Family, Household and Obligation

Abstract

The second chapter looks beyond the free ‘master’ craftsmen of the ‘House’ to their wider households, looking to both craft families and their lodgers. The metaphor of ‘the House’ as a chosen identifier used by the Incorporation has particular significance, as the family and the household were the basic units of post-Reformation Scottish society. Patterns of marriage will be used to look at the often-invisible ‘sisters of the craft’. Endogamy will also be considered, demonstrating how disconnected the ten arts were in terms of forming marriage alliances across craft lines. Education of children and dependents – a crucial foundation for those aspiring to enter the building trades – will be explored both in terms of the support of schoolmasters at Mary’s Chapel and of the specialist craft training involved in apprenticeships. Finally, access to work in a crowded labour market will be discussed, both for the co-resident journeymen and feed servants, as well as for the widows, wives and daughters of the privileged masters. The craft economy was broader than just the free master craftsmen, as was the House, which relied on the women, children and unfree labourers which helped make up the individual craft households.