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or a Glimpse of the Rural Life of the Scottish Peasantry of 100 years ago by The Rev. Robert Simpson (1866). This is a new book we're starting and have Chapter 1 up now which covers, Cottages in the glen—Their structure—The occupants—Old Saunders Gray—Domestic piety—Christian charity—Its effect.
Here is a bit from the first chapter to give you an idea on how it reads...
In the bosom of one of the sweetest pastoral glens in the south-west of "wild traditioned Scotland," stood a cluster of cottages, of which, and of their occupants, we mean to speak. The stretch of the glen is about eight miles, in the winding length of which a limpid stream pursues its course, and gathers in its way a number of affluents on the right and on the left. These tributaries tend much to enliven the sweet scene, by means of the dark gorges which they have scooped out in their rapid descent adown the steep hills on either side. These gorges are, for the most part, choked to the brim with dark natural wood, and densely entangled copse, sprung from the stems of decayed trees that have grown on the spot, age after age. These murky ravines have their own tales and wild traditions that have clung to them time out of mind. The beautiful green heights, whose velvet slopes are dotted with the Meeting lambkins that gaily frisk around their dams, stand in towering majesty as guardians of the fairy glen.
It was in the deep bosom of this glen where stood the cottages which we have mentioned. These lowly huts were perfect specimens of the hovels of the peasantry of the olden times. The timber part was of oak, which abounded in the primeval woods of the glen, and which, it seems, every one was at liberty to appropriate as he saw fit. The couples were attached to strong beams that were deeply and firmly moored in the ground, and on the cross spars on the roof were placed rows of turf and heather, which even the modern slated roof cannot equal. The interior generally consisted of two apartments, a kitchen and a spence; while the fire of peats blazed exactly in the middle of the floor, and sent its tardy smoke in a dense column straight up through the aperture in the roof. In certain states of weather, the smoke formed a thick cloud above head, so that the joists and rafters were frequently varnished black and glossy, like a looking-glass. The comfort within, in the shivering days of winter, was much greater than, in modern times, we may be ready to suppose.
One cottage in particular to which some degree of interest was attached, was situated close on the margin of a crystal rill that purled from the steep face of the height above, and which, in great spates from the dark thunder cloud, sent its contribution in full and muddy gush down to the main stream that traversed the vale beneath. Behind, in a semi-circle, grew the old trees and brushwood which, in the winter, afforded shelter from the surly blasts that descended from the hills, and poured from the outlets of the narrow ravines with destructive force, as from the mouth of a cannon; and in the sweet months of summer, this sheltering woodland was filled with flocks of songsters, whose merry throats poured forth a flood of the sweetest melody. The cottage was one of a cluster which, in those times, were common in the glens, and even in the remote solitudes; for where, now-a-days, we find only a lonely shepherd's shieling, there were dwellings that studded the localities in every quarter. In the glen to which we now refer there were, in the last generation, nearly a hundred straggling cottages and small hamlets, whereas, at present, we cannot count above a dozen, so extensive have been the clearings within the memory of the people living. In traversing the moorlands and solitary glens, we stumble on the foundations and ruins of old buildings, the very names of which are entirely forgotten. We say the cottage was not alone; there were others near it, exactly of the same structure, and inhabited by persons of the same condition in life; so that in those simple times, and apart from towns, there was no want of sociality and neighbourly intercourse; and as we shall see in the history of the cottage, the inhabitants were orderly in their habits, and consistently Christian in their deportment.
And you can read the rest of this chapter and the others as we get it up at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...tars/index.htm
Alastair
Here is a bit from the first chapter to give you an idea on how it reads...
In the bosom of one of the sweetest pastoral glens in the south-west of "wild traditioned Scotland," stood a cluster of cottages, of which, and of their occupants, we mean to speak. The stretch of the glen is about eight miles, in the winding length of which a limpid stream pursues its course, and gathers in its way a number of affluents on the right and on the left. These tributaries tend much to enliven the sweet scene, by means of the dark gorges which they have scooped out in their rapid descent adown the steep hills on either side. These gorges are, for the most part, choked to the brim with dark natural wood, and densely entangled copse, sprung from the stems of decayed trees that have grown on the spot, age after age. These murky ravines have their own tales and wild traditions that have clung to them time out of mind. The beautiful green heights, whose velvet slopes are dotted with the Meeting lambkins that gaily frisk around their dams, stand in towering majesty as guardians of the fairy glen.
It was in the deep bosom of this glen where stood the cottages which we have mentioned. These lowly huts were perfect specimens of the hovels of the peasantry of the olden times. The timber part was of oak, which abounded in the primeval woods of the glen, and which, it seems, every one was at liberty to appropriate as he saw fit. The couples were attached to strong beams that were deeply and firmly moored in the ground, and on the cross spars on the roof were placed rows of turf and heather, which even the modern slated roof cannot equal. The interior generally consisted of two apartments, a kitchen and a spence; while the fire of peats blazed exactly in the middle of the floor, and sent its tardy smoke in a dense column straight up through the aperture in the roof. In certain states of weather, the smoke formed a thick cloud above head, so that the joists and rafters were frequently varnished black and glossy, like a looking-glass. The comfort within, in the shivering days of winter, was much greater than, in modern times, we may be ready to suppose.
One cottage in particular to which some degree of interest was attached, was situated close on the margin of a crystal rill that purled from the steep face of the height above, and which, in great spates from the dark thunder cloud, sent its contribution in full and muddy gush down to the main stream that traversed the vale beneath. Behind, in a semi-circle, grew the old trees and brushwood which, in the winter, afforded shelter from the surly blasts that descended from the hills, and poured from the outlets of the narrow ravines with destructive force, as from the mouth of a cannon; and in the sweet months of summer, this sheltering woodland was filled with flocks of songsters, whose merry throats poured forth a flood of the sweetest melody. The cottage was one of a cluster which, in those times, were common in the glens, and even in the remote solitudes; for where, now-a-days, we find only a lonely shepherd's shieling, there were dwellings that studded the localities in every quarter. In the glen to which we now refer there were, in the last generation, nearly a hundred straggling cottages and small hamlets, whereas, at present, we cannot count above a dozen, so extensive have been the clearings within the memory of the people living. In traversing the moorlands and solitary glens, we stumble on the foundations and ruins of old buildings, the very names of which are entirely forgotten. We say the cottage was not alone; there were others near it, exactly of the same structure, and inhabited by persons of the same condition in life; so that in those simple times, and apart from towns, there was no want of sociality and neighbourly intercourse; and as we shall see in the history of the cottage, the inhabitants were orderly in their habits, and consistently Christian in their deportment.
And you can read the rest of this chapter and the others as we get it up at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...tars/index.htm
Alastair