xxxvi ORMISTOUN'S LETTERS 



much occasion for being at the Town of Orm:' so Cockburn 

 writes to Bell from Hampstead, June 1735 (No. VIII.). This 

 letter is the longest, as it is one of the most important. John's 

 father died this year, and one can see onwards from this point 

 a fever of development setting in, embracing dyke-making, 

 market-gardening, bridge and road making, coal-mining, and, 

 above all, improvements in the town. There is a hint also of 

 friction between the new laird and his brothers. It is hard to 

 say where Gordon came from, but he is a stranger in the village 

 shortly before 1735. He was employed as a draughtsman. 

 His name is on the Club List, but not as one of the original 

 sixteen. But in August 1739, we have him about to be settled 

 at Ormistoun, for his house is being roofed then 'before 

 winter"; and again (p. 67, February 1741), its position is 

 indicated. In 1742 (p. 80) Mr. Yool seems to be in charge, 

 and Gordon is not again mentioned. But building operations 

 are then under discussion, leading to the uprooting of cherished 

 hedges and trees. We cannot, therefore, put the first mention 

 of the laying out of the village earlier than 1735, though the 

 phrase in a letter of December 1734 — ' I hope the Town is 

 upon Improving ' — seems to mark the inception of the plan in 

 Cockburn's mind (see also September 1735). In No. XXVII. 

 we have Cockburn's own advanced views on the subject, 

 and this in October 1742. The idea on which Cockburn 

 worked for the conversion of Ormistoun from the usual 

 crofter- clachan of the period into a well-built market town 

 was part of his long-cherished scheme for creating here a busy 

 industrial centre. He did not, however, himself build (p. 83), 

 but in every way encouraged his feuars to do so on their own 

 ground, generously helping them with timber and stones (see 

 p. 80). 



The neighbourhood was already an attraction. Defoe was 

 in Scotland for some years before and after the Union. In 

 the first edition of his Tour (1725) Ormistoun is simply 

 the seat of the Lord Justice- Clerk. The second edition 



