The Period of the Mortar Tub

The combination of a world-wide coal famine and a shortage of labour had pushed coal to an unprecedented £4 a ton in 1920 compared to 13/5d (67p) a ton in 1913. Suddenly demand for coal fell dramatically. Foreign buyers, who had previously purchased British Coal, were able to obtain cheaper supplies from America. The Government found they were subsidising the pits at the rate of -£2,000,000 a week and hurriedly announced the end of the Coal Emergency Act.

Wage rates had reached 20/6d (£1.2½) a shift and the coal owners, when they regained control of the mines, immediately announced a wage reduction. The Miners' Federation refused to accept the decrease and a national strike began on 1st April 1921. The strike lasted three months and the rates at the return to work were 8/5d (42p) a shift.
During the strike the unions had called out the safety men and many pits were seriously flooded before the troops took over. Adam Haldane recalls, "We made up oor mind efter the '21 Strike we widnae stop pumpin'. We aye allowed the safety men intae the pit. The Miners' Union decided it was foolish because we'd aye have tae go back."

There was a short-lived boom in the coal trade in 1924, at the end of which the coal owners sought to cut their costs by doing away with the minimum rates, increasing the working day by an hour thus cutting wages drastically. The Government, faced with a crippling strike, decided to subsidise the coal industry for nine months until May 1st 1926 to prevent the wage cut. When the subsidy came to an end on that date, and the miners still refused to accept the employers terms, they were locked out. A general strike was called to support the miners on May 4th but it lasted only nine days. The miners felt they had been betrayed by the "ignominious surrender" (R. Page Arnot, A History of Scottish Miners) of the other Trade Union leaders. The emergency Powers Act of 1920 had been put into force on April 30th 1926 and the pits were guarded by troops. At Newtongrange. soldiers with rifles were stationed on the railway bridge (the Coronation Brig) over Murderdean Road. It is said that they had instructions to shoot any miner approaching the pit. The soldiers were billeted in the pit workshops. Eventually, after seven bitter months, the miners called oft the strike and returned to work on the employer's conditions.

There had been no new houses built in Newtongrange for several years after the First World War due to a shortage of men and materials. A huge house building programme was begun by the coal owners of Mid and East Lothian in 1923 and the Lothian Coal Co. was at the forefront of this activity. A.S. Cunningham in his book 'Mining in Mid and East Lothian', published in 1925, refers to this as "the period of the mortar rub." In the three years between 1924 and 1927 a total of 269 houses were built, completing Fifth and Sixth Street and creating five new streets. Seventh Street to Tenth Street and Park Road. Temporary railway tracks were laid up the centre of these streets to give easy access for building materials. "Houses for officials of the colliery are two storeys in height, of four and five apartments; while the cottages for miners are one storey. Features of the houses are bathrooms sculleries and all modern conveniences." (A.S. Cunningham).

In 1925 a primary school was built in Sixth Street next to the new children's play area in the Welfare Park. This relieved the overcrowding in Newbattle Public School, which then became exclusively a secondary school. A school for the Roman Catholic children of Newtongrange and Gorebridge was opened about 1924 at Newtonloan Toll, midway between the two villages.

The joint founder of the Lothian Coal Co., Archibald Hood, was managing director from 1890 until his death in 1902 and managing director between 1900 and 1902. His son. James Hood, took over as managing director in 1902 and then as chairman in 1911. He held both these posts until 1941. Archibald and James Hood were both skilled mining engineers but they had other extensive business interests in Scotland and Wales which kept them away from Newbattle much of the time. For over 40 years the detailed planning and management of the pits and villages belonging to the Lothian Coal Co. was in the hands of Mungo MacKay. the company agent and general manager. His domination over the village of Newtongrange in that time has become legendary.
Mungo MacKay was first employed by the Lothian Coal Co. in 1891 as under manager at Whitehall Colliery. He later moved to Polton and in 1894 was appointed manager at Newbattle at the age of 27. "In conjunction with Mr. James A. Hood, managing director, he was largely responsible for the planning and layout of Newtongrange, which has made it a model mining community, so far as housing and recreational facilities are concerned. In the latter connection the provision of an Institute for the workers of the Newbattle district, the erection of a cinema and the opening of various sports centres were largely due to his initiative and enterprise."(Dalkeith Advertiser: 16 March 1939)

Mungo MacKay was a brilliant mining engineer and largely due to his foresight, business acumen, management skills and technical knowledge, the Lady Victoria Pit gained a reputation as a model of innovation and good mining practice. "Always well abreast of the times, Mr. MacKay was responsible for the introduction of new ideas and modern appliances, which gave the pits he managed the reputation of being among the best regulated and equipped in the country."(Dalkeith Advertiser: 16 March 1939)
Mungo MacKay lived in an imposing house opposite the Lady Vie, a short way from the Colliery Office. His own office was upstairs and anyone in the village guilty of an offence would be sent for, to go "up the stairs" where Mr. MacKay sat at the famous "green table" with the company policeman standing behind. Tony Campbell remembers "Mungo MacKay was the heid yin in the village. Some folk respected him. The gaffers, they were kinnae scared o' him. Ye hear plenty stories. Ah never tad any dealin's wi' him." John and Tom Lockhart: "He was a' right. He wis strict right enough. He was respected tae. Ah dinnae think onybody liked him. When they seen him comin' they yist tae hide." Mrs. Preston: "He wisnae a nice man. He was like Hitler. Folk were feart at losin' their hooses. He came doon on the engine frae Easthooses an' he could look right intae their back kitchens. An' if they wernae kept right they were tellt tae sort them. "If a miner failed to keep his garden properly someone was sent in to tidy it up and the cost was deducted from the man's wages."
George Armstrong: "Ah'll gie him his due he wis a guid minin' engineer but he wis a hard man, a hard man. If you done anything wrong at all ye had tae go up afore him up tae what they cried the Green Table an' ye had tae huv a collar an' tie on afore ye seen him an' if he fined ee, it was 10/- (50p) donation to the Royal Infirmary. That wis yer fine, 10/-donation to the Royal Infirmary."
You could be sent for all reasons. Jim Barton was summoned for whistling in the billiard room at the Institute, Steve Moore was sent for (with his dad) when he was 10 years old for riding a pit pony in a field at Lingerwood Farm and Davie Paul was "skylarking" on a roof at the pit. Sometimes you just got a row but fines were common. The standard fine was 10/-but it could be as much as £2 and it was always a donation to the Royal Infirmary. This went on until one time Jack Bradley was fined £2 for smoking underground and he went back to the Infirmary and told them it was a fine. They never accepted a penny after that.
Mungo MacKay always seemed to know what was going on in the village. Tony Campbell: "There was always a spy in the camp. There was always somebody cliped. “Jim Barton: "If ye done anythin' wrong spies reported ye tae Mr. MacKay. Ye didnae ken whae the spies wir. Ah could be speaking' tae you an' you could be the spy. Ah wouldnae ken if ah wis tae tell you somethin' an' you wis tae gaun up an' tell MacKay. Ah've nae idea whae it wis."
The colliery officials were expected to interest themselves in village societies and they were usually office bearers in them. "It wisnae class distinction altogether. They knew how to talk and they knew about rules. And, of course, Mungo MacKay got all the information back." (Jim Reid)
Tony Campbell remembers seeing Mr. Hood on his rare visits to Newtongrange. He remembers he was "swell dressed in a fawn, nap coat. He carried a walking stick an' he had a limp. He was with Mr. MacKay and the two of them came in the main gates. Dod Hamilton had a wee hut beside the gates, and he checked the coal carts - as they left. He kept a goose wi' him. Well, this goose got away one day an' it made straight for MacKay and Hood. Mr. Hood kept it away with his stick. We took it for granted that Dod would catch it - but ah never knew actually what happened. I never found out. The goose was around for a while after that."

Mr. MacKay was on the Dean Committee from the beginning in 1899. He was chairman from 1917 until his death in 1939. Jim Barton: "MacKay wis the main man. He came intae committee meetings in the back room. He was never in the bar. They rung the bell when they were feenished if they wanted a drink. MacKay never drunk.
He stopped the foremen drinkin' in the Dean. The blacksmith foreman would sherpen yer picks and dreels an' ye would gie them a bit nip.
MacKay downed it. "Ye'11 no' gaun intae the Dean," an' he stopped them gaun intae the Dean. But the contractors came in. They wis aye a'thegither."
Frank Taylor was the Lothian Coal Company policeman. He was a member of the County Constabulary but all his work was tied up with the Coal Company. One of his jobs was to allocate houses to miners in Newtongrange. It is said that the better houses went to the favoured, or those with £2 or £3 to spare.
At Mungo MacKay's funeral, "There were very few people out. It just passed very fleetingly by." (Tony Campbell)
Newtongrange was undoubtedly a well-regulated village in Mr. MacKay's time and his regime has its supporters. Alec Trench: "If Mungo MacKay wis here today this would be a different village. That village wid never be allowed tae go dilapidated the way it is now if MacKay had been here."
The major decisions about the running of the Dean Tavern and the use made of its profits were always made by the Coal Company representatives on the Dean Committee. During the '20s and '30s the Lothian Coal Co. representatives were Mungo MacKay and James Murray, the company secretary. There were two members representing the miners and both served for life. When one died the remaining Committee members decided on a suitable replacement. Mungo MacKay was the decision maker and it is clear that most of the Dean business was determined outwith the Committee meetings. Usually major decisions were at least formally discussed but occasionally there was no discussion. For example in the 1926 Minutes: "Mr. MacKay mentioned that the two cottages being built on the site of the picture house were to be property of this Committee and that we would be charged for the building of the same."

On one occasion Mr. MacKay did not get his own way. In 1936, the Newbattle Welfare Committee had a deficit of £.1,350 and Mr. MacKay tried to get the men at the pit to pay an extra penny a week Welfare money. They refused and the Dean Committee agreed to pay the deficit when they had enough money.

In 1920 there was a great threat to the continuation of the Dean Tavern when a Veto Poll was requested in Newtongrange by local prohibition supporters under the terms of the 1913 Temperance Act to vote on whether the village should become a 'dry' area. In the months preceding the poll there was a 'No Licence' Campaign run by the Citizen's Council and an Anti-Prohibition Campaign. The results of the poll were No Change - 863, Limited Licence - 7, No Licence - 210.
The turnover of the Dean reached a peak of nearly £15,000 in the year 1920-1921 when wages were at a record level but it fell back by a third the year after. Profits were generally above £1,500 a year though were a bit lower in the 1930s.
Annual grants of £5 to £10 were given by the' Committee to various local organisations such as the Rifle Club, the Flower Show, the Cage Birds Society, the Homing Pigeon Club, the Gala Day and the Ambulance Association. The Bowling Club always had regular support and any repairs or improvements were paid by the Dean. Other organisations receiving occasional help were the Burns Club, the cricket club and the school football and netball teams. The Quoiting Club got £5 a year between 1922 and 1926 when it folded. Quoiting had been a very popular sport in the district in previous days.

Newtongrange Star F.C. had played no matches during the First World War and their pitch and pavilion were badly neglected. They applied to the Dean Committee in 1919 for a grant to help re-start the club. The pavilion needed rebuilding and the gates and fences were broken down. The War Memorial Committee proposed that the old pitch be used as part of an extension to the public park and the Dean Committee decided to provide a new pitch and pavilion for the Star beside the bowling green at Murderdean Road.
The pavilion when it was built in 1923 was, in the words of the Dalkeith Advertiser reporter, "a capacious structure, which, in appearance and size, surpasses those belonging to many senior clubs. The Star will be in the proud position of being the first junior club in Midlothian - it not in the whole of Scotland - to possess a grandstand." Besides dressing rooms and showers for both teams and the referee, the grandstand also contained a room with a boxing ring for Newtongrange Boxing Club; a room for the Pigeon Club: one for the Quoiting Club; another for the Miniature Rifle Club (to replace their range in the public park) and another room which was set aside for the Radio Association.
There was a running track round the pitch and a quoiting ground beside the grandstand. It was estimated that the ground would hold 20,000 to 30,000 spectators. The cost of the whole project was £5,000.

There had been plans to build an Institute at Easthouses since 1914 but the war intervened. In 1918 plans were revived but postponed until materials and labour were available. The Easthouses Institute was finally built on similar lines to the one at Newtongrange in 1925. It cost £4,000 and was almost the last building to be erected at the expense of the Dean Tavern. Thereafter, most of the Dean profits were used in maintaining earlier buildings and supporting existing organisation, sometimes to a considerable degree.
The planned extension of the public park was undertaken with money, not from the Dean Tavern profits, but from the funds of the District Miner's Welfare Committee for Mid and East Lothian. One penny was levied on every ton of coal produced in Great Britain and the money was to be spent on recreation, health and education in the mining areas. The park was begun in 1924 and opened on September 11th, 1926. Dalkeith Advertiser: 16 September, 1926 "Viscount Chelmsford, who was accompanied by Commander Coote, RN, formally opened the park, claimed to be the first of its kind in Scotland. It extends to about 17 acres and has a putting green with separate pavilion, and a children's play centre. There is a bandstand in the centre of the park, whilst there are flower-beds and shrubs, and a rockery with numerous herbaceous plants are among the other features. The park has cost about £9,000."
Lord Chelmsford was the chairman of the Central Welfare Committee in London and Commander Coote had designed the children's play centre, which was the first of its type in Scotland.
Preceding the formal opening was a ceremony in the Square Park when Mary Allan; dux girl of Newbattle School, was crowned Queen by Mrs. Fowler, the headmaster's wife.

In 1925 the Dean Committee undertook "to pay the wages of the workmen in the Welfare Park meantime." This was £507 in the first year. Payments continued until 1950 when Midlothian County Council took over the park.
The opening of the park took place in the middle of the big strike of 1926. In other parts of the country, Fife in particular, there were violent scenes during the strike but there was little trouble in Newtongrange. Union leaders were present at the park opening, notably Andrew Clarke, who was later to be President of the Scottish Miners. In his speech he commented that, "If the standard of life throughout the country had been regulated by the standard of the social amenities that had been provided in Newtongrange, they would probably not have had the measure of unhappiness that had been prevailing throughout the country during the last 19 weeks."
John Purves, the Dean manager since 1916, went away to Stirling in 1924, where he had bought a pub. The Committee spoke to Tom Hackett, who was then manager at the Bottom Shop, and engaged him as manager of the Dean. Big Bob McKinlay was the second man. Jim Barton recollects, "When Hackett went in he sent for me, for spare time after that. So ah went wi Hackett an a wis there for eleeven year.
They didnae bottle much beer up at the Dean. It was mair boucht in there. But we bottled some beer. Ye hid Barclay Perkins. We washed oor ain bottles and then they got 1d. when they broucht them back. There wis nae heavy beer or lager. There were nane o' that - a' draught light and draught stout. There were nae taps like the present day. The pumps worked by pressure, a water engine.
Ye had different brands o' whisky in the Dean Crawford's three star and Crawford's five star. They had their own whisky tae, the Dean Special. They had it in jars, twae gallon jars on the bar - ye got a nip oot the jar. It wis in bottles tae. During the Second War ye were only allowed two nips on Saturday nicht.
Ladies wid come intae the joog bar and sit. Then they wid come in tae get a pint o' beer for their man wi' a tin pitcher or a cheenyjug. Ye put it in an' just geen them an extra pu' - 6d (2½p). a pint, same as through the bar.
If ye wis teetotal ye could hae a gless o' port. Sherry wis never much asked for. In later years when the weemin was allowed in then it was gin an' vodka an' a' this.
When Baillieston bate Nitten 3-0 in the Scottish Cup, that's the day we sellt eleven hoggets (4,750 pints) o' beer. We opened in the mornin', it wis a Seturday mornin' an' ah wis workin'.
Hackett went an' telt MacKay that ah wis needed so ah came up the pit at 12 o' clock an' ah wis hame an' washed an' had ma denner an' a wis in the bar when the train cam' in at the back o' yin o' clock. We had a special licence a' day. Ah've never seen anythin' like it. If ye hidnae a tumbler ye couldnae get a drink. Ye couldnae get in an' ye couldnae get oot. Oh, heavens! Yer apron wis wet, yer breaks wis wet, yer drawers wis wet. We hid tae gaun hame and chinge oorselves and come back and get the work din. There wernae even a drink for the waiters.
The Dean wis wild at times. We yist tae hae fights regular. Ah got the seek for fightin' three or fower times." Once Jim Barton spilled beer on a man, Sammy Hay. Sammy hit him so Jim hit him back. "He went strecht ower the table. He wis unconscious. Ah hid tae take him hame on the barry. So MacKay go tae ken aboot that an' ah got the seek. Well, the brewery yist tae supply us wi' bits wi' string soles on them - canvas. Ah wis stannin' ootside. Hackett comes up tae me. 'Ye'd better bring thae bits back tae the shop'. Ah said, 'If ye want thae bits back came up tae the hoose and get them.' So he says, 'Ye's better come back.' The man admitted he wis wrong an' we wis great pals efter that."
Mr. Barton remembers a break-in at the Dean and the culprit tried to frame him by leaving a trail of Woodbines all the way to his house. They got the man coming off the Glasgow train with a bag of coppers in his pocket. He dropped some of his loot by the side of the road and Chipper Young found it - three pints of whisky in a parcel.
Jim Barton is proud of his knack of carrying fourteen pint mugs of beer by the handles without spilling any. It has won him quite a few bets in his time.

Chapter 10 | Contents | Chapter 12