38 FAMOUS SCOTS 



of even skilled labour was but in a rudimentary con- 

 dition. In Edinburgh at least, the better class of 

 mechanics sought within the walls of the city a more 

 remunerative sphere for their labour, so that it was only 

 the inferior body of workmen that was found on the 

 outskirts. At first, he was subjected to a good deal of 

 low and petty tyranny from his fellow-labourers, which 

 was not calculated to improve his opinion of the class. 

 Some slight relief, however, he managed to find in the 

 new geological surroundings the carboniferous deposits 

 and by observation and theory he made his way to 

 some good results in his own science, at a time when 

 there was no map, manual, or even geological primer in 

 existence. The policies of Niddry and walks in the 

 ruins of Craigmillar were a solace from the drunken and 

 intemperate habits of the men, whose forty-eight 

 shillings for the fortnight's wage were soon consumed 

 by Sunday drives to Roslin or Hawthornden, or by 

 drinking bouts in the lower rookeries of the High 

 Street. There still largely prevailed the convivial habits 

 such as Fergusson has described as characteristic of the 

 Edinburgh of his day, the tavern c jinks ' alluded to by 

 Scott in Guy Mannering, and by Lockhart in his Life 

 of Burns. In the taverns the landlords kept a cockpit 

 or a badger aS a necessary part of their attraction. 

 Employment being constant through the pressure of the 

 building mania prevalent throughout this year, the 

 masters were largely at the mercy of the men, so that 

 strikes were rife and the demands of the workers 



