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collections to fall off, and of course to increase the necessity of making assessments. But these assessments, in country parishes, are rarely of any consequence. In the parish to which the writer of these answers belongs, the amount of assessment has never exceeded twopence in the pound of rent, and being frugally administered, the whole destitute poor receive that quota of assistance sufficient to preserve them from want and beggary. Indeed, the principle of the Scottish system is to aid the endeavours of the poor, and never to furnish such a supply as may induce them to refrain from working, except in extreme cases. The benefit of this system excites the lower ranks to industry and frugality in the days of health and strength. Acting from these motives, considerable numbers lay by small sums in their early days, as a resource or provision for supporting them when unable to work; though these motives would not operate were it understood that the parish were bound to maintain them.

It ought to have been mentioned, that many parishes are possessed of funds, consisting of mortifications made to them, and the accumulated balances of the weekly collections of former times, when the poor were not so numerous, and the collections more abundant, than they have been of late years. The annual interest of these funds, added to the weekly collections, are, in numerous instances, sufficient to support the poor without assessing landed property. In other parishes, where there are neither mortified funds nor assessments, the weekly collections are divided among the poor. And from all these circumstances it will evidently appear, that whatever defects may attend the Scottish system for supporting the poor, the same charge cannot be made against it as has often been brought against the English system, viz. of encouraging idleness and immorality. No; in Scotland, if a man wishes to be comfortable in his old days, he must be thrifty and industrious in the days of his youth; as, should his conduct be different whilst health and strength remain, he is morally certain of suffering in one way or another when age and its accompanying evils arrive. Before leaving this query, it cannot be amiss to notice the expediency of

passing a declaratory law concerning the Scottish system of supporting the poor. As already said, there seems no distinct or precise law upon the subject, the whole system being rather built upon use and custom, than upon the enactments of the legislature. Nay, doubts are entertained whether assessments could be legally enforced were there any disposition to resist them, as may be seen by looking into the periodical paper called "The Bee," written by the late Dr James Anderson. Even with regard to the right of a pauper to claim relief, the decisions of the courts have by no means been uniform. A declaratory law, wherein all these matters were placed in a distinct light, would therefore be of great advantage. And in such a law the management of the poor should be left to the members of the kirk session, who are the only persons qualified for discharging that duty in a prudent and frugal manner, being intimately acquainted with the condition of those who stand in need of public assistance. whilst the acting management was thus left to the kirk session, it would be useful and expedient to reserve a controlling power to the heritors, that is, power to examine and audit the accounts of the kirk session annually; to lay on assessments, if such are necessary; to delete from the roll of poor the name of any person who in their opinion did not stand in need of assistance; and to place upon the roll the name of any person refused assistance by the session, if his or her case was considered to be such as to merit relief. A control of that nature seems absolutely necessary, otherwise kirk sessions might fall into many errors; and, as the chief burden of supporting the poor falls upon the heritors, there would be small risk of any danger from assessments, seeing that those who laid them on were the very persons who had to pay them.

But

3. What are the resources at present in Scotland, for such persons as are incapable of labour, and absolutely destitute?

A. There is no other resource at present in Scotland for persons incapable of labour, but the funds of the kirk session, unless some of their friends are disposed to assist them.. But when persons of that description have long resided with a farmer, it is

not uncommon for him to supply them with food during their lifetime. In country parishes the wants of the poor are better attended to than in large towns, chiefly because these are better known in the former than in the latter situation.

4. Is it probable that the want of certain legislative resources against poverty, has the effect of rendering the labouring classes in Scotland more industrious, sober, provident, and respectful to their superiors?

A. There can be no doubt that the want of certain legislative measures against poverty has had the effect of rendering the labouring classes in Scotland more industrious, sober, provident, and respectful to their superiors, than the same classes are in England. In Scotland, charity, generally speaking, is dispensed as a favour, whereas in England it is claimed as a right which cannot be withheld, even though the poor's rate was to swallow up the value of the land. Again, in Scotland, no person in health can, upon any account, receive relief from the poor's funds, even though it can be shewn, in the clearest manner, that he cannot obtain work. If work is not to be got in one place, he may go to another and seek it, there being no foolish law respecting settlement to prevent him. When provisions are very high, such as they are at present, then a measure is sometimes resorted to, of furnishing labourers with meal at reduced prices, and the loss thereby sustained, is either defrayed by an assessment on the parish, or by the voluntary subscription of individuals. In Edinburgh and other places, where labourers at this time cannot get work, money has been raised by subscription to furnish them with employment, and various works are carrying on at the expense of the subscribers. But these are extraordinary measures, and quite unconnected with the management of the ordinary poor, therefore it is unnecessary to insist upon them.

5. What is the usual mode of providing habitations for the common labourers, and for the absolutely indigent?

A. Every farm in Scotland is provided with a sufficient number of cot tages for lodging the labourers required to cultivate it; and in the neighbouring towns and villages there is al

ways plenty of houses to be got by those who are labourers of a different description, and also for those who are absolutely indigent. The rent of houses occupied by the indigent is generally paid by the kirk-session.

6. What is the usual beverage of the common people? do they generally drink beer? and how do they procure it?

A. The usual beverage of the common people is milk, failing that useful article, water, or small beer not much better than water, is their beverage. The small beer is usually procured from public houses.

7. What may be the number of alehouses, in reference to the population of districts?

A. There are ten public-houses in this parish, few of them of extensive business, and the population thereof is 1700 souls or thereby.

8. Is it customary for labourers to resort to such houses?

A. It is not common for country labourers to resort to public-houses, except when they have received some money from their masters for extra services, or when they are delivering grain or other articles, on which occasions an allowance in money is always given them. The inhabitants of towns and villages are better customers to the publican than the country labour

ers.

9. Is it usual for common brewers to become owners of such houses, and serve them exclusively with their own manufacture? or do the tenants brew their own beer?

A. The brewers in Scotland are very seldom owners of public-houses, the sale of ale and small beer being too inconsiderable to make it any object for them to rent houses with a view of procuring the exclusive consumption of customers.

The tenants of publichouses rarely brew their own beer; indeed that is quite unnecessary, for one common brewer can with ease supply all the beer that is wanted in four or five parishes. Private brewing is not customary in Scotland, except in the harvest months, when many of the large farmers brew beer for the use of their reapers-bread and beer being almost in every case the only articles for dinner.

10. Are saving banks, or similar institutions, multiplying in Scotland? A. Saving banks are pretty numerous

in Scotland, but they are neither multiplying so fast as was expected, nor is the success of those already established so great, as to warrant a belief that these institutions will ultimately prove of much advantage to the country. Some how or other, the lower ranks, in general, entertain a strong though mistaken aversion to saving banks; and whether this proceeds from a desire to keep their savings out of the sight of their employers, who almost in every case have assumed the management of these banks,-or whether they have an idea that the circumstance of having money in the bank at one time, will afterwards be a bar to their receiving parochial relief at a future period, cannot well be determined. But one thing is certain, that these establishments are not generally viewed in such a favourable light as they merit; nay more, it is highly probable that the greater part of the money invested in these banks had previously been lodged with private persons, and only transferred because a higher interest was allowed in the one case than was received in the other.

ANECDOTES OF THE FIFE GYPSIES.

No III.

MR EDITOR,

I AGAIN approach the precincts of your respectable Miscellany, the present repository of detached pieces of Scottish gypsey history, with a quantity of fresh materials on that subject, in continuation of what I have already deposited within your columns relative to these hapless tribes,

of right belonged. After an arduous chase, the boys were overtaken near Stirling, when a furious battle immediately commenced. Both parties were armed with bludgeons. After having fought a considerable time, with equal success on both sides, Graham, from some unknown cause, fled in a cowardly manner, and left his near relation, Brown, alone, to contend with the youths in the best way he could. The boys now began to press hard upon Brown, and became the assailants in their turn. He defended himself long and manfully with his bludgeon, displaying much art in the use of his weapon, in warding off the lighter strokes of the boys, which came pouring in upon him like hail from all quarters. At length, however, he was forced to give way, although very few of the blows reached his person. On taking a step backwards, retreating with front towards his assailants, his foot struck an old feal dyke, when he fell with his back to the ground. The enraged boys, like tigers, now sprang in upon him; and, without shewing the least mercy, forthwith despatched him upon the spot, by literally beating out his brains with their bludgeons.

Brown's coat was brought home to Lochgellie by some of his friends, with its collar and shoulders besmeared all over with blood and brains, with large quantities of the hair of his head sticking among the gore. It was preserved for some time in this shocking condition by his wife, and exhibited as a proof that her husband had not fled, as well as to rouse the clan to future vengeance. My informant, a man about fifty years of age, with others, saw this dreadful relique of Brown, in the very same state in which it is here described. He was uncertain, or rather seemed unwilling to tell, whether the laws of the country had ever taken cognizance of this af fair.

Charlie Brown, one of the principal members of the Lochgellie band, was killed in a desperate fight at the Raploch, near Stirling. A number of gypsey boys, belonging to several gangs in the south, obtained a considerable quantity of plunder at a Perth fair, and had, in the division of the spoil, some how or other imposed upon the Lochgellie gypsies and their associates. Charlie Graham, mentioned in my first communication, and this Charlie Brown, went south in pursuit of these young depredators, for the purpose of compelling them to give Lochgellie or not, I am uncertain, as there up their ill-gotten booty to those to whom, by the gypsey regulations, it

Lizzie Brown, a tall stout woman, with features far from being disagreeable, lost her nose in a dreadful battle fought in the shire of Mearns.* In this rencounter they fought with Highland dirks, exhibiting all the

Whether this woman ever resided at

were several families of this name in different quarters.

fury and tumult of a conflict of hostile tribes of wild Bedouin Arabs of the desert. When this woman found that her nose was struck off her face by the sweep of a dirk, she put her hand to the wound, which was streaming with blood, and, as if little had befallen her, called out, in the heat of the scuffle, to those who were nearest to her, "but in the middle o' the mean time, where is my nose?" Poor Lizzie's tall figure was conspicuous among the tribe, owing to the want of that ornamental part of her face. Her visage had somewhat the resemblance of a sun-dial without its cock.

Great numbers of young gypsies at one period crossed the Forth from the south, for the purpose of stealing and robbing at fairs in the north of Scotland. It appears that these people assembled from various quarters, and formed extensive combinations for general plunderings at fairs. The slightest act of injustice committed among themselves, in dividing the booty thus collected at a general pillage of the combined bands, caused a fierce and desperate battle instantly to commence on the spot. I am assured by a gypsey, that a number of their internal quarrels arose from jealousy, or supposed injustice, at these divisions of their spoil. A gypsey is quite alive to a sense of justice among his own tribe, however numerous his acts of robbery and injustice may be which he commits upon the public at large.

Happening to cross the Forth at Queensferry, and having heard that numbers of these wanderers crossed at that passage, I obtained the following curious facts at the village on the Fife side. This public ferry draws, as it were, to a focus, a great part of the population of the country, where are to be seen, passing and re-passing, all the numerous intermediate degrees of rank in the community, from the mighty duke of stately step and lordly port, down to the outcast vagabond gypsey, fluttering in rags, and flying from justice.

About fifty years since, Tam Gordon, noticed in my last communication, with his band of young gypsies, called the "gillie-wheesels," and sometimes the "killie-wheesh," attended most of the fairs in the counties north of the Forth. He often rode upon a shelty himself, and was dressed in

a handsome suit, not at all to be known for a gypsey, except by those who were acquainted with him. Tam's gillies were all young lads, from about twelve to thirty years of age. To avoid observation, they generally crossed the Forth in small parties of twos and threes, as well as in single individuals. Very few persons, however, knew from whence any of these stragglers came. One of the principal secrets of these banditti is, to tell no person from whence they come, or with whom they are connected. They seldom returned by the passage at which they crossed northward. They were in general well dressed; some of them wore green coats, and, like their captain, not to be known for gypsies. Individuals among them pretended to deal a little in horses. They all had cudgels in their hands; and, I believe, had they been searched, a sharp penknife, of the keenest metal, would have been found in the pocket of each man. These knives were employed in cutting out pocket-books and purses of the people in the fairs, when they could not manage the business by slight of hand. With these knives they also appear to have fought in close combat.

Every one of these gypsies put up at a certain public-house in North Queensferry, at that time well known in the neighbourhood for its good cheer, being much frequented by most classes of society. In this house, in the morning after a fair in Dunfermline, when their business was all over, and themselves not alarmed by detection or other scaring incidents, no fewer than fourteen individuals of these daring gypsey depredators have frequently been seen sitting at their breakfast, with Captain Gordon at their head, acknowledged as their commander. They ate and drank of the best in the house, and paid most handsomely. I believe they were the best customers the landlord had. They were perfectly inoffensive, and remarkably civil. They troubled or stole from none of the persons about the inn, nor those who lodged in the house while they were within doors, or in the immediate neighbourhood. Any thing in the premises could have been trusted with these gypsey gillies. In this house, at these meetings, they sometimes conversed in the gypsey language, of which the domestics

about the inn understood not one word, except the slang expression of Captain Grose," milling the fob." Gordon at times paid the reckoning for the whole, and transacted any other business with the landlord. When the gypsey company was mixed with females, which was commonly the case, each individual then paid his own share of the expenses incurred. Some of the females wore brown mantleshad baskets below their arms, vending, in the market, small articles of sale.

These young gypsies, male and female, appear to have been the flower of bands collected and employed in a general forage at a fair. When any of their chiefs happened to remain in this public-house all night, they behaved very genteelly. They paid the chambermaid, waiter, and the person who cleaned their shoes,* with more liberality than the travellers for mercantile houses generally pay these attendants. Tam Gordon assumed very considerable consequence at this place. He frequently hired small boats, and visited the islands in the Forth, and adjacent coasts, like a gentleman on pleasure. On one occasion he paid no less than one guinea, besides as much brandy and bread and cheese as the boatmen, who were three in number, could take, for rowing him to Inchcolm, a distance only of four miles. The female gypsies, on visiting their friends in the dead of winter, often hired horses at North Queensferry, and rode with no small pride and pomp to Lochgellie. Some times two females would ride upon one horse. I know a very decent man, about ninety years old, who has rode himself to Lochgellie, with a female behind him, accompanied by other two females mounted on another of his own horses, riding with much glee and spirit by his side. These females not only paid more than the common hire, but they also treated the owners of the horses with as much meat and drink as they would take, over and above their bargain. The male gypsies also hired horsest at this village, with which they rode to markets in the north. So well did the gypsies

* At small inns, one female generally performed all these duties.

† About 1763, there were at North Queensferry one post-chaise and twelve hacks. At Pettycur there were about forty backs.

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pay their freights and other expenses at this passage, that the boatmen gave them the endearing appellation of our frien's." The old man already mentioned tells me, that he has frequently seen these sailors, with a significant smile on their harsh weatherbeaten countenances, shake the gypsies heartily by the hand, and wish them "a good market," as they landed them on the north shore, in their way to pick pockets at fairs.

The most of these facts are derived from the landlord's son of the inn already mentioned, who is a man about seventy years of age. He told me the following characteristic anecdote of himself and the gypsies:

He

He happened to be at a fair in Dunfermline, where he purchased a horse. He put his hand to his side-pocket for his pocket-book to pay for his bargain, but, to his astonishment and grief, pocket-book and all his cash were gone. The man from whom he had just bought the horse was not disposed to trust him. He was therefore, in his distressing situation, obliged to have recourse to the gypsies. Ann M'Donald, wife of Captain M'Donald, chief of the Linlithgowshire gypsies, was in the fair. knew her power and authority among the tribe. She had often been in his father's house, and knew him well. He told her, with a very long and melancholy face, that he had lost his pocket-book, bills, and money, to the amount of £7. Putting his hand upon her shoulder, in a kind and familiar manner, he requested her friendly advice and assistance in his afflicting circumstances. "Some o' our laudies will hae seen it, Davie,—I will inquire," was the immediate answer which he received from Annie. That he might not trace her doublings and windings, she took him into a publichouse, called for brandy, saw him seated, took the marks of the pocketbook, went out to the crowd in the street, and, in about half-an-hour thereafter, returned from her temporary depot of stolen articles, with the pocket-book and all its contents. The cash, bills, and other papers, were in the same part of the book in which he had placed them. Probably in the throng the villains had not got time

to see what it contained.

This curious affair was transacted in a cool and business-like manner, as

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