Article III,
written by Alexander Gunn, aka A Native of Badbea, was printed in the Northern
Ensign on 21 August, 1879. Part C
The
illustrations I have used were not published with the original article. The etchings are those of Walter Geikie - Google Books
"Previous to
the passing of the Poor Law (Scotland) Act, a considerable number of vagrants
or beggars came the way of Badbea, out of the way as it was. There used to be
several of these impotent, and we might say impudent class of beggars, who had
to be carried from place to place, reminding us of the men "sick of the
palsy and carried by four," and also the important "man laid at the
beautiful gate of the temple." These persons were carried on a hand -
barrow from place to place. If they came from the west, they were carried to
Ousdale, and there laid down at the door of the shepherd, who was the sole
occupant of the place in our day. By him and his family, the party would be conveyed
to the nearest house in Badbea, and so on, from house to house till he reached
the end of the village, when he had to be sent on to Berriedale Inn, which was
the nearest point, and there they were lodged.
There were also a few sturdy lazy beggars who came our way at a time, and they were even worse to get quit of than those who needed to be carried.
 |
| Caithness Chair |
I remember
one of the last - named class coming our way one afternoon, and pretending to
be a "dummy." Our parents happened to be from home, which the fellow
seemed to notice, for he took up his abode at the fireside, and out of there he
would not move. We could talk to him as we like, but he paid no heed to us. We
did not like his presence in the house, and no one about hand but we young folks,
so we fell on a plan by which we thought we could get quit of him. We had some
powder in the house, which we took, and laid a train underneath the dummy's
chair, and carried the train a considerable distance from him, so that in
setting fire to it we would not be near him. We left the door open at the same
time, anticipating that he would make for the outside. We got all things in
order and then set to the match, when the whole thing exploded, and as there
was a considerable quantity below the chair, the powder having been put in from
behind, it raised the chair with great force, and threw the occupant to the
floor, who, as we expected, made for the door, which as soon as we got him out,
we shut and barred, so that he did not get in again. It cured him of his
dumbness, as we heard him uttering very refined expressions outside.
But many a child of God found
food and shelter in Badbea, especially at the communion seasons at Berriedale.
We have seen ten or a dozen people lodged in our house on such occasions, from
Thursday to the following Monday, and John Badbea would have as many
entertained in his house. The prayer meetings held in the evenings, after
returning from the day's services, were on such occasions the most sweet and
solemn we ever witnessed, and it would be sometimes one and two o' clock in the
morning before people would disperse. These were indeed precious times, and I
believe no one who enjoyed them can ever forget them. As I have already said,
the Badbea people were simple and kind - hearted, and were ready at all times
to extend a helping hand according to their means, to any one of whom they saw
stood in need of help".
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