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AT the time of the joyous
celebration of the Diamond Jubilee of the Queen in the resuscitated burgh of
Auchterarder, it was interesting to contrast its state and condition at the
Accession in 1837 with what it was in 1897. Comparatively few within its
bounds are now privileged by memory to recall these clays of > ore, but a
recapitulation of some of the leading features of the differences between
that time and the present may prove interesting to the rising generation.
In Church connection,
Auchterarder was then destined to play a leading part. The Act for Political
Reform had been passed in 1832, and the contagion spread from the political
into the ecclesiastical arena. The popular party in the Church, having
obtained a preponderance, passed the Interim and afterwards the Veto Act,
regulating the admission of ministers. Mr Young happened to be amongst the
first presented to a charge, and the male heads of families availed
themselves of the right conferred upon them by the Church to forbid his
admission. lie was an excellent scholar. an able and evangelical preacher,
and a good and honourable man, and the sole and only objection which could
be brought forward against him was that his discourses were read. In
consequence of the objection taken to the presentee, the parish remained for
many years without a settled minister, and in the interim was supplied
either by members of Presbytery by turns, or by resident probationers acting
by the authority of the Presbytery. About the time of the Queen's accession
the Rev. James Aitken discharged the duties, and was much admired and run
after for his pulpit appearances. He afterwards became minister of the High
Kirk of Kilmarnock, and died some years ago. Parochial affairs, including
the charge of the poor, were managed by the Kirk-Session, consisting of
Messrs David Miller, senr., George M'Laurin, Andrew Morison, and William K.
Thomson. To their credit, be it said, they discharged their duties during
the long vacancy and under trying circumstances faithfully and well. Mr
Young was ordained in 1843, and 1865.
The Rev. William Pringle was
minister of the United Secession Church. He was a man of varied attainments,
and an excellent classical scholar. He translated a number of works from the
Latin, and was an examiner in Classics for his denomination. The degree of
Doctor of Divinity was latterly conferred upon him, and he died in 1873,
after a faithful ministry of fifty-five years. The other minister in the,
town was the Rev. George Jacque, of the Relief Church. He might be styled
"the golden-mouthed preacher," as his sermons were characterised by strains
of stately and imposing eloquence. lie had the true poetic vein, and his
published writings, both in prose and verse, were much admired. He was also
an accomplished musician. He died in 1892 at a great age, lamented and
beloved by an attached congregation.
By the Disruption of 1843 the
large congregation of the Parish Church is now split in three, by the
addition of the Free Churches in Auchterarder and Aberuthven. The Secession
and Relief Churches now belong lo the same body— the United Presbyterian—and
both have got new places of worship. In addition to the Presbyterian
Churches, the Mother Church has got a neat place of worship built, and a
costly church of elegant architecture in connection with the Episcopal
Communion has also been erected. In 1837 there were three churches in the
parish; now there are several.
But in addition to this
over-churching, should a Rip Van Winkle re-visit the ancient burgh, he would
be struck by the change in worship which he would observe. He would, in the
cradle of the Disruption, now listen to a sermon read, not delivered as
formerly; instead of the psalms of the Sweet Singer of Israel, he would hear
a profusion of uninspired hymns; instead of the musical strains of Bangor,
St Paul's, and Martyrdom, he would be treated to a modern lilt, to the
accompaniment of a kist of whistles ; while he would find the old postures
of worship adopted in Calvinistic. Churches since the Reformation
reversed—sitting at ease being now substituted for standing at prayer, and
standing, instead of sitting, at praise.
Perhaps one of the greatest
changes is now in the facility of communication afforded by the advantages
of the rail, the cycle, the penny post, the telegraph, and the parcel post.
These benefits are, however, common to the country at large, and do not
require special mention when speaking of Auchterarder. Auchterarder had long
to struggle with its inland situation, being, in the words of the Act of
Parliament establishing the winter market, "far from seaports."
Communication to Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Perth by mail coach was expensive,
and the result was that people seldom went from home, a journey to Perth
once or twice a-year being about the outside of the travelling of an
ordinary Auchterarder citizen, while a visit to the Scottish metropolis was
the event of a lifetime. With all the increased facilities of communication,
it is a matter of regret that the Scottish Central Railway was not made to
sweep along the South Crofts instead of the line adopted, and that another
golden opportunity was again lost of remedying the evil, and bringing a
railway into easy access of Auchterarder, when the Crieff Junction Railway
was formed. The blame lay with Auchterarder. We have good grounds for saying
that had a desire been expressed for bringing the Junction Station east, so
as to tap the top of the burgh, the directors would have listened to the
request; but the fitting opportunity to improve the town by railway
facilities was looked upon with apathy, and allowed to pass. Had the same
energy been directed towards this end which was spent in political,
ecclesiastical, and civic disputes, it would have resulted in the permanent
improvement of the town. Perhaps it is not yet too late to hope that the
people of Auchterarder may take a leaf from their Crieff neighbours—make an
effort to ensure connection with the railway, and raise the status of the
capital of Upper Strathearn. While Auchterarder has had to contend with
being left in the cold by the distance of the railway from the town, it has
be^n fortunate in the development of manufacturing enterprise. Handloum
weaving, principally for the Indian trade, was sixty years ago the staple
industry of the place. In the town and neighbouring village of Aberuthven
there would be upwards of 500 weavers. This is now a trade of the past. The
click of the shuttle is not heard in the streets; instead, the introduction
of steam-power gives employment to many hands, and without it Auchterarder
would be left behind in the race. Productions of its powerlooms have a
world-wide celebrity, and its manufactures are the staple industry of the
place, and it is to be hoped they will long continue, be more largely
developed, and afford employment, as in the past, to many a willing worker.
In the Post Office there has
been a remarkable development. At the Accession the office was managed by
Mrs Stewart. That worth)- old lady did the work alone, and there was no
regular delivery of letters. Now there is a staff of 15 in number, and a
delivery of letters three times a-day in the town, and by rural messengers
to all parts of the district. The telegraph and parcel post bring the town
into communication with all parts of the world.
In 1037 there was no light
known but candles and oil. In 1842 the Gas Work was established, and its
benefits are now felt in not only lighting the interior of houses and shops,
but in a profusion of public lamps in the streets.
At the Accession the housing
of scholars attending school was miserably defective. The Parish School
consisted of one low, ill-ventilated room at the gate of the Parish Church,
while the teacher lived above in equally cribbed and inconvenient
apartments. There was, in addition, John Shedden's School, and an adventure
school at the Townhead, but these were kept in similar unsatisfactory
accommodation. Now there is a palatial building, which cost about £5000 to
erect, and which might be sufficient for a small university. There is a
staff of ten teachers, and the annual cost of the establishment is about
£900.
At the commencement of the
reign the tract of land at the west end of the town known as the Common
Muir, extending to upwards of 2a) acres, was enjoyed by the inhabitants as
one of the old burghal rights. It was in a state of nature, being covered
with broom and whin, and the inhabitants generally enjoyed the rights of
pasture and casting feal and divot thereon. A flock of goats in charge of a
town's herd were collected in the morning, returning in the evening. The
Common Muir was the subject of protracted litigation, begun in the early
part of the century by the proprietor of the Barony for the purpose of
division. Not long after the Queen commenced her reign the parties alleging
interest in the Common came to an agreement, and it was on the point of
division when the inhabitants, under the leadership of the late Mr Andrew
Christie, Townhead, struck in, alleging that the Common belonged to a Royal
Burgh, and was consequently by law indivisible. This had the effect of
staying progress, and in 1860 an Act of Parliament was obtained—being
carried through by Mr A. G. Reid—for vesting the Muir in Commissioners for
the benefit of the burgh. Under the powers conferred by the Act the Muir was
reclaimed, and is now in a state of cultivation, and forms a. valuable
source of revenue for the burgh.
In 1894 the ratepayers
resolved by a majority to adopt the Burgh Police Act, and since then they
have been governed by Magistrates and a Town Council. The necessity for this
step was doubted by many, seeing that the benefits of local government could
have been carried out equally well, at much less expense, by the
newly-constituted authority of the Parish Council. Having adopted the Act,
it is the duty of every resident within the burgh to promote its interests,
and to give a cordial support to the civic rulers in every well-devised
scheme for increasing its prosperity.
In 1895, the Honourable Mrs
Georgiana Lake Gloag with munificent generosity endowed the Lake Request,
under which she handed over a sum of £5000 to Trustees for the purposes of
paying a professional nurse to attend to the deserving sick poor of the
parish, and to expend the remainder of the revenue arising from the
investment of the principal among such poor persons as the Trustees might
consider worthy of being benefited. The sufferings of many a one on a bed of
sickness have been alleviated by the kind attention of the faithful nurse,
while the considerate donations from the fund have assisted many old and
infirm persons. The name of the donor will be long held in remembrance as
the chief benefactor to the parish in which she spent her early days, and
the bequest will prove an inestimable boon to the present and future
generations.
A number of other beneficial
changes have been made during the Queen's reign, to which we shall briefly
allude. We may draw attention to the decided improvement of the
dwelling-houses. During that time many elegant and substantial houses have
been erected, which add much to the appearance of the town. The internal
arrangements are also of a much better character and more conducive to
health, particularly in the height of apartments. Through the abolition of
the duty on window lights, the benefits of light and air are now freely
enjoyed without let or hindrance, and the number of windows in houses of
modern erection forms a striking contrast to the spaces of dead wall
contingent on the former impost to save grievous taxation. Not long before
the commencement of the reign the invaluable boon of a supply of good water
was, through the engineering skill of the late Captain Aytoun of Glendevon,
introduced into the town, and has since been of incalculable advantage in
promoting cleanliness and health.
The general list of modern
discoveries and improvements now available could be largely extended, not
only as regards the domestic economy of the dweller in the burgh, but also
outside, in lessening the labour of the cultivator of the soil. We may
mention the invention of lucifer matches superseding the old flint and
steel; of the sewing-machine minimising the labour of the tailor and
seamstress; and of the photograph, enabling us to gaze on the features of
departed friends, now the dwellers In the silent land. To the agriculturist,
reaping and binding machines, the portable thrashing machine, and other
inventions to save manual labour have proved great boons ; and the
substitution of wire-fencing, which can be obtained at a moderate cost,
instead of the old expensive dykes, has had the effect of causing nearly all
the farms in the parish to be enclosed: while the system of tile drainage,
promoted by the foresight of the Government, has done much for the
improvement of the land, and turned the unproductive into fruitful fields.
There has also been a great
change for the better in the farmhouses and steadings, particularly on the
estate of Auchterarder, not only adding much to the comfort of the tenants,
but also enabling them to exercise their calling to the best advantage by
affording facilities for conducing the labour of the farm, and proper
housing of horses and cattle.
A conspicuous change has
taken place ir. the mode of sale in the flocks and herds of the farmer. The
old-established cattle fairs of Auchterarder, one of them dating back to the
twelfth century, and another sanctioned by the Scottish Parliament in the
sixteenth, have now become things of the past. The cattle salesman now
relieves the farmer of haggling at the market or disposing of his fat stock
in the byre to the cattle-dealer. The weekly or bi-weekly visit to Perth to
attend the sales now usurps the place of some half-dozen cattle fairs held
at Auchterarder. Whether this is an unmitigated blessing or not may be
questioned. Under the old system, the charges of the middleman, the expense
of taking the cattle by rail to the place of sale, and the farmer's personal
expenses of attendances thereat, were saved. Resides, he was not taken away
so often from superintending his agricultural operations at home. On the
other hand, it may be urged in favour of the change, the greater certainty
of getting full value for the bestial.
We could enumerate many other
changes, both general and local, and could dilate upon the inventions and
discoveries of the present age. It would be an endless task. Looking to the
mighty progress which has been made during the currency of the last sixty
years, we may well inquire what will be the record when the next sixty years
have been added to the roll of time? Sed trempora mutantur et nos mutamur in
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