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Meet the Borrowers: Innerpeffray’s 18th Century Women

This edition of Meet the Borrowers differs from the usual format in that it mentions all the women whose names appear in the Borrowers’ Register between the years 1747 and 1789. There may well have been women who borrowed books from the collection in the years between the founding of the library in 1680 and the earliest written records we hold, dating from 5th June 1747, but there are no documents to tell us.

The majority of these women are recorded as a Borrower on only one date, but it indicates to us that they were reading and gives us an insight into the subject matter. Despite using the vast amount of information and records that are available, and easily accessible, to a researcher today, we have been unable to discover very much at all about some of them. What we do know is that most of them were members of ordinary families, employed by the local land owners and living on the various estates in the area, including Innerpeffray. The only exceptions to this were the Hepburn ladies, of the Colquhalzie estate, and Louisa Drummond, a member of the wider Drummond family of Drummond Castle.

The first female recorded in the Borrowers’ Register is Beatrix Faichney, daughter of James Faichney and Margaret Richart. The family lived at Knappielands, a farm between Innerpeffray and Muthill, and a location that is still named on maps today. We know from baptism records of the Episcopal Church, Muthill, that at least eleven children were born to James and Margaret, including three sets of twins – William (1/9/1726), twins Elspeth and Jean (23/5/1727 – and this sad note recorded with the date ‘born before time. Jean died a few minutes after baptism’), twins Thomas and Joseph (17/5/1728), Beatrix (31/1/1731), Margaret (2/1/1734), twins Janet and Lilias (24/6/1738), James (2/5/1742) and Jean (2/5/1751).

The are only two entries for Beatrix, both entered at the bottom of the first page of the Borrowers’ Register, and the date was 29th August, 1747. From these entries we are led to conclude that Beatrix was probably employed as a servant on the Abercairney estate. Perhaps this was not the first time that she had borrowed books from Innerpeffray for ‘Mr Moray, at Abercairney’, and for herself.

The first entry reads as follows:
Lent to Mr Moray at Abercairney by Beatrix Faichney.
1st Volume of Clarendon Civil Wars, the History of Queen Elizabeth & the 1st Volume of the Compleat history of Europe.

Second entry on the same date:
Lent Beatrix Faichney Christ the way the truth and the life.

On the 24th March, 1751, in the Parish of Crieff, Beatrix married William Roben. Unfortunately, after this date, the couple disappear from our story, as no further records of them living in the area, or further afield, have been discovered so far.

The second female Borrower named in the Register is Janet Cooper, living at Kirkhill of Innerpeffray. Her only entry is dated 12th September, 1747.

Lent to Janet Cooper in the Kirkhill of Innerpeffray
book on the unchangeableness of God.

Other than where Janet was living, we have been unable to discover anything else about her. The only possible reference is to a Janet Cowper, baptised at Fowlis Wester, in 1723.

Left: Mr. Pearse’s last Legacy – Two Discourses’ London 1687

The next female Borrower was ‘Elizabeth Faichney, in Loanhead’ on the 16th September, 1752. This Elizabeth was the daughter of Andrew Faichney and Elspeth Brugh, of Drumsachy/Drumsachany, baptised on the 13th November, 1730. There are baptisms recorded for three other children – John (13/11/1725), when the parents are listed as living at Innerpeffray, followed by Jean (15/5/1728) and James (22/1/1732) when they were living at Drumsachy/ Drumsachany. We have been unable to find any map, or descriptive reference, to enable us to identify this location. Drumness and Macheny, two adjacent settlements, may give us a clue as to where it might have been. Or it may even have been Drummawhance. When place names were being written, down the writer at the time would frequently spell them as they were pronounced. What appears on paper may bear little or no resemblance to the correct spelling!

Lent to Elizabeth Faichney in Loanhead Burroughs Saints Happiness

There were numerous branches of the Faichney family living in the area in the 17th and 18th centuries, several of whom borrowed books from the Library. However, from the Borrowers’ Register we can see that both John and James Faichney, in Loanhead, were also borrowing books in 1752 and 1753. John was a Master Stone Mason and he was in charge of the construction of the building in which the library has been housed since 1762.
The name ‘Margaret Morison, of Innerpeffray’, first appears on the 10th May, 1755, when she borrows ‘An Abridgement of Dr. Preston’s VVorks’ by William Jemmat, M.A., 1648 (see left)

There are two later entries for Margaret, one on 29th September, 1756, when she borrows William Perkins ‘Cases of Conscience’, and another on 13th November, 1756, when she borrows William Gouge’s ‘God’s three arrovves’. On the 24th July, 1756, a ‘Duncan Morison, Kirkhill of Innerpeffray, a servant to James Sharp’, borrowed a book. Perhaps he was Margaret’s husband.

The next female Borrower was ‘John Allan’s wife’ on the 29th September, 1756. John Allan had married Helen Dawson, in Muthill, and births and baptisms were recorded for their children, the first being Ann, born on 12th February 1745. She was followed by Mary (24/2/1748), James (7/7/1750), John (9/3/1751), John (20/3/1753) – it was common practice to give the same name to another child after the death of the first one of that name and this occurs again with James (27/7/1755). Then there was Helen (16/11/1757), Margaret (24/7/1760), David (26/4/1764) and Christian (26/4/1767).
John Allan is recorded in the Borrowers’ Register as ‘Gardner at Innerpeffray’, and he borrowed books from 12th May, 1753, until 1756 and then again between 1764 and 1766. However, there is only the one entry for his wife, who would no doubt have been fully occupied looking after their young family and would have had little time to sit and read. Interestingly, the one book that she did borrow was ‘An Abridgement of Dr. Preston’s VVorks’ edited by William Jemmat, M.A., 1648, the same book that her near neighbour, Margaret Morison, had borrowed the previous year. Perhaps Margaret had discussed the book with Helen Allan and encouraged her to come to the library and borrow it for herself.

There was no borrowing at all recorded between the 17th February, 1759 and 16th November, 1763. This was the time when the building that now houses the Library of Innerpeffray was under construction.
There is then a lack of female borrowers until ‘Mrs. Mary Drummond, Innerpeffray’, on the 18th December, 1765. She borrows ‘The History of the Rebellion and Civil Wars in England, Begun in the Year 1641’ by Edward Earl of Clarendon. Oxford 1702 and ‘A Collection of Voyages and Travels Vols. 3 & 4’ . London 1704

On the 9th May, 1771, ‘Louisa Drummond at the Castle of Drummond’, borrowed ‘La Sainte Bible de Port Royal. Louisa was a daughter of Andrew Drummond, who served as a colonel in the French army, and his wife, Magdalena Silvia, who was the daughter of a Lieutenant General in the French army.

She borrowed the same book again on the 31st August, 1773, along with ‘Goguet origins
des loix, des arts, et des sciences. 1758’

Mrs Hepburn, wife of John Hepburn Esq. of Colquhalzie, became a borrower, on the 6th December, 1775. John Hepburn had succeeded to the Colquhalzie Estate on the death of his mother’s cousin, Dorothea Stewart. He married Margaret Bissett, daughter of James Bissett of Ferdal, and they had two children, a daughter, Helen, and a son, Thomas.
The first book Mrs. Hepburn borrowed was ‘A Harmony of four Gospels’ by James Macknight. Her husband was already a borrower before her and their son, Thomas, had first borrowed a book from Innerpeffray in 1771. He borrows again in 1772, 1776 and then with much more frequency between 1790 and 1813.
The next time we see the name of ‘Mrs. Hepburn, of Colquhalzie’, is in January 1782, when she borrows ‘(Jeremiah) Burroughs Saints Happiness’ and ‘An exposition of the Creed’ by John Pearson. However, this entry could be either Mrs. (Margaret) Hepburn borrowing once more or it could be Mrs. (Mary) Hepburn, Thomas’s wife, whom he married in 1781. An entry for a Mrs. Hepburn, Colquhalzie, does not appear again until 23rd August, 1805, when she borrows ‘Biographia Britannica’ and Jeremiah Seed’s ‘Sermons’.

On 1st January, 1789, Margaret Malcom, at Mill of Gask, borrows Burrough’s ‘Gospel Revelation’. There is only this one entry for her and other than where she was living at the time, we have no other information about her. She could be the Margaret Malcom baptised in Auchterarder on the 18th January, 1767, and daughter of William Malcom and Betty Clement. She may be the Margaret Malcom whose name is recorded on the 1841 Census, as living at East Kirkton, Auchterarder. These are the kind of dilemmas faced when trying to identify many Borrowers, both male and female. especially when there are numerous families living in the same areas with the same forenames, surnames and of similar ages.

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Tour of the Tops – Episode 5 “Unusual Reviews”

Welcome to the fifth in this series of blogs that have been appearing every now and then to pique the interest of the wonderful followers of the life of Innerpeffray Library. As always, the theme is a general one, but I try to ensure that there is a variety of books, so hopefully there is something for everyone. For those of you lucky enough to have visited the Library, you will have noticed that the shelves really do go from floor to ceiling and, as a result, there are some shelves that really do not get the attention that they perhaps deserve. This series aims to remedy this injustice by dragging out the ladder and going for a quick Tour of the Tops to see what gems there are awaiting true recognition! This ‘Episode’ looks at some rather exotic food, a rather misleading (to 21st century eyes at least!) essay on tobacco and that rare find – a 17th century book that actually mentions the Library’s founder!

The first book I want to share with you today is all about the East and West Indies. The book is a translation of José de Acosta’s work describing the New World in great detail. Acosta was a Spanish Jesuit missionary who spent a significant amount of time in South America and was one of the first Europeans to describe altitude sickness and to attribute it to the thinness of the air. Given this was two centuries before oxygen was discovered, he was quite far ahead of his time! Fortunately for us, the Library’s copy is indeed a translation, so I was able to read it without too much difficulty! It’s very much the kind of book that you could read cover to cover given the time, but I decided to focus on two specific aspects. One thing to note, as you may have perhaps already guessed, is that the book’s focus is on what we now call South America, and there is not so much on the East and West Indies. I wonder if this is a slight mistranslation of Historia natural y moral de las Indias, the original Spanish title and someone assumed that the plural was because it covered both East and West Indies? Either way, don’t expect much about the Philippines or Jamaica in the book!

So having just said that the book is primarily concerned with South America, I am now going to seemingly contradict myself, as the first thing I want to share is all about… the Poles. No, not the inhabitants of Poland, but the antipodean regions of the globe. There is a rather fascinating description of the form of the world and the inhabitants thereof, as you can see in the pictures below (nothing that the third is not the page immediately after the second!)

Quite a lot of text to digest there, apologies! Starting on the left, we have a description of the world, although not quite as we understand it! I’m sure none of my readers still cling to the myth that Colombus believed the world was flat when he set sail for China, but there have been various historical figures that believed the world is flat, or bowl-shaped (with slightly concave sides), or even floating in water in an endless ocean. It is the latter theory upon which this text touches in the first and second photos, but concluding that “the Sea is never divided from the Lande above a thousand Leagues.” (approximately 3000 miles). It’s an interesting idea that the antipodean point on the earth to land is water and vice versa, although our more enlightened times have comprehensively shown otherwise! Continuing across to the third sheet, we find Acosta quoting heavily from a late Roman author called Lactantius. This chap was not a fan of the round earth theory and dismisses it in quite ridiculous ways. “Is it possible that any should be so grosse and simple as to beleeve there were a people or nation marching with their feete upwardes, and their heades downwardes”? When you think that this is being written without any understanding of gravitational forces, you can kinda of understand where he is coming from, however insane it sounds to us today. Imagine a ball with a figure standing at the top; if you try and place someone on the opposite side, of course their feet are now at the top and things fall from where their feet are towards where their head is. Logical, isn’t it? I do love Acosta’s rebuttal to the idea – a simple and clear demonstration of the inaccuracy of Lactantius’ theory! “Wee that live now at Peru… finde not ourselves to bee hanging in the air, our heades downward, and our feete on high”.

The other thing I wanted to share, as mentioned in the introduction, was some rather interesting food-related information from the New World! On the left you can read about the “Cacao” – source, of course, of chocolate in our modern lives. However, chocolate as we know and love it today was not something that was available at the end of the 16th Century, and so it has a rather different form. As can be seen, the main use is for a drink called “Chocholaté” (looks familiar!) that is “loathsome to such as are not acquainted with it, having a skumme or froth that is very unpleasant to taste”. Hmm, now sounds less familiar! It gets even better as we read on – “They say they make diverse sortes of it, some hote, some colde, and some temperate, and put therein much of that Chili” Wait, WHAT do they put in?! Having once tried a modern attempt at recreating this “chocholaté”, I have to say it is not something I can recommend… Maybe it’s something that you have to get used to over time – or perhaps my tastes are just cultured enough to enjoy it; after all, “they feast noble men as they passe through their Country” with it!

So one final treat from this book before I move on… A substance that is a little less acceptable than chocolate in today’s society! Coca leaves – the source of cocaine. Here we get a description of the practice of chewing the leaves for a mild dose of the cocaine (not that this was known to Acosta at the time of course). Acosta describes the coca as being “like the taste of leather” – hardly a ringing endorsement – but he seems confident in its abilities. One wonders how much he tried. I will leave you with the delightful way that it could be eaten as well as chewed – “mingle it with the ashes of bones burnt and beat in powlder; or with lime”. Given some of the things that allegedly get mixed in with modern cocaine, this sounds worryingly familiar! A most fascinating read indeed, and a book I could certainly recommend to any Library visitor!

The next book on today’s Tour is another Madertie book. If I’ve learned one thing from doing these tours thus far, it’s that Madertie had excellent taste because there are a lot of fascinating books from his collection to enjoy! This one is the “Entertainments of the Cours”, written (unsurprisingly) in French originally and “rendered” into English. As a Francophile, I am always drawn to books about 17th Century France, especially as this promised to discuss life in the early years of the Sun King Louis XIV. What really surprised me, however, was on the next page…

So I first saw, just in the top left corner of the left-hand image, Madertie’s signature, but then, well hello!! I spy a Marquis (or Marques as the printed text claims) whom I recognise! A quick reference back to the date on the frontispiece confirms that this is the second Marquis of Montrose, not his most renowned father who had died in 1650, and therefore this is the nephew of Madertie, as his wife was the sister of the first Marquis. Even with this, I was far from ready for what I found on the next page… A reference to Madertie himself (here spelled Maderty)! I was absolutely stunned; I’ve seen his signature so many times in various books around the Library, as well as his name in print in our various leaflets and signs and whatnot, but here we have a contemporary writing about him! For a man about whom we know almost nothing, this is a huge deal. Yes, sure, it’s a fleeting reference, merely saying that he is a “Noble Soul” known by the first Marquis of Montrose, but it is a reference nonetheless. The dedication is from the English translator, but what I find fascinating is the fact that this was published in 1658, under the Cromwellian Commonwealth, yet it praises people who had fought against and been executed by that regime! One wonders how they got away with this at the time! It’s not as if the printing was done abroad and the book smuggled into the country; it was sold at the “three Pigeons in St. Paul’s Churchyard” – a common location for booksellers. So here we have a book that Madertie owned and could read his name in print; what else does it have to show us?

After some meandering through the text, I came across this wonderful section on Metoposcopy. “What is Metoposcopy” I hear you cry? Well, do see this wonderful blog post from Dr. James Grant which talks about it. To summarise briefly, it was the ‘science’ of assessing a person’s future by the lines on their forehead in relation to the planets. It was quite in vogue during the late 16th and 17th Centuries and there were a lot of books published on the subject. Clearly it was discussed at the French Court during that period, despite a ban on the practice by Pope Sixtus V. As you can tell from the text, each line on your forehead corresponds to a planet (or other celestial body) and through this, the expert metoposcist could tell all sorts of secrets about your life. Quite the bizarre practise – your future would have been literally written on your face! It does sound like the kind of thing that foppish courtiers, well isolated from the realities of the world, would have found utterly fascinating!

Today’s final book is a series of letters from a chap called James Howell, who had a quite a colourful life. He was an Anglo-Welsh historian, who become a clerk of the Privy Council during the Civil Wars, and was consequently unable to take up the role and instead spent some time in the Fleet Prison, where we started writing a selection of books. His bibliography includes the first epistolary novel in English, a “New English Grammar” and one of his books features the first recorded use of the phrase “all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy”! Here, we have a series of letters he wrote throughout his life to a variety of different people. It should be noted that there is some doubt over whether all of the letters he claimed to have written were actually sent as described, so take some of the following with a mild pinch of salt! I am going to share three letters, or extracts from letters, with you, shown below. The left hand one, I shall just leave for your amusement as I don’t think it needs any further description!

So the middle letter is the one alluded to at the beginning of this ‘episode’, with a most amusing description of tobacco. Apparently, “it helps Digestion, taken a-while after Meat; it makes one void Rheum, break Wind, and keeps the Body open”! Well, just marvellous indeed – who wouldn’t want to benefit from such, err, effects? I have to admit, I was somewhat baffled at first by the line about it being “a good Companion to one that converseth with dead Men” – didn’t realise that smoking was a necromantic aid… Having said this, the most incredible line of all is the one saying that “The Smoke of it is one of the wholesomest Scents”. Wow, I don’t know where we went wrong over the last four hundred or so years, but clearly we got things wrong at some point with tobacco if that’s how it used to smell!!

The right-hand letter brings back to the previous book with its description of the execution of the Marquis of Montrose in 1650. Don’t read if you are too squeamish as it goes into a fair bit of detail… I will also apologise in advance to any Scottish readers, as in my five years living up here, I have yet to see any examples of “cruelty from Scotland” so I think this is some gross slander! The latter section refers to a young Charles II, who was crowned in Scone in January 1651 under the terms of the Treaty of Breda, wherein he fully submitted to the power of the Kirk in Scotland and undertook to introduce this to England. Needless to say, he completely repudiated the treaty on being restored to the throne in 1660!

So ends the fifth ‘episode’ of the Tour of the Tops with three letters detailing some of the more unusual aspects of 17th century life! I hope that you have enjoyed this varied selection of books from the hardest to reach shelves of Innerpeffray! As the Library is now open once again, I do encourage you all to come by and visit when you can so you can perhaps explore these incredible books for yourself. The “Tours” will be taking a short break for the next month or so but will certainly be returning in October as there are plenty more shelves awaiting exploration!

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Tour of the Tops – Episode 4 “Different Viewpoints”

Welcome to the fourth in this series of blogs that have been appearing throughout the year to interest, intrigue and, one hopes, entertain followers of the goings-on of Innerpeffray Library. The theme is a general one, but should deliver up something to pique everyone’s interest at some point. For those of you lucky enough to have visited the Library, you will have noticed that the shelves really do go from floor to ceiling and, as a result, there are some shelves that really do not get the attention that they perhaps deserve. This series aims to remedy this injustice by dragging out the ladder and going for a quick Tour of the Tops to see what gems there are awaiting true recognition! This ‘Episode’ looks at ‘orrible deaths and mysterious going-ons throughout English history, discovers the somewhat wilder side of our most famous playwright and has a wander through the stars with a slightly pedantic writer of marginalia!

To change things up somewhat from previous ‘Episodes’, I am going to start with not just one book, but two! They are quite similar in theme and approach, so make a good pairing and I found them fairly close together as well. The first book is “The Abridgement of the English History”, published in 1660 and it is what we call a “Madertie book” as it was owned by the Founder of the Library, David Drummond, third Lord Madertie, as you can tell by the signature in the top left corner. The quality of the research for the book can be guessed at on the front cover – you will note that William the Conqueror is said to have come “into this Nation in the year 1023”, which would have been a great shock to William, given it was twelve years before he was born. I mean, he undoubtedly was a bit of a child prodigy, but there are limits!

The book reads a bit like a tabloid history of England, with a strong focus on ‘orrible deaths, fantastic goings-on and such, rather than great affairs of state, or major events in other countries at the time. The page on the left gives a good example of the things that the author considered essential reading for his target market, with executions, industrial accidents, conjoined twins and unusual finds from the sea all making an appearance in the text. Of course, 1552 was an otherwise quiet year… No need to discuss the rise of John Dudley to the Dukedom of Northumberland, from which he launched what was effectively a coup d’état the following year on the death of Edward VI. And who really cares about the imposition of the Protestant Book of Common Prayer when you can read about the hanging of Sir Richard Vine and Sir Martin Patridge? Truly this was the tabloid history book of its day!

The book with which I have paired it is in a similar vein, although admittedly a little less focused on the sensationalist side of history, whatever it says on the front cover! “The Plain Englishman’s Historian” dates from 1679 and manages to keep the spotlight on significant events a little bit more than the “Abridgement” does, although the dates are not always those that one learns at school! Let’s take a couple of examples. The first one (below left) covers the death of Queen Elizabeth I, and also features a guest appearance by one the best-known villains in English history. You will note that Queen Elizabeth is said to have died “on the very last day of the year 1602”. “But wait!” I hear you cry “She died on March 24th 1603! How can that be the very last day of the year 1602?”. Well, that’s because the year used to be reckoned from March 25th (Lady Day) and not 1st January as we do now. This all changed as part of the move from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar in 1752 (this move involved ‘missing’ 11 days that year and is the reason why the tax year starts in early April – it is eleven days after the old New Year’s Day). So here the date is correct for a book published in 1679, even though it looks somewhat odd to a modern reader!

The second example (above) is from the beginning of Elizabeth’s life – the very beginning in fact! Again, the year is one out from that learned today, although this time it is a year later than the normally given 1533! This time I wonder if it is just a printer’s error – one assumes that the threes and fours were fairly close and perhaps it was just a little mistake when putting the print together – but it is possible that it was a vague attempt at disguising the fact that Elizabeth was conceived out of wedlock, given her parents married in January 1533 and she was born in the September. Given Elizabeth’s high favourability even 75 years after her death, her parents’ marriage was a tricky topic to cover – as you can imagine when the husband orders the execution of the wife… As a final note, serving as a nice linking piece between these books and our next, I leave you with a mention of a certain Sir John Oldcastle, Lord Cobbam (see left). He was a follower of the heretical teachings of Wycliffe – a Lollard – and as such was executed in 1417. However, his friendship with a young Henry V forms a major part of the works of a chap who crops up in our next book…

And so we move onto the next book – “A new and general Biographical Dictionary”, published in 1784. Faced with such a selection of books (it was a twelve-volume set!), I decided to settle for looking up someone I knew would be therein: Mr. William Shakespeare! I am quite the fan of the bard’s plays, and one of my favourite books in the Library is a Hollinshed’s History, used as the source material for Macbeth. Given this book was written over 160 years after Shakespeare’s death, it’s far from a first hand account of his life, but it does shed some light on one the least known periods of his life. From the birth of his twins in 1585 until references to him in London in 1592 (including Robert Greene’s description of him as an “upstart crow”), Shakespeare disappears from the historical record for seven years. All sorts of theories abound – he became a soldier, he went travelling (especially to Italy), he was a husband in Stratford – but the Biographical Dictionary has a different idea. This theory is one that still does the rounds from time to time, although the form does vary sometimes. Here though, it is categorically clear. Shakespeare robbed the deer park of a local landowner multiple times and, as such, was prosecuted. He responded as any guilty poacher would (!) and wrote a hate-filled ballad about the landowner. This so inflamed the situation that he was forced to leave the county for his own safety and as such he ran away to London where he fell in with the players due to his “wit and humour”. It is a really intriguing account, and one wonders if there were any records available at the time to corroborate this story. It seems to have originated with Shakespeare’s first biographer, Nicholas Rowe, in the early 18th Century. I don’t suppose we shall ever know the events that drove a Warwickshire wool merchant’s son to leave his hometown and seek his fortune in London with the players, but I do quite enjoy this suggestion! Before I close out this section, I should add that Sir John Oldcastle from the previous book was the inspiration for Sir John Falstaff in Shakespeare’s Henry IV and Henry V plays, as well as The Merry Wives of Windsor. Originally called Sir John Oldcastle, the Lord Cobham of the time objected to his ancestor being used in such a fashion and so the name was changed to avoid trouble.

Scandalous Shakespearean Stories!

Today’s final book is one I chose simply because of its subject – a word that is just a delight to enunciate at any opportunity – the orrery! What’s an orrery? Well, it’s one of these…


Isn’t it just gorgeous? A scale model of the solar system with the planets shown in their relative positions to one another! The book itself is called “The Description and Use of the Globes and the Orrery” and it dates from 1732. The book has a lot of information about the solar system as it was understood in the 18th century, with a diagram showing the orbits of the planets (I make no apology for not including it here as the orrery is a far better drawing!). A few things jumped out at me as I read through the book. Firstly, there were a number of strange symbols cropping up throughout the text. I was a little unsure as to what they meant – were these an unusual form of printer’s marks? Page 45 had the answer: They were symbols for the signs of the Zodiac, as you can see below:

These are, of course, very similar to the signs still used today – so please pardon my ignorance! In addition, there was an interesting piece of marginalia on the page where I first spotted the zodiacal symbols that ties in nicely with one of our previous books. It is a reference to the dates of the equinoxes and the author refers to these as happening “(according to our way of reckoning) about the 10th of March and 12th of September”. At the side there is noted “O.S = to 20th March to 22nd Sept.”. Clearly someone was reviewing this post-1752 and wanted to ensure the book was brought somewhat up to date. Our mysterious marginalian (suggestions for a better term for someone who writes marginalia are welcomed!!) has further comments throughout the book, often adding further detail to the author’s work, such as the one below.

So ends the fourth ‘episode’ of the Tour of the Tops with an overly enthusiastic marginaliographer (is this a better term?) updating his book on globes and orreries! I hope that you have enjoyed this varied selection of books from the hardest to reach shelves of Innerpeffray! As the Library is now open once again, I do encourage you all to come by and visit when you can so you can perhaps explore these incredible books for yourself. The next ‘episode’ will take a look at foreign food, a sycophantic dedication with a strong Innerpeffray connection and a slightly inaccurate essay on tobacco. Hopefully this will have whetted your appetite for the next Tour of the Tops, coming to the blog soon!

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Tour of the Tops Part 3 – A Historical Perspective

Welcome to the third in a new series of blogs that will hopefully be appearing throughout the year to interest, intrigue and, one hopes, entertain followers of the goings-on of Innerpeffray Library. The theme is a general one, but should deliver up something to pique everyone’s interest at some point. For those of you lucky enough to have visited the Library, you will have noticed that the shelves really do go from floor to ceiling and, as a result, there are some shelves that really do not get the attention that they perhaps deserve. This series aims to remedy this injustice by dragging out the ladder and going for a quick Tour of the Tops to see what gems there are awaiting true recognition! This ‘Episode’ takes a look at some vaguely topical references, as well as taking a look at Sweden’s most famous King!

I moved into a new cabinet for today’s tour and this one was filled with a lot of books with very similar titles. The first set were all called the “Annual Register” for different years and these proved to be jolly interesting. I happened to be looking on 4th July and, as such, I sought out the 1776 edition to see if it had any juicy commentary on the Declaration of Independence. I was not disappointed… The section on “History of Europe” had a superb section describing the occasion as “deeply regretted by every true friend to this empire”. The declaration itself is “not more temperate in stile or composition, than it is in act”. Scathing criticism of the Declaration there! It is not perhaps as strong as the text found within the Scots Magazine for the same year, as that contains the full text of the Declaration with substantial amounts of editorial critique, whereas the text is just presented here without comment. The “Annual Register” does, however, have a number of other really fascinating sections. Not only does it have an account of major events during the year, but it also has significant births, deaths and marriages as well as a plethora of papers on different subjects and even some poetry! If you want to capture the feel of the book, it felt like it fitted the tagline “if you only buy one newspaper this year, make sure it’s the ‘Annual Register’!”.

I could quite easily spend the rest of this “episode” on just the book (and to think, this is just one year of many that we have at the Library!), so I shall just throw in a few choice sections from this one. Firstly, we have an account of a meeting between a British noblewoman and a man referred to as “Il Re”… The exiled Bonnie Prince Charlie! A lot of the text is taken up with whether she should reply to him or not – apparently the Pope had ordered that no English stranger should speak with him! – but, as can be seen from the section in the photo, it seems that natural curiosity won the day in the end! Her description does the elderly Prince no favours: “He appears bloated and red in the face, his countenance heavy and sleepy, which is attributed to his having given into excess of drinking”. It seems that this account would do little to inspire any Jacobites eager to hear of the man they believed was the rightful King!

The final section I want to share is on Charades, but not quite as we know them now… Instead of being a silent game to guess a book, film, TV show etc., it appears to be a formalised form of riddles with compound nouns. The author clearly feels the need to defend them against those who are unimpressed by them as can be seen in the photo! A reference is made to David Garrick, actor and playwright, playing the game too, so it must be acceptable. I leave this remarkable book with one of the Charades (answer at the end of the “Episode”!):

“My first is one of England’s prime boasts; it rejoices the ear of a horse, and anguishes the toe of a man. My second, when brick, is good, when stone better, when wooden, best of all. My whole is famous alike for rottenness and tin.” Good luck!

My second book was also part of a large series on the upper shelves, this time concerning the proceedings of the Houses of Commons and Lords. I was originally looking for further Independence Day material, but got distracted by the first volume and delving into the correspondence between Parliament and the newly restored King Charles II in 1660. This was a fascinating time, as the kingdom effectively underwent a coup d’état that called for the restoration of the Stuart monarchy after the Commonwealth fell apart. This, of course, entailed quite the about turn for the House of Commons given it had been responsible for executing the new King’s father… I should, of course, note that by the time these proceedings began, the “Long” Parliament had been dissolved and a new body elected, so this was not the same group of men who had been in power during the Civil War and was quite clearly very Royalist in outlook. Having said that, it seems that the tone chosen was obsequious in nature, perhaps too extremely so! Charles I is described as the new King’s “most Royal Father of glorious Memory” – not a description one would recognise of him in today’s history books! The critical passage, though, is that in the extract below:

Proceeding of the House of Commons, London, 1742

This was the crucial text that effectively decreed that the past eleven years had not happened and that there had been no Commonwealth, Cromwell had never become Lord Protector and that King Charles II had become King the moment his “most Royal Father” had died. It also opened the door wide open for prosecution of those who had acted against the new (oops, sorry, of course, he’s not new anymore!) King during the previous eleven years, as they were acting against the man whom God has declared to be the Undoubted King! Powerful stuff, and with a huge impact on British history, restoring, as it did, the line of monarchs that continues to this day.

As with the Annual Register, I feel that there will be a lot of fascinating information across the other books in this series, but again I just focussed on this one! I had a meander through the rest of the text and was intrigued by a number of marginalia and even a manicule! Interestingly, some of the marginalia appeared to have been cut off and, on consultation with the Keeper of the Books, this indicates that they were written before the book was rebound, which can give some indication of the date of the notes as most of the Library’s books were rebound in the 19th Century. I wonder who made notes and to what purpose? The text “Debate on this” appears a number of times. Is it a note about the debate described in the text, or could it be perhaps a note from a schoolmaster to a pupil, or a reminder to himself that this would be a good thing for a class to discuss? My guess is as good as yours! It really is amazing what you can find in books at Innerpeffray!

Our final book today is, unlike the other two, a one-off! It’s not part of a big series, but it was quite a sizeable book nonetheless! It is also one of the 400 or so books that has been in the Library since its inception, as the frontispiece shows with the signature of Madertie at the top left next to the title “The Swedish Intelligencer” – an account of the life of Gustavus Adolphus, King of Sweden and Lion of the North! I have to admit, this is another book that I was expecting to find as it’s one of the Keeper’s favourite books! Gustavus Adolphus was perhaps Sweden’s most famous monarch and led Protestant armies to victories as part of the Thirty Years War, so this account of his life would have made for extremely popular reading in Protestant Britain of the 1630s. It was published within two years of his death at the Battle of Lützen so very much capitalising on his stellar reputation. The book has a very detailed account of his life, but with a clear focus on the battles and, as a result, there are some really lovely maps and battle plans within the book. However, it seems that some of them must have been rushed somewhat… Look at the map below

Seems like a perfectly normal plan of a battle, yes? With a title at the top? Hmm, well, a closer look at the text shows that this is not actually a title…

Apologies for the not great photo quality, but I feel it has to be seen to be believed! “Our Cutter hath made the Ordnance too long, to lye too farre into the River. The Hole also marked R, should have beene on the right hand of Bridge.” Yes, that’s right, there is a note from the printer saying the image has a number of errors! Unbelievable! It just goes to show the difficulty that they would have trying to redo the woodcut – it was clearly a ‘better’ option to put the explanation in at the top when printing it. Can you imagine a modern day book doing likewise..?!

And with that fascinating insight into the mind of a 17th Century printer, we come to the end of this third ‘episode’ of the Tour of the Tops. I trust that you have enjoyed the latest selection from the uppermost shelves of Innerpeffray! Unlike last time, I am pleased to say that I have another three books ready to share with you, so join me soon for the fourth instalment where we read about ‘orrible deaths and mysterious going-ons throughout English history, discover the somewhat wilder side of our most famous playwright and have a wander through the stars with a slightly pedantic writer of marginalia! All of this will be coming soon to the Innerpeffray blog, so keep an eye out and stay safe.

The answer to the riddle is Corn-wall (with apologies to any current residents – I am sure it is no longer famous for its rottenness! It has been suggested that this is a reference to “rotten boroughs” – constituencies that had a very small number of voters, often under the control of a single person, for historical reasons. Apparently, Cornwall was home to a number of them! Alternative explanations welcomed!).

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Instruction, and Good Counsell, may be furthered by an Honest and Pleasant Recreation

Not the least of the attractions of the green and leafy policies of the Library of Innerpeffray is the presence of red squirrels, a fact now emphasised by the embroidery kit depicting a squirrel on sale from the Library shop. The image is taken from the emblem book of George Wither (1588-1667): Wiki tells us that Wither had quite a colourful career, supporting the King against the Scottish Covenantors in 1639, and then Parliament in the English Civil War. However A collection of emblemes, ancient and moderne dates from earlier, having being published in London, by A.M. for Robert Allot, in 1635.

So what are “emblems” in the sense used here? Emblems were a pan-European genre of illustrated books which flourished particularly in the sixteenth and seventeenth century, and which reflected a world view in which thought was codified by visual and verbal associations, rather than by mathematics. To generalise wildly, the idea was to take word and text together, observe truth and draw a lesson, or amusement, or both: the combination of word and image would make the apprehension, conscious or unconscious, of the message clearer. We see the same thing at work in modern advertising. Emblems were not however restricted to books, or to Europe. More and more evidence of their use in architecture is emerging, as is their exploitation outwith Europe, for instance in South America, where indigenous imagery was used alongside European materials, notably in religious publications and buildings.

Scotland has a strong position in the emblem world. No less a person than Mary Queen of Scots used emblems for political ends in her embroidery; there are at least three important buildings with clear emblematic features: Pinkie Palace (a private building in Musselburgh), Caerlaverock Castle, and (closest to Innerpeffray) Culross Palace. The world’s best collection of emblem books is now in Glasgow University Library.

An emblem embroidered by Mary Queen of Scots (Victoria and Albert Museum)

The Intrepid Squirrel

Innerpeffray’s single emblem book is, however, the copy of Wither used for the embroidery kit. We can gather the moral intent from the full title: A Collection of Emblemes, ancient and modern: quickened with metricall illustrations, both Morall and Divine: and disposed into lotteries, that Instruction, and Good Counsell, may be furthered by an honest and pleasant recreation. So the idea is to enjoy what you’re looking at and reading, but make sure you gain something from it. The thing about “lotteries” is potentially confusing for anyone reading the Innerpeffray copy, because the end of the book is missing, including a final leaf which incorporates two spinning pointers, which allow random selection (hence “lottery”) of particular emblems, and of connected moral lessons contained in supplementary verses, at the end of each of four parts. However, as it survives this copy can still be read as a “normal” emblem book, using the images and verses in conjunction.

There are two squirrel emblems: this particular squirrel comes from emblem 26 in Book 1.

The three parts have to be taken together: we have a pithy saying or motto at the top, a picture, and a longer verse. It is no accident that this emblem was chosen “during these strange times” of the corona virus:

With Patience, I the Storm sustaine,

For, Sun-shine still doth follow Raine.

Then comes the picture, an engraving of high quality by Crispin de Passe, lifted from an earlier publication by Rollenhagen, published in The Netherlands in 1611-1613, with its original motto: “Durabo” (I will endure/survive). We see the squirrel sitting out a rain storm, rather than lying “heartlesse in her Mossy dray”, as we read in the following long verse which spells out the moral points being raised. The lesson, stated in the last lines of the verse, is clear, reflecting the lines above the picture:

All Griefe shall have an ending, I am sure;

And, therefore, I with Patience, will Endure.

And the admonition to patience in adversity would be hammered home in the further verse which anyone operating the “lottery” (now missing in Innerpeffray, as noted above) would be directed to:

Thou, to Impatience, art inclin’d;

And, hast a discontented Minde;

That, therefore, thou mayst Patience learne,

And, thine owne Over-sights discerne,

Thy Lot (as to a Schoole to day)

Hath sent thee to the Squirrells Dray;

For, she instructs thee, to indure,

Till, thou, a better state, procure.

The odd thing is that peseverance in squirrels is not noted in classical sources, although Pliny notes that they take sensible precautions. This doesn’t really matter in terms of the message of this emblem.

The Wise Athenian Owl

The present writer has privileged information that a further embroidery will be on sale soon, again based on Wither, emblem 17 in Book 2. This time the image is one of four featuring owls.

Wither’s Emblem Owl – annotated with Innerpeffray ‘scribbles’

Again there could be Covid 19 significance in its choice, for while the pithy saying at the top is pretty commonplace:

By Studie, and by Watchfulnesse,

The Jemme of Knowledge, we possesse.

we read in the longer verse the stern instruction that:

… in keeping Home, you do not spend

Your houres in sloth, or, to some fruitlesse end.

More Squirrels

Other emblem images depict squirrels. This image dating from a very early emblem of 1540 shows a squirrel using its tail as a sail to cross a stretch of water, symbolising the need to use all means available to help oneself.

1540 Squirrel Emblem

Wither uses the same motif, Book 3, Emblem 2:

Wither’s Emblem of Squirrel

However, images of squirrels and owls need not be anchored in a quest for serious moral purpose. Probably the most well-known modern image of this motif will jump out at anyone who knows their Squirrel Nutkin!

Beatrix Potter – Squirrel Nutkin

And, lo and behold, we have an owl too:

Beatrix Potter – Squirrel Nutkin

It is up to readers of this blog to determine the moral purport of these images, but the coincidence is charming, and I’d be moderately certain Beatrix Potter knew something about the tradition.

[For the record, the Innerpeffray Wither is recorded as having been borrowed seven times, between 1816 and 1887. The book has Lord Madertie’s signature: it is one of the original books collated at the founding of the Library.]

Links for more information and future reading…

Buy a Squirrel or an Owl embroidery kit, based on the emblems in our shop here

Complete copy of Wither:

https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uiuo.ark:/13960/t6d22jz4q&view=1up&seq=303

Stirling Maxwell Collection, University of Glasgow, Library: https://www.gla.ac.uk/myglasgow/specialcollections/collectionsa-z/stirlingmaxwellcollection/#

Caerlaverock:

https://www.historicenvironment.scot/visit-a-place/places/caerlaverock-castle/

Culross:

https://www.nts.org.uk/visit/places/culross

The 1540 squirrel: http://www.emblems.arts.gla.ac.uk/french/emblem.php?id=FCGa067

Squirrel Nutkin:

https://www.gutenberg.org/files/14872/14872-h/14872-h.htm

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Borrower of the Month: Sinclair Korner – teacher, writer, campaigner, rambler.

When browsing the books at Innerpeffray it is a rare coincidence for us to come across one that
was written by a borrower. As of now, we know of only two, possibly three, people who fit this
scenario and Sinclair Korner is one of them.
Searching through the Borrowers Register for potential candidates for ‘Borrower of the Month’ I
added Dr Korner and his family, from Crieff, to my list for further research. At that stage, the name
did not register as one I had seen in a little book, entitled ‘Rambles Round Crieff’, published in
1858.

‘Rambles Round Crieff and Excursions Into The Highlands’ by Sinclair Korner, Ph. Dr.


Sinclair Corner (he changed his name to Korner circa 1850) was born at Eastland, Orphir, Orkney, on 23rd February, 1823, to parents Andrew Corner and Hellen (Nelly) Baikie who had married in 1812.

In 1821, Andrew is recorded as a farmer at Swartabreck, Orphir, with 8 Black Cattle, 2 Swine, 1 Boat. Two of their several children, Sinclair and Philip, would both become teachers. Having spent his early life on Orkney, Sinclair turns up in Edinburgh on the 1841 Census, as a Journeyman Tailor, lodging with John Corner (occupation listed as ‘Clothing’) and family. Perhaps
John Corner was a relative.

Where Sinclair Corner was during the years, 1841 to 1845, remains a bit of a mystery, including when, where and how, he gained enough knowledge of French, German, Latin, Italian and Mathematics, to enable him to teach and translate. In ‘Rambles around Crieff’ he refers to the headmaster of the school (himself) teaching French and German because he had travelled on the
continent, but when exactly that was is difficult to determine from the information gleaned so far.

‘Sinclair Corner, Orphir’, appears in the Alumni records of enrolment for King’s College, Aberdeen, 1845-49, as one of many who ‘studied on the Masters of Art degree course but who did not graduate’. It was not unusual for students to attend various classes and if necessary, for future employment purposes, obtain a certificate directly from individual Professors, rather than to
actually graduate. Perhaps that is what Sinclair, did after attending courses on French, German, Latin, Italian and Mathematics, possibly at another university such as Edinburgh. However, he was obviously at King’s College, Aberdeen, for the first session of the 1845 – 49 course because at the end of it he was awarded first prize for the ‘Junior Greek Class’, notification of which appeared in the Aberdeen Press and Journal on the 1st April, 1846. There is no further mention of him in the University records and by the 24th April 1846 he is advertising himself in the Glasgow Herald, as one of the assistants in the English department of the High School, able to ‘devote his Afternoon Hours to private Tuition, in English, Latin, Greek and Mathematics.’
The next time his name appears is when he marries Frances Gratwick, in Brighton, in the autumn of 1849. She was born in Sussex and was working there as a servant on the 1841 Census, so it is possible that Sinclair met her, at some point after 1846, whilst on his travels to and from the Continent.
By the time of the Census taken on 30th March, 1851, their surname had changed to Korner and the couple were living in Edinburgh with daughter Fanny, 5 months old. Sinclair Korner is recorded as a Teacher of Languages and Mathematics. In 1852, the family moved to Crieff, where he took up the position of Schoolmaster at the Parochial School. From the time he arrived in Crieff he was calling himself, confusingly, Dr. Korner or Sinclair Korner or Sinclair Korner Ph. Dr.. Where, when and how he obtained the latter qualification we have yet to discover, as it was not being awarded in the UK until 1917! Germany was the only country awarding the qualification in the 1840s and it did not require the extensive study that is required today. However, as to how, and where, he acquired the qualification does not detract from the fact that he was obviously a very clever man.
Sinclair Korner is first recorded as a Borrower at Innerpeffray on 17th January 1853, when he took out ‘The Works of Mr. Abraham Cawley.’

The Works of Mr. Abraham Cawley, London 1710

His name does not appear in the Borrowers register again until January 1858, when he is recorded as Dr. Korner. However, during those intervening years he had become well known in Crieff. His name regularly appeared in the local newspapers:- to publicise a new book he had written/translated; to advertise classes in both French and pure Mathematics ‘for men of business’ – advising that both these subjects are essential for the civil service examination; to promote his series of evening lectures on the laws of health and happiness; recording his frequent participation as a speaker at the Penny Readings, a popular entertainment held regularly in the Masons’ Hall, and also at the Crieff Fortnightly lectures; announcing his regular talks to the meetings of the Total Abstinence Society; his involvement on the committee of the Mechanics Institute. He was also writing long articles,
about the works of famous authors, playwrights and poets, and these appeared in newspapers north and south of the border.
He was obviously very forthright in his opinions and some of the articles and letters appearing in local, and national, newspapers were not always complementary about him, nor was he about others. From reading the reports it becomes obvious that he much preferred teaching older pupils, in higher level subjects. In November, 1856, when a new school was being built in Crieff, he wrote that he felt the parochial school should provide not just an elementary education but should move to Grammar or academy status, in order to provide young people with a complete education in the town. He wanted an assistant (well paid and housed) to teach the more elementary levels and in 1857 it was agreed that a second schoolmaster should be appointed. An advertisement appeared in the Strathearn Herald, on 28th March, 1857, for a second schoolmaster for the “Crieff Parochial Grammar School” to start the 1st May. The assistant did not stay for long and was gone by the 1859-60 session.
However, the annual inspections of the school had not always run smoothly for Dr. Korner and on one occasion there were no pupils present when the examiners turned up! On another occasion he is reported as having ‘got into a tussle’ when he challenged one of the inspectors on his examination of the pupils, saying that the man did not understand his
system which was ‘different and greatly improved, superior to those of other schools and that only he was qualified to examine them.’ At other times the examiners were full of praise – ‘proficiency displays in English, reading, history and French were highly complimented’.

There were other disagreements, especially when his support for the increasing of teachers annual salary from the standard £35, appeared widely in the newspapers. James MacRosty, clerk to the heritors and minister of Crieff, was particularly scathing of him in a letter to The Scotsman of October, 1861. He pointed out that, at Mr. Korner’s request, the heritors had erected a ‘handsome new schoolroom to accommodate 150 pupils’ and voluntarily contributed largely towards the salary of an assistant. However the number of pupils attending the new school does not seem to have reached anywhere near its capacity and at the time of Mr. MacRosty’s letter, there were possibly just twelve pupils in attendance that time. Whilst Mr. Korner’s ccomplishments were not in question, the fact remained that the parish school in Crieff was nearly deserted. Mr. MacRosty went on to submit that that ‘£35 per annum, with a free house and garden, besides fees and requisites, afford Mr. Korner liberal renumeration for the work done’. He closes by pointing out that the sole object in giving Mr. Korner the capitation grant, in addition to his salary, was to stimulate him to activity, by making his own pecuniary gain depend in part upon the prosperity of the school. Offering ‘payment by results’ is not such a modern idea after all!
No wonder Sinclair had little time to borrow books again from Innerpeffray until once in January 1858 and then not again until December 1861. Another gap from then until June 1862, when he begins to borrow books on a more regular basis. It would appear, from the titles of books, that on many occasions, he was probably borrowing them to complement his teaching. Perhaps he was swotting up on the facts before he taught them to his classes. At other times he was presumably reading for pleasure.
Books on historical topics feature strongly in his borrowing, as do the various Chambers stalwarts – The Book of Days; Chamber’s Repository; Cyclopedia of English Literature; Chamber’s Papers; Chamber’s Educational Journal – all crammed full of information and facts about everything you might want to know.

The novels and poems of Sir Walter Scott, the Plays of Shakespeare, Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, other novels written by authors of the time, and a variety of books referring to the discovery of foreign lands, foreign travel and spending time in places such
as Africa and Australia. He also borrowed books that reflected his wider interests and knowledge of languages.
In December 1864 he brings his daughter and son to the library to borrow books for the first time. As both his wife and daughter were called Fanny (Frances) it is difficult to decipher at times whether it is mother or daughter doing the borrowing. There are
numerous entries in the name of Miss Korner, but when the entry is Fanny Korner we are unable to be certain which one it is, except by looking at the choice of books borrowed and even then, that is no guarantee. There are far more entries for just Sinclair Korner, Crieff, than for Dr. Korner, and his occupation as a teacher is not recorded until after December Son, Sinclair jnr. is clearly recorded each time he borrows.

Extracts from the Borrowing Record for the Korner family. Entries just under Sinclair Korner, Crieff, unless shown otherwise. Book titles as recorded in theRegister.

  • 17/1/1853 The Works of Mr Abraham Cowley
  • 25/1/1858 Canterbury Tales Dr. Korner
  • 27/12/1861 Don Quixote; Mémoires de Maximilien de Bethune;
  • Chambers Book of Days
  • 18/6/1862 Agathos or Sunday Stories; Book of Days; The History of St Kilda
  • 2/8/1862 History of England
  • 4/10/1862 Chamber’s Cyclopedia of English Literature
  • 16/6/1863 Chamber’s Repository; Lowell Offering; The Eliphant; Chamber’s Papers;Plurality of the World
  • 2/1/1864 Laws & Acts of Parliament made by King James I; Pictorial Gallery;The Plays of Shakespeare
  • 15/10/1864 Chamber’s Cyclopedia of English Literature; The Lamplighter;Little Robertson
  • 7/12/1864 Scotts Prose work; Bride of Lammermuir; Katie Stewart Miss Korner
  • Five years of a hunter’s life in South Africa; Chamber’s Papers Sinclair jnr.
  • 13/5/1865 The Roving Englishman; Book of Days; Chamber’s Papers; Lamartines Travels in Africa
  • 21/6/1865 Chamber’s Repository; Life of Nelson; Queechy; Chamber’s Papers Miss Korner
  • 7/9/1865 Five years in South Africa; Chamber’s Library for Young People; Book of Days; Susan Hopely Fanny Korner
  • 31/10/1865 Life of Oliver Cromwell; Ten Years in Australia; Memoirs of Englishwomen Fanny Korner
  • 5/5/1866 Tacitus Dr. Korner
  • Chamber’s Repository Miss Korner
  • Tales of a grandfather; Conquest of Florida Sinclair jnr
  • 20/6/1866 Scot’s Discovery of Witchcraft; Dr. Korner
  • Chamber’s Repository Miss Korner
  • Chamber’s Repository; Ferdinand and Isabella Sinclair jnr.
title page of Scott's Discovery of Witchcraft 1665
The Discovery of Witchcraft, by Reginald Scot. London 1665
  • 27/12/1866 Chamber’s Educational Journal; Ivanhoe; Chamber’s Cyclopedia of English Literature Dr. Korner
  • Book of Days Miss Korner
  • 9/2/1867 Woodstock; Chamber’s Educational Journal
  • Chamber’s Papers Fanny Korner
  • 2/1/1868 Chambers Encyclopedia; Salmagunds; Chamber’s Papers Dr Korner
  • 27/11/1869 History of Frederick II of Prussia; Waverly; The Abbott; Tails of Crusaders Fanny Korner
  • 8/1/1870 Antiquary; Old Mortality; Guy Mannering Miss Korner
  • 10/12/1870 Hesiodus Greek & Latin Ph D Sinclair Korner, Schoolmaster
  • 30/11/1872 Redgauntlet; The Talisman Sinclair Korner, Schoolmaster
  • 16/4/1873 Cicero – of the nature of the Gods Sinclair Korner, Teacher
  • 29/8/1873 The Plays of Shakespeare; Bacon’s Works; Canterbury Tales; Spencer’s Faerie Queen Dr Korner, Teacher
  • 10/1/1874 Lydgates’ Fall of Princes Sinclair Korner, Teacher
  • 28/2/1874 Bacon’s Works Dr Korner, Teacher
  • 20/5/1874 Plato’s Dialogues Sinclair Korner, Teacher
  • Essays Moral & Humorous Miss Korner
  • 31/7/1874 Plutarchs Lives of ye Greeks and Romans 2 vols Sinclair Korner, Teacher
Les Vies Des Hommes Illustres Grecs et Romans, Paris 1619
  • 25/8/1874 Appian in French – Des Guerres des Romains Sinclair Korner, Teacher
  • 31/12/1874 Antiquary; Woodstock Sinclair Korner, Teacher
  • 12/4/1875 Last books returned to the library


On the 3rd July, 1873, an item had appeared in the Dundee Courier, noting that at a recent meeting of the School Board, Crieff, it was unanimously agreed to accept the resignation of Dr Korner, the Board agreeing to give him a retiring allowance of £50 per annum for life. Little did the members of the Board realise that they would be paying him for the next thirty six years! The
family remained in Crieff until 1875, when they moved back to Edinburgh. Mrs. Korner died there in 1879, aged 57, and in the same year, their son, Sinclair, emigrated to New Zealand, arriving in Dunedin on June 4th. Daughter, Fanny, continued to live with her father.
Dr. Korner did not retire quietly and his name continued to appear frequently in the newspapers. He contributed articles on literature and a variety of other topics, many finding their way into newspapers all over the UK. Those articles appearing in the more local papers often contained his opinions and reflections on local topics, especially with regard to his position on the local school board in Edinburgh. At one particularly lively meeting of the latter, some of those present were keen to know exactly where he had gained his qualifications and what they actually were. Having seen his name recorded all three ways, they wanted to know whether he was plain Mr. Korner, Sinclair Korner M. D. or Sinclair Korner Ph. Dr.. Needless to say, the man himself was not present at the meeting to be able to provide them (or us!) with the required information. Sinclair and daughter, Fanny, continued to live in Edinburgh until the late 1880s when they moved to Orkney, and to Sinclair’s childhood home at Eastland, Orphir. Right until his death, he was writing articles on literature and on political history. Some of his comments about the behaviour of members of both the House of Lords and House of Commons, and particularly about those elected to represent the people, could easily be referring to the present day! He continued to voice his opinions on all sorts of local topics, such as crofting, schooling and anything else that he obviously felt required his attention. He was also a very benevolent man and made regular financial donations to the Balfour Hospital, Orkney, and to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, as well as other financial contributions to differing good causes.

During some of their years on Orkney, Fanny appears to have been teaching, possibly in Kirkwall. She accompanied her father on several ‘holidays’ each for about three weeks in June, to Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire, their names and places of residence being reported on the Visitors Lists published in the Stonehaven Journal.
What was possibly Sinclair Korner’s final article, ‘A Tramp Tour Fifty Years Ago’ – a wonderfully descriptive account of a walking tour he undertook in Perthshire, in August 1858 – was published in The Orcadian on 28th August 1909. Sinclair Korner died on 16th October 1909. Obituaries indicate that he was well respected, possessed of a broad mind and a strong personality, had
high ideals as a man and an educationalist, was an accomplished scholar, an able and kindly teacher, a cogent reasoner and a clear thinker. Perhaps a man we may all have enjoyed knowing.
A few years after her father’s death, Fanny returned to live in Edinburgh. She had never married and died there in 1940, at the age of 89. Her brother, Sinclair, as already mentioned earlier, had emigrated to New Zealand in 1879, and travelling on the same ship was a Miss F. Prentice, from Midlothian. We might guess that they either knew each other before they both decided to
emigrate, or they met during the voyage. Whichever it was, Sinclair Korner jnr. married Miss Fanny Prentice and they would go on to bring up seven children in the locality of Wingatui, Otago. Sinclair worked all his life as a carpenter and one has to wonder what his father felt about that. Fanny died in 1891, aged 40, and Sinclair died in 1915, aged 63. Many of their descendants still live in Otago and the wider Dunedin area.
GF

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The Moleman Predicts

Our blog this week comes from our Chairman, and retired GP, Dr James Grant, who is a regular visiting lecturer for the Arts Society. Dr Grant is particularly interested in the history of medicine, and he takes a look at one of Innerpeffray’s curiosities: A Treatise of Moles.

In the library of Innerpeffray you will find a very rare text from 1653, “Sanders Chiromancy.” Here is all you need to know about chiromancy, physiognomy, metoposcopy and oneireoscopy. Space does not allow an explanation of all these fabulous pseudo sciences suffice to say they have a lot to do with lines on the skin and dreams! Do check though if you have crossed lines in the centre of your forehead  –it indicates that you are going to be hanged! (Metoposcopy is the ancient art of interpreting the lines of your forehead in relation to the planets!)

Figure from A Treatise of Moles, Sander’s Chiromancy, 1653

Perhaps the most interesting and bizarre of these psuedo sciences was the study  of the significance of the position and colour of the moles on the body. A total of 112 primary mole positions are identified in Sanders and to each is attached a paragraph on its significance to the physician (or quack!):

“If you have a mole in the midst of the forehead under the line of Jupiter (don’t ask) and it is in the first figure and number (16) (see above!) and in the midst of the breast he has similar this prenotes the man to have a discourteous , cruel mind, floating brain, dull and incapable. If red he is sullen and furious, if black he is inexpert and unskilful. It shows a woman to be foolish, simple and idle, if it appears black she is a slut, a lazy slow creature”

And so it goes on, paragraph after paragraph, he is tough on men but he really hates women!  It finally ends with position 112:  “a mole in the lower part of the neck towards the left shoulder describes a man much more inclined to do evil rather than good. In a woman it describes her to be impudent, not regarding her manner and common civility and full of moles elsewhere.” It is amazing how many wives have left shoulder moles. (I dare you to check!) Saunders makes misogynists look like fully paid up feminists!!

JG

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Meet the Borrower: Thomas Stalker & family part 3

In August 1891, Mrs Stalker’s name first appears in the Borrowers Register. That year she borrowed Dodderidge’s ‘ The Family Expositor’ on six dates – probably a different volume each time. In 1892 her reading is dominated by Smith’s Sermons, Monro’s Sermons, Robert’s Sermons and Flavel on Death. In previous years she may well have been reading books brought home by her husband and her children.

Thomas had continued to borrow Scott’s novels, an increasing variety of books on historical topics and the lives of important figures, as well as Chamber’s ‘Book of Days’, William Robertson’s ‘The History of America’, Buffon’s ‘Natural History’ and Thomas Pennant’s ‘A Tour of Scotland and the Outer Hebrides, 1772’ – in which Innerpeffray is mentioned:

Thomas Pennant, Tour of Scotland, 1772

From 1892 until 1896 he also became an avid borrower of ‘The Scots Magazine’. From 1896 onwards he was borrowing prolifically and his choice of reading became extremely varied, particularly during the years 1896 to 1899, as can be seen below from some of his entries in the Register.

In May 1900, Thomas and Ann moved to Inchbrakie Cottage, Crieff, and by then the family had all left home. Catherine was the ‘Cook Domestic’ at Balnaboth Mansion, Glenprosen, Angus, and by 1911, she was working in Dunoon, Argyll. At some stage after that she returned to Crieff and was living with her parents when they died.

By 1901, John had married and was still living in Glasgow. His occupation was recorded as a Coal Traveller. William had moved to different lodgings in Glasgow and was now a Railway Porter. He would continue to work on the railway and later moved to Larbert, Stirling. In 1901 Thomas jnr. was living and working at Tullibardine Mill, Blackford, as a forest labourer.

In 1901 Janet was employed as a Dairymaid (Domestic), at Paddockhaugh, Blackford.  She married John Steven Mitchell in 1903 and by 1911 was living in Fife. Margaret appears on the 1901 census as a General Domestic Servant at Summerlea, Ferntower Road, Crieff. She was living at home again in 1911 but appears to have still been working as a Servant (Domestic).

Jane married in 1900 and by the beginning of April, 1901, she was living with her husband, David McKeith, and eleven month old son, William, at 40, East High Street, Crieff.

Thomas snr. borrowed his last books – ‘Maurice Dering’ (a novel) and ‘Lizzie Foston of Grayrigg’ (content unknown) – on the 27th November, 1900, returning them on 12th January 1901. By April 1911, Thomas, wife Ann, daughter Margaret and granddaughter Catherine McKeith, were all living at Hosh Farm Cottage, by Crieff. Ann died in 1918 and when Thomas died in 1920 he was still living at Hosh Cottage, with his daughter Catherine.

Thomas borrowed too many books for them all to be listed here but the following extracts from the Borrowers Register, 1897 to 1900, give an insight into his choice of reading during these final four of his thirty five years of borrowing. (Note: Extracted entries are transcribed exactly as they appear in the Borrowers Register.)

10-2-1897     The historical castles and mansions of Scotland                     A H Millar

17-3              Lost in the wilds of Canada                     Eleanor Stredder

25-3              Hudson Bay                     R M Ballantyne

7-4                Recollections of Dean Boyle                     G D Boyle

19-5              Jane Eyre                     Charlotte Bronte

16-6              Robbery under Arm

s7-7                Darien or The Merchant Prince           Bartholomew Warburton

28-7                            The Autobiography of an English Gamekeeper                                                                        John Wilkins

30-7With the Camel Corps Up the NileEdward Gleichen
5-8The Life of John DuncanWilliam Jolly
23-8Disraeli and his dayWilliam Fraser
2-9Round LondonMontagu Stephen Williams
5-10Quiet Folk 
15-10Health and LifeBenjamin W Richardson
26-10My VillageRobert Menzies Fergusson
16-11Life of BoswellPercy Hetherington Fitzgerald
Life of James Boswell, Percy Fitzgerald, 1891
15-1-1898Six Months at the CapeR M Ballantyne
5-3Pall Mall Magazine 
10-3Livingstone and Stanley 
1-4The Dog Crusoe and his masterR M Ballantyne
9-5Leaves from the journal of our life in 
 the HighlandsQueen Victoria
28-5Coral IslandR M Ballantyne
14-6Is Natural selection the creator of speciesDuncan Graham
6-7George Stewart, A Story of Waterloo 
21-7Basil WoolcombeArthur Lee Knight
15-8Mary BartonElizabeth Gaskell
30-9A Foolish Marriage 
19-10Harmsworth and Pearson Magazine 
24-10Auld Foulis and the jeely wellT Hardy
 Across Greenlands Ice FieldsMary Douglas
10-11The Life BoatR. M. Ballantyne

17-2-1899     Life of Dean Burgon

28-2              Life of Dean Burgon Vol. II

24-3              Life of Mary Queen of Scots 2 Vols. & The Munsey Magazine 15-4                     Conquering and to Conquer

31-5              The Trials and Triumphs of Jeanie Douglas and Peter Fern

13-7              Century Magazine, Windsor Magazine, The Royal Magazine & Munsey Magazine

31-8              Sir Walter Raleigh

Harmsworth Magazine June 1899, Pearsons Magazine July 1899 2-10      The Kings Own Borderers

17-11            The Royal Magazine & Harmsworth Magazine Pearsons Magazine & Black and White Magazine

21-12            The Lady’s Realm, Lady’s World and Pearsons Magazine Special Black and White Magazine & Punch (2 copies)

3-1-1900 The Lancashire Witches

The Roll of Drum & Masterman Ready 18-1              Rob Roy & The Royal Magazine 4 vols.

10-2              The Sphere & Black and White Magazine (3 copies)

15-3              The Woman at Home, Royal Magazine (2 copies) & Harmsworth Magazine 2-4    Dora & The Bride of Lammermuir

4-7                Early Years of the Prince Consort & Dennis Drone 14-11                     The Woman at Home (2 vols.), Magazines (2 vols) 27-11                     Maurice Dering

Lizzie Foston of Grayrigg

12-1-1901 The books borrowed in November were returned.

There are no further entries for any member of the Stalker family.

However, there is one more part of the story of the Stalker family that needs to be told. Before Ann and Thomas Stalker died, they would have known that their son, Thomas George Stalker, had been presumed killed in France, in 1917, but they would not have known where, or even if, he had been buried.

Fortunately, much of his Service Record is now available to look at, courtesy of the CWGC, thus enabling us to complete his story. On the 1st March 1916, Thomas jnr. attested with the 3rd Scottish Rifles. Aged 40, single, and living at Easter Boghead, By Lenzie, he was working as a farm labourer and wood cutter. He was mobilised and posted on 9th April 1916 and then transferred to the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders on the 1st June. In August 1916, he spent three weeks in the Field Hospital, North Walsham, suffering from ‘Debility’, a general term used then for a whole range of medical conditions.

He embarked for France on the 28th January 1917. Fighting with the Princess Louise’s Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders 11th Battalion, Thomas was initially reported ‘Missing 15 April 1917’. In the terrible conditions of WW1 battlefields, it was not always possible to be sure that someone was dead. Initially, he would be recorded as missing and the next of kin informed by letter that this did not necessarily mean that he was dead, as he may have been taken prisoner or become separated from his regiment. If, after six months, no further news him had been received by either his regiment, or unofficially by the family, then his death would have been presumed to have occurred in the place and on the day that he was last known to be alive.

The ‘Missing’ date on his Service record is followed by ‘Place of Casualty – Field 9 April 1917’ (this was the first day of what is known as the Arras Offensive, 9th April – 15th May, 1917) but it was six months later, on 6th November 1917, before ‘Now reported killed’ is added to his record. This news would then have been conveyed officially to the family.

On the 11th July 1919, his sister Catherine signed a Declaration, witnessed by the Minister, Woodside, Dollerie Terrace, Crieff, confirming that the ‘relatives of the deceased soldier now living’ were: –

Father – Thomas Stalker, Hosh Cottage, Crieff.

Brothers – William Stalker 48, 19 Comely Park Street, Glasgow. Sisters – Catherine Stalker 54, Hosh Cottage, Crieff

Jessie Mitchell 46, Clunie Street Manse, Abernethy.

Margaret Ann Congie 41, P.O Verskifhers Kop, Dim-Harrismith, O.F.S. South Africa Jane McCulloch McKeith 39, Drummond Street, Comrie

The receipt of the official plaque and scroll in commemoration of Thomas was acknowledged by his father on the 3rd March 1920. The receipt of his British War Medal and Victory Medal was acknowledged by his sister, Catherine, on 23rd November 1921.

The next event in Thomas’s story was when the following note was added to the bottom of the page on his Statement of Service record: –

‘Buried at Hirvin Farm British Cemetery, St. Laurent Blangy, 2 miles east of Arras. Next of kin notified 31/1/22.’

One has to presume that this date may be indicative of the time when his remains were first found, identified and then buried in an ‘official’ grave. His sister Catherine, of Drummond Street, Comrie, was listed as his next of kin.

We then discover that during 1924 -1925, as with thousands of others like Thomas, who had been killed during the fighting in this part of France and buried in one of the many small cemeteries such as Hirvin Farm, or in simple graves where they fell on the battlefield, his body was exhumed. The reburials all took place in the Cabaret-Rouge British Cemetery, near Souchez. The means of his official identification recorded simply as ‘Cross (French), Field Service Dress and Kilt’. Thomas George Stalker’s siblings (his sister Catherine, of Drummond Street, Comrie, listed as his next of kin) were fortunate in that he could be identified, as over half of the more than 7,500 WW1 burials in this cemetery alone, remain unidentified.

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The Bishop from Innerpeffray and the Scottish Jesuit Spy

The collection donated by Janet Burns St Germain never ceases to amaze.

When I examined what is now Library of Innerpeffray LD.4.13, my attention was first drawn to the inscription at the foot of the title: “Rdo in Xo. Patri. Ludvo Richome. Gs Critton”. This copy was donated to Ludovicus Richomus, or Louis Richeome, whom I had come across in another incarnation when working on French Emblem Books. He lived and worked in various places including Lyon, but died in Bordeaux in 1625, which may explain the inscription at the head of the title: “Collegii Burdigal. Societ. Jesu Catalogo inscriptus” indicating that the volume was in the collection of the Jesuit College in Bordeaux. The donor of the book to Richeome was Gulielmus Crittonus, or William Crichton.

Foot of title page

However, the author was William Chisholm (ca. 1547-1629; called III, because two others of that name were, in succession, important in Scotland, and more precisely Perthshire), and the book is entitled: Examen confessionis fidei Calvinianae, quam Scotis omnibus ministri Calviniani subscribendam et jurandam proponunt an rectius, propter innumeras verae fidei detestationes Catholicae fidei confessionem vocemus. [Examination of the Calvinist confession of faith which all Calvinist ministers set before all the Scots for them to subsctibe to, or, more properly what we might regard as a confession of faith on account of its innumerable denials of the the true Catholic faith ]. So this is on a controversial topic, but nonetheless dedicated to the King of Scotland, before he succeeded to the English throne. The title also indicates that Chisholm was a Scot, and was the Bishop of Vaison in Provence. Vaison is near Avignon, where the book was published in 1601. His predecessor as Bishop in Vaison was his uncle, also William Chisholm, who was also deeply involved in Scottish affairs, and had earlier been Bishop of Dunblane, in succession to his uncle, yet another William Chisholm. [See DNB.] However, William Chisholm III is of the greatest interest to the Library where this book is now preserved, because he was actually born in Innerpeffray to Jean Drummond and James Chisholm of Cromlix, near Dunblane. He studied in Paris and Rome and became a doctor of  theology, before ordination to the priesthood. He joined his uncle in Vaison in 1580, and became bishop on his uncle’s resignation in 1585. He remained concerned with Scottish affairs, and may have been a papal ambassador to Scotland. He died in 1629 in Vaison, and contributions of his to the cathedral building survive, in the shape of two chapels.

What of William Crichton, who gave the volume to Richeome? He was a graduate of St Andrews, and then also studied in Louvain. In September 1562 he was back in Scotland, and present at a meeting between his uncle William Crichton, Bishop of Dunkeld, and the Papal envoy, with whom he returned to Europe; he was ordained around Whitsun 1563, and continued with the rigorous Jesuit noviciate. He was involved in Jesuit colleges in Lyon and Avignon, and was vice-provincial in Lyon in the late 1570s. In 1581 his career changed, and he became a papal adviser on Scottish affairs: the time seemed ripe for a Catholic effort to influence Scotland, and in particular the teen-aged James VI, perhaps given that James’s fiercely protestant tutor George Buchanan died in 1582. The idea was to enlist the help of the Spanish to depose Elizabeth I of England and restore Catholicism to Scotland and England. This came to nothing, because James was nobbled for the protestant cause by the “Ruthven Raid”, and Spain had more pressing matters to hand.

The machinations of 1582, which included a plot to assasinate Elizabeth, came back to haunt Crichton when he was captured while going on a mission to Scotland in 1584, possessed of incriminating papers. He spent time in the Tower of London, but was released when he convinced the authorities that he had advised the plotters against Elizabeth on the grounds that their actions would be completely unlawful. He was in Scotland between 1587 and 1589, during which time he was commissioned, but failed, to contact the Spanish Armada to get the Spanish to invade Scotland during the flight through the North Sea.

Crichton was involved in further machinations in attempts to carry out a pro-Catholic coup in Scotland in 1589-90, but emerges in the Scots seminary in Douai, which moved to Louvain in 1595. He may or may not have been one of the Jesuits present at the Battle of Glenlivet in 1594, when Catholic lords briefly had the upper hand over James and his Protestant supporters.

Crichton was, however, strongly supportive of James in the English succession, which brought him into conflict with English Catholics and other Jesuits who supported the claim of the Catholic Spanish king’s daughter rather than the Protestant King of Scotland. This led to Crichton’s having to leave Louvain (in the Spanish Netherlands) in 1598, when he fundamentally moved to Lyon, where he spent most of the rest of his days, interspersed with some diplomatic activity, and advisory work for the papacy on Scottish affairs. At this point he presumably met Louis Richeome, and eventually gave him Chisholm’s book. However, possibly the most significant move by Crichton in support of James VI brings us neatly back to William Chisholm III. In an attempt to conciliate the Pope and avoid opposition to his succeeding to the English throne, James VI sent Crichton to Rome with a letter dated 4 September 1599, requesting (in the event unsucessfully) that Chisholm be made a Cardinal.

Innerpeffray already had a copy of the French translation of Chisholm’s work: Examen d’une confession de foy (Paris: Jean Gesselin, 1603): its date of acquisition is uncertain, and it appears never to have been borrowed, however appropriate to the background and environment of Innerpeffray.

However, as always with Janet Burns St Germain, we have to ask how much of all this she knew when she bought Chisholm’s book. Serendipity? Flair? Good luck? Skill? Experience, on examining her other books, suggests a combination, which in turn implies something else: landing a copy like this, which links an author, with close Innerpeffray associations, to an early purchaser with an indisputable connection to this author, strongly indicates collecting genius.

[With grateful acknowledgement to Mark Dilworth’s articles on the relevant persons in the DNB; and to Dr Jamie Reid-Baxter.]

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Tour of the Tops Pt 2

Welcome to the second in a new series of blogs appearing throughout the year to interest, intrigue and, one hopes, entertain followers of the goings-on of Innerpeffray Library. The theme is a general one, but should deliver up something to pique everyone’s interest at some point. For those of you lucky enough to have visited the Library, you will have noticed that the shelves really do go from floor to ceiling and, as a result, there are some shelves that really do not get the attention that they perhaps deserve. This series aims to remedy this injustice by dragging out the ladder and going for a quick Tour of the Tops to see what gems there are awaiting true recognition! This ‘Episode’ continues the hunt as we slowly move around the top shelves of the Library. I would love to claim special access during these trying times, but the research for this article was done before the Library closed back in March!

So, a quick confession around the first book I am going to discuss… I knew it was up there somewhere! This is a book that has been on display at times in the Library and one that a number of volunteers – and the Keeper of course – are consequently aware of and told me to look out for it once I announced my intentions to embark on this journey. It is, though, worth highlighting here as it’s a fascinating account of St. Kilda, written by its local minister, a chap by the name of Kenneth MacAulay, in 1764. I should note, he was the minister for the parish of Ardnamurchan and so he was an infrequent traveller to the island as opposed to a resident. He does seem, however, to have been intrigued by life on this most remote island – situated over 100 miles from his own, already extremely remote, parish on the mainland. Even today, St. Kilda remains an oddity, with its only permanent inhabitants being military personnel, supplemented by various visitors and National Trust for Scotland employees. The resident population was evacuated in 1930, so this book offers an insight into what life was like as a native islander. As usual with these types of book, it is written for an audience of gentlefolk in the cities of Great Britain, so some of the language can be somewhat, shall we say, condescending – he refers to the islanders as “our domestic Indians”. There are, however, signs of respect for the compassion and generosity of the islanders. The book then delves into all sorts of details of the island – its geography, history, flora, fauna and daily life on the islands all get a mention in this book. It offers a really interesting account of this most unusual place and it is written in a very free-flowing style which makes it quite easy to delve into the book and keep going. Of course, there are plentiful classical illusions and comparisons as one would expect from a learned man of this era, but on the whole, it is an enjoyable read. A real delight and a book I can certainly recommend to anyone with a vague interest in St. Kilda!

Map of St Kilda from History of St Kilda, Macaulay, 1764

The next book is also a travel book, but one that takes us a lot further than St. Kilda – all the way to India in fact! This is a quite remarkable book by a chap called Thomas Coryat (or Coryyat, Coryate or Coriat depending on what you’re reading!) who was a Jacobean gentleman who was court jester for a time to Prince Henry of Wales (eldest son of James VI). For some unknown reason, he decided to go for a long walk – around Europe! – and wrote up an account of the travels in a book. The Library’s copy dates from 1776 and includes various letters written from his lengthier later travels to Persia and India. The title of this work is “Coryat’s Crudities” and I’m still not quite sure why… It has some serious fascinating sections – this is one of those books that I will perhaps revisit in a later episode because there is so much to take in! However, I am going to focus on two aspects this time round. Firstly, as this includes a lot of material about Coryat as well as by him, there are some “extracts relating to him, from various authors”. My favourite of these is not just a piece of text. Oh no, this one is presented “according to the forme of Musick and to be sung by those that are so disposed”!! It’s quite the piece – comparing Coryat to a porcupine (I mean, who wouldn’t be flattered by that!). I will concede that the lyrics are not the best. Twice, the author is forced to jump into Latin to make the rhyme work and towards the end he just completely gives up and puts “Porcupen” twice, which is a distinct lack of effort if you ask me… Although, I can hardly accuse him of a lack of effort overall, as below you will see that he has written the same poem in LATIN as well. It really puts modern-day fans to shame, doesn’t it?

Back in the 17th Century, people wrote songs with a tune in multiple languages to express their admiration for people’s talents!! The second aspect, which I teased in the previous episode, is the attempt at Instagram! Firstly, see the text to the right:

Apologies that it’s not perfectly clear – in full, it reads “I have rid upon an Elephant since I came to this Court, determining one day (by God’s leave) to have my picture expressed in my own Booke, sitting upon an Elephant.” And here we have a picture of him sitting upon an elephant! Now, surely this is the 17th Century equivalent of posing for a photograph whilst doing a particularly unusual activity JUST for your social media postings? The thing that amuses me the most about this is that, well, we have no actual proof that he DID sit on an elephant – only his word! So, couldn’t he have lied about riding one and just got a drawing made of him doing so? Perhaps that’s just the cynic in me speaking out, but it’s certainly a fascinating insight into the mind of a man who thought it was worth travelling thousands of miles across multiple continents on foot! A most intriguing character indeed and one whose adventures I am sure I will discuss further in future episodes! Definitely worth a look next time you, dear reader, are in the Library!

Coyrate’s Crudities, reprinted from the edition of 1611, Thomas Coryate, 1776

The final book I want to introduce you to today is yet another one to which I shall endeavour to return later as well, because I am certain that there will be a lot more therein to share! For now, however, I shall focus on what I found at the end… This book has the most delightful title of “Les Délices de la France” or “Description des Provinces, Villes principals, Maisons Royales, Chateaux, & autres Lieux remarquables de ce beau Royaume” (to translate: The Delights of France or Description of the regions, main cities, royal palaces and the other notable places of this beautiful kingdom). In three small volumes, this book bounces around the entire kingdom of France as it was in 1728 – a decade or so after the Sun King had permanently set. It’s basically the forerunner to the Michelin guides that came out in the early 20th Century! It makes me think it is basically a French version of the amazing Britannia by William Camden that the Library has (albeit Britannia is over a century older). This is, unsurprisingly, in French, but anyone will appreciate what lies at the end of each of the three volumes: Cityscapes! Well, cityscapes and drawings of the more well-known “Maisons Royales”, as you will be able to see in the image to the right. It shows Versailles at the height of its importance in the world with the gardens stretching off into the far distance. I did not have as long as I would have liked to peruse all of the maps, but I found most of the major French cities – some twice – in the time I did have. I only had a brief glance at the actual text so taken was I with these cityscapes. Unlike the other two books I have discussed today, this one seems to have been less known and a bit more hidden on the shelves. It was borrowed once – by an intriguing chap noted as A. Du Pare in 1797. Intriguing because he was living at Drummond Castle and that is a very French sounding name! Perhaps he was a French visitor to the Drummonds, or maybe a native French tutor? Either way, it seems that this book is a bit more of a hidden treasure!

La Delice de La France, 1728

So that rounds off the second ‘episode’ of the Tour of the Tops. Hopefully, it has continued to prove interesting. I fear that there will now be a break until I can get back into the Library to continue the tour, so I cannot provide any teasers for the next episode. The joy is that I have genuinely no idea what I might come across next, so the surprise will be mine as well! I hope you will join me once again once I get back to the top shelves of Innerpeffray!

RS