SOME SCOTTISH REMINISCENCES.

Otago Witness, Issue 1851, 30 March 1904, Page 75

SOME SCOTTISH REMINISCENCES.

13*1-1846.

By W. R.

That the inhabitants of Scotland and other nations, taking each collectively, present idiosyncrasies there is no doubt, but individually the characteiiscics are not marked, as we find money-grubbers and spendthrifts, religious and profane, courageous and cowardly, clean surroundings and dirty surroundings, etc., among individuals of all nations.

In former years superstition had a firmer ihold on the people than we now find. For instance, when the little boy took down the family Bible to raise himself at the window to see a band passing, and in a few days ihe took sick and died, we were informed foy our parents that thit act was a judgment on him, and that he would have lived if he had not desecrated the Holy Bible. An old lady complained to me that she could not follow the sermon so profitably as she used to do, so the devil must have been sitting alongside her while the minister was preaching. One of the labourers of the town committed suicide. He was found strangled by a coil of rope wound round a chair. Seemingly it was a difficult feet for the man to tie himself up in this fashion, so the verdict of the townspeople was that the dsvil had helped him. 1 One of the children had been very disobedient to his parents. He was aent a message just after dark. He stated on his return that he had seen a large black bh"l fiying close to him, and was told by Ins parents that no -doubt ifc was a devil sent to warn him not to disobey his parents again. On any 3f the Presbyterian ministers visiting a family which attended church hs ■was asked by the head of the house to put np a prayer for the beneSt ot the family, the gude man imagining that a prayer from a. minister would be more effective than one from himself. They were considered to lave more divine grace than the people ; hence the respect expected to their prayer«. One of them had got into trouble with a parishioner, and asked advice from his elders. They unanimously agreed to inquire into the matter, and the verdict was, "Not proven." In the meantime he had been suspended, but after the verdict he preached and gave out this Psalm to sing : csxiv — Had not the Lord been on our side, May Israel now say; Had not the Lord been on our side, When men rose up Lo slay, etc.

I attended the service, and was sorry for the minister at the time, thinking he had been falsely accused ; bat shortly afterwards he got into a similar trouble, and the elders requested him to clear out, which he did. I was informed that he got a job to drive bullocks in Victoria, and the animals getting bogged, they were refreshed with some classical language tliey had not been accustomed to.

One -of the painters of the town who ha,d .been drinking heavily was attacked by what is termed delirium tremens. He procured the key of Lord Hopetoun's monument, and, gaining the summit, threw himself over, and of course was killed. Many of the stones that had a little of his blood on them were carried into town as mementoes of the occurrence — a morbid taste, surely. We were informed by some pious people that previous to throwing hims-elf oft' he was not prepared to die, and would surely be sent to hell ; but as the grace of God descended so swiftly, .there was .sufficient time for him to ask pardon and receive it during the time of the fall, and thus be prepared for heaven! After the fall we were reminded that unless pardoned there was no hops— "as the tree falletli so it must lie."

_To mention, any passage in the Bible frivolously, or considered to be in a frivolous manner, was regarded as a great crime. On one of the schoolboys gaining a prise he was greeted by his brother with, '"Weil done, good and faithful servant." He received a severe lesson for what was called irreverence.

The extreme reverence or respect thai many of the Scotch have for the Sabbath is the by-word of other nations, especially the English nation. To whistle 01 P in<* or crack a joke, as it is called °on that day are all highly condemned. 'A dressmaker got an order to make a dress for a lady, to be rcrdv for Sunday. She and her apprentices had to work late on the Saturday night previous. Before the dress was^finished the old grandfather's clock struck 12. "Girls, put away your work ; we cannot put in. another stitch on the Lord's Bay." "But Mrs Blank will be very angry if she does nol get her dress, and perhaps the clock is fire or ten minutes fast : Tve "will finish in that time." "I tell you 1 will not allowi it to be don&. JYe must only abide by the clockl"-

To call walking, or driving, or sailing on Sunday desecration merely raises a smile now, bub it was far from the ca»e in those days. II does not seem to occur to those who call Sunday a holy day that they are guilty of breaking one of the Commandments ; yet they are expressly told in the Commandments that the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord, and I would ask has in any part of the Bible permission been given to change the day? Christmas Day, Good Friday, or Easter were not observed at the time I write of. They came as regularly as the Sunday, but ■no notice whatever was taken of them. Two fast days were appointed by the church, to be observed as Sundays. A few went to church, but the majority of iho men folk went boating or travelling instead.

The Bible in schools was strictly adhered to. Sis or eight verses of the Psalms of David had to be committed to memory, and prayers were offered up previous to commencing the school lessons. But Sunday was the 'day that was given over to devotion. At 7 o'clock on Sunday mornings, winter and summer alike, we had to attend the elders' prayer meeting, which was held in a room adjoining the church. Then there were family prayers and reoding- part of the Bible before breakfast. After breakfast, before proceeding to church, a prayer was offered, beseeching that the members of the family should poy attention to wha.t they were about to hear in the church. We were off to church at 11, to hoar a long sermon, prayers, and singing (standing to pray and sitting to sing) ; back to dinner to listen to a grace "as lang's ma. airm" ; off to church at 2 o'clock — the same again as the morning service ; off to Sunday school at 6, a sermon not being preached this time ; then family prayers at home, and prayers before retiring" for the night. Is it any wonder that many of us were disheartened with this show of piety, and that so many Scottish people have "turned out irreligious?

In order to pay strict attention to the sermon the snuff-box was handed round Eimongst the men ; the women had smelling bottles, and the youths of both sexes were provided with lozenges, mostly sharp peppermints, and sometimes cayenne. The chemists' shops did a roaring lolly trade on Sunday mornings, as no othei shops were allowed, to be open.

Some of the elders, not quite satisfied with the work of the ministers, used to do a little that way on their own account on weekdays. One of them visited an old woman" of my acquaintance, and pur. her through, her catechism (the Shorter Catechism, which is the fetish of a good many Scotch). He told her all her righteousness was only filthy rags, when she informed him she was not aware she had done anything wrong. This elder visited the gaol, and preached to the prisoners on Sunday afternoons. The prisoners, male and female, were detained for offences such as getting drunk or using bad language. For heinous offences they were sent to Edinburgh to be tried. They were marched into one of the rooms, the women behiud a green bdizs curtain. When the eld^r was praying — of course, with his eyes shut — some of the women put their heads out of the screen and beckoned to the men, who responded". As I was asked by the elder on one occasion to accompany him, I witnessed tbe performance. The gaoler was very lenient with hi» prisoners, even allov;ing some of them to go home before their senttn.ee had expii a i. One of them did not return, and Sandy, tiie gaoler, was dlsiniss-ed. Eis next billet vras postman. He carried the letters on his shoulder in a box, and to the inquiry of every urchin who teased him by asking. "Any letters for me, Sandy?' ha answered all good-naturedly, '" Not the scrap of a pen."

On Sunday mornings ii? winter time the church was intensely cold, as no heating appliance of any kind was thought of. Ths breath concealed, and in the act of sinsrinc;

it stood out solid in the shape of a trumpet. A member of one church was askod if her meeting hou&e was. not warmed, a-s the weather vras so cold. Her reply -was, "'Oh, no, we don't require it j the grace of God keeps us warm."

On the Sunday previous to the sacrament Sunday the minister stood at tie door after the service and handed to the communicants a token for admission. This token was a small square pewter plate, with the words stamped on it, "Do this in re-

niembrance of nie." On receiving it the men bowed and the women bent their knees to Uie minister. The young people were admitted to the gallery to see the sacrament administered. I noticed one man fiom the country. He took a long drink out of the cup, wiped his mouth on the sleeve of his coat, and looked round. It was apparent that the meaning of the sacrament was a sealed book to him.

In another more fashionable church the precentor (the leader of the singing) got a few young people to assist him, and they were seated round the pulpit. In the evenings they practised a prose piece called "'The Prodigal Son." This was given with good effect on the following Sunday ; but the innovation — singing from piose and not from metre — had never before been attempted, and was too much for some of the congregation, who found fault with it. and some left the church. Of course, to have a musical instrument in the churches at the tim? of which I write ti ould have been regarded as savouring of Popery, aiid would not be thought of. There are many more Scotch experiences which I might enumerate, but perhaps I have soid enough to show hovr thoroughly many of the Scotch people engaged themselves in the matter ot religion at the period treated of. Greymouth, 'February, 1904.

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