THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



529 



SCOTCH COTTAGES. 



The Highland Society of Scotland, which has 

 done so much for tlie improvement of hushandry 

 and the advancement of that country — and it may 

 be said for the improvement of hushandry gene- 

 rally — among other worthy undertakings, offered 

 their metlal for designs of labourers' dwelhngs. The 

 dwellings of the working classes have needed im- 

 provement there as much as in Ireland, and more 

 than in England, because, being constructed when 

 the country was poor and backward, now that it 

 has become rich and thriving the old type of cot- 

 tages was kept up, and they had l)ecome a shama 

 to one of the foremost countries in the world. 

 Scotch landowners thought little of this ; but as 

 the country, since the opening of railways, has 

 been threaded by Southei-n visitors, the dwellings 

 have been looked at with another eye, and it has been 

 felt they are an eyesore to the land. Beyond a cer- 

 tain height, no field can be made more fruitful, and 

 year after year must it be kept fruitful by new ma- 

 nures and by opening up drains ; but houses last 

 many hundred years when well made, and are a 

 part of the national stock and wealth well worthy 

 of care. Many of the houses in England, Flanders, 

 and France are two or three hundred years old ; 

 and year after year, as thepeojile grow, a few more 

 houses are built, and the stock is kept up without 

 any very heavy call on the labour of the year ; and 

 in a well-settled commonwealth the houses are 

 good, strong, and well built. It is strange, never- 

 theless, to see the diversity of provision under this 

 head, even in the same country j for there are parts 

 of England with hovels ; and in some parts, with 

 stone quarries, there are mud huts; and in others, 

 where the bricks have to be made, the houses are 

 not good, 



Scotland, it is owned, has been far behind in 

 lodging her people, both among the Erse in the 

 Highlands, and among the Enghsh and Danes in 

 the lowlands and on the .east shore. Her leaders 

 are, Rowever, awakened, and a great endeavour is 

 made to meet the want; and as there is stone 

 enough, and lime enough, dwellings will now be 

 got which will last for hundreds of years. As this 

 endeavour is to be made, it is to be wished it will 

 be worthy of the times, and that we shall not have 

 a stock of hovels instead of good houses. The 

 Highland Society, feeling this, asked for designs, 

 so that landowners and others wishing to build 

 might have a groundwork, which could be dealt 

 with according to means and circumstances. The 

 medal given by the Society was won by Messrs, 

 Hickes and Isaac, of Northgate-street, Bath, who 

 sent in three sets of designs. One of these was 

 for one chamber and one living-room ; another, 

 for two rooms above and two below ; and a third, 

 for three rooms above and two below. As we have 

 lately spoken of the Irish prize designs, we think 

 it useful to say something about the Scotch de- 

 signs, which are meant by Messrs. Hicl^es and 

 Isaac to meet the wants of the Scotch landowner 

 and workman. 



Messrs. Hickes and Isaac considered the system 

 of Scotch husbandry to be such that it would be 

 unwise to confine the cottages to one type, 

 and ther'efore they provided a variety of de- 

 signs. They bestowed great care on making pro- 

 vision for ventilation by means of air Hues, and 

 warmth and domestic convenience have likewise 

 been studied. The privy is ])laced some short dis- 

 tance from the house at the back, and is provided 

 with a freestone riser and a deal seat, the soil 

 being conveyed by a syphon-pan into a cesspool, 

 so as to be used for manure. The materials speci- 

 fied for the buildings are such as can be obtained 

 in the locality for which they were designed. The 

 elevations are of the simplest character, having 

 dressed joints and muUions, and no attempt 

 is made at display of any kind. The roof is 

 without valleys, ancj^ of the simplest construc- 

 tion. 



In the five-room cottage the entrance is by a 

 porch of 6 feet by 4 feet, the object being to pre- 

 vent the rush of cold air into the living-rooms, 

 which is necessarily hurtful in a bleak northern 

 climate. The porch leads into a living-room 13 

 feet 6 inches by 12 feet, and from which the stairs 

 lead to the upper storey. Under the staircase is a 

 closet. The living-room leads to a scullery 9 feet 

 6 inches by 11 feet, in which is a pantry. A door 

 leads from the scullery into the back-yard. In each 

 room is one window. On the upper floor is a 

 parents' bed-room 9 feet G inches by 12 feet, with 

 a chimney; a boys' bed-room 9 feet 6 inches by 

 11 feet, with a chimney; and a girls' bed -room 9 

 feet by 7 feet G inches, without a chimney. In 

 each room is a window, and there is a window to 

 light the staircase. 



The four-room cottage is entered by a porch 

 which leads into the living-room, 12 feet by 12 

 feet, and in which, as in the other cottage, the floor 

 is of wood, as well as that of the scullery. On 

 each side of the fireplace, which is fitted with 

 Nicholson's grate, is a hot closet and a coal 

 closet. The v/indow-shutter is made so that it will 

 form a table when needed. The same can be in- 

 troduced in the other cottage, A door leads from 

 the living-room into the scullery, which is 10 feet 

 3 inches by 8 feet, and has one window and one 

 outer door. In one corner is the staircase, and in 

 the other a meat-safe, with a coal-closet under- 

 neath. The meat-safe communicates at the back 

 with the window. 



On the upper floor the parents' bed -room is 12 

 feet by 12, with two windows, and Pearce's fire- 

 lump grate in the chimney. On each side of this 

 one hot closet and one common closet. The chil- 

 dren's bed-room is 10 feet 3 inches by 8 feet, and 

 has one window, but no chimney. It should be 

 mentioned that the flues springing from the lower 

 rooms are carried through the parents' bed-room. 

 The staircase is lighted by a half-window in the 

 middle of the double cottage. A good supply of 

 windows is a great benefit in a common cottage,. 



