six o'clock in the morning
Here Cree worked , whistling `` Ower the watter for Chairlie '' to make Mysy think that he was as gay as a mavis . Mysy grew querulous in her old age , and up to the end she thought of poor , done Cree as a handsome gallant . Only by weaving far on into the night could Cree earn as much as six shillings a week . He began at six o'clock in the morning , and worked until midnight by the light of his cruizey . The cruizey was all the lamp Thrums had in those days , though it is only to be seen in use now in a few old-world houses in the glens . It is an ungainly thing in iron , the size of a man 's palm , and shaped not unlike the palm when contracted and deepened to hold a liquid . Whale-oil , lying open in the mould , was used , and the wick was a rash with the green skin peeled off .