there was no waste ground in that room, and any messenger from the
church door had to be selected with judgment. "Step up, Airchie man,
tae the vestry," Burnbrae would say to the one under-sized man in
Drumtochty, "and tell the minister no tae forget the Jews. Ye can
birse (push) in fine, but it wud beat me to get by the door. It's a
bonnie bit room, but three fouk stannin' maks it contrakit for
another man,"

It was eight feet by eight, and consisted largely of two doors and a
fireplace, and its chief glory was a portrait of Dr. Chalmers, whose
face, dimly seen in the light of the lamp, was a charter of
authority, and raised the proceedings to the level of history.
Lockers on either side of the mantelpiece contained the church
library, which abounded in the lives of Scottish worthies, and was
never lightly disturbed. Where there was neither grate nor door, a
narrow board ran along the wall, on which it was simply a point of
honour to seat the twelve deacons, who met once a month to raise the
Sustentation Fund by modest, heroic sacrifices of hard-working
people, and to keep the slates on the church roof in winter. When
they had nothing else to do, they talked about the stove which "came
out in '43," and, when it was in good humour, would raise the
temperature in winter one degree above freezing. Seating the court
was a work of art, and could only be achieved by the repression of
the smaller men, who looked out from the loopholes of retreat, the
projection of bigger men on to their neighbours' knees, and the
absolute elimination of Archie Moncur, whose voice made motions on
temperance from the lowest depths. Netherton was always the twelfth
man to arrive, and nothing could be done till he was safely settled.
Only some six inches were reserved at the end of the bench, and he
was a full sitter, but he had discovered a trick of sitting sideways