A glass of whisky in Scotland in the thirties cost less than a cup of tea.  I recollect my father getting a large cask of whisky direct from the distillery which cost 6/6 a gallon, duty paid.  A bottle of inferior whisky could be bought at the grocer’s for a shilling.  It is surprising how much alcoholic beverages entered into the daily life, the business, and the pleasures of the people in those days.  No bargain could be made without them.  Christenings, weddings, funerals—­all called for the pouring out of strong drink.  If a lady called, the port and sherry decanters were produced, and the cake basket.  If a gentleman, probably it was the spirit decanter.  After the 3 o’clock dinner there was whisky and hot water and sugar, and generally the came after the 10 o’clock supper.  Drinking habits were very prevalent among men, and were not in any way disgraceful, unless excessive.  But there was less drinking among women than there is now, because public opinion was strongly against it.  Without being abstainers, they were temperate.  With the same heredity and the same environment, you would see all the brothers pretty hard drinkers and all the sisters quite straight.  Such is the effect of public opinion.  Nothing else has been so powerful in changing these customs as the cheapening of tea and coffee and cocca, but especially tea.

My brothers went to the parish school, one of the best in the county.  The endowment from the tiends or tithes, extorted by John Knox from the Lords of the congregations, who had seized on the church lands, was more meagre for the schoolmasters than for the clergy.  I think Mr. Thomas Murray had only 33 pounds in Money, a schoolhouse, and a residence and garden. and he had to make up a livelihood from school fees, which began at 2/ a quarter for reading, 3/6 when writing was taught, and 51 for arithmetic.  Latin, I think, cost 10/6 a quarter, but it included English.  Mr. Murray adopted a phonic system of teaching reading, not so complete as the late Mr. Hartley formulated for our South Australian schools, and was most successful with it.  He not only used maps, but he had blank maps-a great innovation.  My mother was only taught geography during the years in which she was “finished” in Edinburgh, and never saw a map then.  She felt interested in geography when her children were learning it.  No boy in Mr. Murray’s school was allowed to be idle; every spare minute was given to arithmetic.  In the parish school boys of all classes were taught.  Sir David Brewster’s sons went to it; but there were fewer girls, partly because no needlework was taught there, and needlework was of supreme importance.  Mr. Murray was session clerk, for which he received 5 pounds a year.  On Saturday afternoons he might do land measuring, like Goldsmith’s schoolmaster in “The Deserted Village”—­

    Lands he could measure, terms and tides presage,
    And even the rumour ran that he could gauge.