My Boyhood and Youth 



Breakfast in those auld-lang-syne days was 

 simple oatmeal porridge, usually with a little 

 milk or treacle, served in wooden dishes called 

 "luggies," formed of staves hooped together 

 like miniature tubs about four or five inches in 

 diameter. One of the staves, the lug or ear, a 

 few inches longer than the others, served as a 

 handle, while the number of luggies ranged in 

 a row on a dresser indicated the size of the fam- 

 ily. We never dreamed of anything to come 

 after the porridge, or of asking for more. Our 

 portions were consumed in about a couple of 

 minutes; then off to school. At noon we came 

 racing home ravenously hungry. The midday 

 meal, called dinner, was usually vegetable 

 broth, a small piece of boiled mutton, and 

 barley-meal scone. None of us liked the barley 

 scone bread, therefore we got all we wanted 

 of it, and in desperation had to eat it, for we 

 were always hungry, about as hungry after as 

 before meals. The evening meal was called 

 "tea" and was served on our return from 

 school. It consisted, as far as we children were 

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