Oor ain folk times

THE RIVAL BED LIGHTS 163
The dwellers in Bonnie Dundee were and are known
as ' Tay Watter Willies,' while the douce burghers of
Arbroath are still known as ' Reed Lichties ' ; and
they got that name in the following way.
The march of improvement had reached the some-
what sleepy town of Dundee ; and as red stained glass,
although a very costly commodity then, was coming
largely into use for danger- signalling, and denoting-
leading marks for navigation by night, the Dundee
Harbour Board had considered it wise to erect, at con-
siderable expense, a fine red light at the end of their
pier. Of course local rumour magnified the cost and
splendour of this innovation. The skippers of the
coasting craft, and generally those ' that did business
in great waters,' hailed the light as a great con-
venience ; and it was felt by the Arbroath Council
that their borough was to some extent eclipsed hy
the superior enterprise of their rising rival. So the
worthy provost trudged all the way to Dundee to see
this famous ' reed licht,' about which so much had been
heard. He had a good look at the lamp, the colour
of which puzzled him exceedingly, as he had never
seen such stained glass before. On his return to his
native town he reported to his council that there Avas
no reason in the world why Arbroath also should not,
with the aid of a little 'reed pent,' put itself even with
the despised and detested Dundee.
The ' toon penter,' also a Tam, was called, and away
the whole municipal body marched in the gathering-
gloaming to the white-lozenged glass lamp at the end
of the breakwater in which the usual oil lamp was
even now dimly burning. The provost ordered Sandie