The chief causes of the increase of population are the introduction of various manufactories, and the increased extent to which coal has been wrought.

The number of families is 1892, of whom 1483 reside in the town, and 409 in the country part of the parish.

The registered baptisms, marriages, and deaths, for the last seven years, are as follow:

The average number of illegitimate births annually is 11.

The number of registered baptisms does not correspond exactly with the number of births, as a certain number of children die without baptism, and the Dissenters very generally neglect registration. There ought also to be a small deduction for the funerals from other parishes, which are recorded along with the deaths happening in this parish.

Amusements.—Archery.—A silver arrow, given formerly by the Magistrates of Musselburgh, to be shot for by the Royal Archers of Scotland, is the object of an annual competition on the Links in the month of August. The victor receives from the town L.1, 10s. and a riddle of claret, and is bound to append a medal of gold or silver to the arrow before the next competition. It has a series of such medals attached to it from 1603 to the present time, with the single exception of the perturbed 1745. During these 236 years it has only been thrice gained by the same individual, by Dobie of Stonyhill, by Provost Drummond of Edinburgh, and lastly, by the late Sir Patrick Walker. It was shot for on the 10th of August 1839, and gained by the Right Honourable the Earl of Dalhousie, in whose keeping it remains for a year.

Golf. The ancient national game of golf continues a favourite amusement, for which the adjacent links are well adapted, so much so, that they have become a place of resort to many of the inhabitants of Edinburgh, who come hither for the purpose of playing this healthful and exhilarating game. A golf club was formed in 1760, and still continues to flourish, consisting of the principal gentlemen of the town and vicinity. A handsome silver cup is annually played for, the winner of which retains possession of it, and is captain of the club for one year, and attaches a gold or silver medal to it before the next competition. The game, from the dry

ness of the links, can be played at all seasons, and affords to the inhabitants a delightful recreation. It is much to be deplored, however, that an exercise in itself sufficiently stimulating, should frequently be prostituted to the purposes of gambling, and that so many of the young who are employed as cadies or club-carriers, should be initiated in the practices of vice partly from the evil example of those in whose gambling transactions they take a deep interest, and whom they in this respect on a smaller scale ludicrously imitate, and partly from the mistaken liberality of their employers, who, by extravagantly overpaying them for their services, not only furnish them with the means of vicious indulgence, but totally unfit them for the sober and steady industry of any laborious calling.

General Character of the People.-Those peculiarities of character and habits which were wont to distinguish one district and town from another are here, as elsewhere, gradually becoming less apparent, from the facilities of communication with other parts of the country. A considerable number of families in the common ranks of life can boast of an ancient although humble descent, and hence there exists a certain feeling of an aristocratic description, which in a more sequestered situation might have degenerated into conceit; and for the same reason, one prominent feature in the character of the middle classes is a laudable pride in the credit and respectability of the "honest town." The town population cannot be characterized as universally distinguished for a scrupulous regard to cleanliness. Many of the houses are mean and squalid in the extreme, and, from being crowded together in narrow lanes or closes without a single foot of garden ground attached to them, uncleanly habits on the part of their occupants are to a certain extent inevitable. These mean and comfortless houses exercise a powerful although indirect influence in degrading the character and in depressing the social condition of the labouring poor; and to the want of cleanly and temperate habits amongst them, much of the distress which they suffer is undoubtedly to be traced. Of the people generally, however, it may be said that they enjoy in a reasonable degree the comforts and advantages of society. They appear contented with their condition, and have a just claim to the character of a moral and religious community.

IV. INDUSTRY.

Agriculture. The parish contains about 3571 acres, almost the whole being arable. There are few plantations, and with the exception of the policy of New Hailes, that of Pinkie, and part of

Dalkeith Park, the soil is almost all under cultivation. The farms are all well enclosed, and subdivided with stone walls, or well kept and thriving hedges; and are in a state of the highest culture. A common of considerable extent was many years ago divided, and is now private property. There is no meadow land. The ordinary length of leases is nineteen years. The principal crops sown are wheat, barley, and oats, with a small proportion of pease and beans; potatoes and turnips also are extensively cultivated.

Rent of Land.-The rent of land is from L. 2 to L. 5 per acre, according to the quality and situation of the ground. In some instances a part of the rent is paid in grain at the rate of the fiars' prices of the county. Only a small part of the land is let for grazing. The price of grazing for a cow is L. 6. The rental of the parish is L. 16,123.

Rate of Wages.-The ordinary rate of wages is from 10s. to 12s. per week for common labourers; and from 16s. to L. 1 for artisans. Colliers are paid so much per ton of coals excavated.* The annual wages of a hind are L. 16 in money, 61⁄2 bolls of meal, 3 bolls of potatoes, a house and garden, and one month's meat in

harvest.

Price of Provisions.-There are excellent butcher-markets, and the supply of fish is abundant; but from our proximity to Edinburgh, the price of provisions is high. Beef sells at 7d. per pound; mutton at 7d.; veal from 7d. to 8d. ; pork at 6d. Haddocks are sold at d. and 1d. each; cod from 10d. to 1s.; herrings from 3d. to 8d. per dozen; oysters from 1s. 6d. to 2s. per hundred.

Live-Stock.-There is no particular breed of cattle reared in the parish. The horses commonly used are of the Clydesdale breed. Sheep are of the Cheviot and Leicester breeds. Lambs of all descriptions are reared for the markets. A considerable quantity of mutton has, of late years, been sent by steam to the London market.

Husbandry. — An improved system of husbandry prevails. Some of the farms are of large extent, under the management of enlightened, enterprizing, and skilful tenants. Tile-draining has recently been practised to a considerable extent, and with com

The system of paying the miners' wages on alternate Saturday nights, appears liable to strong objections, the following day being devoted by many, not to their religious duties, but to intemperate indulgence; Monday also being in consequence not unfrequently spent in a total relaxation from work.

plete success. The expense of draining per acre, the drains 18 feet apart, may be estimated at about L. 8, 15s.

By this important improvement, by a skilful application of manures, and by a judicious selection of the best seeds, as well as by adopting the practice of drilling grain crops, the produce of the land has been greatly increased. Turnip husbandry is successfully practised: the Swedish variety appears to thrive particularly well. In a good many instances, the crop is eaten off the land by sheep, a system which is found materially to improve light sandy soils. The farm-houses and steadings are of a substantial, improved, and superior description, more especially those erected on the property of His Grace the Duke of Buccleuch, whose truly patriotic maxim, "live and let live," is here acted upon in the same liberal spirit as elsewhere. On one farm, possessed by Mr. James Vernor, a steam-engine has been erected for thrashing. The following succession of crops is very generally observed: 1. potatoes or turnips; 2. wheat or barley sown with grass seeds; 3. if not kept in pasture, the grass is cut green, or made into hay; 4. if made into hay then succeeded by a crop of oats. Besides lime and dung, and compost of lime and earth, a considerable quantity of rape cake, and crushed bones, landed at Fisherrow, has lately been used as manure.

*

Coal Mines.-The whole of the coal mines in the parish are either the property of Sir John Hope, Bart. or are rented by him. The total number of persons employed at these works, including women and children, is about 572. The quantity of coal raised. in the course of one year amounts to 54,000 tons, which, at the rate of 5d. per cwt., will produce the sum of L. 22,500.

Fishings.-There is a salmon-fishery at the mouth of the Esk by means of stake-nets. The quantity taken in a season is small. The right of fishing, which belongs to the town, lets at a rent of L. 20 per annum. The season begins on the 1st of February, and closes on the 15th of September.

Fisherrow has long been distinguished for its race of hardy and industrious fishermen. The number of boats employed is 28, averaging from 18 to 22 tons; they are from 33 to 37 feet long, from 10 to 13 feet wide, and about 5 feet deep. Each of these boats requires five men, which makes the number of fishermen 140. The same owners have an equal number of small boats. About the middle of July they prepare their boats for the Caith▪ There are upwards of a dozen steam-engines in the parish employed for various

tember.

In

ness fishing, from which they return, towards the middle of SepFor a month after they return, few or no fish are to be got. They then haul down their small boats to fish off North Berwick and Gullan till the herrings come into the Frith, which is generally in December; when they go with their large boats to deep sea fishing, about 25 to 30 miles east of the Isle of May. A boat makes in good weather two trips in a week. In April fish are scarce; about the end of May they are more plentiful, and continue so till July, when the Caithness fishing commences. favourable seasons the average amount of each boat's fishing is about 250 crans at 9s. per cran. Some of the owners of boats are in very comfortable circumstances; and although somewhat rough and unpolished in their manners, they are, nevertheless, distinguished for much warmth and kindliness of feeling, for frankness, blunt honesty, and strong affections. Their wives and daughters are occupied in procuring bait, in baiting the lines, and disposing of the fish. Their character, habits, and personal appearance are so peculiar, that it has been supposed they were a distinct race, descended probably from foreign settlers, whose manners they still retain. It is obvious, however, that their character and manners, as is the case with other classes, are modified by circumstances, the chief of which are, their always marrying amongst their own caste, and their laborious occupation, which imparts to them an uncommonly robust and masculine aspect.*

Gardens. This parish has long been distinguished for the excellence of its gardens. Besides those belonging to private families, there is a considerable extent of ground in the immediate vicinity of the town, occupied as mail-gardens, as they are called, the produce of which is sold in the Edinburgh and Glasgow markets. It may afford some idea of the value and extent of these, to state that one tenant of a garden pays L. 100 per annum of rent. Musselburgh continues to enjoy a high reputation for leek seed. Formerly, small fortunes were realized by the market-gardeners here, chiefly by the sale of flowers; at present, many most respectable individuals prosper in the same profession, edibles being, however, their chief source of profit.

Produce. The annual value of agricultural produce may be conjectured to be as follows:

For some remarks on this peculiar class of people of a more general character than would be admissible in a statistical work, the reader is referred to Chambers's Edinburgh Journal, Vol. vi. p. 258.