New York State College of Agriculture At Cornell University Ithaca, N. Y. Library i;ornell University Library CT 828.C5C61 John Clay, a Scottish farmer, 3 1924 014 014 868 Cornell University Library The original of tiiis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/cletails/cu31924014014868 JOHN CLAY Reproduction of the artist's study from full-size painting of John Clay, pre- sented to him by the writer at his golden wedding. Figure by Miss Wright. Horse and hound by Alexander. JOHN CLAY A SCOTTISH FARMER WRITTEN BY HIS ELDEST SON CHICAGO PRIVATELY PRINTED 1906 CHAPTER I. YOUTH AND MAREIAGE. John Clay was bom at Dykegatehead, a farm in the Parish of Whitsome, in the county of Berwick, on November 5, 1824. His father, John Clay, farmed the above place at that date, and his grandfather, (old) John Clay,* was a very prosperous grain merchant in the good old town of Berwick-on-Tweed. The family of Clay had been around the Border town for several generations, but it is sufl&cient for this story to go back to the grand old man whose name is historic on the Borders for probity, push and perseverance. We have seen many men who knew him — notably the late Adam Darling of Governor's Yard, Berwick-on-Tweed, and he loved to depict in warm colors the man who for years had been a leading factor in the agricultural life of the Borders. His portrait in oil used to hang in his daughter Sarah's house. Castle Terrace, Berwick-on- Tweed, and it also appears in the picture now at Magdala Crescent (Edinburgh), entitled "Four John * "Eyemouth, igthMay, 1787. "At a general encampment held this day, the following brethren were made Royal Arch Masons, viz. Robert Bums, from the Lodge of St. James's, Tarbolton, Ayrshire, and Robert Ainslie, from the Lodge of St. Luke's, Edinburgh, by James Carmichael, Wm. Grieve, Daniel Dow, John Clay, Robert Grieve, &c. &c. Robert Ainslie paid one guinea admission dues; but on account of R. Bums's remarkable poetical genius the encampment unanimously agreed to admit him gratis, and considered themselves honoured by having a man of such shining abilities for one of their companions." — Ex- tracted from the Minute Book of the Lodge by Thos. Bowhill. — Allan Cunningham's Life of Bums.] 5 6 John Clay Clays," and reproduced in this work. His strong face, deep-lined, with a crest of gray hair, looks down from the frame on his successors, who in their time have lived and worked out their destiny. If you take this picture and put it beside that of Henry Clay, the great American statesman, you wotild say they were brothers. In fact, the subject of this memoir, when first in the United States, in 1876, was so struck by the likeness that he purchased an engraving of the above gentleman, and it now hangs in the house at 8 Magdala Crescent. Although ancestral rolls were explored, no connection could be traced, but if family hkeness coimts for anything, they are from the same parents in the years gone by. John Clay of Dykegatehead married Ann Wilson, an orphan who had been brought up by her unde, Young, tenant of Lady Kirk, a farm not far from the above place- They had a large family, several of whom died in infancy, and a son Charles who succumbed to consumption or a similar disease just when he had reached manhood. Those who survived are as follows: Ann (Mrs. Young, living in Australia). John (the subject of this memoir). Johanna (Mrs. Stedman, living at Timpendean, Jed- burgh). Agnes (Mrs. Somner, living in Edinburgh). Sarah (Mrs. Glynne, living in New York, U. S. A.). All the above had famihes, so that the connection is spread to all parts of the globe. After spending a FOUR JOHN CLAYS. AN OIL PAINTING BY ROBERT FRAIN, KELSO, SCOTLAND, 1858. Youth and Marriage " nineteen ' ' at Dykegatehead, John Clay took the farm of Kerchesters, moving there in 1839. These farms were totally different. Dykegatehead lay almost in the centre of the Merse of Berwickshire. It is full of rich land, with fine natural drainage, compact, easily worked and producing everything of the best quality. For many years it has been admirably farmed by the Balsillie family. On the other hand Kerchesters was a big, wild place, 1,296 acres in extent, a large portion of it whin, heather, and bracken. It would take a strong pen to describe the struggle, almost hopeless at times, to conquer it. Many an hour we have listened to Aunt Agnes (Mrs. Somner) describe in graphic language the trials of the bluff old farmer. He bor- rowed money from his father, expecting that his share of the estate would call for no repayment, but a shadow to which it is no use to refer further, had come across the business path of the firm of John Clay &» Son, and instead of receiving from he was a debtor to his father's estate. These were the dark days of 1846 and succeeding years. The noonday of his Ufe was full of bitter experiences, of rugged work, of an intense nervous strain, but the later were years of peace and prosperity. He died in 1866 at the somewhat short age of 69 years. He was a grand type of the British yeoman, bluff, quick-tempered but never sulky, fond of his tum- bler of toddy, generous in his hospitaUty, a keen farmer, an indifferent politician and not much of a churchman. In fact his life was with the land. From it he drew 8 John Clay his inspiration. Before passing on to other subjects it may be well to say a word about two remarkable men that served him for years. Thomas Mabon was steward for many years both at Dykegatehead and Kerches- ters. He was from all accounts a remarkable man, daring, energetic, fearless and with an intense power of concentration and work. He left a large family, of whom we shall speak later. Eventually the Sprouston Boat House which then had a license became a too favorite resort of old Tom's and he had to leave. The gap was never filled. The other was Walter Stobie, shepherd at Lanton Lees, a hill farm taken in 1835, which was farmed for two leases, one of nineteen, and a second of fifteen years, by the Clays. Wat was the epitome of all mankind so far as laziness is concerned. He was a stout, splendidly built man with a leonine head full of sheep lore and native wit. He knew every sheep on his hirsel by headmark, and better still he loved them. He was always treated as an equal and when the farmer rode over from Kerchesters to see the stock Wat dined in the parlor that day and there was generally a considerable toddy drinking afterwards. When every- thing was going all right Wat was the most indolent of men, but when occasion required he rose to it. In the great snowstorm of '60 Wat's soul was stirred to the very depths. His fodder was running short. The ewes on Blackrig were nearly starving, so getting his pen in hand he indited in large letters the following words: "Lord God send hay." This he placed in an Youth and Marriage envelope, intending to post it to his employer. Instead of that he took his staff in his hand and walked across country to Kerchesters, crossing the Tweed at Banff Mill Boathouse, or for all we know he may have crossed on the ice, and so he delivered the letter in person. And he got his hay, and saved the Uves of his sheep. * * * * John Clay, the subject of this memoir, came into the world at a great time in its history. He saw the begianing of the Victorian era and he lived beyond it. His life began with the stage coach. It ended with the electric car. Napoleon was dead but the echoes of the tragedies which he inflicted on Europe still were heard. The tunic and the hat which his father had worn as a yeoman during the French Wars still hung on a peg in the wardrobe. The thrills and throbs of warfare were over and Britain was working out her destinies in other ways, and it is rather a strange coincidence that the first vivid recollection of his life was being taken by his father to the village of Whitsome to celebrate in some way or other the passing of the Reform Bill in 1832. He went to the Parish school at Whitsome, but of those days he had a dim recollection. Then, with many other Berwickshire boys, he was sent to James Trotter's school at Ayton. Trotter was a remarkable man. From the Parish school of Ayton he moved to Musselburgh, where he turned out a splendid lot of men, and wound up his career at the Edinburgh Acad- emy in a blaze of educational glory. At Ayton the late lo John Clay Dr. John Cairns was pupil teacher, a long, lank, shaggy- haired son of the farm who won fame and distinction in pulpit and platform. The Berwickshire boys fol- lowed Trotter to Musselburgh. The Herriots, the Allans and hosts of others received their education there. East Lothian also contributed, and James Hope, East Bams, is still doing credit to the discipline and fore- sight of his teacher. William Elirkwood, of Chicago fame, who still lives amid the old scenes, was at school with the above men, but most of them have gone and soon Trotter will be but a memory. The Dykegate- head or Herriot Bank noddy, a springless carriage of ancient build, took them to Musselburgh. Probably then their school looked to them h'ke a Dotheboys Hall, but in after years they always spoke of their stay at Trotter's with kindly feeUngs. The Dykegatehead family moved to Kerchesters in 1839, They lived in the old house now used for steward's house and stables till the new house was built. Mean- time young John completed his education at Mussel- burgh and came home, entering the ofl&ce of the Na- tional Bank of Scotland, Kelso, then as now guided by one of the Tait family. After some years there he went to work on the farm. Under the guidance of his father and Tom Mabon he got a grand education, for they were busy reducing part of Haddon Rig to order. Lim- ing, draining and fencing were in action. There are no signs of the wild moorland of 1839 around Pot's Close nowadays except you peep into the fox cover. Youth and Marriage ii Old Will Williamson, the Duke of Buccleuch's hunts- man, in those days drew all of that country, for it was practically all cover. Tom Morrison, late game- keeper at Sprouston, used often to relate of the day when the Duchess of Roxburgh, grandmother of the present Duke, had ten acres saved from the Clay ploughs in the early "forties." Although Morrison was older than John Clay they grew up side by side and a friendship commenced that was only severed by the death of the former. Tom was the ideal keeper and he spent well nigh half a century at Sprouston. He was a sportsman in every sense of the word, a splendid servant to the Duke and yet fair to the tenants, and for years he was oh the most friendly terms with the farmers, the shepherds and the ploughmen. While he loved a dram or a tumbler of toddy he rarely exceeded the proper limit although he was a social favorite and the temptations great. He had an admirable bimxp of discretion and tact. One morning he found after an anxious night's vigil a young shepherd taking a hare from a snare. The detection had cost him several nights' sleep. He made no noise about it, but he went to the tenant. The young man left next day and that was the last seen of him. There was a sad sequel. The young fellow emigrated to the United States. One Sabbath morn- ing he was seized with cramps in the chilly waters of Lake Huron while bathing. Help reached him too late and his body lies in what to the parents was a foreign land. But Tom had his foibles. He had the fortune 12 John Clay to raise a very good-looking family. This is the way he conveyed the fact to a mutual friend, drifting in his earnestness back to his Yorkshire dialect: "Yes, sir, my son Edward is as Hke my Uncle Ned as a bean, and my Uncle Ned was the best-looking man I ever saw in my hfe. ' ' Kerchesters was a house of call once or twice a week and Tom had the hospitalities of the place ex- tended invariably. There were two kinds of whiskey in the house — the parlor whiskey and that used for the laborers, etc. "Whether from intent or otherwise Tom had been getting the latter. He stood it several times, but it was too rank; so he said to the tablemaid, " My respects to the mistress, and if it's just as conven- ient, I would thank her to send out that green bottle that the master and I help ourselves from." And so it came out from that time forth. A little over a year ago when golden sheaves studded the fields, the writer stood in the Httle churchyard at Sprouston. His glance fell on the solemn little plot of ground where old Tom rests; the eye grew dim, for it brought up a flood of recollections, of many a pleasant day spent with gun in hand near the murmuring Tweed or on that wild piece of moorland opposite Phaup where Kale and Oxnam find a birthplace. Now comes a series of busy years on the farm at Ker- chesters, during one of them a trip being made into the Highlands to visit the late James Lindsay, Whitmuir- haugh, who was then managing an estate there. Mr. Lindsay was one of the old type of Border farmers. A Youth and Marriage 13 big man physically and mentally, sagacious but slow, exceedingly well read, a grand man to meet in a single handed crack. In a business way he was content to farm Whitmuirhaugh and Banff Mill, and there he died re- spected by all who knew him. There is httle to tell fur- ther of this time, for work on a farm is not exciting, but it lays a grand foundation of brain and brawn. About 1846 John Clay moved to Winfield, a farm of over 500 acres in the " Howe " of the Merse of Berwickshire. It is stiff clay land, rebeUious in bad seasons but prolific in favorable years. To use a Scotch expression, it is a " kittle " place to farm and needed the most cautious management. At the time we write of, bare fallow was still the order of the day in low Berwickshire. With the decline in the price of wheat the rotation had to be changed and it came under the regular four-course shift with a lot of land laid away to grass. Old John Clay of Berwick was the tenant, the proprietor being Richard Trotter of Charterhall, a splendid landlord. WilUam Clay, one of his sons, was managing the place. He had been in Can- ada for several years without much success. On his death John Clay, 3rd of that time, was sent from Kerches- ters to take hold. Ahck Mabon, son of old Tom, also went about this time to act as steward, but more of him hereafter. The old Berwick merchant was gathered to his fathers in 1846, and the lease of the farm fell to his son John at Kerchesters, but he did not care to take it up. He had more than enough to handle at home. So in the whirligig of time the John Clay of whom we write became 14 John Clay tenant of Winfield and he remained so till 1892, rounding out 46 years on the place, although it was fanned by the family for nearly 70 years. So at 24 years of age, with boundless energy, a grand training and a very slim bank accoimt he began his business career. Having a farm of his own he began to think of matrimony, and on Feb- ruary 26, 1850, he was married to Patricia Thomson at Eyemouth. This was the great turning point in his life; he steadied down, the hobbledehoy stage was past and work began in earnest. In this marriage two kindred families, famous in Border farming, were united. The above lady was the daughter of Alexander Thomson of Glororum, a farm near Bamburgh, his wife being one of the TurnbuUs of Abbey St. Bathans in Berwickshire. Alexander Thomson was the son of James Thomson, Bogend, near Duns. This gentleman and old John Clay of Berwick had married sistejrs, the Misses Grieve of Eyemouth, so that John Clay and his wife were second cousins. Their ancestors had farmed many an acre on the Border. " Old Bogend " and his sons had countless farms, but the last of the name so far as farming is con- cerned disappeared when James Thomson of Mungos Walls, near Duns, died. It seems almost tragic that two great families whose names were household words in Border farming during the nineteenth century, should disappear and be only memories. Is it the old adage repeated that one generation makes the money, the sec- ond holds it, the third spends it ? Or is it due to the shifting sands of modern hf e ? Many of the descendants Youth and Marriage 15 of the above families have made names for themselves all over the world, but the spot which gave them a start — " historic Tweedside " — has been left behind. Dotted are their remains in many a graveyard from Bamburgh to Abbey St. Bathans, from Sprouston to Eyemouth, but so far as the Thomsons and Clays are concerned the farming fires have gone out. Have they gone forever or are they hke some brawhng stream sinking under ground, only to appear a few miles below ? CHAPTER II. FARMING IN BERWICKSHIRE, Previous to 1850 farming on the Borders was very different from what it is now. Low Berwickshire — better known as the Merse — was a wheat country. Toward the western boundaries of the country mixed husbandry pre- vailed, while on its northern line, by Lauder and Westruther and eastwards by Duns to almost St. Abbs Head, the old-fashioned, easy-going sheep farmer still pursued his methods. Before the above date John Clay was tenant of Winfield and he came upon the scene of agriculture when a new view was opening up. The Reform BiU of 1832 had led up to the Free Trade measure of 1846, but a more powerful pulsation was moving the whole world. It was the introduction of steam on land and water. True it is that the genius of Stephenson had given the world the locomotive years before and steamships had been used more or less, but it was not till nearly the middle of the century that the climax came. The change in agriculture as in other things was radical. Wheat growing declined, stock rais- ing and feeding increased. The country village decayed; the town increased in wealth and popula- tion and poverty, for these three are bedfellows. The silence of the valleys was broken by the shriek 16 Farming in Berwickshire 17 of the locomotive. Few could fathom the depth or the breadth of the changes that were to come. It was not the lamp of Aladdin nor some fairy power that made the change. It was the inevitable movement of cheaper transportation and rapid transit. It was pathetic to see the old carters, who had braved many a blast on Soutra Hill or had wended their way from Kelso to Berwick-on-Tweed, drop by the wayside as the iron- horse came careering on — a great juggernaut — crush- ing all in its path. Not Caesar or Attila or Napo- leon had ever such influence as Stephenson. Their changes came by the sword, the fierce stalking giant of war covering with his mantle fields of blood and carnage. He came with dove-like flight, borne on wings of peace, and yet it made misery in many a home. It revolution- ized conditions and the old conservative ways are only given up after a fierce struggle, for the victories of peace are often as cruel as those won by the ring of the rifle or the shotted gun. It was at this era in history that the subject of our memoir came to his manhood and calling. He had little money, but he got a cash credit at a bank through his father's signature. Farms were then gen- erally full back rented. Thus if you entered any Whit- sunday you did not pay any rent till the second Martin- mas, and even then you got a month or two's credit. This was easy for the tenant. It was not so easy for the landlord, who, however, was protected by what was known as the law of Hypothec, of which more hereafter. The general creditor had to take all the risk, but with economy 1 8 John Clay a fair start could be made on very little capital. Then in those days the boU * wage was general all over Berwick- shire. It is obsolete now, but it does not follow that it was the worst system physically. Under it no better class of people ever were seen than the Berwickshire hinds and their families. Clothes might be scanty, but the brose and the porridge gave bone and sinew, and the old parish schools developed intellect. This system called for the farmer using little ready money. The quality of the labor was of a high standard and the quan- tity kept down the price. Robert Harkess, who came as a hind during the early fifties to Winfield, had been working in Swinton Quarry at J4d. per day. With no work there was no pay. With a maximum of 9/- per week he had to pay house rent and rear a family. A better workman never trod in shoe leather. The boll wage at that time was 5 Loads Oatmeal ( 100 Stones ), 3J Bolls Barley, 1200 to 1600 Yards Potatoes, A Cow kept, A free house and garden. Coals driven free. Meat in harvest, £ $: o: od. in cash, and occasionally i Boll Wheat. Under this system food was certain. A pig was also kept and probably two a year were killed, and most of it * The boU b six bushels . Farming m Berwickshire 19 salted down. The butter from the cow gave the house- wife money for groceries and clothes. Under the present system it is doubtful if the children fare as well as in the days of old. Women workers were plentiful. The " bondage " system was in vogue. It meant every hind supplying a woman worker from his house. If he had daughters, good and well. If not, he must go to market and hire a " bondager." The system was degrading. It was a degree better than the bothy system of other parts of the country, but that is all one can say. Drainers and orra men were also plentiful and a farmer had no anxiety on these scores. The drifting to the town of the surplus labor was only in its infancy. Under these conditions good farming was the order of the day. At Winfield in- tense energy was thrown into the work. The double hedges were rooted out, at least one of them; the big ditches were filled in, the land was ploughed deep, the fences were well kept; when a new lease was taken lime was freely used and imder-draining made great strides. There was a degree of push, progress and perseverance that told a tale of growing prosperity. In the Autumn of 1852 the farm of Wedderlie came on the market. By the death of Miss Grieve, who had adopted Patricia Thomson and taken her to Eyemouth to Uve with her, several thousand pounds fell to the yoimg people at Winfield. By this means the above farm was taken and entered upon at Whitsunday 1853, and here began an era of success. The dormant hillsides began to bloom. The bent and the heather were judiciously 20 John Clay converted into arable land. Thousands of cartloads of stones were taken from the land and made into dykes. When no stones were available wire was used. When the land was broken hme was applied in generous quan- tities, under-draining was vigorously pushed and a trans- formation scene was brought about. The family lived here in summer and in winter went back to Winfield. Wedderlie and Ellemford were on the market at the same time. Bids were made on both places and although his uncle by marriage owned the latter place, he did not get a chance at it on account of a condition being made that it would only be let to a resident tenant. A Mr. Murray got it, but at the end of five years he failed. John Clay was trustee on his estate. WilUam Elliot, one of a large and prosperous family of farmers, took the farm and was very successful on it. It is rather a strong coincidence that Elliot left Ellemford at Whitsunday 1905 and the name of Clay was severed from WedderUe at the same time. With two blades of grass growing in place of one, other things changed. Cheviot sheep on the lower hirsel gave way to halfbreds, and the blackfaces produced grayfaced lambs. In the former change the financial advance was great, in the latter it was always a doubtful question. The carrying power of the farm was doubled and during the heyday of sheep farming, more especially during the American Civil War, the profits were large. The prac- tice for many years was to draft the wether half-bred lambs to Winfield during the month of August, weaning time Farming in Berwickshire 21 being about the 15th of that month. These lambs were roughed in winter, grazed in summer, and then about the following August forcing for market commenced. Tares were cut early and fed to them as the pastures failed. Then they got six weeks turnips with a liberal allowance of cake and com, and went to the knife weighing close to twenty pounds per quarter. The wool and the mutton made a grand profit. Nowadays a Berwickshire farmer would be termed a lunatic if he followed such a plan. But in those old days when big cuts were in demand, when wool sold high, the bank account waxed large upon this system. And it was given up with regret, for it suited the farms to work in this line. From 1853 to 1867, when John Clay went to Kerchesters, the two above mentioned farms worked in close harmony. The stock from the hill farm was drafted to the lowlands and finished off, and in summertime the farm in the Merse supplied horses and carts to push forward the work of improvement on the upland place. Those were happy days for the tenant and his family. The tree was bearing fruit for the home and grew steadily in numbers. The business was successful under rigid econ- omy both outside and inside the house. The mother lilted with pathos the old ballads, told stories to the won- dering children, weaving the folk lore of the Borders into romances that dwell in memory. The babbling Black- adder was a constant source of joy, for it was full of trout in those days, and its limpid waters served for a daily bath. The echoes of its song are ringing still. It gur- gled and sang and played through a scented meadow, full 22 John Clay of blue bells, yellow daisies and nodding violets, blue, gold and yellow in riotous profusion amid the grass that was changing from green to gray with ripening seed, and then at last the scythe came along and flowers and grass lay low scenting the summer air with an aroma of Araby. Beyond were fields of golden grain, the oat with its fan- gles dropping gently, shimmering in the sunshine, shiver- ing when a cold blast swept across its path. Fields of turnips interspersed, their greenery sometimes broken by a wave of scarlet poppies or mildewed by drought. Further still the purple heather, sweeping in gentle lines to the Twinlaws, the sky-line dotted with fleecy clouds. Many an evening we climbed the hill and drank in the scene. The ideal had then if possible more to say than the real, and yet with all the glamor of youth flushing with roseate hue our simple lives it would be difl&cult to think of nature in a better garb. You were away from the throb- bing world. There amid the ozone of the hills you had the odor of the pinewoods, the glory of the heather with its delicate incense, the shifting shadows on the purple hillside; and westward as evening came the sxm in silent majesty dropped behind the woods of Spottiswoode, whose stately Dame had given a new insight to the story of Annie Laurie. Then you walked back in the softening twilight, into the old-fashioned sitting-room with its Chip- pendale furniture and its smouldering peat fire. The family gathered around the table, family worship was held, the mother leading the singing; then came the sim- ple supper and soon after we were all oblivious to the shifting sands of the outside world. Farming est Berwickshire 23 At Whitsunday, 1863, John Clay of Kerchesters turned over to his son the hill farm of Lanton Lees and Blackrig. They were then bare, bleak places stretching from Kyle's Hill to Harden 's Hill. They carried a blackfaced stock of medium quality. The valuation was left to Thomas Penny, then of the firm of Penny & Fairbaim. Penny was a genius in the auctioneering line. He had a glib tongue, but his ready wit was never biting, for he left out the sarcasm and the object of his sallies always joined in the laugh. His honesty was proverbial. He was a short man with a pock-marked face, very genial, a grand toddy drinker, for he loved the social side of life both wisely and well. He preached and practiced moder- ation, yet there was scarcely a gathering he was absent from. He had a grand business, but he was too easy- going in money matters ever to make a fortune. Yet he stamped his name in indelible characters on the Border land. The stock from the above places was drafted direct to market and did not ally itself with the other two farms. In the days when John Clay began to farm there were a wonderful lot of men in the Merse who had either taken farms or inherited them from their fathers. There is no hesitation in saying they were great men intellectuaUy and physically. Probably to-day they would not survive, be- cause they had not the drive or push necessary at this era, but they knew their business and they were favored with fairly prosperous times, and, as said above, they had a suflBiciency of good labor at low rates. It was the heyday 24 John Clay of the farmer more than the laborer. Turnip culture was in full swing; the wheat days and bare fallow were passing, and instead of marl, guano, bone meal and phosphates were being used. The land responded to this new treat- ment. The country wanted more and better meat; the brewer and the distiller wanted barley and the Merse was well able to supply its quota of the above. Far and away the most prominent man, not only in the Merse but in the whole country at that time, was John Wilson. He was then farming Edington Mains and Edington Hill, lowland farms by the banks of the Whiteadder and the farms of Rawbum and Scarlaw in Lammermoor. He was, however, unable from the state of his health to do much practical work, so he turned his abilities to Uterature and he gave to the world "British Farming" and the article upon agriculture to the Encyclopedia Britannica. For many years John Wilson and John Clay were close neighbors. They sat in the same church; they sei."ved at the same Communion Table, and the one imbibed much from the other. Wilson was not a driving master; he was easy-going in his methods, an excellent farmer, but he had not the dose business methods of his neighbor. He was content to go along in his old way and it served his purpose well, for he retired after a long tenancy of the above farms to spend his latter days in ease and affluence at Duns. Very few men can write about agriculture and farm well. Wilson could do both. Theory and practice went hand in hand, especially in the culture of the soil. As a stock- man he had to leave much to others on account of his Farming in Berwickshire 25 health. Aside from all this, his moral worth was of the highest standard. The typical old-fashioned fanner was found in the Messrs. Herriot — James, William and David. They were big men physically and intellectually, but slow, easy- going. They understood the culture of the soil but they never got beyond handling a single farm. As men they stood out in bold reUef , whether at market or kirk. James, who was always called "the Laird," on account of his property of Herriot Bank, was a silent, shrewd man, won- derful at absorbing news and ideas, and consequently in a single-handed crack he had few equals, and no superiors among his cotemporaries. He farmed Leetside and Herriot Bank. They were what are known as clever places and he managed them splendidly. Having been at school together he and the tenant of Winfield kept up a close intimacy. He acted as best man at his wedding. Then he took unto himself a wife who is still alive and very active. A large family resulted and the intimacy of the fathers has been more or less continued by the chil- dren. Robert Glendinning, farmer at Broomdykes, was also remarkable in his way. He was more progressive than the Herriots, but unfortunately he lost his hand by acci- dent and his brilliant intellect was affected by it and he died at a comparatively early age. Further away were hosts of good men: James Calder at Swinton HiU; Robert Calder at Kelloe Mains, and Adam Calder at Blaneme; John Allan was at Billie 26 John Clay Mains; the Elliots were at Lamberton; Abraham Logan at Hassendean. John Blackadder near Chimside, a great wit and master of repartee. One instance we must give: He farmed on the estate of Ninewells, the agent being Thomas Bowhill of Ayton, a very clever country lawyer. The proprietor having died he was succeeded by a gentleman who belonged to a curious religious sect called the Society of Angels, or a name to that effect.* Shortly after the new succession BowhiU met Blackadder and accosted him in rather a facetious manner thus: "Aye, Mr. Blackadder, you'll be grandly off now, having an angel for a laird." "True, true," replied Blackadder, "but unfortunately I've got the deil for a factor." The above were a great coterie of men, all of them now gone, who made farming famous in the Merse. Ber- wick market, then as now, was the rendezvous for the Border farmers. There every Saturday they went to meet the grain and other merchants in the Exchange. Old John Clay was gone, but his son Patrick reigned in his stead, and he in turn was succeeded by his son John, and at his death the business passed away into other hands. Adam Darling was then in the fullness of his great vigor. The Hendersons, Grossman and Paulin were there, also, the Carters, who were just coming on the scene. James Allan, of Allan Brothers, was there to look after his wood business. But the most unique character of all was Joseph Ruddick, cattle dealer and Bohemian. He with his two assistants, Thomas Lunn and James Dixon, were landmarks in our memory not * " Catholic Apostolic." Rev. Edward living (1792-1834). Farming m Berwickshire 27 easily effaced. To the younger generation it would be a revelation even to think of Laird Herriot and James Dixon running a foot race, the former being an easy victor. Ruddick was altogether an extraordinary char- acter. He had a fine head set on a large body which was supported by a very feeble, badly made pair of legs. He made you think of Napoleon, for he had a mobile face and a quick, active, decided manner. In his early days he was a splendid business man. Through the week he was over all the Borders buying stock — principally sheep. Those he dressed mostly at Berwick and there we first saw in a rude way the dressed meat business. The blood was saved and sent to his farm and some attempt was made to utiHze the offal. The carcass was shipped to London. Every Saturday he adjourned about noon to a room in the Kings Arms Hotel and settled for his stock bought the previous week. Champagne unfortunately flowed like water, and latterly the meetings finished in an orgy. When he came to the vicinity of Winfield he gen- erally dined at one of the farm houses. The best was always put forth and the bargain for the stock generally finished over a bottle of port. The neighbors were in- vited and many a time Laird Herriot, Robert Glendinning, Alexander TumbuU, then tenant of Dykegatehead, and various others would foregather to see the stock and hear the bargain. The dinner was at three o'clock and Rud- dick generally left about eight. After he went the others played whist and went at the toddy again, for while Rud- dick drank port the others had " hot Scotch." Nowadays 28 John Clay business is done differently, but under the above con- ditions many thousands of pounds changed hands. Rud- dick did much for the farmers of Tweedside but unfor- tunately nothing for himself. His brilliant mind became clouded and he sank down into an obscure old age. But be was a brilliant meteor flashing across the agricultural sky, and the world after having petted and cajoled him turned its cold hand against his generous heart. CHAPTER III. FARMING IN ROXBURGHSHIRE. John Clay, tenant of Kerchesters since 1839, died in June 1866 and Ms son took up the lease at Whitsunday 1867; so that he was then farming Winfield, Wedderlie and Lanton Lees in Berwickshire, and now he became tenant of the above large farm, 1,296 acres in extent. After the great era of improvements in the forties very Uttle had been done. The hedges had run wild, the drains were choked up and the place was in need of lime. As years crept on him the old tenant was willing to rest on his oars. Having gotten into comfortable circumstances he let the world wag on easily. The new broom began to sweep dean. Down went the hedges so that a new growth could come, drainers were in demand and hme was freely ap- pUed. Wonderful activity, reminding some of the old ser\'ants of early days of what had been done then, came into play, and for nearly thirty years the same magnificent energy was in evidence. The farm itself is a subject worthy of the best thought and work that can be employed. It rises from near the level of the Tweed ( Whitmmrhaugh and Redden intervening betwixt it and the river ) gently towards Haddon Rig, and then it falls swiftly towards the Lempitlaws. It is an oblong, about if miles north and south, li east and west. Half of it is good land; half 29 30 John Clay is weak, mostly a moor-bound soil, but capable of raising a lot of stuff of inferior quality. However, it is sure turnip and barley ground, and as the good land lies on the north side round the steading and dose to the railroad it is in many ways a desirable place. The great drawbacks are the want of a steading on Haddon Rig, entailing long travels for the work people. The result was that the hinds and women workers were a shifting population. It was further still a difficult place to manage in regard to the sheep stock. They " pined " more or less on the up- per land and the death rate was heavy. Then it was bleak, most of it facing the north wind which swept across it with " angry sough." There were no plantations be- hind which the stock could shelter. Of late years this has been remedied. The writer came to the farm at Christmas 1867 after nine months in a Leith office, and for ten years remained on it more or less. It was the heyday of farming in Rox- burghshire, and Kerchesters was one of the best examples of what could be done by an enterprising tenant. It was a great education — fencing; Uming; heavy manuring, feeding stuffs galore being used; deep ploughing; every nerve being strained to get the most return per acre with- out any fancy work. It was all practical, conunonsense management. At the May Day 1868 James Mabon, son of old Tom Mabon, who in his time had served the family so well, came as steward and he remained ten years. He was a remarkable man in many ways. His egotism was intense: his vanity overflowing; but aside from these faults Farming in Roxburghshire 31 he had a grasp of his subject which made him a master in the art of agricultural work. His mission was with the soil, for he knew little about stock, and he got full play for his faculties at Kerchesters. He was a great worker, and had the faculty of inspiring those under him in the same direction. He quarreled with them; he became too famiUar; he gave himself endless trouble, much anxiety and vexations, but in the end it seemed to work out right for he was ever advancing with his work at a tremendous rate. Aside from being capable, he was honest, careful and watchful of his employer's interests. The root, how- ever, of his success was his boundless confidence in him- self. If he had been a modem Ulysses he would have had no use for wax in his ears when he sailed past the Siren of the sea. In 1870 the farm of Plenderleith was leased. It is a large holding at the head of Oxnam and Rale waters, car • rying about 130 score of Cheviot sheep, and one of the finest farms of its class in the Borders. It is " inbye " and yet it is " outbye." It is just beyond the region of the plough, and, although it had some arable land upon it which was cultivated for a year or two after entering the lease, the attempt to keep it going was given up and it re- lapsed into a purely grazing farm. So Kerchesters and Plenderleith became like Winfield and Wedderlie, being worked in conjunction. The Cheviot wethers and din- monts and part of the shott lambs and gimmers found their way to the low country and were turned into money there. With wool touching at one time 50 shillings per 32 John Clay stone and the clip paying the rent of ;^i,300 by all but £4, the first ten years of the tenancy, were very successful. It had one grievous fault — the want of a good "hogging," and whether from want of manage- ment or otherwise it was the weak link in the chain of John Clay's farming in Roxburghshire. He could manage the poor land at Kerchesters and put it to the best of use, he could turn his Plenderleith stock to the greatest advantage; but he failed over and over again with wintering his ewe hoggs. Many a time he thought of turning the Blackfaced hirsel at WedderUe into a winter hogging but he lacked the courage, or what would prob- ably be a better word, the " inclination " to make the ex- periment. And so it went on to the end, every year more or less loss and trouble. Sometimes there was a big bill to pay when the summer days rolled round. It is doubtful, taking all in all, if he was as good a farmer in Roxburgh- shire as in Berwickshire. He was more at home in his native shire. It is no flattery to say that his management in the Merse and on Lammermoor was ideal. It was spontaneous and splendid; whereas in Roxburghshire it was more a reflected hght. The second lease of the farm of Kerchesters to the Clay family ran out in 1876. The rent for the " nineteen " had been ;^i,7oo per year. The landlord of both the Roxburghshire farms was the Duke of Roxburgh and for years the relations betwixt landlord and, tenant had been of the most friendly character. B'ufi there was a change in store and we take the matter up Farming in Roxburghshire 33 somewhat in detail because the treatment received from the representatives of the Duke gave an impetus to the work of protecting the interests of the tenants as shown in the part taken in two Royal Commissions on Agricul- ture, and of which we shall treat in a separate chapter. The smoke grew into a flame because of what the tenants thought was gross injustice. When he succeeded to the lease of the farm in 1867, nine years being still to run, he began improving at a prodigious rate. He did not ask the landlord for a penny but he went ahead with perhaps more energy than judgment. He limed more than half the farm; he drained a lot of wet land; he cut down nearly every hedge on the place and renewed it where wanted; his manure and cake bills were enormous — the proverbial two blades took the place of one. He had several talks with the Duke's Agent upon the subject, saying he did not expect to be raised in rent in respect of his own im- provements. The response was that these matters would be considered in the old way. When the time came for a renewal of the lease the Duke's Agent wrote and asked if David Curror of the Lee, a man of the highest standing, would be acceptable as a Valuator. This proposal was at once agreed upon, and accordingly he came and looked over the farm. Then came an ominous silence. At last a letter came saying that the Curror report was not satis- factory to the Duke and informing the tenant that the farm would be gone over by John Gibson, Woolmet; Thomas Scott, Whitton, and James Dickson, Saughton 34 John Clay Mains. What their valuation was never transpired, but eventually after considerable bargaining the farm was taken at ;^2,2oo per year and fore-rented, equal to another £ioo per year. A total rise of ;£6oo. The whole affair from the tenant's point of view was a shameful business, and he always said that the greatest mistake of his business life was in taking the farm. From a financial point of view he would certainly have been much better ofif. It paved the way, however, for his great work in the interest of the tenant fanners of Great Britain, and from evil once more came a lot of good. To show the change in the value of land the farm after having had five or six thou- sand pounds spent on it for improvements and having been well farmed in the meantime is now rented for ;£i,300 a year. Farming in Roxburghshire differs from the same pur- suit in Berwickshire. The farms are larger, the soil is lighter and works more freely. It is essentially a stock country. The mainstay is mutton. AU the other opera- tions merely lead up to one end — the breeding and feed- ing of sheep. As a resiilt no people in our range of ob- servation can handle flock and fleece so well. It seems to be in the blood of both master and man. In the low- lands of the shire you have the historic names of Polwarth and Stark, in the higher elevations you can conjure with the name of Elliot. It is not, however, in the reahn of breeding pure bred Leicesters or Cheviots but it is the average farmer we refer to. They shine by their clever management, and it has made Tweedside famous and rich also. Farming in Roxburghshire 35 Possibly the most noticeable difference was in the type of farmer. In Berwickshire the holdings are generally less; as stated above the farmers were not so progressive but they lived more economically. They used the old- fashioned gig; in Roxburghshire it was a smart dogcart or a carriage. At the time we write of Roxburghshire was overflowing with gentlemen farmers, men of the type of Murray, Kersknowe; Logan, Caverton; the Cunninghams of Morebattle Tofts and Grahamslaw; Thomson Ruther- ford; Johnston, Crailing Hall; the Simsons of Bedrule and Oxnam Row; and hosts of others. Every Friday they drove into Kelso in fine style, most of them proud as Lucifer and sensitive as a Roman Citizen of their dignity, but withal they were able men and fine farmers. Then there was an intermediate class, half farmer, half proprietor. Prominent among them were Oliver of Lochside, Boyd of Cherrytrees, Pott of Knowesouth. They had an ambiguous position for they were neither at the head of the farmers nor at the tail of the gentry. But they filled a distinctive place in the community and were very useful men in the county. Robert Oliver, still living at a magnificent old age, represents a class of men who were more numerous in Roxburghshire than in any county of Scotland. Those men and their ilk gave a dis- tinctive note to the shire. They all lived well and with prosperous times they were able to keep things mov- ing. When the turn of the tide came, they seemed to melt away, and with few exceptions none are left. Their families had been educated up to a standard far above 36 John Clay their position. The sons wanted to commence where the fathers left off, and if the history of some of the families were written it would reveal the usual tragedies of business lives possibly more intense than the average. Of another type was Scott of Timpendean. He had risen from the ranks by ability and shrewdness. He had a large family of sons, all able men, and they began about 1850 to make a great impression on the farming of Rox- burgshire. They had a tremendous land hunger and as they were aggressive and progressive, careful and economical, of undoubted probity, and all exceedingly shrewd, their influence was widespread and contagious. They turned hill farms into half hill farms and half arable places. They knew the business so well and they came on the scene at such an opportune time that they revolu- tionized much of the farming on the Borders. Factors patted them on the back, for they bid on nearly every place of any size. If reports be true they went further and intimated that they were ready to take farms if the old tenants would not meet a rise in their rent. Some of them went too far and several ventures ended in disaster. It is sufi&cient for our story to give the rise and prosperity of this family, for the older men lived side by side of this John Clay, and one of his reminiscences was telling of going to a sale with the elder Scott about 1853 and how he was struck with the ruggedness of his character. Still another type, and it is with us still, was the old- fashioned Cheviot hill farmer. They belonged to both sides of the Border. Chief among them were Elliot, Faeming in Roxburghshire 37 Hindhope, Robson, Byrness; Dodd, Catcleugh; the Telfers, the Douglases, the Scotts and others — men of might mentally and physically, and their sons follow in their footsteps. They retain to a great extent the sim- pUcity of their surroundings and their skill has not abated. CHAPTER IV. THE WAYGOINGS FROM WINFIELD, KERCHESTERS AND PLENDERLEITH . The farm of Lanton Lees passed out of the Clay family's possession in the early seventies. The next place was Winfield and unfortunately it was not a friend- ly leaving. The farm had long been the property of the Trotters of Mortonhall and Charterhall. Old Mr. Trotter and his son Sir Henry Trotter were ideal land- lords, but in division of the property at Richard Trotter's death three farms were left to the second son — the famous Jock Trotter, Master of the Meath Foxhounds. They were New Homdean, Fishwick Mains and Winfield. Hunt- ing hounds and depending on a Berwickshire estate do not harmonize, and after some years Trotter became bank- rupt and the farms were for sale. James Black, late of Grindon and living at Chiswick, purchased them. He was a close, rather shrewd man, very obstinate and purse- proud. Above all this, he had an inveterate grudge against the Clay family — for what reason we know not. Enough for the story is the fact it was there. Like a hawk watching for its prey he kept his eye on John Clay and waited his opportunity. To tell the whole story we must hark back some years. In 1879 the lease of the farm expired and by arrangement the writer was to succeed 38 WiNFIELD, KeRCHESTERS AND PlENDERLEITH 39 his father. The arrangement was carried through. The farm was valued by George Mills, tenant of Green- end near St. Boswells. The lease was made out and transcribed in accordance with the old lease, except the the rent which was slightly increased. The writer went to Canada on business on January 6, 1879, ^^^ ^^ ^°* return until April. Delays for one reason and another took place and the lease was not signed until June or July 1879. Then it was distinctly understood with Mr. James Low, factor for the estate, that in the event of the writer leaving for Canada permanently, which he did in the month of August, 1879, his father should carry on the farm — in fact, there should he no change. Consequently the lease never became operative because possession of stock, etc., never passed. As times grew worse in farming the rent was reduced, first to £600 per year from £780, and then to ;^5oo. When Black got the property he refused to accept it at the rate of ;gsoo per year. John Clay, acting on his coimsel's advice, paid the money into the Bank of Scotland, Coldstream, in the names of Black and Clay, and there it lay on deposit re- ceipt. Two years and a half passed and then Black's agent, Mr. Porteous of Coldstream, an old and tried friend of John Clay's, gave him notice to quit at Whitsunday 1892, and preparations were made to this end at once by the tenant. The tenant held that his original lease ex- ecuted in i860 held him, the other lease never having been in operation. Under it he was only bound to leave thirty-five acres of two-year old grass. As the years 40 John Clay passed he laid away a lot of land to permanent pasture — some of it very valuable. He made overtures to leave this pasture land if he was paid for it by the landlord. He did ever3rthing that was possible to make a bargain. The reply was an application to the Court of Session to stop his ploughing up the old grass. This was the opening gun of a long and stubborn fight, the landlord always on the offensive. The temporary injunction was dissolved at the hearing. It was a Saturday that Lord Low gave his decision. At dayUght Monday morning the work of turning the fine old grass over into red land was begun, and by the week-end fifty acres or more of permanent pas- ture — one field as good as any in Berwickshire — was ready for crop. To plough it up seemed hke sacrilege but there was no other course open. A party who had taken the farm at once threw up his lease and a new ar- rangement had to be made. This fact intensified the landlord's already wrought-up feehngs and, backed up by some of his sycophants, he swore vengeance against his tenant. The next question that arose was in regard to compen- sation for unexhausted manures, etc., etc. The Agents for the tenant gave the landlord's Agents notice that they would file a claim. They did this in June, 1892. Under the Act of 1883 you had to file your claim four months before the end of the lease. The landlord held that the lease expired at AVhitsunday. The tenant held that the end of the lease was the separation of the crop and that Martinmas 1892 was the legal end of the lease. The WiNFIELD, KeRCHESTERS AND PlENDERLEITH 41 Court of Session took this view of it. Black was not satisfied, so he went to the House of Lords. The lower Court was sustained and he had to pay the piper. It was a long, bitter fight, giving the tenant great anxiety and costing him about £s°°- What it cost the landlord did not transpire. The next round was in regard to the rent. There an intricate question came up. John Trotter, when he reduced the rent from ;^6oo to ;£soo, was a bankrupt in Ireland but he was not so in Scotland. It was main- tained by the Landlord that he had no right or rather was legally incapable of reducing the rent, but the Court of Ses- sion held otherwise, and thus ended a long and tiresome lit- igation, every point being won by the tenant, but it cost him a lot of worry and anxiety besides considerable pecuniary loss. They were the only lawsuits he ever had in his life but they were more than fall to the share of the average farmer. The rent and the amoimt for compensation could be cal- culated, but the old grass was a valuable asset not easily estimated without knowing the actual facts. When Lord Low's decision was made the rent of the farm went down £100 per year. At three per cent, it means ;^3,300. How much of this belonged to the tenant? Winfield had all along been fanned and treated generously. A fortune had been spent on cake and feeding stuffs on the old grass. No doubt the tenant had his money back, for he lived in prosperous times; but the fact remains that he left a great unearned increment and there was no means, legal or otherwise, of getting it back. His labor and money, his skill and energy went for almost nothing, for 42 John Clay the amount of compensation received was a pittance in comparison with his outgoings. And so Winfield went and with it many a memory of the Clay family. The outgoings at Kerchesters and Plenderleith were pleasant and easy. The Kerchesters sale held May 15, 1896, was a grand success. The stock came to the ham- mer in splendid order and reaUzed over ;^8,ooo. The incoming tenant was the landlord, and although at one time there was some chance of a dispute it was smoothed over and the whole transaction was closed up in the usual way. Mr. John Wilson, ChapelhiU, acted for the tenant. The total sum reaUzed for stock, way-going crop, hay, manure, etc., was nearly ;^i3,ooo. It was no great strain to leave Kerchesters. When he left it in May, 1896, John Clay was nearly 72 years of age, and feeling that a big farm like Kerchesters, with ever increasing labor and other trou- bles, was more than he could manage, he really welcomed the quitting day. He had been splendidly treated, except in one instance, by his Laird, and when he turned his back on the scene of his labors there were no regrets. In early days he had revelled in the work; as success came he saw the work of his hand bear fruit, and when old age cast its shadow across his path and his family had sought other fields, he felt that the hour had come for retirement, and so he left the everchanging vistas of Tweedside for Dune- din to spend in its academic shades the balance of his life. The Plenderleith lease ran out in 1898, and he decided to give it up also. He had never felt as much at home there as in Lammermoor. The great sweUing hills of WiNFIELD, KeRCHESTERS AND PlENDERLEITH 43 greenery never filled his eye like the purple sides of the Twinlaws. When George Douglas, Upper Hindhope, took the place, they soon met and made an arrangement about the stock. They agreed as to the price, except a shilling per head between them. This was left to David Todd, Cattle Salesman, Edinburgh, and after a memorable day looking over the stock the extra shilling went to the outgoing tenant. It was an amicable business arrange- ment, reflecting the sound sense of both parties. The stock, etc., on Plenderleith came to about ;^6,ooo. And so ended his active farming days, for his tenancy of WedderUe was in late years more of a pleasure than a burden. The farm was the apple of his eye. His other places he always treated as a commercial enterprise; but the Lammermoor farm — the child of his early days, the spot where he had spent his happiest hours — was to him what Abbotsford was to Scott or Tantallon to Doug- las. It was dreamland, peopled by living characters, whose minds though still and deep opened up into rich seams of thought once you had the opening wedge. Many a summer evening with his wife and young family around him he lay amid the heather and gathered inspiration from the scene; saw fairy figures in the moving clouds touched by the evening breeze and painted by the setting sun, gray and gold and opal and violet too, sinking at last into a roseate hue as the fiery orb of day sought other lands. Above, the music of the skylark, pierced now and then by the wild, weird note of the curlew. CHAPTER V. HIS EMPLOYEES. The majority of men are judged by their associates. Most masters are classed as to their ability by the em- ployees th6y have around them. From this point of view John Clay was a great success, as during his sixty years of mature life he had ever by his side a splendid lot of leading men, — men who were competent, loyal and hon- est. It would be impossible to name them all — most of them lie imder the green grass in country kirkyards, al- most forgotten, but to us who saw many of them in the flesh, their lives are still reflected in our memory. Mention has been made in a previous chapter of the Mabons. Old Tom Mabon began at Dykegatehead with old John Clay, and he followed him to Kerchesters. There for many years he battled with the heather and whins and the big boulders on Haddon Rig. The day came when the tenant and his steward parted company. They both made a mistake and Uved to regret it. His place at Ker- chesters was never filled, even by his eldest son James. Alexander, the second son, migrated back to Berwick- shire when the John Clay 3rd of that time went to Win- field, and there he lived the balance of his days. At 66 years of age he was gathered to his fathers never being out of the service of the Clays. He was a second edition PHOTOGRAPH OF ALEXANDER MABON— SIXTY-SIX YEARS IN THE SERVICE OF THE CLAYS. His Employees 45 of his father, a small wiry man, like forked lightning on his feet, a master of every agricultural art — even to book- keeping. He had energy and decision, together with the patience of Job. For the management of a heavy clay soil, such as you find at Winfield, these quaUfications were invaluable. He had no other ambition than to put his whole time mentally and physically into his work, and aside from his wife and large family he had no other thought. He lived for practical agriculture and it is doubtful if he had a peer in his native county. Like his father he was fond of a glass and it made him very talka- tive, but he kept it under control. In fact he was an ideal steward because he was more ardent in his duties when his master was absent than when he was present. Then he had the respects of his fellow servants and the hinds stayed well with him. We have mentioned James Mabon previously, so we pass to John Mabon, otherwise known as "John the groom." He was coachman at Winfield and Kerchesters for many years although he had not spent all his younger days there. He came about i860 or '61 and although he left for three or four years about 1880 he probably spent all of his life in the service of the Clays, with the exception of a dozen years or so. John had neither the stamina nor persever- ance of the other brothers, but he was called " a clever bodie." He was a sort of Jack of all trades and master of none. Although a coachman by profession he was a very indifferent horseman. He was more than an aver- age gardener. He loved to fuss with flowers and fruit but 46 John Clay he hated to dig for cabbages. With these failings he had all the perversity of the Scottish gardener. One memorable instance: Mr. George Mtiirhead, a son-in-law of the house, then factor for Milne Home of Paxton and now Commissioner for the Duke of Richmond and Gordon, had sent up to Kerchesters some very fine bulbs. These were carefully planted in the autumn. When spring came no shoots appeared and when John was questioned on the subject by Mrs. Clay his laconic reply was, " I carma be bothered wi' trash hke yon so I just dug them up and threw them o'er the dyke." Withal he took a place in the household and its daily life that left a blank, more especially during his absence in the early eighties. If a house servant was needed John was able to get one at a day's notice. He had all the cooks and serving maids over the countryside spotted, and for thirty years at least he provided most of the house servants. Being a poor horseman he never cared to take a second horse to the hounds; this was deputed to one of his sons; but if there was a greyhound coursing, a dancing party or a picnic, you could bet on John laying the wires to be there; and when he got an extra glass his tongue wagged fast and furious, for he was gifted naturally in that Une, and in the old revival days he had done some preaching. If any of the Duke's pheasants began to trespass in the garden they soon found their way into the larder. In winter nights if he had been out late he would take a turn to the pond, and many a wild duck was gathered in the moming,for he never waited for the game to float to the side after shooting. He ^ a S < S « g < tu § H M O m 2; a o < « W M U Q H :s t« < 3 a >< < w J ^ u s Pk < d !3 His Employees 47 knew it was safe. One evening Violet Walker, the hen- wife, forgot to house her ducks. John unfortunately visited the pond that night. Results in the morning — half-dozen dead tame ducks and an awful hullabaloo. This stopped the duck shooting for many a day. He got very frail towards the last and was practically a pensioner. One cold winter's day in 1895 we laid him away in Sprous- ton Churchyard and as the frozen clods covered his honest breast you could not help repeating the line, " Alas, poor Yorick! * * * a fellow of infinite jest * * *." Next to the Mabons the family most intimately associ- ated with John Clay was the Craigs. Matthew Craig came to Winfield in 1849. ^^ ^^^^ as steward to Wedderlie when it was taken in 1853 and he was at Wedderlie in May 1905 when the Clay Trust gave it up. He was actually 54 years in the employment of John Clay, so he saw the Alpha and the Omega of that place so far as we are concerned. Shortly after going to Wedderlie he married Mary Taylor, the nursemaid at Winfield and the union resulted in a numerous family. Of those who are alive, three sons are in the United States, two are at home and there are also two daughters at home. The mother died about a year ago.* It is difficult to write of a man who is stiU alive, but as probably Mat Craig was closer to John Clay than any other man, it is necessary to sketch his character not alone for what he did for his employer but because in the half century he has lived in Lammermoor he has become a part and parcel of the neighborhood. • Written in iQofi- I 48 John Clay Matthew, as the late Reverend James Izzett of Westruther Free Eark loved to call him, came from the peasantry, but as the years have gone on he has outgrown intellectually most of his associations. While the Mabons were ideal men in their positions, keen and quickwitted, they had their faults; whereas in this Lammermoor steward, poorly brought up, indifferently educated, you come across a man who is not only in the first rank in his business but also morally and intellectually of the highest grade. Severe in his reUgion; strictly temperate; walking according to his light with God; honest, faithful, loyal, you find in Matthew Craig a beacon light whose luster shines far beyond his narrow surroundings. For over forty years, or, to be more accurate, from i860 to 1903, he and his fellow neighbors conducted a prayer meeting every Friday night, meeting alternately at their cottages, and they only gave it up because as age crept on they could not go out any distance at nights, but it is a splendid record and it may be said that Mat was the center of inspira- tion. Many a night the tenant used to join in those solemn meetings. They were crude, but the proper spirit was there. On the farm Mat Craig was at home. He was never such a worker as the Mabons with his hands, but his men- tal activity was far superior and his executive power won- derful, and it seems a shame that all this wealth and rich fruitage should not have found other worlds to conquer. To arrange work, to cope with difficulties, to seize a van- tage point either on the farm or at market, we have never His Employees 49 met a man who could equal him. He had more than a fair share of the Scotch craftiness — some folks call it cun- ning; added to this was a thrifty sort of light that he threw on every business subject that came before him. Keep on intensifying those qualities, heaping Pelion on Ossa, and you get a combination impossible to break down. He was a Uttle inclined to beUttle the sporting instincts of his employer but no one enjoyed a coursing match as much as he did and many a hare came to hand by the greyhounds he kept in the old days. Then when hounds were in the neighborhood he always took up his position where he could see the fun, and if a fox passed near him, with hat in one hand and stick in the other, his arms went hke a wind- mill, and as the chase passed he hobbled away to the next vantage point. Second in importance at WedderUe was William Ander- son, shepherd on the blackf aced hirsel. He came in 1856 ; went away in 1867, and returned in 1870, only retiring in May, 1905, thus completing a splendid term of service. He was a typical Lammermoor shepherd, being mentally far more active than physically. This condition was a natural outcome of the shepherd's vocation. Outside lambing time they have httle real work to do, but they have to be watchful and have an intimate knowledge of their business. Added to this, Anderson was a fine judge of stock, he had a quick eye that scanned the hillside closely and he had an intimate knowledge of nature. His life had been among the heather and he had gathered garlands of thought and wisdom from his keen observation. Over and above so John Clay there ran through his soul a poetic, romantic vein which occasionally burst into song and verse. But it affected his religion most. He had speculated keenly in the af- fairs of this and the other world, but his ultimate thoughts rested on the Bible; believing thoroughly in the glory and the grandeur of a future salvation, and yet pregnant with the thoughts of faith, hope and charity. He told us one winter's day as we walked across the hill that in his judg- ment the Roman Catholics had Uttle hope of heaven. " Then who will get the front seat there, Willie ?" was our natural inquiry. The response came back, " Well, I beUeve the Free Kirk folk have as good a chance as any persuasion." The spirit of the Covenanter still reigns among the hills. Another family who had a long connection with Wed- derUe before and during the Clay regime were the White- laws. Old Willie Whitelaw came in 1853 and stayed four years, when he retired. His son John succeeded him and stayed for thirteen years. He left on account of ill-health. His son WiUie came in 1887 and is still on the place. They were and are born shepherds, strong characters, and the present incumbent, if we can use such a word, is as good a man among the half-bred sheep as can be found. They inherit the inherent reticence of their class. They have long ears for news and are as well versed in the day's topics as a newspaper editor, but their views rest on a sounder foundation for they have reasoned the matter out for themselves. It would be an almost endless story to teU of all the men His Employees 51 who spent years on the above farms, but we glance briefly at a few: James Cowan, shepherd at Kerchesters from 1867 to 1896, a man who used his brains and managed his flock splendidly under many adverse circumstances. Robert Harkess, first a hind at Winfield and then for many years woman steward at Kerchesters, only retiring because of old age. He was a grand tpye of the Border peasant, massive in form and intellect, a slaving worker. He was mighty in the Scripttires and had an intimate knowledge of hterat\ire, more especially the old Scotch sermons. By strict economy he and his wife pushed a large family forward to better positions in Ufe than they held. Thomas Elliot at Wedderlie and his son WiUiam at Plenderleith long held positions as shepherds at those places. They were hard working, splendid men, their thoughts strongly centered on their flocks. Matthew Little, for a score of years at Plenderleith, did yeoman service. He was a keen, pawky, clever shepherd and stood high in his employer's estimation. Then came a long string of names — Jock of Phaup; John Mullens; Walter Brown; the Haigs and the Booklesses, and many others, forming a galaxy of Border peasants, than whom, we might add, none stand higher in the world's gallery of men and women. CHAPTER VI. AS A BUSINESS MAN. A man's success in business is judged by the results and when you get down to the kernel in the nut it means how much money he has made for himself or his employ- ers. John Clay when he died left an estate that inven- toried ^660,000, and when you looked over the investments they are probably as dean a sheet as you could find. That he did this mostly out of farming, after living in a generous style and educating a large family, is worthy of commendation and proved his ability. He and his wife were left in legacies all told about £5,000, so that the balance was the work of his own hand and brain. We merely bring up those figures as a prelude to our further remarks. The Scotch are proverbially thrifty and our subject had his inheritance fully developed in his nature. A leading financier from Chicago was staying in Edin- burgh and he tells this story which is apropos: Mr. Clay had called upon him at his hotel and after consid- erable talk he invited him to dinner, and, while explain- ing the way to get to his house by tram car, the Chicago friend said: "Don't bother, Mr. Clay, explaining further; we wiU take a cab;" which brought out the following reply: "Well, well, you can do as you like, but I never 52 As A Business Man 53 spend a shilling where tuppence will do." That was the motto of his life and he worked at it and improved upon it daily. In late years when he was much in London he never took a cab if a bus would do the work, and many a time he worked his way down from King's Cross to Westminister on the top of one, and he did this at a time when he had passed the stage of needing to be careful of his money. It was ingrained in his nature and it grew upon him as it has done on many another man. In the endless trips we have made with him he always had some coppers or a threepenny bit ready for an emergency. Even when a Chicago pickpocket re- lieved him of his purse he was httle put about. " Ah," he said, " he got my old purse, which has served its day and generation, with 75 cents in it and my watch key, but he forgot my pouch with $100.00 in it. Hech, man, but it's a bad job about the watch key." Scottish thrift will do a lot but it takes some other agency to build up the pile, and John Clay had it. He was in the first place a master of his business. If in his younger days he had gone out into the world he would have made a grand success because he had the magnetism of drawing men to him. He could organize and he could also lead. As stated in the last chapter his em- ployees stayed loyally by him. One man can do only so much, he must utilize the brains and brawn of others. His mastery of the detail of the farm was simply mar- velous. To the last he kept in the closest touch with every move and even from his couch at Magdala 54 John Clay Crescent he was constantly sending suggestions to his old steward at Wedderlie. The fire burned brightly to the very end. It was an object lesson at Kerchesters while the writer was there from 1867 to I877 (Jim Mabon being Steward) to Ksten to the confab that went on every night from 8:30 to 9:00 p. m. If the master had been away he got every detail put before him. The work of the day was chronicled in a diary, the writer being the scribe. Then the work was laid out for the next day in the most minute way; provision was even made against a change in the elements. The old weather glass got a vigorous tap every night as the parlor was entered. Ocasionally master and steward would differ about the work and sometimes the argument grew hot and heavy, once or twice in our recollection Jim Mabon being turned out of the room, but the next morning work went on as usual and nobody was hurt. Aside from his thrift and power of detail he was pro- gressive. He added, as soon as he had money, to his possessions and he went to work to improve them. At least this was his policy up to 1876. After the unpleasant experience he had with Kerchesters in that year he made up his mind to go no further into farming and so he held his hand and he showed his shrewdness in doing so, for times were against the ordinary tenant. That he made some money out of farming after 1876 is true but it is doubtful if he got a fair interest on his capital and that was only done after rents had been seriously reduced. Kerchesters was reduced from ;£2,2co to As A Business Man 55 £1,500 per year and when it was put on the market in 1896, no offer approximating that amount was received. The real secret of his success lay in his financial ability and this is said in face of the fact that he could not balance his cash book from one year's end to the other. He made a show of keeping books but he really carried his ledger in his head. His memory in this respect was phenomenal and so far as we recollect he never made a mistake as to prices or dates of delivery. He was an innate trader. He loved a bargain and, like most men, he liked the best side of it. Possibly in this respect he was too keen and men drew away from him who were on the other side of the business. Then he had a grievous fault of holding on to his wheat and wool and he hated to part with a lot of good fat cattle. What he lost by holding wheat and wool it would be hard to estimate. When he held cattle and sheep he generally made money. He had remarkable perception when there was a good thing in sight and he was quick to act. Here is a notable illustration. In August, 1888, he was riding through the Chicago stockyards. The ranching business had been at a low ebb but it was looking up. His attention was called to a lot of very fine range steers, the property of a Scotch Company, which had just been sold at a large price; so far as we recollect they netted considerably over sixty dollars per head. ' ' How many of these have you for sale?" was his query to the manager who was sitting on the fence watching the cattle. " Three thousand, sir," was the reply. " Are you certain of 56 John Clay that?" was the next question asked. " Dead cert, sir." Sotto voce he said, " Then the steers will bring a deal more than the shares are selling at." That afternoon the cable was working to his broker in Edinburgh. He invested all told ;gi,ooo. One year alone his dividend check was over ;/£4oo. In the investing world he met his Waterloos Uke other men, but his average was good and losses were taken good naturedly. CHAPTER VII. AS A CHURCHMAN. This is a difl&cult chapter to write, for however deli- cate the wording, it must pierce at some point or other the innermost part of a man's soul. Deep down in everyone's heart there is a httle nook veiled from the world. It is conscience, and conscience and religion are so closely connected in the Scotch nature that you cannot tell where one begins and the other ends. The mind is often filled with superstition; it nearly always occupies a narrow bed, from the view of the modem theologian. In our view it matters little as to the degree and style of religion as long as you live up to your standard of morality and that inner life which cannot be measured in this world below. John Clay was a deeply religious man and he practiced it accord- ing to the old Scotch tenets. He was an ardent church- goer, he was constant in daily worship, and he was mighty in the Scriptures. An oath never escaped his Ups. Aside from his church going, the world saw little of the enthusiasm he threw into the worship of his Maker. The fire never burned low, he kept adding fuel, and he died in the faith of a glorious eternity. He had no fear of death. He talked of it calmly and met it resolutely. S7 S8 John Clay Whether he had strong religious tendencies in his youth we cannot say. So far as we know they developed after his marriage. The growth was probably slow but it was intense and lasting. Aside from the influence of his own fireside, which we do not care to enlarge upon, the great religious impetus of his life came from his association in early days with the Rev. John Fairbaim of Allanton Free Church near Chimside and his brother-in-law John Wilson, of Edington, Mains, who was an elder in the above congregation. Owing to close communion with the former it was practically from him that he derived much of that faith and ardor which grew and waxed great in the after years. John Fair- baim was the old style minister. His finely chiseled face and brilliant eye; the keen intellect and soft per- suasive voice, more especially when he was out of the pulpit and giving you a heart to heart talk, could not help appealing to those who came under his influence. Back yonder in the pinewoods from the pulpit of the modest little church there flowed week after week a flood of splendid thought and soimd theology, the old- fashioned kind that spoke more of hell than of heaven. And so there grew up in its own soil a religious plant that waxed into a mighty tree and which flourished till the scythe of time came along and swept it away. Here all but one of his children were baptized. Here he accepted an eldership which he held with a brief interval till his death, being at that time an elder in Free St. George's, Edinbiurgh. Here he began family worship As A Churchman 59 and he practiced it to the end. Here he instilled into his children without much thought for their comfort the story of the Bible. He looked at it in the old Scotch way, forgetting that the asceticism of a Scottish Sunday does harm in many a case, but it was duty impelled by deep rehgious feehng which carried him along. When he came to Kerchesters he joined the East Free Church at Kelso, but after about a dozen years under Mr. Craig, for whom he had a warm regard, he transferred his allegiance in spiritual matters to the North Free Church where he sat imder Robertson Nichol. For nearly thirty years he came up to Kelso every Sunday morning. It is doubtful if he ever missed a service while at home. The waggonette came round as an understood thing, and as many of the family as possible went along. In the earlier years he used to walk at least one way. It is a delightful stroll, more especially on a Summer's morn- ing. As you leave the avenue gates at Kerchesters you look westward up the vale of the Tweed, a rich sylvan country backed by triple Eildon and the Selkirk hills, down past the hinds' cottages you go, each one contribut- ing to the church-going crowd, then by pleasant fields to the village of Sprouston, a dehghtful spot by the murmuring Tweed. A foot-path leads you away to the river and as you turn up its bank you see a boat lazily making for the other side. It comes back and you get in. " WiUie the boat " ferries you across. Quaint old WiUie, what a grand assistant you will make for busy old Charon if he can commandeer your services! You 6o John Clay spring to shore after paying your halfpenny and then walk up a velvet haugh, while the gentle river mirrors on its bosom the wandering clouds, a double picture to charm the eye. You join the road and walk by the walls and woods of Hendersyde whose deep shade make a grateful relief in summer days. Pass them and you hear the sound of bells, their faint soft notes stealing away to the woods and the hills. Then you enter the old-fashioned town, a silent sort of place. Your journey is ended when you sit down in a bam-like church in which economy and severity doom a Presbjrterian to worship. In 1896 on going to Edinburgh John Clay joined Free St. Georges and there he stayed till the end, although during the last 27 months of his life he could not attend the services. But aside from his strong religious convictions, convic- tions which almost meant fatahsm so far as the Bible was concerned, he was a churchman. He came into the world just to previous to a long era of troublous times in the Established Church of Scotland of which his family were members, and he was nine years old when the Ten Years' Conflict commenced. It rent the Church in twain. To put the matter shortly, the whole question revolved round the appointment of the Minister. Should the people do it or not? This led on to the question of spiritual independence and the thousand and one ques- tions which hinge on to it. In the battle, for it waged almost like an armed conflict, there appeared on the As A Chxjrchman 6i horizon two great lights, Dr. Chahners and Hugh Miller. They were backed by men such as Guthrie, Candlish and Cunningham. In fact the flower and the chivalry of the Scottish Church ranged itself against the Moder- ates but the Court of Session was more powerful than the eloquence and logic of Chalmers or the brilliant pen of the author of the old Red Sandstone. It seems almost tragic that this fight should ever have taken place, be- cause at last patronage had to go and it was undoubtedly the root of the evil. The Government in London, badly advised, let the matter drift too far. Although a Scotch- man was at its head he did not know the Scottish temper, its pertinacity when reUgious subjects were the football, and he lived to regret the mistake over and over again. The die was cast and at less than 19 years of age John Clay left the church of his fathers and was swept along on the wave of the Disruption, and he was proud of his part ever afterwards. He came out as most men did, still a behever in EstabUshment, but he had no wish to go back to the Established Church and he held it in con- tempt for many a long year. The ghost of past days would not down and though there was a want of charity not to be defended, it was not till his last years that his enmity died out, and much of this change came through his association with the late William Robertson of Sprous- ton Parish Church, a man so pure and good that he was beloved by everyone. They he together in the same Kirk Yard, one having run his race, the other leaving while still feeUng the pulsation of years that in the 62 John Clay ordinary course of nature should have been his reward. Gradually he veered from his position on Establish- ment to Voluntaryism, both as regards religion and education, although in regard to the latter he never fairly acknowledged the change. His mind on this subject was very much influenced by his travels in the United States and Canada, where spiritual independence is supreme and the Governments have no religious entan- glements. EKs loyalty to his church increased as the years fled by and, while his stem religious nature unbent and be- came broader, more catholic in spirit, still his first love was his last and the enthusiasm of youth only forged links of gold to bind him to the Church of his adoption. CHAPTER VIII. AS A POLITICIAN. There is no record so far as we can find out of John Clay being an ardent politician till the election of 1859. No doubt he took part in other elections. There is a hint or two that he was active in Berwickshire in 1857, but his first prominent work was in the part he took in the Berwickshire election of 1859. There was a bitter contest. David Robertson of Lady Kirk was the Whig candidate ; Sir John Marjoribanks of Lees was the Tory candidate ; Sir John was a nephew of Robertson. We remember David Robertson often riding up to the farm- house at Winfield on his grey horse, stopping a few min- utes, and then he and the tenant riding away for a day's canvassing. Robertson was then past middle age. He was a tall, bluflf, hearty man with grey hair, a born aristocrat to look at 9,nd at bottom a staunch conservative, but he saw ahead and espoused, partly on his own account but a good deal from family tradition, the Liberal cause To use a slang expression, he could "go the whole hog" of the liberal programme except in the game question and there he balked, and it would take a Philadelphia lawyer to unravel his sayings and writings on this subject. Even the mighty Gladstone himself could not have thrown as much verbiage romid it as the astute David did. He 63 64 John Clay was a keen sportsman, hunting being his great sport- shooting coming next. He had a remarkable fund of humor and was never disconcerted. When the Rev. James Logan of Svnnton fell into a Berwickshire ditch on a Tuesday and had literally to be fished out, Robert- son remarked to a friend who was helping the reverend gentleman, "No hurry. Sir, no hurty, we don't need him till Sunday." The battle raged hot and heavy. Every trick was tried by each party, but as the Tories had the great territorial houses on their side as well as a great number of the larger farmers, the Liberals had a big job before them. In looking over old papers, many of which John Clay had preserved, we find the following — they bpeak very much for themselves : — MORTONHAIX, 27th AfKIL, 1859. Dear Sir: I shall thank you to vote for my Son-m-law Sir John Marjori- banks at the ensuing Election of a Member of Parliament for Berwickshire. I remain, dear Sir, Yours truly, (Sgd) Richard Trotter. Mr. Clay (Copy of Answer to Mr. Trotter.) WiNFiKLD, 30th April, 1859. My Dear Sir: I received yours of the 27 inst. I am very sorry that I cannot accede to your request and vote for Sir John Marjoribanks as my As A Politician 65 principles are decidedly Liberal both in my Religious and Civil Politics and I have an earnest desire to see our Protestant faith better upheld than what it has been of late by Lord Derby's Gov- ernment. I admire Sir John Marjoribanks as a country gentleman and for the many excellent qualities which he possesses and regret being opposed to him in this contest, he being your son-in-law, especially as I entertain a sincere respect for you as a kind landlord and good country gentleman. I am, my dear Sir, With much respect, (Sgd) John Clay. RiCHAKD TrOTIER, ESQ., OF MORTONHAXL. Invzresk, Musselburgh, April 15, 1859. Dear Sir: I have often regretted that I should have been precluded by ill health from forming a personal acquaintance with the Tenantry on my patrimonial estates: at this moment I feel the deprivation all the more on account of the political contest now going on in Berwickshire, the issue of which contest may depend, in no small degree, on the part you take in it. From your number, your intelligence, and your influence you constitute a body of Electors, who, if you agree in your views and act in unison, must necessarily produce a considerable effect on the Election. Though you are aware of my Husband's sentiments, I flatter myself that some of you, at least, may desire to know whether your Landlady feels any interest in this contest. I am induced, there- fore, to make this communication to assure you that I do feel a deep interest, not only in the contest, but, if possible, still more in the part which every one connected with my estates may take in it . With regard to the two candidates who are soliciting your suffrages, I have no hesitation in saying, that I wish all success to my friend 66 John Clay Sir John Majoribanks, and it pleases me very much to learn that the majority of your number have promised him your support, and that several of you are now canvassing in his behalf. There are, however, I understand, some who have not yet de- clared themselves, and some who have declared that they do not mean to vote. If their reason for this be that they do not wish to put themselves in opposition to the majority of their own body as well as to their Landlord and Landlady, I have only to thank them for their good and kindly feeling; but if they are abstaining from mere indifference or from any intimidation, I must express a hope that bearing in mind the importance of this contest, they will come manfully forward with the rest of the Tenantry, and in considering which side they wiU support, that they will remember that it is more for the credit of all parties connected with the estates that they should go hand in hand, than that they should be neutral- izing each other with opposing votes. My Husband and I, wish and believe that no one on our estates will vote against his convictions, but, if there should unfortunately be any who cannot consicentiously agree to join us and the rest of the Tenantry, I fondly trust and I ask it as a favor that they will, at all events, abstain from taking any active part in opposition. The idea of this communication to you has originated with my- self, and I need scarcely add that it has my Husband's cordial concurrence. As he is in Berwickshire and I am unable to hold a pen, I employ my son as my amanuensis, who I hope, will ere long become personally acquainted with all of you. I remain, dear Sir, Yours very faithfully, Jean Milne Home. To Mr. John Ford, Paxton. ■f(^ > ycy I > yJ-'yt-Cf^z/'^yt. <^-ii. 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