Towns > Hamilton > 1878-79 - Naismith's Hamilton directory for 1878-79, including Bothwell, Blantyre, Uddingston, Motherwell, and Larkhall to which is added, A history of Hamilton and neighbourhood

COUNTY BUILDINGS. 79
built in the reign of Charles I. In its front balcony
stood many a culprit as a spectacle to the gaping
crowd. Strange associations are connected with this
ancient structure, and stranger still the many scenes
which have been enacted within its walls. Restric-
tions in feasting and drinking were winked at in those
days. It was not unusual to see >he'l(Dottle handed
out and in at pleasure, and if the^unds permitted, the
debtor might drink his fill without '^ let or hindrance.
There were then no first, second, or third rate diets,
no special wards, no turnkeys, save one ; no cranks,
no oakum-picking, or hard labour. The jailer himself
was a hearty " old buck," occupying a shop under-
neath the belfry and the bell, where he could see
all that was going on. Jokes, toasts, songs, jigs, were
the rule, and grief or ennui the exception. It is
reported that on one occasion the jailer allowed a
prisoner his freedom for a few hours to attend the
funeral of a relative. Not very far from the prison,
another place had the endearing appellation of the
"Deil's Elbow,"and further down was the "Back Burn."
In the building opposite there still stands what was
once the town hall, where feasting and drinking were
carried on at the public expense. Whisky was then
cheap and stomachs strong. Francis Wakefield knew
this when he presented the Town Council with the
capacious punch bowl still so much prized.
THE COUNTY BUILDINGS.
At a period comparatively remote, the Sheriff-
Court business in the Lower Ward of Lanarkshire was
of so little importance that it was all taken to Ham-
ilton, which was then the seat of the Court for the
Lower Ward, including the City of Glasgow, as well
as for the whole of the Middle Ward. The late
Sheriff Alton was wont to tell that within his recol-