"'Were the hands chastised up to their labour in that mill?' 'Yes.'
"'That was the practice there also?' 'Yes.'
"'Do you mean to state that you were treated with great cruelty at the age of 16, and that you still remain in the mill?' 'I was not beaten so severely as I was in Fifeshire.'
"'You were not so beaten as to induce you to leave that mill?' 'If I had left it, I did not know where to go.'
"'Did you try to get into any other occupation?' 'Yes, I went apprentice to a flax-dresser at that time.'
"'What was the reason that you did not keep at it?' 'My hand was so disabled, that it was found I was not able to follow that business.'
"'You found you could not get your bread at that business?' 'Yes.'
"'Consequently, you were obliged to go back to the mills?' 'Yes.'
"'Was it the custom, when you were 16 years of age, for the overseer to beat you?' 'Yes, the boys were often beaten very severely in the mill.'