White Savages in Scotland.

Cromwell Argus, Volume I, Issue 7, 22 December 1869, Page 7

White Savages in Scotland.

A. curious account of tho tinkers of OiUthnew was given by Mr J. Mackie in his evidenco before the Select Committee (of the House of Commons) on Poor Law (Scotland). Ho says that as a race they are in all respects different from, and have little or nothing in common with, the inhabitants. They livo entirely by themselves, intermarry with each other, and in their- general habits and modes of life are peculiar. About twenty years ago they numbered only from twelve to fifteen, and as they wandered about through the five northern generally living in the open air, and bivouacking for a few days at a time by the borders of a moss or moor, their influence for evil was not so felt as to attract attention. Since then they have increased so rapidly as to render division necessary, and now there are hordes of them permanently attached to each county, occasionally visiting one another, .but claiming as their residences those localities where, they generally congregate. There are two colonies of them, residing on either side of Wick Bay, in natural rocky caves, looking into the sea, and so near it that one of the tribe, a woman, within a few days of her confinement, was not long ago washed away by a wave while entering the cave on the south side of the bay, and was drowned. In these caves whole families live, day and night, with no furniture, no bedding, no privacy. They herd like cattle. A fire is kindled in the centre of the cave, and around it they gather and have their orgies. Children without a rag to cover them run about tho eaves and their entrances, and when they come to town are frequently enveloped in a sack or a piece of sailcloth. Their chairs are boulders, their beds are the bare ground, and their dishes are tins made by themselves. Children are born there frequently, and morning visitors . entering suddenly have more than once found adults lying drunk and in a state of entire nudity. Girls of fourteen are frequently mothers. Not one of the hundreds that thus live in the northern counties can c&stl or write, and the entire social condition of the tinker tribe is of the most degraded character. It appears from • Mr Mackie that attempts have repeatedly been made to bring them within 1 the range of social and humanising appliances, but in vain. Tinkers' missionaries laboured for years, with no favourable result. Numerous ladies devoted themselves (and it required no ordinary courage to do so) to their benefit, but without the i,east Jj|BiL..result. When,-Occasionally, in a school-room or privateJ||||e, along with a few respectiible inhaof|ihts, to be spoken to and fed, the bulk of-; them generally came drunk, and it was impossible to keep them togeI ther. Attempts have been made to get ' them to settle down, and offers of house accommodation have been made, but only with one instance of success in the northern counties. Their source of living is threefold. The men occasionally work at making tins, which the women sell; but the main means of livelihood is in begging and plunder. The children are taught to beg and steal from earliest years, and are most importunate; and the women, who are always accompanied by several children in rags and wretchedness, are not less troublesome. Every penny they earn in labour and by begging and stealing goes for drink, and the result is that when any of them are injured in brawls, or prostrated by sickness, or become feeble by age, they are at once put on the poor-roll, and become most expensive paupers.— Pall Mall Gazelle.