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ABSTRACT
The Education (Scotland) Act of 1872 consolidated the provision of education in all types of school in all areas of the country, but particularly in urban areas, many grammar schools, high schools, and academies were already well established. Although libraries had been included from early times in such educational establishments as cathedrals and monasteries and in their subsequent grammar schools, hitherto little has been known about their existence. A preliminary survey of available sources shows that although only glimpses are sometimes afforded, there is more accessible information than was previously thought. From the seventeenth century onwards, libraries became more prevalent in a variety of urban schools, and details can be gleaned about book stocks, buildings, and finance. Following suggestions included in this basic survey, it should be possible to pursue more detailed research into aspects of their administration.
Notes on contributor
Formerly a lecturer in the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, Dr. McLelland is now an independent researcher in the history and development of Scottish educational libraries.
Notes
1. James Grant, History of the Burgh and Parish Schools of Scotland, i (London and Glasgow: William Collins, Sons, & Co., 1876), 439.
2. J. Scotland, The History of Scottish Education, i: From the Beginning to 1872 (London: University of London Press Ltd, 1969), 71.
3. Dorothy H. White, ‘The Development of School Libraries in Scotland, 1658–1970’ (unpublished master's thesis, University of Strathclyde, 1973).
4. The Statistical Accounts described the Scottish counties and parishes in Scotland. The Old Statistical Account (hereafter OSA) was issued in the 1790s and the New Statistical Account (hereafter NSA) in the 1840s. See edina.ac.uk/stat-acc-scot (accessed 11 April 2016).
5. John Strawhorn, 750 Years of a Scottish School: Ayr Academy 1233–1983 (Ayr: Alloway Publishing, 1983), 22.
6. K. A. Manley, Books, Borrowers and Shareholders: Scottish Circulating and Subscription Libraries Before 1825 (Edinburgh: Edinburgh Bibliographical Society, 2012).
7. The pound was divided into twenty shillings and the shilling into twelve pence. A guinea was equivalent to one pound and one shilling. The approximate purchasing power of a pound, compared with £1 in 2015, was as follows: 1650 = £120; 1700 = £128; 1750 = £140; 1800 = £75; 1850 = £95. More detailed information can be found at www.MeasuringWorth.com (accessed 11 April 2016).
8. Oxford Companion to Scottish History, edited by Michael Lynch (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001), 561–65.
9. As the name indicates, grammar schools principally taught Latin grammar, aiming at the education of lawyers and clergymen. With the later expansion of the curriculum to include science, mathematics, and geography, burgh schools were often termed high schools or academies.
10. Andrea Thomas, Glory and Honour: The Renaissance in Scotland (Edinburgh: Birlinn Ltd, 2013), 151–7.
11. Robert Keith, History of the Affairs of Church and State of Scotland, iii, ed. by Charles J. Lyon (Edinburgh: Spottiswoode Society, 1844), 371.
12. John Durkan, Scottish Schools and Schoolmasters 1560–1633, edited and revised by Jamie Reid-Baxter (Edinburgh: Scottish History Society/Boydell Press, 2013), 12.
13. Grant, 44.
14. J. B. Barclay, The Tounis Scule: The Royal High School of Edinburgh (Edinburgh: RHS Club, 1974), 39.
15. A press is a cupboard with shelves.
16. Barclay, 39; W. Steven, The History of the High School of Edinburgh (Edinburgh: McLachland & Stewart, 1849), 64.
17. Grant, 437.
18. Trevor W. Johns, ‘The Library of the Grammar School of Montrose’, School Librarian 10, no. 5 (July 1961): 396–403.
19. Ibid.
20. Grant, 437.
21. Ebenezer Henderson, Annals of Dunfermline and Vicinity From the Earliest Authentic Period to the Present Time (Glasgow: J. Tweed, 1879), 388.
22. Ibid.
23. OSA, http://stat-acc-scot.edina.ac.uk/link/1791-99/Ross%20and%20Cromarty/Rosemarkie/11/347/ (accessed 11 April 2016).
24. Alexander Law, Education in Edinburgh in the Eighteenth Century (London: University of London Press, 1965), 142. Heriots was a school founded with money bequeathed by George Heriot in 1623.
25. Law, 180. Hospital schools were funded by trust funds set up to help ‘unfortunates’ in society.
26. Scotsman, 11 July 1829, scotsman.com (accessed 11 April 2016).
27. K. C. Altfest, Robert Owen as Educator (Boston: Twayne, 1977), 71; quoted from The Life of Robert Owen Written by Himself, which was originally published in two volumes, 1857–58.
28. Scotland, 294.
29. James Cleland, Historical Account of the Grammar School of Glasgow, With a List of the Duxes from 1782 till 1825 (Glasgow: Blackie & Co., 1825), 28.
30. Is this an early example of networking and information exchange?
31. Brian R. W. Lockhart, The Town School: A History of the High School of Glasgow (Edinburgh: John Donald, 2010), 67.
32. Steven, 64.
33. Scotsman, 11 September 1847.
34. John Harrison, The Company of Merchants of the City of Edinburgh and Its Schools, 1694–1920 (Edinburgh: Company of Merchants, 1920), 19.
35. Scotsman, 28 September 1836.
36. Scotsman, 13 September 1851.
37. A. F. Hutchison, History of the High School of Stirling (Stirling: Eneas Mackay, 1904), 203.
38. Ibid.
39. OSA, http://stat-acc-scot.edina.ac.uk/link/1791-99/Appendix/6/591/ (accessed 11 April 2016).
40. NSA, http://stat-acc-scot.edina.ac.uk/link/1834-45/Edinburgh/Edinburgh/1/683/ (accessed 11 April 2016).
41. Lockhart, 61.
42. NSA, http://stat-acc-scot.edina.ac.uk/link/1834-45/Clackmannan/Dollar/8/98/ (accessed 11 April 2016).
43. NSA, http://stat-acc-scot.edina.ac.uk/link/1834-45/Linlithgow/Bathgate/2/165/ (accessed 11 April 2016).
44. Scotsman, 22 September 1841.
45. Scotsman, 14 October 1843.
46. Ian R. M. Mowat, ‘Literacy, Libraries and Literature in 18th and 19th Century Easter Ross, Library History 5, no. 1 (1979): 1–10.
47. Grant, 438.
48. Johns, 398. It would seem that the library was open to outside readers, since the teacher in charge of the library could lend books for a limited period to any individual recommended by a member of the town council or of whom he himself approved, on receiving sufficient security for their safe return.
49. M. Mackintosh, ‘Education in Lanarkshire: A Historical Survey up to the Act of 1872, From Original and Contemporary Sources’ (unpublished doctoral thesis, University of Glasgow, 1969).
50. W. Davidson, History of Lanark (Lanark: [n. pub.], 1828), 65–69.
51. Haldane P. Tait and Archibald T. Wallace, ‘Dr. William Smellie and His Library at Lanark, Scotland’, Bulletin of the History of Medicine 26, no. 5 (September–October 1952): 403–21.
52. National Library of Scotland website, www.nls.uk (accessed 11 April 2016).
53. Ibid.
54. Herald, 16 January 1964, www.heraldscotland.com (accessed 11 April 2016).
55. William C. A. Ross, The Royal High School (Edinburgh: Oliver & Boyd, 1934), 13.
56. Steven, 64.
57. The school became Irvine Academy in 1816.
58. Anne Scott, ‘William Templeton's Bookshop, Irvine’, in 18 Bookshops (Dingwall: Sandstone Press Ltd, 2011), unpaginated; John Strawhorn. The History of Irvine (Edinburgh: John Donald, 1985), 92.
59. Scotsman, 11 July 1829.
60. Scotsman, 2 September 1848.
61. Johns, 401.
62. Grant, 438.
63. Ibid., 437.
64. Ibid.
65. Law, 220.
66. Cleland, 30.
67. Ibid., 28.
68. Scotsman, 22 October 1843.
69. Steven, 65.
70. Scotsman, 29 September 1824.
71. Scotsman, 6 July 1825.
72. James B. Ritchie, Forres: Its Schools and Schoolmasters (Forres: Forres Academy, 1926).
73. Robert Brown, The History of the Paisley Grammar School from Its Foundation in 1576 (Paisley: Alex Gardner, 1875), 180–99.
74. Grant, 436–39.
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