ITINERARIES. 161 



discipline, and spake openly against prelacy and its ad- 

 juncts and consequences. Here, as also at Dunbar, and 

 other places, we observed the manner of their burials, 

 which is this ; when any one dies, the sexton or bell-man 

 goeth about the streets with a small beU in his hand, 

 which he tinkleth all along as he goeth, and now and then 

 he maketh a stand, and proclaims who is dead, and 

 invites the people to come to the funeral at such an hour. 

 The people and minister many times accompany the 

 corpse to the grave at the time appointed, with the bell 

 before them, where there is nothing said, but only the 

 corpse laid in. The minister there, in the public wor- 

 ship, does not shift places out of the desk into the pulpit, 

 as in England, but at his first coming in, ascends the 

 pulpit. They commonly begin their worship with a 

 psalm before the minister comes in, who, after the psalm 

 is finished, prayeth, and then reads, and expounds in some 

 places, in some not ; then another psalm is sung, and 

 after that their minister prays again, and preacheth as in 

 England. Before sermon, commonly, the officers of the 

 town stand at the churchyard gate, with a join'd stool 

 and a dish, to gather the alms of aU that come to church. 

 The people here frequent their churches much better than 

 in England, and have their ministers in more esteem and 

 veneration. They seem to perform their devotions with 

 much alacrity. There are few or no sectaries or opinion- 

 ists among them ; they are much addicted to their church 

 government, excepting the gentry, who love liberty, and 

 care not to be so strictly tied down. The country 

 abounds with poor people and beggars. Their money 

 they reckon after the French manner. A bodel (which 

 is the sixth part of our penny) they call tway-pennies, 

 that is with them two-pence ; so that, upon this ground, 

 twelve pennies, or a shilling Scotch, (that is, six bodels) 

 is a penny sterling. The Scotch piece marked with XX, 

 which we are wont to call a Scotch two-pence, is twenty- 

 pence Scotch, that is, two-pence sterling, wanting two 

 bodels, or four pennies Scotch ; the piece with XL is 



11 



