A real-life disaster in Kirkliston, 6th September, 1823
The story so far . . .
Patie Stuart, a 78-year-old worker on Humbie Farm along with three of his colleagues had been clearing debris from a blocked water well. Unconvinced that the well walls were in a sound condition, Patie had descended into its depths for a closer inspection. However, as Patie was about to return to the surface there was a massive collapse of the walls sending a cascade of masonry and earth tumbling down upon poor old Patie and burying him alive. Over 5 hours had passed since Patie’s involuntary interment and despite frantic efforts to reach the old man, his colleagues had still not gained sight of him down the shaft, although his oaths and curses were growing louder as they closed in on the old man. Some considerable time ago, Jamie the farmhand had been dispatched to find the village doctor, but so far neither of them had appeared on the scene. With Patie’s voice growing louder it was evident the old man would need medical attention very soon - if he survived that long!
Back in the village, Jamie the farmhand’s search for the doctor had at last come to a successful conclusion with the man’s sudden mounted appearance in The Square outside the Kirk. It was the clanging of the Kirk bell that had first alerted the doctor to a possible emergency while his horse was being shod at the smithy in Main Street. In a matter of seconds, he’d arrived at The Square with a shower of sparks flying from his mount’s hooves on the cobbled paving as he reined in sharply on seeing the Kirk Minister waiting there. It took but a few moments for him to grasp the urgency of the situation before galloping off to Humbie Farm with the already exhausted Jamie panting heavily after him on foot.
At the well, the wonderful news was that Patie had at last been reached and his head now stood clear of the fallen debris. A few minutes later, enough earth and rubble had been removed to tie a rope around Patie’s waist with which to haul him up.
“Jings,” cried wee Tam who, with his companion was pulling with all his might on the rope, “Ah ne'er thought th' auld goat wis this heavy! Ah can’t seem tae budge him an inch!”
“Stoap pul'in ye fools!” roared a voice from below. “Mah legs ur aye trapped 'n' yer juist aboot tae tear mah body apairt!”
With Jamie and the doctor now arrived at the scene, there was no shortage of advice and useful suggestions as to what course of action was still required, although Patie had a few suggestions of his own yelled from below, none of them very polite!
Another HOUR of digging was needed before Patie could at last be hauled from his tomb, but after six hours of incarceration, the old man was in a bad way. However, as no bones were broken, the doctor prescribed his time-honoured remedy for a trauma such as Patie’s – a good hot bath and copious bleeding*, which everyone knew was the right and proper treatment for a variety of ailments, including involuntary burial! In the fullness of time, Patie was able to recover and laugh heartily on being reminded of the many droll observations he’d made whilst trapped in the well.
-ooo-
To say that I’ve leaned heavily on poetic licence and embellishment in this saga would be something of an understatement! However, I have tried wherever possible to incorporate contemporary characters and locations, while at the same time attempting to convey something of the social mores and way of life in early 19th century rural Scotland. If there are any glaring linguistic and historical anomalies, I can only apologise in advance! The source for this tale is taken from an article published in Bell’s Life in London and Sporting Chronicle, 14th September 1823, which in turn had sourced the story from the Edinburgh Observer. Here is a transcript of the article itself:
The practice of bleeding or bloodletting as a cure for various ailments and medical conditions can be traced back at least 2,000 years and continued well into the 19th century and beyond. Various methods were used, ranging from placing leeches on the patient’s body to employing sharp instruments in order to induce the flow of blood. This might entail puncturing a vein in the neck or forearm and drawing the desired quantity. One novel method was scarification whereby superficial wounds were made on the flesh to cause bleeding. Some rather ghoulish implements were used for this procedure such as a scarificator, a spring-loaded mechanism with sharp blades that would close on the flesh and induce the flow of blood. A graphic example of this occurs in one of Bernard Cornwell’s televised Sharpe stories (Sharpe’s Eagle) in which the cowardly and incompetent Sir Henry Simmerson is bled with such a device. If you have a reasonably strong stomach you can view a clip of the particular episode by watching the following video:
How much blood was drawn during bloodletting? Well, in many cases far more than an ‘armful’, to quote from a classic 1960’s Tony Hancock comedy episode, The Blood Donor. It was common to wait until the patient actually fainted before it was considered sufficient blood had been drawn. Was the procedure effective? Someone suffering from high blood pressure or experiencing a fit of hysteria might well experience temporary relief from their symptoms, although being made to swoon would cause pretty much anyone to lose awareness of whatever ailment troubled them!
Even if a physician had ministered to Patie’s needs in our story, the actual bloodletting would have probably been delegated to a barber who often performed a variety of medical duties such as tooth extraction. In fact, the red and white barber’s pole of today is derived from the blood and bandages used during such procedures.
For readers of a certain age (or anyone wanting a good laugh) who would like a nostalgic look at a clip of Tony Hancock’s The Blood Donor once again, watch the following video:
A P George
Kirkliston Heritage Society
SOURCES AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
British Library
David Gray, Licensee, Newliston Arms
Google Earth
National Library of Scotland
Richard Williams, http://www.villagepumps.org.uk
Wikipedia
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