The Glenmutchkin Railway

The Glenmutchkin story was published in 1845. First published anonymously it relates the political and technological issues surrounding the buildings of railways in Scotland at a time of dramatic industrial development.

The first wave of truly manic railway promotion took place in 1844. By the summer of 1845, when Aytoun was writing his piece, the British Parliament was finishing its consideration of the projects hatched in 1844, approving some lines and rejecting others. But at the same time, another, much greater, wave of railroad promotion was gathering speed. The response was great, and Aytoun’s was just one of many pieces appearing at that time (in Punch, especially) making fun of the scramble for supposedly effortless riches that the revolutionary new technology was offering.

An excerpt from the writing:
“Ah ” said she, “I see you are a congenial spirit. How delightful, and yet how rare it is to meet with any one who thinks in unison with yourself Do you ever walk in the Necropolis, Mr. Dunshunner? It is my favourite haunt of a morning. There we can wean ourselves, as it were, from life, and, beneath the melancholy yew and cypress, anticipate the setting star. How often there have I seen the procession–the funeral of some very, very little child.”