II.

INSTRUCTIVE.

Under the heading of “Instructive Chapbooks,” much falls to be noticed. It is a section which readily sub-divides itself, although at the same time it is difficult to arrive at any very exact classification. Following Professor Fraser’s plan, which, unfortunately, he did not elaborate, an attempt will be made to range the productions under one or another of these five heads:—(_a_) Historical; (_b_) Biographical; (_c_) Religious and Moral; (_d_) Manuals of Instruction; (_e_) Almanacks.

(_a_) HISTORICAL.—The historical chapbook was much in evidence, and few outstanding events in national history were overlooked. There were publications dealing with _The Battle of Otterburn_, _The Battle of Bothwell Bridge_, _The Battle of Drumclog_, _Executions in Scotland from the Year 1600_, _The Battle of Killiecrankie_, _The Massacre of Glencoe_, and _The Rebellion of 1745-6_. Then there were others that dealt with such subjects as _Scotland_, _Edinburgh_, and _Glasgow and the High Church_.

Three of these chapbooks have the merit of being written by eye-witnesses of the actions they describe. The account of _The Battle of Bothwell Bridge_ was composed “by the Laird of Torfoot, an Officer in the Presbyterian Army.” It forms a 16 page chapbook, and is written, as will be readily understood, from the Presbyterian point of view. A later editor of this work, in an undated edition issued by G. Caldwell of Paisley, added a footnote which strangely confuses the author of the _Scots Worthies_—John Howie of Lochgoin—with Old Mortality of the _Waverley Novels_. Referring to the John Howie of the Covenant days, the editor says,

“The grandson of this person (John Howie) was the person whom the Great Unknown calls Old Mortality. I have been from infancy familiar with the history of this author of the epitaphs, this repairer of the tombs of the martyrs; but I never heard him called Old Mortality. Everybody in the west of Scotland is familiar with the name of John Howie—Old Mortality is the name in romance.”

It is quite apparent that the editor confused Robert Paterson with John Howie. An abridgement of this narrative, together with an account of _The Battle of Drumclog_, was issued as another chapbook. That portion relating to Drumclog was also from the Laird of Torfoot’s pen. It was extracted, a prefatory note explains, “from an American Newspaper entitled, the _National Gazette_.” Like that which chronicles the doings at Bothwell Bridge, it is written in sympathy with the Covenanters.

For the author of the most important of all the Scottish historical chapbooks, we must return to Dougal Graham. If the _Caledonian Mercury_ is correct in its statement that Prince Charlie was the first to plunge into the Forth at the Ford of Frew, it may have been that courageous incident which impelled the little hunchback to throw in his lot with the Jacobite army. He followed the Young Chevalier in his triumphant march into England, returned with him in his hasty retreat northwards, and witnessed the sun of the Stuarts set in blood on Culloden Moor. It is not improbable that he took notes of the incidents he witnessed, and, like the war-correspondent of a later day, set about their extension with all possible speed. Culloden was fought on the 16th of April, 1746. By September of the same year Graham was in a position to announce the publication of his _History_. The following advertisement appeared in the columns of the _Glasgow Courant_ for September 29, 1746:—

“That there is to be sold by James Duncan, Printer in Glasgow, in the Saltmercat, the 2nd Shop below Gibson’s Wynd, a Book intituled A full, particular, and true Account of the late Rebellion in the Year 1745 and 1746, beginning with the Pretender’s Embarking for Scotland, and then an Account of every Battle, Siege, and Skirmish that has happened in either Scotland or England.

“To which is added, several Addresses and Epistles to the Pope, Pagans, Poets, and the Pretender: all in Metre. Price Four Pence. But any Bookseller or Pack-men may have them easier from the said James Duncan, or the Author, D. Graham.

“The like has not been done in Scotland since the days of Sir David Lindsay.”

That last exclamation shews that Graham had faith in his work (what poet has not?), and there is little doubt that it became at once extremely popular. It dealt with a subject in which there was the most intense interest; it appeared ere Scotland had recovered from the effects of the shock of the Rebellion; and in the pedlars’ wallets it was carried over the length and breadth of the land. It would seem that, with the exception of two copies, the first edition has been read out of existence. Graham’s _History_ is scarcer than the Shakespeare folios or the “Kilmarnock” Burns! The title-page of his book contained the couplet—

“Composed by the poet, D. Graham, In Stirlingshire he lives at hame”—

which is at once a biographical note and a specimen of the author’s doggerel. But, its rough and frequently infelicitous rhymes notwithstanding, the work affords good reading. Dougal’s information was received at first hand, and he paints his pictures with the baldness of reality. Here, for example, is his description of the arms of the men who went forth to battle for the White Rose:—

“Old scythes, with their rumples even, Into a tree they had been driven; And some with batons of good oak Vow’d to kill at every stroke; Some had hatchets upon a pole, Mischievous weapons, antick and droll.”

These were the weapons that cleared the way to the Scottish capital and routed Cope’s army at Prestonpans! The expedition into England is duly set down in the historian’s halting numbers, and he does not hesitate to chronicle the chagrin of those

“to plunder London that were keen”

when the order went forth at Derby to retreat. The incidents of the homeward march are narrated. This is how he speaks of the eight days’ sojourn at Glasgow:—

“Eight days they did in Glasgow rest, Until they were all cloth’d and drest; And tho’ they on the best o’t fed, The town they under tribute laid. Ten thousand sterling made it pay, For being of the Georgian way, Given in goods and ready cash, Or else to stand a plundering lash.”

Those “to plunder London that were keen” having been baulked of their aims on the capital, did their best to recoup themselves at the expense of Glasgow. The thrilling scenes on Culloden Moor are graphically described. Here is what he says of Cumberland’s artillery:—

“It hew’d them down, ay, score by score, As grass doth fall before the mower; Breaches it made as large and broad As avenues in through a wood.”

The subsequent wanderings of “Bonnie Prince Charlie” in the western isles are duly set forth, although much of what is said must be imaginary so far as Graham is concerned, or told at second-hand. Many editions of the book were published, and some of them differed widely from others, for Dougal found it necessary on occasion to express himself as a good Hanoverian rather than as a discredited Jacobite. It is usual to characterise the work as “Hudibrastic,” and from the extracts given it will be seen that the criticism is not unjust. In point of literary workmanship, it has small claim to distinction, but it is not without merit as the record of an eye-witness. “It contains,” says Chambers, “and in this consists the chief value of all such productions, many minute facts which a work of more pretensions would not admit.” Dougal wrote with a graphic pen, and had his facility in verse been equal to his power of description, the metrical _History of the Rebellion_ had not now been a forgotten volume.[34]

Under the heading “Historical,” may be included those broadsides and chapbooks which referred to topical events. Frequently the matters dealt with were too local or too trivial to be regarded as history in the proper acceptation of the word, but a passing sentence at least may be awarded them. There was one, for example (and it certainly rises to the dignity of history), which provided “An Account of the Massacre of Captain Porteous of the City Guard,” and another which set forth “A Particular Account of the Great Mob at Glasgow that happened on Tuesday, 9th of February, 1779; with an account of the Magistrates’ and Trades’ activity in assisting to suppress the same.” Occasionally, when an important event was to take place, a chapbook in connection therewith was put in circulation. “Hawkie” tells us that he published an account of _Ancient King Crispin_, which was sold in Edinburgh on the day of a Crispin procession in that town. Sometimes rivals in trade sought the help of the flying-stationer. Cameron says that he sold, for a newspaper office, a broadside entitled, _The Expiring Groans, Death, and Funeral Procession of the “Beacon” Newspaper_. It is safe to say that the erewhile proprietors of the extinguished _Beacon_ did not engage “Hawkie” to spread the news of their disaster. Sometimes these topical chapbooks consisted of the last speeches of condemned criminals. At a time when public executions were in force, and when great crowds of all classes assembled to see a fellow-mortal dance into eternity, such literature commanded a ready sale. The last speeches were usually supplied to the “flying-stationers” on the day before the execution, and “pattered” among the assembling multitude. When no speech was forthcoming, the chapman, recognising that the opportunity was too good to be lost, invented something that would sell. A case in point may be mentioned, and the pedlar’s own words quoted[35]:—

“There was a man named Robertson under sentence of death in Glasgow for housebreaking and theft, and the execution, which took place 7th April, 1819, brought ‘flying-stationers’ from every quarter.... The day before Robertson’s execution, Jamie [Blue] and I were in Wilson Street, and in a bookseller’s shop saw a tract entitled, ‘A Reprieve from the Punishment of Death.’ As a reprieve was expected for Robertson, we considered that this tract was likely to sell.

“We asked the price, and were told ‘three half-pence.’ We took four dozen each, and started, Jamie in the Candleriggs, and I in Bell’s Wynd. I had scarcely reached Albion Street before I had sold the four dozen, and turning back for more I met Jamie, who had sold about three dozen. On the head of our good luck we proposed a ‘dram,’ to which Jamie agreed, on condition that we would go to one Millar’s cellar in the Saltmarket.

“I would not consent to this as it was too far, and we might be dogged by other speech-criers, who would find out the shop where we got the tracts; but Jamie, who was naturally of a cringing disposition, would go there, as they had given him a dram in the morning _on pledging his spectacles_. We went, got the glass, and started again; at night I had nine shillings.

“Next morning we started it again, although the apparatus of death was now fixed in front of the jail. We continued pattering the ‘Reprieve’ till one o’clock, when the people were collecting for the execution. By this time we were both drunk, and had come as far as ‘The Cross.’ Jamie ‘took’ down the High Street, and I the Saltmarket.

“I had not gone far, when a boy came and told me to ‘stop, as Jamie had been taken to the police office.’ A policeman came down the Saltmarket, and I was sure he was in search of me, but at that time there were no less than seven speech-criers who used stilts, and not being so well known I escaped. I went to the printers to get some more books, and found there dozens of speech-criers in as deep sorrow as if they had been friends of the unfortunate man, on account of being prohibited crying the speeches, and thereby deprived of a fuddle.”

Having sold the fictitious _Reprieve_ for all he was worth, Cameron turned his attention to the _Last Speech_. A continuation of the above extract gives us an interesting glimpse of the business.

“Thomas Duncan,” he writes, “would sell no speeches to be cried in Glasgow. John Muir also printed speeches, and the criers went to him to try to get some. When the criers left, Duncan told me he would give me half-a-ream if I would go and sell them in Paisley; I took them, and had got to the foot of the Saltmarket when they were bringing the unfortunate man out to the scaffold. I went through the Briggate, started on the old bridge, and sold them all in one hour.

“I could have sold more, but was afraid to go back, as I had not kept my promise. I went to Muir’s and got seven quires, intending to go to Paisley; but by this time Muir had sold his speeches, and the criers were out on the street.

“When they began to cry, they were all apprehended and taken to the ‘Old Guard House’ in Montrose Street, where upwards of fifty were kept over the Fast Day.... I ... started for Paisley. After I passed through Tradeston I changed my mind, and took the road by Renfrew for Greenock.

“When I got to Renfrew there were two ‘patterers’ there before me; when I saw them I was aware they were for Greenock also. A dram was proposed. They were as ‘kittle’ neighbours as Glasgow could produce. One of them, William Anderson, had been three times transported for seven years; he and the other man, James Johnston, could never meet without a fight.” In this case they did fight. “Anderson got Johnston down, and when down put Johnston’s books in the fire, and held them till they were burned. Johnston got an opportunity and burned Anderson’s books.” Later on Cameron’s stock received the same treatment, “and,” he adds, “we were all without a book.”

The extract is interesting as affording an illustration of life in the days of spectacular executions, and as showing the character of the men who “pattered” the speeches of the criminals. Fifty or sixty of these ruffians—hardly more respectable than the central figure in the tragedy—moving through the dense throng and shouting their wares, did nothing to dignify a public hanging.

Last Speeches and Confessions were, as a rule, melancholy productions, chiefly notable for their bad grammar and the spirit of lamentation in which they were written. Sometimes they were accompanied by a short history of the crime for which the extreme penalty was being exacted, or by some “Verses” called forth by the incident. In these days, when public executions are no longer carried out, and when the populace cannot even indulge its morbid curiosity so far as to hail the hoisting of the black flag, the chapbook has been superseded by the newspaper. In the public prints the revolting details are duly served up, and a confession—where one is made and supplied to the reporters—awarded due prominence and set out with all the blandishments of expressive headlines and effective type. The relish and avidity with which such news is read prove that human nature has not changed much since the days when fifty flying-stationers found it worth their while to risk being laid by the heels for vending literature of a similarly sensational kind.[36]

(_b_) BIOGRAPHICAL.—In many instances the biographical chapbook was closely allied to the historical. The _History of Sir William Wallace, the Renowned Scottish Champion_, _The History of the Life and Death of the Great Warrior, Robert Bruce, King of Scotland_, and _The History of the Black Douglas_, really comprise a narrative of the wars of Scottish independence. Again, _The Life and History of Mary, Queen of Scots_, and _The Life and Meritorious Transactions of John Knox, the Great Scottish Reformer_, supply an account of Scotland during the troublous Reformation days. _The History of Prince Charles Edward Stuart, commonly called the Pretender_, is largely and naturally a resumé of the rebellion of 1745. More distinctly biographical are the chapbooks which deal with Michael Scott and John Welch, Alexander Peden and Donald Cargill, Thomas the Rhymer and Robert Burns, William Lithgow and Peter Williamson, Paul Jones and Rob Roy. None of these is remarkable for literary excellence. They are, as a rule, bald narratives of incidents in the lives of the subjects with whom they deal, and, without exception, they may be said to present the traditional view of the person they describe. The craze of modern historical writers to alter the conventional colours of certain portraits was undreamt of by these old-world authors. Wallace is not in these badly-printed pages the beer-stealing thief of Sir Herbert Maxwell, and there is no suggestion that in digging the pits at Bannockburn Bruce was treacherous rather than strategical. The Good Lord James is “the Black Douglas” of the tender heart, and Knox is the stout Reformer “who never feared the face of man.” Mary Queen of Scots and Prince Charlie come in for not unfriendly treatment, and a good deal is forgiven them on account of the circumstances in which they found themselves. The “Lives” of John Welch and John Knox, Alexander Peden and Donald Cargill, are drawn either wholly or in part from Howie’s _Scots Worthies_, and are written in the sympathetic style of the Foxe of the Scottish Reformation and Covenant Days. A notable biographical chapbook was the _History of the Kings and Queens of England and Scotland from the Reign of James the First to Victoria the First_. This, which must have been published during the later forties of the nineteenth century, is “Part II.” of an earlier book, which dealt with the English sovereigns from William the Conqueror to Elizabeth. Each monarch is represented by a woodcut and a short biography.

[Illustration: _Bruce and de Boune—from the “History of the Life and Death of the Great Warrior, Robert Bruce, King of Scotland.”_]

The two outstanding literary portraits in the gallery of chapbook literature are Thomas the Rhymer and Robert Burns. Here Thomas of Ercildoune is Thomas of “the east corner of Fife.” He was born near Crail, according to this chapbook writer, and much credit was given to his prophecies, although “they are hard to be understood.”[37] The chapbook on the national poet, which is entitled _An Interesting Account of Robert Burns, the Ayrshire Bard_, is largely made up of extracts from letters of the poet and of his brother Gilbert. The salient points of Burns’s life are narrated in a simple manner, and occasionally a word of apology is offered for his misdeeds. But there is no enthusiasm; the author is not even a “common Burnsite,” and if a stranger chanced on this booklet for a knowledge of the “peasant poet,” he would doubtless conclude that Mr. Henley’s “half-read M.P.’s and sheriffs, and divines and provosts flushed with literary patriotism” had a poor excuse for drinking oceans of whisky and eating mountains of haggis, and belching forth be-fuddled speeches every 25th of January. The pen-portrait is about as indistinct as the woodcut which forms the frontispiece.

[Illustration: _The Wreck of Robinson Crusoe—from “The Surprizing Life and most Strange Adventures of Robinson Crusoe.”_]

_Rob Roy, the Celebrated Highland Freebooter, or Memoirs of the Osbaldistone Family_, and the _History of Paul Jones, the Pirate_, may be mentioned as typical examples of the Scottish chapbook literature which dealt with _Notorious Characters, Highwaymen, and Burglars_. _Rob Roy_ is nothing more than a fictitious account of the Highland cateran written up from Scott’s novel. We meet the creations of the Author of _Waverley_—Die Vernon, Bailie Nicol Jarvie, Dougal Craitur, Rasleigh, Andrew Fairservice, and all the others—but they are mere skeletons, not the living beings that move in the pages of Scott. The _Life of Paul Jones_ would not be wanting in readers. It presents in small compass the life-story of one who for a considerable time “kept the coasts of the United Kingdom in a constant state of alarm,” and disputed Britannia’s right to rule the waves.

(_c_) RELIGIOUS AND MORAL.—This is a section in which Scottish chapbook literature was largely supplemented by English productions. Sermons by outstanding martyrs and divines, such as James Renwick and Ebenezer Erskine, were in great demand, but the Scot was not averse from nurturing his Presbyterian soul on the pulpit orations of clergymen furth of the realm. The English Nonconformist always commanded a wide public. Of notable sermons may be mentioned, _Man’s Great Concernment_, and _Christ’s Glorious Appearance to God! or the End of Time; The Grones of Believers under their Burdens_, and _God’s Little Remnant Keeping their Garments Clean in an Evil Day; The Plant of Renown_, and _A Wedding Ring fit for the Finger; A Choice Drop of Honey from the Rock Christ_, and _Sins and Sorrows Spread before God_. A sermon that passed through many editions was _The Stone rejected by the Builders, exalted as the Head Stone of the Corner_. Preached at Perth, at the opening of the Synod of Perth and Stirling, on October 10, 1732, it gave rise, its author tells us, “to three days’ warm debate” in that reverend Synod. In the other Courts of the Church it was taken up and as warmly debated, and it led eventually to the secession of its author[38] and his associate friends from the Church of Scotland. Other religious books were many and varied. There was _Divine Songs for the Use of Children_, by Isaac Watts, with its faulty rhymes and homely phrases; and there was also—one can hardly conceive it possible in the land of Jenny Geddes and Jacob Primmer—_A Prayer Book for Families and Private Persons upon various subjects and occasions_. A Scottish sheriff, famous more for his erratic judgments than his law, recently stated that so far as Scotland was concerned the word “Liturgy” was a nickname. Probably this particular directory of devotion deserved such an epithet, and Carlyle may have seen it ere he wrote about “worshipping by machinery.” The compiler has discharged his duty in such manner that—a prefatory note explains—“the Prayers are so arranged that when any one is too long to be used without inconvenience, it may be shortened by leaving out some of the paragraphs; and this may be done without injury to the connection.” If history speaks truthfully, the extensive devotional exercises of the pulpit did not lend themselves to such a laudable arrangement. An early chapbook writer, whose productions were of a religious character, was William Mitchell, better known as “The Tinclarian Doctor.” Many of his booklets were originally printed by John Reid, Bell’s Wynd, Edinburgh, husband of the piratical “Lucky Reid,” against whom Allan Ramsay complained to the Town Council. Mitchell, says George Mac Gregor, “was an odd being who sought by his works to spread ‘light’ through Scotland. He was a lamplighter in Edinburgh for twelve years, but losing this situation, he got, as he says himself, ‘an inward call from the Spirit to give light to the ministers.’ His works may be classed among the chapbooks of Scotland, for, though he sold them himself, and did not allow them to be retailed by the chapmen, they are of the same description.”[39] Incidents in Holy Writ frequently formed subjects for chapbooks, and these were almost invariably illustrated. _The New Pictorial Bible_, which comprised notices of the most important events in Scripture from “the creation of light” to “the last day” foreshadowed in “Revelation,” was a series of forty-six illustrations. _The History of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob_, _The History of Joseph and His Brethren_, _The History of Moses_, _Jonah’s Mission to the Ninevites_, and _The Life, Journeyings, and Death of the Apostle Paul_, were some of the subjects. _The Life of Paul_ and _Jonah’s Mission_, which, in the chapbooks I have examined, were added merely to eke out space, do not seem to have lent themselves to illustration, but the other subjects were profusely embellished with woodcuts. The higher critic draws none of his inspiration from these books. So far as the artist is concerned, it _was_ a serpent that tempted Eve, the sun and the moon _did_ stand still, and it _was_ a fish that swallowed Jonah.[40] One of the most curious, and certainly one of the most repellant of these Biblical chapbooks, is that entitled, _The Life and Death of Judas Iscariot, or the Lost and Undone Son of Perdition_. It is possible to feel a kindly interest in the mortal who played a necessary part in a disagreeable business even though one may have never read a line of Marie Corelli, but the Judas of these pages is not calculated to inspire esteem. He was a villain of the deepest dye—a man who, to his other crimes, added those of murdering his father and marrying his mother. Indeed, one rises from a perusal of this booklet with the conviction that the historic transaction for thirty pieces of silver was not the greatest of Iscariot’s sins. Two other popular chapbooks were _The Pilgrim’s Progress_, told in a series of twenty-one realistic pictures, and _Evan’s Sketch of all Religions_, an abridgment of a larger work which gives particulars of forty-two different sects, including “Atheists,” “Jumpers,” and “Hutchinsonians.” Religious poetry was not unrepresented in the chapman’s wallet, and the _Grave_ by Blair, which ran through numerous editions, may be cited as a typical example. The religious chapbook occasionally took a form which has been perpetuated and developed in the later tracts issued by Missionary Societies and similar bodies. This was the life-story of some precocious youth with an early genius for Christianity. Typical examples are found in _An Account of the Last Words of Christian Kerr, who died at Edinburgh on the 4th of February, 1702, in the 11th year of her age_, and in _A Brief Memoir of Urcilla Gebbie, who died at Galston on the 28th of August, aged 15 years_.

[Illustration: _Noah entering the Ark—from “The New Pictorial Bible.”_]

[Illustration: _Hagar and Ishmael cast out—from “The History of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”_]

[Illustration: _Joseph sold into Egypt—from “The History of Joseph and his Brethren.”_]

[Illustration: _The Plague of Frogs—from “The History of Moses: giving an account of his birth, his being found by Pharoah’s daughter in the ark of bulrushes, and the miracles wrought by him for the deliverance of the children of Israel.”_]

[Illustration: _The Sun and Moon Stand Still—from “The New Pictorial Bible.”_]

[Illustration: _Jonah is swallowed by a fish—from “The New Pictorial Bible.”_]

[Illustration: _Daniel cast into the den of Lions—from “The New Pictorial Bible.”_]

[Illustration: _Sarah promised a Son—from “The History of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”_]

The term “Moral” embraces a number of secular chapbooks. _The Wonderful Advantages of Drunkenness_ deserves to be remembered for its “Comparisons of Drunkenness.” It gives the following comparisons and explanations:—

“As drunk as an Owl—as drunk as a Sow—as drunk as a Beggar—as drunk as the Devil—as drunk as a lord. The explanation of which is as follows: A man is as drunk as an Owl when he cannot see. He is as drunk as a Sow when he tumbles in the dirt. He is as drunk as a Beggar when he is very impudent. He is as drunk as the Devil when he is inclined to mischief; and as drunk as a lord when he is everything that is bad.”

One cannot fail to be impressed with the distinct temperance note which is sounded in Scottish chapbook literature. It is true that there are verses in praise of “Scottish Whiskie,” and also that there is the equivocal song entitled the “Effects of Whiskey”; but these notwithstanding, there are many chapbooks which are directed against the use of intoxicants. The most notable is undoubtedly _Scotland’s Skaith; or, the Sad Effects of Drunkenness, exemplified in the History of Will and Jean_. This poem, from the pen of Hector Macneill,[41] had an almost unprecedented run of popularity, although it is doubtful if more than one verse is known to-day, and many who quote it would probably be at a loss to give the author’s name—

“Of a’ the ills poor Caledonia E’er yet preed, or e’er will taste, Brew’d in hell’s black pandemonia, Whisky’s ill will skaith her maist!”

Temperance teaching is inculcated in _A Night frae Hame_, and, in a lesser degree, in _Rab and Ringan_. The subject is also dealt with in the _Oration on Teetotalization_, and in the _Dialogue between John and Thomas_ on sundry questions. The vigorous verses entitled a _Protest against Whisky_, might have been written by an uncompromising Rechabite. Chapbooks of this nature could not fail to exert some influence upon the people who read them, and although, as unspeakable Scots, we may never be able to get over our thirst for the barley bree, it is gratifying to know that—even in our darkest hour—we endeavoured to free ourselves from one at least of our original and selected sins.

Allan Ramsay’s _Collection of Scotch Proverbs_ should not be overlooked in this section. First published in 1736, this volume of “sententious saws of antecedent centuries,” as William Motherwell would call it, was considerably abridged, and frequently produced as a penny chapbook. It professed to contain “all the wise sayings and observations of the old people of Scotland,” and as it circulated at a time when the average Scot punctuated his conversation with proverbial expressions, it doubtless sold as readily as anything in the pedlar’s pack.

[Illustration: _The Old Hound—from “The Fables of Æsop, the Celebrated Ancient Philosopher.”_

_An old hound who had been an excellent good one in his time, had at last by reason of years, become feeble and unserviceable. However, being in the field one day, he happened to be the first to come up with the same, but his decayed teeth prevented him from keeping his hold of it, and it escaped. His master, being in a passion, was going to strike him. “Ah, do not strike your old servant,” said the dog, “it is not my heart or inclination, but my strength that fails me. If what I am now displeases you, pray don’t forget what I have been?”_

_Moral:—“It is a sad thing to be treated unkindly by the man you have served.”_]

(_d_) MANUALS OF INSTRUCTION.—This is a section which cannot be said to be distinctly Scottish, There was _The Housewife’s Cookery Book_, which provided recipes for many things from the roasting of beef to the fermenting of wines; and there was _The Housekeeper_, which gave practical instruction in domestic economy. The bashful swain who found it difficult to woo in words on the 14th of February, found refuge in _The Valentine Writer_; while _The Art of Courtship_ or _The Accomplished Courtier_ or the _New Academy of Compliments_, assisted him towards the same end all the year round.[42] There were text-books on the making of money and on personal etiquette; and treatises on divers subjects from the killing of vermin to the art of swimming.

[Illustration: _The Burial of Jacob—from “The History of Joseph and his Brethren.”_]

(_e_) ALMANACS.—These were hardy annuals, and were always in great demand. Their number is legion. Only one or two can be noticed, and these in a very general way. In Kelly’s _Collection of Scottish Proverbs_, published at London in 1721, there is a reference to an early almanac in the maxim, “Buchanan’s _Almanac_, lang foul and lang fair.” The _Aberdeen Almanac_ enjoyed a wide popularity, and readers of Burns will remember that the poet, writing to his friend, Gavin Hamilton, during the Edinburgh period of his life, said he was “in a fair way of becoming as eminent as Thomas à Kempis or John Bunyan,” and that he might expect henceforth to see his “birthday inserted among the wonderful events in the _Poor Robin’s_ and _Aberdeen Almanacs_.”

“The _Aberdeen Almanac_ (or _Prognostication_, as it was commonly called),” writes Dr. William Wallace, “was among the first of the kind issued in Scotland. It was founded in 1623 by Edward Raban, Aberdeen’s first printer, enjoyed a long life, and acquired an almost proverbial celebrity. It had an immense circulation, accounted for by the fact that Aberdeen had for long a monopoly (in Scotland) of the sale of almanacs.”[43]

When this monopoly was broken down, other almanacs were rapidly put in circulation. _Poor Robin’s_, which existed for nearly two centuries—from 1664 to 1823—also enjoyed considerable popularity north of Tweed. A typical example of these publications, but of later date, is to be found in _Orr’s Scottish Almanac_, which still circulates widely and preserves all the outstanding features of the almanac of a by-gone day. Published by the firm of Messrs. Francis Orr & Sons, Glasgow, who issued many chapbooks during the first half of the nineteenth century, this annual has changed but slightly—if at all—in its appearance. Features have been forced upon it, and things of which it once took note have passed out of everyday life, but, when allowances of these kinds have been made, it is still—in its paper and general get-up—the chapbook almanac of long ago. Any one searching in the mass of cheap literature of these days for a lineal descendant of the chapbook family, could hardly find a nearer representative in the direct line than _Orr’s Scottish Almanac_.

[Illustration: _Solomon’s Temple—from “The New Pictorial Bible.”_]