Trotilty Jig. 49 



evening school during the winter months to learn 

 writing, upon which, as already explained, he had set 

 his heart. When the school available to him opened 

 for the evening classes, on the first night only four 

 pupils came forward, on the next night only one more 

 appeared, and the third night brought no addition to 

 the ranks. This was so discouraging to the teacher 

 that he gave up the evening classes altogether. As 

 may be imagined, this was rather disconcerting to 

 young Robertson, who had remodelled his plan of 

 life to a great extent with a view to them. Having 

 resolved, however, to master so much of the art as 

 might serve his purposes, he now bought some 

 round-hand copy lines and some half text, and lost 

 no opportunity of practising. At the same time 

 he got hold of an old letter, the writing in which 

 took his fancy, and he soon left the copy lines to 

 imitate the style of the letter, which he so far suc- 

 ceeded in doing that he could for long after trace 

 an imperfect vestige of the original in his own hand- 

 writing. 



Weaving, taken up as it had been to subserve a 

 different purpose, was not to his mind. It gave no 

 prospect of advancement. His thoughts often re- 

 curred to the saying of a daft woman, who, looking 

 in at a weaver's window, and making her arms go as 

 if she were weaving, cried, " Trotilty jig, trotilty jig, it 

 will be a long time ere you get to heaven off trotilty 

 jig." When he had been nearly a year at the trade, 

 he made up his mind to leave it. He then first 

 engaged with a Mr. Nelson, of East Kilbride. The 

 work in this employment was to remove the soil off 



E 



