Scotch act,

1696. [Will. 3, parl. 1, sess. 6, c. 26.]

Future annual salary to schoolmasters from 300 to 400

merks Scots.

not have been registered in manner directed by the said act, or without having qualified himself, and caused the certificate thereof to be registered in manner directed by the said act; or in case he shall neglect to pray for his majesty, his heirs and successors, by name, and all the royal family, or cause them to be prayed for as aforesaid; or in case he shall resort to, or attend divine worship in any episcopal meeting house not allowed by law; every person so offending, being thereof lawfully convicted before two or more justices of the peace, or before any other judge competent summarily, shall, for the first offence, suffer imprisonment for the space of six months; and for the second or any subsequent offence, being thereof lawfully convicted before the court of justiciary, or in any of the circuit courts, shall be adjudged to be transported, and shall be accordingly transported to some of his majesty's plantations in America for life; and in case any person so adjudged to be transported shall return into, or be found in Great Britain, he shall suffer imprisonment for life.

43 GEORGE 3, CAP. 54.-An act for making better provision for the parochial schoolmasters, and for making further regulations for the better government of the parish schools, in Scotland. Whereas the parish schoolmasters in Scotland are a most useful body of men, and their labours have been of essential importance to the public welfare: and whereas by an act passed in the parliament of Scotland, in the reign of king William the third, in the year one thousand six hundred and ninety-six, intituled, act for settling of schools, it is, inter alia, statuted and ordained, that there be a school settled and established, and a schoolmaster appointed, in every parish not already provided, by advice of the heritors and minister of the parish; and for that effect, that the heritors in every parish meet and provide a commodious house for a school, and settle and modify a salary to a schoolmaster, which shall not be under one hundred merks nor above two hundred merks Scots, to be paid yearly, at two terms, Whitsunday and Martinmas, by equal portions; and certain rules and regulations were laid down by the said act, relative to the apportioning and payment of the said salary by the heritors of the parish and whereas the highest salary by the said act granted, amounting only to eleven pounds two shillings and two-pence two thirds of a penny sterling, which by difference in the value of money, and change in the circumstances of the country, has become a provision altogether inadequate for a body of men whose labors are of so great public utility: may it therefore please your majesty that it may be enacted, and be it enacted by the king's most excellent majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the lords spiritual and temporal, and commons, in this present parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, that, from and after the term of Martinmas next, the salary of each parochial schoolmaster in every parish of Scotland shall not be under the sum of three hundred merks Scots per annum, nor above the sum of four hundred merks Scots per annum, except in the cases hereinafter mentioned.

Heritors II. And be it further enacted, that within three months after the (qualified as under s. 22), passing of this act, the heritors possessed of the qualification required of the parish by this act, and the minister of every parish, shall hold a meeting, of

and minister

salaries.

which intimation shall be given from the pulpit immediately after shall fix such divine service in the forenoon, and by circular letters, to be written by the minister of the parish, to such heritors having the qualification prescribed by this act, who are non-resident, and also by leaving a written notice at the mansion house of every heritor, whether resident or not, at least thirty free days before such meeting shall take place; and on due consideration of the circumstances of the particular parish in respect of extent, population, and valued rent, and the probable amount of the other emoluments of the schoolmaster's office, such meeting shall judge and determine whether the schoolmaster's salary shall be three hundred merks Scots per annum, or four hundred merks Scots per annum, or such sum between these two sums as to such meeting shall seem most suitable to the circumstances of the parish, and shall fix and determine the amount of the schoolmaster's salary, to be paid to the schoolmaster, by a resolution to be made at such meeting, a copy of which resolution, signed by the preses of the meeting, shall be delivered to the schoolmaster of the parish as his authority for collecting and receiving the salary thereby fixed and determined, which shall be paid by the several heritors at the same terms apportioned among them, in the same manner, and with the same relief against their tenants, as is provided by the aforesaid act of the parliament of Scotland, passed in the year one thousand six hundred and ninety-six: provided always, that no salary at present payable to any schoolmaster shall be diminished; and in all cases Salaries paywhere any such salary or any part thereof is payable in grain or or meal shall meal, such salary in grain or meal shall continue to be paid and so continue, payable in the same manner as heretofore, with such additions estimated at thereto in money as to such meeting shall seem proper; and in 200 merks fixing and determining the amount of the salary to be paid pursuant to this act, such grain or meal making part of such salary shall be estimated at the rate of two hundred merks per chalder.

able in grain

and shall be

per chalder.

fixed shall be

years.

three years

oatmeal shall

ed and certi

twenty-five

III. And be it enacted, that the salaries so fixed and determined Salaries so in manner above directed, shall continue to be the salaries payable payable for to the schoolmaster of every parish for and during the period of twenty-five twenty-five years from and after the passing of this act; and within within three years after the expiration of twenty-five years from the passing afterwards of this act, the sheriff or stewart of every county or stewartry shall the price of fix and determine, according to the average amount of the fiars of a chalder of the county or stewartry for the twenty-five years preceding, what is be ascertainthe value or average price of a chalder of oatmeal, and he shall make fied on the a return of such average to the office of king's remembrancer in average of exchequer in Scotland; and the lord chief baron and barons of years, exchequer are hereby empowered and required, from such returns by the sheriffs and stewarts of Scotland, to strike the average price of a chalder of oatmeal for all Scotland; and an order of the said court of exchequer, fixing such average, shall, within three months from the date of the last return by the sheriffs and stewarts, be published by the king's remembrancer in the Edinburgh Gazette, and such other Scots newspapers as he shall deem sufficient, for three successive weeks, and a copy thereof shall also be transmitted by the said remembrancer to the sheriff or stewart clerk of every shire or stewartry in Scotland; which average so ascertained shall be the

and shall be rate according to which the schoolmaster's salary shall be fixed in the rate for the manner hereinafter directed, and the sheriff or stewart clerk fixing the schoolmas shall transmit a certificate thereof, signed by him, to the minister of each parish within the county or stewartry, to be by him submitted to the meeting directed to be called in manner immediately after mentioned.

ters' salaries

Heritors and

ministers

shall meet

months after

certifying

price, and

shall fix the amount of schoolmas

IV. And be it enacted, that within three months after the date of such certificate, the heritors possessed of the qualification required within three by this act, and the minister of every parish in Scotland, shall hold the ascer- a meeting, of which intimation shall be given from the pulpit immetaining and diately after divine service in the forenoon, and by circular letters, such average to be written by the minister of the parish, to such heritors having the qualification prescribed by this act, who are non-resident, and also by leaving a written notice at the mansion house of every heritor ters' salaries whether resident or not, at least thirty free days before such meeting accordingly. shall take place; and on due consideration of the circumstances of the particular parish in respect of extent, population, and valued rent, such meeting shall judge and determine whether the schoolmaster's salary of the same shall be equal to the average price of one chalder and a half, or of two chalders of oatmeal, according to the amount thereof, ascertained by the aforesaid certificate, or to such proportion between them as to such meeting shall seem most suitable to the circumstances of the parish, and shall fix and determine the amount of the schoolmaster's salary, to be paid pursuant to such average and their resolution thereupon; a copy of which resolution, signed by the preses of the meeting, shall be delivered to the schoolmaster of the parish, as his authority for collecting and receiving the salary thereby fixed and determined, which shall be paid to him by the several heritors at the same terms, apportioned among them, in the same manner, and with the same relief against their tenants, as is provided by the aforesaid act of the parliament of Scotland, in the year one thousand six hundred and ninety-six.

In case of

neglect, &c. appeal may be made, within three months, to the next quarter sessions.

At the end of every twenty-five years

V. Provided always, and be it enacted, that in case the heritors and minister shall neglect or refuse to determine the amount of the salary to be paid to the schoolmaster according to the provisions of the act, or in case any heritor, or the schoolmaster, shall be dissatisfied with the determination made, it shall be competent within three months after such meeting ought to have been held, or such determination shall have been made, for the schoolmaster to apply, or for such person so dissatisfied to appeal, to the next quarter sessions held for the shire or stewartry within the bounds of which the parish or parish kirk lies, whose judgment shall be final, and no appeal by advocation, suspension, or otherwise, shall be admitted against the judgment given at such quarter sessions: provided always, that no heritor of the parish from whence such appeal comes shall vote upon such appeal at such quarter sessions.

VI. Provided always, and be it enacted, that after twenty-five shall have elapsed from the time the amount of a schoolmasyears the school ter's salary shall have been so fixed, the sheriff of a shire, stewart of lary shall be a stewartry, shall within three months again determine the average re-ascertain price of a chalder of oatmeal in the manner directed by this act; and shall, as above directed, return the same to the office of king's

master's sa

ed in like

manner.

remembrancer in exchequer, and the lord chief baron and barons of exchequer shall again by an order of court fix the average price for all Scotland; and the king's remembrancer shall again transmit a copy of said order of court to the sheriff or stewart clerk of each shire or stewartry, and the said sheriff or stewart clerk shall again publish the same in the Edinburgh Gazette and Scots newspapers, and transmit a certificate of said average and order of court to the minister of each parish within his shire and stewartry, and the heritors and minister shall again fix and determine the schoolmaster's salary according to such average, such salary never being less than the value of one chalder and an half, nor more than two chalders for the next twenty-five years, and so toties quoties at the end of every twenty-five years for ever, unless altered by parliament; and every such determination of salary shall be liable to appeal to the quarter sessions in manner and to the effect above directed.

one heritor,

VII. Provided always, and be it enacted, that in every parish Where only where there is only one heritor qualified as hereinafter prescribed, he shall have such heritor shall have two votes at every meeting directed to be two votes. held pursuant to this act; and in all meetings where no preses has Preses. been chosen, the heritor present possessed of the highest valuation shall have the casting vote.

VIII. And be it further enacted, that in every parish where a School house commodious house for a school has not already been provided, pur- house and and dwelling suant to the directions in the above recited act, and in every parish garden shall be provided; where a dwelling house for the residence of the schoolmaster has not already been provided together with a portion of ground for a garden to the extent hereafter mentioned, the heritors of every such parish shall provide a commodious house for a school, and also a house for the residence of the schoolmaster, such house not consisting of more than two apartments including the kitchen, together with a portion of ground for a garden to such dwelling house, from fields used for the ordinary purposes of agriculture or pasturage, as near and convenient to the schoolmaster's dwelling house as reasonably may be; which garden shall contain at least one-fourth part of a Scots acre, and shall be enclosed with such fence as is generally used for such purposes in the district of the county where it is situated; and the expense of providing such school house, dwelling house, and garden, and supporting the same, shall be defrayed and paid in the same and like manner as is prescribed for providing a house for a school by the aforesaid act of the parliament of Scotland: providing always, or, in lieu of that where the heritors shall determine that such garden cannot be a garden, an allotted to the schoolmaster without great loss and inconvenience, it salary. shall be optional to them, with the authority of the quarter sessions of the county or stewartry, to assign to the schoolmaster, in lieu of such garden, an addition to his salary, at the rate of eight bolls of oatmeal per acre, to be computed according to the average ascertained in manner hereinbefore directed.

to

IX. And be it further enacted, that in case the heritors shall In case of neglect, &c. neglect or refuse to provide the accommodations of house, school schoolmashouse, and garden, or additional salary in lieu thereof, to school- ters may masters according to the provisions of this act, or in case the quarter sesschoolmaster shall not be satisfied with the accommodations afforded sions.

apply to

Satisfaction to heritors whose

ground shall

&c.

him, it shall be competent for him to bring the same by represen tation or petition before the quarter sessions held for the shire or stewartry to which the parish of which he is schoolmaster belongs, or in which the parish kirk is situated; and in all such cases the judgment of the quarter sessions shall be final, without any further appeal by advocation, suspension, or otherwise: provided always, that no justice of the peace who shall be an heritor in the parish of such schoolmaster shall vote upon such representation or petition.

X. Provided always, and be it enacted, that the heritor or heritors from whose estates any ground shall be taken for the be taken for purpose of such school house, dwelling house, and garden, shall school house have his, her, or their relief against the other heritors of the parish, for the value of the ground so to be taken, in proportion to the valued rent of the lands belonging to the whole heritors in the parish; such relief to be settled only by the sheriff or stewart of the county or stewartry, without appeal by advocation, suspension, or otherwise.

Regulations for two

parishes

XI. And be it enacted, that in case of those parishes which conteachers in sist of districts detached from each other by the sea or arms of the consisting of sea, or otherwise, as where a parish consists of two or more islands, two or more of which there are several instances in the highlands, north isles, being of and Hebrides, or where it is otherwise of great extent or population, great extent. so that one parochial school cannot be of any effectual benefit to the

islands, or

Not to ex

whole inhabitants of such parishes, it shall be competent to the heritors and minister if they shall see cause on fixing a salary of six hundred merks, or the value of three chalders of oatmeal, to be computed according to the provisions of this act, to divide the same among two or more teachers according to the extent and population of the parish; and these proportions so divided shall be paid to teachers of schools in the same way and manner, and under the same conditions, as hereafter are specified by this act, for supplying vacant parochial schools with masters; but in respect that the heritors of such parishes are to pay an higher salary, they are hereby exempted from the obligation of providing school houses, dwelling houses, and gardens, for the teachers among whom the salary is to be divided in the manner aforesaid; and in case a difference of opinion shall arise among the heritors respecting the propriety and usefulness of such division of the salary, the same shall be submitted by petition or representation to the quarter sessions of the shire or stewartry, within the bounds of which the parish or parish kirk is situated; and the judgment thus obtained shall be final without appeal by advocation, suspension, or otherwise.

XII. Provided always, and be it enacted, that none of the provitend to royal sions of this act shall apply to the case of a parish, which consists only of a royal burgh or part of a royal burgh.

burghs.

Where a parish consists

ward heritor,

XIII. And be it further declared, that where a parish consists of of a burgh a royal burgh, or part of a royal burgh, and a landward heritor or and a land- heritors, the schoolmaster shall be appointed and maintained by the schoolmaster burgh, or by the landward heritor or heritors, or by the burgh and shall be ap- landward heritors, in the same way and manner, and according to as heretofore the same proportions that have hitherto been observed in such

pointed, &c.