AN HISTORICAL SURVEY OF EDUCATION IN ANGUS TO THE YEAR 1872 FROM ORIGINAL AND CONTEMPORARY SOURCES, EMBRACING EARLY EDUCATION AND THE BEGINNINGS OF SYSTEMATIC EDUCATION; THE PARISH SCHOOL SYSTEM; BURGH SCHOOLS; SCHOOLS OF INDUSTRY; AND THE ORIGIN AND ESTABLISHMENT OF INFANT SCHOOLS Joseph Chasser Jessop A Thesis Submitted for the Degree of PhD at the University of St Andrews 1930 Full metadata for this item is available in St Andrews Research Repository at: http://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/ Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/10023/13742 This item is protected by original copyright "An Historical Survey of Education in Angus to the Year 1872 from Original and Contem­ :porary Sources, embracing Early Education and the Beginnings of Systematic Education; the Parish School System; Burgh Schools; Schools of Industry; and the Origin and Establishment of Infant Schools" - being a Thesis presented by Joseph Chasser Jessop, M.A., to the University of St. Andrews in application for the Degree of Ph. D., April)l930. INTRODUCTION. I Angus or Forfarshire is emphatically a microcosm of Scotland. Its various and distinct features whether geographical, historical, ecclesiastical, or archaeolog- :ical, mark the county as peculiarly Scottish. Angus presents valley, rook, and hill. Through the heart of the county runs that fine expanse of fertile land, known as Strathmore, the big valley. The Sidlaw Hills separ- :ate Strathmore from Strathbeg, the little valley, through which flows the Lunan. The eounty is bounded on the north by the "Braes of Angus", consisting of the spurs of the Grampians,and the valleys that are formed by them: Glenisla, Glenprosen, Clova, Lethnot, and Glenesk. Nearly every glen has its loch. The most notable in Angus is that of Loch Lee, a typically Highland loch, guarded on three sides by high, heather or bare, rooky mountains. Other mountain lochs are: Drumore, Esk, Brandy, Wharral, and Stony. In the midst of charming scenery lie smaller lochs as, for instance, the circular Pitlyel/ I The old name of Angus was re-adopted by Forfar County Council in May 1928. "That it was known as Angus and not Forfarshire, up to 1654," says Lady Helena M. Carnegie "is indisputable." Scottish Historical Review vol. xxv. No. 99. April 1928, p. 158. In 1856 the Ordnance Survey adopted Forfarshire as the sole name. (ibid.) 2. Pitlyel Loch at the head of Strathmartine, and Lintrath­ :en, a picturesque loch which provides Dundee with its water supply. Close to the town of Forfar is to be found Forfar Looh, and to the east of the town there stretches a ohain of small lochs drained by the river Lunan. In Angus there is a fourth and maritime region whioh boasts of its sands, caves, and links, all of which attract many visitors in summer. As the geographical features of a country largely determine the lt fe of its people, it is natural that the chief occupations in Angus should be: pastoral in mountain and glen; agrioulture in the valleys; fishing and shipbuilding on the seaboard; industries and manufaotures in the towns. Though Angus has neither coal nor iron,it was, and is still, noted for its quarries. Writing of Angus c.l682, Oohterlony says: "The country aboundeth in quarries of freestone, excellent for hewing and cutting, especially one at the Castle of Glammes far exoeeding all others in the shyre, of a blewish colour; excellent in milne-stones; great abundance of sklai t and lymestone in divers places; ane excellent lead myne in I Glenesk, belonging to the Laird of Edzell". 1 spottiswoode Miscellany: a collection of original papers and tracts illustrative of the civil and ecclesiastical history of Scotland, vol.l. u.320. Jervise thinks that Oohterlony's pamphlet was not written until the end of 1864, or the beginning of 1865. Memorials of Angus and Mearns, vol.l. p.67. For the history of the mines in Glenesk see Jervise's Land of the Lindsays. pp.98-9S. 3. Angus is rich in its historical associations. The social, religious, and industrial life of any country is so closely connected and concerned with its Education that no historical survey of Education can be complete without reference to those events and movements that vitally affected the progress of its people. In dealing with Angus, then, we must briefly consider some of the important events that took place in the early his­ :tory of the county. History recordS that Angus was the scene of "old unhappy far off things and battles long ago~ In the year 685 A.D., Brude, King of the Fiats, inflicted a crushing defeat upon the Angles at Nectan's Mere. ident- :ified with Dunniohen, near Forfar. The defeat was dis- :astrous for Northumbria, then supreme of all the kingdoms: its leader was slain; its hopes and strength abated; the Picts recovered their·territory; and Strathclyde and I Lalriada regained their independence. For many a day Angus was to suffer from its close proximity to mountain fastnesses, and its seaboard and rivers afforded an easy means of access to the Danes. Hector Boece, the Scott- :ish historian, and a native of Angus, tells us that about the/ I Hume Brown, History of Scotland, 1909, vol.l. p.24. 4. the begi~~ing of the eleventh century the Danes inflict- :ed a severe blow upon Breohin, "vetus olim Piotorum oppidum". Their leader "in oppidum et sanctissimum templum ruit; quae ooede, ruinis ac incendns ita diruit, 1..\. I ut oppidum exinde pristinum decus nunquam rec~erarit". The Danes, however, were not always victorious. They met with defeat at Barry, and their leader, Camus, was 2 pursued and slain, whereupon a high stone cross, Camuston, now in the grounds of Panmure House, was erected to oom­ :memorate his defeat. Oohterlony in his "Account of the Shire of Forfar, c.l682", says that on the Links of Barrie there is "to be seen at this day great heaps of stones oasten together in great heapes in diverse places of that Links, which is said to be the buriall of the 3 dead there slain". The vitrified forts in Angus belong to this period and were built as defences against the Northmen. Fire was applied to pertain rooks as a means of fusing them into a solid ~ss for purposes of defence. Angus was also the theatre at many important acts during the War of Independence. On '7 .Jul~~~ 1296, "in oimiterio/ I Sootorum Historiae, Lib.Xl, Fooli. Boece, on the invit- :ation of Bishop Elphinstone, became the first Principal of Aberdeen University. He was succeeded by William Hay, 0 0 'l.alTshe aor.nosast ivies defsAncr~i bues a· in Simnson's Historical Saint Columba, p.98. See also l!' ig.63 ibid. 3 p.348. 5. aimiterio de Stroukatheraohe" fStracathro), Balliol and I his party renounced their treaty with France. Three days later, "in aastro Breahinensi", Balliol surrendered all claims to the kingdom of Scotland "in manus venerabilis patris domini Antonii, Dei gratia Dunelmensis episaopi 'l viae et nomine diati domini regis Angliae". Immediately after the assassination of Comyn at Dumfries (1306), Bruae was absolved from guilt at Glasgow, and crowned King of Scotland at Scone. This action was practically ~ endorsed by alL the bishops, and when in 1310,a Council held at Dundee~formally recognised Bruae as king, there was no dissentient voice. Arbroath has not received the prominence to which it is entitled as a place of more than/ I Documents illustrative of the History of Scotland 1286- 1306, vol.ll. Edin. 18~0, p.60. 2 Ibid.p.61. Hume Brown in his History of Scotland, vol.l. p.l43, has confused the dates of the renunciation of the treaty at Stracathro with Balliol's abdication at Breahin. Even if no dates were given it could be assumed that the renunciation would surely precede the abdication. 3 The deed of this Council runs in the name of eleven bishops. Hume Brown (History of Scotland, 1.156) speaks of it as a 'Provincial Council' of the clergy. Robertson (Statuta lxxii) regards it as a General Council of the Estates: Maaewen, A History of the Church in Scotland, v•l. 1. p.254 footnote 2. "Certain studies lately engaged in have produced evidence which would seem to render admiss­ tible the view that such a council never met": On a Supposed Provincial Council of the Scottish Church at Dundee in February 1310. By D.W.Hunter Marshall. Scottish Historiaal Review, vol.xxiii, July 1926, p.280. 6. than ordinary interest and importance in our national history. It was within the Regality Chamber of Arbroath Abbey that, on 6 April, 1380, the famous Declaration of Scottish Independence and the remonstrance against the excommunication of King Robert by Pope John XXll were I drawn up. Edward I. ie said to have abstracted or de- :stroyed the records and writs of Scotland. "He burnt all the chronicles* of the 3oottish nation, with all maner of bookes as well, those c onta.ining divine service, as anie other treatises of profane (civil) matters, to the end that the memorie of the Scots should perish, and thereto appointed grievous punishments for those that should disobie his commandments herein, in keeping any of the said books undefaced. He at the same time took with him from Scone the chair of marble, and causing it to be conveyed to London, did place it at Westminster, where/ , The sexoentenary was celebrated within the precincts of the Abbey, September, 1920. *Some patriotic Scottish historians allege that valuable chronicles came into the possession of Edward I.