in which he had no concern; for he had a most irksome nature, and

could not be at rest, so that he was truly a thorn in our side.
Among other of his strange doings, was the part he took in the

proceedings of the session, with which he had as little to do, in a
manner, as the man in the moon; but having no business on his hands,

he attended every sederunt, and from less to more, having no self-
government, he began to give his opinion in our deliberations; and

often bred us trouble, by causing strife to arise.
It happened, as the time of the summer occasion was drawing near,

that it behoved us to make arrangements about the assistance; and
upon the suggestion of the elders, to which I paid always the

greatest deference, I invited Mr Keekie of Loupinton, who was a
sound preacher" target="_blank" title="n.讲道者，传教士">preacher, and a great expounder of the kittle parts of the Old

Testament, being a man well versed in the Hebrew and etymologies,
for which he was much reverenced by the old people that delighted to

search the Scriptures. I had also written to Mr Sprose of Annock, a
preacher" target="_blank" title="n.讲道者，传教士">preacher of another sort, being a vehement and powerful thresher of

the word, making the chaff and vain babbling of corrupt commentators
to fly from his hand. He was not, however, so well liked, as he

wanted that connect method which is needful to the enforcing of
doctrine. But he had never been among us, and it was thought it

would be a godly treat to the parish to let the people hear him.
Besides Mr Sprose, Mr Waikle of Gowanry, a quiet hewer out of the

image of holiness in the heart, was likewise invited, all in
addition to our old stoops from the adjacentparishes.

None of these three preacher" target="_blank" title="n.讲道者，传教士">preachers were in any estimation with Mr
Cayenne, who had only heard each of them once; and he, happening to

be present in the session-house at the time, enquired how we had
settled. I thought this not a very orderly question, but I gave him

a civil answer, saying, that, Mr Keekie of Loupinton would preach on
the morning of the fast-day, Mr Sprose of Annock in the afternoon,

and Mr Waikle of Gowanry on the Saturday. Never shall I or the
elders, while the breath of life is in our bodies, forget the reply.

Mr Cayenne struck the table like a clap of thunder, and cried, "Mr
Keekie of Loupinton, and Mr Sprose of Annock, and Mr Waikle of

Gowanry, and all suck trash, may go to--and be -!" and out of the
house he bounced, like a hand-ball stotting on a stone.

The elders and me were confounded, and for some time we could not
speak, but looked at each other, doubtful if our ears heard aright.

At long and length I came to myself; and, in the strength of God,
took my place at the table, and said, this was an outrageous impiety

not to be borne, which all the elders agreed to; and we thereupon
came to a resolve, which I dictated myself, wherein we debarred Mr

Cayenne from ever after entering, unless summoned, the session-
house, the which resolve we directed the session-clerk to send to

him direct, and thus we vindicated the insulted privileges of the
church.

Mr Cayenne had cooled before he got home, and our paper coming to
him in his appeased blood, he immediately came to the manse, and

made a contrite apology for his hasty temper, which I reported in
due time and form, to the session, and there the matter ended. But

here was an example plain to be seen of the truth of the old
proverb, that as one door shuts another opens; for scarcely were we

in quietness by the decease of that old light-headed woman, the Lady
Macadam, till a full equivalent for her was given in this hot and

fiery Mr Cayenne.
CHAPTER XXVII YEAR 1786

From the day of my settlement, I had resolved, in order to win the
affections of my people, and to promoteunison among the heritors,

to be of as little expense to the parish as possible; but by this
time the manse had fallen into a sore state of decay--the doors were

wormed on the hinges--the casements of the windows chattered all the
winter, like the teeth of a person perishing with cold, so that we

had no comfort in the house; by which, at the urgent instigations of
Mrs Balwhidder, I was obligated to represent our situation to the

session. I would rather, having so much saved money in the bank,
paid the needful repairs myself, than have done this, but she said

it would be a rank injustice to our own family; and her father, Mr
Kibbock, who was very long-headed, with more than a common man's

portion of understanding, pointed out to me, that, as my life was
but in my lip, it would be a wrong thing towards whomsoever was

ordained to be my successor, to use the heritors to the custom of
the minister paying for the reparations of the manse, as it might

happen he might not be so well able to afford it as me. So in a
manner, by their persuasion, and the constraint of the justice of

the case, I made a report of the infirmities both of doors and
windows, as well as of the rotten state of the floors, which were

constantly in want of cobbling. Over and above all, I told them of
the sarking of the roof, which was as frush as a puddock-stool;

insomuch, that in every blast some of the pins lost their grip, and
the slates came hurling off.

The heritors were accordingly convened, and, after some
deliberation, they proposed that the house should be seen to, and

whitewashed and painted; and I thought this might do, for I saw they
were terrified at the expense of a thoroughrepair; but when I went

home and repeated to Mrs Balwhidder what had been said at the
meeting, and my thankfulness at getting the heritors' consent to do

so much, she was excessively angry, and told me, that all the
painting and whitewashing in the world would avail nothing, for that

the house was as a sepulchre full of rottenness; and she sent for Mr
Kibbock, her father, to confer with him on the way of getting the

matter put to rights.
Mr Kibbock came, and hearing of what had passed, pondered for some

time, and then said, "All was very right! the minister (meaning me)
has just to get tradesmen to look at the house, and write out their

opinion of what it needs. There will be plaster to mend; so, before
painting, he will get a plasterer. There will be a slater wanted;

he has just to get a slater's estimate, and a wright's, and so
forth, and when all is done, he will lay them before the session and

the heritors, who, no doubt, will direct the reparations to go
forward."

This was very pawkie, counselling, of Mr Kibbock, and I did not see
through it at the time, but did as he recommended, and took all the

different estimates, when they came in, to the session. The elders
commended my prudenceexceedingly for so doing, before going to

work; and one of them asked me what the amount of the whole would
be, but I had not cast it up. Some of the heritors thought that a

hundred pounds would be sufficient for the outlay; but judge of our
consternation, when, in counting up all the sums of the different

estimates together, we found them well on towards a thousand pounds.
"Better big a new house at once, than do this!" cried all the

elders, by which I then perceived the draughtiness of Mr Kibbock's
advice. Accordingly, another meeting of the heritors was summoned,

and after a great deal of controversy, it was agreed that a new
manse should be erected; and, shortly after, we contracted with

Thomas Trowel, the mason to build one for six hundred pounds, with
all the requisite appurtenances, by which a clear gain was saved to

the parish, by the foresight of Mr Kibbock, to the amount of nearly
four hundred pounds. But the heritors did not mean to have allowed

the sort of repair that his plan comprehended. He was, however, a
far forecasting man; the like of him for natural parts not being in

our country side; and nobody could get the whip-hand of him, either
in a bargain or an improvement, when he once was sensible of the

advantage. He was, indeed, a blessing to the shire, both by his
example as a farmer, and by his sound and discreet advice in the

contentions of his neighbours, being a man, as was a saying among
the commonality, "wiser than the law and the fifteen Lords of

Edinburgh."
The building of the new manse occasioned a heavy cess on the

heritors, which made them overly ready to pick holes in the coats of
me and the elders; so that, out of my forbearance and delicacy in