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About Google Book Search Google's mission is to organize the world's information and to make it universally accessible and useful. Google Book Search helps readers discover the world's books while helping authors and publishers reach new audiences. You can search through the full text of this book on the web at|http: //books .google .com/I \ "■J t' 1 r 'OU P.O. I, JOHN WATTS DE PEYSTER. Only child ot Fredorio de Peysiei and Mary Ju«ina Wans. Br«v«I Major-Qsneral N. Y. Brigadiar QBiiaral M. P. S. N. Y.. A. M.. LL. D.. Utl. D.. Ph. D.. Kon. FeUow S. S. L. & A., London. Ufa Msmbar R. 5. of Q. B. London, elc.. stc. iV \ } .i am: " lltrt a lUtif. it* i yjfiS': ■ y \ t ■ 1 TiJi; j ?' ; IX'Hi: '-^*~- '-, HERE AND THERE IN TWO HEMISPHERES BY JAMES D. LAW AUTBOB or **DBBAMa o' HAMS," '* COLUMBXA-CALBDONIA '' AMD OTHBB ICOT- TISH AJTD AMBBICAir POBMS ; *l. L1N0X ANA TILMN PiJNDATItNi HH Nat iRA PRi«riM« Cwnmsy LAiouriR. p«. Co GENERAL JOHN WATTS DE PEYSTEB OF "bobs hill" (tivoli p. o.)» hew yobe, AND VBW TOBK CITY, U. 8. A., SCHOLAR, PATRIOT, PHILANTHROPIST, THIS BOOK IB DEDICATED PREFACE AND INTRODUCTION. No matter what kind of a book one may produce it is impossible to please everybody. Some people will find fault with the title, and others with the topics ; a certain clique will condemn the language, the grammar, the style ; many critics will be opposed to the shortness of the chapters, while their length to a certain set will be their chief offence. Extra wise readers will find nothing novel, and many who do will not be generous enough to admit it. Even the envious ignoramus will be heard to murmur something about ^^old rubbage from the noospapers. ' * As to the autobiographical and personal strain that figures in the following pages I make no apology. The book is not only by me but very largely about me, and no one who has read the advertisement of it has bought it under any false pretences. It would have been an easy matter to have knocked out every **I** and yet even then the blindest reader could have seen as much **self "— and perhaps more, because of the studied at- tempt to hide it. In my opinion most forms of frank- ness are less offensive than a sickening attempt to appear unduly modest; a manly self-esteem is much more commendable than the ^^ pride that apes humil- ity. ^^ I have but small respect for those Whose pride can ne'er be tickled; Could I arrange it, goodness knows They'd all be caught and pickled. While men can taste and see and hear And gauge and weigh and measure A little bit of wholesome cheer Can give them no displeasure. Away with all the mawkish airs Of him who makes pretension And says he neither knows nor cares V Vl PBEFACE AND INTBODUGTION. How folks his name may mention! The ladies don't — ^the pretty dears — In their polite dominion, But happy is the man who hears Another's good opinion. There is just as much difference between outspoken accomplishment and empty braggadacio as there is be- tween the real Ananias and the fabled George Wash- ington. There is also "A luxury in self -dispraise; And inward self-disparagement affords To meditative spleen a grateful feast." Perhaps the least defensible paragraphs are those where my pen has been allowed to run on too liberally in a relational vein; or where allusions and references are made that may only be understood by a few inti- mate friends ; but these are mistakes of the heart more than of the head, and if not fully appreciated by the majority of my readers may be excused in considera- tion of the bulk of other good things that all can un- doubtedly enjoy. If some passages seem severe in tone they have not been written with any wanton desire to declare what is unpleasant, or maliciously to show up the despicable, —but were considered necessary in giving a truthful account of what was seen or heard, and are now allowed to stand in the hope that by drawing attention to dis- appointing and depressing conditions they may be remedied or removed by those who have the power to do so. I am pleased and proud to say that some of my previously published strictures in this line have already borne good fruit, admittedly traceable to my pen, thus completely vindicating the writer and justifying what was written. Even if no better results should follow, reforms have been accomplished, and definitely prom- ised, that will bring positive comfort and happiness to PREFACE AND INTBODUOTION. VU not a few families for many generations, and by good example will undoubtedly benefit whole communities. It is sometimes necessary to be severe, and in the cases to which I allude the end justified the means. In the desire to give variety and novelty, different styles and forms of presentation have been permitted in this book with the result that each chapter stands pretty much on its own merits. I have not bothered myself too much about pedantic technicalities, always preferring spontaneity of style to stiff and stilted cor- rectness even were the latter at my command. And now, to assume the haid ton of the superior writer: The author presents *'Here and There'* with confidence that it will give instruction to some and en- tertainment to many. He is willing to believe that the book will be found of sufficient interest to be read by most of those who shall have the opportunity, and may even to the great majority yield some pleasure in the operation. But that those who dissent may not feel either slighted or lonely, and also with a desire to help them to a few ready-made ' ^ fierce phrases and delight- ful denunciations" a brief glance at some famous by- gone reviews may not inappropriately be introduced here. It is now pretty generally conceded that William Shakespeare is one of the greatest authors of all time. Samuel Pepys was an important man in his own day, and he also has left us— in his immortal **Diary*'— one of the six most remarkable English books. Yet Pepys deliberately wrote down that in his opinion Shake- speare's Plays were insipid and ridiculous. Even Dryden preferred Beaumont and Fletcher to the Bard of Avon, and Voltaire could see nothing in him but a drunken savage. Byron contented himself with merely speaking slightingly and sneeringly of the gentle Wil- liam, and including Dryden in his list said such poets had their rise and they would also have their fall. VUl PBEFACE AND INTRODUCTION. Samuel Johnson, the great Dr. Johnson, professional critic and king of his clan, did not hesitate to ridicule Milton's sonnets, Sterne's pathos, and Swift's satires. Of Gray who wrote the divine ''Elegy" the lexicog- rapher declared he was dull in company, dull in his closet and dull everywhere. Horace Walpole took a whack at Johnson, and amongst other beautiful compliments said he was a pedant without either ear, taste or criterion of judg- ment; full of old women's prejudices; a polysyllabic pilferer, an absurd old babbler; utterly insensible to the graces of simplicity; his ''Life of Reynolds" a trumpery performance, stuffed with crabbed phrases, vulgarisms and much trash imagined to be anecdotes ; and his Diary like the Diary of an old almswoman, full of pride, bigotry, presumption and arrogance. Bos- well's Life was simply the story of a Mountebank and his Zany. The truth is, says this elegant reviewer, Johnson was mad and his disciples never knew it; and Walpole finally asks. What will posterity think of us when it reads what an idol we adored! He also con- sidered Sheridan's "Critic" wondrously flat and old; denounced Garrick as an endless and sickening seeker after flattery, and said Mrs. Siddons was quite com- monplace. He decided that Goldsmith 's Comedy ' ' She Stoops to Conquer" was a very wretched comedy. She stoops, he sneered; yes, indeed, she does— the Muse, that is ; she is draggled up to the knees, and she has evidently trudged from Southwark Fair ; the author is immodest as his humor is low. Coleridge looked up Walpole and said his "Mys- terious Mother" was the most disgusting, vile, detest- able composition that ever came from the hand of man. Of Goethe's "Faust" Coleridge wrote that it had no whole as a poem, the scenes were mere magic lantern pictures and a large part of the work very flat, much of PBEPACB AND INTBODUCTION. IX it, indeed, vulgar, licentious and blasphemous. The same critic said Gibbon's History was detestable, made up of a few prominent epochs exhibited by candle- light, and the whole only a disguised collection of fine anecdotes to be found in any book. Coleridge caught it from Southey, who let him oflf easily, however, by simply remarking that ''The An- cient Mariner" was the clumsiest attempt at German sublimity he ever saw. Jeffrey's caustic comments on Wordsworth are better known. He began by saying. This will never do, clenched that by affirming that the case of Wordsworth was hopeless ; that he gave him up as altogether incur- able and beyond the province of criticism, his ** Ex- cursion" being a tissue of moral and devotional rav- ings, strained raptures and fanatical sublimities. Shelley was branded an unsparing imitator ; as a whole insupportably dull ; to tell what the writer knew about the poet would make a disgusting picture, but an un- avoidable comment on his own text. Gifford, in noticing Keats, repeats Keats, Keats, Keats, if that be his real name; and, continuing, con- fessed that he almost doubted any man in his senses would put his real name to such a rhapsody as ' * Endy- mion, ' ' a copy of Leigh Hunt, but more unintelligible, ahnost as rugged, twice as diffuse and ten times more tiresome and absurd than his prototype— rhymes, rhymes with no meaning. Byron also spoke of the Keats trash, and wrote a letter wondering why some one did not review and praise ' ' Solomon 's Guide to Health ' ' which had better sense and as much poetry as Johnny Keats. No more Keats, he entreated,— flay him alive; if some of you don't I must skin him myself; there is no bearing the drivelling idiotism of the mannikin. Who has forgot the ''Curritics" of the ^^Athenaum'^ X PREFACE AND INTBODUCTION. who dubbed Carlyle Blockhead and Strenuous Failure, and even so far back as Lockhart's day made good- natured Sir Walter Scott refer to them as trumpery fellows! Who shall say that their erudite ignorance was not highly honored when the Sage of Chelsea used their spoiled paper to kindle his breakfast-fire f Of American authors it will be suflScient to quote what Peter Bayne said of Walt Whitman in the Con- temporary Review as late as 1876. Bayne was editor of the * * Enclycopaedia Brittanica ' ' and presumably had some taste and judgment with a wide experience in literature. He asserts that Whitman's entire work is founded on extravagance and affectation ; that in whole or part it is atrociously bad and should be received with scorn and disgust; describing it as inflated, wordy, foolish prose; extravagant conceit; offensively silly, nauseous drivel; pretentious twaddle; showing evi- dence of idiocy; sensational, with fakir-like gesticula- tions; not more rational and infinitely less amusing than the talk of The Walrus and The Carpenter in ** Alice through the Looking Glass"; mawkish rant and rubbish; brainless catalogues; a grave offence; an abominable blunder ; unfit for society ; senselessly foul ; and finally the most flagrant and offensive example ever met with (by Bayne) of big badness trying to palm itself off with great excellence. Whitman and Bayne are both in their graves, and Whitman still lives, his admirers and worshippers increasing daily. Have I not shown that even able men are not always to be relied on as judges! Have I not provided an ample and varied assortment of vituperative epithets for hurried literary hacks with poor and hackneyed vocabularies ! Have I not proved the folly of trying to crush or kill a writer by such vehement vaporings, no matter who may hold the pen or wield the blue pencil t And in doing all this I hope I have also convinced my PREFACE AND INTBODUGTION. XI readers that while scum rises to the top as well as cream it is not yet possible for any of us to gather grapes from thorns, nor figs from thistles ; neither is it plaus- ible to expect any book, big or little, to escape unchal- lenged or to circulate freely without exciting the skill of some critical hair-trigger sharpshooter. An easy and safe rule for ordinary people to follow is to skip what . they do not comprehend, or pray for more light to aid them; to enjoy what they like, and not be afraid to say so. J. D. L. Lanoasteb, Pa., U. S. A., November 26, 1903. CONTENTS INDEX. JOHN WATT OF ROSE-HILL 1-24 A hunt for a house— General de Peyster's Scottish ancestors— Survival of names— An Edinburgh ballad— Religious Riot— Madaline Chapel— Old Records. IN CARNEGIE'S COUNTRY 25-52 Sutherlandshire— Interviews with Tenantry — Bonar Carnegie Free Library— A Highland Scholar— Temperance Sermons— Stories of the Laird— Dear Dornoch— A Parson Extinguisher — Skibo Castle— Mn Carnegie in his Highland Home— The famous Swimming-Pool— Table Talk— Distinguished Company— A Game of Golf. SIR THOMAS J. LIPTON, BART 53-60 His Career— Osidge— America's Cup— Inter- national Yacht Races— ** The Erin"— Wireless Telegraphy. SOME BURNS COLLECTORS OF MY AC- QUAINTANCE 61-76 Craibe Angus— James C. E wing— John Muir —James Dewar— John Johnston— Peter Ballin- gall— Andrew Gibson— J. W. R. Collins— John D. Ross— Black of Detroit— R. B. Adam of Buffalo— General James Grant Wilson— Dr. A. M. Stewart and **The Scottish American"— W. R. Smith of Washington. AMANG MY AIN FOLK IN THE AULD HAME 77-103 Lumsden—Auchindoir— President Roosevelt's connection— Antiquities— Law ancestry and notables— Darkness— Social conditions— Rural Life as it is— The Clergymen— Opportunities- Village directory— Worship— **0, gin I were a • • • zin XIV CONTENTS. Barron's heir! "—Rev. Wm. Reid and Rev. Harry NicoU— Troubles of Cattle Breeders- Natural Resources. THE SACK OF AUCHINDORB: A BALLAD.. 104-112 THE EARLY LIFE OF JAMES GORDON BEN- NETT, FOUNDER OF **THE NEW YORK HERALD." 113-132 Keith— Bennett's ancestors— Schools and Travels— Influence of Byron and Scott- Emigrates to Nova Scotia— Boston— New York —Charleston— New York again— Special Corre- spondent—Several Journalistic attempts— *' The Herald" launched— Sensationalism and Enter- prise—His Struggles and Triumphs— Trips back to Keith— Interviewed by A. B. Farquhar. MODERN SCOTTISH POETS 133-146 Mrs. Robertson— Harry Qauld— "Pouter- Robert Ford— Alexander Anderson (*' Surface- man'*) —Alan Reid— William Freeland— Thomas C. Latto— Duncan MacGregor Crerar— James Kennedy— D. M. Henderson— William Camie— Robert Shiells— Wallace Bruce— Robert Whittet —John Stuart Blackie— Robert Reid— Q. W. Anderson— Jessie Annie Anderson, and a score more. RHYNIE AN' ROUN' ABOOT 147-158 The Gordon Land— Craig Castle— The Ander- son Clan— Tap o' Noth— Antiquities— ** A Vil- lage Propaganda"— Rev. R. Harvey Smith— Mackay of Uganda— James Macdonell— The Duffs of Noth. THE MIGHTINESS OF THE MITE 159-165 A new kind of store— Respect and Gratitude —The making of a Multimillionaire— Record- breaking shop-sales— An ideal Business-Building —System— Colossal transactions— Mr. Wool- worth's career— Opinions. CONTENTS. XV LANCASTER IN ENGLAND 166-198 Location — Antiquity— Castle —Assizes— Parish Church— Williamson Park— The glory of Auch- indoir— Lancaster's Streets— Hotels— Pursuits— Warton and the Washingtons— Roman and re- cent history— John o' Gaunt— Wars of the Roses— ** Look and Live"— Old Customs- Courts- Witchcraft— Prison frolics— Jacobite connections— Famous natives— Thumham Hall and the Daltons. ORATORY AND ORATORS 199-218 Beecher— Bryan— Talmage— Henry George- Moody- Ingersoll—Conwell— Father 0 'Connor —Collyer— Colonel McClure— Charles Emory Smith— Henry Watterson— "Ian MacLaren"— Sir Henry Irving— Abraham Lincoln— Blaine— Champ Clark— Breckinridge— Brosius— Hensel — Bourke Cockran— Major Pond— Wm. B. Smith— Michael Simons— Corpulency and Clev- erness. THE LIFE AND CAREER OF GENERAL HUGH MERCER (SCOTTISH AMERICAN PA- TRIOT) 219-235 Franklin County, Pa.— Mercersburg— Dr. Irvine— Mercer's youth— Aberdeen Colleges- Culloden— Dr. Mercer "near Greencastle"— Indian fights— Friendship of Washington— Fredericsburg— A rebel Colonel— Brigadier- General— Trenton— Princeton— Death. LITTLE BITS OF LONDON 236-249 Statistics— Parliament— Sir Wm. Allan— Bal- four and Bryce— Other notables— Westminster Abbey— St. Paul's Cathedral— Sidney Lee— Dr. W. Robertson NicoU. ROYAL KILDRUMMY 250-255 Hose wanted!— A noble ruin— Royal visitors —Historic incidents— Donald Dinnie— Eirde XVI CONTENTS. Houses— The Poet Fergusson's ancestors— Clova Monastery and Chapel— "Don Quixote" in Gaelic— Clova House and the Escurial. STUYVBSANT SQUARE AND WALL STREET 256-262 Palm Sunday at St. George's— Dr. Rainsford and some of his Sayings— J. Pierpont Morgan —The U. S. Steel Corporation— Fair weather friends— Financial sickness and slickness. ODDS AND ENDS OF EDINBURGH 263-275 Appearance of city— Statue of Lincoln- Burns memories— The Castle— Sir Walter Scott —St. Giles Cathedral— The House of Chambers —Libraries— A Scottish Prima Donna— The Singing Minister— Nelson's Cremonas— Anti- quarian Museum— Holyrood Palace— American Lady honored. THE HOMES OF JOHN KNOX AND JOHN WESLEY 276-281 Myth, Tradition and History— Interesting Collections— Blnox's Life outlined— John Wes- ley's House— His Wife— Tempests and Tea— "We're a' daft!" GO-AHEAD GLASGOW 282-289 Like an American city— St. George's Square —Libraries—* ' Scottish Poets ' Corner * '—City Fathers— University — Transit facilities— Satur- day night in the Streets— Popular amusements — *The Cup that cheers'— Book- and Ballad- Makers. A LOOK AT LESMAHAGOW 290-299 Through classic ground— Miner folk— *'Francie"— A lovely vale— Quaint graveyard — Dalzelliana— Some stories— Tudhope's treas- ures- Shandiana. A TRIP IN A TUB ACROSS THE ATLANTIC. . 300-307 Midwinter voyage— Waltzing on the waves- Voices of the night— Boreas at his best-or worst CONTENTS. XVU —Acrobatics— A Royal Surgeon— On deck again —Moral. VOICES FROM THE TOMBS 308-327 Quips and Quibbles— St. Paul's Cathedral- Painter's Comer— Westminster Abbey— A big American Land-Owner— How Shakespeare stole from a Scotsman— Henry VII 's Chapel— The The Tower of London— Scottish Regalia— Elgin Cathedral— Miserable misers— Grim hiunor- Lang pedigrees— Professional Epitaphs— Un- fortunate Texts— Brevities— Country Kirkyards. THE POET-LAUREATE OF THE LIVING LYRE 328-337 A lyrical Paganini— Linguist and Cosmopolite —Autobiographical— Powers of Observation- Habits of Composition— His facility— Punning —Alliteration— A fearless critic— Rare rhymes —Realism— Confidence—* ' Conclusion ! ' ' ABERDEEN AWA' 338-349 Antiquity— The Square— Marischal College —Statuary— New Market— Johnson and Boswell —Fish Market— Royal Asylum— Newspapers— Huntly— Blairmore— An able Cicerone— What statistics tell— *' Fa fuppit the fite fulpie"-like! THE BRITISH MUSEUM 350-356 Biggest Library in the world— Letters of Royalty— Charters— Bulls— With the Literary Men— Vanity and Self -depreciation— Manu- script volumes— The ** Codex Alexandrinus"— Baronial Seals— First Editions. IN SHAKESPEARE'S LAND, INCLUDING AN INTERVIEW WITH MARIE CORELLI 357-369 Cypher— Birmingham experience— Stratford- on- Avon— The Curfew Bell— The Birthplace- Carnegie's doings— Existing Shakespearean MSS.— The Poet's Home haunts— Ann Hatha- way's Cottage— Holy Trinity Church— Mason 2 XVUl CONTENTS. Croft— Marie Corelli— Her appearance— Con- versation—* * Silk ' '—Her writings— Souvenirs. A BIT 0' TWEED 370-572 Kingledores— Saunders Tait— Linkumdoddy— Talla Water navvies— Rev. W. S. Crockett. IN BELFAST TOWN 373-378 A Rugby rush— Transvaal echoes— Belfast people-* maistly Scotch'— Industries— A photo- artist- Sir James H. Haslett, M. P.— The Royal Ulster Yacht Club— "Sir Occo" Davidson— Gallaher, Ltd. — Queen 's College— Churches- Other places of interest— More cities in Ireland like Belfast would soon solve the Irish Question. IN AND ABOUT INVERNESS 379-393 Unequaird natural scenery— Its swell Society affairs— Warm-hearted citizens— Fine shops- Historical importance— Macbeth 's Castle- Cromwell's Fort— Culloden Moor— Wars and Lynchings— A Jacobite Collector— Old Grave- yards—At a Gaelic church— Strathpeffer— Dingwall— Sir Hector MacDonald. SOME OF THE BONNETS OF BONNY DUNDEE 394-398 A Scottish- American Hotel— Sir John Leng, M. P.— A great Publishing plant— Heraldry and Antiquities— ** The Law"— James Scott Skinner —Violinist and Composer— His Collections- Some of his Masterpieces— Monikie. AULD AYR 399-408 Sir William Wallace— The Bam of Ayr— The Land of Burns— Shakespeare and the Scottish Bard— The Scottish Language— Drumlithie— Tam o' Shanter's Inn— Bums Cottage— The Bumess family— **Lippen to Yoursel'"— From Robert in Spirit-Land— ** With Burns at Ayr." THE QUEEN OF THE SOUTH 409-419 Bums everywhere— His homes, haunts and howfs— Centenary Song— Dumfries descendants CONTENTS. XIX A rare Bums Concert— Smith and Nith— Max- welltown Camera Obscura— Bruce and Comyn — Bwart Free Library. VIGNETTES OF LANCASTER COUNTY, PENNA., U. S. A 420-433 **Rus in Urbe' '—Various Views— The Cones- toga River (misnamed ** Creek")— The Quickly Built House— Plain People— Leaves from a Thonian Diary— Two Local Veterans— Labor Day Parade— A Historian's Prophecy— A Couple of Noted Collectors. A SCOTCH DE PBYSTER 434-440 Bums's * honor 'd Colonel'— An American Kinsman— General John Watts de Peyster— Visit to Mavisgrove— Bums relics— Indian trophies— Historic Paintings— Bums MSS. WALT WHITMAN 441-442 Camden's celebrity— An Interview— Whitman described— His opinion of Bums— Some of Walt's friends. TWO PRESIDENTS I HAVE MET 443-448 A Lancaster County delegation— At the White House— President Roosevelt— Secretary of Agri- culture Wilson— Speaker Henderson— At Can- ton, Ohio— A chat with McKinley— How it was managed. SNAP SHOTS OF AMERICAN TRAVEL 449-459 Washington, D. C— The Trolley-Car Guide- Congressional Library— In Congress— Chicago —Everything going— Out-door Orators— Dowie —The Modem Elijah fed by gulls instead of ravens— Niagara Falls— Kansas City— The Warm Springs of Virginia— Flag Rock. FRESH MATTER ABOUT BURNS 460-467 "Mavis-grove"— An old-time Library— Inter- esting Books handled by Bums— Inscribed vol- umes—Unpublished poems— "Robert Aiken"— "0, Elibanks and Elibraes"-"To Mr. Gow visiting in Dumfries"— "Ever to be near ye!" JOHN WATT OP "ROSE HILL." " 'Tuxu v?ithin a mile of Edinburgh toun" This is the story of a hunt for a honse, resulting in the discovery of a great man. In the summer of 1902 the writer was asked to try and locate the old mansion of ^ ^ Eose EQll ' ' which was the home of the Watts of Edinburgh, the Scottish ancestors of General John Watts de Peyster of New York City and of Tivoli, N, Y. All the available information was furnished by Gen- eral de Peyster who has left nothing undone to glean from the misty past what has been recorded of his family history. Many previous attempts had been made to identify the old house and neighborhood, but no definite result had been reached in recent years, and Edinburgh in the vicinity of the ancient **Rose Hill** was changing with every passing season, making it more and more difficult to fix the locality with absolute certainty. In the year 1710 the Hon. Robert Watt settled in New York City where he resided until his death in 1750. He emigrated from Edinburgh, Scotland, his residence there being known as **Rose Hill,** which was also the name of his estate. The exact location of this property has been described as '^ about a mile west of Edinburgh on the old Glasgow road. ' ' It was fur- ther stated that * * the * Rose Hill ' estate is now nearly all built over, the Caledonian Railway passing through it * * The "Rose Hill" house, it was claimed, ''still stood in 1860 in a fair state of preservation. It was a quaint, old- faahioned building, some sixty feet square and three stories high, with four wmdows in a row on every floor. Its situa- I HEBE AND THERE IN TWO HEMISPHERES. tion was high, affording a splendid view to the west and south. There was a two-story building, about twenty feet square, a little to the rear of it, like a tower, separate for offices.'' The first matter to be fixed definitely was tiie time when the foregoing statements were written. * * A mile west of Edinburgh ' ' changes its meaning often. With- in a mile of Edinboro's Toun, Tom D'Urfey could locate smiling hay-fields where busy streets have been for many generations, and every year the mile limit is pushed farther away from the heart of Mid-Lothian. As the period of the writing could not be fixed, the next step was to find the last geographical reference to **Eose Hill,'* and by consulting the City Maps and Directories the date accepted was 1885. In that year * * Rosehill Place ' ' was in existence and was supplanted by ** Morrison Street" which is the current name in the present year (1903). Presuming that '* Rosehill Place" had some connection with the old * ' Rose Hill ' ' estate I took the street cars to Morrison St., and made a gen- eral survey of the district Even the physical appear- ance of this tract of ground has been changed many times within the memory of old citizens : hills levelled, valleys filled up, new streets opened and closed, until very little remains as was to be seen some fifty years ago. With the data in my possession I commenced en- quiring for **Rose Hill," quoting the description of the house as already given. The prefix *'Rose" was quite common to the neighborhood, and amongst others I looked up ** Rose-bank, " ** Rose-bum," '* Rose-vale" and * * Rose-field, ' ' but found nothing nearer to ' ' Rose- hill" than * * Rose-mown^. " I carefully interviewed many old people,— including merchants, housekeepers, real estate men, hotel keepers, dairy-men, coal dealers, manufacturers, land owners, ministers, doctors and lawyers— was often encouraged by seemingly good clues, but all were run out without good results. This JOHN WATT OF *'b08E HILU'* 3 drove me back to the public records and public offices, and amongst others I enlisted the aid of Sir James Balfour Paul, the Lyon King at Arms ; Hew Morrison, of the Edinburgh Free Library; Mr. Paton, a profes- sional searcher at the Register House; Mr. Hay, a leading Antiquarian Bookseller in John Ejiox 's house ; the best locally posted men on the staffs of ' ' Chambers ' Journal ' * and ' ' The Scotsman ' * ; the proper officials of the Caledonian Railway, and the leading men of all other public offices likely to be of any service to me. I also addressed a public letter of enquiry to the ''Scotsman" which has the best circulation in Edin- burgh, as it has in the whole of Scotland, but nothing new was elicited. In the meantime I kept up my per- sonal investigations in the Morrison St. District. Simultaneously several people decided that they re- membered the house and all agreed on the same place. General de Peyster had also sent me newly found data which in the main tallied with the Edinburgh views. The house had been located where the ** Morrison St. Mineral Depot** of the Caledonian Railway now is, and several old gentlemen who remembered it took me to the exact spot which is now occupied as a Coal Yard. They remembered the Building well, and recalled the names of the two last tenants, who were Mr. Bums, Coal Merchant, and the Ryrie family. Market Garden- ers. The Ryries are now keeping ihe Haymarket Ho- tel, nearby, and I had a long talk with them in which they confirmed the description of the house, as I had it. They were succeeded as tenants by Mr. Bums, Coal Merchant, who died there, leaving his widow in charge. At that time the Proprietors were the Caledonian Rail- way Co.— as they are still owners of the land— and they purchased the ground from the Walkers of Dairy. Mrs. Bums did not wish to move as soon as the Cale- donian Co. desired, and the old house was almost pulled 4 HERB AND THERE IN TWO HEMISPHERES. down about her ears. She had not time to move away all her furniture, and claims she lost valuable goods in the hurried and enforced ** flitting.'* This was in 1869. The old lady is still living and I succeeded in locating her in the Braid Hills district. All she told me was confirmed by Mr. Watson, the present Real Estate Factor of the Caledonian Railway, whose office is in Glasgow, and who was a clerk in their employ, col- lecting the rents from the property when it was pulled down. Mrs. Bums also told me that she had heard that Drummond of Hawthomden (the Scottish Poet- Contemporary of Ben. Jonson and Shakespeare), had often visited the house and slept in it, and Drummonds (of the same family) had paid pilgrimages to it in the last century on account of its old associations. As the most noted ancestor of the Watt family, John Watt, was also living when Shakespeare flourished these as- sociations make the place classic ground. **RosehilP* must have been one of the most prominent estates and mansions near the Capital City, maintaining its pres- tige for centuries. Its site is now given over to com- merce and its lawns and fields part of the big modem Athens, as much in the bustle of the City as Princes Street was in the days of King James VI. Before leaving off my researches I had maps and sketches drawn showing the exact location of the old house of **Rose Hill" on the information gathered, aparticu- larly valuable (and official) draft being made by the Cartographer of the Caledonian Railway Co. from the complete charts in their possession. It is remarkable how soon the most prominent places are forgotten in the march of progress, and particu- larly so if they fall into alien hands. It is also exas- perating to find how inaccurate the average man may be and how persistently errors will be passed on from sire to son. But these phases of our common life are Grtu grandson ol iiUttidad Govern 19th Jsnu^Df 1793. It JOHN WATT OF "BOSB'HIUi. 99 mild in comparison with the desire of most peopM to personally profit by such enquiries as the one I was prosecuting, and the itch developed for claiming kin in the hope of material benefit. Pedigrees of almost any length will be furnished for a consideration, the wildest assertions made and even deliberate lies told in the expectation of exciting interest Everything has to be tested, gauged and judged, and the hall-mark of approval only granted after the most rigid analysis. Many a mare's nest is brought to light, and many a long tramp made to end only in a blind-alley by one who digs into the dusty past. But by proving all things and holding fast to that which is good, satis- factory results can be attained. As positively as can now be done the site of the old mansion has been lo- cated, although even the name has disappeared from Edinburgh, It is curious to know that the Watt of Edinburgh, who was the first to establish himself in America, brought with him the name of **Rose HilP' which was first given to a tract of land in New York City ovned by him. Since then the name has been copied in many states, no less than a score of places styled **Rose Hill*' being in the American Republic, entirely exclusive of private seats or country resi- dences.* Thus although extinct in the land of its na- tivity the transplanted name has here flourished and ♦ Places named " Rose Hill " in U. S. A. Rosehill, Covington, Ala. Citrus, Fla. Muscogee, Ga. Oconee, Ga. Mahaska, Idaho. Cook, ni. (Part of Chicago now.) Jasper, 111. St. Clair, 111. Wabash, Indiana. Butler, Kansas. Rosehill, Mercer, Ky. Madison, La. West Baton Rouge, La St. Louis, Mo. Jasper, Mo. Onondaga, N. Y. Duplin, N. C. Cavalier, N. Dak. Darke, Ohio. Harris, Texas. Lee^Va. (21 in all.) (( <( (( (( « « (( « it « b HEBE AND THERE IN TWO HEMISPHERES. spread, and is likely to multiply still more and more. It is also interesting to note that soon after reaching this country Robert Watt added an '*s" to his name, and was ever afterwards known as ''Watts'* which has been continued by his descendants, and, showing the popularity of the new form, notwithstanding the great name of James Watt, while there are only three places in this country named **Watt" no less than fif- teen *' Watts" are to be found scattered all over the Union.* JOHN WATT, HAMMERMAN, An Edinburgh Ballad, in which is shown the saving of a Sovereign and the Preservation of a City by the Powers of One Man. James YI & I, the Scottish King, That heir'd the English croon, Play'd mony a time a merry spring In Edinboro toun. But aince the fearless Burghers there Garr'd him dance sic a jig His sacred air and regal ware Look'd onything but big. ♦ Places named " Watts " in U. S. A. Watts, Butler, Ala. Watts, Lauder, Nevada. " Jefferson, Ala. " Iredell, N. C. " Learcy, Arkansas. " Multnomah, Oregon. '' Haralson, Ga. " Lancaster, Pa. " Kootondi, Idaho. " Abbeville, S. C. " Baltimore, Md. " Milan, Texas. " Clay, Minn. " Robertson, Texas. " Lincoln, Neb. (15 in all.) JOHN WATT OF **B08B HILL.'* 'Twas on a cauld December day In Fifteen ninety-six. The date as nearly as we may Presume wi' truth to fix, When a' the place was in a lowe Aroon his royal hame, Whatever cause was for the row Or wha was first to blame. The noted preachers o' the time Were keen to guai^d their richts, And didna fear to censure crime According to their lichts. They didna hesitate to tell Stracht forrat to his face His mighty Majesty himsel' Gin he forgot his place. This wintry day they had their fling The pulpits were as one In condemnation of the King For. something said or done. The Crown and Throne they so bemired And stormed so long and loud Their congregations first they fired And then they fired the crowd. Forth rushed the mob from square and street, And close and pend and wynd With itching hands and eager feet Their sacrifice to find ; And shouting loudly *' Shoot I" and "Hang!" ** Whatever the gain or loss,'' The lawless and disloyal gang Swept past the Market Cross. The Monarch heard the cries afar And quickly turning tail He fled behind the bolt and bar Of old St. Giles's jail. 8 HEBE AKD THERE IN TWO HEMISPHERES. There trembling like an aspen leaf, Escaped from instant scaith, The City's and the Nation's Chief Felt very near to death. **Gif mobs against the sceptre briz How Majesty takes wing! How poor a man a Monarch is. How helpless is a King! What Tyrant, were he ere so great. Could stand for half an hour Engirt by all his pomp and state Would people use their power!" Thus royal James did moralize When in the Toolbooth penn'd And put petitions to the skies That Fate might waft a friend. But louder rose the cries without, And dreader seemed the roar. When some one, with a lusty shout. Came knocking at his door. Ah, now his latter end had come The frighted King felt sure. His limbs grew weak, his tongue was dumb^ And who could work a cure? At ilka thud his leaping heart Made echoing reply. As if conniving to impart That he was doomed to die. But hark! above the wild uproar Was heard a welcome voice, The slogan of a friend of yore That made the Prince rejoice. And what altho' for joy he grat To see the dags and blades Of Deacon of the Deacons Watt And all the allied trades. JOHN WATT OF **BOSB HILU'' The Standard Bearer of the King Was John the bold and brave, Who did not leave undone a thing His Majesty to save. While others dreamed Watt laid his plans At once to dare and do, And stopp'd not till he mass'd his clans Beneath their blanket blue. His Hammer high above his head The valiant dagsmith held, And he would not go hence, he said, Until the row was quell 'd. The sacred person of their lord No mob should dare to harm, While he had mallet, gun, or sword And strength in his right arm. Such firmness had at once effect. The rabble soon dispersed. Once more the Sovereign stood erect His recent state reversed. And under shadow of the wing Of Watt, the brave and good. The greetin' and the grateful Eling Retired to Holyrood. Yet oft his Majesty recalled The insult of the mob^ And told how deeply he felt galled Concerning all the job. But only one bright spot remained, Howe'er it could be scann'd. And that he said was all contained In Watt's heroic stand. Had it not been for John's display So grievous was its fault The town he would have wiped away And salted it with salt. 10 HEBE AND THERE IN TWO HEMISPHERES. From highest hill to lowest park He would have razed it clean, And only left a stone to mark Where once the place had been. Then honors high to worthy Watt Who saved both King and Crown, And something more to add to that Saved Edinboro town. His name and fame should stand the shock Of all Oblivion's wiles, As long as on her castled Bock Edina looks and smiles! The foregoing ballad relates to one of the most in- teresting and exciting incidents in the history of Edin- burgh, and in the life of **the most high and mighty Prince James, by the grace of God, King of Great Britain, France and Ireland, defender of the Faith,*' etc., although he was at that time sovereign of Scot- land only. The sensational adventure is referred to briefly in all first class histories of that reign, but for the full details concerning the riot and the saving of the Bang's life by John Watt it is necessary to consult many local records, private documents, rare books, and unique manuscripts. All these fell to my good for- tune in stirring up information regarding ' ' Rose Hill, ' ' and when supplemented by the data already collected by General John Watts de Peyster, the story assumed a completeness that has not hitherto been available. In retelling it my aim will be to keep as closely as poS' sible to the original extracts— in other words to let the various narrators speak for themselves, in their own style, and, as far as possible, in tiheir own language. John Watt, described variously as "Hammerman," ' ' Smythe, " * * Dagsmith, ' ' etc, at the time of the Church or Religious Riot in Edinburgh was at the top of his JOHN WATT OF **BOSB HILL.'* 11 profession. He is styled * ' Deacon of Deacons ' ' (which is the same as Deacon-Convener) of *'the allied Trades,'' or *' Crafts" or ''City Corporations." In Colston's volume dealing with ''The Incorporated Trades of Edinburgh" John Watt, Hammerman, is shown to have been Chairman of the whole Trades from 1584 to 1596. An excellent account of the ' ' Trades ' ' may be seen in ' ' Pennecuik 's History of the Blue Blanket, or Craftsman's Banner," and in this book John Watt is given the title of "His Majesty's Standard Bearer." An extract from this volume makes a good introduction to our tale. After briefly referring to the beginning of the Riot, Pennecuik pro- ceeds: "And so great was the zeal of the unwary populace, that taking their march they went straight towards the Tolbooth of Edinburgh, where the King and his Council were sitting, and would have forced open the doors, which, upon the noise of the Tumult were shut, had not his Majesty's Standard Bearer John Watt, Deacon-Convener of the Trades, drawn up his lads, the soldiers of the Blue Blanket, and kept the rabble back till their fever cooled, and the Earl of Mar sent a Company of Musqueteers to guard the King," etc., etc. . . . "Sir Alexander Hume of North Berwick, Provost of Edin- burgh, with the Crafts (Watt, of course, leading) convoyed the King to his royal Palace at Holyrood House ; from whence next morning he went to Linlithgow, where he swore, *Had it not been for the Loyalty of the Crafts he would have burned the Town of Edinburgh and salted it with salt.' . . . By the steadfast adherence of the Crafts to their Sovereign, even when they did not approve of, but were sorry for his actings, our Capital City was preserved from destruction, as by their behaviour afterwards it flourished in his favors." In Dr. Lee's ''History of St. Giles" the exact date of the Riot is given as ' ' 17th December, 1596. ' ' A Diarist of the period was Robert Birrel, and such a disturbance could not be overlooked by him. An 12 HEBE AND THERE IN TWO HEMISPHERES. extract from his account is worth giving as it was writ- ten by the old man, the quaint spelling being what was current in his time: "Tair. wes ane honest man, qua wes deiken of deikens, his name wes Johne Watt, smythe. This John raised the hail craft in armis, and came to the Tolbooth quher the entre is to the Checker hous, and yair cried for a sight of his majestie or ellis he suld ding the yet up with f oir hammers sua that never ane in the Tolbooth suld come out wi' yair life." So that the full sense of this passage may not be missed, it is rendered in modem English thus : "There was one honest man, who was deacon of deacons, his name was John Watt,— Smith. This John raised the whole Crafts in Arms, and came to the Tolbooth where the entry is to the Exchequer, and there cried for a sight of his Majesty, or else he should force the gate up (or open) with forehammers, so that not one in the Tolbooth should come out alive." A very full account of the trouble between the people and the King is to be found in a book entitled: ''Views in Edinburgh and Its Vicinity," published in two vol- umes by A. Constable & Co., of Edinburgh, in the year 1820, From the details given in the first volume, be- ginning at page 147, it seems that the Presbyterian ministers were afraid of a restoration of the Boman Catholic Beligion. Many actions, sayings and writings of the Eling lent color to such an impression,* and, as the masses of the people were clearly and forcibly op- posed to any change, the Scotch Clergymen did not hesitate to express their opinions, caring little whe- ther they pleased or angered his Majesty. One of the most violent orators was a Rev. Mr. Black of St An- * King James was unquestionably coquetting with the Romanists at this time, and prominent Catholics in exile with fulsome flattery were egging him on in secret, hoping soon to see him openly show his hand. k JOHN WATT OF **BOSE HILU'* 13 drews. He did not mince matters, in his harangues, declaring that **all Kings were the deviPs children'*; that ** Satan had the guidance of the Court"; that ** Queen Elizabeth was an atheist"; that **the Lords of Session were a set of miscreants and bribers, ' ' and that **the nobility were enemies to the church, false, godless and degenerate." Being summoned before tiie Privy Council to answer for such treasonable talk Black disavowed their jurisdiction and defied their authority. The King then took a hand and ordered the Commissioners of the Church to depart from Edin- burgh. Their answer to this was that 'they preferred to obey God rather than man,' and they refused to budge. The Privy Council found Black guilty, and referred his punishment to the King. James, afraid of an additional affront, asked the ministers themselves to censure Black, but this they refused to do. Again they were ordered to leave the City, within the space of six hours. Anonymous letters were circulated which helped to widen the breach between the sovereign and his subjects. A Bev. Mr. Balcanquell magnified the dangers, and he was followed by a Rev. Robert Bruce who added fuel to the flames, and even went personally before the King to demand a fair hearing. His Majesty beat a hasty retreat from this interview and Mr. Bruce returned to his friends and announced that he was de- nied an audience. A sermon was preached on the story of Haman, and some one in the congregation shouted ' * Bring out Haman ! ' ' Another cried ' * Let us hang him ! ' ' Some called * ' To Arms I ' ' and in a very short time the people were on fire and hurrying to the Tolbooth with the one desire of killing the King and all his advisers. It was at this juncture that John Watt appeared on the scene, and acted as has been described. Without question, by his promptness, his prestige and his courage he saved the King's life, 8 14 HERE AND THERE IN TWO HEMISPHERES. quelled the mob, and saw the Prince safely lodged in Holyrood Palace. Next day the King moved to Lin- lithgow Palace and issued a proclamation that struck terror into the hearts of the people of the Capital. His Majesty declared that Edinburgh was ''an unfit seat of residence for the King or court or for the ad- ministration of Justice." This greatly disturbed the citizens, but the ministers still continued defiant. They tried by every means in their power to retain the sup- port of the people, and even sent an invitation to Lord Hamilton to come and assume the leadership of them and their followers. But the citizens refused to go any farther and Lord Hamilton took the letter to the King, who immediately ordered the apprehension of the ministers, as ringleaders in the rebellion against his authority. The reverend gentlemen received no- tices of this in time to escape to England, leaving the citizens to face the King's wrath. He told them that ere long they would know he was King, and again plunged them into the abyss of fear and confusion. When they were all declared by the Privy Council to be guilty of high treason the climax of their despair was reached. They made pleas for mercy, offered all kinds of reparation, vowed summary vengeance on the min- isters who had brought about the trouble, and promised never again to permit such traitors the liberty of speech. King James finally agreed to give them a trial in Edinburgh and abide by the verdict of his court. The finding was that all the citizens were guilty of high treason and that the city should be razed to its foundation, salted with salt, and a pillar erected to proclaim its infamy for all time ! This gave the people the sharpest shock they had yet had. They again prayed, petitioned and promised, and even invoked the aid of Queen Elizabeth who wrote a letter to King James beseeching him to save Edinburgh from destruc- JOHN WATT OF **BOSB HILL.*' 15 tion. His Majesty now had everything his own way, but for some time he did not relax the pressure. Some writers say that it was only in remembrance of John Watt's heroic stand that the Bang finally agreed to be less exacting. In the end he dictated his own terms, and after some trying days of anarchy and anxiety Edinburgh was permitted to return to her normal condition.* It is not known that John Watt profited either in honors or in estate on account of his gallant deed, but from that time he was a marked man, and an object of hatred to the discomfited and disgraced clergymen. They never ceased their rancor to him and in less than five years he met with an untimely end, for which it is believed they were responsible. The old diarist Birrel says: ''Upon the 17th of Apryll [1601] Johne Watt deit sud- dentlie in the field callit the Burrow-muir and Alexr. Slum- mon being besyde it was alledgit yet he had feld (killed) him. The said Alexr. was accusit and cleanzit (declared innocent) be due Assyze, and the said Johne buriet upon the 28 of Apryll." Calderwood, who wrote the '^Historie of the Kirk of Scotland" gives the following version which is plainly colored by his prejudice against the King and any one opposed to the clergymen : (( Upon the 17th of Aprile John Watt deacon of deacons [was] shott to dead, in the Burrow Mure of Edinburgh sud- danlie. He oflfered, after the 17th day of December, to in- vade Mr. Robert Bruce his person, for which cause he (Johne Watt) was Weill lyked of by the King; who was exact in the tryell of Alexander Slummon who was suspected, but with * Some fifty years earlier a remarkable historic parallel is to be fonnd in the History of France, when on account of the turbulency of the Parisian mob, and the perversity of the municipality King Francis I. threatened to remove his parliament to Poictiers. 16 HEBE AND THEKE IN TWO HEMISPHERES. out cans, to be the instrument of his death. The judgment threatened against this man by Mr. Robert Bruce came to passe." Robert Bruce, it will be recalled, was one of the min- isters who influenced the mob to attack the King, and having been balked by Watt, the pious agitator deliv- ered imprecations against the Leader of the Crafts. It seems very probable that Watt was killed by some creature in the pay of the disaffected clergymen, or in sympathy with them, and as retaliation for their defeat in 1596. Bang James had not forgotten Watt's ser- vices, and had it been possible Watt's assassin would have been discovered and given his deserts. In addition to owning ''Rose Hill" John Watt also occupied the place on the Burgh Moor where he was killed. This is clearly brought out in ''The Laing Charters, ' ' a copy of which may be seen in The Regis- ter House, Edinburgh. The following extract is of special interest: **4th August, 1592. Charter by William Littill, provost, and James Nicol, Thomas Fischer, Archibald Jhonstone and William Smail, bailies of Edinburgh, narrating, as in former writs, a letting of the lands of The Common Moor, and granting in feu farm to John Watt, ironsmith, and his heirs male, whom failing, the elder heir, female, etc., that piece of arable land, along with the east garden of the late Sisters, nuns of the Seynis [Sciennes], formerly occupied by Henry Kincaid, and recovered and evicted to the burgh by a decree of the lords of Council ; also that piece of waste-land of the Common Moor next adjoining the said piece of waste [sic. 1. arable] land on the north side of the same extending in all to two acres and three particles of land measured, lying within the liberty of said burgh and shire of same, betwixt the lane leading towards the village of Libertoun and fixed stones, and the piece of arable land, called *the tane of the buttes,' with the passage towards St. Giles Grange on the JOHN WATT OF **B08E HHiTi.^^ 17 East, the Church houses and the yards of the said nuns and the stones there fixed On the west, the arable lands of Mr. Archibald Orahame, the said Henry Eyncaid, and the heirs of the late Mr. James Makgill, on the South, and the said highway or common passage leading from the said burgh to the place of the said sisters, and the wester moor, of said burgh and stones there fixed, and the piece of waste land of said moor on the north side of said lands and stones there fixed on the north. Price* (left blank). To be held of the burgh. Reddendsf yearly, five bolls and a half of barley as feu-farm, Dated at Edinburgh, 4th August, 1592. Witnesses: Alex- ander Uddart, dean of guild; John McMorrane, treasurer, John Amote, Thomas Aikenheid, Mr. Michael Chisholme, merchants ; George Hereott, younger. Goldsmith, and William Penstoun, tailor. Signed by Provost, three bailies^ and Mr. Alexander Guthre. Fragment left of seal [140, Book. 4]." At the oflSce of the City Clerk of Edinburgh may be seen the City Begisters dating back to the days of James VI. The volumes are not indexed, nor con- veniently classified, and being written in a strange, quaint and crabbed hand, and mostly in Latin or old- time Scotch-English, they are hard to decipher. That John Watt was a man of standing before the great event of his life is shown by the following extracted entry: ** 1853-84 James Marshall, Merchant, and John Watt, Smith, were elected to be collectors of the entry silver, upsets, weekly pennies and unlaws" (fines). In April 19, 1587, it is recorded: **JoHN Watt was made Burgess of this Burgh by richt of Euphame Porteous his Spouse, lawful daughter to umquhile Patrick Porteous, Merchant of the Burgh and paid 13/4 d/' Under date of September 12, 1590, we read : • It was not uncommon to leave price blank. t " Reddends " corresponds to " yearly feu-duty." 18 HEBE AND THEBE IN TWO HEMISPHEBES. **The quhilk day in presence of the Provost, Bailies and Council, John Watt, Smythe, and Deacon of the Hammer- men, and ane auld Burgess of this Burgh before the Decreet Arbitrall, is made Guild Brother of the same, and has paid for his duty to Alexander Veddart, Deacon of Guild, Ten pounds (£10)." The ' * Decreet arbitrall ' ' was a resolution cancelling all Burgess honors, and compelling a new recognition, which Watt received with complimentary references. In some old records John Watt is described as ' ' Dag-Smith ' ' (which means ' ' Gun-Smith ") • His will is recorded 29th July, 1601, and from its tenor it appears that he had been twice married. The docu- ment was given in by Janet Boyd, his widow, in behalf of John, Margaret, Janet and Katherine ''his (not *' their") lawful bairns." He left several sums of money, three horses, some grain in the ground, many ells of cloth, household furniture, etc., his Inventory amounted to £408 18s 4d, on which a duty of £19 was paid. It tells what was currently owing to servants. Richard Skirving, Merchant, Burgess of Edinburgh, was the Cautioner. At the City Chambers Museum, Edinburgh, the Ham- merman's Badge may be seen— the very one used and worn by John Watt and his successors in ofSce. It is a bronze badge or medal, with design of a hammer, surmounted by a crown, and the crown being ' ' a James IV Crown'' determines the age of the badge. This relic is in the locked case of the City Museum, also containing the Edinburgh Begalia now in use. In the book ' ' Royal Receptions in Edinburgh ' ' it is noted that on Sept. 20, 1589, John Watt and others were commissioned '*to consider and conclude for the Queen 's entrie ' ' ; and, at another time, John Watt and two more ''are ordered to provide 40 persons with halberts, upon the town's expenses.'' On March 18, JOHN WATT OF **BOSE HILL.'* 19 1590, *'the King's letter anent ships for the King from Denmark was read to John Watt and others, and steps taken to get estimates. ' ' The original records of the Edinburgh Hammer- men dealing with the period of John Watt are still in existence, and contain many references to John Watt as an office holder. In his day the Corporation of Hammermen owned the ''Chapel of St Mary Magda- lene,'' briefly known as the ''Madaline Chapel," a building still in existence, and altho not well known, one of the most ancient, interesting and unique struc- tures in Edinburgh. It is situated at the western end of the Cowgate, and while few perhaps could identify it, in all photographs or engravings of the Martyr's Monument in Grey-friar's Churchyard, the spire of The Madaline Chapel prominently figures. The Chapel was founded in 1503, by a Michael Macquhen or Macquhan and his wife Janet Rynd, and was left in trust to the Corporation of the Hammermen, who still own it. The meetings of this guild were held in the Chapel, and the Chair that John Watt occupied as Deacon is still shown to visitors. Over the entrance from the Cowgate can be read cut into the stone a ver- sion of Proverbs XIX and 17 that differs from the edi- tion of 1611: ^^He that hath pitie upon the poore lend- eth unto the Lord, and the Lord will recompense him that which he heth given." Many decorations relating to the Craft are also to be seen. The Chapel Bell cast in Flanders, is believed to be of nearly pure silver. The interior of the Chapel is still more interesting. The first item to attract attention is the stained glass windows. As the windows did not look upon the street they escaped destruction from the '^ reforming mob" and at least four panes, still perfect, are said to be not only the oldest, but the only surviving specimens of pre-Reformation ecclesiastical coloured glass in Scot- 20 HEBE AND THEBB IN TWO HEMISPHERES. land. After the lapse of nearly three and a half cen- turies the colours are singularly brilliant Along the walls of this room are many panels with gold lettering in description of gifts made to the Chapel, or to the Hammermen, dating from 1555. In the vestry is the table on which lay the headless body of the Marquis of Argyle after his execution by * ' the maiden ' ' in 1661. A notable thing about the chapel is that while it was founded as a Boman Catholic meeting place in less than a hundred years from that date it was the scene of the gathering of The First General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, with John Knox in the chair. This was in 1560. The General Assembly also met in it in 1578. At this convocation **Mr. Andre Melville was chosen Moderator, whar was con- eludit That Bischopes sould be callit by their awin names, or be the name of Breither (Brother) in all tyme coming, and that lordlie name and authorite be banished from the Kirk of God quhilk has bot a Lord Chryst Jesus." Besides Knox himself, John Craig, Melville and Henderson, all spoke in this little place; *'in point of fact, * ' says D. F. Harris, to whom we are indebted for most of this information, *'the seeds of the Reformed Religion, which have since grown into the Church of Scotland, with all its offshoots and secessions, were sown in this little Cowgate Chapel." In addition to the building the Hanunermen also own some valuable land nearby, on part of which the Edinburgh Free Library stands, and for which a yearly rental or fee duty of eleven shillings and five pence half-penny is paid. The next particular notice of the Rose Hill Watt family brings us to the end of the 17th Century, and is to be found in the Register House, Edinburgh. From the Conunissariat E Testaments, vol. 80, we find JOHN WATT OF **BOSB HIUU'* 21 ** Testament of John and Patrick Watt, 20th August 1694/' Mr. John Watt of Rosehill died 1679. Pat- rick died Nov. 1690. Given up by Adam Watt, lawful son of Mr. J. Watt, only executor. The will shows that there was due to the Watts by Alexander Earl of Moray, £193 17s 8d, with £234 of interest (Scots money) by bond granted to Adam Watt, W.S. (Writer to Sig- net) and father of Mr. John Watt; also money due from John Home of Huttonbell £751 3s 6d. The will of Patrick Watt, confirmed 23rd March, 1698, shows that he deceased in the month of , 1689, and was '* brother of Mt. John Watt of Rose- hill. ' * Due to him by Sir James Campbell of Lawers £2735, by Bond granted by Sir James to the deceased Adam Watt, Commissary of Peebles and W.S.,— Bond dated 18th December, 1652. The actual bond is regis- tered in Court Books of Justice 4th March, 1654. It was assigned to the said deceased Patrick Watt on 3rd December, 1669, by assignation registered in Books of Council of Session 11th November, 1680. The Commissary of a County was the oflScer in charge of Wills, Testaments, Deeds, Records, etc. Volume 99 has a still more interesting document, being **The Testament dative and inventory of the Goods, Qear^ Debts and Sums of money pertaining, belonging and addebted to umquhill (former) Mr. Adam Watt, Advocate, Town Clerk of Edinburgh the tyme of his decease, who deceased there upon the twenty-first day of November 1736, faithfully made and given up by Mrs. Sarah Riddell, relict of the said de- funct, only executrix" (by right of creditrix, on account of a marriage dowry explained at great length). From it we find that Sarah Riddell was ' ' the young- est lawful daughter to the deceased Sir John Riddell of that ilk." The contract was dated 19th December, 1701, and signed ''Adam Watt of Rosehill." The 22 HERE AND THEBE IN TWO HEMISPHERES. deed quoted tells all about Mrs. Watt's allowance with provision ''in case of baims." There is a most com- plete inventory, covering many pages, and every item would no doubt be interesting to detail but the writing is diflficult to decipher and would require days to copy. Among the entries are : Sheets, Table Cloths, Napery, Towels,— coarse and fine; silver spoons, silver juggs; beds, bolsters and codds, curtains and blankets, a dozen of Dutch chairs ; cupboards. Dressing Glass, Big Easy Chairs, Tongs, Pokers, Jacks, Brass and Copper Pots and Pans (all definitely valued in the money of the period). Arras Hangings, Carpets, Clocks, etc. There is also given a complete list of Mr. Watt's Library showing a fine collection of the Classics. A few names are: Puffendorff, Grotius, Bruce 's Militaiy Law, Baillie's Dictionary, 2 vols., Virgil, Juvenal, Pliny, Cicero, Greek New Testament, Lives of German Philosophers, Bayne's Criminal Law, Livy's History, Demosthenes, many volumes of Sermons, Life of Ma- homet, Locke's Letters, Boyer's Grammar, War in Spain, Aristotle on Poetry, Two volumes Scots Prov- erbs, John Calvin, John Bunyan, many Law Books, and Books of General History, Netherlands: Vants, Display of Heraldry, Cornelius Nepos, Buchanan, 2 vols., Terence, 2 vols., Plautus, Seutonius, etc. Amongst debts owed to Mr. Watt the following are named : George Irvine, Conjunct Town Clerk of Edin- burgh f283 6s8d Scots (advanced quarter's salary), David Hume, writer in Edinburgh, £104 Scots, with £10.8/- expenses, decree against Hume. The whole document (copy) was written by *'John Watt, writer in Edinburgh, and Extractor before the Dean of Guild Court there." No doubt this Watt was of the same kin. In 1727 Mr. Adam Watt was elected Professor of Humanity in the University of Edinburgh, and taught Hon, JOHN WATTS, Junioi 51 Roysl Racorder of Iha G[ly of New V I, 1749ro.S,)imddielJ61hSepl8mbeT JOHN WATT OF **BOSB HHiTi/' 23 until his death in March, 1734. He was the son of **the City Clerk of Edinburgh,'' as may be verified by consulting DalzelPs and Sir Alexander Grant's "History of the University of Edinburgh." Patrick Watt is also described as "brother of John Watt of Rose Hill" in the "Register of Great Seal," Vol. 69, No. 91. There is a parchment dated 21 July, 1682, giving a mortgage in favor of Patrick Watt over the lands of Resslaw, in Berwickshire, owned by Sir James Cockbum. This brings us to the Watts de Peyster Family Mem- oranda from which we find that John Watt of Rose- hill, Edinburgh, Scotland, was bom about the year 1650. His oldest son was named Adam Watt, who in turn had two sons and a daughter, the second son being the Edinburgh University Professor of Humanity. John Watt's second son was Robert Watt, who was bom at Rosehill, Edinburgh, 1680, and this is the Watt who emigrated to America. He resided in New York until his death on Sep. 21, 1750. For some reason, now unknown, Robert Watt added an " s " to his name, and ever afterwards his descendants used the form "Watts" instead of "Watt" in writing their names. Robert Watts was certainly in New York as early as 1706, as in that year and in that City it is recorded that he married Mary NicoU, daughter of William NicoU, of New York and Islip, Long Island. That he kept up communication with the old land may be judged by the fact that two of his daughters died in Edinburgh, Anne (in 1724) and Margaret (probably in the same year), both unmarried. The fourth child of Robert Watts was John Watts, bom in New York, April 5th, 1715, who may be regarded as the American head and founder of this noted new-world name. From this point the history of the Watts of New York is clear and complete down to the present time (Octr., 1903) 24 HEBE AND THBBB IN TWO HEMI8PHEBE8. when the family is brilliantly represented by Major General John Watts de Peyster of New York City and *'Rose Hill/' Tivoli, N. Y. The Scotch branch is long ago extinct. General J. Watts de Peyster, bom in New York, 9th March, 1821, is the only living male representative of the Watts and de Peyster families from the original progenitors by first marriage. Of his life genius and achievements it is not necessary here to write further than to say that no man of his day and generation has had a more conspicuous career and few indeed can truthfully show such a fruitful, versatile and honorable record. IN CAENEGIE'S COUNTRY. "My heart's in the Highlands — my heart is not here"; By Bonar and Skibo, and Dornoch, sae dear! And fondly keeps turning to a' the grand shires That lang were the hopes and the hames o' my sires! When I commenced to write this it was mid-af temoon on the eleventh day of September, Anno Domini, 1902. Sitting on a fine natural terrace, comfortably cushioned with long soft grass, I had only to raise my head to see as pretty a bit of scenery as any shire in Scotland could show. The little post-oflSce of Spinningdale was at my back, and also the turnpike that runs fronj Bonar Bridge to Dornoch, and much farther, doubtless, in both directions. In front was the lovely Dornoch Firth, hemmed in by heath-clad hills, rocky steeps, smiling fields, woods, glens and grassy links. It had been ''Carnegie's country" since I crossed tiie Bonar Bridge, which spans the Kyle, or Estuary, that sepa- rates Boss from Sutherland. The nearest station on the Highland Railway is Ard- gay, and at the ''Balnagown Arms" there I found ex- cellent accommodations, and the best fare, at very moderate figures. A three-horse carriage was at the depot, and a glance told me it was one of the many turnouts belonging to the Laird of Skibo; but, al- though welcome to use tiie conveyance, as I was there by invitation of the owner, walldng being one of my particular fads (when the distance is not too great), I decided to leave the wheels to others, and put my trust in my never-failing ''Shank's mare.'' I had been told I would find "mine host" of the Bal- nagown Arms a rare fellow, full of fun and anecdote, if I was not too particular as to facts. ' ' But the wife 's 25 26 HEBE AND THERE IN TWO HEMISPHEBES. a' richt," was added. *' Whatever she tells ye can be believed/' After a short rest I crossed the Kyle to Sutherland, and at once found myself on the Skibo estate. Without being offensively inquisitive, having a good Scotch tongue in my head, I did not fail to * * speir ' ' or ask whatever questions might occur to me in my wan- derings among the natives. Some were stiff to talk, eyeing me somewhat suspiciously at times, but in the majority of cases— and I chatted witii many— I suc- ceeded in finding what I sought. ^'Carnegie is a good laird. " * * He has put lots of money in circulation here. ' ' ''My trade has quadrupled in the last four years, and I can trace it directly to Skibo." ''He and his Lady are very kind to the children, and give them books and toys every year.'' "Last year he gave us £5, as my husband was sick, and Mrs. Carnegie put £5 to that." Such are fair specimens of the statements made to me. The nearest approach to an adverse comment from the village was made by a tailor, who summed up his opin- ion by saying: "Carnegie is a fine gentleman," and adding, after a long pause-" in the leebrary line." I had not been long in Bonar when I was asked to go and see the Carnegie Free Library. I found a nice two-story building, faced with yellow- ish free-stone, and surmounted by a neat clock, which struck the hours, and, as I was informed, was "an un- common fine timekeeper. ' ' Over the door, and on each wing of the inside glass door, may be seen the well- known legend, "Carnegie Free Library." Tablets, with inscriptions, are on the front of the building, one on each side of the window, below the clock. On tiie left side my be read: ''All that mankind has done, thought, gained, or been, it is l3riiig as in magic preservation in the pages of books." IN cabnegie's countby. 27 On the right side is the same sentiment in Gaelic, which I copy as a curiosity : '*THA NA-H-UILE NITHE A CHNUSAICH, A RINN, A BHUNNAICH, NO A BHA DAOINE, TAISCTE, CLEIDHTE, CU MIORBHUILEACH ANN AN LEABHRAICHIBH/'* The library building has two nice rooms upstairs, one devoted to newspapers and magazines and the other to games, such as chess and checkers. In the reading room I noticed a magnificent, statistical, up-to-date map of the world, with special attention given to the British Empire in all its ramifications. A glance at the large areas covered, and a perusal of the eloquent fig- ures shown, should be enough to touch the pride and stiffen the patriotism of anyone acknowledging Edward VII. and I. as King. From a casual look, it appeared to me as if even Uncle Sam had to play second fiddle. The lower floor of the library is equally divided, be- tween the lending department, where books are kept, and the residence of the man ^ who acts as librarian. **He gets the sensational salary of £5 a year,'' said my guide, **but (in condonation, added) has free light, fire and house. ' ' The reading room and chess room can be * The passage, though not credited, is, I believe, from Carlyle. I am away from all libraries or books of reference, and cannot verify it. A local critic informed me that the Gaelic version was badly bungled. " * Magic ' has been translated ' miraculous,' " said he, '' and there are other errors." As he talked I paraphrased it for better remembrance: "All that man has done or thought. All that man has gained or been. Wheresoever it may be sought. But in books it may be seen; There, as if by magic art Caught and saved and set apart." 28 HERE AND THERE IN TWO HEMISPHERES. found open at any reasonable time, but the lending department can only be patronized at certain hours. I found the library with a stock of over 600 well-selected volumes, nearly all presented by Mr. or Mrs. Carnegie. A new library feature to me was the stereoscopic sec- tion, and as a supplement to books and magazines it is an excellent idea. There were six volumes of 36 views each, and two instruments, all the gift of Mr. Carnegie, and I understand he has equally equipped hundreds of other libraries here and abroad. The view-sets are handsomely kept in cases that look like books, labeled with such titles as: ** Through Egypt with the Stereo- scope,'^ ** Through India with the Stereoscope,^' etc., etc. The only weak feature I found in the library was an almost total lack of ** local '* literature— books and pamphlets pertaining to the parish, shire and district To my mind this is of the very first importance, and in making a suggestion to the librarian for such a depart- ment I think I made some small return for the pleasure I had gained in visiting his treasure-house. While in the libary I had the rare good fortune to make the acquaintance of a most intelligent man, a real prize of a fellow and as modest as he was well informed. His name is Donald Mackenzie, and he is the Inland Revenue Ofl&cer, stationed at Bonar. Finding that I was interested in the history and antiquities of the place, as he was at leisure for the day he very kindly spent it with me. He told me all about the Battle of Drumliadh, under the best possible auspices, while we walked amongst the graves of those who were slain at that great contest. It was one of the many fights be- tween the Scandinavians and the native Scots, and took place about the middle of the ninth century. The hill and wood back of Bonar are strewn with hundreds of graves, some marked by loose cairns, and others by grassy or heather-covered mounds. The Scandinavians, IN cabnegib's countby. 29 under Sigurd, Earl of Orkney, landed at the **Meikle Ferry,'* leaving their fleet at anchor in the Dornoch Firth. As usual, on such occasions, the Scotch sent out the ** Fiery Cross ** to gather the natives from far and near. As the Danes marched inland the Scots retreated, all the time gaining reinforcements from the collecting clans. When it was decided that their numbers were sufficient they made a stand and gave battle. Tradition asserts it was one of the greatest struggles of centuries, and if the evidences of to-day can be believed, it was no ordinary fight. Sigurd himself was slain, and his army completely routed. The very spot is pointed out where the famous warrior fell, and his grave is also shown in the neighborhood. Two extra large cairns mark where other chiefs were buried. When the mounds were excavated some years ago stone coffins and bones were found, and parts of the coffins are still to be seen there. As we climbed to the top of * * Camnam-fitheach * * (Cairn of Ravens) my guide pointed out to me across the Kyle the district of Carbisdaile (now Culrain) where Montrose made his last stand. There he encountered Strachan's Horse, on April 27, 1650, and was so badly defeated he fled to the Wilds of Assynt. Captured there, he was brought a prisoner to Skibo Castle. I read a quaintly-worded account of the whole proceedings, written by a contemporary. A good story is told about the Earl during his confinement at Skibo. A Mrs. Gray was the Lady of the Castle at the time, and she insisted on placing Montrose at the head of the table, much to the disgust of his captors. When one officer made a grumbling protest against such honor being shown their prisoner, Mrs. Gray flung a leg of mutton at him, as she forcibly said, * * to teach him better man- ners.'^ After a short stay at Skibo, Montrose was taken to Edinburgh, and there executed on May 21, 4 30 HEBE AND THEBE IN TWO HEMISPHERES. less than a month from the time he met his victorious foemen. From the top of another knoll we had a view of Loch Migdale, nestling at the foot of Migdale Bock, rising over 700 feet from the water's level. Caim-Chrain, nearby, is 2,080 feet in height, and Ben More, in the distance, over 3,000 feet. We had the hills all to ourselves that paiiicular after- noon. I saw very little game, an occasional rabbit or stray grouse only being disturbed by our approach. My guide informed me that **the deer are very plentiful here.'* **Mr. Carnegie is not a shot," they say, **but seems to have much pleasure in fishing. He rents his shootings, like many a needy laird, but not for need of the rental." As the gloaming began to gather, I accepted an invi- tation to spend an hour amongst Mr. Mackenzie's books. Here was a genuine and pleasant surprise, and I doubt of all Mr. Carnegie's many visitors, if any one but myself has been privileged to see this quiet Highland scholar's unique collection. As a Tinker woman on the roadside put it to me: **How much the rich people miss! They go from train to carriage and from car- riage to castle, and the same way back again, only looking at a new drawing-room or a different din- ing-room from the own." This was only another version of Mark Guy Pearse's recipe for getting good stories and real knowledge of the great big heart of humanity. And have not Walter Scott and Abra- ham Lincoln eloquently testified to the valuable lessons learned from communion with the common people! But, of course, this is only half the truth. The castle can give lessons as well as the cottage, and if one has the proper ability **all is grist to his mill." Donald Mackenzie's library consists of only about 500 volumes, but there is not a common book in it. It is strong on IK cabneoie's country. 31 Gaelic literature, and of that I am not competent to write. His Doric Scotch collection amazed me, and I am positive he has many works in it that are not dupli- cated north of Inverness. Here, for the first time, I saw a collection of the Addenda to Henderson's Scotch Proverbs. It is a small pamphlet, but worth tons of ordinary Scotch or English books. I found, also, every book worth having on local history, and could then un- derstand the source of **Big Donald's" marvelous knowledge of the district. He has also a rare collection of facetia, curious anecdotes and witty sayings, and is particulariy strong on theology, ori;hodox and het- erodox. Who would have expected to find the best treatises on Phallic Worship at far-off, out-of-the- way Bonar Bridget Yet here they were, and not kept for show, but perused and studied until they were mastered. Donald does his own thinking, and I learned from others that he was ''not in the best of books" of some of the local ministers, but was by every one con- sidered * * a match for any. ' ' He has also a little museum of curiosities worth seeing. He tells a laughable tale about one of his own curios. Mr. Carnegie expressed a wish to have a specimen of man-trap to forward to the Carnegie Institute at Pittsbiirg, and Donald, who had two samples, gave one to a local hotel man to give to Mr. Carnegie. It was accepted with thanks and the boniface asked to ship it on. Months passed and no- thing was heard of the valuable consignment. After much inquiry, the man-trap was finally located at St. Petersburg, Russia, to where it had been addressed! Pittsburg or St. Petersburg were equally out of the world to mine host of the village hotel; but ''all's well that ends well, ' ' and, although somewhat delayed by its roundabout journey, the precious man-trap finally found a resting place in Mr. Carnegie's big museum and may now be seen there. 32 HEBE AND THEBE IN TWO HEMISPHERES. The Skibo estate is in the county of Sutherland, from which the Duke of Sutherland takes his title. His Grace is proprietor of one and a half million acres, making him the biggest land owner in Scotland, as he is conceded to be one of the best. His castle of Dun- robin is not only the finest in the north of Scotland, but one of the grandest in Great Britain. The present Duke and Duchess are popular with all classes, and considering their exalted station, it is remarked with wonder that they seem to be as happy as welldoing common people. **A man may own a rich estate, Have palace, park and a' that, Yet not for birth but honest worth Be thrice a man for a' that; While Donald herding on the moor, Who beats his wife and a' that, Be nothing but a rascal boor, Not half a man for a' that!"* The old-time Dukes of Sutherland were Chiefs of the Clan Chattan, that is, **of the Clan of Cats.^^ This shire was known as * * The Wild Cat County, ' ' from the Wha lives will be as bold as saj And to it stan', for a' that, That he that may an earldom ha'e Is nae a man for a' that? Tho' some may whiles their duties Jouk, It's yet the case, for a' that, To be a lord or be a duke Is nae disgrace, for a' that. But nobledom is sae beset Wi' pleasure's snares, and a' that, Wi' a' the fret o' etiquette. And fashions cares, and a' that. That for a chiel to struggle thro' And show his grit, for a' that. Is nae a little feat to do We maun admit, for a' that. IN cabnegie's countby. 33 many wild cats to be found in it They are now extinct, but in by-gone days were valuable allies to the fighting natives. Tradition tells that Sutherland was once in- vaded by a hostile band which, on landing, was opposed by an advance guard of furious wild cats, and so well did they defend the coast that the enemy skedaddled without coming to the scratch ! Skibo has a good share of antiquities, vitrified forts, standing stones, ancient hut circles, and such like. In the parish churchyard I noted many gravestones too old and worn to be deciphered. A fine specimen of a vitrified fort is to be seen a little off the road at a place called Dun-creich. * * Creich ' ' is the name of the parish, and ^^Dun" means a castle on a hill, so the name, like many more, tells its own story. From Bonar Village, on the way to Skibo Castle, the road passes through a fringe of larch, fir and spruce trees, through which may be seen, to the right, the blue water of the Kyle, smooth and calm, and reflecting in every detail the Hills of Ross, on the opposite shore. To the left of the road, at this part, are steep heather- clad braes more densely wooded. It is a place of soli- tude and peace, only the whistle of an easy-going train or the report of a far-off sportsman's gun reminding one, with their softened echoes, of the distant work-a- day world. With every twist of the turnpike new and delightful scenery is encountered. At Spinningdale the ruins of an old spinning mill tell the traveler why the little hamlet sprang into being in this out-of-the-way comer. After a destructive fire the factory was never rebuilt, which was no doubt a severe blow to the vil- lagers at the time. Now their little place has become quite a fashionable summer resort, with all the cot- tages rented, and new ones being erected every season. There is a small Carnegie Library here in a beautiful building by the roadside, and as the hamlet expands the 34 HERE AND THEBE IN TWO HEMISPHEBES. institution will not lack for patronage. I had a pleasant interview with the schoolmaster of the district, who gave me his opinion of things in general, and Mr. Car- negie in particular. He said the Laird of Skibo was a ** clinker, ** which was a new word to me, but after in- vestigation and explanation I found it was a local syno- nym for such words as *' corker," ** buster," or any- thing that is superexcellent. I stopped a night at Vass's, the most prominent house in the place. Mr. Vass keeps a general shop, a horse-hiring establishment, and also has a license to sell spirits ' ^ to be consumed off the premises. " He is a thriving man, and will dispense a bottle of beer or conduct family worship with equal readiness. When the time arrives for him to **take the Book," which means to commence religious services, the door of the shop is locked and the spirituous gives way to the spiritual. There are some funny stories told of an occasional mix-up, but doubtless they are considerably colored and magnified by jealous and en- vious neighbors. It will be remembered that a Mr. Vass acted as ghillie to Johnson and Boswell when on their Highland tour. It seems that Mr. Carnegie has made up his mind to root out every place on his estate where intoxicating liquors can be sold, and in Vass 's establishment only is any kind of strong drink obtainable. All the women and the well-behaved men applaud this policy, and point with pride to the changed aspect of things around Clashmore since the last inn there was closed. It used to be a storm center of disturbance night and day as long as it was the rallying point for the workmen em- ployed on Skibo Castle improvements, or attached to the general estate staff. Now a man with a spark in his throat has to go a long distance to ' ' lay the lowe, ' ' and the net result is that excessive drinking on Skibo is practically unknown. Furthermore, Mr. Carnegie re- IN cabneqie's countby. 35 wards all in his employ who are total abstainers for a whole year with a ten per cent, premium on their year's wages. Yes, *'he is very much down on drink,'' and by his methods of handling the problem he has not only been successful at Skibo, but ranks with the very foremost who have satisfactorily vanquished **the ser- pent of the still." If all Lairds in Scotland were to take as much interest in their tenantry and servants Caledonia would lead all countries as a temperate nation. I was also told that Mr. Carnegie was more than generous in his dealings with those in his employ, toler- ant of unavoidable mistakes and misfortunes, and prompt to recompense good work. When he retired from active business and sold the Carnegie Company to the Steel Trust, everyone in his service received a present of a year's salary. He is constantly improving the houses and land on his estate. The old and sick are not overlooked, Mrs. Carnegie in this domain play- ing the part of ''Lady Bountiful" with rare tact and grace. Even little Margaret, their only child, has done her share by distributing toys and books and more sub- stantial presents far and near among the little ones on the estate. I saw overwhelming evidences of this in every house I visited. It is admitted, I talked with some who seemed to be thankless and showed little ap- preciation of the kindness showered upon them, but that is only to be expected, and is merely noted to com- plete the picture, where contrast is as essential to truth as it is to beauty. There are some people so consti- tuted that generosity is poison to them, and it is idle to look for gratitude in such natures. They begrudge the man who gives the power that enables him to give, and his continued success only increases their envy.* * In this connection it may be worth while telling a Carnegie story that I heard more than once when in the North, and in the main I am 36 HERE AND THEBE IN TWO HEMISPHERES. An instance of Mr. Carnegie's thoughtfulness is the way he helps the old and the feeble who wish to go to church on Sundays. He sends out a big three-horse brake to gather in as many as it will hold, and after reaching Dornoch the passengers can go to the churches of their own selection to find their conveyance awaiting them for their homeward journey when the services are over. As proprietof or heritor, Mr. Carnegie is entitled to a Laird's seat in every church in the neigh- borhood. I found that he favored the Dornoch Cathe- dral, which is now used as the parish church, the ser- vice being that of the Church of Scotland. This is the state-supported Presbyterian Church, sometimes called the *' Established Church." Here Mr. Carnegie has a well-furnished *'pumphil," not far from the pulpit. Back of this are tilie seats reserved for the Skibo Castle servants. The ducal compartment of the Sutherland inclined to think it is true. When Mr. Carnegie rented the Cluny Castle he hecame quite well acquainted with an old man who lived on an adjoining estate. This woodsman was often troubled with rheumatics, which were aggravated by the leaky condition of his house. One day when he met Mr. Carnegie the old man plucked up courage to tell him of his miserable shanty and expressed the belief that if he were more comfortably housed he felt sure he would soon get rid of his rheumatism. Now the property was not Mr. Carnegie's, neither did he rent it, and he felt a reluctance to interfere on the estate of another. But, finally, he decided he had the right to help a friend, so he asked John how much it would take to put his dwelling in good repair. Then John's greed began to operate. Thirty pounds would have been an ample sum and left something over, but here was Carnegie — ^the richest man in Scot- land— so John said "a hundred and thirty pounds!" Mr. Carnegie wrote out a check for the amount, and told John to have the work done at once. When he reached home the old man in great glee told his wife that he had met Mr. Carnegie and he had given him a nice check to repair their house, just the very sum he asked. "And how much?" his wife queried. ''A hundred and thirty younds," John said, almost ashamed to mention the amount. ''You big fool," said his worthy spouse, "why did you not ask two hundred and thirty? He would not have missed it! €ro back and tell him you have made a mistake, and that you find it will take two hundred and thirty." So next day John sallied out, met Mr. Carnegie, and told his revised tale. " Who went IN cabnegie's countby. 37 family is close at hand, and directly over the graves of some dozen Earls of Sutherland. The present parish minister of Dornoch is something of an antiquarian, and in the vestry of the church I saw good specimens of ** querns'' (stone mills), for grinding com, as used by the early Scots, and similar to what the Egyptians had four thousand years ago; of jougs and pillories; and of monumental efl&gies, including one a Crusader dug up near the Cathedral. The walls of the church are decorated here and there with stone and brass tablets, recounting the military deeds of the *' Suther- land Highlanders" or the private benefactions of for- mer worshippers. Dornoch is a dear little town, famous for its fine golf course and notorious from the fact that the last witch that was burned in Scotland suffered that insane pun- ishment near this place in 1727. The new light railway over the figures with you?" said Mr. Carnegie, according to the story. " My wife," John answered. " Have you the check with you that I gave you yesterday ?" " Yes." " Let me have it." And when it was handed over Mr. Carnegie tore it up and said, ''You may now go home and ask your wife to help you to repair the house," and John lost all, illustrating the Scottish rhyme: *' Sic like greed Can never come speed!" The incident was afterwards told by John himself, who felt, on reflection, that he only got his deserts, but how his good wife received the outcome has not been divulged. Another tale in a different vein is told of a builder, who contracted to erect a wall near Skibo Castle for a stipulated sum, to be paid on acceptance of the job. He was not a rich contractor, and when the work was completed he had paid out his last penny. The night before it was to be accepted by Mr. Carnegie a storm destroyed it, and the builder was in despair, considering himself a ruined man. He went to Mr. Carnegie and related what had happened. ''Rebuild it!" Mr. Carnegie said. " But I cannot," said the mason ; " all I possessed went into the wall destroyed, and I am not able now to pay men to work for me." "But they will work if I pay them, won't they?" Mr. Carnegie asked; and the outcome was that the contractor was paid for the first wall, and for the second wall, too. 38 HEBE AND THERE IN TWO HEMISPHEBES. from the Mound is giving a great impetus to Dor- noch expansion. I thought the people distant and the women particularly queer. They talked neither Gaelic, English nor Scotch, but an affected lingo that was ridiculous in the extreme and painful to hear. They had not got over the novelty of the new line when I was there, and before making trips to suburban stations fell upon each other's necks and wept, and made as many passionate farewells as if they had been starting out for Ceylon or Siberia. The swell inn of Dornoch is **The Sutherland Arms," which also rejoices in an * * Annex. ' ' If the managers manage all the year round to get the rates that were current on my brief visit they can soon afford to annex the town, but, alas, for such a hope! Already plans were being made for a bigger and better and more moderate priced hotel, un- der the control of the railroad company and one or two private speculators.* Across the Firth is situated the beautiful royal burgh of Tain, which was the birthplace of the great Culdee evangelist, St. Duthoc, and after his death became his shrine, and a place of pilgrimage of the ultimate rank. In later years it was the cradle and chief center of the Reformation in Ross and the North. In St. Duthoc church may still be seen the pulpit sand-glass used to time the minister's sermon; and I was told the still more interesting '* Parson Extinguisher" was also em- ployed in this building. According to some ecclesias- tical antiquarians, the pulpit represented the candle- stick of the church, and the preacher was himself the * A Dornoch editor did not quite relish the foregoing paragraph when it first appeared in a local paper, but several correspondents from the north have written me and asked me to let my Dornoch statements stand, assuring me "they hit the situation to a *t,*" and giving ex- planations " how " and " why." One acquaintance summed it up in the phrase: "The toon wad dee if the fowk were better"; — ^which is a gey dubious compliment, I'm thinkin'. IN cabneqie's countby. 39 candle. What is now called the *' sounding board ^* over his head was originally a movable lid, fastened to a rope or chain, controlled by the patron of the par- ish. If the preacher became too tedious, a jerk of the chain was apt to improve his pace, if not his style. If he said anything that did not suit the man that con- trolled his berth he was similarly admonished. If he became too tiresome or too rebellious, he was simply snuffed out ! The solid, concrete, tangible wooden hint continually hanging over him, like the sword of Damo- cles, proved the best of critics from the laird's point of view, and insured to the worshippers a luminary that did not fail. What originated in actual fact in time became only true metaphorically, but the ** Parson Ex- tinguisher*' is by no means extinct in our day, whether the string is controlled by the State, by the local **big man, ' ' by the creed, or the whims of the congregation. When I was at Dornoch I heard of a case in point where a most eloquent New York preacher, temporarily supplying a local pulpit, had his light puffed out by a simple servant girl, and to his credit be it said the re- sult had no connection with either * * spark ' ' or * * flame. * * On my way from Dornoch to Skibo Castle, as is my custom, I fell into conversation with a fellow-traveler. He was a native of the district and the burden of his song was a panegyric on his Grace of Sutherland's methods in making improvements on the buildings of his farms. He said only seasoned wood was used by him, while other proprietors worked up timber freshly cut and **as green and soft as the runts of Kail." He also contrasted the changed times on Skibo since Mr. Carnegie became proprietor. Pointing to a steading we could see from the road, he said, ''I remember when a Laird of Skibo set that place on fire to evict the ten- ants," a statement which I afterwards verified to the letter. 40 HEBE AND THEBE IN TWO HEMISPHEBES. The Skibo Castle policies are surrounded by a stone wall, according to the manner of the country, an(J elec- tric lights are dotted all over them. The policies are well filled with thriving trees of every variety, and the avenues and walks are always kept in apple-pie order. On the way to the Castle the gardens and conservatories are passed. At present they are in a transition stage, being in the course of remodelling and enlargement to more fitly harmonize with the extensive improvements and additions made on the Castle since Mr. Carnegie's ownership. Skibo (pronounced Skee' bo) is a Norse name, mean- ing *'the dwelling on the wing of land,'* or *'the home on the peninsula.'' The monks, who were the first to settle at Skibo, while they pointed the way to Heaven, always made sure of the choicest spots on earth, and the Bishop of Dornoch located his palace where Mr. Car- negie's castle now stands. Like most Scottish houses of importance, Skibo has come through many changes. It has been plundered and burnt more than once, but it is safe to say that it never surpassed its present grandeur. Since Mr. Carnegie selected it as his High- land home he has, so far as money can accomplish it, made it the equal of the finest in the land, and far surpassing the great majority of castles, new or old. Its geographical location, on the northern margin of the Dornoch Firth, protected on the north, east and west by densely wooded heights, makes it at once cosy, con- spicuous and picturesque. It is impossible in a short sketch to describe the in- terior of the castle and its many magnificent features. Everything has been arranged on a liberal American plan. The rooms are big, with high ceilings, and fur- nished in the most exquisite taste, the keynotes being strength, simplicity, warmth and elegance, and not, as in many fine mansions, a mere jumble of gew-gaws and IN cabnegie's country. 41 gingerbread that only too often irritate rather than inspire, and mean little more than a vulgar display of riches. In Skibo Oastle the visitor feels tiiat he is in a home, and the soul expands with the air of comfort and freedom about the place. Needless to say, every appliance for ease and assistance is to be found around Mr. Carnegie, from electric lights to automatic ele- vators, and from the telephone to the private yacht. I was naturally much interested in the library of the world ^s greatest giver of libraries, and I found it in every way to my heart's desire. This was my first asquaintance with Skibo Castle, and the one place I regretted most to leave. The Laird of Skibo was not in when I called, and, having been ushered into the library to wait for his arrival, I thought : * * If the New Jerusa- lem has anything better to offer to my tastes and my wishes I '11 forfeit the chances now, if I could make sure of immortality at Skibo. ' ' My idea of Heaven, anyhow, is a place where we shall have the finest books, the sweetest music, the grandest company and plenty of work we like to do and can do better than anyone else. To that add the ones we love, plus a few modest extras that would not conflict with peace or progress, and my ideal would be realized. What a contrast from the Skibo appointments are my present surroundings I Temporarily from home, I am now writing this in a third-story room, with four bare walls, my collection of books contained in two boxes, without possible arrangement for convenient reference. My desk is a small table, which only leaves me about two square feet for elbow room. I feel checked and hampered at every turn, and do not think I will ever have to experience worse conditions for literary work. But even here I am grateful for quietness and seclusion. I know this cannot last forever, and I feel that if life and health be spared I can in due course command a 42 HEBE AND THEBE IN TWO HEMISPHERES. literary work-room as much to my liking as the glorious one I recall at Skibo Castle. The tangible glimpse of Paradise granted to me there instead of filling me with depression, or chilling me with jealousy, or killing me with despair, gave me more courage, good will and healthy ambition than a mere dreamer could gather in a lifetime of vague and gloomy imaginings, with occa- sional intermissions devoted to rainbow-chasings. Here was the real thing, and all accomplished in the lifetime of the owner, who started his career with prob- ably less advantages than the poorest boy in Lancaster. He found his way by making it, and the fact that he **got there" proves that it can be done.* A study of his record shows that he made many changes, but in every instance to his ultimate benefit. Beginning as a * * bobbin-boy, ' ' at about a dollar a week, he was successively and successfully engine-tender, clerk, telegraph messenger, telegraph operator, railroad president's secretary, railway and telegraph organizer in the Civil War, investor in sleeping cars, then in oil, bridge builder, and, finally. Steel King of America! When he retired **from making money" (as he mod- estly puts it), in 1901, he was said to be the owner of over two hundred million dollars. I know that most of my readers know all this as well as I do, but it bears retelling at any time, and has special significance when we are considering the man at his own fireside. And * The question has been asked if Mr. Carnegie has had an uninter- rupted run of good luck, but it is a foolish query. Of course, like every mortal man, he has had his share of disappointments, not to speak of occasions when everything looked blue as indigo. According to a Pitts- burg historian, several times during the panic of 1873 the Carnegie firm was on the point of going under, and prior to that Mr. Carnegie was so little assured of his steel company venture that he wrote a letter, which is extant, upbraiding his former partner, Thomas N. Miller, with getting him into the steel business, inducing him to invest and then pulling out of the firm because of a personal difference with another partner of the concern. The entire edition of Mr. Bridge's IN CABNEGIE^S COUNTBY. 43 just as he has probably beaten all comers as a money maker, so is he without parallel as a giver. You and I, dear reader, may think we would do better if we had the same opportunity, and the chances are every one of us would do differently; yet how many that have a sur- plus do nothing at all, but spend it on their own selfish, individual pleasures! And, remember, Mr. Carnegie, much as he has given, has promised to do much more, so wait until the end of his chapter before passing final judgment on him as a philanthropist. While I was enjoying myself in his library, looking at his books, his works of art, the caskets and souvenirs and curios presented to him from cities and societies and institutes, he quietly walked into the room and gave me a hearty greeting and cordial welcome to Ski- bo. No picture of him that I have seen is what I would call a good likeness. The real man is different from the photograph. He wore an outing Oxford suit, with knickerbockers, the cloth of a pronounced black and white check pattern, and cap with snout and ear-flaps of the same material. He is less than medium size, and has particularly neat legs and feet. His beard is quite white, and his skin had the glow of health. His walk was erect and brisk. His eyes were keen and penetrating, but the natural expression of his face was that of a kindly Scot. He must have been the double of General Grant, when his beard was darker, and he told me some interesting anecdotes in this connection. There was another New Yorker who bore a close facial resem- blance to him some years ago, which often caused amusing mistakes. But the best thing in this line was his story of the Turkish Pasha. Mr. Carnegie was sit- ting in a railway carriage in London recently, and, hap- recently published story of the big Steel Trust proved of sufficient in- terest to sell at $100.00 per copy. A very satisfactory presentation of this book may be procured for twenty cents, by investing in the " Cosmopolitan " magazine for October and November, 1903. 44 HERE AND THERE IN TWO HEMISPHERES. pening to lift his head, saw a couple of Turks making profound obeisances in his direction. They were joined by others, who also added their salaams. He was puz- zled to know the reason for all the bowing and scraping, and it took some time to solve the mystery, as no inter- preter was handy. When it finally was explained that they had taken him for Admiral Woods, of the Sultan 's navy, no one laughed more heartily than Mr. Carnegie, who still enjoys telling the story. Where there are so many fine things to make life enjoyable, it would be hard to say what Mr. Carnegie likes best at Skibo. He has a magnificent organ in the castle, with an organist in constant attendance; like the great chieftains of the North, he has his piper (who also happens to be one of the best Highland dancers in Scotland) ; he has fishing in fresh and salt waters, and he is very fond of plying the rod ; he has a magnif- icent private golf course and has developed remarkable skill at the game ; over and above all, I think he finds the greatest sport in his swimming bath, which is with- out an equal on terra firma, and has already been the envy of Kings and Emperors. I had not been long at Skibo imtil I was invited to the pond. It is a large building, like a conservatory, the main room being devoted to the long swimming pool. The bottom is of marble, and the water, which gradually deepens from the end next the dressing rooms, is really an arm of the sea decoyed over hot pipes into this finely-arranged basin. Any temperature can be furnished at short notice. Timid bathers are provided with life-preserv- ers, and it is easy to learn to swim in such a place and under such conditions. I had my first lesson from Mr. Carnegie himself, and another pupil in the pool at the same time was Sir Thomas Lipton. The world-famous yachtsman, strange to say, was as much a novice at treading water as I was, but before we gave up we could k IN cabnbgib's COUNTBY. 45 both cross the pool several times. It was a record-break- ing day for me to be in such company. I can always claim honestly that I have seen more of Mr. Carnegie and Sir Thomas Lipton than most people, even if I have not been around them as often as some ! And if Dr. Carnegie and Sir Thomas Lipton are not able to make a man keep his head above water his case must surely be hopeless I ! I found Sir Thomas to be a fine, handsome, modest, manly fellow, with most winning ways. To settle a question that seems continually cropping up, I may say that Lipton was bom in Glasgow, Scotland, and his Scottish accent is not the least of his charms. I have seen it so often stated ** authoritatively" that he was of Irish birth that I asked the question of himself, and I think his answer should be accepted as final. His parents were, however, Irish, hence his love for the land of the shamrock. I have an invitation to see the next international yacht race as his guest, and this time he should win the cup, so I think I'll claim to be his mascot in advance. Already, since I met him, he has been made a baronet, and I am satisfied higher honors are in store for him in the near future. Mr. Carnegie is the king of entertainers, and his table is always filled with the world's notables. He must have met more eminent men in his time than any man now living. If a Boswell were in existence to give us **The Conversations of Carnegie," the literary net could be flung wide enough to catch all the big fish of the last two generations on both sides of the Atlantic. What wonderful talks he must have taken part in ! It seems a pity that all this should die with him, for he must die in the ordinary course of nature, even if his works live after him. He has the ability himself to write such a book, but probably it would be the last task he should ever consider doing ; and yet I thought, in summing up 6 46 HEBE AND THEBE IN TWO HEMISPHEBES. all the opportunities in connection with Mr. Carnegie, there is nothing that would be more to my liking and nothing that would perhaps pay better, than to own the monopoly of such a work as this.* I wish, for the enter- tainment of my readers, I could tell a story as well as he does. I 'm not going to try, but I am tempted to give a few specimens of his table-talk to prove my assertion that it would make very interesting reading. He had been on a visit to Mr. Gladstone, at Hawarden Castle, and, after some days of delightful talk together, Mr. Carnegie could tell that the Grand Old Man was getting restless and showing a tendency to be left alone, which the Scottish- American steel manufacturer had no desire to strengthen. One morning Mr. Gladstone said to Mr. Carnegie: **I shall be busy to-day, moving books in my library, and if you have any way to amuse yourself embrace the opportunity. ' ' Mr. Carnegie promptly said : * * I '11 be delighted to help you, if you will permit mef Mr. Gladstone tried to discourage him, but finally it was settled that Mr. Carnegie could be with him and assist. Then happened a wonderful thing. Mr. Carnegie was on a ladder (the Ex-Premier busy on the floor) when in running his eye along the top shelf of books Mr. Carnegie saw a rare volume, written by a Dunfermline man, and a friend of his own father. He could not help an exclamation of surprise, when Mr. Gladstone, hardly looking up, said: **If you glance along the line a little farther you will find another book by another Dunfermline worthy, ' ' and sure enough, here was surprise number two— '*A Four-in-Hand Trip Through Great Britain,*' by Andrew Carnegie. Na- turally Mr. Carnegie was tickled and he asked Mr. Gladstone how he came to have it. **Saw a review of it and sent for it," replied Mr. Gladstone, and added, * Since this was written I have seen it stated that Mr. Carnegie has commenced his "Memoirs," and also heard that Mr. Hew Morrison was busy on a " Life." IN cabnbgie's countby. 47 * * Some good things there. ' ' Then, without any hesita- tion, assuming his most graceful oratorical attitude, Mr. Gladstone recited verbatim, from memory, Carne- gie's apostrophe to Dunfermline as contained in that book. Mr. Carnegie considered it as fine a compliment as he ever received.* It was entirely impremeditated, as Mr. Gladstone had no idea of having Mr. Carnegie 's company that day, nor of ever having him browsing in such a manner in his library. It also showed the mar- vellous verbal memory of Mr. Gladstone ; and to have one of his pet paragraphs repeated so accurately, under all the circumstances, by such a distinguished man and consummate orator, was enough to delight any poor author— or rich one, either. Eling Edward had made a visit to SMbo a few days before my arrival, and the whole coimtry was delighted with the graceful compliment which His Majesty paid to his host and hostess. I heard many good stories of that call, but do not feel at liberty to retail them, much as I should like to do so.f An item, however, I must record for the glory of Lancaster. In Mr. Carnegie's private study, that is his inner library, or **den,'' there was a framed picture of the skeleton of the largest animal ever known to exist Its bones were discovered * I took up Mr. Carnegie's " An American Four in Hand in Great Britain " to verify the Dunfermline quotation, and found the surround- ing matter so interesting that before I put the book back to its shelf I had re-perused every chapter, and re-read the best passages to the family circle. It is an excellent volimie for an odd half-hour — ^light, bright, romantic, historic, poetical and philosophical, intensely patriotic — Scotch as heather, yet starred and striped with America's best spirit. To follow ** the gay Charioteers " is almost as good as a trip to the Old Country. t One incident gave the King a hearty laugh when he was informed of it some time after. His Majesty arrived at Bkibo, a little ahead of his program. Mr. Carnegie's Organist happened to be in the Bwinuning Pool when Royalty was announced. The musician did not wait to don his clothes, but rushed to his instrument, and, naked, wet and dripping as he was, gave a spirited rendition of "God Save the King" that certainly made a unique record for the British national anthem. 48 HEBE AND THEBE IN TWO HSMISPHEBES. in Wyoming, under the auspices of the Carnegie In- stitute Besearch Association, and in compliment to the maintainer of the fund the scientists had named the monster **Diplodocus Camegii'*— but, for short, said Mr. Carnegie smiling, it is called **The *Cuss' Car- negie." It measured from nose to tail over seventy feet in length. The King was greatly interested in it, and examined the picture closely, asking many ques- tions about the details, and finally expressed a wish that London might have such a specimen for the benefit of scientific students. Mr. Carnegie, with his charac- teristic generosity, said if another skeleton was found he would see that the Eling should get it, and since then I understand even a bigger specimen has been unearthed, so that the promise can be made good. And where does Lancaster come in! The picture so much admired by the King and his courtiers and by everybody who has seen it, was printed at The New Era Press of our own city where this book was also printed. It's a far cry from the banks of the Conestoga to the shores of the Dornoch Firth, but the distance was actually bridged, even if it took the skeleton of the big- gest mammal ever known to do it! What says the proverb! **Seest thou a man diligent in his business, he shall stand before Kings, etc. ' ' In the same room Mr. Carnegie laughingly pointed to his * * patent of nobility, ' ' which was a framed hand-bill, giving an account of some of his immediate ancestors! who were imprisoned in connection with some political demonstrations in Dunfermline. I noticed on the wall ** Punch's'' famous cartoon of Carnegie as **The MacMillion Philanthropist"— the original drawing by Partridge. There were also sketches and verses by Kip- ling, and I observed in a comer a bust of Herbert Spen- cer. I was pleased to see, too, in this ** inner chamber" a good proportion of purely Scottish books, in fine IN oabnegie's coxjntby. 49 editions of fine bindings, but by no means new, on ac- count of their great rarity. Mr. Carnegie ^s bookplate, which I understand was the design of Mrs. Carnegie, has the motto **Let there be light. ^' A favorite Car- negie device is the picture of the American and British flags, crossed or intertwined. A fine photo of the John Bright statue presented by Mr. Carnegie to the House of Commons gallery called forth a glowing tribute to America's great friend during our Civil War. There was no end to Mr. Carnegie's talk, and everything he touched on was to the point, informative and interest- ing. Inspiration, the Bible, Shakespeare, Byron, work and workers, speeches, quotations, opinions on men and affairs— each topic would make an article by itself. His habits of thought, and doubtless of action, were well exemplified by the tenacity with which he stuck to a couple of apt quotations until he got them just right to the last word, letter and dot.* He keeps informed *The first related to Lord Claude Carnegie who had defeated Mr. Carnegie at a game of golf, but not until the Laird of Skibo had made his lordship acquainted with the superior merits of the American golf balls. Mr. Carnegie laughingly made the Byronic quotation: " Keen were his pangs, but keener far to feel He nursed the pinion which impelled the steel." It is a favorite simile of the poets, Moore and Waller also using it as iEschylus did long before either of them. The second quotation Mr. Carnegie particularly admired. It had been used, he said, in connection with the opening of a Carnegie Free Library in England by a working man, who had been happier in his selection than any of the learned gentlemen who spoke at the same ceremony. The lines are from " King Lear " : '* 80 Distribution should undo excess And each man have enough." The Baconians who like to claim Shakespeare's works could also quote from their god: ** Of great riches there is no real use, Except it be in the distribution." Shakespeare was a successful man of business, and looked after the coins he had collected, but as a poet the only " Excess " he ever craved was " Excess of Music." Bearing the quotations and the Bathing epi- sode in mind the two skits that follow will be better understood. 50 HEBE AND THEKE IN TWO HEMISPHERES. and up-to-date on everything that interests the world. The leading British and American magazines and news- papers were on file in his outer library. In the Swim! " *Ti9 Disaipation, not Accumulation, That brings a stringency upon a nation; But to improve a drooping Constitution, There is no medicine like — Distribution!*' " Oh, could I say ' Let there be light ' From Land's End to Cape Wrath!" That all might know I'm now a Knight Commander of the Bath! Not 80 by Royal Edward's will. At this time, it you please; But one of Skibo's rarer still And better K.C.B.'s! St. Andrew filled my heart with pride. And only as he could, When by Sir Thomas Lipton's side My title was made good. Thus did Carnegie show his steel. And give me cause to bless How finely Fortune whirled her wheel. Undoing her ewcessi A Scotch "High-Ball" at Skibo Castlb. " Pleased as he itcm — it pleased him mair to ken That Fact not Fancy had inspired his pen." The Water was the blue, saut sea Drawn frae the Dornoch Firth, But warm and pure as it could be And bubblin' o'er wi' mirth! The Scotch was of as fine a blend Ab Scotland ever saw: Sir Thomas Lipton and his friend, Carnegie's sel' and — ^Law! Brag nae aboot Olenlivet fine Nor brands mair choice and rare, Sic Spirits splashin' in the brine Were clean beyond compare! What ferlie tho' I felt upheesed And inspiration drew Enough to gar my rnymes be reezed My life-lang journey through ! IN CABNEGIE^S COUNTBY. 51 I must not omit to note a game of golf on the Skibo links. The course could hardly be more perfect, nor situated in the midst of grander or pleasanter sur- roundings. With a fine breeze blowing from the sea, and the springy grass or turf underfoot, it is exhilar- ating to merely look on, but the full benefit is only gained by playing a game. Wherever the eyes are turned the scenery is beautiful, wild, sublime. I can now see before me the blue waters of the Firth, the soft, green fields by the shore, the shaggy woods, craggy fastnesses and shady ravines farther off, and away in the dim distance peak after peak, like Alps on Alps, with valleys in between, and, hovering high over all, the misty clouds that finally touch the sky. The play of shadow and sunlight on the sullen, silent, majestic mountains was not the least interesting feature of the glorious panorama. One of my partners on the links was Frederick Har- rison, the great Positivist philosopher, and among the foremost of English men of letters. He was capital company, and told any number of choice stories, in- cluding the teasing and comical one, with the burden of **Golf is not a game.'^ He touched on his recent trip to America, and talked with enthusiasm on his audiences with McEIinley, Roosevelt and many other prominent men of our country. I have also pleasant recollections of his references to cricket, tennis, hop- picking and other minor topics. Under the guidance of our pro-tem. tutor, Mr. Ritchie, a jolly Ionian, and the Laird of Skibo 's * * Minister of Marine, ' ^ I managed to make a hole at four strokes which entitled me to the medal for the day. Little Miss Carnegie was also out with her golf sticks, accompanied by one of her nurses, and made the copiplete course. I did not hear of any resident doctor at Skibo Castle, and I think he would be a superfluous commodity at that healthy, 52 HEBE AND THEBE IN TWO HEMI8PHEBES. healthful and wholesome region, so far, at least, as being a handler of pills and potions, for certainly na- ture dispenses better medicine and more bracing tonics than the choicest concoctions of Galen, Hippocrates or ^sculapius. The sudden death of my father-in-law,* in Aberdeen- shire, brought my Skibo trip to an abrupt conclusion, but in my brief visit how much I had seen, and what delightful things I had heard! For a short cut, I crossed the * * Meikle Ferry, ' ^ which was the scene of a great tragedy about a century ago, when, by the over- crowding of a boat, ninety-nine lives were lost. It was a great pleasure to me to handle the tiller and make our ferry-boat zig-zag as I pleased in crossing the ** raging'' Firth. A gig for Tain met me on the opposite shore, and, after an excellent supper in the * * Royal Hotel, ' ' I took the train for Inverness, and thus concluded one of the most notable chapters of my long vacation. "" Robert Duff, Esq., of New Noth and Old Noth. SIB THOMAS J. UPTON, BAET. Although "The Cup" he ne'er may get To bear across the brine, * We'll tak' a cup o* kindness yet. For Auld Lang SyneM Sir Thomas J. Lipton, Bart., is as well known by name as any individual living to-day, and his circle of personal friends and acquaintances includes, perhaps, a more motley and distinguished throng than any other single man can claim. About twenty years ago, he laid the foundation of his immense fortune by opening a small provision store in Glasgow. Prior to that time he had tried his luck in America without succeeding in pil- ing up even a thousand dollars. His stores are now num- bered by the hundreds, and his mammoth business has been incorporated and endorsed by the British public with such enthusiasm, backed by hard cash, that his present and future success seems to be impregnable. He is only about fifty years of age and his wealth is estimated at over fifty million dollars. According to a recent interview he says that energy, good temper and keeping out of politics are great luck promoters. In Great Britain he is extremely popular with everybody from King to commoner. In tiiis country he is hailed as a true sportsman and a gentleman to be encouraged. The Lipton country seat is named **Osidge,'' and is situated in Southgate on the borders of London, just half an hour's distance by automobile from the Lipton head offices on City Boad. Sir Thomas is fond of himt- ing and never has fewer than thirty horses in his stable, including some fine Kentucky racers and jumpers. His home in furnishings and appointments is equal to the finest in the land. His paintings by old and modem 58 54 HEBE AND THERE IN TWO HEMISPHEBES. masters would grace any castle, but the portraits of his father and mother he considers the dearest of all his art treasures. His grounds are laid off with less primness than the regulation English landscape gar- denSy and a fine golf course occupies a conspicuous place in his one-hundred-and fifty acre park. It is too bad that all this magnificence should only be a bachelor 's headquarters, but it is not too late for him to mend, and when he gets the Americans Cup* out of the way, after the Greenock folks have had a good look at it, Sir Thomas may a-wooing go, and complete his happiness by inviting **some fair dame to keep his heart and share his hame." * On the 24th of June, 1903, Sir Thomas arrived at New York to give his personal attention to the trial races of his yachts in American waters, and about that date the following verses by the writer were printed in many newspapers under the simple title of — GbeetingsI Sir Thomas Lipton, Baronet, Good man, and sportsman true ; More honor'd yet since last we met. Thrice welcome, friend, to you! Our latest racer is a bird. But your persistent pluck And all that goes with Shamrock III May bring you better luck. If vanquished we should waken up We wish to let you know: Were you the one to lift the cup It would assuage the blow! And should defeat be your decree We'll toast you to the strain: Since better lo'ed ye canna be Will you no come again?" Whate'er results may be your chance We all are in your debt. And hope at least you may advance To be a Baron nett! « Snt THOMAS J. UPTON, BABT. 55 As perhaps every reader knows, the **Cup,^^ which is the trophy in the international yacht competitions was originally a present from Queen Victoria, and was won from Great Britain by the Yankee pilot boat ** America/' The coveted prize is of silver, stands only twenty-seven inches high, and is intrinsically worth about £100. To keep it in the United States, and to make the various attempts that have been made to recapture it, direct expenditures of many million dollars have been involved. Very little was heard of the first race, which took place off the Isle of Wight, and was witnessed by the Queen, in 1851. It was before the days of telegraphy, with wire or wireless, and was a more exclusive affair that the International Yacht Baces of to-day, that per- haps excite a greater degree of hearty interest among high and low throughout the world than any other single event of our time. The Americans have, however, borne testimony to the valued help they had from the English pilot who guided their first yacht to victory, just as in our day Scotsmen are pleased to note when the American defender wins that much of the result is no doubt due to the fact that the American syndicate placed its reliance in a Scotch captain. Of the first race, too, the Americans are fond of telling the story that when the Queen anxiously asked which yacht was leading, the answer came, ** America' '; and in response to the query **and which is second!'^ the crestfallen English signalman had to reply * ' There is no second. ' ^ Even the great Daniel Webster announced the over- whelming triumph in Congress by using the incident to decorate one of his speeches, as Macaulay employed a similar sporting phrase before him (in speaking of Bos well's Johnson) when he said it was a case of * * Eclipse first and all the rest nowhere. ' ' In 1857 the Cup was deeded to the New York Yacht 56 HEBE AND THEBE IN TWO HEMISPHERES. Club, and since then has been known as the ^^ America's Cup/' It took Britain nineteen years to try a race in American waters, when the English sent over the ** Cambria.'' In 1870 she came in tenth out of fifteen competitors. Next year the English ** Livonia" was beaten. After a lull of six years Canada made an in- effectual trial with the ** Countess of Dufferin," and again in 1881 with **Atlanta." The English '^Genesta" was defeated in 1885, and in 1886 the ** Galatea" shared the same fate. Much was expected of the Scotch syndi- cate's ** Thistle" in 1887, but on that occasion the American ^'Volunteer" added another spike in the Cup's fastening. Six years elapsed before Lord Dim- raven entered his * * Valkyrie 11., ' ' which met the fate of all her predecessors. His Lordship tried again with ** Valkyrie in." in 1895, and before completing the races withdrew his boat. In 1899 came the noblest sportsman of them all, the challenger of the present year. Sir Thomas Lipton, Bart, with his third effort to lift the Cup. He did well with * * Shamrock I., ' ' much better with * * Shamrock H. ' ' in 1901, and ** Shamrock HI." was believed to be so much superior to her predecessor that high and well- grounded hopes were entertained of seeing the Ameri- can ** Reliance" beaten by the triple combination of Lipton Pluck, Shamrock Luck, and the Good Fortune that often goes with a third attempt. One thing is cer- tain: if the matter had been put to an American vote Sir Thomas would have won the Cup by an overwhelm- ing majority, as he is by far the most popular yachts- man that ever graced American waters. He has cap- tured the hearts of the entire male and female popula- tion by his liberality, his manliness, his absolute fair- ness, and his genial perseverance. But having all such qualities the Cup would be nothing to him unless won on merit alone, and through all his career, when the SIB THOMAS J. UPTONy BABT. 57 head of even a strong man might be tamed by the adula- tion and the flattery, and the honest good wishes show- ered upon him, Sir Thomas has always modestly an- swered, ^^May the best boat win/' The poets saw to it that Sir Thomas received plenty of couplets if denied any cups, and the following verses are a fair specimen of the current good wishes fairly showered on the well-liked Challenger : Waes Hael. Air~" Oo fetch to me a pint o' wine." Sir Thomas, here's a health to you! May fortune smile, the bonnie lassie, And do the best that she can do To help you lift the Silver Tassie! She's partial to the man who tries, And with her eyes on your invasion We may premise you have the prize As good as won on this occasion I The third attempt I That means of course Not Furies three, but three good Graces, Have been enlisted to endorse The three fine fates to help your races! Old Neptune vows hell send a fog Or push his Trident up, if needed. And Pluto's triple headed dog Will see your bark is not impeded ! Not yours Ancaeos sorry lot I For with propitious stars to hover Aroimd your thrice-named Shamrock yacht Your finish must be made in clover. Such luck abides with ''thrice" we know It takes no gift of Mother Shipton, Nor three forked Jovian flash to show This time the cup must go to Lipton! Sir Thomas had quite a fleet with him in New York Bay when he made his last appearance after the elusive 58 HEBE AKD THEBE IN TWO HEMISPHEBES. Cup. In addition to Shamrocks I. and III., each with a crew of over forty, the sea-going tugs ' ' Cruizer ' ' and *' Fletcher, ' ' with several swift launches were all to be seen in the neighborhood of his big private steam- yacht the ' * Erin. ' ' It is a floating home, fit for a king, and every comer of it is full of the rarest souvenirs and trophies, each telling its tale of honor and compli- ment and success. The yacht has been visited by more celebrities than any craft that ever sailed into New York Harbor, and seems charged with good company, good stock, and good cheer from stem to stem. Sir Thomas appears to be without a care, and has the merry heart of a boy. He has the happy faculty of making his guests, of whatever degree, feel at home from the moment of their arrival, and he seems to give each an equal share of his attention and his pleasing company. As may be surmised, he does not suffer from loneliness, and among his friends are numbered the most distin- guished people of all countries and climes. He is never * * caught napping, ' ' whether he is entertaining his Sov- ereign, as he often does, or even when he gets a short- notice visit of such a crowd as all the officers and stu- dents from West Point, which happened only the other day. In American waters he is accorded honors equal to those given to an Admiral of the fleet. Every private yacht and ship doflfs its hat, so to speak, to the **Erin,'' and even the city and government official boats vie with each other in the warmth of their salutes to the cham- pion challenger. To this I can bear personal witness as, although denied the pleasure of witnessing any of the Cup Baces, I was a guest on the **Erin'' prior to the struggle. When the big ** Oceanic '* passed us in the bay she kept her whistles going in friendly tune and ran a complimentary shamrock flag to her mast-head, while all her crew and passengers waved and cheered Sir Thomas *'Good Luck'* until they disappeared in the SIB THOMAS J. UPTONy BABT. 59 distance. Such incidents really do more to promote international friendliness than many pompous and dig- nified treaties, and from this standpoint alone, when conducted with Lipton 's spirit, the yacht races are most praiseworthy, and Sir Thomas is entitled to the highest honors as the right kind of a diplomat, paying all ex- penses, too, from his own pocket. I had many opportunities of seeing the two Sham- rocks, and they have to be seen to really understand what kind of racing machines they are. Some one hit oflf this type of yacht very well— for as to main design ''Shamrock'* and ''Reliance" are now much alike— in writing of * * a spar-deck between a bulb of lead and an acre of sail.'* The ''Reliance" may be described as scow-shaped at both bow and stem, with hull broad and shallow, while the "Shamrock's" hull is narrow and deep. They were each believed to carry between 16,000 and 17,000 square feet of sail, but it turned out that the ' ' Reliance ' ' had at least 2,000 more square feet of sail than Shamrock in., so that it was a contest be- tween a "heavyweight" and a "featherweight" with the natural results. No wonder the towering masts of both had been broken by the high pressure on them. In a stiff breeze the strain must be terrific, and they ar6 almost as much balloons as boats. Every race is differ- ent from another, and it is impossible to have conditions twice alike. The wind and the sea alone can furnish endless situations, and so nicely adjusted is everything on board that I believe the changing of positions of any of the crew might materially affect results. The "Reli- ance" cost $300,000, and is only fit for old junk when the races are over, but the bill is divided among many Americans. Sir Thomas Lipton 's expenditures must go over a million, and while he challenges in behalf of the Royal Ulster Yacht Club of Belfast his own checques settle all the scores. And this was his third attempt I 60 HEBE AND THEBE IN TWO HEMISPHERES. Is it any wonder he provoked such rivalry and evoked sneh an era of good feeling f Is it any marvel that all the mascots in America found their way to the **Erin" —from grasshoppers and prairie dogs to rabbits^ feet and green hens f One of the most interesting features of the "Erin** to me was the De Forest wireless telegraphy instru- ment fitted on the yacht, and kept busy receiving and forwarding messages from the water to the land. The Marconi system has been familiar to the public for some years now. Of course Lindsay, of Dundee, Scotland, was in the field long before any recent inventor, as Mar- coni himself has publicly testified. Colonel Firth, who represented the De Forest system on the **Erin'' very kindly gave me a most interesting and intelligent ex- position of the theory and practice of wireless tele- graphy, and from his talk I gleaned that this weird, if not wired, art is oil the verge of still more marvellous advances. To commemorate my introduction to the sys- tem I despatched several messages inland including the following skit to a Lancaster friend : A ''wireless" message from ''The Erin To let you know you're not forgot And say how splendidly I'm farin' On good Sir Thomas Lip ton's yacht. Don't thmk that I am half seas over Or three sheets in the wind— oh, no! But that I'm very much in clover I send this little line to show. 9> SOME BUBNS COLLECTORS OF MY ACQUAINTANCE. Of Scots who coin collectors be We know there is no scarcity: — These all are men of high degree From Bums's University And here I've tried due meed to gie them And briefly show them as I see them. Royal fellows they are and in their chosen field would make a rare Society. The day will come when **F.B.A/'-(**Fellow of the Bums Association ' 0 will be as high an honor as **F.S.A.'' or **F.R.S.'' Perhaps the greatest of all Bums collectors was Craibb Angus of Glasgow. I never met him in the fleshy but corresponded with him off and on for about a dozen years. In that period he came to be as real to me as if I had known him personally; and, according to all accounts, we perhaps got along as well together as if we had seen each other frequently. Angus, it is to be admitted, had the unhappy faculty of quarrelling with many of his acquaintances, and becoming estranged at different periods from his best friends. He was a masterful man, most positive in his opinions, and a second Dr. Johnson in his independence and out- spokenness. When he met men of the same calibre a fight was often the best compliment he could pay them. He not only believed but acted the proverb which says : * * Biting and scratching is Scotch folk 's wooing. ' ' As a consequence he was in the ** black books '* of most of his rivals, and on this account did not enjoy while living the full credit he was entitled to for his ability and success as a Bums collector. But after his death his petty fail- ings were forgotten, and it is now generally conceded that Angus had a more comprehensive knowledge of 6 61 62 HEBE AKD THEBE IN TWO HEMISPHERES. everything pertaining to Bums and his works than any one of his time. I saw his collection in his shop in Glas- gow before it was dispersed by auction, and I am satis- fied it will take a long time to bring together again such a magnificent array of Scottish literature clustered around the name of Bums. Nothing was too good for Angus when it came to the Bard of Ayr. Poor copies of editions were constantly being replaced by good copies, and even good copies had to retire when perfect copies were purchasable. In the final sifting he had a grander display of choice Bumsiana than had ever been col- lected before in one building. To own this cost him a tidy fortune. After his death it was hoped that his books would be purchased in bulk, but after many futile attempts to interest libraries and philanthropic indi- viduals the collection was last year dispersed at Mr. Dowell's auction rooms in Edinburgh. Good prices were realized on the whole, and the books were scat- tered to all quarters of the world, the biggest number of items happily reaching the Smith collection at Washington, D. C. If I had been asked which single volume I should have selected from the lot I believe a fine edition of Lockhart ^s * * Life of Bums ' ' would have been my choice. It was in splendid condition, beauti- fully bound, and contained unpublished notes, com- ments and criticisms on the text by Syme and Gracie of Dumfries, two of Burns 's intimate friends, who wrote from actual knowledge and personal observation. By the kindness of Mr. John Angus I was permitted to examine this book at my leisure. That Craibe Angus fully realized its worth may be surmised when it is known that he always kept it in his fire-proof safe among his rarest valuables. Mr. Angus was an Aber- deenshire man, from ^'Turra toun," and rose from obscurity to a commanding position in the *' Second City'' of the Empire. SOME BURNS C0LLECT0B8. 63 I believe Angus has left his true successor in James C. EwiNG, another Glasgow man, and at present at- tached to the Mitchell Library there. He was the inti- mate friend of Angus for many years, and never had an unpleasant word with him. Practically all that Angus knew Ewing knows, and is all the time knowing more and growing bigger. From his official connec- tion with the finest treasure house of Scottish dialect poetry Mr. Ewing enjoys advantages denied to the ordinary Bums enthusiast. He is quiet, unassuming, but unmistakably firm in maintaining any ground he may take. Several discussions he has entered into have been enriched by his information, and settled by his statements. He is not afraid to try a tilt with the best, and never fights except fairly and squarely. All in all I consider him the best equipped Bums man, now living, as a collector, bibliographer and editor. Re- markable as it may seem we do not yet have a complete and definitive edition of Burns* s works, nor has the fidl truth been told about his life and career. In my belief Mr. Ewing can fill both wants, but he will not make a beginning to do so until he has weighed, sifted, gauged and measured every scrap in his own possession, or to which he may have access. It goes without saying that he is a Bums admirer ; but no blind worshipper ; and I would trust him to produce as true a picture of the man, and as full a presentation of his writings, as any student of the Scottish laureate now in the land of the living. John Muib, of Galston, is another of my Bums cor- respondents, and although he is still in the body, and now living in Glasgow, it was not my good fortune to meet him on my last trip to Scotland. Muir devoted more time to writing about Bums than to mere collect- ing, although he gathered together a very fair amount of books and relics relating to his favorite poet. 64 HEBE AND THEBE IN TWO HEMISPHEBES. Through his efforts Signor Ortensi's Italian transla- tions of Bums's best known productions found their way into Scotland, England and the United States. The next gentleman on my list is James Dewab, of Belfast, Ireland, as good a son of Auld Scotia as ever settled in St. Patrick's Isle. Mr. Dewar has been a most devoted laborer in Bumsian fields, and with an unselfishness that is only equalled by his enthusiasm, he has all his life been collecting Bums material to give it away. Mainly through his energetic efforts the Free Library of Belfast established its Bums de- partment, and the shelves of innumerable private col- lectors have been greatly enriched by Mr. Dewar 's donations. He has, perhaps, kept the Bums flag flying in Ireland with more general honor and applause than any other single man. For years he was the respected front and head of all the Bums, St. Andrew 's and kin- dred Scottish organizations, in the two chief cities of Erin, and is still a welcome and much appreciated guest at their leading celebrations. I am glad to say that I had the pleasure of being his guest for a week last winter, of sitting beside him at the 1902 St. An- drew's banquet in Belfast, and was given the honor of responding to the toast of '^ Kindred Societies Abroad, ' ' proposed by my old friend. Mr. Dewar, after a long business career, retired last fall to spend the balance of his days in leisure, but by no means in idle- ness. He is still as full of energy as in his prime, and is happy that he can now devote more time to the studies and activities of his own selection. An intense, intelligent and discriminating lover of Bums is John Johnston, banker, of Milwaukee, a native of Aberdeenshire and a graduate of her uni- versity. ffis fine library is rich in Bumsiana of the highest grade, and few scholars are better posted on all that pertains to the poet. But Mr. Johnston has SOME BUBNS COLLEGTOBS. 65 mastered a wide range of literary topics, and on Scotch matters generally he is continually consulted, and is never appealed to in vain. He has without question the finest collection of books relating to Aberdeen and district to be found anywhere in the States, and time and time again I have successfully drawn upon his stores when every other resource failed me. Mr. John- ston has long occupied a commanding position in muni- cipal and State affairs. He is a northern literary light of admitted brilliancy, his subjects ranging from finance to history and from politics to religion. Last June the University of Wisconsin conferred the degree of LL.D, on Mr. Johnston to the great pleasure of his many friends. Peteb BAiiLiNGALL, of Philadelphia, is entitled to a place among Bums collectors as an excellent type of the Scot in America who in a quiet, unobtrusive way gathers Bumsiana to present to others. Many a choice item to my knowledge, has been secured and passed on in this manner. He. is also prominently identified with the proposed statue to Bums in Philadelphia, and his love for the poet has resulted in more than one pilgrim- age to the land of Bums. Mr. Ballingall is a public ac- countant by profession, and has acted as auditor in many big transactions, his reputation as an expert ex- tending all over the United States. Warm-hearted and well posted, with more leisure he is likely soon to be- come better known as a genuine F.B.A. A ** bairn of Bums'* in the highest sense is Andrew Gibson, of Belfast, but originally hailing from the *'Land o' Cakes. '* Mr. Gibson, after a general ac- quaintance with the whole field of Bumsiana, concen- trated his attention on the Irish editions of Scotia's darling bard. What he has discovered, gleaned, gath- ered and described is nothing short of marvellous, and a revelation to all students of Bums. If there is an 66 HEBE AND THEBE IN TWO HEMISPHERES. Irish edition in existence that has not found its way into the Gibson collection the owner will have no trouble in disposing of it for a handsome sum. But there is no danger that Mr. Gibson will be called upon to pay out any more, as his roster is complete, all big, little, cheap, dear, rare, common, old and modem Irish editions being in his cases, as well as hundreds of other fine editions and books, etc., pertaining to Bums, and all of the greatest value. Mr. Gibson has practically gifted his unique collection to the Linen Company's Li- brary in Belfast, where it is well housed and promi- nently displayed. He has a complete descriptive cata- logue of it in MS. ready for the printer's hands, and its publication will be a pleasant surprise to those who consider they know something about Bums books. My next Bums man, James W. R. Coluns, was also a native of Glasgow, but when quite young emigrated to Philadelphia, which he made his home until his much lamented sudden death a few years ago. He was an expert stenographer, and for a long time held the responsible position of secretary to the General Passenger Agent of the Pennsylvania Railroad. There was no more popular Scot than Collins in Pennsylvania for many years. He was the leading spirit in all the Scottish societies of the city of * ' Brotiierly Love, ' ' and admittedly the best posted enthusiast in Pennsylvania. He collected editions, relics, paintings, engravings, and in fact everything connected with the poet, as well as a vast quantity of general Scottish literature. He was also a contributor to the leading Scottish and Ameri- can newspapers on his favorite hobby, and many of his articles attracted wide attention. While I lived in Camden I made his acquaintance, and we saw each other almost daily until I moved to Lancaster. His unex- pected early demise was a great shock to me, and by his untimely taking off his large circle of friends SOME BTJBNS COLLECTORS. 67 suffered a loss that has never been retrieved. His li- brary was dispersed in New York by auction during my absence in Scotland. A persevering Bums scholar of international fame is Dr. John D. Ross, of New York City. He is best known as the editor of many monographs and books of * * Bumsiana, ' ' including such appetizing titles as *' Round Bums's Grave,'' ''Tarn o' Shanter,'' '* Bonnie Jean,'' etc. His works on ''Scottish Poets in Ameri- ca," and its supplement ''A Cluster of Poets," are standard volumes of reference. His own Bums collec- tions and his library of general Scottish literature rank with the best of their kind in this country. One section alone contains 250 different editions of Bums besides 200 works more relating to the poet Mr. Ross was bom in Edinburgh and must still be on the sunny side of fifty. He emigrated to the United States thirty years ago. William Black has honored Dr. Ross by quoting from his anthologies in the well-known novel ** Stand Fast, Craig-Royston, " and many a literary Scot has been made better known, appreciated and advanced by Ross's kindly and able pen. The late Dr. Peter Ross was a brother to Dr. John and I am not aware of any Scottish family in America that has such an output of literary work to their credit as these two distinguished sons of the Highlands. While not a ' ' collector ' ' in the regular sense, Mr. Geo. Black^ of Detroit, has in his possession a Bums prize that the best of the bard's admirers would be very proud to own. The item in question is no less than the ** Bishop Geddes Bums," a copy of the poet's first Edinburgh edition presented by the author to the rev- erend gentleman so well known to students of our im- mortal Robin. I have had the pleasure of handling this rare volume and of examining it minutely. The poet, in addition to filling up all the blank spaces in his ''ken- 68 HEBE AND THERE IN TWO HEMISPHERES. speckle" hand had added over a dozen unpublished liolograph poems and altogether made this the most nnique copy of his works now known to the world. The Bums specialty of Mr. B. B. Adam, of Buffalo, N. Y., is the collection of Bums manuscripts. Among his treasures up to date are the following items— surely a most remarkable array of genuine letters and poems entirely in the handwriting of Scotia's national poet: 1779. Jeremiah 15 Ch. 10 ▼. "Ah woe is me my mother dear." 1786. Written in the blank leaf of a copy of my first edition which I sent to an old sweetheart, then married — " Once fondly loved, and still remembered dear." 1786. Epistle in verse to Dr. Mackenzie^ 29 June, An. M. 5990» "" [A. D. 1786]. ** Friday first's the day appointed." 1786. Letter to Mrs. Dunlop, 15 Nov., 1786. 1787. Address to Edinburgh. " Edina, Scotia's darling seat." 1787. Second verse of Strathallan's Lament. "In the cause of Right engaged." 1787. Postscript of letter to Mrs. Dunlop, 22 Mar., 1787. 1787. Letter to Peter Hill, 19 July, 1787. 1787. On reading in a newspaper the death of J. McL. " Sad thy tale, thou idle page." 1787. Letter to Mrs. Dunlop [30 July, 1787]. 1787. Letter to Mrs. McLehose [8 Dec., 1787]. 1788. Letter to Mrs. Dunlop [Jan., 1788] ; containing " Clarinda, Mistress of my soul," and " Anna, thy charms my bosom fire." 1788. Letter to " Clarinda," signed "Sylvander" [14 Jan., 1788]. 1788. Letter to Mrs. Dunlop, 12 Feb., 1788; contains. Epigram on Elphinston's translation of Martial, " Oh thou, whom Poesy abhors." 1788. Letter to "Clarinda" signed "Sylvander" [18 Mar., 1788]. 1788. Letter to Mrs. Dunlop, 26 Mar., 1788. 1788. Letter to Mrs. Dunlop, 31 Mar., 1788. 1788. Letter to Mrs. Dunlop, 27 and 29 May, 1788. 1788. On scaring some waterfowl in Loch-Turit. " Why, ye tenants of the lake." 1788. A Fragment — " I bum, I bum, as when thro' ripen'd com." 1788. A stanza composed for the air, Captain O'Kain — " The small birds rejoice in the green leaves returning." (The three preceding poems are written on one sheet of paper; part of the Lochryan collection.) SOME BUBNS COLLECTORS. 69 1788. Letter to Major Dunlop [30 May, 1788]. 1788. Letter to Mrs. Dunlop, 21 August, 1788; containing, "The Thames flows proudly to the sea " and " When eighty-five was seven months old.'' 1788. First sketch of letter to Graham of Fintray. "When Nature her great Masterpiece designed." 1788. Revised copy of letter to Graham of Fintray. 1788. Letter to William Dunbar, 25 Sept., 1788. 1788. Letter to Mrs. Dunlop, 23 and 26 October, 1788; containing, "A little, upright, pert, tart, tripping wight" and "... Crohallan came, " The old cock'd hat, the brown surtout the same " : 1788. Letter to Mrs. Dunlop, 29 October, 1788; containing part of The Poet's Progress. "Thou Nature, partial Nature, I arraign," and " I gade a waefu' gate yestreen." 1788. Letter to Miss Dunlop [Nov., 1788]. 1789. Letter to Mrs. Dunlop, 1 Jan., 1789; containing part of The Poet's Progress. "O Dulness, portion of the truly blest! 1789. Letter to Professor Dugald Stewart, 20 Jan., 1789. 1789. Letter to Mrs. Dunlop [Jan., 1789] ; containing the Ode, sacred to the memory of Mrs. O. of A. — . " Dweller in yon dungeon dark." 1789. Letter to Mrs. Dunlop, 5 Feb., 1789; containing, "Flow gently, clear (sic) Afton, amang thy green braes," and "Now, mad- dening, wild I curse that fatal night." 1789. Letter of William Dunbar [Feb., 1789] ; containing both versiona of verses written in Carse Hermitage, " Thou whom chance may hither lead." 1789. Letter to Mrs. Dunlop, 23 Feb., 1789. 1789. Letter to Mrs. Dunlop, 4 Mar., 1789. 1789. Letter to Mrs. McLehose, 9 Mar., 1789. 1789. Ode, To the Departed Regency Bill, dated 17 Mar., 1789. 1789. Letter to Mrs. Dunlop, 25 Mar., 1789. 1789. Letter to Mrs. Dunlop, 3 April, 1789; containing the Ode to the Departed Regency Bill. 1789. Letter to Mrs. Dunlop, 21 April, 1789; containing On seeing a fellow wound a hare with a shot — " Inhuman man ! curse on thy barbarous art." 1789. Letter to Mrs. Dunlop, 22 June, 1789. 1789. Letter to Mrs. Dunlop, 7 July, 1789; containing, Elegy — " Strait is the spot and green the sod." 1789. Letter to Mrs. Dunlop, 17 July, 1789; containing The Kirk's Alarm — (sic) A. Ballad. "Orthodox, Orthodox, who believe in John Knox." 70 HEBE AND THERE IK TWO HEMISPHERES. 1789. Letter to Mrs. Dunlop, 10 August, 1789 ; containing lines to Mr. Graham : " I call no goddess to inspire my strains." 1789. Letter to Mrs. Dunlop, 2 October, 1789; containing The Five Garlins o' the South, " There was five carlins in the South." 1789. Letter to Mrs. Dunlop, 8 Nov., 1789; containing, song — (sic) *' Thou lingering star, with lessening ray." 1790. Letter to Mrs. Dunlop, 3 Mar., 1790; containing Prologue for Mrs. Sutherland's benefit. "What needs this din about the town o' Lon'on." 1790. Letter to David Staig, Provost of Dumfries [Mar., 1790]; en- closing The Prologue. 1790. Letter to Mrs. Dunlop, 6 June, 1790; containing Queen Mary's Lament — " Now Nature hangs her mantle green." 1790. Letter to Mrs. Dunlop, 9 July, 1790. 1790. Letter to Mrs. Dunlop, 30 July, 1790; enclosing Elegy on Captn. Matthew Henderson. " O Death thou tyrant fell and bloody." 1790. Letter to Mrs. Dunlop, 6 October, 1790; quoting John Hilde- broad's famous epitaph. "Here lies poor old John Hildebroad, Have mercy on his soul. Lord God, As he would do, were he Lord God, And thou wert poor John Hildebroad." 1790. Fragment — Elegy intended for Miss Burnet. " In vain ye flaunt in summer's pride, ye groves." 1790. Letter to Mrs. Dunlop, 6 Dec., 1790; enclosing Tam o' Shanter —A Tale— " When chapmen billies leave the street." 1791. Letter to John Tennant, Junr., 2 Feb. 1791. 1791. Letter to Mrs. Dunlop, 26 October, 1791. 1791. First sketch of second letter to Graham of Fintray. " Late crippl'd of an arm, and now a leg." 1792. Letter to Mrs. Dunlop, 14 Jan., 1792. 1792. Letter to Mrs. Dunlop, 3 Feb., 1792. 1792. Letter to Alexander Cunningham, 6 Feb., 1792. 1792. Ballad. " O Love will venture in, where he dare na well be seen." 1792. Letter to Mrs. Dunlop, 6 Dec., 1792. 1793. Letter to Mrs. Riddell [1793] ; containing songs — " Their groves o' sweet myrtle let foreign lands reckon." " My Chloris, mark how green the groves." " Can I cease to care." " Is this thy plighted fond regard." 1793. Impromptu on Mrs. Riddell's birthday, 4 Nov., 1793. "Old Winter, with his frosty beard." SOME BUBNS COLLECTOBS. 71 1793. Song, " Wilt thou be my Dearie." 1793. Song, " The last time I came o'er the moor." 1793. Sonnet — On hearing a thrush sing on a morning walk in Jan- uary [1793]. " Sing on, sweet thrush, upon the leafless bough." 1793. Song, The blue-eyed lass. " I gaed a waefu' gate yestreen." 1793. Letter to Mrs. Riddell [1793] ; containing epigram on W. R. — " Light lay the earth on Billy's breast," and song: "Thine I am, my faithful Fair." 1793. Letter to Mrs. Riddell [April, 1793]. 1793. Letter to Mrs. Riddell [April, 1793]. 1793. Letter to Mrs. Dimlop [June, 1793] ; containing song — " O Logan, sweetly didst thou glide." 1793. Letter to Mrs. Dunlop [June, 1793] ; containing Epigram on Maxwell of Gardoness, Epigram on Miss Davis. "Ask why God made the Gem so small." Epigram : " Silence in love shews deeper woe." 1793. Letter to Mrs. Dunlop, 25 August, 1793; containing song — " By Allan-side I chanced to rove." 1793. Letter to Mrs. Riddell [Nov., 1793]. 1794. Letter to Mrs. Dunlop [13 March, 1794]; containing Monody on Maria — "How cold is that breast now which Folly once flred," and The Epitaph: " Here lies, now a prey to insulting neglect," and Epigram on Dr. B., " That there is Falsehood in his looks." 1794. Letter to Mrs. Dimlop [Septr., 1794] ; containing Epigram: " Maxwell, if merit here you crave," and Epigram on W. R., Esq., " So vile was poor Wat, such a recreant slave." 1794. Letter to Mrs. Dunlop, 29 Oct., 1794; containing Epigram on Hon. R. M. of P-nm-re, " Thou Fool, in thy Phaeton towering " and on seeing Mrs. Kemble in Dumfries theatre, " Kemble, thou cur*st my unbelief." 1795. Letter to Mrs. Riddell [1795]; containing song: "O bonnie was your rosy brier." 1795. Letter to Mrs. Dunlop [1795] ; containing The Dumfries Volun- teers— a Ballad — "Does haughty Gaul invasion threat." 1795. Letter to Mrs. Riddell [August, 1795]. 1795. Verses, To Ghloris, first sketch with alterations. " Tis Friendship's pledge, my young Fair Friend." 72 HEBE AND THEBE IN TWO HEMISPHERES. 1796. Ode, intended for €reorge Washington's Birthday. " No Spartan tube, no Attick shell." 1796. Letter to Mrs. Riddell [1796]. 1706. Letter to Mrs. Dunlop, 10 July, 1796. Copies of poems in the handwriting of Bums : On a tear — " Oh ! that the chymist's magic art," Verses by Helen Granstoun, who married Professor Dogald Stewart in 1790. " The tears I shed must ever fall." Song: "The auld man's mare's dead." Letter of " Clarinda " to " Sylvander " [21 Dec., 1787]. Ninety-seven letters of Mrs. Dunlop to Robert Bums. Of editions of the poems of Robert Bums Mr. Adam has about three score, including the rare Ellmamock, and four others published in the poet's lifetime one of which is the Philadelphia of 1788.* When we recall that a single letter or verside by Bums is now almost worth its weight in diamonds, and when we remember that all the editions quoted bring handsome premiums we can better realize what a wealth of Bumsiana this modest, generous, patriotic, grand old Scotsman has accumulated. He not only has quantity in unstinted measure, but also quality of the rarest value. It ought to make every true American feel prouder that a fellow citizen is the possessor of such a unique fortune, as every son of Caledonia, I am sure, is grateful that such priceless writings are owned by a * As a magnificent example of Book-expansion — sometimes called Orangerizinff — Mr. Adam's treatment of the Wallace-Chambers Bums of 1896 deserves special notice. The four-volume large-paper edition has been amplified and extended to seventeen sumptuous volumes, full- bound in dark-blue, crushed levant. They contain portraits of 510 persons mentioned in the volumes; autograph letters and MSS. of 56 persons; views of 345 places and scenery; a portion of the lock of hair which Bums gave to Annie Rankine (from the collection of Wm. Potter, Oxton, Cheshire, England), and a small fragment of leather from the travelling- valise of Burns; — surely, altogether, a comprehen- sive collection of Burnsiana worthy of Scotland's poet, and, in its particularly interesting field, truly " second to none," * SOME BUBNS C0LLECT0B8. 73 brother Scot. Mr. Adam is also known as the foremost Johnsoniana collector of the world, and the owner of rare Ruskiniana. When I saw him last he was well under way with a literary cairn to the memory of James Hogg, the ^^Ettrick Shepherd. '' General James Grant Wilson excels as a Bums bibliographer in the Burnsian field, and has compiled the most valuable lists of American editions of our poet. Wilson is the son of a Scottish- American bard, who enjoyed considerable popularity in his day, and the General himself is known everywhere as a writer of the first grade. His ** Poets and Poetry of Scot- land ' ' is one of the finest and most complete anthologies of its kind, and his histories and biographical sketches of American literary and military men place him high in the affection and admiration of his contemporaries. In this chat about Bums collectors it would be an unpardonable oversight to fail to mention Dr. A. M. Stewart, editor and proprietor of The Scottish American, New York City. Writing me the other day, Mr. Carnegie said : * * The Scotch community will gang far before they find a better editor than Dr. Stewart. He has secured for his paper a commanding position, and made it in many respects unique among journals. ' ' To this we must all agree. Dr. Stewart has been at the helm for over forty years, and in that long period he has with rare discrimination and never-ceasing in- dustry collected, selected and presented to his readers everything of value that has been printed relating to Bums, from every quarter of the world, and translated from all known languages. I am sure I can say without any fear of successful contradiction that if the Bumsi- ana that has appeared in the Scottish- Americcm since its first number could be collected, arranged, classified and indexed up to date we should have a testimonial to our ''high chief of Scottish song'' unparalleled in 74 HERE AND THEBE IN TWO HEMISPHERES. the annals of literature. And this is only one field from Dr. Stewart's wide-stretching territory. Every- thing of real interest to Scotsmen in America sooner or later finds its way into the Scottish- American, and as a rule ahead of all its contemporaries. The Aber- deen Scot, for instance, who does not see his home paper can keep in touch weekly with all that need be known of his own district, and this applies to each individual county in Caledonia. Every number of the paper also contains a good proportion of fine stories, sketches, poetry, biography, reviews and stimulating essays, not to speak of a budget of high class wit and humor suflScient in the course of a year to set up a vol- ume equal to the best of Dean Ramsay. Encourage- ment is given to original writers, and as a matter of fact, admitted by the severest critics across the water, the purest Scottish dialect now-a-days is not written in Scotland but by Scottish residents in America, many of whom have winged their first flights or made their best appearances in the columns of the Scottish- Ameri- can. It is also a practical journal mixing its news and entertainment with * * admonition due, ' ' and at all times maintaining the highest and healthiest moral tone. In the matter of typographical display it is unexcelled, being as carefully printed as it is edited, and all in all I consider it an eclectic magazine of the first rank com- pared with general publications, while as a weekly newspaper and valuable miscellany it should be a regu- lar visitor in every household that can claim Scotch relationship by birth or descent in the closest or re- motest degree. Perhaps no paper published has a cir- culation of a higher quality. Instances are common where it is sent from an American subscriber to a rela- tive in the old country, remailed to friends in the col- onies, finding its way finally on board an ocean tramp or into a soldiers' camp to be handed around and read SOME BUBNS COLLECTOBS. 75 until it is literally worn out of existence. Dr. A. M. Stewart was bom in the village of Cambus, near Stir- ling, and has been in this country since 1857. Good writers always reserve their best for the last, and I have only now to name Wm. R. Smith, of Wash- ington, D. C, who in the vast variety of his accumu- lated Bumsiana is easily at the present time the lead- ing Bums collector of them all, on either side of the Atlantic. He began when young, and is now an old man. His collection has been enriched with choice gems from all the collections that have been broken up in the last score of years. He is a careful buyer, and never loses sight of any item that would improve his library. He is also notable from the fact that he enjoys the friendship of the prominent legislators of the country, and they have all felt the good influence of his intense love for Bums, greatly to their own gain and the advancement of their constituents. Smith and his Bumsiana together have become as much a Capitol in- stitution as the Smithsonian or the Congressional Li- brary. It is not enough to say that Smith's collection is the best in the United States, and it is not an exag- geration to say that it is nearly equal to all other Bums collections put together in this country, because the simple trath is that with the exception of perhaps half a dozen excessively rare volumes he now has every- thing worth having, and all his editions are in good condition. Almost every week something new is added, but it can at least be recorded that in August, 1903, Mr. Smith 's shelves contained five hundred and twenty edi- tions of Bums, and three thousand volumes relating to the poet. Duplicates of most of the books that were in Bums's own library are now in Mr. Smith's collection and show the poet in a new light as a literary student The Smith scrap books of Bumsiana and kindred topics excel all others in that line, and contain much valuable 76 HERE ASD THERE IN TWO HEMISPHERES. matter. He has also been fortunate in securing a fit- ting permanent home for his collection, its ultimate des- tination being the Carnegie Library at Pittsburg. This is a guarantee that nothing will be sacrificed or lost, and no doubt is one of the reasons why Mr. Smith 's friends are always glad to send him any rare item of Bumsiana that may come their way. Mr. Smith is also promi- nently identified with the movement for a Bums statue in Washington, which has every sign of successful accomplishment in the near future, and in this connec- tion he was the originator and founder of the Jean Armour Bums Club, of America's capital city. But better, I think, than all I have mentioned is the kind- ness that Mr. Smith has shown to the nearest living relatives of Scotland's greatest bard. He has proved a true friend himself and secured for them the help- ful friendship of many others that otherwise might not have known them. Mr. Smith is at present in the enjoyment of excellent health, and wherever he is known it is the sincere wish of his friends and acquain- tances that he may long be spared to enjoy the gloam- ing of his days, and continue to add to what he mod- estly calls his **Bums Cairn," but what is by many considered to be the best existing Monument to Bums. AMANG MY AIN FOLK IN THE AULD HAME. ' Leith-Lumsden/ 'Lumsden/ ' Lumis-daine/ — Whatever name may come This place will aye be to its ain .'The Village' or *The Lum.' And whatna pairish lass or loon The hale wide wardl o'er Can find nae music in the soun' 0' dear auld Auchindoirl Lumsden Village, where I was bom, and where this was written, was founded about 1830 and named after the *lord of the manor/ The original form was **Leith Lumsden, '^ but on the death of the last Leith Lumsden, the village dropped ** Leith '^ and has ever since been known as Lumsden, or, in popular parlance, **The Lum/' **Lum'' is also Scotch for chimney, so many puns and jokes are perpetrated against the little place based on the double meaning of its name. For instance: **Ye canna expec' muckle cleanliness oot o' the Lum'^; and again: **Even the richest men in London are prood to wear a Lum hat ! ' ' The village is situated in the parish of Auchindoir, which is a Gaelic name meaning **the field of the chase, ' ' from the fact that Lulach, stepson of Macbeth (Shakespeare's hero), was chased through the district, and killed in the neighboring parish of Rhynie. The district has the usual amount of legends, folk-lore, and historical incidents. It has at least two castles— Craig and Drumminor— dating from the 16th century. It was part of the famous ''Gordon Land," and the Grants, the Forbeses and the Nivens have also been identified with it Earlier still the Irvines of Drum were proprietors of Auchindoir, a fact of special in- terest to Americans at this time, since President 7 77 78 HEBE AND THERE IN TWO HEMISPHERES. Roosevelt of the United States is descended on his Scotch side from the Irvine family. The first Gordon in Auchindoir was one Patrick, in ' ' Fulyemont, " now Wheedlemont, who fell at Flodden in 1513. There are good specimens of Picts Houses in the neighbor- hood, said by antiquarians to be the dwelling places of our prehistoric ancestors. Stone-axes, Celtic crosses, flint arrowheads, querns, with many other old- time relics, are found in abundance,* and the present Laird of Clova, Mr. Hugh Gordon Lumsden, has ex- cellent specimens of everything in his private museum at Clova House. My wife and I had the pleasure of seeing them under the Laird's instructive guidance, with an occasional witty comment, from his brilliant Lady. * My cousin John Law presented me with a ** broad piece " dated 1604, found in Lumsden. A coin from Scottish Jamie's mint, The high and mighty Prince, King James, Who wasna slow to tak' the hint When Cousin Bess retired for good To move his Court frae Holjrrood To London on the banks of Thames. Three hundred years is near the age 0* this wee bit o' siller white. And whatna prophet would engage To say three hunner years frae noo It winna look as fresh in hue And be a mair commended mite. Perhaps it cam' frae Shakespeare's purse, A shillin' spent to see him play. And left for better or for worse Amang the Aberdonians dour When he wi' Fletcher made the tour That took them North by Forres way. Be that, hooever, as it will. This relic o' their king and time Has value in itsel' to fill. Far bigger space than I can spare Or here can share — an' muckle mair Than I can reach in prose or rhyme! AMANG MY AIN FOLK IN THE AULD HAME. 79 There are many beautiful and romantic bits of sce- nery near Lumsden, including the three Dens of Kil- drummy, Clova and Craig, the Quarry Howe* and Corbie Tongue ; the High Wood and the Bonny Woods 0 ' Clova ; the banks and braes by the Bogie, the Mos- sat and the Don, and last, but not least, the magnificent hills that hem in the village and valley as by artificial walls. ' ' Glenlogie, ' ' which may or may not be the Glenlogie of the Northern Ballad of that name, is in the parish, about six miles west from Alford. In the same neighborhood is the **Nine Maiden's Well,'' where tradition states nine maidens were killed by a boar that infested the district To help along the story the * * Boar 's Stone ' ' is shown near by, still bearing the marks left by the beast in sharpening its tusks I Some will have it that the boar's head quartered on the Forbes arms originated in this incident; and there are even fanciful theories for the origin of the name itself in connection with the adventure, running from the mild *'It was a' For Bess" to the ridiculous **Haud ye the fore birse (Forbes), and I'll gore doon" (Gor- don) ! Farther up the valley may be seen the magical * ' Bride 's Well, ' ' which young women on their wedding eve were wont to visit. By bathing the bride's feet and breasts any danger of **Race Suicide" was averted, and by dropping bread and cheese in the well, on leaving, the little strangers to come were insured from want The Buck of the Cabrach overtops all mountains in the neighborhood, but the Tap o' Noth from its situation as seen from Lumsden is the most beautiful hill I have ever seen anywhere. Directly * I wish I could recall how many boundaries meet at the Caird's Hole in this fairy-haunted and tramp-infested hollow. It marks the junc- tion of Laird's lands. Presbyteries' Synods, County Council Districts, Constabulary Divisions, Road and Health Precincts, — and who knows what else? A man in trouble could escape into a good many different jurisdictions here with very little exertion. 80 HERE AND THERE IN TWO HEMISPHERES. opposite it, to the south, Mt Keen and Morven, both in the Grampian range, are discernible, and in the east the Hill of Coreen smiles across to the Buck. Below the village is a Peat Moss that has a never-failing sup- ply of fuel for the villagers, and for the farmers of a neighboring estate. From my window I can see a slap in the hills— now known as **Corse-oMaigh''— where Edward the First's Army crossed on one of his warlike expeditions into this part of Scotland.* Up at Kildrummy Castle, now in ruins, many royal associations are clustered, of the times of Robert the Bruce ; and such local names as * * Queensbridge ' ' imply association with the first lady of our land in bygone days, although the exact circumstances are not now known. While Kildrummy is a different parish, many Auchindoir people are buried in Kildrummy Church- yard, my own forbears among the number. Through the kindness of Rev. Andrew Christie, the minister of the parish, I gleaned many interesting and new par- ticulars about some of my kith and kin. It seems that my great-grandfather, James Law, was a noted salmon fisher, chiefly plying his sport on the River Don. The old story about salmon being so plentiful on the Dee that servants used to stipulate, on hiring, that they should not have salmon oftener than thrice a week, is quite discounted by my namesake's tactics. He was so fond of the fun, and was so suc- cessful with his rod and spear, that he always had more fish on hand than his family or friends could consume. The idea of selling his surplus stock would never have entered his head, so to what use, think you, did he subject the king of fishes! Boiled them down * In addition to having the Mossat, Packet, Bum of Craig and Bogie, Auchindoir can also claim the source of the "Gaudie" stream, which will flow through Scottish song as long as it " rins at the back o> Bennachie." AMANG MY AIN FOLK IN THE AULD HAME. 81 to make fat to grease his boots with ! It was nothing uncommon to see him running bare-footed and bare- legged on the banks of the Don on a frosty morning, his shoes and stockings dangling in his coat-tail pock- ets, so that he might walk home dry-shod later onl He had a brother who was the strongest man in the county, and many of his feats are still retold in the district. Others of the same stock were also noted for their strength. The Aberdeenshire Laws came from Fife, and were related to the Lauriston family that produced the *' Mississippi Bubble '^ man. A Secre- tary of State for Scotland and an Archbishop of Glas- gow belonged to the same clan. The name, however, is common to the three countries of Scotland, England and Ireland. At present Mr. Hugh A. Law represents West Donegal in the House of Conmions, as Mr. A. Bonar Law, the Parliamentary Secretary for the Board of Trade, sits for the Blackfriar's district of Glasgow, and Lord EUenborough (Charles Towry Hamilton Law) , the head of the English branch of the name, has a seat in the Upper House. One of the Salmon-Fish- er's descendants, my uncle, who ** raised'' me (as we say here), was quite a character in his way, and noted far and near for his quaint sayings as well as for his skill in the manly art of self-defense. John Law was once summoned before the Sheriff at Aberdeen for some row in which he had his share, and, as usual, had come out on top. The Sheriff was inclined to take the case **to avizandum"— that is, to reserve decision until he gave it more consideration— and so announced his intention, greatly to John's disgust He showed his displeasure at the law's delay by shouting, **If you are to let me off, let me off ; and if you are to fine me, fine me, and let me awa' hame." The Sheriff was plainly pleased as well as amused at this honest, straightforward sally, but pretended to scold, and said. 82 HERE AND THERE IN TWO HEMISPHERES. *'You should have come to me, John, when the man struck you, and not taken the law into your own hands by punishing him yourself." John instantly an- swered: *'I doot if I had waited to come to you for help, by this time I would have been a gone corbie '^ (a dead crow) ! and the response was so well received that John was allowed to take his departure without any further debate. He was above the ordinary in education, and could coin a new word where he felt the want of it At one time he embarked in cattle-dealing, but did not make a success of it Explaining the rea- son to a friend, he said : ' * It wasna that I didna wish to mak' it go, but I didna just hae the cleveraiity/' None could excel him in mock-heroics when he wished to be sarcastic, a good sample of his skill in this line being the pompous style in which he announced the birth of a boy whose father was a sapper, and whose fortune was poorer than even the ordinary run. * * Have you heard the happy news I ' ' said John. * * One of her most gracious Majesty's Royal Engineers has last night deigned to visit our humble clachan-with- oot a sark upon his back, and nae a bawbee to buy ane wi ! ' ' The best of his stories are unfortunately in the fine, broad, graphic Scotch of Aberdeenshire, and lose much of their point and flavor when translated into English. In a serious vein he let off some excellent things. ** Kindness, ' ' he would say, '*is better than a' ye can eat or drink,'' and to one who was likely to secure a valuable appointment John advised : * ' Gin ye do win on and do win on,— Be good to a' poor thing." His creed was summed up in a sentence which was also a commandment: *'Dee (do) weel and ye '11 be weel here and hereafter." With malice towards none, but with charity for all, he spent the gloaming of his days amid the scenes of his childhood, and died in his eighty-eighth year with the respect and the affection of the whole community. AMANQ MY AIN FOLK IN THE AULD HAME. 83 An aunt of John's, Mary Law, of the Inner 's, was also widely noted for her droll sayings, one example of which must here suffice. She had been warned by the Doctor to keep to her bed, as he saw symptoms of serious illness in her, and also prescribed a poultice of porridge for her chest. Mary agreed to obey in- structions, but when the doctor called the next day he found her in a raging fever. Insisting that she had not kept her bed, as ordered, she admitted '*that she might have got up occasionally to see what gig or cart was passing.'' ''Then," said the doctor, **that ac- counts for your fever," to which Mary promptly re- sponded: *'Fa could take a fiwer wi' a clort o' pot- tage at their breist I ' ' I have delightful memories of visits paid to Mary when on trout-fishing expeditions with my Uncle John. No ''pieces" ever tasted finer than the ones she pre- pared, unless perhaps the delicious scones and ' ' croods ' ' that I got farther up the hill at the " Saip- lins," where my cousin, Mrs. Beid, resided. As I re- member the district in those days there was nothing stinted about the hospitality anywhere. This may be partly accounted for by the fact that I had relatives in every direction. Once when my uncle was pointing out to me farm after farm and telling me in what way there was a family connection, I said: "We cannot be related to everybody in the parish, surely!" "Weel," he said, "there's nae mony hereaboot ye couldna hae some claim till gin a' was redd up"— which is not improbable in a settled country with an ancestry located in it for a few centuries. While speaking of relatives, I may here mention that I have discovered that one of my grandfathers was present at the Battle of New Orleans, and in the same British regiment with him were my two grand-uncles, who perished on that bloody field. My grandfather, 84 HEBE AND THERE IN TWO HEMISPHERES. Norman, was also very stout and strong, but probably owed his life to the fact that he was only five feet eight in height, as his brothers Lachlan and John, both over six feet, were shining targets for General Jackson's marksmen, and fell early in the day, to remain forever on American soil. They were all pressed into service as vassals (by courtesy called tenants) of the Duke of Sutherland, and those who survived the American cam- paign and came home found their crafts turned into big sheep farms and their houses razed to the ground —a fine reward for their loyalty, and a common in- stance of the despotism, ingratitude and inhumanity of the landed proprietors of those days. Equally in- teresting to me was the information that on the Celtic side of my ancestry was the last of a race of bards, whose gift of poesy had descended from father to son for some generations. This particular poet's master- piece, says Logan in his ** Highland Clans," is ** reck- oned by many to be equal to anything in the Gaelic language. ' ' Now for a change in my chat In the Bible somewhere I remember reading about darkness so intense that it could be felt. In Lumsden it is so dense that you can lean against it, sit upon it, or lie down on it as on a couch. To be out on its main street when it is dark and rainy is the nearest approach I know to being adrift on the Atlantic Ocean. Not a star is to be seen. There are somewhere, I believe, street lamps, but long ago it was decided that they were too much trouble, not to speak of the expense, so they lie covered with dust and laziness in the comer of some out-house, a gloomy reminder of Lumsden 's fondness for * * ways that are dark. ' ' The folks of the Lum have no desire to let their light shine. In the shortest days here it is dark up to eight o'clock in the morning, and daylight dies out at half -past three on a stormy after- AMANG MY AIN FOLK IN THE AULD HAME. 85 noon. But the lighting of house-lamps is regulated more by the clock than by the sun, and, most of all, by the pulling down of the blinds. One morning I stepped into the kitchen about 7 :30, or * ' hauf-aucht, ' ' as they say here. It was as dark as pitch, and I said, ' * Where is your lamp! Don't you light it in the morning f **0h, ay,'' said my cousin, Letitia; '^but it's oot noo." *^Yes," said I, ''but see how dark it is!" ''Ah, but," she said, "look at the clock!" "Well," I replied, "that does not matter— it's dark." "Yes, I ken," she said, ' ' but the blind 's up ! " And this to her was a settler. It could be dark or light, as it pleased, she had pulled up the blind, and out the light had to go. Another afternoon I called on my Cousin Jean. We sat and talked while she was busy at her work of dress- making, and, although the gloaming soon set in, she kept at her sewing. When it got so dark that I could not see her, I hinted that it was surely time to light the lamp. "Eh, na," she says. "Fowk would speak aboot's if we lichted up as soon as this. My blind's nae doon yet ! ' ' When she saw from her windows that her neighbors had lit their lamps she plucked up cour- age to follow their example, but not before she pulled down the blind. I really believe some of the Lumsden people are disappointed that paraflSne oil ever came into fashion. Candles are still used freely, and I have been able to procure from Donald Ross's widow a fine specimen of a " cruisie, ' ' as was in use about a genera- tion ago. This is a primitive lamp, composed of two flat iron shells, with spouts, one hung above the other. Melted tallow or grease is poured into the upper shell, and two or three rush wicks laid in the oil and lighted at the upper spout. The lower shell is to catch the excess drip, and the oil thus saved may be used again. A still more ancient form of light is the pine torch, which I remember using myself. Fat pieces of fir. 86 HERE AND THERE IN TWO HEMISPHERES. full of rosin, were split into long, thin ' * candles, ' ' and, when dried and well toasted, made a fairly good light. Some houses had a ''peer man'' to hold those fir can- dles—the **poor man" being simply an iron hand fixed up near the fireplace ; but in most cases, if the old man *'took the book," or wished to read from a newspaper, one of his children stood by his side and held the torch near him. Such a human candle-stick, as he told me himself, was the late Alexander Geddes, of Chicago, and Blairmore Castle in Glass. As a boy he held the fir for his father to read by, and before he died this same son was able to see his father reading by electric light in the palace erected on the same site where stood the humble cottage of his earlier days— a record per- haps unequalled by any other man in Scotland or in the British Isles. The electric light has been intro- duced at Craig Castle, within two miles of Lumsden, and is considered such a novelty by the natives of the district that they walk long distances to see it. I found several who rather resented the innovation as an infringement on their Cimmerian prerogatives, and sullenly declared that **nae good could come o' sic' cantrips. ' ' But it cannot be denied that darkness has advantages for Lumsden, at times, although individu- als may occasionally suffer. Strangers in the village are welcome to run against the pumps that are set up like pillar letter-boxes on the sidewalks about a hun- dred yards apart. A broken leg helps the country doc- tor, and even bruises bring some small grist to the chemist's shop. Then there are other compensations. When friends fall out at night, as friends will some- times do, all the world over, they can give and take completely screened from the rude, unfeeling gaze of neighbors. It was no doubt on such a night of dark- ness as Lumsden often has that two worthies fell a-fighting. They pelted each other as best they could. *•■» AMANG MY AIN FOLK IN THE AULD HAME. 87 but evidently made little headway when out of the gloom came a shrill, small voice: **Hit him on the watch, father— it will cost him something." It was on such a night as this, too, that one of the ministers, in walking down the main street of the village, almost ran into one of his flock. Poor Geordie had been hav- ing a little altercation with his better half, and decided it would be healthier * * to sniff the caller air ' ' outside. The minister asked him what he was doing. **0h," he said, **my lum was reeking and I just stepped oot. I wish you would look in and see how it is doing." Wishing to oblige, the minister walked to the door, and, just as he opened it, a female voice exclaimed: *'Is that you again, ye auld deevil!" and the next mo- ment the minister 's hat was crushed over his eyes with a cutty stool. Without making an outcry he closed the door, and, stepping up to Geordie, said : * * Oor lum at hame sometimes reeks, too," and passed on into the night. The most of the thrifty people here have only one idea of economy, and that is, to save every penny they can lay their hands on. They are not enterprising, and the speculative element is entirely absent from their composition. If they were shown that by spend- ing a shilling they could get two shillings they would laugh at you, and hold on to their ''bob." Every spare copper with them is a prisoner. But there are many, again, who spend recklessly on whisky or to- bacco, and it is really surprising how much goes in that direction with them in proportion to income. The general style of living is bare, even niggardly, to one accustomed to a bountiful American biU of fare, and, as to house or home comforts, few know anything whatever regarding them. In many cases, too, it is not for want of means. Farmers worth hundreds, yes thousands, of pounds, will live in a state of semi-star- 88 HEBE AND THEBE IN TWO HEMISPHEBES. vation and barbarity, in half-furnished rooms, often without fire in the middle of winter, and without any of our Yankee necessities, not to mention luxuries. Instances are plentiful where as much money will be wasted in ** treating'* on a single market day as would keep cosy every room in a big farm-house for a whole winter season, but by such spenders any one who used his money so sensibly (as to be comfortable) would be classed as eccentric or ' * saf t, ' * and his early down- fall confidently predicted. They look on people who provide a good table with contempt, and for a man to treat any one to a good dinner or supper at an inn or hotel instead of spending six times as much on strong drink simply means, in their estimation, the height of folly, and the last stage of prodigality. So it is in regard to the condition, furnishings and conveniences of too many of their houses. To my certain knowl- edge the dwelUngs on two of the finest farms ^^ in the run of Bogie ' ' are worse hovels than we would ask the poorest and lowest negroes in the United States to occupy. To describe these ** homes'* in detail would demand the pen of a Douglas, a Balzac or a Zola. The buildings may have been standing a thousand years, to judge from appearances. The walls are as loose as an open dyke ; the roofs a miserable patchwork of rot- ten broom, straw and broken slates, in many cases held down by ropes, stones, planks, and even broken-down harrows, wheels and other discarded farming imple- ments. The windows have not a single sound pane of glass, and are half -filled with brown paper, old news- papers and filthy rags. The doors have never seen paint of any kind. Inside the conditions are stUl worse. There is no pretense at floors, except that at one time flag-stones had been laid somewhere between the entry and the fireplace. The furnishings of the rooms are of the rudest, crudest type. When it rains. *»_■<■ AMANG MY AIN FOLK IN THE AULD HAME. 89 which it does about five days out of seven, and eighteen hours out of every twenty-f our, it is real sport to find a spot dry enough to sit or stand in for ten minutes at a time. Umbrellas are as essential for bedrooms as blankets, if one wishes to sleep undisturbed and wake up dry. Everything is black with smoke and soot, and even in the matter of smell *'the offense is rank,'* and cries out to Heaven. Such ** homes '* are a disgrace to a civilized community, and a crime that some one should be made responsible for. I know all about the proverb that relates to the bird that defiles its own nest, but the fault is with the defiler and not with the one that has the courage to draw attention to it If the good people at home sit blindfolded it is a real kindness to remove their bandages and let them see things as they actually are. As John Knox used to ask, and George Buchanan before him: **Is it the truth f When the answer must be **Yes,'' whether what is written pleases or displeases is of secondary importance. The proprietor of the farms is the Duke of Richmond and Gordon. His dealings with his ten- ants are through factors, or agents, and in such cases as I have cited the factor is unquestionably more to blame than the Duke. His Grace is personally said to be a humane man, and, as landlords go, considered a good one; but His Grace's servant, in this instance, must have a heart of granite and a conscience of cast- iron to permit such rookeries to disfigure the turnpike side. His duty is to see that the property in his care is fit for human habitation at least, and nothing can be advanced to excuse him from the greatest share of the censure that must fall on every one in any way con- nected with the disgraceful exhibition. The tenant must also be to blame in part, as, if he is fit to occupy the farms, he can most certainly command better ac- 90 HEBE AND THERE IN TWO HEMISPHERES. commodations.* I even felt that I could scold the parish ministers for failing to protest against such hovels, but later experience in the district has shown me how small now-a-days is the influence of the parson and how limited his powers. I have met all the clergymen here, and good men they are, every one of them. Their sermons are excel- lent, practical and stimulating, but it's a pretty dour soil they have in which to sow the seed ! One particu- larly fine discourse I listened to was on the subject of *' Kindness and Thoughtf ulness. ' ' It was a model in every way, and touched strongly on faults and failings common to us all. I felt sure it would bear good fruit, and without delay. In coining from church to the vil- lage—a distance of two miles— I had noticed many old and feeble men and women, hardly able to make such a long journey. Elders' gigs had passed them by, and, in spite of vacant seats, I had never seen a friendly lift given to any one. Now, after such a pow- erful preachment as we had listened to, the elders would certainly **tak' a thocht and menM'' But no! They sailed by the old, the halt and the infirm, splash- ing them with the mud from their gig-wheels in the old- fashioned style. Every vehicle had three vacant seats, that could have made three poor pilgrims happy, but the occupants did not believe in bothering themselves to impart any help or pleasure to their less fortunate neighbors ; in other words, they did not pay any atten- tion to their minister's harangue no more than if they had slept through his whole sermon, as probably some of them did ! * It is only fair to state that as soon as the Duke was personally appraised of the condition of affairs above described he gave the matter immediate attention, and ordered new buildings to be erected at once. This placed the blame directly at the Factor's door, and happily, for the good of the Estate and the suffering Tenantry, a change was soon after made in the local management. AMANG MY AIN FOLK IN THE AUIiD HAME. 91 I have been told that there is a sanitary inspector who could condemn such houses as I have partially described above, and can only conclude that in such cases as the ones mentioned he has been muzzled and blinded and bought over to neglect his duty, because no fair-minded man could see such horrible conditions and conscientiously say the dwellings were fit for hu- man habitation. My boy Duff, who has been here over a year now, says with a large proportion the motto of Scot- land is not *'Nemo me impune lacessit,'* but ''What*s the use ! ' ' This is the uniform question and answer to every hint or suggestion implying improvement or change. Ambition with them is certainly at a low ebb. They think and say that what was good enough for their parents is good enough for them. Any bet- terment of their condition that means the least exertion or extra work is quickly dismissed. This spirit operates against them in other ways. Many of the young men would rather live on meal and water and hang around home (in very truth only eking out a miserable existence) than push out to try their fortune in better fields. Perhaps it is for this reason that the good, enterprising, successful Scots do best in foreign lands. If they have any spunk at all they escape from country life under the low, sordid, de- pressing, emasculating conditions around them. The vigorous and the superior grades come to the top like cream, and a praiseworthy dissatisfaction with their life gives them no rest until they find elsewhere what was denied them in their native glens and vales. It is no ordinary spirit or ability that rises superior to the abasing— I had almost said debasing— surroundings of country life that too largely prevail now-a-days in the north of Scotland, and the young man or young woman who succeeds in breaking through their envi- 92 HEBE AND THERE IN TWO HEMISPHERES. ronmeiit finds after success in life in almost any sphere and clime comparatively easy. Do not for a moment imagine, however, that all are alike here, any more than elsewhere. Even amongst those who stay at home there are fine specimens of progressive manhood that would reflect honor on any country. I write of the average masses, and not of the exceptions, whether in- dividuals or classes. The farmers who are fairly suc- cessful have the best that is agoing in implements and stock, and at rare intervals one will be found that in- sists on having the best also for himself and family. But, at the finest— and perhaps this is their fairest ex- cuse—farming is a sorry business. Bents are high, and the climate * * invariably xmcertain. ' ' Many of the crofts and farms Americans would not work as a gift rent free. In the main the rule still holds that the farmer who improves his place can depend upon his reward in the shape of advanced rent at the end of his lease. Retired tradesmen and merchants are always plentiful enough to keep the rents at abnormal figures, so that the legitimate agriculturist has a sorry time of it There are no industries or factories in this section, the nearest approach being two freestone quarries, that would not give work all the year 'round to a score of men. If a man is not regularly employed at fanning he can find odd jobs at breaking stone for road-metal —and when that is mentioned his chances are ex- hausted. The village, with a population of about 500,* sup- • To Mr. W. G. Sillifant the courteous and capable Registrar of the parish, I am indebted for the following figures: Auchindoir Census, 1901. Males. Females. Total In Lumsden 255 232 487 Remainder of Parish 356 373 729 Totals 611 605 1216 AMANQ MY AIN FOLK IN THE AULD HAME. 93 ports six general merchants, handling all kinds of requisites, one of them being licensed to sell liquors, and one having a chemist *s shop. Three of them have tailoring establishments (and there is a new establish- ment, since this letter was written, exclusively devoted to tailoring). Three of the shops handle newspapers and reading matter of various kinds. There is also a watchmaker in the village, and a baker, but no butcher. There is one inn and one horse-hiring establishment. Three boot and shoe shops are needed, and in any of them you can have footgear made from start to finish. The 'cycle dealer and repairer is here, and there is also a contracting carpenter and a contracting mason. The nearest railway station is eight miles distant, but the village has a postoffice, with two mails daily, and a telegraph oflSce, open from eight to eight * * on lawful days,'* and for two hours on Sundays. That last phrase puts me in mind of a good story told about Queen Victoria. She was fond of asking the Dowager Duchess of Atholl to read the famous notice about the Blairgowrie coach. The name of it was the * * Duchess of Atholl, *' and the name of the hotel which was its headquarters was **The Duke's Arms.'* When her late Majesty wished to make sure of a good laugh she would call for a re-reading of the advertisement which was as follows: ** *The Duchess of Athoir leaves *The Duke's Arms' every lawful day at 6 a. m., and at 10 o'clock on Sundays!" To resume our village direc- tory: We have one bank— a branch of The North of Scotland Banking Company, one public school, one Number of Houses in Village 116 Number of Houses in balance of Parish 152 268 The total population in 1881 was 1514, and 1891, 1374, showing a decrease of 140 in 10 years and decrease of 298 in 20 years. Is this a fair sample of the depopulation of our Scottish rural districts? 8 94 HERE AND THERE IN TWO HEMISPHERES. church (United Free), and one blacksmith shop. I have noticed several women assiduously knitting stock- ings, and believe they do a small business with the merchants in that line. There is no barber shop and no laundry shop. For evening entertainment, young men collect on street comers or frequent the tailors' and shoemakers' shops. Card parties are popular, whist being the favorite game. Occasionally the **dam-brod" is taken out and some good players have been developed. A dancing-master has a small private class two or three nights a week. About the New Year time balls are frequent, and the once famous annual * * shooting match ' ' still survives on a diminished scale, but the great ** blow-out" of this season is dignified by the high-sounding Italian name of *' Conversa- zione. " It is only another example of how prone the ignorant are to use hifalutin words, and, similarly, to indulge in what is tawdry and irritatingly superfluous, forgetting that simplicity is far superior to gaudiness and tinsel and kindred vulgarities. The same ten- dency is shown in the decorations of homes and per- sons, where any attempt is made to rise above the bare necessities. Instead of a good, solid, serviceable table, chair or lamp, some ridiculous monstrosity is purchased (at an exorbitant figure), neither fit to write on, sit on, or to give any light whatever. In place of stout, strong, homespuns, never out of fashion and always beautiful, the would-be dandies trick them- selves up in worthless shoddy, gorgeous patterns and fantastic design, while the belles, in ribbons and bib- bons and laces and feathers seem to vie with each other in the display of freakish finery, and ugly, rubbishy, irritating * ' f ol-de-rols. " But this weakness is not confined to any particular clime or country, so doubt- less it is an innate tendency that is one of the neces- sary steps of human evolution. AMANG MY AIN FOLK IN THE AXJLD HAME. 95 A great deal of the trouble and lack of progress in this district is due to the love and practice of gossip and scandal ; the almost total neglect of mental culture of any kind ; and, as in the case of the Irish, the failure to agree and unite for their common good. As I re- marked before, the churches seem to have little real influence over the people. The services are respected, so long as they last, but it would take more than an hour 's spiritual leaven to influence the material dough of an Auchindoir week. And yet nowhere in all my travels have I felt more benefited by church attendance than amang the kirks of my ain folk. The simplicity of the exercises must be their greatest charm. At the U. F. Church in Lumsden and at the Parish Church of Auchindoir, I felt nearer to my idea of rational, reverent worship than in any of my other experiences in this line, and being curious in such matters, I have never missed an opportunity to see the best, or most noted, wherever I might be located. The Scottish rhymed versions of the Psalms are used, and some of the stanzas are appalling from a rhythmic or metrical standpoint, but the beautiful tunes to which they are sung would soften any ruggedness and consecrate verses even more grotesque. In Auchindoir we do not have the **showding'' that may still be seen in the Cabrach. This is a practice of gently swaying the body to the rhythm of the psalm-tune, and when done in unison and seriously by the whole congregation, it has a comic effect to a stranger. I have seen it in full force at Negro religious camp meetings, but the move- ments there were considerably brisker, and more than once culminated in a whirlwind of excitement, ending in irregular collapse. No big Carnegie **kist o' whistles'' has broken into any of the Auchindoir churches yet, but all are equipped with modest harmo- niums that unobtrusively add to the pleasure of the 96 HEBE AND THEBE IN TWO HEMISPHEBES. singing. The precentor is still only second in im- portance to the minister, and the stories that cluster around the old-time ' * letter-gae ' ' rank with the best specimens of Scottish humor. I have seen some rare happenings myself when an amateur like '/Bithnie/' Diack, or Cryle, volunteered to lead the singing, or what is more likely had been pressed into the leader- ship of the choir. But whether keys were pitched too high or too low, whether the tunes were suitable to the measure or not— yes, even in extreme cases, where a false start compelled a dead stop in the middle of a line that could not be compressed or stretched any farther— the man was always equal to the occasion, and did not hesitate to begin all over again, and finally ended in triumph. Innovations in tunes were never popular, and an instance is on record where the pre- centor and his aids were publicly rebuked. After they had finished the new-fangled rendition the minister got up and with unconcealed rage announced : * * Since the precentor and choir have sung to their own praise and glory, we shall now sing to the praise and glory of God' '—leading off, himself, with some old favorite like ** French'' or ** Martyrdom, " in which the con- gregation heartily joined. I missed many of the old ** characters, " who had, in the words of my old Sun- day-school teacher, **gone to where the wicked cease f rpm troubling and the weary are at rest. ' ' This dear old man and I were great friends until I committed the never-to-be-forgiven crime of going to London without asking his permission ! The fact is I ran off from home, when fifteen years of age, and beat my way to the world 's greatest city without consulting any one. When I got back to the Lum, fresh from my Metro- politan triumphs, my old teacher cut me dead. It seems that up to the time of my exploit he was the only man in the village who had ever been so far from '.-'V AMANG MY AIN FOLK IN THE AULD HAME. 97 home, and of course I was now a formidable rival to his travelled glory. I heard of his an'ger and even now I wonder at my daring in going back to his Sunday- school class, although he always said I was his best scholar. The gentle William now had me where he wanted me and for a long time played with me as a cat plays with a mouse, making only jocular references to the return of the prodigal son and such like Biblical stories. But at last his pent-up wrath exploded, and Jill the vials of it were emptied on my devoted head. He pictured the impudence of a youngster like me going to London, when he, William Barron, had been an old man before going so far, and even then he was accompanied by a guide. Then he took another tack and said it was extremely doubtful if I had ever really been there. Could I bring any one to prove it! Of course I could not I I remembered visiting the Tower, and the Mayor's Office, St. Paul's Cathedral and the Royal Exchange, but I had not influence enough to transport them to Lumsden nor power enough to make them speak for me even if I had got them there. I recall that I had sold a nice jack-knife to buy paper and envelope and stamp to send a letter home from London to my uncle to satisfy him I had actually been in the great city, but such prejudiced testimony was out of the question with my relentless judge. Finally, having worn himself out, he pulled his watch out of his pocket and brandishing it under my nose, with his face wreathed in smiles, he said: **He may and he may not have been in London, but one thing is certain sure,— HE HASNA GOT A GOLD WATCH YET ! ! I That was a crusher, and I doubtless crept home the most crest- fallen youth in Lumsden. William also cut me out of a five-pound legacy he had left me in his will, so I paid dear enough for my frolic. Last winter I was telling this story with my wonted gusto to Mrs. Strachan, of 98 HEBE AND THEKE IN TWO HEMISPHERES. Bucham, near Huntly, and when I reached the climax amidst unusual merriment from the balance of my audience, she quietly said: '^Ay, that was jist like Willie. ' ' I smelt a rat at once and I said : * * You did not know him, did youf **Weel, I think I sud,'' she said, ' * he was my ain uncle ! ' * It took some cat- like gymnastics for me to come down gracefully, but they tell me I managed to light nicely on my feet. *'Jeems" Cameron was another village hero, and when he walked home from the '*stroop" with his water pails he always suggested to me the stately * * march of the Cameron men. ' * I wish I had the space to mention more of the * * characters ' ' of the place, but I have them all embalmed in verse somewhere, and it would be a work of supererogation to touch them up again in prose. Of another type were the two leading ministers of my early days. Rev. Wm. Beid, of the Established Church of Auchindoir, and Rev. Harry NicoU, of the Free Church at Lumsden, but also of the parish of Auchindoir. Mr. Nicoll, as I have elsewhere said, was the greatest reader of his time, and had the biggest private library in Scotland. I have recollections of him moving noiselessly among his books, able at any time to put his hands on anything he wanted, and to place his finger unerringly to the paragraph he desired, no matter what the apparent confusion of arrangement might be. I even once saw him with an ordinary kitchen '* heater" ironing out the dog-ear marks some careless and unsympathetic readers had made in his beloved literary treasures. He was a scholar and critic of high degree, but with all his gifts and opportunities he did not leave us a single book of his own to be re- membered by. In discussing this with his gifted son, Dr. Robertson Nicoll, he said his father had serious in- tentions of writing on many topics, but put it off with AMANG MY AIN FOLK IN THE AULD HAME. 99 the strange idea that a man should not begin to pro- duce print until almost everything else in life was set- tled or adjusted. Then when that period was reached he still withheld his pen, thinking to commence might hasten his end, as some people put off insuring and making their wills from the dread that by doing so they accelerate their departure. It is greatly to be re- gretted in his case, as he could not have failed to adorn anything he discussed. Perhaps he had read too much and was too severe a critic of himself. Did not Bums say that if he had been acquainted with all the master- pieces of poetry in his early years he most certainly should not have attempted what he did! It has al- ways been a theory of mine that some minds— and not the poorest— get more inspiration from mediocrity than from excellence. When they see perfection they are dazzled, benumbed, chilled, paralyzed. When they see work only fairly well done they are encouraged to show they can eclipse it, and in this way, I doubt not, many geniuses are originated, nourished, developed and completed. Mr. Nicoll's family has, however, made ample amends for the paternal reticence. One of his daughters wrote poems of pensive beauty; his son, Henry James, made a world-wide fame for him- self, although cut off at the beginning of his literary career, and we all know something of what Dr. William has done. Mr. Reid always impressed me as if I was a special favorite of his, and many a sixpence and pocket-knife he gave me. I don't remember the good advice which I doubt not accompanied them, but they always im- pressed me as being either rewards or admonitions, and as often as I saw them or thought of them they spoke their lesson or preached their little sermon. In the pulpit Mr. Reid was another man to me— a fine ex- temporaneous preacher— but just a trifle awesome to 100 HERE AND THERE IN TWO HEMISPHERES. the wee laddie who could hardly see over the pew. More than once I have fallen alseep in the midst of a long discourse, to be fitfully awakened by a punctuat- ing thump on the pulpit, or a few sweeties quietly handed over from the Glenbogie seat. Mr. Eeid's children have been more than ordinarily successful in their chosen careers, two sons attaining high eminence as medical men, and Sir Alexander bringing back to Auchindoir as bright a military glory as the proudest knight that was ever associated with it. For the advancement of the Aberdeenshire and Scot- tish farmer generally a combine or trust is greatly needed, and, if accomplishable, should benefit every- body and hurt nobody except a few middlemen, who are not under the circumstences worth considiring. Such a plan, however, will never be carried to success by local men, as the envy and jealousy everywhere prevalent could not possibly be surmounted by any farmers known to the people here. As it is, farmers are now compelled to buy everything in the dearest market and sell their product in the cheapest There is no finer beef anywhere than the polled Aberdeen- Angus. It is as much admired in Lancaster as it is in London, and American breeders have spent fortunes to get the best strains of the stock for their herds. The highest prices the world has any record of have been paid for the Aberdeenshire * * hummlies " or * * dod- dies" that owe so much to the Tillyfour farmer of my native county. Herds of great value are now com- mon all over the land. While appreciating the patron- age of **the Yankees," as they call the United States dealers, the Scotch farmers at present have a grievance against them. It seems that the Americans make a practice of visiting all the leading herds, and buying right and left the choicest animals, provided they can afterwards stand **test," the test— which is for tuber- AMANG MY AIN FOLK IN THE AULD HAME. 101 culosis— being made by the Americans, or some one in their pay. In this way the Scotchmen contend the Americans have their choice and option on all the mar- ket, and after seeing every herd they can, cull out what best pleases them, rejecting also anything that suits them, without offering any excuse except that the stock was not ''up to the test" Animals so rejected, after having beeii set aside for the Americans, are greatly depreciated in value, to the loss of the Scotch farmers and the lowering of the prestige of their herds, and the chances are that a fairer system of buying will be in operation in the near future. The Scotchmen also suffer from the unfair and dishonest tactics of the wholesale butchers or meat dealers, and with very lit- tle excuse, it seems to me, on such a monopolistic com- modity as Aberdeen- Angus beef. It could be easily controlled by a union centered in Aberdeen, and the best prices obtained there. The present ruinous plan is to send the dead meat to London, to a commission merchant, and take what he cares to offer. On the strength of sixty sides, or thirty head of cattle, the London butchers will sell over their counters at least two hundred sides, some hailing from Canada and some from almost every county, as well as Aberdeen. A trust, with a good business manager, could positively keep a check on all beef offered, and in a short time would have the London butchers in Aberdeen bidding against each other for the true Aberdeen-Angus stock, instead of getting the best at their own terms, and sell- ing inferior beef, pretending it is the genuine article. Such a trust or union could also secure better prices for everything from the farm, and would save any amount of money in the buying of seed, manure, im- plements and stock. This plan, as I said, would benefit everybody— proprietors and tenants, and would not be felt by consumers, as the savings would be taken mostly 102 HERE AND THERE IN TWO HEMISPHERES. from the present middlemen, who are, so far as I can see, the worst enemies the farmers now have. I had the opportunity of looking through the fine terd of Mr. George Cran, of Morlich, Towie, and felt quite near my American home again when I heard him talking familiarly of the Judys of Indiana, and saw the Breeders* Gazette with references to our own elo- quent Hon. Frank B. McClain, who had been presiding at one of the big stockmen's banquets in Chicago. In Mr. Cran's parlor I saw a display of silverware suffi- cient to set up a first-class silversmith's shop— loving cups, basins, ewers, salvers, spoons, etc., including trophies direct from the Queen, and all prizes won by the Braemorlich herd. Auchindoir is a long parish, parts of it running be- low Ehynie village, as other portions in other direc- tions seem to be geographically out of place. But even that, like most things, has its compensations. For in- stance, my friend, Mr. James Paterson, the efficient Sec- retary of the School Board for more than a generation, finds it convenient in the matter of church-going. He lives nearer to Ehynie Church than he does to his own parish church of Auchindoir, and if he does not show up at one the presumption is that he is worshipping at the other 1 That is not falling between two stools, but sitting siccarly in mid-air without any damage to his dignity or harm to his reputation. Robert Cham- bers managed the same thing in Edinburgh by renting pews in two different places, but the braw lad of Braw- land accomplishes as good results by the mere luck of locality and without any puckering of his pocket- book.* * The writer's position in the present volume is somewhat akin, hav- ing two distinct audiences to bear in mind. If my Scotch readers who do not like any particular chapter will only believe that it is enjoyed by my American patrons, and they in turn will kindly consider that the AMANG MY AIN FOLK IN THE AUID HAME. 103 Good varieties of granite abound in Auchindoir, and this particular industry might be profitably developed. The old red sandstone quarries, near the Broom, have been worked for generations. Asbestos has been picked up in Towanreef Hill, and Cairngorms are occa- sionally found in the Bum of Craig. No doubt the very best natural resource of the parish is its healthfulness. Statistics show that in this re- spect it is unsurpassed by any district in Great Britain. Lumsden Village is 745 feet above the sea-level, and after Tomintoul and Leadhills is, I believe, the highest hamlet in Scotland. Of recent years * ' The Lum ' ' has grown in popularity as a sununer resort, and certainly it would be hard to find its equal as a genuine rural retreat, since it is as yet unspoiled by the weakly ** week-ender, * ' and is not overrun by the more leis- urely loungers who have corrupted so many of Scot- land's choicest country towns. portions of the book they may not fancy are the particular tit-bits of my old-country friends I shall be in the- happy position of haying every line appreciated somewhere! THE SACK OF AUCHINDOEE. [O, bricht is auld Kildrummy's hue in mony a fine historic sang! And Towie and Glenk indie too have thus been named and famed for lang. E'en Cabrach, Gairtly, Rhynie, Claitt we rin across at antrin times, but Auchindore is rarely met amang the Ballad Minstrel's rhymes. Yet in the days when books were scarce oor pairish didna legends lack and this bit strowd o' rugged verse I've rescued frae Oblivion's pack. To get the time or epoch clear your thochts ye'll hae to backward turn till something like a hunner year afore the fecht at Bannockbum.] THE SACK OF AUCHINDOIR. Upon the border of the Land Of ancient Craig in Auchindore Near whaur the Auld Kirk ruins stand A stately castle stood of yore. Surrounded by its wall and moat, Which still distinctly may be traced, No Baron's keep of greater note The bounds of Aberdeenshire graced. Here rich in men and stock and store With gear and gold in goodly sum Lived Irvine, Lord of Auchindore And Laird of all the Lands of Drum. His Lady was a fitting mate. For he had taken for his wife A fair-haired daughter of the great And three times noble House of Fife. The NotL's proud Tap by Castle DuflE, Her princely father's seat, was crowned, And there by wooing swift and rough The gallant Drum his bride had found. With carefi^ steps from hill to plain His lovely prize he proudly bore To gie her a' he ca'd his ain And mak' her Queen o' Auchindore. 104 THE SACK OF AUCHINDOBE 105 The Thane o' Fife was in the Sooth When tidings reached him o' the raid And brought the story of the youth That robbed him of his bonny maid. << a Presumptuous thief!" he loudly cried, To think that such a lowly kern Should dare to dream to be allied By wedlock to a royal bairn ! I'm Lord of Fife and Earl of Weems, Of kingly stock myself beside, And woe betide the churl that dreams To mak' my only heir his bride! As needs no rhyming seer to tell By shires she yet will count her land And Scotland's mighty king himsel' Might well be proud to claim her hand ! **Arouse!" he thundered in his ire, ''False Auchindore shall rue the day When in the absence of her sire He stole the Lass of Noth away ! **We11 seek no more the Sacred Cross Nor linger by the Holy Well,* But come again when greater loss Or greater gain is ours to tell!'* But ere the Tap o' Noth he gained And his deserted home had seen Six happy moons had waxed and waned Since Auchindore had wedded been. Behind his high and armor 'd walls. Unthinking of his doom, I wiss, Sir Irvine wander 'd through his halls Reflecting on his wedded bliss. * These are noted Duff Sanctuary Shrines in Fife-shire. The Cross, located near Couper, bore a curious inscription in which Pictish, Gothic and Latin were intermixed, showing its great antiquity. The Holy Well is also in the same neighborhood. 106 HERE AND THERE IN TWO HEMISPHERES. His bonny spouse kept by his side, Now reconciled and happy too, Reflecting pleasure, love and pride In rosy cheeks and eyes of blue. No grating sounds were heard to jar That balmy August afternoon ; No vexing sourness came to mar The sweetness of their honeymoon. The birds upon the leafy boughs Made music to their hearts' desire, And doon the howes and up the knowes Were warbling in a joyful choir. The bumie singin' doon the Den Made music roun' the Castle wa' And far'rer up the wooded Glen They heard the liltin' Waterfa'. The bonny woods o' Clova sighed As gently as a sleepin' sea. And on the Moat the Warder plied His oar. with movements soft and free. The Buck smiled o'er the peaceful vale To catch a blink frae Mount o' Keen And Towanreef was seen to hail The quarried face o' blue Coreen. To Dunideer Knock-Caillach show'd Her Druid Crown in queenly style And old Kildrummy's turrets glow'd Till seen by Huntly's lordly pile. The Bogie in a winding thread Through grassy haughs like silver shone And southwards where the Mossat led Was seen the sparkle of the Don. ti 0, changes many here have been. But changeless are the streams and rills ; The lands have many changes seen. But changeth not the changeless hills! THE SACK OF AXJCHINDOBE 107 ''And though the sea may undermine And wreck the Earth by seismic wars. Still overhead will brightly shine The steadfast sun and moon and stars." Thus spoke the Knight of Auchindore While musing on the lovely view, And gloaming shadows gathered o'er The still more distant peaks of blue. His Bride crept near as if in fright, And pointing to the North she said: ''The Tap o' Noth looks black to-night And it alone of all I dread. ti My father's castle seems to toss Its yellow flag as if for war And look ! Is that the Fiery Cross That shines beside it like a starf " The Squill obeyed his wife's behest In hope to see the spark expire. But soon upon the mountain crest They saw the heather all on fire. "The signal of your sire," he said, "And now, behold, by Bruntlan Glen The vanguard o' his cavalcade- Hell soon be here wi' a' his men. ti Come, Evalina, seek your room And keep yourself from fear and hann, For helm of steel 111 doflf my plume And love for you will nerve my arm. "Your father comes to tak' you hame By force, if need be, f rae my side. But I hae noo the greater claim. And only Death shall us divide." He hadna got his men in trim. His doors and windows bolted weel. When roun' the castle's moated rim Was heard the clank of angry steel. ti n li 108 HERB AND THEBE IN TWO HEMISPHERES. The great MacDuff then cried aloud: ** Bring out my daughter, Auchindore!*' But never was an Irvine cow'd By ony merely human roar. Again was lifted up the voice Of Duflf, the haughty and the brave: False Irvine mak' the nicht your, choice,— My daughter— or a fiery grave." Proud Auchindore made answer then : "Thy pardon, sire, I do not beg. And think not you nor a' your men A Laird o' Drum can ever fleg. I took your daughter, I concede ; I have her now, I frankly own ; True Love has ratified the deed; Her heart was hers and hers alone. It suits her well to bide with me, And stay she shall in Auchindore, In spite of all the Duffs that be. Though they were twice as many more." Then **Bum the castle doon," said Fife, **In his ain fat the rat will fry; His serving men and maids— and wife. We'll waft their ashes to the sky." At this his daughter climbed her stair And from the ramjxarts on the wall She with her beauty hushed the air And softly to her sire did call: **0, Father, quench your burning brand. And tell your soldiers to depart. Sir Irvine only got my hand When he had captured all my heart. **He did not seek your gold and gear; He does not ask for dowry-fee ; No costly sequels need you fear; He is content with— only me. << THE SACK OF AUCHIKDOBB 109 And if he robbed you, as you say, Of heir and daughter, both in one, The loss I doubly can repay When you accept him as your son." '*No more,'' said Duflf, with fiercer ire; **To think my child so low should come As be content to spurn her sire And wed the paltry Laird of Drum. ''Besiege the castle; and to-night Begin with fire instead of sword. That Eva may have better light To know that Duflf is still her lord. **To any man within the keep Deserting Drum to work for me As many acres may he reap As he may need— forever free.'' But no one moved the prize to win, And then he oflfered, still more bold : **To him who fires the rooms within I'll give his weight in solid gold." Still Irvine's men the bait repelled, And, though 'twas doubled, were not sway'd. But when the bribe was three times swell 'd A graspin' loon his trust betray 'd. Nae sign he made; nae word he spoke Till but a sentence he could speak, For lo ! he was the first to choke And smore amang the fatal reek. By this time a' the place was doomed, Wi' nae a chance escape to mak' The lower rooms amaist consumed The upper rooms approachin' wrack. The Lady Irvine once again Unto the outer wall came nigh. And showing more of grief than pain She clearly to her sire did cry : 9 110 HERE AND THERE IN TWO HEMISPHERES. it Now, father, all are gone but me. And one by one I saw them go ; The father of my babe to be In death's embrace is lying low. **I have no yearning to exist, Of lord and lands and castle shorn. But wish misfortune to desist That I might save— my child— unborn.*' At this she swooned— and as she fell, MacDuff himself sprang in the moat, Swam boldly to the keep, and well He kept his fighting graith afloat. He nimbly scaled the castle wa', And^ reckless of the risks around, Without a stumble or a fa'. He brought his daughter to the ground. There willing hands were prompt to aid, The moat once more was safely crosst, And in a litter she was laid. For whom so much so soon was lost. They bore her back to Tap o ' Noth, Where duly was her baby bom. And long did son and mother both The castle of the Duffs adorn. But Auchindore was ne'er rebuillt. And ne'er will be until the date When Time has fully purged the guilt So foully thrust on Fife's estate. And that, 'tis said, can only come When those predictions are fulfilled That once were made of Duff and Drum By one who was in seership skilled. ti THE SACK OP AUCHINDOBB 111 Balwearie* once was entertained By Lady Irvine and her boy, And long the dame was held enchained By bodes her race would yet enjoy. The Duflfs," he said, *'had reigned before, In Scotland they would reign again, And kings and princes by the score Would gladly follow in their train. The Irvines, too, on Fortune's flood Would places reach of high degree. And one who boasted Irvine blood Would rule a realm across the sea." Now see what things have come to life Since we in sober truth can sing: The Earl of Fife has got a wife Whose father, once again is king ft And in Usonia's mighty Lan'— What almost seems beyond belief— An offshoot of the Irvine clan Is honor 'd as the nation's chief! * " The wondrous Michael Scott," or Scot; — scholar, wizard and seer. He flourished 1214-1291. Being a Fife-shire Laird it was not un- natural that he should visit the Duffs at Castle Noth in ordinarj course, and if he cared he could have transported himself at any time by a wave of his magic wand I t Ladies Alexandra Duff and Maud Duff, the daughters of the Duke and Duchess of Fife are to-day the nearest heirs to the British throne, although of course the children of the Prince of Wales are legally more direct in line. i This looks like the mystical name mentioned by The Warlock, and the following letter which has appeared in many newspapers and mag- sines may shed some light on the word: " USONIA." Lancasteb, Pa., 18th June, 1903. Dear Sir: — We of the United States, in justice to Canadians and Mexi- cans, have no right to use the title " Americans " when referring to mat- ters pertaining exclusively to ourselves. Every day is keenly felt the want of a correct name for our great, grand, glorious, independent country. 114 HERE AND THERE IN TWO HEMISPHERES. by the youthful star-gazer who is not without honor in his native vale, since he is, as the negroes would say : * * truly for sure, done gone dead ' ' and not likely to bob up again to ask for either bread or brown baw- bees. Here, in America, one of our most successful public entertainers rejoices in the name of Keith. The Keith system of vaudeville theatres may be seen flour- ishing in all our leading cities and at the present mo- ment a Keith Opera-house that will eclipse all rivals is nearing completion in London, across the sea. I have seen it stated that Mr. Keith's ancestors hailed from Keith, and that the successful and popular manager has more than once visited the district whose name he bears. But Scotsmen and Americans will be more interested in Keith for the reason that James Gordon Bennett, the founder of the New York Herald, was * * raised ' ' in this little Banffshire Highland hamlet. The exact place was then known as * * The Old Town ' ' and is now called ** New-Mill." I say ** raised" advisedly as he was actually horn in the Enzie, another parish a few miles from Keith, but while yet an infant his parents moved to **The Auld Toon." There has been considerable controversy as to the precise date of Bennett's birth, but after figuring over the many dates and consulting the references to different epochs in his career I am satisfied he was born in 1795 and not in 1800, as many of his American biographers state. His parents were Boman Catholics and yet they named their oldest boy ** James Gordon" after the Kev. James Gordon, who was the Protestant spiritual director of the Presbytery of Strathbogie— the true ** Gordon Land" so famed in song and story. As to the name Bennett, and the Scottish origin of the clan, J. G. B. himself is authority for the following : EABLY LIFE OF JAMES GORDON BENNETT. 115 ** Every record of the Bennetts was lost in a great freshet, previous to the year of our Lord 896, when they were a little band of freebooters in Saxony. I have no doubt they robbed and plundered a good deal, and very likely hen- roosts, or anything that came in their way. They emigrated to Prance and, under the name of Benoit, lived in the Loire several hundred years. When William the Conqueror went to England they were always ready for a fight and crossed the seas. The Earl of Tankerville is a Bennett and sprang from the lucky side of the race. Another branch went to Scotland with an ancestor of the present Duke of Gordon (1836), and all, I believe, were robbers on a great scale. Latterly, however, they became Churchmen, but never abandoned the good old Catholic Church till I became grace- less enough to set up for myself, and slap the Pope and Bishop Dubois right and left. I have had bishops, priests, deacons, robbers and all sorts of people in my family; and what is more we were bright in ideas, and saucy enough in all conscience." James Gordon Bennett had two sisters, Margaret and Annie, and an only brother named Cosmo. Both boys were designed for the priesthood, but James es- caped this fate when about twenty years of age. Cos- mo stuck to the seminary, and according to his brother was sacrificed by the rigorous rules of the College of Angelites, dying when in his final term. This tragedy was greatly lamented by the journalist, who had ex- pected his talented brother to be his life-partner. The first school-master of the Bennetts was Donald Cam- eron, whose son. Dr. Cameron, also emigrated to Amer- ica and was for a long time located in Wilmington, Delaware.* • When I lived in Camden, N. J., Dr. Cameron visited me frequently, and from him I had lots of anecdotes of James Gordon Bennett whom he knew well, and with whom he kept up a correspondence until Bennett died. He told me, as a boy, he had bought many a biscuit from Bennett's mother, whose maiden name was Janet Reid. Dr. Cameron's son Gilbert is the present esteemed representative of Dun & Co. in Providence, R. I. 116 HEBB AND THEBE IN TWO HEMISPHEBES. After leaving Cameron's village school Bennett was sent to Aberdeen, where, at the Catholic Seminary, he received a good classical education. In after years he often referred to the happy days when he studied Virgil in the morning, played ball in the afternoon and sported in the Dee or Don in the gloaming under the shadow of **the braw braif toun of Bon- Accord, ' ' the Silver City by the Northern Sea. He was a voracious reader, and has recorded that he had a peculiar satis- faction in being one of a literary club that met in the very room of the grammar school where the youthful Byron only a few years previously had conned his tasks. Indeed, Byron's influence on him was strong and lasting, morally as well as mentally. He was also a great admirer of Walter Scott, whose novels were then appearing. One of the results of his reading was an impulse to visit the scenes of the tales, histories and poems that he perused, and so well did he carry out his intentions in this direction that before he attained his majority he had made a pilgrimage to all the most noted literary shrines of Scotland. As an example he gives an entertaining account of a visit he paid to Glas- gow shortly after the publication of **Rob Roy.'' He sauntered into the Saut Market and began identifying the people he saw with the characters in Scott's im- mortal work. When his eye lighted on a merchant that reminded him of ** Bailie Nicol Jarvie" Bennett ex- claimed: **0h, that's him outright!" The Glasgow- wegian, greatly astonished, blurted out: ** Laddie, are you mad!— You look scared 1" and Bennett, recalled to consciousness, could only stanuner: **I thocht I saw a frien' o' mine!" He greatly enjoyed himself in Glasgow, visiting the Broomielaw, Kelvin Grove, the theatre. Dr. Chalmers's Kirk and other places of in- terest; ** leaving the city," as he tells us, **on the fourth day, with tears in my eyes, partly because I had seen a black-eyed girl too many." k EABLT LIFE OF JAMES GORDON BENNETT. 117 The first employment he got was as an apprentice to a Mr. Stronach, draper, in Keith within a mile of his birthplace. Before completing his indenture Stronach failed, and young Bennett, with his uncle, Cosmo Reid, set up business as drapers in Aberdeen. They could not make it go and soon disposed of it. At this time the emigration fever was raging in the north of Scot- land and people by thousands were flocking to the New World, the bulk of the Aberdonians to Canada and the Northern States. Bennett was an intense admirer of Benjamin Franklin, and had long cherished the desire to visit his birthplace and other cities made famous by his genius. One day in 1819 on the streets of Aberdeen he met a Keith friend, who said: ** Bennett, I'm going to America, on April 6th,'' and further talk developed the fact that his friend was to sail for Halifax, Nova Scotia. Bennett says he mused a little, and then im- pulsively declared: ** Wilson, my dear fellow, I'll go with you. I want to see the place where Franklin was bom. Have you read his * Life ' ! " And go he did, on this impulsive promise, using neither judgment nor caution in his decision. He did not even go to Keith to say farewell to the family circle. He carried only $25.00 with him, after paying his fare. Was there ever a clearer case of a man being hurried to his destiny! It took him many years and cost him innumerable fail- ures before he reached success in the land of his adop- tion, but he had not lived in the Granite City for nothing, and in later life was able to endure poundings and chisel! ings that would have destroyed any score of ordinary men. He first found a job as a teacher of bookkeeping in Halifax, but it was too slow a calling for his ambi- tion, and, when he felt called upon to return school-fees to needy widows with stupid sons, he left all his pupils behind him and crossed into the territory of Uncle 118 HERE AND THERE IN TWO HEMISPHERES. Sam. He soon made his way to Portland, Maine, and it was then an easy step to reach Boston, the city of his demigod Franklin. The **Hub," with its familiar names, seemed like a second home to him. He drew parallels between it and Edinburgh; he visited every spot sacred to liberty and independence; and he felt at last that he was on the high road to fortune. But it is one thing to recognize weel-kent places, and alto- gether different to meet no weel-kent faces, more espe- cially when one is without money and with no employ- ment. Very soon Bennett found himself penniless— indeed for two days and nights he wandered through Boston without having eaten a morsel of food. He was willing to work, but no work was forthcoming. In the crisis of his despair he found a shilling on Bos- ton Common and it brought him good luck. He secured a position as clerk or salesman with a Mr. Wells, a countryman of his own, formerly a friend and pupil of Dr. Priestley, and then a member of the firm of Wells & Lilly, leading printers and book-makers of that period. By and by he was transferred to the proof reader's desk. When in Boston he was studious and well be- haved, his only weakness being a propensity for rhym- ing. He wished to describe Boston after the manner of Byron 's * * Childe Harold, ' ' and some of Bennett 's verses are quite commendable. He also gave much of his time and thought to the study of newspapers, noting the various types, and the causes of their failure or success. He was particularly enamored of the independent brand of journalism introduced by Buckingham of The New England Galaxy, and in after years modelled his own policy largely from Buckingham 's style. When he felt that Boston had given him all he could profitably absorb he struck out for New York City and reached the Me- tropolis of the Western Hemisphere early in 1822. His first work seems to have been connected with the press. EABLT OFB OF JAMES GORDON BENNETT. 119 but shortly after his arrival he accepted a position as special reporter for the Charleston Courier, and took up his residence in South Carolina, where he remained for the next two years. He wrote prose and verse for this journal, translated articles from the Spanish papers received via Havana and from his employer's enterprise in boarding vessels far at sea for news took another valuable lesson in journalism that he afterwards acted upon with such brilliant results when he became his own master. It also seems as if he was providentially sent South, to live in a slave-holding State, so that when the proper time came he could write more intelligently on the important question that had its final settlement in the great Civil War. In 1824 he was back in New York. Contrary to our expectation he did not re-engage in journalism, but is- sued instead a prospectus for a commercial school with himself as sole staff and principal 1 In his advertise- ment he says: ** Encouraged by several gentlemen,'' he ** intends opening in Ann, near Nassau Street, an English classical and mathematical school." His school was to be conducted * * according to the inductive method of instruction." New York references were given, and in a postscript it was noted that * * application may be made to J. G. B. at 148 Fulton Street." The school was a failure, if it ever was started. Competi- tion in that line was keen, and it is surmised that Ben- nett did not secure any pupils.* It was about this time that he took to lecturing, holding forth on political economy in the vestry of the old Dutch Church in Ann Street. But he soon drifted into steady employment on the press. He received small pay, and worked for many different proprietors. In 1825 he plucked up courage enough to own a paper himself, and bought The New York Courier from a Mr. Tryon, paying for it * There was even another " James Bennett " in the same field. 120 HEBE AND THEEB IN TWO HEMISPHEBES. with notes. When this venture failed Bennett returned the plant to Tryon, and received bapk his bills! He then identified himself with the National Advocate. He was a first-class and a fearless reporter, and could take down a speech verbatim, which was not a common accomplishment in those days. In 1826 he had become so well known to the newspaper men of New York that they used him as a target for many shafts inspired by envy and jealousy, making much of the fact that he was a foreigner. It is worth noting that Bennett about this time introduced Martin Van Buren as a prominent man for elevation in the Democratic party, and that the young Scotchman was also a recognized member of Tanamany Hall I* Among other employments of **good society, ' ' duelling was quite popular, but Bennett never came nearer to such a fight than to write a description of it. In 1827 he was in Washington as special repre- sentative for the Enquirer. He worked harder even than usual and his letters make '^ mighty interesting reading. ' ' Amongst personal items we find that he was very fond of tea, and also that his eyes failed him from intense application night and day. Ever after he was squint-eyed, but he consoled himself with the reflection that it was better than being squint-hearted, like so many of his opponents and enemies. One of his most entertaining epistles is devoted to the handwriting and spelling of eminent men, as an offset to the charge that his hero. General Jackson, was a sinner in that respects Bennett places Burke, Pope, Addison, Jefferson, Ca- nova. Sir Christopher Wren, Elbridge Gerry and De Witt Clinton in the same category, and quotes ample proof for his assertions. It is at least testimony to his tastes and his industry. In due time he had the satis- faction of seeing Jackson inaugurated as President. * Years afterwards, in one of his famous letters, he said he picked up his wonderful stock of modesty by frequenting Tammany HaU when he was a young man ! ! ^ EABLY LIFE OF JAMES GOBDON BENNETT. 121 For the next few years Bennett was busy as a politi- cian and as a journalist, mostly attached to the amal- gamated Courier and Enquirer. He interviewed every- body worth interviewing from the President down, and was sent on particular missions as a ** special corre- spondent" pretty much like Julian Hawthorne in our own day, even making a careful and exhaustive study of exciting murder cases, such as the murder of White of Salem by the Crowninshields. It was during this trial that Bennett, in answer to the criticism of a judge, declared the press to be 'Hhe living jury of a nation/^ Everything was grist to his mill. When debarred from writing reports of a trial he wrote articles descriptive of the town, its people and its trade. When on vaca- tions he penned letters dealing with the scenery or the historical associations of the places he visited. In na- tional affairs he was equally at home, discussing ** Bolivar '* or the ** Banks, '* and ** anti-Masonry " or **The Duties of Editors." On October 29, 1832, he issued the first number of the New York Globe, being its sole proprietor as well as editor. It was the beginning of dieap political papers and sold for two cents a copy. The venture lasted just a month, which Bennett declared was the full length of time he had allotted to the experiment. During his busiest days he had been a prolific contributor to the Mirror and other literary journals, and his work there added to his fame and to his friends. His story of **Two Yards of Jaconet— or a Husband *' is a good example of his lighter vein at this time. After closing out the Globe, Bennett went to Philadel- phia and bought an interest in The Pennsylvania^. He soon began to enliven its colunms with strictures on Wall St., New York, and this brought upon his head the antagonism of nearly all the New York City papers and the moneyed ring, as well as the enmity of many of 122 HERE AND THERE IN TWO HEMISPHERES. his former political associates.* By and by he found himself in need of $2,500 to push his paper, and know- ing how useful he had been to his party he made appU- cation amongst its leaders for such a loan. They one and all refused it, giving many imaginary excuses for declining to help, finally combining against him '^as a dangerous man," and in the end attempted to read him out of the party. He felt their ingratitude keenly at the time, but he secured the loan from non-political friends. The real trouble with Bennett was that he would not be a pliant tool for any party, but insisted at all times on maintaining his independence. Of course he could not indefinitely continue a fight against such powers and remain a political partizan writer, so at a considerable loss he sold out his interest in The Pennsylvanian and went back to New York, a sadder and a wiser man. The result was really a compliment to him as a man and a citizen. At this period the penny press in New York was exciting much attention, and Bennett, with his mind now fully made up to try independent journalism was eager to make a connection with one of the successful journals. He had no money, he was now in his fortieth year, and he felt it was time to secure somewhere a more permanent foothold. All his hard work up to this time had seemingly ended in failure, since he was now **a statesman out of a job,'* once more walking the streets of New York without a penny and without a position. He contributed, it is true, some letters to the Philadelphia Enquirer, but this employment was neither continuous nor very remunerative. Day & Wisner were making a great success of the New York Sun, selling it at a cent a copy, and Bennett tried hard to make a con- nection with tiiem, but without avail. In vain he urged * He was the first journalist to write a regular " money article/' a feature which has since been copied by every newspaper in every land. EABLT LIFE OF JAMES GORDON BENNETT. 123 that he had new and valuable plans for the increased circulation of their paper. Day, at times, gave him some encouragement, but Wisner would not listen to any addition to their staff. At last, after repeated rebuffs, he formed a connection with Anderson & Smith, printers, and on the 6th of May, 1835, launched The New York Herald from the cellar floor of No. 20 Wall Street. His sheet was a small one and published at one cent, Bennett himself being news-gatherer, editor, distributor, book-keeper and office boy. It is said that his first counter was a board supported on two empty barrels and the well-known picture of him sitting in his shirt sleeves, writing editorials with his stack of papers beside him, is not a creation of the artist's fancy, but represented the cold, bare truth. Such, in- deed, was the lowly beginning of the mighty journal that for so long reigned as the king of newspapers, and is yet considered second to none in its influence and its net daily revenue. At last the stride had been made from New-Mill, Keith, to New York, U. S. A., in a manner satisfactory to the indomitable, independent and invincible Scotsman; now he had put his foot down, not to be lifted by any person or party, and a new era had commenced for the press of America. When I was in Keith, as mentioned at the beginning of this article, I was introduced to a man who claimed to have set up type on the first issue of the New York Herald! His story was accepted as gospel by the na- tives, and he had surrounded himself with quite a halo of fame from this imaginary glory. He appeared to be about sixty-five years of age, so his claim was out of the question, and the nearest approach to it was that he had perhaps once had a position on the Herald or had known James Gordon Bennett in New York, or had met him on one of his visits to his native land, after the Herald was an established success. 124 HERE AND THEBE IN TWO HEMISPHERES. At the outset the Herald was quite commonplace, and displayed little of its editor's peculiar individualism that was so much in evidence during his palmiest days. The printers lost the trade of rival newspapers, and as Bennett was only on trial, and not making the great success immediately anticipated Anderson & Smith be- came restless. But Bennett had them bound hand and foot and they had to endure him. They were both in poor health, which added to their miseries, and when a big fire came along and burned them out and The Herald with them, they were satisfied to collect their insurance and rest from their labors. Bennett's paper was actually snuffed out for a short time, but with $500 that had fallen to his share as the proceeds of his fire policy he recommenced business, this time without any foiJcially interested partner ^d with hardly a friend to cheer him. He was thirsting for pecuniary success as well as burning with a desire to become a journalistic power in the New World. He had seen many brilliant writers left to decay by those who could have helped them; he had himself breakfasted with neglect, dined with ingratitude and supped with injus- tice ; and he felt that he must strike out on new lines, or his hopes and his ambitions would soon wither and waste away. Respectable mediocrity plus independent writing would only end in starvation, and he had re- solved to die rather than again to ally himself with any political party. With very limited means he could not forestall his contemporaries by purchasing costly news. He had plenty of plans for enriching his paper when he himself became rich, but meanwhile he must make some- thing out of nothing, he must keep his old subscribers and constantly add to his circle of readers. It was a feat worthy of a Cagliostro, and in accomplishing it James Gordon Bennett proved himself to be a true Wizard of the North. He called to his aid satire and EABLY LIFE OF JAMES OOBDON BENNETT. 125 sensationalism, and helped by them and their attendant sprites he triumphed over all his difficulties. Of course he shocked New York, but New York bought Heralds and that was all he cared for at that time. Imaginary news, so-called intercepted letters, mythical speeches in Congress, and even manufactured Presidential mes- sages were among his ordinary bills of fare. He also made a stronger specialty of his money articles and did not spare the speculators of Wall Street. He waged war against all his rivals of the press and courted any kind of conmient and criticism, evidently believing with Bums that the more he was talked about the better he would be known. He accomplished his desires in mak- ing his paper different from all others in the field. With his hand against every man and every man's hand against him it was only natural that sooner or later Bennett should have a personal encounter with some of his rivals. In the second year of The Herald's exis- tence he was twice assaulted— once in his office by an irate speculator and the second time in Wall Street by Mr. Webb, a former partner connected with the Courier a/nd Enquirer. Webb knocked Bennett down and then hit him with a stick. Next morning the Herald said : **I have to apologize to my kind readers to-day for the want of my usual life. ' ' Bennett then told of how his assailant, ' ' by going up behind me, cut a slash in my head about one and a half inch in length, and through the integuments of the skull. The fellow, no doubt, wanted to let out the never-failing supply of good humor and wit which has created such a reputation for the Herald, and appropriate the contents to supply the emptiness of his own thick skull" and so forth, concluding: **My ideas, in a few days, will flow as freshly as ever, and he will find it so to his cost." This promise was kept to the letter. The circulation of the Herald, containing an account of the fracas, was nine thousand copies. Bennett was climbing up! 10 126 HEBB AND THEBE IK TWO HEMISPHEBES. Some interesting autobiographical tit-bits appeared in his editorial articles at this period, and I think the fol- lowing is entitled to quotation : ** Possessing personal industry and indefatigability, with some talent, for which I am thankful to God Almighty, no one in this city can say aught against my private character. I can venture to say that in all the relations of life it is without a stain." Even his bitterest enemies, when pressed for honest answer, could not gainsay Bennett's sweeping claim. For years his paper, however, was nothing but a sheet of gossip, scandal, sensationalism, spice and of ephe- meral interest, but in justification of this the condition of the Herald's contemporaries has to be considered. Greely on the Tribune was financially crucified almost daily, and his scholarly writings gained little attention. Legget's high-toned Plain Dealer never caused a ripple and if it had died would not have been missed. The Expositor, Dispatch, Toiler, and Evening Signal were only bom to expire. Of all rivals the Sun alone showed any vigorous life. But by his sauce and independence Bennett actually helped the papers that were able to exist and in due time they too profited pecuniarily. He had to face many charges including that of ** black- mail, ' ' and a manufactured story of how he defended a man charged with murder, for the sum of thirteen thousand dollars, for many years was circulated against him. Mr. Webb again attacked Bennett in Wall Street as he was collecting financial news and gossip for The Herald, with the following net result : **My damage,'* wrote Bennett, **is a scratch, about three quarters of an inch in length, on the third finger of the left hand, which I received from the iron railing I was forced against, and three buttons torn from my vest, which any tailor will reinstate for a sixpence. Webb's loss is a rent from top to bottom of a very beautiful black coat, which cost the EABLY LIFE OF JAMES GORDON BENNETT. 127 ruffian $40.00, and a blow in the face, which may have knocked down his throat some of his infernal teeth for anything I know. Balance in my favor $39.94." This incident swelled the city circulation of the Herald still more, and even in the country districts readers were beginning to take more interest in James Gordon Bennett. He never missed a chance to exploit The Herald and to advertise himself. Two of his coun- trymen wrote him, complaining of his style of doing business and begging him for the honor of his native land to change his course. His answer was a stinger, but both sensible and defensible, exhibiting humor, satire, philosophy, eloquence and real character. The only item that I care to cull from that letter at present is his reference to Keith. He says : ''I was educated in Scotland, a Roman Catholic, in all its exclusiveness, in all its rules, in all its penances, and yet at the first glimmerings of reason, at the age of fourteen, I began to doubt some of the dogmas of the Church, to the great annoyance of father, mother and the parish priest. This spirit of mental independence sprung up, it is true, in Scotland ; but was it the soil, the climate, the blue hills, the cloudless skies, the fragrant summer heath, that produced itT No such thing! It was the work of that Being who first gave to all the spark of Celestial Fire." Bennett was both an optimist and a fatalist. He be- lieved in eternal progress and improvement, and he also felt confident that he was born to luck, that he personally led a charmed life, and that Providence continually watched over him. He often regretted that he had to play mountebank and don cap and bells to attract atten- tion, but felt that the end justified the means. On the 6th of April, 1836, The Herald was moved from Broadway to Clinton Hall Building, enlarged in size and the price raised to two cents a copy. Progress up to date is best given in Bennett's own words near the close of 1836 : 128 HEBE AND THEBE IN TWO HEMISPHEBES. ''The surprising success of The Herald has astonished myself. I began on $500, was twice burned out, once had my ofSce robbed, have been opposed and calumniated by the whole newspaper press, ridiculed, condemned, threatened, yet here I am, at the end of fifteen months, with an establishment, the materials of which are nearly worth five thousand dollars, nearly all paid for, and a prospect of making the Herald yield in two years a revenue of at least thirty thousand dollars a year." It is not my intention to follow Bennett's journalistic career farther in this article, except to note that his suc- cess continued and increased with every year. As he became stronger financially he surrounded himself with able assistants and introduced many features of real and permanent value to the Herald and to the public at large. His newspaper became a national power and provided for him a royal revenue. Whether or not he kept up a close connection with Keith, during the years of his trials and struggles cannot now be told, but it is pleasing to know that as soon as he felt he was safe in doing so he paid a visit to his old home. Mr. James Lawrence, of Keith, one of the ablest and most enthusiastic of local historians, wrote an account of Bennett's first trip back, and a copy of this valu- able article I received when in Lumsden from Mr. James Ironside, retired merchant there, himself a native of Keith and thoroughly posted in the history of Strath- isla and the neighboring district. Since then I have looked into the matter and found a few more details that are worth reproducing and incorporating with Mr. Lawrence's sketch which first appeared in The Aber- deen Evening Gazette. It was not inappropriate to select this paper, seeing it is the afternoon edition of The Aberdeen Free Press that some time ago absorbed The Aberdeen Herald, and still uses that title in its weekly issues. In Bennett's time the Aberdeen Herald EABLY LIFE OF JAMES GOBDON BEKKETT. 129 was a great literary power, and I have always thought that he had it in mind when he selected the name for his own successful venture. I have even seen it stated that he made personal contributions to the columns of the Aberdeen Herald, but have no means of confirming or of verifying this. It was in 1838 that Bennett made his first return voyage to Scotland. Before leaving he sold off his superfluous furniture, books, etc., which found ready purchasers among his friends and admirers, who were in this way glad to secure personal souvenirs of their favorite journalist. He reached Falmouth, England, on the 19th of May, and remained in the South until the beginning of July, meantime attending the Coronation of Queen Victoria, and visiting the leading editors in London. On the 6th of July he was in Edinburgh, and musing there on the Calton Hill he has recorded that so strong were his emotions in reviewing his past life that he figuratively and literally then and there was **bom again," and so forever saved his soul! He saw all the prominent sights of * * Auld Reekie, ' ' and passed on to Aberdeen by the mail-coach, for northern rail- roads were not then in existence. His impatience kept growing as he came nearer home, and the Granite City could not hold him with Keith only forty-five miles away. Early in the morning of July 10 he took an out- side seat in the ^ * Royal Mail ' ' for the Highlands, and in due time was set down at the door of **The Gordon Arms ' ' in his beloved Keith. He was a boy again, and his emotions almost overwhelmed him, so instead of hastening at once to the **Auld Toun" he took luncheon at the hotel and nerved himself for the coming ordeal. In the afternoon he set out on foot to see the old home. He has himself described that walk, the places he passed and the changes he noted since he was a boy. He tells us that even the grass and white clover sent forth an 130 HEBE AND THEBE IN TWO HEMISPHERES. odor like wild honey, sweet and delicious. As he neared New-Mill he met a lassie on the road, and pointing to his birthplace, he asked its name. **It's the Auld Toon, ' ' she said. The reply and the accent pleased him and he spoke again: ** What's the matter with your foot, my girl ! " * * I Ve a sair tae. ' ' Ah, here was the Doric ftt last— the genuine Stra'-Isla article, and it added to his pleasure to give the lassie a coin, and say : * ' Here is something to heal it. ' ' The pilgrim was now nearing the holy of holies. He entered the house on the hill and stood before his aunt. She did not recognize him, and her perplexity made him smile. Then she knew him at once I * ' God bless me I I never wad hae kent ye, but for your laugh I " He sat down and could not speak for some time. Then: **How stout you have got, aunty!— but where is my mother, and my sisters!'* Before re- plies could be given his mother, followed by his two sisters, came in from their own residence close by. It had been a long separation till then. The vicissitudes of life had been many, but there was an age of joy in that moment. His mother seized him tenderly by both hands, looked into his face, kissed him and fell upon his neck, weeping like a child. He was distressed to see how old his mother looked, but she reminded him it was twenty-three years since they had met ; in that time his father and brother had died, and that, she thought, was sufficient to make her look old. The reference to his brother Cosmo moved him terribly. Later on he was shown Cosmo's letters and as he read them he more and more bemoaned the untimely ending of so brilliant a life. He blamed the Catholic Church for Cosmo's death and vowed that she would suffer for it, but fearing that his mother, who was a devout Catholic, might misunderstand him he soon changed the subject. He enjoyed every minute of his stay at New-Mill, and devoted the time to talks with his relatives and visits to EABLY LIFE OF JAMES GOBDON BEKKETT. 131 all the prominent places in the neighborhood. When the day came to say good-bye he promised to return next summer and stay longer. Mr. Lawrence is of the opin- ion that Mr. Bennett never again found time to revisit the old home, but without doubt he was there again in 1843, and to the pleasure of his mother and other rela- tives he was accompanied by his wife and their infant son, James Gordon Bennett, Jr. From a contemporary- account of this visit the following paragraph is ex- tracted : **When James Gordon Bennett was at Keith and New- Mill in 1838 he had promised to bring a bride with him on his next visit, and he kept his word in that particular faith- fully. What additional arrangements he made for the happiness of the family there it is not material here to dis- close, but the same prudent yet generous regard for his mother and sisters which ever had characterized him was fully appreciated by their hearts, which sympathized most deeply in all his happiness and in all his sorrows. He had become more serious and less impulsive, as he perceived the important relations existing between him and his offspring, since he last heard the pungent witicisms of Margaret, or contemplated the soberer mood of Annie, or listened to the counsels of his mother. Besides, the strides he himself had made in the profession to which he had devoted his life were such that he could no longer deem his journal as any- thing less than an engine of vast power. In 1838 he was successful— but he was not so firmly established that caprice or competition might not blight his hopes. In 1843 he was as secure as his ambition could desire,— and being a prom- inent man throughout the chief nations of the earth he could not feel less than the natural anxiety of mind which is the thorny crown of greatness— that constant watchfulness to maintain the port and bearing of a man whose object is above the suggestions of mere selfishness."* * It is also positively known that Bennett was at New-Mill and Keith in 1847, and probably once or twice after that date. 132 HEBE AND THERE IN TWO HEMISPHERES. Bennett 's mother and sisters sleep with their kindred in the auld kirkyard of Keith. He himself has put it on record that he had only two homes and two places to which his heart was bound— -New York and New-Mill— the one the scene of his manhood, the other of his childhood. He died in June, 1872, considerably over the three score years and ten, and with him was severed the last link that united the Bennett's of Keith with the Bennetts of Columbia. It was long a question whether James Gordon Ben- nett was not more notorious than famous, but in his later years his leading position was almost universally conceded. This sketch may be fittingly concluded by his own words, out of his early aspiration weaving his final epitaph : '^My ambition is to make the newspaper press the great organ and pivot of government, society, commerce, finance, religion, and all human civilization. I want to leave be- hind me no castles, no granite hotels, no monuments of mar- ble, no statues of bronze, no pyramids of brick— simply a name. The name of James Oordon Bennett, as one of the benefactors of the human race will satisfy every desire and every hope.''* * When a young man, the veteran manufacturer and eminent pub- licist, Mr. A. B. Farquhar, of York, Pa., interviewed Bennett on "Success in Life," and has given the following entertaining account of it : " About 7 a. m. I called at the office of the ' Herald,' and saw Mr. Bennett. I shall never forget that interview. Looking at me intently for a moment he said: 'Have you had your breakfast!' My reply was negative. He answered, 'I thought as much. No one should go out before breakfast. He cannot do himself justice on an empty stomach. Go across to the Astor House and get yourself a good breakfast, and when you come back I will talk to you.' I won- deringly followed his advice. When I returned he said : ' Now you look better. I am a very busy man. H you are not you ought to be, and my advice will be short. The most important thing in this world is to take care of your health. You can store up your health as you do a bank account. If you have got health you can do far more work and do it better than your neighbor without health. I owe my success to my good health more than anything else.' " SOME MODERN SCOTTISH POETS. There's something in the chime o' rhyme That never can be press'd frae prose: The topic majma be sublime, The lines be rough frae start to close. But Rhyme has something a' the time That rhyme-less writin' never shows: There's something in the chime o' Rime That never can be pressed frae prose. To simply name them all would take many closely printed columns. To give a single paragraph to each of the ones I love would occupy every page of this book. To quote but one complete poem from the authors I have selected to chat about would far overstep the limits at my disposal. Besides, in my opinion, the poetical free sample business has for too long been entirely overdone. I do not believe in plundering poor bards of their choicest treasures; so I say to every reader: * * Buy their books, and read them, ' * for in no other way can you make a fair estimate of their verse and their versatility. The following notes refer only to Doric poets I have met or corresponded with and do not in- clude authors like Alfred Austin, the present British Poet-Laureate, or Lloyd Mifllin, Horace L. Traubel, Edwin Markham and James Whitcomb Riley, in the front rank of American singers, or any others that I know who write only in English. The first Scottish poet I remember seeing (to know as such) was a ** poetess**— Rachel Stuabt MacPher- soN by name, a native and resident of Rhynie, four miles from my own birthplace. I recall yet with what awe I looked at her, as she passed through our village. For some time I had been familiar with her writings, which were then regularly appearing in the 188 134 HEBE AKD THERE IN TWO HEMISPHERES. local newspapers. She was about eight years older than myself— then entering my teens— and the gulf was too great for me to span without an introduction. But later on I met her once or twice at social gatherings, and found her to be bright and jolly. She has written some excellent poems both in the dialect and in common Eng- lish and has published a volume ''By Bogie's Banks and Deveronside. " It took me just a decade to secure a copy and I value it accordingly. She married a sol- dier, and as Mrs. Robertson, has been a happy wife and mother for many years. Her writings are sweet, whole- some and richly tinged with local color, but her meas- ures are not so varied as one could wish. This is all the more to be regretted, as she has shown that she can handle creditably any style of stanza that she may select. My first schoolmaster, Harry Gauld, of Lumsden, was a poet, and published his ''Bookie'' in 1828. I picked up a copy of it some years ago, and prize it highly, as it is indeed rare. When I went to his school, and carried under my arm my daily fuel tribute of one peat, I never imagined the old man was a real, "truly- f or-sure ' ' author. He was very kind to me and allowed me to sit on the "ase-backet" (ash-receiver) by the fire instead of putting me on one of the ordinary school forms. Some good stories are told about Harry. In early life he was a watchmaker, and having once sold a seven-feet, eight-day clock, at his shop in Rhynie to a purchaser in Tomintoul, over thirty miles distant, Harry delivered the clock on a wheelbarrow which he ' ' rowed ' ' himself, all the way over hill and dale. When post- master at Lumsden he once sealed the mail bag for Aberdeen but omitted to put in the letters, and did not notice his mistake until the bus or mail gig was out of sight. There was no hope for it but to follow, which he did on foot ; and by taking a near cut over the hills SOME MODERN SCOTTISH POETS. 135 he reached the Granite City ahead of the coach, and before the letters were missed. As he had to walk home again he actually tramped nearly seventy miles to rectify his mistake, but if seven hundred had been necessary Harry would have accomplished the job in some way. Many of his sayings had great vogue in the district around Auchindoir. To an acquaintance who had expressed himself rather freely old Harry pomp- ously declared after the style of Dr. Johnson: ''Sir, I admire your candor, but confound your impudence."* Bums, Scott and Byron were Harry 's favorite authors, and to hear him recite '*Tam o' Shanter" was a never- to-be-forgotten treat. His own verse contains some good things, but very little in the dialect unfortunately, and also too few items relating to local matters. In- stead of abstruse poems on such topics as ''Creation,** "Life," "Truth" and "The Soul," if he had only given us some character sketches of the parish notables and worthies of his time, how much more highly prized his books would now be I But we are thankful for what we have got, and have enjoyed many a quiet smile over some of Harry 's amusing lines although his volume was printed nearly eighty years ago, and the green grass has been waving over the bard in Auchindoir kirkyard for almost the third of a century. What "People's Journal" reader of the early "Eighties" does not remember "Poute"! His real name was Alexb. Burgess, and he actually lived at " Coup-my-hom, " near Leven, Fifeshire. He was a dancing master, and among other accomplishments could trip the Highland fling, play "The Old Hundred" on the violin with his hands behind his back, and recite * It reminds one of Hon. John S. Wise's story of the Indian who lassoed the locomotive out West. As the engineer saw the poor red man whirled through space at the rate of sixty miles an hour, fast to his own lasso he said : " Well, Mr. Lo, I admire your pluck, but damn your judgment." 136 HEBE AND THERE IN TWO HEMISPHERES. the One hundred and nineteenth Psakn at one and the same time I '^Poute" had a funny phonetic way of spelling long before the days of *' Josh Billings'* and **Artemus Ward," and beneath this quaint device he has recorded many good verses, excelling in the comic and in the grotesque. He was the first poet of impor- tance to favor me with an autographic letter. In his old age the bard became melancholy and while deranged ended his life by drowning himself. I place his book with my rarest Doric treasures. Among the big guns of the '* People's Friend" when I was. at school Alexr. G. Murdoch, Robert Ford and Alexander Anderson were the laurell'd three. The first-named died before reaching his prime. I hardly expected then ever to meet any of the other two; but since residing in America have been honored with the correspondence of both, and had the pleasure of meeting them in 1902. Robert Ford is a native of Perthshire, but has spent his best days in Glasgow, and he must now be past the half century mark. He holds a responsible commercial position, and is a keen, careful, correct business man, never to be suspected of dallying with the Muses, if one were only to meet him in the cotmting-house. Yet what an amount of literary work he has done— prose and poetry— as author, as editor and as critic! His books have a large sale, and are worthy of it. His own poems are wholesome, graphic, full of life, and charged with light Occasionally a little roughness may be noted, but it is the exuberance of strength rather than the result of carelessness. He can handle all the keys —pathos, fun and irony predominating. In ballads, songs and character sketches he has produced many masterpieces. I call him a real lark, or better still a Scotch laverock, and higher praise than that he need not seek. He has been a widower for a long time, and his w 80MS MODEBN SCOTTISH POETS. 137 oldest daughter manages his household affairs. I shall ever recall with delight the happy evening I spent at his cosy home. He is a fine conversationalist, as artist at telling a joke, and one of the few poets I ever heard that can creditably read their own productions. It is a safe rule to get any one but the author to read his poetry. As might be expected Ford has a fine li- brary, and a great fund of out-of-the-way stories about prominent literary men. Some of his Bumsiana was a revelation to me, and its pedigree was straight. Alexandeb Anderson is known to the world as the author of *' Cuddle Doon"— a simple ballad of bairn- hood that has done more to make him known than all his more ambitious work. For Anderson is a high- grade poet, writing excellent English, and successfully treating the loftiest themes in that language, as well as turning out his little lyrical Scottish gems. He con- fesses himself that the popular verdict surprises him. He wrote * * Cuddle Doon ' ' to the music of the pick and shovel, while employed as a surfaceman or laborer on the railroad. It jumped into instant fame, circled the world, and has never been surpassed in our time as a nursery lyric. Would you have thought, after all this, of Anderson being a bachelor ! It is true, nevertheless ; and, I fear, a hopeless case. He is getting up in years now and beginning to show them. Long ago he left railroading but it left with him some legacies such as rheumatism that cannot be shaken off, even in his pres- ent snug berth at the Edinburgh University Library. Anderson is a most modest man, •and as shy as James M. Barrie. The poet has often been proffered the seat of honor at concerts, banquets and lectures, but he would sooner hide below the table than take the presiding officer's chair, although he is a first favorite in Edin- burgh, and a name to conjure with over all Scotland— and far beyond. 138 HEBE AND THEBE IN TWO HEMISPHERES. In **auld Reekie'' last year I met, for the first time, Alan BEm^ the author of * ' Songs of The Heatherland. ' ' I believe he is the only Scottish poet I ever saw topped with a ' * lum ' ' hat for his ordinary everyday head- wear. But then he is a professional man, a teacher of music, I was told, and something must be conceded for the Capi- tal City of Scotland, and its swell society customs. I had come across Reid's books in the North— he has pub- lished both prose and poetry— and hailed him at once as a true singer and delineator of Scottish character. His shorter poems are delicious morsels and his vo- cabulary is richer, it seems to me, than what is used by almost any of his contemporaries. He is bold in style and successfully so, saying much in little, and always with rich verbal melody and artistic musical effect. William Fbeeland, another Glasgow poet, although a native of Kirkintilloch, is already a classic. At the end of a long journalistic career he is spending his final vacation after his soul's desire, at home, among his books. His pen is still busy and his muse is as fresh as ever. He impressed me as being good for a score of years yet— conspicuously clean, neat, precise, erect in bearing and with the heart of a boy. He was the founder of the Glasgow Ballad Club and still is its president. He has published several volumes of poems, and is the author of more than one successful novel. His lyrical faculty is of the purest strain— perhaps too fiine for popular consumption, but he will always have the *'fit audience tho' few." Some of his poems are known to every true book-lover. In the United States Thomas C. Latto succeeded Hew Ainslie as the Scottish- American Poet-Laureate. I never met Latto, but have had many letters from him and not a few original manuscripts. It is some time since he died in Brooklyn at a ripe old age— the exact date, I believe, being May 5, 1894. He had published SOME MODEBN SCOTTISH POETS. 139 several volumes of poems and his **Kis8 ahint the door, ' ' as well as * * When we were at the Schule, ' ' are two songs that will he printed and sung as long as the Scottish dialect endures. He was a link that joined this age to the era of Sir Walter Scott, Professor Aytoun, John Wilson, Lord Macaulay and D. M. Moir, all of whom he knew personally. Another welcome singer of the New York circle is Duncan MacGregob Crerar, often referred to from his native district as ' * the bard of Amulree. ' ' He has enjoyed the intimate friendship of men like George MacDonald and William Black, and mostly all the other prominent Scots that have visited the land of the Al- mighty Dollar. Crerar is a fastidious writer, polishing and repolishing until every fleck or flaw is removed, and the lyric or sonnet stands forth absolutely perfect in form and finish. His style is more condensed than spontaneous, but is always easy and melodious. No one has excelled him in the neatness and sweetness with which he can pay a personal compliment, and I believe in a quarrel he is equally capable of taking his own part against all comers, whether the vehicle used be Scotch, English or Gaelic, and in the form of an essay, a sonnet or a song. In the Spring of this year he re- turned to Scotland. Before I made the personal acquaintance of James Kennedy, of New York City, I used to think him one of our happiest writers in the vernacular. I think so still. He has published several poetical collections, and every- thing is good that he has written. With pen and ink, in musical verse, he can tell a story, point a moral, sketch a character or sing a song as few indeed can do. Some of his comic poems are unexcelled by anything in Scot- tish literature. There is a deftness, a lightness, a liveli- ness and a cleanness about his style that makes it as spontaneous as his native Noran bum. Mr. Ken- 140 HERE AND THERE IN TWO HEMISPHERES. nedy has reached the half century mark, and is probably a little beyond it. His children are all grown up; he lives in his own house; his wife is as Scotch as himself. For years he was engaged in the exacting employment of The Elevated Railroad Co., but latterly turned his attention to practical politics and now has a lucrative position under the city government. It was a great pleasure to hear of his good fortune, and all his friends are hoping that with happier bread-win- ning conditions his Scottish lyre, too long neglected, may soon be redusted and resumed. In ** Bonnie Baltimore'* bides D. M. Henderson. He is of middle age, quiet in maimer and conducts a book- store for a living. A North of Scotland man, he has been so long in America that he has almost lost his na- tive accent. But his poems always smack of the heather, and have about them the perfume of the broom of Cale- donia. He is not a voluminous writer, but has to his credit one of the best little books of Scottish verse pub- lished in the United States since he touched its shores. His is the true lyric gift, and being a faithful artificer, he shows nothing but perfect work. The leading Ameri- can poets rave over him, and may well do so, as with the exception of two or three in the foremost rank none comes near him in any department of verse. The last time I saw him he was less interested in his own work that in a poem by one of his sons, who is evidently destined to heir the paternal poetical mantle. But there are many years of good singing in the old man yet, and all his admirers trust and pray that he may Uve to print another volume. Wm. Carnie, of Aberdeen, I met by appointment at his own residence in that city. He is now on the retired list oflScially, having held city oflSce so long and so ac- ceptably that he earned his pension some years ago, leaving his desk in a blaze of glory, with a public dinner k. SOME MODEBN SCOTTISH POETS. 141 and a portrait by Sir George Reid (another Aberdon- ian). Mr. Camie has been an Aberdeen boy for so long that he has come to be looked upon as a permanent fixture, and indeed his local fame is as safe as The Market Cross. He has been writing verse and prose for over half a century. His latest book is a delightful col- lection of what was best and brightest in ' * The Granite City*' for the last two generations, and is not only a brilliant addition to local history but a valuable con- tribution to the spirit of the times generally. Mr. Car- nie has issued several collections of poems, small in size, but by no means meagre in quality. Intensely patriotic, he has in his verses made the Aberdeen **leid*' classical, fairly dividing the honors with Dr. Alexan- der 's graphic prose. I found Mr. Camie in good health and in fine spirits, busy on a continuation of his remin- iscences. We had a delightful crack together, and I felt specially honored in sitting at the feet of such a far-famed city father and much-loved son of *' Bon- Accord, * ' even for the brief two hours at my disposal. I like some of Carnie's poems very much. No one has excelled him in the vividness with which he paints his little sketches of Aberdeenshire rustic life. He has a special genius for homely words and phrases that carry drollness with them, apart from his fine lyrical gift. No other North Country poet that I know has dared to go so far as Carnie in the broad vernacular that flour- ishes by the banks of Don and Dee, and yet with all his realism he is as clean as a whistle and as wholesome as a sunbeam. Mr. Camie has also another claim to dis- tinction, being known to all music lovers as the psalm- ody expert of Scotland. His *' Northern Psalter '* is without a rival and is in itself suflScient guarantee of unmortality for any man. Out of hundreds of pleasant incidents in the life of our poet and historian not the least worthy of note is his connection with William 11 Ii2 HEBE AND THERE IN TWO HEMISPHERES. Broomfield, the Aberdeen composer of *'St. Kilda'^— a psalm tune that some enthusiast has said is '^ fit to be sung at the gates of Heaven. '^ Mainly through Mr. Camie's efforts the Broomfield Memorial Volume was published, the profits being used to place a beautiful monument on the grave of the gifted musician. Any one who visits Allenvale Cemetery, Aberdeen, should not fail to see the Broomfield memorial with the notes of '*St. Kilda*' cut into the enduring granite, forming a most unique ornament and the best possible epitaph. It is hard to place Robert Shiells, of Neenah, a Wis- consin pioneer, hailing from the mighty shire of Edin- burgh. In 1849 he helped to set the first pegs for the first railway in the Badger State. He is a successful local banker, an antiquary of worid-wide fame, the honored historian of The Token, and he has been writ- ing Scottish verse since long before the Civil War. The veteran still can sound his lyre to good effect, al- though his antiquarian studies have engrossed the most of his leisure time in later years. His '* Story of the Token'' in an enlarged edition appeared last summer, evoking complimentary reviews from all the leading authorities and flattering notices from many of the greatest notables of our day. Mr. Shiells has done much for his adopted town since he settled there years ago, and all in all he is a Thistle of truly classic mould. I have enjoyed his correspondence and his friendship for the past dozen years. Wallace Bruce is an all-round literary man, a prom- inent lecturer and a distinguished diplomat. In Phila- delphia I heard him once tell how he came to bear two such honored names. The first intention of his parents was to call him McAlpin Bruce, but after much debate this was decided to be too ** top-heavy'' a name; **so," said he, **they settled on 'Wallace-Bruce' and thus made it top-heavier still. ' ' Bruce is an active little man. SOME MODEBN SCOTTISH POETS. 143 with flowing white hair, and any one to see him on the street would promptly decide that he is something out of tiie ordinary. He is a good platform speaker, can al- ways fill his house and please his audience. As a poet he is in the front rank, ^d for a native American is the finest writer of Scottish verse I know. He has found an entrance to the best magazines and literary journals on both sides of the Atlantic. His style is clear, smooth and energetic ; his themes well selected, with his rhyme and rhythm always true. When U. S. Consul at Leith he was highly honored by the Scotch. He was mainly instrumental in placing the fine statue to Lincoln on the Calton Hill, Edinburgh, and in other ways succeeded in strengthening the union between Britain and America- Mr. Bruce is the author of many volumes of verse, all of which have had a wide general circulation. Robert Whittet, of Richmond, Va., was bom at Perth in 1829 and crossed the Atlantic when forty years of age. He is a printer and publisher at the head of one of the best equipped plants in the South. In 1882 appeared his handsome volume entitled * * The Brighter Side of Suffering and Other Poems, '* and since then he has made other ventures in the same domain. He writes in the Doric with much sweetness and tenderness, but the bulk of his verse is in ** King's English *' or what is sometimes colloquially styled here— ** United States. '* John Stuabt Blagkie was more of an English than a Scottidl poet, but who shall be so bold as to say he was more an Englishman than a Scotsman? He wrote spfliingly in the dialect, but often on Scottish subjects. One of his books on Scottish song is as fine as anything published on that topic. He was an enthusiast on native music, and did not hesitate to lilt a sang in public even on the Sabbath day, which was surely an awful thing for a grave professor to do in bonnie Scotland. With 144 HEBE AND THEKE IN TWO HEMISPHERES. his plaid and staff and iSowing white locks he made a picturesque figure on the streets of Edinburgh. He wrote a wretched hand, but was a kindly critic. I re- ceived many letters and poems from him, and sincerely mourned when I heard of the death of the grand old man of Scotland. One of his prose bon mots is worth recording; Defining some ''ism" that claimed its aim to be ''the greatest good of the greatest number," he explained: "the greatest number in this case being— Number Oner' By many Eobebt Eeid ("Bob Wanlock"), of Mon- treal, Canada, is conceded to be the living Scottish- American Poet-Laureate. His "Moorland Ehymes" and his ' ' Poems, Songs and Sonnets ' ' contain exquisite gems of true poetry in the vernacular and in the plain English. No one has better interpreted the poesy of Scotia's moors and glens and braes and hills. Mr.' Beid has also triumphantly shown that the Doric is well fitted for a sacred theme, his beautiful "Kirkbride" being one of the finest tributes ever penned to the mem- ory of the Convenanters. In the diflScult Sonnet form, which Mr. Eeid often employs, he writes with masterly effect. His lines are not simply words patched to- gether ; they flow and sing with ease and grace. There are also weird and mystical elements in his writings that add to their charm. Mr. Eeid is a native of Wanlock- head and published his first book in 1874. Among other modem Scottish poets with whom I have corresponded, and exchanged verses, or personally known, I have only space briefly to mention William Mabtin, retired schoolmaster of Inverkeithney, now lo- cated in Edinburgh, who can write a lyric or play the violin with equal skill; Alexandbb Bbown, also of "Auld Beekie," a writer of fine taste and high ideals, who contributed to the first number of The People's Friend, and is still spared to grace its columns with SOME MODERN SCOTTISH POETS. 145 an occasional song; John Imbie, of Toronto, a leal- hearted lyrist, who died only the other day; the venerable William Wye Smith, of St. Catharine 's, On- tario, famous all over the world for his translations of the Psalms into Scotch meter; Dr. J. E. Bankin, President of Howard University, Washington, D. C, who has made many charming contributions to the dia- lect of Bums; Col. A. B. Gunn, of Philadelphia, a Banffshire man, who in the midst of an active business life, has devoted much time to Caledonian affairs and to church matters, and yet has assiduously cultivated a patriotic vein in poesy; W. D. Jeffreys, a native of Bhynie, the author of many songs that have survived him in his beloved Strath; ^^Cabl Doddie/' a Clatt artist, rhymer and elocutionist with a good grasp of the Doric ; Bobebt Grant, of Peterhead, who sang sweetly of the ** rapid rolling Spey,'' and '* Johnnie Smith, a falla fine'' ; G. G. Ingram, formerly of Huntly, an adept at every style of verse ; James H. Cousins, of Dublin, a warm-hearted Celt who has honored me with several dialect poems, and at the present time, as ^'Seamus O'CuisiN," is one of the leading native and national Irish dramatists; Db. Mobrison, of Buffalo, N. T., whose muse can lilt on occasion with no little spirit; A. S. Alexander, of Madison, Wisconsin, whose recently published ** Verses in Scotch'' will well repay perusal; J. McCombie Mubbay, of Philadelphia, a Doctor of Music and a good extemporaneous poet; Snt WiLOAM Allan, M.P. for Gateshead, an all-around man that can make lays as well as laws, and is more particularly noted in another chapter of this book; John MacIntosh, ** tailor and poet,'' a true son of the North, who favored me with many beautiful songs and epistles ; Colin Bae-Bbown, a native of Greenock, who could write pleasantly on * ' Tauties ' ' or love ; H. Pateb- soN Bayne, a Coat-bridge chap, the Poet-Laureate of 146 HEBE AND THEBE IN TWO HEMISPHEBES. the Glasgow Bosebery Bums Club; Alexandeb Walkeb, of Chester, Pa., a prolific writer in Scotch and English for many years; '*La Teste/' of Elgin, a Scottish bard who lived to see the tenth edition of his poems ; and G. W. Andebson, of Rhynie, author of the **Lays of Strathbogie, ' ' whose military genius has kept pace with his literary gifts, and has secured for him high commission in the King's Army as well as the laurel wreath that is only awarded to the true min- strel. While I write the news reaches me that my friend is now *' Anderson Bey'' in the Egyptian Army. As I began with a lass I will also end with one— Miss Jessie Anne Andebson, of Aberdeen, a most industri- ous and pleasing writer in verse and prose who has ventured into many fields. Under great disadvantages Miss Anderson has made an honorable record for her- self, extending her fame far beyond the banks of her native Dee, and with every year adds to her strength, her skill, her reputation and her circle of friends. If my readers have carelessly been inclined to think that Scottish poetry died with Robert Bums a perusal of the works of the bards I have named will speedily and satisfactorily upset that hasty conclusion. No one begrudges Robert Bums his fame and his preeminent title, but it should not be forgotten that he is only one of Scotia 's glorious galaxy of poetical stars, and he has by no means exhausted Scottish life and character any more that he has obscured the many other bright and brilliant lights of Scottish verse that shine and sparkle in our present era. And furthermore, if Bums were alive to-day, he would be the first and foremost to rec- ognize the sterling merits of every one of the modem Doric *'makkirs" that have been too briefly delineated in this off-hand article. RHYNIE AND EOUN' ABOOT. Weel faured she wiz, an', by my troth, A canty kibble quiney, The lass that cam' fae fitt o' Noth Aside the Meer o' Rhynie. Rhynie is the name of a place in Feam, Ross-shire, and there is a Rhynie or Rhynach near Aberchirder, Banffshire, but as all the world is aware the Rhynie known to fame is Rhynie in Aberdeenshire, situated on Bogieside, between Auchindoir and Gartly, and it is of this Rhynie and roun' aboot it that the author has a few words to say. Until the antiquarians and philologists decide what the meaning of the word is I cannot enrich my pages with that desirable information. An old form of the name was Rhynin (used 1226-1232), and Rhinn, Rhynd, and Rhinneen are supposed to be variations of the same word, all suggesting ''headland,'' or ''little point" from the Gaelic root Roinn, "a point or headland." Strange to say, too, the scholars who have looked into the matter think the headland of the Bell-Knowe sug- gested the name rather than the magnificent hill of Noth. There is a parish of Rhynie, and a village of Rhynie, the latter until recent times known as "The Muir of Rhynie ' ' and sometimes for brevity cut to ' ' The Meer. ' ' The whole district is a part of the great Gor- don land of yore, now known as Strathbogie, and every nook of it has its tale of stirring deeds in the days gone by. The Gordons of Craig, Lesmoir and Scurdargue all had their castles in the immediate neighborhood. The first-named residence is still in existence, although occupied by a stranger.* * Craig Castle is in the parish of Auchindoir, but like Drumminor Castle (in Keam), from geographical position seems to come more 147 148 HEBE AND THEBE IN TWO HEMISPHEBES. The second stronghold is a ruin, and of the third— Jock-o '-Gordon 's fort— not even a trace now remains. To the east of the village stands Drumminor Castle, redolent of treachery and tragedy in the olden times. It was long the headquarters of the Forbeses, but in time passed into the hands of the Grants. The Ander- son clan seems also to have had its headquarters in this section of the North. Other forms of the name are **McAndrew,'' * * Gillanders " and **Andermas." It is an offshoot from the tribe of Boss. The arms of the Andersons of Noth were charged with ploughshare and axe, their crest was a fir-tree, and their motto ** Stand Sure. ' ' Probably the origin of the clan is Scandinavian, making the Andersens of the same kith and kin. To this day the Andersons are prominent in Strathbogie. Rev. Mr. Anderson, formerly of Rhynie and now parish minister of Gartly, is a worthy representative of naturally under the Rhynie chapter. The first Gordon of Craig, and the one to build the Castle in the beginning of the sixteenth century, was Patrick, the grandson of Sir John, the chief of the clan, who fell at Otterbum. That the ancient family did not hesitate to press onward " red-wat shod " if need be, the ancient ballad testifies : " The Gordons good in English blood They steeped their hose and shoon While frae their plaids the gory flood In bums ran gushin' doon." Flodden fleld claimed the first Laird of Craig and the second was pinked off at Pinkie, 1647. Their successors took part in whatever fighting was going on in their day. When the Jacobites attacked Dun- fermline in " The Fifteen " uprising, Francis, the eighth Laird of Craig, was taken prisoner. It was probably because he had been woimded, as he soon after died in Stirling Castle. The Laird of my time was James Shirreffs Gordon, a man who in his life played many parts. The present proprietor is Mr. Penny-Craik, who has done much to improve the estate. Craig Castle is in excellent condition, and symbolizes in itself much that is old and new. At Csaio Castle: Now — ^and Then. To what good uses may we bring at last The gruesome relics of the Brutal Past! w BHYNIE AN ' BOUND ABOOT. 149 the stock— able, helpful, self-sacrificing, modest— a man whose whole long career has been devoted to good prac- tising as well as to good preaching— and who can rest from his labors with the satisfaction that he leaves worthy sons who have for some time been following in the footsteps of their honored sire.* Nothing is left of the first owners in the Dnimminor neighborhood but their family burying vault in the Craig Castle now has in its Servants' Hall As may be seen projecting from a wall, The sturdy Cleek that in the days of yore The Gibbet was to wretches bv the score. Yes, it has seen the last of many men For Lairds had pow'r of pot and gallows then, Were Sole Controllers of the Common Weal And pass'd decrees that changed to no appeal; As truly Kings within their own domains As any Shah that in the present reigns. But thanks to Fighters and to Scholars thrawn Who labor'd long that better days might dawn, Who pierced the dark with Learning's Torches bright. And vanquished Tyranny at last with Right, The little Despots of the Small Estates Hold no more Courts behind their guarded gates. But now are subject to the self-same laws That give protection to the Poor Man's Cause. And lo! within this ancient Castle's room So long notorious in the Age of Gloom The very Cleek, the sign of ancient might Is utilized from which to hang a Light; A little Lamp that with its cheerful ray So finely typifies our better day; Presaging also, by its beacon fiame, Still greater progress and a grander fame! To such good uses may we put at last All gruesome relics of the feudal Past. * When I think of the scholarly attainments of such men and the vast stores of experience they can draw from, yet note how meagre are their contributions to the publisher's lists, I feel a twinge at the temerity of a youthful writer like myself rushing rashly into print. But as I have always said, a beginning is better than nothing, and if such a hotch-potch as this book of mine should only inspire some one to do much better it will not have been produced in vain. 150 HEBE AND THERE IN TWO HEMISPHERES. churchyard of Kearn. I paid it a visit last fall in com- pany with an intelligent friend, and we decided it was better to be living dogs than dead lions, even with all the pompous epitaphs that marked their lordly graves.* Nine miles north of Rhynie is situated Huntly Castle, the king of them all in the Gordon jurisdiction, but yet second in importance to the Royal Castle of Kildrummy about the same distance to the south. Historically Rhynie can hold its own with any place, and its guardian Tap o ' Noth rising 1,851 feet above the level of the sea and 1,400 feet above the surrounding valley has looked down upon many stirring scenes. This hill deserves more than mere mention. It is be- lieved to be the ''Nuath" immortalized in Ossian's poems, the bardic strains that Walt Whitman loved to pore over, as they were the never-failing admiration of Napoleon Bonaparte, t Some say Noth means '* nothing "—and this inter- pretation might be well defended— but I lean to the Gaelic word Taip-a-nochd, which is translated '*hill of observation." In this respect Tap o' Noth plays second fiddle to none, as from its favorable location it commands a view of a wider prospect than may be seen from any other point in Scotland— or even Great Britain.'! As seen from Lumsden Village it is a bonny * Sixteen barons of Forbes are said to be planted in the Kearn kirkyard. In the same cemetery there is buried another " baron/' if the preserved inscription of Laing '* Baron of Noth " is to be accepted, but the chances are that this "Johne" was only a "baron baillie/' which was a barren title compared to that of the noblemen of Brux. t In strains that range from harsh to soft ' the mystic voice of Cona' is heard discussing " Nuath " oft in " Lathmon " and " Oithona." And let who will incline to carp, — I long have had the notion that " Rhyno's " sweet and mournful harp shows Rhynie known to Ossian. {An Aberdeen newspaper correspondent took umbrage at me last winter because I dared to say that I had seen a more extensive pros- pect from Flag Rock, Va., than was possible from Tap o' Noth. The controversy raged for weeks, without eliciting anything new, or per- haps changing any one's opinion — such discussions rarely do. I was RHYNIE an' round ABOOT. 151 hill, graceful, well-balanced, finely finished and even ma- jestic in its big bulk and bold outline. Its top is crowned by a circular wall of fused stones, claimed by some au- thorities to mark the remains of a volcano, and by others asserted to be the finest example of a vitrified fort now in existence. The ruins are oblong in form, and about two hundred and seventy yards in circumference. I think there is little doubt that a fort or castle or temple once stood on the Tap o' Noth, but whether the walls were vitrified by some lost art, or the ruins fused by the frequent lighting of beacon fires on them, or whether the lava-looking ramparts are of volcanic origin will, I fear, forever remain undecided. Some varieties of stone are more vitrifiable than others and many writers contend that in the case of other so-called vitrified forts, like Dunnideer, the stones fused were not native to the dis- trict. Mr. Charles Proctor, F.I.C., of London, has made an exhaustive chemical and geological study of the Tap o' Noth stones, and emphatically says and proves that the fused and unfused rocks of the Rhynie hill are iden- tical. There is or was a well in the cup or saucer of the Tap, but whether a spring or a reservoir is also un- settled. Rhynie may well be proud of this magnificent and mysterious mountain. If we had it here in America as near to railroads and civilization as it is to the G. N. S. R. and its thickly populated territory we should make of it a pleasure resort par excellence, as I believe even in Scotland it is destined yet to become. With a switchback or spiral trolley railroad it could be easily scaled, and the fine platform or plateau on its summit would make a natural stage on which not only common glad, however, of the chance to slip in a few rhymes from which I quote a verse: We all have castles in the air, Oi^ on the ground — and some hae hoth; And I — ^when I*m a millionaire — Will build me mine on Tap o' Noth! 152 HEBE AND THERE IN TWO HEMISPHEBES. lads and lasses but even kings and queens might be pleased to disport themselves. Who, I wonder, can tell anything about the rights of the people on such hills as the Buck, Bennachie and Tap o' Noth? Mr. Lachlan McRae, of Inverness, who was in charge of the Ordnance Survey Party that ascer- tained and determined the boundaries of every parish in Aberdeenshire, informed me that up till that time (1864 to 1866) the majority of the county hill-tops were true **commonties''— common to people and lairds alike ; but on the settling of the marches the rights of the common people were ignored, and the various es- tate-proprietors divided between them every inch of land clear to the sky, or, where only one proprietor, gobbled all. Mr; MacBae is of the belief that the Tap o' Noth is crowned with the ruins of a Druidical temple, and from his wide observation and practical experi- ence-continued for over a score of years, and extending from Cape Wrath to the Isle of Wight— his opinion is entitled to more than ordinary consideration. He has witnessed under the most favorable auspices the great Druid ceremonies in Wales, when pilgrims were present from France and far-off India. He writes me that the Tap o' Noth arrangement of foundations corresponds with the universal plan and position of all such circles even to the * * Temple Stone ' ' a little distance from * * the ring,'* stating also that when he examined this speci- men of ** Rocking Stone" it could be moved by the hand, but of course not displaced. The many sculptured hieroglyphic standing stones to be found in the district are also believed to be of Druidical origin, with the exception of one or two that tradition asserts to be monuments to fallen heroes. The Druids worshipped many gods, taught the immortality of the soul, revered the sun and fire, made attempts at astronomy, and used the rites of augury from the slaugh- RHYNIB AN ' BOUND ABOOT. 153 ter of human victims. Writers on the phallic origin of all religions have very ingenious and plausible theories on the meaning of Druid rings and Druid pillars, from which symbols, so they tell us, have developed our Christian pulpits and church (circle) spires. Stone coflSns,* axes and flint arrowheads have fre- quently been found in Rhynie parish, and several of the natives have made fair collections, the best museum of the kind at the present time being owned by Mrs. Knight, of Mytice on Kirkney-side. She has also a rare collection of old coins, including, I believe, an al- most complete set of ** Romans'' and quite *'a fouth o' auld nick nackets ' ' in general. The antiquarian treas- ures of Mr. Wm. Shand, of Lang Craft, are also worth seeing, t I have not the space, nor is it necessary here to enter into the detailed history of the valley from the days *The most of people near Noth — ^and many a good bit beyond— have heard about the giants that frequented the Tap and Bennachie in ancient times. "Jock o' Noth," according to aU accounts of prose tradition and ballad lore, must have been the King of all the big men, and a real " Cock of the North " (the title now heired by The Marquis of Huntly). The big stone on the face of the Tap known as "Jock the Giant's Stane" is a standing monument to his size and strength, since he playfully stopped it with his foot when hurled at him by Jock o' Bennachie, who had invaded Noth's fort; and as proof of the fact it bears the impress of his brogue to this day! About the middle of the last century a large stone cist was unearthed when ploughing a field near the Hill of Noth, and a skeleton revealed of gigantic proportions. Rev. Wm. Reid, of Auchindoir, had the bones boxed up and removed to the kirkyard. Tho' nae sae big as it micht hae been It show'd there was mair than froth In some o' the exploits said to be seen O' the giants o' Tap o' Noth. fit has always been of special interest to me, when wandering through the antiquarian museums in the United States, to find dis- played among the curios exact counterparts of the so-called "elfin arrowheads " common to my native hills and glens. The business of fashioning fiint, which was evidently common to both continents in prehistoric times, is now classed among the lost arts. 154 HEBE AND THEBE IN TWO HEMISPHEBES. of the Picts and Celts to the last military march on record— the Duke of Cumberland's in 1746. Rhynie was prominently to the front in the wars of Macbeth, of the Islesmen culminating in Harlaw, in the raids of the Caterans, in the many broils between the Northern clans, and in the rebellions of ' ' The Fifteen ' ' and ' ' The Forty-five." In peaceful walks of life Rhynie has many triumphs to her credit, and not a few men of real power have graduated from her schools. Among her noted ex- ports to foreign lands Rev. Robert Duff has a prominent position. He was for a time schoolmaster at Rhynie, but early in life emigrated to British Guiana, where he became Senior Minister of the Church of Scotland in that colony, exercising a marked influence on the com- munity until his death in 1878. He had a facile and entertaining pen and, busy as he was at his missionary labors, he managed to give us more than one valuable book on the land of his adoption.* * * Mackay of Uganda ' ' was also a Rhynie loon, where his father, the Free Church minister of the place, wrote some of his well-known text-books on geography. Dr. Patrick Smith, of Queensland, should also be men- tioned, and if only by name leading alumni of the Rhynie Mutual Instruction Society, t such as Dr. Hen- *This remarkable club, the pioneer of all similar associations, has been excellently commemorated by its able founder, the Rev. Robert Harvey Smith, MJ^., in his handsomely printed and intensely inter- esting volume entitled "A Village Propaganda" (Douglas, Edin- burgh, 1889). To be survived by such an excellent book is better than to leave any amount of barren bawbees, or even more substantial "hooses an' land." Mr. Smith was for a long time Congregational minister in Clatt. 1)It took me just twenty years to secure his " Notes on British Guiana," and to the kindness of his old pupil. Rev. George Compton Smith (retired Congregational minister, now of Hastings, England), I owe this interesting addition to my library. Having been the copy that once belonged to Rev. Robert Harvey Smith, the value of it is thrice enhanced to me, and secures for it a prominent niche in the ' Tap o' Noth alcove ' of my ' Aberdeenshire ' bookcase. BHYNIE an' round ABOOT. 155 derson of China, Robert Main of Capetown, James Law, the Carrier, and Robert Pirie, tailor— the two last named emigrating to Canada. Of Rhynie lads who attained distinction at home James Macdonell, the joumali8t,had perhaps the most swiftly brilliant success. His ' * Life ' ' has been written by Dr. Robertson Nicoll, and is the only example extant of the biography of a journalist, pure and simple. Macdonell began on the Free Press of Aberdeen, and finished as leader writer on The Times of London, dying at the early age of thirty-seven. Another big literary man from the vale was Alexander AUardyce, whose last office was editing Blackwood's Magazine. He was the author of several successful novels, in some of which are incorporated suggestions from Rhynie life and character, just as Sir George Reid, ex-President of the Royal Scottish Academy, illustrated Dr. Alexander's immortal '* Johnny Gibb" from liv- ing types he found at the fitt o ' the Tap. In more recent times Rev. Mr. Edwards conducted an improvement class at Rhynie, and at least two of his pupUs have shown a good beginning in making name and position for themselves, viz., James F. Tocher, of Peterhead, as an analytic chemist, and Dr. Charles An- gus, who holds an important office as an insanity ex- pert.* In these random notes on Rhynie Mr. David Horn, J.P., should not be forgotten. He was a painstaking gleaner in local biographical and antiquarian fields, more than one recent writer having drawn from his interesting manuscripts. Neither should James Duff, farmer, of New and Old Noth, be omitted, one of the * The writer was the solitary Lumsden member of this class, walking in the evenings a distance of eight miles, to and fro, in order to get the advantages of the tuition and the fellowship; but, as now recalled, there was as much fun as instruction in the final results; and how could it be otherwise with John MacPherson at his best, and Vansittart Riddel and his chums in their normal merry key? 156 HERE AND THERE IN TWO HEMISPHERES. sterling men of the district who has left his monument in Duff's School, which he erected and furnished before the days of boards or government inspectors, a good work that was continued and augmented by his son, Eobert Duff, who died only last September. The Rhynie folks are fairly enterprising, but it can- not be denied that their greatest successes have been accomplished by those who have acted in conformity with the spirit of my friend '^Wasty's"* hospitable ad- vice, which applies to more things than to the pleasures of the table : *'Noo help yerseVs, an' if ye canna get what ye want sittin', JIST RISE AND RAX FOR *T!" Appendix. The following notices extracted from The Royal Gor zette, of Georgetown, Demarara, British Guiana, under date of August 24, 1878, may not be unacceptable to Rhynie readers: DUTF — On the 18th inat., at his residence in Stanley Town, New Amsterdam, the Reverend Robert Duff, aged 69. For many years senior Minister of the Scotch Church in British Guiana. Cub obituary for the fortnight contains the name of the Reverend Robert Duff for many years a minister of the Scotch Church in this colony. Arriving in the colony early in the fifth decade of this century, Mr. Duff first became assistant to the Rev. Dr. Struthers, then minister of St. Andrews, whose daughter he married, and he subsequently succeeded to the charge of the parishes of St. Mary, St. Mark, and All Saints, New-Amsterdam. Of the latter he retained charge until his final retirement from the ministry some ten years ago. Endued with considerable intellectual ability and independence of character com- bined with great physical activity and endurance, Mr. Duff was in his day a man of mark. Stories are still told of his pedestrian feats in times when the means of locomotion were neither so numerous nor so rapid as now, that in our degenerate day are scarcely credible. He was fond of agriculture and made it his practice to cultivate his glebe lands with his own hands. Of horticulture and floriculture he was a diligent student, and in herborization he took great delight. Well ♦ Mr. Robert Forbes, farmer, Westseat, Gartly. BHYNIE AN ' BOUND ABOOT. 157 acquainted with the enormous resources of the colony, he neyer tired of urging upon the poorer classes of the people the importance of at- tention to such subjects and especially of sobriety and industry as means of improving their physical condition, increasing their comforts, and enhancing the enjoyments of life. Not that his personal tastes were in any sense Epicurean; his habits, in fact, were somewhat ascetic and his manner austere; and he was rather held in respect for his abilities and force of character than beloved on account of his possession of those softer and more feminine qualities which frequently form such powerful bonds of union between pastors and their flocks. Some years ago he published a volume of ''Notes on British Guiana," containing much useful information on matters connected with the colony. Though he had well nigh attained the full measure of man's allotted sojourn on earth, his widow survives him. Two of his sons are well known in the colony as successful practical planters. In a Scottish paper of recent date, we find the following notice of the death of Mr. Duff's elder brother: Rhtnie — ^Latb Mb. Duff. — ^As a parish, we have sustained a great loss in the death of one of our oldest farmers, Mr. James Duff of New- noth. He died on the 25th Inst., at the ripe age of 81 years, but al- though he had reached so far beyond the average span of human existence, it is only within recent years that he has been seriously af- fected by the frailties of age. Mr. Duff was well known, not only in the immediate neighborhood to which he belonged, but throughout the whole of this northern district, as a prosperous and enterprising farmer. Since he entered on the farm of Newnoth in 1822, he has effected many permanent improvements on it. Not the least of these is reclaiming of large tracts of land, a labour in which he spared neither trouble nor expense. His general manner and quaint humour made him a favourite with all with whom he came in contact, and gathered round him many friends, who cannot soon forget the good qualities of the man. He took a great interest in the education of the young, a fact which is amply testified by his building a school almost entirely at his own expense for the convenience of those children whose homes were too far distant from the parish school. This building, which bears his name, will serve as a memorial of one out of the many kind and disinterested acts which have ever marked Mr. Duff's long and eventful life. For the long period of forty years he has been an elder of the Parish Church, and on Sabbath last, the Rev. Mr. Anderson feelingly alluded to the loss which the congregation had sustained by his decease. In the course of his remarks, he said — "Years ago, it was on his urgent representations to the patrons of this parish that steps were taken which resulted in my being asked to imdertake the charge of this congregation, and I may say that from the first day of my ministry till now I ever found in him a man ready to aid with purse and person in every good word and work. Nothing, indeed, gave our old friend more pleasure than to see our Church 12 158 HEBE AND THEBE IN TWO HEMISPHERES. prospering, a Church to which he had steadfastlj clung in troublous times. As an elder, he gave his time, and put himself to trouble and expense, not of constraint but with heart and will. How seldom, while health remained, was his familiar face, that betokened a man of no ordinary type of character, to be missed in the sanctuary; and so intense was his interest in the young of the flock, that he was a regular attendant on Sabbath afternoons at that school that we may say he erected almost wholly at his own expense, and which will per- petuate his name, I trust, for a long time to come. He is gone, almost the last of an old generation, and we shall see him no more in this world. The poor will miss him, for he never sent them empty away. We will all miss the genial old man that has so long borne the vessels of the Lord in His temple, and has been the life and soul of many of our meetings in other years. But he is gone to experience the blessed rest of which we have been this day speaking. In all the confidence of friendship, and with the simplicity of a little child, he has been wont to unbosom to us his spiritual difficulties and experiences; and knowing, as I do, how earnestly he has been looking to our glorious Redeemer, I rejoice to believe that he is one of those of whom it may be said in the words of our text, ' Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth; yea, saith the spirit, that they may rest from their labours, and their works do follow them.'" k. THE MIGHTINESS OF THE MITE. "Mony a little mak's a mickle/' And the economic scholar Knows the nacky, nimble nickel Oft outstrips the sluggish dollar. On Saturday, June 21, 1879, the staid Pennsylvania- Geraians of Lancaster, Pa., saw a new kind of store opened on the west side of North Queen Street, near their Pennsylvania Eailroad station. It was a beautiful day and a little warmer than the season warranted. A tall, good looking, active man of twenty-seven had come to town, and without any friends or even acquaintances had quietly rented the small shop— it was only 14 by 35 feet— stocked it with a little over four hundred dol- lars' worth of goods, and hopefully opened the door that Fortune might enter. His ambitions then were modest, his highest expectations not going beyond a comfortable living. But life was real and earnest with him that bright June morning. There was much at stake. Less than six months before he had made a similar start in Utica, N. Y., and because he was not quite ready to meet all the demands of the unusual situation he lost his foothold, and had to retire defeated. But he could not be kept back nor would he be kept down. He had discovered why he had failed, and that in itself was a great success. More than that, he had plucked up cour- age enough to ask his business backers to back him again. Now, it is one thing for a man to feel he can do better if given a fresh opportunity, but quite an- other matter to convince others to put up additional money on such a venture. Very few can sympathize with the enthusiasm and sanguineness of a young man 159 160 HEBE AND THERE IN TWO HEMISPHEBE6. with a big undeveloped idea. Since the day that Moses struck the stubborn rock nearly every great success^ has had its beginning in a small bit of help reluctantly wrung from some flinty nature. Our Lancaster stranger, who was no other than Mr. Frank W. Woolworth, now a multimillionaire, had been given his first chance by his former employers, Messrs. Moore & Smith of Watertown, N. Y. Both members of the firm were willing and anxious to help the young man along, although Mr. Moore had some doubts in his mind as to the permanent success of a Five Cent Store. He did not, however, positively dissuade Mr. Wool- worth, and when Mr. Smith said, * ' Go ahead : I believe you can make some money, ' ' no further encouragement was needed to try again.* More determined than ever to succeed, Mr. Woolworth lost no time in re-launching his business bark, the second venture being made, as we have noted, on the banks of the Conestoga, forever famous as the scene of Fulton's early experiments in steam navigation. We may be sure that Frank W. Woolworth 's first day in Lancaster was one of great anxiety to him. Here was a shop with an idea radically *Mr. Woolworth had then, and always has had, great respect for his employers, knowing they only wished him to succeed. If one mem- ber of the firm was cautious it was as a friend anxious for the young man's future; and, where the other ventured more, it was at the risk of his own reputation as an adviser in a doubtful game, — a real com- mercial leap in the dark. As time went on, justifying Mr. Woolworth's course, his employers found it expedient to dissolve partnership, and wind up their affairs. While they did not "fail," as the term is ordinarily applied, their Dry Goods Store investment turned out badly, and, after paying their ordinary debts in full, they owed their friends about $25,000.00 at the closing out of their business. Mr. Woolworth was then able to substantially reciprocate the kindness and help given to him at the beginning of his career. Acting on his advice Mr. Smith went into the " 6-and 10c " business in Ohio, with marked success; while Mr. Moore opened up the same kind of a store at his old business stand, and through the influence and help of Mr. Wool- worth paid off all old debts, and has accumulated a fortune besides. THE MIGHTINESS OF THE MITE. 161 new to the district: a varied stock of ornamental and useful goods with each article priced at five cents (two pence-half penny); a real '^Five Cent Store"; now ^ ^ familiar in our months as household words, ' ' but then untested, unnoted, unknown. Ten-cent counters were not added for some months. The Lancastrians did not storm the one door of the little store as soon as the proprietor was ready for busi- ness. Some condescended to glance in at the window, and doubtless more than one wise-acre prophesied a speedy failure for the optimistic odd-fellow behind the counter. He would have been considered a rash indi- vidual who might have predicted that in less than a quarter of a century the man who was making so humble a beginning would have his own palatial home* on Fifth Avenue, New York City, would preside over the affairs of Gotham 's big Guardian Trust Co., and be the possessor of as fine a fortune as any Lancastrian ever made. And yet all this really happened— with ample time to spare— as a direct result of the little North Queen Street store and the business beginning of June, 1879. It is interesting to linger on that epoch-making day. For some hours it looked black enough. Up till noon not a single person had entered the shop even to look around, to say nothing of buying. But after dinner- time there was a turn in the tide. A few extra bold visitors actually proved that the articles cost only five cents as marked— bought them, carried them off and told their neighbors. Then came the rush. At closing time Mr. Woolworth found he had taken in $128! Whew ! A yearns business like that would mean nearly $40,000. It was royal encouragement and the young merchant celebrated it by telegraphing for more stock. Before the goods arrived he had sold everything in * One of the handsomest and most expensiye residences in the Com- mercial Capital of the New World. 162 HEBE AND THERE IN TWO HEMISPHERES. his store. He has had many successes since then: 25,000 people visited one of his New York stores in a single day, and at another of his shops in the same city he registered no less than 44,060 individual sales in the same space of time— a record that is surely without a parallel in mercantile annals. Yet sweeter to him than any of his later triumphs will ever be considered his initial hit in Lancaster. It was the dawn of a new era for Woolworth. For that reason doubtless he honored the city of his first success by erecting in it a business structure that for beauty of design and completeness of detail has few equals in the Keystone State.* Looking at results to-day they seem easy and simple and logical. But the beginning is the part to study. Even with the tonic of his opening success Mr. Wool- worth had many difficulties to overcome. For one thing he was so intensely wrapped up in his little shop that he did not know what was going on around him. One *The Woolworth Building, located in the business center of Lan- caster, is of the French Renaissance style of architecture, fiye stories high and built of stone, steel, iron and brick. On top of aU is a finely- equipped Roof Garden, furnished with every accessory of a first class theatre, and so constructed as to be independent of wind or weather. During the summer months the finest vaudeville artists cater to large audiences every afternoon and evening. From the front of the Wool- worth Building rise two graceful towers that with their gilded decora- tions in the daytime and halo of electric lights at night shine out as landmarks seen from afar. The second, third and fourth floors are rented as offices, being occu- pied by lawyers, architects, brokers and other prominent professional men. The whole building is supplied with electric freight and passenger elevators, is lighted by electricity, heated by steam, and furnished with sanitaiy plumbing of the most approved type. Not a detail of an up-to-date business home is lacking, from telephones and telegraphs to the latest style of United States mail chutes. The ground floor of the building is almost entirely occupied by the Woolworth Five and Ten Cent Store — the finest one of all the eighty- odd, in location, design, furnishings and appointments. One of its outstanding features is a complete roster of all the Woolworth stores, giving in raised gilt letters the name of the city, the state and the date of opening. In some instances too where stores have not been a success and were discontinued the facts are noted. THE MIGHTINESS OF THE MITE. 163 day a traveling man stepped in and bluntly announced : ' * I Ve got bad news for you, Frank. You are going to have competition. There is a man in town just opening up another ^five and ten cent store,' and it is a dandy. '* Mr. Woolworth had just enlarged his store, remodeled his window and made other improvements that con- siderably increased his expense. He confesses he felt blue when he realized all the situation. But after wrest- ling with it until the next morning he decided it was now or never. He pitched in more vigorously, made still greater improvements, and in a few months had the satisfaction of knowing that he was again alone in his chosen field. When he had been a short time in Lan- caster it occurred to him that similar stores should pay equally well in other cities. He gave much thought to the problem, and in the fall of Seventy-nine decided to make his first outside experiment, locating his second store in Harrisburg, Pa. It did not pay. He started his third place at York, Pa., which was also a failure. Ten years from his Lancaster start he owned and operated twelve stores, and after that his progress was swift. He now has some four score stores in full blast, all located in the territory east of Pittsburg. In the busiest seasons he employs over 5,000 hands, and his working force never falls below 2,000 in the dullest months. His pay roll exceeds half a million dollars annually. Wool- worth 's headquarters are located at 280 Broadway, cor- ner of Chambers St., New York City. From his private office there Mr. Woolworth keeps in constant and instant touch with his chain of stores. He has the system of management so finely arranged that in a few minutes after receiving his morning mail he can tell to a cent his total sales, expenses and net profits for the preced- ing day. Every store has a local manager who is re- sponsible for everything connected with his place. On his general staff are fixture experts, inspectors, foreign 164 HERE AND THERE IN TWO HEMISPHERES. and domestic buyers, besides a large array of stenog- raphers and bookkeepers. Every year Mr. Woolworth himself goes to Europe.* The values to be found at the Woolworth five and ten cent stores are really marvel- lous, and could only be possible where everything is purchased on a gigantic scale, direct from the manufac- turers, and for the all-potent magic of spot cash. Thus it is that in making a personal success Mr. Woolworth has also become a powerful benefactor at both ends of the line— helping his producers, and all dependent on him, to steady, full-paid time, and saving money to his patrons by the bulk of his business and the many econ- omies of his unequalled system. He has been an ob- servant servant, and is justly entitled to his big reward, since it has been happily reached without oppressing any one, but is derived from infinitesimal profits on an innumerable multitude of apparently insignificant sales. His total business now aggregates about ten million dollars annually. Frank W. Woolworth was bom in Bodman, Jefferson County, N. Y., April 13, 1852. He comes of English and Irish stock. In his early childhood he got seven years ' schooling at the district school, and after helping for a time on his father 's farm, his mother induced him, at at the age of twenty-one, to take a commercial-school course at Watertown. By chumming with another boy and getting weekly food supplies from home * It maj surprise many to know that Mr. Woolworth imports a larger tonnage of toys and tree ornaments than all other United States buyers put together, and fully one half of the product of the whole world. The entire population of several German towns find employ- ment in filling his orders. When he makes his bargain every Spring it means bread and butter to them for another year. His transactions in glassware, potteiy and crockery are also colossal. The himdred and one little things needed for the home and office, including notions, fixtures, dry goods, stationary, pictures, kitchen utensils, table ware, toys, jewelry, trinkets, etc., come and go to his various establishments in carload lots. Of candies alone his stores dispose of over 6,000 tons every year! THE MIGHTINESS OF THE MITE. 165 Woolworth was able to stick it out long enough to graduate. He then secured employment as a dry- goods clerk with Moore & Smith in the same city. It cost him $3.50 per week for board, and he got no pay for the first three months. After that he made just enough to pay his board-bill. He remained six years in the Watertown store and never got more than $10 per week. Mr. Woolworth says he can see now as he looks back that he was not then worth anything more. Yet out of his $10 per week he married and lived and managed to save $50 a year.* It was a long ap- prenticeship and he might still have been behind the counter if he had not acted on the Five Cent Store idea, that came to him when working for others. Then, al- though at first it did not pay, adding the ten cent line eventually doubled the usefulness and profitableness of the business. One wonders why the stock could not be advantageously enlarged in multiples of five and ten cents to the value of a dollar, but Mr. Woolworth evi- dently acts on the * * live and let live ' ' principle, and is satisfied with his modest commercial comer. In a recent interview he said he thought those only could succeed who made a pleasure of their business— that is to say, who labored in a congenial field. He al- ways had a hankering for merchandizing. He also is of the opinion that thrift is a potent factor, and he ad- vises every young man to save. He has always man- aged to lay aside at least one fourth of his income. Finally he declares it is a mistake to despise small be- ginnings. His own overwhehning success makes one believe that the merchant who can get the loose change of the million does not take long to own the fat check- book of the mighty millionaire. * His wife was a dressmaker, however, and earned more than he did at that time. "To her," he says, "as much as to anything else I at- tribute my success in life." She was a Miss Jennie Creighton. Their union has been blessed with three daughters — ^Helena, Edna and Jessie. They all display marked musical talent. LANCASTER IN ENGLAND.* It was surprising to me how few people I questioned knew anything about Lancaster, even after I had crossed the Scottish border and was within a short distance of the place. On the last stretch of railroad travel I suc- ceeded in getting some vague idea of the place from a fellow-passenger. Accurately speaking, Lancaster town (it is not a city) is situated on the south bank of the River Lune, 21 miles north of Preston, 73 miles south of Carlisle, 52 miles northwest of Manchester, 50 miles north of Liverpool and 232 miles from London. It has railway connections with the London and Northwest- em Railway and with the Midland Railway. The area of the town is 3,610 acres, the population 40,329, and the rateable value £180,395. Its chief attractions to a stranger are the Castle, the Parish Church, the Wil- liamson Park and the Storey Institute. To give even a fair idea of the Castle would take a good-sized volume. Its origin is lost in obscurity. We know positively that the Romans, under Agricola, A. D. 79, had a camp here. Some of the Roman buildings still stand, and Roman relics innumerable are turned up almost every year. After Roman occupancy Lan- caster Castle had many tenants, the great overshadow- ing name connected with it being John o' Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster. A statue of this Duke is placed on a niche over the entrance of the gateway tower, and the place where his horse cast a shoe— now at the crossing of four streets— is yet marked by a horseshoe, which is carefully renewed as often as needed. John o' Gaunt pennies are still to be had in Lancaster and are con- * A series of Letters to the Editor of The New Era, Lancaster, Pa., U. 8. A. 166 ^ LANCASTEB IN ENGLAND. 167 sidered valuable relics. I cannot now go into the later history of the Castle, except to say that it had more than the usual share of sieges and captures. Since the Jacobite rising of 1745 the Castle has not suffered an attack from any enemy, and it remains to-day in ex- cellent condition, still used as the town and county jail, and containing the Courts for the administration of justice and adjustment of all important local disputes. The Castle is shown to visitors, for a fee, except dur- ing the week of the Assizes, and, as luck would have it, I happened to come here that week. My friends at- tempted to console me by the fact that I should see a greater show in the Assizes than in a tour through the Castle, but I decided, if possible, to enjoy both. Appli- cation at the Judge *s lodgings was met by a polite re- fusal. *'The rule was never known to be broken— no one could make a tour of the Castle while the Assizes were being held. Visitors from Africa, New Zealand and America had been refused, etc." This did not trouble me much, as I knew I had influence at London that would open the doors for me, but hesitated to invoke it until all local efforts failed. I was recommended to state my case to E. B. Dawson, Esq., of Aldcliffe Hall, the Chairman of the Magisterial Bench here, and out of a thousand Justices of the Peace for Lancashire, one of the twelve persons permitted to visit all parts of the Castle. I found Mr. Dawson a particularly nice gentleman, and he not only secured me the desired permit, but gave me the privilege of a seat in the Grand Jury box during the Assizes and extended other courtesies that were ex- ceedingly helpful and pleasant to me. He gave me information that no ordinary guide could have furnished and enabled me to thoroughly appreciate what I was seeing. The Assizes this week were very heavy, so the Judge 168 HEBE AND THEBE IN TWO HEMISPHEBES. sat as late as 7 :30 p. m. and, to help the Court to see, tal- low candles were brought in, and the same candlesticks used that were used when the rebels were tried in 1746 ! This can never occur again, as the electric light is to be introduced, so Mr. Dawson said I had the opportunity of seeing something that would not happen any more in the town 's or the Castle 's history. Americans would be amused at the pomp and magnifi- cence of the Assizes. The Judge, in his scariet, ermine- trimmed robe, is attended by the High Sheriff of the county, also gorgeous in crimson and gold. In attend- ance on the High Sheriff is his substitute (in black court dress), his chaplain, his twelve javelin men, state-coach, coachman, two flunkeys and two trumpeters, all in daz- zling uniform. It seems that the High Sheriff is elected for only one year ; he gets no salary, but the expenses of the office cost him from £10,000 (the smallest amount he can make do) to as high as he cares to go, and £20,- 000, or $100,000, is a fair average. A gentleman of this town of Lancaster, on being made High Sheriff, gave a dinner that is said to have cost $35,000, and many have told me that this great sum was below the actual figure. On the other hand those who should know say it is a gross exaggeration— so we^l let it go at that! No seats are provided for spectators at the Courts, so, if one does not care to stand— unless favored, as I was, by a friend— there is nothing to do but mix with the rabble and stick it out as long as you can. On a par with the candles, I noticed that the Judge took full notes of all the proceedings in longhand, no Court stenog- rapher being employed. Such idiotic stupidity is utterly inexplicable. The poor man was condemned to the worst drudgery of any one there, and, as a proof that he was not infallible, in more than one instance, his memory served him better than his notes. The juries did not waste any time in reaching their verdicts, and w LANCASTEB IK ENGIAKD. 169 with all the painful slowness of the note-taking, I must confess, the despatch of business was remarkable. Two other good friends I had in Court that I may do well to mention now*. The first was the dignified Mayor of the town, Colonel R. Inglis Hall, who, but for his years, might pass anywhere for Lord Roberts. Mr. Hall was exceedingly kind to me, and put himself con- siderably about to get information for me. At the Town Hall he showed me the valuable insignia of his office, and even put the Mayor *s robe on me, remarking that it was a perfect fitl^ I was then shown the prin- cipal charters of the town, and noted, among others, the signatures of Queen Elizabeth and King John. The courteous Beadle and Mace-Bearer, Mr. Jackson, who has held office for many years, took me through the garret of the Town Hall, out on to the very coping, to give me the finest-known view of Lancaster Castle. On our way back we saw old town charter chests, blood- stained banners and keys of a period running back to a time before the date when Columbus discovered Amer- ica. The Mayor took me to his home to tea and dinner, and a most enjoyable evening was spent looking over as fine an English house as it has been my good fortune to see. Colonel Hall is an architect by profession, so, naturally, would have only the very best for himself. He is a widower, his accomplished daughter having acted as Lady Mayoress. His household affairs are managed by his charming sister. The other friend I had near me in Court was Mr. T. Cann Hughes, M.A., F.S.A., Town Clerk. He acts as prosecutor for the local cases, wearing on occasion a wig and gown like the rest of the barristers. At his home, where I took tea, I met his dear old mother, consider- ably over eighty, but as bright as a coronation shilling. * I was also most fortunate in getting a fine Lancaster coronation medaly the last of the supply specially designed and minted for the town. 170 HERE AND THERE IN TWO HEMISPHERES. Mr. Hughes had many curios to show me, as in his time he or his mother have met such eminent people as Lowell, Emerson, Eggleston, Kingsley, etc. Perhaps the greatest surprise was to be shown a German Bible that had once belonged to Martin Luther. His name is on it in his own handwriting, and all through the book are alterations, corrections, notes, etc., in the hand of the great reformer. The Parish Church of Lancaster, England, is "St. Mary 's Church. ' ' It consists of nave and chancel and western tower, and looks well under the immediate shadow of the grim old castle. Existing relics prove that St. Mary 's Church is on the site of a former chapel of great antiquity. It is mentioned in historical records as far back as 1094. Much of its later life is bound up with the history of the castle. Thic is the building where all the high dignitaries, local and visiting, are officially ** churched. * ' Charles Dickens once spent a holiday in Lancaster, and said it was ^ ^ a gallant sight to see the Sunday procession of the Lancaster Corporation to Church, under the escort of three beadles 1 ' ' Before Justice Sir Eichard Jelf commenced the Assizes this week he and the High Sheriff and all their retinue visited the sacred edifice, where a special service was conducted for them. Sermons have often been preached in St. Mary^s to the rattle of the soldiers' steel. George Fox, the founder of the Society of Friends, tried to deliver a sermon there, but was ignominiously hauled out and stoned along the street He afterwards had a taste of the Lancaster Castle Dun- geon Tower— spent a whole long winter in it, poor man, exposed to cold and rain, and nearly suffocated by the smoke of the other prisoners, cruelly directed into his cell. A Eev. Mr. Paul, minister of St. Mary's in 1715, was so foolish as to rule out from the Book of Common Prayer the names of King George and the LANCASTER IN ENGLAND. 171 other members of his family, and substitute King James and his royal relations, and to pray for the Pre- tender and his family. Three days later the Jacobites surrendered at Preston (nearby), and the following summer Mr. Paul was hanged at Tybum. If my mem- ory serves me, we had as stubborn a ease at our own English church in Lancaster, Pa.— although exactly the reverse in sentiment— a Rev. Mr. Barton refusing to desist praying for the King, although our Republic was an established and recognized fact, and suffering ban- ishment rather than recant. About thirty years after Mr. Paul's fatal lapse here the Jacobites tried their luck again, and one of the officers of the rebel army played on the Lancaster church organ ' ' The King Shall Have His Own Again ! ' ' But that attempt also ended in failure, and since then no disloyal voice or note has profaned the lovely church. Interiorly, the building has almost the stateliness of a cathedral. Its windows are filled with rich stained- glass, and some of its arches are distinguished by great profusion of detail. The date of the pulpit now in use is 1619. From the chancel arch hang regimental colors that have seen many bloody battles. The greatest fea- ture of the church, I was told, was the beautiful canopies of the stalls at the east end. They are most elaborate specimens of the wood-carver 's art and of the era of the twelfth century. The monuments in the church are many, but I saw no famous name. There is a very in- teresting epitaph on Thomas Covell, who was keeper of the castle at the time of the trial of the Lancashire Witches, and one of their victims. The feature I per- sonally liked best about the church was its peal of bells —only eight, I believe— but most musical and always welcome. The next place I shall tell you about is **The Wil- liamson Park. ' ' Does the name not sound familiar to a 172 HEBE AND THEBE IN TWO HEMISPHEBES. Lancastrian f The park is named after its donor, the late Alderman Williamson, father of the present Lord Ashton— -by some irreverently styled **Lord Linoleum,'* in reference to his business, located here, and said to be * ' the biggest of its kind in the world. ' ' Did it ever occur to you how many places do contain such exhibits t either * * the finest, ' " ' the grandest, " ^ * the biggest, " * * the most unique,'' '* unequalled," etc. It is really too difficult to find a locality without some such distinction. In aU my travels I try to come upon some obscure place with no pretensions to such claims, but no ! They all have some- thing. Do I not say myself that our own town has two such crowns— our big umbrella factory and our still bigger cocoa and caramel establishment! And so I found Lancaster, England, was not behind with the biggest oil cloth works in the world ! Things at last got to such a pitch that I asked, what is the matter with my own native parish! Surely it has some peculiar distinction! Well, it is the birthplace of Dr. Eobertson NicoU, our leading nonconformist, and the discoverer and successful exploiter of Barrie, Mc- Laren, Crockett, Annie S. Swan and many more shin- ing lights. That is about enough glory for one little place. But hold 1 It is also the birthplace of Sir Alex- ander Beid, the son of my old parish minister. And what did he do ! Listen 1 At the Boxer uprising he had under his command the armies of eight different nations -Americans, Germans, French, British, and as many more. This never fell to the lot of mortal man before and probably will never happen again. It secured him his knighthood and a generalship as well. So hurrah for Auchindoir ! But all this by the way. The Williamson Park (comprising about 40 acres) was twenty years ago a barren moor, honey-combed with deep and dangerous quarries. It was then that Mr. Williamson bought it and proceeded at his own expense liANCASTEB IN ENGLAND. 173 to convert it into a park. His estimate of cost was $55^000^ but after his death his sons set aside $25^000 more, and this was further increased by his son, Lord Ashton, so that the park was presented finished to the town, with a maintenance fund of £10,000, or £50,000, in addition, to make it free for all time and to insure that it will be properly cared for. For beauty of situation it is unsurpassed in England. It overlooks the town, and on a clear day the scenery visible from any part of it is of indescribable beauty, embracing every variety of landscape and water view. Flowers and shrubs are everywhere in profusion; fairy grottoes and miniature lakes; rustic seats and sheltered walks— everything that art and nature can do may here be seen to perfection.* On one of its highest plateaus the Greg Observatory is located. It was built by the Corporation of Lancaster to preserve and put to use the fine instruments of Mr. Greg, of Escowbeck, Canton, near by. The present astronomer is the Rev. Mr. Bone, the Vicar of St. Thomas. I happened to be present when he was testing the clocks by the sim's transit at meridian. He ex- plained every step to me with great care and patience, showing me how the calculations were made and trans- posed to Greenwich time. He found the Sidereal clock was 22.47 seconds fast ; it had even then lost ten seconds since October 3; that is, in thirty-three days. His Greenwich clock was twenty-two seconds fast. My own good, never-failing Hamilton watch (made in Lancaster, Pa.), which I have not altered since I landed in Glas- gow, the end of July, showed less than three seconds fast— a marvelous record, Mr. Bone said, and a watch to treasure, which I certainly do, and feel grateful that * Since this was written Mr. H. S. Williamson has presented " Wil- liamson Park " to Lancaster Pa. — a fine tract easy of access to the city and situated on the banks of the Conestoga, near General Hand's historic mansion. 13 174 HERE AND THEBE IN TWO HEMISPHERES. I own. I have also been told it is pretty fair proof that the wearer's habits are not much out of gear, as good watches are quick to resent bad treatment. Now, a word for the Storey Institute. This was the jubilee gift of Sir Thomas Storey, four times Mayor of Lancaster. It comprises the Free Library and Bead- ing Room, the nucleus of a Museum, School of Science and School of Art, and classes (day and evening) for technical and domestic instruction are held within its walls. The Art Gallery has several paintings of merit, and the work of the art students, as exemplified in book covers, posters and book-marks, as well as commercial designs, I found to be particularly good. There is a window with excellent specimens of modem stained- glass, and in the corridors are busts of four of Lancas- ter 's great men, viz. : Sir Richard Owen, Dr. Whewell (Master of Trinity), Sir Wm. Turner and Sir Robert Eawlinson. This means of Lancaster town, for if Lan- caster county's great men were to be so displayed it would take every room of the Storey Institute to fit- tingly display them. In my ignorance, I confess, until I came here, it never occurred to me that Liverpool was in Lancashire— one of her pet babies. So W. E. Glad- stone was a Lancashire lad by birth, just as our own George Washington was by ancestry. One of the first things that impresses a stranger in Lancaster, England, is the narrowness of some of the streets. Charles Dickens, in referring to them, said that one wished to have a pole to push them back a bit, to give more room and breathing space. High walls I found to be another feature peculiar to the old town. There are no very high buildings, but some might safely be described as stately, and the bulk of them I should say are modem. Lancaster was, for centuries, in a transition stage all the time. The Scots would swoop down on the people. w LiANCASTEB IN ENGLAND. 175 and they would flee to Preston, or some place nearby, returning to find their town plundered, and often great parts of it destroyed. Their English * * friends ' ' would complete the havoc by punishing them still more for not standing out against the northern enemy, so, between English and Scotch, poor Lancaster had a sad and sorry time of it. To many it is a surprise why Lancaster has not grown bigger, as she might easily have been of as much importance commercially as Manchester is to-day. They are talking of trolleys, but so far only a horse-car line is to be seen, and it is more for the benefit of pas- sengers to and from Morecambe, a fashionable watering place near, than it is of advantage to Lancaster town. Every second house seems to be an inn or hotel of some kind, but whether all are in active operation or not I cannot say. They have no less than three '*Blue Anchor Inns," but two ** Black Horse Inns'* seem to suffice them. Amongst peculiar names of hostelries I noticed ^^The Bear and Staff," ^'Boar's Head," Fox and Goose," '* Nag's Head," ''The Plough" (just ex- piring), ''The Wheat Sheaf," and "Ring o' Bells." Mr. Eichard Shaw is not ashamed to proclaim that he runs ' ' The Fleece Inn, ' ' so, if anything happens in the way of an overcharge, "Oh, Pshaw I" may take on a new meaning. Another odd sign is "The Fat Scot," and this I had to investigate. It took some time to find the explanation, but I succeeded. The name is a sur- vival of the big cattle market days, when fat Scotch cattle were brought to Lancaster for sale, and an enter- prising Boniface decided it would make a good card for him, so he nailed "The Fat Scot" to his mast, and the flag has been kept flying there ever since. The most noted inn formerly was "The King's Arms," but much of its prestige is gone, although it is still an excellent house. At present the leading caravansary is unques- tionably "The County Hotel." Mr. Ducksbury, who 176 HEBE AND THEBE IN TWO HEMIBPHEBES. manages it, came from the * * King 's Arms, ' ' and is de- scended from a long line of eminent hotel men. Lancaster, England, worries along with about 25 solicitors ' firms, employing about 40 lawyers in all. It has 19 surgeons and physicians, and its banking offices number three. It does not support a single local daily paper, although dailies with local news circulate in it. Three newspapers are published once a week, and curi- ously enough (very stupidly, too, it seems to me) all are published on a Friday. I found, however, this to be the rule in most towns that only had weekly papers. All were invariably issued on the same day, the people be- lieving, evidently, in a big feast to make up for a long fast. Amongst curious trades here I observed ** Fell- mongers'' (which turned out to be dealers in skins), **Fent Dealers'' (dealers in remnants), and ** Grindery Dealers" (which means traders in shoemakers' and saddlers' hardware). The Ubiquitous Cycle Repairer is also here> and seeing the name * * Posthlethwaite ' ' over such a shop, in memory of * ' Posthlethwhaite 's Tavern, ' ' of our old time Lancaster, I stepped in and interviewed Mr. P. He was a fine, obliging fellow, a native of an adjoining county, but said the name was local to the dis- trict. He kindly presented me with an enamelled badge of the Lancaster Cycle Club, showing the municipal coat of arms, as a souvenir of my call.* He handled graphophones and phonographs, but said the business was temporarily down, as some fellows had just made a raid from London and were selling such machines far below cost and taking care to clean out before any repairs were needed. There are several firms in Lan- caster devoted to the manufacture of stained glass, and all have the very highest reputation. A concern calling * I have since had the pleasure of passing it on to Mr. D. B. Landis, the Chief L. A. W. Consul for our district and one of our most en- thusiastic cyclists. k. LANCASTEB IN ENGLAND. 177 itself the Rembrandt Artistic Printing Company manu- factures copies of noted paintings that are given away as premiums with magazines. This firm must have Scotch blood in it, as it has **an unco guid conceit o' itsel','' judging from some of its business methods that came under my notice, and specimens of its work that I was later permitted to see. I cannot pretend to do more than mention such famous old commercial houses as the Williamsons, the Gillows, the Storeys, the Sewards, the Gilchrists, etc. They would be an honor to any town and continue to set the pace for all comers in their re- spective lines. To see a Lancaster, England, crowd in the streets no great contrast is noticeable between it and our own. To mix among the people, their dialect, to say the least, is as pleasant and easily understood as our Pennsyl- vania German. The most notable difference is in their footgear, the English lads and lassies being for the most part shod in clogs that make a most curious clattering sound on the streets. I have picked up some choice specimens of Lancaster wit and humor that I may have an opportunity later on to show to the folks on the banks of the Conestoga. The shops are, as a rule, small and abominably lighted, but in this respect Lancaster is only like all other British towns and cities I have been in. American buyers simply would not stand it, but here it has always been the same, so the natives accept it with- out murmur or comment. On New street I noticed the name, * * Shand, florist and seedsman, ' ' and feeling in my bones he must be related to my friend of The New York Store, Lancaster, Pa., I marched in and interviewed him. He was from ** Aber- deen awa', ' ' and after a little family history he believed he could safely claim kinship to the Lancaster, Pa., mer- chant, so sent with his compliments a sweet floral greet- ing to his ** American cousin.'' I found Mr. Shand to 178 HERE AND THERE IN TWO HEMISPHERES. be a wide-awake merchant, doing business all over the British Isles. Lancaster is well supplied with shops that sell books, magazines, souvenirs, etc., and has one first-class sec- ond-hand book store of the highest grade, conducted by Mr. West, a gentleman of culture and the right kind of local pride. Mr. Stanton, a hosier, has a perfect col- lection of Lancaster coins, medals and tokens. He has every known issue of the famous John o' Gaunt coins, a collection that in itself would make the fortune of any dealer. He has early issues of the Washingtonian cent, but, better than that, a large Washington medal,* struck by a Lancastrian, who personally knew Washington in America, and who has left an account of his impressions of him. Li this note— which I saw— the writer refers to the Conewago Indians, so Lancaster came pretty near Lancaster that time. And, above all, was not our first President himself of Lancashire stock? What did I find out at Warton, about six miles from Lancaster T First of all, there is the church and church- yard. On the wall of the former may be seen the Wash- ington coat of arms, with its stars and stripes, which eventually evolved into our * * Star-Spangled Banner. '* The panel is now enclosed in a glass case, to prevent the elements from graduaUy defacing and destroying it. For a long time the sculpture was covered over with **harling, '* and only came to light in recent years, when the plaster fell away. From its position it proves that the Washingtons were people of importance in the * Our local numismatist of international fame, Mr. Chas. F. Steiger- walt, has a fine specimen of this rarity, as he has also a surprisingly fine collection of Lancaster tokens. Mr. Stanton, of Lancaster, England, showed me an eighteenth century coin, with a bust of "Georgelos Wash- ington," and on the reverse side a harp under a crown, marked ** North Wales," and lettered around the edge, "Payable in Lancaster, London, or Bristol." He also had a Liverpool half -penny, issued in 1794, with a bust of " Washington, President, 1791." W LiANCASTEB IN ENGLAND. 179 parish. Their history here is well known and trace- able to George Washington without any hiatus, or miss- ing link, or doubtful connection. Against the church wall facing the entrance from the street may be seen a grave stone to the memory of Elizabeth Washington, who died in 1751. Up the village I came upon Bishop Button's school, that the Washington youths certainly attended. The present building is dated 1594, and is soon to be abandoned, a new school being now in process of erection. The Red Lion Inn belongs to the same period. Near the old school is '*The Washington House," bearing the date of 1612. It is noted for its tremendously thick walls and solid oak interior fixtures. The Washingtons lived here, and there is all about the place such an air of antiquity it would have seemed quite natural to have met one of the old bewigged gentle- men so familiar to us from their well-known portraits. In the church there are lots of oak carvings dating from 1600 or thereabout, but the place has been '* restored'' and much of the bygone interest obliterated. Few Americans go to Warton, as up to date its connection with Washington is not well known, but the interest will grow and without doubt it will become, as it deserves to be, one of the most noted of American shrines. Lancaster was known to the Eomans as * ' Aluna, ' ' or **Ad Aluna" or **Alaunum," meaning, probably, **The white river." White cliffs are still prominent on the banks of the Lune, and the descriptive name fits in well to-day. ' * Lune ' ' in time became corrupted to ' * Loyn, ' ' then **Lon," and, finally, in conjunction with **castre" ( a camp ) , changed to * * Lancaster. ' ' The chief officials of the present Lancaster in England good-naturedly took me to task for referring to their Lancaster as * * a city, ' ' claiming it is only a town or borough, and, of course, I acquiesced in the correction for the time being, but was not convinced that they were right. With more leisure, 180 HEBE AND THERE IN TWO HEMISPHERES. I have looked up the matter carefully, and, notwith- standing the opinions of my learned civic friends on the banks of the Lune, I think the title of * * city ' ' cannot be denied to our Old England namesake. The term * * city ' ' was introduced in the time of the Norman Conquest, the derivation being from * ' Civitas, ' ' and it is not restricted to episcopal towns. It simply applies to whatever is subject to municipal government, and is actually syn- onymous with * ' burgh. ' ' In 1072, a great Church Coun- cil decided (to settle the claims of two rival Arch- bishops) that Bishops' sees should be transferred from towns to cities, and since then many writers have in- sisted that cathedral towns only can be called cities, but even from the decision referred to, it can be seen that cities existed before the sees were transferred to them. In this coimtry we happily have no ecclesiastical dis- tinctions, and our own little Lancaster (just about the size and population of Lancaster in England, by the way) has never hesitated to declare itself a city, nor failed to be recognized as such the whole country over. Mr. Cross Fleury, who has made a special study of the history and antiquities of Lancaster, England, is of the opinion that his borough is justly entitled to be called a city, and I am pleased to note that he also gives his sanction to the phrase, ** Time-honored Lancaster, '* which we all know was originally applied to John o' Gaunt, but by long usage has been extended to the place. Lancaster, England, is known to many of us as a county Palatine— a distinction also enjoyed by Durham and Chester ; and Eossshire has frequently been called the County Palatine of Scotland. Blackstone says. Counties Palatine are so called ** because the owners thereof had in those counties jura regalia as fully as the King had in his palace. ' ' The origin of the name goes back to Mons Palatinus in Rome, the chief officer of the w lANCASTEB IN ENGLAND. 181 imperial household being an Earl or Count Palatine, whose palace stood on one of the hills near the Tiber. In France the Count Palatine was foremost of the twelve peers of that empire, and his palatinate land was the rich Rhine valley above Frankfort. Canon Taylor notes that * * it is one of the curiosities of language that a pretty little hill-slope in Italy should have transferred its name to a hero of romance, to a German State, to three English counties, to a glass house at Sydenham (Crystal Palace), and to all the royal residences in Europe.'' It is also in evidence in every ** palatial'' home in the New World, not to mention the Pullman and Wagner ** palace" cars, that are considered none too good for Uncle Sam's royal Republicans. When a great orator referred to our own Lancaster county as an Empire in itself —a State within a State— he realized that our domain was entitled to be called preeminently the County Palatine of this country, and recent statistics show that it continues to hold the honor of being the richest agricultural county in the United States. In writing of George Washington's connection with Lancaster, England, I referred to Warton, about seven miles from Lancaster town. In St. Mary's Church- yard, Lancaster, there is a tombstone to the memory of Matthew Washington, who died in 1729, and no doubt he was kin to the Warton Washington. For the benefit of my younger readers, I may say that in the reign of Henry VIII. Lawrence Washington left Warton, Lan- cashire, and settled in Northampton, of which town he was Mayor in 1502. Eventually he located at Sul- grave. His greatgrandson, the Rev. Lawrence Wash- ington, rector of Purleigh, had two sons, John and Law- rence Washington, who emigrated to America in 1657. The elder of these two sons was the great-grandfather of our immortal George Washington, the first President of the United States. As recently as February 7, 1823, 182 HEBE AND THERE IN TWO HEMISPHERES. a Rev. Thomas Washington died, and was buried at Warton, so no place across the sea is more identified with **The Father of His Country" than Lancaster; and to us, here, it is surely of special interest, since the great Washington was several times in our city, and once celebrated his *' Fourth of July" here. Again, for my younger readers, I wish to say a little more about John o' Gaunt and his tribe. John of Gaunt, Earl of Richmond, was fourth son of Edward III., and succeeded to the Duchy of Lancaster by virtue of his marriage to Blanche, daughter of Henry, the first Duke of Lancaster. By his second marriage with Con- stance, daughter of Peter, King of Castile, John of Gaunt for some time enjoyed the title of **King of Leon and Castile." One of his intimate friends was Wycliffe. This John o' Gaunt lived in great splendor, equal almost to the King of England, and he did much in improving Lancaster town and Lancaster Castle. He was called * * John of Gaunt ' ' because he was bom in the town of Ghent or Gaunt, in Belgium, but he was gaunt by nature as well as by name. All his lifetime he had his eye on the English throne, yet his oppor- tunity to strike for it never came. His son, however, deposing Richard, assumed the crown, and became Henry IV., the first of the Lancastrian family to attain to the highest royal English honors. Who has not heard of the Wars of the Roses! and who cannot tell something about the Red Rose of Lan- caster and the White Rose of York T Strange that York and Lancaster should be again found side by side in the New World I In the * * Wars of the Roses ' ' nearly 100,- 000 Englishmen perished, including three Kings, many Princes, over three-score of noblemen of the highest rank, and knights, 'squires and gentry too numerous to be counted. It was a costly business, but ending feu- dalism, as it did, the sacrifice was not made in vain. LANCASTEB IN ENGLAND. 183 One of the amusing things connected with this period was the conduct of the gentlemen **on the fence/' Every house had its decoration of red rose or white over the door, to symbolize the political creed of the owner or resident; but not a few hung up a red rose at one entrance and a white rose at the other, and after parleying with a stranger at the gate would select the door that agreed with his opinions I No open neutrality was permitted, but a way was thus found out of the difficulty. Eather queerly, Lancaster escaped being the scene of any battles or disturbance during this long war, but much of her best blood was spilled in the strug- gle for supremacy. While Lancaster has no Cathedral, her parish church —St. Mary's— (to revert to it again)— is finer than many ecclesiastical structures that have been given the higher title. The ** living'' is worth $9,000 per an- num, so that the minister, if he gets it all, can feel sure of three good meals a day.* St. Mary's enjoyed and exercised **the privilege of sanctuary." This was a little arrangement of William the Conqueror's, the honor being conferred sparingly. The charter given by him generally read : * * If any thief, or murderer, or person guilty of any other crime, fly for fear of death, and come to this church, let him have no harm, but be freely dismissed." This privilege held good until abolished by James I., who did not take kindly to such seats of sinners and such *' centres of sin."t * " Blessed are the poor for they shall inherit the earth " — in coffins ! f Certainly, some of the sovereigns had strange notions about their powers, and James I. was no exception. When I was shown through Lancaster Castle I was told that I was taken where King Edward himself could not go! This was news to me, and how do you think my guide proved his case? He said I should see the prison- ers, which the King would not be allowed to see, unless he wished to make a general jail deliverance! Still I did not understand, so it was explained to me that so much benignity, mercy, clemency, liberty and all the super-excellent virtues beamed from the countenance of the 184 HEBE AND THERE IN TWO HEMISPHERES. While noting such cnriosities of belief, I may as well refer here to some other Lancaster notions, customs and incidents that made more than an ordinary impression on me. I have been reading the pros and cons of the prize-fighting controversy now raging in our local col- umns, and it suggested telling you something of the ordinary sports of good old Lancaster in *Hhe good old times." It was quite a common thing for schoolmas- ters to encourage cock-fighting at the schools. The scholars furnished the funds — ^ * cock-pennies ' ' — and the teacher supplied the cocks or hens and presided over the ** sport. '^ It was not even so fair a game as a fight between two birds. Only one bird was used, tied to a stake by a short cord, and the boys, from a distance of twenty yards or so, threw clubs or cudgels at the poor, helpless chicken until they battered the life out of it. ** Threshing the hen" was another Shrove- tide brutality. A live hen was tied to the back of some man, decorated with horsebells, which jingled at every motion he made. The threshers were blindfolded and, following the sound of the bells, threshed away at the hen and the man, and at each other. Amusing, but not offensive, was the custom of watchmen announcing the King or flowed from the flash of his eyes, that the moment he saw a prisoner, that moment the prisoner was free! King Edward dare not look on a jail-bird, for instantly the fetters would fall, the prison doors would swing open and the happy man would walk out to free- dom! As proof that the legend was still believed the visit of Queen Victoria to Lancaster was recalled. When she held Court there, so that she might not pass or see any of the prisoners, a hole was knocked through the castle wall, and she reached the hall by a covered walk from the Castle Green. The case of the flrst Scotch King, Jamie, was also cited. He met a malefactor on his way to Tyburn to be hanged, and because the King happened to look at the wretch his pardon was im- mediately granted. That Englishman, I am sure, ever after had his own meaning of the phrase, " Scot free," and no doubt felt grateful to the Prince who loved mercy more than judgment. It's a pretty idea, and is probably founded on the priestly theory of "Look and Live." The State clergy were always ready to advance and extend the " divine rights" of Elings. k. LANCASTEB IN ENGLAND. 185 hours of the night by imitating the crowing of a cock. Fancy a man having to stand up in the street at mid- night and ** cock-a-doodle-doo ^ ' a round dozen times! This was in vogue up to the time of George I. A more serious thing to see was a Lancastrian taking his wife to the ** Horse-shoe Comer,'' with a halter 'round her neck, and exposing her for sale to the highest bidder. Hundreds have been sold as chattels in this mamier. Prices ran from fifteen cents to a quarter, competition never being very keen. These were white women, understand, belonging to the district, and the practice was so common as to cause no comment. Lan- caster did her share in the big black slave trade, too— no less than fourteen vessels sailing at one time from her port, all engaged in trafficking in human lives. There is a tradition in the town that a Lancastrian, Captain Marshall, stole a Guinea King's daughter, and this put an end to any further dealings with him or his fellow citizens. In the City Hall loft I saw the pillory that was once in common use everywhere. Li 1803 a man was pil- loried in this instrument and found dead in bed next morning. The jury that **sat on him" gave as its ver- dict, ** Visitation of God." In 1817 three men were executed in Lancaster Castle for a crime of which they were afterwards found to be innocent. They protested their guiltlessness, and believed that Providence would interpose in their behalf. After much praying, one of them commenced to sing, ** Happy the Man Whose Hopes Rely on Israel 's God, ' ' when the bolt was drawn and the poor creatures were hurled into eternity. This was popularly declared to be a ** Visitation of the Devil, ' ' and it took about twelve months for the public indignation to cool off. Twenty-five years later the real criminal, on his death-bed, confessed the truth prior to securing personal salvation, but how the souls of the 186 HERE AND THERE IN TWO HEMISPHERES. departed fared neither Coroner nor Kirk deigned to say. Lancaster has always had an unenviable notoriety in regard to its Courts, its prisons and its punishments. In the dock of the Crown Court of Lancaster Castle more prisoners have been sentenced to death than in any other Court in the United Kingdom. This is partly accounted for by the fact that until recent times the Assizes at Lancaster Town were the Assizes for the whole shire of Lancaster, the most populous county in the British Isles. In this very dock I saw the branding iron by which malefactors had the letter * * M ' ^ branded on their hands. The iron was made red-hot and ap- plied by the brander in the presence of the Judge and spectators, the operation being generally concluded by the announcement, * * Fair mark, my Lord. ' ' Years ago it was customary to order prisoners on trial to ^^show their hands, ' ^ to note if there had been a previous con- viction against them. Between 1799 and 1890 no less than 228 persons were executed in Lancaster Castle. Old and young found their way into the jail, such ex- tremes among prisoners as a nonagenarian and a child between two and three years of age being actual, re- corded facts. Tragedy and comedy are also inter- mingled in the story of the place. In August, 1612, something like twenty persons, two of whom were women over eighty years of age, faced trial for witchcraft at the Lancaster Assize before Judge Sir Edward Bromley. One of the old ladies, Mrs. Demdike, made no secret of the fact that she had sold herself to the devil, and was on familiar terms with his Satanic Majesty. This ** Granny'' also admitted that the reason she carried on such doings was because Beelzebub had promised in return to give her ** any- thing she wanted.'' Old Ann Whittle, another widow of four-score, confessed that she had bewitched a man 's LANCASTER IN ENGLAND. 187 drink, placed a bad wish on another man who soon thereafter died, and had— climax of all— made quite a quantity of butter from a small dish of skimmed milk ! It was greatly against her that she was seen to mumble continually to herself when at Court. Eight of the batch were acquitted, one was sentenced to the pillory in four different towns with imprisonment for a year, and the balance were hanged on Lancaster Moor. At another time, in the same year, ten witches in a bunch were executed at Lancaster. They came from Pendle Forest, on the borders of Yorkshire. The whole world was insane on the subject, which is worth particularly noting, as it is a clear instance of the possibility of all being wrong in a matter of opinion. Blackstone believed in witchcraft, so did Coke and Bacon— to single out only three of the profoundest in- tellects of the time— all men of legal training, and great natural ability. The crazy King James VI., of Scot- land, and I., of England, egged them on, feeling justified by the verse in the Bible, which says, **Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.^' Who believes in witchcraft nowt And yet it is as true to-day as it was three hun- dred years ago. In Scotland the belief in witches lin- gered until comparatively recent times.* Just as we sometimes call our Lancaster prison ' * Cas- tle Moore,'' so the Lancaster, England, prison used to be called **Hansbrow's Hotel," after the name of the • I remember quite well Old Becky Fyfe, " the witch " of our vil- lage. She was supposed to change herself into a hare whenever she pleased. In church one Sunday some youngsters laughed at an accident that happened to her. Next week as she came into her pew the boys spied her and made fun of her again. She gave them one wicked look, and down came from the ceiling, a cloud of dust and plaster that nearly smothered them! I saw this happen myself and my fear of her in- creased. She used to way-lay me when I passed her door and scare me into doing work for her. I have made a detour of a quarter of a mile to avoid meeting her, and just as I thought I had escaped, pop she appeared before me ! She was of the " typical witch type " in appear- 188 HEBE AND THERE IN TWO HEMISPHERES. Governor of the Castle. About forty years ago it was largely patronized by insolvent debtors, who ** retired ^^ to its friendly seclusion until whitewashed into respec- tability by a decree of Court making them *^ discharged debtors." Prisoners paid for their board at prices ranging from a dollar to five dollars per week. They were allowed anything they could afford to pay for, and some enjoyed every luxury from pipes to pianos, and from wine to— worse. The best room was called * * The Quaker 's. ^ ' Each room was run and officered ac- cording to well defined rules. Some prisoners made money attending to others. Mock trials were promi- nent features of entertainment, often developing real fun and cleverness. The following '* specimen report'^ is worthy of a place by a page of Dickens : Counsel: You say that you know Mr. Brown? Witness: Yes, sir. Counsel: You swear that you know him? Witness: Yes, sir. Counsel: You mean you are acquainted with him? Witness: Yes, sir; acquainted with him. Counsel: Oh, then, you do not know him. You are only acquainted with him! Bear in mind that you are on oath, sir. Now, be very care- ful. You don't mean to tell the jury that you know all about Mr. Brown; everything that he ever did? Witness: No; I suppose — Counsel: Never mind what you suppose. Please to answer my question. Do you or do you not know everything that Mr. Brown ever did? Witness: No — ^I — Counsel: That will do, sir. No, you do not know. So you are not acquainted with all his acts? ance — ^withered, shrunken, bowed; nose and chin nearly meeting, and she always used a staff. Everybody said she could have no good end, and as a matter of fact, she was burned to death in her own bed, the immediate cause being forever shrouded in mystery. I have not made the acquaintance of any witches since, although I shall not say that I have not been bewitched more than once in the past score of years. Here, in our own Lancaster, I have seen " pow- wowing" for erysipelas, and the "witch-doctor," I believe, is still abroad among the Pennsylvania-Grermans all over our State. LANCASTBB IN ENGLAND. 189 Witness : No, Counsel: That is to say, you are not so well acquainted with them as you thought you were? Witness: Possibly not. Counsel: Just so. Now we begin to understand each other. If you do not know anything about Mr. Brown's acts when you do not see him, you can't swear that you know him, can you? Witness: Well, if you put it that way — Counsel: Come, sir — don't seek to evade my question. I will put it to you again : When you say that you know Mr. Brown you don't mean to insinuate that you know everjrthing he does? Witness: No, sir; of course not. Counsel: Just so; of course not. Then you were not quite correct when you said that you knew Mr. Brown? Witness: No, sir. Counsel: In point of fact, you don't know Mr. Brown? Witness: Of course — Counsel : Stop there, sir. You are not called upon to make a speech. Are you, or are you not, acquainted with all of Mr. Brown's acts? Witness: No, sir. Counsel: No, sir. I thought so, sir. Then, of course, you cannot claim that you really know Mr. Brown? Witness: No, sir. Counsel: "No." A correct answer. I thought so, sir. That will do, sir. You can stand down. We never hear anything of this kind, do we, in Lan- caster, Pennsylvania t The day I made my rounds of the Lancaster Castle Jail, I was told of a prisoner who had been discovered smoking. The officials were puzzled to know where he secured his cigars, and an investigation revealed that he had made the fillers from teazed oakum, the binders from the leaves of his prayer book and the wrappers from his Bible! When I was in the cigar business, in examining leaf tobacco, one of our stock jokes used to be it was **more hole-y than righteous,'' and the thought occurred to me that the poor Lancastrian had given a new meaning to the phrase. No wonder an irreverent listener said * * Holy smoke ! ' ' when he heard the tale. There is a rare story told of the great Boswell in con- 14 190 HEBE AND THERE IN TWO HEMISPHERES. nection with the Lancaster Court. Dr. Johnson 's friend had been in attendance at the Assize, and having in- dulged rather freely, was found lying on the pavement by some of his acquaintances. They took him in hand and treated him to supper, and also next morning sent him a brief with instructions to move for a writ Quare adhcesit pavimento, with observations duly calculated to induce him to think that it required great learning to explain the necessity of granting it to the Judge before whom he was to move. Boswell, anxious to dis- tinguish himself, sent all around town for attorneys and books to help him, but in vain. He moved, however, for the writ, making the best showing he could. The Judge was astonished, the audience amazed, and all the barris- ters greatly amused. **I never heard of such a writ,'* said the Judge. ''What can it be that adhceres pavi- mento? Are any of you gentlemen of the Bar able to explain this ? " At last one of them said, * ' My lord, Mr. Boswell last night adhcesit pavimento. There was no moving him for some time. At last he was carried to bed, and he has been dreaming about himself and the pavement ever since. What an attachment he must had for it!'' This anecdote is not in Boswell 's ' ' Johnson, ' ' but, if the immortal James had cared to tell it, his version would have been better worth reading.* Among other famous men who came in touch with Lancaster may be mentioned the artist, Turner, who painted * ' The Crook of the Lune. ' ' His great advance agent, John Ruskin, has also in ''Ariadne Florentina'' given us an account of what he saw and admired at "The King's Arms." Fancy an ordinary inn having Gobelin tapestry valued at over $30,000, and a single bedstead for which the sum of $1,250 was offered ! No wonder King Edward, when Prince of Wales, wished to * He was a lawyer who could practice at two bars at the same time. LAKCASTER IN ENGLAND. 191 have some of the furnishings of this hotel for his Sandringham home. The poets Keats and Gray have left their impressions of Lancaster, and good William Wordsworth, who was often there, has crystalized cen- turies of feeling in his mournful sonnet on ** Weeping Hill," as he particularly tells us, ** suggested by the view of Lancaster Castle on the road from the South. ' ^ James Hogg, **The Ettrick Shepherd,'' once attended the Lancaster Theatre and had the pleasure of hear- ing one of his songs rendered by the leading singer. Jacobite readers will be interested in knowing that the decisive battle of * ' The Forty-five ' ' came within an ace of happening at Scotforth, in the suburbs of Lan- caster, instead of at CuUoden moor, in the shire of Li- verness. Lord George Murray and Lochiel were keen to meet the enemy at Scotforth, and Prince Charlie also favored it. He ordered the field to be carefully sur- veyed, and, although his generals returned with a favor- able report, by some whimsical turn the Prince had changed his mind, and soon after he proceeded on the northward march that finally ended in complete disaster at Drumossie Moor. Lancastrians are very proud of the fact that the great Dr. Whewell was a native of their town, and their pride is justifiable. This eminent scholar was bom in 1794. His father was a joiner or carpenter and young Whewell was destined for the same trade. But his intellectual gifts were so pronounced that friends insisted on his going to college, and, better still, furnished the funds to keep him there. What a fine investment it turned out to be! Dr. Whewell eventually became Master of Trinity College, Cambridge, and a voluminous author on scientific and religious subjects.* *Dr. Kerr in "Memories, Grave and Gay," quotes a clever stanza he found on the fly-leaf of an anthem hook in Trinity College Chapel during Whewell's reign there. He says, in the opinion of the rhymester, it represented Dr. Whewell's estimate of himself: 192 HEBE AND THEBE IN TWO HEMISPHERES. Sir Richard Owen, was also bom in Lancaster, on the 20th of July, 1804. He was one of the most distin- guished scientists of his age, with a fame that is world- wide, his specialty, perhaps, being anatomy. When a student in Lancaster he collected a fine set of sknlls, lacking an Ethiopian. At length a negro died at the castle, and the young doctor was given permission to take away the darkie's head. It was a very stormy night when he called to secure his prize, and, after severing the head from the body, he stowed his speci- men in a bag and started for home. At the top of a long stair a gust of wind caught him, and in dodging a door that was slammed against his face, he dropped his bag. The head fell out and tumbled down the steps, rolling into a room where two women were seated con- versing, and there settled on its neck on the floor beside them! They shrieked in terror at the apparition, and before they had time to collect themselves Dr. Owen darted into the room, picked up the head, stowed it again in his bag, and made off without any explanation. Several years after, one of the women on her death- bed sent for a clergyman and confessed that she could not die until she told a story that had been troubling her. One stormy night, she said, she was gossiping with a friend when a black head danced down the steps and hopped into her room, settling beside her and look- ing reproachfully at her. She was transfixed with terror and did not know what to do but scream, when in slipped the devil himself, lifted up the head and whisked out of the room without uttering a syllable. Another noted Lancastrian, not so well known, was Thomas Edmondson, the originator or inventor of the "The man who midst comets and galaxies travels, And nebulous films to the utmost unravels, Will find when he's reached to the verge of infinity That God's greatest work is the Master of Trinity." LANGASTEB IN ENGLAND. 193 railway ticket system. He devised many ingenious things in early life, but at forty-four years of age found nothing better for him than Station Master at an in- significant place called Milton, on the Newcastle and Carlisle railway. His hinged pocket-comb suggested the vital principle of the movements necessary for the ticket-selling tubes, and from the first crude experi- ments at his little wayside station he lived to see his system and devices adopted by every railroad in the world. He had the usual hard luck of inventors, how- ever, and it was a rival railroad company that first gave him the proper encouragement, his own company fail- ing to recognize the great importance of his invention. More than once I have had occasion to notice remark- able coincidences connected with Lancaster, England, and Lancaster, Pa., and I found a conspicuous case in the Ross family, the most noted of the Lancaster, Eng- land, branch being Mr. Stephen Boss, a freeman and burgess of great repute in his day and generation. Like our own Lancaster Bosses, he was descended from the Earls of Boss, in Scotland, and could show almost the same pedigree as my friends, Christopher Hager, Esq., of Marietta, and G. Boss Eshleman, Esq., of this city— the lineage of all three coming through the Laird of Balnagown. The American Bosses, I believe, like the English Bosses, consider the present Sir Charles Boss, Baronet, of Balnagown, the head of their clan. In ancient times the Earl of Boss was the Lord Palatine of Scotland, and it is at least curious to find his descendants prominently located in the two Lancasters, with the broad Atlantic between them. Only recently the cables announced to us that Sir William Turner had been raised to the high honor of Principal of Edinburgh University. He first saw the light of day in Moor Lane, Lancaster, but the Capital 194 HEBE AND THEBE IN TWO HEMISPHERES. City of Scotland has seen more of him than any other place. He has there been President of the Eoyal Col- lege of Surgeons, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Professor of Anatomy. In 1889 he was President of the Anthropological Section of the British Association. At that time Turner gave his famous address on * * Liv- ing Organisms,'' from which the following extract is taken: ** Man is a living organism, and the study of his physical frame can- not be separated from that of other living organisms. But whatever may have been the origin of his frame, whether by evolution from some animal form or otherwise, we can scarcely expect it ever to attain any greater perfection than it at present possesses. The kind of evolu- tion which we are to hope and strive for in him is the perfecting of his spiritual nature, so that the standard of the whole human race may be elevated and brought into more harmonious relations with that which IB holy and divine." It is strange that such a profound thinker should doubt the possibility of man^s continued physical evo- lution. Is there such a thing as bigotry in science T* Radical changes do not come in generations, nor in cen- turies, but who shall say that man will be the same as now, structurally, say ten million years hence T What we do not use in course of time we lose and the most elementary anthropologist can name many parts of our bodies that from long disuse will eventually be changed or taken from us, just as other parts will be exaggerated and strengthened, and are even now in a continual state of transition. What up-to-date doctor is brave enough to say that we will not in due course get rid of excessive spleen and vermiform appendix! It also seems as sure as sunrise that we will in time be despoiled entirely of hair, teeth and toes. How will it all endt There is no such tiling as pause. We either ascend or descend, progress or retrogress, * Ask our esteemed fellow-citizen, Mr. Henry G. Rush, what reception has been given his new astronomical theories by the leading American colleges? i. LANCASTER IN ENGLAND. 195 and evolution applies as surely to our organisms to-day as it applies to our moral or spiritual nature. I have seen it said that Sir William Turner, in the paragraph above quoted, delivered one of the most powerful sermons of recent times, but to me it only looks as if he wished to make an alliance with the teach- ers who hope to harmonize present facts with past im- possibilities. For the credit of Lancaster and Edin- burgh University, I trust he may always be joined with those who— **Seek truth, however it may be found; Among our friends, among our foes, * On Christian or on heathen ground, > The plant's divine where'er it grows!" A FAMOUS ANGLO-AMERICAN LANCASHIRE FAMILY: THE DALTONS OF THURN- HAM HILL. Befoir Queene Bess hir holde obteyned On Englande's Crowne and Ball, Ye Englishe Daltonb ruled and reigned As Squires of Thubnham Hall. May 12, 1902, the fine old Lancashire estates of Thumham, Bulk, Glasson and Cockshades passed into the hands of John Henry Dalton, Esq., by the death of his father on that day. The young Squire had been summoned from his legal studies at Princeton Univer- sity and arrived at Thumham Hall a few hours after Mr. William Henry Dalton had passed away. It was the conclusion of a particularly interesting chapter in the history of the old place, and the beginning of a new era for the famous Dalton family. Mr. William Henry Dalton died at the age of sixty- seven after a strenuous and successful career, tinged also with some romance. He was a Dalton of the Dal- 196 HEBE AND THEBE IN TWO HEMISPHERES. tons, but in his youth no less than eleven lives stood between him and succession to the ancestral acres. In- stead of sitting around waiting for something to happen Mr. Dalton struck out on his own account. His early life was spent in Jersey, and while yet a young man he had visited Australia, New Zealand, Argentina and Brazil, ultimately settling in Mexico, where for twenty years he was the proprietor of a profitable cattle-ranch. In 1876 he married Miss Mary Enmia Cook, the eldest daughter of Mr. J. T. Cook, an American gentleman. In 1894 Mr. Dalton succeeded to the Dalton Estates, after making good his claims in the highest courts of the land. By this time, however, his health had given way, and he did not enjoy his new possessions long enough to make much impress on them, although he regularly spent a large partion of his income improving his property. The Daltons have been connected with Thumham Hall since 1556. Always prominent as a family they were fated invariably to espouse the losing side of all national controversies. As a consequence they had their lands taken from them and suffered imprisonment more than once. But their resources, influence and connections were always powerful enough to enable them to buy back their confiscated estates, and conse- quently Thumham Hall has been identified with Dal- tons of blood or family connection for almost four cen- turies. They have left their mark in Lancashire with no uncertain impression. In Lancaster town *' Dalton Square ' ' is named after an early ancestor, and members of the Dalton family are specifically commemorated in the streets named John, Mary, Gage, Lucy, Bridget, Charlotte, Robert and Sulyard. Thumham street and Bulk street of course take their names from the two estates of the family. Many interesting incidents are on record about the ^ LANCASTER IN ENGLAND. 197 Daltons who have also been connected by marriage with many other powerful families, notably with the Derbys (who gave England a Prime Minister), with the Earls of Sefton (family name Molyneux) ; with the Gages (of Hengrave Hall, Suffolk) ; with the Flemings, the Rid- dells, the Houghtons and the Middletons; with the noble family of Lathom, and with the Fitzgeralds of Ireland. The present Mr. Dalton is a direct lineal de- scendant of Sir Thomas More (1478-1535), the illus- trious statesman and author, who was beatified by Pope Leo XIII., December 9, 1886. More succeeded Wolsey as Chancellor of England in 1529, and held office until he resigned in 1532. His execution is one of the black- est crimes to the credit of the royal monster Henry VIII. More's ** Utopia'^ is the greatest political romance ever written, and was first published in Latin in 1516. The Daltons of old were good Catholics and always loyal supporters of **the rightful heirs'^ to the crown. During the Civil Wars of England they took the field and raised their own regiments, more than one member of the family laying down his life for King and coun- try. Even as late as the Jacobite uprising of 1715 John Dalton of Thumham stood out for the unfortunate Stuarts. A pretty legend is connected with Aldcliffe Hall, which was at one time a Dalton residence. Seven Dalton sisters were known as **The Catholic Virgins ^^ and in confirmation of the fact a stone tablet is yet to be seen with a Latin inscription which has been deciphered to read * * Catholic Virgins are we, who scorn to change with the time: Ano. Dni: 1674.'^ Mr. Wm. H. Dalton did not die a Catholic, and the living Daltons are all devoted to the Protestant faith. The Dalton Territory in Lancashire at one period embraced something like fifty thousand acres, but por- tions have from time to time been sold, or were not desired in redeeming confiscated lands, and now five 198 HEBE AND THERE IN TWO HEMISPHERES. thousand acres would probably include all the estates already mentioned. The Bulk estate from its proximity to the town of Lancaster is of great value as it can be almost immediately laid off in building lots. The * * Glasson Docks ' ' are located on the Glasson estate, and it has a fringe of seashore (along Morecambe Bay) that seems destined for fine Villa sites at no distant date* On other parts of the Dalton lands are deposits of sand, gravel and slate, with a fair promise of more valuable minerals. The present Mr. Dalton has many important plans under consideration for the development of his properties, and, if spared to carry them out, his ad- vanced ideas will restore the home of his ancestors to a position worthy of its renowned pedigree. Old Thumham Hall has long been in a state of decay, and only temporary alterations have been attempted in recent times, but enough remains to give more than a suggestion of its ancient glory. Almost opposite its gates are the ruins of Cockersand Abbey, founded in the days of Henry 11., as the scholarly Mr. Eoper tells us, * * by one Hugh Garth * an heremyt of great perf ecc 'n. ' ^ ^ The Chapter House of the Abbey is now used as a burial place for the Dalton family. The old oak-chest, or **Ark,'' that formerly belonged to the Abbot of Cockersand is now at Thumham Hall. Mr. John Henry Dalton, like his father before hinriy is greatly attached to the Western Hemisphere, and being half-American spends a considerable portion of his time in the New World. He owns properties in Florida, California and Texas, and at present is much interested in the development of Oil-lands in the latter state. He has been educated partly in England and partly in the United States. With his intelligent ad- miration for republican principles, he has lost none of a true Englishman's love for his native land, and very fittingly represents the coming powerful Anglo-Ameri- can racial type that so happily blends the best of the old country's blood with the ablest of the new. OEATOEY AND OEATOES. 'Tis easy in another's Speech To censure spirit, style and letter But hard indeed the Art to reach To make one's own Orations better! If the true test of oratory is the power to move people to action the famous rule of Demosthenes takes on a new meaning. There must be action by the audience no less than action by the speaker, and some orations that have produced truly marvellous action— though often long delayed— have not been noted for great action in delivery. Calhoun's speech that ultimately moved the South to war was delivered by proxy, the author being so weak he could not even read it. Other cases will readily come to mind, showing that of the two kinds of action, the action of the auditor is more important than that of the orator. But while that may all be so, action in the orator is still more apt to pro- duce pleasing effects. For many years ^ have given special attention to oratory, and in my time have had an opportunity of hearing many fine pubUc speakers on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. Many men we go to hear and see because they are celebrated for other reasons than that they are public speakers, just as we often read the writings of many who have little Uterary skill because they are famous or notorious in other lines. Popularity, like kissing, goes by favor, and there is often no accounting for public taste by any other expla- nation. If all be true that 's told the two clowns Kemp and Tarlton received far more applause than the divine William Shakespeare when the three appeared together on the stage of the Globe Theatre. Thousands will flock to see a freak like Tom Thumb for one that will 199 200 HERE AND THERE IN TWO HEMISPHERES. patronize the exhibition of a great living artist like Haydon. In selecting my examples I have kept myself as closely as possible to those who are worthy of con- sideration as orators or talkers, apart from any fame they may have or have had in other directions. Henry Ward Beecher.— In Scotland the **Kirkin'' after a wedding is a most important event. I was mar- ried at the residence of my wife's father in Scotland, the parish minister tying the knot; but with my bride left at once for America, and our **Kirkin*' took place in Brooklyn, Henry Ward Beecher being the officiating clergyman. It was our first experience of an American Church, and we were both amused and somewhat shocked at the frankness and freeness of the minister as well as the plainly manifested levity of the congre- gation, all being such a big transition from our Scotch sternness and stupid rigidity, and too abrupt for us to pass without certain resistance and inward protest. But we soon felt very comfortable and church-going had ever after a new meaning to us. Beecher spoke from a plat- form, over which he disported himself in quite a spry maimer for such a white-haired, venerable man. His face was a disappointment at first, but when he kindled up it was transformed or forgotten. His sermon was on * * The blasted fig tree, ' * and he ventured nothing out of the ordinary until he came to the subject of truth. He was sailing on at a good rate when he stopped with a funny twinkle in his eye, and said: "If I were to ask all those here to stand up who never told a lie, I am sure every mother's son of you would keep your seats— and I, myself, sit down too!'* The congregation actually applauded this sally— think of it, oh, gloomy sombre Calvinistic Presbyterians! -in the sacred precincts of the holy Temple and during divine service I It even put one of our neighbors into such a pleasant humor that she handed over her fan that we might make ourselves more comfortable. ^ ORATORY AND ORATORS. 201 While the sermon did not, as I remarked, impress me as anything extra, Beecher's prayers did. I had never heard such petitions before— so simple and so search- ing, so pathetic and so truthful, so yearning and seem- ingly so sincere. All in all it was a great Sunday, and when later on I received from Mr. Beecher a copy of the sermon I had heard him preach it strengthened an interest in him that never weakened until he died. His printed words read very well even to those who have never hard him, but have a different meaning to any one who had the privilege of even once constituting a member of his audience. William Jennings Bryan.— I saw and heard Wil- liam Jennings Bryan in the Martin Auditorium, Y. M. C. A. Building, Lancaster, Pa. He had then been twice defeated in his contest for the Presidency. As proof of the popularity of the man, although Lancaster is in- tensely Republican, every seat in the large hall was filled, and the platform also overflowed with prominent citizens. Bryan was so familiar to every one from his portrait that he was recognized as soon as he made his appearance. He looked very much like a farmer dressed up in a suit that did not feel comfortable, sug- gesting the awkwardness of Abraham Lincoln not a little. But as soon as he commenced to talk his clothes gave himself and his audience no more concern. He spoke fluently, deliberately, and clearly, never being at a loss for a word. His gestures were few. Of course he was delivering a speech quite familiar to him— one of his regular series of lectures— and by the time he had reached Lancaster it was an oft-told tale. But he infused it with enthusiasm, and it struck the audience with freshness and with force. Once or twice he made a plain bid for the galleries and promptly received his reward. It was a demagogic lapse that seemed to me an unnecessary blemish in an otherwise fine oration. 202 HEBE AND THEBE IN TWO HEMISPHEBES. Public speaking is easy to him, and after his introduc- tion no one at any time doubted that he would make a great success. It was a complete triumph. We had a little taste of him in his best and brightest moods, and before he left us he had added many former doubters and decriers to the vast number of his friends and ad- mirers. T. DeWitt Talmage I heard several times, al- ways as a lecturer, but in every instance the preacher predominated. He was past his best days, and the fickle public had begun to get tired of him. I noticed nothing particularly striking about his oratory except the wonderful effect he produced in quoting scripture texts. There he seemed to be in his element and the words appeared to stream from the tips of his fingers. He was fluent enough, and more jocular than sombre in his style, but he used too many old jokes and gags for a man of his high reputation— in this respect reminding me of Chauncey M. Depew, who is brave enough to retail ** chestnuts ' ' that have been discarded by even Coney Island Vaudevillians. Talmage personally impressed me as a cold, calculating man more likely to strike a stiff bargain than to let his heart run away with his head. His mouth was the prominent feature of his face, and so big it seemed that I have always thought the Scotchman was not far wrong who declared that Talmage could have sung a duet all by himself. I have always admired his great com- mand of language and wealth of illustration— his ser- mons read well even to-day for those who do not care for such theology— and I had heard wonderful tales of his oratorical powers, but he only filled me with a very mild enthusiasm, and the net result was a disappoint- ment. Henry George.— The week that I emigrated from Scotland to America Henry George was billed to de- ^ OSATOBY AND OSATOBS. 203 liver a lecture in one of Glasgow's largest halls. This was as far back as May, 1886. It was more than ten years after that when I first had the pleasure of hear- ing him— at a Single Tax meeting in Philadelphia, where Dr. McGlynn was the principal speaker. George was recognized in the audience, and literally compelled to go on the platform. He was a wee mannie, but stout, and seemed more dumpy on that account and also be- cause of his big, bushy beard. I remember how he flung his head back, as if to look more easily into the eyes of his audience. He spoke freely and with care, on his favorite theme. Several times he warmed up and pranced around quite lively, giving the impression that when aroused he would fight hard. His thinking was done on his feet, his short address being extem- poraneous and unexpected. McGlynn was a good speaker, earnest, forceful and with winning ways, but Henry George eclipsed him fairly. After that I could understand something of his power over men and felt sure his conquests were only restricted by his physical limitations. He died suddenly in New York, in the heart of a municipal campaign, being then the Labor candidate for Mayor. Any one who wishes to see what kind of a debater Henry George was with the pen is recommended to procure the little book entitled **A Perplexed Philosopher,'' which deals with Herbert Spencer's revised opinions on the land question. It is as engrossing as the latest novel and shows how small a big Goliath in the wrong may be made to look when a little David, with right on his side, gets a fair chance to swing his sling. Moody.— Twice did I hear the great Moody, but the first time is a misty memory. It was at Craig Oastle, Auchindoir, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, and must have been in 1874, when I was in my ninth year. It was also my first attendance at a big revival meet- 204 HEBE AND THEBE IN TWO HEMISPHERES. ing. The Laird of Craig of that period was **a little daft on religion, ' ' and at his own expense, it was said, brought Moody from Aberdeen. Sankey was not pres- ent at that time, but there was no lack of other good singers, and evidently many who followed Moody from place to place just as the side shows follow the big cir- cus. As everywhere, the crowd was immense. I don 't remember a word Moody said at Craig, but I recall his gestures, and I am also sure that the douce, dour, phlegmatic Auchindorians refused to admit there was anything wonderful about the Yankee revivalist as a preacher. The next and last time I saw Moody was at a noon mass meeting for ministers in 1897 in the Y. M. C. A. Building, Philadelphia. I managed to creep in somehow, and was well rewarded for my en- terprise. Moody preached on **The Good Samaritan'' which he pronounced * * Sam-er'itan. ' ' When he came on the platform I thought : * * A gourmand he must be 1 ' ' He had a paunch on him like a Shakespearean alder- man. But after he began to speak his swelling rotun- dity was forgotten, if it did not actually disappear. What a wonderful talker he was ! Full of life and fire, genial, witty, humorous, impudent, personal, sarcastic, kind, tender, pathetic,— everything by turns; active, profuse in gesture, effective in pose, abounding in illus- tration; his sentences crisp, short, well moulded and projected with the force and directness of bullets. To my delight his matter was intensely humanitarian, as it had to be from such a text. He said too many people, ministers included, thought that so-called religious chatter was their whole duty. Well, it was easier and cheaper than putting their hands in their pockets and giving practical help; but sermons and tracts and prayers were not enough. A little coin, a loaf of bread, a small basket of fruit or even a bit of candy would often preach a better sermon than the most eloquent ORATORY AND ORATORS. 205 pulpit oration. When the sick and the aged were visited an orange, a bunch of grapes or something equally refreshing might be substituted for a reading from the Bible, or a meaningless, cold, hard, punky ** pious'' talk. The trouble anyhow with most people was that they were all the time shouting ' Cream, cream, cream/ but only living skim-milk! **Who is your neighbor f ' ' he bellowed. * * I don 't mean the man that lives in the brownstone front, next door to you, but the little fellow in the back-alley next to your stables. ' ' He noticed a newspaper artist trying to make a sketch of him, and he said : * * Never mind me, young man, put in the picture of a Philadelphia Good Sam-er'itan. It will be far more interesting and inspiring than a cut of Moody." In my time I have heard the most of the great preachers, and, without hesitation, I place Moody at the top of the list,— with no second. His enthusiasm was such that, from the very beginning, he captured his audience, as with a net, and he kept them in that posi- tion or condition until he had said his last word. He was essentially, however, an orator, and without the charm of his personality his talks make almost as dry reading as Henry Clay's speeches. Colonel. Robert G. Ingersoll.— Long before I left Scotland I had become familiar with Col. Robert G. Ingersoll 's writings and had come to look upon him as the greatest orator of our time. The high encomiums he received from such judges as Beecher, Field, and indeed all prominent Americans capable of judging did much to fortify this opinion. His printed lectures and addresses read well and had about them the true ora- torical aroma. They were not essays nor treatises, but preeminently spoken words. When I came to Amer- ica I kept my eye open for a chance to hear Ingersoll. In due time it came and I have heard him under the best possible auspices— from the body of a hall and 15 206 HEBE AND THERE IN TWO HEMISPHERES. from the platform beside him. He talked on religious, secular and literary subjects, but in every instance, to my disappointment, he read his oration. His voice had a slight rasp, and there was also a noticeable nasal twang when he began to speak. His manner ^as confident, perhaps ** cocky, '* but he was by no means profuse in gesture. Everybody always seemed to be pleased with him but myself, some going into raptures over his performances. With all his noted self-control, once in Philadelphia I saw him badly "rattled'' by an old man who took exception to some- thing in the lecture. IngersoU plainly lost his temper , and his fine speech in rebuking his critic. I was very anxious to have IngersoU measure up to my high ideal of the world's leading orator, but I could not see it, much as I liked him personally and admired above all else his manly independence. Several times I con- versed with him and found him to be like all noted speakers— quite hesitant in his ordinary talk. He also had the important blemish of using oaths in common conversation to give emphasis to his talk. This was particularly unfortunate in him, as he was innately a clean and well-behaved man, and certainly did not lack for decent words to express his meaning. He favored me from time to time with some fine letters, always sent me complimentary tickets for his lectures, and on sev- eral occasions presented me with autographed copies of his works. The last time I saw him, about a year be- fore his death, I noticed he was failing fast. When he died I felt I had lost a friend. Many people affect to believe that IngersoU was not sincere in his criticism of theologies and creeds, but I am satisfied he spoke from the heart and because of his love for humanity more than on account of his hate for the religious sys- tems that, in his opinion, so much retarded the world's real progress. His favorite author was Shakespeare, ORATOBY AND ORATOBS. 207 and the orator never tired telling how much our great Scotch poet had done for him as a writer and an emanci- pator. In this connection I may tell the joke perpe- trated on IngersoU by Henry Ward Beecher. The elo- quent agnostic had been lecturing on the **Bard of Ayr,'* and the conversation had turned on epitaphs. Beecher said he could suggest a good one for IngersoU, and in proof of it produced a card on which he had simply written **E0BEBT BUBNS/' No one would have better enjoyed the joke than Colonel Bob himself. When I visited the Bums Cottage at Ayr last sum- mer I saw a fine photographic f ac-simile of IngersoU 's ** Tribute to Burns '* occupying the place of honor in the **Auld Clay Biggin.'' Several ministers protested against such sacrilege, and to one of them I made the following rejoinder :* * * BUBNS AND InGEBSOLL. ''Sir.— It is not at aU strange how differently the same things will strike different men, and, knowing Colonel IngersoU as I knew him, and Rev. Dr. Robert- son of Cincinnati as I know him, I am not surprised at the outburst of my clerical friend in regard to having IngersoU 's poem on Bums in the Bums' Cottage at AUoway. Dr. Robertson, it seems to me, has made the mistake of thinking that his individual opinion of Inger- soU is sufficient to cause the withdrawal of the well- known agnostic 's beautiful lines ; and, as the critic has no real case against the writer, he hopes by abuse to direct attention from the unquestionable genius of the verse. As it so happens, I am a Scottish- American too, and on visiting the Cottage to-day, I could see no impro- * Ayrshire Po9i, October 31, 1902. 208 HEBE AND THESE IN TWO HEMISPHEBES. priety in having the tribute where it is. Nay more, it would have just read as well and pleased me none the less if it had been written by Moody or by Dr. Talmage. Ingersoll wrote very rarely in rhyme, and this is without doubt one of his happiest effusions. I happen to know that he was passionately fond of the bard of Ayr— ^almost insane on Bums,' as he once wrote to me— and in my belief Ingersoll had more than an ordinary share of the poet 's philosophy and religion. At this moment, I cannot think of anyone that Bums would have been more delighted to meet than the fearless, warm-hearted, manly Robert Ingersoll, who never wearied in his love and admiration for the author of what he was fond of styling, * Humanity's Declaration of Independence'— *A Man's a Man for a' Thatl' Dr. Robertson no doubt felt he was doing right to publicly resent the coupling of Bums with Ingersoll in the birthplace of the bard, but he evidently overlooks the fact that the world, and even the Presbyterian creed, have been moving since election and fore-ordination were cracified on 'Holy Willie 's Prayer ' ; and lots of people, with no unkindly feeling to churches or to ministers, now do their own thinking, and not without thanks, in many instances, to such brave souls and advanced minds as Robert Bums and Robert Ingersoll. The genial American was fond of telling a story that may not be out of place here. He said he was once in the company of a distinguished divine, and after a long talk on Bums, Ingersoll asked the minister * if he had the chance, would he rather meet King Solomon, or the Apostle Paul, or John Calvin, or Robert Bums?' * If. you don't tell on me,' said the clergyman, *I'll tell.' *0h, then,' said Ingersoll, 'you needn't mind, as if it was anyone else than Bums, you did not have to exact any promise from me!' From what I know of Dr. Robertson, I believe he himself would be glad to meet Bums any time, in spite of all w OSATOBY AND OBATOBS. 209 the hard things he has said against the cloth and the kirks— and so say we all of usl Colonel Ingersoll's favorite quotation from Bums was: "To mak' a happy fireside clime To weans and wife; That's the true pathos and sublime Of human life!" Any one who had the privilege of entering the Colonel *s family circle, soon discovered that he not only believed in that statement, but lived up to the splendid philosophy of it. ' ' Russell H. Conwell, of Philadelphia, preacher, lawyer, soldier, traveler and journalist, gave the finest * ' lecture ' ' I ever heard, and I place him amongst the very best orators it has ever been my lot to see and hear. His subject was *' Acres of Diamonds,*' and although he had ** delivered the goods'' actually thou- sands of times he infused a freshness into the theme that was positively inspiring. He was strong on mimicry, which I am convinced is one of the leading requisites of a good orator. He had better command of himself than any speaker I ever heard, and every sentence seemed to be just right, with the accompanying gestures natural and correct. So much impressed was I with his style that I soon went to hear him preach at his big Temple, but found him nothing above the ordi- nary. Indeed, I was displeased with his sermon, both as to matter and to manner, although he manages to hold the biggest congregation in the Quaker City, and does perhaps as much good with his talents as any single man in the town of William Penn. Conwell is a good business man as well as an acceptable Baptist preacher, and part of his great success must no doubt be credited to his executive ability. 210 HEBE AND THEBE IN TWO HEMISPHEBES. Annie Besant.— Many women speakers I have heard in my time, but none that could hold the candle to Annie Besant. When in Edinburgh I attended a meet- ing of the Philosophical Society at which she was the lecturer, holding forth for an hour on her latest hobby —an ** Outline of the Creed of Theosophy." She spoke without note of any kind, and made an abstruse theme intensely interesting. Her oration reminded me less of rhetorical pyrotechnics than of shot after shot from an unspikeable battery, a steady slug, slugging away, and each blow hitting the target. There was neither let nor pause— not even once did she trip on a word or hesitate for an expression, but stuck to her guns and kept pounding away until from the overwhelming applause, she evidently convinced her audience that she had proved her propositions and demolished all possible objections to them. If there was any fault to be found with the delivery it was in its too solid monotony, and yet coming from her lips it seemed to be the only proper way to present such a weighty theme. A pleasing orator of the Irish type was Father Joseph O'Connor, Roman Catholic Priest, of Phila- delphia. He was one of the most delightful speakers in his Church, and had admirers among all sects and classes. His sermons to Protestants became so popular that an admission fee was charged, and yet he never lacked crowded houses. He excelled at telling a witty story, but also made ambitious excursions into the realms of history and literature, and always came off with flying colors. Much as I enjoyed his public ad- dresses, I believe he was at his best in his own room, going over Hamlet's *' Advice to the Players," or giving imitations of the interesting speakers he had heard from time to time in his long years of oratorical study. He prepared a small book entitled *' Notes on Preaching, ' ' which I highly prize, and, my copy having ORATORY AND ORATORS. 211 been received from the author himself, his inscription on it makes it particularly valuable. Father 0 'Connor died when in his prime, deeply lamented by a large circle of friends and admirers. Robert Collyer.— The grand old man of Unitar- ianism is a powerful speaker with a fine grip of the homely Saxon. His career is an inspiration to any man. All the world knows that he was a blacksmith, and he told me himself that he has filled in spare time breaking stones for road metal. But he never smothered the bird of hope that kept singing in his breast, and he lived to occupy the best-paid pulpit in America. He read his sermon the only time I heard him preach, but, as the old woman said of Dr. Chalmers: '*It did not matter if he had whistled it"— he was fine! The Unitarians have not many speakers, compared to other churches, but they certainly have a big share of good orators. Edward Everett Hale and Minot J. Savage need not take a back seat anywhere. Colonel Thomas Wentworth Higginson is perhaps the last of the school of Wendell Phillips and George William Curtis, and worthily upholds its traditions. Three eminent speakers from the ranks of journalism are Colonel McClure and Charles Emory Smith, both of Philadelphia, and Henry Watterson, of Ken- tucky. The first and the last-named have each a lecture on ''Abraham Lincoln." McClure, I think, brings us nearer to **old Abe," but Watterson is the better orator, and I never heard any one read a letter as he can do. Smith I consider an all-around man of great power, and destined for yet greater triumphs. He has been in the Cabinet of the United States, and it would be no surprise to me to see him President. Dr. John Watson.— Major Pond tells me of all his platform successes *'Ian Maclaren'' easily topped the list, eclipsing even Stanley. I heard Watson lecture 212 HEBE AND THEBE IN TWO HEMISPHERES. and am quite sure we have a thousand preachers in Scotland who could have done as well, but then— not one of them has given us a *'Dr. McClure" or **A Lad o'Pairts.'' It might be safely imagined that men who are con- tinually before the public could always make good speakers, but it does not follow. One of the poorest speeches I ever heard was perpetrated by such a re- nowned actor as Sib Henby Ibving. It is nothing new to know that charming writers like Washington Irving and De Quincey were complete failures as orators, but something better is expected of men who are in con- stant platform practice and know every trick of the trade. There is perhaps no art under the sun where success has been reached under a greater variety of forms than this same business of public speaking. Personally I demand a great oration to have good matter, to be delivered without any notes, and with every variety of tone and gesture ; but it cannot be denied that speeches which have become classics have been poorly delivered, and many finely delivered orations have perished with the occasions that called them forth. The American high-water mark of eloquence is doubtless Lincoln's Address on the battlefield of Gettysburg, and yet it made a very indifferent impression on the crowd that first heard it. I have talked to some who were present —intelligent men and friendly to Lincoln— that declare the speech was a pitiful failure, not for a moment to be compared to the oration of Everett, who was the top-sawyer talker of his time. The best description I ever read of this great historic event is given by John Russell Young, who was on the ground as a reporter for the New York Tribune. His detailed account of the proceedings on that memorable day makes a worthy OEATOBY AND OBATOBS. 213 frame for Lincoln 's masterpiece, and should accompany every reproduction of it.* Pleasing American political talkers I have listened to by the dozen. Blaine's day was over before I heard him give a short speech at the Union League, Phila- * When at Springfield, Illinois, I visited the home and many of the haunts of Abraham Lincoln. Visitors are admitted to his former resi- dence, where many relics of the martyr President can be seen. I was invited to sit in Daniel Webster's chair and use Mr. Lincoln's writing desk. It reminded me of the story of the darkie barber at the Capitol and the left-handed compliment he paid to a Senator who was anxious to be praised for his oratorical powers: "You remind me, sah, of Dan'l Webster," said the tonsorial artist. " Indeed," said the Senator, in what respect? In my voice, or my gestures, or general carriage? " No, not exactly," was the crushing response, — 'Un your breath, sir, in your breath." I hope my resemblance to the great orator, for the brief period I occupied his seat, took a more flattering turn. All around me were personal memorials of the Lincoln family, including several letters, and promissory notes in Abe's well-known hand, a lock of Mrs. Lincoln's hair, some fragments of her jewelry, one of her books with her autograph, the white table cloth used at the Lincoln wedding dinner, and last but not least the sofa on which this interesting couple did their courting. Before I left the city I found an old man who claimed to have known Lincoln intimately, and to my regret did not speak well of him. But local testimony is not always to be depended on, especially after the departure of the subject of criticism. Do not forget the fable of the donkeys that kicked and insulted the dead lion! Abraham Lincoln made a great speech on Robert Bums that has so far eluded all recent searchers, much as it is desired. The files of the local newspapers, the fine organization of the Congressional Library, and all the surviving literary men of the time have been appealed to in vain. If any reader of these lines can help in this matter it will be greatly appreciated by all Burns students. The late Tom Donaldson, of Philadelphia, told the writer that Lincoln told Donaldson that Lincoln got the idea of negro emancipation from "A Man's a Man for a' That." Lincoln has put it on record that his life was more infiuenced by Bums than by any other single author. The great President was also very partial to Wm. Knox's poem, " O, Why Should the Spirit of Mortal be Proud T " and that fact is noted on Knox's tomb-stone in Grey- friar's churchyard, Edinburgh, as I verified. Lincoln never knew who was the author of the poem. Knox was a native of Roxburghshire, bom 1780, and for a time, like Bums, was a Dumfries-shire farmer. He published three volumes of poetry and attracted the attention and help of Sir Walter Scott and Professor Wilson, dying in his thirty- seventh year. 214 HEBE AlO) THERE IN TWO HEMISPHEBES. delphia, but he drew an enormous crowd on his high reputation. Champ Clabk is a scholar as well as a statesman, and shines equally well on the platform or around the social table. General Bregkenridge could hold his own with any— an orator of the old Kentucky school. Our own Lancaster Brosius evoked golden encomiums wherever he spoke, but his style was too ornate and elaborate for ordinary occasions, and he never came off his high horse. The consequence was that when he made a speech on street-cleaning or a kin- dred trivial topic the gorgeous embroidery of his style seemed out of place. Ex-Attorney-General Whuam Uhler Hensel, also of Lancaster, Pa., is second to none as a pleasing ex- temporaneous public speaker, on political, civic, legal, literary or social topics. As a toast-master he has re- peatedly graced the chair at the largest gatherings of Lawyers and Judges ever held in America. Wherever he speaks he carries off the honors. After a wide acquaintance with all kinds and classes of orators I place him in the very first rank, for all the leading qualities essential to a fluent talker who can think on his feet. He also shines with the rarest brilliancy as a host, and has entertained and edified all the celebrities that have found their way to Lancaster in the past score of years, making Hensel hospitality harmonize with Lancaster county's agricultural record, which every one knows is ahead of all competition. Mr. Hensel is the busiest lawyer in Lancaster, yet he manages to keep up his interest in his college and give it a fair share of his time, being Vice-President of its Board of Trustees, and also holding office on other important Franklin and Marshall Committees. He is a member of the Shake- speare Society of Philadelphia, and above all, to my mind, he is sensible enough to do a fair amount of traveling yearly, either in the Old World or in the New. OBATOBY AND OBATOBS. 215 Few people, it is said, die of overwork, but I never hear this remark without thinking and fearing that my friend may sometime *' overdo the pressure and thus unhappily snuff out the light that man can not restore. ' * Nothing is trivial that may produce good results, so in hope that the caution may be heeded I am fain to parody one of St. Benjamin's best known apothegms, and remembering the motto on the seal of Mr. Hensel's Alma Mater, say to him none the less sincerely because jocularly framed: Take care of the Lux and the Lex will take care of itself. W. BouBKE CocKRAN is by some considered our leading living political orator, and consequently when the opportunity to hear him presented itself I went to Carnegie Music Hall, New York, with high expecta- tions. From what I have read of Daniel O'Connell I think Cockran belongs to the same category. He im- pressed me as having more strength than grace— an orator for vast assemblages. He had a crowd of many thousands when I formed one of his audience— it was in the midst of a New York City political campaign— and in many passages of his speech he literally bellowed like a bull. He no doubt did not feel called upon to give us his best, and as a matter of fact he impressed me poorly, his whole talk being of the go-as-you-please order with a good many stumbling sentences and halt- ing figures of speech. Yet it would be foolish to belittle him, as I have read speeches he has made that literally lifted me off my seat and they must have been even more moving to those who heard them. Cockran is said to be * * a natural born ' ' orator, but his fine literary style at his best proves that he is a careful student and pains- taking polisher of his periods. James B. Pond.— It is rather difficult to place Major Pond. He was best known as a manager of orators, in- deed *Hhe" manager of our time, but he could give 216 HEBE AND THEBB IN TWO HEMISPHEBES. a good lecture himself and he was a most delightful con- versationalist. His excellent books contain only a small part of him, and to know him at his best was to have a chat with him in his ''den" at his interesting home in Jersey City. His residence was a unique treasure-house, every wall hung with souvenirs of the most noted public entertainers, and his library stocked with the rarest mementos of his happy associations with his ''stars." Major Pond was a most methodical man, and among other things kept a journal for the past thirty years, jotting down daily his observations and experiences. It is no exaggeration to say that he came in contact with more celebrities than almost any other man of our era, and enjoyed the closest personal rela- tions with the best of them. He had many plans for further utilizing his vast and valuable data, but his un- expected sudden demise last June has left the mines practically unworked. By a strange turn of affairs I was brought into intimate relationship with him in the closing months of his life, and the more I saw of him the more I admired, esteemed and loved him. Among after-dinner speakers, of whom I have heard many, ex-Mayor Wm. B. Smith of Philadelphia, and ex-Bailie Michael Simons of Glasgow, are entitled to the highest honors. Smith is a favorite everywhere, and can say commonplace things with a charm and a force that are the despair of the most assiduous students of oratory not gifted with such natural graces. His voice and his smile are irresistible. Simons is, in his own words, "a psychological study" and in the opinion of his contemporaries "an Israelite, indeed, in whom is no guile." Bom of a Scotch mother, his father a Hebrew, he unites in himself two of the greatest races of all time, and it is hard to say which one predominates. The folks over the sea do not bother with the problem, knowing he is a Glasgowegian, one V ORATORY AND ORATORS. 217 of themselves, a successful business man, who has filled with honor many of the highest offices and posts in the gift of the community, and feeling they are always safe in having him to fall back upon when a local talk of more than ordinary quality is needed or expected. He is even in demand in London on extra great occasions, and while his visits to the states are ' ' strictly business, ' ' not a few who have been bored with some of our big Yankee guns have succumbed to the golden eloquence of this well-beloved son of St. Mungo. Corpulency and Cleverness. Reference to Moody's embonpoint emphasizes the opinion that, contrary to a common impression, stout people are not necessarily barren of brain or sterile in intellectual ability. Among statesmen and orators who were and are of generous physical proportions we can readily call to mind Lord Salisbury, Grover Cleveland, Tom Beed, IngersoU and our own honey-tongued Hen- sel. Historians to be included in the same category are Hume, Gibbon and Fiske. Antiquarians can show Captain Grose. Among essayists may be mentioned Johnson and Sainte-Beuve. Boswell was also ''a man of weight" in more ways than one. The novelists can point to Balzac and the elder Dumas, and it is well known that Eugene Sue had a constant terror of be- coming another kind of a ''Soo," and daily drank vinegar (like Byron) to kill fat. Jules Janin, the King of critics, played havoc among chairs and sofas when he went visiting. Lablache, the Italian singer, was counted equal to three fares when he travelled— and had to pay them. Rossini, the composer, lost sight of his feet and his knees for years before his bed was made with a shovel, and his body tucked into its wooden blanket. Even Napoleon, with his active brain, could not keep down his plumpness. One of our leading 218 HEBE AND THEBE IN TWO HEMISPHEBES. Western merchants, my friend, Mr. Dugald Crawford, of ''The Big Store," St. Louis, Mo., in spite of his gigantic proportions, lets no competitor out-strip him in the race for business. And where is there a wittier character in all print than the fat knight, Sir John Falstafff It has even been said and fairly well con- firmed that Shakespeare himself was a man with a good-sized stomach, and could play the character of his bulky ''old Jack" without any padding. It is not granted to every one to be able to say : "Enough's enough— of bread or cheese, of water or of whiskey," and then again, "It take's good beef to make good bree." People built on a liberal scale are often told that the most valuable goods are put up in small packages, but they may always have a good retort in the words of Balthasar Gracian, who says (what is also true) that *'The most precious metals are the heaviest." k THE LIFE AND CABEEE OF GENERAL HUGH MEECEE (SCOTTISH-AMEEICAN PATEIOT). AS DELIVERED AT THE EXERCISES IN HONOR OF HUGH MERCER, KEIL HALL, MERCERSBURG, PA., U. S. A., MAY 1, 1902. Mr, President f Boys of Mercershurg, Ladies and Oentlemen: In being here, I feel that I am standing on hallowed ground. Penn- sylvania is a great state, an empire too vast for any one to dispose of in a few sentences. Franlclin County has a marvelous history: to do it justice would demand a volume; and even to simply enumerate the choice and master-spirits who have been identified with Mercershurg would require more time than I can give to my whole address. This beautiful spot, so highly favored with Nature's gifts, is rich in memories of great and famous men. We cannot forget that Mercershurg gave us James Potter, who was a Major General in the Continental Army and also Vice-President of the State; that she gave us Robert McClelland, who was a Governor of Michigan and also Secretary of the Interior under Franklin Pierce; that she gave us the Finlay family with a Governor, and three brothers all in Congress at the same time; that she gave us Thomas A. Scott, who was an Assistant Secretary of War and is still considered the greatest railroad manager known to the world; and that she also produced James Buchanan, a statesman who was Senator, Ambassador, Secretary of State and President of the United States, filling every poet with credit to himself and honor to his birth- place. In the quieter walks of life Mercershurg also shines with resplendent lustre. Here lived and labored Dr. John Williamson Nevin in the front rank of theologians and one of the profoundest thinkers of his age. We cannot forget that this was also the home of Dr. Philip Schaff whose learning commanded the attention of all lands and whose name will ever be associated with the Revision of the English Bible of King James. Dr. Frederick Augustus Ranch was another great Biblical scholar who added to the fame of the borough, as did Dr. Henry Harbaugh whose harp within this lovely vale was often tuned to the sweet, quaint music of the Pennsylvania German speech. Here also lived Apple and Higbee and Aughinbaugh, among the prominent men of their time in the field of education. Indeed Mercershurg breathes a truly classic atmosphere; for small as the borough is, and to some extent obscurely situated, it can never have erased from its annals its record as a seat of learning. In addition to having a college of its own, it was, as you all know, the original site 219 220 HEBE AND THERE IN TWO HEMISPHEBES. of Marshall College as well as of the Theological Seminary of the Reformed Church ; and if Lancaster must bear some blame for absorbing the last two named institutions, Franklin and Marshall College has surely made ample amends in giving back so able an educator as Dr. Wm. Mann Irvine, the respected, beloved and successful President of your present rapidly growing, and now widely noted Academy. When Mercersburg had been abandoned by her old time friends, her rooms vacated and her halls deserted, undaimted by the existing gloom and the seemingly hopeless outlook, here Dr. Irvine pitched his tent, and unfurling his white and dark blue banner to the breeze, with the energy and enthusiasm of youth set to work to restore to this famous name something of its former prestige. How well he has succeeded results themselves will tell! Instead of having to brood over departed glory, Mercersburg has entered on a new lease of life that bids fair to excel her former history in its palmiest days. Long may the genial Doctor preside over the destinies of his growing charge! Irvine has always been a name to conjure with on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, and as it is true that " blood will tell ** it is equally pleasant to remember that, in spite of increasing fame and expanding prosperity, no student of this academy need ever be afraid to sing " A Man's a Man for a' that." In the present state of literature when the so-called ** historical romance" leads all other forms of popular reading it is found that real characters make the best heroes for our modem writers. Most great novels are indeed biographies or autobiographies more or less re- lated to the known facts of history, and it is still gen- erally admitted that ''Truth is stranger than fiction'* if the proper biographer and the fit historian can be found to tell the tale. This is particularly true of the Revolutionary Period of our national history. The life of every noted actor in that drama, if faithfully por- trayed, would make a more thrilling romance than most of the absurdly padded, semi-historical fiction of our time. It is no unkind criticism which asserts that the closer the novelist can keep to real biography and to genuine history in elucidating the lives of our noted men and women, the more interesting, entertaining and instructive the result is sure to be. We are here to-night to consider briefly the life and career of one of the most noted men in this country OENEBAL HUGH MEBCEB. 221 during the great struggle for Independence ; the man who (according to his colleague, Gen. Wilkinson), stood second only to Washington for education, talents, dis- position and integrity, the soldier who did his full share of fighting in the darkest days of our history; the patriot who at the last risked his all and sealed his devotion to his country's cause by the supreme sacri- fice of his own life; the fearless, faithful, valorous and victorious General Hugh Mercer, one of the con- secrated names in our most brilliant galaxy of National Stars ; the particular patron saint of Mercersburg, and a worthy example for all Mercersburg boys to emulate as long as the Oonococheague flows into the waters of the Potomac. Hugh Mercer was a native of Aberdeenshire, Scot- land, having been bom there in 1721. At that time George I. was on the British throne. While the older people across the Atlantic were in the throes of the great South Sea Bubble, the younger folks were mak- ing the acquaintance of the ever delightful ''Robinson Crusoe" which had just appeared from the pen of Daniel Defoe. In this part of America, Sir William Keith, another Aberdeenshire Scotchman, was the resi- dent Governor of Pennsylvania and his time was mostly taken up conferring with the Indian tribes who were a constant menace to the peace of the Colonists. Mercer was ' ' a son of the manse, ' ' his father being minister of Pitsligo. This obscure place you may never have heard of before, but it is not without a certain kind of fame. The minister of the Parish in 1634 was a Rev. Andrew Cant who proved to be a snivelling, whining hypocrite imbued with such affected piety and mock hu- mility that, forever after, his name was used to describe the whole canting crew. However, if Pitsligo gave '*Cant" to the English language, the parish made ample amends when it produced Hugh Mercer who had no 16 222 HERE AND THERE IN TWO HEMISPHERES. ** Can't*' or ''Cant" in his composition, but whose life motto was ''I can." His father's father and grand- father were also ministers of the Gospel in different districts of Aberdeenshire. Statistics will show that whatever else they claim, as parents, the Clergy of Scotland are the mainstay of their country. In pro- portion to their numbers they contribute more distin- guished men than come from any other class, their sons being particularly noted in literature, religion, educa- tion, government, law, and war. With his ancestry and environment much might have been expected from Mercer, but his career was certainly more varied and dazzling than the wildest dreams of the village gossip or the brightest predictions of the parish ' ' spae-wif e. ' * He first attracts our notice as a student of Marischal College, Aberdeen. This name, although spelled dif- ferently, has the same sound as our own Marshall College formerly located here, and in looking it up we find a double coincidence. It was founded in 1593 by George Keith, Fifth Earl Marischal, from whose fam- ily came the same Sir Wm. Keith who was Governor of the Province of Pennsylvania when Mercer was bom. A brief sketch of this famous seat of learning may not be uninteresting to Academy boys. Aberdeen has two universities now united in one corporate body. The oldest university was founded in 1494-95 by Wm. Elphinstone, Bishop of Aberdeen, with the patronage of King James IV., of Scotland, and the sanction of Pope Alexander VI. The Universities of Paris and Bologna were specially named as models to pattern after. The first name of this University was *'The College of St. Mary," but at an early date it was changed to '* King's College," by which name it has long been popularly known. It was under Roman Catholic control until 1569 when the Protestant Epis- copal element came into power. In 1639 the University OENEBAL HUGH MEBCEB. 223 was associated with the Presbyterian form of church government, and after 1860, when it was merged with its sister university. King's College ceased to have a separate existence. Marischal College though almost a hundred years younger than her rival sister has been perhaps the greater educative force. Her alumni have been heard from in many distinguished fields and some of her sons have attained world-wide fame. What particularly interests us is her Chair of Medicine en- dowed on the 8th of August, 1700, by the Earl Marischal. Sixteen years later the Marischal connection with the College ceased, as the tenth Earl was concerned in the Eebellion of 1715, and had to forfeit his title and estates and his connection with the College in the following year. With all its ancient splendid history so late as 1738, after a vigorous financial campaign, the buildings of Marischal College were only valued at $3,500. The highest subscription was one pound (about $5.00) which is quite a contrast to the princely donations of later years when one Alunmus gave $100,000 to build a new hall, and more recently still greater amounts have been presented by single individuals. The Chair of Medicine interests us particularly be- cause Hugh Mercer was a student of Medicine at Maris- chal College. So far as we can tell he entered the University in 1740 and left it in 1744 without gradu- ating. We next hear of him as a surgeon in Prince Charlie 's Army. Although descended on one side from a long line of ministers of the gospel of peace, Mercer had noted fighting blood in his veins. His mother was Anne Munro, the daughter of Sir Robert Munro who fought with distinction in the British Army on the Continent at Fontenoy and elsewhere. He was or- dered home to oppose the Young Pretender, and was killed while in command at the Battle of Falkirk, in 1746. It is not improbable that his grandson, Hugh 224 HEBE AND THEBE IN TWO HEMISPHEBES. Mercer, was his opponent on the same bloody ground. But the triumph of the Pretender was brief as three months later, on Culloden Field, the rebel army was completely crushed and the Stuart cause lost forever. It is not difficult to account for Mercer's presence among the Jacobites. In the North of Scotland there were many who espoused the cause of *' Scotland's rightful heir," and Aberdeenshire, in particular, was ever loyal to the Stuarts. Mercer was of the age when Prince Charlie's romantic ''dash for a throne" would have enlisted all his sympathies. He could make him- self especially useful as a physician and surgeon, and he no doubt thought he saw an excellent opportunity for speedy distinction in his chosen profession. Above all, I am of the opinion that he believed the exiled Prince had the right side of the contention. After the crushing defeat at Culloden, when every follower of Prince Charlie was mercilessly hounded to death, im- prisonment or exile, Mercer decided to take leave of his native land, and try his fortune beyond the sea. He managed to escape the vigilance of his enemies and, embarking at Leith, he arrived at the port of Philadel- phia some time in 1746. It is now impossible to tell why he located so far inland, but whatever may have been the reason, his first attempt to establish a home was made on the fron- tier of our State at a place then described as ''near Greencastle, ' * but now, since named in his honor, known to all the world as Mercersburg, Pa. Here he settled down to the practice of his profession. It is believed that Mercer's services as a physician and surgeon cov- ered the whole Conococheague settlement, embracing the entire district between Chambersburg and his own resi- dence. At that time this part of the country was little better han a wilderness and few white people were to be found in the vicinity. In those days the pioneeers QENEBAL HUGH MEBGEB. 225 themselves did most of the doctoring necessary, the lancet and the medicine bottle being considered among the rarely approachable luxuries of their semi-civilized life. We hear nothing of Mercer for the next few years but know he was living here. It must have been speci- ally interesting news to him when he heard of Brad- dock's defeat by the Indians in 1755, as only nine years previous he had himself opposed Braddock on the ill- fated **Drummossie Moor." Emboldened by their success the Indians became more and more troublesome and in self defence the Col- onists formed themselves into companies of Bangers, of one of which Dr. Mercer was appointed captain. His commission is dated March 9, 1756, and his super- ior officer was Colonel Armstrong, a native of Ireland. Mercer's territory extended from the Welsh Bun dis- trict and Mercersburg into remote regions along the foothills. The present village of Bridgeport was for- merly the location of McDowell's Fort, and Mercer frequently made his headquarters there, acting as sur- geon to the garrison as well as attending to his regular military duties. In one of his Indian fights he was se- verely wounded and having been left behind by his re- treating companions he narrowly escaped with his life. Closely pursued by his savage foes he providentially found a place of safety in the hollow trunk of a tree around which the Indians rested, and discussed the prospect of scalping him in the near future. When they had taken their departure he struck out in another direction and completely outwitted them. Sick with his wounds and worn out with his recent struggles he began a lonely march of over a hundred miles through an unbroken forest, but finally succeeded in joining the remnant of his command at Fort Cumberland. To sus- tain existence he had been compelled to live on roots and herbage, an occasional rattle-snake proving his 226 HEBE AND THERE IN TWO HEMISPHERES. most nourishing and palatable meal. He was with the force that surprised and destroyed the Indian village at Kittanning in 1756, but was severely wounded in that encounter, and once more counted among the missing. For the second time he had to use all his wits to manoeuvre and march through the woods, half fam- ished for lack of food and faint from the loss of blood, until he succeeded in joining his surviving companions. Such energy and bravery elicited the applause of all who knew his experiences, and in appreciation of his services and sufferings the Corporation of Philadelphia presented him with a vote of thanks and a beautiful memorial medal. In the summer of 1757, Mercer was made commander of the garrison in the fort at Ship- pensburg, and in December of the same year was ap- pointed Major of the forces of the Province of Penn- sylvania posted west of the Susquehanna. In the fol- lowing year General Forbes made his expedition against Fort Duquesne accompanied by Mercer with his troops. It was on this memorable march that Mercer first met George Washington, then a brigadier-general of Vir- ginia troops. In a short time the men became the warmest friends, and established an intimacy that was only broken by the lamented death of the dashing Scotchman. We can easily imagine what pleasure the two soldiers must have had in exchanging their experi- ences and discussing the stirring topics of the time. By all his biographers Mercer's modesty is especially em- phasized. He had nothing to be ashamed of in his past history, but much for which any man might feel proud. That he won the highest admiration and permanent affection of such a noble character as Washington is sufBicient to rank Mercer with the best and greatest men of his age, and particularly to enshrine him in the hearts of all Americans. It is owing to this friendship, however, that Mercersburg lost Hugh Mercer. GENERAL HUGH MERGEB. 227 After the conclusion of the French and Indian War, and the evacuation of the western forts by the French garrisons, Mercer, who had been promoted to the rank of Colonel, temporarily retired from military life ; and, yielding to the solicitations of his friend Washington, removed from his home in the Pennsylvania wilderness to Fredericksburg, Va., where he again took up the practice of medicine. At that time although also thinly settled, this part of Virginia contained the homes of many of the most distinguished families on the con- tinent. They gave Mercer the cordial welcome to which his education and talents entitled him, rein- forced by his brilliant career as a military man and supplemented by the brotherly love and many favors shown him by General Washington. In the near neigh- borhood was the plantation and home of his already famous countryman, Paul Jones, who was destined to be the founder of the American Navy, and the first man to fly the American flag. Paul Jones by sea and Hugh Mercer by shore, certainly upheld the fighting reputa- tion of the ' * Mitherland. " Mt. Vernon was not far away, and Mercer was a frequent and always welcome visitor. We have striking proof of this in the testimony of a traveller who paid a visit to Fredericksburg prior to the Revolution, but who did not record his observations until 1784. He says: **I called upon my worthy and intimate friend Dr. Hugh Mercer, a physician of great merit and eminence and a man possessed of almost every virtue and accomplishment. . . . Dr. Hugh Mercer was afterwards a brigadier general in the American Army, to accept of which appointment I have rea- son to believe he was greatly influenced by Gen. Washington^ with whom he had been long in intimacy and bonds of friend- ship.'' 228 HERE AND THEBE IN TWO HEMISPHEBES. And then the writer gives this strange reason, which we must remember comes from a loyal Briton at a period very trying to British loyalty. He wishes to be as charitable as he can to Mercer's motives for es- pousing the American cause, and in searching for an excuse he puts the blame for Mercer's defection on the broad shoulders of his Virginia friend and neighbor. He says : **Por Dr. Mercer was generally of a just and moderate way of thinking, and possessed liberal sentiments and a generosity of principle very uncommon among those with whom he em- barked. ' ' It need not be questioned that Washington and Mer- cer confined their talk to reminiscences of Indian wars. Ominous political clouds were gathering in the colonial sky, and the perilous situation was quickly and fully realized by the patriotic Virginian. When the general British order went forth to seize all military stores in the colonies, the Americans made prompt resistance without further parleying. Massachusetts was speedily followed by Virginia and almost the first important item we find is that Dr. Hugh Mercer was drilling a partially organized body of Virginia men to be ready for any emergency. In deference to more conservative counsel the volunteers, by a majority of one, voted to disperse for a time, **to meet again some other day" if the need should arise. They did not have long to wait. Patrick Henry's prediction in his immortal speech was speedily fulfilled, and when **ihe next gale from the north brought the clash of resounding arms" the pa- triots of Virginia commenced to organize for immediate fighting. On the first ballot for first Colonel of the First Virginia Regiment Mercer received 41 votes to Henry's 40, but ultimately Henry was awarded the signal honor. May my pride be forgiven me if I say that to me this GENERAL HUGH MERGER. 229 choice has a special interest as it was Aberdeen pitted against Aberdeen, Patrick Henry's father having also come from my native granite-bound shire which has ever been a Rock of Defence in time of need and a Wall of Resistance against oppression! To Mercer was as- signed the Colonelcy of the Third Regiment of Vir- ginia. That he was no mere schemer for office is so well known that it hardly needs to be mentioned, but if any evidence were necessary we have a beautiful proof of it in his simple proffer of services to the Virginia Con- vention. It has recently come to light and here it is in full: ''Hugh Mercer wUl serve his adopted country and the cause of liberty in any rank or staiion to which he may be assigned/' For brevity, clearness and comprehensiveness this note could not easily be surpassed, and it shows that Mercer could write as well as fight. When at Fredericksburg, Mercer was a member of Masonic Lodge No. 4, a Lodge which gave no less than five general officers to the Continental Army, including the Commander-inChief. Congress having adopted the Virginia troops as a part of the Continental Army, Mercer was not long permitted to remain a colonel but on the urgent recom- mendation of Washington was made a brigadier-general. His commission is dated June 5, 1776, and his assign- ment *'with the Army around New York.'' It is not necessary to follow him in all the details of his later career. He was strenuously opposed to the evacuation of New York, and on other important occasions differed with Washington, but never sulked or kept back because he could not have his own way. The two generals had many discussions together, and some of them have been reported to us. In one of the darkest periods of the Revolution, **What think you,'' said Washington to 230 HERE AND THERE IN TWO HEMISPHERES. Mercer, *'if we should retreat to the back parts of Pennsylvania. Would the Pennsylvanians support us f " This was a question put to a man who knew the backwoods of Pennsylvania, who had resided there for many years, and who might lean to mercy's side in his desire to speak well of his old acquaintances. Yet he could not deceive his Chief— he was another man who could not tell a lie— so Mercer answered candidly, '*If the lower counties give up, the back counties will do the same.'' But even this did not faze the dauntless Washington. He said they could retire to Virginia, and if out-generaled there, they could cross the Allegha- nies! Can we ever repay the debt we owe to such a spirit that in the gloomiest and most hopeless periods of the struggle could neither be broken, nor subdued, nor discouraged! But as it happened, the Americans did not have to take either to the South or to cross the western mountains. It is stated on good authority that the idea of at- tacking the British Army at Trenton originated with Mercer, and he certainly did his full share to wrest success from such a hazardous exploit. He is also cred- ited with the plan of the battle at Princeton. It was equally as daring a venture as the crossing of the Dela- ware, as a single break in the American calculations meant untold disaster. All went well through the night, but in the early hours of the 3d of January, 1777, the American troops were surprised by the 17th British Regiment under Col. Mawhood. Mercer, on a fine grey horse, occupied the post of honor in the front, and at the first volley from the enemy his horse was brought down and his most trusted lieutenant, Col. Hazlett, killed. Such bad luck had a depressing effect on the American troops and when Mawhood 's soldiers charged on Mercer's men with bayonets, the American riflemen without bayonets could not resist the attack. Mercer w GENERAL HUGH MERGER. 231 was unable to extricate himself from his wonnded horse in time to defend himself. The enemy rushed upon him in overpowering numbers, and called on him to surren- der, which he could not do. Single handed and alone he defended himself with his sword, and succeeded in kill- ing not a few of his assailants. But the odds were too much against him. He was struck down and clubbed with the butt ends of innumerable muskets, repeatedly stabbed with bayonets, and left for dead on the field. At this juncture Washington made his appearance and by his presence and personal bravery inspired the Ameri- can Army with such fresh courage that a glorious vic- tory was plucked from a foreshadowed defeat. It was not the last battle to be fought against the oppressors, but it was the turning point in the struggle for Ameri- can Independence. Such a momentous occasion was fitly but dearly consecrated by the death of Mercer. He lingered for only a few days after his desperate en- counter, expiring in the arms of Major Lewis, who had been sent by his distinguished uncle. General Wash- ington, to minister to the wants of the dying hero.* That Mercer had some premonition of his fate seems credible when we read the report of his con- versation with his brother officers on the eve of the battle of Princeton. **We are not engaged," said he, **in a war of ambition, or I should not have been here. Every man should be content to serve in that station in which he can be most useful. For my part I have but one object in view and that is the success of the cause, and God can witness how cheerfully I would lay down my life to secure it." * Although it is now more than 126 years since the Battle of Prince- ton only the other day I talked to a man who received a graphic account of the fight from one of the American participants; just as I, myself, have talked to several Waterloo veterans, and may be able to repeat their tale, at first hand, for fifty years to come. 232 HERE AND THERE IN TWO HEMISPHERES. He knew the great risk that was wrapped in the movement which he had planned, and he refused to occupy any position but the most dangerous one— at the front of the marching army. It is no exaggeration to say his death was lamented by the whole American people. No one enjoyed to a greater extent than he the affectionate confidence of the army, his fellow officers, and his illustrious chief. When General Lafayette arrived in this country in the spring after Mercer's death he found the whole army and country so full of Mercer's name, the impression left on Lafayette's mind was that Mercer was a per- sonal friend. The city of Philadelphia gave him a pub- lic funeral, said to have been attended by over 30,000 persons. The Continental Congress ordered a monu- ment to be erected to his memory at Fredericksburg.* It also undertook the education of his infant son. He was a member of the St. Andrew's Society of Phila- delphia, and, in addition to caring for his grave in Laurel Hill Cemetery, it is the custodian of his sword now deposited with the Historical Society of Philadelphia. General Mercer married a Miss Isabella Gk>rdon and they were the parents of several children who with their mother survived him. A son and a daughter left descendants, many of whom are still living in Virginia and Georgia. One of his grandsons was Brigadier General Hugh W. Mercer of Savannah, Ga. Two great-grandsons, like their illustrious progenitors, died on the field of battle. Col. Geo. S. Patton in Virginia, and Col. Tazewell Patton at Gettysburg. Their father was John Mercer Patton, a Congressman and Governor of Virginia, and for many years the recognized leader *This was overlooked, but only last year Congress re-opened the matter, and voted the amount necessary for an appropriate Mercer memorial. V GENEBAL HUGH MERGEB. 233 of the Richmond Bar. His father was a Scotch mer- chant named Patton and his mother the daughter of Oeneral Hugh Mercer. In the old country many of his kin are to be found but none have given such promin- ence to the name as he did himself. For the few days before his death he was tenderly nursed by Mrs. Clark and daughter into whose home he had been carried, and, in addition to Washington's nephew, it is worth mentioning that Dr. Rush of Phil- adelphia was also at Mercer's bedside doing everything possible to alleviate his sufferings. In that short time he had opportunity to review his life and muse upon the leading scenes in his strange and varied career. In fancy's flight we can sympathetically follow the pan- orama from his earliest years until the final drop of the curtain. We see his as a restless boy in the little parish manse, and hear him discuss with his father the great topics of religion and politics. We follow him to Aberdeen and are with him at Marischal College while he studied art and medicine. We accompany him as under the Stuart flag he marches off to the stirring tune of **Wha'll be King but Charlie." We are by his side when ''the clans of Culloden are scattered in flight." We watch him ''hounded like a hunted hare" until he ships at Leith to seek another clime. We see him make his way from the seacoast until he finds a foot-hold here. We are with him until the end: When he leads his little band of Rangers against the treacherous Indians ; when he is wounded and left behind, alone to thread his way, faint and suffering, through the pathless jungle; when he meets his old opponents, and Brad- dock's immortal aide. Col. George Washington. We can overhear them as they sit around the campfires swapping stories of the days gone by. We see him in 234 HERE AND THERE IN TWO HEMISPHERES. his home at Fredericksburg dispensing medicine and good advice to any patient who may choose to call ; or note him as he drills his raw recruits upon the city's grassy squares. We see him at Mt. Vernon the hon- ored guest of Washington, and later, when made a brigadier general, the inseparable companion of his great commander. The war is on, and we see him bid farewell to wife and children and take his last look of ' * the green fields of Virginia. ' ' We are with him in New York and hear him urge his chief to change their war-tactics from the defensive to the offensive, promising to lead where any would dare to follow. We cross the Delaware with him and share his triumph at the Battle of Trenton. We accompany him to the council-of-war when he plans and urges the march on Princeton, and we are by him when the British red-coats take him by surprise and make his men stampede. We see him fall, and rise, and fall again. We hear the hoarse shouts of the enemy as they call on him to surrender; but he has faced death too often to fear it now. We see him struggling ' with countless numbers— one man against a whole regiment -by his trusty sword making them pay deariy for their brief success. We see him carried from his * * gory bed * ' and are with him as he sinks into his well-earned rest. No remorse! No regrets! No complaints! He is still comparatively young and in the ordinary course of nature might have lived for many years. But his time draws near. ^^Whai is to be, is to bel Good-bye, dear native lafiidl Farewell, adopted country I I have done my best for youl Into thy care, 0, America, I commit my fatherless family! May God prosper our righteous causel Amen! I** Such was his final prayer. His race was run, his labor over! GENERAL HUGH MERCER. 235 AVhat death could finer laurels buy? What grander ending can there be Than for a noble man to die To help to make his country free? Although the day was dearly bought, 'Twas there the Tyrant's doom was sealed, So not in vain the fight was fought When Mercer fell on Princeton Field! His sword will waste away with rust, And tho' 'twere wrapped in cloth of gold Within the grave his precious dust In time will mingle with the mould; But he, himself, is canonized If saintly deeds such fame can give, For long as Liberty is prized Hugh Mercer's name shall surely live! LITTLE BITS OF LONDON. Who cannot live in London Town Need nowhere else attempt to live Since London holds for King or clown The best and worst that Life can give However viewed, London may honestly be styled in- teresting. Even her statistics excite one 's fancy. Her population in 1901 was 4,536,063; Greater London, 6,581,372, and London and immediate suburbs, 8,039,- 204. The postoffice alone employs 32,000 persons, and they take care of 600,000,000 letters annually. She has only 960 firemen, but 15,890 policemen are needed to protect citizens and property. In my opinion, she is abominably behind the age in the matter of transpor- tation. I did not see a trolley car in all my wander- ings, but horse-cars in abundance, and 'busses, it seemed, were everywhere. There are about 3,600 of them, plying in all directions, and the two- wheeled cabs number 7,500, against 4,000 four-wheelers and about 100 motor-cars. She has underground trains and tubes, but everything bunched together does not begin to cope with the needs of the city. Much valuable time is lost in going anywhere, a block of an hour in a congested district being nothing unusual. Glasgow is immeasur- ably ahead of London in this respect, and it must help in putting the Scotch city forward.* The House of Parll^ment. One of the first places I visited was the House of Par- liament at Westminster. I have several acquaintances * Even our own Lancaster could afford to laugh at the antiquated, rickety, slow-moving vehicles of the world's greatest city. There is certainly room for a traction magnate in London, and, Oiven the right man, nothing hut millions could flow into his purse, and municipal blessings in his train. Think over it, William B.l Mr. Yerkes is making an attempt. 236 OTTUB BITS OF LONDON. 237 who are members there, but decided to select Sir Wil- liam Allan as my ''guide, philosopher and friend," and splendidly did he acquit himself. Sir William is a fine Scot, sixty-five years old, and in his gray homespuns among a monotony of black reminded me at once of my old friend, Walt Whitman. Allan is a poet, too, of no mean quality, with over a dozen volumes to his credit, including tender Doric lilts, and vigorous Eng- lish verse. In business, I believe, he is an engine and boiler builder, and, having had lots of experience, he quite naturally soon became known as a Pariiamentary naval expert, and is now so conceded by both parties. It will interest Americans to know that when a very young man he worked at Paterson, N. J.; was also a blockade runner in the Civil War, and finished up as a prisoner in Richmond, Va. That was his last experi- ence of the United States. He has been in Parliament ten years,* and, in spite of his well-known Democratic tendencies, his knighthood came to him ungrudgingly and to the satisfaction of everybody. He told me the members of Parliament have no salary and no per- quisites, except stationery. They have even to pay for their postage stamps! For that reason only men of independent means can sit in the House, the few excep- tions being labor-leaders, like John Bums and Keir Hardie, who are paid a salary ( and a small one) by their constituents. Occasionally, also, a rich man backs a * When Allan first came out as a Parliamentary candidate his opponents accused him of having been "a pirate." His Civil War record and his leonine look no doubt suggested the terrible name. That he is a brave man goes without saying, and yet he confesses he was once thoroughly scared when bathing in the sea. He was enjoy- ing his ** dook " without any thought of danger when he realized that a monster shark was after him, and none too soon did he see it, as it was hungry, and was just turning itself to gobble him up, when by an extraordinary effort he escaped. Sir William's autobiography will make rare reading as his life has been a stirring one and he has the literary ability to tell it well. 17 238 HEBE AND THERE IN TWO HEMISPHERES. young fellow of promise, and sometimes a small office is given to a few, enabling them to live by their pro- fession ; but, on the whole, a membership in Parliament is only for rich men. Sir William took me in hand in good time, and, under his guidance and intelligent com- ment, I saw everything of interest in both Houses. The House of Lords is a far more gorgeous place than the Commons, the carving and decorations being unusually magnificent. All the woodwork of both Houses is ex- clusively of British oak, in itself a good lesson in patriotism. I saw the Lord High Chancellor sitting as President of the Appellate Court, but noticed little dif- ference from an ordinary Assize meeting; indeed, the pomp and glory of the Lancaster (England) Assizes would have completely eclipsed Lord Halsbury's mod- est display. The upper House takes things much easier than the lower, often sitting less than an hour. On the day I was there they rushed all their business through in fifteen minutes. The Notables of the House. In the lobby of the House, as the members began to gather, Sir William pointed out the notables to me. I was interested in seeing Mr. Herbert Gladstone, a son of the Grand Old Man, but failed to note any resem- blance to his illustrious father. He has a great handi- cap and shows pluck in taking up a Parliamentary career. Another notable character was Xavier 0 'Brien, an Irish member. He had the last high treason sen- tence passed upon him— ''to be hanged, drawn and quartered"— but there he was, as gentle as a mouse, going to his place to help in the making or obstructing of the Imperial Laws. Most of the Irish members were at their homes when I was present, having made some agreement to absent themselves during the dis- cussion of the Education bill. I was fortunate in seeing k LITTliE BITS OF LONDON. 239 the Speaker's march to the chair preceded by the Mace Bearer, and followed by his own Train Bearer, Chaplain and other oflBcials. It is a custom dating back to almost Norman times. As the procession approaches the lobby the Police Sergeant shouts, '*Hats oflf, strang- ers ! ' ' and all uncover, the pages make obsequious bows and the march ends with the opening prayer, which Sir William informed me, was only for sinners, so few members pay any attention to it. In the House Gallery. Prior to this I had been escorted through every room and saw all the precious relics and curiosities that are to be seen at every turn. Having secured a ticket from the speaker, endorsed by my friend, I lost no time in getting into the gallery. There was much red tape to go through, however, before I finally reached my seat. I noticed all tickets were collected, and wished to keep mine as a souvenir,— an unheard of request. But all the same I succeeded and I have it now, and I lost no privileges by my audacity. My allotment was a centre seat in the front row, the choicest in the whole room. I looked right down on the House and could have dropped my hat on Balfour's head had I been so dis- posed. Opposite the strangers' gallery, behind and above the Speaker's chair, is the press gallery, the most conspicuous member of it at present being **Toby, M. P.," Mr. W. H. Lucy. Back of this, and still nearer the sky, is the grille set apart for the ladies. Poor things, the lattice work is so close they must be in semi- darkness. All I could see of them was the white of their boas and muflfs and feathers. For all the world they reminded me of birds in a cage at the Zoo ! It is very ungallant to treat them so, and I cannot give the explanation. The first business of Parliament was the asking of 240 HEBE AND THERE IN TWO HEMISPHERES. questions by various members on every conceivable variety of topics. The questions were all printed on the schedule (copies of which were furnished to each visitor as he took his seat), referred to in speaking by numbers, and almost every member of the Cabinet had the pleasure (t) of discussing three or four. In this way one soon got acquainted with the leaders of the administration. The House is divided into two sec- tions—the government party being on the Speaker's right, and the opposition on the left. Most members sit with their hats on, and all of them in every conceiv- able attitude but what good society manners demand. The fantasticalities of dress appear to crop out most in their methods of wearing their watch chains. Such a display as I saw would excite the envy of a Bowery swell or Atlantic City dude. Balfour and Brtoe. Remembering the glorious history of the House of Commons in the past, I cannot but think that it is now in the hands of a race of pigmies. The (Government is unquestionably in a big majority, but it cannot be credited to the brilliancy of its leaders. Balfour, Scot though he is, I consider a mediocre man. Some men are bom clever— he was bom rich and lucky, and tired. I can only account for him being Premier because he is Lord Salisbury's nephew, ** Sister Blanche's boy." He is an atrocious failure as an orator. Any Lancas- ter High School boy, with a month 's coaching, would do as well. He chaws, claws and paws, mutters and stutters, backs and fills, chips and planes, and even saws, with painful progress, in full view of the house. His matter is equally poor, his inaccuracy being notor- ious. When seated, he is most of the time yawning, or apparently in a doze. It makes one sleepy to look at him in many of hid attitudes. But he has a fairly good L OTTLE BITS OF LONDON. 241 presence, and to his credit it can be said: He has the look of innocence, and can even blush on occasions. One feels that nobody can disturb him with threats of raking up his Past. This is a high gift to a statesman. Some men, eloquent and able, give you at once the impression of trickiness, and they can never rise above the im- pression. But Balfour makes you feel unhesitatingly, *'Well, he's honest, anyhow,'' and you cannot help liking him, with all his faults.* The best man I heard in Parliament was Professor James Bryce, M. P. for Aberdeen. His *' American Commonwealth" has made him known to all the world. He has not much of a presence, but he speaks clearly, cleanly, with em- phasis and no impedient. You are satisfied he is a good thinker, and his speeches read even better than they seemed to be when heard. All told, I heard about forty different speakers, and there was not one among them all that would compare favorably with half a dozen of our home orators. How I wished they could have been there to have shown the British how to conduct a de- bate! Public speaking demands much practice early in life. The bulk of the Commons are men who made their fortunes in business, retiring after fifty, and without any experience in '* thinking on their feet" be- fore an audience. The result is that they cannot ex- press themselves m public, and generally relapse into * It must be distinctly understood that I refer here only to the im- pressions Mr. Balfour as a public man made on me. I know that he is a scholar, even a philosopher, and am also familiar enough with his history to believe that he made one of the best Secretaries for Ireland Britain ever had. His good nature and his love for outdoor sports are also worthy of praise, and his speeches when they finally reach print read much better than the average. But viewing him as Prime Min- ister, with my high ideal of what the Leader of the House should be — particularly graceful in speech and strong and ready in debate — ^he was an unqualified disappointment, and a most provoking one con- sidering he is from the right country and has had so long an oratorical experience. 242 HEBE AND THERE IN TWO HEMISPHERES. mere voters at divisions. Beading from manuscript is not tolerated in the House of Commons, although copious notes are permitted. When I was there the Education bill was the engrossing topic in Parliament, and the feeling on both sides seemed to be bitter. America settled the same question some years ago, and sooner or later Great Britain must follow the course of the United States. To give any particular sect or church control of secular education is so very far wrong that Americans may well be pardoned for viewing the whole business with amazement. The Church of Eng- land, it seems to me, is merely playing the role of tyrant, and where that fails she does not hesitate to act as beggar. Justice-loving Englishmen will not tolerate such an imposition, and, although the bill passed, I pre- dict that the taxes will be resisted by all the noncon- formists and a small revolution precipitated. It also means a change of government, and I think, in the near future— disestablishment in earnest— so let the band play, the best dancing will come the sooner. Westminster Abbey. Over the way from St. Stephen's is Westminster Abbey, with its tombs and monuments, unequalled, per- haps, in the world. It is overwhelmingly rich in me- morials of great men. At every step almost you tread on the grave of some immortal. Amongst the recent additions are the remains of Mr. and Mrs. Gladstone. Here also are the graves of Garrick, Samuel Johnson, Thomas Campbell, Dickens, Tennyson, Browning, and a long line of poets, back to rare Ben Johnson, Spenser and Chaucer. I was pleased to notice a bust of Long- fellow ; and a James Buchanan 's name appears in con- nection with the monument to Andre, whose final rest- ing place is here. The Chapel of Henry VII. contains the dust of Kings and Queens innumerable, some bitter k. LITTLE BITS OF LONDON. 243 enemies, like Queen Elizabeth and Queen Mary, now sleeping quietly almost side by side. Addison is buried in this chapel. In the part called **The Chapel of the Kings ' ' there is preserved the royal dust of many cen- turies, going as far back as Edward the Conqueror, who finished his career in 1066. I took special note of the big stone box containing the remains of Edward I. (known as Longshanks),* but better remembered by my countrymen as **The Hammer of the Scots.'* He gave them some good thumps, but it all ended in Ban- nockbum a few years after his death. It was some satisfaction to me (against orders, as usual) to put my hand on his coflSn and offera silent prayer that his sleep might be sweet, as he has long ago been forgiven— I fear as many others often are— because his efforts have been completely nullified. It is easy to be merciful to a defeated enemy! His tomb was opened in 1774 and the remains found to be in a good state of preservation. His height was six feet two inches, but probably he was all legs. In this room is the famous coronation chair, first used by Edward HI., and by every monarch since, including Edward VH. a few months ago. It is, in its bareness, a mean-looking chair, but what a history clusters around it! Beneath the seat is the Scotch * * Stone of Destiny, ' ' said to be the one on which Jacob rested his head when he saw the angels ascending and descending on the ladder that reached from earth to Heaven, t Close by the chair are the sword and shield, * He was in Kildrummy, Auchindoir and the Cabrach with his Army of Conquest. fThe Scotch Kings have been crowned on this stone since the days of Fergus the First, a good Irishman, who founded the royal dynasty of Scotland in 330 B. C. ! ! ! All I have to say in regard to the Jacobean legend is that the stone is good Scotch sandstone, but, of course, the same variety may be found in Palestine, or, perhaps, after all, Scot- land was the home of the patriarch. After conclusively proving that Pontius Pilate was a Scotchman, I am ready to believe almost anything in regard to the products of that misty and mystical little land. 244 HEBE AND THEBE IN TWO HEMISPHERES. also used at coronations. The sword is seven feet long and weighs eighteen pounds. St. Paul's Cathedral. A second Westminster Abbey is St. Paul 's Cathedral. It is crowded with fine statues, and the crypt full of the graves of many notables. Some of the epitaphs I have noticed in my chapter on ** Voices from the Tombs." Both here and in Westminster Abbey I could not overcome the feeling of stuffiness and a desire to get out into the open air. How much finer a simple grave in some secluded vale, sheltered by a friendly wooded hill, with a little stream close at hand, singing a perpetual requiem ! I should even prefer Bun-hill Field, which I visited to see the graves of Isaac Watts, John Bunyan and Daniel Defoe. Over the way is tlie grave of John Wesley, one of the greatest men of his time, and a power for good unquestionably. By accident, I passed the grave of Geo. B. Du Maurier, at Hampstead, but it took me some time to find the last resting place of dear Oliver Goldsmith, one of the most charming writers of the English language. I found it at last, in the pre- cincts of Fleet street, near the Temple Church, and also had an opportimity of seeing the house where Noll re- sided when in London. Sidney Lee. Now for a few more lines about the living. One Sun- day I had a great treat at the South End Ethical So- ciety, where the services were conducted by Sidney Lee, editor of the Dictionary of National Biography, and of world-wide fame as a Shakespearean scholar. His lecture was on Sir Walter Ealeigh, and as he un- folded his hero's career, and told of his intimate con- nection with America, I could not help but think * * What a fine lecture for American audiences. ' ' After the con- LITTLE BITS OF LONDON. 245 gregation dispersed I had a delightful chat with Mr. Lee, and on mentioning my impressions he told me his paper was the first draft of a lecture to be given at the Lowell Institute, Boston, and possibly, also at Johns Hopkins University. It was to be Mr. Lee's first visit to our country, and he sailed in January. I suggested to him that he should come well-primed with Shake- spearean lectures, and he said he would take my advice. Since then he has paid us his visit, and was received with great interest wherever he spoke, his Shake- spearean talks being particularly enjoyed. Db. Bobebtson Nicoll. The balance of the day I spent with my fellow-vil- lageman. Dr. Eobertson Nicoll, in his lovely home, at Frognall in the Hampstead District. Dr. Nicoll has proved himself to be one of the most successful editor- managers of modem times, and has been the means of bringing before the world such famous writers as Barrie, Crockett, Ian MacLaren, and a host of others, almost as well known. He is himself a charming writer, and a most prolific one. His good-looking and accomplished daughter showed me, as a recent addition to his triumphs, a finely-bound copy of Dr. NicoU's * * Incarnate Saviour, ' ' printed in Japanese, and a dupli- cate of the volume presented by the publishers to the Prince Imperial. • His house is a veritable literary mu- seum, being packed full of personal souvenirs from the most noted authors of the day. And books!— they are everywhere— rows upon rows, with double and triple shelving to augment the space, and yet the overflow has almost carpeted the floors of the big study. I felt very much at home here. Dr. Nicoll has an English wife, but she is a treasure, and watches lovingly over her precious charge. His health is only fair, and his nn- remitting industry, in spite of it, is a rebuke to stronger 246 HEBE AND THEBE IN TWO HEMISPHERES. men. We had a fine * * t wa-handed Scotch crack,'' which gave me much incentive and encouragement. I was surprised to hear Dr. NicoU say that of all the learned men he had met— and he has been intimate with the world's best— the ablest was a native of our own parish, Henry Stephen by name, and now a pro- fessor in Calcutta. But for an unfortunate morbid taint which stopped him from composition, Dr. Nicoll believes Stephen has the genius in him to make him one of the three profoundest writers of our age. All knowl- edge is his province, and that now means infinitely more than it did in Lord Bacon's time. I remember Stephen fairly well, and it was a lucky find of a box of his old books that gave me my first appetite for serious and systematic reading. Dr. Nicoll has been in America, and we had a pleas- ant exchange of impressions of that country. That the Doctor's opinion, on the whole, was not unfavorable,^ may be gleaned from his assertion that if he were a younger man he would go to the States. He thinks, however, journalists are in a better position in Britain than in America. They are paid as well, and their standing is superior. Dr. Nicoll edits his many maga- zines from his own house, his secretaries coming and going as need demands. At most, he only gives a day a week to his city office, finding in the seclusion of his own library the best atmosphere for good work. He says he would not have a telephone in his room for a thousand poimds a year, and I can quite well appreciate his reasons. Dr. Nicoll 's summer home is in his native village of Lumsden, at the Old Manse where he was born. His father was the greatest Book collector in Scotland, and, what is more, read every book he owned. But he has not left a line of writing, putting it off and off under the curious presentiment that to begin to write was the beginning of his end, just as some people have w LITTLE BITS OP LONDON. 247 a dread of insuring, and of making their wills, in the fear that by doing so they somehow hasten their death. Dr. NicoU believes his father was the greatest ** Book- man ' ' he ever knew, and I think the name of the maga- zine may have been suggested by this remembrance. I discussed with Dr. NicoU the old question of Johnson ^s indebtedness to Boswell.* My own opinion is, that if Boswell did not make Johnson he greatly improved him, and I could give abundant proof to support my assertion. Dr. NicoU thinks the success of BosweU's life is to be found in the fact that Boswell made instant note of conversations, even writing when Johnson was present. This gives a freshness and a fullness that no after- jottings could produce. Such a **Life^' cannot be duplicated now, as no one would tolerate a scribe fuss- ing around him, and it would be impossible to take a report unknown to the talkers. Dr. NicoU greatly ad- mired Johnson's independence of mind and utter care- lessness with regard to the opinions that others might have concerning him, believing he spoke and wrote absolutely without fear or favor. The more I read of the * * Life, ' ' the more I think of Boswell, and only regret he did not give us everything as he had at first intended to do. But much of his book passed under Johnson's own eye, and the biographer may have been ** toned down ' ' more than he cared to admit. That he was not "polished up" is shown by his successful reports which Johnson did not see. The poor despised Scot has cer- tainly reached us with the highest honors of all his brilliant circle. Even Johnson must not have thought much of Boswell 's work, when in his last days he de- liberately overlooked it, and requested somebody Haw- * Since my return to Lancaster I have found in my library a book with the statement that Dr. Nicoll's home is the very house where John- son wrote "The Vanity of Human Wishes." The Lexicographer had some funny experiences with ghosts in his lifetime. Perhaps his shade was hovering near us while we talked about him! 248 HEBE AND THERE IN TWO HEMISPHEBES. kins to write the ''officiaP' biography. If we only knew Johnson from the Hawkinade— or even from Johnson's own writings— the stuffed Sage of Grub street would hardly be known at all. In Dr. Nicoll's pleasant literary home I met the Misses Quiller-Coueh, who, with their brother, **Q,'' have made us all better acquainted with their native Cornwall. There was also present Professor Adam, another ** unspeakable" Scot, who had invaded Eng- land, and, at a salary of £1,000 per annum, had taken a professorship (of education) at King's College, Uni- versity of London. Dr. Nicoll enjoys the personal friendship of the best people of the age, and if he could afford it every hour of his time would be utilized by friendly visits. But he has his work to do— and enjoys it— so that he can only ** receive '^ sparingly. I felt I was specially privileged in being given such a long interview, the best parts of which, however, with their reminiscent flavor and personal references, cannot be reproduced here. When we came downstairs to tea, by universal consent little ** Babbits" became the queen of the circle. It delighted me very much to see Dr. Nicoll as a family man. A house with a baby is founded on a rock. He told Mildred a wonderful story about an animal that had been doing terrible things ; and after her bright eyes were as big as saucers listening to the hushed narration, it was interesting to see her wake from her reverie at the climax— ''and— I— THINK— IT— WAS— A— LION 111'' It reminded me of the mysterious terror of my young days— which no doubt Dr. Nicoll heard of too— ''aw auV shee lyin doon at the Breeml^^ Dr. Nicoll is yet a young man, as literary men are graded— being only in the neighborhood of fifty; and I was surprised to hear him say he considered he was old, and that when a man reaches thirty-five he is begin- UTTLB BITS OF LONDON. 249 ning to go down hill. A man of thirty-five has passed, it is true, the half of the allotted span, but, judging him by years of possible production-beginning even at twenty— at fifty he has almost the half of his life before him and the best years. If spared to live to his father's long age, by this system of calculation. Dr. Nicoll has about two- thirds of his journey yet to travel. In the matter of years most middle-aged men, when asked to take a back seat, generally take affront. Dr. Nicoll has plainly no touchiness on that point, but some of his admirers have, and as one of them I am always glad and proud to say of him ** while he is happily getting on well in life he is not yet getting weU on in life," and happily also— for himself, for his fam- ily and for his friends. ROYAL KELDRUMMY. " Here Kings and Queens were domiciled And seen of high and low When Fortune on the Castle smiled In days of Long Ago." It is a bright morning on the 8th of May in the year 1607. There is much stir and bustle in the Palace of the King of Great Britain. The grooms-in- waiting and the lords-in-waiting have one by one been summoned to face their august sire. His toilet is not complete and he has an important engagement on hand. ^'Stockings, stockings!" is his pathetic appeal. **A pair of king- doms for a pair of hose ! ' ^ But his cry was unavailing. The royal wardrobes have been ransacked in vain. In a couple of hours he must keep his appointment. The Stuarts, however, were always resourceful, and James VI. and I. had a trick up his sleeve. Sitting down at his writing table the Scottish Solomon sharpened his quill and dashed off the following letter to the dandy Earl of Mar: " Dear Jock : Aa I am gaing to gie an audience this morning to the French Ambaaaador, I deaeir you to he aae gude aa to aende me a pair of yeir heat ailken hoae, with the goud clocka at them, " Your affectionate Cuaine, " James R." There is no doubt but what the appeal was success- ful. A King's request is really a conunand. The Earl of Mar addressed was John Erskine, the Lord of Kil- drummy Castle. This magnificent pile, long a ruin, stands in the parish of Kildrummy near the toll-road, not far from the Towie boundary and on a mound commanding a good view of the adjacent country. The Castle had at one time been surrounded by a moat which can yet be 250 W BOYAL KILDEUMMY. 251 traced. The whole buildings covered about an acre. Of seven great original towers, the remains of six may still be seen. The material used was free-stone quar- ried from the district. One of the prominent features of the Castle was **The Snow Tower," which is in a fair state of preservation, the next best portion of the ruins being the Chapel with its picturesque lancet win- dows. From the styles of the architecture employed Kildrummy Castle is believed to date as far back as the twelfth century. David, Earl of Huntingdon, brother of William the Lion, passed it on to the great Eobert Bruce.* In 1307 it was captured and partially de- stroyed by the English ; but recaptured and rebuilt by the Earl of Athole, and held out for Bruce in 1336.t By the marriage of Bruce 's sister it fell into the hands of the Earl of Mar. He quarreled with his King and David II. besieged and took Kildrummy from him, but eventually gave it back, and the Earl died there and was buried within its waUs. David gave it a friendly call in 1365, which was the last visit of royalty until Queen Victoria's pilgrimage in 1866.* * Bruce and Bnice's queen and his brother Nigel are all closely asso- ciated with Ealdrummy Castle and Sir William Wallace is also known to have visited it. Rev. Mr. Christie is of the opinion that the original castle was on a different site from the present ruins, and pointed out to me the probable foundations of the earlier buildings not far from the present Elildrummy Church-yard. The local place names lend consider- able color to his theories. t Duncan Duff, Thane of Fife, married Mary Monthermer, niece to Edward I., and allying himself with the English was made Grovemor of Perth. Robert the Bruce took both prisoners and immured them in Kildrummy Castle where Duff died in 1336. It was this same Duff's sister Isabel, who was "The Caged Lady of Buchan." She was true to Bruce, and exercised the Duff right of placing the crown on the Scottish sovereign's head. Eventually she fell into the hands of King Edward of England, and by him was imprisoned in Berwick Castle — confined for seven years in an iron cage. The coward who fled in terror from Scotchmen took his revenge in this ungallant manner on a brave Scotch woman. * On that occasion my father, in charge of his engineering corps, pro- vided the kettle for Her Majesty's al fresco tea. He had met her 252 HEBE AND THEBE IN TWO HEMISPHERES. In 1403 Sir Malcolm Dnimmond, the husband of the Countess of Mar, was killed in Kildrummy Castle by Alexander Stewart,* a natural son of **The Wolf of Badenoch" and a **bad enoch" man he proved to be himself, afterwards gobbling up the Kildrummy estates and marrying Drummond 's widow. There was a spec- tacular wedding ceremony in front of the castle in 1404, incognito when Burveying the Palace grounds at Osborne, and was pleasantly recognized by her. Tennyson was also one of his acquaint- ances in The Isle of Wight, and in fact, from his official position he frequently met all the celebrities of the period, and ^as quite a fund of good stories about them. * In 1431 Stewart was defeated by The Lord of the Isles at the Battle of Inverlochy, and after wandering among the hills for days was only saved from actual starvation by meeting a beggar woman who furnished him, at his request, with some barley-meal from her pock. He sat down by a spring, and using the heel of his shoe for a bowl he soon prepared for himself a bicker of brose, which he always declared was the sweetest morsel he ever tasted. Aince to please a royal loon " Brose and Butter " was the spring; " Brose and Butter " I'll be boun' Is a dish micht please a king. But to Scotland's noblest chiel Auld Ealdrummy's Yirl o' Mar Water mixed wi' barley meal In his brogue was finer far. He had focht his fecht in vain. Missed his men and had to flee; Tired and hungry and in pain Cot nor castle could he see; When he met a beggar-wife Begg'd frae her a puckle meal. And the dainty o' his life Made he in his auld shoe-heel! Mony feasts he had been at Aifter this, as weel's afore; Mony tit-bits had he gat, Wi' his will o' stock and store. Hunger tho' is kitchy sweet And he sai^ he never knew What it was to relish meat Till he suppit frae his shoe I BOYAL KILDBUMMT. 253 during which the lady made free choice of Stewart, and handed over to him the keys and charters of all her pos- sessions. They died without heirs male, and Kil- drummy Castle passed into the hands of the son of James II., then was given to Eobert Cochrane, a favor- ite of James III. In 1508 the Elphinstone family be- came owners, and held possession until Queen Mary decided in favor of the Erskines, who still retain the Mar title. The family lost the Kildrummy estates when the earl raised **the standard on the Braes o' Mar'^ in 1716, in spite of the banner having been blessed by the Rev. Wm. Milne, the parish minister. A few years later Mr. Gordon, of Wardhouse, bought the property and he in turn sold it to the present enterprising pro- prietor, Colonel James Ogston, of Aberdeen.* Many interesting stories cluster around Kaldrummy Castle, and if its walls could only speak they would not lack audiences. Its most famous siege culminated in its betrayal by a blacksmith, who agreed to fling a red hot plough-sock into a hay loft in the grounds, on con- dition that he would be paid as much gold, by way of gift, as he was fit to carry. He performed his part of the contract and the Castle was burned down. When he asked for his payment the English poured the red-hot molten metal down his throat, so little good his treach- ery did him— a Midas reward for a Judas act. In 1746 the Mar vault in Kildrummy (old) church aisle was opened, and the embalmed body of a lady dis- covered in a perfect state of preservation. She was supposed to be the whelp of Badenoch's mate, or the wife of Gratney, Earl of Mar. Kildrummy Castle is much frequented by picnickers, t and in recent years * The new House of Kildrummy stands across the Back Den facing the Old Castle. The little bum between them is now spanned by a fine bridge which looks like a duplicate of the old Brig o' Balgownie. t Over a quarter of a century ago I remember attending the Highland Games at Kildrummy Castle, and seeing the peerless Donald Dinnie, 18 254 HEBE AND THERE IN TWO HEMISPHERES. has had some advertisement by the G. N. S. R. Co. as one of their great * * sights. ^ ' They may safely claim it to be so, as in size and in historical importance they have nothing on their whole line to compare with it. Kildrummy has even existing relics of prehistoric times, in the extraordinary number of **Eirde'^ (earth) houses found throughout the parish. They are also called Picts^ houses, and really are subterranean vil- lages, supposed to be the dwellings of the aboriginal inhabitants. The nearest resemblances we have to them in this country are the homes of the Cliff-Dwellers in Colorado, Utah and Arizona, or of the Mound Dwellers in Ohio and Indiana. In Ireland the Beehive Houses seem to have been made by the same people and on the same plan as the Eirde Houses of Scotland, but are not underground. Kildrummy has a special interest to lovers of Scottish literature, as it was the native parish of the mother of Robert Fergusson,* the poetic predecessor of Bums. She was a Forbes, and the Reids and the Carrs were related and locally associated with Templeton, Drum- nahive, and The Culsh. At Old Auchindoir Mr. John Reid allowed me the privilege of sitting in Robert Fer- gusson's grandfather's chair, and gave me much out-of- the-way information relating to the poet's Aberdeen- Scotland's champion athlete, carry off the bulk of the first prizes '' open to all-comers." Dinnie, who is a native Aberdonian, has been in the Antipodes since then, and at the present time is running a tavern in Newcastle, England. No professional has ever touched his score of eleven ihouscmd victorious contests. Among his trophies he shows first prizes for wrestling, hammer-throwing, tossing the caber, leaping, jump- ing, racing, dancing, shooting and quoiting. His lifting record at hifl best was two tons. I have several books of prose and verse by his father, who had more intellect than Donald, and by those who knew both was considered the stronger of the two. In his youth Donald was apprenticed to my uncle George Law, of Aberdeen, but left stone-cutting for athletics. * His father came from Crathie, also in Aberdeenshire. BOYAL KILDETJMMY. 255 shire connections. His pedigree is fully discussed in my old correspondent Grosart's **Life of Fergusson^' in the ** Famous Scots'' series. At one time Clova was a separate parish and later on was quoted with Kildrummy as **Kildrummy and Clova.'' It is strange how many parishes hereabout go in pairs. We have Rhynie and Essie, Auchindoir and Keam, Forbes and TuUynessle, Leochel and Cushnie and so on. Kildrummy now stands alone, and we only speak of the Clova estate. But the ruins of the old Church of Clova, **Cloveth" or **Cloueth," may be seen within a mile to the south of Clova House. Clova Church was named * * St. Luke 's, ' ' and figures in records as far back as 1063, when King Malcolm granted it and its lands to the Church of St. Mary of Mortlach. In 1157 Pope Adrian IV. confirmed Clova Monastery to the Bishops of Aberdeen. There was a * * Robert Lumis- daine" in Clova in 1549, probably an ancestor of the present proprietor, Mr. Hugh Gordon Lumsden, al- though Cushnie is said to be the native parish of the Lumsdens. Prince Charlie's secretary was of the stock. Not far from the site of the old church Mr. Lumsden has erected a beautiful private chapel, which is open, however, to the public; and for such an anti- Catholic neighborhood is well patronized. The present priest. Father Fraser, is well liked by everybody. It is, perhaps, not generally known that he is a profound Gaelic student, and is now working on his magrnim opus, a translation of Don Quixote from the original Spanish to the language of the Celt. Mrs. Lumsden of Clova House is also a fine Spanish scholar, and enjoys the most intimate relations with the Court of Spain, so that it needs no straining of truth to closely connect Kil- drununy with royalty once again, and to join the Clova vicinage with the Vatican, as in the olden days. STUYVESANT SQUARE AND WALL STREET. The good old-fashioned Trinitj Of " L " knd " S " and " D," Is by the new Divinity Condensed to "$" and "#"; While some, for true affinity, Have jew'd it down to "G": In "G"— which is to say— in Gold Their Hope and Saviour they behold, And hence their Motto, Faith and Greed They long have striven to adjust, That all may mean, whatever they read, " In G"-^hat is *' In Gold— We TbustI" On Palm Sunday, 1903, 1 celebrated my thirty-eighth birthday by attending the morning service at St. George's Church, Stuyvesant Square, New York City. To make a frank confession two reasons chiefly led me there: (1) To hear the minister, Rev. Dr. Bainsford, and (2) to see J. Pierpont Morgan, who is a deacon or usher or vestryman, or coin collector in that church. Dr. Bainsford, with his ** institutional'* church, has long been in the public eye, and quite recently has gained much notoriety on account of a remarkable address he made at a Lenten meeting in St. Stephen 's Church, Phil- adelphia, held under the auspices of the Brotherhood of St. Andrew. Whatever he said gave great offence to many, and among other results the ministers of the Philadelphia diocese, as an offset to Dr. Bainsford 's statements, hurriedly prepared, signed and circulated a reaffirmation of their creed; intending thus to repu- diate Dr. Bainsford 's heresies and to reassure the public that the Philadelphia Episcopal parsons were not like this New York Shepherd, who by some strange over- sight had strayed into their green pastures. It took me some time to find out what Dr. Bainsford had really 256 ^ STUYVESANT SQUABE AND WALL STREET. 257 said, but at last I succeeded, and from one of the con- gregation I quote verbatim : **Dr. Bainsford belittled the sinfulness of sin. He denied the mediatorial work of Jesus,* emphatically stated that the Bible is erroneous in the Old Testament, and that the New Testament writers made many mis- takes. The Virgin birth of Jesus was dismissed as if it were so much nonsense. Finally, he said, that as man came into this world without any choice on his own part, and as he had to act very much according to his inheritance and environment it was *up to Qod^ to save him." Of course that is ** higher criti»^ism," yet heterodoxy flat, and quite slangy as well. But may not Dr. Bains- ford be himself a victim of his environments! A min- ister who associates with a congregation like Dr. Bains- ford's is apt to imbibe strange views and startling phrases. His parish contains the two extremes of great wealth and great poverty, and neither are neglected. I was told that Dr. Bainsford took hold of St. George 's when it was so far run down that it had been seemingly abandoned by God and man— and woman. It is now one of the prominent churches of New York,— claims a membership of 7,000— can that be Stock Exchange figures T-and, anyhow, has about it every air of pros- perity and success. Perhaps it excels in its labors among the poorer classes— educational and recreational —and notably with its * * Fresh Air ' ' work. Every sum- mer it sends many thousand families for a week into the country or by the sea, and the fimd which provides for this excellent philanthropy is the ordinary church col- lection on Easter Day. The interior of St. George's is little different from the average Episcopal Church. A hideously ugly, gilt sounding-board, over the minister's stand, stuck out in front of the altar like a sore thumb, and on both sides 258 HEBE AND THERE IN TWO HEMISPHEBES. there was a large white-robed choir of male and female voices. No doubt the singing was fine, but I was not able to understand a single word of it. However, that is nothing uncommon in high-class high-paid choirs, and simple worshippers who expect to make out the hymn or psalm or anthem are extra simple indeed. Dr. Bainsford had a couple of assistants— after the manner of end-men— but he himself was the central star per- former. He is a big, athletic Englishman. In reading the Scriptures he did so from a small hand or pocket Bible and did not use the big pulpit Bible that for so long has seemed to be an inevitable necessity in public worship. His pronunciation was curious. He said **fill-ed'' for instance, and not ''filPd,'^ but ''sinn'd'^ and not **sinn-ed," and zigzagged with other words in like maimer, without seeming rule or reason. His ser- mon was on * * The Prodigal Son. ' ' He spoke in a con- versational tone for the most part, but at times was very dramatic. His matter was not entirely extemporaneous as to delivery, but his notes did not seem to be much in the way. With all his clearness of enunciation a word sometimes slipped, or could only be guessed at. This was notably the case in his definition of the Universe. **It was,'' he said, **a Universe of "T What!— TTfctm?"- No; although it sounded like that. TFtnrf?"— That could not be, and yet the sound was exactly like **Wind." Later on the right word came by inference, and it was "TFiZi/'- **a Universe of Will.'' The whole talk turned on the exclamation of the Prodigal son **I will rise and go to my father." Among other notable things that forenoon Dr. Bains- ford said : ** Nothing lasting or valuable can come suddenly or cheaply. * * * Nothing is so valuable as Human Will. We consider murder the greatest crime, but were it possible to rob human beings of will-power and make 44 i. STUYVESANT SQUABE AND WALL STBEET. 259 them idiots it would be infinitely worse than murder. No crime conceivable like the crime that would rob a man of the power of will. * * * Breakers of Will to be blamed. A powerful man to be blamed for tramp- ling down his neighbors. Does the man say 'you must not give me power if I cannot use it 1— That is a fool's argument. The cry of sin is 'give me my rights!' It was the voice of the Prodigal— 'I'll have my rights— I want to go.' * * • After satiety comes remorse. Present conditions say : 'Get out— get home.' Friends say: 'Go Home.' Belly says: 'Go home.' Then comes the mystic cry '/ will.' 'I have been feeding swine long enough. I will arise and go to my father.' Now here's Jesus talking— not me! * * * There was another prodigal son who had never gone away, but, alas, alas, alas! He had carried all in his heart. He had never known his father. That was surely to be lost indeed. Better any far country than to live at home and know not and love not. * * * Well it's true what I told you. If we confess our sins Jesus is ready to forgive us our sins. This is Jesus' own story. We must use our will. I will arise and go to my father." While the learned Doctor was holding forth, I could not repress a smile as he read the verse ' ' And when he came to himself." It recalled the explanation of that phrase given by the worthy Wesleyan minister. ' ' There, ' ' said the good old man, " is a fine instance of the wonderful depth of meaning there is in the Scrip- ture. We see how low this unfortunate prodigal man had fallen. 'And when he came to himself— what does it mean? Well, look at home. What do we do vhen our money is gone ; when we have no credit ; when our local banks will not cash a five-hundred-dollar note for us with the endorsement of a multi-millionaire; when all our ' friends ' give us the cold shoulder T What do we turn to? The pawn shop, of course. Our Uncle 260 HEBE AND THEBE IN TWO HEMISPHERES. Dudley yet is kind. So was it with the Prodigal Son. First, no doubt, he spouted his watch and chain. This would keep him living a month. Then his coat would go, and he might feast a week on that. Then his vest- two days more. Lastly, his shirt would follow— and that wouldn't sustain him long. Then, ah then, my brethren, *He Came to Himself.' He couldn't pawn himself, so he said, 'I've been feeding hogs long enough, I will arise and go,'— and home he went to his father!" Now a few words as to the other man who divides with Dr. Bainsford the interest of strangers. J. Pier- pont Morgan was sixty-six years of age on April 17. According to a horoscope made as recently as 1892 he **was bom under a lucky star." His great successes have been achieved since his sixtieth birthday, which should be some encouragement to many half -century failures. In personal appearance Mr. Morgan looks about fifty-five. He is a good big man physically, brisk in his movements, and brusque in his maimer of speech. His face is of the Jewish business type with prominent nose and staring eyes; his hair gray and white, closely cropped, and showing rather thin at the crown. When he took up the church collection he was the first to deliver his plate, not waiting as the other deacons did to march to the altar in pairs. Any one could recognize him from the newspaper portraits so plentiful in the last ten years. His style of dress, his eye-glasses, his bristling moustache, his swelling front —everything was complete but the inevitable cigar which, of course, he had to forego in the church. Really he was a sight worth seeing, as he is the only man we have who deals on the billion-dollar scale. A business aflfair involving ten millions he considers **a small matter. ' ' When I saw him he was probably at the apex of his career, yet far behind the speculative success reached by the Scotchman Law, of ** Mississippi STUYVESANT SQUABE AND WALL STBEET. 261 Bubble * * fame. Morgan had announced that he was to sail for Europe on the following Wednesday, but his programme was suddenly changed— by the sickness of one of his partners, his firm explained, but later on the public believed the adverse decision on the Northern Securities case had more to do with his remaining in Wall street. Since then I have seen it reported that many of Morgan's former followers, associates and parasites have deserted him, believing that the tide of fortune has at last turned against him.* But that is the way of the world, and who has not expe- rienced it on a big or little scale? ** Fair-weather friends'' are proverbial. When storms or adversities * I suppose it is rank financial heresy if not business blasphemy for a mere onlooker to make any comment on Morganizing methods, but I feel tempted nevertheless to say a few words in regard to his widely heralded Steel transaction. To my mind his Trust can only succeed by keeping steel prices at abnormally high figures. This is the whole thing in a nutshell. If the prices received in 1902 had been the same as the prices received in 1897--98 the Steel Trust would have had to face a loss of over $22,000,000, because the 1902 advance in price of steel products of the United States Steel Corporation over the 1897-98 figures, according to the published reports, has been no less than $140,127,619. The Carnegie Steel Company and presumably other well managed steel companies made plenty of money in 1897-98 when prices were 33 per cent, less than the prices of 1902. But the huge capitalization of the United States Steel Corporation has a much bigger appetite than that of the individual companies it absorbed, and on the basis of its production steel consumers actually paid in all $232,000,000 more for their steel than they would have paid for the same products at the 1897-98 prices. Can this continue? Such enormous profits on steel will certainly tempt other companies into the field if legislators cannot be persuaded to reduce the tariff on the products of foreign steel manufacturers, which is also not impossible; and it is thus only a question of time and perhaps a very short time, when Morgan's prize corporation will be declaring Irish dividends instead of drawing even a modest 6 per cent. Be not awed but be audacious! If you look for fame or gold learn that fear invites misfortune; luck abides but with the bold! ! How long will consumers of steel pay such enor- mous sums to maintain what Emperor William of Germany called "the audacity of Pierpont Morgan"? He who lives langest will see maist ferlies. 262 HEBE AND THEBE IN TWO HEMISPHEBE8. come such creatures are the first to flee— or keep away in case any little service might be needed. The com- pensation is that they are found out, and no one should regret the exposure, but on the contrary be glad to say : **Good riddance to bad rubbish/^ Happy is the man who makes his discoveries while yet young! Artist Whistler once wrote a book-dedication that had the con- centrated wisdom of volumes: **To the rare few who early in Life have rid Themselves of the Friendship of the Many. ' ' Not one but several of Morgan's big deals have re- sulted in piling up mountains of ** undigested securi- ties,'' and as this is written (September, 1903) the sum that now clogs Wall street's stomach has swelled from six hundred and sixty-five millions in April last, to con- siderably over one thousand million dollars; while, on the other hand, speculative values have depreciated and dwindled and shrunk to such an alarming degree as to produce another * * rich man 's panic. ' ' The bears in the end made a raid on the fold And the bulls who believed that their winnings were gold Were changed into sheep to be properly fleeced ; Some lambs so be-splintered as ne'er to be pieced; And nothing but paper and water and wind Kept many from being effectively skinned. 0, the Morgan who lived in the days of old As we read in the books was a Corsair bold, And the man now in finance the most to fear Is the Pilot who cruises— *' to Morganeer!" L ODDS AND ENDS OF EDINBUEGH Dunedinl Fitting is it still That those who keep the Royal Hill That guards old Scotland's heart Should yet command the world's respect For Culture and for Intellect, For Science and for Art! **Ediiia! Scotia's darling seaf rejoices in many pet names, from the stately * * modem Athens ' ' to the kindly, couthie, colloquial **Auld Eeekie.'' The best pens in the world have been employed to do it justice, but where a writer with the ability, the affection and the knowledge of Sir Walter Scott made a failure of it (ac- cording to John Ruskin) simpler scribes may well give up the attempt as hopeless.* Sir David Wilkie said one had to make a tour of the whole of Europe to find what was collected around Edinburgh's castled rock. The natural beauties of the place are certainly rare for such a large and such an ancient city. In the matter of scenery nothing can sur- pass hills for picturesqueness, and the royal Edwin who first staged this burgh must have had an eye for the properties to give his fort and village so fair a setting. Its proximity to the sea, **and all that is therein, ' ' insures Scotland 's capital with its lofty land- marks, and their decorated sides and crests, a double de- * We do not, hotoever, agree with Ruskin by any means in this matter or in lots of others. Many of his criticisms are nothing more than peevish outbursts of bad temper, a straining after insignificant gnats where on other similar occasions he would gulp down camels and never thraw his mou'. Then again, he was often misled by a desire to show his own superiority; and, on the whole, while we are grateful that he left us some of the finest writing in the English language, we do not hesitate to protest against his frequent imfaimess and unreason- able quibbling too often displayed. And what for no? "A penny cat can look at the King." 263 264 HEBE AKD THERE IN TWO HEMISPHERES. gree of splendor that culminates almost in the sublime, and with that adjective I am content to leave it, so far as relates to its looks. Volumes have been written on a single street of Edinburgh, and libraries could be filled with the history and literature of the town. I shall only take up a few items that I specially noted for various reasons. In the Old Calton Burying Ground is a monument to the Scotch- American soldiers who fell in the Civil War— an idea that owed its origin to Hon. Wallace Bruce when consul at Edinburgh. The memorial is especially notable as it is crowned with the first statue of Abraham Lincoln erected outside of America, It was to this burying ground that B. L. Stevenson said he went **to be unhappy," but a housemaid at one of the hotels opposite soon made the quick triumph over the dead. David Hume is buried in a big circular tomb at Lincoln's back, and the same ground contains the dust of Constable, Walter Scott's publisher, and Willie NicoU, who was a chum of Bums and figures in * * Willie brew 'd a peck o ' maut. ' ' Edinburgh is full of Bums memories, and is proud to show every place associated with him or his friends in any way. I visited all his principal haunts, but was most interested perhaps in looking at the grave of Robert Fergusson with the stone erected to his memory by Bums, as a tribute from a * * rhymin ' blither. ' ' Of course I had to see the houses where he stopped, the closes and pends, etc., that we know he frequented— such as Stevenlaw's close where Allan Masterton lived —the third blythe lad of ''We're nae that fou' "—and the Masonic Lodge Bums attended in the Canongate. I also thought of him and Fergusson when I peeped in at Libberton's Wynd, where Johnnie Dowie's Tavern was, and when I passed the site of Allan Ramsay's house and saw the tablet to the Edinburgh poet's mem- k. ABRAHAM LINCOLN by Ceo. E. Biss«ll. Sculptor, ou^h subscription of Si AmaricAns or which J. Wills d« Paysur was one. Eraeud &nd unvailsd SOih Auffusi. 1 893 in Edinburgh, Scotland. V ODDS AND ENDS OF EDINBURGH. 265 ory in Greyfriar's churchyard. I lingered long before the Bums portraits, statues and manuscripts, and it took no vivid imagination to see the Ayrshire Bard himself daundering around the streets and looking in at the booksellers* windows as he told us he did for some days after his first arrival in the city. The castle culminates in the citadel which is on the highest part of the rock. The big **Mons Meg" Can- non is one of the sights worth noting on The King's Bastion. This piece of ordnance was the work of a Galloway smith— ** Brawny Kim" of MoUance or Mons, and was forged in 1476. Many tragic and droll stories are clustered around its capacious bore. St. Margaret's Chapel in the rear of Mons Meg is the oldest building in Edinburgh and the smallest church in Britain. It is of Norman architecture and was erected by the pious Queen of Malcolm Canmore. It is now used as an Episcopalian Baptistry for soldiers' children. Queen Mary's Boom should not be overlooked by any visitor. The ceiling that saw the birth of James VI. and I. is still in place. The Old Parliament HaU that has wit- nessed many a rare banquet and stormy meeting is now a sort of museum. The Crown Room and Dungeons are among the great sights. Out on the Esplanade it will repay any one to see the kilted soldiers going through their drill, and an extra treat is guaranteed if they are on the march, preceded by their regimental band play- ing a lively air.* The Lawnmarket is full of memories • Every kind and style of music is mine — for all I love — from hurdy- gurdy to grand orchestra, and from a simple melody to an elaborate opera. It has been my good fortune to have feasted on the finest bands of the world; I have listened to Paderewski on the piano, Liberati on the trumpet, Pryor on the trombone. Levy on the comet, Patti at her best, and every other artist worth hearing in the last score of years; and whether it was an organization like "The Kilties," Willie MacLennan or Bob Ireland on the pipes, Scott-Skinner on the violin, Madame Annie Grey with harp and voice, Durward Lely and W. Kinni- burgh with voice alone, or hundreds of other artists (including my own 266 HEBE AND THEBE IN TWO HEMISPHERES. of such celebrities as Cromwell, Prince Charlie, David Hume, Boswell, Johnson, the Gladstones, Steele and Deacon Brodie. Sir Walter Scott 's House is at 39 Castle street. Lock- hart describes it well. The great novelist was satisfied with a very modest literary den. If he loaned a book to a friend its place in Scott *s library was filled with a wooden strip giving the particulars. He considered 9,000 words (about four newspaper columns) a good day's work. The mere writing of this took eight solid hours, allowing no time for the changes of composition. In his declining years he employed secretaries, but they were not shorthand writers. Big as his output was, how much more he might have given us had he utilized the services of competent stenographers, and reserved his strength for dictation and the revising of typewritten copy! Edinburgh is above everything else Sir Walter Scott's town, and it is therefore fitting that it should contain in his monument the finest memorial ever erected to a literary man. Poor Ruskin saw little in it but a Gothic steeple set on the ground: we are grateful our taste is not so nice, and that it seemed grander in reality than it had ever looked on paper. The Princes St. Gardens where Scott loved to stroll after his day's stint was finished are now much more wife, at home, singing and at the piano) in every department— even to the rendering of " Psalms and spiritual songs," the Scotch performers lead the lot — "the heather dings them a"M In the mere matter of drum-playing the Highland drummers make all others seem little better than rattlers of Indian tom-toms. To see and hear — say half a dozen pipers — in kilts and plaids and plumes — with colors bright and buckles glancing, marching together to a lively tune — "Cock o' the North" or "The Campbells are Coming" — ac- companied by an artistic, overhand, "Seaforth-style " manipulator of the drum-sticks — ^with rhythmic sweep and fancy flourish — ^his mantle a Royal Bengal tiger's skin — ^is to hear and see the very personification of dignified, inspiring martial music ; the brand that sends the " thin red line" to Balaclavan triumphs, and scales an Alma or a Dargai Height with " Do or die I " k ODDS AND ENDS OF EDINBURGH. 267 beautiful than they were in his day, and contain many fine statues to local and national celebrities. De Quin- cey's remains lie in St. Cuthbert's Churchyard. He lodged for many years in Lothian Road. Christopher North's house at 29 Ann street also saw much of *'The Opium Eater ' ' where he used to sleep oflf the effects of his beloved drug lying on a rug before Wilson's fire. ^* General" Symington, of Binkley's, remembers De Quincey well, having as a boy carried his mail, and has some amusing tales to tell of the domestic and social life of the brilliant essayist. St. Giles' Cathedral is a noble building with a great history. Thanks to the generosity and patriotism of William Chambers the interior of this church was re- stored in 1883-88. We cannot think of it without think- ing of Jenny Geddes and her ''cutty stool." When the dean of her time tried to introduce the new Epis- copal service (ordered by the King), and had got so far as to say he would read the ''Collect" for the day: —"Colic?" said she, "Deil colic the wyme o' ye!" and picking up her small camp-stool she let it fly at the scared prelate's head for "daurin' to say mass at her lug. ' ' I attended services at St. Giles 's, and had some- thing of the same feeling as the disgusted old dame when I saw a whipper-snapper of an assistant, with neither reverence, judgment, nor taste, rattle off a prayer from a book, all the time pretending he was making an extemporaneous appeal to the Throne of Grace. The bump of piety is not so highly developed in me as it is in some good men I know, but I felt the grand old Kirk was being sadly desecrated by such mummery and I say this now regardless of whether or not it is fashionable to be ritualistic. Anywhere, it seems to me, but there, with its memories of Kjiox, and the Covenanters ! I noticed a fine stained glass window in the Cathedral, the gift of a Law of Edinburgh, just 268 HEBE AND THERE IN TWO HEMISPHERES. as the finest window in Shakespeare 's church at Strat- ford was donated by a Law of Lancaster (England). There is a seat in St. Giles for the King's use that looks like a second pulpit. He is a Presbyterian when in Scotland and an Episcopalian when in England, in matters ecclesiastical believing it is advisable when in Eome to do as the Romans do. The Scotch battle flags that hang from the ceiling of St. Giles and the brass tablets on the walls in memory of Scottish sol- diers killed on the field make one hope the day is not far distant when Christian nations will **hang their trumpets in the hall and study war no more. ' ' At Free St. George's I heard a sermon by the Eev. Hugh Black (author of ** Friendship, " etc)., but was less impressed by him than by the glowing coal-fire that graced the entrance to his church and seemed to give a warm welcome to all comers. Another day I found myself at the office of Chambers' Edinburgh Journal and had an interesting chat with the present head and representative of the noble family that has done so much for Scotland— Charles Edward Stuart Chambers. This was a particular pleasure to me for many reasons. With millions of my countrymen I had come to consider *' Chambers" as more than a household word— a member of the family indeed— and often in evidence, whether in the form of cyclopedias, dictionaries, magazines or entertaining miscellanies in prose and verse. The Chambers publications are all good. In the difficult field of books of reference, with one or two exceptions their works are my preference. Their Journal still holds its own like a sack of golden grain amid bags of trifling magazine chaff that Time, the great winnower, will soon blow out of existence, as it has disposed of many similar contemporaries since '^Cham'ers" was founded. The Chambers Bums is second to none of all the myriad editions of Scotland's ODDS AND ENDS OF EDINBURGH. 269 favorite poet— in facts, arrangement, and in spirit. Any one who must select a single edition, up to date, can make no mistake in deciding on Wallace's Cham- bers' Burns. With it, with their recent clear-print Handy Dictionary, their latest edition Edinburgh Cyclo- paedia, and their new Cyclopedia of English Literature a Scotsman has a university always on tap at his elbow, and if the volumes are used as they should be they will ultimately place the student on twp too. I was glad also, at Chambers ' office, to meet Mr. Cochrane of the editorial staff, and have a crack with him on congenial topics. Knowing that the Laws hailed from Mid-Lothian, via Fife, I kept my weather eye open for any signs of the name in Auld Reekie. I knew James Law was one of the important men of The Scotsman which comes nearer being a national institution than any other news- paper in Scotland. The new Scotsman Building, when entirely completed and equipped, will take a back seat with none exclusively devoted to journalistic enterprise, but on my visit everything was going on and out from the old headquarters. Mr. Law I found to be from Ayrshire, and I am glad of this opportunity to testify to his kindness in helping me on different local matters. The Laws of Coffee fame I was not fortunate in meet- ing. I noticed on old maps of Edinburgh a place marked ** Jamielaw" that no doubt took its name from the original owner. But richest of all my experiences in this line I went into a saloon or small inn called **The Hole in the Wa' " to see if it differed from other places of the kind, and to find out why it was so styled, when to my astonishment and amusement the pro- prietor turned out to be a * * James Law. ' ' Among the leading libraries I visited were The Uni- versity, the ** Advocates" and The Edinburgh Free Library. The latter is under the management of Mr. 19 270 HERE AND THEBE IN TWO HEMISPHERES. Hew Morrison, who put himself considerably about to help me in my researches, and greatly added to my in- formation and entertainment. He is collecting a De- partment of Scotch Poetry that will be a worthy rival to the Mitchell Library ''Comer" in Glasgow. The Edinburgh Free Library seemed finely equipped ex- cept that it wanted an elevator. It is no fun to climb up and down long flights of stairs, and while occa- sional spry visitors like myself make no complaint, I can fancy it is a heavy tax on the time and the energies of the librarian whose duties I noticed often called him above and below. Mr. Carnegie was the donor of this library building, or at least made it possible by a gift of $250,000 in 1890. The University Library when I called was in charge of Alexander Anderson the poet It has some great Scottish treasures, but I was for once more interested in man than books, and the pleasure of looking throu(2:h the shelves was postponed to another visit which has not yet been paid. The Advocates' Xiibrary contains about 330,000 volumes, 2,000 manu- scripts and a large collection of literary treasures. I had here some very old maps through my hands, the original drawings of many centuries ago, and I saw enough to believe that in many respects this is the greatest library in Scotland. Edinburgh has been described as **a West-Endy East- Windy" town, and I verified both appellations in my wanderings. I took a prowl through some parts of it after midnight and saw sights that probably life- long residents would not believe possible. Under the protection of the police, passed from one '* Bobby" to another, I was in no danger, but I observed enough never to make me wish to try it alone, or even to repeat the experiment for idle curiosity. The tram-cars run in all directions, and by means of them I saw the most of the town. The Pentland V ODDS AND ENDS OF EDINBURGH. 271 Hills, the Braid Hill and the Golf Course recalled Allan Bamsay, for in his day the three attractions figured largely in Edinburgh— as now. Arthur's Seat and St Anton's Well gave new meaning to the old ballad **0, had I wist before I kisst." The '*Pier o' Leith" re- minded me of Bums' charming song, the first verse of which he ' * conveyed ' ' from Lesley of Deveronside 's lilt in honor of Helen Christie, written 1636. "Ye '11 bring me here a pint o' wine A server and a silver tassie That I may drink afore I gang A health to my ain bonnie lassie." Lesley's other words are not worth quoting, and how beautifully the whole song was improved I Surely this is the kind of stealing that is not only no sin, but highly to be commended? **The Heart of Midlothian" is marked on the pavement near St. Giles' Cathedral. **As I cam' doon the Canongate"— what history and romance and poetry is bound up with that name!— but I cannot linger now. How lucky I was in knowing Madame Annie Grey, the Scottish Prima Donna I With her husband, Mr. Wade, and her charming mother the famous Cantatrice occupies a beautiful home on Princes street, and I found my way there more than once. One evening we had a rare concert when I was treated to many of my favorite songs and airs. It sent me back to the delightful entertainment Madame Grey gave us in Lancaster, Pa., some years ago, and the still finer programme she favored me with at the Stevens House on the following day. To hear her in **Ay Waukin, 0," with her mother at the piano, or in **Ae fond kiss and then we sever, ' ' with her own harp accom- paniment, is to get the best that Scotland can produce at this time. Is it any marvel that Queen Victoria specially honored the fair songstress by kindly compli- ment and substantial tokens of her admiration? 272 HEBE AND THEBE IK TWO HEMISPHERES. Did you ever hear of a *' Singing Minister"? This title justly and exclusively belongs to the Rev. James Eobertson of the Haymarket Church, Edinburgh. Being a Scotchman his specialty is Scotch song, but he does not confine himself to that He won his sobriquet by the singing of sacred solos in the pulpit— by and by consenting to include a classical Scotch song at the social gatherings of his congregation, following this up with lectures on ' ' How to sing ' ' and kindred topics, in- cluding illustrative examples furnished by himself. He was a professional teacher of music before entering the ministry so that he has technical knowledge as well as natural gifts. He is now much in demand, as may be imagined, and having heard him several times I was greatly pleased with him. This spring he took a flying trip through the States and Canada, and was persuaded to give lectures to several audiences with much approba- tion. I shall never forget the fine effect of a visit I paid in his company to an old lady nursing a broken leg. She was bemoaning her luck a little when quietly, without any warning, Mr. Robertson commenced to sing ** Count Your Blessings." It was so timely and so appropriate, and seemed so fresh and soothing com- pared to the ordinary hackneyed prayer that I wish it were more common. I was not surprised to learn after that he was often invited back to sing again. It gave me a new idea of *'the ministry of song." Mr. Nelson, after we had a look through his Art Gal- leries, took me to his home and showed me more fine violins in one room than I had ever seen before. I am afraid to say how many were Cremonas, but as the owner is a member of Edinburgh's Millionaire String Quartette it may be believed that he can have the best obtainable where his tastes incline. He has one of the finest musical libraries to be seen anywhere. When I first met Mr. Nelson he was decorating a fine picture ODDS AND ENDS OF EDINBUBOH. 273 with a gold border,— ** gilding refined goW it seemed to me ; and reading my thoughts, I fancy, he explained that a friend of his had admired a copy of the picture in his home. He concluded to present his friend with a duplicate, and make it better than his own picture to prevent any possibility of envy I Was not that a clever way to enhance the pleasure of the donor as well as of the donee T The Museum of all others that most took my fancy was the fine building and collections originally owned by the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, but handed over by them to the Scottish nation. In ancient archaeological and historical memorials of Scotland it is without an equal, and is constantly being augmented and enriched in every department. Not a district but has sent its quota of prehistoric treasures, and what a variety may be seen! Implements of the rough stone and smooth stone age; flint arrow-heads; axes, ham- mers, querns, coffins and urns. Coming to later times, bronze implements and ornaments; trinkets of gold, silver, amber, jet and glass; pottery, altars and in- scribed tablets of Roman days ; arms and armor ; bells, crucifixes, reliquaries; musical instruments, watches, clocks, seals, stamps, charms, amulets, coins, medals, tobacco pipes, snuflF-boxes are to be seen in bewilder- ing profusion. The gruesome relics of punishment and torture spoke volumes. Here were to be seen **The Maiden ' ' that chopped oflf the heads of Regent Morton, Sir John Gordon of Haddo, the Marquess of Argyll and The Earl of Argyll; ''The Stocks'* from Old Canon- gate Tolbooth ; a brass collar inscribed * ' Alexr. Stewart, found guilty of death for theft at Perth the 5th of December, 1701, and gifted by the Justiciars as a per- petual servant to Sir John Areskin of Alva"; hand- cuffs, *' gauds," girdles, fetterlocks, repentance stool, sackcloth gown, jougs, thumb-screws, gags, manacles. 274 HEBE AND THEBE IN TWO HEMISPHEBES. mantraps, flagella of iron wire, belts of penance, **life preservers" (ironical indeed) and spiked collars of varied designs. Among articles of dress and ornament were Queen Mary's gloves, ribbons that had belonged to Prince Charlie, brooches that were unquestionably worn by Viking beauties,* Celtic collars that Druid priests had owned, Boman armlets of gold and silver that may have seen the Emperor Claudius, and bone combs that decorated the coarse hair of aboriginal Scottish belles. The Department of manuscripts, etc., showed good specimens of Scottish royalty, men of letters, and historical characters. A curious original poster was **The Declaration of a poore, wasted, mis- represented Remnant of the suflfering, Anti-Popish, Anti-Prelatick, Anti-Erastian, Anti-Sectarian true Presbyterian Church of Christ in Scotland, ' ' etc. The letters of Paul Jones, Bums, Scott, Hogg, Hume, Wilkie and David Livingstone are worth examining carefully. In fact the whole repository should not be missed by any one who visits Edinburgh. It is the finest collection of Scottish odds and ends extant. A word must be given to Holyrood Palace which is in point of popular interest second only to the castle. The palace is on the site of King David's Abbey— the Chapel of the Holy Rood erected by him in gratitude for some fancied, miraculous deliverance. The first palace was erected in the time of James IV. It has been partially destroyed frequently, but through all its vicissitudes has some time or other been occupied by the reigning sovereign. Queen Victoria lodged in it more than once, and only the other day King Edward and his consort held court at ancient Holyrood. Every ♦Mr. Wm. Dey, of Lumsden, very kindly presented me with two silver Viking plaid pins, ornamented with cairngorms. They were not original brooches, but fine duplicates, and their value enhanced to me because made in Lumsden from true patterns, under the supervision of the late James Smith, watchmaker and jeweler. iLdest duighUr ol John Wuis, 5r. and Anne de Lancer, Counlsis troni portrotl in Coliean Caslle. Scotland. Ih S«p«mber 1 7** in New York. Died a9th December 1 793. li Buried in Holy Rood Abbey. Edinbureh, Scotland, ODDS AND ENDS OF EDINBURGH. 275 visitor knows about the Bizzio tragedy, and whatever else is seen no one leaves without looking up Queen Mary's apartments, including the spot still marked by the heart's blood of the i)oor murdered Italian. In the Chapel Royal, near the graves of the Stuart Kings, is the tomb of Ann Watts, Countess of Cassilis. This is a most distinguished honor to an American lady. She was the daughter of Hon. John Watts I. of New York, and was bom there on September 20, 1744. Mr. Watts lived at No. 3 Broadway, New York City, and next door to him resided Archibald Kennedy, who was then a captain in the British Navy, with a distin- guished record. He became eleventh Earl of Cassilis. The Kennedys still retain the title and the head of the family is now a Marquess (of Ailsa) with seats at Cassilis House and Culzean Castle. General John Watts de Peyster of New York City, is the oldest living American relative, and the head of the United States branch of the family. THE HOMES OF JOHN KNOX AND JOHN WESLEY. Two great Reformers in their day, Raised up, it seemed, by special grace; Yet only made of common clay, Like all the sons of Adam's race. John Knox's house projects so prominently into the Hight Street of Edinburgh that even a stranger could not miss it. Fairly emblematic is it of the good man himself, who loomed up big in Scotland's history and made a strong impression on his contemporaries in the three departments of church, state and education. But just as there are people who doubt Ejiox's usefulness so are there those to be found who deny that the great reformer ever lived in the picturesque looking structure that unvarying tradition has assigned as ** Knox's House." The same doubts exist as to Shakespeare's birthplace. When I was in Scotland I came across a learned article that almost ridicules the Henley street claim out of court, and I must say makes a strong assault on the pretensions of its former owners. These shrines occupy a position in space similar to many of our heroes in time. They embody the feeling, the atmos- phere, and the surroundings of the period, and also, like some of the pleasant myths in our ballad literature, for instance, may be accepted as true in spirit if not in letter ; in structural harmony and even technical detail, if not the actualities themselves. The John Knox house is undoubtedly one of the old- est structures in Edinburgh, and goes back at least as far as the sixteenth century. In 1525 it was owned by a John Arres, whose daughter Mariot was married to James Mossman, a goldsmith. A tablet may be seen 276 ^ HOMES OF KNOX AND WESLEY. 277 on the west wall of the house with the letters I. M. and M. A. and the Mossman arms. To-day the Mossmans follow the same business in Edinburgh, and I believe there are other instances of families there that retain trades handed down for several centuries from father to son. The antique gabled architecture of Ejiox's house with its heraldic decorations and inscriptions fit in well with its traditionary history; and the rooms as now shown to the public bring us very near to the great re- former. The ground floor is occupied by Mr. Hay, a leading dealer in books and antiquities. The first floor is reached by an outside stair, and the ' * audience cham- ber" should be first examined. The window of it has been called **The Preaching Window** on the supposi- tion that Knox used it occasionally as his pulpit. The room is well stocked with editions ^of Knox's works, pic- tures of places associated with him, including fac- similes of letters and other documents in his hand- writing. There are also Knox sayings painted on the walls, such as : * * I am in the place where I am demanded of my con- science to speak the truth. Therefore the truth I speak, impugn it whoso list." In the passage leading to the back room are specimens of the coins in use in Scotland in Kiiox's time. The back room itself also contains more pictures, portraits and fac-similes, with Carlyle's tribute to Knox. The front room is well filled with pictures and books— the three rooms on this floor con- taining a fine collection of portraits of prominent people of all countries in any way connected with Knox. On the second floor we find Knox's bedroom, dining room and study. Some pictures are to be seen painted on the woodwork after the fashion of the time. The little study has a fireplace lined with old Dutch tiles, and a cupboard or book-case recess. In the Antiquarian 278 HEBE AND THERE IN TWO HEMISPHERES. Museum Knox's pulpit is shown— that is, the one ''said to have been used by him. ' ' His grave is marked by a small flat stone on the pavement to the south of St. Giles Church with the simple inscription * ' I.K., 1572, ' ' in brass. Miss Stocks, the custodian of the John Knox house until her death early this year, showed me around the place in an intelligent style, and with a good deal of the ''protesting" spirit. She did not hesitate to ex- press her opinion on the "characters" we discussed. While I am vexed at lots of things that seem to be true about Mary Queen of Scots I am not yet ready to desert her, or believe she was the very wicked woman that some historians have pictured. Miss Stocks viewed Queen Mary ' ' with suspicion, ' ' and at least set me to re- reading the history of the times. John Kiiox was bom near Haddington in 1505. His mother's name was Sinclair, and in times of peril he went under the name of "John Sinclair." He at- tended the University of Glasgow, and was a Roman Catholic Priest until, at the age of forty, when he be- came an adherent of the Reformed Faith, attaching him- self to George Wishart, who suffered martyrdom in 1546. In 1547 Kiiox was made a prisoner by the French at the siege of St. Andrew's Castle, and for nineteen months was a galley slave, chained to the oar with other Scotch Protestants, in the Notre Dame galley ! He was then in his forty-third year, with all his great, telling work before him. Edward VI. of England interceded for him and secured his release. Knox preached at various places in England and Scotland, but on account of Catholic persecution had to flee to the continent in 1554. There he became intimate with Beza and Cal- vin. In 1555 he was back in Scotland. He married Marjorie Bowes in 1556— thus taking his first wife when he was fifty-one years of age and at least a dozen years HOMES OF KNOX AND WESLEY. 279 after he left the Church of Rome. He see-sawed be- tween Scotland and Geneva for the next three years and in Edinburgh was burned in effigy as a heretic, 1557. In 1559 he was elected minister of Edinburgh and finally settled there in 1560. He helped the Scottish Parliament to abolish the jurisdiction of the Pope in Scotland ; had his famous interviews with Queen Mary, and was tried for high treason and acquitted in spite of the Queen's angry protest. His first wife died in 1560 and he married, at the age of fifty-nine, a young lass of seventeen. In 1567 he preached at the opening of Parliament and had the satisfaction of hearing the Reformed Church declared to be the only church of the realm. He was stricken with apoplexy in 1570, preached for the last time in St. Giles at the induction of his successor (James Lawson, of Aberdeen), and died November 24, 1572, at the age of sixty-seven. John Knox, as much perhaps as any single man, made Scotland great. He was a republican as well as a free- thinker; or better perhaps say— a reformer in matters of state as well as in matters of religion ; and above all else he believed in Education. The divine right of kings gave him little concern, and his boldness in dealing with Queen Mary and her courtiers was as refreshing as it was beneficial to his country. His active, eventful career was well supplemented by a powerful pen. Among the curious things of his life we note that he enjoyed his glass of wine, that he called his wife his **left hand"— (the wife Calvin spoke of as ''sweetest spouse") ; he complimented Queen Mary for her ''pleas- ing face," and she presented him with a watch at his second marriage. He brought home his bride riding— "with a great court on a trim gelding with his bands of taflfetie fastened with golden rings and precious stones"; his pulpit style was vigorous— "he dung the Bible into blauds ' ' ; and he was called by some of the 280 HEBE AND THEBE IK TWO HEMISPHEBES. Jesuitical brothers *'a crafty little fox." John Ejiox's best epitaph was pronounced by the Earl of Morton— * * Here he lies who never feared the face of man. ' ' John Wesley's house is on City Boad, London, oppo- site Bunhill Burying Ground. It put me very much in mind of John Knox 's house, although Wesley 's house is a modem building in comparison. Wesley relics are everywhere— books, portraits, letters, medallions, etc. Wesley's desk is shown with a secret drawer that some- how suggested his tartar of a wife. Wesley's married career was a nightmare. He had trifled with the ajffec- tions of many good women and in the end was caught by a lady that paid him back with compound interest. She did not even hesitate to lay violent hands on him, and authentic accounts are in existence describing the venerable founder of the Methodist Church cowering on the floor with Mrs. Wesley ramping over him brand- ishing handfuls of the white hair she had plucked from her helpmate's head. Wesley must have felt he de- served it or otherwise he was as insane as she was, not to have had her confined in a madhouse. There was no evidence of John Knox Bordeaux wine in the Wesley House, but a colossal teapot that had belonged to the Wesleys proved their fondness for the cheering bever- age. It was a white china pot with blue decorations. On one side was marked : <( Be present at our Table, Lord, Be here and everywhere ador'd; These creatures bless and grant that we May feast in Paradise with Thee." On the reverse : "We thank Thee, Lord, for this our food But more because of Jesu's blood: Let manna to our souls be given The bread of Life sent down from Heaven." HOMES OF KNOX AND WESI^EY. 281 Innumerable little books and ** keepsakes" that Wes- ley had presented to different women were collected and displayed around, and if Mrs. Wesley had ever seen as many trophies at one time, instead of a few locks of hair I believe her spouse 's whole head would have been sacrificed. Wesley's study or praying-closet was a small chamber, with hardly room for a table. John Wesley was born two hundred years ago, and after wandering about in two hemispheres settled in London. His chapel— also worth visiting— is next door to his house and his grave is behind the chapel. He was a Church of England man, took up for a time with the Moravians, and after saying the Methodists should never leave the Church of England left it to become the leader of his own Wesleyan movement. He wrote lots of hymns, including some good ones, and his prose writings are a library in themselves. His ** Journal'* deserves to be better known than it is. Once he pub- lished a dictionary of only one hundred pages in the preface of which he says **Many are the mistakes in all others, whereas I can truly say I know of none in this." It is about the poorest of his literary efforts. His life is so full of inconsistencies and contradictions, with occasional lapses from good conduct, the most charitable view to take of him is that he was as mad as the bulk of our great geniuses. But don't ordinary people suffer from the same affliction T I am inclined to think with the poet: **We're a' some crackit, fore or aft; Some tempered hard— some tempered saft; Some wrang in woof and some in waft; In some degree Somewhere, on some occasion, daft Baith big and wee!" GO AHEAD GLASGOW. It's Bailie Nicol Jarvie'a toun And still his wraith, they say, is seen As big as life stravaigin roun' The classic haunts by Glasgow Green. Unless gifted with prophetic vision neither St. Mungo nor Kentigem ever dreamed of the great city of Glas- gow that has grown up on the site of their little vil- lage of *'Cleschu," established about 550 A. D., on the Molendinar Bum. Greater Glasgow now has a popula- tion of over a million, making it the second city of the Empire, and for push and hustle strikes a traveller as being far ahead even of London. No American can be long in Great Britain without deciding that Glasgow is the town that most of all resembles his own cities, and Americans who keep posted in the world's work, even if they have not crossed the sea, know that the best governed municipality anywhere is this same Glasgow. Here, then, are two ideals united that are scarce enough to be called rare-good individual progress and honest with able civic government. No wonder Glasgow flourishes and forges ahead with leaps and bounds ! We have the one valuable quality in the States, but the other we have not yet insisted on, so that our advance in the face of such a handicap as a refractory, vicious, ''balky'' running mate is most encouraging, as it shows what we really could do were we to have a harmonious team at our municipal chariots. The air of Glasgow must have a special tonic prop- erty, as for centuries the citizens have been particularly noted for their indomitable perseverance. When one commercial door closed they forced open another, scrup- ling not even, as in the case of the Clyde, to overturn the 282 GO AHEAD GLASGOW. 283 designs of Providence, to gain their ends. The bring- ing of their city water from far-off Loch Katrine was another stupendous feat. Often a small circumstance will bring a big thing vividly before us, and I have sev- eral times thought of the Glasgow wooing of the * * Lady of the Lake" when I took a drink of Loch Katrine water in New York City, from the tank of a Glasgow steamer. The Clyde is certainly one of the great traffic high- ways of the world and its ships sail on every sea, able to hold their own with the best of any nation. Yards and factories fringe the banks of the river for miles^ every establishment seeming to be on a gigantic scale. The big Atlantic steamers can go and come as far as Glasgow only when the tide says so, but impatient travellers can embark or disembark at Greenock, and do the balance of their journeying by train at any time. St. George's Square is a sort of civic Hall of Fame, statues being there erected to Scott, Bums, Watt, Sir John Moore, Lord Clyde, Thomas Campbell, Gladstone, Dr. Livingstone, Sir Eobert Peel, Thomas Graham, Queen Victoria and the Prince Consort. In other places in Glasgow are monuments to IN elson, Wellington, John Knox, Motherwell, and some more men of purely local fame. The Glasgow Cathedral has a figure of Arch- bishop Law. Glasgow is well provided with libraries —the Baillie, Stirling and Mitchell Libraries being named after their donors. Mr. Carnegie has also given handsome dona- tions for the expansion and the extension of the free library system. The Mitchell Library deserves special mention. It was founded by a tobacconist, and is par- ticularly rich in purely Scottish literature, its Scottish * ^ Poet 's Corner ' ' being without an equal anywhere for completeness and minute classification. Mr. Barrett, 284 HEBE AND THEBE IK TWO HEMISPHERES. the head librarian, has endeared himself to all students by his knowledge, his enthusiasm and his kindness. Mr. Ingram, his right-hand man, is from Banffshire, and is an authority on all matters Caledonian, having to his credit many valuable books of reference on his favorite studies. Of Mr. Ewing I have written else- where. All three gentlemen put themselves about con- siderably to show me their special treasures, and I wished I could have been around the Mitchell Library a year instead of only having the opportunity to pay it a few visits. There was not a single book I called for that I failed to see, although in more than one instance the library had the only known copy.* Several were unique enough and of such value as to be kept in the fireproof safe. The reading and writing rooms of this library were admirably adapted for their purposes, and I was pleased to observe that nearly every seat was filled whenever I was there. I happened to be in Mr. Bar- rett's room one day when Convener Fyfe called, and could see that as a Councillor he performed his library duties in no perfunctory manner, but with a due sense of their importance to the city and to the citizens. The municipal buildmgs occupy the whole east side of George's Square, and are crowned by a tower that must be about 240 feet in height. The staircases are very fine, and the balustrades and panels of veined *One of the rarest books of Doric verse, strangely enough,' is the work of a Cabrach writer well known to Rhynie and district at one time, viz., Mr. Charles Mitchell, formerly of Bridgend and now of Duff- town. I had a«ked for it in vain when in the North. Several parties promised to get "copies" for me, but not one materialized. One man even said Charlie himself would write out the whole of it for me if he knew I cared for it! — but I said I expected to see it in Glasgow — and I did in the Mitchell collection. It is poor stuff in one way, yet valuable in another. I may over-estimate " localism " in books, and give undue value to " personalities," but I am so constituted that both qualities (or "accidents" if you will) always appeal to me strongly, and C. M. furnishes many choice examples of both. k. GO AHEAD GLASGOW. 285 marble have a rich effect. The present Lord Provost is Sir John Ure Primrose, Baronet. I had the honor of an informal lunch with him when he was Provost- elect, and saw him again when he was in office. His high title has come to him within the past few months, and gave immense satisfaction to Glasgow, where he is beloved by all classes, as well as honored with the chief office in the gift of the city. Sir John is now *Hhe pride and primrose of his line" and in a fair way to found another lordly family, by and by to rival the Laird of Dalmeny's. Once in Chicago I met the Glasgow Exhibition Com- missioners on tour in the interests of their big show. In the party, that I remember, were Messrs. Crawford, Mason and Simons— all city fathers, and Mr. J. Murray Smith, who controls one of the powerful editorial pens of Glasgow. It was like a breeze from off the heather to me, and Scotland was well represented and strongly to the front in the Auditorium- Annex that particular Sunday. We all fore-gathered again at their club in St. Mungo's, and in such good hands I felt very much at home. It was amusing to me to be put in the position of defending American institutions, but for the sake of my adopted country I believe I was able to let the eagle scream a little without compelling the lion to roar too loudly. In the company of the leading men of the most wide-awake city in the British Isles— Glasgow baillies, nae less— soon to entertain their Sovereign and receive his substantial compliments— ma conscience! it was a prood day for me.* * It is a hard matter for me to go anjrwhere without sooner or later meeting a Glasgow City Father. The other day on Sir Thomas Lipton's yacht, " The Erin," while I knew that the genial host was a Glasgow Scot — and neither an "English Knight" nor a "native Irishman/' as has been so often claimed — I did not expect to meet any of his fellow- citizens on the waters of NeW York Bay, off Sandy Hook. But behold 1 20 286 HEBE AND THEBE IN TWO HEMISPHEBES. Then out to ^^ Kelvin Grove, bonnie lassie, 0 !"— to see the university and its museums, and exhibits, and meet its principal and librarians. Eev. Dr. Story gave me valuable information about the university and city coat of arms. I spent considerable time in the Hunterian Museum poking about among the coins, and Boman re- mains. Also remember seeing the steam-engine model that belonged to James Watt, and many other curious and important items. Glasgow is finely provided with transit facilities from surface electric cars to underground trains. In the Subway, or Underground Boad you get your ticket at a wicket, put yourself in the slot, and like a ball are shot, until out you pop once more on top, on another part of the city's chart, and in such a jiffey that unless a **diffy"* you must confess, while your breath you catch, a rare Express is the * * Sub Despatch. ' ' The railway stations and the streets and stores seem crowded always. The people are on the go all the time, and only on a Saturday night is any disorder to be seen. Then it is bad enough to make up for six sober days, the most disappointing feature being considerable intoxica- tion among the young. It is a most difficult problem to cope with, and the only way I could see to lessen the evil would be for the city to shut up tight all the saloons and public houses at noon on Saturday; but I suppose such an idea is out of the question. Many who drink to excess would not bother getting stimulants if legal barriers were put in the way. I believe in this as in many other things lots of people would be **good" or *^bad" according to their associates and opportunities. the first man I encountered was Bailie Walter Wilson of the "CoUos- seum/' and right worthily did he grace his place and position, and uphold the credit of the premier city of Scotland. * This word I heard expounded at Skibo Castle by Mr. Carnegie, who said it was in common use about Pittsburg, and was applied to any one more than ordinarily stupid. W GO AHEAD OLASOOW. 287 This does not argue much backbone, but it shows the known power of environment, and the general human tendency to follow the crowd.* Glasgow leads all cities I know in the matter of popu- lar amusements. The city has a permanent entertain- ment bureau in charge of a competent man who does nothing but book talent and arrange progranmies for first-class concerts at nominal prices. The best artists of all kinds have appeared in the St. Andrew's Halls, and the audiences are always big. Other Scotch towns I know have this conmiendable feature— Aberdeen notably so. Edinburgh leans more to Philosophical lectures. The English **Pops" have been famous for decades, and, thanks to the generosity of Sir John Leng, Dundee has developed much interest in Scottish lyrics, but Glasgow seems to be in a class by itself and especially with its Saturday concerts. It is a civic feature well worth copying in America. Glasgow also excels in the quantity and quality of her tea-rooms. Everybody there drinks tea and it is surely an excellent substitute for the cup that cheers and inebriates. For a few pennies one can have a nice light lunch, daintily served, with a wide range of biscuits, crumpets, cakes, scones, etc., golden butter and delicious, fresh preserves, with tea unsurpassed by the finest brews that ever inspired Cowper or Dr. Johnson. Why, I wonder, is tea so neglected by Americans T The * Apropos of drinking, and the most common Scottish toast, my little daughter Evelyn (not quite three) just brought me upstairs "a glass of lemonade." After thanking her, in fun I said: "Here's to you! " and she instantly retorted : " But ye're takin' 't to yersel' Papa ! " How fair a remark, and as good a criticism as the saying of the traveler in Scotland who observed that "Glenlivet" should really be named " Glen-tak'-it," if a brand with the true meaning were desired! Of course the Scotch " Here's to you " really means ** Here is health and happiness and all success to you as I drink." The improved version is: " Here's till us ! Wha's like us T " and the response should always "Very few." 288 HEBE AND THEBE IK TWO HEMISPHEBES. best to be had at the best hotels is little better than slop, — **dish-water"--aiid this seems so strange for a nation that can beat the French on coffee, and the world on cocoa and chocolate.* Just as London has its noted ^^ Bridge/' so Glasgow has its ^^Broomielaw" famed in song and story, and perhaps representing the high-water mark of traffic on the banks of the Clyde. Here people from all nations meet and pass, bringing the uttermost ends of the earth often together. America seems separated only by a short ferry-ride, and many Glasgowegians think no more of going to the Continent than of taking a trip **doon the watter." Among particularly interesting features to me I must say a word about the Glasgow bookshops, new and old. They compare favorably with the best anywhere. The old book stalls are many, and will well repay a leisure hour. If prices seem stiff it is because the goods are uncommon and of high quality. Among publishers Bryce & Co. deserve special mention for their unique library of the smallest books in the world, and their magnificent plates of Highlanders in costume, historic- ally exact and correctly colored. The roll of Clydeside literateurs is by no means a small one— living as well as gone before. I had the * I know a Lancaster gentleman , othervdae without an equal as a judge and provider of ** the good things of life," who insists on boiling tea before serving it ! But apart from the " masking " of it, I do not believe the best brands of tea touch America, unless in quantities so limited as not to reach the masses. As to cocoa, we have in our city of Lancaster the magnificent Hershey plant — soon to be removed — after the English style of Fry's and Epp's — ^to its own model town near the Old Don^al Church in Dauphin County. Our big caramel factory, also originated by the same genius, sends its products all over the world. In my own little village of Lumsden, Scotland, it was very interesting to me to find out last summer that the " sweeties " my bairns occasionally bought were manufactured on the banks of the Conestoga, thus bringing together again native products and native consumers, after a thousand leagues' journeying across the sea. GO AHEAD GLASGOW. 289 pleasure of meeting many able writers in my short stay, and to show that the extemporaneous muse still haunted the banks of Clutha I was not allowed to leave the city without a poetical greeting. I was also favored with a membership by the Glasgow Ballad Club, an organiza- tion devoted to the study, production and publication of lyric poetry, and I value the honor as highly as if I had been complimented with a burgess ticket and given the freedom of the city. **Lot Glasgow FloxjbishI** A LOOK AT LESMAHAGOW.^ Old King Coal, the jolly old soul, How once he made the day go My Langyard sides and Muttonhole, And the braes o' Lesmahagow ! But his cannel noo burns low and pale, And green as Tursilago Are the bonny fields o' Douglasdale Aroun' by Lesmahagow! A good friend of mine in Lancaster has been plagu- ing me so long about seeing a little Scotch village, named Lesmahagow, that to-day I made up my mind to pay the place a visit. It was not the best season of the year to make a trip into the country, but I was glad on this particular morning to get away from the Glasgow fog. At eleven o 'clock in the forenoon it was still dark, all the city lamps were lighted, and the shops fairly ablaze in a vain attempt to frighten away the all-enveloping mist. Street cars, wagons and pedes- trians moved cautiously, and the trains lost ground everywhere on account of their slackened speed. Oc- casionally the sun could be seen tumbling among the clouds like a great big orange. Glasgow seemed to be on a sphere by itself, cut off from the rest of the world. After my train got fairly away from the city line, however, the dark pall lifted, and by the time Lesma- hagowf was reached it was both clear and pleasant, although very cold. On the way out to this wonderful village I passed through Blantyre, noted for its old Priory and forever famous as the birthplace of David * [This was written from Glasgow, December 8, 1902, and addressed to Editor James D. Landis of The New Era. For the sake of variety I have reprinted it pretty much as it originally appeared.] t SmoUet in his " Humphrey Clinker," has drawn a Scotch character under the name of " Captain Lismahagow " that is worthy of Cervantes. 290 A LOOK AT LESMAHAGOW. 291 Livingstone, Christian missionary and empire builder ; quite close to Bothwell Bridge, one of the important battle-fields of Scotland, with *^ Wallace's Beef-Bar- rel,'' and Old and New Douglas Castles in the neigh- borhood; through Hamilton, the home of one of the best Scottish provincial newspapers,* and also boasting of its Palace, the principal residence of the Duke of Hamilton and Brandon, with a gorgeous mausoleum on the grounds that alone cost $650,000, while not far oflf is Cadzow Castle, of ballad fame, and in the sur- rounding woods may be seen a herd of Scotland's aboriginal breed of wild cattle ; by Tillietudlem Castle, well known to readers of Walter Scott; and near to Kerse, where some of the choicest Bums manuscripts in Scotland are preserved, and where, too, many of the most unique ones were destroyed. MiNEB Folk. The railway carriage also was not without incident. The district is profusely dotted with coal mines, and the miners and their families were coming and going from station to station. One group particularly in- terested me —a miner, his wife with a baby in her arms, and a boy five years of age. It was not a smoking carriage, but the youngster led the way puffing at a cigarette almost as long as his face. I asked how old he was, and the mother and father, after some wrang- ling, decided that * ^ by this time next month all but two days he would be five." Then I said, *^Is it custom- ary for children of his age to smoke T^ **0h, ay, if they can get the stumps. ' ^ * ^ Ye see, ' ' said the mother, 'Hhey begin by gettin^ the pickups i' the street. Wee Johnny has f and that in the gutter. " * * No, I didna, * * said the boy, triumphantly producing a package almost intact, ^ * I bocht them. ^ ' The father put in a word then and ordered the boy to stop, which he reluctantly did, • " The Hamilton Advertiser." 292 HEBE AND THERE IN TWO HEMISPHERES. carefully saving the unused part of his cigarette. After a bit, he asked his mother for a ** hair-preen, ^ ' and then slipping over beside his father, abstracted a clay pipe from his pocket, and commenced to clean it out with the hair-pin preparatory to refilling it with cigarettes. But he was caught in time, and before I could see the next move they had reached their station and passed out into the street. In discussing the mat- ter with others I was told that the mining boys thought it ^^baimly^' to eat '* sweeties," and substituted cigar- ettes and pipes for candy at a very early age. But this was not at Lesmahagow, only on the way to it. A Bit op Gkx)D Fortune. The first and only bump I got on reaching the end of my ticket was to find that my destination was a mile and a-half from the station. However, a 'bus was in waiting, and for a small charge I was soon whirled to the Royal Hotel, in Abbey Green. Sitting next to me in the conveyance was a most intelligent gentleman, who took special pains in answering all the questions I put in regard to the place, its people, and its history. He turned out to be Mr. Francis Brown, a kinsman of my Lancaster friend, and on learning that I was from Lancaster, Pa., U. S. A., and had only a few hours to give to Lesmahagow, he, most kindly, took me in charge, and did not leave me until he said good-bye at the train. It was a special case of excellent luck, as in all the village there was no better man to show a stranger around, except, perhaps, the noted John H. Tudhope, local antiquarian, book-lover and curio-col- lector, now, however, over eighty, and confined to his room. Mr. Brown told me his programme for the day called for his going home by a later train, and if some unforeseen influence had not brought him from Glasgow when it did I should have missed much of A LOOK AT LESMAHAQOW. 293 interest on my brief visit, a clear case, for once, of something coming to those who did not wait Mr. Brown is himself something of **a character/' He is in the boot and shoe business, but well able to retire from trade any day he pleases. He says he is not known to any one as ^^Mr.'^ Brown, but simply * * Francie, ' ' and told me a good story in proof of this. Prior to a summer vacation he ordered a special cap made for himself at a Glasgow shop, and left his ad- dress and ** tuppence '' to pay for posting the bonnet. Weeks passed and no parcel was received. So one day *' Francie '' was in town he called at the tailor's and asked why they had failed to send his cap. **0h," they said, **you only gave us the address * Francis Brown, Lesmahagow,' and we were afraid to risk it, as the direction was too vague. " * * Let me tell you, ' ' thundered Mr. Brown, * 4f ye had jist pit on * Francie, Lesmahagow,' it would hae gotten me a' richt, but I'll tak' it wi' me, and ye can gie me the tippence I left wi ' ye for the postage ! " * * Remember I 'm something 0 ' a character oot there ! ' ' On Consecrated Ground. Lesmahagow is situated in a hollow, and, with only a population of 1,700, has no less than thirteen roads leading into it. Until recent years the finest gas coal in Scotland came from this locality, and to this day all cannel coal is rated according to the Lesmahagow standard. In summer it must be a pretty place, with its nearby braes and woods and green fields, and the sparkling Nethanbum wimpling through the centre of the vale.* The monks of old never selected poor sites for their settlements, and Lesmahagow was no excep- * Lockhart has told us in his ** Life of Scott/' how pleased the g^eat Sir Walter was with the scenery around Lesmahagow, and mentions particularly a drive they took there together during the last illness of the poet. 294 HEBE AND THERE IN TWO HEMISPHERES. tion to the rule. The village of Abbey Green, where my Lancaster friend was bom, is entirely located on consecrated ground. All beyond it was in ^*the world," and a place was pointed out on the edge of the village still known as '*The World's End." This in itself sounded quite Lancastrian, as some of us at home divide the sheep from the goats very plainly in advance of the final Day of Judgment. The old church at Abbey Green was founded by King David L, A. D. 1140, and was one of three places in Scotland known as * * Houses of Bef uge. ' ' When a fugitive reached its sanctuary no harm could overtake him, as no power could dislodge him. In later times the parish became famous for the number of adherents it gave to the Covenanting cause. The diligent and scholarly John B. Dalzell* has compiled a list of no less than two hun- dred Covenanters who came from this district. Many of the martyrs rest in the parish graveyard, which also has a goodly share of quaint and curious headstones and epitaphs. A big mausoleum is shown that con- tains three bodies, and after the last was deposited, in accordance with the will of the builder, the door was locked, and the key flung inside the vault ^^to make sure that the inmates would rest in peace until the judgment day!" One small monument shows in bas- relief a fair representation of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, with the devil getting in his fine work near an apple tree. A blacksmith's grave is shown, with the well-known verse: **My sledge and hammer lie reclined, My bellows, too, have lost their wind,'' etc. *Mr. D. has prepared a whole library of books and records relating to his family name, and embracing every Dalzell of note locally or nationally or universally. Such a complete collection as his "Dalzel- liana" is not eclipsed by any other name-historian anywhere. To test its practical value I looked up the references to Congressman Dalzell of Pittsburg and found enough matter about him to fill out a good-sized biography — and all brought up to date. k. A LOOK AT LESMAHAQOW. 295 A little headstone reads : **Shall We All Die! We Shall Die All. All Die Shall We. Die All We Shall." Peruse it up or down or any way across, the results are the same. It marks the grave of one Thomas Barr. One op Dalzell's Stories. That reminds me of one of Dalzell's Lesmahagow stories. A half-witted but clever fellow named Barr, who lived here, was a little too fond of the bottle. As he came staggering down the street one day he saw the Parish Minister coming towards him and timing his steps to meet Barr in front of a crowd. As he passed, the parson wishing to administer a rebuke, shook his head and said, loud enough for the crowd to hear: ^^Ay Ay, Barr, drunk, as usual." Quick as a flash Barr blurted out, **I'm the same myseP, sir I" And as he passed the boys he said in an audible whis- per, "I'm fhinkin' the minister got more than he was lookin' for that time!*' Scotch Humob. Of the same type is the anecdote about the Lesma- hagow barber and his minister of still another denom- ination. The **skin scraper" was *^gey drouthie" and one morning in shaving the minister no little blood was spilled on account of the nervousness of the tonsorial artist. As the reverend gentleman surveyed the dam- age in the mirror he said, **Ah, Sandy, the drink's a terrible thing." **Ay, minister," said the unabashed Saunders, ^^it's inclined to mak' the skin unco ten- der!" 296 HEBE AND THEBE IK TWO HEMISPHERES. Another tit-bit I had was about the Free Kirk Min- ister. He could not get along with his female servants, and at last his help had dwindled down to a half -daft lass whose quarrels with him were quite frequent. One morning the minister felt it was time to assert him- self, and he rebuked Janet for her want of reverence in talking as she did to * ^ a servant of the Lord. " * * A bonny servant, indeed," she said; *4f the Lord kent ye as weel as I kent ye, he wadna think muckle o ' ye ! ' ' And for dry, pawky humor, this would be hard to beat: The Laird had been sick, and when the doctor called one morning he said to Tammas, the faithful servant: **The minister's temperature will not be so high to-day, Thomas I'' ^*Ah, weel," said Tammas, **I'm nae sae sure about that. ... He dee^d last nicht!" Literary Treasures. In my walks around the village I saw that the old parish school was now used as a carpenter's shop, and the free church school subdivided into dwelling houses. There is a splendid pubUc park, and a bowling green, and a curling pond for the use of the villagers. Sev- eral crack curlers reside here and were offered the chance to go to Canada as picked men from Scotland to defend her laurels in the national winter game. The boys and girls have no end of fine skating on the dam- back, or coasting on a * * stob " or * * a curl " * * doon the braes. ' ' One of the best treats I had was a brief visit I paid to old John Tudhope, aforementioned. The veteran is surrounded by treasures that any museum would be proud to own. Among his books are beauti- ful copies of Laud's liturgy (the 1637 Book of Com- mon Prayer attempted to be read in St. Giles' Cathe- dral, Edinburgh, but forever silenced by Jenny Ged- des, when she made her stool fly past the prelate 's head for ^^dauring to say mass at her lug") ; the Psalms of w A LOOK AT LESMAHAQOW. 297 1636, translated by King James VI. and I. ;• and sev- eral MS. volumes of sermons and lectures of the period of 1680 to 1720. He also has swords of the Covenant- ers and swords used at Culloden; some with remark- ably artistic basket hilts. These are considered so fine that they have been photographed and described in the best books on Scottish art. In his old days John has taken to collecting book-plates, and has sev- eral hundred rare examples, drawn from many coun- tries. He thought he could show us at least one book I had never seen when he produced the ** Annals of Lesmahagow, ' ^ but, thanks to my Lancaster friend, I was quite familiar with it, greatly to old Tudhope's surprise, t, A Lancastrian's Birthplace. One of the last visits I paid was to the house where our Lancaster Lesmahagowegian was bom. The pres- ent tenant told me it belonged to the ^ ^ Laird of Pease- hill," and very kindly showed me the room where he first saw the light. His present address in America is East Orange street, and Centre Square, in your own city. The buildings are of substantial stone, and, with many more in the district, are enduring monuments to his father, who was by trade a master builder and con- tractor, and of no little importance in the community. Lesmahagow is only sixteen miles distant from Muir- kirk and other important districts of the Bums coun- try. So far as I know, it has produced no poet, J but * Doubtless Sir Wm. Alexander had as must to do with them as the Royal Rhetorician. While King James lived his personal versions had to be given the preference, but after his death King Charles gave Alexander freer scope and in the final revision it is seen that great changes were made on what originally appeared as the King's. t Since this was written, Mr. Tudhope has gone to his long home. X Before leaving Glasgow I was fortunate enough to pick up a little volume of Rural Rhymes by W. Stewart of Larkhall (formerly Laver- ockha), full of delicious Doric and many local allusions. It was a weel wared "tippence." 298 HEBE AND THEBE IN TWO HEMISPHEBES. it has to its credit a scholar who captured more honors, degrees, diplomas and licenses from Glasgow Univer- sity than any other student in any university in all Scotland, before or after his time. This was the Rev. Dr. James Dalzell, a successful African missionary, whose untimely death last year will long be sincerely mourned. He was a typical Scotch scholar, and fitted himself for his career while managing his shop in the village. His father was the inventor of the first or second bicycle,* which was also bom in this village. I had the pleasure of seeing the old bone-shaker, which was suggested by the spinning-wheel, and has finally ** evolved'^ to the wonderful ** safety'' of to-day. The Stbenuous Life Not Known. The Lesmahagow people take things easily— there is plenty of time. A four-and-a-half-mile railroad has been in course of construction for over four years, and there is much yet to do on it There is no hurry. No one frets about piling up a colossal fortune, and dying with nothing but money, which must be left behind. They rather believe in plain living and high thinking. Simplicity is their motto, and much of the peaceful spirit of the old monks of Abbey Green still pervades the valley. But whenever there is anything worth fighting for the people of Lesmahagow yield to none. They will sacrifice even life for their principles, and have done so over and over again in no stinted quan- tity and without looking for either credit or applause. It is from such a race, grounded in good Northern stock, that my Lancaster friend has come. He has the Covenanting blood in his veins, and his family tree has more than one prolific branch famous in the annals of Church and of State. Need I say that I refer to Mr. * Macmillan of Dumfries is the other claimant, so in any event the honor belongs to Scotland. A LOOK AT LE8MAHAG0W. 299 James Shand, of the New York Store? His name had only to be mentioned in Lesmahagow to find all doors open and everywhere a warm welcome. And it wonld have pleased him more than the praise for himself to have heard the respectful, the admiring and the affec- tionate tributes paid to his forbears, who sleep amongst their kith and kin in this peaceful and beautiful spot that he may ever be proud to call his birthplace. "A TRIP IN A TUB" ACBOSS THE ATLANTIC. b, why can I not grace my prosy lines With one small Bath-Tub Poem from the pen Of what's-his-name? — ^the little singing wren Who used to treat us to such monkey shines? Methinks he has abandoned all his mines, Or, haply, slipped the A88en