Perthshire in bygone days

JOHN SCOTT. 199
his " tundel," and in my apprentice days he was some-
times called "Tundel the engineer."
After dinner he told me of the troubles he had with his
men. " One little rascal" he said, " that I sent to the
plough the other day, cam' in to me showlin' and crying that
the plough had come against a stone and near knockit his
brains out. I said, ' Dear me laddie, whaur did it strike ye ? '
' Just on there ' said he, laying his hand on his hip ! Another
lazy deevil told me that a ploughman could claim eight days
in the year to himself, ' Two for markets, two for Sacra-
ments, two for marriages, and two for burials.' I said to
him, 'Is ye're folk a' bapteezed.'"
Mr. Scott went to see the Great Exhibition of 1851, and
paid me a visit on his way home. I asked him what he
thought of the Exhibition. " The show was fine ; but I got
a devil o' a blow." I enquired if some one knocked him
down. "On, no, it was the wind ; but it knocked down
our funnel." He had taken a particular look at the Man-
sion House. "Because," he said, " brawly did I ken his
mither " (meaning the Lord Mayor's mother). " I saw the
Review in Hyde Park, too, and it minded me o' the Battle
of Bambreich, where your father and Davie Nicoll and me
took the cannon."
Notwithstanding these amusing peculiarities, Mr. Scott
was a gentlemanly man, a good citizen of the world, and a
peaceable, kind neighbour. He farmed well, and possessed
very considerable means. He was very fond of money, but,
as a boon companion, liberal and free-handed ; not to be
hurried ; not lightly daunted ; polite, yet strong-minded,
and not easily swayed. When paying a tavern-bill, he
would say, "I was at Leckie's schule, and he told me, • Be
aye first to put your hand in your pouch : but be aye the
last to tak' it out ' " — which means, that your generosity,
though apparently forcible, should not prevent you giving
your more prompt neighbour a chance.
On a Friday evening, before going on a cattle-buying
excursion, I accompanied him to the "Brown Cow," to
partake of his stable-fee. We were there joined by Mr.
Lowe, of Lawhill, and Mr. Samuel Bichmond, of Chapel-
bank. After a while, a stout little Englishman came into
the room, accompanied by three Perth friends. Potatoes
were talked of by the Englishman and his friends in terms
which the farmers thought rather boastful, and they did
not scruple to shake their suspicious heads. One of the