A Glimpse of the Olden Times, by Mr. Thos. Craig. 469 



1799 by the family of Bell, where the custom prevailed until 

 the estate of Clifton came into the possession of the late Mr. 

 Pringle of Clifton and The Haining, the tenant was bound 

 by the terms of the lease to provide the landlord with " two 

 dozen kain hens, or twenty-four chickens," or in the option 

 of the proprietor to pay one shilling for each undelivered 

 hen.* 



A little episode in connection with this custom of paying 

 kain may be given, as shewing how little circumstances 

 branch out, and cause grief or gratification in little commun- 

 ities. It chanced that on the farm of Crookhouse — where 

 the farmer's household was usually humane and considerate 

 — one year one of the kain fowls took unkindly to his new 

 quarters, and repeatedly returned to the house of his " ain 

 folk," to be duly returned to his new and rightful owners. 

 It was seen meet at the farm house, however, to put a stop 

 to this practice, which was done by his being sent in a 

 cooked state to the house of one of the " hinds" for the bene- 

 fit of a sick inmate. The original owner was a widowed 

 " cotter," and the worthy but poor woman laid it deeply to 

 heart, that those in far less straightened circumstances than 

 herself, should be enabled to feast off her carefully-reared 

 fowl, which had been regarded as a minor member of her 

 little family. It was not that she envied her neighbours on 

 account of a kindness shewn to them ; but the manner in 

 which it was done, touched the tender feelings of her 

 nature. It is from tracing such incidents as this, that a 

 true and unexaggerated idea is obtained of the delicate per- 

 ceptions and finer feelings of the humble peasantry of Scot- 

 land, on which poets and preachers, orators and historians, 

 have so often expatiated. 



* In the same lease it is stipulated that the tenant should deliver yearly at 

 the landlord's residence, four "sufficient double cart loads of coals," each 

 containing twelve bolls, the proprietor paying the expense of loosing at the 

 pit, five shillings being payable for each undelivered load of coals. 



