The premier resource for tracing your British and Irish
ancestors
|
|
The Farm Servant of Kirriemuir Alexander Cormack (1825–1892)
(Lintrathen and Kirriemuir) It is characteristic of a family history that the amount of information found varies considerably from generation to generation. This is understandable inasmuch as the further into the past we go, the less information is likely to be found. However, that is not the only consideration. In the mid-19th century and before, most people went through life with little more than their birth, marriage and death recorded. Even these were noted in the briefest of terms and usually no more than simple names and a date are given in the Parish records. It was only in 1855 that the statutory registration of births, marriages and deaths was introduced in Scotland, bringing with it a more detailed and consistent recording of the basic events of people‘s lives. However, there are those for whom, both before or after statutory registration, much more has been passed down. Army and navy records, testaments and wills, kirk session minutes and poor relief books, land registration documents and much else, all provide a wealth of detail on those who came to the notice of their respective record keepers. Much of what we know about Alexander Cormack and his son John comes from records such as these. In contrast much less is known about the next generation of Cormacks, Alexander's grandsons named Alexander, James and Thomas. They seem to have led unremarkable lives, although the popularity of their names in Cormack history does highlight an interesting point about naming. Whilst the Cormacks were far from exact in following it, there is a pattern of naming which was widely used in Scotland at the time and is still in use, to some extent, today. Generally speaking the eldest son in a family is named after his paternal grandfather. Hence John and Jannet named their eldest Alexander after his father's father. The second son would then be named after his maternal grandfather and so James is named after his mother's father. The third son would be named after his father, a pattern which John and Jannet did not follow when they called him Thomas. Perhaps an uncle or friend bore that name. It would not have been uncommon to name him after such. In fact in a later generation we find a William Gilruth Cormack, the Gilruth having come from the name of the family's landlord. Whether the compliment brought a reduction in the rent is not recorded. Although John and Jannet have no recorded daughters, their names would have followed a similar pattern with the eldest being named after her maternal grandmother, the second after her paternal grandmother and the third after her mother. There is a well known story which illustrates the confusion that a slavish adherence to the pattern could produce. In one family all the sons were named John because the two grandfathers as well as the father were called John, and the mother also had a brother called John. The youngest was always known as Baby in spite of having grown into a large and tough fisherman. In another case a mother called both her twins William for similar reasons. Thankfully the Cormacks spare us from the conundrums that would arise from such devotion to tradition. It is not unusual though, even with the Cormacks, to find that a couple might produce two, or even three, children of the same name. This usually has nothing to do with using grandparents' names, but because the elder child bearing the name had died. The infant mortality rate was high with half of the total deaths in Scotland in the late 18th century being children under the age of ten. What of John Cormack's son, my great great grandfather Alexander? Such details as have been found are given below:
Alexander was born in Lintrathen in 1825. By the time of the 1841 census he had already moved away from home and his marriage entry in 1845 suggests he is living in Kirriemuir at that time. "Kirriemuir is a considerable town and parish in Angus. The town is situated near the foot of the braes of Angus, on the south west side of a hill near a romantic den, through which flows the small river Gairie. It consists of several streets, going off from each other, in a manner somewhat resembling the arms and shaft of an anchor. Few towns in the county have a better supplied weekly market; and in no town of its size is more trade carried on. In 1792, the amount of osnaburgs and coarse linens manufactured in the town and neighbourhood, was about 30,000 l. sterling. It lies 16 miles from Dundee, 20 from Arbroath and 6 from Forfar. It is a burgh of barony, governed by a baron bailie, appointed by Lord Douglas, the superior, and is of considerable antiquity; but the date of its charter of erection is unknown."Though Alexander never took the "King's Shilling" like his grandfather, he had done virtually the same thing when he took "arles money" from a Farmer at the Whitsunday or Martinmas Feeing Fair. The "Farm Servant" was the foundation of lowland Scottish agriculture. Ploughmen, cattlemen, orra men and maids, kitchen and milk, all fell within the broad definition. Bound to his farmer for six or twelve months, the acceptance of the five shillings (25p) or half-a-crown (12p) fixed the agreement or fee and the man was the servant of his master with a certainty that the law could very rarely contemplate diluting. The Farm Servant belonged to the farmer for the duration of the "fee", often the labours of his wife and children too. The Farmer for his part provided a roof over their heads and the "usual perquisites", oatmeal, tatties, milk, coal and perhaps some space to sow a few vegetables—all given in lieu of most of the pay. In fact the Farm Servant saw little hard cash from his employer, especially in early years. Perhaps a little was given to meet household needs not falling within the perquisites, but the balance due was never paid until the end of the fee. Then, at the great fairs in the larger towns where the new fees were struck, it would soon be spent on new boots or bonnet, settling the bills of the grocer or souter and, of course, buying a dram or two of whisky in celebration or commiseration depending on which fee had been made or lost. Any additional money would come from the sale of the part of his perquisites that his family could do without. Two things were certain at the feeing fairs. Every Farm Servant was looking for a better fee, perhaps a few extra shillings over the term if he had a good reputation, or maybe a move up the chain of seniority in the stable as a third horseman sought a second pair. Every Farmer was looking to gain the most by paying the least. The constant threat of unemployment meant it was the Farmer who usually did best. Farmers could be hard men, fully conscious that, whilst a single man in their service could easily return to his mother if treated over-harshly, a married man had too much to lose and thus could be worked almost without regard to hours and conditions. Many Cormacks were to be Farm Servants, although Alexander is the first recorded. In his case it seems his family remained in Kirriemuir while he went from fee to fee around the local touns. The 1851 census shows him absent while his wife and children are living at Denhead, Kirriemuir. Similarly, at the time of the death of his mother in 1871, Alexander is absent from the home at Kirriemuir, working at a toun called AuldAllan in the parish of Lintrathen. This was not unusual in the mid-1800s when many farms in Angus were not able to provide accommodation for families. At a time when men were compelled to live on the farmtoun, they relied entirely on the male-only bothy to put a roof over their heads. The lack of family accommodation and the hard choices it laid upon men in a rural economy was one of the major causes behind the high level of emigration at the time. In later years this would diminish as more cottages were built and more labour moved to the cities. Then we find whole families uprooted year on year as each Farm Servant moved on to his new place of service. My grandfather, John Cormack (1875-1948), was a good example with most of his children born at different touns around Angus and Perthshire. The rural roads were busy at the end of every May and November as, men like him, and their families, loaded their worldly goods onto carts sent from their new toun and "flitted" to their new home. The "flit" as opposed to the "moonlight flit" was an entirely legitimate journey. On a wet day it was the most heartbreaking of experiences. The contents of their house would go with them: table and chairs, bedsteads, mattresses, crockery and firebars. Even the locks travelled. The children, of course, went with them. Old friendships were broken, new ones made and such schooling as was provided turned completely upside down. In truth they were nomads in farm carts. They lived without roots, always on the edge of a move and as a result were fiercely self-sufficient and independent of mind. Given that by the age of thirteen or fourteen each child would be off serving their own fee at a toun perhaps miles away, even family ties could be loosely held. What happened to Alexander? He and his family never flitted. In fact, by 1872 they had moved as a family to Belliesbrae, Kirriemuir while he worked as a general labourer. Ten years later his wife Jean died and he became a widower. The 1891 census describes him as living with daughter Marjorie at Quarrybank Cottage in Kirriemuir. He died at this address the next year.
James was born in Lintrathen, although he was married in Liff where his first child was also born. By 1853 the family had moved to Lintrathen again where all the subsequent children were brought into the world. The 1861 census shows James as a shoemaker (souter) by trade and living at "Tomstink" in Lintrathen together with a 13 year old step-daughter called Emily. Had Janet been married before? Also with them was a nephew called James who is shown as an apprentice shoemaker, learning the trade from his Uncle. This lad is James' brother Alexander's eldest boy and the one who eventually married Christina Anderson and moved to Clunie. A souter worked late and his shop would have been a sociable place where men from the farmtouns came at the end of the day to have their boots re-tacked, re-heeled or patched while they waited and caught up on the local news. Good boots were a necessity for men who worked the land and the best, crafted to the very peak of indestructibility, required strong feet and a liberal lining with straw to give warmth and a degree of comfort. Some farmers judged a man by his boots. Not content with his trade coming to him, an ambitious souter would send a man and a cart round the farmtouns in the evenings to solicit work. The 1881 census shows James as Head of house at Saddle Hillock, Ruthven. (OS:NO 295502). No longer a souter, his occupation is shown as a road surfaceman. The growing mass production of footwear in the town had taken its toll and the days of the rural shoemaker were drawing to a close. Whatever the reason was it represented quite a change for James. By 1885 the family is living at Bridgend, Ruthven. Perhaps he had a particular responsibility for the maintenance of the bridge there. One of the things about delving into a family history is that it provokes a tendency to see familiar places in a new light. The fact that someone was born or married in a certain street , or worked at a certain place, gives it significance even if the person was never personally known to us. Driving from Alyth up to Kirriemuir through Ruthven, it is difficult not to think of James, back bent and shovel in hand, filling in some pothole or clearing a roadside ditch. On a winter's day it must have been a soul destroying experience. Then again, when the sun was blazing and the breeze was light, the view would have been glorious. Perhaps, to James, the view made little difference. After all, as the Highlanders say, you can't eat the scenery. James died in 1912, still living at the Bridge. © 2000 Origins.net and Neil Pheasant | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
