THE AYRSHIRE SCHOOL MASTER OF A CENTURY AGO.

Otago Witness, Issue 2685, 30 August 1905, Page 81

THE AYRSHIRE SCHOOL MASTER OF A CENTURY AGO.

.In Scotland in the year 1739 "there me more than 500 schoolmasters" —wo quote from an interesting communication on the subject to the "Statistical Account"—'"on the legal estnblishm°nt, none of whom receive above £16 sterling a year, inchiduig every emolument and perquisite annexed to their efnee.' In other words, more than one-half of the paii^li schoolmasters of the period weie constantly living on the verge of "ttirvation, earning a less wage than the doy labourer with all lm broken time. The minimum salnrv could not fall below £o 12s 6tl, and, in individual ca^a-3, some of them had hardly more. On tho whole, the emoluments of the dominies in Ayrshire were probably more than the J6ICJ referred to, but at be^t they constituted overall a vretched pittance. In Biccaiton the fixed salary was but £5 12s Gd, in addition to which the master had Is Cd a quaiter for teaching English, 2s for writing, and 2s 6d for arithmetic, and it is doubtful whether he even attained to the £1$ that inennt g-enteel starvation for tlie poor dominie. In Symington t!:s income did not exccaJ, from all soirees, JC23; in St. Qiiivox it was about 124, besides a good house and garden. The parish schcolmaster at Tprboltorj luxuriated in about JESO a vcir, nnd, b?in° a man of eiudition, hp instructed h's vmnils in Latin. In Mauchiine. where '"the Scots dialect was the lansua=e sprl:c-n," albait it was "gradually improving and approaching nearer to the English." the fixed salary wa.s ;£lO. The salary of tho MrirItirk master was JE'7 15«, besides a free house and garden, and his whole emoluments might amount to about £"0 wv annum. He of Sorn "had no garden, but he hprl a school and a dwelling-house, both among the most wretched that were to ba found in any cultivated country." Ilis ralaiy was £S Cs 8&, r_jid the school fees were—foi reading, Is Sd;~ reading and wrifirg, 2s 6d, writing and arithmetic, 3s per quarter He h?d from 25 to 30 pupils, and his income, including his emoluments as session clerk, amounted to about j£2o. The school in Ochiltree is described as having been in a flourishing condition, but the salary was only £S sterling, and, as there was "also a private school or two," it 'is to be feared the parochial schoolmaster had not his troubles to =oak. The Mr.ybole sehoclma=tor had ji fixed salary of no lfc--s than 300 neiks, or £16 17s 6d. and as he no doubt exacted fees as well in the "old mean thatched house thai wns his school, and that was so "very unsuitable to the cmi- j ncnt characters which at cliffeient times iiad bean educated in it," it may be taken for granted that his lot was an enviable one to jus pooier biethren of the ruial partis. In the adjacent parish of Kirkmichael the tea-c'ier had but "a pitiful 300 mcrks. piid by many different hands.'' and hit, biolhsr in office :n Kiikoswald had the same "by far too small" income, which, he eked out by acting as 75recentor and ses=ion c!?rk and by exacting fees fiom the scholars rrhe Strr.ilon man had i.l=o the same wretched minimum, and no teacher thought it worth his while to Ftay lonsc. with the result that there was "a very rapid suc-cec-ion if school jit ster to tLe grpfit detriment of the parish." In Daillv the income rose to nearly U0 from all sources, session clerk flup included, and the regular ciirycuJum ii the school included Ei'glish, Latin. French, wntins, arithme'ic. and book-keepinsf. Tho schoolmaster of Gir?an, session clerk and pvecentor as well, reah'^d about the .same inn-rue, .£3O, md he too a-dd-ed the teaching of Latin 'to tbp three H"=." In Colmonell the clomini« was paid the minimum salary of 12s Pd. bi:f he hod £8 as \rel! from a "mollification." and v.c doubt fc3 iv addition, so that, ns things went, he was no doubt fairly well-to-do. "GUI laiitrae waj stood fov no less thnn nbout -€40, :md in consequence there was genernlly a wellqualified schoolmaster, "able to teach the lan?vnges and the several branches of education fitli.ig for b'.ifine^s." Irvine was a reco?iii&erl centre for tl-.e higher education, and the lector nrd his assistant* were paid by salary i<nd fees -combined, and realised, no douH. very comfortable income. The rector had sometime*? as mmy n<? 25 boarders, and, befovn the American War of li,dependence, he was in the h.ibit of receiving boys from America and the West Indies. The -uar proved detrimental to the school, bui, the character of the edurition imwarted was nevprtheless kept at flip same his:h level, and, in due tinm, Jhe fortunes of ilie acl-00l revived The schoolmaster's fixed salary in Stevenstown was "scorce'v £5 yearly." and the ministei thought it ought to be au?"-»enfec7: the scholars nnmbeicd about 50, and as their fees woul-1 voi realise more than abnut a year, it may ba taken for granted thai he uad a snie {c -maintain his position in life. Thing? were also in a sorrj/state in Ardro«=an. The teacher of 1793 bad b/fecn 42 years in office. He had started life with a college education, cou'd teach the dead languages, and was versed in geometry, trigonomelrv. and iiavic;Ttion, in tho last of which h» bad Droved hunself verj successful, but his official salaiy was no more than £G 3s 4d sterling, and his "other emoluments and fees v/ere "very low." In Kilwiruiinsr the flxpcl salary of tlip s-cliool-master was £9 9s, which, with the school fes>~, and other emoluments, made the office woith about £25 a year. The master, however, h?rl no hou?e as an appanage to his office, and had altogether a sorry time of it. Tho minister, an exceptionally enliffhtened man in many resoects. was thoroughly alive to the dangers of midprnaid and indigent instiuctois ■of youth. "To the disgrace of a liberal and enlightened aae," he =>aya. "tho=p men Lave been mest amazingly neerlected. . . A common tradesman or day labourer if «jb?r "Jid intuisiriouSj will earn a gieat dcol rnoie

than the generality of schoolmasters can pos-s-ibly do. And should there be no improvement, he looks foi ward with fear to tho time ivr-cn the schools "will be filled with persons lvielcheclly ignorant or of gro=sly indecent and nnmoidl li.-c=," with consequences "too painful tc be dwelt ripen to the rising generation.. Two Adda iJo boys named Harry Clifford Thrums and Lister Marton ha\e beon solectefl to join the Branscombe Westminster Glee Comrany. A striking example of the methods of t! c professional carcjo broach or was revealed, s-nv? an exchange, uhon Tslr A. Parerson, ol Hawora, opened a case containing a consignment of chiffons packed in cardboard boxes. The lot had been shipped from London, and when landed it had no appearance of being tampered with. Upon being op-encd. however, it was found that only two of tb° boxes tlioso on the top. were intact. When the ea.^e was emptied it was found that an opening had been cut in the /.ino lining to enable the thieves to £?et at the contents. The nails of the iran" binding bad evidently been drawn, the binding slipped off. and pait of the case's bottom removed. Then when the stuff had been extracted the box was fixed tip as it wns before. There was about £30 worth of chiffon in ihe ca-e, half of which was taken. It is supposed that, the box was broached in the London docks.