Recollections of Dr G.T. Galbraith

Old Recollections of Stirling, Part 1.

Having been asked by the Council of the Natural History and Archaeological Society to write for them a paper on my old recollections of Stirling, I consented all the more readily, as I had myself for some time entertained the intention of committing them to paper in the hope that my reminiscences of. old scenes and long past events might prove interesting to some of the generation that has grown up since the time to which my memory now carries me back. A greater desire than formerly existed seems to have arisen in these days to know something about the past history of the place in which the inquirers dwell and are interested in, and I consider it a sort of duty incumbent on those who have been graciously spared to reach an advanced life and who have the leisure and anything of the ability for the task, to try to 'satisfy this desire by putting down on paper their old recollections. Events which at the time of their occurrence seemed too trivial and commonplace to be recorded, in the course of time acquire an interest, even an importance, as illustrating local history, that did not originally attach to them. Alterations in buildings and other changes in the physical features of a place, as remembered by the older inhabitants, are also not devoid. of interest. With these ideas I have set down my old recollections as, relating to Stirling and now present them before the society, hoping that, however wanting they may be in any other merit, by the mere flavour of age that invests them their record may excite the kind of interest I have referred to. My esteemed friend Mr. George Mouat, whose recollection went back number of years further than mine, was approached by the secretary with the same request that was preferred to me, but he, for sufficient reasons. did not see his way to acceding to it. At the same time he kindly offered to give me any help he could in my performance of the task. I gladly, availed myself of his offer. Mr Mouat's memory as to past events and old dates was marvelously acute, and I have- been much indebted to him for assisting me in some instances, where, as a consequence of long absence on foreign' service, with no one from the old town with whom to talk over times past , my own recollections had become a little indistinct. I had, hoped, that my much esteemed friend would have been spared for years yet to enjoy his robust old age but, alas! while I was jotting down these reminiscences he was quite lately, as you all know, removed from amongst us after a very few days illness and thus another link with the older generation has been snapped, Mr Mouat had nearly completed his 9Oth year. Since his death. I have when necessary availed myself of the assistance of Mr Leslie Neilson who, although he has not attained to the patriarchal age of Mr Mouat, as I hope he will yet do, goes back a number of years further than my memory carries me and is very clear in, his recollections. Mr Neilson is also an instance of active vigour at a, pretty advanced age being quite equal to his duties as a compositor with the Stirling Journal.
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    With these preliminary observations I now proceed in medias res. 1 My earliest recollections of Stirling begin with, the upper part of the rocky height on whose slopes the old town is clustered, for, after a short stay in lodgings in Broad St my father, on retiring from the army about the year 1821, and coming to settle down in my mother's native town, took for his first residence-what is now the Castle Hotel 2, at that time simply a dwelling house. It has been somewhat altered and a good deal added to it since to adapt it to the purposes for which it is now used. Owing to the steep way in which the ground falls away behind this building is of no great height in the front, but on the other side it presents a considerable elevation and, what makes it notable viewed from that side was its remarkably long staircase window.
    The first event impressed on my childish memory was the sudden falling of the Castle flagstaff. I do not believe that I actually saw the falling of the flagstaff, but I well remember being startled by the loud report that accompanied it. This collapse occurred during perfectly moderate weather, and was attributed to the wood having become decayed at the base. I believe a similar catastrophe has happened on two several occasions since that time. Once in a great thunderstorm on a Sunday in the month of February during divine service, when the congregations were naturally, extremely alarmed. Again a little over 40 years ago, in a great storm of Wind. After one of. these collapses the then Lord Abercromby tried to move the authorities to have the flagstaff shifted to the Nether Bailey where it was supposed it would be more conspicuous as seen from Airthrey Castle. Fortunately however, this was successfully resisted by the Town Council who brought influence to bear on Hon. Fox Maule, then member for Perthshire and Secretary at War, and at the same time Lord Abercromby's son in.law. My impression is that the mast I heard fall was a much taller spar than that on which the Royal Standard and Union Jack are now from time to time displayed; The Esplanade, except for the comparatively recent addition of the statue of King Robert Bruce 3, presents the same appearance now that it did in the earlier days. One of my associations with it is seeing
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1 To get to the point, literally, into the middle of the thing.
2 This building, now a tourist outlet, fronts the east side of the castle esplanade.
3 Erected in 1877 Stirling Journal 30 Nov 1877 p. 5 col. 1
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the soldiers being drilled there in the manual and platoon exercise with the aid of' a fugleman. This now obsolete functionary was one of the men who stood a few yards in front of the company or battalion, also facing the drilling officer. He was provided with a' musket from which, to lighten it for handling, the barrel was removed. At each word of command the fugleman threw himself into a particular attitude, at the same time manipulating his piece in an exaggerated way so as to attract the attention of the men behind' in order, that they should go through the motions with their firelocks simultaneously and in accurate time. Needless to say that this antiquated custom has long ago fallen into desuetude. Entering within the 'precincts' of the Castle and passing through the archway that pierces Queen Anne's Battery, three or four casemates may be observed on either hand, constructed
on the base of the rampart. They had long been used apparently for the storage of lumber. In the first of them on the right hand long stood a low truck, which was pointed out as the "hurdle" on which Baird and Hardy, who were beheaded for high treason in 1820— the last individuals in the kingdom who so suffered—were drawn to the place of execution in Broad Street. A tradition connected therewith handed down to us boys was that in passing thither they sang the last of the five hymns that are inserted after the paraphrases in the Scottish Bible—" The hour of my departure's come." On the left hand, in rear of the battery, the ground was laid out as a garden, which was abundantly stocked with useful vegetables, old fashioned flowers, and homely fruit-bearing trees and bushes.. It was for many years cultivated by Major Peddie, the Fort Major, who was a skillful horticulturist, and kept it in admirable order. I recollect that his gooseberries were of particularly fine flavour. Lying a good deal below the level of the causewayed roadway, bounded on one side by the battery with its quaint little lookout turret at one end, and on the opposite by a terrace dominated by the eastern face of the Palace with its grotesque stone figures projecting from the wall, this plot of ground with its rich varied vegetation, formed, in my eyes, a most attractive feature in this part of the old fortress. After the death of Major Peddie the garden was given over to the use of some of the staff non-commissioned officers,
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under whose. want of fostering care it soon began greatly to deteriorate. More recently it has been transformed into a tennis court. I never take a passing glance over the wall without sadly contrasting the bare arid aspect of the carefully smoothed level with the wealth of greenery and varied colour it once presented, and lamenting that such a charming nook has been so defaced, and one of my most pleasant associations with the old Castle for ever obliterated. In the Palace Square there have been no material alterations. Mr Whitehead, Barrack-master, occupied the small house on the right of the entrance gateway. On his death, Major Peddie moved into it from the apartments he had occupied in the Palace, to which access is had by "'the Long Stair." In that house the Major, who had been dweller in the Castle for half a century, died in 1871. Quite recently the Canteen has been removed from its old position in the basement of the Palace to a more convenient and better lighted one arranged for in the old Parliament House, in the upper square which is utilised for soldier's barracks,
       I need not enter into the question now being discussed, of the restoration of this part of the Castle to something like its original condition when it was used for the meetings. of the Scottish Estates, further than to say that no one can desire that the number of the soldiers quartered in the Castle should be diminished, as apparently would necessarily be the case were the accommodation now provided for them in the old Parliament House done away with 4. It is satisfactory, however, to know that something is to be done in the way of improving the Royal Chapel, lately used as a store, by cleaning it out, bringing back the arms that were taken away. to. the Tower, and throwing it open to visitors. The Royal Chapel. which occupies nearly the whole of the western end of the upper square, was long used as the armoury, where were stored, I know not how many stands of arms. After these were removed to London some 40 years ago, the. Chapel was for some time used as the Regimental School, latterly, as I have said, as a store. There were also to be seen in it some old military curios, tilting spears, Lochaber axes, pikes, &c., now exhibited in the so- called Douglas Room. I say so called, for as is well known, this, one of the oldest parts of the Castle, was destroyed by fire nearly forty
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4 The Great Hall or Parliament House indeed, continued as barracks accommodation till the mid 20th century and its final restoration was not completed till 1999 (Richard Fawcett (ed), 2001, Stirling Castle: The Restoration of the Great Hall, Council for British Archaeology.
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years ago, only the small apartment in which, according to tradition, the murder of the Earl of Douglas was perpetrated by James II, having been providentially spared 5. I understand that the present new structure was designed by Mr Ruskin 6. It is no doubt in very correct taste, but it can never for me worthily replace the building that was destroyed, where in the larger apartment, out of which the Douglas chamber opened, I had participated in the hospitalities dispensed by Sir Archibald and Lady Christie at the evening parties they were in the habit of giving while, as Deputy Governor, he occupied the Douglas apartments 7. The fire occurred some time during the Crimean war when a militia regiment was stationed in the Castle. Some, of the officers had quarters in the Douglas apartments, and in one of these, occupied by a young officer named Fawkes, the fire is said to have broken out. When I joined the 71st Regiment Highland Light Infantry, I found Mr. Fawkes a Lieutenant in that distinguished corps. From his former associations with the destructive combustion of this portion of the Castle, and in allusion to the notorious conspirator of Gunpowder Plot, his regimental sobriquet was Guy - "Guy Fawkes.'
    Formerly a Deputy Governor resided in the Castle in this historic part of It. The titular Governor was, at the time I write of, an Irish Peer the Earl of Dunoughmore. He was non-resident, and his office a sinecure; The first Deputy Governor I recollect of, I was too young to have any personal knowledge of him, was General Grahame 8. He died in 1831 and I have a very distinct recollection that the: day of his funeral was one of very deep snow, lying on the ground I have been told by my sister that she remembers
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5 The modern view is that this building (usually now called the King's Old Building) was erected for James IV in the 1490s - some 45 years after the murder of Douglas by James II. But the "Douglas Room" had been increasingly prominent in the tourist literature for some time before the fire of 1855 and continued to be so into the twentieth century.
6 Dr Galbraith errs here. Billings was the architect for the (controversial) 'restoration.'.
7 Christie was in post for some 20 years before his death in 1847.
8 Graham was deputy governor c. 1801-1831). His wife Jane Graham, nee Ferrier, was the author of Lacunar Strevelinense; or A Collection of Heads, 1817, illustrating and highlighting the importance of the Stirling Heads, a collection of carved oak roundels which had decorated the palace of James V. Their daughter, Helen's diary has been published as James Irvine (ed.) 1957. Parties and Pleasures; the diaries of Helen Graham 1823-1826, np.
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General Grahame calling on our uncle Dr Galliers, with whom she lived, and telling him of a skeleton that in the course of some drainage or other operations had been dug up just under the window of the apartment where the Douglas was murdered, out of which the body is said to have been thrown. Being of a large size it was taken to be that of the murdered Earl, who was a very tall man. My old friend Mr Mouat, however was of opinion that the finding of the skeleton was at a considerably anterior date, and I believe in this he was correct. After an interval of several years Sir Archibald Christie came as Deputy Governor. He was a very genial and popular man. He had seen service in the Peninsula and had one side of his face much disfigured by a wound from a charge of grapeshot received in one of the engagements there. After his death no successor in the post of Deputy Governor was appointed.
    The Militia Store which stands at the foot of the Esplanade was formerly the, Grammar School. As may be readily seen, a considerable addition to it has been built for storage accommodation; The: rector of the school was Dr Monro, D.D.,9 I suppose, although we Grammar School boys never regarded him as being a clergyman. On the contrary we were very irreverent in calling him "Skliffy," a nickname due I believe, to a peculiarity of gait as he shuffled about in his slippers. In those early days sobriquets were very commonly
used in Stirling - almost 'every' man in any way notable, high or low, was distinguished by a nickname: Dr Monro had a reputation of being a very erudite man, and I believe he was especially skilled in Gaelic literature, but at the time I entered the school any energy he had possessed as a teacher had evaporated and he had fallen into indolent ways. Frequently be was out of the school for some time, engaged, as we boys said and believed in feeding his ducks in the back yard. The apartment on the ground floor was the schoolroom, one end of which the Doctor reserved for himself, the "helper" superintending the junior boys at the other end, The Doctor from time. to time made a visit of inspection to our end of the school and I must say he was not so entirely deficient, in energy but that before returning to his own department he usually distributed a
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9 George Munro (the more usual spelling) was LL.D. not D.D. His long if unhappy tenure of the post in Stirling (1820-1854) is described in Hutchison, A F., 1904, History of the High School of Stirling, Stirling, 123-133.
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few vigorous scults 10 with the tawse among those boys whom he found not up to the mark with their lessons. The Doctor, who was unmarried, lived in the upper part of the house, and there also resided his brother, Mr Colin Monro, editor of the Stirling Journal, a widower, I think, with a son and two daughters. A number of the, parents, dissatisfied with the Doctor's laissez faire management of the school, withdrew their boys from it, and set up a private classical school with the assistant, Mr Warden, who for some reason was giving up his situation in the grammar school, as master, so that I was only one year at the grammar school. At the great Ecclesiastical Disruption in 1843 Dr Monro was appointed: minister of a vacant charge somewhere in the north, the incumbent of which had "come oot," and there I believe he died 11. The open space in front of the grammar school was bounded on the south by a row, of one storey thatched cottages (whose occupants bore no very good reputation) running from the head of the Castle Wynd to the entrance into the Valley. They were removed when the new Cemetery was extended in this direction, the present parapet wall and railing being erected on their site 12. The Valley, now, as everyone knows, laid out in what is one of the most picturesquely situated cemeteries in the Kingdom, perhaps in the world, was in those days a pretty rough place. The boundary on the east was a continuation of the, wall running behind what is now the Fever Hospital to meet the wall on the Back Walk, thus shutting off the old Cemetery from the Valley and the Ladies' Hill. The western boundary was also a wall on the site of the present existing parapet wall and railing. On the north side, about where the in Pyramid has been erected, was a house with a garden behind it extending down into the Valley, the front of the house being close to the wall that supports the Esplanade, The Valley, suited the grammar school boys very well for their games of shinty, or club as we called it, and football, the latter not the scientific life and limb endangering pastime which of recent years has taken such hold of the British race, both at home and abroad, but a much more simple, and, if a little rough at times, a safe enough game for the boys, played with
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10 To scult is 'To strike on (the palm), to cane'; whilst the tawse was the leather strap used in some schools until all too recently.
11 Galbraith is wrong here. Munro was offered, but refused, the charge at Dornoch and remained in Stirling till his death in 1853 (Hutchison, 1904, 130).
12 For this major civic landscape project of 1857-8 see John G Harrison, 2013. One Grand Whole: Gravestones and Monuments in Stirling’s Old Town Cemeteries, Stirling Local History Society/Friends of Holy Rude Church, Stirling.
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good temper and without the coarse language that seems to be the usual concomitant of the modern game. The periodical horse markets were held in the Valley, and frequently the open space in front of the school was also utilised for showing off the paces of the steeds to intending purchasers, a source of much interest and amusement to the boys.
    But the most pleasant of my associations connected with the Valley is the recollection of the yearly visit made to it by Ord and his travelling equestrian troupe 13. Great was the jubilation when, the word went round, "The Fules is cumin" for the entertainment being given alfresco it was free to all, and was well patronised by all classes of the community. The locality was a most suitable one, where the sloping side of the Ladies' Hill, from which in olden times the tournaments that were held in the level space were viewed, rising like the ascending seats of an amphitheatre, afforded ample and convenient vantage ground from which with no hindrance to enjoy the sight of the performance. This year the spring and summer. we have enjoyed have been quite exceptional for abundance of sunshine and absence of rain, but looking back to a succession of cold wet summers I am tempted to say that surely in the days "O lang, lang syne, the sun shone brighter far thin it's iver dune sin' syne," for I have no recollection of this open- air entertainment, which always took place in a summer evening, having been marred by wet weather. For, years past it would have been very difficult to select any summer evening on which, even if it were not necessary to seek the protection of a waterproof or umbrella, one could stand or recline on the grassy sward without imminent risk of contracting rheumatism or catarrh. Tempora, which-can bear the translation "seasons," mutantur and I grieve personally that I must say, et nos-mutamur in illis 14. Let us hope that the bright season we have had is the prelude to a cycle of fine seasons such as .I picture to myself as. common when I was in the. heyday of youth. Possibly, however, -I am looking backwards. through tinted spectacle, and, it is " distance lends enchantment to the
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13 For Ord, the Equestrian, see Drysdale, 1898, 49-50 (which clearly draws on Galbraith's piece) but also eg A sketch of the life of Thomas Ord, the equestrian, 1902, Pamphlet, National Fairground Archive,
14 Tempora mutantur, et nos mutamur in illis - Times change and (he regrets) we are changed in them.
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view, - and the seasons in their azure hue."
    A ring was staked off in the centre, of the Valley, sawdust laid for the horse track, the tight rope and slack wire set up on suitable poles, and the performance went on. In the centre was erected a platform for the purpose of exhibiting a competition of two or three boys called up from the crowd, in the rapidity with which they could dispose of scalding porridge cooked on the spot, a. part of the entertainment that created much laughter among the spectators, There being no charge for admission, in order to raise funds for the maintenance of the troupe, recourse was had to the sale of lottery tickets. These, sixpence each, were disposed of among the crowd by some of the company; The chief prize was a boll of meal, one worth taking a chance for. The other articles that were given as prizes, of which those that, chiefly present themselves to my. mind are pieces of cheap cotton print styled gown. pieces, although I suspect they would make but scanty dresses, were displayed and called over one-by one by the master of the ring, affording the clown opportunities of making various well worn but ever appreciated jokes, as he repeated the name or description of the article after his master. The last got in the ring was usually ' Billy Button's ride to Brentford," 15 enacted by the clown, -who brought the performance to an effective conclusion by at last bursting out of the circle, and cantering away down the town on his pony.
    Although not given to extol the olden at the expense-of the present times, I am inclined to think, that our peaceful and less excited manner of life with its old fashioned quiet ways was a more enjoyable one than that which now rushes on amid hurry and scurry and haste, with the excitement of railways and telegraphs and telephones, however much -these may contribute to the, conveniences of life. I am sure we enjoyed the gratuitous exhibition given by the "Fules" in the valley, of course none the less acceptable for it being gratuitous, on a calm summer eve with more satisfaction and zest than the more elaborate performance of the gaudily appointed and brilliantly lighted circuses to be found. in our larger cities, or of the spacious travelling circus tent with its imperfect and malodorous paraffin illumination that
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15 This had been a popular, if hackneyed, feature of circus performances since the 1760s, featured, for example in Chapter 3 of Dickens, Hard Times.
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year after year, is pitched for a night in the Spittalmyre ground. And surely there- was something of the classical in the open- air performance on the old tilting ground with -its unrivalled picturesque surroundings, reminding one of.-the descriptions of. the exhibitions in the theatres and amphitheatres of. the ancient Greeks, which were also given sub frigido Jove. 16
    In the days I write of, and until I left Stirling on entering the military service, the part of the Back Walk, where it is level, from about the wall of the old cemetery to where it begins to slope down at the western extremity of Snowdon House grounds, was a favorite spot for promenading on the fine summer afternoons and evenings, resorted to by the better classes; and especially by the ladies, who, besides the exhilarating influences of the fine fresh air, and of the extensive panoramic view, had the additional attraction of enjoying the society of officers of the "four company depot" which then garrisoned the Castle. What a change has taken place in the habits of the community! They have entirely deserted the incomparable Back Walk, the like of which in any other town in the kingdom would be regarded as one of its most valued possessions, and, although strangers are always greatly impressed with its unparalleled picturesqueness now, except on Sundays, when in fine weather, after the "skailin'" of the kirks, many of the worshippers take a breather round the back of the Castle to refresh them after inhaling the confined air of the sacred edifices, only a stray frequenter of the Walk is to be met with, some old pensioned off residenter dandering along, "drooping, woeful, wan, like one forlorn." Within the grounds of Snowdon House may be noticed a hillock overtopping the wall, of which its rocky side forms a part. I recollect when this, the Crandy Hill, as it was called was not enclosed by the wall, but was open to the Walk 17. Dr Doig, the proprietor of Snowdon House obtained leave, I presume from the Department of the Woods and Forests, to take it into his grounds on the plea that it was a resort of loose characters at night, but in so doing, he certainly took away one of the amenities of the Back. Walk by day. As to the name
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16 The sense is 'In the cold (open) air' - Jove was the God of, amongst other things, the open air.
17 The area is now enclosed as the Snowdon Cemetery and the Crandy Hill has been removed.
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of the little height, it is said that properly it should be Grandee Hill, so called because in ancient times the notabilities of the town used to meet there to show off their finery of dress, the men with their cooked hats, powdered wigs, and scarlet cloaks, their wives and daughters in their brocades and satins, with their hoops and furbelows and other bravery of female attire of those days.
    A most notable and widely known frequenter of the Back Walk during a long series of years was Blind Alick, who, with somewhat bent figure, wearing an ordinary tall hat, and long great. coat, his garments patched and threadbare, might there any day be seen as he shuffled slowly along, carrying in his, hand a large door key, which he shook to and fro, and deprived of which he seemed to be quite unable to find his way. His surname was Lyon. There were in Stirling two families of Lyons, called from the colour, of their hair, Red Lyon, and Black Lyon to the latter of which Blind Alick belonged. I recollect a member of the
other branch, Tickler Lyon, with a son Young Tickler, as he, Old Tickler, used to make ridiculous exhibitions of himself in the street when in one of his drinking fits. I believe Alick was blind from his birth. He lived in a close next to the Water Reservoir, now removed, at the St John Street corner of' Spittal Square. What, particularly attracted the attention of strangers to him was his marvelous, verbal acquaintance with the Holy Scriptures. He not only knew them word for word, but he could, repeat any verse of any chapter, if the number of the verse and chapter were given him. Strangers tried to puzzle him. by giving the number of a verse not to be found in the chapter. named, but Alick could never be misled in this way. His knowledge of the Bible had been gradually acquired at school from the boys reading the verses to him. My old friend, Mr Mouat, had assisted in this way in his school days. My uncle, Mr Gibb, a native of Stirling, who settled in business in, Glasgow,. told. me he had also been one of Blind Alick's instructors. Alick did not frequent the streets only on Saturdays, finishing his perambulation of the Back Walk at it lower extremity, he made his way to his lodging by Port Street, King Street &., in order that he might call on his way at various business establishments where he received a small pecuniary dole. Provided with several snuff boxes he also called, not only at a little tobacconist's shop, "Snuff Wricht's," which
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was in existence till some twenty years ago it was merged into the premises now occupied by Messrs Menzies & Co., but also at various grocers' shops, snuff being a commodity retailed by the grocers, to get his several mulls replenished. In his earlier days, Blind Alick was a regular attender at public worship, sitting in what was called the "range' in the East Church, a railed-in raised platform on each side of the pulpit appropriated to the accommodation of the infirm and poorer, members of the congregation. Latterly, however, he sadly neglected his religious duties and earned for himself an indifferent reputation notwithstanding his absolutely perfect knowledge of Scripture. Certainly, as I have myself witnessed, he gave way, to violent fits, of impotent rage and awful cursing when teased by the school boys who began to take a wicked delight in tormenting him by taking away his key. A fearful thing it was to hear how. then the old man swore. I am glad to think that this diabolical treatment of the old blind man was not. practiced by the schoolboys of my time. Blind Alick died In 1835, being one day found dead in his bed.
As l have mentioned before, the old churchyard adjoining the churches was shut off by a wall from the Valley and the Ladies' Hill, It did not then present the trim orderly appearance it now does, but, if somewhat rough it was, perhaps, fully as picturesque with its old-fashioned gravestones' disposed with little attention to regularity, some of the more ancient of tabular arrangement with the slab supported on short pillars. A memorial stone in the form of a cross, of which there are now so many, beautiful examples in the Cemetery, was of course quite unknown and would have been regarded as an indication of rank popery. The oldest stones; so far as I can make out, are two that both bear the name of Gibb. One has the data of 1525, the other, lying close to it, that of 1579, no doubt both originally belonging to branches of the same family closely connected. They both lie flat on the surface of' the ground. The less ancient of' them marks the burial ground of my mother's family and now belongs to a cousin on the male side. It has, carved on it, besides the ancient date of' 1579, the name of James Gibb; my grandfather, the date of his death in 1810, some initial letters along each side, the Gibb arms—s spur and hand holding a broken spear—also, a hammer, a small pick and
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chisel. From these latter devices 'I conclude that my maternal ancestors at that remote date were decent handicraft burghers. The stone was one of those that stood on pillars. On being taken down, on the re-arrangement of the Cemetery, to be laid flat on the ground, it was accidentally cracked across; the two fragments were then set in a socket of stone for the sake of preservation. The other older stone probably also originally stood on legs. It bears, besides the ancient date, the name John Gibb; the date of his death, 1814, and the Guildry emblem, the figure 4. I do not know who now claims this stone. Not far off is an upright standing stone elaborately carved on both aides, with a good deal of lettering on it, but much defaced, that has an appearance of antiquity, but no date can be made out. From its general, character and style of carving, I take it to be much more modern than the two I have been describing; It bears the name John Service, the date of whose death is obliterated. In front of it is a flat stone with the name of John Burd of Forthside died 1831. One curious feature of this old tombstone is that both sides are pitted as if with bullet marks, possibly the result of some war--like skirmish of which no record now, remains 18. It was while I was abroad, perhaps nearly 40 years ago, that the Cemetery was extended, by removing the wall on the west, and taking in the Valley, the Ladies' Hill, and the garden ground behind Valley Lodge, now the Fever Hospital, and the whole ground was laid out in the exceedingly tasteful and attractive way that has made the Cemetery to be one of the chief beauties of the City of the Rock. While the older portion was being improved several of the gravestones were shifted. so as to present a greater, appearance. of regularity .and those on pillars. laid flat on. the ground, the alteration, although, conducive to greater uniformity in arrangement, being in some instances no longer accurate in defining the exact locality of the interment.
   The Cemetery, leads me to notice funerals and, some of the changes that have taken place in funeral observances in my time. In the olden time the convenience of a hearse was not
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18 The Service Stone was erected in 1636 or 1637 and is one of the most interesting and important in Scotland, the decoration including images from Quarles' Emblems as shown by Michael Bath. See John G Harrison, 2013. One Grand Whole: Gravestones and Monuments in Stirling's Old Town Cemeteries, Stirling Local History Society/Friends of Holy Rude Church, Stirling.
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made use of, the coffins being borne to the place of interment on the shoulders of the men provided, by the undertaker, or in the case of persons of lower rank, carried on spokes. The coffin, or, when the mortuary vehicle was introduced, the hearse, was preceded by the 'saulies', who were kind of hired mourners. These were six in number, according to Mr Mouat, although my recollection gave me the impression that there were only four. They walked two and two, attired, of course, in black, with knee breeches, two in cooked hats of much the same shape as those worn by our Town officers; the others in a kind of skullcap with four angles, like what I have seen worn by ecclesiastics in some Roman Catholic churches abroad. Each saulie carried a black baton. For all persons deceased of any standing in society one of, the church bells was tolled This old custom has occasionally been observed in quite recent years at the funerals of old residenters. Formerly it was the custom for all who attended a funeral to wear the narrow bands of lawn stitched in tie cuffs of the coat called "weepers," and every man kept sets of weepers for this purpose. Near relatives wore them for several weeks, at first plain, then covered with crape as a kind of " second mourning," Gradually this emblem of mourning has fallen into disuse. First they were displayed at the funeral by relatives and, intimate friends, then only by the former, and now they are rarely to be seen. In attending a funeral crape on the hat was de rigeur and in the case of mourners, there was a great display of' it, now a simple, hatband, seem not always to be considered necessary, Formerly at all funerals for those attending and going into the house of mourning refreshments were provided. as a matter of course. I am told that in olden times the orthodox custom was to have three rounds, first one of rum secondly one of whisky, and the third of wine. By degrees this diminished to a course of whisky and wine, at last to one of wine only. This I .have seen handed round at funerals of quite recent dates, although very few partook. of the proffered hospitality. When the glasses and cake, mostly shortbread, had been served round by his men the undertaker putting his head, in at the door announced "The Rev. Mr So-and-So," naming some minister present, "will ask a blessing." A prayer was then offered up, all standing, ostensibly to ask a blessing on the refreshments with the deceased brought in incidentally, but in reality a prayer suited to the mournful occasion of the meeting.
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Afterwards a similar prayer was given by another minister, if more than one was available, by way of returning thanks. It was customary for the relatives to dine together in the house of mourning, after the funeral, the ladies of the family, however, not appearing at the table. These old-world hospitable customs were no doubt intended for the alleviation of the grief of the mourners.
    The interior aspect of the churches (the East and West Church) bore testimony to the absence of any esthetic feeling, and to the entire want of the appreciation of the beauties of ecclesiastical architecture, that characterised our forefathers from post-reformation times. Their only aim seems to have been so to adapt to the plain Presbyterian forms of worship, churches constructed to accord with the pompous ceremonial of the Romish ritual, as to provide accommodation for as numerous congregations as possible, with entire disregard to the architectural arrangements and graces of' the edifice. To this end both the churches were encumbered and disfigured with heavy galleries for the support of which some of' the columns of the aisles had been sadly mutilated. I do not know if the mullions had suffered damage during iconoclastic outbreaks, but those that, until its restoration, formerly divided the; window spaces in the East Church and those still remaining in the West Church, could not represent the original window tracery. When the East Church was restored as just mentioned, about five and twenty .years ago, to something like its pristine condition, and cleared of its disfigurements, mullions to accord with the style of architecture replaced the other tasteless structures and then also greatly to the adornment of this most beautiful example of Gothic architecture memorial stained glass windows began to be put in. I take pleasure in the thought that I was the first to set the example in this respect with a window to the memory of my father, who filled the chief magisterial chair of' this ancient Royal Burgh for the long period' of 13 years.
In the East Church on the wall, that. formed the west end of it, since taken down and replaced by the Magistrates gallery, was the pulpit, entered by a door in a scooped-out hollow that always reminded me of' the interior of a kitchen roasting oven, which was reached by a stair from the small vestry in the passage between the two churches. Below the pulpit, in
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orthodox fashion, was the precentor's desk and on each side "the range" for the poor already, referred to. The result of this arrangement of the pulpit being on the same end as the doors of the entrance was that those who came early to church, when seated, enjoyed the welcome distraction of seeing all who came later as they entered. By the way, in those days it was rather correct for men to put on their hats in leaving just before they reached the door and not to uncover until they had fully entered coming in, the remains no doubt of a stern protest .against any superstitious reverence for the building. The custom of keeping on the hat in church, which to an Anglican at least seems very irreverent, may any day be witnessed in strangers visiting the churches here. It has .often occurred to me that there should be at the door a printed notice, such as, if I am not mistaken, is put up at St Giles' in Edinburgh, that visitors, are expected to take off their hats on entering the church. Surely the house of God demands as much reverential respect as man's drawing-room-receives. On the occasion of a baptism, a brass dish with the water, very much resembling that often seen dangling over a-barber's shop— Mambrino's helmet, in fact—was hung on, the pulpit with a napkin laid beside it. The father sat in the "range!' (I speak of the East Church), until the christening ceremony was to be performed, when he was joined by the mother, with perhaps one or two of her friends from an adjacent pew. and taking his baby, he stood up to be "tairged" 19 in full view of. the congregation on his parental obligations The front central seat of the galleries was reserved, for the Magistrates and Town Councilors who chose to attend, sitting in one church in the forenoon in the other in the afternoon. My father having, although originally an Episcopalian, conformed when he settled down in Stirling to my mother's form of worship, regularly kept up the custom of marching in state to church on Sunday. The procession was formed in front of the Burgh Buildings in Broad Street, consisting of the hospital boys in their somewhat antique
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19 To deal in a strict or severe manner with, in various specif. senses: (1) to question closely, cross-examine in a thorough rigorous way (Lth. 1825 Jam.). Many later instances derive from Burns's use in 1786 quot. Vbl.n. tairgin, a severe examination (Rxb. 1825 Jam.) (Dictionary of the Scottish Language, 'tairge' v.1).
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fashioned uniform, under the charge of the guildry officer in his official dress of green and gold, the boys of the Highland Society (a society since extinct), in highland costume under their officer, the four. town officers in their rich picturesque scarlet uniform, each carrying his halberd. the town drummer similarly attired with his staff of office, lastly the town councilors, bailies and provost, as many as made it convenient to attend 20. My father always went thus in state, even if he should happen to be unsupported 'by any of his council. The provost sat in the gallery pew, a more elevated seat, with his bailie on each side. For each of these dignitaries there was a large bible, which must be still in existence, lettered on the cover Provost, 1st Bailie, 2nd Bailie &c. They were moreover during the season of the flowers provided each with a large bouquet culled from the adjoining bowling green garden, plentifully garnished with mint, "apple.ringy," and other fragrant, if somewhat strong scented herbs, intended no doubt to dispel any drowsiness that might steal over the hearers during the long sermon. My father always brought his bouquet home in the afternoon. At the close of the service the minister made a bow to the provost as one of his chief patrons, who returned the salute in a similar fashion. The Church services were decidedly lengthy in those days, a great contrast to the much abbreviated services now considered sufficient, to meet the requirements of public worship. The prayers were deliberately lengthy, and the long standing was certainly wearisome. The sermon rarely, if ever, occupied less than an hour. Often when the hour had expired the preacher had reached only "thirdly," after which had to come "a few word's of application," "lastly," "to conclude," "one word more," and so on ; by which the discourse might be spun out to one-third more than the hour. The interval between the forenoon and afternoon services was thus not unfrequently seriously curtailed, leaving very scant time for a hurried rush home for some light refreshment before returning for the second "diet" of worship. There being in those days no provision for artificial heating of the churches, which were consequently, except in summer, cold and very damp, these prolonged services could not but be very trying to those of weakly and sensitive frames. But I believe that our ancestors, representing the survival of the fittest, were a more robust race than those of the present
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20 The town council included the Provost (chief magistrate and civic leader) and four bailies or magistrates.
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generation. In the short winter days the light had failed before the congregation was dismissed, and then it was customary for the precentor to "read out the lines" of the last Psalm, or Paraphrase, that is to say, he read out in a loud sing-song tone each two lines of the verse to enable the people to join in the singing This gave a very quaint turn to the diapason of praise. It was considered a duty, then to attend at both Sunday services. " Half Timers," except in a case of sickness or other unavoidable cause of prevention were almost unknown. To take a walk on Sunday, or rather the Sabbath Day, as it is still very generally called in Scotland, was looked upon as a most audacious act. Many good people, among them relatives of my own, kept all the window blinds drawn down on Sunday. Although we may differ entirely from these worthy people as to their way of observing the Lord's Day, and think that it calls for a more cheerful mode of' commemoration, we cannot but, respect the high motives that led them in such solemn fashion to keep the day holy to the Lord. The half yearly celebration of the Communion or the Sacrament, as it was called, was made the occasion, of much religious observance, and church attendance at what were called the "Preachings", The Fast Day observed on the preceding Thursday was regarded as, if possible, an even more holy day than the Sabbath. It was looked upon with no favour by the young folk, who would have preferred even lessons and going to school on that day. They had a special grievance in the forenoon service. This was commenced in the usual way by the minister of the church. After the customary long prayer he gave a second psalm, during the singing of which he retired from the pulpit and a stranger clergyman slipped in, who then started the service de novo. This custom, the origin or meaning of which I never heard explained, was regarded by .us as a grievous imposition on our powers of endurance. On Saturday there was an afternoon service, in retiring from which intending .communicants had distributed to them the small leaden tokens that ensured their admission to the Lord's table next day. That was a day of pro. longed religious services. The congregation assembled at half-past ten, being half an hour earlier than usual, and from that time, with the usual Sunday services and the successive special services at each "serving of the tables," there was no intermission until about five o'clock. Of course
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very few remained continuously in church during the whole of that time, and the young people came home after the morning service, as well as many others who did not intend to communicate. Then came, the evening service at six o'clock, the only regular evening service held throughout the year. The unwonted hour of meeting, and the solemnities of the day then. attracted large congregations, so that every pew, was packed, and often the aisles were occupied by those who failed to find sitting-room. The young folk, liked attending this evening service for the novelty of it. The church was lit with candles on brackets and, (that is the East Church) in a large brass chandelier hung from the ceiling and it was a regular source of entertainment for us to watch the guttering of the candles in the heated atmosphere and the dropping of the melting tallow on the Sunday clothes of those who sat directly under it. On Monday there was forenoon service again, and lastly on that day it was customary for the minister to entertain to dinner the stranger clergyman who had assisted at these services and. also his elders. It used to be said, but probably by individuals who had not partaken of the minister's hospitality, that there was usually a very fair consumption of whisky toddy, at the Monday dinner.
    In more ancient times it was usual at some churches, probably on, account of the numbers who flocked to the preachings from the country district, to have service in' the open air, what was called a "tent preaching," the prayers and addresses being delivered from a movable pulpit, set up generally in the churchyard. I just recollect seeing such a tent preaching on the green, slope surrounding the old Viewfield Place Church, which preceded the present larger and more commodious edifice. There were in Stirling three ministers of the Established Church, the senior of whom ministered in the West Church, the ,second in the East Church, while the third preached morning and afternoon in each of the, churches—usually the same sermon to both. congregations—the worst paid man, as is so often the case; doing most duty. When the North Church was built and opened: in 1842, Dr Beith, then First minister, took charge of it. I am not quite certain as to the exact succession of the various ministers I have known in the East and West Churches.. The first that I recollect were Dr. Wright, as first minister, who died in 1826, Dr Small, second minister, who died in 1825 and Mr Bruce, who I
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believe was third minister. I think it was after Dr Bennie came, a very eloquent preacher, afterwards translated to Lady Yester's in Edinburgh, where his sermons proved a great attraction to the college students of my day. After Dr Wright came Mr McFarlane, then Mr Cupples. At the Disruption in 1843 the three minister were Dr Beith, Mr Cupples,:and Mr Leitch, all of whom cast in their lot with the secessionists from the Establishment.
    I turn now to the adjacent Guildhall 21, with its conspicuous statue of the founder, John Cowane, in the doublet and trunk hose of his day, "Staney Breeks," as we always called it, over the porch of entrance. Every Stirling boy had imparted to him the marvelous information that each night when Staney Breeks heard the ten o'clock bell rung from the clock tower of the Burgh Buildings in Broad Street, he descended from his niche and danced on the pavement below. In former times the Guild Hall, in the absence of any more suitable place of meeting, was utilised for public assemblages and social gatherings of various kinds. It was used from time to time for lectures and other popular entertainments, balls took place there and sometimes a public dinner, and I have known of a large temperance meeting being held in it, but meetings in that line were by no means common in those days. That long-established society, the Stirling Horticultural Society, had their annual exhibition of 'flowers and fruit in the hall. The Highland Society, already alluded to, held their annual festival in the adjacent Bowling Green grounds 22, which were well adapted for the purpose with the stone terrace and the embankment surrounding the green, from which the spectators would most conveniently view the dancing and other Celtic sports, and listen to the thrilling strains of the pipes. The Bowling Green was formerly shut off by a high wall on the side next the church: It is still a very picturesque spot, both for its surroundings and its own intrinsic beauty, but shut off as it then was, it seems in my eyes to have presented still-greater charm with its closely shaven lawn, its parterres of blooming flowers, its shrubbery, with the shrubs trimmed in the old fantastic Dutch style of gardening, specimens of which, till quite recently, still survived on one side the o'er-arching trees on the Back Walk casting their shimmering checkered shade, on the other the belfry tower and the roofs
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21 Now more usually (and properly) known as Cowane's Hospital, a former almshouse.
22 Green, C. 2000. The Garden at Cowane's Hospital (The Guildhall) Stirling: A Brief History, Forth Naturalist and Historian, 23, 123-130.
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of the old churches seen over the high wall. Surely no more charming spot was ever provided for a quiet game of bowls. For this purpose it was much resorted to by the gentlemen of the town, who in those days, as "far from the madding crowd's ignoble strife, they kept the noiseless tenour of their way," seemed to find abundant leisure for such homely pastime, and every fine afternoon could be heard rising from this sequestered enclosure the calls of "Pins to the Kirk," " Pins to the Wall," and other guiding instructions of the skips directing their followers in the management of their bowls. I notice by the way, that a fig tree that long stood trained on the east wall of the Hall, each summer bearing fruit, which in our unsuitable climate never came to ripeness has now, disappeared.
    Formerly, and 1 suppose from the time that the Guildhall was built for the accommodation of the twelve decayed Guild Breither, it had an upper floor, afterwards removed, to the great advantage of the architectural proportions of the quaint old hall. On the upper storey a school was kept by a Mr Fraser—." Fraser's School." In the hall below the scholars of the English school in Spittal Square, Weir's School used to meet for some little time before the annual examinations, which, as well. as that of the Writing and Arithmetical School'—""Patie's "—was held there, preparing for it. These examinations, more properly exhibitions, were fully prepared for beforehand. I recollect that during that time we assembled at 7 in the morning for two hours' work before breakfast, a severe trial for boys hungering for their porridge. In the Guildhall I first acquired the art of dancing, under the tuition of Mr Allan, a very popular teacher, who married a Stirling lady, a daughter of Mr Laing, who carried on business as a maltster and lived in Park Lane:
    At the head of the Castle Wynd, adjoining Argyll Lodging, which has been for many years utilised for the Military Hospital, is part of the front wall of a house, which, becoming unsafe through age, was taken down a number of years ago. I never heard what was its history. It may have been contemporaneous with the mansion built by the Earl of Stirling, and may have formed part of it 23. Over each of the windows that remain is carved a spiked crown,
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23 The range mentioned, the original Campbell of Argyll house, is further discussed in Ewart, G, Gallagher, D and Harrison, J. Argyll’s Lodging, Stirling: recent archaeological excavations and historical analysis, PSAS, 140 (2010), 179-206.
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surmounted by a 'boar's' head. From this armorial device one skilled in heraldic lore could form a conjecture as to the, original foundation of the house. In my younger days it was occupied as quarters by Major Forbes, who was then Barrack master. On the opposite side of the street, next to what is now the Lorne Tavern, stood an old two-storeyed house with an inside winding stair, traditionally said to have been where George Buchanan 24 dwelt, noted chiefly for' his Latin metrical version of the psalms. He was preceptor to James VI and the castle apartment to which a few steps lead up at the end of the terrace which is reached by the Long Stair, is pointed out as having been . the schoolroom. Buchanan appears to have been no respecter of persons, for he is said not to have spared the rod on his Royal, pupil. . The Fever Hospital, further down the street, was known as Valley Lodge, and was for many years occupied. by Mr John Sawers, Procurator Fiscal. In those days many of the better class of the inhabitants occupied tenements in the older parts of the town, none of the villa residences which now so plentifully adorn the level ground to -the south and west of. the Rock, having yet been called into existence, and the only suburban. residences. being. in Melville and Pit .Terraces—"The Terrace" as they were then styled—and in Allan Park 25. For instance in the Broad Street lived Mr Wright, writer, Mr Andrew Hutton, writer. (the now commonly adopted title, solicitor, had not then been introduced from England); Mrs Wingate. and her son, the late Mr J. T. Wingate, writer; Mr Banks, sheriff clerk; Mr Knight, and various others who held a good position in society. An entire change has since taken place, no doubt in many respects greatly for the better, and these dwellings are now all tenanted. by families very much lower in the social, scale. Although there were good commercial establishments. in Baker Street, King Street, and Port Street the chief centre of business was Broad Street. There in the old Burgh Buildings 26 were
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24 For Buchanan see Oxford Dictionary of National Biography 2004, George Buchanan.
25 see eg McKichan, Finlay, A Burgh’s Response to the Problems of Urban Growth: Stirling 1780-1880, Scottish Historical Review, 57, 68-86. See also Bob McCutcheon etc
26 The 'Burgh Buildings' now more often called the Tolbooth. It included the old burgh offices but also a more recent court room and a prison, built in the early nineteenth century, albeit with little regard to contemporary ideas of prison design.
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held the Assizes. the Sheriff Courts, the Police Courts, and (until comparatively recently) the Town Council meetings. The Court Room was often used for public lectures, On the street in, front at election times was erected the hustings for the speechifying on the day of nomination. There also was put up the scaffold on the rare occasion of a public execution 27. Broad Street was as. it were the Forum of. Stirling. Hither the gentlemen, many of them retired officers of the, army and men of leisure, resorted in the earlier part of the day to exchange the current news, the chief, place of meeting being the shop of Provost Forman 28, my father's predecessor in the chief magistrate's chair, a very small shop on the north side of the street, where the Provost carried on business as a bookseller. A little higher up the street are the premises where Mr Warden, referred to in connection with the secession from the Grammar School, carried on his school. We had at first been in rooms down a close at the head of St-Mary's Wynd. The school was on the first floor. Over the door leading to the stair was the motto "Nisi Dominus Frustra,29" which still remains, although the doorway is now replaced by a window in the shop below. As I have mentioned in another paper on the history of the Episcopal Church in Stirling, the room in which the school was taught appears to have been used by the Episcopalians during the existence of the Penal Laws as a place of meeting for divine service. On the death of Mr Warden, which was to me personally a great loss, for he was a most capable and enthusiastic teacher, Mr Rankine got charge of the school and some time afterwards we removed to premises in St John Street. Mr Rankine was followed by Mr Sorley. Both of these gentlemen became ministers of dissenting churches, which at the present time would be comprehended in the U.P. Church. Immediately above the school in Broad Street is
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27 The last public execution in Stirling - indeed, the last execution - was that of Allan Mair in 1843 - Craig Mair, 1993. Alan Mair: The Last Person to be Executed in Stirling, Forth Naturalist and Historian, 16, 119-129.
28 Provost Forman's shop, on the ground floor of the former Toun's New House. See Drysdale, W., 1904. Auld Biiggins of Stirling, its closes, wynds and neebour villages, Mackay, Stirling, 70 and illustration.
29 A popular pious Latin phrase, echoing the first line of Psalm 127, "Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labour in vain" ; the Latin is compressed but the sense is that, without God's help, all is in vain.
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a courtyard that was convenient for disputes among the boys that had to be settled by a bout of fisticuffs. I recollect .being one of the principals in a duel of this kind. I appeared to be having the best of it, for my opponent, a very passionate boy, quite lost his temper, and, leaving off .the legitimate use of his fists, picked up a brick that lay handy, and was pursuing me round the court with it, when Mr Rankine made his appearance and put a stop to the fight. Next day we were both had up for judgment, I being the first culprit examined. When asked if I would let the matter-rest-and not renew the fight, I consented, and was let off with an admonition. My late opponent would give no such promise, and for his obstinacy received a severe castigation with the tawse. As a matter of fact our quarrel, whatever it was about, was not kept up, and the school friendship went on as before.
The old Burgh Building on the south side of the street has lost much of the connection it once had with both the county and the municipal business since the erection of the County Buildings 30 at Viewfield Place nearly twenty years, ago, and, at a later date; the transference of most of the burgh business to the Atheneum Buildings in King Street. The two upper stories of the latter edifice were, I believe, from the time of its erection early in this century, occupied for the Subscription Library and the Reading Room at a merely nominal rent. Our Municipal Authorities objecting to the, climb up. Baker Street resumed these two flats, and had them fitted up for their own business It is questionable whether they have gained much in personal convenience, if the toilsome ascent to the. Council Chambers by the long and very steep stair is taken into account. The old Burgh Buildings were the official head quarters of the town officers, of whom there were four maintained in the picturesque scarlet livery of the town. They are now reduced to one, except that at assize time three men hired for the occasion appear with him in the official costume to make a suitable show at the reception of the judges at the railway station. On the town officers, until the modern policeman in blue made his appearance on the municipal stage
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30 The Sheriff Court is still in the old County Buildings.
31 Stirling adopted the Police Acts and acquired a police force only in 1857 prior to which, very much as Galbraith states, the town officers were the main 'police' force (McKichan, 1978, 79-80.
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evolved the duty of attending to the peace and order of the burgh by day. In my young days the four officers were Sandy Kerr, called also "Satan Carr "—a very, irascible little man --James Jackson, Danny M'Vean, and David Hunter. There was besides the town drummer—also wearing the royal scarlet—who made public announcements, such as are now notified by the bills abundantly pasted hoardings, blank walls &c. He perambulated the town with his side drum, halting at suitable intervals to give a roll on it, drawing attention to the notice he was about to call out in his most sonorous tones. Of these an announcement that specially dwells in my memory is one, that in the, autumn season was not unfrequently heard, of "a fine field of tatties ready for howkin. 32" The first town drummer I recollect was Wull M'Donald. To him succeeded Isaac Spyron, a retired soldier, who held this office when I went abroad. The bell man who latterly replaced the drummer, was not a recognised public official, although some of the patrons of Tam Chalmers, the bellman, who died not many years ago, provided him with a dark blue uniform suit and a very large cocked hat, for Tam's head was a particularly large one. Its capacious size was an instance of the fact that, as regards intellect, it is not merely quantity of brain matter, but quality in addition, that has to be taken into account. .
    For the preservation of order in the town by night each male householder, with certain exceptions, was held personally liable to act as one of the Town Guard when his tour of duty came round. For this be was warned by the Town Officer of, his district, the town being for this purpose. divided into four
districts. Certain classes of the citizens were exempted, such as ministers, doctors, lawyers, schoolmasters, &c. As substitutes for service were accepted the better class of course did not personally undertake the duty, nor even pay any heed to the warning, knowing that there were always men in waiting, ready to take the place of those who. at the ringing of the 10 o'clock, bell, were found. to be absentees. The fee for this substitute duty was one shilling, which was fully called for next day. The guard-room was the apartment at the rear of the old Burgh Buildings. in St John Street, since used as the night shelter. Ten men--armed merely with their
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32 Tattie howkin - lifting potatoes - the demand was for purchasers to buy the potatoes in the field.
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walking sticks—along with one, whom they themselves chose to be Sergeant for the night, constituted the Guard. About twice in the course of the. night a party of the guard perambulated. the principal streets; but Stirling, in those days,, was a very orderly town at night and usually the only, result of their excursion was the occasional. picking up of a drunk and incapable who was brought to the guard room. If peaceably disposed he was then and there fined the price of a bottle of whisky for the benefit of the guard—procurable at any hour of the night from a public-house that was at one end of the Jail Wynd' —and was then caefully escorted home to his own dwelling. Those who were noisy and troublesome were consigned to the lock up. Latterly there was much grief amongst the poorer sort of householders because under this primitive system of night watching, if they were unable personally to perform the duty, they were mulcted in the same fine for providing a substitute as those of the richer classes who were far better able to pay it.
     On the weekly Friday, market day both sides of Broad Street, were lined with the carts that had brought in the country produce the vehicles resting on the " trams", the horses being removed and stalled. The Butter Market then justified its appellation, for there the farmers' wives and' daughters displayed for sale their butter, eggs, and poultry. A thrifty class they were these country lasses of that generation. Those of them who had not the convenience of a cart walked in from their respective rural homes, carrying in their baskets not only the produce they had to dispose of but, also their shoes and stockings for, to save shoe leather they walked barefooted until they reached the outskirts of the town. Often have I seen these lasses putting up their shoe and stocking at the foot of the Back Walk near Allan Park, where a stream—now converted into a drain—which came down the Dumbarton Road was convenient for washing their travel-soiled feet. The same saving custom might be witnessed on market day at the end of the Terrace, where also there was a convenient rill of water, and at other points of ingress to the town. How different now ; when fashionably attired ladies, who carry no butter, eggs, or poultry, pay their weekly visit, arriving by train, or accompanying their fathers, husbands, or, brothers in their Whitechapel
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carts, of which they themselves not uncommonly handle the reins! 33
    The May Fair, still held on the last Friday in May, but now only a ghostly shadow of its former self, was in those days a great annual holiday both for the townsfolk and for the dwellers in the surrounding districts, who flocked in until the streets, particularly the lower portions of Broad Street, Baker Street, and King Street, were packed with a dense struggling crowd. Many were the stalls set up in the streets, where toys, sweeties, articles of cheap mercery, &c;, were displayed, and readily bought for personal use and consumption, or for treating friends to their "fairing." Some of the favourite articles of confectionery seem to me to be no longer manufactured, such as Gibraltar rock, black man—a kind of soft toffee in thin sticks enveloped in coarse paper—and gundy 34 a yellow stick-jaw sweetmeat in cakes of the shape and about the size of tablets of soap. Neither, I suppose, are scrapings of the sweetie pan now procurable. As a considerable quantity was to be got for a half-penny, these were much favoured by schoolboys. Being dispensed without wrapping paper we generally received them into our bonnets. At many of the stalls were piles of "speldrins," a kind of salted and highly dried fish—haddock, 35 I suppose--which also seem to have disappeared from the market. They were readily bought, and were usually eaten on the spot. Oh, for the powers of mastication and digestion by which one was able thus to dispose of a speldrin without any cause for after regret!
    In harvest time the shearers, who came over from Ireland in large numbers, were wont to assemble in Broad Street, armed with their reaping hooks at an early hour each Monday morning, to be hired by the farmers. That is a thing of the past. Fortunately the reaping machine now renders the farmer independent of such land labour which indeed Ireland, with her greatly reduced population, as well as owing to other changes, could not in fact now furnish. 36
In Broad Street was celebrated the annual ceremony
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33 Whitechapel Cart - A light two-wheeled spring cart
34 For Gundy and Black Man see Dictionary of the Scots Language 'gundy' n1.
35 Dictionary of the Scots Language has either haddock or whiting, split open and dried.
36 Famine and emigration, the great 'changes' in Ireland, are here dealt with very quickly.
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of the drinking the King's health by the Magistrates, and the citizens whom they invited to join them. I recollect being taken, when a small boy, on one of these occasions to see this honouring of the Royal birthday from a window in Provost Forman's house over his shop. I think it must have been about the last of these celebrations in the reign of George IV., just before William 37 came to the throne, in whose time I believe this loyal custom was discontinued. The company formed a large circle in front of the Burgh Buildings. Each being provided with a glass, which was filled with wine by the town officers and other assistants, and supplied also with a few almonds and raisins, the town, drummer starting from above trotted down the open space, calling out "The health o' his maist gracious Maejesty (sic)" The toast having been duly honoured by drinking off the wine, the next part of the ceremony was to toss the glass in the air, so that being shivered on the causeway it might never be put to any more ignoble use. All, however, did not faithfully carry out this item of the programme. Some, who objected to this wilfully destructive act, handed their glasses to members of the crowd who pressed close behind ready to receive the gift. I believe my father was one of those who thus spared the glass. Others again—a smaller minority—equally averse to such wastery, but of a more saving turn of mind, slyly "pooched" the glasses, and took them home to their careful and expectant spouses. Fresh glasses being supplied, a few other loyal toasts were drank, the Militia band stationed a little further up the street playing an appropriate tune after each toast.
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37 William became king in 1830.
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END OF PART 1 | CONTINUE TO PART 2 | Dr G. T. Galbraith