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Three Generations. the Story of a Middle-Class Scottish Family

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Three Generations. the Story of a Middle-Class Scottish Family S. /6 *f National Libranrof Scotland 'B000232609* ^ THREE GENERATIONS THREE GENERATIONS THE STORY OF A MIDDLE-CLASS SCOTTISH FAMILY BY HENRIETTA KEDDIE (SARAH TYTLER) " Oh ! the changes we have seen On the long and the winding- way." Frances Brown LONDON JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET, W. TO J. M. BARRIE, WHO HAS TOUCHED HOMELY THINGS AND MADE THEM DIVINE. FOR THIS GREAT SERVICE A HEAVY DEBT OF GRATITUDE IS OWING TO HIM FROM HIS GENERATION. Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2012 with funding from National Library of Scotland http://www.archive.org/details/threegenerationsOOtytl — CONTENTS PART I BALASS DAYS CHAPTER I IAGES " The cauld corp of Dauvit Gib "—The ancestress who attended conventicles—The gay bachelor doings of young Harry Gibb of Balass— His runaway marriage at nineteen with a bride of sixteen— Helen Burn of the Lothians—The couple's solitary visit across the Firth to introduce the bridegroom to his new relations—The gift of the initial ring from the elder to the younger Helen Burn—The homely old "farm town" of Balass, with the young "good-wife"—Her numerous friends and retainers—The drinking habits of the time —The market night—The Yeomanry Cavalry during the wars with Buonaparte— Harry called out to lie in camp on Kelly Law to receive the invader— His wife's injunction to his brother- in-arms ------- i —21 CHAPTER II The education of the Balass young people under their uncle, Mr. Adam Wiseman, and the " Little Master," his youngest son and only assistant—The sole fragment of Mr. Adam Wiseman's muse which has been saved from oblivion " Candlemas, with its " Creeshy [greasy] King —The annual cock-fight with " Victor " and " Victor's Man "—The school held in the parish church—The small scholar sent to stand behind the recumbent figure of " Long Fernie " because of her sins—The quaking walk to school through the planta- tion, which might harbour Buonaparte and his men The cheerful return escort—The six sons of the house—The vii —— viii CONTENTS PAGES four daughters — Dressmaking under gentlewomen : the minister's sisters—Manners and accomplishments from the imposing Misses McPherson—Flower and fruit pieces—My mother's French fable—The opening of the dancing-school ball, with the minuet de la cour danced by Mr. Clark, the dancing-master, and Miss Mary Gibb, his best pupil " Bonnie Jeannie Gibb " —Stately, sedate " Marget "—Helen, "the lily in the bud"—A Scottish yeoman's household a hundred years ago — Quilting - parties — The bleaching- green - ..... 22—35 CHAPTER III The advent of the French prisoners—An unexpected breakfast- party—The encounter between my grandfather and the maitre d 'amies—The French theatre, with its first and last French night—A King's bedesman— Riding the " bruse " My mother's holiday visit to Blebo Mills, when John Walker and her sister Marget were master and mistress there Nothing to do but take care of the baby and read library books—"The Sorrows of Werther " and "Camilla; or, A " Picture of Youth ..... 36—47 CHAPTER IV domestic tragedy — The first appearance of the " White Scourge" — The young banker Andrew's illness and his death at sea—The end of "Bonnie Jeannie's" romance The death of young Helen—A harassed man—The banker cousin's work—An example of a simple man's simplicity The sale of the pleasant little dower-house the gift of old Andrew Gibb's forethought, exercised in vain—A broken " man, " a dyvour —The deplorable position of a bankrupt farmer of the period—My grandfather, with many of his fellows, forced to depend chiefly on the courage and industry of his wife—Harry and George victims to the "White Scourge," d}dng one after the other in their Cupar home A gleam of brightness in the gloom from the marriages, with an interval between, of my mother and my Aunt Jean to two lawyer's clerks (bound to be full-blown lawyers in their time), boarders under my grandfather's roof—Arthur Gibb, one of the sons, subfactor to the Duchess-Countess of Sutherland, the next victim; nor wife nor child could delay his doom—My father's coach-journey, in the depth of — CONTENTS ix PAGES winter, to represent the family at the funeral—The heaviest blow of all : the death of Adam Gibb, the invalid doctor and stay of his family—His previous effort to rescue his young brother, the second Andrew, from the fate of the men of his race—The ill-omened marriage of my Aunt Jean, quickly followed by the speedy death of husband and wife —My grandmother's death—My grandfather's last days in the house of his youngest son, with his two married daughters and their children near him— His largely-attended funeral ....... 48—61 PART II A YOUNG COUPLE: THE BREAD-WINNER AND THE HOUSE-MOTHER CHAPTER I The date of my father and mother's marriage at Blebo Mills My grandmother's disapproval—My father's antecedents Some of his predecessors not without enterprise—His grand- mother's brothers and their Spanish doubloons— His uncle Alexander a cabin-boy in the Royal George—Help rendered by him to young Philip Durham, a midshipman—The manner in which the family showed their gratitude—The final dis- appearance of Alexander Keddie—My grandfather Robert Keddie's post — My father's hard, lonely childhood — A lawyer's clerk in lodgings in Cupar—The dash of romance, with the corresponding strain of chivalrousness, in the character of the lad—His admiration of learning and his love of culture in women— His worship of the Misses Greig's nameless governesses—He was one of the party who, under cloud of night, forcibly removed the corpse of a poor suicide from his dishonoured grave, "where four cross-roads meet," to a consecrated churchyard—The speed with which he brought back an interdict to prevent the removal of the old gaol—The aid he rendered to an escaping prisoner—The couple's married life started in a little flat over a baker's shop—The death of their first-born—The cutting off of my father's queue—My father's voyage to London—Nearly a month at sea—The sight of the Duke of Wellington riding on his way to the Horse Guards - 63—73 —— CONTENTS CHAPTER II PAGES The necessity for a change of dwelling—The town houses of the old county gentry in the town—The uses of a summer-house —Cupar in its golden days a miniature Edinburgh—Its poverty and pride, and its philosophy and simplicity going hand -in -hand with its poverty — The " Shirra " (Sheriff Substitute) one of the " Three Merry Andrews "—My father and mother's acceptance by the town—The family life of the time—The social life—A day in the past, beginning with the visit of the peripatetic barber—The public holidays The King's birthday and the elections—My father's firm's eccentric client—Sir Michael's winding-sheet - - 75—87 CHAPTER III An age of nicknames and practical jokes—The bet in the Sun Tavern—The Wizard of the North and the " Waverley Novels" —A faithful middle-class wife and mother's obligations Young Scott Lauder's picture of my mother—Her interest in contemporary topics—Byron and Lady Byron (" Fare thee well, and if for ever ")—Ancient society figures—My mother's favourite heroines : Princess Charlotte and the Empress Josephine—A baseless royal tragedy—The romance of another Princess, probably arising from the death-bed part- ing of Princess Amelia and her father—The Creole heroine, with her shallow and sensuous nature, far removed from the Scottish standard of morals — Bourrienne's incriminating statement—My mother's zeal and activity in letting her house to the visitors for the " Fife Hunt "—The money earned hers, to do with it as she chose—Her choice - - 88—99 CHAPTER IV Time passes—Children growing up—Professional income limited —Familiarity with mining traditions, without a practical knowledge of mining—Leasing the Grange coal-pits—Travel- ling to and fro—Removal of the family to the old mansion- house of Grange on the east coast of Fife—The coast as seen from the brae on which the house stood—The Isle of May—The Bass Rock—The Douglases Fort of Tantallon The shifting light of Inchkeith—The view from the back of the house : Largo Law, Largo Bay—Strathairlie—Balcarres Craig—Kelly Law—Within the house the panelled dining- — CONTENTS xi PAGES room, where "Bobbing John" met the conspirators before the rebellion of " '15 "—The glass door to the turret-room, before which the " White Lady" was murdered - 100— 107 CHAPTER V The death of the last-born— In the wilds—My father's panoply of an Edinburgh newspaper twice a week, in addition to the weekly local paper—My mother's cheerful return to old Balass habits, and her ceaseless industry—Old-fashioned neighbours—The great man of the district, with his adverse influence—The minister's strange story—My mother's dis- covery of congenial friends in three maiden ladies (Miss Effie, Miss Kirstie, and Miss Nancy Edie), her kinswomen through the brothers Arthur and David Edie, who married her father's sisters, Marget and Helen- - - 108— 123 CHAPTER VI My father and mother middle-aged—A family gathering—The beginning of the long struggle with unconquerable forces The missing of the ironstone, which might have saved the situation—The yearly levant of the miners to the North- Country fishing—The presentation to the coal-master in 1838 ------- 124— 131 CHAPTER VII Pit accidents—The catastrophe of the main pit flooded for a year—The brackish burn—The stealthy and certain rise of the water—Was it from some old working, or was it from the sea ?—Must the work of the pumps, played night and day, be in vain ?—The earlier and the later look-out from the old pillared gateway—The first, that of the Malcolm of the period, for the French ship bringing
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