54 Transactions. 
but which, out of regard to the feelings of his friend Mr Fullarton, 
he had put off for years, viz., the erection of a church for the 
accommodation of the members and adherents of the Church of 
Scotland residing in Southwick. 
Fifty years ago there were two Parochial Schools in the parish— 
The Colvend School and the Southwick School—and there was a 
side school at Barnbarroch supported by subscription. 
The Parish Schools were maintained by the _heritors, 
assessed proportionally to their rental, and the school. 
masters remunerated in terms of an Act of Parlament 
passed in the reign of George III. But the remuneration 
was miserably small. There were, as we have said, two schools 
in the parish, I mean parish or parochial schools, the salaries of 
which, together, could not by law exceed £52 or £26 each, and 
this was the payment which each schoolmaster received. This, 
added to the school fees, which, as a matter of right, belonged to 
the teachers, raised the emoluments of the one to £48, of the 
other to £55. They had each, of course, their house and garden 
free. 
Fifty years ago, and for about 15 or 20 years after that date, 
there was no legal assessment levied for the support of the poor, 
and there were as many poor in the parish then as now. There 
were, indeed, more and poorer. I have in my possession the 
minute book of the Kirk-Session, beginning at the time antecedent 
to the period with which my paper is concerned, but coming down 
to it, and continuing for several, indeed for many, years within 
the period. From this book, and from the book of church 
collections it appears that the chief source of support at the time 
was the church collections, supplemented by such voluntary con- 
tributions as the heritors chose to give. The church collections 
were made up mainly of the weekly contributions gathered in by 
that old-fashioned, importunate, and silent beggar, the church 
ladle. The sum obtained in this way fifty years ago amounted 
to £18 or £20. Prior to this time, but never since, fines were 
imposed on parties coming before the Session for discipline ; these 
were added to the collections. The fees for proclamation of banns 
before marriage were also added. The sum raised by church 
collections and the voluntary subscriptions of the heritors rarely 
exceeded <40, which was distributed by the Kirk-Session annually 
in sums varying from 5s to 10s, but rarely reaching £1; and 
this was all the poor had to depend on. But, so long as the 
