how to get a(head)

My father's cousin Vivien had read on Blipfoto about my having to write an Immortal Memory for the Burns Supper last week. Yesterday I was so excited when I opened a letter from her which contained a photocopy of an Immortal Memory written and delivered by my great grandfather, John Johnstone, on the occasion of the centenary of the birth of Robert Burns - 25th January 1859. We don't know where he made his toast, but it might have been in Castle Douglas - he was schoolmaster at Rhonehouse School at the time. I do know that this date was a day of national rejoicing and celebrations all over Scotland, and have seen photos of the procession through Dumfries.

Also included with Vivien's letter were two phrenology readings which John Johnstone had had done on separate occasions. Phrenology was very popular in Victorian times and a reading had at one stage often been a requirement when applying for a job. It became almost like going to a clairvoyant, and I wonder if this schoolmaster, who was a bachelor until his late fifties, was looking for advice or reassurance about  finding a wife. 

One of the readings says that "He loves information, is fond of knowledge and must be tolerably well adapted for general conversation. Nevertheless he is fond of fun, frolic, mirth and nonsense. He has a (....) of jollity about him, with considerable humour." This does make him sound like an ideal marriage partner, and maybe helped him to win the hand of his housekeeper, Margaret. At the age of 61, John became the father of a baby girl, Elizabeth, my great grandmother :-)