Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER II. BOYHOOD—SCHOOLS AND SCHOOL DAYS. 1795—1812. George Buens was born on the 10th of December, 1795, in the " Holy Land "—not in Palestine, but in a part of Glasgow which had been so named from the fact that a number of notable and godly ministers had congregated in one locality — a piece of land on the north side of George Street, a little west of North Portland Street. These good men were Dr. Burns of the Barony and Dr. Balfour of the Outer Church, Mr. Macleod of the Chapel of Ease, Mr. Williamson his colleague, and Mr. Mushet of Shettleston. What George thought of being born in the midst of such overpowering surroundings there is no evidence to show, but that they had no depressing effect, and that he took very kindly to life, there is abundant proof. He grew up to be a bright, happy, thoughtless boy—as every boy should—and, being the youngest of the family, he came in for his full share of affection and regard. As far as possible, we shall allow him to tell his own story in his own words, and it will in- 1795-1812.] MEMORIES OF BOYHOOD. 85 terest the reader to know that the autobiographical fragments scattered throughout these pages are the reminiscences of a nonogenarian, and that the incidents recorded are the floating memories of a man in his ninety-fourth year, related without the assistance of any notes or diaries. Sometimes these flashes of memory start from a foundation in the present and reach to a period at the very beginning of the century, and vice versa ; sometimes they touch pier after pier of this bridge over the Gulf of Tune; but they are singularly clear, and are given in the exact words of the speaker. My first school was a private one, under a tutor named Angus, who was held in the highest repute as a teacher of grammar in preparati...