The Minervian Library is a collection of stories written by children in the 1860s. Maria, Clara, Alfred and Malcolm Cowan and their cousin Isabella Bremner were aged 6 - 14 when the library first originated in 1865 and spent their summer holidays in Tankerness House (now the Orkney Museum) in Kirkwall and the Hall of Tankerness in the parish of St. Andrews. The Minervian Library consisted at one point of 100 volumes and was a functioning lending library amongst the children's friends and acquaintances.
The stories were a mixture of fairy tales, plays, and news items. The children gathered up all the paper and jotters they could find and bound them together with stitches, or tape or even pins (see below).
But this industry of creating, not only the stories, but also the books themselves has resulted in a wonderful variety of designs and sizes.
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| Hand-painted illustrations were sown into jotters |
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| Covers were made from hardened lace |
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| Some illustrations were cut out and stuck on |
Chapter I
“Dear
me, Flora,” cried Amelia Clive, “what nonsense & utter trash you do talk.
‘To Gain His Love!’ indeed, Why will you force me to tell you myself that I am
destined by Papa & Mama for him”
“But,”
asked Flora, her younger sister, “how do you know that his Papa & Mama
destine him for you?”
“I care
not. I shall try ‘To gain His Love,’ myself & you need not attempt it, for
you will miserably fail.”
“How,”
cried the indignant Flora, starting up, “am I then so much less beautiful than
you, that you only will be loved by every body!” Then cooling down she added,
“And forgive me Amelia, you are eldest & his heart is by right yours, I
mean, by right yours sooner than mine. But you are only 18 & I am but one
year younger, therefore all difference shall be set aside, in age, & we
shall both try our best. Should you succeed I yield without a [?], Should I,
why then you must do the same.”
Chapter II
“To
Gain His Love,” thought Amelia, “I will visit the poor, dress very simply, read
no novels, & will not flirt any more.”
“To
Gain His Love,” thought Flora, “I will remain as I am, that he may not love
anything superficial in me. If he takes me at all, he must take me as I am,
& for myself.”
“I love
neither the one nor the other,” said Henry Malborough, two months after this,
“but in time I may. At any rate if I do marry I shall fix upon one or the other
of them. Lord Clive has an immense fortune, but I hope he will see my true
motive, when I come to ask for his daughter & not think I want her money.
For indeed, I do not, And Amelia & Flora must try to gain my love before I
try to gain theirs; for I am afraid I have a heart of stone & should not
otherwise be touched.
Chapter III.
“Ah! here you are, Lady Amelia,” said Henry meeting her, “How do you do.”
“Oh!
dear, I am very well, but my heart is sick,” said she with affectation.
“Why,
what great grief has befallen you?”
“Oh!
how could you, you naughty man!” cried she.
“How
could I what?” asked he in amazement.
“How
could you think I would feel so sorry and unhappy if anything had happened to
myself, instead of bearing up against it! But my heart is sick for that poor
cotter & his wife. I mean William Cove, whom I have just been to see, their
Eldest, only & beloved daughter is dying and really when they asked me to
come and see her I could
not
refuse, & when I gave her some costly grapes (which cost ten shillings the
bunch) & they found she could [cost] eat them, you should have heard
how they blessed me. It really quite repaid me for the pain I suffered, for I
assure you, I had a sick headache, when I went & though each step
occasioned pain, I could not refuse to go, Ah! no I knew my duty too well for
that!”
“At any
rate you praise yourself enough for it,” though he, then bidding her good day
he walked away.
Chapter IV
“Riding alone,” cried Harry Malborough.
“Alone,”
cried Flora, for it was she, “yes I always ride alone in my father’s private
park. It doesn’t matter there you know.”
“No
more it does,” said he. “I hate all those formalities.”
“And so
do I heartily,” laughed Flora, “only you know One must attend to the fashions
of the time in a slight degree.”
“You
are quite right. By-the-bye do you ever visit the poor?” asked he.
“Yes,
but only when I think I ought, for I do not think any one would like to have
company forced upon them continually, I know I don’t, and I don’t see why the
poor should either!”
“Again
you are right,” cried Harry enthusiastically, “I declare your ideas are just my
own!”
“Then
we’re sure to agree,” cried the lovely Flora with a silvery laugh “and I must
bid you good-bye, as it time[sic] to return to the house.”
“Now do
let me lead you there,” pleaded Harry, “you see it is absolutely needful your
horse is already jumping and starting.”
Now the
truth of the matter was that Harry wishing much to do as he asked was pinching
the poor creature with a pin.
“Well,”
said Flora modestly, “as it is wild, I will let you.”
And he
did.
Chapter V
Thus
for some time things went on. Which of the two Harry loved best will be now
seen.
“Do you
know, Flora,” said Harry, “I love you so much, that I could even make a formal
proposal to you. But you know I mean it - you know me well and I know you.”
Flora
blushed.
Amelia,
(who by the bye was listening at the keyhole), moved uneasily, “But she won’t
accept him,” though she, “Oh dear no, because she is too good for that.”
“Harry,”
said Flora, “does the Marquis, your father, know of this.”
“To be
sure, my Flora & your parents also.”
“Then Harry,
I-, I- but you know what I mean?”
“No I
don’t dearest, tell me.”
“Harry,”
she blushed, “I mean, that, - of course – I mean that I have ever loved you
dearly only – you – know – I didn’t know - how to say it.”
Harry
was in transports.
Amelia
rushed angrily in.
“You
bad, man, you naughty man, what right have you [man] propose to her in-
stead
of me. You bad girl, after all I have done, I have visited the poor, dressed simply, and given up reading novels ‘to Gain His Love.’”
“The
wrong way,” said Harry.
“And
I,” said the happy Flora, “prefered[sic] to continue as I was, and not be
artificial ‘To Gain His Love.’”
“The
right way, my own Flora,” said Harry, and indeed you have Gained my
Never-dying most Devoted Love.”
The End
A story written by Alfred Cowan, who was in later years to change his name to Baikie and inherit the Lairdship of Tankerness, is prefaced by this humble text:
"My dear readers, I hope you will not be angry at this because I am as yet a youth of 6 years old (7 next March, 8 the next), I am your dear Alfred Cowan."
The children also performed plays in the dining room which is now the exhibition room of the Orkney Museum.
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| The Hairy Drama - Beauty and the Beast |
And they created news items such as this one about the weather:
[page 1]
"Weather report
The weather in the Orcades this weak[sic] has been terrific.
The gale of west winds has raged for the last few days with such violence as to
put an end to any communication between these Islands and the South. We regret
to state that accidends[sic] have been many a fat old lady has been caught up
and whirled across the Peerie Sea and deposited on the top of a pig sty at
the other side of Wideford Hill. It happen[n]ed to be an intensely dark
night [and the old lady went out u] and the old lady went for a
constituonal[sic] walk taking with her a lantern. The effects of this transit
through the air was so [intensely surprising?] that Profost Reid rushed out of his office
exclaiming eh boys siccan[sic] a sight there’s a com[m]ic!! comick yourself,
screamed the old lady from upper stratum whereupon Bailie Reid being so
flabbergasted fainted away [away] on the spot and afterwards as soon as
he recovered his equimilibrium[sic] forwith[sic] indiked[sic] an epistle to the
editors of the “Round about St Magnus” enquiring[sic] if he or any of his
scientific correspondents
[page 2]
ever heard a speaking comick.
The poor old lady after the severe shocks was heard to
exclaim in a pathetic tone and voice “heck sirs! To think that I should take a
flee afore me time!”
The mistress of the farm came out and seeing the old lady
seated there she went up to her and kindly asked and hows[sic] your fair
boady[sic] which so exasperated the irritable old lady that she fierc[dy]ely
exclaimed you be blowed[sic] yourself and see how you like it."
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Click Here for a link to a BBC News item on the exhibition.
Archive reference: D98 Minervian Library Collection
For more examples of this collection, please click on the label "Minervian Library" below.
