^%. ^ ,o% IMAGE I MLUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) y A / t^5 ' :/ 5r /^./i 1.0 I.I 1.25 ^::!IIIM iiM - liU |22 IIIM '""^ 2.0 1.8 U IIIII.6 P /i ^ Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, NY 14SB0 (716) 872-4S03 fV '<^ ^^ o ^. \ .^-^o ;\ ^v- ^fl CIHM/ICMH Microfiche Series. CIHM/ICMH Collection de microfiches. Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions Institut Canadian de microreproductions historiques 1980 Technical and Bibliographic Notes/Notes techniques et bibliographiques The Institute has attempted tr obtain the best original copy available for filming. Features of this copy which may be bibliographically unique, which may alter any of the images in the reproduction, or which may significantly change the usual method of filming, are checked below. L'Institut a microfilm^ le meilleur exemplaire qu'il lui a 6t6 possible de se procurer. Les details de cet exemplaire qui sont peut-dtre uniques du point de vue bibliographique, qui peuvent modifier une image reproduite, ou qui peuvent exiger une modification dans la m^thode normale de filmage sont indiqu^;S ci-dessous. D Coloured covers/ Couverture de couleur □ Coloured pages/ Paoes de couleur n d D Covers damaged/ Couverture endommagde Covers restored and/or laminated/ Couverture restaur^e et/ou pelliculde Cover title missing/ Le titre de couverture manque Coloured maps/ Cartes gdographiques en couleur Coloured ink (i.e. other than blue or black)/ Encre de couleur (i.e. autre que bleue ou noire) Coloured plates and/or illustrations/ Planches et/ou illustrations en couleur Pages damaged/ Pages endommagdes □ Bound with other material/ Reli6 avec d'autres documents Tight binding may cause shadows or distortion along interior margin/ I. a reliure serr^e peut causer de I'ombre ou de la distortion le long de la marge int^rieure Blank leaves added during restoration may appear within the text. Whenever possible, these have been omitted from filming/ II se peut que certaines pages blanches ajout^es lors d'une restauration apparaissent dans le texte, mais, lorsque cela 6tait possible, ces pages n'ont pas 6t6 film^es. CI Pages restored and/or laminated/ J Pages restaur6es et/ou pellicul6es D D D □ D D 0^! Pages discoloured, stained or foxed/ Pages ddcolor^es, tachetdes ou piqudes Pages detached/ Pages d^tachdes Showthrough/ Transparence Quality of print varies/ Quality in^gale de I'impression Includes supplemenxary material/ Comprend du material supplementaire Only edition available/ Seule Edition disponible Pages wholly or partially obscured by errata slips, tissues, etc., have been refilmed to ensure the best possible image/ Les pages totalement ou partiellement obscurcies par un feuillet d'errata, une pelure, etc., ont 6t6 film6es d nouveau de fapon d obtenir la meilleure image possible. D Additional comments:/ Commentaires suppldmentaires: [21 This item is filmed at the reduction ratio checked below/ Ce document est filmd au taux de reduction indiqu6 ci-dessous. 10X 14X 18X 22X 26X 30X V 12X 16X 20X 24X 28X 32X ils lu lifier ne age The copy filmed here has been reproduced thanks to the generosity of: National Library of Canada The images appearing here are the best quality possible considering the condition and legibility of the original copy and in keeping with the filming contract specifications. L'exemplaire filmd fut reproduit grdce d la g6n6rosit6 de: Bibliothdque nationale du Canada Les images suivantes ont 6t6 reproduites avec le plus grand soin, compte tenu de la condition et de la nettetd de l'exemplaire film6, et en conformity avec les conditions du contrat de filmage. Original copies in printed paper covers are filmed beginning with the front cover and ending on the last page with a printed or illustrated impres- sion, or the back cover when appropriate. All other original copies are filmed beginning on the first page with a printed or illustrated impres- sion, and ending on the last page with a printed or illustrated impression. Les exemplaires originaux dont la couverture en papier est imprim^e sont film^s en commenpant par le premier plat et en terminant soit par la dernidre page qui comporte une empreinte d'impression ou d'illustration, soit par le second plat, selon le cas. Tous les autres exemiplaires originaux sont film6s en commenpant par la premidre page qui comporte une empreinte d'impression ou d'illustration et en terminant par la dernidre page qui comporte une telle empreinte. The last recorded frame on each microfiche shall contain the symbol •—♦'(meaning "CON- TINUED "), or the symbol V (meaning "END"), whichever applies. Un des symboles suivants apparaitra sur la dernidre image de chaque microfiche, selon le cas: le symbole — ♦> signifie "A SUIVRE", le symbole V signifie "FIN". Maps, plates, charts, etc., may be filmed at different reduction ratios. Those too large to be entirely included in one exposure are filmed beginning in the upper left hand corner, left to right and top to bottom, as many frames as required. The following diagrams illustrate the method: Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent dtre film6s d des taux de reduction diff^rents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour etre reproduit en un seul clichd, il est film6 d partir de Tangle sup^rieur gauche, de gauche d droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images ndcessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mdthode. rata lelure, d H 32X 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 oil Our J eames *. i < Kaktj).\ .e. t . ! VMES. IvRSON. MONTREAL : «} I . / i' Uur J ea^mes. r}${ THE Chronicles of Kartdale OUR JEAMES. EDITED BY J. MURDOCH HENDERSON. MONTREAL : WILLIAM DRYSDALE & CO. 1896. PS8f c bo A 77 5 C^ E„te,ad ac,»r,li„g i„ Art of Parliamen, „r Caaa.l,, i„ ,h. ye,r one in the Office of the Minister of Agriculture. T *> PREFACE. r When I first made the acquaintance of the old schoolmaster of Brigton, I little thought that he would ever make of me a literary legatee. Indeed, it was only after years of friendly intercourse with him, that I discovered he had been putting his pen to paper in behalf* of posterity. Though he was a man endowed with an intelligence readily discerned, and one in whose company I always derived the greatest comfort, as he would sit at my fireside of a winter's night, spinning his yarns about Kartdale and its neighbourhood, the thought never struck me that he was ever likely to become a candidate for literary fame. His manner was always the reticence of modesty itself. One evening, however, he arrived at my house, with a portmanteau in his hand, and, after the usual greetings, I noticed that he set it down carefully within the parlour door. My first thought was that the old gentleman was going to stay with me all night, and the idea naturally gave me the highest delight, since our sederunt could thus be prolonged to "the wee short hour ayont the twal." But by and by I found out my mistake. The old schoolmaster did not intend to stay with me all night. His portmanteau contained no part of his wardrobe. And nobody could have been vi I'KKFACE. more taken aback than I was, when, after a preliminary conversation on sundry sul)jects, the old man told me, not without a very careful breaking of the ice, that he had made up his mind to make me his literary executor. Of course I urged my literary inexperience, and the danger there would be to his name and fame in employing a novice as his editor. But he would take no denial. He had long been convinced that I was the only man to whom he could intrust the task of looking over his papers, when he was dead and gone; and when there came a (juaver in the old man's voice as he opened his portmanteau and lifted from its compartments several piles of manuscript, I felt how impotent I was to do anything that would tend to l)ring discomfort to the old gentleman. Thus did 1 become the old schoolmaster's literary executor. And now after careful revision of his autobiography, as well as of his sketches, short tales and verses, I have decided to present to the public this the first instalment of tlie literary remains of the most sterling friend I ever iiad. In these sketches I have made little or no attempt to change the old man's style, about which the reader may notice, perhaps, the least possible flavour of the school- master's proverbial verbosity. My only justification in presuming to see his writings through the press, lies in the hope that the merits of the author may force the reader to think as seldom as possible of the editor. J. M. H. OUR JHAMES. The gloaming of life has no tale to avow Compared with the tale of the springtide that's past : The griefs of the then are the joys of our now, The bad is a better, the good is our best. Although more than a hundred years have elapsed since Kartdale first started on its prosperous career as a manufacturing centre, it is even yet at times looked upon by some of its sister parishes as a kind of a new place. As everybody knows who has studied the gazetteer of Scotland, tlie town has had a very rapid growth, much more rapid, it is said, than any other town of its size from the Cheviots to John O'Groat's House; and although the industries which first gave its commercial activities an impulse — the weaving and the cotton-spinning trades — have now all but died out, others have taken their place, and at the present writing the burgh of Kartdale continues to be one of the most thriving towns in the west. The valley in which it is situated is watered by a stream, which provides many of the factories with a never- failing water power, and which drains an outside broadening plain that extends to the banks of the parent river. On account of the level character of 8 Till-: CIIUONICLKS OK KARTDAl.K. the site on which the town itself is built, the streets have a regular appearance, radiating at right angles from the Main Street, which formed in early days the king's nighway, and which is now, as its name im- plies, the principal thoroughfare. A local artist has published a series of sketches of the principal buildings of the town, among which, of course, take rank as the most interesting, the seven chu'.ches. It is needless to say that these sketches have a special interest to those who have not seen the place for years, and when the news was carried to the writer, who has been away from the old scenes for more than a quarter of a century now, that a new minister had been inducted to the charge of one of the churches the artist has so skilfully depicted, there came welling up in his memory the personality of this one and of that one who would have been present at the installation ceremonies, had death or absence from Kartdale not prevented them. It must now be nearly forty years since the "placing" of the incumbent who lately retired, was celebrated in the little edifice — forty years of busy life to him, forty years of changes — ah, how many ! — to his congrega- tion ; and yet nearly all the incidents connected with the earlier ceremony came out clearly on the writer's memory, as he sat in a kind of mesmeric dream over the artist's pen-and-ink delineation of the "auld biggin " in which it took place. The improvised platform with its rows of ministers assembled from the neighbouring i^arishes, the laying on of hands and the addresses to the newly ordained minister and his people, the soiree in the evening and the piesentation of pulpit-gown and Bible, the congratulations and OUR J K AMES. 9 the home-rejoicings — all came up before him, for the moment, as if the event had been but of yesterday. And again the humble pageant has been repeated. In the description given of the more recent installa- tion observances, there is no mention made of the church-officer; and yet few of us still living, who were present at the former " placing," can fail to remember the old man who, as sexton, was the busy master of ceremonies on that occasion. Things may have changed since then, and the wings of the present in- cumbent of Jeames's office may have been clipped ; but we can hardly think that the personality of our friend Jeames, for every boy in our time recognized in Jcamcs a friend, is likely to be forgotten as long as there are tongues in the parisli of Kartdale to gossip of the past. For be it known that Jeames was a character, perhaps the last of the race which Dean Ramsay has so well depicted by anecdote and illustra- tion. Like the class of which he was a relic, his eccentricity was more of the office than of the man. There was in him a certain kind of ability which com- manded respect even from those above his station in life, while with the younger folks of the congregation he was not only a favourite but a man of great weight in theological disputings. Towards the latter he was as obliging and condescending in his manner as he was to the elders of the church. Indeed, he had a way of meeting the impertinences of youth — no boy ever thought of being actually impudent to Jeames — which seldom failed to put a check upon them ; and yet, at the same time, his manner with the obstreperous was so gentle and unassertive, except in matters pertaining 10 THE CHRONICLES OF KARTDALE. to dogma and church creeds, that he seldom lost his popularity even with the misdemeanant whom he had occasion to reprove. In a word, Jeames was looked upon as being as much of a permanency about the church as any other individual connected with it. As a weaver, Jeames had never prospered. But for his office in the church, he would have, no doubt, taken rank as a mere ** puir body " in the town. The office was the man, and Jeames was by no means slow to emphasize the fact whenever an opportunity occurred to magnify his office. According to his own opinion, variously expressed, he was, without doubt, the next highest official to the minister, even to the exclusion of the precentor or the ruling elder; and always when he spoke of the congregation over which, as he was accustomed to say, " we preside, as it were," the ex- pression " our kirk " had about it, as uttered by him, an unction which neither italics nc!" inverted commas can possibly represent. Nor was the dignity of his office by any means concealed when he undertook to discuss some knotty point of theology with the younger folks, of a Sabbath afternoon in the session- house. On such occasions his utterances were nearly always given r catJiedra, in tones which seemed to ward off all discussion. With the most of us Jeames had no equal as a theologian in the church, unless it were the minister and one or two of the elders, though we had no means of comparing him with these, seeing they never thought of discussing theological difficulties with us. Indeed, it was through Jeames's teachings that many of us had our first wrestlings with Cal- vinism, and thus learned to defend ourselves against ['?% OUR JEAMES. 11 t i the heterodoxy of other creeds and denominations. In him we found a Hving exponent of the faith our fathers professed ; in him was to be seen the possessor of a log? al insight that could detect the foul fallacies of Armenianism, as he called them, or of any other ism that was not to be identified as part and parcel of the true Presbyterianism. Gifted with a fluency of speech wh.icb seldom halted to pay respect to an in- terruption, he was all the more able to show to advan- tage his intimate knowledge of the history of the Bible and its teachings, interlarding his arguments, as he always did, with'; some of the many hundreds of texts he had memorized during his moments of leisure. " I'm no gaun to say," he would sometimes declare, " that there's nae chance for ither folk ; that would maybe be to gang ower faur, and be unnecessarily limiting the mercy o' God himsel'; though the Confes- sion o' Faith is in itsel' nae respecter o' i)ersons out- side the pale o' Presbyterianism. lUit whether or no ither folk forbye Presbyterians hae a chance, there's ae thing I hae decided in my ain mind, and that is that the man wha doesnae attend our kirk is living at a dis- advantage, if no to his morals, at least to his theology. The spoon-meat that is whiles served out to some o' our neighbours, gin a' stories be true, maun surely be fushionless stutT, Exactly sae ! " Or at other times when he happened to notice some stranger in the church of a Sabbath, he would often say : — " We are mightily glad to see outsiders coming to hear us, even if it be only occasionally. The sugh o' the truth cannae be hauden within our four walls, thick though they be. The report o' the manfu' ex- 12 THE CHRONICLEvS OF KARTDALE. positions o' our humble organization cannae but hae an effect on the outside world, and thereby induce the spoon-fed folk o' our neighborhood to come within the influence o' things better than they're accustomed to. Man, when I sometimes look in the e'en o' thae stranger bodies that come to hear us, as they sit drinking in ilka word o' the discourse, I see how wonderfully the right o't, sae eloquently expressed frae aboon my seat, refreshes them in their hearts and very souls. They actually gang hame new creatures. Exactly sae ! " As has been hinted, the session-house was Jeames's theological hall. It consisted of a small compartment enclosed underneath the gallery of the church in the north-west comer of the quaint old square edifice; and there it was, during the interval of public worship, or, as has been said, in the afternot)n before Sunday- school, that Jeames was accustomed to have a band of eager listeners around, listening to his dogmatic utter- ances, or what was more interesting, to a discussion between him and some young or elderly disputant, as the case might be. During the winter months, these audiences were always at their largest, since to the interest of the sexton's disquisitions there was added the comfort of a glowing fire in the large old-fashioned stove which stood in a corner of the room. There was not a little of the Socratic method about Jeames's teachings, though there was seldom any of the irony of the wily Athenian to be detected in them. Like the great Grecian philosopher, he was for ever searching after the truth, though it was always after the manner of one who had found it : and however at times he OUR jKAMKS. LS would fall a victim to some shrewd antagonist, he was seldom unsuccessful in his raids against youthful ignorance. Innovations of any kind, from the improving of the heating apparatus to the slightest change in the manner of conducting the service, were Jeamcs's ab- horrence, though it must in justice be said of him that he was never the last to give in, when the changes had once been accomplishrd. " An innovation is the finger-post to a heresy," he was accustomed to say, " and it's mair than I can un- ci erstan' how men can gie way to the new-fangled notions o' a wheen o' bee-headed loons, wha care as muckle about the purifying o' God's house, as did the Pharisees and money-changers o' auld. The women folks arc aye easily enough carried awa' by sic falda- r^ls ; but that men, in whom God breathed the breath o' life and manhood, should think weel o' heresy in ony form is past my comprehension. Gie them ane o' thae new-fangled psalm-tunes, and they want a baund; gie them a baund and they'll want an organ, and gie them the kist o' whistles, and afore ye ken whaur ye are, ye'll hae the minister dressed in crimson and a cocked hat, wi' caunles burning a' about him in the pulpit. Exactly sae ! " " Let sic heretics as wish for a new and improved psalmody and kirk service," he would sometimes con- tinu'j in spite of interruption, " let sic heretics, I say, read the Scots' Worthies, and there they'll find in a l)0ok maist as honestly and inspiredly written as the Bible itsel', something about the simplicity o' public worship, when our forefaithers had neither pulpit nor 14 THE CHRONICLES OF KARTDALE. !ii pew to sit in. Their simple service was guid enough for them, honest men, and is surely guid enough for us that cannae boast o' a' their piety or upright con- duct, or even the half o't. Gin I had my will, I would stick to their plan o' worship as a saving grace. For few will deny that their hearts were in the right place, or say that their way o' thinking was nae sound." On one occasion, after due consideration, the session had come to the decision that the old practice of read- ing the line should be discontinued by the precentor, Ihe practice handed down probably from Knox's time, when many of the common people were unable to read, had been introduced into " our kirk " by the men who had built it ; and such a '' use and wont " cere- mony could hardly disappear without giving some little offence to the older adherents. Of those who were offended, or professed to be offended for a time, was our friend Jeames, and as usual he was not slow to express his indignation at what he called an innova- tion that would be sure to lead to something worse. " Guid forgie us for the sacrileege! " was his exclama- tion to some of his more youthful disciples, during the afternoon of the day on which the precentor laid aside the semblance of the town-crier as he intoned the sacred words that were to be sung, after his recital of them in the keynote of the psalm-tune. "Ay, Guid forgie us for the sacrileege ! Gin there be ae kind o' a theft waur than anither, it is surely the thieving that puts its hand to the public worship o' God's ain folk, that begrudges the richness in length and breadth o' a people's piety as expressed in praise o' Him that made us a'. This scrimpin' o' our feelings as expressed in OUR JEAMES. 15 words is nacthing short o' profanity, and if Providence owerlook it, it is maybe mair than it has ony right to dae." " But whaur is the profanity ? " asked one of the lads whose father was one of those who had advocated the change, " If there be profanity in it, it maun sure- ly be profanity unspoken." " And is there nae sic a thing as aiths unbo-n ? " exclaimed jeames. " Ah, my man, ye maun ken there is a profanity of omission as weel as o' commission, though maybe ye are ower young to understand the maitter as I do. But wait till ye're as aula as I am, and ye 11 maybe experience how fine a thing it is in the worship o' God to hae your mouth saturated twice ower wi' the contrite words o' the inspired psalmist." Among the adherents of Jcames's philosophy class, some of whom were fairly well up in their schooling, as the saying is, the above doctrine was for ever after known as Jeames's " dogma of double saturation." Little things disturb small communities, the discus- sion over them often leading to the verge of disintegra- tion. Some time after the noise in connection with the above-mentioned innovation had subsided, and when people had come to speak of it as a custom of the past only to be laughed at, the precentor thought to introduce one Sunday morning — some said on his own responsibility, though he would hardly have dared do that — one of those psalm tunes — St. Anne's, per- haps — in which the last two lines of the stanza are re- peated in the course of singing it. There had been rumors afloat for some weeks before that such a thing was in contemplation ; for the singing class which the 16 THE CHRONICLES OF KAKTDALE. precentor conducted once a week in tlie session-house, would hardly have been engaged, as was said, in prac- tising such a tune, unless some use were going to be made of it. The whole congregation was therefore on the qui vive for the innovation, ready to be divided into two parties the moment the new tune was to be heard in the church proper. Of course Jeames knew that there was something afoot, and he and some of the other more conservative of the brethren had been seen shaking their heads in mournful conference over the matter, although they were intelligent enough not to condemn a thing before it had been tried. The only man that really uplifted his voice against the move- ment in its embryo state, was one Robin Drum, an honest sort of a man who had, moreover, an opinion of his own on most matters, though the opinion was not always shared in by his neighbours. Perhaps it was Robin's opposition that produced the most of the excitement over the introduction of the new tune, for people were beginning to listen to the advocacy which some of the Presbyterian ministers were entering upon at the time for an improved psalmody ; at least he was known to have spoken his mind quite freely on the subject to Jeames, bringing his indignation to the fever point of threatening to leave the church if the precentor's plans were not frustrated. " Ye maun nae think o' sic a thing at your time o' life," Jeames is said to have advised. " ^e hae been sae lang accustomed to the wholesome food o' our bit sanctuary here, that ye would fairly starve yoursel' in ony ither communion : ye maun nae think o' sic a thing." OUR JEAMES. 17 " Starve or no starve," Robin is said to have replied, ** rii no stand this kind o' thing. It would be rank hypocrisy for nie no to resist this attempt o' Satan to niingio \vi* the sons o' God in their worship as in the days o' Job, seeing I'm convinced in my ain mind that the ways o' Satan and the scarlet lady are but ane and the same; and ye'll hardly be inclined to think ither- vvise yoursel, considering your responsibilities as an officer in God's temple, when ye contemplate the at- tempts that are bein' made to introduce skirlin' tunes that hae their proper place amang the roistering ne'er- do-weels o' Satan's kingdom in the goose-dubs o' a fause religion." " You're nae doubt right in a' that ye say, Mr. Drum," answered Jeanies, " but we maun jist baud our souls in patience until we hear what the thing is like. I'm no a man to condemn a thing afore proving it, and, come what may, I think I'll stick to the auld big- gin', and I think sae should you, Mr. Drum. In this worl' we may gang fardcr for a guid thing aiid fare waur than in our kirk, whaur the doctrine is sound enough, even if the service should gang a wee bit aglee." The influence of neither Robin Drum nor Jeames, however, had any effect upon the precentor, who, on a subsequent Sabbath, put up the long tickets or psalm-tune cards on either side of him with as much nonchalance as if the new tune were but an ordinary one. All went well enough until the fourth line was completed ; but when the precentor returned to the third line of the verse to repeat it, all eyes were directed towards a movement in* Robin Drum's seat, where he, 18 THE CHRONICLES OF KARTDALE. his wife and their seven children arose simultaneously, and, at a signal given by the head of the Drum house- hold, marched in procession down the long aisle, seemingly keeping step to the precentor's singing. Of course such an incident could not but create a commo- tion after the restraint of the service was over, and but for the merriment created by a wag who re- christened the unfortunate tune by calling it " Robin Drum's March," the discussions might have taken a more senous turn for the peace of the congregation. As it was, there was discussion enough about the matter during the week, the minister having at last to interfere by calling upon Mr. Drum and promising to have his opinion respected as far as it was possible. Jeames, of course, continued for a time in opposition to what he called " the unsightly desecration o' the precentor's box." But it was in the afternoon after the offence to Robin's feelings had occurred^ that his indignation rose to its higher degree of temperature. "Woe unto that thing by which offences come !" he exclaimed to his youthful friends in the session- house. " Robin Drum may be headstrong in some things, but he's honest for a' that. I'm no gaun' to justify him in the course he has ta'en, but the thing that has offended him should not be tolerated in ony truly Christian place o' worship. Let this thing con- tinue, and we'll hae a baund in the kirk afore mony months gang by. Exactly sae ! " " But what is wrang wi' the tune ? " asked one of his listeners. " It's no' the +une that's sae far wrang, if it would only stop at the right place; but for us to gang on . I III OUR JEAMES. 19 skirlin' the last twa lines, as if we wanted to impress the Almighty wi' the sweetness o' our singing — a pridefu' thing for onybody to dae — is mair than ony upright man ca^i stand." " It may be right enough what you say," said his disciple, respectfully, though not without a twinkle in his eye, "but I'm afraid, Jeames, ye hac.ae yet experienced to its fullest extent, how fine a thing it is in the worship o' God to hae your mouth saturated twice ower wi' the contrite words o' the inspired psalmist;" and thus it was that Jeames's " dogma of double saturation," became better known than ever from its once being wielded to his own disadvantage in argument. But after all that has been told of the v/orthy sexton, it remains to be said that among his many virtues there lurked a vice, or at least what some people even in his time were beginning to denounce as a vice. The fact is, Jeames was fond of a glass, a habit which he himself, in speaking of it, declared to have been con- tracted in his younger days when the weaver lads with whom he associated had more pence than prudence. And as there are few men, in the lower walks of life, at least, who are more highly esteemed than they de- serve, so it was with Jeames, when his character was being discussed by the "unco' guid." His chief fault, if not his only one, always seemed to come uppermost with some folk, who, even when praising him for some remark he had made or some kindness he had done, were sure to regret that such an obliging, simple- minded man should ever be apt to forget himself. But if the truth of the matter had always been kept in view in regard to Jeames's wee bits of trials, as he r 20 THK CHRONICLES OF KARTDAMO. called them, his half-and-half friends — for he had no foes — would have been more inclined than they were to blame those who paid for his treats than the poor man himself. Indeed, Jeames had no money of his own to spend in either treating himself or other people, and when he did happen to get a toothful too much, as the saying is, he had no doubt been drawn on by the couthieness of the crack with some drouthy neigh- bour who was willing enough to pay the lawing to have the benefit of the crack. For if Jeames was an in- teresting conversationalist at most of times, he was even more so when he had a glass in, and as he was known in a social way by everybody of his own class in the town, it was often difficult enough for him to take a walk down the street and escape the necessity of licking his lips or using a peppermint drop. On one occasion, and only one, as far as can be remembered, did James's predilection in the matter o{ strong waters lead him into what could be called a serious difficulty, as far as his position as church-officer was concerned. And here it may l)e said that the worthy sexton was not a man ever given to drink himself beyond all self-conscious cognizance. As has been said, he was a man fond of his glass, and seldom or never went beyond two or three at a time, even under the most pressing inducements ; but on the occasion in which he became seriously involved with the digni- taries of the congregation, he unfortunately happened to take his glass or two at a very inopportune season, and thus fell a victim to circumstances, as many have done before and since, even when engaged in com- mitting a less doubtful act of piety than taking a i I OUR jftAMES. 21 pl.'iss of whiskey on a Sunday morning. But the story liad l)etter be told in something Hkc the language which Jcames himself used, when he afterwards gave it as one of the most serious experiences of his life. " I'm no ane to justify ony act o' mine that has even the appearance o' evil about it," he would say. " There's nae doubt I was wrang ; but when on the Sunday nK)rning I met Willie Tumbull, and saw how anxious he was to find somebody to join him jist for a minute or sae in the Cross Keys near by, I had nae the heart to refuse him, for he is really a kind-hearted young man is Willie; and since he has maybe owcr muckle siller in his hand for a man o' his time o' life, and is hardly possessed o' strength o' mind enough to keep it, there cannae be very nnich hairm in encour- aging him at times to spend some o't on ither folk that hae hard times to mak' ends meet. Ye ken, it is aye my custom, when the nKjrning is gui>l, to tak' a bit stroll through the town as soon as I hae seen everything put to rights in the kirk; and sae it was on the Sunday I speak of ; it was a fine frosty morning, and I hadnac got further than the middle o' the square, when wha should turn up but Willie himsel', a v.ee kenning bleared about the e'en, and looking kind o' disconsolate like." " ' A guid morning to ye, Mr. Turnbull,' says I to him as I made to continue my stroll. " ' It may be a guid enough morning to you, Jeames,' said he, 'but I'm ihinking my head 'ill not let me see it in the same light as you;' and he laughed a kind o' cheerless laugh. ' By the way, do you think the Cross Key 'oiks are up yet, Jeames ? ' 22 THE CIIKONICLES OF KAKTDALE. it t T». iir «i II I'm sure I cannae tell/ said I, ' but there's naething like trying to get them up, if ye really want them.' ** * Come awa then,' said he, * and we'll try,' and he made to put his airni into mine. " * Na, na,' said I, ' this is Sunday morning, and it's no for me to be seen to gang into a public-house on sic a day, when the responsibilities o' my office are upon me,' and I again made to pass on. Rut the r 1 discussed the maitterwith hmi,the mair importu: . i becam', and sae it wrought about that; just as we ,,>ic passing the door o' the inn, the landlord himsel' hap- pened to step out for a moment, just to get a mouth fu' o' fresh air, and maybe to see what kind o' a morning it was; sae we baith gaed in, in a natural enough way, and had an honest glass thegither.' " *So we're gaun to hae the privileege o' listening to a stranger in the pulpit, the day,' said Willie to me after a bit. " * I'm no sae sure about it bein' a privileege,' said I, * for folk dinnae ken what kind o' doctrine a man may preach until he's fairly tried. If he hae the paper afore him, we're aye sure o' his orthodoxy, for its kittle work for ony Presbyterian minister to read a heterodox sermon and no get girncd. There's nae contradictory evidence to save him afore the Presby- tery if only they hae his sermon in writing.' " ' I'm afraid it's weel concealed heterodoxy that 'ill escape you,' Jeames,' said he, and afore lang we were in the deeps o' an honest crack wi' anither glass to crown it, and afore we got through, it cam' near enough to the ringing o' the bell, for me to hurry awa to see after my duties.' ' • %) OUR J E AMES. 23 The sequel was well enough known to everybody to recjuire any personal explanations on the part of Jeanies in the narrating A it afterwards or even now. The clear frosty weather, though in itself exhilarat- ing in its effects, only served to counteract the ex- hilarating ctTects of Jeanies's potations, and with the assistance of the timely peppermint drop which covered at least tlie smell of liis transgression, he managed to escape detection as he busied himself with his Sabl)ath morning duties. The congregation assembled in due time, and the minister took his place, and at last Jeames sat down in his seat in the pew near the pulpit, the most prominent in the church, next to the pre- centor's box. Everything went on well enough during the opening services, but hardly had the stranger in the pulpit reached his '' firstly," after the usual introduction, when a soft breathing sound was heard issuing from the betherell's pew, loud enough to attract some attention. It wasn't a whistle, but it was something that might develop into such, if something worse did not happen. Of course Jeames did not succumb to his enemy all at once, for every now and again he would jerk back his head as if in protest against any accusation that might be urged against his sleeping while on duty, and with an evident desire in his drowsy eye to follow the discourse. The struggle by no means lessened the interest taken in the poor man's movements on the part of the congregation, though the minister, quite unconscious of all that was going on within the pre- cincts of the pulpit, kept closely to his paper as if all his points were being duly appreciated. The younger *Tllll1l||rilt ffn™™p 24 THE CHRONICLES OF KARTDALE. : folks had taken in the situation from the beginning, and probably would have tittered in their excitement but for the frowns that began to gather on the brows of their more sedate guardians at the head of the seats. At last the climax came. Jeames's head fell upon his bosom, and the soft breathing of a stolen nap began to grow in its intensity, until eventually the victim of circumstances began to snore, and, what was worse, began to whistle by way of accompaniment. At the first sound the minister paused for a moment, at the second he looked over the pulpit, and at the third he wisely went on with his sermon as if there was nothing amiss. But he might as well have been reading a discourse to the stones iu the graveyard, for all atten- tion was fixed upon the hapless sexton ; all were won lering how the incident would end. Would he awake before the sermon was over ? And what woukl he th'- k of himself when he did awake ? Would the service close and the people be dismissed before he came to his senses ? And what would the elders an'^ managers do about the matter afterwards ? The man who sat in the seat nearest to Jeames slammed the door of his pew, as if by accident, but the sound had no effect upon the unconscious sleeper. The precentor moved nervously in his seat, and looked as if he would like to go over and touch him on the shoulder, but on second thought, considering what a breach of cere- monial etiquette such conduct would be, settled down to endure the calamity that had fallen upon his neigh- bour with official nonchalance. Then the man that had slanuned his pew door, took out his handkerchief as if to wipe the perspiration from his brow, and blew a OUR JEAMES. 25 ginning, citement le brows :he seats, upon his began to dctim of Ls worse, At the it, at the third he 5 nothing eading a all atten- all were Voukl he lat woii'/u ^ould the before he Iders an'^ The man the door had no precentor he would ilder, but li of cere- led down lis neigh- 1 that had chief as if blew a 1 ft i nasal blast in it that might have awakened the seven sleepers ; but all unavailingly, for Jeanies slept and snored and whistled, and whistled and snored, as un- conscious of the turmoil he was creating as was Jonah of the fate of Nineveh during his term of retirement within his cetaceous retreat. The elders frowned of course, but what r »uld they do ? What they would do afterwards was a different question. The managers looked at one another, as if to take silent counsel, but the awe of the place was upon them and they had not been trained to converse with their eyebrows. At last, seeing that there was no help for it, scandal or no scandal, the ruling elder despatched his son to awaken the misdemeanant, and just as the minister was drawing towards his " lastly," the youth touched Jeames's coat sleeve. But it was no gentle touch that could disturb such a sleeper. Then he tapped him on the shoulder, but finding that ineffectual, he at last gave him a shake. Then Jeanies awoke. " But mercy on me what an awakening," as some one said afterwards, "The puir man started up wi' a snort as if some ane had put a knife in him wi' deadly intent. Then he looked a' around him, and as his consciousness cam' back, I would like to ken wha could prevent the maist o' the congregation frae laugh- ing at the puir man's plight ; even the elders had to repress the smile that would come, whether or no. The fact is, if it hadnae happened in the kirk on Sunday morning, I don't think there would hae been a dry e'e, or a painless side for laughing, in the hale audience. But I'm afraid it'll no be guid for him in the lang run." 3 r 26 THE CHRONICLES OF KARTDALE. Nor at one time in the course of the subsequent investigations, first by the managers to consider whether he should be continued in his office, and second by the session, whether he should not be severely disciplined, did it seem as if the luckless church-officer would escape with impunity. The poor man's mishap became for several weeks the talk of the congregation and even of the community at large, and all the explanations Jeames could make did not seem to find favor with those in authority. " I'm afraid it's a' up wi' me, at last," he said one day to the ruling elder's son, the stripling who had brought things to a climax in the church, and who was known to have a good deal of influence with his father. " I'm afraid it's a' up wi' me at last, John, unless ye can put in a word for me wi' somebody we baith ken, that is high in authority at baith boards. The minister is a kindly man, and'll no be likely to be very hard on me ; and then, ye ken, it wasnae under him I committed the offence o' fa'ing asleep in kirk. Indeed, I'm no very sure but it was the reading frae the paper by the strange minister that had something to dae wi' my backsliding on this occasion. It's liard to keep ane's e'en open when the exposition happens to be baith dry and dreech." " But I'm afraid, Jeames, ye didnae hear even much o' the beginning o' the sermon," said the elder's son, knowing well enough what was expected from him. " Weel, maybe you're right after a'," answered the betherell. For a moment there was a pause as Jeames hung down his head, at finding his logic defective. ;'ll .' OUR JEAMES. 27 ubsequent consider )ffice, and d not be e luckless The poor talk of the at large, :e did not id one day who bad d who was his father. less ye can 1 ken, that minister is rd on me; committed d, I'm no per by the ae wi' my keep ane's be baith iven much Ider's son, Dm him. jwered the imes hung t 1 " Besides, what is this I hear about the Cross Keys and Willie Turnbull ? " asked the elder's son. " The Cross Keys ? " exclaimed Jcames. "Ay, the Cross Keys," was the reply. " And Willie Turnbull ? " " Ay, and Willie Turnbull." Jcames was dumfounded, and hung his head again, but this time with shame in his face. He was be- ginning to realize that sleeping in church was not his greatest ofifence. At last he looked up and asked the young man who it was that had told him that story. "Naebody has telt me ony story, Jcames," answered the young man. " But some gleg-e'ed folk saw him and you coming out o' the Cross Keys on the Sunday morning afore kirk time, and he's hardly the company for you to keep at sic a time." '' And dae they say I was fou ? " asked the offender. " No, they don't gang as far as that, but the elders think if ye hadnae seen Willie Turnbull that morning ye wouldnae hae been sae hard to wauken, and maybe ye wouldnae hae fa'n asleep at a'." " Weel, maybe they're right after a'. Exactly sae ! '* " The fact is, Teames, and I speak to you as a frien'— " " I ken that brawly, John," interrupted the church- ofificer. " The fact is," continued the young man, " that they're gaun to tak' nae half measures wi' ye, as faur as I hear ; and I think the best thing ye can dae, is to mak' a clean breast o' everything, and throw yoursel' on the mercy o' the court. Don't ye think sae rr ' 28 THE CHRONICLES OF KARTDALE yoursel', Jeanies ? In ither things you're generally a man o' sound judgment." " Wcel, maybe you're right again, John," said Jeames, after a moment's pause. " Exactly sae ! " And thus it was that Jeames proceeded to tell the story as it has already been told in his own words, and there is nothing more to say about Jeames's mishap, except that the elder's son interceded with the father in the sexton's behalf, and the worthy man eventually escaped the terrors of dismissal with a reprimand from the managers, and a reproof from the session. ^1 '>a generally hn," said tly sae 1 " I the story and there ap, except her in the lly escaped from the THE CRACK O' DOOM. CHAPTER I. " What's the truth,— is't but a seeming ? " The wise man asks with doubting nod ; " What's the seeming, — only dreaming ? >" Has religion lost her God ? " The climax of terror to which superstition often '• leads, in a commimity as in the individual, is but a poor source from which to draw amusement. Nothing is so soon forgotten as pain when it has once subsided; and it is often easy enough to be merry over an ex- perience of dread when the cause of our fears has been ; removed or explained. Children are often made sport ;; of by the unthinking, on account of their seemingly f absurd experiences in the dark ; and yet, were those ^ywho indulge in merriment of this kind, to take time I to investigate ,the laws that govern the imagination, I as well as the mental activities it so often usurps or ^ holds in suspense, — were they to trace, in any kind of J a scientific spirit, the origin of the myth as a natural I outgrowth from an individual experience, they would I not only perceive how natural it is for all animals, on |the impulse, from the lowest to the highest, to endow f ■* 30 THE CHRONICLES OF KARTDALE. the inanimate with a personality akin to their own, but be more incHned to sympathize with young and old, should they happen, for the moment, to locate the cause of their fear beyond themselves, when in reality it is aHo^ether subjective. It is, therefore, to be hoped that tri"" following- incident in the history of Kartdale may be riad, as it certainly is herewith written, in the lights of ;ome of the serious aspects of the case. In common with nearly all towns and villages where evangelical influences at times have been confessedly epidemic, the community of Kartdale has had its periods of religious excitement and revival, though, perhaps, none of them is so well remembered by the older people of the present time as is that which had its origin in the visit of an enthusiastic and popular revivalist who came from tlie north many years ago, and who held a series of meetings for a week or more in the parish church. Never before had the parish church l^een besieged during week days by such multi- tudes of men and women — young and old — who flocked to hear the burning exhortations which fell from the lips of the preacher — for burning exhorta- tions they really were, in more senses than one. Possessed of an eccentricity of oratorical action that seemed of itself to fascinate, and an emphasis of speech that flouted all religious doubt, and oracularly con- demned all who were troubled with such, he fairly re- velled in his delineations of the life beyond, especially of that aftcn--endurance which is so often spoken of in the pulpit as eternal death. As he played with the imaginations of his hearers, he called forth from them in return vocal eccentricities of fervour and soul- mm LE. THE CRACK O' DOOM. 31 licir own, but uiig and old, locate the len in reality , to be hoped of Kartdale written, in the :he case, illages where 1 confessedly has had its ival, though, bered by the at which had and popular ly years ago, veek or more id the parish y such multi- id. old — who is which fell ling exhorta- ?s than one. il action that asis of speech acularly con- , he fairly re- nd, especially spoken of in yed with the ;h from them ir and soul- quickening, which would certainly have been con- sidered out of place during the even solemnity of an ordinary church service, and, indeed, on account of which the earnest evangelist's labours were at the time severely criticized, and even condemned. Yet thou- sands continued to attend his ministrations. His ad- dresses, thickly interspersed as they were with heart- searching epigrams and sensational illustrations, were of the earnestness which secures, for the moment at least, the deepest conviction ; and, as such, naturally enough, excited many a poor conscience-stricken sin- slave to cry aloud in his anguish. Even the uncon- cerned — the critical and the sceptical — who went at first, perhaps not to scoft, but merely to hear and to see, possibly to find fault, often went away in tears 9ind tribulation, while yet the spell of the preacher's words was upon them, — while yet the prophecies of unseen things which he portrayed in all the perspective of reality were ringing in their souls. " If there be a place of torment, there nuist be a heaven," is the thesis which so often makes it a heresy to deny the existence of the former ; and assuredly the evangelist of whom we speak was anything but a heretic in the eyes of those who had never doubted the existence of a place of torment ; for wrestling with the Evil One, and directing all his pulpit energy of mind and body against evil-doers, he seldom failed to convince even the most listless of his hearers that he himself, at least, honestly believed in the existence of a prepared hereafter for the wicked— an abode as hideously provided with the means of punishment as is " the local habitation and the place " fixed by the poetic imagery of Dante and Milton. In ffiiliii 32 THE CHRONICLES OF KARTDALE. ^1 a word, if Calvinism be the truth of it, the revivalist made sure that he had found the truth, and preached it with a vehemency and an earnestness that fixed the spell of the truth upon his hearers as long as the spell of his oratory was upon them, if not for some time after he had left the place. "There's nae skim milk o' the gospel about that man's preaching," said Jeames, the church-officer, to Robin Drum, two gentlemen of whom we have already had some knowledge. Robin had waited upon his friend to accompany him part of the way home, after everything had been locked up about the church for the night, " No, Mr. Drum ; there's the cream o' sound doc- trine in ilka word he utters. Wi' him there's na*. dilly- dallying wi' what some lukewarm Laodiceans ca' the naituralness o' human imperfection, by way o' justify- ing it ; nae caperin' wi' evil, because without it there can be nae guid; l)ut actually running at things wi' a red-hot poker, and burning the sma'est doubt out o' the unbelieving heart. Gie us preaching like that in a' our pulpits, and we would soon see the worl' takin' tent o' its ways to mend them. Exactly sae ! " '' His poker is het enough, I'll allow," antwerpd Robin ; " but that it is het enough to burn out a' our doubts, even the sma'est, as you say, is maybe a wee bit o' exaggeration on your part, Jeames. There are doubts and doubts, ye ken, though I can hardly sup- pose that you are ever troubled wi' the anes that the preacher tries to burn out wi' his poker." " And what may the ither kind o' doubts be, if it be a fair question ? " asked Jeames. w % THE CRACK O DOOM. 33 ; revivalist i preached t fixed the IS the spell some time about that L-officer, to ive already . upon his lome, after church for sound doc- s na^ dilly- ans ca' the / o' justify- Dut it there things wi' doubt out like that in worl' takin' ae!" " anjwered' out a' our laybe a wee There are hardly sup- nes that the -f " Weel, if it's no ower daring on my pairt to mention ane— a fundamental ane, as you yoursel' might ca' it — there's the doubt in our ain honesty. In ither words, are we aye right when we think we're right .'' " " We're aye right, at ony rate, when we gang by the Book." " Ay, that's maybe true ; but then, ye ken, Jeames, the Book cannae aye a'thegither be brought in as a test," was Robin's reply. " For example, there's that bit difficulty o' mine about the psalm-tune. I thought I was right when I marched out o' the kirk ; and yet now I see how kind o' ridiculous my conduct was, and even sometimes I'm inclined to think that I was wrang. " Guidness me, Robin, you surely hae nae come to diat." " What for no ? It surely never can be right to be wrang; and far less is it right no to confess we hae been wrang." " I don't mean that," said Jeames. " 1 mean what you said about the Book no aye being a test o' our conduct. Wha, after hearing a sermon like that we hae just heard, can lose confidence in the power o' the Book and a' that it says ? " " I hae faith enough in the Book, as you very weel ken, Jeames. What I mean is, hae we faith in our faith — has our faith ony kind o' scientific bottom like?" " Of course it has," answered Jeames eagerly, thus encouraged to deliver himself ex catliedra. '" It not c nly has a scientific bottom, but it actually is the bot- tcm itsel' o' everything we can form ony notion about. There's nae science in the worl' that hasnae to begin w 34 tup: chronicles of kartdale. I wi' some self-evident truth — something that we cannae but believe in. Just look aboon your head for a minute, and ask yoursel' what the science o' astronomy would hae come to had the first astronomers no thought fit to start wi' a belief in the law o' gravitation and motion. And what is the law o' gravitation, I would like to ken, if it be nae a morsel o' the faith or the truth within us that matches wi' the truth about us ? Just tak' a look at a' thae stars up there, and ye hae instantly to think o' the laws that govern them, and to believe in the Governor that bauds these laws in hand as the driver o' a horse bauds the reins. The worl', or raither the universe, is but a great and mighty system under the governance o' Ane, and that Ane is God. And what is our humanity if it be nae pairt of this system ? And gin, we find on record in a book sic as the Bible is, the fundamental principles o' sociology laid down a'most afore there was a hu- manity, or when it was but ill-matured — fundamentals that hae had the moulding o' the human into some- thing the nearest like the divine, there's naething else for us but to gang back, in this case as in the tither, to find the source frae which they cam' — the same Gov- ernor o' the universe — enunciated as they hae been by Him through inspired humanity. Exactly sae ! " " Weel, weel, Jeames, I hae nae doubt you're sound enough on the beginning o' things," said Mr. Drum, " but what is your opinion about their hinder end ! Do you think it 'ill be o' the nature o' a general stra- mash sic as the revivalist made out the night it is gaun to be. My very hair seemed to stand on end when he was descril:)ing the dissolution o' a' things and thp '4* n^ THE CRACK O' DOOM. 35 we cannae lead for a astronomy loniers no gravitation r/itation, I [he faith or ruth about there, and lat govern lauds these s the reins. I great and le, and that if it be nae n record in II principles was a hu- ndamentals into some- lething else he tither,to same Gov- lae been by sae ! Du're sound Mr. Drum, linder end ! eneral stra- it it is gaun nd when he gs and th^ coming u' the King to judgment. It would surely be a pity to see sic a bonnie worl' as this o' ours de- stroyed in the manner he described." " Pity here, or pity there ! " exclaimed the sexton. " What docs the P>ook say al)out the maitter ?" " The Book doesnae say much about it, as ye ken, except by way o' parable, or figurative statement." " But that it will be destroyed, bonnie though it be, is a truth that naebody can doubt," Jeamcs continued. " The design o' everything proclaims the prophecy. You might as weel say because it is a pity to see a l)()nnie rose wither, nature should save it frae decay. As the hymn says, everything is a mere growth and decay ; and like the rest o' things, the universe maun likewise come to an end. Indeed, as it seems to me, the ]!)Ook gies nae uncertain sound about the end, whether it be by parable or ithervvise." " And will it be, think ye, as the preacher said, by tlie devouring element o' fire ? " " I hae nae doubt about the maitter ; the Book says it will, and wha am I that I should for a minute doubt it ? " " But it's no' hkely to be in our time, Jeames ?'' " That's neither here: nor there to us, Mr. Drum, as I often say to ither folk. The day o' our death is neither mair nor less than the Last Day, as far as we are concerned. Yet, to my mind, as I v'liiles say to mysel', it would be a blessed experience for some o' us, that hae grounded our faith on things everlasting, to be in the flesh when the trumpet sounds, and the last grand commotion amid things terrestrial tak's place. There hae been sects, and maybe they still 36 THK CIIRONICLKS OK KARTDALE. k ■!iil exist, that hac been kind o' positive in their notions about the La^t Day, keeping watch day and night for its consunnnation. I only hope that folk'ill hae a man hke tlie evangcHst to preach to them a month or twa afore the thing does tak' place. Even as it is, vvha kens but he may be tlie messenger sent to us a', as a premonitor o' some great calamity." " Eh, what's that ye say, Jeames ? " exclaimed Robin. " Do you mean onything by-ordinar' in saying that ?" " Weel, I'm no very sure mysel' what I mean or dimiae mean," answered Jeames. " The words really cam' into my mouth afore I kenned what I was about to say. But I hae been lately reading in the papers about the coming o' a comet that'ill approach, if a* tales be true, near enough the earth's orbit for either o' their safety. And should it only happen to meet the earth on its way across space, there might be some kind o' a stramash, as ye ca' it. It's tail, they say, is millions o' miles lang, and even should we escape the terrible bump o' instant collision between it's head and our bit planet, its tail may gie us a slap that'll no be guid for us, and maybe set a' things ableeze." " And when is sic a monster to turn up ? " asked Robin Drum with a voice that indicated some excite- ment. " Will we hae ony chance o' seeing it wi' the naked e'e?" " That we will," said the sexton, " at least, the news- papers say so ; and I was jist speaking to the school- master about it the tither night, and he said to me that he had been thinking about ijicin' a lecture on the subject in the Mechanics' Hall. He said further to me, that the liery tail o't would appear quite distinct TIIK CKACK O' DOOM. 37 ill the heavens in a nipfht or twa, as soon as the monster, as ye hae thoug^ht fit to ca' the thin^, g-ot its head aboon our horizon. And when I asl