 
 conversation in a perfectly friendly and agreeable 
 manner. The parson, indeed, is not understood to 
 be a contentious man, though, like most of us, he 
 has considerable faith in his own opinions. Nor 
 is Hay, to all appearance, an irritable or opinion- 
 ative young man : on the contrary, he seems a 
 most amiable, good-tempered youth. But Arthur 
 M'Alpine, being in teasing mood, thought here 
 was a grand opportunity ; and addressing Hay, 
 he remarked : " Well, young man, are you really 
 trying to enlighten Mr Cameron with some of 
 your mature opinions ? May I ask what the sub- 
 ject of conversation is?" "Oh yes," Hay readily 
 replied ; "it's about the Gaelic language, about 
 how old it is, and matters of that sort, only we were 
 not disputing. All that's in it is, that I don't quite 
 feel sure if the language is so very old as some 
 people imagine !" Arthur quite understood that Mr
 
 HEATHFIELD HOUSE. 133 
 
 Cameron was somewhat at home on this subject ; 
 and he knew, besides, that Hay did not pretend to 
 have made the question a subject of anything like 
 special study, so that mine host was intensely amused 
 at the somewhat incongruous aspect of the sup- 
 posed debate. "Oh, well, Hay," Arthur replied 
 the irony causing much laughter, in which Hay 
 good-naturedly joined "you know Mr Cameron 
 cannot be supposed to know much about the 
 matter; and as for your own attainments in that 
 direction, why, you are of course quite learned in 
 the question, and therefore it is pretty evident who 
 must yield." The Rev. Mr 'Cameron, greatly en- 
 joying Arthur's banter, and admiring Hay's appar- 
 ently imperturbable good - nature, wound up the 
 " debate " by remarking, that very probably on 
 questions more practically useful than that of the 
 antiquity of the Gaelic language, however philo- 
 logically interesting, Mr Hay would yet be able, 
 by a careful use of his talents, to pronounce a 
 mature and sound opinion. 
 
 It is not alone to select friends that Arthur is 
 kind : hospitality ever reigns at Heathfield House. 
 The wandering wayfarer on begging bent never 
 calls at Heathfield in vain. Arthur, beyond a doubt, 
 has the blessings of the poor, and his name is a
 
 134 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 household word in the cottages of the crofters of 
 Stratheden. The reader will soon see there is good 
 cause why it should be so. 
 
 In common with other parts of Scotland, Strath- 
 eden felt the depressing sweep of the disastrous 
 snowstorm of 1878-79. Large farmers and crofters 
 alike suffered from the hardship and perplexity of 
 the situation. The crofters' supplies of fodder were 
 all but gone, before the storm which lasted some 
 twenty weeks had half run its course. Provender in 
 most cases was scarce, and so was money. Arthur 
 M 'Alpine was equal to the occasion. He was both 
 able and willing to help, and, being a far-seeing young 
 man, took time by the forelock. Soon after the snow 
 showed signs of lingering, and when the local sup- 
 plies of hay and straw were becoming alarmingly 
 short, he, with his usual good sense, thought it 
 might be better to provide for probabilities of the 
 most bleak description. He arranged for bring- 
 ing to Stratheden a supply of hay and corn suffi- 
 cient to feed his flocks, even should the snowstorm 
 last far into the spring; and at the same time 
 leave a considerable margin of a surplus, where- 
 with and Arthur's generous heart had this in 
 view all along to supply crofters and others with 
 fodder for their cattle, and sheep, and horses.
 
 HEATHFIELD HOUSE. 135 
 
 The reader does not require to be told that Arthur 
 was willing to help. He was eager, indeed, to be 
 of use in the distressing anxiety of the hour, and 
 gave decidedly practical and substantial evidence 
 of this eagerness. 
 
 The Stratheden crofters well know that we are 
 not exaggerating Arthur's praises. Were we to sub- 
 mit our observations to them, we feel sure they 
 would say, "Oh, that's no near praise enough at 
 all : put a lot more of praise in it." But, since we 
 have not seen cause to ask them what to say, the 
 reader must rest content with our unassisted esti- 
 mate of Arthur's good qualities, not an estimate, 
 be it noted, of unmeaning praise, but one that, if 
 erring at all, does so on the side of being under 
 rather than over the mark. 
 
 The crofters' provender was becoming alarmingly 
 scanty soon after '79 came in. To add to the 
 anxiety of the situation, money was scarce some- 
 what scarcer than usual. In the case of the Strath- 
 eden crofters, as already indicated, the potato crop, 
 generally speaking, is a source of considerable in- 
 come, as is indeed the case with the crofters of 
 most Highland parishes of to-day, many of these 
 crofters being able, out of the proceeds of the sale 
 of this commodity, to pay their rent and have a sur-
 
 136 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 plus besides. The potato crop in the harvest im- 
 mediately preceding the memorable winter referred 
 to, however, was not a profitable one, returns being 
 small and prices low fifty per cent, indeed, lower 
 than for some time previous. 
 
 Arthur M'Alpine ordered word to be sent to the 
 Stratheden crofters that he would supply them 
 with hay and corn at a cheap rate so cheap, 
 indeed, that it signified a considerable personal 
 outlay to himself to be paid whenever they were 
 able. In order to understand the full extent of 
 the kindness thus shown, it is proper to mention 
 that on a previous occasion, after an unusually poor 
 harvest, the same generous friend supplied large 
 quantities of hay and corn, in many instances 
 virtually a gift. 
 
 It may be as well to observe that the Stratheden 
 crofters were in no way in more trying circumstances 
 than those of other parishes. In ordinary years 
 their circumstances are certainly as comfortable 
 as those of any crofters in Scotland. Their noble 
 landlord takes a kind-hearted, thoughtful interest 
 in their welfare, and offers them considerable en- 
 couragement towards the improvement of their 
 holdings. But the winter of 1878-79, as already 
 explained, was an exceptionally trying one.
 
 HEATHFIELD HOUSE. 137 
 
 Arthur's message of kindness gladdened many a 
 heart and home in Stratheden. From far and near 
 from the far-off heights of the parish, and from 
 the most distant corners of the straths and glens 
 the crofters came to the Stratheden railway station, 
 where Arthur's bounteous liberality was being given 
 out, one getting a bag of oats, another some hay, 
 some both hay and oats ; and none really needing 
 help was sent empty away. " Be am beannachd 
 dha'n sgire e ! " (What a blessing he is to the par- 
 ish !) we have heard more than one of the Strath- 
 eden crofters say of Arthur ; and well might they 
 say it. 
 
 When the strain of the anxiety of the season was 
 beginning to give way, and when people, as it were, 
 got time to think of all that took place, it occurred 
 to many, as a very proper and desirable thing, that 
 there should be some public recognition of Arthur's 
 generosity. The matter merely required to be men- 
 tioned to be at once universally and enthusiastically 
 taken up. Not a few, however, dreaded that the idea 
 of any public display of such a kind would be dis- 
 tasteful to Arthur. It was well known he did good at 
 the prompting of a generous heart, and not from the 
 weak vain love of being spoken of. This was a pre- 
 liminary difficulty. But the people were in earnest,
 
 138 CHRONICLED OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 and they would risk the difficulty. They concluded 
 that he would not disappoint, not to say vex, them, 
 and that, for once at least, he would overcome his 
 dislike to such a public display, and yield to the 
 hearty unanimous wishes of the people. Arthur did 
 consent, simply because he knew the people were in 
 earnest, and because he did not like to disappoint 
 them. The acknowledgment of Arthur's kindness 
 took the shape of a very handsome piece of silver 
 plate a salver with suitable inscriptions in Gaelic 
 and English a gold locket, and an address. The 
 day of presentation came, and certainly no more 
 memorable day stands in the annals of the parish. 
 The place of meeting, capable of -holding several 
 hundreds, was crowded, and the utmost enthusiasm 
 prevailed. Old and young were there ; and many 
 came that rarely, if ever, countenance public gath- 
 erings. All were evidently bent on testifying their 
 gratitude to the hero of the hour. Mr Malcolm 
 Macgregor, the farmer at Burnside, was chairman, 
 and he did his duty well, remarking how happy and 
 proud he felt at being present at such an interest- 
 ing gathering. The two parsons of the parish the 
 Rev. George Cameron, parish minister, and the Rev. 
 Norman Nicolson, Free Church minister were also 
 there. They both, as was most meet, took a sort
 
 HEATHFIELD HOUSE. 139 
 
 of lead in the matter; and while it is not our business 
 to inquire what measure of regard the two reverend 
 gentlemen cherish for each other, it was highly 
 gratifying to see them co-operating in promoting a 
 meeting got up to do honour to a genuine friend of 
 the parish at large. Mr Nicolson read the address, 
 the parish minister made the presentation, and both 
 made suitable speeches. 
 
 The presentation having been made, Arthur 
 M'Alpine rose to address the audience, and was, of 
 course, most enthusiastically received. His speech 
 was like himself sensible and genuine, and it was 
 very pointedly expressed. He thanked the people 
 of Stratheden for their handsome present, and mod- 
 estly added, with reference to the occasion of the 
 meeting, that he had only done his duty. After 
 referring to the trying times they were passing 
 through, and saying that people should help each 
 other according to their ability, he expressed the 
 hope and belief that better times would soon come. 
 At the conclusion of his remarks a most enthusias- 
 tic and prolonged burst of applause made the place 
 of meeting ring and ring again from floor to ceiling. 
 So excited were the people with the enthusiasm 
 of the occasion, that persons who, in ordinary cir- 
 cumstances, would shudder at the mere thought of
 
 140 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 being called on to make a speech, were actually 
 impatient to hold forth, so as to add their testi- 
 mony to the universal feeling of sincere gratitude 
 to Arthur M'Alpine. William Sutherland, an old 
 native resident rarely, if ever, present at any public 
 gathering except such as is of an ecclesiastical nature 
 was one of the audience, and there was no mis- 
 taking the fact that William wished to speak. In 
 this there was something almost alarming to those 
 who knew William and his usual ways. He is a 
 shrewd enough old man, having a considerable en- 
 dowment of pawky common -sense, but with some 
 marked prejudices of a past age deeply rooted in 
 him, such as a sort of, perhaps envious, dislike to 
 fraternise with or countenance "big fairmers," and 
 a doubt as to the propriety of any public gatherings 
 of what William would call a worldly nature that 
 is, not specially religious. But on this occasion 
 and it is a pretty clear proof of how the universal 
 heart of Stratheden was moved by Arthur's kind- 
 ness William overcame his prejudices, and was 
 present. More than that, William wished to speak, 
 and accordingly rose to address the audience. 
 When William's voice was heard, great astonishment 
 seized the greater number of those present, and 
 some, especially of the younger people, as young
 
 HEATHFIELD HOUSE. 141 
 
 people will do, giggled somewhat. The older 
 natives, however, were proud of William, and ad- 
 mired his pluck. Some of the latter were heard to 
 say, " Weel done, William Sutherland ; surely them 
 young men needna keep all the speakin' for them- 
 selves ; and," added they, with a touch of local 
 patriotism, "there are strenjars speaking here the 
 day, and surely one o' oorselves micht speak for 
 Stratheden as well as any strenjar." "Them mun- 
 nistarrs," some of the less reverent were heard to say, 
 " are kind o' like as if nobody could say a word at 
 all but them. Some o' us canna preach a sermon, 
 of coorse ; but surely some o' us can speak for all 
 that, whatever." 
 
 It was evident from the first that public speaking 
 was not a matter with which William was familiar. 
 He discarded the usual and ordinary preliminaries 
 of addressing the chair, and respectfully announcing 
 his presence to the audience. He may have intend- 
 ed to do what was right and proper, but very prob- 
 ably forgot it in the excitement of the rather novel 
 situation in which he found himself. Indeed we 
 have reason to believe the omission was uninten- 
 tional for the natives of Stratheden, like High- 
 landers generally, have a sort of instinctive politeness 
 about them, instances of which the observer of their
 
 142 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 ways cannot fail to take notice of. William be- 
 gan by saying : " A'm no a speaker, and I canna 
 speak, but a'm prood to be here, and a'm an ould 
 man in the paereesh ; and we should all thank the 
 Giver of all good for giving to the paereesh such a 
 freend as Maister M'Alpine. He's there himself, 
 and a'll say this ; a'm thinking the people o' Strath- 
 eden and so they should are thinking more of 
 Maister M'Alpine than of any other body in the 
 place; and," added William, giving a knowing glance 
 towards the Rev. Mr Nicolson, his own minister, 
 " a'm sure they are thinking more of Maister M'Al- 
 pine than they are of Maister Neeculsan here. 
 It's a mercy Proavidence put in his heart the kind- 
 ness that's in't, and that Maister M'Alpine, the 
 noble young man, is making such a wise good use 
 of his money." Great applause followed the close 
 of William's remarks, and he himself looked as if 
 he felt he had made a bold successful venture. 
 There were other speeches : persons ordinarily not 
 likely to dream of speechifying became eloquent 
 under the inspiration of the universal enthusiasm, 
 and they would have their say. All were grateful 
 genuinely so; all felt proud that the parish had such 
 a friend, and that Stratheden could turn out such a 
 large, respectable - looking gathering. And at the
 
 HEATHFIELD HOUSE. 143 
 
 close of the proceedings a very decided mark of the 
 popular enthusiasm was seen. As the crowd had 
 been retiring, Arthur's carriage was coming towards 
 the door, when, after the briefest deliberation, the 
 horses were unyoked, and Arthur having taken his 
 seat, off went the carriage at a splendid rate, drawn 
 by a dozen or so of stalwart Stratheden Highlanders 
 having willing hearts and strong arms, accompanied 
 by a crowd, from which, at short intervals, a fresh 
 contingent was supplied to drag the carriage along. 
 They halted not until, over a steep and sometimes 
 difficult road, five miles in length, they reached 
 Heathfield House, the hospitable home of the Hon- 
 ourable Arthur M'Alpine, in the picturesque soli- 
 tudes of Blackburn. Quite in keeping with the 
 place and the hour, a Stratheden piper, playing 
 appropriate airs, accompanied the procession all the 
 way, and the proceedings ended with a hearty good 
 Highland dance on the greensward in front of 
 Heathfield House.
 
 144 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 POPULAR ENTERTAINMENTS AND AMUSEMENTS' 
 IN A HIGHLAND PARISH OF TO-DAY. 
 
 ENTERTAINMENTS, beyond all dispute, are few and 
 far between among us. In some few instances, 
 such as in the central seaport of a fishing popu- 
 lation, or other large village or small town, there 
 may be musical, and other more or less intellectual, 
 entertainments under the auspices of Young Men's 
 Mutual Improvement Associations and similar so- 
 cieties ; but in the general run of Highland par- 
 ishes, the rural ones especially, there is a scantiness 
 of popular means of amusement. For want of such, 
 the younger members of the community often spend 
 their evenings in shops and smithies, and the like, 
 wasting precious hours, learning no useful accom- 
 plishment, but, on the contrary, in too many 
 instances, acquiring decidedly unhopeful modes of
 
 POPULAR ENTERTAINMENTS. 145 
 
 speaking and thinking, and listening to local gossip, 
 not seldom of a low and hurtful nature. 
 
 The reader will naturally ask if there is any 
 reason why there should be such a dearth of 
 the means of social improvement. In trying to 
 answer this question, it must at once be admitted 
 that those who might be expected to take a lead 
 in providing such, have, in too many cases, pre- 
 vented their existence we mean the clergy, and 
 other persons more or less ecclesiastical. Though 
 the dawn of a better day is distinctly visible, it was 
 too long the practice for the clergy to denounce, 
 sweepingly and angrily, all sorts of entertainments 
 or gatherings not exclusively for church purposes. 
 They seemed to dread that the people should as- 
 semble themselves together anywhere than within 
 the walls of a church oblivious of the fact that 
 if the providing of means of mental recreation and 
 improvement were encouraged, there would be a 
 clearer appreciation of such instruction as might 
 happen to be supplied by the pulpit ministra- 
 tions. Even to-day, if a concert is announced in 
 a Highland parish, cases will be found where the 
 clergy immediately thunder forth a wailing "en- 
 cyclical " against the proposed profanity, and many 
 angry words are uttered about " godless " amuse- 
 
 K
 
 146 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 ments and the follies of the day ; while any clergy- 
 man that openly countenances such gatherings is 
 sure to be viewed with suspicion and displeasure 
 by some of his flock. Not long ago there oc- 
 curred in a Highland parish not very far from 
 Stratheden a remarkable instance of the latter 
 element of the peculiarity in question. In a small 
 village in the parish referred to, some persons 
 interested in the welfare of the district proposed 
 to establish a coffee-room, with a view to which a 
 concert was announced. Many of those coming in 
 from the surrounding district to transact business in 
 the village, when needing refreshment, must needs 
 go to the only available place, the village inn ; and, 
 as some people in other than Highland parishes will 
 do, certain of these would occasionally remain in the 
 inn longer than was good for them. The promoters 
 of the concert were anxious to remedy this state of 
 matters, and hence the proposed establishment of a 
 coffee-room. The proceedings at the concert began 
 with the singing of the Hundredth Psalm, to the 
 well-known tune of Old Hundred, which may be 
 taken as evidence that no reckless, and still less 
 profane, intentions actuated the promoters of the 
 concert. Some secular songs of a popular kind, and 
 incapable of offending the most fastidious, formed
 
 POPULAR ENTERTAINMENTS. 147 
 
 a part of the evening's programme. Among the 
 audience there was the Free Church clergyman of 
 the district a fact which, while creditable to his 
 good sense, marks him out as very different from 
 the average northern Free Church parson. The 
 concert was brought about for a most praiseworthy 
 object, and surely those that are supposed to be 
 set for doing good should countenance such efforts. 
 But, reader, mark what follows ! On the Sunday 
 after the concert, lo and behold ! some seats hither- 
 to regularly occupied are seen to be vacant in the 
 church where the pastor that was at the village 
 concert is wont to preach. Some " weel-kent " faces 
 are away, yea, even some long and solemn counte- 
 nances long known as occupants of the upper seats 
 in the local synagogue. Even among those in the 
 said church on this particular day, here and there 
 a face appears more sombre and elongated than 
 was previously its wont, wearing an expression in- 
 dicating doubtfulness as to the propriety, if not 
 the safety, of sharing in the ministrations of the 
 day. And why all this ? wherefore these vacant 
 seats and this doubting expression ? It is be- 
 cause the clergyman in the pulpit is the same that 
 countenanced the concert ; because, believing the 
 coffee-room would help sobriety in the district,
 
 148 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 he was present at the concert got up to help in 
 establishing it. 
 
 There is another species of entertainment that 
 continues to call forth a severe rebuke from certain 
 clerical monitors to wit, balls, or what is under- 
 stood to be dancing-parties ; an accompaniment of 
 which, in addition to the music, is the effect of the 
 liquor that possesses the almost marvellous power 
 of cooling or warming as may be required. 
 
 A certain clerical gentleman, pastor of a Free 
 Church congregation in a North-West Highland 
 parish, not long ago allowed his zeal to outrun his 
 discretion in rebuking the promoters of a ball. This 
 pastor, seemingly alarmed for the safety of such of 
 his flock as might think of going to the " awful 
 gathering," or, as certain ill-natured ones of a dif- 
 ferent religious denomination insinuated, angry that 
 the money spent on the ball was so much lost to 
 the possible resources of the " collections " and Sus- 
 tentation Fund, made the ball the object of special 
 and angry attack on the Sunday after he heard of it. 
 The wails and denunciations of the enraged parson 
 though offensive to some of the younger and to the 
 most of the intelligent portion of the congregation 
 greatly pleased the majority of the older people ; 
 and old Duncan M'Gillivray, a member of the con-
 
 POPULAR ENTERTAINMENTS. 149 
 
 gregation, remarked, " Whatna grawnd sairman we 
 got the day ! The munnistarr give an awful blow to 
 the pulpit ; and them that's going to the ball got it 
 the day." But poor Duncan was no dancer, nor had 
 he an ear for music, and he liked the blow style of 
 preaching. But the worst remains to be told. The 
 pulpit warning, sad to say, moved not the hearts of 
 the godless crew that promoted the ball, and the 
 awful gathering took place. 
 
 On the evening of the ball, so much was the 
 reverend gentleman's spirit troubled, that horrible 
 as well as wonderful to relate he repaired to the 
 ball-room ; and there, in proprid persond, stood the 
 parson, on that awful ball-room floor, it may well be 
 believed, the observed of all observers. Some verily 
 thought it was an apparition ; and one or two per- 
 sons, more given to levity than the others, wondered 
 whether any wild intention of "tripping the light 
 fantastic" had suddenly seized the reverend gentle- 
 man. But he himself soon set all surmising at rest 
 by roaring at his loudest : " Stop this terrible work ! " 
 " Go out of this place, and shut the door of this awful 
 place ! " and kindred expressions. Melancholy to 
 relate, the parson's roaring rebukes were unheeded. 
 In reporting the ball to the newspapers read in the 
 district, the local correspondent, with some sense of
 
 150 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 humour evidently, in giving some names after the 
 usual " among those present we observed," mentioned 
 the name of the Rev. Peter Mackay, the Free 
 Church clergyman of the parish ! It was, of course, 
 too true. He could not deny he was at the ball. 
 The angry parson now became afraid. What would 
 his friends say ? What would many that knew him 
 think of him " among those present " at that godless 
 amusement ? It is gratifying, however, to be able 
 to chronicle that the matter was satisfactorily settled 
 none that knew his reverence believing it was to 
 sing or dance, or for any like profane purpose, he 
 was among those present at the ball. 
 
 Another Free Church clergyman in a Highland 
 parish it is not very clear why the pastors of this 
 particular denomination should specially shine in 
 such capacities placed himself, a very few years 
 ago, in even a more ludicrous and alarming situa- 
 tion than did the Rev. Peter Mackay. We learned 
 the circumstances from a member of his congrega- 
 tion, who heard the details from several persons 
 who witnessed the scene. A marriage took place 
 in the district, the officiating clergyman at which 
 was the Rev. Neil Ferguson. In wedding fes- 
 tivities the bagpipes, as is yet generally the case, 
 occupied a prominent place. It is important to
 
 POPULAR ENTERTAINMENTS. 151 
 
 note the presence of this musical instrument, be- 
 cause it "plays" an essential part in the story. The 
 clergyman left after he had tied the nuptial knot ; 
 but happening, however, to meet the marriage-party 
 at a later hour of the day, the piper playing an 
 appropriate air, the Rev. Neil Ferguson, as if seized 
 with temporary insanity, rushed up to the bagpipe- 
 player a young man of the district, and an adherent 
 of the reverend gentleman's church and violently 
 wrenched the bagpipes from him, accompanying the 
 act with angry mutterings about the godless music, 
 and the foolish people, and like observations. Nor 
 was this all. At the moment the pipes were forced 
 out of the player's hands the bag was pretty con- 
 siderably inflated, and as the parson held the pipes 
 under his arm, the yet unused wind, in making 
 its way out, made a sort of bagpipe-music, so that, 
 beyond dispute, the parson was the bagpipe-//#j*r 
 of the moment ! There are, even at this moment, 
 not a few of the clerical brethren of these angry 
 parsons who have much the same narrow views 
 anent rational amusements generally, but a growing 
 public opinion is daily helping to render such scenes 
 as those we have described less probable. 
 
 Stratheden shares in the too general scantiness of 
 means of social and bettering entertainment. Nor
 
 152 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 is it easy to see why such is the case. Besides 
 other persons that might reasonably be expected 
 to help in providing something useful, there are 
 two clergymen in the parish, and neither, so far 
 as is known, in any remarkable way wanting in 
 mental endowments and capabilities for general 
 usefulness. In no Highland parish of to-day, it may 
 be safely said, are the intellectual or other appliances 
 so meagre but that, with some little energy and per- 
 severance, such entertainments as penny readings, 
 concerts, and popular lectures might be easily 
 enough got up. These might also surely be so con- 
 ducted as instead of being institutions of which the 
 clergy would be afraid to be materially helpful to- 
 wards promoting a healthy religious development 
 among the community generally. The people will 
 have excitement; and if, as unfortunately is the case 
 the whole world over, some people in Highland par- 
 ishes will go after excitement that is neither amus- 
 ing nor healthy, those who assume the position of 
 guardians of their morals should beware lest by a 
 sour, unsympathetic denouncing of innocent rational 
 entertainments and amusements, they may be vir- 
 tually aiding in encouraging what they often have 
 cause to deplore. 
 
 The places of public resort in Stratheden are not
 
 POPULAR ENTERTAINMENTS. 153 
 
 numerous, and the most is made of such as do exist. 
 For a long period, until within the past ten years, the 
 habit of going to ceilidh that is, visiting the neigh- 
 bours' houses in the evenings winter especially 
 for purposes of gossip, was largely patronised. Local 
 events received the largest share of attention, but 
 national questions were not altogether untouched ; 
 and some events, or supposed events, of the fable and 
 ghost story order, were pretty largely laid under 
 contribution. An intense craving for the surprising 
 was very prevalent among the persons constituting 
 this local parliament, and they who could satisfy this 
 craving the best were the most popular frequenters 
 of such gatherings. Personal observations, of course, 
 of a kind uncomplimentary to some one or other 
 in the neighbourhood, were often enough heard at 
 the ceilidh ; and sometimes the habit, unfortunately 
 not peculiar to such meetings, of making free with 
 the reputation of the absent, was more than suffi- 
 ciently honoured. However, these gatherings had 
 some harmlessly attractive features, and did good 
 in a way. They kept the people from an idler and 
 possibly worse way of spending their time ; and be- 
 fore the state of matters to-day, when newspapers 
 and books are so much more widely read, the ceilidh 
 gathering in many instances was the means of circu-
 
 154 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 lating no small amount of useful intelligence. But 
 the custom of ceilidh is rapidly disappearing, and the 
 ceilidh meetings are to-day but thinly attended com- 
 pared with even ten years ago. Railways and news- 
 papers are tending to diminish the number at these 
 gatherings, and not long hence, to all appearance, 
 the ceilidh will cease to be known as a distinctive in- 
 stitution. The popular places of resort to-day are 
 railway stations, blacksmiths', tailors', and shoe- 
 makers' shops, as also the shop by pre-eminence, or 
 the general merchant's shop. 
 
 The first-named place the railway station seems 
 a rather strange place to be regularly frequented ex- 
 cept on business, and yet a considerable number of 
 the young men and boys of Stratheden as is the 
 case in many other parishes habitually frequent the 
 railway station. One can easily understand how, at 
 the time the train was a novelty, many old as well 
 as young people would go to hear the snorting of 
 the " each iarruinn " (iron horse), and see the huge 
 load of waggons he dragged so rapidly in his train. 
 But in Stratheden the charm of novelty has faded 
 years ago, and still the people referred to, almost 
 every evening, Sunday as well as week-days, from 
 far and near, in all weathers, flock to the railway 
 station. They all make a point, if possible, of being
 
 POPULAR ENTERTAINMENTS. 155 
 
 there at the arrival of the mail train from the south; 
 and though few or none of them can have anything 
 like an extensive correspondence, or any important 
 or frequent business transactions, we have seen them 
 pass towards the railway station shortly before train 
 time running as if for dear life, afraid they would be 
 too late. It is not easy to explain this phenomenon. 
 It may be that the craving for excitement, inciden- 
 tal to the quiet monotony of the district, leads them 
 to the railway station in the expectation of hearing 
 something sensational among the latest intelligence; 
 or it may be that some, even more curious, wish to 
 see to whom a box or a parcel, or even a cask of 
 sugar and more especially, of something stronger 
 is addressed, such information being useful for pur- 
 poses of gossip on some subsequent occasion. It is 
 all very well to say that the station-master might 
 prevent such gatherings. The Stratheden station- 
 master is a highly efficient faithful official, and as 
 capable at least as the average station-master of 
 removing any annoyance that might exist ; but 
 the custom is deeply rooted, and it might not be 
 judicious to deal summarily with it. The young 
 people have few other places of public resort to go 
 to; and though the gossip at these gatherings is 
 not always elevating, it might seem hard, consider-
 
 156 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 ing the fewness of places of amusement, to grudge 
 the young men and boys this, as they must think, 
 attractive entertainment 
 
 The blacksmith's shop is a favourite resort, and 
 many a remarkable conversation is heard in the 
 " smithy "many a strange sentiment is ventilated 
 round the anvil. Angus Kennedy, the principal 
 blacksmith in Stratheden, to-day there are three 
 in the parish, while twenty years ago there was but 
 one, is a man somewhat past middle life, with the 
 brawny arm usually associated with the man of the 
 anvil. He is altogether an intelligent person, and 
 with that tendency to dictate and to be opinionative 
 which the head of a place thus frequented is so apt 
 to manifest. Many are they that visit, on business 
 and without business, the smithy of Angus Kennedy. 
 Crofters, grieves, and ploughmen generally, form 
 of course the greater number. Not to speak of the 
 attention paid to national affairs, no event of any 
 consequence, or of no consequence, that takes place 
 in or around Stratheden, fails to become a subject of 
 comment among the frequenters of Angus Kennedy's 
 "smithy." Events that never happened are occa- 
 sionally discussed as well ! which latter, of course, 
 is not peculiar to the blacksmith's or any other shop. 
 " School boord and parochial boord maiters," as
 
 POPULAR ENTERTAINMENTS. 157 
 
 some of the assembled ones put it, are more or less 
 exhaustively discussed ; and the " school boord " 
 elections of recent times created no small stir, the 
 smithy parliaments taking special cognisance of the 
 "maiter," and making somewhat remarkable com- 
 ments both on the fitness of one or more of the 
 " cawndidates " for membership in the " school 
 boord," and on what the "boord," when elected, 
 should do. "What the munnistarr said last Saw- 
 bath " is frequently very freely commented on ; and 
 special delight is felt in discussing some real or 
 supposed personal admonitions or rebukes that may 
 happen to be administered from one or both of the 
 Stratheden pulpits. 
 
 Angus Kennedy, the smith, in virtue of his posi- 
 tion as head of the house, is, of course, president of 
 the anvil assembly ; and, having seen a little of 
 the world Angus was in the south some years 
 greater deference is paid to his opinions, for the 
 average native resident of a Highland parish looks 
 up somewhat to a travelled man. A notable per- 
 sonage at these gatherings is Hugh Ferguson, a 
 crabbed-looking little man, past the threescore and 
 ten, and, in some respects, a veritable " character." 
 Hugh has seen a good deal of the world in fact he 
 has been a wandering sort of individual ; and being
 
 158 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 what is called unsuccessful in life, he is somewhat 
 sour, and disposed to sneer all round. Hugh is com- 
 paratively well read, and evidently has been look- 
 ing into literature of various kinds, useful and other- 
 wise. He is liked, generally speaking, not only for 
 his general information and frequent smart replies, 
 but also because, though not over-wise at times, 
 Hugh is not believed to be of either a violent or 
 a vicious disposition. Ordinarily, in any discussion 
 of importance, the final deliverance rests with Angus 
 Kennedy the blacksmith and Hugh Ferguson the 
 tailor ; and by universal consent even the president 
 has occasionally often, indeed to yield the palm 
 to Hugh Ferguson. 
 
 At the time the Scotch Education Act of 1872 
 came into operation, frequent and more or less 
 excited conferences anent the matter took place 
 at Angus Kennedy's smithy. The general ver- 
 dict of these local legislators seemed to be that, 
 while there were " some grawnd raygulayshans " in 
 the new Act, if the schools were getting along 
 as well in other " paireeshes " as in Stratheden, 
 there was little or no need for an altered sys- 
 tem. This was pretty much the local sentiment at 
 the date of the passing of the Act. Hugh. Fer- 
 guson and Angus Kennedy, while agreeing in the
 
 POPULAR ENTERTAINMENTS. 159 
 
 main regarding the Act, differed anent the duties 
 of the inspector of schools Angus strongly insist- 
 ing that this official should be asked by some 
 competent authority to examine as to the religious 
 instruction. " Na, na, Angus," observed Hugh; 
 " let the parsons look after that business : they 
 hessna owre muckle to do, and they're weel paid for 
 all they do. The inspector canna hev muckle time 
 for asking aboot the long string o' questions aboot 
 'fectual calling, and original sin, and the likes o' 
 that." " Oh, Hugh, Hugh, take care what you'll be 
 saying ! " exclaimed George Morison, brother-in-law 
 of Alexander Mackenzie one of the elders of the 
 Free Church in Stratheden from a corner of the 
 smithy, where he had been listening. " It's a lot 
 of people hess need of 'fectual calling, and you 
 shouldna be speakin' that way. Graysheous, whatna 
 lot of strange speaking there's in't in this days aboot 
 'fectual calling, and questions, and the Bible itself! 
 In my younger days," added George Morison, " it 
 would be only in the church, and at the kattykeesin' 
 (catechising) and prayer-meetings, there would be 
 any speaking aboot them makers; but now great 
 many will be speaking every place aboot them, and 
 I don't know what's to be in't." The educational 
 question was by this time being lost sight of, the
 
 160 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 conversation showing so far, at least, as George 
 Morison was concerned a tendency to become of 
 a distinctly theological nature. And not seldom 
 is there a theological discussion at the smithy. " I 
 don't know myself what some o' them munnistarrs 
 is aboot ; he's an awful man that David Macrae, a 
 munnistarr in the sooth," was the indignant wail 
 of James Maclean, a sour-looking old man, one 
 evening recently at the smithy parliament. " This 
 Macrae," added James, "is saying there's to be no 
 bad place at all, at all, aifter this world ! and isn't 
 that awful ? They were saying that my own nee- 
 bour, Sandy Macdougal daysant good man, he 
 could be an elder any day, but he wouldna take it 
 they were saying Sandy didna sleep for two nights 
 aifter they told him that a munnistarr was saying 
 there wasna to be a bad place at all isn't that 
 awful ? It was a cruall thing to take the sleep from 
 the hoaly man. But stop you," proceeded our en- 
 ergetic critic "some people wull know to their 
 cost that there is a bad place ! and this David Mac- 
 rae " At this juncture, when, we are grieved to 
 
 have to suspect, James Maclean was about to rele- 
 gate the southern parson to regions uninviting, 
 Hugh Ferguson, who was present this evening also, 
 somewhat angrily said to James Maclean, " Haud
 
 POPULAR ENTERTAINMENTS. l6l 
 
 your tongue, Jeemuss ; you're bletherin' aboot what 
 you dinna ken. Are you sure David Macrae is say- 
 ing there's no to be a bad place, as you call it ? " 
 James hesitated before replying to Hugh Ferguson's 
 question : he dreaded it might not be canny to be 
 saying much about such matters in a mixed company. 
 At last, however, and as if to vindicate himself, he ob- 
 served, " Yes ; a'm sure he was saying it, because 
 Angus Gordon said he heard Jeemuss Finlayson 
 the deacon saying it, and Jeemuss reads the papers 
 sometimes." At this stage David Grant, a painter 
 in Stratheden, and a native of the parish, who 
 happened to be on business at the smithy on the 
 evening in question, volunteered an observation on 
 the matter. David is an intelligent young man, 
 reads the papers, and has, it is said, a pretty good 
 collection of books of various kinds. " I have 
 been reading about the Rev. David Macrae, and 
 what they're saying against him," observed Grant, 
 " and I don't think he's really saying that at all. It 
 is too great a matter for me to speak about ; and 
 more than that, I don't think David Macrae or any 
 other one can make the matter perfectly clear to us. 
 But, James, my friend, yourself nor myself surely 
 cannot see into the like of these matters, but we 
 should all live a good life, and never rnind what 
 
 L
 
 1 62 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 we cannot see into." "Ah, Maister Grant, we can 
 see weel enough into them fearful munnistarrs 
 that's saying there's to be no bad place." " I 
 scarcely know what your views are, James," added 
 Grant, "but I know very well that my views are 
 like the views of a good lot of the young men 
 of Stratheden. Let us be good men, James, and 
 don't be bothering your head about David Macrae, 
 or any other man. They're all most likely doing 
 their best ; and there is One wiser than any of us 
 will decide, and we should leave the matter there." 
 " But surely it's better," said James Maclean, " to 
 have sound views, and to keep to what good men 
 before us said." " But who knows what views are 
 sound ? " replied Grant ; " every one thinks his own 
 views sound." " Och, Maister Grant, there's the 
 Bible to show it, to show the richt way," observed 
 James. "All very well, James," replied Grant, "but 
 people don't agree about the Bible. Some say it 
 says this, and others that ; but I tell you," added 
 Grant, "the Bible tells us to be good, right living, 
 and honest every way, and there cannot be any 
 doubt about that. We should ask God to help us 
 to be good, James, and leave dark questions." So 
 much for the smithy conferences. They still en- 
 dure, though not so largely patronised as of old.
 
 POPULAR ENTERTAINMENTS. 163 
 
 The spread of the newspaper, and of cheap liter- 
 ature generally, is diminishing the attendance at 
 these once very popular gatherings. 
 
 Prominent among the entertainments of the aver- 
 age Highland parish stands the dancing - school. 
 An institution of this sort periodically appears in 
 Stratheden. Dancing -schools were, and to some 
 extent yet are, especial objects of clerical de- 
 nunciation in the Highlands. This did, and does, 
 more harm than good. The peaceable members of 
 the community, for the most part trained into dread 
 of the clerical rebuke, even when such rebuke was 
 unwise, kept away from the forbidden entertainment, 
 and it was, as a rule, only such as affected to discard 
 all authority and lived recklessly that became patrons 
 of the unhallowed amusement. Hence, in conse- 
 quence very much of clerical narrowness and sour- 
 ness, dancing-schools in Highland parishes long bore 
 a rather uninviting reputation. Matters are much 
 changed to-day. At the same time, though the aver- 
 age resident seems less afraid of the dancing-school, 
 it can hardly be said that this institution, so far as 
 the average rural Highland parish is concerned, is 
 always a school of refinement, or a place for acquir- 
 ing elegant manners and polite conversation. 
 
 James Ferguson, a plasterer to trade, and a danc-
 
 164 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 ing-master by profession, came to Stratheden last 
 autumn, and announced his intention of opening a 
 dancing-school. Any kind of excitement takes in 
 a place like Stratheden, where novelties are rare, 
 and the dancing-school was the topic of the hour. 
 Alexander Macrae, the old elder, ominously shook 
 his aged head, bewailing the follies of the times ; 
 and if he did not pray for those that placed their 
 souls in jeopardy by going to the dancing-school, 
 he was going to do it. So, at least, said Mary 
 Macgillivray, an old maid in Stratheden. She was 
 much of the elder's way of thinking regarding danc- 
 ing-schools. Mary, however, may have had depres- 
 sing reflections awakened in her by hearing that 
 so many young women attended the dancing-school 
 young women, that is, with better chances of 
 marriage than herself; and, such is human nature, 
 this may somewhat explain her sympathy with the 
 elder's views. But, and strange to say, another elder 
 of the Free Church, to which church also Alexander 
 Macrae adhered, actually sent three of his family to 
 the dancing-school. Horror seized many of those so- 
 called " good " people at the thought of this shocking 
 declension. The erring elder brought down on his 
 unhappy head, not merely remonstrances for his 
 godless relaxing of parental discipline, but a torrent
 
 POPULAR ENTERTAINMENTS. 165 
 
 of wild abuse for the great scandal caused by the 
 enormous iniquity of an elder sending his children 
 to a dancing-school. One evening during the cur- 
 rency of the dancing-school a small group happened 
 to meet at one of the Stratheden shops, and, while 
 there, some pupils passed along to the dancing- 
 school. " There they are ! " exclaimed Catherine 
 MacKay, a sister of the wife of James Murchison, 
 one of the deacons in the Stratheden Free Church ; 
 " a'm afraid they're on the broad way ; they'll get 
 plenty room on it for dancing, but a'm thinking it's 
 no dancing that wull be in their heads at the end ! " 
 " The dancing will no do them a grain o' ill," replied 
 the young wife of Hugh Kennedy, a mason in Strath- 
 eden, "if they'll be decent themselves. It makes 
 people kind o' smart and active like ; and ourselves 
 here, though we're as smart and clever like as people 
 in other places, we canna be the worse of getting 
 lessons at the dancing-school." " Ochan ! ochan ! is 
 that what your sayin' ? " retorted Catherine MacKay ; 
 " it's easy seen the young people o' this day is gettin' 
 awful strange kind o' views. I think, Mustrass 
 Kennedy, you should go and you'll get a sairman 
 from Hugh MacKay the elder ; its awful that he 
 sent his children to the dancing-school. And maybe 
 aifter the sairman, Hugh and yourself though it
 
 166 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 wunna be easy for him wi' the lame leg may hev 
 a reel with the dancing scholars." " Be quate, be 
 quate," exclaimed Angus Matheson, an old, sombre, 
 sour - looking native, of some sixty years of age ; 
 "don't be putting sairmans and dancing together 
 that way. If people listened better to sairmans, the 
 dancing wouldn't hev a chance at all. It's awful that 
 people wull go and jump aboot round and round for 
 hours, and they'll be sayin' the sairmans are too long 
 to sit and hear. Ochan! ochan! what are we coming 
 to ? " At this stage of the discussion, which was 
 becoming somewhat warm, Thomas Cameron, a re- 
 spectable tradesman in Stratheden, a man of some 
 five-and-thirty years of age, appeared on the scene ; 
 and his shrewd ways and long residence in the south 
 having given him a sort of name in the place, 
 Thomas was at once appealed to for his opinion 
 anent the matter in dispute. " What do you think of 
 this dancing-school that's going on in the paereesh, 
 Maister Cawmurran?" said Catherine MacKay, deter- 
 mined to take a lead in the deliberations, and who 
 would fain get Thomas Cameron to side with her, 
 whatever his own views were. Cameron, taking a 
 practical view of the matter, merely observed that it 
 might be better to wait until the close of the danc- 
 ing-school to see if any good resulted. The moral
 
 POPULAR ENTERTAINMENTS. l6/ 
 
 or religious aspect of the dispute never entered into 
 Cameron's calculations, so that his cautious, and, as 
 most people will say, wise observation, came rather 
 disappointingly to some of those present. Catherine 
 MacKay, however, determined to have some expres- 
 sion of opinion from Thomas Cameron, remarked, 
 " Don't you think, Maister Cawmurran, the dancing 
 is a sin ? " Cameron, slightly irritated at this fanat- 
 ical view of the matter, replied, " None of your old 
 blether. A sin ! there's people winna go to a dancing- 
 school will do far worse." Catherine began to think 
 some strange wild views were beginning to prevail, 
 and she retired from the shop in evident disgust So 
 much for dancing-schools. 
 
 At those seasons when the world generally is 
 supposed to rejoice Hallowe'en, Christmas, and 
 New Year Stratheden has its amusements, and they 
 are such as are popular in many Highland parishes 
 of to-day. In most parishes the old style is observed 
 in the three instances specified namely, November 
 I ith, January 6th, and January I2th. These seasons 
 are not now so generally observed as they were at 
 one time. We remember how, some twenty-five years 
 ago, Hallowe'en was one of the greatest events of the 
 year. Young and old paid homage to the returning 
 season, and the observance included indoor and out-
 
 1 68 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 door amusements. A favourite indoor amusement 
 of those days in some districts of the Highlands was 
 the placing of a silver coin, a ring, or some such 
 valuable, in a preparation of meal and cream, con- 
 tained in the most capacious basin available in the 
 house, in which preparation some dozen or more 
 spoons eagerly concentrated their energies. Tre- 
 mendous issues depended on the finding of the ring 
 and coin, and he or she who found either would be 
 soonest married ; and a bright future generally, of 
 course, was in store for the successful spoon. 
 
 The customs of to-day, so far as Hallowe'en, 
 and indeed the other seasons referred to, are con- 
 cerned, are much the same as at the period indicated, 
 the important difference being that the extent to 
 which they are observed is materially less. The more 
 adventurous give special attention to outdoor amuse- 
 ments. About the middle of autumn it is common 
 in some districts to see schoolboys, when lessons 
 are past, go to the moorland and glens to pluck 
 or cut a sort of long hard grass, some of them bring- 
 ing home a bundle of about half the size of an ordin- 
 ary sheaf of corn. This is laid past to dry, and on 
 Hallowe'en used as a torch. When this custom 
 was more largely patronised than now, it was a 
 picturesque sight, on a dark night, to see these
 
 POPULAR ENTERTAINMENTS. 169 
 
 youthful torch-light processionists rush along boys 
 of course rarely walk the sparkling stream of fire, 
 that spoke of a rapidly fading torch, giving a weird 
 ghastly aspect to the scene, while hearty loud 
 hurrahs were constantly yelled by the happy pro- 
 cessionists. 
 
 Another Hallowe'en custom of other days yet lin- 
 gers, and is more extensively honoured than the one 
 just described, though, as will be seen, some people 
 consider it a less harmless amusement. Late at night 
 turnip-fields and kail-gardens are honoured with a visit 
 from some of the fun-loving youths. Nor are these 
 fields and gardens left exactly as they were found : 
 sometimes a considerable number of turnips and 
 cabbages are removed, and, these being distri- 
 buted among the party, are subsequently disposed 
 of in a manner not a little alarming to some of the 
 quieter inhabitants. Some time during the night 
 the inmates of one or more cottages are startled by 
 a violent crash, as if the door had been smashed in, 
 and this is one of the ways in which some of the 
 turnips are disposed of. Sometimes a door is at- 
 tacked by a vigorous cannonade of turnips, some 3- 
 and some 5-pounders, all hurriedly but well aimed 
 by the unwelcome nocturnal merrymakers. An- 
 other Hallowe'en custom consists in bodily removing
 
 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 a crofter's or " big fairmer's " cart from the steading, 
 and depositing it in some out-of-the-way corner, 
 the search occasionally causing some annoyance 
 and irritation, so carefully is the cart, or plough, or 
 barrow, hid. 
 
 All this, generally speaking, is done from harm- 
 less motives, though the owners of the turnips and 
 carts, and some others, may have doubts as to the 
 morality of the amusements referred to. We have 
 heard it said that any residenter more or less un- 
 popular is sure to receive the larger share of the 
 attentions of Hallowe'en, in the matter of door- 
 hitting and the like. It would be rash, however, 
 to take these attentions as evidence of unpopu- 
 larity. Most of the merrymaking ones are at a 
 time of life when local strifes, with their envy and 
 hatred, enter but little, if at all, into their delibera- 
 tions. They hurl the turnips for hurling's sake, and 
 for the fun of it, and that is all. 
 
 These customs are on the wane. Somehow they 
 seem to disappear with the remoteness of our High- 
 land parishes, and in consequence of the spread of 
 cheap literature and the increased travelling facili- 
 ties. It would be foolish to utter a wail over the 
 change. Many of us have happy fond memories 
 of the days when these customs were widely popu-
 
 POPULAR ENTERTAINMENTS. 17 1 
 
 lar, and the average Highlander was then at least 
 as brave, as kindly, and as true as to - day ; but 
 seeing the change has brought with it no harm save 
 the sad remembering of those who love to speak of 
 the good* old days of long ago, we may composedly 
 accept the altered times. 
 
 Of Good Friday, Easter, Candlemas, and even 
 Christmas, little or no notice is taken in the High- 
 lands in the way of practical observance. The 
 New Year, however, is yet observed, though here, 
 too, the custom is diminishing. The old style, as 
 already indicated, is yet observed in Stratheden 
 and in the Highlands generally, but there is a 
 growing feeling in favour of the new style. Many 
 parishes have already adopted the latter, and it 
 must, not long hence, be general. Some of the 
 older natives, of course, adhere rigidly to the old 
 style; and not longer ago than this year of our Lord 
 one thousand eight hundred and eighty, we know of 
 a Highland parish where, while the younger and 
 some of the middle-aged residents observed the new 
 style, the older and more rigid adherents of the old 
 style got up a counter-demonstration on the I2th 
 day of January. With such as observe the New Year, 
 " first- footing" is all the "go" in Stratheden, as in 
 most other places. Before the old year has scarce
 
 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 chimed its last hour, a large proportion of the 
 young men are astir, and each carrying a bottle 
 of mountain-dew, they take their respective ways to 
 neighbours' houses, to exchange the greetings of the 
 season over the contents of the bottle. They sing 
 and laugh and joke after their own fashion, and all 
 are happy, or at least seem to be. Daylight, how- 
 ever, rarely overtakes the hilarity that belongs to an 
 earlier stage of the festivities. At the time when, 
 ordinarily, they get up, many on this day go to bed, 
 exhausted by the wakefulness and walking of the 
 night and morning. Perhaps, too, in one or two in- 
 stances, something in the nature of a collapse may 
 take place at even an earlier hour than that indi- 
 cated, as the result, to put it mildly, of a mistaken 
 estimate of their own capacity, or of the power of the 
 mountain - dew, or of both. But we are glad to 
 chronicle there are very few cases of drunkenness ; 
 and here we take the opportunity of recording the 
 pleasing fact that the people, generally speaking, are 
 essentially temperate in the use of intoxicating drink. 
 In the early New Year morning some few persons 
 those that wisely accepted the blessed gift of sleep, 
 or prudently maintained a wakeful coolness the whole 
 livelong night may be seen careering along the hill- 
 sides and straths, bound for some neighbour's cottage,
 
 POPULAR ENTERTAINMENTS. 173 
 
 singing a festive song with voices seemingly not yet 
 subdued by serious contact with the cares of life. It 
 is not the silly maudlin song that comes of intoxica- 
 tion, but, as a rule, the genuine outburst of a young 
 and gladsome heart. As the day advances, groups, 
 of two or three or more, family and other groups, 
 may be seen passing along to exchange neighbourly 
 greetings. In some houses there is at night a sub- 
 stantial tea spread, to which a few neighbours are in- 
 vited. There is a return tea next evening in another 
 house, so that the New Year festivities are thus often 
 prolonged for a week. This return feasting is much in 
 vogue, and on such occasions, tables that sometimes 
 are bare enough, literally groan under the heavy vari- 
 ety of eatables and drinkables. A very remarkable 
 feature of such entertainments lately came under 
 our notice. A resident in a parish not fifty miles 
 from Stratheden, in speaking of such matters, strong 
 in the belief a pretty common one that a hugely 
 laden table on such occasions is very essential, 
 observed with a look of pride, referring to the 
 parish he lives in, " Plenty of oor people kill half 
 a pig at the New Year!" Here, surely, is a case 
 for the anti-vivisectionists. It would not apparently 
 be easy, if, indeed, it would be possible, to find a 
 clearer case of vivisection.
 
 174 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 Card-playing (no betting as a rule) is yet a some- 
 what popular amusement in the Highlands, and 
 many a long winter evening it helps to while away. 
 Some of the older natives look on card -playing 
 as altogether an unsanctified matter, and plainly 
 enough express their belief that it is a practice 
 specially under the direction of the foe of all good. 
 Some of these people have a superstitious dread 
 of the mere sight of cards, and shudder at the 
 silent, harmless stare of the knave of clubs, more 
 than, probably, they would at the club of a knave, 
 or even a Zulu's assegai. Not many days ago, one 
 of the Stratheden people a person believing card- 
 playing to be "no richt" gravely told us that at 
 a house in the neighbourhood of Stratheden, where 
 a game at cards was being played, " something 
 awful took place for to make them give it up." 
 Our informant alleged that in the case in question 
 the cards indulged in a spiritualistic dance on their 
 own account, some leaping to the roof, some 
 taking a suicidal plunge into the fire, and a rem- 
 nant mysteriously disappearing beneath the table 
 on which, but a few moments before, they quietly 
 lay. Card - playing, however, yet endures. Farm- 
 house kitchens, and shoemakers' and tailors' shops, 
 are the favourite rendezvous of card-players. Hap-
 
 POPULAR ENTERTAINMENTS. 175 
 
 pily, strong drink is as rare at these gatherings 
 as is the practice of betting ; but the conversa- 
 tion accompanying card - playing is not always 
 edifying. 
 
 The telling of ghost-stories may be classed among 
 the popular entertainments. This was at one time 
 a very popular practice in the family circle and 
 at ceilidh gatherings ; but the railway train has 
 whistled many a ghost out of existence, and con- 
 sequently materially curtailed the number of ghost- 
 stories. The newspaper and the travelling facilities, 
 also, have recentlybeen very successfully attacking the 
 ghost and ghost-story strongholds. But even to-day 
 this once very common practice is to some extent 
 observed. The haunted localities laid under con- 
 tribution include places out of and in "the paereesh." 
 When the alleged haunted locality is near at hand, 
 there is, of course, a more anxious look towards the 
 door, and a closer creeping near the fireplace, among, 
 
 at least, the younger members of the listening group. 
 
 i 
 
 Even to-day some Stratheden people gravely allege 
 that " uncanny " lights and unearthly yells frequent 
 a wood in the parish. If, by way of accounting 
 for the lights, tinkers' tents are mentioned, the reply 
 is, " Och no, indeet ; it's far worse nor tinkers that's 
 in't You'll see they'll be something yet where the
 
 1/6 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 light waas." If a howl of a wandering dog be sug- 
 gested as explanatory of the yell, the reply some- 
 times is, " Och, indeet, it's no that kind o' noise 
 people knows what's in't, and that it's no a right 
 noise ; but there will be something come oot o' that 
 noise yet." 
 
 In speaking to a Stratheden man the other day 
 on the subject of ghosts, we took occasion to notice 
 that the railway, and the constant moving about of the 
 people, in addition to other agencies, must have scared 
 away the ghosts, if ever there were any. " Ochan ! 
 ochan ! sir," he replied, " it's no a train or anything 
 o' that kind that can put away the ghosts. What 
 do they care for trains and that ? They're saying " 
 (and this story was believed by not a few in Strath- 
 eden) " that last Sawbath night, when the train was 
 coming near Stratheden, a big, big black thing 
 stopped it and it couldna go, and they tried and 
 tried, and it wouldna go. The object wouldna move, 
 nor speak, nor anything. Now, Maister Mackenzie," 
 he added, "that waas a ghost ; and it's no right for 
 trains to be going on the Sawbath." 
 
 Some readers by this time may be asking, what 
 about the musical entertainments ? Does not this 
 element continue to occupy a prominent place in 
 the popular entertainments of a Highland parish ?
 
 POPULAR ENTERTAINMENTS. 177 
 
 What about Gaelic songs ? Surely Stratheden is 
 rich in the department of Gaelic song-singing ? Are 
 not Ossian's strains familiar sounds? Are not the 
 plaintive melodies of the bards, of Rob Donn, of 
 M'Intyre, and others, often sung in the family 
 circle and at festive gatherings ? Do not the young 
 maidens of the parish often sing' love-songs in the 
 Gaelic tongue ? 
 
 Much though many will regret it, these questions, 
 so far as the average Highland parish of to-day is 
 concernad, must severally be answered in the nega- 
 tive. As to concerts, we have already indicated the 
 measure of popularity they enjoy in some parishes. 
 Songs are sung, of course ; but in comparison with 
 even fifteen years ago, the proportion sung in Gaelic 
 is small indeed. Even Ossian, though revered by 
 Highlanders generally, is read by few; and there 
 are many to-day to whom Ossian's classic page is 
 very much of a foreign tongue. Mackay (Rob 
 Donn), M'Intyre, and various other Gaelic bards, 
 are spoken of; but their songs, though found in 
 most cottages affecting anything like a library, are 
 rarely sung. Such of the young maidens as are 
 given to singing, in the great majority of cases, 
 find expression for their tender emotions in the 
 English language. Gaelic songs are to-day oftener 
 
 M
 
 1/8 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 heard in Glasgow, Edinburgh, and Aberdeen, than 
 in many Highland parishes ; and those Highlanders 
 that in these and other distant places sing the fondly 
 cherished melodies of long ago, melodies that 
 awaken fond though mingled memories of the old 
 home " in the misty island " or the distant glen, 
 will doubtless feel disposed to sigh over what many 
 of them no doubt will consider the melancholy 
 declension in the matter of Gaelic song-singing in 
 Highland parishes. 
 
 In the department of purely literary entertain- 
 ment, Stratheden has not much to boast of. Efforts 
 have recently been made to establish a society, pro- 
 fessedly having in view, by means of essays, lectures, 
 and debates, the cultivating of literary tastes, and, 
 generally, the mental improvement of the members ; 
 but it remains to be seen what good, if any, it will 
 accomplish in the way of promoting reading habits, 
 a manly toleration in matters of Church and creed, 
 and general intelligence. In too many Highland 
 parishes such societies, though making a promising 
 beginning, soon exhibit signs of an approaching 
 collapse. This is not owing to th inexperience of 
 the members, or to the fact that some of the essays 
 are dull, and some of the debates stupid and ludi- 
 crously conducted. There is many a literary so-
 
 POPULAR ENTERTAINMENTS. 1/9 
 
 ciety, now flourishing, that experienced similar early 
 disadvantages. The great barrier to the genuine 
 progress of such a society consists, in some places, 
 in the fact that the old miserable leaven of sec- 
 tarianism finds its way into its counsels. The so- 
 ciety is started ostensibly on an unsectarian basis, 
 but too often this is but a pretext to secure public 
 countenance. In course of time sectarian animosi- 
 ties, descending at times to venomous and cowardly 
 personalities, are ventilated ; but it is right to add 
 that such contemptible displays, as a rule, come 
 from the adherents of the ecclesiastical sect that is 
 numerically the stronger in the Highlands, and that 
 the unhopeful feelings alluded to are kept alive and 
 promoted chiefly by those who should be the first to 
 endeavour to scare them away. 
 
 At this stage we fancy we hear some enthusiastic 
 admirer of the ideal Highland parish wonderingly ask, 
 
 
 
 what about the bagpipes f Have the strains of this 
 ancient instrument, that used to speak to Highland 
 hearts and stir the Highland blood, been swamped 
 in the newer noises of the changes of to-day ? By 
 no means ; and it is only because it is not now so 
 much, so to speak, the universal musical instrument, 
 that we have delayed reference to it. There are 
 some changes that will be variously viewed, but
 
 I SO CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 most of us would consider a Highland parish sadly 
 forfeiting its claim to interest and regard sadly 
 adrift, indeed, from what a Highland parish should 
 be if within it were unknown the stirring strains of 
 the ancient bagpipes. Some of the young lads of 
 Stratheden play them, and not seldom from a cottage 
 here and there one may hear " the pibroch sound- 
 ing deep over mountain and glen." These amateur 
 players, when asked, give their services willingly at 
 weddings, balls, and harvest-homes ; but it is in his 
 home, to the delight of his brothers and sisters, 
 though not, in every case, quite to the delight of 
 the older people, some of whom have a pharisaic 
 horror of all secular, and especially of instrumental, 
 music, that the amateur chiefly plays. There are 
 other musical instruments coming into general use, 
 such as concertinas and accordions ; nor are the 
 notes of the violin unknown. While, however, it 
 will be a long time before any, or even all of these, 
 will succeed in swamping the strains of the ancient 
 bagpipes, we are glad to think it will be longer still 
 before the narrow-minded and pharisaic fanatics of 
 the community will be able to put to silence any 
 one of these instruments, all of which, when sorrow 
 comes, or time hangs wearily, are capable of afford- 
 ing much comfort and bettering entertainment.
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 SHOPKEEPING IN A HIGHLAND PARISH OF TO-DAY. 
 
 BEFORE railway and steamboat communication be- 
 came widely developed in the Northern Highlands 
 up till about twenty years ago shopkeeping in 
 the average Highland parish was rather a good 
 business. The carrier whose cart, as a rule, was 
 of very limited dimensions the sailing sloop, the 
 small coasting steamer, and the coach, supplied the 
 ordinary means of importing goods ; and the facili- 
 ties thus afforded left but a scant margin for com- 
 petition in each district. The commercial traveller 
 was comparatively unknown, and local competition 
 was slight indeed. As a rule, there was but one or 
 at most two substantial shops in each Highland 
 parish of those days ; and the merchant, with which 
 designation the shopkeeper is almost invariably dig- 
 nified by the native residents of a Highland parish,
 
 1 82 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 had the field almost entirely to himself. He was a 
 general dealer, and sold tea, sugar, coffee, cloth, bon- 
 nets, ribbons, pots and pans, treacle, salt, tobacco, 
 pepper, mouse and rat traps, fishing-hooks, eyes for 
 other hooks, and these latter hooks themselves, and 
 various other articles literally too numerous to men- 
 tion. He was able at all times to meet the ordinary 
 local wants. He might not, and did not, feel any 
 great alarm at the rumours periodically circulated 
 that some one intended starting an opposition shop ; 
 and yet he did not feel absolutely secure in his 
 monopoly, for the increasing travelling facilities in- 
 troduced the commercial traveller, and the merchant 
 of the period we speak of indicated no strong wish to 
 cultivate the acquaintance of the " trayvullar." The 
 latter might encourage, might actually set agoing, 
 competition, and as for his own supply of " goods," 
 the merchant himself could go to "Glessga" twice 
 a-year for that purpose ; so that really, so thought 
 the merchant, " the trayvullar micht stay at hoam." 
 
 But the growing facilities of communication grad- 
 ually began to modify the supremacy and curtail the 
 trade of the merchant, who, hitherto, had matters 
 very much his own way. By the aid of large and 
 powerful steamers, and the extension of railway 
 communication, our remotest Highland parishes
 
 SHOPKEEPING IN A HIGHLAND PARISH. 183 
 
 were soon brought within comparatively easy access 
 of the great centres of commerce. Commercial 
 travellers, representing retail as well as wholesale 
 houses, now frequently visit every nook and corner 
 of the Highlands. Not only do these travellers 
 transact business with the shopkeepers, but those 
 of them that represent retail houses take orders 
 directly from the native and other residents. In 
 this way a new, and, from the local shopkeeper's 
 point of view, a less promising, era began to dawn 
 in the commercial sky of the Northern Highlands. 
 
 Nor was the competition confined to that caused 
 by the frequent visits of commercial travellers, and 
 the growing facilities forgetting "goods" direct from 
 the south. There are other competing agencies that, 
 very much in consequence of the facilities alluded 
 to, soon appeared on the scene, and some of them, 
 to this day, receive no small patronage. There is 
 the packman, with his ready-made men's clothes, 
 handkerchiefs, collars, and neckties ; and there is 
 the packwoman, endeavouring in like manner to 
 meet the female requirements in dress and other 
 commodities. Then there is the travelling mer- 
 chant, who calls himself a jeweller, carrying a box 
 containing a very varied assortment of watches, 
 chains, knives and forks, thimbles, pins, hooks and
 
 184 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 eyes, and needles, all which articles are, as a rule, 
 far higher in price than in value. For a long time 
 these peripatetic vendors succeeded in driving a 
 flourishing trade. In the days when the average 
 native had little capacity or inclination for scanning 
 certain features of the packman's commercial creed, 
 the latter and others of a similar calling contrived to 
 make it a matter of established belief that a trans- 
 action with them meant a bargain and hence very 
 much their success. The growing habit among fami- 
 lies, however, of getting goods direct from Inverness, 
 Aberdeen, Edinburgh, and Glasgow, which goes so 
 far to curtail the trade of the local shopkeeper, 
 must, and does, very materially interfere with the 
 success of the travelling vendor's trade. 
 
 Within recent years an additional opposition to 
 local shopkeeping enterprise has made its presence 
 known, in the shape of what may be called a trav- 
 elling bazaar. This institution visits many of our 
 Highland parishes twice yearly. Ordinarily three 
 or four persons conduct the " business." They come 
 by train with large boxes and hampers containing 
 a great variety of goods, such as clocks, looking- 
 glasses, pen-knives, spectacles, watch-chains, knives 
 and forks, purses, pocket-books, combs, and brushes. 
 They transact business in somewhat of the lottery
 
 SHOPKEEPING IN A HIGHLAND PARISH. 185 
 
 fashion, and by their haranguing and their manner 
 of displaying the commodities for sale, make elab- 
 orate and often ridiculous efforts to impress the 
 residents with a sense of the marvellous bargains 
 to be had of the unparalleled cheapness of the 
 "goods." Large bills are posted on prominent 
 places announcing the arrival of this institution of 
 marvellous bargains ; and the bazaar, so well do the 
 elaborate and even the ridiculous efforts succeed, is 
 literally crowded during the two or three evenings 
 it remains open. It is proper to observe, as a 
 reason why the various institutions spoken of con- 
 stitute opposition to the local shopkeepers, that 
 the various commodities sold by the former are, as 
 a rule, sold by the latter. 
 
 And yet, strange to say, shopkeeping seems to 
 flourish in Highland parishes. With all the com- 
 petition specified and it is growing where it is most 
 powerful the noteworthy fact remains, that within 
 recent years the number of local shops has been 
 increasing. In Stratheden there are to-day over 
 a dozen shops ; and twenty years ago, when the 
 population was larger than to-day, there were only 
 two, while some few years previously one shop did 
 duty for the whole parish. And how is this rather 
 remarkable phenomenon to be explained ? It
 
 1 86 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 is just because, as a Stratheden shopkeeper re- 
 marked to us a few days ago, there is a belief prev- 
 alent in the community that shopkeeping is a sure 
 and an easy way of making money. Some native 
 and other residents see the shopkeeper, his wife, and 
 bairns, donning the "grawndest kind o' clothes in the 
 paereesh," and, with a strong faith in appearances, 
 the wondering observers conclude the shop must be 
 something of a veritable mint. " Why toil," say some 
 of these wondering ones, " when a shop, which brings 
 in money so quickly and with so little trouble, may 
 be so easily put up ? " It is very much in consequence 
 of such short-sighted reflections and rash conclusions 
 that so remarkable an increase in the number of 
 local shops has taken place within recent years. A 
 crofter's son goes south, lays by a few pounds of 
 money, returns to his native parish on the decease 
 of his father, to take possession of the croft, and 
 gets himself established in the old home. He is 
 not long at home until he thinks the few pounds 
 he has managed to save cannot be more profitably 
 employed than in the purchase of some groceries 
 and the other usual equipments of a Highland shop, 
 and he launches on a commercial undertaking. A 
 crofter dies, and his widow, preferring to give up 
 the croft, converts the stock of the croft into money,
 
 SHOPKEEPING IN A HIGHLAND PARISH. l8/ 
 
 by means of which a shop is started, and hence 
 another addition to the local commercial establish- 
 ments. George, son of Angus Morison, a Strath- 
 eden crofter, went to Glasgow some ten years ago, 
 and though his ambition soared no higher than 
 that of being a " hand " on board one of the Clyde 
 dredgers, he managed to save some little money. 
 A kind of home-feeling, which certain shrewd ones 
 say is akin to laziness, seized George, and coming 
 back to his home in Stratheden, he started a shop 
 in a small wooden shed at the end of his father's 
 house. Old William Nicolson, a Stratheden crofter, 
 died, leaving a widow and an only daughter, the 
 latter called Janet. There was a small apartment 
 on the premises, in which the father, who was some- 
 what of a carpenter, used to work whenever the 
 requirements of the croft admitted. It was now 
 unused, and Janet Nicolson and her mother came 
 to think that it might be profitably occupied. Why 
 not buy some pounds of tea, a hundredweight or two 
 of sugar, and some other commodities, and start a 
 shop ? And these two did start a shop. Nor was 
 the strictly commercial aspect of the venture the 
 sole ambition. By the opening of the shop, a two- 
 fold object is gained. The unused carpenter's room 
 again becomes useful, and so at least think herself
 
 1 88 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 and her mother Janet's matrimonial prospects are 
 improved. Might not one or other of the Strath- 
 eden young lads, who do not by any means despise 
 money or a croft, nor for that matter a shop, con- 
 sider Janet, whatever her former and other charms, 
 doubly attractive in or with the shop ? What al- 
 though certain ones in the parish envious young 
 women, disappointed mothers, and, it may be, re- 
 jected suitors might say all sorts of malicious 
 things whenever Janet's approaching marriage is an- 
 nounced? Events of this nature, of course, are freely 
 commented on, especially in rural districts, and it is 
 scarcely to be expected that all the observations 
 made will be unprejudiced. The wife and daughter 
 of Alexander Maclean, a Stratheden crofter, " from 
 the first " as they said and, ostensibly, in no de- 
 gree influenced by the news of the coming marriage, 
 considered it foolish, if not daring and utterly reck- 
 less, of the aforesaid Janet and her mother to start 
 a shop. " What were they going to do wi' a shop ? " 
 observed Mrs Alexander Maclean "there's plenty 
 o' shops before ; and Jennat Neeculsan wi' her pride, 
 and tryin' to be grawnd and that, you'll see she will 
 soon broke, and what will the grawnd shop do 
 then ? It wud look more liker her, the hussy, to 
 work wi' a spade on the lawnd nor a shop." But
 
 SHOPKEEPING IN A HIGHLAND PARISH. 189 
 
 Alexander Maclean's wife and daughter have no 
 money no possible means, indeed, of starting a shop, 
 however much inclined so that it is perfectly un- 
 necessary narrowly to scan the motive under which 
 these two critics gave their verdict anent " Jennat 
 Neeculsan's " mercantile undertaking. 
 
 Some of the shops thus suddenly appearing, as 
 suddenly vanish from the scene an announcement 
 for which, doubtless, the reader is well prepared. 
 It is consoling to think, however, that beyond the 
 few pounds embarked in the too rash venture, no 
 serious loss accrues, and that some of these ad- 
 venturous would-be shopkeepers restore their un- 
 divided attention to their crofts, or other occupation, 
 wiser, if not richer people. 
 
 There are in Stratheden, as already mentioned, 
 over a dozen shops but, with three exceptions, 
 they are very small and unassuming institutions. 
 In almost every instance the shopkeeper has a 
 croft, and in more than half the cases the shop is 
 a mere accessory of the croft. The shopkeepers, 
 without exception, do what is called a general busi- 
 ness or trade. Parcels of drapery fill one shelf, 
 biscuit-boxes another, and a mongrel collection of 
 confections, nails, thread, buttons, needles and pins, 
 a third. The universal tea-chest adorns one corner,
 
 I QO CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 and the accompanying sugar-barrel another ; while, 
 in addition to a host of other commodities, metal 
 pots and pans and other kitchen utensils are sus- 
 pended along the shelves in a way not particularly 
 complimentary to the shopkeeper's idea of harmony 
 or arrangement. A few of the shops, as has been 
 indicated, are of a very unpretending character so 
 far as both edifice and merchandise are concerned, 
 and in such instances no " sign " adorns the building 
 to tell the passer-by or would-be customer what 
 commodities are for sale, or that any are for sale. 
 Such establishments, however, must soon disappear. 
 Larger shops than those that in other days were 
 found sufficient to meet the local requirements in 
 the average Highland parish are making their ap- 
 pearance, and these must of necessity soon swamp 
 the smaller fry. 
 
 There is one shop in Stratheden very much 
 larger than the largest of the others, and its ex- 
 istence is another proof of the contrast the Strath- 
 eden of to-day presents to the Stratheden of even 
 fifteen years ago. In most respects this shop 
 eclipses the smaller establishments that used to 
 do duty before the ceannaiche mor (big merchant) 
 opened what some of the native residents, proud 
 of local enterprise, admiringly call the "big ware-
 
 SHOPKEEPING IN A HIGHLAND PARISH. IQI 
 
 hoose." The other shops in Stratheden have two 
 elements in common scanty light and limited 
 space; but the "big warehoose," built in 1879, is 
 well lighted and roomy. The windows, relatively 
 speaking, are of immense capacity the panes in- 
 deed being, according to the local idea, so large 
 that some of the older natives, credulous, and yet 
 doubtful, for a long time hesitated to believe that 
 there were panes at all ! Another sign of progress 
 is observable in the almost elaborate advertising 
 displays and other decorations with which the said 
 windows are done up by the " big merchant." The 
 new shop is also roomy enough not merely in the 
 space devoted to the " goods," but as well in the 
 space ordinarily allotted to customers. This latter 
 is an important fact in such a place as Stratheden, 
 where customers are not, as a rule, in a great hurry 
 in making their purchases, and where it is usual 
 to make the shop a place of concourse for gossip, 
 sometimes harmless, but not seldom low and des- 
 picable. This latter custom, however, like the 
 kindred one of going to ceilidh in neighbours' 
 houses, is on the wane ; but those that yet respect 
 the habit will warmly appreciate the roomy feature 
 of the "big warehoose." The "big merchant" is 
 a man of some enterprise, and, indeed, is somewhat
 
 1 92 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 of a credit to Stratheden his native parish. The 
 son of a crofter, he left home for the south in early 
 life, and pursued his trade of house-carpenter, mak- 
 ing some little money by his industry and prudent 
 economy. Returning to Stratheden, he opened a 
 small shop ; but finding his trade increasing, he 
 resolved to build a large shop, and hence the " big 
 warehoose." Ronald Macgregor the big merchant 
 is a shrewd, sensible sort of individual. Not only 
 was he his own architect in planning and carrying 
 on the building of the house a substantial, neat- 
 looking modern cottage but he himself wrought 
 most of the carpenter-work. And not only so ; 
 the furniture chairs, sofas, tables, and basin- 
 stands have been made by Ronald; and these 
 articles of furniture would bear favourable com- 
 parison with some articles in the more elaborate 
 displays of some city cabinetmakers' and uphol- 
 sterers' galleries. Certain of the wiseacres of the 
 parish who knows but some of the occupants of 
 the smaller shops are of the number? have been 
 freely commenting on what they call the folly of 
 having built so large a structure and opened so 
 large a shop in a place where there were so many 
 shops before. Be this as it may, the building and 
 the shop are there ; and whatever be the success
 
 SHOPKEEPING IN A HIGHLAND PARISH. 193 
 
 of the shop, it seems likely it will work in the 
 direction of absorbing some of the smaller com- 
 mercial establishments. 
 
 It is a noteworthy fact, that the ancient custom 
 of "barter "to this day holds in many Highland par- 
 ishes. It is daily honoured in the shopkeeping ways 
 of Stratheden. The tea-loving matron, whose live 
 stock consists of a dozen or so of barn-door fowls, 
 will go to a shopkeeper with a dozen of eggs, and 
 get in exchange an ounce of tea, a small package 
 of sugar, and a few biscuits. The barter transac- 
 tion is not seldom of a very unpretending kind. 
 Not many days ago we saw a little girl enter a 
 shop in the parish with a couple of eggs, and get 
 in return for these two eggs " a heppany's worth o' 
 washin'-soda and a heppany's worth o' pins." Nor 
 are eggs the only commodity offered in barter. 
 Butter, potatoes, and wool do duty in perpetuating 
 this lingering custom ; and a week or two ago we 
 were told of a rather special case of barter that 
 occurred in Stratheden a few days previously, where 
 a cart was exchanged for a sheep and a pig ! 
 
 Some of the natives those especially that have 
 travelled but little have a high estimate of the im- 
 portance of the local shops. We know of an inci- 
 dent that at once illustrates this consciousness of 
 
 N
 
 194 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 local importance, and that shows how vague the 
 ideas are that are prevalent among some people in 
 the far North regarding the size of such places as 
 Glasgow. A few years ago a Highland shopkeeper 
 went to Glasgow to bring home the half-yearly sup- 
 ply of " goods." Among those at the shop on the 
 day of his return was his father, an aged man who 
 had never been much away from the remote soli- 
 tudes and the simple ways of his native parish. As 
 the goods an assortment of the usual belongings 
 of a Highland shop, and worth, in the aggregate, 
 about 60 lay at the shop -door, the amazed 
 father, proud no doubt that so many of the neigh- 
 bours were seeing what he considered the enter- 
 prise and importance of his son, observed " Cha'n 
 fheumadh Glaschu gum biodh mo mhacsa dol trie 
 ann" (Glasgow could ill afford that my son would 
 go there often) ! The poor old man evidently 
 thought that, if his son made many such demands 
 on the resources of Glasgow, it would be time to 
 consider whether the city could really continue to 
 "flourish"! 
 
 It must be confessed that, in ordering " goods," a 
 rather peculiar specimen of letter-writing occasion- 
 ally finds its way from the Highland shopkeeper to 
 the " Glessga merchant." As is the case in other 
 places, and with some other people, the shopkeeper
 
 SHOPKEEPING IN A HIGHLAND PARISH. 195 
 
 is not always at home either in grammar or spell- 
 ing ; nor indeed is his English always clear. An 
 old shopkeeper in the West Highlands, it is said, in 
 ordering a quantity of shoe-tacks, put the order in 
 this form : " Wull you be so goot and for to sent me 
 a mile of tacks." The number of tacks he wanted 
 was one thousand, and the Gaelic for a thousand 
 and for a mile sounds the same. And even in the 
 matter of addressing letters, persons of this descrip- 
 tion have been known to display some rather amus- 
 ing eccentricities. Not many years ago a Highland 
 shopkeeper, in writing to the master of a small 
 coasting-sloop, made a somewhat remarkable addi- 
 tion to the address. It had been arranged that the 
 shopkeeper was to write the captain of the sloop to 
 some port at which the latter was to call, and " to 
 be kept till called for" was to be added to the 
 address. The shopkeeper adopted an independent 
 plan of indicating the direction agreed upon, and 
 addressed the letter thus : 
 
 " Cap teen Funla Cawmurran, 
 
 Slup Jeen and Mary, 
 
 Glenellag, 
 
 Proatford, 
 
 Skye. 
 And stop there " !
 
 ig6 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 Shopkeeping in Stratheden and like places is not 
 ordinarily a toilsome occupation. The principal 
 transactions take place in the forenoon and late 
 in the evening. It is probably owing to the 
 procrastinating tendency prevalent in other places 
 than Highland parishes that so many seem to 
 find a peculiar fascination in going to the shop 
 at, or very near, closing-time. The practice, of 
 course, lightens the duties of the day, so far as 
 the shopkeeper is concerned, but unnecessarily pro- 
 longs the late hours that form a common feature 
 in the shopkeeping, or rather the shopping, in at 
 least the more rural of Highland parishes. No 
 doubt for a large portion of the year the croft 
 duties, in the case of many customers, occasion 
 late shopping, and this may suit the shopkeeper 
 well enough too ; for, in several cases, he like- 
 wise has his croft, and it might be irritating 
 enough, even to the greediest of shopkeepers, to 
 be called from the field on a fine harvest-day, in 
 uncertain weather, to sell "a heppany's worth o' 
 washin'-soda," or even to give an ounce of tea in 
 exchange for half-a-dozen eggs. 
 
 In the case of the shopkeeper that has no croft, 
 the time, as a rule, passes wearily. Ordinarily, he 
 is not what one would call a great reader, though 
 he considers himself, as some others do, "acquent
 
 SHOPKEEPING IN A HIGHLAND PARISH. 197 
 
 with lots o' maiters, and a persan o' eddikayshan." 
 He, of course, gets his newspaper is not seldom, 
 indeed, a local news-agent and his reputation as 
 an "authority" might suffer did he not keep him- 
 self posted up, in a kind of way, in "what the 
 papers are saying." He does not, however, spend 
 much time over his paper. He soon reads all he 
 feels an interest in all, perhaps, that he can 
 understand ; and, inasmuch as his shop duties 
 do not ordinarily occupy much time, his life, 
 generally speaking, is idle beyond dispute. In 
 rural districts, where there is so much stillness, and 
 where so many have little to do, there is a strong 
 curiosity to see what is going on around, who is on 
 the move, and the phenomenon of a stranger often 
 excites this curiosity to a very high pitch indeed. 
 The shopkeeper largely shares in this peculiarity. 
 He has plenty of time, and has at least as much 
 interest as any other person in the local movements 
 and a stranger is a possible customer. 
 
 In not a few cases the shopkeeper is considered 
 by some in the parish to be a veritable "au- 
 thority." It is on local 'matters especially that 
 he is considered so ; and very probably he owes 
 his investiture with this character in a great 
 measure to the fact that his position enables 
 him to hear most of the local gossip. News of
 
 198 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 most things that happen in " the paereesh," and, 
 of course, news of things that never happen, 
 seem to gravitate rapidly towards the shop as 
 the central local news - office. " They're saying 
 this," and "they're saying that," are ordinarily the 
 prefaces to the bits of news circulated in such 
 places, and no one is hungrier than the merchant 
 to hear what " they're saying." He can tell others, 
 and these will inspire third parties with a wish to 
 visit the shop to hear what " they're saying," and 
 somehow it may help the trade of the shop. The 
 shopkeeper at least seems to think so, and accord- 
 ingly countenances nay, strongly encourages the 
 news-vending practice. He invariably assumes the 
 bearing of an utterly impartial listener of the shop 
 gossip. In fact nothing else would pay ; for un- 
 friendly comments are, of course, sometimes made on 
 absent customers, and these latter would soon hear 
 if "the merchant" said anything unkind about them. 
 Archibald Morison is one of the principal shop- 
 keepers in Stratheden, and a good representative 
 of the fraternity. He is a man of some sixty years 
 of age, and, though not a native, is somewhat popu- 
 lar more so, indeed, than those whom some of the 
 people call strenjars usually are. His shop, which 
 occupies a central position in the parish, is often
 
 SHOPKEEPING IN A HIGHLAND PARISH. 199 
 
 largely frequented not, however, so much by cus- 
 tomers as by loungers and gossips and contains 
 the usual varied commodities already referred to. 
 Archy possesses somewhat of what is called the 
 " gift of the gab," and is considered smart by the 
 sort of people that usually visit his shop on busi- 
 ness, or for hearing what "they're saying." Some 
 of his so-called smart sayings are weak, and some 
 indeed are vulgar coarse, perhaps ; but then, as in 
 all other places, some of the frequenters of his shop 
 are weak, some vulgar, and a few, it may be, are 
 coarse. Archy, no doubt, is a decent enough sort of 
 fellow as the world goes, being, indeed, of a kindly 
 disposition, and, comparatively speaking, liberal- 
 minded, while many of his customers are intelligent 
 and highly respectable people ; but other types of hu- 
 manity, of course, frequent Archy's shop, so that he 
 must try to be "a'body's body," and have a word 
 for all. 
 
 The character of the conversations usually taking 
 place at Archibald Morison's shop is mixed, and, 
 as a rule, unedifying and profitless rather than other- 
 wise. Such questions and comments as the fol- 
 lowing are often heard : " Was it at Sandy Mac- 
 gregor the munnistarr u'aas last Sawbath ? Loash ! 
 didna he get it fearfell ? Sandy shouldna be run-
 
 2OO CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 ning away to that Moaderat church whatever ; am 
 sure, though there wasna preachin' in oor own 
 church, people shouldna be wantering to the Moa- 
 derats. Loash, try wull Sandy go again ! Messtur 
 Neeculsan was nearly mat aboot it. Ach, Messtur 
 Neeculsan can speak strong it's hum that can ; and 
 he's a quate lad, though he was speaking so angry 
 agenst the Moaderats ; but it's no easy for hum 
 to be seeing his people wantering to some places. 
 Och, no indeet." Such is a specimen of the ecclesi- 
 astical comments ordinarily ventilated in Archy's 
 shop. The ecclesiastical, however, form but a por- 
 tion of the observations usually advanced. National 
 politics receive a kind of attention, and petty local 
 prejudices and paltry personalities are too often 
 ventilated. The political observations sometimes 
 take the following shape : " They're battlin' ter- 
 rable in Parlimant aboot wars, and Soloos, and 
 black lads, and places far away foreign, and that; 
 it would be wiserlike o' them to send us the to- 
 bawca and the tea chape, and send a lot o' the 
 money to the poor man." Local prejudices manifest 
 themselves in such expressions as : " Mercy me ! 
 isna Donald Ferragussan's wife a nessty hussy wi' 
 her silks ? It would be better for her to send a 
 grainy o' meal to her ould father and the rest o'
 
 SHOPKEEPING IN A HIGHLAND PARISH. 2OI 
 
 her poor freends." Another says, " Did you hear 
 of the awful quarrall atween the wife o' Angus 
 Maclean, the shuppard, and the wife o' William 
 Fraser, the plaisturrar ? Angus's wife was sayin' 
 fearfell things aboot William Fraser that he's a 
 nessty man, though he's so foand o' speakin' aboot 
 releejan and goin' to meetins ; and, indeed, myself 
 thinks she wassna far wrong. William's a very 
 wicked man, and he shouldna be askin' the ' croft ' 
 that my father was in." These must suffice as 
 specimens of the shop conversations, and we gladly 
 pass from them in the hope that a growing culture 
 and a more edifying use of time will elevate the 
 character of at least some of the sentiments now 
 too often uttered in such places. 
 
 Such, generally speaking, is shopkeeping in the 
 average Highland parish of to-day. One of the 
 principal elements in the 'changes of to-day the 
 increased facilities of communication with the centres 
 of commerce has greatly modified its character ; 
 and this influence will very probably continue to 
 be even more powerfully felt, and that chiefly in 
 the direction of removing what even the natives 
 themselves now call " the wee bits o' shoppies " to 
 the domain of an unreturning past.
 
 202 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE HOME AND SURROUNDINGS OF A " BIG FAIRMER " 
 IN A HIGHLAND PARISH OF TO-DAY. 
 
 BURNSIDE COTTAGE, the residence of Mr Malcolm 
 Macgregor one of the principal farmers in Strath- 
 eden is a snug-looking edifice situated at the foot 
 of a picturesque hill. It is a comparatively modern 
 structure, and, in point of design and accommodation, 
 is far in advance of the kind of habitation in which 
 lived the great majority of Highland farmers some 
 forty years ago. The situation and surroundings are 
 essentially picturesque. The cottage nestles cosily 
 in a nook, sheltered, in Nature's own inimitable 
 fashion, by the majestic hills that encircle the 
 spot. On one side, a little distance away, there 
 rises a massive oval-shaped hill, and for some con- 
 siderable distance up the slope of this hill there is a 
 wood, which, when decked in the variegated autumn 
 tints, forms a pretty contrast to the rugged, rocky
 
 HOME OF A "BIG FAIRMER." 203 
 
 hills around. Quite near, there runs a river fed 
 by numerous streamlets from the neighbouring 
 hills ; and when water is abundant which will 
 happen, though the climate of Stratheden is not 
 a moist one a waterfall, only a few yards away 
 from Burnside Cottage, beats its weird and not un- 
 musical time on the gurgling waters in the river's bed. 
 Looking eastward, from an eminence quite near the 
 cottage, a very fine picture of natural scenery pre- 
 sents itself. For some distance along there is a 
 considerable extent of cultivated ground, circular 
 in shape, a broad stream with miniature islands 
 forming the diameter, and rocky, heathery hills 
 standing out in bold relief on either side. Farther 
 on, in the same direction, patches of richest green 
 are visible in the distant valley; while, a little 
 way beyond, the eye catches sight of the far- 
 off sea stretching far away, until it and the 
 horizon seem to meet and vanish out of sight. 
 And those that love the music of the voice, as 
 well as Nature's silent grandeur, may find, amid 
 the scene here described, much to delight the ear 
 and speak to the heart. There is a clump of trees 
 right opposite Burnside Cottage in which the winged 
 songsters seem to love to warble, and we have 
 often listened with delight to their cheering con-
 
 204 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 cert. The mavis and the lark, the latter has 
 not yet disappeared from Stratheden, often pipe 
 their sweet song in or near that clump of trees ; 
 and if the lapwing sometimes sweeps along with 
 its not inviting music, the contrast but makes the 
 listener the better prize the happy music of the 
 smaller birds. The milkmaid's song, too, in the still 
 summer evening echoes along the neighbouring 
 rocks " when the kye come hame," and an occa- 
 sional low from " crummie " herself echoes far down 
 the Strath and this latter, though not always a 
 sound remarkable for melody, is sufficiently in keep- 
 ing with the surroundings to constitute an addi- 
 tional charm ; while, as if responding, there strike 
 upon the ear, with a pleasing music of their own, 
 the lowing of other "crummies" browsing on the 
 hillsides, and the bleating of sheep feeding in the 
 distant glen. 
 
 Mr Malcolm Macgregor, as the natives generally 
 say, is a "big fairmer," and owns some three thousand 
 sheep. His stock is composed chiefly of Cheviots, or 
 caoraich mhor (big sheep), as the Gaelic-speaking 
 residents call them, in contradistinction to the caor- 
 aich bheag (little sheep), or black-faced which latter 
 kind formed the bulk of the stock of sheep-holders 
 generally in Highland parishes before the days of
 
 HOME OF A " BIG FAIRMER." 205 
 
 the modern "big fairmer." Malcolm Macgregor is 
 a good specimen of the better class of farmers in the 
 Highlands of to-day. He has a thoroughly practical 
 knowledge of his profession which, of course, is 
 necessary for successful farming in the Highlands, 
 as in every other place and when occasion requires, 
 he does not consider it beneath his dignity to take 
 a share of the manual work of the farm. From his 
 youth he has been familiar with sheep -farming 
 his father, a genuine Highlander, and a shrewd in- 
 dustrious man, being a farmer occupying extensive 
 sheep - holdings ; and the son seems to have in- 
 herited some of the shrewdness and perseverance 
 of the father. 
 
 Macgregor is a man of great despatch so much 
 so, indeed, that some might think that at times he 
 is even too hurried, too anxiously eager ; but it is 
 his way, and that, we suppose, is the philosophy 
 of such individual features. We have heard, how- 
 ever, some farmers say that certain ones in Mal- 
 colm's profession in Highland and other parishes 
 might be the better of a little of the said de- 
 spatch; that some "big fairmers" show too much 
 of a proneness to the easy-going style of life 
 seeming imperturbably satisfied, so to speak, with 
 the status quo idea, and having apparently un-
 
 206 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 limited faith in the usual returns, prices, and the 
 like. Be this as it may, and merely observing 
 that increasing competition must tend to diminish 
 the number of easy-going farmers, we proceed to 
 observe that, with Malcolm Macgregor, farming is 
 not an amusement merely. He looks on it as a 
 real, and, as many others in these days of foreign 
 competition and severe seasons will think, a very 
 arduous profession, and wisely concludes that it is 
 the duty of every farmer to leave no proper effort 
 untried towards making the farm pay. Macgregor's 
 ideas of farming, however, are not altogether con- 
 fined by considerations as to what will pay. The 
 aesthetic element enters somewhat into his musings 
 regarding the management of his farm. He is strong 
 in improving tendencies, as some other Highland 
 farmers of to-day are, and might become a successful 
 and even famous land-reclaimer were his energies 
 entirely devoted in this direction. In the few years 
 he has been in Burnside, he has made consider- 
 able alterations with the view of beautifying the 
 immediate surroundings of his home. The cot- 
 tage itself was all that could be desired com- 
 modious and compact, and is such, indeed, as the 
 most fastidious farmer might be pleased with ; but 
 Macgregor thought there was room for improve-
 
 HOME OF A " BIG FAIRMER." 2O/ 
 
 ment in the immediate surroundings. The lawn in 
 front was pretty enough, but it looked bare, and 
 the planting of trees and shrubs was resolved on. 
 
 The ordinary daily life of a "big fairmer" in a 
 Highland parish does not abound in events of 
 specially exciting interest. Lambing time, clip- 
 ping time, the big wool - market days, smearing 
 time, and a few busy days in spring and harvest, 
 constitute the principal events in his calendar. Dis- 
 trict shows, also, of cattle, sheep, and farm-produce, 
 occasion some slight ripple on the comparatively 
 unmoved sea of the average Highland farmer's life. 
 There is always, no doubt, plenty of room for activity 
 and diligence, and, nowadays especially, no small 
 need for the exercise of both; nor will any right- 
 thinking person fail to sympathise with farmers in 
 the difficulties they have, as a class, to contend 
 against in these unmistakably changed days of 
 farming in Scotland generally. 
 
 Highland farmers and their families, in their tastes 
 and general ways, present somewhat of a contrast to 
 those of about forty years ago. The simpler tastes 
 and primitive ways of the days of yore are rapidly 
 disappearing. The style of living in diet, dress, and 
 general home surroundings, has much changed with- 
 in even the last twenty years the tendency being,
 
 208 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 it need hardly be added, towards more luxurious 
 and expensive ways. In the matter of diet, per- 
 haps, the change is not so marked, if we except 
 the now more common use of those table deli- 
 cacies such as desserts and fruit accompaniments 
 which every farmer's wife in all Highland par- 
 ishes of to-day endeavours to command, especially 
 when there are strangers staying at the house, or 
 even temporarily dining there. With regard to 
 dress, except in some far - away secluded spot, 
 where remnants of older fashions yet are hon- 
 oured, the homespun and like humble fabrics worn 
 by most of the Highland farmers of some forty and 
 even twenty- five years ago are all but unknown ; 
 and as for the lady members of the farmer's fam- 
 ily, it is hardly necessary to say that by them the 
 latter form of progress is especially patronised. 
 
 With the more elaborate architectural design 
 now shown by farmers' houses, a grander, more 
 costly style of furniture has, of course, come to 
 be used. 
 
 And there are other evidences of the changed 
 times. The sons and daughters of the farmer of 
 to-day are supposed to get a more fashionable or 
 more " finished " education than was common among 
 the same class at the period alluded to. Libraries
 
 HOME OF A "BIG FAIRMER." 2OQ 
 
 in farmers' houses, also, are more elaborate than of 
 yore ; but this does not mean in every case a greater 
 cultivation of reading habits. There were, as many 
 know, at the time referred to, as cultured and well- 
 read farmers as the most cultured of to-day; and in- 
 deed we are not sure but that there was a broader, 
 healthier refinement in some instances then than 
 is now ordinarily met with, even among the better 
 class of Highland farmers. Farmers, very probably, 
 as a class, are better educated to-day ; and there is 
 no reason why they should not be so, seeing their 
 advantages are so much greater. But some farmers 
 and their families, just like other people, in their 
 manner of speaking, and in their style of comment- 
 ing on persons they envy or dislike, afford quite 
 ample evidence that more than education so called 
 more than grandeur in dress and equipage, and 
 costliness in diet is needed for the encouragement 
 of that cultured, generous refinement which bespeaks 
 the lady and the gentleman. 
 
 Altogether the simpler ways of other times, gen- 
 erally speaking, are gone, though it is not easy to 
 admit that the change is, in every instance, an un- 
 mixed good. If, as a class, farmers' wives are to-day 
 better read and more accomplished generally, we have 
 met with certain shrewd ones farmers too, men able 
 
 O
 
 2IO CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 to compare both periods who allege that, whatever 
 be the progress of our time, there are among the 
 farmers' wives of the present day more industrious 
 gossips and busybodies in other people's matters 
 than of yore. To what extent the allegation is well 
 founded we need not inquire, and will merely add 
 that we like to think that any farmers' wives that 
 do give way to the too common weaknesses of 
 excessive gossip and busybodyism, form the excep- 
 tions among a highly respectable and kindly class 
 of persons. 
 
 Some may think that there are other unpromising 
 features associated with the so-called advanced cir- 
 cumstances of the Highland farmers of to-day, so 
 far, that is to say, as some of them are concerned. 
 Many of us have heard, longer ago than we care 
 to think of, that " all work and no play makes Jack 
 a dull boy ; " but if the converse be true, some farm- 
 ers in some Highland parishes of to-day should 
 be the very opposite of dull. With such it is all 
 play and no work, and it is unnecessary to say what 
 epithet the authority already quoted would apply 
 to Jack in such a case. They look upon the farm 
 as an unfailing source of revenue as, come what 
 may, a sure money-making institution and that 
 with the smallest possible personal industry or su-
 
 HOME OF A "BIG FAIRMER." 211 
 
 pervision. And yet most of such people are am- 
 bitious in a certain way. Grand displays at home 
 and from home, aping the ways and habits of big 
 people they have met or even seen, thoughtless 
 expenditure in luxuries in diet and in dress, all 
 these are weaknesses frequently associated with the 
 class of people here alluded to. No other person, of 
 course, has any business with this matter, though 
 any one is free to comment upon it ; and when, 
 along with the features indicated, there is an affec- 
 tation of superiority more commonly met with, it 
 is right to add, in the wives and families of such 
 farmers than in the farmers themselves such peo- 
 ple must not murmur if their peculiarities receive a 
 passing notice. We know, however, Highland farm- 
 ers, good men and true, who, in addition to dili- 
 gently attending to their farms, are mindful of the 
 cultivation of their minds and hearts, and their 
 homes afford clear enough evidence of the cultured 
 as well as practical views the heads of the house 
 take of life and its duties. 
 
 Malcolm Macgregor, the tenant of Burnside farm, 
 as was indicated, leads a busy life. Most farmers 
 have what is called a manager an official, as the 
 name implies, supposed to supervise the farm in- 
 terests generally. Some farmers specially need the
 
 212 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 services of such a person, their own practical know- 
 ledge being limited, or their fondness for work not 
 being great; while others, having more than one 
 farm, or one very large farm, require a manager, 
 though they themselves may possess practical know- 
 ledge, and be fond of making themselves useful in 
 their own interest. Malcolm Macgregor is his own 
 manager, being fond of work and possessing the 
 requisite practical knowledge, while the extent of his 
 farm enables him to undertake its management. 
 This renders Macgregor's life a particularly busy 
 one. He goes " to the hill," confers with each 
 shepherd, gives instructions, and, generally, conducts 
 the intelligence department of the farm. In this 
 respect it is a decided advantage to Magregor, who 
 is a genuine Celt, that he can speak Gaelic, inas- 
 much as, though shepherds and other farm-servants 
 unable to speak Gaelic are becoming numerous in 
 Highland parishes, there are yet some that can 
 better understand instructions conveyed in the 
 Gaelic tongue. 
 
 Notwithstanding his busy professional life, Mr 
 Macgregor finds time to give his services in the 
 management of parochial work. He is a member 
 of the School Board of Stratheden, and being of 
 practical, shrewd business ways, is a useful member
 
 HOME OF A "BIG FAIRMER." 
 
 of the Board. In many Highland parishes those 
 qualified for such offices are not particularly numer- 
 ous, and the " munnistarrs " and the " big fairmers " 
 in most of such cases have the work to do. Some 
 of the latter are pleased with this arrangement 
 proud of it, indeed ; and certain of the clergy even 
 manifest a sort of eagerness for the dignity of office 
 in school and other boards. 
 
 The average "big fairmer" in a Highland parish 
 of to-day is not particularly given to going from 
 home, or even to " calling " in his own neighbour- 
 hood. He travels to markets far and near, of course, 
 goes to look for wintering for his sheep, and several 
 times to see his sheep at wintering ; but he does 
 not often travel for travelling's sake. His calls in 
 the parish are principally to other big farmers, and 
 the usual conversation at such meetings is of sheep 
 and wool, and the like, with an occasional reference 
 to politics so called, to the laird, the rent, the par- 
 son, the preaching, the crofter, and flie weather. It 
 is said some big farmers like very much to speak 
 about the parson in a way savouring of something 
 like envy at " the cloth " for their position, and that 
 such ones are particularly fond of trying to say 
 smart, and even unkind, things about the clergy. 
 Who knows but there may be some such persons ?
 
 214 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 " big fairmers " are not known to be infallible 
 more than any other people. 
 
 Malcolm Macgregor, however, appears to be very 
 respectful to the clergy, attends church with praise- 
 worthy regularity, and, so far as we have seen, mani- 
 fests no tendency either to sneer at or envy the 
 members of the clerical profession. The Rev. 
 George Cameron, parish minister of Stratheden, 
 is Mr Macgregor's pastor. It appears that the 
 reverend gentleman and he were acquainted with 
 each other long before either came to Stratheden, 
 and when his reverence visits at Burnside, they like 
 to repeat reminiscences of other days. They also 
 talk of Church and other politics, and though of 
 one mind on the Church question, it is said that, in 
 the matter of politics so called, they do not always 
 understand each other. The parson, so it is said, 
 is what is called a Liberal-Conservative, and Mac- 
 gregor is known as a pretty pronounced Liberal, 
 which perhaps explains any political misunderstand- 
 ings that may occur. But these two do not often 
 talk of politics, nor, indeed, do politics so called by 
 any means frequently form the subject of conversa- 
 tion between pastor and people in the average High- 
 land parish. 
 
 With all his busy habits, arid notwithstanding
 
 HOME OF A "BIG FAIRMER." 21$ 
 
 that his industrious management of his farm neces- 
 sitates his being much out of doors, Malcolm Mac- 
 gregor is a thoroughly domesticated man, and a 
 kind, and withal judicious, paterfamilias. We said 
 that in the management of his surroundings Mac- 
 gregor pays due regard to the aesthetic. This feature 
 is specially noticeable within his home. There a not 
 inconsiderable degree of refinement prevails. Not 
 to speak of the minor element of elegance in fur- 
 niture, we find Macgregor wisely encouraging the 
 cultivation of the refining art of music ; and more 
 than once have we listened with pleasure to Mal- 
 colm and his little daughter Mary, a bright, clever 
 little lady, some eight years old, and doubly dear 
 to Malcolm in his widowed loneliness singing a 
 plaintive little song or cheering hymn. 
 
 This reference to music leads us to mention that 
 one of the members of Mr Malcolm Macgregor's 
 household is Miss Flora Macleod, governess, an 
 intelligent young lady, and a good musician. Gov- 
 ernesses are not so numerous in Highland parishes 
 as of old. Local schools are at hand, and where 
 these are not considered sufficient, the increased 
 travelling facilities afford easy access to boarding- 
 schools and like institutions both which facts 
 may well enough be understood to tend towards
 
 2l6 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 diminishing the number of governesses. They 
 yet are met with, however ; and in many High- 
 land parishes where what is called " the society " 
 is somewhat limited, a governess is often a valu- 
 able accession to a family, and, indeed, to the 
 neighbourhood generally. We spent an evening 
 lately at Burnside Cottage, and heard Miss Macleod 
 at the piano with much pleasure, while she gave, 
 in fine style, some good old Scottish airs, some 
 plaintive Highland melodies, and stirring pibrochs. 
 Some young ladies, some Highland farmers' daugh- 
 ters among them no one seems to know why 
 affect indifference to Scotch music generally, and 
 Highland music in particular. We cannot help 
 thinking that there must be something radically 
 wrong in the training that would render such a 
 feeble affectation as this possible ; and we would 
 respectfully warn patriotic parents and guardians 
 in Highland parishes, to beware lest their daugh- 
 ters and their charge are kept in ignorance of the 
 bettering strains of " the auld Scotch sangs " and 
 plaintive Highland melodies by means of a false 
 estimate of genuine culture. 
 
 Such is a " big fairmer," and such a " big fair- 
 mer's " home, in a Highland parish of to-day. There 
 is no doubt that for a considerable period, up till
 
 HOME OF A "BIG FAIRMER." 2I/ 
 
 some eight years ago, Highland farmers, in common 
 with their brethren all over the country, enjoyed a 
 large measure of prosperity. The general trade of 
 the country by which, obviously, the prices of 
 cattle, sheep, and farm -produce generally are so 
 much regulated was brisk, foreign competition had 
 not assumed the stupendous proportions it now 
 presents, and the growing facilities for exporting 
 local produce formed another element in giving 
 to the Highland farmer a succession of, what even 
 he himself admitted to be, very good years. The 
 aspect of the farming situation is not, however, at 
 this moment specially encouraging ; and while some 
 of the causes of this, such as the recent unusually 
 severe winters which have occasioned so much 
 outlay for artificial feeding, and, it is to be feared, 
 caused a deterioration in the sheep stock may be 
 expected to be temporary, signs are not wanting 
 that, in the event of trade not markedly improv- 
 ing, and foreign competition even remaining at its 
 present stage of development, the terms of farm 
 occupancy will have to be practically considered 
 by landlord and tenant. It must, of course, be 
 borne in mind, that so long as farms to let are so 
 eagerly sought after, as even yet they seem to be, 
 by persons ready to give the same, if not a higher
 
 2l8 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 rent, landlords cannot reasonably be expected to 
 offer such farms at a reduced rent. The matter, in 
 short, will be self-adjusting. It is very much in the 
 farmers' own hands, and will be regulated by the 
 simplest rules of supply and demand. 
 
 No description of a farmer's surroundings would 
 be complete without some reference to the farm- 
 servants, on whom the general prosperity of a farm 
 so much depends. The changed circumstances of 
 shepherds and ploughmen consist mainly in their 
 being, as compared with those of, say, thirty years 
 ago, better educated and better paid. We have 
 heard, however, a very shrewd " big fairmer " ques- 
 tion the exclusive benefit of the change to servant 
 or master, on the ground that instances of which, 
 he said, he had met with the advance in educa- 
 tion so called originates a sort of restless dis- 
 contentedness and an impracticable ambition, and 
 that the increased wages promote tastes and habits 
 neither helpful to the usefulness of the servant nor 
 favourable to the comfort of his home. Such results, 
 no doubt, may occur ; but it can hardly be doubted 
 that the changes referred to, and especially the 
 progress in education, must in the main tend to- 
 wards the elevating and general improvement of 
 the various classes of farm-servants.
 
 HOME OF A "BIG FAIRMER." 2IQ 
 
 Shepherds, as a class, seem better educated than 
 ploughmen ; and in the matter of speech and be- 
 haviour, a comparison would be decidedly in favour 
 of the former. In the gathering of general informa- 
 tion the shepherd seems more favourably circum- 
 stanced as to opportunity. His life, no doubt, is 
 ordinarily as busy as the ploughman's, and at such 
 seasons as lambing and clipping time, more exhaust- 
 ing, perhaps, than the ploughman makes his work 
 at any time; while the latter knows nothing of 
 an arduous, tedious, and even dangerous, employ- 
 ment the snows of winter sometimes throw in the 
 shepherd's way. And yet the shepherd seems to 
 find more opportunities for self-improvement than 
 the ploughman, and that though the latter often is 
 nearer any library that may chance to exist. While 
 going his daily rounds from his mountain home, the 
 shepherd, if so inclined, may take with him a book 
 or newspaper, and sit, with his flock in view, on 
 heathery knoll or rocky chair, and read amid the 
 undisturbed and thought-begetting solitudes around 
 him. And we have met shepherds in Stratheden, 
 natives of the parish, men of some thirty years of 
 age, who evidently do not neglect their opportunities 
 of gathering information. We know two young shep- 
 herds on the farm of Heathfield, whom we consider
 
 220 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 to be good specimens of the better class of shepherds 
 in a Highland parish of to-day. These are Kenneth 
 Sutherland and Hugh Mackay, both sons of shep- 
 herds that long did duty on the same farm. These 
 young men are sober, intelligent, and even thought- 
 ful ; nor would it be easy to find, among people of 
 far greater pretensions, many so much at home on 
 topics of general interest. Not, perhaps, that they 
 are very strong in politics so called ; but with the 
 history of their country and the traditions of their 
 parish, with the nature and prospects of the national 
 industries, and such matters, they are acquainted to 
 a degree that reflects much credit on their manner 
 of using their opportunities. And in the matter of 
 religious breadth, though it is difficult for them all 
 at once to leap out of the narrow exclusiveness and 
 self-righteous fanaticism encouraged by the local 
 atmosphere in their early days, these young men 
 manifest a hopeful progress. They adhere to the 
 Free Church, for the reason, very probably, that, as 
 a rule, determines the ecclesiastical name of people 
 of any and every Church because their parents 
 attended the said Church ; but their intelligence 
 and growing knowledge of the world are mani- 
 fested, not merely in their not being afraid to 
 fraternise with " Moaderats," as some few of the
 
 HOME OF A "BIG FAIRMEK." 221 
 
 older natives yet seem to be, but in the still greater 
 advance indicated by their giving practical evidence 
 that they do not fear as some silly bigots seem to 
 think that their souls would be placed in jeopardy 
 by their worshipping within the walls of a " Moader- 
 at " kirk. We know another shepherd on the same 
 farm of Heathfield George Mackay to name, and 
 some fifty years of age who is as good a speci- 
 men of the intelligent shepherd as can easily be 
 met with. He is fond of reading, and in his conver- 
 sation generally manifests a shrewdness of observa- 
 tion, and an intelligent discernment, indicating good 
 mental endowments, and a very diligent use of 
 opportunities for exercising them. 
 
 In George Mackay there is traceable a peculiar 
 combination of shyness and reflectiveness, which 
 we have frequently noticed in shepherds to be 
 accounted for, perhaps, on the ground of the soli- 
 tariness of their usual surroundings ; and one can 
 easily imagine how the isolation and silence of their 
 mountain home, with the extent, and often the 
 grandeur, of the prospect it commands, would com- 
 bine to promote, if not shyness, at least a sort of 
 quiet reserve, and something akin to contemplative- 
 ness. We recently heard from a clergyman in a 
 Highland parish an amusing story, illustrative of
 
 222 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 the shyness in question. A shepherd about to get 
 married, called on the reverend gentleman, soliciting 
 his services in getting the nuptial knot tied. He 
 sat for some time with the parson, but said nothing 
 of his errand. He seemed to have something special 
 to say, but, as our informant put it, " he never 
 seemed able to come to the scratch." It was shy- 
 ness, in short, and something more than the ordinary 
 hesitancy some people display in such circumstances. 
 At last he mustered courage so far, and thus ab- 
 ruptly addressed the reverend gentleman : " Please, 
 sir, what's the size of your head, minister ? " It is 
 customary in some districts for the bridegroom to 
 present the officiating clergyman with a hat, and 
 hence the shy shepherd's rather remote way of an- 
 nouncing his errand ! 
 
 We instanced the increase in wages as one of the 
 changes in the circumstances of farm-servants gen- 
 erally, and by way of illustration of this marked 
 change it may be mentioned, that while some forty 
 years ago, and even at a later period, a plough- 
 man's wages exclusive of the usual perquisites 
 of about seven bolls of oatmeal and a few bolls 
 of potatoes yearly, as also a pint of milk daily 
 amounted to 7 in money yearly, the same 
 class of ploughmen to-day, with the same perqui-
 
 HOME OF A "BIG FAIRMEK." 223 
 
 sites, receive, as a rule, 20 per annum in money 
 wages. 
 
 The style of living in dress, diet, and general 
 habits is also considerably changed, and that very 
 much in consequence of the increase in wages. Cor- 
 duroy or moleskin, and the plainest homespun, were 
 reckoned a suitable Sunday garb at the beginning of 
 the period indicated. To-day these stuffs are, by 
 the same class, considered too common for every- 
 day wear even, and the finer tweeds alone meet the 
 ambitious dress -taste of the average ploughman. 
 Watches, now so common, were then exceedingly 
 rare among this class, so much so, that instances 
 were known in which, among half-a-dozen plough- 
 men employed on the same farm, only one possessed 
 the luxury of a watch to tell himself and his fellow- 
 servants of the passing hours. To-day, it may be 
 said, every ploughman has his watch; and herd-boys, 
 not long able to know the language of a watch, con- 
 sider themselves as not rightly equipped unless they 
 sport their watch and albert chain, and it is even 
 said that in some such cases nought but the chain 
 exists ! 
 
 The change in the matter of diet is not so marked, 
 if we except the increase in the use of tea and coffee ; 
 and altogether, it cannot be said that the increase
 
 224 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 in wages has brought about extravagance in diet. 
 Butcher-meat, indeed, is nowadays much more spar- 
 ingly used by farm-servants, and crofters also, than 
 was common some fifty years ago, when the exten- 
 sive outrun afforded more pasture than is to-day 
 available ; and to this, perhaps, combined with the 
 now extensive use of tea and other commodities 
 equally feeble in nutritive power, is owing the fact 
 that the physique of the Highlander is not to-day, 
 generally speaking, so hardy as of old. In certain 
 aspects, however, there is a greater fastidiousness, so 
 to speak, in the matter of diet. We heard an old 
 ploughman say recently that he quite well remem- 
 bers the time some thirty-five years ago when 
 fish -sauce, riot the condiment popularly known 
 as such, but the water in which fish is boiled, 
 was thought a palatable accompaniment to potatoes. 
 To-day such, if offered, would be scornfully refused. 
 Meal, milk, potatoes, fish, butter, and tea, constitute 
 the staple articles of diet to-day. Tea is very gen- 
 erally used ; and when farm-servants' wives as like 
 other wives they will do meet for gossip, they must 
 have tea with their tattle, nor, at times, is the ac- 
 companiment of a liquid more intensely stimulating 
 reckoned out of place at these conventicles. 
 
 Notwithstanding the greater outlay there may be
 
 HOME OF A "BIG FAIRMER." 22 5 
 
 in diet, further explanation is necessary to show why, 
 though farm-servants to-day receive so much higher 
 wages, they are not, as a rule, more independent 
 pecuniarily than in the days of lower wages. The 
 explanation, it will be found, indicates a leaning in 
 the direction of luxuries of various kinds. Plough- 
 men and their wives and children are to-day dressed 
 in a fashion which necessitates a considerable inroad 
 on the increase in the pay. Ploughmen are as 
 proud as other people of seeing their wives well 
 dressed, and both parents see no reason why their 
 bairns should not be as elaborately costumed as 
 other people's bairns. Besides, there are books 
 picture and other books toys, and other modern 
 articles, to be bought, which were comparatively 
 unknown in other days, and this means another 
 demand on the increase in the wages. To-day 
 everything in dress must be new. In days gone 
 by, when the ploughman's bairns needed clothes, 
 old garments of older people were often turned to 
 good account. Not so now to any great extent. 
 The draper's shop is so accessible, and stuffs are 
 so cheap, that there is a long account with the 
 draper, and hence yet another demand on the re- 
 sources of the higher wages. Again, the plough- 
 man's wife or grown-up daughter or son wishes to 
 
 P
 
 226 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 go from home a little distance, and who would be 
 bothered walking even a couple of miles when the 
 railway train is so convenient ? Before the days of 
 the railway a walk of eight or ten miles was little 
 thought of by these people ; but to-day two miles are 
 considered a long way to walk ; and hence and 
 people travel much more frequently to-day one 
 more outlet for the increased wages. These and 
 similar considerations will explain why ploughmen 
 that of old had but 7 per annum, with the usual 
 perquisites, were, as a class, almost, if not altogether, 
 as rich as those having to-day, with the same perquis- 
 ites, 20 per annum of money wages. Some of them 
 do save a little money, and in this way the ambition 
 of some to become crofters is realised the savings 
 being expended in the purchase of stock and other 
 requirements of the croft; but few farm- servants 
 can manage to save enough to support them when 
 no longer able to work. Farm -servants, however, 
 and ploughmen especially, as a rule, do not long 
 survive their working days ; and in those cases 
 in which incapacity for work overtakes an empty 
 purse if there be no grown-up sons able to help 
 parochial relief must be resorted to. 
 
 Of the general character of farm-servants it is not 
 necessary to say much. As a class, they are sober
 
 HOME OF A " BIG FAIRMER." 227 
 
 and commendably industrious ; of their moral char- 
 acter, strictly so called, the same complimentary 
 verdict can hardly be so exclusively given. With- 
 out specifying certain aspects of an attractive moral 
 life in which several of them are unhappily deficient, 
 there is noticeable an unpleasant tendency to an 
 objectionable, if not decidedly impure, style of 
 speech ; and too often the kind of wit considered 
 smartest by people of this class is vulgar, and 
 occasionally strong in impure suggestiveness. This 
 is more generally the case in regard to ploughmen 
 shepherds being, as a rule, superior to plough- 
 men, not only in general intelligence, but likewise 
 in manner, speech, and general behaviour. Mas- 
 ters are more responsible for the moral training of 
 those ploughmen and other farm-servants than cer- 
 tain of these masters seem to realise ; and we have 
 sometimes thought these latter, like some other 
 people, might profitably consider what name is 
 given, in a Book that masters and servants pro- 
 fess to reverence, to not doing good when one 
 "knoweth to do" it. There are, of course, among 
 farm-servants, persons of excellent moral character, 
 who are also intelligent and well-informed ; but 
 there are likewise among them individuals sadly 
 low in the scale of morality and intelligence,
 
 228 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 and the problem of raising such in the former scale 
 is one that perplexes many genuinely interested 
 in their welfare. A large-hearted, manly interest 
 taken by masters in servants would go far to en- 
 courage the latter in well-doing ; and where such 
 interest exists, its good effect is reflected in the 
 general character of the servants. Some masters 
 in Highland parishes, as in other places, seem to 
 take little or no interest in those in their employ- 
 ment, and even speak of them as if they were of 
 a lower order of being. The existence between 
 them of such a gulf as this indicates is not hope- 
 ful, and with regard to such masters, it is difficult 
 to check a feeling of contemptuous scorn when one 
 hears them speaking slightingly of their servants, 
 while doing nothing to promote their moral and 
 social welfare. The dignity that comes of genuine 
 culture is never compromised in the endeavour to 
 improve a fellow-creature ; but while it is gratifying 
 to know that there are not a few masters who mani- 
 fest an intelligent appreciation of their duty to their 
 servants, there are cases in which a feeble affectation 
 of superiority renders a master indifferent, if not 
 blind, to this important duty.
 
 229 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE USUAL VISITORS TO A HIGHLAND PARISH. 
 
 To look at Stratheden, its normal aspect seems one 
 of undisturbed seclusion, so far as visitors are con- 
 cerned. And yet it is visited, and that largely com- 
 pared with thirty years ago, this change, like many 
 others referred to, having been brought about very 
 much by the growing facilities of communication. 
 Besides sportsmen and "great guns" in other fields, 
 there come regularly commercial travellers an ap- 
 parently industrious class of persons and there like- 
 wise visit us tourists, tramps, and tinkers the 
 visits from the two latter fraternities being more 
 frequent than the average resident cares about. 
 Though by no means least, we elect to speak of 
 sportsmen last, for a reason which, while valid in 
 our own eyes, may seem slender enough to priority 
 hunters among sportsmen ; for doubtless even among
 
 230 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 them men wishing to be first will be found. The 
 Twelfth of August is the orthodox date of the sports- 
 man's first outing. Tramps and tinkers arrive long 
 before then; and indeed we ourselves have been hon- 
 oured with a visit from representatives of the two 
 latter communities as early as the first, not of Au- 
 gust merely, but even of January. Tourists, specially 
 so called, and commercial travellers likewise, are 
 earlier arrivals than the worshippers of Saint Grouse 
 and kindred idols. So then, in the matter of order 
 of treatment, we avoid the delicate question of pre- 
 cedence, and for the nonce adopt the rule of " first 
 come, first described." 
 
 Tramps of various sorts come to Stratheden at 
 all seasons and in all weathers, and especially in 
 summer and autumn in perplexingly large num- 
 bers. The mainland districts, of course, are more 
 largely visited by them, certain of the outer islands 
 enjoying a privileged immunity from this species of 
 infliction. The tramp is an almost daily visitor, and 
 often he who calls early in the day is but the pioneer 
 of more to follow, many tramps arranging to come 
 to districts in bands. We happened in a very harm- 
 less way recently to observe to a tramp, in a sort of 
 inquiring manner, that we thought the class of people 
 he belonged to travelled in bands. He denied the
 
 VISITORS TO A HIGHLAND PARISH. 231 
 
 fact in the bold style that the average tramp adopts 
 when displeased ; and, bolder still, he proceeded to 
 remark that he himself had never been in Stratheden 
 before, the fact being that he had visited the parish 
 twice within the preceding six months. The recent 
 commercial depression caused a great increase in the 
 tramp department, or at least it supplied many with 
 an introductory ground of appeal. " Out of work," 
 " trade dull," " got my hand crushed," " got my leg 
 broken," " fell ill," are some of the stock introductory 
 phrases popular among them ; but few, if any, that 
 study their ways believe their statements an incre- 
 dulity warranted by the tramp's very frequent disre- 
 gard of truth. To judge from the number coming, 
 and the frequency of their visits, one would suppose 
 tramps do a flourishing business in Stratheden ; and 
 indeed we are glad to be able to chronicle that 
 Highlanders generally lean in the direction of 
 taking a practical compassion on the wandering 
 homeless poor. Some tramps obviously enough 
 need help, whether they deserve it or not, old 
 broken - down men, and young but old - looking 
 men, with a shattered miserable look painfully sug- 
 gestive of the hard ways of the transgressor. Some 
 are essentially bad-looking fellows, with a cast of face 
 indicating some capacity for roughness and cunning ;
 
 232 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 and though, as a rule, they make no distinctly vio- 
 lent displays, a refusal of help at times discovers 
 some leanings that way. Such as are believed to be 
 deserving are usually helped. There are some of 
 them one can easily pronounce undeserving the 
 saucy, growling grumblers that refuse to take meat 
 instead of money. Individuals of this ungrateful 
 type refuse such food as bread and milk, fish, and 
 meal, apparently thinking no other help than hard 
 cash worth having. The Stratheden crofters and 
 others in the parish rarely would send a tramp away 
 unhelped ; but the tramp's preference for the com- 
 pact coin cannot always be satisfied by the average 
 resident. A refusal of help of money help, that is 
 occasionally gives rise to a ludicrous though un- 
 pleasant scene. The unsatisfied tramp gets angry, 
 and gives vent to his feelings in the offensive slang 
 in which most of the fraternity seem well versed. 
 The refusing party, as happens now and then, is 
 more at home in Gaelic than English, and responds 
 with more or less bitterness in the former language, 
 of which the tramp is ignorant. Of one mind for 
 the moment that is, in being angry with each other 
 they employ different languages, but seem, how- 
 ever, to succeed in rousing each other's anger as well 
 as relieving their own feelings.
 
 VISITORS TO A HIGHLAND PARISH. 233 
 
 Tramps have various ways of finding lodgings for 
 the night. In summer and autumn, ordinarily, this 
 matter is not reckoned problematic by themselves. 
 Most of them then select a grassy bed in some shel- 
 tered spot, and with nought between them and the 
 sky, in this wide berth await the morn. Some will 
 select a cart-shed for a sleeping apartment ; and a 
 Stratheden crofter told us of his having one morning 
 last autumn found a tramp asleep in his cart, and that 
 with a soundness that some accustomed to better or 
 softer beds might envy. Many of these tramps are 
 very much afraid of horses and cattle, and in selecting 
 the sort of wide berth referred to, they are careful to 
 see that these quadrupeds have a field for themselves, 
 careful to give them, in other words, a very " wide 
 berth." A tramp came to us in great distress one 
 evening lately, begging for old clothes. He related 
 a mishap that befell him, and on which he grounded 
 an urgent appeal for clothes. He was, to give his 
 own story, passing through a park belonging to a 
 Stratheden farmer, and a certain quadruped (a per- 
 fectly harmless heifer, we were afterwards told) 
 seemed anxious to interview the tramp, and even 
 make, as the alarmed vagrant believed, a decidedly 
 definite appeal to his feelings. The tramp did 
 not reciprocate the heifer's attentions, and pro-
 
 234 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 ceeded to retire from the field. Gathering speed, 
 though losing coolness, as he fled from the quadru- 
 ped, he reached a wire fence, once over which he 
 would be safe. In leaping the fence, the poor tramp, 
 unnecessarily frightened for he never looked back 
 to see that the heifer gave up the chase, if it ever 
 really began it got entangled somehow in the fence, 
 and a piece of broken wire did serious damage to his 
 clothes. Hence his urgent appeal to us for clothes. 
 When the weather prevents the tramp occupying 
 the large sort of bed alluded to, other lodgings must 
 be got. In Stratheden there are a few houses that 
 afford shelter for a few pence threepence usually 
 per night ; and those that either will not or cannot 
 give even this small sum try to find a bed in some 
 open outhouse or other available corner. 
 
 Adhering to the precedence of early arrival in our 
 description of visitors, after tramps, specially so called, 
 come tinkers, well known in all Highland parishes. 
 Some of these latter come as early as the tramps ; 
 but the important fact is that both come earlier than 
 is ordinarily relished, and certainly oftener than is 
 liked. In Stratheden there are at times no fewer 
 than half-a-dozen tinker camps. It is common 
 enough, on a calm morning, to see smoke rising from 
 three or four tents pitched in sheltered nooks along
 
 VISITORS TO A HIGHLAND PARISH. 235 
 
 the Strath. These tinkers seem to like the sheltered 
 woods of Stratheden. In the best-kept woods even, 
 there will always be some firewood available, which 
 is an important consideration from the tinker point 
 of view; and the running stream in the wood is 
 another advantage when clothes are to be washed, 
 and when the rarer exercise of personal ablution is 
 indulged in. 
 
 The prevailing tinker names are Stewart, Macphee, 
 Macneil, and Macalister. The Stewarts consider 
 themselves the representatives of the older and 
 better type of the tinker tribe, and this contention 
 now and then develops into contentions of a more 
 violent sort. These latter contentions, as a rule, are 
 settled, or rather, for the time, finished, in the pro- 
 nounced and rather disgusting fashion deemed ortho- 
 dox by the fraternity. Not that big fights are com- 
 mon among the tinkers frequenting Stratheden. Of 
 course they have their domestic squabbles, as some 
 other people not ordinarily called tinkers have ; but 
 it is doubtful if these are as bitter, and especially as 
 permanent in their results, as the squabbles of those 
 that consider themselves better than tinkers. 
 
 The Macneils, despite the pride of name displayed 
 by the Stewarts, look down on the latter. The 
 former, undoubtedly, not only have a more civilised
 
 236 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 look about them, but exhibit something like lean- 
 ings towards settled or " housed " ways of livings. 
 The Macneils and Macalisters do no small traffic in 
 horse-dealing ; and some of the Stratheden people, 
 though dubious as to the safety of trafficking with 
 tinkers, accept the risk and buy, or, as is often the 
 case, exchange horses with them. 
 
 The children of the camp, always remarkably 
 numerous, seem almost uncared for, though in not a 
 few cases this is more apparent than real. Although, 
 as among other people, some scenes of more or less 
 frequent occurrence seem to indicate a scantiness of 
 affection for relatives among tinkers, they have their 
 feelings, of course, as the saying is ; and instances of 
 this are met with. Some time ago the son of a tinker, 
 at the time camped in Stratheden, died, and the sad, 
 heart-broken look of his father's face for long after 
 amply proved that, however much despised by 
 many, they are not insensible to the influence of 
 natural affection. Last spring, while taking a walk 
 one evening along a road in Stratheden, we heard 
 in the distance the bagpipes sounding, and, liking 
 the stirring strains, we naturally wished to know 
 whence they issued. Our curiosity was soon set at 
 rest. A little farther on from where we first heard 
 the music there is a quarry, in which at the time
 
 VISITORS TO A HIGHLAND PARISH. 237 
 
 there was a tinker camp and there, a few yards 
 from the camp, to bagpipe-music played by their 
 father, danced two tinker children, brother and 
 sister, player and dancers looking as happy as 
 could be. The scene was suggestive in many ways, 
 but we must not wait to moralise. Often in the cold- 
 est weather tinkers' children run about barefooted, 
 but never seem to feel cold. Poor children ! they 
 thrive wonderfully, and it is almost miraculous that 
 they do so, considering the hardships they have to 
 endure in their too early wanderings. By a strange 
 reversing of the ordinary arrangement, the children 
 of a tinker camp are often the principal providers of 
 the food of the family. The people of Stratheden 
 are well aware how largely the commissariat depart- 
 ment of the camp is intrusted to the tinker begging- 
 children. The older members of the family are not 
 above begging ; but while the tinkers' bairns are 
 commissioned to beg meal, butter, tea, sugar, and 
 milk, the former devote special attention to provid- 
 ing, by begging from " big fairmer" or small crofter, 
 hay, straw, and oats for their horses. 
 
 Tinkers have been known to attend church in 
 Stratheden, but they are not strong in church-going ; 
 and we have often wondered whether their sense of 
 the estimate, ordinarily very low, formed of them
 
 238 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 by outsiders, has anything to do with their very rare 
 frequenting of church. But this suggests a large 
 subject, and we proceed to observe, that though 
 not given to church - going, they affect ecclesiasti- 
 cal designations, and very irreverently, as do some 
 others" not ordinarily called tinkers, introduce these 
 designations into their fights and squabbles gener- 
 ally. Some of them say they are Protestants, while 
 others allege they are Roman Catholics ; and in a 
 rather big fight that took place a few months ago in 
 a parish near Stratheden, where tinker representa- 
 tives of each faith were engaged, they were calling 
 each other by the various ecclesiastical names, 
 with prefixes, and affixes too, of very violent and 
 disgusting import. The same feeling perhaps may 
 be easily enough met with in more refined com- 
 munities but then tinkers have their own way of 
 squabbling; and though refined people, so called, 
 might desire to give like definite and striking ex- 
 pression to the feeling the ecclesiastical feeling, we 
 mean it is well it is not fashionable. 
 
 Their wandering life, while unfavourable to church- 
 going, is particularly injurious in regard to the edu- 
 cation of their children. In fact their children are 
 hardly ever educated and the best way of getting 
 them educated constitutes a somewhat difficult pro-
 
 VISITORS TO A HIGHLAND PARISH. 239 
 
 blem. But though perplexing as it stands, the pro- 
 blem is not unhopefully so, when it is considered 
 that the tinker system shows signs of yielding to 
 the changes of to-day. Some tinkers' sons, encour- 
 aged by the travelling facilities of these days, and 
 not quite ignorant of ambition, are taking to more 
 civilised, settled ways of living ; and this itself, 
 among a people at one time so very exclusive and 
 isolated, is significant as to the future. Then, again, 
 the tin dishes and other articles sold by tinkers can 
 now be so easily had elsewhere, that the tin specialty 
 which long sustained many a camp will gradually 
 cease to have its effect. And there is a reason of 
 quite a different kind for thinking the system is 
 destined to break up. Notwithstanding that occa- 
 sionally a stalwart frame is seen among them, on 
 many may be seen an ominous enough look of 
 physical feebleness. Frequent exposure to wet and 
 cold, scanty clothing and little food, in addition to 
 intemperate habits, have made deterioration evident 
 enough in not a few cases a fact which encourages 
 the belief that the distinctiveness of the fraternity 
 will gradually be modified, and probably, in the not 
 very distant future, altogether cease to hold. To 
 render this more probable, it need only be added 
 that within recent years some tinkers, previously
 
 240 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 known in Stratheden in their wandering ways, have 
 taken to a stationary mode of life, and now occupy 
 settled homes. 
 
 Adhering to our rule as to priority of treatment, 
 commercial travellers would now be referred to. 
 They, however, have been spoken of in the chapter 
 on " Shopkeeping," and other than what is there 
 indicated, there is' no feature of special interest in 
 the commercial traveller's relation to the average 
 Highland parish. 
 
 Next in order of treatment come tourists. They 
 are far behind tramps and tinkers as to date of 
 arrival, that is to say. Tourists pass and repass 
 in increasing numbers from the beginning of July 
 until the end of September. Many of them wait 
 to luxuriate amid the stillness and the grand 
 scenery of Stratheden. Though there is not much, 
 if any, of what is popularly known as the " lion " 
 element to be seen in Stratheden, there are shaggy 
 mountain-brows and bold faces of gigantic rocks ; 
 and though no grand triumphs of architectural 
 skill are visible, who knows but the chronicler of 
 the future may have something great to say of 
 Stratheden in this respect a future, too, not far 
 distant ? There is as wide a gulf between some of 
 the cottages of to-day and the huts of fifty years
 
 VISITORS TO A HIGHLAND PARISH. 24! 
 
 ago, as there is between the former and certain 
 structures daily visited as triumphs of architecture. 
 But there are at this moment in Stratheden curiosi- 
 ties of architecture, models, in their way, of design 
 and build. There are one or two specimens of huts, 
 of a kind common fifty years ago, yet lingering, and 
 perhaps the like of them may never have been seen 
 by some that travel far in quest of " lions." Not that 
 they are squalid: the average Highland parish stands 
 tolerably high in the matter of cleanliness, whatever 
 may be said of the godliness to which it is said 
 cleanliness is so nearly allied. Nor are these huts 
 devoid of comfort of a kind ; and indeed, so far as 
 dryness and warmth are concerned, they are superior 
 to some more elaborate structures. The fabrics we 
 allude to are peculiar for their sunk-flat appearance, 
 their scanty light and defective ventilation, and the 
 very rare contrivances for securing both. This sort of 
 building, already sunken in its look, will soon utterly 
 sink out of view ; but by those among visitors to 
 Highland parishes who wish to study the history of 
 an interesting people and country, such buildings 
 will be thought at least worth looking at. To 
 certain tourists they ought to possess a fond inter- 
 est. Many that first saw the light in such a home 
 are to-day occupying influential and lucrative situa- 
 
 Q
 
 242 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 tions in various parts of the country. Some of these 
 make a point of occasionally visiting the scene of 
 early days ; and all such, except those afflicted with 
 a contemptible emptiness of head and heart, will 
 give a fond lingering look at "the auld hoose," if 
 it yet endures ; and should their dear auld hoose 
 have yielded to the removing influence of time, 
 there is a sort of satisfying of the commendable 
 feeling alluded to in even looking at any similar 
 humble habitation yet "to the fore." 
 
 As was to be expected, the new means of loco- 
 motion have increased the number of tourists, 
 and there has been much commendable enter- 
 prise displayed to meet the increasing strain on 
 the means of communication between southern 
 districts and the Northern Highlands generally. 
 The Highland Railway Company, and the owners 
 of the excellent and admirably managed fleet of 
 steam-ships known in the West Highlands as "the 
 Hutchesons' " steamers the Messrs Hutcheson 
 have a very worthy successor in Mr Macbrayne 
 have so efficiently contributed their respective shares 
 to the establishing of rapid and easy communication, 
 that to-day the proverbial distance " from Land's 
 End to John o' Groat's" may be travelled in little 
 over twenty-four hours ; and Oban, Skye, Strath-
 
 VISITORS TO A HIGHLAND PARISH. 243 
 
 peffer, and other places deservedly famous for 
 health-giving qualities and richly varied scenery, 
 are brought within easy access. Oban, so much 
 nearer the south now that the Oban and Callander 
 Railway is open, forms an excellent centre for plea- 
 sant and interesting excursions by sea and land, and 
 is also valued by many as a bathing-place ; while 
 for such as are neither on excursions nor on bath- 
 ing bent, Oban is an attractive place to linger in 
 for a week or two. Skye, so long and so deservedly 
 enjoying an established reputation among tourists 
 in quest of scenery and health, continues to grow 
 in favour, because the travelling facilities are bring- 
 ing it within more convenient reach and making it 
 better known ; and enterprising endeavours are be- 
 ing made to meet the growing demand for hotel 
 accommodation in this beautiful " isle of the west." 
 There is, of course, very considerable variety in 
 the tourist element. It is not, however, necessary 
 to detail this variety, as it is not a feature peculiar 
 to tourists visiting Highland parishes. Suffice it to 
 say, there come big and little men, literally and figur- 
 atively ; and it is amusing enough to notice those 
 tourists whose conscious looks and general air sug- 
 gest that they feel very big on the strength of the 
 mere fact of being tourists. There was a time when
 
 244 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 more than now this vain conceit was satisfied. This 
 was when tourists were rare, and the average High- 
 lander's views of the world generally somewhat 
 narrow and hazy flash, glitter, and tall talk having 
 then a tendency to command the wonderment of 
 the poorer Highlanders in their humble obscurity. 
 And yet the conscious ones continue to come, 
 and probably will do so, although the vision and 
 discriminating powers of the average Highlander 
 are becoming daily enlarged. But, of course, 
 tourists with the conscious leaning are but a pro- 
 portion a small proportion, let it be gratefully 
 noted of the many annually flocking to the High- 
 lands. Family groups, solitary bachelors and 
 groups of bachelors, elderly maiden ladies singly 
 and in groups, generally speaking, make up the 
 usual tourists ; and there are city merchants, law- 
 yers, clergymen, medical men, landed proprietors, 
 and persons of no occupation, among the number. 
 The city pastor, exhausted with sermon - making, 
 and especially with visiting his flock and attending 
 to the other usual and ordinary duties, comes to 
 get up renewed vigour of mind and body. Some- 
 times a conscious parson may be seen strutting 
 along in a very large way ; but it is only just to 
 " the cloth " to say such parsons are rare which is
 
 VISITORS TO A HIGHLAND PARISH. 245 
 
 a special cause of thankfulness. Tradesmen, clerks, 
 salesmen, and suchlike, form no small proportion 
 of the tourist family. So far as some of this latter 
 section are concerned, one likes to think that 
 the praiseworthy ambition of visiting places of 
 interest, historical and otherwise, encourages the 
 prudent economy necessary to enable them to do 
 some " touristing " more especially as many of them 
 have a tired look, which, however, fresh air and dis- 
 tance from the desk and the often dingy office, 
 soon scare. Others look not tired, but tiresome 
 very, very big individuals, elaborately done up, 
 and affecting the later development of the " swell " 
 idea. 
 
 Special reference must be made to a remarkable 
 specimen of the tourist fraternity quite within the 
 range of our subject, we mean the native High- 
 lander who has been some years away, and who, 
 coming in tourist fashion to revisit the old place, 
 affects ignorance of all matters Highland lan- 
 guage, customs, opinions, and suchlike evidently 
 with the view to his being thought superior to 
 what he, in his empty way, calls these far -back, 
 poor, superstitious Highlanders. This sort of per- 
 sonage will be thought more contemptible when 
 it is borne in mind that his wish is to conceal the
 
 246 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 fact that he spent no small portion of his early 
 life in one of those " dreadfully black and little 
 huts " he talks about so disparagingly and feebly. 
 But there are other " Highland laddies " of a 
 wiser, manlier sort. These, in early life, go to 
 push their fortune in one or other of the southern 
 towns, and succeed, Highlanders have a way of 
 succeeding, and it is a settled resolve with them 
 that their native parish be revisited periodically ; 
 and if those that made the " old home " dear are 
 gone, there is a saddened satisfaction in revisiting 
 the very heather, and the rocks, and the bonnie 
 burn " clear winding still," near which stood the 
 home of early days. Those we speak of have not 
 forgot their Gaelic, as some ones of the weaker sort 
 affect to do ; and, impressed with memories of days 
 of yore, they like to speak it with such as may hap- 
 pen to know it while the latter speak to them of 
 the old people and ways, alluding, half sorrowfully 
 it may be, to the changed aspect of to-day. 
 
 In addition to the benefits gained by tourists 
 themselves in their Highland rambles, certain of 
 the natives and others are benefited by the tourist 
 system in respect of the circulation of money thus 
 caused. Where no " boots " forms one of the ap- 
 pliances and means of the Highland inn, and where,
 
 VISITORS TO A HIGHLAND PARISH. 247 
 
 should such exist, the pressure of the busy season 
 renders " boots " unable to run to the occasion, 
 some boys and grown-up lads in Highland par- 
 ishes make rather a good thing of it during the 
 season by carrying luggage and going messages 
 for tourists. Then some tourists go a-fishing, and 
 this means employment for such as we refer to. 
 And again, some tourist of antiquarian or geologic 
 leaning goes for a ramble among the rocks in the 
 hope of a precious " find," and he must needs take 
 one of the village boys to carry the collection ; and 
 hence to such boy a find much more fondly 
 prized by him than the treasure intrusted to him 
 by his temporary employer. Some of our readers 
 may have read or heard of an incident recorded 
 as having taken place in the Highlands, and which 
 shows how a tourist of this latter description was 
 pretty decidedly done by a man whom he employed 
 in the capacity indicated. To the best of our re- 
 collection the main circumstances are these : The 
 tourist, an enthusiastic student of lithology, left a 
 Highland inn one summer morning to search for 
 precious stones near a rocky hill some fourteen 
 miles away. He was accompanied by a native 
 Highlander a calculating, cute sort of man ; but 
 so far as the metals prized by his employer were
 
 248 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 concerned, stone-blind. In the course of the day 
 various stones of the precious sort were gathered, 
 which were deposited in a strong canvas or leather 
 bag carried by the hired man. In the evening 
 the two parted, the tourist giving specific instruc- 
 tions to his attendant to take the stones to the 
 inn. Feeling the precious metals rather a burden, 
 the Highlander adopted the very simple expedient 
 of throwing all the stones away, thinking it fool- 
 ish indeed to carry a burden of stones fourteen 
 miles, when there were so many stones quite as good 
 just beside the inn ! Arrived at the inn with 
 the empty bag, he filled it to the original appar- 
 ent bulk with very, very common stones, not cer- 
 tainly classified among precious stones, which 
 treasure he ordered to be given to the enthusiastic 
 student of lithology on his return ! 
 
 In pursuance of our order of treatment as deter- 
 mined by date of arrival, we now proceed to say a 
 few words of sportsmen. To some sportsmen the 
 very difficulty of travelling to and in the Highlands 
 long ago used to be an additional attraction in respect 
 of that difficulty satisfying adventurous leanings ; 
 but notwithstanding this, the number of sports- 
 men coming to the Highlands is larger since the 
 travelling facilities have been increased. There
 
 VISITORS TO A HIGHLAND PARISH. 249 
 
 are several shooting-boxes in Stratheden the dis- 
 trict being not a little famous for its attractiveness 
 in this respect. Since the railway was extended 
 to the district, one or two pretty-looking shooting- 
 lodges have gone up in the parish ; and early in 
 August the ordinarily quiet railway station of 
 Stratheden for a few days presents a thronged and 
 bustling aspect. As in other places, there is no 
 small variety of rank and intellect discernible in 
 this annual accession to the population. Includ- 
 ing the lessees of the shootings and their guests, 
 there are earls and lords not a few, esquires too 
 numerous to mention, and parsons chiefly from 
 south of the Tweed in wellnigh amazing abun- 
 dance. 
 
 Many of the natives view with special horror 
 the fact of " munnistarrs going to the hull to be 
 shooting and running aifter the birds." Some such 
 natives, aiming at being sarcastic, may now and 
 then be heard saying " Graysheous me ! what 
 would the godly people before say if they would 
 be seeing munnistarrs running like mat people 
 with fire and powter? I wonder whatna place 
 in the Bible tells them to be shooting and work 
 like that ? They're saying they will be going on 
 their knees in the hull for birds and the like o'
 
 250 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 that. Am afraid it's no on their knees where they 
 should be they'll be." Nor is it the uneducated 
 alone that make comments of this sort. A Free 
 Church clergyman not sixty miles from Stratheden, 
 and seemingly not disposed to think kindly of the 
 sportsman institution generally, a short time ago, 
 in referring to sportsmen, ended some strong re- 
 marks with the following silly, but, as he believed, 
 triumphant sarcasm : " I wonder how many game- 
 keepers Moses had ? " We trust it is not beyond 
 our province to express the hope that this game 
 problem, started by the divine referred to, will not 
 be thought of sufficient importance to engage the 
 attention of the competent Church judicatories, 
 already amply agitated anent themes where Moses 
 is concerned. 
 
 Besides the class of persons indicated, tea-planters 
 from India and China, prosperous city merchants 
 from Glasgow, Edinburgh, and London, bankers of 
 various stamps, retired grocers from all quarters, 
 and not a few cultured disciples of the pen and 
 the pencil, may be found among the many sports- 
 men annually visiting the Highlands. It is un- 
 necessary to say much anent the variety of intel- 
 lect observable. As among other people, there are 
 among them men of mind, and men very scantily
 
 VISITORS TO A HIGHLAND PARISH. 25 1 
 
 endowed with brains ; persons of mediocrity, and 
 some a degree higher than the ordinary level ; and 
 as is true of tourists, there are " conscious " ones 
 among sportsmen also, these latter being very big 
 persons. Ordinarily, however, the repose of culture 
 is to be seen among sportsmen, though stupidity, 
 and even vulgarity, have each representatives among 
 them. 
 
 In inquiring what influence the annual accession 
 of sportsmen has on the average Highland parish, 
 there is no doubt that the most prominent, and 
 certainly the most definite result, is the circulation 
 of money thus caused ; and so far, at least, they do 
 good to others. The average native resident had 
 long been in the habit of reckoning sportsmen ver- 
 itable "mints," visitors with unlimited ability, and 
 a constant readiness, to give away money. This 
 delusion may now be almost pronounced extinct ; 
 and it is much the same with the feeling of some- 
 thing like awe with which sportsmen used to be 
 viewed by the average native of long ago, as being 
 in every case not only extraordinarily rich, but great 
 and powerful, and everything that was impressive. 
 Of course, the rich, and the great too, are to-day 
 among sportsmen as of old, and so also are the good 
 and the true ; but the penny paper and cheap litera-
 
 252 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 ture generally, and the widening view encouraged by 
 this and the travelling facilities of to-day, are com- 
 bining to invest the local estimate of sportsmen 
 with a more sensible, discerning, and, consequently, 
 a more independent character. Nor, so far as some 
 sportsmen are concerned, would their estimate of 
 the natives be the worse of modification. Some 
 of the less thoughtful and cultured of sportsmen 
 are too prone to be influenced by the " inferior 
 clay" idea, and to discard certain harmless local 
 prejudices, in such matters, for instance, as Sun- 
 day observance. We know well enough, and, we 
 think, have shown in another chapter, that the 
 Highland estimate of what right Sunday observance 
 is has often been and is, to this day, in some 
 cases very unsound and even superstitious ; but 
 those among sportsmen and others who know that 
 all healthy development requires time, and who 
 understand that toleration is a mutual duty, will 
 studiously avoid giving needless offence. Many 
 sportsmen wisely do so, we gladly chronicle, giv- 
 ing practical evidence of their belief that Christian 
 charity forbids giving countenance to aught that 
 unnecessarily hurts the harmless prejudices of even 
 the sensitively weak. And besides this, of many 
 sportsmen it must be recorded to their credit, that
 
 VISITORS TO A HIGHLAND PARISH. 253 
 
 they give ample evidence, by kindly interest and 
 deeds of active benevolence, that they are wishful to 
 render their stay in the Highlands not merely a 
 source of satisfaction to themselves, but likewise a 
 source of profit and happiness to others. 
 
 Speaking of sportsmen, it is right that reference 
 be made to gamekeepers and gillies. Shepherds 
 and ploughmen are in the habit of saying that 
 gamekeepers have grand times of it, by which is 
 meant that the latter have little to do, and that, by 
 regular wages and the gratuities of the shooting 
 season, their pecuniary advantages are great. No 
 doubt, except for some weeks from and after " the 
 Twelfth," the duties of the gamekeeper are not too 
 arduous. He is very much his own master ; nor is 
 this privilege seriously interfered with, even where 
 there is a head-gamekeeper understood to supervise 
 two or three subordinates. He must, of course, 
 take occasional runs over the "ground " to see what 
 is doing ; and he is in duty bound to beware lest 
 aspiring ones, ambitious after even temporary game- 
 keepership on poaching bent, in other words are 
 on the scent for game, which extent of work, how- 
 ever, does not mean much in the nature of arduous 
 toil. But the gamekeeper's duties from and after 
 " the Twelfth," until, say, early in October, are, as
 
 254 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 a rule, heavy enough. Early astir, a long journey, 
 hard and constant work, and long hours, and this 
 repeated day after day, is no joke. Generally speak- 
 ing, however, the sportsman is very mindful of the 
 gamekeeper's requirements in the busy season ; and 
 in the matter of food and drink, liberal provision is 
 made for gamekeepers and gillies. These officials, 
 gamekeepers especially, acquire a sort of smartness 
 of manner, and particularly, as they themselves 
 think, of speech, by associating with sportsmen ; and 
 it is very amusing to hear some of them affect a 
 sort of " tall," grand talk the amusement being 
 intensified by the occasional natural spicing of the 
 Highland accent with which it is interspersed. 
 Some gamekeepers are essentially pawky, and, 
 though appearing very unassuming and receptive 
 while in the hill with sportsmen, are known to be 
 carefully studying the individual characters, as also, 
 with apparent humility and guilelessness, humouring 
 the peculiarities of the several sportsmen, and es- 
 pecially feeding the vanity of the vain among them. 
 In the case of such sportsmen as are quick to hear 
 of local matters, it is doubtful whether, in accepting 
 the gamekeeper's version, the former always exercise 
 a prudent discretion by making allowance for local 
 prejudices and envyings. It is pretty well known
 
 VISITORS TO A HIGHLAND PARISH. 255 
 
 that, in local ecclesiastical matters especially, some 
 sportsmen are often materially deceived by the one- 
 sided narrative of a bigoted gamekeeper. To know 
 aright, sportsmen must either inquire of ones less 
 likely to be narrowly prejudiced, or, better still, 
 wait to be able to judge for themselves. 
 
 Besides gamekeepers and gillies, many natives get 
 work during the shooting season so that in this way, 
 to others than themselves, the coming of sportsmen 
 brings at least one tangible benefit ; but as to the 
 measure of affection those thus employed cherish 
 for their employers, and as to the other and larger 
 question of the sentiments with which the average 
 native views sportsmen, we need not here inquire. 
 We cannot help, however, expressing the hope that, 
 whatever extension of the sportsman system may be 
 contemplated, a wise, generous regard will be paid 
 to the welfare of farmers and crofters both which 
 classes, we maintain, with every reasonable appreci- 
 ation of the benefits conferred by sportsmen, con- 
 tribute so much to the strength and prosperity of 
 the country.
 
 256 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 BIG DAYS IN A HIGHLAND PARISH. 
 
 THE " big " days in the average Highland parish are 
 not numerous. Monotonous sameness has almost 
 universal sway, and such days as show any features 
 different from the ordinary round maybe briefly told. 
 Fairs will naturally occur to many as likely to hold 
 a high place among such " big " days as may exist. 
 The fair or the " markatt," as some of the older 
 natives call it was for a long time a great institu- 
 tion in the Highlands. In most Highland parishes, 
 indeed, up till within the last fifteen years or so, it 
 was the only big day, or series of days, for the " mar- 
 katt" often extended over two, and even three, days. 
 Of course, the Communion season was then, as it yet 
 is, looked upon by very many as a great event, not 
 chiefly because of the grander thoughts it is calcu- 
 lated to suggest, but as a time for meeting relatives
 
 BIG DAYS IN A HIGHLAND PARISH. 257 
 
 and acquaintance, for purposes of getting news and 
 exchanging gossip, which latter was often unprofit- 
 able enough. No doubt there were many then 
 more, perhaps, than to-day who looked forward to 
 the Communion season under the inspiration of feel- 
 ings appropriate to the event ; but of the other sort 
 there were, and are, many, as all that know the 
 Highlands are aware. 
 
 The " markatt," however, was the big day properly 
 so called. It suggested no idea of restraint, no 
 necessity for assumed gravity of demeanour, and 
 was therefore more generally and eagerly looked 
 forward to as a big day. There were, of course, as is 
 yet the case, only a few parishes that could claim the 
 dignity of having a market " stance," and to which 
 the people flocked from the surrounding districts. 
 One locality was the market-place for some six or 
 seven parishes, and, generally speaking, the "mar- 
 katt" took place twice a -year. It usually began 
 on a Tuesday, and often extended over three days. 
 The first day was the principal business-day, 
 the day on which the buying and selling of cattle 
 and horses took place. The Wednesday turn- 
 out partook greatly of the character of variety. 
 Lads and lasses were out in strong force, and, just 
 as to-day, there was no small flirtation in some 
 
 R
 
 258 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 cases very demonstrative. The Wednesday of the 
 market was a general holiday, and shepherds, 
 ploughmen, and others, with their wives and fam- 
 ilies, strolled along the young people looking with 
 special interest at the " sweetie "-vendor's spread, 
 the temporary toy-shop, the merry-go-round, and a 
 few other attractions. Towards evening some in 
 the crowd displayed leanings in the direction of 
 boisterousness, as the result of too frequent visits to 
 the " tent " or extemporised dram-shop ; and later 
 'on, some of the boisterous ones might be found 
 figuring prominently at something of the nature of 
 a free fight, at which wild and often disgusting ex- 
 clamations largely prevailed. 
 
 The " markatt " of to-day, in many respects, is 
 much the same as it was at the period referred to. 
 There are changes, however. The market is not 
 to-day so prolonged an event, so far especially as 
 districts having railway communication are con- 
 cerned ; and this is well, because those that re- 
 mained longest were ones, as a rule, under the spell 
 of a decidedly injurious attraction strong drink. 
 Not that they were perhaps drunkards, but in meet- 
 ing friends, or closing a bargain, they got into tasting, 
 and unfortunately tasting too much. The railway 
 in this respect has been, and is, a temperance re-
 
 BIG DAYS IN A HIGHLAND PARISH. 259 
 
 former. The people may leave home in the morning 
 for the market, buy and sell, see friends and ac- 
 quaintance, visit the " sweetie " stall, hear the stroll- 
 ing violin-player, and return home by train the same 
 day. Again, the attendance at the market of to-day 
 is not quite so large as of old. The travelling faci- 
 lities of the present time explain this. When tra- 
 velling was difficult, and especially when trains and 
 steamers were comparatively unknown, the people 
 looked on the market as a time to meet to trans- 
 act the greater part of the business of the year. 
 Now it is different. The train is so convenient that 
 people can go from home at any time. Then where 
 no train is, the steamer, and where neither is acces- 
 sible, the mail-coach, facilitates going from home at 
 any time, and altogether the " markatt " gathering 
 has become a secondary event 
 
 We remember one or two big days of some twenty 
 years ago, and even later, that are now swamped in 
 the changes of to-day. There was the examination 
 of the parish school by the Church dignitaries of 
 the district, and which took place once a-year. The 
 examination, which was conducted by the parish 
 minister and one or two of the neighbouring clergy, 
 was long and eagerly, if not anxiously, looked for- 
 ward to by the scholars. Parents came out in con-
 
 260 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 siderable force in those days to witness the event ; 
 and, as with the pupils themselves, on the examin- 
 ation-day some parents were proud and some dis- 
 appointed, and, doubtless, a few envious. Under 
 the new system the examination or inspection day 
 is not, to outsiders at least, so great an event. To 
 the teacher, no doubt, it is quite as important a 
 day perhaps, indeed, in some cases more so as 
 her Majesty's Inspector of Schools does not neces- 
 sarily accept the indulgent estimate of the school's 
 appearance which some of the clergy may have 
 been wont to take. Be this as it may, in the aver- 
 age Highland parish the examination by the in- 
 spector does not seem to be attended by nearly 
 so many parents and others as used to be present 
 on the examination-day under the old system. We 
 wish to take this opportunity of testifying to the 
 very general satisfaction which the school inspectors 
 visiting the Northern Highlands afford in these 
 districts. They are all gentlemen of ability and 
 culture, and undoubted integrity; and the fact of 
 their being Highlanders, and so knowing the ways, 
 and what yet is, to some extent, the language of 
 the Highlander, constitutes an additional element 
 of efficiency in this highly important department 
 of our educational arrangements.
 
 BIG DAYS IN A HIGHLAND PARISH. 261 
 
 We remember another big day of some twenty 
 years ago, not now so big, to all appearance 
 the great parish shinty- match which took place 
 on Old Christmas Day or Old New-Year's Day. 
 It may have been confined to certain districts ; 
 but, even where we knew it then as very popu- 
 lar and largely honoured, it seems to-day to have 
 very much faded as an annual institution. Of 
 course, shinty is popular among boys in every 
 Highland parish; but the day alluded to was a 
 big day to which old boys as well as young looked 
 forward, and on which many spectators turned 
 out to witness the trial of strategy and speed. 
 Shinty competitions on a somewhat large scale yet 
 take place in some Highland parishes ; but what- 
 ever be the cause whether it is that the accession 
 of strangers has introduced newer fashions, or that 
 volunteer shooting-competitions may in some cases 
 have swamped the shinty-matches these latter do 
 not to-day seem to be so general or so popular as 
 at the time specified. 
 
 The comparatively modern institution of volun- 
 teering gives rise to one or two big days in some 
 parishes. A volunteer corps now flourishes in many 
 Highland parishes, and, as a rule, a fine-looking set 
 of volunteers these parishes command. We have a
 
 262 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 corps in Stratheden, over fourscore strong generally 
 speaking, a stalwart, handsome set of men ; and who 
 will blame the Stratheden people if they speak with 
 pride of the creditable appearance the Stratheden 
 Volunteer Corps usually makes at the annual in- 
 spection by the captain a young nobleman in the 
 neighbourhood, deservedly esteemed by the Strath- 
 eden volunteers and at the big review that yearly 
 takes place in the district ? The Stratheden volun- 
 teers have big days such as the captain's inspec- 
 tion, friendly matches between married and single 
 men, Christmas competitions, and the like, all, 
 comparatively speaking, modern big days in the 
 Highlands. 
 
 We had another big day, or rather big night, in 
 Stratheden lately very big, indeed, because the first 
 of the kind in the parish. It was a concert got up 
 by local talent, and the singers at which were al- 
 most all natives. Some enthusiastic Celts, naturally 
 enough, missed the Gaelic element from the songs ; 
 and, though the singing of Gaelic songs is becom- 
 ing very rare, it is said the programme of the next 
 concert will contain one Gaelic song at least. 
 
 Another big day in Stratheden is the railway 
 excursion day " La'n Scurshan," as some of the 
 older people call the cheap-fare day in the Gaelic
 
 BIG DAYS IN A HIGHLAND PARISH. 263 
 
 tongue. This, of course, is comparatively modern, 
 and is largely patronised, being a day to which 
 many in the parish look forward long and eagerly. 
 Some go as far as Glasgow or Edinburgh, but 
 the great majority content themselves with visiting 
 friends some ten miles, or thereabouts, distant. 
 
 Another big day seems to be it is an ecclesias- 
 tical day the day of signing the " call " to a clergy- 
 man selected to fill a vacant charge. It has already 
 been noticed that the great majority of the native 
 residents in Highland parishes adhere to the Free 
 Church, and hence it is to this Church our remarks 
 in this instance refer. We have seen on such a day 
 the neighbourhood where the event of signing the 
 call was taking place very largely peopled, giving 
 the day a very big appearance indeed. Lessons of 
 the fickleness of crowds, however, may be gathered 
 from contrasting this apparent enthusiasm with 
 events that take place afterwards in the relations 
 between these eager-looking " calling " ones, and 
 their, for the nonce at least, popular, very popular 
 pastor. We remember, some half-dozen years ago, 
 seeing a very large crowd assembled in a High- 
 land parish for the purpose of signing the call to 
 a clergyman who, when candidating, made a very 
 great impression. A year passed, and another year
 
 264 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 went with it, but by this time more than time was 
 vanishing. The preacher's popularity was fading ; 
 and whoever was to blame we suspect the fickle- 
 ness of the multitude had more to do with it than 
 any collapse in the preacher's powers by the time 
 three years had passed we believe there would be a 
 not inconsiderable number of the original and en- 
 thusiastic crowd quite prepared to turn out to call 
 upon their pastor to vacate his charge. We need 
 not wait to make reflections on the cooling of the 
 enthusiasm of the big day of a call-signing. We 
 cannot help remarking, however, that it would be 
 unwise, in every case, to put it down to any want 
 of sincerity at the time of signing, for Highlanders 
 are just as sincere, as honest, as any other people. 
 The fact, however, of their being easily led, and 
 especially so in matters ecclesiastical, may partly 
 explain such a phenomenon as we refer to. 
 
 Another big day is the crofters' rent-day on 
 which, usually, no small excitement is observable. 
 As a rule, there is a praiseworthy ambition to be 
 prepared for this day ; and as the crofters pass home- 
 wards after paying their rents, there is, in many 
 cases, discernible the commendable consciousness of 
 duty done. In no district that we know of is the 
 crofter's rent high, and it should be, generally
 
 BIG DAYS IN A HIGHLAND PARISH. 265 
 
 speaking, an easy matter to meet the require- 
 ments of this big day. 
 
 Such are the principal " big " days in the average 
 Highland parish of to-day. 
 
 In some central districts with special privileges, 
 games, such as tossing the caber, dancing, and such- 
 like, take place at stated seasons ; but those other 
 events we have referred to include the big days 
 generally known in the Highlands of to-day.
 
 266 
 
 CHAPTER XII.. 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 WE have endeavoured to describe the general 
 features of the average Highland parish of our 
 own times. There are a few peculiarities long 
 associated with the Highlands such as witchcraft, 
 second-sight, and certain other superstitious beliefs 
 to which some may think a distinct chapter should 
 have been allotted. Such beliefs, however, are all 
 but vanished, being very much scared by railways, 
 newspapers, and schools, not to speak of the in- 
 fluence of the pulpit, though this latter has not 
 always been so helpful as might be wished. As, 
 however, such beliefs widely prevailed until within 
 a recent period, and as isolated traces of them may 
 yet exist, a few general remarks on the subject 
 may suitably occupy a part of this concluding 
 chapter. 
 
 Reputed witches and uncanny ones of that ilk,
 
 CONCLUSION. 267 
 
 that "took away" the milk, as was alleged, from 
 cows, and that dealt in other mischievous practices, 
 were by no means rare in the Highlands about 
 twenty years ago. We remember some score years 
 ago having seen a representative of the hated sister- 
 hood. She was old, and had a wrinkled and some- 
 what sable face, all which features, of course, are 
 ordinarily considered requisites in a witch. She 
 invariably carried about with her a small tin pail, 
 and it was in this pail the appliances for her 
 alleged diabolical artifices were believed to reside. 
 She was peculiar among witches because of the pail. 
 Other witches went about without a pail, and were 
 not supposed to be engaged in evil-doing beyond 
 the pale of their homes, whereas the pail witch was 
 believed to be capable of doing injury anywhere 
 with the pail. Schoolboys half trembled at the 
 sight of her when she came from her home in the 
 hills to the little village ; and certain owners of 
 cattle no sooner saw her than they deputed a 
 special messenger to go to look after the cows, 
 lest by her odious charms, as was alleged, she might 
 " take away," or take the virtue from, the milk. In 
 such houses as she honoured with a visit it was 
 thought prudent to be kind to her ; for so thought 
 those that made her peace-offerings who knew what
 
 268 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 she might do to man or beast, or both ? She and 
 her pail have disappeared some dozen years ago, 
 and though she had several rival witches in her 
 day in her neighbourhood, it will to-day be difficult 
 in the same district to find even one successor. 
 
 We also remember having frequently seen in a 
 Highland parish some twenty years ago an old 
 man, one of several believed in the district to pos- 
 sess second-sight. He said that he " saw " funerals 
 weeks before the event ; and it was alleged that 
 at church, and other gatherings, he at times "saw " 
 on some one or other a shroud ! a sure sign that 
 the person was soon to die, the nearness of the 
 event being in proportion to the extent of the 
 body covered by the shroud. If to the waist, a 
 month or two might elapse, but if to the neck, 
 a few days only, while if reaching the head, an early 
 sudden death might be expected. Others again, not 
 however persons credited with second-sight, alleged 
 that they saw and heard premonitions of death, 
 such as hearing noises and seeing lights in a joiner's 
 shop when it was known the workmen were away 
 these sounds and lights being taken as a proof that 
 a coffin would very soon be made in the joiner's 
 workshop. Some years ago we heard a somewhat 
 intelligent shopkeeper in a Highland parish gravely
 
 CONCLUSION. 269 
 
 saying that one afternoon in his shop he saw a 
 bundle of white cotton moving voluntarily on a 
 shelf and unfold itself along the floor ! which auto- 
 matic exercise he explained by saying that part of 
 the cotton was soon after used as a shroud. 
 
 A remarkably tenacious superstition is the belief 
 in "the seventh son" being able to cure scrof- 
 ula. We knew some dozen years ago two cases 
 where this, so to speak, inherited royal-touch cure 
 was being tried. In one of the cases the seventh 
 son, called the " doctor " by the other members of the 
 family, and a very smart little fellow, was so young 
 that he had to be carried a part of the way to the 
 residence of his patient. The " doctor " is to-day a 
 big boy a young man, indeed and right heartily 
 does he laugh at the elaborate farce in which he 
 was wont in early life to play so important a part. 
 In some districts there is no small credence given 
 to the allegation that certain days are unlucky, 
 and many persons consider it unlucky to find a 
 pin or meet a toad on the road ; and there are 
 instances of people avoiding meeting certain per- 
 sons, whom to meet they consider unlucky. These 
 and suchlike time-honoured beliefs and customs, 
 we repeat, are fading. A few yet believe in them, 
 encouraged in some instances by remarkable coin-
 
 2/0 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 cidences and the wish to believe ; but the growing 
 doubt regarding them among grown-up people gener- 
 ally, and the utter disbelief in them, as a rule, among 
 the young and the educated, clearly prove these 
 beliefs and customs must soon altogether yield to 
 the progress of to-day. 
 
 Some may have desiderated in these pages more 
 special attention to the subject of education and 
 schools. This is unnecessary. The matter has 
 been incidentally referred to in one or two portions 
 of the book, and such other features as are special 
 and important may be briefly told. 
 
 Gaelic schools, once common in the Highlands, are 
 now exceeding rare. Ten years ago we visited a 
 Gaelic school taught by an intelligent old man, 
 who, by the way, expressed but slender faith in 
 the necessity of his special work. The district is 
 a populous one, containing some three hundred 
 inhabitants, but there were only some half-dozen 
 pupils. To-day there is not one pupil. A few hun- 
 dred yards from where the Gaelic school used to be 
 there is a large Board school, with two teachers, but 
 Gaelic is not taught ; and it is worth mentioning, 
 that while thirty years ago the great majority of 
 teachers in the Highlands could speak Gaelic, to- 
 day very many are unable to speak it
 
 CONCLUSION. 271 
 
 The changes brought about in educational mat- 
 ters by the Act of 1872 are, as yet, not marked. 
 Many parishes have more schools, but the compul- 
 sory clause does not in every place show improved 
 attendance. In the matter of religious instruction in 
 schools, " use and wont " may be said to be univer- 
 sally required, School Boards usually deputing the 
 clergy to inquire into the manner in which this im- 
 portant matter is attended to. 
 
 Education, generally speaking, is undoubtedly 
 making rapid strides in the Highlands, and did so 
 likewise under the old parochial system, which, as 
 a rule, worked admirably in the Northern Highlands. 
 Thirty years ago, in a Highland parish of say four- 
 teen hundred inhabitants, it would have been easy 
 enough to find three hundred, or nearly one-fourth, 
 unable to read or write, while in a similar parish 
 to-day it will be difficult to find sixty persons thus 
 uneducated. No doubt, just like other people, some 
 Highlanders that take up the pen make at times a 
 slightly remarkable figure with it. During the tak- 
 ing of the census of 1871, a West Highland crofter, 
 46 years old, wrote down his age at 406, the adding 
 of nothing, strange to say, giving him an antedilu- 
 vian venerableness. But since the last census there 
 has been a marked progress educationally among
 
 272 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 the crofter population, so that in future there will be 
 less likelihood of a similarly inaccurate ciphering 
 taking place. 
 
 It may be thought by some that a special chapter 
 should have been devoted to an account of the 
 general character of the residents in a Highland 
 parish of to-day. This would have been advisable, 
 and even necessary, were the character-peculiarities 
 of such residents numerous or marked. Such peculi- 
 arities of character and disposition as were associated 
 with the Highlander when the Highlands were re- 
 mote have very much faded, along with the indi- 
 viduality of the Highlander of that period an indi- 
 viduality now very much, because of the growing 
 communication with the larger world outside his 
 native hills and glens, merged in the national life 
 and character. Bravery, hardihood, and endurance 
 yet characterise the better type of Highlander ; but, 
 happily, the isolation and local misunderstandings, 
 to put the latter mildly, that so often long ago 
 called forth these qualities in uninviting fields, are 
 altogether, in the case of the latter, and all but in 
 the case of the former, gone. The perseverance 
 and determination implied in the qualities men- 
 tioned are to no small extent observable to-day in 
 more peaceful walks of life ; and it is well known
 
 CONCLUSION. 273 
 
 that, because of these two latter features, Highlanders 
 going to push their fortune in southern towns and 
 in foreign lands are often especially successful. As 
 to other features of character little need be said. 
 For a long time Highlanders were believed by 
 many to be a simple-minded if not guileless peo- 
 ple ; while others in recent times speak of them 
 in quite a different strain. Each estimate, very 
 probably, is partial truth. We suppose that, so far 
 as guile and guilelessness are concerned, High- 
 landers are very much like their fellow-creatures 
 the whole world over, and neither better than they 
 ought to be, nor perhaps so bad as they themselves 
 allege of each other, so that it is unnecessary to 
 discuss the matter. To-day we occasionally meet 
 a veritable Nathanael in a Highland parish ; but 
 though, as a class, as genuine very probably as their 
 neighbours, to call them guileless as a people would 
 be to say what few, if any, of themselves believe. 
 It is common enough in a Highland parish of to- 
 day to hear such expressions among the natives as 
 " the people are getting much sharper and smairter 
 like than they were before ; " and such sharpness 
 and smartness, though referred to as evidence of 
 progress, are mentioned in a tone and manner 
 calculated to convey the impression that there is 
 
 S
 
 274 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 no wish or reason to claim for the people a pre- 
 vailing guilelessness. 
 
 It may be worth noticing, also, that some who can 
 compare the Highlands past and of to-day declare 
 that the people are less social to-day, less kindly 
 interested, indeed, in each other's welfare. It would 
 be foreign to our purpose to discuss this matter at 
 length. It may be observed, however, that the fact 
 of the people to-day being busier, and competition 
 greater, may partly explain the change, if change 
 there be. We do not think that, beyond what 
 might be thus accounted for, there is any marked 
 absence of the sort of kindliness indicated ; and even 
 should the people seem to be less kindly, which we 
 fear is true of some, to some extent there is a real 
 widening of healthful sympathies, brought about 
 by the changes that have diminished what was a 
 merely local, and often only an apparent, attachment. 
 Some people, more prejudiced than enlightened, 
 allege that at the period of the Secession of 1843 
 from the Church of Scotland, practical Christianity 
 was at a low ebb in the Highlands ; but the general 
 character of the Highlanders at present in the matter 
 of purity and truthfulness cannot be said to prove 
 that any moral improvement has taken place in 
 the Highlands as the result of that Secession ; nor,
 
 CONCLUSION. 275 
 
 besides, is it easy to avoid the conclusion that if 
 pulpit utterances in a certain quarter had been 
 less devoid of Christian charity, a greater measure 
 of friendliness, and consequently of straightforward- 
 ness, might to-day characterise the people gen- 
 erally. That there are kindly and straightfor- 
 ward ones among Highlanders, and, relatively, as 
 many as among other people, we rejoice to be- 
 lieve ; and notwithstanding that some of them- 
 selves regettingly allege that "the people are no 
 what they were," that, in other words, deterioration 
 in general character has taken place, and especially 
 in the matter of truthfulness and purity of life we 
 believe that under intelligent, manly leadership in 
 matters religious, and with definite encouragement 
 towards self-improvement and the bettering of their 
 general circumstances, Highlanders, as many of them 
 have already done, would, as much at least as other 
 people, reflect credit on themselves, and constitute 
 no small help to the promotion of the national 
 welfare. 
 
 And now we have done. With reference to any 
 subject which may have been either omitted or only 
 slightly referred to, it will, we think, be found such 
 matter is either not peculiar to Highland parishes, 
 or if peculiar, will soon cease to be so. We trust we
 
 CHRONICLES OF STRATHEDEN. 
 
 have succeeded in describing the actual circum- 
 stances of the average Highland parish of to-day, 
 and it has been our endeavour to make the de- 
 scription representative, with the view of including 
 the Highlands generally, and, more especially, the 
 rural districts. 
 
 Should any enthusiastic Highlander have desid- 
 erated more detailed reference to the heroic deeds 
 in which Highlanders in days of yore took part, or 
 have liked less confident forecasting as to the pro- 
 spects of Gaelic as a spoken language, and more 
 exhaustive treatment of beliefs and customs long 
 associated with the Highlands, we must remind such 
 enthusiastic one that, while sympathising with him 
 in what is virtually a fond patriotic remembering of 
 other days, our aim has been to describe a Highland 
 parish of to-day. 
 
 THE END. 
 
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