xxxviii ORMISTOUN'S LETTERS 



' I cannot say that I know anything of flax by experience.'' 

 It must have been grown by Wight, however, for he goes on 

 to say, ' I have always heard that the seed ought to be changed 

 frequently. I therefore advise your getting seed from Holland, 

 though your own may be excellent." This was in 1726, but 

 we are not to infer that there was any bleachfield till much 

 later. We first hear of it in 1733. Neither flax-growing nor 

 flax-dressing is mentioned in the Letters ; but the matter was 

 taken up by the Club (1736-41), which petitioned the Board 

 of Trustees to appoint a proper person from Holland for the 

 industry. Accordingly, on the later list of Club members, 

 we have Mr. Keysar, lint-dresser from Flanders. Along with 

 him is ' John Christie, linen-draper in Ormistoun,' named in 

 No. VIL as corresponding with Cockburn. This is early in 

 1735 (see note, p. 21). Lord Milton's bleachfield at Saltoun 

 is dated 1750 in the old Statistical Account, and generally 

 regarded as the first in Scotland. But the Club minutes 

 show that Ormistoun had an earlier start. 



With Wight's malt-making there is an interesting link that 

 brings it almost to our own day. Robert Moffkt, the African 

 missionary, was the son of a revenue official stationed for 

 a time in the village. His monument most fitly adorns the 

 main street. If a prophet were ever honoured at home, 

 John Cockburn, the maker of Ormistoun, would surely be 

 also remembered here. A son of Isabella (Mrs. Begg), the 

 sister of the poet Burns, was for a time the schoolmaster, as 

 my friend, the Rev. Mr. Proudfoot of Haddington, has informed 

 me. His mother, then a widow, lived with him, and also 

 taught in the village. Gilbert Burns lies in Bolton church- 

 yard, further down the Tyne. 



While Cockburn must have seemed a trifle too opinionative 

 in BelFs eyes, his opinions were uncommonly sound. Nor is 

 he unduly arbitrary. Resenting Alexander Wight's failure 

 in answering repeated inquiries put to him, he says : ' I only 

 mention upon such occasions what I think may be of service, 



