“They are catched young, carefully clipped, curry-combed and shod, and shipped to Gleska at the beginnin’ o’ the winter, wi’ fine characters frae the U.F. minister. On the day they start their first situation they’re generals, that say ‘Whit is’t?’ quite angry, at the door to folk that come to their mistress’s efternoon teas; on the Wednesday they’re wanting their wages up; and on the Thursday they start in anither place as experienced hoose-and table-maids. At least, that’s whit I gaither frae overhearin’ the ladies: we have nae servant in oor hoose,--Jinnet does everything hersel’. “When Mary Ann’s no’ packin’ her kist, or haein’ confabs wi’ the butcher, or trimmin’ a frock for the Clachnacudden natives’ swarree and ball, she’s lookin’ the papers to see the rate o’ servants’ wages in Kimberley, near whaur the wars were. Some day she’s gaun to Kimberley, or Australia, or ony ither foreign pairt, whaur intelligent cooks get the wages o’ Cabinet Ministers, and can get mairrit jist as easy’s onything. “In the fine auld times servant lassies used to bide wi’ ye till they were that auld and frail ye had to have somebody sittin’ up wi’ them at nicht. “Yince they got a fit in yer hoose ye couldna get quat o’ them: they fastened their kists to the floor wi’ big screw-nails, and wad scarcely go oot the length o’ the kirk for fear ye wad shut up the hoose and rin awa’ and leave them. As for the wages they got, they were that sma’, folks used to toss up a bawbee to see whether they wad keep a servant or a canary. “But nooadays a man that’s in the habit o’ payin’ ony heed to the servant lassies that opens the door for him or hands him his letters, thinks it’s a magic-lantern show he’s at, wi’ a new picture every twa seconds. “He doesna see his wife except on the Sundays, for a’ the ither days o’ the week she’s cyclin’ roond the registries wi’ five pounds o’ change in silver, payin’ fees. “‘Hoose-tablemaid, ma’am? Certainly, ma’am; we’ll see whit we can dae for ye between noo and the next Gleska Exhibeetion,’ says the registry, rakin’ in the half-croons as hard’s she can. “When there’ a rumour gets aboot Dowanhill that a servant lass, oot o’ a situation, was seen the week afore last, hundreds o’ ladies mak’ for the registries, and besiege them in the hope o’ catchin’ her; and of late, I’m tellt they’re engagin’ trained detectives for trackin’ plain cooks. “Domestic service is the only profession in Europe the day whaur the supply’s less than the demand, and if I had twa or three boys ready to gang oot and work for themselves, I wad sooner mak’ them into scullery-maids than apprentice them wi’ an electrical engineer. “In the last ten years wha ever heard o’ a servant lassie oot o’ a situation ony langer than the time she took to rin frae ae hoose to anither, if she had the richt number of hands and een?