At the middle of last century, Scotland was a very poor country.

It consisted mostly of mountain and moorland; and the little
arable land it contained was badly cultivated. Agriculture was

almost a lost art. "Except in a few instances," says a writer in
the 'Farmers' Magazine' of 1803, "Scotland was little better than

a barren waste." Cattle could with difficulty be kept alive; and
the people in some parts of the country were often on the brink

of starvation. The people were hopeless, miserable, and without
spirit, like the Irish in their very worst times. After the

wreck of the Darien expedition, there seemed to be neither skill,
enterprise, nor money left in the country. What resources it

contained were altogether undeveloped. There was little
communication between one place and another, and such roads as

existed were for the greater part of the year simply impassable.
There were various opinions as to the causes of this frightful

state of things. Some thought it was the Union between England
and Scotland; and Andrew Fletcher of Saltoun, "The Patriot," as

he was called, urged its Repeal. In one of his publications, he
endeavoured to show that about one-sixth of the population of

Scotland was in a state of beggary-- two hundred thousand
vagabonds begging from door to door, or robbing and plundering

people as poor as themselves.[1] Fletcher was accordingly as
great a repealer as Daniel O'Connell in after times. But he

could not get the people to combine. There were others who held
a different opinion. They thought that something might be done

by the people themselves to extricate the country from its
miserable condition.

It still possessed some important elements of prosperity. The
inhabitants of Scotland, though poor, were strong and able to

work. The land, though cold and sterile, was capable of
cultivation.

Accordingly, about the middle of last century, some important
steps were taken to improve the general condition of things. A

few public-spirited landowners led the way, and formed themselves
into a society for carrying out improvements in agriculture.

They granted long leases of farms as a stimulus to the most
skilled and industrious, and found it to their interest to give

the farmer a more permanent interest in his improvements than he
had before enjoyed. Thus stimulated and encouraged, farming made

rapid progress, especially in the Lothians; and the example
spread into other districts. Banks were established for the

storage of capital. Roads were improved, and communications
increased between one part of the country and another. Hence

trade and commerce arose, by reason of the facilities afforded
for the interchange of traffic. The people, being fairly

educated by the parish schools, were able to take advantage of
these improvements. Sloth and idleness gradually disappeared,

before the energy, activity, and industry which were called into
life by the improved communications.

At the same time, active and powerful minds were occupied in
extending the domain of knowledge. Black and Robison, of

Glasgow, were the precursors of James Watt, whose invention of
the condensing steam-engine was yet to produce a revolution in

industrial operations, the like of which had never before been
known. Watt had hit upon his great idea while experimenting with

an old Newcomen model which belonged to the University of
Glasgow. He was invited by Mr. Roebuck of Kinneil to make a

working steam-engine for the purpose of pumping water from the
coal-pits at Boroughstoness; but his progress was stopped by want

of capital, as well as by want of experience. It was not until
the brave and generous Matthew Boulton of Birmingham took up the

machine, and backed Watt with his capital and his spirit, that
Watt's enterprise had the remotest chance of success. Even after

about twelve years' effort, the condensing steam-engine was only
beginning, though half-heartedly, to be taken up and employed by

colliery proprietors and cotton manufacturers. In developing its
powers, and extending its uses, the great merits of William

Murdock can never be forgotten. Watt stands first in its
history, as the inventor; Boulton second, as its promoter and

supporter; and Murdock third, as its developer and improver.
William Murdock was born on the 21st of August, 1754, at Bellow

Mill, in the parish of Auchinleck, Ayrshire. His father, John,
was a miller and millwright, as well as a farmer. His mother's

maiden name was Bruce, and she used to boast of being descended
from Robert Bruce, the deliverer of Scotland. The Murdocks, or

Murdochs--for the name was spelt in either way--were numerous in
the neighbourhood, and they were nearly all related to each

other. They are supposed to have originally come into the
district from Flanders, between which country and Scotland a

considerableintercourse existed in the middle ages. Some of the
Murdocks took a leading part in the construction of the abbeys

and cathedrals of the North;[2] others were known as mechanics;
but the greater number were farmers.

One of the best known members of the family was John Murdock, the
poet Burns' first teacher. Burns went to his school at Alloway

Mill, when he was six years old. There he learnt to read and
write. When Murdock afterwards set up a school at Ayr, Burns,

who was then fifteen, went to board with him. In a letter to a
correspondent, Murdock said: "In 1773, Robert Burns came to

board and lodge with me, for the purpose of revising his English
grammar, that he might be better qualified to instruct his

brothers and sisters at home. He was now with me day and night,
in school, at all meals, and in all my walks." The pupil even

shared the teacher's bed at night. Murdock lent the boy books,
and helped the cultivation of his mind in many ways. Burns soon

revised his English grammar, and learnt French, as well as a
little Latin. Some time after, Murdock removed to London, and

had the honour of teaching Talleyrand English during his
residence as an emigrant in this country. He continued to have

the greatest respect for his former pupil, whose poetry
commemorated the beauties of his native district.

It may be mentioned that Bellow Mill is situated on the Bellow
Water, near where it joins the river Lugar. One of Burns' finest

songs begins:--
"Behind yon hills where Lugar flows."

That was the scene of William Murdock's boyhood. When a boy, he
herded his father's cows along the banks of the Bellow; and as

there were then no hedges, it was necessary to have some one to
watch the cattle while grazing. The spot is still pointed out

where the boy, in the intervals of his herding, hewed a square
compartment out of the rock by the water side, and there burnt

the splint coal found on the top of the Black Band ironstone.
That was one of the undeveloped industries of Scotland; for the

Scotch iron trade did not arrive at any considerable importance
until about a century later.[3] The little cavern in which

Murdock burnt the splint coal was provided with a fireplace and
vent, all complete. It is possible that he may have there

derived, from his experiments, the first idea of Gas as an
illuminant.

Murdock is also said to have made a wooden horse, worked by
mechanical power, which was the wonder of the district. On this

mechanical horse he rode to the village of Cumnock, about two
miles distant. His father's name is, however, associated with

his own in the production of this machine. Old John Murdock had
a reputation for intelligence and skill of no ordinary kind.

When at Carron ironworks, in 1760, he had a pinton cast after a
pattern which he had prepared. This is said to have been the

first piece of iron-toothed gearing ever used in mill work. When
I last saw it, the pinton was placed on the lawn in front of

William Murdock's villa at Handsworth.
The young man helped his father in many ways. He worked in the