THE BLOCK
"I see Andra Marshall's back again," observed Sanny Robertson to Peter
Pegg one evening three months later.
"Ay," said Peter, "he was at Glampy, but his place was stopped, an'
there wasna anither for him."
"Got the sack again, I suppose," said Sanny. "Weel, he maun learn,
Peter, that gaffers are no' gaun to put up wi' his nonsense. If a man
will no' do what he's telt, he maun just take the consequences."
"Ay," said Peter, very dryly, and as Peter knew his man, no more was
said.
Later the same night Matthew Maitland observed to Peter, as they sat on
their "hunkers" at the corner:
"Andra's back again, I suppose."
"Ay," was the answer, "he was telt his place was stopped."
"Imphm," said Matthew, "it's a damn fine excuse. It's a pity but
somethin' could be done."
"It's the Block," said Peter. "I'm telt that a' the managers roun' aboot
ha'e an understandin' with one another no' to gi'e work to onybody they
take a dislike to."
"Ay," agreed Matthew, "I ha'e heard aboot it, but I would soon put a
stop to it."
"Ay, Matthew, it's a union we need up here badly. I'm telt that that
chap Smillie has managed to start one down in the West Country, an' it's
daein' weel. He's got some o' their wages up a hale shillin' a day since
he took it in hand."
"Is that a fact, Peter? The sooner we ha'e him up here the better then.
Black Jock needs a chap back onyway," and Matthew looked like a man who
had suddenly discovered a great truth.
Andrew Marshall had never been allowed to forget his action in defying
Walker; everywhere he went it was the same story--no work for him. The
"Block" system among the managers was in good working order, and could
easily starve a man into docility. Andrew became more desperate as time
passed, and he knew that he and his wife were nearing the end of their
small savings. He returned home one evening from his usual fruitless
search for employment, and threw himself into the arm-chair by the
fireside.
"No work yet, Andra?" asked Katie.
"Nane," was the gloomy response.
"We have no' very mony shillin's left noo, Andra. I dinna ken what we'll
do."
Savage, revengeful feelings surged through Andrew, and found vent in a
volley of oaths which terrified his wife.
"Dinna talk like that, Andra," she pleaded. "It's no' canny, an' forby,
the Lord disna like ye to do it."
"If the Lord cared He could take Black Jock by the scruff o' the neck
an' fling him into hell oot o' the road. It's Black Jock that's at the
bottom o' this, an' I could twist his dirty neck for him."
"Weel, Andra, it's the Lord's doin', an' maybe things'll soon men'."
"If it's the Lord's doin', I dinna think muckle o' His conduct then,"
and Andrew lapsed into sullen silence.
On Monday morning he was up at five o'clock, desperately resolved to lay
his case before the men. He walked to the end of the village, knowing
the colliery would be idle, for Tam Donaldson was to be "creeled." This
was a custom at one time very prevalent in mining villages. When a young
man got married, the first day he appeared at his work afterwards he was
taken home by his comrades, and was expected to stand them a drink. It
generally ended in a collection being made, after they had tasted the
newly-married man's whiskey, and a common fund thus being established, a
large quantity of beer and whiskey was procured, and all drank to their
heart's content.
Andrew heard the men calling to each other as they made their way to the
pit, the lights from their lamps twinkling in the darkness of the winter
morning.
"Is Tam away yet, Jamie?" he heard wee Allan ask, as he overtook old
Jamie Lauder on his way to the pit.
"Ay, I saw to that," replied Lauder, "I chappit him up at five o'clock,
so that he wadna sleep in. I hinna missed a creelin' for thirty-five
years, an' I wasna' gaun to miss Tam Donaldson's. I heard him goin' oot
two or three minutes afore me. We're in for a guid day, for he telt me
he had in two bottles for the spree."
"That's a' right, then; I was afraid he wad maybe sleep in," and the two
trudged on together towards the pit.
A group of dark figures stood on the pithead, waiting their turn to go
below. The cage rattled up from the depths of the shaft, the men stepped
in, and almost immediately disappeared down into the blackness. Arrived
at the bottom, they walked along towards the different passages,
chaffing and jesting with Tam Donaldson, the newly-married one.
"Ye'll be gaun to do something decent the day, Tam, when we take ye
hame?" said Jamie Allan. "I hear ye ha'e two bottles ready for the
occasion."
"Ay, but I'm damned shair there's no a lick gaun unless ye take me
hame," answered Donaldson. "If I ha'e to be creeled, I'll be creeled
right, an' every one o' ye'll gang hame wi' me afore ye get a taste."
"Oh, but we'll see to that, chaps," said old Lauder. "Here's a hutch,
get him in an' aff wi' him."
The victim pretended to resist, and stoutly maintained that they should
not creel him. He was seized by half a dozen pairs of arms, and with
much expenditure of energy and breath, deposited in the hutch. Some
considerate person had put some straw and old bags in the "carriage" to
make it more comfortable, and a few of the wags had chalked
inscriptions, the reverse of complimentary, all over it.
"There, noo', boys," said old Lauder, who had been busy hanging lighted
pit lamps round Tam's cap, "gi'e him a guid run to the bottom, and see
that he gets a guid bump in the lye."
The men ran the hutch to the "bottom" straight against the full tubs
ready to be sent to the surface.
"Come on, Sourocks, let us up," called Allan to the old man who acted as
"bottomer."
"Hell to the up will ye get!" replied the old fellow, "I'm gaun to put
on these hutches first."
"No, ye'll no', an' if ye do, you'll gang into the 'sump,' an' we'll
chap the bell oorsels"--the sump being the lodgment into which the water
gathered before pumping operations could start.
"Sourocks" thought discretion the better part of valor in this case, and
swearing quietly to himself, he signaled to the engineman at the top to
draw them up.
"He's no gaun to walk hame," said Allan, as they all gathered again on
the pit head. "We'll take the hutch hame wi' Tam in it. Put a rope on
it, and we'll draw the damned thing through the moor, an' maybe Tam'll
mind the day he was creeled as lang as he lives."
This proposal was jumped at, especially by the younger men, to whom an
idle day did not mean so much worry on pay-day as to their married
elders.
Andrew Marshall had waited at the end of the village, knowing that the
creeling was to take place, and that he would get the men on their way
from the pit. Presently old Lauder, who had taken a short cut across the
moor, came up, and Andrew accosted him.
"Will ye wait here, Jamie, so that I can try an' get a meetin' held wi'
the rest o' the men when they come alang?"
"I will that, Andra," replied Jamie, taking the lighted lamp from his
head, and sitting down at the corner on his "hunkers." "They're a'
comin' hame anyway, for we're creelin' Tam Donaldson."
Soon the procession appeared, the hutch jolting along the rough street,
the men shouting and singing as they came. The village had turned out to
see the fun. Andrew and Jamie found themselves in the midst of a crowd
of women and children, as the foremost of the men came to a halt at the
corner.
Andrew quietly stepped out and addressed the men, asking them if they
would wait a few minutes--as they were idle in any case--to have a
meeting. All were agreed.
"Here's Sanny Robertson," said Tam Tate, peering into the breaking
light, "he'll no' likely wait, but we'll see what he says aboot it," and
all waited in silence until Robertson approached. He seemed to guess
what was in the air, and hurriedly tried to pass on, but Andrew stepped
out with the usual question.
"No," he replied uneasily, "I'll ha'e no part in ony mair strife. Folk
just get into bother for nothing. Men'll ha'e to keep mind that gaffers
now-a-days'll no' put up wi' disobedience."
"Ay, but ye maun mind," said Tam Tate hastily, "that men maun be treated
as human bein's, even by a gaffer."
"I can aye get on with the gaffer," replied Robertson, "an' I dinna see
what way ither folk canna do the same."
"That's a' richt," put in old Jamie Lauder, "but a' men are no' just
prepared to do as ye do," and there was a hint of something in his voice
which the others seemed to understand.
"I ha'e no quarrel," sulkily replied Robertson, "an' I dinna see what
way I should get into this one. I can get plenty o' work, an' ither folk
can get it too, if they like to behave themselves."
"Ye're a liar," roared Tam Tate angrily, his usual hasty temper getting
the mastery. "It's no' you that gets the work, it's Mag!"
The others laughed uproariously, for it was common knowledge that Sanny
got his good jobs because of Walker's intimacy with his wife.
"Ye leave the best man in the house every mornin' when ye gang oot!"
roared another amid coarse laughter, whilst Andrew turned to tackle the
next comer.
A few refused to wait, but it was generally known that these were the
men whose houses were always open to Walker by day or night. When they
were all gathered, Andrew Marshall stood up, and for the first time in
his life spoke at a meeting.
"Weel, men," he began, "ye a' ken the position o' things. Ye ken as weel
as me that I got the sack for gatherin' for Geordie Sinclair. Weel, I
ha'e been oot o' work three months; the Block is on against me, an' it
seems I ha'e to starve. I canna get work onywhere, an' I stopped ye a'
the day to ask ye to make my quarrel yours, an' try and put an end to
this business."
That was the whole speech, but its simple sincerity appealed to all, and
many expressed approval and determination to stand by Andrew in his
fight.
"I think it's a damn'd shame," said old Lauder.
"I'll tell ye what it is," said Matthew Maitland, "it's a downricht
barefaced murder, an' I would smash this damn'd cantrip o' Black Jock's.
I ken that he'll get a' that is said at this meetin', an' maybe I'll get
the same dose; but I think it's aboot time somethin' was done to put an
end to his capers," and so Matthew floundered on.
"Ay, an' let us see what can be done for Geordie, too," put in Peter
Pegg, and his long neck seemed to get longer at every syllable, while
his big eye made a great attempt to wink and to look backward, as if he
expected to see someone coming from behind. "We a' ken," continued
Peter, "that Geordie is ready for work noo', this fower week syne, but
Black Jock says he has no places, an' forby two strangers got jobs just
yesterday."
"I ken for yae thing that there's fower places staunin' in Millar's
Level," said Jamie Lauder, "an' I'm telt there's five or six staunin' in
the Black Horse Dook. It's a' a bit of humbug, an' I think we should try
an' put an end to it."
"Weel, I think we're a' agreed on that," said Tam Tate. "Has ony o' you
onything to suggest?"
For a few minutes there was silence, while they sat or stood deep in
thought, trying to find a solution. It was an eerie gathering, with the
gray dawn just beginning to break, while on every head the
indispensable lamp burned and flickered. Men expectorated savagely upon
the ground, staring hard at the stones at their feet, thinking and
wondering how they might serve their comrades.
"It's about time we had a union," said one.
"Ay," replied another, "so that some bigmouthed idiot can pocket the
money an' get a guid saft job oot o' it."
"We've had plenty of unions," put in another. "The last yin we started
here--ye mind Bob Ritchie gaed aff to America wi' a' the money. It was a
fine go for him!"
"Oh, ay, but let us see what can be done wi' this case," said Jamie
Lauder. "Hoo' wad it do if we appointed a deputation to gang an' lay the
hale thing afore Mr. Rundell?"
Jamie was always listened to with the respect due to his proved good
sense, for everyone knew that he was a man who would not intentionally
hurt a fellow creature by word or deed.
"I believe it wad be a guid plan," agreed Tam Tate. "He maybe disna ken
the hauf that gangs on. What do ye a' think o' it, men?"
This was before the days of limited companies and coal syndicates, and
the proprietor of the pits in Lowwood, Mr. Rundell, lived about two
miles out of the village. He was not a bad man, as men go; he was fiery
and quick-tempered, but had a not ungenerous nature withal, and was
usually susceptible to a reasoned statement. Just as they were about to
decide on a course of action, Andrew spoke: "I dinna want ony mair o' ye
than can be helped to get into bother, so, if ye like, Jamie Lauder--if
he's agreeable--could gang wi' me and Geordie Sinclair, and we'll put
the hale case afore him an' see what he mak's o't."
This was received with approval, and it was agreed that Andrew, Jamie
and Geordie should form the deputation.
But Black Jock soon heard of the decision, and, as usual, acted with
alacrity; for, had the men only known it, they had decided on a course
which he did not want them to adopt. He visited Jamie Lauder, and told
him that the day before Rundell and he had agreed that the places in the
Black Horse Dook should be started at once, and that he was angry at
the course taken by the men. He believed that Mr. Rundell would also be
very angry, and if only Andrew and Geordie had come to him the night
before, they could have been working that day. He represented Rundell as
being in an explosive mood, and that he was furious at the men taking
the idle day, and that he had threatened that if they were not at work
next day, he would lock them out. So plausibly did he speak, and so
sincere did his concern appear, that Jamie, who was withal a simple man,
and aware that the circumstances of his comrades would not admit of a
very long fight, began to think it might be as Black Jock had said.
"I think ye'd better ca' a meetin' o' the men, Jamie, and put the hale
case afore them. Let them ken that Rundell decided just yesterday to
start the places, and that Andra and Geordie can start the morn. I ha'e
no ill wull at ony o' the twa o' them, and I'm vexed that things ha'e
been as bad as they've been, but I couldna get the boss to start the
places, and what could I do? They can a' be back at their work the morn
if they like to look at it reasonably. Of course, ye can please
yersel'," he went on, "it's a' yin to me; but if Rundell tak's it into
his head to ha'e a fight, well--ye ken what it means, an' I wouldna like
to ha'e ony strife the noo', for times are very hard for us a'."
Simple and honest as Jamie was, Black Jock's plausibility appealed to
him, and he began to think that Walker perhaps was not so bad as he was
made to appear. Again, Jamie knew that Rundell was a man of hasty temper
and impulsive judgments, and could not brook trouble, and he began to
think that perhaps it might be better to hold the meeting as suggested
and tell the men what he had heard, and appeal to them to go back to
work.
"All right," he said to Walker, "I'll call a meeting to-night and put
the case as you have said, and ask them to go back. But mind, you've not
to go back on your promise. You'll have to start Andrew and Geordie
within twa days, or the men will no' continue to work. Mind, I'm taking
a lot on myself to do this, and you'll have to carry out your part and
start them."
"I'll fill my part, never fear," was the answer, and there was relief in
Walker's voice. "See, there's my hand," he said, extending a big black
limb as he spoke, first spitting on his palm to ensure due solemnity.
"There's no dryness about that, Jamie. I mean it. I'll start Geordie and
Andrew all right. You get the men to go back to work to-morrow, for I'm
afraid Rundell will make trouble if you remain idle anither day. Noo' I
promise." And Jamie took the extended hand in token of the bargain and
returned to summon the meeting, which was duly held, and, as Walker had
anticipated, the men were appeased, and returned to work the next day.
Sure enough, within two days Andrew Marshall and Geordie Sinclair were
both started to work, and matters went smoothly for a time.
But though they had had a lesson, it did not stop their activities as
agitators for the establishment of a union, for they knew that there was
no protection for any of them if they remained unorganized.
"Men never were meant to work and live as colliers do," said Geordie,
thoughtfully. "Life should be good, and free, and happy, with comfort
and enjoyment for all. Look at the birds--they are happy! So are the
flowers, or they wouldn't look so pleased. God meant a' men and weemin
to be glad, even though they have to work. But hoo' the hell can folk be
happy and worship God on two and sixpence a day? It's all wrong, Andrew,
an' I'll never believe that men were meant to live as we live."
"That's true, Geordie," agreed Andrew soberly. "I only wish we could get
everybody to see it as we see it. There's plenty for a' God's
creatures--enough to make everybody happy, an' there need be no ill-will
in the world, if only common-sense was applied to things; but I'm damn'd
if I can see where even the men can be happy who are making their money
oot o' our lives. They're bound to ken surely that what comes from
misery can not make happiness for them."
"True, Andrew, true, and we maun just go on working for it. Sometimes I
have the feeling that we are on the point of big changes: just as if the
folk would awaken up oot o' their ignorance, with love in their hearts,
an' make all things right for everybody. A world o' happiness for
everybody is worth workin' for. So we maun gang on."
And so they talked of their dreams and felt the better for it.