Oor ain folk times

254 DAVID, THE GOLD-DIGGER
Accordingly, my eldest brother David was appren-
ticed to a boatbuilder in the neighbouring town of
Montrose, and one of my earliest boyish recollections
is the delight we experienced in lying among the
shavings in the workshop, which was near the sus-
pension bridge, and fishing through a knot-hole in the
pine flooring for ' podlies ' in the water beneath. The
workshop was erected on piles, and overhung part of
the harbour, and the lapping water beneath kept rhythm
with the swish of saw and plane overhead.
The story of how the worthy minister and his wife
toiled and struggled, sacrificed, worked, and prayed, to
give their lads an honest start in the world, is to me,
looking back now over the vanished years, full of
pathos and deep interest. I think it may be taken as
fairly typical of the gallant and heroic fight with
fortune which was waged in many a middle-class home
in Scotland at that time. As such it has its value, and
while I must not weary the patience of my readers by
amplifying details too much, I think I may be par-
doned if I very briefly sketch in broad outline the re-
spective careers of my large bevy of brothers.
David, the eldest, had vicissitudes of fortune enough
to fill a three-volume novel. After learning his trade
he went to sea as ship's carpenter ; was one of the first
' to take up a claim ' on the breaking out of the famous
gold discoveries in Australia at Ballarat and Bendigo.
His adventures on 'the diggings' were in themselves a
romance. At one time he possessed some £7000.
This he entrusted to the commander of his ship,
Captain Brown, who had been working as a mate with
him on the gold-fields, who had also amassed a decent