198 Report on some features of Scottish Agriculture. 
sbelvings and frame, plough, shovel, graip, and key of press and corn chest, 
all complete ; and he will have to hand the same over on leaving. 
2. All horsemen to enter the stable at 15 minutes to 5 o'clock, a.m. ; 
stable cleaned out, dung pit well levelled down, and horses led to the water, 
fed, and cleaned until half-past 5; breakfast from half-past 5 until 6 a.m.; 
and when horses are not working from 6 to 6, barn work, &c., until yoking 
time. 
3. Horses returning from the yoke to be well rubbed down for 15 minutes, 
and fed ; dinner until 15 minutes past 12 o'clock ; horses receive oats on 
entering the stable, and cleaned. 
4. Horses on returning at 6 o'clock p.m., are cleaned down for 15 minutes, 
afterwards, being watered and fed, a few Swedish turnips given. 
5. Stable entered at 7 p.m. ; horses cleaned well down, afterwards watered, 
receive oats or bait, and suj^pered up ; stable closed at 8 p.m. No horses to 
be allowed to leave the stable without a stall collar on. 
Rules for Sabhath. 
All horsemen to attend in the morning and evening on their horses, and 
in no case to be absent without appointing a substitute approved by the 
Manager, and one horseman to have charge all day by turns, commencing 
with the Foreman. 
These rules are pasted up in the bothy at Tipperty — an insti- 
tution which is intimately connected with the condition of the 
agricultural labourer in Aberdeenshire. This subject has been 
very much discussed, and the mere name of a " bothy " has been 
made almost sufficient to conjure up visions of dirty ploughmen 
and ill-clad women. One result is, that Scotch farmers — who 
thoroughly appreciate the result of giving a dog a bad name — 
now designate as " barracks " those bothies which are used as 
bedrooms, and as " kitchens " those in which the labourers get 
their food and spend their evenings. Whatever want of ortho- 
doxy my opinion may possess, I cannot help thinking that the 
faults in the bothy system which are held up to public repro- 
bation are to be seen as frequently in the cottages of East 
Lothian as in the bothies of Aberdeenshire, Therefore, it seems 
more just to lay these faults at the door of the labourer him- 
self than at that of the system under which he is housed and 
fed. The Aberdeenshire system is to have a "kitchen" for 
the unmarried ploughmen in a convenient position attached to 
the steading, or situated near it. This is a room furnished with 
a long table, three or four benches, some stools, and a separate 
locker for each labourer, in which he keeps his "household 
gods." It is generally the duty of an old woman to cook the 
food for the labourers, and to keep the room and furniture in a 
condition that is supposed to be clean. As a rule, the labourers 
sleep in attics over the byres and stables, and spend their even- 
ings in the "kitchen." So far as the "kitchen" itself is con- 
cerned, I look upon it very much as a humble kind of club. 
