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OECD Skills Studies
The Survey of Adult Skills

READER’S COMPANION, THIRD EDITION
OECD Skills Studies
The Survey of Adult Skills
READER’S COMPANION, THIRD EDITION

This work is published under the responsibility of the Secretary-General of the OECD. The
opinions expressed and arguments employed herein do not necessarily reflect the official
views of OECD member countries.
This document, as well as any data and any map included herein, are without prejudice
to the status of or sovereignty over any territory, to the delimitation of international
frontiers and boundaries and to the name of any territory, city or area.
Please cite this publication as:

OECD (2019), The Survey of Adult Skills : Reader’s Companion, Third Edition, OECD Skills Studies, OECD
Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/f70238c7-en.
ISBN 978-92-64-63171-7 (print)

ISBN 978-92-64-38513-9 (pdf)
OECD Skills Studies

ISSN 2307-8723 (print)
ISSN 2307-8731 (online)
The statistical data for Israel are supplied by and under the responsibility of the relevant Israeli authorities. The use of
such data by the OECD is without prejudice to the status of the Golan Heights, East Jerusalem and Israeli settlements in
the West Bank under the terms of international law.
Photo credits: Cover © aleksandr-mansurov-ru/iStockphoto; © Don Pablo/Shutterstock; © Jamie Grill/Getty Images;

© Jaroslav Machacek/Shutterstock; © Konstantin Chagin/Shutterstock; © Lightspring/Shutterstock;
© momentimages/Tetra Images/Inmagine LTD; © Ocean/Corbis.
Corrigenda to OECD publications may be found on line at: www.oecd.org/about/publishing/corrigenda.htm.

© OECD 2019
You can copy, download or print OECD content for your own use, and you can include excerpts from OECD publications, databases and
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be submitted to [email protected]. Requests for permission to photocopy portions of this material for public or commercial use shall be
addressed directly to the Copyright Clearance Center (CCC) at [email protected] or the Centre français d’exploitation du droit de copie
(CFC) at [email protected].
Foreword
The labour market is in a flux, affected by the deep and rapid digital transformation, as well as globalisation and
demographic changes. Employers are demanding new skills and qualified workers, while many people are looking for
a job. Promoting a good match between the rapidly changing demand for skills with workers’ competences is crucial
to harness the potential of these changes and ensure that no one is left behind. Governments need a clearer picture,
not only of how labour markets are changing, but of how well-equipped their citizens are to participate in, and benefit
from, increasingly knowledge-based economies. The Survey of Adult Skills, a product of the OECD Programme for
the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC), provides that picture. It captures information about
adults’ proficiency in literacy, numeracy and problem-solving skills, and how much those skills are used on the job
and throughout life.
Skills Matter: Additional Results from the Survey of Adult Skills expands on the data and analysis examined in Skills
Matter: Further Results from the Survey of Adult Skills and in OECD Skills Outlook 2013: First Results from the
Survey of Adult Skills. New data is included for six countries: Ecuador, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Mexico and Peru (that
conducted the study for the first time) and the United States (that had previously collected data as part of the study’s
first round). The results show that poor skills severely limit people’s access to more rewarding and productive jobs. The
distribution of skills across the population also has significant implications for how the benefits of economic growth
are shared within societies. Put simply, where large shares of adults have poor skills, it becomes difficult to introduce
productivity-enhancing technologies and new ways of working, which in turn stalls improvements in living standards
and tends to widen income inequality. In all countries, adults with lower skills are far more likely than those with
better literacy skills to report poor health, to be less involved in political processes and to have less trust in others.
The report also finds that acquiring relevant skills is certainly key, but may not be enough to integrate successfully in
the labour market. Workers must be given the opportunity to use their skills productively, but also to reap some of
the tangible and intangible benefits of skills proficiency (such as wages and productivity at work) that contribute to
adults’ general well-being.
Going forward, the OECD is working with governments to support country-specific efforts that ensure that their
citizens are equipped with the right skills for 21st-century economies and use those skills productively. We know that
skills matter for both workers and employers; now it’s time to get the balance right.
Stefano Scarpetta Andreas Schleicher

Director, OECD Directorate for Employment, Director, OECD Directorate
Labour and Social Affairs for Education and Skills
THE SURVEY OF ADULT SKILLS: READER’S COMPANION, THIRD EDITION © OECD 2019 3
Acknowledgements
The Survey of Adult Skills is a collaborative endeavour involving the participating countries, the OECD Secretariat,
the European Commission and an international Consortium led by Educational Testing Service (ETS). This report was
prepared by William Thorn, with the assistance of Vanessa Denis and Sabrina Leonarduzzi.
The international Consortium was responsible for developing the assessment instruments and preparing the underlying
data under the direction of Irwin Kirsch.
The development and implementation of the project was steered by the PIAAC Board of Participating Countries. During
the implementation of the 3rd Round of the Survey of Adult Skills (2015 to 2019), the Board was chaired by Aviana
Bulgarelli (Italy) from 2015, Ted Reininga (the Netherlands) from 2016, Patrick Bussière (Canada) from 2014 to 2015 and
Dan McGrath (United States) from 2010 to 2016. A full list of the members of the Board together with the names of the
National Project Managers, experts, members of the international Consortium and staff of the OECD Secretariat who
have contributed to the project can be found in Annexes C, D and E.
Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION�� 13
CHAPTER 1 WHAT THE SURVEY OF ADULT SKILLS (PIAAC) MEASURES�� 15

Some major features of the assessment �� 16
• An assessment of key information-processing competencies �� 16
• A use-oriented conception of competency�� 16
• Proficiency as a continuum�� 16
• The importance of contextual information �� 17
An overview of literacy, numeracy and problem solving in technology-rich environments�� 17
Literacy �� 19
• Definition �� 19
• Content�� 19
• Cognitive strategies �� 19
• Contexts�� 20
• Distribution of test items by task characteristics�� 20
• Literacy sample items �� 21
• Reading components �� 23
• Examples of reading component items �� 23
Numeracy �� 24
• Definition�� 24
• Content�� 24
• Representations of mathematical information �� 24
• Cognitive strategies�� 25
• Numeracy sample items �� 26
Problem solving in technology-rich environments�� 28
• Definition�� 28
• Content �� 29
• Cognitive strategies�� 29
• Problem-solving sample item �� 31
CHAPTER 2 THE BACKGROUND QUESTIONNAIRE OF THE SURVEY OF ADULT SKILLS (PIAAC)�� 35

The characteristics and background of respondents�� 36
Educational attainment and participation in learning activities �� 37
Labour force status, work history and job characteristics �� 37
Social participation and health �� 38
The use of skills �� 38
• Engagement as a component of proficiency �� 39
• The role of literacy and numeracy practices and computer use in maintaining and developing skills�� 39
• Comparative information on a broader range of key skills�� 39
• Demand for skills �� 39
• Skills use: Task clusters�� 39
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER 3 THE METHODOLOGY OF THE SURVEY OF ADULT SKILLS (PIAAC) AND THE QUALITY OF DATA�� 45
Assessment design�� 48
• Pathways through the cognitive assessments in the Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC): Computer-based assessment�� 48
Sampling�� 50
• The target population and sampling frame�� 50
• Coverage of the target population�� 51
• Sample size�� 51
• Sample design�� 55
Translation and adaptation of instruments�� 55
Survey administration�� 55
Response rates and non-response bias analysis�� 58
Literacy-related non-response�� 61
Scoring�� 62
Overall assessment of data quality�� 63
CHAPTER 4 REPORTING THE RESULTS OF THE SURVEY OF ADULT SKILLS (PIAAC)�� 65

The proficiency scales�� 66
Proficiency levels �� 66
• Literacy and numeracy�� 73
• Problem solving in technology-rich environments�� 75
• A note about the reporting of problem solving in technology-rich environments�� 76
Test languages and reporting �� 77
CHAPTER 5 RELATIONSHIP OF THE SURVEY OF ADULT SKILLS (PIAAC) TO OTHER INTERNATIONAL

SKILLS SURVEYS�� 79
Countries and economies participating in the Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC) and IALS and/ or ALL�� 80
Constructs and instruments: The Survey of Adult Skills, ALL and IALS�� 81
• Literacy�� 81
• Numeracy�� 81
• Problem solving in technology-rich environments�� 82
• Mode of delivery�� 82
Comparability of background questions�� 82
Survey methods and operational standards and procedures�� 82
• The target population�� 83
• Sample design�� 83
• Survey operations�� 83
• Survey response�� 84
Educational attainment in IALS�� 84
Summary of the relationship between the Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC), IALS and ALL�� 84
The relationship between the Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC), LAMP and STEP�� 84
• LAMP�� 85
• STEP�� 85
CHAPTER 6 RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE SURVEY OF ADULT SKILLS (PIAAC) AND THE OECD PROGRAMME
FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDENT ASSESSMENT (PISA)�� 89
PISA cohorts in the target population of the Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC) �� 90
Differences in the target populations �� 90
Skills assessed �� 90
Psychometric links �� 91
8 © OECD 2019 THE SURVEY OF ADULT SKILLS: READER’S COMPANION, THIRD EDITION
TABLE OF CONTENTS
The relationships between constructs in the domains of literacy, numeracy and problem solving �� 91
• Literacy �� 91
• Numeracy �� 93
• Problem solving�� 94
Conclusion�� 95
CHAPTER 7 THE SURVEY OF ADULT SKILLS (PIAAC) AND “KEY COMPETENCIES”�� 97

The definition of key competencies�� 98
• What is competency? �� 98
• What is a key competency or skill?�� 98
The Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC) and key competencies �� 100
CHAPTER 8 THE SURVEY OF ADULT SKILLS (PIAAC) AND THE MEASUREMENT OF HUMAN CAPITAL �� 103
Defining “human capital” �� 104
Coverage of the dimensions of human capital in the Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC) �� 104
Educational attainment as a measure of human capital �� 106
Comparing measures of human capital �� 107
Empirical evidence�� 107
Enhancing the measurement of human capital�� 108
ANNEX A RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE LEVEL OF DESCRIPTORS USED IN THE SURVEY

OF ADULT SKILLS (PIAAC) AND OTHER SKILLS SURVEYS�� 111
ANNEX B CONTENT OF BACKGROUND QUESTIONNAIRES IN THE SURVEY OF ADULT SKILLS (PIAAC)

AND OTHER SKILLS SURVEYS�� 117
ANNEX C PROJECT PARTICIPANTS IN ROUND 1 OF THE SURVEY OF ADULT SKILLS�� 119
ANNEX D PROJECT PARTICIPANTS IN ROUND 2 OF THE SURVEY OF ADULT SKILLS�� 125
ANNEX E PROJECT PARTICIPANTS IN ROUND 3 OF THE SURVEY OF ADULT SKILLS�� 129
TABLE OF CONTENTS
BOXES
Box 1.1 Competencies or skills? �� 17

Box 2.1 Using Item Response Theory to derive skills use indicators in the Survey of Adults Skills (PIAAC)�� 41
Box 2.2 Deriving the survey’s measures of skills mismatch in literacy, numeracy or problem solving�� 43
Box 3.1 How the Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC) was managed�� 47
Box 3.2 PIAAC Data collections in the United States�� 56
FIGURE
Figure 3.1 Pathways through the cognitive assessments in the Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC): Computer-based assessment �� 48
TABLES
Table 1.1 Summary of assessment domains in the Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC) �� 18
Table 1.2 Distribution of literacy items by medium�� 20
Table 1.3 Distribution of literacy items by context�� 20
Table 1.4 Distribution of literacy items by cognitive strategy�� 20
Table 1.5 Distribution of numeracy items by response type�� 26
Table 1.6 Distribution of numeracy items by context�� 26
Table 1.7 Distribution of numeracy items by mathematical content �� 26
Table 1.8 Distribution of problem-solving tasks by cognitive dimensions�� 30
Table 1.9 Distribution of problem-solving tasks by technology dimensions�� 30
Table 1.10 Distribution of problem-solving tasks by context�� 30
Table 1.11 Distribution of problem-solving tasks by intrinsic complexity (number of steps)�� 30
Table 1.12 Distribution of problem-solving tasks by intrinsic complexity (number of constraints)�� 30
Table 1.13 Distribution of problem-solving tasks by explicitness of problem statement�� 30
Table 2.1 Data collected concerning the characteristics and background of respondents�� 36
Table 2.2 Information collected regarding educational experience and current participation in learning activities�� 37
Table 2.3 Information collected regarding labour force status, work history and job characteristics�� 38
Table 2.4 Information collected on social participation and health�� 38
Table 2.5 Information collected regarding tasks and activities in work and everyday life�� 40
Table 2.6 Skills use indicators�� 41
Table 2.7 Information collected on aspects of qualifications and skills match/mismatch �� 42
Table 3.1 List of participating countries and economies and dates of key phases�� 46
Table 3.2 Areas of activity covered by the PIAAC Standards and Guidelines �� 47
Table 3.3 Participation in the cognitive-assessment modules �� 49
Table 3.4 Sampling frames for countries/economies with registry samples �� 51
Table 3.5 Sampling frames for countries using master samples �� 51
Table 3.6 Sampling frames for countries/economies using area samples �� 52
Table 3.7 Exclusions from target population �� 53
Table 3.8 Sample size �� 54
Table 3.9 Achieved response rates and population coverage �� 59
Table 3.10 PIAAC NRBA outcome summary for countries/economies with response rates less than 70%�� 60
Table 3.11 Literacy-related non-response to the assessment: Proportion of respondents �� 61
Table 3.12 Scoring of paper-based instruments: Within- and between-country agreement�� 62
Table 4.1 Probability of successfully completing items of varying difficulty for a person scoring 300 on the literacy scale�� 66
Table 4.2 Literacy item map�� 67
10 © OECD 2019 THE SURVEY OF ADULT SKILLS: READER’S COMPANION, THIRD EDITION
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Table 4.3 Numeracy item map�� 69

Table 4.4 Problem solving in technology-rich environments item map�� 71
Table 4.5 Proficiency levels: Literacy and numeracy�� 73
Table 4.6 Probability of successfully completing items at different difficulty levels, by proficiency score: Literacy�� 74
Table 4.7 Probability of successfully completing items at different difficulty levels, by proficiency score: Numeracy�� 74
Table 4.8 Technology, task and cognitive features of problems at each of the three main levels of proficiency�� 75
Table 4.9 Proficiency levels: Problem solving in technology-rich environments�� 75
Table 4.10 Probability of successfully completing items at different difficulty levels by proficiency score: Problem solving
in technology-rich environments�� 76
Table 4.11 Test languages by country �� 77
Table 5.1 Countries and economies participating in IALS, ALL and PIAAC: Dates of data collection�� 80
Table 5.2 Skills assessed in the Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC), ALL and IALS�� 81
Table 5.3 Population coverage: IALS, ALL and the Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC)�� 83
Table 5.4 Response rates: IALS, ALL and the Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC)�� 84
Table 5.5 Skills assessed in the Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC), STEP, LAMP, ALL and IALS�� 85
Table 6.1 Age of PISA cohorts in 2011-12, 2014-15 and 2017-18�� 90

Table 6.2 Comparison of the Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC) and PISA: Skills assessed�� 91
Table 6.3 Comparison of the Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC) and PISA: Literacy�� 92
Table 6.4 Comparison of the Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC) and PISA: Numeracy�� 93
Table 6.5 Comparison of the Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC) and PISA: Problem solving�� 95
Table 7.1 Competency groups and examples of specific competencies in competency frameworks�� 99
Table 7.2 Key competencies and skills covered in the Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC)�� 100
Table 8.1 Components of human capital�� 104

Table 8.2 Coverage of the dimensions of human capital directly assessed in the Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC)�� 105
Table 8.3 Coverage of the dimensions of human capital by educational qualifications�� 106
Table 8.4 Comparison of direct measures from the Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC) and qualifications on four criteria�� 107
Table A.1 Location of items on the literacy scale using RP67 and RP80�� 112
Table A.2 Location of items on the numeracy scale using RP67 and RP80�� 114
Table A.3 Descriptors of literacy proficiency levels�� 115
Table A.4 Descriptors of literacy proficiency levels�� 116
Table B.1 Summary of the background variables common to the Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC), IALS and ALL�� 118
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Introduction
This companion volume to the international reports presenting results for the Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC) (OECD,
2013, 2016 and 2019) offers an overview of the “what” and “how” of the Survey of Adult Skills, a product of the
Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies, or PIAAC. Its primary objective is to help readers to
understand and interpret the results from the survey. To this end, it explains, in a non-technical way, the methodologies
underpinning the design of the Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC) and operational aspects of the survey, such as sampling,
data collection and response rates, and how results are reported.
In the first cycle of the survey (2008-2019), three separate rounds of data collection have been undertaken. The first round,
which collected data in 2011-12 involved 24 countries/economies. The second, which collected data in 2014-15 involved
a further nine countries/economies and the third (2017-18) involved six countries. The countries participating in Round 1
were: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, the Czech Republic, Cyprus,1 Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany,
Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, the Russian Federation, the Slovak Republic, Spain, Sweden,
the United Kingdom and the United States. In Belgium, data was collected in the Flanders region only. In the United
Kingdom, two of the four devolved administrations participated in the survey: England and Northern Ireland. In Round 2 of
the survey, the participating countries were: Chile, Greece, Indonesia, Israel, Lithuania, New Zealand, Singapore, Slovenia
and Turkey. In Indonesia, data was collected only in the Jakarta municipal area. The countries participating in Round 3
were: Ecuador, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Peru and the United States.2
A more detailed and technically oriented presentation of the survey, the methodologies used, and the quality of the data
output can be found in the Technical Report of the Survey of Adult Skills, Third Edition (OECD, 2019a).
The report addresses four topics:

• what is measured by the Survey of Adult Skills
• how the survey was designed and implemented
• how the results from the survey are reported
• how the survey is related to previous adult skills surveys, to the OECD Programme for International Student Assessment
(PISA), and to work on measuring key competencies and human capital.
WHAT IS MEASURED?
Chapter 1 describes the survey’s approach to assessing key information-processing skills. In particular, it presents the
main elements of the conceptual frameworks defining the constructs of literacy, numeracy and problem solving in
technology-rich environments measured by the survey. The Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC) is designed not only to provide
valid and reliable estimates of the competency of the adult population in key information-processing skills, but also to
identify differences in proficiency between population sub-groups, to better understand how such skills are developed,
maintained and used, and to determine the impact of different levels of proficiency on life chances. Chapter 2 describes
the content of the background questionnaire and the rationale behind its design.
ASPECTS OF THE DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF THE SURVEY

In order to interpret the results from the Survey of Adult Skills, it is essential to understand not only what was measured
but how the survey was designed and implemented. Chapter 3 presents the key aspects of the survey’s design, describes
how the survey was implemented, and provides an overview of the quality of the resulting data.
HOW RESULTS ARE REPORTED

What does it mean to have a particular proficiency score or to be described as having a particular level of proficiency
in literacy, numeracy or problem solving in technology-rich environments? Chapter 4 describes how the results from the
survey are reported, with an emphasis on the meaning of the scores and proficiency levels.
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Title: Miss Cheyne of Essilmont, Volume 1 (of 3)
Author: James Grant
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Language: English
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Credits: Al Haines
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MISS

CHEYNE OF ESSILMONT, VOLUME 1 (OF 3) ***
MISS CHEYNE OF ESSILMONT
BY
JAMES GRANT
AUTHOR OF
"THE ROMANCE OF WAR," "THE CAMERONIANS,"

"THE SCOTTISH CAVALIER,"
ETC., ETC.
IN THREE VOLUMES.
VOL. I.
LONDON:
HURST AND BLACKETT, PUBLISHERS,
13, GREAT MARLBOROUGH STREET.
1883.
All rights reserved.

Contents
Chap.
I. Out with the Royal Buckhounds

II. At Chilcote
III. Ellon's Ring
IV. Laura Trelawney
V. Alison's Luncheon Party
VI. 'The Old, Old Story'
VII. Jerry and the Widow
VIII. 'For Ever and for Ever'
IX. A Reprieve for a Time
X. Dalton
XI. A Written Proposal
XII. In St. Clement's Lane
XIII. An Enigma
XIV. 'Something as About to Happen!'
XV. Evil Tidings
XVI. Cadbury's Plan or Plot
XVII. More Mystery
XVIII. Wilmothurst
XIX. Mr. Chevenix's Business
XX. The Firefly
MISS CHEYNE OF ESSILMONT.

CHAPTER I.
OUT WITH THE ROYAL BUCKHOUNDS.
'And your name is Alison,' said the young man, looking tenderly in the
girl's eyes of soft grey-blue, that long, dark lashes shaded. 'Yet I hear some
of your friends call you Lisette.'
'It is, I believe, the same thing—an old Scoto-French name, long
peculiar to our family—the Cheynes of Essilmont—as papa would say if he
were here,' she added, with a soft smile. Then after a pause she asked, 'How
did you learn, Captain Goring, that it was Alison?'
'By looking in Debrett after I first had the pleasure' (he had well-nigh
said the joy) 'of meeting you at the General's garden-party in Aldershot.'
This simple avowal of an interest in her (but it might only be curiosity)

caused the girl to colour a little and nervously re-adjust her reins, though
her horse, pretty well blown after a long run, was now going at an easy
walk, pace by pace, with the larger and stronger bay hunter of her
companion, and she glanced shyly at him as he rode by her side, for Bevil
Goring, in his perfect hunting costume—his coat, buckskins, and boots, his
splendid strength and engaging debonair expression of face, his soldierly set
up, born of infantry service in India—was all that might please a woman's
eye, however critical; and he in his turn felt that every pulse in his frame
would long beat to the slight incidents of that day's glorious scamper
together on horseback.
Gathered into a tight coil under her smart riding hat and dark blue veil,
Alison Cheyne's hair was of that bright and rare tint when the brown seems
to blend with or melt into amber, and these into a warmer tint still in the
sunshine, and with which there is generally a pure and dazzling
complexion.
'It was so kind of you, Captain Goring,' said Miss Cheyne, after a pause,
'to invite down papa to dine at your mess at Aldershot.'
'Not at all. Dalton, Jerry Wilmot, and all the other fellows were most
glad to see the old gentleman. I only fear that he thought us rather a noisy
lot.'
'It delighted him—we live but a dull life at Chilcote.'
'And you have had two brothers in the service, Mrs. Trelawney told
me?' resumed Goring, by no means anxious to let the conversation drop, or
his companion begin to think of friends who might be looking for her.
'Yes—two, much older than I, however—poor Ranald and golden-

haired Ellon.'
'What a curious name!'
'It is a place in Aberdeenshire where much of papa's property once lay.

Ranald died of fever, and was buried in the lonely jungle near the Jumna.'
'Illness there does its work quickly—four and twenty hours will see the
beginning and the end, and the green turf covering all. I have seen much of
it in my time, Miss Cheyne—often buried the dead with my own hands, by
Jove!'
'How sad to die as my poor brother did—so far away,' said the girl, her
soft voice breaking a little. 'We have a saying in Scotland, "May you die
among your kindred."'
'In the service one's comrades become one's kindred—we are all brother
soldiers.'
'Ellon was thrown from his horse near Lahore, and impaled on his own
sword, and so—and so—poor papa has now only me! I don't think he has
ever got fairly over Ellon's death, as it left the baronetcy without an heir.
But let me not think of these things.'
'I remember the unfortunate event of Ellon Cheyne's death,' exclaimed
Goring, the colour gathering in his bronzed cheek. 'It occurred just close by
the Cabul road, the day after we marched in from Umritsur; and, strange to
say, I commanded the firing party at the poor fellow's funeral, on a day
when the sky was like molten brass, and the wind swept past us hot and
stifling like the blast from an open furnace.'
'You?' said Miss Cheyne, her eyes dilating as she spoke.
'Yes; my voice gave the orders for the three funeral volleys.'
'How strange—and now I meet you here!'
'The world is a small place now-a-days.'
Her eyes were full of a tender interest now, that made the heart of her
companion thrill; nor did hers do so the less that this event caused a bond of
sympathy—a subject in common between them.
A sad expression stole over the features of Alison Cheyne, and so

regular were these, that with the fine outline of her profile they might have
been deemed insipid, but for the variable expression of her very lovely eyes
and sensitive mouth; and now, when flushed with the exercise of fast riding,
the excitement of following the hounds amid such a stirring concourse, and
over such an open country, they seemed absolutely beautiful.
Attracted by each other's society, she and the Captain were now
somewhat apart from all the field, and the brilliant hunt was waxing to its
close.
The day was a bright and clear one early in October, the regular opening
day of the regular season with the Royal Buckhounds. The country wore the
aspect of the month; swine were rooting in the desolate cornfield, eliciting
the malediction of many a huntsman as he tore over the black and rotting
stubble; geese were coming draggled and dirty out of the muddy ponds and
brooks; the hedges looked naked and cold, and the blackened bean sheaves
that had never ripened were rotting in the ground. An earthy odour came
from the water-flags, and every hoof-print was speedily filled with the black
ooze of the saturated soil the moment it was made; but the sky was clear, if
not quite cloudless, and the sunshine bright as one could wish.
The time-honoured meet had duly taken place at the old village of
Salthill, the scene of that tomfoolery called the Eton Montem, till its
suppression in 1848; and we need scarcely inform the reader that a certain
sum is devoted annually to maintain the stables, kennels, and establishment
of the Royal Buckhounds, and that with each change of Ministry the post of
their master is an object of keen competition among sport-loving nobles;
but the opening meet is said to be seldom a favourite one with lovers of
hard riding.
There is always a vast 'field,' and every one who 'by hook or crook' can
procure a mount is there. Salthill thus becomes an animated and pleasant
spectacle to the mere spectator, while it is a source of unmixed excitement
to all who go to hunt—perhaps some five hundred horsemen or so, all
anxious to be first in the chase, and jostling, spurring, and struggling to be
so.
All know what a scene Paddington Station presents a short time

previous to the meet, when the Metropolitan corps of huntsmen begin to
muster in strong force, and well-known faces are seen on every hand—
staunch followers of 'the Queen's'—going down by special train, the present
holder of the horn being the observed of all; and the train, with a long line
of dark horse-boxes starting with sixty or seventy noble horses for Slough,
whence, after an eighteen miles' run, the long cavalcade of horsemen and
people on foot pours on to Salthill, huntsmen and whips bright in brilliant
new costumes of scarlet laced with gold, their horses with skins like satin,
and the hounds the perfection of their breed.
There may be seen young guardsmen from Windsor, cavalry men from
Aldershot, which is about twenty miles distant, in spotless black and white,
side by side with old fellows in tarnished pink with the old jockey-cap,
horse-dealers in corduroys and perhaps blucher boots; city men, and
apparently all manner of men, and here and there a lady such as only may
be seen in the Row, perfect in her mount, equipment, and costume.
On the adjacent road a lady's pretty little victoria may be jammed
between a crowded four in hand and a still more crowded costermonger's
cart; and so the confusion goes on till some well-known deer is quietly
taken away to the front; and punctually to time the master gives the order to
advance, when the huntsmen and hounds scurry into an open field, where
the yeomen prickers in their Lincoln green costumes have uncarted the
quarry.
Anon the line is formed, and away over the open country stream the
hounds like a living tide, with red tongues out, and steam, issuing from their
quivering nostrils, and all follow at headlong speed.
Here it was that Alison Cheyne, Bevil Goring, and others of their party
lost some of their companions in the first wild rush across a hedge with a
wet ditch on the other side. Jerry Wilmot's saddle-girth gave way, and he
fell in a helpless but unhurt heap on the furrows; Lord Cadbury—a peer of
whom more anon—failed utterly to clear the hedge; and Tony Dalton, of
Goring's regiment, though a keen sportsman, came to grief somehow in the
ditch, and thus ere long Alison Cheyne had as her sole squire the
companion we have described, and together, after charging with many more
a gate beyond the hedge, they had a splendid run over an open country.
Together they kept, Goring doing much in the way of guiding his fair
friend, who though somewhat timid, and not much practised as an
equestrienne, had now given her whole soul to the hunt, and became almost
fearless for the time.
In a pretty dense clump 'the field' went powdering along the path
through the village of Farnham, after which the deer headed off for
Burnham Beeches, the beautiful scenery of which has been so often
portrayed by artists and extolled by tourists; and then, like bright 'bits of
colour' that would delight the former, the scarlet coats could be seen
glancing between the gnarled stems of the giant trees, as the horsemen went
pouring down the woody steeps.
'Take care here, for heaven's sake, Hiss Cheyne, and keep your horse
well in hand, with its head up,' cried Bevil Goring. 'The tree stumps
concealed here among the long grass are most treacherous traps.'
'I fear more the boughs of the trees, they are so apt to tear one's hair,'
replied the flushed girl, breathlessly, as she flew, her dark blue skirt and veil
streaming behind her; and now and then a cry of terror escaped her, as a
horse and its rider went floundering into some marshy pool, though
generally with no worse result than a mud bath.
At length the beeches are left behind, while the deer shoots on past
Wilton Park, anon over Chalfont Brook, till she reaches the stable in a
farmyard, and there is captured and made safe, and so ends the day, after
which there is nothing left for the breathless and blown, who have followed
her thus far, but to ride slowly back some fifteen miles to Slough.
Less occupied by interest in the hunt than with each other, Bevil Goring
and Miss Cheyne had gradually dropped out of it, and at the time of the
conversation with which this chapter opens were riding slowly along a
narrow green lane that led—they had not yet begun to consider in what
precise direction.
CHAPTER II.
AT CHILCOTE.
'The hounds threw off at half-past eleven, and the afternoon is far
advanced,' said Miss Cheyne, with a little anxiety of manner. 'I must take
the nearest cut home.'
'Thither, of course, I shall do myself the honour of escorting you.'
'Thanks—so much.'
She could not say otherwise, as she could neither decline his escort nor
with propriety ride home alone; yet she gave a glance rather helplessly
around her, as all her immediate friends—and one more especially, whose
escort her father wished her to have had—were now left miles behind,
having 'come to grief' at the first fence, and were now she knew not where.
But then she thought it was not her fault that they had dropped out of
the hunt, or out of their saddles perhaps.
'To reach the high-road, we must take this fence,' said Captain Goring,
finding that the narrow lane they had pursued, ended in a species of cul de
sac.
'Not a gap, not a gate is in sight.'
'And by Jove, Miss Cheyne, it is a rasper!' he exclaimed. 'Allow me to

go first, then follow, head up and hand low.'
He measured the distance, cleared the fence, and came safely down on
the hard road beyond.
With a little cry of half delight and half terror curiously mingled, the girl
rushed her horse at the fence, but barely cleared it, as its hoofs touched the
summit.
'What a nasty buck jump,' said Goring. 'Is that an Irish horse, used to
double fences, I wonder?'
'And all my back-hair has come down.'
'Glorious hair it is, below your waist and more.'
'And all my own,' said the girl laughing, as she placed her switch
between her pearly teeth, and with her gauntleted hands proceeded to knot
the coils deftly up; 'all my own, by production, and not by purchase. And
now for home,' she added, as they broke into an easy trot. 'Such a hard
mouth this animal has!' she exclaimed, after a pause; 'my poor wrists are
quite weary.'
'Why do you ride him?'
'I have not much choice.'

'How?'
'I owe my mount to the kindness of a friend of papa's, to Lord Cadbury,'

she replied, colouring slightly, but with an air of annoyance.
'Indeed,' said Goring, briefly, and then after a pause, he added, 'you have
ridden with these hounds before.'
'Yes, once when the meet was at Iver's Heath, and again when it was at
Wokingham, and the deer was caught in a pond near Wilton Park.'
'And did Lord Cadbury on each occasion give you a mount?' he added,
in a casual manner.
'Yes, we have no horses at Chilcote; but how curious you are,' she
replied, colouring again, and with a sense of annoyance that he did not
suspect, though the mention of the peer's name by her lips irritated Bevil
Goring, and made him seek to repress the love that was growing in his
heart.
Yet he knew not that he had impressed Alison Cheyne by his voice and
manner beyond anyone whom she had hitherto met, but she was conscious
that her heart beat quicker when he addressed her, and that the very
sunshine seemed to grow brighter in his presence; but to what end was all
this, she thought, unless—if he loved her—he was rich enough to suit her
father's standard of wealth.
As they drew near Chilcote they tacitly, it seemed, reduced the pace of
their horses to a walk.
'If it does not grieve you now to recur to the fate of your brother Ellon,'
said Goring, in his softest tone, 'I may mention that I have a little souvenir
of him, of which I would beg your acceptance.'
'A souvenir of Ellon!'
'Yes.'
'How came you to possess it?'

'When his effects were sold at Lahore, before his regiment marched
again.'
'And this relic——'
'Is a ring with a girl's hair in it.'
'Thank you so much,' said she, with a quivering lip; 'but to deprive you
——'
'Nay, nay, do not begin to speak thus. To whom should it belong but to
you? And how strange is the chance that gives me an opportunity of
presenting it!'
'I cannot decline it; but the girl—who can she have been? Poor Ellon,
some secret is buried in his grave.'
'Soldiers' graves, I doubt not, hide many, and many a sad romance. I
have generally worn it, curious to say, as my stock of jewellery is not very
extensive.'
'Have you it with you now?'
'No, I never wear rings when riding, the stones are apt to get knocked
out. I meant to do myself the pleasure of calling on you after the hunt; and
shall, if you will permit me. To-morrow I am for guard.'
'For guard over what?'
'Nothing,' he said, laughing. 'There is nothing to see or to guard, but it is

all the same to John Bull.'
'The day after, then?'
'The day after.'
They were close to the house now, and, lifting his hat, he bowed low
and turned his horse just as a groom, who had been waiting in the porch,
took hers by the bridle, and, waving the handle of her switch to him in
farewell, Miss Cheyne gathered up her riding skirt and entered the house.
Bevil Goring lingered at the further end of the avenue that led to
Chilcote, which was in a lovely locality, especially in summer, one of those
sunny places within thirty miles of St. Paul's, and one secluded and woody
—a place like Burnham Beeches, where the tree trunks are of amazing size,
and the path that led to the house went down a deep dell, emblossomed in a
wilderness leafy at all times but in winter.
The ash, the birch, and contorted beeches overhung the slopes on each
side, and there seemed an entire absence of human care about them; and
there in summer the sheep wandered among the tender grass, as if they were
the only owners of the domain; but Bevil Goring had but one thought as he
looked around him, and then turned lingeringly away.
'How delicious to ramble among these leafy glades with her! How
deuced glad I am that I have that poor fellow's ring, and can gratify her—
perhaps myself too. Bother the guard of to-morrow; but I must get it over as
best I may.'
He lighted a cigar, and at a trot took the road to Aldershot, but so sunk
in thoughts that were new and delicious that he forgot all about his 'soothing
weed' till it scorched his thick dark moustache.
Meanwhile let us follow Alison Cheyne into her somewhat sequestered

home.
She had blushed with annoyance when resigning the reins of her horse
to Gaskins, Lord Cadbury's groom, while thinking that there was neither
groom nor stable at Chilcote, though, as her father had told her many a time
and oft, there were stalls for four and twenty nags at Essilmont, where
others stabled their horses now; and sooth to tell, for causes yet to be told,
she was provoked at being under any obligation to old Lord Cadbury,
especially in the now reduced state of their fortunes.
She was received with a bright smile of welcome in the entrance hall by
their sole male attendant, old Archie Auchindoir, Sir Ranald's man-of-all-
work, who looked resentfully after the unconscious groom while taking
away the horse, which he would gladly have retained for his young mistress
by force if he could, for Archie thought regretfully of the once ample
ménage at far away Essilmont, where, like his father before him, he had
grown to manhood and age in the family of the Cheynes.
He was true as steel to his old master, to whom, however, he sometimes

ventured to say sharp things in the way of advice; and to the 'pock-
puddings,' as he called the denizens of the present locality, he fearlessly said
sharper and very cutting things with a smirk on his mouth and a glitter in
his keen grey eyes, and with perfect impunity, as they were addressed in a
language to the hearers unknown; but it gratified Archie none the less to
utter them, as he often did in the guise of proverbs.
'Papa at home?' asked Alison.
'Yes, Miss,' said he, receiving her gloves and switch. 'And waiting
anxiously for you, though ower proud to show it even to me; but, my certie,
it's the life o' an auld hat to be weel cockit.'
Their household was so small now that Alison had no maid to attend
upon her, and quickly changing her costume she sought at once the presence
of her father, smoothing her hair with her white hands as she hurried to
receive his kiss; for, so far as he was concerned, Alison, in her twentieth
year, was as much a child as when in her little frocks.
He was seated in a little room called his study, though there were few
books there; but there were a writing table usually littered with letters, and
invariably with an unpleasant mass of accounts to amount 'rendered;' an
easy chair, deep, high-backed, and cosy, in which he passed most of his
time, and which was so placed that from it he had a full view of the long,
woody, and neglected avenue. There he spent hours reading the Field and
turning over books on farming, veterinary surgery, and so forth, by mere
force of habit, though he had not an acre of land or a dog or a horse to look
after now; and these studies were varied by the perusal of prints of a
conservative tendency, and an occasional dip into the pages of Burke.
He courteously threw into the fire the end of the cigar he had been
smoking as his daughter entered, and twining her soft arm round him said,
while nestling her face in his neck—
'Oh, papa, I have never had so delightful a day with the hounds as this!'
The master of a broken fortune and impoverished household, Sir Ranald

Cheyne, baronet of Essilmont and that ilk, as he duly figured in that year's
volume of Burke and Debrett, with a pedigree going far beyond the first
baronet of his house, who had been patented in 1625, and duly infeft at the
Castle-gate of Edinburgh with a vast patrimony in Nova Scotia, and 'power
of pit and gallows' over his vassals there, was a proud and querulous man,
stately in manner and somewhat cold and selfish to all men, save his
daughter Alison, who was the apple of his eye, the pride of his old heart, on
whose beauty, as the means of winning another fortune, all his hopes in life
were based, and with whom he was now living in semi-obscurity at
Chilcote, a small, venerable, and secluded mansion in Hampshire.
Sir Ranald had a pale and worn face that in youth had been eminently
handsome; his silver hair, or rather what remained of it, was brushed back
behind his wax-like ears, and a smile of great tenderness for his daughter,
the last of his old, old race and the hope of his age, lighted up his
aristocratic features.
A gold-rimmed pince-nez was balanced on the thin ridge of his rather

aquiline nose, and though his bright blue eyes were smiling, as we say, their
normal expression may be described as usually one of 'worry.'
His voice was in unison with his face—it was worn too, if we may use
the expression, yet soft and not unmusical.
'You had an escort to the gate, I saw?' said he, interrogatively. 'Lord
Cadbury, of course; why did he not come in?'
'Oh, no; I missed him in the field somewhere.'
'And your escort?'

'Was Captain Goring—you know him—from Aldershot,' she replied, a
little nervously.
'Again?' said Sir Ranald, with just the slightest shade of displeasure
flitting over his face. 'You were safely driven to the meet by Mrs.
Trelawney?'
'Yes; and, when I last saw her and dear little Netty, their victoria was
wedged between a drag and a tax-cart. I do hope they escaped without
harm.'
'I hope so, too, for she is a very charming woman. And you found
Cadbury duly waiting at Salthill with his horses?'
'Yes; and Gaskins came here to get mine.'
'I hope you duly thanked Cadbury.'
'Of course, papa.'
'But why did he not make an effort to escort you home?' asked Sir
Ranald, whom this point interested.
'I missed him in the running, as I said, papa,' replied Alison, colouring
now. 'He is so slow at his fences.'
'Slow; he has the reputation of generally riding faster than his horse,'
said Sir Ranald, who was unable to repress a joke at the parvenu peer,
whom he was not without quiet hopes of having for a son-in-law. 'Then, I
suppose, Captain Goring was your escort for most of the day?'
'Yes,' replied Alison, frankly.
'In fact, I may presume that you and he were always neck-and-neck;
taking your fences together, and all that sort of thing?'
'Oh, no, papa; certainly not,' replied Alison, thinking it was unwise to
admit too much, though her father's surmises were very near the truth.
'I am astonished that Cadbury did not make an effort to join you.'
'I never saw him after the hounds threw off,' said Alison, a little wearily,
as she knew how her father's secret thoughts were tending.
'Did you look for him?'
'No.'
'So—so—this is exactly what happened before.'
'Can I help it, papa, if his wont is to fail at the first fence?'
'You can help Captain Goring so opportunely taking his place.'
'I do not quite see what his place is; but oh, papa, what do you think?
Capt. Goring heard of poor Ellon in India—he actually laid him in his
grave, if one may say so!'
'How?'
'He commanded the soldiers who fired over it.'
'Indeed!' said Sir Ranald, with some interest now.
She was about to mention the proffered ring, which she deemed a
precious relic, when her father said with a tone of some gravity, and even
crustily—
'I don't much like your following the hounds, and think you must give it
up.'
'Oh, it is delightful; and if I had a horse of my own——'
'There you go!' exclaimed her father, with a petty gush of irritation; 'I
don't like it! Think how a girl looks in an October morning at a cover-side,
her eyes watering, perhaps her nose red, and her cheeks blue, and after a
while, perhaps, with her hat smashed, her habit torn, her hair hanging down
her back, and some fellow fagging by her side drearily when he wishes her

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CHAPTER 2 THE BACKGROUND QUESTIONNAIRE OF THE SURVEY OF ADULT SKILLS (PIAAC)�������������������������������������� 35

CHAPTER 4 REPORTING THE RESULTS OF THE SURVEY OF ADULT SKILLS (PIAAC)��������������������������������������������������������������������� 65

CHAPTER 5 RELATIONSHIP OF THE SURVEY OF ADULT SKILLS (PIAAC) TO OTHER INTERNATIONAL

CHAPTER 7 THE SURVEY OF ADULT SKILLS (PIAAC) AND “KEY COMPETENCIES”������������������������������������������������������������������������ 97

ANNEX A RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE LEVEL OF DESCRIPTORS USED IN THE SURVEY

ANNEX B CONTENT OF BACKGROUND QUESTIONNAIRES IN THE SURVEY OF ADULT SKILLS (PIAAC)

ANNEX C PROJECT PARTICIPANTS IN ROUND 1 OF THE SURVEY OF ADULT SKILLS������������������������������������������������������������ 119

ANNEX D PROJECT PARTICIPANTS IN ROUND 2 OF THE SURVEY OF ADULT SKILLS������������������������������������������������������������ 125

ANNEX E PROJECT PARTICIPANTS IN ROUND 3 OF THE SURVEY OF ADULT SKILLS������������������������������������������������������������ 129

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ASPECTS OF THE DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF THE SURVEY

HOW RESULTS ARE REPORTED

Title: Miss Cheyne of Essilmont, Volume 1 (of 3)

Author: James Grant

Release date: January 18, 2024 [eBook #72743]

Original publication: London: Hurst and Blackett, Publishers, 1883

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MISS

"THE ROMANCE OF WAR," "THE CAMERONIANS,"

All rights reserved.

I. Out with the Royal Buckhounds

MISS CHEYNE OF ESSILMONT.

OUT WITH THE ROYAL BUCKHOUNDS.

This simple avowal of an interest in her (but it might only be curiosity)

'It delighted him—we live but a dull life at Chilcote.'

'Yes—two, much older than I, however—poor Ranald and golden-

'What a curious name!'

'It is a place in Aberdeenshire where much of papa's property once lay.

'You?' said Miss Cheyne, her eyes dilating as she spoke.

'How strange—and now I meet you here!'

'The world is a small place now-a-days.'

A sad expression stole over the features of Alison Cheyne, and so

All know what a scene Paddington Station presents a short time

'Thither, of course, I shall do myself the honour of escorting you.'

'Not a gap, not a gate is in sight.'

'And by Jove, Miss Cheyne, it is a rasper!' he exclaimed. 'Allow me to

'And all my back-hair has come down.'

'Glorious hair it is, below your waist and more.'

'Why do you ride him?'

'I have not much choice.'

CHAPTER 2 THE BACKGROUND QUESTIONNAIRE OF THE SURVEY OF ADULT SKILLS (PIAAC)�� 35

CHAPTER 4 REPORTING THE RESULTS OF THE SURVEY OF ADULT SKILLS (PIAAC)�� 65

CHAPTER 7 THE SURVEY OF ADULT SKILLS (PIAAC) AND “KEY COMPETENCIES”�� 97

ANNEX C PROJECT PARTICIPANTS IN ROUND 1 OF THE SURVEY OF ADULT SKILLS�� 119

ANNEX D PROJECT PARTICIPANTS IN ROUND 2 OF THE SURVEY OF ADULT SKILLS�� 125

ANNEX E PROJECT PARTICIPANTS IN ROUND 3 OF THE SURVEY OF ADULT SKILLS�� 129