IN MEMORIAM — DAVID ROBERTSON. 19 



her frugal habits, the household continued to be maintained 

 without any external assistance. Besides acting as the bread- 

 winner, she also attended to the instruction of her children, and 

 little David received from her his first lessons in the alphabet and 

 spelling-book. He was also taught by her to be truthful and 

 honest, and to avoid getting into debt. 



In those days it was not customary to send children to school 

 at so early an age as at present ; but in any case he could not 

 have been sent early, owing to the weak state or his eye-sight 

 through a severe attack of measles. For a time he was threat- 

 ened with a total loss of sight, and his eyes were never afterwards 

 able to bear the strain of continuous work. He did not therefore 

 begin to attend school until nearly seven years of age, and re- 

 mained there only twelve months, during which period his reading- 

 lessons consisted of the Book of Proverbs, New Testament, and 

 other portions of the Bible, while the only instruction he had time 

 to acquire in writing was a single page of long strokes. 



Owing to the difficulties which his mother experienced in pro- 

 viding for the wants of her household, she found it necessary to 

 take little David from school when he was about eight years old, 

 and obtain for him some employment. He accordingly entered 

 the service of a farmer in South Lanarkshire, being engaged to 

 herd cows during the harvest season. Although his home life 

 had never been brightened by many luxuries, his experiences as 

 a herd-laddie were full of hardships, which must often have 

 pressed very heavily upon him. The routine of his daily duties 

 was simple and rigid in the extreme, and during the five or six 

 weeks of his employment at the farm it was never relaxed. He 

 had to be at his post in every kind of weather. He was aroused 

 from slumber before davbreak, and retired to bed after darkness 

 had set in; and as he was denied the luxury of a candle, he never 

 saw the interior of the loft, above the kitchen, which he occupied 

 as a sleeping-apartment. 



But brighter days were in store for him. After leaving the 

 place just described, he went to a moorland farm called The 

 Logach, in the Parish of East Kilbride, and tenanted by Mr. 

 Thomas Young, where he was much more considerately treated 

 by both master and mistress. For four or five years he continued 

 in the service of Mr. Thomas Younsf, and his son Mr, John 



