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PREFACE
CONVERSING with Principal Robertson
about history, Dr Samuel Johnson remarked, "I wish much to have one
branch well done, and that is the history of the manners of common
life." Towards effecting, in connection with Scotland, what the
great lexicographer regarded as important in relation to any
country, I early dedicated a share of my attention. From my father,
a parish minister in Fife, whose power in delineating the manners of
a former age was only surpassed by his acuteness of observation, I
derived a first impulse. What in expressive phraseology he delighted
to set forth, I with juvenile ardour rejoiced to record; hence
commenced those researches which I have sought diligently to sustain
and carry out. When, in 1869, my gleanings for nearly a quarter of a
century had considerably accumulated, I put them together, in a
work, entitled "Scotland, Social and Domestic," which I then
published. As my researches were desultory, so was this first record
of them; yet the volume. experienced a reception which far exceeded
my expectation. There were two salutary results. On the one hand,
persons in different parts of the country favoured me with valuable
additions; on the other, I was led to pursue many enquiries in more
systematic form. And now, reviewing my labours during the last
fifteen years, I am not aware that I have allowed to remain
unexamined any known work or MS. in which the social condition of
the kingdom has been portrayed or even referred to. Nevertheless, I
am fully conscious that I have merely touched the subject, not
exhausted it.
The history of
Scotland is not to be found in the chronicles of her kings, or in
the narrative of her contendings with a powerful neighbour; not even
in the records of her commerce. While by the blending of Celt and
Teuton a distinctive nationality was formed, its development was
effected by those who in conflict with a rugged soil and a rigorous
climate, struggled diligently for subsistence. What were the earlier
and latter surroundings of those who so struggled; how from
inconsiderable beginnings the nation acquired that moral and
intellectual superiority which induced Professor Rivet, a learned
foreigner, early in the seventeenth century, to speak of the
praefervidum ingenium Scotorum, it has been my object to discover.
Or more plainly, how has a people occupying a mainland 285 miles at
greatest length, by 160 miles at greatest breadth, made from age to
awe a steady and persistent progress? For at the accession of Robert
II. in 1371 the population was about 470,000, while in 1560 it had
increased to 700,000; and at the union of the crowns, to 100,000
more. At the political union, in 1707, it was reckoned at 1,100,000,
in 1755 at 1,255,663, and in 1791 at 1,514,999. During the following
ninety years the numbers more than doubled, the census of 1881
representing a population of 3,735,573. And if progress is to be
further estimated by the revenue returns, we would from data
supplied in the "Exchequer Rolls" and the "Treasurer's Accounts"
estimate the annual receipts in the reign of Alexander III. as not
exceeding £30,000 of modern money, and in the reign of James IV. as
considerably under £70,000. The Scottish national revenue in 1658
was actually 143,652 sterling. There was a subsequent filling off,
the revenue at the Revolution in 1633 not exceeding £100,000, while
at the Union it was about £110,700, and on the average of five years
thereafter, £122,825. In 1882-3 the state revenues of North Britain
amounted, in round numbers, to upwards of nine millions. For a
progress so considerable we must search the cot rather than the
castle. Too frequently the nobles wasted what the people gathered
in. Culture for a time found refuge in the monasteries, but at
length corruption supervened, and thereupon arose that overwhelming
passion, which swept ruthlessly away that which, fashioned by art,
was consecrated by religion. In these pages have been traced the
rise and progress of every branch of the social system, and an
effort made to show how the usages of one age have influenced the
manners of the next, and at length fixed the condition and destiny
of the people.
Studying to be
succinct, I have avoided prolixity on the one hand, and epigrammatic
baldness upon the other. Nor have I burdened the narrative with
references which might not strictly indicate the sources whence had
been derived materials from which, in the first instance, error had
to be purged and fiction eliminated. Therefore when sources of
information are not denoted in text or in foot-note, I charge myself
with individual responsibility for what has been written. While the
work will extend to three volumes, I issue two volumes now, and
these will embrace that portion of my subject wherein error is more
likely to occur, than in the Chapters which may follow. Till the
concluding volume is put to press, one year hence, my portfolio will
remain open to receive corrections. Nor will the most rigorous
censor be deemed harsh should his remarks tend towards rendering
less unworthy of its object a work of which the permanent value
must wholly rest upon its substantial accuracy. With the needful
appendices, the third volume will embrace a narrative of the
national superstitions, along with details of social humour, and of
scholastic and literary history. An exhaustive index will be added.
A writer indebted to
numerous correspondents during a period of years, may not be
expected to present a list of all who by their communications have
favoured him. Of those who have helped in the present work, some
have passed away; and those who remain will, in the consciousness
that they have been useful, doubtless excuse any specific
acknowledgment. But it is imperative that I should fulfil an obvious
duty by cordially thanking the Keepers of Libraries, the Curators of
Museums, and the Secretaries of Public Institutions, who have
courteously opened their treasures, and so facilitated my enquiries.
In the General Register House I have been so frequent a visitor,
that I must have utterly exhausted patience, unless those with whom
I came in contact had possessed kindred tastes, and indulged a
generous forbearance. From Mr Thomas Dickson, Curator of its
Historical Department, I have experienced a full share of that
obliging attention which he generously extends to all. In the Justiciary Department, Mr Veitch has refreshed me by genial
co-operation, and Mr Malcolm Nicolson by his intelligent aid in the
matter of Gaelic derivations. To thank Mr Walter Macleod, the most
learned of all in official record searchers, for assistance
willingly rendered, is no less a pleasing duty than a hearty
satisfaction.
In conclusion, it may
be remarked that while what Dr Johnson suggested could not in
reference to Scotland, have been accomplished prior to our own
times, when the records of the kingdom have been made generally
accessible, one precious source of historical materials is still
unavailable. The Kirk-session, Presbytery, and Synod Minute Books
remain closed in the hands of their custodiers. Some of these
commence in times bordering on the Reformation, while nearly all
cover the years of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. If
under a civil or ecclesiastical enactment these records were
calendered, much new light would be reflected on the national
history.
CHARLES ROGERS.
6 BARNTON TERRACE,
EDINBURGH, October 1884.
Contents
Volume 1
Volume 2
Volume 3
POSTSCRIPT TO
PREFACE.
IN issuing my third
and concluding volume, I feel as if parting with an old and
cherished friend, with whom I have long enjoyed familiar converse. I
have talked about Scotland in its social aspects, and in respect of
the usages, manners, and practices of its inhabitants. And in
discoursing of these, I have avoided rash and curious speculation.
By the aid of an index, in which are included subjects as well as
proper names, the reader, it is hoped, will find that topics have
been included, in which he is personally interested, and that in a
condensed form, facts and particulars are presented not readily to
be gleaned elsewhere. Yet I may indulge in no self-gratulation, for
I am more than conscious of my abundant shortcomings. Nor will
failure cause me any absolute distress, since the undertaking on
which I have ventured embraces a field so wide that none have
heretofore sought its cultivation.
In the present volume
is contained a Supplement, applicable chiefly to the two preceding
volumes. In this errors, have been corrected, omissions supplied,
and new illustrations gathered in.
In conclusion, let me
emphatically say that, in writing about a country very dear to me, I
have used every effort, so that its social development might be
rightly apprehended alike by strangers and by its sons. Wherein I
have fallen short, let the error be ascribed, not to any lack of
industry, but to imperfect skill or defective judgment. To all who
have supplied me with information, or rendered other assistance, I
beg to return my sincere and grateful acknowledgments.
CHARLES ROGERS.
6 BARNTON TERRACE,
EDINBURGIH, October 1886.
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