OF SCOTLAND.
231
Piasters. In 1794, according to the Statistical Account ofScotland, the rate of wages in the three first-mentionedcounties, was, for men-servants, from L. 7 to L. 10 per an-num, with victuals, and from L. 2, 10 s. to L. 3, 10 s. forWomen-servants for the same term. As it appears from thecounty reports, that labour has advanced fully as much inthese counties, as any where else in Scotland , within the lastsixteen years, the present rate of wages, cannot be less thandouble the sums above mentioned. In Galloway, and inAyrshire, men-servants, boarded in the farmer’s family, re-ceive from L. 14 to L. 20, and in some cases as high asL. 24 per annum ; women-servants receive from L. 5 to L. 10a-year. The dairy being an important concern in thosecounties, good wages are readily given to such women asthoroughly understand the business. In Galloway, suchfarm-servants as are married, live in cottages upon the farm,and are never hired for a shorter period than a year, oftenlonger. They are paid partly in money, and partly by whatis termed a benejit. This consists of a house, garden andfuel, as much corn, meal and potatoes, as are thought neces-sary for the maintenance of their families, and sometimesmaintenance for a cow or a pig: the amount of the wholemay be estimated, on an average, at L. 30 per annum. Inthe arable parts of Dunbartonshire, the rate of wages is muchabout the same as it is in the neighbouring districts of Ren-frew and Lanark shire, namely, for men-servants, boarded inthe farmer’s house, from L. 12 to L. 18 a-year ; for women-ser-vants, from L. 5 to L. 6 a-year. In the county of Stirling,particularly among the farmers in the Carses, very few mar-ried servants are employed; and the demand is thereforeprincipally confined to one class, as in most of the westerncounties. Unmarried servants’ wages are thence higher thanthey probably would be under different circumstances, vary-ing from L. 14 to L. 20, with victuals, per annum ; women-servants from L. 4 to L. 6 per annum.
In the counties of Mid-Lothian, West-Lothian, .Clack-