Chapter 21: The Scots Vacation

July 1804

Thus, they boarded a stage coach for the first leg of their journey, to Oxford, where they spent the night at the relay station. The second evening already saw them in Birmingham, the centre of industrialism, as it was known. It was certainly a rich city, as they could ascertain during a late evening stroll. Next came Manchester, and after that, the towns and cities they passed became a blur for Thomas, until on the evening of the sixth day, when they reached Kilmarnock, itself a relay station on the Postal Service route to Glasgow.

The Bryces’ coachman was waiting at the station, a very small man with a much-too-large head on his narrow shoulders and named Charlie. It was obvious that Charlie had fortified himself for the coach ride in the taproom of the relay station, but he nevertheless delivered them to the Bryces’ manor house in short time.

Alighting from the coach, they were warmly greeted by the family — father, mother, older brother and two younger sisters. The lady of the house, Maria Bryce, Lady Kilmarnock, gave Thomas a long hug.

“Welcome, my dear young man! Robert has written of you, of course, but it is good to see you in the flesh.”

“My dear wife is right, Mister Grey. We much anticipated your visit, but let me first offer our condolences for the loss of your grandfather. Robert wrote about him, and he must have been an extraordinary man.”

“Thank you, Sir. He was, indeed, and I hold him in dear memory. My parents also tasked me to convey their appreciation of Robert. He will always be welcome at Grey Manor.”

“That is nice of them, but I am remiss, my dear Mister Grey. Please meet my older son Jonathan, the Younger Laird, and my daughters, Heather and Catriona. You have to know that my wife was born a MacLeod of the Highlands. I named the boys, but she picked the girls’ names.”

“Your servant, Sir, young ladies!” Thomas announced to Robert’s siblings, causing the girls to giggle and curtsey. They were quite pretty in the way of Scots girls, with rosy cheeks, reddish hair and wide, smiling mouths.

Jonathan Bryce responded with all the dignity of an eighteen-yer-old.

“Robert told us quite a lot about your exploits. His tales do you much honour.”

“I am only trying to get through the Academy.”

“Tut-tut, but you are the head boy, Mister Grey, and already an accomplished sailor,” the laird answered.

“All due to lucky circumstances, Sir. The one-eyed can be a leader amongst the blind.”

“Well, I shan’t press you. Supper is still hot, so we should sit at table soonest, lest Old Bonnie gets angry!” the laird said.

Thomas was shown to a well appointed dining room, where he had to sit between Robert’s sisters. Applying the table manners learned at the Sea Rover, Thomas made the girls blush, when he served them and waited upon them, but they giggled, too, and the lady of the house gave him an approving nod.

“Did you learn your gentlemanly conduct at school?”

“No, Madam. An old friend of my late grandfather is giving me lessons. They are both entertaining and enlightening,” Thomas replied with a straight face.

“How fortunate for you. Might our Robert be included in those lessons?”

“I would have to ask her, Madam. You have to know that she earns her livelihood teaching young gentlemen the right manners.”

“A worthwhile occupation, to be sure. James, dear, we should raise Robert’s allowance. He would profit a lot from such lessons.”

“Let’s discuss this in the next days, my dear. They just arrived, and there is no hurry.”

After dinner, the family sat in a cosy study, and their guest, Thomas, was subjected to more questions about his upbringing, his service in the Navy, and about his family’s history. Thomas had a lusty yarn to spin about his adventures in the Cormorant sloop and later in the Squirrel and Unite. Of course, everybody focussed on the incident on Bermuda which had earned him his first caning and his erstwhile nickname, Tomcat. The Bryces quite applauded his actions, and the Bryce girls stared at him with shiny eyes.

His rather spotty recollection of his bout with the Yellow Jack raised interest, too, although the laird and his older son were sceptical about the healing prowess of a Negro witch doctress, ascribing his recovery rather to his good constitution. Thomas learned that James Bryce had attended Glasgow University and had studied Natural History there. He was an enlightened man and scoffed at lay healers. Not wishing to antagonise his host, Thomas let it be.

When they turned in for bedtime, the laird gave Thomas a bound book of poems for him to read at bedtime. It was the Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect, by the late Robert Burns, first printed, as the laird pointed out, in Kilmarnock, in 1786. He was much too tired, after six days of travel, to do any reading though, but over the next days, he read the sometimes whimsical poems, even reading aloud, trying to get the pronunciation right.

In the next morning, Robert and his brother showed Thomas the surroundings of Kilmarnock on horseback. Thomas was quite taken by the lush green of the soft hillocks which formed the landscape. He was even more taken by the multitude of strawberries found everywhere, and they spent almost half their outing scouring small copses of wood for the low growing fruits.

They met tenants and their dependents, and Thomas noticed that they all looked prosperous and well nourished. The town of Kilmarnock was also industrious, with many craftsmen and merchants. Jonathan Bryce explained that the town was not part of the lairdship, but largely depended on the estate for grains, potatoes and meats. The lairdship also produced good quality barley, which was cracked, malted and then fermented in two small Whisky distilleries, strictly for local consumption. Of course, Thomas had to sample aged Whisky from both distillers, and he quite liked the taste, if not the heady feeling afterwards.

Whilst Thomas was shown the surroundings, preparations were under way for an estate fair. The Bryces would host the fair for their tenants and their dependants, but the townspeople were also invited. It was an annual tradition and a big social event for the eastern part of the county. To make room for visiting neighbours and dignitaries, the Bryce children and Thomas would sleep in temporary quarters in the hayloft of the estate barn. Using old sails from the estate windmill and some cordage, Thomas and Robert fashioned hammocks for the group which they slung in the loft. The girls were more excited over the unusual sleep arrangements than over the fair itself.

The fair began in the afternoon with competitions in various disciplines requiring both strength and coordination. Only grown men were allowed to compete, but Thomas watched with interest as the men tossed or threw wooden logs or heavy stones. Such sports were not the custom of the Lowlands, but Lady Kilmarnock had introduced them years ago, and the lads and younger men had fun showing their strength.

Market stands offered various wares, and food and drink were offered in great quantity. Towards the evening, music was played and groups of dancers performed. It was all strange and exciting for Thomas, and at one point, a laughing matron plucked him from the fringes and made him dance with her, to everybody’s amusement.

There were a number of older girls and younger women present, likely because the Laird’s two sons were in attendance, because they made certain to curtsey to them. Thomas received some attention, too, when the news spread that he was the only son and heir of an English landowner. The three young men enjoyed themselves quite a lot, trading banter with the fresh-faced girls. This did not sit too well with the Bryce daughters, and Heather in particular made it clear to Thomas that she had older claims on him than those other girls.