April 14th 1859

Happy Fortingall schooldays

From the Perthshire Advertiser.
“There is taught in this Highland seminary besides the ordinary branches, Geography, Latin, French Mathematics and book keeping, plain and ornamental writing, drawing in water colours and pencilling, music and elocution and composition in the form of essays. Eight of the scholars repeated the Lord’s Prayer in four different languages. Some of the scholars were reported to be uncommonly studious, some of them burning the midnight oil until three or four o’clock is in the morning, and others rising at these early hours to their books.”

This from a report of the committee of the Weem Presbytery on the village school at Fortingall by Glen Lyon.

The school had a roll varying between 90 and 140 and a single teacher, Duncan Campbell. “It was,” he said, “hard work but I was young and ardent and the eagerness of bright scholars made the labours of the teacher light and enjoyable, the hearty efforts of the upper class assistants bringing on the younger ones.”