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IT is a great era in most
Scotch manses when one of the boys begins his college career. There is
first the question of money—the importance of which, over the whole
world, and among all races of men, is fully recognised. A large family,
and a small "stipend," are not rare phenomena in the Highland manse —
and how to clothe, feed, and educate the "bairns," often seems an
insoluble problem. For they do grow so rapidly out of their clothes, and
their appetites are so good, "puir things," as Betty the nurse says. And
the eldest girls are every day looking bonnier, as the same unbiassed
witness asserts, and they require something nice, no doubt; and the
younger ones are such romps, and with such high spirits, that they
require something which will not easily wear out; and then the boys !how
they wear their shoes, and destroy their clothes, and never think how
they can be supplied with new ones. But somehow that most wonderful and
most blessed Angel in the house, the mother, manages to supply every
want, without disturbing her husband at his sermon or in his sleep; and
he, good man, seldom knows the genius of contrivance, and the wakeful
hours, and the busy thoughts, and the alternate smiles and tears, and
the personal self-denial by which, with little means, she accomplishes
great ends. It has long been a part of my social creed that, as a rule,
the wives are far greater than their husbands, one part of their
greatness being that they never allow their husbands to suspect their
own inferiority.
But to return to the old
manse, and an older generation. When a boy had to go to college, the
minister required to exercise all his faculties, and bring every power
into play to raise the necessary funds. What calculations as to what
could be spared from his stipend; or how much could be raised from his
barley or potato crop, from his cattle, or from his pigs even! Ah ! he
is now disturbed in his study, and in his sleep; yet the matter of
twenty pounds would make him feel like a king—for his boy's sake. And
such a boy!—just look at those eyes, as his parents see them, pure and
innocent as a mountain spring; and look at that head, like a granite
rock, with yellow fern drooping over it; and that mouth—oh! that, it
were opened in the pulpit! The boy has the make of a ,grand man in him.
"But twenty pounds!" - the minister mutters in his dream, about three in
the morning, while his wife is staring at the moon then shining into the
room. In spite of every difficulty the good man succeeds—God's strength
is often perfected in his weakness — and he makes no complaint, and owes
no man anything.
The night before the boy
goes is a night to be remembered by the family. What a packing of the
few clothes! they are very few, but good home-spun, durable, and
blessed, for every thread has the mark of love in it! What a numbering
of shirts and stockings;—what directions about the tender and wise usage
of them;—what quiet confidential talk about the Bible, rolled up in a
white handkerchief, and put into a corner of the trunk;—what an extra
sobriety about the family devotions, during which smothered sobs are
heard, and a universal blowing of noses, from young, brothers and
sisters. And then on the morning of departure there is not only the new
trunk to be seen to, with an address upon it which might do for a
sign-board, but a cheese, a "crock" of butter, a mutton ham, kippered
salmon, and other provisions for use in the lodgings, with a few pots of
jam and jelly for sore throat—his mother says. And then the parting with
all, not forgetting the dogs, which follow to the water's edge, and with
their low whine strike a note in harmony with the sorrow which all feel,
though it is kept down by forced words of cheer till the last moment.
Soon the old manse is out of sight, and an old world has departed with
it, and a new world for good or evil begun to the boy.
Our Scottish college
system is as unlike that of England as the Presbyterian Church system to
the Episcopalian. Each is best suited, as things are and have been, to
their respective countries. The buildings in Glasgow College—soon to be
swept away—are unchanged from a period long antecedent to that in which
the manse boy first entered them. There is still the same old gate, in
the dingy yet solemn-looking walls, entering into the quiet courts, out
of the bustle of the High Street, with its filthy crowds of squalid men
and women, its ragged children, and besotted drunken creatures with
their idiotic looks, and whatever else combines to give to it a look of
vice and poverty, unsurpassed by any street in Europe. But once within
the college gate, there are the same lecture rooms in which Adam Smith
and Reid taught, and James Watt studied or experimented; and the same
stone pavement, to me more sacred, from its peculiar associations with
the long past, than the floor of almost any church in Europe.
The students attending
our Scotch colleges live anywhere, and in any way they please, in so far
as the college authorities are concerned. The more respectable, yet
certainly not very aristocratic, streets near the university have from
time immemorial furnished lodgings to the students, from the flat over
the shops up to the attics. A small room with fire, cooking, attendance,
&c., could be obtained for a few shillings weekly; and it was a common
custom for the poorer students, for the sake of economy, to share both
room and bed with a companion. The following extract from the college
life of the eldest son of the manse, dictated, when he was near
fourscore years, to one of his daughters, as a portion of a domestic
autobiography, will give a characteristic idea of the student life and
its difficulties in those days, and such as was, and in some respects is
still, familiar to not a few of those who have helped to make Scotland
what she is:-
"In November I went to
Glasgow College, and the mode of travelling at that time is a strange
contrast to the present. On a Monday morning Sandy M'Intyre, with two
horses, was ferried across to Mull. My father and I followed soon after,
and we got to the ferry of Auchnacraig, near Duart, that night, where we
had to remain for a couple of nights, the weather being too stormy for
us to proceed. I have a very pleasing recollection of the kindness of
our old host, who, on parting, put a five-shilling piece into my pocket,
the kindly custom of the time, while he laid his hand on my head and
gave me a fatherly blessing. We next crossed to Kerrera, rode to the
next ferry, and arrived at Oban in the course of the afternoon, Sandy
accompanying us on foot. A pair of saddle-bags on each of our horses
carried all our luggage. At Oban the `Gobhainn Sassanach,' or English
smith; a drunken wit and poet, was sent for to shoe our horses, which he
promised to do immediately. But when the horses were expected to be in
readiness the 'Gobhainn Sassanach' was drunk, so that we were compelled
to remain for that night in Oban. Next day we proceeded to Tynuilt,
where the landlord met us at the door with a bottle of bitters. Sandy
M'Intyre had arrived before us, having taken a short cut across the
hill. After a short stay, we pushed on to Port Sonachan, from thence to
Inverary. On Saturday afternoon we came to Arrochar, and having left
Sandy and the horses at the inn, we walked to the manse, then occupied
by an old college friend of my father's. We found the good man in his
study with his Concordance and Pulpit Bible before him, which, on
recognising my father, he soon closed and put aside. Very hearty was the
welcome which we received. My father preached there next day. On Monday
morning we proceeded by Loch Long side and the Gair Loch to Roseneath.
At that time there was on the shore of the Gair Loch, now studded with
villas on both shores, but one or two houses, and little did I expect
that I should ever possess a cottage there. Leaving Sandy and the horses
at Roseneath till my father's return, and, crossing over to Greenock, we
reached the house of my granduncle, where we passed the night. We
arrived at Glasgow on Wednesday forenoon, having been ten days on a
journey that can now be accomplished in twice as many hours. I was next
morning enrolled as a student in the Latin class, taught at the time by
Mr Richardson, a most amiable and accomplished man, whose memory I shall
ever revere. I was boarded in a respectable family in the High Street,
opposite the Cross, at the rate of twenty pounds in six months, and
where I had the advantage of having two amiable and delightful
companions.
"My first session at
college passed rapidly and most agreeably ; and upon the evening of the
ist of May, I took my departure for home with twenty shillings in my
pocket, and carrying two shirts and two pairs of stockings in a bundle
on my back, and with a good oak stick in my hand. I walked to Dumbarton
that night, and got drenched to the skin. I was glad to take my place
opposite to a large fire in the kitchen, where I dried the contents of
my bundle, and made myself as comfortable as circumstances would permit.
Having got some slight refreshment I was shown to my room in the garret
flat of the house tenanted by rats. The waiter removed my shoes lest
they should be eaten up! As might be supposed my sleep was not very
comfortable. I started at six next morning for Helensburgh. I was joined
on the road by a man who was followed by a beautiful English terrier,
which I agreed to purchase from him for half-a-crown. He gave me a cord
by which I could lead him on, but he assured me that I might in a very
short time give him his liberty, which I did. Scarcely had I done so
when a loud and peculiar whistle, which the dog quickly recognised,
announced to me that I had been swindled, for off set the terrier, and
he and my half-crown were for ever lost! I walked on by the banks of the
lovely Gair Loch, to the ferry on Loch Long, intending to proceed to
Inverary by the Argyle bowling-green. I was joined by a young man who
said that he was going the same way to Inverary. I was glad to have his
company, as I had never before travelled across those hills. He ordered
some refreshment for himself, but said that he had no change, and the
landlord being unable to accommodate him, I paid for his refreshment,
and for his share of the ferry. We got to Loch-Goilhead, and found a
cart proceeding to St Catherine's, and for the sum of sixpence each, I
still paying for my companion, we crossed to Inverary. This young man
was a most amusing fellow. He asked me to come to tea, and to sleep at
his mother's house, giving me her name and place of residence,
recommending me, in the meantime, to go to a hotel near, till he should
call for me. To this day I have neither seen nor heard of my friend or
of his mother. The hotel-keeper informed me afterwards that there was no
such family at Inverary!
"Early next morning I
started for Port Sonachan, with eighteenpence still in my pocket. The
inn and ferry at Port Sonachan were at that time kept by a man with whom
I had been acquainted: he having at one time been a travelling packman,
and in that capacity had made frequent visits to the manse. He received
me most cordially, gave me breakfast, and ferried me across, refusing to
accept of any payment. I certainly did not urge his acceptance in very
strong terms. I walked on with a light heart and still lighter purse,
till I reached Tynuilt, where my food cost me a shilling. On leaving
Tynuilt for Oban, I was deluged by a torrent of rain. I overtook a cart
within four miles of Oban, and the driver had compassion on me, giving
me a seat during the rest of my journey. He was singing an old Gaelic
song, but had not the words correctly: fortunately, I was acquainted
with them, and I gave him one of the most beautiful of all the verses
and one which he had never heard before. On parting from him, I told him
that I was sorry I could not offer him anything for the drive. He said,
'I would not take a farthing though your pockets were full. I am richly
rewarded with the beautiful verse which you have taught me.' At the
hotel at Oban I found young Maclean of Coll, with whom I was well
acquainted. He told me that he expected his barge, and would land me at
my father's, meantime that I must be his guest. The barge arrived, and
after a couple of days we sailed with fair wind and tide, and the old
piper playing to us during the passage. Most joyful was I when once more
I reached the manse, and many and affectionate were the salutations with
which I was welcomed by its dear and numerous occupants.
"Soon after my return, I
joined the 'Volunteers,' and had great pleasure in attending drill.
"There existed at that
time a most loyal and martial spirit in the Highlands, forming an
extraordinary contrast to their present feelings as regards the army.
There were then three regiments of 'fencibles' raised in the county of
Argyle, who were considered the finest-looking men in the army sent to
Ireland during the rebellion. Besides the company of volunteers in each
parish, I have still in my possession the names and designation of one
hundred and ten officers, who held commissions in the army, and with
each of whom I was personally acquainted. Many of them were highly
distinguished, and some attained to the rank of general officers; and,
alas! very many of them perished during the war. I am not aware of a
dozen from that country now in the army, and even some of these are on
the retired list. I am unwilling to account for this melancholy change.
I fear, however, that the clearances which, for years past, have most
extensively taken place in these countries, has contributed in some
degree to bring about this state of things; but also as likely the
outlets afforded by commerce to young men, and the improved education of
the country.
"It was during the
harvest of this year that I became an ardent sportsman, as also an
enthusiastic boatman; and I must confess that I spent much more of my
time in wandering over the mountains in quest of game, or in sailing on
the Sound of Mull with old Rory, than at my classics.
"I shall pass over the
following sessions at college, as there were very few incidents worthy
of remark. I generally lived in lodgings with some companion, having a
small parlour and bed-room, and truly I must say that we lived most
sparingly and moderately. The expense of a session, including
professors' fees and some new clothes, cost me from twenty-five to
thirty pounds. During two of my last sessions at college in Glasgow my
cousin, Neil Campbell, a medical student, was my companion in lodgings,
and during the last three months that we were in Glasgow we had another
medical student from the Highlands of the name of M'Millan living with
us. We were both much attached to this young man. He was obliged for
want of funds to leave his lodgings, and had nearly starved himself
before doing so. We insisted on his joining us in our room, which was
then in the Stockwell ; but this additional burden reduced us at times
to great extremities, and had it not been for an excellent girl from
Oban, who was serving in the house, I do not know what should have
become of us. We often took a walk to the green, stating that we were to
be out at dinner, and took some eggs and potatoes for supper when we
returned. Macmillan was a young man of very superior talent and an
ardent student. When the session closed, he was enabled, through the
kindness of some Highland gentlemen in Glasgow to whom his case had been
made known, to obtain his diploma as surgeon, and he agreed to accompany
me home. He had not been with us above a week when his appointment as
assistant-surgeon in the navy was announced to him. The letter which
contained his appointment directed him, upon his passing his examination
at the Surgeons' Hall, Edinburgh, to draw upon the treasury for a
certain sum of money, and to proceed to Edinburgh immediately. But what
was to be done in the meantime ? He had not a farthing, and not a moment
could be lost. I could not advance him a pound. We told all the
circumstances of the case to a carpenter in the parish, and he, with
great generosity, advanced upon our mere verbal promise, four pounds,
with which we proceeded to Tobermory, where that very evening we found a
vessel sailing for Greenock, in which he took his passage. He passed his
examination in Edinburgh with eclat, remitted the money we had borrowed
from the honest carpenter, and on his arrival in England was placed on
board of a frigate, and the first letter I received from him was dated
from Van Diemen's Land, of which we knew very little in those days. The
ship was on a voyage of discovery, and absent for many years.
"Long after, when I was a
parish minister, I remarked a stranger whose face interested me much,
who waited for me at the door of the church, and addressed me in very
mournful accents in Gaelic, saying that the last sermon he had heard was
from my father many years before. I asked his name. He burst into tears
and said, `I came to see you. I have lost almost every friend I had in
the world. I buried my wife and only child not many days ago. Ask for me
at the Inn, but you must pardon me in the meantime for concealing my
name from the only person on earth from whom I expected sympathy.' He
was greatly agitated. I assured him that I would go in the morning to
see him, but all night I could think of little else than my interview
with this mysterious stranger. On calling at the inn next morning, I
found that this was my friend Macmillan. He had gone away by an early
packet boat for Greenock, leaving a long and affectionate letter giving
me a brief but painful account of his own history since we parted, and
stating that he was about to retire to some quiet country town in
England, from which he would again write to me. I never heard of him
afterwards. He is most honourably mentioned in an account published of
the voyage of discovery on which he had been.
"But to return to the
story of my life at college. I recollect one Saturday night when we had
not one halfpenny among us, I discovered at the bottom of my trunk an
otter's skin, with which Neil Campbell and I proceeded to a well-known
shop at the head of King Street, and offered it for sale. The person at
the counter named for it a sum that we considered far below its value,
upon which the good shopkeeper himself came in from the backshop and
told him that the sum he offered was too little, and, speaking to us
with great kindness, he gave us at least a half more than its value.
This to us at such a time was a treasure.
"On one of those days we
were asked to dine with old 'Barnicarry' at the 'Buck's Head.' This
generous man was uncle to my companion, and my grand uncle. We received
the message with great joy, as he usually gave us a donation of a guinea
when he parted from us. In this hope we were not disappointed, and we
returned home to poor Macmillan with great rejoicing, and had a
comfortable supper. Neil had two brothers at sea. Both of them commanded
fine West India-men. One of them was in the habit of sending us sea
biscuits and other articles, especially corned beef, which we liked
much. One evening a loud rap came to the door. Our Oban woman went to
open it, when we heard a half scream that brought us to the lobby to see
what the matter was. The porter entered, having on his back a pair of
large canvas trousers filled with brown sugar, a leg hanging down on
each side of his shoulder, which the poor girl supposed was a dead
'subject' for the medical students. This sugar and a quantity of rice he
brought along with it was of great service to us. Our kind servant-maid
was permitted to take as much as she pleased for her own tea, and we
gave several bowlfuls to our landlady. A poor student of the name of
M`Gregor, from Lismore, also got a share. This lad was an excellent
scholar, and very superior in every way, but exceedingly poor. He lived
in a small apartment at the back of a place where they baked oat cake.
It was a very small room, containing a bed, a small table and stool, but
without any fire-place. Here he contracted disease of the lungs, of
which he soon after died. I felt a deep interest in him, and the night I
parted from him he told me that he had been much indebted to me for my
kindness to him, and that he wished to "treat" me as expressive of his
regard. He did not mention what "the treat " was to consist of, but
knowing his inability, I objected to his putting himself to any expense
on my account. He begged of me to wait for a few minutes, during which
he purchased two halfpenny rolls, and handing me one, he took the other
greedily himself! In the course of a year I visited his grave in the
Island of Lismore, meditating with mournful reflections on the struggle
that this most promising young man had made to obtain education enough
to become a minister of the gospel. He was eminently pious, and much was
I indebted to him for his kind guidance and Christian admonition." |
