Old Scottish Village Life.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LX, Issue 16949, 9 April 1917, Page 3

Old Scottish Village Life.

SHEEBEEN AND SHEBEENERS.

THE COMEDY OF II

■REPREHENSIBLE as they undonbt- *•*' edly are, there are some forms of law-breaking, says a writer in the Weekly Scotsman, with winch the unregenerate man is fain to acknowledge a ( certain sneaking sympathy — Smuggling, for example, some 'kinds of poaching, and, in certain circumstances, shebeening. They are, all of tiiem, very wrong and indefensible if one comes to think seriously; but, at the same time, they are forms of misdoing into which the sporting instinct to some extent enters, and which demand a considerable.amount of both courage and ingenuity if they are to be carried on successfully. Though actuated jy no, generpus motive, the shebeener at least takes heavy risks, and takes them with his eyes open. A sophist might seek to defend him on the ground that his misdeeds injure no one but that impersonal entity, the State. That line of argument is, however, demonstrably false. And, whatever else might be said in the same sense by a clever and unscrupulous attorney, nothing is further from the writer's thoughts than to countenance shebeening. All he proposes to do is to narrato two or three incidents connected with this once so widely spread practice, which serve to illustrate old Scottish rural life; since it seems to him that the .expedients resorted to en the one side, and the ruses brought to bear to circumvont them on the other, partake not a little of the nature of comedy.

TOLL-HOUSE SHEBEENS

It is well known that, before the abolition of toll-bars, in the year 1883, a large nwmber of the toll-housekeepers of Scotland did go~J business as unlicensed retailers of excisable liquors. Indeed, the shebeening of to-day is a drop in the 'bucket to that of those days. Its profits were large, and often it was conducted with perfect openness; the police winking at the practice^ whilst themselves patronising the shebeens. Convictions, in any case, were not easy to obtain. Cadgers' carts were employed to distribute the supplies, and, though- the amount of beer or spirits cf which it was lawful to be in possession was strictly limited, there was no difficulty about-finding obliging neighbours to take charge of the surplus until it was required. Informers were the dangers most to be dreaded by the shebeener, and so long as these officious busybodies could be held in check he made money hand over ihand. Indeed, I recall one case, where a licensed house being about to become vacant a ncted shebeener of the neighbourhood entertained ti.o idea of applying for it: He was allowed to examine the hooka of the retiring publican, and having done so at once decided against making the change, on ,the ground that he did better where he was. And co long as this could be ■ said, an occasional conviction, though visited by a heavy fine, ■• might be faced with equanimity.

"JOVIAL JANE" OUTWITS THE

POLICE.

One-of the best known of local tollhouse shebeeners was a woman whose reputaton as an unlicensed retailer bad won her the nickname of "Jovial Jenny." Jenny's large-hearted nature and genial manners were as a relish to the liquors she supplied, and no doubt there are many who can recall her friendly salutation addressed to visitors to the toll-house—-"I kent yer fit!" Like other agreeable hostesses, Jenny would seem to have stooped at times to polits insincerity, foi-'it is scarcely likely that her ear can have recognised the footsteps of her various clients. For .:hese were numerous, and numerous also were the convivial hours spent under Jenny's remote and solitary but by no means cheerless roof. Qf^JennyV success in outwitting the police not a few storks.are told. On one occasion a constable who was unknown to her, and wished to entrap her, presented himself at her door in mufti, and obtained admission to the house. He endeavoured to induce her .to:serve him vith whisky, but'Jano was on her guard. She asked him where he canje from, and being answered from Kelso, went on to ask liis trade. The policeman, whose father and brother were shoemakers, replied that ho was one. "Let me see your hands," pursued Jenny, and. on the man exhibiting his palms, "Those hands ne'er drew a ling&l (rosine thread)," exclaimed she, and, scenting mischief, sent her visitor drinkless on h's way. Neither Sherlock Holmes nor his great original, Joseph Bell, need have disdained her inductive reasoning. For i cobbler's fingers, like a joiner's thumbs, carry the imprinb of his call'-ng.

AQUA PURA

After a considerable interval, a second policeman, who was likewise a stranger to Jenny, resolved to try if he could not do better than ins comrade. Having,clothed himself in well-worn moleskins, lioerally 'bespa-tteried with red clay, ho fixed a parcel across his back beneath his coat, to give him round shoulders, and taking a mattock in Ins hand, passed himself off as a drainer. But, in the act of entering the shebeen, he met his own brother reeling out, wiping his mouth i.-po^ us hand. "'Losh me!" hiccups tr-.o brother, "why, what on earth's up nov'r" tie was not so drunk, however, buc ti'at a. wmk from the policeman silenced lan, and, after this bad ■■ beginning things went better. Employing his powers of persuasion, the pretended drainer induced Ins hostess to let him have a bottle of whisky, fcr .which he paid three shillings down. A day^ or two later Jenny was summoned to attend the Court on a charge of illicit trading. She appeared; and pied not guilty. ' Do I understand you deny that you sold the man this bottle?" qnestoned the . Sheriff, indicating i-e bottle, which had remained intact. " I sold him the ; bottle right enough, my lord," replied douce Jenny, in her best manner. "Well, it's a whisky bottle j is it not?" pursued his lordship, pointing to Kinahan's well known label. " Certainly it's j a whisky bottle," was tho answer, and j there Jenny paused. The Court was well filled, and, knowing that she had tho sympathy :of the public, she was, j so to speak, playing to the gallery. Then she completed her seutence, "But there was no whisky in it." At a sign from the Judge, the clerk drew the! rork and solemnly put the bottle to his lips. It was . probably the first, time that such an act had been performed m a Court of *. ".s'tice. A shade of disappointment crosssed his features, and, turning to the Sheriff, he shook his head. The Sheriff bowed. Jane was dismissed, and left the Court amid the plaudits of her friends. The bottle she had sold to the disguised police ollicer had held nothing stronger than water. It was a palpable hit for the shebeening interest, and trie enterprising policeman received a bad mark,in the Chief-Constable's private register as

ICIT DRINKING.

one whose zeal outran his discretion. Jenny's trade became brisker than ever.

DEAF Ml

In order to obtain a warrant to searcn a suspected house, the police had to bring evidence, either reflecting on the inmate, or establishing the existence of suspicious traffic. It happened that a smart young constable had his attention attracted to a certain pleasantly situated* but solitary cottage by the following two unusual features. In the first place, the windows being tilled with lozenge-siiaped panes of the oldfashioned pattern, ho noticed that two or three of these panes were always a■wanting, and that thojr places were filled with, paper, of which the colour varied from day to day. . Secondly, an ash sapplmg at least. 8 feat in lengt/i stood supported against the gable-end of the cottage. Why these daily changes in the window papers, he asked himself, and for what Vpurpose this roci? And, being unable to answer his own questions, he determined to keep a watch on callers at the cottage, which I must mention had for sole, inhabitant an old woman named Jemima, who was almost stone deaf. 'After •waiting for darkness, the policeman and a. comrade LA themselves among the bushes or the garden, as might be done by a sniper of to-day. Nor was their labour thrown away, for the calers at the cottage proved to be numerous, and included some rough characters who had been " burning the water," as well as l a jolly party of ■anglers, whose movements, owing to the water, in their wading-trousers, could be followed' by the ear. Finally, two visitors who had been seen to leave the house were either mean or simple enough to acknowledge having got whisky there. There being now no longer any difficulty about obtaining a searchwarrant the place was ransacked by the police, who brought to light a fair quantity of whisky, together with a large number of bottles which had been emptied at a splore the night before. So that had the police been one night earlier, their booty would have been much greater. The shebeener was had up and fined; but after deducting the fine from the sum of her takings, there was still a tidy balance in her favour. And it then came out that, owing to her deafness making her insensible to any ordinary summons, it had got to be understood in the neighbourhood that anyone requiring liquor late at night had but to insert the ashpale through on of the paper window stoppings and stir up the old lady where she lay in her bed. And, as-'her infirmity would still prevent her hearing what wa9 said to her, a code had been arranged according to which the motion of draining a glass should signify whisky, and that of drawing a cork, beer. Both Deaf Mi" and "Jovial Jenny" aro no more; but I have no doubt that their .heirs, whoever these may be, have cause to bless their memory.

TIBBY PAGAN,

vA fs:hebeeiier of an earlier date than these was Tib by Pagan, who died. m; 1821, and has left a. name aa authoress of a version of the fine song of "Ca' the Yowes to the Knawes." Tibby is said to have been deformed and singularly ill-favoured, but noted for her pungent wit as.well as for talent as a singer. In some respects, a female counterpart of I>avid Ritchie, tne original of Scott's Black Dwarf, ; she earned on her unlicensed trade in a hovel near Mudrkirk, in Ayrshire, where, during the shooting seasons of those i're^r and less pampered times, we are told that gentle-' men; of note would often meet to hear her sing and taste her drama.

If the use of shebeens was ever justifiable, it was in the case of drovers, who had great distances to travel with' their sheep, often through very wild and illfound districts, and who'were'all. tii3 better, as I venture to think, for a glass of beer or a dram of whisky after a long day's trudging m all weathers. I have myself been witness of tho fine times .which these gentry enjoyed, with song and toast and cheery company, ai such solitary and, of course, unlicensed houses as for instance, l_j WMtterhope Bar, near Limekilnedge, where as much strong liquor ai was wanted could always be procured, and. where, let me add, disorder arising from ..excess was, I believe, a thing unknown. For the character of shepherds when on duty i 6 generally staid, and those who drank at night on these occasions were aware that they had an early start and a."hard day's worlc before them on the morrow. But whilst allowing them the fullest credit for keeping cool heads, I must in justice add that-their powers of consumption were remarkable. For an allowance of strong drink which would have laid a townsman under the table was to them no more than a mere tongue-loossner. In shebeens presided over by females the usual practice was to serve the whisky in a tea-pot, with a view to saving appearances in the event of a visit oy the police. But the landlords of the lonely toll-houses despised all such precautious, and I have counted as many as a dozen bottle on their tables at one time, with banknotes from the drovers' well-lined pockets lying ready to pay for them.

A SALUTARY FRIGHT

There is lees to be said for the ordinary farm" servant w.uo frequented snebeens, and I recall one such who got a fright through doing so which kept him straight for many years. He was « ploughman, young and simple, and had been very strictly brought up; but, being away from home upon a visit, he allowed himself to be led by his companions of the moment into entering, a shebeen. It was night, and, as in the case of "Deaf Jemima," the shebeener had to be roused from bed to servo the company. They were very jolly together for a while j" but present ly the older hands slunk off one after tho other, till only the young ploughman and his mate remained behind. They thought it high time to be moving.; find so it was, for even as they left the house a bluebottle brushed past them on his way in. Realising; their great danger, they took to their heels, nnd .after running till thoy were breathless, slipppr] over the bedjre, and lav quaking while rapirl footsteps ranged up thp road. Then th^v thought they were cafe. and. for st 1"!! greater security, +he ynunpr nlonorlvrmn. actinp- on impulse. RPt off niH wa^-od" .«f,n.igh+ borne. But he hnd her*-1 identified am 1 tvar-<vl. c O that, lust wVyi Y o timn^H that, all cbncP'' was nnp4- ho rprfiivfl n Riimm.-M-.q +r, + no q!,r>,-"f]p r^n r t. The enso was n. bad ono, boing the retailer's second ofFonce. On him", therefore, a fine of £15 was imposed, whilst the your<T=ter w°.s dismissed w\+\\ a c r>ntio ri, so tr-oronehlv sickpnod with phebeens that he has nci entered one djica.