Rural Occupation. 17 



stood. And so it continued to be up to a time less 

 than a hundred years ago. It was, indeed, left to the 

 enlightened nineteenth century to adopt the principle of 

 segregating classes ; to foster a policy that allowed the 

 tenant occupier to grasp his holding, and too often in 

 selfishly seeking to extend its boundaries, rid himself 

 of all trammels of "good neighbourhood" by pushing 

 the manual tiller of the soil off the manor altogether, 

 even as a cottar occupier. 



In the records of a Garioch Kirk-Session, under date 

 1720, I find an incidental illustration of the rural 

 economy then in operation. Certain neighbours 

 were "delated" to appear before the Session for "breach 

 and prophanation of the Sabbath, by beating and blood- 

 ing on ane other." A principal in the " scandal," on 

 being interrogated, declared that " he had neither beat 

 nor bled any person ;" but that the two sons of his 

 neighbour, who was " possessor of one of the ploughs 

 of Twadam, had that Sabbath morning singled by their 

 father's cattle from the cattle of the other three ploughs, 

 and brought them from the common fold, thorow the 

 midest of his corns, to feed them in places where no 

 cattle were wont to graze ; and that all the cattle of 

 the other three ploughs had broke the fold to come 

 after them ;" whereupon he interposed. Thus far the 

 two sides substantially agreed. A divergence of 

 testimony occurred concerning the precise intentions of 

 the first narrator in the scuffle that ensued between 

 him and one of the young men for possession of a 

 cudgel carried by the latter, he averring that his single 

 object was to " turn the cattle from among his corns," 

 while the two brothers, who had severely pommelled 

 their assailant, asserted that it was to " strick" his 

 opponent " withal." A couple of independent witnesses 

 deponed to the facts, but declined to give an opinion 

 on the merits, whereon the session found them all 

 guilty, and appointed them to be publicly rebuked. 



The noticeable point here is the four ploughs working 

 3 



