203 237 XVII. LITERARY AND ARTISTIC MOVEMENTS IN SCOTLAND IN XVIII. LONDON CIRCLES IN THE EIGHTIES. XX. THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION, 1887-93 (MANCHESTER, BATH, NEWCASTLE, EDINBURGH AND NOTTINGHAM) 284 XXI. "SETTING THE POOR ON WORK": GERMANY IN 1892 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS VOLUME ONE PHOTOGRAVURE from Chalk DRAWING OF THE AUTHOR Frontispiece By Horatio Walker, LL.D., R.C.A., being study for the Portrait in the possession of the University of Toronto THE SCHOONER "ANN" IN THE HARBOUR OF RIGA Facing page 24 From a painting in oil (executed at Riga c. 1830) in the possession of Mr. Sam Mavor THE REV. JAMES MAVOR, M.A. 1828-1896. From a photograph HENRY ALEXAnder Mavor, ELECTRICAL ENGINEER 1857-1915. From a photograph by Annan IVAN INGRAM MAVOR, SHIPBUILDER 1860-1885. From a photograph WILLIAM MORRIS From a relief (1886) by J. Pittendreigh Mac- PROFESSOR AND MRS. MAVOR IN LIBRARY AT From a photograph (1907) by J. W. Mavor 64 ་༢ MY WINDOWS ON THE STREET OF THE WORLD CHAPTER I A SCOTS VILLAGE COMMUNITY IN THE FIFTIES AND SIXTIES A faire felde ful of folke pe mene and pe riche Worchyng and wandryng WILLIAM LANGLAND, Piers the Plowman (1377). NEW ABERDOUR, a village in the district of Buchan, Aberdeenshire, lies about eight miles west of Fraserburgh, on the road between that town and Banff, about a mile from the ancient church of Aberdour, and a few hundred yards more than a mile from the Moray Firth. Between Peterhead and Fraserburgh in and on either side of Rattray Bay, the coast forming the north-east angle of Aberdeenshire-a great salient projecting into the North Sea-consists of sand dunes precisely similar in character to those of Holland and Belgium. West of Kinnaird Head, near Fraserburgh and towards Banff, the coast becomes higher and frequent small bays are flanked by eminences. On one of these eminences stands the ruin of the old fortress of Dundarg, one of the strongholds against the attacks of the Northmen. Between Dundarg and Fraserburgh is the fishing town of Rosehearty. Westwards from Dundarg the Old Red Sandstone Conglomerate becomes more and more rugged. The only wide beach in a stretch of twenty miles or more is the Broad Shore of Aberdour. Beyond, the cliffs are shattered into jagged columns and mined into arches, forming a broken and tumultuous coast. Of the numerous headlands, Troup Head and Gamrie Head are the most conspicuous. Near Troup, the fishing village of Pennan1 nestles in a tiny bay beneath the cliffs. The indentation affording foothold to the village is so narrow that it is 1 Pen, promontory; an, diminutive (" British," Gaulish and Bas-Breton). Glossary in Chalmers' Caledonia (London, 1807), i. 35. possible to throw a stone from the top of the cliff into almost any chimney. I once rode my pony down the steep zigzag path, to the delight of the children, who had rarely seen so large an animal in the village. Gamrie is known among geologists for its ichthyolites, and among historians of early Scotland as the scene of a sanguinary battle (circa 960 A.D.) between the Maarmor of Buchan and Danish invaders. Depressions in the neighbourhood, traditionally regarded as sites of Danish camps, are known as the "Bloody Pits." The skulls of the Danish rovers are said to have been built into the walls of a church erected soon after this engagement. In 961, the Danes landed again, at Cullen beyond Banff, and met there Indulf, King of the Scots and Picts, by whom they were defeated. This battle, in which the victorious king lost his life, is known as the "Battle of the Bauds." How much is fact and how much fiction is not more easy to determine in respect to the early history of Scotland than in respect to any other history ancient or modern. Some importance must, however, be attached to persistent local tradition. The ancient church of Aberdour is situated near a small stream flowing into the Moray Firth at the eastern end of the Broad Shore. This stream gives its name to the place, for Aber in the "British" language means an influx, and dour in the Celtic means water. The foundation of the church is attributed to St. Columba. If this is correct, it must have been founded in the fifth century. So little of the existing church remains and the structure is of so simple a character that it is impossible to determine the period when it was built. In the graveyard there is a row of tombstones marking the burialplaces of successive Deans of Aberdour before the Reformation. A solitary house is the sole probable representative of the ancient village which in earlier ages sprang up round the church. The modern village is placed about a mile inland on an alluvial upland. The village is clearly of much earlier date than any of the houses which compose it, and, new as it is relatively to the old village on the lower level, is undoubtedly of very early date, for the system of landholding which characterised it until recently could not readily be applied to the older site and yet was of high antiquity. This system, of which New Aberdour was one of the best, if not the best, of recently surviving examples, is known in England as the "open field," and in Scotland and Ireland as the "run-rigg" system. I shall endeavour to describe the case of 1 There is a cairn in the neighbourhood known as the King's Cairn, and regarded as a memorial of King Indulf. Cf. Chalmers, op. cit. i. 35, and Pennant's Tour, 1769, i. 146. 'Chalmers, op. cit. pp. 34 and 41. "British" is his expression. |