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We are now come to our own
days, to a period when it would be indecorous to animadvert upon public men
or the acts of any public body. The sequel of our history, therefore, must
be confined to a narration of facts strung together, with little remark, in
the order in which the events occurred.
In 1800, the customs of the
burgh brought £71, 5s., and the dues of the weigh-house, &c., £31,
15s.—total, £103 sterling. They were let in 1837—the common customs for
£111, and the weigh-house dues for £31,—total, £142. It was the practice at
this period to sell the right of collecting the street dung, and this right,
in 1800, brought £3, 0s. 6d. In this transaction the comfort of the
inhabitants was but little consulted. The purchaser of the right claimed the
privilege of allowing the inhabitants to puddle through as much mud as he
chose to permit to accumulate, till it suited his convenience to collect it
and cart it away. The Wash Mills for cleaning yarn were improved in 1800,
and a new Wash Mill built; and the Bleachfield, with all the mills belonging
to it, were then offered by public roup in set for seven years, and brought
£95. The same premises further improved, together with the Meal Mills, which
usually let for £26 or £28, were offered, in 1807, for a lease of
twenty-five years, and then brought £181. The same subjects, with some
further additions, partly made by the town, partly by the late tenants,
were, in 1832, again offered by public roup for a nineteen years’ lease, and
brought £331 per annum. This shows the propriety of giving a tenant such
length of lease as may induce him to make improvements for his own profit,
the benefit of which the landlord receives at the expiry of the tack. Prior
to 1807, large sums had been expended at the end of every triennial or
septennial lease on the improvement of the mills; and the frequent change of
tenants led to so many repairs that it was often questioned if the tywn
realised any profit from the mills and bleachfield.
Poverty pressed hard on the
inhabitants at the commencement of the century; provisions were still very
expensive, and the town council found it requisite to subscribe £50 to aid
the most indigent. The guildry gave £20 for the same purpose, and the other
incorporations assisted in the good work.
The Trinity Muir spring
market was established by an act of council, dated 25th March 1801, passed
in consequence of a representation made by the farmers and cattle-dealers in
the neighbourhood, of the advantage that would arise from a cattle-market
being held on the third Wednesday of April, yearly; and the market was
accordingly held on the 15th April 1801, for the first time. This market has
continued regularly ever since, and has proved of infinite advantage to all
parties interested in the cattle trade.
In 1801, the school fees, on
the representation of the schoolmasters, were increased, and fixed thus:—for
teaching of ail branches of education, 5s. per quarter; for writing and
arithmetic, 3s. 6<L, and for writing and teaching of English, or for
teaching of English alone, 3s. per quarter. The charge of 3s. 6d. for
“writing and arithmetic,’’ was construed, practically, to ' include “
teaching of English.” Books were always used at these public schools; but we
were taught our letters, at a private school, from a broad, a board the size
of an octavo page, having the alphabet pasted on it; the broad had a handle,
and was similar to what is still used in England with the letters engraved
on it, and is called a “ Horn Book." Our teacher wore a cocked hat, a
three-storey-high wig, a waistcoat with large pockets, a coat with tails
sweeping the ground, and buttons the size of a two shillings piece; knee
breeches with buckles, and shoes with broad buckles on them, and carried a
long cane. He was a strict disciplinarian; read a roll-call of the scholars
at the hours of assembly each forenoon and afternoon; punished absentees
when they did appear, and kept great decorum in his school, closing it each
Saturday with a long prayer.
Volunteering was now the
rage. In 1803, the “Brechin Volunteers," which afterwards became the “Local
Militia" were embodied. The town council sij^scribed £21 towards the expense
of their clothing, and because the bleachfield was used as a drill-ground,
the tacksman of it was allowed £10 from the town for permission to soldier
over it. The youths also imitated their seniors, and “playing soldiers” was
quite the order of the day; and really some of these juvenile troops, with
their drums and their fifes, their majors and their captains, were wonderful
near approximations to the regular Volunteers. Dr Russel records the same
thing as having occurred in America during the recent unfortunate civil war
there.
The state of the cathedral
kirk again claimed attention; the old fabric was found to be decayed;
meetings were called, resolutions entered into, and, by general agreement,
the aisles of the kirk were pulled down, leaving, however, the nave, to
which new aisles and a new roof were added; and the whole, at considerable
expense to the heritors, the town, the different incorporations, and the
private seat-holders, was converted, in the years 1805-7, into a more modem
but still inconvenient church. Gothic cathedrals never make good
Presbyterian kirks; and the Brechin church is no exception to the rule.
Previous to the rebuilding of the church it was customary for deaf people to
sit in the baptismal seat adjoining the leiterin or precentors desk; and all
the females who sat there then wore the Scotch plaid pinned under the chin,
and gathered in a fold over their caps, secured with a pin or ornament on
the forehead, —a becoming dress, very like the Spanish mantilla. Similar
dresses were to be seen in different parts of the church. After the repairs
on the church very few of the old ladies returned to the baptismal seat; and
these few gradually died out; but a solitary plaid might have been seen in
1820. Red nightcaps were then occasionally worn by tradesmen at their work;
we know now of only one solitary individual thus attired, and who made
himself very conspicuous at the procession on the occasion of the Prince of
Wales’s marriage, mounted on his charger and attired in his bonnet rouge, in
the end of last century the miscalled emblem of liberty during the
revolution in France. The broad blue bonnet was also a pretty common wear,
and went out of fashion in like manner as the ladies’ plaids. Substantial
farmers wore the bonnet, as did respectable tradesmen; but merchant
burgesses used that uncomfortable headdress the hat, ever since we recollect
The person who then officiated as precentor in the old church was a David
Simpson, who, having held the office of deacon of the shoemakers, was
generally known as Deacon Simpson. The line was then generally read, that
is, the precentor or “letter gae,” read a line of the psalm, and sung this
line in conjunction with the congregation, then read and sung a second line,
and so on till the psalm to be sung was completed. Simpson had a stentorian
voice, and when making a proclamation of banns caused the church to ring
with the words, “There is a purpose of marriage between A and B; if any
person has any objections let them give it in, in proper time, or for ever
after hold their peace.” The deacon also disappeared with the auld kirk. In
the old church, as now, each incorporation had a loft of its own, then
however decorated in front with the arms of the trade and suitable pious
inscriptions. The scholars also had a loft assigned to them; a small
erection perched above that belonging to the town council, and where, as may
be believed, when a number of young men were assembled together in a dingy
place, anything but religious studies went on, even although the masters
were present
The Common Den, to which we
have adverted in a previous part of this work, was let, in 1805, for a rent
of £19,10a upon a lease of three years, as a tentative measure of the right
of the council to do so, but after some wrangling with the trades, the title
of the council was acquiesced in. Upon the expiry of the first lease, the
subjects were again let for another three years, at a rent of £21 per annum,
to November 1811.
New office-houses were built
jointly by the heritors and town council, for the accommodation of the
second minister in 1807.
The ringing of the muckle
bell was to us, as we doubt not it was to many of our readers, a source of
considerable amusement in our boyish days. So much had the tolling of the
bell become the province of the boys, that it was almost neglected by the
beadles of the kirk; and the council, in 1809, authorised the magistrates
“to engage a person for ringing the great bell in the steeple, regularly
every day and night, at the following hours, viz., at seven in the morning
and eight at night in winter; and, during the spring, summer, and autumn at
six o’clock in the morning and eight in the evening; and upon the Saturday
of each week, also, at ten o’clock at night—being thrice that day; and to
continue ringing said bell at the fore-said hours for the space of one
quarter of an hour.” The person then engaged, James Craig, continued to ring
the bell regularly as pointed out in this minute, till his death, about
1840, and the young folks still continued to get a swing in the tow at the
last toll. We were very much struck, when going to satisfy ourselves in
regard to the dates of the bells, in reference to the first edition of this
little work, to observe that the younkers who crowded round the ringer, were
the sons of those with whom we ourselves had been so often similarly
engaged, and many of the fathers of whom lay in the graves around The
steeples are the same, the bells are the same, the ringers are changed; one
generation having succeeded another, as one crop follows another in
succession. We find now, however, that the present official, Barney 0'Neill,
does the whole work himself, and that there is no more tugging at the bell
tows for the little lads.
The table of petty customs
was regulated, of new, in 1809, . printed and published, and has been since
acted upon, although abstruse enough in some points.
In the same year, 1809, on
the death of Mr William Dovertie, who had supplanted the doctor of the
Grammar School, Mr George Alexander was elected parochial schoolmaster, from
which office he was worthily promoted to that of rector of the Grammar
School in December 1833. He has now retired from scholastic duties, and
enjoys from the council a well-merited pension, while an elegant portrait of
the worthy gentleman, by Mr Colvin Smith, adorns the Mechanics’ Hall, and
records the gratitude of his numerous pupils, at whose expense it was
painted. In the same year, 1809, the house near the West Port, called
Carcary’s House, was bought of Mr Lyall of Carcary, with the view of
accommodating the schoolmasters and schoolmistresses with schools and
dwelling-houses: but, although partially occupied by some of the teachers,
as tenants, under the town council, it has never been found expedient to
apply the property to the purpose for which it was ostensibly purchased. In
1811, it was proposed to erect new schools; and the year following a piece
of ground, formerly occupied as a corn-yard and tannage, was purchased and
converted into public schools. The expense was defrayed by subscriptions
from the heritors, town council, and private individuals. The whole expense,
as recorded in a minute of council of 28th May 1814, was £1216, 17s. 4d. For
this sum a building containing three school-rooms was erected, plain, but
neat, ornamented with a belfry on the top, containing a wooden bell, and
embellished with a rather handsome clock-face below the belfry, the funds
for purchasing a genuine bell and clock not having been procured; but the
great improvement effected by this erection, was the removal of a nasty bam,
a quantity of ill-built stacks, and a filthy tan-yard, at the principal
entry to the town from the west, at the point where the Lower Wynd, now
called Church Street, and St Mary’s Street meet, being the exact site which
Lord Panmure chose for the handsome structure erected by him in 1838, to
replace the schools and afford accommodation for a library and a mechanics’
institution.
Mr Dovertie, whose death we
have just mentioned, dressed till the last of his days in knee-breeches with
buckles, long coat with broad tails, and ties in his shoes, while he carried
a cane about six feet long, grasped by his hand towards the top. A
gentleman, a baker in town, and a member of the town council of this period,
dressed in the same style, with the addition of a pigtail tie of his hair
behind. Another party wore broad buckles in his shoes for twenty years after
this. These signs of old fashions gradually died out, as did the custom
amongst gentlemen of wearing hair-powder, which was practised by a few down
to 1820.
The habits of the people of
this period were still very hospitable—too hospitable. A laird in the
vicinity, recommending a gentleman for a public office, described him as “an
honest man and a fair drinker.” But the “full flowing bowl” gradually gave
place to the tumbler and glass; in place of every man being obliged to empty
his glass in due course, and send it in to have it refilled with the rest at
the bowl—the weak with the strong—each man brewed his own tumbler and filled
his own glass, and drank according to his ability for potations. The
drinking habits of the present day are bad enough, but they are nothing to
what they were within our recollection and our own experience; and, indeed,
they appear to have gradually gone down from one class to another, till now
the custom of drinking to excess seems to be limited to the very lowest
class of society.
A juvenile society was
instituted in 1811 amongst the young men of literary pursuits, and existed
for several years, the members devoting an hour very early each morning,
during summer, for discussing literary subjects. The ages of the members of
this juvenile assemblage ranged from twelve to fourteen. This club merged
into a debating society when the members attained a few more years and a
little more experience. Similar debating societies have since, from time to
time, been called into existence in the burgh; ceased, and been again
renewed.
In 1812, the council passed
an act regulating the mode of warning out tenants within the burgh, by
which, at an expense of Is. 9d., this necessary form is put through. In
place of a penny above a pound Scots, the same process costs nearly a pound
sterling without the burgh. In the same year, the town purchased an acre of
land from Mr John Gray, part of which has since been added to the Den at the
north end, having indeed been bought at the time for this purpose, with the
view of the Den being converted into nursery ground. Accordingly, on 11th
May 1812, the Common Den was let by public roup to Mr John Henderson, for
the purpose of being converted into a nursery, the rent being £21 per annum
for the first ten years; £25 for the next seven years; and £30 for other
seven years, the tack running for twenty-four years. At the expiry of his
lease Mr Henderson retook the property, jointly with his sons, for
twenty-seven years, at a yearly rent of £61. Hence the town now derives a
large revenue from a piece of ground which was previously all bat useless.
This year, 1812, was a hard season upon the poor in the burgh, and the
council united with the heritors in raising a subscription for the aid of
the poor in the parish. It was in this same year that Provost Thomas Molison,
piqued by the inattention of the then member of Parliament for this district
of burghs, who considered the whole as pocket, burghs which he could twist
as he pleased, and who therefore did not deem it necessary even to call on
the council, far less on the community of the burgh,— it was in this year
that Provost Molison, when called on as a delegate from Brechin for his
vote, declared that he voted for himself, and thus gave rise to an
opposition, and to the introduction of a Liberal instead of a Conservative
member of Parliament.
The landed proprietors and
farmers in the eastern district of Angus formed themselves into an
agricultural association in 1814. The society still continues, and has done
much to improve the breed of cattle and the implements of husbandry in the
district. It has two meetings annually, and reckons Brechin as its
head-quarters, although cattle shows are held in different parts of the
county for the accommodation of the farmers.
In 1816, the council agreed
to allow the master of the parish school £13 to assist in paying an
assistant. This vote was renewed from year to year till 1821, when £500 were
raised by subscription, and vested in the hands of the town council to pay
an assistant or third teacher; and when the schools were divided in 1834,
this annuity of £25 was assigned to the burgh schoolmaster. Of the money
thus raised, by far the largest part was contributed by the town council
There is a long entry in the
council book of April 1816, approving of the table of customs then fixed for
the Montrose harbour; and in November of the same year the council added to
their own customs by rouping, for the first time, the use of a weighing
machine then erected, and which brought, as rent for one year, £4, 4s. The
same machine brought in 1837 the rent of £6, 6s.
The year 1817 commences, in
the' records of council, with a minute characteristic of the then state of
the timea An address is voted to the Prince Regent, afterwards George IV.,
upon his escape from the late daring attempt upon his person in returning
from the House of Peers and a committee of council is named to meet with a
committee of the inhabitants, petitioning for retrenchment and reform in the
administration of public affairs.
In 1816 and 1817, the weavers
were very much distressed for want of work in Brechin; to alleviate which,
in part, the town council employed a number of people to trench the ground,
formerly under wood, now known as the town’s parks, and lying immediately
south of Murlingden. From the same generous motive, Lord Panmure caused the
ground at the Haughmuir, then known as the Haughmuir Wood, to be trenched,
and gave a preference in his employment to the inhabitants of Brechin; and
the ground thus trenched is now occupied as a farm by Mr George Henderson.
In 1816 meal was dear, and a
Meg Inglis, a fishwife in Montrose, gathering her sisterhood from Ferryden,
took possession of that town and mobbed the farmers, crying for a reduction
in the price of the staff of life. A Rob Ruxton, a tailor in Montrose, came
to Brechin and paraded the streets, blowing a horn, and summoning the
Brechiners to the aid of the Montrosians; and although we believe no Brechin
man or woman responded to the summons, the poor silly man was tried for this
overt act of treason and banished for seven years.
In May 1817, the right of
pasturage of the grass on the Trinity Muir market-stance was let for the
first time, and brought a rent of 15s. The same right was let in 1838 for
£5. This year, 1817, the council were again obliged to extend their aid to
the poor of the town, and to import and sell, at a reduced price, a quantity
of barley for the use of the inhabitants of the burgh. Almost every two or
three years since, some public subscription or other has been raised for the
poor, at times wholly by the laity, and unconnected with the Kirk or State,
at other times by the heritors and council in aid of the kirk-session funds.
Burgh and Parliamentary
reform began now to be seriously discussed. The guildry, in October 1817,
petitioned to have the right of electing their dean, who should be received,
ex officio, as a member of council; and, in December, the trades, in like
manner, applied to the council to have the liberty of electing the sccond
trades' councillor, they having the right at that time to choose the
convener, who, by the sett of the burgh, formed one of the 13 members of
council, consisting of 11 guildrymen and 2 tradesmen. The council pronounced
a legal-like decision on these petitions, declaring that they had no power
to alter the existing sett of the burgh. This did not give satisfaction. At
the booking of the dean, named by the council in 1817, the guildry went into
open rebellion; and, at the next election of magistrates in September 1818,
protests were entered against the selection of councillors and
office-bearers. A process of reduction followed in the Court of Session. The
deacons of the trades, the prosecutors, lost heart, and proposed to withdraw
the action upon each party paying their own costs. The town council refused
this offer; the war was renewed; a new election came round in 1819; new
protests were entered; new proposals of compromise were made; parties became
more moderate; the action was withdrawn; and the council, guildry, and
trades, all applied to the Convention of Royal Burghs in 1820 so far to
modify the sett of this burgh as to allow the dean, chosen by the guildry
incorporation, to be received by the council as dean of guild and member of
council, and to give to the trades the right of electing the convener and
trades’ councillor, who were to be received in council as the trades’
members accordingly. The Convention agreed to the request; and the sett, as
thus altered, remained the constitution of the burgh till 1832, when the
Burgh Reform Act put all incorporations on their beam-ends, and vested the
right of electing councillors in the householders possessing property of the
value of £10 per annum.
In 1818, the trades made a
long act, ordaining that the deacons who had a vote in the election of
magistrates, although in no other act of the council, and the deacon
convener, who was ex officio a member of council, should consult the trades
before voting on the leete of magistrates proposed by the council for their
consideration, and that signed lists should be tendered by the deacons to
their constituents. In 1819, says the trades’ record, “ it having been
resolved that the deacon convener and deacons should not vote in the
election of magistrates this year, no signed lists were made out" In 1820, “
they dispensed with the signed lists for this year only,” and no more is
heard of the matter.
When the right to elect a
trades’ councillor was obtained by the six incorporations, however, they
adopted a set of very judicious regulations or by-laws for the regulation of
the election.
The agitation of these
questions led one of the unincorporated trades, the wrights, to endeavour to
shake off the burden imposed upon them of furnishing a quota of men to
attend the chartered markets as a guard to the magistrates; but, after a
process on the subject, the wrights were found to be liable with the other
trades in this service.
A new market, or “Tryst,” as
it is called, was established by the council in August 1819, and appointed
to be held on the Trinity Muir market-stance upon the Tuesday preceding the
last Wednesday of September yearly. This market was appointed at the request
of the farmers in the neighbourhood, and has, we believe, been found fully
to answer the expectations of those who petitioned for its establishment,
and for whose encouragement the market was exempted from all custom for
three years.
The road up the Path was
widened and the steepness greatly removed in 1818 and 1822, at no little
expense, but certainly much to the advantage of those having to carry heavy
weights by that road. A railway, too, was planned between Brechin and
Montrose in 1818; but, after much canvassing, was dropped, as not likely to
yield proper returns, because a short line of that description is nearly as
expensive in working as one of thrice the length.
The town-officers had been
long in the practice, on the first Monday of the year, agreeable to the old
style, or Handsel Monday, as it was called, of waiting upon all the
inhabitants of any means and wishing them a good new year, expecting a
douceur in return. The practice was found to lead to partialities by these
officials in the discharge of their duties, and was abolished in 1819, when
each of the officers was allowed 30a in lieu of those “handsel feea”
The two small bells belonging
to the kirk were so damaged by tolling, the one on the occasion of the death
of Queen Charlotte, consort of George III., and the other on the occasion of
the interment of an old lady belonging to the town, that the council were
obliged to have them both recast in 1820, and since then the practice of
tolling the bells at private funerals has been discontinued, although, when
royalty is laid in the dust, the bells are yet tolled under the direction of
the regular bell-ringer.
In February 1821 the council
appointed sworn valuators, to appraise the properties held in feu of them,
when these subjects should be in non-entry, upon which occasion the council
stated it as their unanimous opinion, “that a composition of two third parts
of the rents, payable to the vassals, should be demanded and paid to the
superiors, that is, of the yearly rent where the houses or tenements are new
and in good repair, but a smaller proportion if the houses are old and in
bad repair; but, in all cases, a full year’s rent of the vassal’s land,
which is cropped, ought to be demanded/’ This rule has been acted upon ever
since, but the council are not rigid over-lords.
George IV. visited Scotland
in 1822, when the council of Brechin, following the example of other burghs,
voted him a loyal address; and further voted £10, 10s. of a subscription
towards the bronze statue of that king which now stands in George’s Street,
Edinburgh.
Mr John Wood, engineer, from
Edinburgh, was, at this time, travelling Scotland, making plans of each
burgh, and the town council of Brechin subscribed for ten copies of his plan
of the town of Brechin. Mr Wood was successful in procuring other
subscriptions, and the plan was accordingly completed and published in 1823.
On 6th March 1823 the
heckle-houses at the Muckle Mill took fire, in consequence of an escape of
gas, as was understood, from one of the pipes of the private gas work
belonging to the mill. The whole range of these buildings, with the
materials in them, were destroyed, although water was in abundance in the
neighbourhood, and every exertion was made to save the premises. Luckily for
the parties interested, an insurance had been effected, a few days before,
with the Sun Fire Office, to almost the value of the buildings and flax thus
destroyed.
A public Dispensary, for
affording medicines to the poor of the place, was established in 1823, and
was then so endowed from subscriptions and donations, that it was enabled to
supply all demands upon it, with very few occasional calls on the richer
members of the community. Somehow the Dispensary gradually fell into
abeyance, but now there is a prospect of its resuscitation in connexion with
an Infirmary.
A bridge at the Stannochy
Ford, over the river South Esk, was begun in 1823, and towards the erection
the council gave £42 from the corporation funds. The other expenses were
defrayed by the heritors in the immediate neighbourhood. A grand procession
of the magistrates, town council, and incorporations, along with the masonic
bodies, was formed; and the foundation-stone was laid in great style,
dinners of course following, and the health of the worthy builder, Mr
William Smith of Montrose, being duly pledged
About this time died Cruizin,
a well-known blind beggar, who had frequented Brechin and the surrounding
country for fifty years, and amused old and young with his songs. “ His name
web Jamie; but the rest, alas! Has vanished from my memory.-
"We'll gang nae mair a
Cruizin',* was one song. But he had many, though from that there came The
sound which most amused the listening throng, And hence the title Ckuizin
grew a name."
So sung Mr James Bowick,
editor of the Montrose Review, when announcing in that paper the death of
Cruizin. The poet himself, alas! is since numbered with the dead,—a worthy,
simple-minded, good man he was.
A railway along Strathmore
was projected in 1825, and the council of Brechin subscribed £10,10s.
towards the expense of the survey from Brechin to Forfar. The project went
no further than a plan, but has been again and again renewed, and must be
perfected at some future period from Laurencekirk by Brechin to Forfar, as
the scheme is easily practicable and certain to pay.
An unfortunate fire happened
this year in a stable belonging to a publican, who had converted part of the
old Maisondieu Chapel into a receptacle for carriers’ horses. It was
supposed that one of the carriers had carelessly snuffed a candle, and
thrown the snuff unextinguished amongst the wet straw; so it was that the
straw was consumed, and, though no flame was observed, such a smoke arose
that all the horses were destroyed.
The misfortune was discovered
by the stamping of the horses, and when the stable-door was opened one of
the animals burst from its stall, rushed to the door, turned suddenly round,
leaped a paling of some eight feet high, and fell dead. Others expired in
their stalls. Two or three lingered for days unable to eat or drink. Eight
or ten very valuable horses were thus destroyed. Two gray horses, of great
size and strength, and of very considerable sagacity, survived longest. It
was really melancholy to see the sufferings of these poor brutes, and no
less melancholy to observe the distress of their driver, who spoke of them
as friends, and bestowed as much attention upon them as he could have done
upon his own family. The poor horses seemed really sensible of, and grateful
for, their driver's kindness.
The East Back Vennel was
widened and its steepness lessened in 1827, and it was then dignified with
the title of “ City Road.” The Latch Road, formerly a mere swamp, was made
out the same season, and has since given an opportunity for building a
number of neat villas in that part of the town. An arrangement was also this
year made with David Blair, Esq. of Cookston, in regard to the Dove Wells,
by which the rights of the town and of Mr Blair were distinctly defined in a
decree-arbitral, pronounced by Andrew Robertson, Esq., Sheriff-substitute of
Forfarshire; and in consequence of which arrangement, and the improvements
made in virtue of it, the town was well supplied with water, till the
increasing population lately demanded an addition. In the December of this
year also the council renewed an old act, by which any party proposing to
build within the burgh is obliged to call the dean of guild, with one of the
bailies, to the spot, and to satisfy them and his neighbours regarding his
plans. This mode of proceeding has been found highly advantageous for the
public, and greatly destructive of litigation; for where disputes do exist,
as they will exist, regarding petty marches, the parties interested being
confronted before judges, anxious to bring them to an agreement, do almost
always make arrangements, frequently for the advantage of both, and which
arrangements would not have been thought of had each stood on his right, and
gone to law to ascertain who was wrong. The proceedings are conducted by
printed formal papers, which terminate in what is called a building warrant,
and the whole expense varies from 2s. 6d. to 5s. It is but bare justice to
the legal gentlemen to say that they have done everything in their power to
make this summary court, so prejudicial to their interests, work to
advantage, and it does accordingly work well for the public.
The lands called the Crofts
of Brechin, were bought by the council in 1828. These lands had belonged to
a Mr M'Grregor, servant to the Duchess of Perth, who went abroad with his
mistress in 1747, after the fall of Prince Charles’s party, to which she was
devoted; and, in the absence of the proprietor, the titles had got into
confusion in consequence of heritable securities granted by him, very likely
with the view of avoiding a forfeiture of the ground, to which he had
rendered himself liable by his connexion with the Stuarts. All matters were,
however, cleared up, and the council became absolute proprietors of a piece
of ground upon which they had long exercised the right of holding a market.
Being vested with the absolute right, the council enclosed the ground and
changed the site of the weekly cattle-market, held each Tuesday during
winter, from the Crofts to the Timber Market, alike to the advantage of the
proprietors of the Timber Market, now Market Street, as to the comfort of
the farmers, who, in the Croft Market, were often wading ankle-deep among
mud. Since then Clerk Street has been widened, Panmure Street made, and the
long street called Southesk Street has been formed mainly from the Crofts
lands, as noticed afterwards.
Another change, by a
different body, but one no less an improvement, was made this year. On 25th
September 1828, the six trades entered this act in their minute-book: “Which
day, the deacon convener, deacons and trades councillor, and whole trades
having met, and deliberately considered the serious inconveniences resulting
to the trades from the practice of meeting in the churchyard for the purpose
of their annual elections, both from the inclemency of the weather and the
disturbance and annoyance of the multitude, as well as considering the
impropriety, if not indecency, of assembling multitudes and transacting
their business over the graves of their ancestors and of their friends and
families, have unanimously resolved, enacted, statuted, and ordained, that,
in future, the whole trades shall assemble in their ordinary place of
meeting for the purpose of electing the deacon convener, trades councillor,
their respective deacons, and other office-bearers; and appoint this
regulation and minute to be engrossed in the record of the respective
incorporations/' In consequence of this enactment, the subsequent elections
of the trades have been held in the Mason Lodge, which they selected as “
their ordinary place of meeting.” We recollect enjoying a very hearty laugh
at the last election which took place in the burying-ground, although
certainly the place forbade such demonstrations. On the occasion alluded to,
we had wandered into the kirkyard to notice the excitement created by the
elections; and, observing three individuals seated demurely on a
burial-stone, we approached them just as the clock struck eleven, and just
as the three individuals started up into active life. One produced a paper,
and read, “ The T. trade have leeted A. and B. for deacons—any objections to
that leet?” said the reader, Deacon C. “None,” replied A.; “ None," replied
B.—“ For whom do you vote, Deacon A. ?" said C. “ For myself,” rejoined A.—“
For whom do you vote, Deacon B. ?" “ For A.,” replied he.—“ And I vote for
A.,” added C., “ and that settles that election.” He read again from his
paper, “ The T. trade have leeted C. and B. for treasurer— any objections to
the leet?” None were offered. “ For whom do you vote, Deacon A.?” <c For
B.,” was the answer.—“ For whom do you vote, Deacon B. ?” “ For myself,” was
the reply. —11 And I vote for B.” said Deacon C., “ and that closes the
election.” These three worthies were the whole members of the trade who had
a right to vote, or, at least, who chose to exercise the right of voting at
elections; and accordingly they handed the two offices about amongst
themselves quite in an agreeable manner.
This year died Alexander
Malcolm, one of the public characters of Brechin. For more than half a
century Sandy had picked up a living by “ gatherin' bawbees for himsel,” as
he phrased it; and on each public occasion, be it sorrowing or rejoicing,
wedding or burial, Sandy bore an active part, although the king*s birthday,
kept as it was in the days of George III. by a general saturnalia on 4th
June, was the principal occasion through the year on which Sandy chose to
disport. Mr Bowick, in his sketches of characters, describes “ Sandy Maukim”
as
“Ane curious wight, of stature
low,
Withouten trews to clothe his naked knee,
But clad in petticoat, that down did flow,
With fringes tattered to ane great degree.
No leathern slioon upon his feet had he,
But worsted huggars, which contrived to hide
His legs and feet."
Malcolm was a great wag, and
fond of a glass, partly rogue, partly simpleton. He had the misfortune to
break his leg one winter, being, as was alleged, much inebriated at the
time. A pious clergyman in town called to pray with Sandy, and rated him
soundly for his inebriety, to which the minister ascribed the misfortune of
the broken leg. Sandy denied the charge, but the clergyman persisted in it;
and Malcolm, hard pressed, burst out in a sly manner with, “How’s Mrs
Burns’s leg?” The pastor’s most worthy lady had met with a similar accident,
certainly not from the same cause, although Sandy insinuated as much, to get
rid of the good man's further reproofs. Malcolm might be styled the King of
the Beggars. Before the legal assessment for the poor was commenced in 1841,
the administration of the funds provided for the purpose was in the hands of
the kirk-session; but the regular recognised poor of the town paraded the
burgh each Thursday forenoon, and stopped at every door where they expected
and aumous when the charity was dealt out to them generally in the shape of
a halfpenny to each. If the giver was not provided with coppers, then Sandy
Maukim took charge of the coin given, and ruled and distributed, it was
said, in a very imperious manner. This practice of public begging gave rise
to the children's cry, now all but forgotten, “Fuirsdae's the puir’s dae;
Fridae's the brides day; and Saturdae we get a' the play.* The same practice
prevailed in other towns. Public begging was put down by the town council in
February 1839, at the request of the aggregate committee of the heritors,
kirk-session, and town council, then in management of the funds raised,
partly by voluntary subscription, for the maintenance of the poor of the
parish.
A printing-office was, for
the first time, established in Brechin in 1829. Our first edition issued
from the Brechin press, and displayed a fair specimen of typography. The
principal employment of the Brechin printers was the printing of handbills,
circulars, and the like. The press was found to be a great convenience to
the inhabitants, who were formerly obliged to go to Montrose or Forfar for
anything which they required in the printing line. Now there are two
printing establishments in Brechin, at one of which The Brechin Advertiser,
a weekly journal published each Tuesday, is printed.
Most of the rivers in
Scotland were greatly flooded in August 1829. The South Esk rose far above
its banks, covered the greater part of the Inch, and put the inhabitants of
the Lower Tenements, now termed, appropriately enough, River Street, in a
state of blockade, the whole road from the Ford-mouth down to the bridge
being under water, in some places to the depth of two or three feet \ but no
serious damage was done, and indeed the people on the banks of the South Esk
had to congratulate themselves that few who lived near rivers escaped so
easily.
The death of George IV. and
accession of William IV. led to a new election of Parliament in 1830, and an
entry in the council books of the time is strongly characteristic of the
excitement then prevailing. This entry bears that letters were laid on the
table from Mr Joseph Hume, the then late member for this district of burghs,
soliciting to be re-elected; “also a letter of 3d July, on the same subject,
from the Honourable J. E. Kennedy Erskine of Dun; and a similar letter from
Mr Lindsay of Edinburgh on behalf of Captain Ross of Rossie; and it was also
stated that Sir James Carnegie, Bart, of Southesk, and Mr Smith, of the
house of Messrs Smith, Payne, & Smiths of London, had applied verbally to
the council” Mr Hume was returned to serve in that Parliament for Middlesex,
and Sir James Carnegie was elected for this district after a keen and
outrageous contest. Mr Ross succeeded Sir James in the next Parliament, and
he again was succeeded by Mr Chalmers of Aldbar. On the occasion of the
contest in 1830, the Brechin press, then recently established, was called
into active duty, and there being no local newspaper till years afterwards,
the candidates for Parliamentary and civic
honours generally applied to
the printing-office for spreading, in the shape of placards or circular
letters, either their own merits or the demerits of their rivals, and
occasionally both. King William was proclaimed at the cross of Brechin by
Andrew Robertson, Esq., then Sheriff-substitute of Forfarshire, on 3d July
1830, in presence of the magistrates, council, and community.
The butcher trade purchased
up, in 1830, an immunity from the service of attending the magistrates to
the fairs; and the craft having sold all their property, and divided their
funds amongst the members, the butchers ceased to exist either as a
corporation or society. Unfortunately almost all the other societies in the
town, and indeed in Scotland, followed a similar course, and thus a source
of support for the aged and sick was at once withdrawn, the effect of which
has since been severely felt. Doubtless these friendly societies were
founded upon erroneous data, but the regulations of most of them might have
been altered, and the scales of contribution and disbursement adjusted so as
to meet each other. The Government had passed acts for the improvement of
these societies; the contributors became apprehensive that Government meant
to take hold of their funds, and hence the almost universal breaking up
which followed the act of Parliament. To add to the evil in Brechin, a
Savings Bank, which had existed for many years, also began to fall into
disrepute, and was finally dissolved about this time. However, under acts of
Parliament for the encouragement of Savings Banks, a new agency was opened
in 1847, as a branch of the Montrose Savings Bank, and was converted into a
principal bank in 1852, and, as a principal bank, is in a very thriving
condition. It is open every Tuesday evening in the parochial school-room,
under charge of Mr David Prain, the parochial schoolmaster, and a committee
of gentlemen as managers.
The council, in this year,
1830, for the first time, organised a set of special constables, a body
which proved of considerable advantage in preserving the peace of the burgh,
but which is now superseded by the regular police. About forty gentlemen
were annually sworn in, who elected from among themselves a captain for the
whole, with a lieutenant and ensign for each of the three districts into
which the town was divided; the first, or north division, comprehending all
to the north of the Upper West Wynd, (St David Street;) the third, or south
division, comprehending all to the south of the South Port; and the second,
or centre division, comprehending all that lay between the other two.
Cholera visited Brechin in
1831-32, and a board of health was formed in consequence, under sanction of
a proclamation by his Majesty in council. The cases of actual cholera which
occurred were few, not exceeding a dozen, but bowel complaints were very
common at the time. It is, however, worthy of remark, that the general
health of the community was not bad and that there were fewer deaths this
winter than usual. It may be questionable how far a board, such as that
alluded to, can prevent contagion ; but certainly this board did much in
removing nuisances, and we must say that the burgh has been more cleanly
since the alarm of cholera. In aid of the funds of the board of health a
concert was given by a number of amateurs, followed by a ball, and the
affair was a very successful one, although some severely censured piping and
dancing at such a time. These concerts and balls for charitable purposes
were pretty frequent for some seasons about these years, when amongst the
gentlemen of the town there were many of good musical abilities.
Subscription balls or assemblies amongst the ladies and gentlemen occurred
every winter in those days, and were always well attended. May they soon be
renewed!
Amongst the victims to the
cholera were the wife and daughter of one of the Brechin characters, a poor
but honest man, David Walker. This person, generally styled “Davidie Walker"
was the regular, and for long the only carrier between Brechin and Arbroath.
Davidie generally rode his cart, driving horses that seemed to have escaped
from the tan-yard, purposely to keep him company, but animals which he was
wont to describe as “ fine norse, fine norse, fit for a caravan." The
distance travelled was about twelve miles; and David, steady in all his
movements, seldom occupied more than six or seven hours in travelling the
road. Well, one fine frosty evening, David left Arbroath in the pale
moonshine, about his usual hour, six o’clock, and progressed his way to
Brechin with his load, drawn tandem fashion; and to beguile the way David
had one outside passenger, a sprig of womankind, seated on the top of his
vehicle, while his faithful cur walked by the side of the cart. Matters went
on swingingly, certainly not smoothly, till about mid-way, when poor David’s
cart stuck fast in the mud. The cattle were whipped, the shoulder was
applied to the vehicle, but all in vain, move it would not. David, however,
was fertile in devices; he loosed the tracer, leaped on its back, left the
cart and wheel-horse in charge of his dog, and desiring the woman to sit
still went off, giving her this assurance, “ There's help at hand, help at
hand." The poor woman sat till benumbed by cold, when she thought of leaving
the top of the cart to take a little exercise. Then she, for the first time,
discovered that truly Help was at hand; for David's dog, faithful to its
charge, would allow nothing to leave the cart, and the poor female was
compelled by Help (the dog) to keep her seat on the top of the cart for six
hours, starving of hunger, and almost frozen to an icicle, till David
arrived from Brechin with a third horse to pull her out of the mire.
The mode of conveyance
between Brechin and Forfar at this time was not much more expeditious. It
consisted of an omnibus drawn by a pair of horses, which poor animals, with
the exchange with a third horse at Finhaven, did the journey of twenty-six
miles, out and in, each working day. The expedition with which the vehicle
travelled may be illustrated by the fact, that two young Edinburgh boys left
our house one morning, under charge of the driver* to proceed to Forfar; but
when the driver opened the door in the end of the omnibus at Forfar to let
out his passengers, no boys were to be found there,—the truth being that the
youngsters, noticing the slow mode of conveyance, had, without the driver’s
knowledge, repeatedly left the coach, and played their ball along the road,
resuming their seats when tired with walking; but the driver, as he neared
Forfar, having gone off at a more rapid rate, the young men were left
behind, and unable to overtake the omnibus till it reached Forfar.
The alarm of the cholera, it
was thought by some, presented an opportunity for establishing a temperance
society, an institution which, notwithstanding the many good effects it was
calculated to promote, scarce outlived the year 1832, in which it had its
rise. A similar society has since been renewed, and now reckons a
respectable number of members.
A new road, direct between
Dundee and Brechin by the Stannachy Bridge, through the parish of Aberlemno,
and by the village of Letham to the old road at Luckyslap, was planned in
1832, and partly executed in that and the following year. The town council
of Brechin subscribed £200 to assist the undertaking, but it has been of
little, if any, advantage to the burgh.
On 21st August 1832, the
first list of persons claiming right to choose a member of Parliament, as
proprietors or occupants of subjects of the value of £10, was made up under
the act then recently passed. The total number of persons who so claimed was
237, of whom 9 were found disqualified, either from errors in their claims
or other causes, thus leaving a constituency of 228, in place of the 13
members of council who formerly possessed this right. Of these parties only
38 now survive.
The Honourable William Maule
of Panmure, then member of Parliament for the county, was, in 1832, called
to the house of peers by the title of Lord Panmure, and in honour of the
event a dinner was given in the Town Hall, on Tuesday 20th September, “ to
drink (as a handbill in our possession states) farewell to the Hon. William
Maule, and many happy days to Baron Panmure of Brechin and Navar." The
provost presided, the bailies were croupiers, the town-clerk was treasurer;
and the affair, a truly corporate one, passed off in great style,—for Mr
Maule was loved by rich and poor.
The death of the rector of
the grammar school, Mr Linton, who had been teacher in Brechin for half a
century, gave an opportunity, in 1832-33, of new modelling the schools; and
after a great deal of consultation, and no little bickering, it was arranged
that there should be three teachers, a rector to teach the languages and
higher branches of education, a parochial schoolmaster to teach English
reading, writing, and arithmetic, the branches naturally expected to be
taught in a parish school; and a burgh schoolmaster who should teach the
same branches; as the population of the town and parish seemed to afford
ample field for two teachers of these, the really necessary branches of
education. The schools have been thus regulated mostly ever since, changes
attempted in the arrangement not having been found to work well; but a new
arrangement has recently been made, by constituting the burgh school into a
junior school. In a place the size of Brechin, there is not room for minute
subdivisions of the labour of teaching, nor is there wealth sufficient for
the increase of fees to which sub-division necessarily leada The patrons
were lucky in selecting teachers for the schools of Brechin, which, no
doubt, contributed considerably to the well working of the system of
teaching adopted. The rector, by an arrangement with the town council, had a
salary of fifty guineas in lieu of the rents, casualties, &c., arising from
the preceptory of Maisondieu and the rectory. The burgh schoolmaster had £30
from the town. The parochial schoolmaster again was allowed £34 by the
heritors, and £10 by the town, raising his salary to £44, which has since,
very properly, been increased to the maximum salary of £70 from the
heritors, besides the £10 from the town council. The fees as then fixed were
very moderate. In the rectors department, the quarterly payments
were—French, 3s.; Latin, 4s.; Latin and French, 4s. 6<L; Greek, 5s.; Latin
and Greek, 5s.; geography, 2s. 6d.; French and geography, 4s.; Latin and
geography, 5s.; Euclid, 5s.; Euclid and Latin, 5s.; other branches,
including combinations of the above, 6s. 6d. During winter, each pupil in
the rector's class paid the master Is. for coal-money, but no other fees or
gratuities were payable. In the other two schools the fees were—reading, 2s.
6d.; writing, 2s. 6d.; reading and writing, 3s. 6d.; arithmetic, with or
without reading and writing, 4s. 6cL; book-keeping and practical
mathematics, 5s. But there was another class of scholars belonging to the
burgh and parish school who were taught for even less fees. These were the
partial or half-day scholars, those who were pupils at other schools, for
whom there was provided this scale of fees—reading, la 6d.; writing, la 6d.;
arithmetic, 2s.; reading and writing, 2a; practical mathematics, 2a;
reading, writing, and arithmetic, 2a 6d. This class of scholars, however,
was soon found not to answer, and the regulation regarding them fell early
into abeyance. English grammar, recitation, and history, imposed an
additional 6d. per quarter on all classes of pupils. During winter, the
half-day scholars paid 6d. each, and the whole-day scholars Is. each, to
provide fuel for the burgh and parish schools. No other fees or gratuities
of any description were payable in these departments.
In 1833 the council bought
the ground adjoining the Crofts formerly belonging to Mr Robertson of
Bangaton. In consequence of this and of the previous purchase of the Crofts,
the council were, in 1837, enabled to open two new streets, Panmure Street,
running west from Swan Street and Clerk Street; and Southesk Street,
communicating with Panmure Street, and running south from Clerk Street, at
the top of the Den, down by a beautiful sweep to the Montrose road at the
Cadgerhillock. By means of these new streets, a road of easy ascent to the
top of the town, long a desideratum, was secured. The ground along the north
side of Panmure Street, the west side of Southesk Street, from Panmure
Street upwards, and on the east side of Clerk Street, was sold off by the
council for building stances, at such a rate as fully to indemnify the
community for all the money they had disbursed in the purchase of the
property. Panmure Street and Southesk Street were so styled out of respect
to the two principal proprietors in the parish. Scales Lane, which leads out
of Panmure Street, was so named in commemoration of a person to whom the
Crofts had at one time belonged, and by whose surname they were
distinguished in the title-deeds of the adjoining properties as “ Scales’
Acre.” Mac-gregor Street, meant to connect Clerk Street with Southesk
Street, and yet to be made, is to commemorate the last proprietors of the
Crofts. Clerk Street obtained its name in 1829, when the town-clerk built
the first house, greeted expressly for a dwelling-house in that part of the
town.
A new washing-house, fitted
up with fixed tubs, and supplied with hot and cold water, was erected at the
Inch in 1833, and put under such regulations as to afford ample
accommodation, at a very moderate rate, for the inhabitants. At first, the
regular washerwomen were in arms against this innovation, but experience has
convinced them that it adds much to their comfort and convenience, and now
they are highly delighted with the ample accommodation which they enjoy for
washing and drying clothes.
The resort of customers, too,
has been such that the washing-house, although expensive in the erection,
has, from the rent drawn, afforded a fair return to the town for the capital
expended. In October 1837 it was let for £23, 5s. for the year following; in
1863 it brought £40. Attached to the washing-house are a couple of very nice
bath-rooms, with hot and cold plunge-baths and a shower-bath in each, which
may be had at a very cheap rate, but they are very little used by the
public. Besides the Inch bleaching-green, which consists of about an acre of
ground, there is a small bleaching-green at the North Port, well supplied
with running water, and the use of which the inhabitants enjoy gratuitously.
In 1833 the council gave £50
to aid in repairing the road between Arbroath and Brechin. This road is
still far from excellent, but it is passable, since improved at the expense
of the adjoining heritors and of the burghs of Brechin and Arbroath, and it
is good compared to what it was when our late friend “ Davidie Walker”
travelled it; but it is little used by general travellers since the railway
was opened.
It was in 1833 that the
council first ventured to abridge any of their markets. Lammas Muir, as the
market held in August is called, had, from the change in the mode of
farming, dwindled to a petty fair; and, on 14th August 1833, a proclamation
was published, recommending to dealers to bring forward their stock of
sheep, horses, and black cattle (as the bovine race, whether white, yellow,
or brown, are denominated) on the Thursday, in place of bringing the sheep
on Wednesday, cows and oxen on Thursday, and horses on Friday, as formerly.
The market has since been held on the second Thursday of August, yearly,
and, although not a great fair, is now a respectable market.
On 5th November of this year,
1833, the first election took place under the Burgh-Reform Act, which vested
the election of the council in the holders or occupiers of property of the
yearly value of £10, and annulled the law which allowed the old council to
elect the new. The council, when completed, stood thus: James Speid,
provost; David Dakers and William Sharpe, bailies; Thomas Ogilvy, dean of
guild; James Millar, treasurer; Robert Mackenzie, hospital master; Messrs
David Guthrie, James Laing, William Shiress, David Lamb, Alexander Guthrie,
David Craig, and Alexander Mather, councillors. Provost Speid and Messrs
Sharpe, Ogilvy, Shiress, Lamb, Craig, and Alexander Guthrie still survive,
the last being the present provost of the burgh, while Mr Craig holds the
position of senior bailie.
It was on 11th September 1834
that the Right Honourable Henry Lord Brougham and Yaux visited Brechin, upon
which occasion the greater part of the council, incorporations, and
burgesses turned out in their best array to greet the Lord High Chancellor
of England, and the freedom of the burgh was presented to that nobleman on a
platform erected in the cathedral church, the ancient pile being crowded
with the inhabitants of Brechin, and the multitudes assembled from the
neighbouring towns and neighbouring country. On the early part of the same
day a public meeting had been held, at which it was resolved to establish a
joint-stock company for lighting up the town with gas. The gas-work has
since proceeded successfully, and the streets, shops, public buildings, and
most of the private houses are now lighted with gas. It may therefore be
said that the two great lights of the age were made denizens of Brechin on
the same dayI As a gentleman, whose wit was not very brilliant, used to say
when he murdered a bon mot, “That's a pun.”
A Mechanics’ Institution was
established in Brechin on 25th July 1835, and, under the patronage which
Lord Panmure extended to it, by erecting a hall and library for the
accommodation of the members, and giving and leaving endowments for it,
surely it will flourish.
The proposal for a railway
between Brechin and Montrose was revived in 1835, but, after a plan and
report, it was again found that the concern would not pay. The town council
voted £50 for the plans obtained, and it is but proper to say that the
engineers employed, Messrs Grainger and Miller, did every justice to the
measure. The accommodation since afforded between the two towns by the
Aberdeen Railway Company is not of the best; but we suspect the community of
Brechin must just put up with this railway, tortuous as it is.
In 1836-37, an infant school
was erected on a piece of ground lying between the Path Wynd and the Cadger
Wynd, now called Bridge Street and Union Street, a very suitable situation
for such an establishment. The house, grounds, and premises are commodious,
and the directors having been fortunate in their selection of teachers, may
safely congratulate themselves on doing much for the moral and religious
habits of the rising generation, and for the promotion of a taste for
cleanliness and order amongst the poorer ranks, still a great desideratum in
Scotland. The funds of the institution are not adequate to the demands upon
it, but hitherto the school has been supported by annual subscriptions from
the wealthier classes in the burgh and surrounding country, liberal to a
wish in most cases, although it is much to be wished that a permanent
endowment could be got for the school.
In 1836, the Lower Wynd, or
Church Street, was levelled and macadamised, and the High Street, from the
Bishop’s Close to the South Port, was improved in the same manner, a very
considerable hollow being filled up opposite the Mill Stairs, which reduced
the sudden steepness of the street by many feet. But Brechin is built on a
hill, and notwithstanding all the improvements on the streets—and they have
been many of late years—it is, and must be always, a heavy pull from the
lower to the higher part of the town.
A long contemplated sale of a
piece of ground at the Trinity Muir market-stance, and skirting the toll
road, was carried into effect in 1836. The purchasers have since named the
place Trinity Village, and built several neat houses there. The council had
previously cut the wood growing on an isolated portion of muir at Little
Brechin, and they disposed of the ground, by public roup, on the day of the
sale of the lots at Trinity Village. Both sales brought good prices, and
left the council and community no room to regret that they had made a number
of new lairds and voters in the county.
The jail had been constantly
receiving improvements. In 1836-37 it was thoroughly repaired, cleaned and
altered, having then, in our opinion, received as many improvements as its
situation rendered it susceptible of, but remaining a very secondary jail,
which is now converted into a very secondary police office. The town-hall,
too, was repainted, lighted up with gas, and otherwise improved this season.
In short, improvement, in its march, had reached Brechin, and its
inhabitants progressed with the tide and the times.
In 1837, a bill was brought
into Parliament to enable the sheriffs to hold courts in each town in their
shires for the disposal of small-debt cases. The bill proposed to give only
four courts yearly to Brechin; but, on the application of the council,
backed by their indefatigable representative, Mr Chalmers, six courts were
appointed to be held annually at Brechin. On Tuesday, 16th January 1838, the
sheriff opened his first small-debt court in Brechin, when, out of the nine
parishes attached to the Brechin district, only four cases were brought
before the judge. Since then the importance of the court has been fully
recognised by the country, and now the cases which are disposed of bimonthly
are pretty numerous.
The official intimation of
the demise of William IV. reached Brechin about two o’clock of 24th June
1837; the town council were immediately assembled; and, in two hours
afterwards, Victoria was proclaimed Queen of Great Britain and Ireland at
the Market Cross of Brechin.
In the course of making some
excavation at the East Mill brae, in 1837, several graves containing beads
of a round black substance were discovered. The bodies were found interred
after the manner of the ancient Britons, doubled up in kistaveens or cists,
composed of undressed stones placed upright on their edges, and covered with
thin slabs. The spot where the bodies were found had a southern exposure,
and lay close upon the banks of the Esk, within a mile of the Cross of
Brechin, at the place called the Middle Den of Leuchland. Similar cists have
since been found in different places in and around Brechin, all having a
similar exposure.
An act was obtained on 3d
July 1837 for improving the harbour of Montrose, in virtue of which the town
council of Brechin was authorised to appoint four trustees to attend,
jointly with others named by the county and the burgh of Montrose, to the
interests of that port. Under this authority the town council of Brechin, on
7th August 1837, named Messrs David Guthrie, David Lamb, James Hood, and
Thomas Ogilvy, merchants in Brechin, as trustees from Brechin; and since
then an annual election of Montrose harbour trustees has always been made.
The town council, shortly
after the passing of the Municipal Reform Act, agreed to meet statedly on
the first Monday of each month; but this having been found a rather
inconvenient day, it was agreed, on 1st January 1838, that in future the
council should meet on the second Monday of each month at six o’clock
evening. Besides these stated meetings, the town council meet, on other
occasions, when business requires them, upon getting twenty-four hours’
notice.
The High Street, from the
Prentice-Neuk to the Lower West Wynd (Church Street), was levelled and
macadamised during the spring of this year, and the Timber Market (Market
Street) was similarly improved during the summer; so that the only street
which remained within the burgh, paved with “whin bullets” was the Path Wynd
(Bridge Street), and it was soon after subjected to the same process which
the other streets had undergone; so that pitched or causewayed streets are
now wholly unknown in Brechin, and there is no room at this time for the
ancient boast of being able to keep the crown of the causey.
But the great event connected
with Brechin during the year 1838, was the rebuilding of the public schools.
The want of a proper lecture-room and library for the Mechanics’
Institution, and the demand for accommodation for the increasing number of
pupils at the grammar school, parish school, and burgh school, had struck
Lord Panmure, and his lordship most nobly proposed to erect at his own
expense, on the site of the old schools, a handsome new building of two
storeys, surmounted by a tower, and containing apartments to accommodate all
these institutions. After no little consultation as to the plan of the
building, and the individuals in whom the property ought to be vested,
everything was finally arranged in the month of February 1838. The
constitution is most liberal. The property is feudally vested in the town
council of Brechin, to be held by them as trustees, under the direction of
four managers, one to be named triennially by each of the patrons of the
parish school, the patrons of the burgh school, the patrons of the grammar
school, and the patrons of the Mechanics’ Institution. These patrons are
again respectively declared to be, of the grammar-school, the magistrates
and town council of Brechin; of the parish school, the heritors holding land
rated at £100 Scots of valued rent, the minister of the parish, and the
magistrates of Brechin; of the burgh school, the town council of Brechin;
and of the Mechanics’ Institution, the life members, the provost and two
bailies of Brechin, the dean and treasurer of the guildry incorporation, the
deacon convener of the incorporated trades, the heritors who are patrons of
the parish school, and the preses, treasurer, and secretary of the
Mechanics’ Institution. It will be observed that Lord Panmure reserved no
control over the erection; nay, when it was urged upon him, he positively
refused to have a voice more than any other heritor. The coronation of Queen
Victoria having been fixed for the 28th June 1838, it was resolved to make
that day a gala day in Brechin, and then to lay the foundation stone of the
public schools. This proposal, in parliamentary phrase, was carried nemine
coniradicente. Every one set himself to work more anxiously than another to
make a day of it A Fantoccini theatre, and having Marionettes or wooden
figures, then in the Mason Lodge, was laid open at the expense of Lord
Panmure, from nine o’clock morning to six o’clock afternoon, for the
amusement of all the children attending all the schools, public and private,
within the burgh. The amusement which was then seen in Brechin for the first
time, was under the management of a Mr Stephen, whose sons still travel the
country in the same line; but the theatre is better known by the name of “
Shuffle Katie,” from a popular dancing figure belonging to it. The
Marionette figures gave great delight to the Brechin children on this happy
day. Lord Panmure entertained all the tradesmen connected with the building
of the schools, in Bruce's Crown Hotel. The incorporated trades had a dinner
at their own cost in Walker's Cross Guns’ Tavern. A subscription dinner took
place in M‘Bain’s Swan Inn. Several other similar convivial parties met in
different parts of the town. Each burgess was furnished, from the burgh
funds, with a ticket of the value of Is. 6d. The guildry made a like
provision for their members. The widows and orphans of the different
incorporations had a similar gift, while private charity provided a
something for most of the poor who had no corporate claims. Lord Panmure and
Mr Cruikshank of Stracathro were at the expense of a grand display of
fireworks for the amusement of the public after nightfall. And, finally, a
subscription ball took place in the Town Hall, and was kept up with great
harmony to an early hour next morning. The procession, however, was the main
point of the day. At eleven o’clock forenoon, exactly, the procession
marched off in this order:—Three constables; Odd Fellows’ Society; Messrs
Hebenton, Wilson, and Laing, private teachers, with their pupils, four
abreast; three constables; trades-officer; six incorporated trades, three
abreast; Brechin band of music; three constables; town-officers; pupils of
the public schools, four abreast; town council, clergy, masters of public
schools, and directors of Mechanics’ Institution, four and four; St James’s
Lodge of Masons; Stephens’s band of music; guildry incorporation, burgesses,
and handicraftsmen, all three abreast. The procession thus marshalled,
proceeded from the Town Hall down the High Street, but scarce had they
started when flashes of lightning were succeeded by violent peals of thunder
and torrents of rain. Still, “ On " was the word, and although some anxious
mothers took away their children, the great majority proceeded, along with
the other members of the procession, down the Cadger Wynd, (Union Street,)
up Southesk Street, and through Panmure Street, arches of flowers being
raised over these new streets in honour of their being thus publicly opened;
up Clerk Street went the procession, round the Distillery Lane, down the
Timber Market, (Market Street,) round by Upper West Wynd, (St David Street,)
and St Mary Street, to the schools. The rain, though violent, did not
continue any length of time, and when the multitude reached the new building
the day was fine. The bands of music, pupils of the public schools, town
council, clergy, teachers of the public schools, directors of Mechanics'
Institution and St James’s Lodge of masons, entered the square of the
schools, where they were joined by Lady Panmure and a party from Brechin
Castle. The masonic ceremony of laying the foundation stone was then gone
through in capital style, the late Mr James Laing, surgeon, acting as master
of St James's Lodge, and the Bev. Robert Inglis, then of Locblee, now of the
Free Church in Edzell, officiating as chaplain. In a stone in the middle set
of the base course of. the front of the building, and between the north-west
abutment and north-west octagon turret of the tower, the stone being that
adjoining the turret, was deposited a glass vase, containing the coins of
the realm, an Angus Register, the newspapers of the day, a copy of the
tables on weights and measures published by Mr William Shiress, writer in
Brechin, a printed copy of the contract of the gas company, a list of the
special constables of the burgh, the regulations and fees of the public
schools, and a variety of other local publications, including a programme of
the procession. The vase also contained the following inscription:—
This Building was Erected
For the accommodation of the
Teachers of the Youth of Brechin, and their Pupils,
By the Noble Munificence of The Right Honourable William,
Baron Panmure of Brechin and Navar.
1838.
John Hendereon, Architect:
Robert Millar, Mason:
Robert Memes, Carpenter:
Robert Welsh, Plasterer:
David Shiress, Slater:
John Wilson, Plumber.
The vase likewise contained
another inscription, written in Latin, of which the following is a copy:—
Gulielmi
Panmurij Baronis, Brechinensis et Navarensis,
Liberalitate Munificentisaima,
Hoc iEdificiam,
In Usum Juventutis Brechinensis, Qui Literarum Studys Dent Operam, Necnon et
Pneceptornm,
Conditum Est,
Anno Domini, MDCCCXXXVIII.
Joanne Henderson, Architecto:
Roberto Millar. Fabro Mura no:
Roberto Memes, Fabro Lignario :
Roberto Welsh, Caementario:
Davide Shiress, Scandulario:
Joanne Wilson, Plumbario.
The masonic ceremony was very
imposing, and when the sweet infant voices of the pupils, aided by the
deeper tones of some professional gentlemen, raised the Queen's Anthem,
while the thunder rolled over the heads of the assembled multitude, the
effect was really sublime. Many was the deep-drawn sigh which we heard, and
not a few faces were bedewed with tears; the best feelings of the heart were
awakened and thus found utterance. The ceremony being completed, three
cheers were given in grateful acknowledgment of the obligation which the
inhabitants of Brechin lay under to Lord Panmure for erecting the new
seminaries. The procession afterwards moved by the Lower Wynd (Church
Street) to the High Street, where the Queen’s Anthem, and other pieces of
music, vocal and instrumental, were performed in honour of her Majesty Queen
Victoria, and the whole assemblage then broke up, after giving three hearty
huzzas for the then youthful queen.
Thus, from sunrise to
sunrise, Thursday 28th June 1838, was one continued round of amusement to
the old and the young, the rich and the poor of Brechin ; and we are truly
happy to record that all these festivities went off without the slightest
accident, and, as we believe, to the satisfaction of every person. This
description may be tedious to the general reader, but we flatter ourselves
that the account of this affair may be agreeable to many a gray head which
joined in the procession when a youth.
With the account of the
proceedings on this auspicious day we closed the continuous history of the
important burgh of Brechin in our first edition. |
