§ MR. FRASER-MACKINTOSHasked the Lord Advocate, Whether his attention has been called to the fact that four persons were recently imprisoned at the instance of the School Board of Barvas, in the Island of Lewis, under the provisions of the Education (Scotland) Act, for neglecting to send their children to school; and, whether the defence they stated, that the children were attending a school maintained by the Gaelic School Society, in which reading, writing, and arithmetic were taught, was not a good defence in law to the proceedings taken against them?
§ THE LORD ADVOCATE (Mr. WATSON)Sir, my attention was called to this matter by the hon. Member; but I have not yet been able to get full information on the subject, and, therefore, I am not in a position to say whether the facts are as stated or not. I may state, however, that if reading, writing, and arithmetic are efficiently taught in the Gaelic Society's school, and the children of these parents were in actual attendance, this would form a perfectly good defence to any prosecution under the Education Act.