126 JOHN DUNCAN, WEAVER AND BOTANIST. 



dinner, potatoes and " kail brose " (consisting of oatmeal, 

 with perhaps a little butter, saturated with the broth of 

 green kail), being often quite satisfied with water-brose, that 

 is, oatmeal softened by boiling water ; and porridge and 

 milk, for supper. Here, as everywhere else, he was 

 reckoned an excellent workman. 



Marnock, besides being weaver, was grave-digger and 

 bellman at the parish church of Tough, and, like most 

 " ministers' men," was somewhat of a character, though not 

 so intelligent as his class generally were. When the late 

 Dr. Gillan, of Alford, a man universally respected and 

 loved, became minister of Tough, he asked Marnock to 

 ring the bell for a quarter of an hour, as was customary 

 elsewhere. The stiff old fellow, who had rung it for years 

 only a few minutes at a time, replied, " 'Deed, minister, if 

 ye want it rung a' that time, ye'll better come and dee't 

 yersel' ! " and the good clergyman succumbed for the sake 

 of peace. Though he was thus a parish and church pillar, 

 Marnock's conduct at times scarcely squared with his 

 ecclesiastical dignity. Not unfrequently he imbibed more 

 than he could well carry, and then used language scarcely 

 befitting his position to every one he then encountered, 

 including his quiet wife. His love of work was not of the 

 keenest, and he preferred the public highway to the weaver's 

 treddles. He never interfered with John, however, allowing 

 him full liberty to botanise, knowing well that he made 

 up for loss at one time by working hard at another, when 

 others were idle or in bed. 



Like all small country places, where experience has 

 been narrow and education with general knowledge narrower, 

 Netherton had its social drainage in superabundant gossip, 



