54 Transactions. 



but which, out of regard to the feelings of his friend Mr FuUarton, 

 he had put off for years, viz., the erection of a church for the 

 accommodation of the members and adherents of the Church of 

 Scotland residing in Southwick. 



Fifty years ago there were two Parochial Schools in the parish — 

 The Oolvend School and the Southwick School — and there was a 

 side school at Barnbarroch supported by subscription. 



The Parish Schools were maintained by the heritors, 

 assessed proportionally to theii' rental, and the school, 

 masters remunerated in terms of an Act of Parliament 

 passed in the reign of George Til. But the remuneration 

 was miserably small. Thei'e weie, as we have said, two schools 

 in the parish, I mean parish or parochial schools, the salaries of 

 which, together, could not by law exceed £52 or ^£26 each, and 

 this was the payment which each schoolmaster received. This, 

 added to the school fees, which, as a matter of right, belonged to 

 the teachers, raised the emoluments of the one to £iS, of the 

 other to £55. They had each, of course, their house and garden 

 free. 



Fifty years ago, and for about \^ or 20 years after that date 

 there was no legal assessment levied for tiie support of the poor^ 

 and there were as many poor in the parish then as now. There 

 were, indeed, more and poorer. I have in my possession the 

 minute book of the Kirk-Session, beginning at the time antecedent 

 to the period with which my paper is concerned, but coming down 

 to it, and continuing for several, indeed for many, years within 

 the period. From this book, and from the book of church 

 collections it appears that the chief source of support at the time 

 was the church collections, supplemented by such voluntary con- 

 tributions as the heritors chose to give. The church collections 

 were made up mainly of the weekly conti ibutions gathered in by 

 that old-fashioned, importunate, and silent beggar, the church 

 ladle. The sum obtained in this way fifty years ago amounted 

 to £18 or £20. Prior to this time, but never since, fines were 

 imposed on parties coming before the Session for discipline ; these 

 were added to the collections. The fees for proclamation of banns 

 before marriage were also added. The sum raised by church 

 collections and the voluntary subscriptions of the heritors rarely 

 exceeded £4:0, which was distributed by the Kirk-Session annually 

 in sums varying from 5s to 10s, but rarely reaching £1 ; and 

 this was all the poor had to depend on. But, so long as the 



