Editing Andrew Fisher (section)

===Childhood===
Fisher spent most of his childhood living in a miners' row, which had an earthen floor and no running water.<ref name=bas6>Bastian (2009), p. 6.</ref> He was kicked in the head by a cow as a small child, leaving him mostly deaf in one ear. The injury may have contributed to a childhood speech impediment and his reserved nature as an adult.<ref name=bas5>Bastian (2009), p. 5.</ref> As a boy, Fisher and his brothers fished in Carmel Water, a tributary of the [[River Irvine]], and enjoyed long walks across the countryside.<ref>Day (2008), p. 10.</ref> He was athletic, helping form a local football team, and stood {{convert|178|cm|ftin}} as an adult, above the average at the time.<ref name=bas5/> In later life, Fisher recalled attending four schools as a boy. The exact details are uncertain, but he is known to have finished his schooling in Crosshouse and to have attended a school in nearby [[Dreghorn]] for a period.<ref name=day89>Day (2008), pp. 8–9.</ref>{{efn|Fisher recounted in 1911 that he had begun his education at "a little private school", before attending "the old schoolhouse" in Crosshouse, the village school in Dreghorn, and then a new school in Crosshouse. He probably also attended Sunday school.<ref name=day89/>}} The standard of public education in Scotland was relatively high at the time, and his schoolmaster in Crosshouse had received formal training in Edinburgh; the main focus of the curriculum was on [[the three Rs]].<ref>Day (2008), p. 9.</ref> He later supplemented his limited formal education by attending night school in Kilmarnock and reading at the town library.{{sfn|Bastian|2009|page=7}}

The exact age at which Fisher left school is uncertain, but he could have been as young as nine or as old as thirteen.{{efn|Bastian believes that Fisher left when he was nine years old, and may have exaggerated his leaving age as an adult because he was self-conscious about his lack of education. He suggests that he was withdrawn from school early to avoid the provisions of the newly enacted ''Education (Scotland) Act 1872'', which mandated compulsory attendance until the age of 13. The price of coal and miners' wages increased during the [[Franco-Prussian War]], which may have provided a financial incentive for younger children to begin work; however, it would still have been illegal for a nine-year-old to work in the mines.{{sfn|Bastian|2009|pages=18–19}} Day instead argues that Fisher remained in school until he was thirteen. His parents were known to value education and could afford to have him stay in school until the legal leaving age. He notes a 1911 interview in which Fisher gave his leaving age as thirteen, and suggests that references to him being underground at an earlier age are ambiguous, as he could have simply been visiting his father and older brother rather than actually working.{{sfn|Day|2008|page=18}}}} He is believed to have begun his working life as a [[coal trapper]], opening and closing the trapdoors that allowed for ventilation and the movement of coal. He was later placed in charge of the [[Pit pony|pit ponies]], and finally took his place performing "pick-and-shovel work" at the coalface. When he was 16, he was promoted to air-pump operator, which required additional training and was seen as a relatively prestigious position.<ref>Bastian (2009), p. 20.</ref> Fisher's father had [[black lung disease]], and gave up mining around the same time as his oldest sons began working. He subsequently became the manager of the foodstore at the local cooperative, and the family moved out of miners' row. They later lived in [[Kilmaurs]] for a period, but eventually returned to Crosshouse and leased a small farm. Fisher's father then worked as a gardener and apiarist, supplementing his income with contract work repairing the machinery at local mines.<ref name=bas6/> He died of lung disease in 1887, aged 53.<ref>Day (2008), p. 17.</ref>