Inclusive Physical Activity Promoting

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 inclusive
Physical Activity
moting Health
for a Lifetime

Susan L. Kasser
Rebecca XK. Lytle
 SECOND EDITION

INCLUSIVE
PHYSICAL ACTIVITY
Promoting Health
for a Lifetime —
 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Kasser, Susan L.
Inclusive physical activity : promoting health for a lifetime / Susan L. Kasser, Rebecca K. Lytle. -- 2nd ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Physical education for children. 2. Physical fitness for children. 3. Physical education for children with disabilities. 4. Inclusive
education. I. Lytle, Rebecca K., 1961- II. Title.
GV443.K36 2013
371.9'04486--dce23
2012025269

ISBN-10: 1-4504-0186-4 (print)

ISBN-13: 978-1-4504-0186-9 (print)

Copyright © 2013, 2005 by Susan L. Kasser and Rebecca K. Lytle

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E5298
 SECOND EDITION

INCLUSIVE
PHYSICAL ACTIVITY
"Promoting Health
for a Lifetime

Susan L. Kasser, PhD

UNIVERSITY OF VERMONT

Rebecca K. Lytle, PhD

CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, CHICO

Human
By Kinetics
Preface vii
Acknowledgments — xi

aN EASINESS STONE

CHAPTER 1 Health, Physical Activity,

and Individuals With Ability Differences --°:-°° 3
Changing Definitions of Disability 5
The Health of People With Disabilities 7
Inclusive Physical Activity 10
Summary 14
Learning Aids 14

CHAPTER 2 An Inclusive Physical Activity Approach: :---- 17

Moving Toward Inclusive Physical Activity 18
Factors Influencing Individual Capability 22
Putting It Into Practice 25
Summary 27
Learning Aids 27

CHAPTER 3 Overcoming Barriers to JRSM

Physical Activity «** ++ sss es++sesseseee QO
Context-Related Barriers and Strategies 31
Person-Related Barriers and Strategies 42
Summary 49
Learning Aids 49

inclusive Physical Activity Program

lanning and Implementation ------ 51
CHAPTER 4 Teaming and Collaboration >: °° °>-++s+ss++ 53
Collaboration and Consultation 55
Team Members 58
Effective Communication 64
Collaborative Team Process and Issues 69
Collaborative Strategies for Teachers and Practitioners 73
Summary 77
Learning Aids 77
CHAPTER 9 Program Focus and Assessment: ------ «++: 79
Purposes of Assessment 80
Assessment Considerations 85
Assessment Across the Life Span: What Are We Looking For? 93
Summary 108
Learning Aids 109

CHAPTER § Preparing and Planning Inclusive

Physical Activity Programs ++++++++++++++111
A Practical Approach to Inclusive Physical Activity Programming 112
Inclusive Physical Activity for Infants and Toddlers: Preparation and Planning 117
Inclusive Physical Activity for School-Age Children: Preparation and Planning 123
Inclusive Physical Activity for Adults: Preparation and Planning 142
Summary 144
Learning Aids 145

CHAPTER 7 A Functional Approach to peciiyines

Movement Experiences ° > > pet gar + nL Ae),
Step 1: Determining Underlying Components of Skills 149
Step 2: Determining Current Capabilities of Participants 150
Step 3: Matching Modification Efforts to Capabilities 151
Step 4: Evaluating Modification Effectiveness 165
Applying the FAMME Model 167
Summary 168
Learning Aids 169

| Application of Inclusive Practices:: 171

CHAPTER & Movement Skills and Concepts -°°:°°°°°° 173
Overview of Movement Skills and Concepts 174
Prerequisite Knowledge of Task Elements 176
Critical Elements and Differences in Movement Capabilities 177
Modification of Fundamental Movement Skills and Concepts 178
Examples of Practice 181
Summary 184
Learning Aids 184

CHAPTER 9 Play, Games, and Sport -*°*°:**°°:s*:*** 187

Play 188
Games and Sport 190
Modifying Games and Sports 194
Summary 198
Learning Aids 198
vi Contents

CHAPTER 10. Health-Related

Fitness and Conditioning -:°°°°**°*::° 201
Physical Fitness Goals 202
Implications for Physical Activity Practitioners 203
Training Principles 205
Components of Fitness and Strategies for Inclusive Programming 206
Health-Related Fitness Activities 212
Summary 214
Learning Aids 215

CHAPTER 11. Aquatics -*++ ers eeer err eercreceee DIT

Overview of Aquatic Skills 218
Water Competence 219
Implications for Aquatic Activity Practitioners 221
Modifications for Aquatic Activities 223
Summary 226
Learning Aids 227

CHAPTER 12 Outdoor Pursuits:::--°°*sssseeeese* 229

Overview of Outdoor Pursuits 230
Competencies of Outdoor Leaders 231
Goals of Outdoor Pursuits 231
Modifications for Outdoor Activities 232
Summary 239
Learning Aids 240

Appendix A_ Person-Related Factors Influencing Capability 241

Appendix B_ Eligibility Criteria for Infants and Toddlers 261
Appendix C Resources 263
Appendix D_ Tests and Assessment Tools Currently Available 267
Appendix E Sample Medical History and Referral Form 271
References 279
Index 287
About the Authors 299
M uch attention is focused on the value of physical activity and exercise. This makes
sense given the increased number of individuals with chronic health conditions
associated with inactivity and the skyrocketing cost of health care in Western societies. What
is more astonishing, though, is the dramatic rise in obesity for both children and adults,
even with our growing knowledge of the risks associated with unhealthy eating habits and
leading a sedentary lifestyle. Unfortunately, there are members of our schools and com-
munities who have not received as much attention as others in terms of health promotion
and disease prevention: those with “disabilities.” The health disparities between people
with and without disabilities are growing. People with disabilities experience significantly
higher rates of conditions such as diabetes, depression, hypertension, and obesity, just to
name a few. They also experience lower rates of recommended health behaviors, including
exercise. This constraint on physical activity and exercise is to be blamed, in part, on the
limited opportunities available for people with significant disabilities to engage in physical
activity programs.
As physical activity and exercise practitioners, we are all uniquely positioned to close
this health gap and increase the opportunities for meaningful participation in lifelong
physical activity for those with disabilities. We are dedicated to providing all individuals
within our programs well-designed and appropriate physical activity that enhances and
maintains their physical, social, and emotional health and well-being. Yet creating access
for individuals with disabilities to physical activity programs and effectively programming
for diverse participants may seem difficult at first. However, by becoming more aware of
participant needs, identifying important resources and supports, and increasing professional
competence in accommodating all individuals, the breadth of physical activity opportuni-
ties can be widened for people with disabilities. Regardless of the setting, physical activity
professionals can become more committed and prepared to teach and program for all indi-
viduals, whether these participants have differences in balance, coordination, or fitness or
significantly different levels of concept understanding, varying attention spans, or limited
skills in communication or social behavior.
Health promotion for people with disabilities starts with you—the physical educator in
the school, the coach on the field, or the exercise practitioner in your community. Promot-
ing inclusive physical activity rests on the knowledge that including individuals with dif-
ferent ability levels, experiences, and knowledge in physical activity benefits all involved.
In this book we attempt to open the doors to lifelong physical activity for all individuals
by changing perspectives and practices regarding physical activity. The book forwards a
philosophy that supports optimal programming for everyone, regardless of capability. To
include individuals with disabilities in physical activity while ensuring optimal programming
for all requires practitioners to become critical thinkers and proficient problem solvers.
They must be able to observe, assess, and implement many strategies to meet the unique
needs of individuals within many contexts.
This text is designed primarily for students preparing to work with diverse populations
in a physical activity setting. Our goal is to develop students’ knowledge and the skills they
need to provide meaningful and inclusive physical activity. This text is also a resource for
practitioners committed to offering optimal physical activity programming for participants.
Throughout the text, the term physical activity practitioner is used rather than physi-
cal educator, personal trainer, or coach. We believe the broad term practitioner is more
encompassing of all professionals who work in physical activity settings (such as schools,
exercise or rehabilitation facilities, community recreation sites, and sport programs) and will
encourage each of them to develop more inclusive practices. The text also takes a life-span
approach to physical activity participation. Considerations and programming strategies are
applied to infants and toddlers, school-age children in physical education and recreation
Preface

programs, and adults within sports or community-based exercise and activity programs. The
book’s most outstanding feature is its unique approach to modifications in instruction and
activities. The FAMME (Functional Approach to Modifying Movement Experiences) model
provides readers with a conceptual framework and a four-step process for accommodating
all individuals within physical activity. The model is designed to encourage practitioners
to consider individuals within programs by connecting modifications directly to capability
differences in order to provide optimal challenges and successful experiences for every
participant. Each functional component (e.g., eye-hand coordination, strength, attention
span) is presented in chart form with information on influencing factors and effective
adaptations to accommodate varied skill levels. Throughout the text, content progresses
from understanding professional responsibilities and resources to practical strategies for
programming. Strategies and techniques are offered to increase awareness of ability differ-
ences, foster positive attitudes, and increase advocacy efforts aimed at expanding physi-
cal activity opportunities. We present practical suggestions that can be readily used by
practitioners to more effectively individualize programming and enhance physical activity
participation for all involved.

WHAT’S NEW IN THIS EDITION?

Although this second edition of Inclusive Physical Activity still encompasses a life-span
approach to physical activity, it differs from the first edition in substantive ways. First, the
International Class of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) sets the stage for a more inte-
grated framework for conceptualizing disability and the concept of inclusive physical activity
embedded in a health promotion framework. The foundation for the text, and one that will
resonate through each chapter, rests on existing health disparities among individuals with
and without disabilities and the role physical activity practitioners must play in promot-
ing health in individuals with disabilities. Second, new information on diversity is infused
throughout the text. Practitioners should be aware and culturally competent in terms of
socioeconomic status, race, and ethnicity as well as ability when including individuals into
their physical activity programs. The inclusion of diversity issues and considerations is,
thus, intentional and occurs throughout the text rather than presented in a single chapter or
section. Third, this edition includes an additional chapter on aquatics in which previously
presented concepts and strategies are applied to inclusive programming.

FEATURES
Several important features of the book promote reflection and critical thinking. Among these
are opening scenarios (called Including All Individuals) in each chapter that place readers
in a particular context. The scenarios are followed by several Think Back questions that
appear throughout the chapter to encourage readers to connect content to each scenario
in a thoughtful and insightful way. Each chapter ends with What Do You Think? questions
and What Would You Do? case examples that further encourage reflective thinking and
problem solving.

ORGANIZATION
The book is organized into three major parts. Part I, Foundations for Inclusive Physical
Activity, deals with historical and sociological aspects of physical activity for individuals
with disabilities and changing perspectives as they relate to health promotion for those
with disabilities. Person-, context-, and task-related factors influencing physical activity
participation for individuals with capability differences as well as strategies to overcome
barriers associated with access and accommodation are also discussed. Part Il, Inclusive
 Preface

Physical Activity Program Planning and Implementation, deals with the how, when, and
why practitioners make modifications in instructional settings. This section offers insight
into effective collaborative partnerships, determination of programming focus and related
assessment, and individualized program planning. Much of part II focuses on modification
strategies and provides a continuum of modifications for various skill-related abilities. Part
Ill, Application of Inclusive Practices, illustrates examples of inclusive practices as they
relate to commonly offered physical activities. Chapters are devoted to adapting instruction
and providing activity alternatives in five major content areas: movement skills, games and
sports, health-related fitness, aquatics, and outdoor recreation and adventure.
Although some practitioners support a categorical or “disability”-based approach and
others a noncategorical or ability-based approach, a balance of these two might be best,
as long as program emphasis remains on performance and skill components rather than on
labels and general “disability” guidelines. Although the book is noncategorical in nature,
points are made about particular person-related health conditions that practitioners must
know before effective programming can take place. With this in mind, we have included
appendix A, Person-Related Factors Influencing Capability. This appendix includes summaries
of related terminology and selected facts about common person-related health conditions
organized by the ICF framework. More important, general considerations and contraindica-
tions, especially as they relate to physical activity participation, are presented. The text
ends with other appendixes related to different aspects of physical activity programming
for individuals with disabilities. Appendix B offers eligibility criteria for infants and toddlers.
Related resource materials and information sources are offered in appendix C. Appendix D
contains a variety of tests and assessment tools appropriate for inclusive physical activity
programs, and appendix E is a sample medical history and referral form.

ANCILLARIES
Also available with /nclusive Physical Activity is a presentation package that offers instructors
ready-to-use slides of main concepts and points from each chapter. An instructor guide is
available to assist instructors with assessment of student understanding and application.
Finally, a test package is available with multiple choice, short answer, and essay questions
for each chapter in the book.
This text is founded on a philosophy and belief that all individuals, with all their distinc-
tive abilities and interests, can and should benefit from participation in physical activity.
This involvement should be lifelong, empowering, and inclusive of the range of possible
programs, settings, and activities available to everyone. This is our goal. As practitioners, we
are in the best position to make this goal a reality as we promote the health and well-being
of all individuals. This text is the first step toward the awareness and knowledge necessary
for all physical activity programs to become truly inclusive.
 =

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——
T hroughout our journey of writing this book, many people have inspired us, encouraged
us, and challenged us. We would like to thank all our mentors who brought us to this
point in time both professionally and philosophically. This includes our best teachers—all
the children, adults, and families we have worked with over the years and the OSU crew
with whom we have shared ideas.
We would also like to thank our many colleagues who have helped shape this book by
sharing their expertise and ideas. We thank the following individuals who contributed to
this edition: Dr. Susan Nye for cowriting chapter 7, Dr. Don Lytle for cowriting chapter 8, and
Dr. Luis Columna and Dr. Esther M. Ortiz-Stuhr for their work on the new aquatics chapter.
! would also like to thank my husband, Don, for his eternal patience and sharp intellect.
Finally, to my colleague Susan Kasser, thank you for your commitment to this project for a
second round—you are truly a joy to work with!
Rebecca Lytle

My thanks go to Kathy for her unconditional support and encouragement. And, without a
doubt, thank you, Rebecca. | would not have wanted to take on this project with anyone
else! | value our friendship and conversations.
Sue Kasser
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Foundations for Inclusive
Physical Activity
U nderstanding the philosophical basis for and sociocultural context of
inclusive physical activity is an important prerequisite to offering physical
activity programs that include all individuals regardless of age, ability, or experi-
ence. Part I includes three chapters that establish the foundation for including all
individuals in physical activity programs. Chapter 1 sets the stage for inclusive
physical activity programs by providing an overview of the different paradigms
used to define ability and disability. The chapter then offers an important basis
for inclusive physical activity by discussing the health disparities that exist and
the health promotion needs of people with disabilities. The chapter finishes by
defining inclusive physical activity and detailing the benefits for participants,
peers, and practitioners.
Chapter 2 presents an inclusive model of ability in physical activity as an alter-
native to traditional views of disability and programming. This model integrates
person-, context-, and task-related factors with important concepts related to
changing capability, movement potential, and professional practice.
With the philosophical and pragmatic basis for inclusive programming set,
chapter 3 provides insight into the challenges and barriers precluding the par-
ticipation of all individuals in physical activity. The chapter offers contextual
and individual obstacles as well as important strategies for overcoming such
hurdles to ensure that all individuals have access to and consideration in physi-
cal activity opportunities.
 i

"
 Health, Physical Activity,
and Individuals With
bility Differences

After completing this chapter, you should be able to

> compare models of disability;
> discuss why health promotion differs for people with and without
disabilities;
> define inclusive physical activity; and
> provide a rationale for involving all individuals in physical activ-
ity.
Inclusive Physical Activity

SANA ASAI

INCLUDING ALL INDIVIDUALS

The staff meeting at Fitness First, the local health and fitness club, just ended. Jes-
sica, the new director of fitness programming at the club, shared this year’s program
initiatives and membership goals with all in attendance. One of the major priorities
Jessica discussed involved expanding fitness classes and personal training services
to new members with differing health conditions and capabilities who have been pre-
viously underserved. Jessica informed the staff that this year, through a coordinated
and collaborative effort, all community members would be afforded health-promoting
opportunities and be included in the club’s programs and fitness activities as much
as possible.
Some of the experienced fitness practitioners objected. They believed that the club
could not be all things to all people and suggested that individuals with ability differ-
ences receive their therapy in rehabilitation centers and physical therapy clinics; in
their view, fitness instructors should not be expected to program for members with
low skills or “impairments” in the same classes as the high-skilled and able mem-
bers. Other fitness trainers expressed approval of the initiative, saying that including
members with significantly different abilities together in the same facility and pro-
grams could be beneficial for increasing acceptance and enhancing the health of all
members. Todd, a personal trainer at the club, left the meeting with many questions.
He knew that Jessica expected all fitness trainers to contribute to attaining this new
membership goal. He had been told about club membership inquiries from commu-
nity members who had coordination and balance difficulties; he had also heard about
agencies serving individuals with intellectual differences. How would their presence
affect the other members’ experiences and his plans for his clients? Would problems
arise that he could not yet envision? Could this be why some of the experienced
practitioners were reluctant to include all community members in the facility and their
classes? Todd had thought he was all set to go, but now he felt a new concern: Would
he still be able to give all clients the best fitness experience possible?
The practitioners at Fitness First clearly had contrasting perspectives on includ-
ing members with differing movement and fitness capabilities in the same programs
and classes. If you were Todd, how would you feel? Would you want to include these
members with other participants in your fitness classes? Why or why not?

A: practitioners responsible for participants’ experiences within our physical activity

programs, we each need to examine our perceptions of ability and disability and our
definitions of health and illness. Our views and beliefs not only influence our attitudes toward
and interactions with others but also direct our professional practice when implementing
physical activity and exercise programs.
The extent to which individuals with ability differences are included in physical activities
and movement programs is influenced by society’s perceptions and attitudes toward these
individuals. The concept of disability has been and continues to be defined by the culture
or times in which individuals with significant differences in ability live. Health promotion
efforts have also been based on how societies define and perceive wellness. Definitions
 Health, Physical Activity, and Individuals With Ability Differences

of wellness have changed over the years, but an important step toward further progress
in including all individuals in physical activity and health promotion programs is to focus
on ability, not disability. Doing so should help us examine how assumptions and attitudes
about ability differences influence professional practice.
In this chapter we present a philosophy of inclusive physical activity and a contemporary
approach to including all individuals, regardless of ability, in physical activity programs.
Although a single chapter cannot fully explain what it means for an individual to be mean-
ingfully included in physical activity, examining the existing views on “disability” and health
and how aspects of these views come together to either hinder or allow for inclusive pro-
gramming may promote greater appreciation for the concept of inclusive physical activity.

CHANGING DEFINITIONS OF DISABILITY

Compared to the past, individuals with ability differences are now receiving increasingly more
attention and consideration in terms of health and wellness. Still, the health of people with
ability differences is influenced by varying social, political, and historical perspectives that
together influence the life experiences of those perceived as different (Pfeiffer, 2003). One of
these influences has been, and continues to be, the way that disability is defined. The way in
which disability is conceptualized significantly affects how health policies and practices are
developed (Boyles, Bailey, & Mossey, 2008). Even today, definitions of disability vary widely,
as do the attitudes and assumptions associated with them (Shakespeare, 2006). How then
is disability defined? Who creates the definitions? What consequences result from them?
In all societies, disability is defined in relation to beliefs about ability and usually by those
without “disabilities.” The term disability attains meaning through various frameworks or
models used to convey attitudes and perceptions. These models differ in their underlying
assumptions and expectations of those with disabilities. These beliefs provide the basis not
only for understanding “disability” but also for influencing interactions, providing services,
and directing programs. In an attempt to internalize and understand ability differences, four
prevailing frameworks exist: the medical model of disability, the social minority model of
disability, the social construction model of disability, and the international class of function-
ing, disability, and health model.

Medical Model of Disability

Although the medical model is the oldest of the dominant views of disability, this model still
influences programming and professional practice today. The medical model assumes an
individual’s deficiency is caused by disease, trauma, or impairment (Altman, 2001) and, as
such, places the cause of “disability” on the individual. In this model, individuals are typi-
cally grouped by their shared “disabling” condition or by category with a primary focus on
symptoms and characteristics. Because disability is considered a personal problem (Galvin,
2005), environments that might adversely affect a person’s functioning are disregarded. This
model implies that the “problem” resides within the individual and that it is the individual
who needs to change or be fixed, not the conditions of the environment. Thus programs
and services are provided to diagnose, prescribe, and rehabilitate the individual rather
than to alter the environment.

Social Minority Model of Disability

Increased insight into the stigma of disability gave rise to the social minority model. In
contrast to the medical model, the focus here is not on a physiological cause underlying
disability but on the social consequences of having minority status. In other words, disability
emerges out of beliefs and actions that isolate, alienate, and discriminate against those with
differences (Altman, 2001; Scullion, 2010). This social model has been characterized as a
 6 Inclusive Physical Activity

“barriers model” in which access to health care and health promotion is restricted because
of negative attitudes and subsequent practices that further exclude people with disabilities
(Scullion, 2010). Although this broader perspective acknowledges society’s role in shaping
disability, it also assumes that all people with a disability share a common experience of
being disabled. In fact, however, individuals with disabilities encounter a wide range of con-
ditions and an array of experiences. The social minority model discounts individual identity
and negates individual challenges, joys, successes, and other life experiences shared by all
individuals with and without disabilities. This view emphasizes disability rather than ability
and perpetuates segregation rather than inclusion.

Social Construction Model of Disability

To view disability as a medical condition or group experience offers only a superficial
understanding of disability. A more recent framework focuses on the social construction
of disability in which disability is perceived as the creation of differences between able and
not able (NCDDR, 1999; Oliver, 1996). These differences do not
exist naturally but instead are regularly created and reinforced
DID YOU KNOW (?) through the interactions and daily practices of an “able-bodied”
«_, the ‘problem’ is not the per- society (figure 1.1). Rather than a problem arising from a person’s
son with disabilities; the problem particular personal health condition or difference, the difficulty
is the way that normalcy is con- arises from a too narrowly created environment for the diversity
structed to create the ‘problem’ of of people and their unique circumstances (Kaplan, 2011). For
instance, routinely building staircases instead of ramps and cut-
the disabled person. . . . The word ting 24-inch door openings instead of 32-inch openings create
normal’ as ‘constituting, coniorm- barriers that highlight differences in ability. Norms associated
ing to, not deviating or different with ability are thus constructed by those without disabilities.
from, the common type or stan- Once differences have been created by the “able-bodied” popula-
dard, regular, usual’ only entered tion, they are then used to reinforce the status quo or “reality”
into the English language around of disability. It is these socially formed and established views of
1840.” (Davis, 1997, pp. 9-10). disability that underlie the beliefs and expectations of those per-
ceived as incapable. According to this perspective, the concept

CALLAHAN

Figure 1.1 Disability and the accompanying values and beliefs are often created by the norm or by
those perceived as able-bodied.
©John Callahan. Reprinted by permission from John Callahan & Levin Represents.
 Health, Physical Activity, and Individuals With Ability Differences

of disability cannot be truly understood outside of the social context that gives it definition
(Smart & Smart, 1997). Attention is focused on deconstructing past beliefs and stereotypes
in order to empower and foster personal development and achievement of all individuals.
Such rethinking broadens services and programs and leads to greater inclusive practices.

The International Class of Functioning, Disability

and Health Model
It has become clear that none of the previous models described have been able to inde-
pendently and fully describe the concept of disability. Disability cannot solely be consid-
ered either a limitation of the individual or a socially created problem, but instead must
be conceptualized as an interaction of the individual and the environment in which he or
she lives. The International Class of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) offers a more
integrated framework for conceptualizing disability (World Health Organization, 2001). The
ICF stems from a changing perspective of disability globally and is based on a neutral stand
with regard to causes, consequences, and determinants of functional ability. In this model,
emphasis shifts from people’s disabilities to their level of health and functioning. People
with differing abilities are not dichotomized from those without because the model recog-
nizes that every person—regardless of age, ethnic background, socioeconomic status, and
other variables—can experience a decrement in health and, in doing so, experience some
level of disability at one time or another. In addition, functioning is viewed as an outcome
of the interaction between health condition and contextual factors. The extent and level of
participation in activities are not solely attributed to changes in body structures and func-
tions but also to personal and environmental factors (figure 1.2). One of the critical goals of
the ICF is to create a barrier-free world. This new model asks the questions: How does this
person function in the current environment? How might he or she function in a barrier-free
environment? Answers to these questions help effect change in individual function and
health by providing insight into more diverse strategies and practices.

SAINK BAGS
Think back to your thoughts about Todd at the beginning of the chapter.
1. How might Todd define disability?
2. Which lens do you believe Todd might look through relating to dis-
ability?
3. How might Todd’s definition and assumptions influence his work at
his fitness center?
. How does Todd's view of disability compare to your own?

THE HEALTH OF PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

Health can be defined in many ways. Often health refers to a sense of physical, emotional,
social, and spiritual well-being. Health can also be defined as a lifelong process of achiev-
ing optimal wellness and maximizing potential. Regardless of the definition chosen, the
importance of health is undeniable. Good health is often regarded as fundamental to qual-
ity of life and the capability of being an active and involved participant in a community.
However, the health status of people across the United States is not the same; nor is there
always equality in health-promoting efforts and services afforded to those with differing
abilities and health.
 8 Inclusive Physical Activity

Health condition
(disorder or disease)

Body functions || ot > —+ | Participation

and structures

Environmental factors Personal factors

Figure 1.2 The World Health Organization (WHO) International Classification of Functioning, Dis-
ability and Health (ICF) offers a framework for interrelations between functioning and disability. It
describes health and health-related domains from body, individual, and societal perspectives.
Reprinted, by permission, from World Health Organization, 2001, The international classification of functioning, disability and
health-ICF (Geneva, Switzerland), 18.

Health Disparities
Compared to the general population, individuals with disabilities experience poorer
health and have earlier onset and higher rates of chronic conditions, including diabetes,
obesity, and depression (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2000). Moreover,
individuals with disabilities have lower rates of social participation in organized health
events and health education and, in general, have lower rates of recommended health
behaviors. The majority of individuals with disabilities are sedentary. In fact, only about
25 percent of adults with disability meet recommended moderate activity guidelines for
physical activity (Boslaugh & Andresen, 2006). In turn, people
who have activity limitations report having had more days of
pain, depression, anxiety, and sleeplessness and fewer days of
DID YOU KNOW (?) vitality than people not reporting activity limitations (Drum,
e An estimated 48 million people 2003).
in the United States, or nearly The health gap for individuals with disabilities is magnified
even more for those racial, ethnic, and other underserved groups
20 percent of the population,
who typically have a higher incidence of disability and lower
currently live with disabilities
levels of participation in the health care system (Lewis, 2009).
(Brault, 2008). Research has documented acknowledged risk behaviors such as
The proportion of people living physical inactivity and obesity among various racial and ethnic
with disabilities is increasing minorities with disabilities (Rimmer, Rubin, Braddock, & Hedman,
among all age groups. 1999; Weil et al., 2002), and these health disparities are greater
in persons with “disability” and minority status together than
People with disabilities have in individuals with disability or minority status alone (Jones &
3.5 to 5 times higher health Sinclair, 2008).
care expenditures than people
without disabilities (Yelin,
Cisternas, & Trupin, 2006), Health Promotion and People With
and total national health care Disabilities
expenditures associated with It is apparent that the health gaps between people with and
disabilities top nearly $400 bil- without disabilities are wide and the disparities broad. The
lion (Anderson, Weiner, Finkel- cause of these health disparities can be largely attributable to
stein, & Armour, 2011). beliefs and biases within a health care system that devalues
wellness for individuals who are perceived as different (Lewis,
 Health, Physical Activity, and Individuals With Ability Differences 9

2009). And although a clear need exists for improving the health
and functional independence of people with disabilities, health DID YOU KNOW (?)
promotion efforts for these individuals has been neglected for a
number of reasons. In Healthy People 2000, individuals
For one, the traditional health promotion model has often been with disabilities were not assigned
considered a means of preventing disabilities in people without objectives for their health. It was
chronic illness or injury (Lollar, 2001). Efforts are primarily aimed not until Healthy People 2010 that
at identifying the causes of conditions associated with disabilities objectives for health were included
and then working to reduce or prevent these conditions from for individuals with disabilities.
occurring. In other words, health is defined as the absence of
disease, and health promotion is thus equated with disability
prevention (Rimmer, 1999).
Coupled with this prevention
approach was the belief that disabil-
ity is inevitably equated with poor
health and should be addressed
primarily within medical and reha-
bilitation services rather than froma
backdrop of community-based health
and wellness programs (USDHHS,
2000). The belief that disability was
also a negative consequence of not
practicing health-promoting behav-
iors, in part, also explains the void in
health promotion for people with dis-
abilities (Harrison, 2006). As a result,
health promotion efforts are usually
not aimed at preventing secondary
conditions among persons already
perceived as disabled (Rimmer,
EO99).
If it is true that individuals with dis-
abilities would benefit significantly
from health promotion programs,
then what will it take to promote
health for people with disabilities? Figure 1.3 “Given the proper guidance and direction from rehabilitation
Among other things, improving the professionals, fitness centers are poised to become the future centers of
health of people with disabilities health promotion for people with disabilities” (Rimmer, 1999).
will necessitate a consensus that
health is holistic, involving a bal-
ance of physical, emotional, mental,
social, and spiritual aspects and not MISCONCEPTIONS OF

merely the absence of disease (Kim _—| F144 TRADITIONAL PUBLIC

& Fox, 2006). The health of people HEALTH MODEL
S. 2000
with disabilities past also extend pcbacaneeepcnmistn tbirdael hn Sir
banners
beyond merely functional limitation deneconrantranirss
and perceived inability. There needs ¢ All people with disabilities automatically have poor health.
to be an appreciation that people ¢ Public health should focus only on preventing “disabling”
with disabilities have the capacity conditions.
to be healthy within the context of
e Astandard definition of “disability” is not needed for public
their health condition and that many
people with disabilities can live health purposes.
healthy active lives (Stuifbergen & ¢ The environment plays no role in the disabling process.
Roberts, 1997; figure 1.3).
10 Inclusive Physical Activity

Think back to the Fitness First health and fitness club you read about at the
start of the chapter.
1. From a health promotion standpoint, what reasons may have existed
for the absence of people with ability differences exercising in the
club prior to Jessica’s new initiatives?
. Why do you think Jessica believes it is important to begin including
new members with different health conditions and capabilities?
. How do you think Jessica can convince her staff that promoting the
health of new members with differences in ability and function is nec-
essary and important?

INCLUSIVE PHYSICAL ACTIVITY

If we are committed to promoting the health of individuals with disabilities, we must con-
sider ways to increase physical activity (PA) among those with individual differences as
an important foundation for their healthy lifestyle. To move successfully in this direction,
we need to establish a common understanding of the definition, philosophy, and rationale
of inclusive physical activity. We then need to examine our own belief systems and rethink
how our professional practice can encompass and value inclusive practices.

Definition of Inclusive Physical Activity

Inclusive physical activity is the philosophy and practice of ensuring that all individuals,
regardless of ability or age, have equal opportunity in physical activity. This opportunity
should include options and decision making and create meaningful participation and suc-
cess that empower all participants. In other words, inclusive physical activity is defined as
accessible physical activity programs provided to all individuals across the life span in diverse
settings. Truly inclusive physical activity includes all of the following:

e Infant and toddler movement experiences

¢ School-based physical education programs
¢ Community-based recreation and leisure activities
e Exercise and fitness programs
e Multilevel sport opportunities
¢ Culturally specific activities or events

Whether we are speaking of children learning a wide range of movement skills through
games or adults improving their physical fitness and health through exercise programs,
individuals of all ages can and should be able to derive the joy and benefits of inclusive
physical activity (figure 1.4).
The term “inclusive physical activity” is used instead of other physical activity program-
related terms to denote a shift from participation based on a disability label toward creating
success for all interested participants. For example, “adapted physical activity” is commonly
regarded as activity in which adaptations are made primarily for individuals with identifiable
disabilities and provided most often within traditional school-based and postsecondary set-
tings (DePauw & Doll-Tepper, 2000; Sherrill, 1998). Inclusive physical activity, on the other
 Health, Physical Activity, and Individuals With Ability Differences 11

Photo
right:
Crump/Bran
Bill
Xon

Figure 1.4 People of all ages and abilities should have opportunities for meaningful physical activity participation.

hand, attempts to ensure that all individuals have the chance to benefit from inclusive and
accommodating programming regardless of age or ability level. The concept includes not
only individuals identified with disabilities but also those without disability labels who might
differ in capability because of age, experience, skill, or fitness level. From this philosophical
and pragmatic standpoint, accommodations are made within programs to ensure that both
highly skilled and lesser-skilled participants receive the benefits of tailored instruction and
optimal programming.
Inclusive physical activity is based on the concepts of opportunity and choice. All
individuals should have the opportunity to participate in age-appropriate and ability-
appropriate activity. As such, a range of meaningful and tailored programs must exist so
that individuals with differences in ability or health conditions are not automatically rel-
egated to certain programs for the sake of administrative or programmatic ease. Instead,
all participants have options from which they may choose. Inclusive physical activity
is not based on a particular setting but rather on participation in meaningful activity
selected from a range of options. For this to happen, all practitioners must be able to
plan and modify activities to meet diverse needs and abilities so that all participants are
offered choice and opportunity that’s equitable for everyone. Physical educators should
have the attitude and skills they need to allow all children to succeed, both in their gen-
eral physical education classes and within smaller groups of students with and without
differences in abilities. Fitness practitioners in health clubs must also become accepting
and versatile enough to want to invite adults with various health conditions into their
facilities and design meaningful and individualized fitness programs for them. Only when
practitioners across all settings and types of physical activity programs can effectively
accommodate the range of differing abilities among participants will inclusive physical
activity programs become a reality.
12 Inclusive Physical Activity

Philosophy of Inclusive Physical Activity

Those who work in physical activity settings are uniquely positioned to influence the health
and well-being of all individuals. The concept of inclusive physical activity involves much
more than simply integrating individuals with diverse abilities into physical activity. Placing
or integrating children with cognitive or behavioral differences into general physical edu-
cation classes or adults with movement and balance difficulties into community exercise
programs does not mean they will be accepted by others, improve on their performance,
or find satisfaction through participation. Inclusive physical activity goes beyond providing
access to programs and making accommodations to support participation. Inclusive physical
activity is a philosophy that embraces the belief in “experiential equity” in which there exists
a balance of opportunity, consideration, and effort given to all participants. This philosophy
recognizes the value of participant choice and decision making as well as the importance
of practitioner responsibility in helping learners achieve a meaningful experience. Inclusive
physical activity involves a transformation in the way we view individuals and in the way we
educate and teach. Practitioners committed to the concept of inclusive physical activity are
keenly aware of the significant systematic changes required in the typical instructional method
to ensure that programs are fair and equitable. They appreciate and value the uniqueness of
the individuals with whom they work and strive to create an environment that is accepting,
empowering, and accommodating for all people to succeed (figure 1.5).

Rationale for Inclusive Physical Activity

Different people have different views about exactly what inclusion involves and how beneficial
it is. Support of inclusive physical activity often varies across contexts and participant groups.
Some practitioners oppose inclusive physical activity programs in educational settings but
support them in recreational and leisure venues. Others support inclusive physical activity
in recreational or educational settings but promote nonintegrated sport opportunities, such
as the Paralympics. Also, some parents of children with less significant ability differences
might support inclusive physical education for their child but oppose it for other children.
For many people, opinions on inclusive practices vary according to the abilities of the indi-
viduals participating and the particular contexts and circumstances existing.
Inclusive environments have been generally supported in physical education (Block,
2007), community fitness facilities (Rimmer, 1999; Riley, Rimmer, Wang, & Schiller, 2008), and
other physical activity and sport programs (DePauw & Doll-Tepper, 2000). A rationale for
adopting an inclusive physical activity philosophy includes the following essential points:

e Resource redundancy. There are two primary concerns regarding the resource redun-
dancy issue. First, offering separate physical activity programs means requiring additional
resources, including personnel, financial support, and facilities. This overlap or duplication
increases resource requirements. Second, when resources are allocated to traditional pro-
grams that are not inclusive, some participants may not be provided the opportunities they
otherwise could be. Inclusive physical activity programming reduces resource redundancy and
extends the breadth of physical activity experiences to everyone desiring such opportunities.
¢ Instructional individualization. The concept of instructional individualization is based
on the practice that only individuals with disabilities are given individualized instruction
and instructional support, whereas those without disability labels are typically grouped
together and considered homogeneous in ability. In fact, no two participants function at
exactly the same level. For example, within a class of third-graders, one child might excel in
math and another in reading. The same is true in physical activity. One person might have
great flexibility and another excellent eye-hand coordination. An inclusive physical activity
philosophy supports all individuals receiving the necessary support and accommodations
to achieve personal participation goals, regardless of label or setting.
¢ Breadth of benefits. The benefits of inclusive physical activity are far-reaching, both
for children in school-based physical education programs and for children and adults in
 Health, Physical Activity, and Individuals With Ability Differences

Beliefs Underlying an Inclusive

Physical Activity Philosophy

Beliefs About Participants

Each person is unique with differing physical, cognitive, emotional, and
social capabilities and needs.
Everyone has a right to and can benefit from inclusive physical activity op-
portunities.
Each person can be healthy and have a high quality of life within the context
of their health condition.
The capabilities of an individual are dynamic and result from relations
among the individual, the context, and the task or activity.
Participants have a right to personal choice and decision making.
Each individual in an inclusive physical activity setting benefits from the
experiences of others.

Beliefs About Practitioners

Practitioners are committed to promoting health for all individuals.
Practitioners promote equal access to environments and equipment and of-
fer shared activities with individual outcomes.
Practitioners value the diversity and range of participants within their pro-
grams.
Practitioners consider individual interests and needs and demonstrate equi-
table practice in attending to these considerations.
Practitioners offer physical activity experiences that are enjoyable, empow-
ering, and personally meaningful.

Figure 1.5 Beliefs necessary for inclusive physical activity to succeed.

programs conducted outside school settings, such as community-based exercise or activity

programs, leisure and recreational experiences, or sport arenas. For all involved, benefits
include a greater respect for individual differences and for the unique experiences each
participant brings to the program (figure 1.6).

Consider how you might reframe or redefine your answers to the questions
asked at the beginning of the chapter.
1. Do you think Todd should include individuals of very different abilities
in his fitness classes? Why or why not?
2. How do you think doing so would benefit him and his other clients?
14 Inclusive Physical Activity

Benefits of Inclusive Physical Activity —

Participant Benefits
e Increased respect for individual abilities and differences
e Enhanced awareness and insight into one’s own strengths and nonstrengths
e Increased breadth of opportunity and experience
e Experience of a more motivating environment
e Expanded support system with less isolation for participants and significant
others
e Increased sense of community and acceptance
° Increased sense of contribution to activity, program, and community goals
and outcomes
e Enhanced sense of value and self-esteem

Practitioner Benefits
e Increased awareness and insight of participant differences
Changed perspective on professional practice
e Increased breadth of strategies useful for many others
Increased knowledge of variations of tasks and skills
e Enhanced value of diverse abilities

Figure 1.6 Inclusive physical activity benefits both participants and practitioners.

SUMMARY
If we can think in terms of ability rather than disability and appreciate that health is for every-
one, all people can have meaningful and rewarding involvement in physical activity. Inclusive
physical activity is a philosophy that goes beyond mere access to programs. It embraces the
idea of accommodating and valuing all participants and includes practitioners revamping the
way they structure and implement programs. An inclusive physical activity philosophy chal-
lenges practitioners to examine their own assumptions regarding ability and health, reflect on
their instructional practice as it relates to the success of their participants, and think outside
the traditional box that narrows choices and stifles creativity in physical activity settings.

1. Do you believe that individuals with dis- 3. What is your current philosophy regard-
abilities are more socially accepted now ing inclusive physical activity practices?
than in the past? How so? Do you have Where did this philosophy come from?
examples to support your belief?
2. How does an inclusive physical activity
philosophy differ from previous beliefs
about physical activity and ability?
 Health, Physical Activity, and Individuals With Ability Differences
Scenario 1.1
Joan recently graduated from college with a de-
gree in exercise physiology and was just hired
as a program specialist for a brand new sports
and rehabilitation facility in a large metropolitan
area. She is excited about putting her training
to work. In addition to her bachelor’s degree,
Joan has special certifications in aerobics and
aquatics. She worked extensively at a local club
during college and feels confident in her skills
to work with people. During the first week of her
new job, she learns more about her responsibili-
ties, which include scheduling all classes and
facilities, training staff, and serving as a person-
al trainer. The owner of the facility has explained
to Joan that she needs to meet the needs of ev-
ery individual in the community. She also learns
more about the clientele at this facility.
The club by her university was filled with
healthy young college students, whereas the
population of this facility is much more diverse.
Individuals range in age from infants to seniors.
Her new facility expects to offer parent-infant
classes, programs for seniors, a cardiac pro-
gram, and many other classes for all ages and
abilities. In fact, one of the local community-
based programs for individuals with develop-
mental disabilities is planning on coming in the
afternoons to swim and do weight training. As
Joan becomes more familiar with the diversity
of individuals she will be working with, she be-
gins to feel less sure of her skills. In fact, she
has never worked with young children or indi-
viduals with disabilities. Her only experience
with disability was in an athletic training class
she took working with athletes to rehab injuries
to knees and ankles. As she begins to consider
the classes she needs to offer, she is not sure
how to organize them—by activity, age, ability,
or a combination of these. In addition, she is
wondering how she will hire and train her staff
to work with this diverse population.
1. What model of disability do you think
Joan has been exposed to? Why do you
think so?
2. How might you organize classes if you
were Joan? How would you justify your
decisions?
15
3. What critical issues might Joan want to
address in her staff training?
Scenario 1.2
Allison is an elementary physical education
teacher at Central Square Elementary School.
She has also been the adapted physical edu-
cation specialist in her district for the last 12
years. Across the district, she has 25 students
distributed among three schools. Her district
is a blooming district in the process of inau-
gurating a new elementary school that will in-
crease Allison’s case load. Recently she found
out that she will have 10 new students who are
part of the English Language Learners (ELL)
program. Of these 10 students, 6 are from
Mexico, 2 from Guatemala, 1 from China, and
1 from Vietnam. When Allison learned of her
new students, she was both excited and ner-
vous. Although she has been teaching APE for
the past 12 years, most of her students have
been Caucasian. One of her students from
Guatemala, a little girl named Rebecca, does
not speak any English. Rebecca is 9 years old
and has spina bifida. Her mother also speaks
no English. Allison has heard that some teach-
ers in the district do not think the mother is very
collaborative in terms of the educational goals
for her daughter. According to the classroom
teacher, they have sent several notices to Re-
becca’s mother requesting a meeting and per-
mission to conduct an assessment for physical
education. Teachers know that without paren-
tal permission they cannot conduct such an
assessment. The classroom teacher has also
tried to call home, but the phone was discon-
nected.
1. If you were Allison, what might you think
are some of the reasons Rebecca's
mother is not participating in her daugh-
ter’s school planning?
2. What are steps Allison can take to ensure
she is meeting both Rebecca's cultural
needs and physical activity needs?
3. What benefits might be gleaned by stu-
dents and teachers who participate in Al-
lison’s class?
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
 “I don’t know that I care to go, Willie,” said Sandie. “Aren’t they just a
wee bit noisy and rough at times?”
“Oh, that is nothing, it is only good-humoured and funny they are.”
“And don’t they as a body indulge in toddy to some considerable
extent?”
“Perhaps, perhaps, but you and I shall indulge in gingerbeer and
lemonade. Come, you mustn’t refuse. They will be offended. I won’t go
unless you go, and if I don’t go I shall lose some good friends.”
“Well, Willie, for your sake, I’ll go.”
“That’s a man! You’ll hear some humorous speeches and some capital
songs, most of them with choruses.”
Well, the night came round; and round the great tables in the dining-
room of the Lemon Tree Hotel about a hundred as sturdy, happy, and
healthy-looking young men assembled as ever you would wish to witness.
They were not only happy, they were hungry. The speedy way in which the
viands disappeared was proof positive of this. Every edible domestic animal
seemed to be represented on these tables—turkey, geese, and fowls, pork,
mutton, and beef, besides haggis galore, and plenty of mashed potatoes and
sturdy Scottish kail.
Each plate was flanked by a tankard of table-ale. Nothing stronger.
Stronger potations had yet to come.
Well, in due time even the puddings were discussed, and then the tables
were cleared.
“Give your orders, gentlemen,” cried the president, knocking on the
table. A very tall splendid-looking fellow this president was, by birth an
Africander, who had come to take a medical degree in Aberdeen previously
to taking up practice at Cape Town.
The orders were given.
Most of these were simple enough—the wine of the country, with hot
water, sugar, and lemon.
Then right loyally all the usual toasts were given, the Queen, the army,
navy, and volunteers. The volunteers was responded to in a most heroic
speech by one of themselves, who had been coupled with the toast. After
this, song after song was sung, and many private individuals in the room
were toasted, and had to reply, which they did in speeches more or less
humorous.
Not much to his delight, Sandie, as first bursar, was “let in,” as Willie
called it, for a speech.
“I don’t know, gentlemen,” he began, “whether I can speak or not; I am
like the Irishman who, on being asked if he could play the fiddle, replied,
‘Oh, I daresay I could, but I never tried.’ ”
Then Sandie warmed to his oratory, and it was universally admitted that
he had made the best speech of the evening.
More songs and more speeches followed this, and so very quickly did
the time fly by, that hardly anybody would believe the landlord when he
came in, smiling and rubbing his hands, to announce—
“Eleven o’clock, gentlemen, if you please!”
They had to please, for policemen were at the door to see the house
cleared.
Now, if these somewhat wild young men had broken up into little parties
of three or four, and each gone its own way, the riot I have to describe
would never have taken place.
I must tell you, first, that a very heavy snow-storm had fallen some days
before, and that then a partial thaw had come. The streets were cleared in
the centre only, the snow being thrown in shovelfuls to the sides near the
pavement.
But frost had returned, and those shovelfuls of snow had become frozen
into huge bricks of part ice, part snow.
“Well,” cried the Africander, who carried an umbrella like a weaver’s
beam, “let us form four deep, and go singing up Union Street, as far as the
bridge, then give three cheers and disperse.”
Four deep was formed accordingly, and the march commenced, also
“Auld Lang Syne.”
But they had not got farther than Market Street ere the roughs had
assembled in force, and commenced a regular cannonade on the students.
“Halt, front!” cried the tall Africander, waving his great umbrella. “Give
’em fits, charge.”
The mob by this time must have been nearly two hundred strong, but so
desperate and determined was the charge made by the students, that they
were beaten and partially scattered. The Africander, with his great umbrella,
was as good as any three men. The others fought chiefly with those huge
bricks of ice that I have already mentioned; and no matter where a man was
struck with one of these, down he went as if shot.
But the mob was beaten. They made a kind of running fight of it, back as
far as the Castle-gate, and now the victorious students would willingly have
retired.
Fate, however, was against them. For just at that moment, while the
students were meditating retiring with honour, the theatre, then at the foot
of Marischal Street, a street leading directly down to the harbour from the
square called Castle-gate, gave exit to its swarms. The gods, as those who
occupied the galleries were called, seeing that a riot was on, at once raised
the cry of “Down with the students,” as they joined the beaten mob. The
fight was now sharp and fierce, but against such fearful odds only one
ending was possible—the students were beaten and scattered.
Now to his credit be it said, Sandie would have gone straight home, and
not engaged in this unseemly town-and-gown at all, but Willie went in for it
like wildfire.
And after the first defeat, Sandie, to his dismay, saw the poor lad lying
helpless on the ground kicked and cuffed by the mob. The Africander was at
his elbow, and both rushed to Willie’s assistance.
The Africander fairly shouldered Willie, and fought his way with him
clear of the mob.
But ill-fared it with poor Sandie. He was knocked down and half killed,
three of his ribs being broken with a stout stick. It was well for him that two
burly night-watchmen rushed in to his rescue.
They bore him away, however, and kindly helped him all the way home.
They even assisted him to bed—a bed, by the way, he did not leave for a
fortnight.
“I’ll never forget your goodness,” said Sandie, as he presented one of
them with a five-shilling piece, that the three might drink his health.
“Oh,” said the spokesman, “we did naething mair than common charity.”
“But you don’t understand, men. You might have made me prisoner,
mightn’t you?”
“Oh, ay!”
 “Then I might have been tried as one of the ringleaders of the riot?”
“To be surely!”
“Well, and if so, ten to one I should have been tried next by the Senatus
Academicus, and deprived of my bursary. God bless you this night, men;
good-bye now. But come back and see me.”
Sandie’s landlady was kindness personified. Dr. Kilgour himself
attended the poor fellow, and Willie constituted himself his constant nurse.
There was at no time any real danger, so the patient did not write to alarm
his father and mother.
He had plenty of callers to keep up his heart. The great Africander came
every evening.
“I never saw any one fight more bravely against fearful odds,” he said
over and over again, “than you did, Sandie M‘Crae.”
“Oh,” said Sandie, smiling, “I assure you fighting is not much in my
line, and but for my friend Willie, you ne’er would have seen me there.”
But with his temperate habits and his wonderful constitution, Sandie was
at last able to get up, and though pale and stiff, rejoin his classes.
The first day he appeared, leaning on a stick in the quad, he was the
recipient of a regular ovation. The students cheered and cheered again and
crowded round him to shake hands, and I believe they would have hoisted
him shoulder high had not his ribs been still so weak.
But it must be confessed that Sandie did not enjoy this ovation half so
much as that he received on the night he gained the bursary. He had no wish
in the world to pose as a warlike hero, and he made a vow that in future,
come what might, he should keep clear of riots and town-and-gowns. It was
well for him he did, as the sequel will show.

CHAPTER VII

THE INSTALLATION RIOT

The close of that same winter session is memorable for a riot of such a
strange character, and of such startling dimensions, that I make no apology
for giving a brief description thereof.
 It was an election or installation riot, and many a student was rusticated
for having taken a too active part in it; and yet, methinks, the students had
right on their side.
In order to let the reader understand it, I must tell him that, as a rule, two
men, probably lords, dukes, or eminent literary men, are put up for election
as Lord Rector of the University, and one of these is chosen, not by
numerical strength of votes, but by nations, as they are called.
The whole body of students at Marischal College were divided into
nations. The men who were born twixt Dee and Don were called the Mar
nation; those born between the Don and Deveron the Buchan nation; all
west of the Deveron the Highland nation; while those south of the Dee, or
belonging to countries over the sea, were called the Foreign nation. Four
nations in all, you will observe. Well, if two nations went for one man and
two for another, it was a tie, and the Principal of the University had the
casting vote. When he was a wise man, he always gave his vote to the two
nations that contained the largest number of students.
On this particular year it so happened that the Mar and Buchan nations
were on one side, as against the Highland and Foreign. Now the former two
nations included the main body of students of the University, the other two
being in numbers quite insignificant compared to them.
The Principal was, therefore, very unwise to give his vote against them.
The wrath and indignation of Buchan and Mar were terrible. They held
meetings, and took a solemn vow to prevent, by every means in their power,
the installation of the chosen Lord Rector.
There were lively spirits among those Buchan and Mar lads, and not
only did they parade the streets by day with flags and banners flying,
stopping at every professor’s house to hoot and yell if that professor were
against them, or loudly cheer and sing his praises if known to be on their
side, but at night also they had marches and counter-marches, and these
were of a more serious character, for many encounters with the police took
place, and the windows of inimical professors were freely stoned and
broken. All this was bad and spiteful enough, but worse was to follow.
I forget, by the way, whether it was during this time, or a few years
before, that a strange piece of revenge was taken against a professor who
had incurred the displeasure of his students. This gentleman was a fowl
fancier. And one night a band of some twenty or thirty students appeared a
little before midnight at the professor’s house. They first barred the doors
up from the outside. Then they coolly attacked the fowl-house, killing every
one and carrying away the lot. Next night, at some inn in the New Town,
there was a big supper, and the standing dishes were roast and boiled fowls.
Such a criminal riot as this would hardly be tolerated now-a-days.
At long and last the installation day came round. A riot was confidently
expected, and all preparations made to, if possible, stem the tide thereof.
The installation of Lord Rector is one of the sights of a session. It takes
place in the great upper hall of the University, which occupies the top storey
of a wing stretching from the back of the University, with many tall
mullioned windows at each side. It is beautifully furnished with cushioned
forms, a platform, and pulpit, and the walls are covered with costly pictures.
There is one thing sure and certain, the ringleaders among the student-
rioters knew the value and the science of organisation, and they had
everything well planned beforehand.
For example, there was an order of the Senate that rendered it impossible
for policemen to enter the quad to make an arrest or to clear the square
during a riot. This was a very old law, but whether rescinded or not by this
time, I cannot tell.
And the ringleaders knew this. They had also found out that it was
proposed to send for the soldiers, to clear courts and quad, if the riot should
assume gigantic proportions. They knew that the regimental colonel had
been notified to this effect, and that the soldiers were confined to barracks.
It is strange that soldiers might enter in where bobbies feared to follow, but
such, it would seem, was really the case.
However, against such a contingency the chief ringleaders had provided;
and I may as well state here as farther on, that during the progress of the
riot, first one student messenger, and then another, were despatched to
solicit the aid of the soldiers to clear the quad, but that both were captured
by the enemy’s scouts, and made prisoners in Mother Robertson’s till the
riot was all over.
As a rule, at an installation of Lord Rector, ladies are admitted, and very
gay the hall looks with their presence; but on this occasion, fearing the
consequences, the presence of ladies was forbidden. This was another
mistake, for students are possessed of considerable gallantry, and the rioters
would never have proceeded to such extremes as they did in the presence of
their mothers, sisters, and sweethearts.
As the students filed in through the gates into the quad, they were
ordered to give up their sticks. This the rioters willingly did; and well they
might, for, concealed under his coat or gown, every one carried a short
heavy-headed hammer.
And now the great hall was crowded. The dissenters keeping all together,
that is, the nations of Mars and Buchan, the two poor skinny little Highland
and Foreign nations looking a mere handful beside them.
On to the platform now meekly and modestly comes his lordship, and
the professors group around him.
He is received by a few faint cheers from the Highlanders and
Foreigners, but by a dinful distracting chorus of yelling, hooting, and
hissing by the rioters.
But Scotsmen are naturally pious, so, while Dr. Dewar prays, they are
silent and still.
No sooner, however, does the ceremony commence in earnest, than, with
their arms crossed, two stalwart students form a chair, and on this between
them mounts Jamie B——r, afterwards Dr. B——r, and only recently dead.
He is carried forward till right beneath the platform. He there reads a long
and well-worded protest against his lordship’s election.
Three groans are then called for, after which a voice is heard shouting—
“All that are against this unjust and cruel installation will now leave the
hall.”
And so the rioters left in a body, and the great hall doors were shut
behind them.
These great folding doors, I may mention, are as nearly as I can
remember about twelve feet high, and open in the centre. They were now
locked and bolted, and the installation, it was hoped, would proceed in
peace. Those who thought so had, however, reckoned without their host.
On both sides of the wing, in which was the installation hall, the rioters
stationed themselves. They had a fine supply of stones and pebbles, and
inside that hall, from through the windows, those stones soon began to fall
as thick as leaves in Vallombrosa.
 Not one student or professor, but many, were hit with the hail-shower of
falling pebbles.
All at once, however, there was a lull.
“The worst is over, I think,” a professor ventured to remark.
He was mistaken, the worst was to come. The rioters had found out that
the big hall doors were closed against them.
“Why should they be shut out? Had not they as good a right to be inside
as any?”
Certainly they had. “Hurrah! lads, hurrah!”
In another minute they were crowding, in two dense bodies, up the two
stairs that converged in front of the folding doors. Here they loudly
knocked, and demanded admittance. This was refused.
Then all the force the rioters could command was applied to that door.
The locks and bolts, it is true, held good, but each half gave way
simultaneously at its hinges. Down with a crash went the door, and in
rushed the mob.
“Now, lads, out with your hammers.”
The students friendly to the Lord Rector rallied and fought well, but
were speedily beaten, and had to seek refuge in flight.
The Lord Rector himself, during the scrimmage, is said to have received
a wound in the nose from a piece of splintered wood.
And now the work of wreckage and destruction was commenced. By
means of the hammers the forms were broken up, and, worse than all, many
of the fine paintings that could not be restored were rent in ribbons.
Satiated with revenge, at long and last, and fearful, perhaps, that the
soldiers might arrive, and turn them out at the point of the bayonet, the
rioters retired. They formed four deep in the quad, and went marching off,
dispersing to their several homes after arriving at the centre of the town.
The punishments that followed this strange riot were not very severe,
and all academical, of course. But it was considered that the students really
had had a great grievance, and so the Senatus Academicus was lenient. But
several of the ringleaders, including Jamie B——, were rusticated.
Sandie M‘Crae took no part in this riot, and he even succeeded in
inducing his friend Willie to keep away from the University that day.
 Instead of going near Marischal College, they hired a dogcart, and went
off out the Skene Road, with rods and tackle, to enjoy a day’s fishing in a
bonnie brown burn that led from the Loch o’ Skene.
The day was most delightful, the blue of the sky all the bluer in that grey
or fleecy clouds floated here and there. But the wind’s light breath was
balmy and warm, laverocks carolled against the sky, wild flowers, by the
wayside, sprang wanton to be pressed; the dark pine woods of Hazlehead
and Maidencraig were a sight to see, while in the more open country the
larches were already fringed with tender spring greens, and tasselled with
crimson.
The very horse Sandie drove seemed to feel the influence of this
delightful day, and as he trotted merrily on—his feet made music on the
pebbled road.
They never drew rein until they came to the inn of Straik in Echt, where
they had formerly dined, and here they put up.
They would walk the rest of the distance, and the landlady promised she
would have a charming little dinner ready for them by the time they
returned.
Would her little boy be of use to them as a guide? Well, they would take
him anyhow.
He was a very tiny lad indeed, with a head of tow apparently, and no
cap; but they found him invaluable. For wee Johnnie knew all the best
“pots” where the biggest trout lay, and he knew also precisely the kind of
flies they liked.
“Oh,” he cried, when he saw Sandie’s and Willie’s book, “the troots
wadna look at they.”
Then from what he called his “oxter pouch” he produced his own book.
Something very different here. But the results justified the boy’s wisdom,
and an excellent day’s sport was the result.
“Johnnie, you’re a little brick,” cried Willie, after he had put up his rod.
He placed a five-shilling piece in the boy’s hand as he spoke.
Johnnie looked at it, and his eyes appeared to turn quite as large and
round as the coin. He had never fingered so much money in his life before.
“Is a’ this for me?” he said.
“All for you, Johnnie.”
 “A’ for my nain sel’?”
“All for your own self.”
“My conscience! I’m the happiest lad in the countryside!”
And so he really appeared to be.
Our heroes had spent a very calm but pleasant day, and Willie felt
thankful, and expressed himself so more than once, that they were down in
the cool green country, far away from scenes of strife and riot.
They stopped for a moment by the side of the silvery lake to admire the
beautiful sheet of water with the greenery of the woods rising up from its
banks beyond, and afar off the blue summits of the Grampian Hills.
Johnnie here volunteered a statement.
“Gintlemen,” he said, “do ye ken what the mad laird o’ Skene ance did?”
“Is there a mad laird o’ Skene, Johnnie?”
“Oh, no noo, but lang syne. He wasna doonricht daft, ye ken, but jist
reckless-kind and deil-may-care.”
“Well, what did he do, Johnnie?”
“Weel, he made a wager that he’d drive a carriage and pair ower the loch
after only ae’ (one) nicht’s frost.”
“And did he do it?”
“Ay, that did he. But he made a compact with the servant that sat beside
him, that he wasna to look roun’. The man did look roun’ tho’, just as the
hosses had got footin’ on the bank. He saw an awfu’ beast like a big baboon
sittin’ up behind, then the ice broke and the carriage sunk. But the laird won
the wager.”
“Come on,” said Willie; “I’m hungry.”

CHAPTER VIII

BACK AT THE DEAR OLD FARM

The close of the session had come. Soon the streets, that had all winter long
been rendered so gay and cheerful by the flash of the scarlet togas and the
merry laugh of the wearers, would know neither toga nor wearer any more
for six long months.
 The session had ended, and spring had come. There was balm in the
breath of the breeze that now blew over the Broad Hill and swept along the
wide golf links. The breakers thundered less often in fury upon the yellow
sand. They preferred now to roll in more slowly, and to lisp and to sing as
they curled in long lines of foam upon the beach. Trees were all in bud,
birds were in fullest song, people were busy in their gardens, where tulips,
hyacinths, polyanthuses, and the sweet-faced primroses were already
blooming side by side with the blue-eyed, gentle myosotis or forget-me-not.
There is always more or less of sadness in the hearts of students at this
the time of parting with the comrades they have sat in the same class-rooms
with all the winter, have walked with, played with, nay, even fought with
mayhap. But now all is forgiven, if, indeed, there be anything to forgive,
and in a week’s time the classes are scattered to the four winds of heaven.
The majority, it is true, live in Aberdeenshire, but this county is broad and
wide stretching—we may say, from the Bullers of Buchan to the rolling
Dee, and from the far-off heathy hills of Braemar in the west, to the sea that
laves its sand-girt eastern shore.
Some men had gone away into the Highlands of Inverness, and during
all the summer would delve and dig or hold the plough. Others away to wild
romantic Skye—the Isle of Wings, and others again far North to that Ultima
Thule, Shetland, which some one has likened to “a sea-girdled peat-moss.”
It is rather, however, a series of sea-girdled peat-mosses, for the islands are
very numerous indeed, their shores, when the purple mantle of summer is
thrown like a veil of gauze over them, as romantic as they are lonesome and
wild.
And Sandie and Willie had parted. But they would think of each other
constantly, and they would write almost every day.
Willie was going south to the Riviera with his mother and one of his
sisters, but as soon as he should return, his first visit would be up Deeside to
the dear old farm of Kilbuie.
So Sandie went home alone. But how delighted his parents and Elsie
were to see him, I need not tell the reader!
. . . . . .
Since Sandie had been at home last, a little change had taken place near
the farm. He noticed this as he came slowly down the long loaning, and just
as Elsie and dear old Tyro came running delightedly to meet him. A little
cottage had sprung up, a cottage consisting only of a butt and a ben, that is,
dear English reader, one of two rooms, namely, a room at each side of the
door, a best room and a living room or kitchen.
“But what did it mean?” Sandie asked himself. There was even a garden
laid out before the door, the door itself had a rustic porch, and the cottage
was prettily stob-thatched with straw.
As soon as Tyro’s first wild greetings were over, and Elsie had
welcomed her brother back, he pointed to the cottage and asked for an
explanation.
“Oh,” cried Elsie, “I meant to have written and told you, but Jamie and
Jeannie beseeched me not to. They thought it much better it should come as
a surprise to you when you returned home.”
“Well,” said Sandie, “I begin to smell a rat. They are going to be
married. Is it not so?”
“Yes.”
“Sly old Jamie Duncan! I never knew he was soft in that direction.
Won’t I roast him just?”
“Oh no, dear Sandie, you mustn’t. It really isn’t sly he is, so much as
shy.”
But nevertheless, as soon as Sandie saw Jamie, and the first greetings
were over, he tackled him on the forthcoming great event in his life.
“So,” said Sandie, “I’ve got to rub shoulders with you, have I?”
For the information of the Southern reader, I may explain that to rub
shoulders with a bridegroom is supposed to bring the rubber great good
luck.
“I’m no goin’ to deny it,” replied Jamie, his cheeks like the rosy beet.
“Man!” he added by way of excuse, “I lo’oed Jeannie a lang, lang time,
though she didna ken (didn’t know), but at last I had to tell her, or lay me
doon and dee, as the auld sang says.”
“And she has been kind enough to promise to marry you?”
“Ay, that has she, Sandie, and sealed the bargain wi’ a kiss. And a richt
bonnie and usefu’ wifie she’ll mak’ to a poor chiel like me. Oh, man, it is a
fine thing to hae a bit hoose o’ your ain, to come hame at even to your little
cot, and find your firie burnin’, your supper ready, and your winsome wifie
a’ smiles and saft, saft words!”
 “Well,” said Sandie, “I’m sure, Jamie, I wish you all the happiness you
deserve, and Jeannie too.”
Jamie’s wedding took place just a week after Sandie’s return.
It was an exceedingly quiet one, but Jeannie made a bonnie bride, and
Jamie a sturdy independent bridegroom.
Mr. Mackenzie himself, though it was not his parish, was asked to
perform the ceremony, and came over on purpose to do so, after which there
was a right merry and jolly breakfast, then the happy pair set out together to
spend their honeymoon.
And how long, think you, did this honeymoon last? Why, just one day.
They went off to see the sights in the Granite City, and next day at
gloaming, they came linking down the long loanings arm-in-arm, looking as
happy, quite as the yellow-billed blackbird and his wife who lived in yonder
thicket of spruce.
Geordie Black, the orra man, had lit a fire in the cottage, and it was
burning brightly; Elsie had laid the table, and tea and dinner combined were
ready, just as the happy pair came over the threshold.
“Oh,” cried Jamie, “this is truly delichtfu’.”
The occasion even required verse, and Jamie was equal to it. As he threw
himself into the easy-chair with a kind of tired but contented sigh, he
carolled forth—

“Mid pleasures and palaces

Where’er we may roam,
Be it ever so humble,
There’s no place like home.”

. . . . . .
Now to return to our hero Sandie: his experiences of pupil-teaching had
not been to him bliss unalloyed. It took him away from his studies, it was a
loss of time, and a terrible worry, and the pay was hardly commensurate.
Besides, as at the close of next session he meant to compete for a great
prize for mathematics of sixty pounds, tenable for the two last sessions of
the curriculum, he would really need all his time for preparation.
So in his own mind he began to cast about for some means of making a
little money during the summer, to help him through the weary winter. A
little would do; but that little must be earned.
He must help his father with the harvest work, free, gratis. Many and
many a year and day that dear old father, whose hair was now silvered with
age, had helped him.
Then, as if he had received a flash of inspiration, the herring-fishery
came into his mind.
Now, in Scotland, it will do my Southern reader no harm to know, the
herring come to the coast months before they reach the shores of, say,
Norfolk and Suffolk. In the Land o’ Cakes they come in with the new
potatoes in June, and a most delicious dish fresh herring and new potatoes
make.
Well, Sandie could have two months at this industry before his father’s
harvest came on.
When he mentioned his determination to his mother and Elsie next day,
with tears in their eyes, they tried to dissuade him from his purpose. It was
rash, they alleged, and it was highly dangerous. But Sandie stood firm as a
rock.
Our hero now resumed, to a certain extent, his old life on the farm. With
the exception of a forenoon, spent about twice a week with his old friend
Mackenzie, and his little favourite, Maggie May, with whom he frequently
went fishing, he worked with his father’s servants. The horses’ holiday time
had come round again once more, and once more they were wading pastern-
deep in the daisied grass, as happy as the day was long; but there was plenty
to do for the men in thinning turnips, weeding and hoeing potatoes, and
other things.
In the evening, however, immediately after supper, he retired to his little
grain-loft study, and there bent all his energies to the elucidation of the
mysteries of mathematics till far on into the night.
He did not find mathematics so very hard after all, when he fairly set
himself to tackle it. The problems looked dreadfully dark and difficult a
little way off, just as a black cloud does that is approaching the moon, but
the moon soon brightens it. And in the same way, Sandie’s determination
and study soon illuminated the darkest clouds of mathematics.
Indeed, Sandie was really pleased with his prowess and advancement,
but well he knew, nevertheless, that he would have to study steadily, hard
and long, if he was to have the slightest chance of capturing that great prize
of £60 for two years. Why, such a haul would render him independent.
Well, he determined to work and trust in Providence.
Sandie, however, did not neglect his health. He ate and drank well, and
every fine evening his sister Elsie and he went up the hill through the long
sweet-scented yellow broom for a walk.
Delicious hours those! To have seen Elsie hanging on to her brother’s
arm, and he smiling as he looked fondly down into her sweet face, a
stranger would have taken them for lovers.
Then what castles in the air they did build to be sure! What day-dreams
were theirs! Of the time when he should be minister of some beautiful old
church by the banks of a stream, and she, Elsie, his housekeeper. Already, in
imagination, they could hear the church-bell tolling of a Sunday morning,
and see the well-dressed congregation slowly wending their way through
the auld kirkyard to the door.
And Sandie’s sermons should be such rousing ones; couched in eloquent
language, that should go straight to the heart of every hearer, and sometimes
even bring tears to the eyes of the listeners.
Of course, dear old father and mother would be in the manse pew. Then
the manse itself, an old-fashioned house, with fine old-fashioned gardens,
and rare old-fashioned flowers, gardens in which, in the spring-time, the
mavis and the blackbird would all day long fill the air with their charming
melody, and the lark sing above till past the midnight hour.
Oh, they had it all cut and dry, I assure you; but dear me, what a long
time they would have to wait yet before there was a chance of those dreams
coming true!
Never mind! were they not young? Ah! hope beats high in youthful
hearts.
So back they would saunter through the golden-tasselled broom, and
then Sandie would begin his lucubrations.
. . . . . .
Just the very day before Sandie had intended starting north and east to
get an engagement as a herring-fisher, he was agreeably startled by a visit
from Willie, who had just returned from the Riviera.
 “Had you been a day later,” Sandie said, as he grasped his friend’s hand,
“you would not have found me.”
“Inasmuch as to wherefore?” said Willie, raising his brows.
“I’m off to-morrow to join the herring-fleet.”
“What! you? You turn a herring-fisher?”
“Yes, Willie.”
Then Sandie told him all the reader already knows.
“I’d ten times sooner catch herring,” he ended, “than teach that young
blockhead the rudiments of Latin grammar.”
“Well, then,” said Willie, “I shall go with you for a day, just to see you
settled.”
“I’ll be delighted, I’m sure.”
So bidding his father and mother and Elsie adieu—he had already said
good-bye to Mackenzie and Maggie May—on the very next morning,
Sandie started in company with Willie for the fishing village of Blackhive.
N.B.—I call it Blackhive because that is not its name. Its real title I have
reasons for keeping secret.
They found the little town already very busy indeed. All hands were
getting their nets on board the great sturdy open boats, in which these hardy
fishermen venture far to sea and encounter many a storm.
The boats have a bit of a close deck fore and aft, but all betwixt and
between is a well. Here lie the nets, and here are stowed the herring when
caught.
Our heroes found the village swarming with foreigners, in the shape of
men from the far Hebrides, especially Skye, who had come to join the
fishery, and if possible to make a little money to carry them on for another
year.
If the fishing should be good, there was no doubt about making money,
for they were not only paid good wages, but a certain percentage on the
takes or crans.
There was no great hurry, so Willie and Sandie sauntered about for
hours, looking at the strange and busy scene, which was so unlike anything
they had ever witnessed before.
 Not only young men had swarmed into the town, but modest-looking
young lassies too. These latter would be employed in gutting the herring, in
salting them, and packing them in barrels for the Southern markets.
And the coopers or barrel-makers were very busy indeed already, and
had been so for weeks; their fires burned in every direction, while the
clanging of their hammers was incessant.
Our heroes found themselves at last at a cosy little inn.
Yes, they could have dinner, nice new potatoes, fresh butter, and fresh
herrings and milk. “Hurrah!” cried Willie, “what could be better?” So they
dined delectably.

CHAPTER IX

WISE WEE JOHN AND WITTY EPPIE

The landlady of the little inn, at which Sandie and Willie had dined so
sumptuously, was a chatty wee body. Like most chatty wee bodies, she was
by no means averse to being informed concerning the nature of other
people’s business.
“Ye’ll be tourists, I reckon?” she said, as she placed a delicious dish of
curds and cream in front of them.
Now it had occurred to Sandie that this same gossipy landlady, who
evidently knew everybody, might put him in the way of getting a boat. So
he answered her question readily enough.
“No,” he said, “not quite tourists, mother. I come on quite a different
errand, and mean to stay for a bit. My friend here came to bear me
company, and will return to-morrow, if not to-day.”
“And what may your business be, young sir?”
“Ah! that’s what I’m coming to, mother. I’m a student, you see, and my
people are poor. I have just enough to do to rub along and pay my way
during the winter session.”
“But, mind you,” interpolated Willie somewhat proudly, “my friend here
is first bursar at Marischal College and University, Aberdeen.”
“Preserve me!” cried the woman, lifting up her palms and raising her
eyes ceilingwards. “Preserve us a’, but what a high honour to hae a first
bursar in my poor house!”
“Never mind about the honour, mother. Let me tell you at once, that I’ve
come down here to find a boat, if possible, and to try to make a few white
shillings at the herring-fishing.”
“Gang awa’ wi’ ye, you’re jokin’. You a gentleman and a first bursar, to
go and catch scaly herrings, and work like a galley-slave. Dinna try to
deceive an auld wife; you’re just poking fun at Widow Stephen.”
“No, Mrs. Stephen, I was never so much in earnest in all my life. Look at
my brawny arms, look at my chest. I’ve been used to the scythe and the
plough, the pluck and the hoe. Think you that casting a net is going to
frighten me?
“But,” he said after a pause, “I thought you might know of some one
who would be glad to have youth, strength, and agility.”
“Oh, plenty will be glad to have you. Why, as sure as I live, there goes
the very man, and I ken weel that his boat’s crew is no complete. I’ll tap at
the window.”
She did so, and then hurried out to meet the fisherman.
Suffice it to say, that in less than half-an-hour Sandie was appointed to
John Menzies’ boat, at a good wage and his chance, that is, so much per
crane on the take.
Not only that, but, to his great joy, John told him that his wife Eppie
would take him in and do for him for an auld sang. He would have a canty
wee roomie, with a wee window lookin’ oot to the hills, where he could
study to the ring o’ the bonnet when the boat wasn’t at sea. This is pretty
much John’s own language, and it is needless to say that Sandie was glad to
accept the offer.
Willie and Sandie spent a very agreeable day indeed, and slept at the
little inn, but next morning Willie departed after a friendly and somewhat
sad farewell, and Sandie sauntered along the beach to John’s house.
He found the worthy couple both waiting for him, and he noted at once
that they were characters. When I mention the fact that they are sketched
from the real life, perhaps my reader will understand my reasons for not
giving the village in which they resided its real name. A few words about
this queer, delightful couple won’t, I feel sure, be thrown away.
 John Menzies, then, was an honest fisherman of this same famous old
town of Blackhive, celebrated from time immemorial for the finest smoked
haddies that ever delighted the eye, or tickled the palate of gourmand or
epicure.
John Menzies (pronounced Maingees) lived with his wife, “as,” he
himself more than once remarked, “every decent man should.” It was the
custom with John to catch the fish, and the custom with John’s wife to sell
them, and thus they shared life’s burden.
Now John was reputed to be as wise a man as there was in the town, or
for that matter any town whatever, and his wife—well I should not like to
be the goose whose wings should supply the quills to write or describe all
the virtues ascribed to this good lady by her neighbours.
John’s wife, she was called, and likewise surnamed the Witty. Eppie was
her name—Witty Eppie. There you have it. “A virtuous wife,” says
Solomon, “is a crown unto her husband.” Well John’s wife was all that to
him, and more besides. In point of fact, John was often heard to say, “It was
for my Eppie’s goodness I married her,” and he was generally believed for
this simple reason—it could not have been for her beauty. No; Nature had
dealt sparingly with her as far as beauty was concerned. But then, Nature
could hardly be expected to give her all things. She had an honest sonsy
face of her own, though, for all that, and a motherly look in it too, although
so far from being a fruitful vine, she never had borne fruit at all.
“John is my bairn,” Eppie would say, “and between him and the creel it
tak’s me a’ my time, ’oman.”
In figure, Eppie was rather rotund and somewhat given to corpulency
without, but then she had a Herculean frame to bear it. “A broad back to a
big burden,” was another of her sayings, for, like all Scottish fisherwomen,
she was much addicted to quoting proverbs, which she was wont to term
“the pepper dulse” of conversation.[7] Yet if she was not a bonnie fishwife,
she was at best a handsome one—six feet tall if an inch, and well-made in
proportion. On the other hand, John himself was what might with fear of
any serious contradiction be called a spare man—a wee wee man—a man
of bone and sinew certainly, but of little else. Well, he might have been of
feet four, and of inches double the number, and it would have done your
heart good to have seen the worthy couple going to church on a Sabbath-
day, which, to their credit be it told, they never failed to do. The best view
was to be obtained from behind. Here, you could observe the exact
difference in stature, for John’s Sunday’s hat, which never, never sat easily
on his head, and was always bobbing from one side to another, scarcely
reached his better half’s shoulder. The difference too in the breadth of beam
was here very apparent—the vast and ample folds of the red tartan shawl on
the one hand, and the short waggling swallow tails of the little green coat
with its plain brass buttons on the other.
Despise not that dumpy garment, reader, for it was his best. It was his
marriage coat, and he had never got another since.
The next best view of the loving couple was the side view. There you
could observe and marvel at the vast difference in length of step, at least
John’s was a step, Eppie’s was a stride, and when, as sometimes would
occur, the church-bells ceased to ring before they reached the gate, oh! to
see the way she lugged the poor little man along by the hand! Still, even
under these circumstances, Eppie could afford to walk, but—I almost sob to
say it—wee Johnnie had to trot. In a word, imagine an ostrich walking to
church with a rook, and you see them. Good simple couple, the minister
never missed them from the kirk a single Sunday from that auspicious day
when he had joined their hands, until the mournful morning when the old
hearse wound slowly down the long loaning that conveyed poor wee
Johnnie to his home in the mould, while every wife in Blackhive stood at
her door with her apron to her eyes. But of this more anon.
Eppie was as kind to her husband as kind could be, and it is but fair to
say that for this she took no credit.
“De’il thank me,” she used to exclaim, “wha could be onything else to
the poor wee worriting body?”
Yet, while never failing in household duties—and there never was a
button missing from John’s shirt, never was his big toe seen staring
impudently through a hole in his stocking, neither did he ever come home
wet and cold without finding a change of well-aired warm raiment, a warm
meal, and some creature comforts besides waiting for him—John’s wife
found plenty of time to do kind and friendly actions to her neighbours too.
Honest woman, she was always welcome wherever she went, for she
carried a ray of light into the darkest and gloomiest cottage. Even death
itself did not seem so terrible when Eppie stood at the bedside.