164 Autobiographical Notes. 



and when ultimately peat was laid aside as fuel he got an equiva- 

 lent in coal. He received also a monthly allowance of meal — 

 two stones. But what was of perhaps greater importance where 

 a family was concerned, he was allowed grass for a cow gratis; 

 so that he had the command, if not of any of the luxuries, at 

 least of mo.st of the necessaries of life. Nor was this all. He 

 had for the last ten years of his life an allowance of an additional 

 cow's grass and of a separate modicum of meal, two stones 

 monthly, with some other small perquisites, in return for his 

 keeping my two paternal uncles, Thomas and John Murray, both 

 deaf and dumb, and both ultimately blind. These two persons 

 had lived under the roof of their widowed mother, Anne 

 Coughtrie, till her death in 1798, after which time they were 

 transferred to my father's care. But they were at all times sup- 

 ported by the liberality of Mr Murray of Broughton. One of 

 them predeceased my father, at whose death the other was 

 removed to the house of my paternal aunt, Mary Murray, wife 

 of James Porter, who lived at Cally stables, and was an attache 

 of the Broughton family. 



My father's death was lamentable. The late Alexander 

 Murray of Broughton came of age on the 11th September, 1810, 

 and the rejoicings on the occasion were immoderate and cordial. 

 A small cannon, for example, was fired from the lawn opposite 

 the dining-room at Cally, at short intervals in the evening, in 

 honour of the toasts which were supposed to be given. My father 

 had been in Kirkcudbright, eight miles distant, on some business. 

 He was reluctantly absent, and immediately on his return he 

 insisted on the pleasure of firing the next shot. His wish was 

 at once complied with. The cannon, having been overcharged, 

 burst, with the result that he was seriously wounded. He was 

 taken into the mansion house (Cally), and medical aid from the 

 neighbourhood, including Kirkcudbright, was at once called into 

 requisition ; but after great suffering he died that day week, at 

 the age of 48, much and justly lamented. He was interred in 

 the family burial ground, and his funeral was attended by the 

 proprietor of Broughton, by all his guests, and by an immense 

 concourse of people. I acted as chief mourner. My father was 

 a man of warm feelings, and was altogether of a generous nature, 

 with a bearing far above his station. He made, I may mention, 

 a great effort to give a superior education to his children. The 



