The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1841-11-23 00:00:00

THE PEASANTRY OF THE BORDER,

The Rev. Dr. Gilly, a prebendary of Durham, and the ex-
emplary incumbent of the parish of Norham, situated in
North Northumberland, has recently written and published
an appeal on behalf of the peasantry of the border, in regard
to the extremely wretched condition of the cottages in which,
for the most part, this class of men and their families are
compelled to reside. Dr. Gilly's pamphlet is illustrated with
engravings, and a series of statistical tables. His statements
respecting the habitations of the peasantry relate chiefly to
the parish of Norham, which consists of 14,268 acres, and
extends for about seven miles along the southern banks of the
Tweed. The population amounts to 2934, and consists of
agriculturists, pitmen, and fishermen. Out of 174 cottages
in Norham, which are occupied by the peasanty, 83, accord-
ing to a statistical table given by Dr. Gilly, or nearly one-
half, have changed inmates within the last two years, 145
within the last seven years, and 156 within the last ten
years. Of the above 83 tenements which have changed
inhabitants within the last two years, 54 are described to
be buildings deficient in all that is necessary to convenience
and cleanliness ; and yet the greater part are occupied by
families who have done all they can do to give them a
decent and comfortable appearance. " Some of them,"
says he, are " mere hovels, absolutely unfit for the pea-
santry f a civilized country, and threatening to tumble
down about their ears. In many, human beings and cows
are littered together under the same roof." Of the whole
number, 174, there are but 27 which have each two rooms.
Dr. Gilly describes the general character of the bcst of the
old fashioned hinds' cottages to be bad at the best, having no
byre for their cows, nor sties for their pigs, no pumps nor
wells,—nothing, in a word, to promote cleanliness or com-
fort. Their average size is abeut 24 feet by 16, and they
are dark and unwholesome. The windows do not open, and
many of them are not larger than 20 inches by 16 ; and in
this space are crowded eight, ten, and even twelve persons.
" How they lie down to rest, how they sleep, how they can
preserve common decency, how unutterable horrors are
avoided, is beyond all conception. The case is aggravated
when there is a young woman to be lodged in this confined
space, who is not a member of the family, but is hired to do
the field work, for which every hind is bound to procure a
female. It shocks every feeling of propriety to think that
in a room, and within such a space as I have been describ-
ing, civilised beings should be herding together without a
decent separation of age and sex." Happily, however, there
are exceptions to this description of the hipds' cottages in
North Northumberland given by Dr. Gully. vile speaks very
favourably of a group of six cottages recently built by the
trustees of Lord Crewe's Institution, on their property at
Thornton-park, of the Marquess of Waterford's cottages at
Ford, and of those of Mr. Baker Creswell, on his property at
Cresswell and Bewick ; but of the cottages at the village of
Etal, in the parish of Ford, the property of the Earl of Glas-
gow, and the residence of Lord Frederick and Lady Augusta
Fitzclarence, he speaks in enthusiastic terms :—" To see,"
says he, " what a village in our northern regions may be, and
ought to be, go to Etal. There you will find flower-gardens
in perfection, with the village green as smooth as a lawn in
the best kept pleasure-ground, and the rustic benches under
soreading branches of elm and sycamore. One fine tree,
_at around its trunk, is conspicuous, with an
inscription which shows the considerate kindness of
the noble
now residing
believein thethe
unaldanmsioann-hisousstli
alive
Willie W family
I
allace's tree.
in whose honour.. the tree is thus devoted to longevity."
The greatest evil arising out of the bad cottages in which for
peasantry of North Northumberland (whn
the most part the
excellent class of persons, intelligent, orderly, and
y) are obliged to reside, is that they are driven so
..quently to shift their residences fro
seriouslyrroeulpla diminishescetopla
place, which
aterrupts the education of their c
d e ell' hi
their own comforts, and impedesf
the trhoeti,rinagdanvancemeb mnt i
is n the
world. However, the subject
the cottages of the peasantry
Lek County of Northumberland,oft Border,hs s
been
a ntsdkieea indeed
nuepdhoya
f
t m.
party in whose hands it is not likelyh to
suffer,
a gr
ber of owners and occupiers of land,
county, having quite recently ehenmds°eflvtebseienl into gay societyinthe
formed
for the express purpose of promoting this most desirable and
benevolent work.

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