T]iE Glenkkns in the Olpen TrMEs. 145 



sufficient sum was raised, a bridge was built under the superin- 

 tendence of the clergy. The present bridge near the place was 

 built in 1811. 



STATE OF THE GLENKENS 200 YEARS AC40. 



At the time of the Revolution of 1688 the country was in a 

 deplorable condition, after thirty years of cruel tyranny and 

 oppression. The houses in general were miserable hovels, built of 

 stone and turf, or stone with clay for mortar. The fii^e was on 

 the floor, and the house had a small window on each side opposite 

 the fire-place to let out the smoke as well as to give a little light. 

 On whatever side the wind blew the window on that side was 

 stuffed with straw or old rags. The inhabitants kept their cows 

 in winter tied to stakes in the end of their dwelling-houses, and all 

 entered at the same door, and very often there was no partition 

 between the inmates. Many families had no bedsteads, but slept 

 on mattresses of plaited straw, or a bunch of heather laid down on 

 the floor around the fire. The best farm houses had a living place 

 similar to the above, and in addition another house built parallel, 

 with a paved court between, and which house was called " The 

 Chaumer," and was kept as a parlour and bedroom for guests. 

 It had a fire-place at each end, with sometimes a small grate and 

 sometimes none. I have frequently been in one of those old houses 

 aliout 1832. The common living house was dark, dirty, and un- 

 comfortable in the extreme. Very often the wall on one side of 

 the house could not be seen from the other side because of smoke 

 and darkness. The earthen floor was always damp and clammy, 

 and on a wet day was especially miserable. 



Wooden dishes were used, and at meals they all ate out of 

 one dish. Each person had his own spoon, which was made from 

 a ram's horn. They had neither knives nor forks, but used their 

 fingers instead. The food of the common people was of the 

 meanest and coarsest kind. Those were reckoned well off who 

 got a sufficient quantity of porridge, brose, and sowens, made of 

 very poor grain, dried on the fire in pots, and ground in querns, 

 with greens or kail boiled in salt and water. They seldom tasted 

 animal food, except the carcases of beasts that died of starvation 

 or disease. It was rare to slaughter any animal for provision in 

 winter. Many sheep died in late autumn and early winter from 

 braxy, or inflammation, and these they salted up, and hung pieces 



