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Read Ebook: The Collected Writings of Dougal Graham Skellat Bellman of Glasgow Vol. 1 of 2 by Graham Dougal Mac Gregor George Editor
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Ebook has 231 lines and 110914 words, and 5 pages
PAGE
PREFACE 5
EDITORIAL INTRODUCTION:
HISTORY OF THE REBELLION:
PREFACE 83
JOHN HIGHLANDMAN'S REMARKS ON GLASGOW 255
TURNIMSPIKE 261
TUGAL M'TAGGER 265
HAD AWA FRAE ME, DONALD 269
EDITORIAL INTRODUCTION.
The negligence of contemporaries by failing to appreciate the real worth of the great men of their time has often been a subject of remark. No special case need be cited to give point to the recurrence of the proposition here, for many such instances will readily suggest themselves to the mind. The reasons for this fact are many, and of divergent natures. Though it is beyond the scope of the present inquiry to discuss the general question, it may be observed, however, that some of the more potent causes which in the past have led to this unfortunate result are being rapidly removed through the spread of knowledge among the great mass of the people, and through the remarkable activity of the press in its various branches. Personal gossip regarding the hereditarily and individually great is now and then served up to the public, and it is always received with unmistakable relish. Autobiography, also, has become fashionable, and this, within recent years, has often shed light upon opinions and actions about which some doubts had formerly existed. These and other circumstances, in themselves perhaps not unmixed good, will tend to keep the biographers of the great men of this and the last generation from being placed in the awkward position in which almost all who attempt to record the lives of men who have achieved local or universal fame prior to the present century must at times find themselves placed. Insufficient data is the great obstacle in the way of the latter class. Traditions difficult to credit and as difficult to refute; suggestions more or less probable; and many obscurities, all incline to make their work perplexing, and, to a certain extent, unsatisfactory. Yet the task must be undertaken, and the earlier the better, in order that such scraps of information as have come down from the past to the present may be preserved.
'That there is to be sold by James Duncan, Printer in Glasgow, in the Saltmercat, the 2nd Shop below Gibson's Wynd, a Book intituled A full, particular, and true Account of the late Rebellion in the Year 1745 and 1746, beginning with the Pretender's Embarking for Scotland, and then an Account of every Battle, Siege, and Skirmish that has happened in either Scotland or England.
'To which is added, several Addresses and Epistles to the Pope, Pagans, Poets, and the Pretender: all in Metre. Price Four Pence. But any Booksellers or Packmen may have them easier from the said James Duncan, or the Author, D. Grahame.
'The like has not been done in Scotland since the Days of Sir David Lindsay.'
'Composed by the poet, D. Graham, In Stirlingshire he lives at hame.'
Dougal was now a man of some note, and, in addition, he is believed to have gradually worked himself into a position of comparative freedom from pecuniary troubles. In the time of his poverty he vented his ill nature on his Roman Catholic fellow-subjects in verse far from elegant, charging them with having brought about, for reasons best known to himself, the unsatisfactory state of his exchequer:--
'You Papists are a cursed race, And this I tell you to your face; And your images of gold so fine, Their curses come on me and mine. Likewise themselves at any rate, For money now is ill to get. I have run my money to an en', And have nouther paper nor pen To write thir lines the way you see me, And there's none for to supplie me.'
'NOTICE.--Whereas, Jean Stark, spouse to Dougal Graham, ale-seller, above the Cross, Glasgow, has parted from her husband, he thinks it proper to inform the public that she be inhibit by him from contracting debt in his name, or yet receiving any debt due to him, after this present date.'
It has been usual to assume that this advertisement had no reference to our author, and, even though the names are the same, we see no reason to dissent from the general verdict. There is neither direct information nor obscure indication of Graham having at any time been an 'ale-seller.' The incident, however, has given Professor Fraser an opportunity of pointing out a failing of Dougal's--'In one sense, he was always a large dealer in spirits, but it is not so certain that he was actually a publican.' Judging from his works, and if the few traditions concerning him are to be accepted as evidence on this point, he was not a teetotaller, but that in itself was no remarkable circumstance in the times in which he lived.
'Now, gentle readers, I have let ye ken, My very thoughts, from heart and pen, 'Tis needless now for to conten', Or yet controule, For there's not a word o't I can men', So ye must thole.'
But leaving the region of debate, it will be refreshing to turn to a humorous story on record, as to the competition Graham had to face before he became bellman. There were many applicants for the situation, and the magistrates decided that the merits of each should be put to a practical test. Accordingly all the candidates were instructed to be present on a certain day in the back-yard of the old Town's Hospital, then situated in what is now known as Great Clyde Street. The magistrates were present as judges, and there were with them, no doubt, many of the leading citizens to witness the interesting spectacle. All the other competitors having shown their skill with the bell, and demonstrated the quality of their vocal powers, Dougal's turn came. He entered into the spirit of the contest, and his physical peculiarities would greatly assist him. He rang the bell in a surprising manner, and called out in stentorian tones--
'Caller herring at the Broomielaw, Three a penny, three a penny!'
adding, pawkily--
'Indeed, my friends, But it's a' a blewflum, For the herring's no catch'd, And the boat's no come.'
But death put an end to Dougal's happy-go-lucky existence while he was still in the prime of life. He died on the 20th of July, 1779, at the age of fifty-five or fifty-six, in what circumstances, or of what trouble, cannot now be discovered. These were not the days of newspaper obituaries, or he would certainly have been awarded a half-column notice. This, of itself, is unfortunate, for then many biographical details could have been obtained, and subsequent writers of Graham's life would have been able to produce a record of his career more satisfactory to themselves and their readers. That Dougal did not die unregretted, is witnessed by an elegy of twelve stanzas, written at the time of his death by some unknown poetaster. This lament has, unfortunately, only come down to the present generation in a fragmentary form, Dr. Strang having preserved seven of the verses:--
'Ye mothers fond! O be not blate To mourn poor Dougal's hapless fate, Ofttimes you know he did you get Your wander'd weans; To find them out, both soon and late, He spared no pains.
'Our footmen now sad tune may sing, For none like him the streets made ring, Nor quick intelligence could bring Of caller fish, Of salmon, herring, cod, or ling, Just to their wish.
'The Bull Inn and the Saracen, Were both well served with him at e'en, As ofttimes we have heard and seen Him call retour, For Edinburgh, Greenock, and Irvine, At any hour.
'The honest wives he pleased right well, When he did cry braw new cheap meal, Cheap butter, barley, cheese, and veal Was selling fast. They often call'd him "lucky chiel," As he went past.
'Had any rambler in the night, Broken a lamp and then ta'en flight, Dougal would bring the same to light 'Gainst the next day, Which made the drunk, mischievous wight Right dearly pay.
'It is well known unto his praise, He well deserved the poet's bays, So sweet was his harmonious lays; Loud-sounding fame Alone can tell, how all his days He bore that name.
'Of witty jokes he had such store, Johnson could not have pleased you more; Or with loud laughter made you roar As he could do: He had still something ne'er before Exposed to view.'
'"The wittiest fellow in his time, Either for Prose or making Rhyme."'
These word paintings, together with the two portraits given in this work, will afford the reader a most vivid conception of the appearance of the king of Scottish chapmen.
The Whole Proceedings of Jockey and Maggy. In five parts. Carefully corrected and revised by the Author. Glasgow: printed for, and sold by, the Booksellers in Town and Country. 1783.
The Comical Sayings of Pady from Cork, with his Coat button'd behind. In all its parts. Carefully corrected by the Author. Glasgow: printed for George Caldwell, Bookseller in Paisley. 1784.
The History and Comical Transactions of Lothian Tom. In six parts. Glasgow: printed by J. & M. Robertson. 1793.
The History of John Cheap the Chapman. In three parts. Glasgow: printed and sold by J. & M. Robertson. 1786.
The Comical and Witty Jokes of John Falkirk the Merry Piper. Glasgow: printed in the year 1779.
The Scots Piper's Queries, or John Falkirk's Cariches for the trial of Dull Wits.
Janet Clinker's Orations on the Virtues of Old Women and the Pride of the Young.
Leper the Tailor. Two parts. Glasgow, 1779.
The Comical History of Simple John and his Twelve Misfortunes.
Motherwell adds that 'John Falkirk's Jokes and Cariches' and 'Janet Clinker's Orations' were frequently found printed together, and that the last named was sometimes issued as a separate publication, with the title--'Grannie M'Nab's Lecture in the Society of Clashing Wives, Glasgow, on Witless Mithers and Dandy Daughters, who bring them up to hoodwink the men, and deceive them with their braw dresses, when they can neither wash a sark, mak' parritch, or gang to the well.' In addition to the works already enumerated, Motherwell mentions the following, regarding which he says that though he had no authority for ascribing them to Graham he would not be surprised to find that he was the author of them:--
Merry Exploits of George Buchanan. The Creelman's Courtship. The History of Buckhaven.
Strang himself, who, in some respects, must be regarded as an authority upon matters relating to Graham, does not condescend upon bibliographical details; and the lists now given consequently include the testimony of the only two writers whose opinions or suggestions bear with anything like direct authority on the subject.
'A full, particular, and true Account of the Rebellion, in the years 1745-6.
Composed by the Poet D. Graham, In Stirlingshire he lives at hame.
This edition was a duodecimo consisting of 84 pp. Probably the matter it contained, assuming no alterations of this portion, would end with the ninth chapter of later issues, the last lines of which form an appropriate conclusion to the fatal adventure of Prince Charles:--
'This was a day of lamentation, Made many brave men leave their nation. Their eyes were open'd, all was vain, Now grief and sorrow was their gain.'
"You Papists are a cursed race,"' &c.
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