How small these contributions were may be seen from the records of the town and parish of Banff. In 1624 the condition of the poor at Banff was discussed during the visitation of the presbytery, and the "haill eldership promised to have ane faithfull cair for provisioune of thair awne poore and to purge ther bounds of vagabond beggares." No improved method of relief was reported at the next visitation, but the "minister and eldares" again promise to look after the poor[685]. In 1631, however, some arrangement was actually made. No one was to give alms to strange beggars, and the town poor were to be relieved in their homes. But, in order to secure this result, provision was made only for twenty poor, although the population of the town probably numbered nearly two thousand[686]. It seems likely that this was about the amount of assistance granted in Banff throughout the century, for in 1673 it is noted that twenty-seven poor received assistance from the kirk sessions, and in 1691 only twenty-five[687]. This relief was so insufficient that beggars abounded; in 1633 £3 6s. 8d. was paid "To Willie Wat, scurger for outhalding the poore[688]"; in 1642 vagrant beggars were to be put in the "theiffis hoill" until the magistrates had time to see them well scourged, while in 1698 and again in 1742 the system of badged beggars was adopted[689], which is itself an admission of the insufficiency of the relief afforded by the parish.
7 c. The relief of the poor in Aberdeen.
Occasionally also, as in Elizabethan England, the burgesses of particular towns saw that the poor could not live on the relief granted by the church officials, and made great efforts to raise additional funds so that they might be able to free their town from beggars. But, as the convention of Scotch boroughs stated in 1579, it was difficult to grant relief in one town only, because there were so many beggars from other parts. In Scotland, as in England under Elizabeth, the town systems of poor relief ceased to be successful after a few years. The efforts in this direction made in Aberdeen are probably fairly typical of those attempted by more philanthropic burgesses. Even in 1595 the inhabitants of Aberdeen had distributed the destitute "babis" and had levied voluntary contributions for the other poor[690]. Early in the seventeenth century, however, beggars existed who were licensed by the town[691], and in 1619 the "haill towne" was again convened, and it was agreed that all the beggars should be sustained in their homes and prevented from begging. It was estimated that the cost would amount to 2,600 marks, and £1,000 of this was to be raised "by way of taxatioun," while eleven hundred marks was to be obtained from the contributions at communion or collections at the church doors[692]. Two years later, in April 1621, we are told that "the wark hes hed a gude and happie succes so that the haill poor peopill within this burght that were then beggaris have beine now almost these thrie yeiris past interteained and keiped from begging." It was therefore then agreed that the same methods should "stand and continew" always, and that the town should continue to contribute its thousand pounds a year, that the poor might be relieved at home[693]. Why the plan failed does not appear, but it did fail, since in 1650 tickets were given to the town beggars of Aberdeen to distinguish them from those of other districts[694].
In Aberdeen, therefore, we can see that the money raised by the kirk sessions was only about half the amount which the town rulers considered necessary for the adequate support of the poor, and that when the town was kept free from beggars resort had to be made to a compulsory tax.
7 d. Infrequency of assessment in Scotland before 1818.
But compulsory taxes were very unpopular both in Scotland and England, but while in England they were forced on the people by the justices of the peace, acting under instructions from the Privy Council, in Scotland they never were generally adopted until the present century. In the report of 1818 the temporary arrangements of Aberdeen and other towns[695] were forgotten, and it was then said that before 1700 only three parishes had resorted to compulsion[696]. This means that only three parishes continued to use assessments for a long period, and therefore the poor relief granted in Scotland was almost always the voluntary assistance given by the kirk sessions.
7 e. Insufficiency of relief granted during the years 1692-1699.
How insufficient this assistance was is indicated by the proclamations issued during the years of scarcity at the close of the century. The period from 1692 to 1699 has been called the "seven ill years." The poor suffered great distress, and a series of proclamations was issued by the Privy Council with the object of remedying matters.