Page:A Companion and Useful Guide to the Beauties of Scotland.djvu/198

180 children of the poor are taught to write and read, for one shilling a quarter. At Gask, nine miles from Perth, I saw more than forty boys and girls in one school.

The fashion of large farms, instead of small ones, has unhappily of late years made its way into Scotland, as well as England, to the great detriment of both countries. The rich farmer goes to the landlord, when the small farmer's lease is nearly expired, and says, "I should be glad to add such a farm to the one, or more, that I have; I can afford to give you more rent for it than such an one can; and besides, my opulence will secure to you your rent, without delay, danger, or drawback." This tempts the proprietor, and thus farms accumulate: and in every respect, the inconveniences resulting from it, are equal in Scotland to those in England. No poultry, no pork, &c. are raised, as formerly, for market; all is consumed in the great farmer's own family, which increases the price of those articles prodigiously, besides many others. The late worthy possessor of Gask, would on no account destroy the small farms on his estate. Many of his tenants rented at the rate of three and four pounds a year. He never turned a widow off his estate;