The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1867-06-26
A Scottish Parish School.

has far from pleasant associations; and
"the parish school, is connected IN their
ideas with sheer pauperism; but, to
Scotchman, all his remembrances OF
bright and sunny youth, if he happens to
have been born and brought up in the
country, are associated with the parish
school. For-I speak of the close of the
first quarter of this century-unless the
parish were very large, and had been sit
uated in manufacturing district, where
the population grows very rapidly, there
would be no school in his parish except
the parish school.
The parish schoolmaster in Scotland is
very important parsonage. His posi-
ton and standing are both excellent
Usually he is the second man in the par
ish, the minister being the first. Even
at the time l speak Of, the parish school
masters were a well-educated and very
superior class of men, though they have
largely improved of late days.
Our parish school was an humble and
primitive building. 1t was simple OBJ
long of one apartment, whose walls did
not exceed twelve feet In height, with
windows of various sizes, scattered irreg-
ularly round it; thatch roof, and a
floor of hard trodden clay, with morsels
of paving stone along the passages. A
few double tables ranged along the mid
die, and single ones round a portion of
the side walls; desk of state for the
master; huge stone about four feet by
two and a-half, and, say, two feet high,
which stood in the middle of floor, vacant
all summer, and on which was placed a
small stove all winter, which we boys
kept at red heat without fail. That
was the whole furniture.
They are thinning down now, and but
few are left, yet 1 know, and have known,
many noble men and women, who have
filed, and are still filling important posts
in society with ability and honor and
much credit, who got all the education
they ever received at that parish school.
Every child in the parish-rich and poor,
gentle and simple, male and female-was
educated together; there were the sons
and daughters of the wealthiest farmers
and small proprietors; there were chill
dren of the tradesmen and mechanics !;
there were the children of the agricultu-
raj la5orers; and there also we're the
children of what in England, in this day,
would have been the pauper class.
The boys and girls were in the same
class; they were intermingled according
to the degree of ability; they were treat
ed in all respects as if they had been of
the same sex-or rather, and more accu-
rately speaking, as if they had been of
no sex at all. The only difference L can
remember is, that the girls got-possibly
they deserved-fewer beatings, and were
let off more easily in many ways than
we boys were. Outof doors, in the large
open play ground, the mass of the girls
separated themselves naturally from the
boys-as their fun was of quieter sort
than ours, and their games and tastes
differed. And | can answer for it that,
so far as my memory and knowledge ex-
tend-and my memory of school goes
back as far nearly as my life-good and
| only good was the result.
Our holidays were few and far between.
Saturday was half-holiday. That day
was always devoted to Bible and New
Testament reading, and the Westminster
Assembly's Shorter Catechism. The
younger portion learnt the catechism
pure and simple; the seniors learnt also
"the proof" from Scripture. In those
days l could have begun at the beginning
and repeated that catechism to the end,
proofs and all, without missing or miss
placing single word. The catechism was
lodged in my memory, that was nearly
all; for good or evil, there it was fixture
for ever; and there it remains, I am
thankful to say, accessible still.
In two neighboring parishes was an
annual market. These two market days
were holidays. In June and in July they
were held; and oh, the deep, the unut-
terable joy of those long, long holidays,
long looked forward to, long looked back
to. The tents, the merry gorounds
('hobby-horses " we called them, the
whistles, the gingerbread, and "sweet-
ies," the peep-shows and the punches,
aud all the excitements of village fair.
Days to be remembered, those two annual
holidays were.
Once year, too, the parish school
was examined by committee of the
Presbytery of the bounds. The day was
fixed weeks beforehand, and the prepar-
alton went on keenly in anticipation.
Chapters of the Bible, Psalms, extracts
of poetry were committed to memory in
readiness for the great day. There was
extra drill in every department. Fresh
writing books were provided and filled in
with double care. Places were marked
for prizes, three being provided for each
class. And there were prizes also for
proficiency in geography, for English
grammar, for arithmetic, and specialities.
Extra hours for particular efforts were
set apart, and altogether the examination
day gave wholesome stimulus to our
usual labor.
At length the great day came round.
There had been much extra cleaning
within and without. The children all
II. 4 r