Democratic Sentinel, Volume 13, Number 43, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 15 November 1889 — Unfortunatc Poor. [ARTICLE]

Unfortunatc Poor.

"* Scotland, in common with other civilized countries, has now a poor-law which provides for her beggars, but there was a time, not very long ago, when those who could not or would not work were obliged to obtain sustenance according to certain recognized customs. Some of these wandering tribes carried a meal-poke about with them, and the householders upon whom they called gave alms in oatmeal or barley meal, either by the single or double handful. Oatmeal was always preferred by the mendicants, as it found everywhere a ready market. A class of beggars common in Ireland and Scotland were those known •as the Hand-Barrow Mendicants, who lived in a manner suggesting the district school-teacher’s “boarding ’round.” They were always disabled creatures, and were carried about from one house to another, either seated upon barrows or reclining on bundles of rags. When one was set down at a farmer’s •door, it required the strength of two persons to transport him to the next house. In some cases, if the mistress of the house was alone when a mendicant arrived, she was obliged to keep him until her husband and servants -came from their works and could reHove him to his next refuge. These beggars must have suffered almost inconceivable misery from exposure to the weather, to say nothing ■of being jolted about from point to point. Some had no legs, others could not use their limbs at all. There is a story to the effect that ‘two young men, tiring of their task of Temoving a beggar woman to a distant “hamlet, accomplished for her a marvelous cure. They were obliged to ford the River Esk on their way, and suddenly, in the midst of the passage, treated her to a cold bath, out of which she immediately scrambled, and though she had lost the use of her legs, she took to her heels and ran! Another class of people, now provided for by the poor-laws of Scotland and Ireland, were the idiots and imbeciles who once required the personal care of almost every village in these countries. Formerly all vigorous imbeciles in Scotland were supported by going the rounds of the parish, and working for their board and clothing.