When in his last illness, the ruling passion of his life was strongly exhibited. At one time the irregular form of his bedroom occasioned him so much uneasiness, that, being slightly delirious, he requested his son to reduce it to a square; while his last act was an imitation of winding-up and adjusting a newly-invented chronometer, which he had lately completed.—Stuart's Anecdotes of the Steam-Engine. London, 1829.—Narrative by R. Bowie, proving W. Symington the Inventor of Steam Land-Carriage Locomotion and of Steam Navigation. London, 1833.—Descriptive Catalogue of the Museum of the Commissioners of Patents.
THOMAS TELFORD, F.R.S., L. and E., &c.
Born August 9, 1757. Died September 2, 1834.
The life of Thomas Telford adds another striking instance to those on record of men who, from the force of natural talent, unaided save by uprightness and persevering industry, have raised themselves from the low estate in which they were born, and taken their stand among the master-spirits of their age. Telford was born in the parish of Westerkirk, in the pastoral district of Eskdale in Dumfriesshire. His father, who followed the occupation of a shepherd, died while his son was yet an infant, and the orphan boy was thus left to the care of his mother, whose maiden name was Janet Jackson, and for whom her son always cherished an affectionate regard, being in the habit, in after life, of writing letters to her in printed characters, in order that she might be able to read them without assistance.
Young Telford received the rudiments of education at the parish school of Westerkirk, and during the summer season was employed by his uncle as a shepherd boy. This occupation left him abundant leisure, of which he made diligent use in studying the books furnished by his village friends. At the age of fourteen he was apprenticed to a stone mason in the neighbouring town of Langholm, and for several years was employed, chiefly in his native district, in the construction of plain bridges, farm buildings, simple village churches and manses, and other works of a similar nature, such as are usually performed by a country mason in a district where there is little occasion for the higher departments of his art.
These operations afforded, however, good opportunities for obtaining practical knowledge, and Telford himself has expressed his sense of the value of this humble training, observing, that "as there is not sufficient employment to produce a division of labour in building, the young practitioner is under the necessity of making himself acquainted with every detail in procuring, preparing, and employing every kind of material, whether it be the produce of the forest, the quarry, or the forge; and this necessity, although unfavourable to the dexterity of the individual workman, who earns his livelihood by expertness in one operation, is of singular advantage to the future architect and engineer, whose professional excellence must rest on the adaptation of materials, and a confirmed habit of discrimination and judicious superintendance."
When Telford had completed his apprenticeship as a stonemason, he remained for some time at Langholm working as a journeyman, his wages being eighteenpence per diem.[37] The first bridge masonry on which he was engaged was the erection of a structure over the Esk at Langholm to connect the old with the new town. Mr. Smiles, in his 'Lives of the Engineers,' tells a good story in connection with this bridge. Telford's master, one Thompson, was bound by contract to maintain it for a period of seven years. Not long after the completion of the structure an unusually high flood swept along the valley, and Thompson's wife, Tibby, knowing the terms of her husband's contract, was in a state of great alarm lest the fabric should be carried away by the torrent. In her distress she thought of Telford, and calling out, "Oh, we'll be ruined—we'll be ruined! where's Tammy Telfer—where's Tammy? send in search of him." When he came running up, Tibby exclaimed, "Oh, Tammy, they're been on the brig and they say it's shaking! It'll be doon." "Never you heed them, Tibby," said Telford, clapping her on the shoulder, "there's nae fear o' the brig—I like it a' the better that it shakes; it proves it's weel put thegither." Tibby's fears were not, however, so easily allayed, and asserting that she heard the brig "rumlin," she ran up and set her back against it to keep it from falling. Whether Tibby's zealous support to the bridge in this instance was of any avail or no, Telford's opinion of the soundness of the structure has been proved by its withstanding the storms of nearly a century.
At this early period of his life, Telford was remarkable for his elastic spirits and good humour, and in his native district of Eskdale was long remembered as 'laughing Tam.' His favourite pursuits were not as yet scientific but literary, and he acquired some distinction as a poet. He wrote in the homely style of Ramsay and Ferguson, and used to contribute small pieces to Ruddiman's 'Weekly Magazine,' under the signature of 'Eskdale Tam.' One of his compositions, entitled 'Eskdale,' a short poem descriptive of the scenes of his early years, appeared in a provincial miscellany, and was subsequently reprinted at Shrewsbury, at the request of his friends, and ultimately inserted in the appendix to his life. Another pleasing fragment of his composition is given at the end of the first volume of Dr. Currie's 'Life and Works of Burns,' published at Liverpool in 1800; it is an extract from a poetical epistle sent by Telford, when at Shrewsbury, to the Ayrshire poet, recommending him to take up other subjects of a serious nature, similar to the 'Cottar's Saturday Night.'