ABSTRACT
Wilderspin lost no time in getting started. For maximum freedom of travel, he obtained a spirited horse capable of carrying him the entire trip in the saddle. By starting early each morning he was able to cover fifty miles by mid-afternoon, leaving the late afternoon and evening free for calling upon influential citizens and distributing circulars in the principal towns he passed through. In eight days, Wilderspin was on the outskirts of Glasgow; there, however, he encountered an almost fatal delay. His horse, frightened by a dog, bolted from the road and plunged over the edge of a quarry. Wilderspin was thrown, landed on a heap of small stones and was unhurt; but his horse, the finest he ever owned, was "dreadfully mangled" and had to be sold. 3 His Glasgow hosts compensated him for the loss, as the unusual entry in the Society's first balance sheet shows:
The Infant School Society in London, Wilderspin remarked ruefully, "gave me only their sorry regrets, because, I imagine, they were as costless as the priest's blessing".s
The school that Wilderspin was called upon to open was situated in the Drygate, one of the poorest parts of Glasgow, near the monument to John Knox, which was visible from all parts of the playground. On23 April 18286 one
hundred and thirty children were admitted, many without shoes and stockings, Wilderspin recalled, and "exceedingly dirty in their appearance". Mr. and Mrs. David Caughie, the new master and mistress, had never seen an infant school, but were apt pupils; by barring all visitors during the training period, progress was so rapid that the school was ready for public examination in a month,7 and Wilderspin had time to lecture in the Trades Hall on 30 April to stimulate public interest. 8 After several advertisements in the Glasgow papers, the public examination was held on 20 May in the Rev. Mr. Gunn's Gaelic Chapel on Hope Street, about a mile from the school.9
