Mungo Mackay 1867-1939 |
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| Mungo Mackay was a
dictator and his style of management would not be
tolerated today. While it was generally agreed he was
probably the finest mining engineer in the country he
ruled Newtongrange for nearly 50 years with the help of a
network of informants and the information gained from
them allowed him to bully and threaten his workers. If
you misbehaved or even disagreed with him the ultimate
punishment was to fire you and because the tenancy of
your house depended on being employed by the Lothian Coal
Company your whole family were evicted and if anyone
dared to take you in (even your parents) they risked
eviction also. He used to dispence his form of justice from behind a long green baized table upstairs in the company offices, it was known as "going up before the Green Table" where you would stand before Mackay with your "bunnet" in your hand and standing beside him would be the company policeman. He would read out your misdemeaner, let you have your say and then give out your punishment, if your crime was relatively minor (like fighting in the Dean on a Saturday night or even a domestic argument in your own home ) you were given a fine which would be docked from your next weeks wage and donated to the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary. It must be admitted that he did a lot of good for the village, he started the Lady Victoria Pit which provided employment for almost 100 years, he was a great innovator using the latest mechanical aids and he provided the best miners housing in Scotland.
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