290 TELFORD AT SCHOOL. PART YITT. 



valley by the name of " Laughing Tarn.'' When he 

 was old enough to herd sheep he went to live with a 

 relative, a shepherd like his father, and he spent most 

 of his time with him in summer on the hill-side amidst 

 the silence of nature. In winter he lived with one or 

 other of the neighbouring farmers. He herded their 

 cows or ran errands, receiving for recompense his meat, 

 a pair of stockings, and five shillings a year for clogs. 

 These were his first wages, and as he grew older they 

 were gradually increased. 



But Tom must now be put to school, and, happily, 

 small though the parish of Westerkirk was, it possessed 

 the advantage of that admirable institution the parish 

 school. To the orphan boy the merely elementary 

 teaching there provided was an immense boon. To 

 master this was the first step of the ladder he was after- 

 wards to mount ; his own industry, energy, and ability 

 must do the rest. To school accordingly he went, still 

 working a-field or herding cattle during the summer 

 months. Perhaps his own "penny fee" helped to pav 

 the teacher's hire ; but it is supposed that his uncle 

 Jackson defrayed the principal part of the expense of 

 his instruction. It was not much that lie learnt ; but 

 in acquiring the arts of reading, writing, and figures, he 

 learnt the beginnings of a great deal. 



Apart from the question of learning, there was another 

 manifest advantage to the poor boy in mixing freely at 

 the parish school with the sons of the neighbouring 

 farmers and proprietors. Such intercourse has an influ- 

 ence upon a youth's temper, manners, and tastes, which 

 is quite as important in the education of character as 

 the lessons of the master himself ; and Telford often, 

 in after-life, referred with pleasure to the benefits 

 which he thus derived from his early school friendships, 

 Amongst those to whom he was accustomed to look 

 back with most pride, were the two elder brothers of the 

 Malcolm family, both of whom rose to high rank in the 

 service of their country ; William Telford, a youth of 



