A B ER DEEN PRI N T ED A T T H E B A E RD EEN jO U R N A L O FFI C E, A DEL PHI COURT . P A S T A N D P R E S E N T A B I E R D E E N S H R E , R EM I N I SC EN C ES O F EV EN TY Y EA R S S . TH E R V E . WI LLI A M A D. U L D. E , - M I N I ST ER O F B A N CH ORY DEV EN IC K . L WI E S S M I T H S O N , AB ERDEEN . P R E F A E C . D U RI N G lon fe which ex ten ds f one of my g li , rom s s of this r of which fift the earlie t year centu y, and y five s s s s year have been pent in my pre ent pari h , great changes have taken place in my native district o f A s T s e ffe berdeen hire . hese change have b en e cted mainly by the spread among all classes of the o f s t an d the people an education in the Univer i y, in s s s far s its Grammar and pari h chool , uperior in intellectual quality to that of pas t days ; and by the opening up o f free communication with the s o f s of th f re t the world , fir t all , by e ormation o f s f s turnpike road , and a terward , in a much s u of s greater degree, by the con tr ction railway ; and they manifest them selves not only in the altered manners and customs and even langu age o f the s u people , but al o in the more highly c ltivated and beautified s of the c r s f m th a pect ount y, ari ing ro e . P re ace vi f . s of s e exten ive planting uitable timb r, the reclama of s of the tion wa te land , the laying out arable s t s ground in regular field , and the improved me hod of use t s cultivation now in general . Seven y year ago the arable portion s o f the country were wretchedly d s f o f cultivate , ill laid out, and in many place ull -f s s s and s o f f s earth a t tone , the dwelling the armer and their sub -tenants and dependants were o f the poorest des cription and wanting in what are now s s o f f s con idered the decen cie li e . But the mo t marked feature in the face o f the country was the o f s s o f wide extent barren ground , con i ting partly m s o f oor land , upon which the tenant the adjoining farms had the privilege o f putting out their cattle s s s s o f ss to pick up a canty ub i tence, and partly mo f fo r m s n land , where they dug uel ho e con umptio or fo r sale in Aberdeen . The habits o f the people and their manners and T customs are also greatly altered . heir primitive s implicity and quaint modes o f express ion have mos s an ume us ds h h al t di appeared , d n ro wor , w ic P rec e. vii . m use now within my emory were in common , are s never heard and would not be under tood , although many of them have fortunately been preserved in “ s the page of the inimitable Johnny Gibb. Much was s f s aid and done in ormer day , both by the clergy a s and laity, which m y now eem to have betokened a great want of reverence fo r s acred things but it s s mu t be remembered that they lived in ruder time , and therefore s hould not be measured according to s s the tandard of these more refined day . I believe the piety of former generation s to have been as s s incere, and their religion and wor hip to have been as f as s of much rom the heart, tho e their de s cend ants . I have been all my life bles t with good health s f and a robu t rame, which have enabled me to go in and out among the people o f this paris h fo r a period which exceeds the lifetime of many men who now cons ider themselves to be approaching o ld age. I have been an attentive observer o f the a s and has oc cured ch nge going on around me, it to P re ace. viii . f s v e f o f s me that a hort, and e en imp r ect, record the e observations might be acceptable to my friends and of s s the public . Some the illu trative anecdote f s re er to times lightly antecedent to my own . T s fo r s he e were, the mo t part, told to me by my f ather and mother, and I think it will be acknow o ledged that they are, upon the wh le, apt and f r r s appropriate o the pu po e . P W. r BAN C H RY -D EV M AN SE o O EN I C K, A u s t 1 8 1 gu , 8 . T H E P A S T A N D P R E S E N T F A B E R D E E N I R O S H E . TH E following little Work was originally s ugges ted by a pas sage in the Introduction to one of the Edi ’ s of s s s s tion Dean Ram ay Remini cence , in which he s s f s ay , I have recorded the ollowing Remark , by o f f way experiment, hoping that it might orm a pre cedent or example fo r others to take up the ques tion o f s s us s s o f change among t , and tate the re ult their ” O s v f f s b er ation . I have ound that he who ollow the s so s e Reverend Dean mu t do at a great di tanc , and ff To sa of his by a di erent route. y nothing advanced s his age, which carried him back into bygone time , profess ion and pos ition in s ociety brought him into contact with the Nobility and Gentry at a period far ff f s his s v di erent rom the pre ent, while acute ob er ation se s o f s his s s and keen n e the ludicrou , trong Scotti h e s of o f predil ction , warmth heart, and geniality man s fo r ner , peculiarly fitted him collecting and record h i ng hi s reminiscences o f Scottis h life and c aracter. s He had , moreover, advantage , particularly in the te e s of his fo ow s of his la r dition work, which no ll er / r i re 4 T ze P ast and P resent of Abe deens/z . ssess s e e as he can po to the am xtent, in that , him se f s s was s e s r s o f l ay , he uppli d with illu t ation the habits and manners des cribed by him in the form of anecdotes from Scotchmen in all parts o f the wo rld. s s his its s was By thi mean , work in later edition e o f f his gr atly enriched , and that any ollower in in wake im poverished in like proportion . It may bc s s s sa s deed aid , that the be t Scotti h ying and s w o r anecdote , hich had been floating ab ut the count y fo r s as s t as his age , became, it were, tereo yped r i s t . s s s prope y Yet notwith tanding, there till ome n c d fo r s o s a u o cupie ground other , f which I h ll avail s f—not b o f o s my el y writing a collection anecd te , but l s the ' m anners b s s s by il u trating , ha it , and cu tom of a pas t generation in contrast with those of the s pre ent. ‘ R amsa s a s s i s Dean y y , that amu ement not the f of his his s chie object work , and reader have been much indebted for the information and benefit con ferred upon them but there cannot be a doubt that the amusement provided has not been less apprec i ated or less beneficial than the information furnished f is them . We know rom high authority that there a t a as as m to t time o l ugh, well a ti e weep, and hat “ ” r e a mer y heart does good like a m dicine.